Mass Effect 2

[Renasko]

If I wasn't sold before, I most certainly am now. :D

[Deluge]

What with Dragon Age, then this game, and The Old Republic coming out sometime in the future, I've been browsing Bioware's forums frequently lately. I'm always somewhat shocked by the, for lack of a better word, fanboyism of the posters there. Honestly, I really can't imagine people here getting so defensive over criticism of ASOIAF as they regularly do with criticism over there.

[a wooden chair]

What with Dragon Age, then this game, and The Old Republic coming out sometime in the future, I've been browsing Bioware's forums frequently lately. I'm always somewhat shocked by the, for lack of a better word, fanboyism of the posters there. Honestly, I really can't imagine people here getting so defensive over criticism of ASOIAF as they regularly do with criticism over there.

That's because there is less to criticize where it concerns ASOIAF. GRRM is lightyears ahead of anything Bioware will produce storywise, but I will admit Bioware is getting better -overall- with every release.

[Fenny]

What with Dragon Age, then this game, and The Old Republic coming out sometime in the future, I've been browsing Bioware's forums frequently lately. I'm always somewhat shocked by the, for lack of a better word, fanboyism of the posters there. Honestly, I really can't imagine people here getting so defensive over criticism of ASOIAF as they regularly do with criticism over there.

I don't know - look in the 'Questions about Return to Ostagar' thread on the Bioware social forums and you'll find plenty of daft whinging criticism. Also, there don't seem to be many OPs here that basically read 'ASoIaF Sux - Lolz!' - the Bioware boards get quite a few of those, and I think it sets the people there on the defensive.

Re: awoodenchair's post

How are the stories of Bioware games getting better? I mean, I'd love it if they were, but Darkspawn don't seem to be an obvious improvement on Bhaalspawn (though I admit that the Reaper does trump Darth Malak. Mind you, so would an angry gerbil.) OTOH, Bioware are making more of an effort with characterization. I think that aspect is definitely improving.

[a wooden chair]

Re: awoodenchair's post

How are the stories of Bioware games getting better? I mean, I'd love it if they were, but Darkspawn don't seem to be an obvious improvement on Bhaalspawn (though I admit that the Reaper does trump Darth Malak. Mind you, so would an angry gerbil.) OTOH, Bioware are making more of an effort with characterization. I think that aspect is definitely improving.

I don't understand your point. In both KOTOR and Baldur's gate Bioware was working largely with a universe that has already been fleshed out beyond all reason. They have much more freedom with their own intellectual property in Mass Effect and Dragon Age compared to Forgotten Realms and Star Wars.

How is characterization not part of the story? If you got rid of characterization in ASOIAF there wouldn't be any books. Furthermore I'm sure Bioware gets more trolling simply because of the medium they tell their story through. More people play video games than read books, which means you have more of a chance of someone bashing it simply due to a larger population pool. I won't even go into my thoughts on comparing the average ASOIAF reader's intelligence on these forum's to the average gamer who bought a Bioware game.

Still going to buy ME2 regardless, just like I'll be purchasing Dance regardless. Call it my obsessive compulsion for closure.

Edit: Just found a thread on importing ME1 saves

[Fenny]

I don't understand your point. In both KOTOR and Baldur's gate Bioware was working largely with a universe that has already been fleshed out beyond all reason. They have much more freedom with their own intellectual property in Mass Effect and Dragon Age compared to Forgotten Realms and Star Wars.

How is characterization not part of the story?

Edit: Just found a thread on importing ME1 saves

Sorry. As usual, I was being stupid. It's just that I automatically take 'story' to mean 'plot'. My bad English, I suppose.

[a wooden chair]

Sorry. As usual, I was being stupid. It's just that I automatically take 'story' to mean 'plot'. My bad English, I suppose.

If you're stupid for that, then I'm equally stupid for not understanding what you were conveying. That being said, I would never admit to being stupid, therefore to stupidity are invalidated! Nyah.

As far as general overall plot goes, I'm fairly certain the human race has been telling stories for so long that no matter what comes out as "new" the plots will typically always have been used before in other ways. Doesn't mean cliche overall plots like the stuff we see in Dragon Age and Mass Effect are bad because they are known in a general sense. It just means the devs need to get more creative in finding ways to distract us from the glaringly obvious.

[Fenny]

If you're stupid for that, then I'm equally stupid for not understanding what you were conveying. That being said, I would never admit to being stupid, therefore to stupidity are invalidated! Nyah.

As far as general overall plot goes, I'm fairly certain the human race has been telling stories for so long that no matter what comes out as "new" the plots will typically always have been used before in other ways. Doesn't mean cliche overall plots like the stuff we see in Dragon Age and Mass Effect are bad because they are known in a general sense. It just means the devs need to get more creative in finding ways to distract us from the glaringly obvious.

Yep. *pokes the devs* Be creative, damn you! We need better window dressing.

I think the quality of the skeleton plot in Bioware's games has overall declined rather from the BG days - as the scale of events has grown larger and the games smaller, the 'distractions' seem harder to reconcile with the main events. And the main events seem as inevitable as death and taxes. Perhaps because they're more familiar in 2009 than in 1998, as the same wheel of plot creaks along a well-worn track, perhaps because the devs aren't disguising them so well as they used to, having been influenced by PJ's LotR films overmuch. But I'm hijacking a MA thread with talk about the fantasy series. Oops. /rambling

[Kouran]

On the difficulty of mass effect I can really only think of one fight where the difficulty seemed above the level of point gun at enemy shoot until dead, and that was the fight where you get Liara. That krogan was a bad man the first play through, the number of times he charged me an pistol whipped me down was sort of frustrating. Of course the fact you couldnt save the game on an elevator meaning you had to listen to all the dialog over and over again was probably more frustrating. Games that dont have a autosave point after a big dialog section but before the next big action section drive me crazy.

[Relic]

been playing a little bit of Mass Effect in that last few days and here's what i'd like to see changed for the sequel, in no particular order...

- Weapons. frankly, they're boring. The weapons all look alike, and the naming convention is very very dull. Nothing about the weapons really stands out and adding a new one isn't very exciting. Ohh, i have a Scorpion VII to replace my Scorpion VI. Fun! Let me upgrade it by replacing my ABC VII rounds with ABC VIII rounds.

- Let me run!! Moving round in this game is a major pain in the ass. Give me a permanent run button outside of combat.

- Less elevators. There is no reason it should take me this long to move between the cargo bay and the helm of my ship. Wasting so much time.

- More color. Danm these environments are drab and metallic and grey. Give me some cool color sparkly looking shit.

- Less slow down. Why is this game slowing down so much? There are like 4 enemies on screen and the frames are sloooowly....chugging....along.

- Less Mako. Bad idea. All these cool out door fights i COULD be having. Instead im in this lame piece of shit trying not to drive into a wall.

- better streamlined menu system. Do it Dragon Age style. It worked pretty well.

- Switching in between characters for better combat positioning. this probably isn't changing, but it should. Again, take a cue from Dragon Age.

- interesting side missions. none of this exploring a barren moon with car to find warehouse that looks like every other room in the game. Let's hunt down some Smugglers across different systems, bring in some bounties, explore jungle temples on strange planets, find eoic ancient technology, and so on. generic...but potentially way more fun.

- V.A.T.s type combat.

A seemingly long list of bitching, but then again i was never in love with this game as some people. Dragon Age was WAY better than Mass Effect imo, and yet im strangely looking forward to this one.

[Max the Mostly Mediocre]

- Weapons. frankly, they're boring. The weapons all look alike, and the naming convention is very very dull. Nothing about the weapons really stands out and adding a new one isn't very exciting. Ohh, i have a Scorpion VII to replace my Scorpion VI. Fun! Let me upgrade it by replacing my ABC VII rounds with ABC VIII rounds.

I didn't like the inventory system at all. I hope they've changed it somewhat.

[Galactus]

On the difficulty of mass effect I can really only think of one fight where the difficulty seemed above the level of point gun at enemy shoot until dead, and that was the fight where you get Liara. That krogan was a bad man the first play through, the number of times he charged me an pistol whipped me down was sort of frustrating. Of course the fact you couldnt save the game on an elevator meaning you had to listen to all the dialog over and over again was probably more frustrating. Games that dont have a autosave point after a big dialog section but before the next big action section drive me crazy.

I never had much trouble with that.

The bit BEFORE you enter the Dig site, when you're ambush by those damn jumpers, one of those big mecha-giraffes, and a shitload of normal geths, including snipers, that one was a pain though.

[oneeye]

Wow pretty sweet voice team.

That character Yvonne voices even looks like her a bit somehow.

[kungtotte]

Yvonne Strahovski's character looks almost exactly like her, is what you meant to say.

There's really no doubt at all who the character is supposed to look like.

[a wooden chair]

I think she's one of the few voice actors for ME that is also the model for her character, right? I know in DA:O and ME1 they modeled the female romance options after certain women, although the names escape me now.

[Jacen]

She looks better as a brunette.

In other news, I'm SURE Tali is a smokin' hottie underneath that glass mask man.

[Weak With The Dawn]

She looks better as a brunette.

In other news, I'm SURE Tali is a smokin' hottie underneath that glass mask man.

This. I was pretty dissapointed that there was no love line for her.

Girl in mechanical suit who has awesome knowledge of electronics and engineering? Hot.

- Let me run!! Moving round in this game is a major pain in the ass. Give me a permanent run button outside of combat.

There is a run button from what I can remember. There is on the Xbox anyway.

- Less elevators. There is no reason it should take me this long to move between the cargo bay and the helm of my ship. Wasting so much time.

I think they used elevator times to mask load screens but after the outrage of just about everyone who ever played this game I can only imagine they'll change this.

[Jacen]

She was ALWAYS in my party cuz she was cool, and a decent fighter, and the only one I maxed out all the tech and decryption skills. Pretty much a must have.

Now all Shepard needs is a sterilized quarantine room on the Normandy.

[Jon AS]

There is a run button from what I can remember. There is on the Xbox anyway.

I think they used elevator times to mask load screens but after the outrage of just about everyone who ever played this game I can only imagine they'll change this.

The run button changes the camera angle slightly when out of combat. It does fuck all to your movement speed though.

I think it's been said they got rid of the boring elevator rides. I wonder what they've replaced them with.

She was ALWAYS in my party cuz she was cool, and a decent fighter, and the only one I maxed out all the tech and decryption skills. Pretty much a must have.

Now all Shepard needs is a sterilized quarantine room on the Normandy.

Given her bird-like legs and three fingered hands I'm not entirely convinced Tali would be considered "hot" by human standards. The rest of her body does seem to be shaped approprately, though.;)

[a wooden chair]

Given her bird-like legs and three fingered hands I'm not entirely convinced Tali would be considered "hot" by human standards. The rest of her body does seem to be shaped approprately, though.;)

Anything is better than an Asari. I read a post on the bioware forums that likened the Asari to a virus that must be exterminated, and honestly aside from the gung-ho attitude I can see it..