Author Topic: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now  (Read 23781 times)

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Offline General Battuta

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
this played like fan fiction

That tells us precisely nothing.

Are you talking about My Immortal or Methods of Rationality?

those are both terrible

let's discuss why methods of rationality is bad now (eliezer's blog is p. cool though)

 

Offline Dark RevenantX

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
ITT: General Battuta's definition of bad extends all the way to the 95% percentile.

 

Offline Klaustrophobia

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
what are the chances someone will crack the demo for non-origin use?
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Offline TrashMan

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
what are the chances someone will crack the demo for non-origin use?


99999%?
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Offline The E

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
What would be the point? Cracking the Demo would presumably break the most fun aspect of it, namely the multiplayer.
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Offline Ransom

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
those are both terrible

let's discuss why methods of rationality is bad now (eliezer's blog is p. cool though)

ok

what is significant about it? all i got from google was that it is a harry potter fanfic that 'transcends the medium' or something

 

Offline Mikes

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
/sigh, the worst part is that I can see it coming already: Earth will be saved and the Reaper problem will be solved, all thanks to Captain Obvious and his gang who found the glorious deus ex machina in time.

Or since it's Bioware, it's prolly gonna be worse... and be some "unite the races of the galaxy" quest *AGAIN* where all the supposedly wimp races *together* suddenly are able to defeat the oh so powerful evil Reapers that have been busy destroying Earth's parks with their red flashlights for the last years.... /groan.


Mass Effect 1 was solid world building with a cool (if short) mainstory (and utterly crappy sidequests that shall not be mentioned)
Mass Effect 2 had great side stories and characters and little to no main story... and what little it had was rather stupid as a sequel.

At this point I just hope that the train wreck that appears to be Mass Effect 3's main story will have some saving grace lol.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2012, 06:16:09 pm by Mikes »

 

Offline TwentyPercentCooler

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
/sigh, the worst part is that I can see it coming already: Earth will be saved and the Reaper problem will be solved, all thanks to Captain Obvious and his gang who found the glorious deus ex machina in time.

Or since it's Bioware, it's prolly gonna be worse... and be some "unite the races of the galaxy" quest *AGAIN* where all the supposedly wimp races *together* suddenly are able to defeat the oh so powerful evil Reapers that have been busy destroying Earth's parks with their red flashlights for the last years.... /groan.


Mass Effect 1 was solid world building with a cool (if short) mainstory (and utterly crappy sidequests that shall not be mentioned)
Mass Effect 2 had great side stories and characters and little to no main story... and what little it had was rather stupid as a sequel.

At this point I just hope that the train wreck that appears to be Mass Effect 3's main story will have some saving grace lol.

I'm actually thinking the deus ex machina will be the Geth. They've been isolated and left alone for a long time, and could have dedicated all of their resources to building massive fleets. So, like you said, unite the races of the galaxy, Quarians and Geth make peace, Geth fight Reapers, Reapers lose, Shepard spouts one-liners, has snark battles, gets it on with a crew member, and there you have it.

Not to say I won't enjoy it if it's well written. really, there's only so many places the story could rationally go from the end of ME2.

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
ITT: General Battuta's definition of bad extends all the way to the 95% percentile.

that is actually a pretty fair accusation, i will not dispute i am being perhaps unfairly snobbish

i am the 99 percent...ile

ok

what is significant about it? all i got from google was that it is a harry potter fanfic that 'transcends the medium' or something

it's a really interesting didactic exercise in counter-worldbuilding wherein harry potter is trained in logic and math and shreds the harry potter setting by rationally applying its rules to break everything

it is a great exercise, a fun (if smug) read, and a useful illustration of the power of scientific reasoning, but also a pretty bad piece of fiction, and too often used by people who misunderstand harry potter's narrative mission

bringing this back around to your point about mass effect 3 feeling like fan fiction, yeah, it does kinda feel that way, as if they've reduced mass effect to a caricature of mass effect. i'm getting psyched to hold my analog stick/mouse up and to the right and press the 'paragon' option over and over: real consequences, emotionally engaging

 

Offline IronBeer

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
Just finished the demo. Not entirely sure what to think, largely I think in part because I'd seen this accursed thread before playing it  :p. So, observations and impressions!

At any rate, the combat seems to be channeling Gears even more, except that it's actually pretty frenetic. I personally like the changes to the cover system, and feel that the gunplay at least is solid- run' n gun might actually be half-viable now, despite Shep's frailty compared to ME1 (Immunity hax ftw). I did observe what appeared to be weapon/armor upgrades, I cannot make many conclusions based just on the demo, but it looks like my crack, upgrading, is going to be a thing. The expansion of skills pleases me, ME2 skill trees just felt so... limited.

The game seemed to be moving really quickly, graphics-wise; that's probably a consequence of my upgraded machine. Not a complaint, simply an observation.

And the elephant in the room- the story and characters. I'll reserve judgment for now. I know, I know, that's really kind of a cop-out, but I'm not going to heap praise or derision on a sci-fi RPG epic based solely on ~20 minutes of gameplay. Especially when most of that gameplay was filled with asplosions and gunfighting.

To address some points raised earlier in the thread:
*Yes, the characters did seem a little flatter and more awkward, but that might be confirmation bias seeping in (assholes).
*Perhaps the Reapers didn't melt Earth to slag from orbit because they're sadistic and complacent; they believe themselves invincible god-machines, and have all the time in the world to leisurely slaughter and terrorize their prey.
*(corollary of previous) So, because of that laziness, the Normandy simply kept a low profile and didn't dally in Earth airspace, and thus managed to not get vaporized by the Reapers! [/pointlessspeculation]

I think the most appropriate metaphor for the direction Mass Effect has taken could be drawn from one of our own most beloved projects here on HLP: the Blue Planet saga, except in reverse. AoA has been described as a "kickass hellyeah adventure", where WiH has been described as "brutal... gritty...". Before anybody rips me to shreds, that's only my opinion and I recognize that it's an imperfect metaphor, but the TONE of the entries seems to correspond.

I will however, close by mentioning that I probably am going to pre-order it, both because I want free ****, and because I am in fact excited for this release, even after playing the demo. The demo probably isn't the best representative of the final product, and whether that's good or bad I won't be the judge of.
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Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
a fun (if smug) read,

a pretty bad piece of fiction

No work of fiction that is enjoyable has entirely failed.
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Offline TrashMan

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
/sigh, the worst part is that I can see it coming already: Earth will be saved and the Reaper problem will be solved, all thanks to Captain Obvious and his gang who found the glorious deus ex machina in time.

Or since it's Bioware, it's prolly gonna be worse... and be some "unite the races of the galaxy" quest *AGAIN* where all the supposedly wimp races *together* suddenly are able to defeat the oh so powerful evil Reapers that have been busy destroying Earth's parks with their red flashlights for the last years.... /groan.

Spoilers ahead!

Spoiler:
It's number 1. You get the Deus Ex Machina from Mars (together with the Prothean squaddie and sexbot EDI), right after you leave Earth. Oh, and you imediately find out the TIM found a way to use that super-machine to indoctrinate all reapers and he wants to make the reaeprs into humantiites army, thus enesuring human supremacy.
The game doesn't let you agree with TIM, and he turn into Saren Mk2 (together with the similar end), but Shep still gets the option to destroy the reapers or do exactly what TIM wanted...


In other words, everyone in the galaxy suffers a case of extreeme stupid.

Nobody dies as a virgin - the life ****s us all!

You're a wrongularity from which no right can escape!

 

Offline TrashMan

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
*(corollary of previous) So, because of that laziness, the Normandy simply kept a low profile and didn't dally in Earth airspace, and thus managed to not get vaporized by the Reapers! [/pointlessspeculation]

But the Normandy didn't keep a low profile and it did dally in Eaths airspace.
It was howering within visual range of a dozen reapers with a big "SHOOT ME NOW" sign on it for an eternity.
Nobody dies as a virgin - the life ****s us all!

You're a wrongularity from which no right can escape!

 

Offline Dark RevenantX

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
It is perhaps good to standardize some basic definitions like "good" or "bad".  A piece of literature may be bad but still worth reading, for instance, according to GB's definition.  And I don't mean the Mein Kampf "bad book" that's worth reading (in excerpts) for the historical context and significance, I mean like a diversionary pleasure, like watching trash TV once in a while.

Mass Effect (2/3) fall into the latter category.  It's just a fun game.  Nothing groundbreaking, it won't win any awards for its writing, the plot will be fairly forgettable, but at least it will be fun.

 

Offline Klaustrophobia

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
there's also the "so bad it's entertainingly funny."  let's hope ME3 doesn't sink THAT low.
I like to stare at the sun.

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
It is perhaps good to standardize some basic definitions like "good" or "bad".  A piece of literature may be bad but still worth reading, for instance, according to GB's definition.  And I don't mean the Mein Kampf "bad book" that's worth reading (in excerpts) for the historical context and significance, I mean like a diversionary pleasure, like watching trash TV once in a while.

Mass Effect (2/3) fall into the latter category.  It's just a fun game.  Nothing groundbreaking, it won't win any awards for its writing, the plot will be fairly forgettable, but at least it will be fun.

yeah, i agree with this. don't get me wrong, i'm probably going to have this game day one

 

Offline Jeff Vader

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
Shepard ... gets it on with a crew member


Actually, whatever Bioware did or did not, I'll buy ME3. I'll just wait for some sales or surprise discounts (that actually applies to all my game purchases).
23:40 < achillion > EveningTea: ass
23:40 < achillion > wait no
23:40 < achillion > evilbagel: ass
23:40 < EveningTea > ?
23:40 < achillion > 2-letter tab complete failure

14:08 < achillion > there's too much talk of butts and dongs in here
14:08 < achillion > the level of discourse has really plummeted
14:08 < achillion > Let's talk about politics instead
14:08 <@The_E > butts and dongs are part of #hard-light's brand now
14:08 <@The_E > well
14:08 <@The_E > EvilBagel's brand, at least

01:06 < T-Rog > welp
01:07 < T-Rog > I've got to take some very strong antibiotics
01:07 < achillion > penis infection?
01:08 < T-Rog > Chlamydia
01:08 < achillion > O.o
01:09 < achillion > well
01:09 < achillion > I guess that happens
01:09 < T-Rog > at least it's curable
01:09 < achillion > yeah
01:10 < T-Rog > I take it you weren't actually expecting it to be a penis infection
01:10 < achillion > I was not

14:04 < achillion > Sometimes the way to simplify is to just have a habit and not think about it too much
14:05 < achillion > until stuff explodes
14:05 < achillion > then you start thinking about it

22:16 < T-Rog > I don't know how my gf would feel about Jewish conspiracy porn

15:41 <-INFO > EveningTea [[email protected]] has joined #hard-light
15:47 < EvilBagel> butt
15:51 < Achillion> yes
15:53 <-INFO > EveningTea [[email protected]] has quit [Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client]

18:53 < Achillion> Dicks are fun

21:41 < MatthTheGeek> you can't spell assassin without two asses

20:05 < sigtau> i'm mining titcoins from now on

00:31 < oldlaptop> Drunken antisocial educated freezing hicks with good Internet == Finland stereotype

11:46 <-INFO > Kobrar [[email protected]] has joined #hard-light
11:50 < achtung> Surely you've heard of DVDA
11:50 < achtung> Double Vaginal Double ANal
11:51 < Kobrar> ...
11:51 <-INFO > Kobrar [[email protected]] has left #hard-light []

 

Offline Fury

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Offline Klaustrophobia

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
is that a holographic omni-tool..... KNIFE on the cover?   :wtf:
I like to stare at the sun.

 

Offline Jeff Vader

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Re: Mass Effect 3 - There's a demo now
Jeff Vader, isn't this cheap enough? http://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/29576/cxnkj/Mass-Effect-3-PC-peli-kuljetus-kaupanpaalle-alv-0
I was thinking <30e. Preferrably even <20e.

is that a holographic omni-tool..... KNIFE on the cover?   :wtf:
Yes!
23:40 < achillion > EveningTea: ass
23:40 < achillion > wait no
23:40 < achillion > evilbagel: ass
23:40 < EveningTea > ?
23:40 < achillion > 2-letter tab complete failure

14:08 < achillion > there's too much talk of butts and dongs in here
14:08 < achillion > the level of discourse has really plummeted
14:08 < achillion > Let's talk about politics instead
14:08 <@The_E > butts and dongs are part of #hard-light's brand now
14:08 <@The_E > well
14:08 <@The_E > EvilBagel's brand, at least

01:06 < T-Rog > welp
01:07 < T-Rog > I've got to take some very strong antibiotics
01:07 < achillion > penis infection?
01:08 < T-Rog > Chlamydia
01:08 < achillion > O.o
01:09 < achillion > well
01:09 < achillion > I guess that happens
01:09 < T-Rog > at least it's curable
01:09 < achillion > yeah
01:10 < T-Rog > I take it you weren't actually expecting it to be a penis infection
01:10 < achillion > I was not

14:04 < achillion > Sometimes the way to simplify is to just have a habit and not think about it too much
14:05 < achillion > until stuff explodes
14:05 < achillion > then you start thinking about it

22:16 < T-Rog > I don't know how my gf would feel about Jewish conspiracy porn

15:41 <-INFO > EveningTea [[email protected]] has joined #hard-light
15:47 < EvilBagel> butt
15:51 < Achillion> yes
15:53 <-INFO > EveningTea [[email protected]] has quit [Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client]

18:53 < Achillion> Dicks are fun

21:41 < MatthTheGeek> you can't spell assassin without two asses

20:05 < sigtau> i'm mining titcoins from now on

00:31 < oldlaptop> Drunken antisocial educated freezing hicks with good Internet == Finland stereotype

11:46 <-INFO > Kobrar [[email protected]] has joined #hard-light
11:50 < achtung> Surely you've heard of DVDA
11:50 < achtung> Double Vaginal Double ANal
11:51 < Kobrar> ...
11:51 <-INFO > Kobrar [[email protected]] has left #hard-light []