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I really enjoyed 2 and 3 but since I played 2 first I couldn't stand the extremely rough combat mechanics of 1 and gave up halfway through the first mission. Thanks for this. 
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Dec 13, 2015 11:51
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I seem to recall that Saren's character model isn't supposed to have him covered in robotics just yet but Bioware didn't have time to give him a non robo model or something along those lines. Which makes the Council scene in a little while highly amusing, as the Council defends Saren when he's standing there with glowing blue robotic eyes and plastered in Geth technology.
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Dec 13, 2015 12:51
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Judge Tesla posted:I seem to recall that Saren's character model isn't supposed to have him covered in robotics just yet but Bioware didn't have time to give him a non robo model or something along those lines. The cover of one of the Mass Effect tie-in novels shows him without all the Geth/Reaper tech sprouting out of him. But yeah, I was always a little surprised that no one went and tried to mod a non-indoctrinated version of Saren into the PC Mass Effect. I guess unlike KotOR or Dragon Age, the Mass Effect games were very mod unfriendly on PC.
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Dec 13, 2015 14:12
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anilEhilated posted:Christ, I forgot how ham-handed the exposition at the beginning is. "I don't like having a Turian Spectre on board. Spectres are... Turians are... Board is..." Eh, it comes with the genre. It's an original IP space-opera, there's a lot of crap that absolutely has to be explained for anything to make sense. I think the opening flows pretty well. They set up a neat short story arc about this intriguing Turian super space operative, that introduces and ties together all the main focuses of the story: specters, Sarien, the protheans and the council. Edit: The first couple of dialogues on the ship have a definite case of people launching into weird tangential monologues about things that everyone in the universe except the player knows about, but after that things move along swell. StoryTime fucked around with this message at 14:54 on Dec 13, 2015 |
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Dec 13, 2015 14:38
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anilEhilated posted:Christ, I forgot how ham-handed the exposition at the beginning is. "I don't like having a Turian Spectre on board. Spectres are... Turians are... Board is..."
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Dec 13, 2015 15:17
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Judge Tesla posted:I seem to recall that Saren's character model isn't supposed to have him covered in robotics just yet but Bioware didn't have time to give him a non robo model or something along those lines. I always took it as a sign that he was gradually accepting augmentations even before the attack on Eden Prime. I imagine the Council asking him every now and again why he had yet another tube snaking in and out of his armor today, and Saren assuring them that everything's fine. There'd come a day when the Asari councilor asked him to please see a doctor about those and Saren would just respond with "I told you before I have them for BIOTIC reasons, get off my case about this MOM" and that'd be the end of that discussion. Implants aren't even that unusual in Mass Effect's universe. Besides the massive amount of custom cybernetic hardware that Commander Shepard received just to get her biotic abilities to function, the Alliance Navy implanted her with all kinds of standard-issue poo poo, including a device that keeps her sterile for the duration of her career as a soldier. Oh and yeah, that's A Thing.
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Dec 13, 2015 17:46
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Pittsburgh Lambic posted:I always took it as a sign that he was gradually accepting augmentations even before the attack on Eden Prime. I imagine the Council asking him every now and again why he had yet another tube snaking in and out of his armor today, and Saren assuring them that everything's fine. There'd come a day when the Asari councilor asked him to please see a doctor about those and Saren would just respond with "I told you before I have them for BIOTIC reasons, get off my case about this MOM" and that'd be the end of that discussion. Well, that's just a futuristic IUD, really.
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Dec 13, 2015 17:58
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As much fun as we make of "What does this Alien's sweat taste like", it's sort of a natural extension of the level of Sperg Bioware put into the game. Still awful, mind you. With this LP and the Star Control LP up, we just need a Starflight LP to complete the set.
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Dec 13, 2015 18:18
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RickVoid posted:As much fun as we make of "What does this Alien's sweat taste like", it's sort of a natural extension of the level of Sperg Bioware put into the game. Still awful, mind you.  way, usually sandwiched in between updates on how their Tali body pillow needs to be washed again.Fake edit: you know someone, somewhere has drawn Volus/Hanar porn.
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Dec 13, 2015 18:47
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SubponticatePoster posted:I think that if a fictional work does a good job in establishing a universe it's fun to wonder about things in that universe. It's just that the people who make those posts do it in the most Yeah, in no way was that post supposed to excuse the awful. Also you used "Tali Body Pillow" and "Sandwiched" in the same sentence. 
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Dec 13, 2015 18:53
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Yeah, we're talking about the franchise that drew an erotically-posed hanar on the cover of a porno magazine that Shepard can buy in ME2.
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Dec 13, 2015 18:55
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If I were a stronger (or more masochistic) woman I'd go find that original Tali sweat post because I stared into the abyss once.
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Dec 13, 2015 19:01
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SubponticatePoster posted:Or Ash, for that matter. News headline: Galaxy in Flames Because Space Racist Can't Tell the Aliens From the Animals Ashley doesn't qualify as racist. Racist implies that she thinks humans are superior, and she's pretty clear that she doesn't believe that considering her opinions on the the pro-human groups in the game. You could make a case that she's xenophobic, but.... well, her philosophy is "It's nice to play with the other races, but at the end of the day they're going to look after me and mine". The problem is that the game repeatedly and depressingly proves her right. Particularly and glaringly (like, to the point of stupidity) in ME3. I personally liked Ash in ME1, she had a level of depth that was lacking from most of the other characters and she had some good character development. Though said depth obviously flew over the heads of most players. Then ME3 RUINED her. 
mauman fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Dec 13, 2015 |
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Dec 13, 2015 19:04
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SubponticatePoster posted:If I were a stronger (or more masochistic) woman I'd go find that original Tali sweat post because I stared into the abyss once. It's ok. http://imgur.com/CA488fh The abyss will always be there.
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Dec 13, 2015 19:06
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Roman Reigns posted:It's ok. That was beautiful. The wonders of the Internet never cease.
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Dec 13, 2015 19:23
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grimlock_master posted:That was beautiful. The wonders of the Internet never cease. Honestly, I think I threw up a little reading that. Plus part of my brain might have died.
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Dec 13, 2015 19:24
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I'm always a fan of "they did the math" or "they did the science" with anything. It's fascinating, xkcd does a lot of these with common idioms.
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Dec 13, 2015 20:13
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mauman posted:Ashley doesn't qualify as racist. Racist implies that she thinks humans are superior, and she's pretty clear that she doesn't believe that considering her opinions on the the pro-human groups in the game. This is mostly dumb, she's definitely a racist. You're right that in the first one she's a great character though, easily the best in the game. Probably the best character bioware ever wrote since they turned into a romance novel videogame factory. It's kinda shocking how nuanced she can come across when everyone else in the game felt so blah and boring.
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Dec 13, 2015 20:34
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Up Circle posted:This is mostly dumb, she's definitely a racist. Hmmmm. I consider her ethnocentric (and a bit xenophobic), but not racist (the two can be mutually exclusive). If you wish to disagree with me then fine, but are insults really necessary? I'm open for a civil debate, and I hope you can come around to that idea. And as to her philosophy, that's more or less exactly what she says. She's afraid that when the chips are down, races will see to themselves and only themselves. The Turians do it, the Salarians do it, the Asari do it. Hell, if it weren't for a Paragon Shep, the humans would do it too. And each game has proven that this philosophy is correct. The main difference between a renegade Shep and paragon Shep is that the renegade accepts this and is kind of a jerk while the paragon Shep points out how this is extremely stupid behavior considering the circumstances and works towards change. I guess it comes down to what one would consider racist. Also, rather than "this is dumb", perhaps you could explain why you disagree? This is not meant to be an insult or sarcasm, I'm legitimately interested. Also, in my original post, I meant ethnocentric not xenophobic. But I consider her to be a bit xenophobic as well (with her background who can blame her?) and got the two words messed up. mauman fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Dec 13, 2015 |
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Dec 13, 2015 20:45
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Hopping on the ground level here - Never played these games since I don't have a console, or a laptop that can run anything decent, and I have no idea what the story is but keep hearing awesome things! Looking forward to catching this!
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Dec 13, 2015 20:51
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mauman posted:Hmmmm. I consider her ethnocentric (and a bit xenophobic), but not racist (the two can be mutually exclusive). If you wish to disagree with me then fine, but are insults really necessary? I'm open for a civil debate, and I hope you can come around to that idea. She's racist m8. I don't have time to consult my exhaustive research notes on Ashley Williams sorry I can't debate you on this, but it is the smallest of small fries. In my heart of hearts I think we both know that she dislikes aliens with an intensity that overrides any semantic differences we are having.
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Dec 13, 2015 21:15
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aw yiss you're playing this because i started on ME2, and then went back and tried ME1 and literally could not slog myself through it you're doing the lord's work here SP.
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Dec 13, 2015 22:02
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Up Circle posted:She's racist m8. I don't have time to consult my exhaustive research notes on Ashley Williams sorry I can't debate you on this, but it is the smallest of small fries. In my heart of hearts I think we both know that she dislikes aliens with an intensity that overrides any semantic differences we are having. I'd dislike aliens too if I'd spent my life being poo poo on by humanity because my Grandfather surrendered to the Turians because he was massively overwhelmed by them, this is kind of why Ashley isn't fond of them, is it an excuse? Not really, but it is a main reason for it. Until now, Shepard and Anderson are pretty much the only people who haven't given Ashley the stink eye for being related to General Williams of Surrendered to Turians fame.
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Dec 13, 2015 23:36
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Judge Tesla posted:I'd dislike aliens too if I'd spent my life being poo poo on by humanity because my Grandfather surrendered to the Turians because he was massively overwhelmed by them, this is kind of why Ashley isn't fond of them, is it an excuse? Not really, but it is a main reason for it. Correct. Her flawed personality and background is in fact part of why she is the only interesting character in the game.
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Dec 13, 2015 23:38
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nine-gear crow posted:The cover of one of the Mass Effect tie-in novels shows him without all the Geth/Reaper tech sprouting out of him. But yeah, I was always a little surprised that no one went and tried to mod a non-indoctrinated version of Saren into the PC Mass Effect. I guess unlike KotOR or Dragon Age, the Mass Effect games were very mod unfriendly on PC. I always figured that Saren looked all hosed up because he had been a Specter for so long that his body was all hosed up and he needed implants and replacement parts. That was before I saw that the game was so big that Bioware ran out of memory at some point and had do without sexual dimorphism for all non-human species because they couldn't fit in additional models.
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Dec 14, 2015 03:37
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I'm actually rather fond of the simplistic combat in the first game more than the second but that might be because I played a Soldier so it was shootmans and party management all the time. Going to take a bit getting used to this Shepard after staring at my red-head Shepards rear end all the time though. Ashley getting flak for her grandfather's surrender is neat and realistic enough to make her a pretty decent character. As a Paragon Shep I always liked getting on at her for her attitude in a 'you know you're proving yourself right by your own actions' way. Also: Up Circle posted:She's racist m8. 
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Dec 14, 2015 04:05
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Lazyfire posted:I always figured that Saren looked all hosed up because he had been a Specter for so long that his body was all hosed up and he needed implants and replacement parts. That was before I saw that the game was so big that Bioware ran out of memory at some point and had do without sexual dimorphism for all non-human species because they couldn't fit in additional models.
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Dec 14, 2015 04:10
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JT Jag posted:Bioware added relatively subtle differences between the genders of the non-human species (for the ones that had different genders) so that you can only notice it if you're looking for it. And I kinda appreciated it because I mean, when they look us weird soft skin-things I doubt they can figure out if it's a male or female unless they're experts on the subject. It can't take many classes of Xenobiology 101 for a Turian or Krogan or whatever to realize: 1) look at human's face. 2) look 1-2 feet down; see chest. 3) Are there bumps? 3a) Yes? ~95% chance: human is female. 3b) No? ~95% chance: human is male.
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Dec 14, 2015 05:25
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NullBlack posted:It can't take many classes of Xenobiology 101 for a Turian or Krogan or whatever to realize:
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Dec 14, 2015 05:52
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JT Jag posted:Turians probably think that a human that can't tell the difference between a male and female of their species is just as big of an idiot, because god, you just have to look at the crest, it's so obvious Well, the turian crest is on the back of the head while human breasts are front and center, but I suppose you have a point. Couldn't find anything on krogan or salarian sexual dimorphism though. I can only imagine, from their perspective, humans have World of Warcraft levels of sexual dimorphism. VVVVVVVV nine-gear crow posted:You humans are all racist! ahem, 'Speciest'. NullBlack fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Dec 14, 2015 |
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Dec 14, 2015 06:59
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JT Jag posted:Turians probably think that a human that can't tell the difference between a male and female of their species is just as big of an idiot, because god, you just have to look at the crest, it's so obvious You humans are all racist!
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Dec 14, 2015 07:02
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I am the 80%! Well technically I'm also the 20%, because I played through all 3 games as both male and femshep. And really liked and enjoyed both - I know the consensus is that Femshep's performance blows dudeshep's away, but I thought both were pretty great. And I still think I enjoyed the first game best of them all, though I will admit I haven't played it in probably 5 or so years at this point. I just really dug the opportunities for exploration the game offered - yeah, all the "empty expanse" most other folks were bored stiff by, I couldn't get enough of. Anyway, pretty stoked that I can appreciate this Let's Play having experienced and enjoyed the game, as opposed to going in blind with DA:I. Looking forward to how you approach the game. Secretly kind of hoping you let Biotic Carth survive this game, because I never have. Ash, racist that she is, was at least interesting. And other guy was ... not. Hell, I can't even remember his name. Don't know if you're making decisions or calling for votes, but I'd like to see how the other half live when the time comes.
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Dec 14, 2015 07:34
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The whole Kaidan = Carth thing is horribly overblown. Carth is, well, if you've played KOTOR2 you've heard a spot-on imitation of him. Kaidan has the problem of standing under a heating lamp but his "I have tragic issues in my past" scenario is "and I dealt with them, how are you today Commander?" instead of [Carth looks like he has something to say] in the middle of a combat zone. also ME3 made a whole lot of people regret their choices in this game 
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Dec 14, 2015 07:36
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Love this game, and am enjoying this LP immensely. Question, though: have you already planned out the order you are doing the missions in? If not, do Therum last for the additional dialogue.
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Dec 14, 2015 07:42
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Kaidan's always been a bit forgettable, not the least reason for which is what happens to him in the battle on Eden Prime. Shepard has good survivability as any class during that battle, and Ashley's a tough soldiery girl with good armor, regeneration, and an assault rifle. Kaidan's only training is with a pistol and he gets knocked over by a stiff breeze. Until you get him his barrier and make sure that he keeps it on, and/or get him enough Electronics skill to have a decent level of shielding at all times, he spends every fight ragdolled against a piece of cover. Net-net was that when I first played ME1, I used Kaidan once and never again, and had a dim view of Sentinels from that point up until the later games styled Sentinels as the designated walking-tank class. I actually have a lot of fun playing a sentinel in ME3; if the rule for Vanguards is Always Be Charging, the rule for Sentinels is "I AM KROGAAAAN"
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Dec 14, 2015 07:46
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Psion posted:The whole Kaidan = Carth thing is horribly overblown. Carth is, well, if you've played KOTOR2 you've heard a spot-on imitation of him. Kaidan has the problem of standing under a heating lamp but his "I have tragic issues in my past" scenario is "and I dealt with them, how are you today Commander?" instead of [Carth looks like he has something to say] in the middle of a combat zone. Was he massively cooler than Ashley in that game? Please elaborate.
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Dec 14, 2015 07:54
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divedivedive posted:I am the 80%! Well technically I'm also the 20%, because I played through all 3 games as both male and femshep. And really liked and enjoyed both - I know the consensus is that Femshep's performance blows dudeshep's away, but I thought both were pretty great. And I still think I enjoyed the first game best of them all, though I will admit I haven't played it in probably 5 or so years at this point. I just really dug the opportunities for exploration the game offered - yeah, all the "empty expanse" most other folks were bored stiff by, I couldn't get enough of. ) I'll still have to go to a few of those places for the Matriarch writings because that's a quest that affects ME3, but I don't want to bother recording and editing them. I would also run out of things to say right drat quick. "Oh look here's another randomly generated mountain that's a pain in the rear end to drive over."I actually was planning on saving Kaiden, as Ashley is loving terrible in 3. Her outfit is awful, she never leaves her room or talks to your other squadmates like everyone else does. She even manages to be boring in Citadel DLC. Also you have better soldiers for soldiering if you need one (we're a vanguard, we won't  )Hankosha posted:Love this game, and am enjoying this LP immensely.
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Dec 14, 2015 08:37
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Bobfly posted:Was he massively cooler than Ashley in that game? Please elaborate. It's more that she became massively blander than she is in ME1, save for a couple of scenes you kind of have to go out of your way for.
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Dec 14, 2015 09:24
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Bobfly posted:Was he massively cooler than Ashley in that game? Please elaborate. Not really...? He becomes a romanceable option for Shepards of either gender in 3. I never went that route with him, however, so I don't know if his role as an LI for a male Shepard adds anything really new to his character. It certainly didn't add anything new for a female Shepard romance. Although it did allow me to play a hilarious dickmove as FemShep by romancing Kaidan in the first game, romancing Thane after he dumped her in 2, and then make them hospital buddies in 3 so they could trade stories about what an awful girlfriend I was to both of them. The only new thing I remember learning about Kaidan in ME3 was that he was Canadian. And that really didn't impress me all that much because Shepard themself is implied to be Canadian too, so it just felt like Kaidan was becoming too much of an "oh! me too!" character at that point. Ashely, on the other hand, has a bunch of really funny scenes with Shepard and Vega in 3 and really mellows the gently caress out after Mars. In the end, I'd actually say she's the stronger character of the two, Space Racism and all.
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Dec 14, 2015 09:30
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Kaidan is a functional, professional adult who has already dealt with his poo poo. The problem is he's in a genre that's about crazy melodrama, so a relatively professional and normal guy comes off as pretty boring, especially next to Ashley, who is also a professional and functional person but who has understandable flaws and issues that get at some of the major themes of the setting.
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Dec 14, 2015 09:34
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