Continuous story? or One game One Hero

If they'll go to the one character per game route they'll obviously follow DA in having most of the cast new in each game. 
To be fair though ME2 did have an almost complete new cast.

Yah, and then handed it off to ME3 to finish, which wasn't really fair. Such is life, I suppose.

If they do a separated hero each game, then I'm fairly sure it'll be some time after ME:A. I'm getting the feeling that they are trying to get us to headcanon an entire new galaxy. For example, if they referenced Ryder it would have to be in the hero sense. Much like Jim Boone, Lewis & Clark, Davy Crockett, etc. (I'm not sure that all of those people existed, but blech American history) Someone that we speak about with reverence. And there will be other heroes, too. Time will tell if they turn out to be our team mates, or people we barely know.

I'm kind'a scared to play ME:A now, 'cause Ryder might die at the end.

gdi, fml

I'm fine with either, but my preference is for ME to stay with a protag over a series of games.

For me the protag of the DA ages is Thedas itself, so the new PC every game works as the continuity comes from the themes and political landscape rather than an individuals personal story. DA isn't one persons journey, it is the worlds journey.

ME on the other hand has been a very personal story, while yes we are saving the galaxy, who Shephard was and their journey was at the centre of it all. The Galaxy is just to big to have a personality of its own the way Thedas does.

I would like to see Bioware keep both approaches as I think they work really well for each individual game series.

So much this!!!!! While I love love love Dragon age(Hawke should have been the Inquisitor just saying), I loved more that I could get to know these companions over three games with the same character.

Like many others, I prefer we stick with Ryder for several stories, even if the stories are only linked by their cast. Building upon those relationships, and developing that character's history, is the heart of the BioWare RPG experience, for me.

I think this is one of the reasons why the DA series has fallen flat, for me. I liked the Warden, then the Warden was gone. I liked Hawke, then Hawke was gone. I can't get invested.

I love Mass Effect in ways I don't love DA, so I think I could make it work, either way. Still, I'd prefer a returning Lead, rather than a revolving door.

I hadn't considered this.

Gah! Someone tell me what to think of it.

I like having different protagonists so you can explore the setting from different perspectives. My DA canon is Dalish warden commander -> anti-Chantry, not super religious, mage Hawke -> Pro-circle, Chantry reform advocate, moderately religious, mage Trevelyan. It makes for an interesting experience when your characters have vastly different opinions about certain subjects.

I like both approaches.

If we had a new hero every game they could have more freedom in regards to the story. Like if we start with Andromeda when we have just got there and are building first settlements, then the next game could take place like 100 years from the first one and see how things are looking for humanity then.

Then again the thing I liked about Shepard was meeting old characters who remembered him and already had a relationship with him (unlike in DA where if you meet old characters you are a stranger to them at first because you are playing a new character).

Both approaches have their ups and down. I don't really prefer either so I'm really just curious to see where Bioware is going to go with this.

I can like either, but I kinda like the idea of having two Ryder games and then handing things off to a new protagonist.

I hope we get another trilogy. The great thing about Shepard was we got to experience everything, game to game, from his/her perspective. Choices we made in earlier games have a greater impact on not only us but the world in later games, because we were playing the same character - unlike Dragon Age where choices only affect the world (barely).

They also allow for us to connect with the other characters that appear throughout the games. I know people's opinions on Liara vary widely, but you cannot deny that the relationship between Shepard and Liara developed massively (and organically) in the trilogy; and it was only because of it being a trilogy that it could do that. Same case with Garrus and Tali, and even the other characters that only became a companion in one game.

I hope we get another trilogy. I will be disappointed if we don't.

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My opinion is based on the Leaked info or from one of Bio's directors (can't remember which). It's not a direct quote. It goes
like this:

"As you go deeper into the Andromeda galaxy you will meet a much bigger and meaner threat than the Khet".

Phase one = we arrive at the outer edge of the Andromeda galaxy = Helius cluster. Here we defeat the Khet, colonize and expand.
Game 2 will see us expanding deeper into the galaxy and encounter a greater threat.

Thus, I believe ME:A2 will be a continuation. But, to do it justice, I believe it should be a Ryder descendant... a great or great great
grandchild. Somehow, I can't see the same Ryder galloping from the edge to near the centre of the galaxy in just a few years, while
human colonies are just sprouting.

For me it really comes down to the scale of the story and what you achieve in the first game as to whether I'd want to play the same character again.

If my character's already saved the galaxy or the human race, then, well, they've done it all basically. Any continuing story with that character is either going to have to set up a contrived way to reduce their capabilities or escalate the threat even further to the point of ridiculous, lest it all seem trivial for the all conquering hero, and the character's abilities and status must get utterly ridiculous if they're capable of saving the galaxy multiple times (and yes, I do feel the old ME trilogy suffered horribly from this). A new character on the other hand, doesn't have the baggage of the old one's success, and can thus be placed against less powerful antagonists without it seeming like a step down for them (much like in DA, where the Warden saves the world, then Hawke's story is a smaller scale one).

Conversely, if the first game is a relatively small scale one (at least when it comes to what you ultimately achieve), then I'd like to take the same character into further games, to see how they grow, and how the antagonists/threats escalate in a more reasonable manner. If ME:A is about how the character becomes a hero, how they become special, if we make a name for ourselves by, say, saving one world, then that leads perfectly into further games where we can achieve greater things (So, effectively, MEA2 starts about the point in the story where most BW games these days do).