Mass Effect

[HotChops]

As far as I'm aware, Ashley was against Terra Firma. Plus, she may not trust certain aliens, but she will still work with them (even likes the Salarians, if I recall). So, not entirely like Cerberus.

 

She's just got that long military background and really hates Turians for the business with her grandfather (which has held her back). I can still see why it's easy to dislike her. And I'd rather have a bit of contrast in the crew instead of everyone being huggy huggy cookies and milk.

 

Can't say she looks better or worse than Miranda. But she doesn't have Yvonne Strahovski's voice.

 

That's another thing I've mentioned in my notes. Cerberus is not Terra Firma. (and yes, I know about Cerberus' influence of Terra Firma.) I'll get to all that in time. I'm assembling something quite comprehensive on the matter.

[Hot Heart]

I know Terra Firma are not Cerberus, but they are very similar.

[Enervation]

Just to clarify, I disliked Ashley because I thought she was ugly as hell.

 

The alien hate was a side effect, also because I almost always play soldier and she's basically a carbon copy of me.

 

I'd rather spice it up with Tali/Garrus as party members. I do the heavy hitting, no one else.

[topekaguy]

I like Ashley a lot. Also in my opinion people distrusting aliens wouldnt be that far fetched at least to some degree. Humans made first contact with aliens (The turians) in 2157. Instead of welcoming them the turians attacked. At the very end of Mass Effect 2 its 2186. So humanity has been involved in the greater scheme of things for 29 years. It has taken countless centuries just for humans to lose some of its mistrust towards its own kind. So you expect them to be ok with aliens in just 29 years? That just doesnt seem reasonable.

[Enervation]

Perhaps so, but Ashley's worked with them for basically the entire first game. To see her still carry those opinions even after working side by side with them is a little disappointing to some, including me.

 

Hell, Navigator Pressly was able to overcome his distrust of aliens. I get it if she was still indifferent to them, but she still carries that phobia/hatred of aliens in ME2. Pretty much at that point I had no further interest to involve myself further with her.

 

'Sides, what are they gonna do, shoot us?

[excel_excel]

Hey, I have to agree with him. After everything I did in ME1 for her, she easily pulled a 180 and gave me the shoulder in ME2. So now, I'm just like "Screw you, bitch." If me coming back from the dead wasn't good enough, then what the hell is?

 

Hey now, kudos to Bioware for creating an accurate videogame woman.

 

"Good to see you, Commander."

"Good to see you too, Ash."

"OMG WTF YOU SON OF A BITCH AASDOADISFASDADKSRKJASD"

 

lolol i maek joke.

 

What joke?

 

Also don't get the Ashley hate. She was a flawed character and overcame her distrust of working with aliens as the game went on. Its not as if she was directly mean to any aliens (except for one time with Liara) and as the game continues she changes. unlike Liara who was all goody two shoes

Edited April 18, 2011 by excel_excel

[AgamemnonV2]

[/facepalm] You're killing me, you know that?

 

In my opinion, Ashley's views are pretty much the same as Cerberus'. I'd rather not go into that again yet, as I'm still compiling my essay on Cerberus.

No, lets. Why don't you tell me how she's on-level with wanting to exploit, terrorize, illegally experiment, and kill aliens when she expresses NONE of those views. Given how pissed she is that you're working with Cerberus in ME2 and I don't know how anyone in their right mind could say she aligns with Cerberus. She sure as shit doesn't.

 

Ashley DISTRUSTS aliens, specifically turians (and for good reasons). That's about it. She's uneasy about aliens being aboard an Alliance warship that's supposed to be the most classified subject in human military.

 

Back to Ashley though, I disliked her for a number of reasons, including that she's occasionally rude as hell. Personally, I remember when I started playing Mass Effect that I loved the feeling of being in a much larger, more progressive universe. I'm all, "Oh wow, humanity is finally united. The big religions have all been humbled before tangible evidence that contradicts their ideas. There's so much room to learn and grow...."

 

And then I meet Ashley, and she acts like all the "For God and Country" types that I run into at local Texas bars.

Oh lovely, the "lol religion" argument. I know I usually act all high and mighty about things written before recorded history as well.

 

Anyway, I hope your biggest gripe with Ash isn't religion or else I fear for how you handle day-to-day interactions with people.

 

Perhaps so, but Ashley's worked with them for basically the entire first game. To see her still carry those opinions even after working side by side with them is a little disappointing to some, including me.

 

Hell, Navigator Pressly was able to overcome his distrust of aliens. I get it if she was still indifferent to them, but she still carries that phobia/hatred of aliens in ME2. Pretty much at that point I had no further interest to involve myself further with her.

 

'Sides, what are they gonna do, shoot us?

Uh, where do you get that she's still carrying a hatred of aliens in ME2? She pretty much rips you a new one for working with Cerberus. I don't remember her saying, "By the way, I still hate aliens."

 

And when did Navigator Pressly overcome his distrust of aliens? His dialogue remains the same, even when you're through most of the game in ME1.

Edited April 18, 2011 by AgamemnonV2

[Pirandello]

Also don't get the Ashley hate. She was a flawed character and overcame her distrust of working with aliens as the game went on. Its not as if she was directly mean to any aliens (except for one time with Liara) and as the game continues she changes. unlike Liara who was all goody two shoes

It sort of went something like this:

 

ME1:

"OMG, Shepard, we are so great together."

"YEAH I KNOW."

Mega-trust and awesomeness gained.

 

ME2:

"Hey, Ash! I'm back, did you--"

"OMGWTFRUDOING, YOU JOINED CERBERUS AND DIDNT TELL ME. WELL IM ALLIANCE MILITARY ALL THE WAY YOU LOSER AND I DONT WANT TO JOIN YOU ANYMORE BECAUSE YOURE PART OF CERBERUS NOW AND THE TRUST WE BUILT UP IN THE LAST GAME MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BECAUSE IM GOING TO BE A BITCH LIKE THAT. SO NOW I HATE YOU SHEPARD BECAUSE IM MAKING A DECISION WITHOUT HEARING YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY FIRST AND IM GOING TO LEAVE YOU ALONE NOW BUT ILL BE BACK IN THE THIRD GAME SO DONT HATE ME OKAY? KTHXBAI."

"...fuck you."

Mega-trust and awesomeness lost.

 

I think I like Miranda better than her now.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Pirandello

[Enervation]

I think I like Miranda better than her now.

 

I don't like Miranda, either. I think she's actually uglier than Ashley, now that I think about it.

 

[AgamemnonV2]

Also don't get the Ashley hate. She was a flawed character and overcame her distrust of working with aliens as the game went on. Its not as if she was directly mean to any aliens (except for one time with Liara) and as the game continues she changes. unlike Liara who was all goody two shoes

It sort of went something like this:

 

ME1:

"OMG, Shepard, we are so great together."

"YEAH I KNOW."

Mega-trust and awesomeness gained.

 

ME2:

"Hey, Ash! I'm back, did you--"

"OMGWTFRUDOING, YOU JOINED CERBERUS AND DIDNT TELL ME. WELL IM ALLIANCE MILITARY ALL THE WAY YOU LOSER AND I DONT WANT TO JOIN YOU ANYMORE BECAUSE YOURE PART OF CERBERUS NOW AND THE TRUST WE BUILT UP IN THE LAST GAME MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BECAUSE IM GOING TO BE A BITCH LIKE THAT. SO NOW I HATE YOU SHEPARD BECAUSE IM MAKING A DECISION WITHOUT HEARING YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY FIRST AND IM GOING TO LEAVE YOU ALONE NOW BUT ILL BE BACK IN THE THIRD GAME SO DONT HATE ME OKAY? KTHXBAI."

"...fuck you."

Mega-trust and awesomeness lost.

 

I think I like Miranda better than her now.

I blame the writer for shit like that. Bioware is notorious for railroading plots and dialogue. They weren't always retarded like that and if you were smart enough you could usually talk down most bad guys. Nowadays their logic is, "Well, we designed this awesome sweet fight and paid for the voice actors, so gorramit they are going to fight and experience our hard work!"

[Vargras]

And when did Navigator Pressly overcome his distrust of aliens? His dialogue remains the same, even when you're through most of the game in ME1.

 

 

During the Normandy Crash Site DLC, you come across Pressly's datapad. Some of it is corrupted, but the last readable entry talks about how he would willingly die for anyone on the Normandy, including the alien crew members.

 

[jimmuhpage]

I'm just gonna leave this here.

 

Also, this and

is why I hate Ashley.

 

On one of my many ME1 runs, I decided to do a non-Renegade, non-Paragon run, and read that acquiring Wrex's family armor would be enough keep him alive. Doo-dee-dah, going about my business and--WTF?!?!?! I never liked either human squaddie in ME1 all that much, but I got over my "Carth hate" very quickly for some reason...

[AgamemnonV2]

I'm just gonna leave this here.

 

Also, this and

is why I hate Ashley.

 

On one of my many ME1 runs, I decided to do a non-Renegade, non-Paragon run, and read that acquiring Wrex's family armor would be enough keep him alive. Doo-dee-dah, going about my business and--WTF?!?!?! I never liked either human squaddie in ME1 all that much, but I got over my "Carth hate" very quickly for some reason...

So you were preferring that you'd get a Game Over screen when Wrex would take his shotgun to your face instead of her saving you? Interesting logic.

 

"Neutral" playthroughs is Bioware's way of saying if you pretend to be the Buddhist then the shit hits the fan anyway.

[Enervation]

I'm glad to see they're putting in the comic now, though. It was painfully annoying to play through ME1 all over again so I get everything down pat in ME2.

[HotChops]

GI video on the sound of the game:

 

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/04/18/the-sound-design-of-mass-effect-3.aspx

[Vargras]

GI video on the sound of the game:

 

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/04/18/the-sound-design-of-mass-effect-3.aspx

 

Bioware working with DICE on weapon sounds?

 

This game is practically going to be an eargasm (in addition to everything else).

[Pirandello]

Maybe we'll have a War Tapes option.

[McBeeferton]

I'm thinking about playing through the first game again. *sigh*

 

Anyone think I should try a different class to spice things up? Which would you suggest? I'm not sure the classes make a huge difference in playstyle until the sequel, though.

[TheMightyEthan]

I thought the different classes made a bigger difference in playstyle in ME1 than ME2.

[HotChops]

I'm thinking about playing through the first game again. *sigh*

 

Anyone think I should try a different class to spice things up? Which would you suggest? I'm not sure the classes make a huge difference in playstyle until the sequel, though.

 

I'm doing another replay of ME1 right now. I hate to say it, but I once I unlocked the shotgun for new game+, I just used that in conjunction with the biotic classes every time because it's the only thing that works for me. The framerate chops up too much to use the assault class well, so I just use throw, lift and shotgun.

 

I thought the different classes made a bigger difference in playstyle in ME1 than ME2.

 

can you expand on that, because I don't see it. I thought ME2's classes were far more varied. Granted, the entire game has a stronger focus on fire fights.

[TheMightyEthan]

It might just be the way I responded to the mechanics, but in ME2 for me it didn't make any difference whether the biotic powers were mine or my squadmates' (barring some exceptions like the dash ability or whatever it's called). Either way I'm crouching behind cover, using my guns while I wait for cooldowns, and then opening a menu and selecting an ability. Doesn't really matter whether that ability is mine or my squadmates'. Whereas in ME1 I played much differently because as a soldier I could just run out in the middle like a fucking moron and blast everybody, but with the other classes I had to be more careful and ended up staying behind cover more and just generally playing "smarter".

[AgamemnonV2]

Not sure how well-sourced this is but: http://nightmaremode.net/2011/04/20/mass-effect-3-to-have-heavy-melee-class-enemy-types-locations-and-more/

 

Of interest:

 

There’s a new class called ‘Heavy Melee’ which will take advantage of the swath of new melee moves which will be introduced in this iteration, including “rolling, jumping small holes in the ground, as the SWAT turn and strike the enemy with greater variety of melee attacks.”

 

Engineers can pull a TF2: there’s turret building.

 

Yes, we will finally visit Earth–New York, specifically (of course?). Also, Mars. As for the rest of the galaxy, we’ll be visiting a Salarian world and what may be a Quarian moon.

 

There’s a new scanning system. Woo Mk 2.

 

Weapons can be modded and customized, suggests that there are at least 5 things to customize for weapons (scopes, ammo types…?)

 

They can make some “really bad things” happen as endings. Wow, are they talking about actual consequence? The mind, it boggles.

The "really bad things" endings doesn't surprise me, considering how depressing DA:O's epilogue is.

[Vargras]

Not sure how well-sourced this is but: http://nightmaremode.net/2011/04/20/mass-effect-3-to-have-heavy-melee-class-enemy-types-locations-and-more/

 

Of interest:

 

There’s a new class called ‘Heavy Melee’ which will take advantage of the swath of new melee moves which will be introduced in this iteration, including “rolling, jumping small holes in the ground, as the SWAT turn and strike the enemy with greater variety of melee attacks.”

 

Engineers can pull a TF2: there’s turret building.

 

Yes, we will finally visit Earth–New York, specifically (of course?). Also, Mars. As for the rest of the galaxy, we’ll be visiting a Salarian world and what may be a Quarian moon.

 

There’s a new scanning system. Woo Mk 2.

 

Weapons can be modded and customized, suggests that there are at least 5 things to customize for weapons (scopes, ammo types…?)

 

They can make some “really bad things” happen as endings. Wow, are they talking about actual consequence? The mind, it boggles.

The "really bad things" endings doesn't surprise me, considering how depressing DA:O's epilogue is.

 

Heavy Melee?

 

Oh man, I'm all over that.

[HotChops]

It might just be the way I responded to the mechanics, but in ME2 for me it didn't make any difference whether the biotic powers were mine or my squadmates' (barring some exceptions like the dash ability or whatever it's called). Either way I'm crouching behind cover, using my guns while I wait for cooldowns, and then opening a menu and selecting an ability. Doesn't really matter whether that ability is mine or my squadmates'. Whereas in ME1 I played much differently because as a soldier I could just run out in the middle like a fucking moron and blast everybody, but with the other classes I had to be more careful and ended up staying behind cover more and just generally playing "smarter".

 

I totally agree that's how ME2's combat works, but I'm don't think it requires less thought than ME1. In fact, I feel it's the opposite.

 

For example, in Mass Effect 2 you have to constantly re-evaluate the situation as enemies try to flank or rush you. You have to carefully choose the right power and weapon for the enemy.

 

On the other hand, I was playing ME1 last night and at one point was ambushed by an Asari/geth combo on Noveria. All I did was point at the asari in the middle, used my powered-up throw ability and the fight was instantly over. All the enemies were thrown across the room -- regardless of their full shields or biotic abilities. Granted, it was fun to watch, but it required no strategy or tactics on my part.

 

I wish that I had played ME with different classes more recently, but I haven't played it with an assault or tech class in years. Perhaps it's because I'm playing the 360 version, but the combat (as always) is kind of a mess in ME1. Most of the battles are over in just a couple of seconds, the framerate is so bad I can barely keep track of things, and I don't have to carefully choose whether to use Overload, throw or whatever -- As long as they're all powered up, they all seem to be (almost) equally effective.

 

And like I said before, I don't disagree with your description of ME2's combat, I just don't have any problem with it. Are you saying that you actually like ME1's combat better than ME2? Or perhaps I'm confusing the issue of combat with the class system.

[Vargras]

For example, in Mass Effect 2 you have to constantly re-evaluate the situation as enemies try to flank or rush you. You have to carefully choose the right power and weapon for the enemy.

 

You're gonna be moving a lot more in ME3, from the sounds of it. Bioware is apparently reworking enemy AI so that they coordinate attacks and actively flank, instead of just hiding behind stuff and popping up to shoot at you.