Mass Effect - Legendary Edition (Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster) Announced

[Jastall]

I've got a nearly 8 GB patch downloading right now on PC. Anyone knows what's up with that?

[zealo]

I've got a nearly 8 GB patch downloading right now on PC. Anyone knows what's up with that?

https://www.ea.com/games/mass-effect...ws/update-5-17

[MrTharne]

Did you use Omnigel or did you do the unlock minigame to unlock things?
Did you collect additional materials for the the scan quests (rare elements, Matriarch writings, etc).

You get XP for those as well. If you use Omnigel to unlock, iirc, you don't get XP for the unlock. Even if you do, did you unlock EVERYTHING you can. There are some side mission that once you finish, it kicks you out of the area. And there are some hidden chests to unlock.

Did you kill all the Thresher Maws? None are required fights to beat the game. And only one is required to beat the first in Kahoku's side quest series with Cerberus.

Never used medigel except to repair the Mako, killed all the Tresher Maws, every planet looted on land with every location checked, every planet surveyed from orbit.
I did everything and I was at 9/10th of the xp bar toward lvl 29. And I saw on reddit that lvl 29->30 requires 666000 xp, this is insane, even if I missed a few containers (let's say 50) it can't amount to that much xp.

[DarkAmbient]

Polygon have outdone themselves: Mass Effect’s revival reminds us it’s time to abolish the space police. What would it mean to defund the Normandy?

[Edge-]

Polygon have outdone themselves: Mass Effect’s revival reminds us it’s time to abolish the space police. What would it mean to defund the Normandy?

A bit of navel gazing, but honestly like...kinda an interesting piece based on my skim through it? Was there anything terribly objectionable about it to you?

[Selah]

Polygon have outdone themselves: Mass Effect’s revival reminds us it’s time to abolish the space police. What would it mean to defund the Normandy?

Right on schedule.

[Crissi]

A bit of navel gazing, but honestly like...kinda an interesting piece based on my skim through it? Was there anything terribly objectionable about it to you?

well they confuse military powers and cop powers, as well as ignoring the social commentary it does make on prisons and blowing up an entire planet to prevent a relay form going of in a ME2 DLC.

C-Sec would be the closer equivalent to modern day police, while SPECTRE is closer to special Ops. Just seems like the argument was trying to force a perspective, given virtually no one is saying abolish the millitary cause that be dumb.

[Leyre]

LE isnt worth the money when fucking Alenko still has his "i just dumped a whole bottle of gel on it" hair, i kinda expected all the chars to be made to resemble their ME3 counterparts, guess that was just wishful thinking

[Tabrotar]

God, reading that "THING" of an articel killed quite some of my braincells, how stupid do have to be to go and say: But Sheppard was a cop and that´s bad let´s get rid of the cops bcs this is a game and i´m a butthurt stupid little fuck why has to implement my stupid fucking political opinions into games .

[everydaygamer]

It is a pretty dumb article. Shepard isn't a cop, he's a special agent acting on behalf of the council to stop a galactic threat. He doesn't "police" the galaxy, everything he does is either in service of his mission or because he personally chooses to get involved.

[Leyre]

God, reading that "THING" of an articel killed quite some of my braincells, how stupid do have to be to go and say: But Sheppard was a cop and that´s bad let´s get rid of the cops bcs this is a game and i´m a butthurt stupid little fuck why has to implement my stupid fucking political opinions into games .

Bet those fucks would argue that Saren did nothing wrong and that humans should pay reparations to the Turians

[Edge-]

well they confuse military powers and cop powers, as well as ignoring the social commentary it does make on prisons and blowing up an entire planet to prevent a relay form going of in a ME2 DLC.

Whether it’s as Earth Alliance Military, Cerberus Commandos, or reinstated Alliance Navy Officers, Shepard and their crew are always some version of glorified space cops.

I think they're quite certain of the difference, but in the context of much of the games you're basically a galactic beat-cop in addition to being military special forces that answer to nobody.

They are given free rein to do what the Council is unwilling to be seen as doing: keep everyone in line. Regardless of their various official titles, Shepard acts with the approval of the galaxy’s ruling powers, who give them total discretion.

The piece acknowledges that it's not a perfect comparison, and that it's a nuanced issue rather than something black and white. The thrust to me was more this -

What new jobs might Shepard and their crewmates be assigned that would still allow them their camaraderie, their heart-wrenching moments of dramatic tension? How do we take these rich instances of sci-fi melodrama and extract them from the unseemly and violent drudgery of enforcing order across a vast and chaotic frontier? How do we move away from a premise that simplifies the Lovecraftian mystery of the Reapers into interchangeable robo-zombies to be shot at from behind chest-high barriers? A premise that neatly classifies a vast plethora of alien races into categories of the law-abiding and the lawless — one group to romance, another to gun down within the dimly lit corridors of space stations?

Which to me, is interesting and could make for more interesting games not based primarily around combat and the player acting like the intergalactic police/special forces who answer to either a secretive group of leaders, militant pro-humanist separatists, or literally nobody.

Just seems like the argument was trying to force a perspective, given virtually no one is saying abolish the millitary cause that be dumb.

I don't mind that it's trying to force perspective even. I like that actually, it forces you to think about things differently and honestly I'd never considered how games like ME could be done differently with less of a focus on combat/being space police/special forces.

You can explore a vibrant and colorful galaxy without serving as its enforcing power. You can experience these complex narrative systems in satisfying ways without requiring all final decisions to be subject to your own approval. It’s all possible, but it requires courageous vision, as well as hope and trust in others. Mass Effect lends rhetorical support to this cause, particularly in its endings, which aim for “peace across the galaxy” while also arguing that a lone, unaccountable hero is the one to deliver it to us.

I dug this, and I can appreciate the commentary. Maybe it might spur BW to consider new stories/narratives and new approaches to delivering them in part or as a whole of a new ME game. I'd be down for some smaller spinoffs exploring these concepts as another way to dive into the ME universe and experience it in a different way than we have.

[Crissi]

I think they're quite certain of the difference, but in the context of much of the games you're basically a galactic beat-cop in addition to being military special forces that answer to nobody.



The piece acknowledges that it's not a perfect comparison, and that it's a nuanced issue rather than something black and white. The thrust to me was more this -



Which to me, is interesting and could make for more interesting games not based primarily around combat and the player acting like the intergalactic police/special forces who answer to either a secretive group of leaders, militant pro-humanist separatists, or literally nobody.



I don't mind that it's trying to force perspective even. I like that actually, it forces you to think about things differently and honestly I'd never considered how games like ME could be done differently with less of a focus on combat/being space police/special forces.



I dug this, and I can appreciate the commentary. Maybe it might spur BW to consider new stories/narratives and new approaches to delivering them in part or as a whole of a new ME game. I'd be down for some smaller spinoffs exploring these concepts as another way to dive into the ME universe and experience it in a different way than we have.

I would certainly appreciate more of an Andromeda approach, where we were more colonists than super cop. I think it would be fun, but I dont object to playing super cop / military either even with all that's happened in real life, because ultimately some situations need a cop / military response. I just felt like the article ignored where Shepard did have consequences for what she did (although you can argue the extent of it and if it was sufficient or not), and that private prisons weren't exactly portrayed as a good thing when you went to get Jack.


Although It did make me think. If IRL humanity was ever threatened with potential extinction from genocidal aliens, would we keep our current attitudes toward cops, or would we allow them to potentially abuse authority if it ultimately saved our species?

[Edge-]

I would certainly appreciate more of an Andromeda approach, where we were more colonists than super cop. I think it would be fun, but I dont object to playing super cop / military either even with all that's happened in real life, because ultimately some situations need a cop / military response. I just felt like the article ignored where Shepard did have consequences for what she did (although you can argue the extent of it and if it was sufficient or not), and that private prisons weren't exactly portrayed as a good thing when you went to get Jack.

Sure, the article was pretty broad overall and didn't drill into all the specific subplots and narrative moments. I'd be down with an even less combat focused version of ME:A, I liked the more exploration elements of it even if IMO it has the best combat that the series has seen so far. But after what happened with it I fear we're gonna be stuck in the Milky Way and the more familiar ME trappings once more.

Although It did make me think. If IRL humanity was ever threatened with potential extinction from genocidal aliens, would we keep our current attitudes toward cops, or would we allow them to potentially abuse authority if it ultimately saved our species?

Yep! Fairly interesting things to consider while gaming, if someone is interested. But just as easy to ignore the article if you (the royal you) have no interest in these kinds of think pieces and just wants to turn their brains off and enjoy the vidya.

I'm watching some streams of the first game and it looks a helluva lot better with the visual improvements...minus the hilariously janky animations that are a holdover from when BW had even smaller budget/team/resources before the EA acquisition. At least all the humans don't look like weird human-fish hybrids anymore, so that's something.

[Crissi]

Yep! Fairly interesting things to consider while gaming, if someone is interested. But just as easy to ignore the article if you (the royal you) have no interest in these kinds of think pieces and just wants to turn their brains off and enjoy the vidya.

I'm watching some streams of the first game and it looks a helluva lot better with the visual improvements...minus the hilariously janky animations that are a holdover from when BW had even smaller budget/team/resources before the EA acquisition. At least all the humans don't look like weird human-fish hybrids anymore, so that's something.

Yeah, that's precisely why I read it. I disagree with a bunch, but it did make me think in other ways and that I appreciate at least. Also, given how Garrus was in ME1, I wonder if he would still be our super bro since he tends to fall on the "ends excuse the means" side unless you talk him out of it.

Yeah, ME1 felt a lot better to play. Although I died against thresher maw a few times cause Mako controls were a bit awkward for me when I wanted to turn lol. I also second Leyre's complaint about Kaiden's hair. Just...whyyyyy.

[Jastall]

Spectres aren't cops, they're not even special ops per say, they're a tier above given that they answer to no one but the ruling body of the Citadel which is all of 3 people. They're handpicked, elite field agents but also expected to provide their own resources and following it's not uncommon for them to wield a large amount of influence and be small nations in and of themselves. Shepard does play the cop in a couple sidequests, but that doesn't make him one anymore than the ME1 Mako shenanigans make them an explorer by trade.

The funny thing is, Mass Effect does deal with themes of policing. Garrus's frustrations with C-Sec, Commander Bailey on the Citadel directly compares being a cop in the Wards to being one in New York and uses that to justify methods some would claim are pragmatic while others would judge it police brutality, and Samara being Judge Dredd with tits putting her at odds with the local law enforcement, for example, to say nothing of the rather anarchistic nature of places with poor policing like Noveria or Omega. They're much better subjects of analysis than a space James Bond whose main adversary are Cthulhu starships.

[zealo]

A bit of navel gazing, but honestly like...kinda an interesting piece based on my skim through it? Was there anything terribly objectionable about it to you?

Biggest issue with that article is that Shepard isn't a cop, not even a "glorified" one. The roles of a Spectre in Mass Effect for a real world parallel is closer to the CIA than your local police department.

There's definitely a discussion to be had about the ethics of military special forces operating with loose mandates, but one specifically about policing on the streets by police departments isn't it.

[Dhrizzle]

Spectres follow the Space Police trope and have clear parallels with the Galactic Patrol from Lensman (which also inspired part of ME's FTL systems.) People who think they can't be Space Cops because they're not literally walking a beat have a very narrow view of what police work can entail especially in a sci-fi context.

[Tradu]

I think they're quite certain of the difference, but in the context of much of the games you're basically a galactic beat-cop in addition to being military special forces that answer to nobody.



The piece acknowledges that it's not a perfect comparison, and that it's a nuanced issue rather than something black and white. The thrust to me was more this -



Which to me, is interesting and could make for more interesting games not based primarily around combat and the player acting like the intergalactic police/special forces who answer to either a secretive group of leaders, militant pro-humanist separatists, or literally nobody.



I don't mind that it's trying to force perspective even. I like that actually, it forces you to think about things differently and honestly I'd never considered how games like ME could be done differently with less of a focus on combat/being space police/special forces.



I dug this, and I can appreciate the commentary. Maybe it might spur BW to consider new stories/narratives and new approaches to delivering them in part or as a whole of a new ME game. I'd be down for some smaller spinoffs exploring these concepts as another way to dive into the ME universe and experience it in a different way than we have.

Because there's no reason to consider that, as they'd be completely different games at that point. Just like it makes no sense to consider how Call of Duty could be done differently if it was actually The Sims.

[Selastan]

Digging the remaster so far, and I'm only halfway through the first game. Getting the PC versions to run was always a bitch, and having all three games on my PS4 is convient and I'm having far less crashes. It certainly still shows its age, but it does look a tiny bit better. Not sure how the gameplay tweaks changed things, but as a whole it feels way easier.