JackKieser

Yeah, no. I mean, it was a good attempt, but no. The ending's problems are WAY more fundamental than what you go over in that short write-up. Suffice it to say that, no, you aren't the one person (or one of the few people) who is somehow just so much more capable of understanding the artistry that is the ME3 ending; the ending is just bad, and unjustifiably so. If you don't get why, or really do think that it is a good ending, might I direct you to some ? It is actually really well written, researched, and presented (if a bit long, clocking in at 38:59).

It's probably because nobody actually asked for this DLC. There were two main camps of people: people who agreed with BioWare (who thought the ending was fine and that changing it hurt BW's artistic integrity) and people who wanted a new ending (due to plot holes, inconsistencies, and a general lack of narrative coherency). This decision is the absolute wrong choice for BW to make, because it pleases literally no one. The people on BW's side will be angry that the ending is going to be edited at all, and the people who wanted a new ending will get nothing they asked for, considering you can't clarify an already bad ending. At least with a hard-line stance either way, BW had the chance to please SOME subset of their fanbase; thanks to this decision, all they can possibly do is make MORE people angry. During this whole debacle, I've been thoroughly disappointed with how BioWare has handed itself (or, more accurately, how EA has handled BioWare).

Reading the thread, I'm thinking a decent number of people here don't like the ending. I didn't like the ending. Why are we agreeing on something? I never thought this day would come.

Oh my god, I am NEVER playing Arrival again. My last cheevo to get was the Object Rho fight on Insanity, and I decided my best bet was to do it with a Vanguard, since I'm so trash at long range shooting. It took me 7 hours. I got it, eventually. But, it was like pulling teeth. Fuck that DLC, I will never again do that. My other save files don't need Arrival; it isn't worth it.

Oh, they did. DICE was commissioned to do the gun sounds, so the Revenant has a real DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA sound. All of the guns sound really, REALLY good now. ...though not as good as Shockwave sounds. WUB WUB WUB WUB. In matches, I've taken to calling it "the Dubstep Cannon". It's nice to think that adepts / vanguards are killing mans with the pure power of dubstep.

As far as the day 1 DLC goes, the Penny Arcade ME thread pretty much beat that horse to dead and back.. granted, a lot of the discussion was pretty emotionally charged, and I think DLC discussions can happen as long as people don't get too emotionally invested, but whatever. All I will say is that I doubt that day 1 DLC is a trend in the industry that's good for anyone but publishers. That being said... it's super hard to avoid spoilers this close to release. I know some people already know who the DLC character is, but I want to go into the game on the 6th with completely fresh eyes (I've gone so far as to not play the single player demo at all, and have avoided EVERY trailer for the game, only seeing ones that my GF has pre-viewed to verify for no spoilers). Staying on the internet and avoiding ME3 spoilers are becoming more and more mutually exclusive.

Ok, so I know that Vanguards and shotguns are BFFs and all... but Vanguarding with only a heavy pistol for the low cooldowns is just kind of broken on Bronze. Seriously, Charge -> Nova -> Charge -> Nova ad infinitum is just too crazy. The fact that you can, by only doing this interspersed with a few pistol shots, completely solo an Atlas, no problem is an incredible feeling.

See, I wouldn't worry if BioWare were still an autonomous studio... but it's not anymore. Their tying in ME3 promotions with Battlefield 3 and their insistence (which really isn't strong enough of a word) on using Facebook as a promotion tool through pseudo-games and the recruitment app Ponzi scheme shows just how much EA runs the show now. And, if EA wants more cash cow money from Shepard, I honestly think that BioWare is no longer in a position to refuse. I'm about 80-85% sure that ME3 will be Shepard's last mission... but EA can make really dick moves, and I don't put anything past them.

No. Right now (that is, until Friday), the Mp is open to people who either bought BF3 or were given access to it by a friend through a Facebook app. So, if you know a friend who can play MP already, then they can get you access. If not, there are a ton of people on the PA forums helping people get access. That being said, the restriction goes away in a few hours, so you can always just wait... but, I recommend not waiting. It's too fun. EDIT: So, looks like I was wrong. According to the PA forums, EA is launching the MP servers for everyone early. They should be up now, or very, very soon.

Just make sure to get a decent group of players, and I heavily suggest dropping groups who don't use voice chat; this game seriously punishes you for being uncoordinated, especially on Silver / Gold difficulty. But, when you all mesh well... magic happens.

I'll admit, I haven't played the single player yet, because I want to go in fresh on the 6th (yes, I've been on full blackout, minus MP, this whole time). That being said, gameplay-wise, 2 and 3 are significantly different enough to warrant you trying it. Seriously, the MP demo itself is just spot on; it's a very good approximation of what to expect in SP combat, gives you a good look at all of the new weapon / item systems in play, AND has the bonus of being fuckawesome fun to play (I've literally played at least 12 hours of the MP demo this week; it's just too addictive). You should at least give it a chance. It's a demo; it's not like it cost you anything.

So, I just did a search of the forums, and it seems as though there is currently no Mass Effect thread. This is a problem. Now that the multiplayer demo is out for 3, everyone should just be doing that.

It was the best 0.09$ per song that I've never earned. Worth every non-penny.

I've had midterms to get ready for, so I've been a little busy. Better late then never, though. ^_~

Wow, Russia is trolling you guys hard. Definitely a thread subscription. popcorn.gif

There are a couple of things wrong with this mentality, but before I list them, yes, I'm American, and I'm constantly doing things to try to fix this broken system. I meet up with people IRL and online (including posting on forums) and have discussions / educate people on both this law and the IP system in general (say what you want about the Occupiers, but when they started up in Seattle, I went to the protest and talked to people about IP law, for instance), I call representatives and Congressmen, I sign petitions, I help raise money... I do a lot. That being said, part of the reason SOPA exists is because no other country is standing up to the IP kings and enacting laws to stop this nonsense, either. The US has no one else to counter it with legislation, so it does what it wants. Imagine the pressure it'd take to enact SOPA if Britain had definitive pro-free information policies, like the ones the Swiss have. Imagine how hard it'd be to pull this shit if Britain, France, Germany, etc. had Swiss-like systems, or adopted Creative Commons as a legal standard, or set hard, unchangable limits on copyright at 14 years, or any of the other things they could possibly do to promote free and open idea exchange. That's what you can do. You can influence your own country's policy to give the US an example of how to do IP law properly. Yes, SOPA is in the US Congress right now. That doesn't mean there is NOTHING you can do about it.

Lol generalizations

Hope is only useful when it's accompanied by action, psychowolf. Hope all you want to after doing something to influence events in your favor.

That's not what I said; I said that many people on this site are professional musicians. Ask Zircon how much money he makes selling music / music software / musicianship services, and I guarantee you it will be a positive non-0 number. Obviously, anyone like that is biased in the matter of copyright law and has a serious conflict of interest. I'd respond to the rest, but it's off-topic. If you want to discuss my tone, take it to PMs. That being said, I'm (obviously) not for SOPA, but I've heard people try to defend it. Most people try to avoid the 5th Amendment issues because, well, they're very obvious. What I've read / heard the most is that it's essentially no worse than the USA PATRIOT Act, so it must be ok (which is glaring for its own reasons).

SOPA is copyright reform; it's reforming the system to be more totalitarian. It's reform... just reform in the wrong direction. And, I'd start a new thread, except I already did that once and it got shut down. Mainly because it turns out a website full of people that make money off of music don't like it too much when you argue that they shouldn't be making quite so much money from said music... Go figure.

One run in with the RIAA does not an educated person make. I feel for you, really I do, because no one should have to deal with those assholes, but just because they came knocking one day, that doesn't mean you know both sides to a story. All that tells me is that you're perfectly qualified to comment on how big of dicks the RIAA is. Meanwhile, I quoted excerpts from writings of copyright lawyers, posted multiple articles proving (or at bare minimum, heavily supporting) stances, and even linked to a 29-page / 3 year discussion from both sides about IP law in its entirety, and the most I usually get in return is a "stop trying to tell us we shouldn't make money, Jack". Meanwhile, I know how tempting it is to try to use the law to justify forcing people to give you money because, hey, who doesn't like money? So, say whatever you want. If you don't want to see that I (and others, like Lessig) have made an "A leads to B leads to C leads to D" argument, and that A has led to B which has led to C, and still don't want to even entertain the possibility that D will happen, be my guest (although I'm willing it bet it's probably due to conflict of interest, just like it is with the RIAA and MPAA). The literature is not on your side. The money is on your side, sure, but the literature isn't.

You're right, Gario. It's all very coincidental. Forget the Swiss, I suppose; it's just a conincidence that their (quite thorough) analysis just happened to mirror exactly what people like Lessig have been saying about how "piracy" actually affects the world. You're right; it's all a coincidence. Or, maybe people who have a monetary stake in the system, like, I don't know, a significant number of the artists on this site, are super biased and are simply uninformed. See, that's the interesting thing: all it takes is some light reading to see how messed up the system is. I read through "Free Culture" in about 2 nights (granted, I was enthralled, and Lessig's writing is really engaging, so it wasn't hard). Someone who isn't educated isn't stupid; he's just not educated. Someone who consciously chooses not to educate himself / herself is.

I guess you're right, in a way: I only relayed to you, oh, only pretty much everything Lawrence Lessig said, so in a manner of speaking, he told you so. Doesn't change the fact that this could have been predicted 5 years ago. And, yes, I'd say it's a pretty big validation of our claims. I've told you plenty, you just all plugged your ears and ignored it. So, go ahead, debate how to stop SOPA, and in a few years, you'll be debating the next piece of legislation trying to dismantle the internet so that a few companies can make more money at the expense of real human ingenuity. EDIT: Just out of curiosity, who here read that link about the Swiss and didn't think back to all those times I argued that a pirated download =/= a lost sale? It's nice to have a neutral nation's independent study validate a claim made years ago. Also, who read that and though "you know what, Switzerland seems like a nice place to live?"

And when this comes up in another year or two, I'll come back and say "I told you so" again.

No, Level 99, this is a problem with copyright itself. I honestly don't blame the RIAA or MPAA a bit for trying this, because it's the logical conclusion of "the IP owner has all legal rights until the end of time"; if I own IP, and I have the legal right under the DMCA to tell anyone anywhere how to use my IP, logic dictates that eventually, someone is going to make money that I don't want making money, and I'll try to use every branch of the law possible to stop it. It logically follows, which is what SOPA is about: people on YouTube and other sites are using copyrighted materials (even just a second of it), and SOMEONE other than the holder is making money. SO SHUT IT ALL DOWN, that's the response. If people have unlimited control forever and always, without a public domain and without reasonable exception, this will happen, every time. SOPA isn't the end, it's the beginning. And, interestingly enough, it's pretty much exactly what I said would happen, too. It's not hard to predict things like the when your head isn't stuck in the sand. @Joe: I've been calling congressmen, signing petitions, talking online, doing everything I can to prevent this from even happening by trying to get copyright law reformed since... well, look it up. It's common knowledge. So, yeah, I've been doing my part. And, don't apologize to me; apologize to countries like Switzerland, who have been working their asses off to move onto the 21st century, only to have the USA, headed by IP kings, do everything they can to drag the world back into the 1600s. Oh, and when I say "you people", I mean everyone on this site who "poo poo"ed me when I said that things would come to this eventually, the people who are content with rules that let whoever happens to register anything with the government have complete iron-clad totalitarian control over anything for all time, forever, even after death.