Mass Effect 3 Message Board

#masseffect This is Digiko, dressd up as Garrus from the Mass Effect series. I had to drop his name in there because if I hadn't told you, you may have thought this was simply Garrus from the Mass Effect series. More »

Xbox 360 owners will find the Rebellion DLC pack available for download in Mass Effect 3 right now. The Rebellion pack is free to those who have activated their Online Pass and adds a new objective type, two new maps, and three new playable characters to the multiplayer side of BioWare's latest RPG.

PC and PS3 owners will have to wait for Rebellion. Chris Priestly, BioWare's community guy, says that it'll be available on those platforms "soon." We'll be sure to update as soon as BioWare reveals new details.

DeviantArt user Christine Schott is pretty good at designing Mass Effect hoodies. So good, it seems, that BioWare has decided to manufacture her designs and sell them to the public. Schott recently posted her designs, which reflect many of Mass Effect's most popular characters, and her work inspired BioWare to reach out with the offer.

Schott does note that her designs are likely "nowhere near the final product" and that BioWare will be redesigning them before selling a selection of them as a trial run. BioWare is compensating Schott for her work, though the details are still being "worked out." Frankly, we just want to know when we can get our Mordin on.

Sadly, this is not the intergalactic sequel to Brendan’s now-deceased column series. Much as we wanted to mix things up with a sassy Elcor sidekick, contractual issues left the whole thing stalled out on the launch pad. So instead, you’ll just have to settle for some particularly rebellious Mass Effect 3 multiplayer DLC. Specifically, the Vorcha are making their no-good, law-breaking debut by, er, joining your baddie-smashing squad and cooperating. In addition, Quarians and Ex-Cerberus add two new characters a piece to the fray, with two new maps, three weapons, and a stat-altering persistent gear slot rounding out the package. Best of all, unless you’re playing a used (read: impossible on PC) or scandalously acquired copy, it’s all free from the get-go.

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Alliance operatives, word has come down from command - we've got a new directive for this weekend's Mass Effect 3 combat initiatives. Operation Shieldwall commences this Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern Earth Time, but due to our failure with last week's Operation Silencer, expect to encounter more enemy Banshees out there.

The goal for Operation Shieldwall is to promote a total of 50,000 operatives across the Alliance for a Victory pack; promote three characters yourself and you'll be awarded a Commendation pack. Operation Shieldwall concludes on Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Earth Time.

#masseffect Outed earlier this month via Sony Hong Kong, Mass Effect 3's free Rebellion Pack adds two new maps and a slew of new characters to the game's multiplayer experience on May 29 for PC, Xbox 360 and North American PlayStation 3s, with the Euro PS3 version following a day after. More »

It's official. The "Rebellion Pack" multiplayer DLC for Mass Effect 3, including new "Firebase Jade" and "Firebase Goddess" environments, new Quarian, Vorcha, and Phoenix classes, and three new weapons, will be released next week. It was first pseudo-announced by Sony Hong Kong, but the listing was then pulled; today, EA finally confirmed the DLC.

If you'd like to join the Rebellion, you'll be able to do so May 29 on PC and Xbox Live worldwide and on PSN in North America; European PSN owners will be strategically deployed one day later. It's free for Online Pass owners (so if you don't have the Online Pass, it's $10 for that, and then the pack is free.)

#masseffect There comes a point in Mass Effect 3 where, your actions permitting, you get to see what Tali looks like under her mask. To say it's a crushing disappointment is to take the piss. More »

Mass Effect: Infiltrator - developed by the same team responsible for the mobile version of Dead Space - is now available for download in the Google Play store for $6.99.

In Mass Effect: Infiltrator, players take on the role of Cerberus defector Randall Ezno as he attempts to flee from a Cerberus base with intel for the Alliance. Progress in Mass Effect: Infiltrator affects your Galactic Readiness level in Mass Effect 3. And if you've been meaning to go back to the portable game, the latest update (version 1.0.3) added a new character and mission.

This may well be an example of the dread medium known as UnNews, but I post it purely because it at least allays fears that the forthcoming extended cut of Mass Effect 3, which fleshes out the game’s notoriously damp-squibby ending, will simply be a montage of still images with captions like ‘Garrus Vakarion retired to found the first inter-planetary branch of Gregg’s Pasties’ and ‘Tali discovered her mask had a hole in it all along and she had only 2.8 seconds left to live. She spent them playing Minesweeper.’

Instead, it transpires that many of Mass Effect’s voice cast have returned to the studio to record new lines of dialogue. One of these is Lance ‘Bishop’ Hendriksen, who offered perhaps the most succint yet accurate encapsulation of just why the internet lost its rag a couple of months ago.(more…)

#masseffect BioWare's extended ending sequences for Mass Effect 3, which are looking to give players a little more closure on the series, will feature lines from at least three of the franchise's main voice actors. More »

On top of providing "further clarity" to Mass Effect 3's ending, some more details regarding the upcoming "Extended Cut" DLC have come out. "Extended Cut" will include cameos from both Admiral Hackett, who is played by Lance Henricksen, and EDI, voiced by Tricia Helfer.

"I just did another session with them. They were saying there's a little bit of a problem with the abruptness of the ending," Hendriksen told G4 during a press junket for a new animated series called Tron: Uprising that he's involved in. "So we did a whole series of things to add to the end of the game, to live up to the quality they've been doing." Helfer, also part of the show, confirmed EDI would make an appearance.

The next DLC for Mass Effect 3 won't be the "Extended Cut" DLC planned for this summer, if a pulled listing on Sony's Hong Kong site is to be believed. The next piece of content will apparently be focused on multiplayer.

The Rebellion Multiplayer Expansion is a series of multiplayer maps and other goodies. "The Rebellion Multiplayer Expansion opens two new fronts against the Reapers: Firebase Jade's jungle reservoir and Firebase Goddess on Thessia," Kotaku reports. "In-game reinforcement packs now include three new weapons as well as equipment, consumables, and six new classes: Quarian Engineer and Infiltrator, Vorcha Soldier and Sentinel, Phoenix Adept and Vanguard." The listing has since been pulled from Sony's site, so we're unable to confirm the contents of the listing.

We've contacted EA and BioWare for comment and will update as they respond.

#masseffect While there were whispers of this earlier in the month, Sony's Hong Kong website has now officially lifted the lid on a new piece of Mass Effect 3 DLC. More »

#masseffect I got my idea to play the sci-fi epic Mass Effect 3 as a closeted male version of the lead character, Commander Shepard, before the game's creators said the third game in the three-game saga would finally include male same-sex romance. More »

At ease, soldiers. The brass is remarkably proud of each and every one of you for making Operation Exorcist such a rousing success, but unfortunately the completion of that mission doesn't directly translate to the end of our war against the Reapers, Cerberus and the Geth. Starting tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern Earth Time, Operation Silencer will require the full force of the Systems Alliance Military as we work towards our collective goal of exterminating three million banshees.

Now granted, that's two million more baddies than you were responsible for during Operation Exorcist, but now that PlayStation Division has been allowed into combat, we think you can handle the difference. Each individual squad will receive a Commendation Pack for every successful extraction from a Gold-level encounter, until Operation Silencer ends at 8 a.m Eastern Earth Time on Monday morning. Successful completion of the Alliance's universal goal results, as usual, in Victory Packs for all.

Speaking of PlayStation Division and Commendation Packs, we've got some good news for you prune-fingered dish washers: Now that KP duty is over and you're out in the field, HQ has dispatched Commendation Packs to compensate for the gear you couldn't earn during Operations Goliath and Raptor. Check the shop to redeem yours and get in shape before heading into the field this weekend.

–PRIORITY TRANSMISSION FROM ADMIRAL HACKETT–

Attention N7 forces on PS3: We have great news. After working closely with PlayStation we are now able to offer you the multiplayer Commendation Packs for Operation Goliath and Operation Raptor, which were held previously this year. As of now, PS3 users can log in and check out the in-game store for their Goliath and Raptor packs, free of charge.

Rally your squad, prepare your arsenal, and get ready to give the Reapers hell.

Cerberus defectors have verified key intel on Reaper Banshees to help provide us a vulnerability to exploit. Banshees are created from a specific kind of asari that cannot be replaced quickly, so we are diverting forces to focus on an all-out Banshee extermination effort.

This task is an onerous one, and many of you are right to dread contact with these particular foes, but rest assured that we are prepared to reinforce your battalion with reserves. The vorcha want in, and as soon as they complete combined-arms training with our technically-skilled personnel, we will let them loose.

It’s time to make our enemies scream.

Allied Goal: Kill 3,000,000 banshees Squad Goal: Survive until a full extraction on any map against any enemy on Gold difficulty.

Successful completion of the Allied goal will grant all players a Victory Pack.
Successful completion of the squad goal will grant all squadmates a Commendation Pack.

Welcome to the next N7 Weekend Operation, Operation SILENCER, beginning this Friday, May 11 at 6:00PM PST until Monday, May 14 at 5:00PM PST, and all of our N7 forces from the PS3 platform are welcomed and encouraged to participate. Please remember to set the “Upload Gameplay Feedback” setting to “On” in the online options to be able to participate in this N7 Operation.

*Note that due to a known issue, PS3 users will not see the promotion screen but they will be participating in Operation SILENCER and will be rewarded.

Keep up the pressure, troopers. As you can see, N7 efforts to date have been bringing the fight right to the front door of our enemy. Our enemy is fierce, but we’ve got the might of the entire galaxy on our side.

Good luck and see you on the battlefield.

#masseffect A scant two weeks after Mass Effect 3 launched, BioWare shared some stats about how the galaxy of multiplayer reaper-killing fared. Now, two months later, they're back with an update. More »

You'd think, if told there's an 84-minute documentary on the ending of Mass Effect 3, that it'd be the result of some crazed fans, crackpots spending most of that time exclaiming breathlessly into a cheap microphone. You would also be wrong, because this thing is great. More »

#masseffect Mass Effect 3 became the game in the sci-fi series where BioWare finally opened up the relationship possibilities for players wanting to romance a character of the same gender, with characters Esteban Cortez and Samantha Traynor only available for wooing if you played as a male or female Commander Shepard. More »

Publishing giant Electronic Arts has issued its financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2012 and fiscal 2012 as a whole, and wouldn't you know it, a year with a new Mass Effect game results in revenue totals that are much higher than years without Mass Effect games.

Looking at just the fourth quarter of 2012, EA's total net revenue stacked up at $1.36 billion, a 24 percent increase over the $1.09 billion reported at the end of this same period last year. Net revenue generated from digital sales nearly doubled year-over-year, $419 million in Q4 2012 as opposed to $211 million in Q4 2011 - a 98 percent increase.

Packaged good still made up the majority of the publisher's revenue, however, at $949 million, up from $879 in Q4 2011. Net income for the period was also up year-over-year, $400 million for the period ending on March 31, 2012 as compared with $151 million for the same period in 2011. Naturally, EA contributes its successful fourth quarter to the release of Mass Effect 3 and the continued popularity of FIFA 12.

Fiscal 2012 as a whole presents a slightly different story - while net revenue was up 15 percent year-over-year ($4.14 billion in fiscal 2012 vs. $3.58 billion in fiscal 2011), net income fell 263 percent, from $276 million in fiscal 2011 to just $76 million in fiscal 2012.

Looking forward to fiscal 2013, EA expects an approximate net revenue of $4.07 billion, $950 million of which it expects to earn during the first fiscal quarter of 2013, which ends on June 30, 2012.

#masseffect Some called me a sympathizer when I championed the rights of some video game fans who disliked a game's ending to have it changed. More »

Filed under: Features, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Online, RPGsThis is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. "I just want to see how this integrates with the single-player campaign," I thought, clicking on the multiplayer option in Mass Effect 3's main menu. I had no expectations of making it a habit. Like many people, when the multiplayer component was announced, I thought it sounded completely extraneous. Once I started playing, though, I fell for it, and have been putting more time into the multiplayer than the campaign.

Arguments about whether Mass Effect 3 is a role-playing game or not have existed since the first game's release. Regardless of which side you take in those, Mass Effect does include many components of role-playing games, two of which are essential to the multiplayer's success: world-building and character development mechanics. Of course, there are simple gameplay reasons to enjoy the co-operative gameplay of Mass Effect 3 online. The levels are well designed for dynamic changes within matches, and waves of enemies seem ideal for both difficulty and time. But those things aren't what make it special.

#masseffect BioWare has been running regular multiplayer bonus weekend events in Mass Effect 3 since March, but until now, PlayStation 3 owners had been unable to participate. An earlier statement from BioWare seemed to point the finger at an issue with approval on Sony's end, leaving players hanging. More »

Good news, PlayStation Division! Your sector has been relieved of KP duty and is now authorized to join Xbox Squadron and the PC Armada in battle during this weekend's "Operation Exorcist" initiative, as well as all future weekend-based N7 field operations.

Now, I'm not gonna lie, there's a good chance a whole hell of a lot of you will die while trying to take down 1,000,000 Cerberus Phantoms over the next three days, but remember that those deaths mean something, and that you're helping to save the entire damn galaxy. Well, unless you forget to set "Upload Gameplay Feedback" to "On." If that's not enabled, your deaths are totally meaningless.

PRIORITY TRANSMISSION TO ALLIANCE SOLDIERS OF THE PLAYSTATION NETWORK: REINFORCEMENTS ARE COMING…

From: Admiral Steven Hackett, Citadel Allied Command
Re: Operation EXORCIST
Confidentiality Classification: XA-PRIME
Distribution: N7 Forces Only

Soldiers of the Milky Way –

By now it is no secret that the Reaper War has had its share of logistical SNAFUs. It is to the galaxy’s credit that, when we put out the call for volunteers, we were answered by individuals of every species from Citadel, Traverse, Terminus space, and most significantly for this operation, the PlayStation Network. Unfortunately, the diversity of equipment sources meant our allies ran into hardware and software incompatibilities.

These brave men and women have been fighting beside you and, in doing so, have gone above and beyond normal duty. Because their units were not properly tracked, they fought without pay and sometimes without proper training, equipment, even rations. It is a mark of their character that these warriors of the PlayStation Network took the grave task set before us and stuck it out through sheer determination.

It is time to honor the service of the soldiers of the PlayStation Network. A volunteer task force has fabricated the necessary hardware and is rolling out compatibility software. When these installations are complete, these soldiers will benefit from being properly equipped and combat-ineffective troops will get off the bench. We’ll all have more comrades watching our backs, and we’re now watching theirs. Reinforcements are coming. Soldiers of the PlayStation Network: Welcome to the fight.

–Admiral Hackett

MAJOR MISSION UPDATE: Good news Spectres: Reinforcements are coming! Starting with Operation EXORCIST, N7 Weekend Challenges will extend to the PlayStation 3 platform. Operation EXORCIST begins today, April 27th at 6:00PM PST until April 30th at 5:00PM PST for all N7 Operators on the PlayStation Network. Please remember to set the “Upload Gameplay Feedback” setting to “On” in the online options to be able to participate in this N7 Operation.

When it comes to retrieving classified data, Cerberus has been beating the allied forces to the punch. New intelligence has tipped us off to one of their offensives, and it is time to give the N7 teams the payback they want.

Allied Goal: Kill 1,000,000 Cerberus Phantoms.
Squad Goal: Survive until extraction on any map and any enemy on Gold difficulty.

Successful completion of the Allied Goal will grant all players a Victory Pack.
 Successful completion of the squad goal awards a Commendation Pack to all squadmates.

Play Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer on GOLD difficulty with two different goals: The first goal will be the overall objective for this operation between all Mass Effect 3 multiplayer matches (under the GOLD difficulty), which is otherwise known as the “Allied Goal.” In the case of Operation EXORCIST, the “Allied Goal” is to have all players kill a combined total of 1,000,000 Cerberus Phantoms over the course of the maneuver.

For the “Squad Goal” during Operation EXORCIST (as with all operations moving forward), players must simply survive the enemy onslaught on GOLD difficulty until a safe extraction can be made. That’s 10 waves of the most tenacious of enemy forces you’ll have to stave off, so this is something all forces must prepare for.

If you’re unsure you’re ready and you’re curious if you require additional training, all N7 operators are welcomed (and encouraged) to analyze the troops at your command. To let you do that outside of the battlefield, we’ve created a brand new feature for the BioWare Social Network: the Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Manifest.

The Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Manifest will allow you to inspect your multiplayer avatars without having to boot up your copy of the game. In this new manifest, players will be able to view which characters, weapons, mods and consumables they’ve unlocked in MP, and what’s more, you’re able to compare your stats with your friends!

To use the Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Manifest, simply head to the BioWare Social Network and log in using your EA Origin Account you use to play Mass Effect 3. Once you’re logged in, you’ll be able to use the great features found in this new program to help you prepare for battle.

Good luck and see you on the battlefield.

Listen up soldiers, the System Alliance Military has a special mission for you this weekend. Top brass is aiming to eradicate 1,000,000 Cerberus Phantoms from the face of the galaxy between 6 p.m. Pacific on Friday, April 27 and 5 a.m. Pacific on Monday, April 30. While attempting to surmount this incredible feat, your unit will also be tasked with surviving until extraction from any map set to Gold Difficulty.

Upon successful completion of your squad's personal mission, each of you will be awarded a Commendation Pack for your service to your galaxy. Should the Alliance's overall goal be reached, every member of the System Alliance Military will be granted a Victory Pack. Now suit up, we've got a long weekend ahead of us.

Oh, except for you, PS3 Division. We still need you guys on KP duty, so this mission only applies to Xbox Squadron and the PC Armada.

BioWare has revealed their next multiplayer weekend promotion for Mass Effect 3. Operation Exorcist will run from this Friday 4/27 at 6pm PST through Monday 4/30 at 5am PST for Xbox 360 and PC players...

#watchthis No matter your opinions on the controversial ending to Mass Effect 3, if you're a fan of BioWare's sci-fi role-playing game series, you might dig this great original song, written and performed by singer Malukah. The background music is all from Mass Effect. More »

#masseffect I spend a lot of time with the quarian lately; she's become my favorite. Though if I'm being strictly honest, she's actually the third quarian. The first two long since reached the limits of their potential with me, and are now off fighting some other battles elsewhere in the galaxy. More »