BioWare community rages over Mass Effect 2 countdown reveal

Since mid-March, a mysterious countdown greeted visitors on the Mass Effect 2 website, and speculation left fans drooling. Would it be a major Mass Effect or Dragon Age update? Perhaps official Mass Effect 3 or even Knights of the Old Republic III announcements?

As it turns out, none of the above. The countdown ended earlier today, and BioWare unveiled their BioWare Bazaar, a community-driven auction in April.

Actually, you don't have to spend money -- only time. Essentially, you earn tokens through participation; sign up for the BioWare Social Network, follow and respond to Twitter posts, register your BioWare games, and advertise their titles to your friends. That is the gist of it, so don't be confused by the somewhat lengthy and confusing official rules.

Participation earns you tokens, and said tokens can be redeemed on April 6, when the auction itself begins. Prizes range from travel mugs to special edition gaming PCs carrying a $2,000 street value.

So the whole thing is free, and the auction prizes are pretty great. Yet the community has been flipping out for hours (in thread after thread) since the Bazaar launched. Right now, you're thinking, "What's the problem?"

For starters, there's the whole issue of hype. The countdown went on for some time, letting imaginations run wild. Over-hype is an issue with video games, so the principle applies here. Based on forum posts, it sounds as though the community feels let down.

Then there's the issue of where you live. The contest is restricted to the US, excluding New York and Florida. If you dwell in these two states, Canada, Europe, or anywhere else, then you're just out of luck. This may, however, have something to do with the contest sponsors (Dell, AMD, Gunnar, Kingston, Western Digital) and their aversion to differing tax laws.

Regardless, we wish participants the best of luck. The rest of you can continue spamming the Social Network until it crashes. Again.

Source:BioWare Social Network

Sections:Console Games, PC Games

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