Mass Effect 2 *spoilers around pg 29/30*

[Segoris]

Your powers can arc.  Powers you order your teammates to use are LoS, from you.  So you cannot arc them, however you can have them hit targets that your team would be blocked from hitting if it used their LoS.  They also instantly hit once they activate them, rather than having travel time like yours.

Yeah, I know about the powers that arc, I'm just saying I would prefer all powers using the caster's LOS. I've adjusted, just not something I enjoy. For the supporting character's powers being instant, it does make them easier to land. I think overall that is good, but I still aim them as if I'm casting them which means I account for an arc.

 

[LK]

They fire instantly, but depending where they are on their animation cycle or going to cover, it might take them a moment. It was frustrating trying to get them to use Warp on a barrier that was near empty before I learned I only had to use Warp when a barrier is up (not remove it with Warp) for the achievement.

[PalmTrees]

Did any of you get anything out of the fluff text on the planets and in the Codex? I read all of them in Mass Effect 1 but skipped a majority in 2 because it had nothing to do with the game. World-building that frankly didn't matter to kicking ass and taking names in the name of galactic peace.

It's all very well written, yeah, but I wanted the game to focus on the game this time around.

It was as interesting as me1. Nice little side stuff. Although apparently 50% of gas giants are extrasolar captures inside the frost line. Boy did they overuse that bit.


My first couple play throughs were as fem shep and I really grew to dislike Jacob. He suffered from the way Bioware writes some guys as giant girls (like Allistair in DA). The woman's inviting you to her cabin, go already you dickless twit. I laughed when he was all hurt when I dumped him for Thrane. You had your chance ya loser.

[MournelitheCalix]

Has anyone seen the countdown on the bioware website?  Any ideas what that is about? (God I hope it isnt jade empire 2)

[Stormwaltz]

(God I hope it isnt jade empire 2)

I have cause to doubt that.

I have no idea what it actually is either, aside from the obvious "it's coming out of Edmonton" (since it's on the main, ME, and DA sites, but not on SWTOR's).

Based on recent rumors, maybe it's DA2. I'd be extremely surprised if they could get it out in a year (given they have the original team cranking out DLC, and given DA1 took seven years to make), but I've been surprised before.

[LK]

Maybe it's like Matrix and Lord of the Rings. First one comes out then the other two are developed back to back.

[Lantyssa]

That's still awfully quick if so, unless it's several years out.  In which case it's way too early to announce.

[Hoax]

What's the story on the DLC stuff?  It seemed like I had some DLC but I have no idea what it did and I did not have this extra cast member Zeheed though I believe he must have been the Cerebrus agent I refused to rescue because I wasn't going to run a fucking errand for them when I was already wasting all this time with loyalty missions.

I've never seen a news item on that little right hand screen say anything but random fluff so I don't know when/how/did I already get the free dlc (firewalker?).

If you have Zaeed installed, you'll meet him right as you walk into Omega.

As for new DLC coming out, I'm not sure how the notifications go in ME2 as it always tells me something about New Downloadable Content even though I have everything installed, but all your available DLC will be listed here.

Well shit, I did something wrong then I guess.

[Ingmar]

I was pondering the countdown was perhaps to SWTOR closed beta, but it could be the announcement of the 'undisclosed next gen game' listed on the games menu too.

[tmp]

It's a countdown to a teaser about announcement for an annoucement, probably.

Feels bit early for it to be about DA2 though... but then again, Witcher team did just this very thing so who knows.

[LK]

The first post in this thread should have been that Miranda Lawson looks exactly like her voice actress. Holy shit.

After beating the game I started looking at promotional videos they were doing. The vocal talent they recruited for this game is phenomenal. Mass Effect 3 is going to be really difficult for them to top.

I started looking at all the romance options too. It's just... amusing how you are the bedrock of whatever relationship and every other person gets all nervous and submissive to your strong character. Talk about fantasy...

[Nightblade]

I started looking at all the romance options too. It's just... amusing how you are the bedrock of whatever relationship and every other person gets all nervous and submissive to your strong character. Talk about fantasy...

Try romancing Samara. 

[Tarami]

I started looking at all the romance options too. It's just... amusing how you are the bedrock of whatever relationship and every other person gets all nervous and submissive to your strong character. Talk about fantasy...

You question the dynamics of the relationships, but not the fact that the sole purpose of them is to get laid or get a lap dance?

I enjoy the romancing options in RPGs (although I didn't sex anyone up in either DA or ME2, hm) - mostly - but I think they would benefit greatly from being emotional rather than sexual. It just seems to play a lot better into the plot that the hero of the universe would crave someone to confide in rather than sleep with. I can't imagine the latter would be an issue, honestly.

[LK]

Try romancing Samara. 

My initial impression was "This woman is over a thousand years old and I managed to crack that veneer with several conversations."

There's some pretty WTF moments even for someone like myself who doesn't understand relationships very well.

You question the dynamics of the relationships, but not the fact that the sole purpose of them is to get laid or get a lap dance?

Is that how it works in real life? That'd make things *a lot* easier for me.

I imagine they are catering to their audience in a "mature" way. Emotional relationships might be too far in the "mature" direction. Though opting to keep to a commitment you made in ME1 can be viewed as role-playing towards an emotional relationship.

But yes, it seems you can't be in a relationship unless hot dickings are involved.

[Tarami]

I was speaking of the relationships actually in ME2 (or ME1, I guess. In DA you can actually take Leliana with you whereever you're going in the end, so I guess that's an improvement.) The big payoff for doing the dialogue grind is a cheesy sex scene, not any real sense of attachment.

Naked alien (yet strangely familiar) butt sells, I don't question that. I'm just voicing a wish - in a sense Sims 3 is the best CRPG experience I've had, it was just a bit thin on dramatic narrative.

[Ingmar]

I was speaking of the relationships actually in ME2 (or ME1, I guess. In DA you can actually take Leliana with you whereever you're going in the end, so I guess that's an improvement.) The big payoff for doing the dialogue grind is a cheesy sex scene, not any real sense of attachment.

Naked alien (yet strangely familiar) butt sells, I don't question that. I'm just voicing a wish - in a sense Sims 3 is the best CRPG experience I've had, it was just a bit thin on dramatic narrative.

I think that undersells it a little bit. Going back to DA, in the Morrigan romance, she sleeps with you very early in it; in large part the story of that, such as it is, is about the consequences of that rather than that being the payoff. The ME2 ones are a bit more straight from the template of the first game, granted, but they actually dialed back the sex scenes a bit and I think at least the Tali one stands up reasonably well as an 'emotional' rather than a 'Kirk bangs alien' bit of writing.

Remember too as much as we've made progress from older RPGs to now we're still in the infancy of the medium as far as storytelling goes, so this stuff is still going to be hit or miss for a long time. Well, that will never go away completely, but give it a generation - when the stigma of it being a 'game' rather than a storytelling medium disappears, you'll see a much larger crop of good writers participating I think.

[LK]

but give it a generation - when the stigma of it being a 'game' rather than a storytelling medium disappears, you'll see a much larger crop of good writers participating I think.

That would require someone other than Bioware making these type of games. Also, that they make the "game" part of it good enough to warrant further development. Mass Effect 1's "game" was pretty damn bad, but 2 was what I call great (good if you include surveying / mining. It sucked that bad as to drag the entire experience down).

I noticed the game seemed to play out a lot better with its flow if you didn't spend so much time standing around asking questions.

[Ingmar]

There's story in other genres besides RPGs.

[Lantyssa]

I enjoy the romancing options in RPGs (although I didn't sex anyone up in either DA or ME2, hm) - mostly - but I think they would benefit greatly from being emotional rather than sexual. It just seems to play a lot better into the plot that the hero of the universe would crave someone to confide in rather than sleep with. I can't imagine the latter would be an issue, honestly.

Which is partly why I'm upset there's no female-Tali romance option.  I don't need to "hit that", I want a romance.  She already talked about wanting to equilibrate enviro-suits, and she's got that school girl crush "oh, HI Shepard" dialog when you talk to her.

I know it's an unlikely fantasy, but I'm holding out hope for ME3.

[LK]

There's story in other genres besides RPGs.

But are those stories necessitating the hiring and maintenance of a high-quality writing staff that will encourage future generations?

Besides Bioware, who does that? Bethesda, I guess? And game designers doing writing on the side don't count.

I just... I WANT this utopia you describe, I'm having trouble connecting the dots to how things are currently to that type of environment.

[Ingmar]

Heavy Rain? GTA 4? Arkham Asylum?

All these games have a relatively heavy story/writing component compared to what has come before in their various genres (for the most part). I would expect that trend to continue.

EDIT: I expect Starcraft 2 to set a new standard for its genre too, but you always have to be wary of Knaak-style crap when it comes to Blizzard.

[Tarami]

Which is partly why I'm upset there's no female-Tali romance option.  I don't need to "hit that", I want a romance.  She already talked about wanting to equilibrate enviro-suits, and she's got that school girl crush "oh, HI Shepard" dialog when you talk to her.

I know it's an unlikely fantasy, but I'm holding out hope for ME3.

I was going for Tali too and was equally disappointed. Before I realized it wasn't going to really go anywhere, I was hoping she wouldn't actually open her suit since it would be unfathomably stupid considering what she's been telling you. The dialogue led up to a pretty great moment though, where everything that would have been needed to cement the relationship was an embrace and maybe an awkward confession. Sadly it resulted in a double disappointment; she opens her suit and not even then with my toon.

I think that undersells it a little bit. Going back to DA, in the Morrigan romance, she sleeps with you very early in it; in large part the story of that, such as it is, is about the consequences of that rather than that being the payoff. The ME2 ones are a bit more straight from the template of the first game, granted, but they actually dialed back the sex scenes a bit and I think at least the Tali one stands up reasonably well as an 'emotional' rather than a 'Kirk bangs alien' bit of writing.

Yeah, fair enough, although it's plainly obvious what the general purpose is (hi to u Miranda.) Morrigan is admittedly a bit of a black cat since her relationship has actual ties to the plot. Also, points for not making that necessarily about yourself in that you can convince Alistair to do it instead.

I don't really mean to be complaining, the writing is generally mature and interesting enough, these are just bits where the overall maturity seems to lag behind and I feel like I'm in a Gabrielle Steele novel.

[LK]

Heavy Rain? GTA 4? Arkham Asylum?

All these games have a relatively heavy story/writing component compared to what has come before in their various genres (for the most part). I would expect that trend to continue.

EDIT: I expect Starcraft 2 to set a new standard for its genre too, but you always have to be wary of Knaak-style crap when it comes to Blizzard.

I'm curious how many writers were working on those titles. I seem to recall Arkham was probably the work of one writer who already was involved in the comics industry.  There is not going to be a career track in game writing anytime soon similar to game art and programming.

Blizzard doesn't have any writers working on their games.

[Ollie]

Remember too as much as we've made progress from older RPGs to now we're still in the infancy of the medium as far as storytelling goes, so this stuff is still going to be hit or miss for a long time. Well, that will never go away completely, but give it a generation - when the stigma of it being a 'game' rather than a storytelling medium disappears, you'll see a much larger crop of good writers participating I think.

I think Ingmar is spot on in describing how early days it really is for the games industry. As interactive entertainment evolves, people will find new ways to tell compelling stories through the medium of videogames, and technological advances will provide tools to reimagine the relationship between storytelling and gameplay.

Sounds a bit like something from the Cheesy Game Developer's Cookbook, doesn't it? Still, as with most platitudes, there's a grain of truth in there somewhere.

Though from a consumer's standpoint, I share Lorekeep's frustration. It's hard waiting for those incremental changes while suffering through yet another formulaic money-grab from the latest bunch of hacks, who think innovation equals remaking the wheel over and over again.

We are slumbering along, slowly but surely. Sometimes all it takes is someone like Quantic Dream putting a new spin on an old Dragon's Lair formula to nudge things along. Progress isn't all about paradigm shifts.

[Stormwaltz]

Blizzard doesn't have any writers working on their games.

For a long time they had one, Chris Metzen, and didn't think they needed any more. In 2004 (the same job search that landed me at BioWare), I phone interviewed for a content position on WoW. They did the question about "where do you see yourself in five years?" I said I had a lot of experience writing story in MMGs, and I'd like to get involved in that again. There was an uncomfortable pause, then the interviewer said, "Well, that's great, but we already have a writer." I wasn't invited for an on-site.

I know these days they have at least two. Brian Kindregan from BW (Jade, ME2) left to work on cutscenes for SC2. But he's also an experienced animation storyboarder.

[Bunk]

I enjoy the romancing options in RPGs (although I didn't sex anyone up in either DA or ME2, hm) - mostly - but I think they would benefit greatly from being emotional rather than sexual. It just seems to play a lot better into the plot that the hero of the universe would crave someone to confide in rather than sleep with. I can't imagine the latter would be an issue, honestly.

Which is partly why I'm upset there's no female-Tali romance option.  I don't need to "hit that", I want a romance.  She already talked about wanting to equilibrate enviro-suits, and she's got that school girl crush "oh, HI Shepard" dialog when you talk to her.

I know it's an unlikely fantasy, but I'm holding out hope for ME3.

That actually annoyed me, since as far as interspecies relationships went, that was the one that seemed most likely to be "not about the sex" and most suitable to either gender. Spent my entire female Shepard game trying to wear her down and it went all the way to "I trust you". 

I actually restarted another game and imported my male Shepard to go through that romance, but honestly, I find I really, really don't connect with the male Shepard. He's just not Shepard.

[Khaldun]

The question of writing and content in design is one of those pet peeves for me. The whole industry is really falling short of its potential precisely because content creation, characterization, narrative and so on isn't taken very seriously by most developers. Bioware's games are a nice exception, but even there, you can see how much more could be done. Only now are we even seeing branching plots where the branches are *all* rather interesting or plausible, or characters whose 'hardened' personalities are anything more interesting than "greedy dickface".

[LK]

I hate the commercials they did for this game. I hate seeing male Shepard's stupid face. Grah.

[Sjofn]

Blizzard doesn't have any writers working on their games.

For a long time they had one, Chris Metzen, and didn't think they needed any more.

Awww, calling Metzen a writer is so sweet of you.

[caladein]

Keep in mind who female Shepard is though: Alpha Bitch. Whether you're Paragon or Renegade, you are one STRONG personality that nobody wants to fuck with. Vulnerable feminine side isn't in your vocabulary, waiting for a strong man to sweep you off your feet. To hit it home, I don't expect to ever see female Shephard in a dress.

Doesn't this new Kasumi DLC thing include an undercover mission and mingling with rich snobs? For some reason that makes me imagine Shepard in evening dress attending event like the opera from 5th Element. And no, can totally see her pull off the look.

That she can (right-click -> open image in new tab for big Xfire-made PNGs)...





Anyway as for Kasumi herself, I quite like her.  I had an idea for a new playthrough floating around and decided this DLC was a good excuse to start it up.  The character's great and so far she's close to replacing Jack as my favorite character to walk around with.  On the ship, she's very much like Zaeed in that you can trigger some lines of dialogue by poking around items in her area but just "using" her had a lot more lines.  She really doesn't feel tacked on aside from that, at least a few hours into my playthrough.

Her mission felt light on the espionage stuff I was hoping for and heavy on the shooty stuff the rest of the game has lots of, but it was still fun and the story was sweet.  (Choosing the Renegade option at the end of it is probably up there with not hugging Tali during her mission on the list of "Things in ME2 to check if you have a soul.")

[Lantyssa]

Is that dress a new lounging outfit option?

[caladein]

Is that dress a new lounging outfit option?

Yeah, you wear that during the early part of Kasumi's loyalty mission and afterwards it's added to your casual outfit options.

[LK]

I wish this was a freebie through Cerebus but eh. I've already completed two playthroughs of the game with little incentive to boot it up again.

[Shrike]

I wish this was a freebie through Cerebus but eh. I've already completed two playthroughs of the game with little incentive to boot it up again.

No, it's not free, but it really is a pretty cool mission. Lots of foreshadowing for further DLC and/or ME3, too.

[LK]

It would be... interesting if the DLC had impact on plot lines included with ME3.