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Mass Effect |OT| Alien love in an elevator

65536

Banned
PepsimanVsJoe said:
If you consider the sidequests grinding I'd hate to see you play a standard rpg or worse...an MMORPG.
Going into the same room over and over, killing the same (or slightly different) enemies again and again isn't grinding?
 
andrewfee said:
The main story is enjoyable, and the shooting is decent, but I'm surprised people don't think of it as grinding. (as Che mentioned it was a grind-free 40 hours, I assume he didn't just do the story and skip the pointless sidequests)

It isn't. I don't need to do the optional sidequest and the enemies appear only once in a battle. After defeating them, they don't respawn. And unlike other rpgs, I don't have to always battle to gain xp. Talking to people nets xp as well.

I think Che is trying to say that in no point in the game do you become stuck and are forced to grind and level up. Even Noveria, where many people had problems with the boss, doesn't require grinding. It just takes patience and some strategy to clear it.
 
andrewfee said:
Going into the same room over and over, killing the same (or slightly different) enemies again and again isn't grinding?

The enemies don't respawn though. You're not going into the same room killing the same enemies. Just because the graphics look the same doesn't mean it's grinding. By your definition, Halo is nothing but a huge grindfest.
 

Fusebox

Banned
andrewfee said:
Going into the same room over and over, killing the same (or slightly different) enemies again and again isn't grinding?

If it was genuinely the same room, and the enemies were genuinely respawns of the ones you had already killed then yes, but seeing as how Mass Effect doesn't offer a room like this (to my knowledge) then no.
 

Phthisis

Member
Jirotrom said:
Im stuck guys.... The hanar preacher thing wants to preach and i'm trying to find him a license. Where do I get 1?

Talk to the C-Sec officer standing right next to him. Then talk to the Hanar again.
 
Jirotrom said:
Im stuck guys.... The hanar preacher thing wants to preach and i'm trying to find him a license. Where do I get 1?

You have to force either the hanar or the officer to back down. There is no key that you can get/buy. You'll need a intimidate/charm level of 7/6. Wait till you're a spectre to finish the mission. I left it alone and came back after doing 2 main planets.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
andrewfee said:
Something I forgot to mention in my above post - I'm surprised people are saying there isn't any grinding in the game. So far, pretty much everything I've done
other than save Liara
is what I'd class as grinding - the other worlds I've come across may as well be randomly generated and every location you can go into has been one of three different places. Other than the colour and terrain differences, they all play identically.

The only "city" I've come across so far has been the Citadel and pretty much everything there is just running from A to B and perhaps back again.

The main story is enjoyable, and the shooting is decent, but I'm surprised people don't think of it as grinding. (as Che mentioned it was a grind-free 40 hours, I assume he didn't just do the story and skip the pointless sidequests)

I totally agree. Driving around a planet looking for those ? and ! points was essentially grinding, especially since they were exactly the same. The fact that all the bases on those planets had the exact same layout didn't help as well.
 
.....31 hours....and i did every quest and planet i could find....


To be honest i was slightly disspointed. The only intresting places where the 5 story areas. Before this game came out, I had no idea how they could fit the game into one dvd based off all the reports and hype, now i know why. Still enjoyed it though. Put all 31 hours in since sunday night. Now i can finnaly play mario galaxy.
 

Phthisis

Member
Masta_Killah said:
You have to force either the hanar or the officer to back down. There is no key that you can get/buy. You'll need a intimidate/charm level of 7/6. Wait till you're a spectre to finish the mission. I left it alone and came back after doing 2 main planets.

Not true. You can finish it without using charm or intimidate (but it will cost you 150 credits).
 
Phthisis said:
Not true. You can finish it without using charm or intimidate (but it will cost you 150 credits).


:lol shit you're right. I was just reading what the guide said.Totally forgot that I did it the same way.
 

65536

Banned
Fusebox said:
If it was genuinely the same room, and the enemies were genuinely respawns of the ones you had already killed then yes, but seeing as how Mass Effect doesn't offer a room like this (to my knowledge) then no.
I'm actually surprised at this, I thought most people's experience would be the same as mine. So far I've been to 10+ planets, and I've only seen three different kinds of area. (I want to apologise, as I rushed things and these pictures turned out terrible)

Underground base:
DSCF8379.jpg


Run through a tunnel like this into a small room:
DSCF8381.jpg


Which has a tunnel leading into a bigger room with crates
though on the Admiral Kahoku mission it was very slightly changed
which then has a corridor going left & right into two smaller rooms:
DSCF8383.jpg


So far, I must have had at least 6/7 of these in a row from the last planets I've been to.

"Dig site" (these pictures are way too dark, sorry)
DSCF8386.jpg


Dark tunnel leading down:
DSCF8388.jpg


Into a small entrance room:
DSCF8391.jpg


Which has a tunnel leading to the room with enemies and crates:
DSCF8395.jpg


This room then has two tiny "item box" rooms branching off. I had two of these on the first two planets I visited.

And then the final base type I've seen:
DSCF8397.jpg


Just one big, two-tiered room, with crates and explosives:
DSCF8399.jpg


DSCF8403.jpg


Done this one 2/3 times as well.


And it's not just been the bases either - every planet I've been to has been almost identical. Blue barren wasteland with one base, a crashed object/trap, a mummy/artefact, 2/3 minerals and possibly a thresher maw is exactly the same as red/yellow/snowy/grey/etc barren wasteland with one base, a crashed object/trap, a mummy/artefact, 2/3 minerals and possibly a thresher maw.

So far, only the main story planets have been different (I hear there are only five of them) the rest may as well have been randomly generated. (given the terrain on some I've come across, I hope they were)
 
I've found that multiple play through's with different classes are kind of diluted thanks to the skill wheel. It makes the experience of using your party members skills exactly like that of your own, so even if you play as a soldier you have extensive experience using the biotics and tech skills of your party members.

There are still plenty of reasons to replay the game (game+, different solutions, male/female) but if you go through the game once with a balanced party (as you should) then you've pretty much already experienced all the skills and what its like to use them.
 
andrewfee said:
And it's not just been the bases either - every planet I've been to has been almost identical. Blue barren wasteland with one base, a crashed object/trap, a mummy/artefact, 2/3 minerals and possibly a thresher maw is exactly the same as red/yellow/snowy/grey/etc barren wasteland with one base, a crashed object/trap, a mummy/artefact, 2/3 minerals and possibly a thresher maw.

So far, only the main story planets have been different (I hear there are only five of them) the rest may as well have been randomly generated. (given the terrain on some I've come across, I hope they were)

The stages are still different though. I know what you're trying to say, but they are not identical. If they were identical, they'd have the same exact layout every single time. Also, try absorbing the little stories you get from doing the side stories. What makes the side missions worth it is that you get a better understanding of the universe Bioware has created. If you just want to fight your way through, then don't even bother with the sidequest. The only reason why you should be doing the side missions is to get more information on the main mission. Trying to get weapons or gain a higher level is pointless, since you get plenty of those during the main mission. The only sidequest that you may need to do is the Lunas one, and that's only if you want an easier time. Other then that, stick to the main quest and just enjoy the awesome story.

Edit: What you're trying to say is that the side missions lack variety, not that they are identical.
 
Subarushian said:
I've found that multiple play through's with different classes are kind of diluted thanks to the skill wheel. It makes the experience of using your party members skills exactly like that of your own, so even if you play as a soldier you have extensive experience using the biotics and tech skills of your party members.

There are still plenty of reasons to replay the game (game+, different solutions, male/female) but if you go through the game once with a balanced party (as you should) then you've pretty much already experienced all the skills and what its like to use them.

Maybe if you play as Soldier on your first playthrough.

However, if you're limited by your weapon choice (see: most everyone plays as Vanguard, so everyone), then playing through the second time as an Infiltrator or a Soldier offers a different experience. And honestly, a lot of the time teammates aren't where you want them to be, so having direct control does offer a much more refined experience. Hell, Force Push--erm, "Throw"ing enemies yourself is far more satisfying than having Liara do it for you.

But yeah, silly point to argue. Game is gudd. Play it!
 

65536

Banned
Masta_Killah said:
The stages are still different though. I know what you're trying to say, but they are not identical. If they were identical, they'd have the same exact layout every single time. Also, try absorbing the little stories you get from doing the side stories. What makes the side missions worth it is that you get a better understanding of the universe Bioware has created. If you just want to fight your way through, then don't even bother with the sidequest. The only reason why you should be doing the side missions is to get more information on the main mission. Trying to get weapons or gain a higher level is pointless, since you get plenty of those during the main mission. The only sidequest that you may need to do is the Lunas one, and that's only if you want an easier time. Other then that, stick to the main quest and just enjoy the awesome story.
They are the exact same layout every time. The only exception to that has been
the Admiral Kahoku mission, where the middle of the big room had a barrier around it
which is hardly any difference at all.

I've read all the planet descriptions / codex stuff so far, but I'm really disappointed with the lack of variety in the actual gameplay.
 
Andrew is right on the money.

That said, I don't mind "replaying" those sections at all.

The good in this game does a great job of masking the bad.
 
andrewfee said:
They are the exact same layout every time. The only exception to that has been
the Admiral Kahoku mission, where the middle of the big room had a barrier around it
which is hardly any difference at all.

I've read all the planet descriptions / codex stuff so far, but I'm really disappointed with the lack of variety in the actual gameplay.

ugh, there's no point in arguing anymore. Just avoid the side missions and stick with the main story. ;)

If you want to see how different the gameplay is, go with a class that doesn't make you into a super soldier. Try the bio/tech centric classes and raise up the difficulty. Then you'll see a difference.
 
Masta_Killah said:
ugh, there's no point in arguing anymore.

No need for an argument. ME's biggest flaw is its sidequests. They are interesting solely for the backstories and narrative they provide. However, actually doing them can feel highly repetitive, because most are structured the exact same way and the uncharted worlds are little more than pallete swaps with seemingly (but not actually) randomized terrain.

That said, ME's pros far, far outweigh its cons. I only hope ME offers more unique planets, because I want to see more of the ME universe. I've fallen in love with it. :D
 

Phthisis

Member
What they should have done is left out the voiceover for the main codex entries and used that space to construct additional side-quest mission environments. It wasn't that the side-quests were the same; they were actually very diverse. They just suffered from repetitive environment recycling.

I also hope that in the sequel BioWare cuts down on the number of uncharted worlds (since we've presumably seen most of them in the first game) and instead increases the size of some of the game's cities. The Citadel wards section should have been much bigger, HUGE even, considering the view you get the supposed millions of people that inhabited the space.

I love the game so much despite those issues, though.
 
I agree with Andrew. I still really, really like the game, but nothing structurally sets it apart from what's come before, and Planescape/Fallout e.t.c. still shit on it from a great height. I'll probably forget most of my concerns when I stop arsing about exploring the galaxy and get back to the story missions.
 

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
Phthisis said:
What they should have done is left out the voiceover for the main codex entries and used that space to construct additional side-quest mission environments. It wasn't that the side-quests were the same; they were actually very diverse. They just suffered from repetitive environment recycling.

I also hope that in the sequel BioWare cuts down on the number of uncharted worlds (since we've presumably seen most of them in the first game) and instead increases the size of some of the game's cities. The Citadel wards section should have been much bigger, HUGE even, considering the view you get the supposed millions of people that inhabited the space.

I love the game so much despite those issues, though.


Yeah I'd much rather see earth/mars/alien worlds as non-story worlds than another 20 barren planets...they are nice, but even if they had 100 different tilesets instead of the 5-10 it would still just be driving around a barren map for 10 minutes.

Hopefully DLC will provide.
 

Brashnir

Member
Vyse The Legend said:
No need for an argument. ME's biggest flaw is its sidequests. They are interesting solely for the backstories and narrative they provide. However, actually doing them can feel highly repetitive, because most are structured the exact same way and the uncharted worlds are little more than pallete swaps with seemingly (but not actually) randomized terrain.

That said, ME's pros far, far outweigh its cons. I only hope ME offers more unique planets, because I want to see more of the ME universe. I've fallen in love with it. :D


Well, then I'm glad I hardly did any of the sidequests. I did a few here and there that seemed convenient and interesting, but for the most part, I was too enthralled with the main story to stop seeing where it would lead next. Plus, the sidequests are a bit immersion breaking. The entire main storyline is like a race against time, but yet you can go off at your leisure at any time and spend a few months diddling around on planets in the middle of nowhere.

I'll dig through some of the sidequests if I venture another playthrough to see the other story arcs tied up, but the main story was good enough to put this one at or near the top of my GOTY list.
 
Can anyone help me with this bit please? I assume it's near the end so don't read if you haven't finished the game....

I'm at the bit where Saren just closed the Citadel and a spaceship got through and is grappling at the end of a long platform. I broke out of the lift and am now heading towards it. I got to this bit where there is a whole platform of these enemy rocket turrets and I can't seem to do anything to destroy them?

The platform is a bit too big to run past them too so I don't know how to get past them?

Thanks guys!!

Love this game!! :D
 

Brashnir

Member
Twicenightly said:
Can anyone help me with this bit please? I assume it's near the end so don't read if you haven't finished the game....

I'm at the bit where Saren just closed the Citadel and a spaceship got through and is grappling at the end of a long platform. I broke out of the lift and am now heading towards it. I got to this bit where there is a whole platform of these enemy rocket turrets and I can't seem to do anything to destroy them?

The platform is a bit too big to run past them too so I don't know how to get past them?

Thanks guys!!

Love this game!! :D

You have to destroy them. Use cover and don't expose yourself too long, but they can be destroyed.
 
And it's not just been the bases either - every planet I've been to has been almost identical. Blue barren wasteland with one base, a crashed object/trap, a mummy/artefact, 2/3 minerals and possibly a thresher maw is exactly the same as red/yellow/snowy/grey/etc barren wasteland with one base, a crashed object/trap, a mummy/artefact, 2/3 minerals and possibly a thresher maw.

Have you found any deserted freighters yet? They're essentially the same.
 
Brashnir said:
You have to destroy them. Use cover and don't expose yourself too long, but they can be destroyed.


Thanks Brashnir, they don't show up with a Red aiming reticule around them, is that just because I'm not close enough or do they just not do it?
 

WrikaWrek

Banned
Bebpo said:
I don't agree with this much at all. I think the rpg genre is a pretty wide genre and it's good to have rpgs all across the board in terms of what "type of rpg" they are.

Mass Effect is fantastic, and it's true that it's better than all the j-rpgs this year save Persona and maybe Lost Odyssey/Tales of Innocence, but at the same time after finishing ME this morning I started playing DQIVr which is pretty much a 180 from the ME style of rpg and I'm liking it about as much as ME. There's plenty of room for both types of rpgs and considering most Japanese gamers dislike the ME type and most Western gamers dislike the DQ type, it looks likely will get plenty of both in the future instead of everything just going one way.

Yeah but you are missing the point, i never played DQ ever, but if it's anything like FF (which i like, even though with each passing iteration i find myself having more and more trouble actually finishing the game), then you aren't really roleplaying. For me J.RPGs aren't really RPgs, they are adventure games with "rpg combat".

Because you can't really tell me that you are indeed role-playing in FF, because...you are most definitily not. You are just there along for the ride, and your job is to get through grindfests just so you can dreaking beat 3 bosses in a row to watch a cutcene.
 
I'm trying my best to play the game as a renegade but every time I do something remotely nice, (even if I was only doing it expecting to be able to intimidate the person into paying me lots of money) I get a ton of paragon points. If I do something real prickish, I hardly get any renegade points.

I'm halfway through the Feros planet and I'm about equal parts renegade and paragon. How much of an impact do those have on the game later on? I really haven't had to make any life changing decisions yet.
 

Gattsu25

Banned
andrewfee said:
I'm actually surprised at this, I thought most people's experience would be the same as mine. So far I've been to 10+ planets, and I've only seen three different kinds of area. (I want to apologise, as I rushed things and these pictures turned out terrible)

And it's not just been the bases either - every planet I've been to has been almost identical. Blue barren wasteland with one base, a crashed object/trap, a mummy/artefact, 2/3 minerals and possibly a thresher maw is exactly the same as red/yellow/snowy/grey/etc barren wasteland with one base, a crashed object/trap, a mummy/artefact, 2/3 minerals and possibly a thresher maw.

So far, only the main story planets have been different (I hear there are only five of them) the rest may as well have been randomly generated. (given the terrain on some I've come across, I hope they were)
I don't understand those arguing with you as you ARE correct. I just don't see it as game breaking.

Mass Effect RAWK
WrikaWrek said:
Yeah but you are missing the point, i never played DQ ever, but if it's anything like FF (which i like, even though with each passing iteration i find myself having more and more trouble actually finishing the game), then you aren't really roleplaying. For me J.RPGs aren't really RPgs, they are adventure games with "rpg combat".

Because you can't really tell me that you are indeed role-playing in FF, because...you are most definitily not. You are just there along for the ride, and your job is to get through grindfests just so you can dreaking beat 3 bosses in a row to watch a cutcene.
Not another RPG semantics bullshit argument. That's why we call them jRPGs and wRPGs/CRPGs, to seperate between the two larger subsets of the genre.

Hell, if role playing is the only way to consider a game a RPG, then the last two Elder Scrolls games are the ONLY rpgs I've ever played in my life. It's an antiquated term and doesn't mean what it literally says. That's all.
 

Brashnir

Member
Twicenightly said:
Thanks Brashnir, they don't show up with a Red aiming reticule around them, is that just because I'm not close enough or do they just not do it?

must not be close enough. You can still hit them if you have good aim, or you can try and get closer.
 

WrikaWrek

Banned
I was just sayin....why exactly Mass Effect has advanced the role playing genre.

And for me this is what a true RPG is. I'm not bashing "J.RPGs" at all, i like them, i just don't consider them much of RPGs, that's all.

When are people going to release guides on character creation? I wanna make some famous people.
 
andrewfee said:
I'm actually surprised at this, I thought most people's experience would be the same as mine. So far I've been to 10+ planets, and I've only seen three different kinds of area.
...
So far, only the main story planets have been different (I hear there are only five of them) the rest may as well have been randomly generated. (given the terrain on some I've come across, I hope they were)
Yeah, i'm with u on that one. I'm disappointed they copied and pasted so much stuff for the side quests. Planets are empty and dull. There is some sort of story attached to each side quest but... it's not like they made it interesting. And, yeah, it does feel like grinding to me. I cant help but not give a crap what
cerberus
did, or wtf happened to some random survey team gone missing. If it was tied in with the actual main quest, which has a strong story line, sure, maybe i'd care. If the side missions weren't so repetitive that u find the same "base" (if u can call it that) layouts planet after planet, if there was more to it than "go there and kill
random crime lord dude A
"... i mean, i tried to get involved, but it's hard to immerse urself in a side quest if the game continuously reminds u ur playing throwaways slapped together at the last minute with duct tape.
So yeah, i dont play the sidequests cause i'm interested in seeing what'll happen. I play them for loot/xp. Some parts of it r downright annoying (mako, or
12 hundred rocket sentinel drones
crowding u), some others r enjoyable-ish (some of the figths are pretty cool, in spite of questionable ai).
Play it for xp/loot + not much in the way of story telling. Sounds like grinding to me.
Then again, if u do actually care about
killing crime lord B
, or hunting randomly placed minerals, i can understand how to u it doesnt feel like actual grinding.
 
CriscoDisco said:
I'm trying my best to play the game as a renegade but every time I do something remotely nice, (even if I was only doing it expecting to be able to intimidate the person into paying me lots of money) I get a ton of paragon points. If I do something real prickish, I hardly get any renegade points.

I'm halfway through the Feros planet and I'm about equal parts renegade and paragon. How much of an impact do those have on the game later on? I really haven't had to make any life changing decisions yet.

Its not a see saw system. Paragon points have no bearing on Renegade points, really, except in situations where you are trading one for the other.
 

Gattsu25

Banned
IronicallyTwisted said:
Its not a see saw system. Paragon points have no bearing on Renegade points, really, except in situations where you are trading one for the other.
Which is every situation where you can receive one or the other
 

Cheech

Member
firehawk12 said:
I totally agree. Driving around a planet looking for those ? and ! points was essentially grinding, especially since they were exactly the same. The fact that all the bases on those planets had the exact same layout didn't help as well.

Hit the "Start" button, go to "Maps", and it will show you all the key locations on the planet you're on (except hidden things like minerals). Then you can set even set waypoints on that map, to give you a little arrow where to drive. If you knew all this already I apologize, but the way you phrased it indicated you didn't.
 

Aurora

Member
Gamer @ Heart said:
.....31 hours....and i did every quest and planet i could find....


To be honest i was slightly disspointed. The only intresting places where the 5 story areas. Before this game came out, I had no idea how they could fit the game into one dvd based off all the reports and hype, now i know why. Still enjoyed it though. Put all 31 hours in since sunday night. Now i can finnaly play mario galaxy.
There is no game outside the 5 story planets, I don't give a shit what anyone says.
 
beat the game last night, and I now realize my time with Mass Effect is just beginning. I can see myself playing through at least 3-4 more times in the immediate future to get all the achievements and try different things.

For those of you who haven't beat it yet I would like to make a suggestion. This first part is not a spolier, it only includes a planet's name and nothing else but I will tag it regardless.

When you get to Illos, do not use the Mako to travel

This second part is a spoiler for anyone not near the end of the game.

When the door to Illos was opened for some reason I ran past the Mako and into the Great Archive Halls on foot. The sense of scale is mind boggling and the archives go on for what seems like over a game mile. I actually physically walked it, taking it all in, the running water, the light from above, and the hundreds of capsules which you find out were for the Prothean.

Too often in games you never get to just experience something like that. Just walk through an environment and not be shaken out of the wonder of it all by the obligatory "enemy encounter"/ choke point, for a theater of war.

Turns out you need the Mako eventually to make the long drop later on and I had to jog back and get it. But I wasn't even in the least bit angry I had to do this or mad at myself or the game for having to backtrack the mile back to get the Mako. Driving through the same space that had just so enthralled me on foot with the Mako made it just another set peice, a means to an end.

This was my favorite part of the game and I could have missed it had I played "normally". In fact I know some may not even see it as that big of a deal as they zoomed through on the Mako in the first place.

But trust me, on foot, the Archives were breathtaking.
 

Aurora

Member
ShinAmano said:
True...so far the only planet worth landing on was the moon...
Ahh yea I totally agree here. It turned out to be one of my favourite moments of the game actually. Shame (and lazy) that BioWare didn't let us land on any of the other planets in our solar system.
 

Dina

Member
Just beat it with a completionist. I did every sidequest I got until I did
Virmire
. Which means I did every sidequest I got during my visits of
Citadel, Feros, Liara's planet and Noveria
. Got Tactician, Pistol, Love Affair and some other achievements too. I will replay it in the near future as a Soldier or Vanguard on hard, but not right now.

I have to say, the end had me absolutely awed. All the way from
Ilos to Saren's defeat, uprising and defeat again was breathtaking. I also love how they set everything up for more games, yet keep the first game a rounded off affair.

Mad props to Bioware for writing a fitting and exciting end.
 
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