MASS EFFECT 3 |OT|

[Stoney Mason]

I like that they tied in the ME2 DLC plots/characters into ME3, made the whole things feel a bit more cohesive even if it was only a few scenes.

It does. It's subtle but I like it. And I mentioned before about the book stuff.

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Kahlee Sanders is a major character in the books as is her relationship with Anderson so its nice to see her in the game.

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I'm still early but yeah the Vega character is not a good one and outside of an episode of Psych I've never liked Freddie Prinze Jr in anything. He's a bad actor. A no-name but actually tough sounding random marine dude would have turned in a better performance and suited the character better.

[Beezy]

I like that they tied in the ME2 DLC plots/characters into ME3, made the whole things feel a bit more cohesive even if it was only a few scenes.

Wish I played these. I can't believe they never put out an ME2 for the 360 with all the dlc included. I can see myself replaying through all the games again someday though. Okay, maybe just 2 and 3.

[tiesto]

Oh wait, Vega is Freddie Prinze Jr? 
(I've been on a media blackout for this game)

Man, I remember the good ol days of drohne and all the other Freddie Prinze Jr avs over on the bore.

[Great Rumbler]

Wish I played these. I can't believe they never put out an ME2 for the 360 with all the dlc included. I can see myself replaying through all the games again someday though. Okay, maybe just 2 and 3.

I'm gonna do a replay of all three this summer. Including ME1.

[Great Rumbler]

So I imported my Shepard from 2 yet his appearance is the default one instead of the one I created, what the fuck?

Apparently there's been some issues with importing characters.

[tiesto]

Yea, I had to remake my Shephard, got her close enough to what I had in 1 and 2... supposedly the game can't read in characters originally created in ME1 (and then transferred to 2).

I'm not sure I like how you see all the "big" choices you made when you played 1 and 2 (i.e. Rachni queen, Collector base, save Wrex, Ashley vs Kaidan) since that seems like it kinda "telegraphs" what some of the big plot twists will involve.

[Great Rumbler]

Yea, I had to remake my Shephard, got her close enough to what I had in 1 and 2... supposedly the game can't read in characters originally created in ME1 (and then transferred to 2).

I'm pretty sure I reused my ME1 Shephard when I started ME2, but I may have changed her face a little bit. Maybe that's why it worked.

[Positive Touch]

yeah it fails if you made no changes to your character when you imported into me2

[Joe Molotov]

Yeah, mine didn't work, but I remade my Femshep with this thing: http://masseffecttools.99k.org/index.php

It doesn't work 100%; it doesn't detect certain things like hair, eye color, makeup, and a few other things, but you can use it to make sure you've got the facial structure right. You know, if you're into facial structures and such. I don't know how much the rest of you know about facial structures (I'm an expert). And no scars, wtf? I kept looking through all the options, thinking I was missing the scar option, but apparently it's just not there. Forced plastic surgery, bad Bioware! 

Now, time to badass around the galaxy with my Lv. 30 Shep. I'M A STRONG WHITE WOMAN WHO DON'T NEED NO MAN.

[Great Rumbler]

Man, people just will not leave me alone. Everybody's always wanting face-time with The Shep.

[maxy]

so,umm

is anybody noticing lip-sync problems,first two games were perfect but ME3...wtf

[Cormacaroni]

Props where they're due Dept: Origin actually made this available for download in Japan from day 1, and with English language as an option. OK, it's a redundant service that adds nothing to Steam, but still. It made my life easier.

OTOH, no pad support on PC again is unforgivable. I coughed up for Xpadder but it's not the same as proper native support. I ended up going back to m + k/b for everything other than conversation. It looks pretty spectacular on PC in 3D at times, but with obvious cut corners.

About 3 hrs in, loving it so far. The structure is becoming clear...the deus ex machina is being waved in our faces from the get-go...

[fistfulofmetal]

it is pretty disgusting how blatant they put the deux ex machina front and center.

[tiesto]

fistful, you mean

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the blueprint for the weapon the Protheans were building to stop the Reapers? Yeah I thought that was kinda funny too, especially since I remember a while ago hearing from Bioware that "there won't be any deus ex machina, there won't be any secret discoveries of a Reaper "off switch" or ultimate weapon.

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Then again I am still so freaking early in the game who knows what will change?

Music seems like it has a better mix of 80's synth and generic hollywood soundtrack music than ME2 did at least.

[Boogie]

I'm about seven-ish hours in.  I'm going to spoiled tag everything, but I don't think I'm mentioning anything major.

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Yeah, the "uncompleted prothean superweapon" macguffin is pretty lame.  But I guess that's unavoidable when you set up this unstoppable foe.

I am glad that so far it doesn't seem that Cerberus is straight-up working for the Reapers.  It seems more like they're pursuing some sort of independent agenda.

Best dialogue so far has been when you meet up with Wrex and him and Garrus start bantering back and forth.  I like the Prothean dude too.

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Feels too much like I'm watching the game though.  Waaay too much cutscenes without so much as a dialogue choice early in the game.

I actually think some of the combat is improved over ME2.  Combat scenarios seem a little less narrow-corridor-y and have been more opportunities to rush up, or flank enemies rather than just chilling behind cover and popping them off one at a time.

[Beezy]

I dunno what it is with Mass Effect and shitty human teammates. Miranda was the only decent one. I never had any of the dlc characters.

[Mr. Gundam]

About 3 hrs in, loving it so far. The structure is becoming clear...the deus ex machina is being waved in our faces from the get-go...

I'd like to think that Bioware is smarter than that, and teh Prothean weapon is really not the solution.

[Great Rumbler]

I dunno what it is with Mass Effect and shitty human teammates.

No kidding. I've been running with the Mass Effect A-Team mostly: Female Shepard, Garrus, and Liara.

Kasumi and Zaeed are okay, but their role in ME2 is so small that half the time you don't even remember they exist.

[Timber]

Man they waste no time giving you a good view of Miranda's posterior.

[Timber]

Also, actual quote from the game: "Damn, I hate this war."

[MyNameIsMethodis]

Kasuumi rules.

[MCD]

My Shepard and Liara getting all lovey dovey and Ashley is doing nothing, she is just staring at some wall LOLOLOL.

[Joe Molotov]

This is loco!

Fucking James Vega.

I'm going to be a dick to him at all times. Hope he dies.

James Vega, the first Down Syndrome character in a videogame. Bioware is tearing down all the walls.

[Beezy]

I haven't even left the Normandy after leaving the Citadel and James fuckin' Vega has already earned the top spot on my shitlist. Congrats Ashley, you're finally number 2.

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I hope Esteban's a top.

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[Stoney Mason]

I almost never take him on away missions and I very rarely visit him down in engineering. And if he calls me lola one more time. One more time motherfucker!

People ragged on Jacob in the last game. I never had a problem with him but he's a million times better than Vega. If I can somehow work it out that he dies, I will.

[Timber]

Jacob was just another boring Carth-Kaiden-Alistair, run-off-the-mill human male Bioware party member. I always wished they would change things up a bit, now I so wish they hadn't. Whadda dweeb.

I'm enjoying this game a lot. The combat arenas are sooooo much better than in ME2. I still die a lot by recklessly vanguard smashing into large groups of enemies, but I love doing it.

[MyNameIsMethodis]

Allistair wasn't run of the mill, allistair actually was cool and interesting

[Timber]

Hated that guy. His backstory and how he related to the plot at large was cool, but everytime he opened his mouth it was the same old whaa whaa shut up.

[Cormacaroni]

For anyone playing on PC, you can use Xpadder with this profile to get 360 pad support:

http://www.2shared.com/file/ImzKw1Fv/ME3-Xpadder-3Dizzy.html

And 3D Vision looks great with these fixes:

http://helixmod.blogspot.com/

[Smooth Groove]

Cormac, did you get the new 3D glasses from Nvidia?  Supposedly they're better and are still compatible with older monitors.

[MCD]

Cortez: I'm an only child, lost my parents...I had a husband.

LOL WHAT

[Positive Touch]

tried to recreate my characters face but couldn't get it right and my ocd wouldn't let me move on.  FUCK MY LIFE THERE HAS TO BE A WORKAROUND

[Cormacaroni]

Cormac, did you get the new 3D glasses from Nvidia?  Supposedly they're better and are still compatible with older monitors.

no - will check them out. My friend there left the firm so no more freebies

[Boogie]

Anyone have any guesses about how this "War Readiness" formula is supposed to work?

My "total military strength" has increased while I've been playing, but my "readiness rating" hasn't changed from the 50% it started at.

[Great Rumbler]

You know that ME3 is gonna be SERIOUS BUSINESS when major characters start dying before the end of the game.

Anyone have any guesses about how this "War Readiness" formula is supposed to work?

My "total military strength" has increased while I've been playing, but my "readiness rating" hasn't changed from the 50% it started at.

Haven't figured that out either, but I assume it's probably one of the last things to change.

[Positive Touch]

well you could always play multiplayer

or the ios game

or the facebook game

[Joe Molotov]

You know that ME3 is gonna be SERIOUS BUSINESS when major characters start dying before the end of the game.

Anyone have any guesses about how this "War Readiness" formula is supposed to work?

My "total military strength" has increased while I've been playing, but my "readiness rating" hasn't changed from the 50% it started at.

Haven't figured that out either, but I assume it's probably one of the last things to change.

You have to play THE MASS EFFECT 3 ONLINE MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENZE FINISH THE FIGHT SPONSORED BY MOUNTAIN DEW DO THE DEW!

[Great Rumbler]

You know that ME3 is gonna be SERIOUS BUSINESS when major characters start dying before the end of the game.

Anyone have any guesses about how this "War Readiness" formula is supposed to work?

My "total military strength" has increased while I've been playing, but my "readiness rating" hasn't changed from the 50% it started at.

Haven't figured that out either, but I assume it's probably one of the last things to change.

You have to play THE MASS EFFECT 3 ONLINE MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENZE FINISH THE FIGHT SPONSORED BY MOUNTAIN DEW DO THE DEW!

Really? LOL. Not gonna do that.

[Joe Molotov]

JAMES VEGA: "HURR I like dinosaurs."

Of course you do, James. Of course you do.

[Stoney Mason]

Just came across

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Kai Leng. He's another tie in from the book. I like the fan service being used here.

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[Stoney Mason]

Lame

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. I permanently lost some quests because of the attack on the citadel. If I had known that was going to happen I would have completed them. I hate when that happens in games.

[close]

[tiesto]

Cortez: I'm an only child, lost my parents...I had a husband.

LOL WHAT

Yeah, that was awesome, I love how casual that was thrown in there, especially in an industry where gay characters are so blatant about it.

The best so far was Shepard beating Vega's ass in a fistfight
Not a fan at all of scanning and running away from the Reapers. Pretty pointless, does it even cost you anything if you get captured by them?

Also, PLEASE tell me that we get access to more of the Citadel a bit later, since it just seems so freaking tiny:

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I got into space, was scanning a bunch of planets, now doing the Eden Prime DLC mission... then have to go to the Turian homeworld

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[Stoney Mason]

Cortez: I'm an only child, lost my parents...I had a husband.

LOL WHAT

Yeah, that was awesome, I love how casual that was thrown in there, especially in an industry where gay characters are so blatant about it.

The best so far was Shepard beating Vega's ass in a fistfight
Not a fan at all of scanning and running away from the Reapers. Pretty pointless, does it even cost you anything if you get captured by them?

Also, PLEASE tell me that we get access to more of the Citadel a bit later, since it just seems so freaking tiny:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I got into space, was scanning a bunch of planets, now doing the Eden Prime DLC mission... then have to go to the Turian homeworld

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Game over if you get caught by a reaper while scanning.

I was one of the very few people who found Mineral Scanning in ME 2 oddly soothing. It wasn't a well done mechanic but for some reason it felt like sci-fi which I liked.

As far as the Citadel.

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(More floors on the elevator open up. I think basically like 5 or 6 floors.

[close]

[Boogie]

Regarding Ashley:

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is she able to become a squadmate?  She just disappeared from the hospital for me after being made a Spectre.

[close]

[tiesto]

Game over if you get caught by a reaper while scanning.

Yeah, I got the Game Over by getting caught by the reapers a few times... but all it seems to do is bump me back in the galaxy, where I have to re-harvest the minerals again. Not really much of a punishment, only setting me back like 30 seconds of gametime. I was wondering if there were long-lasting implications.

[Stoney Mason]

Game over if you get caught by a reaper while scanning.

Yeah, I got the Game Over by getting caught by the reapers a few times... but all it seems to do is bump me back in the galaxy, where I have to re-harvest the minerals again. Not really much of a punishment, only setting me back like 30 seconds of gametime. I was wondering if there were long-lasting implications.

I doubt it if it just makes you reload an older save or something since you're resetting the state of the world. I've never been caught so I don't know exactly what it looks like though. I doubt it has any implications. I think they just wanted something really simple and low skill and quick to acquire things since people hated the mineral scanning so much.

Regarding Ashley:

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is she able to become a squadmate?  She just disappeared from the hospital for me after being made a Spectre.

[close]

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Just keep playing. I think its better to say that than spoil anything.

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[MCD]

Way too many small distinguished mentally-challenged missions now, like every banter in the citadel turns into a mission. DUMB DUMB DUMB.

Also, how the fuck would I know where to find Nebula BLAHBLAHBLAH cluster when are missions aren't written right on the map? Am I missing something here or am I supposed to travel to every cluster and find out the hard way?

[Stoney Mason]

Also, how the fuck would I know where to find Nebula BLAHBLAHBLAH cluster when are missions aren't written right on the map? Am I missing something here or am I supposed to travel to every cluster and find out the hard way?

Yeah I often find that confusing. Especially since in at least one case early in the game I've had a mission put into my summary where I couldn't even go there yet until I did other missions. It often takes me a few minutes to figure out exactly where I need to go by looking into a few different systems and then figuring it out. 

[MCD]

Oh god.

This is gayer than James Vega. Can't believe I will be doing this all manually.

[Stoney Mason]

Oh god.

This is gayer than James Vega. Can't believe I will be doing this all manually.

Which mission or place are you having problems finding?

Spoiler it and I can help maybe.

[MCD]

Basically all the little Citadel missions but if there was one where I am really stuck at it would be the

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Aria/Blue Sun mission.

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Basically I need to convince the Turian general to lay off on the Blue Sun but he needs some shit from a Salarian shopkeeper. So I went there, talked with the Salarian and he also wants something, a rare artifact or whatever.

It's tough being a good guy. Should have shot them both.

[close]

   

Spoiler tags just in case.

[Stoney Mason]

Basically all the little Citadel missions but if there was one where I am really stuck at it would be the

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Aria/Blue Sun mission.

[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Basically I need to convince the Turian general to lay off on the Blue Sun but he needs some shit from a Salarian shopkeeper. So I went there, talked with the Salarian and he also wants something, a rare artifact or whatever.

It's tough being a good guy. Should have shot them both.

[close]

   

Spoiler tags just in case.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I thought that may have been one of the ones that shows up on the galaxy screen as "Find Artifacts" or something but maybe I'm thinking of another mission. Either way its in Kite's Nest. I'm not sure which system though once you get there. You may have to scan around a bit.

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[MCD]

Thanks Stoney but for some reason, now the sidequests titles show up on the map.

[Stoney Mason]

Yeah its a bit odd. And sometimes it will only give you the planet name in the mission journal which is annoying.

[Stoney Mason]

I really like how the old characters show up during some missions but now I'm also kinda pissed because

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I didn't complete that Hanar quest on the citadel and it disappeared so I feel like I blew any chance of any interaction I could have had with Kasumi.

[close]

[Stoney Mason]

Anyone have any guesses about how this "War Readiness" formula is supposed to work?

My "total military strength" has increased while I've been playing, but my "readiness rating" hasn't changed from the 50% it started at.

Progressing through the overarching campaign of Mass Effect 3 affects two primary statistics that impact the "end-game" players will receive: "Galactic Readiness," and "Effective Military Strength." Shortly after the game's release, some confusion arose about Mass Effect 3's multiple endings--specifically what one would need to do to achieve the game's "best" ending. Numerous claims from users arose, who believed that it wasn't possible to be completely prepared for the game's finale without boosting "Galactic Readiness," which can only be accomplished by playing the multiplayer component (or the iOS game, Infiltrator). Not true, says BioWare.


"You do NOT have to play multiplayer to get the best single-player endings," the official statement on the BioWare forums notes.

"Effective Military Strength" is the statistic that determines a player's success during Mass Effect 3's end-game. Collecting "War Assets" during the single-player campaign boosts this rating. Furthermore, there are more assets that can be collected than are necessary, but a certain threshold must be reached to get the "best" ending.

"Galactic Readiness," on the other hand, isn't even impacted by the single-player campaign at all, but increasing the stat by playing multiplayer (or Infiltrator) will reduce the number of War Assets one needs to collect in the single-player campaign to be successful.

"If you play a lot of multiplayer, you will need less War Assets from single-player to fill up your [Effective Military Strength] bar (i.e. it will balance out the requirements to account for you playing in both modes)," senior marketing manager Jarrett Lee states.

In summary, "Effective Military Strength" is the stat that determines Mass Effect 3's end-game proceedings, and it's a stat that "can be maximized via collecting War Assets alone, even if your Galactic Readiness is 50%."

[MyNameIsMethodis]

bioware

huge mE3 spoilers

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Killing Thane and Mordin and i'm sure more turnign Kaiden into a gay broken quest logs

[close]

im about 13 hours in. does

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samara and zaeed

[close]

show up in the story or in side quests, i don't want to miss them

[Stoney Mason]

im about 13 hours in. does

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samara and zaeed

[close]

show up in the story or in side quests, i don't want to miss them

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Yes. Zaeed does show up as long as you do a certain side mission. I'll tell you the mission if you want to know which one. I haven't had Samara show up yet.

[close]

[MyNameIsMethodis]

Is it one from the Citadel? Thats p much all I need to know I think. 

[Stoney Mason]

Yes