131 réponses à ce sujet

[ME_Fan]

Stopped reading after the 'female commander is better' assertions.

[JonathonPR]

There is a lot sci-fi that I use to introduce people to the genre. The Mass Effect series is not even half way up that list. Mass Effect is actually fairly bland as sci-fi goes. Having experienced sci-fi in many media forms I know many of the stories that ME draws from. The ME does not execute them as well as other modern stories. As much as I like Mass Effect the series will not be a major talking point in sci-fi communities. If there was an option to stop ME3 from coming out and have a second season of Firefly I know a lot of people who would push that button, and Firefly is more of a character study than sci-fi.

[Aeowyn]

Yeah...no. While Mass Effect is an interesting IP there are so many other books and series out there which are better. Anything written by Joe Haldeman comes to mind. His "Forever War" - series is a read I recommend to all my friends.

[someguy1231]

Sorry, but as much of a fan as I am, I'd put Halo, Battlestar Galactica, the rebooted Star Trek, and the new Doctor Who above it (if Lost qualifies as scifi, that too). Calling it "the most important scifi franchise of our generation" is incredibly pretentious and fanboy-ish.

[Matt251287]

JonathonPR wrote...

There is a lot sci-fi that I use to introduce people to the genre. The Mass Effect series is not even half way up that list. Mass Effect is actually fairly bland as sci-fi goes. Having experienced sci-fi in many media forms I know many of the stories that ME draws from. The ME does not execute them as well as other modern stories. As much as I like Mass Effect the series will not be a major talking point in sci-fi communities. If there was an option to stop ME3 from coming out and have a second season of Firefly I know a lot of people who would push that button, and Firefly is more of a character study than sci-fi.

But Firefly (much as i adore it) doesn't present any Sci-Fi issues/investigation/philosophy at all, apart from being set in Space.

Firefly is amazing as a character-driven series (as you say) and in its execution, but if we're talking Sci-Fi pholosophy it ought not to be on the list at all...

[Klijpope]

As a pretty big fan of Firefly, if I was given a choice between more Firefly but no Mass Effect, then I'm afraid it's bye bye Firefly.

The article makes some good points. Some people seem to be mistaking academic writing for pretentiousness - this is how media texts get analysed. Yes, the points are a bit over-egged, and the writer is certainly enthusiastic, but some good arguments are made. The setting is far, far, far more interesting than Trek's. Yes, it is deriviative, but then, so is a lot of sf (like Trek, or Star Wars, the big franchises he's directly comparing ME with); ME synthesises some of the most interesting stuff, and does it well. And whether you like it or not, FemShep is a bone fide cult figure, which is fascinating considering the zero level of official media for her until recently.

And the Normandy SR2 is the most beautiful spaceship ever designed, and knocks the TMP Enterprise of its top spot on my list.

[dragon_83]

ME is better than Star Trek? LOL NO! While Star Trek has slower paced story and episodes, it deals with more interesting questions, and has a more diverse universe. ME is standard sci-fi, with lots of action. It has a detailed lore, but having detailed lore doesn't equel great sci-fi.

[Klijpope]

someguy1231 wrote...
Sorry, but as much of a fan as I am, I'd put Halo, Battlestar Galactica, the rebooted Star Trek, and the new Doctor Who above it (if Lost qualifies as scifi, that too). Calling it "the most important scifi franchise of our generation" is incredibly pretentious and fanboy-ish.

Halo - good, genuine sf tale, but not a patch on ME. It is more self contained with more focused themes.
BSG - some truly excellent telly, until they forgot that at its core, it's a show about Vipers dogfighting.
Trek reboot - fun and breezy but isn't going to ever truly replace the original canon (and I really liked JJ-Trek)
Who - come on, it's jolly good fun, and when it's good it's excellent, but jolly silly too.
Lost - meaningless (but well written) pap; really, that was a total waste of 6 years of viewing, with a story that did not go anywhere. 

ME is certainly the most interesting big sf franchise around now (albeit, the only one, really, as nu-Trek is a reboot) - whether it becomes the most important depends on hitting a critical mass of exposure - so maybe if ME3 hits really big, or if the ME movie is remotely unforgettable (don't forget V for Vendetta and Watchmen were pretty obscure until the Hollywood movies that the original author disowns got made).

[mjharper]

Klijpope wrote...
BSG - some truly excellent telly, until they forgot that at its core, it's a show about Vipers dogfighting.

Completely, utterly and absolutely disagree. BSG was never "at its core" about Vipers dogfighting.

[Klijpope]

dragon_83 wrote...

ME is better than Star Trek? LOL NO! While Star Trek has slower paced story and episodes, it deals with more interesting questions, and has a more diverse universe. ME is standard sci-fi, with lots of action. It has a detailed lore, but having detailed lore doesn't equel great sci-fi.

Trek certainly does not have a more diverse universe. That is one of the strongest points in the article.

In Trek - humans are the most important and most numerous species in the galaxy. Most other species look identical to humans apart from little nose flaps. The Federation is almost a neo-fascist organisation that is convinced it is the best thing since sliced bread and should go round teling people what to do (apart from those times they use the Prime Directive to coward out of difficult decisions) - ie: massive hypocrites. There is absolutely no sex apart from the good-wholesome-straight-kind (sarcasm) - and most positions of power are held by men.

ME in 2 games manages to present a much more diverse universe than 40 years and 5 series of Trek has been able to. (And I am a trekkie)

[Klijpope]

mjharper wrote...

Klijpope wrote...
BSG - some truly excellent telly, until they forgot that at its core, it's a show about Vipers dogfighting.

Completely, utterly and absolutely disagree. BSG was never "at its core" about Vipers dogfighting.

Yes it was. The show became much less interesting once it forgot about that, sometime halfway through season 3. The character-based and political stuff was excellent, but it became dreary without the space battle to balance it out. A show set on a 'rag-tag fleet' of spaceships should never forget that the 'spaceship' parts is one of its main draws.

[saracen16]

Thanks for the read, OP. The article is very compelling, but I think the writer is over-analyzing on some areas.

[RyuGuitarFreak]

I didn't read it yet but I will.

Klijpope wrote...

mjharper wrote...

Klijpope wrote...
BSG - some truly excellent telly, until they forgot that at its core, it's a show about Vipers dogfighting.

Completely, utterly and absolutely disagree. BSG was never "at its core" about Vipers dogfighting.

Yes it was. The show became much less interesting once it forgot about that, sometime halfway through season 3. The character-based and political stuff was excellent, but it became dreary without the space battle to balance it out. A show set on a 'rag-tag fleet' of spaceships should never forget that the 'spaceship' parts is one of its main draws.

Way to trivialize BSG's core as Vipers dogfighting. The core of BSG was humanity's survival in the chaotic scenario they were in and the interesting subplots around it. The show was interesting because they didn't fear to mess around the characters because they were in a tv show. The core plot on the cylons were its bane. It lost its way on halfway through season 3 because they went too far on the religious crap and in end they Deus Ex-Machina'd everything 'til finish. The conflict of Geata/Zerek was the last on the show's brilliance. How in the end ALL of humanity just AGREED to take all technology away was an offense on the viewer's intelligence and a contradiction to all had been presented so far.

But I loved to watch BSG. lol

[tetrisblock4x1]

Klijpope wrote...

mjharper wrote...

Klijpope wrote...
BSG - some truly excellent telly, until they forgot that at its core, it's a show about Vipers dogfighting.

Completely, utterly and absolutely disagree. BSG was never "at its core" about Vipers dogfighting.

Yes it was. The show became much less interesting once it forgot about that, sometime halfway through season 3. The character-based and political stuff was excellent, but it became dreary without the space battle to balance it out. A show set on a 'rag-tag fleet' of spaceships should never forget that the 'spaceship' parts is one of its main draws.

Did we watch the same episodes? There was a big cliff hanger trap that the galactica jumped into at the end of season 3 setting up for 4, and there was something like 15-20 minutes of constant fighting over planet earth to top the series off.

[mjharper]

(This thread is turning into a BSG debate... better get back to Mass Effect before it gets locked)

[huntrrz]

I thought the absence of any mention of "Babylon 5" in the article was very telling. It shares many of the same aspects the article claims Mass Effect is 'best in class', and I think the author had to ignore it to avoid weakening their points.

Modifié par huntrrz, 18 février 2012 - 03:25 .

[SykoWolf]

I kinda agree but my list goes like this:-
Halo
Dead Space (yeah I know, get over it)
Mass Effect
Star Gate

[Arkitekt]

What, an article portraying mass effect in a very complimentary way?

We can't have that!

We are BSN!!

We will shatter these fanboyish myths to smithereens!

CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!!!

[mummio2]

ME is great, this article is not
It looks to me like the review of a Michael Moore movie.
IMO artistic creativity and moral issues can't go hand-to-hand, since the second always tries to kill the first, and often it succeeds. And it is never a big deal 'cause the moral issues tend to change radically and faster than artistic quality.
Who wants to play a videogame to be forced thinking the way the writers or the society do?

[Klijpope]

For me Mass Effect seems to draw B5 and Farscape more than other shows. B5 for the politics and Farscape for the physical diversity of alien life and sexuality. But ME does draw from everything.

I think ME, for me, beats Trek and Star Wars, is because they're 'done/dusted', while ME is current and should be hitting its peak, and its 'harder' science edge (all the 'magic' can get elegantly handwaved away using just Eezo). That and the characters. Even Jacob is more interesting than Geordi La Forge (less creepy too). Plus the atmosphere is more diverse but also more consistent all at once.

[wijse]

http://rampantgames....2/bwcliches.png

[Klijpope]

wijse wrote...

http://rampantgames....2/bwcliches.png

ME2 subverts that diagram in several ways.

[0Sion0]

Damn good read,

Thanks for showing it to us ItsFreakinJesus

[Jhanna]

My first thought seeing the article was "I wonder what strings EA pulled to get this written?" I think I'm getting too cynical.

It's a decent article though.

[Duncaaaaaan]

Matt251287 wrote...



But given i may be younger than you, when i watch Star-Trek i mostly find it to be fanciful garbage with a fresh spacetime anomaly every episode, too many made-up technologies with no sensible structure, badly lacking realism.

Mass-Effect brings the Status-Quo foward, i'm not saying it's better than Star-Trek in it's time, but it's better now.

Nope.

You're nothing but an uncultured swine, saying that.



I cannot believe some of the crap I read here. It astounds me.

Modifié par Duncaaaaaan, 18 février 2012 - 04:12 .