Andromeda Initiative briefings (6/6 Golden Worlds and Settlements)

I don't remember the specific instances of left-handed salutes, but it would seem odd to me for a programmer to use a different animation than standard when they didn't need to. Since saluting etiquette hasn't been explained in the ME verse, it could simply be that one may use either hand or perhaps their dominant hand if they wish. I'm not saying it wasn't an error, only that just because the Alliance military is loosely based on contemporary ones doesn't mean it's "wrong" if it differs. As long as it doesn't break internal rules/lore, I'm okay.

Sadly, I agree about the second paragraph, more or less.

That's why I moved my comment about floating rocks from "things that bug me" to "things that confuse me", because I'm open to an explanation for them. Your point about it just being a piece of art is a good one, though Hanako reminds me that there have been other more official shots of floating rocks.

You think those arms are muscular?  I guess one of us needs glasses. Well, I probably don't have to explain why noodle arms are an issue, so I'll skip to the part about the figure: It's only an issue because of Bioware's reluctance to give any female characters a different body shape, not because some of their female characters have that shape in itself. It's no coincidence that that is what's considered "ideal" in western society. This discussion is about diversity and realism, not taboos. No one is arguing that there are no women who look like that. We all know there are, so I feel like you're misunderstanding the debate if you feel the need to post picture evidence of their existence.

That qunari concept bugged me two-fold, actually, because it exaggerates both the male and female in it. The male is made to look like a lumbering brute and even has his head hunched like a neanderthal. Not exactly what I'd call "flattering" either. You also can't argue that it's showing both specimens in their peak physical form, because the female should be more built if so.

Congratulations, you just explained my point in the bolded section. I just want this reflected ingame. Female Shepard is as tall as male Shepard, for animation reasons, not Bioware appealing to a wider audience or anything like hat. Same with all of the other protagonists. I didn't actually think she was that tall myself.

Element Zero People aren't asking Bioware to make "portly, unattractive protagonists", we're asking for them to make realistic ones. There is no good reason the females are never as built as the male ones, and are instead supermodels with noodle arms. It's not about being appealing, it's about making sense over being "sexy". Bioware's priority thus far has been clear.

I concede your point about it only being a promotional image and I hope it's not reflective of the game, but it's still indicative of a larger problem.

Also, you and Lagoona ending your points with "If more ladies looked like [that], I'd not be unhappy" and "Women with ridiculous figures do exist. I'm glad!" just fuels my point about sex appeal

No, it makes perfect sense, and I believe you could figure out why that is if you tried. It's because having a fit male protagonist makes sense, so there isn't the same need to complain as with the female one, because she isn't fit. Again, it's about consistency and just plain making sense. Right now, the only consistent thing about them is that they are both created with the male gamer in mind, for less-than-stellar reasons. Since I can't argue my points in text as well as I can in my head, I'm in a rush, and because I don't like debating without backup (it's quite daunting for me), I'm going to cheat and summon KirkyX and quote what they said about this instead:

"As I think we discussed earlier, making all the dudes look like bodybuilders is about appealing to men. Making all the women curvy and 'hawt', with thin arms, is also about appealing to men. It's all about appealing to men. That's not to say that some women won't enjoy playing a traditionally-attractive character, nor the presence of some buff dudes, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a design decision made primarily to appeal to men, at the expense of people who'd, amongst a great many other things, just like to play a female character with a decent amount of muscle--since, y'know, we'll be fighting a lot."

I have a hard time seeing the term "servicemen" being used in the 2180s, personally. You just have to see the current trend of gender-neutral job designations to see why. I'm not saying it absolutely must end up like that in the ME universe, but it would fit with what else we see of it and the direction culture is currently heading.

This, and many other things in many different universes, are an unfortunate side-effect of scifi writers simply transplanting current society into a setting which should be different, even if not drastically. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it can be annoying and is a bit disheartening since it means we rarely get to explore something truly different from now (whether it's subtle or overt) - something that warrants the science-fiction descriptor. This could mean anything from the above mention to different views on genetic manipulation and how it might alter family dynamics, to artificial intelligence integrating with human society and how that would change it - anything you can imagine, really. To solidify the notion that you're actually in a different setting altogether.

I like to bring that up when mentioning body presets, that it would take far less work to have 3 or even 4 preset body types for Ryder than it took to make 4 playable races for Inquisition. Since there is no species selection in ME:A, I feel like some body customization is the least we can do with instead.

Well apparently we, and most likely Mass Effect, are using different definitions of the word "soldier"; you using a capitalized term to refer to army personnel (which I honestly didn't know existed) and me the more general definition of "warrior" which I would think ME is doing as well. So there is no inconsistency there in that case. A marine is a warrior is a soldier.

As for Ashley, I haven't played in forever so I'm not saying you're wrong, but she was a Lieutenant in ME1 and was promoted to a Lt. Commander before ME3, so maybe that accounts for the inconsistency? Not sure what you're referring to about Shepard's rank, though.

Ha, I doubt it! DA:I's cover succeeded in making an androgynous figure, but I wouldn't call the ones we've seen in ME:A marketing androgynous. Personally, while they did a good job with it, I thought the cover Inquisitor looked ever-so-slightly more feminine. But after seeing the Inquisitor in the cover armour ingame, I'm sure it looks more like the female version.

1. Agreed, it seems like a protagonist for sure. While I suppose it's possible and wouldn't be completely unprecedented to let others use the N7 designation (with the MP characters being referred to as such unofficially), that would seem to clash with the "You're not Shepard, you're not N7" stuff they've been saying since forever. So I don't know. Actually, no, that wasn't the one I was thinking of, this was:


Although that one could just be for the siblings now that I look at it again. About yours though, I actually didn't notice there was a difference between the two until looking at the arms (because they're at different distances, it screwed with my sense of scale). Your example does work better for what I was saying, though, since that's (presumably) not the siblings' armour.

2. Don't worry about it

3. Ah, what have we here?! You may be on to something. The perspective does make it hard to tell for sure, but here's hoping! Definitely looks bigger than the cover promo. And I also think part of it is contrast since Dad Ryder's arms look a bit thinner than usual... maybe. Huh.

I would certainly gasp if that was the case! I very, truly, sincerely, absolutely, intrinsically, honestly, passionately hope so

"Pretty obviously", huh? Funny, I thought the opposite. I guess their plan worked

I thought it made enough sense to be passable. It's a combination of "You're the protagonist!" and symbolic gesture. I could totally see Hackett letting Shepard, on behalf of everyone, give the order to engage. It's not like it's a complicated one, and he'll take over right after.

Also, I never got the impression Hackett was aboard the Crucible (if that's even possible). In fact, I thought some of the EC footage showed him aboard his dreadnaught, but it has been a while.

Look at the design of the ship again and tell me it's not a complicated project And that's not factoring in stuff like long-term-use cryo pods and probably crazy new drive core features that may include a way to internally discharge the static throughout the ship. Sounds complicated to me! But even if it wasn't complicated, it's still a massive endeavour, and would still, therefore, take up an insane amount of resources, credits, personnel, and time.

Banshee is always ready to talk rant about the hair in Bioware games

They're not marketing based off female Ryder, they're marketing based off the whole family, so far. Now, part of that is because of the family dynamic, but I still think it's a massive improvement to toggle between the two for marketing any game with gender-selection.

Well, for one, the promos so far don't make any effort to make the Ark project appear secret. The opposite, in fact.