User talk:SunyiNyufi

Hi, welcome to Mass Effect Wiki! Thanks for your edit to the Forum:Question about ME3 ending page.

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Your welcome:) Enjoy:) Seriously, that guy is either trolling or actually being serious, but regardless, the true talent for fortune-telling always shines. Have a good day XD

Hey and thanks for the video! Great find! This guy actually had some brilliant ideas, though I disagree with him about redeeming Cerberus. They were terrorists from the very begining of their existenece, and humanity has N7 to protect it. A legal and official state organization. Just as the STG, Commandos or batarian SIG (while it lasted) were state organisations. On the other hand, if redemption was included as one of several options to decide Cerberus' fate, the game would only benefit from that.

A bit more about possible Miranda's involvement... I'm game-mastering a table-top RPG in ME setting, continuing the events of ME2 (we started it long before ME3 was released). Actually the whole plot consists of players being employees of a colonial development corporation. Throughout the events of the game they discover, that there's much more to their place of employment... As their duties often involve searching for prothean artifacts, discovering habitable planets as far as possible from the mass relays, seeing that the corporation's security force is rather small, but armed with military-grade hardware, and often conducts downright black operations. And then some encounters with Cerberus happen, which Cerberus side does not survive:) So guess who's running the show? The lucky owner of the perfect genes:) Was glad to see, that if she survives the events of ME3, the story is very similar. BTW, good chatting with you!-Algol- 23:00, March 24, 2012 (UTC)

I think I have to disagree about N7 being just a premiere premier school for leadership. The lore describes N7 as "The "N" designates special forces and the "7" refers to the highest level of proficiency." furthermore N7 "recruits officers from every branch of Earth's militaries". The term "special forces with the highest level of proficiency" is suitably and conveniently broad enough to describe, well, almost anything. Ranging from elite soldiers with exceptional skills (like Shepard and, to some extent, James Vega) to spies, intelligence analysts and covert/black operators. In this case N7 is akin to Asari Commandos, arguably the most powerful special force in the galaxy, and protectors of asari race. Yet I have to agree, that N7 doesn't create the impression of versatility, as with Cerberus or STG, who have, for example, scientific divisions. Then again, Amanda Kenson, a scientist, worked on a highly classified mission sanctioned by Hackett. The N7 involvement was never stated, but, hey, why would a special force even state it? This sounds like head-canon, but doesn't it make some sense? So overall, back to the topic of Cerberus' possible redemption, I'd rather co-opt some former members into official organizations (read: create N7 sub-divisions), then reinstate the old organization, but with new methods. IMO the old Cerberus has too dark and morbid backstory to function in future.

To return a favour with the video, so to speak, have you ever read this comic. I think you probably did, but just in case. It's hilarious:)

And BTW, I'm curious abuot your ME preferences, if I may. Like, favourite race, class, character or maybe a whole moment in the game (games)?-Algol- 13:17, March 25, 2012 (UTC)

"I think the best solution would be then to take people, who worked for Cerberus because they wanted to serve humanity, and integrate them somehow. I mean Miss Perfect Genes would pretty easily get the N7 designation if she wanted too that's for sure :D" - That! Definitely:)

Yeah, Mess Perfect is great. I, for instance, just love parodies:)

Just a few thoughts to comment yours... I like reptiles too, so I agree on the cuteness. Wrex and Eve are even-tempered, and hell, they visionaries, who can change the krogan, but... Guys like Wreav or Gatatog Uvenk are there too, if not in the majority. If krogan really are naturally agressive, I can't blame them for being true to their nature, but they may become a problem in the future, if people like Wrex and Eve do not manage to educate them. Nevertheless, I was never hesitant to cure the genophage, primarily because I just couldn't fail Wrex and Mordin, my friends. Abut Liara knocking herself up without Shep knowing... :) Well, I personally think, that asari take these matters more seriously. It is described, that the melding can also be done with close friends, so it's not alway procreation... Besides, Liara didn't seem to knock herself up, while joining minds with Shepard to interpret the Cypher back in ME1. Anyway, I think those, who romanced Liara absolutely don't mind "lots of little blue children":) And yes, Mordin. I like him a lot for the very same reason and utmost respect for his intellect, but it was so sad to watch him die, even if his death was necessary. And the ay he handled it... I think the krogan should consider building some new statues.

About the favourites... I find it hard for myself to come up with something 100% definite, but:

Race: Quarians and asari. In the case of quarians, they often remind me of "Dune" fremen and I deeply sympathise with both. i just loved how tightly-knit and friendly their community is, and how they look out for each other (with some exceptions, like Tali's court case in ME2). To illustrate this, the scene from "Ascension", that depicted a quarian market in one of their ships just stunned me. In a pleasant way. And of course, there's always Tali. In the case of asari, I just admire their culture and their observant mindset, wisdom and patience (qualities I sorely lack myself:)). Besides, having a 1000-year lifespan is just awe-inspiring. I also like their inclination towards peace, cooperation and diplomacy - think about it: having twice the number of religions in their history, comparing to humans, but never having a religious war. That's... something one should learn from. And the secret behind their history as revealed in ME3... I actually tend to believe, that despite being so heavily uplifted by the protheans, they nevertheless chose their own path of evolution. The one, that made them who they are "today", so to speak:) Ah, and I just love getting into those arguments whether they're female or not. Short version of my opinion: definitely not:)

Characters: That's were it really gets complicated. I liked all of them in some way, except for Javik. And yes, you're absolutely right about Kaidan and Jacob. I'd also add ME2 Jack: if you don't romance her, you can't break the wall, period. Though ME3 Jack is just great! I like what she has become so much. Yet the most favourite would probably be Tali, on the claims of LI:) Closely followed by Liara, Garrus and Miranda. Then Mordin, Wrex and EDI... Ah, and if we talk about non-companions, I also liked Aria a lot. Or is it Aleena? Or whatever name she wishes to use right now:) BTW, you're totally right about Liara. The progress this character made was just tremendous! Though simetimes I feel, that she became much more... sad. Don't even know how to describe it. Ah, and sometimes she scares me a bit. Like: "with a few clicks I can start a war" or "I will flay you alive... with my mind". So yeah, nerdy people ftw, I definitely agree with you and share this trait myself:)

Class: And here I finally can provide a definite answer: Infiltrator. There's a bit of a backstory behind it. I somehow envy Ashley Williams. She had received genetic enhancements including in-utero vision correction, because of her predisposition for nearsightedness. Now she's one of Alliance's best sharpshooters. I have inborn nearsighttedness myself, but since I don't live in the 22nd century, without my contact lenses I'm blind as a bat:) My star sign is sagittarius, to add to the irony. That's why I always tend to play snipers in shooter games, archers in fantasy settings etc. To compensate, so to speak:) Besides, I'm somewhat a perfectionist, so seeing someone's head blown off with a one, clean perfect shot between the eyes is the most satisfying feeling I get from ME combat. And I just hate playing a vanguard XD. I get it why (and know many) people like that class. Guess it's just not for me. I mean, I highly value my private space and don't want enemies to be that close and personal:) BTW, the vanguard's Nova+Charge combo is really overpowered, but, hey, it's a decent pesponse to their infiltrator "antagonists", who had Assassination Cloak+Widow in ME2. The Widow. The finger of God, as someone called it in a demotivator.

Moments: A whole lot of them! Talking to Sovereign and flipping off TIMmy, while getting away with his ship and money, renegade interrupt with Kai Leng are priceless. Mordin singing during the last moments of his life. Normandy crew setting foot on the Collector Base. Their hasty evacuation after the Human-reaper was destroyed. Liara in the very moment she takes over as the new Shadow Broker. Then the whle situation on Rannoch made me teary-eyed with joy - Tali taking off her mask to watch the skies of her home, and her brief, simple but very touching exchange of phrases with Shepard, if there's a romance between them. The aligned fleet coming out of the mass relay for the final battle. The last dialogues between you and your companions. Well, I'm totally replaying the game next weekend.

Many thanks for the comic! That one I didn't read, so I'll fix that:)

Sorry if the whole text was too long.-Algol- 16:09, March 25, 2012 (UTC)

"So I think it would be a win-win situation for Liara anyway." - Totally. Actually, that's exactly the mindset you get, when you become a Shadow Broker. Cold calculus. Ability to extract useful opportunities from every situation. Just kidding:) Little blue children with predisposition for leadership and awesomeness from Shep's genes and immense intellectual abilities from Liara's genes are exactly what their children should be like. And as of her sadness and pessimism, her voice actress, Ali Hillis, said in an interview once, that "in ME3 Liara has become more... human." I guess not only asari are capable of slow but sure cultural takeover. There was also this one thing I liked about Liara in ME3, is that she becomes so secretive, refuses to discuss asari behaviour with EDI, and yet has no problem unraveling other people's secrets and even sharing them with Shepard. I mean, classified documents! Private correspondence! Mischievous Shdow Broker is so mischievous:) The line I always wanted to have in a dialogue with her is something like: "Liara, could you remove your surveillance cameras from my quarters. I can only imagine how much lulz and money you can make from a vid, featuring me and Tali, but, pretty please, don't. Let "Vaenia" an "Blasto" hold records for the largest audience in the galaxy". Anyway, Liara is awesome.

''“Every time the world is about to end, I think how mad you'd be at if I didn't do anything about it. I couldn't do it without you.”'' - Wow... Just... WOW!!! Great piece of dialogue.

BTW is there some special dialogue, when Liara shows Shepard her warning device for future races, and asks Shep for his/her input, if you romance her? I have a FemShep character, who romanced Liara in both ME1 and 2, but I'm too curious and impatient to wait, when I'll have time to start this playthrough:)

"Too bad that in ME3 they become a bit retarded and more aggressive, especially in those geth video footage from the past." - That actually disturbed me in their portrayal. I get this feeling, that it doesn't exactly tie with the lore, established in previous games. Nor it seems logical. I mean, sure, in ME1 quarians were good, geth were bad etc., and then in ME3 it all took a 180 turn. How about the part, that quarians git booted from the Citadel, not only because they created a possible threat to all organic life, but also for the fact, that geth killed members of other species from the very begining, during the Morning War. There was this asari on Illium in ME2, who told, that her bondmate (another asari) was killed by the geth, while being on Rannoch and studiyng quarian culture. So I think think the truth is somewere in between, both quarians and geth are guilty and innocent at the same time. Yet, when quarians attacked geth in ME3, I found myself in dire need to beat my head against the wall. They could have make a deal... With Shepard, Tali and Legion as mediators. But no, Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen had to go all nuts, and Shala'Raan had to go all conformist. To quote Mordin, "Pointless, pointless waste of life". Organic and synthetic alike.

"Actually I like the asari now better, that we learned about their secret, because it makes them a bit less innocent and peaceful in my eyes." - you say it like being innocent and peaceful is a bad thing:)

"About the gender thing: it's stupid to call them females, since that is a term used by non-mono-gender species." - Exactly so. But the Galactic Codex itself calls them "An all-female race." Many people tend to forget, that the Codex was written for humans, by humans. It only reflects human perspective, not necessarily the truth.

"Though I have to admit I think the possible TalixGarrus pairing is really cute too :D" - Well, at least they can share a romantic evening with a meal and beverages... You know, dextro-amino style.

About sniping, I have this passion to the extent of sniping with the Phalanx in ME2, and equipping all heavy pistols with presision scopes in ME3. A mini-sniper rifle. Hey, it actually works! BTW, what's your Vanguard's loadout? Disciple and Locust, I take it? Just on a side-note: I also look forward to play as an Engineer. It was a class for lazy people in ME2, but now they have turrets to add to drones and hacked enemies. I recall playing "Overlord" as an Engineer, with Tali and Legion as squadmates. Drones all over the place, geth are fighting themselves, the squad sits in cover, eating pop-corn and watching the show. Good times:)

You know, I wanted to tweak the game-files too, for my second playthrough, but then I asked myself, what for? To get 5000 EMS and survive (apparently)? No use to me, I'll never choose the "Destroy" option. I'll always choose "Control". If you're interested, here's the logic: for me, the main idea and philosophy behind all Mass Effect games was the diversity of life. Life takes form of many species, and even some synthetics are alive too. This diversity is what makes life so bright and beautiful, and that's exactly what Shepard is fighting for. So no, I won't wipe out the geth, because without them, there will not be this kind of diversity. And no, I won't merge, because, again, it takes away diversity - all become the same, organics and synthetics. Seems to me, that controlling is the only option and I don't have a choice in this perspective. *Sigh* I hope they fix the endings the right way in April.-Algol- 19:41, March 25, 2012 (UTC)

That dialogue with Liara is just priceless... Totally replaying with my FemShep, who has a relationship with her. A bit of an afterthought: don't mess with Liara. She's quarter-krogan:)

On the quarians and their stupid admirals... At least Zaal'Kris and the youngest and newest member of the admiralty board are not like that. Tali could have been a visionary to quarians, much like Wrex and Eve (excuse me, Urdnot Bakara:)) to krogans. Just because of her ability to think outside the box, because of the experience, gained from travelling with Shepard. But no, they didn't listen. Shala'Raan didn't seem stupid too, but she was too indecisive, lacking any initiative, and submitting to the will of the majority. Those things are unacceptable in any leader. Well, at least now the 300-year hatred is over, and everyone can relax and rebuild. And remember the lives lost, in order not to repeat the mistake.

Sometimes I think, that having less interesting races or characters, who don't have dark secrets is very good in a setting, where everyone else has dark secrets. I mean, at least someone wouldn't start causing trouble, when you're already in deep sh*t, trying to fix the problems, everyone else's dark secrets caused. For example, that's the main reason I liked Bethany in DA2. People call her uninteresting, because she always agrees with you, and has this overall niceness, without any flaws. Well, I have enough crazy people in my party: one the elves suffers from severe depression, the other is socially oblivious, then there's a nymphomaniac, a schizophrenic, a religious fanatic and a compulsive liar. It's nice to have someone kind, well-mannered and rational, for a change:)

"It was perfect for when an enemy was out of charge range" - thinking like a true Vanguard. The primary weapon of the Vanguard is... the Vanguard herself!!!:) Don't really know about submachine guns, though. What I saw in the Locust was pretty much like in ME2: a hybrid between a submchine gun and an assault rifle, having relatively low rate of fire, but gaining mid- or even long-range versatility, and virtually no recoil. I think it would benefit the Vanguard very well, as weight-reducing mods are SMG-exclusive, but it can shoot over much longer distances, than a shotgun, if you suddenly feel like shooting and not charging. Or if it's a banshee against you, in which case even a Vanguard would like to keep distance.

Unfortunately, the game doesn't give us other real options, then to trust the weird kid and assume direct control, sorry, assume, that everything he says is true. I mean, Shepard can be alive after the "Destroy" option, but EDI is not present. In the other two options, she is present. We have to deal with what we have:( A question: is that picture... your work? It is great! Loved the dialogue and the sketch-style.

About those fixing or not fixing the endings... Well, there's the only way to find out: sit and wait. Until the next DLC comes out. If it's the endings - good, they learn. If it's Aria retaking Omega... Well, I like Aria, but with all due respect, we have much bigger problems, than Omega. I understand why you don't have high hopes, that they'll fix the endings. Your arguments make perfect sence, yes. My ratio tells me the very same things. Yet my heart tells me to believe and have hope.-Algol- 00:10, March 26, 2012 (UTC)

I think if Bethany was around more, not just Act1, the final battle and the DLC's, we could see some more of her personality and hear some interesting stories, like "How to escape a templar: pro-tips":) Comparing to Jacob, he's with you from the very begining of the game, and Legion is still much-much more interesting character, despite being recruited last (w/o mods).

Well, I'll be replaying soon, so I'll choose something more suitable for an SMG (probably adept or engineer) and we'll see. Though the Hornet kinda confused me: a burst-fire SMG? That's ridiculous. Good for squadmates, though. Ever used it? About the banshees... Totally right! Scary as... well, banshees. But properly challenging, which is good. My second playthrough was with a Soldier on insanity. And during the battle with the Destroyer, prior to entering the Citadel and encountering Marauder Shields, the hero of ME3, they send three of those things at you. With a swarm of other critters. I didn't even try to shoot the banshees, it's pointless. Managed to lure two out of three under the Destroyer's beam, though.

''Actually a lot of people said that EDI can be present after the Normandy crash even with Destroy, because the people who come out after Joker are your LI and your most used squad mate, and if you used EDI the most, than it's her. Nobody knows if it's a bug (like dead Tali showing up for romance scene) or intended.'' - you know, that's very interesting. I'd better do some serious digging on this topic. Because if it's not a bug... Then the kiddo is really full of crap, and the whole ending seems even more ridiculous. If that's even possible for it to be more ridiculous. BTW, remember the faces, flashing before Shepard right before the ending? It's Anderson, Joker and, in my case, Liara, though I've seen videos with other third characters. Is that the most used squad-member (aka BFF) too?

Laziness is perfectly understandable (by me, at least XD), but I wish you inspiration nevertheless:)

Yeah, the only way to find out, what will happen in April, is to wait until April. BTW, about that enchanced edition... What exactly will they enhanced? 'Cause I'm not big on enhanced aditions anyway - the story's already told, and trying to add seeming replayability to a game, which has been already out for a long time, is just... Well, milking the game EA-style:)-Algol- 14:56, March 26, 2012 (UTC)

"F*ck you Anders" in 3am? Lol, nice!!! Though I don't always get, why people are so upset with him. I mean, it was kinda obvious from Act2, that eventually he will resort to something drastic. Whether he was right or wrong is a topic for a completely different discussion, but he really was easy to read, so why so surprised?

Well, Hornet... It does pack some decent basic damage. And since the squadmates can't stay on target even if they lives were depending on it, firing the whole magazine, but only hitting with a first few bullets, I think it's a choice for Liara and EDI. I always equipped them with the Hornet, and they even shoot stuff. Sometimes:) I don't know if I'll be using the Paladin though... Good old-fashioned Carnifex seemed ok, and to throw away 200.000 creds on a pistol... It's a good pistol, probably the best pistol, but still, it's just a pistol. And no, I won't be tweaking the files and adding money, economy is an important part of the game too:) BTW, about the brutes on Tuchanka... We Infiltrators get sneaky-sneaky, and just walk between them giggling:)

"for example if you don't have Ashley on the Normandy as squad mate, the engineers Gabby and Ken won't have any banter between them for some reason." - So... No kisses between them without Ashley on the ship? That's... weird:) Ah, and the patch... I am I the only one with the feeling, that the game doesn't register all the assets you collected? The descriptions are all there, but the actual score is somehow smaller, than it should be. And the bug on the Citadel, when you resolve an argument between two C-Sec officers. One insists, that C-Sec shouldn't bother so much with trivial crimes, like bar brawls etc., an tighten security to counter larger crimes and terrorist acts (this is was right after the cerberus coup atempt), the other is against. I supported the first one twice, and got "C-Sec is focusing more on small crimes, unable to deal with larger threat blah-blah-blah" twice. WTF?

"new epilogue, new quests, new locations and new characters" - wow, really? That's good! I thought it was something like BG's enchanced edition - new graphics and, well, nothing important more. I'll definitely try it out. Not a big fan of "The Witcher" games, though. They are very good games, yes, but I think I just like the book too much, and imagined things differently, as I'm seeing on the screen... I strongly dislike all the games, based on LotR, and there are dozens of them.-Algol- 18:45, March 26, 2012 (UTC)

Well, stupid and counter-productive... Yes. How about assassinations? Subverting and bribing the templars with lyrium? Tricking people with magic to hear the voice of Andraste, saying, that the Chantry is now corrupt? Flawing enchanted items, made for the templars to slowly kill them with magic? You know, the civilized stuff. Though I like good explosions, I'm a bit of a pyromaniac:) But one thing I don't get... what civilians? Where? When? Do people even take time to analyze the whole situation?

"...and then said “f*ck it”, and became a pirate with Isabela" - considering how many people choose the same option, Isabela may have the largest army in Thedas now:)

You can always buy useless gifts in the hospital:) BTW, what are they for? Tennyson's poems are for Ashley, and the others?

"She would never just stand there and try to shoot Kai Leng. She would charge him, and then re-organize his face with a heavy melee. Would be priceless!" - remember, that Kai Leng has plot armour:( No matter what you do, you won't get anything realistic, and that saddened me. What I wanted is a similar situation: Kai Leng jumps from a ceiling to engage the salarian councillor... and falls down with a new hole in his head. So who's the assassin now? Really hated that guy and his plot armour. What do you think about his character?

Well, I had the salarian fleet, not that it helped much... And multiplayer? I won't be playing it until they fix the endings, if they will even do that. That's on principle.

About that refugee... As I recall, Shepard doesn't directly state, that the patrol will open fire, just that they are authorized to do it. If you choose to support the clerk, the war assets will improve, and it will be stated, that many refugees were redirected to Thessia, were they found safe haven. Then again, considering what happened to Thessia... Then again, considering what happened to the Citadel later... It's hard to survive, while Reapers are on the loose:)

"the will to see Geralt bang as many women as possible" - and with that I was profoundly disgusted. It was rather cheap, really. Though in tune with the novels. Besides, I imported the save to TW2, where my character was with Shani, but the game still implies Geralt and Triss are lovers. I don't even like Triss. At all.

Those LotR games are really funny. A good share of them are real-time strategies. Which probably amuses me the most, because Tolkien's battles usually start with strategy and planning, but end with miracles and heroic interventions. The other good share are action games with visceral combat. Again, the exact thing Tolkien focused in his books (sarcasm). Ah, and there was this one game, which basically repeats the storyline of LotR. You're playing Frodo. Main objective: get rid of the One Ring. During your travels you encounter, surprise-surprise, Aragorn and the others... Can't people just read books? Especially great books?:)

"The only MMORPG I'm looking forward to trying is World of Darkness (if they ever finish it that is)" - I'm monitoring that thing too. But judging from the current progress, it would take asari lifespan for us to start playing. -Algol- 22:31, March 26, 2012 (UTC)

This just came as an afterthought... You've said "unless you edit coalesced.bin, which could result in you being banned from Origin for modifying a game file". Okay... Now, okay. EA wants people to play their multiplayer. People, who don't want to play multiplayer edit the file to get the "best" ending. After getting it, they theoretically can move to multiplayer, just out of curiosity, knowing, that their single-player experience is secure. Now EA bans them, thus removing a possibility for people to play multiplayer. The logic... Where is it?-Algol- 23:08, March 26, 2012 (UTC)

I always imagined, that after aquiring the famili mansion, Hawke threw a huge party with all the friends/rivals and after a few rounds of drink said, that the mansion is ok, but this huge chantry building is blocking the view from on of the windows... Poor Anders took it a bit too serious. He just wanted to help XD

"If you have Kaidan, the only gift you can buy is alcohol" - O_o does he still have migraines in ME3? Because if he does, I wouldn't recommend alcohol. Doctors Michel and Chakwas probably wouldn't recommend it either.

Well, back in "Deception" Kai Leng took a shotgun blast to his legs at point blank range. And he wasn't wearing armour. I always thought, that in this case a blast from a 22nd century shotgun turns your legs into some kind of a crimson mist, and you die from shock and blood loss, but no, the guy crawls away, boards a shuttle and flies back to TIMmy. So much for realism. My second problem with him in ME3 is his sword and ninja jumps. Seriously, does that even fit into ME-universe? If they'd given him a very upgraded omni-blade for melee, and mini-biotic charges (like the banshee's) for movement, that would be much more in-tune with the setting.

About MP... Well, I watched the videos and it may be even fun, but really, Alien Swarm, Gears of War horde mode and, hell, even CoD Zombies or Survrival mode is much more fun. And all the disk space it took, they could you use to include something worthy. Like "From Ashes" in the core game or normal endings. Damn you EA.

About Geralt in the game... Especially in TW2 it is heavily hinted, that Geralt wants to find his true love, Yennefer, and bring her back. Apparently it doesn't impede him from banging anything that moves. Not my type of character:)

"Thinking back, it is funny how I couldn't piece a sentence together yet knew the word headquarters already" - Awww, that's so cute:)))

Ever played the table-top WoD and VtM? Didn't play it much myself, but it rocks. And yes, "Bloodlines" were epic. hope they will be continuing the tradition in the MMO. Would love to play as my favourite Tremere again.

We're having a game session today, so I'm off to my players, who are about to walk into a Cerberus facility with all love and warmth of an M-451 Firestorm:) See you!

^that was me XD -Algol- 13:08, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

I definitely gotta have a playthrough of ME3 with Kaidan, if he's becoming more... twisted. It's like all biotics become somewhat more twisted at some point of their lives O_o

About Kai Leng - definitely. There were so many ways to make him a life-like assassin, but nooooo, they made him a stupid ninja-wannabe, who makes one tactical mistake after another and still survives due to plot armor, while supposedly being "cool". That's not cool, that's as irritating, as a star-kiddo. Or maybe it was "artistic" depiction of Kai Leng, I dunno. "And that's the biggest problem with Bioware games as of late IMHO, they're not build up logically which leads to way to many plot holes and space magic" - that's so true. I think the reason behind this is their damn appeal to the "broader audience". Back in Baldur's Gate 2, if you cast a spell in the city, first time you get a warning, second time you go to jail, because that part of the game-world has this rule. In Kirkwall you can use blood magic right in front of a templar and... nothing. It seems to me, that the broader audience doesn't care for plot integrity or the world they're playing, they just want their "button awesome". *Sigh*. That's sad. Other people do not have to suffer from this.

"A Mass Effect MMO, but not like SWTOR, rather something like what they are trying to do with World of Darkness, where you could actually roleplay characters who are not necessarily soldiers out to save the world" - and again, a broader audience just once to shoot and slice stuff, than get teh lootz. That's why I highly doubt something like this will ever happen, at least while EA owns the franchise. So by now, you can only try fan-made forum RP's or tabletops. A few thoughts: playing soldiers out to save the world is highly implied in the ME setting, as it is today, because it's pretty much a story of a wholescale galactic war. The Reapers are coming, everyone, not necessarily being a soldier (like ME1 Liara or Diana Allers, or Kelly Chambers) has to contribute just to survive. Now, if it's a setting based after the events of ME3 (I heavily imply "true" endings, not the starchild bullsh*t), there would be much more freedom of choice: space exploration, in- and interspecies politics and diplomacy and many-many more. Not that role-playing a soldier cannot be compelling, if you're actually role-playing. From my, rather vast, experience: think about PTSD, being scared sh*tless when you encounter some Reaper-made horror, a conflict between duty and consciousness, moral dilemmas, when you realise, that your airstrike just levelled civilian buildings with collateral damage... Role-playing a soldier isn't just shooting stuff.

Yeah, amnesias are always complicated:) But I'm still not comfortable with Geralt supposedly loving one person, and sleeping with a dozen of others. I object to it morally:)

Choco-dragon? Nice:) BTW ever played GURPS? That's the system I use the most. many people find it too complicated, and they are probably true, but on the bright side, if it's complicated, you can really dig into it.

Thanks for the video! Loved it the whole series! Especially the 4-th episode. I swear it was TIM's ghost XD

And the most important! My intel shows, that someone is having a birthday today:) So best wishes, lots of time and willpower, if inspiration is never a problem, lot's of fun, have a great party and, well... whatever you want to wish yourself! Ah, and also I wish you, that those guys in Canada will come to their senses, and your pleasant gaming experience will be back! -Algol- 15:09, March 28, 2012 (UTC)

Does Kaidan go all Ash-like and bugs you about your involvement with Cerberus all the time, even if you just killed a dozen of their troops, disrupted their plans and destroyed one of their facilities? Because with all my sympathy to Ash, she started to get on my nerves a bit. It was like Horizon all over again. I'm currently replaying ME3 with a FemShep engineer (think I'm gonna bring Tali and EDI on Rannoch, hehe. BTW engineers are very interesting, if you just want to eat pop-corn and watch the screen), but later, when I have more time, I think I'm going to do a full ME1-ME2-ME3 marathon. Chances are, I might go crazy after that, expecting people to call me "Commander", waiting for a shuttle to go somewhere and seeing dialogue whhels each time, when I talk to someone, but hey, It'll be fun:) Ah, the good old ME1... I didn't minde the Mako at all BTW and was perfectly ok with its handling. And no thermal clips, yes!!!

We just have to sit and wait until EA/Bioware's next installment. If they learn from DA2 and ME3, there still may be hope. If they don't, then Bioware is pretty much done for.

Well, about this post-ME MMO... If the setting is going to be in the far future (in which case species will have long ago evolved into something), or the galactic civilizations found other means of transportation, don't you think, that it's not going to be very ME-like? Because mass relays, the Citadel and different species, such as they were presented in ME1-2-3, are trademarks of the whole game-world. ME wouldn't be itself, these are changed too much. So yes, we want normal endings, mass relays intact and the galaxy rebuilding:) BTW, you know, good-old text-based online RPG's can be somewhat rare to find these days, but they still exist perfectly well. So take your pick, or wait for WoD to be finished (I wouldn't, because patience isn't really my virtue:))

"The dialogues are so lacking in options, it boggles the mind really" - you know, I have somewhat mixed feelings towards this. One one hand, they DO lack options. On the other hand, ME was never intended to be a classic example of an RPG. With so much stuff to wrap up from previous two parts, they just can't fit all possible dialogue options into the disk space, especially because sound files do take a lot of disk space. In this matter a voiced protagonist is sort of a setback, but hey, I just can't imagine Shepard not voiced. Plus "hit the upper choice or the blue one, and everything will be alright" doesn't work anymore, and that's good. After all, even with all the flaws regarding diaogue, I can hardly name a more successful mixture of a shooter and an RPG. Ah, and even with lacking choices I find ME dialogues richer, then Skyrim's or the recent KoA Reckoning's.

"I sort of stopped going after other women in TW1 once I gave Alvin to Triss, and never cheated on her in TW2 either...which might not be Geralt-like, but hey he can change too, right? :)" - definitely. I mean, if Geralt can abandon the Witcher Code (da Rulez), like, completely, a bit of chastity is not that big of a deal:)

Munchking rules:) I just love it.

Hope you enjoyed the cake!:)-Algol- 12:33, March 29, 2012 (UTC)

Yeah... Kaidan seems so nicer to Shepard, then Ashley. I'm not surprised though. Back in ME1 Shepard always described Kaidan acting with his mind and Ashley acting with her heart. Guess that is the thing I like about her. So I can forgive the grumpiness:) My choice of team is always biotic specialist and tech specialist, pretty much no matter class I'm playing and no matter the difficulty. So basically it's Liara/Tali in ME1, Samara/Tali in ME2 and Liara/Tali again in ME3. But I think we'll reenact "Overlord" this time on Rannoch, and build ourselves a geth army out of the geth army *wicked grin*

About the First Contact War... Well, 1) Your choices will not really matter, so not much ME, just as you said 2) The "Evolution" comic already made it clear, what was the dark secret behind the whole war, so not interesting enough... 3) It would be hard to hate the turians, already knowing how nice they are, so it would make role-playing the conflict kinda weird and unrewarding... I think the next installment in ME universe should definitely be post-ME3, but again, that implies proper endings:)

"He built a really big dwarf town around a mine filled with dangerous gasses, where is the logic in that?!" - O_o I fail to see the logic. But sometimes dwarves in fantasy settings really build their cities near the most hazardous objects... and then have their consequences. Ever played "Dwarf Fortress"?:) As Isabela said, "Dwarves are funny".

About voice actors - I'm totally with you! Jennifer Hale rules. maleShep may be the poster character for all the videos (well, not all, they did the FemShep trailer), but everyone knows, that FemShep is voiced better:) Not that I didn't like Mark Meer's voicing, it was good, but I had this feeling, that Meer is doing a good job, but Hale is not only doing a good job, but also pours her heart into it. And Ali Hillis... I just love the interviews with her. BTW IRL she doesn't sound like Liara (an example, showing that she's a very good actress). And also I was surprised, that Morrigan, Daro'Xen and Aethyta are actually voiced by the same person, Claudia Black (again, the same example). I'd also add Liz Sroka, Brandon Keener and Seth Green to your list. Just can't go without mentioning Tali:) And Traynor... What do you think of the character? I think she's just awesome: the accent the intonation, the intellect, the humour and of course, the toothbrush for 6.000 credits. That just won my heart. She especially shines among the other new crew members, who were, let's say, not so good. IMO Vega and Cortez were a bit bland, and Allers was close to becoming ME3's own Tallis.

"And they should really work on what that dialogue circle actually says. There are still times when I have no idea how Shepard will react, cos that one word synopsis isn't accurate. They should do it like in Deus Ex Human Revolution, use a one word description, but when I leave the cursor there it would show at least a short sentence Shepard will actually say" - Yes, Deus EX HR system was very good, but Bioware's dialogue wheel exists one the main purpose of being very-very console-friendly. They made it perfectly clear, that they want to encompass as many platforms, as they can, so I guess we can only view the wheel as a necessary evil. Not very heart-lifting, but still...-Algol- 18:54, March 29, 2012 (UTC)

You know, playing engineer a bit more, slowly turns almost every mission in a sit-back-and-watch scenario... Fully upgraded drone + fully upgraded turret w/flamethrower + hacked enemy turrets, and that's when I don't have Tali yet, playing on Hardcore. Seriously, engineer is a class for lazy people.

Well Skillian Blitz is a much better setting, but I'd vouch for Shepard as an NPC. Though I'm afraid this would turn out into a whole-scale shooter, without any RPG elements at all. I mean, what RPG elements, if you're just expected to rack as big batarian body count, as possible? And other other service histories give even less leeway. Akuze "everyone dies" scenario would hardly be compelling. So I guess that leaves us a post-ME3 setting...

Those dwarves... In LotR the Balrog is just a few floors below, in Warhammer FB skaven and greenskins are just one floor below, in DA the darkspawn are just out of the door... Dwarves just can't have themselves a non-hazardous neighborhood:)

I can't really imagine ME without Liara anymore - that. It would be hard time for me replaying ME2. Seems like in ME universe everyone wants Shepard! - except for Kasumi and Samara :P One of the wants jacob, and the other is too cool for that stuff:) BTW I always thought Kasumi and Jacob should be up to smething together n ME3, but, strangely, no. I mean if they hooked up Tali and Garrus, if Shepard isn't romancing either of them, Kasumi and jacob would be a logical progress. "I've stolen your heart", or something like that:) Just a question... "my FemShep offered her to take a shower [...] thought that it's just a reward for her excellent work.". So, does your Shepard rewards her subordinates with some food and water, when they do an excellent (good doesn't count) work? I mean, rewarding people by allowing them to fulfill their basic needs? That's tyrannical!:) I can imagine: "Ok Garrus, you torn an Atlas mech apart with your bare hands, you may have a meal now, but only a small one" XD

So back to Traynor. Glad you had fun, that scene is just great! Some argue, it's the best romance scene in all ME's, but I'll just stick with Tali's in ME2. And others... Well, I feel for Cortez and his loss, but I'd appreciate, if he talked about something else for a while. For example, a discussion about means to transport yourself to the enemy: Mako, Hammerhead, Kodiak, Tomka, vanguard charge... He only has one line about that. I didn't expect much from Vega, but sometimes he really doesn't make sense. As you said, Cerberus agent working for the Collectors is weird (maybe it was a double-agent of the previous Shadow Broker) and the fact, that he actually was present on a mission to fight the Collectors... In ME2 Anderson explicitely states, that the Alliance cannot send combat squads to Terminus colonies, as they are out of Alliance jurisdiction. Covert/black ops maybe? But Vega was just a marine, nothing is implying he's a special operative. And Allers... I can't believe they killed off Emily Wong just to allow Allers to exist. Emily was a well established (and liked!) character already:( And BTW, about previously established characters, I wanted Shiala, Kirrahe or Kal'Reegar as a squadmate. What about you?

Well, the cursor (rather the absence of one) may be the main problem on consoles... But I don't care:) Hope Bioware impements this (or similar) dialogue system in DA3.

As far as I know about ME1 development, primarily it was developed for PC. That's the main reason it's not even a port for PC. Xbox was ME1 second platform, and only later they released the PS3 version. So no surprise ME1 is so good on PC. Now ME2-3 are a completely different story: they were made primarily for consoles to encompass the larger audience, and then ported to PC. But hey, porting ME2-3 for wasn't as horrible, as, say, porting Skyrim. The only platform it worked good on, was the Xbox. Though I still can't stand, that in ME3 one button has too many functions.

I can imagine the feeling:) "If only you knew, what will happen in a couple of years, you wouldn't be sending those drone swarms and erecting those annoying barriers":)-Algol- 15:22, March 30, 2012 (UTC)

I always thought, that Shepard's involvement in the Skillian Blitz was a bit... embelished by a ME Varric:) By no means I wan't to belittle Shepard's heroism, but he couldn't stop the whole invasion, you know, single-handedly. Sure there were other people too, who played their vital part and performed their own feats of valour. That's why I always choose the dialogue options "I didn't do it alone" and "Others deserve their praise just as I do" whenever someone expresses gratitude to my Shepard for saving the day. I play modest Shepards:) But you're right, playing Skillian Blitz as someone else, and not Shepard, was a bad idea. And those suggestion from the podcast are pretty decent. a C-Sec agent investigating some murder cases on the Citadel - maybe some Garrus' involvement. I mean, he was a C-Sec agent, investigating murder cases on the Citadel, dr. Saleon and all that. It's like Citadel Noire:)

I always liked Samara's character for showing, that Shepard is a mere human, and not all-powerful mind-controlling wizard, who can seduce whoever s/he wants. For the same reason I liked Tela Vasir. She showed, that despite being hailed a hero and a saviour, Shepard's hands are still elbow-deep in blood, because of the people he associated himself/herself with. "Spectres do not blow up buildings, full of innocent people! - Sure we do." And "Don't you dare judge me". Those ones were priceless. Wish there was an option to save her life. "And I feel sorry for everyone romancing Jacob" - there weren't many of them XD Though there were many of those, who romanced Thane... "But naming the kid 'Shepard' is funny :D" - I guess with that many heroic deeds and saved lives, there are a lot of kids in the Galaxy named after Shepard. Remember that turian shopkeeper from ME2 - "I'd name my first-born after you!" A turian Shepard... Wait, that's spelled "Garrus":)

"“So, does your Shepard rewards her subordinates with some food and water, when they do an excellent (good doesn't count) work?” - C'mon, you know that's not what I meant :P" - I know. That was a joke XD Though I do think, that Shepard's shower is about as big, as the shower in the restroom on crew deck. Now, if Shepard hd a hot tub in his/her quarters... Wait, Normandy is not an asari ship.

About the Paragon Lost anime... I'll wait till they release an English version of Dawn of the Seeker, and see with my own eyes, that it is as bad, as many people say... Now, given that Paragon Lost (Renegade Won?) is made by the same people, I don't have high hopes:(. "one would think that since Chobot works in the media, she can read breaking news with enthusiasm" - she always tells about another colony and thousands of lives lost, as if she was delivering a weather broadcast. Totally not in tune with the whole story. "It's funny though that Liara and Samara are based on RL people too and they look really good" - asari always look good:).

"Not making Tali a badly photoshopped stock photo" - Oooh... Low blow. It's a... Let's just say, sensitive matter. I have, like, very mixed feelings about that. On one hand, it really was a badly photoshopped stock photo. On the other hand, I liked it. Seriously. Back before ME3 was released, I didn't want them to reveal Tali's face at all. Some mysteries should remain mysteries. But then, I was just content, that they didn't reveal her face in the actual game process, like you know, during a dialogue, or something like that, and showed just a photo. I'm glad. Now, with just a li-i-itle bit of head-canon, the stock photo isn't so bad.

They killed Kal'Reegar... And I wanted him as a squadmate, or at least as a war asset, leading Quarian Marines (BTW, where are they?). You bastards!:( So, you don't like the Council? I kinda do:) They are as political, as a politician can be, so that's why I always save them. It pays off in ME3, BTW. Tevos (the asari) is too cautious and indecisive, but at last she finds some will, and tells you about the asari secret. Better late, than never. I nearly cried, during a dialogue with her after Thessia. Her reaction... *Sigh*. Sparatus (the turian) was the biggest arse of them all, but at least he delivered some lulz - "Ah, yes, Reapers..." YES!!! Effing Reapers! In ME3 he's the one, giving you a lead on primarch Fedorian, and that turned out to be invaluable. And Valern (the salarian)... Well, the guy gives you the salarian Fleet, despite the Dalatrass forbidding. And that's in society, in which males have no political power. Besides, the Council made Shepard a Spectre, gave him/her all the power and resources (I like the stuff from Spectre Requisitions in ME 1 and 3) and all that. So I'm good with them. "there is this one turian NPC on the Presidium who bumps into you every friggin time if you go to the financial district with rapid transit. Every. Time. I wish I could just shoot him." - he's a fan. Like Conrad Verner. But he's just too shy to ask for an autogpaph. He admires you silently:)

"But wasn't it released for Xbox like half a year before the PC version?" - it was. I just recall some interview with from from the dev's team about ME2, and there were many things said, that ME1 was, in its' core, PC-oriented. Sadly, I can't remember which one. Well, the journal... I like to listen and read the Codex:) I already know what tasks do I have, even they are piled up in that horrible way.

“How about you don't try to kill us with poisonous gas, and I will let you shag my pilot 3 years from now on?” - that reminds me of how many Joker fans wanted him to be romanceable in ME3... He was, but not by your character:) (Change the letter "o" to trollface in the word "Bioware")

P.S. Oh, and were are turian females? Turian female as a squadmate would be nice:)-Algol- 15:34, March 31, 2012 (UTC)

Let's not forget that Shepard also has a strong willpower, otherwise s/he would go nuts about the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime back in ME1 and... Well, imagine how things would develop in that case. And also Shepard has a very charismatic personality, which allows him/her to talk indoctrinated people into commiting suicide. I want to be like Shepard too!XD

About the part with Vasir, I wasn't talking primarily about Cerberus. I was talking about the Spectres. There's not a single person, who ever worked at special forces or intelligence, and had a perfectly clean consciousness. Spectres do maintain galactic peace, but do not hesitate to sacrifice innocent people for it. Sometimes they commit ruthless deeds. Sometimes they commit atrocities. And you're part of them. Secondary is about Cerberus. Of course you can say you used them, that you planned to betray them and all that. It doesn't matter. You already helped them more then once, and because of you, they advanced their influence. At the cost of who knows how many broken lives and horrible deaths. An example: remember that Reaper tech you were salvaging throughout ME2? You gave it to Cerberus, and they paid you nice money. How do you think, how did they used that tech? In ME3 we found out. They outfitted their soldiers with implants, made from the tech you delivered. And then those soldiers slaughtered their way through colonies, planets and the Citadel, killing how many innocents? Vasir's body count pales in comparison. Their blood is on your hands too, because you were the one, who willingly made Cerberus more powerful. You were not the one using Cerberus, they were using you. So that's exactly why I admire vasir's statements: she didn't new all the facts, but her logic was so true. Oh, and when I wrote "you", I didn't mean you specifically, rather, that I'd say those things to Shepard:)

"Well yeah, since Shepard means hero in krogan..." - Wait... Really? O_o

I always wondered, why in ME2 both men and women restroom are accessible by a character of either gender (with EDI warning you about walking into the wrong restroom), but in ME3 one of the bathrooms is inaccessible by the opposite gender... Hmmm, there maybe some sinister plot behind this...

"Also she has a lot of hair... I wonder how she can keep it clean under the helmet... do they have a built in hair washer or what?" - they are different species, so the answer may lie in their biology. For example, aquatic birds release thin layer of fat to keep their feathers dry.

In the matter of dealing with the Council in ME1, my Shepard goes with a standard military procedure (after all s/he is a soldier): in case of emergency, evacuate high-valued personnel ASAP. Whether we defeat Sovereign and his fleet is irrelevant: soldiers are the one to carry the brunt of battle, and defeat civilians with their lives. That's what they signed up for, and they know it. So... lucky Council:) And about renegade choices... I never do them much, mostly because too many of fundamental renegade choices are plain foolish. One good example with the whole Council situation: establishing a human-only Council, if you have a huge renegade bar. That's... idiocy. A direct usurpation of power (which it is) will put humanity in conflict against three former Council races. And each of them can defeat the Alliance even without siding with other two. Want to piss off the turians? They have more powerful military, then the Alliance, especially as of 2183. Want to piss off the asari? If they embargo Alliance goods, it's economy will cease to be (as directly stated in the Codex). Want to piss off the salarians? Krogans pissed them off once... Who wants a human-tailored genophage? Nah, I'd rather be friends will all those people.

The Joker-EDI romance was a bit weird, but hey, ME2 already had some strong implications, so I had myself prepared:) Anyway, I'm happy for them both.

"Actually in retrospect the council's chambers in ME1 could be full of salarian females, cos they are wearing the same type of cloth that dalatrass does" - I thought that those hooded robes they wear are unisex... Aren't salarian females stated to be permanently residing on their planets? Well, the Dalatrass in ME3 technically left the planet for the summit, but the Normandy was nearly orbiting (I use the world loosely) Sur'Kesh, so it doesn't matter that much.-Algol- 17:50, March 31, 2012 (UTC)

By no means I condone Vasir's actions or want to justify them, just telling, that she is right about Shepard. Somehow this adversary brings up more warm feelings, understanding and even sympathy in me, then some "allies".

"She shuts down project Overlord, uploads encrypted Cerberus data to the Alliance, blows the Collector base up." - Overlord wasn't among their main objectives, and the situation with it was contained anyway, so it's still beneficial for them. Encrypted data would take years to decrypt, so it doesn't harm them at the slightest. Now blowing up the base could be a real setback for them, but, as you pointed out, thanks to Mac Walters it wasn't. Sadly, the disabled Collector Cruiser was littered with Collector tech, which wasn't Prothean anymore, it was the Reapers'. And Shepard salvages it for Cerberus, so not just IFF. "So then does Cerberus have lots of ships with reaper code, because they clearly took things from the destroyed base" - they might have copied the IFF, since it is a program. And then the Reapers upgraded the IFF, so they can identify the Normandy and attack it in ME3. But back to who used who, sure TIM sounds very irritated, if you blow up the base, but still TIM wasn't betting all his money on Shepard. He used him/her to defeat the Collectors, and learn about the Reapers as much as he can, and then TIM is ready to discard Shepard as a used tool. Remember the "I don't need you anymore" on Mars and "Cerberus thanks you for your hard work" on Thessia? No matter what choices Shepard makes, s/he still advances Cerberus' progress incomparably more, then hinders it. What bothers me, that in ME3 Miranda turns on Cerberus no matter the ME2 ending... Now, why she didn't tell Shepard, or at least the Alliance, where Cronos Station was, when Cerberus became too much of a problem? I mean, she was physically present there, I can't believe she doesn't know the location.

"Obviously because Javik doesn't get the separate bathroom thing." - with this logic, Liara shouldn't understand the separate bathroom thing either. But nonetheless the doors are shut even if Javik isn't on board. I think it's TIM hiding in whatever bathroom Shepard isn't supposed to go, and eavesdropping on Shepard's plans:)

"I always felt that in that situation politicians aren't really that important, and possible galactic extinction is" - I thought at that point, that if Sovereign really managed to manually activate the relay to dark space, the galactic extinction would happen anyway, regardless of Alliance fleet being previously undamaged, or the Destiny Ascension being undamaged. Now, if Shepard averts that, then having friends among other races and the Galaxy's most powerful dreadnought would be much better, then a human-led council, which will cease to be human-led, like, the next day. Because Saren was somehow right about the "humanity needs to learn it's place" part. The whole idea of the Council is that it's not being "led" by anyone. That had proven to be perfectly right, comparing to the Prothean Empire, which favoured one-race domination and went extinct partially because of that. Now, if we take assets into consideation, saving the Council in ME1 gives more assets, then letting them die. No preferences, just logic. About "your Alliance war assets outweigh the turian ones by far" - I don't know, turians don't get that attention Alliance does. There are several separate spacesips, that somehow give extra points to their fleets, while turians do not have such stuff, a good number of NPC's 10-25 points each, while turians supposedly do not have anyone remarkable, colonist forces, while turians supposedly do not have colonies, and other services, rendered to you by your human crew-members (like rogue fighter pilots), while all Garrus has to present is himself. It's not that Alliance is stronger, the game just doesn't focus much on the others.

"What still bugs me is that EDI pretty much walks around the ship naked" - Oh. My. God... never thought about it that way, but I cannot unread this... Now i can't think any other way :D

"So you can never know... maybe they are female...maybe they are not... there is only one thing that we know...that they used to eat flies :D" - Totally:D

You know, I overheard this dialogue between Garrus and Liara, where Liara asks him whether it is true, that Garrus killed three mercs on Omega with one bullet? He only killed two with one bullet, and a third one died from heart attack, so... I have a new obsession now!!!:) I just got to kill three with one bullet! I killed two husks with one bullet, but now it has to be three to break the record! Ah, and also it has to be a triple-headshot!-Algol- 22:04, March 31, 2012 (UTC)

P.S. Sorta continuing the "naked EDI" topic... Read this, I lol'd -Algol- 22:21, March 31, 2012 (UTC)

The fact, that Chronos Station is always next to a star, despite supposedly moving, is one good hint about TIM's secrecy being seriously blown out of proportion. Okay, it moves and hides from scanners because of the star's radiation. But it's still in the same system. A decent patrol would've scoured around the star in a shortest distance possible, pinpointing any incoming/outcoming vessels. But I forgot, Alliance is full of idiots, as you promptly noted:) And about that Cerberus stuff... What annoys me the most, is that despite being absolutely incompetent (Kai Leng as TIM's right hand indicates it perfectly), these guys are shown really overpowered due to, well, nothing. The whole situation on Sur'Kesh. Okay, Cerberus had an inside source. And despite of that, they still bump into the base heads-on and guns blazing. As soon as Padok Wiks says "unidentified vessels incoming", the AA guns should have torn Cerberus Mantises and shuttles to pieces. Because really, going against STG', people who compete with Asari Commandos for the title of most powerful special force in the galaxy, and going with a frontal assault? Who thought this can possibly be a good idea? And I won't believe the "Cerberus hacked into their systems, so nothing was working" explanation for a minute. Any decent secret facility (and we're talking STG here!) would have back-up systems, not linked'' with the main ones. The whole idea of back up. Not even speaking, that the main system, taking salarian deviousness into account, could have been a decoy, and the only guy who knew about it was Padok Wiks, the commanding officer of the facility. Well, he was not indoctrinated. The situation on Citadel is even worse. Ok, Udina gave them the codes. Good for him. the cold hard truth, is that people who are tasked to protect high-ranking officials (Spectres, C-Sec) do nut trust them at the slightest. mainly because a high-ranking official can do something stupid out if incompetency, so the security services have to make everything foolproof. I'm not speaking that they knew Udina was a traitor, but they surely knew Udina was a pompous fool, so they were bound to have measures to save him from any attack, even if he doesn't want to be saved. Now, any decent law-enforcement, moreover counter-terrorist, organization has literally dozens of protocols on how to act in any kind of attack, with any of their electronic systems going offline, and with means of low-tech communication, in case of absolutely everything goes dark. We're talking about C-Sec here, the best law-enforcement service in the Galaxy. These guys are bound to have snipers overwatching the Presidium on a daily basis, especially after batarian terrorists tried to release a biological weapon, geth attack and, well, a big war going all around. I can't possibly imagine how Cerberus caught them off guard, but even if they did, C-Sec just raises a few Mantises in the air, and smears the walls with Cerberus troops, as they advance through the Presidium. But noooo. Be advised: Cerberus forces are wearing heavy plot armour:(

About Liara and the bathrooms... I was mostly kidding. Sure she would understand the concept, after speaking with a human for an hour. She worked with humans extensively, so of course she is familiar with such basic concepts of human behaviour. But the Normandy SR-1 not having bathrooms... Hmmm, Shepard served there for a while, before Anderson gave him/her command over the ship, so... Maybe it's the explanation why Shepard has such strong will? XD

"never ever trust Udina with that post" - yeah, I wasn't surprised, when he turned traitorous. At all. But about Walters... I really don't envy him in this situation. What was he supposed to do? the whole flow of events in the book dictates, that the human councillor must take part in the story. I guess Mac just flipped a coin to decide who will it be.

Good kill with that krogan:) Sometimes I just wonder how cruel biotics can be, playing billiards with their victims:)

And the broodmother thingy... It is stupid. It is so absurd, that actually gave me a good laugh.

Nice picture! Especially liked the "Manguard" option:)-Algol- 11:31, April 1, 2012 (UTC)

Ooops, guess up I messed up the text in the first part of the post.. Sorry:) But even it wasn't half in italic, it would still be unreadable XD -Algol- 11:33, April 1, 2012 (UTC)

"You should read some other 4chan theories about the asari" - I'd rather not. I like the asari, and that's why I don't want to read anything related to them on 4chan or somewhere similar. Because for every sensible topic, there are dozens, which are plain sickening. "It also works as a support group to help others get over the endings, and I'm not kidding with that" - Shepard: "Good luck!" - Grunt: "I don't need luck, I need ammo". I don't need support, I need normal endings.

Really it isn't explained anywhere, except for the books, how exactly Udina becomes councillor etc. But let's think this way for a while: who the target audience for ME3? Either ME geeks like you and me, or newbies, who start playing ME from ME3. Now, for ME geeks, like you and me, they don't really need to explain this stuff - we read the books, done our homework, and know the universe better, then some of the writers. And as for newbies, they don't really need to explain this stuff either, because newbies do not care. One sentence in the Codex is perfectly fine for them. Same thing with James - geeks have read the mini-comic, and for newbies, he is as new character, as some of the ME veterans - Ashley/Kaidan and Liara. So newbies will think about him pretty much as they'd think about every other character: this guy knew Shepard at some point, ok.

"Frankly I think that in a franchise like ME they shouldn't do books that are set after or during the games." - I agree and disagree both. On one hand, plot holes and lore inconsistencies are bad. On the other hand, these very books, set after and during a game, partially create the aforementioned ME geeks. We dig through the lore, we scour for inconsistencies, we discuss, we create explanations, we care. And it's good to be a ME geek :)

"Vanguard: A gentlman's guide" - that I saw. Sometimes I wonder how funny and how true things can be at the same time:)

Congratulations on completing your walkthrough! Importing to ME2 now? About the Onyx... I think it's that very armor, in whih the designers put the best efforts into! To bad combat-wise it's not very good XD And BTW, I'm currently engeneering my way through ME3 and discovered a combo: singularity + sentry turret w/flamethrower. The enemies just float helplessly, while the turret fries them. Looks funny. It's like a Cerberus barbecue!

P.S. Yes! The music!!! Love it. I think ME2 OST would be my best. You like it? or you like ME1 better?-Algol- 10:20, April 2, 2012 (UTC)

Bioware already promised us an endings DLC in April. Sort of. That recent interview with Muzyka, who told stuff about "clarifying the endings", "closure" etc. He wouldn't admit a galactic-scale failure, of course, but at least he showed, that guys at BW are scratching their heads now. The whole problem is, that he kinda wants to placate fans a bit, but still "maintain the artistic integrity". Something tells me, they will not be able to do both, don't you think so? They'll have to choose. If it would be the first, we can hope for something actually good with the endings. If it would be the second... A lot of people will go bloodrage, and I'm not blaming them. Let's wait.

"This “ME3 is the best place to start the series” shit. It doesn't make any sense!" - it's a marketing ploy. Sure every-effing-one knows it's not true. BW, newbie players and veteran players alike. But what do you expect them to say? "If you didn't play ME 1-2, you won't understand a solid half of the game, and its' story." Which is true, but very inconvenient. Better to say "ME3 is the best place to start": you'd call it a blatant lie, I'd call it a blatant lie, but nowadays it's called "advertisement".

"but wouldn't it be in the best interest of EA and Bioware to make a compelling enough story, so that those people will buy the other two games too?" - It may be unlikely and not very lucrative financially. Let's say, you read a third part of a novel, which consists of three parts. If you liked it, you sure would be interested in reading the first too, because things like writing style, which you liked, didn't change much. Now, videogames are different. They are more virulent and mutable. People, who liked ME3 might not like ME1, because "combat is slow, we want more tweaks to game's engine blah-blah-blah, that game is outdated". You and me may not care about this stuff, but, sadly, the majority, who makes up the larger portion of sales, cares. They are more easily attracted by a shiny multiplayer, then by compelling stories.

"Also James' character doesn't get explained like at all in the one-shot" - for newbies, he's as much unexplained, as veteran squadmates, like Ashley/Kaidan and Liara. They just think, that this guy knows Shepard previously, and that's all they really need. So what's to explain? Considering his character, for me he's ME3 Jacob: very loyal, and not very bright or interesting. That's why I never stick around with him, apart from first two Priorities, in which I don't have a choice.

"Loved her way more than Revan, even though the ending to that game was crap too." - I cannot help not to make a sad remark: you call it crap, I call it crap, BW probably calls it "artistic". But still, don't you think, that ME-verse would be lesser, without "Redemption" or "Retribution", which follow the game's timeline? There are inconsistencies, there are plot-holes, but they still make the gameworld rich. I liked to know, that a lot of stuff is happening in the galaxy without Shepard's involvement, because the galaxy is so big.

What I liked about ME1 singularity, was pulling not only enemies, but also furniture and other movable objects. More realism, more in-game involvement. Sometimes I think: which philosophy is closer to perfection: Infiltrator's victory with a single shot, or Adept's victory without firing a shot?..

Hmmm, you're watching Battlestar Galactica? Enjoy:) ME drawn quite a lot of inspiration from it, I'm sure you'll recognise familiar concepts:)

Vigil theme was great, but I have to confess, I'm more inclined towards heroic epic ones: "Grunt", "Tali", "Normandy Reborn", "Suicide Mission", "The End Run" and "Heart of Courage". Hey, it's a futuristic epic tale:)

And about those sex scenes. They were very good, but people always have to make a fuss about something, especially, if it includes nudity. It's like that deleted broodmother picture on DA wiki. Rumour has it, that Kalissah Al-Jilani was included in the game as a pun on reporters. With an option to punch her:) BTW, do you punch her?:)-Algol- 00:20, April 3, 2012 (UTC)

Just went back home from a gaming session... Well, the actual session was the day before, but then my players blackmailed me into GM-ing another:) A theoretical question: how would you react to storming a Cerberus facility, filled not only with soldiers, but also with scientists and other civilian staff, and your command gives a "take no prisoners" order?

With that Muzyka's interview... Casey Hudson was talking about "You'll have 16 distinct endings in ME3, you will not have an A, B, C ending, multiplayer won't affect the outcome of single-player blah-blah-blah". That stuff would be very funny, if it wasn't so sad. I think they do understand, that the more they say, the more people will hate them, if that turns out to be another lie. I think they do understand, that they have to be very effing careful about whatever they say after so many lies and created distrust. "you wouldn't ask Leonardo to change her smile just cos you don't like it" - if Leonardo charged money for viewing Mona Lisa, while promising me, that it will be painted in a certain way, and, well, was alive, then I actually would ask him to change her smile. Soon we'll see what the smug idiots are up to, and then we'll have our "closure": either closure with ME, or closure with Bioware, or both.

"They could have done fine without it, they should have just constantly used the phrase “re-take Earth” and “war”, and ME3 still would have gone gold before release" - there is no such thing as "too much money". Well, not for EA. if they didn't state the whole "ME3 is best to start the series" stuff, they wouldn't have so many pre-ordes. Sure ME3 would still gone gold, but not so gold, as it could have been, without blatantly lying. The number "3" in a game title can alienate many players, who didn't play "1" and "2", but you remember the whole "broader audience" policy.

"Then again, for me the combat in ME1 was great really. No cover hugging, just running and gunning and using biotics" - for you, yes. But there are a lot of people, who consider it bad, or slow, or somewhat else, and they are... the "broader audience". Same thing was with DA:O combat and DA2 combat. They guys at the marketing department just sit and calculate who to placate. Sum up the number of old-school players, sum up the number of potential new players, and then compare the two numbers. If the second turns out to be larger, then then the first, we get "action mode" in ME3 and "hamsters on amphetamines" in DA2. Now, in the case of DA2, the guys at the marketing department should be fired, flogged and summarily executed, because DA2 sales were lower then DA:O's. In the case of ME3 the marketing department didn't f*ck up, and "flashy multiplayer and stuff" still was more profitable, then compelling story. You and me hate this decision, but EA guys just sit and count teh moneyz. I wonder if they actually bathe in them, like Scrooge McDuck?

Ah, just on a sidenote, I like cover hugging. It gives me more realistic feel to combat, where your primary objective is staying alive, and only secondary is making someone dead. I tried airsoft. It's mostly about cover hugging, and I'm perfectly good with that.

That stuff with shepard's arrest... You're perfectly right. I couldn't agree more. Same thing was bugging me in ME2. Why if you freaking die, only Liara tries to retrieve your sorry arse and give it a proper funeral? What if I romanced Ashley? What if I befriended Wrex or Garrus? Don't they care? On a bright side, the gratitude adds to the whole awesomeness and love for Liara's character. But back to the original topic, I think it's the same story: veteran players will come up with their own explanation of "where did everyone go?", and newbie players do not care. Guess the disk space was already filled with multiplayer to include additional cutscenes or dialogue:( But at least they could add it as text in the "Known Associates" part of the Codex. Like, "After Commander Shepard was apprehended, Miranda ran off/tactically withdrawn, fearing the same fate" or something. Text doesn't take too much disk space.

I think "Retribution" was actually good. I liked the whole "Adventures of K.Sanders and D.Anderson" mostly because it shows, that Shepard is not alone, who acts, while the whole galaxy sits and watches the deeds of illustrious hero. There are other heroes. Who'd you suggest to be a replacement for Anderson in the novels? If they need a charcter, that is important to the game-world, familiar to fans, but not Shepard, Anderson fits just fine. Not that he actually makes Shepard's choices unimportant or inconsistent, Mac Walters sometimes does. Anderson didn't salvage tonns of tech from the Collector Base, when you had blown it up in the game:)

"but then there are games where playing without shooting anyone is more interesting and challenging" - precisely. That's why I loved Fallout 1-2 as a perfect example of RPG, and was very surprised to see Fallout 3 as a shooter, where you either are running-and-gunning with an SMG, or popping heads with a sniper rifle. Thanks, I have Call of Duty for that, why the sudden shift? Ah, I forgot, "broader audience" again.

So how's Battlestar Galactica going?:)

And about Kalissah... i never punch her too. I just love that Paragon interrupt in ME3, and how she's trying to help the situation during Cerberus attack on the Citadel. Making friends feels so good:) Wish I could say the same thing about Allers.

BTW still having hope for indoctrination theory to work, those nightmares Shepard sees... There are voices of dead squadmates during them. I don't know for sure, but I think hearing voices of dead people, even in a dream, is a nice indicator of going insane. So how do you think? Is The Kid only a figment of Shepards imagination, or he actually existed? I mean, noone sees him except for you, Anderson didn't see him on Earth, noone seems to notice him and help him board the evacuation shuttle... Then again, there is a picture of him at the memorial wall in the docks with "last seen on Earth" sign... What do you think?-Algol- 23:03, April 4, 2012 (UTC)

An interesting notion about disobeying an order on moral grounds. What if your character saw for yourself the atrocities, commited by Cerberus in that facility? Like experimenting on people, outlawed horrible implants and similar things? Would it bring up anger or hatred, and in that way justifying killing unarmed people? I just want to study different reactions a bit:)

EA voted the worst company of the year (the Golden Poop award:)) was like music to my ears. BTW, here's a nice summary, with a few interesting links . Oh, and EA's responce was somethin like: "We're sure that bank presidents, oil, tobacco and weapons companies are all relieved they weren't on the list this year. We're going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide." Look at the arrogance. I sincerely hope, that EA loses the court case vs Activision in May. Activision (also known as Moneyvi$ion) are scumbags too, but still...

Actually that's exactly what I like in ME combat: it provides an enjoyable experience for those, who don't use cover extensively, and for those who do both. Different playstyles are always good. Oh, and add to replayability:)

That crash... How many people from the Normandy died in it besides Shepard? And the Alliance doesn't do anything for two years. That must have created a public outcry from their famillies, but still nothing. "But then again, Mac Walter is only good at writing Garrus, so he wouldn't really be able to create a compelling new character" - true:) maybe that's why he uses the old character, Anderson?:) And thought just came to mind: I liked Kahlee sanders more during the five minutes she was in the game, then during several books. Probably the voice actors do a much better job, then some of the writers (but by no means all of the writers). Still, Walters was the guy, who created a bulk of the gameworld, so I can forgive him because of that:)

Sure I played New Vegas. I agree, it was so much better. Probably because Bethesda used a lot of stuff, created by Obsidian for the cancelled Van Buren. New Vegas had much more atmosphere to it, and quite a few very good characters (something, that is not Bethesda's strongest, I could only name ThreeDog in Fallout 3). Can't believe, that veronica and Tallis were voiced by the same person. But yeah, the bugs... I know, that Bethesda could never make anything without a whole load of them, but seriously, too much is too much. And then Skyrim came out, yuck:(

"even machines deserve some respect and care so they can function. Like how I always take care of my computer, even though she very often acts like a stupid bitch pats PC case" - be careful:) One day she might ask, if she has a soul!:) Not to spoil anything in BG, but have no fear for cylons! You'll see;)

i was constantly thinking, that the kid will turn out a husk or some other Reaper abomination, thus symbolizing possible fate of all Shepard is fighting for... Kinda obvious, but still scarier, then bursting into flames. And then we realise, that better he turned uot to be a husk... he turned out something much worse, the biggest plot-hole in ME series. *Sigh* April 5, give us the "closure" already!

Many-many thanks for the links! You're awesome! Just this one thing: why the "Outreach" geth refers to itself as "it", instead of "I", even if you've chosen peace between the geth and the quarians, with Legion providing individuality to all geth? Am I not getting something, or the "Epilogue slides" have a minor mistake?-Algol- 10:47, April 5, 2012 (UTC)

So many people and so many opinions. That's exactly my kind of enjoyment, while GM-ing a game. I have three players, all of them complied to the order of killing the scientists, and each of them had different feelings afterwards. The first thought, that guns are not the only thing, which can make people dangerous (he's the one who knows, as he's a biotic). Remembering how a previous Cerberus agent they encountered had an explosive device strapped to her, which nearly killed one of his squadmates, who tried to restrain the agent, and severely wounded another, my first player thought, that killing these "bastards, who are not human or even organic anymore", was a big favor to the galaxy. Another player is lawful, upright and faithful to the ideals of democracy, much like your Shepard. She wanted to arrest them. Nonetheless, she carried out the order, because, well, it was an order, and because she greatly respects her command and finds them very capable in such sort of things, so if they do stuff, they do it for a good reason. Needless to say, despite all that she suffers from severe case of PTSD now. The third player's character is more of a tactical mindset. He thought, that under that specific circumstances it is better to clear out the whole facility ASAP, rather then taking time to sort the seemingly innocent (and possibly indoctrinated), from the guilty, as the place might hold Reaper tech. But afterwards, he asked a question to himself, his squadmates and his command: don't you think, that while killing unarmed people and denying them official trial, we enter a slippery slope of becoming Cerberus ourselves? As I said some time ago, role-playing a soldier isn't just shooting stuff, it can be challenging and rewarding too.

"At least 20 and the Alliance didn't even bother to recover their dogtags" - BTW, that's were I see an inconsistency between the "Normandy Crash Site" DLC, and the core game. In ME2 Tali says during the conversation about the original Normandy's demise, that "Pressly and a few servicemen from the lower deck didn't make it." A few. 20 people dead do not correspond with that estimation, and I'm more inclined to believe Tali. For obvious reasons:)

"“the other most important person in the ME universe”" - Oooh, oooh, that's like "the most important person in Thedas" advertisements! XD

Well, I guess Bioware just had to stick with Walters, after Karpyshyn left. The new guy they hired for writing "Deception"... Well, no comment. Better if Walters wrote it, seriously, even for all his flaws. But yeah, Weekes is just great, should have given him more parts to write. How about the endings? *sarcasm*

About who's going to PAX? Cowards, sure, but perfectly easy to understand. If Walters, the lead writer, goes there, he will be flooded with questions about the endings (mainly, like, WTF???), which Bioware doesn't like to answer. If they send Hudson... Well, he would probably be lynched on the spot, for promising "you won't be getting A, B, C endings", "Multiplayer will not affect single-player experience" and all that. Rumor has it, that he was the one, who came up with our beloved "artistic" endings. So better send someone, who doesn't suffer from public ire so much, so they would talk about how Bioware loves their fans and blah-blah-blah and "we listen" and, you know, other stuff, that perfectly matches the definition of "bullshit".

You probably are a very lucky person, encountering 3 bugs in Skyrim. I had to access the game console to manually get rid of items, who were stuck in the inventory, pretty much every ten minutes, enjoy the pinnacle of idiocy of friendly AI, who gets stuck in the enviroment, starts lobbing spells at enemies, who are standing to floors below, behind three walls, drowning epically and dying most elaborate ways possible in general. Not to mention, that the trading menu had a 60% chance of closing, if you select stuff you like (poor port is poor). I wonder why Bethesda doesn't pay PC players, who are doing the tweaks in the console to get rid of bugs, thus doing the job of their lazy developer team. But really, my main problem were not the bugs, but that I was bored to death with that game. I feel myself lucky, that I had uninstalled it before one of the brilliant "patches", that made dragons fly backwards came out.

"there is some girl from the ruling family of the other city, who claims to be my bride... the fact that I'm a woman too doesn't seem to bother her... she is really keen on getting married for some reason :D" - maybe it's love? XD

Having such keen empathy with computers? Are you sure you're not a quarian?:D Because reading the personality of PC's... Wow! Just... wow!:D "Also don't get your hopes up about this closure stuff. It is very likely that BW will disappoint you once again" - I don't have my hopes up. They died quickly and violently after this. What's your opinion?

I wonder if future fledgling civilization will build temples, devoted to Shepard... And then some human comes, and blows the bubble. Like, hey, this guy/gal was punching reporters, drank up to the point of not being able to walk, and had dance moves worthy of a short-cirquited LOKI mech XD

I've read that Vanguard guide, it was hilarious!:) Wonder if some day Weekes comes up with similar stuff for each class. "I wonder if she's from Hungarian origin, cos her family name suggests so..." - pretty much looks like that, write her a letter! You know, I had this feeling of pride, that Zeschuk, Muzyka, Karpyshyn and a lot of other people at Bioware are my compatriots (given the family names), but now... Well, you can imagine the mixed feelings:)-Algol- 12:02, April 6, 2012 (UTC)

Interesting story of yours. That's kinda the main reason I'm not that int online text-based RPG's, and prefer real-time tabletop. To see people eye to eye, feel their emotions, and most importantly, playing with people you know, your friends. In that way players can keep a perfectly friendly atmosphere, even if their characters might be at each others' throats. Though there's a downside: real-time takes a lot of time, coordination and such. Oh, and role-playing romance scenes can get very awkward XD

That particular quote was really Joker's, but Tali said some similar things too. I'm playing the Geth Dreadnought mission now, and I'm just thrilled how do geth have medi-gel on board (even if some of them have organic pats, I doubt it will be useful for them), or Shepard going in a breather helmet, because there's no atmosphere, but Ash doesn't even put a breather mask on. Not to mention, that there isn't supposed to be any sound at all.

The Dark Brotherhood questline was the only thing, that shined in Oblivion, and I find it the only good one in Skyrim. I expected much more from the Thieves Guild, and The Companions... Plain awful. Instead of joining the Fighter's Guild, which is a serious organization, renowned in all Tamriel, I'm joning a bunch of cave-people, who are freaking werewolves, and I must become one myself just to advance through the questline. I played Bloodmoon, you know, and I'm well-versed, that werewolves are mere pawns of Hircine (who is one of my favourite Daedra Princes, but still a demented psycho), and if wants to start the next Wild Hunt, all werewolves become mindless slaves of him. Thank you very much, I don't want to be anywhere near The Companions, and I'd better join the Silver Hand and freaking kill them all. At least vampires have free will. Not to mention, that the whole vampires vs werewolves thingy is getting, like, really old. Still, my main problem with Skyrim, is that I want to play a person, not a surface-to-air missile turret, and knock over 9000 dragons out of the sky. I got bored after the third one, and really, I killed more dragons, then freaking mudcrabs, collecting enough dragonbone/scales to equip half of Tamriel. Seriously, Bethesda downright bastardized the whole concept of a dragon in fantasy RPG's. I love Morrowind, and it's one of my favourite games ever. Oblivion and Skyrim... Not for me.

"that one chick from her past whose name I already forgot" - I failed to notice any remarkable characters in KoA, so no surprise:)

Jessica Merizan seems a reasonable person to me, judging from her tweets and forum responses, but so did Casey Hudson. After the supposed 16 distinct endings, I'm not believing a word they say. A quote, which I like very much, from one videogame character: "Loyalty does not go on a sliding scale. It's a safety: ON or OFF". Same thing for me. I was hoping for the best until the very recent moment - an official statement, which snuffed the candle: they will not give us new endings. My loyalty went OFF immediately. Because if they decided to support their writers, who f*cked up a royal, instead of supporting their fans, why would I continue to support Bioware? And a few other things:
 * survivors won't starve - how nice of Bioware. Problem is, that all three people, which are left of their fanbase, will starve till summer comes. And if they imply, that Joker, possibly EDI, your LI and your best friend are all, who constitute survivors from the Normandy crew... F*ck that.
 * rebuilding the mass relays is possible - you are perfectly right, it doesn't tie with the grandpa, and retcons are bad for artistic integrity they claim to defend.
 * and Shepard can reunite with his/her squad - riiiight... If you play the damn multiplayer, may it rot. Thanks for shoving it down our throats even further.

I'm looking forward to how would they try to weasel themselves out of eyes-deep in sh*t situation, but I still think, that people already hate them enough for stopping buying their products, and that's good. Denying EA their money is always good.

"thank you BW for Energy Drain bonus power" - correction, thank you Tali!:)

"Oh this reminds me, Feketekuty is working for the DA team now, so DA3 will have at least one competent writer lol" - you know, they had quite a few competent writers in DA2 and, surely, DA:O (Mary Kirby would probably be my favourite), but with Gaider's attitude... I don't know. He did some brilliant stuff, but the attitude and no real power to defy EA masters (Orsino going nuts just because the designer wanted a mage boss-fight) doesn't exactly inspire hope for DA3 story.

"So why is it that while in the book it was considered something bad, it's something good in ME?" - hell if I know. Maybe because darkspawn are bad and synthetics are not? Religion? Old grudges? Not that I want to get deep into some of the writer's logic, might be bad for my sanity:)

I just... need to install a VI, who'd remind me to sign my posts with a voice of a krogan in blood rage state. That was me:)-Algol- 19:19, April 6, 2012 (UTC)

Liara is quarter-krogan, she isn't afraid of headshots:) Ashley's new look... Well, Bioware is into "iconic look for characters", so each one of them can be unique and non-customizable at the same time. It's DA2 companion armour all over again. At least she does look unique, and you won't confuse her with anyone:)

"I'm not so well informed with the Elder Scrolls lore" - I am. I played TES since Daggerfall. And was shocked how hard they raped the lore in Skyrim. Like every other mine having ebony ore, while it was explicitely said, that ebony forms in one place out of the whole Tamriel: Vvardenfel island. Dwemer ruins litter Skyrim like nobody's business, while actually dwemers lived only in two places: Morrowind and a little island near Hammerfell... I could continue the list on and on... *end of rant*

"And being a vampire in Skyrim really sucks...even more than werewolf, unless you use mods" - who plays a TES game without mods? O_o

"do we have terraforming in ME at all?" - yes and no. Yes it does exist in a game universe, and mentioned a couple of times in planetary descriptions, but it is very mild, long-term, and dare I say, very realistic. It usually consists of introducing new gases to atmosphere, new algae or more advanced species to biosphere, moving asteroids closer or further from the planet to alter gravity, so nothing fundamental. But no, it's not GECK:) Therefore, no planet in the Sol system could be terraformed, as we don't have suitable candidates. Besides, those green leaves, trees and clear blue sky is present even if your EMS is very low, and the Earth is pretty much charred. So I'm not inclined to believe it was Earth. Normandy escaped the Sol system... through a gaping plot-hole!:)

And ME at this year's PAX... From what I've collected so far... WHAT. A. WASTE! I really had this feeling, that people there, who asked questions, clapped their hands and usually acted like joyful idiots, I don't even... Either they didn't play ME3, or were handsomely paid by EA, or were indoctrinated (though the latter two options are pretty much the same). Because seriously, the only display of public outcry was when Gamble started a poll which game the fans liked best, and when ME3 was called out, there was this thunderous "boooing". Why the fans didn't react to a pretty much solid half of stuff, that was said, in that particular way? "Resurgence Pack", really? Is that what they need right now? Funny fact: there was already a DLC called "Resurgence Pack" for multiplayer of... Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. So is this where we're heading now? Is this what Bioware draws inspiration from?

But about the possible survivors on the Citadel... if that was the most disputable part of the whole stuff, I'd be a happy Algol. I actually don't have problems with people on the Citadel surviving, mainly because I want them to survive, like, very-very much. The Council, Aria, Kelly, Aethyta, Bailey, Kalissah and millions of other people, my Shep was sworn to protect, were there. So... just a few thoughts:
 * "if all we see are dead people" - if you're talking about Keeper ducts, were Shepard appears after regaining consciousness, no reason to assume those were Citadel residents, those people might have been transported from earth for reprocessing via the same beam Shepard and Andeson used.
 * "and Shepard and Anderson imply that they probably tried to build a new human reaper in there?!" - they also tried to build a Human-Reaper at the Collector base, and there still were survivors, if you come in time.
 * "And it blows up pretty badly in red and green ending...like into pieces" - not exactly. There were explosions, big ones, but they didn't actually tear the "arms" off or something.
 * "but they sure as hell will die there later, because they will have no means to ask for help or get off the station by themselves" - the allied fleet was right next to the Citadel. They were bound to send rescue teams and search for survivors, right after the Reapers no longer were a problem one way, or another.

But I digress, my main problem with the Citadel still remains unsolved: the very fact of it apearing in the Sol system means a series of global cataclysms. I don't recall anyone asking about that:(

Though I caught a very interesting moment: They admitted, that the extended cut was not planned. From which we can deduce the next:
 * They are either too arrogant or too deluded (or both) to understand, that including that load of bullshit they call "artistic endings" in the first place, was the worst idea they ever came up with. I cannot possibly grasp, how could they think, that current endings would work, and they won't be needing a DLC to fix them.
 * Considering, that planned DLC comes out in 3 days, but the not-planned comes out somewhere in summer (August 31? lol), they already have a planned schedule of DLC's. It would be a safe bet to assume, that the Extended Cut will be either the last DLC, or at least the last before they make (if they even will) others.
 * If they didn't plan the Extended Cut, the Indoctrination Theory is pure fanon, with no chance of being implemented officially.
 * I already have my closure. With Bioware. I'm going to a bar to commemorate it. Like Zaeed said, "I need a drink".-Algol- 11:20, April 7, 2012 (UTC)

To be perfectly frank, I'm not strictly and wholy against non-customizable armour. Yes, in some ways it is more convenient, yes, in some ways this "iconic look" of the character makes sense, but still, I prefer customizable armour, because it gives more freedom to, well, customize, refine your tactics and come up with very interesting builds, like tanking Morrigan in massive armour and shapeshifted form, back in DA:O (seriously, she rules even with that build!). Though I'm ok with most of ME3 outfits, but not most of DA2. Five seconds of battle in Fenris' or Isabela's outfit, and you're a goner. As for Ashley... Maybe they gave her a costume to represent, that she has moved from the rank-and-file assault rifle covering fire role, to the role of designated marksman, which usually are more experienced soldiers, and do not have to rely on protection as much. While Kaidan is still invaluable as a Sentinel, so he needs to be armoured in order to represent, that Sentinels are walking tanks.

With Skyrim, Bethesda didn't care much about veteran TES players, so better make it shiny and with dragons, then think about such trivialities as lore inconsistencies. I mean, who needs well-thought lore, when you can go "imma shouting fus-ro-dah!!!111one".

"But-but, we could use space magic to terraform a random planet in the Sol system in minutes, couldn't we? :D" - only if it's done in "artistic" way *sarcasm*

Well, EA really wants CoD audience, and their greed goes ahead of common sense. Each time new Battlefield comes out, they try to beat CoD in sales so hard, and each time they fail epically. I wouldn't be surprised, if the next game set in ME universe turns out to be a pure shooter, akin to Halo. BTW, I can give you this hu-u-uge list of how many stuff (and not only combat-oriented) in ME was implemented more or less from CoD. With that in mind, I'm kinda glad ME3 was the last in the series, otherwise things would get even worse.

"Dragon Age" at PAX was as pathetic, BTW.

"So if you indeed destroyed the geth, they should have shown that. If people survived on the Citadel, they should have shown Bailey getting people on shuttles and stuff" - maybe such stuff does not seem "artistic" enough for them *sarcasm again*. But if we are officially left for headcanon, then at least in my headcanon these (and many more) things have definitely happened.

"Instead we will get an “explanation”, because we aren't smart enough to figure out BW on our own. They are condescending really. Just like Gaider was regarding DA2" - absolutely. As I've said before, there are two reasons for that: arrogance and delusion. EA's reaction to being proclaimed the worst company of the year was pretty much "we don't care, millions of people will still buy our crap". Same thing with BW and their "artistic vision": "No matter how much DA2 sucked, we still have our sales due to DA:O success" and "We might as put a sweet rickroll song instead of a proper ending in ME3, but we still have our sales due to pre-orders alone". That sort of "strategy" will bite them in the ass in future, and I'm only will be very happy to gloat.

That Intoxication Theory... I saw the vid before, and while it was funny for me for the first two minutes, I realised something just a few seconds after that. That I'm in pain. It is painful for me to see, that ME3 was so disappointing, so ridiculous because of the endings, to allow such bitter sarcasm to exist. It was like looking on the shards of a shattered hope. So all the fun went away very fast for me.

"did you read that extremely stupid explanation from PAX that they used a real life model for Tali's face because they used real life people for other characters as well, so they thought that Tali “deserves the same treatment”" - don't even ask... Some of Tali fans are very... let's say dedicated to their character, so BW guys seriously consider their physical safety, after saying that load of bullshit.-Algol- 19:15, April 7, 2012 (UTC)

"but then they would need a better system to sort through all equipment, so that you would get to see really easily was is good an what is shit" - wich can be quite tedious developing it for consoles. A PC has a mouse, so you can sort/set your inventory to your taste. Consoles do not. BTW, as BW said long ago, before even ME2 came out, that was the main reason they adopted the non-customisable companion armor for ME2 and DA2. And about "So sad that it is a mod, and not something actual developers came up with" - hey, some developers learn!:)

"Yes, rainbow in space...it's maaaaagic! *sarcasm*" - oooh, can I have a rainbow-coloured varren with those cu-u-u-ute puppy eyes, please? And rainbow reapers, the existing one look kinda grim and dull. Oh, and guns shooting flowers!.. Holy crap, I just imagined all that stuff O_o

"Honestly, I never played any CoD title, so I would be sort of interested in the list :D" - You didn't lose much:) The list (stuff is mostly from many shooters, not only CoD, but still, it's the most iconic one):
 * The usage of military slang has overally increased in ME3.
 * The whole multiplayer type - Gears of War has Horde Mode, CoD World at War and Black Ops had Zombies (yep!:)) and Modern Warfare 3 had Survival. Same thing: you hold off against waves of enemies, increasing in difficulty, only in ME3 the waves are finite.
 * Hitmarkers - those white "second crosshairs" and distinct sound, when you hit a target with bullets.
 * Engineer's remote turret - also comes in variety.
 * Enemies throwing grenades at you - just like in CoD, on Insanity every little shit has indefinite number of grenades and will spam them at you, if you stop moving for three seconds or so. Except in CoD you could throw them back.
 * Grenades rolling off the surfaces - which is freaking annoying in ME3, because I was used to ME1 grenades.
 * Sticky grenade in multiplayer - In CoD World at War even the name is the same. Black Ops, MW 1-2-3 had semtex, which is the same.
 * Smoke grenades and scopes, that see through smoke.
 * The whole weapon customization thingy - most of CoD titles allow you to put maximum two mods on a weapon, with the same effects as in ME3, though CoD has larger variety.
 * Surface penetration - bullets can penetrate certain surfaces, certain weapons do it better, then others, and there are weapon mods/ammo types, which can augment that.
 * Low lighting - works for Black Ops, set in the 1960-s, but I was puzzled to see flashlights in 2186
 * Stationary turrets - every decent CoD mission is bound to have a mounted machine gun somewhere on the map, from which you can cut down, like, scores of enemies and feel yourself a hero.
 * The mission to rescue Zaal'Koris on Rannoch - Modern Warfare 1-2-3 all have a mission (or two), during which you fly an aircraft and rain death from above to cover ground forces.
 * About air support - sometimes friendly air support covers you, but usually dies heroically, as we see on Thessia.
 * Both you and your enemies can use proximity mines.
 * Map verticality.
 * Weapon weight - in CoD it affects your movement speed, in ME3 your recharge speed.

Should I continue? I can, if you like, but something tells me you're bored already XD

"some squad mates die" - I'd be very interested in who exactly, why and how.

"I place my hopes for RPG in Wasteland 2 and a potential Kickstarter project from Obisidian" - yes, I hope for Obsidian too, always liked them. What bugs me though, that these guys never have enough money to truly shine. But that's better, then selling yourself to EA. I have this dream, that Obsidian takes Dragon age from Bioware (something like KOTOR 2 case) and Fallout back from Bethesda.


 * Sigh* and still can't get over the anger and disappointment. But at least I have my tabletop, and there I can fix that, which I saw wrong. And share it with other people. "Not the same, but it's a living":)

Thanks for the mod, btw it's my favourite fanart depiction of Tali, but... I guess I better stick to the original version. Let's leave it at that. Also, if you're interested, there is a mod here (, giving what seems to be the original link), which sets your readiness rating to 100%. Basically, the game thinks, that you've played multiplayer, gives you related achievements, and all that. I found simple tweaking of files and giving some war asset an astronomical number too brute-force and cheaty, and was delighted to find this stuff. It allows to play the game the way it should be played. Be advised: while this stuff doesn't delete previous saves, in my case it has reset all previous achievements and earned bonus powers, except for the one I was currently using. No big loss, I think, all of that can be earned back in one playthrough.-Algol- 23:57, April 7, 2012 (UTC)

"I also still don't get why ammo powers are class skills and not weapon mods like in ME1" - well, they've thrown out of the window all weapon customization in ME2, so what do you expect from them? That they would make up interesting and brand new class skills, to replace ammo powers, which have gone to weapon mods? Nah, they're not that hard-working:) BTW I mostly liked weapon customization in ME3, even despite the lack of variety. I just don't get why did they put a 4x zoom precision scope on assault rifles, because a 2x zoom pistol scope would be far more convenient for most AR's, except for Sabre and Mattock, probably. But with all the new features, the AI didn't improve much:


 * We have surface penetration now, but enemies never use it against you. I didn't see any squadmates using it even with piercing mods, A-P ammo or Javelin equipped. (BTW I lo-o-oved the Javelin! my favourite sniper rifle)


 * Again, we have surface penetration now, but dumb enemies still have the tendency to stick their heads out of cover with obvious results. Who needs a few shots, when you can kill with just one?


 * I never saw a squadmate scoring a headshot in three playthroughs. Even with precision scopes. Even with sniper rifles. Even with both. Garrus, y r u so cool only in cutscenes?:(


 * A bit out of place here, but I miss squadmates' battle chatter from ME2. They only talk while taking orders. Jack's "Hello, dead people!", or Samara's "Scored a hit!" (with that calm voice, as if she was playing bowling and not killing people) were awesome. Oh, and Grunt stating about what exact species he belongs to:)

Remember we had this talk about the Hornet SMG? I actually liked it O_o Enormous damage for an SMG compensates the three-round burst, and the delay between bursts is easy to mitigate with a fast enough trigger finger. Recoil is high, but very predictable and goes upwards, making headshots easier. And despite the description, that it was designed for long-ranged combat (I don't know which crazy indoctrinated Cerberus freak came up with that idea, it sucks at range), very good up close.

"in most stories boring people don't die XD" - most stories do not end with... ok, I'll shut up already about that:) So why those? I understand Javik is not very keen on living, but others... I always wanted to save them all, as I did in the Suicide Mission. It should be very hard, yes, but possible. Ash and James will still make very good soldiers in the Alliance/N7, BTW, someone needs to mop up the remaining pockets of indoctrinated creatures, after the reapers are defeated. And Samara... I get why she thinks, that the Justicar Order will cease to be, as they will need to throw themselves against the direst of threats, but in case she survives, she might no longer be bound by the Code, as the Order as a whole is no more. i always wanted her to return to her daughter and finally have a happy family life she deserves, and I guess, wants.

"So I would say that if they get enough money through Kickstarter they could do something really great. Hope it happens :)" - since now Bioware has, like, five people remaining of their fanbase, I think a good portion of RPGamers will look Obsidian's way, especially the older generation, who remembers all their works good. So let's hope!

"Zaeed gives me 5000 war asset points, and I think that's an accurate number for him :D" - half of the points go to Jessie! XD

I'm about to do some weird stuff. I'm having a game session tomorrow, and create pictures of some NPC using ME3 face-builder. Usually I just take photos or drawn pictures from the internet, but this time I feel like staying close to the very core. A pity, that the face-builder is only for humans, now, if they had such thing in multiplayer, I might have considered clicking on it.-Algol- 15:59, April 8, 2012 (UTC)

"why do I expect logic from Bioware?" - it's a habit, I guess. They had logic for a long time, but now...

Those waves... Ok, not even mentioning, that this is completely illogical, there's also another thing. I can understand Reaper forces arriving via drop pods and geth just falling from the sky. They are invulnerable during the period of their arrival, and they do it very fast. Now cerberus and their shuttles... They are exremely vulnerable (singularity+chain overload+concussive shot, then warp for the finishing touch, and no one gets to the ground), slow to the point you can shoot them in mid-air, while they're jumping off the shuttle (that's fun) and no-one even tries to cover them. I can imagine a turret on the shuttle, or a Mantis following it, but nooo... As if Cerberus' "tactics" weren't ridiculous enough.

Tali cannot be that depressed, not to bring Chiktikka vas Paus along. I miss my fourth squadmate:)

Just finished my playthrough with an Engineer FemShep... Think frying Kai Leng with a turret flamethrower was humiliating enough. Oh, and I discovered, that equipping James or Ashley with a Falcon basically gives you mobile artillery. But the romance scene with Liara prior to Cerberus HQ assault... Just WOW! Beautiful! That is art, not... some other moments of the game.

About killing characters off. It's a very good tool to further emotional impact. Probably the strongest tool. And of course it fits the setting completely. "And the others are all veteran warriors who either don't have much to live for, or are just simply the type, who would not back down, even if they are only ones left on the battlefield, and I think situation likes that most likely did occur on Earth" - I always thought Zaeed was a reasonable one, unless Vido Santiago is involved. His survival instinct can drive him away from a hopeless battle, only to fight another time. Samara, for instance, holds saving the innocent higher, then punishing the guilty. Theoretically, if faced with a situation of wether continue to fight, or evacuate survivors, she may have choose the latter. But I don't know... I just want to save everyone, becouse I had enough emotional impact with all the millions dying, and Thessia was the last straw. In my headcanon, chances are, that my surviving Shepard ends up in a mental institution after the war was won.

Brilliant thoughts in that interview! Avellone just rules. That "On art – I feel games can be art. I want games I work on to be fun and entertain first, with art being second, but I’m going to shoot for both and have always tried to do so" - brilliant. Entertainment first, art second - simple and true. A certain game developer should learn from this.

"Last time I played an orc, forgot to look for a pic, so had to do a last minute sketch to satisfy the GM :D" - suits an orc really well! XD -Algol- 10:11, April 9, 2012 (UTC)

I just zipped across the whole room and punched in the face before you could even try to move away - it appears to me, that Kai Leng was so unable to see Shepard during the vanguard charge, that he just thought, that Shep's standing in one place. guess the visor was broken or something. I always wondered, how Kai Leng nearly managed to sneak up on Shepard after the fight. Exuse me for this comparison, but while Kai Leng crawls and walks towards Shepard, he's making sound like... as if he was taking a huge dump, but it just won't come out. Excuse me again:) So how Shepard didn't hear him, let alone made a finishing shot after the fight? They've double-checked Saren's body back in ME1... Well, a perfectly ridiculous lieutenant, for a perfectly ridiculous enemy army, so away with him.

Yes, you're so right about Liara. I'd never betray Tali, but since Tali is not romanceable by a FemShep, there is a loophole:)

"my FemShep would never wear that kind of underwear" - I wonder why there wasn't an N7 logo on the underwear... Really, they slap it on pretty much everything, that's possible. same thing was in ME2: underwear must have had a Cerberus logo on it. I mean c'mon, that scene with Jack on Purgatory, when you get to the exit. Jack: "I'm not going with you, you're Cerberus". My Shepard: "How the F did you know that??? Oh... Oh, I get it. There's a huge Cerberus logo on my ship, that must have tipped you off, derp..." Later on the Normandy: "Miranda, get that cleared right now, I thought we're working in secrecy, for crying out loud!!!". What else what they wanted me to do? Get a Cerberus tattoo on my private parts? Same thing with james getting an N7 tattoo in ME3. At first, I told him to go for N7. Then I realised, that he's not fit for it. N7 operatives often work in secrecy. S-e-c-r-e-c-y. Look it up on the extranet. It means not showing your identity and affiliation. Imagine, you're captured by an enemy and being interrogated. The enemy wants to know who you work for, you resist, and then they find an N7 tattoo... Crap, you know what would be even better? A tattoo, that says "I'm NOT with N7!!!". James, you're dumb.

Same thing was with Javik. You bring him to places, and people just say, "wow, you're a prothean, cool". I can imagine, that bringing him on the Citadel would cause a great panic, C-Sec going right after him and the Council probably demanding him to be brought for questioning. Sheesh, people are really picky: even a living prothean doesn't seem to impress them.

"you can feel the “I will make you proud mom!” vibe of the whole scene" - definitely! I was once again pleased to see, that loyalty really means a lot. BTW, what I always liked in ME, is that only you gain the loyalty of your squadmates, but also they can actually gain yours. I for instance, cured the genophage not primarily for krogan people, but for Wrex, Eve and Mordin. mainly because of that, I want all characters to be saved:)

"he is no good as a Fire Team leader in ME2" - well, Miranda is a perfect cheerleader, whoops, Fire Team leader:) in ME2, but... Half of the team mistrusts or downright hates her, and that's not what does good for squad performance, especially in that situation. Intimidating one into obedience, when he hates you, only works good for krogan. Though about Zaeed, you're right, that he doesn't seem to have much to live for, but on the other hand, maybe taking Blue Suns back?

That article (-es) on Forbes was very good. Fans in the "Retake" movement make perfect sence. Indoctrination theory makes perfect sense. Releasing a retcon DLC and charging money for it is immoral, but still making sense. Eveything makes sense, except for Bioware. They're indoctrinated, I tell you!-Algol- 17:04, April 10, 2012 (UTC)

Mind you, the very same katana pierced the metal roof of a skycar (holy shit!!!). With all tose forced Kai Leng puts into getting on his feet, he might as well crush the floor beneath him, and get spaced. "In Arrival, she goes to Project Base alone, which is the stupidest move ever" - I can think of an Infiltrator class sneaking alone, but Soldiers can get very noisy with those Revenant bursts. Ah, and neither Shepard, nor Kasumi are asari, they can't join minds to share knowledge about flawless solo infiltration. So yep, the stupidest move ever:) Then again, it was necessary for the story's continuation, of only Shepard being court-matialed, and everyone else getting away. Then again, Shepard may have only told hackett s/he went alone.

"I giggled and thought how funny a double date with them would be :D" - we have a hawke-eyed sniper, a brilliant technician, a biotic goddess and a Shepard. Taking what these people usually do for fun into account, a double-date will include scores of mercs/Cerberus/heretic geth/reaper monsters/whoever is unlucky today being joyfully slaughtered XD

"You see, that's why I never really thought that N7 is like STG" - that's where the game contradicts the lore and common sense. Not that it's the first time:) "it seems like the salarians are the only ones able to work in secret" - turian Blackwatch also does. Actually they do it so good, that we only hear about them in the third game, and only if we visit some backwater planet:) But about Vasir, it's stated in the Codex, that Specters can choose whatever methods they deem necessary, and do stuff their way. Some of them can be very open about their identity, if they wish to. Maybe Vasir wanted to trick Shepard into trusting her with being so open about being in the same organization. And then she had no time to put paint over the logo, when things didn't go the way she planned. "Fun fact, Shepard's dogtags in LotSB don't have N7 logo on them, yet they do in ME3 ending" - in this case, either LotSB or the ending is illogcal. How do you think, which one? :D I think it's actually a proof, that N7 operates in secrecy at least sometimes, why put their logo on dogtags?

"Miranda and Jacob wear the same uniform, but don't have Cerberus logo anymore" - EDI still does. Look at the left side of her chest [] Maybe... it is a joke?:)

"once you take him to places his racism stops being funny" - for me it was never funny at the first place. After Thessia, I was sorry I didn't have an option to shoot him.

Perfect continuity of decisions, in case of the genophage. I also liked how re-writing the heretics in ME2 bites you and the quarians in the ass. I mean, I didn't like quarians having trouble at all, but I liked the logic and continuity of decisions.

"And I love how she cuts off that video chat with TIM at the end of the base" - her dialogue with TIMmy was just... perfect:)

About Zaeed, I didn't mean taking the Blue Suns out, I meant taking them back to his command. On the other hand, in my case they're under Aria's (and my) command now... I just want him around with his voice and that reassuring "Let's gut the bastards!", when you're talking to him via comm on Earth. Awesome!

"Imagine, if Bioware actually released a different ending DLC, with at least 3-4 new missions, new planets, maybe a ground vehicle, and epilogue cut scenes tailored to every choice you made in the series, and would sell it for 10$" - I'd pay 20$. Okay, you greedy EA scumbags, I'd even pay 30$, just release it, dammit! But nooo, instead they release DLC's for the multiplayer and promising "more context" in summer. Ri-i-ight. More context. Those ending need to be re-written completely, because giving depth to the existing ones will only raise more questions and create more plot-holes. Which this video points out quite nicely. Really, why give us more stuff we hate, instead of giving us stuff we like: logic, consistency and lore accuracy. There's also a link in the description of the video, and I personally think, that the real "context" of the endings would be very much alike. Funny script though.-Algol- 23:51, April 10, 2012 (UTC)

"However, going to Project Base doesn't" - I can come with only one remotely logical explanation: The Project itself was an Alliance black op. Any leak would cause a turmoil that could rival the deaths of 200 kilobatarians. That's why Hackett and Kenson only allowed Shepard to enter, because Shepard was the only person they could trust. Because Mordin, who still has ties with STG? Miranda, who is the second person in Cerberus? Samara with a sore sense of justice? Those people could leak what they'd saw in the facility, and the Alliance would be in big trouble. Plus, Kenson would specifically insist, that Shepard went alone, for obvious reasons. And Shepard wasn't expecting combat, so s/he might let his/her guard down. I actually find infiltrating the prison alone much less logical. Though fighting alone, while playing an Adept on Insanity + the timing, returned me the forgotten sense of challenge in ME2 combat:)

Yeah, I know they probably won't go on a good old-fashioned killing spree during a double-date. "Garrus would teach Shepard's little blue daughter how to shoot a gun in the backyard" - I'd recomment the M-920 Cain. Kids just lo-o-ove fireworks XD

"but the breath taking is really Shepard" - yep, it's really Shepard, supposedly surviving entering the atmosphere and burning to little bits of ash, crashing from a who-knows how high altitude, accelerating to the speed, on which all innards start going out of the nostrils... Yep, it's really Shepard, according to Bioware:) I just can't believe it was the Citadel in that "breath cutscene". The Citadel doesn't have concrete... right?

About Spectres. Some of their tasks do not necessary include intelligence, counter-intelligence, investigations of crime, counter-terrorism etc. These tasks need undercover work, so you're totally right. The main objective of the Spectres, however, is maintaining galactic peace. This can be done in a multitude of ways. The Codex itself states, that Spectres may also act as diplomats, envoys or mediators. If a Spectre specializes in this particular field of work, then s/he needs an open identity. You only can build a reputation with an open identity, and reputation is vital for a diplomat. Think of the Jedi in Star Wars.

"Guess it's like a tattoo for her, and she couldn't remove it?" - I don't believe you can't remove tattoos in 2186, or at least scratch it from a synthetic surface. EDI repaired the whole platform, which was as charred, as barbecues I tend to make, but left the logo for some reason. I tell you, it was a joke:)

"Sort of like with Thane. I found him really interesting when I first played ME2, but he got annoying really fast" - hmmm... Why annoying? I mean he was kinda moody, but at least he was polite, civil, and didn't get on anyone's nerves. Looking at Javik or ME2 jack, it's a virtue:)

"So my Shep destroyed them. Free will is more important for her than anything really" - I agree. And so thinks my Shep, but... My Shep always finds himself/herself in a very unpleasant position, from a role-playing point of view. Problem is, I've met Legion too late in the game, and I don't have a good insight, or at least a solid knowledge on how the geth actually think. Without knowing of how they actually think, and how they percieve a threat of brainwashing, I cannot fully think through the decision. I lack perception, and Legion does not provide it. That's why I choose to preserve them, using this logic: destruction is irreversible, while brainwashing is not (probably). I am afraid to do harm, which cannot be undone later, so I do not want to destroy them. And then I damn myself for making this decision each time I hear about quarian casualties in ME3:(

Sure, such a DLC would rock, and Bioware would be hailed as gods of game-design, though EA would still be despised as greedy scumbags. Everything in order, really. Like in the good old days. But suddenly Bioware lost all, which is even related to common sense, and there we have it... The only explanation I can come up with, is that the real Reapers played the demo, decided to come a bit earlier, and indoctrinated Bioware into making that load of bullshit, so everyone loses hope O_o

"That “leaked script” made me laugh though :D" - Liara's lectures were priceless:)-Algol- 15:47, April 11, 2012 (UTC)

1.How couldn't they tell Shepard? I mean... it's Shepard! The all-knowing game protagonist!:) 2. About the number of guards, well, they are surrounded by 200 kilobatarians in the system, so I'd like to have some manpower too, despite of the secrecy. Just in case, you know.

But yeah, Shepard missing for two days... I bet Tali would suspect, that my Shep is cheating on her, and plasma-vent the whole base with a few clicks on her omni-tool XD Just kidding.

I agree, from what I learned the hard way in ME2 by playing a Vanguard on Insanity, is that Barrier is a must have bonus-power. If things are different in ME3, then I will definitely heed your advise, when the time comes for me to play a Vanguard in ME3. It will look something like that: Sitting in cover and sniping for the most of the battle, and when only one enemy is left, okay, okay, I'll charge. Imma vanguard!!!:D

But yes, Energy Drain ftw for everyone except the Engineer or, to some extent, Infiltrator, especially on higher difficulties. Having a buff, a de-buff and an are attack at the same time is one perfect example of quarian ingenuity:) BTW, about that... maybe Chiktikka (or is it Chik'Tikka?) vas Paus changed her career to Defence Drone? So she doesn't go for the eyes anymore, and is more like a guard dog?

Awwww, such a cute picture! Thank you, I'll save it to my collection! "Look how much happiness a little firepower can bring to a child!" (c) South Park. It's almost like Jack can have a little childhood too.

The Projector was very good, yes. Wonder why this Arc Pistol didn't have chain ability? Maybe only one more target after the first, like chain overload, but still. It would actually make it useful. Though with heavy weapons in ME2, I was always true to The Cain. Need to take down three YMIRs at once in that mission from Aria? Bring the Cain. Can't to finish a fight with a Thresher Maw or the Human Reaper? Bring The Cain. Oh, and carrying a big red "kill'em all" button on your back bolsters morale like never before!:)

Those turian soldiers... I always thought that some gesture akin to fist-to-the-heart, and then saluting with it, like in the Roman Empire, would be more appropriate for turians. Maybe some of the designers, responsible for movement mechanics was lazy, and just reused the most common one you encounter in the game. *Sigh* if only it was the biggest problem.

"But anyway, I would really like to play a spy in ME universe" - making other games in ME unverse is still an open question. So maybe something like Assassin's Creed will really happen. Though I wouldn't trust Bioware with it too, not their field of expertise.

"Usually I sort of try to counter it with him wearing his alternate outfit, and suddenly because of the sunglasses and piercings everything he says sounds less moody and more hilarious :D" - definitely! Cheer up Thane, your wife's dead, your son screwed up, you have a terminal disease, but hey... you got sunglasses!:)

That whole quarian-geth thingy... I had this one big (and any small) questions in ME3: so if geth supposedly didn't pursue the quarians leaving Rannoch, how all of quarian colonies became overrun? I mean, Haestrom and other colonies implied in the game? I find it unlikely, that the geth had such a powerful communication line to contact other units far away from Rannoch, because it was always implied, that geth operate good only in close proximity to each other, with Legion being a unique platform, able to work in "autonomous mode". Did they sieze quarian communication network? Then why those quarians in the colonies didn't just cut it off? It's really suspicious, and i don't believe, that geth were really so innocent, as they are portrayed in ME3. I'm not implying that quarians are, but still, if we take one game, ME3, advertised to bigger audience, who might not have played the first to games, then depicting the whole conflict in such a one-sided and pro-geth way is... unjust and incorrect. Has nothing to do with that argument on DA wiki, however, that one was a little study about why people want to see drama, like... everywhere. Regardless of the supposed drama coming from lack of knowledge, not primarily from emotional tension.

"I miss the different news broadcasts in ME3" - yeah, those were priceless! BTW, I wanted to try out this 'Sophist' biotic implant Serrice Council so heavily advertised to me:) Their armour is very good, so where's the implant? But nevertheless, I think that less humor in the broadcasts was actually very logical. I mean, the war rages, broadcast channels must focus all their efforts on combat data and morale-supporting propaganda, and, sadly, the biggest news at that time were casualty lists and lost colonies. So I'll just replay ME1-2:) I kinda wonder what class to choose... Suggestions?:)

A thought just came to mind: the only thing I liked in Cerberus, is their combat chatter in ME3. "Holy shit, it's Shepard!" Yep, it's Shepard. And you're about to get sheparded!:)-Algol- 11:20, April 12, 2012 (UTC)

My little problem with Liara romance is that she doesn't call you out for cheating on her in ME2 or ME3 (I didn't cheat, but read this stuff on the forums). I mean, no reaction at all, and that's while Ashley can't stop to bug you for cheating on Alliance with Cerberus... Great speech though! very... touching, I'm serious.

"Snipping with Vanguard in ME3 is really a waste" - I know it's a waste. It's a waste in ME2, in ME3 and generally a waste however you think of it. But you can't teach the old Infiltrator dog new tricks, can you?:D And about insanity difficulty... i have 8 playthroughs of ME1 and ME2, 7 of them are on insanity. i liked ME2 insanity best, because it's challenging and smart at the same time. Every little f*cker has some sort of protection, so you must take it down, prior to dealing with the little f*cker himself. I wish they had retained this system for ME3, because in ME3 it gets really tedious. Instead of relying on armor/shields/barriers (which make sense), every little f*cker goes into battle "naked", yet has a ridiculous number of hitpoints. The freaking Widow only kills an average Cerberus trooper with a headshot. Really! No headshot, no frag. Armed with the Revenant (a freaking death-machine in ME2), you must pretty much empty the whole magazine into someone's ass to kill him. Squadmate's performance suffers from this severely, especially for those squadmates, who rely on guns, rather then powers. Give Ashley or James a Falcon w/Incendiary ammo on Veteran, and they tear the enemy apart, but on Insanity they can barely scratch them. So I'm sticking with hardcore in ME3 after two Insanity playthroughs.

"Or maybe, she learned to go for the optics right away, so Tali doesn't have to yell at her anymore :D" - maybe, sadly, enemies do not pay much attention to drones in ME3, rendering drones less useful. Turrets are very good though. Sabotaged enemy turrets are evn better. In one of the recent fights, I took out a wave of 2 centurions, 4 troopers and 1 engineer with their own turret, and the whole squad did nothing except sitting in cover and watching the show. That was on Insanity. Engineers are lazy:)

I only used heavies for special occasions too, but I liked to carry the Cain around. It's like "the most useful thing in a nucear weapon, is a threat of a nuclear weapon". cain isn't exactly a nuke, but still. Guess they removed heavies from your loadout in ME3 because it would mess up the whole weight system.

"Assassin's Creed in space. I would love to play that, way more than playing an AC game set in revolutionary America >_>" - there is the latest Deus Ex... Not in space, but still futuristic. Yet, an action game like AC (and with the quality of AC) in a space setting would probably be one the most challenging, but rewarding, undertakings in game design. Who's up?

"I thought the geth didn't pursue the quarians once they abandoned their whole system, not just Rannoch" - didn't the female quarian pilot in the recording say, that they are leaving Rannoch? more importantly, she said, that they are nearing the mass relay, and more importantly, Dholen System, in which Haestrom is situated, does not have a mass relay. The only explanation left, is that geth drew away the quarians from their colonies before they drew them away from Rannoch. But I don't find it logical, because of communication issues I spoke about earlier. But it doesn't matter anymore, I'm just glad that they made peace with each other at last.

"About the DA wiki argument, it was an interesting read. Made me laugh a couple of times too :D" - I sincerely hope you weren't laughing at me:)

"if I walk around the Citadel, all I hear is drama and sadness almost everywhere" - guess it was Bioware's artistic vision, but I really don't blame them for that particular part. I comfort myself with the humour I can find aboard the Normandy. Still... After the first playthrough, each time I hear people talking about going to Sanctuary, I just want to grab them and yell "NOOOO!!!":(

Guess I really stick with the Sentinel. The class I explored the least. I'll have shiny armour, yay:) You can't go all Batman and "dark-protectory" in shiny armour, can you? O_o

“Pistol? How about trying a real man's weapon!” - each time you cloak, krogan get ve-e-ery nervous XD "Show yourself!" "Fight like a warrior!". He-he. "And in retrospect the ME1 chatters is hilarious XD" - that! The way they yell "Enemy is everywhere!" makes me think I have a freaking army instead of two squadmates. Oh, and "Hold the line!". It never gets old:)

I like when you're full of links:) You provide the most hilarious ones, so thank you! That "biology+hardware=bioware"... So Bioware are husks? I'd say "husks of former selves".-Algol- 18:16, April 12, 2012 (UTC)

"f*ck you Bioware, if I had a relationship for 2 games now, I don't want to go for someone else, no matter how sexy Traynor's voice is!" - please notice: but you were tempted, weren't you?;) But yeah, ambiguity just sucks. That reminds me of good old DA:O, were you could talk to people in a party camp and sort things over. I just loved to talk whenever I wanted and kiss whenever I wanted. Starting from ME2 we have calibrations, engines, thanks for coming by and all that. I'm sure we'd all be glad to listen to our favourite characters over and over and over again. "I mean, sure some romances seem to just casual sex at first" - oh, and that would be a huge mistake with Jack in ME2. I actually liked the way that romance was implemented. What I didn't like, however, is that if you don't go for her, it's "f*ck off" for you. On the bright side, ME3 Jack was great! The only thing I wanted to see in addition is her sorting out stuff with Miranda.

"I like higher difficulties in games like DAO, where I can really tell the others what to do and how to behave, cos it's pretty much the most important part of it, but that doesn't really work in ME series" - well, you can fully control the use of powers, but... Those guys and gals, who rely on shooting can't do jack (sorry, Jack XD) on higher difficulties.

Yep, those engineers! Why do it yourself, when tech can do it for you? Crafty little bastards, love 'em:)

Human Revolution was good, but... There's a problem. Many people, who played the first game (or games, depends) look at HR as an attempt to revive a 10-years old corpse with a liver transplant. I thought bringing life to the series will do good, but having played the old Deus Ex, I somehow understand those people. Too many time has passed, the audience has changed and things became too different... Maybe HR would be better as a standalone game in a similar, but not the same setting and story, considering all good stuff it had?

"though I wish the hubs would have been bigger" - that reminds me of ME3. I wish they were hubs besides the Citadel. I understand, that in this war homeworlds are warzones and primary targets, but still... Sur'Kesh and Tuchanka weren't hit that hard, and I would just love to visit Thessia before the attack to see its beauty.

"Well it could be that the rebellion started in the colonies first and reach Rannoch last?" - as far, as I recall, Legion's recording in ME2 ("does this unit have a soul?") names Rannoch as the place it was taken in. The Codex states "The geth soon overran the quarian homeworld Rannoch along with their other colonies", placing Rannoch first. It's not definite, by any means, but still doesn't look like Rannoch was the last.

I agree, in order to not hit the planet, the ships should have been flanking it and the Reapers. "and every shot that doesn't hit it's target, will ruin the day of someone somewhere in the galaxy sometime" - and if they won't fire, there wouldn't be a "sometime". Noone cares about possible collateral damage in situations like this. But, if they were depicted flanking, this wouldn't reflect the drama of head-to-head battle. So it's drama over common sense.

"Oh and that salarian guy who got his new armor just around the time his human friend sold her car. That was cute :)" - I always thought I was... not quite getting something in that dialogue... What adds to the depression is people crying at the hospital and in the docks. The sounds, the looks... Damn war.

"Well there is a mod for ME2 that let's you change the color to something less shiny" - nah... Think I'll do without. Enemies just have to see clearly who to shoot, that's the humble duty of the Sentinel:) And when the shiny armor goes off, he-he...;)

I actually liked geth stuttering sounds. Much more intimidating, then some poor sod yelling "I will destroy you" with a voice, that clearly indicates panic.

Yeah, those Bioware husks. I wonder how they screw up the next Dragon Age this time. Assuming there will really be a Dragon Age 3.-Algol- 22:21, April 12, 2012 (UTC)

About those romances! Jack's romance was really well done, but "and I like that while she seems to be bisexual, she is not an option for FemShep" - a lot of female players do not like it:) i was stunned by the sheer number of them, who wanted to romance Jack. I mean, look at Mess Perfect 2! Every other comic freaking cries about it! XD Pretty much the same was with Tali - as someone wrote somewhere, "If we are already different species, does it really matter what gender are we?" If we talk about DA:O and Morrigan... The numbers, the sheer numbers!!! Do... male romances suck that bad, or what?:)

But DA2 romances... I just don't get some of of them. Would Isabela really wait 3 years to get her hands on Hawke? Rivalmances? Don't even start, they would be funny if they weren't so sad and ridiculous. BTW, about Merrill, I wasn't that surprised of her going for girls. Sure, the Dalish appear to be very traditionalistic, and given their constant need of procreation, and all that stuff, but... It's Merrill!:) If someone persuasive enough tells her, that babies come from two girls or two boys, they just don't tell anyone, she might believe it, really. Plus, given her "unparallelled aptitude" in all matters social, she might as well be completely oblivious about "how it's all done". Even more, she seems to become close friends with Isabela, and is always interested in Isabela's stories, especially the spicy parts of them. So we may also say it's Izzy's influence:)

"And damn you DA2 that Merrill and Carver never get together!" - I was very glad! :P i adore Merrill and hate carver with passion.

"But what ever, ME is a shooter not really an rpg anyway :P" - not that it was intended to be an RPG. Back in ME2, Christina Norman, lead gameplay designer, defined the genre as "Shooter RPG", with shooter clearly coming first. ME is ME! A great trilogy with artistic ending!:)

"But I think considering everything, it is a good game" - couldn't agree more! it's a good game. About that terrorist in the sewers: not that you killed him, think of it as an unfortunate accident XD

"“You get to visit the homeworld of the council races!”" - I don't recall visiting Palaven. The view from Menae moon was nice, but I don't recall visiting it.

History remembers quite a few examples, where uprisings started in metropoly, and only then spread to th colonies. I even inclined to believe it was exactly the case of Rannoch. To operate effectively, geth need numbers and relatively close proximity to each other. I doubt they would that effective in colonies, whereas Rannoch, the most advanced planet, must have had great amount of geth platforms, all kinds and purpose. Simply because it had the largest population of quarians, who used them, seat of their military, which used them, agriculture, which fed the population, and, again, used geth, or even higher life standards, allowing the use of luxury platforms. If it's a war between organics and synthetics, think of geth tactics close to that of the Reapers: husks, relatively weak, but numerous units, are most effective in heavily populated areas, because while weak, they can harass civilian population. But... I guess we'll never know.

"why are they missing?" - funnily enough, they might not be missing at all. I never saw a cutscene, when a ship misses and hits something friendly instead. The projectiles just disappear. Maybe, given that allied fleets had enough bitter practice to study the Reapers, they discovered, that ships of certain classes (lighter ones), like frigates, corvettes or fighters simply cannot damage the large Sovereign-class Reapers, so they are firing at someone else behind the Reapers. Like smaller-class Reapers, ground targets on planets, those Occulus-thingys, but these relatively small targets can't be seen in cutscenes, because they are. well, small:) I know it sounds more like an excuse, then an explanation, but still...

"Though I think they can't fail as much as ME3 did, mostly because with DA3 everyone will be really cautious" - I don't know if they be cautious. They seem to be so self-centered and arrogant right now that might as well consider DA2 their pinnacle of artistic integrity.

Well, I can't expect links from you every time! I can only hope :D -Algol- 12:23, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

Morrigan sort of... grew up in a swamp, so I think she prefers things to be... natural, for the lack of a better word? But with all my love and dedication to Morrigan, I can understand people. Morrigan is a goddess, deities are not limited by such trivialities as gender:) About male romances, I was mostly referring to ME romances:) Are they that bad? Because Jack, Tali, even Ashley (!), oh, and Miranda too: from what I read, female players (in the majority) either hate her, or want a romance. It seems to me, that the only male romance being popular with fans is Garrus and, to some extent, Thane.

"Tried to romance Merrill with same Hawke once, and my God was that awkward! And that elf underwear yikes!" - I always romanced Merrill in DA2. Despite of the underwear, she's so cute and adorable... And the voice! And her stories!

The picture... Guess that's why Shepard sees those weird nightmares O_o Or maybe Joker's idea of teaching Reapers how to love, actually worked out.

Warden or no, family or no, I have only one mage playthrough out of five, so Carver is in family archives most of the time. Then again, from role-playing point of view: my Hawke goes into the Deep Roads for several weeks. I wouldn't leave my aging, grief-struck mother alone in a new (and crazy) city. Well, not alone, with Gamlen, but that's even worse. So I'm always leaving the sibling to stay with Leandra. That's why neither Bethany nor Carver become Wardens. Bethany I can understand: she was literally dragged into the Circle against her will (God, I wanted to kill Cullen since DA:O). Carver, though... Willingly joining the Templars to persecute people like his father and his sister, spitting on their memory. And becoming a Templar, he moves from young and butthurt idiot to a full-fledged idiot with power, which is far worse.

What should be included in an imaginary "perfect DLC for ME3", apart from bearable endings, of course, are hub locations, that you can visit before shit hits the fan. ok, Palaven is out of question, it gets hit from the begining. At least we have an idea of how it looks from "Evolution" (lame as it was:)). They can freaking recycle Tuchanka from ME2, just add some quests, NPCs, good background dialogue (I know you can still do that, BW), maybe some shops with overpowered items. Ok, last one was sarcasm, but still I don't see why multiplayer has a monopoly on overpowered stuff? I mean, Asari Justicar class, really? A launcher, that takes out an Atlas in one shot? Why don't the Reapers just give up? But I digress. Shooting pyjaks from an anti-material stationary turret is always fun:) Thessia too. Visit museums, palaces, universities, maybe some aquatic voyage or an underwater station (liked that mission in KoTOR)? *Sigh* If only...

"And then I go to youtube and watch cute cats doing cute things to cheer myself up :D" - my cat seems to cheer herself up watching me playing Mass Effect:) She always seems so interested:)

Oh yes, the cutscenes with generic weapons... What bugs me the most, is that sometimes they show actual weapons you have. And squaddies... Something like this:)

Yeah, players definitely will get more cautious with DA3. Wonder how many pre-orders will it get? 3? Or maybe 5? Because multiplayer is exactly what you need in a new game, while trying to win back the fanbase, disappointed with DA2. As someone wrote on DA wiki, "so now we have to gather War Assets and Military Strength for the Mage-Templar War?" -Algol- 18:06, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

Ah, Miranda romance... The place. I mean, really. "I always choose the best". Uh-huh. A cold, hard floor of the Engineering Deck, with Mordin overwatching the whole place from the window in his lab. When Miranda has a king-size bed in her office. Or in Shep's quarters. Maybe she wanted to prove, that she's as tough, as Jack? I don't know. But seriously, the place!

"Not really, she is actually happy to go to the Circle and be around other mages, and is okay with all this, so that the family doesn't have to hide just because of her" - the very moment she was dragged out of her home, she didn't seem that happy. Sure, she did it for her family, but only found herself comfortable around other mages later, as she writes in her letter. "and I think that's why Carver joins" - maybe. But being colleagues with people like Meredith, Alrik, Karras, Otto... I wonder how many raids on innocent people's houses he performed? Like that templar squad, cornering a defensless girl, while all she did is fed dinner to her relative, without even knowing, that the relative was apostate. I think quite a few, because Carver always sorely lacked a backbone, to be able to disobey such orders. Never saw him in Thrask's conspiracy group. I have a theoretical moral conflict with him joining, but what's more important, I will not forgive him staying. And yeah, being a Earden doesn't turns out good for Bethany, but playing DA:O and knowing the Wardens inside out - I'm hardly surprised.

"You help Aria take it back from TIM, and then it becomes a hub?" - count me in! I think... we're going to deploy violence:) Hub, good old "Afterlife", vorcha, bringing Garrus there and spooking the shit out everyone... Good times! Also, possibly meeting Maelon (if alive). Maybe... Aria as a squadmate? In gratitude for reclaiming the throne? I always wanted a more vanguard-type agressive biotic a squadmate in ME3 in adition to Liara, the controller-type biotic. Because Javik kinda sucks. Weapon selection is good, but powers... Dark Channel is next to useless, imo, and Slam is a good as additional damaging power, but not the main one. So... Aria as a squadmate: Warp, Shockwave, Warp Ammo (give Liara a Barrier instead), Slam/Reave. Weapons: assault rifle and shotgun/heavy pistol. What do you think?

Actually my cat tends to carefully watch the screen and sometimes reaches with her paw, trying to grab something on the screen. Or jumps onto the table blocking the view:) Cat's like Mass Effect too. Oh, and this:)

You know, that co-op in DA3 may as well be a test of how many people will actually play it, and then a first step to turn DA into MMO (EAware already entertained this idea). What do people find in co-op, when there's a good single-player, I don't even... Well, relatively good single player. -Algol- 20:42, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

"Miranda has more pillows than Shep does. This is an outrage! My FemShep demands more pillows!" - I think pillows and genes may be connected:)

Also there was this huge Pride Demon right under Kirkwall and also that Desire Demon Xene-something, and, oh, also there was Corypheus nearby. Nice city to emigrate to, really. But...

"and one of those accidentally made all the female templars naked XD Killing them while they were in their undies was so much fun :D" - I have three questions about this:
 * 1) Accidentally? Are you sure? XD
 * 2) "all the female templars naked" AND "while they were in their undies" - I thought "naked" implies not having undies... But did the undies have a templar insignia? Or maybe Andraste's face?
 * 3) "Killing them while they were in their undies was so much fun" - O_o sometimes you scare me, you know that? XD

Ashley has the bonus power, that is quite useful to the player: Marksman. James can give Carnage, and this thing is a beast! But in battle... On lower difficulties, choosing weapon damage bonuses and giving them the Falcon, especially with Incendiary or Cryo ammo, turns them into mobile artillery, so not that bad, actually. Yet, EDI is as good at soaking damage and has Overload and Incinerate, so Soldier squadmates are sort of overshadowed. Liara not having anything vs Shields is good for keeping balance. Because if she was able to bring down shields, she would turn into an unstoppable death-machine, and from quarter-krogan to double krogan:) Direct damage - check, crowd control - check, best debuff in the game - check, squadmate buff - check. maybe someone else can do the anti-shielding stuff, so Liara wouldn't have to win battles all by herself? Not to mention that her "best debuff in the game" is arguably the best bonus power in the game.

"Though it only works if you completely disregard the fact that everyone on Omage will die anyway with the current endings" - with the current enings, there's a good chance, that everyone everywhere will die anyway. So at least we may have some fun before dying. I also find it curious, that Aria's story with Wrex isn't wrapped up. It has been confirmed, that Aethyta is Liara's father, wich was heavily suspected, but not Aria-Aleena. Yet. Maybe there will be a DLC involving her after all?

There are also quite a few empty spaces on the Normandy, so maybe we'll see another squadmate? I mean, if the Extended Cut DLC wasn't planned, as they told, and is going to be out in summer, they can't just stamp DLC's for multiplayer all the time until then. That would be stupid even for Bioware in its' current state.

"Really, EA/Bioware should stop trying to turn singleplayer games into multiplayer ones, and just create a friggin multiplayer IP on their own, if the want it so much!" - they sorta tried... With TOR. And it's crashing down in flames right now, as people tell. Who's the next victim after KoTOR? Dragon Age? NWN multiplayer wasn't bad at all, but it was more like a tool kit to create your own adventures and play them with friends. That's too charitable for EA. i like co-op too, but I like it in CoD Zombies, TF or something similar. I just can't get people actually supporting co-op in DA. Especially after ME3 multiplayer, that has "no impact" (just what we were promised) on singleplayer. Nope, no impact at all.-Algol- 23:12, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

BTW, have you seen this? There are very good videos. Wonder if BW deserves such dedication.-Algol- 23:25, April 13, 2012 (UTC)

Marksman may come in handy to people, who play almost any class, but can't shoot XD "but just shooting stuff is boring" - I find myself very excited, when one of the squadmates actually kills anything with a shot. Because it happens so rarely:) "Oh look there are a bunch of Cerberus mooks standing next to each other and they don't have shields!" - see, that's why I like Insanity in ME2. Because you have to actually work your way to perform such combos. "The Atlas guns her down often" - wow! At least the most powerful non-boss enemy can do something against her!:) Atlas mechs tend to be my favourite enemies, though: hijacking is fun.

If they haven't really forgotten about Aria, I'd suspect they may left the story with Wrex out, because he may be dead after ME1. Then again, what's the point of those teasers in ME2, as he may be already dead. "the quarians not being “as soft as humans”" - I don't really understand what Grunt meant by that. Quarians supposedly have scales? The envirosuit acts as armour? Or "soft" was related to a personality trait, not physical abilities. Like they have more resolve or stronger will.

You certainly have a point about "beyond stupid", but seriously, I'm curious. Whether they were planning single-player DLCs or not. Let's wait and see.

"I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere about NWN MMO" - wasn't that DDO? I even played it for a while. Short while. Then I remembered, that D&D is really about role-playing first, cutting down flora and fauna second.

Well, sure those videos arent't even near to something created by a professional, but neither they're intended to be. Not their league. For a fan-made stuff they are decent. I was mostly referring to the amount of work and dedication people have put into them, and for what? Artistic endings? "Sure as hell will never ever do that again!" - why not?:) -Algol- 02:20, April 14, 2012 (UTC)

Oooh, Geth Dreadnought! You can understand how I love that mission and feel completely in my element:) Plus, bringing Tali and EDI/Garrus can make you rely solely on powers, if you're not comfortable with sniper rifles. Hacked rocket troopers and hacked primes can do the work for you:) Oh, and you can always bring a scoped pistol, not a sniper rifle, in order to maintain a good power recharge bonus. BTW I recently got a double-headshot with my Engineer, using a scoped Paladin w/armor-piercing ammo. That was on two retreating Cerberus mooks on Tuchanka: Bomb. *Sigh* A triple headshot still awaits. I replayed the Tuchanka: Cure the Genophage several times, because there are a few groups of husks running out on you in a straight line, but didn't manage to get a good angle. I won't give up, Garrus' record will be broken:)

Nice picture:) BTW. But as I wrote above, I'd prefer to shoot something more interesting, then bottles, to "settle it once an for all" *does the Grunt laugh*.

About the "scaly" quarians... This gets tricky, as we don't know what period of history regarding quarians is imprinted into Grunt. If it was before the Krogan Rebellions, when Krogan were relatively docile, I doubt they'd had many encounters to be able to test quarian softness. Now, if it was after the Rebellions (read: afer the Genophage), when many krogan became pirates, who attacked anything that moves in space, it is a completely different matter. Because it may as well happen less then 300 years ago, when quarians already wore suits. Mind you, Grunt is comparing quarians to humans, who showed up, what, only 30 years ago? Remember the krogan technician on Tuchanka in ME2? The guy, who was repairing a Tomkah, and gives you a quest to find some parts? He says "What, you think we kidnap quarians to do the repairs? Not anymore." I doubt they kidnapped quarians before the Rebellions (who would let them?), so all this might as well happened after quarians were exiled from Rannoch, and Grunt was referring to their suits. Because as we see mostly in ME1, quarian armor is indistinguishible from suits, and offers the layer of protection Grunt may have found "not so soft". He might as well think, that the suit is inseparatable from a quarian, which is, basically, true.

Neverwinter MMO... how about this one, then. This is old news, but still... I wonder how would they deal with the fact, that the whole City of Neverwinter got blown up in the 4th D&D edition? What's the point of playing, then?

"But back to the video themselves... well they did to get stuff" - lot's of people make videos out of dedication, it may or may not be connected at all with promo stuff. I'm sure a lot of people didn't even submit their videos to participate. I like this one, for example.

"There was this one vid that was 2 minutes long, and was more than 700 Mb in size" - WATH??? OMG. Did they... do it on purpose to mess with you?:) But I get it, you made it all perfectly clear. If by any chance someone asks me to be a judge in a video contest, I know what to do. Run!!!:)

Oooh, new Archengeia video, thank you! What I liked one of the most, was "there are people, who try to take a middle ground, and say, that the endings weren't horrible, they just weren't conclusive". As you rightly pointed out, when we discussed PAX, "people are such sheep". I get, that "fight or flight" instinct has been hardwired in humans through countless generations, but what separates people from animals (in our case: sheep) is ability to overcome instinct and think. F*cking think! Didn't the krogan story in ME teach them anything? That's why I highly doubt I ever understand ending-apologists.-Algol- 12:51, April 14, 2012 (UTC)

"I spent most of the time commanding Garrus and Tali" - well, you're Commander Shepard, right?:D I guess that's what commanders do. "I'm rooting for you!" - thank you very much! A question: would it be fair to lock two out of three enemies in Stasis (Liara + bonus power), or a shot has to be taken without any assistance? I guess Garrus did it without any assistance, but on the other hand, he only shot two, the third died of heart attack... And I didn't hear anything about headshots... Your opinion?:)

It appears, that Shepard is a master of all weapon types, but s/he carefully hides it to feed false intel to the enemy... You're right about QTE, I totally agree. Or at least make shooting the last bottle possible only if you actually used a sniper rifle throughout the game (or games). Or make it possible only for Infiltrators/Soldiers. Oh, and also Shepard appears to be a master of hand-to-hand combat as well, judging from that sparring with James. should have make it something similar to a contest with Garrus. And if classes are involved, exclusive to Vanguards/Soldiers. I can also imagine a hacking contest with Tali, something like, who hacks an Atlas mech faster, and subsequently kills more unsuspecting Cerberus mooks with it? All while sitting in a comfortable chair behind a console and drinking tea (because Engineers are lazy people):D Oh, and biotic contest with Liara. Something like, who deploys a Cerberus mook to planetary orbit from the ground first, using a Lift+Throw combo? (Love doing that in ME1 on open maps :D) Or maybe, who is able to hold a Cerberus mook in Stasis, until it goes insane from being unable to move a muscle? Or I don't know, a Sentinel contest with Kaiden or Miranda, something like, who can eat more direct rocket hits? O_o

Actually, we don't even know when exactly asari and salarians made first contact with quarians. When quarians emerged in the Large Galaxy? Some asari referred to them as a "race with old souls", but that's not nearly accurate. Krogan Rebellions are separated from the Morning War with roughly 1000 years, and the Exile is last 300 of them. Grunts imprints may already include quarians in suits. Besides, Aethyta specifically mentions, that she remembers quarians without suits, so if it's such a prominent memory, Grunt may have mentioned it as well, but he didn't. Sure, his imprints mostly include knowledge of warfare, but a quarian with and without a suit is a big differents in tactical terms. But about their appearance... "And also being very human like in face yet having only 3 fingers and chicken legs, just sort of freaks me out". Ok, bird-like legs with two toes make perfect sense, as they evolved on a desert planet, and such structure is optimal for moving on sand. Three fingers? Most species have three fingers, but the book mentions Kahlee amazed how Lemm'Shal could operate with three fingers much faster, then a human with five, so no real difference with humans in this matter. (reminds me of a picture...) They have hair, makes sense too, it gets cold in the desert at night, but the rest... I always thought, that regardless of original skin tone, their skin should be very pale, because the suit doesn't let sunlight through. Everything else - c'mon, asari and batarians look very human-like too, but noone complains:) Especially about asari:)

"the salarians and the asari aren't that much above slavery themselves" - hmmm... I'm not sure. Salarians are smart enough to figure out, that slave labour is simply ineffective, they rely on mechs, and kidnapping other sentinent beings for experiments (like the yahg in ME3) is very different from slavery. Asari culture values individuality and freedom very highly (they don't even have a single planetary government), so I disagree about them being not much above slavery. Illium is an exception. It is not even part of asari space, it's a single planet with legalized slavery, and it was populated specifically to escape and defy official policies and common ideals in favour of material gain. A lot of humans are slavers, but humanity on the whole abhors slavery, especially after encounters with batarians.

"there is never any mention of Shepard mental state in the game after he/she comes back, which is soooo stupid" - I hear you! the only thing related to this happens during revelations on Chronos Station, when Shepard asks "or maybe I'm just an advanced VI, that only thinks, that it's Commander Shepard". And even in that case it sounded more like sarcasm, then a serious consideration. But maybe the concept of mental state was showed in the game after all, problem is, that it was shown artistically in a real, Bioware meaning of the word:) Because seeing weird boys, while nobody else doesn't, hearing wispers of the dead and seeing tree stumps, while a moment ago you were running on barren concrete, might give a hint, that Shepard is losing it. Headcanon: if Tali, Liara, Garrus and Samara won't be able to do some serious counseling, after the reapers are dealt with, my Shepard definitely ends up in the institution.

A thought just came to mind... If BW copied so much from CoD to ME3, the whole thingy with the Kiddo looks very-very familiar to CoD Black Ops plot. With imaginary people and the protagonist going nuts... I can elaborate, if you wish.

"Cos being an admin suck even more than being a judge :D" - I don't know, I had adminship rights once... and liked it! Problem was, that noone else liked it XD But it wasn't my problem! XD

"If you think about it, it's quiet funny, that most people who protect this “artistic” ending of ME3 are the ones who don't really think, while art and literature are meant to make you think" - *Sigh* yeah... Would be funny, if it wasn't so sad. Nowadays they'd call any piece of crap in a shiny wrapping paper "art".

A pleasant conversation you had!:) Really, asking a ME fan about ME3 these days is an example of refined sadism. Thank you BW, now we are uncomfortable to talk to people on certain topics! I just... ok, so which exact buildings Ezio can climb, then?

I had a similar conversation with my players, two days after ME3 was released. I asked them to let me finish it first, so I may explain which new things in the game will influence our story, and which can be overlooked. Then we met. And they said, "Hey! We know you already finished ME3, you've waited it for so long! How was it? It was excellent, right? It couldn't be anything else, but excellent! We love this gameworld so much... Wait? Why are you so silent? Why aren't you laughing, jumping, screaming, like you always do, when you're excited? Something in the game... went wrong? It couldn't have..." I won't be able to forget this feeling any soon. I was ashamed to look them in the eyes.

BTW, I've made those pictures of NPCs using ME3 face-builder, and the players even said, that two out of six weren't horrible XD Guess I suck with face-builder too XD -Algol- 00:02, April 15, 2012 (UTC)

"I say, you should try with stasis first, and if it worked, then try to do it on your own :)" - ok, let's stick to that. Maybe just one Stasis will be enough, who knows?

"Shep got so many upgrades in ME2, that she is like terminator at this point, only with human brain :D" - some of the implant names in ME2 just scared me... Heavy Skin Weave, Skeletal Lattice, Microfiber Weave... I mean, what I'm turning myself into, really? They might have added the Syntheseis ending to ME3 specifically for Shepards, who are confused with their real identity.

"cos remember all the imprints are like “holding a book for a child, just remember this”, he doesn't have a real connection" - and that is exactly why I don't give his words any credit regarding some obscure moments of lore. Because he may interpret the imprints incorrectly, put something out of context, so I'm still inclined to believe, that "not so soft" could mean anything possible.

"the quarians used to carry pollen on themselves in the desert...so shouldn't they be actually hairy?" - they might have been such at some point of their evolution, pretty much like humans were. Or at least the majority of scientists says, that humans were:) But more importantly, that would depend on the pollen. It may be different, then Earth pollen, even if the flora we see on Rannoch looks similar to Earth flora. For starters, it sure was dextro-amino pollen. Then, it may stick to their skin or body hair, with exact amount of body hair present-day humans have. So... The only thing we know, that "primitive quarians were considered attractive":) (mind you, Javik even considers EDI's body attractive O_o Guess lying around for 50.000 years really spurns certain... instincts)

"Especially the asari, cos then they would stop being the “blue space babes” race" - more or less. Though I think I should point out, that if each and every sapient race considers them physically attractive (even the salarians, who don't have appropriate hormones), it means, that each and every race sees them through their own perception and according to their own standards of beauty. Much like Shepard sees quarians masked in the Consensus, while in objective reality they are not masked. So asari appear "human" to humans, "turian" to turians etc. Assuming that the character and the player are human (they are... right?), the result is obvious. There even was a conversation about this in Eternity bar in ME2.

"which could be considered slave labor, once the mechs gain awareness like a certain other mechs created by a certain other race ;D" - also salarians are good at learning from others' mistakes:) But really, I don't remember a salarian slaver in any of three games.

"As for the asari, they are really more morally ambiguous than any other race imho. Sure slavery they don't protect slavery out in the open, but yet allow their young to go out in the galaxy, be slavers, mercs and what ever for centuries, and then come back an settle down" - I disagre. Humans allow their young to become slavers and mercs too, does that mean, that humans are inclined towards slavery? Sure, asari slavers live much longer, but they are hunted and killed just as their human, or any other race, counterparts. Mind you, the majority of asserted scum we meet in three games, like slavers, smugglers, mercs and other criminals are... human. Asari are not nearly in the majority even in Eclipse, an asari-founded organization. And once again, regarding slavery, Eclipse is not involved in it, and it is specifically stated. But Blue Suns are, and they are human-founded. And you say allow their young to [...] be slavers, mercs whatever, like it's a state policy or something. Or I don't know, like every young person, regardless of species, who goes out in the galaxy becomes a slaver. Asari may live long theoretically, but the life of their slaver-career may be as short, as anyone else's. To be very specific, if we're not counting Illium (an exception), I recall only ONE asari slaver, Nassana's sister, in ME1. Even Aria is not named a slaver. But how many humans are? Or even turians, for crying out loud? (Blue Suns mercs, I'm looking at you) Really, if we're trying to find a race with real moral ambiguity, all we have to do is look in the mirror.

"Then again, I might have been just tainted by 4chan, cos there was that one thread about how asari probably would love to keep human females as slaves" - Whoah, really 4chan-style theory, yes:) I would be lying, if I didn't admit I'm idealizing the asari a bit, but that? A bit too far, really. Especially with "probably" and "would" being operative words.

I was referring to Hale's voice in that scene:) meer's voice doesn't give any clues, what Shepard was feeling, like, at all:)

"Seriously, I wished Kelly was on board, so that she could give therapy sections to Shep, and help her deal with this stuff" - sadly, Kelly sorely needs a therapy herself, to deal with her own stuff. At least Shepard is not the only one with nightmares.

Basically, the whole plot of Black Ops is that the protagonist escapes a labour camp with his trusted friend. later, he meets his friend throughout half of the world, talks, recieves advice or even physical help from him, fights alongside him etc. Noone else sees or hears the friend. Nearing the epilogue, it is revealed, that the protagonist was brainwashed and suffering from severe multiple personality disorder as a result, and the real "friend" died six years ago, during the escape from the labour camp. All that time, he was just a figment of the protagonist's imagination. Now, if we just substitude a "friend" with a weird kiddo, and brainwashing with indoctrination... You know what I mean:)

Nice photo! Loved the architecture! I bet Ezio would love it too, for his own reasons:)

"Well yeah, telling others about ME3 is...painful" - my best friend and I strted playing the same day. He's not as big of a fan, as we are, but he likes the series in particular, and good old Bioware games as a whole. He knew I'll finish the game earlier. And knowing me as good as he does, he could imagine my reaction. When we met, he didn't ask me anything, we didn't talk about ME3 at all. A whole week later he asked me... "So, any news about DLCs?". "And my friend even made me play DA2 again, cos she said she couldn't romance Fenris for some reason, so I have to check what's wrong lol..." - so, you'd be romancing Fenris? My condolences XD

Yeah, 'Epantiras' is in her element - rage!!!:) Btw, she illustrated very good why I'm inclined towards "Control" ending. Oh, and she romanced Traynor, no surprise either:) It's like Traynor being the saviour of all those, who didn't like any of ME1-2 romances.

This question bug me for a long time... What's is the blood colour of different sppecies in ME? Quarians have red blood. Turians had dark-grey blood in ME2, but suddenly turned red in ME3... Asari don't seem to make a choice between red, like in core ME2, or blue, like in LotS... Though blue is ok with me, I mean, what other colour should asari blood be? Salarians seem to have green. Then, Garrus' quest to capture Dr. Saleon in ME1 mentions yellow blood, whose that? Maybe krogan? Something like hemolymph, which can explain krogan sturdiness and regeneration?-Algol- 16:13, April 15, 2012 (UTC)

"But then again, human DNA shouldn't be able to mix with any other kinda of DNA" - except for asari DNA. It's pretty much how asari reproduce: copying DNA strains into their own. But yeah, "it's a voodoo magic!":)

"I mean, I could see Liara asking Javik to have a child together For Science!, but I really can't see them actually having sex. Yikes..." - I actually don't believe she'd do it even For Science!, because science would gain nothing useful from the genes of a full-fledged retard, even if he is the last surviving prothean. Really, "I have one rule: if a machine talks, shoot it!" Both prothean VI's apparently do not count. *Sigh* Imbecile. I wonder why that scene after Thessia had a Paragon interrupt to stop Liara, but didn't have a Renegade interrupt to beat some sense into Javik. I'm afraid it's the last resort.

''“Hey guyz, let's uplift the yahg to make us more dominant in the galaxy, nothing wrong can come out of that, am I rite? Lulz”'' - yep, Council ban on visiting Parnak and prohibitions to conduct experiments on sapient beings do not seem to bother them, apparently. I was shocked, that Mordin or Kirrahe didn't react to experimenting on the Yahg!

"it's not a human tradition to say to your kid: Hey let's go out on adventures and do whatever you want, and when you had your fun, come back, and try to be a decent person! Because that's pretty much the asari tradition" - I didn't recall it stated anywhere. Humans have families, schools, society, religion and many more to teach young people to know right from wrong. But so do the asari. In the exact same way, if not more actually, because Siari, their dominant religion teaches peace, co-operation and value of each individual. What makes you think, that humans do not say exactly the same to their young? Like see the galaxy, learn and come back. It is not implied, that a human or asari becomes a criminal as soon, as s/he flies into space. Criminals are deviants in almost any galactic society, what you're implying sounds like asari encourage their young to become criminals. I'd say compare crime rate on Thessia and on Earth. As of Terminus Systems, where crime flourishes, compare the numbers of asari criminals to everyone else, except for volus, hanar and elcor. I really can't understand what do you mean by "asari tradition"? And about Aethyta. Her main point wasn't, that, quote, "our daughters spend their maiden years as strippers or in merc bands", her main point was, that asari should focus on develping their military. So those, who go off to space, could join the army or build fleets instead. She didn't want them to become better or something, she wanted them to deicate their time to war effort. That's all. Mind you, that Aethyta wasn't even implying, that maidens become either strippers or mercs, there are countless other possibilites, as we see in the game. Archaeologists, for example. I'm not even saying, that not every merc band is a bunch of criminals, like the Blue Suns, there are decent and respectable private military companies, like ERCS. "I just meant that asari tradition allows a lot more lets say moral flexibility than others" - with a very few exceptions, all asari we get to know in three games are either paragons of morality (an exaggeration, but still) or vicious killers. I don't see any flexibility here.

Back to humans. "but still it's obvious Bioware was just lazy" - yes. Still, we have what we have. Humans are by far the most dubious race with it's heroes and it's bastards, but also with everything else in between. I would call that a perfect example of moral flexibility. Or take salarians, for example. the concept of morality itself is very far from them, still, they have to comply to that concept, because other races share it. But look at their military doctrine. Look at their science. These guys are as flexible, as an amphibian can be, literally and metaphorically.

"how come that in ME3 suddenly the Blood Pack means vorcha only?" - remember Wreav on Tuchanka? He was backed by a good number of krogan in Blood Pack armour. I guess krogan clan-chiefs summoned Blood Pack krogan back to Tuchanka, promising them good battles: either against clan Urdnot, or against the Reapers (sure Wrex's education about them must have meant something), or both. And vorcha were simply left behind. Actually, they are able to form something loosely resembling a warband, just not for long. The Codex sorta implies. "Also while the Blue Suns were human founded, the batarians muscled in pretty soon, hence the salvery I would say" - they didn't muscle in. They were invited to join. By a human. Oh, and how about Elanos Haliat, the mastermind behind the attack on Elysium, which was as much a slave raid, as it was a territorial war. The guy was human too. I don't think, that "evil batarians corrupted good Blue Suns", Vido's part of the Blue Suns didn't mind slavery already.

"I like innocent looking races with dark secrets :D" - aren't Ardat-Yakshi and the prothean legacy enough?:)

"Dammit girl, if you knew, then why did you stop the kiss on Illium with shaking your head?!" - What??? She does that? Never saw it in my playthroughs O_o

Oh, gifts in DA2! "Marvelous, really"(c) Morrigan. Remember the "Gifts and pranks" DLC for DA:O? They just had to pervert it:) One gift now has to be able to promote both friendship and rivalry. Example: you give a ship model to Isabela. On a friendship path she says "Oh, how cute, a little ship, but that's a start!". But on a rivalry path she says "Are you mocking me?" When it's the same effing ship! The same!!! Logic. Where is it? Even a friend can make a bad gift, that hurts your feelings, and you might even accept it and thank your friend to remain civil, BUT! Companions in DA2 react to it with genuine delight. That's one of the many reasons I don't like the friendship/rivalry system. In any case, not how it was implemented. Might have been good in theory, but they handled it so poorly...

"Well she certainly has a thing for chocolate brown women with a sense of humor, cos she romanced Isabella in DA2 :D" - don't forget hair colour and length:)

"Wasn't turian blood grey-blue?" - it looked dark grey to me, but it may have been the lightings. About that krogan... Probably husk blood. I always thought, that husks don't even have blood remaining, but then Henry Lawson enlightened us, that adrenaline is the tool of indoctrination, so the victim needs blood to distribute it faster. Sick f*ck!

"It's funny how that greedy little volus actually saves that human girl, cos he convinces her not to go to Sanctuary" - well, turned out, that Citadel wasn't much safer. Oh, but wait, Walters said, that there can still be survivors on the Citadel! I always thought, that on PAX people talk about future games, not explaining stuff, that should have been explained in the past game. In a rather pathetic way.

''“I'm a woman?! Omg, where did these tits come from?! Were they cloaked?! Are they infiltrator tits?!”'' - are you... Implying something?:) Because if you do, I will proudly respond, that Infiltrator tits only cloak with entire Infiltrator!:) There can be no partial cloaking!:) But yeah, good dialogue! Sometimes girls just don't understand that guys are... Well, guys... I was embarassed, that it took me two playthroughs to figure out, that two smugglers on the top floor of Purgatory actually trigger an authorization on Spectre Terminal, that nets 7 precious points.

About Infiltrators... Can't stop at laughing while playing through interview with Allers after the Cerberus attempted coup. That dialogue! The renegade description: "Infiltrators are everywhere!" What I wanted to add is "There even is an Infiltrator right here, in this very room!!!"

Oh, I just created my Sentinel for ME1. Never played a Sentinel in ME1, so don't really know, how it would turn out... One thing I was sure about: put Snifles as a bonus talent!!! XD -Algol- 20:39, April 15, 2012 (UTC)

Blue print, yeah:) I liked that t-shirt on Illium, "are you blue-shifting already?" Also "pureblued" and blues:) gues it's their favourite music genre:)

Your welcome! I am very glad to provide entertainment in these dark days of post-ending stress disorder:)

Yes, you're totally right about Mordin and Kirrahe, I at lest imagined, that they must have thought about better means of securing the yahg, so they won't run all over the place after the slightest structural damage. But never mind, the whole base doesn't make sense to me at all... Though Shepard + Liara + Garrus comments on the yahg are great!

"For example there is that one human soldier on the Citadel, who married an asari, and got disowned by her family for it" - I always thought it was an exception. it was mentioned quite a few times, that a lot of humans admire asari and their culture regardless of their stance on other aliens. Remember, blue propaganda is a devastating weapon. Oh, and I admire it too... all of it, the asari, the culture and the weapon:)

"Bioware is sometimes just really stupid with ME lore" - and yet we have to swallow all that inconsistency, like with the Blue Suns, because canon is canon. Though I never consider spin-off books on any franchise a true canon. Learned it the hard way with Warhammer 40K.

"and lets not forget about how everyone hates us" - I didn't get the impression, that everyone hated the humans, except for the minority: batarians and some turians, like Saren. Turians held a grudge, yes, but it wasn't burning hatred. And about the others:


 * The Council intervened and stopped the turians from launching an all-out war, that would undoubtedly crush humanity. I guess we owe it to the asari, who are the leading peace-makers. Think of it: we pretty much owe our freedom, or even existance, as it is, to them.


 * The Counsil gave the Skyllian Verge to humans. Not batarians, who were around for who knows how long. Not batarians, who have a very powerful military and established diplomatic relations, but to fledgling upstars, who the Council chose to support.


 * Humans were granted an embassy the fastest of all known species in history, after the Council was formed. That means responsibility, but also trust.


 * Even before the outcome of ME1 humans were treated with respect. Also with caution, which is natural, but also with respect, while they still didn't do much to deserve it. To compare, quarians, who discovered the most mass relays, vital components of galactic civilization, were treated like "criminal scum".

So yes, with all that in mind, I love aliens, they are so nice! With a few exceptions. Oh, and I always save the Council.

"I don't even recall properly what my original point really was" - originally it was "...the asari aren't that much above slavery themselves". But you're totally right, let's leave it at that. You don't remember the whole flow of the discussion (who would?), and I am extremely protective of my two favourite species, and that clouds my judgement.

"Which reminds me, the salarian fleet never triggers for me as a war asset, even though Hackett says that the councilor commits the entire fleet to the cause" - actually Hackett's dialogue is a bug, teh wiki says: Requires: Saving Destiny Ascension in Mass Effect and helping the salarian councilor survive an assassination attempt during Priority: The Citadel II. You have both genophage cured and salarian 125-133 (w/ sidequest) points. Did I mention, that I always save the Council? ;)

Yeah, the whole stuff with Elanos Haliat doesn't make sense at all... And we still have to swallow it: it's in the game. What bugs me the most, is that Elanus Risk Control Services and Haliat Armoury are weapon-manufacturing firms. Both of them... turian. Has your mind exploded yet? O_o

"I like my blue space babes real dirty :D" - each time I see this picture, I always imagine a finger there. Like, "here you go, Reapers, that's what we think about you and your damn invasions!!!"XD

The vid... No, no, no, it's some kind of mistake, misinterpretation, probably her assistant just walked at the door, and Liara was shy, or tried to deceive her... it's not what she really meant, can't be true!

"because blood magic is bad!!!" - why? ;)

"Or did we see batarian blood somewhere?" - all over Torfan XD *does the Grunt laugh*

“hey just because we didn't show you anything but that bodies, and later explosions along the wards, that obviously doesn't mean that everyone died horribly, how could you even think that?!” - I actually didn't think that. I gues it was psychological defence mechanism. Do not acknowledge the horror. Do not believe in it. And I make up as many explanation, as needed, as to why did they survive. Because I want them to survive. No more death. As Shepard said on Rannoch "noone else dies today". Regardless, this thing should have been explained in-game.

"Imagine there was! :D You could freak out people by cloaking everything except for your head..or hand..or whatever. I would totally do it :D" - me too!:) Even cooler with a partner. something like: "Can I give you a hand? Oh, here you go!"

"Actually, I would say regarding naughty things, girls are way worse than guys" - I know. Learned it myself. Now, I think you can understand why guys sometimes want to be among their own kind, when it comes to drinking and strippers. There is only so much dirty:)

"Ah, I miss that adorkable robot"... who has a soul.

About that e-mail... I suppose someone is trolling hardcore. I hope so. Because for a minute I imagined this was legit. the concept of "blood rage" suddenly stopped being so alien...-Algol- 00:43, April 16, 2012 (UTC)

"Then again, I base this purely on how humans are today, so they could be different in the future..." - I always got the impression, that humans, living in human-colonies are scared and mistrustful of everything, that moves, even their fellow humans. Something like Ashley/Kaidan's situation on Horizon, there were treated with disdain even before the Collectors hit. Another example, that shows a good share of racism in humanity, is that Terra Firma was narrowly able to block the vote on allowing option classes on studying alien languages in schools. But it only shows, that human-supremacy isn't state-policy, and the majority is quite open-minded.

"Except that after taking back Shanxi, we were turning the tide, so it is really questionable, who would have won" - it is really not questionable. It took entire human second fleet to liberate Shanxi from a turian patrol fleet. Again: patrol. If turians were to bring their main forces (which they intended, but the Council stopped them), humans would be annihilated, let's admit it. At that time humans didn't even have a single dreadnought.

"like you know, if it's not a rachni ship, try to talk to them first instead of shooting" - the Council laws were perfectly logical and proper. Talking first was EXACTLY what turians did, if you remember the whole story. But, since human-turian translation programs were not created yet, they simply couldn't understand each other. Yet the turians had to react quickly, before humans open a relay and possibly unleash another rachni or whatever onto themselves and whole galaxy. "Either way, humanity was pretty much innocent in the start of it" - I disagree. Humanity was pretty much reckless at the start of it. They had already confirmed by that time, that alien civilizations exist, yet the idea, that they also maybe hostile and more powerful apparently didn't cross their minds. So, they learned it the hard way, and it was their own doing.

About turian military force - Bioware's mistake for not showing it properly. Because turians really are the most powerful military in the galaxy. Numbers of war assets in ME3 mean absolutely nothing, because the Alliance has a ton of special named strike teams, ships, NPCs an colonies. Supposedly turians do not have anything or anyone remarkable, which is bullsh*t. Even my asari war assets outweigh the turian ones, and the only way I can explain it, is that the majority of turian force is bogged down on Palaven, Irune and other places, so they are unavailable. Otherwise, we could multiply the number of turian assets by 2 or even 3. The only good thing is that they bogged the Reapers down too.

"she knew, so she did it because she felt guilty about her deal with Cerberus and how she couldn't let go of Shepard at all" - that!

"However, you have to make a deal with a demon to do it" - not necessarily. You can learn it from a book or another blood mage. A deal with the demon is just the fastest and the esiest way possible. There is even a hint, that ancient elves were taught blood magic by the Creators. So I'm ok with blood magic. If you're doing it right, but that's as with any other magic.

"So I would say, bloodrage is on!" - I always wondered why J. Hepler was receiving hatemail, and not EA CEO's.-Algol- 11:30, April 16, 2012 (UTC)

"I'm sorry, but humans as general being open-minded is something that I feel is very unlikely in pretty much any kind of setting" - well, in most settings, especially, fantasy settings, most humans are, in one word, scum. But if we take ME setting, humans there pretty much resemble present-day humans, with the only difference, that numerous human cultures mixed. So I'd say in ME most humans simply don't care. It's alien, if it's not shooting at me, I'm ok with it, or even good if it's alien, and I can trade with it. There are polarities, there are racists, like Terra Firma, or xenophiles (like me XD), but the majority of ME humans just live day by day, and take aliens as a simple fact, nothing more, nothing less. Until the Reapers arrived, he-he.

About those human-turian conflicts... 1) I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough, I didn't mean "You're saying that like the whole fleet was almost lost to the turian patrol fleet, which it was not", no. What I meant, was that, in general, human forces were no match for turian forces at that time. Even if Bioware didn't make it clear enough etc. Because: the construction of the first human dreadnought began after the First Contact War, while turians have a dozen of them. Or more. It is kinda obvious, that turian fleet as whole was much-much larger, because they were tasked by the Council to patrol all known galaxy, same goes for their military, because turians, again, were tasked to be the Council Races main military arm. What did humans have? They never even fought anyone else before. Next, military tradition. How many soldiers could the Alliance mobilize? Incomparably less to turians. Turians can virtually mobilize every single citizen past 20, and all of them already have military training. Lastly, turians experience in fighting all-out interplanetary scale wars is immence. They fought themselves, other races we didn't hear of, and most importantly, they fought krogan, and were narrowly winning. In comparison, humanity discovered the big galaxy, like, yesterday. Their experience equalled zero. We have to admit, if it turned into a wholescale war, humanity didn't stand a chance. But the Council saved us, yay!

"Honestly, I don't remember the beginning of the Evolution comics" - wasn't in Evolution, I was referring to Mass Effect: Revelation. I know, that I don't consider books to be real canon myself, BUT! This one was by Drew Carpyshyn, the creator of ME setting itself.

"I mean, how could have humanity slip under the radar so much that they could have ships in a system patrolled by turians, and go as far as trying to active a dormant relay, without the Council races noticing them way before that?" - Good question. Council races might not knew about relay 314 themselves, turian patrol might have discovered it roughly the same time humans were about to activate it.

"I would say that isn't true, since when you bring Javik on board, the marines say protocol is “assume hostile”" - I didn't mean that. I meant the bigger scale. Pure consideration: if there is one alien race confirmed, there may also be others, and there is absolutely no guarantee, that they won't be hostile. I'm not blaming humans, no, but by opening that relay, they brought everything they'd got on themselves.

"You know, I get the feeling the Mass Effect lore is interesting and all, but one shouldn't really look too closely at it, cos you start noticing the wholes and stretches" - geeks will always look closer:)

"Gameplay wise also not worth it" - I'd argue. Puppet Master is extremely useful. Depends on individually preferred tactics, of course.

Good choice for Shepard! I like that song too. I'd go with... the good old one:) -Algol- 16:01, April 16, 2012 (UTC)

"I just have an extremely negative outlook on humanity as general" - I share this thing... I always imagine, that if, say, 300 people were to vote on a start of a nuclear war, 3 will be for, 1 against, and 296 abstain. There we go, thanks to three bastrds we have big problems. So yeah, humans suck. That's why I like aliens:)

"I don't really understand while the Alliance doesn't make military service past 18 or 20 mandatory" - that would make sense. Now imagine the riots. People don't want to seve in the military. Especially in conscription-based military. I tell you this as a male:) Besides, the Alliance does not have power over the goverments of Earth. They are independent. Though it is not sted directly, I can imagine, that in ME Earth most states evolved into democracies. Can you imagine mandatory military service in a democracy? I can't. People will just riot or say "Screw you, we're off to live with aliens, you damn opressors!" If we're talking about colonies, the Alliance has control over them, yes, but the colonies themselves are not densely populated even in 2186. if Elysium has only 8.3 million people, despite being one of the largest colonies, and all 18-20+ (I imagine boys and girls both) go to military service, who would work?

"but if only around 3% of the people is in the military, who will defend them?" - the turians XD That's why you go to Palaven first in ME3 XD

"Oh the “Council”....yeah, we dismissed that claim. (joke ;P)" - c'mon, admit it, the Council saved us! (joke ;p)

"Did they really say that in the book?" - as far as I recall, yes.

"Riiiiight, so the council races weren't able to detect a dormant relay in their systems in addition to fail at noticing that human ships, while the humans did know it was there. Doesn't really make any more sense imho °3°" - it doesn't. The only thing I can add, is that humans stumbled upon the relay accidently, and Council races cannot maintain a constant overwatch over the fringes of their space. Patrols come and go regulary, yes, but they can't scan every second.

You're right about lack of detail. But that can be said about pretty much every every videogame lore (if it has one), if books are based on videogames, and not vice versa. Still, we can fill the holes and tweak the inconsistencies with headcanon and become closer to total geeks:) I, for once, do not have the slightest doubt about how exactly asari reproduce or how exactly the genophage effects krogan pregnancy. BTW why these details people do not agree on, always include reproduction? XD

"Thing turned so, stupid...so really, really stupid.." - couldn't agree more. But many people call it dramatic. Some might even call it artisic :D

"And I find that the force mage + spirit healer more useful" - Ah, the force mage! Always reminded me of biotics in ME. "I will destroy you!!!" XD really makes you think about parallels between ME and, especially, DA2. Take the characters, for instance: TIM and Flemeth, Morrigan and Miranda, Tali and Merrill...

BTW, you mentioned, that you didn't get the salarian fleet in ME3. I got it and had the points, but when the allied fleet sends reports during the cutscene before landing on Earth, salarians do not report or show up on the screen. Yet, on Erth itself, during Hammer's advance towards the conduit, there are two salarian soldiers in cutscenes. Might have been Spectres or STG guys, though. Did you see them?

"I really need to play something besides Mass Effect, cos replaying ME3 is getting more and more depressing" - play an Engineer. You may watch a comedy or read jokes, while drones, turrets and hacked enemies do all the work:) I, for instance, find solace in replaying Rannoch or finding new ways to deliver Kai Leng the most humiliating death possible. Bludgeoning him with the butt of a rifle - check. Sticky grenade slapped on his chest - check. Flamethrower barbecue - check. I tried for half an hour to freeze and shatter him, but the little f*cker doesn't seem to freeze. What a pity. I want to laugh at the cutscene of him getting on his feet, when I just shattered him to tiny bits a second ago:) At least Vasir could theoretically levitate back with biotics, if you throw her off the balcony. Oh. and I'll start replaying the first two games soon.

But more importantly, i find solace in my tabletop. No matter how depressing ME3 may be, I have my own theme park, I mean, Mass Effect:) The PCs are off to vacation, course Citadel-Elysium-Earth-Thessia-Citadel, next session:)-Algol- 22:08, April 16, 2012 (UTC)

"and then we will be stuck with people who don't even know how to fire a gun" - that's why i play airsoft from time to time. Too bad it doesn't simulate recoil, but everything else, like weight and tactics, is very life-like. But actually, real problem will arise, when every country makes military service mandatory. Then everyone will start killing everyone. Sometimes everyone not knowing how to fire a gun is better, then everyone knowing how to fire a gun. Besides, it's still more, then a century and a half, before we discover mass relays, so we can relax now :)

"Then again, I should rather not gain power, cos I have a tendency of not really tolerating stupid people, so..." - I don't like stupid people either, but they are necessary. It's much harder to control smart people. Oh, and smart people have this tendency to build master-plans and intrigues against each other to decide who's smarter. It's like Salarian Union:)

"sure if they didn't know that the relay was there, then ok, they don't scan all the time..." - wait... Did they know?

I was frantically searching for the link, where a group of IRL scientists discussed ME lore... And, sadly, didn't find it. But the basics were, that only two things were deemed unrealistic, in relation to present-day scientific knowledge: existence of Element Zero and existence of FTL speed. Everything else was ok with them, including various alien species. Well, despite of those two things being pretty much what ME setting stands on, there are only two of them, right?:) So this setting has so much potential... Which Bioware squandered. Oh, and about creation and updating an official lore site: that's called lazy. The think we have the wiki for that. Seriously! Walters said in an interview once, that he consults this wiki from time to time, when he forgets something about the lore. Of course we are wikians, and this gives a huge bonus to our self-importance, but he's the lead writer for crying out loud! XD

"Seriously the cylon in-fighting is the most logical and believable thing that happened in this series as of late" - just watch it till the very end. No spoilers from me:)

"Also, I just remembered that someone on BSN pointed out, that if Bioware is so big on “artistic integrity”, why are they changing the Deception books?" - oooh, but that was before they started the "artistic burying their heads in sand" crap. Deception was the last straw! We can't take it anymore! Boo hoo, you're violating our artistic integrity, so we'll defend it! You see, if someone changes something s/he previously did, they are basically admitting, that they screwed up. But you can only admit that so much, because if you screw up each time, everyone will stop taking you seriously. And BW wants so-o-o-o much to be taken seriously, that puts arrogance and wounded pride ahead of common sense. Let's say, Hudson, comes out and says: "I wrote those stupid endings. I screwed up. I admit it." His career would be placed in great peril, if he really did that.

Well, I definitely remember one salarian guy with a sniper rifle, when ground forces charge out of forward base (the first cutscene after your final choice of squaddies), and one salarian with a Skorpion, taking prone position in one of the buildings, from which ground forces fired on the Destroyer. They participated too!:)

"Or work on of my projects I have only half done..." - *is curious about the nature of projects*

"Pff, hope they have a better shore leave on Elysium than my War Hero Shepard did :D" - and my:) Besides, one of the PCs was there too, when the sh*tstorm started. I can imagine him having flashbacks. Like, the whole party sits in a cafe, drinking coffee, politely discussing art and listening to relaxing music... And then the guy suddenly jumps on the table and screams "batarians at two o' clock, we need backup, arrrrrrr!!!" XD

Have you seen this? Hope you like it:) -Algol- 00:21, April 17, 2012 (UTC)

Just came back from the gaming session:) I consider those gaming sessions good, that have the least stuff reminding of Darths & Droids in them. Why do people drop their jaws and spend 15 minutes in trance, each time they land on Thessia?:)

So, why the stuff we discussed reminds of the Evil Overlord List? Because certainly, this list was written by smart people, for smart people. Which makes me wary, as there is bound to be some catch, some trap. Because the one, who created it must have followed your logic of killing too smart people too:)

"Bioware would do themselves a favor if they actually made a wiki-like site, or hell, helped this one to expand, or something" - you know, good idea! For us, not for BW. "Listening to fans' feedback" is a great marketing ploy. But doesn't mean they actually intend to live up to it. They would have re-written the endings, if they really listened, but muttered about "artistic integrity" crap instead. Now, maintaining a site would give them too much feedback, more importantly, rational and logical criticism, that they don't like, and rational and logical improvement suggestions, that may not bring desired amount of money nevertheless. Paying lipservice on BSN is much more convenient. Oh, and tweeting those important aspects of lore they have overlooked. Helping expand the wiki? Nobody would pay money for it, why bother?

I assume you have may have watched Battlestar Galactica by now? How did you like the ending?:)

"issuing a statement where Bioware as a whole came out and sad “Sorry, we messed up, but we will fix it, I promise!” without pointing out whose fault it is, would have been acceptable" - from what we can assume now, not acceptable for EA, BW's puppet masters. Let's face it, on the whole, EA's products suck. Even if having good ideas behind them, EA's products are meant for making as much money, as possible. and people even know EA's products suck, but they don't have many alternatives, because EA buys or sues those alternatives. Openly admitting, that their product is flawed, would mean, that EA loses credit even if they mitigate this flaw, because harm to their reputation was done already. so no, better send e-mails, glorifying ME3 and it's endings... BTW, heard any news about that thingy? Did it turn legit or no?

Hmmm... drawings. Has been a while, since I was drawing something, should look into it. Oh, and modeling too.

"Let's hope, he doesn't accidentally kill someone...or spills the coffee or something :D" - he didn't. Just saluted and dropped a few manly tears near the memorial. That was sad. But nobody would forgiven him spilling the coffee! XD Panel 1 XD

About Liara and Shepard video preferences... Honestly, I don't think, that Liara wouldn't like to watch "50 best prothean dig sites" after her enlightening experience with Javik. As well, as Shepard wouldn't like to watch action movies, because one can endure only so much violence and death. Better to watch something relaxing for both... So "Vaenia" it is!:) But about "problems" of living together... First question: where? Earth or Thessia is not an option, it's a fresh wound. Citadel too, if it even continues to exist (I hope it does). So probably, as in that dialogue, they would fly off to some place far away. Especially given Liara's reclusive nature. Second question: food. Sure they are both levo-amino, but that doesn't mean one cannot have an allergic reaction to alien food. Liara was able to eat human food on the Normandy, but I suspect, those were military rations, designed to have only basic organic matter, be nutritious, but taste like cardboard. Probably that's why Shepard is definitely a better cook, then Liara: s/he served in the military for a long time, and it takes a lot of skill (and spices) to make those rations remotely edible:) Oh, and Liara's free time, or should I say, the lack of it, may be a "problem". Liara is always so busy with shadow-brokering, that Shep should sometimes remind of attention:)

Shepard and Tali, by comparison, would have bigger problems... Food, of course, comes first, then place, given quarians social nature, while Shepard would definitely need some time away from people... At least movies won't be a problem, they could watch virtually anything, given that quarians are curious about any form of entertainment. On second thought, life on a ship isn't such a bad idea, as long as you have places to dock!-Algol- 19:43, April 18, 2012 (UTC)

Oh, and did you read this? Liked many parts of it. -Algol- 10:31, April 19, 2012 (UTC)

"Remember how it felt to drive the mako in ME1? I certainly stopped from time to time, just because the skybox was so pretty :)" - I'm doing exactly that currently:) And driving the Mako is fun. Why all those people complain about the handling? It's an APC, not a sports-car. Besides, I find it fun to make this thing turn over (but apparently the squadmates don't :D), or get out of there, and kill thresher maws and geth colossi on foot. BW must have thought, that putting you against a thresher in Grunt's mission, and a colossus in Tali's mission, on foot in ME2 supposed to be challenging? Pfffff, been there, done that.

"Btw thanks for the comic, didn't know that one :D" - your welcome! Glad to have helped, the thing is a marvel! Also, there is kind of a prequel to it here, in LotR setting. Very good one too!

" Which shows that the “new audience” they try to get is not supposed to be interested in the universe itself" - sadly, it is really so. The new audience is interested in multiplayer and button-mashing combat (reminds me of DA2), they don't need the lore. The lore may be too difficult to be understood by 12 y.o. kids, so they didn't even bother to think of lore inconsistencies in ME3, or, to a bit lesser degree, in ME2. It's all about multiplayer now. "because if the protagonist of the games dies, and people don't give two sh*ts about the universe, they won't buy new games with the same setting" - again, multiplayer. The "new audience" doesn't care about protagonist dying, as long as they can shoot dummies in multiplayer. If there ever be new games in the same setting, I imagine it will be something like Battlefield, which sometimes has a campaign, or an outright MMO. Seems that Ea just sat and counted, that they can make more money out of multiplayer stat whores, then of us geeks, who like the lore. Since those two audiences are incompatible for a single game, the choice is clear.

"no company can go on like that" - that we will see in the nearest future. A company, who has sheep, unable to think and unable to analyze what exactly they have bought, can go on very long. Again, the "new audience" they were talking about in ME2-3, DA2 was meant to replace old Bioware audience, who definitely would rather fund Kickstarter projects. The cost of this "replacement" were the franchises we loved:(

Ah, BSG:) That's why I didn't want to make any spoilers. Seriously, the parallels between ME3 endings are striking. Especially with the synthesis ending. Lazy BW is lazy.

"if Liara is pregnant by the end of ME3, they really shouldn't move away from civilization, cos that's not good for a child" - definitely, especially given the fact, that asari are very social by nature. Even Liara's reclusion was mostly because she is pureblood, but the child won't be, so I guess they'd really go to some small world. Is it doesn't even matter human or asari, since the child will have plenty of time to study both cultures. Maybe asari is slightly better, because they teach biotics at schools. Though Liara and Shepard may teach the child biotics themselves.

"I wonder if Shepard knows the asari language" - I was always curious about languages in ME, mostly because linguistics is my hobby and, at times, source of income. The only reason for Shepard not to know the asari language in this case, is that it simply may be unpronounceable by humans. I doubt that for several reasons: 1)Asari and human physiology are very similar - build and lung capacity seem to be the same, so why not have the same or almost the same vocal organs. 2)The only example of language, that is unpronounceable by humans, we fnd in the lore directly, is salarian (figures:D) 3)Cerberus Daily News mentioned studying alien languages in schools on Earth. Knowing the asari, they'd be the first one to share their language. You know, blue propaganda and stuff:) The only problem I can think about currently is that asari language may be very complex and difficult to learn. Considering their long history, numerous ancient dialects mentioned in the game, and very diverse and independent cultures of their city-states, it would be hard for them to select a dominant language, such as English is for humans to ME, even despite of asari constant need of communication and dialogue. So I guess the only way for them was to build their current languages from different parts of other ones, which surely would result in a very complex structure. But I guess not that difficult for "the Shepard":)

Also I think it is very possible for humans to learn Khelish, because when the translator doesn't translate some Khelish words (probably because of quarian isolation and lack of updating translator programs), these words are still pronounceable by humans. We know a few already!:)

"Well, Mess Sargent Garner made it sound like that human food and asari are really compatible in ME2 :D But I'm pretty sure, my Shepard has at least one asari-human cookbook downloaded to her omnitool" - he was saying, that that dish was only "based" on asari recipe, and seemed to be unshure even about that, but I'm confident, that something both delicious and compatible exists! Screw military rations! XD BTW, where is Gardner in ME3? O_o Or did they think, that making Normandy crew eat military rations will get them more angry to fight the Reapers?

That dialogue between Shepard and Liara! Great dialogue, great fun and great voice acting! Pieces like these comfort you, when you get closer to the endings. Oh, and the dialogue about little Liara digging for ruins in a park! Sooooo cute!:) I always liked Liara, because we have much in common!:)

But as of place for Shepard and Tali... I absolutely wouldn't mind a house on Rannoch ("a house on Rannoch" was pretty much my main objective in ME3, before its release), but since Tali isn't big on it... Maybe the Citadel, then? Shepard will rest in the Presidium parks (I heard lakes and trees are very good for relaxing and easing your mind. Well, at least for me) and Tali will become a fully official quarian ambassador, as this will allow her not only to guide her people, but actually represent them very well, as she has probably learned about other species more, then any "present-day" quarian. maybe the quarians even become a Council race soon. They seem to like politics:)

"Btw it's not fair writing me another message, while I'm trying to post you a message XD" - if only I knew the exact timing!XD But yes, the guy definitely wrote a very good one. I was talking about "voting with your wallets" in some of the threads here, and I won't be tiring of talking about it any soon.-Algol- 17:14, April 19, 2012 (UTC)

"I liked the tresher maw in Grunts mission, but the colossus was so damn easy, even for the first time" - hmmm, I always found it vice versa. The thresher was very easy, even if it can destroy cover, even without the use of heavy weapons, since pistols and snifles pack a good punch against it, especially with a-p ammo, but the Colossus... I considered it the toughest fight on "Insanity" in the game. Not the colossus itself, rather getting to it, if you're not an Engineer. You can get in a crossfire very easily, and a good variety of enemies doesn't make life easier too. Oh, and the sun:) But still, that ambush in ME1 was tougher, even if there isn't a colossus, just an armature. I go to it first every time too, we need Liara asap:)

"Yeah, but ME multiplayer isn't that good actually, since it still doesn't have much map variety" - from what I watched, it isn't. Yet map variety is something, that can be overcome easily - I bet they would stamp new maps on a monthly basis. "Resurgence" already has two of them. But about multiplayer lasting long, I don't know... It may, or it may not. In almost any multiplayer you can imagine, the main thin, that keeps people in it is completionism. You may play it for a week and know all the maps better, then your own house, but you still want to unlock all the stuff, perform certain killstreaks or other accomplishments and it kinda sucks you into it. Then they release DLCs and it all continues. Such things may seem boring, and they really are, but from my rather vast experience in CoD, a lot of people are into it. Of course, the fact, that many, if not most, ME fans do not expect this in ME, which is renowned for completely different things, like story and character interactions, is completely different question. I am puzzled, how people, who opposed the very fact of multiplayer in ME3, even if it would be good (and it is not), now all go "immma charging my krogan vanguard", as someone wrote on DA wiki. Hypocrite bosh'tets.

"Imagine a blue little kid, finally learning to pull things with biotics...man, Shep would need to clean up after her all the time :D" - it always puzzled me on the whole... If asari teach their children biotics from a very early age, no matter how wise and patient adult asari may be, children are children. With biotics, they are walking machines of destruction. It's like giving a gun to a child, except for this is worse, then a gun. Maybe their biotic talents come with age?

I really don't know about asari language (-es). It's hard to predict. On one hand, you make perfect sence with DAF analogy. On the other hand, asari do not even have a full-fledged planetary government on their homeworld, and reject this idea in favour of individuality, diversity and independence of their city-states. Asari Republics, plural is there for a reason. I'm nt even sure, that there is such thing as Thessian dialect or Thessian language, as virtually, there is no such thing as Chinese language or Chinese nationality - it counts dozens of dialects and nationalities, all of them are very distinct. So I doubt, that asari created a simple adaptation of their many languages to other species, mostly because, for example, Serrice and Armali, probably the most prominent city-states, are sorta rivals, and there are many others, who want their input. So the matriarchs must have been creating such language for centuries, and if asari are always determined to include every opinion in some way, this language should be complex, if it even exists. "it's probably doable, but will surely sound odd at bit for asari" - as a loose analogy, I have an asri NPC in my tabletop, who is a professional xenolinguist, and can speak human English without a translator. Humans adore her just for that, despite that she sounds more then a bit odd. So I don't think accent would cause any problems, if we talk about members of different species.

"I always wondered why the translator never translates Keelah' selai, cos I'm pretty sure someone at some point knew what it meant" - given Tali's translation in ME3, this saying undoubtedly developed after the quarians were exiled, and cut ties with other species. So the translators might not have been updated. Especially Shepard's translator, as Shepard is relatively new as human, and his programs surely do not possess rich vocabulary. Plus, people, who visit spaceports are asked to enter a certain zone to update the translators, but since quarians on Pilgrimage are probably dragged away by spaceport security instantly, they don't have much time to update them. And someone has to write those translator programs and translate newly created words and phrases into other species languages, but the galaxy does not care about the quarians:( I think "bosh'tet" is not translated for exactly these reasons, because if you already are percieved as "criminal scum", being polite and not swearing is a sound strategy. "But I wonder what exactly the word Keelah meant, cos Tali often uses it instead of “omg”" - I think this particular world means "ancestors" or "by the ancestors", as quarians rever them, Rannoch is "home of my ancestors" and it was used in many situations, in which a human would say "omg" or asari would say "by the goddess". Or newly translated as "by those prothean dicks, good riddance" XD

"What I would really be interested in is how hard it would be to learn krogan" - spoken krogan may be very easy, because you can substitute some words you forgot with occasional headbutting :D Seriously though, I think it would be very difficult. Though native krogan words we hear are usually short and quite simple, krogans have completely different physiology, which undoubtedly will lead to completely different structure of vocal organs. As for their writing (and thanks for the picture! Good one and totally in tune with pictures in the Lost City), that would be easier to understand, I think they would use pictography too. Maybe even not because of three fingers, but because they tend to reflect their surroundings in a literate and realistic, not symbolic, method. For example, when visiting the Presidium, Wrex says, that he doesn't fancy the Relay monument (which other species percieve as symbolic, and are about to learn how wrong they are, hehe), but he likes the Krogan monument, which is realistic. It says "this is a krogan warrior", no room for varied interpretations. Sure, Wrex is frustrated about the Krogan monument for different reasons, but I think this can provide an insight into krogan perception of the world surrounding them. I guess they were very practical people even before the nuclear war, so they reflected the world around them in as much realistic fashion, as possible. Surely that would have influenced their writing.

Oh, and for this topic, I always wondered, were the symbols inside liveship Rayya in ME2 Khelish letters, or quarians use hieroglyphs? Because those symbols may be either of them - relatively simple hieroglyphs, or relatively complex letters. Since we know, that quarian three fingers are as (if not more) nimble, as human five, quarians may use either (or both) types of writing.

Sometimes I have a thought, that ME writers should take a close look on the stuff we write here... XD

"Oh yeah, and if wasn't obvious by now, linguistics is more than a hobby for me, though I don't have any more classes in that area anymore, thank god! :D I like literature theory much better <3" - is that because literature theory does not have such strict rules? :)

"The ships is really just too quiet" - now we can put ourselves in Tali's shoes... Or suit, I suppose:) It took her time to get used to that. Sarah and Bethany guarding the door against sudden insidious enemies delivered some good pieces of dialogue, like that question of why are they guarding a door and "Black ops are always bad. If you have to deny an action, it's a crappy action", which I always remind myself and my players:), but on the whole... Lazy BW should have made more dialogue with everyone, because "calibrations" were back from ME2. "I miss the Cerberus crew" - let's just say... Shepards crew in a wrong uniform:)

"I remember that in kindergarten there was this really big tree, and we dig out its roots, and pretended they were dinosaur bones :D" - I liked to do similar stuff as well. BTW dinosaur bones can come that close to surface too, particulary after landslides or earthquakes. So it all was realistic:) I liked to build stuff, using anything at hand. Passion for history and archaeology came later, though it never become education or profession. Though I have a friend, who is an archaeologist, and he took me with him into an expedition once. I found an arrow tip!:) So I always considered Liara a colleague XD

"Cos you know, it's all about being equal and stuff :D" - well, tbh I always thought the Council was all about having guns and stuff :D So 4 old races fit, quarians and geth fit, krogan fit, but hanar, elcor and volus can enjoy an embassy. By no means they should be considered "lesser" or something like that, it's just that they really can't fullfill the peace-keeping function.

"Which is wrong because if people don't complain, then nothing will ever change" - there was this guy, who used an argument against changing the endings, while totally buying the "artistic integrity" crap. He wrote "would you ask Leonardo da Vinci to change Mona Lisa?" Well, I can sit and draw a nice picture, that I would even risk to show someone, but that doesn't make me Leonardo. But that's not even the point: if I asked Leonardo to create Mona Lisa in the way I specifically wanted, and he charged money for that, and later it turned out, that Mona Lisa wasn't that, what I was expecting and payed for, I would ask him to change it. People need to remember, that they are homo sapiens, not ovis aries.

That instrumental!!! Great! Thank you so much! Looking forward to return the courtesy, as soon, as I find something interesting.-Algol- 23:39, April 19, 2012 (UTC)

The wiki says, that geth thingy in the ambush prior to going underground was realy an armature. There was a colossus, but prior in the mission, during the vehicular part. Guess being up close and scary made it look like a colossus:)

"Though once the Extended Cut fails, I don't think EA will put out more free DLC for MP, so they will need to pay" - I'd even say they wouldn't wait that long, until summer. I'd even say the next multiplayer DLC will already cost money, no time to lose:) Some people will get tired of being swindled out of their money, but that potion of "multiplayer kids" will not, because it's not their money. At least there is no doubt, that the Extended Cut fails. I don't know if it is good or bad.

"So it's not like the kid would be able to do more than maybe try to lift things up in the air, and 10 seconds later already whatever she lifted is already on the floor" - or whoever, that's what I'm cautious about most. Then a relatiely weak Lift can be followedby a relatively weak Throw to achieve very "not weak" results. But I guess asari must have developed some coping mechanisms with their "little blue children" over the ages, so I guess it will all turn out good. Speaking of Shepard, Liara, and little blue children, I'm sure you have already seen these pictures, but just in case, this and this.

"I disagree on that, mostly because complexity in this matter isn't practical at all" - we're talking about asari here, they are not always renowned for being practical:) But yes, I should agree, since unity and need of communication hold defining roles in their culture as species overall, there must be something more or less general among their languages.

"still buy tech and stuff from other races, which require negotiations, so I doubt that that the translator doesn't get updated at all" - my bad, didn't make myself clear enough: I meant, that it gets updated, but very selectively and only with certain vocabulary to facilitate trade negotiation, technical terms etc. Nobody writes translator programs for quarian culture, for example, because other species do not care about it. So translators do get updated, but we cannot call those updates encompassing Khelish even remotely.

"Though it really could be, that the Alliance bought some shitty translator software that isn't up to date. Wouldn't surprise me, they are a government after all :D" - good one! Wouldn't surprise me, that it was also an L2 translator. Like, L2 biotic implant in your head gives you migrains, and an L2 translator in your tooth gives you toothache XD

"so you can really only guess from the context and the tone that it is swearing :3" - mmmm, nice! I'd love it. So many things you can tell people, like, what do you think of them...

"For some reasons that quarians strike me as people who would have complex letters just for the sake of beautiful penmanship :D" - considering their manual dexterity, looks very much like it. I'd say they would sure develop calligraphy to substitute for some other forms of art, not convenient for a ship. Like sculpture, architecture or parks. yet they can do pretty much the same with hieroglyphs, because if my 4 years of trying to learn Japaneese taught me anything, is that those people have quite a good bunch of hieroglyphs just for the sake of writing them:) Also the quarians have old souls!

"Though I love sociolinguistic (guess that was obvious too)" - it was:) Guess it's another example of sociolinguistic working even in remote communication. "Also I just love literature way too much. I blame my father for that, cos he turned the house into a small library over the years :D" - same thing here! After I started building my own library, I snatched quite a few books for it:D

"Cool :D Wish I had an archaeologist friend..." - on the good side, you can go with this friend to find your own Crucible blue print, on the bad side, when this friend gets carried away in a trivial conversation, there is no way of stopping him:) But as for spoiling movies and comics - is blissful ignorance preferable to bitter knowledge?:)

"For example, the volus are all about finances, but they are better at that than anyone else, so I would say they earned a spot on the Council" - I never got this idea of volus trying to get into the Council in ME1. Vol Protectorate isn't even an independent state (the name kinda hints), it's a part of Turian Hierarchy. They have their turian councillor, what else do they want? Not that they were conquered or something, they entered into a voluntary pact with the turians. Give them an embassy separated from the elcor, and they will do just fine.

"Btw Shakespeare changed his screenplays all the time, yet none seem to complain about that..." - Conan Doyle decided to continue the "Sherlock Holmes" series (love 'em) after numerous complains from his readers. noone seemed to complain about that, on the contrary.

"Thinking that an artist makes things just to express themselves is a nice sentiment, and while it's partially true, it's not the whole truth" - if we are talking about videogames in particular, the very statement of videogames being art is debatable. Using broad definitions, virtually any aspect of human activity, which involves at least some degree of creativity can be called "art". Using narrow definitions, construction and technology cannot be called art, because they have strict limits and certain functions, that impede creativity. Creating a new strain of bacteria or writing a computer program is not art by this definition. And videogames are pretty much computer software, even if they may have a story in them. But that is not even relevant for current situation - art or no, videogames are products, first and foremost. If there is a demand for a product, the consumers enter into agreement with the manufacturer to pay money for those exact things they want to be manufactured. They may even demand a refund, if the product did not meet their demands. Just sayin':) That's why the developers would surely call their videogames "art", as it allows them to get away if they fail horribly with the game. I don't want to give them that chance.

"Also I think this whole series was actually just a very long love story between Bill Adama and Laura Roslin, yep that was my favorite plot in the whole series" - my would be the whole cylon part and how to deal with cylons, but yes, dark age or no, love is always love. There were rumors about a "romance pack' for ME3, wonder if this turns out to be true. Because if it does, that would be a failure again, given the current endings and dead Shepards.-Algol- 11:33, April 20, 2012 (UTC)

"It was an intense fight even with the dated combat mechanics of ME1" - playing with imported characters, I always had trouble to find challenging fights, when I have a Spectre snifle X w/ two scram rails and high-explosive rounds. It's like carrying Mako's main cannon with you:)

Biotics are not very well explained, but think about it: even lifting a mug with biotics means enveloping said mug in a field of zero gravity. Even a slightest push of a finger will accelerate the mug to a speed, on which it could hurt someone it hits. Now, pushing it with a biotic throw effectively makes it a mug-shaped bullet. If several asari kids get in a fight, there will be lots of collateral damage:) "It could even be that asari have some tech that keeps homes safe from little blue biotic attacks :D" - Awwwww, little blue biotic attacks! That's so cute!:) Like that picture too. If this little asari is playing with dogtails, while still being a toddler, I wonder what will she be playing with in adolescence? The Cain? It's like Aethyta's gift to Liara:)

"I can totally see it: a bored quarian regularly updating the translator on the extranet as a freeware thing, and intentionally not translating bosht'et :D" - yep, the freeware comes with "Thanks for downloading, bosh'tets!" and a geth virus as a bonus application XD Fear the bored quarians!

"MS-DOS! I loled so hard it really hurt XD" - oooh, I can totally understand you! I'm not working for the government myself, but I interact with them quite often, mostly filing tax reports. So this last time I was standing in a lo-o-ong queue (I hate that! I have mild ADD :D), waiting to deliver my tax report, and suddenly it just stopped moving. So I asked people in the front what was the problem, and they told me, that something went wrong with the tax inspector's database. When I finally got into the office, I saw this nice tax inspector lady sitting behind the type of hardware, worthy of Museum of Technology, with MS-DOS. Guess they are too cool to use newer hardware and at least Windows.

"Which reminds me of Mordin singing that krogan song for Eve, that was cool :D" - the song wasn't exactly krogan... Well, it was about krogan, but not of krogan origin. It was a sort of a remake, like "The scientist salarian":) But yes, different species music would be very interesting. We hear about krogan battle-songs, so I guess those would involve percussion, and salarian music is bound to be ve-e-e-ery fast. I wonder if Expel 10 is multispecies, or originates from some single culture.

"I have books, cds and dvds all over my room. *looks around* I should really tidy up" - when people tell me, that they are really worried, if someone had an attempt of my life, because my room looks as if someone threw a grenade in it, and that I should probably clean this mess, I proudly respond, that "this mess" is my artistic vision of order XD

"Can't we have something like “selective knowledge”? So that I could shut it off, and enjoy the movie, and then turn it on again? :D" - now that's not very... organic, isn't it?:D

"Did you talk to the volus ambassador in ME1?" - sure, and that was exactly my point. I don't get him. Humanity is an independent race. The Alliance is an independent state. If we draw parallels with today's world, only independent states can get a membership in those world organizations, that actually govern something. Not to say, that these states should also meet some economical+social+military standards. The cold hard truth is that the volus lack most of them. His only argument is that they have been in the large galaxy long enough. Sure they invented the unified trade systems, and still the asari have the most powerful economy. But as we see with humans, time is not the criteria, other things are. But it's not even my main point, Vol Protectorate is not independent, and you cannot be "a bit more" independent - either you are fully independent, or you are not. So no Council seat for the volus:)

"more members would mean that making decisions would take longer..." - what I especially like about the Council, is that how are they suddenly presented with a certain choice, which demands a decision, and they don't even talk it over. They just look at each other, nod to each other and BAM!, they have a unanimous agreement. That's my type of government, as long as I'm in that government:)

"BW hiding behind the “art” defense really just shows that they either are too arrogant, or too stupid to know what is art" - I'd say they are too arrogant to think, that we, the fans, are too stupid to believe their bullshit. Funnily enough, they are not that wrong, there's a good number of white, fluffy, docile four-legged domestic animals in human form, that actually believe it.

"Really, if you are copying other works, at least copy them well dammit!" - they sorta did it right in ME1, while copying from Star Trek or Babylon 5 (especially from Babylon 5, I mean, the Citadel!), but something went horribly wrong in ME3 endings... What possibly could it be? Indoctrination by the real Reapers, this thought just doesn't leave me alone O_o

I saw that! Funny narrative, but c'mon, it's not the lore, it's the story! Those guys should do better with lore:) -Algol- 17:58, April 20, 2012 (UTC)

"I mean, she is a spacer, so I guess her mom inherited it? In that case: give me back my credits mom!" - they sorta do it in ME2. If you import a character with a "Rich" achievement, you get bonus creds an resources from the begining. But that was nowhere near the money you had! So I giess TIM was full of crap and didn't invest a single credit into your resurrection. He just stole your money, put into some volus bank, grabbed it and the interest two years after, and there we have it... "I spend 5 billion bringing you back!" Ri-i-i-ight, they were my five billion!!!

Awwww, little Nezzy! That's such a great piece of headcanon! Loved it:) If I get it right, if some human kids started picking on little Nezzy, she will tell them: "Have you seen an asari commando unit in battle? Few humans did..."? Cause the name... You know:) And if she saves the galaxy once (or twice...), we just assume, that it's genetic:) "I'm pretty sure she will be someone with power... spectre maybe...or councilor" - about that... The position of the Shadow Broker might as well become hereditary;)

Oh, and as of hereditary positions, replaying various dialogues with Tali in ME1 is so fun... Like when she talks about her father and says "It's very unlikely I'll get a position in the Admiralty Board ever"... I just wanted to sigh and say "Tali, you don't know the half of it!". BTW the mission on Luna became clearer, after knowing all the details about EDI's history. I always wondered why that VI sends you "HELP" in binary code. Though I doubt BW planned it all along.

"“we already learned everything there is about computers”" - whoah, really? Lame excuse to "unfortunately, students already know about computers more, then available teachers". That was pretty much the situation when I was in highschool.

Wait, is it directly stated, that Expel 10 music crawls into you via tech? I always thought, that the group uses some high-tech musical instruments, not that you have to wear a special headset or whatever, to listen to it. Is it really akin to virtual reality? "Also, any kind of music Morinth likes is probably something I wouldn't lol" - why not?:) Not that drinking brandy will make you an indoctrinated megalomaniacal psycho:) Guess anti-smoking campains should have TIMmy on their posters, something like "if you smoke, you'll get indoctrinated, shoot Anderson and f*ck up the whole galaxy (almost)!" XD

"And I found one of my hats XD" - you like hats? I usually don't wear them, but I just adore my wizard hat:) Friends presented it to me on one of my birthdays, and since then, I always wear it, while in appropriate mood:)

"I'm all for volus independence! They could make a good (and friggin cute) game about it :D" - I wouldn't mind volus independence too, but it seems, that the volus themselves mind it:) But yes, the game wiould definitely be cute! It should involve as much volus dancing, as possible! Cause Doran's dance moves are the best! Even party members (like Ashley in heavy armor) cannot dance that good! Shepard's dance moves... Are best left unmentioned! XD Wonder why they didn't have an option to dance with your LI in ME2... Or did they? O_o

I thik the Council usually discusses everything behind the scenes (like proper politicians do), and when you come to speak to them, they just practice their acting, staring and nodding skills! I love the Council, seriously!:)

"Another thing that I did not like about the council in ME3 was, how suddenly they are taking credit for being at the Battle of Citadel" - well, I saved them, and they don't take credit for it. Moreover, they geniunely thank me for saving their lives, and in case of the salarian dude, twice. So they are very polite, and don't talk bullshit anymore. BTW I liked how Tevos (the asari) was voiced. But about "and their fleet at the Citadel gets destroyed without putting up a real fight"... The quality of you putting up a fight mostly depends on who are you fighting. So Citadel fleet put up the most real fight they could in those circumstances. C-Sec put up a very good fight protecting civilians from geth ground forces, as later revealed in ME2. Not like the Fifth fleet really played cavalry, because they couldn't scratch Sovereign, just as anyone else. Only after you defeat zombie-Saren, Sovereign shields go down and all it takes to finish him once and for all was a shot from the Normandy, which wasn't renown for its' firepower. So using this logic, the Fifth Fleet didn't put up a real fight either, given the circumstances.

Nice post! It really reflects one more way those endings defame the entire series.-Algol- 21:11, April 21, 2012 (UTC)

Nobody robs Commander Shepardof hard-earned (looted) money and escapes! I also wonder what happens to Shepard's home near the Pinnacle Station in ME2. Sholdn't they build a memorial or something? With a guide and all that... Like "here's the console Shepard used to purchase some gear. Here is the bed Shepard used to rest on after hard battles for the greater good. Here's the living room Shepard used to hold council with his comrades-in-arms. Here's the toilet..."

"Liara and Shep would have at least 3 kids, so one could be Shadow Borker, one a councilor and one a Spectre. Seriously, their kids would rule the galaxy in any way possible :D" - You know why I especially like, respect, and somewhat fear the asari? Exactly because of that. You just handed the whole galaxy to them:) In the meanwhile, they will continue with "peace, diplomacy and equity for all" propaganda stuff:)

"Like ya know, even though Tali isn't exactly considered “royalty”, she will damn well be after ME3!" - she was always a quarian princess for me <3

"EDI deep done was still designed by the Alliance and not Cerberus" - well, to be perfectly frank, the defining moment of her personality and evolution from VI to AI was the Reaper code in her. So essentially she was designed by the Reapers. Which does not simply disprove the starchild, this renders him a full-fledged idiot.

"What I really like right now was the Citadel “date” with Kaidan" - I have yet to see this:) This time I plan to "virmire" Ashley, and I'll be feeling bad after this *sigh*. Maybe I should just tweak the save file... BTW a pic:)

"but since they are harder to explain too, most schools don't care" - netiquette and cyberbullying are too close to psychology, and that would be too inconvenient for any school board. Too many school psychologists have problems delivering basic sex education, now, netiquette would be completely alien to them. Or so I think. That reminds me of South Park season 5, episode 7 XD

"As Morinth, I only guessed that because I don't like her personality, and one's personality reflects in musical taste too, also she is a night club person, while I'm more of a rock concert type" - I'm definitely a rock concert type too! Though Morinth may have chosen virtually any genre - crazy serial killer is so damn crazy. It's like TIM and his brandy, the brandy is completely innocent!:)

"While I'm not a smoker myself, the laws against it here are starting to be ridiculous" - yep, and being a smoker myself, and having the same laws starting here, I not only find them ridiculous, I suffer from them!:) That's why I had this idea with TIM and anti-smoking campaign - things wouldn't get worse too much, really:)

Santa hats with bells are great! I just love to ring the bells on them to make people smile with, or annoy them to death, when someone else is wearing a Santa hat XD But you should definitely get a wizard hat too! Or a witch hat, those are like wizard hats, but girl-exclusive. Seriously, when you put it on, the feeling is magical!:) There was this one time me and my friend dressed up as a wizard and a witch on a Halloween party. And spend the whole time bickering about what magic is more powerful - the academic, bookish wizardly-type, or wild, raw witchly-type. She threatened to lay a curse on me, and I threatened to disenchant her broom XD

"Level 1: Do the Shepard → step to the left → step to the right :D" - oh, that would be awesome! Great idea! But something gives me this feeling, that they'll make all the lightings on the dance-floor red, blue and green.

BTW, have you ever suspected, that some volus in three games might actually be female. Cerberus Daily news mentioned a female volus, and with their physique... hard to tell:)

"Then again, I didn't dance in ME1 either" - try it out, Liara has some good dance moves!;) For better or for worse she can't wear heavy armor.

"I mean sure the tried to fight the reaper, but that didn't work" - at least they tried, we owe them that much. The only thing, that actually worked, was Shepard and two squadmates. And Joker, who made the finishing shot. Four people to take a Reaper down. Fleets this, fleets that...:) But as for STG and Spectres preparing for the Reapers, well, it's their job to prepared for any invader, no matter how crazy the theories may sound. Special forces in every country always make plans in case a neighboring country invades. Always. Even if this neighbor never invades in reality. Special forces have to be paranoid, but governments don't. In fact, if governments were just as paranoid, the whole country couldn't function at all. BTW, in ME3, the two government, that were caught completely off-guard and unprepared were batarians (but they got hit first) and... the Alliance. The Alliance!!! Forget Shepard, the Alliance had Anderson, Hackett and Ash/Kaidan to prepare. Other Council races were pretty much prepared. Of course even being prepared didn't help turians and asari, but that is completely different topic.

"had a sniper rifle, shot gun and submachine gun with me, and I still had +175% power recharge bonus :D" - wow, you had a snifle??? Did you fire it? Just kidding;) Well, the Disciple and Mantis don't weigh much, and maybe you used Rosenkov Materials armor, which gives power recharge bonus?-Algol- 23:57, April 21, 2012 (UTC)

"Guess TIM stole that too :D" - with all that, I suspect TIM has developed an unhealthy obsession with Shepard;) He's like Conrad Verner (about as competent), but with power. And then he gets screwed over by the Reapers, who knew?:)

"It's not like that's a good thing though, 3 people owning the galaxy" - that depends on those people and on the galaxy. Seriously, making everyone in blissful illusion, that their opinions matter, while you already control everything, is something... BW would definitely put in their game!!!;)

"As for the asari, I wonder what will happen to the after the reaper war, now that their dirty little prothean secret has been lifted" - about that...
 * 1)First of all, I doubt it was lifted at all. How many people, who are still alive, know about it? Asari Councillor, Shepard, Liara, Javik and possibly another squadmate. Both asari on the list wouldn't cause trouble for their entire race, Javik doesn't care, possible another squadmate wouldn't tell out of respect for Liara and Shepard... And my Shepard definitely won't be flapping his jaw, because I totally supported hiding the beacon.


 * 2)Even if their secret was theoretically lifted, who exactly would punish the asari? And how exactly? By ousting them from the Counsil? Not funny, the Council wouldn't function with them, as their diplomacy in peace-keeping was as important, as turian and human military. Economic sanctions? Not funny, they have the most powerful economy. Or what's left of it after the war, but everyone else has even less left. It's like NATO members trying to punish USA for doing something against the North-Atlantic Treaty - USA did that a lot, but since they run the show, nobody could do anything real about it, except for finger-wagging.


 * 3)But more importantly, all this "asari relying on prothean technology" is seriously blown out of proportion. When Shepard goes all "hey, that explains why asari are so advanced" in the Temple, I facepalmed. No, it doesn't explain anything. Did they have the Cypher to understand prothean transmissions? No. Without the Cypher, they won't be able to understand even the basic details, and if we are talking about technology here, they must have had a full understanding of even the smallest details, because technology simply wouldn't work otherwise. Like, at all. Now, if we look at examples of prothean and asari technology, we can see, that they have nothing in common. Let's talk about weaponry, the best detailed technology. Protheans (and Collectors) used particle-emitting weapons. Asari mostly use conventional mass-accelerator weapons everyone else does. An example of purely asari-made weapon, the Disciple, has nothing to do with particle weapons, as it functions on completely different principles. Basically, it fires Warp fields. The protheans didn't even warn them about extinction cycles, which would be far more logical to do first, and then teach them tech. The protheans didn't do it, or they ran out of time to do it, I don't know, but it doesn't even matter now. The only thing protheans did, was that they created the most comfortable conditions for asari to evolve (which already gives them an edge!), like deflecting meteors and hostile aliens. Yes, they gave them agriculture and writing (note how Javik is actually surprised, that asari mastered writing), but those are basics, to which every civilization comes by itself, the protheans just sped it up. Everything else, literally everything more complex is asari's own merit. So yes, they are pretty much self-reliant. Unlike the humans, who depend on their economy.

Sorry if that was too cluttered, you know I always get very protective of asari and quarians:)

"If you do that, don't forget to set integer 10330 or 10314 to 8, that way the banter in engineering will still happen, even if you have Kaidan instead of Ash" - thanks, I'll do that! Just... got too used to virmiring Kaidan, taht no matter how nice he turns in ME3 (and no matter how "not nice" Ash turns), I just can't do this to Ash. Seriously, doesn't this galaxy have remote detonators?

"I would deny it out of spite, cos as a woman I'm allowed to do that :D" - why do you women always have undisputable arguments?:D

"And while I understand that second-hand smoking is bad, walking down a street in the city full of cars is way worse, yet that's somehow okay" - hell yeah! I overheard a debate on television once, in which an ati-smoking guy came up with an argument, that smoking {brace yourself!} pollutes atmosphere!!! I was freaking crawling on the floor with laughter. Wonder on what type of car that idiot arrived to the studio. Doubt it was a hybrid or an electrocar.

"Not that I really care, volus are like ewoks for me: their purpose is to be small and cute, nothing else really :3" - Awwww, ewoks!:3 With all these parallels with ewoks, I wonder how the volus bombing fleet actually bombed the Reapers... Rocks, maybe?:) Oh, and volus dreadnought (and diplomat) Kwunu! Kwunu is a cute name!

"It must be Cerberus' doing...maybe Shep danced better than TIM and he got jealous!" - TIMmy sure dances very good, when his Reaper puppet-masters are pulling the strins, hehe. Though I suspect it was Miranda who got jealous, and tweaked something in Shepard's dancing apparatus (O_o, dancing apparatus, am I crazy?). Remember her banter in Dark Star? "Care fom a little R&R Shepard?" Guess she wanted to see how the tweaking went.

You have to give the Council species credit for one moment of preparation. In ME2, the Thanix magnetic-hydrodynamic cannon was super-secret and unique, and only the Normandy had it blah-blah-blah... Six months later, every poor sod in the galaxy has a ship equipped with it! The proud and mighty dreadnought Kwunu has broadsides full of them! Even ground artillery vehicles (sic!) have those. So I guess the Councl did prepare. Oh, but all the fleets equipped with it don't seem to fire it, because what we see in cutscenes, while the Allied ships are firing, looks more like "pew-pew-pew", then what was shown in ME2. Or hell, even what was shown when the Reapers fire, because they use the same cannons, only larger.

"I don't use Rosenkov armor, cos I don't like how it looks (cos yes for me that's the most important aspect of the armor! :D)" - is it that bad for your taste? I like the [Terminus Assault Armor] for the looks, but it's freaking useless, so I have to stick with something not so cool, mitigating this by coloring it in makeshift camouflage:) Loved that feature in ME2-3.-Algol- 12:38, April 22, 2012 (UTC)

"And really, I can't imagine that at least Hackett doesn't know, because if he doesn't making an assault on the Cerberus base just because Shepard said so, is really a long shot" - you mean Sanctuary? First, Shepard absolutely didn't need to tell Hackett about prothean legacy the asari have. All Hackett needed to know, is that Kai Leng ran off in a certain direction, and Cerberus needed to be taken out of the picture, because they have become too much of a pain in the ass anyway, Thessia or not. Second, not that Hackett really helped with Sanctuary, Shepard went in only with his/her forces, and Hackett didn't have to divert anything to aid. Lastly, doing something just because "Shepard said so" was pretty much what Hackett and Anderson were doing throughout two games.

"She would do the very same if it were humans holding back prothean artifacts" - and what humans were doing on Mars? Exactly that. Hackett didn't bother to invite Council races delegations to study the ruins further, he only invited Liara, because she is probably the best archaeologist out there, and, most importantly, Shepard trusts her, so Hackett can trust her too. Really, why were all other scientists on Mars human? Maybe because the Alliance wouldn't mind to withhold prothean tech themselves? And only after humans realise, that they do not have brains and resources to exploit it by themselves, they turn to the Council. If asari are to be punished for something, humans are as guilty, using this very logic.

"they determine the amount and nature of punishment after the war when everything is settled, and I imagine that it wouldn't be nearly as worse as it was before the war" - I'm not even saying, that there is absolutely no evidence, that asari where the one, who created the rule "share all the prothean knowledge you find". Maybe it were salarians or turians. Punish the humans for possesing an absolutely official artificial intelligence held at Gagarin_Station. You can say, that humans created it before entring into Citadel treatises, so there can be no retroactive effect of the law. Well, in case of asari, they discovered and used the prothean device long before they even became a space-faring race, so I highly doubt, that retroactive effect of the law should apply to them too.

Did asari withhold information, that was vital to the war effort? In retrospective - yes. In legal terms - no. Because nobody knew even what the Crucible is capable of, until Chronos Station. Nobody. It might as well ended up useless before the Chronos Station and prothean VI there. You can't punish someone for what they didn't know about, or for what they theoretically may have done, or may have not done.

"yet they didn't act, not even after the Cerberus coup, when they started to take the Crucible project seriously" - and they have paid the price. I think the fall of Thessia was enough.

"because that's something BW clearly didn't put any thoughts into, otherwise they wouldn't show everyone using Avanger rifles no matter the species" - I don't see a problem with that. If this weapon has its' merits, and most species have at least three fingers to hold the grip and pull the trigger, all they need is to adjust the stock (which is very easy even today) and use it, if it's so good. Just like in today's world everyone uses the AK, no matter the country.

"Also, you are comparing a shotgun to an assault rifle, I mean particle weapons are beams, a shotgun can't be a beam because it's a shot gun, so not the best example" - errr... First of all, the very term "shotgun", that exists in today's popular culture, is technically incorrect. Shotguns and assault rifles are very much comparable, hold no significant differences in their construction, and almost all of them are rifles. A "shotgun" doesn't even need to fire small shots (projectiles), in fact, most military-grade shotguns fire slugs. Many of them are fully-automatic. Seriously, there is no real differences between shotguns and assault rifles, for example, this thingy lies exactly in between. "I mean particle weapons are beams, a shotgun can't be a beam because it's a shot gun" - so a "shotgun" that fires metal three metal flechettes makes sense to you? C'mon it's Mass Effect:) As for fictional shotguns, that actually do fire beams, Warhammer 40k Meltagun is a perfect example. Believe a die-hard Warhammer geek, that's exactly what you'd call a "shotgun" in ME-verse:) So, really, the Disciple and Particle Rifle are very comparable, and show, that asari and protheans hold significant (if not polar) differences in technology.

"Any yes the councilor says that it was important “to keep the balance of the galaxy”, but that's a bs excuse usually made by people who are in superior position than others" - well... Also the asari are in a superior position, then others, because they can reproduce with every sentinent being. They also don't know how exactly this works. You expect them to teach everyone else how to grow head-tentacles and copy DNA strains? The Counsillor was right about "the balance" in a way, that everyone else would be scared sh*tless of asari, if they found out, that asari have a head start in evolution, and probably would conspire or outright wage war against them. That would be logical. But absolutely unnecessary.

"As for the rest, you can't honestly tell me that you think they didn't rely on the beacon at all" - very close. Not at all, of course, but think about it: without any knowledge of the Cypher, they weren't able to understand more or less complex technology. Probably they saw some blurred visions. What of it? All I can deduce, that they learned about agriculture, writing, maybe architecture, magnetic poles, and most importantly, alien species. These things are vital to progress, yes, but they can be achieved without any prothean aid. Moreover, asari learned about alien species and were prepared to contact them. While the protheans with their "cosmic imperative" uplifted the asari, so they would rule this cycle with an iron fist, just like the protheans did the previous, asari chose a completely different way of existence. Instead, they made peace and cooperation with other species, and this is completely their own merit. Nobody else embraced this philosophy, not even humans. In a longshot, this very philosophy of diplomacy and cooperation won the Reaper war. It was asari's credit, as much, if not more, then Shepard's, because asari founded the Council, asari stopped the turians from crushing humanity, asari maintained cooperation between almost all species, that won the war due to their mutual trust. Now imagine, that turians and salarians found out about the prothean device. They would attack, most surely. And there would be no diplomacy and cooperation.

"So I'm not really sure if the Alliance actually depends on asari economy, or it just adds to it" - to quote this wiki: "Given their political influence, an embargo by the asari would prove disastrous to the Alliance". This Codex entry didn't change in ME2-3, so I assume, that this statement continues to be true. A disaster to someone's economy pretty much means dependence on the whims of those, who can cause the disaster.

"Also you make it sound like the asari are so idependent and don't have to rely on others while everyone relies on them, which is not true" - they do have to rely on others in military strength, but only in global conflicts. Like Rachnii Wars, Krogan Rebellions and Reaper invasion. While the hanar have to rely on drell forces to protect their colonies on a day-to-day basis, for example. Look at World War II. Even those countries, who had powerful militaries were forced to rely on allies. Regardless, that on smaller scales, in "one-on-one" wars they could hold their own.

Looking at this wall of text... Gosh, I really am protective of asari XD

"I think it might have been that fact that Ash called me Skipper" - that! If we look at it from a bit broader perspective, Ashley had a real character, while ME1 Kaidan was more an "interactive object":)

"Btw did you notice that those detonators and the shotgun smart choke use the same model? Friggin lazy Bioware..." - oh, I totally noticed. As if BW was saying "put a detonator in the barrel of your shotgun and fire!" Epic trolling:) Ah, and also ME2 Jack! She had a detonator too. Who came up with an idea of giving Jack a detonator??? Might as well gave her the Cain... Oh wait, it was Shepard! Guess the Serrice ice brandy got in his/her head too:)

"Thankfully I myself don't drive a car" - me too:) I can drive a car, but I'd rather not:) Each person has a right to live XD And yeah, I have similar, but slightly different, reasons to use public transport: car or not, I'll be stuck in the very same traffic jam as public transport. But it is cheap, while fuel for a car is not.

That flowchart... Brilliant, and thank you for it! I wonder if some people in BW reads such fan-made stuff. And what thoughts emerge in their heads afterwards. Because really, the logic, where is it?

"“O_o, dancing apparatus, am I crazy?” - Not any more than usual I would say :D" - wait... what do you mean by "usual"?:D

"the Council didn't prepare enough to defend the Citadel properly, but let's not go there" - but it is a vital strategic... Ok, you're right, let's not go there!:)

"just looking at it one can tell that is an “armor for guys” :D" - okay, now, okay... 1)Why? 2)Can you provide me an example of "armor for gals" in ME2?:)

Also wanted to know your opinion about Mass Effect: Homeworlds. I... don't really care about James, but I fear, that Walters can do something bad to Tali, Garrus and Liara:(-Algol- 19:46, April 22, 2012 (UTC)

The facility on Mars wasn't secret, but it's not about the premises itself. It's all about the knowledge held in there, which was secret, because we don't hear anything about sending reports to the Council. The temple of Athame wasn't secret too, stuff happening in there was, however. "Second I doubt that the Council would have helped anyway if he asked for help against, the “reapers”" - who knows, the Council in ME3 behaves a bit differently from ME2. At least everyone has Thanix cannons now. Yet Hackett could at least try asking for help, which he didn't. Maybe there wasn't anything helpful in the archives, but we're supposed to share prothean knowledge with everyone, right? Like, that very knowledge, which you find among researcher's notes, that proheans were involved in evolution of early humans. Again, Hackett (or anyone else) didn't share it.

"it's about the fact that they did keep it a secret, and they didn't even share the knowledge of it with other races" - were they obliged by someone to share this knowledge? The Council obliges to share knowledge of newly discovered prothean artifacts, that's why corporations attacking Garvug got punished. Anything asari discovered before Counsil treatises is their own business, and they are not obliged to share knowledge of prior discoveries.

About that previous part. I agree, that their withholding of prothean tech was wrong morally. Punish it by morals, whichever way it works. But to punish it legally? I highly doubt that's even possible. The ground for legal penalties is the text of Citadel Treaty. Ok, who wrote it? If the asari weren't a part of those who created it, then this treaty is null and void, because one of the Council species were not involved. However, if asari did take part in creating it, I'm 99% sure they have included specific legal failsafes against possible prothean legacy information leak. There were not the only ones writing the text, true, but only they knew the truth behind it.

"Also weren't humans sort of punished for a different AI research later on it the first book anyway?" - No. Absolutely no legal action was taken. Sending a Spectre to investigate the situation is one thing, but that's not even a repercussion, that's aid. That research, which involved having Alliance staff, should have costed humanity an embassy. Nothing happened.

"As I said, they more likely didn't think the plan would work anyway, so they didn't mention their beacon" - to be perfectly frank, Hackett himself didn't think that plan would work anyway. He was relying on the fleets and was right. The asari were relying on their allies and their aid to those allies and were right. They informed Shepard about the beacon only when they grew absolutely desperate, and that's a perfectly logical thing to do. Shepard himself/herself was as desperate about the Crucible, right until he ended up in the starkids' room. And the fact, that they inform Shepard only after the quarian section - doesn't Perseus Veil impede outside communication and sensors?

"Well my biggest problem would be that Avenger sucks :D I mean really, even Vindicator is better..." - that would depend on your tactics, really. Right until you aquire the Phaeston, Avenger is a very good weapon because of it's great accuracy and almost non-existent recoil. Which is compensated by low damage, but if you prefer to stay on target and "climb up" for a headshot, it is very good. Vindicator is purely a matter of preference, some people like burst-fire weapons and are very good with them. Actually I was using it for most of the time while playing a Soldier. But I digress, we were talking about lore performance of the weapon, not game performance. In today's world the AK-47 kinda sucks, because the recoil can break your arm, yet a lot of different people use it, because of it's other benefits. Same may be with the Avenger in ME. But you're right, quarians with Vindicators made no sense. Yet I was proud, that my favourite Widow was most likely a quarian invention :3

"and find the very idea of that Meltagun extremely silly, no offense :D" - that is silly? I mean yes, it definitely is silly, but you obviously didn't read about some other guns in Warhammer 40k, especially orcish ones:)

"Why would they do that if the asari would be willing to share the knowledge they possess by sharing the stuff from the beacon? Wouldn't make sense" - I see some sense. No matter how good your relations might be with your political ally, there is always a degree of mistrust. It's just how things are. Especially with salarians, who don't trust even their own kind. Now imagine, that asari suudenly declare that they have extensive knowledge about protheans, which they have studied for millenia before they made first contact with another species, and now are willing to share it. The most logical way of thinking, mistrustful, but logical, was, sadly "So they have already grabbed all the good stuff themselves, and now are throwing us a bone? Outrage!" Or "Why would they even share such a treasure with us? Because they are so nice? Can't be possible, one can have only so much niceness, down in your heart, you are always selfish. So they must have kept something in secret to have an edge. Bad" Reactions would be mistrustful and negative, and negative reaction in turian case involves guns blazing.

And I'm not even talking about what exact knowledge was stored in that beacon. Maybe it was asari-exclusive, so other races could not even benefit from it? We can't really disprove that. Most surely protheans uplifted them for a reason, and if they wanted this knowledge to be shared, they might as well put similar beacons on Earth< Palaven, or I don't know, Kahje.

"it rather sounded like “yeah we like to be the ones running the show here, so we have our secrets”" - I didn't get this feeling (maybe because we had different asari councillors), but even if it was her point, who would blame them? Not me, I would have done the same in their place.

"Dude... I think you just went to a strange place with your logic... I mean it doesn't even exactly connect with what I wrote :D" - all I wanted to say, that despite prothean efforts to uplift asari in a certain way, they have chosen their own way, directly opposite to the one protheans tried to implement. That was mostly on the previous topic about how would asari live without prothean technology. Very easy, as they never depended heavily on it.

"She won't even call me skipper anymore, and Shepard somehow always pulls rank in conversations with her, which felt really odd" - totally! I always feel odd when tali, Liara and Garrus call Shepard by rank. I mean service regulations are service regulations, but as Anderson said "Just because I re-instated you doesn't give you the right to go all formal on me":) Imagine Shepard constantly calling Tali "Admiral Zorah" and saluting whenever she comes by O_o

"That's why my Shep says that on Tuchanka “We've done crazier things” before summoning Kalros :D" - they should have summoned Jack to deal with the Destroyer! All you need to say is "this thing works with Cerberus!" That won't even be a lie:)

BTW replaying ME1... Liara on Noveria: "I don't like this place. It's full of dark secrets" I was shocked! Then remembered, that she isn't the Broker yet XD

"So in general, women like the sleek designs more" - I know that, but c'mon! I mean, really! Armor is for protection, not for looks. The heavier, the better! Same with guns. Well, unless you're not a ME Adept or Infiltrator. Everyone else should get really armoured!:)

"I think it's better, because at least the breasts have a place, and you don't have to use a tight sports bra for them. Comfort in combat is a good thing" - sure! I mean even if it wasn't for shields, medieval armor was designed to deflect blows and make them glance off the armor itself, so you can't afford convex. ME armor is made of thin layers, that chip away, absorbing the force of impact, so it could be any form.

But those comics... I really don't care about them either, until they start to get all pretentious and try to become canon, while going out of already established canon. I didn't even read The Silent Grove until I heard, that this comic features some Yavana, who is... it is terrible to think... Flemeth's daughter! I was, like, GTFO, you pathetic Morrigan copycat! Morrigan is unique! But then BW declares it's canon, people start referring to comics in discussions... I just hope Tali, Liara and Garrus will be safe! And BW won't f*ck up the lore even further. The Indoctrination Theory can explain the starchild, but it won't explain Garrus suddenly going on adventure with elcor ambassador or whatever.

"hot lesbomancy" - what spells does this school of magic has? XD -Algol- 00:57, April 23, 2012 (UTC)

"I have very vague memories about some Council decision that wasn't really harsh punishment, yet was somehow not good for humanity...or something..." - there was only one: not including Anderson into Spectres. And that's all. Just to compare: the quarians were booted from the Citadel for AI research, while it wasn't even an AI research. That's why I don't expect asari to be punished for anything. Finger-wagging at best.

"As for everyone being desperate the game implies that Shepard isn't actually that desperate but rather hopeful after Tuchanka up until Thessia" - I was mostly referring about betting on the Crucible. Nobody in their right mind would bet on it, because nobody knew, what it actually does, and what the Catalyst, a vital component, is. The asari weren't counting on the Crucible right until the last moment, but so did Shepard. If Shepard got hopeful after Tuchanka, it's only because s/he managed to kill a Reaper even without concentrated dreadnought fire.

"Once again, how do you know that? Just because they don't tell Shepard about it, doesn't mean he didn't" - very true, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Currently I'm using "if it was important, but we didn't hear about it, then it didn't happen" logic.

Using similar logic, knowledge of what exactly was in the baecon is vital for determining whether they are responsible for anything. Maybe technology wasn't even involved. Maybe all the knowledge was tailored to asari and impossible to use by everyone else (because protheans might as well placed similar beacons on each "primitive" homeworld). And again, they didn't have the Cypher to interpret anything complex.

But yeah, the whole asari argument with you as a prosecutor and me as a defender gets a bit out of hand now. Let's just say, that you like them dirty, and I like them bright and shiny:)

"I nearly have enough creds to buy a second Secptre weapon in ME3, should it be the Black Widow?" - actually, I wouldn't recommend that. Since sqaddies reload much faster, then the PC, you really don't need those two extra shots, while the original Widow has more damage. Just put a concentration mode and enhanced scope, while having Garrus' a-p ammo on, and he'll be fine. Too bad, that Garrus only scores headshots in cutscenes:) But hey, if you don't have anything else to spend credits on, you might as well check it out yourself on a couple of side missions and make Garrus a huge present.

"Yeah, I have no knowledge at all about the Warhammer universe...really, absolutely nothing :D" - That's a good thing! Seriously!:) Some things are better left... unknown:)

"Actually one of the reasons why I liked James is the nicknames" - hmmm, funny, that's one of the reasons I do not like him. There is a difference between people knowing each other for three years, and using nicknames, but James? The newbie just got on the team and doesn't know sh*t, so it's "Commander" for him.

"Would have liked to see that :D Too bad Jack only kicks ass in cut scenes" - well, "the Destroyer's destruction" was happening exactly in cutscene, so Jack qualifies! I can imagine the battle-cry: "I will destroy... the Destroyer!!!":)

About the armor... Shields don't help against melee attacks. And not that I'm arguing preferences, no, but agility doesn't help much against automatic fire. That's why Kai Leng wears a suit (and looks like an idiot in it, can't help to bash Kai Leng one more time:D), but has the toughest armor in the game: plot armor. I was puzzled, when on Thessia I brought down his shields completely with an Overload from me and an Energy Drain from Tali (on Hardcore), and when I riddle his sorry ass with bullets, while he's running away, the health bar just doesn't deplete. But I digress, by no means I am arguing preferences, just reflecting on practicality... For the record, cerberus Assault armor in ME2-3 looked rather sleek too (well, for my taste anyway :D). It even had decent stats! Too bad I'm not wearing anything with a Cerberus logo on it:) I can imagine someone mistaking me for a Cerberus trooper and shooting... I won't even hold a grudge:)

"Anyway, it's just stupid, but at least they can't make it canon, cos that would mean Alistair being king is canon" - Alistair being king is pretty much canon already. How about our choices, one may ask? Leliana's and Zevran's deaths were our choices too, yet in DA2 it's "I see dead people" O_o. I won't be forgetting this anytime sooner. OGB is pretty much canon, though this I don't mind personally. And now it's "Dawn of the Seeker" too. Hell, why do they take all these efforts with all these comics and stuff, without at least trying to make them coherent. The "broader audience" won't read them anyway, and the geek audience will be infuriated with all the inconsistencies. With all that "We try to make the franchise deeper", all I want is to say: "Please, do not try". Just leave it alone.

Oh, but for a bit of joy and happiness, in case you haven't saw it, that happiness:) -Algol- 10:56, April 23, 2012 (UTC)

Actually donating money to the war effort or to charity for improving lives of refugees would be a great feature in the game. I really liked that quest Chakwas gives you to negotiate a medi-gel trade with the refugee leader. Donating money will surely be great too. And all Paragon Shepards would be running half-naked with shitty guns unupgraded guns X) So... have you bought the Black Widiow or not?

But yeah, that aquarium VI... I think every Shepard does sort of a routine run through the whole ship after each mission, to chat with people, might as well visit the cabin and feed the fish:)

"I actually let the Lola thing and the flirting slide, because I felt that it really wasn't anything serious, and it's only there to ease tension and stuff" - well, he calls my MaleShep "Loco", while I desperately try to stay sane. James, you're not helping...

Speaking of sanity, have you seen this? EA went batshit crazy, like completely, and irredeemably. Really, how far can their greed go? Yes, they were one of the main lobbyists behind SOPA, yes, they hate when people pirate their games, yes, multiplayer and online connection make a game very hard to be pirated, but... REALLY??? Well, at least there's one good thing: a lot of people would stop buying their crap. Hurray to that.

"Thanks god for mods though, I modded that Grey Warden armors from DA2 into the game, which look pretty cool" - you know, one of many things, that made DA:O so good, were mods. I mean, the game didn't even have an official toolkit, like, say, TES games do, but people flocked to it nevertheless, to make their own cool stuff. Mage helmets were stupid? Make a mod. Light armor looked like a bikini? Make a mod. Female characters want to romance Morrigan? You get the idea:)

"Ummm, bit biased Leliana fan here, so um yeah XD" - Just to clarify, I never did kill Leliana in my playthroughs. Neither I killed Zevran. I liked Leliana in DA:O (though I din't like her in DA2), and though I wasn't big on that whole Maker stuff, siding with some crazy cultists was even worse. And if Morrigan herself was in awe with the Ashes, ok, I get the idea, preserve the Ashes. But if a character has a possibility to die, they have to include it! And if they want so much to keep them alive to continue their story, ok, two variants possible: 1) Retcon. It can be done in an intelligent and reasonable way: we know, that Leliana has a possibility to die, but since not many people actually kill her off, we decided to keep her in future games to please the majority, that likes her. Also she is vital to the story and to the gameworld. This would do, but that load of bs Gaider wrote will not do. 2) At least come up with some in-game explanation of how she survived, because all that "It wasn't my time" is just stupid. "As for Zevran, I'm pretty sure that was a bug...dunno if it got fixed though" - it was a bug, yes, but DA2 had FOUR patches, and neither of them fixed it. Lazy Bioware? Listening to fans? "In another time, another life".

"If people find out that she and Anders were both Wardens, then everyone will think that it's a world wide Grey Warden coup attempt, and then they go to war against the Wardens, and everyone will be unprepared for a next Blight... yay!" - I'm entertaining an idea of Grey Wardens siding with mages, and ending the Chantry once and for all. Then everyone can have a moment to breathe and prepare for the next Blight. Because something tells me, that current mage-templar war will last really long and bring a lot of devastation.

"I wonder if we will ever learn what happens to the Warden. I mean, we know that he/she disappeared too, but not much else" - I know what happen to the Warden! My Warden went through the Eluvian to enjoy a happy honeymoon with his beloved! And play with his son, little Urthemiel:) Seriously though, I doubt they will ever decide this. I think the memories about the Warden we read/hear in DA2 are final. There are just too many possibilities BW is too lazy to handle. They said something about finishing Hawke's story (apprently because Hawke is "the most important person in Thedas" to them), but nothing about the Warden. "they can't have him/her just disappear!" - if s/he disappears, s/he will disappear artistically *sarcasm*

"Wanna get diabetes? Check out this pic" - Awww! So cute! She's just adorable!

In case you haven't seen this:) -Algol- 19:27, April 24, 2012 (UTC)

" For the record neither of us speaks Spanish, and we don't like Twilight, but can laugh so hard at the movies, that it's worth at least one download :D" - you sure know how to have a good time! XD I'm totally doing just that, because I don't like Twilight too! Maybe... Try something more exotic? Is there a Twilight in Chinese?:)

"After a mission I first talk to Joker, EDI and Traynor, then I go up to the cabin, feed the fish, check my emails, then down to the armory, and work my way back up to CIC while talking to everyone :D" - yep, that's the way it's done!:) Talkative Shepards are the best! I just wish there were less "calibrations", and squad members always had "standard" topics, like in ME1. Oh, and on my last Infiltrator playthrough, I changed armor camouflage before the start of each mission, trying to tailor it to usual surroundings in that mission. Desert camo for Rannoch, urban for the Citadel and arctic for fighter base and ex-Cerberus scientists' hideout were quite nice, actually.

"you can not defeat piracy completely ever" - a rare few of companies understood the simple truth: people won't turn to piracy if you provide better service, then the pirates do. EA does not understand it, and makes an ass of themselves, getting responses like this one. But now it's totally over the edge. They expect people to maintain constant internet connection? And what if there isn't one? Then people are unable to play the game, they already paid for? I look forward to seeing them lose more and more money by alienating their own customers and finally collapsing. That would be the happiest day for gamers everywhere! Very likely, during that day gloating will not be considered a bad thing:)

"Well thank you, but I rather read on the bus, and talk with others during lunch break, then play some shitty tie-in iOS game" - so would I. Except for I listen to music instead of reading, while in the bus:) But a lot of people actually do as they are suggesting, but those people will soon find out, that this idea is only good on paper.

"actually I wouldn't even call it a tent XD" - my logic: if Morrigan calls it a tent, then a tent it is!

"Bioware shouldn't allow Gaider and Helper near fans or let them do interviews alone, because they are just embarrassing the studio" - I heard that! I think it is worth adding, that Gaider shouldn't be let near to BSN. They guy is a living flamewar!

"I wonder how many people actually defiled the Ashes though..." - from what I read and heard, not many. Oh, and also many people can just overlook the option of siding with Kolgrim, because it is not very clear:) Well, maybe only to unlock the Reaver spec, which is not bad at all. Then again, you could talk Leliana out of attacking you, if the skill is high enough. "so I really doubted, they could offer anything of value to me" - the Reaver spec. That's about it.

"I hope DA3 will be on the same engine as DA2, with some improvements, cos then it could be modded to an extend without toolset" - well... If DA3 falls under EA's new policy... You get the idea, mods will be doubtful. EA psychos may even start banning people for using mods.

About Wardens remaining neutral in the M-T War... I dunno. As are things going now, this war ends only with annihilation of one of the sides. I bet the Wardens couldn't do with Tevinter-only recruits, so off with the Templars. Yet, we will see. As you have rightly pointed out, BW and logic are incompatible these days. Maybe the griffons will return and save all the civilians O_o

"Aww, that's cute...and extremely lucky" - well, tbh, with all love and due respect to little Urthemiel, can my Warden also have... ermmm... normal children? Like little Morrigans prancing around, casting little spells, and little Wardens prancing around, I dunno... killing little darkspawn!

"Maybe I spend too much time imagining things :D" - maybe, maybe not, but imagining things is someting I admire:) Maybe that secret society was working for Flemeth? She surely would be the one interested in Morrigan and the OGB.

What I loved in the beach pic was a Cerberus logo on Miranda's bikini. I mean, she seems to really like Cerberus in ME2! XD Also I can imagine a Cerberus factory, producing bikinis... And conducting crazy experiments on them O_o

A theoretical question about Miranda BTW... Does she need a BioAmp to use biotics? I mean, the genetic engineering and stuff... Gillian Grayson doesn't need one, Jack most likely doesn't need one, but does Miranda?

Those vids... I think I can't be more heartbroken after Extended Cut effectively puttin a final nail in ME3's coffin, but that sure stirred the shards of the broken heart... Jack was so great! And Jacob seemed to be... excited too much:)-Algol- 00:27, April 25, 2012 (UTC)

"I usually just go with black-gray colors, or when I feel like it, I go Alliance, and change it to blue :D" - remembering your opinion on ME1 Phoenix armour, why no "girly colours"? XD Just kidding, no offence:)

"their current core audience is much more informed and demanding than they were before. Which is a good thing for us, bad thing for them" - One one hand, yes, much more informed. On the other hand, their core audience isn't consisted of people, who play RPG's like DA or, to some extent, ME. Their core audience plays Battlefield (which is 99% multiplayer), sports games, NFS and Sims. The last three do not have a serious competitor on the market, and in this case, no matter how demanding the audience can be, they have no choice, no alternative. Thanks to them, EA has a good chance to float for a while without changing their business practices. Then again, Starcraft 2 demanded a constant connection to BattleNet, and what, it was emulated two days after release:) EA just begs their games to be pirated, really:)

"END OF RINE!" - ________ <--- RINE ENDS HERE! Loved it XD

"Also Kolgrim is so totally crazy that he needs to die" - totally. That's why crazy cultists are en worse, then crazy Chantry zealots. Seriously, couldn't they put someone more reasonable, then Kolgrim, to atleast give the player a pause to think? That Nevarran Reaver from "Redemption" was quite normal. Then again, "Redemption" was sort of a burlesque, with everyone acting pretty much the opposite of how they are supposed to:) What's your stance on "Redemption"?:)

"Well there are a lot of mods for DA2 even though it is an EA game, so it's entirely impossible. Dragon Age Nexus is really empty these days though..." - I was primarily referring to EA's new policy of putting everything online for constant monitoring. Because if you can get banned from Origin for editing a game file... Well, mods can get you in similar trouble. Bosh'tets.

"I would so love to see that :D Really, if I can ride a griffon, I would be able to forgive Bioware a lot of things..." - will it be an extra-fluffy griffon? Maybe... named Feathers?:) The only reason I want Hawke's story to be finished, is to see something like "Hawke travelled to Anderfels, found a griffon egg, and presented it to his/her beloved Merrill. When it hatched, the griffon was extra fluffy:)"

"not ME3's ending, but other things" - like what, if I can ask? *trying to estimate your love of griffons*:) Now, if I could ride a dragon, I could forgive them DA2 darkspawn BDSM costumes. But that's it, it was already very generous:)

"If the other Wardens don't get a happy ending neither should you! :P" - but my Warden already has a very happy ending! :P I just want it to be even happier. Oh, and I'm sure Morrigan will find a way to get rid of the taint, so my Warden won't die in 30 years. I'm such a happy Warden! XD

About Hawke's story sort of being finished, at least it was finished in the most "artistic" way possible: no matter what you do in the game, no matter what choices you make, no matter which side you're on, you end up a hunted war criminal. Just because you stood in a close proximity to the real "most important person in Thedas", when he hit the detonator, and sent the Kirkwall Chantry flying straight to their Maker. Oh and most of your companions abandon you, with some thinking you're a real jerk. Very artistic. When BW announced, that DA@ is (finally:D) done for, they promised some non-playable conclusion to Hawke's story. Wonder how it will turn out? A comic, maybe? XD Or an anime, like DotS? Or mentioning Hawke in DA3 in a one-liner? But as of the Warden... Not a peep:(

"One thing I never understood in ME2 was, that Jack is supposed to be a friggin awesome biotic, yet she has really low tier abilities" - well, since in ME2 squadmates (or as a krogan would say: quadmates:D) only have 2-3 active abilities, Jack was humbly limited to cutscenes. Now, if we had a chance to see her as a squadmate in ME3 (yeah, I know, keep dreaming :D), she might have had something much more powerful. A Barrier maybe, since she always drills her students on them:) Or Nova, since she really likes to hit people. I really wouldn't mind a Vanguard-type squadmate in ME3, just to have the vastest array of tactics, because Javik doesn't exactly fit in this role. At least ME2 Jack has warp ammo, the best ammo power in ME2. Not bad in ME3 too, but imo, A-P ammo is the best in ME3.

"Puuuuuuuuuush!!!! XD Maybe that wasn't during the final battle, but after that when Brynn is trying to give birth? :D" - Hahahaha, nice one!!! XD Maybe Brynne had twins? because Jacob also says "Got another one!" XD

BTW One of my players in the tabletop started a new character... She is a liberated Cerberus experiment. A bit classy, but in Liara's words "If a chiled was locked in a wardrobe till sixteen, she will not grow normal". One of her current troubles is, despite being human, identifying which species she belongs to psychologically. That's... sad and funny at the same time.-Algol- 12:01, April 25, 2012 (UTC)

"take Phoenix for example...white and pink, really?" - I always liked the Survivor Armor. Makes you look like a little bumblebee XD Seriously though, I think all those colours, inconvenient for camouflage, can be explained with fundamental changes in tactics. With rapid development of electronics - no matter how hard you try to blend in your surroundings, the computer in a helmet, or visor, or even a weapon scope will still see you. So everyone rather relies on strength of their shields, not camouflage, because everyone uses at least "smart" guns, not to mention enhanced targeting systems. Besides, various species may see colours differently. Only very special systems, like Tactical Cloak, can decieve computers, so no point in camo, free to wear any colours you like.

"most group only release the cracks after street release date, while they most of the time already have cracked it days or even week before that" - I wonder if someone will give, say, EA, a nice surprise in the nearest future. That would be hilarious XD

"but I think it's stupid to release a live series, where elves can't actually look like they look in the game now" - the reverse is also true. One more reason I didn't like MotA, is that Tallis looked like Day, instead of established in-game models. Modeling characters after real people is ok, look at half of ME characters, but again, look at ME characters, i didn't see a salarian or a Krogan modeled after their voice actors.

"I really don't have high hopes for DA3 anymore" - I wonder why there are people, who actually do have high hopes for DA3? You know, this thought is slowly crawling into my mind for a while... I do not want a DA3 to ever happen. Better to remember the great game DA:O was, consider DA2 a mistake, and not fall even further down the slope of that mistake. Consider: it will already have a multiplayer. At recent PAX in some previous interviews, BW entertained the idea of turning DA into MMO. No. Better end the franchise right here, right now, amputate it, so to speak, before it festers futher. But of course, BW wouldn't do it, because in that case, they will admit their impotence as a game developer.

"Told her to get it over with DA2 and never touch it again lol" - that's a sound advice! I just hope she played DA:O before DA2. Oh, and why would one even want to hook up with Fenris? O_o

"And if I can actually fly the griffon in-game and not just in a cutscene, I would even forgive that no choices in DA2 matter at all :D" - *estimation completed* You really do love griffons, don't you?:) because forgiving that is just too generous:)

You know, considering, that no matter what Hawke does, everything is lost is really in-tune with the game's plot overall, a question comes to mind: Who would want to play such game? Even if this inability and hopelesness is logical. Seems to me, that BW was already deep in the "artistic integrity" shit, wanting to tell their own story, and forgetting about the player. And players hate to be railroaded, computer RPG, or tabletop, doesn't matter. With all this talk about "videogames are art" one shouldn't forget, that, say, a movie is a passive experience, while games are interactive.

"vanguard mates sucked in ME2" - I wouldn't exactly call Samara an Adept, because of the assault rifle she carries, and damaging ability, but she kicked ass, even despite having the useless Pull too. I agree though, Jacob is better left fixing weaponry. Why do the most boring characters always fix weaponry?:)

"I realised where Javik's Dark Channel ability is that most useful: during the rachni mission, cos if you use it on one of those little creeper things, it will kill one instantly, and then jump to the next, and effectively kill all of them in seconds :)" - good tactic! Then again, Liara's Singularity will kill them even faster with the right upgrades, it recharges much faster too, and having Javik just for one type of enemy, which is easy to kill in dozens of ways?.. I'm still not persuaded, useless fossil stays on the ship.

"I like Inferno ammo the best...though it's mostly because enemies start to panic, scream, and then burn to death :D And in ME3 you can turn it into exploding rounds <3" - oh, as a mild pyromaniac I totally agree! The sweet warm fiery death! If you'll want to do another playthrough of ME3 sometimes, I'll recommend an Engineer for that: Incinerate + Turret Flamethrower + Inferno Grenades as a bonus power. Kill'em with fire!!!:)

Oh, the pic is so nice! Those little krogan! Adorable! Is it just me, or they have a very serious look, despite the age?:)

"Well if someone can be transsexual, they could also be transspecies... I think :D" - transsexual - check, transorganic - check, transspecies - dunno, we'll see how it turns out. Poor girl just hates Cerberus to an extent, that she doesn't want to be related to humans in any way. Hurray for "guardians of humanity!" *sarcasm*

Just finished replaying ME1... Mixed feelings, you know... Such a good game! But all the lore on the Reapers can be pretty much thrown out of the window. Like that Sovereign's "organic life is an accident, a simple genetic mutation". Sovereign, I'm glad, that I saved you from the endings of ME3. I'm sure you'd be pissed off to find out, that you are actually a mere tool of some crazy kid:)-Algol- 22:15, April 25, 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the info on "Homeworlds"! Short version: 1) I didn't like James much, and now I like him even less. 2) If Walters does something like this in Homeworlds 2-3-4 to Tali, Garrus or Liara... Don't you dare!

About the biotic push: do not scratch that, it is lore-breaking. It breaks "Ascension". When Paul Grayson had a dose of red sand, he was barely able to lift an empty glass. This guy pushes a well-build man aside. That's bullshit, and Walters should have read better writers, then himself, like Karpyshyn.

About Miranda's biotics... I think, that true explanation lies in her advanced nervous system, beecause biotics are linked with it directly. Analogy: asari have more advanced nervous system (additional nerve clusters in their head-fringes), that's why they are more agile and have natural biotics, without the need of an implant. Miranda said, that she has a lifespan half as long, as average human, and she heals faster. So we can see, that her organs are more advanced. Plus, she's extremely good at multitasking and has a very high IQ level, so we can assume, that specifically nervous system is more advanced. In essence, she doesn't rely on raw talent, like, say Jack, she relies on skill, while having an average talent.-Algol- 22:36, April 25, 2012 (UTC)

"it's a bit easier to outmaneuver someone if your pink armor doesn't scream “hey I'm here, shoot here!” from miles away" - not necessarily. One example: your enemy uses thermal optics. No matter what colour you are, you appear as a bright white silouette from miles away (quarians rule in this case: their suits do not seem to give away heat emissions, as we can deduce from Horizon). Even better: your enemy uses hyper-spectral optics, and can see in infrared and ultraviolet, among other things. Again, actual colours do not matter in this case. I'm sure, that every decent squad has a tactical HUD in their helmets, and if one of them sees you - all of them see you, no matter the colours. Plus in Ascension it is said, that every mass accelerator weapon has an in-built computer, that basically does auto-targetting, and computers, again, do not care about colours. I strongly suspect, that in ME "not relying on tech" basically means "not relying on your own eyes", so there you have it. Another example: you're facing a pack of vorcha, who don't have any tech, because krogans took it away. These little goblins might as well be colour-blind, so feel free to wear the most fabulous pink, or the most intricate camo, it doesn't matter to them. All in all, think what you will about Eclipse or Blood Pack, but these people are powerful military organisations, and if they wear bright colours, it means, that there is no real need for camo.

Besides, Sentinels have this shiny tech armour exactly because they scream "I'm right here, shoot me!". It's a vital part of Sentinel tactics:) Shooting a Sentinel is never wise, unless you are an asari or a krogan - you can die of old age XD I suspect, that elcor Sentinels are extremely deadly XD

"Though it might be that Miranda's eyes in ME2 often don't reflect any light, which is very disturbing..." - I smell a sinister plot in here... TIM somehow absorbed the light into his eyes, so they glow twice as bright, while Miranda's don't reflect light O_o

"Not as long there is SWOTR" - exactly. Because everything comes to SWTOR no longer being. Two free weeks already? That's a good indicator. Oh, and for some reason people are pissed off because of future inclusions of same-sex romances O_o

"He easily has the sexiest voice in the whole game! Sure he is a brooding idiotic drunken bastard, but who cares with that voice!" - that... Ok:
 * 1) Maybe he has the sexiest voice, maybe not, I'm not the one to appreciate it truly
 * 2) Main point: I would say "Who cares, if he has a sexy voice, he is a brooding idiotic drunken bastard (among other things)!" I do not understand the logic of overlooking serious and truly repulsive flaws in favour of one questionable good trait. I find such logic... most disturbing.

"Also my bff romanced Anders first, which made her sort of heartbroken in the end, so she is looking for another romance, and Merrill really isn't her type, and she only uses Isabella for a one night stand :D" - How about Sebastian "Maker noooo!" Vael? XD

"Actually I made her play all the DLCs too, before playing DA2, and tried to prepare her for disappointment" - You say this "made her play the DLCs" like it involved a gun at the back of her head:D So... what were the reasons for disappointment and how did the disappointment happen?

"It's not branching, and you can't achieve your goal several times without real reason, only because the story demands it" - totally right:( Just to add: a lot of people didn't want to side neither with mages, nor the templars, or side with Thrask's group, but no... At least "the Witcher" had sorta "neutral" option. That reminded me of that good old "DA2, the way it should have been" forum on DA wiki.

"While we're on the topic of Jacob, an other pic I found today" - nice comparison! You know, in relevance to the previous topic about choices and consequences, in all these cases except Liara, it is possible to put "corpse" in the "after Shepard" section. Yep, Shep can certainly change lives and histories. Now matter how shooty and actionalized it is, ME is still more an RPG, then DA2.

"and because I sort of feel bad about never taking him anywhere, so it's him and James on that mission :D" - and don't tell me you didn't have this "well, at least I can feed them to the swarm and get Grunt away, if things go south" thought :) Kinda off topic: I wonder why Traynor doesn't show up in comm talk options on Earth... I mean, Cortez does, if alive, why not Traynor? She is the comm specialist, so if you are able to get to someone, it would be her!

"still can't bring myself to play it, cos the next mission is Thessia........" - don't remind me:( I never thought I could feel so much pain over a videogame episode and a fictional race:(

"Also I just realized that James is the same age as Ashley" - don't tell me... Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Is there a sinister plot here? XD BTW I always found it interesting, that Tali and Jack were born the same year.

"As for Miranda...so Henry basically just got lucky by trying to make her daughter really smart?" - I wasn't implying exactly that... He did plan his daughter to have much more developed nervous system, than an average human, and he obviously did plan her to have biotics, so I wouldn't exactly call it luck. Her main trick, imo, is the combination of advanced neural system (not only IQ level, reflexes and sped-up nerve impulses count too) and "standard" in-utero exposure to eezo. This allows her to squeeze 101% out of her biotic aptitude and have her own advanced nervous system act an amplifier of otherwise average talent. It might as well be carefully planned. Interesting, that even in terms of biotics she is directly opposite to Jack: refined skill instead of brute force.-Algol- 01:36, April 26, 2012 (UTC)

Very unfortunately, lore aspects are sacrificed in favour of gameplay. Forget geth primes, squadmates only use rebreather masks, when exposed to vacuum (forget the pressure), and instead of turning on hyper-spectral vision, I have to use a flashlight. A flashlight! O_o I'm sure BW would come up with a very intricate explanation as to why don't have a normal minimap anymore.

"Another thing I would love to see! :D" - I always wondered if elcor, hanar and volus even have biotics... I mean without the red sand and "biotic gods" in ME2. There can be a reasonable explanation as to why quarians do not have biotics, but what about the others?

"Shep's eyes very sort of blank, but then again it made sense for her, since she just came back from being dead and all" - to quote that Huerta Memorial Hospital visitor, "I'm surrounded by zombies":) Oh, and Shepard's "I am technically undead":)

"Though I really hope that in future BW games not everyone is bisexual, cos that's just stupid" - I don't envy BW in this matter. The sheer number of female players, who wanted to romance Morrigan on one hand, everyone is bisexual in DA2 on the other. Though if we take every romanceable character in DA2 (excluding Sebastian), there are no serious reasons as to why they wouldn't be biseual. Even Merrill or Anders. Yet, the lack of variety saddens.

The Fenris part... He doesn't really changes his opinion about anything, rather the maxed out bar allows you to mind-control him, but it seems to me, that the main part of adhering to one trait and overlooking all the others is something I will not understand. Though I am very biased towards Fenris, and may not have the perspective. But still, about the voice, this guy must have smoked a lot, because with his physique, the voice should have been a bit deeper, then Merrill's.

" relationship, where you either have to act as a jerk so you get rivalry with him" - tbh every rivalry path in DA2 is you acting as a jerk. Gotta love the system.

"Though I sort of have to tell her to finish the golem DLC..." - Hard or Nightmare, I suppose? Because everyone wants the Cudgel:) While I didn't like the DLC overall, I was pleased to have the most challenging boss fight in the series.

"After telling time and time again, that witchers aren't supposed to take part in politics and all that, they don't give you a neutral option..." - well, Witcher 2 didn't have a standalone neutral option, it's either Iorveth or Roche for you. Then again, the Witcher Order doesn't officially exist anymore, and geralt overlooked the Witcher Code a few times in the books, even when it existed.

"That's why I hate the fact that there is a memorial wall on the Normandy" - not to mention, that this memorial wall could affect the morale of other crew members, especially those, who don't have vast first-hand combat experience, if any. Like Traynor or even Joker. Oh, and putting it right near the bathroom exit was a poor decision too. Imagine, you walk out of the bathroom, all happy and relieved, and the first thing you see is a long list of corpses... Not very comforting, really. I wish Kelly was on the ship.

"so I guess Traynor has nothing really to say" - that's not fair! Traynor always has something to say!:)

"Hmm, maybe Vega isn't 18 either when he enlists" - that's strange. Kai Leng's dossier says he enlisted in the age of 16 (like Ashley), but his credentials were faked. What is the minimal enlisting age in the Alliance, anyway?

"Still unless he was in on some eezo research, it would have been a big risk to expose Miranda to it, since most kids die due to the exposure" - actually, Miranda and Oriana were successful experiments, nobody said there weren't unsuccessful ones. Henry didn't need to wait 9 months, he might as well had stamped those clones in large numbers, waiting for one to become what was needed. Exactly like Okeer did in ME2. Maybe a good number of embryos died, before Miranda was born. Remember Kaidan suspecting, that even the very first eezo crash over Singapore wasn't an accident? It was 2151 then, and Henry might have already discovered possible use of biotics in 2150, so he would wanted to further his experiments. Besides, he was a very wealthy businessman, so I even suspect he had ties to infamous Conatix. Creepy:)-Algol- 12:55, April 26, 2012 (UTC)

"We use flashlights and all, yet you never actually get to fight anything in the dark, so what's the point really?" - a few fights in the dark would actually make a good addition, imo. And not hard to implement, since AI enemies and squadmates do not care about light conditions. Otherwise, the flashlight is useless, and whoever implemented it must have been a tactical genius:)

"I think Yahtzee said in his ME2 video that “Shepard died, and then came back, so I guess he is a space vampire now” :D" - we sorta have Ardat-Yakshi for space vampires, so Shepard is just a zombie. Look at his/her dance moves:) I wonder why the didn't build a "Shepard Memorial Hospital". "Treating rocket shots to the face, cases of people being squashed by Reaper remnants and other minor scratches Commander Shepard endured during his/her journeys":)

"I mean, there are people who want to romance their siblings in DA2! Yikes!" - I have yet to hear about people wanting a romanceable Dog, but something tells me, I won't be surprised, if I do. Imagine the dialogue, though! XD

"so there was no way I would let her finish something as dangerous as the eluvian" - why? Look what Morrigan has accomplished by researching her eluvian. On the whole, my experience with DA2 rivalry always made me wonder, why certain characters even want to follow me, not counteracting is respectful enough, why help? Yet it really depended on certain role-playing moments. For example, I consider turning Fenris to his master a good thing for Fenris, yet I keep him to use as a one more (expendable) blade against the templars. I always told Sebastian to stay in the Chantry, because my Hawke had plans to take over Starkhaven himself. And didn't even have an opportunity to kill the choir boy in the endgame, while I do have an opportunity to kill Anders (which I never use). How sad:( But overall, most of the rivalry moments weren't even remotely realistic. The rivalry path with Anders or Aveline would be perfect examples.

"And at the very end, you will have the option to support the chosen side, or go the “neutral” way again" - I think I wasn't clear enough: I have no problems with TW2 at all, I think, that not having a "neutral option" throughout most of the game was reasonable, and tied in with the story. It was perfectly fine. Yet in DA2 this "neutral" option was sorely needed. I would support the mages anyway myself, but I can understand the people, who didn't want to. Look at how it all turned out: BW wants to press the story further with the M-T War, but very many people are tired of it already, or do not give a damn about it.

"I wonder whose bright idea it was..." - I guess it was the same bosh'tet, that scattered our ship model collections all over the Normandy, and let Boo out (the hamster:D).

"Maybe it's in the wrong section of the timeline, cos if you can enlist at 16, Shepard probably would have done it too" - then why Kai Leng's dossier says, that his credentials were faked, right in the 16 y.o. age of enlistment part? Something we'll never know.

"And that's something I shouldn't have read while having a late lunch..." - I'm sorry. I'll try to avoid writing something like that. Scratch the "romanceable Dog in DA" part:) "I really find that a bit hard to believe, because humanity could not have that much info on eezo and biotics at that time. But who knows?" - I think the real answer to this question lies... In prothean archives on Mars. If the protheans used biotics extensively (I'd go so far to say, that they were all natural biotics, like the asari), they might have some data on biotics stored on Mars. Maybe on of the reasons they observed early humans was to determine their theoretical biotic potential? Of course, when humanity discovered this data on Mars, they classified it from public, but Henry, given his influence, may have got his crazy hands on it. And then someone intentionally crashed that ship over Singapore. I like conspiracy theories in ME:)

Started ME2 replay btw... since I can't wear anything with Cerberus logo on it anymore, I've chosen that "lab outfit" for the first time:) *Sigh* good old days in ME2. Shooting random merks for fun, running over happy and lively Citadel, navigating through systems without fear of Reapers showing up, having a trusty M-920 on my back and generally "enjoying the calm before the shitstorm"... I'm not even surprised, that Shep can drink through helmets anymore! Now I know it's an "emergency induction port":D -Algol- 19:34, April 26, 2012 (UTC)

"I always wondered why they put explosive crates on that level, when you don't even need to fire a gun there..." - to make them explode, even if there are no enemies! So pyromaniacal Shepards can feel comfortable!

Remember we talked about enhanced optics in ME? Tell you what, we Infiltrators have an edge here. Just look!

"As for memorials, War Hero Shepard has Shepard Plaza on Elysium, which was the hottest wedding location in ME2 :)" - Ruthless Shepards have a memorial on Torfan too. Though not all people like it:)

"I always thought that isn't really because of Hawke that they stay, but rather because they are friends with Hawke's friends" - there are certain examples, when "friends of friends" don't cut it anymore. Many of them, in fact. Look at this one. I fail to see anything even remotely resembling logic, as to why Aveline doesn't kill Hawke on sight, while s/he bribes, lies and kills her way to the top. Minor disagreements are one thing, but clashes of life philosophies are another. Anders, for example. You have a dialogue option to rat him out to Cullen, after Anders hides the bomb in the Chantry, and all he says is "Why are you telling this to him?". Really, the whole friendship/rivalry system might theoretically worked, if it was implemented correctly, but BW failed epically. A maxed out bar allows you to mind-control people without having a blood mage specialization.

"Imagine the faces of Meredith and Orisino, if Hawke just walked away....priceless :D" - I actually think, that Meredith and Orsino would be a great couple:D Seriously, they are made for each other. But on topic, sadly, if Hawke just walked away, it wouldn't even matter. Anders would still planted the bomb, the M-T war would still start... And the most important bystander in Thedas would still be... well, nobody.

"I bet you're the one who killed my fish too!! :D" - wait, didn't Kelly save the fish? O_o Really, I strongly suspect it was TIM. I mean, he's so Illusive... I bet he was hiding in one of the bathrooms, that is locked, and was up to some minor mischiefs. Funny fact, Russian translations of ME translates him as "Ghost". The world they use can also mean "Spectre":)

"Javik disagrees, he claims that they it's due to long term prothean genetic engineering" - I don't remember Javik saying that, but even if he did, he is full of crap as always. Asari lived on a planet full of eezo. Hence the biotics. In ME2 there is a planet full of eezo, and it's fauna developed biotics. So what, protheans engineered that too? I really get this feeling, that Javik is indoctrinated: not only he's being completely useless, he's actually being disruptive, feeding misinformation and impacting morale. Or maybe he is simply a retard, which is more likely.

"Btw I wonder why prothean biotic powers are green..." - obviously because BW loves the colour! Now, we just need to find someone with red biotics (Red Sand, maybe?), and there, we have a full collection.

"We don't even know what kind of connections he has besides TIM" - we know, that he "donated generously to Cerberus", according to Miranda, but stopped doing so, when she ran away, and only renewed his connections in ME3. Firstly, to "donate generously" he must already had power and influence, and he was a wealthy businessman even before Miranda was born. I suspect he had ties with Conatix, if not worked or headed them. Secondly, between Miranda's escape and ME3 he certainly had some other connections, not TIM. Don't know what exactly, but there were bound to be some.

"And Cerberus didn't exist yet in 2150" - that's one hell of a mystery too: the real origin of Cerberus. Admiral Kahoku states, that it was started as an Alliance black op unit. So we hear in ME3, where Sara or Bethany (don't remember who exactly) states exactly the same. BUT! In ME2, a game pretty much devoted to Cerberus, we hear a completely different story. That Cerberus never had ties to the Alliance, and all began with the manifesto, blah-blah-blah. "Evolution" does not contradict a "black ops unit" version, yet Harper and his squad are shown more like volunteer guerillas or militia, without any ties to the Alliance. Seriously, if Cerberus had any connections to the Alliance in the past, I bet TIM or Miranda would specifically tell it to Shepard, to sway him/her more in the direction and find something in common. Or was Kahoku mistaken? I don't believe that either, because he was a rear-admiral, for crying out loud, and must have had top clearance. So what was the origin of Cerberus? I guess BW themselves do not know, and do not care anymore.

"Hahaha XD You totally need to see this :D" - Nice!:D That's exactly what I was talking about!:D This Shepard has yet to learn about the emergency induction port!

"Now it's instant...and I'm not even using omnigel..." - I guess it was one of the sacrifices, made to please the "broader audience", because many of it's members had problems even with the easiest minigame *sarcasm*. Liked those too! You're totally right: it gives you a feel of doing something. Many people frowned upon "massaging planets" to get resources in ME2, but it is still better, then having all your drop points already marked, and having assets/resources handed to you automatically. Which is just dumb. But I guess that was the idea. About omni-gel, to quote the wiki: "By 2185, common security updates prevented the use of omni-gel on locks". And since Hammerhead's armor magically regenerates by itself, there's no need to use it on a vehicle.

"My depressed-after-Thessia Shepard would very gladly get hammered and pass out, but would never do it in public" - don't tell me:( Though my Shepard wouldn't hammer out and pass, because it wouldn't help. I'm afraid he would resort to something much more drastic, starting by beating the crap out of Javik and tossing him out of the airlock, then... throwing all the resources to immediately take Thessia back... I don't even want to think about it:(

Trying not to finish on a sad note... I always liked this one:) -Algol- 23:24, April 26, 2012 (UTC)

"Oh please, next you will claim that you guys have incredible reach too ;D" - as long as there is an "opponent" with flexibility ;D

"then argue about it in Act 3 too, and then he finally says “Hey Hawke, I was stupid, thanks for pointing it out! Now, I will move on with my life!”" - fair enough! Yes, either through talking it over, or by pressing him to the point, in which he admits lacking perspective, he agrees with you, that he needs to think over his attitude towards his family and past. Yet, his past isn't the only defining trait of his charcter. What about his profound hatred of mages and magic in general? Ten years had past, and even in Act 3 he shows nothing, but blind hatred of any mage, except Hawke. And suudenly, during the endgame, if you have a maxed-out bar, he as blindly follows you to defend mages, risking his life. Without any explanation, other then "Hawke, you're so cool, I'm with you." Now, if BW had put some effort into writing just a few more phrases of dialogue, Fenris would say something like: "I hate Tevinter mages, but your way has shown me, that there are other places, then Tevinter, with other mages, then Tevinter magisters. Here, in Kirkwall, mages do not rule anything, in fact, here they are slaves just like I was. That is why I still don't trust magic, but today, I am not fighting for mages, I am fighting for free people". Just one phrase, and if he spoke it, it all would have made sense. But he doesn't speak it, and as such, it doesn't make sense. Moreover, he doesn't show any inclination towards understanding this situation throughout Acts 1-2-3. Absolutely none. Ok, he is entitled to have his opinion, but in this case, why does he follow a mage-aligned Hawke on a rivalry path? Even more: why does he sleep with an actual mage male Hawke, while hawing distinct memories of Danarius sexually abusing him? Again, it doesn't make sense!

Another example: Isabela on her Rivalry path. As far as I have understood her personality, she is a selfish, free-spirited person, who believes, that everyone can act according to their ideas and their way of life. Everyone, including herself, therefore, selfish. Mind you, I do not see selfishness as a flaw, or a negative personality trait, I'm totally ok with it. I think, that selfishness is perfectly natural. Moreover, selfish people usually understand the selfishness of others, if faced with it. They do not comply, but they understand. Now, on a Friendship path Isabela is stunned with Hawke actually caring about her, while evryone else, who cared about her in her previous life was only herself. She slowly starts to realise, that she can depend on someone else, besides of herself, in this hard life. But what do we see on a rivalry path? Hawke doesn't take any of her beliefs into account. None, zero, nill. While she can understand it, I highly doubt, that she would return for Hawke with Tome of Koslun in her hands, and her "mission accomplished". Again. it does not make sense.

"so it could very well be that the asari were natural biotics, and the prothean just sped up the evolutionary process, so they would be even more powerful. Who knows really?" - let's just say... It is one of the possibilities. I don't want to get all defensive of the asari again:)

"Speculations! Speculations everywhere! :D" - I'm always full of them:) I don't like conspiracy theories IRL, but sure do like them in ME:)

"Then again ME2 and ME3 retcon really a lot pf lore and story of ME1" - what bothers me, that with Cerberus origins ME2 retcons ME1, and then ME3 retcons ME2 back to ME1 O_o That means only one thing: BW allowed to slip their own lore out of their control.

With that "puzzle" in ME3. I don't even... Why did they include it into the game? If the game doesn't have any more puzzles. To please the older fans, who were accustomed to mini-games in ME? Not enough. For the broader audience? They don't care. Why?

"“starting by beating the crap out of Javik and tossing him out of the airlock” - lol :D" - thank you for the pic! You know I loved it XD

And you're totally right about the interupts. I have the same feeling. Ok, Paragon interrupts were never as memorable, as the Renegade "kick the merc out of a window", but really? Compare a paragon interrupt to comfort a stranger asari, who lost her daughters, in ME2, and comforting Ashley, your trusted squadmate, who had a family tragedy in ME3. Two comletely different levels of emotional involvement.-Algol- 20:53, April 27, 2012 (UTC)

You know, I've just discovered, that being cut off from the internet for more, then a day just sucks! At least I almost finished replaying ME2:)

"Not Fenris though, he is just there, not being important, or really useful at all. I mean sure, he knows a bit about the Qun, but still he really isn't essential to the quests at all" - I totally agree. Besides, I do not understand his fascination with the Qun at all, and why he was trying to kiss the Arishok's ass, if you bring him to the first meeting. I mean, yes, the qunari are at war with Tevinter and have their mages on a literal leash, but they as much opressive, if not more. Putting those, who do not wish to embrace their idiocy, in labour camps, as brainwashed slaves... Blind hatred for mages doesn't give any merit to the way Fenris' character was written.

"He should have pretty bad memories about gay relationships..." - If he has these memories at all. He never talked directly about Danarius having sex with him, BW only confirmed it in an interview. Maybe his amnesia renders him unable to remember social standarts or own preferences. I dunno.

"Isn't it about teaching Isabela not to be selfish and doing things for the greater good or something?" - I always have a maxed out friendship bar with her too in the beginning of Act2 too, but from what I saw in the vids... It's really not about greater good... It's about provoking her to be even more selfish, because Hawke doesn't give a damn about her and her beliefs. Watch [this, for example. Really, I never saw anything about educating her, there are two people, that simply do not understand each other at all. I'd even go so far to call friendship with Izzy teaches her not to be so selfish. Like, in the beginning of Act3, when you re-recruit her into the party, she says, that she doesn't deserve that good way Hawke treats her. Or in that scene before the last stand in the Gallows, when templars are about to charge, and you are having last dialogues with your Companions. Isabela says, that she will repay Hawke for his/her kindness and will stand for "the greater good".

All in all, comparing to Fenris, her rivalry path still doesn't makes much sense too, but at least she was integrated in the story very good, and overally written very good. Her preference to live the present day and unwillingness to bring feelings into a relationship after one painful experience reminds me of a certain person I know all too well. Just this one thing: the final encounter with Castillion. Izzy knows he's a slaver, and will continue his slaving, if you let him get away. He represents those very things she abhors. So why she insists on letting him go? Can't we really get the documents and then kill him? Or turn him to the authorities, Aveline is right there. Didn't get it at all.

"I think the Rivalry-Friendship mechanic isn't a bad idea, but it would have made more sense in Origin for example, where everyone is gathered because of a common goal, so it would make sense that even if you don't like the leader, you would still follow him or her, because if you don't, the world is gonna end" - true! As their commanding officer, you can give orders to those people, and expect them to be carried out, no matter what they really think. Mind you, even in this situation, if you really spit on the most important of their beliefs, they will still leave, or even confront you. You cannot mind-control them, like in DA2. In DA2 your companions owe you nothing, everyone has different goals, there is no immediate threat... And the only people, who can leave the party are Fenris and Izzy. Doesn't make sense.

"Please, there is no way the asari couldn't handle stuff like food themselves, so he is really just bsing Liara at that point" - totally! It's like Thessia was always a barren wasteland, asari didn't have a brain, and the protheans were constantly dropping crates with sandwiches from the orbit. Really, on one hand Javik says, that asari were recognized for their potential and their wisdom, and on the other hand he implies, that they weren't able to do diddly squat without prothean "guidance". To quote Wrex, brief and clear: "Idiot."

"As long I can laugh at it at some point, I'm fine :)" - that!:) Though some of the conspiracy theories are hysterical to the point I'm a bit tired of laughing:)

"In a really big universe like ME, they should really double check everything" - I don't know how many lore moments they sacrificed to facilitate gameplay. Would be interesting to know. A while ago, Gaider told many such thing in an interview, for example, they had to make Orsino randomly go crazy, because game designers demanded a mage boss fight. Well... They had their fight, but also one of the stupidest and illogical moments in DA2.

"Funniest thing on the mission was to fall into the radiation though...instant death by green smoke... I hate green" - I think they were foreshadowing the ending:) Because husks and brethren of Marauder Shields, the hero of the galaxy, were there too:) BTW this mission maybe bugged, because after that you can commend Riley to N7, but it doesn't have any consequenses to number of war assets.

"Though my ME picture folder is still dominated by Liara fanart... second place goes to FemShepxLiara fanart...third place to random funny ones like this :D" - nice one!:) I imagine you have quite a collection! About the fun stuff, did you see this one? And this one reminds how the game was renowned for value of your choices.

"Hugging Tali, pistol whipping Archer, punching Zaeed in the face were all memorable" - Hugging Tali was great, yes! As someone on the internet said, "why don't I have this interrupt each time I see her?" What I meant, that Renegade interrupts have an overally larger badassery rate:) I always liked electrocuting that batarian mechanic during Garrus' recruitment mission in ME2. And yeah, kicking the merc out of the window is simply great! I was pleasantly surprised, that Jacob had arguably most funny reaction being "when do we read him his rights?"XD Though that and "doing good deeds is like pissing yourself in dark pants: nobody notices, but you get a warm feeling". Everything else he says... Well, you know. I wonder why my least favourite characters all start with "J": Jacob, James and Javik:)-Algol- 09:47, April 29, 2012 (UTC)

"“I'm the pinnacle of our species!”...sure you are TIM, sure you are :D" - you know, it kinda shows the whole scale of depth Cerberus had fallen into. I really liked the role-playing moment, when one of my players started with a character, who was a Cerberus experiment. She asked one of the NPC's, who saved her, what is Cerberus from the outside, and what ideas they pursue? She had an answer: "they pursue advancement of humanity". She asked "THAT, what I have been through, and they call it advancement?". She was answered "It's their idea of advancement".

I think at one point maybe in MotA Tallis asks Fenris, if he would join the Qun, and he says something like “I didn't leave one master, to become slave to another” - exactly! I don't know if it's a part of exceptionally bad writing from BW, or maybe it's all a part of fascination of Felicia Tallis, but: this. He has just acknowledged himself as a slave. And this is a good example why I consider giving Fenris up merciful to Fenris. The only life he is willing and able to live is a slave. Let him have it.

But really, I love the friendship path with Izzy, because it proves that she actual is already a very good person, just to afraid to show it - she doesn't put too much effort into being herself, does she?:) Varric wants to be the elder brother, Merrill wants to be the Keeper and Anders wants to be the hero. Izzy is just acting natural:)

"However killing him won't really solve anything because his illegal operations would be still in tact and someone would just replace him, so you might as well let him go, and tell him not to come near the Free Marches every again." - I profoundly disagree. Sure, there will always be slavers in Thedas. Sure, Castillion is just a one of many. But that shouldn't impede one from confronting slavery as general. People, who commit violent crimes usually pick up those, who are weaker, then they are. Yet, when faced with someone stronger, such people usually become scared, and find themselves running away. If Castillion's corpse was shown hanged in the docks, with a sign "Slaver" nailed to his head, there would be a lot less people, who would wanted to replace him.

" though actually my Hawke was so friggin rich at that point, that she could have just bought Izzy a ship as a present" - that should have been in the game! I mean, with all the loot, Izzy should have had her own Migrant Fleet:)

I cannot even possibly try to comprehend, why they didn't do... something with Orsino! Not that his voice actor was on the largest paycheck, no, they could have written and recorded some more dialogue. BW should "come out of the closet" and change their genre. Enough with the RPG's, start making action games or shooters.

"Well, technically there is no N7 atm, so it sort of makes sense that it doesn't do anything :D" - well, Earth still fights, so it will always be an N7, as long, as there's Earth. Even better to say: "as long as there are humans".

"lately you can find where nice semi-nude pics of Liara" - link is KIA, but I get the idea:)

"Cos my Shep isn't really the type, who would do something like that, especially when the guy says, he is not a frontline soldier..." - can I start a philosophycal and moral dispute, pretty please?:) So:

1) He is a part of an enemy combat effort. Therefore, he is a valid target.

2) He named his rank himself (a big mistake). He is an officer, therefore a high priority target.

3) Prior knowledge depicts Blue Suns as your usual scum. Not killing them is akin to not killing the freelancers, that stand in your way, and "just doing their job". You are doing yours.

4) About 80% of the game is you killing enemy soldiers, who were doing their job (poorly). Why he has to be special?

5) Just reminding: he is armed and armoured;)

"My favorite renegade interrupt however is headbutting Uvenk :D I love dealing with krogans so much <3" - You know, it wasn't a surprise, really. Something one should expect from a Vanguard:)

"l start with "J": Jacob, James and Javik:)” - Though different franchise I would add Jowan to the list :D" - Yes! you know, just "yes!" I'm all good with blood magic, but this guy is just an insult to blood mages XD -Algol- 01:02, April 30, 2012 (UTC)

"Seriously, turning people into husks and semi-husk is not really an advancement. They certainly don't fight any better than Cannibals anyway..." - actually, if we had a chance of seeing Cerberus-controlled husks fighting Reaper-controlled husks, the whole Cerberus agenda wouldn't be so ridiculous. Well, we sorta do see it in Sanctuary, where Cerberus indoctrinated soldiers fight Reaper forces, but you know, that's not what I mean... Sure, many people would still consider Cerberus abhorrent, and they would probably be right, but it is a choice, that makes sense! They kinda did it right in Awakening, when you see Disciple darkspawn fighting Children darkspawn. And when you encounter the Architect, his ideas actually give you a pause to think and consider. You may still kill him, but that's not the point, he makes you think about your decision. Cerberus doesn't.

"I wouldn't really call that “merciful” though. The actual merciful thing to do would be to find Fenris a therapist :D" - unfortunately, there are no therapists in medieval settings:(

"And her voice...somehow for me it always comes down to the voice really" - audio-erotica?;)

"On the topic of Migrant Fleet...did you read Deception? Cos I didn't, but I remember it from somewhere that the batarian ship that attacks the Fleet had Normady-type stealth system or something. Is that right?" - well, I was unfortunate enough to read "Deception", so in short... The batarian ship did have stealth technology. It was very similar to the Normandy's, but was developed independently by batarians. Quarians did capture that batarian ship. Yet, the book doesn't say clear, that they have replicated it. And then again, ME3 doesn't say, that quarians replicated it from the Normandy. If nothing is clear, then we need to use logic. Just a liitle bit of logic says, that quarians wouldn't want to quarrel with both Alliance and the turians, when they have their own loot to achieve the same results. It's a no-brainer. So back to the original point of "I'm only asking because some idiots on 4chan started saying..." and "I chuckled at how everyone turned on the poor girl in a minute" - what else did you expect from 4chan? No offense.

"Indeed, but marketing the games as RPG is somehow trendy & edgy" - depends on who you're marketing it to. The audience of RPG's wouldn't buy it, at least, not anymore. You can't say "we make RPGs" and "We want CoD's audience" in the same interview. The "broader audience" doesn't like RPGs, they like action and ass-plosions. So they won't get the trend either. Now, BW tried to combine it out of simple greed and what? Needless to say they couldn't make the impossible happen. You couldn't explain to EA CEO's the meaning of the proverb "Man's reach exceeds his grasp".

But about that video... I saw it earlier, and it's a good one. Just like dozens of others and... I'm tired. I'm tired of the fact, that no matter how good they are, they still serve no purpose, because they are not changing anything. We're still getting Extended Cut instead of Indoctrination Theory, or something else.

"True, but since the N7 program can't give Riley anything special right now, means that she still isn't qualified to be a war asset...imho that is :)" - well... If Conrad Verner's book qualifies as a war asset, but an N7 operative doesn't... Then I'm running out of assets:)

"Aw man...but that pic didn't have anything explicit on it, just a naked butt..." - FAUX News and concerned mothers might have thought otherwise XD

"cos my Shep is usually a very straight-up person when it comes to killing people, so she would rather just knock him out cold or shoot him in the head or something" - No sneaking up from behind? No unexpected attacks? Just... Straight on? *Sigh* Vanguards... XD

"Though I have to admit, the dialogue between Morrigan, Alistair and Leliana upon finding Jowan is pretty much the best written group argument in the game" - But it's not Jowan's credit, is it? It's the trio, who delivers:)

"Btw, doing an NG+ playthrough on Insanity, but I think I should have played on this difficulty while being under level 56, cos it's really not that hard" - Which class? But anyway, yes, each time I import a level 59 character, I start to think, that the level cap of 30 in ME2 wasn't so bad in comparison. And ME2's Insanity difficulty was much better. The only moment I had trouble with is a touchdown n Earth. You can't move, because you're still in the shuttle, but enemies are already firing at you.-Algol- 19:19, April 30, 2012 (UTC)

Have you seen this interview with Patrick Weekes? I imagine it sucks to be him right now... I mean, acting as a human shield to Hudson and pals, who are scared to show in public... Looking at those people, who act, like everything is totally ok... Risking questions, like "Ok, the topic is Mordin Solus, so how do you think, does Mordin deserve a better ending?". Or "If Mordin Solus wrote an ending to ME3, what it would be like?". Seriuosly, Weekes in still one of those in BW, whom I actually like, so please, give me an interview with Hudson.

"Btw my Warden let the Architect live, because she thought that as a Warden, she should explore all possible options to ending the Blight once and forever" - I always thought about the Architect situation as one of the toughest choices in the whole series. Some Wardens can think like your Warden. Some Wardens might have a different perspective and think something like "Wardens kill darkspawn. There's one standing right next to me." Some Wardens might have intel on the real reasons behind the Fifth Blight:) And some of those can be very grateful for an opportunity to sire the OGB:) Tough choice!

"but I never thought it would outgrow my love of glasses :D" - you love glasses?:)

"So I was right, yay! I really wonder how secret the Normandy's construction was, cos really everyone seems to know that it's a stealth ship" - You certainly were:) I was mostly concerned with "secret constructions" not having any in-built traps and stolen by Cerberus pretty easily. I mean, they can't copy a freaking handgun because of the manufacturing protection, but a super-complex top-secret ship is ok to them. Cerberus!!! And on the quarian topic, I agree with you on their own stealth technologies. Also I don't remember Tali signing a non-disclosure agreement or something. Oh, and the Thanix cannons! Just six months before it was all top secret and unique! But now even bicycles have them XD

"Today's best thread was about whether it's logical to kill Wrex on Virmire or not. Not that BSN is any better though...so a thread there about why Cortez doesn't have “gay accent” lol" - wow! Wow!!! Is Stanley Woo still around? XD But BSN... Sometimes I want to use a more common disambiguation of "BS" in regards to it.

"That way they can claim to be geeks without actually being geeks, and publishers make money. But of course, it will piss off ever RPG fan ever, but it seems to be an acceptable sacrifice" - I see your point! You're right, and I'll just have one small thing to say: ME3 made bank on pre-orders. DA3 surely wouldn't, even if they will finally decide which audience they want to adress. Even if they make something awesome, which I seriously doubt, geeks, non-geeks and geek-wannabes would go: "We remember your recent advertising. Go explode in different colours, because I'm not pre-ordering that stuff". Trend or no, one cannot use the same marketing trend for years.

"I wish EC was out already, summer is so far away..." - I'm totally with you on this one! If it was out, we could finally get over it all... Oh, and while having a 30°C too, I'm totally enjoying it:) Being born in winter, while the temperature outside was nearing -30°C gives certain... preferences:)

"Riley still guards that fuel depot, so maybe she doesn't take part in the battle of Earth?" - Maybe! All in all, the events had shown, that Riley was extremely lucky of not becoming a war asset XD

"I dunno really, war assets are messed up, for example after the coup I told C-Sec to focus on terrorist and stuff, yet the CDF update says that they are spread thin, because they focus on small crimes" - well, you have to support the angry officer and an Apollo Cafe manager to get an increase in war assets. Kinda make sense: I seriously doubt, that terrorists discuss their plans in cafes... Except for Cerberus, but that's Shepard's job:)

"yet Vanguard is my favorite in ME, I don't even know why :D" - maybe because Wrex is just inspiring:) Or maybe because it gives an ability for a slender female character to hit like a cargo train:)

"But it's Jowan's very existence that sparks the conversation :)" - Now we're thanking Jowan for his very existence XD

"I haven't really finished other classes yet, and thought that I might try Insanity on a class that I know very well :)" - Can I recommend you a class? A friendly advice? Pleeeease? XD Seriously though, turrets is Cerberus last hope. And Engineers best friend. As somone said on a forum, "Can I have a romanceable turret?"XD

"Though I guess it wouldn't make much sense to play 10$ for someone and then throw them out of the airlock... Then again, I would pay 10$ for a DLC that allows me to throw any character (party member and NPC) out of the airlock :D" Totally! Who would be your top-five "out of the airlock?" people?:)-Algol- 22:40, April 30, 2012 (UTC)

I wonder when exactly thre will be an interview with Hudson and/or Walters. Because the only thing they have achieved, is that ME3 will be really talked about for long. Not in a good way though. So when would they risk showing themselves in public. People have a lo-o-ong list of very inconvenient questions. In the meanwile, multiplayer is slowly losing popularity. Since the new CoD was revealed just yesterday, and a good portion of BW's desired "new audience" is turning their heads back to the "classics".

"I saw a lot of people who didn't understand why Mordin is willing to cure the genophage in ME3, while he was pro-genophage in the previous game" - Are there so many? Because he clearly states, that salarians do not experience emotions in the way humans do. A salarian would experience emotional outbreak for ten minutes you don't see him/her, then if it doesn't go away, the salarian just doesn't show it. That's it, basically. Sadly, if there's bad writing, people do not like it, but if it's good writing, people do not understand it. I thought it was very clear, why changes his stance on the genophage openly. "I wonder why they changed his voice actor between games...not like the new one doesn't do a great job, but still" - contract issues, probably. Yet the change in voicing was very subtle, for most parts. *Sigh* Good old Mordin.

"No wonder they added a completely different kind of darkspawn, that very obviously has only animal level of intelligence ;)" - I always thought, that your average hurlocks, genlocks and ogres in DA:O had only animal intelligence too. Their alfas and spellcasters probably were more intelligent, or even fully intelligent, but the differnence was, that they were still connected to Archdemon's "hivemind".

"Not all glasses though, it has to match the person, and I don't like those really big ones that cover half of your face" nice one!XD Though I actually like those glasses, which match the person too, I prefer not to wear it myself and be an observer:) Wearing glasses for half of my life got me kinda sick and tired of them:) Though some people look really good in glasses!

"Normandy SR1 still has top secret Alliance technology, which they felt their Shepard wouldn't share, meaning that if Tali stole the tech, she did it behind their backs" 1)There's absolutely no evidence she stole it, quite the contrary 2)Even if she did, it would all depend on Shepard's personality and beliefs. No matter how secret this Alliance and turian technology, Shepard is a Spectre. S/he may not give two craps about Alliance regulations, and hand over this tech to anyone s/he wants. There could be repercussions, yet Shepard still could do it. After becoming a Spectre, Shepard isn't really obliged to follow any laws, or anyone's orders, except from the Council's. But about Ashley and aliens on the ship, they forget, that 1)you're right, she never said anything about Tali and 2)she never says anything about quarians stealing something, if alive in ME3. So I guess the "quarian thief" didn't even trouble Ashley. I mean, Ashley, the xenophobe. Yet it somehow troubles some people with wild assumptions. *Sigh* Logic. Were is it?

A thought just came to mind about Ashley... Interesting thing, she never received due praise from the Alliance, to which she was loyal, but recieved it from different aliens, whom she didn't trust. The salarian and turian governments gave her the highest award, albeit posthumously, and if she survives, the Concil makes her a Spectre. Sure, she was Udina's protege, but other three aliens have a decisive vote on the matter. Oh, and she only doesn't trust geth in ME3:)

"I sooooo want Thanix cannons on my bike! :D" - yep, pedestrians won't be getting in your way anymore:)

"and now they are divided into anti- and pro-enders who constantly argue. Though some of the pro-enders aren't that bright, so the arguments are a bit one-sided" - I don't read BSN that much, what are the ending apologist's main points? That BW has a right to do whatever they want in their game, or that the endings actually make sense?

"DA has a standard fantasy setting, and that is on the other hand way too geeky" - I don't entirely agree. DA2 had A LOT MORE of action and ass-plosions, albeit magical, then KOTOR. Space settings on the whole, not necessary videogames, are more geeky, because they usually involve rather complicated science, when fantasy settings can go with "a wizard did it". Depends on the exact game, I think. Still, you're right, let's see in a year or two, which direction DA3 goes. Having multiplayer might give a hint, though.

"On the plus side, in the summer I never have to use a blow dryer for my hair :D " - same here!:D

"But if I support the angry C-Sec officer in the other, things should cancel each other out, and not get a CDF update at all...that would have made more sense imho" - I don't know if they should cancel each other out, the existing logic behind the fact, that they don't, is that C-Sec should plant bugs in their own offices to uncover moles and serious enemies, rather then petty criminals, who can discuss something in a cafe.

"I think your onto something, cos that would also explain why I loved unarmed combat so much in Jade Empire :D" - didn't you say earlier, that you like Vanguard-type style only in ME1?;)

"I know, I know, engineer with drones and turrets, and infiltrator with head-shots :D" - On one hand, I was too obvious, wasn't I?:) On the other hand, what would I recommend, a frigging Sentinel?:)

You really seem to dislike Allers, don't you?;) But about the "whoever let my hamster loose and played with my ship collection" - playing with model ships??? The weird kid??? O_o He does exactly that!

About EDI's body... She calls it an "infiltration" unit, and I see some logic in it. One wouldn't expect a sexbot to be an unshakled AI, who enjoys the sight of humans on their knees. One wouldn't expect a sexbot to be responsible for death of who knows how many people during her "childhood". On the other hand, they didn't expect a mech looking like a geth platform to be an actual geth platform! Then again, too much is too much. -Algol- 00:09, May 2, 2012 (UTC)

"Certainly hope that will happen. Multiplayer just really doesn't have any place in ME" - actually, about that new CoD release, you may be surprised: it took a few very distinctive things from ME3! Seriously. The setting is relatively futuristic (and very futuristic for CoD series), set in 2025, the campain will have different endings, depending on your actions (an impossible feat for CoD) and most importantly, the campain will have stuff, in which I won't go in a further detail not to bore you, but it's exactly the same as N7 single/multiplayer missions in ME3. When I read this and watch the vids I had difficult time picking up my jaw. Well... At least ME3 multiplayer is most surely dead, no way it can compete with CoD.

"As my father says all the time: The number of human populous goes up, yet the level of intelligence stays the same" - so true! Always liked that expression myself.

"It's like adding zombies to your games, most people feel that killing zombies for no reason other than survival is okay (even though they look human) and morally acceptable, while killing other humans is not that acceptable unless a reason is given for it" - I guess most of DA:O players got into the Grey Warden thing so much, that they developed an absolutely unwavering hatred of darkspawn:) So intelligent or no, the only good darkspawn is a dead darkspawn:) Actually DA2 darkspawn models were so poor, that people started to hate darkspawn even more, if that's even possible:)

"And it could very well be that Tali shared her knowledge about stealthdrives only after the events of ME2, where it was pretty clear that the reapers are coming pretty soon" - people also tend to forget, that Tali has absolutely no problem sharing Multicore Shielding tecnology with you, which can prove VITAL to your success in the Suicide Mission and War Assets numbers. Ungrateful bosh'tets. I hope that tweet from Weekes shut up most of them.

"There is this reaaaaally long article about how the ending makes sense, if you wanna read it. I didn't finish reading it yet, cos the astrobiology mambo jumbo is way to stupid in it for me :D" - holy crap, astrobiology!!! O_o Asari were right, some people just weaken the gene-pool.

"That's true, but only if you care about the lore in detail" - I always thought, that it is near-impossible to not care about the lore for myself XD That's why I always cringe, when people start talking about genes, mutations and advanced surgery in "The Witcher". So medieval... But as for guns vs. swords... Even pure shooters started to heavily implement various melee weapons as of late, right to the point, that in CoD MW2 there were pure knifing classes. I see some kind of "sword renaissance". But yes, the majority prefers guns. Can't blame them, I highly value my private space too:)

"Oh and KOTOR isn't really sci-fi, or at least not hard sci-fi. The whole Star Wars franchise is more fantasy story set in space, then being actual science fiction" - Agreed. I specifically brought up the example of KOTOR just to put it on par with another Bioware game. There are plaenty of games, who focus on pure sci-fi though.

"Moles can discuss things in a café too! :D" - those working for Cerberus ones certainly do! In loud voices, while wearing hu-u-uge Cerberus logo on their clothes:D

"I haven't played JE in ages, and while did like the game, I certainly hope that Bioware doesn't try to “revive” the franchise" - why? I think it's still better, then making anime for settings not really fit for anime.

"But they have holographic fire-proof bras! :D" - yes! And they can eat rockets. And they are a bit op in ME2 (sic!), because you can recharge your shields and put a tech armour on simultaniousely pretty much anytime you like. But they really are a bit boring. Pure support is best left for companions in combat. Now, creating a technological apocalypse for the enemy, while enjoying a cup of tea, or most importantly, savouring each of those fine points of marksmanship... Mmmmm, you should really try it out!;)

"Btw why is she constantly speaking into her omnitool?" - errr... She's crazy? XD I'm more concerned as to why she only speaks with Traynor, with only one exception of this. I thought it would be logical for her to be bugging each squadmate, like Garrus for an exclusive interview about C-Sec or Omega. Liara for archaeology experience and various scientific topics, and besides, Allers' program seems to have a large asari audience... I could imagine some funny banter, when squadmates try to get rid of her:)

"Or rather if she uses it as a mic, why doesn't Shepard have to use a mic?" - Ever heard a voice of a career military officer? These people don't need a mic, they can make themselves heard under any circumstances:)

"And why is her cloth higher resolution than the Alliance outfit that everyone wears?" - she's romanceable, remember?:)

"“The weird kid??? O_o He does exactly that!” Oh yeah, forgot to list him as an “out of the airlock” candidate" - No-no-no, think about it! He plays with a model ship in the beginning, and then you find your model ships scatter all over the Normandy! This can't be a coincidence! Maybe it's not TIM who's hiding in one of the bathrooms, which is locked? O_o

"She could blend in with humans far easier if she had an average size" - her purpose is not to blend. Her purpose is to appear harmless. It is much more rewarding tactic for an infiltrator unit to set up people on a completely wrong course of thinking, then risk them discovering the right course of thinking. Instead of thinking "Oh, a mech, I've mistaken it for a human... Wait, why? Maybe it's up to something", everyone just thinks "Oh, a sexbot. Everything is perfectly understandable, nothing wrong here". As Joker said "She's got crafty":D -Algol- 20:27, May 2, 2012 (UTC)

"Maybe I'll check out the new CoD then, just to see which one is better :D" - well, a lot of stuff may change till actual release, and a lot of stuff depends on your personal criteria of "better", but at least seeing parallels would be funny:)

Oh, this Game of Thrones RPG... I don't know, the setting is surely rich for a good RPG, as my bff said, why do we need a Game of Thrones videogame? We already have it, and it's called "http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/crusader-kings-ii Crusader Kings":) As for Diablo 3, I'm thoroughly done with Diablo, as I was playing it since 1998 XD

"That certainly can be the attitude of a Warden, and no one will fault you for it :D" - and the very existence of Broodmothers doesn't exactly do a good job to change this attitude. Probably the most abhorrent creature in DA. The "intelligent" one is even worse.

"so maybe in the next game you won't be going around killing dozens of them" - not that we killed "dozens" in previous DA's, and for that I was very grateful. Yes, the game is called "Dragon Age" for a reason, but one thing I didn't like Skyrim for, was a Dragon behind each corner. Seriously, there is a good tradition in tabletop and computer RPG, in which dragon is an ultimate test to player's (party's) skills and cunning, fights with them happen very rarely, but sure are rewarding, if you manage to win. Remember the long and detailed list of tactics against Firkraag in BG2? Good times. "Dozens of dragons" bastardize the whole concept. Besides, I like dragons:) Probably my favourite fantasy creature. I want to make friends with at least some:)

"Generally it's 2 sides screaming at each other, and the one who lasts longer wins :D" - hold the line!XD Seriously though, Tali is just... I was replaying the Haestrom mission in ME2, and the phrase "I wish Shepard was here" was one of the most... uplifting things I heard.

"There are exceptions of course, and I think once a sword becomes really big, you stop seeing it as a part of someone...or well, it will be obviously what kind of part it is a metaphor for :D" - this is a very interesting topic! Reminds of the situation in DA:O with Sten's sword. Which I never understood. So he has lost his sword and... what of it? But noooo, not only he didn't aquire another one and continued fighting, he flipped, went crazy, and killed innocent people. That's why I think, that leaving Sten to rot in the cage is actually a very good idea. Besides, if you find his sword it doesn't even have remotely decent stats.

"Not many RPGs though. At least not on computer" - Not many, but quality over quantity. Space Rangers 1-2, Riddick (to some extent), even Deus Ex.

"I mean come on, even the Shadow Broker has a video of Anderson dealing with a Cerberus guy on the Presidium, and they guy is totally wearing the uniform!" - Brilliant example! Was it that hard to make a video, were Anderson takes out some guy in some average clothes, and discovers a Cerberus tattoo, while checking the body? I know, that even a tattoo would be silly, but if they want to show someone defeinitely Cerberus so much...

"Has overload for synthetics, reave for biotic barriers, and he can freeze targets with cryo blast, which than my vanguard FemShep can charge, and they shatter into tiny pieces... it's epic :D" - yep, Sentinel is surely the most versatile one! I'm using Liara/Tali or Liara/EDI though.

"But we know that she at least tried to bother Liara, who doesn't let Chobot into her office at all. I wonder why /sarcasm" - not that Liara let's anyone else in her office, except Shepard, and for good reason. I find it interesting how many similarities with Miranda she has aquired... Being the central squadmate in ME3, providing the most information on quests... Liara even resides in the same place on the Normandy!:)

"Well if we want to get into the details (and why wouldn't we? We are geeks after all :D), the kid played with an Alliance frigate model (as far as I can tell), which Shepard never actually has, so it's still TIM hiding in the bathroom :D" - Maybe he lost the frigade model and sneked into the Normandy to find other model ships to play with:) Or maybe all the dream sequences, when Shepard is chasing the kid, actually mean, that Shepard wants to take a ship model, which s/he doesn't have, from the kid XD

"That is just so wrong, on so many levels :D" - it is, but... I suppose it's just how many people think:)-Algol- 11:27, May 3, 2012 (UTC)

"the texture quality is embarrassing!" - It's always like that, because they are not usually work much on graphics at this point of development cycle. This time they had to release the trailer earlier, because of quite a few leaks. The graphics in the games themselves are usually very decent.

"but the Game of Thrones stuff will be a story based RPG with DAO like combat...sort of... while CK is a strategy game" - Exactly my point. I'd think GoT would make a better strategy, then an RPG. Cyanide, the developer, always made decent management sims and only one (crappy XD) action-rpg. Anyway, the books and tv series are really more, then enough.

"True, but it could be that intelligent (and not ax-crazy) darkspawn would refuse to make other broodmothers...who knows really... free will is unpredictable" - For me: quite predictable. Intelligent beings are much more into committing atrocities, that semi-intelligent beings can't even think about. Look at humanity:)

"I like them too, though in DA's setting I wouldn't want to befriend them at all. I would rather just make them extinct again :D" - How about flying on a dragon's back, hmmm?;) BTW, I always wondered if High Dragons in DA are intelligent? They sure don't look like ones, but then again, Reavers enter in an agreement with them. Could me more, then just "symbiosis".

About Sten's case. I guess "Morrigan factor" is defining for me too, because, well, if Morrigan wants him to be free, okay-okay, anything for her:) Though in any different scenario I would've hanged him myself. Never really understood all the fascination with him and his stupid Qun. "she got better later on though :)" - I guess there's a "Leliana factor" involved somehow?;)

"But nothing any recent one, not even on the horizon" - We might call Fallout a sci-fi RPG, though a retro-futuristic one. To be perfectly frank though, I don't see any real RPG on the horizon, sci-fi or no. The situation with Obsidian's Kickstarter is still too unclear, while DA3... You know my stance, no high hopes for DA3.

"the picture was so small and distorted that it could have been any asari, and people loved it!" - You're right here! If they just clearly showed Liara, it wouldn't have made such an impact on the fanbase. Wonder if they wrap up Wrex and Aleena-Aria situation, because there were some clear hints. IF they wrap it up, because each day they stay silent, fans care less and less. What's the word on current population of multiplayer serevrs, btw?:)

"Why everyone else in the galaxy seems to know, is an other question" - Wait, who exactly? Wrex knows, ok, it's illogical. EDI knows, though I think it's because she has to assist with processing power. Normandy is much smaller, then Shadow Broker ship, so I guess Liara couldn't stuff all the servers in the AI core. Who else knows?

Nice pic, btw! Liara is the best Shadow Broker, even if BW are not the best writers and are prone to plot-holes:)

"OMG, it all makes sense know! So in the final dream, Shepard is trying to pickpocket the kid to get the ship, but his/her Paragon persona shows via the flames that pickpocketing will result in karma-loss XD" - That's why I like crazy theories so much XD the other one is about the Normandy bar in ME2. If you mix a red drink and a blue drink, it gives purple drink. So maybe there is still a hidden ending, where synthesis is not the last option, and the true ending should be in purple! It's like destroying the Reapers... and controlling them at the same time! XD

"“I suppose it's just how many people think:)” - How man think :P No woman would trust a sexbot!" - Probably! But men are people too... I think O_o

BTW, remember we talked about Miranda possibly being the first succesful Henry's experiment, but not the first one chronologically? I found it! Never paid attention to that phrase before, but during her loyalty mission she says "I wasn't the first he created, just the first he kept". So there really were earlier discarded experiments! We can safely hate Henry even more now.-Algol- 15:41, May 3, 2012 (UTC)

"I dunno... intrigue seems to be a core part of the GoT story and that's hard to show through strategy gameplay imho" - Depends, really. I always thought, that the core element in GoT is politics and the factions' infighting (hence the name XD), so I'm more for strategy. Crusaders Kings, btw, can present a lot of intrigue in your dealings with, well, everyone around, as well as NPCs you support or patronize.

"True, but on the other hand they can do far more generous and outstanding things that any semi-intelligent being could. Look at humanity ;)" - And there I thought you were the cynic regarding humanity:) I mean, you've said it yourself!:)

"In “real” life it doesn't work, because unless you really are a god who can see everyone's destiny, you can't make the aforementioned choices for people" - what "fascinated" me the most, is that contrary to the brainwashed zealots like Sten and Arishok tell, you don't really find your place in the Qun. Their priests define it for you. You're not supposed to disagree or doubt their decision. And to assume, that they are never wrong... Well, that's the Qun for you. I mean even Tallis, who's the most brainwashed or stupid (or both) of them, is not happy with her role in their society. Also I always wondered, if their society supposedly values skill above all, why all the major qunari NPCs are incompetent fools?

"and then came the Battle of Denerim, and she wished she was still a Deah Seeker" - why? Was the battle that depressing? I mean... Was it Thessia-level?

"and most titles that claim to be RPG are MMOs" - Claim to be RPGs is a very good choice of words! ME3 claimed to have... ok, I'll shut up:) As for secret "Secret World" (or "Cabal Online" during the maiden stage:D), the setting itself is certainly very compelling. Problem is, that it's devs made a name for themselves by creating key aspects of an MMO, like balanced combat and classes, good artwork, that sort of stuff. Never heard about interesting story or quests in "Anarchy Online" or their other games.

"Hackett does for sure, Aethyta most likely too. Though granted she only says that Liara is “one of the biggest information brokers” but still, since she was monitoring Liara on Illium, I'm pretty sure, she noticed the increase of Liara's intel" - about Aethyta, most likely, but still unclear. Problem is, that she was monitoring Liara's office on Illium, but that's like monitoring a desert for polar bears. The good stuff was going on the Shadow Broker ship, after Liara left Illium. Aethyta calls her a good info broker, but there are, what, thousands info brokers in the galaxy, and hundreds good ones? As for Hackett, why the hell he knows? I mean he does know, but why? My Shepard would never tell him. And he couldn't find out otherwise, since Shepard is kinda his only agent XD

A thought just came to mind... If everyone wants to go all formal and address Shepard by rank, I want to be addressed according to quarian tradition, as Captain. I like that:) It holds real meaning and spirit, not a just a word in some file or duty roster.

"Depends on who you ask, a lot of women say men are pigs :D" - A lot of men even agree to that. And bear the name with pride:)

"True, though it still doesn't explain the biotic part, because Kaidan in ME1 says that Conatix especially brought in turian teachers, because they were still unsure about how biotics usage works, and needed someone else to teach the new kids" - The only thing I can say, that Conatix and humanity on the whole were unsure, but Henry in particular might have discovered a way, and of course, didn't share it with others. Because he's an a-hole!:)

"You know what I realized yesterday thinking about ME while cooking dinner?" - You know, that's a perfect start of a sentence!:) Dinner and ME really tie to each other, because both of them theoretically could be tastier, then they were:) Nevermind, "that metaphor got a bit away from me, didn't it?"(c) Isabela. So, it is an interesting thought. I'd respond, that a small benefit to ME1 ending, is that at least a small circle of people, your team, believe you, and you can get a satisfaction of sharing your burden with others, because if you're the only one in the galaxy, who believes in the Reapers, you'd go crazy. ME2 ending isn't very satisfying, but neither it should be - it's an intermission. BUT, throughout the course of the game, you can get satisfaction, that a larger number of people share your concerns about the Reapers, and are willing to act. The quarians do, the geth do, some in the Alliance do, hell, even Cerberus does. I don't think, that it is a return to ME1 status quo. There is a payoff, albeit small. But as for ME3, you're totally right. The payoff could be actually measured in war assets. Showing during the game, that war assets matter not only for the final battle, but for intermediary battles too. Like the war goes well with minimum possible casualties AND then, in the final battle for Earth, the allied fleet comes out of the relay in a blood rage state, you tell the Reapers "Don't. F*ck. With organics!" and tear them to shreds. That would be a payoff, if you did things right. But that cannot be achieved if war assets are measured in stupid numbers. And the endings come... Of course, with those endings you cannot feel any payoff and satisfaction at all. And that's why the whole trilogy goes down the toilet. But as of "reaping the benefits"... We're not the reapers here. They have a monopoly on "reaping"XD

"Oh yeah, and due to your unending love for the Council, I decided to do a pro-Council playthrough starting with ME1 (cos I'm bored) ;P" - I'm not sure how to understand it correctly... Due to my unending love, you'll save the Counsil just for me??? XD Ok, I'm playing a Vanguard next ME3 playthrough XD

"Though that means I will have much less renegade points in ME2...hmm, might add some via save editor, just for balance..." - you need that much renegade points for ME2? What for? O_o The only thing I can think about is conducting "the shortest interrogation in history" in Thane's loyalty mission. "I'm a Spectre, start talking", that thingy. I never understood why Paragon Spectres cannot say that, when they have full authority to do so.-Algol- 14:51, May 4, 2012 (UTC)

"the USA and I had a treaty and I allowed him to go through my lands while I was busy on researching stuff" - Seems to me you've broken a fundemantal rule of "Civilization". Never, NEVER sign an open passage treaty, if you're not prepared to attack first. Research-only agreements work just fine. On the other hand, if you're really prepared to attack - sign open borders! On lower difficulties the dumb AI usually has trouble figuring out, that troops amasing right near his capital, are NOT on a parade:) "Friggin Americans..." - One of my friends has a habit of dropping nukes on Japan, while playing "Civilization". He calls it "historical reenactment" XD

"Humanity can achieve really great things from time to time" - They usually call them "miracles":) Celebrated by a nice slaughter a few years after:)

"To be fair in DA there are only 2 kinds of NPCs: utterly incompetent fools or Mary Sue level ones :D" - Wait, DA:O has quite a few characters, that are neither! Morrigan and... and... and that's about it!:)

Hmmm... Very interesting feelings your Warden had about the Battle of Denerim! And so... strange for me. My Warden went into battle in a happiest mood possible! We had a plan! For the first time in the whole freaking war we had a plan! Plus the whole team was ripping the darkspawn horde apart. Plus we already had experience of killing a huge dragon, so no need to fear the Archdemon much. But actually, all of it wasn't really important, because Morrigan was by his side. You see, my Warden preferred blissful ignorance. Morrigan's phrase of her departure after the battle kinda went past him... He simply couldn't comprehend the fact. Refused to acknowledge it. But then, during the ceremony the grim reality hit... She wasn't at that hall, just... wasn't anymore. You can imagine how the rest of the ceremony went. He didn't care about what people told him, didn't even pay attention. The only thing to say was "I've killed the Archdemon for you, celebrate, rejoice, whatever, just LET ME OUT OF HERE, I don't have time for speeches, I need to find her!!!" Oh, and for the whole Awakening he didn't give two craps about Architects, darkspawn and all that stuff, as there was only one thing, that was really important. I guess my Warden really deserved his happy ending:)))

"On the topic of MMOs, heard that there will be The Elder Scrolls Online? Will be set 1000 years before the events of Skyrim" - Sure thing! Actually, this particular period in the history of Tamriel is really interesting with events such as... Scratch that, who cares? It will be an MMO, all those events can be safely flushed down the toilet.

"Yet that means, she knows that Shepard said to Liara “hey I have info on the Shadow Broker, wanna take him out?”, then saw Liara coming back alive some time after as an even more powerful info broker..." - Only if Liara has returned to Illium after the destruction of Shadow Broker ship, but before joining the crew on Mars. Because if Aethyta only meets Liara on the Citdel, she can't possible know what capacity of intel Liara has. She didn't bug the Normandy, I hope. So she only sees Liara alive, but that still means nothing: she might have retreated from an unsuccessful battle, or simply didn't find the Shadow Broker. I suppose a lot of people tried, but didn't, even if they had leads.

"Even my Shepard wouldn't tell him about that actually" - Why is that? I thought your Shepard is an upright lawful good Alliance soldier, and the Shadow Broker kinda rules a criminal empire;) And probably knows about all stuff, happening in Alliance, more then Hackett does, outrage!;)

"Screw that! It should be Admiral Shepard, Savior of the Galaxy! :D" - Nah, too flashy, and chest-pounding for the sake of chest-pounding. A tasteful, solemn, but dignified quarian tradition would be just perfect. "May your stand between you crew and harm, as you lead them through the empty quarters of the stars" - an ancient ship captain's blessing. Just awe-inspiring. I don't even have words.

"I just got bored while peeling potato and let my mind wander" - You know, aptitude for multi-tasking is such a great thing! Because each time I am peeling potatos, and let my mind wander, I start peeling my hands. I don't mind stakes with blood, but not potatoes, with my blood!:)

Well, at least ME1 has a quite uplifting ending of "The Reapers are coming, and I will find a way to stop them!", with a picture of Shepard standing all cool and heroic. The face shows concentration, but also conviction, as Shepard is looking somewhere far, as if into the future.

"And your old crew, while they do believe you, they don't do squat either though" - one-third of your old crew is a bit busy following your orders:)

"Yeah, that poor game really doesn't serve much purpose in the greater story, which is sad" - It has purpose. It makes you acquainted with people, on whom you will rely later. What would we do without Miranda, Mordin, Legion? For instance, I had my satisfaction, when I watched the cutscene after the Collector base, where you look at the photos of Harbinger, and your crew reloads their weapons. Their faces expressed one brief, but very promising phrase: "Let them come!" All in all, if in ME1 you assess if the Reapers are going to invade, then in ME2 you assess when exactly they are going to invade.

"“a larger number of people share your concerns about the Reapers, and are willing to act. The quarians do” - I'm sorry, but what?" - I'll try to explain my point better:


 * "They never really acknowledge the reaper threat. In Tali's loyalty mission, the reapers come up only twice. One time is when you tell Han'Gerrel not to be an idiot and lose the whole fleet while fighting the geth (ohoho the irony) to which he says that if they are going to fight the reapers, they need a planet for non-combatants (once again, irony max" - the fact, that they see a probability of fighting the Reapers is already acknowledging their existence first, and their threat second. "IF" - does not always mean condition, it also can be substituted by when, depending on context. But even if we won't dig into context, they already acknowledge the Reaper threat by considering conditions of fighting them. Noone would be willing to consider conditions of fighting something, that s/he doesn't believe to exist. Because they don't go all "we have dismissed that claim".


 * About the irony itself. It easy to benefit from hindsight in this situation, but question is: whether it is really necessary? At that pont neither the quarians, nor Shepard had a slightest idea of how things would really turn out in ME3. And yes, they needed a planet to shelter non-combatants, because they couldn't fight Reapers otherwise. They could send civilian ships against the geth, because they were able to disrupt them, thanks to Daro'Xen, but that wouldn't work against the Reapers. Besides, if the geth wouldn't turn to a certain reaper, who was very willing to help, Han'Gerrels plan would have actually worked. His methods of getting a planet were questionable, but his goal and need for a planet are undisputed. I don't see an irony here, rather a tragedy.


 * "But that's pretty much only there to justify his opinion on the geth war" - He didn't need to justify anything. He just stated a fact: they need a planet to fight the Reapers, or someone else, doesn't even matter who, they just need it. And he presents one of the ways of getting it. I disagreed with him going to war, hell, I was in pain when I saw that madness, and so many quarians dying, but I can't deny, that they really needed a planet. Gerrel's goal wasn't killing all geth in the galaxy, his goal was taking Rannoch back.


 * "Then at the end Shep can ask them once again to not go to war, so they can help with the reapers, to which you get a “yeah, sure we think about it whatever” answer, and Shepard shakes his/her head while walking away" - Exactly. And they were completely right. Because there were more pressing matters at hand. Not more important, more pressing. Just as Shepard first assembles a team and upgrades the ship, and only then flies off to fight the Collectors. What did your Shepard say to Jacob after the Derelict Reaper, when he suggested going for the IFF? I bet it was "Yeah, opinion noted, whatever, we need to muster our forces beforehand".


 * Just on a sidenote, about geth themselves. They did arguably more stupid thing by turning to the Reapers, then quarians attacking them. Legion says: we didn't have a choice, otherwise we'd been destroyed and all that. I call bs on that one. They could have just fled the system. Either through a mass relay, but in case the quarians were blocking it, via FTL. All they needed to do is GTFO of Rannoch, because the moment quarians secure the orbit of "home sweet home", they'd never pursue. They'd just forget everything and started landing. And then geth could regroup, refuel and start petitioning Shepard to deal with the problem. With all my respect to the geth after newly found evidence, the fact still remains: they willingly aligned themselves with the Reapers TWICE. And we never saw a single indoctrinated quarian, just saying.

There is only one species, that I will be as defensive of, as of asari: the quarians!:)

"Actually, if you think about it, Cerberus was already getting ready for the reapers in ME1, in their own lets-test-things-on-humans way" - you're right. TIM knew a little bit about the Reapers pretty much from the times of "Evolution", though Miranda implies, that husks-rachni-thorians were designed to fight geth.

"As for the overall ME3 payoff, while sure the endings suck, what really bothers me right now is that there is no you-utterly-failed ending" - I'm actually bothered more by the absence of "you-totally-succeeded" ending, I like this type more!:) Like in the suicide mission: everyone is alive and well, Shepard is alive and well, everything is ok. People can say what they want opposing happy endings, but they tend to forget ME's genre. It's a space opera. A heroic saga. Happy endings are perfectly fine for this genre. "ME2 comes a bit closer, with Shepard being able to die, but still not there really, cos overall you still win" - Overall you still lose. You win a battle, but most surely already lost the war. Shepard kills a single premature reaper and freaking dies, and then the cutscene shows them in full force. To completely erode the feel of "winning", Harbinger should have had a trollface in that cutscene. "No one really cares that much about Earth anyway..." - with all the talk of "taking Earth back", it must have gotten a bit stale.

"And I thought I give the Council members an other chance, which is your influence no doubt :D" - Yay!!! I'm so glad my influence has a chance to save 10003 virtual people, instead of just 6000 virtual people! XD I promise not to snipe with a Vanguard... much XD Ok, I won't be even carrying snifles. Seriously though, I hope you won't be disappointed.

"I also wanted to romance Kaidan, cos he is like a cute puppy in ME3, but my resolution shattered once Liara got on board of the Normandy XD" - Wouldn't expect anything else!:) I mean, Liara is the Liara. And cute puppies are for feeding them, walking with them, playing with them, watching them grow up into vicious dogs, but not romancing O_o

"Especially since you can say that you are a Spectre once his lawyer is there, so it really doesn't make any sense" - Actually, only a Paragon Spectre would say, that s/he is a Spectre from the very begining. It's polite and fair. A true Renegade would wait for the lawyer, then beat the crap out of the guy in front of his lawyer, then learn the needed info, shoot the guy in front of his lawyer, then beat the crap out of the lawyer, and only then say "I'm a Spectre, I am above the law" for epic trolling. Gosh, my Shepard is always Paragon, but sometimes I have these dirty Renegade thoughts, hehe:)

You know, a random thought. Why can't we do this thingy in ME2: 1)Pick up a husk corpse. 2)Pick up a Collector corpse. 3)Go to the Citadel and arrange a meeting with the Council. 4)Ask them to run a DNA test on the Collector corpse and compare it to the DNA of a prothean in that prothean colony EDI said. 5)Ask them to run a DNA test on the husk corpse and compare it to the DNA of a poor sod in that human colony, that was attacked. 6)Ask them to compare the tech inside both corpses. 7)Remind them, that geth weren't around 50.000 years ago. 8)Burn the corpses and destroy the tech ASAP to avoid indoctrination. Additional safety measure would be to conduct the meeting via hologram on a large distance. Still possible to run tests. 9)Ask them to make a conclusion. 10)Promise them cookies, if they make the right (and only:D) conclusion. Nah, I'm not tired of this question yet: Logic. Where is it?-Algol- 00:54, May 5, 2012 (UTC)

"She is the exception, who proves the rule ;)" - Ok, if we dig a bit deeper, was Leliana that of a Mary Sue? Or Dog? Don't forget the Dog!XD

"Yeah, mine would have preferred that too, but sadly she is too much of a realist for that :D" - My Warden was a realist too. Then he got indoctrinated:) But then he got a happy ending!:)

"She explained that her human noble Warden didn't have time for the tree's BS, so just killed it. My dalish Warden would have been mortified even at a suggestion like this :D" - Totally! Even if not Dalish, both of my human Wardens would never do that! Though it's kind of a dilemma: who to help? A batshit crazy blood mage, or a tree possesed by a spirit (no guarantee it's not a demon)? At least the "Poet Tree" is polite and fun:)

"Well, first of all, killing the Shadow Broker wasn't an Alliance operation, so there is no actual need to report it. Second, the more people know about who the Broker is, the less effective Liara will be" - You know, the operation on Thessia wasn't an Alliance op either. It was Thessian internal affairs. Yet your Shepard has no problem with intention of revealing asari's secret to the whole galaxy. Despite that the more people will know about the beacon, the less effective Liara, and asari on the whole, will be in the future.

"Well even if she didn't, by the time of ME3 they know that she is alive, helping Shepard, and still doing the info broker thing" - that doesn't necessary prove she is the Shadow Broker. As I've said, many people must have had leads on him/her/them, but still failed to find the Broker. Never mind though, Liara just needs to keep it quiet, until Aethyta dies of old age (with all due respect). Holy crap, asari dying of old age... unimaginable:) "they could totally air the vids as secret asari-only reality tv show :D" - I guess Allers might be feeding leaks:) She always talks, that her program has a large asari audience:)

"but since Liara convinces her that having resources is more important than love at the moment, she gives up on that, and has to settle for making the best of the situation" - Is it really non-compatible? I mean, even if Liara stays on now-hers ship, your Shepard can come by any time, and have all the love she wants!:) Lot's of money would go into fuel (that's the only I didn't like about Liara's new ship:D), but, hey, it even pays off with funding missions!

"Like once I managed to do it with a ruler :D" - Rulers can really be tools for murder, don't they?:)

"And there are very few actions in ME2 that are done in preparation for the reapers, since most of the story focuses on the Collectors" - I'd disagree on that. Pretty much everything you did in ME2 was a preparation for invasion. You learned about Reaper startegy in ME1, and now know, that these bastards like to already have footholds in the galaxy, before they arrive. Your sacred duty is to eliminate those footholds and disrupt their plans. That's why you combat collectors, that's why you destroy a few indoctrination devices, that's why you deal with heretic geth in some way. Without these things, you'll come into the final stage of direct invasion bare-assed. Just a few more points:
 * Destroying the Collectors, you pretty much wiped out a whole species of husks, who posses an intricate statsis tech, which could prove disastrous in the upcoming war. The reapers will have less foot soldiers and ships.
 * Same goes for heretic geth.
 * Learning the true purpose of Human-Reaper is really irrelevant. He might have tried to open the relay, or try to pave way for the invasion in some other way, but that doesn't really matter. It needed to be destroyed regardless. And you did it.
 * Preparing forces, gathering intel, eliminating enemy footholds and agents is a VITAL stage of preparation to war, up to the point, that it is ALREADY fighting a war. That's called "Cold War". Look at salarian military doctrine, which kept them successful for milennia: Before you even know you're at war, your power plants suddenly collapse, your generals are assasinated and the main enemy force didn't even show up yet. You already lost. You want the Reapers to successfully implement this strategy? I think not, and that's what you do in ME2: you're not allowing them to implement it.
 * You ackuire a new Shadow Broker, who is loyal to you and ready to fight the reapers. Liara's intel proved to be a great addition to your strength in ME3.
 * We all learn in ME3, what happens if you do not eliminate a reaper foothold: look at TIM and how much trouble he caused. A single indoctrinated f*cktard nearly screwed up the whole galaxy.

So I really had my satisfaction from ME2: they called it a suicide mission, but I emerged triumphant against all odds. Good for morale, because morale is pretty much the main weapon we have against the reapers. They don't have it. Also, I proved, that I am able to severely disrupt enemy plans, while having only a single task force. I didn't even need dreadnought fire. Besides, as EDI says on a Derelict Reaper, shields of a dead (!!!) reaper are impervious to dreadnought fire. Holy crap, we really needed those Thanix cannons in ME3. So overall, in ME2 you do a great job from the strategic point of view.

So... On quarian topic:)
 * "I really wouldn't go as far to say that one throw-away line is them “considering” anything regarding the reapers" - certain someone said, that quarians "do not acknowledge the reaper threat". They do. They may not "consider" dealing with it right now, but, I repeat, they do not say to you: "Ah yes reapers, we dismissed that claim", when you tell them, that you'll be needing their fleet against the reapers. At the very least, they do not disagree, that reapers exist. That's a big progress already, if you compare with the rest of the galaxy.


 * One more point: did they know about heretic and mainstream geth in ME2? Nope, even if you bring Legion aboard. They still consider the geth as reaper servants (for good reason), and act accordingly. For the very same reason you are fighting the collectors.


 * "True, but you see, the “logic” goes like this: Since we need a place to shelter our non-combatants, lets go to war with geth, strap guns on our live-ships, and endanger our non-combatants, but it's okay, cos we only do it to save them. Starchild logic at it's best really" - Not really. Each war cannot be won without casualties, and there is a military term of "acceptable losses". Secondly, they didn't have another choice, then to endanger them, because they couldn't shelter them anywere. So, yes, those losses were acceptable, and the reality proves it: they were winning on all fronts, with civilian ships aiding them greatly, right until the geth flipped and aligned themselves with the reapers. Nobody could have predicted that. Their strategic plan was sound and effective, it's nowhere near starchild logic.


 * "Yes, but why the hell does it need to be Rannoch? Sheltering non-combatants could be done on any other dextro-based planet" - And again, no. It couldn't be done. The galaxy has plenty of planets, but how many of them are habitable? A tiny fraction of one percent? Even less? Now, we'll take one more thing into account: quarian health requirements. Which makes this tiny number even less. Sheltering non-combatants on a random planet is same as sheltering them on a ship: they are one suit rupture away from death. But at least, when on a ship, they can fight. "they would have found a non-occupied planet to set up a temporary colony, so they could shelter their people there" - And again, no, they wouldn't. What do you think they were doing for 300 years? No planet was fit for them. Once, they even managed to find such a colony. And then the Council threatened to bomb them, because this colony already belonged to the elcor. Frigging elcor. "But no, for them it has to be Rannoch, which means, that they don't want the planet for practical reasons, but more for moral and sentimental value" - I think I already made clear, why it wasn't, but one more point: if among the purely practical needs there is also a moral value, it is AS VITAL. Because morale is key in wars for your very survival. Do not underestimate its' strategic value.


 * "Why war with the geth? The geth aren't attacking, so it's not a pressing matter" - it's not about the geth firstly, only secondly. FIRST priority is getting a planet. I already explained as to why Rannoch, but they need a planet, because they cannot function without it anymore. First cerberus attacks one of their ships. Do you know how many quarians died on Idenna, and how many more could have died, if Cerberus wasn't stopped in time? They felt threatened. Then Tali returns and talks about the Reapers. And if by acquiring a planet they also can destroy a good number of geth, the better. War with the geth was only one of methods, which led to a single goal. So yes, it really was a pressing matter.


 * You don't seem to mind krogans refusing to go to war with the reapers, without having a genophage cure, despite that quarians are in a very similar position.

Now about the geth acting "truly intelligent" (*sarcasm*)


 * "Yeah, though it's sort-of-kinda-but-not-really justified since they get dumber with each geth killed, and since hardware platforms contain a lot of them, they were dying by the millions" - I'd call it "not really at all" justified. The destruction of their hardware didn't happen simultaniuosly, before they continued losing the battle and then aligned with the reapers, time has passed. I'd say plenty of time to warm up FTL drives.


 * "Especially since getting Rannoch back without Shepard's help would mean that Han'Gerrel was “right”, they would regard him as a hero, and he would really want to just kill all the geth" - What gave you that idea? Gerrel NEVER said, that he wants to eradicate all geth. He said drive them from our homeworld. He has won the war for Rannoch, and since reaper invasion was already confirmed, time to prepare for another war then. Gerrel is not that stupid. Of course he says "destroy all geth fleet" in the mission, but circumstances were completely different: the battle is still ongoing. If it wasn't, then quarians wouldn't pursue. Not to mention, that only the Patrol fleet has the speed to actually pursue geth's superior ships.


 * "At that point even petitioning Shep would not have helped the geth, because the quarians most likely would have been drunk on victory" - Again, what gave you that idea? Shepard managed to broker even harder alliances. Since quarians are already satisfied with revenge, and geth do not feel revenge, I'm sure it would turn out good.


 * "“they willingly aligned themselves with the Reapers TWICE.” - And the quarians started war with the geth twice just to have their butt kicked :)" - I think that starting a local territorial war and aligning with enemies of the whole galaxy is a bit beyond comparison. Not that the second victory is geth's credit, really. You're thanking Reapers for kicking quarian butt.


 * "That's really only due to the fact that they rarely leave the fleet, and kids on their Pilgrimage rarely come in contact with anything reaper related, since those are either top-secret or very risque" - Doesn't change the fact, that quarians are far more trustier allies, then the geth, does it? Maybe not for Shepard, but for the allied fleets on the whole.

All in all, I'm not really big on all that geth "quarians tried to kill us, we acted in self-defence". Uh-huh. Killing five billion people doesn't exactly qualify for self defence. Not to mention, that the whole geth view of the Morning War story is riddled with plot-holes.

"“Overall you still lose. You win a battle, but most surely already lost the war.” - Sure, but you don't actually get to see it" - Well, we do see a horde of reapers closing in on the galaxy, and Shepard, who can fight them, dying previously. I guess that qualifies for "all is lost" in ME2.

"I know it's the human homeworld, so it's important, however to my Spacer Shepard, it doesn't have that much of a sentimental value, and she is more focused on saving the galaxy as a whole" - Same for me. Even if my Shepard was an Earthborn (one of them is, but not "canon"), he would not feel anything special towards it. It is important from strategic point of view, yes, but given the fact, that the reaper concentration is thickest in the Sol system, we need to wait until we will be in full strength, and double-check even after that. The Suicide Mission kinda taught it.

"I think it's the sexy voice and that shy sideway-look while saying “I wanted to know more about you...” that gets me every time really" - That logic I never understood. Not in your particular case, it's a videogame anyway, but on the whole. One shy look can plant seeds of doubt in a well-established relationship? Especially if this look, or voice, or anything is not even worth it? "most girls like cute things, so if a guy acts cute they will want to hug and kiss them, which in return can lead to “romancing” :D" - I know. And most guys find this logic strange, if not repulsive. Cuteness alone doesn't mean anything. Many guys even associate quteness with weakness, which is... understandable, at least for me.

"Me likes! Someone in a thread said that there should have been Spectre interrupts in ME2 and ME3, which would be really just Shepard pointing out that he/she has the authority to do whatever he/she wants" - Yeah, I like that too! Respect my Spectre authoritah!!! Bad Mr.TIMmy, bad!!!XD

"like why didn't Shepard record the conversation with Sovereign etc" - I want a reporter squadmate. Seriously, I can handle battles with only one sqadmate, the other should just record stuff and send it to specific people. At least Allers will be of some use in such a way:)-Algol- 15:20, May 5, 2012 (UTC)

P.S. I really like long messages, thank you!;) -Algol- 15:27, May 5, 2012 (UTC)

"In the game she sort of sucked for me, cos I never needed another archer in my group, but liked having her around, so had to change her skills :D" - Yeah, that! You can make her a dual-wield rogue quite easily. Ask her to remember her training from "Leliana's Song", so to speak. Oh, one important question to Leliana fan: did you actually like that DLC? Because people usually have mixed feelings about it, and most of them negative:(

There is one party member, who doesn't like the Dog: Shale. For obvious reasons, I guess XD

"That's not really a question for an elf who grow up in forests :D" - Yeah, but... Think about it: if the tree is possesed, then it is unnatural. It needs... help:(

"But I used Alliance resources for it, and Shepard herself is in the Alliance, while during LotSB she isn't. During Thessia Shepard is an Alliance soldier, and the mission is part of the joint war effort" - 1)This mission is not a part of a joined war effort, because nobody among allies of the asari brought a force to it. A single ship for transportation doesn't constitute a "joined force". In military terms, it was a special operation, conducted by a single entity, the Asari Republics and it's internal affairs. Also special operators are required to abstain from disclosure of such affairs, just saying. The asari councillor gives you this mission, not the Council, not the Alliance, so it is NOT a joint effort. 2) First and foremost, you are a Council Spectre. Only then you are an Alliance soldier. That's how it is "by the book". 3)If you relate to "using Alliance resources", with this logic you can't say a word against TIMmy on the Collector base, because you were using his resources, and also you shouldn't really kill the Council in ME1, because the Normandy was built using their resources. "Implying that's not a bonus, since my Shepard doesn't want Liara to continue being the Broker after the war, and would at least try to do something against Liara keeping that position without hurting her in the process" - And you are perfectly good with risking to hurt Liara A LOT, because all the Galaxy will start to hate her own people? You do realise, that after learning about witholding prothean legacy, people will start hunting asari with pitchforks, right?

"“Holy crap, asari dying of old age... unimaginable:)” - I would love to see that..." - Why? Why do you hate asari?

"And also my Shep was a bit worried about the whole info broker thing, cos she knows how obsessive Liara can be" - We are all obsessive with making the galaxy a better place. Someone is obsessed with fighting Reapers, someone fights Reapers (and not only) in a bit different way. My Shepard always understands Liara in this situation, even if he feels sad for not having a friend around. So when it's all over, he'd just make mandatory for Liara to appear on annual victory celebrations and birthdays of little Rael'Shepard nar Rannoch:)

"Sure doesn't feel like it in ME3 though. I mean, I understand that they have less, but it still feels like they have endless resources so, again, doesn't really feel like a payoff for my actions" - If you say so. I mean, if you feel like this, then it's your prerogative, and I have nothing to say here, only to accept and respect it. I dunno, I feel this payoff for myself. I am very glad, that Reaper ground forces do not have sort of a "special forces" units among them (who can freaking fly!), and there won't be Praetorians in addition to Brutes. I may not have depleted the number of Reaper ground forces, but I surely have stripped them of tactical versatility.

"Sure no matter it's purpose you have to destroy it, but I think it would have been an advantage to know what it should have done, and what the plan you just disrupted should have been, cos seeing the logic behind it could have helped in the coming war" - Yes, my mistake, I agree here. Guess BW only planned to show how Reapers reproduce with baby-reaper, they didn't think any bigger, about it's role in Reaper strategy, and all that stuff. Let's leave it to headcanon. Actually, my headcanon in my tabletop, is that an ultimate challenge for the players is to uncover and destroy a "secondary vanguard" Reaper, who was left, in case Sovereign fails (which he certainly did), before the massed invasion starts. I call him "Deceiver". His main goal is to eradicate organic's will to fight by blindfolding them to Reaper threat, or seeding apocalyptic mood in those, who are able and willing to fight, acting mainly through indoctrinated agents. Who knows, maybe the Human-Reaper was meant to be something like this.

"Yeah, I get that, but you know once again, my problem isn't the fact that we didn't do stuff in ME2, but rather that it doesn't matter in ME3" - Well, it doesn't. It all was sacrificed for bringing the "broader audience", who didn't play the first two games. BUT. We were talking about the feeling of payoff solely and independently in ME2, right? No, not right... Ok, at least I was talking about ME2 without relating it to ME3. ME2 gives this "warm feeling" Jacob was talking about: you can f*ck up Reaper plans with 13 people.

"That's one more thing I will never understand, why didn't I get the option to try and kill TIM?" - Be advised, enemies wear heavy plot-armor. Recommend switching to plot-armour-piercing ammunition. Wait, there isn't a plot-armour-piercing ammunition in ME, Garrus only has standard issue armour-piercing:( "And really, I just wanted to kill TIM ever since I first talked to him" - I always wanted to kill him before I talked to him XD

"“Good for morale, because morale is pretty much the main weapon we have against the reapers.” - Well, considering that you use a different crew in ME3 and how most people only have second hand info about what happened, I don't think it's that relevant" - Let's assume everyone survives the suicide missions and has their loyalty quests resolved. Mordin is spurned by Reaper threat to overlook his stance on genophage completely, and supports the krogan without doubt, because everyone needs krogans now. Tali now has a vote on the admiralty board and can "spread awareness", so to speak. Garrus is spurned by the Reaper threat and manages to overcome his life-long disagreements with his father, and gains a task force, thanks to which turians are still in shape. Legion opposes the Reapers even when his whole race gives in to them. EDI is unshackled and finds interest and care about organics. Miranda admits, that Cerberus is a very bad idea. The newbies in ME3, who weren't around before? Who the f*ck cares about them? James is a meatshield, who is used solely for soaking up enemy bullets, and nobody cares about what info he has, or what he thinks. Javik has PLENTY of info about the Reapers, and he doesn't need any motivation to fight them. Morale is vital not only for Normandy's crew, no, it is vital for those, who fight the Reapers, even if they are not aboard the Normandy.

And now... Back to our quarians! XD


 * "I don't think that not telling Shepard outright that he/she is crazy equals acknowledgment" - What do you mean outright? Did they tell it to Shepard later? No. They have a very straight line of behaviour towards Shepard an Reapers: they listen to Shepard, they don't deny his words about the Reapers. Why would they? They of all species know and understand the danger of synthetics. In this particular case "non-denial" means aknowledgement. " And if they think that the geth are the servants of the reapers, why doesn't Han'Gerrel bring that up, when Shepard tells him not to go to war? Or why doesn't use Xen that as an argument about why the geth should be brainwashed back to our side?" - Do you honestly think BW would bother themselves to write such an amount of dialogue only for the sake of logic? Legion weren't even supposed to be on the Flotilla, because 99% of players do the loyalty missions before the "Reaper IFF". If Legion's recruitment earlier in the game wasn't scrapped, we might have seen this dialogue, but we don't see it because of technical reasons, not because of lore reasons. "Sure, you can assume they think that way, but it's not supported in the dialogue at all" - I don't assume anything. I only state what is in the dialogue. In the dialogue the Council says "Ah, yes, Reapers..." In the dialogue Anderson says "Yeah, Reapers are bad, but the Alliance doesn't want to know about them". In the dialogue Avina says "What's a Reaper? O_o". And in the dialogue Han'Gerrel says "We'll need a planet to shelter our non-combatants if we're to fight the Reapers". I think it freaking qualifies as acknowledgement, especially in comparison.


 * "That's not “acceptable loss” that's turning everyone into soldiers" - Nope. If they gave each civilian a gun and forced them to fight a ground war in trenches, THAT would be turning everyone into soldier and generally stupid. Ever heard of "suppresing fire"? In this particular case, when they are fighting a high tech space battle, and pretty much every quarian is an able technician, this plan is strategically and tactically sound. Everyone of us, you and me, can push a freaking red button, when told to do so. Give hundreds of such people, as you and me, a red button, and we will be able to provide a high enough density of fire, that we actually hit the enemy. That's how present-day humans fight wars: give a hundred of AK-47's to a hundred of peasants, and they will provide such an amount of suppressing fire, that they will be able to toss highly-professional US marines out of Vietnam, Iraq or Lybia. In the case of quarians, their civilian crews would be vulnerable to boarding actions, yes, but geth do not undertake boarding actions. They do not need to capture the ship or her crew, they just shoot. "Really I could agree with loss and all, but putting guns on those ships is just stupid" - Now I hope you understand, that it is not. Moreover, it was a tactically brilliant plan, and it actually worked. Right until the moment, when geth flipped, but noone could have expected that.


 * "and once again, it's a treaty violation...yes I'm a “by the book” person when it comes to things like this" - I am at disappoint. You don't have any problems with Liara being the Shadow Broker, and even don't have any problems with hiding it. I'm sure, that leaking government-clearance information, bribing and blackmailing high-ranking officials, and cracking everything, that has a "CLASSIFIED" stamp on it, goes against several galactic treaties too. I'm sure you had no problem authorizing a mission on the Shadow Broker terminal, which helps Binary Helix conduct illegal genetic modifications to Alliance soldiers. And now you say "treaty violation"? By no means to offend, I see a great deal of selective logic here. Not to mention, that quarians are not subject to this treaty, or any Citadel treaties.


 * "Sure, they could die due to an accident on the planet, and all, but how is it better put people who aren't trained for it into the fight?" - For the record, according to Tali, every quarian undergoes basic combat training before departing on the Pilgrimage.


 * "Sure there was that one planet that they didn't get, but other than that we don't know if they tried or not, cos we don't really have any source on it" - You seem to ignore my argument about the probability of finding such a planet. In this particular case it is extremely low. Like, REALLY, EXTREMELY low. They might as well wander the Galaxy for another 300 years and don't find squat.


 * "I don't, but for me at least the possibility of staying alive and not dying in a war is more important for morale" - If this was true, there wouldn't be any wars.


 * "I guess being threatened sort of justifies being illogical about the war" - Fight or flight instinct. Common to organics. What is much more sad, though, that this war was actually very logical. Tragic, pointless, but logical.


 * "So, is it only one of the methods or a pressing matter?" - Wrong choice of words from my side, a pressing goal. Many methods existed to achieve this goal, war was one of them.

"I have a problem with the krogans being selfish jackasses and not pledging support to Shepard right at the start" - Why? Blaming krogan for being selfish jackasses is similar to blaming krogan for being true to their nature. Problem is, that, let's face it, and with all due respect, krogan fulfilled the operation "organic shield" in this war. They were meat and expendable shock troops. And they were the first ones to realize and accept it. So they really needed the numbers to fulfill this role AND to survive afterwards as species.

"Mostly the fact that in ME2 every second sentence of his is about killing geth, and he even hopes that heretics and geth have a civil war an kill each other" - killing geth on Rannoch, not each and every geth in the galaxy. Hoping of total eradication of the geth and acting in this way is completely different. He only started acting this way while on Rannoch's orbit during the Priority mission. Yeah, that was stupid of him. "Or the fact that he was willing to sacrifice Shepard and a quarian Admiral to take out a non-functioning dreadnought" - suddenly BW took a 180 and decided to smear quarians. I guess he was taking one for the team.

Shepard can also secure a salarian-krogan alliance. Not the "shake hands and hug each other" type of alliance, but "let's fight a common enemy and hate each other later" type. That could still be done in the quarian-geth scenario, should the geth retreated. Because later, when quarians are settled on Rannoch, and the Reapers are dealt with, the martial law is over. That means, that even if two crazy admirals are up to something, they wouldn't be able to do anything, because nobody would follow them.

Just for the record: quarians were the only ones to bother with researching the dark energy anomalies, even despite having the most limited resources to so. The only ones. Given that the dark energy was supposed to be instead of the crappy starchild, we should consider calling quarians the less stupid of them all.

"Except that the whole galaxy doesn't really trust the quarians that much to begin with..." - I was comparing them to the geth. So comparing to the geth, each and every species trust quarians a lot. when Alliance soldiers saw friendly Primes, they opened fire. Kinda illustrates.

"why do I keep including where I think? Whatever..." - It's a rather common method of remembering what exactly were you thinking. By associating things with tied circumstances, like places, numbers, sequences, people, even scents, it is easier to memorize them. A mnemonic technique, actually. You're on your way to becoming a salarian:)

"it would have made an interesting though very tragic story, the quarians digging out a reaper artifact while mining a planet, bringing it on bored, and getting quarians indoctrinated" - It would be very interesting, yes! On the other hand, wait... Quarians are pretty much the only major races, who weren't massively indoctrinated, and instead of being happy for them, you want to indoctrinate them??? I have to repeat myself in a slightly differnt manner:) Why? Why do you hate quarians?

"“Well, we do see a horde of reapers closing in on the galaxy, and Shepard, who can fight them, dying previously. I guess that qualifies for "all is lost" in ME2.” - Not necessarily, the Crucible plans still could be found, and used..." - Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear enough... All is lost in ME2, solely and separately. Let's not count ME3 here, not the point.

"You guys would get girls much easier if you were willing to act cute from time to time :D" - You know, not everything revolves around girls in guys' lives. Sometimes the goal is just not worth the effort. Acting cute can be unbearable, if it disgusts you.

"Shepard would need to find Cerberus operatives hiding in the Citadel slums while Allers and Al-Jelani would stream it live to the viewers. It would have featured some combat, but mainly detective work" - screw that, I want combat. I can already see the script:

Diana Allers reporting straight from a hotzone in Reaper-controlled space, where the squad, led by Commander Shepard, valiantly fights the Reaper invaders. Commander Shepard, a question for you: What's your stance on the Council's preparation for war? *Nothing happens* Sorry, folkes, Commander Shepard has just charged away, Admiral Zorah, the same question! *Marauders closing in on the squad position* - Bosh'tets! - I'm sorry, have we heard it right? Admiral Zorah just called the Council... *Area Energy Drain takes down the Marauders... and Allers' camera drone explodes right in her face, ruining her makeup* We have a bit of a technical problem, folkes, but stay with us! Watch a commercial in the meanwhile! "Spectre Requisitions. For those, who have the creds..." *after the commercial* Doctor T'Soni! Rumor says, that you have absolutely nothing to do with the recent flux in the information market. Can you verify... *Allers is embedded in a Stasis field, and winks Morse code with her eyelids* Why am I unable to move at all? Folks, stay with us, this is definitely a sensation!!! Dr. T'Soni, thank you! Is it true, that Stasis fields made their targets impervious to damage six months ago? - Yes, but that was changed. - By whom? - By the Goddess. *Allers gets a bullet between the eyes*

...Such is the grim fate of a war reporter XD

"Hmmm...we didn't talk about how stupid and stuck up the turians are :D Though we know that's due to the fact that they all have a stick up their ass as a back-up weapon!" - You know, it's not even fun or at least remotely productive to argue about the turians! Really, it's all about "who has a bigger dreadnought main cannon?", them, or humans. Analogies intended:)

"Off to Virmire... RIP Ashley" - Just... Just save the Council!XD Ashley would not have wanted that!XD

"I really should add some ME lingo to the dictionary in OpenOffice, cos it takes more time to skip those than locating actual typos :D Wow, almost 4 pages long message...That's a record! :D" - I guess I should commemorate this by replying with my record!:)-Algol- 02:08, May 6, 2012 (UTC)

"Leliana suddenly being a dual-wielding rogue didn't make much sense" - Well I guess it was made for game balance. Considering that low-level archers wouldn't be able to stand on their own for long, guess they decided to make her more "survivable", so to speak. Besides, lore-wise I'm sure she is able to use all kinds of light weaponry, since spies require much versatility. Or maybe the Chantry has a rule: Discard your tools of murder... And shoot people:) But seriously, I expected BW to shed some light into this story, instead they made it even more obscure. Enough is enough. I mean, if this character has a lot of fans, then they would really appreciate learning the truth. But yeah, the music was great!

"But the Berlican forest is known to be filled with magic related things, so a talking tree isn't really that unnatural...or rather not unusual. besides, he seems to be polite and live in symbiosis with the tree" - In this case, no more questions and doubts:)

"“This mission is not a part of a joined war effort, because nobody among allies of the asari brought a force to it.” - Except by the time of Thessia, you surely have several asari commandos and ships in your war assets...except if you didn't do the monastery mission" - I'm not sure if I'm following you. How is that connected? The battle of Thessia was ongoing solely and purely by asari forces. "I feel that in this case my Shepard's idea of justice would supersede it" - I'm still puzzled were did that sense of justice go in the case of Liara, f*cking galactic laws in the exact way she wants, on an hourly basis. "Being loyal to the Council doesn't equal being loyal to the asari" - In that part I was mostly referring to being an Alliance soldier hasn't anything to do with the situation. "I'm pretty sure the turians and salarians would also like to know that the asari likely broke the rule regarding prothean tech" - IF they really broke the rule. Because if the treaty text says "newly discovered tech from the moment of this treaty having legal power" (akin to present day treaties), then the asari broke nothing. I find it puzzling, then your Shepard doesn't even want to study the treaty first, but is already off with ardent desire of punishing asari.

"I said, that Shep wouldn't reveal it to the public, only to the new Council after the war, who themselves would more than likely make out some deal with the asari as “punishment” and keep the whole thing hidden" - And how would you make them to not disclose the information? Ask them nicely? Do you honestly think, that salarians wouldn't be using this info for blackmail or crazy experiments (on asari)? Or turians with a stick in the butt and a sore sense of justice wouldn't start flapping their jaws and pointing fingers, like "look! they did wrong!!!" Or humans, who are always a big unknown? The effects of such supposed "punishment" should be visible across the galaxy, in order for them actually constitute a punishment. Bun then the galaxy would come with a logical question of why asari are punished? How youd you punish them exactly, btw? Oust them from the Council? Econmic sanctions? A full disclosure of their internal affairs?

Seriously, in legal terms punishment should always be in proportion with a degree of guilt. You are talking about punishment for the sake of punishment. You don't even care or think about the exact nature of repercussions, you just want to punish them somehow. Like, if those people, who I like, violate the law, I'm totally ok. If those people who I don't like, violate the law, then I have a sense of justice. Because I don't like them.

You don't feel urgers to punish humans for Cerberus? Because that has much more legal grounds, then punishing asari. TBH, "much more" is a poor choice of words, has alone would be enough.

"cos we frankly the matriarchs in game don't look old in the traditional human sense" - Maybe because they are not humans, are they?:) The codex states, that cellular regeneration prevents asari from looking old, and the effects of age are barely visible. I guess if asari stays in good shape (like, say, Samara) they are not visible at all. May be those parts of their skin on their faces, which appear rigid, are those "barely visible" effects of aging.

"And my Shepard is just really a worrywart" - Perfectly understandable. Especially in the case of people you're close to.

"You know, just acknowledging that ME2 happened..." - yah... That's sad. What can we do, "the broader audience" doesn't care if ME2 happened. They want to play the multiplayer.

"How dare you make a story that make sense and fits well with ME canon?! XD" - Probably because I care about ME canon, even if BW doesn't anymore.

"it's due to more of a “reapers are coming, so we have to prepare” kind of feeling, which I don't necessarily associate with moral" - Well, to make it perfectly clear and brief... The reapers are coming. Was our victory in ME1 a dumb luck? Let's find out. In ME2 we find out, that it wasn't. Reapers really can be defeated. Good for morale.

"Actually, yesterday in a 4chan thread people were having the same argument as us, and used the same reasons as us...it was sort of creepy XD" - Having the same thoughts as other people is a sign of indoctrination! XD
 * "But, let's really drop it, because it seem that our perspective on that one line really differ" - Dropped. Crashed after hitting the foor:)


 * "Yet they are targets of geth fighters, and can be easily destroyed because while they have guns, they have no defenses at all" - First of all, they do. Shala'Raan says it. These defences are not the scope of a real dreadnought, but they don't need to be. Target for geth fighters? Civilians don't fight alone, you know. Patrol fleet is covering their flanks, and their interceptors engage the fighters. Everything will be good as long as you maintain formation. Quarians are very good at maintaining formation. It worked right until... but later about it. "It's a tactic that does endanger your civilians, who while might be able technicians, are not used to work under fire" - First of all, they are used to. They live their whole lives "under fire", one hull breach away from annihilation. Secondly, quarians didn't really have a choice, other then bring them along. If they left civilian ships somewhere, nobody could protect them from... Well, anyone. Pirates, reapers, take your pick.


 * "Was there any exit strategy planned at one point? Because even I don't think they didn't... So if they did, why didn't they execute that when the geth got upgraded, and they started loosing?" - There is always a back up plan. Retreat to mass relay, or to FTL. Why didn't they execute it? Shepard arrived very timely, and was able to still tip the balance in their favour. Which he did.


 * "Well, they had to sign it to get an embassy... Though it could very well be that since they are not allowed to have an embassy the treaty doesn't matter, so I guess you're right" - Exactly. If you're booted from the embassy, you're not subject to treaties. But you sure just had to try and bite quarians using the treaty argument:)


 * "So yeah, I get that chances are really low, but this again is a point that should have been told especially by Tali during her loyalty mission" - it was told in ME1 during a dialogue on the Normandy.


 * "Nothing can go wrong with that, am I right? :D" - Totally!:D Actually, I'd like that, as long as you make me your prime minister or something XD

That Wrex stuff... You're totally right! Yes, he acts, like, really different, then in ME1-2. He definitely lacks those very lines of dialogue you mentioned, in order to maintain his character integrity (no pun intended). BW isn't big on continuity, and I think we should also put another clone of yours in charge of their writing team. Because it's like having this lingering question: Wrex... is that you? It is you, right? Not Wreav, not some other krogan... Right? Same goes for quarians on the whole, and Han'Gerrel in particular. "Hang in there, kid, fight well and fight safe", and he said it genuinely, because he's, what, like an uncle to Tali? Then he nearly bombs her, without any hesitation. Same thing as with Wrex, frigging talented BW writers with their artistic integrity...

"You mean taking a fist to the gut? :D" - No, I don't. I never do that.

"Dear god, I got the sudden urge to holding the line too! :D" - Hang in there, Dalatrass!:D

"But Gianna says that other people are researching it too... IIRC" - There is a difference, between hearing it from a character, who isn't even necessary in the game, that some crazy greedy corporate fatcat on Noveria is "researching" it, and actually seeing how much effort and their own blood put in it those, who you care about (at least Tali), and who has the most limited resources to do it. Please, don't try to devoid quarians of this merit too.

"I mean, I find that they are the most idiotic and badly written organic race in ME universe" - I could argue here, but I won't. Just look at humans and their Cerberus. I thought that was pinnacle of idiocy.

"I know that of course, but I was under the impression, we talked about romancing and stuff ;P Or was it puppies? :D" - They kinda intertwined... :D

"Actually, I would like to have more non-combat gameplay... But that scene was really nicely done :D" - Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!:) Maybe I'll write a parody about ME, because the whole tabletop plot is freaking serious business:)

"Well, a turian's right nut is supposed to be small, so... :D" - Yeah, but Wrex didn't mention the left nut... Maybe it's... Ok, I'll just stop:)

You know, a thought just came to mind. Liara had a painting of Ilos in her apartment... Did she paint it herself? Because that would be very interesting. I mean, sure, Council delegations visited Ilos, but they might have as well classified the whole planet because of geth-conduit stuff, so nobody else saw the sceneries to paint them. If Liara is also an artist, then it's one more thing to admire!:) Normandy crew could arrange their own art club: Mordin sings and acts on stage, Jack and Kasumi write poetry, Miranda supposedly plays the violin and Garrus paints the walls with reaper blood:)

"Oh forgot to ask, could you recommend me some games?" - Oooh, oooh, I'd love that!:) Where to start? What genre? Something specific? Something newer, or maybe older? And what you did or didn't play, I don't know... All in all, without specification I'd recommend Morrowind. With mods, of course. Or something good old-fashioned from BW, like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights or Icewind Dale. I always loved the "Total War" series, but I don't know if you're into RTT's. Oh, and Mount&Blade, a very good action game.-Algol- 14:55, May 6, 2012 (UTC)

I'm glad that Council escapade made you laugh!:) And yeah Liara/Kaiden moment was funny too. Especially that both of them are more open-minded, as opposed to Ashley or Wrex. Now you can see some benefits in ME3! Like the Councilors being very nice to you and a larger number of War Assets. Oh, and you'll finally et your salarian fleet!:)

BTW, I never quite understood people, who say, that the only thing the Council does about your missions is bitching. I mean, if you reply with paragon choices (an by that I mean polite and calm), let's look what happens:

Therum Council: Holy crap, Shepard, you blew up a 50k y.o. cultural and historical monument! Was that necessary? Shepard: Yes. Council: Okay.

Noveria Council: Holy crap, Shepard, you unleashed a freaking Rachni on the galaxy! Shepard: They made a promise not to attack. Council: Wath??? Well... okay.

Feros Council: Holy crap, Shepard, you destroyed a unique species we wanted to study! Shepard: It can mind-control people. Council: Wath??? Forget we said anything, good riddance.

Virmire Council: Holy crap, Shepard, you dropped a nuke on an unsuspecting planet! Shepard: But I killed Saren's krogans and a lot of geth with it. Council: Okay.

Citadel Council: Holy crap, Shepard, you saved our asses! Shepard: Can humans have a seat on the Council and cookies? Council: Okay.

An equitable working agreement!:) Besides, in ME2 they didn't even want to capture you for working with Cerberus! While the Alliance does. When Saren was in a similar situation of "going rogue", they placed a kill-capture order on him. To you, they say "Shepard, those people are freaking terrorists! I hope you know what you're doing!" They just love you, but are too shy to say it loud XD -Algol- 15:46, May 6, 2012 (UTC)

Ok, let's just close the Thessia thing for good, since we have totally different perspectives. All in all, for me, Bailey was right. Rules are good, until they prevent people from doing their jobs. And if rules get us nowhere, or can actually bring more harm by following them, then not following them, as a Spectre and a person I proudly and clearly say SCREW THE RULES.

"Should the Alliance as a whole be punished? I don't know. Depends on how deep the corruption runs" - Let's see. Cerberus is a terrorist organization, which is using primarily human resources, operates primarily on human worlds and has ties with quite few government organizations within the Alliance. And the Alliance is totally unable to contain this threat, when it starts to spread on the whole galaxy. It's their job, you know, to punish their own criminals. The Alliance is unable to follow the conditions of membership in the Council, which would be the next: "Each Council race must be able to deal with their own problems and also able to help others with theirs". They cannot contain Cerberus. With that in mind, I would recommend reviewing the humanity's place in the Council as a whole, because they are unable to fulfill their role in galactic peace-keeping.

"I'm just really curious how their biology works in detail, and what changes over time, except for bust size" - Wait, were did you get the idea, that their bust size changes over time anyway? From Donnely, who is an idiot?

"“Probably because I care about ME canon, even if BW doesn't anymore.” - And now you made me sad" - Wait, why? I didn't mean to.

"On a more serious note, I still believe that endangering civilians is not worth it, and even the constant danger of their lives, can't really prepare them for war situations" - And again, you're comparing them to humans. They are not. They are different species, with a different mindset, abilities, ideas and beliefs. If this risk is ok for them, that they are prepared. Living under martial law for 300 years kinda prepares you morally, and having combat training before Pilgrimage (which you ignored) prepares you physically. "As Joker said “if you have to strap guns to your kids schoolbus for the the plan to succeed, maybe it's not a really good plan”" - uh-huh, we hear it from the best strategist and fleet admiral in the galaxy, riiight. Seriously, while I liked Joker in ME1-2, in ME3 he became really inaproppriate and annoying. After his comment on the fall of Thessia, I really wanted to show him, that his bones are still very fragile.

The puppy picture is so cute! Reminds me of my friend's dog, who was a very cute puppy (very similar to the one on the pic!), but now I call him "Rhino". He pretty much looks and weights like one:)

Yeah, that parody is really nice, I've read it! At least I'm not the only one with this whole "I'm in the Alliance now" thingy. Seriously, that scene, where Anderson throws me Alliance dog tags, my reaction is "What?" What that's supposed to be, a thoughtful gesture? Should I put them on the wall or something? Oh, I think I'll put them on the memorial wall, because that soldier died two years ago. Really, from the very begining of ME1 I was always considering myself more like an "honorary" Alliance soldier, as I am a Spectre, first and foremost. I answer to the Council first, and to nobody else second. The Alliance is not in position to give me orders, they only can ask for favours. And I will render those favours, because I'm still flying their ship, their property. Now, in ME2 Anderson really kicks me in the balls: "You understand, that your Spectre reinstation was more symbolic..." Symbolic??? Anderson, you always were the smart guy, what the hell happened? I have quite a few (though not nearly enough) very real dialogue options of invoking my status. And everyone goes like, Shepard, you're human, you're one of us! You should put humanity's interest ahead! Maybe I should paint my skin blue or wear an enviro-suit on our next meeting, so you can see the situation clearly? Human colonies are missing, boo hoo! Well, if these idiots chose to settle in the Terminus Systems, where nobody can protect them, the it really fits the definition of "asking for it", and all other species freaking point and laugh at us. For good reasons, I say. But I digress, in ME3 they are making me an Alliance soldier, when I don't really need it. Moreover, this maybe even harmful, because in certain diplomatic situations it is much better to act as a Spectre, not affiliated with Alliance military, to represent a larger amount of species, not just humanity, but of course, humanity included, because they are one-fourth of people I represent. In such a way, my word would carry more. And then Hackett says something "The Normandy is yours!" Are you freaking doing me a favour? Because I know it is mine, MINE, not Alliance, private effing property, and you had no right to confiscate it and make your stupid adjustments, like putting cable wires all over the place, so people can trip over them, and messing up my ship collection. I'll effing feed the guy, who did it, to my hamster! Thanks for assigning Traynor, though. Oh, and can I paint a Spectre logo on the ship? Not that I'm undercover now, not anymore.

"Oh god, I just realized that Shepard is pretty much my only RPG character, who is not into creating art in any way" - How about the ship collection? Maybe your Shepard is into modeling, and she assembles and then paints models. Pretty much like I do with these:)

"You know at this point I'm willing to play anything except for racing games, and don't even mind replaying games, so anything is ok..." - Well, you may have ME2-3 with the old Council:) About Morrowind though. First, install the game, then look at textures, probably horrible for your taste, go here and find mods, that suit you. With a few adjustments, the game is really great!

"And most people also have a problem with the Council regarding the rachni thing, because no matter what you did, they still start with a complaint (even though they go okay in the end), and that shows that the writers didn't give the Council a clear opinion on the matter, rather just wanted them to act as a counterpoint for Shepard. Which is bad writing" - Totally bad writing, but you know, I would complain too, if I was in their place. I mean it's Rachni! Rachni!!! And everyone is scared sh*tless of them, and for good reason. Turns out, that they were almost right in ME3.

"Yet they order Shep back to Citadel, and let Udina ground the Normandy" - I'd say they wanted to assess Shepard's mental and physical status. Because Shep started act a bit weird to them, with all that Reaper thingy. So yeah, whatever means necessary to stop Saren, but we'll check up you first. Just in case. I don't think they can prevent Udina from grounding the Normandy, because it's Alliance property.

"they should at least question Shepard, or send some Spectres after her or something" - Yes. It appears though, that with that bad writing from BW, all we have to do is to appeal to headcanon. In my headcanon Shepard actually surrenders to the Council, explains the situation, and most importantly, asks their best medics to check his condition. Because with all due respect to Chakwas, Cerberus might have still hidden something. And then he tells the Council, that he will be sorta working undercover with Cerberus, to learn as much, as he can, about them, and then blow them up. Tali will loan a grenade, so I have the equipment, no need to worry. Goodbye, Council, I'll be checking in from time to time in person, because Cerberus monitors commms, and I'll tell you some interesting stuff, happening in the Terminus Systems. That's about it.

"And that's why Tevos has an unexpectedly huge fan base, even though she is just a really, really side character :D" - Are you surprised? I kinda belong to this fanbase, because Joker was right, points off for attitude, but, damn, she's hot!!! The looks, the voice, everything. Actually for me, the looks and voice don't go in the first place, I admire her manners, diplomatic responses and... Well, that scene, when you talk with her after Thessia... It's brilliant. So sad, that actually makes me cry, but she acts brilliant. I feel so sorry for her:( Seriously, my Shep was one step of losing it, and tossing Javik out of the airlock, and ordering all fleets to retake Thessia immediately no matter the cost. Seriously. Yet the cutscene very quickly shows the crew, who look devastated, and then my Shepard comes to his senses, and realizes, that this is a mistake, Cerberus very much wants him to make, so no, he wouldn't do it. Instead, I comfort myself with the thought, that Thessia is actually not that bad, because Reapers breached the defenses just now. Earth is in this state for months, and still lives and fights. So if I act very quickly, I'll be able to defeat the Reapers fast enough for Thessia not losing very much people. So off to the next quest ASAP! Strange, I never think this way about Earth...

"Btw, somehow I always get lost on Ilos, every friggin time. Even though I can ready maps, I really do. Yet I always turn the wrong way and wind up somewhere totally unknown... Every time" - It's not surprising! The architecture must have been built by some really crazy aliens!:)

"Current favorite quote for Shepard: “No one stabs me in the back Udina... No one!” :D" - Oooh, nice one!!!:) Ah, Udina:) Well, Renegade interrupts ftw. Three Cerberus bastards got them:) -Algol- 19:36, May 6, 2012 (UTC)

"Other than that how come in C-Sec commander is above captain, but it's not in the Alliance? And why are the human C-Sec guys wearing Alliance uniform? And why is his hair color different? And why isn't he a temp squad mate? I hate BW..."
 * 1)Infantry and navy have different ranking system. Besides, the Alliance and the turians, who initially created C-Sec have different rankings too, most surely.
 * 2)Because BW is lazy to make another uniform model.
 * 3)Same reason why Udina's hair colour is different - no reason.
 * 4)Because then he would have powers and combat animation, and BW is lazy to do that.
 * 5)I hate BW too. Hug? XD

"If the thing with Sovereign would not have happened, I would say it would have taken humanity one or two generations to work things like these out, and join the Council in a proper manner" - I think, that even if it did happen, they still need time. I'd say put them on sort of "trial period" for the time of war against the Reapers and shortly after, wait until the next generation of kids, who were born on other planets, close or among aliens, grows up, and then - welcome to the Council.

"I was mostly reffering to Aethyta, she is the one who says that Benezia had a “great rack” even before she hit the matriarch stage" - You know, I kinda understand why other matriarchs didn't listen to her. Sometimes she says very true things, but others are a load of bullshit. Especially about the biology, really. So I wouldn't give her words any credit. "but some people pointed out, that Liara's bust size also increased between games, and it might be due to the fact that she is hitting the matron stage early" - did those people bother to read the Codex? Because it says, that asari enter into matron stage around 350, and "earlier" means around 200, and only if this asari melds frequently. Liara is only 109 first and foremost, and even if she romances Shepard, "frequently" is not the case here. Though I'd expect something like this from 4chan. Seriously, the only reason her and FemShep bust size increased, and EDI's body was that of a sexbot, is because EA wants to attract as much preadolescent boys to play multiplayer, as possible.

"Since we don't learn enough about quarian ideals and beliefs I can't help but comparing it to something familiar" - you should read "Ascension". There is quite a few info explaining as to why even quarian civilians would be prepared for war at least morally. Anyway: during the battle for Rannoch, did they break formation? No. Did they made friendly fire frequently? No, Even if they have the weakest morale of all fleets, did quarians start losing because of them? No. Bringing them to war was harsh and controversial strategical decision, but a sound one. "since that is likely more fore self-defense than anything, and that's different from serving on a ship that's under fire" - with that logic, even the Heavy Fleet shouldn't be fighting then. Because they didn't have experience of fighting a major battle for 300 years. Seriously, you greatly underestimate quarian readiness.

As for Joker... Too much is too much. If Hackett asked him to support Shepard and watch over his mental state, then Joker fails utterly. Instead of supporting, he makes inaproppriate remarks, which are supposed to be effing funny, when people are dying in the millions. And you know, I don't care if he just sucks at comforting, because that doesn't make anyone feel better, not me, not other people. Especially those, who are dying in the millions. He may salute as hard, as he can, but I won't forgive him Thessia comment - too much is too much. If Hackett wants to comfort Shepard, he would have bothered to get a professional psychologist for the Normandy. God, I miss Kelly. Oh, and BW could have bothered either with writing a bit of extra script, and an option to bring Kelly back, or creating a new NPC instead of her, and instead of useless Allers.

"One of my friends had a cat, we just called him Pillow, because he got so friggin huge, that if he was relaxing in a chair, you could easily mistake him for one :D" - That's soooo nice! I love it :3 Reminds me of my cat, who always takes advantage of my kindness, because she knows, that I am unable to refuse her another meal, right after the first one:) She's not that big though, but certainly very fluffy:)

" I thought I had them framed beside my bed! Little did I know that they also killed my fish" - Well, mine is ok, thank whoever I should thank in Siari religion, and, of course, thank Kelly. BTW, I always have this dinner with her, and I don't consider it being unfaithful - I just don't bring sexual contest into it, even if Kelly kinda does. If flirting is her way of approaching people, good, it's her business, I just want to have dinner and chat with a friend. So... yeah, the fish. The fish is ok, but where the hell is my arsenal, Hackett??? Where is my M-920. And most importantly, were is my trusty M-98 Widow, that has this gray colour, because she's all covered in brain matter from the heads she has blown off. Where is it, you thief?

"“Because I know it is mine, MINE, not Alliance, private effing property” true, but it's not legally Shepard's..." - I beg to differ. After TIM started flapping his jaw at the Collector base, I declared war on Cerberus, and took the Normandy as a battle trophy. I have rights to do so, I'm a Spectre. "And while it is stupid that they just take your ship, I bet they claimed that it belongs to a terrorist group, so confiscating it was “legal”" - They surely claimed so, but my Shepard would calmly and politely, in this charming Paragon way, tell them to go f*ck themselves. Because legally they can't do anything against a Council Spectre, without the Council's authorization. Not with me, not with my ship, not with my crew. Who do they think they are, screwing with the Council's most trusted agent? (Yes, I guess I'll claim that title, since Vasir is a little bit dead, Bau shows up much later, and Ashley/Kaiden as a Spectre is not even funny, and anyway, they show up later too).

"so it sort of makes sense that while she is an open minded person, in the back of her mind she most likely is an Alliance fangirl. Well everyone has flaws, and being a bad dancer is not enough :)" - Nice!:D Though I think being an Alliance fangirl isn't really a flaw! ME1 and 3 are all about the Alliance, so there are benefits from it. Is being a Council fanboy and alien-lover a flaw?:D

"Though I prefer Nexus for downloading mods, though I'm not sure how well the old mods will work with the Nexus ModManager... we'll see" - Nexus is great, yes, but I prefer thematic sites, which are purely devoted to one particular game. Anyway, try it out and tell me if it works!:D

"“So yeah, whatever means necessary to stop Saren, but we'll check up you first.” - I sort of get that, but during the comm chat, they didn't act that worried about Shepard" - Look at it this way: if they are really worried about their agent being mentally unstable, why risk provoking him/her int doing something rash, if Shepard starts suspecting they are worried. Better to invite him/her in a calm manner, and talk things over calmly and politely, without giving in to emotions. So I would make damn sure not to sound worried, was I in their place. But yes, let's not discard possible Udina's plottings.

"Where is my role-playing game, and why am I playing a shooter instead?" - *Sigh* I can't answer that... *Rests his head on his chest* I can't. "Broader audience" likes shooters more, but that's not really an answer.

"Damned Innusanon! And those statues are still creepy..." - Totally! The damn sure freak me out! You know, I'm going to make some adjustments into my archaeologist NPC in the tabletop. Because really, seeing stuff like that leaves a trace.

"Why does the M-8 Avanger have 2 barrels, while it only fires from one? :D" - Intricate design to fool the enemy:) I always thought, that the lower barrel is actually an underbarrel grenade-launcher, but the caliber seems to be too small. Then again, it's the 22nd century, and these grenades can be really small. Even present-day 40mm grenades are really not that big. But they sure make a big kaboom! mwahahaha-Algol- 00:38, May 7, 2012 (UTC)