5257 réponses à ce sujet

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

Fully cognizant of the fact that I could possibly be a tad too late to the party, I have come across an article on this website stating the studio was looking for some input/thoughts/ideas as for what they want to see in Mass Effect Not Four. I am not presumptuous enough to consider these so groundbreaking the world cannot continue without them being heard, but I figured I might toss my five cents into the discussion. So, without further ado:

- In order to stand out as well as mark the beginning of a new saga, the next installment should sport some unique visuals and visual themes. Yes, I know, how much more vague can I possibly get. Allow me to elaborate a bit; the original trilogy clearly harkens to great sci-gi classics such as Star Trek and Star Wars. With next gen looming so close it is pretty much here, why not take new classics as an inspiration? "Firefly" by Joss Whedon boasts very unique, fantastically intriguing setting as well as a fan base whose following of the all-too-soon-cancelled series is nothing short of cultist. Perhaps the only thing that sells more 24-hour T-shirts than "Firefly" is "Doctor Who". Also living in squallor vs. high-tech of the establishment is always an interesting contrast to see.

 - Also, a setting with something of a lawless feel to it would correspond well with a post-war situation when various civilizations and worlds have to deal with the aftermath of all of that destruction. At the same time, it offers a neat way to side-step the whole choice of an ending from ME3 entirely, since no matter what your favorite color is, a whole lot of planets got the less pleasant end of the giant flying tentacle monster stick. This would be an opportunity to reduce the whole Reaper angle to an off-side remark without it having a great influence on the story. 


- The protagonist - in a related article, I have read BioWare do not intend to make the new protagonist a Shepard v 2.0, a decision I cannot but applaud. Still, I would go further than that - I would suggest making them the very opposite of the notoriously troublesome Commander. Being a member of a military outfit comes with the burden of clear-cut loyalty; paragon or renegade, there is the chain of command to consider, orders to be obeyed. By making the next main character something like a smuggler who likes flying solo (forgive me, I could not resist), there is more room for choosing and switching loyalties, offering opportunities for world building, player choice and more dynamic storytelling. It would also better justify the colorful menagerie that no doubt will be the team of the new protagonist. I always thought the Alliance was being incredibly benevolent letting Shepard bring on board whoever he or she wanted without any background checks or having all that much of a say in the matter, really. Making the new protagonist the master of their own life would not only take care of that, but also give the player a stronger sense of freedom, control and, ultimately, immersion.

- The antagonist and, to some extent, the central conflict - first off, the game should go smaller in terms of epicness of its scope. Well, you can hardly go bigger after nearly wiping out all the sentient life in a galaxy (the kind worth talking about, in any case). The antagonist is a good mirror of what the story is like. In my humble opinion, Saren was, hands down, the best antagonist of the original series. One simple reason - he had a face, he had a voice, he was someone that could be easily identified and, ultimately, defeated. A good, charismatic villain is often the one thing that attracts audience to a property, as evidenced by Loki from "Avengers", Joker from "The Dark Knight" and Glados from "Portal", just to name a few. An iconic villain with a face can be the personal nemesis for the main character, their relationship changing and developing over the course of the game - or several, ideally - thus allowing for powerful change and development in characters themselves.

- New races - to be entirely honest, as colorful and exciting as the Mass Effect universe felt when I booted up the first game for the very first time, by Game Three I felt like I knew them all quite well and that there really were just a few, come to think about it. Spicing things up never hurts. Well, it might hurt the budget, so the lack of greater variety is understandable, but still.

- no reliance on references - I know it is incredibly difficult to avoid callbacks and nods to something as huge as the first trilogy, but perhaps it would be best to keep these things subtle instead of placing them front and center. The new franchise should stand on its own legs and be given the opportunity to come up with a slew of memes, quotable lines and jokes of its own.

- Mars - just a mention. With Curiosity up there and companies like Space Ex making our own progress in space exploration at least a little less stagnant, perhaps it would be interesting to further investigate home waters, so to speak.

- perhaps this is more personal than the others but please no mandatory multiplayer. It would be nice to be able to replay the game a few years down the line and get the desired ending without having to depend on on-line community that will, in time, dwindle and peter out. 

[Thunderbaws]

My idea is, get off Origin, get rid of bioware points, get us some dlc sales on the PC. Other than that ill leave it to you guys. keep making great games as its what you do!

[Makkah876]

Here are a couple things that came to me just now.

1) Dynamic cover: In an area with no obvious cover in sight? Use your heavy weapon (I loved them so much) to take out a non essential pillar to make some.

2) Environmental hazards: Similar to the above, destroy a structure close to an enemy and have the debris take them out.

All these should be possible with Frostbite, me thinks.

[Jaulen]

shenlonzero wrote...


9. Sneaking this in real quick...playing as a descendant of Shepard and his romance interests bloodline...that would be a good tie in back to the original trilogy as well.  There is a insidious plot i'm sure you at bioware can work around that idea, and I've heard it brought up before in the forums, i'm pretty sure. Or maybe the Spectres no longer exist and they're called the Shepards instead...or a Shepard Temple in the game. But playing as a descendant, that sounds pretty fun... and meaningful.

Just a thought:
This would 100% of the time only be available to male shepards, or female shepards that romanced Liara. nothing like cutting out players ability to import playthroughs.


Since I've given more though to what I wouldn't want to see than what I would...
No Prequel. Personally I'm not interested. 

Why would i want to play through history when I know :
1) how it turns out? (didn't people already freak out enough about DA:2 having a rather 'set' ending? Not like you could do a First Contact game and actually have a chance of humans losing)
2) whatever happens in the prequel....we already know that Shepard comes along and does whatever to the galaxy
Prequel informtion should be kept to comics, books, and lore records

#2 is the same reason I wouldn't be interested in a concurrent side-mission game. Whatever you do in that game would get superceeded by whatever Shepard does....unless the side-mission game ending has the possibility to retcon the ending that Shepard causes (or maybe the protag and crew are near a ME relay when it blows and get taken to a parallel dimension... play through a part of the game concurrent with what's going on in Shepard's universe.....then *poof* blank slate)

I also would not be interested in playing a game through a full game as my companion. I thought the majority of them were well written enough that they are their own person. Now we'd be playing through a game as them? To keep the personality rather intact that they have already developed, the RPG aspect of the game would have to be rather limited....unless you gave the player agency to 're-write/develop' the companion character into a new direction (expect much fan hate for being given the option of making a companion do something that is out of character compared to how they are in the ME triology.....or for NOT being given many options to impact character development...this is kind of no-win). And I can't see playing through as a PC helping the companion through their story-line (Thane worked alone after all, Miranda doesn't have many friends and doesn't trust, and Jack?).....it would be like an extended companion side-quest. Again, keep companion information to the comics/books.
Also, if it's playing through background information of the companion.....well, we kind of know what happens to them at the end of ME3.


While I am a hater of the original ME3 ending, and have not purchased any DLC for the game, I loved the ME universe, and really hope that Bioware can do something to resurrect it.

Modifié par Jaulen, 02 juillet 2013 - 10:42 .

[DarthLaxian]

Phoenix_Also_Rises wrote...

Fully cognizant of the fact that I could possibly be a tad too late to the party, I have come across an article on this website stating the studio was looking for some input/thoughts/ideas as for what they want to see in Mass Effect Not Four. I am not presumptuous enough to consider these so groundbreaking the world cannot continue without them being heard, but I figured I might toss my five cents into the discussion. So, without further ado:

- In order to stand out as well as mark the beginning of a new saga, the next installment should sport some unique visuals and visual themes. Yes, I know, how much more vague can I possibly get. Allow me to elaborate a bit; the original trilogy clearly harkens to great sci-gi classics such as Star Trek and Star Wars. With next gen looming so close it is pretty much here, why not take new classics as an inspiration? "Firefly" by Joss Whedon boasts very unique, fantastically intriguing setting as well as a fan base whose following of the all-too-soon-cancelled series is nothing short of cultist. Perhaps the only thing that sells more 24-hour T-shirts than "Firefly" is "Doctor Who". Also living in squallor vs. high-tech of the establishment is always an interesting contrast to see.

 - Also, a setting with something of a lawless feel to it would correspond well with a post-war situation when various civilizations and worlds have to deal with the aftermath of all of that destruction. At the same time, it offers a neat way to side-step the whole choice of an ending from ME3 entirely, since no matter what your favorite color is, a whole lot of planets got the less pleasant end of the giant flying tentacle monster stick. This would be an opportunity to reduce the whole Reaper angle to an off-side remark without it having a great influence on the story. 


- The protagonist - in a related article, I have read BioWare do not intend to make the new protagonist a Shepard v 2.0, a decision I cannot but applaud. Still, I would go further than that - I would suggest making them the very opposite of the notoriously troublesome Commander. Being a member of a military outfit comes with the burden of clear-cut loyalty; paragon or renegade, there is the chain of command to consider, orders to be obeyed. By making the next main character something like a smuggler who likes flying solo (forgive me, I could not resist), there is more room for choosing and switching loyalties, offering opportunities for world building, player choice and more dynamic storytelling. It would also better justify the colorful menagerie that no doubt will be the team of the new protagonist. I always thought the Alliance was being incredibly benevolent letting Shepard bring on board whoever he or she wanted without any background checks or having all that much of a say in the matter, really. Making the new protagonist the master of their own life would not only take care of that, but also give the player a stronger sense of freedom, control and, ultimately, immersion.

- The antagonist and, to some extent, the central conflict - first off, the game should go smaller in terms of epicness of its scope. Well, you can hardly go bigger after nearly wiping out all the sentient life in a galaxy (the kind worth talking about, in any case). The antagonist is a good mirror of what the story is like. In my humble opinion, Saren was, hands down, the best antagonist of the original series. One simple reason - he had a face, he had a voice, he was someone that could be easily identified and, ultimately, defeated. A good, charismatic villain is often the one thing that attracts audience to a property, as evidenced by Loki from "Avengers", Joker from "The Dark Knight" and Glados from "Portal", just to name a few. An iconic villain with a face can be the personal nemesis for the main character, their relationship changing and developing over the course of the game - or several, ideally - thus allowing for powerful change and development in characters themselves.

- New races - to be entirely honest, as colorful and exciting as the Mass Effect universe felt when I booted up the first game for the very first time, by Game Three I felt like I knew them all quite well and that there really were just a few, come to think about it. Spicing things up never hurts. Well, it might hurt the budget, so the lack of greater variety is understandable, but still.

- no reliance on references - I know it is incredibly difficult to avoid callbacks and nods to something as huge as the first trilogy, but perhaps it would be best to keep these things subtle instead of placing them front and center. The new franchise should stand on its own legs and be given the opportunity to come up with a slew of memes, quotable lines and jokes of its own.

- Mars - just a mention. With Curiosity up there and companies like Space Ex making our own progress in space exploration at least a little less stagnant, perhaps it would be interesting to further investigate home waters, so to speak.

- perhaps this is more personal than the others but please no mandatory multiplayer. It would be nice to be able to replay the game a few years down the line and get the desired ending without having to depend on on-line community that will, in time, dwindle and peter out. 

one thing (concerning the above):

games need a market and firefly was cancelled because IT DIDN'T SELL! (and i personally do not like it...i don't like gritty used universes normally (with trash lying around, everything being rusty etc.)...with the exception of FALLOUT  (and star wars - but both are not doing the gritty part on purpose, while things like Firefly and say New Battlestar Galactica are doing that on purpose...which is something i dislike - same as violence for violences sake (if it serves no purpose, why have it?))

greetings LAX

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

DarthLaxian wrote...

one thing (concerning the above):

games need a market and firefly was cancelled because IT DIDN'T SELL! (and i personally do not like it...i don't like gritty used universes normally (with trash lying around, everything being rusty etc.)...with the exception of FALLOUT  (and star wars - but both are not doing the gritty part on purpose, while things like Firefly and say New Battlestar Galactica are doing that on purpose...which is something i dislike - same as violence for violences sake (if it serves no purpose, why have it?))

greetings LAX

You are not wrong. However:

- you have to consider the audience - while Firefly did try to apeal to mass market, it struggled. Considering the demographics, TV is going for a much broader audience, or rather, much different audience than games. Back when it was first introduced, it was new, unproven, and with sci-fi affaird the budgetary concerns are quite considerable since they require costs like CG, props and costumes, none of which are cheap, especially compared to fares like grounded, real-world based drama. It is therefore much more difficult for such a property to gain proper footing, which is something "Firefly" had obviously failed to do. BUT the audience for a video game is quite different than a TV audience and we are dealing here with an already established property besides - this is Mass Effect. There is general awareness and, dare I say, anticipation. The marketing would be completely different. Still, this is not a Firefly thread.

- It may have come off like I was pushing the "Firefly" angle way too much and if that was the case, allow me to clarify my intentions - it was what I suggested in terms of visual/thematic inspiration because the themes and the visuals were a good example of what I thought could be done with the next installment in order to differentiate it from its predecessors. I did not mean "do this but slap a ME sticker over it" what I meant was more along the lines of "this is a good example of what I have in mind".

- the setting I threw out there was not post-apocalyptic, it was post-war, though it is not that difficult to see how the two could look quite similar. Because where else would it go? Prequels seldom work - you have the issue of knowing how things are going to work out (unless you get very creative and jump through some insane hoops but still), a sidequel would have to involve the Reapers because a threat that big and pervasive just could not be cut out of the picture and I am not sure if I am speaking just for myself, but if I have to kill another Husk or Marauder - well, that would make me just a little bit sad. The Reapers are fairly uninteresting as far as antagonists go. So a sequel is the only logical place to go. So either you can set it right after the war, when the things are too chaotic and tumultuous to deal with the larger Reapercussions (i do apologize) - if the country/world is coming to pieces around you, the galactic-scale fallout of a favorite-color decision is not going to be all that high on your list of priorities. Or you could fling your setting far into the future when the ended war is a thing of the past, though this option I see as more risky in terms of trying to incorporate/not incorporate the Reapers, since, given the luxury of hindsight, it is a lot less muddled than post-war chaos. I think it would make the Reapers a lot more difficult to sweep under the rug and not have them influence the new story in a big way. And this story does need a start of its own, a fresh new beginning.

- thank you for your opinion, this is an enjoyable discussion

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

Had a thought - if my memory serves me right, in the Omega DLC Nyreen is a "Turian Huntress" class. And one of the oldest forms of hunting is falconry. How about a female Turian squad member with a "falcon" - a little tech device that can be released over the combat field and allow the player to see through walls/take out enemies in cover? The latter ability, of course, would have to be subject of considerable cooldown so as not to make the character overpowered.  Real-life falcons also hunt by stooping their prey at great speeds, which serves to stun or outright kill the target, so the device could have a stun attack which would leave the enemy open to take damage or could cause armored units to drop their shields.

- Perhaps the classes could have two separate talent trees that allow the player to level up different sets of attributes/skills? In this case you could have the "falconer" hunter which would have the "take out enemies in cover" attack as one of its highest unlockables or a "biotic" hunter with a different set of offensive/defensive abilities e.g. the shield Nyreen used in "Omega"

- Dual omni-blade – one on each arm, like mantis
claws for a wicked quick assassin-type of character.


sorry for double post, am done cluttering the forums up now 

Modifié par Phoenix_Also_Rises, 03 juillet 2013 - 07:20 .

[DiegoProgMetal]

Hey guys...It feels like years since I just sat down... Yeah... I was one the guys who didn't like the endings, and no, I didn't whine about it, I just stated my "complain", even played the mp with some of the people from the team and talked about that. I understood what they said, they understood what I said...
So, I just said that because I wanted you to know that I still love this series. Yes, it ended in a way that I didn't like, but it's in the past now.
The only thing I ask you is to make a great game, with a great story and memorable characters... If you have to reboot it, using just the set but with a completely new lore, that's ok to me. I just hope I can remember ME as a great classic.. Please, don't try to go for "shoot, run, shoot, run" type of game, don't try to sell it to the pre-teen audience... you could make a spin-off if you want that... I just ask you to please make a great game, full of philosophy, science, politics, ethic concepts, love, hate... Something that we can relate to and dive into the lore. And please, as we dive, don't drown us...
Best regards from an old fan that hopes to get back to his "home" as soon as possible.

Modifié par DiegoProgMetal, 03 juillet 2013 - 08:25 .

[AlmightyZacPac]

DiegoProgMetal wrote...

Yes, it ended in a way that I didn't like, but it's in the past now.

- Agreed. Time to see what they do next and hopefully blow the previous games away.

DiegoProgMetal wrote...

I just hope I can remember ME as a great classic.. Please, don't try to go for "shoot, run, shoot, run" type of game, don't try to sell it to the pre-teen audience... 

- Same here. The next game will be a big one as it will show everyone where they can go with Mass Effect. What scares me a bit, is EA. They have a reputation for buying out companies and running them into the ground. Hopefully they give Bioware the space they need to make a great game.

This needs to be a fully open world epic, as I've mentioned in my previous post. Bigger than any previous game. The exploration elements slowly went downhill over the trilogy, need to make a big step forward this time.

I feel as though gamers are getting more vocal now, and it is putting the pressure on for developers. It's not our fault, really. One day, someone decided to make terrible games and rip us off, so we got angry. It's the way it goes!

Modifié par AlmightyZacPac, 03 juillet 2013 - 11:03 .

[ruiptaurus]

I want my favorite character Garrus, working as a spectre or C-sec!!!

Love you Bioware

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

@Diego, AlmightyZacPac - I cannot but wholeheartedly agree. I adore the series so much that I honestly do not care what they end up going for as long as it is still Mass Effect and as long as it is still intelligent, fun and challenging - thought and gameplay-wise.

[Jaffawer]

First contact war

[JB27]

I want to be able to switch to my squadmates in game and play as any of them at the click of a button.

[DarthLaxian]

Phoenix_Also_Rises wrote...

You are not wrong. However:

- you have to consider the audience - while Firefly did try to apeal to mass market, it struggled. Considering the demographics, TV is going for a much broader audience, or rather, much different audience than games. Back when it was first introduced, it was new, unproven, and with sci-fi affaird the budgetary concerns are quite considerable since they require costs like CG, props and costumes, none of which are cheap, especially compared to fares like grounded, real-world based drama. It is therefore much more difficult for such a property to gain proper footing, which is something "Firefly" had obviously failed to do. BUT the audience for a video game is quite different than a TV audience and we are dealing here with an already established property besides - this is Mass Effect. There is general awareness and, dare I say, anticipation. The marketing would be completely different. Still, this is not a Firefly thread.

- It may have come off like I was pushing the "Firefly" angle way too much and if that was the case, allow me to clarify my intentions - it was what I suggested in terms of visual/thematic inspiration because the themes and the visuals were a good example of what I thought could be done with the next installment in order to differentiate it from its predecessors. I did not mean "do this but slap a ME sticker over it" what I meant was more along the lines of "this is a good example of what I have in mind".

- the setting I threw out there was not post-apocalyptic, it was post-war, though it is not that difficult to see how the two could look quite similar. Because where else would it go? Prequels seldom work - you have the issue of knowing how things are going to work out (unless you get very creative and jump through some insane hoops but still), a sidequel would have to involve the Reapers because a threat that big and pervasive just could not be cut out of the picture and I am not sure if I am speaking just for myself, but if I have to kill another Husk or Marauder - well, that would make me just a little bit sad. The Reapers are fairly uninteresting as far as antagonists go. So a sequel is the only logical place to go. So either you can set it right after the war, when the things are too chaotic and tumultuous to deal with the larger Reapercussions (i do apologize) - if the country/world is coming to pieces around you, the galactic-scale fallout of a favorite-color decision is not going to be all that high on your list of priorities. Or you could fling your setting far into the future when the ended war is a thing of the past, though this option I see as more risky in terms of trying to incorporate/not incorporate the Reapers, since, given the luxury of hindsight, it is a lot less muddled than post-war chaos. I think it would make the Reapers a lot more difficult to sweep under the rug and not have them influence the new story in a big way. And this story does need a start of its own, a fresh new beginning.

- thank you for your opinion, this is an enjoyable discussion

yeah, post war chaos would be nice (as some other things i have posted on this topic alone, like the distant future with an expedition to another galaxy...)

i would not like any kind of PREQUEL (i only know one series of really working prequels...Star Wars and then only episodes II and III (one was just not all that good))

and yes, it would have a post apocalyptic feeling to it (hell, everything is destroyed, i would imagine apocalypse like that)...but yeah, i like your way of thinking

hey i just had another idea (need to write that one down, now - or i will forget it again):

why not make "REFUSE" the canon ending - but with a large TWIST:

The Council knew fighting the reapers was doomed (everyone who had the data on Sovereign would know that it was not GETH...and politicians are prone to "panic" so they would prepare for a worst case scenario aka: Sheppard is right!), while they feigned ignorance of the threat to the larger galaxy and even most of it's Agents (SPECTRES and STG etc.), they prepared for an alternative solution - they felt that they had no choice:

They started a secret Project:

Building several large space-ships and equipping them with the best technology they could get their hands on (i am talking about things like: cyclonic-barriers, thannix-cannons, disruptor-torpedos, salarian style guardian-systems, normandy-style heatsinks etc.) while also adding a rather large number of prothean-type stasis pods and a large redundant supercomputer for each ship (in order to put everything the council and other races (like the quarians) know into them).

While the ships were being build, the council started putting together a crew for each ship - a crew consisting of each of the member-races...it was hard, as crews needed to be top notch, but they could not just grab highly visible people like important scientists, military leaders, politicians, engineers etc. no, they had to look deeper and grab people that had the potential to be all that (young Lieutenants for example, with the potential to be a Captain or General in the future or scientists that had not even finished university but were considered without equal by their teachers etc.) but would not be missed by the galaxy at large. This was in order to have the best force possible fighting the reapers (thus delaying them for a long time), making sure the project (note: unlike the crucible!!!) stayed a secret and being able to involve non council races without attracting attention (quarians and geth for example) ...the survival of the galactic community hinged on it, so they had no qualms about sacrificing all for the greater good (which was the survival of all the species!).

=> Note: IMHO that does not cheapen Sheppards fight (as he - at least
my Sheppard - would have fough anyway, on the off chance that the
galaxy could be saved (hell my Sheppard would have initiated such a
project if he could!)) also others might dissagree

In the end, the project was a success and the ships launched during the initial reaper attack on the batarians...

Well, there is your start of, you could add certain things, like:

- where did they send their Arks? (another Galaxy? Dark Space? Systems far from the Relays (to stay dormant till the reapers are gone)? etc.)

- did it work (or did some of the ships get lost?)

- will the survivors kooperate and manage to come back and kill the reapers?

- will they find other races in a new galaxy?

- etc. the possibilities are endless

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

DarthLaxian wrote...

yeah, post war chaos would be nice (as some other things i have posted on this topic alone, like the distant future with an expedition to another galaxy...)

i would not like any kind of PREQUEL (i only know one series of really working prequels...Star Wars and then only episodes II and III (one was just not all that good))

and yes, it would have a post apocalyptic feeling to it (hell, everything is destroyed, i would imagine apocalypse like that)...but yeah, i like your way of thinking

hey i just had another idea (need to write that one down, now - or i will forget it again):

why not make "REFUSE" the canon ending - but with a large TWIST:

The Council knew fighting the reapers was doomed (everyone who had the data on Sovereign would know that it was not GETH...and politicians are prone to "panic" so they would prepare for a worst case scenario aka: Sheppard is right!), while they feigned ignorance of the threat to the larger galaxy and even most of it's Agents (SPECTRES and STG etc.), they prepared for an alternative solution - they felt that they had no choice:

They started a secret Project:

Building several large space-ships and equipping them with the best technology they could get their hands on (i am talking about things like: cyclonic-barriers, thannix-cannons, disruptor-torpedos, salarian style guardian-systems, normandy-style heatsinks etc.) while also adding a rather large number of prothean-type stasis pods and a large redundant supercomputer for each ship (in order to put everything the council and other races (like the quarians) know into them).

While the ships were being build, the council started putting together a crew for each ship - a crew consisting of each of the member-races...it was hard, as crews needed to be top notch, but they could not just grab highly visible people like important scientists, military leaders, politicians, engineers etc. no, they had to look deeper and grab people that had the potential to be all that (young Lieutenants for example, with the potential to be a Captain or General in the future or scientists that had not even finished university but were considered without equal by their teachers etc.) but would not be missed by the galaxy at large. This was in order to have the best force possible fighting the reapers (thus delaying them for a long time), making sure the project (note: unlike the crucible!!!) stayed a secret and being able to involve non council races without attracting attention (quarians and geth for example) ...the survival of the galactic community hinged on it, so they had no qualms about sacrificing all for the greater good (which was the survival of all the species!).

=> Note: IMHO that does not cheapen Sheppards fight (as he - at least
my Sheppard - would have fough anyway, on the off chance that the
galaxy could be saved (hell my Sheppard would have initiated such a
project if he could!)) also others might dissagree

In the end, the project was a success and the ships launched during the initial reaper attack on the batarians...

Well, there is your start of, you could add certain things, like:

- where did they send their Arks? (another Galaxy? Dark Space? Systems far from the Relays (to stay dormant till the reapers are gone)? etc.)

- did it work (or did some of the ships get lost?)

- will the survivors kooperate and manage to come back and kill the reapers?

- will they find other races in a new galaxy?

- etc. the possibilities are endless

@Lax - I like your idea about a different galaxy. I like it quite a bit, in fact. There are some hints at ships venturing into unexplored spaces beyond the limits of the Milky Way in the books - how it pays off I do not know since that particular plotline was supposed to come to its own in the fourth book and since, according to the overall reaction I read online, it was pretty bad, I opted not to get it. BUT yes, that would be quite the thing to see! It could give the player new areas to explore, expand the scope, so that the all-galactic threat of the Reapers would not seem ALL that great in comparison (and if games are about anything, it is being bigger than their predecessors), and bring new species to the table! And, it could allow for exploration of the whole Dark Energy/biotics angle Karpyshyn recently disclosed was originally considered to be the big underlining storyline during the time he was on the project but was changed when 3 came around. (having recently gone back to play 2 - it is all over the place, the resolution in 3 hinted at like crazy. A mind was pretty thoroughly blown that day) The unexpected organics vs. synthetics angle out of the way, a new series would be a good place to start exploring it.

Still, if you bring up a new galaxy, how would you go about crossing the vast interstellar distances? The Relay system is self-contained and speed of light is nice but how about going all-out on the madness of sci-fi tropes and incorporate "star gates" or "tears" in the fabric of the universe that seemingly randomly connect places within the universe rather than just one galaxy. You have the mystery of their origin - are they a natural occurrence? were they manufactured? - space travel system a lot like the previous installments so as not to be too unfamiliar (press X to activate rift). The scope would not be too much for the platforms to handle because NEXT GEN BABY. Aherm. Apologies. Raymond E. Feist did some really interesting things with his Riftwar saga which, due to being fantasy and therefore involving dragons rather than spaceships, was still an incredible achievement in the genre. 

- So what this essentially boils down to is dashing space rogues dashing their way through space dimensions kicking space butt, taking space names and riding space dragons, Okay, I know I am being over the top but after ME3, which has left me utterly emotionally eviscerated (and I mean that as a compliment to the incredibly good writing throughout (save perhaps for You-Know-What)) a splash of light-heartedness is just what this series needs.

Modifié par Phoenix_Also_Rises, 06 juillet 2013 - 06:51 .

[DarthLaxian]

hm...

you could use the CITADEL (it is after all one BIG RELAY (tow it to the milky way edge closest to the nearest Galaxy, upgrade it's systems a bit more (if needed, as we have to keep that in mind that this was the relay the reapers wanted to use to come back from dark space, thus it must have a longer range then the others and it is quite a bit larger then all the other relays, so it should have sufficient power

as for return-flight?

well, have the ships bring enough parts along to build a few relays (or a giant one) meaning:

build one relay in the new galaxy, then let yourself get "shot" into dark space, build one, get shot off again, build the next one, till you have a relay-bridge (and write a "forwarding" macro, so that ships using the bridge will automatically ride it to the end in the new galaxy....now where did i rip the intergalactic bridge of off? (hint: McKay!)

note: some might say, that we do not know how to build relays, but in fact we do (we have the data from the conduit - which is a mini-relay and we know - SPOILER (but that one is needed here) - that the Asari have access to a Prothean-Beacon and a Database with a VI on it (and we know that Matriach Aethyta was an advocate to building new relays - and how could they do that, if they did not know how?) 

(using the citadel would of course not work if you had to keep the project under wraps)

greeting LAX
ps: Yeah, i have read Feist (i like the Valheru (that were his dragon riding plunderers who first used to jump universes)...hope i got the name spelled right)
pps: well, stargates/teleportation-devices/mater-transmitters etc. i do not know if that fits the ME-Universe though

Modifié par DarthLaxian, 06 juillet 2013 - 01:20 .

[X-Master]

A spin-off strategy game based on the galaxy map interface, one of the characters mentions something about it.

[Seon]

I'm sure that whatever direction you take the next game in it will be full of the fun, drama, great play, great characters, dramatice scenes...in short what made the first game very, very worthwhile. I have every faith in you.

However, since I can't find a forum to 'plug' Shepard's next story, I'm going to bounce a thought or two off you you guys here.

The main quest for Shepard as he/she goes about trying to assist reconstructing the damage done by the Reapers attacke, the fall out and connceting with the LI is to find out why him/her? Why did the Leviathan single him/her out as something so unusual to encounter in all of its/their long, long history and memory? It was clear that Shepard was very shaken up by this encounter.

Is it possible that Shepard is a Prothean designed human - either genetically tampered with ancestors (as the Asari) or from plans for genetic manipulation found in the archives discovered on Mar's Prothean installion (Tie in to the ME1 where the Consort gives Shepard a reward for helping her. Later using this artifact Shepard has a vision of Protheans taging humans and watching them.)

Using this information, Cerberus - while still a part of the Alliance (hinted at in ME1) and with Alliance assist and resouces attempts to produce the perfect solider to battle the threat, also, revealed in the archive...Reapers. But, their methods are out of bounds and they break with the Alliance or visa versa. The Alliance continues its own research - either looking for genetic traces it can enhance or creating a tank bred human. Either would fit with the three origin storys for Shepard - Orphan is self-explanitory. Having a famliy? Easy, plant a baby with them or plant an embryo in the mothers' wombs for a price. This would cast Admiral Hacket in a dark light as he others would have a lot of explaning to do. Would explain why an Admiral of Hacket's rep, station, influence and political power seems to go out of his way for Shepard "all the time" and backs Shepard up at every move. Would explain why one of Adm. Anderson's taped interviews found throughout his and now Shepard's Citidal apartment states that " solider like Shepard is hard to find and a man/woman like Shepard is even harder to find."

Would, also, explain why Amanda tells Shepard that when she was reviving him/her that she had never worked with so many grey boxs before (ME3); and why Leviathan calls Shepard an anomally a mind it has never encountered (ME3). By the way how did Amanda get a hold of Shepard's grey boxes? Who had them? Why so many? Why does Liara keep saying the Shepard has an unusual mind and a very strong will and mind (ME1)?

Cerebus continues on its course of making the perfect human to face not just the Reapers; but, also, now influenced by 'Earth First' ideology the rest of the alians. ME1 all those experiements with alian tech, and biology. The attack on Admiral Kohok's men as a test for the perfect marine. But the smoking man had bigger plans as we found out.

As to the clone, well you very well can't trust the very survival of the whole galaxy to just one person. Would be nice to have a back up copy just in case. But does not explain why the Alliance didn't release the clone when the first Shepard died. Unless, they gave Ceberus the grey boxes knowing that they were going to resurrect Shepard and were willing to take the chance with the origianal. Did the smoking man not dare implant a chip in Shepard because he knew he could upset any Prothean programing?

If Shepard is a Prothean creation I can see why nearly every Asari the intracts with him/her on an ongoing basis develops feelings for Shepard - like genetic engineering calling to like genetic engineering? (Liara, Samara, the Consort, the Asari on Feros)

As an aside, Dr. Chakus not being able to attend the party at Shepard's apartment? Could it be because she was attending to the clones wounds? Has the clones survived the fall from Normandy assuming that Shepard didn't kill the clone? And is Dr. Chakus in on the secret of Shepard origins?


So many, many, many, many directions and questions...

Thanks for reading,

In the end, have fun with whatever you do...I can hardly wait to see what you all do with the next games both ME and Dragon Aga.

Estel

[EatonTJ]

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, I'd like better control mapping for console players in regards to more buttons reserved for power use. In Mass Effect 3, for example, I'd love to be able to map a power to the right or left stick "button" instead of having it bring up the map. Anything that keeps me off the pause screen during combat would be appreciated, and being able to have 4-5 powers hotkeyed to the controller instead of just 3 would make for a more fun combat system for me. The map can go back to the pause menu.

Also, when mapping powers in multiplayer, it's a shame that targeted powers can get forced onto the "Y" button (like Biotic Charge) making using them quickly while aiming a harder task than necessary (because I have to take my thumb off the right joystick to reach the "Y" button). Again, I ask for the same freedom of remapping in multiplayer as there is in the single player.

Both the combat system and the controller input have improved greatly in each iteration of Mass Effect... please continue to do so and give the player even greater custom control configuration options. Thanks for a great series!

[Ice Cold J]

Don't re-invent the wheel.

Similar gameplay mechanics, particularly the combat of ME3. HUGE step in the right direction.

Storyline, I think, after having such an earth-shaking, catastrophic event in ME3, should be something a little simpler. Maybe a threat to one particular race. Like, say, the Krogan dealing with the settling of the genophage, or the Geth being hacked by some unknown master engineer intent on bringing war to non-humans or a specific race like the Turians (a bitter vet of the First Contact War?).
Give us another Protagonist ho will span a game or two. Preferably one that we can customize.
A Spectre, where we can choose the gender and race, as well as class. Or, if you want to choose a human character, maybe just make them an N7 officer instead of a Spectre. This might offer different pros and cons. Say, a Spectre has authority in all parts of the galaxy, but an N7 has more trusted contacts or a better arsenal.
Little bit of background, like in ME1, but maybe have that be more of a sticking point in the games (i.e. having a Ruithless character would garner respect from a merc group who would then aid you, but being a War Hero would make them leery of you).
I would say a small, but diverse crew who represented many walks of characters. But, since there are fewer, they could be fleshed out even better, like in ME1. Examples: female Krogan who is an expert in biotic combat, Salarian who is an expert sniper, Turian who is a pacifict engineer.
The only thing taht I think should be required? The return of the Normandy. This has become more of a symbol for the franchise than even Shepard, I think. Preferrably with Joker as the pilot, but i wouldn't mind seeing him replaced with a new upstart.
Lastly, LOTS of cameos based on who survives and which ending is picked. Do a mission with some of the old squadmates here and there (although, finding a new v.o. for Zaeed will be bitter).
In the end, make it Mass Effect: make it about player interaction, choice, and customization. I recommend keeping the game importer. But, if it too difficult to account for all the variables, don't give us as many variables. Or, only do two games that they have to carry through. I wouldn't mad a two-part saga if it is well done.
That's my two cents. Hope BW is paying attention. Don't expect to get this exactly, but hopefully I may have given you some decent ideas and insight.

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

@Seon - I do believe that one of the discarded potentialities for a direction the story could take was Shepard not actually being human. What you suggest - Shepard being genetically engineerd would have been so interesting. It would also warrant the insane amount of effort and resources put into resurrecting him/her at the beginning of ME2. One can almost see the boardroom meeting: "So, our super secret high-profile project was spaced and quite thoroughly corpsified during a routine mission. Damn. What do we do now?" "Why, THROW SCIENCE AT IT!"

@Lax - nothing is too crazy if you write it well. No concept is too much out there or too odd to fit in if you handle it correctly. And if BioWare knows anything, it is really clever writing.

- I agree that gameplay should not be significantly touched. ME3 combat was fiendishly entertaining. My neighbors probably suspect they are living next door to a lunatic due to all the manic laughter coming from my side of the wall at two in the morning. To spice things up, it could be an interesting idea to add new powers/classes

- backstories - I always thought the backstories in the original trilogy (do we call it that now?) were somewhat under-explored, with ME One having them integrated the most, but the subsequent installments forgoing any significant inclusion save for a few mentions or remarks. Fully aware of the budgetary implications, I would nonetheless like to suggest a more character-focused narrative with the backstory playing a more prominent role - it could make for such interesting storytelling. For instance, when I played the games, my Shepard was a fairly consistent Paragon with some Renegade thrown in, but the backstory was very decidedly Renegade - I chose the Ruthless option. When other characters made the remarks, there was such a discrepancy between the suggested background and Shepards personality I could not but wonder just what happened and what the journey resulting in such an interesting situation was. Would it not be interesting if every backstory came with a sequence detailing a pivotal point in the life of the new protagonist, one that somehow relates to the conflict at hand? If you played "Uncharted 3" you know what I am talking about. Admittedly, it would take some incredibly skillful writing to pull of, but that is what BioWare is known for, after all.

- do not be afraid to throw curve balls - put a twist or two in the new story. I know I am hammering the character-focused aspect a bit, but would it not be interesting if the main antagonist of this first new game would end up an ally/squad mate in the next? Unlikely associations and shifting alliances - the story, in my opinion, would only benefit from that. As an example, I would like to list Amanda and her story arc in the "Tomb Raider" trilogy - Legend, Underworld and, by association, Anniversary.

- One thing I have to argue against is making the ship (there is going to be THE ship, right?) the Normandy or the protagonist an N7. This new series has to create iconic imagery all on its own - all new, all fresh, all interesting. Come up with an awesome ship and armor design, but please do not rely overmuch on established visuals. You were given an amazing blank new canvas here. Do not waste it by rehashing tired themes. For this reason I also have to argue about any but the briefest of cameos of the survivors from previous games. Do not let this get mired in fanservice. Look how well that worked out for "Terminator Salvation". It would be nothing but painful and it would suggest you cannot come up with characters and ideas of your own. This series does not need more of the same.

- a question - I wonder, do these suggestions count anymore? Was there a deadline or a date past which it was said that "we already have the GDD, we got it from here, thanks"

Modifié par Phoenix_Also_Rises, 08 juillet 2013 - 07:55 .

[DragonAgeLegend]

OH! How about the first time the humans were introduced to aliens? You can show us how it all happened in the beginning then allow us to play through as a human to do something?

[latvianboilol]

 Honestly, the best part of the whole series was the characters. I didnt buy all three games + DLC's to see that you switch from Mako to Hammerhead, or to see that you go from M7 Lancer to M8 Avenger. I stay to see the characters. That being said, they really underdid the characters. For instance, I romanced Liara in all 3 games, but she still calles me a "friend" in ME3.... Seriousley?! For me at least, the characters were awesome, but they felt distant and are still vastly unknown. 

Also, these characters are all centered around one thing: Shepard. Without him they would just disperse like they did at the beginning of ME2. Killing him off is almost an insult to the series, as Shepard IS Mass Effect. Without him, there are none of the other characters and it's not really Mass Effect.

Now, I don't know the details of how this would exactly work, but thats not really my job to find the protagonist, antagonist and such. But how about this: A few years after the reapers are detroyed (so obviously destory ending would have to be canonized). The relays are repaired, Shepard is recovered and alive, but was in a coma for a few years, having him wake up around three years after the reapers were destroyed. You resume as commander of the Normandy, and as a result of your survival, the crew comes back (preferebly even the ones from ME2 if they survived). 

Things are happy with a huge reunion, but then an unknown, massive ship shows up and destroys the Normandy. Although this is pretty much what happened in ME2, instead of having the crew survive and Shepard die, Shepard is the only "survivor." However, somehow, you find that your crew is alive, captured by something or someone. You precure a ship (SR-3?) and set out to get them back, either one by one or have them all be captured and saved in the end. As you go along, you can recruit crew members, like, 20 available people, but you can only recruit 6 so you have to choose carefully which ones you want. These characters could have relationship conflicts with one another so you have to choose the right crew (or just have one with infighting).

Instead of learning about the enemy right from the beginning, like the collectors in ME2, you don't really know what your up against until the very end. When you save the people from the base or whatever you get a little bit of a hint as to who the enemies really are, but you don't fully understand.

If you save all the crew in the end, you keep the old crew, but get to meet new crew members as well. If you save them one by one, you get to possibly know much more about the character you just saved. Either way, with only getting a hint as to who your fighting at the end it sets it up for a sequal...

[adrenaline taco]

latvianboilol wrote...

 Honestly, the best part of the whole series was the characters. I didnt buy all three games + DLC's to see that you switch from Mako to Hammerhead, or to see that you go from M7 Lancer to M8 Avenger. I stay to see the characters.

Killing him off is almost an insult to the series, as Shepard IS Mass Effect.

The relays are repaired, Shepard is recovered and alive.

This. Just pull a ME2. We want Shepard.