So a little help in this thread please. I love me some 3rd person shooters and lately I'm bored. So I've borrowed this from a friend and I think I'm prepared to give an RPG some love.

1. i would recommend putting the leveling on manual because then you can form a crew to your needs.  But i have never tried it on auto so i dont know how well it works.
2. My first playthrough i just plowed through the main quest and it was amazing!  Then i went back and did the side quests on the second playthrough.  For you i would say stick to the main quest.
3. The loot in Mass Effect is insane.  You will constantly be getting better armor/weapons/upgrades and that is one of the great things about the game!

1. I had it on auto for my team-members and I hated the results. I suggest you dedicate points to unlock new powers or weapons that might be better. It's hard to say what though, I don't know what you are playing.
2. Honestly, no. A lot of them are just a waste of time (as in not very interesting or fun) but the cash + experience you get is a big plus. There are a few good ones.
3. Not really, but the UI is just crap. Dedicate yourself to an ammo upgrade and then just update when you get the next iteration. Once you have over 1 million credits you can buy the most badass guns from that turian in c-sec.

It's a great game once you get into it but it also has some major major flaws, you'll spend a lot of time saying "if only they did it like this it would have been so much better".

Unless you are a completionist (clearly you aren't...) then you don't want to do the side missions.  They were, for the most part, mind-numbingly boring and monotonous. 

Just try to have fun with it. Don't look at it as a Third Person Action game because it's not. Immerse your self in the game universe and just explore, explore, explore.

Definately change it to manual level up.  You'll need one party member who is maxed in Decryption and one member maxed in Electronics so you can aquire the artifacts you'll find, unlock storage containers, and repair your Mako effectively.  Then you'll want to focus at least some of your points on Shepard into Charm or Intimidate so you can unlock some of the more usefull dialogue options.  Plus you'll be able to choose which party members specialize in what weapons.  Auto-levelling won't handle that nearly as well as you will be able to and it only takes a few moments upon levelling anyways.

The only side-quest I really found worthwhile is the one that takes you to Earth's moon, because you unlock some specialization depending on what class you're playing.

You'll only have to worry about changing equipment often at the beginning of the game.  Later on upgrades become less frequent and I actually think I played through the entire Insane mode without ever finding better armor or weapons, which was pretty dissapointing.

1. Well leveling up should be left to manual, mainly because of the fact that you need some (As quickly as possible in fact) Intimidation/Charm for certain situations, Auto-levels just don't help anything.

2. Side Quests are generally for purposes of more money and experience. Only worth it in the later difficulties, and by that, I mean the hardest.

3. The upgrades happen fast only at the start, later on it becomes infrequent.

1. Your skill point distribution should be set to manual at all times. Yes, you are at a serious disadvantage and are missing out on some of the fun.
2. Side quests are a good way to prepare yourself for the more important encounters. You don't have to do all of them (though you might find yourself enjoying the game so much that you'll eventually want to), but completing a couple of them here and there is recommended.
3. As others have said, at the beginning of the game you will get a maelstrom of upgrades, but things definitely quiet down as you start hitting the mid-to-high levels.

Plug.

Okay, fine. I'll start leveling up my own team.

A quick note on the loot system in the game:

I'd say that Mass Effect's inventory system is among the most annoying aspects of a great game. It actually is pretty frustrating because you're constantly picking up new gear  that you'll want to compare against what you're wearing currently. Seeing how you almost always have three party members to contend with and equip, times that effort three ways. It can become really tedious, especially if you pause at the end of each battle and respec.

My personal advice? Find a particular piece of gear that you like. Personally, I like armor upgrades that allow my non-soldier characters to regenerate health, and most upgrades with high shields. I like Radioactive Rounds and some Rail Extenders. But that's just how I like to play the game; you might find something else that works for you. But I can almost guarantee that you'll find one kind of gear that really clicks with you, and what you'll want to do is look for the different levels of that particular type of upgrade/loot.

i got that game, i started playing, made my vista crash to blue screen after 3 minutes on initiating it EACH TIME, whenever i got a chance to play for more than that it went slow and the game seemed gay and halo-like and i didnt feel like im gonna like the story and by the last crash i stopped.

I just got the game myself.  This thread was hella helpful guys! :) 

Gewd luck Cheapoz!... maybe I'll post back with my personal results in a few months.

As TheKidNixon said, I would recommend anyone on their first playthrough (or second, or third...) to maximize their character's shield potential, regardless of class. Not only will this net you an achievement (if you play your cards right) later on in the game, but I'll be damned if I've encountered a better way to increase your survivability. Also, don't underestimate the importance of using enemy-specific rounds (Tungstens for synthetics, Shredders for organics, etc.); if you're having a tough time with an encounter (this will rarely happen, but still), grit your teeth and sift through your inventory to find that special ammo. It can make all the difference in a fight.

Never, ever let the computer auto-level on an rpg..


Ever

I agree with the dude who said find one type of ammo/upgrade that really clicks with you and use it. Amusingly, we used the same stuff, in Rad rounds/rail extenders in guns and health regen in armor. I have no idea if they are the best for each slot but I found out pretty quickly that health regen is incredibly useful and I liked seeing the enemies melt with the rad rounds. Upgrades do slow down in frequency, and you won't touch your guns again once you get your million credit guns (you can also get these from the Normandy requisitions officer in addition to the dude in C-SEC).

I'll just answer the second and third question since everyone pretty much said the same about the first one.

So first of all, no the side missions aren't really worth it unless you want and need the xp or you're an equipment whore. There are some interesting ones that you can do, but for the most part they're just "go there and kill them" missions with rooms that all somehow look the same. My suggestion here is to do at least some of them because it can never hurt to have a little extra xp and cash to keep your characters in tip-top shape. Which leads me to the next question: No you do not have to upgrade your equipment every 15 minutes throughout the game. In the beginning you will constantly find stuff that's better than what you have but later on that won't happen as much.

I got two tips for you, though. First one is that each store you visit sells licenses (usually at the bottom of the list), and you need these to enable you to purchase some of the equipment in the game. Can you make it through the game without buying the licenses? I'm pretty sure you can, but it'll be a whole lot easier if you are able to buy yourself some powerful gear.

The second tip is about the leveling: Don't spread yourself (or your team members) too thin. Vanguards for instance have a lot of skills that you can put points in. The problem is that when you try to put points in every skill they have, you will eventually end up with a character that isn't strong enough in any of them. Note that not all the classes have that problem, but you should definitely try to be aware of it. My best suggestion is that if you are using a class that has a lot of skills, then try focussing on the powers that fit your playstyle. With my Vanguard I went for--and maxed out--shotguns, lift and warp as quick as possible. I'm not saying that's how you have to do it, but that is what best fit my playstyle.

Oh and btw, I think you'll know this already, but keep in mind that if you want access to certain powers you will sometimes have no choice but to put some points into another power so you can unlock the one you really want. e.g. A vanguard needs to put a couple points into Pistols if he wants to unlock the Shotguns skill.

Ok I think that's quite enough text for you to read.. Hope you enjoy the game.

I will defend the side missions here a little bit. Mechanically, they're all basically the same, but if you have the patience to pay attention to some of the color text and the conversations you have, you can learn a couple interesting things.

The Cerberus missions are of course the most interesting, due to the fact that they're so important in ME2. Plus, you do get to go to the Moon.

GRARRRRRRRARRRARRRRRRRR!!!!

I got this game a week ago and im doing the same things you are except im leveling up my main dude on my own. As for side missions i only do the ones on the citidal if it requires me to go to another planet i skip it. Side missions give you exp and paragon or renegade points so i do them.

Oh you choose Vanguard at the start? I just hit "create quick male" or something.

Okay, I keep facing (and dying against) Benezia.