Mass Effect was one of the earliest AAA RPG's of this generation, and remains one of it's most prestigious and prolific new I.P's.  Generally held to be one of the best WRPG's of the generation (and beyond), there was nonetheless a large amount of discussion at the game's launch of it's technical shortcomings.  Namely, inconsistent frame-rates and texture pop-in, and to a lesser extent A.I that was perceived to be lacking. 

Indeed, it leads one to wonder just how amazing and critically acclaimed the game would have been had it not been plagued by these issues.

But for the second iteration Greg Zeschuch, Co-Founder of Bioware, has come out and explained that a great deal of effort has been put into improving the series' technical output:

"We also made a lot of technical changes to improve performance. After Mass Effect 1 we had a really good idea of what levels worked well and worked fast but now we can do it with a frame rate which is rock solid. Now there are no slow-downs at all: that was one of our main goals from a technical standpoint. That and making sure that there was texture consistency throughout and it was all super slick: that was really important to us."

With the game being one of the most anticipated titles in existence right now, and looking truly beautiful, one can only hope he is correct.

http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/103/1033498p1.html

As far as the technical side of things go, they need to work on A LOT. The first had so many technical problems. In addition they need to improve apon combat and side missions. The world they created and the story was great though.

Ιf all go well, it's gonna be one of the greatest games of all times.
The techinical issues of the first part were annoying, no disagrees here.
But they didn't ruin the experience in any way.
The demos that we've been shown have no issues of this nature.
My most anticipated game ever...

It could easily be considered one the of the top five games of the generation if it's as correspondingly good as the first WITHOUT the technical issues.

Graphics arent everything, but there frame rate problems were inexcusable.

I agree.
It was all a matter of polishing the game. The frame rate issues hit the game even if the character was standing still in an empty place and you rotated the camera.
But I'm pretty sure they figured out what the problem was.

They'll fix it no doubt. They might not be able to fix everything, but the game will be phenomenal. How many games have technical issues and still manage to average over a 9.0? Very few. Thats a testament to how good the first game is. They have a chance to do it better the second time around and then the third Mass Effect should be near perfect. Mass Effect 3 will possibly be the best game of the gen if Bioware keeps it up.

Bah, more like "Meh Effect"

It was an OK game with a lot of flaws that I ultimately  found a bit boring with a confusing silly plot. Much like their previous game Jade Empire which was also vastly over rated. I'm sure it'll be worth playing, and I'll eventually pick it up cheap and used. But this series was certainly no master piece like KOTOR was.

The plot of Mass Effect was not confusing at ALL as far as I am concerned.

IT was wonderful.

*Claps*

One of my biggest complaints! I hope they can iron the sequel and release a polished game this time.

I have such high hopes for ME2.  The game is gonna be a masterpiece!