March 19, 2012

Event: Operation Goliath in Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer

Been playing too much Mass Effect 3 lately, so here's something to post (even though I'm too late)...

The first N7 Challenge Weekend: Operation Goliath

Background
EA released an infographic on interesting data on Mass Effect 3's Mutliplayer Mode. This covers the amount of Phantoms killed, people using the Battlefield 3 Soldier character and accomplishment rate of Gold threat level matches, just to name a few. But to top it off, I'd say multiplayer worked really well for Mass Effect 3. Heck, I play this mode in between single player sessions with my FemSheps! This may have inspired BioWare or EA to come up with an incentive for active players...

Impressive numbers

Details
Bioware wants us to to hunt down a Reaper enemy called "Brutes." The event starts from 5PM EST March 16, 2012 and will end at 5AM PST March 19, 2012. There are two objectives that we mush accomplish before the deadline:

Community Goal: Kill 1,000,000 Brutes during the challenge. The reward is an N7 Victory Pack.
Squad Goal: Accomplish a successful extraction in a Silver threat level (or higher) zone against the Reaper forces. The reward is a Commendation Pack.

The community goal is accomplished by players playing the multiplayer mode of Mass Effect 3 and killing Brutes during matches. Even if you didn't lay the killing blow on the Brute, it will still count in accomplishing the community goal.

For the squad goal, that means finishing a match (in appropriate terminology, successful extraction) with set conditions. This event requires that you participate and "win" matches in a Silver threat level (or higher) with the Reapers as your enemy. They noted that at least one squad member needs to be extracted in order to fulfill this weekend challenge, so even if you die but your friend makes it to extraction you get the reward.

In order for actions to be counted, you must have your Upload Gameplay Feedback turned on (which can be found in Options --> Online --> Upload Gameplay Feedback). By default, it should be set to On (unless you choose to set it to "No"). The host of the game must have theirs enabled/turned on in order for the match's statistics to be recorded.

N7 Challenge Splash Notification
Impressions
I only heard wind of this when I logged in to go for some rounds of multiplayer on March 18, 2012, 8:41 AM GMT +8. I was surprised to see such notice and I knew I had to participate in promises of rewards. Finding matches with Reapers was very easy due to the requirements for the rewards. As I progressed, I decided to take on a Silver level threat match as a Soldier. After a few matches, I was able to get my first win against a Silver level threat, with me the only one at the extraction point!

Brute hunting as a Human Female Soldier

I have to be honest, facing the Reapers on a Silver level threat is no joke! The Brutes come in as early as wave 4 and the Banshees come in at wave 5. Why did I mention Banshees? Because they're the highest threat when facing an army of Reaper monstrosities (don't forget about those Ravagers too!). I'll cover about the different enemies of Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer mode in a different post.

Expectations
We'll receive our rewards on March 20, 2012 PST. They'll be claimed via the Store as free packs and they must be claimed within 7 days. After that, you'll miss out the rewards. The Commendation Pack is said to contain the N7 Weapons from the Limited Collector's Edition in single player. It's multiplayer variants is not available in the current packs available for purchase at the store. As for the Reward Pack, we'll only see what it offers since it will contain a number of upgrades and consumables.

Extra Note
This event is only available for PC and Xbox Live users. PS3 users are left out due to some issues between BioWare/EA and Sony. Read the whole details and FAQ at the BioWare Social Forums!

No comments:

Post a Comment