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[ackblom12]

I won by sheer luck. First half of it was easy once I realized there was a barrier between her platform and the back area. The 2nd half raped me a couple dozen times, and Damper was the only reason I won that fight.

Also, Wrex might just beat out HK-47 for my favorite badass in an RPG.

"If the executives don't blame him for this then they're fools. You should eat them."

[Storm Rider]

if you keep strafing you can dodge most of the enemy fire.

Wow that has not been my experience at ALL. Try popping out from cover on the Luna side-quests and you get mobbed by a dozen angry robots with missile launchers. Try popping out from cover when you're fighting decently-powerful biotics and they chew you up with Warp and Throw.

Well, you're no doubt much farther in the game than I am. That tactic works for me as well as using cover right now.

[jmrz]

My friend is making me read the book before I can play the game. Huh.

[bryanthelion]

I wish Kaiden was less useless... I mean, I use wrex and Gaarus the most.

[jeph]

It's all about Ashley and Liara for me. I'm playing Vanguard so it's good to have a full-on biotic and full-on soldier backing me up.

[bryanthelion]

but dont you need tech skills? Decryption and such.

[jeph]

Never figured out how to get other people to decrypt shit for me.

I GUESS MAYBE I SHOULD'VE READ THE MANUAL

[ackblom12]

The more I play my Engineer Operative the more I think that playing with a straight Solder without all the fun skills would be boring as hell.

How can you really argue with causing everything in a radius to have overheated weapons, no shields and the strongest of them hacked and going berserk!

[KvP]

Never figured out how to get other people to decrypt shit for me.

I GUESS MAYBE I SHOULD'VE READ THE MANUAL

You use your party's skills. If Garrus / Tali / Kaidan has the ability to decrypt hard locks, you can decrypt hard locks. It's that simple. Works the same way with First Aid.

[jeph]

Oh ho!

WELL NOW I KNOW

[Storm Rider]

Besides which, dude. We all know you chose your party members based on hot sexing potential.

Unless you're not playing as a dude, in which case you can't get it on with Ashley.

[jeph]

Man Ashley ain't hott

her mouth is too big for her face

also she believes in God

[Dimmukane]

I'm trying to get with Tali.


WHAT'S UNDER THAT MASK, SUGAH?

[Storm Rider]

I don't think you can, actually. I think it's Liara for either gender and then Ashley if you're a dude or Kaiden if you're a girl.

[jeph]

Man that's lame. Kaidan is a complete tool. You should be able to bang ANYBODY.

what I am saying is basically that I am sexually aroused by Wrex

[ackblom12]

He sure does have a pretty mouth.

[Storm Rider]

Man I swear it is like God is conspiring on methods to prevent me playing this game.

First it was the new digital cable at my house rendering me unable to play video games on the old TV in my living room, and now the airline put my bag on the wrong plane so my consoles are stuck at the airport until tomorrow morning. I suppose it's better this way because I actually managed to do some studying for my philosophy midterm tomorrow before I got distracted and started playing Front Mission on my DS.

[bryanthelion]

I think kaiden is kinda hot... I would chose him as my mate for my guy character.

But alas, I cant. DAMN YOU BIOWARE!

[Dimmukane]

So...I did some exploring yesterday.  New things to add to my list.

8:  Space Monkeys.  They went there.

9:  Husks are scarier than Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day when you're in a room full of crates that are only four feet apart.

That was just in one star system.

[jeph]

Beat Benecia on the second try last night. It was really easy, I guess because I had already done the Thorian and a whole mess of side-quests beforehand.

The Spectre-class weapons are INCREDIBLE. The shotgun in particular just tears through motherfuckers. Definitely worth the money when they become available.

[Dimmukane]

In the context of that statement, I should add that space exploration generally rewards you lots of money.  I got 8000 credits for finding a gold vein on the same planet as the space monkeys.  There was a Prothean artifact hidden in a corner, and I really wanna find out what it does.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

yeah, i'll second that the Spectre class weapons are righteous. the pistol, maxed out and given the proper upgrades, destroys everyone. as does the sniper rifle (and i haven't even maxed out it's stats yet), provided you are far enough away with appropriate cover.

exploration really does net you alot of credits. at the point where i'm at in the game i get over 20k credits every time i survey a new mineral/gas/metal. i've only got 2 systems left to explore and i've got over 5 million credits, 500 or so omni-gel, and all the fancy spectre weapons on all my guys. i'm glad i chose infiltrator because i wouldn't have scored nearly as much loot if i chose a non-tech class. also, blowing up groups of enemy weapons in one fell swoop is very satisfying.

[KvP]

It becomes a pain in the ass your second time through with one character. you end up with 999 omnigel, 99,999,999 (or whatever the limit is) credits and 150 items and you end up wasting all sorts of useful stuff. The best way to handle it is to buy up all the Spectre X weapons and Colossus X armor (the best in the game, looks like) you find, spend omnigel at every opportunity and sell / convert your excess equipment and you'll come out around 93,999,999 credits with room for profit from surveying and a good amount of inventory space.

[Dimmukane]

I've been away from my beloved for two days, and it's keeping me up at night.

[Storm Rider]

I really don't know why I love this game so much. It's got some pretty glaring technical issues. Significant texture popping, load times, and framerate slowdown. But even still, I just cannot put it down. I am forgoing sleep to play more of this game. Not entirely, but I was extremely reluctant to roll out of bed this morning when the alarm went off because I've been up late playing more Mass Effect the past two days.

[Ozymandias]

The reason you love the game is because sometimes a game is more than its code. Mass Effect is a game that is very much greater than the sum of its parts. It is probably the most successful attempt ever made to have a video game with a deep, new mythos that pulls you into the game, a long arcing plot and, most importantly, never makes you feel like you're watching things happen to someone else. It's more or less the most successful choose your own adventure ever made and should be a template for games to follow.

The technical flaws can be cleaned up. They're using a new engine on a new console. No one has got a handle on UE3 yet and a lot people people are calling bullshit on that tostada, but people will figure it out. There's two more games on the horizon and they will be better.

They will be better than fucking amazing and that's awesome.

[bryanthelion]

Im dissapointed at how short the main quest is.

I mean, I can actually play through it (low attention-span) but I just want more...

[Scandanavian War Machine]

yeah, i was really surprised at how short the main story-line is. it's what, like 3 or 4 actual missions or something?
the game is no less amazing because of it but i wasn't expecting to beat it in less than a week. and that's with complete exploration of every planet...i can't even imagine doing it with no optional stuff.

[bryanthelion]

Right now I'm trying to get through the main game.

My second play through I'm going to do all of the extra missions

[Storm Rider]

I'm doing a bunch of sidequests before going to Virmire. I'm already almost at level 39 with the last two planets to go so I think I'll hit the level cap by the end of the game pretty easily.

[bryanthelion]

virmire is fucking insane

I wanted to cry, I epically failed and I lost one of my favorite characters.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

i lost one of my characters too! but not in the way you're thinking (i did that too). i was fighting some flying rocket-robots and they shot a rocket right at Talis feet, launching her off a cliff into a "no play zone"
after the battle was over i tried to revive her but she just died instantly upon revival so i ran around trying to find her but i couldn't until i finally looked over the edge of this cliff and there she was lying dead on some rocks near the ocean. i watched her for a while as she revived then died over and over again. it was amusing until i realized i couldn't get her back and i was boned. she reapeared once i got into an elevator though. it was weird.

[jeph]

virmire is fucking insane

I wanted to cry, I epically failed and I lost one of my favorite characters.

Shoulda maxed out your Charm stat!

  - MY CHARM STAT IS FULLY MAXED

[KvP]

virmire is fucking insane

I wanted to cry, I epically failed and I lost one of my favorite characters.

Shoulda maxed out your Charm stat!

  - MY CHARM STAT IS FULLY MAXED

Yeah, seriously. It's a western RPG. If you're not maxing out at least one dialogue stat, you're doing it wrong.

I have yet to go through with a renegade / intimidate character. I wonder how different it is.

[Storm Rider]

I maxed out my Charm stat, so I'm not worried about it. It was a bit of a spoiler though when I found out who the character in question was beforehand, though. Ah well.

But yeah, I'm playing Paragon Soldier this time around, so I'm doing Renegade Adept second playthrough just to make it as different as possible. The best part is, since I have the Shotgun and Assault Rifle Expert Achievements, I'll be able to use those weapons with my adept even though I'm not supposed to!

That's another thing I really like about this game, the achievements actually relate to in-game bonuses. I know other games have done it before (Dead Rising was the first, I think) but it's something I really think more 360 games should do.

[Dimmukane]

I've scanned all the seekers except the one next to the VI, anyone know how to *remove* her?

[jeph]

But yeah, I'm playing Paragon Soldier this time around, so I'm doing Renegade Adept second playthrough just to make it as different as possible. The best part is, since I have the Shotgun and Assault Rifle Expert Achievements, I'll be able to use those weapons with my adept even though I'm not supposed to!

Oh shit, that is actually awesome. I'm probably rolling a Sentinel next game and that shotgun/sniper rifle combo will be pretty sweet.

[ackblom12]

Wait.. if you get the weapon achevement you can sue that as other calsses? Holy fuck I had no clue!

[Scandanavian War Machine]

meaning you can train with it? or you are just good at it without training? i don't get it.

[KvP]

I've scanned all the seekers except the one next to the VI, anyone know how to *remove* her?

Pretty sure that one doesn't count, since I completed that sidequest without removing the VI. You just have to be really thorough. Make sure you've checked everywhere. There are 2 in the Citadel tower aside from the one you start the quest with, there's one in the back rooms behind the financial district, there's one tucked away in Flux by the Quasar machines, etc. Really, the Keeper scanning is just a means to the end of getting Shepard all around the citadel and hopefully engaged in all the little side quests they've spread throughout it. I don't remember there being any huge payoff for getting all of them scanned, but it might be part of the Codex achievement, since all the other collection quests added an entry upon completion.

[Storm Rider]

meaning you can train with it? or you are just good at it without training? i don't get it.

After you unlock the achievement you get the Talent tree for that weapon on every future character you create. I never use Sniper Rifles, so my Adept will be able to train Shotguns and Assault Rifles next playthrough and that's basically better than a Vanguard only without Medium Armor.

[Dimmukane]

Pretty sure that one doesn't count, since I completed that sidequest without removing the VI. You just have to be really thorough. Make sure you've checked everywhere. There are 2 in the Citadel tower aside from the one you start the quest with, there's one in the back rooms behind the financial district, there's one tucked away in Flux by the Quasar machines, etc. Really, the Keeper scanning is just a means to the end of getting Shepard all around the citadel and hopefully engaged in all the little side quests they've spread throughout it. I don't remember there being any huge payoff for getting all of them scanned, but it might be part of the Codex achievement, since all the other collection quests added an entry upon completion.

The only places I can think I might not have checked thoroughly are basically just the med-clinic and a hallway in the markets...whatever,  outside of killing the gang members on the other planets, I believe that's the only Citadel quest I have left.

[KvP]

I think there might be one in the "transition corridor" between the Wards and the Presidium. Check there. Also there is a keeper in the hallway where you find Tali, and unless you went there before or after you probably didn't have the chance to scan it.

[Storm Rider]

OK, I just finished it about an hour ago. This year has been a monumental one for video games. Bioshock, Super Mario Galaxy, and now Mass Effect have all been released within the last 3 months and they're all some of my favorite games of all time.

I think I'm going to open another thread for spoiler-filled plot discussion, but I have to say that I've yet to see a world of fiction so in-depth and well realized in a game. Also, it seems like Mass Effect achieves what KOTOR was aiming to do but couldn't quite achieve: making you feel like your choices really do matter, and forcing you to make really hard decisions. I think removing the whole light/dark thing and replacing it with the more ambiguous system helped that to an extent.

Also, the dialog system is totally brilliant. Sure, the conversations precede similarly in some cases no matter what you choose, but it feels like you're so much more in control. I really felt like I was in control of Shepard, not just trotting him along some path that had been set out beforehand. It's a subtle thing that makes a world of difference.

The game isn't perfect by any standards. All the criticisms about load times and texture popping and framerate are totally legitimate, but I can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a game this much. This almost rivals BGII, in my opinion. I can't wait for the next one. I'm moving on to Assassin's Creed, but I fully intend to go back and do a second playthrough with my badass biotic renegade.

[jeph]

Yeah, I beat it last night. Extremely satisfying.

I really, really hope they find a way to make the choices you made in this game carry over into the sequels. That would be incredibly badass.

I'm doing a second playthrough as a Soldier. It's much a more fun class than I was expecting!

[Storm Rider]

I opened the thread for discussing spoiler-related stuff!

(By the way Jeph, that friend request from Lilarcor is me. If you're curious who the hell sent it to you, anyway.)

[Thy Dungeonman]

I was planning on buying this game next week. Then I fell victim to what some call the Red Ring of Death. For the second time.

I'm convinced the world hates me now.

[KvP]

meaning you can train with it? or you are just good at it without training? i don't get it.

After you unlock the achievement you get the Talent tree for that weapon on every future character you create. I never use Sniper Rifles, so my Adept will be able to train Shotguns and Assault Rifles next playthrough and that's basically better than a Vanguard only without Medium Armor.

I think you can only choose one bonus talent. But I've only unlocked shotguns, so I'm not sure about that.

that friend request from Lilarcor is me.

nice.

[jeph]

RE: sniper rifles, I'm playing through as a soldier now and have actually found them to be quite useful in a number of situations. Heck of a lot quicker than spending 5 minutes plunking away at some hard to reach sucker with the assault rifle.

[KvP]

The Sniper Rifle just happens to suck early on when you can't keep it steady, and in close quarters, like the Luna base. Otherwise it's the most powerful type of gun in the game, and it's good fun.