BioWare can't afford to let any squadmates die.

Did cutting them out come from a story reason? Or did they create the story reason because hey needed to cut them out? Id say the former, because not 'that' much was made of it, compared to how much attention that kid dying the story gave, Kaiden/Ashley are just given an optional conversion as they are laying there, then another optional conversation when they have awoken.  

Obviously i can't say for sure, my gut says they made the decision cut it for cost and made it story relevant after... but i am a cynical bastard.

The only point I was really making is Miranda (and to a lesser extent James), given her connections to Cerberus, should have had a large role in the game. Whether that means removing one of the new companions (EDI or James Vega) or removing one of the longstanding companions (Garrus or Tali), Miranda's inclusion simply would have made more sense given the plot than those others.

Instead, BioWare wanted to play favorites by bringing back popular ME1 companions, keeping Garrus and Tali for a third time, and then throw in some new blood. It just would have led to a more compelling and believable story had BioWare used the characters most pertinent to the plot. Garrus and Tali, in particular, could have easily been sidelined as their relevance was largely tied to their respective subplots on their homeworlds and not the main story. At least a legitimate argument could be made for keeping Liara around since she had become the Shadow Broker.

I understand the Garrus fans and Tali fans would be upset. My point is that, in the larger scheme of things, neither one of them was actually necessary as a squadmate given they weren't particularly relevant to the overall plot of the game. I certainly agree that EDI becoming a squadmate was entirely unnecessary. James Vega, in my opinion, didn't offer much either other than some more insight into the N7 Program. None of these companions were really necessary, but clearly BioWare was picking favorites based on fan feedback.

I just think the game would have been better had the choice of squadmates been more appropriate, as Miranda and James would have made more sense than any of those. Of course, this goes back to the issue of them being sidelined because they were optional characters. Garrus and Tali weren't treated the same way due to having diehard fan bases that had been growing since ME1. It never made any sense to me that those two were featured as squadmates in three games.

The bare minimum I wanted as trilogy characters were Garrus, Liara and Virmire Survivor. I doubt I would have invested much into ME2 if Garrus was sidelined after going through the trouble of mentoring him in ME1. Wrex being sidelined in ME2 and ME3, I actually understood the direction and was in support of that. If anything, I honestly felt Tali's story should have been over and done with in ME1 with the whole Pilgrimage thing, but who am I to judge?

I've been around long enough on Bioware forums to know there are a lot of people who thought Virmire was one of the series' highpoints. Obviously not everyone is in agreement. Character deaths also aren't going to impact all players the same way. No matter the character, there are always going to be some fans who dislike them or are indifferent towards them and don't care that they may die. That doesn't mean their death scenes aren't emotionally impactful to many others, or that squadmate deaths shouldn't have been in the game.

The Virmire decision was difficult in the sense that there was no win outcome that didn't have consequences, regardless of how the player may feel about Ashley or Kaidan. Either way you had to a sacrifice a member of your team to stop Saren's genophage cure. Compare that to the Suicide Mission, which gave players an option to get everyone out unscathed, or ME3 where potentially none of your teammates die despite being in the midst of a galactic war that claimed the lives of billions. 

I don't see a problem with that. Garrus could have Victus Jr's role. Or since he's an advisor, have him at the Primarch's side and after the genophage is dealt with, he leaves. He shows up at the fob in London with the primarch. 

Tali didn't need to be a squadmate. She can do the same as what Xen did on the dreadnought and what Raan did on Rannoch if Tali isn't recruited or dead in ME2. She can show up at the fob in London

I agree about the edibot. It was better off as a hologram.

I never felt the Virmire dilemma made a lot of sense. It was impossible to save your other squadmate? Really? BioWare could have done a better job than what we received. It felt far too forced.

Problem with those two ideas are Garrus would have gotten the same treatment as Thane if given the Victus Jr. angle, or Jacob treatment if relegated to the sidelines. No one would have been happy.

While I agree the idea of the player agency in ME2 was wonderful, it was a terrible mess for a sequel storytelling-wise. Especially when the sequel had less than two years to be made, BioWare created way too many alternative paths and as a result caved on most of the ME2 companions. For the sake of consistency and not ruining half the cast of characters, it's just better to wait and kill your entire squad at the end of a series rather than the beginning or middle. It's one thing for a companion or two to die. It's something entirely different when they can all die.

I don't care if it sucks from a storytelling perspective... that's their job and they should find a way to make it work.

The suicide mission is one of THE MOST enjoyable parts of any game that I've ever played because of the ability to have the mission seem like it had consequences.

No one being able to die just ruins the immersion and turns the story into the hunky-dory, everything is roses and works out at the end type story and that's just boring. Oh and everyone gets a bunny or something.

If BioWare actually did make it work in such a way that didn't sideline all of the ME2 characters because they could potentially be dead, I'd be right there with you. Unfortunately, BioWare has limited time, limited resources, and a limited budget. They can't account for every possible scenario and build 12+ different games in the process. It's just not realistic, which is why it's probably just better to avoid it entirely for the integrity of the story. Leave squadmate deaths for the end of the series, not the beginning or middle. It leads to too many Schrodinger's Cat paradoxes.

It's not better if Garrus is your LI. Of course, that's how a lot of the companions were treated that were sidelined. In my personal opinion, the squadmates who should have been on the Normandy in ME3 should have been the ones who were most relevant to the story. That means Garrus, Tali, EDI, and James would have to go as none of them are really integral to the main plot. There is at least a legitimate argument for Liara given she is now the Shadow Broker. It also made since for the Virmire Survivor to be there considering the Normandy had been impounded indefinitely by the Alliance to serve a new function. Other than that Jacob and especially Miranda should have returned just because of the Cerberus connection.

Liara may be TSB, but she doesn't serve any purpose on the Normandy and really isn't relevent at all, since she does nothing in that role. That Drone of her's is more useful than she is.