Sgt Stryker wrote...
@Terror_K,
While that's definitely a noble idea, how would one go about selling that to new fans of the series? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for retaining the fans who were there since Day 1, but it's also necessary to bring in new fans (read: new sales). How would one accomplish both?
To hell with new fans, IMO. I'm not against new fans coming into the IP in principle, but I don't think the integrity and feel of the series should be ruled by the constant want and attempt to get new people in. As far as I'm concerned Mass Effect 2 should have been more akin to the likes of The Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers than more in the style of Aliens or Temple of Doom (which ME2 was stylistically). If you hadn't watched the two former movies it was your own fault for jumping into the middle of the series if you ended up being confused and not knowing what's going on. These movies didn't overexplain and baby their viewers to make sure they "got it" and didn't deviate and isolate themselves from the original just so those who hadn't seen the first could get it. It assumed you'd experienced the original, and just carried on from there. The fact that developers keep going on about how "ME3 is the best place to jump in" and the like just goes to show that ME3 isn't really going to be the proper conclusion many of us want, and merely just another isolated game, pandered too much to making sure newcomers aren't confused or put off.
The problem is this series seems to be more driven by trying to attain as much profit as possible lately rather than naturally just being developed how it should. Too much concern about sales and bringing new fans in to earn dosh and broaden appeal, not enough focus on making a really good trilogy that flows well, really is dependent on the other parts, has proper choices and consequences and is made with the existing fans in mind. It also wants to treat the players like babies, making sure they are never confused and that everything is made clear.
That's also where DA2 fell down: more emphasis on bringing in the new than in appealing to the existing. More emphasis on profit than making a suitably better game. More emphasis on style rather than substance. That's been BioWare's overall problem since EA took the helm. It's like they're saying, "we've already got the existing fans in the pan, so let's just solely focus on getting more."
I realise that BioWare is a business in the end and they want to make a profit, but there's a difference between making a profit with something really good and getting greedy and wanting the most you can get and the product suffering in the process. Mass Effect, as a series and a trilogy, has suffered, IMO, from deviating too much from the original concept of being a proper cinematic sci-fi trilogy RPG. Each part has becoming too independent and the choices have been too cosmetic thus far for the most part rather than actually mattering, which I feel is linked to the fact that each part is too independent. Mass Effect as a whole could have been something really special, but most of it's potential has been wasted for the sake of pandering and misguided focus.
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