Mass Effect General Discussion (spoilers)

It definitely irked me that I was doing a lot of running around doing errands. It's the never ending problem of games - they want to empower you, whilst also giving you things to do. Inquisition had it's issues with side quests and a poorly thought out map; Fable had it with it's "judgements"; Mass Effect had it with it's rallying the troops and final act.

I hope they take a leave out of CD Project Red's book - side quests should thematically link into the story, helping build it and not just be "filler" - the shards quest at least filtered into the game. Gathering goat pelts felt like something the inquisitor should've outsourced to lots of troops.

And DA:I had promised a lot more choice on a map (Remember that trailer which involved burning boats and evacuating troops) - more dynamic maps would be great.

I have faith - Bioware make enjoyable games for the most part, with bits and bobs that don't fit. So hopefully with an extension they'll make something worthwhile. Without too many DLC passes and multiplayer tie ins.... I HOPE.

I'm still disappointed were still stuck with only humans playable. I'd kill to play as a Turian or Krogan or even a Geth.

Oh was that confirmed? It's dissapointing, but understandable.

They probably feel that they can have a much more fleshed-out backstory if they limit the player character`s species. Or maybe it's just that being human is essential to the story they want to tell.

As long as they have a diverse cast of cool characters, I'm willing to let this slide.

One thing I was surprised that EA didn't jump on board with was an expansion on their multiplayer. You could have done quite an interesting F 2 P title based around the ME universe, just looking at Merc bands.

So, have the horde style mode of ME 3 multiplayer, but overlay it with having a meta game of a Merc ship / base, a roster of "companions" you could unlock to take with you into solo battles, or augment a squad in some form of Pv P. And then have various game modes on repeating maps. Or raid another player's merc base / ship. Customisation options, defence, facebook tie ins, the usual F 2 P purchase packs and decorations. (Yes evil, but it would've been a way to keep the franchise present in one way)

OR just a way to milk it to death, so perhaps I should be grateful...

Heck, they haven't done a lot with the Universe which was ripe for expansion. It ties into the whole "only human" as an option thing - they seem to really have narrowed Mass Effect as a franchise down and I have no idea why. Yes, Humans Are Special seems to be a thing for some of their writers, but a new Galaxy which has representatives from each race surely gives an excuse to broaden it out? You could even tie class to race to an extent.

But then there's the N7 obsession as well.

Have they said anything about any kind of Reapers 2.0 being involved? I'd give anything for a Mass Effect with a more grounded story and less "you're the only hope of the entire galaxy!" things.

edited 13th May '16 9:01:10 AM by Elbruno

Most Writers Are Human.

To me being human is boring, I never understood why being human is the only option. I write some stories & most of my protagonists & heroes are some form of inhuman with humans as antagonists. Hell every game that gives me an option, I always go for the nonhuman like in Guild Wars II my main is the Chaar, the tiger people or in Skyrim which is the Argonians, lizard-men. Just what is so cool bout being human?

It's not so much about "coolness" as it is about the story.

If you want to tell a more solid story, having multiple races with multiple cultures and backgrounds as potential protagonists makes things a whole lot more difficult.

Just consider how barebones the main stories tend to be, and how many plotholes there are in massively open games such as Skyrim.

Think about it from a customization standpoint. In a fantasy setting (for example, Dragon Age), all your playable races are fairly humanlike. Cheekbones, nose, jawline, hair, etc. are all going to be the same, whether you're a human, an elf, or a dwarf. There will be some stylistic differences, but the core of it is the same. And some things (like skin tone) are going to be exactly the same between all of them.

Now look at the Mass Effect aliens. If you want the major alien races to be available for your main character, you're looking at at least four more customizations systems as deep as the one for humans, or else fans of turians, quarians, salarians, and krogans are going to feel severely ripped off. The asari are the only race that could use most of the human system.

Hmmh yeah fair point. Still It makes a little bit sad.

Bah, back in the good old day there wasn't any appearance customization ()

I've seen my fair share of the idea that playing as a human is boring on Bioware's forums, and I've never found that idea agreeable.

From a programming/development perspective, yeah it would be a monumental task to create several distinct player character species for Andromeda and put the same amount of care and detail in all of their backstories, character customization, voiced lines,..etc.

If they took the time to do that, something else in the game would suffer for it. Either they wouldn't have enough ressources to make as many interesting squad mates, or they wouldn't have enough time to make as many memorable sidequests or whatever.

Also, I personally think that there are still a lot of intresting stories you can tell with a human character. Videogame protagonists tend to be male North Americans/Europeans: have your main character be of a cultural background that's not typically seen in games. Or make the protagonist come from a distant human colony with an interesting backstory, etc.

What I'm saying is that there are ways to make humans interesting even in a setting with Krogans and Turians.

edited 13th May '16 11:21:38 AM by GutstheBerserker

I would honestly be interested in a human who was raised by aliens.

edited 13th May '16 11:34:10 AM by heliosKAISER

So you are saying that we shouldn't expect Bioware to go beyond of what is expected of them? :D

That's actually a pretty interesting idea. Somewhere out there in the ME universe, there has to be a human with an alien parent or two. (probably Asari)

Oh, I always hope that they go ahead and deliver games that have great characters AND great gamepay AND a great story. It's just hard to imagine a universe where all of those aspects receive the same care and attention. They are working with finite ressources after all.

edited 13th May '16 11:40:52 AM by GutstheBerserker

Well hopefully they go the extra mile with the new protagonist. I can assume he is going to receive new origin story's since they can't just reuse Shepard's military brat, sole survivor & street rat origins right?

You'll be given three choices for your origin based on where you were during the Reaper war. Oddly, the only thing it will actually change is the color of your character's eyes.

edited 13th May '16 5:26:24 PM by TobiasDrake

So I have question for a fan fic of Mass Effect.

Making Trans relay assaults are hard, and by hard i mean like trying to run down a narrow corridor while the guys at the other end are firing a machine gun at you.

Ship detection in mass effect is mostly based on heat, so my idea is, strap few (Read, dozens if not hundreds) nukes with rockets and on board computers, launch them through the relay then have them auto target and go seek a target like say static defenses. If the rocket can no longer move it's timer for self destruct will activate. 5 minutes alter all nuclear weapons will detonate regardless of if they have a target or not. Once the 5 minutes have passed the human fleet pours out of the relay and whoever they are fighting can't shoot hem easily because of all the background radiations and heat.

To go with the analogy earlier, its like throwing a bunch of incendiary grenade down the corridor at the guys with M Gs.

Is this a possible doctrine to do?

edited 15th May '16 4:54:28 PM by bloodraven117

I suppose that depends on whatever or not relays can transport any object without much trouble, the bombs can make it through ultra-FTL safely, and they don't explode on the relay itself. That could be a bad.

edited 15th May '16 6:03:11 PM by Elbruno

Bombs exploding on the exit from relay aren't really likely to damage the Relay - unless you equip them with Reaper IFF, they'll end thousands of miles away from the Relay, way too far for their explosion to do anything to the Relay.

...And if by some chance they do go off really close and blow up the Relay... well, it will definitely solve you the problem of dealing with whatever fleet had been waiting on the other side.

edited 15th May '16 6:37:08 PM by NHunter

Then you kinda go from war to war crime; and this time not while trying to delay the local robo space Cthulhus.

And let's not even talk about the chance of them going off on the entrace.

If I recall the Mass Relays were pretty durable and had their own natural protective barrier from all of the energy being emitted. The main reason why the asteroid colony worked was because of it's size and how it had been modified to disable a part of the relay's defensive barriers, allowing it to pass through without being torn apart by the mass effect fields.

Thus, I don't think a nuke, even if detonating at close range, would do much damage. Especially given that nukes actually have less explosive power in space.

edited 15th May '16 7:38:35 PM by SgtRicko

Hmm... I missed that detail about the modifications to the meteorite. I assumed all the science behind it was throwing a giant chunk of rock at it in such a way that it wouldn't be transported.

edited 15th May '16 8:47:08 PM by Elbruno

I'm going off of memory here, but the Codex mentions at a couple of points that it's actually pretty damned hard to destroy the Relays. It's due to their size, self-repair systems, and the sheer strength of the Mass Effect field acting both as a barrier and force strong enough to tear apart ships that approach it the wrong way.