David Hingtgen

Thanks a ton for the pics.

My point is that the rachni were the biggest threat ever seen (until the reapers)---even "good" characters on your team will argue for killing them, as will Admiral Hackett IIRC. (the council will bitch you out no matter what you do, ironically). Letting the rachni live is "not a smart thing" to many people, and isn't a clear-cut "good" choice. It's technically paragon, but it could so come back to bite you, and the entire galaxy, in the ass. Even in ME 2 there's a comment or two about how one of the worst things Cerberus ever did was help with the rachni rebirth project. But with the council---there's really no reason to let them die. Doing so is just cut-and-dry evil (or at the very least, very selfish).

Few airplanes have issues with airframe damage from reverse AFAIK---the KC-135A is one of them, and that's mainly because the original engine is just so utterly insanely loud---it's raw acoustic damage, not buffeting/exhaust battering it. When the sheer noise damages a military-grade frame, you know that's a loud engine... (when an engine is in reverse, that normally bypasses many silencing features, so an engine in reverse at 70% thottle is often louder than at full takeoff) I don't know if I've ever heard anything louder than a DC-9 in full reverse... (and I've heard Harriers hover) While many planes have a 60kt limitation for reverse (don't use it below that speed, for reasons of re-ingesting their exhaust gases), plenty of planes reverse all the time. See the DC-9 family, 727, and C-17. 757 can too, but it's VERY rare. Main reason the 757 (and other airliners) don't is due to likelihood of sucking up ramp people and baggage carts with their low-mounted engines, more than any engine operation limits. (and terminal/gate noise) Most airliners can go to a pretty high throttle setting in reverse, but I don't think any hit more than 95%. 70% is on the low end IIRC. 80-90 is probably the majority. As for speed of reversing---clamshell/buckets are the fastest, then petals, then target, and lastly sleeve. I think the main issue is one schizo mentioned---reversers simply aren't that effective. Many are as low as 10% of the equivalent forward-thrust rating. So you might need a 10:1 thrust ratio just to make it work at all, much less have good acceleration.

IIRC from the last time that group had a display, they're all just really good, modified Hasegawa kits.

Spoilers for the next big DLC, possibly, but seems likely:

You mean like THIS? http://img.moronail.net/img/1/0/2010.jpg

I only saw the movie once, but I think maybe the zap-field was above the water, and he got zapped before he hit the water. Either way, definitely zapped by beam/arc/ray of insta-death-zapping.

That wasn't water. More like an electric plasma-nanite field, which was shown previously to dissolve anything that touched it, IIRC.

So what's the story on him being alive still? I mean, he was VAPORIZED. He wasn't "shot in the chest and people just assumed he died off-screen".

I kinda like the collector armor on a FemShep, gives off a very Guyver II vibe. Though it'd be way better without the helmet... (and if you could select colors)

240 is a nice number, that's 20 squadrons. Or more like 18 squadrons (3 whole wings), with enough reserves for attrition.

Yeah, the F-22 has the ultimate argument of "it's in service, it works, it rocks". The F-35 is still "we hope".

I just want the ME1-style armor they have in the opening--it's already in the game even! (I think the one Liara/Ash/etc wears in the opening is the PC-only armor from ME 1) If you can't remove the helmet, Cerberus armor will be as pointless as the others.

Well, I'm going through ME 1 again to set up a female paragon Shep for importation. Annoyingly, I deleted disc 2 of ME 2 off the HDD to make room for ME 1---but it's not enough, I have to play off the disc, or delete ALL of ME 2. (If MS would just make a 40 or 60GB HDD available, I'd buy it in a second---but I won't pay big bucks for an HDD far larger than needed----I just need room for ME 2 and my DLC---but ME 2 is so big nothing else fits on the 20GB HDD) Man, missions go REALLY fast when you're level 60 on casual. 3 shots and they're down, and that's with a pistol... Then I'll probably do my paragon male Shep in ME 2 so I can get Tali, then hopefully there'll be some new armor/DLC for ME 2 to do another FemShep run.

You may also consider a 1/144 B-1B, that'd be very close in size to a 1/72 Flanker etc. Plus it still has swing-wings.

Yeah, but that's nothing compared to an asari that's a strong biotic even for an asari. mike---the Mako replacement seems very likely to be the first big (and free I think) DLC for ME 2.

Some people have said that what outfit they wear makes a difference. Anyways---August is way too long to wait for the action figures to come out. And they better offer Samara/Morinth in wave 2. eugi--As for the choice I guess I did think about that one for a bit, mainly as it was pretty obvious that could have decent repurcussions for ME 3, as well as affecting the outcome of the other choice you mentioned. In the end, I just went 'renegade', mainly so my "paragon" play through is as different as possible. I'm the type of player that plays more to the extremes, so I can see as much as possible of the game, rather than doing "what I really think", as otherwise each play/character would be fairly similar. A few exceptions of course, as if you go 100% renegade, that just eliminates whole characters/missions/options. My renegade Shep is like 85% renegade. Plus I have a standing rule for ME (based on ME 1, the novels, the ME 1 DLC, etc): I hate batarians, and like quarians. Regardless of how I'm playing, the batarians die, and the quarians (not just Tali) get help.

You know, I've been waiting for a HARD choice for a while. Always imagined it'd be "save your love interest, or the galaxy". Maybe they're waiting for ME 3 before having that. ME 1 had more/better choices IMHO. In ME 2, the only choice I really had to think about was on an N7 mission (the one with the missiles). In ME 1, the hardest/best choice they gave was the Rachni, IMHO. That one can really go either way. (the council choice is simply are you going to be good or evil, it's pretty clear-cut)

I seem to be the only person who ever picked Thane for something. My final party choices where they all survived:

Articulation is more along the lines of "how much you can bend/stress bits without it coming apart". He can rotate his thighs, elbows, and his shoulders (sorta). Ball joints non-existent. There's not TOO much he can do. Basically--arms in front of him, or to the side. He really can't crouch/walk like he does in the movie, he's just plain built far too vertically, and I found no way to alter his torso/spine/hip/leg alignment.

Oh, it's gotta be a new team---they can't write a ZILLION lines of dialogue and a ton of different quest variations to account for every possible death in ME 2. Though the fact that Tali seems very likely to die in ME 2 probably means she can't have that big a role in ME 3 despite her popularity with the fans (including me). (she just seems to die more often, comparing people's comments on the boards). I'm sure she'll show up somewhere in ME 3 if you load a save file where she lived, but I bet the "canon" story in ME 3 if you start from scratch, has just about everyone die but Shepard. Liara's really the only guaranteed constant IMHO. She doesn't die in ME 1 no matter what you do, she doesn't even come along on the mission in ME 2 and so can't die there. So she's probably gonna be in ME 3 and could have a huge, very important role in it as no one is going to have a save to import where she's dead. (it'd be really nice if she would be a party member again---Samara and Jack combined still couldn't replace her IMHO). Plus, being the only character from ME 1 that any Shep can romance, she'd fill the "romance across the whole trilogy" aspect best/easiest too (that has been mentioned a few times by the developers). Basic fact is, if a person CAN die in an ME game, then they can't have a huge/critical role in any sequel. At most a "big cameo", like Wrex/Ash/Kaiden do in ME 2. That kind of screws a lot of characters in ME 2 for ME 3.

Yeah, now I have to buy it. (well, the first issue's free with the collector's edition, so there's only what, 3 left to buy?) PS---I was really hoping she'd wear the comic outfit in ME 2. And come along as a party member. She better have it in ME 3.

Because it seems that it happens EVERY time, and that's why it's dangerous. It didn't with Liara, so I think she's going to be fine forever. I don't think they literally mean it happens with a certain maturity/age. More like when because there's no way to predict beforehand, until it happens. Also, I just read a good point on a site---an obvious omission: When ME 1 characters meet in ME 2, they almost never acknowledge it. (Shepard excluded). You'd think that if I bring Tali along when I meet Liara the first time, they might at least say "hi" to each other. Most of these people haven't seen each other in years it seems, yet the reunions go un-remarked upon.

It'll be a while until I get to it again. I'll just have to wait. (don't want it spoiled)

Oh, I thought you meant something different. Though I must have missed the pureblood part, I didn't remember that being part of the cause. However, we know it doesn't affect Liara, or it would have happened in ME 1. More thoughts: How did we miss this? http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/2/1/ Also, Yeoman Kelly could have been easily replaced by a blinking light. More comments heard on Illium: Blasto, the pissed-off Hanar: "This one will no longer take any more of your solid excrement".