| Author |
Topic:
Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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Darth-Lando
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
6/9 10:59am
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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I just beat this game after getting it last week and I was SEVERLY dissapointed. The storyline was good and anything that related to the actual plot of the game was entertaining. However, the side quests in this game were just awful. I spent twice as much time driving around in that damn Mako than I did progressing the plot. It's like they realized they only had an 8 hour game and just added all those unexplored planets as an afterthought. And since the enemies scale in difficulty depending on what level you are, it's not even necessary (or advised IMO) to do the side-quests. And what's the point of limiting your inventory? Every so often I had to sell everything off just to make room for the next batch of 150 items I would then sell off. Money was pointless in this game anyway, I don't think I bought more than 5 items anyway, and that was only armor for the alien NPCs. Everything else was easily obtainable in crates or off dead guys.
Normally I'm someone who can forgive shoddy gameplay if there is a decent story. But if this game series doesn't get a massive overhaul for the sequel there's no way I'll be playing again.
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"A delayed game is eventually good, a rushed game is bad forever." - Shigeru Miyamoto
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jangoisadrunk
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
6/9 1:04pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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^Wow, it's like November at Gamefaqs.com all over again. 
All I'm gonna say is that I've almost never played a game with a money system where you weren't bursting at the seams with unspendable cash by the game's halfway point. However, that's only because it's a skill learned from playing games with a money system. There's no way you could plunk down an RPG noob in front of Mass Effect and expect the same expience, unless they got very lucky and found all the high-end peices as loot. But since the loot is totally randomized, it's just as likely they'd play through the game and never find any rare or expensive loot. Then they'd have to buy it (which is a crap-shoot as well since rare items are randomized as shop items also).
I've had many a playthrough where I never found anything decent and had to do the shop reload trick to find high-end pieces.
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-polymath-
Title: SFF:F/TV Trivia Host
Registered:
Jun '07
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Date Posted:
6/9 2:06pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with Mass Effect. I found it to be sincerely compelling and entertaining. Then again, one of my favorite games of all time is Rebellion.
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SFF Films & TV Trivia Contest: Subject is "Serenity/Firefly"
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Darth-Lando
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
6/9 2:25pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
- Date Edited:
6/9 2:31pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Darth-Lando
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-polymath- posted:
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with Mass Effect. I found it to be sincerely compelling and entertaining. Then again, one of my favorite games of all time is Rebellion.
Like I said, the storyline was compelling and entertaining. I think it just needed more polish. *shrug* Maybe I just had too high expectations after hearing a years worth of people saying it was great.
EDIT: And I realize this is months late but shame on Fox News for thinking that the "sex scene" was so bad. I've seen more on network TV.
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"A delayed game is eventually good, a rushed game is bad forever." - Shigeru Miyamoto
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Leto II
Registered:
Jan '00
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Date Posted:
6/9 5:14pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
- Date Edited:
6/9 5:27pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
Leto II
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Darth-Lando posted:
I just beat this game after getting it last week and I was SEVERLY dissapointed. The storyline was good and anything that related to the actual plot of the game was entertaining. However, the side quests in this game were just awful. I spent twice as much time driving around in that damn Mako than I did progressing the plot. It's like they realized they only had an 8 hour game and just added all those unexplored planets as an afterthought.
Although, the main quest of Mass Effect runs between 17-18 hours, the same as KotOR and KotOR II, and ultimately clocks in around 55 hours when all of the side-quest material is factored into the equation (again, the same as KotOR's final length).
So Mass Effect is par for the course, as current RPG-lengths go. Most folks, including myself, certainly didn't feel cheated (the Mako stuff didn't really bother me), and the downloadable content will be expanding that completion-time threshold even further. It ain't Oblivion, with 300-400 hours, but then again, what is?
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Darth-Lando
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
6/9 6:37pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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Leto II posted:
Although, the main quest of Mass Effect runs between 17-18 hours, the same as KotOR and KotOR II, and ultimately clocks in around 55 hours when all of the side-quest material is factored into the equation (again, the same as KotOR's final length).
55? Are you kidding me? I visited every planet and completed every quest I got except for the Mineral Survey. My final Auto Save is timed at 26hrs 10min. There's no way anyone stretched that out an additional 30 hours.
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Leto II
Registered:
Jan '00
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Date Posted:
6/9 6:57pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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The average completion-time for most major review sites was between 45-55 hours (those who were absolutely anally "100-percenting" things), so...take that as you will, I guess. My second run-through was roughly 41 hours, and I still left at least a quarter of the side-quests unfinished.
This is all contingent on how fast you complete the missions, too, not simply the quantity of them.
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jangoisadrunk
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
6/9 10:04pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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I've yet to finish Mass Effect in 40 hours or less.
My first time was 53 hours.
4 out of the other five took roughly 43 hours.
Strangely enough, My 3rd or 4th playthrough (I can't remember which) clocked in at a whopping 57 hours. I never figured out what I spent the extra hours doing, however.
The only explanation that I can think of is that I was indulging in a certain chemical at the time that encouraged me to soak in every last pixel. 
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zacparis
Title: Ex Manager
Registered:
Sep '03
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Date Posted:
6/9 10:46pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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This is why I like playing it on the 360 - it makes me go the extra mile to get the most achievements. I'm the sort of gamer who needs a push to go anywhere I don't need to, and achievements work just nicely. I've probably spent well over 150 hours in total, spread throughout 54 days according to my Xbox blog.
I don't like the Ally achievements though, they really limit your choices. Achievements should reward gameplay, not restrict it.
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DarthSolar
Registered:
Jun '08
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Date Posted:
6/10 11:03am
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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Got it for the PC today, not a bad port in my opinion. Huzzah for Vista!
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adx
Registered:
Sep '07
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Date Posted:
6/19 6:55pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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I just started playing this.. I loved KoToR so this one should be another epic title from BioWare.. I just hope that I don't get addicted to it.. I will post more as I play it 
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Leto II
Registered:
Jan '00
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Date Posted:
7/9 11:43am
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
- Date Edited:
7/9 12:08pm (7 edits total)
Edited By:
Leto II
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The official plot description of Mass Effect: Ascension is now up at Amazon. Cerberus...hell, yeah. One of my favorite enigmas from the first game gets an entire fricking novel devoted to it.
When they vanished fifty thousand years ago, the Protheans left their advanced technology scattered throughout the galaxy. The chance discovery of a Prothean cache on Mars allows humanity to join those already reaping the rewards of the ancients' high-tech wizardry. But for one rogue militia, the goal is not participation, but domination.
Scientist Kahlee Sanders has left the Systems Alliance for the Ascension Project, a program that helps gifted "biotic" children harness their extraordinary powers. The program's most promising student is twelve-year-old Gillian Grayson, who is borderline autistic. What Kahlee doesn’t know is that Gillian is an unwitting pawn of the outlawed black-ops group Cerberus, which is sabotaging the program by conducting illegal experiments on the students.
When the Cerberus plot is exposed, Gillian's father takes her away from the Ascension Project and flees into the lawless Terminus Systems. Determined to protect Gillian, Kahlee goes with them...unaware that the elder Grayson is, in fact, a Cerberus operative. To rescue the young girl, Kahlee must travel to the farthest ends of the galaxy, battling fierce enemies and impossible odds. But how will she be able to save a daughter from her own father?
This novel is based on a Mature-rated video game.
Drew Karpyshyn's website also offers up this delicious tidbit:
The story also takes a closer look at the quarian species, biotic ability in humans, and introduces the setting of Omega –- the Terminus Systems' dark, twisted counterpart to the Citadel.
The Omega "Citadel"? Holy crap. Awesome. Another Prothean/Reaper construct, or something else altogether? Considering what happened to the Council Citadel in the first game, it sounds like a safe bet that this is going to be a major location in Mass Effect 2. I'm very curious about the Terminus Systems, never having explored them in the first game. Although separated, they seem to have enough military power and resources to be considered a threat to the Council Citadel, which is why the Council seems to be very careful in not provoking them.
It's nice how the Codex leaves the ground so fruitful for the sequels.
The Geth are behind the Veil, which is beyond the Terminus Systems. Essentially, you have to go through the Terminus Systems to get to the Geth. At least, that's my understanding. That is one reason the Council has never pushed to rid the galaxy of the Geth. They didn't want a war with the Terminus, possibly the Batarians, and the Geth, too. As for the pirates in the Terminus having gotten divided-and-conquered, I think they haven't degraded that much. If they had, the Council wouldn't be afraid of a war with them. It would be just a quick mop-up mission, if they were just pirate clans. In other words, send in a Dreadnought or two, along with a fleet of frigates, and you would wipe out the Terminus Systems and bring them under Citadel control.
The only other possibility is that the Asari are so averse to war (which they seem to be, and yet are more accomodative of different cultures) that they might be avoiding war with the Terminus Systems not out of fear, but out of "humanitarian" or "asarian" reasons. In other words, why force someone to be an ally?
The other big thing in the novel is apparently an exploration of human Biotics -- there seems to be an as-yet-unrevealed relationship between Biotics and the use of Element Zero in mass-relay technology; it's probable that this book and the future games in the series will be unveiling some of the mysteries behind this subject. These were some of my favorite Codex entries and discussion topics with Kaiden...the science behind how the hell E0 specifically triggers human telepathic potential, and what this all means for the future. Something bigger having to do with stopping the Reapers, I'll wager.
Ray Musyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Drew discuss ME: Ascension and other related subjects in this new BioWare podcast.
Also, BioWare might be announcing new Mass Effect DLC at E3 in a couple of weeks, according to rumor.
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-polymath-
Title: SFF:F/TV Trivia Host
Registered:
Jun '07
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Date Posted:
7/9 11:51am
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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I hope they do announce some DLC. I've played Bring Down the Sky several times and I am gagging for something new.
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jangoisadrunk
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
7/9 1:24pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
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Sounds like the Terminus pirates, slavers, and gangs are more well organized than the Council lets on in Mass Effect, and that the Council has genuine reason to fear full-scale war with them.
I usually shy away from licensed science-fiction, but this new novel has piqued my interest.
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Leto II
Registered:
Jan '00
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Date Posted:
7/9 2:22pm
Subject:
RE: Mass Effect -- Action RPG Title made by Bioware
- Date Edited:
7/9 2:38pm (6 edits total)
Edited By:
Leto II
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And there are a whole slew of other big questions raised by this new information:
The Omega Citadel, which is located in the Terminus Systems, opens up possibilities for Mass Effect 2. Is there another Conduit? Did the Protheans find Omega before? Can the Reapers use the Omega Citadel if it has a Conduit? The Conduit isn't stictly required, but Omega may be another disguised relay to Dark Space -- who knows? Although it's less likely there's a second Conduit, because as I recall, the Protheans barely had time to build the first one before the Reaper invasion.
Regarding ME2, a major mission into the Perseus Veil would be interesting. I'd be curious as to how much the Geth (aside from the ones that we've dealt with in ME) have evolved as a civilization now sundered from the Quarians. I see significance in the Geth broadcasting a singing Quarian to their worlds behind the Veil. It left me wondering if, perhaps, the Geth actually mourn the separation from the Quarians, and would have gladly co-existed with them as equals in peace, if the Quarians hadn't been hellbent on the destroying their synthetic slaves.
Personally, what really bugs me is the Mu Portal. Here's the problem:
Benezia tells you that Saren needs to know the location of Mu Portal to reach the Conduit, and she tells you that it is a "lost portal," due to the explosion of a supernova, and only the Rachni know about its location. OK, no problem here...but if this is the case, how can Liara know about Ilos? She says that the Mu Portal is the only way to reach it, but if this is true, then she should have no clues about it, to say nothing of being able to recognize its structures in your vision.
This seems to imply that she visited or saw it, but is not very likely if the portal is really missing, and no one knows its coordinates. So who's seen it? Some Asari archaeologists who explored it in the past, and documented it? Probably not possible, either -- it's said that the portal was in Rachni space, and that they were aware of its existence; we know how it went when the first mass-relay was opened to Rachni space. Reports from other Prothean worlds/ruins she studied?
It's stated in the Codex that Ilos is known through secondhand sources. Prothean ruins occasionally make reference to Ilos. Liara is an expert on the Protheans, having visited many archaeological dig sites, and as such, has probably had at least some access to these references to Ilos.
However, this doesn't seem to make much sense, as all documentation of Ilos was destroyed. The only explanation I can come up with is that the documents weren't entirely lost. Destroyed enough so that the Reapers wouldn't bother looking through them, yet enough was recoverable that references to Ilos could be found through careful study. It seems unlikely the Reapers would be this careless, though.
Also...this is ****ing hilarious.
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