Mass effect Trilogy

[Nepenthe]

There's a generic 'reputation' stat now, which is the white bar thingy (paragon/ renegade are still blue/red). It's a decent enough change in theory, though a bit belated.

Ah, that makes sense, I guess. So the screen displays your overall "reputation" in white, and the higher of your two alignment scores in the appropriate color.

I think that's it.

 

I wouldn't metagame the EMS, as I'm sure you know, the differences in the endings are negligible, I'd just go with what feels right.

[alanschu]

There's a generic 'reputation' stat now, which is the white bar thingy (paragon/ renegade are still blue/red). It's a decent enough change in theory, though a bit belated.

Ah, that makes sense, I guess. So the screen displays your overall "reputation" in white, and the higher of your two alignment scores in the appropriate color.

 

 

Yeah, reputation is basically the sum of your renegade and paragon if I understand it correctly. Part of the reason for doing so, I believe, was to prevent situations where, because you didn't forcibly choose renegade ALL the time, you weren't restricted from renegade options towards the end of the game (which had higher requirements).

 

The alternative, IMO, would have been to not necessarily have a linear progression for Paragon/Renegade requirements, but in this way it still let you make the decisions that your character feels is best for that situation, without preventing the options down the line because you were more balanced in your approach.

[BruceVC]

There's a generic 'reputation' stat now, which is the white bar thingy (paragon/ renegade are still blue/red). It's a decent enough change in theory, though a bit belated.

Ah, that makes sense, I guess. So the screen displays your overall "reputation" in white, and the higher of your two alignment scores in the appropriate color.

 

 

Yeah, reputation is basically the sum of your renegade and paragon if I understand it correctly. Part of the reason for doing so, I believe, was to prevent situations where, because you didn't forcibly choose renegade ALL the time, you weren't restricted from renegade options towards the end of the game (which had higher requirements).

 

The alternative, IMO, would have been to not necessarily have a linear progression for Paragon/Renegade requirements, but in this way it still let you make the decisions that your character feels is best for that situation, without preventing the options down the line because you were more balanced in your approach.

 

Hi Alan

 

Good to have you back and making some posts, where have you been?

[Enoch]

There's a generic 'reputation' stat now, which is the white bar thingy (paragon/ renegade are still blue/red). It's a decent enough change in theory, though a bit belated.

Ah, that makes sense, I guess. So the screen displays your overall "reputation" in white, and the higher of your two alignment scores in the appropriate color.

 

 

Yeah, reputation is basically the sum of your renegade and paragon if I understand it correctly. Part of the reason for doing so, I believe, was to prevent situations where, because you didn't forcibly choose renegade ALL the time, you weren't restricted from renegade options towards the end of the game (which had higher requirements).

 

So, the major unlockable options probably depend more on overall Reputation, I guess. And I think there are instances when I just get "Reputation" points, instead of Paragon/Renegade points-- e.g., achieving major plot points that don't involve Big Moral Decisions, like when I talked to the new Turian Primarch.

 

But I assume that there are still some situations where your Jerk/Sap points matter, no? (Otherwise, why bother tracking them at all!) I haven't actually noticed any greyed-out or red/blue dialogue options yet, but I could have missed something. (I only just finished that bit on the Turian moon.) If I am correct that there are Reputation points separate from P/R points, it is a little odd that they're tracking both alignment totals, but only giving the player feedback on the one that is higher.

 

 

By the way, I do agree in spirit with Nep, in that I'm trying not worry too much about min-maxing this kind of thing. This is more game-mechanics curiousity than it is seeking advice on gameplay. I have some compulsive tendencies in my gaming (it does haunt me that I may have missed a weapon mod or two lying on the ground when I hit the trigger point for the last dialogue on that moon), but it's not that bad yet.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Enoch

[alanschu]

Hi Alan

 

Good to have you back and making some posts, where have you been?

 

Dealing with family emergencies.

[Enoch]

I'm bored, so ya'll are getting more stream-of-consciousness ME3 early impressions.

 

I've finished two more missions-- the ones with Javik and Jack-- and have stopped in to mess around on the Citadel a bit (i.e., visit Kaiden "Suddenly Beefcake" Alenko).  Annoyed that the game automatically gave the booze I bought to Mr. Giantpecs.  I wanted to get wasted with Chakwas again, dammit!

 

Javik seems like he's the kind of character who is interesting for what he is, rather than for any actual character traits.  Reminds me of ME1, when all the alien crewmembers were basically info-kiosks about their species.  I mean, I get that this is a game primarily about sci-fi commando combat, so it makes sense that the Prothean I find is the Rambo of the Prothean Empire.  And his condescention to modern species is somewhat entertaining.  But Liara's reactions to him are far more interesting than anything he actually says. 

 

I do like the way they've completed Jack's character arc from ME2.  Maybe this is because I never saw her romantic subplot, but her ME2 development from "unapologetic unstable bitch" to "unapologetic unstable bitch because she had an incredibly traumatic childhood" never reached anything resembling a satisfying conclusion.  It was nice to see some evidence of actual character growth.

 

The map-based minigame is alright, I guess.  Although I'm not sure why they even left the planet-scanning step in there, when each planet only has one hotspot, and Reapers-in-pursuit can apparently never catch you while in orbit of a planet.  Why can't I just click on a planet and pick up whatever my radar-ping detected?

 

As a caster-Sentinel, the combat on Hardcore has been easier than I had expected so far.  (And I haven't even spent any money on equipment upgrades yet.)  I'm normally not one who cares much for playing games at masochistic difficulty levels (apart from Civ), so I'll probably keep it where it is.  I suspect that things will get more hairy as I get further down the main plot.  (OTOH, those smoke grenades that the Cerberus folks use are really annoying.) 

 

Is it just me, or does Garrus' landmine skill never seem to work?  I can set the mines, but dudes seem to run right over them and they don't go off. 

 

Best of luck with the family stuff, Alan.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Enoch

[TSBasilisk]

The romance subplot in 2 definitely helped with her character growth. In case you wanted to know, read below:

 

 

At some point she became partners-in-crime with a man. He ended up sacrificing himself so Jack could escape a bad situation, and had left a message for her in case he died. He had fallen in love with Jack and wanted to use the money they were making to build a new, peaceful life they could share. The resulting survivor's guilt only made her more stand-offish; the romance subplot culminates with Jack finally lowering her defenses and accepting that somebody could care for her.

 

 

I think it was probably the most meaningful of all the romance subplots for the male Shepard.

[Orogun01]

I miss one dimensional characters that had a role in the story and nothing more.

[alanschu]

Best of luck with the family stuff, Alan.

 

Word.  Things are much better now.

[Nepenthe]

 

I do like the way they've completed Jack's character arc from ME2.  Maybe this is because I never saw her romantic subplot, but her ME2 development from "unapologetic unstable bitch" to "unapologetic unstable bitch because she had an incredibly traumatic childhood" never reached anything resembling a satisfying conclusion.  It was nice to see some evidence of actual character growth.

That was part of a larger issue in me2, practically all romanceable npcs had most of their character development disappear if you chose not to pursue a virtual relationship with them...

[Enoch]

Another thing:  Carth makes a big deal of how "we went through Ash's death together."  While I'm sure that sucked and all, I can't help but feel bad for ol' Corporal Jenkins.  Ash wasn't the only Marine NCO that the Normandy lost in the whole Saren thing!

[NOK222]

Another thing:  Carth makes a big deal of how "we went through Ash's death together."  While I'm sure that sucked and all, I can't help but feel bad for ol' Corporal Jenkins.  Ash wasn't the only Marine NCO that the Normandy lost in the whole Saren thing!

Lol Carth 

 

Jenkins was just being silly though, Ash sacrificed herself.

 

The Normandy lost it's XO during the collector attack, thankfully the Memorial acknowledges that. 

Edited January 18, 2013 by NKKKK

[Orogun01]

 

 

I do like the way they've completed Jack's character arc from ME2.  Maybe this is because I never saw her romantic subplot, but her ME2 development from "unapologetic unstable bitch" to "unapologetic unstable bitch because she had an incredibly traumatic childhood" never reached anything resembling a satisfying conclusion.  It was nice to see some evidence of actual character growth.

That was part of a larger issue in me2, practically all romanceable npcs had most of their character development disappear if you chose not to pursue a virtual relationship with them...

That's because all BW characters are always either romancing or calibrating.

[TSBasilisk]

Or discussing personal hygiene in an elevator.

 

"So, Tali, noticed you used up all the hand sanitizer again..." "Germs... so many germs..."

Edited January 18, 2013 by TSBasilisk

[MrBrown]

 

 

I do like the way they've completed Jack's character arc from ME2.  Maybe this is because I never saw her romantic subplot, but her ME2 development from "unapologetic unstable bitch" to "unapologetic unstable bitch because she had an incredibly traumatic childhood" never reached anything resembling a satisfying conclusion.  It was nice to see some evidence of actual character growth.

That was part of a larger issue in me2, practically all romanceable npcs had most of their character development disappear if you chose not to pursue a virtual relationship with them...

 

It's probably simply because there were so many of them. Less NPCs, more time per NPC.

[Enoch]

OK, I've hit the point where all the various would-be paramours are asking me to meet up privately.  Should I be ME1-level paranoid here and avoid them, or have they built in enough "Dammit, stop hitting on me; I'm your boss, ferchrissake!" options? 

 

And, yeah, the whole "Cerberus and their Space Ninja take over the Citadel" thing was really quite silly.  I get that they're the only (para)military force out there that isn't engaged with the Reapers on some level, so they can function as an effective galactive fifth column.  And wouldn't have even been all that hard for Bio to write their way into supporting the episode they wanted (e.g., if they just took the Presidium, through a combination of AI-driven hacking, insider sabotage, and maybe another Normandy-type stealth ship), but, as it is, it completely fails on any number of verisimilitude levels. 

 

Enemy variety is rather lacking thus far in the game.  I'm getting pretty tired of seeing the same 4 types of Reaper and the same 4 types of Cerberus footsoldiers. 

 

I've been running almost exclusively with Javik and Garrus as my squadmates (occasionally Liara in place of Javik).  As a roleplaying matter, I decided long ago that Shepard quietly despises Joker.  (Which totally makes sense-- how many hardass marines* do you know who get along with pilots who wear the uniform despite clear physical unfitness for duty and who insist on being called by ridiculous nicknames? Not to mention that his insubordination is mostly to blame for Shep dying once already).  This has contributed (in my mind) to a fundamental mistrust of EDI, so I've decided to leave her in the ship on a permanent basis.  The slab of beef in the cargo hold is alright, I guess, but I don't have much use for people who I can't use to make power-combo explosions.   

 

 

* (I use "marines" based on Shep's role and background, and in spite of the fact that she clearly has a naval rank.  I view the rank thing as a contrivance to allow her to command the ship, as well as because "Commander" sounds much cooler than "Lieutenant Colonel.")

Edited January 26, 2013 by Enoch

[Nepenthe]

OK, I've hit the point where all the various would-be paramours are asking me to meet up privately.  Should I be ME1-level paranoid here and avoid them, or have they built in enough "Dammit, stop hitting on me; I'm your boss, ferchrissake!" options? 

 

And, yeah, the whole "Cerberus and their Space Ninja take over the Citadel" thing was really quite silly.  I get that they're the only (para)military force out there that isn't engaged with the Reapers on some level, so they can function as an effective galactive fifth column.  And wouldn't have even been all that hard for Bio to write their way into supporting the episode they wanted (e.g., if they just took the Presidium, through a combination of AI-driven hacking, insider sabotage, and maybe another Normandy-type stealth ship), but, as it is, it completely fails on any number of verisimilitude levels. 

 

Enemy variety is rather lacking thus far in the game.  I'm getting pretty tired of seeing the same 4 types of Reaper and the same 4 types of Cerberus footsoldiers. 

 

I've been running almost exclusively with Javik and Garrus as my squadmates (occasionally Liara in place of Javik).  As a roleplaying matter, I decided long ago that Shepard quietly despises Joker.  (Which totally makes sense-- how many hardass marines* do you know who get along with pilots who wear the uniform despite clear physical unfitness for duty and who insist on being called by ridiculous nicknames? Not to mention that his insubordination is mostly to blame for Shep dying once already).  This has contributed (in my mind) to a fundamental mistrust of EDI, so I've decided to leave her in the ship on a permanent basis.  The slab of beef in the cargo hold is alright, I guess, but I don't have much use for people who I can't use to make power-combo explosions.   

 

 

* (I use "marines" based on Shep's role and background, and in spite of the fact that she clearly has a naval rank.  I view the rank thing as a contrivance to allow her to command the ship, as well as because "Commander" sounds much cooler than "Lieutenant Colonel.")

Cerberus and their "manpower" actually get a fairly cool explanation down the road. It's just a pity that it doesn't get teased at all, in fact the opposite: everybody seems to think that Cerberus having that type of ability is perfectly normal.

 

US military is actually fairly unique in the sense that "marines" aren't simply a part of the navy. Shep is definitely a marine, just in a a military of that type.

[Rosbjerg]

Closed due to length, new topic here.