Mass Effect

[TCP]

That wasn't really my point, my point was her doing a video showing the features of Mass Effect isn't THAT big of a deal, if you want to get bent up over conflict of interest in gaming media, there are much worse and obvious things.

 

EDIT: Not that I even care. I don't know why I'm defending Chobot this much. She's terrible. I hate her. She is everything that is wrong with gaming. She's mediocre on camera, I question how much gaming she actually does, she has a horrible self centered attitude, and she looks like she does too much cocaine. To tell with her, let's get back to talking ME3.

Edited February 2, 2012 by TheCowboyPoet

[Vargras]

ME3 achievements have already slipped out. They're somewhat vague, similar to ME2's, but they might still give away some things.

 

 

Driven - Return to active duty.

Bringer of War - Chase down an assassin.

Mobilizer - Bring a veteran officer aboard.

World Shaker - Destroy an Atlas dropped from orbit.

Pathfinder - Explore a lost city.

Tunnel Rat - Survive the swarm.

Party Crasher - Sabotage a dreadnought.

Hard Target - Call down an orbital strike.

Saboteur - Disable a group of fighter squadrons.

Arbiter - Win a political stand-off.

Last Witness - Extract ancient technology.

Executioner - Defeat an old adversary.

Well Connected - Send a warning across the galaxy.

Fact Finder - Discover an enemy's monstruous origins.

Liberator - Stop a Cerberus kidnapping.

Problem Solver - Evacuate a scientific facility.

Patriot - Make the final assault.

Legend - Mission accomplished.

Shopaholic - Visit a store in the single-player campaign.

Master and Commander - Deliver most of the Galaxy at War assets to the final conflict.

Lost and Found - Dispatch 10 probes to retrieve people or resources in Reaper territory.

Long Service Medal - Complete Mass Effect 3 twice, or once with a Mass Effect 2 import.

Insanity - Finish the game on Insanity without changing the difficulty after leaving Earth.

A Personal Touch - Modify a weapon.

Paramour - Establish or rekindle a romantic relationship.

Combined Arms - Perform any combination of 50 biotic combos or tech bursts.

Focused - Evolve any of your powers to rank 6.

Recruit - Kill 250 enemies.

Soldier - Kill 1,000 enemies.

Veteran - Kill 5,000 enemies.

Bruiser - Kill 100 enemies with melee attacks.

Untouchable - Escape a Reaper in the galaxy map.

Defender- Attain the highest level of readiness in each theater of war.

Overload Specialist - Overload the shields of 100 enemies.

Sky High - Lift 100 enemies off the ground with powers.

Pyromaniac - Set 100 enemies on fire with powers.

Eye of the Hurricane - Kill a Brute while it's charging you.

Mail Slot - Kill 10 Guardians with headshots from the front while their shields are raised.

Hijacker - Hijack an Atlas mech.

Giant Killer - Defeat a Harvester.

Enlisted - Start a character in multiplayer OR customize a character in single-player.

Tour of Duty - Finish all multipler maps OR all N7 missions in single-player.

Always Prepared - Obtain two non-customizable suits of armor.

Tourist - Complete one multiplayer match OR two N7 missions.

Explorer - Complete three multiplayer matches OR five N7 missions.

Gunsmith - Upgrade any weapon to level 10.

Almost There - Reach level 15 in multiplayer OR level 50 in single-player.

Peak Condition - Reach level 20 in multiplayer OR level 60 in single-player.

Battle Scarred - Promote a multiplayer character to the Galaxy at War OR import an ME3 character.

Unwavering - Finish all multiplayer maps on Gold OR all single-player missions on Insanity.

 

 

[Waldorf and Statler]

Huh

 

 

 

Were there any achievements for having a romance in the other titles? It doesn't seem like I saw one at first glance of this list

 

[Vargras]

Huh

 

 

 

Were there any achievements for having a romance in the other titles? It doesn't seem like I saw one at first glance of this list

 

 

 

It says 'rekindle', so the achievement still applies if you had a love interest in ME or ME2.

 

[Waldorf and Statler]

Must've missed that one.

 

Thanks mate.

[TheMightyEthan]

Must... resist... looking...

[Waldorf and Statler]

It doesn't really spoil much. Like at all Ethan. It's basically 90% stuff that's too cryptic to understand whats going on, and the other achievements are thing you already expect for a Mass Effect game.

[SixTwoSixFour]

See, now I can't figure out what to get ME3 on. I got 2 on PC and 360. I can't get 3 on 360, because I sold my 360 because I hate it and never use it. I can't get it on PC because fuck me if I'm gonna put up with Origin and its bullshit. And if I get it on PS3 then I won't have a save to import! Ideas, gang? And please, don't just tell me to suck it up XD

 

Edit: Oh, amazon has ME2 for PS3 for 20 bucks... how dumb would it be to buy this game three times...?

Edited February 6, 2012 by SixTwoSixFour

[TheMightyEthan]

Just buy ME3 on PC, it's worth putting up with origin to be able to import your save.

[deanb]

Can Thursday (or anyone else with a link) explain why it's tied to Origin. I.e the benefits we get from it over the seemingly inferior ME and ME2?

[SixTwoSixFour]

Can Thursday (or anyone else with a link) explain why it's tied to Origin. I.e the benefits we get from it over the seemingly inferior ME and ME2?

 

The "why" isn't about benefits for the consumer- the switch to Origin doesn't benefit us, period. It's about EA trying to get its foot in the door with digital distribution, at the cost of screwing its paying customers. They don't give a shit about what we want, they're betting that if we have no other option, we'll suck it up and use their awful service.

[deanb]

I know that one 6264. I'm just wondering what EAs angle on the reasoning is. From my understanding Origin is nothing more than a storefront (I've not used it much for a long while, maybe it got updated with useful features?) so I see no reason why a game not bought from that store is being associated with that store.

[SixTwoSixFour]

Just to get people to start using Origin. The problem is, people have no motivation to install Origin in the first place... because it's a shit product. But if you are forced to install it to play a game you're really excited about, then while you're playing, they'll show you some popups about other products on Origin... and maybe you'll bite.

 

It's like how Half-Life 2 required Steam. Did it really need that tech to run? No. They wanted to get you to install Steam, so that they could sell you other stuff. And honestly, a lot of people were pissed about it back then too.

[TCP]

See, now I can't figure out what to get ME3 on. I got 2 on PC and 360. I can't get 3 on 360, because I sold my 360 because I hate it and never use it. I can't get it on PC because fuck me if I'm gonna put up with Origin and its bullshit. And if I get it on PS3 then I won't have a save to import! Ideas, gang? And please, don't just tell me to suck it up XD

 

Edit: Oh, amazon has ME2 for PS3 for 20 bucks... how dumb would it be to buy this game three times...?

IMO: get it on PS3. To me, a game like Mass Effect is more suited for a console. Unless you have your PC connected to a living room with home theatre/big screen tv, in which case go for that, but I don't really see any major advantages of PC over PS3.

[Waldorf and Statler]

All of my friends with a PC that can handle these games are playing it in the PC.

 

Why would you bother replaying Mass Effect 2 yet again if ME3 comes out in a month? You've already played ME2 on the PC, and honestly sticking it to EA is much less of a hassle to deal with than replaying the game yet again. Just play this game on the PC, then you probably won't have to look at Origin again for a long time.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I'll be playing on PC with a PS3 controller.

[deanb]

IMO: get it on PS3. To me, a game like Mass Effect is more suited for a console. Unless you have your PC connected to a living room with home theatre/big screen tv, in which case go for that, but I don't really see any major advantages of PC over PS3.

The saves aren't a major advantage? (Also not seeing what'd make ME more suited to a TV over a monitor, but that's personal taste I guess. All my games go through the same display and it doesn't seem to hurt console/PC titles)

[Vargras]

Can Thursday (or anyone else with a link) explain why it's tied to Origin. I.e the benefits we get from it over the seemingly inferior ME and ME2?

 

I think the 'official' reason given was something about getting DLC out to the customers, which is completely pointless - they make it sound as if it were incredibly difficult to install ME and ME2 DLC, but it wasn't - you ran a friggin' executable and it did the rest.

[Hot Heart]

Got some little bits of information just through checking the lead designer Prestion Whatamaniac's Twitter feed.

 

Galaxy at War will affect all save files:

https://twitter.com/#!/PWatamaniuk/status/162546345012498434

 

Apparently, the Paragon/Renegade system has been revamped. Not sure how significant changes will be:

https://twitter.com/#!/PWatamaniuk/status/162545846028734464

 

Reworked armour powers. Presumably for that risk/reward approach they talked about:

https://twitter.com/#!/PWatamaniuk/status/161648779307655168

 

Squadmates will have different outfits with different stat bonuses:

https://twitter.com/#!/PWatamaniuk/status/142265031021707264

 

Normandy upgrades from ME2 will have an impact:

https://twitter.com/#!/PWatamaniuk/status/128116919323729920

[Waldorf and Statler]

I'm guessing the impact they'll have is that the revamped military Normandy will keep the upgrades you put on it from the first one. But those were specifically to survive the attack on the collector's base. We'll probably have to upgrade the normany further to fight Reapers

 

 

So anybody here wondering whether they give you the spectre status again for ME3? They've already stated that Ashley is a spectre and tecnically of higher military rank than you are. Plus in ME2, the conversation to supposedly reinstate your spectre status was a dialogue choice that only appeared like once when visiting the Citadel and it never came up again in any further conversation besides like once when you could threaten somebody by stating you are a spectre.

 

I'm really hoping that Ashley doesn't replace Miranda in the sense that they're your superior. I'm hoping this is simply Shepard teaming up with the Alliance but that you are in complete charge of your ship. I mean this is the ship constructed for you by Cerberus, I dunno how much power the Alliance has to strip it away from you.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Waldorf And Statler

[TheMightyEthan]

Dunno, I have seen in one of the videos Anderson saying you're reinstated as Commander in the Alliance military though.

[TCP]

IMO: get it on PS3. To me, a game like Mass Effect is more suited for a console. Unless you have your PC connected to a living room with home theatre/big screen tv, in which case go for that, but I don't really see any major advantages of PC over PS3.

The saves aren't a major advantage? (Also not seeing what'd make ME more suited to a TV over a monitor, but that's personal taste I guess. All my games go through the same display and it doesn't seem to hurt console/PC titles)

Sorry, I was missing a point that Mass Effect 2 on the PS3 looks great, runs smoothly, and is totally worth a playthrough before ME3. That's what I'm doing. My ME1+2 savefile on 360 won't be completed, but there's really no regret there.

[Vargras]

So anybody here wondering whether they give you the spectre status again for ME3? They've already stated that Ashley is a spectre and tecnically of higher military rank than you are. Plus in ME2, the conversation to supposedly reinstate your spectre status was a dialogue choice that only appeared like once when visiting the Citadel and it never came up again in any further conversation besides like once when you could threaten somebody by stating you are a spectre.

 

I'm really hoping that Ashley doesn't replace Miranda in the sense that they're your superior. I'm hoping this is simply Shepard teaming up with the Alliance but that you are in complete charge of your ship. I mean this is the ship constructed for you by Cerberus, I dunno how much power the Alliance has to strip it away from you.

 

Time for me to show my nerdiness. Spectres, once initiated, are Spectres for life. The status is only revoked if the Spectre goes rogue (such as Saran), or if the Spectre dies (such as Shepard). Shepard is a unique case, in that he's/she's been the only Spectre to have his/her status revoked and subsequently re-instated (assuming you actually accepted the offer). As such, assuming you accepted the Spectre reinstatement in ME2, Shepard is STILL a Spectre as of ME3.

 

Considering the Spectres answer directly the Council and are given the Council's full-authority, they're essentially above all other jurisdictions. One of the CSEC officers in ME mentions how much he hates Spectres, because the police force has no jurisdiction over them at all - the Spectres answer to no one, save for the Council themselves, and should a Spectre go rogue, the only possible solution is to send another Spectre after them.

 

Even if Ashley technically out-ranks Shepard within the Alliance military, she'll still likely defer to him/her as she did in ME.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Vargras

[Waldorf and Statler]

Dunno, I have seen in one of the videos Anderson saying you're reinstated as Commander in the Alliance military though.

 

In the opening of ME3? Because you could get Anderson to reinstate the status in ME2, but it was such a minor thing. It was like a big conversation and then all of a sudden "btw do you want your Spectre status back? Ok let's keep talking" I didn't accept it as part of the story... I mean Shepard had gone rogue and disliked the Alliance somewhat at that point in the story, why would he answer to the council again?

 

And thanks for the clarification Vargras. It seems like being a Spectre won't be as big of a deal in this game either. I mean if they give it to you at the beginning of ME3, considering they're taking away your fucking ship and calling it theirs, then nice. But no biggie. I've always liked lone wolves better in terms of badassery.

[TheMightyEthan]

Even if Ashley technically out-ranks Shepard within the Alliance military, she'll still likely defer to him/her as she did in ME.

 

Or perhaps that will be a source of conflict, the fact that Ashley outranks Shepard in the Alliance but Shepard's status as a Spectre gives him complete autonomy. I recall from ME1 even though Shepard was still technically part of the Alliance military Admirals and people wouldn't give him orders, they'd just make requests of him.