The Pyjack's Den! The ME News Discussion Thread

If Shepard is not coming back I think BioWare needs to make it clear now. Going back to the teaser trailer from a couple years ago and now the current teaser. I’m feeling like the general audience thinks that Shepard is coming comeback. Reading the comments on Twitter and the comment section on teaser trailer on YouTube. It’s clear a good part of the fandom wants Shepard to return.

Sooooo....

I guess a couple of general thoughts. First the protagonist, if that is indeed them, I think is going to be a brand new character. Only thing that makes any logical sense really. The What about S line was clearly a joke referencing the first game so even if we get Shepard in the game then I don't think this is evidence pointing towards it. But an N7 without their face shown and hmmm how to say this...not even any specific in regards to gender pretty much screams 'new player character' to me. Also don't pin it on being Ryder for various reasons...hmm sometimes I wonder where I should put various points in my main points...but just that given the long time since Andromed and, no matter what happens with bridging the two galaxies (which seems more likely now) this game does not seem a very Ryder game to be in.

Which does actually form an interesting segue since for such a little clip there is a lot to chew on. Reminds me of Omega. Reminds me of a definite seedier area. And the 'duster' 'trench coat' or what have you with the character pulling out a pistol and holding it down like that gives off a very certain vibe. SInce I am playing the game right now the first thing I thought of was Fallout New Vegas. But Cyberpunk is also a good candidate for it as well as would the GTA and Saints Rows of the world. I will admit though just with the teaser in general and it being ME there would be a certain appeal in being a character operating in the seedy underbelly of the galaxy(ies) in order to get a job done rather then being an explorer or a spec ops agent it could work. In my mind this kind of makes the N7 organization now a more multi species and mercenary affair like the Courier in New Vegas. Assuming of course that this isn't just a random piece of armor your character can wear and they have nothing to do with the N7s but the idea of the N7s becoming sort of guns for hire, elite guns for hire, in the wake of the Reaper War again could really work. Couple it with the idea that this is in a post ME 3 galaxy(ies) it could really work given the galaxy still could be rebuilding which would provide plenty of opprotunity for branching and role playing and an interesting nuanced story instead of the very high level Andromeda story of just being big good explorers. Which again I loved Andromeda but this could...work. Kadara was one of my favorites. However my concerns remain largely the same with what I had with both 'Joplin' or Cyberpunk or the GTAs of the world. That we will be forced to be some kind of theief or criminal element and other similar issues. Sure way too early to tell (which kind of makes all this speculation kind of silly but *shrugs*) but given BioWare's almost track record with DA 4 and given that Cyberpunk was, at least supposed, to be the next big thing in gaming its also the next big thing that BioWare might want to ape. The good news though is ME has not been Cyberpunk (as in the genre) so we're unlikely to get a lot of the more weirder cybernetic stuff that is also a personal turn off of the genre for me.

I'm hoping they'll continue to lean into both as it's good to have that contrast/variety. 

I'm curious to see how they'll handle technology, architecture, style, and so on, if there is a significant time-jump in the MW. Though I could easily see them leaning into the theme of one of their earlier trailers and they're in the long process of recovering from galactic disaster, so they won't have to push technology forward too much (though they could have organizations who have done so). Centuries of unimpeded technological advancement would change... a lot of things in the MEU. Some of the concept art does bear that out too.

Another N7 day has passed. Again nothing substantial was shown. Game is apparently still in "concept and throwing around ideas phase". It's been over a decade since the last Mass effect and a new one will release maybe in 2027 if we're lucky.

That's what I got out of it anyway.

The look of the character is reminisence of the N7 Slayer and Cerberus Phantoms/Kai Leng.

The music came from Horizon/Sanctuary, which was the Cerberus facility that was turning colonists into husk soldiers...

hmmmm.....

We're not your average ME fans though. Of course we know, but more casual fans, which will make up the majority of the fanbase, aren't in that space. There will be many fans for whom Shepard, N7 and ME are all intrinsically linked. We already know that fans can disappear down expectation rabbit holes because that's what happened with MEA - a lot of the marketing campaign featured N7, leading a lot of people to think they were going to be playing as an N7 again, and instead Alec gets bumped off at the start of the game.

We can blame fans and their expectations as much as we like, but at the end of the day the longer those expectations go unchecked the greater the inevitable negativity will be further down the line. I just don't see why you'd invite that, even by accident. If you're not going to feature Shepard then just get it out of the way now rather than it staying the elephant in the room which will eventually have to be addressed anyway.

According to this transcript at below link, Jeff Grubb is suggesting 2029 release for the next ME. That just seems absurd, right?

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Grubb: “You want some original reporting? This game is just nowhere near coming out. This is not, this, I was told, like, so, when they announced, when they, like, revealed Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in 2018, this is similar in terms of timeline, where that was announced in 2018, and we’re not getting that game til maybe next year. So now do the math for that, and we’re talking 2029 for Mass Effect 5.”

I mean the trouble is the evidence is there for a casual fan or not for a casual fan. And I would tend to think that a casual fan wouldn't be that invested in the decision in the first place whereas people who would get more invested, like us, would have more of an interest in seeing their Shepards...or even their Ryders return. Sure its going to be a concern but if a casual fan of the series is still going to be interested in picking up the next one, which would kind of be a tall order given the time between games, then I think they would be more apt to shrug their shoulders at not getting Shepard. 

The casual fans need more to pull them in than us. It is sort of like with The Force Awakens. That movie made ridiculous money not because of hardcode Star Wars fans but because casual fans saw familiar characters they remember loving from decades before. Similar thing could easily happen with Shepard, although on a smaller scale. 

Casual fans aren't really going to look too far past the trailers. They'll see N7, they'll remember that they liked the previous games, and they'll pay their $70. Then they'll discover that it's not Shepard and they've not got what they thought they were getting. I mean, you're right, on the one hand it's their fault, but that won't stop the complaining when it happens. 

Again though, if the plan is to not feature Shepard then I really don't see what's lost by just coming out and saying as much. Now. It'll be a bun-fight whenever it comes out, I'd have thought it better to get that out of the way now while things are on the slow burn rather than years down the line when we're deep into actual development. 

See, I agree that casual fans will see N7 and Liara and assume Shepard is back.  I just don’t think it will be a big deal to them if that assumption turns out to be wrong.  We saw this sort of thing with Dragon Age back in the day with people constantly asking for their Warden back.  But Hawke and the Inquisitor had successful releases with new players easily attaching themselves to the new character.  The hardcore fans, not the casual fans, were the ones invested in the idea of the returning protagonist.  The casual fans won’t care as long as the new character gets a good game with an engaging squad to adventure with.

With that said, I agree it’s for the best to make clear this is a new character to avoid any false impressions and expectations.

Hate doing this almost but also its in my nature like that damn Scorpion in the scorpion and the frog story....but earliest we could see it is 2026 I would expect the latest would have to be 2028. 

Of course this is assuming that we don't repeat Dreadwolf's reboot issues which I think is possible given the direction EA is going...but then again there are always the possibility of some development problems and EA does seem to be more patient now, one way or another, then they were during the MEA/ Anthem era/ debacles.