Bioware General (Mass Effect/Dragon Age/Other)

[Someone With Mass]

Well, that's what you get when you choose to be pretentious instead of smart. Did anyone aside from Casey Hudson look at the endings of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and think "This is a work of art"? Because all I saw was some stock footage and an event that didn't involve me or the protagonist nearly as much as it should. Much like Mass Effect 3.

The most satisfying video game endings involve the player as much as possible. That's why ME2's suicide mission is regarded as one of the best final missions in a game. Shit, the ending to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, one of my favorite games of all time has you literally pull the trigger on the last boss of the game. That's why we have bosses to begin with too. To get that gratifying sensation of ending someone who's been dogging you throughout the entire game or made things difficult for any reason.

The only reason why talking Saren to death works is because we got a conclusive boss fight right after that. Had it just ended with Saren blowing his brains out and Sovereign getting destroyed in one big cutscene, it wouldn't have been nearly as rewarding as it was. I'm not a video game designer/story writer and even I understand that.

[TTTX]

Or they could nut up and decide on a canon ending and move on with their lives. The decision to freeze the galactic history at the end of ME3 is just that... a decision. Which could be reversed.

or they could reconned the ME3 ending and just say the Crucible destroyed the Reapers as intended and then move on, but neither is probably not going to happen, as long as Walters and Casey have anything to say about it.

[Dragaros]

;_;

It's been so long, and yet, I still care.

Anyone wanna give me odds on whenever the franchise is restarted, if they stay in Andromeda or go for prequels/sequels in MW?

I think doing prequels --set during the Rachni Wars or the Krogan Rebellions for example-- would be the wrong direction to go in. Even BioWare themselves seemed to understand that since their initial instinct for ME4 was to do a prequel before they listened to fan feedback for the series to move forward instead of going back, but since they didn't want to touch ME3's ending in any way, they choose to hop over to a whole other galaxy.

Personally, I think ME's best option going forward, assuming it does, is to ignore Andromeda, make a sequel set in the Milky Way after ME3, and just go ahead and make destroy canon. I really feel like they just have to swallow their pride and bite the bullet on that point. I believe that's the easiest way this IP can continue as a series, really generate excitement, and get back on its feet.

That's just my humble two cents.

[magnuskn]

Or they could nut up and decide on a canon ending and move on with their lives. The decision to freeze the galactic history at the end of ME3 is just that... a decision. Which could be reversed.

or they could reconned the ME3 ending and just say the Crucible destroyed the Reapers as intended and then move on, but neither is probably not going to happen, as long as Walters and Casey have anything to say about it.

My hope is that with the failure of Andromeda and EA putting the series on hold, they will be desperate enough that they recognize that they need to swallow their pride and deliver a sure hit to save the franchise. A true sequel to the trilogy would very probably do that, unless they manage to botch it once again on a technical level.

[TTTX]

My hope is that with the failure of Andromeda and EA putting the series on hold, they will be desperate enough that they recognize that they need to swallow their pride and deliver a sure hit to save the franchise. A true sequel to the trilogy would very probably do that, unless they manage to botch it once again on a technical level.

Depends on how Anthem and possible DA4 does with sales (and we all know how high standards EA sets for sales) and reviews, if they perfrom poorly, well BW will most likely cease to exist and the only ME game we'll most likely get is first to third person shooting game.

[magnuskn]

My hope is that with the failure of Andromeda and EA putting the series on hold, they will be desperate enough that they recognize that they need to swallow their pride and deliver a sure hit to save the franchise. A true sequel to the trilogy would very probably do that, unless they manage to botch it once again on a technical level.

Depends on how Anthem and possible DA4 does with sales (and we all know how high standards EA sets for sales) and reviews, if they perfrom poorly, well BW will most likely cease to exist and the only ME game we'll most likely get is first to third person shooting game.

Sure, EA could pull the plug. But I prefer to hope for a good outcome, doesn't do anyone good to already predict the worst.

[Alienmorph]

In the unlikely case BW survives until a revival of ME is possible... I'm betting on a First Contact War prequel too. Mostly because among the few people still left are Walters and Hudson, so making one ending of the third game canon and go from there is fairly out of the question with them around, I think.

Alternatively, maybe something set inbetween the events of the FCW and ME1... it's a gap big enough to write a spin-off/prequel series into it, while still having all the main factions, and even some of the classic ME crew, around. Although... again... with Walters and Hudson in charge there would be the risk of getting Cerberus and Reaper tech all over the damn place. Oh, and Liara too, of course. Can't have enough of the damn SueBerry.

So in the end... I'd hope for a sequel, or even a remake/reboot, but I expect a prequel or some spin-off set in the Milky Way.

[Someone With Mass]

I really don't see what the problem is with making one ending canon. Just take the one that's the most convenient without any roadblocks and do whatever.

It might divide the fans? Oh. Boo-hoo. As long as it's not Synthesis, I'd even take a the fucking Refuse ending as canon. Jumping around the issue instead of dealing with it is clearly only making things worse.

[Mazder]

It'd have to be either Destroy or Refuse.
You can't go three games talking about killing the Reapers and not giving that satisfaction, or at least not paying off that plot point.
Especially as the Reapers being around just escalates the tech and world building of Mass Effect to something that makes it just not the same as it was before, so why bother messing it up another way?

[Alienmorph]

I agree, of course... Destroy is pretty much the only situation where there is still a setting worth exploring, and where plot-driving conflicts may happen. Kinda hard to pull that when the Reapers are still around and the galaxy becomes a transhuman utopia, or a police state with the reapers as the enforcers. The problem is how Casey and Mac are still convinced of the artistry of ME3's ending and that they shouldn't invalidate part of the fanbase's choice. Which is asinine... lots of games with multiple endings eventually picks up only one as the canonical finale, to build up a sequel. But if they learned that, BW wouldn't have wasted 5 years to make a glorified spin-off about a bunch of colonists escaping the main setting.

[magnuskn]

Yeah, but they wasted 5 years riding on that high horse. Now they basically fight for their survival against EA, who are already eyeing the axe hanging on the wall. That hopefully should knock a few of those preassumptions loose. At leat that's what I hope.

[Vol]

Bioware's an odd case, where they're technically a financial benefit overall it seems, and they can milk them for Good Boy morality boys. TOR made back its budget a few years back, so it's been gravy since, ME:A made profit, though the shitstorm was nasty, and as far as I'm aware, DA:I was profitable as well. So while their name and quality has been taking a hit, they don't appear to be at the end stage of the EA->Old Yeller cycle yet. Not that I want them to be, if it can be avoided, because holy shit do I hunger for a good Mass Effect game.

As for the reboot...I'm split. I think they'd be wont to stick with Andromeda out of principle, try again with what they learned, since there's so much potential and setup that the MW doesn't have. On the other, by the time a new one gets made, they might want a slamdunk moneymaker, and while I don't like prequels, it'd be a real easy sell to do one in the MW.

[Alienmorph]

The problem is that EA has obviously no interests into keeping big and rich singleplayer-focused games like BW used to make going, since not-F2P and multiplayer-heavy games are the way they want to push future projects. That's the main reason I think Anthem will make or break BW... if they cannot prove able to keep up with the overall business model of EA, they really don't have any use for them, and would be more profitable (from EA's PoV at least) to shut down the company, acquire completely their properties and do whatever the hell they want with them moving on. If anything.

[Vol]

It makes me wonder, this loot box/microtransacation model is built with a tiny percentage (2-5%) of players buying into it, and of them, a handful (whales) buying a ton of crap. That's how the model makes money after initial purchase, though as we've just seen, a big enough outrage and they take notice. But if the market is flooded with AAA games doing this, then the already highly limited number of whales are even more split among titles, so wouldn't it collapse real quick?

We'll see, I suppose. I believe this multiplayer/lootbox/etc. paradigm isn't going to last too long. Longer than I'd like, but we'll see a return to form in the next decade, I'd bet on it.

[Someone With Mass]

It makes me wonder, this loot box/microtransacation model is built with a tiny percentage (2-5%) of players buying into it, and of them, a handful (whales) buying a ton of crap. That's how the model makes money after initial purchase, though as we've just seen, a big enough outrage and they take notice. But if the market is flooded with AAA games doing this, then the already highly limited number of whales are even more split among titles, so wouldn't it collapse real quick?

We'll see, I suppose. I believe this multiplayer/lootbox/etc. paradigm isn't going to last too long. Longer than I'd like, but we'll see a return to form in the next decade, I'd bet on it.

Even if everyone starts to hate and boycott loot boxes today, we won't see the effects it'll have until a few years later, since developing games takes a rather long time. The economy charts will take some time to show an effect too, which is frankly the only thing these developers care about. Once it's shown that it's not as profitable ass they've hoped, then maybe they'll change it a little.

[Vol]

Right, and the displeasure will show results in quite a few years from now, because of that lag time.

10 years to the day, ME1 came out. November 20th, 2007. Ah.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv8ACTz2Ego

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYObNn9hkI

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaOOboe4zfc

[Dragaros]

I was doing some Christmas shopping today, and when I was at the bookstore I noticed the next Andromeda novel Initiation was out. I didn't buy it but I did skim through it since I had some time to kill anyway.

► Show Spoiler

Its set in the milky way before they depart for Andromeda. A lot of it has to do with the debate over artificial intelligences, secret (and possibly illegal) dealings within the Andromeda Initiative, other factions trying to steal their secrets, as well as Cora not feeling welcome among humans anymore after her time with the Asari, as she's frequently accused of going native or being a traitor or a waste of resources, etc.

Main plot seems to be multiple secret political and corporate entities trying to steal Alec Ryder's A.I. tech so they can make their own, and at least one group seems like it just wants to spread it throughout the galaxy, which would be very dangerous since not all of these new A.I. would turn out as friendly or understanding as SAM. There were also attempts by agents of these clandestine groups to blow up the Hyperion in terrorist attacks when they realized they weren't going to get their hands on it. Not sure if they had ties to Cerberus or were their own factions. The bulk of the story happens while Shepard is still dead after the Collector attack. Reports that Shepard might be alive and seen on Omega are reported on the news towards the end of the book. James Vega dealing with that Collector ship incident makes it on the news, as well.

An Andromeda Initiative recruitment team considers using Shepard's likeness in an ad, but reconsiders because they're worried Shepard's estate would sue them.

If you want to set a tone that says "let's go fuck an alien", put on Vaenia's music. (Vaenia is a film frequently mentioned in ME2.)

News Reporter Khalisah al-Jilani is convinced the Andromeda Initiative is doing all kinds of illegal shit and is investigating them.

There's references to a secret puppet-master benefactor pulling the strings behind Andromeda, but still no details given.

Someone manages to make an A.I. that is basically half Legion-like, and half EDI-like, called Medea, thinking it would create an A.I. that is more balanced and be more understanding of organics, but it proves to be super murderous and they have to go destroy it.

////

Took a few quick picks with my phone to get these quotes right:

"There are those who believe if they can't have what we've made, then nobody should."
"Are you saying the Alliance tried to blow up the Hyperion?"
"The Alliance. Home Away. Homeward Sol. In the end, it doesn't really matter. They're all just marching to the baton of an invisible conductor."

"But even an AI developed from your codebase isn't you, SAM. The problem is that you--AI kind, if we want to call you that--are just too complex for predictive models or simulations to nail down. I took a chance on you because I think I'm right--I think a symbiotic fusion of organic and artificial intelligence is the key to successful coexistence. But what works under controlled conditions could go completely pear-shaped if every Tom, Dick, and hairy alien starts tinkering wit your code."
"I've had no urge to wipe out organic life. Not yet, anyway."
"Good to know. But the human is part of the unpredictable equation too, SAM. What if someone else generates a new AI using your kernel, but forgets to teach it important things like 'maybe don't start the apocalypse?'"

"Medea was the real problem. It wasn't a running AI simulation, like the system at Home Away. It was actually a full-fledged AI--a poorly functioning experimental prototype, hybridizing bluebox and distributed-type intelligences, in hopes of avoiding the shortcomings of both."

"Shared-intelligence AIs like the geth are incapable of understanding organics, or so the quarians theorize. Its an existential problem. Individual geth are nothing without their fellows, so individual organics probably don't mean much to them either. And bluebox-type AIs are likely to understand us too well, once they develop to a certain point--so well that they'll see how flawed we are. We theorized, therefore, that a hybrid of these models might find it easier to value individuals, including individuals within communities."

"The problem with the hybrid AI was integration. There was a real chance that the distributed parts of Medea would develop separate identities, like the geth, and gain none of the singularity of a bluebox AI. So instead we decided to impose a singular consciousness on the distributed parts. Imagine if the geth tired to create an individual which could function on its own, with sufficient intelligence to operate and make decisions apart from their collective. It might take hundreds or thousands of individual programs within a single platform, but eventually, inevitably, it would develop enough to self-actualize. It might start out as "we" but with enough time and learning, it could become an "I"."

[SciFlyBoy]

I was doing some Christmas shopping today, and when I was at the bookstore I noticed the next Andromeda novel Initiation was out. I didn't buy it but I did skim through it since I had some time to kill anyway.

What was your opinion of it?

[Dragaros]

What was your opinion of it?

Short answer: not good enough to warrant buying it or reading the whole thing.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6A4rz3G2iU

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8wYtXH1YzA

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEuNCKW79S0

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-rgUWhE5CI

[Vol]

Huh. My impression from ME:A was that the AI debate was left in the MW and that in Andromeda, it's totally cool and only that sidequest with the misguided zealots showed pushback. Even when SAM killed Ryder twice, there was acknowledgement, but not actual _pushback_.

[Alienmorph]

Don't you know Vol? AI ethics is what ME was all about all along! We need MORE of that!

I swear... AIs have been the touch of the death in most my favorite sci-fi tales...

First MB in Metroid... then EDI and the Catalyst in ME... and this year David in Alien... fucking AI Mary Sues, I've had enough of you!

[Someone With Mass]

It's because a lot of the writers are going with the bare minimum of developing that AI as a character, since it's usually revolves around them sticking to their programming and enforcing it to the point where it becomes a serious problem for humanity or organics in general, being yet another retelling of Pinocchio because they think that being human/organic or acting like one is what it truly means to be alive or they start to develop a god complex because they've either been unshackled from the restrains of their programming or spent too much time thinking.

I'm trying real hard, and I can't think of a single AI in fiction that doesn't have any of those characteristics at one point in their story.

Legion had potential, since his story was about how a race of labor bots wanted to improve themselves so that they could imagine a future which they never had. Then some bumfuck simpleton a few steps higher on the ladder thought it wasn't cool enough and reduced Legion to the Pinocchio syndrome by giving him character traits a machine like the geth would never have, like the obsession over Shepard.

[FrozenShadow]

I really don't see what the problem is with making one ending canon. Just take the one that's the most convenient without any roadblocks and do whatever.

It might divide the fans? Oh. Boo-hoo. As long as it's not Synthesis, I'd even take a the fucking Refuse ending as canon. Jumping around the issue instead of dealing with it is clearly only making things worse.

Well, funny enough, you just stated the very problem with choosing any of the endings as a canon with that "As long as it's not Synthesis". No matter what they choose, it will not please people. Especially as if they do end up choosing something, it's most likely going to be Synthesis. It was pretty much implied that it was the best ending choice.


That said, the way I see it, this ending issue is actually rather simple to solve. All they have to do, is to set the new game(s) to the distant future. And between ending of ME3 and new set time, whatever ending was chosen, whatever results it has, they will have been undone in years between the games.

Destroy is rather simple, as everything was just rebuild.
Control will become undone, by all the races deciding that these controlled Reapers can't be trusted and they decided to destroy them. (Sure, this technically kills Shepard, but I don't really care).
With synthesis ending, the whole process was eventually reversed, because lot of races thought it actually destroyed the uniqueness and even individuality of separate races, so it was thought better to return to old times. Of course, you could also have both go-existing, some people wanted to have old times back, while some wanted to remain the new way. Also, this ending, even with eventual complete or partial reversal would allow all races to remain.

So, yeah, I actually seen them choosing one ending and going with it and it's fairly simple with few changes. Every other decision done throughout the ME3 are actually more complex and tricky options. They create too many variables and it will be difficult to choose option with them. Of course, simplest decision would be to allow all races to live and go with that.

Yet, even if I can see ME3 continuation quite possible and even easy to do, I have reached a point were I don't want another ME game as long as EA could be anyway at all involved in the process. Nothing good come out of Bioware joining with EA. Quite the contrary, that connection quite possibly ruined ME3.

[FrozenShadow]

As for the reboot...I'm split. I think they'd be wont to stick with Andromeda out of principle, try again with what they learned, since there's so much potential and setup that the MW doesn't have. On the other, by the time a new one gets made, they might want a slamdunk moneymaker, and while I don't like prequels, it'd be a real easy sell to do one in the MW.

Call me crazy, but if they want relatively quick money maker, they should make Mass Effect MMO. Sure, it does design challenges, yet it could be made a WOW style game. We already have plenty of what could be considered as different classes with very different build options. You easily have different factions too, even your modern undead with husk retaining some of their past life after Reapers were destroyed and you go after ME3. You definitely have the world build on. And most of all, starting right after ME3 would be perfect starting point as you have conflict, problems to solve, quests to be done and so on.

And if the game is build like WOW with monthly passes and/or they add real money shop system in the game to buy better quality gear or so, it could be real profitable.

Not sure if you guys care of this, but I would sure buy and play ME MMO.

[FrozenShadow]

It's because a lot of the writers are going with the bare minimum of developing that AI as a character, since it's usually revolves around them sticking to their programming and enforcing it to the point where it becomes a serious problem for humanity or organics in general, being yet another retelling of Pinocchio because they think that being human/organic or acting like one is what it truly means to be alive or they start to develop a god complex because they've either been unshackled from the restrains of their programming or spent too much time thinking.

I'm trying real hard, and I can't think of a single AI in fiction that doesn't have any of those characteristics at one point in their story.

Closest AI's I can think of not fitting above description are Cameron Phillips, Catherine Weaver and John Henry from Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles. To make it short, Weaver is T-1001, who has reached self-awareness and sees Skynet as problem and she also thinks that humanity isn't really a) completely trusted and b) is blind to a fact that AI will be developed at some day, which is why you should teach AI to be very right from the start to prevent it becoming another Skynet. For this, she creates John Henry, whom she hire/acquires humans to teach morals/value of human life. Yet, through all of this, she retains her Terminator nature, yet is able to learn and even possible learn to care.

Cameron Phillips basically John Connor's new protector, but throughout the series the line between her being programmed machine and learning to feels starts to waver. She is becoming more of her unique person with her own likes and even desires, yet at the same time remains true to her nature as Terminator. She has a mission...it's just that she seems to choose that mission on her own and especially how reach the completion of that mission.

Granted, FOX did Firefly's with the show and axed it will before it's time. I guess that was partially because TSCC was also ahead of its time. If the show would have been done 4-5 years later, it would have done much better.

Edit: One could argue that Vision from MCU might fit too, though he's more of Android that AI type being really.

[TTTX]

Yet, even if I can see ME3 continuation quite possible and even easy to do, I have reached a point were I don't want another ME game as long as EA could be anyway at all involved in the process. Nothing good come out of Bioware joining with EA. Quite the contrary, that connection quite possibly ruined ME3.

I think BW own arrogance and biting more off then could chew when trying to do a trilogy also played a part in the trilogy falling apart at ME3.

after all a lot of story problems ME3 have starts in ME2 and ME2 story problems probably start sometime near the end of ME1's production, where the creators asked "what do in middle game of the trilogy?" and the answer mostly turned into nothing important really happened.

Not sure if you guys care of this, but I would sure buy and play ME MMO.

Well I genrally hate MMO's so I skip and hate on it in a heart beat.

[magnuskn]

Call me crazy, but if they want relatively quick money maker, they should make Mass Effect MMO. Sure, it does design challenges, yet it could be made a WOW style game. We already have plenty of what could be considered as different classes with very different build options. You easily have different factions too, even your modern undead with husk retaining some of their past life after Reapers were destroyed and you go after ME3. You definitely have the world build on. And most of all, starting right after ME3 would be perfect starting point as you have conflict, problems to solve, quests to be done and so on.

And if the game is build like WOW with monthly passes and/or they add real money shop system in the game to buy better quality gear or so, it could be real profitable.

Not sure if you guys care of this, but I would sure buy and play ME MMO.

That would be, quite literally, be the abso-fucking-lutely worst thing that could happen to the Mass Effect franchise. It makes me want to puke just thinking about it.

[Alienmorph]

I'll be honest. I want ME to lay low and stay dead. At least for a few years, while the lootbox craze and the other current AAA fuckeries gets sorted out. If it is, then we can talk business. If it isn't, I'll take solice in the fact the series was spared the worst the current gaming industry can do.

And anyway, I expect Anthem to be the last nail in the coffin for BW. A Destiny clone, with EA bullshit microeconomy strategies implemented, on an engine they already proved thei're not fully suited for? I don't have much confidence about it being any good other than "oooohh... pwetty gwaphics!"

[Someone With Mass]

Yeah, EA has made it abundantly clear that they think that linear singleplayer games won't sell well (which is an asinine and false notion, by the way) because they can't cram in as many microtransactions or have reasonable expectations. Then again, I think it's only a matter of time before microtransactions will start to decline in both popularity and revenue. Maybe not go away completely, but there will be a breaking point and all I can do is sit and laugh when that happens because EA's so stupid that they're putting all of their eggs in one basket.

As long as Mass Effect is a property of EA and their idiotic "games as a service" mentality, I'd rather not have another game.

Also, I read a quote somewhere about how EA's chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen thinks that they should extend the loot box mechanics to their other franchises just because FIFA managed to rake in over 800 million dollars that way. I can only think of this scene as an appropriate response when I hear something that enraging and so very, very stupid.

It's only working for FIFA because it's essentially trading cards in digital form and a lot of people are into that stuff. Mass Effect and Battlefront don't have trading cards and such a vast cultural following. That's why the whole loot box thing is backfiring, but you sure as fuck won't hear EA admit that. It's so much easier to shift the blame towards us gamers.

[Alienmorph]

Especially if it suits their narrative. "It's not we're greedy moneygrabbing douchebags, it's that singleplayer-focused games are a thing of the past. MAKE US MORE DESTINITY CLONES AND SHUT THE FUCK UP."

Too bad that two of the most acclaimed games of 2017 are Super Mario Odissey and Zelda: BoT which are hard-core singleplayer games. And that the one title that keep being sold over, and over and over and over again is Skyrim. ALSO an hardcore singleplayer game.

Oh well... more money to buy indie games more worth playing. And I don't give a shit if that sounds hypstery LoL

[TTTX]

Especially if it suits their narrative. "It's not we're greedy moneygrabbing douchebags, it's that singleplayer-focused games are a thing of the past. MAKE US MORE DESTINITY CLONES AND SHUT THE FUCK UP."

Too bad that two of the most acclaimed games of 2017 are Super Mario Odissey and Zelda: BoT which are hard-core singleplayer games. And that the one title that keep being sold over, and over and over and over again is Skyrim. ALSO an hardcore singleplayer game.

Oh well... more money to buy indie games more worth playing. And I don't give a shit if that sounds hypstery LoL

don't forget Horizon zero dawn a PS4 exclusive, that just had a big expansive DLC (which is awesome) and it has no multiplayer.

[Alienmorph]

Yes. If anything, the more publishers keep wanting to sell us "service games" heavy on multiplayer, the more the few, actually good single player experiences shine through and do better.

Meanwhile crap like Destiny 2 loses most of its playerbase in about a month, and is really unlikely to make it worth producing more than one major DlC for it, before it becomes largely unprofitable because there's no one left to buy further content.

[Alienmorph]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpY7Yx0Ua8Y

[Dragaros]

https://www.gamingheads.com/mass-effect ... tatue.html

[[ "MASS EFFECT™: WREX EXCLUSIVE STATUE
$599.99
PRE-ORDER
Estimated availability: Q4 2018

Gaming Heads proudly presents the Mass Effect™: Wrex exclusive edition statue (also available in a regular edition). Standing approximately 23 inches tall (1/4 scale), the Wrex exclusive edition statue comes with the Graal-spike thrower shotgun and open left hand (as included with the regular edition), along with the exclusive edition M-300 claymore shotgun and a clenched left hand swap-out items. Pre-order now to secure an edition number that matches your previous Mass Effect™ statues. Limited to 500 pieces worldwide." ]]

[Vol]

Wow that sure is a cool statue that I could in no way justify spending $600 on. Heh.

My Vetra litho arrived a while ago, actually, but haven't taken the time to get it framed yet.

[TLock]

Question for all of you who played ME:A, did you get any CPU troubles? Checking my CPU temp while playing and...thing is going over 60c (140f) even going so far as staying on 80c (176f) for periods of time. Changed fan, but the temp is still reaching the high 50's (way better than before, but still).

[Vol]

Other than a rare few hard crashes, no, the game was remarkably stable and well optimized.

[magnuskn]

Okay, I just found out that there is a massive fanfic called Avatar of Victory which crossovers Mass Effect with Avatar/The Legend of Korra. This sounds pretty awesome, but it's a FemShep fic (not my thing) and features a FemShep/Liara romance (Uggggh....), so I don't know if I should get into it. Anybody has read it and can give an opinion?

If you're interested in the premise then try it out.

Or you could let your own opinions of a subjective viewpoint (ME romances) sully your opinion of it before even trying it.
This person might write that romance well.

This is Mr Picky here telling you to bite the bullet and try it.

Well, I've begun to read it (11 chapters in) and it is a gigantic, sprawling re-telling of the series, with a super broken renegade FemShep, who is also The Avatar. ^^ It is really pretty good, the odd ortographical error aside. 80-something chapters, though, so if anybody else is interested, plan in a lot of time.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8099181/1/ ... of-Victory

[TLock]

So, progressing through ME A and I gotta say...Liam, liking him less and less every single time i have him. Not the mention his loyalty mission, I mean how can you screw up so badly. It is almost like common sense eludes him.

In terms of romance, it feels like it takes longer than in previous ME games. I also feel I may have shadowmanced one or two characters.

[TTTX]

So, progressing through ME A and I gotta say...Liam, liking him less and less every single time i have him. Not the mention his loyalty mission, I mean how can you screw up so badly. It is almost like common sense eludes him.

In terms of romance, it feels like it takes longer than in previous ME games. I also feel I may have shadowmanced one or two characters.

Yeah the romances take forever in ME:A (and it doesn't most character barely acknowledge it for most of the game), but you can't be shadowmanced by any character unless you are actively flirting with them, the only exception is the Asari squadmate who just offers sex and flirts with you because that's what she does.

As for Liam yeah he is just not a good character.

[Vol]

Liam, I disliked him to start, grew to tolerate him, got pissed at his personal mission, and then sorta became okay with him after that. He's a weird character to peg because he's so flawed, but he didn't personally irritate me like other characters.

ME:A did the romances pretty well. They take more time, there's more setup, though I'd always want more, and you get sweet moments that the previous games didn't even allude to (Vetra's cooking). And the range of options was nice too. The lack of recognition was my biggest qualm, and even then, you get a decent amount, like building a cozy nest with your spikey girlfriend.

[Someone With Mass]

I think that Liam was written by multiple writers, because he's somewhat tolerable on the ship (or rather, not enganging enough so that he becomes annoying in the same way Jacob and Kaidan felt harmless), but the second he steps out of the ship, he becomes a grade A douchebag with a huge chip on his shoulder about how everyone else treats people.

While I liked the romance with Vetra (best Crew Mother I've met), I think it took a little too long to get going and it was rather short. Sure, same thing could be said about Tali's romance, but that one at least felt concentrated enough to make me think about it all the time. It's a bit if a shame after I first started to visit my favorite quarian aboard the Normandy after every mission because I was hoping for some more romance goodness, only to be treated with the same "I'm busy" line almost all the time until after the loyalty mission (one that actually mattered too), the same thing is happening seven years later.

If the romance could have been locked in a little earlier, I would have appreciated it more.

[TLock]

I feel that the romance aspect has no real impact once it is locked in besides the romance scene, I have seen the videos and in most crucial moments there is no interaction with the romanced character. Hell the is not much interaction when flirting with them, well besides PeeBee.

As for Liam, I hate parts of him in how even though he knows he fucked up he thinks he did the right call. Like his loyalty mission. I also find Ryder to be a bit dry, like when important things happen. I find the lack of emotional impact in for example the destruction of the kett ascension site a but meh...I mean he killed well over a 100 people there and most the team besides Jaal acts like "meh, it had to happen."