So I started up the demo and it's asking me whether I'm a Spacer, Colonist, or Earthborn and whether I'm Ruthless, a War Hero, or a Sole Survivor. Based on this forum thread it appears these choices didn't matter in ME1, it was barely mentioned, which seems strange given everything I've heard about your choices impacting the game. Does it matter more in ME3? Does it limit what you can do or significantly impact any character's dialog or attitude towards you?
Mass-effect – Does Shepard’s background (Origin and Reputation) matter
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Related Solutions
The Bioware blog recently posted about this information, which I'll summarize here.
Mechanics
Earning reputation in Mass Effect 3 is a bit different from the first two games. Rather than earning only Paragon and Renegade points, you can also earn Neutral reputation, so there are 3 types of rep in ME3.
This means you can now mix being Paragon/Renegade without worrying about getting locked out of the more difficult Charm/Intimidate options. When you earn Paragon/Renegade rep, it'll show up as Blue/Red, whereas if you earn Neutral rep, it'll increase your reputation bar's size as a whole while retaining the same blue/red ratio.
Click through for the larger version.
Your total reputation (blue/red/neutral) will determine whether or not you'll be able to pass a Charm/Intimidate block. The lines on the bar are "checkpoints" which serve as gates for more difficult dialogue options. I marked them with the thin lines of red, in case it was difficult to see (this is not my Shep, this is the photo from the blog post).
As per usual, you get rep from completing missions and making dialogue choices. For missions with no Paragon/Renegade choice but still have a large impact, you will get Neutral rep.
Story Impact
In contrast to older Bioware games, you can never actually be the villain in ME3, though this should be rather clear from how they handled the first 2 games. No matter what, you will be fighting to save the galaxy. The manner in which you do it will be what differentiates a Paragon from a Renegade. Also, bullying people into giving you more money or discounts won't be the crux of what makes a Renegade decision in this game. Who needs credits if there's nowhere to spend them because civilized life has been destroyed?
Reputation gain will be based on when you have to make a decision in the game. Here are a few examples of what kind of rep you would get, taken from the blog:
- Confronted on the Citadel by a desperate refugee with a gun, you give her some credits and help her find a place to sleep. (Paragon)
- As a human colony falls to Reaper forces, you order down an orbital strike, brutally killing thousands of colonists to prevent the Reapers from turning them into husks. (Renegade)
- You land at a turian fuel depot taken by Reaper forces and clear it out, enabling allied forces to keep fighting. (General Reputation)
TL;DR
BioWare has finally made a single-player game that lets you make morally grey choices without nerfing yourself, gameplay-wise. Rejoice!
According to Wikipedia, you will need an Origin account for both the single-player and the multiplayer campaigns in ME3.
Customers purchasing PC editions of the game (retail or digital) will be required to install Electronic Arts' content delivery and digital rights management system, Origin. The Origin client (and an Origin account) is required to install, activate and run Mass Effect 3 on a PC for single and multi-player portions of the game.
This Bioware forum post by Chris Priestly gives a lot more detail around Origin and Mass Effect. Specifically, it speaks to your question:
Is constant Origin connection required or is it a single one off authentication when the game is first installed. Is there also a limit to the number of installations available? Mass Effect 3 will require a one time, single authorization for the single player game. There is no limit to the number of installs. Playing Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer will require a constant connection.
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Best Answer
I played a Spacer War Hero in my Mass Effect 3 playthough, so while I can't speak for the other origins, the Spacer Pre-Service History (mentioning Shep's mother, who's captain of another ship in the Alliance Navy) came up a lot less than the Background (Hero of Elysium against the Skyllian Blitz) did.
For the demo in particular, it's practically irrelevant; the only reason it's in there at all is because the demo features the tutorial level, and it was probably more trouble than it was worth to remove it.
Neither has a huge change on the story - in many ways, it had the most effect(ha!) in Mass Effect 1, simply because each Pre-Service History had an associated assignment, while later games did not.