Mass Effect - Bioware - PC

[Hawkbit]

Yeah, I found that one early on in the game because I explore a lot.  It was a nice bit of fluff. 

And 5 replays?  Holy shit there's no way I'd make it past one.  I can't even read books a second time, let alone play games twice.

[FatuousTwat]

Same here, I only seem to replay games/re-read books if I have forgotten 90% of them, but after reading/playing for an hour it all comes back and I stop.

[Bunk]

I'm about 2/3 through my second playthrough. My first play was as a nice guy Sentinal, heavy on the shotgun, trying to do the right thing. My second play through has been as a female Infiltrator, who doesn't take shit from people. Not going complete renegade, but far enough to experience the fun of randomly punching or shooting people that deserve it. Also, playing the game using the Sniper rifle is a very different combat experience.

[Lucas]

VERY late to the party :D

I finally beat the game 15 minutes ago 

Some data:

- It took me 49 hours, 51 minutes
- Played as an Infiltrator (Commando Spec.). Used the Sniper Rifle like there is no tomorrow and loved it.
- Main Companions: Wrex and Ashley
- Romanced with Liara
- Played the DLC too
- Level 50, finished as a Paragon character (entire scale)

Not sure If I love more this or Kotor 1, but HUGE props to the writers and the Team in general for creating such a great, diverse universe, no matter how many influences from other series you can clearly see while playing.

My favourite part was definitely Virmire: fantastic soundtrack, great atmosphere (and ideal for a sniper oriented character like me) and storyline. Oh, and when you hear the "sad tune" once you get back to the Normandy...Awesome 
-------

Toward the end, my setup was quite simple:

- Wrex and Ashley (former with Rage X Geth Armor, latter with Colossus) equipped with Spectre Equipment (Assault Rifles and Shotguns). Shredder (for organics) and Tungsten (for synthetic) ammos, and BOOM, Geth are no more happy mechanic pandas.


I was quite intrigued by the storyline, I really hope the second chapter will show us even more stuff, for example the Quarian Fleet.

[Sky]

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

[Lantyssa]

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

I got told this repeatedly.  I think it's some meme somewhere but since it angered me to no end:  Not yours.  Can't have.

[Lucas]

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

Same :(

[Ingmar]

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

[schild]

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

For serious.

[AutomaticZen]

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

For serious.

Hey, some may like that kinda thing if it wouldn't bite their face off.

[Hawkbit]

Not that I've ever been into that, but I'm pretty sure I went out with her and a few of her friends in my early 20s. 

[Lantyssa]

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

You're assuming I care.

Space gypsy, tech-geek-girl, and not annoyingly naive or a holy rolling speciest.  It's all good.

(And if it's really, really bad, she can keep the helmet on.  Hey, it worked for Brock!)

[Ceryse]

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

You're assuming I care.

Space gypsy, tech-geek-girl, and not annoyingly naive or a holy rolling speciest.  It's all good.

(And if it's really, really bad, she can keep the helmet on.  Hey, it worked for Brock!)

She also had some of the better animation, in my opinion. Her character's motions felt more alive than most of the other female characters in the game. Especially the hips, or maybe it was just an optical illusion with the texturing, but it just seemed far more.. feminine than any of the others.

More on-topic; if it wasn't for the sheer degree of repetition in the game alongside some absolutely horrendous path finding issues (both squad-mate AI and Mako -- not too mention how most enemies would merely suicide charge you regardless of their weaponry) the game would have been very good. Instead it was a very good story wrapped up in average game play.

[Lucas]

Well...

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

I got told this repeatedly.  I think it's some meme somewhere but since it angered me to no end:  Not yours.  Can't have.

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

Same :(

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

For serious.

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

For serious.

Hey, some may like that kinda thing if it wouldn't bite their face off.

Not that I've ever been into that, but I'm pretty sure I went out with her and a few of her friends in my early 20s. 

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

You're assuming I care.

Space gypsy, tech-geek-girl, and not annoyingly naive or a holy rolling speciest.  It's all good.

(And if it's really, really bad, she can keep the helmet on.  Hey, it worked for Brock!)

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

You're assuming I care.

Space gypsy, tech-geek-girl, and not annoyingly naive or a holy rolling speciest.  It's all good.

(And if it's really, really bad, she can keep the helmet on.  Hey, it worked for Brock!)

She also had some of the better animation, in my opinion. Her character's motions felt more alive than most of the other female characters in the game. Especially the hips, or maybe it was just an optical illusion with the texturing, but it just seemed far more.. feminine than any of the others.

LOL, such a string of creepy disturbing nerdy replies. How can't you love this...umm, Forum? 

[Yegolev]

Don't forget the quoting.  The delicious quoting.

[Sky]

Well...

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

I got told this repeatedly.  I think it's some meme somewhere but since it angered me to no end:  Not yours.  Can't have.

I was disappointed you couldn't bang the Quorian.

Same :(

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

For serious.

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

For serious.

Hey, some may like that kinda thing if it wouldn't bite their face off.

Not that I've ever been into that, but I'm pretty sure I went out with her and a few of her friends in my early 20s. 

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

You're assuming I care.

Space gypsy, tech-geek-girl, and not annoyingly naive or a holy rolling speciest.  It's all good.

(And if it's really, really bad, she can keep the helmet on.  Hey, it worked for Brock!)

You people are making some mighty big assumptions about what is under that environment suit imo.

You're assuming I care.

Space gypsy, tech-geek-girl, and not annoyingly naive or a holy rolling speciest.  It's all good.

(And if it's really, really bad, she can keep the helmet on.  Hey, it worked for Brock!)

She also had some of the better animation, in my opinion. Her character's motions felt more alive than most of the other female characters in the game. Especially the hips, or maybe it was just an optical illusion with the texturing, but it just seemed far more.. feminine than any of the others.

LOL, such a string of creepy disturbing nerdy replies. How can't you love this...umm, Forum? 

Psycho.

[Stormwaltz]

a holy rolling speciest.

Not picking on Lantyssa here, but she brought it up. This has been brewing in me for about two years now.

I see these criticisms of Ashley quite often, and I find them fascinating. Ash mentions god once - precisely once in a 20-40 hour game, and she never specifies her religion. But that's enough for many to paint her as a holy roller. Likewise, she presents logical reasons to distrust aliens in times of crisis (humans will never be as important to them as people of their own species are), and she becomes "Space Hitler." Even when she reads the riot act to a actual racist (Charles Saracino) at the end of the game, she's still saddled by this perception.

For myself, an atheist and multiculturalist, I only wanted to make Ash seem more like an actual woman than the obvious fantasy wish-fulfillment that is Liara. What players have ascribed to her disturbs me, because it says more about their knee-jerk political correctness than it does about the dialogue I actually wrote. As a liberal, I want to believe other liberals are too thoughtful to emulate the reflexive scorn of conservatives. Often, it seems, they're not.

[AutomaticZen]

a holy rolling speciest.

Not picking on Lantyssa here, but she brought it up. This has been brewing in me for about two years now.

I see these criticisms of Ashley quite often, and I find them fascinating. Ash mentions god once - precisely once in a 20-40 hour game, and she never specifies her religion. But that's enough for many to paint her as a holy roller. Likewise, she presents logical reasons to distrust aliens in times of crisis (humans will never be as important to them as people of their own species are), and she becomes "Space Hitler." Even when she reads the riot act to a actual racist (Charles Saracino) at the end of the game, she's still saddled by this perception.

For myself, an atheist and multiculturalist, I only wanted to make Ash seem more like an actual woman than the obvious fantasy wish-fulfillment that is Liara. What players have ascribed to her disturbs me, because it says more about their knee-jerk political correctness than it does about the dialogue I actually wrote. As a liberal, I want to believe other liberals are too thoughtful to emulate the reflexive scorn of conservatives. Often, it seems, they're not.

I think it's probably the whole "why the hell are there aliens on this ship" conversation. 

I never got the feeling that I convinced her that it was right for them to be on the ship as much as she went with it because I was her commanding officer.  Which is fine, she didn't let her own issues get in the way of the mission, but I wasn't going to pursue a relationship with her after that conversation.

You had a number of other characters who displayed their unease with the shipboard aliens, without going as far as Ashley did.  So yes, she was more real than the fanwank that was Liara, but that doesn't mean I liked her.

The religious part didn't bother me.  I did go with Ashley when I went Renegade though.

[Lantyssa]

a holy rolling speciest.

Not picking on Lantyssa here, but she brought it up. This has been brewing in me for about two years now.

I see these criticisms of Ashley quite often, and I find them fascinating. Ash mentions god once - precisely once in a 20-40 hour game, and she never specifies her religion. But that's enough for many to paint her as a holy roller. Likewise, she presents logical reasons to distrust aliens in times of crisis (humans will never be as important to them as people of their own species are), and she becomes "Space Hitler." Even when she reads the riot act to a actual racist (Charles Saracino) at the end of the game, she's still saddled by this perception.

For myself, an atheist and multiculturalist, I only wanted to make Ash seem more like an actual woman than the obvious fantasy wish-fulfillment that is Liara. What players have ascribed to her disturbs me, because it says more about their knee-jerk political correctness than it does about the dialogue I actually wrote. As a liberal, I want to believe other liberals are too thoughtful to emulate the reflexive scorn of conservatives. Often, it seems, they're not.

Thankfully I was sterotyping all the ladies there, purposefully putting Tahali on a pedastal while knocking the legs out from under the others using the bit of character traits I could.  Next play through I'm going to do my best to hook her and Kaiden up.  Though maybe that's mean since I know how it will turn out.  (That'll be a good test to see if my new vid card is holding up, too!)  They all had their good sides, tried to work past their negatives, and I appreciated the dialog that let you tease that kind of information out of them.

My prefered party was Tahali and Ashley, 'cause we kicked ass and looked good doing it.  And the gossip we spread over a few drinks in the bars... good times.

[AutomaticZen]

My prefered party was Tahali and Ashley, 'cause we kicked ass and looked good doing it.  And the gossip we spread over a few drinks in the bars... good times.

My party was Liara and Ashley.  Biotic and Soldier. 

[Big Gulp]

My party was Liara and Ashley.  Biotic and Soldier. 

Liara and the Quorian here, since I was a gun toter already and Ashley seemed superfluous.  That's why I was so disappointed that you couldn't sex up the Quorian.

A)  She's with me all the time anyway since she can use her tech to blow stuff up real good.

B)  She's less annoying than Ashley.  Yeah, I've heard enough about your disgraced family.  Shit, I'm trying to kill the mother of one of my party members, and she's not droning on and on about family issues.  Get over your baggage already.

C)  If it's Kirk-like to bang an alien, isn't it even more Kirk-like to bang two?

But yeah, I loved the game, especially when viewed through the lens of "Commander Shepherd and his space bitches"!

[Ingmar]

a holy rolling speciest.

Not picking on Lantyssa here, but she brought it up. This has been brewing in me for about two years now.

I see these criticisms of Ashley quite often, and I find them fascinating. Ash mentions god once - precisely once in a 20-40 hour game, and she never specifies her religion. But that's enough for many to paint her as a holy roller. Likewise, she presents logical reasons to distrust aliens in times of crisis (humans will never be as important to them as people of their own species are), and she becomes "Space Hitler." Even when she reads the riot act to a actual racist (Charles Saracino) at the end of the game, she's still saddled by this perception.

For myself, an atheist and multiculturalist, I only wanted to make Ash seem more like an actual woman than the obvious fantasy wish-fulfillment that is Liara. What players have ascribed to her disturbs me, because it says more about their knee-jerk political correctness than it does about the dialogue I actually wrote. As a liberal, I want to believe other liberals are too thoughtful to emulate the reflexive scorn of conservatives. Often, it seems, they're not.

The reason I react to her religion thing negatively is probably because she's a little bit confrontational about it. And even casual off-hand racism of the kind she expresses is enough (as opposed to something Saracino's AUSLANDER RAUS act) to get me really pissed at people in real life. I do think she's a much, much better-written character than Liara (who is essentially uninteresting) and I don't have a problem at all with the game addressing those issues or including her viewpoint, but all that stuff doesn't make her likable. Put the two things together and she comes across as a bit willfully ignorant, which is something I find infuriating in people. But she was still a well-done character.

I found Wrex and Garrus to be the most interesting party characters, personally, which was a little disappointing in that Garrus was probably the character who got the least screen time/attention. Liara is nigh unto a waste of space, and Tali is entertaining but perhaps a bit lacking in depth - which is OK, I think it adds balance to have a character like that around. Not everyone has to have some dark secret.

As for Kaidan, the fact that he was done by Raphael Sbarge in the exact same voice he used for Carth was such a distraction that I don't think I could be objective. Major mistake in casting I would say, at least for my tastes. If I had never played KOTOR it probably would have been fine.

[Sjofn]

a holy rolling speciest.

Not picking on Lantyssa here, but she brought it up. This has been brewing in me for about two years now.

I see these criticisms of Ashley quite often, and I find them fascinating. Ash mentions god once - precisely once in a 20-40 hour game, and she never specifies her religion. But that's enough for many to paint her as a holy roller. Likewise, she presents logical reasons to distrust aliens in times of crisis (humans will never be as important to them as people of their own species are), and she becomes "Space Hitler." Even when she reads the riot act to a actual racist (Charles Saracino) at the end of the game, she's still saddled by this perception.

For myself, an atheist and multiculturalist, I only wanted to make Ash seem more like an actual woman than the obvious fantasy wish-fulfillment that is Liara. What players have ascribed to her disturbs me, because it says more about their knee-jerk political correctness than it does about the dialogue I actually wrote. As a liberal, I want to believe other liberals are too thoughtful to emulate the reflexive scorn of conservatives. Often, it seems, they're not.

Bear in mind actual women can be holy roller speciests, so don't think the criticisms of her character take away from the "actual woman" aspect. 

[Koyasha]

I think it's probably the whole "why the hell are there aliens on this ship" conversation. 

I never got the feeling that I convinced her that it was right for them to be on the ship as much as she went with it because I was her commanding officer.  Which is fine, she didn't let her own issues get in the way of the mission, but I wasn't going to pursue a relationship with her after that conversation.

You had a number of other characters who displayed their unease with the shipboard aliens, without going as far as Ashley did.  So yes, she was more real than the fanwank that was Liara, but that doesn't mean I liked her.

The religious part didn't bother me.  I did go with Ashley when I went Renegade though.

By all military standards, or any reasonable security precautions whatsoever, she's absolutely right about the aliens.  Here we have a collection of people you've known for a matter of days at most, who's backgrounds and such you have no verified knowledge of, being allowed aboard the newest and most technologically advanced ship in the Alliance fleet that also happens to be top secret.  Rather than observe reasonable security precautions (restricting their movements and access to sensitive data and devices) they appear to be given free access to all ship's systems.

Garrus is the only one who's presence isn't entirely objectionable, and that's cause he's a C-Sec officer who presumably has a good record you could have requested and reviewed before allowing him to join up.  Wrex, Tali, and Liara have no such records and are all potential security risks with unknown backgrounds and loyalties.

[Lantyssa]

Ashley was picked up from the middle of a backwater after her unit was obliterated.  She probably should have been sidelined for psychological evaluation rather than being given security clearances and a ranking position on said super sekrit ship.

Luckily as a Specter Shepard could tell protocol to take a hike and we got an interesting game instead of 'reality' in a futuristic fantasy world.

[Bunk]

I liked how Ashley was written for the most part, but I was a little disappointed when you went down the romance angle. It felt to me as though she was written in the main story to work well with either the Honorable main character or the Renegade - she was multidimensional, had good traits and character flaws, etc. When you went in to the romance however, it felt like you were being forced in to the "be mister sensitive guy" choices in every dialog option, or she was going to drop you on the spot.

This kind of sucked if you were trying to play a middle road guy or a renegade, as I was expecting more to win her her over with my rogueish charm and devil may care attitude. Instead, I had to talk to her about her daddy issues and swingsets.

It would be nice if those character angles were written to be obtainable through more than one path, so you could still explore those parts of the game without having to go totally against the character you have developed. At least in Jade Empire, you had alternate characters to romance based on which way you played the game. Personally though, I'd rather see those options built in to the one character.

Hell Stormwalz, it's only double the dialogue, shouldn't be a big deal.   

[AutomaticZen]

By all military standards, or any reasonable security precautions whatsoever, she's absolutely right about the aliens.  Here we have a collection of people you've known for a matter of days at most, who's backgrounds and such you have no verified knowledge of, being allowed aboard the newest and most technologically advanced ship in the Alliance fleet that also happens to be top secret.  Rather than observe reasonable security precautions (restricting their movements and access to sensitive data and devices) they appear to be given free access to all ship's systems.

Garrus is the only one who's presence isn't entirely objectionable, and that's cause he's a C-Sec officer who presumably has a good record you could have requested and reviewed before allowing him to join up.  Wrex, Tali, and Liara have no such records and are all potential security risks with unknown backgrounds and loyalties.

Technically Ashley, was also a recipient of the randomness of allowing the aliens on board.  Other than the original crew and Shepard, none of the party members should've been on there, so I assumed vetting took place off-screen, with the except of Liara who came in under different circumstances.

I'm hoping the Normandy gets a crew shift in the next one, throw some more aliens on board.  Maybe one of those Salarian dudes.  I wondered why I couldn't have one on my team, when they were everywhere.

[Ingmar]

Also the Salarians were pretty interesting in general - they get their moment in the HOLD THE LINE speech, but it would definitely have been interesting to get more about then via a party member.

[Nevermore]

When you went in to the romance however, it felt like you were being forced in to the "be mister sensitive guy" choices in every dialog option, or she was going to drop you on the spot.

This kind of sucked if you were trying to play a middle road guy or a renegade, as I was expecting more to win her her over with my rogueish charm and devil may care attitude. Instead, I had to talk to her about her daddy issues and swingsets.

Maybe she just likes sensitive guys?  Everyone knows it's the 'good' girls that like the bad boys. 

[FatuousTwat]

I think I'm gonna start playing this again... Can't decide if I want to use my old char and start a new game or start a new char so I can use all my extra unlocks.

[Koyasha]

I wouldn't argue that they shouldn't be part of the team, but one of Ash's lines is that "I'd feel more comfortable if they didn't have access to engineering and the CIC."  Which seems perfectly reasonable.  I mean, the Normandy doesn't have a lot of room, but restricting non-military personnel to the center "living" deck unless circumstances require their presence elsewhere would have been a reasonable option.

[Sky]

Ironic, given that Ashley is restricted to the lower deck, and the quorian is allowed in the engine room, and the bluebian is allowed in the medical room right off the command center.

[AutomaticZen]

Ironic, given that Ashley is restricted to the lower deck, and the quorian is allowed in the engine room, and the bluebian is allowed in the medical room right off the command center.

That was a surprising conversation with Engineer Adams, wherein he expressed that he loved having Tali down there helping him.  You expect it to go in a different direction.

I'm also wondering why the crew in the lower deck don't get any tables or anything.  Something to play cards on.  They're all just sitting far away from each other.  Do they just scowl at each other when you're not around?

[Ingmar]

Liara isn't so much 'allowed' in the medical wing as she is in there because she's being treated for her weird headaches after you have that vision after every mission.

[Sky]

Here's two aspirin, now get your xenoc ass down into the garage. And probably should've had sex with the doctor, too.

Maybe the Witcher was onto something :)