77 réponses à ce sujet

[Flumburken]

In a similar manner to my other thread about Liara (found in social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/325/index/11456863/1 ), I'm also curious on the fans' take on Ashley:

Why do you like her as a love interest?

To those who always picked her to get killed off in Virmire, why do you?

Lets keep it on topic, please.

Modifié par Flumburken, 17 avril 2012 - 09:12 .

[CptData]

Hmm. Why do I love her?
- she's pretty much my RL type of woman
- her character comes with several traits I love in real women as well
- she's an interesting human LI
- Ash is also one of the most authentic characters in the first game
- she changes - her distrustful attitude vanishes and she respects aliens at the end of ME1
- straight forward and good friend / sister in arms potential
- overall my fave - Garrus is the next fave but I also enjoy Kaidan, Mordin and Miranda a lot.

What I don't like
- writer's let down in ME2 (too short appearance, not well written dialogue on both ends)
- writer's let down in second half of ME3

Quick'n dirty. I could also type down a long one ... ^^

[Karrie788]

I romanced Ash in ME1, simply because I loved her personality. Yes, her distrust of aliens can understandably be confused with racism. But she has hobbies, she has a background, in short, I felt she was a very-well written character. She's a flawed, balanced character. And I loved it. I even understood why she freaked out on Horizon. It fit her character. She's an Alliance soldier to the bone.

But I was *very* disappointed with the way she was treated in ME3. There's the look, first, but I could have overcome that issue if she had remained that awesome character from the first game. But no. She still has that trust issue she can't seem to let go, she gets shafted for three quarters of the game, and she barely talked to me, we didn't even get the chance to get drunk together...

Now I have her killed on Virmire to remember my snarky, badass, awesome soldier friend instead of what she became. I'd rather have her go in a blaze of glory.

Modifié par Karrie788, 17 avril 2012 - 09:28 .

[sammysoso]

She has always been a favorite character of mine. One of the best examples of a real female character. What really attracted me to her was the fact the she had strong convictions and stuck by them. She challenged Shepard, and Shepard challenged her. There was great give and take.

It's a shame she was barely in ME2, then sidelined in the second half of ME3.

The love story was fantastic, and I wish it had a comparable amount of content to the Liara love story (which was also great)

[xAmilli0n]

Ash was probably my favorite character in ME1. Very real, very human. She distrusts aliens in early on (as do many if not most humans not interacting with them on a regular basis) but you get to see her transformation as the game progresses. She was simply a good fit for the game and Shepard (mine at least).

In ME2, she was fine, but had such a small amount of screen time, it really doesn't add anything.

In ME3, I think the writers forgot who she was. During the second half of the game she essentially becomes a non-character. A bit a shame really, and a definite let down.

ME1, she is still my favorite LI, but she is no longer the canon LI for my mShep.

[Draemora]

I killed off Ashley in Virmire because Kaiden seems like more open and critical individual. She might be well intentioned, but she's very gullible and prone to make mistakes.

It was actually a very hard choice because your defects shouldn't determine your fate. I still chose saved Kaiden because I empathized more with him as a character.

[Flumburken]

Right, my take on this then.

I never chose Ashley to stay alive on any replay, except my very recent one with my first fully-fledged ReneShep to just discover new sides of the coin.

Why? Well, for both good and bad. I'll start with the
Bad part:

- I never fully liked her "marine to the bone" attitude, and never took any attention to her gradually acceptance of other alien species. As much as I understood her justifications about other aliens and the politics (the siege of Shanxi and all that), it still didn't rock my boat. I just couldn't get past her personality-wise besides being the generic soldier type, even if she also showed her private side about her close connection to her family. Also didn't like the character itself, gameplay-wise: She was pretty useless to me in ME1, especially when you mostly play Soldier class or similar yourself and need squadmates to take care of decryption/hacking in order to gain experience through looting.
As for potentional love interest, what's been said is obviously explaining why I never picked her.

And now for the Good part:

- As much as I disliked her -PERSONALLY-, I also took in great mind about Shepard's own perspective about her:
Similar to her, he/she grew up a soldier from a rough background (in my case it was mostly Earthborn, since it seemed the most natural premise to me), meaning they could quickly gain common grounds and establish personal connection to one another, as comrades in arms. Someone to chat off with during off-duty. And as people say, they have different views about the universe and can trade off with one another.

Now, imagine if this was your favorite TV-show/movie. In one part, it's inevitable that one of two major characters must die, both being developed in their own ways. In a director's view, would you decide to kill the one with already close established connection to the protagonist, or the other person who seem more humble and alittle more shallow but still full of potential? Which one would make the greatest impact to the protagonist, and which one would be able to fill the gap best?

I chose Ashley to die because the impact to Shepard's conscience and morality felt best fit. She died a warrior's death, as it's expected from her family's soldiery principles, and it's also a redeeming factor to her family's name from the disgrace of Shanxi. For Shepard, it would cause great emotionl ambiguity to his/her conscience; He/she just left a close comrade to die and has to stand to that decision, as a commanding officer. As a human being, it's leaving a scar. Not to mention it's common to think it's more tragic a woman dies than a man, even if the settings are the same.

And Kaidan? Like I said, he is the other side of the coin. One that I personally didn't think was developing quite as smooth as Ashley would, but still could fill a gap later on. This was, of course, my mindset before ME3 released. My reaction to his development there is mixed. But it's not him we're meant to talk about here.

TL;DR: I prefered Ashley to die in Virmire because I didn't like her personally but thought Shepard would get more interesting impact of the choice than if he/she picked Kaidan. To be honest, Kaidan felt like being the Jenkins that happened to stay alive.
 

Modifié par Flumburken, 17 avril 2012 - 10:23 .

[KingNothing125]

Ashley is unlike most video game women. She is not the shy, awkward bookwormish type (Tali, ME1 Liara). Nor is she the standard Michelle Rodriguez badass space marine (she's religious and reads classic poetry, of all things). And she's not a Mary-Sue (ME3 Liara).

She has flaws, personal demons. She's descended from one of humanity's greatest F-ups, her grandfather, who surrendered to the Turians during the First Contact War. Her backstory gives her a believable reason to be distrustful of aliens (not like that matters to a lot of the people here on the BSN), and a major chip on her shoulder... she's out to redeem her family's name.

In short, she seems like a real person, rather than a cliche video game character.

And she has pretty eyes

[Tom Lehrer]

Like Liara this one boils down to fantasy. The nature of this one is a little different though.

Ashley is made out to be a much more independent person then Liara as well as much more human. She has strong morals and defends them even if it means questioning Shepard which gives the feel of a more realistic relationship if romanced or just friends.

In short it comes down to the the desire for more real world fantasy.

[AndreasShepard]

Killed Ashley because it was her or Kaidan and there is no way I'm letting him die. Simple as that.

[LadyofRivendell]

I'm forced to leave her on Virmire every playthrough because I haven't yet found a way to throw Tali at the bomb instead.
Logically, Kaidan is higher in command than Ashley (Staff Lieutenant vs. Gunnery Chief), he's a talented and sane Biotic (which aren't all that common), and I always send him with the Salarians (makes no sense that they can get on to the Normandy but not Ashley, if I sent her with them).
The real reason: Ashley is my second favorite squadmate overall, second only to my favorite, Kaidan. And he's also my LI.
I hate Virmire soooooooo much. I'd sacrifice ANY squadmate, any throughout all three games, to keep Ash and Kaidan alive. Why did it have to be between those two...? Why did they cut the option to save them both? (You can dig out the fully voiced audio and dialogue for that scenario, too)

[kglaser]

For a purely pragmatic response, I usually Virmire Ash because she has no biotics.

[DragonEffect1710]

I always leave her on Virmire because I love Kaidan too much. Kaidan's better than her so she dies. Simple.

[Jestina]

There should have been a leave Tali option...but I usually leave Kaidan there because he's yucky.

[Made Nightwing]

Alas, I wish there was an option to just tie Liara to the bomb and leave with my human bros, but there is none.

To put it bluntly, I like Ash because she's real. She's the type of person I get along with, who I can relate to, and who has enough character to stand on her own. None of the other characters resonated half as much wth me because they were all just distant space cops/mages/techs. Ash was the one close to home, the one I was comfortable with.

[Vubica]

Made Nightwing wrote...

Alas, I wish there was an option to just tie Liara to the bomb and leave with my human bros, but there is none.

To put it bluntly, I like Ash because she's real. She's the type of person I get along with, who I can relate to, and who has enough character to stand on her own. None of the other characters resonated half as much wth me because they were all just distant space cops/mages/techs. Ash was the one close to home, the one I was comfortable with.

 
This agree 100%

[scotiej]

Made Nightwing wrote...

Alas, I wish there was an option to just tie Liara to the bomb and leave with my human bros, but there is none.

To put it bluntly, I like Ash because she's real. She's the type of person I get along with, who I can relate to, and who has enough character to stand on her own. None of the other characters resonated half as much wth me because they were all just distant space cops/mages/techs. Ash was the one close to home, the one I was comfortable with.

Recognize. Except for the tying Liara to the bomb part, I found her annoying in ME1 but never to that extent.

[Shajar]

Ok, so here it comes. I try to be polite in sake of Ashley

Why i like her as character in ME?

- Very realistic, has her opinons and family and all. 

Why Ashley die on Virmine?
- During my very first game play, she shot Wrex, my friend died. So did Ashley!
- Racist
- God fanatic, not that i hate them, but this was too bright
- I did not like her "attitude"

Why Ashley die when Shepard shot her
- She hardly respects Shepard at all even if you were "friend with her" - unlike Wrex, Grunt, Garrus, Tali or Cortez
- She hates Cerberus
- She did not realize that her Spectre status was given only because Udina knew she was "loser/failure". to Blind her with Honor she dont have
- 
It felt very cool to get option to shoot her 

Why did Ashley survive and got spot in squad ME3?
- There is a bug that you cant hear Ken, Gabby and Tali quotes without having her as friend

Why did Ashley did not get spot in squad ME3?
- I made a mistake and left her alive
- I need war asset

LadyofRivendell wrote...

I'm forced to leave her on Virmire every playthrough because I haven't yet found a way to throw Tali at the bomb instead.

 

Aarghh, i did not heard this , LALALALLALLALLALLA 

Modifié par Shajar, 18 avril 2012 - 07:39 .

[Padt]

I know a lot of people have that at least part of what makes Ash appealing is the fact that she comes across as very "real", but honestly, it's the truth. She feels like a very frank portrayal of an actual, fully realized human being, and I'm fairly certain that was done deliberately. Nearly every facet of her character makes her feel like a very "normal", very grounded person, which is something that I really appreciate. I love that she actually has flaws, and (especially) that the games neither embellish them, gloss over them or demonize her for having them. I love the fact that she's such a consummate soldier, and that she sticks to her convictions as harshly as she does. I adore the fact that she's not necessarily pleasant all the time, that she can be abrasive and sharp-tongued and completely unafraid to speak her mind. I also love that she can be sort of clownish and goofy when she wants to be, and I really enjoy listening to her voice (Kimberly Brooks speaking honestly sounds like warm honey to my ears).

I really like Ash. She's in my top 2 ladies and love interests in the series.

Modifié par Padt, 18 avril 2012 - 08:15 .

[L. Han]

Ashley is fine. But I didn't really like her new looks in ME3. I prefer her to look tough in ME1. More "marine" not an Alliance cheerleader.

[CptData]

Keep it civil guys - no lashing out against other characters. Why do ppl promote their own fave on expense on others?

Especially both VS fandoms need to stick together. For example I virmire Kaidan because I can't virmire Ashley. Simply as that. I like him and it's one of the saddest moments in the entire series when I have to decide between both awesome characters.


Kinda promised a longer version of my initial post:
May post it later ^^

Modifié par CptData, 18 avril 2012 - 07:58 .

[Shajar]

CptData wrote...

I like him and it's one of the saddest moments in the entire series when I have to decide between both awesome characters.

Good thing is that game decides outcome for me in Rannoch, Sacrifce Legion or Tali? No way, id choose to kill Shepard before these two. But Legion dies anyway so no need for that choise 

Offtopic kinda

[CptData]

Shajar wrote...

CptData wrote...

I like him and it's one of the saddest moments in the entire series when I have to decide between both awesome characters.

Good thing is that game decides outcome for me in Rannoch, Sacrifce Legion or Tali? No way, id choose to kill Shepard before these two. But Legion dies anyway so no need for that choise 

Offtopic kinda

Not really OT: the situation on Rannoch is pretty much like Virmire, with one difference: there's a third option you hadn't available on Virmire: save both. You can't save both without proper preparations, but once you did it, you're no longer forced to take down one of both.
Technically, only players without ME2!import run into the problem of "only one can live". You need a loyal Legion and a non-exiled Tali - and both is not the case if you start a character from scratch.

I saved both, by the way. Since the entire war is based on misunderstanding, the only "good" outcome is to make peace. Taking down one species in favor of another is not an acceptable solution.


On Virmire, you had no chance to prepare a "third option". Either Kaidan or Ashley. Actually, I had loved to see a third option like "sacrifice Kirahee for Ashley/Kaidan" or "save both" - with a countdown. Why not?

[Shajar]

Well Legion cant be saved so its like Virmire, but extended. Either you "kill" 1 or 2. I do peace option almost always, still i lose my friend there xD

Modifié par Shajar, 18 avril 2012 - 08:26 .