inherit
4588
0
2,875
therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 11, 2020 17:58:17 GMT
I want to preface this by saying, I never thought the game was "bad". Just mind numbingly dull, a giant pile of "meh" I called it at release. Now, given that no DLC ever happend, and knowing how the books turned out, I figured it was time to go back and give it a second look. The TL;DR version is this: I still think it's very boring, not bad, not good. It is still overall a "Meh" product with some small glimmers of potential, but also many wasted opportunities. Now for the ultra long, wordy Super Dork version... As many on this thread know, I was never a fan of this "Andromeda" thing. This idea of having to go to another galaxy to explore uncharted worlds was always ridiculous in concept, knowing that 1% of the Milky Way had actually been charted and explored. However everyone knows why we're really here, we're here because Bioware, imo, made a mistake. A mistake that has cost Bioware in various ways, some minor, some larger. That said I do not enjoy the bending, twisting of the lore that had to happen in order to make this possible. Using Mass Relays as a telescope is always going to be dumb to me. You will never change my mind, so don't bother. But alas in Andromeda we are, and what exactly does it provide? Well...honestly, more of the same. This is not a compliment for me. What follows is entirely preference, so feel free to ignore it or whatever lovers of the game do around here. Andromeda kinda feels like a joke. It's not nearly Alien enough. It's far too familiar to what we left behind. I understand why this was done, but honestly for me, if your going to jump to a whole different galaxy, I want it to be truly alien. I want to see things that are just incomprehensible. Every time the game showed something that is suppose to be "ooh look how strange and weird that is!" I just shook my head and said to myself "No, these are all things that could easily have been discovered in the Milky Way, since 1% of it was charted." Flying alien manta ray things on Havarl? "ooo thats so weird" No, no it's really not. The game tries WAY too hard to sell you on this idea that everything is so weird and mysterious, but it's not, not even a little. It's the same milky way tricks in a different location. The only real exception to this is The Scourge, this is the one truly alien element that I just cannot see in the Milky Way. It's truly a shame that it ultimately played such a small role in the game. Assuming a sequel gets made I hope they take more advantage of it. Andromeda also feels wholly inconsistent, on the one hand when we arrive, we're told that things are at the brink. Everyone is starving and desperate. There was an "uprising" of people because leadership failed on levels so great it makes the Citadel Council look competent. These people who dared to voice their skepticism were banished, basically sent off to die in the uninhabitable cluster. These people include the Chief of Security Sloane Kelly, whose crime was trying to prevent wholesale slaughter of scared, angry people looking for answers. Okay cool, no problem. I finally find the exiles and what do I see? that their doing just peachy keen, WAY better in fact, than the people who kicked them out as a "punishment". I'm not sure what this says about the game. I cannot decide if this is born of developer incompetence, or if this was wholly deliberate to hammer home just how pants-on-head retarded the Nexus Leadership is. I suspect it is the former, but the latter is wholly possible, given what a sniveling, disgusting worm Director Tann is. This leads me to the characters. Tann is easily in the Top 10 of "Most annoying Bioware characters". Yet for me, hes only the Third most annoying character in THIS GAME. Tann is such a typical trope character, so typical in fact that I'm frankly tired of it. I'm utterly done with Bioware doing the "lol political leaders are all dumb idiots" thing. Tann is a fucking weasel, the absolute definition of stereotype politician. I seriously held more respect for the Citadel Council than I do this man. He is utterly worthless and cannot for the life of me understand why he is STILL in charge. My first time through the game, I didn't pay much attention to Tann, and brushed him off. This time however it was like seeing him for the first time, and holy hell did I hate every second I spent with him. My new understanding of this man has changed several views I've held until now... Kesh is still badass, moving along... My biggest surprise however, is the 180 change in opinion I've had about Addison. Make no mistake, shes not really a nice person. Shes still manipulative and overly political. However during this second time through, paying more attention to various things, I cannot shake the feeling that shes really not as shit as she seems. I get the impression that shes so prissy and nasty because like many, shes just been so frustrated for so long about the constant political bullshit and the complete and utter lack of progress. I had to remind myself that, until you found Eos, her opinions about things mean basically nothing, and no one cares how she feels about decisions. Also Tann has made it pretty clear that if you don't follow "protocol" he'll gladly look for a replacement, preferably another Salarian <.< You can argue that she should just stand by what she believes regardless, to hell with the position. That is valid to a degree, but she IS in a position that can enact positive change on a large scale...once things get going. To toss that potential aside is no easy ask. Jaal, Vetra, Suvi, Kallo, Lexi, and Drack are fine, nothing else to really say. Competent companions with no real complaints. Cora, sigh, Cora just does not make sense. Her personality and demeanor are perfectly fine. Shes a very nice, level headed woman. Logical choice for wife material. What makes no sense about her is her backstory. The OT gave NO indications that biotic people are treated like freaks in the milky way, or weirdos who get picked on. This just flies in the face of established norms in the OT. The fact she has to go be with Asari Commando's to find acceptance? I'm sorry that's just silly. Her character is basically an Asari reskinned as a human. I've no idea why they gave a human the backstory that obviously belongs to an Asari aside from "lol that would be too predictable". Except that's a crap excuse given how many times in the game they lean on obvious, expected tropes. To me, it would be FAR less predictable for us to have an actual Asari Commando for a companion, rather than a human asari commando. Why? Because the only Asari companion we got was a carbon copy of Liara's background. A super young "Ancient Alien" expert who gets no respect. Why does the ancient alien expert have to always be Asari? Why can't it be a human, or a Salarian? Anything else really? Honestly Cora and PeeBee should have just swapped places imo. They can keep their personalities, but their backgrounds and role being swapped would be far less banal. Speaking of Ancient Alien expert...why does the Tempest even have one? PeeBee contributes almost nothing throughout the plot in regards to her field of Rem Tech study. SAM does literally everything Rem Tech related, the whole game. He translates the language, he figures out the programs, the bypasses, he even acquires the data logs to shed light on the Jaardan's history. These are all the things that narratively, PeeBee should be doing. Shes even more worthless to the crew than Liara was, because only Liara knew wtf Ilos was (a topic for another time). PeeBee does not even have that, she has literally no benefit she brings, other than being another body and making a Tech drone power that's kinda shit. Liam is toxic waste, the definition of a character that I just want off my screen. I would take James Vega 7 days a week and twice on Sunday over this halfwit. I'm tired of not being able to throw companions off the ship. Pissed me off in the OT and that sad trend continues here. Idc if throwing a particular Companion off the ship dooms me to failure at the end. Let me make that choice, that's why killing Vivec in Morrowind is brilliant. You break the campaign doing it, but the game does not stop you from making that mistake. Stop railroading my options in damn rpgs. The armor designs are exceptional. In fact in many cases it's the best in the series, and makes me wish they do a whole franchise reboot with this new philosophy in armor design. the Nomad handles nicely, my only complaints are the lack of weapons on it, and the pointless 6WD mode. There is no reason for that to exist. Besides that, most side "quests" have the same problem as DAI, tedious busy work whose only purpose is to pad out game time. This is not the type of content that I enjoy doing, and thus is a negative. I also encountered an insane amount of bugs and glitches during this play through. Like, it's astounding. Other than that all I got left is nit picky detail things, like wanting an animation for getting in and out of the Nomad, and other such type of detail things.
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inherit
4588
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therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 9, 2020 18:55:06 GMT
I think this isn't the first time he liked a comment about the upsides of using Anthem's codebase... Of course he would. I mean, as I've said many times, creating one giant pool of art assets, code, animations mechanics etc that can possibly be shared across a studios titles, and can grow over time with more games, is one of the smartest things a developer can do to cut down costs and save time so they can add new features. The problem until now is that Bioware simply hasn't been doing that. They've been starting from zero every game. EA publishes a lot of games, almost all of them are on Frostbite. Surely Bioware can pull assets not just from their own library, but also from assets of other EA Frostbite titles. Using Anthems code-base for their games moving forward is just the first step in finally making use of this strategy. For example, maybe if Andromeda 2 ever happens, we can finally get REAL jet packs, because Anthem has jets.
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inherit
4588
0
2,875
therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 7, 2020 22:12:34 GMT
Ah, but in order to ensure Tali is not exiled and still maintain loyalty, requires the use of the same magical persuade system that we've established is horrible. However you are more or less correct about it closely resembling the system you described, I simply believe that particular situation is beyond diplomacy, because frankly, there is NO REASON for Garrel to stop shooting from his PoV. They have the clear advantage, and only by Shepard "betraying" the Quarians and Tali will the Geth be able to defeat them. I cannot see a world where you can convince a General/Admiral to cease firing when victory is clearly in their grasp, aside from straight up telling him "if you don't stop, I'm gonna let the Geth kill your entire race" which...imo, is not gonna convince anyone. As for Major Kyle, I agree entirely. Only the Torfan Shepard should be able to talk him down, but it should be difficult, since Kyle sees you as the wicked "Butcher of Torfan". just like Akuze Shepard should be the only one who can talk down Toombs, because like Kyle only Akuze Shepard has even the faintest idea of what Toombs went through. The only real objection I would have in theory, is War Hero Shepard wouldn't have a unique "talk someone down" mission. Because the Pirate King who led the attack on Elysium is hell bent on killing you for making him look like a idiot. Aside from that I believe it's entirely possible to avoid this, and thus hardly inevitable. Much like Mass Effect itself proves that it's not inevitable, despite so many people on this forum insisting that ME proves it is. The Quarians ARE better than the Geth. Without Reaper intervention, the Geth lose, period. The Reapers themselves are a contradiction that is illogical, they are machines that butcher organics, so that organics don't get butchered by machines. Yet, they also provide aid to inferior machines (the Geth) when Organics prove they are capable of defeating them...they provide this aid so that the machines are able to defeat the organics...which is what the Reapers are apparently suppose to be trying to avoid. I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone whose played this franchise, think that makes sense. Not only make sense but be some ridiculous poetic statement. Even in the previous cycle, the Protheans were able to easily defeat the machine constructs of their cycle, until the Reapers showed up...and again boosted the machines to make it easier for them to defeat the organics..... I'm sorry, but if anything, ME has told me that AI is easily able to be held in check by organic beings, if not for the outside interference of other machines who insist their trying to protect organics by butchering them. For clarity - the quoted material below the phrase "Aside from that:" in the above was not written by me, so I'm not sure why you're addressing the response to it towards me. I was aware, for some reason my brain told me it would be obnoxious to make 2 posts back to back to address that separately.
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inherit
4588
0
2,875
therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 7, 2020 2:20:43 GMT
Aye, that most likely is why dialogue is so limiting in most modern rpgs. The robust system you described would be an absolute wet dream, alas as you said, that would be a very niche game for a small playerbase. However, I think there might be a compromise. How about a dice roll to determine weather or not you convince Major Kyle? where the charisma provides a modifier, positive or negative? "But whats the point of that? you'll just keep reloading until you win" I can hear in response. Yes you can, but you don't have to. That's up to the player to decide how dynamic they want their experience to be. As you said, I wanted to shove legion into the airlock straight away after he betrayed the crew. It infuriates me to this day that I cannot. It upsets me that Dragon Age Origins is the last Bioware game where you can theoretically lose most of your party due to your actions. However, I also detest, in many cases, the Third Option. Because for me, the third option neuters any sense of tension or stakes. I hated how if I just leave Redcliff and come back after Mage tower I can remove any sense of difficulty for me in terms of what choice to make. Now I don't have to self reflect or put any real thought into it, because I can just take the obvious rainbows decision. Like-wise for the Rannoch choice. I cannot believe for one minute that after 300 years of hostilities, after all the millions of dead, that those two peoples are just gonna stop shooting each other because Shepard screams loud enough (and does the Geth a bunch of favors they arguably don't deserve). I'm sorry, there is no situation where I can buy into that possibility. To me it's either The Geth, or the Quarians, never both. Because yes, while not everything is zero sum, not everything is one or the other, but sometimes, sometimes, it is. Edit: When I first did Legions loyalty mission, I literally stopped the game for a WEEK, because I could not decide which impossible choice to make. Genocide, or Mass forced brainwashing. Both options equally horrible to me. That choice was beautiful, it was perfect. And I remember every second of that week I spent debating myself, cursing Legions processes for being unable to come to concusses. I LOVED how painful it was for me, and I openly cried, a week later when finally, with shaky hand and filled with self loathing, I selected Rewrite... The geth/quarian war settlement came a lot closer to the deeper model I suggested than anything in ME1 because you had to do a lot more along the way to earn that option in the first place. For example, you had to save Tali from exile and keep her loyalty. You had to save General Koris (which is not a favor for the geth). You also had to have a loyal Legion present, which means you had to tolerate his BS in ME2. In short, you were earning respect from the two parties embroiled in the war so that, when push came to shove they might listen to your counsel. That's far more realistic than walking in on Major Kyle, possibly having never met him once, and just telling him he's being an idiot in a "charming" way.
For the Geth/Quarian war, I would have put more weight on how you dealt with Gerrel. For the Major Kyle incident, I would have it such that only the Shepard with the Torfan background would have the ability to talk him out of the fight... and that Shepard would have to work for that result over a much longer dialogue... involving Kyle's followers more in a concrete way to see that their leader got the heal he needed. There would also be none of this "I'm just sending a ship to pick you up (while I loot the place) and I'm going to trust you to turn yourself in" line at the end of it. Kyle would accompany Shepard then and there to Normandy and Shepard would have to actually deliver him to an Alliance facility. En route, they could talk about what really happened on Torfan.
Ah, but in order to ensure Tali is not exiled and still maintain loyalty, requires the use of the same magical persuade system that we've established is horrible. However you are more or less correct about it closely resembling the system you described, I simply believe that particular situation is beyond diplomacy, because frankly, there is NO REASON for Garrel to stop shooting from his PoV. They have the clear advantage, and only by Shepard "betraying" the Quarians and Tali will the Geth be able to defeat them. I cannot see a world where you can convince a General/Admiral to cease firing when victory is clearly in their grasp, aside from straight up telling him "if you don't stop, I'm gonna let the Geth kill your entire race" which...imo, is not gonna convince anyone. As for Major Kyle, I agree entirely. Only the Torfan Shepard should be able to talk him down, but it should be difficult, since Kyle sees you as the wicked "Butcher of Torfan". just like Akuze Shepard should be the only one who can talk down Toombs, because like Kyle only Akuze Shepard has even the faintest idea of what Toombs went through. The only real objection I would have in theory, is War Hero Shepard wouldn't have a unique "talk someone down" mission. Because the Pirate King who led the attack on Elysium is hell bent on killing you for making him look like a idiot. Aside from that I believe it's entirely possible to avoid this, and thus hardly inevitable. Much like Mass Effect itself proves that it's not inevitable, despite so many people on this forum insisting that ME proves it is. The Quarians ARE better than the Geth. Without Reaper intervention, the Geth lose, period. The Reapers themselves are a contradiction that is illogical, they are machines that butcher organics, so that organics don't get butchered by machines. Yet, they also provide aid to inferior machines (the Geth) when Organics prove they are capable of defeating them...they provide this aid so that the machines are able to defeat the organics...which is what the Reapers are apparently suppose to be trying to avoid. I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone whose played this franchise, think that makes sense. Not only make sense but be some ridiculous poetic statement. Even in the previous cycle, the Protheans were able to easily defeat the machine constructs of their cycle, until the Reapers showed up...and again boosted the machines to make it easier for them to defeat the organics..... I'm sorry, but if anything, ME has told me that AI is easily able to be held in check by organic beings, if not for the outside interference of other machines who insist their trying to protect organics by butchering them.
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inherit
4588
0
2,875
therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 6, 2020 6:42:19 GMT
Damn, thats a thought that never really occurred to me until now. Except wouldn't it be more fair to say Casey was Roddenberry? He was the primary lead on Mass Effect after all, for better and worse. It was ultimately Casey's choices that made ME what it became, including lazily ripping off Deus Ex's ending and claiming artistic vision. Casey Hudson was more of a George Lucas imo who certainly had an undeniable role in shaping the lore and taking inspiration from various sources who got the ball rolling without whom none of which would have been possible but in terms of the writing Drew was the big picture guy and Mac was the character writer guy more focused on living in the moment. As Drews involvement waned the narrative structure fell off a cliff and Mac did not have a clue about where to go with it which is why Casey stepped in at the last minute to rescue the project with Deus Ex one’s ending to the bewilderment of the rest of the writing staff who correctly recognised that it did not arise naturally from the script, went against the tone and themes, abandoned it’s character focus and central narrative focus, etc which is what you would expect from an non writer ripping off an ending to an entirely different game. But isn't George just the Roddenberry of Star Wars? Forgive my possible ignorance, but I was not quite old enough to care about Star Trek when Rod was still alive, but from my understanding, at least in TNG, Rod did some of the writing, but most of it was done by other people, and Rod would approve or reject ideas, similar to how George worked on Star Wars for -most- of his career. However, I can see what your saying. Drew was definitely the big picture, "plot" writer for Bioware, he wasn't the best, but his work was bare minimum acceptable most times I would say. It's clear from the ending of ME1 that Drew had at least some outline of a plan in mind. (what we know now I'm not sure if it was a good plan or not, but regardless). As you said, Mac is a Characters guy. Characters at the expense of everything else. All that matters is right now. That attitude has it's place, and can be valuable on a team. Mac is very good at writing characters. Mac should never, however, be in charge of a narrative team ever again. I feel if they had kept Drew on ME, instead of moving him to TOR, the two of them might have truly made a magical writing combo, where both plot and characters get lots of attention, because both Drew and Mac need to be checked so they don't get out of hand either way. In that respect they are both like George. George is a brilliant filmmaker, in a group. George and people like him can sometimes just think too much, and need others to be like "Hey man, we need to get this ironed out". It was really summed up quite nicely in this page of The Retrospective.
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1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 6, 2020 2:09:37 GMT
For better or worse, it IS what the audience wants. In many ways it's also what the writers want. The behind the scenes drama of early TNG is infamous. The writing staff was at wits end trying to come up with scripts and screenplays they were happy with because they had to conform to Roddenberry's uncompromising idea that humanity has reached a point where they are basically perfect and almost never fail at anything. Because perfection is boring, this is how the writers felt about the product. TNG went through dozens and dozens of writers, more than any other show to date due to this ridiculous mandate that there can be no conflict, and everyone just calmly talks everything out. Once Rod passed, and Berman took over, the struggle of the writers continued for awhile because Berman wanted to preserve Rod's vision of a perfect, Utopian future. However ratings were so bad for early TNG he had to relent, and shortly after that is when Best of Both Worlds happend, and the show took off, because interesting conflict was finally introduced. This is why In The Pale Moonlight is considered by MANY people, the greatest episode of Trek ever made. Drew Karpyshyn was to Mass Effect what Rodenberry was to star trek. Mac Walters is the Rick Berman of Mass Effect in that he was instrumental in both it's success and it's undoing. Damn, thats a thought that never really occurred to me until now. Except wouldn't it be more fair to say Casey was Roddenberry? He was the primary lead on Mass Effect after all, for better and worse. It was ultimately Casey's choices that made ME what it became, including lazily ripping off Deus Ex's ending and claiming artistic vision.
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inherit
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therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 5, 2020 19:19:27 GMT
I expect either Andromeda 2, or a full franchise reboot set in the milky way. A remaster is not something I see ever happening, nor is an MMO given they have Anthem AND TOR to still worry about. I expect Andromeda 2 to have little chance IF Bioware does not recover some reputation before then. But then again I see anything ME related not having run away success under the current circumstances.
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inherit
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0
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therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 5, 2020 18:36:58 GMT
It's just too bad that Rick Berman was also a massive pile of shit himself. Edit: Oh, IS. Dude is still alive somehow. Aye, Berman is a steaming pile of fecal matter, there is no debate to be had about that. Star Trek died for over 10 years because of Rick Berman, and when it finally returned it was a husk of it's former self.
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inherit
4588
0
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therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 5, 2020 18:25:59 GMT
I’ve always thought of Mass Effect as Roddenberry-lite sci-fi but there hasn’t been a place for that in contemporary popular culture since arguably the mid 90s - even Star Trek has essentially abandoned it’s own identity in the pursuit of appealing to mainstream audiences who want the anathema of a bright hopeful optimistic vision of the future where people of all races and species come together to resolve philosophical problems with words. I’m a huge fan of indie and alternative rock bands but appreciate at some point you have to pay the bills for the sake of your own career as invariably they all do or die in obscurity. The best part though is that Trek turned into mindless garbage as a result. But, if it's what the audience wants, let them eat shit. For better or worse, it IS what the audience wants. In many ways it's also what the writers want. The behind the scenes drama of early TNG is infamous. The writing staff was at wits end trying to come up with scripts and screenplays they were happy with because they had to conform to Roddenberry's uncompromising idea that humanity has reached a point where they are basically perfect and almost never fail at anything. Because perfection is boring, this is how the writers felt about the product. TNG went through dozens and dozens of writers, more than any other show to date due to this ridiculous mandate that there can be no conflict, and everyone just calmly talks everything out. Once Rod passed, and Berman took over, the struggle of the writers continued for awhile because Berman wanted to preserve Rod's vision of a perfect, Utopian future. However ratings were so bad for early TNG he had to relent, and shortly after that is when Best of Both Worlds happend, and the show took off, because interesting conflict was finally introduced. This is why In The Pale Moonlight is considered by MANY people, the greatest episode of Trek ever made. "It's easy to be a Saint in Paradise."
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inherit
4588
0
2,875
therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 5, 2020 17:26:46 GMT
I agree, I greatly miss all the ideas and mechanics the franchise has lost. Warlord Darious and Major Kyle are two of my most memorable side missions from ME1. If anything I feel like Andromeda should have doubled down on these things, given that Pathfinder is part Diplomat. i mean sure, the gunplay in Andromeda is fine, but I'm really tired of shooting being the primary way to solve any problem. Kingdome Come does this very well, of providing a multitude of ways of dealing with problems. It's a truly refreshing feeling, and makes me even more excited for Cyberpunk. I wouldn't mind more negotiation missions, but I don't like the "one charisma line" solves everything mechanic that permeated ME1 and that I've seen in other RPG's. Players should have to work to achieve a peaceful resolution by first having to figure out (through inquiry) what is most important to the other side and then actively deciding if giving the other side what they want or at least something of what they want will reasonably get them to back down as well as balance out whatever the player has to sacrifice to make that happen.
I'm not sure even RPG players would be amenable to there being that much inquiry and dialogue required to complete a single task, and I'm almost certain it would turn away a lot of more casual gamers who like to play for briefer periods at a stretch. I think that's why we end up getting the somewhat ridiculous setting where the PC is just so charismatic they can end a war just with a one liner or cause an adversary to instantly turn on themselves and commit suicide.
Aye, that most likely is why dialogue is so limiting in most modern rpgs. The robust system you described would be an absolute wet dream, alas as you said, that would be a very niche game for a small playerbase. However, I think there might be a compromise. How about a dice roll to determine weather or not you convince Major Kyle? where the charisma provides a modifier, positive or negative? "But whats the point of that? you'll just keep reloading until you win" I can hear in response. Yes you can, but you don't have to. That's up to the player to decide how dynamic they want their experience to be. As you said, I wanted to shove legion into the airlock straight away after he betrayed the crew. It infuriates me to this day that I cannot. It upsets me that Dragon Age Origins is the last Bioware game where you can theoretically lose most of your party due to your actions. However, I also detest, in many cases, the Third Option. Because for me, the third option neuters any sense of tension or stakes. I hated how if I just leave Redcliff and come back after Mage tower I can remove any sense of difficulty for me in terms of what choice to make. Now I don't have to self reflect or put any real thought into it, because I can just take the obvious rainbows decision. Like-wise for the Rannoch choice. I cannot believe for one minute that after 300 years of hostilities, after all the millions of dead, that those two peoples are just gonna stop shooting each other because Shepard screams loud enough (and does the Geth a bunch of favors they arguably don't deserve). I'm sorry, there is no situation where I can buy into that possibility. To me it's either The Geth, or the Quarians, never both. Because yes, while not everything is zero sum, not everything is one or the other, but sometimes, sometimes, it is. Edit: When I first did Legions loyalty mission, I literally stopped the game for a WEEK, because I could not decide which impossible choice to make. Genocide, or Mass forced brainwashing. Both options equally horrible to me. That choice was beautiful, it was perfect. And I remember every second of that week I spent debating myself, cursing Legions processes for being unable to come to concusses. I LOVED how painful it was for me, and I openly cried, a week later when finally, with shaky hand and filled with self loathing, I selected Rewrite...
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inherit
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0
2,875
therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 5, 2020 17:02:58 GMT
Would you throw Kosta off the ship, and put him in the brig for what he did? Yes, Kosta deserves to be thrown in the brig or off the ship since there is no brig.. Would you throw Legion off the ship for what he did... or are you into just complaining about ME:A? Since you've never mentioned throwing Legion off the ship, I suspect it's the former. My point has always been that the OT has the same sort of schoolyard nonsense in it as ME:A. ME:A is no worse than its predecessor. What's off is that the fans overlook it all in the OT (particularly in ME1 and, to a lesser extent, ME2) and rage only against ME3 and ME:A.
Why can't we take Jacob's suggestion and deactivate Legion with bullets right after interrogating him... or at least decide not to take him up on his offer to "join us."? The game forces us to decide blind... without the opportunity to talk with Legion and with no opportunity to decide after interrogating him that he's too great a security risk to take on as part of the crew... and then when he proves himself to not be trustworthy, the commander cannot act on that even to protect his/her ship and crew from that security risk.
Lorewise, Ryder is green at being in command and makes huge mistakes, with a basic personality that is too accommodating (too paragon). Lorewise, he/she is also young and, as I've said before, I fully expect would "grow up" going into the next ME:A segment. Shepard, on the other hand, has no excuse... with some backgrounds, even being considered a "ruthless" commander... yet, he/she goes to romantic mush just to spare the romance-ability of little Tali or Miranda or Jack or to earn the loyalty of a machine just because it has a case of idol worship syndrome.
I don't even turn it on anymore. I ship it off to Cerberus. Screw those damn dirty machines! -shakes fist-
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 4, 2020 16:20:15 GMT
Why assume they would still be around? Any number of things could happen to destroy them before they get that far. Or, the opposite. They could have evolved so far as to no longer be around anymore anyway.
Um, you don't have to fight your way out (or in) on Major Kyle's mission. You can talk your way out of it and get him to surrender without killing anyone.
That’s what I said, no? What I’m saying is that after ME1, missions with more variety in their outcomes are pared down to nonexistent. I want more missions like Major Kyle because I can either choose between a peaceful or violent resolution. Cyberpunk, thankfully, is going to offer this throughout the entire game. I agree, I greatly miss all the ideas and mechanics the franchise has lost. Warlord Darious and Major Kyle are two of my most memorable side missions from ME1. If anything I feel like Andromeda should have doubled down on these things, given that Pathfinder is part Diplomat. i mean sure, the gunplay in Andromeda is fine, but I'm really tired of shooting being the primary way to solve any problem. Kingdome Come does this very well, of providing a multitude of ways of dealing with problems. It's a truly refreshing feeling, and makes me even more excited for Cyberpunk.
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therevanchist25
1,741
Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Mar 2, 2020 0:07:17 GMT
So we just gonna pretend this woman never existed? Okay.
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 29, 2020 11:25:46 GMT
I still think if BioWare does a Leviathan or Reaper connection in Andromeda (I don’t think they will) the more likely connection is the Kett. They combine the DNA of all subjugated races into their own, both preserving those races within them as well as advancing themselves. Seems quite similar to the Reaper mindset, maybe a different solution being tried than the harvests. Oh no, Starbrat copied himself and shipped it to Andromeda, where he created the new Kett Empire! AAAAHHH!!!!
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therevanchist25
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 29, 2020 5:13:05 GMT
I highly doubt the Leviathans are/were Jaardan, simply because of the Jaardan buildings we explore. Their computer interfaces and architecture heavily imply a smaller, humanoid race, not a giant Cthulhu-like race the size of a building. Except Leviathan really doesn't tend to do anything first hand, but uses its thrall races to do it for them. The vaults are also massive structures where we had to platform over massive cavernous aras... Khi'Tasira included with the Angara prototypes stacked several high. The layout of the Vaults makes no logical sense in terms of "people use to live here". They are gamey in design to the extreme. In my opinion to the determent of believe ability. So to use that as proof that the Jaardan were giants is flimsy, however not impossible. You are correct however that it COULD be a servant race. There is no way to disprove that at this time. Again however i personally, find it unlikely that anything MW related ever touched Andromeda until the AI's arrival. I suppose only time will tell.
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March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 29, 2020 1:19:38 GMT
Since there is currently no evidence of the Reapers or Leviathans reaching Andromeda, and there is definitive proof of the Jardaan artificially creating species I would say so far it seems unlikely that they reached Andromeda. Unless they created the Jardaan a bazillion years ago, which I suppose is possible. Unless the Jaardan are a group of Leviathan that escaped the Milky Way Galaxy and in the 1 billion years in Andromeda figured out how to create life and thereby make their own thrall species... and their creations are based on Milky Way DNA. Perhaps, Heleus Cluster was a "dead zone" unable to support Andromeda life and that is why we're not finding anything much different from "us" in the Heleus Cluster. Also, the AI was attracted to Heleus because is scanned as being able to support Milky Way life. Nothing precludes Andromedan life based on a whole different premise than DNA existing in other clusters in the galaxy. I highly doubt the Leviathans are/were Jaardan, simply because of the Jaardan buildings we explore. Their computer interfaces and architecture heavily imply a smaller, humanoid race, not a giant Cthulhu-like race the size of a building.
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 28, 2020 22:35:14 GMT
It's arguably justified in the OT. Maybe most life in the MW really does run on DNA; early cycles could have seeded the galaxy with their own form of life. Sort of like Star Trek: TNG's "The Chase." Something similar could conceivably have happened in early Andromeda history -- we should probably assume it did if we want the kett to make any sense at all --but it wouldn't have used the same stuff. Possible, but it's never really addressed, even to the limited extent it was in Star Trek. And given the cycles, only the Leviathans could have plausibly have seeded both the MW and Andromeda. Unless the Reapers have proven to be even more incompetent than they demonstrated themselves in ME3. It would be interesting to see if the Leviathans managed to screw up another galaxy, I guess... Since there is currently no evidence of the Reapers or Leviathans reaching Andromeda, and there is definitive proof of the Jardaan artificially creating species I would say so far it seems unlikely that they reached Andromeda. Unless they created the Jardaan a bazillion years ago, which I suppose is possible.
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 28, 2020 7:16:56 GMT
Can you explain who those dumba** players are, and why you believe they're dumba** players? The point is that EA themselves don’t give two shits about the quality of narratives or any nonsense like that. All that matters is what’s marketable. If Shepard is dug out of the grave for another game, it won’t be because BioWare was inspired by some story potential, but purely as a cheap and easy way to pique fan interest. Only reason something like Fallen Order exists is because they have been walking on steadily thinning ice now that their molestation of the Star Wars IP has been catching up with them, and they want to continue to have their insidious death grip on the property in perpetuity throughout the universe. And just think, they still own the exclusive rights for 3 more years....I bet we don't get another game in that time frame.
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March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 28, 2020 6:11:14 GMT
But Mass Effect goes by the Rubber Forehead Alien route, where virtually all aliens are essentially humans with odd-shaped heads. Most of them can eat the same food, breathe the same air, and is susceptible to (mostly) the same diseases. Regardless of where they came from. Note this is NOT a knock on Mass Effect, it's a common trope seen in a lot of scifi stories. The problem is when Mass Effect gets inconsistent in its presentation It's arguably justified in the OT. Maybe most life in the MW really does run on DNA; early cycles could have seeded the galaxy with their own form of life. Sort of like Star Trek: TNG's "The Chase." Something similar could conceivably have happened in early Andromeda history -- we should probably assume it did if we want the kett to make any sense at all --but it wouldn't have used the same stuff. I mean have we all forgotten that the Angara are an artificially created species? Personally though, I'm getting very tired of the " super advanced and super dead Precursor" trope in sci fi, and Bioware games. Though I guess I have to give the game something. They outright mention in the opening of the game that Prothean technology is in fact more advanced than Jardaan, it's just that Jardaan tech is harder to use because Mass Effet tech was designed to be "plug and go".
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March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 28, 2020 5:49:42 GMT
We wouldn't be beating them over the head. But at the very least sedated in some form. You have no idea what its intentions are, what's it doing here, nor what's it capable of. This isn't ... Winter SparkleDash from My Little Pony, or whatever, that we're dealing with here. It is an unknown, highly intelligent, advanced, extra terrestrial life form, coming down to do fuck knows what, for whatever, possibly malevolent, reason. In such a case, if the alien is benevolent, it would understand the extreme prejudice it has been met with, because of our inferiority and if it is malevolent, good call on my part, yeah? That's still injuring. And sure, we don't know what their intentions are which is why only idiots would consider antagonizing them. It could turn an alien race that saw benefits towards working with humans to seeing humanity as a bunch of barbarians who aren't a potential ally but a threat. Also if it's malevolent then you treating it that way wouldn't help anything, since it would just give the rest the perfect excuse they need to do whatever they intend to. So your method has no gains but only costs. It's why contact with other civilizations in human history for the most part tried diplomacy since they wanted to scope the other out but in a way that didn't make an enemy if it could be avoided.
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 25, 2020 16:57:15 GMT
Combat in terms of being an infantryman. He commands a fleet of military ships, but doesn't actively engage in ground assaults like Shepard would. Post-war, a surviving Shepard should just be too badly damaged physically to keep going. Sure, medical science in the MEU is pretty fantastical, but unless we get a repeat of the voodoo magic that is Project Lazarus, Shepard should be far too worse for wear to keep doing that. In this position, I feel Shepard would be better suited aboard a more advanced Alliance carrier or dreadnought. Another thing I could imagine Shep doing is taking command of the N7 training program. Don't know whether their physical condition would allow them to do much hands-on training or demonstrating techniques, but given Shep's status as some sort of legendary icon, I don't know that it would matter. You know, that actually wouldn't be a terrible idea. Perhaps have a new PC whos going through N7 training on Titan, and they have to watch holos of a young Shepard showcasing what is expected of them as an N7. These could be holos the Alliance asked Shepard to make long before ME1, after proving how "Good" they are during The Blitz or Torfan or Akuze.
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 25, 2020 16:51:52 GMT
Ah but Hackett wasn't removed from combat. He led the failed defense of Earth in the opening of ME3. He was personally there commanding the ships when he ordered an entire fleet to die to save two other fleets. Combat in terms of being an infantryman. He commands a fleet of military ships, but doesn't actively engage in ground assaults like Shepard would. Post-war, a surviving Shepard should just be too badly damaged physically to keep going. Sure, medical science in the MEU is pretty fantastical, but unless we get a repeat of the voodoo magic that is Project Lazarus, Shepard should be far too worse for wear to keep doing that. In this position, I feel Shepard would be better suited aboard a more advanced Alliance carrier or dreadnought. Of course Shepard commanding a Carrier or the Everest would be vastly more appropriate, but whos gonna tell Shepard of all people whats "appropriate" or what their Flagship is? For the record I would be fine with Shepard using a Carrier or Dreadnought, but then I feel like the new PC shouldn't have the Normandy SR3. I understand why you think that would be neat, and it is a neat idea. However I can never seperate Shepard from the Normandy in my mind, so either they retired designation Normandy and put SR2 in a military museum or the SR3 is commanded by someone else who is very important, someone Shepard would deeply trust, as opposed to some new hot shot who hasn't proven anything yet.
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therevanchist25
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 25, 2020 10:36:39 GMT
I'm not so sure about that. Not sure my Shepard would ever surrender the Normandy while still on "active duty". I can see Admiral Shepard keeping it, and retrofitting the ever loving god out of it to be the most unstoppable beast of all time, serving as the Flagship of the new Alliance fleet. I would do this for one very important reason. Because we never got to see Destiny Ascension in action. Normandy would serve the same narrative purpose of DA, the "ooooh look at that bad ass ship" thing you drool over, then at the end of the game, perhaps while your character and crew are overwhelmed by the enemy, we get that raging fangasm moment. Or perhaps Or both? Personally, Normandy should be a ship that strikes fear into peoples souls in this new future timeline, both for the one who commands it, as well as because of it's arsenal. With Shepard now basically an office that no longer engages in combat, and as an NPC in this scenario, the Normandy doesn’t really serve any narrative purpose anymore anyway. If the Normandy is to stay in Shepard’s hands, then what would, or I guess should happen, is that the next ship for the PC is a more cutting edge variant. It would only make sense that the Alliance would want to improve upon a tried and true design. Ah but Hackett wasn't removed from combat. He led the failed defense of Earth in the opening of ME3. He was personally there commanding the ships when he ordered an entire fleet to die to save two other fleets.
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 25, 2020 4:08:05 GMT
Have this new young hot shot you play as be part of Admiral Shepard's Exploration division, who go forth and chart new sections of the Milky Way using their new Warp Drives that were made from studying Reaper Dreadnoughts, the ship is of course armed to defend itself, as is the ground vehicle they use to explore, because only morons sail off into the unknown with no means of self defense. I'll take no vehicle combat over sucky vehicle combat, but YMMV. Right, because clearly the only two possible options are No combat at all, or bad combat. I mean, it's not like Bioware could actually work on the system and make it decent for once.
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Mar 15, 2017 23:07:06 GMT
March 2017
therevanchist25
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by therevanchist25 on Feb 24, 2020 23:44:33 GMT
That's actually exactly what I would want from the next Mass Effect. Shepard is now in Hackett's job, the old scarred up bad ass geezer that is head of the Alliance fleet. While you play as some new young hot shot who may or may not be full of themselves (depending on player dialogue choices) I would basically move Mass Effect into the TNG phase, where the Trilogy was TOS. The big bad would likely be the Yahg who may or may not have been slightly uplifted by Leviathans or another new race that discovered the wider galaxy in the In-Between period and slowly took over large portions of the Terminus while the galaxy was weak and recovering. Maybe Aria used the galaxy's weakness as opportunity to forge her own empire in the Terminus as well, perhaps have a three way power deadlock with each border basically mirroring the 38th parallel in space. Because I do not subscribe to the thought of "The stakes must always go up!" Have this new young hot shot you play as be part of Admiral Shepard's Exploration division, who go forth and chart new sections of the Milky Way using their new Warp Drives that were made from studying Reaper Dreadnoughts, the ship is of course armed to defend itself, as is the ground vehicle they use to explore, because only morons sail off into the unknown with no means of self defense. There are plenty of ideas that could be utilized in a new Milky Way game that can have Shepard be present for marketing reasons but not still relegated to grunt work. You say you would prefer Shepard be retired, well maybe thats an option they provide at the beginning, and they swap out Shepard for some other important character from the trilogy having Hackett's job, like the VS or Miranda, or just some random nobody who took the job. I myself, my Shepard would never retire and would love to have Hackett's job. And that's the thing. I don't want this to be like some OK-one-more-Rocky-movie or something in some late attempt to pass the torch. The amount of time that's gone by lends itself to a much better progression than that. Just something that allows a surviving Shepard a more lofty position would work for me. OK, a bit of a fantasy scene of mine would be something where you get an advanced, finalized retrofit of the Normandy, which should still be a viable ship since in this timeframe it would still be a cutting edge vessel, and perhaps you could be sent off by Shepard him/herself, perhaps appearance coded by the old creator code we had in the previous games, or something like that, and you essentially assume command of this ship somehow. It's a bit hacky I know.....but I'd still love it lol I'm not so sure about that. Not sure my Shepard would ever surrender the Normandy while still on "active duty". I can see Admiral Shepard keeping it, and retrofitting the ever loving god out of it to be the most unstoppable beast of all time, serving as the Flagship of the new Alliance fleet. I would do this for one very important reason. Because we never got to see Destiny Ascension in action. Normandy would serve the same narrative purpose of DA, the "ooooh look at that bad ass ship" thing you drool over, then at the end of the game, perhaps while your character and crew are overwhelmed by the enemy, we get that raging fangasm moment. Or perhaps Or both? Personally, Normandy should be a ship that strikes fear into peoples souls in this new future timeline, both for the one who commands it, as well as because of it's arsenal.
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