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The Mass Effect Community Thread

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M

Maledict

Member
The Artisan said:
this is something else which is kinda nitpicky because it didn't really bother me but just something I noticed that felt shoehorned in. ashley became a romance option for femshep and kaidan became a romance option for shepard. it's fine that they wanted to broaden the appeal to a wider audience and obviously the kaidan/ashley romance opportunities in Me3 are still optional and not needed, but it feels forced because they weren't romance options for the same-sex shepard in Me1.
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I'm sorry, but I have to flatly disagree.

As a gay guy, kaiden's romance was one of the high points of ME3 for me - it was the first time a gay romance felt completely natural and cool in a game, rather than being a "OMG it's a gay thing". His lines on the ship, and at the end, were actually really well written.

In terms of it contradicting the first ME - the first Me had a Fox News article on it being a alien lesbian space sex simulator, and even when ME2 was released there was someone at Bioware quoted as saying "male Shepherd just wasn't gay". The fact that retconned Kaiden into having some personality and a decent storyline and character isn''t going to leave me losing sleep at night. I think it's a really silly objection to make, especially considering everything else they retconned or just flat out ignored for no reason. at least THIs change had a some decent writing, a pay-off and let them do something that in previous games they had been dead set against. Heck, maybe the end of the entire galaxy made Kaiden realise his feelings, whatever - it just feels like a really silly argument that verges on the same ones made when comic book heroes are turned into gay superheroes - the ones that go "Oh, I have nothing against gay people but you shouldn't make existing characters gay you should create new ones". Because no-one ever realised they might have feelings for someone of the same gender past the age of 16...
 
T

The Artisan

Member
Maledict said:
I'm sorry, but I have to flatly disagree.

As a gay guy, kaiden's romance was one of the high points of ME3 for me - it was the first time a gay romance felt completely natural and cool in a game, rather than being a "OMG it's a gay thing". His lines on the ship, and at the end, were actually really well written.

In terms of it contradicting the first ME - the first Me had a Fox News article on it being a alien lesbian space sex simulator, and even when ME2 was released there was someone at Bioware quoted as saying "male Shepherd just wasn't gay". The fact that retconned Kaiden into having some personality and a decent storyline and character isn''t going to leave me losing sleep at night. I think it's a really silly objection to make, especially considering everything else they retconned or just flat out ignored for no reason. at least THIs change had a some decent writing, a pay-off and let them do something that in previous games they had been dead set against. Heck, maybe the end of the entire galaxy made Kaiden realise his feelings, whatever - it just feels like a really silly argument that verges on the same ones made when comic book heroes are turned into gay superheroes - the ones that go "Oh, I have nothing against gay people but you shouldn't make existing characters gay you should create new ones". Because no-one ever realised they might have feelings for someone of the same gender past the age of 16...
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you have every right to disagree. but don't get it twisted, I was not knocking kaidan being a gay love interest. i understand the reason they did it at all for wanting to broaden the appeal to an even wider audience but to me, the option wasn't really fitting because it wasn't there in Me1, but I wasn't losing sleep over it. I even said in that post that it's nitpicking. the fox news controversy thing doesn't mean shit to me because it seems there's always going to be double standards for judgement in the gaming world.
 
wolfhowwl

wolfhowwl

Banned
Ralemont said:
Yeah that's what I mean by budget constraints, but the blame falls on BioWare, too. If EA gives you 2.5 years to make a game, you shouldn't set out to make a game that takes 3.5 years.
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The actual "game" was alright. Combat was the best of the bunch, the content is there (no DA2 area reuse), and the multiplayer was a good core to start building on.

It seemed that the problems were less about being too ambitious with EA's timeline and more are on a conceptual level like with the plot and also a result of long-running poor decisions from project leads. If you're still wrestling with the primary theme and how to end your trilogy while making the third game it is not your publisher's fault and neither is it if you decide to base your series around an antagonist and don't bother to write a motive!

Obviously I would prefer a more polished, beefier game with the DLC campaigns integrated but they would probably still be tacked on to the original lackluster narrative and lame ending. BioWare's design philosophy on divergent content also clashes with what people were expecting from the game and I doubt that would change either.
 
T

The Artisan

Member
Patryn said:
The Vita couldn't handle it.

Just look at Borderlands 2 and you'll see what we'd get.
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I would never expect an on par console perfect port. They'd have to scale it down for sure but the vita would definitely be capable of housing ports I feel. and that would be fine with me.
 
D

Daemul

Member
TheChaos said:
Maybe not directly pandering, but the entire game he felt barely there as a character, especially past the first couple of missions. It just felt like there were alterior motives for his inclusion, you know?
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James as a character is fine. Unlike many of the crazies we've had to fight alongside, James is a normal guy who enjoys life and gets shit done, and that's what endears him to people, same with the likes of Jacob, because they're actually relatable. These guys don't overload you with their problems and if they need something done, once it gets solved they put it away and its done with for good and we move on from it pronto. They have little to no insecurities, and they don't need you to fix them like many of the squadmates do.

I would love to have a fun romp out on the town with these guys irl, I cannot say the same for most of the squadmates sadly, many of them are either just far too out there, or way too boring *cough* Liara & Tali *cough* for my liking.

A little off-topic. A couple of mates of mine always used to take their Shepards along with James and Jacob into Armax Arena(since they make the best bros), and they would always jokingly call the group 'Just Banter', (in lovinging memory(lol) of Richard Keys and Andy Gray), so that every time they wiped out the enemies, they would call out, "No hard feelings mate, it was Just banter!". Many lulz were had.

Reference for those non brits who don't understand the Joke

That one line spawned into a meme on this lovely Island of Great Britannia.

The Artisan said:
agreed. I know most people probably hated and despised james but for the most part he was one of my favorite new characters and squadmates to use in Me3.
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Nah, only a small bunch of crazy people with an illogical hate of muscular guys hated James, the dude was one of the most popular squadmates according to Bioware, and it's obvious why, the dude is cool as fuck and way too funny, and overall a nice guy.

Poodlestrike said:
I kind of liked that he was too intimidated by Shepard to be romanceable. Nice little twist.
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Nah, James wasn't intimidated by Shepard in the slightest, he just didn't want to date his boss, a nice change from the rest of the crew who are so quick to break fraternization rules. I'm still shocked to this day that not one got pulled up for that by Alliance Brass, they probably thought it was just banter.
 
T

The Artisan

Member
Daemul said:
Nah, only a small bunch of crazy people with an illogical hate of muscular guys hated James, the dude was one of the most popular squadmates according to Bioware, and it's obvious why, the dude is cool as fuck and way too funny, and overall a nice guy.
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Hm. well that could've been due to a lot of the newcomers to the ME series that just hopped on with Me3. For some reason if my memory serves me correctly a lot of the seasoned ME fans weren't too fond of james being around.


Nah, James wasn't intimidated by Shepard in the slightest, he just didn't want to date his boss, a nice change from the rest of the crew who are so quick to break fraternization rules. I'm still shocked to this day that not one got pulled up for that by Alliance Brass, they probably thought it was just banter.
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I got what he meant about the intimidation, but it could also be the whole stigma about a male dating an older woman. As if ME should care about abiding to a double standard like that but I think what you're saying makes sense too.
 
S

SamuelSupreme

Banned
I decided it was time to do another run, but this time I've done something I've never done before in Mass Effect....playing as FemShep. I got to say Jennifer Hale is such a superior Voice Actor compared to the male VO. And it's nice to see a strong Black woman as a main character in a video game :)
 
oneils

oneils

Member
Thunder Monkey said:
Grrrr.

Why hasn't a "remaster" trilogy been announced yet?

Why won't Bioware let me waste another 1000 hours of my life?
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I thought I was tired of remastered games, but this is one trilogy I'd love to play on my ps4 with a controller. Hope this actually happens.
 
D

DYLANH24

Neo Member
SliChillax said:
I'd rather see what happens after ME3. We already have plenty of info about what happened in between the trilogy with comics and books.
Click to expand...

You really think Bioware will go to the trouble of making 3 different universe variations that have any depth what so ever?

I'd rather have it set in the time frame where everything (besides the presedium and parts of the citadel) isn't fucked.
 
T

Toa TAK

Banned
What if they set it so far into the future that everything is mostly the same anyways?

I don't expect BioWare to keep to our choices.
 
T

ThoseDeafMutes

Member
No idea when it's set, but for future entries that are post-ME3 they need to just decide on one history and roll with it. Skirting around these issues causes as many problems as it solves.
 
B

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
DYLANH24 said:
You really think Bioware will go to the trouble of making 3 different universe variations that have any depth what so ever?

I'd rather have it set in the time frame where everything (besides the presedium and parts of the citadel) isn't fucked.
Click to expand...

They'll probably won't even pick one of the specific 3 endings, if ME4 does happen after ME3. Just to "respect" the players choice.

If ME4 does happen after ME3, no matter how many years in the future, I assume they'll take a mix of the Destroy and Control ending, so that Reapers are completely gone(Destroy) but Geths and synthetics are simple present(Control). Synthesis is too...controversial and overly complicated to base a new game on it. I can't imagine Bioware making a game where every beings is some organic/synthetic hybrid with green eyes.
 
SliChillax

SliChillax

Member
DYLANH24 said:
You really think Bioware will go to the trouble of making 3 different universe variations that have any depth what so ever?

I'd rather have it set in the time frame where everything (besides the presedium and parts of the citadel) isn't fucked.
Click to expand...

I don't expect them to make a game which is set in a time period where almost everything I can think of is already explored and explained.
 
Ivory Samoan

Ivory Samoan

Gold Member
ThoseDeafMutes said:
No idea when it's set, but for future entries that are post-ME3 they need to just decide on one history and roll with it. Skirting around these issues causes as many problems as it solves.
Click to expand...

I'm down with this, I'm 100% happy for them to pick a canon ending and roll with it: even if it's not my beloved Destroy.

Otherwise... it seems hard to go forward in all honesty.
 
T

ThoseDeafMutes

Member
Bisnic said:
They'll probably won't even pick one of the specific 3 endings, if ME4 does happen after ME3. Just to "respect" the players choice.
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Why start now?

mvgame7xj2h.png
 
P

Patryn

Member
Given that they've indicated that they're not doing save importing into ME4, I can't see them suddenly having people import their ME3 saves (or world states) into ME5 or 6 or whatever.

I think all indications are that they're just going to handwave a lot away and make what happened be hazy. Or they're going to do what a lot of people suggest and just go with a modified Destroy where the Geth don't also get destroyed become canon.
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Bisnic said:
They'll probably won't even pick one of the specific 3 endings, if ME4 does happen after ME3. Just to "respect" the players choice.

If ME4 does happen after ME3, no matter how many years in the future, I assume they'll take a mix of the Destroy and Control ending, so that Reapers are completely gone(Destroy) but Geths and synthetics are simple present(Control). Synthesis is too...controversial and overly complicated to base a new game on it. I can't imagine Bioware making a game where every beings is some organic/synthetic hybrid with green eyes.
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Oh how easy it would have been to just simply not include synthesis. And tbh, they're fine to go with destroy, they've gotten about as much mileage out of the Geth as they were going to get.
 
W

Wulfram

Member
Daemul said:
Nah, only a small bunch of crazy people with an illogical hate of muscular guys hated James, the dude was one of the most popular squadmates according to Bioware, and it's obvious why, the dude is cool as fuck and way too funny, and overall a nice guy.
Click to expand...

I think their methodology for determining the "most popular" was based on how many missions they were taken on, and Vega has a clear advantage over Tali, Kaidan and Ashley there because he was available for a lot more of the game - and couldn't be dead.

Amongst comparable characters he was solidly behind Liara and Garrus (as you'd expect), but ahead of EDI.
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Wulfram said:
I think their methodology for determining the "most popular" was based on how many missions they were taken on, and Vega has a clear advantage over Tali, Kaidan and Ashley there because he was available for a lot more of the game - and couldn't be dead.

Amongst comparable characters he was solidly behind Liara and Garrus (as you'd expect), but ahead of EDI.
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I don't know why you'd ever use EDI on missions where it wasn't mandatory (I don't remember if it was on any). EDI was better without the mech form. I don't really have huge issues with James, he wasn't great, he wasn't the worst.
 
P

Patryn

Member
Wulfram said:
I think their methodology for determining the "most popular" was based on how many missions they were taken on, and Vega has a clear advantage over Tali, Kaidan and Ashley there because he was available for a lot more of the game - and couldn't be dead.

Amongst comparable characters he was solidly behind Liara and Garrus (as you'd expect), but ahead of EDI.
Click to expand...

My first couple of playthroughs I basically ignored EDI, but I have to say that she has a lot of interesting things to say on the Geth Dreadnaught.

Kabouter said:
I don't know why you'd ever use EDI on missions where it wasn't mandatory (I don't remember if it was on any). Just...terrible. I don't really have huge issues with James, he wasn't great, he wasn't the worst.
Click to expand...

She's required for Priority: Cerberus Headquarters.
 
T

Toa TAK

Banned
I always get tripped up by EDI's body.

Like, I'm down with EDI getting a body, whatever, but why THAT? Come on now, she's not a human being.

And I don't get the hate with James. Sure he looked like a jock-ish dude from the promos, but he's fine. What's the big deal?
 
K

Killzig

Member
Toa TAK said:
I always get tripped up by EDI's body.

Like, I'm down with EDI getting a body, whatever, but why THAT? Come on now, she's not a human being.

And I don't get the hate with James. Sure he looked like a jock-ish dude from the promos, but he's fine. What's the big deal?
Click to expand...

Whatever you say, LOCO.
 
B

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
I often ignored James in my ME3 playthroughs, mostly because I don't like most of his skills compared to other squadmates, and well...he look like one those irritating dudebros.

I just started another playthrough and finished the Mars mission... guess I could give him a try.
 
JohnnyFootball

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Toa TAK said:
Man I hate Synthesis, please don't even entertain the thought of having that post-ME3. :(
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Ill still never get over the fact that synthesis seemed to be the choice Bioware was steering you towards, yet it's what you were trying to prevent in ME1 with Saren.
 
R

Ralemont

not me
JohnnyFootball said:
Ill still never get over the fact that synthesis seemed to be the choice Bioware was steering you towards, yet it's what you were trying to prevent in ME1 with Saren.
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Well, to be fair: not exactly. The argument against Saren wasn't really against synthetic/organic hybridization, but rather that Saren was indoctrinated and the Reapers weren't going to fulfill their end of the bargain to spare organics the reaping (which they weren't, since harvesting was the closest they could get to Synthesis without the Crucible).
 
P

Patryn

Member
JohnnyFootball said:
I didn't hate him. He just was an unnecessary character who seemed to exist to appease the dude bro audience.
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They needed an extra character given that there may be players who have Tali and Garrus dead, didn't get the Javik DLC, and kill the Virmire Survivor in the course of the story.

In that case, they only have access to Vega, EDI and Liara.

He was also designed to be the POV character for those new to the series. Look at how they use him in the Palavan's moon mission: They expo dump to him about the Krogan and the Genophage because he's new. Frankly, it's one of the better ways to bring new players up to speed and that's needed.
 
JohnnyFootball

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Patryn said:
They needed an extra character given that there may be players who have Tali and Garrus dead, didn't get the Javik DLC, and kill the Virmire Survivor in the course of the story.

In that case, they only have access to Vega, EDI and Liara.

He was also designed to be the POV character for those new to the series. Look at how they use him in the Palavan's moon mission: They expo dump to him about the Krogan and the Genophage because he's new. Frankly, it's one of the better ways to bring new players up to speed and that's needed.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I was never bothered by his existence. Just didn't feel it was necessary, but yeah you do bring up a good point.
 
T

The Artisan

Member
Toa TAK said:
Man I hate Synthesis, please don't even entertain the thought of having that post-ME3. :(
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yeah, I hated it too. destroy every single time.
Ralemont said:
Well, to be fair: not exactly. The argument against Saren wasn't really against synthetic/organic hybridization, but rather that Saren was indoctrinated and the Reapers weren't going to fulfill their end of the bargain to spare organics the reaping (which they weren't, since harvesting was the closest they could get to Synthesis without the Crucible).
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it still pretty much fit with Saren's agenda. Back before IT essentially got debunked, a lotta fans said things like "synthesis was exactly what saren wanted and control is what illusive man wanted and they were both indoctrinated!"
 
R

Ralemont

not me
The Artisan said:
yeah, I hated it too. destroy every single time.
it still pretty much fit with Saren's agenda. Back before IT essentially got debunked, a lotta fans said things like "synthesis was exactly what saren wanted and control is what illusive man wanted and they were both indoctrinated!"
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Oh Saren would have creamed his pants about Synthesis, no doubt. It's exactly what he wanted. I'm just saying that wasn't really the crux of the conflict with him.
 
T

The Artisan

Member
Ralemont said:
Oh Saren would have creamed his pants about Synthesis, no doubt. It's exactly what he wanted. I'm just saying that wasn't really the crux of the conflict with him.
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word, yeah. so as far as synthesis as a choice for saving the galaxy goes, there's just so much wrong with bioware making it look like that was the best option..when an indoctrinated folk wanted that for the galaxy 2 games before.
Toa TAK said:
Guys remember Saren? I miss Saren...
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had only 1 playthrough of Me1, but I'd be delighted to fight saren again on Ps4.
 
P

Patryn

Member
Toa TAK said:
Guys remember Saren? I miss Saren...
Click to expand...

When I first saw the achievement that's described as "Defeat an old adversary", I was convinced that ME3 was going to bring Saren back. Like somehow the Reapers had saved his personality or something and created a new body for him, and he'd be the final boss again.

Made the whole Kai Leng thing that much more insulting.

Then again, I'm probably the only person who kind of wishes that they had brought back Sovereign in later games. They could have had it so he was trapped in the Saren body at the end of Mass Effect 1 when his Reaper body died. Just get him repaired and suddenly you have a Reaper in a form that can be utilized for boss fights.
 
T

Toa TAK

Banned
Patryn said:
When I first saw the achievement that's described as "Defeat an old adversary.", I was convinced that ME3 was going to bring Saren back. Like somehow the Reapers had saved his personality or something and created a new body for him, and he'd be the final boss again.

Then again, I'm probably the only person who kind of wishes that they had brought back Sovereign in later games. They could have had it so he was trapped in the Saren body at the end of Mass Effect 1 when his Reaper body died. Just get him repaired and suddenly you have a Reaper in a form that can be utilized for boss fights.
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Yeah, I was stunned that the achievement description wasnt referencing a character from the previous games. I thought (for some reason) Saren or even Harbinger. I would've loved to have seen Soverigen, too.
 
P

Patryn

Member
Toa TAK said:
Yeah, I was stunned that the achievement description wasnt referencing a character from the previous games. I thought (for some reason) Saren or even Harbinger. I would've loved to have seen Soverigen, too.
Click to expand...

When someone is described as an "old adversary", I expect there to be some history between the two.

I personally wouldn't use that term to describe someone who is encountered only about 3 times total.
 
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