MASS EFFECT TWO: GIVE GARRUS A HUG

[Krylo]

Also to swing the conversation:

I can not believe how stupid gamers are. I mean even professional reviewers call the suicide options 'dumb luck'.

Seriously guys? Are we, as a group, really THAT FUCKING RETARDED? Really?

Miranda says you need a tech expert, then a screen comes up with all your squad mates. It says at the top "Pick a Tech Expert" then you can scroll through and read their bios. Two of them have "Tech Expert" or "Technical Expertise" right in the bio.

Bioware could not have made it more obvious who to pick if they had put giant flashing bright yellow arrows pointing to the two obvious choices with the text "PICK THESE TO NOT DIE!" next to them.

The same is true of the other choices you have to make, except for the one where it literally doesn't matter who you send so long as they are loyal.

Is our culture really so ridiculous that it can't figure out this kind of stuff and brands it as 'dumb luck'? Really?

Also: "I figured Grunt lived most of his life in tubes. He should be able to figure that shit out pretty quick."

[Mirai Gen]

Originally Posted by Krylo

The same is true of the other choices you have to make, except for the one where it literally doesn't matter who you send so long as they are loyal.

I must have missed the one that was related to Mordin, because I sent Thane back with the team instead of him, and thus he died. I didn't catch onto his clue, maybe the fact that they needed medical attention? I sent Thane back because I figured with a flock of useless non-fighters you needed a combat expert.

The rest were easy. I'm just pissed that it's so utterly stupid as to say "Oh if you didn't pick the person we told you to pick they die," rather than make it a direct correlation to not using them, not leveling them up, not upgrading their equipment, etc. It was harrowing to think my team was in real mortal danger, and it totally undid all of that by saying "Nah you just have to not be an idiot."

I expected a lot more from Bioware.

[Arcanum]

Originally Posted by Krylo

Also to swing the conversation:

I can not believe how stupid gamers are. I mean even professional reviewers call the suicide options 'dumb luck'.

Seriously guys? Are we, as a group, really THAT FUCKING RETARDED? Really?

Miranda says you need a tech expert, then a screen comes up with all your squad mates. It says at the top "Pick a Tech Expert" then you can scroll through and read their bios. Two of them have "Tech Expert" or "Technical Expertise" right in the bio.

...

Haha, I made this same argument about this same thing a while back in this thread. Right here actually. And yeah, it really couldn't be more obvious


In an unrelated note, I have discovered that killing a YMIR mech with a headshot makes it explode with nuclear fury. I actually killed one YMIR, and had the resulting nuclear blast wipe out the other, full health/armor/shield, YMIR near the end of Garrus's loyalty mission. Good times.

And yeah, that new DLC will hopefully make the Vanguard more slightly less useless on higher difficulties, thanks to the longer range shotgun that can pierce armor.


edit -- oh and as for that part in the final mission where you can choose to send someone back with the crew, I sent along Zaeed thinking that a grizzled and experienced merc would be able to guard a few crew members. Turns out he made it back just fine.

[Krylo]

Actually that's the one where it doesn't matter who you send back. Sending Mordin or Tali for that, OR having them stay in Shep's group, however, ensures their survival. There's, otherwise, a (seemingly) random factor for them dying. However, as that it was neither Tali nor Mordin he was complaining about in his article...

[Mirai Gen]

Originally Posted by Krylo

Actually that's the one where it doesn't matter who you send back. Sending Mordin or Tali for that, OR having them stay in Shep's group, however, ensures their survival. There's, otherwise, a (seemingly) random factor for them dying. However, as that it was neither Tali nor Mordin he was complaining about in his article...

I'm...confused.

Why did my Mordin have to die? Seriously? Maybe that was related to lack of use?

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Mirai Gen

I'm...confused.

Why did my Mordin have to die? Seriously? Maybe that was related to lack of use?

Maybe he just couldn't deal with some human being the first non-asari to 'turn his crank' as it were. He tried to deny his feelings, I know, but why would he bring it up then? He was lying to himself, that poor salarian.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Krylo

Actually that's the one where it doesn't matter who you send back. Sending Mordin or Tali for that, OR having them stay in Shep's group, however, ensures their survival. There's, otherwise, a (seemingly) random factor for them dying. However, as that it was neither Tali nor Mordin he was complaining about in his article...

Actually, when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. SPOILERS AHEAD:

Tali and Mordin are not front-line fighters. They're hit and run specialists. When Tali was with the Migrant Fleet, she was working Special Ops and was surrounded by soldiers who would do most of the fighting and dying for her, and her specialty was to keep her head down and keep the group out of obvious trouble. Mordin was with the Special Task Forces and was used to espionage and the element of surprise in his attacks. So they're two of the best choices for escorting the crew because they're used to leading a small group of people in a dangerous environment while a distraction keeps them down.

However, at the end, they're left with the group to "hold the door". Now that's fine and dandy with your other squadmates since they're Assassins, Mercs, and Soldiers. However, Tali and Mordin don't do too well in that kind of situation where they're held down in one area and told to stay put. They're going to get shot, and they're likely going to die. So deciding who to leave behind to defend the door is also something you actually have to think about, just in "who is best equipped to handle a fight of duration".

Granted, I could just be talking completely out of my ass, but to me it makes sense.

[Solid Snake]

While I can't really comment on the ending of Mass Effect 2 yet, seeing as I haven't even gotten to the beginning of that game, I will say that laden in the guy's article Krylo linked to is actually a fairly decent point: In games, basing the survival of characters on the amount of effort you put into ensuring the loyalty of said characters is kind of lame, as it strips the narrative of its visceral impact. If the choices as to who lives and who dies relies on obvious prompts, gamers won't feel as emotionally involved.

The irony however is that such a conclusion should have led the author of the article to make the opposite point: if Mass Effect really was basing narrative decisions on multiple choice prompts and completing obvious sidequests, it really is a system that's too easy for gamers to exploit to get the endings they'd prefer, as opposed to one that's too difficult or unfair in its consequences.

To a certain extent there's thus actually a lack of necessary blind luck involved in the process: to maintain a stronger narrative a few characters should frankly die at random even if you take all the necessary precautions. The precautions themselves should only reduce the odds of death, as opposed to outright eliminating the possibility. Alternatively, decisions could exist that guarantee that your favorite supporting character lives...at the expense of risking several others.

[Krylo]

I fully agree with that, Snake--and if he had made THAT argument, that there wasn't actually any real risk to your characters if you did things right and weren't goddamn retarded I could have gotten behind it.

Well, maybe not, because I don't like the idea of being unable to save everyone, though it would have been nice if it required me to actually play well instead of just grind enough.

Point being, however, that WASN'T his argument. His argument was stupid. And it's one that I've seen a lot around the internet with people doing stupid things like throwing Thane or Grunt into the tubes or choosing Jack for a leadership roll, or deciding that someone other than Samara or Jack should do the biotic bubbling, and it makes me more than a little frustrated with the intelligence of the gaming public.

[DFM]

I wish I could have selected myself to make the biotic bubble.

*sits in the same spot for two hours as teammates plink away at Collectors*