I like the Grunt and Miranda ones, since it seems more professional for Miranda. But tali’s doesn’t look any kind of different.
Tali’s paint job is different and I think they said something about an animated HUD on her visor now.
Well, getting close to the end of this runthrough and decided to have some fun by taking Legion along on Tali’s loyalty mission. 
I’ve never played ME2 (or ME) before (but I’m familiar with the story and some of the characters from watching my ex play parts of it), and now I’ve finally started the game last night, and it’s been great so far. Picked up Mordin and Zaeed, and about to pick up the Archangel. (still early days. I spent half an hour customizing how Shepard would look (here I wish they had more options) and at least another half hour just looking around on the Normandy, which is kind of cumbersome. I wish things in the ‘party camp’ are more simple, so I don’t have to spend so much time being in elevators and loading and finding where everything is - it takes so long to get everything on track before the next mission. On the other hand, I kind of am in love with Donnelly and his accent down in the basement. Can I romance him?
Question: I can’t remember how the paragon/renegade systems work. I’m aiming to be a paragon with some renegade tendencies, but I’m not sure how much they’ll affect one another. Or should I just try to aim for all paragon or all renegade options to max them out? I kind of don’t like either options, if it’s ‘full on’.
Also, is there a particular place to get whatever mineral I need? I have all these upgrade options, but most of them I can’t touch because I’m lacking in whatever mineral it needs.
ETA: Also, weird DLC process. I have the PS3 version, and I have to go in and out to download the free DLCs, and then I have to reload the game again just for the DLC stuff to appear in the game itself. Odd.
In my playthrough of ME2, going full paragon had a payoff that I won’t spoil. Full renegade had a similar pay off as well.
There should be websites that detail which planets have which minerals. I had a Prima walkthrough myself.
I have the PC version. It just worked after I installed DLCs but they were always out of game. DA:O let’s you install DLCs in game though.
You can’t actually go full paragon or renegade. There are some places where you get points into both. Oh, and there are a few renegade interrupts which are just too good to pass up.
I just discovered how to mine while playing earlier today. I was wondering how it was possible to find on missions that much of one mineral for such and such upgrade before I realize that there was the option to mine, lol. (I guess I missed that when I’m just watching the game being played). I feel kind of bad though, the Normandy is just depleting as many planets as it comes across. Locusts.
The DLC was odd because I wasn’t sure if I installed it correctly until I reloaded the game and then the new missions/etc came up. Just odd.
I have to agree on that, sometimes I just couldn’t help myself. 
I seldom have a character who is a full “whatever” on either extreme, because I’m usually too tempted in either direction. But usually I just pick however I feel like my character would say or do in a particular situation.
But…then again, maybe that’s why the crew isn’t opening up to me so much. They do initially, and I get a little back history, but after that, no one has a minute to talk.
One thing about trying to be neutral is that it may limit your ‘persuasion’ conversation options. They can be quite important, two point in particular stick in my mind.
Doing their approval missions change that. ME2 is sorta linear.
When mining, it’s best to ignore all gas giants. Their mineral concentrations are all weak, and no gas giant has anomolies to explore. None.In fact, unless you are a star system completist (or is it completionist?), there’s no point visiting any of them.
Played a bit more: Did a few small side missions, talked to Anderson, talked to the council, became a spectre again (though I was awfully tempted to tell the council to shove it - but thought I might need spectre power later). And of course, recruited a few more people - Garrus!, Kasumi (just a pick up, really. That was like the easiest recruitment mission ever), Jack, and Grunt (shut up, EDI. What’s the point of recruitment if I’m just going to let him sit in his box?), and got somewhere in the middle of the Horizon mission (in the ME comic, I saved Kaidan out of a random choice, so I guess it was nice to see him pop up here, brief as it was). I hope I’m at least halfway done with Horizon, because this mission seems much harder than the ones before.(though maybe it’s also because my partners for the mission is Grunt and Jack, both I’m trying out for the first time, and Jack keeps running out from where I instruct her to stay repeatedly. I’m never taking her out with me again.) I started the mission last night hoping to finish it, but ran out of time when I died several times already during the part with the 3 scions. Hopefully I get some time tonight before bed to finish this baby up.
Well, so far, I have way more paragon than renegade on the bars. (But both are still quite short and tiny - but so far I’m able to use the blue answer options and succeed with those, so I have no idea how much is considered a lot)
I guess I was expecting more dialogue like in DA to improve my relationships with them! Instead all my teammates hate chatting, and dang, I’m SHEPARD! Talk to me, mothertuckers. Also, other than Kasumi and Zaeed (btw, why is it that I can’t talk to these characters with a dialogue wheel?) no one has “given” me their personal missions yet. I hope I didn’t mess up the dialogue options and they won’t tell me their missions ever.
Ah, thanks. I haven’t really explored a whole lot of space yet - but I usually try to deplete the planets that I come across during missions in a particular system. I upgraded my scanner thing, so the mining goes by a lot faster (though I’m trying to not use so many probes - trying to save credits so I can purchase some the upgrades at the stores)
Oooh, another question about purchases:
I don’t know if it works the same way in ME as in DA, but in DA I can give gifts to my teammates. Can I do the same here? I bought a few cheap trinklets I came across (a romance novel, a ship model - cheap enough not to matter) and I notice Kasumi has those books and Zaeed a ship model in their quarters, but there’s no option (because I don’t have a dialogue wheel with them)/inventory to give them the crap I have. Or should I just save my credits and not buy any of those random stuff (I did get some fish for my room though. Pretty.)
You can get the Paragaon or Renegade bar to full I believe. But, it takes the whole game (not counting DLCs).
You’re still in the beginning. Personal approval missions happens a bit later.
You can buy gifts for the Doctor in the Med bay and the cook. Nothing for the party members.
And the engineers.
The personal missions start popping up after Horizon. Oh, and I hate Scions too.
Yeah, those I did early on since I found the assignments when I was checking out Normandy. I thought it was cute that Shepard and the doc got pissed together, and then the doc passed out on one of the beds! 
That’s too bad about the gifts though. I guess I have no need to buy any of those stuff then!
So anyway, I just finished up another ‘session’ of ME (been playing almost every night since I got the game, totally hooked), and I did get those bastard scions, finally - when I stopped trying to save the particle beam gun thingy til the boss battle, the harbinger and the giant bug were oddly quite easy to take out after those scions anyway. Did not enjoy Kaidan yelling at me for…saving his tush, again. So ungrateful.
You’re so right about the personal missions coming after Horizon. Now people left and right are requesting my help for their missions.
I’ve also finished up recruiting Tali (I remember her, and I like her, so I wanted to get her asap. Those geth battles were actually pretty fun, except you get teammates who’d stand in the sun and fry for no reason at all), and next time I play I’m thinking of doing some of the rest of the side missions in the journal to gain more experience, and then do some of the personal missions (so far I have Jacob’s, Miranda’s, Jack’s, Mordin’s, Zaeed’s, Kasumi’s to do…I think that’s it - Garrus, Grunt and Tali haven’t said anything yet.) before I recruit more people and lose track of everyone. (I still really hate that there’s loading even in the ship, and I have to run around to talk to everyone.) I don’t want to stumble into a main quest before I’m ready for it, like in DAO and the sacred urn dragon.
Also, the fish I bought earlier? They freaking DIED! Really should have remembered to keep feeding them, I guess.
Yeah fish are the worst thing to spend money on in ME2, except maybe the dancers in Omega. At least the fish do 2 things (swim and die). The dancers just do whatever they were doing before you paid them.
I’m enjoying re-playing the game for the first time through your posts. Brings back good memories.
Well, there’s one mini-quest that givs you use for a fish. 
The Collecter Particle Beam is pretty much my default heavy weapon once I get it. I’m not a good enough shot to feel comfortable taking the one shot on missions, and the CPB doesn’t take time to spool up like some of the others do.
I would reccomend waiting on either Miranda or Jack’s loyalty missions for a while (take pictures )
Oh, and like I mentioned, taking the last squadmate you recruit on Tali’s loyalty mission unlocks a few interesting conversation options.
You can do either Miranda or Jack’s mission, but don’t do both until you have high Paragon or Renegade levels. Also, save Zaeed and Samara’s mission for last too. I did Miranda’s mission early (if you use Jack a lot, the do hers first instead). Then after doing other loyalty missions and crap before a mission trigger happens, I think I did Samara’s, Jack’s, and Zaeed’s missions in that order at the end.
I did Zaeed’s mission first (Maybe I had Mordin and Archangel first, don’t remember. But it was right after that) and had no trouble with it. I did the paragon option and was still able to get his loyalty.
I remember needing more Paragon points to get his loyalty when I did his mission before Samara. Don’t forget, you can still complete his mission taking the paragon option, but you won’t have his loyalty unless your level is high enough. I’m not saying you did, 5thHorseman. I’m just putting it out there so others will know.
Happy to oblige! I hope I don’t blow it!
The dancers: I KNOW! What a waste of credits. It would have been great if that opened up a mini mission (like the bartender, who awesomely got a bullet in the head by a fellow patron and totally deserved it by making me think, crap, I just killed my character!), or there’s a reveal that one of your teammates is a dancer and it’s really a recruitment mission in disguise, or (the obvious), some nekkid situation. But nope. Nothing. Worst lap dancing ever!
I agree. I LOVE the particle beam gun. It is fabulous.
fish: the one at the Citadel? Ok, this is going to sound silly, but when the choice to lie and give them those fishes came about, I thought, dang, I really want those fishies for myself. Who knows if the store will still sell them afterwards? So told them the truth instead. I think I even got a few paragon pts for not lying (except it was really because I was selfish. :D)
take pictures: That sounds ominous! Should I be worried? But thanks for the tip. I’ll do the other ones first.
And I’ll keep Tali’s loyalty mission in mind. Though that should take a while anyway, it only took the other teammates several missions to even let me know about their personal quest.
Huh, I was actually thinking to do Zaeed’s and Kasumi’s first, since they are technically the first in line to give me their personal missions. (My Shepard is fair, so she tries not to play favorites) But I’ll hold off Zaeed’s then (and Miranda’s and Jacob’s. My Paragon is only a little more than 1/4 filled on the meter). I don’t use Jack a lot (she’s powerful, but she also tends to run out for no reason, then die a lot and waste my medigel), but I have her mission.
So…my new adjusted plan for next time is to do Kasumi ,Jack, and maybe Mordin if I’m not too beat, then go explore a bit/do some side missions. Sounds good?
oh, another random question:
So, I don’t know if it’s just my Shepard, and I made her neck too small or something, but when my Shepard runs around in the Normandy, her head is always a bit droopy, like a wilting flower about to fall off the stem - which doesn’t suit her at all.