haven't played fallout 4 yet, can't decide if I want to or not. and all voice actors get around, they have to earn a living somehow.
If I was a millionaire, I'd hire Kimberly brooks to probably officiate my wedding one day. Be awesome to be married but none other than the voice of Ashley williams herself.
I still haven't finished Fallout 3 or played Fallout New Vegas at all yet.
I at least own Fallout 3, but I lost interest every time I made it to Megaton, shortly after leaving the vault. I was going to give it another try, but it won't run on the version of Windows that I'm using.
I'm enjoying Wasteland 2 a lot more, anyway. I'm not sure what it is about Fallout 3, but that game - at least the little of it that I played - feels tedious and hard to get into. Not at all like Fallout 1 and 2.
Also, thought I'd make sure there's some Ash on the page, so I went looking and found this. Don't they know they're going to spill their coffee?:
I think maybe they wanted to focus on members of the squad who were either popular or new. Ash has never been popular, at least to judge by what I've read on BSN and elsewhere. A lot of people genuinely don't want her on the squad in ME3, and more than a few take the second chance to kill her off.
I wonder if at least some of the remaining creative team just didn't care for her that much, too. There is some good content in there, at the hospital, for example, and the Citadel conversation where you can restart the relationship. But other times it feels like she's only in there because they felt they "had" to put her in. It is correct that she doesn't mesh well on the Normandy at all. Very few real conversations with Shepard, very little interaction with the other crew members. The game touches on parts of her character, but seems at times as though the writers were incapable or unwilling to go very deeper.
Is it really that bad ?
Ive finally decided to run ME3 for all my characters and Ive done my Kaidan playthrough (its bearable as Renegade FemShep since he actually has some reasonable grounds to complain), but I already find its the last guy I would like to make Spectre (the poor guy straight out tells you he just wants to serve. He takes no role on the Normandy or with the refugies... I felt like i took him away from his biotic team because romance and it made me feel bad, good thing that shep was a renegade).
Im not sure how Ash can get less importance than he does. Does it mean she doesnt comment when you rescue Jacob's team, or play cards in the mess with James or interact when you click on her? (i think thats all Ive seen the VS do on the Normandy)?
Ash doesn't really say much on the Normandy. A few pieces of Zaeed style dialogue (click on her for an observation or two) after most missions, but few real conversations. One of the few actual conversations takes place the morning after she spends a night drinking and deals with her being non-functional from a hangover, which is cute except for the unfortunate fact that it happens during the quarian/geth missions, when the Normandy is in a war zone - so it feels out of character and has just given people who already don't like her another reason to criticize her. She really doesn't interact with the crew much, either, although if you play the missions so that you do the coup attempt before doing the Tuchanka bomb mission, she does have an intercom conversation with Tali - although doing the missions in that order makes no sense story wise.
Neither of the Virmire Survivors are all that popular with the broader fanbase, so it doesn't surprise me that Kaidan has little to say on the Normandy, too. I think I read somewhere that the "official" explanation for Ash is that there was a certain amount of allotted dialogue per character, and that hers got used up in other places, like on the Citadel. Not sure if it's true, but if it is, it had the unfortunate impact of turning my Shepard's LI over the course of three games into what often felt like a background character in the last half of the game.
I guess when I went into ME3, I was hoping Ash would play a role like she did in ME1, when she had all these great conversations after the major missions. In ME3, I was glad to have her on the squad again, but sometimes it didn't feel much like she was on the ship.
I see. I kinda feel in Kaidan's case that if not for him being Shep's LI then he can do more good off the Normady running the little team he assembled while on Earth like Jack does with her kids or Jacob with his scentists... does Ashley have a unit command of sort or is she the lone Spectre type when you pick her up after the Citade coup ?
Long story short: We have absolutely no idea what Ash did between ME 1 and ME 3.
I have my own head canon, but there's never any conversation with her that "officially" establishes what she did and how she came to be Spectre material. We know (from ME2) that she was on assignment on Horizon, looking into things from Anderson. But that's about it. We don't know which unit she was assigned to, if she commanded a unit, if she became special forces, etc. It's another element of ME3 that was somewhat frustrating, as far as Ash is concerned.
Someone in the Ash forums was writing a really great fan fiction about how Ash went into special forces training (a different special forces program than the "N" program) after Shepard's death, and I mostly adopted that as my own story of what happened. Unfortunately, I don't think he's writing it anymore, and I'm not sure he even bothers to visit the forums these days.
As for what Ash does if you don't taker her on the Normandy after the coup attempt - I think I read about that somewhere, but I've long since forgotten. I've never done it myself. I always took Ash along in my previous playthroughs, and probably I always will in any future ones.
Well thanks, Ill try it out and make my own story I guess. Maybe without explicit knowledge of what shes missing on from following shep around it will be easier.
- STET -Someone in the Ash forums was writing a really great fan fiction about how Ash went into special forces training (a different special forces program than the "N" program) after Shepard's death, and I mostly adopted that as my own story of what happened. Unfortunately, I don't think he's writing it anymore, and I'm not sure he even bothers to visit the forums these days.
As for what Ash does if you don't taker her on the Normandy after the coup attempt - I think I read about that somewhere, but I've long since forgotten. I've never done it myself. I always took Ash along in my previous playthroughs, and probably I always will in any future ones.
Speak and he shall appear!
I think for a while the consensus was that Ashley trained and joined a specialist unit (at least one that seems to have some airborne qualifications, given the S1 tag and the fact that the "half-wing" badge she wears is similar to the one used by the Canadian/American Pathfinder units). I think I walked away with the idea that Ashley joined some 'Pathfinder' (Bioware and I share a fascination for Pathfinder units, fitting given that its training is regarded as one of the most difficult and arduous to pass within the Canadian military) unit, with an emphasis on providing covert reconnaisance, with some Direct Action capability.
As to the status of fanfiction in question:
As to what happens to Ashley, if you don't bring her back onto the Normandy (you monster): She accepts the "role of commanding officer overseeing several specialized quick-response teams performing covert infantry operations". This sentence hints that somewhere along the line, she gained experience/expertise with covert, fast-response, operations.
EDIT: Most of Ashley's 'nice' dialogue occurs off the Normandy (i.e. on missions). Those are when we get see her 'trademark' personality and wit. Bioware's poor QA, ended up with some of her Normandy dialogue being bugged out.
BTW: May I recommend Made Nightwing of FF.Net for fiction related to Ashley (specifically between the games)? Some of the stories may be outdated, due to new information, but on the whole they are high-quality works. A bit too high-quality, if you ask me: Everytime he updates his stories, I get intimidated and end-up going back to the drawing board.
EDIT: Most of Ashley's 'nice' dialogue occurs off the Normandy (i.e. on missions). Those are when we get see her 'trademark' personality and wit. Bioware's poor QA, ended up with some of her Normandy dialogue being bugged out.
Ok. So with Kaidan I ended up not utilzing him much on missions because he tends to sound worst than Vega (which is fine if youre the New Guy but I dont need 2 of those). Its endearing if youre romancing him I guess ? But for the Shep that arent, Im considering not bringing him onboard anymore since it would let him achieve much more than sitting in the starboard room. I can imagine him doing plenty of useful spectre stuff.
Now Ash always got some good snark and no-nonsense banters in ME1. And I liked bringing her in contact with aliens to help her get more accustumed to them (thats how i see her character arc anyway). So is it worth having her onboard?
I dont want to have to backtrack on 20+ hours of gaming so Id just like a heads up to help me make my mind.
I'm biased since she's my favorite character. I always bring her on board, and take her on most missions for the last half of the game.
I suppose if I had to look at it more objectively... She doesn't talk much at all on the Normandy and rarely leaves the observation room (I think she ventures out into the ship itself, like, one time at most). In terms of on board conversation, there's not much there, especially if you're not romancing her.
Survivor is right - her mission dialogue tends to be good, though. Her Citadel conversations are also decent, albeit very focused around her family.
I also think she's a great asset to have for the missions. I give her a Revenant and then just let her go wild. There have been a few times where she actually saved me a reload by stopping me from dying. Most memorable is the time she took out a geth hunter that got the drop on me and was about to finish me off.
At the end of the day, I've never done a trilogy playthrough where Kaidan survives past Virmire, so I can't speak to how the quality of his content, on or off the Normandy, in ME3 compares to the quality of the content that is there for Ash.
Since you're not as heavily invested in her as I am, I think what it should ultimately come down to is who you feel is better suited for your needs in terms of the mission. Do you play a Shepard who already has biotic abilities but maybe needs some extra firepower on his/her squad? Then go with Ash. Or do you play a straightforward soldier who could use someone with a biotic/tech skills combo? If so, it might be better to have Kaidan around.
@caridounette
Arguments I would make, for choosing Ashley:
1. Story-wise: ME3 would see the 'conclusion' of Ashley's arc, in that she's finally able to shed her family's legacy and become a Spectre and an officer. It would allow Ashley to 'make-up' for not joining Shepard in ME2.
2. Gameplay: Ashley is a pure-damage dealer. Give her high-recoil, high-damage, automatic weapons (Revenant, Typhoon, Adas, Striker assault rifle) and let her rip. Her marksman power allows her to unleash a hailstorm of rounds. Her inferno grenades and concussive shot allows her to set-up and trigger fire-explosions, instantaneously and by herself. Her class weapon bonuses can make her a murder-machine on the battlefield. Ashley pairs well with tech-orientated squaddies (Combine her with EDI and you've got a versatile, killer couple)
Just beware that, following the last ever patch released for ME3, Ashley's Marksman skill is glitched. If you invest in it, it renders her more or less unable to function in combat. Since it was the "final" patch that screwed it up, it looks unlikely that Bioware will ever do anything to solve the problem.
You can work around it by not investing in Marksman (generally what I do now - she's still awesome at combat without it). As Survivor mentioned, he also came up with a mod that fixes that problem.
Thanks for the insight guys!
Im not too worried about damage output in combat since I usually play on normal difficulty. Im more about immersion i guess. As long as Ash doesnt duplicate James in missions dialogue/purpose it should be fine.
Just beware that, following the last ever patch released for ME3, Ashley's Marksman skill is glitched. If you invest in it, it renders her more or less unable to function in combat. Since it was the "final" patch that screwed it up, it looks unlikely that Bioware will ever do anything to solve the problem.
You can work around it by not investing in Marksman (generally what I do now - she's still awesome at combat without it). As Survivor mentioned, he also came up with a mod that fixes that problem.
PC users have at least three options as to how to fix it:
FYI: for the last two, these changes will override any previous modification to Ashley.
Is it just me or does ME3 Ash look like she had bad plastic surgery?
To be fair though: A lot of the differences (at least on the surface) are due to ME3's new lighting system and the additional gloss they added, which can throw off a lot of players. IF you actually compare the meshes against each other (UDK or Blender) that actual changes are quite minimal (some minor additional volume to her cheeks).
Ashley has some good dialogue during missions in the triogy
In ME1, she will say,"I dare you to spit over the side", on Therum
If you take Ashley and James on the Turian bomb mission, Ashley will say to James "Get you gameface on"
If you take Ashley on the Rachni mission she will say "c**kroach down"
When doing the mission to save Koris, Ashely will say to James "glad we aren't up against a Geth Armature" She says this a few moments after leaving the shuttle.
In ME3 she is very tough and deals out a lot of damage. Its a rarity that she is killed. I let her use a sniper rifle the whole time I had her on missions, and she was killing everything in sight. She's the best character using a sniper rifle. But I usually stick her with the Typhoon. I gave her the revenant one time and she did well with the weapon.
As was mentioned above. Her marksman is bugged so I don't put any points in it.
With regards to her looks in ME3. I would rather her hair stayed tied up in a bun like in ME1/2.
Its unfortunate that she can't be on the squad for the whole game. I just do the least amount of missions possible to have her back on the ship.
@themikefest
I've always wanted to save the downed Turian-ship mission for Ash (two-mission arc and whatnot), but I've never been able to justify delaying a rescue-request, from a role-playing POV (yes, I roleplay hard when playing ME3).
That being said, she does handle the Rachni-queen arc quite well.
Also: I would argue that she comes second, wrt to Javik, in terms of dialogue for the Thessia mission. Especially in her interactions with Liara. She manages to mix being both supportive and laying on sass.
To be fair though: A lot of the differences (at least on the surface) are due to ME3's new lighting system and the additional gloss they added, which can throw off a lot of players. IF you actually compare the meshes against each other (UDK or Blender) that actual changes are quite minimal (some minor additional volume to her cheeks).
IDK, minimal changes can make a lot of difference when it comes to facial features. In ME1 she has defined facial features that make her stand out from soldier fiddling with a console #37. In ME3 her face looks all puffed up making her nose look smaller in comparison. She has big, wide eyes in ME1 (one of her defining features if you ask me), In ME3 eyes are noticeably smaller, narrower and more deeply set. Her cheekbones aren't as high as they are in ME1, her chin is practically gone and her lips look like she's fresh out of botox injection procedure. All this paired with subtle general color darkening of ME3 make Ash barely recognizable.
Everyone looks a little different in ME3. I actually had to redo my Shepard's face. He looked normal in ME2, but in ME3 his face looked really bloated.
I mostly don't have issues with Ash's looks in ME3. I think her face looks fine. I don't mind seeing her hair down, and as a reminder, there were a fair number of Ash fans in the forums who were asking for that while ME3 was still in the works.
That said, I would probably have preferred it if she wore a normal Alliance uniform, and I do roll my eyes a bit at what they seem to have done with, her, uhm... cup size. Unfortunately, with ME2 onward, Bioware apparently decided that they needed to go in a cartoonish direction in terms of armor, uniforms and the way they portray female bodies. In that regard, I liked the feel of ME1 a lot more.
Nice to see this thread still going. I haven't played the games in over a year, but I stumbled upon this video again, which I have linked here before. It's just so awesome, and it reminds me of why I love the games, and Ash. Still goosebumps.
Hey folks, I haven't checked the forums lately, but I was looking for new info about ME Andromeda and I found an interesting piece of info on the possible name of the next main character in Mass Effect:
http://www.pcgamer.c...otagonist-name/
"Ryder" would be a reference to Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut in space. There is a ME:A screenshot that seems to show the face of one of the possible companions (not from the trailer), it's a female human soldier. I'll see if I can find it, it was posted by Bioware as early conceptual work, so nothing that could get me in trouble.
If you guys catch a break and want to read some Mass Effect stuff, check my account of the Citadel Coup 
Take care and have an awesome Christmas break!
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