Mass Effect 3.5B: Taste the Rainbow (Story and Ending Discussion; Spoilers!)

[Grif]

On a related subject, how much did you think the trailers diverted attention from the work on the game itself?

It's a shame to see such superb live action trailers being made and the game falling so far short.

[Morty]

Let's be fair here - over-the-top, bombastic trailers are pretty much standard fare for such a big, very anticipated title. We can't really blame the quality of the ending on them.
Also...

But yes, I think this is a very valid point. Bioware put MORE WORK into Aller's face (and failed!) than they did Tali's. It's downright tragic.

I haven't thought of it myself but yes, it is kinda hilarious. Way to set your priorities straight, BioWare.

[Chen]

I haven't thought of it myself but yes, it is kinda hilarious. Way to set your priorities straight, BioWare.

It makes sense from a resources point of view though. Allers is there for the whole game. Tali's face would be there for what? 30 seconds? At best? Now it doesn't really excuse the cheap photoshopping for her face, but not rendering it in full 3D makes complete sense. A good 2D image would have been more than satisfactory. Hell a bit more work on the actual photoshopping and I wouldn't have really minded the stock photo either. I mean that's what stock photos are for.

[polity4life]

It makes sense from a resources point of view though. Allers is there for the whole game. Tali's face would be there for what? 30 seconds? At best? Now it doesn't really excuse the cheap photoshopping for her face, but not rendering it in full 3D makes complete sense. A good 2D image would have been more than satisfactory. Hell a bit more work on the actual photoshopping and I wouldn't have really minded the stock photo either. I mean that's what stock photos are for.

I think the complaint is that Bioware spent less resources on expounding upon a character that has been central in all three games and more on a useless, flat add-in to solidify a real world business relationship.

[Luzahn]

Oh, absolutely. 'At ramming speed' is an awesome way to go out, but if Emily Wong's gonna die, I really think we should see it. But that's been my problem with a hell of a lot of the game. It would have been more satisfying to see more things. Seeing all the fleets signing in. Seeing my Krogans on dinosaurs! Seeing Geth Primes stomping through London killing Reapers. Seeing Jack's biotic squad helping out. It doesn't really change anything, but it just gives a lot more weight to your decisions, IMO.

It'd have been nice for her voice actress to get some more work too.

Also, Allers is just Uncanny Valley to me. Creeps me out.

Agreed, though when I played I didn't really recognize it as Uncanny Valley. I just thought they were trying to design her as a makeup-slathered, slightly dirty looking woman.

[Aotrs Commander]

I honestly don't get the hate directed at Allers. Sure she was under-used, but that's about there is to say about her in my opinion. What does it matter if she was based off a real person or not?

Zevox

I should clarify.

I had no idea who Chobit is. I still don't.

Therefore I took Allers at face value. She...was okay, I guess? She was part of my crew, for what that's worth, and she didn't do much, maybe, but I can't really hold that against her.

Also, she was worth war assets. So, y'know, we're cool.



I suppose I should mention, in my desparation over no net access (on primary PC on which gaming and email and such are on) over the last few days (finally found it was a nasty torjan and eliminated it), I actually started writing a fanfic on that ending theory I came up with a while back. Don't know whether it'll actually come to anything, but there you go...

[Luzahn]

Does Shepard become Space Emperor Supreme? Because if not, it has lost some quality.

Ah, I see, this "Chobot" is a fake name. That makes sense, it sounded a bit ridiculous; I thought it was some joke I'd missed at first.

[Chen]

I think the complaint is that Bioware spent less resources on expounding upon a character that has been central in all three games and more on a useless, flat add-in to solidify a real world business relationship.

That complaint could be made for ANY reporter character they had added to the ship. Tali's face as a 3D model is not a good use of resources considering the low amount of screentime it would get, if any. More resources would have been used regardless of if it was Chabot or just some polygon model of Wong they had used.

[polity4life]

That complaint could be made for ANY reporter character they had added to the ship. Tali's face as a 3D model is not a good use of resources considering the low amount of screentime it would get, if any. More resources would have been used regardless of if it was Chabot or just some polygon model of Wong they had used.

Let's assume Chobot isn't used at all and instead those resources are used to further flesh out not only Tali but all Quarians. I'm guessing if that were done, Bioware would expose Tali's face more to the player and the geth consensus would show Quarians without their exo-suits. But that's all conjecture.

If Chobot is a guarantee then I still don't see the value of rendering her versus Tali's face as I'm guessing more people would want to see the latter over the former.

And no, that complaint couldn't be made about any reporter. Wong already has a look and her surrogate, what's her face on the Citadel, would need a minor touch up to be Wong. They also could have just used the new reporter with no extra resources required. Any resource spent to put Chobot in the game could have been better spent elsewhere in production. I can't see any valid counter-point to that apart from Bioware wanting to be in bed with IGN to pimp this game harder.

[Psyren]

Its more about how much she was played up, they made her unveiling a bit of a big deal, IGN helped by fawning over their own person. It's the fact that they face modeled her. They took more time putting her face into the game than they did Tali's.

I have to admit this was pretty puzzling to me, particularly since Liz Sroka seems pretty attractive herself. I mean, if we're going to model Anderson and Miranda to look like their VAs, why not Tali? Clearly they decided that Quarians are basically human with glowing eyes and some cyber-bits, so it would have been easy.

Anyway, I have nothing against Allers either. My renegade Sheps might get it on with her, even. I'm sure they're collecting metrics on that, even as the fans hurl vitriol in her direction on the forums.

[Aotrs Commander]

Does Shepard become Space Emperor Supreme? Because if not, it has lost some quality.

Not technically...yet...

But it is statistically proven that it's very bad to give me Ideas...



(Though that's more in line with my OTHER ideas, which involve Shepard+Blasto=Crying Reapers, like in That One Fan Comic...)

[Avilan the Grey]

I have to admit this was pretty puzzling to me, particularly since Liz Sroka seems pretty attractive herself. I mean, if we're going to model Anderson and Miranda to look like their VAs, why not Tali?

She's cute enough to warrant a face modeled after her, that's for sure.

[Dienekes]

I might be alone here, but I actually wanted Tali to look like an alien. We already had asari for hot human looking females. Both the male alien romantic interest looked far more alien than Tali or Liara.

Also, since Grunt talked about killing aliens and having to work harder when stabbing Quarians I always pictured them with some form of carapace.

[Aotrs Commander]

Also, since Grunt talked about killing aliens and having to work harder when stabbing Quarians I always pictured them with some form of carapace.

From the context, I always assumed he was referencing the fact they always wore environmental suits.

[Dienekes]

From the context, I always assumed he was referencing the fact they always wore environmental suits.

And now we know you're correct. However, when I first heard him say it I didn't think of that and suddenly got way more interested in what Quarians look like under their armor. And then when I saw it, disappointment. Not because as many others have said, because it was a photoshoped generic image (thought that didn't help), but because it was just a damn human with what looked like a cut on her forehead. Boring as hell.

[Fawkes]

News alert!

Korean-founded, Tokyo-based game company Nexon, the makers of Maple Story, have put out a bid to buy EA. EA's stock is rising back up with the news of the possible takeover.

[Luzahn]

News alert!

Korean-founded, Tokyo-based game company Nexon, the makers of Maple Story, have put out a bid to buy EA. EA's stock is rising back up with the news of the possible takeover.

Hmm. I'd prefer the devil that I know, to be honest. Though I don't know the reputation of this other company.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Ugh, that was a terrible design on Bioware's part, having the citadel invasion wipe out quests. Dragon Age 2 had the same problem, though at least they gave you a less ambiguous warning about it.

My friend doesn't get to see Kasumi now; he has no saves from before that mission.

Maybe he should done the mission then? I mean...it's not terrible design. The real world doesn't wait for you to put your ducks in a row before something happening, why would the ME universe? If you don't do a mission, then bad things can and should happen because you waited. I'm more peeved that I started a quest for Barla Von...but he apparently died in the Citadel attack. I'm not mad I didn't get to finish...I'm mad that I'll always have that 'active quest' sitting in my log book.

[Opperhapsen]

News alert!

Korean-founded, Tokyo-based game company Nexon, the makers of Maple Story, have put out a bid to buy EA. EA's stock is rising back up with the news of the possible takeover.

And this is how gaming died.

A Korean company chiefly funded by microtransaction of red noses and temporary powerboosts buys out the largest gaming company in America, owner of pretty much every IP ever made.

[Corvus]

And this is how gaming died.

A Korean company chiefly funded by microtransaction of red noses and temporary powerboosts buys out the largest gaming company in America, owner of pretty much every IP ever made.

I think you are being a little bit pessimistic there. Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls, Gears of War, Halo and a bunch of others aren't in EA's evil grasp.

[Calemyr]

I think you are being a little bit pessimistic there. Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls, Gears of War, Halo and a bunch of others aren't in EA's evil grasp.

"Don't worry, this isn't the end of gaming as we know it... we still have Bethesda."

[TheLaughingMan]

I think you are being a little bit pessimistic there. Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls, Gears of War, Halo and a bunch of others aren't in EA's evil grasp.

Let's not count out Japan either. Mario didn't just die overnight.

[BRC]

They haven't bought EA yet. they've just "Put out a Bid", it doesn't mean the deal will go through.

It also doesn't mean the quality or nature of the games will necessarily change.

[Psyren]

And this is how gaming died.

A Korean company chiefly funded by microtransaction of red noses and temporary powerboosts buys out the largest gaming company in America, owner of pretty much every IP ever made.

It's just a rumor; also, Nexon doesn't have enough money.

[Beowulf DW]

Nexon can drop the ball at times, but in general I've found that they make sincere attempts to compensate the players for their mistakes. I only play one of their games, Dungeon Fighter Online, but I like it.

So, basically, I think they're a better company than EA.

[Zevox]

And this is how gaming died.

A Korean company chiefly funded by microtransaction of red noses and temporary powerboosts buys out the largest gaming company in America, owner of pretty much every IP ever made.

I suppose that 98% of the games I play don't exist then, because I don't play anything EA publishes except for Bioware's titles.

Seriously, I don't even know what most of the games EA publishes are, but I do know the last time I looked at a list of them on Wikipedia I only recognized a few other than Bioware's, and didn't care about any of those.

Let's not count out Japan either. Mario didn't just die overnight.

Not to mention everything else Nintendo makes. Or Capcom, Sega, Square-Enix, Namco-Bandai, Atlus, Arc System Works, Mistwalker...

Zevox

[MCerberus]

To be fair, Sega, Square-Enix, and Namco-Bandai are trying their darnedest to die.

[Zevox]

To be fair, Sega, Square-Enix, and Namco-Bandai are trying their darnedest to die.

I've heard about Square-Enix having some financial problems lately, but they still make the most popular games in Japan (Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy), so I imagine they'll be fine. Haven't heard of Sega or Namco-Bandai having trouble though. In fact, I know Sega's most recent Sonic titles have been better received than any in a long time, and I heard that Namco-Bandai was pleasantly surprised by how Tales of Graces F sold in North America, plus Tales of Xillia was their best-selling Tales game since Symphonia in Japan.

Zevox

[Anarion]

I've heard about Square-Enix having some financial problems lately, but they still make the most popular games in Japan (Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy), so I imagine they'll be fine. Haven't heard of Sega or Namco-Bandai having trouble though. In fact, I know Sega's most recent Sonic titles have been better received than any in a long time, and I heard that Namco-Bandai was pleasantly surprised by how Tales of Graces F sold in North America, plus Tales of Xillia was their best-selling Tales game since Symphonia in Japan.

Zevox

Just stopping by to note that Sega had some pretty cool stuff at their booth in PAX East, and although I didn't have time to stand in line long enough to try their new Sonic game, the fact that there was a significant line to try their new Sonic game seems to speak well for it. Plus the video footage looked pretty good.

[Morty]

Alright, I beat the Cerberus Base. Now feels like a good time to stop playing and wait for the Extended Cut to come out, whenever that might be - since about at this point, the plot falls apart, culminating in the Spacekid nonsense.