@RogerRoger I actually maxed out the Paragon bar quite a bit before the end of the game. This is my stats from right near the end.
I always put my level up points into Charm/Intimidate as soon as they open up and while I played a very virtuous Shepard I did do the occasional Renegade act when it was more fitting. Once I maxed out the Paragon bar I was tempted to start leaning more into Renegade as the Paragon points were worthless at that point but ultimately decided to keep the character consistent.
The first time I played Mass Effect was ME2 on PS3 and my 'default' was similar to you about 70/30 Paragon/Renegade picking what felt suitable in the moment. But of course that lead to famously being unable to resolve Miranda/Jack and the resultant outcome. Since then as @Thrillo points out I've pretty much leaned all in one way to try and make sure I can always charm or intimidate in the big moments. I thought they had lowered the level needed for that event in ME2 now @Thrillo?
Strangely enough I still had one event in ME1 where apparently I didn't have enough Paragon for the ExoGeni checkpoint on Feros despite all my efforts and doing quite a bit of side content before getting there.
I don’t know about them tinkering with it but it would make sense; it always seemed a bit silly that you could be locked out of resolving those situations if you happened to do missions leading to the conflicts before maxing paragon out.
@Thrillho Whoops! Teach me to think it's quicker to type it out than scroll up and reply. I'm pretty confident I read something about the Paragon/Renegade requirements being softened (At least for that one major conflict) in the many news bits I perused up to launch but admittedly can't find anything from a quick search now. I'm surprised they didn't put the improved 'Reputation' system of it being a combo of your Paragon/Renegade, rather than one or the other, from ME3 into 2.
@Thrillho@BearsEatBeets Interesting thoughts on the Paragon / Renegade system. I always figured they were give-and-take meters before, with extremes of one taking from the other to balance things out, but it seems they're just simple point-trackers instead (at least in the first two games; haven't started ME3 yet). I say this because my 70/30 ratio is me just keeping my own track of what dialogue options and trigger moments I've chosen, in my own head, and yet I still finished the Suicide Mission yesterday with 100% Paragon points (so I was able to diffuse the argument between Tali and Legion without losing either of them; was also able to keep both Miranda and Jack earlier in the game, despite not having a full Paragon meter at that point). Comparatively, a fifth of my Renegade meter was, and still is, full.
I feel like maybe ME1 took the system more seriously, and was therefore more strict about what could and couldn't be achieved (like getting Saren to realise the truth). I also remember reading something about the requirements for settling squadmate arguments being softened in ME2 (because seriously, it's unfair to arbitrarily lose a squadmate simply because you told a couple of jerks to shut up ten hours ago, and I think newcomers to the series would've reacted against such constraints) and again, based on the above, I think they have been.
As clever and as intricate as the system is, I think it's why ME2 is my least-favourite of the original trilogy, because I feel like there's only one "proper" way to play it. I'm constantly having to check my progress in order to anticipate and achieve the outcomes I want, and it just makes everything stressful, giving me less freedom to do whatever I want, and whenever I want to. The whole War Asset mechanic in ME3 feels fairer, although it's been a while, so I might think differently once I get underway.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Regarding the Reaper IFF, I thought you could do anything you liked before you mess up, as long as you don't do a mission. Then you can do a different number of missions depending on what you've done in the game. So I did everything in the game, reaper IFF, then just went to the Citadel, came back, and got Legion's loyalty mission, did that, and then I was golden.
@Thrillho Stay away from the review topic later this week.
@johncalmc I think, if you've got an empty Journal, you'll get Legion's loyalty mission almost immediately, and the IFF will be installed as soon as you've finished it. Otherwise I read that the installation takes two "away missions" (i.e. things that you need to leave the Normandy for) before you get locked out of the Galaxy Map by the hijacking cutscene and Joker sequence. If you've still got three or four loyalty missions outstanding after obtaining the IFF and Legion, you have to make a choice between keeping those squadmates alive during the Suicide Mission, or saving a bunch of NPCs and Kelly Chambers. The only person who always survives, no matter what, is Doctor Chocolates (because she has important exposition to deliver... well, that, and she's a badass who should never die).
Anyway, thanks to @ApostateMage again, as I was able to take Legion to the Quarian Flotilla. I loved how it changed the whole tone of the entire mission. Everybody was on edge!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
This popped up in my YouTube recommendations (can't think why). Never really thought about the faces being real people, other than Yvonne/Miranda. It must be weird if you bumped into real-life Shepard, I hope he finishes conversations with 'I should go'.
@BearsEatBeets I love how, when Kaidan's model dresses in Kaidan's armour, he looks nothing like him. It's cool he's a good sport, though. I've seen a shot of him at a convention somewhere signing autographs alongside Raphael Sbarge, Kaidan's voice actor.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I've just finished ME3 and the it's the first time I've seen the extended ending. It's not as bad as people make out but it's still a poor ending to a fantastic series. At least I got to witness the great acting from Jennifer Hale and Keith David again. Plus I got the 'breathe' animation right at the end. There is hope....
My ideal Mass Effect would be ME1's story and lore, ME2's writing and ME3's combat and humour.
@Arugula You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding.
Although, I have to admit, I found the morality of the "big decisions" at the end of both ME1 and ME2 a little skewed. Despite being mostly Paragon, I totally wasn't gonna waste tactical resources and let innocent civilians die in order to save a bunch of political VIPs during the fight against Sovereign, and I also thought it tactically prudent to preserve the Collector Base and reverse-engineer its secrets to prepare for a Reaper invasion. When I subsequently found out that I'd picked the Renegade option both times, I was more than a little surprised, particularly with the ME1 one.
Context and hindsight helps with the ME2 one, though, and I don't even hesitate nowadays, but I don't mind admitting that I still sacrifice the Council every single time.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@ApostateMage Glad to hear you got the "breathe" ending. Sounds like @johncalmc might've just experienced an unfortunate glitch. I've had a few cutscenes freeze on me, but nothing skip ahead.
Also, congratulations on clearing the trilogy once again!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@Arugula Of course, it doesn't look great after I've spent the entire game trolling them with my post-mission reports but, I swear, my intentions were purely tactical!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Ta Rog. I had a galactic readiness of just over 8000 at the end. Loved it all over again, It's just a shame that I played it on my Xbox because I'd definitely try for all platinums again if on the PS4. I don't really care for Microsoft achievements.
@RogerRoger I think it was just a glitch because after the last time we talked I checked my game and I was miles over the threshold for that ending. I assumed I would be because I did everything but I had to check. Wonder why it happened.
@johncalmc Well, yesterday we got another patch, and I was shocked to see "fixes issue where surviving characters wouldn't turn up to the Citadel DLC's party" listed in the notes. It's clear that there are still some problems with the release. I'm just glad this wasn't your first playthrough; I'd hate to experience the trilogy for the first time and then retroactively realise I'd missed the last, and perhaps most important, five seconds.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Oh yeah, it made no difference to me because I've been through the games so many times. It'd be sad if a newcomer missed it but I just imagined it in my head.
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