Mass Effect 3

[Ratman_tf]

Pretty good article from Bioware on the new Reputation (Paragon/Renegade) system works.


There's a lot more to the article than this, but here is the key summary:

Under the hood: Changes from Mass Effect 2

If you played Mass Effect 2, a lot of this will seem familiar. The key differences are:

There’s no penalty for mixing Paragon and Renegade: In Mass Effect 2, if you wanted to get the hardest Charm options, you had to play an almost completely Paragon character. We intended many of those Charms to be fun Easter eggs, but many players felt like they had to play pure Paragon to avoid being penalized by the loss of a dialog option. In Mass Effect 3, your Reputation score determines both Charm and Intimidate options, and that score is determined by adding your Paragon and Renegade scores together. You’re still rewarded for being a completionist player and doing as much content as you can, but you can do it as a Paragon or Renegade player without penalty.

We now have non-flavored Reputation: In Mass Effect 2, after a mission that didn’t have any major choices, we would give both Paragon and Renegade points, to show that even without a major decision, Shepard was more famous and had more influence as a result. This confused some players and made others angry – people who wanted to play pure Paragon didn’t like getting rewarded with both Paragon and Renegade points. In Mass Effect 3, whenever there’s a mission with no major decision, you will get Reputation points that add to your overall score but don’t carry a Paragon or Renegade flavor. The bar on your screen will grow, but the Paragon/Renegade ratio will remain unchanged.

That sounds like a decent improvement.

[Sjofn]

Sjofn will be pleased with awkward gay spaceman sex.  

Depends on who it is with, and I didn't watch the video, so I am still withholding judgement.  

My DudeSheps have (mostly) been so lonely.  


EDIT: Basically, if it's with Broseidan, my DudeSheps will continue to be so lonely. But at least happy they're no longer the only gay men in space. If Kaidan elaborates on why losing my ManSheps was like losing an arm, that's a lot more enticing. 

[Kageru]

It either means nothing or weakens the system as far as I can see. If all dialog options are open as long as you have enough total reputation it means you can answer randomly and it doesn't matter. If they had "renegade check" options then there's still a minimum renegade option you need. And having a dialog option unlock based on game progression is just sort of meaningless.

It would have been better to have neutral be a valid path with it's own unlocks. With the ME approach this would be the "fixer" approach. Not so locked into morality you can't bend corners to make necessary things happen but resisting the urge to just shoot everyone who stands in your way. Disable these dialog options if your paragon or renegade gets to high, and I think it would be pretty popular. But the fan base hates locked off content and for EA the broader the market the better, so the whole system gets watered down.

[Kageru]

Sjofn will be pleased with awkward gay spaceman sex.  

Depends on who it is with, and I didn't watch the video, so I am still withholding judgement.  

My DudeSheps have (mostly) been so lonely.  


EDIT: Basically, if it's with Broseidan, my DudeSheps will continue to be so lonely. But at least happy they're no longer the only gay men in space. If Kaidan elaborates on why losing my ManSheps was like losing an arm, that's a lot more enticing. 

.... I'm guessing there's a Mass Effect fanfic community.

[kildorn]

fanfic, crazy creepy talimancers, whichever.

[Furiously]

Emi/shed sex scene in Katawa Shoujo is both the most awkward and best sex scene in any game ever.

I would be inclined to agree.

[Sjofn]

Sjofn will be pleased with awkward gay spaceman sex.  

Depends on who it is with, and I didn't watch the video, so I am still withholding judgement.  

My DudeSheps have (mostly) been so lonely.  


EDIT: Basically, if it's with Broseidan, my DudeSheps will continue to be so lonely. But at least happy they're no longer the only gay men in space. If Kaidan elaborates on why losing my ManSheps was like losing an arm, that's a lot more enticing. 

.... I'm guessing there's a Mass Effect fanfic community.

Probably, but what does that have to do with anything? I mean I guess I could write a MANSHEP/Kaidan slashfic, but ... why would I? I've never been one for fanfic stuff. I just found it pretty amusing how Kaidan says basically the same thing to MANSHEP as he does to a LadyShep he slept with. The only difference was a hug. <3

[Margalis]

Either Renegade/Paragon has an in-game non-cosmetic effect or it doesn't. And if it doesn't why bother having the system in the first place?

[rk47]

Emi/shed sex scene in Katawa Shoujo is both the most awkward and best sex scene in any game ever.

i don't know if i can endure another run. *deep breaths*

[Sjofn]

I welcome the de-emphasis on the Prick Score, it opens up the whole "roleplaying" thing.

[Velorath]

Either Renegade/Paragon has an in-game non-cosmetic effect or it doesn't. And if it doesn't why bother having the system in the first place?

Why does the effect have to be non-cosmetic?

Edit:  And as discussed earlier in the thread, it's mostly in there at this point because it was in the last two games.  Your Renegade/Paragon score partially transferred over from ME1 to ME2.  For future ME games I wouldn't be surprised to see it removed.  I actually prefer the Dragon Age system of your actions affecting how much your companions like you (or you could have both like SWTOR, but the Light Side/Dark Side thing makes a lot more sense in Star Wars games).

[tmp]

And if it doesn't why bother having the system in the first place?

At this point it's more or less equivalent of stats some games track for the player, the "you killed X foozles/made X steps total". It (probably) doesn't have impact on the game, but it can tell the player somethiing about themselves or the characters they played, perhaps. Granted it's not something everyone will find interesting.

[Lantyssa]

Choices are good.  Letting people play the game the way they want is not a bad thing.

If you absolutely need justification, it's more important that people believe what you say than how you say it.  How you say it should determine the course once they accept you will do your best to uphold what you tell them.

So sure, someone could pick randomly, but who cares?  It also allows those of us who like nuance to pick the more suitable option each time, and it allows the pure Paragons and Renegades to pick an opposite dialog if they feel it appropriate.

[taolurker]

Launch Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG2mdZ23eP8&feature=player_embedded

[tmp]

As much as i enjoy works from Two Steps from Hell, it'd be nice if the "official launch trailer!!1one" for the finale of wanna-be major sci-fi franchise bothered to use its original music, instead. Just for a change.

on a higher note, looks there's glimpse of Jack with hair at 1:24 and it doesn't look bad.

[Nebu]

Played the demo for this game for about 2h last night.  My gut response: I don't get the hype.  It's a shooter with levels and a clunky dive_for_cover mechanism.  It was moderately entertaining with a few friends playing co-op, but I don't feel like it would be worth the box cost. 

In other words: I'm old.

[Ingmar]

Well, that and the multiplayer mode isn't really meant to be a full game.

[Rokal]

The variety of class abilities and the weapon/race/class unlocks are what make the multiplayer interesting. My friends and I had fun with the demo, but it's sorely lacking in map/enemy variety. Hopefully that's something the full game has lots of. I don't see us playing it long, but it's better than I expected it to be.

[Simond]

I saw an awesome theory today - the ME3 endings (all of them...well, except the "Everyone gets turned into Reaper slurpees" one, natch) are actually groundwork for a Mass Effect MMO in a few years time.

[Lantyssa]

No.  They wouldn't do that.

[Lakov_Sanite]

No.  They wouldn't do that.

 

[kildorn]

The variety of class abilities and the weapon/race/class unlocks are what make the multiplayer interesting. My friends and I had fun with the demo, but it's sorely lacking in map/enemy variety. Hopefully that's something the full game has lots of. I don't see us playing it long, but it's better than I expected it to be.

I really enjoyed it, but I actually like ME2/3's combat mechanics. From spoilers via people hacking the demo client.. some of the reaper enemies will be brutal. And are also heavily immune to asari adept cheese.

Not sure if there are any groups beyond the demo one and reapers, though.

[Stormwaltz]

No.  They wouldn't do that.

You've been on this board long enough to know better. :)

(I don't know any more than you do.)

[Ingmar]

I'm sure it was green. The doctors have talked openly about the possibility as a someday down the road maybe kind of thing.

[Sky]

They certainly did well using LA's seed money and the loss of short term revenue (via LA's tax on profits) to set themselves up to make the ME series after KotOR. They'd be nuts if they weren't thinking of hitting that same procedure again.

[tmp]

oops, old ME saves may or may not import into ME3 on xbox

Mass Effect 3 does not support cloud saves from Mass Effect 2. This can cause it to not recognize save files that have been transferred via cloud to a device other than the one where they originated. Therefore, the following scenarios will result in no import functionality.

1.Moving your save file from the hard drive disc to the cloud.
2.Moving your save file to another X360 system via the cloud (instead of a memory card or other device).

(solutions snipped for brevity)

Currently there is one scenario in which you cannot salvage the save file: if you have ever moved your save file to the cloud and the original system is not available to transfer it back to.  We understand this may be a great setback to those impacted who have been following the Mass Effect franchise over the years. We thank you for your patience.

[Sjofn]

You know, if they hadn't decided "lol no need for a starter comic thing like we did for ME2 eventually," that would probably be at least slightly less infuriating.

[Lantyssa]

I'm sure it was green. The doctors have talked openly about the possibility as a someday down the road maybe kind of thing.

Ingmar gets me.  Even if he thinks I'm insane.

[Ratman_tf]

As much as i enjoy works from Two Steps from Hell, it'd be nice if the "official launch trailer!!1one" for the finale of wanna-be major sci-fi franchise bothered to use its original music, instead. Just for a change.

The generic OOOH AHHH OOOH AAAAAAAAH OHHHHHHHHHH! Choir is so bland.

"If you're not willing to die, you're already dead!" 

I can only hope that the trailers and the hype are all by advertisers and not real human beings. 

[Lakov_Sanite]

dunno how much spoilery it is but apparently

[Margalis]

Choices are good.  Letting people play the game the way they want is not a bad thing.

Sure, I just don't see why the choices need meters attached.

Basically this reads as "Paragon and Renegade don't really matter any more, you just add them together to get a % of progress." So then why have them as concepts?

[Ingmar]

Why have alignment in D&D? It has almost no mechanical impact. People like flavor.

[Simond]

I'm sure it was green. The doctors have talked openly about the possibility as a someday down the road maybe kind of thing.

Ingmar gets me.  Even if he thinks I'm insane.

Yeah, let me clarify. It's not just "Oh, a Mass Effect MMO. What a good idea" but more the ending(s) seem tailored deliberately for an MMO with an intro with voiceover going on about how it has been X years since Shepard...wait this is going to be impossible to share without HUGE SPOILERS.

Okay, I'll come back to this in a week or two when everyone's been spoiled.

[Sjofn]

Don't feel the need to hurry back on our account.

[jakonovski]

"If you're not willing to die, you're already dead!" 

Shepard of the North Star?