If it fits with the story, then I don't see why not. I guess the idea behind Allers was good, but the execution was lacking.

7 squadmates would be fine (as long as there is an asari ). I guess I'd rather have fewer companions and romances that are more fleshed out and have some relevance to the plot than the other way around. ME2 for example introduced too many characters. There's barely any party banter and some characters have next to no content if you cant/wont romance them -> calibrations.

Oh God, I'd forgotten just how irritating Ashley/Kaidan are in ME3. Not only did they tell you to take a hike in ME2, but the majority of ME3 is "I don't trust you, Shepard" and "I still don't trust you, Shepard" and then "I want back on the ship, Shepard"..
 
Get lost.

It's amazing how occupied they were with Cerberus instead of the giant bug eyed things that just paralyzed them and kidnapped half of the colony they were charged with defending.

As for the topic: Excluding the characters we are supposed to dislike (Kai Leng, Linron, Miranda's father, Wreav): Kaidan and Tali were kinda boring in ME1, but hate is probably the wrong word here. The VS was annoying in ME2, Jacob a bit boring with some weird flirt lines and I wasn't a big fan of Thane (creepy flashbacks, and he is a big hypocrite imo). Disliked Joker, Garrus, Samantha and most quarian characters in ME3.

Liara is my favorite character in the series. She has an romance arc that spans three games and is the most developed of the bunch. Kasumi is easily my second favorite character after Liara. She's a very fun character to have around; very likable personality.

Honorable mentions to EDI and Samara: fascinating characters with great dialogue, somewhat shadowed by their character design

Excluding the characters we are supposed to dislike (Kai Leng, Linron, Miranda's father, Han'Gerrel etc.), Kaidan, Tali, Ashley and Thane

Liara, Samara and Wrex

I'm apparently completely incapable of siding with the the Templars. I'm sure the mission itself isn't terrible, but I just can't do it. I simply love "In Hushed Whispers" too much. And I know this sounds harsh, but in my opinion the templars who rebelled got what they deserved ("We wanted them to treat mages more fairly and they rebelled for it"). And I don't really buy that the lower ranking templars couldn't leave if they wanted to. We know many joined the inquisition, and that chantry sister in Val Royoux tells us that others chose to stay with the chantry.

Quite the opposite for me as well. I just can't bring myself to do the templar quest. I'd feel guilty about abandoning the mages to their fate while at the same time I can't say the same about the templars. As one of the chantry sisters put it: "We wanted the templars to treat mages more fairly and they rebelled for it." I can't feel sorry for them.

I'm apparently completely incapable of siding with the the Templars. I'm sure the mission isn't bad, but I just can't do it. I simply love "In Hushed Whispers" too much, and I'd feel guilty about abandoning the mages to their fate while at the same time I can't say the same about the templars. As one of the chantry sisters put it: "We wanted the templars to treat mages more fairly and they rebelled for it."

"Elves have no place in politics"
 
Gaspard says right in front of an elven Inquisitor.
 
Gaspard went full derp.

Gaspard also calls Briala "rabbit" right in front of an elven Inquisitor. He's not the smartest guy

Oh, and Celene is the savior of Orlais, at least according to the codex.

Both DA:O and DA:I have race-selection and I think the games benefited greatly as a result. Mass Effect isn't only about humans and I definitely don't want to play as Shepard 2.0. We already saved the galaxy as a human for three games, so why do it again?

I like the idea, it would be a nice little nod to the trilogy.
 

 

I thought ME2/ME3 Liara was a vast improvement over her ME1 version.

 

I agree. Liara was ok in ME1, but she also suffered from walking codex syndrome. She became my favorite squadmate through LotSB and ME3.

Always mages. The Inquisition already has some reasonable templars among its ranks and I wouldn't trust anyone who is still loyal to the templar order after the conclave.

The very premise of the Templars is built on rotten foundations, and the order is simply not worth saving imo. I'd like to see the Circles actually become what they should have been: schools, and not prisons.

Celene brought the empire back from the brink of collapse, she's obviously a competent ruler. As for Gaspard, he keeps to his honour when it suits him. He isn't any more honorable than Celene, but she at least  is political progressive and no warmonger.

I'd like to see Irune - non-suited volus!

Old locations? Rebuilt Thessia and the citadel would be nice.

It was clear that they are never going to make a game with an exclusively alien protagonist, but having the option to play non-human is still my biggest wish for ME:Next. I truly, TRULY hated the use of the "humans are special" trope in Mass Effect, and the option to play as an asari or turian would be a step in the right direction, in my opinion.

Yes, time for a clean slate here. It's tempting to want more of the characters I love but it's time to move on. There's no good reason that they would be involved in the events of a new story and sticking with them either becomes contrived or constraining or both. The only characters you could really justify returning at all are the Council, if the timescale is suitable, but does anyone care about them?

 

I like them

Aria, Liara, Wrex and Hackett for example are also established as some of the most powerful and important people in the galaxy. It wouldn't surprise me if our character runs into them in the next Mass Effect game.

Then make a thread about that

Why should I? Most of these scenes have already been discussed to death, be it the Fai Dan scene, adept Shepard not using any biotics or Shepard and company standing around like a lump of coals during the Thane/Kai Leng fight.

Cutscene stupidity is unfortunately far too common. Adept Shepard failing to use her biotics despite them being perfect for a situation, the Thane/Kai Leng fight, etc.

Liara isn't the only offender here.

I called out some Liara fans for denying relatively obvious flaws/inconsistencies and that point seems to be reinforced when some of her fans simply argue for the sake of arguing or voice opinions as undeniable facts (i.e. her combat usefullness). Or of course when some of the more arrogant ones start proclaims of "canon romance" or "flawless/perfect character".

 

Oh right, because the Liara bashers never voice opinions as undeniable facts, telling us that their headcanon is fact now because we can't prove it wrong, explaining that Liara shouldn't mind the invasion of her homeworld and a few million deaths because they say so, declaring the codex invalid because only their opinion matters.

I'm with you on the canon romance thing, but again, I have yet to see a Liara fan who thinks her character is flawless. But even if someone thinks Liara is perfect, what's wrong with that? You obviously have no problems with people who hate everything about her, want to kill her, think she is the worst character ever etc.

Who is "Allestia Iallis?"

I'd say the only people from the ME1 squad whose transitions and new stature in ME3 were believable are Kaidan and possibly Wrex (a person of some stature on Tuchanka from before ME1, despite a long absence). Ashley jumped something like eight ranks in six months and takes umbrage if you suggest she isn't Spectre material. Jack does the same if you scoff at her teaching position (I can imagine the job recommendation Shepard could give - "Hey, before you lock me up, there's someone I released from a supermax prison that I wanted to tell you about..."). Tali, to her credit, recognizes and says she isn't admiralty material (her out-of-character (and inconsistent with the leaked script) inaction in the face of extinction supports this assertion). We're at least allowed to express credulity about their positions. With Liara, it's never really addressed.

Illium is not a "small pond" by any stretch. Benezia's contacts are not Liara's contacts; they parted ways years earlier. She started with no contacts, experience, or resources and immediately transitioned to prominence. She got shoehorned into the plot in a way that makes no sense and which we are not permitted to question; that's the long and short of it.

Allestia Iallis is the asari on Noveria.

 

Of course Shepard can question it, both in ME2 and LotSB.

Illium is a relatively small asari colony. It is a small pond in the MEU. That doesn't mean Liara doesn't know some of her mothers friends and allies who are willing to help her, as evidenced by Liara's homeworld comic. Again, Liara most likely did keep a copy of the SB's data cache she and Feron found in the SB base when they recovered Shepards body. That's a starting point. Liara not having any resources is your headcanon, one that doesn't make any sense. Well, it makes no sense to you, others disagree.

 

 

Even so, what's wrong with that? Are people not justified in questioning those things? What's wrong with a different opinion?

 

There's nothing wrong with that. But you called Liara fans out for having a different opinion, that we can't accept a "single flaw". If complaining about these things is fine, so is defending the character.

I'd think it more likely that the Citadel Council would crash Benezia's accounts due to her association with a terrorist, though it's possible Liara would inherit her money provided it wasn't tied up in legal red tape for years to come.

In any case, part of why her transition to her new ME2 role comes across as contrived is because she's specifically depicted as naive and socially isolated to the point of barely being able to navigate a conversation in ME1 - suddenly she's supposed to be socially savvy enough to survive, let alone excel, in the world of professional espionage? Going from having her nose stuck in a book at an isolated dig site to networking, making and maintaining contacts? Knowing who to trust, who to pay off, who to cut loose, who to kill, how to garner and maintain loyalty? No transition is depicted save for her doing a wiki-walk to learn Shepard's backstory.

 
The council left Shiala alone. I doubt they really care about Benezia's money or estates.

Liara is no spy, Liara is an information broker. She buys and sells info. Maybe she even made some bad business decisions in the beginning, we don't know this. I guess you can headcanon whatever you want here. I don't think she would have any contacts herself either. Benezia was probably one of the most powerful/influential asari in the galaxy, so Benezia connections would be my guess. But as mentioned above, remember that when we meet her she is a big fish in a small pond compared to the Shadow Broker or TIM who are big fish in the Ocean that makes up ME's universe. Two years should be more than enough for that, considering all circumstances (SB data, benezia's money, member of Shepards team). And this is a lot more believable than Tali's or Jack's new jobs, at least in my opinion. I agree that Bioware could have given us more info on how Liara started her business. But even Wrex became king of the krogan without a detailed explanation.

I never saw Liara as naive in general. She gets nervous around Shepard. But look at how she speaks with other characters like Ashley, Kaidan, Wrex or Allestia Iallis, she was definitely not "naive" or "meek".

@Asari_Party: She went from spending decades studying the protheans to becoming a professional information broker in a matter of two years with no experience or training being an information broker what-so-ever. In terms of character and story writing its very inconsistent and very unbelievable.

The most important aspect of her business is in contacting other Info Brokers to buy/sell/trade information. In addition, Liara would sell information to clients coming in off the streets who are not in the biz. What kind of training did you want to see? I suppose you would have to have some juicy info to sell to another broker or use in exchange for another piece of juicy info, but it is safe to assume that Liara did keep a copy of the SB's data cache she found in Redemption, that may explain how she ammassed a sizable pool of credits in order to kick off her business successfully. She might have inherit alot of money and other resources after Benezia died too. She then had two years to build a network so I think that's enough time to warrant her position as a successful local broker by the time Shepard comes across her.
 

I guess you didn't read my comment, because those two parts of your comment contradict each other. In the first part you explain why some Liara fans fail to admit her writing has any flaws, in the second you claim no one thinks her writing is flawless. What?
Haha, when did I bash her fanbase? Or the Asari as a whole? Or every facet of Liara's character?
I made critical remarks against aspects of her character and the Asari government, same goes for the majority of her critics here. You're just being oversensitive.

The point is that many/most fans like the general direction Bioware took Liara's character (or she wouldn't be that popular), but that doesn't necessarily mean that the overwhelming majority of her fans thinks that every single line of dialogue was well written. And that was your accusation. That we can't accept a "single flaw".

Right, because Liara fans = rabid fanboys/girls in not bashing. I didn't read the whole thread and two posters here are on my ignore list, but on the last pages I have seen complaints about her gameplay usefulness, her background, her character development, her voice acting, Liara helping Cerberus revive Shepard, Liara being devastated that her homeworld is invaded, asari generally being worthless bimbos - did I forget anything?