Should bioware do one final shepard game?

At worst, Bioware survives long enough to make one more game, following that formula.

No.

...and these posts illustrate some of the reasons why:






By my count, there are:

20 potential squadmates, most of whom may be dead.
7 other crew members, some optional, some may be dead. (Joker, Chakwas, Michel, Kelly, Traynor, Cortez, Allers).
17 of the above may be current and/or ex LIs.

...and loads of other characters in the world, many of whom may also be dead or have been replaced by substitutes (original/replacement council, Mordin/Wiks, Maelon, Wreav, Eve, Hackett, Anderson, Primarch Victus, Matriarch Aethyta, Aria, Kahlee Sanders, Brynn Cole, Oriana Lawson - to name a few).

That's a helluva lot of baggage to carry forward, and it doesn't even begin to address a lot of choices the player may have made. Nevermind that a lot of people used mods, and I'd wager that the vast majority of people who played through MET have their own headcanon about the future.

People's attachment to Shepard (and the Milky Way) isn't just about Shepard (or TMW) - it's also about the other characters and relationships Shepard built with them along the way. Unless BioWare fully supports all of those characters - and in all of the possible configurations - they'd likely anger just as many fans as they would attract with a new entry featuring Shepard.

The only way I could ever see them doing another game with Shepard would be a prequel - and then you'd be dealing with a very different Shepard. No Normandy, none of the squadmates to whom people are so attached, no Spectre status, perhaps yet unproven. Shepard did not become the CO of a ship until ME1, so we'd be dealing with a Shepard who was maybe a squad leader going on various missions.  Is that what people want?

None of these excuses matter. Make a filter, proceed with the choices that would leave the galaxy in the most fun way to continue and go from there. You either do it, or you die.

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Well. I guess Andromeda 2 can't kill what's already dead.

Yes, TWENTY. There were twenty different possible squadmates throughout the trilogy. The other numbers I quoted are also correct.



Okay, so you're proposing that only the squadmates who were LIs return (and most of them could be dead). You neglected to mention Samara/Morinth, Vega, or Javik (one-night stands in the Citadel DLC) though you did acknowledge some non-squadmate LIs (Kelly, Cortez, Traynor, Allers).

Here's the problem: Some people have favorites who were not LIs.



I believe there are some mods that don't kill off Anderson.

A key part of my post that you've ignored is this: I'd wager that the vast majority of people who played through MET have their own headcanon about the future.



Guess we forgot about that whole red green blue thing, eh? Or were you assuming a red canon since Shepard is alive? In that case, the geth - along with EDI - would be wiped out.

Did we also forget that the relays aren't working? If you plan to have Shepard visiting other planets, you'd need to 1) retcon that, 2) fix 'em all fast, or 3) time skip ahead a fair bit. Otherwise, you might be earthbound.



Yes, well, that's always a concern. And new players are always a huge part of the consumer base.

Did you know that, on average, only ~ half of the people that buy a game actually complete it? That means that even something like MET has a lot of fan turnover from one game to the next.



Uh... okay. Your entire premise is this:

I would suggest that the only way that would work is if you give players the Shepard (and setting and favorite supporting cast) they want to play again.

You make some references about respecting players' choices, but haven't acknowledged that would require something along the lines of the DA Keep, or possibly a questionnaire players would fill out at the beginning of the game.

Note, too, that BioWare isn't developing games the same way they built MET anymore. The new title would likely be a GaaS, possibly open world, possibly co-op, on Frostbite (I'm sure the artists would do their best to make the characters look the same as they did on the previous engine, but hoo baby were there complaints when DA made the change). IOW, it would be vastly different from MET - but by using Shep & Co, you'd be setting a lot of expectations for it.

that would be interesting to have ME1 Shepard to return as an antagonist......Also I don't see Post ME3 Reaper War Mass Effect game with Shepard and be successful.... I Know that themikefest will disagree with me on that. Maybe with an another Player character.

I have seen very very few prequels that weren't horrific. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the hobbit. However as you said you know how it will end and that hurts it. I really hope they avoid a prequel.

Shepard's story has been told. It's time to let go and move on.