Frequently Asked Questions

 

 

Mass Effect Questions

 

Do these files actually work in ME2?

Why yes, yes they do.  Several thousand downloads of Shepards have been made from this site and I have not yet heard of anyone saying the saves didn’t work (after correctly using the import tool, see below) or using these saves glitched out their game.

 

How do I import my saves (from this site or my own) into Mass Effect 2?

Please see the Import Walkthrough page here.  Please note that you NEED the “Char” file.  You don’t actually need the save file, I’m having people include these just so if needed, people who download the character can make their own Char file by running the save in ME1.

 

What choices carry over when I import my save?

We now have a fairly extensive list here.  This may not be complete, but it’s close!

 

What are the main things that carry over?

The character’s name and background will carry over.  You will start at a higher level in ME2 depending on your level from your ME1 import.  Your ME1 wealth and perhaps minerals collected will also give you bonuses to wealth and fuel in ME2.  It will be acknowledged in game how Renegade or Paragon you were.  I don’t have a complete list, if someone out there does, please let me know!

 

What can you change when you import a save?

You will be able to change Shepard’s appearance and class.  Please keep this in mind while choosing your new Shepard.

 

How do I load my downloaded Mass Effect 1 saves into Mass Effect 1?

If you want to load the save in ME1, drop the downloaded files in your my Documents\Bioware\Mass Effect\Save folder.  You will need the autosave or quicksave file in order to do this, not the long-named CHAR file.  Once in ME1, be sure you get to the “Show All Saves” screen.  Please note you cannot load a save in Mass Effect 1 if it has a DLC you do not have.  I do not know how this will affect a save in ME2. 

 

You don’t have the exact Shepard I want!  Why does this site suck so badly?

Er, sorry!  I can only put up saves that people have sent me!  Encourage people on your favorite Internet Gaming Community to send in more saves and check back tomorrow!

 

I have a questions specific to something that happens in Mass Effect 2 or something you could only know if you’ve played Mass Effect 2, can you help me?

Probably not.  After more than a week after release I’m less than halfway into the game because I’ve been working on the site so much instead.  Plus I have been avoiding spoilers as much as possible. There are probably lots of people out on message boards all over the Internet who can help you.

 

When are you going to take Mass Effect 2 save files?

Due to popular demand, I’m hoping to be taking ME2 files sometime in the next couple of weeks.  There will be an announcement when this happens.

 

Do you know of any way to bring my 360 files to PC or my PC files to 360?

I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of any way to do this.  If I ever hear of anything, I’ll update the site!  If anyone hears of a way, please let me know!

 

Is there any way to change my downloaded Shepard’s name?

I was told you can do it via the instructions I have posted here.  Please note I don’t “support” any of these solutions and always back up your saves.

 

 

General Website Questions

 

What is the purpose of this site?  Using other people’s saves is lame.

There are quite a few reasons someone might want to use another person’s saves.  Maybe they played Mass Effect 1 on 360 and for whatever reason are going to play ME2 on PC.  Maybe their hard drive crashed or they didn’t know they should save their ME1 savefiles and they don’t want to play through ME1 again.  Maybe there are aspects of ME2 they’d really like to see but don’t have time or desire to play through ME1 again.  If you think this is cheating, you are entitled to that opinion, but I think there’s plenty of legitimate excuses of why to use someone else’s save.

 

Why did you make this site?

I originally made it so the Mass Effect 2 thread at Something Awful would not get spammed up with people constantly asking for savefiles.  Goons started spreading the word about it to the entire internet so it’s grown bigger than I ever anticipated, but I’m happy about it.  Please be patient with me while I learn how to run an actual, real website people actually visit.

 

Are you making money off of this site? Can I help donate for your bandwidth?

Update 1/31:  I’ve put a paypal donation box up on the front page.  I hate to do it, but I’ve sunk so much money (and pretty much all of my free time since I put the site up) into the site, that being able to at least recoup what I’ve put into it would be fantastic.  I consulted with some people who have sent in Shepards and some other users of the site and they said they’d rather see a donation box than an ad on the site.  Thanks :)

 

If you’ve sent in your Shepard and this upsets you, please let me know and I will take your Shepard off the site.

 

Why does this website look like something from 1995?

Because A) I’m not a web developer and am not very artistic and B) To save on bandwidth.  At least I’m not using Comic Sans font and flamingskull.gif, right?

Update 1/26: Site redesign by a real actual web developer in the works!  The site will also be moving to http://www.masseffectsaves.com (which currently points to annakie.com/me/.)

 

What is an Annakie and why should I care?

I’ve been going by Annakie online since 1997.  Annakie is the heroine of the movie in Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode #422, The Day the Earth Froze.  You shouldn’t care, I just had the domain and  mostly for hosting pictures, documents and other personal stuff and when I put up the site for Mass Effect Saves I thought at best 1000 people would visit for exchanging saves.  I didn’t get masseffectsaves.com til a week or two later when I realized a whole lot more people were visiting than I ever anticipated, but now the annakie.com/me link was all over the internet.  I’m kind of hoping after I get the new site up, people will forget about it because the attention is a little embarrassing.

 

I just sent you my Shepard, how long will it be until she or he is on the site?

I will try to have him or her up within 24 hours at the very latest.  If it’s night time in the USA, I’m probably asleep.  If it’s a weekday, I might be at work.  I try to update before I go to work and before I go to sleep at very least.  I will send you an email when he or she is up.

 

I sent in my Shepard and you didn’t credit me!

I probably responded to your email asking you to let me know who to credit you as, please respond to that! :)  I don’t want to use anyone’s name without their permission. Or I may have just not seen it, and then I apologize!  Please shoot me an email or IM letting me know which Shepard is yours and the name you’d like to have credited and I will get that done with my next update.

 

There is something wrong / broken on your site OR I have important information for you, OR I have a question or suggestion for you, what do I do?

Please contact me!

 

How do I contact you, Annakie?

You can email the me2saves@gmail.com email address.  You can also try IMing me on AIM at screenname AnnakieSA.  If you are a Something Awful Goon, I also have plat, so PM me (Username is Annakie.)  I’m also Annakie on the Bioware social site and you can PM me there.  Again, I sleep at night and work during the day so I may not be able to answer your IM or email right away.  If I didn’t answer an IM, please try again later!  I’ll do my best to always respond to all emails as soon as I can get to them.

 

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Home

 

To submit your Shepard, click here.