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[Mass Effect]: Victory & Commendation Packs out! Mark ALL spoilers or BANSHEES!!

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  • steamypilesteamypile Registered User regular
    Hi guys, quick question. I just picked up a copy of ME3 and excited to try it and import in my ME2 character. Only problem is I have the HD the ME2 char was saved on and the console it was on RROD. My new console is one of those arcade xboxes with no connection for an HD, so I transferred all my saves onto the cloud using a friend's old xbox with my old HD. Now I am reading reports about the cloud saves not syncing and being able to transfer my character, do I need to try to reload it using my old HD somehow or even replay the final ME2 mission etc? Not quite sure what is going on here, if anyone has thoughts I'd love to hear it.

    Thanks!

  • WybornWyborn GET EQUIPPED Registered User regular
    steamypile wrote: »
    Hi guys, quick question. I just picked up a copy of ME3 and excited to try it and import in my ME2 character. Only problem is I have the HD the ME2 char was saved on and the console it was on RROD. My new console is one of those arcade xboxes with no connection for an HD, so I transferred all my saves onto the cloud using a friend's old xbox with my old HD. Now I am reading reports about the cloud saves not syncing and being able to transfer my character, do I need to try to reload it using my old HD somehow or even replay the final ME2 mission etc? Not quite sure what is going on here, if anyone has thoughts I'd love to hear it.

    Thanks!

    Better and simpler to use a blank USB stick, put your save onto that, and transfer it to your newer Xbox.

    dN0T6ur.png
  • steamypilesteamypile Registered User regular
    Wyborn wrote: »

    Better and simpler to use a blank USB stick, put your save onto that, and transfer it to your newer Xbox.

    Does that work? As in, I plug my HD into another xbox, attach a usb stick, copy it over, and then copy it from that usb stick to my xbox? I didn't even know xboxes took usb sticks, shows how much I know. So that means I need to go back and use someone else's xbox?

  • ThatSwedishGuyThatSwedishGuy SwedenRegistered User regular
    My problem with the ending is...
    the fact that, outside of the fact that it comes down to a three way choice at the end, it gives me no incentive to finish the game with my other characters. Why? Because the outcome is always the same. I never did things radically different between characters, there are some things that I never do differently on simple basis that I find it morally reprehensible. As such, I will always end up curing the genophage, unite the Quarians and the Geth and everyone will always survive ME2... so what point do I have to play through any of the games again?

    The outcome has now been confirmed to be static, fixed, that whole "completely shape the outcome" stick they beat the PR staff with has proven to be a lie, we are no more in control of how things turn then we were in Gears of War or Deus Ex: Human Revolution, games that never really promised us that ability. And anyone who says "But they never said you'd have complete control." Uh, yeah, they STILL do.

    http://masseffect.com/about/story/ - Top of the page. I'm pretty sure that's false advertising.

    For people who see the journey as the important bit, fine... I don't understand you, when I go somewhere I tend to enjoy the destination a hell of a lot more than the journey, not sure what you do on vacations but whatever. But I'm not, every single decision I made in Mass Effect I did thinking "Well, I'll need an army to fight the Reapers..." but as it turns out, I could just have forgotten about that and make decisions based on whatever whim I felt at the moment because the endings don't change to reflect my decisions... hence, the endings really do sour the experience.

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    My problem with the ending is...
    the fact that, outside of the fact that it comes down to a three way choice at the end, it gives me no incentive to finish the game with my other characters. Why? Because the outcome is always the same. I never did things radically different between characters, there are some things that I never do differently on simple basis that I find it morally reprehensible. As such, I will always end up curing the genophage, unite the Quarians and the Geth and everyone will always survive ME2... so what point do I have to play through any of the games again?

    Just so you know, depending on your choices in ME/ME2 you actually may not get those options at all. For example with a default Shepard:
    Curing the genophage is a REALLY bad idea (well at least until the ending ensures that is irrelevant by planting Wreave on Earth where he'll end up stranded and the Krogan stuck on their homeworld) because Wreave is an absolute asshole and a genuine danger to the galaxy (plus Eve dies). You cannot unit the Geth and Quarians full stop with the default Shepard because of the previous choices as well.

    It's actually a very well done game and really does react to what you do. That the ending makes that irrelevant is aside from the point of what it actually achieves.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • BotznoyBotznoy Registered User regular
    So MP i finally switched from using a vanguard to a Salarian engy. So much more fun for me now, being able to CC geth pyros. :D

    IZF2byN.jpg

    Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
  • Blackbird SR-71CBlackbird SR-71C Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    If you need equipment like medigels or the consumable equipment, you're probably better off with an equipment pack. Otherwise you're better off with the recruit packs. You'll get +1 of 4 different equipments. The 20000 credit boxes will get you +3 of 4 different things so your choice is 4 x 4 for 4 x 5000 or 3 x 4 for 1 x 20000.

    (although for the consumable equipment that's a bit of a false dichotomy, medigel from a +1 or a +3 is interchangeable, but a pistol rail amp II is better than a I).

    Some of the lower tier weapons can be pretty awesome once you get them to an X. Which is going to be much easier than getting a Phaeton or Disciple to X (...which will be far more than 600,000 credits instead of 50,000). But the veteran and spectre packs also seem to give you a better chance of getting the slightly rarer character unlocks like the krogans.

    I guess the important thing to note is that credits earned scale based on difficulty. A completed bronze game will get you about 15,000 and a complete silver game will net you about 30,000 (I apparently play at ridiculous times or something and have had to settle for pubs, so haven't tried any gold matches). If you get in a decent team you can usually beat silver or bronze. And that can be about 14-15 minutes for 15,000 credits or 20-25 for 30,000 (or about 11,000 if you fail after wave 6). But then there's more experience as well.


    ...Also, I don't know what you people are talking about with kill stealing and losing experience. As far as I can tell experience is shared between all 4 players. So you can know who may have contributed more, but you get that experience added to your pool (i.e. if the 4 people have 40k, 20k, 20k and 3k, I'm 99% positive everyone is being given 83k). Otherwise I have no explanation for why my 30-40k games are netting me 125k overall...

    Regarding your last paragraph:

    Agreed and disagreed. It doesn't translete that well into who contributed more. My decoy stops two atlases and three phantoms dead in their track, allowing my team to focus on one side of attack and survive instead of going down one after another. I don't get any points for that, even though it probably saved us all.

    Edit: Also, equipment levels above 3? Rumor or true? Only gotten level 3 perks from spectre packs but the wiki insists that veteran packs give lvl 2-3 and spectre packs give lvl 3-5.

    Blackbird SR-71C on
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    Steam ID: 76561198021298113
    Origin ID: SR71C_Blackbird

  • CyborgZetaCyborgZeta Registered User regular
    One minor thing that bugs me in ME3. Story-wise but unrelated to ending.
    After the last mission on Tuchanka where Mordin dies to cure the Genophage, Shepard has one of his nightmares. Liara comes up and he mentions that he's thinking about the friends he's lost.

    She asks if I'm thinking of anyone in particular and I only get two options:

    1. I miss Ashley.

    2. Let them rest.

    Why can't I say I miss Mordin? I certainly don't miss Ashley.

    "Blacker than a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than Hell itself...That is coffee." - Godot
  • ThatSwedishGuyThatSwedishGuy SwedenRegistered User regular
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Just so you know, depending on your choices in ME/ME2 you actually may not get those options at all. For example with a default Shepard:
    Curing the genophage is a REALLY bad idea (well at least until the ending ensures that is irrelevant by planting Wreave on Earth where he'll end up stranded and the Krogan stuck on their homeworld) because Wreave is an absolute asshole and a genuine danger to the galaxy (plus Eve dies). You cannot unit the Geth and Quarians full stop with the default Shepard because of the previous choices as well.

    It's actually a very well done game and really does react to what you do. That the ending makes that irrelevant is aside from the point of what it actually achieves.
    But I know from reading up that that won't happen because A, I never let Wrex die so Wreav will never be put in charge. Mordin always survives and I always save Maelon's data so unless my character pulls a complete 180, then nothing's going to change. Same with Tali, the only thing that might end up changing in future playthroughs is whether I rewrite the Geth, other than I pretty much always do things the same way, the chief among them being that Tali has never once been exiled.

    And I'm not arguing that the game doesn't react to my decisions, I'm arguing that the promised "Completely shape the outcome" PR line is not true. The three way choice at the end shapes the outcome.

  • ExtreaminatusExtreaminatus Go forth and amplify, the Noise Marines are here!Registered User regular
    CyborgZeta wrote: »
    One minor thing that bugs me in ME3. Story-wise but unrelated to ending.
    After the last mission on Tuchanka where Mordin dies to cure the Genophage, Shepard has one of his nightmares. Liara comes up and he mentions that he's thinking about the friends he's lost.

    She asks if I'm thinking of anyone in particular and I only get two options:

    1. I miss Ashley.

    2. Let them rest.

    Why can't I say I miss Mordin? I certainly don't miss Ashley.
    Yeah, that kind of bugged me. I got, "I miss Kaiden," and personally, I don't miss him, so I went the dick answer for that one.

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    So I don't know if anyone else here has looked at Mass Effect 3: Final Hours (it's an iPad App), which details some of the scrapped content from the ending and other aspects. Having found discussion on it, I'm literally infuriated with how it turned out because common sense should have won in the end here (especially if there was genuine peer review).
    They had a really long and from what I can tell, even better conversation with Anderson right at the end of the game. Hudson sabotaged that, "For the moment".

    Right at the end with the "Reaper Run" you would be shown a scene where your squadmate trips up and tries to get the other up - but are fried by Harbingers cannon. They would show up as corpses on the citadel. Now that would have been emotionally jarring and incredibly brutal. Of course, this is what I think happens anyway given that I still don't understand how Javik got out unscathed (or did he just fucking run away?) in the final cutscene of the game. You know, despite being right behind me when Harbinger was ruining shit.

    The Starchild was supposed to answer a lot more questions but again, Hudson and "THE MYSTERY!!!!".

    Actually the more I read and understand about this app, the more I believe Hudson just completely didn't have a clue about a good way to end the game and overrode the other writers far too much. The baffling thing is this is an app that basically shows us how little they considered their fans in the actual process. I mean the ending was basically designed for "Lots of speculation!" in effect. Unfortunately it seems to have utterly back fired on them.

    Here is a link to the thread describing aspects of this in more detail if you want.

    The app can be found here if you want it.

    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • Inter_dInter_d Registered User regular
    So I finally switched tactics on my Drell Adept. Running up and melee'ing the fuck out of enemies was ending with me more dead than alive so I respec'd for improved shields/health and pumped all my points into capitalizing on biotic explosions with Reave and Pull.

    Good lord, is it awesome. I can completely decimate the charging line of any enemy type if they don't have shields. I put points in improving the blast radius and now it's like having an unlimited supply of grenades at my fingertips. I still have moments where I need to fuck off and that's when my patented ninja dodging skills come back into play but I'm enjoying exploding everyone.

    Pair me with another biotic and we can completely decimate a Banshee without firing a bullet in no time flat. Biotic explosions keep the mean bitches staggered.

  • eEK!eEK! Registered User regular
    ...Also, I don't know what you people are talking about with kill stealing and losing experience. As far as I can tell experience is shared between all 4 players. So you can know who may have contributed more, but you get that experience added to your pool (i.e. if the 4 people have 40k, 20k, 20k and 3k, I'm 99% positive everyone is being given 83k). Otherwise I have no explanation for why my 30-40k games are netting me 125k overall...
    Agreed and disagreed. It doesn't translete that well into who contributed more. My decoy stops two atlases and three phantoms dead in their track, allowing my team to focus on one side of attack and survive instead of going down one after another. I don't get any points for that, even though it probably saved us all.
    you might not get any points for it, but everyone knows you are a bad ass decoy ninja wizard

  • ExtreaminatusExtreaminatus Go forth and amplify, the Noise Marines are here!Registered User regular
    I'm about ready to give hoping they'll do anything with or for the ending. That letter from Hudson(?) really just killed the fire in my belly to keep going against this.

  • Inter_dInter_d Registered User regular
    eEK! wrote: »
    ...Also, I don't know what you people are talking about with kill stealing and losing experience. As far as I can tell experience is shared between all 4 players. So you can know who may have contributed more, but you get that experience added to your pool (i.e. if the 4 people have 40k, 20k, 20k and 3k, I'm 99% positive everyone is being given 83k). Otherwise I have no explanation for why my 30-40k games are netting me 125k overall...
    Agreed and disagreed. It doesn't translete that well into who contributed more. My decoy stops two atlases and three phantoms dead in their track, allowing my team to focus on one side of attack and survive instead of going down one after another. I don't get any points for that, even though it probably saved us all.
    you might not get any points for it, but everyone knows you are a bad ass decoy ninja wizard

    yeah, seriously. Anyone who's seen a decoy in action knows how helpful it can be.

    Keeps geth so focused that we can pick them off clean with no worry of them giving us any attention.

    reminds me of the time I was getting bitched at by my team because I was "going solo" but really I found a defensible position that was on the opposite side of them keeping an entire squad of marauders off their ass by spamming Reave and not losing their attention. Every single one was making a bee line towards them (they were guarding a download) and I kept them tripped up.

    Reave is guhdamn awesome, the staggering effect coupled with the improved radius can really let you trip the enemy's advance.

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    I actually really like the Turian soldier - if only I had a decent AR with a good clip to provide enough dakka. The default AR is useless for marksman whoring.

    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • Black_HeartBlack_Heart Registered User regular
    While I love 99% of ME3 like most others do, I do have a few small nitpicks/things that could have been improved:
    I wanted to see more of Joker/EDI's relationship. To my knowledge the most we get is listening to them talk about who Joker would bang in Purgatory. Which was cute... but I kind of just wanted to hear more of their couple-talk or address the fact that Joker is trying to date a robot. Isn't he pretty much the first human in the ME universe to EVER date an AI? They act like its no big deal. There was never really any conversation "meat" with Edi/Joker like you get with the rest of the characters.

    Not enough money in the game. I got to Lv58 by the end and did 98% of everything in the game, checked everywhere and I still had way, WAY less than enough money to buy everything in the game. While its certainly realistic not to be able to buy up every item in the game, you pretty much could in the previous 2 games and the completionist in me really wanted to be able to upgrade every weapon to max, and buy every item/armor/weapon.

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    You keep most of your stuff into a NG+ anyway, so you can easily get everything on multiple playthroughs. It's clearly designed so you can upgrade a core group of weapons - but not easily upgrade everything.

    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • JohnDoeJohnDoe Registered User regular
    Aegeri wrote: »
    My problem with the ending is...
    the fact that, outside of the fact that it comes down to a three way choice at the end, it gives me no incentive to finish the game with my other characters. Why? Because the outcome is always the same. I never did things radically different between characters, there are some things that I never do differently on simple basis that I find it morally reprehensible. As such, I will always end up curing the genophage, unite the Quarians and the Geth and everyone will always survive ME2... so what point do I have to play through any of the games again?

    Just so you know, depending on your choices in ME/ME2 you actually may not get those options at all. For example with a default Shepard:
    Curing the genophage is a REALLY bad idea (well at least until the ending ensures that is irrelevant by planting Wreave on Earth where he'll end up stranded and the Krogan stuck on their homeworld) because Wreave is an absolute asshole and a genuine danger to the galaxy (plus Eve dies). You cannot unit the Geth and Quarians full stop with the default Shepard because of the previous choices as well.

    It's actually a very well done game and really does react to what you do. That the ending makes that irrelevant is aside from the point of what it actually achieves.
    Well, you never really find out if curing the genophage is a bad idea since ME3 doesn't take into account your actions at all

  • eeSanGeeSanG I slice like a goddamn hammer. Registered User regular
    Botznoy wrote: »
    So MP i finally switched from using a vanguard to a Salarian engy. So much more fun for me now, being able to CC geth pyros. :D

    Why settle for that when you can mind control them with a Quarian Infiltrator!

    LFMGb.jpg
    Slice like a god damn hammer. LoL: Rafflesia / BNet: Talonflame#11979
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    JohnDoe wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    My problem with the ending is...
    the fact that, outside of the fact that it comes down to a three way choice at the end, it gives me no incentive to finish the game with my other characters. Why? Because the outcome is always the same. I never did things radically different between characters, there are some things that I never do differently on simple basis that I find it morally reprehensible. As such, I will always end up curing the genophage, unite the Quarians and the Geth and everyone will always survive ME2... so what point do I have to play through any of the games again?

    Just so you know, depending on your choices in ME/ME2 you actually may not get those options at all. For example with a default Shepard:
    Curing the genophage is a REALLY bad idea (well at least until the ending ensures that is irrelevant by planting Wreave on Earth where he'll end up stranded and the Krogan stuck on their homeworld) because Wreave is an absolute asshole and a genuine danger to the galaxy (plus Eve dies). You cannot unit the Geth and Quarians full stop with the default Shepard because of the previous choices as well.

    It's actually a very well done game and really does react to what you do. That the ending makes that irrelevant is aside from the point of what it actually achieves.
    Well, you never really find out if curing the genophage is a bad idea since ME3 doesn't take into account your actions at all

    That's a flaw of the ending and how half assed it is - but it's not a flaw of the game that these decisions have (at the time) major impact and debate about them. Sure the ending of the game makes it irrelevant, but at the time it was just heart wrenching. In my run:
    I had to shoot Mordin - one of my favourite characters - because he wouldn't listen to reason about not curing the genophage (as Wreave is a total asshole). So it was time to eat a bullet to the skull and then I had to lie about how he died and that I cured the genophage. It made me feel like a world class monster and wonder "Just how would Shepard possibly live with this?". It was an extremely challenging decision and I knew I had to make an incredibly tough call.

    It is one of numerous examples of ME3 being a wonderful game from a storytelling perspective.

    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • XeddicusXeddicus Registered User regular
    While I love 99% of ME3 like most others do, I do have a few small nitpicks/things that could have been improved:
    I wanted to see more of Joker/EDI's relationship. To my knowledge the most we get is listening to them talk about who Joker would bang in Purgatory. Which was cute... but I kind of just wanted to hear more of their couple-talk or address the fact that Joker is trying to date a robot. Isn't he pretty much the first human in the ME universe to EVER date an AI? They act like its no big deal. There was never really any conversation "meat" with Edi/Joker like you get with the rest of the characters.

    Not enough money in the game. I got to Lv58 by the end and did 98% of everything in the game, checked everywhere and I still had way, WAY less than enough money to buy everything in the game. While its certainly realistic not to be able to buy up every item in the game, you pretty much could in the previous 2 games and the completionist in me really wanted to be able to upgrade every weapon to max, and buy every item/armor/weapon.
    The meat of that conversation would be she's a robot so he's dating a fancy sex doll so welcome to Creepyville. They walked the line between that and cute/funny and did a pretty good job.

  • CambiataCambiata Commander Shepard The likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    JohnDoe wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    My problem with the ending is...
    the fact that, outside of the fact that it comes down to a three way choice at the end, it gives me no incentive to finish the game with my other characters. Why? Because the outcome is always the same. I never did things radically different between characters, there are some things that I never do differently on simple basis that I find it morally reprehensible. As such, I will always end up curing the genophage, unite the Quarians and the Geth and everyone will always survive ME2... so what point do I have to play through any of the games again?

    Just so you know, depending on your choices in ME/ME2 you actually may not get those options at all. For example with a default Shepard:
    Curing the genophage is a REALLY bad idea (well at least until the ending ensures that is irrelevant by planting Wreave on Earth where he'll end up stranded and the Krogan stuck on their homeworld) because Wreave is an absolute asshole and a genuine danger to the galaxy (plus Eve dies). You cannot unit the Geth and Quarians full stop with the default Shepard because of the previous choices as well.

    It's actually a very well done game and really does react to what you do. That the ending makes that irrelevant is aside from the point of what it actually achieves.
    Well, you never really find out if curing the genophage is a bad idea since ME3 doesn't take into account your actions at all

    To be fair,
    Even a good ending wouldn't tell you the end result of the genophage cure. Because whatever happens as a result is not going to be instant change. I don't even know how quickly Krogan mature, but it's got to be longer than a couple of months.

    Though I guess what you're asking for here is a slideshow of what happens to everybody. I'll be honest, I'm glad they didn't include that type of thing in the ending. The ending is poorly thought out and needs a rewrite, but having the end of the game tell you whether your decisions are right or wrong would have rankled.

    If they were going to do something to explain what happens next, I would expect it to be something more like a cutscene. Like the best ending is all your squad alive on earth having drinks or something, and maybe Liara looking at the plans for a brand new mass relay.

    Cambiata on
    "If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
  • MatriasMatrias Registered User regular
    Cambiata wrote: »
    Matrias wrote: »
    chiasaur11 wrote: »
    Matrias wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Schrondinger is being sarcastic I would assume.

    It still baffles me that the ending didn't get peer review like the rest of the writing in the game. It really shows as well.
    I'm kind of doubtful of that. "How the hell does that happen?" was my first thought. That scene would touch dozens of hands as it was implemented, and no one thought, "Uh, does anyone else think this kind of bonkers?"

    I think there might have been some koolaid drinking going on.

    No one else involved until it's too late to change, story I heard.
    Its never too late to cut a feature that is incredibly bad.

    Well admittedly I don't know how game development goes, but at my job, when the boss lady comes to me and says "This is how we are going to do it." and I say, "I'm sorry Liz, but that is an incredibly bad idea, and here's why." And she returns with, "I hear your concerns, but this is how we are going to do it." The only thing left for me to say is: OK. And then cross my fingers.
    when you're finaling a game, sometimes asking those questions are really hard. Nobody wants to go back to the drawing board last minute and nobody wants to throw out content.

    And sometimes those questions aren't asked because the koolaid is delicious. Sometimes ego comes into it. I don't know what Bioware is like, but studios with their... uh, pedigree? You can get a vibe going from the entire dev team that we-can-do-no-wrong-because-we-are-so-and-so.

    3DS/Pokemon Friend Code - 2122-5878-9273 - Kyle
  • DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    JohnDoe wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    My problem with the ending is...
    the fact that, outside of the fact that it comes down to a three way choice at the end, it gives me no incentive to finish the game with my other characters. Why? Because the outcome is always the same. I never did things radically different between characters, there are some things that I never do differently on simple basis that I find it morally reprehensible. As such, I will always end up curing the genophage, unite the Quarians and the Geth and everyone will always survive ME2... so what point do I have to play through any of the games again?

    Just so you know, depending on your choices in ME/ME2 you actually may not get those options at all. For example with a default Shepard:
    Curing the genophage is a REALLY bad idea (well at least until the ending ensures that is irrelevant by planting Wreave on Earth where he'll end up stranded and the Krogan stuck on their homeworld) because Wreave is an absolute asshole and a genuine danger to the galaxy (plus Eve dies). You cannot unit the Geth and Quarians full stop with the default Shepard because of the previous choices as well.

    It's actually a very well done game and really does react to what you do. That the ending makes that irrelevant is aside from the point of what it actually achieves.
    Well, you never really find out if curing the genophage is a bad idea since ME3 doesn't take into account your actions at all
    This is exactly my point about why replaying ME3 is pointless. Sure, I can make a few different choices this time around. But why bother? I'm not going to see the results of it ever, because the ending is retarded

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Matrias wrote: »
    Cambiata wrote: »
    Matrias wrote: »
    chiasaur11 wrote: »
    Matrias wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Schrondinger is being sarcastic I would assume.

    It still baffles me that the ending didn't get peer review like the rest of the writing in the game. It really shows as well.
    I'm kind of doubtful of that. "How the hell does that happen?" was my first thought. That scene would touch dozens of hands as it was implemented, and no one thought, "Uh, does anyone else think this kind of bonkers?"

    I think there might have been some koolaid drinking going on.

    No one else involved until it's too late to change, story I heard.
    Its never too late to cut a feature that is incredibly bad.

    Well admittedly I don't know how game development goes, but at my job, when the boss lady comes to me and says "This is how we are going to do it." and I say, "I'm sorry Liz, but that is an incredibly bad idea, and here's why." And she returns with, "I hear your concerns, but this is how we are going to do it." The only thing left for me to say is: OK. And then cross my fingers.
    when you're finaling a game, sometimes asking those questions are really hard. Nobody wants to go back to the drawing board last minute and nobody wants to throw out content.

    And sometimes those questions aren't asked because the koolaid is delicious. Sometimes ego comes into it. I don't know what Bioware is like, but studios with their... uh, pedigree? You can get a vibe going from the entire dev team that we-can-do-no-wrong-because-we-are-so-and-so.

    You are really being unfair to the development team with this post, because I can tell you from reading the Mass Effect 3: The Final Hours a lot of the ending was Casey Hudson's doing. Essentially he went all "MYSTERY!!! NEEDS MORE MYSTERY!!!" and overriding everyone else to make it the incoherent mess that it is. Probably why he's been so insistent on defending it, because the fact everyone hates it probably falls right at his feet the most.

    Combined with the knowledge it didn't get the same writing peer review as the rest of the game, we are getting a pretty solid overall idea of what happened. That "Happened" is Casey Hudson basically wrecked the end of the game and I would not be surprised if the other writers are not happy with this. Authorial intent has come up several times in this thread, but the ending seems to have been done by Casey and Mac without the rest of the writing team having a fair say (unlike the rest of the game). Personally, from the information available I don't think it's fans who should be most upset: It's the other writers.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • MatriasMatrias Registered User regular
    Cambiata wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Because just like Battestar Galactica, this has happened before and it will happen again. You know, the analogies to BSG are pretty apt. It was an incredibly compelling and fascinating series, then right at the end was all "lol god provides and let's throw all their technology into the sun forgetting everything they should have fucking learned the first time around". It reminds me of that a lot in terms of pure "This is just stupid and defeats hours of otherwise excellent writing", especially:
    The destroy ending, which wipes the reapers out and the starchild implies will eventually have a cycle where synthetics rise up and destroy everyone. This is the very "BSG" like ending to me in this way, as BSG ends with "Maybe the synthetics will destroy us again? Wouldn't it have helped to actually preserve your records of what happened and LEARN from it? In ME3 terms, considering that the Geth could be entirely peaceful members of the galaxy depending on your choices - it's immensely disappointing no ending allows any coherent follow up of this concept. That no future game can ever logically or coherently follow up on this concept is an incredible shame.

    The thing about the BSG ending was that the writers had written themselves into a corner and really had no idea where to go next. A bad ending was almost unavoidable.

    But that wasn't the case with ME3. The ending could have easily been genuinely bittersweet, all they had to do was K.I.S.S. Maybe some people would have thought it was too predictable... well so the fuck what? A predictable ending would have miles above the nonsensical weirdness they settled on.

    At least maybe Casey has learned the value of peer review in this debacle.
    Worked for ME1 and ME2. simple endings, satisfying accomplishments. I secured humanities place in the galaxy. I ran a suicide mission and brought my team back in tact.
    I united the galaxy to blow up the genocidal robots... it would have been fine.

    3DS/Pokemon Friend Code - 2122-5878-9273 - Kyle
  • eeSanGeeSanG I slice like a goddamn hammer. Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    JohnDoe wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    My problem with the ending is...
    the fact that, outside of the fact that it comes down to a three way choice at the end, it gives me no incentive to finish the game with my other characters. Why? Because the outcome is always the same. I never did things radically different between characters, there are some things that I never do differently on simple basis that I find it morally reprehensible. As such, I will always end up curing the genophage, unite the Quarians and the Geth and everyone will always survive ME2... so what point do I have to play through any of the games again?

    Just so you know, depending on your choices in ME/ME2 you actually may not get those options at all. For example with a default Shepard:
    Curing the genophage is a REALLY bad idea (well at least until the ending ensures that is irrelevant by planting Wreave on Earth where he'll end up stranded and the Krogan stuck on their homeworld) because Wreave is an absolute asshole and a genuine danger to the galaxy (plus Eve dies). You cannot unit the Geth and Quarians full stop with the default Shepard because of the previous choices as well.

    It's actually a very well done game and really does react to what you do. That the ending makes that irrelevant is aside from the point of what it actually achieves.
    Well, you never really find out if curing the genophage is a bad idea since ME3 doesn't take into account your actions at all
    This is exactly my point about why replaying ME3 is pointless. Sure, I can make a few different choices this time around. But why bother? I'm not going to see the results of it ever, because the ending is retarded

    I want to catch all of the dialogue I missed.
    Seriously, spoiler.
    Tali died for me on Rannoch, so I never got to hear any of her conversations or use her for missions afterwards. Yes, I can watch everything on Youtube, but it isn't the same. I regret not seeing drunk Tali in-game, or Tali x Garrus.
    I also missed a bunch of side quests because I thought Priority Missions were actually priority.

    eeSanG on
    LFMGb.jpg
    Slice like a god damn hammer. LoL: Rafflesia / BNet: Talonflame#11979
  • FightTestFightTest Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Man, fuck whoever decided reapers were going to be the first weekend. And fuck whoever sets me up to always get the 4 hack points on wave 10. That shit is so fucking aggravating. Unless your team is smart there is no way to do it because you can't even kite the mobs away from the point then rush back because banshees just port on top of you and ravagers just own you from across the map. I lose two fucking morons on wave 10 because they want to stand in melee range of a banshee instead of going for the points. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

    (already did the "quest" but still it's so much more hassle than the other two races. and because it's the special weekend almost every game I get is silver reaper and I'm so tired of it.)

    FightTest on
    MOBA DOTA.
  • MatriasMatrias Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Matrias wrote: »
    Cambiata wrote: »
    Matrias wrote: »
    chiasaur11 wrote: »
    Matrias wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Schrondinger is being sarcastic I would assume.

    It still baffles me that the ending didn't get peer review like the rest of the writing in the game. It really shows as well.
    I'm kind of doubtful of that. "How the hell does that happen?" was my first thought. That scene would touch dozens of hands as it was implemented, and no one thought, "Uh, does anyone else think this kind of bonkers?"

    I think there might have been some koolaid drinking going on.

    No one else involved until it's too late to change, story I heard.
    Its never too late to cut a feature that is incredibly bad.

    Well admittedly I don't know how game development goes, but at my job, when the boss lady comes to me and says "This is how we are going to do it." and I say, "I'm sorry Liz, but that is an incredibly bad idea, and here's why." And she returns with, "I hear your concerns, but this is how we are going to do it." The only thing left for me to say is: OK. And then cross my fingers.
    when you're finaling a game, sometimes asking those questions are really hard. Nobody wants to go back to the drawing board last minute and nobody wants to throw out content.

    And sometimes those questions aren't asked because the koolaid is delicious. Sometimes ego comes into it. I don't know what Bioware is like, but studios with their... uh, pedigree? You can get a vibe going from the entire dev team that we-can-do-no-wrong-because-we-are-so-and-so.

    You are really being unfair to the development team with this post, because I can tell you from reading the Mass Effect 3: The Final Hours a lot of the ending was Casey Hudson's doing. Essentially he went all "MYSTERY!!! NEEDS MORE MYSTERY!!!" and overriding everyone else to make it the incoherent mess that it is. Probably why he's been so insistent on defending it, because the fact everyone hates it probably falls right at his feet the most.
    I was hoping my commments wouldn't be applied to Bioware's dev team. I don't know what its like in there, other than that they live in Edmonton and are probably dumb-Oilers-fans. I was just speaking from experience on why obviously stupid stuff sometimes get shipped.

    As for Casey, it very likely the only reason he is insistent on defending it is because he has to tow the company line at this point. For all we know he's crying himself to sleep in shame.

    Matrias on
    3DS/Pokemon Friend Code - 2122-5878-9273 - Kyle
  • eeSanGeeSanG I slice like a goddamn hammer. Registered User regular
    FightTest wrote: »
    Man, fuck whoever decided reapers were going to be the first weekend. And fuck whoever sets me up to always get the 4 hack points on wave 10. That shit is so fucking aggravating. Unless your team is smart there is no way to do it because you can't even kite the mobs away from the point then rush back because banshees just port on top of you and ravagers just own you from across the map. I lose two fucking morons on wave 10 because they want to stand in melee range of a banshee instead of going for the points. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

    (already did the "quest" but still it's so much more hassle than the other two races. and because it's the special weekend almost every game I get is silver reaper and I'm so tired of it.)

    Infiltrators are ridiculously helpful on the 4 Hack Points objective because they can hack while in Stealth. My 'survival' spec Human Infiltrator can do an entire hack without dropping out of stealth (finishing will drop you though), and my Quarian Infiltrator can Sabotage a Geth, start the hack, and by the time my Stealth drops I'm either done or the Geth will act as a decoy.

    LFMGb.jpg
    Slice like a god damn hammer. LoL: Rafflesia / BNet: Talonflame#11979
  • DeaderinredDeaderinred Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    is it me, or is insanity easier in this game? easiler than the other modes?

    i seem to be blasting through with my failshep infiltrator where as before my vanguard on hardcore had a more harder time, and that fucker could charge his problems away.

    Deaderinred on
  • dporowskidporowski Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    FightTest wrote: »
    Man, fuck whoever decided reapers were going to be the first weekend. And fuck whoever sets me up to always get the 4 hack points on wave 10. That shit is so fucking aggravating. Unless your team is smart there is no way to do it because you can't even kite the mobs away from the point then rush back because banshees just port on top of you and ravagers just own you from across the map. I lose two fucking morons on wave 10 because they want to stand in melee range of a banshee instead of going for the points. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

    (already did the "quest" but still it's so much more hassle than the other two races. and because it's the special weekend almost every game I get is silver reaper and I'm so tired of it.)

    Tonight was the first time I ever managed to get any kind of extraction on a Silver mission. So uh... Yeah, I'll take it. And the way Geth have been utterly destroying me on even bronze the last couple days? Eeesh.

    I thought I'd hate the reaper thing, but... Maybe it's just that I really like my human engineer. Something like 50 assists by wave 8 and a drone that was the scourge of the swarmers.

    Whatever faults I find with their ending, the multiplayer is just ridiculous amounts of fun, and I can't say it enough.


    Edit: Oh yeah, and @ above: stealth hack when I play the Salarian Winfiltrator = winsies. Why yes I WILL run my happy ass across the map and snag that point, thanks!

    dporowski on
  • TheConstantWayTheConstantWay Registered User regular
    As an Asari Adept, I like dropping a Stasis bubble over a hack point I'm capping. Come gimmie a hug now, Husky!

  • DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    The multiplayer, I'm sure, would be more fun were I not based in Australia.

    I can't find any evidence of there being Australian servers - it certainly isn't giving me the option to select one, and pings to anywhere but Australia, from Australia, are universally rubbish.

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    is it me, or is insanity easier in this game? easiler than the other modes?

    Did you play Insanity first up? I did in ME*, ME2 and ME3 (yeah I am THAT hardcore) and ME3 is the least difficult (well once you get to high level in ME it's not, but it's still no fun). This is actually because ME3 has a very reasonable level of difficulty and is coherently balanced the whole way, unlike ME2 which has horrific difficulty spikes in places. ME3 doesn't rely on cheaply adding layers of defenses onto every enemy, instead making interesting combats and allowing player skill to genuinely decide them. Hence why I feel ME3 has the best gameplay of the bunch by far.

    *Missed the achievement because I accidentally screwed with the difficulty once in the menu without realizing though :( Had to do it twice!

    Edit: Hold on Dhal, you're Australian?! Where from!? I'm Australian too!

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • FreiFrei A French Prometheus Unbound DeadwoodRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Guys, I have a serious problem in that the ending of Mass Effect 3 has seriously changed my life. I no longer have things once known as feelings. Conversations with strangers and colleagues are always short, rude, and involve me yelling over the collar of my bath robe that I "don't have time" for their "ridiculous nonsense" and also, and I'm paraphrasing, that "I literally cannot maintain an erection because literally all I can ever talk about to anyone ever is the ending to Mass Effect 3." There is no room for figurative in my life now. Everything is LITERALLY.

    My wife is from Edmonton and we'll be back there in a few months and, as we all know, that's where the Bioware branch responsible for the game is. I'm afraid I may do something rash such as go to the studio and tell them that "the internet is mad" and "why they do that" and "do you have any of Jennifer Hale's DNA? She is really popular with people who like anime." Also if Mark Meer is doing Othello again there (I don't think anymore Shakespeare in the Park is planned again but I dunno, it was awesome the first time) I'm also afraid I may get drunk, run on stage and force him to say lines as Commander Shepard, as I do lines as every other character, playing out the ending as I myself want it to be.

    What I need from you all is positive reinforcement, and to be told that all of this is totally normal.

    Frei on
    Are you the magic man?
  • XeddicusXeddicus Registered User regular
    If you put that ending bit on DVD you could make millions. Just saying.

  • eeSanGeeSanG I slice like a goddamn hammer. Registered User regular
    For multiplayer, I think the group leader is the host so everyone connects to him. Whenever I get laggy games I just leave and find a new lobby. If you don't feel like making an all Australian group, you can just host a game and let everyone else deal with lag.

    I think that's how that works...
    Frei wrote: »
    Guys, I have a serious problem in that the ending of Mass Effect 3 has seriously changed my life. I no longer have things once known as feelings. Conversations with strangers and colleagues are always short, rude, and involve me yelling over the collar of my bath robe that I "don't have time" for their "ridiculous nonsense" and also, and I'm paraphrasing, that "I literally cannot maintain an erection because literally all I can ever talk about to anyone ever is the ending to Mass Effect 3." There is no room for figurative in my life now. Everything is LITERALLY.

    My wife is from Edmonton and we'll be back there in a few months and, as we all know, that's where the Bioware branch responsible for the game is. I'm afraid I may do something rash such as go to the studio and tell them that "the internet is mad" and "why they do that" and "do you have any of Jennifer Hale's DNA? She is really popular with people who like anime." Also if Mark Meer is doing Othello again there (I don't think anymore Shakespeare in the Park is planned again but I dunno, it was awesome the first time) I'm also afraid I may get drunk, run on stage and force him to say lines as Commander Shepard, as I do lines as every other character, playing out the ending as I myself want it to be.

    What I need from you all is positive reinforcement, and to be told that all of this is totally normal.

    Actually, it's not normal enough.

    LFMGb.jpg
    Slice like a god damn hammer. LoL: Rafflesia / BNet: Talonflame#11979
  • Technicus RexTechnicus Rex All your base.Registered User regular
    Nope Im pretty sure it can be interrupted.
    I did not know Banshees could insta-kill you when they aren't even facing you. Me + 2 other squad mates in Multiplayer shooting a Banshee from 3 different sides. I was shooting her in the back, but she was like.. maybe 6-10 "feet" in front of me but I guess that was too close because I suddenly floated THROUGH her to her front side and got stabbed in the back and died.

    Is it ALWAYS an instant kill? Because that really is bullshit if it does infinite damage. It should at least leave you with a sliver of life or allow you to use a Medigel.

    v

    People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazi's. You can't trust people. - Super Hans.
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