Mass Effect

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I read it as this: The main game is set in a war, and commander shephard is in the war but has no outcome as to how or what points your side controls, but multiplayer will be an active role in deciding who has what.

 

As stated in the video, co-op missions will take place in the same places that you'll be going to in singleplayer anyways. Like singleplayer, success in co-op will contribute to your singleplayer ending IF YOU WANT IT TO.

 

They've repeatedly stressed that the co-op is entirely optional.

 

Yes, and people like badbassman39 don't seem to understand this. I watched the same video. How come we are coming out with different understandings of it? I feel like they repeated everything in the video twice.

[madbassman39]

I read it as this: The main game is set in a war, and commander shephard is in the war but has no outcome as to how or what points your side controls, but multiplayer will be an active role in deciding who has what.

 

As stated in the video, co-op missions will take place in the same places that you'll be going to in singleplayer anyways. Like singleplayer, success in co-op will contribute to your singleplayer ending IF YOU WANT IT TO.

 

They've repeatedly stressed that the co-op is entirely optional.

 

Yes, and people like badbassman39 don't seem to understand this. I watched the same video. How come we are coming out with different understandings of it? I feel like they repeated everything in the video twice.

 

If you read my last one, you would see that I understood that it was optional, but if you choose to play co-op then it affects your single player game... I understand it, but you seem to not understand what I am saying.

 

AGAIN: Co-op is 100% optional, but if you play co-op it affects single player. That is what I am saying. I NEVER said that it is required and dont understand why I am being accused of saying that.

 

Co-op affects the SP game. It does, and they said that. But if you chose not to do co-op the game will chose a setting that you will see when you play, instead of the co-op campaign

Edited October 13, 2011 by madbassman39

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Co-op affects the SP game

 

Correction: Co-op can effect the SP game.

[Hot Heart]

Correction: Co-op can effect the SP game.

Correction: Co-op can affect the SP game.

[TheMightyEthan]

From the video it sounds to me more like Shepard is taking the points, and in coop you're trying to hold them. By holding the points better in coop you increase their effectiveness, which gives bonuses toward the galactic readiness in SP.

 

Based on that interpretation I'm guessing it's a kind of Horde/Firefight-type mode where you try to defend a position against attack. I doesn't sound like there's any taking of points involved in coop, that's Shepard's job.

[Thursday Next]

I would assume there are two ways to increase "Galactic Readiness", some SP way that will allow you to attain max GR or the Coop missions which will also allow you to increase your GR.

 

In Assassin's Creed Brotherhood you could train your Assassin crew by sending them on missions from within the game. you could also increase their XP by sending them on missions via the Facebook app. Either way you could max out their XP by using the FB app, the main game or combine both.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, they said that you can obtain the optimal ending without touching the coop. Since Galactic Readiness (is that a Bioware term or did we make that up?) affects (if not decides) the ending, presumably there's some way to boost it without touching the coop. Coop is just one of the ways to boost it.

 

They also said in that video that your actions in the coop mode become part of your SP canon, so what I want to know is this: will the coop characters you create be somehow associated with a specific SP campaign file? Will you be able to play through the coop once and reap its benefits in all your saves, or will you have to play through it for each SP campaign separately?

[Thursday Next]

Don't know. I should probably ask someone in Bioware...

[Vargras]

Mass Effect 3 demo slated for January 2012, and will include both singleplayer and multiplayer sections.

[Pirandello]

Mass Effect 3 demo slated for January 2012, and will include both singleplayer and multiplayer sections.

Hopefully, a demo for the PC, too.

 

Though judging by how well that's been working out so far, I highly doubt it.

[toxicitizen]

So, I realize this is a bit late, but I've been replaying ME2 on PS3 for the first time since it first came out, so I'd never played any of the DLC that came out after launch.

I played through Lair of the Shadow Broker today, and holy crap! It's better than most of the missions in the main game!

 

After that I'll only have Overlord to play and then it's on to start doing loyalty missions. Oh and, about Arrival: should I buy it now or wait until after I finish my run?

I mean, I know it technically takes place after the ending of the game, but I imagine if I buy it now I'll probably get an email on my terminal and I'll be able to do it right away?

[Strangelove]

Shadow Broker is possibly the best dlc game addon ive ever played. Its just so well made. And long too. Project Overlord is also pretty cool.

 

I also hate to bring back ME2, but I got a question about the karma meter. Is it possible to ALWAYS be able to pick one of the renegade/paragon paragon choices? I was filling my renegade meter during my second playthrough and I still didnt have enough renegade meter for some of the scenes that appear in the game. Is there a specific order to play these? Is it even possible to fill one completely? I wanna know how i fucked this up.

I also noticed that Shepard's eyes start glowing brighter and brighter as the renegade meter goes up, but after a while that stopped. What the fucks up with that? I liked the glowy eyes....

[Hot Heart]

Shadow Broker is fun. And some of the post-completion stuff is a nice bonus.

 

"'Azure'. It's a slang word, used on Illium, for a part of the Asari body"

"Where?"

"Mostly in the lower southern region"

"I meant where on the Asari body?"

"So did I"

[toxicitizen]

My favorite was the ME1 reference

 

"Remember the old days when we could just slap omni-gel on everything?"

 

Anyway, so I wasn't expecting much from Overlord, but it turned out to be also very good

Not as amazing as Lair of the Shadow Broker, but a very close second.

 

Honestly, I'm inclined to agree with Strangelove. I can't think of any other game whose DLC was that damn good. I'm actually a bit shocked considering how disappointing BioWare have been the past couple of years. Lair and Overlord alone have made this repurchase well worth it.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, I fucking loved Lair of the Shadow broker.

 

As for Arrival, you're right: it's really intended (according to the devs) to be played after completing the Suicide Mission, but once you've installed it you can do it at any point. It changes very slightly based on whether you do it before or after the Suicide Mission, but it's not the kind of change that matters at all, it's just to avoid discontinuities.

[Waldorf and Statler]

I was never too big on dlc for games. Unless the DLC came out before I beat the game, I never bother with it. ME3 will have the canon ending of Lair of the Shadow Broker included, so I already know what happens.

[Vargras]

Game Informer ran an article today on ME3 Co-op, titled "Five Reasons Why Multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 is a Good Idea".

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/mass_effect_3/b/xbox360/archive/2011/10/27/five-reasons-why-multiplayer-in-mass-effect-3-is-a-good-idea.aspx

1) You Don’t Have To Play Co-Op

The conclusion of Commander Shepard’s tale is still a single-player affair. The co-op mode is a separate thing, and Mass Effect 3’s best ending can be obtained entirely within the confines of the campaign. To me, this is the most important factor. By not forcing players to dabble in multiplayer, EA and BioWare have ensured that those seeking a “classic” Mass Effect experience don’t feel betrayed or alienated. At the same time, the option is there for those who are interested.

 

2) Gameplay Doesn’t Suffer

The core combat mechanics in co-op haven’t been changed drastically to accommodate the new mode. You still choose from among the six major classes (soldier, adept, engineer, vanguard, sentinel, and infiltrator), and level up as you gain experience. The biggest difference is that you aren’t completing a scripted mission; you’re fighting off waves of enemies. The gunplay involves squad tactics, taking cover, and using your class powers to their fullest. As an adept, I threw a singularity into a crowd of advancing enemies, and as they twirled in mid-air, my soldier teammate gunned them down. It feels exactly like Mass Effect should – but it adds a fun element of cooperation.

 

3) The Depth Is There

The goal in co-op mode isn’t just to survive waves of bad guys until you are eventually overpowered. Each mission has a finite number of waves, and if you make it all the way through, you get a nice experience bonus. But even if you fail, you retain the XP you gained. That XP is the core of my favorite part of ME3’s multiplayer: the leveling. Each class has a full set of skills like you’d see in the single-player campaign, including different branches for each power. As your character gains levels, you earn more skill points to apply to your abilities, like increasing health, learning new biotic powers, or decreasing cooldown times. All of these upgrades carry over from match to match, and the persistence gives you the satisfying sense of building a powerhouse from the ground up.

 

4) Co-op Feeds Into Shepard’s War

Though you aren’t forced to play multiplayer, the time you spend in co-op isn’t completely isolated from the main game. The awesome multiplayer characters you take into battle can appear in the single-player campaign as war assets for Shepard to dispatch. EA is calling this the “Galaxy at War” system, where the Reaper threat is reaching critical levels in multiple areas of the galaxy. Shepard can’t be everywhere at once, and multiplayer characters join the other power groups (like the Salarian Special Forces) that are available as war assets – the soldiers that help keep things under control long enough for Shepard to finish the fight.

 

5) Play As Other Races

Shepard works alongside most of the major races in the galaxy, but players never control any of the other species in the single-player campaign. Co-op gives you the opportunity to step into some alien shoes. In addition to humans, players can choose to be a Salarian, Krogan, Turian, Asari, or Drell character. All of my hands-on time was spent playing as a human, but I’m looking forward to checking out what the other species offer. While largely a cosmetic choice, each race will have some sort of unique capability, but BioWare isn’t giving out precise details yet. Even without any specifics, I expect to see a lot of Krogans storming around in co-op.

 

I bolded what I think are the awesome parts. Basically, any characters you make for multiplayer will show up during your campaign as well, though it's likely a non-speaking role. It's still neat though.

[TheMightyEthan]

4) sounds completely fucking awesome. I was skeptical initially, but Bioware is doing a good job of soothing my fears about the multiplayer.

 

Also, I'm adding a poll about which system people are getting this game for so we can have some idea of where our multiplayer partners might come from (even though it's still 6 months away...)

[Waldorf and Statler]

See if Mass Effect was this impossibly hard game, I would consider some of the extra help. To be fair I've never beaten the game in the hardest mode, but the second to hardest. ME2 kept saying how hard it'd be to keep all members alive, but I did it super easy. Like a BAUSS

[Vargras]

For those of you worrying about whether or not you'll be able to play as your favorite race in coop:

“@EJ_107: We will not be able to play as Quarians in MP?” We've only mentioned examples of playable characters, not the full list.

 

The only confirmed races that are playable in coop so far are humans, turians, asari, krogan, and drell. Given how popular Tali is within the community, it's highly likely that quarians will also be playable.

Edited October 30, 2011 by Vargras

[jimmuhpage]

I believe I read on the BW forums from a dev that you can charge people as a krogan in co-op, much like Grunt does in ME2, as an example of abilities unique to different species.

 

Is it possible to ALWAYS be able to pick one of the renegade/paragon paragon choices? I was filling my renegade meter during my second playthrough and I still didnt have enough renegade meter for some of the scenes that appear in the game.

 

My friend who has played through the game many times, mostly as a renegade, is convinced that it is impossible to recruit Morinth on a NG+. I haven't tried it out myself since I mostly play as a paragon, but it could be a bug that doesn't reset morality requirements while resetting morality score on NG+ files. You can read more about the morality system on the ME wiki or the forums, but it essentially boils down to: at any particular point in time, how many Par/Ren points did you get out of the total points you could have gotten. It doesn't take all the possible points in the game, only the ones that come from situations that you have put yourself into, e.g., if you haven't talked to Grunt, then the morality points associated with his conversations aren't factored into whether you can Par/Ren talk down Tali and Legion. The Par/Ren meter is just cosmetic; it simply tracks how many points you get.

 

If the game doesn't reset how many points you could have gotten from a previous run through on the same profile, but does reset how many points you have gotten since starting the NG+, then it could lead to a problem.

 

I prefer the ME1 system. It's less organic, but more definite.

[TheMightyEthan]

I can't say for sure that it's definitely always possible, but I've never not been able to get my paragon or renegade score high enough. One thing though is that I always get the skill that increases your paragon/renegade points by percentages (I think the top tier doubles them), so that might be necessary.

[Waldorf and Statler]

The only time I was surprised at the complete bull of the persuade/intimidate in this series was in

 

ME2 when Miranda and Jack are arguing and you need to choose a side.

 

 

In ME and ME2 the first thing I upgraded fully is the conversation system [can't remember if that was an option in ME2 for the skill tree] and considering how I had done nothing but good deeds throughout the entire game it was surprising that I actually had to choose and lower any chance of being good friends with the other.

[TheMightyEthan]

@JC:

 

You don't have to choose a side. If your Persuade/Intimidate is high enough then you get the option to basically tell them both to sit down, shut up, and stop fighting. If you do that then you retain the loyalty of both of them. Same goes for the Tali/Legion disagreement.

 

[Vargras]

The first time I played ME2, I wasn't quite ready for that and ended up losing the loyalty of Jack, which caused her to die during the final mission. On all subsequent playthroughs, I left Miranda's/Jack's and Legion's loyalty missions for last, which made sure I had enough paragon/renegade rating to get through it.