Feel free to knock that shit off

[trinityvixen]

The idea was, last night, to get to bed early, get loads of sleep, and wake up refreshed so that I could then spend the next night (tonight) not sleeping at all but playing Mass Effect 2 until either my eyeballs or my wrist gave out.

(Aside: OH MY GOD, IS THERE NO WAY TO EXPRESS THE PAIN OF CARPAL TUNNEL FROM PLAYING VIDEO GAMES TOO LONG WITHOUT IT SOUNDING DIRTY?)

Of course, my Statisitcs homework turned out to be hours long. He chopped three problems off because we hadn't gotten to the material he intended to cover in time, and I was still up until 3 am. Note to self: start homework earlier.

The best part of the not sleeping much is the part where I dreamed that I had been bitten by a bug like a cockroach. This was icky but manageable until the point I realized that the bug had been infected with a parasite that subsequently infected me. Dream-me was in hysterics about how there were now open sores on my body. These sores were holes into my tissue and every so often I could squeeze them to make the stuff coming out of them come out faster so they wouldn't swell and burst on their own (kind of like a pimple).

What was coming out of them? LADYBUGS. These gaping holes in my skin ejected LADYBUGS from my body. There are not words for the revulsion I felt as I watched the hole in my arm bunch together around a bulge when I pinched it and BUGS CAME OUT. LADYBUGS. THEY ARE NOT CUTE WHEN THEY ARE UNDER YOUR SKIN. I WILL NEVER RESCUE ANOTHER LADY BUG AGAIN.

Comments

[shell524.livejournal.com]

Watch something about Dali before sleeping?

[fairest.livejournal.com]

EWWWW.

Ladybugs proper don't bother me. However, when I was a teen, my house was swarmed by thousands of tiny beetles that looked like ladybugs. We couldn't ever entirely get rid of them. I still remember the "ping!" sound of their bodies hitting the lightbulb when they flew around my bedside lamp, and the smell of their dessicated bodies crumbling when I moved boxes in out-of-the-way storage spaces they'd lived and died in. UGH. UGH. UGH,

SO! I get wigged out by ladybugs until I've determined that they are ladybugs in truth rather than little beetle horrors from my past come chasing me down.

[oblvndrgn.livejournal.com]

Forget ladybugs, what class are you going to play?! That is the important question.

I was a Vanguard on the 360 the first time I played, and I've got it for PC this time. I'm considering downloading a save file that matches what I did as opposed to just starting anew. Not sure yet.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I have no idea where that came from. The idea of things under my skin is like the second least cool thing ever. (The first is being eaten alive, which explains why Aliens--which combines both awful things together--is so fucking scary.)

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

I forgot which class I played (I think it was the combat/biotics cross), but I'll probably just load that file.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Your dreams frighten me.

Also, I haven't thought ladybugs were cute since I had an infestation of them in high school. In large numbers, they stink.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

LADYBUGS ARE DEAD TO ME.

In all seriousness, I was so grossed out, I had to rub my arm when I woke up to be sure that it was intact. I still had that groggy half-minute of spiking fear that it was still going to be exuding bugs.

[fairest.livejournal.com]

THEY DO UGH UGH UGH.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

The first game, I was a Soldier. I wasn't at all sure of the game and until I saw more of the biotic/tech skills in practice, I wasn't going to rely on them. I wanted to be strong and to use weapons and to take hits well (since I'm lousy at video games and always take tons of damage).

After that, I think I was a Sentinel, which is a mistake because being half biotic, half tech really just made you less good at both. I then played just an Engineer and then just an Adept. (Yes, I played through the game that many times, and I might play through again just to get the last achievements for difficulty.)

As for what to play this time, I'm totally not sure. I could see myself being an Engineer right up front, since, generally speaking, I find them least useful and I'd get that out of the way. But I want the first play through to be fun, so maybe I'd be an Adept. Then again, the first play through last time as a Soldier managed to get me through the game. I haven't decided.

And I have NO idea what save to load.

[fairest.livejournal.com]

Oh, can you continue your game rather than starting over? I think I played all three pure primary classes. Hrm.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

How does the save loading work? Because I have four games at least. And I'm not at all sure whether I was good, bad, biotic, tech, what have you (to say nothing of who I killed off between Kaiden and the Chief or who I slept with) in any of them. I need to figure this out. Especially since I did all the side-quests with at least one character and I'm sure I've run into Cerberus but I can't remember how...

Can you change your appearance even if you load a save?

[fairest.livejournal.com]

I suspect I'm going with Biotic for my first playthrough. I really, really had fun with that specialty. Tech was fun, too, though I dunno if I ever finished my tech game. Hrm...should get to that one of these days.

I'm getting excited! :D

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

My dreams frighten me.

Bugs of any kind in large quantities are not awesome. Except for butterflies. They are just fun.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

See? It is exciting! THRILLING! The voice cast alone had me at hello.

I think I want to save Biotic for a harder level. Maybe I will go with Engineer.

sorry

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

I don't mean to sound mean but I could help but laugh =-þ Then again I keep wormwood in the house for just such reasons as your dream brought up ^_^

[oblvndrgn.livejournal.com]

Basically you can pseudo-continue your game if you have your saved files. When you start a new game in ME2 I think it asks you to point at your ME1 save directory and which file (I think it's right after the end of the game, ME let you do side quests).

Without spoiling anything (because I don't know it to spoil!) if you were level 40, you start at level 2 instead of 1, if you were level 41-59 you start at level 3, and if you were 60 you start at 4. Something like that. You start with more money if you had unlocked the Rich achievement, which I am pretty sure everyone did. You have the option to change your class if you want. My guess is that it tracks what you decided in some of the major quests for your 'followup' quest in this one. Like if you let that insect race queen survive or not.

The 3 'pure' classes seem similar, with a few new toys, of course. The Infiltrator gets an actual stealth ability, the Sentinel gets (I think) super defensive armor, and the Vanguard gets some ability that look like the Assassin's Rush spell from Fable 2. So the hybrids suck less since they at least have a unique ability each.

[oblvndrgn.livejournal.com]

Answered almost all this below but you can also change your appearance as well at the start. You cannot, however, change your gender. Heteronormative bias!

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Butterflies. *shudder* We went to a butterfly house when I was a kid. I did not like that AT ALL. Wings! Touching me! Ugh!

Re: sorry

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Does it ward off bad dreams? Is that it? Because I've had one too many fucked up dreams in my life. I think I'm allowed some superstition to help me with them, even if it's just a placebo.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Wait, you cannot change the gender of the character from the one you picked in Mass Effect, or you cannot be a woman at all in Mass Effect 2? I have to be honest: if I have to be female Shepard because I picked a female last time, I'll deal. (I have one dude character anyway, and I can always pick dude Shepard from a clean start in ME2).

If I don't have the option to pick genders in Mass Effect 2 even from a clean start, I might not play the game. For serious. I praised this game highly for the fact that it made gendering of the protagonist a non-issue (http://trinityvixen.livejournal.com/690555.html) by having Shepard be a character first, and a sex second. Removing that option diminishes the game for me because it becomes just another action rpg with a male lead and I can just shut up and take it.

Okay, I probably still will, but that sucks. It's like they're specifically saying "FUCK YOU" to any women who found that that aspect allowed them an easier way of getting involved with and concerned about their character's plight. It removes an almost nothing concession (so some voice actors have to record "she" and "he," big deal) towards equality in favor of the same-old, same-old. If there's only a male Shepard available, my disappointment will be MIGHTY.

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

This reminded me of The Mummy - what with all those scarab beetles that burrowed under the skin and made that weird dude go crazy....

[slothshaman.livejournal.com]

Well you've managed to twig onto one of my ultimate wiggy phobias. Hell, I've even had that same dream, with lots of different kinds of bugs. BUGS! GAH!!!!!

[oblvndrgn.livejournal.com]

Can't change the gender from what it was the last game if you load a file. Jennifer Hale is still fem-shephard.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I liked it very much when they were landing on my finger. It's when they'd swoop in at my head that I gave the involuntary dodge or two. Still, very pretty!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

This also occurred to me as well. Surprisingly, it did not make me feel better.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this isn't exactly my favorite phobia either. Ever see that episode of The X-Files where the kid tweaking on meth thinks cockroaches are burrowing into his arms? NIGHTMARES FOR A WEEK.

Re: sorry

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

Wormwood is good for killing things that might be living off you below the skin ^_^ Mostly used for worms (hence the name) but it works for come other bloodsuckers too.

As for stuff for dreams, there is always a dreamcatcher =-)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

::WHEW::

(winds down symphony of destruction)

Sorry about the rant. It's been a touchy subject in the past week. All hail Jennifer Hale! (She's in everything. I recognize her voice all over the damned place. Brutal Legend most recently.)

Interesting that you can change the physical appearance but not the gender, though. I guess with upgraded technology, they want to allow you to play more with the character creator but they have to draw the line somewhere. Being able to change your class sounds intriguing, too, though ultimately useless for me since I'll just play through almost all the classes...

Re: sorry

[viridian.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it's good for making you hallucinate that kind of shit while awake.

[oblvndrgn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Shephard, Ophelia, Samus Aran and Naomi Hunter are probably the biggest ones. But I looked her up on IMDB and this is my favorite listing:

EverQuest II (2004) (VG) (voice) .... Generic Racial Callouts

I imagine "Hey, Lizard-breath!" and "Knife ear!"

Re: sorry

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

Well yeah, if you have enough of it to the point of toxicity then you'll be seeing all sorts of stuff. Alcohol helps push that toxicity though.

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

I assume it has something to do with the mildly gendered relationship decisions from the first game affecting things in game 2, and so making it a little incoherent to change genders at this point.

Re: sorry

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

DO NOT WANT!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I think of her more from cartoons. I first recognized her voice in The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest. From there, it's just whenever she pops up, which is invariably everywhere.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

See this is where I get in trouble. I can't remember who I diddled or who I killed.

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA oh you're so cute, you think you'll be able to play this before, say, June?

Re: sorry

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

You win the internet.

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

So long as you're sure who you married!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I am not the marrying kind! I protest!