Mass Effect 3 Catch-All

Man, who let this meathead knuckle-dragger James on my ship? Even Jacob was more professional, and he went AWOL and joined up with a bunch of damn terrorists. When your CO addresses you, soldier, you get down off the chinup bar and you salute. You want to do the buddy-buddy thing with the impromptu boxing matches and cute nicknames, you've got to earn it, and you, sir, have not earned it. Now drop and give me twenty.

ruhk wrote:
mwdowns wrote:

3. The opening scene did not flow like it did in ME2. There was an obvious continuity going from ME1 to ME2. I ended ME1 storming off the Citadel, going to find the Reapers. I start ME2 on the Normandy "looking for the Reapers" and then ATTACK! I loved that opening scene. Got me right into the game. ME3? Um, where am I? What am I doing? Last I remember in ME2 I was on the bridge of the Normandy hanging out with my crew. Now I'm an Alliance office worker on Earth? Huh?

Erm- they address this about two minutes into the game: (spoilered for me2 plot details)

Spoiler:

You're under a sort of house arrest for blowing up an entire solar system during the me2 "arrival" dlc. The Alliance military doesn't know what to do with you... You basically killed millions of people, but are also responsible for saving the galaxy several times and being the only person they have with experience in fighting reapers

.

Did you not play the Arrival DLC, mwdowns? I could see that whole scene feeling a bunch more disjointed if you didn't, depending on how it plays out without it.

So far, I'm pretty pleased with how that and Shadow Broker have tied into the story (played both of them).

Yeah I screwed up and didn't play LotSB on my original Shep apparently. I thought I had went back and replayed but apparently I just did that on my two femSheps. So Liara was telling me this story about how she stormed the Shadow Broker's base with all these soldiers, and I was like what?!

ruhk wrote:
hbi2k wrote:

Did you not play the Arrival DLC, mwdowns? I could see that whole scene feeling a bunch more disjointed if you didn't, depending on how it plays out without it.

So far, I'm pretty pleased with how that and Shadow Broker have tied into the story (played both of them)

Yeah... Both the Shadow Broker and the Arrival dlc reflect heavily upon the plot in ME3- I can imagine a few things may be confusing in ME3 to those who haven't played them.

I'm glad I held off on buying the game then, because I never played either and I don't really want to have to buy and play through two pieces of ME2 DLC just so I can understand what's going on in ME3.

Yeah, I did not play the Arrival DLC, so my reasons for being there went over my head. Seems like a bit of a minus story-wise.

mwdowns wrote:

Yeah, I did not play the Arrival DLC, so my reasons for being there went over my head. Seems like a bit of a minus story-wise.

A definite flub on their part. I basically don't buy DLC, not out of principle, but because when I finish a game, I finish it. Never been much for expansions, either. I think the last one I played all the way through was Mysteries of the Sith.

Didnt play the dlcs from me2, and have to say, im actually disappointed in me3 so far. The story is failing to hook me and ive failed to want to play for more than an hour at a time. What a bummer

Its cool they let u carry points over to level from ur me2 save, but honestly i feel like im cheating now. I want my decisions to carry over, but i cant leave 30 some odd points just hanging around. I spend them and it cheapens the game to me

NSMike wrote:
mwdowns wrote:

Yeah, I did not play the Arrival DLC, so my reasons for being there went over my head. Seems like a bit of a minus story-wise.

A definite flub on their part. I basically don't buy DLC, not out of principle, but because when I finish a game, I finish it. Never been much for expansions, either. I think the last one I played all the way through was Mysteries of the Sith.

I'm not that extreme, but when it comes to the Mass Effect series I'm in pretty much the same boat. Both games had such solid endings that I never had any interest in playing DLC content once I'd finished the main story.

hbi2k:

Spoiler:

To be fair, his head's not on right when you meet him. Doing chin ups when your CO addresses you is just about as direct a request for a severe dressing down as I've ever seen. He's looking to be punished. My femshep would dress him down right (and I hope that's an option in a Renegade play), but my current heroic male Shep won't give him the satisfaction. He needs every ass out there holding a gun, and if he has to put up with a little rudeness, well, it's not the first time.

Respect is earned, and people need to be set straight, it's just one of the boxes in Shep's everyday checklist. In fairness to James, I'm midway through and he's never actually disobeyed an order and he's responsive in combat. Zaeed's less professional than that.

As for DLC, I played neither LotSB nor Arrival. The beginning sort of made sense in a way. ME2 picked up where ME1 left off, but it's obvious that ME3 would not. After all, it's about the Reaper invasion and it's presumed that, even apart from the DLC, that a short amount of time would elapse before they got going with the invasion.

It's not unknown for a game to do this, and it's comprehensible, even excellent as a compromise between veterans and newcomers to the franchise.

That said, I feel that this was a missed opportunity. Lots of sequel movies begin with a flashback to a significant time period before the first movie. I'd have liked to do that mission where Shepard's team was ambushed by Thresher Maws and he's the only survivor. Faced with yet another suicide mission, I feel that that would establish a progression in his/her character.

muttonchop wrote:

I'm glad I held off on buying the game then, because I never played either and I don't really want to have to buy and play through two pieces of ME2 DLC just so I can understand what's going on in ME3.

Well, you shouldn't play Shadow Broker so you can understand ME3, you should play it 'cause it's awesome. And on the other side of the coin, I'd have been pissed if I'd paid for and played through such an awesome piece of content only for it to have no relevance in the sequel.

Still, if the intro to ME3 is as disjointed as y'all are saying without Arrival, that's definitely a disappointment. Having played Arrival, Shepard's being on Earth makes perfect sense; can't think of a reason off-hand why she'd be there (and the crew of the SR2 disbanded) without it.

LarryC wrote:

hbi2k:

Spoiler:

Zaeed's less professional than that.

True enough, although that's one of only two squadmates I can think of that I like less than James at this point. (The other being Jack, Little Ms. Designed-by-the-Ad-Department-After-a-Red-Bull-and-Linkin-Park-Binge herself.)

After typing my rant i realized that not cheapening the game is worth sacrificing all my old decisions. New game created

primer28 wrote:

After typing my rant i realized that not cheapening the game is worth sacrificing all my old decisions. New game created

You can simply leave points unassigned, and assign them at your leisure - that is, every time you level up. I don't think ME3 actually scales shields and hp to level.

primer28 wrote:

After typing my rant i realized that not cheapening the game is worth sacrificing all my old decisions. New game created

Or you could use the Gibbed editor for ME2 saves to open your latest save of your ME2 Shep, set him to level 1, save it and import that for your ME3 Shepard. Your decisions stay with you, but you start at level 2 instead of 30.

LarryC wrote:
primer28 wrote:

After typing my rant i realized that not cheapening the game is worth sacrificing all my old decisions. New game created

You can simply leave points unassigned, and assign them at your leisure - that is, every time you level up. I don't think ME3 actually scales shields and hp to level.

I dont nearly have the self restraint to leave precious skill points hanging around! The gibbed editor is something to look in to tho

They are really in a Catch 22 in this case. Do they have the DLC not play any part in ME3 and have the hardcore fans complain to high heavan, or do they have it play an integral part in the story and make some people who didn't play the earlier DLC slightly confused. I think what they chose to do, and I agree with them is the latter. I didn't play any of the DLC for 2, but if you have a choice of catering to those who have in the past bought a ton of DLC or those that haven't....welll... the money does the talking there.

also WTF!!! Why is Raiden in my Mass Effect 3? For those who have played MGS4 will know when you get there, just trust me.

Sometimes I feel ashamed at the following fact: I REALLY enjoy scanning. I loved it in ME2 and I still love it here, with the added bonus that I need to do the sonar pings FAST to avoid the reapers. I am keeping all of my systems at 100% because after every mission (and the reaper reset) I was going back to anything that wasn't 100%.

I would hate to know how much of the 10 hours I have spent with the game were traveling between systems to scan....

Scanning is definitely better overall. Did some of that tonight. The only complaint I have is they seem to have reverted the planet scanning scroll speed patch that they added on to ME2.

I mean it was so slow when it first released, and they fixed it. And now it's even slower than it was at the start of ME2 in ME3. And not just when holding down the scan button, but when trying to rotate without it. At least in ME2 you could quickly scan to see an arrow, then move and scan again, and get there a little faster. Ugh.

Ok, after you complete the 2nd demo mission in the main game, make sure you go to the medbay on the Normandy and talk to everyone there, and make sure you go through every option dialog option.

I've been perfectly content to import my ME2 save having played virtually none of the DLC for that game. There is more than enough context to explain why Shepard is hanging out in Vancouver, and it's sort of fun to encounter all of his ex-squadmates in the midst of their own various pursuits. The writing in this series is good, but not so good that I regret skipping some of the auxiliary bits.

I'm torn on the multiplayer affecting ending part. I will try and do all the missions and quests anyway, but I do want the best ending I could get (like in ME2). This just discourages me from experimenting with options and just sticking to my paragon choices for the entire game. And MP making the SP easier? Ugh. The more I think about this synergy, the less I like it.

As for the scanning of planets, you don't need to scan them manually like in ME2. Just hold the right mouse button long enough to see the white line, then rotate the planet a bit and click again until you find the dot. Doesn't take more than 5-10 seconds that way. As far as I know, there's no need to actively scan the whole planets in ME3, it's just one anomaly per planet. Right?

liquid wrote:

I'm torn on the multiplayer affecting ending part. I will try and do all the missions and quests anyway, but I do want the best ending I could get (like in ME2). This just discourages me from experimenting with options and just sticking to my paragon choices for the entire game. And MP making the SP easier? Ugh. The more I think about this synergy, the less I like it.

The coop is so fun, though. Join us.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
liquid wrote:

I'm torn on the multiplayer affecting ending part. I will try and do all the missions and quests anyway, but I do want the best ending I could get (like in ME2). This just discourages me from experimenting with options and just sticking to my paragon choices for the entire game. And MP making the SP easier? Ugh. The more I think about this synergy, the less I like it.

The coop is so fun, though. Join us. :)

This.

Play with some GWJers, and it's a very fun experience.

I kind of resent Bioware for the choices they've made regarding DLC. The worst part is that after I "finished" the game" they kept throwing plot into the universe. My Shepard's been doing all this sh*t without me apparently. I figured she was in trouble for helping Cerberus or something. Turns out she blew up a solar system? What the hell Bioware?

I really don't like day one DLC. When it's weapons and bullsh*t who cares, but if important to the core story it should be on the disk. I can see why some people pan the game because of the choice.

I was pretty down on the game last night, but then I started it up and played for five hours. So I don't know how I feel about the game right now. I do get the feeling like the game was kind of forced out the door.

There's a ton of content on the disk apart from the content on the DLC, and thus far, it seems fairly nonessential. I figure it'd be tres cool if you followed it from the start, since the REDACTED were prominent plot figures driving the first game, but as far as I can tell from where the plot is headed, it's bonus rather than central material - for the fans bonus, even.

Essentially, it's fanservice. And we all know we usually have to pay for fanservice, one way or another.

LarryC wrote:

There's a ton of content on the disk apart from the content on the DLC, and thus far, it seems fairly nonessential. I figure it'd be tres cool if you followed it from the start, since the REDACTED were prominent plot figures driving the first game, but as far as I can tell from where the plot is headed, it's bonus rather than central material - for the fans bonus, even.

Essentially, it's fanservice. And we all know we usually have to pay for fanservice, one way or another.

Yeah, as to all the internet being up in arms about the day 1 DLC stuff, I couldn't care less. It's just extra crap. If you want some extra stuff, you can pay for it. It's really not going to affect the overall experience.

Lars wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
liquid wrote:

I'm torn on the multiplayer affecting ending part. I will try and do all the missions and quests anyway, but I do want the best ending I could get (like in ME2). This just discourages me from experimenting with options and just sticking to my paragon choices for the entire game. And MP making the SP easier? Ugh. The more I think about this synergy, the less I like it.

The coop is so fun, though. Join us. :)

This.

Play with some GWJers, and it's a very fun experience.

I should stress that the coop portion is VERY low stress. As someone who generally avoids it, I love this kind of thing. You don't need to worry about being good at it. Just join a game with 3 GWJers and goof around while having a fun conversation. We will take care of you.

In all the pub games I've tried, everyone has been super nice, and I've never felt stressed out. You'll get experience whether you win or loose.

Malor wrote:

Well, I don't remember having any problems with ME2. I put a ridiculous amount of time into that game, and I don't, offhand, remember any bugs at all.

I'm seeing quite numerous polish issues in this one. I think it needed more cooking time.

I had quite a few bugs pop up in ME2. My favorite was the one where I'd go into cover and then start levitating slowly toward the sky, unable to move once it started. Happened 10+ times easy in three plays of the game.

No issues so far in ME3.

Just restarted the game. Redid my Shep--tried to get similar facial features and just change the hair a bit, so that I can tell myself that in the years since 2 she changed her style. Also, last night I missed the line at the beginning about being discharged so that led to my confusion. Though I still think that I'd have been a little confused even if I didn't read the Arrival DLC synopsis (which I did this afternoon). My take on Shep's mindset at the end of ME2 was that she was gonna go free-agent to stop the Reapers (not burning bridges with the Council and Alliance, but not necessarily re-joining them), but that might have just been me projecting.

Anyway, I played through the first demo mission and am on Mars. Fixed the lighting so everyone's face isn't smeared with black paint. Things are working out nicely. I can feel the story sinking its hooks into my eyeballs in order to keep me playing. Woo-woo!

That was some ending.

I've got to say I'm finding the game pretty glitchy on the 360. There are all kinds of weird, jerky transitions between shots, and character animations bug out sometimes. Also, not necessarily a glitch but more of a blocking problem, but I notice that characters often stare off in odd directions as they speak instead of making eye contact with whoever they're speaking to. It's distracting.

Still enjoying the hell out of the game, though.

i38warhawk wrote:

I kind of resent Bioware for the choices they've made regarding DLC. The worst part is that after I "finished" the game" they kept throwing plot into the universe. My Shepard's been doing all this sh*t without me apparently. I figured she was in trouble for helping Cerberus or something. Turns out she blew up a solar system? What the hell Bioware?

A thought: is this any different than needing to have watched Season 3 of Star Trek to know exactly what happened between Seasons 2 and 4?

Did anyone watch Return of the Jedi without having seen Empire Strikes Back and wonder, what the heck Lucas, now Han is in carbonite or something? When was this?

hbi2k wrote:

I've got to say I'm finding the game pretty glitchy on the 360. There are all kinds of weird, jerky transitions between shots, and character animations bug out sometimes. Also, not necessarily a glitch but more of a blocking problem, but I notice that characters often stare off in odd directions as they speak instead of making eye contact with whoever they're speaking to. It's distracting.

Still enjoying the hell out of the game, though.

i38warhawk wrote:

I kind of resent Bioware for the choices they've made regarding DLC. The worst part is that after I "finished" the game" they kept throwing plot into the universe. My Shepard's been doing all this sh*t without me apparently. I figured she was in trouble for helping Cerberus or something. Turns out she blew up a solar system? What the hell Bioware?

A thought: is this any different than needing to have watched Season 3 of Star Trek to know exactly what happened between Seasons 2 and 4?

Did anyone watch Return of the Jedi without having seen Empire Strikes Back and wonder, what the heck Lucas, now Han is in carbonite or something? When was this?

I think it's more akin to having to watch the webisodes to a series in order to not miss everything.