Based on these pics, doesn't seem like the Andromeda initiative was a response to the Reaper threat...least not officially. Seems to have been organized and up and running, shirts and all, before ME3.
If it was a response to the Reapers, it was an immediate post-Sovereign decision.
I like this route. Explains away the Council in ME2 as PR damage control and gives them enough time to build the Arks.
Based on these pics, doesn't seem like the Andromeda initiative was a response to the Reaper threat...least not officially. Seems to have been organized and up and running, shirts and all, before ME3.
If it was a response to the Reapers, it was an immediate post-Sovereign decision.
I like this route. Explains away the Council in ME2 as PR damage control and gives them enough time to build the Arks.
I thought for sure it would be a reaper response thing but now it feels like something that takes place a hundred years after the end of ME3 or something like that. How did the council get all this super tech necessary to go FTL through to a whole other galaxy, with multiple ships and every species under the sun, and the largest spacecraft ever built, but do it on the down-low between ME1 and ME2? Seems like a major reach.
I thought for sure it would be a reaper response thing but now it feels like something that takes place a hundred years after the end of ME3 or something like that. How did the council get all this super tech necessary to go FTL through to a whole other galaxy, with multiple ships and every species under the sun, and the largest spacecraft ever built, but do it on the down-low between ME1 and ME2? Seems like a major reach.
Additional thought - promotional images of "join the Andromeda initiative" and the giant thing sitting clearly visible from Earth points towards it not being a clandestine project of any kind.
Additional thought - promotional images of "join the Andromeda initiative" and the giant thing sitting clearly visible from Earth points towards it not being a clandestine project of any kind.
Additional thought - promotional images of "join the Andromeda initiative" and the giant thing sitting clearly visible from Earth points towards it not being a clandestine project of any kind.
Yes, of course its all about execution, but still, universe-ending threats are boring by now. Been there, done that and all. You can have good stories without needing everything to end.
I hope you guys realize that there are no boring things, only badly executed ones. If the destruction of the universe has happened a few times, the beating up thugs and losing loved ones has happened ^10.
Plus the Mass effect series managed to do both those things at once, with each one amplifying the other.
Based on these pics, doesn't seem like the Andromeda initiative was a response to the Reaper threat...least not officially. Seems to have been organized and up and running, shirts and all, before ME3.
If it was a response to the Reapers, it was an immediate post-Sovereign decision.
I like this route. Explains away the Council in ME2 as PR damage control and gives them enough time to build the Arks.
Why would the council want to explore another galaxy when it hasn't even explored its own? It almost sounds like if someone wanted to go to the moon before discovering America. Keep it real guys.
I doubt anything can explain the atrocious Council writing in ME2. Why would they even stop Shepard from helping them with the Reapers? Do they only care about the Arks and not about stopping the reapers from destroying this galaxy? Why couldn't they do both things at once?
There is no way something like this could have gone unnoticed by everyone who's involved with ME2/ME3....this would have taken years to piece together and initiate/organise/build.....I'm so confused/worried about how they will explain this in context.
Reaper agents and such couldn't miss a moon sized construction just above earth that would of taken years to construct...it looks pretty hard to miss lol.
Is there any way, perhaps, they chose destroy ending as canon and then this tech was cobbled together with Reaper tech and destroyed relay remnants after the battle; using the abandoned forces on earth to put together Andromeda crews? (unlikely, a hail mary).
There is no way something like this could have gone unnoticed by everyone who's involved with ME2/ME3....this would have taken years to piece together and initiate/organise/build.....I'm so confused/worried about how they will explain this in context.
Reaper agents and such couldn't miss a moon sized construction just above earth that would of taken years to construct...it looks pretty hard to miss lol.
I mean... Wasn't the Normandy and crew specifically referred to as "the spearhead" of the war effort? It wouldn't be THAT far-fetched for them to not be in the know on every side-project undertaken, even if it seems to be a pretty big effort. That being said though, it doesn't seem like it'd be a bigger effort than building the crucible.
There's no way this game is happening after ME3 considering last year N7 teaser which was basically a goodbye message coming from Shepard (who is dead after ME3 in most endings) to the Arks crew. Unless that wasn't even canon and just a teaser made to look cool.
Why would the council want to explore another galaxy when it hasn't even explored its own? It almost sounds like if someone wanted to go to the moon before discovering America. Keep it real guys.
I doubt anything can explain the atrocious Council writing in ME2. Why would they even stop Shepard from helping them with the Reapers? Do they only care about the Arks and not about stopping the reapers from destroying this galaxy? Why couldn't they do both things at once?
We already know the Council believed Shepard that Sovereign was a Reaper. Going from that, IF this project was initiated post-Sovereign, it's reasonable to assume the secret reason for it was the Reapers. I'm just saying the official reason isn't, because widespread panic, just like the Council officially denied the Reapers but for some reason offered him his Spectre status back in ME2.
Sovereign also gives us an out for enhanced FTL travel without needing to discharge as I believe Reaper drives don't need it. Slap an "experimental, untested technology" label on it to explain no widespread usage and that's justification enough for me.
There's no way this game is happening after ME3 considering last year N7 teaser which was basically a goodbye message to the Arks crew coming from Shepard(who is dead after ME3 in most endings). Unless that wasn't even canon and just a teaser made to look cool.
I seem to remember them saying it took place during ME3.
I also don't see them doing it during any other period. Unless they drop the entire "this is a last ditch effort to preserve the races of this galaxy, seeing as how the reapers will come to destroy us all" thing and just go with this being some exploratory mission that took place before the events of Mass Effect.
We already know the Council believed Shepard that Sovereign was a Reaper. Going from that, IF this project was initiated post-Sovereign, it's reasonable to assume the secret reason for it was the Reapers. I'm just saying the official reason isn't, because widespread panic, just like the Council officially denied the Reapers but for some reason offered him his Spectre status back in ME2.
Sovereign also gives us an out for enhanced FTL travel without needing to discharge as I believe Reaper drives don't need it. Slap an "experimental, untested technology" label on it to explain no widespread usage and that's justification enough for me.
You don't need to go official with Spectres, you should never go official with Spectres, it would be a very very bad idea to go official with Spectre missions.
Remember the start of Mass Effect 1 and the history of every top agent in the history of everything? Announcing the mission details of your agents is literally one of the most stupidest things to do. Secrecy will and must be kept.
They offered him his Spectre status back, because he literally saved hundreds of thousands, the Citadel, the space goverment and the Council's lives, and/or because Anderson is part of the council. How is that for a damn good reason?
People keep assuming this simply because of the first trilogy, but there is no basis. Bioware has said nothing about it being a trilogy.
I've said this several times but my guess is that Mass Effect will be moving to a Dragon Age model where the games are connected, but are not part of a duology, trilogy, quadrilogy or any other -logy you can think of.
I'm an idiot, I had not launched the first ME for a while so I let Origin update the game earlier without thinking about it... and now I have to install the mods again and fumble with the engine.ini stuff.
People keep assuming this simply because of the first trilogy, but there is no basis. Bioware has said nothing about it being a trilogy.
I've said this several times but my guess is that Mass Effect will be moving to a Dragon Age model where the games are connected, but are not part of a duology, trilogy, quadrilogy or any other -logy you can think of.
Yeah I think so too, and it should be for the best imo
The trilogy was really a unique thing with choices made in ME1 that had consequences in the ME3 (even in the DLC) but it must have been a nightmare on the devs side.
You don't need to go official with Spectres, you should never go official with Spectres, it would be a very very bad idea to go official with Spectre missions.
Remember the start of Mass Effect 1 and the history of every top agent in the history of everything? Announcing the mission details of your agents is literally one of the most stupidest things to do. Secrecy will and must be kept.
They offered him his Spectre status back, because he literally saved hundreds of thousands, the Citadel, the space goverment and the Council's lives, and/or because Anderson is part of the council. How is that for a damn good reason?
I mean... Wasn't the Normandy and crew specifically referred to as "the spearhead" of the war effort? It wouldn't be THAT far-fetched for them to not be in the know on every side-project undertaken, even if it seems to be a pretty big effort. That being said though, it doesn't seem like it'd be a bigger effort than building the crucible.
I think you're right, and frankly I like the idea that the galaxy is big enough to have projects going on the main player might not have their fingers in. Either way, pre-ME2 Reapers were mostly sleeping in Dark Space anyway.
I absolutely disagree about moving to a Dragon Age model for characters. The moment you separate the main characters by game is the moment I lose interest.
I absolutely disagree about moving to a Dragon Age model for characters. The moment you separate the main characters by game is the moment I lose interest.
The Dragon Age model allowed the IP to have superior world-building, lore, and a overall more robust universe with more consistent writing compared to ME. I'm not suggesting the protag switches each game but the world should be big enough for stuff to happen you may not be involved in or know about.
It seems we need to find a new home for humanity.... so the theories saying it's just an exploration initiative are out the window IMO.
If it's an escape from the Reapers plan, then it's weird how it's never been mentioned before now, especially with all the other races involved/having ARKs for themselves (Krogan ARK was confirmed a while back I think, which doesn't seem very pre-ME3 to me).
Making the Andromeda Initiative post-ME3 doesn't work with the chosen endings other than destroy, makes me wish they just chose a canon ending, or even just go with the indoctrinated 'breath' as the canon ending, avoiding all the 3 rainbow endings or something.
The Dragon Age model allowed the IP to have superior world-building, lore, and a overall more robust universe with more consistent writing compared to ME.
Did it? It certainly didn't add anything positive to Dragon Age 2 or Inquisition.
In fact if anything, regulating super important and arguably super powerful characters like the Hero of Ferelden to some foreign abyss did nothing but impact the story in a negative and unrealistic way. The battle of all time is occurring in two major power states and this hero is nowhere to be seen so the writers can conveniently put in this "new" main character the Inquisitor. Immersion is immediately thrown out the window.
Nope, this false equivalency that you can't build and flesh out a world or have a good story without restarting from scratch every time is silly. Do you think Mass Effect 1-3 or even The Witcher 1-3 would be nearly as popular as it is today without a cast of reoccurring faces and protagonists that people can relate experiences and memories to? No one cares or talks about the Inquisitor, Hawke, or their character in a Fallout/Elder Scrolls game, or the person in Shadowrun, Fable, or Baldurs Gate. You play those games, you beat them, and move on without a second thought.
When I watch people on Twitch playthrough the trilogy for the first time there is always always one common opinion by the end of the third game. Regardless of their view of the ending, or the combat, or the missions they all say it's been an amazing journey. You don't get meaningful RPG journeys by compartmentalizing the main characters and their companions to a single experience. It's the difference between a great RPG and an unforgettable one and why Mass Effect will always trump Dragon Age in my eyes.
So yes, I expect a great game with Andromeda where we get to start out fresh in a new galaxy as the pathfinder meeting new friends, lovers, and places that will persist into a new entry. It doesn't have to be a trilogy, a multi-part story, or even an arc, but I do want to spend it with a character I made from the beginning to relate with. That's how I feel, and I'm sorry if I'm alone in my opinion.
To save the human colonies. That dude is going in for his people, not to blow up cities.
He also risked his life and other human's lives to save the council. Do you really think they have 0 gratitude for that?
Shepard's powerful and keeping the person who saved your life and put you into power is the number 1 thing you don't want your enemy to have. The council'd be stupid to do otherwise.
God dammit I just reminded myself of kaidan/ashley who in ME2 don't join Shepard even though they know the end of the galaxy is coming, because he is working with THE TERRORISTS.
Did it? It certainly didn't add anything positive to Dragon Age 2 or Inquisition.
In fact if anything, regulating super important and arguably super powerful characters like the Hero of Ferelden to some foreign abyss did nothing but impact the story in a negative and unrealistic way. The battle of all time is occurring in two major power states and this hero is nowhere to be seen so the writers can conveniently put in this "new" main character the Inquisitor. Immersion is immediately thrown out the window.
Nope, this false equivalency that you can't build and flesh out a world or have a good story without restarting from scratch every time is silly. Do you think Mass Effect 1-3 or even The Witcher 1-3 would be nearly as popular as it is today without a cast of reoccurring faces and protagonists that people can relate experiences and memories to? No one cares or talks about the Inquisitor, Hawke, or their character in a Fallout/Elder Scrolls game, or the person in Shadowrun, Fable, or Baldurs Gate. You play those games, you beat them, and move on without a second thought.
When I watch people on Twitch playthrough the trilogy for the first time there is always always one common opinion by the end of the third game. Regardless of their view of the ending, or the combat, or the missions they all say it's been an amazing journey. You don't get meaningful RPG journeys by compartmentalizing the main characters and their companions to a single experience. It's the difference between a great RPG and an unforgettable one and why Mass Effect will always trump Dragon Age in my eyes.
So yes, I expect a great game with Andromeda where we get to start out fresh in a new galaxy as the pathfinder meeting new friends, lovers, and places that will persist into a new entry. It doesn't have to be a trilogy, a multi-part story, or even an arc, but I do want to spend it with a character I made from the beginning to relate with. That's how I feel, and I'm sorry if I'm alone in my opinion.
You might as well rail against the save import too since you're conveniently forgetting that the Warden can die.
You're also assuming that HoF wold have the motivation to care or be involved. There's too many factors of player control and finality there and you'd have a better argument if you used Hawke instead.
I can refute a lot more here but these are biggest issues.
Did it? It certainly didn't add anything positive to Dragon Age 2 or Inquisition.
In fact if anything, regulating super important and arguably super powerful characters like the Hero of Ferelden to some foreign abyss did nothing but impact the story in a negative and unrealistic way. The battle of all time is occurring in two major power states and this hero is nowhere to be seen so the writers can conveniently put in this "new" main character the Inquisitor. Immersion is immediately thrown out the window.
Well... no, I mean the Hero of Ferelden wasn't a super-important character in the broader scope of Thedas. People in Kirkwall weren't even entirely convinced there was a Blight and people in Ferelden, the smallest and least important country in the continent didn't think the Darkspawn surge was a blight until the archdemon appeared. If anything, the warden fading away added more believably to the world. Not to mention, the whole point of the Warden is to safeguard it against Blights, end of story. Once they (if alive) became a commander of the wardens, any chance of them getting involved in demon fuckery was kept at a minimum and it makes sense as to why most of them weren't involved in Inquisition if you read Last Flight.
Nope, this false equivalency that you can't build and flesh out a world or have a good story without restarting from scratch every time is silly. Do you think Mass Effect 1-3 or even The Witcher 1-3 would be nearly as popular as it is today without a cast of reoccurring faces and protagonists that people can relate experiences and memories to? No one cares or talks about the Inquisitor, Hawke, or their character in a Fallout/Elder Scrolls game, or the person in Shadowrun, Fable, or Baldurs Gate. You play those games, you beat them, and move on without a second thought.
This is a straw man- did I say you had to restart from scratch? Does Dragon Age? No, of course not. Nor did I say you shouldn't keep the same protagonist through the series- what I did say is that events and meaningful story content can occur inside the universe outside the scope of what the main protagonist is involved in and that doing so allows for a bigger and more meaningful world.
You might as well rail against the save import too since you're conveniently forgetting that the Warden can die.
You're also assuming that HoF wold have the motivation to care or be involved. There's too many factors there and you'd have a better argument if you used Hawke instead.
I can refute a lot more here but these are biggest issues.
Let me say that I don't believe the Dragon Age model requires the main character to change.
The Hero of Fereldon was put aside simply because there was no way to handle the difficulties of importing a face and adding a voice to a character that didn't have one without upsetting players.
I suspect Hawke was designed to lead several Dragon Age games, but then Dragon Age 2 happened, and, well...
As for Inquisition:
I think they're putting the Inquisitor aside simply so they can start with the next game having a level 1 character, as opposed to dealing with the fact that you have a level 27 main character.
If they design correctly, then you can have the same character. They just have to leave room for the protagonist to grow and have the audience accept the character.
Let me say that I don't believe the Dragon Age model requires the main character to change.
The Hero of Fereldon was put aside simply because there was no way to handle the difficulties of importing a face and adding a voice to a character that didn't have one without upsetting players.
I suspect Hawke was designed to lead several Dragon Age games, but then Dragon Age 2 happened, and, well...
As for Inquisition:
I think they're putting the Inquisitor aside simply so they can start with the next game having a level 1 character, as opposed to dealing with the fact that you have a level 27 main character.
If they design correctly, then you can have the same character. They just have to leave room for the protagonist to grow and have the audience accept the character.
I also don't see them doing it during any other period. Unless they drop the entire "this is a last ditch effort to preserve the races of this galaxy, seeing as how the reapers will come to destroy us all" thing and just go with this being some exploratory mission that took place before the events of Mass Effect.
The other way is it takes place long after the events of ME3. Inelegant to not be reaper based but honestly nothing seems to fit otherwise. You can't have some well known escape plan be public knowledge or it's a security risk because the reapers will find out about it.
The other way is it takes place long after the events of ME3. Inelegant to not be reaper based but honestly nothing seems to fit otherwise. You can't have some well known escape plan be public knowledge or it's a security risk because the reapers will find out about it.
It's possible, but improbable I think. I'm not too clear on this, but aren't the Mass Relays supposed to be broken? If they are, that would make this being a concerted effort kind of improbable. Although, did the citadel survive? I don't see it in any of the pictures, so it's possible that its exclusion from them points to it being prior to the citadel being moved to earth.
I think the only thing we know for sure is that we don't know anything whatsoever! Can't wait to read the novel.
It seems we need to find a new home for humanity.... so the theories saying it's just an exploration initiative are out the window IMO.
If it's an escape from the Reapers plan, then it's weird how it's never been mentioned before now, especially with all the other races involved/having ARKs for themselves (Krogan ARK was confirmed a while back I think, which doesn't seem very pre-ME3 to me).
Making the Andromeda Initiative post-ME3 doesn't work with the chosen endings other than destroy, makes me wish they just chose a canon ending, or even just go with the indoctrinated 'breath' as the canon ending, avoiding all the 3 rainbow endings or something.
Could be that it's a mission to find a new home for humanity in case the Reapers destroy the galaxy with the mission of exploration being a cover story.
What do we expect to find under the ocean that our satellites haven't found though?
This whole, go to the next galaxy trip sounds a bit forced.
How do you convince an industry to fund this sort of thing, what could shareholders possibly gain out of this?
Look, there's clearly 2 things going on here: we have the ARK project (we saw patches and shit for that), and now this new Andromeda Initiative. My bet is that the Council actually ended up believing Shepard and not being all pants-on-head ridiculous post ME1, and started the ARK project to, well, make an ark to carry the various sentient races out of the galaxy. The Andromeda Initiative is (at the very minimum) the human component of that program's public face. "No guys, we're not fleeing the terrifying space monsters, we're just going exploring."
How exactly that interacts with Reaper agents isn't totally clear. Indoctrinated agents aren't all that numerous barring Cerberus' descent into the depths of stupidity, so it could just be a question of focused resources. They didn't bother to stop the Andromeda Initiative because they decided it wasn't worth the effort. They'd still cleanse the galaxy no matter if a few scraps got away. Protheans managed to hide on Ilos too without getting found out, don't forget.
As someone already pointed out, the trailer earlier this year where Shepard sends a farewell pretty much indicates it has to be during the few months after ME1 before he/she gets spaced for two years, or between 2 and 3 somehow.
It can't be during 3 because Earth and the moon are untouched and it can't be after 3 because there's no Citadel and Shepard could be dead depending on the ending.
It could be before 1 but that would mean overheating weapons and omnigel are back or we're looking at conflicting technology advances in the timeline.
I really hope things don't get retconned just for the sake of justifying the project.
As someone already pointed out, the trailer earlier this year where Shepard sends a farewell pretty much indicates it has to be during the few months after ME1 before he/she gets spaced for two years, or between 2 and 3 somehow.
It can't be during 3 because Earth and the moon are untouched and it can't be after 3 because there's no Citadel and Shepard could be dead depending on the ending.
It could be before 1 but that would mean overheating weapons and omnigel are back or we're looking at conflicting technology advances in the timeline.
I really hope things don't get retconned just for the sake of justifying the project.
I'm thinking it's a world inside of the goldilocks zone. There are plenty of planets in the goldilocks zones, but very few are habitable. Habitable + goldilocks zone = golden world.
