Mass Effect 2 - News Roundup

Dhruin

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I'll collect a handful of Mass Effect 2 items here.
Gametrailers hosts the first part of a Casey Hudson video interview from the show Sci vs Fi. It runs at around 5 minutes and the topic is "how do you create the illusion of free will with a fixed ending?"
BioWare has kicked up a new desktop wallpaper called "Fight for the Lost".
There's a new Bioblog entry from Christina Norman on equipping squad members, which has been overhauled. Here's a snip:
With up to 10 squad members, equipping your team in Mass Effect 2 could have been a daunting task. To make this task manageable we’ve made two inventory advancements: squad inventory, and auto-upgrades.
Squad Inventory
Whenever Shepard finds an upgraded weapon he scans it with his omni-tool, uploading detailed data to his ship. Using that data, this ship’s armory can replicate the weapon, making it available to any squad member trained to use that weapon type. For example, if you find a superior shotgun, your armory will fabricate copies, making that shotgun model available to any squad member with shotgun training. This gets rid of tedious inventory management tasks, like unequipping and transferring items between squad members.
...and Joystiq has rumours on the first-day DLC, which they claim will feature a character that was previously cut. The source is Norwegian and has since been deleted, so it's a bit hard to check the veracity but here's an excerpt:
Norwegian newspaper DagBladet is reporting DLC will likely be available day one or soon thereafter for Mass Effect 2. DagBladet says the usual items like armor and weapons will be available, but also other things, such as an unlockable planet and even a new ally by the name of Zaeed Messani, the grizzled bounty hunter pictured above. The piece also mentions an in-game store for unlocking DLC called "Cerberus Network," which sounds a lot like Dragon Age: Origins' DLC platform.
More information.
 
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I read the article in Dagbladet on Friday. Was fairly interesting, talking about DLC content, and describing Zaeed Messani, a Soldier you can download that is being paid for by Cerberus (mercenary). However, he also has his own motives, that you learn more about as you go along.

I was a bit surprised to see such an article in Dagbladet though, since it's just a newspaper - usually, Gamer.no is the most reliable source for information on games in Norway.

Generally, I find it somewhat strange that Norwegian media are so up-to-date on the latest news in the gaming industry - this is not the first time I've seen articles, previews or reviews in Norwegian media that is not available anywhere else (I've linked several of the Gamer.no articles here on the forums in the past).
 
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Previously cut? Hmmm…. I'm sure the planning of DLC had nothing to do with it…

He magically reappears, and asks for money or he leaves ...

Wow ...I guess they really ARE trying to give folks the 'idiot test'.
 
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Because of technical difficulties I quoted in another thread, best DLC will be like that. Designed, programed and tested in the same flow that the game itself.
 
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He magically reappears, and asks for money or he leaves …

He's a free download for new game purchases, like the "Stone Prisoner" for dragon age. He's not the equivalent of the "warden's keep."

From their twitter:
Addressing rumors: BioWare will not be charging extra for any new Mass Effect 2 content on launch day.
 
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He's a free download for new game purchases, like the "Stone Prisoner" for dragon age. He's not the equivalent of the "warden's keep."

Thanks for that! I am much more accepting of the 'we want you to buy new games) DLC ... although I don't like the impact to used game sales & trades ...
 
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I think we can safely assume that games like Mass Effect 2 will be available online (steam etc) for as long as any of us have any interest in getting it. In time, it'll also be dirt cheap through online sites. In other words: There's no reason to buy it used.

Things were different before we got such options.
 
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Whenever Shepard finds an upgraded weapon he scans it with his omni-tool, uploading detailed data to his ship. Using that data, this ship’s armory can replicate the weapon, making it available to any squad member trained to use that weapon type. For example, if you find a superior shotgun, your armory will fabricate copies, making that shotgun model available to any squad member with shotgun training. This gets rid of tedious inventory management tasks, like unequipping and transferring items between squad members.

UGH! I don't like that at all. Half the fun of an RPG ( for me anyway ) is finding the new equipment and equipping it for optimal usage. They're taking the "Bioware's roman numeral item system" to "stupid & lazy". Here I was hoping they'd dropped the stupid Level I -> X item system for actual unique weapon names & stats, and they've actually made it worse, much worse.

If ME2 is yet another dumbed down for console RPG gamers and lazy developers like DAO was, this will definitely be the last Bioware RPG I ever buy on faith. They're going to have to start earning my money again.

*sigh* Obsidian is the last reliable RPG developer (if you wait for a couple of patches ). I've got high hopes for CD Project and Witcher 2 though.
 
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