Mass Effect 2 *spoilers around pg 29/30*

[eldaec]

I must say the "extra content" you gain by not killing off people is hardly anything worth writing home about, either, at least in my experience. Few more spam mails and couple random "oh hai i knows j00" bumps into people is mild flavour but calling it "content" is very generous. I think the likeliness of getting anything more than that is about equal to the possibility of getting something interesting as result of making the opposite choice -- about nil, since either case would make people bitch and moan they're missing out.

This makes things even worse.

I don't kill some imaginary guy in a computer game.
I then I find myself thinking 'hmm, did I only not kill that guy in case he does something cool in a game I may or may not play in two years time' - which sucks.
Two years later he pops up, says hi, and then I remember not killing him and think 'fuck if that's all I kept him alive for I should have shot the fucker while I had the chance two years ago' - which sucks again.

[Lantyssa]

I just do what is appropriate for my character and damn the consequences.  It's more fun if you don't worry about it so much.

[Ollie]

I'm suffering from the same metagaming syndrome as a lot of people. I can't seem to force myself to play as pragmatically as I'd like, since I just know that if I do, I'll miss some of the really hard persuasion checks down the line. It's worse in ME2, since your alignment score influences discussion outcomes so heavily.

It would be great if I could just let go of the OCD and approach the game as Lantyssa does. Somehow, I never seem to be able to. So, I just resign myself to two morally polar opposite playthroughs, neither of which is exactly how I'd really want.

[Shrike]

To the best of my knowledge, there are ways around the persuasion checks, except maybe for Zayeed's loyalty mission. The other two (that I can think of offhand) involve Tali--and Shepard can talk his way around those IF...you've talked to the right people, haven't abused the right people, make sure said people are alive, and lie through your teeth. I believe the loyalty check on Jack vs. Miranda is fairly mild on overall persuasion (or tell Jack to get stuffed; she's not critical to anything anyway).

Really, if you're using an ME1 save and/or an ME2 repeat, building paragon or renegade to make these checks is pretty easy. I have yet to blow a check (except for Zayeed on my first renegade run) and I don't metagame this stuff. Usually by the time I'm 25 I have maxed one side and about 1/3 to 1/2 way to max on the other. I don't waffle on alignment (for lack of a better word) dialog. I have a set path for Shepard in mind and tend to stick to it. There are certain renegade and paragon actions I always take (especially renegade early on).  Punching out reporters, shooting idiots in the foot, and kicking assholes off buildings is just too much fun. Conversely, saving Garrus from his baser motives, saving wayward quarians, or squeezing Tali until she squeeks are also necessary to ME2 gaming fulfillment. It never hurts me in the long run.

Heck, this sort of thing is what RPGs are all about. Save often, and experiement lots. Worst case, fire up another playthrough. It's all fun.

[Fabricated]

The persuasion checks scale with level. If you're decently into paragon or renegade just do Jack and Miranda's loyalty missions early since it's an easier check to make then.

[caladein]

Yes, a BW poster on their boards said that the checks are against all possible points accrued up to that point.  So, as you miss out on more and more Paragon or Renegade points as the game goes on, you'll get to a steep deficit and won't be able to make any checks.

[Ratman_tf]

Yes, a BW poster on their boards said that the checks are against all possible points accrued up to that point.  So, as you miss out on more and more Paragon or Renegade points as the game goes on, you'll get to a steep deficit and won't be able to make any checks.

Oho.
Well, that's why I lost Jack on my first playthrough then. I'm kinda miffed about how the system plays out. It means I can't say something further into the game, that I could say earlier, simply because of a couple of values lurking under the hood, and not any actual choices I made in the game. 

[LK]

You never hear about people doing the non-Paragon / non-Renegade option. These games require you to be dedicated to an ideaology in order to succeed. I guess that's necessary when your role is that of a strong commander? Being neutral / weak-voiced will not benefit you. What's funny is there is probably a shit-ton of non-Paragon / non-Renegade content I'll never hear because there's no point game-wise to hear them, like the Tali / Legion, Miranda / Jack sections. They had to design so much beyond the obvious "Take This" option that it must drive them nuts.

Besides, those Paragon / Renegade options tend to be the best lines.

[tmp]

I tend to mix and match the choices mostly, depending on overall image of the character i have formed in mind (this in turn is somewhat affected by the picked background and such)  The 'middle ground' options are the ones i go for quite often, since the paragon/renegade frequently cross the line into eyeroll-inducing naivety or being a dick just for the sake of being a dick. While it can mean sometimes i won't be able to click the "lol i win" option it just makes a more intersting story overall, imo -- ultimately playing a character who *always* gets things their way can be boring, and if i was after this sort of ego stroking i may as well just write myself a Mary Sue story and masturbate to it the conventional way.

[Koyasha]

Yes, a BW poster on their boards said that the checks are against all possible points accrued up to that point.  So, as you miss out on more and more Paragon or Renegade points as the game goes on, you'll get to a steep deficit and won't be able to make any checks.

Oho.
Well, that's why I lost Jack on my first playthrough then. I'm kinda miffed about how the system plays out. It means I can't say something further into the game, that I could say earlier, simply because of a couple of values lurking under the hood, and not any actual choices I made in the game. 

Hard to say whether this is better than having to avoid certain missions until you get high enough to do the persuade, or not.  Of course, I've never liked tying conversation to acquired skills in game.  I'd much rather a sort of 'point-based argument' system where you bring up points to support your argument, and they can have positive and negative effect on the target.  But that obviously takes more effort and writing than having a single paragon/renegade option that doesn't have to be written in a way to allow the player to mix and match portions of it.  So we only get these kinds of arguments on occasion, and they usually feel a little awkward because they have to be 'modular'.  DA Landsmeet sequence, or the Jade Empire argument with Sir Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom the Magnificent Bastard, for example.

[Hoax]

I was going to go pick up the DLC tonight but when I got there it was like 860 points, which isn't even an available denomination which is shady and then I had to register the game which was odd because I had downloaded all the free content some time ago.  I go to register the game by accessing the product key in Steam and there are 2 keys one of which is the Cerbrus key which sounds and looks like the key that gives you a ton of free bioware points...

So I go to redeem that code and it tells me I've already used it.

This shit is way too fucking mysterious and I hate it.  So basically instead of giving them some money and being done with it and playing the game I'm going to go play something else instead.  Nice work EA, nice fucking work.

[Velorath]

I was going to go pick up the DLC tonight but when I got there it was like 860 points, which isn't even an available denomination which is shady and then I had to register the game which was odd because I had downloaded all the free content some time ago.  I go to register the game by accessing the product key in Steam and there are 2 keys one of which is the Cerbrus key which sounds and looks like the key that gives you a ton of free bioware points...

So I go to redeem that code and it tells me I've already used it.

This shit is way too fucking mysterious and I hate it.  So basically instead of giving them some money and being done with it and playing the game I'm going to go play something else instead.  Nice work EA, nice fucking work.

You mention steam, so you're obviously talking about the PC version, in which case the DLC (I assume you're talking about the Kasumi DLC) is 560 Bioware points (which is an available denomination for $7.00).  The Cerberus network doesn't get you a bunch of free Bioware points, it gives you access to pretty much all the DLC except for the paid stuff (Kasumi and the Costume Pack).  You said you already downloaded all the free stuff, so that's why you've already redeemed the code for it.

The Bioware point stuff certainly isn't ideal and Bioware's website could have been done a million times better, but it doesn't take a lot of brainpower to figure it out either.  Sounds like you simply misread the number of points that were required.

[rk47]

Or they could just ditch the Bioware points altogether and charge it like a normal store instead of creating yet another redundant E-Currency.
There's nothing good about this point system for the customers at all.

[Shrike]

The PC version is particularly awkward. Which is unfortunate. I still plan on picking up the PC versions of ME and ME2 whenever Steam gets around to a package deal for cheap (say, around Xmas).

Until then, the 360 gets the nod and Live! is quite seamless in this regard.

Lastly, an observation. The Cerberus daily news keeps coming back to the rebellion (?) on some krogan world or enclave on some corporate world (not sure which). I have to wonder if this is a hook for more DLC in the future. Would be a primo situation for Shepard to stick his thumb (and Revenent) in. It'd be nice to see some sort of story rampup over the next year or so to ME3.

[Hoax]

Or they could just ditch the Bioware points altogether and charge it like a normal store instead of creating yet another redundant E-Currency.
There's nothing good about this point system for the customers at all.

Also on the PC version store you can't get the $7 you can buy $10 at the least which leaves me with leftover Bioware points, oh fucking goody.

[Velorath]

Also on the PC version store you can't get the $7 you can buy $10 at the least which leaves me with leftover Bioware points, oh fucking goody.

Again, you are wrong.  You can get $7 (560 points).  Second option on the page.  In fact, I don't think Bioware has released any DLC for Dragon Age or Mass Effect 2 for a cost where you'd end up with leftover points.

Fuck, I think the point shit is completely unnecessary too, but it helps if you actually pay attention to what you're doing.

[caladein]

Again, you are wrong.  You can get $7 (560 points).  Second option on the page.  In fact, I don't think Bioware has released any DLC for Dragon Age or Mass Effect 2 for a cost where you'd end up with leftover points.

Cerberus Network ($10+$5), Kasumi ($7), Shale ($10+$5), Warden's Keep ($7), and Return to Ostagar ($5) can all be bought without leaving anything left over.

The April Fool's stuff for Dragon Age and Alternate Appearance Pack for ME2 work out to a weird number although I picked up the Alternate Appearance Pack and Return to Ostagar at the same time and zero'd out my points.

[Hoax]

Also on the PC version store you can't get the $7 you can buy $10 at the least which leaves me with leftover Bioware points, oh fucking goody.

Again, you are wrong.  You can get $7 (560 points).  Second option on the page.  In fact, I don't think Bioware has released any DLC for Dragon Age or Mass Effect 2 for a cost where you'd end up with leftover points.

Fuck, I think the point shit is completely unnecessary too, but it helps if you actually pay attention to what you're doing.

Go fuck yourself.

Very simple, if you click on the ME2 dlc the buy points prompts it gives you are $10, $15 and $20 with no discount for buying larger amounts which again makes you wonder why the fuck do I need to buy points?  There is an option if you sift around for it to find other denominations but again this site and system are fucking ass which has always been my point.

[rk47]

a link should easily solve the problem wouldn't it? 

[Velorath]

a link should easily solve the problem wouldn't it? 

Right here.  Or to get to that link, log into social.bioware.com,  mouse over profile over on the left hand side, and click on "add bioware points" which brings you to this page:

[eldaec]

Focus people, the point is that EA/Bioware sucks monkey balls for even starting down this road. The only conceivable reason for which is to trick people into overpaying or to nickel and dime you for shit by avoiding the association with what it costs.

[Koyasha]

Focus people, the point is that EA/Bioware sucks monkey balls for even starting down this road. The only conceivable reason for which is to trick people into overpaying or to nickel and dime you for shit by avoiding the association with what it costs.

Or maybe it's so their in-game interface doesn't have to recalculate for different currencies, as has been suggested?  That seems like an odd explanation, to my ears, honestly, but people that sound like they know more about the technicalities of such a system than I have said it is a plausible reason.

[eldaec]

It has to check online what is available to buy, there is no earthly reason it wouldn't be able to check the price it plans to charge you at the same time.

[caladein]

Focus people, the point is that EA/Bioware sucks monkey balls for even starting down this road. The only conceivable reason for which is to trick people into overpaying or to nickel and dime you for shit by avoiding the association with what it costs.

There are reasons for the seller to move to a points system beyond having consumers overpay and cost obfuscation, it can lower their transaction costs.  That said, in this case I just assumed it was to match the Xbox 360 prices and that PSN was the outlier with it using actual money.

[Hoax]

a link should easily solve the problem wouldn't it? 

Right here.  Or to get to that link, log into social.bioware.com,  mouse over profile over on the left hand side, and click on "add bioware points" which brings you to this page:

Right, my beef is that page does not exist along the standard, I want the new ME2 dlc pathway.  If you try to buy the ME2 dlc it says "oops you need points" and takes you to a page that offers you $10, $15 or $20 in points.

[Special J]

Finally done. 50 hours played.  I was OCD about finding every anomaly and exploring every system 100%.  Harvested more resources than I needed too.

While I did go back and redo the Collector base to get 100% survival, I did it just for the achievement, and because the ending kicked ass. 

I'll be importing my Shepard from the first run that had a couple casualties and saw most of the crew liquefied.  My Paragon was really high so I had everyone loyal; but it didn't save Mordin and Zaeed from getting whacked.  Too bad, I liked them.

Once my Renegade is through ME1 I'll be going through with a complete 'consequences be damned' attitude.  We'll see how many survive that one. 

Really didn't have any squad members I actively disliked.  Favourite one was probably Legion.

[caladein]

New DLC, Overlord.  Clocks in at $7 USD (560 BW/MS Points) and seems very shooting-centric so I'll probably give it a pass unless I hear good things otherwise.

When sent to investigate a Cerberus research base that's mysteriously gone silent, Shepard arrives to find Geth overrunning the base. The sole survivor, Chief Scientist Archer, paints a dire picture: an experiment to fuse a human volunteer with a virtual intelligence created a dangerous hybrid "VI overlord". The rampaging VI has already attacked three other Cerberus bases, controlling any technology it finds in an attempt to break free–and unleashing Geth across the planet. Unless Shepard can infiltrate the VI's fortress and shut it down, this homicidal intelligence will beam itself-off planet and wreak havoc on other systems. The action unfolds over five new level areas, with two new achievements.

[Velorath]

New DLC, Overlord.  Clocks in at $7 USD (560 BW/MS Points) and seems very shooting-centric so I'll probably give it a pass unless I hear good things otherwise.

When sent to investigate a Cerberus research base that's mysteriously gone silent, Shepard arrives to find Geth overrunning the base. The sole survivor, Chief Scientist Archer, paints a dire picture: an experiment to fuse a human volunteer with a virtual intelligence created a dangerous hybrid "VI overlord". The rampaging VI has already attacked three other Cerberus bases, controlling any technology it finds in an attempt to break free–and unleashing Geth across the planet. Unless Shepard can infiltrate the VI's fortress and shut it down, this homicidal intelligence will beam itself-off planet and wreak havoc on other systems. The action unfolds over five new level areas, with two new achievements.

Didn't really think it was shooting-centric at all.  There's some stuff with the Hammerhead which I'm still not entirely happy with, but I've gotten somewhat used to the controls now.  Story was somewhat interesting, and I think it took me maybe a little over 2 hours to complete (not entirely sure though since I played in small chunks).  Don't recall getting anything of note from doing the mission (no special weapons or anything just xp and money).

[Shrike]

It's a fairly mixed bag of activities. Think Theron or Noveria in ME1.

There are a couple of seriously blasterific geth encounters in it, but it's all fun and backstory is quite interesting. On the downside, there's very little new dialog. Almost all is Dr. Archer and Shepard himself (some of which is pretty amusing). The bad part is no new squad dialog; just the usual combat chatter. This is a glaring omission, especially in the case of Tali and/or Legion. Considering what's going on, I can't for the life of me see either one of them let this entire mission pack go by without a comment.

[Stormwaltz]

It's unlikely they'll re-contract any of the party voice actors for any of the DLC. It adds a great deal to the cost - remember that's the only thing that can't be done by regular employees with in-house equipment.

[Koyasha]

That is why heavy voice acting bugs me, as much as I actually enjoy the experience, since when it's well done like Jennifer Hale and many of the crew voices, it adds a huge amount to it.  In my opinion, given the financial considerations Stormwaltz notes, a game should decide on either lots of DLC or heavy voice acting, and stick with that decision.  If it's going to go for heavy voice acting, make more full games/expansion packs and make sure everyone has full roles in all of it.

I'm becoming very turned off to ME2 DLC because of the lack of conversation.  That's the big deal about this entire game series, and it's pretty much missing from most of the DLC, so why should I buy it?  I am still going to buy this, undoubtedly, when I have some more time to devote to playing through it, but even though I have no doubt it will be interesting and enjoyable, it's a little frustrating since it's essentially failing to meet the standard set by the original product.  You can't set a bar that high and then go 'meh, we won't bother' when it comes to the DLC.  Eventually I'm going to get tired of buying them if they don't meet up to the quality of the original game.  I might just wait for the next game in the series, and maybe pick up a complete pack of the DLC on sale shortly before it comes out.

[Shrike]

It's merely an annoyance with Overlord. However, it's been O-ffically stated that DLC from here on out will move the story forward. What then? Voice acting IS what moves the story forward. It's the format ME is built around.

Sure, you could do it Fallout-style with a combination of the two, but up until now it's been VA only in ME. Curious how this will work out over the remainder of the year.

[LK]

If a million idiots are buying their DLC and gobbling it up, then I support their decision to exploit.

I wouldn't complain about quality until I saw the number of DLC purchases.

[PalmTrees]

I'll be passing on the new dlc. I've competed the game with six different gender/morality combos and I'm just all ME2'ed out. After last dlc I've realized that just another side mission isn't enough to get me back into the game. I've got Shepards that'll probably be tank-less and Kasumi-less until ME3.

[Sky]

This game is cool. I didn't realize how attached I had become to my ME1 Shepard, import feature is a great idea. Been a long time since I played ME1, so I'm wracking my brain for some of the memory questions they ask.

Also showing my pc is getting long in the tooth. I can run it with all bells+whistles at 1080p, but no 3D Vision and it's getting toasty in the case.