[Beulah Bell]

Welcome to the new Mass Effect thread, with the imminent release of ME3 we expect a lot of posts to begin filling this thread. Lately a lot of the posts have concerned Bioware and their policy on Day 1 DLC. Or even EA. This isn't the thread to critique them. There is however a Bioware thread where you can go and discuss that matter. It would be appreciate by fans of Mass Effect and the moderators if you can keep the topics separate of each other. To this end I've added a link to the Bioware thread where you can feel free to critique them to your hearts content. This also includes other things such as their limited collectors edition policy and any other thing you can think of. Thank you in advance.

With spoilers soon to be rampant make sure to put them in a spoiler to not ruin the game for people. The spoiler tags can be used like so [spoiler r] and the matching tag would be [ / spoiler] with no spaces an dremoving the extra r in the first tag. Below is an example spoiler.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Thread Rules:

• This is an ongoing topic for discussion about Mass Effect series, so keep the discussion on the games.
  
• It is understandable if you don't like Mass Effect games. We have no problem with you sharing this, but this is an ongoing topic. As such, it is primarily based on the positive aspects of the games, so if you don't like them don't post.
  
• This is an ongoing discussion and some people don't like Mass Effect games. If you try to provoke them it is just as bad. If you do disagree with someone, please don't drag it into a fight. This topic is primarily for what we like about the games and our ongoing experiences.
  
• Respect forum rules. If you are unclear review them here.
  
• Respect for other forum members is perhaps the most important. We all have opinions and we are all human beings. Treat each other with respect.

http://masseffect.bioware.com/

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_Wiki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCXHzbEDK5E&feature=related

Bioware Critique Thread.

Previous threads: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1073436 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1073826 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1074494 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1075138 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1075497 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1075916 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1076411 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1076897 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1077734 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1078265 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1079090 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1079854 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1080626 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1081545 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1082029 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1082910 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1084127 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1084986 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1085395 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1085841 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1086200 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1086630 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1087738 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1088382 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1088920 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1090105 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1093323 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1097121 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1100627 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1107191 | http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1142182 | 54 | 56 | http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1356887-mass-effect-thread-58/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZGFjBmD41Q

[Abel Vazquez]

So I'm at an impasse: What are the Ramifications for my decision with the Justicar Loyalty mission from ME2 to ME3? I don't mind spoilers for this btw.

[Lucie H]

No knows where the Hahne-Kedar guantlets are?

[Angela Woods]

Okay. So my friend fixed his problem. I ran over and we had a go at the first two missions. These are my first impressions:

Spoiler

Ashley's briasts are huge. What happened there?
Slight graphical improvements.
Animations are actually worse; I don't know how they managed that.
Dialogue is . Liara has been the saving grace. She's incredibly likeable and doesn't say trite/hokey/melodramatic/dumb things. She's also got a good voice actor.
The space bar. AARGH THE SPACEBAR! It's like Shephard's been rolling in glue. Stop sticking to every surface!
Ooh Mars.
Why does TIM look younger?
Vega's okay. He feels a bit like some marketing person was trying to come up with a way to make ME more popular, and thought, Jersey Shore! but apart from that, he's not a bad character. (So far.) He's cliche, sure, but my expectations on this front are low.
Why are there so many cutscenes? Oh god, not another cutscene. How long does this carry on? Another cutscene? Would you let me save or at least play at some point?
Oh, good, upgrades and levelling. Glad it's a bit more meaty on this front. The weapon UI's a bit confusing, though.
WAVES. WHY? DID YOU NOT LEARN YOUR LESSON FROM DA2, BIOWARE?

It feels rather... insubstantial. Lighter than ME2, even, despite them putting a bit of RPG back into the game. There are too many places where it removes all control from you. I feel like all I'm doing is pressing buttons in order to get to a movie clip.

Still, there's a long way to go, and I'm keeping an open mind. Maybe things open up and improve from here on out.

[Kirsty Wood]

Well... couple things. The scene with Garrus and the shooting contest was pure gold.

I don't love Vega, but I don't loathe him either. He's a classic "lunkhead", but actually pretty smart. I've taken him on a few missions and his commentary is pretty good. His trash talk with Garrus was mildly amusing, but the scene with him and Jarvik was made me laugh.

I do kind of like that the crew can occasionally be found doing other things on the ship, like they actually move around. I've wandered into Kaidan in the crew quarters, in one of the other rooms, playing poker with Vega.

The vanguard is a blast - vanguard charge then nova. Boom!

I did the Rannoch Missions, including the priority one. And I'll admit it, the game **Major Spoilers**

Spoiler

made me cry. ;It felt definitely epic, fighting the reaper (which took me a few tries before I found a rhythm fighting the reaper.) But the end, having enough paragon to get me the ending I really wanted, but losing Legion just as he found his individuality, and Tali's answer to the question the first Geth asked, about having a soul, I started to cry.  That three missions on Rannoch were all really good, but closing the Geth/Quarian story may be one of the highlights of the series for me. I should mention that I really liked Legion and was bummed you couldn't get him earlier, in ME2

[Kim Kay]

No knows where the Hahne-Kedar guantlets are?

There is NO set place for them. they are listed as "random" location in the 3 places I just looked at when I went on Google.

[Joey Bel]

So Bioware makes the lesser RPGs to Looking Glass's yet LGS is the company that is not successful. I blame YOU, consumers!

[josie treuberg]

So Bioware makes the lesser RPGs to Looking Glass's yet LGS is the company that is not successful. I blame YOU, consumers!

what exactly is the point you're trying to bring up here? Woo-hoo they made Thief and System Shock. They were good for their time, but where are they now?

[Flesh Tunnel]

So Bioware makes the lesser RPGs to Looking Glass's yet LGS is the company that is not successful. I blame YOU, consumers!

Yes, yes. But this is a thread to discuss ME3, so please don't make posts just to derail.

Back on topic; I had always been idly wondering what would happen if the Reaper Awareness bar filled out entirely. Well, I got startled in Hades Nexus, ONE scan and the bar filled up immediately - I was all "Oh! [censored]!" and the sound made me jump in my seat.

[Anthony Diaz]

Yes, yes. But this is a thread to discuss ME3, so please don't make posts just to derail.

Back on topic; I had always been idly wondering what would happen if the Reaper Awareness bar filled out entirely. Well, I got startled in Hades Nexus, ONE scan and the bar filled up immediately - I was all "Oh! [censored]!" and the sound made me jump in my seat.

What exactly is the point of doing a scan? Can't you just go into the planet's orbit and do the typical scanning, or is there something I'm missing?

[Mel E]

what exactly is the point you're trying to bring up here? Woo-hoo they made Thief and System Shock. They were good for their time, but where are they now?

That's a pretty vaild point. anyways, so I finally got to play ME3, I rented it for my Ps3 as I can't afford to buy it currently. (All my save files on my Xbox 360 and it's broken.) It's been good so far, but oh god.

Spoiler

I swear if I see another [censored] cutscene...
Oof makes this arguement better then me.
Ash's boobs got big, I'm still pondering what happened there.
I recently got Garrus, so I'm kicking ass and chewing bubble gum with him. (Favorite character ever. btw.)
Overall though the game is good, more dialogue choices would be nice, [censored] cutscenes are killing me though.
Oof makes most of the points I wanted to make.

[Leonie Connor]

What exactly is the point of doing a scan? Can't you just go into the planet's orbit and do the typical scanning, or is there something I'm missing?

You have to do scans in the system to "find" where stuff is. Then you can land and scan. (Or you can Investigate objects in space.... which are almost always some free fuel.)

-------
As for filling up the Awareness bar.... you're already up to/past Rannoch, and just got a filled bar? Heck, I was getting found by the Reapers all the time! Got plenty of practice running away from them while still trying to grab things I'd found.

(And I still didn't manage to 100% all the systems. Most of them, but not all. Of course, I think that most of what I missed was fuel. But I'm sure I missed some real things, too.)

-----
What's wrong with cutscenes? That's where the story is.... (of course, the cutscenes don't seem very long or common to me. But, then, I've played plenty of JRPGs. Like the Xenosaga games, one of the largest concentrations of cutscenes in existance. )

[Jennifer Munroe]

Well... couple things. The scene with Garrus and the shooting contest was pure gold.

I don't love Vega, but I don't loathe him either. He's a classic "lunkhead", but actually pretty smart. I've taken him on a few missions and his commentary is pretty good. His trash talk with Garrus was mildly amusing, but the scene with him and Jarvik was made me laugh.

I do kind of like that the crew can occasionally be found doing other things on the ship, like they actually move around. I've wandered into Kaidan in the crew quarters, in one of the other rooms, playing poker with Vega.

The vanguard is a blast - vanguard charge then nova. Boom!

I did the Rannoch Missions, including the priority one. And I'll admit it, the game **Major Spoilers**

Spoiler

made me cry. ;It felt definitely epic, fighting the reaper (which took me a few tries before I found a rhythm fighting the reaper.) But the end, having enough paragon to get me the ending I really wanted, but losing Legion just as he found his individuality, and Tali's answer to the question the first Geth asked, about having a soul, I started to cry.  That three missions on Rannoch were all really good, but closing the Geth/Quarian story may be one of the highlights of the series for me. I should mention that I really liked Legion and was bummed you couldn't get him earlier, in ME2

Ya, I came up to talk to Joker, and Garrus is there shooting the wind with him. Made me smile.

Spoiler

Did they show Tali's face ever? She just took her mask off and killed herself in my game.

Edit

Spoiler

Apparently they did show her face, http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116202-BioWare-Uses-Stock-Photo-for-Tali-in-Mass-Effect-3 I could have done that in an hour in photoshop. Seriously, this is what we got? I really enjoyed this game, but... what the hell?

[Ladymorphine]

Just posting to make sure people see, http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/10/the-problem-with-biowares-mass-effect-3-day-one-dlc-from-ashes/
Yet, people still give them money.

Meh. I don't really get the big rioting over the DLC. Doesn't seem that big a deal to me. (Of course, the idea of a live Prothean as a squad member seems pretty silly to me, too. And I've no real interest in getting the DLC. So my perspective is a bit different. )

I don't particularly see the PR guy's comments as that offensive. Perhaps they could have been worded more subtly, but the concepts seem valid. And the article writer's anology to a CD release + some extra songs for more.... doesn't work at all, since I've seen Album for $ and "special" edition with 2-3 extra songs for $+$, quite often. (And then the CD+DVD "extra special" edition with some video) So, yeah.

Eh, whatever.



One thought I had earlier.... what will the ending - and the feelings it engenders in people - do to future DLC sales?

Spoiler

Will people be less motivated to get extra DLC, knowing how the end is going to happen? I mean, the bleak futility of the http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DownerEnding certainly makes adding some extra sidequests in seem kind of pointless, doesn't it? And I really can't see them releasing a "okay, fine... here's a Happy Ending?" DLC.

[Ella Loapaga]

Just posting to make sure people see, http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/10/the-problem-with-biowares-mass-effect-3-day-one-dlc-from-ashes/
Yet, people still give them money.

There’s no point in releasing DLC a year after your game comes out when most people have already sold it back to Gamestop three times. So, that means getting it out early. That means day one DLC.

This really irks me. Why can't they see that these kind of comments are what piss off their fan base the most. We will take Skyrim as an example, no word of a DLC in almost 4 months yet I can pretty much guarantee that when there is a DLC it will sell 10x more what the day 1 DLC did.

[BRIANNA]

Alpha protocol did C+C better than anything ME has done over 3 games (or any other game I know).
AP isnt getting a sequal. I know your pain.

Just posting to make sure people see, http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/10/the-problem-with-biowares-mass-effect-3-day-one-dlc-from-ashes/
Yet, people still give them money.

Wow, so they did work on the DLC alongside the game. The fact that they lied about it is the worst part.

[Elizabeth Davis]

Meh. I don't really get the big rioting over the DLC. Doesn't seem that big a deal to me. (Of course, the idea of a live Prothean as a squad member seems pretty silly to me, too. And I've no real interest in getting the DLC. So my perspective is a bit different. )

I don't particularly see the PR guy's comments as that offensive. Perhaps they could have been worded more subtly, but the concepts seem valid. And the article writer's anology to a CD release + some extra songs for more.... doesn't work at all, since I've seen Album for $ and "special" edition with 2-3 extra songs for $+$, quite often. (And then the CD+DVD "extra special" edition with some video) So, yeah.

Eh, whatever.

The DLC was content cut from the game and sold separately. It was something that should have already been there, but wasn't, so EA/Bioware could milk consumers for some extra cash.

It's like if someone made a pizza, took out two slices, then sold you the non-whole pizza at full price, then charged extra for those two slices.

I wasn't planning on buying the DLC anytime soon anyway, but this slimy buisness practice pisses me off. I would understand maybe having locked content on the disc if you didn't buy the game new, but this is just over the line.

[maddison]

Someone at the end of the last thread was asking where to obtain the Hahne-Kedar Guantlets. If you're still reading, they're at the Kanola Exports kiosk in Presidium Commons.

[LittleMiss]

This really irks me. Why can't they see that these kind of comments are what piss off their fan base the most. We will take Skyrim as an example, no word of a DLC in almost 4 months yet I can pretty much guarantee that when there is a DLC it will sell 10x more what the day 1 DLC did.

DLC should add to the game, to keep it entertaining. She dosent seem to understand that. Look at fallout new vegas, we had dead money, then a few months, honest hearts, then over a year later, I was still playing NV. Becuase of all the dlc giving a constant supply, of fresh content.

What bothers me is how I apparently, dont understand. Im not a producer, so my oppinion dosent matter. Another thing she fails to grasp is how customers, dont need to give them money. So its considered a smart thing, to keep them happy.

Wow, so they did work on the DLC alongside the game. The fact that they lied about it is the worst part.

I cant remember how long ago it was. But when they first announced the CE, they slipped up and said about the squadmate dlc, then denied it.
Bioware denying things isnt exactly new. Like how ME3 wouldnt have multiplayer, I dont care if it did. But I wouldnt belive anything Bioware says anymore.

Edit: Got link from the last thread, shows how ready the dy one dlc was.
http://crystalprisonzone.blogspot.com/2012/03/bioware-day-one-dlc-developed.html?m=1

[Jaki Birch]

Meh. I don't really get the big rioting over the DLC. Doesn't seem that big a deal to me. (Of course, the idea of a live Prothean as a squad member seems pretty silly to me, too. And I've no real interest in getting the DLC. So my perspective is a bit different. )

I don't particularly see the PR guy's comments as that offensive. Perhaps they could have been worded more subtly, but the concepts seem valid. And the article writer's anology to a CD release + some extra songs for more.... doesn't work at all, since I've seen Album for $ and "special" edition with 2-3 extra songs for $+$, quite often. (And then the CD+DVD "extra special" edition with some video) So, yeah.

Eh, whatever.

Casy is an idiotic PR who shouldn't be allowed to open his mouth in concerns to the Mass Effect series. With every word that spews from his mouth makes me think that companies have no idea how to run PR - 'cept of course Bethesda, keep up the good work Todd

One thought I had earlier.... what will the ending - and the feelings it engenders in people - do to future DLC sales?

Spoiler

Will people be less motivated to get extra DLC, knowing how the end is going to happen? I mean, the bleak futility of the http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DownerEnding certainly makes adding some extra sidequests in seem kind of pointless, doesn't it? And I really can't see them releasing a "okay, fine... here's a Happy Ending?" DLC.

Either way, something needs to be done, otherwise the only people who will buy the DLC is either people who haven't played through it before, or the maybe 10 people who actually enjoyed the endings.

[Tiffany Carter]

So not only was the DLC finished by release 100%, but Bioware also lied to their consumers to try and weasel out of it? Seriously? What the hell has happened at Bioware to turn them all into corporate [censored]s? Bioware really has gone downhill since EA took over. Its bad enough that I had to install sodding Origin to play the game, but I'm also having content deliberatly cut out for the sake of a few extra bucks.

I'll repeat what I said before. If it's finished by release, it should be on the disk. Actually scratch that, it WAS on the disk. How about, "If its finished by release, dont be a bunch of wankers and charge people extra for it".

[Miguel]

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab216/asapp152/EARageComic.png

[Marnesia Steele]

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab216/asapp152/EARageComic.png

Replace the $60 with $80 and thats me in a nutshell at the moment.

[Richard Dixon]

Replace the $60 with $80 and thats me in a nutshell at the moment.

Yeah but for $80 you do get the Day 1 DLC, a soundtrack, artbook, tangible memorabilia, etc.

[Rodney C]

So not only was the DLC finished by release 100%, but Bioware also lied to their consumers to try and weasel out of it? Seriously? What the hell has happened at Bioware to turn them all into corporate [censored]s? Bioware really has gone downhill since EA took over. Its bad enough that I had to install sodding Origin to play the game, but I'm also having content deliberatly cut out for the sake of a few extra bucks.

I'll repeat what I said before. If it's finished by release, it should be on the disk. Actually scratch that, it WAS on the disk. How about, "If its finished by release, dont be a bunch of wankers and charge people extra for it".

I hate lying, but im actually more bothered by them making comments like:

There’s no point in releasing DLC a year after your game comes out when most people have already sold it back to Gamestop three times. So, that means getting it out early. That means day one DLC.

They are now trying to justify it. Atleast lying gave the idea, they felt some shame about it.