Mass Effect 3

[Lonely]

I most likely will not be purchasing anything from Bioware for a long time if ever. They have damaged their reputation in my eyes beyond repair.

This, if they somehow manage to make a amazing single player game or start another ME trilogy i'll wait for the ultimate edition 12$ sale. To be honest though, it'll be hard to resist a mass effect third person shooter rpg multiplayer focused game. ME3's multiplayer had me hooked for a long time with just one game mode and korean RNG system just because the combat is so gewd.

[Pendulum]

Weekend operation looks like a solo bronze jobby

Unexpected attacks have taken out several squads and damaged vital Alliance equipment. We will deploy drones to repair damage and investigate the nature of these attacks.
Squad Goal: Complete up to and including wave 10 on any difficulty without using a consumable (medi-gel, ammo, Ops pack or Cobra missile launcher)
Allied Goal: Complete 250,000 escort missions on any difficulty.
Special Circumstance: None

Individual Goal Success: All individual players awarded a Commendation Pack
Allied Goal Success: All players awarded a Victory Pack

Weekly balance changes

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September 4, 2012
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Biotic Charge Power (all kits excluding the Krogan)
- Base force increased from 600 to 650

Submission Net Power
- Base cooldown reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
- Base damage increased from 350 to 600
- Rank 3 damage and duration bonuses increased from 20% to 30%
- Evolve 1 damage bonus increased from 30% to 40%
- Evolve 3 damage bonus increased from 30% to 40%
- Evolve 4 cooldown bonus increased from 35% to 45%
- Evolve 6 electric pulse frequency increased from 1.5 to 1 second
- Evolve 6 electric pulse base damage increased from 100 to 150

Turian Sentinel
- Starting encumbrance capacity increased from 40% to 50%

Turian Soldier
- Starting encumbrance capacity increased from 55% to 65%

Turian & Batarian Fitness Powers
- Base health/shield bonus increased from 15% to 25%
- Rank 2 health/shield bonus increased from 10% to 15%
- Evolve 2 health/shield bonus increased from 15% to 20%
- Evolve 6 health/shield bonus increased from 25% to 30%

[Kuya]

Eh

[BaneTheBrawler]

Leviathan was ok. I agree that it should have been $5. One part that pissed me off: Running around a facility while those flying reaper douchebags zip past and shoot you with cannons, and you can't shoot back. I used ~5 medigels just getting through that part because they would shoot me and take my health down to less than a bar.

[Matthias]

i LOVED leviathan.

as i mentioned earlier i'm that rare guy that loved the original ending... in fact part of me actually prefers the original ending to the extended cut. i think part of it is because i don't mind cliffhanger endings that leave the details to the imagination. on the other hand i love backstories, so what disappointed me about the ending was not so much closure about the things after the war, but that there wasn't enough information on the background of the reapers. so my favorite part of the extended cut was the extended dialog with the catalyst, which shed some more light on how all this happened.

so similarly, i loved leviathan as it shed even more light on how the galaxy became the way that it was. give me more details of the backstory over a detailed ending any day.

[Anoat]

FISSION MAILED!

From: Admiral Steven Hackett
Re: Operation VIGILANCE
Confidentiality classification: XB-PRIME
Distribution: N7 Forces Only

Soldiers of the Milky Way –

As mentioned in previous communications, we’ve seen a number of reports describing unusual enemy activity. Operation VIGILANCE was prompted by the latest in a string of unexpected attacks. I regret to inform you that the operation has failed.

Before our drones could complete their assignments, our troops were overrun by enemy forces. It is clear they knew what we were trying to do. Our troops were forced to salvage what they could before withdrawing from the battlefield. While we will put the salvaged materials to good use, we’ve learned very little about the initial attacks or how we might counter similar attacks in the future.

We will continue our investigation. I know that comes as little consolation to those involved. To you, all I can say is that you must stay alert and rely on your fellow soldiers. The Reapers have a plan. We must be ready for anything.

--Admiral Hackett

Edit: 231,456 escorts were successful. Close, but not enough.

[Rulke]

I wonder how they will "punish" the community...

[Matthias]

we still get our commendation packs right?

[Mots]

Yes, we still get commendation packs. I just got Valiant III from mine.

[Anoat]

So apparently Mark Meer (voice of Male Shep) cosplayed at Dragoncon as himself...


And this led to the creation of The Mass Effect Cosplay Initiatve which seeks to get the actors from the game to cosplay as their respective characters. So far they have signed up Mark Meer (male Shep), Jennifer Hale (fem Shep), Raphael Sbarge (Kaidan), Kimberly Brooks (Ashley), Courtenay Taylor (Jack), Steve Blum (Grunt), and Rana McAnear (face model for Samara/Morinth). I think this is pretty cool.

On a sidenote, I never knew Kimberly Brooks was black!

[Brill Weave]

I always knew there was a perfectly good reason why I didn't like Ashley!

[Matthias]

yeah i just got my valiant but it's only valiant I which means i'll be sticking with my widow VIII still for now... bleh! i also have a indra III which i use on my shadow now and then

[Insanecyclone]

http://blog.bioware.com/2012/09/18/from-aaryn-flynn/

As you have probably heard by now, BioWare’s two founders, Doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, have announced their retirement from game development with blog posts that you can review here.

I know this might be concerning for some of you but the leaders at BioWare have had some time to think about it – to think about how the games, the fans, and the creative teams would move on without the two guys who started this organization back in 1995. We – including Ray and Greg – think the studio is solid and the team here is ready to embark on a whole new era of games.

As the General Manager of BioWare Edmonton and Montreal, I want to take this opportunity to talk this through, and to update everyone on the people and projects that will define Bioware in the months ahead.

First, I want to offer an homage to the two men who founded this studio and helped build a global community of fans and friends. As the legend goes, Ray and Greg went to medical school together here in Edmonton before trading in the stethoscopes to pursue their true passion of games. What followed was an explosion of creative energy that delivered epic games from Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights in the early years to Dragon Age, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Mass Effect most recently. All of this hard work culminated in 2011 when they received one of game development’s highest honors — entry into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame. To get a sense of what it’s been like to work with Ray and Greg, give their acceptance speech a watch here.

Ray and Greg have been well-recognized for their creative achievements but their greatest legacy will be the culture and leadership team they built at BioWare. I could go on and on about that here at BioWare, but that’s a difficult thing to do without you knowing a bit more about me and what it’s meant to me to work with Ray and Greg.

I joined BioWare more than 12 years ago straight out of University, as a programmer with a Computing Science degree. I went to work on Baldur’s Gate II immediately, learning about the tools the content creators were using to help make the game. From there I went on to work on the Neverwinter Nights Toolset, and then onto Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, where I helped program the combat systems for the game. From there I went on to Jade Empire (which still holds a special place in my heart as a game), and once that was done I was onto Dragon Age: Origins. At that point, my official coding career began winding down and I was doing more and more things like recruiting and planning. Then, a little more than three years ago, Ray & Greg offered me the chance to manage the Edmonton and Montreal studios. Greg was taking on new responsibilities that eventually found him managing BioWare Austin, and Ray was expanding his responsibilities to include additional studios as Group and then Label GM, overseeing and directing all of BioWare.

In that time, I’ve seen our studio culture grow, change, evolve – especially now that we’re part of EA (I’ll talk more about that in future blog posts). What hasn’t changed is our cohesive spirit that binds us as a team. It starts with a passion for creating the very best games; it demands a deep commitment to respecting and listening to our players; it includes ongoing recognition that great games require skilled and dedicated people; and above all, it requires incredible integrity – integrity that spans across our games, our relationships with players, and our commitments to each other.

Love of games, respect for the players, teamwork and integrity – those are the hallmarks of a culture built by Ray and Greg. It started in their hearts and minds, ran through their daily actions, and resonated deeply in the people that joined them in their remarkable journey. And now with their retirement, the creative teams at BioWare Edmonton & Montreal are ready to carry on that legacy:

• DRAGON AGE 3: Inquisition – Yesterday, we announced that BioWare is now developing the next chapter of the Dragon Age series. Executive Producer Mark Darrah and our teams have been meeting with fans about what they want in a new Dragon Age game. I love spending time with the Dragon Age team as they work on Inquisition. The thought-provoking discussions, the fun, and most of all, the discovery of what’s possible on a new engine is both exhilarating and humbling.

• MASS EFFECT – Executive Producer Casey Hudson and his team are coming off an amazing eight-year run with the Mass Effect trilogy. But they’re not done yet. We are releasing more multiplayer content and we have more single-player stories coming throughout the next six months, including Omega which is coming in the Fall. But the Mass Effect universe is vast, and Casey and our teams have plans for another full game. “Where to go next?” with such a project has been a question a lot of us have been asking, and we’d all love to hear your ideas.

• BRAND NEW GAMES FROM BIOWARE – Both Dragon Age and Mass Effect started as single games but grew into vast universes. But we aren’t stopping there. While Casey continues to oversee the development of our new Mass Effect project, he and his leads are putting together their vision for an all new game set in a fictional universe, built from the bottom-up with all new gaming technology.

As the GM for Edmonton and Montreal, I know that creative people are delivering new content and gameplay for established franchises, and new games that go in new directions.

Ray and Greg built BioWare to last. They’ve always known their retirement would come one day, so they developed a team of people who would ensure their standards and culture would endure. We’ll humbly carry that torch and continue learning in the process.

To the Doctors: I wish you the very best, and we will always honor your legacy. The games we develop will always share your unique creativity and steadfast integrity.

Now it’s up to us to show the world what you taught us.

[6souls]

I was discussing the above post with IC earlier tonight and I'm hoping that the next Mass Effect game takes place in a different time period. I think after ME3, there is not much point on having a game based around the Shepard era. IC suggested the Prothean era. I think that would be cool to play through, even though we know how it will eventually end.

[Lonely]

Lol Omega DLC, worst kept secret ever. After that its going to be Illium Invasion. I wonder whats next for multiplayer. If I had to guess elite aliens on par with n7 humans and a endless wave mode.

Sad to see they still kept casey as lead director of the series just so he can fuck it up at the end.

[Moss]

I was discussing the above post with IC earlier tonight and I'm hoping that the next Mass Effect game takes place in a different time period. I think after ME3, there is not much point on having a game based around the Shepard era. IC suggested the Prothean era. I think that would be cool to play through, even though we know how it will eventually end.

Prothean era would be cool. Perhaps make it really dark since the Protheans were running shit and everybody else served them. As I've mentioned before, I think a game exploring the mass relay discovery, first contact, and eventual first contact war would be interesting as well.

[Matthias]

I think after ME3, there is not much point on having a game based around the Shepard era.

they did say early on, before me3 came out, that this would be the end of shepard's story, there would be no more games centered around him/her. i suppose that doesn't necessarily mean that it won't be during the shepard era but yeah.

i'd love to see something around the beginning of humanity's rise to power in the galaxy - them discovering the prothean archives, learning the mass effect phenomenon, the beginning of the first contact war, etc. i love backstories.

[BaneTheBrawler]

That's another reason I hate the ME3 ending. It kills any chance of a Shepard-era game that isn't set during/right before the games.

[Matthias]

That's another reason I hate the ME3 ending. It kills any chance of a Shepard-era game that isn't set during/right before the games.

i don't think that decision had anything to do with the ending actually. as i recall the announcement about this shepard's story ending was long before the game was finalized. the story goes that the ending of me3 was a fairly last minute change due to the original ending having been leaked. so my guess is that it was planned from the start that no matter what happens, shepard's story is over.

[Brill Weave]

Yay more chances for Casey Hudson to run the ME universe into the ground lol. No thanks. Not touching anything Bioware puts out for a very long time. Literally the only Bioware game I would buy right now would be Jade Empire 2 if it was ever made.