Mac Walters at Comic Con today (updated)

Same here. I really, really, really, really (you get the idea) don't want to start up a fresh game in Andromeda and bump into a character that I know nothing about, and one who the game refuses to elaborate on, and that the only way I can learn more info about said character is to "read the book" 

Stuff like that is so pretentious and lazy to me. It's almost insinuating that you aren't a 'true' fan unless you pour though mountains of tie-in material just to get a basic grab of whats going on and who's who. It didn't work with Kai Leng in ME 3, or the Didect/Forerunners in Halo 4, and it won't work here. 

Having some characters background explained by comics doesn't necessarily means our MC will know about it. I will criticize it if it'll happen.
I'm not going to buy the comics either way,". I'll just find the informations on the wikia or other sites.

These "grey choices" are just trend nowdays, so I always get skeptical when I hear it. The simple presense of them doesn't make game any better. 
I'm to lazy to cut a picture, so just look on first frame for reference.

I'm hard pressed to count crewmembers, because regardless of whether or not they're part of your fireteam, they're still subordinates that live at your mobile base. A real outsider would have to be someone totally separated from the crew. Problem is that this character just won't have much if any insight on the main story of the game since s/he won't be witness to most of it. 

The more I hear about the gray options morally in MEA, the happier I am. I think Mass Effects renegade and paragon system was pretty revolutionary for the time and I'd like to see them implement a new system that is just as revelatory to the gaming industry. Hopefully the focus on nuance expands from the morality system to the relationships as well, because I felt while impressive for the time, the system is pretty shallow in retrospect.

It really depends on how exploration turns out. If the stories out there are of good quality i won't mind having to jump in the make and find them. However if exploration is like it was too often in DAI, a grindy fetchy mess it'll likely grind away my enjoyment of the game as it did in inquisition.

(I added the numbers) I lived without remembering that Mac Walters was still involved in ME:A for most of its development. It was nice. Anyway, most of it just seems like standard marketing talk - the kind you see for every game. "Everything will be bigger and better in the sequel!" I'm numb to it at this point, so I'll just have to say "I'll believe it when I see it."

1. Sounds good, but I've heard it before. Believe when seen.

2. New comics? Okay.

3. That sounds ominous, honestly. Wanting a "fresh start" within a franchise isn't usually a good sign. But we've knows what it was since it was conceived, so nothing new I suppose. "Not just 'another' Mass Effect"? Um... that's exactly what it should be!

4. If it has no armaments, I don't see how it could be more fun than ever.

5. Well that's nothing new, although non-squadmates come with the risk of having less content, which sucks (no lines on missions). If this is how it'll be, I really hope the non-squadmates use the radio a lot for banter etc.

6. Great. I mean that both sarcastically and sincerely, because it's impossible to tell if it'll be awesome exploration (I love it done right) or more along the lines of ME1's planets or DA:I's zones And the whole game is about that? We'll see...

7. I hope so, but we haven't seen any, so I'll believe it when I see it. Standard marketing.

8. Well I'm glad they finally added jumping/thrusters, that sounds great.

9. Yeah, I've heard that one before. Quite recently in fact. Blue Team, in Halo 5, was said before release to have more lines than all of their appearances in EU novels. It couldn't have been more wrong. "Having more lines" could be the result of combat callouts like "Enemies ahead!" "Contact" "Grenade!" etc. So again, I'll believe it when I hear it. I mean, companions are easily one of the best parts of Bioware games, and not something other companies do quite the same, so I hope they're not lying/twisting the truth.

10. Well, I suppose they have to break near-radio-silence and actually give us substantial info about the game at some point, so maybe it really will be on N7 day?

I have really enjoyed the romance-arcs with Samantha in ME3 and Cullen in DAI so for me it just fine to have a romance with a non-squad member. Sometimes it is actually easier to have your LI back at base or somewhere else because then you are free to bring which ever crewmember you want to to a specific mission. If I am romancing a crewmember I always drag them with me all the time so I don't happen to miss out on some unknown little extra thing in a cutscene or something like that.

As long as the non-crewmember-LI:s get good content and screentime I will be happy.

Good question. If the characters and main story are well done then I'll be happy. That's why I still enjoyed DA:I, in spite of the heavy exploration focus, and why I can't get into games like Skyrim or Fallout.

Oh, I do remember taking this test long time ago and I'm Killer/Achiever. So I'll be achieving stuff by killing things. No, achieving things by killing stuff.

Ohh... throw in a link to your SWTOR-stuff later. I am a sub and it would be fun to hear some news