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[Dave666]

@CulturalGeekGirl My thanks on the correction about VA salaries.

Modifié par Dave666, 27 mars 2011 - 02:00 .

[Teahouse Fox]

I have a theory. Purely my own, I don't recall seeing anyone else mention it, but there have been a lot of truly lengthy posts in this discussion, and I confess to skimming some of them. So, if if this has been suggested by someone else, my apologies.

It's a weak theory, but I base it on the following:

• The scope of the problem in ME3. Not one Reaper, but the whole armada. Joker's good, but the Normandy cannot take them all on.
• The not-so-subtle hints that Garrus' full potential cannot be reached under Shep's command, and his drive to independently recruit and lead a team of his own in the wake of Shepard's death. I don't think his situation is unique among the squaddies.
• The need to add new squaddies and impose companion development in a new storyline. They managed to realistically do this by making Shep questionable in a post-death-Cerberus-addled reincarnation, but they'd be pushing to do this again. And how do you make long time companions loyal over and over again?

I keep thinking for these reasons, the major NPC players from ME/ME2 will wind up leading their own teams, and possibly ships, in ME3.

Variables due to loyalty will result in differences in dialogue and attitude towards Shepard and her ship/team. Did Squaddie X die? Whoops! Well, then, just like Urdnot Wrex, if he's there, lovely! We have some nice history to work with, but if say, Garrus died in the Omega 4 mission, the team/ship he commands will be headed by a Random Turian.

Zaeed lived? Well, maybe he kicks the Blue Suns in the can and mobilizes them. Or maybe he retired after all.
Thane and Mordin both have the added specter of natural causes waiting in the wings, so I don't really expect them to be heading ships, but perhaps cameo contrbutions. But the likes of Jacob, Miranda, Zaeed, Garrus, the Urdnots, Tali, [EDIT] and the ME1 VS, Alenko or WIlliams? 

They become satellite Shepards.

Modifié par Hannova, 27 mars 2011 - 03:11 .

[AquamanOS]

That would be far too much of a cluster mess. It would also make all the NPC faction leaders established in ME2, like Aria, and the Admirals a little redundant.

And as mentioned that would mean a squad of all new characters which would mean taking time out of the Reaper invasion to develop them, which would kill some of the epicness of the game. We don't need loyalty missions again.

[Teahouse Fox]

AquamanOS wrote...

That would be far too much of a cluster mess. It would also make all the NPC faction leaders established in ME2, like Aria, and the Admirals a little redundant.

And as mentioned that would mean a squad of all new characters which would mean taking time out of the Reaper invasion to develop them, which would kill some of the epicness of the game. We don't need loyalty missions again.

I think it's been hinted at that without a need to keep things tidy for follow on, a bit of a mess might happen. Or let's call it divergence in the stories of different players. I guess I don't see a problem with Aria being redundant..? Aria never entered into my thinking as anything more than the head of a base-bound fiefdom. Aria is Omega - she owns her dung-hill and is too happy to be rid of Archangel and the gangs. But what happens on Omega, stays on Omega. I didn't and still don't see Aria funding a venture out of her territory to face Reapers. If she remains as a source of information and, let's say, grey or black market supplies, I don't see that she's been edged out. If I've missed something, let me know. I am a stranger to these here parts.

The Admirals are still in. Each faction is going to mount their own response to an offensive against the Reapers (again, we are in the weeds of my own theory craft here). The Admiralty board of the Quarians outfit a ship equal to Normandy class, and you have a vehicle for Tali, with maybe Kal'Reegar and whoever she has on her team. The Alliance would mount a response, if they have enough resources after being the brunt of the attack. The Turians? I'd be surprised if theTurians didn't keep a copy of the Normandy plans and have another of a similar class (upgraded of course) cranked out. I'd love to see the Salarian special forces again. They seem to kick arse when out of bubble gum.

As for personal quests, I would be crestfallen - like, kicked puppy crestfallen - if there were no personal quests in ME3, especially of well established characters.  The character interaction and development of relationships is what makes the ME series something more than just another bug hunt.

[Elite Midget]

I mentioned Temp Squaddie status or important cameo's that can change certian things in the plot. Such as Garrus having a team that can do a suicidal mission while Shepard is on the other side of the Universe. Shepard can't be everywhere and everyone else has proven incompetent outside those that had served under him in the past. I mean, look at how important Liara, Wrex(He kinda got screwed still), and VS are! Liara is the SB, Wrex is head of his own Clan, and VS is a decorated Warhero and operates under Andersan.

What Admirals do we even know other than Hackett and the Quarian ones? Aria claims she's the boss but I hasen't shown any real Leadership, other than power, and no instances of military competence.

Who said anything about loyalty missions again? They could easily drop it and go the ME1 route where as you go through the Main Story you get new Squaddies. In ME1 you didn't need to do anyones side quest and you weren't punished too bad if you were a Paragon or Renegade.

As for the other posts. There's like 4 or so very large ones so it'll take me a while to go through them all. You explained yourself in great detail thus I should read them throughly. It being the weekend though and the time of cleaning it might be awhile if I don't forget.

Edit: [Reading the last book in the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo first would confuse the hell out of people.  Just because it is a game doesn't make a new cast essential.]

Books are Linear and don't have variables or the such. If a characters dies because the creators wants it to be so than they're dead. In ME2 you have the option of getting someone killed or you have the option of keeping them alive. That isn't as linear as a book and opens up multiple variables that which aren't always the same in every save.

Modifié par Elite Midget, 27 mars 2011 - 05:40 .

[Teahouse Fox]

Elite Midget wrote...

I mentioned Temp Squaddie status or important cameo's that can change certian things in the plot. Such as Garrus having a team that can do a suicidal mission while Shepard is on the other side of the Universe. Shepard can't be everywhere and everyone else has proven incompetent outside those that had served under him in the past. I mean, look at how important Liara, Wrex(He kinda got screwed still), and VS are! Liara is the SB, Wrex is head of his own Clan, and VS is a decorated Warhero and operates under Andersan.

This is my point. I predict the core squaddies breaking up and getting squaddies of their own. You still interact with them at touch points in the plots.

What Admirals do we even know other than Hackett and the Quarian ones? Aria claims she's the boss but I hasen't shown any real Leadership, other than power, and no instances of military competence.

I assumed that by Admiralty that it was a shout out for all the heads of the major player races/gov'mnts/factions. Agreed about Aria.

Who said anything about loyalty missions again? They could easily drop it and go the ME1 route where as you go through the Main Story you get new Squaddies. In ME1 you didn't need to do anyones side quest and you weren't punished too bad if you were a Paragon or Renegade.


Edit: [Reading the last book in the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo first would confuse the hell out of people.  Just because it is a game doesn't make a new cast essential.]

After playing DAO/DAOA/DA2/ME/ME2/KotOR/KorOR*  I would be truly surprised if new faces did not appear as team mates. It would be a departure from the historic BioWare formula. (*even if you don't count KotOR2).

Books are Linear and don't have variables or the such. If a characters dies because the creators wants it to be so than they're dead. In ME2 you have the option of getting someone killed or you have the option of keeping them alive. That isn't as linear as a book and opens up multiple variables that which aren't always the same in every save.

I for one would love to see how this turns out across different players.

[AquamanOS]

This isn't a typical Bioware title though. It's the grand finale of a three game series. (I know I know stand alone design but that doesn't mean it needs to start from scratch again). I would expect them to keep the new faces to a minimum.

[Teahouse Fox]

AquamanOS wrote...

This isn't a typical Bioware title though. It's the grand finale of a three game series. (I know I know stand alone design but that doesn't mean it needs to start from scratch again). I would expect them to keep the new faces to a minimum.

Don't get me wrong - if all BioWare did was dip into the well stocked pantry of historic squad members, and included personal quests and character development in tandem with the overarching plot, I'd be a happy camper. A surprised, one, but happy. 

No, really. If ME3 became the departure from the past, in this respect, I would have to pick my teeth up off the floor after my jaw hit it. Not to say they won't, but I don't see it. Time will tell.

As far as new faces, they can also easily dip into the stock of underutilized minor characters and still technically come up with a team building exercise.

I feel somewhat in the minority in this thread in that I like the side dishes to the main course. Maybe there won't be loyalty quests, per se, in ME3. But neglecting character interaction through the side quests would torpedo what made the series great.

[Lee337]

Hannova wrote...

AquamanOS wrote...

This isn't a typical Bioware title though. It's the grand finale of a three game series. (I know I know stand alone design but that doesn't mean it needs to start from scratch again). I would expect them to keep the new faces to a minimum.

Don't get me wrong - if all BioWare did was dip into the well stocked pantry of historic squad members, and included personal quests and character development in tandem with the overarching plot, I'd be a happy camper. A surprised, one, but happy. 

No, really. If ME3 became the departure from the past, in this respect, I would have to pick my teeth up off the floor after my jaw hit it. Not to say they won't, but I don't see it. Time will tell.

As far as new faces, they can also easily dip into the stock of underutilized minor characters and still technically come up with a team building exercise.

I feel somewhat in the minority in this thread in that I like the side dishes to the main course. Maybe there won't be loyalty quests, per se, in ME3. But neglecting character interaction through the side quests would torpedo what made the series great.

Sidequests are fine, but this is the grand finale, I'd much prefer to see a lot more main story.

[DxWill10]

Lol @ elite midget still not responding to cultural geek.

They aren't going to spend a whole ME3 game on character development like they did ME2. Therefore, most of your ME2 squaddies will probably be in the game, even squad mates. I think most will have compelling enough reasons to stay. Not to mention the ending cut scene portrayed shepard's squad loading their guns, etc / giving Shepard a confident "nod" as Joker hands him the Harbinger datapad. This crew is here to stay.

If you feel like you're a special snowflake and are stubborn enough to say something silly like. "well my shepard didn't trust Garrus and didn't recruit him." Then the only result of this is, well, you're missing out on content. A simple, stock character may replace them, but you are being 'punished' for silly decisions. Bioware has basically said that keeping your squad mates alive during the suicide mission is generally a good idea regarding ME3.

Again. If our squad mates don't come back, then all that squad mate character development is wasted. If I know Bioware, and there actually was a new squad for ME3, they would spend as much time as they needed to develop them. According to ME2, that takes about the entire game. ME3 is about killing reapers, not gaining the loyalty of your squad mates (like ME2 was) Like it or not, our ME2 buddies will be back, in one form or another.

[Elite Midget]

mcsupersport

Maybe they will be but it doesn't look like that's the case. You know why? I'll tell you. Arrival can be started after Horizon and isn't an exclusive post game DLC. Thus the Reapers cant arrive since they don't start coming till after the Collector's have failed.

The Time Skip will be over a year due to the Novels and Comics and as Biowrae has shown a lot can happen in that time.


Kasmui does but she doesn't need to be beyond a temp Squaddie to get that story told. That and she's a DLC character and was already lacking at the get go due to that.

Zaeed said he would leave and with the Time Skip... Yeah. I can see him retaking the Blue Suns.

Garrus can still be there just fine as a Cameo of Temp Squaddie. If I remember when ME1 hit Garrus wasen't anywhere as popular as Wrex. Than someone started the whole "I want Garrus and Tali as LIs" which boosted his popularity that only rose even more when Bioware revealed that only he and Tali would be returning.

Not really. If Cameo's are handled right and maybe even Temp Squaddie status missions than there would be no need for a riot. Besides, Tali can do more on the Admirality Board or doing Research than trying to shoot a gun at a Giant reaper.

VS will be in, because one thing they said plainly was the VS and Liara weren't in ME2 to make sure they survived for ME3.

VS might not be in. I'm a VS fan and even I can't say that they'll be in. Bioware has big plot plans for them for ME3 and usually by big it means not being in a Squad or being Shepard. Example - Anderson is more important to the Universe than any of the Squaddies.

The Time limit isn't reasonable though based off te Novels and that new ongoing Comic Series that Dark Horse is making. You know, like the Comic series between ME1->ME2. That and her code is a blind one. Samara may see the Reapers as the bigger threat but her Code wont allow her to stay and do nothing when there are other injustices going on.

Thane, unless Bioware does something spontanous, should be dead by the time ME3 hits due to the lengthy Time skip. Also... What about his son?

Miranda is the most durable of the crew but she isn't immune to death either. If anyone was to return Miranda would have the highest chances alonside VS compared to the others. Especially Tali who many newcomers send her into the vents than fail to understand that they're supposed to ignore tyhe Collector's and hit the green things.

Jacob and Miranda are kinda of strange to tell where they would go. I can see Tali going to the Quarians and Garrus becoming his own man dureing the Time skip. However Jacob and Miranda's fates aren't just their deaths. Another factor is the Collector's Base and if you're a Cerberus loyalist or not. If you are than it's easy to see that they would return to other projects under TIM. If they aren't than.. Anderson to balance it out?

Shepard may be his battlemaster but Grunt still has an obligation to his Clan. The shaman even makes note that after the events of ME2 he needs Grunt back ASAP. I doubt Shepard would stand between Grunt and his Clan considering the Time Skip that will occure. Grunt just isn't the type to turn down fighting and just waiting. He's a Krogan after all.

Legion, has teamed up to stop the old machines, unless you totally went against him, he would stay to give help.

Legion's fate if he isn't dead/unloyal/traded to Cerberus wasen't really hinted at by Bioware. I can make educated guesses but I'm guessing that Bioware just didn't plan that far ahead. After all, Legion was a secret reveal and was gotten right before the end of the game. What Bioware does as an excuse I don't know?

Though remember that Legion mentions that his platform only holds so many Geth in it. Eventually he will have to return back to the main body of the Geth and share said data.


Arrival doesn't mess with the Time Skip at all due to it being a mid to end game DLC. The Novels has already determined a rough estimate of the Time Skip without adding on with the comic series being made that might even extend the Time Skip.


Yes, Bioware could just handwave and give us a whole new squad, but that would be business suicide to do so. They have built up a story and characters that many people love and respond too. If Bioware then just totally wipes out all that, then it would cause a massive issue with the fans, greatly hurting all future sales and products. You have to remember that ME has been a story where you build relationships with the universe and the characters within it, so to totally scrap all that would greatly diminish the story, which would hurt sales and future fan support, all of which is not smart..

It'll cause intial distastes, yes. Though it will go away muvch faster than them revealing that only Tali and Garrus from any of the ME games are Squaddies. That would be worse than what happened when te ME2 Squaddies were revealed and Liara/Wrex/VS fans were left in the dust. Hell I'm still bitter about what happened and don't desire for Bioware to screw over the rest of the Fanbase just to appease a select view.

Mass Effect was about the Story of Shepard. Any relationships you build/pursue are all optional bits of content. Such as you not be requireing to talk to anyone to beat ME1 and if you have the DLC the DLC Squaddies mention their Loyalty missions almost as soon as you recruit. Example - Zaeed. Is it the optimal way to play? No, but they're just options t hat no one is truely forced to do if they don't want to.

In the end its smarter to just start anew and offer cameo's/temp status than angering the rest of the Fanbase that has to deal with another "Tali and Garrus are back but the rest got screwed!" once again.

Modifié par Elite Midget, 28 mars 2011 - 12:32 .

[Elite Midget]

Cultural Geek posted after the others. I will not skip over the rest just to appease anyone. Besides, it's the weekend. Especially when they all posted in a large quantity over a short period of time. It's much easier to get back to those poast later and maybe grabbing the smaller reposts when I'm not too busy.

Modifié par Elite Midget, 28 mars 2011 - 12:33 .

[DxWill10]

Elite Midget wrote...

Cultural Geek posted after the others. I will not skip over the rest just to appease anyone. Besides, it's the weekend. Especially when they all posted in a large quantity over a short period of time. It's much easier to get back to those poast later and maybe grabbing the smaller reposts when I'm not too busy.

I suppose doing that instead of admitting she's right makes sense

[AquamanOS]

Again. You are assuming the time skip will involve Shepard doing nothing at all. Shep isn't dead this time. It's mention in the novel he/she is actively working somewhere off the grid. ME3 could be part of this time skip, with Shepard helping places prepare for the Reapers for all we know. You don't have any direct proof of this timeskip think. You are assuming and making your assumptions fact which may not be true.

[AdmiralCheez]

Thank you for getting this out of your system, Elite. I admire the time you took to pound that puppy out, and hopefully now that you've so vehemently vomited your bizarre and strange obsession into one convenient thread, it will be so much easier to get along with you everywhere else.

Now stop whining about how hard it is to make a sequel to a game with lots of carry-over variables and go outside. Spring is here, and the weather is lovely.

And stop acting like those of us who expect some returning squadmates don't know it's a sizeable endeavor.  It's the work that the Edmonton team has ALREADY put into the ME series that makes us confident that the final chapter will show just as much dedication and effort.

Modifié par AdmiralCheez, 28 mars 2011 - 02:01 .

[Elite Midget]

Admitting she's right? Do you take me as a fool? I'm no ones lapdog and this is a Topic about debate. When I get around to replying to the other 3 large posts I'll address them. I'm not going to take the easy way out because that would be disrespectful and lazy.

Yes (s)he's doing something but we don't know what. After all, what could Shepard possibly be doing other than trying to get allies or prepareing for the Reapers? The Collector's are gone, the Geth aren't a threat in all saves any longer, and the Reapers aren't arriveing here untill ME3.

[Talthanar]

Baldur's Gate 2 had plenty of new faces, a few old ones too. ME3 I can see doing the same.

[Elite Midget]

GuardianAngel470

Not just the variables or either dead or alive. It was an example but I assure you that I have ideas for how each of thse leaving variables would work. Such as Legion being sent to Cerberus would only get passing mention but nothing really relevant due to being taken apart over and over again for study. Besides, the Suicide Mission wasen't really that valid anyway. I see no reason why 'anyone' had to die at all. All that was changed in the cutscenes when they died was that they were doing something stupid. Apparantly being unloyal or Shepard messing up making his squaddies mental defective,

Just because I want them to be plot relevant in their cameo's doesn't mean that I'm ignoreing the Loyalty Aspect. Obviously unloyal survivors that do appear would have their scenerio's handled out differently. Such as Garrus not even appearing as a Leader but he's instead still trying to hunt down Sidonis since it was never addressed in ME2 due to not doing his loyalty quest. You would still run into him but it would gbe at a different place and the reception would be less than warm. After all you did put his problems on the backburner than never addressed them thus he hasen't grown past his hatred he had in ME2.


They can easily have story relevance though. Such as in ME3 another Squad is sent on another mission. OIf Garrus is alive he leads it and succeds. If he's dead/unloyal than a grunt leads it and fails thus causeing more casualties and making the fight seem even more hopeless. It's the little things that matter, no?

Bioware had no problems with meaningless cameo's in the past. Look at how ME2 and DA2 handled them. What I hope is that Bioware has grown accostumed to cameo's and will understand that as the last part of the trilogy fans expect a certian respect taken over the killables that may have moved on. If you're wondering, yes that's a pun over Thane's unavoidable death that we know of.


That's what I see as happening. However, even though I have a bleak version of the path Bioware may take due to the facts on the Table I still hope that respect is given to the killables. After all this is the last game they will be in outside of spin-offs that may not even happen or include them. Yeah it sucks that they're all killables along with other leaving Variables but Bioware made that choice when they made ME2. Clearly they planned for something grander for the Squaddies than just being Squaddies again. Thus the reasons for putting this variables in when the game could easily have done without them. Namely the killable variable that shouldn't have been used after the hell the Wrex killable variable gave off.


Yes I'm expecting one of those to be the case. As the others that want Squaddies to return I'm also unreasonable in the regard that I want them all to be treated with the outmost respect. Such as making them grow as Characters and having their presence in ME3 important and beyond just another gun shooting at Giant Reaper Fleets. You may be right on expecting missions but it's an unreasonable wish that I hold even though I know that it's very unlikely to occure outside DLC.

Modifié par Elite Midget, 28 mars 2011 - 02:16 .

[Elite Midget]

Talthanar wrote...

Baldur's Gate 2 had plenty of new faces, a few old ones too. ME3 I can see doing the same.

Perhaps but does that Bioware still even exist anymore? After DA2 it seems that Bioware has changed dramaticaly from what made it great.

[AcidRelic]

I think that if they survived most will stay with you IF and because they are LOYAL. If they died of course they won't be with you.

I also, OP, don't think "Time Skip" is going to play a part as I believe you will be busy if there is a time skip, and it won't be a long one if so, mainly because the only reason you had a time skip in ME2 is YOU DIED. This time it is stated if you die you CAN'T import you save so that means you did not die at the end of ME2.

[AGogley]

Akizora wrote...

Opinions may not be facts but creating variables for 10 returning or potentially returning squadmates as well as alternative recruitments for each one in case they are dead would be resource-heavy. Cutting a massive chunk of content for players who might have lost 4-5 squadmembers is also not something that Bioware would do.

If squadmembers from ME2 comes back, I believe they will choose the most popular ones that they think can fullfill an actual role and not just stand in the background calibrating engines...Yes I took a shot at Garrus At least Tali is setting up a conflict for ME3.

People just don't want to get that.  They just want to tell you how Bioware could make a bunch of returning squaddies that have zero interaction.  These people forget that the game (ME3) must stand on its own.  Therefore, anybody returning must have some story or some interaction.  If you import from ME2, then you have to add all the variables which starts to become exponentially more difficult.

[AGogley]

AdmiralCheez wrote...

And stop acting like those of us who expect some returning squadmates don't know it's a sizeable endeavor. 

The problem isn't that people want some returing squadmates.  Most seem to want at least half the crew or all the crew to be capable of returning.  Now I would say that would pretty amazing if Bioware could do it and do it well...but I have doubts about that because the complexity due to the number of variables.  It also seems that many of them were already written into ME2 to be temporary. 

If I had to place a bet, I would bet Tali would return since the Quarian/Geth dilemma seems to be a secondary storyline that everyone would like to see resolved.  Grunt could be returned easily enough...he was a character without any depth.  But then again, it's just as easy to replace him with any other krogan.  You'll probably need a love interest to return...maybe from both ME1 and ME2.  I wouldn't bet on any others.

[AGogley]

AcidRelic wrote...

I think that if they survived most will stay with you IF and because they are LOYAL. If they died of course they won't be with you.

I also, OP, don't think "Time Skip" is going to play a part as I believe you will be busy if there is a time skip, and it won't be a long one if so, mainly because the only reason you had a time skip in ME2 is YOU DIED. This time it is stated if you die you CAN'T import you save so that means you did not die at the end of ME2.

I think it is more likely than not to have at least a one year time skip based on the novels and comics that come between ME2 and ME3.

[luakel]

Elite, I want to ask you something; sorry if it's offtopic, sorry if it distracts you from answering the other posts in here, and sorry if it offends you, I swear I'm not trying to. But... what do you want from Mass Effect 3, in terms of squadmates? It's clear from the past 11 pages that you know that they're not coming back, but what do you actually want? You say it would be unfair to only bring some back and not others; well, what if Bioware somehow found a way to make all 16 squadmates somehow accessable in ME3? I know it won't happen, but what would you think if somehow that did happen: no new squadmates, and managing to treat each previous one fairly?

Because I don't think we're going to get that, but I'm not sure we're going to get brand new squaddies and everyone else limited to cameos. I haven't played either Dragon Age (really should sometime though), so I'm not sure how that showed that BW "has changed dramatically from what made it great." But I can tell from both MEs and KOTOR that BW is fully capable of making very very high quality games. I guess if I was a major fan of those ME1 squadmates not named Garrus or Tali I might not think of ME2 so highly, but I think it's one of the best games I've ever played. And it really gripped me, enough so that I didn't even pay attention to the fact that it involved crafting detailed upgrades from unrefined minerals, or that my player character should've been having major PTSD from knowing what it felt like to die. Because I was so gripped by the plot and characters, especially the characters. They felt as real as a bunch of pixels moving in sync with prerecorded vocals could be, especially because my character could actually change their lives. He could convince Garrus to put vengance aside, heal Thane's rift with his son, give Grunt a chance to kill some really big things, etc. Even if alot of those things weren't really choices and just happened over the course of the game, they still felt real, and they still had visible consequences.

So, based on ME2 primarily, I think that ME3 is going to be really good no matter what. I don't have any definitive idea about if the characters are going to return or not, but I certainly want them to. Especially because they can grow under Shepard's leadership; Garrus can become tactical commander of the squad while Shepard's off doing solo stuff a la Arrival. Jack can stay on the road towards a better life under Shepard's watch and guidance. Jacob can actually develop a personality (no offense to Jacob fans) and Shepard can be there to see it. I want to be able to keep these 12 characters close to Shepard so he can help them just like he did in ME2. Maybe they could be doing equally important things elsewhere, but I want them to stay on the squad. Well, maybe a few can leave as long as they get cameos and Wrex-style reunions so I know they're doing well, but then they should be replaced by characters relevant to the ME3 plot.

So that's what I want, to have all/most of the squadmates return as squadmates. And based on the previous efforts, I think Bioware is more than good enough to make it happen. Even if they don't, I'm confident they'll make another great game. You state that the squadmates won't be returning in ME3 as a fact due to the variables in the OP, so it's clear what you think. But what do you want?

[GuardianAngel470]

Elite Midget wrote...

I mentioned Temp Squaddie status or important cameo's that can change certian things in the plot. Such as Garrus having a team that can do a suicidal mission while Shepard is on the other side of the Universe. Shepard can't be everywhere and everyone else has proven incompetent outside those that had served under him in the past. I mean, look at how important Liara, Wrex(He kinda got screwed still), and VS are! Liara is the SB, Wrex is head of his own Clan, and VS is a decorated Warhero and operates under Andersan.

What Admirals do we even know other than Hackett and the Quarian ones? Aria claims she's the boss but I hasen't shown any real Leadership, other than power, and no instances of military competence.

Who said anything about loyalty missions again? They could easily drop it and go the ME1 route where as you go through the Main Story you get new Squaddies. In ME1 you didn't need to do anyones side quest and you weren't punished too bad if you were a Paragon or Renegade.

As for the other posts. There's like 4 or so very large ones so it'll take me a while to go through them all. You explained yourself in great detail thus I should read them throughly. It being the weekend though and the time of cleaning it might be awhile if I don't forget.

Edit: [Reading the last book in the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo first would confuse the hell out of people.  Just because it is a game doesn't make a new cast essential.]

Books are Linear and don't have variables or the such. If a characters dies because the creators wants it to be so than they're dead. In ME2 you have the option of getting someone killed or you have the option of keeping them alive. That isn't as linear as a book and opens up multiple variables that which aren't always the same in every save.

How is that not a meaningless cameo? Based on some of the things you've said in this thread, it would be EASIER to have new squaddies and have the other characters break up and form squads of their own.

Now that simply isn't possible from a design perspective. You have to create new, unique character models, you have to hire more VA's, ones that haven't been used too much if at all in the rest of the game, you have to code their dialog, you have to write their dialog, you have to write their recruitment, and you have to create their power and weapons loadouts, balancing them against the rest of the crew and Shepard.

On top of that, you need to write the dialog for the leaving characters, code their dialog, write their situations, present them to Shepard believably, pay the VA's for each character, and all the rest for a superficial encounter that has a statistical relevance. Unless of course you mean a true relevance, as in members of Shepard's new team die if Garrus isn't there and again, I reach a contradiction in your logic. You are assuming, based on your own definition of the Perfect Variable, that Garrus or whoever survives to do this.

If they didn't, then you are essentially asking Bioware to create a huge amount of content for something some people wouldn't see. This makes it harder.

It would be easier to relegate the characters to squadmates and have them not be there and not be replaced if they died. That means that Bioware only has to write one set of dialog, code one set of dialog, reuse character models, and many other shortcuts and only have to worry about some gamers not seeing it. There would only be one type of content that gamers would never see.

Though, as others have stated, it isn't likely that they would actually take quite that route because there is a ton of content that I have never seen in ME2.

TL;DR:

It is easier to make all living squadmates return as squadmates due to real world developer concerns and to not replace those that have died with throwaway crew due to those same concerns.