Mass Effect

[Redem]

Warning, spoilers ahead.
I keep flashing back to Chuck's talk about AI and the responsibilities of those who create them to ensure the birth of this new life goes as smoothly as possible. I don't think Alec, took all the necassary precautions before building SAM....but hopefully via it's link to Ryder the rough edges can be smoothed over. That said...since at least three other SAM's exist...I'm pretty sure his carelessness is going to end up biting everyone in the rear on down the line.

Alec oblivously created super advance A.I to calculate his level of disapointement with his children

[Fixer]

Warning, spoilers ahead.
I keep flashing back to Chuck's talk about AI and the responsibilities of those who create them to ensure the birth of this new life goes as smoothly as possible. I don't think Alec, took all the necassary precautions before building SAM....but hopefully via it's link to Ryder the rough edges can be smoothed over. That said...since at least three other SAM's exist...I'm pretty sure his carelessness is going to end up biting everyone in the rear on down the line.

Alec oblivously created super advance A.I to calculate his level of disapointement with his children

Or goes with my new theory that the Andromeda Initiative was the Milky Way's "B Ark".

Yes Alec. We're decided we were wrong, your opinions that we should start the development of highly illegal A.I. despite the fact that it would make Earth pariahs in the galactic community has it's own unique merit. We have this ship where the telephones are super-clean that's making a trip to another galaxy. We think you'd be PERFECT for it.

[ScreamingDoom]

Or goes with my new theory that the Andromeda Initiative was the Milky Way's "B Ark".

Yes Alec. We're decided we were wrong, your opinions that we should start the development of highly illegal A.I. despite the fact that it would make Earth pariahs in the galactic community has it's own unique merit. We have this ship where the telephones are super-clean that's making a trip to another galaxy. We think you'd be PERFECT for it.

So does that mean everyone in the Milky Way survived the Reapers only to be wiped out by a virus cultivated in unclean telephone receivers?

[Fixer]

So does that mean everyone in the Milky Way survived the Reapers only to be wiped out by a virus cultivated in unclean telephone receivers?

This was the true threat beyond our comprehension that Sovereign was trying to warn us about.

Despite my endless ribbing of the game, the soundtrack isn't bad. Some nice space tunes to listen to while writing.


youtu.be/CCNRPn5lEdM

[hammerofglass]

Stuff like this is why I'm not as much on the fans side as I used to be when I was younger and more innocent. I have no issue with people taking pot shots at Bioware's animation...that's how we got Shepface and other such memes...but this....this is sad.

http://kotaku.com/scumbags-harass-woman ... 1793410647

That's just the free-floating harassment squad. They go after women in the game industry more or less at random, and claim membership of various fandoms as a flag of convenience so that the blame gets spread around. It's inexplicably completely legal, or at least never prosecuted, so other than the basic human decency they clearly lack they have no reason not to and there's more of them all the time.

[Admiral X]

Well, yeah, the thing about free speech is that you get bad along with good. So unless they make death threats or the like, it's completely legal for them to be assholes. Pretty shitty of them, plus it seems like the wrong target considering the whole point behind it was the idea this person was responsible to the laughably bad graphics and was put in that position by BioWare in spite of being completely unqualified for it (or so I heard anyway). Why not give BioWare shit if that was the case? Personally I was content to sit back and laugh at the incompetence.

[Ordo]

So does that mean everyone in the Milky Way survived the Reapers only to be wiped out by a virus cultivated in unclean telephone receivers?

This was the true threat beyond our comprehension that Sovereign was trying to warn us about.

Despite my endless ribbing of the game, the soundtrack isn't bad.

Overall I'm having a good time with this...as evidence by the marathon play sessions I've been doing this week. It might just be me...but I am actually really embracing the role of Pathfinder. I could've likely zipped through the main quests by now...but the game does enough to draw me into the role. So I actually find myself doing the Star Trek thing...surveying planets for colonization, hunting down Minerals, flowers, animals etc to improve the Initiative's chances for success and doing my best to be a good representative to the friendly/neutral alien race we've met so far. That said...the lack of a Paragon/Renegade system has shown me I'm more ruthless than I thought. Most of the time I'm professional....but when a person who just tried to kill me and my new allies began walking away (after freeing some prisoners they had) talking about how I clearly understood and apprecitaed their POV....I immeditly shot them in the back. Afterall...I only agreed to spare their 'Holy Site' not the people responsible for the things that went on inside it.

Combat, in my opinion, is the most fun and fluid in the series...though the mod/crafting system is a bit...obtuse (If that's the right word). Having a Jetpack (Biotic booster) and the ability to switch between four favorited sets of talents on the fly has significantly increased the pleasure I take in putting threats down.

As for the characters (Potential Spoilers ahead) Liam is an idealist and a bit of a screw up (see his Loyalty Mission for a great and fun example). Cora is powerful Biotic and an Asari Huntress fangirl who seems to believe that everything will magically fix itself the moment we make contact with the Asari Ark. Peebee, I didn't like at first, but she's growing on me. That said I came real close to injecting her with tranqs so she'd sit still for five minutes. Vetra is a Turian Black Market specilist that would likely keep her little sister in a protective bubble for the rest of her days if she could. Drack is an old Krogan. Jaal....he and his quest is heavily tied into one of the new Alien races you meet...so overall he's interesting...but I am not a big fan of his character design. The bridge crew (Suvi, Kallo and Gil) are quirky and add some flavor to the proceedings. A good crew overall but I'm not sure if they are as strong as the characters for the Shepard Trilogy.

Storyline I'll leave alone since I haven't beaten it yet...but the concept is working for me.

The Tempest....she is a SMALL ship.



With that in mind the pathfinder is given frankly ludicrous amount of space for their personal cabine. Everyone else get's bunk beds I get a hotel room....with a view. Though to be fair...it's located right under the bridge which can be reached via ladder in short order...so it does make some sense at least as far as where things are located.

The Nomad....she's not going to win a fight with the Mako or Hammerhead...but she is fun to drive.

[Fixer]

The crunch at work has passed so I'm finally able to get back to discussing sci-fi things again.

So far the drama surrounding ME:A has been more interesting than the game's story itself, which appears to be a fairly by the numbers space romp.

There were some great videos regarding what had made the cutscene animations eerily inhuman. A new patch has been released which has fixed a lot of issues with the eyes and specific conversations but still leaves a lot out of place. Including default female Ryder's "resting derp face" that has her smiling when she's talking about her Dad's death.

The question as to why these weren't resolved as quickly when the first issues were raised months ago is mired in the politics of another studio being hollowed out and eaten up by EA. BioWare's C team at Montreal had several new leads after many left to join Bungie. The only name from the previous series was Mac Walters who was partly responsible for ME3's dreadful ending.

So a studio with little experience, suffering infighting, people jumping ship, and a long production schedule released a buggy and unpolished name. Which makes me wonder how long it will be until BioWare joins Maxis, Westwood and Bullfrog in the graveyard one once great studios slain by the corporate monsters.

In terms of the game itself. The exploration looks great. The planets are spectacular. The combat looks fun. The menu systems look like they're being patched and the unskippable transitions have been made skippable. The story and characters aren't great but they're not terrible either.

I personally think the game may be worth a look 6-12 months from now once it's been properly patched and it's on sale.

[KesaraRiku]

I'm going to wait it out. Multiplayer looked fun- However I do have an issue with the fact the eyes are all kinds of messed up, promentnt pupils, the placement of the eyelids, the size and shape of the eyes gave all the characters a demonic look. In all fairness BW has released a patch that fixes some things, but There is still more to be added. So, I will wait and see if BW can keep their word. Hopefully by that time It will drop in price because I refuse to pay $60 on a freaking beta.

[Ordo]

Guys, I've found out where Mass Effect Andromeda's animation team went!!


youtu.be/PYiiqor-VMk