Yesterday was the launch of Mass Effect on PC, a game I've been anxiously awaiting. So put my disk in the PC and install it--everything seems to go fine.
The first time it starts up, it runs a "configuration utility." This is supposed to detect your PC hardware and figure out the proper graphics, etc. settings so that the game will run smoothly and look as nice as possible.
Except it crashes. Multiple attempts, and the config. utility just won't run.
I reboot, and wonder of wonders, the utility runs just fine. I choose appropriate settings and hit "Play," expecting the remainder of my evening to be filled with gaming goodness.
But no.
Now, the game begins and freezes right after the splash screen. I haven't even gotten to the opening cutscene. For the rest of the evening, I spent my time monitoring the developer's forum and trying the various solutions posted there. Nothing worked. I tried to submit a tech support request through the publisher (who is nominally providing support for this title), but the site would give me an error every time I tried. I went to bed unhappy.
This morning, the forum is no more helpful than last night, though I did at least manage to submit my problem to the publisher (on my second try).
This is unbelievably frustrating, particularly since 1) I have literally been looking forward to this game for years, and 2) I took the trouble to get the game on launch day. It's even worse because I suspect the ultimate problem is the DRM (digital rights management), which is conflicting with something on my system.
This is one reason I rarely buy a game immediately on release.
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