Anyone else ridiculously happy that ME A will be a Ryder family affair?

It really depends on how it's handled. If it's in the realm on DA2, cool. Breaking Bad… not so cool.


I think it was a timing thing, and considering the mage emphasis in the family, it wasn't unnecessarily precedented. A bit of an aside, it is possible to smooth things over with Carver if you go along with his way of thinking. I don't think you'll be best buds or anything but it leaves little incentive for bickering towards the end.

ridiculously happy is a strong term. I'd say I'm more along the lines of vaguely interested. The family dynamic in DA2 didn't really do anything for me, positive or negative. So, I rate the family connection a strong "meh", behind about 15 other things I consider more interesting. But I don't hate the idea if it's used well.

I love the idea of a Ryder family. Excited to see where they're going with this! I just hope the sibling actually has a part to play in the game.

At first, I thought the Ryder sibling would be a squadmate, but the way Walters said "somewhere in the universe" makes me feel like that won't happen. Maybe the Ryder sibling is a bad guy? At this point, I'm pretty convinced that the N7 guy is the antagonist. If he's the dad, maybe your sibling will be working with him?

I just can't see them making the sibling exist without actually implementing them as an integral part of the story. That would be such a let down. 

What makes me really curious is how they plan on handling the sibling's appearance. Will it be based on how you customize your own character, like in DA2? Or something more like how Fallout 4 let you customize the spouse too? I just hope it isn't a preset.

OH OH OH. OR, MAYBE THEY'LL JUST WEAR ARMOUR ALL THE TIME AND YOU NEVER SEE THEIR FACE. 



...as long as they don't communicate through space email for the entirety of the game, I'm happy.

If we get to meet our family in the beginning of the game, only to have them tragically ripped away ten minutes later, I will be less than thrilled.

If the family members are a big part of the story throughout the game, then they have my attention. Killing off parents and siblings would be yawn inducing at this point.

I don't accept the idea that a Hero's Journey has to include dead parents/killing off the mentor. So if they are avoiding that trope this time around, awesome.

I really like the idea and as others have mentioned, I hope it's executed a bit better than Dragon Age 2. Strangely enough, I actually really enjoyed the dynamic between Hawke and Carver but think it suffered a bit through acts 2 and 3. If it's built into the game in a meaningful way, particularly if there's an opportunity to have conflicting viewpoints with one of/both of the family members, I think it could be really interesting. Hopefully it's not just a throwaway thing, I'd rather it be integrated into the story and have some importance in one way or another.

Since this is going to be a mandatory aspect to the game, I want the Mass Effect team to show me through the game itself why this was something that was worth being made mandatory. To put it simply: What does this being mandatory do for the story in a way that benefits it?

If all it amounts to is the father dying early on as a cheap way of initiating something then I would not see how that could not have been accomplished in some other manner or through some other character that the player would have had just as much (lack of) time to get attached to. Basically, I would not consider that to be something that make this family worth being mandatory. I'll note that I don't think this is the way they're planning on going and I am reserving judgement of this aspect to the stoy until I see for myself how well it is executed in the game.

One thing I absolutely do not want is a set relationship between the player character and their family. Within reason, I want the player to be able to decide what kind of relationship the player character and the player character's father have through dialogue and action. I want to be able to decide whether or not Ryder is close or distant to their family and whether they get along with their father or not. Not only could it allow for good roleplaying but it would also add variety to an aspect of the game that do not vary

I am just so excited for the Hawke family done right this time(hopefully).

Why should I - or anyone, really - be happy over something so trite?

Mmm, nope.

I don't even really get it.

Meh, I don't really care to have defined relationships set up already for the PC. A family already implies an intimacy the player won't necessarily feel in the first place. I didn't feel anything for the kid in ME3 (the whole situation was just too weird to believe that kid was real) and I dislike having the script try to imply I should feel something about a character.

I doubt they'll be able to do it like DAI. In DAI your family never actually appeared in the game, whereas in MEA both our father and sibling have roles. 

I hope it's good

From what we've seen we know next to nothing, they are a family, and there will be other people, and there will be shooting and exploding stuff and dangerous aliens/animals.