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[Dark Stalkers]

I thought playing through the game 7 times was a bit much lol.

 

[neojubei]

Wished there were more female Shepards, oh well.

 

[dralla]

no liara reviews yet?

 

[EatChildren]

80% of players have been playing the wrong Shepard.

 

[Mindlog]

I've had enough of your snide insinuations!

 

[gdt]

But I'm a man, dammit!

 

[Wallach]

80% of players have been playing the wrong Shepard.

I have to agree... why would you try to use their awful customization thing. Every character that comes out the other end of that thing looks bad.

Edit - Man I really hope I'm not one of those two PC guys. I know I'm well into the double digits. I don't think I hit that many. Fuck I hope not.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

80% of players have been playing the wrong Shepard.

Sorry, but no proper lesbian romance for female Shepard and the fact Jennifer Hale sounds angry even with the Paragon lines, puts monotone male Shepard and Tali hotness in the top, better luck in ME3!!!

 

[EatChildren]

Sorry, but no proper lesbian romance for female Shepard and the fact Jennifer Hale sounds angry even with the Paragon lines, puts monotone male Shepard and Tali hotness in the top, better luck in ME3!!!

RELAXED MUUUUSCLEEEEEEEE!!!!

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

are those stats from bioware? or just ign board posts?

 

[Lunchbox]

80% of players have been playing the wrong Shepard.

says you

 

[kai3345]

says you

these are my favorite jeans on the citadel

what time would the DLC go live CDT?

 

[gdt]

says you

OH MY GOD COMMANDER SHEPHARD!

GUYS, IT'S COMMANDER SHAPHARD!

 

[Wallach]

these are my favorite jeans on the citadel

what time would the DLC go live CDT?

I'll bump the thread right when it's available (well, after I grab it myself anyway). Dunno if this one is going to go live right at midnight EST (which is a little over 20 minutes from now) or if it'll be later this time.

*resumes hitting F5*

 

[DodgyGeezerFella]

66 hours ? God damn :lol

Didnt realise they could track this stuff in the PC version.

 

[EatChildren]

I'll bump the thread right when it's available (well, after I grab it myself anyway). Dunno if this one is going to go live right at midnight EST (which is a little over 20 minutes from now) or if it'll be later this time.

*resumes hitting F5*

They never go live at midnight. If it releases around the same time as all the others, it will be at least 12 hours from now.

 

[Wallach]

66 hours ? God damn :lol

 

[gdt]

I have no idea how you do a 66 hour campaign. I literally did everything, in 50.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

I have no idea how you do a 66 hour campaign. I literally did everything, in 50.

getting all minerals in all planets?! watching for hours the asari strippers?!

I don't know....

 

[Diatribe1974]

I've got about 130 hours into all my ME2 plays (have completed the game with every class now). The last couple times through was on Veteran (seriously, you nutjobs who play on Hardcore/Insanity are crazy). My Shepard is male & is the default stock appearance. Yes, he's also imported from ME1. Soldier is a great class, but Infiltrator is also awesome. Engineer isn't as bad as you think......until you hit

Spoiler

the suicide mission stuff

then it becomes a nightmare due to how the class is designed.

 

[RedSwirl]

are those stats from bioware? or just ign board posts?

They are from BioWare: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/111/1117896p1.html

PC players did 10% more loyalty missions.
More of the PC players did Miranda's mission.
More of the 360 players did Grunt's mission.
BioWare says PC players in general were more dedicated.

 

[RedSwirl]

I have no idea how you do a 66 hour campaign. I literally did everything, in 50.

Depleting the entire galaxy and probably almost 100% of missions netted me 53 hours.

 

[Wallach]

They are from BioWare: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/111/1117896p1.html

PC players did 10% more loyalty missions.
More of the PC players did Miranda's mission.
More of the 360 players did Grunt's mission.
BioWare says PC players in general were more dedicated.

The article says 360 players did 10% more loyalty missions. PC players played on average around 1 hour more on a playthrough.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

They are from BioWare: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/111/1117896p1.html

PC players did 10% more loyalty missions.
More of the PC players did Miranda's mission.
More of the 360 players did Grunt's mission.
BioWare says PC players in general were more dedicated.

thanks

"PC players in general were more dedicated"

interesting, that sounds like me (played multiple times and got all the dlc)

 

[Buttonbasher]

Wished there were more female Shepards, oh well.

FemShep 4 lyfe.

 

[Dark Stalkers]

Engineers represent!

 

[hermit7]

Looking at that data, I am interested to see what the percentage of people who remained faithful were.

I remember them saying that they were interested, and were able to track it.

 

[Dresden]

I've got about 130 hours into all my ME2 plays (have completed the game with every class now). The last couple times through was on Veteran (seriously, you nutjobs who play on Hardcore/Insanity are crazy). My Shepard is male & is the default stock appearance. Yes, he's also imported from ME1. Soldier is a great class, but Infiltrator is also awesome. Engineer isn't as bad as you think......until you hit

Spoiler

the suicide mission stuff

then it becomes a nightmare due to how the class is designed.

Once you go Insanity, you can't go back. Insanity itself isn't even hard for most of the game and anything else feels like God Mode.

As for Engineer, combat drone > every tough enemy in the game. Scions, harbingers, mechs, bosses... add in incinerate and overload and you have a very capable class.

 

[Ferrio]

Looking at that data, I am interested to see what the percentage of people who remained faithful were.

I remember them saying that they were interested, and were able to track it.

You know being faithful would of been a lot easier if the returning love interests werent' pissed as fuck at you, or even had a total personality change

Spoiler

Liara

. Made me not regret picking Tali (though i wanted to pick her in the first game too).

 

[valeo]

Just playing through ME2 for the first time now. Love it - still not sure if I love it as much as ME1. I feel like if the characters from ME2 were in ME1 instead that would've been perfect. The story in ME1 feels much stronger so far (i'm about 10 hours in) but I guess that's expected for the 2nd game in a trilogy.

One thing I miss _a lot_ is the interaction between characters when you're just walking around a planet (like in the last game on lifts etc)

 

[Jerk]

You know being faithful would of been a lot easier if the returning love interests werent' pissed as fuck at you, or even had a total personality change

Spoiler

Liara

. Made me not regret picking Tali (though i wanted to pick her in the first game too).

My Shepard saved himself just so he could get her.

My Fem-Shep is still waiting for that special non-scaly/boring someone.

 

[EatChildren]

Just playing through ME2 for the first time now. Love it - still not sure if I love it as much as ME1. I feel like if the characters from ME2 were in ME1 instead that would've been perfect. The story in ME1 feels much stronger so far (i'm about 10 hours in) but I guess that's expected for the 2nd game in a trilogy.

One thing I miss _a lot_ is the interaction between characters when you're just walking around a planet (like in the last game on lifts etc)

Your feelings are echoed by many here. On the writing front, a lot of people (myself included) feel that the main story plot of the first game was superior to ME2, but the individual characters and character writing in ME2 was superior to the first.

Fingers crossed ME3 is a good balance of the two.

 

[valeo]

Yep - I hope that this time they keep most of the same characters so they don't have to start from scratch with back story etc. Haven't got the end so I don't know who gets the inevitable death sequence, though. Could be all of the poor bastards.

 

[Jerk]

Well, the general theory is that most (some say all) of the party from ME2 will not return in any significant capacity.

 

[Ferrio]

Well, the general theory is that most (some say all) of the party from ME2 will not return in any significant capacity.

That'd be really really stupid, and would negate the whole purpose of the 2nd game.

 

[Wallach]

Yeah, it's hard to say. Personally I expect some of them back and not others.

I suppose we will have a clearer picture as the final DLC for ME2 comes in. Shadow Broker is supposed to be the first of the "bridging" DLCs between ME2 and ME3.

 

[Garcia el Gringo]

Looking at that data, I am interested to see what the percentage of people who remained faithful were.

I remember them saying that they were interested, and were able to track it.

Yeah. I want to know popular story choices, love interests and squadmates. I want to know if Tali and Garrus are really that popular by numbers or if it's just their fans are just really loud, but actually a small group. I assume whoever are the most popular love interest will get special treatment in ME3 (better be Tali). And, more importantly, whoever are the most popular squadmates in ME2 must show up as squadmates in ME3.

 

[EatChildren]

That'd be really really stupid, and would negate the whole purpose of the 2nd game.

They wont return as companions. I'm almost willing to ban bet that. BioWare have *ehem* shot themselves in the foot with the ending of ME2.

 

[hermit7]

Yeah, it's hard to say. Personally I expect some of them back and not others.

I suppose we will have a clearer picture as the final DLC for ME2 comes in. Shadow Broker is supposed to be the first of the "bridging" DLCs between ME2 and ME3.

I think that some of the characters are more likely to want to stay around. EG: Samara will have no real reason for staying around. Love interests will probably all stay. Mordin may not be a party member, but more of a research scientist aboard like Chakwas/Joker.

 

[a Master Ninja]

I just noticed that Liara is the only Asari with eyebrows.

 

[Ferrio]

They wont return as companions. I'm almost willing to ban bet that. BioWare have *ehem* shot themselves in the foot with the ending of ME2.

Why? What's keeping them from continuing just were they left off. It certainly would make everyone's playthroughs a lot different.

 

[Zerokku]

Why? What's keeping them from continuing just were they left off. It certainly would make everyone's playthroughs a lot different.

1. Because that would require a lot of effort, and the only developer that seems to be willing to put out that kind of effort is CD Projekt with the Witcher 2

2. They want each game to be relatively "stand alone". Which is stupid when the series was announced as being a trilogy of inter-connected games where your choices would matter across the whole trilogy.

 

[EatChildren]

Why? What's keeping them from continuing just were they left off. It certainly would make everyone's playthroughs a lot different.

Endgame spoilers for those who are still trucking;

Spoiler

It would be extremely inefficient to dedicate time and resources towards content that many players may never see. Because every character can technically die, every character could technically make no appearance in Mass Effect 3.

Its not like an avoidable sidequest or cameo appearance, its an entire character's worth of dialogue, design, programming, and mission. I just cant see any developer dedicating all that much to "maybe" content, when its far safer and efficient to make sure the big content is the stuff everybody will see.

I suspect most if not all of the characters will return in some form, but I'll be very surprised if any of them are companions.

 

[Jerk]

I personally believe that at least 2 of the characters will make it into your squad and probably have Zaeed/Kasumi styled interaction.

Although Bioware does not seem to be shy when it comes to retconing...

 

[cazosozey]

Endgame spoilers for those who are still trucking;

Spoiler

It would be extremely inefficient to dedicate time and resources towards content that many players may never see. Because every character can technically die, every character could technically make no appearance in Mass Effect 3.

Its not like an avoidable sidequest or cameo appearance, its an entire character's worth of dialogue, design, programming, and mission. I just cant see any developer dedicating all that much to "maybe" content, when its far safer and efficient to make sure the big content is the stuff everybody will see.

I suspect most if not all of the characters will return in some form, but I'll be very surprised if any of them are companions.

Spoiler

I wonder how bioware is going to handle Shepards death saves from ME2, they can't just whip up another Lazarus Project for him. The only thing I see as a guarantee is Ashley or Kaiden and Liara returning as companions for ME3.

 

[Dresden]

Their sales would probably take a five to ten percent hit if Tali or Garrus doesn't return. Those fans are rather rabid about them.

Besides, they already have a foolproof method of retconning in dead characters. Cerberus brought Shep back to life. They could do the same for your team. As for the cost, just explain it away saying that it's much cheaper now that they know what they're doing.

"What if you

Spoiler

blew up the base

?"

You scrape together DNA from their quarters aboard the Normandy and clone them.

 

[a Master Ninja]

Spoiler

I wonder how bioware is going to handle Shepards death saves from ME2, they can't just whip up another Lazarus Project for him. The only thing I see as a guarantee is Ashley or Kaiden and Liara returning as companions for ME3.

Before ME2 came out they flat out said that while that ending was possible, you couldn't bring that save to ME3.

 

[EatChildren]

Spoiler

I wonder how bioware is going to handle Shepards death saves from ME2, they can't just whip up another Lazarus Project for him. The only thing I see as a guarantee is Ashley or Kaiden and Liara returning as companions for ME3.

Spoiler

You wont be able to import a Shepard death save. Its implied during one of the loading screens, and I'm pretty sure BioWare have stated it too. Shepard's death essentially equates to the end of Mass Effect. No Shepard, no game.

 

[DuckRacer]

Garrus – Has nowhere to go
Jacob – Has nowhere to go, Alliance prob. won't accept him back since he's (ex-)Cerberus. Why would he leave anyway?
Miranda – Quit Cerberus of all groups to be with you
Jack – Has nowhere to go, BioWare could bullshit a situation where she passes away due to neural decay from biotics or something
Tali – Could become an admiral in the Flotilla and unite them against the reapers (and also bridge quarian and geth relations)
Legion – Nowhere to go, can work with the geth without leaving
Grunt – Considers you his "battlemaster," could maybe kinda sorta go back to the Krogan homeworld and help unite the Krogan against the reapers? (Even though he's from a tube.) I dunno.
Mordin – Won't leave a high-tech lab + Shepard + reapers cause just to work in some hospital. Maybe he'll work with the Krogan to cure the genophage (and thus have a massive Krogan army for the fight against the reapers)?
Thane – Dies soon
Samara – who cares. (OK... yeah she's a justicar, but I doubt she'd go back to busting criminals instead of helping Shepard save the galaxy.)

So, conceivably, assuming something doesn't attack the Normandy again and kills everyone, Jack, Mordin, Thane and possibly Grunt I guess have reasonable "outs." For everyone else, I'd be very interested to see BioWare's excuses and explanations for ditching ME2's purpose in the franchise.

 

[cazosozey]

Before ME2 came out they flat out said that while that ending was possible, you couldn't bring that save to ME3.

Ah I see.
What I thought would happen, judging by the complete fail ending:

Spoiler

Joker becomes the new lead, and Cerberus fixes his bones. :lol

But anyways, I think any surviving members of ME2 will have small bits in ME3, like Wrex had in ME2. Doesn't change the game, but nice to see a familiar face to the players that care.