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At 2 hours ago, DirtyMeatball wrote: I don't think James was actually a bad character, it was just his appearance that made people go "Nope" and not give him a chance.

I didn't give him a chance after my first conversation with him because HE FUCKING HIT ON ME. He's a homosexual just like every other guy suddenly. It creeped me out and I didn't want to talk with any dudes.

At 2 minutes ago, Makeshift wrote:

At 2 hours ago, DirtyMeatball wrote: I don't think James was actually a bad character, it was just his appearance that made people go "Nope" and not give him a chance.

I didn't give him a chance after my first conversation with him because HE FUCKING HIT ON ME. He's a homosexual just like every other guy suddenly. It creeped me out and I didn't want to talk with any dudes.

You know you want a slice of that beef cake.

But pretty much your entire crew hits on you. Just shoot them down once and they'll leave you alone for the most part.

At 34 minutes ago, Makeshift wrote: I didn't give him a chance after my first conversation with him because HE FUCKING HIT ON ME. He's a homosexual just like every other guy suddenly. It creeped me out and I didn't want to talk with any dudes.

Unless you play femshep, I don't think Vega's interested. The gay guy is actually Cortez, the shuttle pilot.

I just hate Vega 'cause he's a meat head with no personality.

>Talking to cool guy Kodiak pilot, shooting the breeze
>He mentions losing someone close to him
>I inquire
>It was his husband that died
>that awkward moment when there is no option to immediately remove myself from the conversation

At 3 hours ago, RightWingGamer wrote:

At 34 minutes ago, Makeshift wrote: I didn't give him a chance after my first conversation with him because HE FUCKING HIT ON ME. He's a homosexual just like every other guy suddenly. It creeped me out and I didn't want to talk with any dudes.

Unless you play femshep, I don't think Vega's interested. The gay guy is actually Cortez, the shuttle pilot.

I just hate Vega 'cause he's a meat head with no personality.

He's not exactly a meat head. James is shown to be a bit of a tragic character. He was the leader of a squad before that was securing intel about Collectors that would help the Alliance against them. By the end of it though, he was forced to make a choice: secure the intel, or save the last surviving member of his squad. He chose to secure the intel, but that backfired on him when it turned out that Shepard had already beaten the Collectors and the intel was useless. This causes James to resent Shepard on some level, while Shepard can either assure James he made a good choice. "Good" being that James still believed the galaxy to be in danger, and thus that the intel was necessary and that the intel was important in saving it. Or, Shepard can choose the other option (the one I didn't choose) and give a more negative response over it.

Later in the game, James is also conflicted because he was chosen with the opportunity to join N7 and be the leader of his own squad again. He's not sure what to do about it, accept or reject. He reflects upon his past with his last squad, while also looking up to Shepard as a good example for what cuts it as leadership material. With these kinds of events, James is less "meat head" and more like Shepard's protoge (wish I had that proper E with the accent mark for that word) as James looks to Shepard for guidance over important decisions and past events rather than stupid questions or unremarkable going=on's.

At 30 minutes ago, Zerosen wrote: He's not exactly a meat head. James is shown to be a bit of a tragic character. He was the leader of a squad before that was securing intel about Collectors that would help the Alliance against them. By the end of it though, he was forced to make a choice: secure the intel, or save the last surviving member of his squad. He chose to secure the intel, but that backfired on him when it turned out that Shepard had already beaten the Collectors and the intel was useless. This causes James to resent Shepard on some level, while Shepard can either assure James he made a good choice. "Good" being that James still believed the galaxy to be in danger, and thus that the intel was necessary and that the intel was important in saving it. Or, Shepard can choose the other option (the one I didn't choose) and give a more negative response over it.

Later in the game, James is also conflicted because he was chosen with the opportunity to join N7 and be the leader of his own squad again. He's not sure what to do about it, accept or reject. He reflects upon his past with his last squad, while also looking up to Shepard as a good example for what cuts it as leadership material. With these kinds of events, James is less "meat head" and more like Shepard's protoge (wish I had that proper E with the accent mark for that word) as James looks to Shepard for guidance over important decisions and past events rather than stupid questions or unremarkable going=on's.

Well, leave it to BioWare to write an awesome backstory. And leave it to me to not actually explore the backstories until my second playthrough.

Still, he acts like a meathead. Like how he has Shepard spar with him during their first conversation (in the weight room, no less); or how the first time you find him on the Citadel, he's in the bar and he asks you to buy everyone a round; or how every consecutive time you find him, he's playing cards with refugees.

Or how about the constant reminders that he's hispanic? Like how he calls Shepard "loco", or cooks "Huevos rancheros" with a recipe he got from his "abuela".

At 17 minutes ago, RightWingGamer wrote: Well, leave it to BioWare to write an awesome backstory. And leave it to me to not actually explore the backstories until my second playthrough.

Shouldn't judge a book by its cover mang. Even if it's a video game character.

At 9 minutes ago, RightWingGamer wrote: Well, leave it to BioWare to write an awesome backstory. And leave it to me to not actually explore the backstories until my second playthrough.

Still, he acts like a meathead. Like how he has Shepard spar with him during their first conversation (in the weight room, no less); or how the first time you find him on the Citadel, he's in the bar and he asks you to buy everyone a round; or how every consecutive time you find him, he's playing cards with refugees.

Or how about the constant reminders that he's hispanic? Like how he calls Shepard "loco", or cooks "Huevos rancheros" with a recipe he got from his "abuela".

To say James isn't a dedicated soldier would be a bad joke. Yeah, he spends time in bars, with other soldiers, showing that he's just like them despite being in a team with the great hero Shepard. Yeah, he also gets Shepard to spar with him in the HANGAR, yet you forget that a few moments before, he was doing some pull-ups. Sparring with Shepard could have been one of his ways of adding onto his work-out, while also testing the mettle of the man who made his sacrifice irrelevant. He was wary of Shepard, resenting him. Why would you put your faith in a guy who made you look unimportant, weak, useless, and expendable? James needed to know that Shepard was just as human as the rest of them, and that he was worthy in his own eyes to be his leader. This could also tie in to the scene at the bar, where James is chilling out and having a drink with some other soldiers who also idolize Shepard as part legend. One of the reasons that he asked Shepard to buy them a round and converse with them.

As for his constant reminders, I've got plenty of hispanic friends. Some people were born and raised in hispanic environments and had the traditions and foods to fit; like calling their grandmother "abuela" and their grandfather "abuelo". Are you going to tell me that I should start calling my grandfather "grandpa" rather than the name my brothers and I used to call him, "pawpaw", just because we've grown up and he's long dead? My friends and I all have names for one another, regardless of our ethnicity. So "Loco" is the nickname he has for his Commander (and friend). It's not that hard to imagine it as real. It's no different than having a good relationship with your mentors in school, or your actual superior officers in the army.

At 23 minutes ago, Zerosen wrote: To say James isn't a dedicated soldier would be a bad joke.

I see your point. And I understand that Vega is a decently-developed character (at least when it comes to backstory) and that some of his more "meatheady" actions can be considered incidental.

However, at least consider the fact that he's the third ME companion that can actually be classified as a "space marine", with the other two being Kaiden and Ashley. Except Kaiden and Ashley were both much more relatable characters, being very down-to-earth and humble. Ashley even goes the extra mile by having a love for poetry, being deeply religious, and even slightly xenophobic. These are personality quirks that you'd find in a real person. And their backstories don't rely on personal tragedy, instead sharing stories from realistic lives that help you honest-to-god connect with them, rather than pity or idolize them. Kaiden and Ashley broke the "space marine" stigma, and showed us that they don't have to be generic, warmongering, or, well, meatheaded.

Vega, on the other hand, doesn't give that unique feel. He's the kind of character I'd expect to find in a Halo game (albeit on the high end of such), as he doesn't really convey the "human element" the way you'd expect from BioWare characters.

But that's just my opinion.

At 44 minutes ago, RightWingGamer wrote:

At 23 minutes ago, Zerosen wrote: To say James isn't a dedicated soldier would be a bad joke.

I see your point. And I understand that Vega is a decently-developed character (at least when it comes to backstory) and that some of his more "meatheady" actions can be considered incidental.

However, at least consider the fact that he's the third ME companion that can actually be classified as a "space marine", with the other two being Kaiden and Ashley. Except Kaiden and Ashley were both much more relatable characters, being very down-to-earth and humble. Ashley even goes the extra mile by having a love for poetry, being deeply religious, and even slightly xenophobic. These are personality quirks that you'd find in a real person. And their backstories don't rely on personal tragedy, instead sharing stories from realistic lives that help you honest-to-god connect with them, rather than pity or idolize them. Kaiden and Ashley broke the "space marine" stigma, and showed us that they don't have to be generic, warmongering, or, well, meatheaded.

Vega, on the other hand, doesn't give that unique feel. He's the kind of character I'd expect to find in a Halo game (albeit on the high end of such), as he doesn't really convey the "human element" the way you'd expect from BioWare characters.

But that's just my opinion.

Kaidan and Ashley I can't fight you about, as I've only really played Mass Effect 3. I'll admit to that. However, the quirks you've mentioned are also similar to the ones James asserts. He doesn't show any sign of religious belief, or love of poetry, but he does show a love of his own history (using Spanish, making food his abuela used to), he's also homesick, wishing to be back on his homeworld (this may or may not have a hint of xenophobia as it can imply he doesn't consider the worlds beyond his own to be any sort of home). He also makes jokes with his fellow soldiers, and shows a level of camaraderie with Shepard, Cortez, and Garrus as well.

As for the warmongering and meatheaded-ness, James is a pretty bulky guy. And he makes it somewhat obvious that he may be a bodybuilder. But, as a soldier, there are many out there who train their bodies relentlessly to deal with the situation as it unfolds. Yeah, it points to him being a "space marine", but it's no different than any other human warrior out fighting in combat. As per his homesickness, Earth is his home, he misses it, and it's in deep, deep danger as Reapers attack it. He's eager to help his home, and to that end James is ready and willing to go face-first into a firefight. It may seem like he's a battle-maniac, but he has an objective, a reason, and a gun. He's just trying to solve a problem the only way he knows how.

James may not be one of those characters you can relate to in many ways, but he's certainly a fleshed out character, you may just have to look a bit deeper.

His name was Marauder Shields.

Why am I losing connection to the server every 3 minutes?!

At 2 hours ago, Zerosen wrote: Kaidan and Ashley I can't fight you about, as I've only really played Mass Effect 3. I'll admit to that. However, the quirks you've mentioned are also similar to the ones James asserts. He doesn't show any sign of religious belief, or love of poetry, but he does show a love of his own history (using Spanish, making food his abuela used to), he's also homesick, wishing to be back on his homeworld (this may or may not have a hint of xenophobia as it can imply he doesn't consider the worlds beyond his own to be any sort of home). He also makes jokes with his fellow soldiers, and shows a level of camaraderie with Shepard, Cortez, and Garrus as well.

As for the warmongering and meatheaded-ness, James is a pretty bulky guy. And he makes it somewhat obvious that he may be a bodybuilder. But, as a soldier, there are many out there who train their bodies relentlessly to deal with the situation as it unfolds. Yeah, it points to him being a "space marine", but it's no different than any other human warrior out fighting in combat. As per his homesickness, Earth is his home, he misses it, and it's in deep, deep danger as Reapers attack it. He's eager to help his home, and to that end James is ready and willing to go face-first into a firefight. It may seem like he's a battle-maniac, but he has an objective, a reason, and a gun. He's just trying to solve a problem the only way he knows how.

James may not be one of those characters you can relate to in many ways, but he's certainly a fleshed out character, you may just have to look a bit deeper.

Even though you can think up reasonable explanations for almost all of his "meathead" traits, that doesn't change the fact that they are, indeed, "meathead" traits. In fact, your sentence "Yeah, it points to him being a "space marine", but it's no different than any other human warrior out fighting in combat" kinda proves my point that Vega doesn't belong in the game. BioWare companions aren't supposed to be just "no different", they're supposed to be memorable, or eccentric, or (in Ashley and Kaiden's case) relatable. They're supposed to shatter the mold, not follow it. And Vega is really a case of them simply following the mold for a space marine.

Now I'll admit, he certainly has a good backstory. That was never in question. The problem would be his personality, and how it fails to differ from what we have come to expect from the established archetype.

Man, the multiplayer is fun, but the weapons are seriously underpowered.
I guess it's only fair since we have three other people fighting with us. It's cheap too, so I don't need to worry about having to empty out my wallet again.

This is a surprisingly good multiplayer experience. Add me on PSN, maybe I can have a match with some of you guys.
By the way, how good is the Drell Adept? I got one in my starter pack with +50000 starting exp. I don't know if I got really lucky or if it's an okay class. Either way, I'm at level 14 now.

At 14 minutes ago, POTaTOS wrote: By the way, how good is the Drell Adept?

It's meh. The Asari's where it's at.

At 3 minutes ago, Makeshift wrote:

At 14 minutes ago, POTaTOS wrote: By the way, how good is the Drell Adept?

It's meh. The Asari's where it's at.

Good to know. But I'm good with the Drell Adept. I seem to suck with other classes. But that's probably because they're low level.

Angry Joe tells it like it is.

I'm late but I just finished the game. I chose the destroy option but after watching the other endings it made fuck all difference. The ending didn't piss me off nearly as much as it seemed to piss off everyone else. The child AI thing was my only major gripe but as others have said it would have been much better if it had ended with Shepard and Anderson dying side by side.

Destroying the Mass Relays did seem like a very extreme solution but it makes sense that destroying the reapers would destroy the relays too. The relays are of reaper construction after all, if the crucible was designed to target reaper technology everything they had created would have to go too, including the citadel and relays. That being said, it still didn't make any sense that the relays were destroyed in the other two endings.

I think it's pretty obvious that Shepard was indoctrinated and/or hallucinating from when he entered the citadel onwards though. The entirety of the citadel segment felt very eerie, otherworldly and out of place. The fact that he was inside the citadel they all know and love, yet as Anderson said it was almost identical to the interior of the Collector's base suggests that it was directly influenced by Shepard's memory. Also if you actually look at the corpses they're all bald, faceless and very doll-like.

It doesn't make sense that Anderson got there in the first place. When you first wake up after the laser there's no sign of him, yet apparently he went into the conduit right behind you. He also couldn't have gotten to the platform where you meet TIM so quickly and without you seeing him, especially since there's only one path up there. Then TIM shows up literally out of nowhere. Did you notice that when Shepard shot Anderson, he barely flinched and shortly afterwards Shepard clutches his side and sees fresh blood... right in the same place he'd shot anderson?

It's possible that in this scene Anderson was a part of Shepard's subconscious trying to snap him out of it, while TIM was a reaper influence trying to confuse him and indoctrinate him further. The black lines during the conversation with TIM are a dead giveaway, and when Anderson says "you're indoctrinated!" he's clearly looking straight at Shepard, not TIM. The way TIM stands there and rants about controlling the reapers instead of going ahead and actually doing it reinforces this theory. TIM, and the child-god-AI (who just happens to look like the boy Shepard was having nightmares about) try to sway Shepard towards trying to control the reapers or trying this synthesis bullshit instead of destroying them.

At that moment Shepard was in control of the crucible and could destroy the reapers, so they tried the only option they had left: taking advantage of his altered state by confusing him and convincing him to do something totally different (maybe simply killing himself). Keep in mind that you only get the extra short scene of Shepard waking up if the "destroy" option is chosen. Also notice how the god AI claims it created the reapers, yet refers to them as "we".

Then there's that part when Hackett contacts you and Shepard begins to drag himself towards the control panel, seemingly too weak to even respond, only to fall lifeless inches away from it. ...then he ascends to a higher floor and suddenly is able to walk and talk just fine. I don't think I need to point out how fucking stupid that was. Even if everything up to that point did happen (which is definitely plausible) there's no way the God-AI thing wasn't a dream or hallucination.

Also, all three ending sequences feature the Normandy in the middle of a mass relay jump and crash landing. That's bogus because firstly why the hell is Joker off doing a mass relay jump when he was in the middle of a war just a second ago and secondly how did the crew members who were with Shepard and reportedly killed by Harbinger's laser end up back on the Normandy?

Almost nothing adds up, and the only thing we can be certain of is that Shepard probably did die. Still a pretty terrible ending though since it offers no closure whatsoever. Right now all we can do is speculate and wait for more DLC or a sequel to confirm if any of this really happened.

Or maybe I'm just thinking too much and this really is just a case of bad writing. It's 3:40AM right now so I can't imagine I'm making much sense.

At 3 days ago, RightWingGamer wrote: And why would the Protheans even design such an awful device?

Protheans didn't design it, it's explained in-game that every species in every cycle added a little more to the crucible before they were extinguished, our cycle was just lucky enough to finish it. So the Protheans probably didn't know the relays would be destroyed, the original creator of the crucible may not have known either.

On the other hand, is it possible that every previous civilization actually did finish the crucible, but when faced with the final choice they decided death was preferable to destroying the relays?

And why the fuck does the Prothean VI actually refer to it as "the crucible" in conversation? That's a codename the alliance gave it, not what it was actually called.

The same reason it refers to it as the "citadel" or calls itself "prothean". It's not actually saying that, but the cipher Shepard got in ME1 allows him to interpret the Prothean language that way.

At 2 days ago, POTaTOS wrote: Also, is it possible to get that military power bar full at %50 galactic readiness? Do you only get the PERFECT ending if you have 500 military power AND %100 galactic readiness?

It's not possible to get the bar full at 50% readiness, at least not yet. After doing everything I only got 3k effective military strength, but it's possible that future DLC could push you over 5k at only 50% readiness. And no it doesn't matter what your galactic readiness is at, as long as you have over 5000 effective military strength you'll get the marginally less shit ending.

At 1 day ago, DirtyMeatball wrote: It's weird that he seems to be the only one in the entire galaxy who speaks a language besides English, though.

It's explained in a codex entry in ME1 that Aliens are actually speaking their native languages, but the omni-tool translates it in real time. Somehow the speaker is able to prevent some words and phrases from being translated though, like in a good chunk of Vega and Tali's dialogue. I know that's a really out-the-ass explanation, but really what else could they come up with?

Here's the codex entry if you're interested.

Also I'd like to add that I greatly enjoyed the game and thought it was just as good, if not better than ME2. I even liked the ending, though it could have been a lot better. The highlight of the game for me was definitely learning more about ad eventually resolving the Quarian/Geth conflict. That thresher maw vs. Reaper fight was awesome too. Considering doing another playthrough on insanity.

Fuck I'm going to bed

At 56 minutes ago, RightWingGamer wrote: Angry Joe tells it like it is.

The Mass Relay thing makes sense, the Reapers said that the galaxy would destroy itself if the cycle were broken.
But everything else is relevant. I would have loved to see my collected war assets fighting in the background and foreground.

We all know the ending was terrible.

I just hope the future of the Mass Effect games and the world is great. Because this ending of Shepard was so disapointing. I'll be okay with the ending if the future Bioware games are fantastic.

At 15 hours ago, Jackho wrote: Also I'd like to add that I greatly enjoyed the game and thought it was just as good, if not better than ME2. I even liked the ending, though it could have been a lot better.

Yeah, seriously. I don't get that people are calling it the worst ending they've ever seen. The last 5 minutes of the game being fairly wonky doesn't overshadow the rest of the game being amazing.

I probably missed something here, but how did Mordin work on the genophage hundreds of years ago when the Salarian lifespan is 40 years average?
Also, he's a much more interesting character if you don't tell him about the sabotage and try to delay him.

At 3 minutes ago, POTaTOS wrote: I probably missed something here, but how did Mordin work on the genophage hundreds of years ago when the Salarian lifespan is 40 years average?

I'm pretty sure Mordin Modified the Genophage recently, he didn't create it.

At 1 hour ago, DirtyMeatball wrote:

At 15 hours ago, Jackho wrote: Also I'd like to add that I greatly enjoyed the game and thought it was just as good, if not better than ME2. I even liked the ending, though it could have been a lot better.

Yeah, seriously. I don't get that people are calling it the worst ending they've ever seen. The last 5 minutes of the game being fairly wonky doesn't overshadow the rest of the game being amazing.

I can't relate to you guys at all. If Where bioware got the white tree ending from, the colors even change + well explained 10 reasons to hate the ending + deus ex three endings = good ending?
Then what is the motivation behind it? Look im not saying it's a bad game because of the ending I am just saying that I can understand, if a person pays maybe over 200 euros and a lot of hours into the franchise building a story it would not be a weird idea that he get's a fitting ending to the series. I replayed fallout series 1 till vegas, me1 and me2, deus ex games, elder scrolls even fable multiple times because I wanted to see the result of other actions in the game. What's the point of doing that here? So really am interested what exactly you guys thought to be good in this ending.

At 30 minutes ago, Migel wrote:

I can't relate to you guys at all. If Where bioware got the white tree ending from, the colors even change + well explained 10 reasons to hate the ending + deus ex three endings = good ending?
Then what is the motivation behind it? Look im not saying it's a bad game because of the ending I am just saying that I can understand, if a person pays maybe over 200 euros and a lot of hours into the franchise building a story it would not be a weird idea that he get's a fitting ending to the series. I replayed fallout series 1 till vegas, me1 and me2, deus ex games, elder scrolls even fable multiple times because I wanted to see the result of other actions in the game. What's the point of doing that here? So really am interested what exactly you guys thought to be good in this ending.

I never said it was a good ending (at least not on purpose), I just think it's ridiculous how people talk about it like it was some horrible atrocity that made their eyes bleed. I realize it was a let down to a lot of people mostly because it ended a series built on the idea of choice with 3 endings that were almost the same, and that people found it unsatisfying, but the complaining over it is ridiculous. I mean goddamn, people have actually raised 60,000 dollars to get the ending changed. It's really not that bad.

And, just an idea I had, maybe Bioware needed the endings to not be super different for the purposes of another game. I doubt it considering the choice to wipe out synthetic life and the destruction of the mass relays is a pretty big deal, but if they were to make another game they'd need pretty similar endings to that they don't have to practically remake the game for every ending in ME3. That's not really part of my argument, just something I was thinking about.