If its a new protagonist every game...

Can you remember which? I don't recall that so I'm curious.

Honestly, I'd rather they not bring Ryder back then. It basically wouldn't be my Ryder given how that decision would pretty much contradict all of her important characterization.

I'm sort of in two minds about this. The longer I played ME:A, the more I realised I just don't like Ryder and the roleplaying is not varied enough for me to create a Ryder I like - but if I replay it, I know I'll stay away from the "funny" options as if my computer would bluescreen if I clicked on them. However, I think we've now basically brought Ryder to a point where in the next game (with maybe a few year time jump), they could have developed a more varied personality, they have a better position to make decisions than at the beginning of ME:A, when they were just a rookie with an AI stuck in their brain, and we have spent a lot of time developing them and their family. Besides, they might even get a writing team that wasn't totally strapped for time and might actually be able to make dialogue wheels which have more than two choices on the regular (and in which one choice isn't sometimes just the other choice but with a line added or missing - seriously, I've noticed this multiple times already).

That said, if they scrap Ryder, I'm not gonna be heartbroken. However, it would have to be Andromeda. The Milky Way really is a lost cause. How would you ever write the different endings in to satisfaction - especially considering one of them is that you told the Reapers to eff off and doomed your cycle to destruction?

Because, well, you know, Screw Effect man, they had to give us game that is compact to that title.

I really don't want new protagonists for each new Mass Effect. I don't mind it in Dragon Age, it's part of the series, but that doesn't mean they should make both series the same. There needs to be something unique about them other than one being sci-fi and the other fantasy. The more they borrow features from the other the more they'll stagnate.

They made a big deal about Ryder starting out as a regular person and becoming a hero. Why not let that development continue rather than discarding them and starting with someone new?

If they have a new protag every game, I'm gonna tie the noose and blame EA.

They did that because they wanted to go that illusive man route and you couldn't have some of them working with IM. I think to go with the story they wanted to tell like for ME2. We still got two with cameos. Yeah that wasn't great, but it did afford you the ability to see the characters evolve over time. Like Wrex. It was great seeing what he was up to. And Liara was great seeing what happened to her. Then they shifted back.

I think what would be idea and hopefully what they would learn from that (there were people who loved it and people who hated it) is to have MORE characters and let YOU decide who joins. Maybe have 8 spots and each is able to join you but you pick which eight. A few new ones. Maybe a few who for some very logical reason cannot join for all of it, but who join your for part of it on some specific mission sort of like how Tali showed at the end. People wanted to have her for more of it but you had her for some of it at least and that made people happy. That is what they need to do and bring on some new people as well to keep it fresh. Maybe you can not have the old ones join you if you don't like them or like how they changed them (hopefully they will have grown some). The problem is that it seems to be very black and white with BW or it did back then. Now I think they have to be thinking about being more INCLUSIVE rather than exclusive. They could easily achieve that by having new characters for those that want that while having the old characters on for part of all of the mission. They could come up with some good reasons why some characters from this one can't join you for the whole adventure, but they could easily justify having them for part of it. And if they are really wise they would have everyone show for the final mission with you choosing who is on your team (much like this game). Not an all or none but a who and when.

Ugh, the way they ruined Liara in ME2 is by itself enough reason for me to hate that game.  The rest of ME2 was just more for the pile of that particular $h1t sandwich.

I personally felt Liara was a bit annoying in ME1. That being said, I never understood how she went from being this dorky researcher that talks too much to a cold-blooded killer with no remorse in a period of two years. It was just so far out of left field that Liara in ME2 may as well have been a completely new character.

MEHEM is terrible for the simple reason that it takes for granted everything Shepard did over the course of three games. It provides an unrealistic "happy ending" for the sake of a happy ending and is just as poorly executed as the original three choices were at release. Given the stakes and the destructive power of the Reapers, there is no way a happy ending would or should have been possible. Something had to be sacrificed, which is why High EMS Destroy with Shepard living is my canon choice. Everybody can't win. That just makes for a lackluster and boring narrative.

And I find that to be an infinitely more interesting angle than "Oh, someone turned them evil and then they got cured of being evil." It honestly feels like that addition of the lore detracts immensely from not only the story of Revan but also Revan's character. It removes almost all of the psychological aspects in exchange for something that I don't feel adds anything of interest.

*Revan was someone who defied the Jedi Order because she believed their powers and code meant that they shouldn't stand by while people suffered if they had the power to stop that suffering. She began to disregard more of the Order's tenets and teachings because she considered pragmatism to be the better way. if doing something that was considered morally justifed prolonged or let to people suffering then how could it be considered morally right was how she thought. Ending the war meant putting a stop to people suffering and so any means was justified to reach that end. By the time she'd fallen to the darkside, she believed that the only way to truely keep peace and safety was for her to assume absolute power. To achieve this end, the means were once again justified in her mind even if it entailed killing those who were once her comrades to ensure that only those loyal to her lived.

When her mind was wiped, Revan developed a different personality instead of keeping her old one because she was a different person who went through different events and viewed things differently as a result.

Note: *as how I roleplayed Revan.

High EMS Destroy says hello....

High EMS Destroy
- Space Casper dead
- Reapers dead
- Shepard alive

I win, f**k you Star Jar.