Or can be stuff they had to cut out for a variety of reasons, re-imagined, and put into DLC, like what happened with Fallout: New Vegas.

I agree. But it can also *not* be.

Do, or do not. There is not try.

It does get pretty mystic. Still, I feel like consumers have a clear emotional sense of 'real' and 'fake' DLC, and frustration with it. And given all the unclear lines and unknowable details, it's understandable that this should happen.

Yeah, the problem is the people that see things as "Black" and "White". A properly done DLC is like a Expansion Pack. A cheap one that is only a character and gear is also OK. A full-price one that is just gear and a character is fake.

Yup. And you can see how 'day-1' also plays a role. Oh well.

It'd be easier if people's opinions were a bit more consistent with this stuff, although admittedly my impression of player base schizophrenia is due in part to the fact that some of the people way off in left field by themselves are sometimes also the people screaming the loudest. Look at Starcraft II and the array of opinions about the decision to spread the game out as a trilogy of sorts, for example. Even just looking at a cross section of the disappointed purchasers ran the gamut from subjective but measured and understandable criticisms like "I feel that Blizzard's decision is exploitative of the fanbase" to the slightly demented-- I know a guy who claimed that "Wings of Liberty isn't even a complete game and the people who bought it are idiots." He actually got fired from Gamestop over it because he'd say that to customers. I mean hey, I grok hyperbole just fine, but at some point you're just doing yourself a disservice.

Well, just finished it last night (at 2:30 in the morning... ... what?). Very good, very epic. There were bits that made me laugh, that made me cry, that made me go "hell yeah!", that made me sick to my stomach, that made me go "daww," and more. ... From a video game. I think Mr. Spielberg's challenge has been answered. Also, I think my dad nailed when I showed him ME1 several years ago: "This is not a game. This is a participatory movie."

That being said, the ending(s) is making my brain chew and think, and there's a little nugget of "but what if...?"; I blame too much GMing, with having to analyze and project outcomes. Now, back to ME1, to play through as female adept Shepherd with assault rifles! ... What? (Also, thank goodness my Shadowrun players are all on spring break this week!)

See, for me, this is not a compliment.

I think its misleading, as a statement. What I hope it means is that you have the depth and feel of a movie, yet the choices and interactivity of a video game. What I hope it doesn't mean is that your on board the story train (choo! choo!) and that you get to choose whether to go left or right, but it really amounts to the same conclusion with little to no changes. Kind of like the ending of DE: Human Revolution or All of MGS4.

I'd like to throw in that the Day One DLC isn't on disc, but very much should've been a part of the main game. The character has some serious backstory/plot-relevance and the best dialogue throughout the game. Leaving him out is dumb. I'm not buying the game because I refuse to allow EA's beta DRM onto my machine after the damage their last DRM did. If their fully functionally DRM can nigh brick me, I don't want their broken shit on my machine. Fortunately a housemate bought the XBOX version. Also, play the multiplayer, it doesn't add to your War Assets, IT MULTIPLIES THEM! AND CAN BE A NUMBER LESS THAN ONE! That's not an issue over here simply because the entire house is playing the multiplayer whenever the actual game owner isn't playing singleplayer, though it's driven some reviewers insane.

I'd like to throw in that the Day One DLC isn't on disc, but very much should've been a part of the main game. The character has some serious backstory/plot-relevance and the best dialogue throughout the game. Leaving him out is dumb. I'm not buying the game because I refuse to allow EA's beta DRM onto my machine after the damage their last DRM did. If their fully functionally DRM can nigh brick me, I don't want their broken shit on my machine. Fortunately a housemate bought the XBOX version. Also, play the multiplayer, it doesn't add to your War Assets, IT MULTIPLIES THEM! AND CAN BE A NUMBER LESS THAN ONE! That's not an issue over here simply because the entire house is playing the multiplayer whenever the actual game owner isn't playing singleplayer, though it's driven some reviewers insane.

I might be willing to get the extra character, depending on how awesome they are. Shale from Dragon Age was an awesome addition that they didn't have time to fully implement in the original game(supposedly,anyway).

It also depends on the price, so you never know.

Haha, ggodo, that's what I was thinking. The demo multiplayer was pretty fun, and I only care so much about the actual plot… might as well help out a friend!

Without really spoiling anything, since achievements and whatnot give it away...







It's a prothean.

That's not a spoiler, it's stated in the advertising and everything.

Since I played thru ME3 before official launch date, I have to finish my ME1>ME2 run thru into 3 before I can try it out. So I didn't even know it was part of the advertising gimmick. I just bought it and downloaded it (and trust me, it was not "on disk" DLC) while playing ME1 again.

Currently on ME2 (insanity) as an adept. Cleared the collector ship last night. Now to recruit everyone and do as many side missions as I can before doing the IFF mission. Insanity feels like a fair challenge... unless you play a vanguard. Don't do that.

I really enjoyed ME3. I've got a few more playthroughs to do now.

My one beef was that a custom face from ME1 will NOT import into ME3 in most cases. I had to recreate all of my faces in the ME2 creator, write down the code and import it into 3 that way, and tweak it to make it fit. Annoying as hell, but at the end of 37 hrs of play, I'd long since forgotten.

The Prothean squad mate is very relevant to the game. In many ways, he's equivalent to Shale, in that the character was integrated but the process of getting him wasn't finished, and his addition is a fantastic one. I wholly recommend picking up the Ashes DLC.

I noticed that 'I can't get the right face' on a few webcomics/etc., and I just don't understand. Why… do you care? I guess I leave the helmet on anyway.

Ha, that's not helping the case that they didn't screw the buyer out of core content!

See, I prefer the helmet off. I like seeing the face of the character I'm playing. And the face had to be changed to get to ME3. It's weird hearing the same voice with a different face, I think is a huge part of it.

Plus, for a lot of people, the face of their Shepard is how they most identify the character. For that to suddenly change, it messes up your connection.

For me, what annoyed me most were the new hairstyles. Apparently between 2 and 3, Shepard stopped caring about grooming.

Weird, 'emotional' crap. This is why Master Chief was better. I guess I just don't connect with the character, who's really just a placeholder in the middle of the story for your own (forced) decisions. If you play through once as male, and then as female, surely that messes with you more than having the wrong chin shape?

That aside, it *is* impressive that they managed to bork the whole face/hair system between two games that are basically identical (game engine). Talk about your unforced errors!

Beat Insanity with my adept over the weekend, last boss was a chump. Imported her into 3 for some renegade goodness. Then, what took me a week on insanity to do... took me a little more than a day to do on casual with a sentinel just to get thru (and do EVERY side mission) on paragon because my original import had goofed somewhere in 1 or 2.

What have I become?

See, as a roleplayer, I can connect with multiple characters. In ME, I have 3 separate male sheps and 1 femshep. And I'm able to connect with them because prior to playthrough, I came up with guidelines as to how they'll respond to the world. Femshep is a bitch, but she's loyal to her people. So she'll be nice to them, but stomp a mudhole in you if you get in her way. My main male shep is consumate good guy. Infiltrator shep is practical above all else, and the final one is a good guy but happily kicks the crap out of those who mess with his friends.

It's funny that recently I've had issues connecting with my actual PnP RPG characters more than I did in ME.

Fuck. I'm such a fanboi. I hate people like me.

See, for me the 'roleplaying' choices are so simplistic and lame, the characters have no personality beyond 'nice' and 'mean'.

To each their own.

Wow, this is so much harder without a dialogue tree.





-k