Mass Effect 3

**mightyg** · 2012-03-25 02:21

Thought I'd weight in after playing a ton of this game. God damn everything is great except for 3 things:

Spoiler: show

**BaneTheBrawler** · 2012-03-25 03:58

I got the impression Bioware considers Conrad Verner to be the incarnation of "the fans"

**payu** · 2012-03-25 06:06

how are you guys speccing your human vanguards =O? not sure about some ability choices

**Brill Weave** · 2012-03-25 06:09

Ok. So promoting your characters from multiplayer. What exactly does it do?

**Kiarax** · 2012-03-25 06:40

Originally Posted by Brill Weave

Ok. So promoting your characters from multiplayer. What exactly does it do?

Resets the class back to level 1, gives you 10 N7 ranks and something like 75 War Assets in single player.

**Brill Weave** · 2012-03-25 08:26

Ah ok. I've got three jobs I can promote now. Wasn't sure if it was worthwhile to do so or not.

**Slott** · 2012-03-25 10:42

payu read a few pages back, i did a vanguard writeup

**Kiarax** · 2012-03-25 12:00

Possible leak about some DLC info (April 24th release date titled TERMINATOR) and Mass Effect 4 (Mass Shift):
http://pastebin.com/znYraLnF
Unconfirmed for now.

Edit: More info here too:
http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mass...0560313-1.html
Quoting incase it gets removed

Spoiler: show

http://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/c...d_information/

Last night I leaked the only available digital details of Terminator and Mass
Shift. After speaking with a close friend who is an attorney, I've decided
to take the risk of of expounding.

I am a virtual lightning technician who has been working for BioWare for over 8
years now. I've been the sole creator of the lighting partitions of all of
BioWare's engines and engine plugins in recent years. In layman's terms, I am
a very specific kind of graphics artist.

I am no longer a part of the companies in question.

My reasoning for the leak was to draw attention to what BioWare has become. The
company, for about 5 years now, has been dominated by EA Games' strict timetables
and budget restraints. I'd like to express my continuing admiration of BioWare and
the entirety of its staff--the most talented staff I've had the priviledge to work
with in my career, which spans 19 years. My admiration for them is why I even
bother to draw attention to the predicament that the company now faces.

I am not a doomsayer. BioWare likely has a successful road ahead of them, but the
money stops mattering so much when female colleagues get off the phone with EA
upper management crying over threats of replacement. The success stops mattering
when a dark cloud hangs over a team that is doing the best with the restraints
that have been placed upon them. Nothing was more heartbreaking than the moment
when Dragon Age 2, which was not yet in alpha status, was shipped out the
door. I thought that was a one-time thing, but it is becoming clear that that was
just the beginning.

To the staff: Though you and I are both under contract, know that EA will not
pursue you if you simply stand together. You are the most talented people in the
industry and every publisher would be honored to have you.

y.m. !ad7SQLiiVQ 03/25/12(Sun)04:41 No.2441074

To the fans: Please do not be discouraged by what little PR EA allows to get out.
You haven't spoken to BioWare, the real meat of the company, in over 5 years.
BioWare is still full of people who love video games, who want to put passion into
their games--but they are being stifled. Don't be angry with BioWare. Be angry
with those who are stifling them. But your anger isn't enough. Speak with your
money. It's the only language EA Games understands. I know it can be very hard to
resist falling for pre-order and DLC ploys, but it must be done. Your forum posts
and petitions are meaningless when compared to the simple dollar.

--

I'd like to clarify some things about the leak:

- The leak is the content of a digital blackboard we have at the office. It's the
first thing you see when you walk into Production. It's right next to our
storyboards. Only the director and writers can edit the outline, but the entire
team is asked to make suggestions throughout development. The outline always
changes dramatically during development. Sometimes, major plot twists are totally
changed, or characters are removed. Generally, the artists and the director have
the final say. You may think that it's odd that artists have so much power, but
throwing away completed models and other assets that have consumed a lot of time
is frowned upon. If they've worked on something long enough, they are going to
implement it somehow.

- Like in most development cycles, the outline is relatively abandoned right now,
replaced by the storyboards. But I can't exactly take the storyboards off of the
walls and scan them.

y.m. !ad7SQLiiVQ 03/25/12(Sun)04:41 No.2441101

- Terminator is a post-ending DLC. It's been in production for months. Javik was
originally from Terminator, but they bumped him up because they felt that ME3's
cast was too small. Terminator is about the party crash landing on a Prothean
planet on the edge of Sol, and then they have to figure out a way to make contact
with the rest of the system and get off of the planet.

- When they do get spaceborne, they return to Earth, which is gripped in a war.
Certain species are demanding they be allowed to take the most advanced space
ships out of the system, because Sol cannot support them. There is also mass panic
because the relay transport system has been destroyed, and Sol's remaining resources
are going to run out in less than a year.

- Shepard has been found on Earth, but he is badly injured and in a coma. He was
burned badly during atmospheric re-entry, and certain synthetic components of his
brain were shut down. Chakwas is certain that if he ever awakens, it will be in a
vegetative state.

- At this point, it is suggested that Shepard's broken synthetic parts could be
replaced with new ones. The party then splits up, and you go to three different
planets/areas to find synthetic components that may be able to help him.

- It is revealed that one of the valid components can be extracted from EDI. Joker
allows them to do so.

y.m. !ad7SQLiiVQ 03/25/12(Sun)04:42 No.2441128

- Though still badly wounded, after the synthetic pieces are installed, Shepard
finally awakens. He makes a speech at the Spacescraper (a piece of the Citadel
that crash landed on Earth along with Shepard, now used as a center of
operations) that ends the Sol War. After that, you get a unique cutscene based
on who you did or did not romance in ME3.

- This is not addressed in the Terminator DLC, but from the moment Shepard comes
out of the coma, he is the Catalyst. Shepard permanently died during atmospheric
re-entry. The characters and the player in Terminator are unaware that it is not
the real Shepard, and this will not be revealed until Mass Shift, the spiritual
successor to the Mass Effect series.

- Mass Shift is not Mass Effect 4. Mass Shift will involve the same universe,
characters, and story, but it will be more action-oriented. Space flight, for
example, will be as intricate as ME3's combat. In Mass Shift, you will actively fly
Murmur, a Reaper that is controlled by the Catalyst. Storyboards have not been
drawn up for exactly how this will work yet, but when we came up with the initial
concept, we were comparing flight to "Gradius III and Kingdom Hearts 2", and the
relationship between the Catalyst and Murmur was compared to the one between the
boy and the monster in "The Last Guardian".

- Xy was actually going to be a DLC character for Mass Effect 2, but he was axed in
favor of Kasumi, who was modeled after the sister of a staff member who kept baking
the entire staff cookies. They're introducing him in Mass Shift instead.
y.m. !ad7SQLiiVQ 03/25/12(Sun)04:43 No.2441150- BioWare has been meaning to introduce a main character suicide plot element for some
time now. They intended to do this with Kaidan/Ashley in Mass Effect 2, wrought with
guilt over the death of the other, but this idea was discarded when the director felt
that it would be too forced, and that players would feel as though BioWare simply
killed them off so that they wouldn't have to deal with their character branches
anymore.

- Though the details are very sketchy at this point, Mass Shift revolves around
the Catalyst (who now inhabits the body of Shepard), who seeks to prevent the
galaxy from advancing synthetics. This pits the Catalyst against virtually the
entire galaxy, which is quickly forgetting about the threat that synthetics pose.
The Catalyst, throughout the game, will endure inner turmoil caused by
his "other side" (EDI), who carries the belief that synthetics and organics can
peacefully co-exist.

- Mass Shift will feature more tactical combat, but with less cover. For example,
Filbert, while slow on the battlefield, can create a sphere of biotic energy around
himself that can repel a certain amount of fire. This will allow party members to
stand around him to receive all kinds of interesting "buffs".

- Other minor things have changed. For example, storyboards indicate that Asad
Grim, Mass Shift's primary (but not final--he joins your team) antagonist does not
wear a typical Volus suit. You will be able to see most of his body.

- Mass Shift takes place about one millennium after the events of ME3.

- Note that branching is the last stage of development. BioWare always begins with
a canonical outline, and then adjusts the outline details to accommodate player
choice in most scenarios.
y.m. !ad7SQLiiVQ 03/25/12(Sun)04:53 No.2441505Witch Hunt is a Dragon Age DLC. It caused an in-house ****storm because of canon
issues. An employee quit over it. It's used as a reference for how to "correctly"
deal with design plans that may interfere with player choice. It has nothing to do
with Mass Effect.

I don't know what Dragon Age: Return is, but Dragon Age 3 is codename "Redfish" right
now. It's in development.

This is the last you will hear from me. Bye.

**Charismatic** · 2012-03-25 12:06

Loved this from the thread.

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0...y17ko1_500.png

**BadKarma** · 2012-03-25 12:24

Originally Posted by Kiarax

Possible leak about some DLC info (April 24th release date titled TERMINATOR) and Mass Effect 4 (Mass Shift):
http://pastebin.com/znYraLnF
Unconfirmed for now.

Edit: More info here too:
http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mass...0560313-1.html
Quoting incase it gets removed

This....doesnt sound horrible.

**Kiarax** · 2012-03-25 12:34

Yeah, so it's obviously fake.

**Chrian** · 2012-03-25 12:44

**Qalbert** · 2012-03-25 13:18

whoa is that a screenshot from the dlc?

**Kuya** · 2012-03-25 14:26

If this is real, then they were going to continue as if only one ending is canon? Eh.

**Charismatic** · 2012-03-25 14:54

Originally Posted by Kuya

If this is real, then they were going to continue as if only one ending is canon? Eh.

lol, it is basically one ending with minor enough differences as is...

**Kuya** · 2012-03-25 14:56

Not in the sense of the cutscenes yea, but the implications were very different.

**Charismatic** · 2012-03-25 15:02

Honestly, its only about as different as the 'differences' in the previous Mass Effect games.

Spoiler: show

Obviously there SHOULD be more difference than this but I bet they'd get away with it if they did exactly that.

**Rulke** · 2012-03-25 15:07

I dunno how to feel about the "leaks". Could just be a well thought out "fake" but some ideas are quite appealing imo. Still, I sort of like the idea of ME3 being the final dip into the universe for Shepard (in any state) but ehhh, we'll see I suppose.

At any rate, I was reminded again why its never wise to invest too much in to a game; company polotics = spew

**Qalbert** · 2012-03-25 15:14

I love how part of the leak is "but player's don't know this twist yet"

**vrumpt** · 2012-03-25 15:50

Number of things in that "leak" that indicate its fake. Btw the spoilered stuff is supposed to be a continuation of the pastebin crap, supposedly made by the same dude, but he contradicts himself and is an idiot with few other things so obvious fake is obvious

- 2nd part starts with setting of 1k years after ME3, everybody except maybe wrex/liara would be dead. Ash/Kaiden wouldn't be alive/used like he says in part 1.
- There is no prothean planet in the sol system. There are 9, and only if you give Pluto some love
- Elcor/Hanar squadmates is an obvious joke/troll item.
- Nobody in their right mind would leak this shit, especially if that had such an obscure job as he suggests
- and no retard of a lawyer would give him the ok to do so.
- Volus antagonist is also a joke/troll item.

Think thats it. Decent try if not for those glaring problems. Really wish these "leaks" would just stop so I can get my post-indoctrination dlc

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