~Di

You can use the mouse for the decryption wheel mini-game?? How?

You can use the arrow keys or W,A,S,D depending on what's easier. I use the letters. There's a slight hesitation of reaction time in my game, which makes my not-so-wonderful coordination even worse. I hate that game. Hate. It.

I haven't had a single problem since I updated my drivers and downloaded SP2. No crashes... only the occasional stutter during conversations. I'm playing a female, of course... gods, I hate the plastic hair. And I like Kaidan! Of course I liked Carth too... and Atton (bad boys are appealing!). I like the game so far (except for the damned decryption mini-game... *shudder* It's annoying enough to have taken the game from an A to a B in my book.). I love the little Mako; sniper site makes those cannons rock. Never enough money, though, and I haven't found any licenses beyond the first three $100 ones.

I've rescured Liara, done Noveria, became a commando and am just starting Feros. Words cannot express how much I have come to hate decryption. Arggghhhh. I am so bad at it that I spend hours reloading and reloading because on all too many maps, every danged container makes you do that stupid game. I just needed to vent. Carry on.

Okay, if Fallout 3 clips are realistic enough to fling Al Qaeta into orgasmic throes of wishful thinking, then I really, really can't wait for this game!! I know. I'm easy. Don't tell my husband.

I was going to post the comment that there are many ME countries (and Persian countries) that use Sharia law as a basis for their judicial system, including but not limited to Saudi Arabia... our dear ally. I personally deplore it; however, no country has the right to force another country to evolve several centuries in a single instant, much as our compassion (and my personal desire for gender equality) would demand it. Then I saw it turned into a "yeah, but XXX religion used to do it too" thread. So I decided against it.

Wow, a monumental achievement, taks. Mega-congrats!!

I plan to buy it, and am looking forward to it. I'll just watch the boards for a few days before I order to make sure there aren't any major bug or installation issues.

When a police officer uses his position of authority to rob, extort, commit basically home invasion and kidnapping, all with the use of a firearm... and has multiple convictions to boot, then I'm all for the maximum sentence. Police officers should be held to a higher standard, just as those who commit crimes against police officers are held to a higher standard.

Yep. Anyone who has raised children knows how insecure and emotional young teens can be (the girl was barely 13). Their brains aren't even fully cooked. They can't possibly be expected to deal with emotional trauma the same way an adult does, nor can they be expected to take responsibility for consequences they aren't mature enough to understand. That's why they are called children in the eyes of the law, and why they are judged differently. The woman who did this was an adult. What she did was vicious, mean-spirited and she intended to cause harm. If she is guilty as charged, no leniency should be shown to her.

I like my games bright and beautiful. Depressing game worlds are... well... depressing. Besides I hate having to up my gamma just to see more than three feet in front of my character. Icky.

I daresay he posted his opinion because this is a forum where people post their opinions. That was a pretty hostile reply you gave to a perfectly civil and intelligent opinion. Did you mean it to be? Just disagreeing with someone isn't license to be rude, after all.

Panic? Panic is what I feel when my husband stops breathing. It is not what I feel when a game I was looking forward to puts invasive and onerous security protection on a game I would otherwise enjoy playing. The reasons for concern were very legitimate. I have decided that having a 10-day reauthentication process is too invasive for me to accept. BioWare rescinded that. I can live with the 3 authentication limit, given the fact that I will probably not live long enough for the infinite reinstalls on my present system to run out. I can't afford a "significant upgrade" annually. By the time that I ran out of activations, I'd probably be dead. If I wasn't, I'd have still enjoyed multiple playthroughs of Mass Effect, and my life would not be irreparably ruined. Maybe, but I don't go to football games, and I'm not willing to accept the level of invasiveness that was originally proposed. True. Has nothing to do with this since an overly invasive security program cannot legitimately be compared with HIV or AIDS. Again, I was not "panicked". I was seeking information. Once I got it, I made a decision as to what I would and would not accept in a security program for a single player game. I drew a line in the sand. BioWare has removed the portion that I was unwilling to accept; therefore, aftrer a reasonabe research period after release, I now hope to purchase MEPC. There is a significant difference between disappointment and "panic". I do not "panic" over games. I make an informed decision based upon the best information avaiilable at the tiime.

That's me out, then. Keep reading. BioWare rescinded that requirement on Friday.

I honestly doubt Obama has thought any more about what he plans to do on Jan 1, 2009 than George Bush did about what he'd do when the troops hit Baghdad.

Not if you're sitting in Iraq, Afghanistan or other deployment areas. Not if you're one of the millions in rural areas where only 24kbm dial-up is available, if that. I wasn't able to get more than that 24kbm dial-up until a few months ago, and frankly we needed our telephone service too much to simply hook it to the computer for a permanent connection. It's often not so much a matter of being "rich" enough, it's a matter of whether it's even available to you. And supposingf one is able to have 24/7 connection and chose to leave their computers running unattended night and day, I find that requirement to be overly invasive and onerous, so I wouldn't buy the game under those conditions. Thousands of others agreed. BioWare conceded and removed that requirement. It's not enough for some, but it's enough for me unless I discover something about what is left that changes my mind prior to purchase.

I don't think it was widespread panic. I think it was widespread confusion and outrage. Calling it "panic" is kind of condescending, in my view, and discounts the fact that the concern was a legitimate one to a heck of a lot of people. There really wasn't any way I was going to install a game that forced an internet check every 10 days. Judging by the thousand+ similar replies on their ME site, I wasn't alone. I suspect the figures from cancelled pre-orders were beginning to trickle in as well, so I strongly reject the idea that this was a deliberate marketing ploy... unless their marketing department is on crack. There are still a lot of people who won't buy because of the activication limit, but I won't let that alone stop me. It will be a long time before I go through three major upgrades. I hope to buy the game now, but it won't be on day one. I'll wait a week or two, make sure that there aren't major problems with the SecROM that is left before I order it. Still, I appreciate Bio's quick action on this. They said one of the factors that made them eliminate the 10-day check is to accommodate USA military personnel, who could not play with those conditions. Makes sense to me. Pissing off the military is never good.

They removed that huh? Awesome. I think I can deal with the 3 installs thingo (and there will be a crack if I can't). So much for Gromnir calling our rants and boycotts a waste of time. In fairness to Grommy, your rant and my rant probably was a waste of time. It was the thousands of other rants that did it! That and somebody probably got the figures on cancelled pre-orders.

It was the every-10-day "invisible" foray into my computer that was the final straw for me. I suspect I can live with the other stuff. I'm planning to watch the Bio Tech forums for a few days to see if there are hidden problems, but overall I'm pretty pleased by that concession.

Wow. I just found out. Before I get happy, are the changes Bio is promising to make as good as they seem to my techie-not eyes? If they are, I am so gonna get Mass Effect!! I honestly did not expect them to back down on this. Really, I didn't.

Okay, sweetie, understood. I'm really, really unhappy with Bio's decision here. I've told them so on their website... not that my opinion matters. I wish I had preordered it so I could cancel. I don't know what I'll do yet; it will be sometime in June before I decide. This seems a really invasive measure, one I'm reluctant to accept. Yeah, I'm a junkie. I only buy one or two games a year. I've been waiting for so long for another BioWare game... but this seems an exceptional insult to their loyal consumers. I haven't reached a decision yet. I don't want to over-react. I need imput from those who have purchased the game., This is the first time I have held off buying a BioWare game I really wanted because I didn't trust the publishers/developers. Still, I accept that you understand that I am blond, not brainless. Actually, I'm more grey than blonde nowadays. But don't tell anyone.

Well, I tend to agree with Grommie, that from a technical "this is how it works" point of view, it is not terribly onerous or a burden. Simply the fact that scurom is installed on my computer isn't really going to stop me from buying the game. I'm more opposed to what I see as almost a witchhunt mindset on the part of publishers. Just from a personal viewpoint, I don't know if I want to support that. I don't believe my not supporting it is going to make any difference, however. So that leaves me having to consider does doing somethign because of a principle, even though it clearly won't make any difference or advance that principle in any way, make me unutterably stupid and naive. I don't entirely blame the publishers. They aren't in the business to give away free games, so they do what a bank does when it gets robbed. Beef up security. Honestly, I kinda-sorta saw this coming over the years, but I didn't think it would get to the point where you could no longer play a single-player game unless you had an internet connection that could be invisibly verified every 10 days. I really, really wanted ME. I'm going to think about it over the next few weeks, read up on SecROM, watch the Bio tech forums for a couple of weeks after it's released, then decide. Grommy: I don't think I'm brainless.

*confused* Now my reply to posts which no longer exist don't even make sense. Where did you move them?

Hey, guys, all I said was that I wasn't going to rush out and buy it the day it's released. I'm going to be watching the Bio tech forums to see what kind of problems people are having with it, then make a decision about whether or not to buy. I don't see that as being in a panic or alarmist. I see that as being fairly prudent. It's what I do with most games, BioWare's (oh, Obsidians also)being the exception. Until now.

Tigranis, Grommy and CrashGirl: Thanks. I thought I was losing my mind for a while there, because the outcry (89 pages and climbing at Bio's ME forums) seemed ludicrous if they've been using it for years. What about this spyware stuff they are talking about? Is this verifiable or just alarmist crap? See, I don't know how to tell the difference.