Mass Effect 3 - Odds and Ends

Here are a few Mass Effect tidbits I didn't get around to posting during the week.

First, Drew Karpyshyn, lead writer on Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 has left BioWare to focus on his writing career:

I just got back from Vegas. Now, I don’t really need an excuse to go to Vegas, but this time I had a good reason. You see, I was celebrating a major life milestone. As of last week, I have officially retired from BioWare. (I’ll give all you gamers a second to let that sink in. Just to be clear, the parting was completely amicable, and 100% my decision.)

For the past twelve years I’ve had the privilege to work at one of the best companies in the video game industry, side by side with the most talented and incredible group of people I’ve ever had the good fortune to know. I’ve enjoyed my time at BioWare immensely, but it’s time for me to move on.

I’m leaving to focus more time and energy on my novels and other non-video game related projects. But even though I’ll no longer be working on games for BioWare, I’m not going to be severing all ties with them. Many of my closest friends still work at the company, and I’m also in the process of writing the next Star Wars: The Old Republic novel, though I can’t say too much about it yet.

If you don't already know, the MP demo has been unlocked for all.

The Bioblog has a new lore post:

CITADEL — Diplomatic relations between the quarians and Citadel Council have chilled after the Migrant Fleet refused to consider visitation by Council weapons inspectors.

The move comes several months after the Migrant Fleet allegedly acquired dual-use ship materials, which could be used to create dreadnought-scale weaponry.

...and EA is promoting ME3 by sending it into space:

But next week, a select intrepid few will have the opportunity to play the full game before it hits stores. Publisher Electronic Arts will be launching copies of the game into space using weather balloons that will be released in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Berlin, London and Paris.

Each game has a GPS tracking device onboard and fans can track their return to the Earth on masseffect.com to find a copy and play it a week or more before the game hits stores. (Might not be a bad idea to follow @MassEffect, either.)