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Mass Effect 3 Discussion Thread

Alright so Dan_D is the DLC worth playing? I've got money in hand from Christmas and I'm very tempted to purchase the DLC but I would like an objective opinion on it and you seem neck deep in ME3's business these days. :)
 
tuaarita said:
I'm not sure if you are aware but you can tick off the Sharpness and ToneMap stuff (or even customize them to your liking) and just have FXAA on with the injector. But if you can do it through the CP there is no point.
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FXAA Injector does let you do things the control panel doesn't, but I don't think it does as well as the control panel for removing the jaggies.
 
Dan_D said:
FXAA Injector does let you do things the control panel doesn't, but I don't think it does as well as the control panel for removing the jaggies.
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I guess it depends. With ME1 and my GTX 570 I don't think any of the super sampling was working right(using the control panel). That game was pretty bad with jaggies.
 
Dan_D said:
How does that change whether or not the DLC is any fun or worth the few bucks for entertainment purposes? You can pick apart the story lines and plots of virtually any work of fiction if you look hard enough.
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It only applies to people that play Mass Effect due to its main plot, side stories, and characters. If you play it for other reasons, ok, but I would think there are better options for pure gameplay for those not significantly interested in the other aspects.

And yes, every work of fiction has plot holes and inconsistencies to pick apart. But not every work of fiction has such big ones and/or such poor writing that even someone looking to just enjoy the game/plot/stories/characters without analyzing them still sees the problems (or feel something is wrong without even knowing what until later) pop right out at them and interfere with their enjoyment of the game. Hence, why I feel Mass Effect was such a great game despite there being plot hole analysis videos made by the same person that primarily made them for ME2/ME3 (even he does not feel ME1 was a bad game due to its plot holes).

However, the story problems with ME2 were so big that I actually enjoyed it a lot less (as someone who played the game not for the combat or minigames), because of the very reasons in those videos (I did not know why I enjoyed it so much less until watching those videos and realizing it). In fact even at the very beginning I did not have to watch any videos to realize the first problem which initially took me out of the "experience" right away, but I did my best to ignore it and kept playing: Shepard dying for a year and then being revived back to life. A completely unnecessary massive suspension of disbelief necessary for even the first few minutes of the game. Now that is just an example. I did not come to discuss this or other ME2 plot problems in a ME3 thread - the details are all in those videos for someone really interested in thinking about it / discussing it.

ME3 however, was so bad in so many ways (for someone interested in non-combat, the combat was obviously the best of the series), that I enjoyed it less than ME2 and at the end even regretted ever playing it due to the ending, even after the "Extended Cut," because as someone who was so attached to what was left of the story from the first game, it destroyed the entire plot and even the integrity of "me," the main character.

As is in the description of that playlist, despite all works of fiction having problems, there is a difference between high quality and low quality fiction. All I wanted in ME2 and ME3 was close to the same level of quality fiction that was in ME1, regardless that there would still have been problems of some kind even then.
 
A lot of games feel the need to explain why the character needs new tutorials and need to bring the player back up to speed on any changes in gameplay etc. So in the game's story they usually create some reason for this. In Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast they explain Kyle Katarn's inability to use the force as him purposefully cutting himself off from the force. He then has to journey to the Velley of the Jedi and step into the Force Nexus in order to regain his strength in the force and reconnect with it. He then must pass tests and reclaim his lightsaber so he can go on with the rest of the plot.

Mass Effect 2 does essentially the same thing. Shepard's death gives a reason for him or her going from level 50 or 60 or whatever you ended up with in the first game to level 1. It explains why Shepard is out of it and needs additional tutorial time and needs to build his or herself back up. The destruction of the Normandy serves a similar purpose. It basically gives you a reason for having a nicer looking and much larger ship. It also makes sense with regard to Cerberus as them having posession of the original Normandy wouldn't make any sense just as working for them would have been harder to swallow without everything that happened in the first few minutes of the game.

Is it contrived? You bet. Was it horrible and bad? I don't think so. Maybe a bad idea on a technical level but I thought it was executed generally well enough. I actually rather enjoy that part of the game. And note that you can only build up to level 30 in ME2. You can not go further regardless of how many times you import the save game. ME3 allows you to level up to level 60 but you should only hit roughly the mid-high 50's just as you did in a single run with ME1.

The whole thing always made sense to me. The story line of ME2 is simple. It's straight forward. A plot needn't be complex just to be good. A simple plot just has to be executed well in order to be good. And the plot of ME2 is executed fairly well in my opinion. It's basically like Ocean's 11 in the sense that you've got a job. A simple job and you must build your team and deal with everyone's baggage in order for them to focus on a mission which could get them all killed. I never had a problem with this concept. The only issue comes down to the human-reaper larvae which makes little sense. There were parts of leaked scripts and various ideas tossed around to explain this weirdness. It makes even less sense after Leviathan as we know where the Reapers got their basic form from. To suddenly switch to a human form makes no sense. It was also only the size of a Reaper destroyer and as a result it wasn't as scary as say Sovereign or Harbinger are.

It's been a point of conjecture but it was theorized that it would be a pilot for a more conventional Reaper craft and that all the large 2km sized ships had pilots based on the life forms they were harvested from. Though Leviathan really kills that. About the only thing I can figure is that they wanted to try something new, especially after a human ended up being responsible for the death of a Reaper. Again it's best not to overthink things. A lot of people point out Shepard's death as being the biggest plot problem in ME2 but I don't think it is. The human Reaper is and always has been the worst aspect of that game. Aside from that I believe it's a solid game even if the story is rather simple. Simple doesn't mean bad.

ME3 actually has some great examples for writing. The beginning is a mess. It doesn't do anything to help new players really in terms of the story. It gives you a lesson in combat but that's all. A new player is left going WTF is going on? Who the fuck are these people my character knows so well? And worse yet veteran players are introduced to characters they don't know in a way that is supposed to make them familiar to us. And they aren't. Fetch quests (and Crucible device) aside ME3 is decent enough story wise until you get to the end of the game. At that point it falls apart in quality, level design, and in just about every way imaginable. The Priority Earth mission is where it gets really terrible. I always thought they should have gone with the game ending up with Shepard and squad onboard / inside Harbinger and kicking his ass from the inside. Harbinger should have been the target above all else. He was a big deal in ME2 and then we got nothing with him in ME3. That always bugged me. Don't get me started on the rest of it.

There is a mod that resolves pretty much all the endings issues and eliminates the Starbrat entirely. It's called the Mass Effect Happy Ending Mod or MEHEM mod. Better, but we still don't get to kick Harbinger's ass.

Godmachine said:
Alright so Dan_D is the DLC worth playing? I've got money in hand from Christmas and I'm very tempted to purchase the DLC but I would like an objective opinion on it and you seem neck deep in ME3's business these days. :)
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I don't think I'm particularly objective. I like the series probably more than I should. As a fan of the series, and even ME3 despite it's flaws I enjoyed both single player DLC's very much. I wouldn't drop the cash on them if your on a tight budget. If the $25 isn't a huge deal to you then absolutely, get them both and enjoy them. I'm a huge fan of the Aria character and really liked the Invasion comics which is what Omega's story stems from. I also liked seeing a female Turian. That alone was worth the price of admission. (Satisfied my curiosity.)
 
I think Ill spring for a copy if Omega this weekend since the wife is working. I'm halfway thru a renegade fem-Shep game right now, does it matter if I play it now or should I wait for a particular time?
 
MacLeod said:
I think Ill spring for a copy if Omega this weekend since the wife is working. I'm halfway thru a renegade fem-Shep game right now, does it matter if I play it now or should I wait for a particular time?
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There are two considerations to this question. Story wise Leviathan should come after the Lessus Monastery mission. Omega should come after the Priority: Citadel II mission. The reason being that you will not have encountered some of the enemies in these DLC missions prior to those events. So it won't make much sense for everyone to be familiar with Banshee's and Phantoms dialogue wise. That's about it from the story perspective. In terms of where I think they should fit would be doing both very late in the game. Ideally after or right before Priority: Horizon mission. And when you beat the game it places you right after that mission and just before the assault on the Illusive Man's base. Which is again right where these were really designed to go. The flow of the gameplay and overall story really does make the most sense to wait and do these things at that point.

But there are no specific story elements that preclude doing either earlier at the points I mentioned. And you can not do either of them prior to the Priority: Palaven and Priority: Sur'Kesh missions.

Difficulty is another concern. Both these DLC's can be quite challenging on the insanity difficulty setting. I'd argue they are potentially the most challenging missions in all of ME3 aside from perhaps Priority: Earth. On normal or casual difficulties it doesn't really matter much in either case. If you are playing through ME3 the first time and you are on Insanity, you should save both of these things for nearly the end of the game. The reason being is that you will want the weapon mods, additional weapons and squad mates to use on them. (Leviathan only, in Omega your squad is different.) These are some of the more challenging parts of the game and you'll need resources to get through them on the higher difficulties. On a new game plus import it doesn't matter as much as you'll retain all your mods and weapons from the previous playthrough. Though you may want to wait until you can bump your favorite weapons to level X on Insanity when taking these DLC's on.
 
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I'm currently doing a second complete playthrough of the series, before I tackle the new DLC. I like to have everything fresh in my mind, and every time I go back through the game I find new things that I missed before.
 
wizdum said:
I'm currently doing a second complete playthrough of the series, before I tackle the new DLC. I like to have everything fresh in my mind, and every time I go back through the game I find new things that I missed before.
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I've played through Mass Effect 1 three times, Mass Effect 2, eleven times and Mass Effect 3 about six or seven times now. I still find things in each of them I didn't experience or see before.
 
Thanks for further clarity regarding the DLC, Dan_D. I think I'll get them sooner than not to sate my curiosity. :)
 
Dan_D said:
There are two considerations to this question. Story wise Leviathan should come after the Lessus Monastery mission. Omega should come after the Priority: Citadel II mission. The reason being that you will not have encountered some of the enemies in these DLC missions prior to those events. So it won't make much sense for everyone to be familiar with Banshee's and Phantoms dialogue wise. That's about it from the story perspective. In terms of where I think they should fit would be doing both very late in the game. Ideally after or right before Priority: Horizon mission. And when you beat the game it places you right after that mission and just before the assault on the Illusive Man's base. Which is again right where these were really designed to go. The flow of the gameplay and overall story really does make the most sense to wait and do these things at that point.

But there are no specific story elements that preclude doing either earlier at the points I mentioned. And you can not do either of them prior to the Priority: Palaven and Priority: Sur'Kesh missions.

Difficulty is another concern. Both these DLC's can be quite difficult on the insanity difficulty setting. On normal or casual difficulties it doesn't really matter much in either case. If you are playing through ME3 the first time and you are on Insanity, you should save both of these things for nearly the end of the game. The reason being is that you will want the weapon mods, additional weapons and squad mates to use on them. (Leviathan only, in Omega your squad is different.) These are some of the more challenging parts of the game and you'll need resources to get through them on the higher difficulties. On a new game plus import it doesn't matter as much as you'll retain all your mods and weapons from the previous playthrough. Though you may want to wait until you can bump your favorite weapons to level X on Insanity when taking these DLC's on.
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I've already played Leviathon, I played it right before the monastery mission actually. I still haven't hooked up with Tali yet so I'll do that before playing Omega then.

I don't play on insanity. I love Mass Effect for the story and immersion into that world and the Insanity level combat doesn't do it for me. Its too hard to let the story keep flowing cause you'll spend too long stuck trying to get passed a certain level. Hardcore works best for me. Just hard enough combat to be fun but easy enough that I'm not stuck on one spot for 2 days and the story keeps cruising along nicely. ME is about the only game I don't play on the hardest level. But its the only game where there is so so so much more to it than the combat gameplay if that makes any sense.
 
Damn, I'm on the last priority mission now. Those 2 days of ME3 went by fast. I'm at ~3200 ems, I hope I get a good ending(I read with the extended ending 3100 and up is fine).

I feel like the romance in this kinda sucked though.
 
xIronCrossx said:
Damn, I'm on the last priority mission now. Those 2 days of ME3 went by fast. I'm at ~3200 ems, I hope I get a good ending(I read with the extended ending 3100 and up is fine).

I feel like the romance in this kinda sucked though.
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Yeah, it wasn't as great as the 2nd game. I think with the update months ago, the EMS you need is even lower than the 3100
 
Ending seemed alright, although I did get the perfect one on the first try :D


I guess it isn't what people expected though.
 
xIronCrossx said:
I guess it depends. With ME1 and my GTX 570 I don't think any of the super sampling was working right(using the control panel). That game was pretty bad with jaggies.
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You probably have use the tool that nVidia provide for the SGSSAA.

When I used ATi card, I could just turn on SSAA in the CCC. All the jaggies/alias are gone instantly.

Haven't tried on nVidia yet, but SGSSAA tool suppose to have very similar effect.
 
I just finished ME3. All in all, I felt I got my (on sale) money's worth as far as the entertainment value. Though I previously played ME1 & 2 (only once), I don't spend too much time thinking about plot or tying the pieces together. I tend more to go with the flow of the game, enjoying each plot twist and turn in the moment. However, I didn't feel the connection to other characters quite as strong as the first two games. I'm fine with the ending, even if I feel it missing that "something" to have been a home run.
 
I too am fine with the ending especially after they did the extended cut. There is still more that they couldve done with it but Im happy with it as is.

The plot does have holes but most sci-fi movies/stories/games will and I couldnt care less. Star Wars is just riddled with plot holes and theyre about the greatest movies ever IMO. It all depends on how you get into the game. A lot of people play ME and have no connection to it at all and its no different than playing Call of Duty. I connected big time with it and almost instantly. The first time I played it I sat there for NINE HOURS STRAIGHT! In 30 years of gaming, I have never done anything like that! Id never seen anything like ME1 and the characters and the way the story was laid out and they interacted.

If you become emotionally invested and connected to the game and its characters, then youll enjoy the game on a whole different level than somebody that doesnt. Ive used this example a few times but in ME3, when Liara asks if you still want to be with her or whoever you hooked up with in ME2 and you tell her you want to dump her, the look on her face makes me feel like a complete scumbag and it bugged the shit out of me to the point where I went all the way back like 2 days later just to re-do it so I could stay with her even though I now had to replay about 5 hours worth of game! How pathetic is that?!

Yeah Im a panzy but in 3 decades of gaming, Ive never cared about characters in a game like that. A little in Max Payne 2 though with Mona and all that but not to this level. I dont care what happens to Gordon Freeman and didnt care when Alyx's dad got killed. Its just a game. But watching one of my teammates die that Ive spent the last 120 hours over 3 games campaigning across the galaxy with was gut wrenching. This isnt the spoiler thread so I wont be specific but one scene in particular just had me all upset. LOL!

So when you read reviews and opinions on Mass Effect, the ones by players that have a connection or investment in the game like I do, theyre going to be a lot more forgiving and biased towards it. I can be totally objective and strict when offering opinions on Crysis. But dont be hating on Tali now! Thats my girl!
 
Yeah its not too bad but I like the new Extended Cut ending better. I think it suits game and story better. Sometimes happy endings arent always the best unless youre in an massage parlor.
 
MacLeod said:
Yeah its not too bad but I like the new Extended Cut ending better. I think it suits game and story better. Sometimes happy endings arent always the best unless youre in an massage parlor.
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I don't really have a problem with the Extended Cut endings either.
 
Im just kinda sad that its over now. I really got into the characters and decisions. This was probably one of my favorite series ever. The third really forced you to make some hard choices/had some emotional scenes. Dunno if I'll replay it though, I made all the choices I wanted to the first time.
 
xIronCrossx said:
Dunno if I'll replay it though, I made all the choices I wanted to the first time.
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Thats what I thought too, but I still found new material on my second time through. I don't think I did anything differently. Might have changed the the order I did some missions on, or the characters I brought with me though.

I would have liked to see an option for an ending where Shepard definitely lives. I am content with the extended cut, though I feel they could have done better.

I'm interested to see what they do for Mass Effect 4. Some of the characters have the capacity to live for another 900 years. We could have a sequel set in the future, where some of the NPCs are former contacts of Shepard.
 
I'm replying ME3 right now. I went back and did as much as I good for a true Paragon out come in ME2. Imported my character into ME3 and am going to play again with all the SP DLC.

I still love the ME series for its atmosphere and characters so its a good excuse. I'm over the lousy ending but at least I get to enjoy some new story content in the DLC.
 
I wish they would have made Miranda as a squadmate again to be honest. I felt they didn't do jack shit with her in ME3, kinda like with Ashley in ME2.
 
xIronCrossx said:
I wish they would have made Miranda as a squadmate again to be honest. I felt they didn't do jack shit with her in ME3, kinda like with Ashley in ME2.
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I didnt understand that much either. She was such a big part of ME2 and then nothing but a mere cameo in ME3. I kinda liked her. She was annoying to look at with her big mongo jaw and everything but I still liked her character. But I never understood why they kept Ashley out of ME2 either but didnt mind as I hate her. That poetry crap just drove me up the wall and sounded so freaking cheesy.

All in all though I think they kept the right chicks. Liara and Tali are the best by far IMO. Jack was always fun and Im glad they did a little bit more with her and gave you a chance to continue a romance with her if youd banged her in ME2.
 
The issue was that BioWare backed themselves into a creative corner. There were 12 regular squadmates including Zaed and Kasumi. That doesn't count temporary squadmates such as Liara or Wilson who are only in the game for a very short time. Out of those it's possibly for any of them to die. It's also possible to kill all but two of them and have Shepard live to be imported into ME3. And there are tons of combinations for each. Therefore BioWare was forced to limit the roles of ME2 squad mates returning to ME3. They were basically relegated to cameo roles or roles that could be filled by someone else.

A few of them that actually did a good job with on that front or found ways to eliminate their impact on the story. Garrus is basically just absent in ME3 if he died in ME2. If Tali died then Shala'Ran takes her place with all her lines being delivered over the communicator rather than on-mission. This is another reason why Liara had to have such a big role in ME3. Not only is she clearly a writer's pet, but she's the only returning squad member which couldn't have been killed in an earlier game. Tali and Garrus both could die in ME2. Garrus didn't even have to get recruited in ME1 and could be left behind. Tali and Liara were not so optional. So as the onloy guaranteed return from ME2, she had to be used for a lot of the story. Jacob's absense in ME3 actually changes nothing at all. Big shock there. Grunt's role is easily filled by another as is the case with Mordin. Though Mordin's fill-in is far more complex of a situation but that couldn't be done with everyone. There would be disc space and time constraints for doing that.

Unfortunately this meant that most of the romances had to suffer as all your ME2 romance possibilities were relegated to cameo roles for the most part. They actually did more with Miranda than most. Thane and Jacob are dead ends for romances because they can not continue. Of course you knew that about Thane in ME2 as he was said to be terminally ill in that game. Tali and Gurrus were carried over well but Miranda and the others aren't. You can't talk to them when you want to and they aren't on the Normandy prior to attacking Cerberus headquarters. Miranda at least gets more screen time and attention than most of the ME2 romances did.

Basically your best shot through the series is to pick an ME1 romance, or don't romance at all and then pick Tali or Garrus in ME2. Then carry those relationships into ME3. You can also avoid romances in ME2 as well and pick up one of the new ones in ME3. Essentially if you want the most interesting experience I'd follow these choices below.

Male Shepard:

ME1- Ashley / Liara / None > ME2- Liara / Tali / None > ME3- Ashley / Kaiden / Liara / Tali / Steve / Diana Allers.

If your ManShep isn't into the buttsechs then the choices drop down even further leaving you pretty much stuck with three choices. And Diana Allers is fairly boring in that regard. I wouldn't call that a romance as much as a pump and dump.

Female Shepard:

ME1- Kaiden / Liara / None > ME2- Liara / Garrus / None > ME3- Kaiden / Liara / Garrus / Traynor / Diana Allers.

And again I'd submit Diana Allers is like hitting a cheap buffet. You can do her and it's decent at the time but it's hardly something you'd want to eat every day. (Lots of intended puns there.)

You can also chose someone else in ME2 and just dump them in ME3 and go back to your ME1 romance. This is actually easy to do and only changes the dialog slightly. I know in Liara's case she won't tell Shepard she loves him / her without some coersion. She won't say it first. If you got around as much as I did in my ME2 renegade playthrough then she won't say it at all. I don't think Ashley said it at all either. You also have to suffer the awkward break up with your ME2 romance. With Miranda it's pretty bad. Not sure on all the others.
 
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Dan_D said:
The issue was that BioWare backed themselves into a creative corner. There were 12 regular squadmates including Zaed and Kasumi. That doesn't count temporary squadmates such as Liara or Wilson who are only in the game for a very short time. Out of those it's possibly for any of them to die. It's also possible to kill all but two of them and have Shepard live to be imported into ME3. And there are tons of combinations for each. Therefore BioWare was forced to limit the roles of ME2 squad mates returning to ME3. They were basically relegated to cameo roles or roles that could be filled by someone else.
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The Tali romance was very well done. I think the best thing that happened to the writing team was getting blasted in the mainstream media for including the "sex scenes" in the first game. It forced them to focus more on other methods.


I think I just expected too much. There were so many variations by the end of ME2, and the devs KNEW that it was just the middle game in a trilogy. I expected them to go all out in ME3 since they wouldn't have to worry about calling back to it any more.

I love a good Sci-fi story that gets into my head, and the Mass Effect trilogy really got me.
 
xIronCrossx said:
Im just kinda sad that its over now. I really got into the characters and decisions. This was probably one of my favorite series ever. The third really forced you to make some hard choices/had some emotional scenes. Dunno if I'll replay it though, I made all the choices I wanted to the first time.
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I've replayed all of them multiple times and try to play differently; but some decisions, even though it's a video game, I just can't seem to make myself take them and thus go along similar paths through all my playthroughs.

Didn't have too much desire to replay ME3 for a 3rd time until recently; but with the texture mods and never having done the EC, I think this is what I'll be playing once I finish another DA2 playthrough (nearly 90 hours into that game surprisingly...). Yeah, I guess I'm a sucker for whatever crap Bioware hands to me. :p
 
Just finished SP, maxxing out the readiness bar with missions. A few random bitches:
Please Bioware, a pause bar for dialogue. Does alt-tab work? I never tried it.

Does the last spot to quicksave/dedicated save have to be soooo far back from the endgame? I'd like to try the other choices and not have to play through the last big battle and several unskippable cutscenes. Waiting for the post credit cutscene dumped me back on the Normandy bridge 2 missions back and overwrote my pre-endgame autosave.Something slightly less lame than DE3's 'push a button for a different ending' would be nice.

I flubbed the romance. Must have p.o.'d someone by trying to keep my renegade scale up, then figured out by the end it didn't affect P/R scale.
 
Ruiner said:
Just finished SP, maxxing out the readiness bar with missions. A few random bitches:
Please Bioware, a pause bar for dialogue. Does alt-tab work? I never tried it.

Does the last spot to quicksave/dedicated save have to be soooo far back from the endgame? I'd like to try the other choices and not have to play through the last big battle and several unskippable cutscenes. Waiting for the post credit cutscene dumped me back on the Normandy bridge 2 missions back and overwrote my pre-endgame autosave.Something slightly less lame than DE3's 'push a button for a different ending' would be nice.

I flubbed the romance. Must have p.o.'d someone by trying to keep my renegade scale up, then figured out by the end it didn't affect P/R scale.
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Mass Effect 3 isn't like the previous installments. BioWare stated that they are trying to get away from the whole "red is evil" and "blue is good" attitude people have about Paragon and Renegade choices. In Mass Effect 1 it did little more than changed the tone of how Shepard behaved. Though it did effect squad mates to some degree. Most notably Garrus. I believe it also made romance more difficult as it could lock you out of certain romances. At least if you chose renegade responses with say Liara. Some people found it hard to romance characters on the Renegade path. In Mass Effect 2 it's important to stick to either path more carefully. You can stray occasionally but you really need to stick to one or the other so that you'll have enough points to pursuade characters to do this or that. Examples of this are points where you can lose Tali's, Legion's, Miranda's or Jack's loyalties. You need pursuade options to keep all of them loyal and if you miss it you may not get enough points later in the game to fix it before the final mission.

I ran into this problem on my first playthrough of ME2 and it led to Miranda's death. Mass Effect 2 also allowed for the romancing of some characters on either path. Miranda's romance was particularly cool in that you could approach her in two totally different ways. The renegade version of the romance is actually better in my opinion. But some characters like Kelly Chambers aren't really even romancable (not that she's a real romance as she doesn't grant the Paramour achievement) if you use renegade conversation options with her. It also still greatly effects the dynamic between some NPC's and Shepard. In Mass Effect 3 all the Paragon and Renegade scale does is change the tone of how NPC's treat Shepard. They are fearful of Renegade Shepard and respectful to Paragon Shepard. Things like the Shepard VI will say completely different things to a Renegade Shepard vs. Paragon. But as with earlier chapters some NPCs, especially romance options behave differently if Shepard is Renegade or Paragon. Choosing renegade options with Ashley won't work if you cheated on her in ME2.

As for it's post save game behavior, It puts you back where it does so that you can play the single player DLC's. That's basically where they fit into the story. Once you start the assault on the Illusive Man's base then you are essentially locked on course and locked out of any other missions. The game's on rails at that point.
 
Dan_D said:
As for it's post save game behavior, It puts you back where it does so that you can play the single player DLC's. That's basically where they fit into the story. Once you start the assault on the Illusive Man's base then you are essentially locked on course and locked out of any other missions. The game's on rails at that point.
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I get that for the auto, but quick/dedicated save is blocked. I had a QS right before the final battle at the missile launchers, which was appropriately tough for its place in the game, but not something I wanted to fight again (plus the cutscenes) to see the other endings.

How is the $/playtime on the DLC? Do Bioware points ever go on sale?

I never got the third call to meet with Miranda and therefore wasn't able to save her at Sanctuary.
 
Q-BZ said:
PC Gamer's GOTY right here.
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no.

Skyrim is far far better and doesnt have a shit end and bull shit hand waving to try and fix it wile still being completely fail

im sorry im still bitter about the ending they setup and epic story of rogue post singularity AI and then shat all over it and tryed to hand wave it away calling it "art" wile whoring there DLC at you FUCK YOU EA AND FUCK YOU BIOWARE

bioware can suck a cock

the worst part is i want to go back and play them and then i remember the ending dont bother great way to kill your game guys
why should i buy any DLC none of changes the out come of game any way
they promised a dynamic ending we get A B or C
again FUCK bioware they are just another EA whore
 
Ruiner said:
I get that for the auto, but quick/dedicated save is blocked. I had a QS right before the final battle at the missile launchers, which was appropriately tough for its place in the game, but not something I wanted to fight again (plus the cutscenes) to see the other endings.

How is the $/playtime on the DLC? Do Bioware points ever go on sale?

I never got the third call to meet with Miranda and therefore wasn't able to save her at Sanctuary.
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The game autosaves at a few points on the Priority: Earth mission. But quick save and manual saves are indeed blocked. I think it's an example of extending the playtime of the game artificially in order to keep people from running all the endings quickly. Given the initial quality of the ending it was probably a wise move. As for BioWare points, they never go onsale and DLC doesn't ever seem to either. Playtime for the money is a hard question to answer. I think they were both worth it but then again I know I'll replay them probably half a dozen times or more.

As for Miranda, you never get a third call. You get an E-Mail from her at your private terminal. Then you have to find her on the Citadel. She's in the Presidium Commons and she's in the apartments near where you met the Blood Pack leader and killed him with the help of that Batarian. It's also in the same area where the Blasto 6 advertisement is and you helped Ambassador Din Korlak avoid getting killed by Zaeed. That's also where Zaeed dies if you screwed up. And there are several ways to get Miranda killed during the Horizon mission. I believe not having her loyalty from ME2 (assuming she survived which is generally unlikely without her loyalty, but definitely possible) or not telling her about Kai-Leng while talking to her over the QEC in teh Spectre offices will get her killed. If you skip the second meeting I don't know if the third one can take place or not. Even if it does if you didn't tell her about Kai-Leng or you chose the wrong options during her confrontation with her father she's toast.
 
Elios said:
no.

Skyrim is far far better and doesnt have a shit end and bull shit hand waving to try and fix it wile still being completely fail

im sorry im still bitter about the ending they setup and epic story of rogue post singularity AI and then shat all over it and tryed to hand wave it away calling it "art" wile whoring there DLC at you FUCK YOU EA AND FUCK YOU BIOWARE

bioware can suck a cock

the worst part is i want to go back and play them and then i remember the ending dont bother great way to kill your game guys
why should i buy any DLC none of changes the out come of game any way
they promised a dynamic ending we get A B or C
again FUCK bioware they are just another EA whore
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Spoken like someone who clearly didn't play any of the DLC or even the Extended Cut. And on the latter point, Youtubing it doesn't count. What I got when I played it was a bit different than what I saw in any Youtube videos I watched.

EA wouldn't allow anymore delays in the release of the game. Especially not after spending millions advertising the game during the Superbowl. They also had a three month delay as it was. Blame EA for that. I certainly do. It hurt the game without question. BioWare requested a six month delay after the initial three month delay and got told no. Past that the Extended Cut really did help with the endings. Furthermore the Leviathan DLC does in fact change the game's ending slightly. It also offers some more insight into the story. While some people seem to be confused by it, I wasn't. The ending is now more dynamic as well. Granted the broad strokes are the same for your three different main choices at the end, but there are now multiple ways it can change. And you have to expect some limitations in this regard because it's a game. It's limited by the scope of it's programming and it's amazing the games are as dynamic as they are.

The "Buy DLC" message at the end is also gone post EC installation. And the DLC's are quite good. A new DLC is also in the works which is bringing back a ton of the voice actors and is supposed to be bigger than any DLC they've put out. Ever. They may even change the ending to some extent to setup for Mass Effect 4. On the BioWare forums Casey Hudson started a thread asking what people wanted out of a Mass Effect 4. Sequel, Prequel, etc. The overwhelming majority of the responses were in favor of a sequel. This will require a cannon ending to be chosen for the game most likely, but the way ME3 ended there is almost no way around it. Though you could reconcile destroy and control if you did it carefully.

We'll have to see what happens but I'm interested to see where things go with this next DLC. BioWare and EA made mistakes with ME3. No one can really argue otherwise and not sound like an idiot. But the game doesn't deserve the level of nerd rage it gets from some people nearly a year after it was released. I was among the most vocal about the endings and how much they sucked. But it was Mass Effect and I gave the EC and the DLC's a chance. While not perfect I think they salvaged the game well enough to put the enjoyment back into it for me at least.
 
Dan_D said:
Spoken like someone who clearly didn't play any of the DLC or even the Extended Cut. And on the latter point, Youtubing it doesn't count. What I got when I played it was a bit different than what I saw in any Youtube videos I watched.

EA wouldn't allow anymore delays in the release of the game. Especially not after spending millions advertising the game during the Superbowl. They also had a three month delay as it was. Blame EA for that. I certainly do. It hurt the game without question. BioWare requested a six month delay after the initial three month delay and got told no. Past that the Extended Cut really did help with the endings. Furthermore the Leviathan DLC does in fact change the game's ending slightly. It also offers some more insight into the story. While some people seem to be confused by it, I wasn't. The ending is now more dynamic as well. Granted the broad strokes are the same for your three different main choices at the end, but there are now multiple ways it can change. And you have to expect some limitations in this regard because it's a game. It's limited by the scope of it's programming and it's amazing the games are as dynamic as they are.

The "Buy DLC" message at the end is also gone post EC installation. And the DLC's are quite good. A new DLC is also in the works which is bringing back a ton of the voice actors and is supposed to be bigger than any DLC they've put out. Ever. They may even change the ending to some extent to setup for Mass Effect 4. On the BioWare forums Casey Hudson started a thread asking what people wanted out of a Mass Effect 4. Sequel, Prequel, etc. The overwhelming majority of the responses were in favor of a sequel. This will require a cannon ending to be chosen for the game most likely, but the way ME3 ended there is almost no way around it. Though you could reconcile destroy and control if you did it carefully.

We'll have to see what happens but I'm interested to see where things go with this next DLC. BioWare and EA made mistakes with ME3. No one can really argue otherwise and not sound like an idiot. But the game doesn't deserve the level of nerd rage it gets from some people nearly a year after it was released. I was among the most vocal about the endings and how much they sucked. But it was Mass Effect and I gave the EC and the DLC's a chance. While not perfect I think they salvaged the game well enough to put the enjoyment back into it for me at least.
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no change short of a re-write of the last hour of the game can ever fix it EVER
they completly dropped all story setup of the first 2 game and then tried to cover there ass saying it was "art" and then only did the "extended cut" when the world called them on the bullshit ending which is still pick a color

the IP is dead they need to let it rot
SWTOR is dieing and they sold there soul to EA for that travesty
DA II was awful
and the founders bailed
not a good track record here
 
At this point, I'm not giving it a chance. ME3 just ruined the series for me. After playing it through I have had no desire to replay any of them anymore, which is sad (I love replaying games and replaced the first two quite a few times). The story was just irredeemably bad in more ways than one for me and it just ruined the universe. I lost all interest, uninstalled it, and haven't had a desire to go back.

For me they can't fix it with DLC short of going back and rewriting everything from Priority: Earth onward, and probably some other stuff too. It isn't a case of rage, but just that I didn't enjoy it. It ruined the story, the universe, for me so I've no interest in playing in it anymore. I play other things.

I'm also not interested in giving them any more money for this series. I am a big fan of "vote with your wallet". I got screwed over, but I won't continue to throw good money after bad hoping that it'll get fixed.

It also taught me to never, ever, preorder a game even if you like the series. Always wait until it launches and you can evaluate if you should buy it. I would have been much happier had I never played 3, and just continued to enjoy 1 and 2.
 
Sycraft said:
At this point, I'm not giving it a chance. ME3 just ruined the series for me. After playing it through I have had no desire to replay any of them anymore, which is sad (I love replaying games and replaced the first two quite a few times). The story was just irredeemably bad in more ways than one for me and it just ruined the universe. I lost all interest, uninstalled it, and haven't had a desire to go back.

For me they can't fix it with DLC short of going back and rewriting everything from Priority: Earth onward, and probably some other stuff too. It isn't a case of rage, but just that I didn't enjoy it. It ruined the story, the universe, for me so I've no interest in playing in it anymore. I play other things.

I'm also not interested in giving them any more money for this series. I am a big fan of "vote with your wallet". I got screwed over, but I won't continue to throw good money after bad hoping that it'll get fixed.

It also taught me to never, ever, preorder a game even if you like the series. Always wait until it launches and you can evaluate if you should buy it. I would have been much happier had I never played 3, and just continued to enjoy 1 and 2.
Click to expand...

said much better then i could
this is the same way i feel
i got burned and spent over 100 bucks on ME3 alone from getting the CE + shirts + bioware points
its a shame to you can tell where the lead writers just starting pulling bullshit out of there ass too because right up the last hour the game was great
guess the word im looking for what i felt was betrayed
 
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