Mass Effect '5' speculation (Official Thread)

What I was kind of hoping for in a new ME before Andromeda was announced:

Groups of Reaper War survivors stranded in a vast, unexplored region of the Milky Way; They would have traveled through a previously unexplored Relay network while evading the Reapers. After the Relays were destroyed they had no way of realistically travelling back to civilized space. They'd be forced to be frontiersmen in a new part of the galaxy, needing to explore and build a new home- similar to what the Andromeda Initiative was tasked with.

Of course they probably won't return to the MW and that plotline would be too similar to MEA, except being in the MW rather than Andromeda.

Mom discovered in cryo, Mysterious Benefactor...hell, even the quarian message ought to be handled in a game.  The book stuff just doesn't cut it.

I am inclined to like the idea of the next game taking place quite some time in the future to give time for all colonization efforts to take place.

The book synopsis talks about some highly contagious disease being released on the ship. If BW follows the previous games there would most likely be some ingame characters or codex entries talking about the contents of the books.

True on Mom, but then we don't see it happen.  It's sort of pointless to have even been a thing if we're resolving it in a novel.

Second, it could, but it's no less relevant.  Is Ryder supposed to just forget about it for 20 years or is s/he actively investigating?  Is anyone?

Nexus Uprising isn't required reading.  It sets the stage for the game, fleshes things out, but all we need to know at the beginning of MEA is that something bad happened and Tann, inept at leading people, was left in charge.   Details largely don't matter and we're told everything we need to know.  Now, quarians in peril being resolved outside of the game is outright wrong.  You know as well as I do that there's no way that was ever the intention.  It would have made more sense to not have it mentioned in the game and then give us a book with some interesting things going on elsewhere in the Helius Cluster.  That's more in line with every other Mass Effect book, movie and comic that was unnecessary to read or view.  This would be the first Mass Effect novel to require you to read to understand some in-game plot.

It'll be like DAI. Sure, you know more if you've played that DA2 DLC, but everything you need to know is in the game. (Technically, playing the DLC gives you knowledge your PC doesn't have, so you're better off not playing it.)

Really doubt they would go down that route, especially with TIM preoccupied with the Reaper threat and finding a way to thwart it.

I hope they answer it in the next game.

I meant, nobody is going to resolve it in the novel. It's Ryder's personal stuff.

Without further leads Benefactor can successfully evade all suspicions, until they are forced to act again.

I really don't see how it's that much different from other major non-game events. As you needed to open codex to understand who are all these blue chicks and angry toads, you'll need to open one to see how fancy dressed astronauts got there.
As for how it was planned - should have planned the main game better, so we wouldn't end up like this.

Iconic musician born in the 1940's, like Dylan and Joplin.

Could have had Lennon, Jagger, Marley and many others... 'Bowie' seemed to fit Mass Effect best

If they do a MEA2, I don't think they need to do a 10-20 year timeskip. Just have it be a few years, like say 5. That still gives the Initiative plenty of time to set up and the Vaults plenty of time to work to see big advancements while still being able to play as Ryder and Co. to finish up their story.

Indeed, the list is long... 

I want the next ME to have sharks with frickin' Lazers!

Right now it's all about survival for Bioware and Anthem is their only iron left in the fire.
EA's Shareholders (game must be out by the End of March 2019 for business reasons) and demand list (Online, Multiplayer, Games as a Service bla bla bla) are a text book example of not learning from past mistakes. It's all too familiar unfortunately, thus I prepare for the worst (End of Bioware and ME).

I do hope for the best though, as I'd love to see a new Mass Effect game with focus on SP RPG story, lore, characters and expansions (like ME2 + their DLCs) and for those that want/need it, ME3 style Multiplayer.

Gameplay: ME3 + MEA vertical add on (Jumpjets).

Story (if it's):
MEA2: at least a couple of decades or centuries in the future, new cast and characters, much more alien diversity, less fetch quests and boring open world, plenty of answers (Benefactor, Jardan, Ark etc.) + new stories.

MET/Shepard: Unless they alter the ME3 endings, along the lines of Indoctrination Theory, leave the Shepard Story be.

Milky Way: Set, during the MET or after the First Contact War, but in different parts of the Galaxy than we know, possibly with a smaller overall story instead of the fate of the universe (ragtag team of thieves vs crime syndicates, treasure hunt of some sorts, Detective/Police on Space Station/Hub World).