195 réponses à ce sujet

[Akizora]

Arijharn wrote...

I know this may be contentious, but I think for how important (s)he is; Cmdr. Shephard is the most boring character in the game.

It's nice having a pre-service history and even a sort of hook into explaining why exactly Cmdr. Shephard is a bad ass, but in terms of actual character growth, it took until Shadow Broker for our hero to somewhat grow an inch in terms of development, and in the game(s) there isn't that much of a hook to your character's background, and it seems like no one is really all that interested in it (I mean, other than Jenkin's and potentially Ashley/Kaiden)

Without getting too in-depth about the nature of a RPG or whatever (heh, there's probably a pun in there somewhere), I feel as if Cmdr. Shep is very flat, I feel more as if I'm playing an avatar or something rather than a role, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

I do agree I rarely got to vent my Shepards feelings and it seemed that all I did was react to everyone elses feelings and give them advice. In Lair of the Shadowbroker I finally got to tell Liara how I felt about everything and it felt good and was a small piece of development and expression from an otherwise overly introverted maincharacter.

[CulturalGeekGirl]

See, I feel this way about Male Shepard (especially Paragon male Shep) but not about Female Shepard.

If you ever get a chance, look up both versions of the conversation with Legion about his N7 armor. MaleShep sounds like he doesn't care, he's only vaguely curious, whereas FemShep sounds like this crazy robot's illogical actions are driving her insane. There are a lot of scenes like that. MaleShep's voice works really well when he's being a jerk, because sounding like you don't care about anything while being a jerk is awesome. But during a lot of situations I feel are really emotional for FemShep, I'm startled by MaleShep's total lack of emotional involvement.

[Akizora]

CulturalGeekGirl wrote...

See, I feel this way about Male Shepard (especially Paragon male Shep) but not about Female Shepard.

If you ever get a chance, look up both versions of the conversation with Legion about his N7 armor. MaleShep sounds like he doesn't care, he's only vaguely curious, whereas FemShep sounds like this crazy robot's illogical actions are driving her insane. There are a lot of scenes like that. MaleShep's voice works really well when he's being a jerk, because sounding like you don't care about anything while being a jerk is awesome. But during a lot of situations I feel are really emotional for FemShep, I'm startled by MaleShep's total lack of emotional involvement.

Indeed it works the other way around too though, FemShep feels very forced when she is acting tough or renegade. Hopefully they both got some practice for Mass Effect 3 ^^

[LadyJaneGrey]

Stupid? Conrad Verner.

[Someone With Mass]

Harbinger. Why? Throw flashbangs at him and listen to his rambling.

He'll never reach the same level of intimidation as Sovereign. Because Sovereign knew when to shut the hell up.

[Ice Cold J]

Lapis Lazuli wrote...

ErebUs890 wrote...

You saying Jacob are just racist.

...Sure seems like it. There's nary a good word about Jacob or Anderson on this message board. Or maybe it's Bioware's problem--maybe they don't know how to write black characters and end up making them boring or annoying?? I've actually been on a site where they discussed KOTOR and nobody on that message board had anything good to say about Jolee Bindo!!!  Now that's criminal! Personally, I don't think any of these characters are boring or annyoing.

I think Jacob had LOTS of potential as a squadmate goes and I think his story and powerset could've been SO much better. Here's a guy who's been a stand-up soldier even through a bad father. Good story there.
BW just missed their mark with developing him. He does come off as boring. Sadly. I hope they really give him a good overhaul in ME3, cause I think he could be a great character.

I'm nowhere near racist. Possibly the furthest thing from it. But BW handled Jacob poorly. Anderson is an icon of the series and I personally don't see that many negative things about him on these boards. Giana Parisini is also a very good dynamic character in the ME series (oddly enough, voiced by a white woman).

BTW, I liked Jolee Bindo, but took him with a grain of salt. He was like KOTOR I's version of Kreia: Always steeped in duplicity and double-talk. Funny character and interesting if you had enough dialogue with him, but he left you feeling mind-****ed every time you talked to him and I can't stand that. It's like reading Dostoyevsky. He spends so much time proving a point, only to discredit it in one fell swoop.

[eye basher]

Conrad verner can i just shoot him or space him?

[Justforvisit]

That Turian standing hoooooouuuuuurs in front of a toilet at the citadel and doing absolutely nothing except from staring at the wall o____O

[Commander_Adept]

Most boring: Jacob. Even when he's his most emotional, he's still nothing as far as character depth when compared to other characters, such as Jack or Garrus.

Most Stupid: I can't believe I'm going to say this... Kasumi. I used to love Kasumi. Her and Jack were my ****es that went with me everywhere. But she's just... Completely worthless to everything related. At the very least with Zaeed, you're taking out the LEADER OF THE BLUE SUNS. In Kasumi's loyalty, you more or less just meet a few boring new characters, with an open ending that seems unlikely (To me) to be resolved in Mass 3 and it just makes me think that it's unnecessary.

Most Forgettable: Definitely Samara. As much as I enjoy her loyalty mission, I always get Samara last when recruitting. She's just so damn boring, it bugs the crap out of me. Don't get me wrong; She's no more boring than Liara. But still... Give me an interesting Asari, someone like Aria. I'm shooting for getting Morinth this time around, maybe she'll be more memorable.

[technoquarian]

Boring: Jacob. I don't dislike the guy and truthfully, I rather enjoy the fact that his background isn't filled with ANGST! and DRAMA!, and believe it or not, he was my first romance. I actually found his background as a down to earth soldier quite complimentary to my FemShep. Regardless, he isn't as "loud" as some of the other characters, so gets filed away as dull.

Stupid: Entire universe? Kahlee Sanders. She's the best at everything, her only "faults" are stupid things like...I can't actually remember her being described as having any faults. She wanders around bumbling into terrible situations, goes through a thought process akin to "oh noes, what have I done?", only to end up needing to wait for some big, strong man to rescue her. Kahlee is a blatant Mary Sue, right down to the famous lineage and "rare" (blonde) hair color. My god, she annoys me so.

If we're talking games only, it'd have to be Thane. I'm really, really sorry, but I just cannot empathize with the guy. I think he's supposed to come off as serene, a dead man walking, facing the reality of his mortality and blah blah blah but dammit, he just irritates me. His flashbacks make me want to slap him and his contemplation/meditation comes off as moping.

Forgettable:
Not being facetious/sarcastic when I say I can't remember.

[2kgnsiika]

Stupid: Jacob
– Can't take care of a couple of LOKI mechs by himself
– Tries to antagonize Thane
– Pisses off Tali
– Wants to destroy an invaluable geth specimen (WTF?!)
– Wants the player to make the dumb decision and go to the IFF before everything else is done
– Voluntarily serves an organization but questions just about everything they do

Boring and forgettable: Kaidan
– Can't really bond with a male Shepard
– Choosing Ash over him is never a hard choice
– Just like Carth, except Carth had balls and wanted revenge

EDIT: grammar fail

Modifié par 2kgnsiika, 07 avril 2011 - 08:14 .

[2kgnsiika]

technoquarian wrote...

If we're talking games only, it'd have to be Thane. I'm really, really sorry, but I just cannot empathize with the guy. I think he's supposed to come off as serene, a dead man walking, facing the reality of his mortality and blah blah blah but dammit, he just irritates me. His flashbacks make me want to slap him and his contemplation/meditation comes off as moping.

I chose Jacob, but I have to agree with you here. Thane's simply full of **** and his eidetic rants are the only dialogue parts I routinely skip. I just don't get his philosophy: he's been trained to be an assassin, so when some jellyfish tells him to travel to the far end of the galaxy and kill someone, he'll take days to study his mark, crawl through ventilation ducts, climb on skyskrapers, snap a dozen necks and kill the target without hesitation and simply say: "I had no part in this, it was just a kneejerk reaction! Honestly!" What, he can't just say "No", when he's asked to kill someone? He'll completely involuntarily fall into some kind of "battle sleep" and he has no way of preventing this from happening? He's an entirely unwilling tool of the evil hanar and has no will of his own?

I just don't get it. Chris L'Etoile was my favorite writer in ME1 (he wrote all of Noveria), but some of Thane's writing is so substandard and utter bull****.

[DxWill10]

Powgow wrote...

I would have liked to see Grunt physically superior, but mentally clueless, naive, otherworldly, and lacking all social/other skills that you learn by experience. Basically, a ruthless killing machine with the worldly understanding of a child.

Now THAT would have been interesting, but nooo, lets not give him depth.

I lol'd

[Malanek]

2kgnsiika wrote...
Stupid: Jacob
– Can't take care of a couple of LOKI mechs by himself
– Tries to antagonize Thane
– Pisses off Tali
– Wants to destroy an invaluable geth specimen (WTF?!)
– Wants the player to make the dumb decision and go to the IFF before everything else is done
– Voluntarily serves an organization but questions just about everything they do

I don't really agree with much here. Jacob is in the process of handling multiple mechs by himself when you meet him if that is what you are talking about. There is no indication he needs sheps help and is doing better than anyone else on the station. He doesn't like Thane because he doesn't want to work with a hired murderer. How does he ****** off Tali? Just by being cerberus? He wants to destroy Legion because he is risk adverse. He doesn't see the value in activating it and doesn't trust TIM enough to give it to cerberus. To say going to get the IFF before attending everyones personal requirements is dumb is simply metagaming. In reality, stopping the collectors is more important than your crewmates personal issues. As for working for Cerberus but questioning what they do and how they do it, what is wrong with that? He is caught in a nasty situation, he wants to help missing colonists, he despises the protocols the alliance has, and so he joins an organisation that he philosophically disagrees with on a lot of issues, but agrees on many others. This is an interesting thing about his character.

[Almostfaceman]

2kgnsiika wrote...

technoquarian wrote...

If we're talking games only, it'd have to be Thane. I'm really, really sorry, but I just cannot empathize with the guy. I think he's supposed to come off as serene, a dead man walking, facing the reality of his mortality and blah blah blah but dammit, he just irritates me. His flashbacks make me want to slap him and his contemplation/meditation comes off as moping.

I chose Jacob, but I have to agree with you here. Thane's simply full of **** and his eidetic rants are the only dialogue parts I routinely skip. I just don't get his philosophy: he's been trained to be an assassin, so when some jellyfish tells him to travel to the far end of the galaxy and kill someone, he'll take days to study his mark, crawl through ventilation ducts, climb on skyskrapers, snap a dozen necks and kill the target without hesitation and simply say: "I had no part in this, it was just a kneejerk reaction! Honestly!" What, he can't just say "No", when he's asked to kill someone? He'll completely involuntarily fall into some kind of "battle sleep" and he has no way of preventing this from happening? He's an entirely unwilling tool of the evil hanar and has no will of his own?

I just don't get it. Chris L'Etoile was my favorite writer in ME1 (he wrote all of Noveria), but some of Thane's writing is so substandard and utter bull****.

Huh, I took Thane's rationale and chalked it up to an ALIEN way of thinking.  I mean, what's the point of him not being human if he's just going to think like a human?  I thought it was an interesting concept.

[technoquarian]

Malanek999 wrote...
How does he ****** off Tali? Just by being cerberus?

When he told Tali about EDI.  I thought I heard snark in his tone of voice, and it seemed like it was a barbed comment he was making.  Then again, I may very well be mistaken, but I do remember thinking that he was egging her on somewhat.

[Neria Rose]

Boring and forgettable: Liara.

Stupid: No one comes to mind.

[Labrev]

Malanek999 wrote...

2kgnsiika wrote...
Stupid: Jacob
– Can't take care of a couple of LOKI mechs by himself
– Tries to antagonize Thane
– Pisses off Tali
– Wants to destroy an invaluable geth specimen (WTF?!)
– Wants the player to make the dumb decision and go to the IFF before everything else is done
– Voluntarily serves an organization but questions just about everything they do

I don't really agree with much here. Jacob is in the process of handling multiple mechs by himself when you meet him if that is what you are talking about. There is no indication he needs sheps help and is doing better than anyone else on the station. He doesn't like Thane because he doesn't want to work with a hired murderer. How does he ****** off Tali? Just by being cerberus? He wants to destroy Legion because he is risk adverse. He doesn't see the value in activating it and doesn't trust TIM enough to give it to cerberus. To say going to get the IFF before attending everyones personal requirements is dumb is simply metagaming. In reality, stopping the collectors is more important than your crewmates personal issues. As for working for Cerberus but questioning what they do and how they do it, what is wrong with that? He is caught in a nasty situation, he wants to help missing colonists, he despises the protocols the alliance has, and so he joins an organisation that he philosophically disagrees with on a lot of issues, but agrees on many others. This is an interesting thing about his character.

I agree with 2kgnsiika. Pretty spot-on with all of that. He's practically crapping his pants at the thought of fighting LOKI mechs. "When we get off this station... IF we get off this station." Figures, whenever I go for his stupid loyalty mission he gets killed by them while me and Thane do all the work (I take Thane because I know how much he loves having an assassin watch his back).

He also volunteers for a job in the final mission he's clearly not fit for: running through the vents to hack the security system.

[Malanek]

Hah Yes Reapers wrote...
He also volunteers for a job in the final mission he's clearly not fit for: running through the vents to hack the security system.

More guts than sense. As it should be.

Out of interest, anyone get the reference?

[sffish88]

Mr. Richard Jenkins....seriously. "Gee willikers I sure am itching for some real action"! One minute into the mission and he gets wasted by....wait for it.....Geth Assault Drones. Only reason he isn't completely forgotten is because the drunk doctor brings him up.

[JustHonest]

^ i beat you to that but hey i bet he pops up in ME3 or at least i hope

[Bluko]

88mphSlayer wrote...

that Feros docking bay guy

I think we have a winner.

[Rekkampum]

Akizora wrote...

Commander Kurt wrote...

I'm surprised people find Jacob bland. He certainly manages to rub me the wrong way (sounds pissy, never smiles, and he's supposed to be the helpful one), but I can't really blame him. I would probably sound pissy and try to avoid smiling while my commanding officer was humping my leg too. In any case, it makes him memorable. His romance steps it up further and makes him VERY memorable (yeah, not in a good way). Most importantly, his personality is one of few I feel I haven't met a million times before in movies/games.

Shepard humps his leg? O.o I just really don't like Jacob because he doesn't even try to be interesting, he just completely avoids answering any questions or telling you anything meaningful about himself. It's like he actually tries to be uninteresting. I liked him during the first mission and first few hours when he was the only one not lying to me, but then he just got more and more bland...like the writers just thought "Ok so what do we do with him now?"

The only things he avoids are telling you about his past relationship with Miranda, which obviously didn't end very well. 

I like Jacob's dual naivete/idealism. For me, he reminds me of a relative I have. I do feel he was underwritten, but I still like his no-nonsense approach to fraternization.