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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Gaming Mass Effect Series

Discussion in 'Community' started by Valyn, Sep 7, 2012.

  1. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    Why is it the fanbase keep coming up with better ideas than Bioware? First indoc. theory, and now ... this.

     
  2. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    That...would be just about the best DLC ever!
     
  3. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Or the plot for ME4 ... [face_idea]

    Heh, that reminds me . I just finished the Geth Fighter Squadrons mission on my engineer replay; only Kaidan would be given the ME universe's equivalent of Double-O status (except with even more of a license to kill and less oversight) and make a point of keeping up on his Spectre division expense report.
     
  4. GenAntilles

    GenAntilles Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2007
    You know I've really enjoyed playing multiplayer. I just wish I could actually finish a match before my game crashes. Get through 10 rounds and then during extraction it just crashes every time.
     
  5. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Nice video. I'd be down for something like that.

    Speaking of fanbase ideas, a couple more Marauder Shields episodes were posted.

    The Debt, pt 1
    The Debt, pt 2

    Hey, Harby! I KNOW YOU FEEL THIS! [face_devil]
     
  6. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    Oh, he felt it. Outstanding!

    To Casey Hudson and your team of so called story-tellers: Shame on you. The community is doing far more gripping and exciting storytelling that you ever managed to do in your game and DLC. I sincerely can't wait for the next installment.
     
  7. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    REPAY THE DEBT.

    One senses a certain subtext there. REPAY THE GODDAMN DEBT YOU OWE TO YOUR FANBASE, BIOWARE.
     
    Darth_Invidious likes this.
  8. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    If only they would, man. But unfortunately, that's not going to happen. The ME3 project is wrapped and done as far as they're concerned, the trilogy pack released and to be accepted "as is". And all because they had to rush this game and couldn't be bothered to check how well such a pi$$ poor story and conclusion would be received prior to launching the bloody thing.
     
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  9. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Personally, I snicker each time I read this one part from Part 30: The Protege:
    "[Saren] did not hesitate. The greater good demanded a sacrifice... He chose to listen. The promises of peace, of a future... the green lie offers so much."
    I don't know if that's commentary on a certain thing, but you gotta admit... :p

    In other news, I was checking out some of the MP stuff, and it looks like they added some more things.

    First, instead of one character, they released three today, probably because they're going on winter break. The characters in question are: 1) Volus Protector (Vanguard), 2) Batarian Slasher (Adept), and 3) the one a lot of people have been waiting for, Drell Assassin (Infiltrator).

    Second, all of the six Hazard maps are now available.

    Third, two new packs are available in the store: Reserves Pack and Arsenal Pack. The Reserves Pack gives you a higher chance of scoring character cards, while the Arsenal Pack does the same thing with weapons. Both cost 99,000 credits, or the same as a Premium Spectre Pack.

    Finally, I guess for the holiday season some of the objectives have been replaced by presents (just like the Jack-O-Lanterns around Halloween). Looks like we gotta save Christmas from the Reapers! They ain't taking these gifts from the children they've orphaned! [face_flag]
     
  10. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    I prefer to be the one dishing out the presents - I'm halfway through Feros on my ME1 adept playthrough and the 50% XP handicap for using the Mako is annoying. If you're going to penalize me for using a BFG, why must you tempt me by having five unsuspecting bad guys standing in parade-ground formation half a klick away, where one shot can send them all flying like smoldering rag dolls? [face_devil]

    The other funny thing is I'm wondering how my renegade points will turn out - I'm trying to make this Shep a jerk without killing off too many ME2/3 characters and assets. For instance, I'm probably going to save all those blasted Feros colonists again. The funny thing is, sometimes I get fewer points for blowing people away than I do for threatening to do it ... odd moral grading system there. I did blast "Father Kyle" and all his little followers though.
     
  11. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    My ME 2 run as Female/Vanguard/Renegade has taken an interesting turn. I've gotten to full-bar Renegade, so I actually went in for some character development: I started to go for Paragon options ahead of the Reaper IFF mission, starting with her discovery of what Cerberus did to Veetor, during the Tali loyalty mission. I sort of headcanoned it that this was a bridge too far for my Renegade Shepard, that it's the first chipping away of her previous front. I've followed that up with Paragon'ing the Overlord DLC and through the Reaper IFF. (The Reaper IFF was the first time I used the Cain, too. That ended the Reaper Mass Effect Core battle nice and smart!)

    I also shifted to romance Garrus around this same time, figuring it's a chance for my hard-bitten female Shepard to open up and take the risk of caring about others. (I also got the "pop the heat sink" conversation for the first time, which almost had me snort my coffee out my nose.)

    It's been cool. I'm really enjoying this aspect of the character development. The bridges she's burned over time make it that much sweeter a character experience (and, people, you were right - Jennifer Hale's performance is outrageously good.)
     
  12. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    I did something similar with my femShep/infiltrator; in ME1 she was mostly a ***** on wheels and then started mellowing in ME2. That was also the playthrough I had her romance Garrus, which I personally think is the best-done relationship in the series. Mostly the logic I went with on her is that she's loyal to her crew and gives a damn about them; get in her way though and you'll find yourself looking up the barrel of a big sniper rifle. For instance she let Tali take Veetor and consistently gave the Illusive Man crap through ME2.
     
  13. Ichor_Razor

    Ichor_Razor Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 6, 2004
    Just beat the first ME a few hours ago. Nice to know you can import your decisions from it to 2 via a patch for 2.
     
  14. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Still slogging through 1 at present ... mopping up a few post-Feros sidequests before tackling Noveria. Had the "catfight" between Ash and Liara since my ***hole dudeShep adept was hitting on both of them. How in the hell did I not collect major renegade points for suggesting a threesome there? I only got 2, and that was probably for cutting off the council for the second time. Would have loved to see Ash boot Shep in the cojones for that one.
     
  15. GenAntilles

    GenAntilles Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2007
    You know after playing through the Leviathan DLC and seeing the purple lights on the Reaper when Leviathan 'assumed direct control' and suicided it, I honestly don't understand why Bioware didn't use that as an out for their ending controversy and have a 'purple ending' where Shepard uses the Crucible to return the Reapers to Leviathan's control. It still would have the 'victory at a price' angle as Shepard has know given the Reapers into the control of a race of aliens who view all life as simply thralls to pay tribute to them. But Shepard and friends would still be alive so fans could have their 'happy ending' and just assume Shepard would eventually beat the Leviathans later. Or heck Bioware would have the plot for ME4 right there.

    I mean Shepard discovers a race of beings who are essentially Cthulus and all they offer is some war assets. Leviathan was to big a concept to just discard after the DLC, they should have had more of an impact on the story.


    That said I'm currently doing a playthrough with a female paragon Shepard with a Garrus romance. Wreave is the leader of the Krogans and I want to get Salarian support too. So sadly I'm going to have to kill Mordin. Which will help explain why my Shepard is so close to a nervous breakdown the entire game. I think I'll go synthesis for the ending as my Shepard will probably be so wracked with guilt over Mordin and everything else she's sacrificed(I'm making all the choices that help the war effort, cruel or not) that the idea of dying and making the galaxy a utopia will be a way for her to try and atone.


    Also I'm a bit disappointed how in ME3 my Shepard is less my Shepard and more of he/r own character. I mean after Thesia when Joker gives his joke about the Asari wishing they had less strippers and more commandos my Shepard from ME1 would've known he was just trying to lighten the mood and help my Shepard cope instead of jumping down his throat for being insensitive. I just felt that whole moment took me out of the game as it wasn't my Shepard there, it was the games Shepard.
     
  16. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Well, as I understand you don't have to kill Mordin provided you erased Maelon's data in ME2. That results in Eve dying, and without her to counterbalance Wreav Mordin can be convinced that Wreav would go on the rampage with the genophage cured.

    As far as Shep snapping at Joker, I kind of liked that actually. You get to see your character, the one who makes incredibly difficult choices from the calm detachment of a gamer sitting in front of a screen, crack a bit. It reminds me of part of James Cobb's Amanda Garrett series where the heroine snaps and her smart-ass intel officer comments, "It's like God getting a migraine." From my point of view, seeing one of my Sheps turn into his/her own character rather than my own personal Gary Stu/Mary Sue is where the fun begins.
     
  17. GenAntilles

    GenAntilles Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Yeah but I have the Maelon data. :(

    I can certainly understand why some would like it. Shepard is certainly more of a well rounded character in ME3 than in the previous games, actually Shepard is more of an actual character than in the previous games. In ME1 Shepard was basically just a conduit for the player to react to things. But in these types of games I like having more dialogue options, I still prefer Dragon Age's dialogue system with 3-6 options to Dragon Age 2's nice, funny, mean system.

    I mean I'm all for having a dialogue option where Shepard reacts exactly how s/he did. I just would also like one where Shepard can just give an understanding 'too soon' and leave it at that, or even one where Shepard joins in on it. If Shepard is going to be a character I just want to be able to make Shepard the character I want. ME3 had too many moments where Shepard spoke without me doing anything, sure it helps keep the pacing and drama up but still... I feel like I'm not really deciding who my Shepard is as a character.

    It's not a huge deal though, still a great game, just a little disappointed.

    Honestly the ending doesn't bother me much anymore since Control pretty much gives the perfect ending. The Reapers are nice, everyone lives, Shepard becomes a god. And if EDI can get her own body to personally interact there is no reason Shepard won't eventually do that to, so I'm satisfied.

    Also just some questions I've been wondering. If the Catalyst is one the Citadel and controls the Reapers... and by the Catalysts own admission the Reapers have no real desire to harvest organics other than the Catalyst directing them to do it... what would happen if they just blew up the Citadel? No Catalyst means the Reapers no longer have a reason to continue the harvests, wouldn't they just stop?

    Also according to Leviathan each cycle ends with the birth of a Reaper. The first cycle ended with Harbinger. So... the next cycle Harbinger harvested everyone by himself? I mean if they only get one Reaper each cycle I would imagine the first few hundred cycles were pretty close run things.
     
  18. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Just wanted to do a little QFT. Even I, as a male gamer, with a gamer crush on Tali, would say that the Garrus/FemShep romance is one of, if not the best, written in the series. Heck, he was the first female romance I did with my FemShep (it was going to be Kaidan back in ME1, but then Virmire happened... and yeah... oops).


    I think going through ME3 the first time, that was the moment I was kinda taken out of the game. I personally got a little chuckle out of Joker's remark (in that dark comedy sort of way). So it seemed weird to me, in a game that is supposed to be a *Role Playing* Game, that my only responses were... get angry and... get angry? Huh? I mean, I'm not against a response to Joker pretty much being "Dude, not funny," or what's there now, but there should have been the option for... probably not a full on belly laugh, but a light chuckle/snort followed by a dry "Yeah, but don't tell that to Liara." Just my $0.02 on that specific scene.
     
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  19. GenAntilles

    GenAntilles Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2007

    Yeah the Garrus/FemShep romance was very well done.

    And I agree with you completely about the dialogue issue.
     
  20. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Garrus has to be the best NPC in the series, hands-down. I think that has a lot to do with it. If you're a guy, he's the ultimate wingman (so much so that he gets a girl of his own should you not hook up with Tali). If you're a gal, he manages to be both a smooth operator and amusingly awkward at the same time. If you're a guy playing a femShep, well we've all been there. With the other romances I think it mostly comes down to personal taste. Former JC poster Friend_of_Skylark (the madwoman who nagged me to get into ME in the first place) and I often debate over Liara for instance - she's more interesting in ME2 and 3 by far, but in ME1 that monotone and the overall "quiet damsel" personality was underwhelming for me. Ash on the other hand dovetailed with my real-life penchant (healthy or not) for tomboys with somewhat sawed-off attitudes.

    As far as the dialogue issue ... it's not just that exchange you'd have to alter; you'd have to redo some of the other conversations you have with the Asari councilor and Anderson. Shep just got pwned (regardless of the fact that usually you beat Kai Leng like a rented gong before the cutscene 180s the situation) and as a result the war might be lost. At the very least, Commander Shepard rode in to save the day for Thessia and the day was not saved. Unless you rework those cutscenes, the whole point of that exchange is to emphasize that Shep just got beat and isn't too chipper about it.
     
  21. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    (1) Doing the ME4 RPG I am over in the RPF I've had to do some thinking on the 'Control' ending (well, since one of my threads hangs on the proposition) and I'm growing ever-uneasier at the prospect, even now. There seems to be a weird atmosphere of foreboding hanging over that thread. Remember that what comes along after Shepard is reinserted into the Matrix assimilated becomes a Reaper put in Control isn't Shepard, any more than Legion's personality survives if you allow him to upload. It's a new intelligence with Shepard's principles guiding it. But even that leaves a lot of questions. Take, for example, anyone who's indoctrinated or fitted up with Reaper tech. Do they die? Do they get their individuality back? Do they become tools for the Reaper God much as they were tools for Harbinger? For example, Mordin's "diagnosis" of the Collectors is that they're no more Protheans than husks are humans - so do they all die out, or what? Shepard's job is to protect and give "voices to those who have none". That does not necessarily equate to human compassion or human thinking, even if those principles drive it. Anyway...

    (2) If the Citadel blows up I think that locks the Reapers in to continue endlessly. As I've said elsewhere, I think they're on a sort-of endless programmed loop: harvest, retreat, wait until the mass relays are used again, then attack, goto line 10. The destruction of the Citadel makes their job a bit harder in that they have to smash the galaxy's races a piece at a time, but it doesn't change their imperative.

    (3) I think it's impossible that the first cycle ended with Harbinger. IIRC the Leviathan had been noting the destruction of their thrall civilisations due to AI rebellion for a long time before they came up with the idea of the Reapers. What's more likely is that the Leviathan authorised their AIs to build a decent-sized Reaper fleet which then rebelled, harvested the Leviathan and everyone else, then built Harbinger, thus ending the first cycle. Anything else necessitates Harbinger taking on the entire Leviathan species by himself, which is a bit ludicrous when you see how easily they can take out a Sovereign-class Reaper all on their own from half a planet away.

    Also: odd as it may sound, I've finally got a copy of ME 3 for the PS3. So: can I have a list of recommendations for DLC priority (other than EC and From Ashes, of course - they're both part of the main game, I have to DL them or the game doesn't work properly :p :p :p )
     
  22. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Regarding the Catalyst, the Citadel, and the Reapers; I'd say it's likely the Catalyst/Citadel is not linked up to the Reapers - otherwise, why bother with the creation of the Keepers to trigger its use or the need to have Sovereign manually activate it? More likely as Saintheart said the Reapers are on an auto-execute sequence while the Catalyst sits back and watches, accumulating data to serve its original purpose. According to Leviathan, the mass relay system wasn't created until later to speed the cycle turnover for "greatest efficiency" - i.e. the Caspalyst got bored waiting for civilizations to hit the harvest point and set up a mechanism where it would happen like clockwork every 50k years or so.

    That may explain how the Reapers were able to prevail in the first cycles - the mass relay system wasn't in place and presumably the whole "conveniently available and easily assimilated alien tech" trope wasn't there. Civilizations had no mass effect tech and no advanced weapons systems that could take out a Reaper. The Leviathans were probably annihilated not by Reapers themselves, but by their own thrall races being turned against them by the Catalyst. They might not have had mass effect tech, but they did presumably have lethal AI platforms and presumably other destructive weaponry; given how Leviathans seemed to rely on their thrall races they might have been largely helpless. Likewise, until the mass relay system was in place, galactic civilizations were probably not anywhere near as advanced or widespread as the Protheans or the Council races. Harbinger and a decent-sized fleet of destroyer-class Reapers might have been plenty enough to crush the first major post-Leviathan civilization.

    As far as DLC suggestions, it depends on your priorities. Leviathan probably carries the most weight in connection with the main plot, while Omega is more of a straightforward shoot-em-up. If you're lukewarm on those, maybe get the two DLC weapon packs - if I get bored running my adept through ME2 (just beat ME1 with him), I'll switch to my ME3 soldier for the sheer dakka of shredding Cerberus goons with an N7 Typhoon.
     
  23. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    I'll take it on notice. In other news, I finished ME 2 with my Female/Vanguard/Renegade Shep. Garrus romance was carried through to the end. Has at least as much impact emotionally as the Shepard/Miranda romance, and it's rather well done. Mordin's "medical advice" was funny as hell on that - chafing. Also, suggest you ... not ingest.

    Suicide Mission was still a bit tricky. Lost half the crew, mainly because I did Legion's loyalty mission at a point other than right when he asked me.

    Did a lot less charging than I'd expected, mainly because of the nature of the levels - on the other hand, I had Samara and Miranda along for most of it, so it was Area Reave/Reave/Unstable Warp for maximum explodey goodness most of the time. Squad Cryo Ammo, Inferno Ammo for my Scimitar, and away we went. Taking out that Human-Reaper was slower than I'd been with a Soldier (no sniper rifle, I wound up using the Particle Beam throughout). I ran out of heavy ammo, and wound up literally double-tapping the thing right in the chest with my handgun at the end. Very satisfying. Only down note was that I was hoping to access that "I'm sorry, I'm getting a lot of bull**** on this line" conversation, but missed it. :(

    Yep, I'm a convert to the Vanguard class ... although my Paragon/Soldier/Male Shep has been waiting a while for upgrade to ME 3, so I'll go with him first since he's in the ideal spot I wanted him to be.
     
  24. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Yep, Charge isn't quite as useful during the latter segments of the Suicide Mission, although on the first section it's an option. Shockwave saves your tail during the "Long Walk:" because of all the husks; if I don't have it myself I make sure Jack is in the squad. I did the "double tap" once as a soldier to finish off the final boss; that was after I'd chewed almost half it's armor off with an M-76 Revenant and then punched it with a Cain shot.

    Wait until ME3 when you get Nova for the vanguard, plus the expanded options for combo detonations and the ability to supercharge your power cooldowns with the weight system. The vanguard turns into an absolute terror.
     
  25. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    I'll second that (and this is coming from the guy who mostly plays Infiltrators and Soldiers). While there's a lot I can gripe about with ME3, Vanguard is not one of them. Charge/Nova (or even Charge/Heavy Melee) can be a beast. Charge now recharges your barriers, and while Nova uses barriers, the enemies around you are usually stunned long enough for you to Charge again. Best times I've had with a Vanguard was the one I took through ME3 at Cerberus HQ (Charge + Heavy Melee against the Cereal Ninja was hilarious. [face_devil] ), and MP with a melee Krogan Vanguard.