PAX East 2013: Giant Bomb Panel - Part 02

@slashdance: So true. It's one of his best skills. He doesn't even lose his temper at the millionth question about "are games art?" or "How do I break into the biz?"

Really enjoyed watching this years PAX Panel. They were awesome.

CBM2013! (Certified! Breast Milk)

I'm not sure I understand you. You're saying the reason you disliked the ending is pretty much because allot of people die and there are implications to the universe, like the Mass Relays being destroyed. But then when you played the DLC you suddenly really like the ending? I mean, all those implications still exist based on the decision you made. What made you like that ending more then?

Personally, I never thought the Mass Effect series was about that. It was clear to me from the start that allot of people were going to die in an effort to stop the Reapers. The way Shepard behaves is what makes him the guy to stop the Reapers. The optimism you talk about is exactly why he is the one to do it, because he affects the people around him even though the situation is dire. I mean, even in the first game at least one of your squad members died. In the second game it was possible to save them all and most of your crew, but you could also lose all of them.

This was all done fighting one Reaper or one Reaper who controlled Collectors. It was pretty clear to me that if the Reapers would attack in full numbers, shit would go bad. I don't think there ever was a point in the series where it wasn't clear that there were going to be allot of casualties.

By the way, the way the internet uses 'plot holes' is really, really, really dumb. Essentially, if something isn't explained, they see it as a plot hole. In reality a plot hole is when something is impossible in the universe that is created. So people not knowing who the Star Child is, is very clearly not a plot hole as it makes sense in the universe. It just lacked the explanation that Leviathan gave.

I wonder how cliché question guy will follow up this panel next year. I seriously wonder if he even watches any of these videos or listens to the podcast.

Brad, stop talking so much.

You know what, Giant Bomb content makes me feel tingly too. I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE!

Prog Rock is one of my favorite genres.

My experience in looking for video production work is that I hear people say one needs experience in the field before they can get hired somewhere, which makes some sense, but how does one get experience in the field if no one will let you work due to lack of experience? It's this weird Catch-22.

Gotta love Vinny putting down the Souls elitists =)

Also Brads tough guy/approval/whatever it is face is really silly.

@theadmin: Welcome to PAAAAX

God Damn It Alex!

EDIT: Don't get me wrong.. I love Alex.. but... God Damn It Alex!

Hey "bro". Let's just agree that using the word female in this context is weird. It's like when you get a baby, and the nurse says "It's a beautiful baby female".

Case motherfucking closed.

Great panel, but came to a grinding halt during Q&A as usual.

Someone says something. Alex gives snarky, insincere response.

Someone asks something for the group. Alex answers for group snarkily and insincerely ("Does this keep you up at night?").

Does his sense of humor only have one gear?

Nah bro, case closed.

Oh, live questions. Here comes the cringe.

Oh god, Jeff just made a reference to MASE's 24 Hrs. to Live. I can't...

I'm breaking this case wide open.

It's still weird.

Fuck eSports.

This is exactly why I love Patrick.

Nope, I was right, you're weird. CASE CLOSED PEOPLE.

Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe fuck yourself. Don't worry, I just had to say that. You set me up so good for the Dignam comeback in The Departed.

But seriously, no, I don't think so. Saying female in that context is weird.

Everyone is so awkward when asking questions. Think of a question before speaking.

This Q&A was fucking hilarious.

I don't comment a whole lot on the site, but I have to say, the majority of the questions were abysmal.

I assume most of the people asking questions are dedicated GiantBomb fans, right? I'm sure they visit the site at least once a day, have watched more than one livestream and yadda yadda. So, how is it that most of these questions were so dry and seemingly unprepared?

There were a couple good ones, like the girl at the very end started a really good discussion, but wow guys, c'mon we can do better than that.

"Yeah, I have a question: What do you think Brad's Game of the Year should have been?"

UGH. CARAVELLA. HOW ARE YOU ALWAYS THE BEST?

@legion_: ...maybe you're the weird one?

Weeell, I find that weird. Really weird.

@antfoolish said:

I feel like we've discovered what it takes to make Patrick seem more endearing to the community; just pair him up with Alex all the time.

I can see how you'd arrive to that conclusion, but the shit storm behind Mass Effect 3's ending was the flash point of many feelings and fears surrounding Bioware after Dragon Age 2. A major reason why the ending received so much negativity was because the previous 90+ hours of the trilogy were one thing, and in the last ten minutes the game said what the fuck ever and tried to be Deus Ex.

Mass Effect was never high concept or philosophically minded (not to say Deus Ex in particular is, but it tried to be that from the start). It was a character driven romp across the galaxy that inspired awe and wonder at the different alien species and worlds we went to. There's this strange sense of optimism that runs through the series (mostly perpetuated by Commander Shepard) that's like, no matter how bad this gets we'll find a way through it.

Then the ending happens and it's oh, right, there is no way through it. You're going to lose all of your friends, some of your friends, or horrifically rewrite the biology of everything alive because you're totally justified in making that decision for everyone. Oh and in two of the three endings you die for some baseless sense of martyrdom because everything you love about the Mass Effect universe being on the brink of destruction wasn't nail-biting enough for the climax.

The lack of "clarity" (people usually just call them "plot holes") didn't help matters, either, as the endings all finished with the Relay Network getting blown up. Without relays, you can't travel to half the systems where your fleets came from, which meant they'd be stuck in the Sol system and die from starvation or petty wars over the few resources left. The lack of clarity isn't what bugged me, it was all the (fucking terrible) implications it made about the universe after I leave it.

After that I was pretty depressed because I had spent the previous five years loving this series. I'm a fan of Mass Effect in the way I used to laugh at people who loved Star Wars or Star Trek. It wasn't "just a game" for a lot of us, and the ending was a stab in the fucking heart from something we loved very much.

So yeah, I get where you're coming from, and I get where that guy was coming from as well. I've replayed the trilogy with all DLC from all games (ugh Pinnacle Station blows), and with all the DLC installed for ME3 (especially Citadel) the final game time for ME3 was 47h 56m and it was, in my estimation, the most satisfying conclusion I could've had for the trilogy. It's a shame I got the complete and proper experience a year later, and not on March 5th as I'm sure it would've been Game of All Years in that context. I guess what I'm trying to say with this paragraph is that for me the wound has healed and I've shaken off my initial depression about the ending, but part of me will always resent the fact that I had to experience that bullshit to start with.

Hope this long-winded bullshit widened your perspective on the matter.

I've got to be honest; I hadn't fully accepted Patrick as one of the crew until seeing this panel. Well done, Patrick. Some very well thought out, insightful answers.

Also, Alex really needs to tone it down some. His constant grabbing and shouting into the mic was really obnoxious. He even cut Jeff off at least once. Learn some restraint, bro.

Wow, the tone of the whole damn panel changed after that last question.

I wish Alex would stop trying hard.

But I didn't say "The female with a question", that's my point, and it's why I'm curious what all the fuss from these other dudes.

I said, " First female I've seen to ask a question on one of these and IMO she had the best one, good job ma'am!"

I see nothing weird about that sentence at all...

Edit: Well RPS seems to have great timing, here's a post from today without any use of the word girl, SHOCKING, SEXIST, DETACHED!

Maybe it's just me. I do certainly find a difference between a sentence like "The male/female protagonist", and a sentence like "The girl with a question". It just sounds so detatched and weird to say "The female with a question". It sounds like someone is studying us. Just saying.

I know this doesn't count for much, but given that I'm female, I can confidently say that it's not weird at all to hear or say "This game stars a female character," or "The male protagonist has this kind of attitude (as opposed to the female protagonist)," or "The female fanbase" or whatever.

It is, however, kinda weird seeing men have hangups over it. C'mon now, there's nothing wrong with referring to female gamers as female gamers. They are, after all, female gamers.

Ryan was unnecessarily harsh to the card question guy because he was jealous of his handsome looks.

Klepek's responses made me respect him a lot more. They were thoughtful and thorough. I hate how Ryan and Navarro are just constant dicks... Good job Patrick, Jeff, Vinny, Drew, Brad... as always annoyed by you Alex and Ryan... please learn when to keep your thoughts to yourselves.

Alex: "It was unforgettable."

I think you meant unforgivable.

Man, I really need to make it to a PAX one of these days.

Man, this was a great panel overall - a little uneven, sure, but it's a live event so you can't expect much more.

@viktorwithak:

When fans get on the mic at PAX it's always the most cringe-worthy affair. This Giant Bomb one is very tame compared to the Penny Arcade ones.

@butler: I want to have the sex to him

I played it when it came out, thought it was a great game. Didn't think the ending was bad per se, but it lacked clarity. I didn't fully understand what was going on. I also thought the three-way decision was poor.

Played Leviathan later on and finished the game again. Still think it's a great game, the ending is actually pretty good, but the three-now-four-way decision still is kinda lame.

I really think people disliked that ending more than anything because it wasn't clear what was going on. Leviathan cleared that up. I really enjoyed it, but some people, like the dude in this Q&A session, just won't rest until everyone hates the game as much as they do because they didn't understand what was going on.

The Q&A is always such a cringe-fest.

Like it or not, what comes out of Patrick's mouth screams passion. He is who he is, he's working on his weak spots, and will come back better as times goes on.

Man, some of those questions were pretty bad. I guess Q&A will always be super awkward with GB *sigh*. On a positive note, Alex was fucking hilarious in this part!

"I don't fucking care!" - Alex Navarro 2013

I wish Brad had his own mic, even though he probably wouldn't use it... Come on Brad! We want to hear what you have to say!

40:00 Oh my god, Jeff's a bee!

I like how that one guy acknowledged that he was the dude that got booed for asking an endurance run question, and then immediately proceeds to ask about getting into games journalism.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.