It's now based around a max level of 60 :P first playthrough on a new char should get you to 30 so it's like starting with a second run through char

You have no idea. Bioware's Hate Dumb has been taken to a whole new level.

The game is excellent and yet recieved even lower user scores on Metacritics than Dragon Age 2. The power of idiots united together scares me.

Origin unlocked the game for me this morning so had a quick blast at it before work. Like others i had problems importing my save game face but thought well Fem shep needed a hair cut anyhow so remodelled her.

So far enjoying the game. Has the feel of the 2nd one and i am glad that most of my major decisions have carried on from the 1st & 2nd game.

I dont know what all the hate is this game is a lot better than Dragon Age 2 but seems like people just have to moan about everything. Well as long as you enjoy it who cares what others think.

So far - and I have reason to believe that I am close to the end of the game - pretty much every character that can be romanced offers you an option to take it to the next level, and if you deny it, they're not offended at all. There's one character that's an openly gay male who talks about his husband. That's the extent of the homosexuality in the game.

So yes. Homophobes. Homophobes everywhere.

I really don't get what peoples problem is. It's a game where you can romance those who are other species but people are hung up on homosexuality. It would be jarring if homosexuality was seen as a problem or if it where not present in the Mass Effect universe. I've never found Mass Effect to be a game that's handled the development of relationships, romantic or others wise, badly.

I've only played it for a few hours now but I've come across the crew mate that talked about his husband when I asked about his family. Oh the horror.

I haven't even seen that many hate threads regarding the homosexual relationships on ME3. At least on the BW forums there was only one but it wasn't opposed to that content he just thought it was made in a distasteful way but I don't think many people agreed with him.

Personally, I don't care and I doubt I will ever see the gay romance scenes considering it will take me many replays just to romance all the female characters.

I've played up to the Palaven mission and so far I'm loving the interactions with your crew and how they go out to visit the Citadel when you dock your ship there. I won't spoil anything but I recommend everybody takes their time to revisit the Citadel after completing each mission.

Instead of farming elements for fabrication, ME3 has you scan planets for bits and pieces. An artefact, a downed ship, someone's laundry they left on their clothes line when fleeing the reapers. Then you shuffle back to the Citadel to deliver your 'finds'.

The Citadel changes at different intervals based on how many story missions you've completed. You never know if that dirty shoe you fished up off planet X is ready for a happy reunion with its owner of if you just have to wait till god knows when to once more trawl through the whole fucking Citadel hoping that THIS time some random npc will sprout an interactive dongle for you to grab onto and clear that shit from your quest log.

Reuniting these random citadel residents with their odds and ends somehow leads to tangible war effort assets (your readiness score). As does siding with particular argumentative npcs, and giving unsolicited advice or banal platitudes. Shepard's interactions on the citadel with the random residents is downright creepy.

You basically stand creepily behind someone, overhear their private moments, rush across the entire galaxy in your elite stealth ship, spend thousands of credits worth of fuel, dodge reapers, wet your fishing line, catch an old boot and then surprise gift it to someone on the Citadel.

Beating the reapers with self assigned fetch quest.... yes really. Most of those fuckers don't even ask Shepard for help.

Sounds terribly like the filler-quests in DA II. Not a good sign.

It's entirely optional. I don't see how it's problematic.

Well, IF you want to max out your readiness without resorting to the multiplayer part, it is. Besides, the quests I mentioned were really lazily designed.

Well, it wouldn't be a Bioware game without filler content like that.

I just finished my second re-run through Mass Effect 1 and the main campaign (and most of the N7/DLC missions) of Mass Effect 2. I completed the suicide mission, and I think I got everything this time - no one died and my Jane Shepard came out the way I intended; a paragon who can get rough when neccesery. All that remains now is The Arrival DLC and then I'm off to join you folks at the end of all things. I know that the Arrival is not required playing, but I'm not skipping it now that I have done just about everything else.

Watch out Reapers; Jane Shepard is strong, pissed off and ready for round three! :-D

In which case it is no longer a question of "race" rather of "Species.." As far as real-world allegories, Lib/Cons, Dem/Reps, are both ideologues, and both are worthless as far as I'm concerned..

On Topic:

It would take a crack to bypass EA's Spyware (Origin) before I buy this FPS..If only for the conclusion, but if you've read the reviews, the game is only worth a purchase 6 months to a year from now when the price is considerably low and the DLCs bundled...

While the price of ME2 did drop, it was never released bundled with DLC on any platform other than PS3. It could be argued that the only reason it was bundled on PS3 was because it was released a year later. ME3 will come down in price, but don't expect a GOTY edition

Bah, you're right, I never did get their DLCs come to think of it (Was thinking about DAO)..All the more reason to get the game when it's $10 or lower...Preferably lower, as I detest UBioEA..