Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
Fuck it. I'm going to do something I swore to never do after that shitty ME3 ending. I'm going to play through the games again with a new character. I may even buy the ME3 DLC if things go well.
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The Mass Effect Community Thread
- Thread starter shinobi602
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PanicFreak
Member
Mass Effect was my favorite new series this gen but I'm cautiously optimistic toward a new one.
The galaxy is so vast and the timeline so long that there will never be a limit on the amount go potential conflicts. However, there isn't much that can top creating a Shepard and assembling a group of fighters to save the galaxy.
The team at Bioware will have to get very creative in creating a new threat that can rival the Reapers.
I like this list as a start. Here are a couple of things I would like to add:
- let us go through the Citidel Mass Effect relay where persumably there are other relays to other galaxies. Why would the Reapers choose to only meddle in one galaxy out of billions.
- let players be explorers and chart other galaxies.
The galaxy is so vast and the timeline so long that there will never be a limit on the amount go potential conflicts. However, there isn't much that can top creating a Shepard and assembling a group of fighters to save the galaxy.
The team at Bioware will have to get very creative in creating a new threat that can rival the Reapers.
I like this list as a start. Here are a couple of things I would like to add:
- let us go through the Citidel Mass Effect relay where persumably there are other relays to other galaxies. Why would the Reapers choose to only meddle in one galaxy out of billions.
- let players be explorers and chart other galaxies.
This might have mentioned before, but please bring back planetary exploration actually being on planets, with or without the Mako.
Made it seem we were actually in a universe rather than 2+3 which felt altogether smaller and more corridor heavy.
And a little one, but no generic soldier human companion - Kaiden, Ashley, Jacob, James.
Aliens always seem to be more interesting than humans in the ME universe.
Made it seem we were actually in a universe rather than 2+3 which felt altogether smaller and more corridor heavy.
And a little one, but no generic soldier human companion - Kaiden, Ashley, Jacob, James.
Aliens always seem to be more interesting than humans in the ME universe.
CharmingCharlie
Member
If you are playing it on the PC you could consider the fan made ending mod called MEHEM. It does a pretty good job of removing a lot of Mac/Caseys high brow brand of idiocy. One thing is for sure I cannot wait to see what they come up with, not because I have any interest left in Mass Effect but the reaction will be glorious. If it is a prequel (as I believe it will be) there are going to be a huge number of pissed off fans. Currently something like 70-80% want a sequel.
If they go for a sequel it is damn hard to see how they can do it without making one of the endings "canon" I bet any money they will go for the green ending when 90% went for the red ending. Either way the reaction will be entertaining.
Hooflung128
Banned
I have so many hours into this series it's borderline pathetic. I have so many sealed games to play yet I am playing through me3 right now on the wii u again. I also have a pc campaign going on as we'll as a campaign going on the ps3. However I am committed to the wii u one right now. I've beat this game like 10 times already on 360..
To say I cannot wait is an understatement. However, I actually want to own a copy of the 4 on the wii u as this is my favorite sp version of 3. It would even rival the pc version in mp for smoothness except the lack of content patches. I don't think wii u will get 4 so I am quite pissed at ea. but I look forward to a ps4 release as well.
Plz plz plz don't be a prequel. I'd like the next arch nemesis to not be neutered and demystified too kthx.
To say I cannot wait is an understatement. However, I actually want to own a copy of the 4 on the wii u as this is my favorite sp version of 3. It would even rival the pc version in mp for smoothness except the lack of content patches. I don't think wii u will get 4 so I am quite pissed at ea. but I look forward to a ps4 release as well.
Plz plz plz don't be a prequel. I'd like the next arch nemesis to not be neutered and demystified too kthx.
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
Unfortunately I'll be playing it on 360 so that won't be an option. Assuming I make it to the end though it will be my first time seeing the "extended ending" so maybe that'll help some. Maybe.
CharmingCharlie
Member
The next best thing then would be to play ME 3 right up to the point where
Shepard and Anderson sit down to look at Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU7XJdaz08I
If we're gonna talk about dreams for Mass Effect 4, then ideally I'd like to see a refined version of Mass Effect 1, but I know it ain't gonna happen.
The whole problem with 2 (which I still love) and 3 is that they cut out or completely changed features from 1 instead of refining them. ME could've been amazing if they'd just tried to refine the inventory system, land exploration, and random dungeons instead of trying to create a shooter with RPG storytelling. The RPG storytelling is pretty much the only thing that got better in ME2. Basically, they should've kept it an RPG, but we all know BioWare's not gonna do that.
When it comes to new features I would hope for, one thing I still really wanna see is ship-to-ship combat. If they made Mass Effect space exploration more like FTL that could be amazing.
Story-wise there's no telling what BioWare is thinking, but I think it would be great if they went with a more grounded story that didn't involve saving the entire galaxy. I'm not quite saying they should have you play as an ordinary joe, but it would be more interesting to play as a bounty hunter, smuggler, or low-level cop instead of an elite space soldier. Something that ties you more closely to a grittier part of the ME universe.
The whole problem with 2 (which I still love) and 3 is that they cut out or completely changed features from 1 instead of refining them. ME could've been amazing if they'd just tried to refine the inventory system, land exploration, and random dungeons instead of trying to create a shooter with RPG storytelling. The RPG storytelling is pretty much the only thing that got better in ME2. Basically, they should've kept it an RPG, but we all know BioWare's not gonna do that.
When it comes to new features I would hope for, one thing I still really wanna see is ship-to-ship combat. If they made Mass Effect space exploration more like FTL that could be amazing.
Story-wise there's no telling what BioWare is thinking, but I think it would be great if they went with a more grounded story that didn't involve saving the entire galaxy. I'm not quite saying they should have you play as an ordinary joe, but it would be more interesting to play as a bounty hunter, smuggler, or low-level cop instead of an elite space soldier. Something that ties you more closely to a grittier part of the ME universe.
Coffee Dog
Banned
Woah, you never played citadel? Youre in for a treat.
I really like that other one that played around the Markets :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfOjaLKRW0o
Agree with the bold SO MUCH.
Story wise, I like your idea of playing as a smuggler or cop.
Hooflung128
Banned
I don't know if I could deal with a mass effect Game that was little more than a space Jedi edition of blade runner or deus ex. Not with the current story writers on staff. Bring back karpyshyn and we will talk. I think in EAs quest to make mass effect a franchise they really turned it into a poor mans Star Wars. How do you create a living universe with some sort of strife when you just saved it from the brink of the abyss. I cannot wait to see what they come up with.
Or hell, even just a mercenary.
Mass Effect 2 let you delve into that world a lot, and it was probably the most interesting part of the game, but it was still set against the backdrop of galaxy-ending circumstances.
The suggestion of making it less Star Wars more Blade Runner is apt. I'm not saying it's the only or even the best option though. I understand the fascination with a Battlestar Galactica or Babylon 5-inspired game, though I've never seen either of those franchises so that doesn't resonate as heavily with me personally. I just really want someone to make a game that's a space noir or space western.
Just looked this guy up. So basically ME3 is the only ME game BioWare wrote without him? Is that why its narrative is the weakest of the three games?
CharmingCharlie
Member
He did write for ME 2 as well if memory serves me but he switched to TOR halfway through and now he no longer works at Bioware. To my mind the series started going down hill when Mac Walters became the lead writer. I believe the whole Cerberus thing was his baby and as such Mass Effect became less about the Reapers and more about massaging Macs ego by having Cerberus mentioned every 10 secs.
Kadayi
Banned
Yeah the whole turing EDI into a Sorayama Gynoid was fucking stupid:
http://onlyhdwallpapers.com/wallpaper/hajime_sorayama_desktop_1024x768_hd-wallpaper-687015.jpg
Stick tits on a tin can and then suddenly everyone in the crew wants to lubricate its internal mechanisms...apparently. Way to play into Fox News hands there Bioware...
Also I'd echo what someone else said earlier about how ME3 stripped back a lot on the conversations. In ME1 & in large part in ME2 every conversation took place within a cinematic framework where you could guide the conversation, however a lot of the 'conversations' in ME3 are just dialogue tracks that occur in 3rd person without you engaging with them at all beyond initiate. Skip to the 2 minutes mark to see what I mean for the Drunk Tali talk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUWcAmt6VB4
If there's anything I'd like to see it's a full return to the approach taken in ME1, but learning a few lessons from Alpha Protocol, The Walking Dead & The Witcher. I also wouldn't be opposed to them dropping paragon/renegade morality meter BS either, I think it detracted from really paying attention to what was said over conforming to a role and tying it to achievements in ME1 was a terrible idea.
I'm not opposed to the idea of stats in a game, but I don't think they should be linked to decision making.
I just hope that the next Mass Effect wont have as many glitches as the other games.
Here i was just driving around the Mako, taking out Geths, when suddenly this happen when i got back inside the Mako(missing the first 30 secs, i was spinning like crazy):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7nn3ruI5M8
Here i was just driving around the Mako, taking out Geths, when suddenly this happen when i got back inside the Mako(missing the first 30 secs, i was spinning like crazy):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7nn3ruI5M8
KyanMehwulfe
Member
I enjoyed the Mass Effect trilogy for the same reason I enjoyed Suikoden.
shinobi602
Member
Well, the performance of ME2 and ME3 were vastly improved over ME1, at least on the 360.
I think Frostbite 3 will really give Bioware a lot of room to work with, keeping any kinks to a minimum. I don't know anything but I just think they'll do a really good job performance wise on next gen consoles, they've learned a lot since launching ME1.
Night Hunter
Banned
I am a bit sceptical, but if the material they show for ME4 looks good, I'll definitely bite. Still love the series, even after the ME3 ending. My suggestions:
STORY
*Choose a canon ending to 3 (Destroy), set ME4 a few hundred years afterwards. No fucking prequel. It would be really limiting.
*No more ancient race trying to destroy everything. You can't 1UP the Reapers. Make the story smaller in scope, the universe is rich in lore, power politics, even war, is a possibility, but no end of the world stuff. I never understood why Sci Fi writers always feel the need to go to the absolute extreme. Don't put 1 character in the middle of it all. Things should play out, you should be a part of them, but you should be able to influence the main story but the story should also influence you. Don't just do one of those extremes.
*While you're at it introduce new races, maybe even hostile ones but like I said, no all powerful beings who just want to destroy everything.
*Ditch the "Rank - Last name" moniker. It's silly! Give the protagonist a fixed name and while you're at it you can also throw out the character creator. Just give us a good, interesting male and female character model (no more bald space marine stuff, you can still make her a redhead though). Either that or really fix the character creation tools. And I mean something along the line of CCPs Eve Online creator.
*Either make good sidequests or scrap them completely. No more half assed bullshit. If you decide to do them right try to weave them into the main story, no random bullshit that has nothing to do with anything.
*Just stop it with the human companions already. In every game they were the least interesting characters. Either write them right or don't write them at all. The aliens were far more interesting by default, as they all had an aura of unknown to them.
*Don't write romance options where they don't make sense (Garrus, Tali). Stick to a few, flesh them out. The player character doesn't have to be able to bang everything with a fucking pulse.
GAMEPLAY
*Fix the role playing aspects. CDProjekt shows, that story wise, a branching narrative can still be done, at least try. Combat mechanics wise ME3 was on the right track, build on that and make sure, that not everyone can have every power of his class maxed out + every weapon he finds pretty. Makes it more interesting, especially in a game that already encourages different combat solutions.
*Give us a ship we can really call home. Mass Effect without a ship isn't Mass Effect, but beside your companions, the Normandy was mostly inhabited by characterless mutes who were at best poorly fleshed out. ME2 and 3 made steps in the right direction, build on that. Also, customization, to a certain degree at least, I don't have to be able to paint the hull.
*Keep the shore leave mechanic at hub areas. Makes conversations more interesting if they are not all bound to one place.
*You don't want to do a trilogy again, I get it. But then at least give us choice and consequence in one game or at least a 2-parter. 2 games would mean that you have much more control over the variables, especially if you design the first one to actually work with the second one.
STORY
*Choose a canon ending to 3 (Destroy), set ME4 a few hundred years afterwards. No fucking prequel. It would be really limiting.
*No more ancient race trying to destroy everything. You can't 1UP the Reapers. Make the story smaller in scope, the universe is rich in lore, power politics, even war, is a possibility, but no end of the world stuff. I never understood why Sci Fi writers always feel the need to go to the absolute extreme. Don't put 1 character in the middle of it all. Things should play out, you should be a part of them, but you should be able to influence the main story but the story should also influence you. Don't just do one of those extremes.
*While you're at it introduce new races, maybe even hostile ones but like I said, no all powerful beings who just want to destroy everything.
*Ditch the "Rank - Last name" moniker. It's silly! Give the protagonist a fixed name and while you're at it you can also throw out the character creator. Just give us a good, interesting male and female character model (no more bald space marine stuff, you can still make her a redhead though). Either that or really fix the character creation tools. And I mean something along the line of CCPs Eve Online creator.
*Either make good sidequests or scrap them completely. No more half assed bullshit. If you decide to do them right try to weave them into the main story, no random bullshit that has nothing to do with anything.
*Just stop it with the human companions already. In every game they were the least interesting characters. Either write them right or don't write them at all. The aliens were far more interesting by default, as they all had an aura of unknown to them.
*Don't write romance options where they don't make sense (Garrus, Tali). Stick to a few, flesh them out. The player character doesn't have to be able to bang everything with a fucking pulse.
GAMEPLAY
*Fix the role playing aspects. CDProjekt shows, that story wise, a branching narrative can still be done, at least try. Combat mechanics wise ME3 was on the right track, build on that and make sure, that not everyone can have every power of his class maxed out + every weapon he finds pretty. Makes it more interesting, especially in a game that already encourages different combat solutions.
*Give us a ship we can really call home. Mass Effect without a ship isn't Mass Effect, but beside your companions, the Normandy was mostly inhabited by characterless mutes who were at best poorly fleshed out. ME2 and 3 made steps in the right direction, build on that. Also, customization, to a certain degree at least, I don't have to be able to paint the hull.
*Keep the shore leave mechanic at hub areas. Makes conversations more interesting if they are not all bound to one place.
*You don't want to do a trilogy again, I get it. But then at least give us choice and consequence in one game or at least a 2-parter. 2 games would mean that you have much more control over the variables, especially if you design the first one to actually work with the second one.
They might have learned a lot, but that didn't stop ME3 from having a lot of bugs, and now they're working with a completely new engine.
Hopefully Frostbite 3 is an easy engine to adapt to.
Maybe Dice can pitch in when they need help, think i remember them doing this a few times earlier for other studios?
shinobi602
Member
Hm? I don't recall encountering much if any bugs at all in ME3 to be honest, at least not in the 360 version I own.
The PS3 version has some godawful load times. I don't get why they didn't have an install. The disc is constantly chugging away.
So glad to a digital copy through dat Plus.
shinobi602
Member
Ah, that doesn't sound good. I always install all my games on my 360, not sure how much that cuts down on load times in the grand scheme of things.
Really? Getting stuck in the Normandy cockpit, journal not updating, impossible to complete Kasumi's quest in the Citadel if you don't do it as soon as you get it, the face transfer not working at launch, Aria's speech in the Omega DLC, not to mention a whole bunch of multiplayer bugs. And im probably forgetting more.
shinobi602
Member
Ok actually the only ones among those I genuinely remember we the journal not updating and Kasumi quest bug, but nothing else really. I always used default Shep too lol. Either way, nothing was close to game breaking, really just minor stuff.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Planet hopping is such a massive part of the series, I'd be pretty bummed if they went with a singular focused location (especially the Citadel). Galactic exploration is a staple component of the series' identity, in my opinion, arguably moreso than anything else, so much so that even Galaxy and Infiltrator take you to multiple locations. Being restricted to a single location, irrespective of how big it is or even where, seems unnecessarily counter-intuitive to one of the most consistently satisfying elements of the series.
Even if a place is a brown/grey shitheap with not much to do but shootbang, it's exciting to see a new location ping on the galaxy map and know that when you fly there you're going to see something new. And it gave the writers and artists a platform to create entirely new worlds.
As cool as the idea of C-Sec investigations sounds, being trapped on the Citadel just sounds oh so boring to me. It's a super city, and though you could create some cool new places along the arms (like in Citadel), you're never going to get that full reach of creativity and uniqueness that you get planet hopping.
Even if a place is a brown/grey shitheap with not much to do but shootbang, it's exciting to see a new location ping on the galaxy map and know that when you fly there you're going to see something new. And it gave the writers and artists a platform to create entirely new worlds.
As cool as the idea of C-Sec investigations sounds, being trapped on the Citadel just sounds oh so boring to me. It's a super city, and though you could create some cool new places along the arms (like in Citadel), you're never going to get that full reach of creativity and uniqueness that you get planet hopping.
One thing i fear if they went with this would be them kind of re-doing Mass Effect 1 with the whole chasing Saren or in this case maybe a suspect, like on which planet he is rumored to be / have been.
Still i doubt that Bioware will go with the C-Sec idea, it's more the fanbase wanting that to be it.
That's the advantage of sci-fi. If they want to go Blade Runner or whatever moody or weird atmosphere that tickles their fancy, they just have to set it on some alien planet. Even with existing characters, their homeworlds were not deeply explored.
Would Bioware ever want to milk the franchise with a different genre? Halo had a RTS. How about a Mass Effect turn based JRPG? Or how about Mako kart racing?
I'm kidding. RPG or nothing.
Would Bioware ever want to milk the franchise with a different genre? Halo had a RTS. How about a Mass Effect turn based JRPG? Or how about Mako kart racing?
I'm kidding. RPG or nothing.
MrTroubleMaker
Member
Yeah it needs planted hopping, Its not ME without it. I want the Mako back to do it though
One of these is different than the other.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
The fact that ME games go planet hopping leads to individual locations that are more one-note, which means when you're trapped in them for a long time it is visually boring and generally lacking in diversity. The planet Earth in real life has extremely diverse terrain, a huge number of highly diverse cultures, and even within one city there is extreme diversity driving from one part of town to another. If being on the Citadel would be boring for 20 hours, it's not because it's not large enough to be interesting, it's because it all looks so samey and there hasn't been very much diversity shown in it.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
I want to go on a time traveling adventure to erase that stupid-ass species from existence.
Yes!
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I disagree, simply because I will take those variations of one note over a single location. Even if they're nothing more than a small hub, being able to hop between Tuchanka, Illium, Omega, the Quarian fleet, Collector ship, and more in Mass Effect 2 was satisfying because you were never trapped there for a long period of time. And by setting each location distant from the others there was never any pressure on the artists nor writers to string together consistency. They could generate a unique skybox and environment, write cultures and characters, and string together mission design applicable for that environment.
It could be argued that you could accomplish a similar variety in a single location, but even so I'd argue that a single location must have some level of consistency and cohesion in progression through locations. Anything you could accomplish with diversity from setting the game in one location could just as well be applied to many locations, and that's what I want. I don't want a game set on one planet or one city or one space station. I want the writers and artists to have the freedom to create all kinds of shit.
Yeah, I totally agree with your line of thinking here. I'm kind of afraid they're going to do a prequel, which is always such a lazy cop out for writers. I'm tired of "how we got here" stories. I want a "What happens next?" story.
Night Hunter
Banned
Well, they could do it right if they really went back to a time where there were no humans, so the Rachni war or something like that. But everything set before ME1 but after the time the humans entered the galactic stage is pretty much known and could only be done if they really adjust the scale of the story to a much more personal and limited one. Still, I want to know what happens after the destruction of the reapers. It just creates so many new possibilities.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
It's more or less the same amount of diversity overall, it's just the game tells you they're not on the same planet and shows animations of zipping about a map. The bottleneck on diversity is development time / game length. You seem to like the many shallow worlds idea, and while I do enjoy the ME games I'd prefer a smaller number of locations (not necessarily just one, but not "five major hubs and a bunch of side quest worlds") if that meant we could explore them more richly.
I don't even remotely agree that there has to be design consistency between locations on one planet, or at least any more consistency than the "entire game" has to have regardless of planetary locations. In fact I'd say the "generic building" look was a big problem in the series. Do games set on Earth force the same consistent styles in all locations? It doesn't make any sense when you think of it in that way. Likewise fantasy settings often have wildly different locales even though they're in one continent or whatever. Even games set in one city will usually provide very distinct districts.
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
The only game series where I actually bothered to get all the single-player DLCs.
I was crushed beyond belief by the original ME3 ending, although the updated version stung somewhat less.
So many awesome, incredible memories playing this. I still remember how satisfied I am feeling when I managed to get that Insanity achievement in ME2 playing as an Infiltrator.
I was crushed beyond belief by the original ME3 ending, although the updated version stung somewhat less.
So many awesome, incredible memories playing this. I still remember how satisfied I am feeling when I managed to get that Insanity achievement in ME2 playing as an Infiltrator.
j0hnny_385
Member
You played it with or without the Extended Cut DLC?
shinobi602
Member
Honestly no. That sounds awful though lol.
Even with the Extended Cut, the ending still retain most of what people hated about the original ending(starchild coming out of nowhere, his reasoning not making much sense, ruining the mystery of the Reapers, our past decisions having little impact on the last mission). It fixed a bunch of issues, added a few scenes, but the main content is still the same.
You're very lucky, and i doubt that stucking glitch is unique to the PC version.
prag16
Banned
This happened to me several times on the PC version. One time it wiped out around an hour of play. So yeah, started quicksaving every time at that point...
The Extended Cut is still bad. But with that, Leviathan, and the Citadel DLC to cap things off (along with the passage of time) my ending rage has pretty much subsided.
j0hnny_385
Member
Agreed.
I'm asking because some people reacted to the Extended Cut very well, especially if they never seen the original ending. To each his own I guess.
Let's leave it at that in the hope of not turning this thread into another ME3 ending thread.
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