order of attack -- pacing and sequencing of MEA worlds

This started with some comments in the Twitter thread. I started to reply there, but as my reply got longer and longer, I could feel Hrungr breathing down my neck, so I moved it to this thread.

So this is another example of Bioware designing the game particularly for me and not for the vast majority of players. The same thing happened with DAI and the Hinterlands -- my first PT I immediately figured out how to work that zone for maximum value, just by doing what I normally do in open worlds. While it's pretty widely agreed that BW fucked up the Hinterlands and blew the pacing for 99.9% of players, for us 0.1%'s, it was perfect.

Maybe DAI trained me how to play MEA? Eos was a bit disorienting at first, so that was my learning experience, but once I got to Havarl (which I decided to do before Voeld -- wonder what the percentages are on that choice?), something clicked and I figured out how to work each world. Fixing the Vault is almost always last, it's the closing scene of the act, at least for the first major visit. Side-quests can send you back to a world, but the main act closes with the opening of the vault (ha!) The exception is when there is a Priority Ops mission associated with the world, like on Kadara, then that goes last.

With where to end sorted out, let's look at the beginning. Getting all the forward stations manifested was always a priority for me. I wouldn't beeline to them, always tried to have a quest to put me in the area, but getting them set up for fast travel and, very importantly, healing and ammunition resupply, was a priority for me every time I came to a new world.

After that, what comes next is a matter of perference. Personally, I liked doing Alliances & Relationship quests on the world first. Next, or if there weren't any A&R stuff, do the "make the world suitable for an outpost" quests, which of course includes activating the pillars, as well as dealing with whatever the threat/political situation is. That stuff would take up the bulk of the act. I'd save the big battle/raid for last-ish, usually just before dealing with the vault. When some side-quest would bring me near a pillar, I'd cruise over and get that done -- I don't think I did them purposely after Eos, it was always because I was in the neighborhood.

As for Tasks, I consciously tried not to do most of them. If they were "Gather X of Y" type, forget it. If I happened to be right next to one on the way to something else, fine, but otherwise, ignore. The exception being the Memory thingeys, those I did try to get for the sake of unlocking that bit of narrative. Tasks that were more about going to strange places, meeting new people and killing them (j/k), I'd do if they seemed interesting. Overall, I don't need BW's prompts to get me to go look at their cool environment design, I'd voluntarily do that on my own.

Finally, one additional note. When a quest sent me back to the Tempest, I fucking went, without delay. Not only because I wanted to progress the loyalty missions of my crew, but also because I didn't want to tempt the bugged-out quest gods and screw something up. You play BW games long enough, you learn that going back to headquarters/your ship should not be delayed. Even if nothing sent me there, I always tried to go back to the Tempest after I did something major on a world, just to see if something was unlocked. And of course, if I had email.

The above worked really well for me. I really only got lost and fed up on Eos the first time. And I was able to avoid most of the dumb side-quests, with one exception. Contagion. What a PITA that one is! Avoid at all costs.