Mass Effect General Thread: This is My Favorite Thread on Talking Time

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Kinda effed up that in Mass Effect 1 Shaira seems to have sex with you if you do her quest, whether you ask for it or not? Like, I didn't want this, lady.

This absolutely stunned me when I first played it. Never saw it coming; just thought Shepard was making fun of some shitty proverbial nonsense - you have to be polite or grateful to her when ending that quest, even though she is just serving you a vague horoscope. It is definitely not something Shepard asks for. Anders in Dragon Age II truly has nothing on this.

Also reminds me that I am being very rude to Ashley so we're not in some kind of proto-relationship before, you know. You can politely reject Liara; not sure how to avoid Ashley's romance aside from being an asshole. (well, I mean, you know, before that)(I'm sorry, Ashley! I really am! I like you!)

My character definitely didn't ask. Shaira said that she wanted to repay Shephard for helping her by basically giving Shephard a horoscope, Shephard blushed at the compliments, then cut to nuzzling and signs and hand extending against the wall of Shaira's sex bubble in ecstasy.

I mean, I did avoid this actually - maybe there is some other dialogue related to it. (I just know Shepard can't say her wisdom sucked...)

 

[Oathbreaker]

not sure how to avoid Ashley's romance aside from being an asshole. (well, I mean, you know, before that)(I'm sorry, Ashley! I really am! I like you!)

I think the exact dialogue option is to shout that she's out of line during one of her racist comments, I don't remember if that's what the option says that you select or if it's the dialogue that comes out after selecting one. Otherwise you have to quite literally not speak to her after a certain point or she just forces a relationship on you.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Not talking to Ashley is what I do best!

 

[Bongo]

I completed the consort quest without seeing that scene (all I got was a hug, a fancy compliment, and a trinket), so I'm pretty confident that you accidentally chose the option that misleadingly leads to embracing eternity.

I also had the option to tell Ashley I wasn't interested in her, but it was because she thought I was into Liara, (later I shot her down too). You can start down the romance path by picking a few too many paragon responses when digging for lore, but the option to abort seemed pretty explicit. I suggest checking the wiki for a description of the mechanics if it's important that you avoid it.

 

[karzac]

I completed the consort quest without seeing that scene (all I got was a hug, a fancy compliment, and a trinket), so I'm pretty confident that you accidentally chose the option that misleadingly leads to embracing eternity.

I just found a video of the option I picked. Shephard says "Uh, thanks I guess" after Shaira tells their fortune. Then she says "Close your eyes and relax Commander" and proceeds to have sex with them. How in the world is "Uh, thanks" to a compliment an invitation to sex?

 

[Bongo]

I said it's misleading.

I don't have an answer for you. I didn't write the damn thing. I only know that there is an option that does not lead to that.

 

[karzac]

Sure - sorry,y problem was more that Shakira has sex with you without you asking for it, than that there's no way to avoid it. That was just the first impression I got, because of the choice I picked. I believe you that there are options where you don't end up having sex with her, I was just disagreeing with the idea that the option I picked was in any way asking for it .

Anyway, it's a bad and fucked up scene is all I'm saying, sorry for dragging this out so long.

 

[Violentvixen]

This has all reminded me, this playthrough I need to take the trinket she gives you to whatever the planet is where it does something. I only found out about that much later.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

I think I was pretty thorough and ended on level 29. (new system; apparently 57 on the old one)

No more news updates in ME2? Sad. Unless they show up after you start a game...

 

[Oathbreaker]

I can't remember the NPC name right now, but the fanboy guy was broken in ME2 and only did dialogue as if you'd been mean to him in ME1. I wonder if they'll fix that, I've always been curious what his "nice" dialogue was.

I was really curious about this and was told by a couple people playing faster than me that they didn't fix it. They also didn't fix the one guy that always acts like you have the Sole Survivor background.

That said, I never knew for sure ME2 really had a Paragon version of the scene in it, but people actually managed to get it with some save editing on 360 back in the day if anyone wants to check it out. I imagine it's still in the game the same way, but it's gonna be a huuuuuge pain in the ass to access other than on PC if it is.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Never saw that before; but I assumed it existed because the Verner thing was a glitch. I can see why they didn't fix it because ME3 just proceeded as if that was the only possibility. Does look like maybe they fixed the Ambassador choice not saving in ME1 but I really should go to bed...

Why did I immediately have access to the Bonus Power "Flashbang Grenade" in ME2? Had no idea what it was. (apparently Kasumi's power, but not her cool backstab thing)

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Does look like maybe they fixed the Ambassador choice not saving in ME1 but I really should go to bed...

Yeah, they just edit out this bit of dialogue at the beginning of ME2. Children will never know. Also asked me if I wanted to play the Genesis comic even though I imported my save. Never have; have no idea what it's like. The only BioWare Social Network DLC I never spent points on...

When I got to Omega, it seems like I only spent a 10th of the money advertised? (like, 5000 instead of 50000) Don't know if this was a bug here or if it'll be like that on other planets. I am paying full price in various metals for the assorted horse armor which I won't use if it means covering Mark Vanderloo's face. (maybe it's uncovered in cutscenes but I can't risk it)

Wasn't hostile to Kelly as I traditionally am because it almost seemed like you could get her to feed your fish just being friends, but no, Shepard has to flirt with her. Annoying, inexcusable.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Shep really only has two settings for dealing with people; Flirt and Punch

 

[Bongo]

At the end of Mass Effect 1, the order in which you populate your party determines which squadmate will support which of the big choices in the end. So if you do it right, you can have Wrex or Ashley advocating for sacrificing human fleets to save the Council and Garrus or Liara suggesting the opposite. Which is funny.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

That just happened to me. (Liara/Kaiden) Finally decided to give Liara the chance to see Ilos. (again, normally Wrex)

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

When I got to Omega, it seems like I only spent a 10th of the money advertised? (like, 5000 instead of 50000) Don't know if this was a bug here or if it'll be like that on other planets.

I actually just had like 800000 credits or something, which seems higher than normal import money but I dunno.

Leaving fish in the stores to give them a chance at life...

 

[fanboymaster]

I was really curious about this and was told by a couple people playing faster than me that they didn't fix it. They also didn't fix the one guy that always acts like you have the Sole Survivor background.

That said, I never knew for sure ME2 really had a Paragon version of the scene in it, but people actually managed to get it with some save editing on 360 back in the day if anyone wants to check it out. I imagine it's still in the game the same way, but it's gonna be a huuuuuge pain in the ass to access other than on PC if it is.

I would imagine that Conrad's dialog at least wasn't changed because his ME3 Paragon dialog references that he accused you of pointing a gun at him even though you didn't and there was no alternative dialog recorded or possibly even written to swap that with, which would have created a new inconsistency.

 

[Bongo]

Instead of the "rich" achievement, I think you now just import a fraction of your money, which can be very high.

 

[Mightyblue]

The ME1 achievements used to grant a bunch of in-game benefits, sounds like they took them out (or included them in other ways)?

 

[Violentvixen]

I would imagine that Conrad's dialog at least wasn't changed because his ME3 Paragon dialog references that he accused you of pointing a gun at him even though you didn't and there was no alternative dialog recorded or possibly even written to swap that with, which would have created a new inconsistency.

Oh, that's right, I forgot they recognized the error in 3. Amusing.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

I'm not saving because I respect life but just FYI you can blow up Delan on Horizon with a grenade launcher.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I kind of love Liara in ME1 because you can rescue her last, at which point she freaks out over all the cool Prothean stuff that you saw while she was still trapped. I think that she's OK as a character, at least taken over the course of the trilogy, but there's not really any defending the Asari race as a whole. They're all sexy blue space ladies and they'll do it with ANYONE! Aside from acting as a throwback to sexist tropes in older science fiction, it's pretty hard to justify the whole thing. Same thing for the endless butt shots of Miranda in ME2 and basically everything to do with Edi's design in ME3. I love the series, but it's always had some issues with objectification and stereotypes. Thankfully, most of the characters are well-developed to the point where I can look past that stuff, but I understand why some people can't (or just don't want to).

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Butt shot’s gone btw. Now it’s just her arm. Some of my favorite characters are Asari (love Samara and Morinth; comments are closed) but yes, the way the species is treated is pretty bad...

Speaking of dodgy characterization of women, for the first time in my life I bit the bullet and had Shepard flirt with Kelly to bring some fish with me, but maybe it’s too late. Oh, well.

 

[Purple]

Between horror stories from Ubisoft generally and everything I've seen about he Mass Effect rerelease I kinda wonder how many meetings in the industry in general go basically like:

"OK. Right here, we need a great big closeup right on this dame's can! Sex sells!"
"... I mean that really goes completely against the tone of everything here, that character you're talking about is-"

"Sex. Sells."

 

[karzac]

Still early in 1, just got Liara, haven't gone to Feros or Noveria yet.

Some thoughts:

- I think I'm appreciating Joker's characterization more this time. I like how pissed he gets when the Commander askes naive questions about his disability. It doesn't feel like the game is chiding him or thinks he's too defensive - it feels more honest than that, these are questions he's been asked a million times throughout his life and he's tired of it. And it gets a little close to the "disabilities give you other superpowers" trope, but skirts it by making it very clear that he's only so good a pilot because he had to work twice as hard to prove himself. I think Green's performance sells the character quite well. Does anybody know of any good writing from disabled people or people in disability studies about Joker? I'd be interested in reading it.

- It's weird to me that while Wrex, Liara, and Tali all have a ton of early dialogue options about their respective species, Garrus doesn't. His dialogue is all about C-Sec, not Turians as a whole. Maybe I missed it, or maybe it comes later, but it's an interesting and odd pacing decision.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Shepard presumably meets a lot more Turians than the other races and so doesn’t think to ask.

Anyway, just wrapped up ME1 (Heaven got a very racist angel, and I sacrificed a lot of lives trying to save people who plainly hate me). The modifications the remake made to the original game went a long way to making the game easier to go down, but it’s still very much the broccoli you eat before getting ice cream.

Making the Mako easier to steer doesn’t do much to change the fact that none of the planets you drive around on are actually any fun to play on

 

[Violentvixen]

Just finished ME1 as well. Definitely the best version of the game. Ilos is much more impactful when you can see the details so much more clearly. I debated letting the Council die this time but decided to stick with my decision from the first time I played through and had the Alliance Fleet help them out.

I wanted to play the prologue of 2 and make sure stuff transferred right so went to install it, but it looks like the Xbox didn't ask for the install disc and just downloaded ME2 anyway? I didn't think it through until it was halfway through downloading so I just let it finish but 38GB is a lot for my monthly bandwidth limit! So that's a bummer.

I remember liking 1 more than 2 so I'm curious if I'm still feel that way after a play through with them so close together.

 

[Octopus Prime]

The racist human supremacist terrorist group that Robocopped Shepard back to life took the time to reapply her hair dye and makeup.

Good to know their priorities were in line.

 

[Oathbreaker]

At the end of Mass Effect 1, the order in which you populate your party determines which squadmate will support which of the big choices in the end. So if you do it right, you can have Wrex or Ashley advocating for sacrificing human fleets to save the Council and Garrus or Liara suggesting the opposite. Which is funny.

Is it really just the order? I've been looking around google after my friend said Ashley can paragon that scene while Liara renegades it and a lot of stuff is saying you can actually shift Ashley's alignment to extreme paragon if she survives Virmire, and Kaidan can be pushed extreme Renegade the same way according to this stuff.

 

[Violentvixen]

I wanted to play the prologue of 2 and make sure stuff transferred right so went to install it, but it looks like the Xbox didn't ask for the install disc and just downloaded ME2 anyway? I didn't think it through until it was halfway through downloading so I just let it finish but 38GB is a lot for my monthly bandwidth limit! So that's a bummer.

So just a heads up in case it helps someone else, it looks like getting the Xbox to install off of the disc is difficult if not completely bugged for a lot of people. I can't get it to install ME3 even when I disconnect the Xbox and put it in offline mode, it sounds like the only way to consistently get it to install all three off the disc is if you install all three at once while in offline mode in the first place. Seems like once you've installed one game and connect to the internet it won't go back to installing off the disc.