Oh crap she's spread to another series..

[Stark]

A plot hole here and there is hardly ground for calling it boring and pretentious.

Um, huge amounts of exposition is boring. The way characters who are incredibly stupid are supposed to be clever or respected is pretentious. The whole THEME of the game aspires to old-school scifi relevance (right down to oh noez keep the humans out) and doesn't measure up. It's okay to be pretentious if it works, but if you fuck up it makes you look more stupid. Poor old Mass Effect.

Or you have the attention span of a humming bird. Sure, the Citadel cacn get a little samey after a while but it's not the borefest you make it out to be.

Games are supposed to be fun, not GO THROUGH THE SAME 1M ELEVATOR LOADING TIME 50+ TIMES TO DO A FEW FEDEX QUESTS. Sorry, the Citadel was fucking boring. A) fedex quests. B) super long loading times, constantly. C) they trap you there for a while before you can even leave, to force you to watch D) exposition cutscenes. Is this the brilliant writing, y/n?

And what similarity does Sovereign have to the Kohr-Ah apart from "lol kill everyone"?
If you're going to make comparisons to Starcon, the Reapers are more akin to the Eternal Ones in the shitstain known as Star Control 3.

Oh sorry, wanting to kill everyone for a stupid semi-religious reason, looming on a screen and sounding the same as they outline their retarded plan for no reason reminds me of the Kohr-Ah. I guess I missed the excellent writing in this part? I actually think their motives were supposed to be deep and disturbing instead of hilariously cliched and hackneyed.

Wait wait wait, you blast Mass Effect then praise Planescape, king of all pretentious plots? Heh.

Here's the difference.

Planescape was pretenious, but it actually worked. The wordy fantasy text actually drove the game, and the characters existed in much greater immediacy than in Mass Effect. It wasn't just BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG wow alien reapers BANG BANG BANG BANG oh no ashley died BANG BANG BANG. Planescape had better writing that was more plot-meaningful and at the same time allowed much, much greater flexibility. This is superior to Mass Effect's largely meaningless fluff-dumps and almost entirely linear play. I don't even LIKE Planescape (I hate puzzles) but it's obviously got better writing than Mass Effect. They spent the whole game (and many fluffdumps) setting up the Krogan thing, and then it's just handwaved away by Shepard saying 'c'mon Wrex'. This is poor.

My point in that was to show that one's opinion on a game doesn't make it fact, regardless if you think of yourself as the primary judge of all quality.

You can't defeat an opinion with an opinion. I can actually discuss my opinions and talk about why I hold them and attributes that inform them; people like you just say 'lol Planescape suxxxxx' and expect this to be as valuable as 'Mass Effect's writing contains features xyz which are poor or weak'.

Now I admit I played Mass Effect start to finish five times. That doesn't mean I have to defend it's stupidity, particularly not after having talked to other players who noticed the same 'hidden' plot in the subtext that was WAY BETTER than the horrible story we actually got.

[Peptuck]

Not true. The Mass Effect novel was a pretty good read

You are either or both of the following

a) insane

Being human, I'm automatically qualified for this.

b) someone who thinks that Mass Effect had a high quality of writing

Or c) I mostly read it for a better insight into the ME universe.

If I'm reading a videogame novel, I'm not reading it for the quality - that can be a plus, but its unnecessary. I generally only read a novel if its "official" and counts within the universe's canon/continuity. Otherwise I'm paying money to read licensed fanfiction, and that's fucking stupid.

either is bad, both is terrible. That novel was absurdly pretentious (both writing style and with their attempts at 'hard' scifi ZOMG TEH GAMMAZ) and incredibly boring. Sure, Mass Effect was both pretentious and boring so maybe that shoudl be a success, lol.

The writing for the novel is goddamn pretentious, and its got so much exposition you could cut it out and probably lose half the damn book. But at leastteh characterization was good and it gave me some good extra information on the setting, so I tolerated it.

You want bad writing in a videogame novel, DeCandido's Tiberium Wars novelization is right where its at. Hey, let's promote a Private to Sergeant on his first day out of boot, when he's shown no leadership ability or initiative for himself! Or maybe we'll just have our giant artillery walkers step on enemy infantry instead of, I dunno, play artillery. And that's not even counting the sidearms with 40 rounds of .50 cal ammunition, which are more accurate than assault rifles.

Just why DID Kohr-Ah... I mean, Sovereign... decide to call you up and fill you in on his whole plan again?

Well, you are cocking around in the base's communications center, fiddling with important beacons and whatnot, and when he called you up at that point, Sovereign thought you were Saren, until he realized you're just some other shitheel organics he can dick around with. Cue a flurry of taunting nonanswers and Shit You Already Know.

[Stark]

That's an interesting perspecitve; I actually read the two 'demo' chapters of the book before the game came out (as part of the ME marketing blitz) and was really, really unimpressed (and not particularly impressed with the characterisation of Anderson once I played the game either). Because I read bits of it first, I wasn't able to look for any extra info about the universe (except the massive Earth infodump in the first chapter anyway).

Hmm. Since I've got my own Actual Story for ME, I wonder if the novel would support it or clear up the massive empty gaps in the ME game story. I just don't think my shit filters are powerful enough for me to read the damn book.

[Peptuck]

Hmm. Since I've got my own Actual Story for ME, I wonder if the novel would support it or clear up the massive empty gaps in the ME game story. I just don't think my shit filters are powerful enough for me to read the damn book.

The book barely touches on the ME game plot. All it really does is elaborate on how much of a psychotic fucker Saren is, how he fucked Anderson over on the refinery mission, and how he found Sovereign.

Really, the best part of the book is any scene involving Saren. In-game, he's Sovereign's bitch, but in the novel, he actually comes off as a decent - if ridiculously psychotic - villain, and it does a good job elaborating on his "protect the galaxy, at whatever cost" mentality that just barely shines through in the actual game.

[Stark]

Yeah, it was a shame that Saren didn't get much time to be 'fuck you, I'm going to save the world' and just got 60s sci-fi 'mind control headaches'. His intro scene was excellent, but then he pretty much leaves the game for hours and hours which was a shame.

[Ford Prefect]

I mostly read it for a better insight into the ME universe.

Did you feel robbed when you realised that absolutely everything you could ever possibly want to know is in the in-game codex? I actually like a lot of the background elements they came up with, even their attempts at scienctific plausibility, which isn't so annoying when its not presented in the course of the actual story.

[Peptuck]

I mostly read it for a better insight into the ME universe.

Did you feel robbed when you realised that absolutely everything you could ever possibly want to know is in the in-game codex?

Shit, yes.

Especially because I bought the book after I played the damn game. Made the expository parts all the worse.

[Stark]

Did you feel robbed when you realised that absolutely everything you could ever possibly want to know is in the in-game codex? I actually like a lot of the background elements they came up with, even their attempts at scienctific plausibility, which isn't so annoying when its not presented in the course of the actual story.

It's actually kinda sad that the codex has such detailed technological information (right to the point of saying 'yeah, finding alien base and two years later having all this tech is unrealistic' in an in-universe conspiracy way) and the story basically references none of it. I hear you can use a mass relay that's inside a building? LOL!

[Ford Prefect]

It's actually kinda sad that the codex has such detailed technological information (right to the point of saying 'yeah, finding alien base and two years later having all this tech is unrealistic' in an in-universe conspiracy way) and the story basically references none of it. I hear you can use a mass relay that's inside a building? LOL!

It's especially sad when I remember that Final Fantasy VIII had a similar encylopaedia, except that it actually was relevant to the plot. I was reading stuff in that encyclopaedia, which later became pertinent. It wasn't necessary, but it served something more of a purpose than geek cred.

[Tiriol]

Worse than movie videogames?

The novelisation of Baldur's Gate is an artifact of such malevolence and evil that men go mad merely being in the same room as it.

Wasn't that the one where Khalid was killed by jelly, and then Jaheria crawled into the protagonists pants? Where the author couldn't describe to you a broadsword if his life depended on it?

Didn't the sequel basically revolve around Irenicus being a minor bit character while the hero fucked jaheria and Imoen got all lesbian with a drow priestess?

I don't remember about Irenicus being a minor character (although he wasn't the cool and arrogant manipulator of the game, but rather a gloating and giggling maniac); but yes, Imoen does engage in sexual activity (at least it is heavily implied) with Phaere of Ust Natha. But the protagonist doesn't have sex with Jaheira, but with Bodhi.

Yes, with Bodhi. Who likes to make her shirt wet so that breasts show better. For some reason, I don't remember that from the game.

[Vympel]

Games are supposed to be fun, not GO THROUGH THE SAME 1M ELEVATOR LOADING TIME 50+ TIMES TO DO A FEW FEDEX QUESTS. Sorry, the Citadel was fucking boring. A) fedex quests. B) super long loading times, constantly. C) they trap you there for a while before you can even leave, to force you to watch D) exposition cutscenes. Is this the brilliant writing, y/n?

Doesn't the X360 version have a rapid transit system? Traveling around the Citadel in the PC version was fucking lightning fast, even if you used the elevator - oh wait. I see what I did there.

LOL at consoles being the future of gaming.

[Stark]

Yeah, it's got the cabs; you still have to stare at a load, and to go to/from the ship you need to use elevators anyway. The load times were awful; more than a minute in some cases, and once the game ran out of 'news items' they were silent bar the occasional 'hilarious' dialog.

[Vympel]

Yeah, it's got the cabs; you still have to stare at a load, and to go to/from the ship you need to use elevators anyway. The load times were awful; more than a minute in some cases, and once the game ran out of 'news items' they were silent bar the occasional 'hilarious' dialog.

Don't know how you stood it. I've finished Mass Effect twice in a month (one Renegade, one Paragon, obviously), only took 50 hours of play. God knows how long it would take putting up with elevator load times.

[Stark]

You just leave Citadel as fast as you can and never go back.

Oh, except to get the ally achievements you have to do all those stupid missions. Fucking achievements.

[Vympel]

You just leave Citadel as fast as you can and never go back.

Oh, except to get the ally achievements you have to do all those stupid missions. Fucking achievements.

Dude, fuck achievements. One thing that I can be thankful for on the PC version is that you can't actually see what achievements you've gotten and haven't gotten, therefore there's no incentive to get them. If they happen, fine, whatever. If not, even better. The only reason I replayed ME twice was to see both types of play styles, and also to get up to Level 60 and equip all my party with Colossus X armor, which I did (except Ashley, who got Medium Colossus X as opposed to heavy).

Well, I'm Level 59 but who's counting. The character's saved for ME2 and that's the end of it. Though how one is supposed to play a sequel at Level 60, I don't know.

[Stark]

Some of them are useful (with the modifiers), but the ME ones were all so easy to get (just time investment, not skill required like many games) that aside from the ally ones it's almost impossible to not get them.

The xp required above level 50 is retarded. I started a game at level 46 or soemthing, and when I'd finished the whole game I was 54. Crazy shit.

[Vympel]

Some of them are useful (with the modifiers), but the ME ones were all so easy to get (just time investment, not skill required like many games) that aside from the ally ones it's almost impossible to not get them.

The xp required above level 50 is retarded. I started a game at level 46 or soemthing, and when I'd finished the whole game I was 54. Crazy shit.

You must've not been doing all the side quests - in my first playthrough I got up to Level 50, it was my second, even doing all the quests, that I only got up to Level 59 - Lvl 59 to 60 is retarded high.

I might play through it again, I dunno, or make a new character and powergame a bit, because I wasted some points on pistols and charm/ intimidate when I'm a Soldier (Assault Rifle / Sniper Rifle is all you really need, and you get Charm/Intimidate maxed for free on a few playthroughs anyway!)

Anyway, as to Mass Effect's plot, it was pretty standard sci-fi stuff, nothing remarkable. There was no big, KOTOR style twist, and the exposition from Sovereign was really ham-fisted. However, as a set up for two sequels, I'm more tolerant of a lackluster plot, especially since I enjoyed the gameplay and the pure style of the game. I don't think you can even get the books here.

[Peptuck]

Oh, except to get the ally achievements you have to do all those stupid missions. Fucking achievements.

Some of the Ally achievements are practically worthless. At least with the talent tree achievements you get a real benefit. Vanguard + assault rifles = Biotic Soldier to the fucking max. The only sad part is you can only choose one extra talent, because if I could I'd give Vanguard Shepard Singularity and Assault Rifles and destroy the entire game on my lonesome.

[Ford Prefect]

Some of the Ally achievements are practically worthless. At least with the talent tree achievements you get a real benefit. Vanguard + assault rifles = Biotic Soldier to the fucking max. The only sad part is you can only choose one extra talent, because if I could I'd give Vanguard Shepard Singularity and Assault Rifles and destroy the entire game on my lonesome.

There's your problem - you used a Vanguard and gave him assault rifles. I made a pure biotic with an assault rifle and stopped playing because it was entirely effortless. I honestly cannot see any reason to use a weapon other than the assault rifle. The sniper rifle is vaguely useful, but not even remotely necessary.

[Thanas]

Wasn't that the one where Khalid was killed by jelly, and then Jaheria crawled into the protagonists pants? Where the author couldn't describe to you a broadsword if his life depended on it?

Didn't the sequel basically revolve around Irenicus being a minor bit character while the hero fucked jaheria and Imoen got all lesbian with a drow priestess?

I don't remember about Irenicus being a minor character (although he wasn't the cool and arrogant manipulator of the game, but rather a gloating and giggling maniac); but yes, Imoen does engage in sexual activity (at least it is heavily implied) with Phaere of Ust Natha. But the protagonist doesn't have sex with Jaheira, but with Bodhi.

Yes, with Bodhi. Who likes to make her shirt wet so that breasts show better. For some reason, I don't remember that from the game.

That reads like bad fanfic...who was the author of that excrement?

[Molyneux]

The first City of Heroes novel was almost literally painful to get through. Oddly enough, the comics were largely readable - not great stuff, but they did have some legitimately good moments.

[Peptuck]

Some of the Ally achievements are practically worthless. At least with the talent tree achievements you get a real benefit. Vanguard + assault rifles = Biotic Soldier to the fucking max. The only sad part is you can only choose one extra talent, because if I could I'd give Vanguard Shepard Singularity and Assault Rifles and destroy the entire game on my lonesome.

There's your problem - you used a Vanguard and gave him assault rifles. I made a pure biotic with an assault rifle and stopped playing because it was entirely effortless.

I actually had a lot of trouble with my assault rifle Adept when I played through, but that was because I was playing on Insanity difficulty. The game didn't stop being a brutal beatdown requiring every tactical trick I could think of until I managed to pass level 40. That krogan Battlemaster at the end of Therum became nearly impossible to beat.

I honestly cannot see any reason to use a weapon other than the assault rifle. The sniper rifle is vaguely useful, but not even remotely necessary.

Well, it does balance out the Soldier class' complete lack of any support abilities.....though at the same time, you've got three party members who can also use assault rifles, too, and one of them gets buffs to his accuracy and damage at the same time, and can take Electronics to boost his shields.

[Vendetta]

Just to drag this vaguely back on topic, if this interview is any guide, Traviss will have disappeared up her own arsehole long before publication.

[Ford Prefect]

You know, that's pretty funny. She started off gushing over the art, which was promising, and then she started talking about the Jedi, at which point I facepalmed.

[Scottish Ninja]

This bit is perfect:

“If you come to a universe cold, not as a fan or even as someone who knows anything about it at all, you tend to see a very different world...”

Yes. One that is, apparently, not the one you were asked to write in.