Mass Effect; Never Played It; Advice

[QuantaCat]

they were in kotor as well, werent they? or am I thinking of that mini gambling game in kotor?

[westyfield]

they were in kotor as well, werent they? or am I thinking of that mini gambling game in kotor?

That's Pazaak. It's pretty much the same as Quasar from Mass Effect, but Quasar doesn't have customisable card decks, it's all random.

Feeling vaguely ashamed that I know this.

[Wizardry]

That's Pazaak.

That game was infuriating. I think if you won enough times your opponent would stop playing. I remember Quasar in Mass Effect. It took absolutely ages to make a decent amount of money, so overall it was a waste of time. Still, the best mini-game I've played is Arcomage in Might and Magic VII and VIII. It was even spun off as a stand alone game because it was so awesome. You ended up spending at least half your time in those two games playing it.

[Kadayi]

Been a while since I played KotoR so I don't recall Pazaak, but Quasar I do and it did indeed seem to be a bit of a waste of time in terms of input Vs reward financially in relation to the sheer volume of money you could make doing other things, as well as the spiralling cost of goods as the game progressed. With cars or property I can see some purpose to range in terms of 'cost' when you measure performance and scale, but when it comes to weaponry, tools and armour? It's somewhat harder to justify going with a 'purchase' approach to item progression vs an acquisition/authorisation/upgrade methodology without breaking any sense of economy when it comes to in game money. Albeit the system was a little stripped back, I kind of liked the approach Bioware took with ME2 more than ME1 in that regard. ME3 wasn't a bad compromise, but the pricing at times was a little crazy in places.

[soldant]

It's somewhat harder to justify going with a 'purchase' approach to item progression vs an acquisition/authorisation/upgrade methodology without breaking any sense of economy when it comes to in game money. Albeit the system was a little stripped back, I kind of liked the approach Bioware took with ME2 more than ME1 in that regard. ME3 wasn't a bad compromise, but the pricing at times was a little crazy in places.

The only things I ever purchased during ME1 was Spectre gear. Everything else I either picked up form the dead, found in crates, or got as a reward. Money was borderline useless in ME1 and it wasn't hard to get because you'd have like a hundred Lancer II assault rifles which were absolutely useless. People lament the loss of the large inventory in ME2 but I really don't see the point when most of it went straight into omni-gel or an ever-expanding cash pile which was never really useful anyway.

ME2 and ME3 took a step forward with that; ME2 made money useful again, while ME3 brought back weapon customisation.

[duff]

Nalano - Yeh I loved that bit too. Along with most of Edi's conversations.

[Kadayi]

The only things I ever purchased during ME1 was Spectre gear. Everything else I either picked up form the dead, found in crates, or got as a reward. Money was borderline useless in ME1 and it wasn't hard to get because you'd have like a hundred Lancer II assault rifles which were absolutely useless. People lament the loss of the large inventory in ME2 but I really don't see the point when most of it went straight into omni-gel or an ever-expanding cash pile which was never really useful anyway.

Indeed once you get the Ferrari equipment the rest does become fairly pointless. Saving up 10 million credits got you an achievement iirc, and it fed through to ME2 in some fashion with your starting funds, but it was kind of superfluous beyond that. There's a separate discussion topic in there somewhere about equipment in games, but it's a little late in the evening to spin it off at this hour.

[westyfield]

Indeed once you get the Ferrari equipment the rest does become fairly pointless. Saving up 10 million credits got you an achievement iirc, and it fed through to ME2 in some fashion with your starting funds, but it was kind of superfluous beyond that.

If you didn't finish Mass Effect with Omni Gel and Credits maxed out at all nines, you did something horribly wrong. :)

[Subatomic]

If you didn't finish Mass Effect with Omni Gel and Credits maxed out at all nines, you did something horribly wrong. :)

Or you were just too lazy to convert every single useless item you found (i.e. all of them) into omni gel, as you had to to it... One. Click. At. A. Time. Dear god, who thought that was a good idea?

[soldant]

Or you were just too lazy to convert every single useless item you found (i.e. all of them) into omni gel, as you had to to it... One. Click. At. A. Time. Dear god, who thought that was a good idea?

Bioware. They had to be certain that you really didn't want those Lancer I assault rifles.

[QuantaCat]

ah. And now I remember the name of the critters: Gizka.

[SanguineAngel]

Still, the best mini-game I've played is Arcomage in Might and Magic VII and VIII. It was even spun off as a stand alone game because it was so awesome. You ended up spending at least half your time in those two games playing it.

That is correct information

[NathanH]

Wait, there was a gambling mini game in ME1? I managed to miss that. I thought pazaak was quite fun, although I didn't much like that the "skillful" players were mostly modeled by given them OP cards.

Arcomage, on the other hand, is pure genius.

[Wizardry]

Wait, there was a gambling mini game in ME1? I managed to miss that. I thought pazaak was quite fun, although I didn't much like that the "skillful" players were mostly modeled by given them OP cards.

Yes. You could play it on the machines in the club on the Citadel. The one where that Salarian gets kicked out for trying to cheat the machines. I think he gives you a quest to win a certain number of games for him.

Arcomage, on the other hand, is pure genius.

Yes, it is.

[Lukasz]

bump cause i have a question about ME3

a bit of a SPOILER if you hadn't played 2


I just killed Samara and Morith joined my team. I kinda hate her but that was renegade option. I am considering having her killed at the end but does she return in ME3? is she important, worth keeping around till ME3?

[NathanH]

She makes a cameo appearance but nothing that actually matters at all, feel free to eliminate her.

I think you have to be pretty mental to side with her, though.

[Lukasz]

She makes a cameo appearance but nothing that actually matters at all, feel free to eliminate her.

I think you have to be pretty mental to side with her, though.

thx and yeah. it makes no sense whatsoever. I only chose that option cause i of course kept Samara on my first playthrough.

[Anthile]

I thought it was a bit strange how the game basically gives you no reason to actually recruit Morinth beyond morbid curiosity. Some people in your crew may be shady but she's just plain evil. Not even a renegade Shepard can really justify taking a serial killer/ sex vampire over a loyal and wise justicar.