Mass Effect 3

[DuckThor Evil]

I personally hope little more focus to RPG elements in the third game. I still enjoyed the second game quite a bit, but for me the first one was a bigger experience despite numerous flaws.

What is the situation with the Reaper's attack on earth. I watched the Arrival DLC on youtube and it seemed like Shepard was able to stop their plan, but all the videos of ME 3 has the Reapers on earth already? I'm personally slightly disappointed if their arrival is downsized to something that happened between games and the player is just quickly briefed up to speed in the beginning.

 

[Prophecy2k]

Every minute you spend sorting loot, buying loot, selling loot or travelling around the galaxy to various shops, is a minute you've spent away from interacting with the other characters, or advancing the main or side plots. A game like Diablo is a loot game. The game is driven by upgrading your character. The story is secondary. You upgrade and you fight to check out your new gear. For me, Mass Effect is not the appropriate place for a heavy loot system. Yes, you can derail from the main story, but you're always onto another small side story. The mining for resources in Mass Effect 2 also detracted from the "pace" of the game. What I mean by pace is the speed at which you advance to the next piece of narrative, whether it's on the main or side plot line. Mass Effect is a story-driven game. Derailing players from the story seems stupid.

And no, you can't skip on buying, selling and sorting. Unless you want to wear all the crappy equipment you started the game with, and die A LOT, you pretty much have to worry about inventory management. My personal feeling is that Mass Effect 2 could have had a more interesting customization with the skill tree (well, it wasn't really a tree, just a bunch of linear advancements) and with the weapon and armor upgrades, but removing the buying/selling and sorting was 100% the right way to go. One option I think would be interesting would be to have your weapons and armour as an upgrade tree of their own. Level up and choose to upgrade your powers or weapons and armour as you see fit.

Don't think this is a valid argument at all.

Dragon Age Origins
Boulder's Gate: Dark Alliance
Elder Scrolls Games
Fallout 3
Fallout NV
Borderlands
Rage
etc etc

Are all games lauded for their compelling narratives. They are all still games which include the same buying, selling, upgrading mechanics which are a staple of the genre. They include these because they are a huge part of the fun for those games, and until your post i've never heard anyone else complain that the loot/inventory management ruining the "pacing" of the games or distracting from the narrative.

Rather, the whole point of western RPG game design is to allow the gamer more choice and input into how he/she decideds they want their game to progress. To you, you might see Mass Effect as a game where story is a focus, but to me (and many others that complain about the same issues), Mass Effect is a game series that is more about role playing in a very well fleshed out world and universe. If the game was purely about story then why not just make it a purely linear trudge from start to finish ala games like Uncharted or Gears? They're not only about the narrative, and as such should allow for more in the way of fun things to do outside of the main story missions.

 

[KKRT]

Every minute you spend sorting loot, buying loot, selling loot or travelling around the galaxy to various shops, is a minute you've spent away from interacting with the other characters, or advancing the main or side plots. A game like Diablo is a loot game. The game is driven by upgrading your character. The story is secondary. You upgrade and you fight to check out your new gear. For me, Mass Effect is not the appropriate place for a heavy loot system. Yes, you can derail from the main story, but you're always onto another small side story. The mining for resources in Mass Effect 2 also detracted from the "pace" of the game. What I mean by pace is the speed at which you advance to the next piece of narrative, whether it's on the main or side plot line. Mass Effect is a story-driven game. Derailing players from the story seems stupid.

And no, you can't skip on buying, selling and sorting. Unless you want to wear all the crappy equipment you started the game with, and die A LOT, you pretty much have to worry about inventory management. My personal feeling is that Mass Effect 2 could have had a more interesting customization with the skill tree (well, it wasn't really a tree, just a bunch of linear advancements) and with the weapon and armor upgrades, but removing the buying/selling and sorting was 100% the right way to go. One option I think would be interesting would be to have your weapons and armour as an upgrade tree of their own. Level up and choose to upgrade your powers or weapons and armour as you see fit.

But i love loot, i love collecting stuff and i love to progress with equipment through the game and has choosing dilemma. It dont distract me from story, combat or universe, its just additional kick of gameplay for me, that makes game more deep and replayable.
I didnt like ME 2 system at all, there was no corpse looting, no crate looting, no choice in equipment, You just buy every upgrade You can and thats it. No pros and cons in equipment just pros, its bad game design for me.

And i liked ME 1 system, it wasnt polished but it was much better than ME 2 and gave a sense for NG+ playthroughs. ME 2 newgame+ was as easy as first playthrough, or even easier.

 

[Rodéric]

Told you everyone was different already... ;p

 

[Scott_Arm]

Don't think this is a valid argument at all.

Dragon Age Origins
Boulder's Gate: Dark Alliance
Elder Scrolls Games
Fallout 3
Fallout NV
Borderlands
Rage
etc etc

Are all games lauded for their compelling narratives. They are all still games which include the same buying, selling, upgrading mechanics which are a staple of the genre. They include these because they are a huge part of the fun for those games, and until your post i've never heard anyone else complain that the loot/inventory management ruining the "pacing" of the games or distracting from the narrative.

Rather, the whole point of western RPG game design is to allow the gamer more choice and input into how he/she decideds they want their game to progress. To you, you might see Mass Effect as a game where story is a focus, but to me (and many others that complain about the same issues), Mass Effect is a game series that is more about role playing in a very well fleshed out world and universe. If the game was purely about story then why not just make it a purely linear trudge from start to finish ala games like Uncharted or Gears? They're not only about the narrative, and as such should allow for more in the way of fun things to do outside of the main story missions.

I've been playing cRPGs since the mid 80s. I've played just about every style or flavour of RPG with inventory management. In some games it works better than others, but I've never found it fun. I can see how some people might find it entertaining. People have different tastes. What I will say, is that there are A LOT of people that are turned off by inventory management because they find it tedious and annoying. There have always been complainers. ALWAYS. In fact, I'd say poor inventory management is one of the first things people will complain about in a cRPG, because it really can ruin a game. They may not use the word "pace", but they will mention how tiresome and annoying it is to waste time managing junk collection. Mass Effect 2 decided to experiment with removing that element of what's become a standard for cRPGs. Cry me a river.

 

[AlNom]

I still enjoyed the second game quite a bit, but for me the first one was a bigger experience despite numerous flaws.

Yeah... even though the threats were on different scales (Saren vs Collectors, Sovereign vs Harbinger), I think the cinematic direction was much better in the first game, or maybe it was just more memorable. Noveria, Feros, Virmire, Ilos... I thought Saren was a pretty awesome villain.

ME2 had its moments with Mordin and Tali's missions, but I didn't really feel much for the colony people on Horizon. Compared to Feros, there just wasn't any connection to the Horizon folks aside from Ashley/Kaiden, and even that was really awkward (she/he just pops up right after the end fight??? Wtf was she/he doing before that). I'm just expected to care as opposed to playing through and interacting with people.

Or something like that. The whole e-mail thing was pretty mediocre. I can see why they did it (dev time), but... meh..

What is the situation with the Reaper's attack on earth. I watched the Arrival DLC on youtube and it seemed like Shepard was able to stop their plan, but all the videos of ME 3 has the Reapers on earth already? I'm personally slightly disappointed if their arrival is downsized to something that happened between games and the player is just quickly briefed up to speed in the beginning.

hm... If you look at the galaxy map, the Alpha Relay used to be at the bottom (Viper nebula). Here's a bigger image sans Viper Nebula.

I think the maps above include all the relays that are active, so that puts the Local Cluster (Earth) and the Exodus Cluster as the two closest relays that the Reaper fleet would have to travel to by conventional FTL drives. Who knows how fast they can travel. I'm also assuming that the relay in dark space is somewhere south of the Viper Nebula.

It's a good question though... Is the battle on Earth the beginning or is it the end? I always thought it was the end-game as you'd need the combined efforts of the rest of the major species to hold the Reaper fleet off at Earth. I'm assuming that the Reapers will attack the human homeworld first instead of going for the small fry human colonies in the Exodus cluster.

If the Reapers eliminate the humans, the rest of the galaxy would fail since they're not convinced of the Reaper threat and would have done fuck all to prepare.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

The beginning of the leaked beta gave a pretty correct answer.

Spoiler

The reapers arrive during Shepard's trial and start to destroy everything in their path; the commander escapes to bring help

 

[AlNom]

Reaction to spoiler

Spoiler

:| sigh. How does that even make sense??? The trial (for killing all those batarian colonists) is right after The Arrival, which was supposed to delay the Reaper invasion for a significant amount of time. Otherwise, why even bother with an Alpha Relay if the Reapers can get to the Local Cluster so quickly anyway. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh

 

[AlNom]

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Reaction to spoiler

Spoiler

The trial (for killing all those batarian colonists) is right after The Arrival, which was supposed to delay the Reaper invasion for a significant amount of time.

Well...

Spoiler

Trials take time, you know, gathering evidence, getting opinions from experts, writing lengthy documents, and so on. As far as I know about 2-3 months have passed after Arrival, at least.

Also, the Alliance has enough time to retrofit the Normandy SR2, that indicates several months, too.

 

[AlNom]

pft.

 

[Cyan]

I personally hope little more focus to RPG elements in the third game. I still enjoyed the second game quite a bit, but for me the first one was a bigger experience despite numerous flaws.

What is the situation with the Reaper's attack on earth. I watched the Arrival DLC on youtube and it seemed like Shepard was able to stop their plan, but all the videos of ME 3 has the Reapers on earth already? I'm personally slightly disappointed if their arrival is downsized to something that happened between games and the player is just quickly briefed up to speed in the beginning.

Me too. I hope the RPG side of the game is more like Dragon Age Origins, which is completely amazing and great. I mean, I would like people's decisions not only involving being virtuous or rebellious.

I love the subtle details of the decisions you make in DA Origins, which in some moments don't seem to change a anything but are pretty noticeable later in the game.

Apart from the complex relationship between your companions -they have their own dialogues between themselves, for instance-, there are things like hardening Leliana that have implications later.

Simple details that people appreciate, where you notice you make your impact in the world of the game, for good or bad, or just as a curiosity.

Also, if you help Leliana in her personal mission and you choose to kill Majorlaine or let her live, either choice has different implications later on... Those are the things that make a difference and make RPGs what they are and not just only a fun but also linear experience where you are told everything you HAVE to do -move to, attack this, fix that, kill this one or that one, go to place, etc etc-.

Back on ME3 again, I am also glad to know that you gain experience points now the way you did in the original Mass Effect where you gained experience in a more RPG-ish manner. ME1 model allowed you to gain experience by recollecting XP in a more natural and typical manner, while in ME2 you only gained experience completing the quests which were important for the story of the game, not in the rest of missions.

 

[Cyan]

pft.

This one is for AlStrong to relax xDDD:

 

[Rodéric]

How can you trial a SPECTRE ?
By definition a SPECTRE is above the law and only answers to the citadel council...

 

[AlNom]

Shepard is still with the Alliance. IIRC, it was the Alliance that told him to go investigate what happened with the science team at the Alpha Relay, but then Shepard cast Meteo and a bunch of four-eyes got killed.

This one is for AlStrong to relax xDDD:

It's a shame her in-game model is fubared.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

It's a shame her in-game model is fubared.

Excuse me!? Miranda is PERFECT!

edit:

Yeah... even though the threats were on different scales (Saren vs Collectors, Sovereign vs Harbinger), I think the cinematic direction was much better in the first game, or maybe it was just more memorable. Noveria, Feros, Virmire, Ilos... I thought Saren was a pretty awesome villain.

ME2 had its moments with Mordin and Tali's missions, but I didn't really feel much for the colony people on Horizon. Compared to Feros, there just wasn't any connection to the Horizon folks aside from Ashley/Kaiden, and even that was really awkward (she/he just pops up right after the end fight??? Wtf was she/he doing before that). I'm just expected to care as opposed to playing through and interacting with people.

Or something like that. The whole e-mail thing was pretty mediocre. I can see why they did it (dev time), but... meh..

Yeah pretty much agree with everything there. The biggest moments in ME1 were more powerful than the ones in ME2. Of course the first installation of a series has an edge due to it introducing everything for the first time, but it doesn't explain everything.

Saren was a great villain! Probably part of the reason I was so disappointed with the new Star Trek movie, risen expectations and all... The main Villain just felt like a fraggin retard.

 

[AlNom]

She looks creepy at certain angles. Maybe it's just the lighting or the crappy UE3 rendered hair.

 

[AlphaWolf]

That's probably more accurate than a magazine depiction which has removed and/or avoided shooting every imperfection.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

She looks creepy at certain angles.

I like it creepy, I like it reeeally creepy I forgot Ashley in a heart beat, once Miranda came in to the picture

 

[AlNom]

MaleShep can't have everything can he.

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The arsenal vid showed bonus armours from ME2, but does that mean they're in-game Wonder if there will be other cross-game items (besides Kingdoms of Amalur). It's a nice concept/reward for folks who have played other games from the publisher. Wish there was a Dead Space themed armour.