Mass Affection (Mass Effect Series)

[Stevil]

Never bothered with the armor, but the Spectre guns were pretty sweet. The Paladin handgun ends up being on par with a sniper rifle if you upgrade it. Money on Normal is just for equipment upgrades and not much else, but when you play Insanity, you really need to splash the cash because Level 1-4 weaponry doesn't really cut it.

[Mr Andy Dixon]

Are you talking about 3?

Because I thought in 1 and 2 it did do that.

Yeah, 1 and 2 were fine. 3 was where they dropped the ball.

ME3's Journal is "X wants Y in Z system. Find it."

It doesn't even tell you how or if you've unlocked the system.

Exactly! The only visual clue you have is if there's a flashing beacon on the galaxy map, but that's only accessible via the Normandy.

Throw in the fact that the Citadel attack gets rid of the first act's side-quests and it was basically taking the piss for an RPG.

Ugh. I hate mid-game points-of-no-return. I mean, I kinda "get" why those quests all had to disappear (I lost like half a dozen), but it's still annoying.

Another quest aspect I hated:

Shepard: "Hmm...this looks interesting. I don't need it now, but it might come in handy."

What did I pick up? Why do I need it? Who needs it? Have I unlocked that quest yet?!

Replaying it again, and I got to the bit where there's a dead Krogan in the Rachni nest and he's left a message. Shepard says he'll give it to the widow, but the quest never shows up because you haven't overheard the widow's conversation yet. It's only by dumb luck that you bump into her at the shop because you're buying upgrades, and even then, it doesn't tell you its a quest. You just hand her the recording and get some assets for your trouble.

I remember that one. I was so confused.

The journal didn't give me much trouble. Been a while but I remember the exact wording seemed to change based on how far I was with each thing. Like sometimes it would say something like, "You have collected X piece, now you must take it to Y person"; other times it would read more like "You must collect X piece so you can take it to Y".

Could've just been coincidence, the times I noticed actual grammar being a factor, but then again going by it never steered me wrong. Plus you have to admit, it would be a really subtle and graceful way to present each stage of a particular goal.

Yeah, all I really want is a checklist, like every other RPG in existence.

An RPG journal/questlog should contain a brief description of the quest followed by a list of all the things you've done (checked off/crossed out) and whatever your "active" part of the quest is. Having it say "I need to find X and bring it to Y" when I've already found X (sometimes accidentally, as Stevil pointed out) is way more confusing than it needs to be.

[State Lemming]

Never bothered with the armor, but the Spectre guns were pretty sweet. The Paladin handgun ends up being on par with a sniper rifle if you upgrade it. Money on Normal is just for equipment upgrades and not much else, but when you play Insanity, you really need to splash the cash because Level 1-4 weaponry doesn't really cut it.

I adore Mass Effect but I've never been a big enough fan of the combat to try Insanity, it always sounded like an exercise in frustration. Those Collector platforms were bad enough on their own.

[Sir Legendhead]

Having it say "I need to find X and bring it to Y" when I've already found X (sometimes accidentally, as Stevil pointed out) is way more confusing than it needs to be.

I can see how that would be confusing, but like I said it simply never happened that way for me. Like in the example you give, if I needed to find X, it told me I needed to find X. If I had X, it told me where I had to bring it. I paid close attention to these descriptions and everything worked out fine on my end.

My question is, were slight changes in wording incorporated as an actual game mechanic, or did it just seem like they were because I kept getting lucky? I'm like, the only person I know of who has noticed this and I kinda wonder whether I imagined it or not.

[Mr Andy Dixon]

Ah, I see what you're saying now. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to the wording?

[Sir Legendhead]

Next time I go through, I should pay close attention and look to see if the wording actually changes after I pick things up. Like if it goes from "you must find X and bring it to Y" to simply "you must bring X to Y". I meant to keep an eye out for that last time I played but I forgot.

Of course, in the example Stevil mentioned with the Asari/Krogan couple, you wouldn't be able to do that. Not if the quest doesn't even appear until after the object has been delivered. I guess in that case, they just kind of took it for granted that you'd wind up at her shop at some point, after having explored the Krogan ruins. Which is a safe assumption to make, seeing as how there really aren't that many shops in the game, and you're encouraged to check them all because they all have different stuff.

[GlowBear]

I think that there's another ME3 Ending DLC coming, where another option is added and that is photosynthesis. Whereby Shepard decides all would be better if everyone were to become plants.

[Sir Legendhead]

I'm going to pattern my Renegade Ruthless Shepard after Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now.

Because then, ME3 ends with Marlon Brando assassinating an insane cult leader played by Martin Sheen.

[Stevil]

Still chugging through my replay.

Man, Tali comes into this game so bloody late. At one point I completely forgot that she joins the team. Also, I've actually been reading the text more. Dark Energy is what the Crucible uses...so it isn't entirely forgotten about; except when people don't actually explain what the Cruicble does or how they harness Dark Energy, you know, considering how it was a new threat, only six months previously.

As much I find the game to be well written on an intimate scale, it does sort of rush though the major plot points. The fact that you have to read the codex to understand Udina's motives is completely lazy, especially when Shepard is asked why by Bailey, and he replies, "I dunno!"

Also, at the hospital, I had no idea that the Asari's story is about...

Spoiler!

her killing Joker's sister to save the other colonists.

[Stevil]

I got to the bit where EDI talks about their night o' passion, but luckily the techno moozak drowns out the worst parts.

"You took his hand and you did what?! Actually, nevermind. I don't want to know. I don't need to know, and why the hell are you telling me this shit?!"

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

[State Lemming]

Still chugging through my replay.

Man, Tali comes into this game so bloody late. At one point I completely forgot that she joins the team. Also, I've actually been reading the text more. Dark Energy is what the Crucible uses...so it isn't entirely forgotten about; except when people don't actually explain what the Cruicble does or how they harness Dark Energy, you know, considering how it was a new threat, only six months previously.

As much I find the game to be well written on an intimate scale, it does sort of rush though the major plot points. The fact that you have to read the codex to understand Udina's motives is completely lazy, especially when Shepard is asked why by Bailey, and he replies, "I dunno!"

Also, at the hospital, I had no idea that the Asari's story is about...

Spoiler!

her killing Joker's sister to save the other colonists.

At least with Gunny, I think it wasn't obvious intentionally, just something Shepard may have pieced together. It didn't occur to me that it was her until Joker mentions her colony being attacked.

[TurboKill]

I'm disappointed at myself for never trying this.

[GlowBear]

No...no you are not Turbo

[Sir Legendhead]

If you tell EDI to probe Uranus in ME2, she'll...oh wait, you guys probably already knew this.

































metallic finger

so cold

[TurboKill]

No...no you are not Turbo

[ZombiePlatypus]

Those tiny legs, d'awww.

[Panzadolphin56]

That's actually how I've always pictured you Turbo.

[Zodiac Eclipse]

Anybody getting the DLC tomorrow? I was gonna, but then realized I don't have any characters in a decent place to start a new quest so now I might hold off until I decide to do another trilogy run-through. I need a gay manshep in my life one of these days.

[ZombiePlatypus]

Ah, I wasn't aware it was coming out tomorrow. I'll nab it, I need an excuse to dive back in again.

[Stevil]

I just finished the game on Insanity and got 100%, only to sign into Live and find the DLC gets added automatically. DAMMIT!

So that was the first time I saw Extended Cut in full. My missus summed it up best: "Wow, why the hell didn't they do this when the game came out?!"

I know people are probably pissy about EC, but it did feel like a proper ending. I picked Destroy again, and now that I knew my consequences (I just slowed galactic progress down), it felt justified. I still hate the way they ram Synthesis down your throat, though. Plus I liked the two scenes with Ash, even if the Normandy's rescue sort of slowed down the "Holy shit! It's run or die!" scene. Seeing all the extras and rewrites, I'm amazed that BioWare thought the original version was okay to ship and I'm one of the people who thought, "take it or leave it, it's happened."

Yeah, it's still the three doors, but at least the basics made sense, or enough for me not to notice certain holes.