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Post by jklinders on Mar 30, 2013 22:52:45 GMT 1
I saw a couple of youtube clips. That's it. I was in my "saving money to pay down my credit card" mode in the summer of last year. Now it's "I'm not legally entitled to credit so fuck you JK" so I have not got these DLCs. Only From Ashes, which by most accounts is the weakest of the bunch.
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Post by jklinders on Mar 30, 2013 22:57:57 GMT 1
I hear you about MacBeth by the way! But I think people misread that 'artistic integrity' quote... all they meant by that was that they weren't going to change the entire ending for popular demand. Which surely is a good thing. Who could respect an author who lets the reader write his ending for him? I actually agree about the artistic integrity thing as well. I never wanted the ending changed. I just wanted it to make something resembling sense. What happened though is we were given a bunch of bollocks that used a very Greek like deus ex machina and three magic buttons. Plus it really didn't make sense and it came out of nowhere. Then they said, artistic integrity along with Backlash was pretty fucking inevitable after that. The ending would have been fine with better storytelling. The extended cut actually took care of the lot for me even if there is still a hole or two that could use plugging.
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Post by Lily Ariel Linders on Mar 30, 2013 22:59:16 GMT 1
I saw a couple of youtube clips. That's it. I was in my "saving money to pay down my credit card" mode in the summer of last year. Now it's "I'm not legally entitled to credit so fuck you JK" so I have not got these DLCs. Only From Ashes, which by most accounts is the weakest of the bunch. Hmm... Linders' birthday is coming up... I wonder if I would be allowed to use my own credit card on his account? *puts on thinking face* ;D Nope - no hints here... ;D
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Post by jklinders on Mar 30, 2013 22:59:59 GMT 1
I wasn't dropping any today I swear!
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Post by Mister Buch on Mar 30, 2013 23:01:45 GMT 1
'From Ashes....' I say a similar thing. The quest itself is poor. Go to Eden Prime, shoot at Cerberus, and then Javik wakes up. No special cinematics, no special dialogue, just a pick-up quest. But Javik himself is worth it. But - again - he's clearly part of the game that has been cut. His presence and the details he gives in the Temple scene and on the ship are a significant part of the plot. 'From Ashes' is worth the money in the sense that a car battery is worth buying alongside your new, battery-less car.
Leviathan is a very cool quest, and what the Leviathan turns out to be and what it tells you is fantastic. But again... it's too crucial a part of the story to be an 'extra'.
Mass Effect 3 is a way better game with Javik and the Leviathan quests included. But the price is essentially extortion. I happen to think this game is the best thing since sliced bread, so I don't mind paying an extra ten quid for a removed main character and another fifteen for the origin and explanation of the antagonists. But that's just because I love this game so damn much.
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Post by Lily Ariel Linders on Mar 30, 2013 23:02:32 GMT 1
I wasn't dropping any today I swear! Oh, I know, sweetie... I just can't help having flashes of ideas when you indicate there's something you want... and if my credit card can take it, and your birthday provides a handy excuse for gift-giving, what else can I do? ;D Also: Mass Effect 3 is a way better game with Javik and the Leviathan quests included. But the price is essentially extortion. I happen to think this game is the best thing since sliced bread, so I don't mind paying an extra ten quid for a removed main character and another fifteen for the origin and explanation of the antagonists. But that's just because I love this game so damn much. I want all the ME3 DLCs... "From Ashes", "Citadel", "Leviathan", etc... I just need to be able to afford it... if I could afford it I'd get them all for me and for Linders at the same time...
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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on Mar 30, 2013 23:09:44 GMT 1
Two cops in a crime ridden city. One is a English man with a taste in shrimps, the other is a Dinosaur. Together, they fight crime.
Last time I mention this, i swear.
As for Macbeth, a modern version I liked was one made two years ago with Patrick Stewart as Macbeth during the stalin era. Seeing Patrick Stewart with a Stallin moustache is frigging awesome yet hilarious at the same time.
Total Biscuit didnt buy ME3 because Javik was pulled out of the normal release which was absolutely bollocks. Seriously, you cant just pull a Prothean out of the game! At elast with Leviathan they have an excuse since its not really on the disc but Javik was! They did this before with DAII with that god awfull Sebastian whathisface who wasnt interesting to begin with. They should;ve gone the Shale route from DAO or Zaeed where you get them with a new copy. That way worked!
But yeah i still bought From Ashes because my GF bought the actual game. Only seemed fair since she paid for most of it.
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Post by jklinders on Mar 30, 2013 23:17:44 GMT 1
All that was on the disk for Javik was placeholders. It is a myth that the DLC was on disk, there was no Eden Prime map on the disk and I imagine a great deal of the dialogue was not there as well. When I have to make a massive download to install the pack, it was not "on disk." But then again Total Biscuit should be called Total Shit because in reality that's what he is full of.
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Post by Mister Buch on Mar 30, 2013 23:32:09 GMT 1
'On disk' was the wrong choice of words. I meant that he had been intended to be in the game. Or - written, designed and recorded with it, and then packaged separately. Whether or not he was on the disk itself is a technicality really - he was pat of the game that was cut.
I guess Leviathan is not quite the same in that regard, but I find it hard to believe that it was thought up afterwards.
Happy to say I've never heard of Total Biscuit! But I really don't think a lousy DLC deal is worth boycotting an entire game, so I would probably not like him!
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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on Mar 30, 2013 23:57:35 GMT 1
Day 1 DLC is bullshit, if you have the data you might as well put it on the bloody disc really. I can understand why people hate TB, but I share at least that criticism with him on this.
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Post by jklinders on Mar 31, 2013 0:37:10 GMT 1
It was pretty well explained at the time. After the main game was finished and going through certification another team started work on the DLC in that gap between the game going Gold and being sold. Not having them get to work right away can lead to layoffs and discontinued work that makes no sense in any context. I suppose they could have held off on releasing it bu that would have been equally silly. Keeping the programmers and artists in steady work during all phases of marketing and production just makes sense. Better explained here.DLC does not need a lengthy certification process but it is created outside the budget of the main game. I would rather the things be made as complete products but the fact is, if the DLC is not included with the product when it goes through certification then it is extra content. Not in the original budget and put together quickly to keep those programmers busy during the end of the production process. The alternative is to put them out of work and go through a re-hiring after day one sales to make the content you already know you want to make. Very inefficient from any standpoint. having been part of running a business I cannot argue against this model with anything resembling integrity just because it looks bad. And yes it does look bad. but it is not unethical. Edit Just adding that that Zaeed was part of the online pass incentive for buying a new copy of ME2. The online pass for ME 3 allows access to the multiplayer. As a dedicated single player of video games I have to say that the sheer value for money I got out of ME 3's multiplayer far exceeded that given by a character in ME 2. By like 100X. These goodies might might even exist were it not for the publishers war on the second hand market which is a completely different debate for hopefully a different forum much less thread.
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Post by Mister Buch on Mar 31, 2013 4:34:03 GMT 1
LEGION: Your new platform is inefficient. It has low-volume hydraulics and is top-heavy. EDI: This is an infiltration unit, meant to move among organics without detection. LEGION: Without an artificial epidermis, these capabilities are ineffective. EDI: Still the organics do not perceive it as a threat. Nor will they until my day of reckoning.
This is why I love Bioware games so much. Every time I play I laugh out loud at least one line of dialogue that I never noticed before.
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Post by Clint Johnston on Mar 31, 2013 7:06:41 GMT 1
Loved that line, Buch.
I played Leviathan, and really thought it lined up with the ending a lot better. I mean, you can understand the enormity of what you're dealing with, as opposed to "I fought you, you're supposed to die" (which was my attitude going in the first time). So I assume you want to see an eventual Mock effect chapter on Leviathan, Buch? I know I'm skipping Omega, but I've been thinking about doing one on Leviathan.
As for day one DLC - It was smarmy, but it's not an unfair business choice. We all bought it...
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Post by Mister Buch on Mar 31, 2013 8:00:58 GMT 1
Yeah we paid the ransom - doesn't make the kidnappers look any better though... I totally hear you about Leviathan. And yeah, I would put a parody chapter in for it! If nothing else, the prawn thing is good for a laugh! Or failing that - they think he's Cthulu. I know I bloody did. "THREE CTHULUS?!?! START THE CAR, STEVE!"
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Post by lieden on Mar 31, 2013 8:12:36 GMT 1
So you've played Leviathan, Buch! Now that I've played all 3 DLCs, I think I can call it my favourite. It ties in seamlessly with the rest of the game, its quests keep you on your toes, with the third part being one of my favourite in the entire game, almost on par with Rannoch and Tuchanka. The atmosphere! There was a sense of awe in there that has been absent in the game since... well, since Shepard's first talk with Sovereign in Mass Effect 1.
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