Mass Effect General Discussion (spoilers)

I figure that this is the best Bioware game thread to post this on.

Casey Hudson, executive producer of the Mass Effect trilogy who left Bioware three years ago, is now Bioware's General Manager.

edited 18th Jul '17 11:40:08 AM by lrrose

Huh, that's cool. Maybe this is good news regarding the future of Bioware's games?

So I was thinking about how they could've done a version of Andromeda that didn't feel as forced, or even kept a lot of what they DID do but again maybe juuuust tweaked some things.

They could've gone for the harder sci fi edge - seed ships. Could've been a very interesting way - your character being basically a flash clone. And some of the conflict could've come from, perhaps, the colonists NOT KNOWING - the Kett could have been framed as an equivalent threat. And this could have made the geth be an option as they could be the ones responsible.

OK, I'm getting this from the whole Von Neumann probe idea - but it would have reframed the characters in a different way, driven an element of personal crisis, gotten rid of the hamfisted, poorly organised Andromeda initiative and maybe even reframed the whole AI versus organics argument.

Whilst also covering the legitimacy of colonising and then meeting the Angara who are also a flash grown artificial race

TBH, I'd like to see more biosphere building, but in the franchise in general. In the original trilogy all we saw was Tuchankan stuff (I can see Varren being somewhat closely related to Krogan in the way dogs are closely related to us, but then Harvesters and Klixen are quite removed in shape, and lol Thresher Maws), and some birds in Rannoch.

Then again, biologist specialized in zoology over here.

That could've been good. Weirdly, they could have risked (And seemed to be trying for) a No Man's Sky type, but with maybe setting up the terraforming and things.

Honestly, the Remnant felt like a bit of a lazy addition - they could have actually bumped out side quests and colony establishment well, but putting in all these quests or ambient missions around identifying viable farming areas, wildlife, mining sections. And then had the on-board mini game of assigning team mates to research or something....

Ah well. I stopped expecting changes from the tried and tested mediums... but imagine if they had gone down the whole "study the animals" or a Horizon Zero Dawn approach to learning about how to beat them....

Oddly enough, this is where a Fallout style settlement mechanic could've actually WORKED quite well!

I would've loved a more advanced settlement mechanic as well, but that's just not feasible when you take into account the need for sequels. If they let you hand-build the entire settlement, then in the next game either everything will get overwritten (as the timeskip upgrades the colony) or nothing changes (because they don't want to screw with your imported save).

Though they could have done some more choices. Like maybe instead of making the science/military choice for the entire Initiative, you make it for each colony. And some of the choices are different, like mining and trade.

Simple way around that is that each colony doesn't appear in subsequent games except as alterations to flavour text or you visit a different element of the planet and the original colony gets referenced - and as you say that could be limited by the original choice you make (Which in turn could have limited the settlement mechanic)

Heck, if you wanted to then have said choice influence future games, maybe a sequel could've had some form of trade / resource gathering mechanic where each planet from the first game now produces materials dependant on that choice (mil / science) - so you have a reason to initially visit each planet and get a feel that the choice has an impact in the type of materials you get in the sequel.

Not very good at subfolders on here, but maybe break it down by main game then DLC?

That means it's got four solid chunks to look at. (Citadel, Leviathan, Omega for the main ones)

And heck, maybe even From the Ashes too?

It's already been split and it looks like some of the entries on the main page should go in one or the other subcategory. So moving those where they belong would be a good start.

http://www.mmorpg.com/mass-effect-andromeda/news/bioware-montreal-absorbed-by-ea-motive-1000045039

Guess that's it folks

Damnit!

Can't say I'm surprised. This is EA's modus operandi, after all.

On the other hand, ME 3 with the Expanded Galaxy Mod has quickly become my favorite installment of the series. Wouldn't play the game without it.

Well I guess this is good timing to post this video I haven't yet finished watching

edited 15th Aug '17 12:27:14 AM by SpookyMask

Interesting. I'll watch these later today.

So wow, the team behind the Omega DLC was behind Andromeda? That would explain a lot about that game's shortcomings upon launch.

Omega's problem was one that ran throughout the main game - the reliance on EU material to bolster the narrative. The game expected you to know Kahlee Sanders, Gillian Grayson, Kai Leng, Aria's escape from Omega, etc. to understand the plots of certain missions.

I actually never cared for Omega in ME 2 - the missions you go on in that game were VERY linear, the hub was small and there wasn't a whole hell of a lot to do (not to mention the annoying preacher - "The end is nigh!"), and the only value was in the shops that offered some armor pieces. I much preferred the longer, narrative-driven from 3, although I wish we could have had the original concept (with the Zaeed dialogue confrontation and ability to go back through the Omega-4 Relay if we chose to).

edited 17th Aug '17 9:23:31 PM by crazyrabbits

I wouldn't say required, though it did end up feeling like the more interesting parts of certain missions and characters ended up happening offscreen. Liara had the same problem in ME 2.

ME 2 runs heavy on atmosphere and cinematic pacing. I'm fine with the smaller, more linear missions because there are a lot of them and they all feel pretty unique. There's a lot of personality and texture there, where some of Bioware's larger areas and more decompressed games have ended up flattening out for me, feeling slower and blander. ME 1, MEA, and the first KOTOR were like that.

I would disagree that the game requires you to know who Kahlee Sanders is before you meet her. Her role as someone who is close to Anderson is pretty clear. Similarly, anything you need to know about Aria's escape from Omega, the game tells you. I don't remember Gillian Grayson from the game at all.

But yeah, Kai Leng just sort of shows up out of nowhere and the game is like "You should know this guy is important already."

Anyway, I've been playing a little bit of the multiplayer the last couple days, just to knock off the trophy. It's not bad, but I'm not any good at it.

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Except thats a double edged sword

if you were a fan of the books, you probably felt insulted by how dumb downed and unimposing Leng was 'or the fact they went with the nightwing look over something more sensible'

the fact Kahlee is barely a cameo and I think a holo pad

and apparently they kept Gillian's stupid death

I've said it before... A silent elite mook who just appears thrashes Shepard and Co as Ti M's mailed fist would have be alot better then what they did with Leng

Part 3 came out, watching it now

Speaking of "you need to read the EU" I still don't really know what Tali and Miranda were bickering about at the start of ME 2. I got the audiobook that apparently details all that but just haven't gotten around to listening to it yet. I probably should do that sometime.

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect:_Ascension

This.

If I remember correctly, the basic info is...

A powerful Biotic had escaped from Cerberus and was in refuge on the Flotila. Cerberus came in to take her back and that caused major issues from, well, its a military invasion and the Quarians already have strict rules on their Flotila about germs and etc.

I just had planetology courses that touched upon the origins of the solar system. Now I'd like to replay the last two episodes to see if the stellar systems we see in the games make sense scientifically or not - ie numerous double stars, telluric planets needing specific periods of rotation of further gas planets to survive, gas planets further away from the sun, etc.