We didn't cut any sort of deal when I released her.

She said she didn't want her children to be used as instruments of war, but then she also said that I would forever be seen as a hero amongst them and in their species I had a friend or something to that effect.

One of two things will happen. Either they'll make me pay for keeping them alive and they'll somehow go berserk like they did many years ago which led to the Krogans taking them out or they'll remember what I did for them and, even though they are species that wishes to not engage in violence, will gladly risk their life to help the man that saved their entire race from extinction.

Ok WTH!!

What about me and Ashley, what about our kids, who gets to keep the house?, not sure i'm liking the fact that i wont have any of my old teammates with me?

Cant say i'm happy about this but Casey did say they will be very important in the story, so my guess is there will be some real emotional choices that will have to made about your old squad throughout the game?

I once thought Ash might have been a sleeper agent for Cerberus, given her xenophobia and her military family's controversial legacy.

Very possible. She totally has a do only what's in the best interest of the human race attitude.

All is not lost for me and Ash!!

You know who i can't wait to see again?

That Salarian from the planet we set off the nuke on that gave that epic speech prior to the mission :D

You mean Captain Kirrahe? Well............he's dead because my Shepard didn't take Shadow Team to go save Kaidan during the Virmire assault. I've never changed that outcome no matter how many times I've replayed the game.Hmmm.....the best interest. You keep hearing that throughout the game but I really think that personal agendas are what drives the majority of people you encounter in ME.

By the time of the Virmire mission I began to understand just how much Shepard is being used by the people around him/her.

The Council didn't want to make Shepard a Spectre, he/she was damage control. The Council gives Spectre's sweeping authority and privileges. A runaway agent threatening war on colonies is a major embarrassment for them.

Admiral Hacket makes a constant point of throwing Shepard's "humanity" and Alliance service in his/her face whenever he requests assistance. But the kinds of missions that Hacket sends Shepard on makes it clear that the Alliance is using Shepard's Spectre status to clean up it's own internal junkyard.

Hacket: You're the only one who can do it Shepard.

Translation: Shepard's the only one who can get away with killing whole communities of disgruntled biotics and scrubbing planets clean of illegal corporate and covert military experimentation.

And Ambassador Udina? Well he certainly is the most obvious manipulator isn't he? Shepard's accomplishments allow Udina to finesse the Council, maneuvering himself for an eventual seat.

I think the only one who wouldn't sell Shepard out is Anderson.

There's no way in hell Udina gets a seat on Council unless he somehow manages to kill Anderson and there would be major payback from me for that one.

Hell, he'd be in trouble if I simply heard he was trying to get Anderson removed.

Ashley thinks human race first, to hell with the other races. She would actually be a pretty perfect match for Cerebrus. In fact, she may be the best possible person to use as a means of getting me involved with Cerebrus. Ashley she's good, but she strikes me as not having very good judgment at all so she's very likely to get herself into trouble. I see a lot of hope for Garrus, but he can easily lose his way if you aren't there to check him. I trust and have confidence in Wrex moreso than any other person that was in my party.

Tali you sort of think of like a little sister that you always want to make sure nobody is messing with and Liara, she seems like the type that will end up in some very high position and will be crucial in getting certain things taken care of.

Yea Anderson would never sell Sheperd out. Not in a million years. Even if it seemed like he was, something else had to be wrong for him to be acting that way.

Well that sounds a little better.

I was really expecting to have old members with me. My Wrex :(

But oh well, new members are looking pretty awesome too. Can't wait to see what our old squad members are up to.

Very well put, but i wonder what Anderson's real motivation is?, i get the feeling he is using Shepard to, i just don't know to what end yet, i get a funny feeling he may be linked to Cerebrus also.

Anderson's motivation? He's about as pure as they come. From reading the book and then seeing the game, I have complete trust in the guy. I highly doubt he has any ties to Cerebrus as their means are pretty ruthless I believe.

They would be the Human equivalent, but on a much larger scale, of Saren.

I dont know i just get this off feeling about him, and i have never really gelled with his character in the book or game, i know on the surface he is whiter than white, but my gut just cant fully trust the guy.

Anyway any of my EU buddies thinking about going to GamesCon?, i know i am.

lol @ the salerian speech Optimus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaFo_H34t9s

At 1:12 seconds, it just ends so abruptly it was just funny to me. And then at 1:15 you can see a salerian walking away, lol. I don't think that cutscene was very well done to be honest. It's just not believable really.

The cutscene could've been handled better, but it was still one of the highlights of the game for me and I must admit, there was a part of me laughing as well to see such a speech coming from that alien, but it was awesome :)

LOL @ that speech i remember first watching that and just laughing at how corny it was, but it felt perfectly in place in a sci-fi epic like mass effect.

Can't wait for some meaty gameplay footage to show up here or gametrailers or something.. I'm kinda digging how much Bioware is focusing on the gunplay. Its pretty much a 3rd person shooter first and foremost and a RPG on the side (which is how it should be I think.)

lol now thats the funniest thing i've read in a while..

"Its pretty much a 3rd person shooter first and foremost and a RPG on the side"

WOW you have no idea do you, you only have to read what the Bioware dev's are saying to know that this game still has the RPG side of things in its forefront, the combat side is indeed being enhanced and tightend up, but so are all the RPG elements.

Bioware speaks on ME1 Squad in ME2

Yes, yes. A developer which is renown for producing quality RPG games should definitely ensure that the sequel is a 3rd person shooter first and foremost.

More like RPG first and foremost, third person shooter on the side. It is the RPG core of Mass Effect that makes it so compelling. Of course that is greatly helped by the fact that it also has a very strong and competent third person shooter component too, but I feel it is the RPG side of Mass Effect that is most vital to the package of what makes Mass Effect work.

That anyone would look at it as a third person shooter first and foremost is a testament of how good a job Bioware has done at blurring the lines and making the player unaware of the number crunching going on behind the scenes.

Looks way more focused on the shooting and less on the role playing based on what was shown at E3 if you ask me.

The first was different, I know I've beaten it almost 7 times now. I know what I'm talking about and its pretty obvious they are trying to make this more of a shooter than anything adding more weapon types/reloads/new intuitive cover system/new ragdoll effects. From what was shown... this is a shooter/RPG, not the other way around.

Well Anderson's motivation was to get a human into the Spectres, so he doesn't want anything else from Shepard.

And never at anytime does Anderson give Shepard any mission that advances Cerberus' agenda. Now Admiral Hacket on the other hand sends Shepard into a trap that nearly gets him nuked by a Terminus agent.

How the hell did they know Shepard was the one coming to disarm that nuke?

Still incorrect. Based on what was shown at E3? All they were trying to show at E3 was just how improved and how much more fluid the action was compared to the first game. Beaten it almost 7 times that should've been immediately obvious to you. To say they are making it more of a shooter than anything essentially ignores the fact that the very same level up, armor/weapon customization, ability wheel features are all still in tact only they've been taken to another level.

Just because they've greatly streamlined things such as ordering where each squad member goes or ordering specific squad members to perform a primary skill doesn't mean they are trying to make it more of a shooter. It also appears that you still don't understand what they are doing with the reload. It's basically a more clever and visually representative replacement for the old overheat mechanic from the first game. You still don't have bullets or anything like that.

Each weapon has a certain number of shots that can be fired before the weapon icon turns read which then prompts Sheperd to perform a reload animation. They essentially got rid of the ability to never experience weapon overheat if you simply carefully monitor the way you shoot. With the new mechanic it doesn't matter how you're shooting, it's how about how many shots you've fired and then instant red gun icon which then initiates new reload animations. This is best put on display while sheperd is using the snipe rifle in the gameplay vids. His weapon icon immediately turns red after firing a single shot prompting the reload animation.

The game is number crunching like crazy even though they've cleverly given us the appearance of a third person shooter that seems mostly driven on third person shooter mechanics. They are basically doing with Mass Effect what they did with Kotor only they've essentially gone and created something really innovative by involving these shooting mechanics. Every weapon they're adding is still heavily driven by numbers and stats you can pretty much count on that :)

To further make my point on this.

#1 You can engage in conversations, that you have full control over, with a wide variety of different characters in the game including your squad mates.

#2 You can dictate what you want to say and how you want to say it and virtually affect the outcome of that conversation and also the path your relationship with that character goes down. If you don't like the way a conversation is going, you have the choice to shoot someone in the head, punch a reporter in the face or even knock a guy through a window. Even your conversational ability can be leveled up to give you extra options in conversation to persuade or intimidate a person you are speaking to or simply to allow you to get better deals at stores.

#3 You can travel to different locations or planets as you see fit. You aren't forced to progress down a strict linear path.

#4 You can fully customize weapons, armor and your character's stats and special abilties, same for your squad members. Keep in mind that Bioware stated these things will go well beyond what the first game gave you control over.

#5 You can choose differing and specific bullets types to gain advantages over certain enemy types, be that bullets that work on robots, organic life, inflict poison damage, disintegrate enemies, bypass shields or simply because you want a desired effect when you shoot something.

#6 These bullet types actually have levels Armor Piercing Rounds I or II Phasic Rounds 1 or II and it of course goes beyond just level 2.

#6 You have numerous special abilties that involve, weakening an enemies shields so they are further susceptible to further damage, abilities that freeze an enemy in their tracks making them also impervious to damage while frozen, abilities that create a vortex to swoop up enemies, abilities that lift enemies in the air, abilites that when used cause an enemie's weapon to overheat, abilities that when used make it difficult for an enemy to recover HP, abilities that cause enemies to become confused and start attacking their allies, abilities that cause devastating damage to electronic or robotic enemies, aside from simply having bullets that are specific to those kinds of enemies. Abilities that significantly increase your rate of fire on use. Abilities like immunity, barrier or shield boost that make it harder for you to receive damage and if you do receive damage you don't receive as much

#7 There are MANY weapon types, but that is also true for a third person shooter right?, but wait there is more. There are many different versions of those weapons. Assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, sniper rifles of varying brand classifications and version numbers. Ones that either take longer to overheat, perform more damage than others, have a higher accuracy rating than others etc.

#8 There are many weapon enhancements, not speaking about bullets, that are either designed to improve accuracy, decrease recoil, make it easier to detect higher level enemies who may want to jam your radar.

#9 The player has different levels of electronic skill which have a direct impact on which kinds of electronics you can gain access to or which safe or storage locker you can hack into.

#10 The core focus of the game, if you want to do anything at all, is to complete quests and/or sidequests.

#11 Your choices or actions can have a direct impact on the end of the game, whether the main character lives or dies, whether a squad member lives or dies or whether some other non squad member lives or dies. Your choices can decide whether an entire alien race goes instinct or whether that species gets to survive and prosper. Your actions can dictate whether a colony becomes a shell of it's former self and and ceases all activity or whether it goes on to prosper.

#12 If you feel like it, you can go have a sit down in some club and have some random alien girl dance for you.

#13 You receive loot and cash from participating in and winning fights. You can buy or sell items to add to your characters or you can simply get rid of loot you don't wish to keep.

#14 You can choose between different classes that all have different abilities or are more accomplished in different areas and that doesn't even end with the selection of your class at the beginning, you later get the option to branch out into a different type of class and instead of being a Vanguard you can be a Vanguard Nemesis.

#15 Your actions from the previous game carry over and have a direct impact on the second and third game.

#16 Your abilities in the game have a cooldown period before you can use them again

#17 You can walk up and talk to or get a reaction out of every single NPC in the game.

#18 Every single one of your characters have a level and/or level up.

#19 If things get too rough you can pause the action and come up with a gameplan. You can pause any third person shooter, but that isn't at all the same as what you can do in Mass Effect.



No game that does all this can be considered a third person shooter first and a RPG second, unless you can name me a third person shooter, much less a shooter in general that does all of these things.

They've just done such an amazing job with the game and it's mechanics that it encroaches on another genre's territory, but that doesn't change what it is at it's core. One could call Mass Effect a third person shooter, but they would be wrong if we look at all the facts, but one can absolutely call Mass Effect an RPG and be 100% correct because, despite what Bioware has done, it's much more RPG than it will ever be third person shooter.

LOL!!! I might make this my new sig?I would reply, but Ops pretty much has it covered.Forgot that Hacket did that?