New Mass Effect 2 character

[HoonDing]

I've no idea what you did to make ME last as long. I searched every single one of those stupid planets, finished every quest and side quest and it wasnt above 22-23 hours total.

I spent 22-23 hours just looking around the Citadel for all those green bugs.

[Maria Caliban]

I spent 22-23 hours just looking around the Citadel for all those green bugs.

 

[RPGmasterBoo]

My first run of BG2 took about 60 hours and ME about 45 hours.

 

I've no idea what you did to make ME last as long. I searched every single one of those stupid planets, finished every quest and side quest and it wasnt above 22-23 hours total.

 

It's quite possible that you didn't unlock all the planets and sidquests. What level were you at the end of your first playthrough?

 

In all honestly, I assumed that ME 2 would be shorter than ME 1 as they're removing the tedious 'fetch 15 asari sex dolls' quests.

 

I can't remember honestly, I have my save files somewhere but its too much of a bother to install ME to check it. But all those crappy collectable things you find on planets were either completed or a lacking 1-2 items to complete, so I assume I didn't miss anything.

[Hell Kitty]

I finished my first playthrough of ME at between 40 to 50 hours, with a maxed out (Level 50) character.

 

My ME start screen is telling me that there is new downloadable content available even though there isn't, but a quick google tells me that it is apparently available in Germany, so I guess release is imminent in other locations as well.

[Guest Slinky]

My ME start screen is telling me that there is new downloadable content available even though there isn't, but a quick google tells me that it is apparently available in Germany, so I guess release is imminent in other locations as well.

It's not available anywhere yet. Those sites who say otherwise took a head start. It's gonna get released during monday in North America.

Quote from Chris Preasly, from Bio forums:

This is not correct. DLC is NOT available yet, this is a mistake on the website.

 

When we have more information about the next DLC, we will let you know. Hopefully, this will be later today once NA BioWare returns to work.

 

But it's going to be just some gladiator thing. Still, I will play ME through with it to get a savegame for ME2.

Edited August 24, 2009 by Slinky

[alanschu]

I mean, it makes sense that you can't have too much involved with Ashley/Kaiden given one of them might be dead. It's easy as consumers to say "well write it in differently to make it work," but when you start creating large amounts of dialogue for characters that may never even possibly be in a particular playthrough, it starts to become a weaker investment of resources. Not just in the time for the writer to write dialogue either, but also in terms of voice over, which is very expensive. Top it off with localization issues that have you doing voice overs in 10+ different languages, and suddenly it's pretty expensive!

 

I've heard this excuse several times, and it doesn't wash for me. As far as we know, there are 12 possible party members, and of them, only two are mandatory. That means that the other 10 may or may not be in a specific play-through for a specific player.

 

And how many of them would have had a significant past with the player from the previous game? Would people be content with Kaiden/Ashley having the same roles as the other joinable NPCs in the party? If so, then is it really THAT big of a deal if they aren't joinable NPCs? Having said that, I'll be very surprised if either NPC does not exist at all in the game.

 

Do you by any chance have a list of the NPCs?

 

 

 

 

If I choose to not pick Thane in play-through X, than that NPC is as much a waste of resources as Ashley is if I choose to kill her in play-through Y. If a player decides to never take Thane, he is as much a waste as Ashley is if a player always chooses to kill her.

 

I'll concede your point, although the situation you describe is possible (and possibly even common, especially in my first playthrough) WITH mandatory NPCs in my party.

 

 

The wasted resources argument applies to every, single non-mandatory teammate. In fact, it applies to every, single sidequest.

 

You're right, it does. It's all about determining whether or not the investment is worth it. I don't know the metrics, but increased content through higher quality sidequests, especially when sidequests were such a knock on the original game doesn't strike me as wasted resources. In fact...

 

 

According to Patrick Weeks (ME 2 writer), a player could finish ME 2 in three hours if they only did the main story, though they'd get the worst ending. If you do everything possible, ME 2 should be slightly longer than ME 1, and they're working on providing 'richer side-quests' than ME 1. That tells me that the *vast majority* of content in ME 2 is what you call a weaker investment of resources.

 

Numbers man is right. I should just call you queen of the Strawman. Look CAREFULLY at what I called a weaker investment of resources, before you start going off and saying random, and incorrect, things. In fact, look carefully at the entire sentence.

 

At no point did I declare that optimal use of resources would be a completely linear game, as you seem to be implying.

Edited August 24, 2009 by alanschu

[Wrath of Dagon]

But it's going to be just some gladiator thing. Still, I will play ME through with it to get a savegame for ME2.

Man, some people's time sure is cheap.

[Guest Slinky]

But it's going to be just some gladiator thing. Still, I will play ME through with it to get a savegame for ME2.

Man, some people's time sure is cheap.

How so? If you don't have one or two hours time to play every once in a while, you are doing something wrong. I've got a lot of time to get a save for ME2 before it is released.

 

But I am little scared what will happen when DA is released, my grades might have a little nosedive

[alanschu]

He doesn't like Mass Effect, and was actually passing judgment on the fact that you will play a "crap" game because you want to import into ME2.

[Purkake]

I'm sure there will be a save editor for the imported save out like in 1 day. It would be nice to remember what choices I made.

[Wrath of Dagon]

But it's going to be just some gladiator thing. Still, I will play ME through with it to get a savegame for ME2.

Man, some people's time sure is cheap.

How so? If you don't have one or two hours time to play every once in a while, you are doing something wrong. I've got a lot of time to get a save for ME2 before it is released.

 

But I am little scared what will happen when DA is released, my grades might have a little nosedive

Just sounds strange to spend all that time just for a save. You really don't have a better way to spend 2 hours?

[Guest Slinky]

He doesn't like Mass Effect, and was actually passing judgment on the fact that you will play a "crap" game because you want to import into ME2.

Looks like it

 

Just sounds strange to spend all that time just for a save. You really don't have a better way to spend 2 hours?

The fact that you don't like it doesn't mean nobody likes it. It's not the greatest game in the world, actually it is damn boring at times, but I still like it enough to play it again to get a good save for ME2.

[Gromnir]

am not sure we get the notion that ashley and kaiden deserved less development 'cause one would invariably die. ashley and kaiden were more significant to story than any other joinable npc. saren, as an antagonist, were fated to die. death is hardly an excuse to underdevelop any character, joinable or otherwise.

 

yeah, resources gotta figure into the equation, but as a writer/developer you has already established importance of kaiden/ashley to game and story by forcing the player to choose 'tween the two. one will die, but the other necessarily lives... but at a price. given the unique presentation o' kaiden and ashley, is all the more reason to develop further... so as to make eventual choice more meaningful.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[entrerix]

i gotta go with deathdealer on this one

 

if i know im playing "video games" from 8-10 every weeknight, then which games I choose to play during that time is damn well up to me, and if I decide I'd rather replay mass effect for a week for a good save to import instead of playing team fortress 2 this week then that's what I'll do.

 

if i play games for 20 hours a week, thats about a thousand hours a year. if I play games for the next 50 years, that's 50,000 hours. if i spend 7 of those replaying mass effect, I'll probably be able to live with myself.

[Wrath of Dagon]

But just think of all you could achieve if you spend those 50000 hours doing something useful!

[entrerix]

the last thing I need is a lecture on useful time usage.

 

I'm an attorney (business planning), I work from 9-6 every day, I made it through law school being able to play games for only about 8 hours week, now I'm enjoying more time.

 

I have a fiance who I spend tons of time with (though we do play video games together on weekends). I have a weekly D&D game thats been going with my friends for about 18 years. I've written a novel in 2009 (its not published yet). I read about one novel every week.

 

I'm in good shape (I'm 6'1, 160 pounds). (I do need more frequent exercise though, I had a 6pack in college, not anymore!)

 

I've done this while playing video games about 15-20 hours a week.

 

So don't give me this "what else can you do with your time" - "do something useful"

 

I can do what I want, and I've got plenty of time to do it. I probably do more "useful" things in one day than most people do in a month.

 

 

I think where I play games other people watch tv. I don't watch tv because I'd rather game.

 

 

EDIT: I think you were being lighthearted and I went a little overboard... the crux of my post is simply that there is plenty of time for both games (a selfish hobby) and other (more "productive") pursuits. No need to choose one or the other.

Edited August 24, 2009 by entrerix

[Purkake]

Choosing between the racist bitch and Generic McGeneric, tough choice...

 

My only hope is that some of the new characters are actually likable. Don't let me down, Miranda.

[HoonDing]

Choosing between the racist bitch and Generic McGeneric, tough choice...

When in doubt, pick the one with the biggest boobs.

[Purkake]

Choosing between the racist bitch and Generic McGeneric, tough choice...

When in doubt, pick the one with the biggest boobs.

 

But she was SO annoying, I wish I could have killed them both. Hmm, why wasn't that an option?

 

It would be much awesomer to have to choose between Shepherd and a team mate.

[Maria Caliban]

Alanschu,

We know that if you romanced Ashley or Kaiden, they

[Volourn]

"I'm in good shape (I'm 6'1, 160 pounds)."

 

Off topic... wow... that's inetresting. I'm 6'0", 175lbs and I'm skinny. Hmmm...

 

Anyways, as for ME2... it will be awesome. And, it will likely be better than DA. And, it's a well known fact that the ME series is vastly superior to the KOTOR series.

[entrerix]

"I'm in good shape (I'm 6'1, 160 pounds)."

 

Off topic... wow... that's inetresting. I'm 6'0", 175lbs and I'm skinny. Hmmm...

 

Anyways, as for ME2... it will be awesome. And, it will likely be better than DA. And, it's a well known fact that the ME series is vastly superior to the KOTOR series.

 

 

When I was in college i was 6'1 and 140 pounds. I also was kickboxing and rockclimbing back then so it was a lean muscle mass. now at 160 im all soft and pudgy. if I weighed 175 pounds I'd have big handfuls of fat around my midsection and thighs, i wouldnt be remotely skinny at all.

 

 

its strange how peoples bodies are different

[Volourn]

Yeah, for sure. If I was 140lb, it probably be mean I'd be at death's door. And, I very little - if any - muscle definition at all.

[alanschu]

Alanschu,

We know that if you romanced Ashley or Kaiden, they’ll appear in certain scenes as a romantic interest. How much dialogue do you think they’ll need to establish that you’ve known these people before?

 

 

Depends on whether or not you want it "meaningful" or not, because it's not just about whether or not you've known these people before.

 

 

Taking it at its simplest, there's two ways you can go through with either character, depending on your romance situation. Either you did, or you didn't (which can also apply for same sex scenario). If you did romance one of those characters, I would expect there to be more than just a casual reference to the relationship if I were to persistently interact with the character over the course of the game. It wouldn't just be that I knew Ashley in the past, but that there was a developed chemistry and history between them. A lot of dialogue could easily be shared, but if it's just "hey, you've known me in the past and we were close" at the start, and then the exact same Ashley regardless of what the player chose in ME1, then we really do not have a situation of any meaningful consequence coming from the first game.

 

For there to be any sort of plausible progression, I would expect that there would be a lot of very different lines of dialogue throughout the course of the game to reflect upon it. Otherwise it's as much of a gimmick as people claim it is now.

 

Combine this with the fact that, compared to new NPCs (such as Thane, as you mentioned him), Ashley/Kaiden will only be present not just those that have played Mass Effect, but still have their saved game to import into the new one, you create content could be impossible to be seen by a large part of your audience. Does it make more sense to invest time and effort into a character (optional or not) that anyone that picks up the game can experience, or one that can only properly appeal to those that played the previous game?

 

As you say, they hope to have content only available to those that have ME1, but they're still going to do it in moderation.

Edited August 25, 2009 by alanschu

[Maria Caliban]

... you create content could be impossible to be seen by a large part of your audience. Does it make more sense to invest time and effort into a character (optional or not) that anyone that picks up the game can experience, or one that can only properly appeal to those that played the previous game?

 

Your argument rests on a rather extreme supposition. There are canon choices on Virmire in regards to Wrex or Kaiden/Ashley. Are you telling me that a 'large amount' of people killed Wrex in a single ME saved game and that they will only play ME 2 off that single saved game? It seems more likely that people who are so into ME 1 that they'll only play off saved games will have more than one saved game. And people who just pick up ME2 and play it will have whatever canon situation it starts with. If BioWare is smart, that's with Wrex alive. It's far more likely that the number of players for whom getting Wrex is *impossible* is 0%, while those who stick to only playing off their single ME 1 save where Wrex dies will be minute.

 

This is the same with Kaiden and Ashley. A player who *always* has Ashley die is just as likely as a player who *always* rejects Thane. Given that there

Edited August 25, 2009 by Maria Caliban