alanschu

I know you hate the game and all, but don't start going off and spouting off random numbers now. nope that is simple math... try counting with me... my development costs are 25 millions (i bet that the number was bigger but we leave it down at this) add the marketing costs (i will be low again and say 1 million) how many gameboxes do you have to sell to get the money back? Your development costs? What are you basing your estimates on? Otherwise you're still just making up numbers. Why is marketing at $1 million low?

So what you're saying is you like to make stuff up?

I know you hate the game and all, but don't start going off and spouting off random numbers now.

Hehe, the cheap motels is so that people have the $$$$ to spend on shows and gambling. Places that don't offer shows and gambling can't afford to charge more because the big places don't really charge THAT much (some do) because they know they'll make the $$$$ on the shows and gambling.

Stay away from the Aero bars and I don't care.

I'm not a violent woman, but there are few things more satisfying than running up to a krogan battle master, bashing his head in, and then pouring assult rifle fire into him as lies helpless at your feet. Going full auto assault rifle as he floats over you due to bionic attacks from teammates is one of those things though EDIT: Oh yes, and I agree with the notion that the Feros morality decision was pretty sweet. It was fun going through it both as a Paragon and a Renegade

I chewed her out for unprofessional conduct (gossip about her superior officer). Heh, sounds like she's also a plausible character. You show her that unprofessional behaviour is not tolerated and what do you know...she keeps her mouth shut and does her job. Don't blame bad writing for the character actually acting in a believable way. Don't tell her to act professional and reprimand her when she isn't, and maybe she'll behave differently. I didn't say anything about bad writing. I say whatever I think my character would say, otherwise you're just metagaming instead of roleplaying. A better design would be to end the possibility of romance, but still have her talk about other things so she's a more interesting character. Sorry. You tell your soldier to shut up about unprofessional comments and reprimand her for it, she's going to fall in line whenever you're talking with her. Ashley deciding not to talk with you both makes sense from the perspective of her duties as a soldier in response to a commanding officer giving her an order, and the fact that she might just think you're a **** for snapping at her. Given the women I know, it almost makes sense. It's your fault if you expected Ashley to behave in a different way than her very plausible and almost expected way in response to what you said. But given you seem to hate that things get "forced" upon you, you probably were too obtuse to realize that the consequences of your actions. For the record, your superbly well written Carth responds the same way if you tell him to shut his pie hole early on too.

I chewed her out for unprofessional conduct (gossip about her superior officer). Heh, sounds like she's also a plausible character. You show her that unprofessional behaviour is not tolerated and what do you know...she keeps her mouth shut and does her job. Don't blame bad writing for the character actually acting in a believable way. Don't tell her to act professional and reprimand her when she isn't, and maybe she'll behave differently.

Heh, you say that like it's uncommon.

Most of this stuff was found in the Codex still though, IIRC, but as you say that's not how you wanted to learn about it.

Bueller? Bueller?

I am now convinced you didn't pay any attention whatsoever to the game, if you have to claim that "none of that seemed necessary." You must have had your mind made up before you played it. Either that or its plot was too confusing for you to understand, which I can't possibly believe since it's plot isn't that great. It reminds me a lot of...KOTOR, in terms of its complexity.

If you want to say that it was a coin toss choice, then all choices are coin toss choices. Should I be evil or good? Should I do this or that? Lets just flip a coin.

Yay blacked out text FTW

So, Carth was a very damaged human being, anything against portraying that in a game? The problem with Kaiden is he's so underdeveloped, he tells you his sob story (which is pretty dumb btw) and that's it. Carth was the king of cliche and a big whiner. It was a huge disconnect over someone that was supposed to be a badass in the Republic. His whole exposition was jarring, especially when he would randomly pop up with a "Carth has something on his mind" 5 minutes after I meet him. The only good thing about Carth was his reaction to an evil Revan. It seems to me that you don't hold KOTOR to the same standards that you do ME.

ME ripping off KOTOR is not to its credit. Top side of Taris went along with it's theme, rich live on higher level, the lower levels get increasingly poorer and more dangerous. Sure, a lot was left to the imagination due to graphic limitations, but you could see some beautiful vistas of the city with spaceships and so on. Plus it set up the contrast with the sewers and the squalor of the refugee camp. And at least there was lots of interesting stuff to do on Taris, unlike the Citadel. Right. Unfortunately for you, you obviously played ME with the "Imagination switch" turned off. Too bad for you really. You could have enjoyed the game more if you hadn't been so closed minded about it. The theme of "rich live higher" wasn't particularly interesting, nor creative. Taris wasn't bad. Just like the Presidium wasn't bad. As for stuff to do, well, I guess there was the walking around looking at the sites and talking with the odd person. It reminds me of a game I played more recently. I just love how you rationalize Taris because it took some imagination to make it awesome, yet you chastise the Presidium. While there may not have been a whole lot to do on the Presidium, I enjoyed just walking around and and listening to Ashley and Kaiden make comments about what we were looking at.

Kaiden was Carth. Same voice and all. ME is KOTOR but not set in Star Wars and coming after KOTOR. I think this is what makes it so difficult for those to understand how similar the two games actually are. Wrex's decision makes as much sense as other NPCs following you despite all your dastardly deeds in KOTOR.

Pretty much The Battle of the Coral Sea. It caused Japan to slow/halt their progress in that part of the region, stopping an attack on Port Moresby. It was the first ever naval battle where neither ship saw an enemy ship. To be fair I don't think Japan necessarily wanted to invade Australia. I think they were hoping to threaten it, and use that to sue for Peace. I think all they really wanted was Malaya/Burma (to cut off China) and the Dutch East Indies (for the Oil and Rubber).

With the situation in Malaya looking more desperate, the brave souls in the Royal Navy continued to leave Singapore and pester Japanese shipping off the eastern coast of Malaya. While numerous ships were sunk, eventually their luck ran out. On December 25th they were spotted by a Japanese air patrol, and was promptly attacked by forces operating out of the Kido Butai, the main Japanese Carrier fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor. The Mauritius was demolished, as were several other ships. 7 Destroyers remained, and the Admiralty decided that it would be best to preserve what was left of her fleet, and fall back to Diamond Harbor. For two days those ships weathered air attacks from the Japanese. Only two of the destroyers survived. With the Royal Navy in full retreat back to India, the only presence she has in the conflict at this time are two submarines operating off the coast of Malaya. The land battles haven't gone much better. Japan cut the island in half, cutting off the troops to the north, who were forced to surrender on December 29th. The rest of the Allied forces are falling back to Singapore to make a stand there. The air force has been heavily depleted, but continues to make attacks on japanese shipping, scoring an occasional hit. Japanese forces have pushed up through Burma, and now have Rangoon surrounded and cutoff. US fighters from the AVG fighter group have started making ground attacks against Japanese forces to buy the Commonwealth troops more time. The Dutch East Indies so far has remained relatively untouched, outside of Northwest Borneo. Mili and Brunei, and their oil fields, were attacked and captured at the end of the month as well, facing little resistance outside of Dutch submarines that have scored the occasional hit on transport ships. The US fleet operating out of Balikpapan attempted a raid on the island of Jolo, near the Philippines. Unfortunately as they approached their target during the daytime, planes operating off the island engaged and attacked the surface fleet. With the Northampton class Cruiser Houston having both of her forward batteries (6 8" guns) taken out, the decision was made to pull the fleets back to Soerabaja for repairs and further orders. The Brooklyn class CL Boise has been pulled back to Darwin, as she is a powerful AAA vessel and Darwin is seen as a port that MUST be saved. Houston's batteries have been replaced, and outside of a destroyer that was torpedoed by a submarine off the coast of Balikpapan, the surface fleet is undergoing repairs without issue at Soerabaja. In the Philippines, the situation has become dire. Clark Field is under assault, and virtually its entire airforce has been decimated. The South Island started with the fall of Davao, and has since been completely occupied by Japanese forces. The US Navy attempted an extraction of troops, but was only able to get out two piecemeal components of a couple of Base forces. They are en route to Darwin. A wing of B-17C bombers was also pulled back to Darwin. From Clark Field, P-40B Tomahawk fighters evacuated to Mandalay, Burma, to join up with the AVG fighter group there. A wing of P-35s evacuated to India via China, and while still there in the meantime, 14 B-17E bombers are expected to pull out of the Philippines soon as well. Full evacuation of Manila's harbor commenced, with ships scattering in every direction to reduce casualties as Japan's bombers can't be everywhere at once. In a rough 50/50 split, some are headed to Darwin and others are headed to Pearl Harbor. Both have tough gauntlets to run, and bombers out of Jolo hit many of the freighters heading to Darwin very hard. 3 ships lost there, but 4 seems to have made it through. The destroyers operating out of Manila, intercepting fleets detected to be flying nearby, was hit hard by a wing of Bettys and Nells, and suffered heavy casualities. A few PT-Boats have had success torpedoing boats, and have currently docked at Tarakan, Borneo, for fuel. They have raided several small merchant task forces throughout the Philippine Islands, with at least 3 confirmed kills. With the loss of Rabaul, Australia is looking to fortify Port Moresby. Troops just arrived on the 29th, with supplies expected to arrive on the 2nd of January. Planes still need to be delivered to protect it from the inevitable bombing it will get from Rabaul. Outside of that, things are quiet in Australia. In the Central Pacific, PBY Catalina's have been established along most of the Islands, granting significant early warning for the Hawaiian islands. Carriers Lexington and Enterprise, currently protecting Wake Island, were refuelled by an oiler. Though a few days Lexington departed for Hawaii to replace her Buffalo fighters with Wildcats. Another base force was brought into Wake Island, and construction on improved ports and airfields is underway, as well as fortifications. In addition to the Catalina's that flew in, a wing of SBD Dauntless dive bombers is en route. Wake Island is surrounded by Japanese Islands, and efforts are being made to make sure she is as secure as possible. The Japanese failure to secure Wake Island is a significant plus for the Allied forces in the area. A large shipment of construction materials arrived at Dutch Harbor, and she is currently expanding her naval base and airfield as well. In other news, the submarines from Pearl Harbor have finally reach the Home Islands of Japan. One sub, Tambor-class USS Tresher, has reported several hits on Japanese shipping already. Submarines operating around Philippines and Indochina have also had much success, though there seems to be issues with the Mk 14 torpedoes they are using. The dud rate has been pretty high. In 12 days there will be a large influx of ships from mainland US. From there she will establish convoys to most of the islands in the North and South Pacific, as well as to Australia. Australia has reported a shortage of oil that has limited their manufacturing capabilities, so tankers filled with oil will also be provided. Britain has already started sending supplies and fuel to Perth/Fremantle on the west coast of Australia.

That is true! As is Kaiden Alenko! For some reason he always reminded me of Carth hehehe.

No, you don't, thanks for your opinion, but then you really shouldn't be arguing, should you? Also, if JE and ME ripped off KOTOR in some respects, how does that count against KOTOR? It should only count against later games. You're saying because you like all 3 and I don't my opinion is somehow suspect, even though you refuse to explain your reasoning, while I explained mine. It's not a knock against KOTOR. It's a knock against your credibility when you bash ME for the same things that KOTOR has. Such as the big, open dreary world of the topside of Taris, which reminds me an awful lot of the Presidium (only with interrupting loading screens). Unless you are saying you don't like ME because it's too similar to KOTOR.

Up to December 15th The Prince of Wales and Repulse engaged a surface task force off the coast of Khota Bharu, in northern Malaya. Both sides exchanged a fight, with the results shown below. Now while the Prince of Wales and Repulse were both hit by a large number of shells, in both cases what caused the majority of the damage was the hits from the 24" Long Lance torpedoes. As the British task force retired, Prince of Wales was disconnected from the task force, and while suffering from serious flooding, made way for Singapore at a maximum speed of 6 knots. Repulse was fortunately able to maintain 20+ knots, and was able to return to Singapore in a day and a half. While the Prince of Wales was limping home, she was attacked by Nell and Betty bombers, and another torpedo hit was scored on her. At this time the order to abandon ship was given, and the Prince of Wales was lost. Repulse only had minor flooding damage, so the hope was to repair that damage, and have her continue to make raids against the Japanese fleets in the area. Unfortunately, after two days in port at Singapore, she was attacked during a port raid, and was hit by a few bombs and another couple torpedoes. While she isn't likely to sink, it has significantly damaged her, greatly decreasing her top speed and extending the repair time considerably. On the plus side, intelligence intercepted reports of a Japanese destroyer sinking off the not too far from Saigon. The Repulse had scored a hit on one with her 15" shells (the Hagikaze), and we suspect that she is the one that is sunk. The bad news however is that Japan has made further landings and taken some of the coastal bases in Malaya. Khota Bharu is now under Japanese occupation, and Alor Star is being attacked from the North. Victory Point in the southern most part of Burma was just attacked as well. The Japanese have also made landings in western Borneo. Successful counter raids against ships landing troops and supplies in Malaya have also been conducted. These are restricted to night time attacks so that fleets can return to Singapore for protection. In the Philippines the Japanese have begun pushing Allied troops back to Clark Field and Manila. PT boats and destroyers out of Manila have been running regular patrols in the straits nearby. One flotilla of PT boats was able to intercept a small Japanese task force and inflict some serious damage: These attacks have been followed up with some raids from destroyers, and further hits have been recorded on this task force. In that picture you can see to the south Davao under attack. US Cruisers and destroyers in Balikpapan made way at full steam to intercept the landing force. Unfortunately they arrived too late to stop the invasion. However, with the USS Houston as flagship (Northampton class CA), she blockaded the port and prepared to bombard the port, with several ships inside of it. Anticipating this move, the merchant ships attempted to run the gauntlet and break through the blockade, resulting in a night time engagement. Only one shell from the enemy task force hit the Allied task force, causing no noticable damage. However several of the transport ships sustained numerous hits, and we believe two to be sunk. The damaged ships have retreated back to port, and the Allied surface fleet continues to blockade Davao. Due to ammunition shortages however, she has started to return to Balikpapan. To the east, Lexington was able to catch one straggling ship that was damaged by coastal guns at Wake Island, and hit her with two 22" torpedoes and a 1000 lb bomb. She was confirmed sunk shortly afterwards. With Lexington providing air support, and the landing ships forced to cutoff the landing prematurely, the invading Japanese force was starved into attrition and forced to disband. Wake Island in the meantime continues to be a US airbase. With this bright light in the central Pacific, CV Enterprise has diverted her course to assist Lexington in providing cover for Wake Island, as reinforcements from Hawaii are en route. Near Midway Island, 3 ASW task forces continue to pursue Japanese submarines, making numerous depth charge runs on a few contact reports. Munitions are running low however, and the three fleets will be forced to return to Pearl Harbor for rearming. From the mainland United States, reinforcements and resupply are en route to Pearl Harbor, as well as a resupply up to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. In recent news, Japanese troops have been spotted landing off Rabaul, near New Guinea. The Australian forces have moved troops from central Australia to prepare them for possible hostilities against Port Moresby.

Okay, starting things off again: Japan opened up with a series of attacks, landing troops in Malaya, Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island. The big attack of course, is Pearl Harbour, and the results of that attack can be seen in the picture below. In response to the landings in Malaya, the British sent BB Prince of Wales and BC Repulse to engage the landing forces up north. Unfortunately Prince of Wales was hit by a Torpedo from a "Betty" level bomber. Damage isn't serious however, but it will limit her effectiveness in combat. They TF was unable to engage ships in the area on the first day. Dutch Submarines in the area are also moving to cut off shipping lanes to impede further landings in Malaya. Numerous bombing runs from the Singapore region were taken the first two days, but none of them were met with any success. With some US light cruisers already in the Java region, CA Houston departed from Iliolo near the Philippines to rendezvous with them, to prevent being surrounded. All 32 submarines based in Manila have been charged with missions. The majority of them are patrolling the coast of Indochina, and off the coast of Taiwan, including the Luzon straits. Some submarines are also patrolling the east coasts of the Philippines. The Clark Field Airbase was decimated by airfield attacks, and has for the most part been inoperable the first two days. B-17 Flying Fortresses out of Davao have been trying to hit CVL Ryujo off the east coast of the Philippines, to limited success. Guam didn't last a day, but Wake Island did. As a result CV Lexington, not too far away, has sped to the region to provide air support and possibly interdict any ships in the region. The coastal guns at Wake Island scored several hits on cruisers and transport ships landing troops. Unfortunately the landing ships have departed, leaving no targets for Lexington to attack, but she will send one squadron of dive bombers to assist ground troops. Pearl Harbour ships are heavily damaged, and the Hawaiian Islands are surrounded by submarines. Every available ship with ASW capabilities has been put into task forces to engage the submarines. While most of the airforce is damaged, and the runway inoperable, the PBY Catalina flying boats are still able to take off, and have been roughly 50/50 split between naval searches and ASW missions. A mine laying task force consisting of several destroyer minelayers, as well as a genuine mine layer, have mined some of the waters off the Hawaiian islands in hopes of catching an unsuspecting submarine. This task force actually engaged a submarine the evening of December 8th. The next day, another submarine in the region was recorded as hit from a Catalina. Below are the Pearl Harbour ships: While no ships were sunk (permanently lost...I guess this isn't THAT surprising. I think only two of the ships were considered permanent losses in Pearl Harbour, even though several were sunk right in port. Most of them were later raised and still used in the war), several are heavily damaged and will be out of commission for a long time. All capital ships aside from the Oklahoma will eventually be returning to the West Coast for repairs. There are however several submarines operating out of Pearl Harbor. Most of them have been assigned duties off the coast of Japan. A few of the shorter range submarines will be patrolling near Truk, Saipan, and the Marshall Islands. The CV Enterprise is continuing her mission to deliver planes to Midway, and will then return to Hawaii to regroup. On the continental US front, troops and planes assigned to the Central Pacific have begun loading onto transports en route to Pearl Harbor. Included in these are 4 AA regiments to fortify against any future air attacks in the area. It is likely that some of these will be stationed at Midway Island eventually, and some of the troops are preparing to reinforce Wake Island as soon as possible. Significant reinforcements are expected in 35 days, with CV Yorktown, numerous escort ships, and a wealth of merchant ships becoming available to the Pacific Theater. Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians is beginning to build up defenses, in case the Japanese attempt to head north and threaten Alaska.

How about some actual frigging purpose for the thing, instead of pure filler? If you want good level design in a similar situation, look at Taris in KOTOR or Peragus in K2. You could make the same argument for any bonus areas. If you beeline through it and just deal with the Council, you're hardly there at all. The Citadel actually reminded me a lot of the Telos station (wasn't it even called the Citadel as well?), without the loading screens. I agree with Morgoth...more story related stuff would have been much better.

All games use copy and paste to some extent. While Halo was particularly guilty of that on some levels, it mixed things up enough so it was still entertaining. It also had some great levels, some open, some restricted, allowing both the player and the enemy multiple approaches. And the Citadel wasn't just clean, there was literally nothing there. Like I said, you'd have more fun walking through a mall. Halo's outdoor levels were phenomenal. Once things went inside (like the library), it was ****. If it wasn't for little arrows on the floor telling you which way to go, you'd get mired in the familiarity and actually gouge your eyes out, instead of just wanting to gouge your eyes out. And I guess "all games" use copy and paste to some extent if you include things like textures and whatnot. Or maybe that bookcase or something. As for structure of levels and the geometry that make them up, that's not true in the slightest. I can forgive houses and whatnot looking the same, or some of the buildings in Mass Effect since some stuff like that is standardized. But when things like mines and caves are exactly the same in every way...that is not cool (and boo Mass Effect for that too). The story related levels (including the Citadel) were fine though. Sure it would have been nice to have more things to interact with in the citadel, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things there. Seriously, what should be there? You want more random plants laying around? More idle chatter amongst the people (or perhaps more people wandering around)?