Oblarg
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Posts posted by Oblarg
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I'd rate KotOR and ME about equal. Neither are as good as KotOR2. Both are better than ME2.
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I'm not ignoring failings, I don't see the failings. Star Forge being a space toaster isn't a problem, it wasn't supposed to be a sentient evil being. Really I don't see anything silly about it, in a modern war destroying the enemy's means of production is a priority. In ME the entire premise of Reapers unable to get back home like ET was ridiculous from the start. That's not a minor plot hole Oblarg, that's the foundation of the plot.
No.. it wasn't that they couldn't get home, it was that they had to be notified. The reapers are in darkspace (as in BEYOND THE GALACTIC RIM) and are currently in stasis (to conserve power given the only other source they'd have would be starlight and their internal fuel). The idea of the reapers is that one reaper stays hidden in the galaxy and wakes up every so often to check the standard tech level of sentient species, if they're at a specific point it triggers a pulse that causes the keepers to basically summon the other reapers to cull the galaxy and start the cycle over.
As to the distances and tech thing... the only time we've seen a fight involving battleships has been the Citadel fight where most of what we saw was the ships being surprised and bum rushed. Although part of that is also dramatic license as most people wouldn't find two black dots sending light beams at each other very interesting.
As to the "cultural individuality of tech", I think at some point in ME1 Soverign mentions that the Reapers specifically designed the Mass Effect Relay system to channel species along a very specific technological and Sociological lines so that they become dependent on the tech that the Reapers gave out. So Aesthetically things would probably be different, but in terms of mechanics they aren't to different. Basically it's how guns are now, you always know that one end goes bang and should be pointed at the enemy.
I don't know, I think space battles in which you couldn't visually see the other ship shooting at you could be really suspenseful if done right. It's an opportunity they missed out on.
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We keep going like that we are going to eventually go over all the variation of the "monomyth".
I don't even care about all the plot holes, I could had look past them and the wasted codex. But the dialog was just awful, I mean MaleShep is like a crossbreed of James Bond and Zapp Brannigan. All the one liners and Saturday morning cartoon writing.
What bothers me the most is that I know they are capable of more but seem content to "reach a broader audience" by dumbing down their games.
Basically I'm tired of everyone calling games an art form when the best they done it's stroke the egos of a bunch of teenagers. And then they ask why everyone thinks video games are for kids.
No one ever buys BioWare games for good dialogue, or at least no one with any sense does.
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I'm not ignoring failings, I don't see the failings. Star Forge being a space toaster isn't a problem, it wasn't supposed to be a sentient evil being. Really I don't see anything silly about it, in a modern war destroying the enemy's means of production is a priority. In ME the entire premise of Reapers unable to get back home like ET was ridiculous from the start. That's not a minor plot hole Oblarg, that's the foundation of the plot.
What's ridiculous about it? You're construing it as "evil monsters accidentally got lost and can't find their way back," which isn't at all the way it was presented. They had a calculated plan which had worked time and time again and which makes a fair bit of sense, regardless of you denying it, and the story is about the breaking of the cycle. There's nothing silly about that.
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anybody else notice that wrath's attempt at distinguishing made kotor and me seems More similar rather than more distinct? am also noting that you didn't help clarify the exposition question either. me used each planet to delve into local flora and fauna at least as much as did kotor... and me didn't have no stoopid star forge nonsense neither.
HA! Good Fun!
So? ME is an infinitely inferior attempt to copy KOTOR in a lot of ways, that doesn't speak well for ME. I'm not talking about flaura and fauna, I'm talking about the society of each planet and their distinguishing characteristics, that was the interesting part. As far as star forge being stupid, that's a matter of opinion, I was quite interested in finding out what that thing was. It was certainly a lot less stupid than a giant evil space toaster.
They weren't "plotting to take over the galaxy," and their system had worked pretty damn well for a very long time. Unfortunately, they waited too long/got unlucky with the Protheans, and a few managed to survive and cause an interruption. I see nothing overtly wrong with that.It worked pretty well according to the game, but their system was completely idiotic. Considering how hard it was to defeat just one Reaper, all they had to do was come in and blast away all the navies and then do whatever they wanted. Also, how come the Protheans that survived on the Citadel didn't leave some kind of pictogram to warn everyone else? Don't even get me started on Saren. There are literally dozens of obvious plot holes in that game.
There are dozens of plot holes in *lots* of games, it doesn't necessarily make the plots terrible. Most of them were fairly minor. And they did leave a warning, of sorts, in the beacons. The Prothean's didn't survive on the citadel, they survived on Ilos, and the way I understood it is that they just barely lasted long enough to finish the conduit.
How Saren first encountered Sovereign is unimportant in the scope of the first game and intentionally left unexplained. It didn't bother me - I was hoping they'd expand upon it in a future game. They didn't.
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anybody else notice that wrath's attempt at distinguishing made kotor and me seems More similar rather than more distinct? am also noting that you didn't help clarify the exposition question either. me used each planet to delve into local flora and fauna at least as much as did kotor... and me didn't have no stoopid star forge nonsense neither.
HA! Good Fun!
So? ME is an infinitely inferior attempt to copy KOTOR in a lot of ways, that doesn't speak well for ME. I'm not talking about flaura and fauna, I'm talking about the society of each planet and their distinguishing characteristics, that was the interesting part. As far as star forge being stupid, that's a matter of opinion, I was quite interested in finding out what that thing was. It was certainly a lot less stupid than a giant evil space toaster.
I found the Star Forge to be about on the same level of cliche as the reapers. I still enjoyed both plots.
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Unfortunately, they shat all over it with ME2 and made the Reapers look like a bunch of bumbling fools.
They were a bunch of bumbling fools to start with, Simon bar Sinister could come up with a better plot to take over the galaxy than them.
They weren't "plotting to take over the galaxy," and their system had worked pretty damn well for a very long time. Unfortunately, they waited too long/got unlucky with the Protheans, and a few managed to survive and cause an interruption. I see nothing overtly wrong with that.
However, when it then turns out that they have no backup plan at all (other than making a human reaper to do...I have no ****ing clue, tbh, they never bothered to explain what good it would have been to fling another reaper at the citadel), the plot takes a serious turn for the worse. There were a number of directions they could have taken the series, some of them possibly quite good, but they ****ed it up, introducing the Collectors when they already had a perfectly good villain, and then not even bothering to make the Collectors particularly imposing (they have a grand total of *one* ship that can be destroyed by a frigate designed for stealth).
It really just seems to me that they introduced the Reapers in ME1 without really having thought out a reasonable way for them to ultimately be defeated.
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Yes, the Citadel fight was cool and epic and all, but it made absolutely no sense with the figures given for the distances involved in space combat in the codex.
Of course it didn't. Or were you expecting the Reapers to abide by the same doctrines as the Citadel fleet and not rush in so it can take control like it actually did?
The Citadel makes perfect sense, even with the codex statement. It wasn't a conventional fight, and was, as stated, unique and desperate.
What other space battles in the game feature dreadnought class ships going at it? It's been a long time so I do not remember. Or is the only one you have to go on the Citadel fight, which is a situation where one should not expect that standard doctrines be adhered to.
Also, it would be nice if the entire "limiting factor in space battle is heat buildup" were to pop up at least once.Space battles themselves are a relatively small part of the entire experience in the Mass Effect games. Unless you're hoping for the cutscene to actually include downtime during the cooling of the weapons. Might as well nitpick why people don't use the bathrooms.
Oh come on, look at the distance the relay is from the Citadel itself - that's not at all realistic, especially according to the figures given in the codex. In addition, it's not following any "doctrines," the numbers follow logically from the projectile speeds and ship speeds (which is mentioned in the codex) - it makes no sense for dreadnaughts to ever be on top of each other.
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Was there another space combat that wasn't involving just the Normandy? THere was the Citadel fight, but that was a pretty unique (and desperate) encounter.
Yes, the Citadel fight was cool and epic and all, but it made absolutely no sense with the figures given for the distances involved in space combat in the codex.
Also, it would be nice if the entire "limiting factor in space battle is heat buildup" were to pop up at least once.
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There's more than that, too - some of the scenes are directly contradictory to the codex. The space combat is supposed to take place at extreme distances, with dreadnaughts slowly pounding away at each others barriers while moving relatively slowly. This is in direct conflict with every space battle we've ever seen in the series, where the ships are nearly on top of each other and accelerating at absurd rates. I think it would have been really cool if the space combat took place with the ships far out of visual range - that's something I've never seen in a sci-fi game.
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Human supremacy is the thing I dislike most. It's that typical fantasy "humans are special" all over again. Like when Elves mention that humans live short, so they must live fiercely to make up for it! Which was echoed by Liara, as I recall. It's one of the more annoying cliches to me.
Fiction is just too abundant with humans either being on the top or are working their way there. I'd be satisfied with equal. A nice thing about Star Wars. It's never brought up.
Yes, that bothered me too. I liked the emphasis of the first game, where humans were newcomers and not respected in the galaxy. They should have continued in that vein for the entire trilogy, it would make for a much more interesting setting.
Hell, there was even all that nonsense about "genetic superiority" of humans in the second game. What the hell?
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The plot is unsalvageable because it was crap to start with.
I disagree. It wasn't amazing, but it was good enough. There was nothing overtly wrong with it. There are lots of the standard genre tropes, sure, but things don't have to be gushing with originality to be good. The main premise - that there's a cycle of extinction in the galaxy driven by an ancient race of sentient machines - is perfectly fine and could even be somewhat great if they had taken it in a more interesting direction.
Unfortunately, they shat all over it with ME2 and made the Reapers look like a bunch of bumbling fools. And now, despite the entire "trapped in dark space" thing which was the entire driving force behind the plot of the first game, they're attacking earth? Completely moronic.
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No musical score is going to fix what they've done to the series' plot at this point. This is the worst possible direction they could have taken the trilogy.
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That's simply untrue. I can think of entire dungeons that didn't do that once. Such as the Maleficar hideout in Denerim. I think Haven Temple only did that for the drake ambushes.
Does "hyperbole" mean nothing to you?
It was a very annoying mechanic that popped up again and again and again and serves as a great example of just how horrid the encounter design was.
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How about encounter design which isn't absolutely horrible, to start?
Your attention to detail and use of specific examples is admirable.
1. Walk into room.
2. Enemies spawn all around you.
3. Die
4. Reload, position correctly for coming fight, win.
5. Repeat in next room.
That was the *entire goddamn game.* It was painful.
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What were you hoping they'd change about them?
How about encounter design which isn't absolutely horrible, to start?
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Why can't it build atmosphere? There was implied oral sex in Dragon Age Origins, too. When rescuing Anora. A room you open has a guard captain and a maid on her knees. They act quite guilty.
How much controversy did that one generate?
It didn't depict the act about to happen. There's just as much atmosphere from there being a brothel than from directly showing a woman kneeling in front of a man. Sorry, there's no excuse for this.
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We don't even know the context. For all we know there's a brothel and we walk past a room where it's implied and doesn't involve the player.
Oh, come on, what purpose would that serve? It doesn't build atmosphere, that's for sure.
The *only* reason BioWare would include a blowjob scene is for the sex appeal and the controversy. There is no possible legitimate narrative-based reason to include one, unless their narrative is really, really ****ing bad (knowing BioWare, though, this could be the case).
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I really don't see any possible legitimate use of a blowjob to further the narrative. If true, the only purpose this would serve is to sell with cheap sex appeal and generate publicity through controversy.
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For me at least, reading books is as much a tactile experience as an intellectual one. I don't think I'll ever really be able to use a kindle without feeling that something is missing.
I'm sure, though, that in a generation or two paper books will be obsolete and unused.
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Requires online validation every few days? There's another reason to not buy it.
Stardock does fine with absolutely no DRM. Why can't EA do the same?
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I don't see how this is necessarily a bad thing. China's leadership know that (eventually) cleaning up their industry is in their (and everyone else's) best interest, and if done right there's nothing innately wrong with a large city - in fact, it seems that it certainly could be a lot more efficient than many smaller cities.
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Because all jokes are stupid and puerile.
Ones analogous to the stupid, gimmicky bonuses certainly are.
Bioware's New Game
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Except for the fact that KotOR2 has better writing than pretty much any game BioWare has ever made.