Mass Effect

[Nachimir]

EA, of all people, have stepped up to the plate.

Astounding

[miffy495]

As video games continue to take audiences away from television, we expect to see more TV news stories warning parents about the corrupting influence of interactive entertainment. But this represents a new level of recklessness.

I don't think I've ever said it before, but if any situation warrants it, it's now.

*ahem*

OH, SNAP!

Really though, as I said a day or two ago, all this controversy has only made me go back and actually play it. About 7 hours in now and enjoying myself immensely. Haven't even experienced a single one of those bouts of slowdown or massive loading times people have been complaining about. Frame rates have dropped from time to time, but never seemed to be anything below 25. As I live my life surrounded by 24 FPS film, I'm fine with that.

Elevator rides have never been crazy long. I braced myself the first time I stepped into one, and rather than sitting there bored for several minutes, I simply listened to a very funny news report about an Elcor (the aliens who have no inflection at all in their voices and must state their emotion at the beginning of each sentence) production of Hamlet. Laughed for a second, then stepped out of the elevator. Every ride since has had a brief conversation between my companions or a news report which gave me either a new side mission or a laugh. Where is the problem here? Character development and mission assignment during load times is something I find very refreshing and I'd much rather hear 30 seconds of conversation than stare at (for the sake of comparison) Assassin's Creed's spinning logo for 15.

[Nachimir]

They aren't that bad. I think the comment about them being "15 minutes" long set me up for a bigger frustration

Quote from my boss about Mass Effect:

"The thing I hate about Mass Effect is that I used the character creation system, messed around too long with it and thought 'fuck it, I can change it later'. I've ended up with this fishmouthed mullet of a woman I really hate looking at, and I'm too far in to want to start again. I have to put the helmet on a lot."

[syntheticgerbil]

Wait, there's more!

http://gaming.monstersandcritics.com/xbox360/news/article_1388213.php/Amazon_intervenes_as_Mass_Effe

[Wrestlevania]

Elevator rides have never been crazy long. I braced myself the first time I stepped into one, and rather than sitting there bored for several minutes, I simply listened to a very funny news report about an Elcor (the aliens who have no inflection at all in their voices and must state their emotion at the beginning of each sentence) production of Hamlet.

I'm exactly the same; I was expecting the loads to take absolutely ages, but they've not been anything like that.

I think people may be overexagerating because the walls of the lift shaft do usually tick by at a painfully slow rate. But otherwise, I'm fine with those.

What I'm not fine with is that the game has locked up cold on my twice now, meaning I've had to redo sections which is really aggravating -- especially if it's a particularly chatty section. I'm bothered by the idea that if I'm not thorough in my questioning, I'm locking myself out of later content (even if it's "just" more side quests).

I've not played Mass Effect for a few days now, but I might go back to it tonight/tomorrow and plough a few more hours into it. I'm looking forward to the alien gang-rape simulation at any rate, though I neglected to choose the number, colour and size of my characters genitals at the beginning...

[eljay]

There was one elevator that bothered me and that's the one on your ship, the normandy. It's just absurd as it travels at most 10 feet, there should just be stairs as that elevator would be a massive danger to all on board in an emergency.

[Nachimir]

The doors could also be inconsistent, in that most open automatically when you're near them, but the occasional one needs you to press a button and wait. I suspect most of them, along with the slow lift in the Normandy, are workarounds for areas where the texture pop-in was particularly bad.

[Wrestlevania]

workarounds for areas where the texture pop-in was particularly bad

It's pretty fucking awful at the best of times if you ask me, particularly in the cutscenes.

[DanJW]

Wait, there's more!

http://gaming.monstersandcritics.com/xbox360/news/article_1388213.php/Amazon_intervenes_as_Mass_Effe

Hahaha... Normally I'm against this kind of personal attack since it can cast all gamers in a bad light. However the reader reviews posted in that article make their point succintly.

[Wrestlevania]

Indeed, those quoted are much more articulate than the article author would have you believe earlier on.

Fair game I say, and I certainly don't agree with Amazon.com's removal of them.

[DanJW]

Fuck's Sake. Cooper Lawrence. What an awful woman. After all that rhetoric about sexism and treating women as objects of desire... check out her previous book: http://www.amazon.com/Fixer-upper-Man-Maybe-Right-Steps/dp/1598694561/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201191523&sr=8-2

Misandronistic crap. Treating men as if they were houses; property to be assesed, improved or discarded as needed.

However, check out the associated tags section for some hilarity.

[Wrestlevania]

[Check] out the associated tags section for some hilarity.

For posterity's sake, like.

[Wrestlevania]

Played a bit more tonight, but I apparently bypassed sexy time:

I didn't begrudge the trinket the consort gave me, not realising that's how you invoke The Beast With Two Backs.

So, could someone please explain: since when did being an ungrateful bastard land you a shag..?

[n0wak]

So, could someone please explain: since when did being an ungrateful bastard land you a shag..?

Is that a trick question?

Is that what really helps trigger it? I was being a paragon and I remember being all thankful for that and I still managed to score some Kirk-ian alien action. I find it hard to believe that one thing like that would kill your chances.

Then again, being a goody-good totally shot my chances with Williams, so who knows? I guess she prefers the leather clad asshole-on-a-bike types.

[Wrestlevania]

Well, I had a save point about half-an-hour before the "encounter" so I reloaded and tried the ungrateful act instead.

All I got was some bare shoulders and then a blue hand pressed against some glass.

Where's my bare naked alien arse then? Am I still playing this game "wrong"? I really don't get it; I'm only interested in seeing what all the fuss is about, but manners don't work on the galactic wench, and neither does being an ungrateful prick.

Feeling a bit stupid now -- specifically because it seems 12 year old prepubescents have managed to get this controversial scene rolling, but a father of three apparently has no talent with the laydeez...

[Nachimir]

There's a later chance to get some nookie if you keep chatting to your crew members on the Normandy between missions.

[Wrestlevania]

Fine. I just want to see this stuff first hand whilst I'm still playing it, rather than trying to absorb other people's opinions and impressions of it after the fact.

Question: Is there a rigorous structure to the conversation options and how they affect your various stats? For example: if I always choose the upper right-most dialogue option from the disc, will it always be my Paragon attribute that gets boosted?

I'm sincerely hoping not, because then it's more about the mechanics of the decision making, rather than the decision itself. I don't have any firm reason to believe conversational structures are quite so regulated, but there are a few suggestions here and there that this may well be the case.

Insight, please!

[n0wak]

Question: Is there a rigorous structure to the conversation options and how they affect your various stats? For example: if I always choose the upper right-most dialogue option from the disc, will it always be my Paragon attribute that gets boosted?

Unfortunately, yes. Top right for Paragon, bottom right for Renegade -- with the top left often used for charm, bottom left for intimidate. I thought it was a poor decision to do it like this since it essentially takes all the decision making out of the equation. Same with the fact that after every important conversation you get a little "Paragon +X" text come up. Personally, I think if that stat was hidden it'd have been more interesting. It wouldn't have felt so... artificial.

[Wrestlevania]

I thought it was a poor decision to do it like this since it essentially takes all the decision making out of the equation. Same with the fact that after every important conversation you get a little "Paragon +X" text come up. Personally, I think if that stat was hidden it'd have been more interesting. It wouldn't have felt so... artificial.

Agreed. But if they took the linearity out of the conversation mechanism, that little stat popping up would suddenly become much more interesting I think...

I also think the fact they had to colour-coordinate the Charm and Intimidate options is more than a little patronising, too. What purpose does that serve, really? It's a rather brain-dead way of illustrating your character's adeptness if you ask me, especially in light of how considered and mature the dialogue consistently appears to be for all other answers.

Having said that, it wasn't at all obvious to me that choosing the Renegade response to the consult's offering would result in some How's Your Father? What next - a wang icon next to the Hump option? How about a nice, lusty female moan when you highlight that option?

[DanJW]

Sweet, a retraction from Cooper Lawrence in NY Times*.

I still think she's a sexist pig though.

*(if it asks you to log in then just go to the front page and search for her name)

[Wrestlevania]

In an interview on Friday, Ms. Lawrence said that since the controversy over her remarks erupted she had watched someone play the game for about two and a half hours. “I recognize that I misspoke,” she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke.

“Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,” she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.”

I'm told her next book will deal with the thorny topic of professional suicide...

PS: 1,000th post ftw, w00t, etc.

[Nappi]

I would never have guessed that she'd admit being completely wrong. I respect that.

Of course, she wouldn't have had to apologize at all, if she hadn't been ignorant to begin with..

[ysbreker]

The saga continues:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=91417

[Wrestlevania]

Which brings the argument to a stand still, as Fox News indirectly refuses to apologise until the publisher joins its Live Desk segment to discuss the issue on air.

Fox won't engage in this any further unless it can make (more) money from it -- and have it on their consummately belligerent terms, i.e. their Shite Desk harassment spot.

[miffy495]

I see you're giving Mass Effect a tdown on your signature right now, Wrestle. I'm about 11 hours in now and haven't seen a second yet that I haven't loved. Just wondering what made you think negatively of it. Having just finished Feros and the plotline that happens thereupon, I'm convinced that if the rest of the game is anywhere near as fantastic as that planet, I'll have gotten more than my money's worth. I saw your comments about pop-in and the lock-ups. Having not experienced any game-stopping bugs myself I may be more forgiving, but that can't be all that's affecting the judgement I hope. I've come to expect a far more balanced opinion from you, at any rate. With that in mind, what's dragging it down for you, simply out of curiosity?