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[ziza9]

That crossed my mind too. I'm still not sure why Bioware decided to make it pay DLC on that date though.

Yeah. Maybe they are really not thinking it through all that well. Just slapped an end date on it. I agree that it should remain free.

[MrBlack]

Yeah. Maybe they are really not thinking it through all that well. Just slapped an end date on it. I agree that it should remain free.

I've been reading up a bit on the Witcher franchise since I'm picking up the 360 version of the Witcher 2 next week. When the game was originally released on PC, some people complained that the third act was a bit rushed, and the game didn't give you enough closure with respect to some of the sideplots. The developer, CD Projekt RED, created some additional content, as well as an extended epilogue to improve the ending. The launch of the 360 version will be the debut of this Enhanced Edition. The developer, however, is also making these changes available for free for owners of the original PC version. They did something similar when they released an Enhanced Edition of the first Witcher game.

As I mentioned earlier, Valve did something similar with Portal, when they revamped the ending to that game in order to make it tie in with the sequel. Seems odd that Bioware isn't making it entirely free.

[ziza9]

I've been reading up a bit on the Witcher franchise since I'm picking up the 360 version of the Witcher 2 next week. When the game was originally released on PC, some people complained that the third act was a bit rushed, and the game didn't give you enough closure with respect to some of the sideplots. The developer, CD Projekt RED, created some additional content, as well as an extended epilogue to improve the ending. The launch of the 360 version will be the debut of this Enhanced Edition. The developer, however, is also making these changes available for free for owners of the original PC version. They did something similar when they released an Enhanced Edition of the first Witcher game.

As I mentioned earlier, Valve did something similar with Portal, when they revamped the ending to that game in order to make it tie in with the sequel. Seems odd that Bioware isn't making it entirely free.

That's the best way to do it. I read about the Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition as well. Bioware would be best served making it free so that future new owners of the game won't be compelled to buy an additional add-on years after the game's release. Putting on my wild speculation hat and factoring in development time and the allocation of resources: Bioware will likely add any playable gameplay additions to the ending as Prologue content for the next game on the next systems. A sort of play the final moments of "The Shepard" to help shape your ME4 experience as you play as one of his descendants.. I don't really see them adding too much actual gameplay to ME3, unless it was already planned as ending DLC, which it likely wasn't.

[Chris]

That crossed my mind too. I'm still not sure why Bioware decided to make it pay DLC on that date though.

Did they say specifically that it would be pay-DLC after that? Because all I'm seeing is that it would be a free DLC available until that date.

But that's like if you go on HBO Go and see that every show on there is listed as being "available until December 2012" or something like that. I'm sure HBO Go won't disappear at the end of the year, considering the hype they've put into it.. so I think it's just how these uploads go.

They might only be allowed to host the file on the servers until March 2014, at which point they'll have to re-up with PSN and XBL or something.

But I don't read into that meaning it'll be pay DLC afterwards.

Unless they specifically say that.

[MrBlack]

Did they say specifically that it would be pay-DLC after that? Because all I'm seeing is that it would be a free DLC available until that date.

But that's like if you go on HBO Go and see that every show on there is listed as being "available until December 2012" or something like that. I'm sure HBO Go won't disappear at the end of the year, considering the hype they've put into it.. so I think it's just how these uploads go.

They might only be allowed to host the file on the servers until March 2014, at which point they'll have to re-up with PSN and XBL or something.

But I don't read into that meaning it'll be pay DLC afterwards.

Unless they specifically say that.

Good point. I took a look at the original press release. It mentions the release of the new content back, and then has a legal blurb at the end. First sentence is "OFFER EXPIRES APRIL 12, 2014." The talk of pay DLC after that date seems to be based on a misreading of the press release by the gaming press. I was reading the articles rather than the actual press release, so that was the reason for my confusion.

It may very well be that they are only keeping it available until such time as the new Xbox is set to launch, or until the expiration of some other sort of contract. I do still wonder why they are making this a DLC pack rather than bundling it with a title update, but there may be other reasons for that which the public just aren't privvy to.

I'll reiterate that I'm not complaining about Bioware releasing this material for free. I just found it odd that there is a time limit associated with it, which you usually don't see with DLC packs.

[Strict31]

Last night, my buddy says to me that he's done with the single player in ME3. He was working on a second playthrough, and decided to hold off until "they changed the ending". The past couple of weeks, I said to him not to hold his breath on the whole "change the ending" business. Most likely, they'll release some epilogue type shit.

Okay, so they announce that they are not changing the ending, just adding some epilogue type shit, and fleshing the ending out more...for free. I still think the ending(s) all suck asses, but the epilogue type shit was all I really wanted. For free.

He's pissed because it won't change the shitty endings, though. He's gone back to Skyrim with the 1.5 update. Which I won't touch because that still doesn't change or add the shit I wanted.

I dunno...I can see his point. But at the same time, the shit is free...

[Strict31]

The new maps ain't too bad. I understand why they released them for free, however; everybody's got to be able to play on the same maps as everyone else. But there are some very pretty elements on these maps. A goddamn waterfall on the Ontarom map, for example. And Firebase Condor looks way better than the Palaven Moon mission in the game did. Lots of interesting places to move and hide and shit. Both are pretty big compared to some of the other maps in the MP game.

Again, I dunno how this is handled in other games with multiplayer maps, but I'd really expect to pay for these two maps. I just don't see how they could charge for them and still expect everyone to have access to them.

So far, I've only unlocked the Asari Justicar and the Kishock Harpoon Gun. Buying the Specter Pack increases your odds for unlocking the new classes and weapons. I don't know how long that will last.

As far as the old classes go, the Turian Sentinel is a lot more powerful than I originally thought. I'd unlocked the Turian Soldier early on and wasn't impressed by anything other than his high resistance to damage. So when I later unlocked the Turian Sentinel, I was like, Whutevah.

But last night, I watched one guy pretty much run the board almost solo with a Turian Sentinel who had maxed out Overload so he could hit multiple targets and spam the power repeatedly. It was nasty. So, following his example, I built a Turian Sentinel along the same lines, rocking a Revenant and no other weapons, to cut down on his Cooldown times.

He was a beast. Didn't matter if he was fighting Geth, Reaper Forces or Cerberus.

Perhaps there are some classes and some powers that are kinda broken...with undue advantages to players who know how to exploit them. Like the Vanguard being able to spam the Nova power. Another example is the Quarian Engineer. You can really rack up an insane kill count and an insane assist count with the Sentry Turret power. And Boss-level enemies like the Banshee and Brute tend to get stuck on the Turret.

It's almost funny to watch because the Banshee will stand right next to the Turret, and it almost looks like she's arguing with the damn thing. Anyways, she focuses on the damn thing to the exclusion of the characters, as does the Brute and so forth. So, it becomes a lot easier to kill those Boss-level enemies without a missile launcher in your inventory.

Did I mention the Sentry Turret can be upgraded to fire rockets?

When I run my Quarian Engineer, it almost feels like I've somehow activated a cheat code or something. I equipped her with a Phaseston Rifle with a stability mod. That rifle doesn't do a whole lot of damage and a lot of people underestimate it on that basis. But stabilized, it gives you a fuckton of headshot kills. It's fully automatic with zero recoil, so you can just lay the sights on an enemy's skull and rack up headshot kills. It gives great head. Plus, it's not as heavy as some rifles so, you can get Tech Bursts with your Incinerate power, while having a Sentry Turret providing you fire support.

The only way they could have made the Quarian Engineer more dangerous is if they gave her frag grenades...

[AaronW]

Fuck did I ever hate that ending. Made very little sense in light of events of that very game and the fact that choices make very little impact on the finale just blows my mind. And the nonsensical parts of it really really made me go WTF! My second favorite CRPG series of all time and the ending really really soured me on the whole thing. I played the first two games 3-5 times each. I don't think I'll revisit this one again.

So my final ranking of each game
ME *****
ME2 **** 1/2
ME3 ***

2 had the better combat compared to 1 but the story of 1 was easily the best. 3 was pretty fun until the end. I liked how they added back in the weapons mods in 3 and the combat was good, but damn did it fall apart at the end.

Well back to Skyrim and Bioshock 2 on the PC.

[Grayson]

The new maps ain't too bad. I understand why they released them for free, however; everybody's got to be able to play on the same maps as everyone else. But there are some very pretty elements on these maps. A goddamn waterfall on the Ontarom map, for example. And Firebase Condor looks way better than the Palaven Moon mission in the game did. Lots of interesting places to move and hide and shit. Both are pretty big compared to some of the other maps in the MP game.

The new maps are great, even though I had the location setting to Unknown, I must have plYed Ontarom at least 4 times last night although I have only played Firebase Condor once so I haven't really developed a strategy for it yet.

So far, I've only unlocked the Asari Justicar and the Kishock Harpoon Gun. Buying the Specter Pack increases your odds for unlocking the new classes and weapons. I don't know how long that will last.

I bought a regular Spectre pack last night and unlocked the Harpoon Gun. I used it for one game and then switched back to the Mantis. I should have enough for a Premium Spectre Pack after once more game and I hope to unlock one of the Geth. My friend unlocked the Batarian Soldier and absolutely LOVES the character. He punched an Atlas to death!

If the rest of the Batarians are as powerful as my friend's, then I really don't see how they were taken out so easily!

As far as the old classes go, the Turian Sentinel is a lot more powerful than I originally thought. I'd unlocked the Turian Soldier early on and wasn't impressed by anything other than his high resistance to damage. So when I later unlocked the Turian Sentinel, I was like, Whutevah.

I don't know, I don't have the Quarian Engineer yet but I am pretty partial to the Human Engineer and his mobile combat drone. You get that thing maxed out and it's almost like having another squad member on your team. Plus, my engineer is colored like and named Booster Gold...so there is that lol.

I just got the Quarian Infiltrator. I have only played 2 games with her so far but damn, I enjoy the character. The Hack/Disable missions are a breeze and rescuing an idiot who ran out into a horde of enemies all "Leeroy Jenkins" is really easy too.

[misac]

I finished this weekend and just read through the thread and I’m doubly let down. I couldn’t import my character so I started a new one and I didn’t get any of the cameos from ME1 and ME2 characters. And they replaced Wrex with his prick brother or something.

I wasn't pissed with the ending but I was pissed that they were essentially the same.

I'm going to play through all of them again to see all that stuff. I wanted to do that anyway and they're still great games.

[AaronW]

The ending made no sense in light of what happened.

[Reveal] Spoiler: Click to Expand

Oh synthetics and organics must destroy each other, despite you making peace with the geth and the quarians in the same f'ing game. So to avoid that...lets send a huge attack force of synthetics to kill/process/whatever all the organics...

That writing wasn't even as good as the worst episode of Star Trek Voyager.

[b.lumpkin]

If you whores are doing multiplayer on pc, my origin handle is duoshade
Hit me up

[Grayson]

The ending made no sense in light of what happened.

[Reveal] Spoiler: Click to Expand

Oh synthetics and organics must destroy each other, despite you making peace with the geth and the quarians in the same f'ing game. So to avoid that...lets send a huge attack force of synthetics to kill/process/whatever all the organics...

Yeah, that didn't make any sense to me either. Whoever or whatever the Catalyst is/was, didn't seem to leave any room in the master plan for the inevitable conclusion that organic life may be able to live in peace with synthetics. It just sort of assumed that because it had failed in the past it would fail in the future for infinity. So, in order to combat the threat of the extinction of all organic life, the Catalyst created the sentient synthetic Reapers to exterminate all organic life that had developed to a certain point because a) creating a synthetic race to exterminate all organic life to prevent them from creating another synthetic race makes perfect sense, and b) the Catalyst could never be proven wrong because as soon as a civilization advanced enough to create synthetic life, he would send the Reapers to wipe them out before they could attempt to achieve piece.

[doombug]

I finished this weekend and just read through the thread and I’m doubly let down. I couldn’t import my character so I started a new one and I didn’t get any of the cameos from ME1 and ME2 characters. And they replaced Wrex with his prick brother or something.

I wasn't pissed with the ending but I was pissed that they were essentially the same.

I'm going to play through all of them again to see all that stuff. I wanted to do that anyway and they're still great games.

you can import, you just down have your face from 1.

[Strict31]

The new maps are great, even though I had the location setting to Unknown, I must have plYed Ontarom at least 4 times last night although I have only played Firebase Condor once so I haven't really developed a strategy for it yet.



I bought a regular Spectre pack last night and unlocked the Harpoon Gun. I used it for one game and then switched back to the Mantis. I should have enough for a Premium Spectre Pack after once more game and I hope to unlock one of the Geth. My friend unlocked the Batarian Soldier and absolutely LOVES the character. He punched an Atlas to death!

If the rest of the Batarians are as powerful as my friend's, then I really don't see how they were taken out so easily!



I don't know, I don't have the Quarian Engineer yet but I am pretty partial to the Human Engineer and his mobile combat drone. You get that thing maxed out and it's almost like having another squad member on your team. Plus, my engineer is colored like and named Booster Gold...so there is that lol.

I just got the Quarian Infiltrator. I have only played 2 games with her so far but damn, I enjoy the character. The Hack/Disable missions are a breeze and rescuing an idiot who ran out into a horde of enemies all "Leeroy Jenkins" is really easy too.

One of the guys I ran into had a Batrarian Soldier, but he kept running off on his own because he thought he was superman. He wasn't. Character was tough, but no character is that tough.

For at least two hours, even on "Unknown Location", we kept turning up on Firebase Hydra. So, I got familiar with it quick. Condor only showed up once during that time. So, when my fiance showed up, as well as a friend of mine, I set it to Condor so we could get familiar with that, and then Hydra.

The main fault of the Kishock seems to be range. I'd get one hit kills on most enemies at short to medium range. But long range and extreme range, you could see the projectile literally arcing to the ground well before the target. But the benefit of it is that you can charge it up for a more powerful shot. With an Infiltrator using Tactical Cloak, with the increase sniper damage power chosen, that fucker will wreck shit.

You gotta remember, though; while it is grouped with sniper rifles, it's not supposed to be a sniper rifle. It's really supposed to be a portable weapon of terror kitbashed by homicidal Batarian pirates.

The reason I prefer the Quarian over the human Engineers is...well, there are a couple of reasons. Often times, the Drone will not appear where you aim, but rather right beside your head. And enemy has to be within line of sight for it to even start moving in the direction of the guys who are shooting you. The Turret is immobile, but pops up where you want it, every single time. And like I said, it distracts the living shit out of Banshees and Brutes.

Also, the Quarian has higher Shields than the humans do. Plus, she's so goddamned enthusiastic about killing people. I don't know why, but it cracks me up when she screams "ENEMY IS FINISHED." Bloodthirsty bitch...At least Quarian bitches look hot under those masks...

But yeah, with the Infiltrator, it is useful to go invisible when performing static objectives or reviving fallen comrades. I cannot explain it, but while I'm a killer marksman with assault rifles, subguns and pistols, I suck with weapons actually designed for it. In this game, at least. In Halo, I was murder with the sniper rifles. Even in the Elder Scrolls game, I became a marksman with the friggin' bow. I'm inclined to blame the mechanics of the game based on that reason, because I suck with sniper rifles in ME2 and ME3 (ME1, I was bad ass, though.) But maybe I just need to get more familiar with the weapon(s). I did better with the Kishock than I ever did with the Widow.

But now that I've finally unlocked my beloved Scorpion pistol, any long range shooting I do is with that son of a bitch.