Mass Effect 3! OMG! [Spoilers]

[cbre88x]

Played the demo, found it alright. The multiplayer was actually kind of fun and interesting.

[DragonEkarus]

Played the demo, found it alright. The multiplayer was actually kind of fun and interesting.

Biotics are still WONDERFULLY overpowered, I had several moments where I forgot I had a gun...

[Cloud_9ine]

[quote author=cbre88x link=topic=5237.msg240065#msg240065 date=1330617189]
Played the demo, found it alright. The multiplayer was actually kind of fun and interesting.

Biotics are still WONDERFULLY overpowered, I had several moments where I forgot I had a gun...
[/quote]

Although that is kinda the point of using adept. Although I really think the cooldowns are too fast.

I'm really surprised there hasn't been any Origin whining, yet.

[Chief]

i heard the story and endings are really really really bad

[DragonEkarus]

[quote author=Ekarus Ryndren link=topic=5237.msg240148#msg240148 date=1330718326]
[quote author=cbre88x link=topic=5237.msg240065#msg240065 date=1330617189]
Played the demo, found it alright. The multiplayer was actually kind of fun and interesting.

Biotics are still WONDERFULLY overpowered, I had several moments where I forgot I had a gun...
[/quote]

Although that is kinda the point of using adept. Although I really think the cooldowns are too fast.

I'm really surprised there hasn't been any Origin whining, yet.
[/quote]
Oh there is, it's just been come to expected that EA's gonna fuck this up every way they can, like it's some kind of psychological experiment to see how long we're willing to bend over and take it.
Yes, it's true, EA's secret plan all along has been to build a huge publishing company then send people out to pound people in the ass so they can play they're favorite games while EA gets "Excitement"

[Cloud_9ine]

Considering that I don't see people so insanely gung-ho over MP as they seem to be over SP I wonder how it will affect piracy.

[A. Crow]

I've got no intention of buying this.

[CaffeinePowered]

I'm really surprised there hasn't been any Origin whining, yet.

Probably because a good portion of people who would have been whining are pirating it

[DragonEkarus]

[quote author=Cloud_9ine link=topic=5237.msg240307#msg240307 date=1330902348]
I'm really surprised there hasn't been any Origin whining, yet.

Probably because a good portion of people who would have been whining are pirating it
[/quote]

Piracy: How to get the best of both worlds when boycotting. You get your point across (Because you aren't feeding the problem) and you still get to play the game, see the movie, hear the song whatever

Now if only there was some way to pay the developers but not the publisher...

[Spore]

[quote author=Caffeine link=topic=5237.msg240352#msg240352 date=1330950600]
[quote author=Cloud_9ine link=topic=5237.msg240307#msg240307 date=1330902348]
I'm really surprised there hasn't been any Origin whining, yet.

Probably because a good portion of people who would have been whining are pirating it
[/quote]

Piracy: How to get the best of both worlds when boycotting. You get your point across (Because you aren't feeding the problem) and you still get to play the game, see the movie, hear the song whatever

Now if only there was some way to pay the developers but not the publisher...
[/quote]

No. Skip to 8:15.

► The Mailbox - February 28th, 2012

[Hobospartan]

[quote author=Ekarus Ryndren link=topic=5237.msg240361#msg240361 date=1330967089]
[quote author=Caffeine link=topic=5237.msg240352#msg240352 date=1330950600]
[quote author=Cloud_9ine link=topic=5237.msg240307#msg240307 date=1330902348]
I'm really surprised there hasn't been any Origin whining, yet.

Probably because a good portion of people who would have been whining are pirating it
[/quote]

Piracy: How to get the best of both worlds when boycotting. You get your point across (Because you aren't feeding the problem) and you still get to play the game, see the movie, hear the song whatever

Now if only there was some way to pay the developers but not the publisher...
[/quote]

No. Skip to 8:15.

video
[/quote]

+1+1+1

[Trace]

Pre-ordered cuz pirating is too mainstream

[rumsfald]

for those hating on the ME storyarc, a counterpoint

Why Mass Effect is the Most Important Science Fiction Universe of Our Generation

big snippet:

First, one must accept the premise that the technology to explore the universe is a trap and a structure that forces galactic civilization to follow an invariable path. Like Descartes' mischievous demon or Hume's apathetic creator, the universe is indeed the product of an intelligence, but a negligent one at best, a malicious one at worst.

From this antagonistic framework, we see a galactic civilization that is built on the worst case scenarios of the great science fiction stories. The quarians are an exploration of a species that creates intelligent machines, neglects them, and then loses the war (contra BSG). The drell and hanar explore the world-ending impacts of climate change and the need to evolve an entire species to survive on a new, alien planet. The krogan are a reptilian war society recruited to stop an intelligent insect invasion (a la Starship Troopers and Enders Game) at the behest of an amoral science-at-all-costs species, the salarians. When the krogans have finished their task the salarians release a genophage causing 99 out of 100 krogans to be stillborn – that is, one of the leading cultures of the galaxy committed reproductive genocide against the very species it uplifted.

Within the fear of the universe comes a liberation from biological normativity. The asari are a female only species with a thousand year life span. As the cultural leader of Citadel Space and most mature of galactic civilizations, the asari are a species evolved for interstellar life. As with the Xenogenesis series, the asari can utilize alien DNA in their reproductive processes, making them the potential partner of any species they encounter. But the result is not a hybrid creature, but an asari through-and-through. What initially seems to be a species designed for intergalactic community becomes a kind of consumptive force, slowly but surely perpetuating itself at the cost of another species' offspring. The racial fear of being bred out of existence escalated to a new level.

Further, the fear associated with biological destiny translates to transcending the biological in both body and mind. Citadel Space is dominated by the same law as Dune's planetary empire: a ban on artificial intelligence. The quarian war with the geth is not merely the victory of the cylons but also an allusion to the Bulterian Jihad. As a result even the friendly EDI, who never actually does anything to indicate she is a hyper-rational decision machine (i.e. HAL 9000), is viscerally feared by the Illusive Man, Joker, and Shepard herself. Legion's playful mocking of biological limitations contains implications of organic obsolescence. Moreover, there are bountiful deviations from prosaic biology including: Jack's biotic powers; the cybernetics of the Lazarus project that resurrected Shepard; the dexo-protein biology of quarians and turians; the human computer core of project Overlord; the eugenics inherent in the perfect Miranda and her equally designed sister; and the pure engineering of Okeer's genetic manufacture of Grunt as a template for krogan clone warriors. The violations of biology and the disregard for the natural are no longer obvious evils in a universe in which the path of life and civilization itself is an artificial and designed construct.

Underneath it all, there is the Cosmic Horror of Sovereign, The Collectors, Saren's indoctrination, and the Keepers. Mass Effect has not one but two entire species – the Keepers and the Collectors – that exist as mindless drones at the beck-and-call of the Reapers. It is herein that the great flaw of the universe so often unaddressed by science fiction is elevated and exposed by the narrative of Mass Effect. The Reapers are biomechanical equivalents of the Elder Gods of H.P. Lovecraft. If the xenomorphs in Alien had a deity, it would be a Reaper. Inconceivable, immortal, uninvolved super-beings that are not divinities per se, but so far beyond our realm of existence as to drive insane those who encounter and worship them. The seat of being, the mind, becomes rent apart and irredeemably misshapen to bend to the whims of a malevolent ancient life form.

The resulting slaves, the Keepers and Collectors, act without thought, remorse, or concern. And they become all the more horrible once they are fully revealed. The Keepers are thought to be beneficent until it is revealed they serve not the inhabitants of the Citadel, or even the Citadel itself, but the purpose of ensuring the Citadel will serve the cyclical apocalypse. The Collectors are revealed to be the remnants of the Protheans – the foundation species that was thought to be the galactic civilization in the wake of which Citadel Space had formed. Instead, Mass Effect exposes the very basis of intelligent exchange in the universe, the Mass Relays, to be a Trojan Horse. Reality is a ruse. Progress a lockstep, well-treaded path to oblivion.

The Reapers and their cyclical destruction of civilization represent one of the most nihilistic interpretation of intelligence in the universe ever presented. Mass Effect answers Fermi's famous question, "Where is everyone?" with a matter-of-fact, "They have been consumed."

[backfire]

Okay my problem is the progression of the series. Mass Effect 1, you save the Citadel. Mass Effect 2, you essentially save the galaxy. Mass Effect 3, you save one tiny planet. It's been a while since I played ME2 so feel free to fill in any holes I find.

So from the demo (part of which takes place at the beginning of the game), you're suddenly unlinked Cerberus, working for Earth's Defense Console or something and on a first row seat to the beginning of the end of the planet. The reaper invasion sneaks past any defense the earth had with a massive fleet of battleships many times the size of the empire state building and starts ripping earth to shreads. Now comparing this to say the combine invasion, they subdued Earth in 7 hours. I'm gunna go out on a limb and say the Combine didn't have massive battleships with giant lazerbeams of death like the Reapers have. So Earth is omega-fucked and your saying there's actually a chance at not only holding them back, but defeating them? I'm all for "beating the odds" but that's like an ant going up against an army of tigers with back-mounted rocket launchers that shoot nukes.

The whole story just seems to be all over the place here, doing whatever they can to make the player feel like the ultimate bad-ass while shattering the "suspension of disbelief" the series have built up until now into tiny pieces, most of which flew under the cabnit with no hope of ever retrieving. 

Unless they're forging a game entirely from deus-ex machinas and impossible occurrences, then someone explain how any of this makes any sense.


Edit:
And that trailer was hammy as hell. Oh no, one girl died from the aliens... ya know... along with THE REST OF THE PLANET.

[Trace]

You seem like you want to hate the series, at least that's the impression I get. Most of your story gripes are quickly addressed in the first parts of the game which they conveniently left out of the demo. As for me I'm enjoying the game so far and I don't really have any complaints.

[backfire]

Not true at all. First two games I thought were great (lass boss of ME2 was slightly questionable though) but from what I've seen of ME3, there are so many logical fallacies and inconsistencies which breaks the immersion and leaves me wondering how the hell they thought this made sense.

If they answered stuff like how a fleet of ships the size of cities can sneak past Earth's defenses and why the Reapers are targeting Earth specifically then that's great, but there's still matters like how one person can help defend against an invasion that all in all should take 2 or 3 hours to wipe out humanity.

Not saying it's a bad game or anything, and I'll buy sometime down the road whenever it drops in price. I just feel the story is trying to hard to be "epic" and abandoning logic to make it happen.

[Squishy3]

The thing is the main reason why the Reapers could wipe out civilization every 50,000 years is they always cut the head off of the Galactic Organization, so there would be nobody to help organize a counter-strike, as all the diplomatic channels between races and planets are at the Citadel. This isn't the case this time, and humanity has demonstrated they can defeat a Reaper at great cost, not to mention they've been reverse engineering technology from Sovereign. (As has the entire Galaxy, I'm assuming.)

[Maxon]

You can't really say there's a problem with the story of ME3, when your only going by the tiny bit of info you get from the demo. Yeah things look bad for Earth, but there are people fighting back, even with the surprise hit.  Even in the game they are saying they can't just bring a bunch of ships to just fight the Reapers head-on, which then leads to the plot of the game of trying to get the aliens all working together and find a way to defeat the Reapers.  The story makes plenty of sense.  It's not like they are gonna save the Earth unscathed, the planet is pretty fucked, but they still need to do what they can to defeat the Reapers, even if Earth proves to be a lost cause later on.  I'm only 6 hours into the game myself, so everything is still unfolding.

[Dtrain323i]

The only real complaint I have is not being able to move my characters face over with my import. I tried to reconstruct the dude I had but at best I was able to make it look like my guy suffered some kind of injury that required reconstructive surgery.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[Badgerman of DOOM]

Okay my problem is the progression of the series. Mass Effect 1, you save the Citadel. Mass Effect 2, you essentially save the galaxy. Mass Effect 3, you save one tiny planet. It's been a while since I played ME2 so feel free to fill in any holes I find.

So from the demo (part of which takes place at the beginning of the game), you're suddenly unlinked Cerberus, working for Earth's Defense Console or something and on a first row seat to the beginning of the end of the planet. The reaper invasion sneaks past any defense the earth had with a massive fleet of battleships many times the size of the empire state building and starts ripping earth to shreads. Now comparing this to say the combine invasion, they subdued Earth in 7 hours. I'm gunna go out on a limb and say the Combine didn't have massive battleships with giant lazerbeams of death like the Reapers have. So Earth is omega-fucked and your saying there's actually a chance at not only holding them back, but defeating them? I'm all for "beating the odds" but that's like an ant going up against an army of tigers with back-mounted rocket launchers that shoot nukes.

The whole story just seems to be all over the place here, doing whatever they can to make the player feel like the ultimate bad-ass while shattering the "suspension of disbelief" the series have built up until now into tiny pieces, most of which flew under the cabnit with no hope of ever retrieving. 

Unless they're forging a game entirely from deus-ex machinas and impossible occurrences, then someone explain how any of this makes any sense.


Edit:
And that trailer was hammy as hell. Oh no, one girl died from the aliens... ya know... along with THE REST OF THE PLANET.

ME3- you save galaxy again. in fact this is the only time you REALLY save the galaxy since ME1. ME2 is saving humanity.

Between ME2 and 3- you turned in your ship and are on shoreleave due to DLC bullshit.
That is the point of it yes. Ants taking down giants. Also you are making assumptions, and at least imo the Combine DEFINITELY had comparable tech

Not really.

Because you're going off of maybe the first 30 minutes of the game.

Yes that is a writing device that tries to evoke an emotional response. Little kids getting hurt hits more than a population because said population does not have a face. A single child, however, does and is therefore more relatable, and especially being a child makes it seem like a kill the dog moment. In addition it also serves to give a face to the population so it serves to actually bring more impact to the whole "entire population being wiped out" deal. It's called personification, I believe. Basic english class stuff. Also a bit of intro psych with the whole "giving a face to a group to make it more relatable."