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The Mass Effect Community Thread

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prag16

Banned
I did too, though I expect myself to get 100% pissed at the controls immediately.
No doubt. Dual analog is fine for many things but total trash for shooters of any kind.. Though I've gotten better over the years, I still don't like it and can't fathom how many prefer it.
 
I feel like every website and magazine in the past couple of weeks has been scraping the bottom of the barrel for new information here, with only a sparse amount of new little details in every written piece.

37 days to go. Here's hoping something tangible gets released soon.
 
There are probably Shepard and Blasto shippers.

I saw someone on the Mass Effect subreddit once mention there was Biotic God x Conrad Verner material out there. Wish I could mentally unsee that.
tumblr_o0ose9Noon1rc0hxao1_400.gif
 

Big Nikus

Member
Quick question about the controller mod for ME3. So I'm playing the game with the mod, it works perfectly, but the only issue is that there are two controller mods, one for the solo, and one for multiplayer. And you can't have both installed at the same time. When the solo mod is installed, it blocks the access to the multiplayer. And the multiplayer mod just don't works with the controls in solo. I've installed the ALOT texture packs and I'm just wondering if it would screw things up if I went back and forth the solo and multi controller mods, uninstalling and reinstalling them every session (I'm playing the solo and my GF wants to jump back in the multi).
 

Yeul

Member
She's colorful, an Asari, and has a personality that emphasizes the exploration and youthfulness they are going for with this game so I think showing her off is pretty par for the course.
 
The hardened soldier "Cora x Vetra" squad will be my go-to for the game, with maybe some Drack fun.

What squad do you guys plan on rolling with?

I actually plan to do the same for my first playthrough :)

It'll be on the second playthrough with a female Ryder that I go for Liam + PeeBee. Or maybe Drack + Jaal.
 

Yeul

Member
I typically try not to decide things like that until I actually meet the characters. That said I definitely think Vetra is interesting, but they all are probably interesting. Let's hope the banter triggers properly and consistently.
 

prag16

Banned
Hahah, why would these decisions already be made? Gotta meet the characters and see them in action. Besides, in the other games I did a lot of mixing and matching. I typically didn't lock in on the same squad for the majority of the game.
 

Tovarisc

Member
Hahah, why would these decisions already be made? Gotta meet the characters and see them in action. Besides, in the other games I did a lot of mixing and matching. I typically didn't lock in on the same squad for the majority of the game.

Early impressions are that
  • Peebee is really annoying bench material
  • Liam is your usual BW male squadie that is overwritten to be "cool dude"
  • Cora gives vibe of no bullshit operator with hint of superiority complex [think Miranda]
  • Vetra and Jaal are biggest question marks for myself. Vetra seems to be levelheaded operator who may be tad distant [based on bio], but Jaal is just... "next Garrus" according devs.
Will give fair shake to all squadies in the game, but yeah. Not too many I think I will genuinely like or be interested in, based on early impressions.
 

Patryn

Member
Hahah, why would these decisions already be made? Gotta meet the characters and see them in action. Besides, in the other games I did a lot of mixing and matching. I typically didn't lock in on the same squad for the majority of the game.

I find that for ME I tend to lock in, but for Dragon Age I was constantly experimenting with lineups. I think part of that is the banter that Dragon Age has that ME hasn't had. I was encouraged to try out different combinations to hear them talk to one another, as opposed to ME where they're mostly silent.
 

Mindlog

Member
The big difference for me concerning party selection is that I've always put more value in power synergy with the Mass Effect series. Miranda and Garrus were my default team in Mass Effect 2 because they could tear down any shields and they had solid squad boons.

Being able to select power load-outs on my main character will definitely promote squadmate variability.
 

SoSolaris

Neo Member
Early impressions are that
  • Peebee is really annoying bench material
  • Liam is your usual BW male squadie that is overwritten to be "cool dude"
  • Cora gives vibe of no bullshit operator with hint of superiority complex [think Miranda]
  • Vetra and Jaal are biggest question marks for myself. Vetra seems to be levelheaded operator who may be tad distant [based on bio], but Jaal is just... "next Garrus" according devs.
Will give fair shake to all squadies in the game, but yeah. Not too many I think I will genuinely like or be interested in, based on early impressions.
The devs have never indicated that Jaal will be the next Garrus. Fans took the slight similarities between characters and just ran with it instead.
 

Mindlog

Member
I hope Jaal is a strong successful character that can complete his own objectives without relying on Ryder instead of another Garrus.
 
They are really pushing Peebee as "face of squad".

Totally read that as "face of squid" at first, which isn't entirely inaccurate. I really hope that Peebee isn't another Sera... I want to take a less serious squaddie with me, but I can't deal with super annoying either.
 

prag16

Banned
I think part of that is the banter that Dragon Age has that ME hasn't had. I was encouraged to try out different combinations to hear them talk to one another, as opposed to ME where they're mostly silent.
Definitely hoping they ramp up the banter big time for this game. They WERE mostly silent in the trilogy. No reason to think they won't, given DA:I, I guess. We'll see.
 

Patryn

Member
Definitely hoping they ramp up the banter big time for this game. They WERE mostly silent in the trilogy. No reason to think they won't, given DA:I, I guess. We'll see.

Dragon Age: Origins had better banter than any ME game, and that came out before either ME2 or ME3.

I'm a little skeptical they'll finally catch up, but I would love it if they brought that over from DA.
 

prag16

Banned
Dragon Age: Origins had better banter than any ME game, and that came out before either ME2 or ME3.

I'm a little skeptical they'll finally catch up, but I would love it if they brought that over from DA.
Damn. I guess that qualifies as a reason not to expect it. I never played Origins.
 
People over at r/masseffect seem to be blown away by the fact that (as of 2013) 64% of Mass Effect players have never met Wrex.

I'm sure that number has changed a few percentiles since then but yeah. Lots of people either failing to persuade Wrex on Virmire or just using blank slate ME2/ME3 profiles.

tumblr_mxadthVBHg1qmb7iyo1_250.gif
 
People over at r/masseffect seem to be blown away by the fact that (as of 2013) 64% of Mass Effect players have never met Wrex.

I'm sure that number has changed a few percentiles since then but yeah. Lots of people either failing to persuade Wrex on Virmire or just using blank slate ME2/ME3 profiles.

tumblr_mxadthVBHg1qmb7iyo1_250.gif

To be honest I would probably not have the strong opinion of curing the genophage that I did for ME3 if I had to deal with Wreav instead of Wrex.
 

prag16

Banned
People over at r/masseffect seem to be blown away by the fact that (as of 2013) 64% of Mass Effect players have never met Wrex.

I'm sure that number has changed a few percentiles since then but yeah. Lots of people either failing to persuade Wrex on Virmire or just using blank slate ME2/ME3 profiles.

tumblr_mxadthVBHg1qmb7iyo1_250.gif
Sounds shocking at first, but after considering for a moment, I'm not that blown away. Probably a ton of ME2/ME3 players using default settings as you said.
 

diaspora

Member
Dragon Age: Origins had better banter than any ME game, and that came out before either ME2 or ME3.

I'm a little skeptical they'll finally catch up, but I would love it if they brought that over from DA.
In fairness, all three DA games have stronger banter than like... any game. I don't know if it's something the ME folks are even interested in pursuing at this point.
 
The extent of squadmate banter in the Mass Effect series would be those talks in elevators in the first game, or the crew going to different rooms on the Normandy in Mass Effect 3 and talking with eachother.
 

UberLevi

Member
The big difference for me concerning party selection is that I've always put more value in power synergy with the Mass Effect series. Miranda and Garrus were my default team in Mass Effect 2 because they could tear down any shields and they had solid squad boons.

Being able to select power load-outs on my main character will definitely promote squadmate variability.

This has been the big take-away for me regarding the freeform class structure. The ability to swap combat focus on the fly means being able to take previously redundant squadmates on more missions. So far it's also looking like some squadmates take cues from ME3 multiplayer classes and not just the six originals, like how Liam is technically a Turian Havoc. In Inquisition I always ended up taking Solas everywhere despite liking Dorian just because Solas was my support mage and I was already playing a DPS mage.
 
I typically try not to decide things like that until I actually meet the characters. That said I definitely think Vetra is interesting, but they all are probably interesting. Let's hope the banter triggers properly and consistently.

Oh, god, I'd completely forgotten about that. Fuck! I spent about a 70hr playthrough of DA:I in borderline complete silence, it was so depressing - especially after DA2, where you couldn't walk a few steps without your companions talking to each other.

I don't want another 70hrs of loneliness, please, Bioware.
 

Yeul

Member
Oh, god, I'd completely forgotten about that. Fuck! I spent about a 70hr playthrough of DA:I in borderline complete silence, it was so depressing - especially after DA2, where you couldn't walk a few steps without your companions talking to each other.

I don't want another 70hrs of loneliness, please, Bioware.

I mean it got to the point where I was sitting there with cheat engine open in order to get the banter to trigger. Who knows if ME:A is even going to go in the same direction with regards to banter in the same way that DA:I did. I just bring it up because the focus seems to be more exploration so in theory you would think the idea would be to have squadmates talk on a timer while you're out doing whatever. But yeah, that entire situation in DA:I was tough, for sure.
 

Patryn

Member
IIRC the banter "bug" in DAI was in how the counter would reset every time you warped anywhere or used camp.

I wonder if that's why I didn't encounter it. I tried to never use fast travel, and I would usually cheat when it came to camps: I'd simply restock potions, everyone would drink up, then restock again.
 

Yeul

Member
Idk there were definitely times when I never used the camp or fast traveled in some parts of my playthroughs and it never worked. In general it was very finicky, but I lived lol. I just ended up standing near a camp zone with cheat engine open swapping out companions to get all of their banter dialogue until it was exhausted.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Green ending is space nirvana. I mean, the catalyst, Legion, and Javik are basically right; the differences between organic intelligence and artificial intelligence are monumental and in theory inevitable to clash. The technological singularity is a legitimate point of discussion today, and there are numerous interesting talks and papers to read on the implications of runaway intelligence that vastly exceeds our own biological limitations, including the unintended risks such a situation poses.

In that respect synthesis is literally the solution to this legitimate problems; the merging of organic and synthetic identity into a singular whole, where organics are no longer limited by biological limitations and thus ascend into a new being. There are legitimate theories that this is our very real fate, too.

But, you know, digging up the past, the issue is this theme of a technological singularity isn't explored anywhere near as thoroughly and deeply as the catalyst conversation seems to imply. It's not a facet of a vast majority of Mass Effect as a trilogy. Hell it's briefly explored in Mass Effect 2 with the Geth space station and then immediately discarded in Mass Effect 3. So by the the time it rolls around in the ending it's not a particularly convincing or interesting talking point.

And I mean, the ending presents synthesis as literally the best case scenario, especially in the vanilla release before all the DLC rolled around. It legitimately addresses the 'problem' outlined by the catalyst and the reapers, it's a legitimate solution to an actual problem that is thought experimented today, it has 100% preservation of life, cultures, species, and existence within the lore, ascends the entire galaxy beyond a technological singularity, and it's mechanically only available once a high state of content and mission success is explored and experienced. It requires the best game state.

But as said the real issue is it's inherently unconvincing, as are the other ends, because of the hot garbage writing the entire ending encompasses. The entire very last sequence is so dreadfully conceived in every way.
 

Maledict

Member
It's also worth noting that the idea that biological life ascends in that way is for the species at the point of singularity. I have a real objection to the fact that the synthesis ending was imposed on every life form in the galaxy regardless of their state of being, development or wishes. I honestly think that's one of the most monstrous decisions you could ever take - species that are still in the Stone Age shouldn't suddenly be forced into part of an artificial life form across the galaxy.

At best, Shepherd could take that decision for the active Citedal species who were confronting the problem. Taking it on behalf of every race is appallingly immoral.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
fuck it reject option burn it all to the ground and let a new trilogy sort it out
 

diaspora

Member
Speaking of the Krogan rebellions, what I always found especially fascinating about them is how successfully they were able to bring the galaxy to the brink. The idea that they were ready to assault Palavan itself blew my mind in ME3.
 

Woorloog

Banned
fuck it reject option burn it all to the ground and let a new trilogy sort it out

The only correct ending. And the epilogue is then discarded, it didn't happen either.

I mean, if we're going by best outcomes doesn't the Control ending lead to like a golden age utopia?

Second best option. Some fools claim it leads to regression but i disagree strongly with that, especially if Paragon Shepard chooses it. Figure Paragon knows how to avoid issues with people dependent on godlike powers.


Anyway. Does Mass Effect 3 multiplayer still have players on 360/Xbox One?
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
One thing that gives me a ton of hope for Andromeda is that they are IIRC avoiding the idea of trying to go with a big supervillian like the Reapers instead are going for a smaller conflict.
 
Second best option. Some fools claim it leads to regression but i disagree strongly with that, especially if Paragon Shepard chooses it. Figure Paragon knows how to avoid issues with people dependent on godlike powers.

This is my option of choice. Some simply discarded it because the Illusive Man was shown in the explanation but it's the only true happy ending of the series IMO.

-Catalyst Shepard clearly and explicitly states that it is his/her humans convictions (or the convictions of the man/woman s/he once was) that guide him/her, so I doubt that the 'what if s/he goes crazy!?' argument doomsayers often wield holds any real weight.

-Everybody gets to live, even if Shep doesn't get a normal life.

-The Relays are repaired asap.

-The vast ammount of cultural, scientific and other significant data inside the Reapers from the civilizations they once were is not only conserved, but offered to the Galaxy.

-The milky way gets a nigh-invincible army of protectors directed by the mind of one of the most competent individuals in history.
 

Maledict

Member
Becoming god has always struck me as a very, very bad idea. Everything we have seen about the reapers has shown us that 'merging' with them results in really bad things happening. It's one reason why the entire ending was farcical - the reapers don't just efficiently mop up all higher life in the galaxy, they revel in doing it in an incredibly brutal and evil, genocidal manner. You don't merge with something like that and not expect consequences.

Plus, I don't think a god like elder race hanging around watching over everyone is a good result either. Much like Babylon 5, the entire purpose of the trilogy was to break the cycle so the younger races could progress on their own - not to have Shepherd God with an unbeatable fleet hanging around in case someone got naughty.

Clearly Babylon 5 heavily influence my view of the endings, but ultimately the only morally acceptable choice is destruction. Yes, it's ridiculous that Edi and the Geth die if you make that choice for arbitrary, 'screw the player' reasons but in my view it's the only moral choice. I was fully prepared to sacrifice earth and humanity to rid the galaxy of the reapers, and for both paragon and renegade shepherds the destruction choice is the only rational one for me. Compared to the literally millions of sentient species extinguished by the reapers, it's a small price to pay and it's the only outcome which removes them from the galaxy permanently.

(I also have no issue with the destruction of the racial memories in the reaper, because they simply don't exist. Whatever process is used to create a reaper seems to totally destroy any aspect of that races being or beliefs. If all that's left are a bunch of memories archived inside the reaper, then it doesn't matter that they are gone because they weren't doing anything anyway).
 
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