Andromeda Initiatives Purpose - Why the hate?

Without having played the game, this is actually the one part I find most concerning so far. It's inconsistent to make a game thematically about exploration, but have ALL the gameplay be about killing. The two don't match. AI isn't even a military group.  Its purpose is (apparently) scientific. If the entirety of gameplay consists of killing Andromeda natives and fellow AI explorers, I'd consider that a major failure for Bioware.

That's video game logic... The player must be a badass at all times and must be able to show how badass he is at all times no matter how at odds this is with the story. So yeah you have to expect lots of shooting here. As far as doing things without kicking down doors goes, I think corporate just tells writers not to do those stories because they think people will get bored of them. That's basically what happened to Star Trek.

... and you honestly think that if it was in any way technologically possible (i.e. that someone in the world found some ancient technology that was the "answer" to faster than light travel) and if that level of expenditure was anywhere within their means, someone wouldn't be trying it.  I'd bet my ass there would be someone who'd do it.  It is very unlike us going to Proxima Centaura because we don't have the tech to get us there no matter the costs.  We don't have the means to even try yet.

The AI has discovered the tech that can possible get them there and they've managed to raise the funds that makes building the AI within their grasp.  What was impossible became possible.  In that moment, how much of Milky Way has been explore became irrelevant to them... They're doing it for two reasons:  because be they WANT to and because they CAN.  Thorughout history, the destination has always been the same - it's merely the Unknown.

What about the risks?  All each individual colonist is risking is their own lives.  That's EVERYTHING they have to risk.  They can't risk anything greater.  It's no different than any other explorer throughout history.

What about skepticism?.. and throughout history, every exploration venture has had numerous skeptics who just stand around and say "this is crazy."  That's you and the others here just dumping more hate on the idea.  You're already "playing a role."

Something that was done 78 years before the Mars data cache was found in the ME setting (the Manswell Expedition to Alpha Centauri system). One billionaire founded that expedition and it only took 5 year (2070-2075) to make it lift of the ground and send 300 people out toward the unknown in cryopods.

    A lot of the issues that many are taking with the Initiative's reasons for leaving the Milky Way stem from continuity and lore problems that have existed since ME1, actually. I'm speaking mostly of both the timeline (humans being active in the galactic community for only 30 years or so and yet immediately demanding a Council seat and having an area of space lager than that of any other Council race) and the percent of explored stars in the Milky Way (Less than 1 percent). Both of these little lore factoids present problems, but they're not so egregious that one can't suspend one's disbelief to enjoy the story. In fact, it's even easier since both of these aren't really mentioned frequently throughout the trilogy and even when they are, the characters act as though they aren't true.

    I mean, humans getting a Council seat after 30 years? Crazy. Inventing medi-gel when the other races have had advanced technology for millennia? Crazy. Humans are so inventive, so tenacious, so awesomesauce, that the rest of the galaxy can't help but be in awe of their unstoppable heroic power (lol). The writers try to explain this with things like, "Eh, the rest of the galaxy had stagnated. The other races had become too comfortable in their niches). Passable, but kind of lame. And this issue with the timeline being so quick could have been prevented by jumping ME1 to even a hundred years after first contact instead. Now push that forward to today, and the message is, after a hundred years humanity decided to spearhead their own initiative into a new galaxy that isn't dominated (so far as they know) with other races. Human-centric, yeah, but an interesting perspective and one that might be believed since humans only live to be 150 years or so. So I think as it stands the timelines has always been something of a point of contention for suspension of disbelief.

    And for the second point, I consider it an unfortunate matter of whoever was writing the codex when the obnoxious "less than one percent" stat came to be. I don't think the writers really cared too much about it because when it came out (ME1 or 2, I can't remember) they didn't know how long the series would go or where they would take it. I doubt they thought about going to Andromeda before the ending backlash, so keeping much of the galaxy unexplored made sense for future installments when they would have to introduce a new race every game or something. But now in hindsight it looks sort of ridiculous, because no matter how much Peebee insists the Milky Way is indeed ripe for expansion and exploration, and we're just going to have to deal with the error in retrospect. Again, like the first point, it's not a huge issue, but it is something the writer's are continually going to have to explain away with lame excuses.

    And this isn't written to dig on the writers, either. Coming up with a new universe is hard and there are always going to be issues like this, and I commend them for making it so that these are (in my opinion) the most noticeable! But I think the narrative and the continued lore of the ME Universe would be helped if, since Andromeda is a soft reboot for all intents and purposes, they retconned these nuggets. Quietly change the dates for first contact, push humanity's time in the learning phase to be a bit longer, and make the Milky Way mostly explored due to the relay network. If these two things were changed as I've suggested I truly think the Initiative would be easier to swallow for a lot of people.

    As it stands, though, it still mostly works because, as others have pointed out, we humans run around exploring shit when we haven't finished with the first area we've settled in, so at least there's precedent for the homo sapien side of things. I personally still hope that it comes out that the Initiative IS a backup plan for the Reapers, and Jien Garson and co. were really rich people along the lines of the Illusive Man, who knew of the Reapers before Shepard did and made their own plans. But if not, and if we're truly here just to explore, I'll still enjoy the setting and story.

I've always thought that the Council outlawed exploration in the Milky Way to avoid another Rachni situation, so it could make sense that they veto any large-scale exploration and colonization attempt.  But if someone wants to go and get lost in far-off Andromeda? Fine then, there's no risk of them opening a Mass Relay with not-Zergs on the other side or any other such nonsense.

To say nothing of the fact I believe there's an ulterior motive to the Initiative. Whenever it's an anti-Reaper contingency plan or a way to have people find something in Andromeda, we won,t know until the game releases.

But the AI is the equivalent of skipping past going to the Moon, Mars, the asteroid belt, etc and going straight to interstellar travel.

Sure some people may want to leap ahead like that, but where is everyone else who will put this technology to more PRACTICAL purposes?

Because no private enterprise will spend billions and decades worth of research and construction just to see what's up at Andromeda Galaxy, only to get a pay off by maybe next millennia.

Finding Stars Clusters with planets rich with minerals would be much easier and more profitable to look for in Milky Way. And there's still a lot of mysteries unsolved and things to discover in Milky Way.

So going for Andromeda really only makes sense if there is some ulterior motive only known by the top brass of AI. Remnants technology is very likely the key to what is AI's true motive.

The Council government alone is a logical reason for wanting to explore another galaxy. Just like in human history some may feel the ruling body unjust or oppressive. 3-4 races are making galactic law for everyone else. Exploration is restricted, artificial intelligence research&development is outlawed, the Krogan were used and then neutered, there are shadowy agents that are above the law with little to no oversight who are often judge, jury, and executioner.

People keep saying the Milk Way is largely unexplored. While true, the Council decides which relays can be opened and explored. It was the basis for the First Contact War. Humans were opening a relay without the Council's consent which ended with Turian navy(military arm of the Council), immediately attacking and forgoing diplomacy. Granted humans did not know about the other species at the time, but the point still stands, it was against galactic law.

Actually, America was completely accidentally discovered. Columbus tried to find a Western route towards China and India for European to trade, as Islamic Caliphates refused to allow traders from European Christian kingdoms to go through their lands and seas, but for Venetian Republic that exploited the shit out of that monopoly.

When America was discovered, then those same European Christian Kingdoms that couldn't expand Eastwards without being worth it, went to explore and colonize unknown and untamed American lands and through there seek trading routes with India and China from there. This also later encouraged exploration of Central and Southern Africa.

So really, there was quite a lot of reasons for European Christian Kingdoms to go for America. For AI to go for Andromeda for just for exploration and resources is just dumb as there's very little to stop to explore more of Milky Way. Quite clearly, there has to be another motive we don't know about yet.

Would be fun if it was a similar reason like in Alien 2 where the Weyland Yutani corp. sent those colonists and terraformers to LV-426 only to find the Xenomorphs and be turned into hosts for that species. 

Maybe the strange black structures the Kett have is some sort of bio weapon or possessive alien organism and the people from the AI were meant to stumble upon this stuff for whatever reason.

Now I know why Shepard had such a hard time and had to fight tooth and nail to gather manpower,backing and resources to build the Crucible...

All the resources was poured into the Andromeda Initiative