ME:A Squadmates, Cut Content & Missing Release Date & Spoilers [Eurogamer Dec 9 article]

....actually that sounds like something BioWare would do given the current status of the so called 'Ryder family myster'.

I would be hoping for a fully fledged character, more like ja-Vik than Kasumi or Zaeed

Its a tough balance to get right tho. Javik was day 1 DLC and arguably should have been part of the vanilla game, given how deeply he was tied into the reaper plotline.

Javik was a better character overall but for a pure DLC character I would rather Kasumi - enough story and background to be interesting without feeling like she was pulled out of the main game to make some extra $. A fun loyalty mission too.

Possibly. They could do another Zaeed or Kasumi type deal. I'm thinking more along the lines of a temp squaddie in story DLC, like Nyreen or Aria.

Merry★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★Christmas★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門｜ ˚And a happy new year!

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Well, I doubt we will have a Salarian squad member... no, that's not quite right. Sam is our Salarian squad member, albeit, located in the Tempest.

So, we have our Salarian, Turian, Asari and Krogan + two humans = 6.

I call we will have 2 x Andromedans.

Merry★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★Christmas★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門｜ ˚And a happy new year!

---

Eurogamer had a phone conversation with Creative Director Mac Walters and Producer Fabrice Condominas in Edmonton. The conversation revealed a bit more (story wise). The article link is posted below. I don't see this as a spoiler since it's in a game article. However, for the sensitive ones:
                                                                                   May be Spoilers Ahead


Apparently, the Dec 1 trailer is just a tease of what happens to the different ARKs. This is central to the story of how things failed to go as planned upon arrival... The Nexus Uprising and Kelly Sloane becoming a pirate leader as an example. The Kadara Outpost was setup by the various MW races.
Note: We can also build them as long as we meet certain criteria.

Ryder talks to SAM
Fabrice Condominas: "... SAM is ultimately not a living being - its more of an AI or robot. But it's way broader than EDI - the relationship is way different. SAM handles a number of things as well as your vessel. It is connected to you permanently and was connected to - and knew - your father, Alec. There's a very specific relationship there. It's more of a partner than EDI was - you're way closer emotionally to SAM."

Facial Animations and lip-syncing
Fabrice Condominas: "We are absolutely working on it. As was mentioned in the tweets it's actually something that comes last in the polishing stage. We've been using full facial capture for the first time to record the actor's performance and it's also the first time for BioWare [using this technique] working in Frostbite - I think we're beginning to push that fairly far. We're actively working on it and it's the last thing to be polished before we do a manual pass and really, really tweak all those movements because we first wanted to make sure the dialogue is final and settled. "

Game Release in spring 2017
Fabrice Condominas: "There's absolutely no reason to be worried. BioWare is all about quality and believe me - the team is extremely aware of how fast that is coming [laughs]. But we're focusing on that - that's our objective...."

About the Books
Mac Walters: "The first novel which comes out is more about setting up the backstory of certain factors at the point when Ryder arrives in the galaxy..."

Mac Walters: "So, when we first announced our partnership with Titan the idea was I'd do a fourth book which would be a bridge to the movie - which is still something that's out there and we're still talking about. But when I became creative director [on Andromeda] that became priority, I guess [laughs]. And with the state of where the movie was.."


Cut Squadmate and Future DLC Mates
Mac Walters: "You know game development is a constant series of decisions - there's always going to be some scope reductions. Because we decided to do loyalty missions that meant every squad member had their own special mission plus a significant amount of relationship dialogue. Ultimately, the only reason we chose to cut was because of that..."

Mac Walters: ".. Part of it too was we're playing up the Tempest crew members much more and we have a salarian on the crew. We put a lot of investment in that character..."

Mac Walters: "...I think there's a lot of different ways we could introduce new characters like that, new squadmates, whether they are one-offs for a mission... But I think Andromeda is more of a persistent experience, more of an open world than we've done before. Even once the critical path story, the main narrative, is done there's still a lot to accomplish. It's a game of exploration so if we wanted to create a space for a new follower we can do it...."

Future MW races in Andromeda
Mac Walters: "We have a plan, I can tell you that much. We have a whole backstory around how it is possible any major species you could have seen in the Milky Way could one day be a part of the Andromeda adventure..."

About the Nexus
Mac Walters: "That area is more for - if you meet a race in Andromeda which is not hostile - introducing them to the cultures of the Milky Way. So I would say it would represent the species that are in the game and then, down the road, if other species are added, it will expand...."

Fabrice Condominas: "The exploration aspect of the game is not only about geography - cultural exploration is key to the game. That notion of exploring the anthropologies and cultural and linguist sides - that's why that area is there."

Article link: www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-12-09-mass-effect-andromeda-interview

Video games are a business its time gamers either deal with it get use to it because you will never see a developer not make a full game when they can make all that extra money in DLC or Microtansactions 

SAM is a VI (or AI). That's already been confirmed. He's not a salarian.

....actually that sounds like something BioWare would do given the current status of the so called 'Ryder family myster'.

Video games are a business its time gamers either deal with it get use to it because you will never see a developer not make a full game when they can make all that extra money in DLC or Microtansactions