Mass Effect 2 *spoilers around pg 29/30*

[Pezzle]

Return of the Ilwrath!

[LK]

I'm surprised how bad their merchandising for this game feels. They are hitting up Facebook fans daily with atrocious designs or non-memorable items.

The N7 stuff was pretty simple, iconic, and good, but now it's like they don't have a clue what's popular or are extremely hesitant to make new items without first identifying massive demand (which I understand...).

[Ralence]

http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-2-Xbox-360/dp/B001TORSII/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286254349&sr=8-1

On sale at Amazon for XBox360 for 19.99 new for anyone that still hasn't picked this one up, definitely worth it at this price imo.

[Stormwaltz]

A group's doing a Mass Effect / Mass Effect 2 marathon to raise money for Child's Play. If you've got the money, slip them a few bucks for me.

http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/

[Stormwaltz]

The marathon's running/streaming now.

http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/?page_id=42

[Stormwaltz]

The marathon's over - they played for two and half days through ME1+2 with all side missions and DLC, and raised over $13,000. A scratch-built model of the first Normandy was auctioned off for over $1000. There was another auction for a plush Blasto the Hanar Spectre, but I missed that.

On another topic: GoGamer is selling ME2 PC for $11.

http://www.gogamer.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=91890772&extid=Nov2810

[TripleDES]

Meanwhile, where's the news about ME3? They're already going on about DA2.

[rk47]

I think they rather focus on what's current than cannibalizing their fanbase over two games. But everything about Dragon Age 2 previews seems to be 'outdated graphics' and 'action rpg'. The third ME better not be another 'Threat under the control of Reapers' plot. But they set themselves up for a bunch of continuity nightmares cause they decided on letting the players choose who to live, heh. You can't please them when the result was a total douche turn around for Ashley from Mass Effect 1. I heard someone managed to kill off everyone except Shepard with a little bit of pre-planning.

[Bunk]

If you try hard enough you can kill off Sheppard too. Not sure how that save game will play in three...

Just finished Lair of the Shadow Broker. Reminded me just how much I loved this game. Also, I have to say it feels way more like you are getting your money's worth for an 800 pt DLC when the download is 1.3 GBs.

[Koyasha]

The way the end sequence is supposed to work (maybe someone found a loophole) is that if you have less than 2 crewmembers remaining at the end of the 'suicide mission', then Shepard falls and dies, because nobody catches her.

[Morat20]

The way the end sequence is supposed to work (maybe someone found a loophole) is that if you have less than 2 crewmembers remaining at the end of the 'suicide mission', then Shepard falls and dies, because nobody catches her.

No offense to the notion of saving the Galaxy and all, but given the missions Shepard pulls, there's sort of a built in excuse for no one ever helping her again.

"I already did one fucking insane suicide mission to save the galaxy. There are 80 gazillion other people. Someone else can volunteer".

Shepard's probably the only one in the galaxy crazy enough to keep doing it.

[Shrike]

I recall seeing at least two Casey Hudson interviews where he states that if you screw the pooch badly enough in the forlorn hope, you'll just get a default Shepard to start off ME3 with. Although, this might be sort of interesting just to see how badly screwed up things are to begin with (kind of like a default ME2 beginning), I think most people will want to see "their" story played out and not a default do-over.

Shepard's predilection for jumping into impossible situations invites comment from team members on a number of occasions. I can specifically recall Thane, Miranda, Tali, and even Garrus commenting on just this very thing. The more interesting thought is why this is so. Since you're the one playing the game, a lot of Shepard's motivation is whatever you want it to be. I"ve always viewed him as a driven pig-headed individual who hasn't even heard of the word quit. In ME1 (assuming she's still alive), even Shepard's mother comments on his rather narrow view of the world (hey diddle-diddle, straight up the middle) in one side mission. The team seems to share his same basic outlook to greater or lesser degree, but they're all on board with the craziness, even if they feel the need to point it out on occasion.

[Stormwaltz]

I heard someone managed to kill off everyone except Shepard with a little bit of pre-planning.

You can get Shepard killed too. There's an end to ME2 where Joker and EDI are the only ones left alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMC200aJ-do

[Ingmar]

If Shepherd dies though, you simply can't import your game into 3 at all, so it functions as a sort of Game Over.

[LK]

I recall seeing at least two Casey Hudson interviews where he states that if you screw the pooch badly enough in the forlorn hope, you'll just get a default Shepard to start off ME3 with. Although, this might be sort of interesting just to see how badly screwed up things are to begin with (kind of like a default ME2 beginning), I think most people will want to see "their" story played out and not a default do-over.

Shepard's predilection for jumping into impossible situations invites comment from team members on a number of occasions. I can specifically recall Thane, Miranda, Tali, and even Garrus commenting on just this very thing. The more interesting thought is why this is so. Since you're the one playing the game, a lot of Shepard's motivation is whatever you want it to be. I"ve always viewed him as a driven pig-headed individual who hasn't even heard of the word quit. In ME1 (assuming she's still alive), even Shepard's mother comments on his rather narrow view of the world (hey diddle-diddle, straight up the middle) in one side mission. The team seems to share his same basic outlook to greater or lesser degree, but they're all on board with the craziness, even if they feel the need to point it out on occasion.

The self-referential humor in Mass Effect 2 always got me whenever it appeared. In fact everyone should watch the "Shepard is (still) a jerk" just to get the full effect of it.

[Brogarn]

You can get Shepard killed too. There's an end to ME2 where Joker and EDI are the only ones left alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMC200aJ-do

That was well done... and depressing.

[Velorath]

Meanwhile, where's the news about ME3? They're already going on about DA2.

Apparently the EA store accidentally put up a listing of the game, and then yanked it.

From the listing:

Earth is burning. Striking from beyond known space, a race of terrifying machines have begun their destruction of the human race. As Commander Shepard, an Alliance Marine, your only hope for saving mankind is to rally the civilizations of the galaxy and launch one final mission to take back the Earth.

The listing popping up now would seem to back up the theory that Bioware's announcement at the VGA's tomorrow is Mass Effect 3.

[Morat20]

Wow, I just noticed they added like 6 achievements for the Shadow Broker DLC.

[tmp]

Mass Effect 3, "Holiday 2011"

cgi teaser thingy

[Stormwaltz]

Looks like it was made by Blur, the guys who did the SWTOR trailers.

[Reg]

It looks awesome. I've been playing a lot of WoW lately with the new expansion and I can only wonder why with all the obvious money Blizzard spends on polish they can't seem to find decent writers.

[Merusk]

It looks awesome. I've been playing a lot of WoW lately with the new expansion and I can only wonder why with all the obvious money Blizzard spends on polish they can't seem to find decent writers.

Because then what would Metzen do with his time?

Pretty damn good looking trailer.  I wonder if the urgency will be built into the game, or if you'll be able to wander around fixing the love lives of your companions and scavenging planets for a few weeks and still save more than a remnant of humanity.

[LK]

Too many cooks in WoW's kitchen to have decent writers. Also, it's WoW. What's important are the big concepts, not the little details. People want to kill internet dragons, not drama.

Mass Effect 3 trailer seemed like a bait and switch with 95% of it not really looking like Mass Effect at all. Also, generic Shephard N7 armor ho! I wonder how many times they've reused that model.

[K9]

Cool, a game about aliens invading earth.

[eldaec]

Mass Effect 3, "Holiday 2011"

cgi teaser thingy

Dear EA,

For info, 'Holiday' is not a meaningful point on the calendar.

Yours,
Eldaec.

Don't know what they are, what they want, where they came from....

Here's the thing, I have no idea what any of the faceless, motiveless villians in ME are or what they want (except Saren), and the convoluted nonsense of plot never really seemed to be related to them anyway.

This is a big part of why ME feels so generic.

[tmp]

Here's the thing, I have no idea what any of the faceless, motiveless villians in ME are or what they want (except Saren), and the convoluted nonsense of plot never really seemed to be related to them anyway.

I thought you get the explanation from the specimen you talk to in the first game -- they're machines advanced enough to develop superiority complex, who want to rape your cows, to anal probe your women and to take all your pie recipes then burn down anything remaining. Rinse, repeat with another species that becomes advanced enough to domesticate cows and invent the pie.

[Velorath]

Mass Effect 3, "Holiday 2011"

cgi teaser thingy

Dear EA,

For info, 'Holiday' is not a meaningful point on the calendar.

Yours,
Eldaec.

In terms of game releases, it typically means Nov/Dec.

[eldaec]

Here's the thing, I have no idea what any of the faceless, motiveless villians in ME are or what they want (except Saren), and the convoluted nonsense of plot never really seemed to be related to them anyway.

I thought you get the explanation from the specimen you talk to in the first game -- they're machines advanced enough to develop superiority complex, who want to rape your cows, to anal probe your women and to take all your pie recipes then burn down anything remaining. Rinse, repeat with another species that becomes advanced enough to domesticate cows and invent the pie.

Why?

[Goreschach]

Here's the thing, I have no idea what any of the faceless, motiveless villians in ME are or what they want (except Saren), and the convoluted nonsense of plot never really seemed to be related to them anyway.

I thought you get the explanation from the specimen you talk to in the first game -- they're machines advanced enough to develop superiority complex, who want to rape your cows, to anal probe your women and to take all your pie recipes then burn down anything remaining. Rinse, repeat with another species that becomes advanced enough to domesticate cows and invent the pie.

Why?

You realize that asking that puts your argument on the intellectual level of a two year old, right?

[Fordel]

You'd think Earth would be surrounded by orbital Mass Drivers or something!

[Morat20]

Why?

Honestly? It appears they're running the galaxy as some sort of fucked-up genetics lab, letting evolution drive species along certain specific attributes, then come along and kill the fuck out of everyone.

They use the 'winning species' as some sort of bizarre template for their own next-generation of life, keep a few -- suitably engineered -- to act as their hands and eyes, and reset the whole thing.

The story's obviously been backfitted (The original idea looked more like a purely machine culture that let organic life do all the hard lifting of developing a bunch of useful technology and materials, then basically came in and played pirate -- stealing everything that wasn't nailed down and killing all the witnesses.) but that's the gist -- machine intelligences that use organic life to evolve their own future.

lol. I guess that's one way to use genetic programming.

[Ingmar]

I think my answer is, play through the games again and pay attention this time.

Or you could read Morat's post I guess.

[bhodi]

Fortunately, we have our very own tame dev to explain the whole backstory to us! No guessing needed!

I was actually mentioning Stormwaltz's ideas for the Shadow broker and how they shitcanned it for another random alien race in the DLC to someone just last night!

They agreed an AI would have been cooler.

[Ratman_tf]

Cool, a game about aliens invading earth.

[Kail]

I think my answer is, play through the games again and pay attention this time.

I haven't played through the second one, but the first game definitely had a few "Why are they doing this?" dialog options where the answer was something along the lines of "Who can understand their motivations, they are as Gods to us, so far beyond us that we'll never understand them" kind of thing, which sets my eyes rolling every time I hear it used as a lazy excuse to force villains to do stupid nonsensical shit.

Maybe they explained it better in the second one, but the first one definitely had a few holes in it, as I recall.