Mass Effect 2

There's tons of lore and backstory if you dig deep enough, which I love. But playing the first game, one thing has not yet been explained. Why do all of the aliens speak English? Is this ever touched upon in the canon? I suppose there must be some standard intergalactic language and maybe its translated into English for convenience, but I would expect a plot device of some sort if that were the case. They certainly delve deep enough into the history of intergalactic civilization that the question of language should have come up a long time ago.

Or maybe I just haven't gotten far enough yet. If so, please don't spoil ;)

Hmm only cases i have heard of that is with the Volus and the Hanar (erm, might have got their names wrong. the jellyfish and elephant aliens that tend to speak through queries)
 
Well, the jellyfish speak the same language, they just are very particular about how they refer to themselves and others. The elephants do as well but part of their language is subtle smells and body movements that aren't picked up by other species, so they add clarification to their monotone voice.

I also remember some cases of aliens saying "what's the Human expression, ah yes, <insert idiom>." But that's not a "Human" expression, it's an English one. And this seems to imply that the alien is making an effort to speak a language foreign to him but native to humans. Yet no matter where you go or who you speak to, everything is plain English. If there was some auto-translating device, the aliens wouldn't search for a "Human" expression....
 
I also remember some cases of aliens saying "what's the Human expression, ah yes, <insert idiom>." But that's not a "Human" expression, it's an English one. And this seems to imply that the alien is making an effort to speak a language foreign to him but native to humans. Yet no matter where you go or who you speak to, everything is plain English. If there was some auto-translating device, the aliens wouldn't search for a "Human" expression....

Expressions are a part of culture, not necessarily just language. Human culture has expressions referring to things that wouldn't exist elsewhere. On Earth now there are expressions unique to hemispheres or countries, even ones within the same language (America vs. Great Britain vs. Australia, etc.). That's not to say they couldn't exist elsewhere, but many very likely wouldn't be present in alien culture.

Even if the language was being auto-translated, the alien may still look for a culture reference to make the human feel more comfortable.
 
Arrival is a cocktease, but worth it

i want ME3 even more now.
 
Expressions are a part of culture, not necessarily just language. Human culture has expressions referring to things that wouldn't exist elsewhere. On Earth now there are expressions unique to hemispheres or countries, even ones within the same language (America vs. Great Britain vs. Australia, etc.). That's not to say they couldn't exist elsewhere, but many very likely wouldn't be present in alien culture.

Even if the language was being auto-translated, the alien may still look for a culture reference to make the human feel more comfortable.

*brain explodes*
 
Expressions are a part of culture, not necessarily just language. Human culture has expressions referring to things that wouldn't exist elsewhere. On Earth now there are expressions unique to hemispheres or countries, even ones within the same language (America vs. Great Britain vs. Australia, etc.). That's not to say they couldn't exist elsewhere, but many very likely wouldn't be present in alien culture.

Even if the language was being auto-translated, the alien may still look for a culture reference to make the human feel more comfortable.
True, and maybe that's supposed to be something that will change in the future, the existence of a unified human culture. As far as I can tell Earth is still very much multinational in the Mass Effect universe, but it would make sense that the Alliance, the face of humanity as a whole as far as space is concerned, is Anglo-centric, based on both canon and the current situation of the world.

*brain explodes*
We take our games seriously :p
 
Without going off into spoilers Arrival gives you a very good idea of how ME3 will begin. It's not my favorite DLC of the series but it certainly gets you excited for the new game.
 
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Well, the jellyfish speak the same language, they just are very particular about how they refer to themselves and others. The elephants do as well but part of their language is subtle smells and body movements that aren't picked up by other species, so they add clarification to their monotone voice.

I also remember some cases of aliens saying "what's the Human expression, ah yes, <insert idiom>." But that's not a "Human" expression, it's an English one. And this seems to imply that the alien is making an effort to speak a language foreign to him but native to humans. Yet no matter where you go or who you speak to, everything is plain English. If there was some auto-translating device, the aliens wouldn't search for a "Human" expression....

I always took it to be auto-translated. There's a couple parts where they mention things that do not translate very well. I think Tali says something about it at some point.

Plus if you look on the secret dossiers, it shows Tali updated her human language translator software for her suit.
 
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There's tons of lore and backstory if you dig deep enough, which I love. But playing the first game, one thing has not yet been explained. Why do all of the aliens speak English? Is this ever touched upon in the canon? I suppose there must be some standard intergalactic language and maybe its translated into English for convenience, but I would expect a plot device of some sort if that were the case. They certainly delve deep enough into the history of intergalactic civilization that the question of language should have come up a long time ago.

Or maybe I just haven't gotten far enough yet. If so, please don't spoil ;)

The fact that they all speak english was touched on in the book (yes, i read the books). In Mass Effect, the omni tools are like cellphone and they automatically translate any language into the users native language.
 
^ Yup.

Arrival was very good. It's good marketing by Bioware to get people wanting ME3 now.

It works well. :)
 
Protip.

Let the clock run out during Arrival.

awesome happens
 
Two days after BioWare announced a fourth Mass Effect novel, it has unveiled another transmedia spin-off of its successful sci-fi role-playing game series. Today, the Canadian developer, its owner Electronic Arts, and Japanese studio FUNimation announced that a Mass Effect anime feature film is in the works. International production company T.O Entertainment will co-produce the project, which will arrive on home video and digital distribution channels in summer 2012.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6307383.html

Not sure if want. I'm not a huge anime fan, but I will watch it when I find something interesting, so this one will definitely get at least one viewing.

EDIT: In rather better(IMO) news, ME3 details in Game Informer!

Mass Effect 3 will increase the RPG elements of ME2, with more intricate skill trees, and numerous upgrades to powers.

Weapons will be customisable enabling you to swap parts and alter the performance and appearance.

http://www.nowgamer.com/news/5514/mass-effect-3-first-details-go-live

:thumbup:
 
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Yup, gettin excited.
 
Isn't that just going back to ME1?
 
if they can find the right balance between ME1 and ME2 this will be the best game ever
 
Probably not entirely, but the community was pretty peeved when they took out weapons mods and the skill system, so I imagine that's most of the reason they're back.
Well, I guess they wanted more of a movie and action styled game where role playing was more about the character rather than the skills. That said, they're implimentation of the skills in ME1 had much to be desired..
 
If they do the RPG stuff right this time, it should be good. The RPG stuff in ME kind of sucked. Like the loot was just obnoxious. Why do you need loot in a sci-fi game anyways, it's not like a fantasy rpg where you can have enchantments and legendary items, and there was just sooo much loot too. More armor pieces and some of them being loot, that would be good, and sounds like the same will be done for weapons, I just hope that it's just parts because I don't want to see the item families returning (hmmm, do I want the Eviscerator VII or the Lacerator VIII, so much choice...)

And I guess ME1's skills were like it or hate it, personally I think ME2 did a far better job of it over the spreadsheet from 1.


I'm not bashing ME1, it will always be a great game, I just think that ME2 was a massive improvement in almost everything (especially animation)
 
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