West Coast Canada IV: "Ah yes, 'Guilty Gear' - we have already dismissed that game!"

[BagLunch]

Well, many wrestling submission holds by design aren't excessively dangerous/difficult to get out of, which is exactly what would make it all the more impressive.

That said, provided your knee can withstand the impact, I imagine that a backbreaker could be seriously dangerous in real life. Actually, the fact that it could significantly injure the person doing it means it's already seriously dangerously in real life.

[rtl42]

ME3 trailer looks kinda cool (although it's not like it was terribly surprising) but i get the feeling we're actually not gonna see/explore much of Earth in ME3.

oh hey Gabe speaking of Mass Effect, do you happen to know the "official"/actual way that the morality score is calculated in ME2? People on the Bioware forums (and elsewhere) say it's a ratio of your paragon (renegade) points obtained with the "total" paragon (renegade) points "obtainable"; the problem is, i haven't seen any clear explanation on how this "total points obtainable" denominator is calculated, in-game, so i have a hard time believing what people say.

Yuan, did you get my PM?

Edited December 13, 2010 by rtl42

[MrDolphin]

I just checked it now. Kinda ignore my private messages for the most part.

[BagLunch]

oh hey Gabe speaking of Mass Effect, do you happen to know the "official"/actual way that the morality score is calculated in ME2? People on the Bioware forums (and elsewhere) say it's a ratio of your paragon (renegade) points obtained with the "total" paragon (renegade) points "obtainable"; the problem is, i haven't seen any clear explanation on how this "total points obtainable" denominator is calculated, in-game, so i have a hard time believing what people say.

Quite hilariously, this dogged the testers, as well; there was no way to see the actual values! They're hidden deeply in some UED scripts, and there does not exist a console command that allows you to see the precise values.

They are absolutely correct in stating that the "real" Paragon/Renegade score in ME2 is based on points obtained divided by points currently obtainable. The visual representation of this does not completely accurately represent this (reason being that if it did, very early in the game when the points obtainable are small, it should fill up super-quickly). The end result of this is that certain Paragon/Renegade choices with requirements become very, very hard if done late-game; if you weren't consistently choosing the options that give you Paragon points, it may well be impossible to bring your ratio up to requirements. A good example of this is the Zaeed loyalty mission Paragon persuade if you pick the Paragon route; if you do that more towards the end of the game, it's going to be really tough to pull off. They wanted to make sure that the difficulty of pulling off certain persuasion/intimidation actions scales with the player's progress in the game (since the game does have a significant amount of non-linearity in mission choice), which absolute value checks wouldn't allow. That said, representing this to the player was ultimately done in a way that comes across as sleight-of-hand in the Paragon/Renegade meters.

All I'm going to say about ME3 plot-wise is.... well, nothing, for now :D

[ghostgoodboy]

gotta be either a total hater or a philanthropist.

nigs have to play GT5 to realize how terrible drivers we all are.

also Mike C, it's something to do with the AMS(?) assist that's giving us extreme hard time, the computer will not allow you to accelerate during a turn to maintain maximum stability as well as to avoid slip out. Still turning it off won't down the skill scale required but it's easier enough to make up the tiny time window we're trying to catch up. FUCK those 0.00125891285081 seconds.

If you do challenge again, I recommend you also try the Top Gear Track last level with WW2 wagon in one of the special events. BUMP CAR WOOOOOO FUN.

[BladeOfJustice7]

What's up WC?

[Superking™]

Not much, mainly me trolling SRK-Neogaf-Gamefaqs-Intrawebs with Marvel 3 leaks.

[BladeOfJustice7]

Yo that mvc3 is gonna be takin niggas money for free. I'm hype.

[Superking™]

Mike you interested in AH3? Because I'll probably waste money...er import it. If you want to get it, we can split the FedEx shipping from Play-asia and I can handle any D&T that follow which isn't much.

I did this before with Alex (BB) and Chuck (SRW Gaiden Masoukishin LOTE DS).

[ghostgoodboy]

pnogg i have a favor to ask, msg on msn.

[geogaddi]

F

Y

C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z29Rk1rgNvc&t=6m25s

[rtl42]

They are absolutely correct in stating that the "real" Paragon/Renegade score in ME2 is based on points obtained divided by points currently obtainable.

right sorry, i didn't mean to come off sounding like the idea that it's a ratio is unbelievable, but rather, I have a hard time understanding how "points currently obtainable" is defined. (and since you worked on ME2 at Bioware for a little bit, i was hoping i could ask you for a bit of clarification, "mod non-disclosure agreement" :P )

One post I saw somewhere out there on the internet said something like this: whenever you "open" a new area, the game adds all possible paragon/renegade points obtainable in that area to your morality ratio denominator.

However, this doesn't really seem that clear to me -- for example, when I land on Omega the first time, which areas have I "opened", for the purpose of determining points obtainable? You might say, "well obviously, it's wherever you can get morality points from actions/conversations in Afterlife and the shops around it," but the problem is that certain conversations in those areas (and hence, obtainable points) become available only after completing/triggering other game events (e.g. finishing either of Mordin's or Garrus' dossiers triggers the Patriach assignment; completing the mission on Horizon causes the salarian Ish to instantiate the next time you land on Omega), so are the points obtainable in these "later" actions/conversations factored in? Likely not -- so what I'm wondering is, where do you draw the line; or put differently, is it "geographical" boundaries that must be crossed, or is it actually "event" boundaries that must be crossed, to trigger a new incrementation of your morality ratio denominators?

Actually, an even better example is the Normandy, itself. So many conversations/actions take place, there, yet all of those morality points that you could get couldn't possibly be incremented once you step onboard the first time. It's only reasonable for it to be event triggers; but from what (perhaps little) I've read, no one has even offered this kind of criticism to the explanation of how your morality ratio is calculated.

------------------------------------

In other news:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/12/13/the-wind-is-no-longer-at-voyagers-back/

[rtl42]

oh and in case you also ignore your PMs, Mike: please check your PMs!

[Saru Kada]

whoops

nigel: more horrible fighting games? I don't suppose I'd be totally against it, how much would it be?

ray: oh ok fuck computer assist. I'll spin out when I damn well feel like it.

[BagLunch]

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

http://tubedubber.com/#7XX6cTjaih4:lOJqicM6x84:0:100:0:0:true

alternately

BAH DEE AH

http://tubedubber.com/#7XX6cTjaih4:nfLEc09tTjI:0:100:0:0:true

--------

@STfan: The system was really arcane, because we didn't have access to any precise numbers. From empirical evidence, it appears to be areas that are plotflagged as available to you. For instance, at the start of the game, you have almost no crew on your ship, so the points obtainable by crewmen that simply aren't there are not counted. However, this gets a little funky with missions; I remember that I left the Jack and Miranda argument till nearly the end of the game to test situations where a full/near full Paragon gauge would fail to be able to do the Paragon persuade, and I remember that I had to go on some missions in order to be able to do it. So if there is a mission that is completely unavailable to you plotwise (e.g. Thane loyalty at the start of the game, even though you have access to the Citadel), it should not count against you in points obtainable. If the team member is recruitable and you are at a stage of the game where their loyalty mission could be done given that you recruited them, then those points MAY count. Certainly, if you have them and their loyalty mission is available (you have talked with them and the mission is in your journal), it does count. If you have them and their mission is available but you have not talked with them to trigger the mission, then that falls into the "maybe but probably" category again. I do not believe that the "points obtainable" thing counts the mission itself, because that would make Samara loyalty practically impossible (though it is one of the tougher ones, to be sure).

Edited December 14, 2010 by BagLunch

[Superking™]

whoops

nigel: more horrible fighting games? I don't suppose I'd be totally against it, how much would it be?

ray: oh ok fuck computer assist. I'll spin out when I damn well feel like it.

Well for shipping we could just split it, which would be $8-10 each for the both of us (it gets to delivered to my office so I would get it right away). The game is your standard Japanese import price, it's on Play-asia.

Again the shipping would be cheap if we just both go for the regular editions as opposed to the LEs.

Also the game price would be cheap compared to the LE as well.

And if the preorder is sent like soon instead of later, we would probably get it on time and not be backordered.

EDIT: Basically I place the preorder and you just pay me your half when the games come in.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Superking™

[MrDolphin]

Tell me at least this Gabe, are there plans for Two Steps From Hell to do the music for the launch trailer again?

[BagLunch]

I think it will have more to do with whether or not Bioware finds a song that they like from their catalogue to set the trailer to (the trailer for ME2 wasn't made until really late in development... like, really, really late). I also wonder if they might want to go with music that they can really have for themselves, because unless they do a lot of wrangling, nothing stops Two Steps from Hell from licensing their music to other people that want to use it... case in point, Vanoc using the exact same song for an opening ceremony montage video at the Olympics. Dramatic movie music is good, but they may want to take something that can be uniquely identified to ME or ME3.

[Superking™]

Anyone up for 6 player Konami X-Men later this week? I have extra controllers, and the game comes to PSN today apparently.

EDIT: Nope, port is done by Backbone, I'll take a wait and see approach on that before buying it.

Yuan if you are here this week be sure to bring the money as I will bring your BDs.

[rtl42]

mike: just in case you don't see it, there should be another PM for you.

gabe: nooo so difficult to verify maybe on another playthrough, i'll screw around with the setparagon/setrenegade binding.

[BagLunch]

gabe: nooo so difficult to verify maybe on another playthrough, i'll screw around with the setparagon/setrenegade binding.

It was quite a pain in the ass for everybody involved, I can assure you of that.

Why do you want to know in such detail? Concerned that doing some of the reasonable/fun Renegade actions will gimp you out of future Paragon ones?

There are relatively few moments that require really extreme amounts of either Paragon or Renegade points. The persuasions during team arguments, Samara loyalty, Zaeed Paragon route, Shadow Broker DLC, are the hardest AFAIK. Tali loyalty one also requires a fair bit of either, but not as much.

If you need to blow through the game, get the Mattock rifle. It is the best gun in the game, especially on Soldier, not counting the heavy weapons.

The game also features a few entertaining animations cancels, too!

[Cardinal_Sin]

you know it's a great day of user testing when one of your participants receives a spam email titled

"CRAZY NIG is requesting to follow your twitter account"

i am so glad the participant was white, given that 2/3 of the participants today were of a darker persuasion

[MrDolphin]

It was quite a pain in the ass for everybody involved, I can assure you of that.

Why do you want to know in such detail? Concerned that doing some of the reasonable/fun Renegade actions will gimp you out of future Paragon ones?

There are relatively few moments that require really extreme amounts of either Paragon or Renegade points. The persuasions during team arguments, Samara loyalty, Zaeed Paragon route, Shadow Broker DLC, are the hardest AFAIK. Tali loyalty one also requires a fair bit of either, but not as much.

If you need to blow through the game, get the Mattock rifle. It is the best gun in the game, especially on Soldier, not counting the heavy weapons.

The game also features a few entertaining animations cancels, too!

Did any of the DLC shotguns make playing Vanguard the way way Vanguard was meant to be played viable on difficulties hard than normal?

[geogaddi]

you know it's a great day of user testing when one of your participants receives a spam email titled

"CRAZY NIG is requesting to follow your twitter account"

i am so glad the participant was white, given that 2/3 of the participants today were of a darker persuasion

quality

nig when are you free lets GAY FIGHTER i feel the urge to submit myself to makoto and lose 50 in a row

[BagLunch]

Vanguard works very well on difficulties higher than normal without any DLC!... albeit with the problem that over half the boss fights are boring as hell because all you have to hit the boss with is your pistol or SMG, which probably aren't where your resources are going. If you have resources to spare, you can put it towards heavy weaponry to deal with them faster. Nuking bosses with the Cain is always fun.

The first key is to max Vanguard charge as early as possible, and take the Heavy Charge evo. With Heavy Charge, every time you are cooled it means your shields are restored (unless you are fighting aforementioned enemies that are never chargeable because they are too goddamn far away). The next skill to max is the passive skill, taking the reduced cooldown path for the same reason. Neither shockwave, pull, nor cryo ammo are terribly useful at higher difficulties, so put your remaining points into either Incendiary Ammo or some other skill from the terminal (if you have Jack or Garrus on your team, use their ammo power instead). Reave or one of the barrier skills are good choices.

The Eviscerator DLC shotgun is one of the better guns in the game and one of the best shotguns period, but it isn't necessary to make the Vanguard good. The Locust smg that comes with Kasumi is good, but it's good on anybody. If you pick assault rifles for your bonus weapon, you get the combo of time dilation from Heavy Charge + that 3 round burst gun, which all but guarantees a headshot on any enemy that isn't sent flying by the Heavy Charge. Alternatively, if you have the Mattock from DLC, Heavy Charge lets you unload like half a magazine into some goon's head. The Claymore is pretty good, though you have to be a little careful with it.

There is one trick that helps you and some little tricks that are cute (and one which outright breaks the game).

The big trick is to shorten the reload animation with melee attack. Since you are a Vanguard, getting into people's faces is easy. So you charge -> shotgun -> melee -> shotgun and they probably die. Having your guys cast powers in advance of your charge makes this work better. The little trick that's cute is that certain timers can be passed in pause mode (you know, when you bring up the command menu).... e.g. the time needed to switch ammo type. Certain weapons can partially bypass their cooldown time in pause mode, and this means that you can charge into a place and unload your entire magazine before your opponents can fire more than like 2 shots (it was super easy with some guns, but they mostly fixed it).

Pick equipment and upgrades that boost your durability and/or reduce cooldowns. The damage of the charge is not the priority; the frequent shield restore is.

If you are charging around the perimeter of a fight, it allows you to take down enemies in a more one-on-one fashion, without getting caught in so many crossfires.

Kasumi's flashbang (DLC again...) synergizes quite well with the Vanguard, though make sure that she's the one casting it (goes off immediately, doesn't use your cooldown, less concern about misses).

A certain amount of the stagger animation can be bypassed by activating charge. In short, whenever you get in trouble and have Charge available, bring up the command menu ASAP and look for a target.

Some enemies are simply not meant to be charged. Don't charge the heavy mech if you aren't going to be able to stagger it instantly. Don't charge the Harbinger unless it's going to die like right away. Don't charge the Praetorian, that's just dumb. Scions are generally bad to charge.

So while you can just sit in cover and shoot things, playing Vanguard for realz is completely about charge management (lololol i'm guile lol).