Mass Effect 3 Launch Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrPH6U6eCng#ws)
Totally can't wait for the epic conclusion to Bioware's sci fi trilogy, out tomorrow. The trailers look amazing and if it's even half as good as the last game this should be awesome indeed. early reports have been almost universally positive as far as I have seen.
In preparation, I've been replaying the first two games. These video games are unique, as the sequels look for your saved game files from the previous games and base a lot of the plot points and story elements on the choices and decisions you made in your prior playthroughs. When I lost my save games a couple months ago, I was most upset about losting my Mass Effect saves because I really wanted to continue the character I've come to really care about from the first two games. It says a lot about the quality of the story telling and characterization that I care so much. I've finished the first Mass Effect and enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Those games are just amazing.
100 % agree!! Although I am going to have to wait a week or so, I will definately be picking this one up. LOVED the first two and am stoked for this third. The story and characters are deep and engrossing. And, yes, carrying over my character from the first two games really puts something extra into it.
Appaullo
I wish I was more excited about this game...but I really am not.
King
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 05, 2012, 06:04:10 PM
I wish I was more excited about this game...but I really am not.
King
bummer. I thought I remembered you really enjoyed ME2? Why the change of heart?
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 05, 2012, 06:22:27 PM
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 05, 2012, 06:04:10 PM
I wish I was more excited about this game...but I really am not.
King
bummer. I thought I remembered you really enjoyed ME2? Why the change of heart?
I did enjoy both ME1 & 2. But the recent Origin-only, the DLC-rant I had in the other thread (which was originally about the Xbox 3 lol), the really bad animations I saw in the demo (yes, I watched the entire demo) and the early reports of very few graphic settings and poor textures seem to indicate that its a bad port from the console to the PC and it throws a lot of questions in the air about its quality. I'm waiting for the reviews to come in, but so far from what I've seen thus far, its not looking pretty.
I hope that my instincts are wrong, I really do because its going to be a lot of disappointed people with this game if I'm right. I just get this bad feeling if I'm seeing these cracks...
And a lot of the bad vibes comes from the demo itself....
King
Well I'm thinking it's going to be an epic conclusion to possibly the best story and most original characters ever created for a video game...certainly at least for this console generation. I'm going to have a blast with this game.
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 05, 2012, 06:39:13 PM
Well I'm thinking it's going to be an epic conclusion to possibly the best story and most original characters ever created for a video game...certainly at least for this console generation. I'm going to have a blast with this game. And you'll have...your rants, poor graphics, and DRM. Oh well.
Yeah, I know, I'm the only one who seems to care about those sort of things.
But, if the quality of the game itself is in question, so is the quality of the story. Hence where my concern comes from. If the whole thing is a sloppy sequel, then the story will suffer along with it.
King
Jeez I deleted my nastiness mere seconds after I posted, you were right on it though. Sorry you saw that.
And you aren't alone, lots of fans are up in arms, especially about the day one DLC and the addition of multiplayer to the game. Kind of strange if you ask me....why would MORE Mass Effect ever be a bad thing if you like it?
I loved the demo and I'm not seeing a problem with any of it. I think your issues with how they are protecting the game might be coloring your views of the game. I'm in for the long haul and it's finally concluding after how many years? Nope, not missing this one at all.
I think you need to ask yourself one question. When has Bioware made a bad game?
I agree with you completely Chris...except Dragon Age 2 was a misstep for Bioware in my opinion.
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 05, 2012, 06:48:28 PM
Jeez I deleted my nastiness mere seconds after I posted, you were right on it though. Sorry you saw that.
I honestly never saw what you posted, was distracted with a phone call so its water under the bridge. Unless your referring to my reply up there?
Quote from: X on March 05, 2012, 06:53:03 PM
I loved the demo and I'm not seeing a problem with any of it. I think your issues with how they are protecting the game might be coloring your views of the game. I'm in for the long haul and it's finally concluding after how many years? Nope, not missing this one at all.
I think you need to ask yourself one question. When has Bioware made a bad game?
Perhaps its their protection of the game that is coloring my view. (Which is why I'm waiting for the various reviews from other sources to come in). Its entirely possible. I have big issues with Origin and they won't likely solve it anytime soon.
I don't know if Bioware made a bad game before Mass Effect 1 so *shrug* on their history. But since then, Dragon Age 2 was panned as a bad game and SWOTOR has yet to prove itself as a success yet. Though at this point, I doubt SWOTOR will be a failure unless Bioware massively screws up in some way which would be very surprising.
I actually hadn't heard any complaints about multiplayer in ME3 from my end funny enough. My only issue is that I view it as an unnecessary addition to Mass Effect. Beyond that, I don't mind it being in ME3 (as long as it didn't harm development of the single player game itself). The Day 1 DLC is as it was said before, people do not like feeling cheated on the first day of release. Bioware could have done the whole DLC thing a lot better. They did so with little complaint in ME2 (I have all the DLC from ME2, though granted this time around I would have been more choosy, several of those DLC packs were basically garbage.) and could have done it again with ME3. Instead they changed their methods and people are being rubbed the wrong way about it.
King
Just paid my ten buck for From the ashes. It's a 628 meg download. Sure it's zero day and collectors editions have a free code for it, but if you don't want the other stuff with the collectors edition, you save ten.
BTW as of last night, someone was trying to sale collectors editions for over 200 on Amazon.
Chris (and anyone else) add me as a friend on Xbox live...my gamer tag is Jobythehutt. Maybe play some ME3 multiplayer when I pick this up next week.
I doubt they'll sell for that much...I have a feeling they'll be collectors sets available from people that reneged on their pre orders and I might get one then.
How's the game so far?
Murmurs I'm getting so far is that ME3 DLC is way overpriced for the little that you get. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at that. Still waiting for other sources atm...
King
Got mine today. Very excited to dig in, even with King kinda bumming me out on it... lol!
Quote from: Chris-El on March 06, 2012, 04:13:02 PM
Got mine today. Very excited to dig in, even with King kinda bumming me out on it... lol!
At the end of the day, I'm just informing people about this. If you make the decision to buy the game/DLC despite knowing what I've said, then that's your choice and your money. I'm not going to go all rage on you or anything. :P If you decide this is acceptable to you, then at the very least have fun! I would like to hear what people think about the game on this forum. :)
For me, I'm just drawing the line in the sand and I simply won't accept that this is how things are in the gaming industry. I probably sound self-entitled. But I think things can and should be better for both the consumer and the developer(s).
King
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 06, 2012, 04:25:06 PM
Quote from: Chris-El on March 06, 2012, 04:13:02 PM
Got mine today. Very excited to dig in, even with King kinda bumming me out on it... lol!
For me, I'm just drawing the line in the sand and I simply won't accept that this is how things are in the gaming industry. I probably sound self-entitled. But I think things can and should be better for both the consumer and the developer(s).
King
The line must be drawn HE-AH!
This far, AND NO FURTHER.
:P
King
AND KIIIIING WILL MAKE E.A. PAY FOR WHAT THEY"VE DONE!!
Quote from: Chris-El on March 06, 2012, 04:37:14 PM
AND KIIIIING WILL MAKE E.A. PAY FOR WHAT THEY"VE DONE!!
And I'm putting that in my signature >=D
King
HAHA, awesome.
Loving the game so far, it is GREAT how stuff I did way back when in ME1 matters in this game. So cool.
Game rocks! Can't type long, missing play time.
I'm deep into mass effect 2 again, bought all the mission based DLC I hadn't played, Overlord and Arrival. I'm probably not going to be able to start ME3 until late next week at the rate I'm going...so no spoilers please :). Glad to hear you're enjoying it though, can't wait.
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 07, 2012, 09:10:05 PM
I'm deep into mass effect 2 again, bought all the mission based DLC I hadn't played, Overlord and Arrival. I'm probably not going to be able to start ME3 until late next week at the rate I'm going...so no spoilers please :). Glad to hear you're enjoying it though, can't wait.
I will tell you one thing ... play every game and do every thing. A ton of it matters.
Quote from: X on March 10, 2012, 09:47:25 PM
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 07, 2012, 09:10:05 PM
I'm deep into mass effect 2 again, bought all the mission based DLC I hadn't played, Overlord and Arrival. I'm probably not going to be able to start ME3 until late next week at the rate I'm going...so no spoilers please :). Glad to hear you're enjoying it though, can't wait.
I will tell you one thing ... play every game and do every thing. A ton of it matters.
As far as characters go...yes. As far as the story/world, I would say no. Its a problem I have with the game that the universe "repairs" itself regardless of whether a character lives or dies. I wish a character's death had a bigger impact on the world, but it rarely does. =\
Though I have no idea if the same is true in ME3, but if I had to guess it does.
King
Hey guys is it critical to play ME1 before ME2 (or even play it at all)? I have pretty limited time and was thinking of jumping in ME2 and skipping ME1. Thoughts?
Quote from: Rico on March 11, 2012, 06:21:16 AM
Hey guys is it critical to play ME1 before ME2 (or even play it at all)? I have pretty limited time and was thinking of jumping in ME2 and skipping ME1. Thoughts?
Hmm. Its not "critical", but you'll miss out on some key events that happen in ME1. If you start from ME2, its like starting in the middle of the story. They'll still explain some things, but it a past-tense-this-thing-happened. So yeah, its critical if story is important to you. If it isn't, then ME2 has a more solid combat/game mechanics than ME1.
King
Rico do yourself a favor and play them all. I just played Mass Effect 1 for the second time because i wanted to recreate the character i lost when my save were deleted...and freaking loved it. The game really ages well and it's the best immersive sci fi world ever created for a video game. If you jump in to 2 you probably won't notice the difference because the game adjusts so well to new players but you'd be missing out on a lot of callbacks and events that you won't fully understand without having played the first one. It's worth the time, really, to get the fullest experience possible of the best sci fi games made for this generation of consoles, if not ever.
Quote from: X on March 10, 2012, 09:47:25 PM
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 07, 2012, 09:10:05 PM
I'm deep into mass effect 2 again, bought all the mission based DLC I hadn't played, Overlord and Arrival. I'm probably not going to be able to start ME3 until late next week at the rate I'm going...so no spoilers please :). Glad to hear you're enjoying it though, can't wait.
I will tell you one thing ... play every game and do every thing. A ton of it matters.
I am. I haven't skipped anything. My one concern is this play through I'm going pure Renegade, to have a different experience than my first time through, which I played Paragon. I'm not too crazy about my evil Shepard though, and a lot of my decisions are hard to stomach.
A lot of people say skip ME1, I enjoyed it but apparently there's some videos you can watch to get 'up to date' on it. One advantage to taking the time to play though each game is that the longer you wait, the cheaper ME3 will get.
Definitely don't skip ME2, it's one of the best games I've played in a long, long time.
I would have said skip ME1 until I played it again last month and really loved it. There are some flaws but they're easily avoidable. If you do make the right decision and play ME1 first, there's things you can do to improve the experience. My biggest piece of advice would be to skip as much of the driving sequences as you can. You have to drive the Mako alot, but if you go straight to your mission objective and avoid the miscelaneous stuff on the map you can cut down on alot of the crazy traversal and quickly get on with what you need to do to progress.
You certainly can skip the first because ME2 bends over backwards to make it okay. There's even a DLC pack you can buy for Xbox 360 that lets you make the important decisions of ME1 so you can create a character that seems like one that's been through the events of the first game. And on PS3 there is no ME1, so you have to skip it if that's your only system. But don't be tempted. There's no rush to get into ME2 or 3. ME2 is a huge improvement on the mechanics of the first game, but I believe you'd appreciate it way more with the experience of the first under your belt. And it's really really good.
I wouldn't skip anything. My Paragon character is the same guy I've played for years, I even had to re-do the face for 3. I think you miss alot of the value if you skip 1, there's alot of tapestry there. You get a great feel for the universe of the game, and to be honest, I didn't ever mind driving around on planets....repetitive, yes, but unique. Now that the whole series is out, you can take your time and play through all of them in a row. The transition from 2 to 3 specifically is very nice, I just played through 2 again with the DLC and started 3 immediately after and it's great.
Play them all, it's the best sci-fi entertainment out there, in my opinion.
Quote from: Chris-El on March 12, 2012, 09:33:49 AM
I wouldn't skip anything. My Paragon character is the same guy I've played for years, I even had to re-do the face for 3. I think you miss alot of the value if you skip 1, there's alot of tapestry there. You get a great feel for the universe of the game, and to be honest, I didn't ever mind driving around on planets....repetitive, yes, but unique. Now that the whole series is out, you can take your time and play through all of them in a row. The transition from 2 to 3 specifically is very nice, I just played through 2 again with the DLC and started 3 immediately after and it's great.
Play them all, it's the best sci-fi entertainment out there, in my opinion.
Do you need ti play all the DLC to flow nicely into 3? Or is it really just the 'latest' DLC pack that follows directly into 3.
I played Firewalker missions, Zaeed, Lair of the Shadow Broker, Project: Overlord, and Arrival. I wouldn't guess any of them are essential, but they're all very good. Arrival, the latest one, is pretty darn short and probably the weakest of the three in my opinion. I would doubt any of them tie in much beyond a passing reference in ME3 considering that probably no more than 10% of the ME audience actually purchased and played these. But I can't say for sure since I haven't played it yet.
Shadow Broker is pretty important!
All of them tie into the game and affect the story in some way.
Just like a good portion of storylines, big and small from ME1 play into the game in some way.
As stated a few times above, Rico : Play all of them, the story is WELL worth it, and its a bit of a thrill to take your character from game one all the way to game three. That being said, if you must skip any, then try to play ME2, at that start they allow you to sort of make your decisions from ME1. Its a bit odd, how they do it, but it will still work. But be warned ... some of those decisions will have little meaning if you dont play ME1, the council choice for instance. Without playing through ME1 that would have been a "eh ... whatever" answer for me.
As for the day one DLC, I'll get it. I only got the game yesterday and only spent an hour with it so far. I'm jaded because I loved the first 2 so much, but I'll say it - I know I'll love this one too.
Appaullo
Im playing me1 for the first time and im almost finished. So far i would say not to skip it. It has an old 80's scifi movie feel to it so if you like that kind of thing you should play it Rico.
One thing worth mentioning as well is the awesome scores in all 3 games. Runs the gamut from sci-fi synth to emotional to action-packed.
Quote from: Chris-El on March 13, 2012, 06:52:31 PM
One thing worth mentioning as well is the awesome scores in all 3 games. Runs the gamut from sci-fi synth to emotional to action-packed.
Yup, the ME2 soundtrack is in my "working music" rotation.
The Illusive Man's theme is the best theme of the bunch. Just packs so much into it.
King
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 14, 2012, 09:05:53 AM
The Illusive Man's theme is the best theme of the bunch. Just packs so much into it.
King
Martin Sheen's theme :)
Quote from: billybob476 on March 14, 2012, 09:25:18 AM
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 14, 2012, 09:05:53 AM
The Illusive Man's theme is the best theme of the bunch. Just packs so much into it.
King
Martin Sheen's theme :)
Yeah, I like his acting whenever I see it. :). Or I suppose hear it. The Illsuive man was definitely the main reason we played ME2, to figure him out. And we didn't quite do it either.
King
This game has, easily, the most accessories, collectibles, comic books, (apparently movie), and other materials to go along with this game than any other franchise I can think of. Well, except Wow I suppose....and I can't go through a single email from other companies without tripping over a ME3 "offer". (Buy X and they'll give you multiplayer-"items").
King
Finally about to dive in to ME 3. I am so excited, cannot wait to see how the story ends! I have been diligently avoiding spoilers, it's been so hard especially not listening to my gaming podcasts the past two weeks!
Anyone that want to play some multiplayer hit me up at Jobythehutt, please, I need friends on Xbox live!
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 16, 2012, 05:17:17 PM
Finally about to dive in to ME 3. I am so excited, cannot wait to see how the story ends! I have been diligently avoiding spoilers, it's been so hard especially not listening to my gaming podcasts the past two weeks!
Anyone that want to play some multiplayer hit me up at Jobythehutt, please, I need friends on Xbox live!
I'm up for some Co-op, my gamertag is Kryptonian 74.
Well, I beat the game. I have been hearing non-specific things about nerd-rage regarding the ending. I didn't feel bad about the ending...[spoiler]I chose to merge with the beam, something I figured my Shepard would do. I think it's a nice sacrifice and end to the character. I have looked at the others and I guess Shepard dies no matter what, so maybe folks are pissed about that. I was just glad that Joker and EDI can be happy together, ha. Anyway, great series, loved every minute of playing these for the first time. It's a cool universe and I'm sure we'll see more stuff in it. [/spoiler]
Not reading that spoiler box...just finished the[spoiler]Fall of Thessia[/spoiler] mission so I think I am close to the end. I'm very intrigued about all the controversy surrounding the ending. After how freaking good the game has been so far I can't believe it is so terrible to have caused such turmoil amongst fans of the series.
The only thing that truly infuriated me was the inability to import my Mass Effect 1 Shepard's face into this game. That was one of the most fun and surprising things about going from ME 1 to ME 2 when you started the game with the same character model you used for the whole first game. I read there's some sort of bug and it's getting patched in but that doesn't help me now that I'm almost done! I managed to make my 3 character look pretty close but the first couple hours were kind of jarring until I got used to her.
Hey Chris-El and Chris-X and/or anyone else that has finished this game:
I am very close to the end, [spoiler](the only mission left in my log is to go to the Cerberus Base and it says in the description that this is the point of no return)[/spoiler]
But I wanted to know when was the last opportunity to raise my galactic readiness through multiplayer before I have to finish the game. Is it now or can I still up those points later on?
Well, after a certain point you can't save anymore, but it goes by your current GR level, so build it up before or right after that mission.
Thanks X. What did you think of the ending, without spoiling?
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 06, 2012, 03:14:50 PM
Murmurs I'm getting so far is that ME3 DLC is way overpriced for the little that you get. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at that. Still waiting for other sources atm...
King
I can say without hesitation that this is untrue, the From Ashes DLC is far and away worth the ten dollars. The character you get weaves his way in and out of the story, and like all the Mass Effect characters, you get out of him what you put in. If you go to his area of the ship in between every mission, like all the characters in your crew, you get unique dialogue and sometimes full cut scenes that fully enrich and expand the story and lore of the series. I am very glad I paid the extra money for the DLC, and unlike the downloadable characters from ME 2, I can't really imagine the experience of playing the game without this character.
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 26, 2012, 09:23:03 AM
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 06, 2012, 03:14:50 PM
Murmurs I'm getting so far is that ME3 DLC is way overpriced for the little that you get. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at that. Still waiting for other sources atm...
King
I can say without hesitation that this is untrue, the From Ashes DLC is far and away worth the ten dollars. The character you get weaves his way in and out of the story, and like all the Mass Effect characters, you get out of him what you put in. If you go to his area of the ship in between every mission, like all the characters in your crew, you get unique dialogue and sometimes full cut scenes that fully enrich and expand the story and lore of the series. I am very glad I paid the extra money for the DLC, and unlike the downloadable characters from ME 2, I can't really imagine the experience of playing the game without this character.
Agreed.
As far as the readiness rating, if you have over 50 percent readiness, the achievement will pop once you get to the end...although that may have been for scanning the planets for war assets. I say go for the end, afterwards, it will load you up right before the raid on the Cerberus base, so you'll have another shot to do it again.
I finished the Cerberus raid last night but still didn't complete Priority Earth yet, and it appears I was able to save before starting that mission. I have my readiness up to 94% after four hours of multiplayer yesterday. I'm going to get it all the way up to 100% before I finish the game.
I still haven't finished the game, but I think I might understand what people are complaining about regarding the controversy over the ending. I'll tell you, I am pretty annoyed about the way they integrated multiplayer into the single player game. I don't know all the ramifications of going into the end game of the single player with a low galactic readiness rating, but without any information or explanation out there (not even an instruction manual in the box!) and not wanting to research the info on the internet to avoid spoilers, I feel obligated to play multiplayer in order to achieve the most positive outcome in the single player mission.
I am not a multiplayer gamer, in fact most of the time I don't even pay for Xbox Live Gold (I am currently on a three month free trial that came with my new Slim model) so people like me wouldn't even have the capability of playing that content without incurring an extra charge. But in general I just don't like playing with strangers and I have a limited list of friends that play games. I find the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer tedious, very very long (almost 20-30 minutes to complete a single silver challenge) and extremely difficult. There's no limit to the frustration to play for 30 minutes or more, slog through ten waves of multiplayer, only to have the whole team die during wave ten or extraction and not get any readiness points. I feel like smashing my TV when that happens, and it's happened about three or four times to me.
Finally, I am pretty annoyed by the model they are using to require the use of one time only consumables on higher level multiplayer challenges, and making those items tied to a system where you have to purchase those items using in game credits which you either earn over time (taking about three or four rounds to earn enough to puchase the highest level pack, translating to about two-three hours of play time) or purchase with real world funds. There's only so much I can abide game developers deliberately implementing a model to squeeze a dollar here, two dollars there, out of their loyal customers. You can't even argue "Well if you don't like it you don't have to play multiplayer" because it seems so inextricably tied to a successful ending to the single player mission.
I prefer single player games, I always have. I don't like competing with strangers, or the pressure involved with being depended on to play at a certain level to avoid ruining other people's experiences. If I suck at a single player game, it only affects me, and that's the way I like it. I resent feeling coerced into playing this multiplayer portion in order to achieve the most positive conclusion to the single player game I've enjoyed so much over the previous two games. If the ending of the game is even slightly unsatisfying, I believe it might be these issues with multiplayer that makes it seem like such a bigger deal and cause such a big controversy among players of this franchise.
Quote from: Chris-El on March 26, 2012, 02:23:27 PM
As far as the readiness rating, if you have over 50 percent readiness, the achievement will pop once you get to the end...although that may have been for scanning the planets for war assets. I say go for the end, afterwards, it will load you up right before the raid on the Cerberus base, so you'll have another shot to do it again.
I got that achievement for getting "most" of the war assets. There's another one for getting the whole galactic map up to 100% which I hope to get tonight before I finish Priority Earth. I can't help myself, I guess I am a little OCD when it comes to this kind of thing.
The difference between the ending for having more than 50 assets is so minor that it really isn't needed to play multiplayer. I won't say much more without spoiling, but if you understand the story, the ending, all of them, makes sense after the smoke has cleared.
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 08:17:50 AM
The difference between the ending for having more than 50 assets is so minor that it really isn't needed to play multiplayer. I won't say much more without spoiling, but if you understand the story, the ending, all of them, makes sense after the smoke has cleared.
Yeah I'm sure you're right, but I still feel manipulated by the company, and that's not really a good feeling to have. Those percentages are definitely there to get people into the multiplayer. I'm not saying theres a conspiracy or anything, it's actually a pretty interesting way to get people who wouldn't otherwise be interested in multiplayer to try it and it's the first time I've seen anything like this tried. I just hope they see it as a failure and don't do it any more in games that I love ;)
I still love probably 80% of what I've played otherwise, with the multiplayer comprising the other 20%. The story arc, writing, mission design, characters, combat, inventory system, RPG elements, and especially the way your previous actions from the prior two games carry over and are meaningful in this one, is all masterfully accomplished and practically genius in the single player component of this game.
Spoiler box, but I don't spoil anything in-game, just making sure. I only "spoil" game mechanics I suppose.
[spoiler]From what I understand about the ending is that people are upset that no matter what you do in the game, the end result is the same. Bit of a slap in the face for some people who are used to ME1 and ME2's endings being different depending on your actions.
And people believe that the game's ending sucks. So that doesn't' help them either.
I don't have an opinion on it because....I have no idea what happens lol.
[/spoiler]
And yes, the in-game-purchases for multiplayer are annoying, everytime I see that business model I cry a little inside by the sheer greed of it.
King
The in game purchases are great! It's nothing game breaking and entirely optional. After all businesses are in the business of making money and that really works well for everyone. You can play to earn or buy as you desire.
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 09:45:35 AM
The in game purchases are great! It's nothing game breaking and entirely optional. After all businesses are in the business of making money and that really works well for everyone. You can play to earn or buy as you desire.
Well, it can be game breaking, especially if they put in stuff that is required to be purchased via your money. I'm gathering Bioware didn't so I'm slightly relieved, but I've seen so many companies do that lately its making me sick. Business or no, its not a practice I want to see in games I pay $60 for.
King
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 27, 2012, 09:48:43 AM
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 09:45:35 AM
The in game purchases are great! It's nothing game breaking and entirely optional. After all businesses are in the business of making money and that really works well for everyone. You can play to earn or buy as you desire.
Well, it can be game breaking, especially if they put in stuff that is required to be purchased via your money. I'm gathering Bioware didn't so I'm slightly relieved, but I've seen so many companies do that lately its making me sick. Business or no, its not a practice I want to see in games I pay $60 for.
King
Nothing at all is required to buy. It's a practice that makes them money from people that want to buy stuff extra. When has there been anything wrong with wanting to buy extra?
Also, that extra that people are buying translates into more dollars for the franchise and that translates in a higher perceived demand and the likelihood of additional DLC.
It's a win win for everyone involved.
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 10:03:37 AM
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 27, 2012, 09:48:43 AM
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 09:45:35 AM
The in game purchases are great! It's nothing game breaking and entirely optional. After all businesses are in the business of making money and that really works well for everyone. You can play to earn or buy as you desire.
Well, it can be game breaking, especially if they put in stuff that is required to be purchased via your money. I'm gathering Bioware didn't so I'm slightly relieved, but I've seen so many companies do that lately its making me sick. Business or no, its not a practice I want to see in games I pay $60 for.
King
Nothing at all is required to buy. It's a practice that makes them money from people that want to buy stuff extra. When has there been anything wrong with wanting to buy extra?
Also, that extra that people are buying translates into more dollars for the franchise and that translates in a higher perceived demand and the likelihood of additional DLC.
It's a win win for everyone involved.
If this were a competitive multiplayer and not a co-operative, locking weapons behind $$ purchases would be game breaking. Just an example of where it would be wrong. Doesn't apply to ME3 obviously.
I think based on how much the game sold, there is going to be additional DLC no matter what, Bioware/EA doesn't need more incentive to make DLC.
King
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 27, 2012, 10:17:12 AM
I think based on how much the game sold, there is going to be additional DLC no matter what, Bioware/EA doesn't need more incentive to make DLC.
Of course they do.
Quote from: Bryancd on March 27, 2012, 10:27:47 AM
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 27, 2012, 10:17:12 AM
I think based on how much the game sold, there is going to be additional DLC no matter what, Bioware/EA doesn't need more incentive to make DLC.
Of course they do.
Yeah....*sigh*....true enough...
King
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 09:45:35 AM
The in game purchases are great! It's nothing game breaking and entirely optional. After all businesses are in the business of making money and that really works well for everyone. You can play to earn or buy as you desire.
I dont think it's great at all. While the idea of buying packs with your credits from previous wins with the possibility of getting rare items and characters is cool in concept, what's not cool is the requirement of using consumables on the gold level missions in order to compete. You can have a maxed out level 20 character and if you aren't packing high level weapon and armor mods (which are use them then lose them) you aren't going to be doing any kind of damage whatsoever. Spending real life cash on these upgrades is indeed optional, but the pricing model is very obviously geared to encourage players to just drop their two or three dollars up front instead of playing for three or four hours at a lower level before you can afford to buy the high level upgrades with in game currency. It's a good thing you like this concept Chris, because I'll bet every big franchise multiplayer game like COD and Halo etc. is going to adopt this way of making money in their games in the very near future. For me I'll pass.
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 27, 2012, 11:45:46 AM
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 09:45:35 AM
The in game purchases are great! It's nothing game breaking and entirely optional. After all businesses are in the business of making money and that really works well for everyone. You can play to earn or buy as you desire.
I dont think it's great at all. While the idea of buying packs with your credits from previous wins with the possibility of getting rare items and characters is cool in concept, what's not cool is the requirement of using consumables on the gold level missions in order to compete. You can have a maxed out level 20 character and if you aren't packing high level weapon and armor mods (which are use them then lose them) you aren't going to be doing any kind of damage whatsoever. Spending real life cash on these upgrades is indeed optional, but the pricing model is very obviously geared to encourage players to just drop their two or three dollars up front instead of playing for three or four hours at a lower level before you can afford to buy the high level upgrades with in game currency. It's a good thing you like this concept Chris, because I'll bet every big franchise multiplayer game like COD and Halo etc. is going to adopt this way of making money in their games in the very near future. For me I'll pass.
It all depends on your play style. I have groups that I play with on multiplayer and we can do gold with no ammo mods or armor mods. We also took our time on bronze and silver to get the proper guns for the higher level. When we had others that had just jumped onto multiplayer, they made the decision to buy instead of having to play through bronze to get some cool unlocks.
It all depends on the time you want to invest into the multiplayer.
Battlefield has also do this in the past. you could play and level up normally or after a few months on it coming out, you can buy weapon unlocks to keep up with all the high ranking players if you are just getting the game.
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 12:01:55 PM
It all depends on your play style. I have groups that I play with on multiplayer and we can do gold with no ammo mods or armor mods. We also took our time on bronze and silver to get the proper guns for the higher level. When we had others that had just jumped onto multiplayer, they made the decision to buy instead of having to play through bronze to get some cool unlocks.
It all depends on the time you want to invest into the multiplayer.
Battlefield has also do this in the past. you could play and level up normally or after a few months on it coming out, you can buy weapon unlocks to keep up with all the high ranking players if you are just getting the game.
I see your point about play style, and having a dedicated group of friends to play with regularly. That would probably make a difference in my case. I think they came close to hitting the bullseye with this multiplayer but missed in a few crucial areas that's going to prevent me from playing it extensively or at all in the future. I really do like the idea of getting packs as prizes or rewards; it really scratches my old "Magic the Gathering" itch of opening booster packs of cards to see if you got a cool rare. But throwing Medi Gel, Health Regen, Ammo and Armor consumables in there, which with all due respect to your awesomeness Chris, seem to me to be absolutely essential to high level gameplay, strikes me like asking a bit too much of the average player. I just don't think they really cared about making a game that people are going to be playing for years or even months to come, and it shows. The models in place for multiplayer very much favor a quick money grab early on in the game's lifecycle with their in game purchasing, with really no carrot to keep people playing beyond that.
I am not anti corporation, and certainly respect the company's right to make money however they see fit. It just rubs me the wrong way. They got my $60 so I can't vote with my wallet in this case...so pardom me if I vent a litle ;)
Quote from: Jobydrone on March 27, 2012, 12:22:24 PM
Quote from: X on March 27, 2012, 12:01:55 PM
It all depends on your play style. I have groups that I play with on multiplayer and we can do gold with no ammo mods or armor mods. We also took our time on bronze and silver to get the proper guns for the higher level. When we had others that had just jumped onto multiplayer, they made the decision to buy instead of having to play through bronze to get some cool unlocks.
It all depends on the time you want to invest into the multiplayer.
Battlefield has also do this in the past. you could play and level up normally or after a few months on it coming out, you can buy weapon unlocks to keep up with all the high ranking players if you are just getting the game.
I see your point about play style, and having a dedicated group of friends to play with regularly. That would probably make a difference in my case. I think they came close to hitting the bullseye with this multiplayer but missed in a few crucial areas that's going to prevent me from playing it extensively or at all in the future. I really do like the idea of getting packs as prizes or rewards; it really scratches my old "Magic the Gathering" itch of opening booster packs of cards to see if you got a cool rare. But throwing Medi Gel, Health Regen, Ammo and Armor consumables in there, which with all due respect to your awesomeness Chris, seem to me to be absolutely essential to high level gameplay, strikes me like asking a bit too much of the average player. I just don't think they really cared about making a game that people are going to be playing for years or even months to come, and it shows. The models in place for multiplayer very much favor a quick money grab early on in the game's lifecycle with their in game purchasing, with really no carrot to keep people playing beyond that.
I am not anti corporation, and certainly respect the company's right to make money however they see fit. It just rubs me the wrong way. They got my $60 so I can't vote with my wallet in this case...so pardom me if I vent a litle ;)
I totally get what you're saying, but out of all the consumables, the only one I use often is the missile. Ammo you can get for free on the level and your team can pick you up when you get hurt more times than not. Since most of these consumables are in the rookie packs, I have a ton of stuff that a rarely or never use. As for the carrot, when you turn your character into an asset, you start over, but you get to keep your old guns.
As for game play, I suck pretty hard when I'm playing with a team that doesn't communicate, but when played with a quality team, I don't think many of the d pad consumables are ever exhausted when we play.
Also, feel free to vent any time. I'm not trying to change your mind, but merely offer counter points to how it has been working for me.
One thing I really like is the different characters with different ability loadouts in the same class. It makes getting a new character in one of those packs pretty darn excitiing! I yelled out loud when I got my Salarian Infiltrator. It totally has some really good points.
And it is so satisfying blasting a Banshee to hell with that missile...
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 27, 2012, 09:40:19 AM
Spoiler box, but I don't spoil anything in-game, just making sure. I only "spoil" game mechanics I suppose.
[spoiler]From what I understand about the ending is that people are upset that no matter what you do in the game, the end result is the same. Bit of a slap in the face for some people who are used to ME1 and ME2's endings being different depending on your actions.
And people believe that the game's ending sucks. So that doesn't' help them either.
I don't have an opinion on it because....I have no idea what happens lol.
[/spoiler]
And yes, the in-game-purchases for multiplayer are annoying, everytime I see that business model I cry a little inside by the sheer greed of it.
King
Yes, I agree that is pretty cruddy. I guess I value my real world money too much to blow it on stuff like that. A worthy expansion like we've seen in the Fallout series or Oblivion with Shivering Isles? I'm all over those, really gives you hours more enjoyment with those games. Weapons and crap in a mulitplayer co-op game I'm not wasting my dough on.
Quote from: Chris-El on March 28, 2012, 03:56:53 PM
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on March 27, 2012, 09:40:19 AM
Spoiler box, but I don't spoil anything in-game, just making sure. I only "spoil" game mechanics I suppose.
[spoiler]From what I understand about the ending is that people are upset that no matter what you do in the game, the end result is the same. Bit of a slap in the face for some people who are used to ME1 and ME2's endings being different depending on your actions.
And people believe that the game's ending sucks. So that doesn't' help them either.
I don't have an opinion on it because....I have no idea what happens lol.
[/spoiler]
And yes, the in-game-purchases for multiplayer are annoying, everytime I see that business model I cry a little inside by the sheer greed of it.
King
Yes, I agree that is pretty cruddy. I guess I value my real world money too much to blow it on stuff like that. A worthy expansion like we've seen in the Fallout series or Oblivion with Shivering Isles? I'm all over those, really gives you hours more enjoyment with those games. Weapons and crap in a mulitplayer co-op game I'm not wasting my dough on.
That's the beauty of it. You don't have to waste your money on it. People that want to buy it can and they will. People that don't aren't being deprived of anything that they can't get by continuing to play.
Yeah, I know it, it's not necessary. It's like buying a pet in WoW or something frivolous. A complete waste of money. At least you can use your in-game ME3 credits to buy this stuff as well. I'm just saying it's personally wasteful to me to blow money on such nothingness.
You can look at it as something to do with those extra Microsoft points most people have in their accounts that are too few to buy an actual game with, I suppose. I hate that I always seem to have 180 points left every time I buy something on Xbox Live.
Hmmm...almost like it was designed that way!!!!! :roflmao
So I finished this last night, paying for it today as I was up till almost three am. I really enjoyed the whole experience and as I suspected feel like the whole uproar over the last choices in the game are completely overblown and an overreaction considering the super high quality of everything that came before it.
[spoiler] I thought the confrontation with the Illusive Man was very cool and dramatic. I think the fact that I had just read the 4 issue comic series that came out a couple years ago that detailed that characters origins and the birth of Cerberus contributed to the gravitas of that scene. I also liked how the choices you make are represented by a blue mass relay for the Paragon choice and a red mass relay for the Renegade choice, and a silver beam for neutral...a nice aesthetic.[/spoiler]
I think that Bioware had a pretty tall order satisfying their entire group of fans with the ending of this game. Rather that capitulate to the voluminous complaints raised over the past couple weeks I think they'd be better off just shrugging it off as not being able to please all the people all the time.
I am a bit disappointed with the way my renegade choices in ME 2 played out in this game, especially missing out on the Conrad Verner side stuff because I allowed him to die in 2. Very much wondering how the Tuchanka material would have played out had I not destroyed the Genophage data in ME 2. [spoiler] I was so bummed when Mordin died in my game. I wonder if there's a way to save him and still satisfy Wrex and the Krogans?[/spoiler]
Overal I thought this was totally a worthy sequel and conclusion to this epic trilogy. If anyone wants to discuss their playthroughs and the little differences in their versions of the story I'd be very interested to hear about it.
My main nitpick about the ending is: [spoiler]What the heck is Joker doing running away from the battle at the end? And Liara is my love interest and was on the ground with me, how th ehell did she get on the Normandy?[/spoiler]
Quote from: Chris-El on March 29, 2012, 03:17:43 AM
My main nitpick about the ending is: [spoiler]What the heck is Joker doing running away from the battle at the end? And Liara is my love interest and was on the ground with me, how th ehell did she get on the Normandy?[/spoiler]
yeah that wasn't explained and is probably what they're talking about beefing up or clarifying via patch or DLC. [spoiler] I read that this was meant to show that the crew survived and was ok. It was cool that Joker and Edi has circuits and skin meant to show the synthesis of organic and synthetic had occurred. [/spoiler]
Yeah, I caught that in my Synthesis ending. Pretty neat.
I think what annoys a lot of people about the ending...
[spoiler]is that you have this unprecedented level of choice and real consequences to the actions you take over the course of three games, and then the very last choices you make in the game lead you to three possible conclusions regardless of any of the decisions you made prior to that. They're the same no matter what you've done. People seem to forget all the choices they made that caused the universe flow and change which led them to that point, and are just infuriated by the ending that they seem to think fails to account for all the decisions they made along the way. I don't see it that way, but it seems a lot of people do. I've also heard alot of concern about the inconsistency that Chris pointed out, where crew members that were on the ground mission with you suddenly appear on the Normandy with no explanation...although it seems this only happens if you've romanced someone to conclusion and also chose them to join you in the final assault on the Citadel. If you don't have a romance partner nobody comes out of the Normandy after Joker and possibly EDI, and if you didn't choose your romantic partner in your party on the final mission then there'd be no inconsistency. Just a little bad design there which might lead people to believe the last parts of the game might have been rushed to market a bit.[/spoiler]
Yeah, all that is true, but in the end...I loved every minute of playing these 3 games. They offered unprecedented options for choice, character interactions, and alternate paths. If they had a story they wanted to tell, and endings that they could build future games off of, more power to them. They earned it, plus..
[spoiler]I got a little welled up when my Shepard made the jump into the beam. An ultimate sacrifice for a character I played for a long time. A VIDEO GAME got that reaction from me. That tells me all I need to know about this series[/spoiler]
Still playing through this (just started to be honest - I work 10 hour days) and am only just doing the Krogan female mission now. Have'nt read any of the end spoilers above. Just wanted to chime in with my praise for the game so far. Incredible just like the last two were. I truly hope I do not have issues with the ending.
Appaullo
I just downloaded the new extended ending pack and [spoiler]I am glad they filled in some of the gaps. I am glad they included closure for the characters you played side by side with. I did the Synthesis ending, so I can only speak to that. Basically, with the Reapers' help society rebuilds better than before, and being that synthetics and organics are merged, Edi seems to think that there's some immortality possible. I was really wondering how ME4 could happen, but after watching this ending, it's apparent that the ME universe will probably have Mass Relays again. [/spoiler]
I've seen that the new endings have been posted on You Tube, so I was thinking about just watching them rather than downloading a 2GB patch from Xbox Live and playing through 45 minutes of stuff I've already done three times. Chris, are you saying that there are different endings dependent on who you chose to play with or romance throughout the game, or would I be safe just watching the videos?
I think it's small stuff like who shows up as a "sacrifice" and possibly who's at the memorial at the end.
I'm very irritated. I pre-ordered ME3 game, played it for a few weeks, got to a big boss fight and the stupid locked up and now won't play anymore. I think it's a bug. I've read about it on line. Something about EA's servers and my profile being corrupted there. The forums I've visited suggested DUMPING my profile from my XBOX then add it back, or play the game with another profile which I don't want to do since my character's entire history is included in this profile and character I'm currently playing. I'd dump my profile, but I'm afraid I won't be able to reload it afterwards. Has anyone else had this problem with ME3 and XBOX?
Quote from: Jen on September 19, 2012, 10:26:05 AM
I'm very irritated. I pre-ordered ME3 game, played it for a few weeks, got to a big boss fight and the stupid locked up and now won't play anymore. I think it's a bug. I've read about it on line. Something about EA's servers and my profile being corrupted there. The forums I've visited suggested DUMPING my profile from my XBOX then add it back, or play the game with another profile which I don't want to do since my character's entire history is included in this profile and character I'm currently playing. I'd dump my profile, but I'm afraid I won't be able to reload it afterwards. Has anyone else had this problem with ME3 and XBOX?
Not really, but I'll look into it for you with some of my ME3 friends.
Hmm, that is definitely odd. I hadn't heard that ME3 had that many technical problems, but it might have been drowned out by the outrage over the game's other issues. Hopefully X can find something out.
Quote from: X on September 19, 2012, 10:30:46 AM
Quote from: Jen on September 19, 2012, 10:26:05 AM
I'm very irritated. I pre-ordered ME3 game, played it for a few weeks, got to a big boss fight and the stupid locked up and now won't play anymore. I think it's a bug. I've read about it on line. Something about EA's servers and my profile being corrupted there. The forums I've visited suggested DUMPING my profile from my XBOX then add it back, or play the game with another profile which I don't want to do since my character's entire history is included in this profile and character I'm currently playing. I'd dump my profile, but I'm afraid I won't be able to reload it afterwards. Has anyone else had this problem with ME3 and XBOX?
Not really, but I'll look into it for you with some of my ME3 friends.
Thanks. Mass Effect is my favorite game. It's a pain that I can't finish the last game :D
I've done the reloading of the profile thing, you wont lose anything...you can actually just use a jump drive. I had ME3 freeze up on me once, but that was it. Nothing like what you are describing.