Bioware's New Game

[Nihilus5078]

I'm surprised none of you thought of the obvious, "the game is done and now we are going to spend the next year pulling content out into small pieces to release it as DLC!" conspiracy theory!

 

I am disappoint!

 

What console are they gonna release ME3 on first?

Assuming ther is an actual question here and you are not just being a petulant child, IIRC it's been pretty much confirmed that it's going to be a simultaneous 3-platform release.

 

What I meant is if it will be released on a certain platform at first before they release it on 2 of the other consoles. I'm already aware that it will be released on the PS3, 360, and PC.

Edited January 12, 2011 by Nihilus5078

[Tale]

And he said simultaneous. EA doesn't typically hold games back like that.

Edited January 13, 2011 by Tale

[Enoch]

Somewhat-related question that I didn't want to start a new thread on or search for an old thread to necro-post:

 

Which, if any, of the non-free ME2 DLCs are worth messing with?

[entrerix]

lair of the shadow broker is pretty good, i thought it was well worth the money not so much for the length of it but for the quality (its only a few hours long, but its got some exciting moments and is very well made)

[Hurlshort]

lair of the shadow broker is pretty good, i thought it was well worth the money not so much for the length of it but for the quality (its only a few hours long, but its got some exciting moments and is very well made)

 

Seconded. I played a couple of them, but this was the only one that felt like it expanded on the story as a whole, rather than just being a side mission.

[mr insomniac]

Overlord is worth a look. Good story, good fights. On the minus side... you will use the hammerhead. Oh, it is not necessary to buy the firewalker pack first.

[Tale]

Firewalker is free, anyway.

[mr insomniac]

Oops. Then it's not necessary to install firewalker first.

[Raithe]

Lair of the Shadowbroker is very good.

 

Plus it has some quite amusing dialogue thrown in. Yes Omnigel, I'm talking about security.

[Nepenthe]

Somewhat-related question that I didn't want to start a new thread on or search for an old thread to necro-post:

 

Which, if any, of the non-free ME2 DLCs are worth messing with?

I like Kasumi a lot. IMO the best "loyalty mission" - the investigation part is reasonably well done and gives a nice tempo shift from the rest of the game. The new gun is also nice, I still prefer picking up guns as loot instead of having them just automagically appear in my cupboard. Which is what I got here. Possibly favourite DLC for the game.

 

Shadow Broker is also very good. It both adds to the story pretty nicely, and the gameplay has minor shifts which make it quite enjoyable.

 

Overlord adds very little, makes the fact that NPCs are unvoiced painfully obvious, and has the Hammerhead. My least favourite, and one I could skip. Still, overall a pretty enjoyable experience, and like the Shadow Broker, breaks up the recruitment/loyalty grind nicely.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Meh. NPCs being unvoiced doesn't really bother me all that much. They hardly ever had anything important to say in the main campaign too aside from their own missions.

[Calax]

Shadowbroker IMO really knocked it out of the park in terms of integration and storytelling. Although I do wish they'd added SOMETHING after you finish the conversations with Liara. Going back to the new location and hearing the same four words again.. and again... and again really got annoying.

[Nepenthe]

Meh. NPCs being unvoiced doesn't really bother me all that much. They hardly ever had anything important to say in the main campaign too aside from their own missions.

I'm talking about all the mimeing they do in that particular DLC. If it doesn't bother you, more power to you.

[213374U]

Aaand the next ME2 DLC is... Alternate Appearance Pack 2!

 

Proper armor and vacuum gear for NPCs that currently dive into firefights in spandex suits? An actual armor customization system for NPCs? Who knows! My money is on more stupid ****, like turning Jack into Geordi Laforge.

 

I know, I know. "If you don't like it, don't buy it", and that's a valid point. But that's dev man-hours that go into creating useless fluff instead of actual content, or you know, bugfixing. Sigh.

[Gorth]

I know, I know. "If you don't like it, don't buy it", and that's a valid point. But that's dev man-hours that go into creating useless fluff instead of actual content, or you know, bugfixing. Sigh.

Still waiting for some serious bugfixing for Dragon Age (like dwarf commoners not being able to re-enter Orzammar, breaking the game) etc. It's probably a different team and budget though. Still, a bit disappointing.

[Raithe]

Although one thing I noticed just glancing at the Mass Effect site, if you look at the Universe section they've put two new "Classified" spots on the squad list.

 

So does this possibly give rise to new dlc for even more squad before ME3 comes out?

[Nepenthe]

Although one thing I noticed just glancing at the Mass Effect site, if you look at the Universe section they've put two new "Classified" spots on the squad list.

 

So does this possibly give rise to new dlc for even more squad before ME3 comes out?

Or maybe, just maybe, they are still Legion and Garrus, just like they have been since the game came out. (So yeah, hint: those spots aren't "new").

 

There are bugs in ME2 that need fixing? And those that are, should and could only be fixed by character artists?

Edited January 28, 2011 by Nepenthe

[Raithe]

Although one thing I noticed just glancing at the Mass Effect site, if you look at the Universe section they've put two new "Classified" spots on the squad list.

 

So does this possibly give rise to new dlc for even more squad before ME3 comes out?

Or maybe, just maybe, they are still Legion and Garrus, just like they have been since the game came out. (So yeah, hint: those spots aren't "new").

 

There are bugs in ME2 that need fixing? And those that are, should and could only be fixed by character artists?

 

Dang it..I could have sworn I'd double checked that.. my minds going.. oh woe is me..

[213374U]

There are bugs in ME2 that need fixing?

Yep. From Charge fizzling way too often, to the camera being locked in place, and issues with videos and single core CPUs.

 

And those that are, should and could only be fixed by character artists?

You mean to imply that planning, designing, executing and releasing DLC is a task in which exclusively character artists are involved? Interesting theory.

[Nepenthe]

And those that are, should and could only be fixed by character artists?

You mean to imply that planning, designing, executing and releasing DLC is a task in which exclusively character artists are involved? Interesting theory.

Releasing a DLC that reskins some characters. I wouldn't say exclusively, but I'm still gonna go out on a limb that they do the lion's share of work here.

 

I was also under the impression that ME2 required a multicore processor. Guess I'm just lucky that I haven't run into any issues on any of my 7 playthroughs.

[Majek]

If i want anything in ME3 its an ambidextrous Shepard and because of that a movable camera, so i can't actually peek around stupid right corners.

Edited January 28, 2011 by Majek

[213374U]

Releasing a DLC that reskins some characters. I wouldn't say exclusively, but I'm still gonna go out on a limb that they do the lion's share of work here.

 

I was also under the impression that ME2 required a multicore processor. Guess I'm just lucky that I haven't run into any issues on any of my 7 playthroughs.

Don't take my word for it, there's a bunch of tech "support" forums in the Bio boards, go take a look. The game does run smoothly for the most part and for most people, but stuff like crashes caused by rearranging the hotbar is pretty bad.

 

And you're probably right about artists doing most of the work here, but there's graphics-related issues too, like missing textures and "ghosting" (most obvious during the scene with Garrus and Sidonis), clipping, etc.

 

The thing is, cosmetic changes like alternate appearance packs are precisely the kind of thing the community usually does. For some reason, someone chose to make things difficult for modders with ME2, to the extent that repackaging models or textures for use with the game is still not possible one year after release. So it's looking more and more like the idea is to sell separately a feature that was present in ME1 but removed - the inventory system, while at the same time keeping the proliferation of content that doesn't directly generate revenues to a minimum.

 

Funny, because Horse Armor has become synonymous with DLC rip-off, but Beth at least released a toolset for Oblivion.

Edited January 28, 2011 by 213374U

[Nepenthe]

Well, when it comes to the alternate appearance packs, I'd say that the first one for sure didn't deliver a lot of bang for my buck. In fact, I'd say that the key selling point was the fact that it plugged the annoying as hell hole in Garrus' armor - I certainly picked it up for that. Still, unlike with the DAO DLC, I think I've gotten a fair return for my money overall with ME2 PRC, so I'm keeping a fairly positive attitude towards this.

 

Also, *shrug*, impossible to make a bug-free game for the PC. These days getting one for the consoles (or the console in this case - there seems to have been some pretty nasty SNAFUs in the PS3 version, but the fix is going to Sony today, apparently) is starting to be a pretty impressive feat. Kind of sad, TBH.

[Hassat Hunter]

Engineer Drone causing flying platforms to get stuck (forced reload), triggering cutscenes too early.

Getting stuck "flying" in geometry.

The timed side-mission with the destruction of a planet taking the opposite ending of which you took.

Another side-mission that couldn't be finished if you used Peragon skill.

The Hammerhead getting it's damaged sound on all planets if ending a mission as such (like from lava). Oh god, that was annoying.

That's all I recall for the moment, that appear system independant to me...

 

I got a single core and not too many issues with that actually (well, after spending 2 hours and 10 re-starts fixing a BSOD after char generation). Ran smoother than ME1 (though graphics had to be really low)

Edited January 28, 2011 by Hassat Hunter

[Nepenthe]

The timed side-mission with the destruction of a planet taking the opposite ending of which you took.

TBH, that's not an bug with the quest, but people pushing the wrong button. I know I did the first time, but that's a URP (User Related Problem).