VMS transcript # 160410: Unintended encounters on Illium.

The Normandy 2 is a revolutionary ship in many ways, optimized by Cerberus and originally the Systems Alliance for long-term reconnaissance missions and stealth attacks.  It seems like every mission is on a whole new world another thousand light years away traveled in a moment through Mass Relays.  Metropolises, jungles, volanic environment, near-zero blizzards, scorching wastelands, the list goes on.  So it came to my surprise when a couple missions of interest were all located on one world- on a sprawling cityscape I had never heard of.  It lined up that two potential recruits were currently at Illium for different reasons and even Miranda promised her loyalty if I would resolve a chasm of her past down on planetside as well.  So going in, I knew I might in there for quite a stay, especially if recruiting either of these agents was anything like the challenge of recruiting Tali was.  It turns out, a surprisingly large majority of my time on Illium was actually spent on things not at all related to any of these missions.

"The perfect city experience, for those who can afford it." is how the asari guide that monitored my landing described Illium.  She led me another asari on the trading floors who had a message for me.  I was briefly taken aback when an outside force seemed to possess her as she talked.  It turned out be the Rachni transmitting through her- a species, labeled as evil, which I spared from full extinction on Noveria some years ago.  "The galaxy isn't ready for the return of the Rachni race", said the asari when pressed for their new location.  It was a decision that I made that came back to serve me apparently as they vowed their support for my cause one day.

Another decision from a past life (literally) reemerged at the surface when I ran into Gianna Parasini, a intern on Noveria whom I helped put the corrupt Research Director behind bars with.  It was originally my choice to let the Director slide (at a high profit to me) versus conducting a fetch quests to gather the necessary evidence to convict him.  I also talked the Director down from killing himself and Gianna once exposed, and so it was an unique thing to see a face that wouldn't have been there if I had made just another easy decision.  The conversation and short side quest we had, had no bearing on any mission of mine, but essentially, it was good to see her again.

Yet ANOTHER face from a past life emerged at the bar in the form of a hopeless fanboy of mine, Conrad Verner.  He was so enamored with the Spectre lifestyle back on the Citadel, the moment I bared even a little outside of my normal fan service, it went to his head modifying his actions drastically.  He said I taught him to "roam the galaxy and truly be extreme".  I very nearly shot him in the foot.  But at the end of the day, again, it was good to see him.  

[Controller: Weird how the previous system remains so tied to this one.  Catching up with "old friends"?]

Illium

VMS transcript # 150410: Finding Tali.

Bringing Tali'Zorah nar Rayya turned out to bearder than we expected to be; partially because neither our ship nor armor could stand up to the sun's blasting intensity, the geth didn't care to listen to why we had decided to drop by, and I just don't understand how these damn Quarians work sometimes.

We found a way to land on Haestrom but found ourselves clutching to the corners and shade constantly as our shields would repower themselves up.  Between that and sustaining geth drop ships and sniper fire, well, we had our hands full.

When we landed and dropped out the ship, we met a drop ship right away and runned-and-gunned our way through to find a dead Quarian guard clutching a walkie-talkie.  We identified ourselves, asking to be updated and provide assistance.  The Quarian Commander reported Tali being alive still but was nebulous about why they were there in the first place (which I didn't like) and that they were running out of time.  Things got worse from there.

A drop ship bombing run barricaded our way into where Tali was holding up and also deployed geth utilizing cloaking technology which I had not seen before (their shielding was their only tell).  Now having to focus on demolition, we worked our way around the base to find the necessary material to blast our way through.  We ended up stumbling onto one of Tali's workstations, finding a VMS from Tali about how the star was dying too quickly to be natural.  We encountered ambush after ambush in procuring the explosives necessary gain access.

Finally exploding the barricade, we reached a control room in ruins, littered with geth technology (much of which we were able to salvage and sell later on, might I add).  We found a communique to reach Tali with, who understandably was surprised to hear my voice again.  Unable to use our ship, the Normandy, to blow our way to her location (she warned the entire aged structures would collapse under heavy ship fire) we were on foot again to recover her and her research.  The enemies were much tougher on this run.  For the first time I remember somehow dreaming that I had blacked out on the middle of the field after sustaining too much fire but then snapping out of it back in the control room.. 

A geth Colossus presented a unique challenge as I met up with a badly wounded Quarian commander to discuss how to take it down.  A synthetic with massive health and self-repair capability, I talked the guard down from throwing his life away by continuing to flight and focused on closing the distance between the Colossus and I.  By clearing out the geth soldiers and sneaking closer, we were able to inflict massive amounts of damage fast enough while staying alive to destroy it.  Finally reaching Tali, I saw many dead Quarians about indicating the extreme cost of the research they were conducting on the dying star.  As we made our escape, it  was very satisfying to see the commander survive and bless Tali when she announced that she had joined my team.

(note: this entry was the first to be recorded by real time as opposed to by reflection.  As you can see the effects and the details of the writing are very different)

VMS transcript # 140410: Tali's Pilgramage.

Quarians are a pretty unique species.  They're the most brilliant engineers in the universe and this ultimately was a curse as they create the geth- a species that evicted them from their home as well as any respect from other sentient races.

Most Quarians now live aboard the Migrant Fleet, a flotilla of 50 thousand vessels.  Since resources are very scarce nowadays for them, every quarian undergoes a rite of passage Pilgramage, leaving the flotilla and not returning until they've found something of value to bring back to their people.  This is where I met Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, while she was on her's and I was on mine.  She didn't bring back a sustainable source of food to the Fleet, but she helped me destroy Saren, the most dangerous man in the universe at the time. I heard she passed the Pilgrimage and earned her Adult name.

Now as Tali'Zorah vas Neema, my team of enigmas is going after her services once again.  Tali is currently on a classified assignment for the Migrant Fleet Advisory Board on Haestrom.  I have no idea what the hell she's doing there.  Haestrom is A. located in a system whose sun has reddened and is about to explode/expand into a red giant and B. is deep within geth-controlled space.  Her hacking skills better have doubled for the effort we're putting into this.

- Shepard

Tali on the left

A Paragon or Renegade?

In the Mass Effect 2 system, as has been discussed ad nauseam, Controllers such as myself make the decisions for success and survival for Commander Shepard and his crew.  The path to these outcomes, however, the "kind" of decisions made, is defined by how you interact with other beings as you move along.

Similar to life outside the ME 2 system, "positive" and "negative" decisions do not weigh onto a single scale; a good action doesn't "cancel out" a bad one and a reputation built on fear or on generosity will not be significantly altered by one defection.  The implication of this, according to the system documentation site, masseffect.wikia.com, therefore is that there "is no gameplay-driven motivation to avoid a particular type of action".  The choice to intimidate or accommodate more often than the other leads to unlocked decisions that can lead one further down the path.  For example, if one commonly threatens or forces their way in conversation, they might be presented with more aggressive physical actions such as kicking a character through a window to his doom.  Or one that offers genuinely helpful advice or extends compassion towards difficult circumstances may have the opportunity to step in and save a character from death by quickly administering medigel.  

It's worth adding that the Paragon or Renegade decisions that need to be made occasionally feel forced and draw the character out of the System temporarily.  I mean, who exactly stops halfway through a mission to encourage a confused asari to pursue a romantic relationship, and presumably kids, with a genetically diseased krogan?  See the following developed by a group of system analysts for a unique look at this topic: http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14235013/mass-effect-2/videos/ignoriginal_nastynate2_030510.html


 - Controller 22789JK7

 Renegade facial scarring in ME 2

Most boring game ever?

Yesterday, I was able to log about 2 - 3 hours of play into the Mass Effect 2 system.  It was one of the more boring times I've had with a game in recent memory.  I spent the time traversing my own ship trying to tease out research upgrades out of my crewmates Miranda and Jacob (which I failed at). I spent time recovering some crates from some robots.  Heck, I spent fuel traversing the galaxy to get two low-level engineers a more efficient engine piece they wouldn't have to "check as often".  Afterwards, I was playing "Skillian 5" poker with them for a few measly credits.  But most (least?) of all, I spent much of my time hovering in orbit at various planets, scanning their hides for various mineable minerals.  Talk about a rush!  Talk about in-depth character development!

Why did I do this?  I would love to say that I don't know or that I was forced to in order to advance the storyline but alas, I was not.  You might ask where then, precisely, was the motivation to carry out such tasks.

It's not too hard of a question to answer actually.  First, I am so in love with the ME systems that I am motivated to extract as much as is possible from the experience (including Iridium deposits :) ) even if not all of the experiences are gut-wrenching or thought-provoking.  It is only new once, I want it to last as long as it can with as many experiences as possible.  Indeed, I was pausing to stop in various locations in-game so I could listen to the full radio advertisement that was bring broadcasted above.  Imagine a learning system that had students wringing it out like a wet towel.  How could such a system be designed?  What huge effect could it have and what contrast would it have to most of learning systems today?

Second, I am one to try and master the experience and in systems such us these, that often requires a penchant for fetch quests, long conversations, needless transactions, essentially, delayed gratification.  So I do all that for experience points, unlocked conversation options, ship and weapon upgrades, etc etc.  Because at the end of the day, I want to maximize my potential in the system, totally destroy anything that stands in my way, find the most powerful pieces of whatever that's out there.  

So when you see me scanning for platinum that will allow me to construct a faster scanner, don't laugh.  Instead, think of a student as compelled to squeeze every single drop out of chemistry lab or their creative WWII project.

- Controller 22789JK7

(Killer scanner on planet Patseyev)

VMS transcript # 100310: Commander Shepard

I had a team.  They were taken away from me.  Heard most of them got stripped of their life-earned priviledges, slung back behind the red tape again into administrative governmental roles or political idols for their people.  Then life was taken away from me.  

Looking back on it, I didn't need it back, I finished what I was made to do.  But they needed my life again, I guess, new impending threat, new doom.  I'm back, siezing obedience as the most influential most human in the galaxy right now; great.  This time, on the behalf of the Zealots for Humanity Association; great.  So far, these guys seem to be playing for the greater good, but it doesn't stop any and all non-human from being wary when interacting with me, definitely including my new teammates.  Not that I give a damn whether they like me or not, but if we're heading into hell for a suicide mission, I need to know I'm giving my life for the best chance of success, and for that, I need loyalty and trust, not a bunch of androids.

I've started talking to some of these guys while in transit.  The frittering scientist Moldus, the genetically "enhanced" Miranda, heck, I even spent 20 credits the other day for a bottle of brandy to give to the old doctor.  I guess the reason I'm doing it is because I'm started to see the value of exploring these guys a bit.  I feel they're precise, but limited in combat- I don't know, I just feel we haven't harnessed all of their abilities yet.  Maybe they don't trust me or maybe I haven't earned their loyalty.  I feel confident that like Ender and his team in the battleroom, once I have earned their loyalty our range of attacks, our flexibility, and our resilience will increase.  

I know, and they most assuredly know, that I can and will lead them to victory if victory is possible.  That said, these conversations are making this experience better worth living even if it's not yielding weapons, credits, or tangible information on these bastard Collectors.  That's it for now, I think we've reached the Citadel..

(This Controller has discovered that certain teammate abilities are indeed unaccessible until they are fully loyal to Shepard.  There are no specifics to how this loyalty may be attained.)

A continuation from yesterday's entry.

The previous entry points to a powerful example of how a virtual identity can affect the “real” one.  It offers the insight that if a System is designed well to draw a real world identity in- that respective identity can affect real world choices and conscience. 

This extends to an educational foreground as well.  Imagine a student’s moral code, self-esteem, and motivation for success being transferred into the virtual identity of a scientist in a laboratory; where the actions as the scientist significantly affect these areas in the “real” student.  A high transfer rate to the scientist identity may occur if the System engages the user in similar ways that the Mass Effect System does for me.  

It is not unreasonable to extend then that if the “real” identity is deeply affected by the virtual one, the amount of learning from that experience will be increased.  Therefore, the key appears to be, designing Systems that tie students to virtual identities.  It’s worth finally adding that, as in the example of the scientist identity, virtual identities are not and should not be constrained to the development of “edutainment”.  As J.P. Gee might support, the medium of virtual Systems is just one possible path to developing meaningful virtual identities in students.    

- Controller 22789JK7

 

(Ladies discussing the idiocy of a tic-tac-toe trivia game)