199 replies to this topic

[RossS]

So Mass Effect 3 hits on March 9th and already people are up in arms about any number of things. The collectors edition is sold out http://www.eurogamer...e-before-launch (in the UK it was a GAME exclusive and they sold out last month). Looks like the lion's share of the crew from ME 2 are not back as playable squad members, only in mission specific cameos that tie up stories. Most controversially there is day 1 DLC that includes a unique playable squad mate and missions http://www.videogame..._ashes_dlc.html (be warned the content of the DLC could be conisdered mildly spoilery).

Unfortunately trailers like this mean that none of that really matters.



BRING....IT...ON!

Edited by RossS, 23 February 2012 - 05:15 PM.

[craggy]

So the day 1 DLC is the stuff that was announced as coming with the sold-out collectors edition (not Collectors' edition though. ) and people are complaining? Geez. ME2 had day 1 DLC too, the Cerberus Network and that grizzled combat vet merc dude. Right?

[RossS]

So the day 1 DLC is the stuff that was announced as coming with the sold-out collectors edition (not Collectors' edition though. ) and people are complaining? Geez. ME2 had day 1 DLC too, the Cerberus Network and that grizzled combat vet merc dude. Right?

Yeah but those were free. People seem to get very upset that they pay 40 pound for a game and on day 1 it is already an incomplete experience. I can see where they are coming from, but I'm yet to see any DLC for any game that was essential to the story or my enjoyment of the product.

Edited by RossS, 23 February 2012 - 05:28 PM.

[craggy]

only with the purchase of the regular edition*. was there any special stuff that came with the ME2 collectors edition?

edit: *and then, only when it was bought brand-new. I lucked out in getting a pre-owned copy that came with codes that weren't already used, otherwise the Cerberus stuff was 1200 points, I think.

[Ryan Landau]

Yeah the Day One DLC in question is $10 no matter which version of the game you purchase or pre-order. Personally I think the "controversy" is a little silly, especially since most of the people complaining are gonna buy it anyway.

[RossS]

only with the purchase of the regular edition. was there any special stuff that came with the ME2 collectors edition?

God knows, I'd never dream of paying £70 for a pretty box and a special gun...

Yeah the Day One DLC in question is $10 no matter which version of the game you purchase or pre-order. Personally I think the "controversy" is a little silly, especially since most of the people complaining are gonna buy it anyway.

No it's free with the N7 collector's edition. They have always stated that that version included a free playable character, just not what.

[craggy]

so it's not the stuff that comes in the Collectors Edition? I thought we were getting the extra squadmate and alternate appearances as part of that version of the game? for free/included in the price, that is. If it's an extra tenner above the CE price, then yeah, I'm grumpy. If it's CE stuff but can be purchased by people who've only managed to get the regular edition, then I'm all for it. Nice to get the option.

edit: Ross, confirms what I'd thought. I think that's fine. Better than some games where you never get a chance to grab the in-game extras.

[Ryan Landau]

God knows, I'd never dream of paying £70 for a pretty box and a special gun...



No it's free with the N7 collector's edition. They have always stated that that version included a free playable character, just not what.

Crap! You're absolutely right. Sorry about that!

[Rory Abel]

So Mass Effect 3 hits on March 9th and already people are up in arms about any number of things. The collectors edition is sold out http://www.eurogamer...e-before-launch (in the UK it was a GAME exclusive and they sold out last month). Looks like the lion's share of the crew from ME 2 are not back as playable squad members, only in mission specific cameos that tie up stories.

I don't get how the bolded part is contraversial. It's the only option that makes sense. Every single one of those characters could have potentially died in ME2, so there's no way that Bioware was going to make them essential or even playable. To do so would invalidate many people's playthroughs and Bioware is all about making each buyer's story the true story.

Edited by Rory Abel, 23 February 2012 - 06:02 PM.

[Chris D]

I do think $10 is a little steep for the day 1 DLC (not that it matters to me, I pre-ordered the CE), but otherwise I think most people are complaining just to complain. If you ever go to the Mass Effect forums it's littered with complaints about every little thing about a game of which they've, at most, played a hour or so.

Anyway, I'm amped for this one. March 6th needs to get here NOW!

[Ogul]

Yeah but those were free. People seem to get very upset that they pay 40 pound for a game and on day 1 it is already an incomplete experience.

If it's the digital content of the collector's edition, and the price is reasonable, I think that's great. It gives people options, and if they missed out on the collector's edition, even if they start playing years from now, they'll be able to get the content. I like when the developers give players options, so long as they're priced fairly (for example, if the "collectors edition" costs $15 more than retail and includes a package of digital stuff, plus an art book and figure and other physical stuff, don't charge more than $10 for just the digital stuff). Also, if a DLC allows you to download a retailer's exclusive freebie, don't price it as more than $5.

I don't get how the bolded part is contraversial. It's the only option that makes sense. Every single one of those characters could have potentially died in ME2, so there's no way that Bioware was going to make them essential or even playable. To do so would invalidate many people's playthroughs and Bioware is all about making each buyer's story the true story.

They couldn't have made them essential, but they could have made them optional. It would have meant more work though. Basically, any side missions that specifically dealt with one of them would have to be completely optional to the main storyline, like loyalty missions, and players who got that character killed wouldn't be able to do those missions at all. They would have needed redundancies in various roles as well so that even in the worst case you'd have at least one sniper, engineer, biotic, soldier, etc. available. I really hope Kasumi's in, she didn't get nearly enough play in ME2 as a late optional addition, and I liked her moves.

Anyways, I just finished The Arrival, which caps off my ME2 experience. It got a lot of bad reviews, but personally I enjoyed it. Yes, it was a very different ME experience that almost all of it was done solo, but I didn't think it was terrible for that, and the feeling of being on your own, and being very sneaky worked well, I thought. They did a great job of presenting a very big, credible threat, and keeping the tension up as you try to resolve it. My Infiltrator was hard-pressed in places, especially against the flamethrower guys, and in the last major battle I almost ran out of ammo (down to one sniper bullet, and I only kept that because I switched to pistol to take out the last guy). There was only one bit I had a problem with, and that was the resolution/prologue to ME3. So basically, for those that haven't played this but don't mind the spoiler,

Spoiler

there's an "Alpha Relay" that would have allowed the Reapers to jump anywhere in the galaxy instantly, basically making the invasion take like a minute, so. . . bad news. A human research base figures this out, and rigs their giant asteroid to smash into the Relay, which they believe will destroy it. Of course they go crazy and try to stop it at the last minute, while you have to ensure that it happens, to save the galaxy. All pretty simple stuff. The problem? It's in a system with around 300K Bataran colonists, which you have no chance of evacuating before this exploding Relay destroys the entire system and cuts them off from space travel anyways. So you pretty much kill 300 thousand to save trillions throughout the galaxy. This all makes sense to me, it's a tough decision, and you might get hung for it because pissing off the Batarans is a bad idea when there's another, bigger war out there. The problem I have is, how would they know? They know nothing of what happened on that asteroid base, you're the only one that made it off. They likely wouldn't know much of anything that happened in that system, since it was blown to smithereens, with the relay and station themselves being atomized at the very least. There is absolutely no evidence of what you did, at most they might have gotten word of the asteroid's impending impact with the relay, but Shepard could easily have passed that off as being just her trying to stop that from happening, and failing. The evidence chain is crap, basically. Which annoys me.

[Rory Abel]

If it's the digital content of the collector's edition, and the price is reasonable, I think that's great. It gives people options, and if they missed out on the collector's edition, even if they start playing years from now, they'll be able to get the content. I like when the developers give players options, so long as they're priced fairly (for example, if the "collectors edition" costs $15 more than retail and includes a package of digital stuff, plus an art book and figure and other physical stuff, don't charge more than $10 for just the digital stuff). Also, if a DLC allows you to download a retailer's exclusive freebie, don't price it as more than $5.



They couldn't have made them essential, but they could have made them optional. It would have meant more work though. Basically, any side missions that specifically dealt with one of them would have to be completely optional to the main storyline, like loyalty missions, and players who got that character killed wouldn't be able to do those missions at all. They would have needed redundancies in various roles as well so that even in the worst case you'd have at least one sniper, engineer, biotic, soldier, etc. available. I really hope Kasumi's in, she didn't get nearly enough play in ME2 as a late optional addition, and I liked her moves.

That's what they did. They show up as non-playable assisting characters in missions specific to their world. If they died they're replaced with a generic character just like what they did in ME2. This is a non-issue that people are bitching about just to bitch.

[Mikha'il Tegler]

According to the interviews I've read, Bioware decided on a small squad in order for players to have deeper relations with the team. james vega and the DLC character are the only ones that are new. Liara, Tali, Garrus, and Ashley or Kaidan (though for the life of me why someone would let him live is beyond me). I'd swap Garrus for Wrex, but the other choices are good.

[Ryan Landau]

Frankly I wish there was a way to send Ashley AND Kaidan to sacrifice themselves. No interest whatsoever in using either of them in my squad. I'd rather have Mordin or Legion in that spot.

[Chris D]

According to the interviews I've read, Bioware decided on a small squad in order for players to have deeper relations with the team. james vega and the DLC character are the only ones that are new. Liara, Tali, Garrus, and Ashley or Kaidan (though for the life of me why someone would let him live is beyond me). I'd swap Garrus for Wrex, but the other choices are good.

I've heard there might be two other squad members that are new (which would make it a couple more than your ME1 crew, but fewer than your ME2 crew), but obviously it could just be a rumor with no substance to it. I didn't want to investigate further because I wanted to avoid potential spoilers.

[Ryan Landau]

I've heard there might be two other squad members that are new (which would make it a couple more than your ME1 crew, but fewer than your ME2 crew), but obviously it could just be a rumor with no substance to it. I didn't want to investigate further because I wanted to avoid potential spoilers.

There's at least one, but I'm not naming names as it's technically a spoiler.

[craggy]

no Miranda? after all that effort into romancing her in 2? might have to do a Paragon playthough where I don't spurn Ashley or Liara then, since I sorta told them both to bugger off cause I had the new hotness.

[Rory Abel]

no Miranda? after all that effort into romancing her in 2? might have to do a Paragon playthough where I don't spurn Ashley or Liara then, since I sorta told them both to bugger off cause I had the new hotness.

They specifically said that there would be a confrontation between lovers if you chose to cheat in ME2.

[Mikha'il Tegler]

Miranda, definitely appears in ME3, just not as a team member. maybe a temporary one, like Liara in the Shadow Broker DLC.

[craggy]

I don't want to temporary Miranda!