First time in Andromeda

I like renegade. A paragon Shepard can have a worst playthrough than a renegade Shepard. I know. I've done it. One thing I did when I played a  paragon is have the memorial wall completely filled with names and getting the breath scene. excellent.

I actually with themikefest about working for Cerberus. But on the equal footing I do not mind that we do not have the choice to go rogue completely in Andromeda, but have to work within the AI as its rep. However, by his actions Ryder can be tanking the Initiative throughout the game, and easily plotting to do what he will with Meridian eventually. I do wish that there was a way to deal with Angara more aggressively, but Shepard does not have that latitude either particularly in ME3. His choices are more of a red shirt-blue shirt when it comes to side-show of Quarians vs Geth and Krogan vs Salarian. Turians and Asari are completely untouchable, even if you would love to have, say, Asari processed by the Reapers... like, an ooopsie... there goes Thessia... oh, well... so sad, too bad.

If the player cares about that, he can just not choose those options.

I'm not seeing that at all, but then I might judge dialogue differently.

I can't antagonise the NPCs in a way to which they'll react, but I can mock them or be snide (or at least wry). The intent belongs to me, not the writers.

That the NPCs don't react as if I'm making fun of them is not evidence that I'm not making fun of them. I KNOW I'm making fun of them. I'm the one doing it; that they don't notice just makes them look dumb, but that adds to the realism.

It's important to me because I live & die by my abilities. I don't think I fired a gun after the first 5 hours of ME3.


Much like DAI, this game needs documentation.

I don't care about the council. And what you posted I've never experienced because I've never saved them in ME1. The one time I chose Anderson as councilor, I told him to stuff the offer to reinstate my spectre status where the sun doesn't shine. 

If you're going to tie a person's freedom in dialogue to what they can actually do in a story oriented game, keeping in mind even Bioware is about "illusion of choice" and not real freedom unlike Bethesda, you are going to have an extremely bland and dull game to play. The dialogue options do allow a person to control the personality of the protagonist which is nice considering they can't control the story or the world to any meaningful degree. 

Assault Turret appears to be significantly more powerful than it was in ME3.

I've been using that a lot.

Yeah, if he knows in advance that they won't be handled well. I suppose we do know that, though, given our experience with Bio's house style. In practice I don't go in for the pointless douchebaggery anyway.

Treason?  

I mean they did kill an Alliance Admiral, have commited several known acts of terrorism and participate in illegal experiments...and are actually called an avowed enemy of the Council in Mass Effect 2.  If my memory does serve me correctly.  So yeah, Shepard commited treason and all the Council can do is sort of growl and insult them.  

The thing is what you want just is not possible in the video game world.  You want a character that can do whatever you want them to do.  The kind of total control provided that you are asking for is not possible based on the programming and dialogue restraints of the game, any game.  Not the Elder Scrolls, not Fall Our, not Witcher, not Dragon Age.  The only ways you can achieve that control is IRL, your own real life, and if you were writing the game in question.  

Shepard's problem was I felt many of his actions were unrealstic and kind of over the top brutish.  It turned Shepard into a caricature at times.  This problem came to a head with the mess of ME 3s dialog system that let you be either mind numbingly angellic, stupidly evil and aggressive or ocassionaly some bizzare and inexplicable examples of nuance.  I think what many people confuse with 'four ways of the paragon' like I have heard some people call Andromeda is Ryder being able to be a nuanced, realistic, person and not a bi polar caricature.  Though neither of my Ryders were especially teenaged (aside from a couple of examples with Frida's delivery)