Valmy in SPAAAAAAAAACE (Mass Effect Series AAR)

[Valmy]

And we are not going to for awhile either because next time it is: Bogging down the game...er...Bringing down the Sky and that other DLC whose name I dare not utter.

Pinnacle station. 

Probably the dumbest DLC in the whole ME series.

Very ironically named since it is one of the worst products Bioware has ever produced. Yes lets put more tediousness into a game already infected with tedious mining. That is just the opposite of what DLC are supposed to do.

[Malicious Intent]

Thanks for doing these, Valmy.  I am enjoying them, and remembering why I never replayed this game! 

I replayed all 3 games plus DLC a few months ago in preparation of ME: Andromeda (which I still haven't bought yet). Part one at times really felt like a chore, due to the rather hastily tacked on planetary exploration bits combined with the very special MAKO "physics". It did a good job at setting up the universe though. I expect Andromeda to be similar in that respect.

[Valmy]

I am going to buy Andromeda here in a couple days. Considering how badly the game is being hammered I am a little worried this might be the last title in the series so maybe buying it might contribute 0.0001% to EA choosing not to liquidate it.

[Valmy]

Thanks for doing these, Valmy.  I am enjoying them, and remembering why I never replayed this game! 

I replayed all 3 games plus DLC a few months ago in preparation of ME: Andromeda (which I still haven't bought yet). Part one at times really felt like a chore, due to the rather hastily tacked on planetary exploration bits combined with the very special MAKO "physics". It did a good job at setting up the universe though. I expect Andromeda to be similar in that respect.

The Planetary Exploration would be fine, even with the bouncy castle Mako, if they did not make us comb every inch of every planet for minerals. And, like I said before, the low production values of the side quests.

[viper37]

Or whatever. I mean obviously we wouldn't want that very often but geez just a few times would be nice. We want to be a starship captain right? In the intro to the game we sort of get some of that but Joker does the talking not Captain Anderson. It would be cool just to see the ship in action.

Anyway.

And then, you'd get Pressly quoting regulations about the captain not supposed to be going on away missions
Nah, too boring

I think it's just a way to circumvent the idea that being a ship captain you don't go on exploring new planets, discovering new civilizations and slaughtering them.  Sheppard is more of a marine himself than a ship captain, but doing that means he has to obey orders from someone directly above him, and there's only so many times you can disobey orders without consequences.

I do not understand military ranks.

Bioware was still an independant canadian company then.  It's ok if you don't understand the Canadian army.  We don't either.

Through the medical bay is the science lab where Liara surfs the extranet.

I just realized we do not have a Science Officer of any kind. So we are exploring the vast uncharted reaches of the galaxy and we do not have any science staff at all? Maybe Chakwas also handles that when we are not taking on alien freelancers like Liara

They had one.  But she went to the bathroom in the Citadel and they forgot her there for the remainder of the mission.

Then there is my favorite part of the ship: the elevator. Man does Mass Effect love its very slow moving elevators. It takes forever; I mean come we are just going down one floor.

Pay attention to side-dialogue in ME2 while travelling in the Citadel

'Mass Effect: Their continuing mission to scout out minerals none have mined before'

Not sure why the Alliance needs their military vessels out collecting minerals. I have a whole system on scouting these planets for minerals but man is it tedious. Also on the planet they find a base controlled by an Asari slave trader and her goons. They defeat them all and then loot all the treasures.

Same reason why you pay for your weapons and ammo: every mission is supposed to finance itself.  It drastically cuts the military budget.  It's like that proposal to take Iraq's oil field in exchange for protection.

[viper37]

Liara is considered a second class citizen among the Asari since her father was another Asari, they prefer to inject diversity into their species so want everybody to mate with other species, and her mother always hid the name of Liara's father from her out of shame.

Hold that thought for later   Something else will come up in 2&3.

I do not recall the lame justification the game comes up with for why the Quarians have not colonized any other worlds since then

Their particular biology and weak immune system makes them incapable of living elsewhere than on their home planet, or a planet exactly the same as theirs without their suit.

We have this undetectable ship in orbit and they cannot even take control of the skies from those wimpy Geth dropships?

The Geth have their own stealth and jamming

The freaking Normandy cannot handle those guys but the Mako can. Meh.

The Normandy SR-1 is not equipped for atmospheric flight and for air to ground battle

Seriously was Cerberus only supposed to be a one off minor terrorist group you destroyed in side missions in the first game?

Maybe.  I think they retconned it so it would look plausible in ME2: Cerberus is a shadow organization with multiple, seperate antennas.  It's possible you destroyed a part of it, but the company still exists and developped extensively between the end of ME1 and the beginning of ME2 (2 years, give or take a few months).

[viper37]

I am going to buy Andromeda here in a couple days. Considering how badly the game is being hammered I am a little worried this might be the last title in the series so maybe buying it might contribute 0.0001% to EA choosing not to liquidate it.

I remember Neil hinting at some problems with the Montreal team of EA/Bioware.

[Valmy]

And then, you'd get Pressly quoting regulations about the captain not supposed to be going on away missions
Nah, too boring

Well I could always send him in my place

But rules don't apply to Spectres

I think it's just a way to circumvent the idea that being a ship captain you don't go on exploring new planets, discovering new civilizations and slaughtering them.  Sheppard is more of a marine himself than a ship captain, but doing that means he has to obey orders from someone directly above him, and there's only so many times you can disobey orders without consequences.

I don't get it. Hackett orders us to do stuff all the time. And it is not like Shepard is part of a fleet or something, he is by lore a quasi-independent operator. They have already circumvented that idea. And the captain always did that in Star Trek

Bioware was still an independant canadian company then.  It's ok if you don't understand the Canadian army.  We don't either.

If it was the Canadian Army his rank would be 'Queen's Own Chamberlain of the Garter' or something. Which is the equivalent of Private First Class.

They had one.  But she went to the bathroom in the Citadel and they forgot her there for the remainder of the mission.

Hey when the mining expedition is leaving the station if you snooze you lose!

Pay attention to side-dialogue in ME2 while travelling in the Citadel

I shall

Same reason why you pay for your weapons and ammo: every mission is supposed to finance itself.  It drastically cuts the military budget.  It's like that proposal to take Iraq's oil field in exchange for protection.

Except this proposal actually saves money. Bellum se ipsum alet!

Hold that thought for later   Something else will come up in 2&3.

Good. As a father I am glad so much of this series centers around dads.

Their particular biology and weak immune system makes them incapable of living elsewhere than on their home planet, or a planet exactly the same as theirs without their suit.

According to Tali living on the Flotilla weakened their immune systems since it was a controlled environment so they should have been cool right when they first went into exile. But I noticed they wear their suites even on the Flotilla in ME2 which makes no sense but they probably just did not want to make more models. Or Shepard being along made him a potential Typhoid Mary.

The Geth have their own stealth and jamming

We should just steal theirs and save 120 billion credits.

The Normandy SR-1 is not equipped for atmospheric flight and for air to ground battle

Nonsense. It can fly right down by a volcano and pick you up. Besides that planet did not appear to have an atmosphere.

Maybe.  I think they retconned it so it would look plausible in ME2: Cerberus is a shadow organization with multiple, seperate antennas.  It's possible you destroyed a part of it, but the company still exists and developped extensively between the end of ME1 and the beginning of ME2 (2 years, give or take a few months).

Possibly. Man it is kind of funny how all these generic side missions turned out to be so important eh? I think there is still some more stuff with Cereberus in ME though, we shall see.

I remember Neil hinting at some problems with the Montreal team of EA/Bioware.

Well a brand new studio is bound to have some problems.

[Valmy]

Man Pinnacle Station is even worse than I remember it. This thing makes me ragey.

[viper37]

According to Tali living on the Flotilla weakened their immune systems since it was a controlled environment so they should have been cool right when they first went into exile. But I noticed they wear their suites even on the Flotilla in ME2 which makes no sense but they probably just did not want to make more models. Or Shepard being along made him a potential Typhoid Mary.

That last part is the main reason.  But also, any of leak or external microbe being accidentally transferred could hurt them, so they don't take any chances.

The reason why they didn't settle at first is possibly because there weren't any suitable planet far enough from the Geth yet easily accessible in a few years.

[viper37]

Man Pinnacle Station is even worse than I remember it. This thing makes me ragey.

Never played that one, only the moon one, and I liked it.

[Malicious Intent]

Man Pinnacle Station is even worse than I remember it. This thing makes me ragey.

Never played that one, only the moon one, and I liked it.

The moon DLC at least has consequences for ME 2 + 3. Pinnacle Station is just a series of simulated fights with the tiniest bit of story tacked on. But I'll guess Valmy will soon have some more things to say about it. 

[Valmy]

It's an asteroid not a moon

[Malicious Intent]

According to Tali living on the Flotilla weakened their immune systems since it was a controlled environment so they should have been cool right when they first went into exile. But I noticed they wear their suites even on the Flotilla in ME2 which makes no sense but they probably just did not want to make more models. Or Shepard being along made him a potential Typhoid Mary.

That last part is the main reason.  But also, any of leak or external microbe being accidentally transferred could hurt them, so they don't take any chances.

The reason why they didn't settle at first is possibly because there weren't any suitable planet far enough from the Geth yet easily accessible in a few years.

Excerpt from the ME Wiki. No spoilers for any of the games.

Quarian immune systems have always been relatively weak, as pathogenic microbes were comparatively rare in their homeworld's biosphere. Furthermore, what few viruses and other microbes were native to their homeworld were often at least partly beneficial to them, giving them a symbiotic relationship with their environment. After living aboard the Migrant Fleet for generations, the quarians' immune systems have atrophied further still due to the years in the sterile environment of the Migrant Fleet. As such, quarians are given various vaccinations and immunizations to help ward off disease. However, they prefer the safety of their suits even in clean environments and are reluctant to remove them without a good reason.

A quarian who wishes to remove their suit must take antibiotics, immuno-boosters, herbal supplements, or the like in order to do so safely, and even then there are inherent risks. As a result, physical acts of affection are difficult for quarians, even for the purposes of reproduction. Ships in the Migrant Fleet often contain "clean rooms" where quarians can give birth or undergo medical procedures in relative safety, though there are always risks. The most intimate thing quarians can do is link their suit environments. However, doing so guarantees a quarian will get sick, although they will usually adapt over time.

[Malicious Intent]

It's an asteroid not a moon

Urks.