Mass Effect movie announced

[Starglider]

Even in playing ultra pu...I mean Paragon, I did that. If for no other reason I just cannot believe even Goody two shoes Sheppard would let such an easy thing get away. I just love the looks of whoever you bring to that mission looking at you.

This is why I found the Paragon/Renegade points bonus for doing a ME1 import much more useful than the XP/money bonuses; it let you get away with a lot more mixed choices and still make the threshold for keeping your whole team loyal.

[adam_grif]

The dev's revealed that the game keeps track of how many Paragon/Renegade opportunities you've had, then compares them against how many points you have. You have to get extremely close to 100% of either in order to do the hardest persuades in the game, so you either have to have import bonuses or be 100% paragon / 100% renegade in order to pull them off.

Frankly, tying the persuade system to the morality system sucked. It wouldn't be quite as bad except that when you do NewGame+ and import the character you just finished the game with, you keep XP and weapons, but you don't get any morality carryover, so you don't even get the same import bonus you got the first play-through.

[Starglider]

Frankly, tying the persuade system to the morality system sucked. It wouldn't be quite as bad except that when you do NewGame+ and import the character you just finished the game with, you keep XP and weapons, but you don't get any morality carryover, so you don't even get the same import bonus you got the first play-through.

Yeah, that's why I ended up completing the game twice on Insanity, the first time (with NewGame+) I messed about with the roleplaying, failed all three persuade checks and lost Jack, Tali, Zaeed and the Normandy crew. The second time (with ME1 import) was much easier, despite starting from Lv5 instead of Lv30. Partly because completing Firewalker gives you a free pathetically easy XP/cash/resource bonus right at the start, partly because the Kasumi mission gives you that plus a neat SMG, and partly because I just had more practice (e.g. knew about using the Cain to easily beat the collector ship mission). Also you don't seem to get the bonus assault rifle proficiency (for non-soldiers, on the collector ship) if you're playing NewGame+, you do with ME1 import.

[adam_grif]

On the Collector Ship mission, you can pick one of three weapon trainings, and if you are a class that already had one, you can get a special weapon of that class instead of a new weapon training. But it's one time only, if you start a new game importing that character, you still have the specialization / weapon from the last time around, and can use them right from the start, but don't get to get a second one when you return to the ship.

The other reason why NG+ on insanity is way harder than importing an ME1 save is that enemies scale with you as you level up, but when you NG+ you don't keep all of your research projects. So if you're level 30 and you start NG+ on insanity, the enemies considerably more powerful than they would be if you had started on level 1, and you're disadvantaged, since you don't have these upgrades that you would have by the time you reached level 30 "naturally", which is what their level scaling was balanced to take into account.

So starting a new game w/ ME1 save is easier because the max starting level is 5, more than any of the other things you mentioned, although they certainly will contribute.

[Starglider]

On the Collector Ship mission, you can pick one of three weapon trainings, and if you are a class that already had one, you can get a special weapon of that class instead of a new weapon training. But it's one time only, if you start a new game importing that character, you still have the specialization / weapon from the last time around, and can use them right from the start, but don't get to get a second one when you return to the ship.

Thinking back I may have picked 'shotgun' on my the first play-through and then forgotten it existed for the second, because it was so useless on Insanity (where charge into group of enemies = die instantly). Also that 'off hand ammo pack' DLC seemed to make a difference, I was running out of ammo noticeably less often on the last playthrough (though I was probably spamming incinerate more as well).

[adam_grif]

Offhand ammo pack is purchased in a store in the game from memory, unless you're talking about the ammo bonus you get from one of the DLC armors (Cerberus Assault Armor I think? I haven't downloaded most of the crappy DLC like that).

Also yes, shotguns are mostly useless. Worst of the three longarms by far. Ever played an Infiltrator? Infiltrator + max cloak + Widow Anti-material rifle = godlike. But the Revanent MG + Soldier is my favorite still. I feel stupid running around using single-shot sniper rifles as a weapon for close range engagements.

[Isil`Zha]

Uh, yes it does. It means he didn't have a fucking clue how to adapt the dialogue to the big screen. Video-game dialogue can be fucking cringe-worthy and not suitable for use in movies at all.

The problems with the Wing Commander movie were much further reaching than dialogue problems. First, he straight up changed several major facts about the WC universe itself - like the fighter design, the shit about Pilgrims, turning capital ship fights into submarines in space (with sound!), changing the nationality of several main characters, misspelling several of the main character's names, etc.

[Ghost Rider]

On the Collector Ship mission, you can pick one of three weapon trainings, and if you are a class that already had one, you can get a special weapon of that class instead of a new weapon training. But it's one time only, if you start a new game importing that character, you still have the specialization / weapon from the last time around, and can use them right from the start, but don't get to get a second one when you return to the ship.

Thinking back I may have picked 'shotgun' on my the first play-through and then forgotten it existed for the second, because it was so useless on Insanity (where charge into group of enemies = die instantly). Also that 'off hand ammo pack' DLC seemed to make a difference, I was running out of ammo noticeably less often on the last playthrough (though I was probably spamming incinerate more as well).

The Collector's ship three choices were

Godly Sniper Rifle : Legion's upgrade. I liked the multishot Sniper except as grif pointed out, Inflitrator was fucking hilarious easy with this.

Godly Rifle: You had to compensate but a full clip with the right ammo could shred fucking anything. Warp Ammo + This. If you had something for Armor you destroyed everything.

Shit Shotgun: The best of the batch! It's sad that this is Grunt's special...such a fucking waste.

And actually the only ammo extra you got was either from the Nemesis Armor or what you bought in Omega. It's 10% extra reserve ammo.

My largest complaint, objectively? Toggle helm. Sorry so many fucking sequences look so bad when I am decked in ultra stormie armor. Though with the newest patch's ultra fast scanner, it is nicer.

[adam_grif]

Godly Rifle: You had to compensate but a full clip with the right ammo could shred fucking anything. Warp Ammo + This. If you had something for Armor you destroyed everything.

AP ammo is more useful overall, since the bonuses are substantially higher, so losing the bonus vs barriers is worth it.

[Gramzamber]

But yes I am deeply cynical about Hollywood's eventual choice in this, not only because I dislike the concept of casting anyone as Shepard but because I expect them to go as cookie-cutter action hero as possible.

Shepard IS a cookie-cutter action hero. He shoots people, blows stuff up and busts out one liners pretty much all the time.

Your Shepard may be. Perhaps my Shepard isn't. A few one liners doesn't mean you're a generic action hero, and there are plenty of opportunities to not go the generic action route and not blow up/kill/whatever even if you are mainly renegade (yes yes hur hur BioWare morality suks lol).

And even if you were right; that justifies making the movie a generic action movie with a generic gormless action star instead of even an attempt at a decent space opera?

[Ghost Rider]

Godly Rifle: You had to compensate but a full clip with the right ammo could shred fucking anything. Warp Ammo + This. If you had something for Armor you destroyed everything.

AP ammo is more useful overall, since the bonuses are substantially higher, so losing the bonus vs barriers is worth it.

I thought of it but there were other ways of affecting said beasties, while Warp could cancel some fuckers biotic power. All in all I saw it as a choice of what you thought was more annoying in insanity from the start.

[Starglider]

And even if you were right; that justifies making the movie a generic action movie with a generic gormless action star instead of even an attempt at a decent space opera?

Star Wars, a definite 'space opera' / sci-fi morality tale, just got made into a generic blinged out action movie. That's what producers think the market wants, and maybe they're right. If Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek got that treatment you can be pretty sure a cheap game cash-in is going to get it.

[Gramzamber]

And even if you were right; that justifies making the movie a generic action movie with a generic gormless action star instead of even an attempt at a decent space opera?

Star Wars, a definite 'space opera' / sci-fi morality tale, just got made into a generic blinged out action movie. That's what producers think the market wants, and maybe they're right. If Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek got that treatment you can be pretty sure a cheap game cash-in is going to get it.

I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it.

[General Zod]

Your Shepard may be. Perhaps my Shepard isn't. A few one liners doesn't mean you're a generic action hero, and there are plenty of opportunities to not go the generic action route and not blow up/kill/whatever even if you are mainly renegade (yes yes hur hur BioWare morality suks lol).

I think you're vastly overstating the impact player choices actually have in the game. Characters will still join you whether or not you're a massive douchebag and there's minimal effect on the endings. I mean really, at this point we're down to "herp derp bioware's ideas don't agree with my fanfiction!!11!!1"

[Ford Prefect]

Your Shepard may be. Perhaps my Shepard isn't. A few one liners doesn't mean you're a generic action hero, and there are plenty of opportunities to not go the generic action route and not blow up/kill/whatever even if you are mainly renegade (yes yes hur hur BioWare morality suks lol).

And even if you were right; that justifies making the movie a generic action movie with a generic gormless action star instead of even an attempt at a decent space opera?

I almost universally play a Paragon type character who tries to resolve issues without violence where possible. And guess what, 90% of the game is STILL shooting everything that moves, and a number of things which do not. You literally cannot escape the fact that Mass Effect is an action game. It is about teams of special forces badasses flying around in space ships, shooting people, cracking one liners and setting off nuclear weapons from time to time. Of course it's going to be an action movie: Mass Effect is almost an action movie already.

[Stark]

I think you're vastly overstating the impact player choices actually have in the game. Characters will still join you whether or not you're a massive douchebag and there's minimal effect on the endings. I mean really, at this point we're down to "herp derp bioware's ideas don't agree with my fanfiction!!11!!1"

It's pretty funny that Alpha Protocol has a far, far wider degree of flexibility given to the player, and very variable finales in both details and payoff.

And here we were thinking Bioware were great?

[Gramzamber]

I never said that choices greatly affect the overall plot, and yes people join you regardless of what you do.
But there are still certain ways to play your character that differ from player to player, and Mass Effect being an action game does not automatically mean it'll make a good brainless action movie.
Take Doom. Doom has no plot other than "demons from hell are invading! Are you a bad enough dude to stop them?" and Hollywood still fucked that up with a movie that was too brainless even for freaking Doom.

It's pretty funny that Alpha Protocol has a far, far wider degree of flexibility given to the player, and very variable finales in both details and payoff.

And here we were thinking Bioware were great?

Do you often judge games on what the developers promise?
Because then Mass Effect is the most intricate and open ended game of all time.

[Stark]

What are you talking about? I judge these games on what they deliver, and Alpha Protocol is an order of magnitude more flexible plot-wise and character-wise. Talking about marketing is irrelevant.

For example, in ME you shag Ashley if you just skip every conversation in the game and don't speak to her after the forced missions. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!

[Gramzamber]

What are you talking about? I judge these games on what they deliver, and Alpha Protocol is an order of magnitude more flexible plot-wise and character-wise. Talking about marketing is irrelevant.

I had thought Alpha Protocol wasn't released yet. Possibly due to an utter lack of care about it, or shock that Obsidian actually released it.

For example, in ME you shag Ashley if you just skip every conversation in the game and don't speak to her after the forced missions. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!

Or just the developers being lazy in some parts. I'm not going to sit here and claim ME is the mother of all choiced based RPGs.
On the other hand at least BioWare makes games that, you know, work. The crap I'm reading about AP right now is amusing in itself.

[Stark]

Oh, so you're just misinformed. AP works fine; I just finished it. Oops! Turns out you can make a game where failback positions aren't 'have 'meaningful' relationship with person you haven't spoken to for 3 hours'. Good old Bioware and their amazingly flexible game!

[Gramzamber]

Oh, so you're just misinformed. AP works fine; I just finished it. Oops!

Hey I can finish Oblivion too but it's still a bug ridden mess.

Turns out you can make a game where failback positions aren't 'have 'meaningful' relationship with person you haven't spoken to for 3 hours'. Good old Bioware and their amazingly flexible game!

Funny because I'm seeing the exact same complaints about AP's relationships, that there's a disconnect between player actions/dialog and "romance", that you get into a sexual situation by barely doing anything.
Maybe they're all liars? Always a possibility I suppose.

[Stofsk]

Oh, so you're just misinformed. AP works fine; I just finished it. Oops!

Hey I can finish Oblivion too but it's still a bug ridden mess.

Are you trying to say that Bioware never releases a buggy game? Because if you are, you are so full of shit it's coming out of your mouth.

And I say that as a fan of Bioware.

[Stark]

Hey I can finish Oblivion too but it's still a bug ridden mess.

I guess that explains my point; there are no game-breaking bugs at all. Oh dear! Good thing this is irrelevant, since plot flexibility is higher.

Funny because I'm seeing the exact same complaints about AP's relationships, that there's a disconnect between player actions/dialog and "romance", that you get into a sexual situation by barely doing anything.
Maybe they're all liars? Always a possibility I suppose.

Dude, there's a difference between fucking someone you're not nice to (or whose brother you kill) and them just throwing someone you have literally not interacted with since the second hour of the game and have no relationship with at all. I'm sorry this is so hard to understand; the only person it'd be hard to avoid fucking in AP is the person you talk to EVERY 15 SECONDS.

Being misinformed about other games is a solid trait of Bioware fanboys, however. AP is the best RPG since The Witcher, but uh oh it's unpolished and clearly rushed out the door so ... somehow that makes it less flexible?

[Gramzamber]

Oh, so you're just misinformed. AP works fine; I just finished it. Oops!

Hey I can finish Oblivion too but it's still a bug ridden mess.

Are you trying to say that Bioware never releases a buggy game? Because if you are, you are so full of shit it's coming out of your mouth.

And I say that as a fan of Bioware.

No, and there's a difference between "buggy game" and "half-finished shell", which is Obsidian's MO.
That may or may not apply to Alpha Protocol, but again the reviews I'm seeing don't paint a nice picture.

I guess that explains my point; there are no game-breaking bugs at all. Oh dear! Good thing this is irrelevant, since plot flexibility is higher.

Plot flexibility makes playability irrelevant?

Dude, there's a difference between fucking someone you're not nice to (or whose brother you kill) and them just throwing someone you have literally not interacted with since the second hour of the game and have no relationship with at all. I'm sorry this is so hard to understand; the only person it'd be hard to avoid fucking in AP is the person you talk to EVERY 15 SECONDS.

So you think a bad relationship with someone gets you better odds of jumping in the sack with them than no relationship, even though whether you talk to them or not they're still your comrade and have SOME relationship with you.

Being misinformed about other games is a solid trait of Bioware fanboys, however. AP is the best RPG since The Witcher, but uh oh it's unpolished and clearly rushed out the door so ... somehow that makes it less flexible?

Right cause the Witcher wasn't a boring pile of misogynist horse shit or anything.
Oh wait.
And yeah making a game you brought up based on reviews is so fanboyish of me.

[Stark]

No, and there's a difference between "buggy game" and "half-finished shell", which is Obsidian's MO.
That may or may not apply to Alpha Protocol, but again the reviews I'm seeing don't paint a nice picture.

First hand accounts are irrelevant?

Plot flexibility makes playability irrelevant?

No, AP's quality or magical bugs you claim it has but are invisible are irrelevant. AP is an example of a game with actual choice and consequences, in which your protaganist can be varied. In ME, this isn't the case because it's so railroaded.

So you think a bad relationship with someone gets you better odds of jumping in the sack with them than no relationship, even though whether you talk to them or not they're still your comrade and have SOME relationship with you.

What are you talking about? First off I didn't see any horribly out-of-character things happen and you can't prove shit. Secondly, you can ignore Ashley the entire game and have her open her heart to you FOR NO FUCKING REASON. That's worse than 'a complex relationship results in the opportunity for sex' in forced-plot country, and is hardly the only example of things happening in ME because the plot demands.

Right cause the Witcher wasn't a boring pile of misogynist horse shit or anything.
Oh wait.
And yeah making a game you brought up based on reviews is so fanboyish of me.

Game set in middle ages is mysogynist? NO FUCKING WAY! It's also racist and involves terrorists!

Luckily this doesn't alter the fact that Witcher has a more flexible protaganist and storyline despite having a LITERALLY fixed character!