Mass Effect 3

Mirage from what I've been reading about this cluster**** going back and getting all the things right in ME2 isn't going to get you enough score to get you the best ending. You have to grind multiplayer.
 
Mirage from what I've been reading about this cluster**** going back and getting all the things right in ME2 isn't going to get you enough score to get you the best ending. You have to grind multiplayer.

Yeah, I know getting the "preferred" ending in ME2 won't help vastly in ME3, and the devs did confirm that one can acquire the amount of War Assets needed, converted into Effective Military Strength, by simply finding them in the single-player campaign. I thought New Game + carried over your assets, suppose I was wrong.
 
I posted this in chat, but I'll do it again here and elaborate some more.

My biggest complaint with Mass Effect 3: side-quests. Seriously. What the **** was Bioware thinking. I'm aiming to get just about everything done in ME3, but it is a ****ing strain when you are unable to find anything. It seriously boils down to running around the Citadel every couple of priority missions for half an hour. "Some random **** that you don't remember needs ore for some transport thingy and he's at some location in the Presidium that he wasn't before, but that doesn't matter because we guarantee you won't remember him anyway!"

Now, sure, it'd be easier to just read your journal and pick out the details about the location of the NPC you need to give information or supplies to, right? But, there are like 100 of these NPCs around the Citadel. I can see Bioware's intent to add side-quests in order to add to the game, but this is just chore work. It is completely uninteresting and quite literally the same exact thing every time. So, instead of going through your journal, it's much easier and simple to just to take laps around the Citadel until you've completed all of the current side-quests whilst picking up a batch of more.

Basically, if you want to complete 100% of the game, be prepared to run through every ****ing floor of the Citadel at least 10 times.
Once you figure out that the Map highlights people you need to go to to complete sidequests, that becomes a lot less annoying. But it's still a rubbish system for sidequests, I agree.
 
I'm in shock about the reaction to this game, really. I came away from it absolutely astounded about how good the ending felt ... it felt right, powerful and beautifully tragic. And then I lift myself from the Mass Effect 3 media blackout I had myself under to avoid spoilers, and find people on the Bioware Social Network absolutely going out of their heads screaming about wanting the ending changed. They're going nuts over there.

The ending was fantastic, for me. Sheperd making the ultimate sacrifice was always how it had to go down, but the way they did it wasn't something I saw coming. The Stargazer made perfect sense to me, so I'm not sure what people's issue with him was; we were told earlier in the game that there was evidence the Reapers weren't the ones who initiated the cycle ... now we know who it was and why they did it, if not much about them. Sure, there's a couple of plotholes regarding the destruction of the mass relays and why the Normandy was in the middle of a jump when the shockwave hit, but I don't even care that much. That haunting soundtrack, the flashes of Joker and Ashley as Sheperd died ... it was moving.

I was slightly disappointed that TIM turned out to be doing what he was simply because he had been Indoctrinated, to be honest. I thought it would be fantastic if he turned out to be a Breen-esque figure, who genuinely believed he was doing the right thing for the future of the human race.

I think people are more just annoyed that they can't get a "good" ending. To have it all end like it did makes them feel like it was all for nothing. But ironically, that's what made the ending of Mass Effect 2 disappointing for me; to go on a suicide mission and easily come back with everyone alive was an anti-climax. In the end, not having the choice to just kick arse or hit a QTE and make it all better is just how this has to be. Mass Effect has spoilt it's fans by giving it utter control over everybody and everything ... this last installment changed that.
 
I think if EMS is high enough, Shepherd is shown in a short clip as having survived. Also, the mass relays aren’t always destroyed, depending on which ending you get (EMS does factor in).
 
As far as I know, the Mass Relays are always destroyed, and I heard Shepard survives on the Destroy ending with over 4000 EMS. Still a bullshit ending, regardless of where you see Shepard breathe in or not.

I got the clip, and it doesn't improve anything, since its surrounded entirely by bullshit scenes.
 
I think you are correct on the mass relays, should have fact checked, went off what someone else claimed. But, according to IGN, depending on your EMS, Earth can be saved, instead of "saved but devastated." I think this is possible for both the control and destroy endings.
 
I think you are correct on the mass relays, should have fact checked, went off what someone else claimed. But, according to IGN, depending on your EMS, Earth can be saved, instead of "saved but devastated." I think this is possible for both the control and destroy endings.
Indeed, if your score is particularly low, then a wave of firey death covers the entirety of Earth, basically wiping out all life. In addition to the mass relays being destroyed. Actually, now I come to think of it, that ending makes a lot more sense when it comes to the Normandy being in jumpspace ... they would be running from the devastation.
 
Currently level 30 and only 2 hrs in after porting my character over. I keep hearing the ending sucks but hopefully some DLC will change that. I love the multiplayer though. This game is going to pull me away from Skyrim for the most part
 
Might as well post this here too:

I haven't beaten the game yet but I've read/seen parts of it enough to come to this theory:

The 'best' ending is the red colored one. Why? The whole scene was attempted indoctrination. The other two choices are colored non-red because they want you to pick them, but then you don't get the best ending (shep being alive), because you're indoctrinated/dead. THE COLOR CODES ARE A LIE. THE CHILD IS A MIND REAPER (well, the reaper taking advantage of something fragile in your mind, the child).

This method of ending the game right now, seems to have been something that you cannot simply interpret without thought. Which explains why the majority don't get it or are angry as hell since it doesn't make sense to them. Assuming I'm correct in any way of course.
 
Shame that we don't see what Tali looks like, but she was kind enough to leave a photo of her ancestor in my cabin
 
Shame that we don't see what Tali looks like, but she was kind enough to leave a photo of her ancestor in my cabin
I thought it was a picture of her without the mask?

Oh, and:

Tali.jpg
 
Might as well post this here too:

I haven't beaten the game yet but I've read/seen parts of it enough to come to this theory:

The 'best' ending is the red colored one. Why? The whole scene was attempted indoctrination. The other two choices are colored non-red because they want you to pick them, but then you don't get the best ending (shep being alive), because you're indoctrinated/dead. THE COLOR CODES ARE A LIE. THE CHILD IS A MIND REAPER (well, the reaper taking advantage of something fragile in your mind, the child).

This method of ending the game right now, seems to have been something that you cannot simply interpret without thought. Which explains why the majority don't get it or are angry as hell since it doesn't make sense to them. Assuming I'm correct in any way of course.
It utterly baffles me that people are raging against the ending not making sense and is Deus Ex Machina or whatever ... so their solution is to come up with an "Indoctrination" theory which absolutely makes no effing sense whatsoever and is completely logically inconsistent with everything that's come up to that point.
 
I thought it was a picture of her without the mask?

Oh, and:

Tali.jpg
I wasn't expecting that, I would of thought its a relative of somebody who works at Bioware

The thing is I don't think its Tali though, as the woman in that pic is exposed in a biological environment suggesting it was a Quarian before the Exodus, when their immune system wasn't too shit
 
Or maybe an intern just shat that out at the last minute so he could get back to running coffee to the guys working overtime to get the DLC out on day one.
 
Only just started the series and haven't really read anything about the ending of ME3, but the overall feeling about the content of the ending I have had makes me think that it is probably the right one for the series.

But the people that are going around saying that Bioware need to go and change the ending? Get lost I say, the developers decided to end the story in the manner that plays out, they should respect how it has turned out.


Anyway, I think this is a great opening for a review and really captures everything I know about the series.

The first choice for me was one of great importance. It could mean the difference between life and death, the destruction of a whole civilisation or the lives of my crew members. At least that’s how important it felt. The decision of course was whether I wanted to keep the original Shepard on the front cover of my Mass Effect 3 box or flip over to the rather sleek looking reversible FemShep cover on the other side. I may come across a bit of stick for this but I changed to the FemShep cover, I didn’t think I would but until I saw it with my own eyes I had all but dismissed how anyone could even look at her. And that’s the essence of Mass Effect really. You may have watched your friend play or seen video footage of the game but until you play and make the decisions for yourself and deal with the consequences in your own way you will never really have experienced what the game is all about and it will hold no personal meaning to you.

That review in full.
 
I think if I ever bother with Mass Effect I think I may just play the first one and leave it at that. Also, is the male Shepard voice acting really that much worse than the female? I remember when ME2 came out people saying they only played female just for the better acting.
 
I don't mind the ending because my shepard had a plan. The one thing that I had problems with is the continuity error at the end.

In my ideal ending, my Shepard died whilst taking control of the reapers and the Mass Relays were destroyed. Instead of being marooned on a distant planet, the Normandy got caught in the initial blast wave and made a crashlanding somewhere on Earth. The only people to emerge from the wreck is Joker and the rest of the Crew (To correct a continuity flaw your squad is in fact still in London).
 
I think if I ever bother with Mass Effect I think I may just play the first one and leave it at that. Also, is the male Shepard voice acting really that much worse than the female? I remember when ME2 came out people saying they only played female just for the better acting.

After the opening sequence of ME1, I preferred the voice acting of FemShep, forgotten the name of the voice artist. But I know there are some who preferred ManShep.
 
Completed it today. The game as a whole is great - I really enjoyed my journey through the galaxy and the interactions with characters new and old (though I'd have traded away James for any of my old crew in a heartbeat). Huge battles, sacrifices and whatnot. All very enjoyable.

But damn the ending... It feels like a slap in the face to everything Mass Effect was about for me. It, to me was non-sensical, rushed and forced. All the talk through all three games of making the sacrifices and choices count for something and in the end they all meant nothing. Nothing what so ever. In every single one of those endings you've doomed everyone who followed you to Earth and many more besides. You utterly disintegrate the whole of the society you've fought so hard to preserve. Ideas of tolerance, questions of what it means to be alive, all of it, all thrown away in a few short minuites where you're robbed of Mass Effect's defining characteristic - choice. There is no choice, there is no real difference in the endings. The plot holes that spring up. That bizzare "story within a story" post credits sequence. Seriously, what the hell?

Also, dream sequences. Really really disliked the dream sequences.
 
Blame it on Bioware being shit at writing anything. They rewrote most of the game including the endings several months before release just because of the leak. They actually had a semi-good ending before rewriting it. But you know how it goes. Bioware cannot into intelligent decisions.

overall I'm beginning to enjoy ME3 a bit. Multiplayer is fun too. Though I'm starting my Hardcore run full of wasted time over, abandoning this save and completing the ps3 version of ME2 so I can have Wrex and others not be dead in 3.
 
I'm enjoying the multiplayer also, though having gone through an SP playthrough I've gotten horribly sloppy with the sniper rifle, so I need to get my eye back in.
 
Bioware stopped being good writers at the beginning of Neverwinter Nights development, imo.
 
I enjoyed being the son of Bhall. =(
 
Bioware stopped being good writers at the beginning of Neverwinter Nights development, imo.

I found Jade Empire to be fairly decent in that regard, it did have a significant amount of pointless exposition, though. I honestly felt it to be more enthralling than the Mass Effect games.

Mass Effect seemed to be focused on decision making rather than maintaining a balance between that and depth in-between those decisions. Most of the time, the forks in the road weren't even that interesting.
 
Am I the only one who noticed the apparent lack of "Dragon's Teeth" throughout the game?
Also why was the ability to call an aerial bombardment touted as a feature, when it is used in a very small segment of the game
 
Am I the only one who noticed the apparent lack of "Dragon's Teeth" throughout the game?
Also why was the ability to call an aerial bombardment touted as a feature, when it is used in a very small segment of the game
Tons of Husks and no Teeth. Didn't notice that until you mentioned it. Maybe they found a better way? Or Bioware just forgot. Who knows.
 
Haven't finished it yet, but I'm really enjoying this.

I was completely hooked when I first played the original Mass Effect, couldn't stop playing it until I was finished - although after I was done with it I thought it could have been a whole lot better.

Mass Effect 2 I thought was a complete pile of arse. The plot is both retarded and practically non-existent and adds nothing to the overall story. In fact you could remove it altogether and, character stories aside, the plot of the "trilogy" would actually make more sense. The whole thing was so damn contrived also. Yay, *another* new character with dreadfully written daddy issues we have to go and sort out before doing stuff of importance. By going through yet another series of linear corridors shooting stuff and then talking for a bit. I have no idea why that game gets so much praise.

So I wasn't expecting much from Mass Effect 3. As it happens though, the writing is a lot better than either game beforehand, the plot is on par with the first although told, I think, in a much more gripping way, and it's actually a pretty good shooter now too. The gameplay mechanics are far superior to the other two games. And the graphics are actually pretty good too on PC which I wasn't expecting.

It feels like it's written for adults, not teenagers (same can't be said of ME2). When I finish it I think I'll go back and play it through again straight away. Not something I've done with either of the other games. So far I'd say it's the second best game I've played in the past year - behind DX:HR.
 
Creator of this comic: "herp derp i can't distinguish between separate online aliases and treat the internet as a single human"
Creator of this comic: "herp derp i can't distinguish between separate online aliases and treat the internet as a single human"


Casey Hudson, the executive producer of Mass Effect 3, responded yesterday to the boiling-over outrage of longtime fans of the series disappointed in the game's conclusion.
Hudson's full statement is free of spoilers, so worry not about that. In short, it sounds like he is promising extensions to the story, through DLC, that offer outcomes more palatable than the one in the main game that has people in such a lather.
"We also recognize that some of our most passionate fans needed more closure, more answers, and more time to say goodbye to their stories-and these comments are equally valid," Hudson said. "Player feedback such as this has always been an essential ingredient in the development of the series."
Significantly, Hudson adds that "over the course of the series, Mass Effect has been a shared experience between the development team and our fans-not just a shared experience in playing the games, but in designing and developing them."

http://kotaku.com/5894186/mass-effe...listening-and-new-content-that-brings-closure
 
I'm torn about an hour or so in.

COmbat feels so much better, and Im playing a soldier for the first time, which feels different too.

But god, the textures on the PC are killing me. Theyre just...so bad it hurts. The skin and faces are relatively great, but the clothing and armour are just genuinely-laugh-out-loud terrible. Who at Bioware playtested the PC version and went ''yeah, this looks great.''

Christ. Surely a super quick patch could sort out the low res textures. Bump them to 2000 or something atleast.

***king CONSOLES! God what a way to ruin an industry.
 
The rage in the Bioware forums was great. I think whatever comes of Bio/EA's response to this is going to be something to see. Sure we know VALVE listens to the fans responses (to a reasonable degree), but EA? That'll be the day! Then again they speak money which the fans have clearly shown they are capable of speaking too. All that had to happen was about 10 minutes of material at the end of one of their biggest productions :getout:
 
If I could sum up Mass Effect 3's failings in one word, that word would probably be "anime".

Even despite the way the justification for the Reapers is brushed over without making a blind bit of sense, the most grating thing for me in this game was the cyborg ninja cliche. I think I'd pay Bioware Points just to have a renegade interrupt wherein you point out what a preening douchebag prick the guy is and see a single tear roll down his sad little cheeks.
 
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