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The Daily Grind: Are load screens a deal-breaker?
So you're adventuring along, minding your own business on the huge, expansive world map, when you reach a cave. That cave connects you to where you need to go, so you eagerly jump through it only to find... a load screen. Well, no matter, you're on the other side of the cave and in a brand new area! All you have to do now is reach the entrance to this dark, scary forest so you can find... a load screen. Ok, well, you're in the forest. Now the quest log says you have to lift up a rock, jump down a hole and slay the... load screen. Grinders, are load screens a deal-breaker when you consider purchasing your next MMO? Do you look for games that consist of one huge, open world, a la World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online or Fallen Earth? Or are you willing to put up with heavily loaded games like Star Trek Online and Pirates of the Burning Sea? Or, third option, do load screens even matter to you at all? Take your words, put them in the comment box, hit the submit button, and let loose. You know the drill.
Mass Effect 2 ditching elevators for ... load screens
Expanding upon statements from BioWare's Casey Hudson earlier this year, associate programmer Thomas Roy took to the developer's forums (requires login) recently to explain how Mass Effect 2 would be handling the promised lack of elevators (used in place of loading screens). As it turns out, rather than executing on BioWares's promise of "a completely new system" that's "part of the game experience," the studio will be implementing "loading screens and movies." Though the game will still ask players to walk into an elevator, it will apparently cue up a loading screen that offers "interesting visuals and information." We'd like to point out that before Mr. Roy explains any of this, he says that the first game used elevators "so we [BioWare] didn't have to show boring loading screens" and they only made it into the second due to "a lot of complaints." We're so broken up here -- on one hand, the developer is caving to the demands of the fans and critics. Score! On the other hand, Mr. Roy is telling us that loading screens are totally boring. If we demanded it, does that mean we're boring? Great, now we've got a total complex. [Via Kotaku]%Gallery-70022%
