BioWare Uses Stock Photo for Tali in Mass Effect 3

[Elamdri]

I'm not going to get enraged about this, but it all comes off as somewhat suspicious. I just can't tell if it was intentionally done or laziness.

Spoiler: This one bugs me really, it was likely done intentionally though

...I don't get why you're upset. It's a PROMO for Mass Effect 3 during the Walking Dead. It was clearly done intentionally to say "Hey guys who like the Walking Dead, here is that image with a Reaper and Shepard."

 

[ajemas]

Is this really so horrible? If it's simply one photograph with an incredibly short amount of screen time, I don't think that it's economical or reasonable to spend a lot of effort on creating an original picture.
By the way, it's absolutely staggering that the fans were able to figure this out this quickly, let alone at all. Maybe it's just because I have a horrible memory, but it seems insane that they could remember the face of one stock photo. I've already forgotten what she looks like in the time it took to type this!

 

[sargeant15]

oh- my - god.

someone photoshopped. BIG WHOOP. I photoshopped a stock photo once. Didn't pay for it neither. jokes on somebody.

The point remains that tali is totally the one i wanted to tag in ME1. Photoshopped photo or not-- either version works for me if this is an online alien dating site shepard found the photo on. I didn't do the ME2 thing-- i heard you could tag her there. I won't bother with ME, despite how much I liked the first one, because I just really don't want to install origen. even if it means I CAN tag me some tali tail.

This is a perfect example of people on the INTARNETS needing to get out of their houses. The fury and rage directed at video game companies by all these manchildren is really quite embarrassing.

The fact that you're worked up over people getting worked up is deliciously ironic.

 

[IronicBeet]

Let me explain how this all works to you guys.

1) Something, anything, in a Bioware game is revealed to the public.

2) Shitstorm rages for weeks.

3) Between 95 and 99% of this is a bunch of crybabies wailing about anything they possibly can owing to a deeply unfulfilling life at home. 1 to 5% of this are genuinely disappointed fans whose hopes have been hurt in some small way important enough to them to make a difference.

4) Genuine disappointments are assimilated into the mob as "hard evidence" Bioware is turning its back on their fanbase.

3) Meanwhile, almost everyone continues playing in ignorance of the outside turmoil.

If I was a huge fan of Halo and in Halo 4 they revealed Master Chief's face, and it was just in a photo taken off of a stock image site, I would be pissed. People have been wondering what Tali looks like since ME1, and for Bioware to just take a stock picture of a woman, lazily photoshop two fingers off of her hand, and make her eyes white, that's just lazy. It's lazy and it's a slap in the face to anyone who liked Tali as a character. It's shit like this that makes me glad I didn't bother buying the game, Bioware doesn't deserve my money if they're going to be a bunch of lazy shits.

 

[arnoldthebird]

I preferred Tali with her mask, I had always anticipated that her revealing her face would be under whelming. BioWare dug themselves into a corner with that one

 

[Thaliur]

I'm not going to get enraged about this, but it all comes off as somewhat suspicious. I just can't tell if it was intentionally done or laziness.

Spoiler: This one bugs me really, it was likely done intentionally though

Actually, I really lke the images you used as an example. I agree it was most likely intentional, and since I like both IPs, it's OK for me. A part of me wishes this (both images at once) were a poster...


As for the stock images:
It doesn't worry me too much that Bioware uses them. Pretty much every company does, and at least they altered them to fit the game. It's their universe, they can decide how species look, and from what little was visible of her face through the visor (eyes and nose mostly), that's pretty much how I would have imagined her (without the skin markings, though).

What really bother me, though, is the fact that apparently there are people on the Bioware forums that actually have the time and motivation to sift through the internet searching for pictures, based on (hopefully, at least) a vague feeling of familiarity. If I had done this whenever something in a game seemed like I saw it before, I'd be unemployed, without any finished education, and probably still looking for some wall markings I saw in Battlezone 2.

 

[ablac]

To use a stock image rather than make an origanal image is simple laziness. I wouldnt be more annoyed if the image wasnt meant to mean something but it clearly is and to treat it with such apathy is insulting as I have been invested in these games and the character. Maybe they were stretched thin by SWTOR or they had a deadline to meet and this was a time saver but I still dont like it. Plus if the leaked ending is correct then the choices are very similar to Deus Ex which I hope is an accident though to not notice this and fix it before it was implemented seems difficult considering hwo well regarded deus ex is. I trust bioware but this doensnt feel right. Oh and OP can you not be so aggressive to insinuate that any criticism is just entitled whining. Bioware is a big boy and doesnt need your insults to defend itself

 

[Reshkar]

They shouldn't have revealed her face at all. Because whatever she may have looked like, 99% of the fan-base would have disagreed, due to their own fantasy. It was the charm of Tali(quarian in general), the unknown.

As for the picture itself, I don't know what to say. You could always see she had human face traits(to a certain degree of course) through the mask. But that picture was honestly just sheer laziness. She could at least looked a bit more alien-ish.

Spoiler: This could have been more fitting, I think.

 

[Loethlin]

You know what I'm upset about with that picture?
The terrible amputation job they did on her hand and the lens flare. Original stock photo had no lens flare. WHY did they put in the lens flare this isn't JJ Abrams's movie ffs.
Other than that, eh, it's acceptable for me. She looks similar to her voice actor. I thought it was her at first, actually. The shiny sun behind her helps with concealing that. But the more I looked at it the more familiar it seemed and I found this very picture on my HD after some searching. This induced a massive facepalm.
As for the way quarians look now. Eh, I read fanfiction. At least her skin isn't purple. I'm not bothered.

I'm really bummed about Winter on Mars wallpaper I got at the end, however.
I had this wallpaper on my very desktop for a long, long time, both original and shooped with awesomeface. This made me really angry. It did invoke a sense of familiarity, but dammit, that's just lazy.
I'd rather it had the awesomeface shoop in ME3. Would match Buzz Aldrin's voiceover.
Because Buzz Aldrin is an old bag of hater punching awesomeness all on his very own.

 

[Strazdas]

all i can say is.... free advertising!
the desktop background i had since 2006 is now ME ending, awesome.
at least they bothered to play with colouration, making ME one look better.

P.S. i know advertising brings money but seriuosly? this for capcha?

 

[Li Mu]

RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEE!

If this is such a game breaker for you guys then return your game, ask for your money back and never play it again.
You wont do that? I thought not.

You guys are as bad as all the WoW players who rage EVERY. SINGLE. PATCH. UPDATE.
Usually with, "Blizz, you have ruined WoW, I am quitting and never coming back".
And these people have been saying it since Vanilla and are still playing.

As has been said before, BioWare were doomed no matter what they did. People would find something to rage over. "Sheppard doesn't fire his gun the way he's supposed to! BIOWARE HAS BETRAYED US ALL!!!!11"

My advice for all of you who are currently in tears is this;
Dry your eyes and take several deep breaths. 10 should be enough although go to 20 if you're still having trouble calming down.
Go outside for an hour or two and try to relax. Listen to the birds, look at the trees and just be happy that you are alive in this world.
Then go back inside and play ME3 and enjoy it for the great game that it is.

All this anger is not good for your health.

 

[BaronIveagh]

"Statements like the above make it hard to understand exactly why people are upset. According to some, BioWare is lazy for using an image service instead of crafting the image from scratch, while others seem to use this as evidence for something else they didn't care for, like the writing. Could have BioWare have used a custom image? Yes. Does using a stock image diminish your experience of the game? No."


Really, Greg? Really? Blame the fans and claim that one of the biggest reveals in the game being done by someone with very little apparent talent with photoshop in a few min with a stock photo? And that's alright because it has no effect on your game experience?

 

[Erttheking]

As someone who really likes Tali... I don't really mind this. To be fair I always pictured her as a bit of a space elf and as someone pointed out on a thread way back when, this is a good way of preserving the veil of mystery around her while giving us and idea of what she looks like. True it's far from perfect but frankly I can live with it.

 

[th155]

the fact that you need to pay ~870 dollar [http://kotaku.com/5888816/buying-all-of-mass-effect-3s-dlc-will-cost-you-870] if you want to really get the complete game.

Okay, i know that this thread is both 4 pages long and that was a very minor part of your argument, but SERIOUSLY?

Does your complete games come with a figurine, toys (whose bonus can be earned after one match in multiplayer, in game), an xbox controller, a headset, a mousepad, a messenger bag, (whatever that is) an iPhone case (which you should already have), and a KB/M? Those things take up 100% (well, 80%) of that figure.

And really, would you count those part of the "game"? Yes they give you a collector assault rifle in the multiplayer, but guess what? You only need one of those, not eleventy billion.

Discounting all of that nonsense, you come to the much better number of $104. Yea... Not that much to be up in arms over. Considering the "base" game in that was $80.

God that link/argument is stupid. Are people so annoyed at ME3 that they will actually think that this is a real issue? It's a good game, calm down. (i haven't reached the ending yet, nor have i had it spoiled, so i can't comment on that, but as for the rest, it deserves the 4.5 the escapist gave it, but lowered by .5 of a star for a completely different reason)

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Statements like the above make it hard to understand exactly why people are upset. According to some, BioWare is lazy for using an image service instead of crafting the image from scratch, while others seem to use this as evidence for something else they didn't care for, like the writing. Could have BioWare have used a custom image? Yes. Does using a stock image diminish your experience of the game? No.

Now, if you want to quibble about how Tali doesn't look like how you imagined her, well, you might have a point there. Perhaps characters who are masked should stay that way. I'm looking at you, Samus Aran.

You are letting your opinion get into a news article again. If you have an opinion, make an editorial or leave it in the comments section. I don't need the reporter's take on a story when they are reporting it. This is why I have trouble taking game journalism seriously.