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Posted by: Zarrexaij Dec 3 2007, 03:53 AM

I'm sure many of you have heard of Mass Effect, a hybrid action RPG by Bioware. It obviously also has many science fiction aspects, taking place in the future and space. You take on the role as Commander Shepard, and can costumize your character's appearance, gender, and class. On your missions you can have two people with you, and your squad eventually grows to be about six people max. It has recieved an overhwelmingly large amount of positive reviews, many close to near-perfect. In my opinion, it has one of the best storylines of any game to date, and an original one to boot. I'll be damned if it doesn't end up with oodles of awards.

I rented this and I'm hoping to get it for Christmas. It's one of my favorite games, below Half-life and Half-life 2 (and the various episodes). Its dialogue is amazing, and it's a damned pretty game.

If we're going to discuss Mass Effect, I'll ask anyone to post in this thread to follow a rule or two:

1. If you're going to post a spoiler, please mark it well.
2. This thread isn't here to discuss the infamous sex scenes inappropriately (you know "LULZ THAT SECKS SCENE WUZ AWSUM!") I know you're all most mature than that, but from what I've seen in other forums this needs to be posted.

That's pretty much it for now. If I think of new rules or this thread requires more, I'll add some.

Posted by: Lord Revan Dec 3 2007, 05:19 AM

Yeah, you wouldn't believe how many YouTube videos about Mass Effect are the same exact scene. Anyway, I'd give Mass Effect a 4.8 out of five overall. The series can really go far if Bioware can continue to deliver the next two games with equal amounts of quality.

I can give a more in-depth review later, but I've got school in the morning so I've got to go to sleep.

<<Add-On>>

Mass Effect has a great cast of characters and voice actors for them. [trying to avoid spoiling for now]

Spectres-

Commander Shepard: You can be male or female, your actions will affect humanity's relations with the other council races. You must stop Saren from finding a Prothean artifact known only as the Conduit, and discover the horrifying revelation about the Protheans and those who came before. [Male voice actor: /Female Voice Actor: Jennifer Hale]

Saren Arterius: A veteran Spectre agent, Saren is one of many aliens who believe humanity is expanding its influence and territory too quickly, taking over. Unfortunately, he's the only one of those aliens who can actually do something about it. The Geth are following his lead, though their goal is unclear, and there are also other figures backing Saren directly or indirectly. (You actually start to feel sorry for the misguided sod by the end.)

Party Members- (These are my prefered ones, most of them are alien.)

Garrus Vakarian- A turian C-sec (Citadel Security) officer who crosses paths with you while investigating your claims of Saren's treachery. He's head-strong, and dislikes C-Sec's insistant adherance to strict protocol and procedure (red-tape).
His skills are similar to those of an infiltrator, he can use assault rifles and sniper rifles with great skill. Garrus is likely to become a Spectre agent himself one day.

Liara T'Soni- Out of all the party conversations, I enjoy Liara's the most. Maybe it's because I sometimes have trouble talking to people, but Liara is one of the characters I can relate to the most (I haven't met my biological father or mother).
She's a scientist, but gameplay-wise Liara is the most powerful biotic in your group. She's the daughter of Matriarch Benezia, who is allied with Saren for unknown reasons.

Tali'Zora Nor'Rayya- A young Quarian woman, the best tech specialist in your party. Tali is currently on her Pilgrimage, her people's rite of passage into adulthood, which is why she is not with the Migrant Fleet with the rest of her people.
She comes to Citadel Station after tracking down a Geth unit and finding incriminating evidence against Saren. Tali puts her pilgrimage on hold in order to help you stop Saren from achieving his goals. Her father is a member of the Admiralty Board, a group who can exercise some power within the democratic Migrant Fleet.

Urdnot Wrex- One of the last of the Krogan Battlemasters, Wrex has given up hope that his racewill avoid extinction. The Krogan were neutered at the end of their rebellions against the Council, but their infirtility is not the real reason their dying out.
Wrex has some of the funniest dialog in the game, most of it is dry sarcasm but funny all the same. Wrex is originally sent to kill Fist, an agent of the enigmatic Shadow Broker whose turned on his master to help Saren.

Non-Player Characters (out of party)-

Ambassador Udina- The human representative on Citadel Station, he is a seasoned politician. His ambitions are for humanity not only to have a seat on the Council, but for a human to become a Spectre agent. He occassionally butts heads with the Council when they refuse to act on humanity's behalf.

Cpt. Anderson- CO of the SSV Normandy prior to Shepard's induction into the Spectres. He's a veteran from the First Contact War with the turians, and shares a mutual loathing of the Spectre Saren (whom he has a history with). Anderson is the only person outside of the Normandy who empathizes with and completely supports Shepard's endeavors against Saren and the Geth.

Joker- The helmsman of the SSV Normandy, your ship. Joker is by far the funniest character in the game, pretty much all of his lines cabn bring a smile to your face. His nickname was given to him by one of his flight instructors because he never smiled in academy.
He is the best at his juob in the entire Alliance Fleet, despite his condition, Vrolik's Syndrome (the bones in his legs are hollow and can snap if too much force is applied to them).

Matriarch Benezia- over 1,000 years old, Benezia is in the third stage in her life (the matriarch stage). As a matriarch, she is a mentor to her people. Asari matriarchs are among the most powerful individuals in the galaxy, and for whatever reasons (a hidden insight to Saren's plan paying off, or madness) she has allied herself and many of her followers with Saren and the Geth.

The Citadel Council- The central body of government for all who reside in Citadel Space. They do not wield aboslute power, racial governments still have authority over their respective people and territory, but when the Council makes decisions, they tend to have affect on the entirety of Council Space.

The Council has the interest of all races in mind, they refuse to make decisions on anything but solid proof. There is one representative from each Council Race, asari, turian, and salarian. Humanity, along with volus, elcor, and hanar make up the assosiate races, who have embassies and representatives to voice their interests to the council, but not a real position of power.
Each councilor represents his/her race's position in terms of galactic politics, the turians are the primary military force, salarians gather intelligence and forge alliances, and the asari act as mediators and diplomats.

Species-

Geth- Synthetic life-forms first created by the Quarians for cheap labor over three hundred years ago. Geth blur the line between organics and robots, they believe in a higher power, and are capable of limited thought. They can share brainpower by being in proximity of one another.
Geth became a danger when an anonymous unit apporached a Quarian overseer and began asking questions only a self-conscious being could think of (why am I here, what is my purpose?). The Quarians realized that the Geth could become a future threat.

In response, the Quarians began to detsroy their creations, but the Geth did not stand idly by to be terminated. The Council races intervened and the Geth were driven out but not destroyed. Though the Quarians had been an assosiate race for many generations, the Council stripped them of their embassy and condemned them for creating the Geth.
The Geth have "evolved" since then, from the humanoid Geth Troopers, to the agile Geth Hoppers, to the lumbering Armatures, they have become more dangerous than ever. Now, they are hostile to all organic life forms, but they have remained behind the viel for three hundred years, that won't last.....

Krogan- A reptilian race of powerful warriors. Early krogan history consisted of never-ending struggles between warring clanships. Their homeworld is locked in a state of nuclear winter in the aftermath of a global use of nuclear weapons.
The krogan are the toughest soldiers in the galaxy, resistant to extreme temperature, radiation, and more resiliant against physical damage. They were culturally up-lifted by the salarians, who convinced them to fight for the Council against the invading Rachni (hive-minded insectoid creatures with space-faring technology).
The krogans' rapid reproductive rate allowed them to fight back against the Rachni, but they didn't stop when they'd pushed them back, the Rachni were driven to extinction by the krogan. Afterwards, the krogan continued to expand (even taking over worlds that were held by their allies). The "Krogan Rebellions" lasted for centuries before the salarians found another species, the turians, to help them stop the krogan expansion.
The rebellions ended with the entire krogan population being almost completely sterilized (only 1 in 1,000 births is successful), now extinction seems inevitable, especially since no krogan would bother to find a cure when it's in their nature to fight, not solve-problems.

Turian- A raptor-like race of sentients, the turians are known for their determination and work ethic. They are organized into a military hierarchy, nearly every turian inlists into the military when they come of age. Turians don't maintain concepts like skirmishes or fiegns, total war is their style.
Because of their nature and military might, they make up the bulk of Citadel Space's defense fleet. For every single human dreadnaught built, three asari and five turian dreadnaughts are made. Turians believe in getting the job done comepletely, they will sacrifice hundreds in a rescue effort if one of their own is left behind.

[I'll add to this in the afternoon]

Posted by: Zarrexaij Dec 6 2007, 02:14 AM

Oh, I would.

I'm hoping they do dialogue and romance better the second time around.

Posted by: milanius Dec 6 2007, 01:55 PM

Post deleted for violating thread rules.

Posted by: Lord Revan Dec 6 2007, 02:02 PM

You just had to quote that, didn't you? Anyway, I'm starting a Mass Effect fan-fiction starring Garrus, Tali and the geth, three years after Mass Effect. If anyone's interested, then check it out.

Posted by: milanius Dec 6 2007, 04:18 PM

Post deleted for violating thread rules.

Posted by: Zarrexaij Dec 7 2007, 02:28 AM

Umm, you haven't played it, so why are you talking about something you have absolutely no idea about?

I'm tired of KOTOR comparisons, too. It's not Star Wars, and before anyone says anything KOTOR2 was made by Obsidian, not Bioware.

Posted by: Lord Revan Dec 7 2007, 02:43 AM

@Zarr- Yeah, I know, KOTOR 2 was alright, not addictive or particularly noteworthy.

@Milanius- In the game, the line is said more jokingly than literally. You say it as though, that's the only option you have at the time. I believe it was against the rules of the thread (which Zarr set down) to reference the sex scenes in anything but passing. The squad system in ME is more akin to SW: Republic Commando (and no, I won't begin comparing them because one's a FPS, squad-based tactical war game and the other is a premiere RPG with squad-based combat).

@Zarr- ME has the potential to equal or surpass the popularity (for the gaming community) for StarWars. It's a fresh new series, I wish people would stop critizing little details and just enjoy it.

Posted by: Zarrexaij Dec 7 2007, 03:01 AM

I'm just saying that because I see KOTOR2 vs Mass Effect comparisons ALL THE TIME at the Mass Effect forums. It's a bit maddening, especially with all the people going "Obsidian did that, not Bioware!"

Yeah. I never experience all the "game breaking glitches" a lot of people have complained about. It's a great game, but it isn't perfect. It just needs a little balancing (especially with the economy, sheesh) and a little more dialogue with better quality. But like I said, it's a great game. Like DnD in space, almost. That's what it felt like to me.

Except without the "Law vs Chaos" and "Good vs Evil" crap that comes with DnD. It's only acceptable in DnD.

Posted by: Lord Revan Dec 7 2007, 03:13 AM

On those forums, I am Lt. Sev, Liara Fan and infiltrator enthusiast. Who are you?

Posted by: Zarrexaij Dec 14 2007, 04:35 AM

I don't have an account over there. Well, I do, but I can't use it until I register a Mass Effect. I have to own Mass Effect before I do that.

Posted by: Lord Revan Dec 19 2007, 07:51 PM

No, you can post in the non-spoiler (general discussion) forum. You have access to the spoiler forum, but you just can't post in it until you register.

Posted by: Renee Feb 8 2023, 05:50 PM

I just ordered a Mass Effect Trilogy set from eBay!, and just wanted to bump this ancient thread so I can add my gaming impressions. Should get the set by Feb. 13. 🔫

It'll be interesting playing something than a totally open-world game. From what I understand ME is more linear, which is fine. It's been years since I played a linear game, but it'll be fun to try something different for a change. Plus, I've heard (and the OP states) that the story is supposed to be top-notch.

Posted by: ghastley Feb 8 2023, 05:54 PM

It is always easier to create a top-notch story when the player can’t interfere with it. You may find your in-game choices restricted.

That doesn’t mean I played this one, just a general observation.

Posted by: Renee Feb 8 2023, 05:57 PM

Mmhmm, that's what I've heard, too: More choices than Bethesda games, more consequences, but more limits to story, as well. It's fine. I've always been curious about Mass Effect.

Gotta think of a witty first name which goes with Shepherd. Amanda Shepherd? (A man to shepherd) yeah that might work.

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 8 2023, 07:35 PM

I played the first ME game. It was ok. Nothing spectacular though. I tried the second game but could not get past the beginning, due to a choice they made in who the player is forced to work for. I never bothered with any more after that.

The gameplay is simple. So it is easy to play. You don't really have much in the way of choices. There is a good and a bad approach, and that is about it. I don't really remember there being a whole lot of difference between them, aside from whether you say nice things or mean ones. It is a lot like Knights of the Old Republic in that respect, which was also made by the same company: Bioware. So I think that is where they got that from.

It plays a lot like KOTOR or the old Neverwinter Nights 1 game, just with updated graphics. You start in what is essentially the tutorial dungeon. After that the world opens up a bit with four places you have to go. You pick the order, but you have to go to all of them regardless. Then you get the endgame which you are locked into. It is a standard format that Bioware always seems to use.

Posted by: Renee Feb 8 2023, 08:07 PM

Really? So I wonder why (in the old Beth forums) a number of gamers would drop in to tell how bad Bethesda is with story, choices, and consequences. "Beth needs to take lessons from Bioware" they would say.

I'm not saying I agree with this, I have no idea what a Bioware game is like. Just saying I remember all those comments. This is one of the reasons I want to try Mass Effect, just to see the differences. And get some perspective as well.

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 8 2023, 09:19 PM

Morrowind had way more consequences due to your choices than any Bethesda game. You can literally break the main quest and be unable to finish it in Morrowind. The game lets you do that. You cannot do that in any Bioware game. They will not let you.

Even in Skyrim you usually (though not always) have choices. For example, you can join the Dark Brotherhood, or destroy it.

In a game like Knights of the Old Republic you have the choice to become a Jedi or Dark Jedi, based on if you do good things or evil ones. But the story and quests you do are all the same. It is only a question of whether you are doing it to make things better for everyone, or to serve your own selfish and cruel interests.

I have not played Mass Effect 1 in a long time, so I don't remember the differences between the good and evil routes. But I don't think there is really any change in the actual missions that take place, who you are working for or against, and the like.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 8 2023, 10:31 PM

The choices in Mass Effect boil down to “do I want to be a hardass, victory at any cost and eliminate all threats kind of character, an ambassador for humanity that tries to get all of the races to work together kind of character, or a character that is somewhere in between?”. For instance, in the first Mass Effect, you can decide to either give a dangerous sentient species brought back from extinction by cloning a second chance and continue to live, or you can decide to make them extinct a second time. This seemingly small decision does have far reaching consequences that will be felt in ME3. There are other such decisions that have a ripple effect through the whole series as well.

Also, FemShep is best Shep.

Posted by: Renee Feb 9 2023, 02:31 AM

True. There are plenty of consequences in Beth games, not just Morrowind. Morrowind definitely gives the most free reign. No quest items, no Essential NPCs, and so on.

That's another game I might wanna try at some point: KOTOR. I bought Dragon Age long ago back in my PS3 days, but I remember not being able to get into it for some reason.

I'm definitely going to play a goodie in Mass Effect. Oooh this is gonna be fun!

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 9 2023, 04:39 AM

Fem Shep is definitely the best shep, if you want good voice acting...

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 9 2023, 01:45 PM

Exactly. Not a fan of MaleShep’s VA.

Posted by: WellTemperedClavier Feb 10 2023, 02:04 AM

While MaleShep's VA got better by the third game, Jennifer Hale's FemShep was great all the way through.

Posted by: Renee Feb 12 2023, 05:06 AM

I agree about FemShep's voice acting, it's really good. This game is really sort of intense, too. Different from Elder Scrolls. I really have to pay attention to dialog, for instance. If I space for even 6 seconds while conversation is happening, I'm suddenly lost! Good thing we can repeat-click on some topics.

https://i.imgur.com/a1ITzU6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OaLGjFI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vtKWSDV.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lGZw9px.jpg 🌞🌞


Wish I could go into 1st person for some reason, but doesn't seem we can. I'm usually a 3rd person gamer, too.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 12 2023, 08:26 PM

@Renee,

You may have stated this elsewhere, but are you playing the remaster that came out recently?

Posted by: Renee Feb 12 2023, 08:57 PM

Remaster? I'm not sure. I got the game for Xbox, so probably not.

I got to the point last night where they met some enemies and we had to shoot 'em. 🔫 I've got the game on its easiest setting but I did turn the Auto-aim (or whatever it is) down. But Amanda was able to hit one of the ... enemies who came for them. Not sure what they're called.

You folks were right, this is waaay different from Bethesda.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 13 2023, 11:56 AM

Sorry Renee, https://www.ea.com/games/mass-effect/mass-effect-legendary-edition is what I was talking about.

Was that the first mission?

Posted by: Renee Feb 13 2023, 01:52 PM

That links to a Mass Effect Legendary Edition page, but I don't see a mission.

The first mission in the game I have is Shep getting into a conversation with a Captain (or somebody) on a spaceship, and then touching down on a planet. She's supposed to find a beacon or something.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 13 2023, 02:01 PM

Sorry, I linked the “Legendary Edition” because it is the remaster I mentioned a couple of posts back. Is this the version of the game you are playing or is it the standard version?

Ah yes, Eden Prime. Where it all begins.

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 13 2023, 02:38 PM

Eden Prime sounds like a certain American President from Fallout 3...

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 13 2023, 03:27 PM

Posted by: Renee Feb 13 2023, 03:46 PM

YES, I noticed that too. I remember some discussion about this too, back in the day, ppl were trying to figure if Bethesda ripped off with those two names Bioware or vice versa. I think the conclusion was the two names in each game were just coincidence. Still... that's one heck of a coincidence.

Khajiit: I went on Wikipedia and it says the Legendary edtion was only released for Xbox 1, PS4, and PC in 2021. I have the 360 version. It's the Trilogy, released in 2012. So no, I don't have the remaster.

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 13 2023, 05:13 PM

I think it is coincidence too. In fact, I just made another connection between the game. President Eden, Liberty Prime = Eden Prime.

But with President Eden specifically I think they chose the name to deliberately invoke a sense that he would usher in a utopia. His stories on the radio were those of real Presidents like Lincoln. So in the game's own world, Eden was specifically presenting himself in order to cultivate that desired image of being the comforting father who was going to make everything all better.

Posted by: Renee Feb 13 2023, 09:16 PM

I actually miss President Eden in my Lone Wanderer's game. And the corny traditional music his station plays. Normally I don't pay much attention to "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and other such songs, but when placed in that context of the world in apocalypse, that's what's always caught me up.

Stay tuned for more pictures. FemShep just got to the first combat, so I'm either going to do okay at this, or I'll totally suck and have to start all voer. I mean over.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 14 2023, 12:30 AM

Yeah, I always found Eden to be very reasonable. Much more so than that jerk Autumn.

Posted by: Lopov Feb 14 2023, 12:46 PM

I played the 1st and the 2nd game, the third one had upon release a glitch that wouldn't allow you to import the main character from ME2. The issue was resolved fairly quickly but somehow I was already losing interested in between and so never finished the trilogy.

It's a good game with lots of dialogues and the story is interesting, characters as well. I liked the fact that you could choose accompanying characters for missions. Some choices that you make, are already significant in the 1st game, some in the 2nd but the majority of them should impact the events in ME3 if I understood correctly.

The dialogues in this game are really rich but also very long. I spent lots of real-life days in that first big city where you travel after the tutorial, I forgot the name already. But I was really awed by the sheer amount of dialogues.

Posted by: Renee Feb 14 2023, 03:44 PM

Yes, you've touched on something I've definitely noticed. There's a LOT of dialog and a LOT of little moments when it seems a choice is being made, even as Shep speaks to the very first people on the spaceship. 🚀

Comparing to Bethesda games, and looking back to those folks who'd say "Bioware does it better" I'd have to say that they certainly do offer more dialog, and more choices. But that's all. With Elder Scrolls and Fallout games there's always this feeling I get whenever I'm with someone new. Like I'm mostly getting to know my new character. And this happens through the choices which are made by which gear they pick up (A bow instead of a sword in OB's tutorial dungeon, for instance). Do they pick up the mortar & pestle, do they make that first stealth shot towards the goblin who's standing unaware, and so on.

But there's also a factor that isn't given by Bethesda themselves, which is imagination. As I'm spending time with whomever I'm with, I'm getting to know them, wondering why they've been imprisoned, wondering what their future goals are, and so on. None of that is given to us by the devs.

Even in Arena with those crude graphics and first-person-only perspective I get these feelings. I get the sense that I can do whatever my latest character wants in Beth games. Most of them ignore the main story, for instance. Never even touch it.

I get none of this from Mass Effect. I don't feel like I'm connecting with Amanda Sheppard at all, so far. She's more like a character in an interactive movie.

And I'm NOT saying this is a BAD thing. It's just the way Bioware rolls, apparently. Lots of dialog, lots of choices, the focus is on the story (and nothing else). More like Tomb Raider, actually. But see, that's why I'm playing ME. It's cool to play something different.

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 14 2023, 10:10 PM

I felt the same way about playing Shepherd. It is the difference between creating your own character, and being given one by the game designers. Both methods have their pluses and minuses. When you are allowed to create your own character, with your own backstory, your own profession, you get exactly what you want. But the developers cannot insert you very deeply into their own story of what is going on. You are too much of a blank slate for that. So you become something like the classic Western movie trope of the Stranger who drifts into town and sets all the wrongs to right.

But if instead the game makers create your character for you like Shepherd, they can insert you right into the foundation of the story. You are a military veteran of Earth, the first one chosen to become a Spectre, etc... Sure, you can chose from 3 backstories, that each has one small quest associated with it. But they never change the fact that you are an Earth veteran who is the first chosen to become a Spectre.

I never liked that. It feels claustrophobic. In ME in particular, I did not want to play a human. I wanted to play an Asari. I did not want to be soldier for Earth, or a Spectre, or be on this super secret warship. I just wanted to be a traveling prospector, finding mineral claims throughout the galaxy, meeting people, and getting into adventures along the way. And the game of course, would not let me be any of these things.

I would not say that either approach is inherently better or worse. Like I said, each has their advantages and disadvantages. It is just that for me personally it is the open world, anything goes style that suits me best.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 14 2023, 11:05 PM

BGS is unparalleled at giving you a blank canvas and letting you go wild. No other gaming studio comes close, unless you count Obsidian for their efforts in games like New Vegas and The Outer Worlds. I do feel that BioWare did a pretty good job of making me invested in my character in some of their games despite them being very limited in their background. KotOR was perhaps the best example of this. I remember being very invested in my first KotOR character. So much so that it deeply offended me when it was revealed that “canon” Revan was male and redeemed to the lightside.

For Mass Effect, I mean, you are always going to be Commander Shep, in one form or another. Not a lot of wiggle room, but you can do some creative head canon that can help make individual characters more distinct from each other. For instance, one of my Shep’s was a sneaky sniper type who stayed kinda in the middle of the Paragon/Renegade scale. Another one went through ME1 as a bit of a goody good, but then after suffering a very grave injury, she developed a personality disorder and became very, shall we say, aggressive. She was a Vanguard, which complimented this mentality very well with her up close and personal combat style. That was actually a really fun playthrough.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 14 2023, 11:25 PM

One more thing. I’ve often thought that Bethesda could just drop the main quest from their games and beef up the faction and side quests. Lately I’ve found that I have more fun ignoring the main quests and just doing the side stuff.

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 15 2023, 03:57 AM

I almost always ignore the main quest in Bethesda games. I only did it once in Fallout 4, and don't see me ever doing it again for that game. The only reason I have been doing it in Oblivion and Skyrim lately is that I have been playing superheros - January and Blood Raven. It would be wrong for them to not be saving the world.

Posted by: Renee Feb 15 2023, 02:34 PM

Nah, they should keep the main quest; I like that there's a main focus to the game. Of course, they should also keep making it so that we can ignore the main story as well.

Yes to both of these! I think for some gamers, who haven't got much imagination, this is why they have problems with open-world-styled games which Bethesda makes. They get into the game, but since they don't get into backstory or any of the imaginitive stuff like we do, they treat the game as a shooter, or an action/adventure. And then once they're done with the quests they simply move on. "Yo i b34t d4 g4m3!" now they're playing the next Call of Duty or whatever.

But some of them wouldn't move on, right? They'd show up in our discussions, flabbergasted that we're still playing after hundreds or thousands of hours. "How do I roleplay?" some of them would ask.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Feb 15 2023, 05:00 PM

Before Morrowind, I was one of them. Up until that point, I had never played a game that didn’t tell me right from the start who I was, and what I was supposed to be doing. Morrowind suggests that you go to Balmora and talk to Caius Cossades but it never really felt like something you had to do immediately. Even after you do talk to him he’s basically like, “You need more experience. Here take this gold and get some better equipment. Maybe join a guild. I don’t know. Just get more experience and come back to see me.”. My point is, most games out there do not allow you to play your own character. You are always a Commander Shep, a Laura Croft, a Mario, etc. So when people boot up a BGS game for the first time, instead of telling you who you are, and what you should be doing, it asks you “Who are you? Who do you want to be? What do you want to do?”. I can speak with experience that this is a completely alien concept to most gamers.

Posted by: Renee Feb 16 2023, 02:35 PM

Yes, that's very true. I can imagine what it'd be like in Morrowind especially because that game really puts you on your own, right away. NO tutorial. Vague instructions. Better directions than later games, but to a new player it's easy they'd still be confused a lot.

My first ES game was Oblivion. I had the advantage of already knowing how it works, so much so that I didn't even understand how the magical compass worked. That's the thing. In those early days I remember seeing the compass with its magical pointers, but not paying much attention to it. I was too awed by the gameworld.

BOT: hopefully I can play some Mass Effect tonight!

Posted by: Renee Feb 19 2023, 04:35 PM

I decided to make the game super easy for me: difficulty is Casual and the Auto-Aim is boosted all the way. Not trying to be super hardcore about this game.

Jenkins already died, but Shep just picked up Ashley Williams.

There's a few features about ME1 I really like. I can press a button which causes the entire party to wait behind, or go ahead, or return to Amanda. Really cool. I made a similar feature in Fallout 3, but it only causes Cho's party to wait or find Cho.


Since Amanda has only received training for pistols, and I happen to know these are really only good for short range stuff, Amanda's strategy is to command her squad to mostly stay behind. If she sees a red blip on her map and they begin shooting. She waits until they come toward her, hiding behind some obstacle. When they get close enough, *BLAM!! BLAM BLAM!!* And if they don't try to make an offensive toward her that's when she signals for Ashley and Kaidan. 🔫

https://i.imgur.com/hd3AQP3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/V3ttJIU.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/W7eQs3N.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WWoukAy.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/N6vZLLk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rCVJdUs.jpg (Wicked!)

https://i.imgur.com/2rLKfWP.jpg

🚀

Posted by: Lopov Feb 19 2023, 07:29 PM

Those pics bring back some great memories.

If I had more time, I'd replay ME1.

I forgot many things about ME1 already but I still remember some scenes from this tutorial.

Ashley Williams!

Uh oh, I remember that "spaceship" as well.

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 19 2023, 08:09 PM

Space zombies!

I never played an Engineer. So I am looking forward to hearing what that is like.

Posted by: Renee Feb 26 2023, 04:46 PM

I'm not sure what playing an Engineer is like, in comparison to the other choices presented in the beginning. One thing I've noticed is there are occasional areas where Amanda Shepherd can do (what seem to be) specific things, which maybe aren't allowed for other "classes".

She was able to pick a lock in which a couple of people were hiding, for instance. When Eden Prime got attacked a couple of inhabitants hid inside of a pod thing, and Amanda was able to pick the lock and get some info from them.

Also, now she is at the Citadel (yet another similarity between Fallout 3), and she's hacked into a few minor computers. Not sure if other classes: Soldiers or whatever, can also do things like this.

Glad to bring back memories for you Lopov, during this long no-gaming phase of your life. Mass Effect is incredibly fun, event though the situation for Amanda herself is pretty grim most of the time. She keeps getting accused of "screwing up" the mission and stuff. A lot of higher-ups in this game are really mean to her.


https://i.imgur.com/GJOFPsz.jpg 🚀

https://i.imgur.com/VyFcrPV.jpg (... she reminds me so much of our modern Alexa...)

https://i.imgur.com/tzcZtsI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7krQ5Kf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/t8YVTNg.jpg (... we don't entirely trust her for some reason)

https://i.imgur.com/9YQMPZd.jpg (... yikes, this game has pseudo lap dances!)

https://i.imgur.com/qJL0XWM.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MlAHgAq.jpg 🔫

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Mar 3 2023, 02:07 PM

Oh yeah, the Council is really annoying throughout the series. Of course, there are undeniably good reasons for this in ME2…

Ew, Emily Wong. The Renegade way of dealing with her is so satisfying

Posted by: Renee Mar 3 2023, 06:47 PM

About Emily: Righhht?? Something about this 'journalist' seems off. I mean, look at what she's wearing! She's like the villain we can spot early in a movie, just because she's wearing "villain"-looking clothes, and has that weird glint in her eye.

"I'll make it worth your while..." what "journalist" goes around saying stuff like this? Anyway, this is my first playthrough of course, so no spoilers if I'm right about all of this.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Mar 3 2023, 07:30 PM

Khajiits lips are sealed

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 22 2023, 03:05 AM

Holy crap!! Khajiit just bought Mass Effect: Legendary Edition on PS4 for $6.00!!!! That is insane!!!

Posted by: SubRosa Dec 22 2023, 06:24 PM

So is that the first three games, or does it include the other ones as well?

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 23 2023, 03:56 PM

Yes, Shepard trilogy only. They made the original Mass Effect play a little more similarly to the second and third one, and made graphical and other tweaks to all of the games. I saw that Steam also has it for $6, so at this price, I feel it’s a must buy.