Preview Bioware Blogs on Mass Effect 2

[Zyrxil]

Except ME is as long if not longer than most games.

ME takes 10 hours to finish if you skip the identical buildings on procedurally generated planets and the random satellite crashes in the middle of nowhere.

All that part meant is that if you die in ME2, you -can't- import that game into ME3, and you'll have to play with the vanilla "default" Shepard that anyone who didn't buy ME1 or ME2 will get. Just like, if you buy ME2 and you didn't buy ME1, you'll of course get a "default" Shepard in ME2. This seems perfectly logical, dunno how else it -could- be done, really, or what the whining is all about.

Mostly that for the past few weeks, E3 hype fever has had them wording it in a way that sounded like they had an entirely different protagonist stepping in if Shepard died in your game.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

I wonder if you're all not misinterpreting the "not your Shepard, but a Shepard" part. To me it sounds as if when your Shepard dies in the end of ME 2 you'll simply continue playing with a Shepard (as in: doesn't follow your choices from the previous games, you get the choices Bioware choses for you) in ME 3. No clones needed, just some (quite common) retconning.

This.

All that part meant is that if you die in ME2, you -can't- import that game into ME3, and you'll have to play with the vanilla "default" Shepard that anyone who didn't buy ME1 or ME2 will get. Just like, if you buy ME2 and you didn't buy ME1, you'll of course get a "default" Shepard in ME2. This seems perfectly logical, dunno how else it -could- be done, really, or what the whining is all about.

Qwinn

That's what I thought. Of course, this makes the "He may not survive until ME3" thing rather weird. If It's his story and I'm forced to play as him, then Shep dying is just a bad ending, not an alternate one that makes ME3 play diferently. The only difference would be "do I keep my 1 & 2 loot or start from zero again".

Of course, there's a 0,001% chance that by "A Shepard" they mean a descendant... Shep's hotblooded asari daughter, Les'bhos Shepard (Liara got knocked up?). But that would be too awesome, I guess.

 

[CrimsonAngel]

I wonder if you're all not misinterpreting the "not your Shepard, but a Shepard" part. To me it sounds as if when your Shepard dies in the end of ME 2 you'll simply continue playing with a Shepard (as in: doesn't follow your choices from the previous games, you get the choices Bioware choses for you) in ME 3. No clones needed, just some (quite common) retconning.

This.

All that part meant is that if you die in ME2, you -can't- import that game into ME3, and you'll have to play with the vanilla "default" Shepard that anyone who didn't buy ME1 or ME2 will get. Just like, if you buy ME2 and you didn't buy ME1, you'll of course get a "default" Shepard in ME2. This seems perfectly logical, dunno how else it -could- be done, really, or what the whining is all about.

Qwinn

That's what I thought. Of course, this makes the "He may not survive until ME3" thing rather weird. If It's his story and I'm forced to play as him, then Shep dying is just a bad ending, not an alternate one that makes ME3 play diferently. The only difference would be "do I keep my 1 & 2 loot or start from zero again".

Of course, there's a 0,001% chance that by "A Shepard" they mean a descendant... Shep's hotblooded asari daughter, Les'bhos Shepard (Liara got knocked up?). But that would be too awesome, I guess.

Dood they are so going to do that.

I mean bioware seem to be going more and more into the "wanting to make porn games" side of the scale and blue chick that can have sex with any thing would be perfect for them.

 

[Volourn]

"ME takes 10 hours to finish if you skip the identical buildings on procedurally generated planets and the random satellite crashes in the middle of nowhere."

BG and BG2 cna be beat in an hour. FO1 can be done in 10 minutes. *yawn*

 

[circ]

"ME takes 10 hours to finish if you skip the identical buildings on procedurally generated planets and the random satellite crashes in the middle of nowhere."

BG and BG2 cna be beat in an hour. FO1 can be done in 10 minutes. *yawn*

So someone proves you wrong, yet again, and you then pull something new out of your ass. Way to go champ.

I really want to see you do BG's 1 and 2 in an hour, you're free to use the console to move around.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

BG and BG2 cna be beat in an hour. FO1 can be done in 10 minutes. *yawn*

You're right about Fallout, but BG and BG2 can't be done without cracking open the console.

BG1 requires you to go through the story events of the first 4 Chapters to unlock Baldur's Gate, where you can get the last 2 Chapters. Even if you had a dimension door spell available to get into Baldur's Gate early (which would pretty much require cheating, as you can't get them outside of Baldur's Gate or Durlag's Tower) you still would have to do a whole lot of stuff that would take over an hour.

I mean, sure, you could just CLUAConsole Sarevok into existence when the game first started, and then control-Y him for the win, but that's hardly much of a speed run.

BG2...well, just the starting dungeon would likely take a half hour. It's just not possible without cheating/exploiting.

 

[Volourn]

"So someone proves you wrong, yet again, and you then pull something new out of your ass."

Nobody proved me wrong nor did I pull this stuff out of my ass. A while ago, there was some big hoopla about different videos of how to beat various games as quick as possible.


"I really want to see you do BG's 1 and 2 in an hour,"

I never claimed I did. I just said others did (be it an hour or some other fast time). Heck, ME probably could be beaten in less than 10 hours by some lameo speed runner.

Don't. impress. me. much.

 

[M_I_C_K_E_Y_M_O_U_S_E]

I was quite impressed by that one guy who completed Half-life in around 30 minutes. Was up to his neck in scripts and did each part separately of course, but some of the parts definitely took real skill.

 

[Silellak]

Except ME is as long if not longer than most games.

ME takes 10 hours to finish if you skip the identical buildings on procedurally generated planets and the random satellite crashes in the middle of nowhere.

Sadly, even 10 hours IS "as long as if not longer" than most modern games. Maybe not most RPGs, but most games.

BG and BG2 cna be beat in an hour. FO1 can be done in 10 minutes. *yawn*

You're right about Fallout, but BG and BG2 can't be done without cracking open the console.

BG1 requires you to go through the story events of the first 4 Chapters to unlock Baldur's Gate, where you can get the last 2 Chapters. Even if you had a dimension door spell available to get into Baldur's Gate early (which would pretty much require cheating, as you can't get them outside of Baldur's Gate or Durlag's Tower) you still would have to do a whole lot of stuff that would take over an hour.

I mean, sure, you could just CLUAConsole Sarevok into existence when the game first started, and then control-Y him for the win, but that's hardly much of a speed run.

BG2...well, just the starting dungeon would likely take a half hour. It's just not possible without cheating/exploiting.

It looks like there are ways to beat BG1 and BG2 in under an hour, but it requires the exploitation of glitches.

http://speeddemosarchive.com/BaldursGate.html - supposedly done in 21 minutes

http://speeddemosarchive.com/BaldursGate2.html - supposedly done in 41 minutes

I say "supposedly" for both, because I don't have time to watch either video right now.

 

[circ]

http://speeddemosarchive.com/BaldursGate.html - supposedly done in 21 minutes

http://speeddemosarchive.com/BaldursGate2.html - supposedly done in 41 minutes

I say "supposedly" for both, because I don't have time to watch either video right now.

Just watched the first part of the first one, but very early there was a item glitch exploit used, so doesn't really count.

The scary part is watching youtube longplays of C64 games you struggled with for months done in 5 minutes.

 

[Volourn]

So.. is the concensus still that I pulled this stuff out of my ass? Don't fuck with the Volourn. It's insta loss for you.

GAME OVER. GAME FUCKIN' OVER.


(in less than 5 minutes)

 

[Dark Matter]

Except ME is as long if not longer than most games.

ME takes 10 hours to finish if you skip the identical buildings on procedurally generated planets and the random satellite crashes in the middle of nowhere.

If you did that in Daggerfall, there is no game.

 

[Tigranes]

It'd be stupid to expect Shepard Death ending to carry over to ME3 - seriously, how much work would go into letting you play a different character who took over Shepard's role after he died? You'd need new voiceovers, alternative versions for any and all dialogue / situations that assumes you are Shepard, new dialogue / situations to react to the fact that Super Hero (TM) Shepard is dead, etc.

Sounds like they're trying hard to respect the choices you make in each game without being ridiculous, and if they do what they say they're doing it'll be great.

I'd much rather they took the Shepard death ending as the real ending, which would allow them to do more interesting things with the story in ME3, but then the fanboi furore would collapse the earth.

 

[Chefe]

Death by the anti-collargrabbing forcefield is there for players who really couldn't stand ME2 and only gave it a shot because they thought Bio would actually improve on the potentially good concepts from ME1. They are generous in letting you end your story in a more satisfying way than uninstalling during the last level and going on interweb forums to complain.

 

[Jaime Lannister]

they need to stop spoiling their stories

so does Vince Dweller

 

[Shannow]

they need to stop spoiling their stories

so does Vince D. Weller

Took long enough, but for once, I agree.

So Volly, you did not pull it out of your arse. But are you proud of it? Do you still defend ME compared to BG2 lengthwise? Glitches used in the BG speedruns and normal playthroughs of BG2 being about 3 times as long as ME. No information about what kind of speedruns would be possible in ME if cheats were used, etc. Just wondering because it is the first time in a long time that you seem to be glad to have more proof than your opinion...

 

[Volourn]

My opinion is always based on 'proof'. I simply don't feel the need to bother repeating ancient sources for ignoramces who think because something isn't spelled out for them word for word or picture for picture that it does not exist.

Now, stop being a loser, and get over the fact you are butthurt that you were proven WRONG.

 

[Wyrmlord]

My opinion is always based on 'proof'. I simply don't feel the need to bother repeating ancient sources for ignoramces who think because something isn't spelled out for them word for word or picture for picture that it does not exist.

Now, stop being a loser, and get over the fact you are butthurt that you were proven WRONG.

Jesus Volourn, did Shannow pee on your waffles or something?

 

[RK47]

Everyone's butthurt after torrenting shitty games nowadays. It costs them bandwidths, man.

 

[Jaesun]

With the successful Marketing Campaign of Dragon Age: The New Shit... I can't wait to see how they market Mass Effect 2.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

It'd be stupid to expect Shepard Death ending to carry over to ME3 - seriously, how much work would go into letting you play a different character who took over Shepard's role after he died? You'd need new voiceovers, alternative versions for any and all dialogue / situations that assumes you are Shepard, new dialogue / situations to react to the fact that Super Hero (TM) Shepard is dead, etc.

They'd have to take the spotlight away from him, not too hard since he dies and can't do much about it; just have characters have more or less dialogue based on Shepard being alive or not. Like, "This is like that thing Shepard was talking about", so you can not display it if Shep's alive.

People affected by Shepard could make vague references at him if he's dead, and talk normally if he's alive.

There are already male/female voices in ME1, we can expect that for 2 and 3.; aliens sound more or less like humans, so maybe the same voice sets could be used?

It doesn't sound great, but doable, I think. Only problem is that ME3's main would live in the shadow of Shepard among the fans. But that already happened in Metal Gear Solid 2 (lol raiden).

 

[Chefe]

With the successful Marketing Campaign of Dragon Age: The New Shit... I can't wait to see how they market Mass Effect 2.

They are marketing it as a local step forward in the series. It builds on and enhances the elements from the first game, while correcting problems in combat, missions, and storytelling. It will feature more c&c and better grafix. It will have a well rounded cast and an intriguing plot that takes you across the far reaches of the universe.

Dragon Age is the New Shit with blood and tits and orgies!!!!111001101010

Srsly, it's like they don't even care with Dragon Age. Like they were going to abandon the project and EA said "No wai, guyz, KEEP DOING IT!" And Bioware was like "It's gone on too long in dev and the story sucks and it was just a holdover until we could get the Baldur's Gate license back" then EA was like "NO! Just make up your own story and make it EPIC like other games 'n shit the kids will love it and we'll sell MILLIONS!!!LOL"

Dragon Age was just Baldur's Gate before they got the license. Then since they didn't get the license they had to make a new story which they didn't want to because they were all depressed about not getting BG back.

 

[Deacdo]

Sounds mostly good. It's strange how differently Bioware handles Mass Effect 2 as compared to Dragon Age.

What does he mean by this? I'm not really following either game closely (I'll wait for reviews and impressions), but I'm still curious.

 

[Shannow]

My opinion is always based on 'proof'. I simply don't feel the need to bother repeating ancient sources for ignoramces who think because something isn't spelled out for them word for word or picture for picture that it does not exist.

Now, stop being a loser, and get over the fact you are butthurt that you were proven WRONG.

Jesus Volourn, did Shannow pee on your waffles or something?

Nah, he'd like that. Wouldn't you, Volly?
No, he is upset because he proved me wrong when I didn't make any claim, statement or argument. The whole senselessness of the act has him flustered. Don't worry, as soon as this new paradoxon has been filed with the others in his brain, he'll be right back to "normal".

 

[Major_Boobage]

"ME takes 10 hours to finish if you skip the identical buildings on procedurally generated planets and the random satellite crashes in the middle of nowhere."

BG and BG2 cna be beat in an hour. FO1 can be done in 10 minutes. *yawn*