Most Underrated Game: One Year Later

How are you able to roleplay as Ryder? If you felt you can't roleplay as Shepard, why play the trilogy?

I really like Ryder's personality, too. I think the idea was to give us a more light-hearted game than we had with the MET. However, I still like more choices, stuff that can appeal to a wider range of people.

What options does Ryder have that Shepard doesn't have?

Shepard can still have scars by doing the things you listed, minus the data, if that mission is completed, and shooting A/K, but a squadmate can shoot A/K.

While I was absolutely OK with Ryder's youthful personality, I do completely agree that Shepard's dialogue selections were more divergent and that, as a result, people were able to craft PC's with equally divergent personalities.  I do recall complaints floating about here at BSN about Shepard seeming to be bi-polar, particularly in ME3 where there was more autodialogue.  Ideally, we would love to be able to just write everything our PC says on our own and yet still have it voiced and still have the NPC's react definitively to whatever we dream of saying.  It isn't realistic though.  I'm with you in that I do hope they bring back some more renegade-type dialogue... but I don't want to lose access to "happy-go-lucky" Ryder in the process.

The banter sides of things needs a lot of work.  It wasn't so much the individual lines that bothered me, but in how and when they triggered, which ones were allowed to repeat (for example, I hated continually hearing about the Periphona being on the ground lot after I had already found the Asari arc), and others that were continually getting cut off mid-sentence.  I didn't like ME1's system of having the squadmate just go "hmm" and then having to turn around and click on that squad member to get their comment.  I liked the automatic combat banter in ME3.  However, wwe weren't traveling in a high-speed rover, so the comments generally triggered while you were near enough to the "object" of the conversation that you could figure things out.   ME3 was also not an open-world game, so the combat comments were always appropriate to the mission you were actually working on.  I don't know how they'll do it, but they need to come up with something more suited to open-worlds if they are going to continue to offer banter in the game.

Incompetent would fit little Ryder. For someone who has been in the Alliance for 3-4 years, and have a father who was an N7, they show none of that in the game. 

You have Scott who was just a $10/hr security guard for the time he was in the Alliance. You would expect him to have a better grasp on security in the game, but he fails miserably in that area. Then you have Sara, who has peace keeping duties. Making sure everyone was safe from any threat while looking for anything prothean related. She failed miserably as well as seen in the game.

Where was the security for the ship to prevent someone from going on the ship to take the robot? It would be quite the sight if Ryder returns to see the crew dead. Why wasn't the robot scanned for foreign objects, a possible tracer, when it was recovered on Elaaden? Why didn't Ryder inform anyone, Nexus and Aya resistance, that the kett, namely Archon knew what she/he knew after being informed by Suvi that Archon knows what he/she knows? 

Ryder summed it up perfectly, after Eos, by saying, I don't care. Lets talk about the kicka** team we have. Forget the team. Lets talk about the I don't  care attitude. If you did care, some of the stuff may not have happened the way it happened.

I don't know if Ryder has to fill out a daily report or a mission report to be handed to Tann, but if I was in Tann's position, I would have a sit down with Ryder asking him/her if he/she cares about the safety and security of the ship and the crew that serves on that ship. I would point out what I mentioned above. I would even ask why she/he didn't ask for backup when going after Archon on his ship. I would have approved to have a couple of strike teams to help. The outcome might have been different without Archon ever knowing the location of the Nexus.

I would mention that she/he has a few successes, but the fact Ryder doesn't care about safety and security outweighs all that. 

Because of the I don't care attitude from Ryder, I would replace her/him to having someone who does care about the safety and security of the ship and crew. I would also tell Ryder that I currently have Nexus security taking Kosta into custody for what he did. I would ask Ryder why she/he would not have him removed from the squad for what he did. I would also have the asari taken into custody for what she did, and ask Ryder why she/he would continue having the asari on the roster after putting the crew, the pathfinder and the other squadmate in danger. 

Ryder would remain as pathfinder, and that's only because of the sam implant, but will not be in Command of the tempest.

The other stuff with Ryder is that she/he doesn't seem to care, obviously, to be able to stand up for themselves. I was surprised there was no reaction to being knocked to the ground by the asari. Even the mad is the smallest word I am dialogue was pathetic after what happened with the escape pod. Ryder needs to grow a backbone. 

Had Alec survived, it would have helped little Ryder grow as a leader in the game. In between missions, have Ryder talk with dad about what was done, and how it could have been done differently with the same result. 

As for a sequel. I rather not have Ryder return. If there is to be a sequel, I like to see a new main character with new characters

Right. The whole game works like this. It's not really useful to talk about this as being a problem with the Ryder character(s) when it's just a symptom of the way all the plots are constructed.

I'm actually more bugged by stuff like the flight paths of the asari and turian arks.

Is it possible that part of the issue is that you brought expectations of leadership style that simply weren't met by Ryder? Authority doesn't always shout, leadership doesn't always demand. Sometimes the most authoritative person in the room is the one who spoke but a single sentence in the softest voice. Sometimes leaders serve primarily as role models rather than dictators barking commands.  Sometimes group leaders/authorities aren't so much assigned or appointed as emerge through group dynamics and interaction.  There are different forms it can take.  IME, I've often found that real confidence - and real strength - are sometimes pretty quiet and unobtrusive.

When I consider who these people are, and try to see things through their eyes, it's like - wow. I think most of us tend to think of major life changes as things like marriage, divorce, becoming a parent, changing jobs/career fields, relocating. All of these things do have significant impacts on our lives, our futures, our economic stability, even what we're doing day to day. Some of them we can "undo" or otherwise make course corrections if they turn out to be mistakes or not serve our intended goals or purposes. And none of them even begin to compare with making the decision to move to an entirely different galaxy.

The people who went to Andromeda are people who chose to roll the dice in a way I find difficult to even imagine.  They trusted the Ai - and the technology - with their very lives, and submitted themselves to being frozen in cryo-sleep for 600+ years to wake in a new galaxy, never before visited by any of their species.  They left the known universe behind - permanently - to leap into the unknown.  To explore, to discover, to escape, to leap forward (or sideways, or backward, or...?).  They really cast their fate to the wind (or some level of trust in the geth telescope technology).  It strikes me as the sort of choice you'd make if you're more focused on living in the present moment and taking life as it comes instead of always planning some future someday.  That some might adopt a devil-may-care attitude about it all isn't something I find surprising.

The people who chose to go to Andromeda aren't people who lack courage, curiosity, or confidence.  I would suggest that every single one of them has at least 2 of those qualities at very high levels.  Is it possible their reaction to their dire situation is due to a level of faith in themselves that they expect to succeed in spite of it all?  Or maybe that, even if they all perish in the end, they will have seen and experienced things that nobody else has ever done before?

I also think the developers have the impression that people really enjoy clever lines and witty dialogue.  Witness the popularity of The Citadel DLC, with all of its attendant silliness.  People loved Mordin's patter songs, the krogan sushi quest, and the like.  There were other occasions throughout the trilogy where Shepard would say/do some clever things, especially via interrupts.

Ryder is quite a different character than what most of us are accustomed to, but the overall manner and approach works okay for me.

But, he didn't display quiet strength either. He as walked over in almost every situation.

Everybody has different expectations based on experience which can impact how you enjoy a game. I try not to put real world expectations into my enjoyment of a fictional universe though.

Virtually every Addison encounter, team meetings, multiple personal quests like Liams or Pee Bee, when first encountering the archon, a multitude of personal interactions on the ship he got the respect of a hall monitor not a leader, until near the end of the game I honestly can't think of a moment he displayed leadership or strength quiet or otherwise.  He was successful and got results, but no one said was inspired or followed him because his quiet strength it was because he was the only option or because his super powers allowed him to succeed. People out right would say it, I'm here because you are the only one doing something. That';s not a ringing endorsement its a I don't have another option. At the end he showed some strength. I'm okay with a growing hero story but jesus he started off pathetic and he didn't seem to really grow it was a sudden change near the end.

I liked the game but ryder was a dud imo.

I promised @pasquale a proper post.

I always think of my own leadership experiences and the leaders with whom I've served in varying capacities and organizations whenever I make one of these posts. I've never stated that because I didn't want to sound like a pretentious ass. Since you've given me the opportunity, though, I think I can talk about it without sounding that way.

I have been either a leader or the leader in most spheres since my late teens. That has included multiple organizations of differing types, and has meant leading lots of different individuals. Personally, I always try to lead in the way you described as "setting the example". I don't ask people to do something I wouldn't do. I treat everyone as individuals, and in the way I'd wish to be treated. I try to have a grasp on someone's views and feelings before offering criticism or coaching. I think this type of leader is far more effective under most circumstances than the loud mouth who barks orders.

All of that said, to be taken seriously, one has to be in control of the situation (or seem in control even when he or she isn't). At times, this just means projecting calm and confidence. Occasionally, Scott does this. He also gets better at it as the story progresses, no doubt by design. Often, though, each of the twins undermine their credibility with me by saying and doing things I'd expect from teens. (Sara's writing and VA makes her even worse than Scott.) At times in which discipline, confidence and authority might be needed, Ryder often delivers uncertainty and lack of confidence. If I were part of the crew, I'd be very concerned.

It's not just the writing for Scott/Sara. That annoying "good meeting everyone" scene was as much on the crew as on Ryder. Why would the career soldier Cora, or the seasoned warrior Drack walk out on their leader? They wouldn't; and yet they do. The scene was supposed to make Ryder look weak and uncertain. That's why we see Ryder later address a similar situation with, "I didn't say 'Meeting adjourned' or 'Dismissed'." We're supposed to see growth. I guess we see a little? I can't help but see a crew that still needs to be told to show respect. Not good, especially given the situation.

Basically, 22yo or not, Ryder was way too uncertain and openly uncomfortable for my tastes. In such a situation, I'd likely think, "Oh, crap. We're f$&@$! This kid is a ball lost in high weeds." Maybe this part of MEA works for some for the same reason it doesn't for me-- we each bring a bit of our real world expectations to the table. I know Ryder was written this way intentionally. I'm seeing exactly what I'm supposed to see-- a character who grows from questionable qualifications and uncertainty to become the Pathfinder. I just personally feel the uncertainty and lack of outward confidence is disturbingly overdone. In a real world, life or death situation, it would be hard to win over a team with that demeanor.

I realize this is a Space Opera in which our last protagonist, two years dead, was resurrected by "science". It's not real life. Still, I really prefer realistic interpersonal interactions. In that regard, Sheploo was very convincing as a seasoned military leader. (Femshep started well, but got bogged down in overly dramatic deliveries and creepy, flirty deliveries.) Ryder is convincing as an out of his/her depth teen, in my opinion. It creates a bit of dissonance for me as Ryder flip-flops back and forth from paramilitary commander to goofball extraordinaire. 

I always bring real life to the table, to some degree. It's the touchstone for everything, right? I have different expectations of realism for different works. Leadership decisions that fly in MEA might get a man killed in TW, for instance. Every setting has its own established feel. I think part of my issue is that MEA shifted the bar a bit from the MET. That was a stated goal, after a fashion, and was not unexpected; but that doesn't mean that it sits well with me. MEA's protagonists feel uneven to me.

EDIT: So many typos to correct