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Mass Effect: Andromeda |OT| Ryders on the Storm

nOoblet16

Member
Anyone who unlocked with VPN, what country did you vpn to? Also what vpn? I tried flyvpn Korea but it said preloaded unlocks 12:00 EST

South Korea...used VPN gate, have had this thing unlocked for about 7 hours now.

I had the game downloaded already as I had the trial.
 

sangreal

Member
I want to become a Vanguard. Which training should I pick in the character creation screen? Scrapper?

doesn't really matter, but soldier or biotic I guess since those are the skills that feed into vanguard

I did soldier and moved to vanguard once profiles unlocked after the prologue. There aren't any hard classes in the game -- you can spend your skill points wherever you want and the profiles (vanguard etc) are just based on how many skill points you spend in each tree
 

Harlequin

Member
It's alright. I'm monogamous anyway.

The problem isn't just the achievement, it's the picture you get when you put all of those things together. I mean, of course, straight guys will get more options, I was never expecting them not to, but there are so many things that just scream half-arsed afterthought and "gays are second-class citizens" here. We've got less than half the number of options that straight guys have, we don't have any squadmate option (who get significantly more exposition, dialogue, etc. than non-suadmates), we don't have any option with a unique face, all of the gay male sex scenes are apparently fade-to-black whereas quite a few of the others are fully animated and include nudity and they put an achievement in the game that everyone but gay males can get without switching to a different gender or orientation (which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem but the fact that only gay men are forced to do it makes it one).
 

Lanf

Member
I'm about 10 hours in and enjoying the ride so far. Some points:

- Game is very pretty: outdoor environments, interieur, lightning and the alien character models all look great. Only human models look a little awkward.
- Animation problems are not nearly as prominent as some make them out. Don't really notice/care about them much. Surely don't detract from my enjoyment of the game.
- Combat is great. Loved ME3 gunplay and Andromeda has only improved on it (jetpack is a great addition)
- Walking around your ship and getting to know your crew is still as satisfying as it ever was. It's that Mass Effect vibe that no other game gives me.
- Speaking of the crew: I like my team, no one is really annoying me. Not even PeeBee or Liam. We'll see how that progresses. This should be the forte of Bioware, together with the...
- Worldbuilding: Andromeda is fine, but it is no milky way yet. I don't really care about this galaxy and it's history or the new species much yet. Subject to change of course.
- Writing: a lot of reviewers calling it atrocious. No idea where they're getting that from, nothing really made me cringe yet. Certainly doesn't feel worse than the trilogy. It always was a bit campy sfici.
- Main story: Hmmm, going with the flow, I'm still intrigued to find out what happens next, so that's ok.
- I'm really missing Quarian presence

Disclaimer: I'm a pretty big Bioware fan and generally loved everything the ever released, DA2 included.
 

Snagret

Member
C'mon not trying to be obnoxious myself here, but these sudoku challenges in the game are piss easy lol.
I guess I just mean like, if these are used as a replacement for a hacking minigame and they take any longer than 30 seconds to solve that would be a bummer just from a "things I don't want to spend time doing" standpoint, not necessarily because they're hard or anything. I actually don't know the context of how they're used in the game though, it all depends on that. If it's just a super-occasional thing that's fine.
 
Alright something has really bugging when I go to fight a random group of enemies die and it reloads the enemies are just gone instead of getting another shot at them.

Jaal sounds swesome but his kit doesn't mesh with mine sadly.
 

Maledict

Member
The problem isn't just the achievement, it's the picture you get when you put all of those things together. I mean, of course, straight guys will get more options, I was never expecting them not to, but there are so many things that just scream half-arsed afterthought and "gays are second-class citizens here" here. We've got less than half the number of options that straight guys have, we don't have any squadmate option (who get significantly more exposition, dialogue, etc. than non-suadmates), we don't have any option with a unique face, all of the gay male sex scenes are apparently fade-to-black whereas quite a few of the others are fully animated and include nudity and they put an achievement in the game that everyone but gay males can get without switching to a different gender or orientation (which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem but the fact that only gay men are forced to do it makes it one).

I'm actually really hurt by this. ME3s gay romance with Kaiden was a bright point in a game that oterwise had many flaws. It was the first time I got to play a gay lead and have it just be part of the game - nothing special, no big drama, that was just his choice of partner. The storyline was sweet, well written and completely recovered Kaiden's character from the tediousness of ME1. It actually *meant* something to me, as a gay man, to have that sort of representation in a AAA blockbuster game.

And now it's two monstrosity faced, generic background characters? You can't even have one as a squad mate?

That really, really sucks, and doesn't feel like the Bioware we've come to know over the last decade.
 

zebez

Member
well written and completely recovered Kaiden's character from the tediousness of ME1. It actually *meant* something to me, as a gay man, to have that sort of representation in a AAA blockbuster game.

And now it's two monstrosity faced, generic background characters? You can't even have one as a squad mate?

That really, really sucks, and doesn't feel like the Bioware we've come to know sorry/QUOTE]
 

Tacitus_

Member
The problem isn't just the achievement, it's the picture you get when you put all of those things together. I mean, of course, straight guys will get more options, I was never expecting them not to, but there are so many things that just scream half-arsed afterthought and "gays are second-class citizens" here. We've got less than half the number of options that straight guys have, we don't have any squadmate option (who get significantly more exposition, dialogue, etc. than non-suadmates), we don't have any option with a unique face, all of the gay male sex scenes are apparently fade-to-black whereas quite a few of the others are fully animated and include nudity and they put an achievement in the game that everyone but gay males can get without switching to a different gender or orientation (which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem but the fact that only gay men are forced to do it makes it one).

ZHsQidB.png


I mean, I get the frustration with the available options, but you're barking up the wrong tree with the achievement.

As an aside, gray on gray EA? come on
 

Moonstone

Member
FemRyder is currently unplayable,IMO The editor is very bad, you can't change anything - all comes from the template you choose. And all templates are kinda strange or look bad.
Template 9 is close to ok, but eyes are just too huge. And you can't change this. You can't even change eyebrow style and most of the templates have eyebrows like Bert from Sesamestreet.

PLS unlock more options, Bioware! They are there. Some female NPCs do look ok.
DA:I didn't have a great editor, but it was way better.

I assume they locked it because that Ryder familly looks similar, but nobody cares about this.
 

Harlequin

Member
ZHsQidB.png


I mean, I get the frustration with the available options, but you're barking up the wrong tree with the achievement.

As an aside, gray on gray EA? come on

I've already explained that it's not about the achievement specifically, it's about a bunch of little things which wouldn't be much of a problem on their own but paint the picture of all the gay male content being a half-arsed afterthought when put together.
 

Plasma

Banned
Really enjoying it so far, sure some of the animations are a bit janky but for the most part I think that's been blown out of all proportion. Combat feels fluid and I like the story setup.
 

Tacitus_

Member
I've already explained that it's not about the achievement specifically, it's about a bunch of little things which wouldn't be much of a problem on their own but paint the picture of all the gay male content being a half-arsed afterthought when put together.

Right, didn't mean to singly you out, sorry. Just quoted the last post on the subject.
 

tootie923

Member
Well, that was not something I was expecting from Bioware after ME3 and DA:I. Sounds like dudebro culture wins again. Quite disappointing.

The problem isn't just the achievement, it's the picture you get when you put all of those things together. I mean, of course, straight guys will get more options, I was never expecting them not to, but there are so many things that just scream half-arsed afterthought and "gays are second-class citizens" here. We've got less than half the number of options that straight guys have, we don't have any squadmate option (who get significantly more exposition, dialogue, etc. than non-suadmates), we don't have any option with a unique face, all of the gay male sex scenes are apparently fade-to-black whereas quite a few of the others are fully animated and include nudity and they put an achievement in the game that everyone but gay males can get without switching to a different gender or orientation (which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem but the fact that only gay men are forced to do it makes it one).
 

ironcreed

Banned
I'm about 10 hours in and enjoying the ride so far. Some points:

- Game is very pretty: outdoor environments, interieur, lightning and the alien character models all look great. Only human models look a little awkward.
- Animation problems are not nearly as prominent as some make them out. Don't really notice/care about them much. Surely don't detract from my enjoyment of the game.
- Combat is great. Loved ME3 gunplay and Andromeda has only improved on it (jetpack is a great addition)
- Walking around your ship and getting to know your crew is still as satisfying as it ever was. It's that Mass Effect vibe that no other game gives me.
- Speaking of the crew: I like my team, no one is really annoying me. Not even PeeBee or Liam. We'll see how that progresses. This should be the forte of Bioware, together with the...
- Worldbuilding: Andromeda is fine, but it is no milky way yet. I don't really care about this galaxy and it's history or the new species much yet. Subject to change of course.
- Writing: a lot of reviewers calling it atrocious. No idea where they're getting that from, nothing really made me cringe yet. Certainly doesn't feel worse than the trilogy. It always was a bit campy sfici.
- Main story: Hmmm, going with the flow, I'm still intrigued to find out what happens next, so that's ok.
- I'm really missing Quarian presence

Disclaimer: I'm a pretty big Bioware fan and generally loved everything the ever released, DA2 included.

Thanks for the impressions.
 
I feel like having the opening of the game been more "Milky Way" based would have been better, to kind of pass the baton from the Trilogy to ME:A.

Something like the cut-scenes we see.. but when the ships are preparing to leave, maybe Cerberus attacks the other Arks (not the humans, of course) to try and make sure only Humanity gets to go to Andromeda.

As the player you need to defend the other ships (while learning the controls), and get some good conversations with your father and the other crew. It could even line up with the current story with the other
Arks being missing/delayed
.

I feel like a good 1-2 hours of this, maybe even a cameo by Anderson or Hackett, would have really been a nice way to put a pin in the original trilogy and send you off to Andromeda, while also making it so once you get there.. you're not doing dumb tutorial missions in a brand new galaxy.

I don't know, just something I thought would have been nice.
 

Burbeting

Banned
So according to the official guide and reviewers, some of the datamining was incorrect. Gay Scott only gets two romance options as opposed to straight Scott's five, gay Sara's four and straight Sara's three, neither of which are squadmates and neither of which have unique faces (just character creator ones). This also means that people playing as gay Scott won't be able to get the romance trophy/achievement without turning him bi. Good job, BW, good job...

kCNDpEX.jpg

This honestly sounds threadworthy in itself.
 
Still debating whether I'll go with the male or female Ryder. I've always done male characters so it would be a departure from the type of character I usually go with
 

Lashley

Why does he wear the mask!?
Still debating whether I'll go with the male or female Ryder. I've always done male characters so it would be a departure from the type of character I usually go with

I'm going female for that reason

I was Male shep in the first three too, so fancy a change
 

sensui-tomo

Member
FemRyder will be fugly right now, if they don't change the editor.

FemRyder can be alright, but you have to copy the 4-6 good looking ones from that Ryder family thread. (note i've only seen 1 good Created MalRyder so good fucking luck making one from scratch there)
edit: Above found one of the 6 i thought looked great
 

Krentist

Neo Member
Still debating whether I'll go with the male or female Ryder. I've always done male characters so it would be a departure from the type of character I usually go with

I was femshep in the first three, so I initially was going to go femryder for this one... but after watching some scenes as both scott and sarah, sarah's VA just doesn't sound as charistmatic to me as scott's does. She's a forgettable voice, while his sounds 85% like Nathan Drake. Doesn't help that her face seems to have slightly derpier animations than his. Think I'm gonna go Scott this time around.
 
I'm about 10 hours in and enjoying the ride so far. Some points:

- Game is very pretty: outdoor environments, interieur, lightning and the alien character models all look great. Only human models look a little awkward.
- Animation problems are not nearly as prominent as some make them out. Don't really notice/care about them much. Surely don't detract from my enjoyment of the game.
- Combat is great. Loved ME3 gunplay and Andromeda has only improved on it (jetpack is a great addition)
- Walking around your ship and getting to know your crew is still as satisfying as it ever was. It's that Mass Effect vibe that no other game gives me.
- Speaking of the crew: I like my team, no one is really annoying me. Not even PeeBee or Liam. We'll see how that progresses. This should be the forte of Bioware, together with the...
- Worldbuilding: Andromeda is fine, but it is no milky way yet. I don't really care about this galaxy and it's history or the new species much yet. Subject to change of course.
- Writing: a lot of reviewers calling it atrocious. No idea where they're getting that from, nothing really made me cringe yet. Certainly doesn't feel worse than the trilogy. It always was a bit campy sfici.
- Main story: Hmmm, going with the flow, I'm still intrigued to find out what happens next, so that's ok.
- I'm really missing Quarian presence

Disclaimer: I'm a pretty big Bioware fan and generally loved everything the ever released, DA2 included.

Sounds good man. How are the environments so far in terms of exploration? Is there enough reason to go out of the Nomad and explore? How are the (side)quests so far?
 

Zesh

Member
Sounds good man. How are the environments so far in terms of exploration? Is there enough reason to go out of the Nomad and explore? How are the (side)quests so far?

Not the OP, but I've generally only gotten out of the Nomad to fight enemies. So far, I don't see too much of a reason to explore beyond just going to your quest objectives (12 hours in currently).

Side quests are a mix. There are a few that actually have some narrative to them, but there are a bunch that are also just standard fetch/collect quests.
 

Lashley

Why does he wear the mask!?
Not the OP, but I've generally only gotten out of the Nomad to fight enemies. So far, I don't see too much of a reason to explore beyond just going to your quest objectives (12 hours in currently).

Side quests are a mix. There are a few that actually have some narrative to them, but there are a bunch that are also just standard fetch/collect quests.

Oh no :(
 

Sober

Member
Thanks. Looks like I"m getting the standard version. I don't think I'll spend much time on the multiplayer and the Deluxe weapons don't look that great.
On one hand I'd love to have the deluxe items. On the other hand I feel like I go out of my way to avoid them on playthrough #1.
 
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