By Quintin Smith on May 16th, 2011 at 10:42 am.
Mass Effect 3 executive producer Casey Hudson has revealed in a tweet that ME3 will feature same-sex romances for both female and male Commander Shepards. Previous games in the series only offered girl-on-girl sex scenes for the stated reason that “if you’re picturing a PG-13 action movie, that’s how we’re trying to design it.” Which, if it’s true, is a comparatively innocent reason for the noninclusion of male homosexuality. Less innocent reasons might include the fear of tarnishing the game’s macho figurehead, but ANYWAY! Let’s all assume Shepherd was neck-deep in the closet for those first two games and move on. Thanks to Gay Gamer for the news.
So long as we’re talking ME3, PC Gamer have spent the last few days leaking a variety of details from a long interview of their own with Casey Hudson. I’ve assembled a bullet point list of the important info after the jump.
- Every party member from Mass Effect 1 and 2 will be appearing as a character in ME3, just not necessarily one who can join your crew.
- Tali, Garrus, Liara, either Ashley or Kaiden and a new character called James Vega are confirmed as potential party members. Garrus in my Mass Effect 2 game got carried off by bees during the suicide mission, so I’m not sure how that works.
All the love interests in Mass Effect 3 will be party members from the first two games. No new squeezes.There will be at least some new squeezes!- Characters from ME1 will, apparently, know if you cheated on them in ME2. Casey also says “f you had a Mass Effect 1 romance and you didn’t have a Mass Effect 2 romance, so you stay true to the character from the first game, there’s a scene where you look at the picture of that character, and that’s essentially the romance scene in Mass Effect 2.”
- On the subject of Mass Effect being a trilogy, Casey says “I would argue that this is the only trilogy in games. There have been games where there were three, but in terms of planning it out from the beginning, with a story that was meant to span three games, and actually finishing all three games – I don’t know if that’s ever been done before.” Which- well, I don’t think I can prove him wrong.
- Combat will be “quite different”, with an emphasis on special abilities such as melee-focused characters.
- There will be big robots piloted by small men. You can shoot the glass window out of the back of the big robot to kill the small man, thereby deactivating the big robot. Or, if you kill the big robot by itself, the small man will climb out to continue the fight.
So there you go. The third and final instalment of Mass Effect will be landing in early 2012, but my word, I’m skeptical about it being the last ME game we get. A big reason that there have been no isolated trilogies in gaming is that so long as there’s money to be made and a universe to be exploited, these licenses resurface. But I guess we’ll see.
16/05/2011 at 10:46 pipman3000 says:
now nerds can whine about something that doesn’t effect them unless they intentionally seek it out :D
i wonder what mr.straight male gamer from the bioware forums has to say about this
16/05/2011 at 11:18 Jumwa says:
“Knowing choices I don’t agree with exist, hurts me! It’s a medical condition!”
16/05/2011 at 23:59 Spoit says:
Bioware games have an unfortunate tendency to railroad you into romances that you can be entirely unaware of until the sex scene
17/05/2011 at 00:12 pipman3000 says:
but its worse because gays right
16/05/2011 at 10:46 Sunjammer says:
Since when did Bioware decide to pick up the mantle after Leisure Suit Larry was done championing the big-budget sex comedy video game?
What bothers me so horribly about this stuff is that Bioware are so *bad* at it. This isn’t even up to Star Trek romance levels. It’s so horribly misguided, and I wish they would stop. Unless they keep the Tali thread going. Because that one actually has some potential. Sex diseases!
16/05/2011 at 12:50 Creeping Death says:
Turns out Tali is a dude. It’s one of the choices you can make at the start of the game to retcon your Shepard as always gay :P
16/05/2011 at 12:58 Lilliput King says:
It has got a little out of control now, yeah.
16/05/2011 at 14:29 psycho7005 says:
My Tali got shot in the face in the suicide mission after my Shep said he wanted to be with her, and then sending her to do the most dangerous mission lol! Maybe they can work in the storyline that he lied just to bed her? Lying, womanising Shepard. :P
16/05/2011 at 10:48 zipdrive says:
Yes, I also lost my Garrus to the bees. Stupid, weak Miranda.
16/05/2011 at 10:55 Electric Dragon says:
I got so annoyed at losing Garrus to the bees that I had to replay the game from my last proper save to make sure he survived. Since I largely relied on quicksaves rather than proper saves this meant I had to replay right from the Freedom’s Progress mission.
16/05/2011 at 13:17 Ralphomon says:
How could you lose Garrus to the bees?! If that had happened to me I might have cried.
In other news, I am getting more and more excited for Mass Effect 3!
16/05/2011 at 14:35 psycho7005 says:
Ah so that’s what happens if you choose Miranda to use her biotics against the bees, good thing i went with my first choice then haha!
16/05/2011 at 15:36 Oak says:
If anything had happened to Garrus, why, I just think I’d be beside myself.
16/05/2011 at 16:54 Nalano says:
You’d be bee-side yourself?
16/05/2011 at 17:18 Ralphomon says:
Hi-oooooooh!
16/05/2011 at 21:03 FunkyBadger3 says:
I lost Garrus to the shaft. The crawlspace. Whatever.
I’m still traumatised.
16/05/2011 at 21:17 Arglebargle says:
I lost Jack to the Bees. Garrus I sent to take the crew back, because I knew he would not let them down. It’s in his nature.
16/05/2011 at 22:06 Sunjammer says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GadTfGFvU
16/05/2011 at 10:48 Mr_Day says:
Apparently, the no new love interests has been revised, as revealed in this tweet:
http://twitter.com/CaseyDHudson/status/69849289664376832
pointed out by @weefz
16/05/2011 at 10:51 Quintin Smith says:
Aha! Thanks
16/05/2011 at 10:57 Mr_Day says:
Betting on brothels, myself.
16/05/2011 at 10:49 talon03 says:
I’m sorry… Who is this “Male Shepard” you speak of?
16/05/2011 at 10:59 Flint says:
This “female Shepard is the only true Shepard” comment spam stopped being amusing about a few years ago.
16/05/2011 at 11:20 AndrewC says:
And became canon.
16/05/2011 at 12:13 Urael says:
@Flint: No, it didn’t :) I’d wager YOU just stopped finding it amusing.
The One True Shephard Lives!
16/05/2011 at 15:38 Jesse L says:
It’s not a joke any more, it’s just spam.
16/05/2011 at 16:55 Nalano says:
It’s not a joke anymore, it’s reality.
16/05/2011 at 19:38 Marshall Stele says:
It’s not a joke anymore, it’s a shame.
16/05/2011 at 10:50 Deano2099 says:
Unless they literally end the universe in this game, I fully expect a new title set in this world (probably even a new trilogy). There’s just no reason it has to have the ‘Mass Effect’ name.
16/05/2011 at 12:10 pipman3000 says:
after mass effect three bioware will start the prequel trilogy
16/05/2011 at 13:17 radomaj says:
I would suspect more games in the universe, just not about Shepard.
16/05/2011 at 15:42 DrazharLn says:
If they literally ended the universe in this game they’d just make prequels or consequels or something.
16/05/2011 at 10:52 zipdrive says:
I don’t know if Casey meant there would be no more ME-universe games- just not games in this specific trilogy.
BTW, a trilogy that pops to my mind is the Prince of Persia “sands-of-time-warrior-within-two-thrones” bit, which is, admittedly, part of a larger franchise….much like the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
16/05/2011 at 10:53 sonofsanta says:
I think they’ve previously said this isn’t the last game in the ME universe, but it is the last game in Shepard’s trilogy.
Fully expecting the gay romance to be as laughably stupid as the lesbian romance was, and to offend more than it placates. At least it’ll be easy Fox-branded publicity though.
16/05/2011 at 12:24 jezcentral says:
And how was the “laughably stupid” lesbian version worse than the hetero version of the romance?
16/05/2011 at 13:29 sonofsanta says:
Well, yes, there is that.
16/05/2011 at 22:10 lurkalisk says:
That was the only reason to play out those “romances”, humour. The combination of ME’s odd facial animations and the (at times) miserable VA made for painfully hilarious dialogue.
Obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKn5te5yrZU
16/05/2011 at 10:53 Icarus says:
Yeah. Shephard’s story was always planned as a trilogy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more Mass Effect-universe games with a new protagonist.
16/05/2011 at 13:59 JKjoker says:
yes, Reavers Attack!!!, the epic 2 word plot point that spanned 3 games, set in generic scifi universe n° 987394865037 certainly leaves room for another extremely generic but very XTREME! hero to hunt for another evil-in-a-can/old one including prophesies and all that shit inherited from Bioware’s generic fantasy plot template that doesnt really fit a scifi theme
16/05/2011 at 14:27 The Colonel says:
The painfully shit recycling job of ME2 had me utterly convinced they didn’t plan a three game story. What bugs me most about ME series (even more than the pitiful combat) is that it sells itself as a story-based talky type game, but has the most boring and predictable sci-fi storyline and IP possible. Me3 ain’t on my list that’s for sure. Hopefully CDProject RED will turn their sights towards an interesting sci-fi world for their next project. Steal one from the sci-fi masterworks series please.
16/05/2011 at 17:32 Lukasz says:
ME2 had great storylines.
just not the main one.
stories of your companions were interesting and fun to play. the main plot was weak no doubt about it.
16/05/2011 at 20:27 Commisar says:
wow, both the Colonel and JKjoker sem to be extremely butthurt in regards to anything Bioware, also I highly doubt CD Project will do anything Sci Fi related in the near future
16/05/2011 at 10:55 Teddy Leach says:
Yes, Bioware. You’re aware. We get it.
16/05/2011 at 14:30 The Colonel says:
If they put in a futuristic equivalent of right-wing bible belt conservative American Christians to denounce the One Gay Shepherd, surely that would placate all the stupid people who are going to be outraged by this decision?
16/05/2011 at 14:50 Peggle20 says:
I predict another case of organized 0/10 metacritic smearing solely due to the inclusion of gays.
16/05/2011 at 15:45 DrazharLn says:
Peggle20, is that a thing that’s happened before? What a sad world we live in.
What a shame.
16/05/2011 at 20:40 Ignorant Texan says:
I, for one, am looking forward to the shit-storm after they announce the Leather Man/Transvestite paid DLC reskins for ‘alternative lifestyle’ male Sheppard.
16/05/2011 at 10:56 Stitched says:
Based on the possible success of SW:TOR MMO, it’s not unthinkable to consider a Mass Effect MMO on the far horizon.
16/05/2011 at 15:27 Kaltano says:
I hope so, I was tremendously disappointed when the sci-fi mmo was revealed to be SWTOR, the ME universe is much more interesting than SW’s in my opinion.
16/05/2011 at 17:00 Nalano says:
Likewise. I mean, they wouldn’t have to license a freakin’ IP, the universe is fresher, and they could make decisions with large ramifications that won’t immediately start a hatefest with 40 year old LucasArts fanboys.
16/05/2011 at 10:57 Risingson says:
Yeah! At least I can get laid in a sci fi game!
16/05/2011 at 13:04 Burning Man says:
He gets it!
16/05/2011 at 10:58 deanbmmv says:
Woot, more retconing.
I thought Bioware were pretty adamant that Commander Shepard was hetrosexual? I don’t really care that the option wasn’t there to begin with, but I do care that they’re backpeddling on their original choice.
Especially if Garrus suddenly gets implanted with the personality of Zevran. He was unbearable. Didn’t matter the gay part, just as a character it was always about him being gay. So one dimensional.
16/05/2011 at 11:06 Dominic White says:
“Didn’t matter the gay part, just as a character it was always about him being gay. So one dimensional.”
Except that he acts exactly the same way towards female characters, too, and is just as eager (if not moreso) to bed them as well. Zevran just wants to hump anything on two legs.
16/05/2011 at 11:14 Robert says:
“I thought Bioware were pretty adamant that Commander Shepard was hetrosexual?”
The only thing set in stone was the fact that Shepard is his(or her) last name. The rest is up to personal preferences. Of course due to the nature of the game, there were limited choices concerning his background, and the limiting factors of the character creation, but in theory it is all up to ‘you’.
16/05/2011 at 12:36 woodsey says:
The option just wasn’t there.
Our Shepard’s can just remain straight, so there’s no issue whatsoever.
16/05/2011 at 12:43 Ergates_Antius says:
“Didn’t matter the gay part, just as a character it was always about him being gay”
Firstly, he was bisexual not gay.
Secondly, apart from a tiny bit of coy flirting* and being slightly camp in no way was it “always about him being gay”.
*Unless you encourage him by responding to the flirting
16/05/2011 at 13:05 Erd says:
I guess homosexual male Shephard is the savefile that didn’t pursue any relationships in the first two games?
Edit: I guess it’s not a retcon, just a shoehorning in as an afterthought.
16/05/2011 at 15:07 Peggle20 says:
It’s almost as if you don’t know what ‘retconning’ means.
16/05/2011 at 17:28 qeloqoo says:
Dominic White
Shale?
16/05/2011 at 21:31 FunkyBadger3 says:
“Zevran iiiiiiinnnnnnn SPAAAAAAAAAAACE!” would be just about the best thing evah, darling.
16/05/2011 at 10:59 Flint says:
Finally my Shepard will find intergalactic love!
16/05/2011 at 11:02 Mike says:
Was pleased to see that the tag ‘horribly confused homoeroticism’ was not a new tag to RPS. Good work.
16/05/2011 at 11:07 Drakon says:
That alt-text on the title image…ugh.
16/05/2011 at 11:16 Teddy Leach says:
Oh Quinns, you child.
16/05/2011 at 11:08 4026 says:
So… girl-on-girl sex fits into PG-13 action movies, but guy-on-guy doesn’t? I can only assume they’re just being wildly unimaginative about their girl-on-girl sex scenes.
Oh, yeah, and like hell the writers at Bioware were “Planning it out from the beginning, with a story that was meant to span three games”. Mass Effect was meant to be a trilogy about as much as the first trio of Star Wars movies. The first one stands on its own, with a nice ending with everything wrapped up and the baddies defeated, then the studio realises there’s money in this and cranks out a storyline to fill a trilogy.
I mean, not that it’s a bad thing, per se, just that it clearly wasn’t designed as a trilogy from the off.
16/05/2011 at 11:19 stahlwerk says:
It’s an unwritten law of the entertainment industry, that producers have to proclaim a priori trilogical intentions in all PR between the second and the third installment are released. See Matrix, Pirates of the Carribean,…
16/05/2011 at 11:24 AndrewC says:
All big projects – games, films, tv series, books and so on – are designed with an eye towards franchise.
16/05/2011 at 11:31 James G says:
Yeah on your first point. I’m not sure classing man-on-woman action (and indeed womaon-on-pseudo-woman) as PG-13, but man-on-man as somehow less suitable, is all that an “nnocent reason for the noninclusion of male homosexuality.” I’m getting a little annoyed by the whole ‘homosexuality is fine, as long as you keep it away from the children’ thing, at least when it comes to depictions that would be considered acceptable were they heterosexual.
As to whether its ‘always’ been a trilogy, we’ll its certainly something I’ve been aware of since I first paid attention to it, but that probably only coincides with when the PC version of ME1 was announced. An old preview of the Xbox version in GamesTM doesn’t mention it. I’ll agree that the ending of ME1 was tidy, but it did still have the clear sequel hook, I imagine it was originally pitched as a trilogy, with games 2 and 3 dependent on the success of the first.
16/05/2011 at 12:33 hexapodium says:
On the subject of PG-13-ness, I encourage everyone to watch This Film Is Not Yet Rated and see the astonishing double standards going on with regard to even hints of gay relationships. I don’t think they cover the difference between lesbian and homosexual male themes in as much detail, though, which is a shame.
16/05/2011 at 12:56 World One Two says:
Yeah, for “comparatively innocent” read “wildly offensive”. The implication that girl-on-girl love scenes are light titillation for the whole family, but chap-on-chap is something much darker, says some pretty awful things about where we’re at as an industry (just as it does for the movie industry, if the thinking has been carried across). If you’re judging the appropriateness of a love-scene based not on how graphic or disturbing it is, but simply on the sexuality of its protagonists, then you’re being homophobic. No?
16/05/2011 at 13:18 AndrewC says:
Well sexist, technically, but whatevs!
Argument: Male homosexual love stories have in fact been well served by hollywood, as evidenced by every action movie of the last 30 years.
16/05/2011 at 13:32 9of9 says:
I’m fairly sure I remember them saying it would be a trilogy all the way back when ME1 was released. Of course, the extent to which it was planned out probably varies – but the general setup of ‘Shepard delays reaper invasion’, then ‘Shepard investigates reaper threat and prepares for imminent attack’ and finally ‘Shepard fights off actual reaper invasion’ was probably in their minds for a while.
16/05/2011 at 13:48 JackShandy says:
I’ve heard that bioware has always denied that the Asari are lesbians – they’re just space aliens who happen to look like blue women! So the comment about being PG-13 possibly isn’t so much about girl-on-girl VS guy-on-guy as much as the fact that now they actually have to call it gay sex instead of handwaving it as (apparently more child-friendly?) cross-species space sex. So yes – still horribly offensive, but at least they’re coming out of the closet.
16/05/2011 at 14:39 ulix says:
“The first one stands on its own, with a nice ending with everything wrapped up and the baddies defeated, then the studio realises there’s money in this and cranks out a storyline to fill a trilogy.
I mean, not that it’s a bad thing, per se, just that it clearly wasn’t designed as a trilogy from the off.”
Except that, you know, the guys at Bioware said it was planned as a trilogy prior to Mass Effect’s release on Xbox360.
Mass Effect Release on 360: November 20th 2007
Earliest news I found confirming it as a trilogy (5 minute Google search): October 2006 (more than one year before release!!!)
So no, Mister.
You are wrong.
They did not “realise there’s money in this” and only then planned it as a trilogy, unless you count “its a Bioware game so there must be money in this”.
Source: http://meforums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=503547&forum=104
16/05/2011 at 15:13 Rii says:
@World One Two
“The implication that girl-on-girl love scenes are light titillation for the whole family, but chap-on-chap is something much darker, says some pretty awful things about where we’re at as an industry”
More than the industry, it says some pretty depressing things about where we’re at as a society. The industry is merely mirroring the prejudices of the audience. Female homosexuality has long been far less transgressive than male homosexuality. And I think we all know the reasons why.
17/05/2011 at 02:33 World One Two says:
@ Rii
Yep, that’s what I was trying to get at. I guess essentially what depresses me is that lesbian relationships aren’t as taboo because men find the idea of them arousing. Which says A) the power behind the film and games industries is overwhelming in the hands of heterosexual males; and B) these men don’t even give a shit about lesbians because they care about equality, but because they like thinking about two chicks doing it (or know their audience will like thinking about it, which’ll help sell products).
We should care about making people of all sexual orientations feel included in our pasttime simply because that’s a nice thing to do. You know?
16/05/2011 at 11:10 Angryinternetman says:
If I cant cant fornicate with Volusians or Hanarians, just this homosexual addition is discriminating and unjustifiable.
16/05/2011 at 12:32 Mr Bismarck says:
Mass Effect IV better let me lick the Normandy.
16/05/2011 at 13:27 JackShandy says:
Honestly, this franchise’s continued stifling of Reaper on Elcor romance makes me sick.
16/05/2011 at 14:08 iniudan says:
And what about the Krogan ? I want to take on that mating invitation I got from one of their female. =p
16/05/2011 at 15:20 PanzerVaughn says:
I think saying “Volusians” is like saying “Humanians”
*google to confirm*
Yeah, their homeworld is Irune, they’d be Irunians if they werent “The Volus”. Homeworlds are kind of obsolete when you can blink and jump over stars =P
16/05/2011 at 22:32 somini says:
Aroused: What about the Elcor?
16/05/2011 at 11:10 Crabtacular says:
“Characters from ME1 will, apparently, know if you cheated on them in ME2″
Shit! Tali, get in the cupboard, Liara’s coming! I knew this was a bad idea… I wonder if there will be a sexy, alien cat-fight!
16/05/2011 at 19:26 Christian O. says:
Considering you’d been dead for two years and all the character had pretty much moved on, I’m not sure it really constitutes “cheating”. I make no apologizes, Liara.
16/05/2011 at 11:12 WJonathan says:
So are the men in the robots normal sized, and only “small” relative to the “big” robots? Or are they truly small men driving the robots, like jockeys on thoroughbreads? This is a must-know fact for me, as it would alter my robot-fighting strategy.
16/05/2011 at 11:17 Robert says:
So we have Man Shoot and Man Love. I find this awfully awkward RPS. This is not a game about Man, you also Shoot Krogan and Love Asari. Therefore I propose we shall it “Shoot” and “Love” in this case. I mean, does it even really matter who we shoot as long as we get loot? And, does it even really matter who we love as long as…. erm.. you know..
16/05/2011 at 11:18 Teddy Leach says:
Love shooting? Love man shooting? Man shooting love? Love shooting man?
16/05/2011 at 11:22 TheSaddestSort says:
I get the sinking feeling that the Shepard/Wrex bromance theme is going to become slightly awkward now …
16/05/2011 at 13:40 tomeoftom says:
Perhaps the genre should be revised to “Guns, Sex, and Conversation?”
16/05/2011 at 11:18 Matt says:
Needs more hot elcor sexing.
16/05/2011 at 11:33 Symitri says:
Excited Response: Do you want me to gyrate harder.
Yes, there’s an image that won’t go away.
16/05/2011 at 11:44 Mr_Day says:
Ok, I should stop.
But:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNRMbhh_mK0
16/05/2011 at 11:59 Teddy Leach says:
“Loud uncontained outburst of ecstasy: Yes. Yes. Oh god, yes.”
That… Was amazing.
16/05/2011 at 12:03 JB says:
Oh gods Symitri, I’m typing this through tears of laughter.
Thank you, you win this thread.
16/05/2011 at 21:36 FunkyBadger3 says:
*Please* let this happen.
Also: moar Blaster.
16/05/2011 at 11:24 Sinkoristo says:
What happened to you Bioware? You used to be so cool.
No more gay simulators please. Make a proper RPG.
16/05/2011 at 11:30 4026 says:
Yeah, keep it to murder simulators, dammit.
16/05/2011 at 11:31 Lars Westergren says:
Having one optional element x in a game makes it a game about x now?
Did you read this?
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/25/dragon-age-writer-on-characters-bisexuality/
16/05/2011 at 12:14 pipman3000 says:
are you that guy david gaider ripped a new ass on the official forums?
“including gay romance = gay sex simulator; nothing but straightness and none of that faggery and dyker = real RPGs” – sinkoristo bigot extraordinaire (^^THIS IS WHAT HE ACTUALLY BELIEVES^^)
16/05/2011 at 12:20 Urael says:
Sinkoristo, we should talk. Join me outside – we’ll have a fag, maybe sink a couple of Buds.
16/05/2011 at 18:50 Daniel Rivas says:
MORE GAY SIMULATORS, PLEASE
16/05/2011 at 11:25 MikoSquiz says:
There better be krogan rimjobs, that’s all I’m saying.
16/05/2011 at 11:59 alexmasterson says:
Shepard.
16/05/2011 at 12:34 Dominic White says:
Wrex.
16/05/2011 at 13:02 Man Raised by Puffins says:
Shepard.
16/05/2011 at 14:40 Mr_Day says:
Sex.
I mean. Oh just kiss me.
16/05/2011 at 16:51 Man Raised by Puffins says:
ShepHARD.
16/05/2011 at 18:57 MikoSquiz says:
Shit. Is it even established in canon that krogan have tongues like entire live salmon, or did that just bubble up from my subconscious? I don’t want to have to go over this with my therapist.
16/05/2011 at 11:28 Lars Westergren says:
One of the biggest turn offs for me with the Mass Effect series is the constant T&A cam shots of Asarians. No, I don’t want to stare at the Matriarch’s ass and breasts before finally panning up to her face, thank you. The log claims she is a highly respected philosopher and politician, but the visuals keep treating her like a piece of meat.
They have explained that each race views the Asarians as a member of their own species, that is why all find them attractive. And since you are a human player (presumably) that is why they look human. But this raises the questions, what do the asarians *really* look like? And what kind of eerie mind powers do they have, and how have that evolved? What if in reality they are some sort of quivering drooling insectoid sex parasite? Could you still love Liara, knowing that? Her personality is still the same, and her love for you presumably still real (well, within the game world at least). Bioware, the masters of Mass Appeal would of course never do that. But wouldn’t it be totally epic if they had the balls to make the Asarians look *really* alien?
16/05/2011 at 11:31 Teddy Leach says:
Did you ever see that episode of Red Dwarf where Kryten falls in love with a Pleasure Gelf? Because it would be pretty funny if they did something similar.
16/05/2011 at 11:35 Mr_Day says:
Reminded me of this, related to Teddy’s post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plg7bcbFPIg&feature=player_detailpage#t=94s
16/05/2011 at 11:45 Teddy Leach says:
Ah yes, that too!
16/05/2011 at 13:04 Lars Westergren says:
@Teddy, Mr_Day
Ah, darn it. Whenever I think I have an original idea, someone has beaten me to it…
16/05/2011 at 13:10 Man Raised by Puffins says:
@ Lars: Heh, I had the same thought on my last playthrough. Imagining the weirdy chunk of the fanbase going through this is a pleasing mental image. But as you say, it’s doubtful that Bioware would follow through.
16/05/2011 at 14:52 ulix says:
The Asari don’t have any “Mind powers” whatsoever. They really look how they look.
The reason why every (or most) races find them attractive is because they have similar facial- and head-features to many other races.
Their faces look human.
Their “head-tentacles” look similar to the Turian head-thingies.
You could also see some resemblance to the Salarian’s upper head “antennae”. They also have similar skin tones and facial skin-patterns.
Or to quote the Mass Effect Wiki:
“In Mass Effect 2, a conversation occurs between a human, a salarian, and a turian who are watching an asari dancer. The men debate whose species the asari most resembles. Upon each forwarding their own race, the human theorizes that the asari might be using mind control to appear attractive to other species. It is more likely that the three men were merely focusing on characteristics their species shares with the asari (e.g., body shape for humans, skin color for salarians, head fringe for turians).”
16/05/2011 at 16:40 Lars Westergren says:
Huh. That’s a pretty weak rationalization from Bioware as to “why our universe is filled with space strippers”. I guess “tits and ass is popular with our target demographics and means more profit” as dialogue would break the fourth wall though.
17/05/2011 at 08:47 Matt says:
Those aren’t tits, they’re her philosophy globes.
16/05/2011 at 11:30 McDan says:
Even through all the planned changes etc. I’m still greatly looking forward to this. And it would be a shame if they didn’t bring out anymore stuff set in this universe. Could be pretty good.
Also alt-text is brilliant, like always from Quinns.
16/05/2011 at 11:36 Kdansky says:
>… but in terms of planning it out from the beginning, with a story that was meant to span three games…
Interestingly, the first and second Mass Effect are very disconnected, the second one rewrites more than just some minor facts of the first one, and generally they have a very different theme. Am I really the only one bothered by the fact that the antagonist was replaced (Collectors are just a weak copy of Sovereign), and TIM went from invisible & evil to obviously just insane & stupid?
What a bold-faced lie.
Cue ME fans to the rescue, pointing out all the dozens of books and fanfiction I need to read that stitches everything together, Frankenstein-style. Mass Effect is like The Matrix. The first one is really good, the other two are either mediocre or just shit, and the writers insist that they have always wanted to do it as a trilogy.
16/05/2011 at 12:03 The Hammer says:
Yeah. Huge fan of the “trilogy” that I am, the naff continuation between 1 and 2 is in no way comparable in coherency to something like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. I suppose ME2 was really trying to lure in new players though, so there had to be some leeway.
(also, the trilogy point is given credence by the fact that you did control the same unique character, with the same decisions and relationships transferring across. In that sense, yeah, Mass Effect is the only trilogy in gaming.)
16/05/2011 at 15:02 ulix says:
“Am I really the only one bothered by the fact that the antagonist was replaced (Collectors are just a weak copy of Sovereign)?”
Except that the Collector’s are working for the Reapers (they are effectively controlled by Harbinger, the Reaper’s “Overseer of preparations to destroy the galaxy again”).
So the “real enemy” is still the same. Its the Reapers as a whole.
16/05/2011 at 11:38 HexagonalBolts says:
haha, I love that a ‘gay gamer’ website exists.
16/05/2011 at 13:51 Creeping Death says:
I think it’s kind of backwards that they feel the need to differentiate themselves from the rest of the gaming community…
16/05/2011 at 19:03 Daniel Rivas says:
Speciality website. It’s where you go when you want to hear news/opinion from gayers in videogames. Might as well moan about the existence of a PC-only site. It’s all videogames, right?
16/05/2011 at 20:59 Defenestrated says:
try talking about anything even tangentially homoerotic on the big mainstream games websites.
That’s why sites like gay gamer exist.
16/05/2011 at 21:03 MikoSquiz says:
I doubt their readers only go there. It’s a specialist subcategory of gaming news, in addition to rather than instead of.
Also, I bet the forums are a great place to meet geeky guys.
16/05/2011 at 22:09 pipman3000 says:
@Creeping Death
yeah THEY’RE rhe ones keeping themselves apart from the mainstream gaming community (imagine i’m rolling my eyes dismissively here)
17/06/2011 at 12:58 Pathetic Phallacy says:
@Creeping Death: Acceptance, tolerance and love from fellow gamers does not mean assimilation.
16/05/2011 at 11:38 Anguy says:
Yes! I really feel good about not cheating on Kaidan now, he’s the best anyway ;)
16/05/2011 at 11:39 arghstupid says:
the church of man love is such a holy place to be / put your space face next to mine / etc
16/05/2011 at 11:42 Sceptrum says:
You know, while I find the romance bit a nice enough addition to my RPGs I feel they get way too much focus at times and not to talk about the Bioware forums where there seems to be a large subculture dedicated solely to that. Yes, talking about some of the IMO creepy Tali fans, who have theorized how Quarian sweat can be an aphrodisiac or something like that.
Why not make a Leisure Suit Asari spinoff game after ME3? That’s what alot of people seem more interested in.
16/05/2011 at 12:31 Erd says:
Dear god. I’m flabberghasted. It’s starting to feel like Mass Effect is becoming a weird sort of furrie fandom derivative. Normally you want to block out a game because of spoilers but this… I want to block this out too. The Internet is vast and stupid.
16/05/2011 at 11:57 Moni says:
What I’m really hoping for is a post victory, inter-species, inter-sexuality, ship-wide, mega orgy.
16/05/2011 at 12:56 papabear says:
i’d like to add “zero-gravity sex”.
with no lube.
16/05/2011 at 13:20 Moni says:
Garrus: “Yeah! We did it, we killed the Reapers!”
Liara: “What now Commander?”
Shepard: “Joker, deactivate the gravity.”
16/05/2011 at 13:46 Man Raised by Puffins says:
“I’m sorry Councillor Anderson, but Space Corps Directive 34124 clearly states: ‘No officer with false teeth should attempt oral sex in zero gravity’.”
16/05/2011 at 12:05 jack4cc says:
Triology ? They make it sound like me2 had a story that was more complicated and interesting than “pick up 10 characters and do 10 character missions”
16/05/2011 at 12:11 kutkh says:
Interested to see how they handle this “cheating on your ME1 love interest” angle, given how many variables there are. I’m not completely convinced that a pre-suicide-mission fumble with Miranda really qualifies as cheating on, say, Ashley, who by that point has dumped you anyway. On the other hand, if going back to Ashley after all that’s been said and done with Jack doesn’t involve getting someone thrown through a window then they’re doing it wrong.
There are situations where it should be a big deal and situations where it shouldn’t, really, and it’d be sort of shit of them to wall off relationships based solely on the fact that a love interest was had in ME2.
16/05/2011 at 12:21 Paxmayne says:
I used to think Bioware would never make a bad game, but after the shambles that was DA2 and this over-focus on the romance options I’m really starting to worry about ME3.
I loved ME2 and I think I’m right it saying DA2 and ME3 have two different teams working on them, but still… finger crossed Bioware… please don’t disappoint…
16/05/2011 at 12:32 DK says:
Love that they forget that Bioware (a company they should maybe be familiar with) did a true trilogy in Baldurs Gate/Baldurs Gate 2/Throne of Baal. And those didn’t resort to cliche hero-has-amnesia tricks to restart you off at level 1 again and again and again.
16/05/2011 at 12:50 Ergates_Antius says:
I bothers me somewhat that having a “romance” * with a different character in ME2 is considered cheating given that :
a) your partner from ME1 will have moved on with their life and doesnt seem particuarly interested in resuming the relationship.
b) Sheppard died. Even marriage has a “’til death us do part” clause, and the relationship from ME1 was no where near as serious or formalised as a marriage.
I think being killed, then waking up to find your partner has buggered off and is now doing their own thing kind of releases you from any obligations.
* fumble
16/05/2011 at 12:52 papabear says:
Long live the Biaware.
16/05/2011 at 13:05 Stephen Roberts says:
Great stuff guys!
16/05/2011 at 13:10 Risingson says:
Heterosexual, homosexual… you guys never had one of those nights that after some drinks the barrier of sexuality, hm, blurs?
16/05/2011 at 13:58 Drakon says:
Umm, no… Got anything you want to share with us?
16/05/2011 at 13:10 kyrieee says:
ME2 has my favourite combat of any game ever, I hope they don’t change it too much!
16/05/2011 at 13:17 Mihkel says:
Good to see that Bioware focuses on creating a pointless waifu simulator instead of honing the gameplay, adding new quests or polishing the story. I fear more and more that ME3 will eventually disappoint me as much as Dragon Age 2.
17/05/2011 at 00:28 pipman3000 says:
being inclusive towards LGBT audiences = turning the game into a dating sim.
if they had just kept it straight instead of trying to cater to those people bioware games would still be good!
17/05/2011 at 06:56 Mihkel says:
My point is that Bioware can’t do romances, doesn’t matter if it’s gay/bi/straight. DA2 is a good example of that. Instead of letting player investigate if they want to or not they force you on it and for that story and gameplay suffers.
16/05/2011 at 13:29 BatmanBaggins says:
I don’t even play a male Shepard on my main saves, but I do think it’s kind of funny that you now have the option of basically having him be a huge closet case for the first two games.
Anyway, I’m sure the male-to-male romances will be just as awkward and poorly realized as the previous combinations have been.
16/05/2011 at 13:38 JackShandy says:
This is great, but why now? Seeing as almost all of the love interests will be returning characters, are they going to suddenly swing around and say Garrus, Mordin or Thane are totally into you? Or is it thaty shepard has spent years and years in cold, black space never caring to even blink in a space-gigolo’s direction before falling straight into the arms of this newbie crew member? I can’t see this going well however they do it.
16/05/2011 at 13:54 Creeping Death says:
I always suspected Garrus had a thing for my Shepard…
16/05/2011 at 14:01 Iskariot says:
From what I have read it is mostly a matter of principle for Bioware.
Although I am personally not interested in any kind of love interest at all in a game, and I avoid it like the black plague, I do admire them for that.
16/05/2011 at 13:53 Creeping Death says:
I don’t mind adding a homosexual option, but will the characters be throwing themselves at me again? I’m thinking specifically of how they act in the DA games. Makes them out to be whores that’ll jump into bed with you if you say “Hi” to them in a friendly way.
Option for sexual relations with anyone? Great! Just don’t shove it in my face, make ME have to instigate it if I want.
Also, have a random dice roll so that sometimes they’ll straight out reject me xD
16/05/2011 at 14:08 JKjoker says:
unlikely since ppl were pretty open about how they didnt like it with Anders
but i think you guys are missing the point, the gay options are not to be edgy or anything, the whole thing behind them is so they can avoid making dialogue gender specific, since now all characters are bisexual they all react the same to female shepard, shemale shepard and male shepard so they get to sell the Avant-Garde Bioware BS while they reduce production costs and use the smoke to cover most of the actual fail from the game
16/05/2011 at 14:19 vash47 says:
Is it possible for Bioware to get any worse?
16/05/2011 at 14:53 Peggle20 says:
I love how your problem with Bioware is the gay option. I predict that next you’ll be screaming for the removal of racial minorities and women.
17/05/2011 at 00:21 pipman3000 says:
i also love how announcing a gay option (option meaning optional. meaning you aren’t forced to go that way) suddenly makes a whole bunch of guys here start hating bioware..
a lot of these people probably describe themselves as accepting of minorities. (as long as they keep out of view, don’t get to close to them, and stay away from their video games)
nerds – the most accepting and understanding people (as long as you’re straight, white, and male)
17/05/2011 at 00:59 Laephis says:
No. The problem is not “adding the gay option”, that’s an ASSUMPTION on your part. Maybe, just maybe, the problem is the focus on dating-sim elements instead of the traditional CRPG elements that Bioware built their reputation on. For fucks sake, it doesn’t matter if it’s straight or gay love, Bioware’s “romances” are clumsy, juvenile and pathetic.
17/05/2011 at 01:55 pipman3000 says:
if it didn’t matter this comment thread would of been a hell of a lot shorter.
16/05/2011 at 14:24 papabear says:
I want to have sex with EDI. Cybersex is acceptable in my book.
16/05/2011 at 15:07 BatmanBaggins says:
Their lack of including this option is discriminatory against robosexuals such as myself.
16/05/2011 at 15:22 CMaster says:
EDI is taken.
16/05/2011 at 14:56 Ergates_Antius says:
It’ll also be the first time ME has included girl-on-girl “romance” too seeing as the Asari aren’t actually female.
16/05/2011 at 15:23 CMaster says:
Yes they are. They produce and bear children. They even appear to have mammaries. There just isn’t a conventional males in the Asari.
16/05/2011 at 15:32 Ergates_Antius says:
“There just isn’t a conventional males in the Asari”
Which means they’re not female – they’re a single-gender species and, as such, the terms male and female cannot apply.
Also, neither being able to produce offspring or having breasts are the determining factor in being female, there are plenty of species that don’t fit this pattern.
16/05/2011 at 15:38 CMaster says:
I’d like to see a species in which the offspring don’t come from the female.
Sure, you get a few weirdos like sea-horses where the gestation occurs in the male – but still the original cell that the child organisms grow from comes from the female. Equally, I’m aware of no mammals in which the males nurse the young (although there’s no reason why you couldn’t make a creature that way)
Also, when Asari mate with bi-gendered species (a shame ME doesn’t experiment with tri-gendered species at all), the Asari is always taking on the female role. You can’t get impregnated by an Asari but an Asari can get pregnant from mating with another species.
16/05/2011 at 15:56 Ergates_Antius says:
“I’d like to see a species in which the offspring don’t come from the female”
Most plants have both male and female reproductive parts, it’s the female parts that produce the seeds, but the plant itself is neither male nor female.
Snails are hermaphrodite – following mating both snails become “pregnant”.
“I’m aware of no mammals in which the males nurse the young” True, but there are plenty of species where the females don’t nurse the young either – they’re still female. Plus Asari aren’t mammals anyway.
That the Asari can become pregnant from mating with a female just shows that they’re not female – they’re something else, which isn’t surprising as they’re not humans.
16/05/2011 at 16:02 CMaster says:
I was talking kingdom Animalia (within which there are indeed a few hermaphrodites). Once we move outside of that, the definitions male and female become a lot less relevant and sensical and lose any relevance at all when we get outside of the eukaryotes entirely.
I see your point though – Asari reproduction is so very different from that of well, pretty much all other species that that the sex terms for other species don’t really fit. Of course, the Asari makes absolutely no sense in an evolutionary or biological context anyway.
16/05/2011 at 17:12 The Hammer says:
Yeah, they’re clearly not based on females either.
*coughs*
16/05/2011 at 21:28 stahlwerk says:
Apparently, a uni-sexual species can be comprised of only female individuals. So arguing the Ansari are not female (when the game repeatedly states they are… e.g. what’s the point of calling an asexual being a matriarch?) just because they have no need for human-style male fertilization could be construed as slightly sexist…
…SPACE SEXIST, even!
(I kid, it’s only space racist)
16/05/2011 at 15:18 Jesse L says:
Excellent. Good for Bioware.
16/05/2011 at 15:19 Lilliput King says:
But they’ll attract space-sharks.
16/05/2011 at 15:28 terry says:
But can I romance Harbinger? He’s so cute, the way he assumes control and proclaims his strength and then explodes in a cloud of fire and biotics.
16/05/2011 at 15:34 Makariel says:
So… when my Shepard had some private time with Liara in ME1, then banged Miranda in ME2, am I able to get down & dirty with Ashley in ME3?
Don’t judge me! I’m playing as renegade, that’s just how we roll ;-)
16/05/2011 at 15:41 bill says:
Are bioware games all about the romance now? I have this vague feeling that they’ve cornered the female buffy-fan / fanfic market.
(said as a male buffy fan – but not a fanfic fan)
16/05/2011 at 17:13 Nalano says:
Bioware games aren’t, really, about sidequest-y romantic entanglements – you don’t need to do them and they’re largely unimportant to the story – but like most romantic entanglements, people get really bent outta shape about the small stuff.
16/05/2011 at 16:18 Kolchak says:
I love it how Mass Effect 3 is supposed to be the big epic game where the whole Galaxy is in danger but Shepard still finds time to bed men and woman. Guess it’s another stupid side quest event where I have to blow up an abandoned prison because Crazy Bald Psycho Lady wants me to. Or help a goofy “badass” like Zaeed kill someone who pissed him off.
Really disappointing, I was counting on Mass Effect 3 to be the game where you had to make real hard decisions. Will you save the planet of ugly backstabbing Batarians or help a small fleet of good natured Asari? Will you sacrifice pivotal team members and even yourself to save others? I guess it was silly of me to expect that there would be the feeling of great war and doom in the game when creating Twilight Romance is far more profitable. What a shame.
16/05/2011 at 16:21 Vinraith says:
I love it how Mass Effect 3 is supposed to be the big epic game where the whole Galaxy is in danger but Shepard still finds time to bed men and woman.
Because under life-and-death stress, no one ever has sex.
16/05/2011 at 17:17 Kolchak says:
Well here’s the thing Vinraith, judging from the previous two Mass Effects these romance scenes will not play out naturally. I’ve always felt that this romance crap was tacked onto Mass Effect. Each romance follows the same exact goddamn formula.
1. Shepard comes into a party member’s room. 2. They both stand still for the entire conversation like Robots as the party member goes on about his/her life. Shepard (and the viewer) couldn’t care less and just wants sex. 3. A mission or two later the Party Member enamored by Shepard’s dull and boring discussion goes to his room and they have sex. Then back to Rooty Tooty Point n’ Shooty.
Am I unreasonable to ask that Bioware design these love scenes around the characters and not do a one size fits all approach? Shouldn’t someone who is enamored from the get go with Shepard like Miranda be more willing to consummate a relationship then someone who has emotional trauma like Jack? And please let’s not pretend that Bioware is some champion of equality. We all know that to have gay male love scenes just means that they have Mark Meer rerecord lines that were first made for Jennifer Hale. That was more than obvious in Mass Effect 2, if you were a male Shepard and sacrificed Ashley you got a cutscene where Shepard and Kaiden talked like a bickering couple. Video games will never be a true art if we think what Bioware is doing here is the highest of game storytelling. I for one think the romance in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was far more intriguing than what we ever see in Mass Effect. And that’s pretty damn sad because San Andreas will only be known for its trashy “Hot Coffee” while Mass Effect will get numerous awards for love scenes.
16/05/2011 at 17:19 Vinraith says:
I’m not arguing that they’re well executed (in fact, come to think of it, I’ve never seen anyone claim they were well done), I merely disagree with the idea that romantic entanglement and galactic peril are somehow mutually exclusive.
16/05/2011 at 17:50 Kolchak says:
Well I guess you’re right Vinrait, but I just have the feeling that Mass Effect 3 will just be another dating sim. Just look at Casey Hudson’s tweets, he talks more about relationships then the Reapers or any other plot point.
And people definitely do care about the horrible love interests. Just look at all these people so happy that there’s now a bisexual male Shepard. This, what should be a very minor announcement is news. And David Gaider wrote that there are people who cared more about the romance angle of Dragon Age Origins than the actual game story. And since those games closely linked we can assume the same for Mass Effect. It just upsets me that people seem to be more concerned about stimulating their genitals rather than their minds. I want Adventure and drama, not romance.
16/05/2011 at 21:43 FunkyBadger3 says:
Because under life-and-death stress, no one ever has sex
Worth adding a “consensual” in there?
16/05/2011 at 16:37 Drake Sigar says:
I was against the same-sex romances in Dragon Age 2, but only on the grounds that it treated sexuality as this completely interchangeable thing which was no more integral to a character than the colour of one’s hair. I think we should have homosexuals and lesbians in games, but not at the cost of their sexual identity. I don’t want them to become another token black guy.
17/05/2011 at 02:09 pipman3000 says:
i would rather have that then the standard “LGBT people don’t exist at all” approach nearly every other game does.
17/05/2011 at 03:07 Rii says:
“Only on the grounds that it treated sexuality as this completely interchangeable thing which was no more integral to a character than the colour of one’s hair”
Ideally, wouldn’t this be the case? Why do fictional universes have to carry over the baggage from ours? Isn’t that the appeal of using fictional universes in the first place, so that one can ask ‘what if…’?
16/05/2011 at 16:51 Jason Moyer says:
Bioware’s romances are so unrealistic and shallow that I can’t believe they continue to include them in their games. People can crap all over Obsidian if they want to, but they’re the one RPG developer that seems to understand the complexity of personal relationships. I’m playing NWN2 right now, and while some parts of the game are irritating (i.e. the shitty camera), I love that your relationships with party members don’t rely on clicking the “say something nice” response over and over. Sleeping with Morrigan in DA was an example of how totally ridiculous their romance systems are. Apparently if you give someone lots of presents, help them with a problem, and then tell them they have pretty eyes they’ll sleep with you. Damn, maybe I should try that.
The relationship with Jack in ME2 was likewise silly. If any character in an RPG should be repulsed by someone railroading the nice response over and over, she would be it.
At the risk of breaking the 4th wall, if I were to write dialog for an RPG I think the #1 cliche I’d try to avoid is the ‘getting a favorable/unfavorable response from an NPC by railroading the same sort of reply over and over’ thing. Imagine NPC’s actually responding appropriately to patronization or unwanted flirting. Or if they behaved in a believable manner, period.
16/05/2011 at 22:35 FunkyBadger3 says:
Apparently if you give someone lots of presents, help them with a problem, and then tell them they have pretty eyes they’ll sleep with you. Damn, maybe I should try that.
Umm, dude… err…
16/05/2011 at 16:55 bleeters says:
Considering that Shepard could previously sex up four alien races, two of which would likely end in death for one of the partners in the process, I’m finding some of the response to this (in general, rather than the responses here necessarily) all kinds of amusing/depressing.
Grotesque mandible alien sex is all good, but man on man is unacceptable? Give me a break.
16/05/2011 at 17:09 Betamax says:
It’s worth mentioning that he has been releasing a half tonne of info to the fans themselves via Twitter. Which is a great, and generous, idea.
A note on the ‘new romances’ thing: I have a feeling th confusion about whether there are new romances is based around the fact that there are no NEW characters designed for romance, but you can have a romance with a character who was in a previous game but un-romancable. That’s my theory anyway.
I don’t think the creators have ever hidden their desire to take the franchise further either, there is a movie in the works for starters. What they mean is that the SHEPARD trilogy will remain isolated and not be expanded upon. Most likely we will see a multiplayer spin off after ME3, either a shooter or an MMO style game. Probably the former, given TOR.
Apparently every returning character has got a ‘new look’ for ME3 as well (amusing if the game only takes place a few months later but eh) such as Jack who now apparently rocks a mohawk/ponytail style punk look instead of naked bald chick. Looking at Ashley’s re-design I’m quite pleased I managed to get one Shepard all the way through without cheating on her. :P
Oh and HUZZAH GAY SHEP!
16/05/2011 at 18:56 Jimbo says:
Well he kept that quiet. They should show Man Shepard kissing another man in their TV ad campaign, see how Fox likes that.
16/05/2011 at 19:41 sinister agent says:
No kissing – just have him opening a condom and looking at the camera.
17/05/2011 at 02:07 pipman3000 says:
forgot about fox news i want to see what gamefaqs would have to say about it!
16/05/2011 at 18:59 Althilor says:
Won’t be the last ME game, they’ve said that much. But this arc with Shepard and the Reapers was always set as a trilogy, which is what they refer to. The ME universe will continue, or so they hope. I feel if ME3 blows as hard as DA2, it won’t continue afterwards, even with a new plot and a different main PC.
16/05/2011 at 19:09 Daiv says:
This game does not fully represent the full spectrum of LGBTTQ?UIPAO sexuality.
I swear I didn’t make that up. Wikipedia LGBT and look under “variations”.
Your mind, she is blown.
16/05/2011 at 19:28 sinister agent says:
Ashley, Kaidan, and Liara?
Ugh. Two of the most boring bastards in the galaxy, and that insufferable smurf rubbing her forehead on you every five minutes, but no Wrex? He’s the reason I bought the second game at all, dammit! OUTRAGOUSE.
Although admittedly, a coupe of the characters in ME2 surprised me in a pleasant way by being more complex than they appeared at first. Mordin in particular, and even Miranda, who was both a hateful shrike and a plausible, nuanced character.
Anyway, I’ll probably continue to play it without humping anyone, as so far the options have been far too dull to bother, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the inevitably stilted, unnatural sex scenes will just make me laugh. If they (and, to be fair, pretty much everyone else) can’t even get walking and casual conversation movements quite right, the odds that they’ll get sex right don’t exist.
Still, though. Quite looking forward to this. Some of the development of characters between the games was well handled (although Liara was about as convincing as a plastic river), so I’ll be interested to see how this pans out.
I play as a bearer of ovaries, so being a (male) gay person will not be an option. Will there be a way for you to arrange for other characters to have super fun gaytimes with each other instead? This is an important matter.
16/05/2011 at 22:42 sinister agent says:
Some of my favourite moments in the first game are when Garrus tries to get one up on Wrex. You’d think that the big hulking warrior brute would be verbally outclassed, but there’s not a single argument with another character where Wrex doesn’t come out on top. He’s brilliant.
Some of the confrontations in the second were agonising, too – in a good way. Two characters who obviously loathe each other end up in a proper argument. I enjoyed that. Even just more of Joker’s comments and opinions about crew members would be nice. Oh yeah, and Jacob’s welcoming Tali on board was brilliant, and really made me warm to his otherwise quite dull character.
And the supporting crew, while developed a little as characters in the second, pretty soon fell into the same pattern as that of the first ME1 – after an initial conversation, they remain totally static for the rest of the game. It’s a shame. Even simple things like the two engineers chatting as you go past made things much more rewarding. I hope they can find time to do more of that.
But anyway.
16/05/2011 at 20:03 Dawngreeter says:
Commander Keen had two trilogies. Planned as trilogies and all that.
16/05/2011 at 21:45 FunkyBadger3 says:
Good news.
Although I thought the gay relationships were somewhat more realistic than the rest in the first 2 games – lots of unspoken desire and no payoff.
But this time, Wrex, you *shall* be mine…
16/05/2011 at 22:28 MythArcana says:
Stay tuned for Biospam’s wonderful spam crusade for Mass Effect ]|[ !
Planned DLC Packs:
Alien Love Lube – $1.99
Horroroids Attack Drones – $2.99
P.V.K. (Personal Vanity Kit – Accessories not included) – $5.99
Amyl Nitrate Booster Pack – $3.99
George Michael MP3 Pack – $6.99
Gerbil Grenade Pack – $1.99
Flogger/Whip Pack – $1.99
RectalReamer Hamster Drive – $6.99
Catsuit/Cuckold Harness Gear – $2.99
Mike’s Hard Lemonade Vending Machine – $5.99
Tea & Crumpets Pack (with matching table nook and doilies!) – $2.99
Liberal Library Map Pack – $5.99
Anti-Bashing Kit (Prevents sticks & stones damage) – $3.99
Prince Voice Over Pack – $6.99
Blue Suede Shoes & Pink Silk Suit Combo – $25.99
All of this amazing content will be released the FIRST 48 HOURS with plenty more to come in the following hours from your favorite software spammer – Bioware!
17/05/2011 at 00:09 pipman3000 says:
the punchline is homosexuality
17/05/2011 at 00:15 pipman3000 says:
lol get it gay automatically means depraved because gays are sinful
(also the punchline)
17/05/2011 at 02:04 pipman3000 says:
laephis was his post homophobic or did i jump the gun?
i eagerly await your input
edit: RectalReamer Hamster Drive – $6.99
lol get it we love to shove animals up our butts
17/05/2011 at 00:11 pipman3000 says:
the only difference between RPS and XBox LIVE is that the people here are more wordy.
this is the worst comment thread on the entire site and you all should be ashamed.
17/05/2011 at 01:06 Laephis says:
No, you should be ashamed for using “the homosexual thing” as your trump card. Your comments in this thread have been nothing but gross exaggeration and assumption building, putting words in people’s mouths to prop up your own lazy intellect. You appointed yourself “RPS Gay Defender” and went looking for homophobic comments where none existed.
17/05/2011 at 01:51 pipman3000 says:
except people have said some really homophobic shit in this thread. do you even read the forum or do you just follow me around saying the exact opposite of whatever i say?
go hump someone elses leg you palace beast.
17/05/2011 at 02:01 pipman3000 says:
also please show me where i appointed myself supreme defender of all that is gay
(hint: being gay and argumentative doesn’t make me the grand defender of homosexuality, nice try though)
lol why am i the defender of the holy gayness?
i will be sleeping so you have an entire day to prepare your response on why i am the guardian of his holiness the gaypope. see you tomorrow :)
17/05/2011 at 03:15 Rii says:
“this is the worst comment thread on the entire site and you all should be ashamed.”
Odd, I don’t *feel* ashamed.
There’ve been some unfortunate comments in this thread to be sure, but from a minority of posters only. The broader picture of RPS’ community is hardly as bleak as you would paint it.
17/05/2011 at 15:01 Ergates_Antius says:
“except people have said some really homophobic shit in this thread”
A very small handful of people out of over 200 posts. so why should *everyone* should feel ashamed?
17/05/2011 at 03:58 Wozzle says:
Approved.
RPGs simulate relationships and human interaction. Some humans are gay.
Deal or diaf.
17/05/2011 at 05:36 Rii says:
Some humans are rapists too.