5257 réponses à ce sujet

[karushna5]

I still don't see how your choices matter any less than in any other game. As far as I can see they mean more, since they had an effect at all.

As for the other races... That can happen, but then taking into account those races would be a nightmare with the plot. Salarians are only with other salarians or Asari, so no romances for them. Quarians have suits that you cannot go through unless they die...and you have to make 4 body molds for them, one male and female of taking Rannoch or being nearly wiped out.. That isn't saying all the different plot lines that have to mesh with that race. Quarians, Turians have a different food.

And voice actors! You may not like them but they are here to stay, and finding them would be tough. All that money and more importantly time to make it happen

[underthegun42]

Must-fixes for console versions of ME4 (ME3 too, if you can) -

A.1.  Make the button configurations/schemes customizable, so we can set our favorite abilities to the shoulder buttons/triggers/thumbstick presses and not have to take our thumbs off of the sticks everytime we need to use them (see stasis bubbles with the Asari Adept Commando as just one example)

A.2.  Divorce the cover function from the sprint/dodge button, and make the "A" button (on the 360, "X" on PS3) be the only way to go into cover.  Then you should make it so that sprinting at cover makes you mantle over it.  Getting automatically put into cover is insanely frustrating, and it is very hard to get out of quickly so that you don't die. Every time I play I end up yelling at my character, "GET OFF THE WALL!"

A.3.  Make the camera turn with the character while sprinting.  You can't run around a corner without having to release the sprint button and adjust before you start running again.

If this is too much to ask, then at least make a new control scheme -

B.1.  Change melee to the R3 (look thumbstick press).  Krogan enthusiasts and others will thank you.
B.2.  Change sprint/dodge/cover to the L3 (move thumbstick press).  Forward press to sprint, Left/Right/Backwards to dodge (hate cover, still want divorce).

If anyone else agrees/disagrees, please say which items you agree/disagree with.

Thank you Bioware and please make ME4 PvP also, even if it's solely objective mission scenarios, so that I never have to play CoD multiplayer again.

Modifié par underthegun42, 10 janvier 2013 - 09:26 .

[DestinyPlan]

The post above made me remember how frustrating it was how space bar was the key that did absolutely everything in Mass Effect 3! Please please adjust that in future games, as I have found myself doing things I don't mean to such as rolling out of cover, vaulting over cover when I actually wanted to pick something up, etc.

Modifié par DestinyPlan, 10 janvier 2013 - 08:51 .

[Abraham_uk]

This is a good thread.

Lot's of constructive feedback.

It ditches the usual "this game is terrible I hate you I hate you" mentality and tries to look at ways to improve the franchise.
This thread is about fans doing what they do best. Pointing out flaws and pointing out ways to improve upon them.


As I keep saying. I love the entire Mass Effect trilogy.
So when I and the many other fans on this thread give advice, we do it out of love and respect of the series.

This is the thread that Bioware staff should pay attention to.
Most (yes there are exceptions) of the other feedback threads are pretty useless in my opinion.

Furthremore, any useful feedback you can find on other threads, you'll also find on this thread.

Please pay attention to this particular thread!

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 11 janvier 2013 - 01:37 .

[Abraham_uk]

Good luck!

I've really enjoyed the trilogy and I'm looking forward to more!

[mitch_rohan]

I'd like to see a new hero take the helm someone a little more low key where the fate of the galaxy isnt resting on your shoulders, so not to stressed

An idea id think i would like would be post me3, obviously after whichever ending id say 20/30 years or something due to the whole world nearly ending and everyones to focused on rebuilding a new mercenary group is has been created and is causing terror by pirating severly affected worlds.

so your character gets somehow dragged into the plot and you have to track down and kill the leader or something along the lines of that

id like it to focus on more going into the underworld of the ME universe and going into the lore and doing missions which doesnt neccesarily have to involve combat like doing dirty work takss etc to get information out of people etc

squadmates id like to see more salarian and perhaps another drell character or something. just some of my ideas as i think the plot/choices and lore is what makes mass effect out, not just a shooter game which quite frankly their are far to many

[SpeshMeh]

Abraham_uk wrote...

This is a good thread.

Lot's of constructive feedback.

It ditches the usual "this game is terrible I hate you I hate you" mentality and tries to look at ways to improve the franchise.
This thread is about fans doing what they do best. Pointing out flaws and pointing out ways to improve upon them.


As I keep saying. I love the entire Mass Effect trilogy.
So when I and the many other fans on this thread give advice, we do it out of love and respect of the series.

This is the thread that Bioware staff should pay attention to.
Most (yes there are exceptions) of the other feedback threads are pretty useless in my opinion.

Furthremore, any useful feedback you can find on other threads, you'll also find on this thread.

Please pay attention to this particular thread!

I only joined this forum, never mind this thread, a few weeks ago and i must agree with you this has been the best thread going. Almost all the posts have been full of different ideas and opinions on what we want in a new game and what we can take from the previous trilogy. More importantly posts are being replied to with thoughtful and considered replies and critiques. Even a few debates have taken place on here that i find amazing.
Yes we werent satisfied by the ending but that doesnt mean we have to sabotage any future projects or be forever stuck over that one issue. I loved the trilogy and i for one hope that it paves the way for more space age rpgs that tell such beautiful stories full of immersion and control.
Like you i really hope the guys at Bioware and all areas of their development team have a real good look through this thread from the beginning because there have been some real gems of ideas being shared back and forth.
Nice to see people sharing the same appreciation and understanding of what this thread is trying to do.
Keep posting your ideas everybody.

[SpeshMeh]

ydwang83 wrote...

Character Customization
I think most fans would love it if the next installments of Mass Effect will go back to being more RPG but keeping the combat system from ME2 & ME3, which in my opinion is great.

Fair shout on the whole combat thing. Would like to see the battle maps feel a little more complex with multiple levels and pathways. Make these maps stand out from each other as well in terms of environments and layout. I also posted my thoughts on adding space flight/combat mechanic into some of the missions and as part of a multiplayer. Or just have a little, player controlled, remote control Normandy you can mess about with on the crew deck just for fun.
Would also like to see mission squad size increase to three if the maps are increased in size and complexity as well as more enemies. Maybe develop the enemy ai into working together i.e. moving in groups, covering fire, behind shield users etc.

ydwang83 wrote...

Mass Effect 2 onward, there was no longer character customization in terms of what skills to take etc. Once your character is developed, basically 5 of the 6 skills available can be maxed. It would be much better if there are many more skills so people can create many variations/builds with the same class. Allowing dual/tri class would also make even more variations and builds possible, greatly strengthening the RPG aspect of the game, allowing for higher replayability.

Yeah they did kind of scale back the level of customisation in ME3 the the branching skill traits mechanic was promising. Would like them to expand that out into a skills tree with event and achievement requirements. Guild wars 2 has the great idea of linking skills and abilities not just to class but to swappable weapons too giving you access to a number of different skills simply by picking up of changing your weapon.
With this in mind bring back weapon, armor and mod drops as well as the chance to research new mods and other things in. In other works combine the loot of ME1, armory/laboratory of ME2 with the weapon mod table of ME3.

ydwang83 wrote...

Playable Character of Different Races
It would also be great if the protagonist can be of a different background (Dragon Age Origins is an excellent example of how it can work), an Asari, a Turian, Quarian or any of the races already introduced in the ME universe. Even thought I mostly play as a human in RPGs, having more variety would, again, allow for higher replayability.

 
This one im not so sure of. Whilst i like the idea of having the choice of race/species for my lead character im somewhat wary of the practicality of putting all those cultural, social and biological differences into a single structured but incredibly our branching storyline full of choices and interactions.
My compromise would be being able to switch characters on missions to work alongside the orders. Whilst your lead goes ahead you could switch to a squadmate to provide covering fire and Biotic/Tech abilities. This means if we take too much damage we can switch out and have the chance to revive our lead character before making the next charge. Balance it out with a time set penalty to stats.
Would also expand and develop the multiplayer further whilst keeping the numerous playable races and classes from the ME3 multiplayer. I've metioned before story structured pvp with cutscenes and storylines from the fanchises canon.

ydwang83 wrote...

Galaxy Exploration
Exploration should also be introduced again in some form.  In ME1 we were able to land on terrestral planets and discover missions, resources, enemies, etc.  In ME2 we were only able to launch probes to the planets and there are the occasional N7 mission.  In ME3 it was basically taken out altogether.  The series has become more and more linear.  I personally thought driving the Mako around the planet enjoying the different terrains, the different skylines, was awesome. It made the galaxy seemed large.

Definately missed that from 2 and 3. Though the mako was awesome make exploring planets let time consuming by taking out the off roading and making it a small landing ship that can fly across the landscape shooting enemies both in the air and on the ground, and then drop your team on the surface to explore further, raid facilities, collect loot/resouces etc. Thinking Lylat wars with the banshee controls from Halo.
Again i would like ship encounters with boarding and ship vs ship battles. Take your landing fighter out and take out that ship, fighter group or breach their shields land your team in and capture the ship for loot and other rewards. Teach those space pirates whose boss.

ydwang83 wrote...

Random Events & Time Sensitive Events
The addition of random events/battles as well as time sensitive events would also be a cool idea.  Also, the gamer could be forced to choose between different events with different consequences.  If Bioware introduces ultra rare, rare, uncommon, common events, with loot rewards, etc, it could keep games hooked on multiple playthroughs/New games+ just to see/find all the content.  Further events could also be introduced via DLCs.  I think that would give the game a somewhat unpredictable and tense feel.

The space battles i mentioned would cover this but would like more character specific missions and events, more special dialogue not just for who you bring on your mission but what squad combination you go with.

ydwang83 wrote...

Deeper & More Developed Romance
Bioware is the only company that consistently make games that include romance, and honestly I think it is a great idea. It makes you more invested in the characters, care about what happens to them. That said, I feel the romance part of the game is almost always rushed, with too little development. For example, after "doing the deed" there are no more conversations. In ME2 you could call your LI up to Shepard's cabin after the big battle, but unfortunately after that no more dialogues were written and they could only sit/lie there like dolls, you would think after such a battle there would be a lot of things the two could talk about. If the romance can be deeper and more complex, it would make the story even more engaging and absorbing. Again this is something that can be strengthened through additional DLCs after the game is released.

Yes to this definately. Have conversations going after the sex, have ones that have you talking to them about their future as a couple, whether to tell the rest of the crew, and other things. Have other squadmates and crew members add their thoughts. Hear crew talking about rumours you are in a relationship, your friend congratulating you and offering advice or even having a peer chastise you for sleeping around and having multiple relationships.
Relationship build up would be good. Having the chance to develop friendships first before taking the gamble of romance with varying degrees of progression and devoplment speed depend on who your interacting with.
Also a key point, squadmate relationships. I once again ask why should your lead character be the only one in a relationship. Lets see rivalries, friendships, conflicts, romances between the others, let you play cupid or peace maker a bit.

ydwang83 wrote...

More/Better Love Scenes
Regarding the intimate scenes, I think most gamers are old enough to handle mature content.  So Bioware could make it like the Witcher 2, which might be a little erotic, but tasteful.

Yeah i get where your coming from, they did do it with a level of taste and propriety and even romance instead of cheap sexy time for the punters. They kinda covered in some scenes to the outrage of some parents and politically minded news programmes and i think it can be achieved tastefully. Movies can cover it tastefully and beautifully why cant games.
Not sure this series would need to go further than that, but then i suppose you could add a parental option, on starting a new game, of whether you would want the more adult content left out like your propsed sex scenes or blood and gore (i.e. Exploding heads) for some younger players. Not that this game should be designed for younger gamers but for mature minded players to choose their preference. Teach parents to buy age appropriate games for thier kids people.

ydwang83 wrote...

Set AFTER events of ME3
In terms of the story setting of the next installments, I personally would much prefer that it be after the current ME trilogy. A prequel is not optimal as we will not be able to import the decisions made in the first ME games into the next. Also, since we have all experienced the grand battle with the ultimate badasses of the universe, the Reapers, it would be hard to get excited to prequel events such as the First Contact War, etc. I am positive the epicness of a prequel would be underwhelming. Bioware introduced the ancient race that created the Reapers, maybe go in that direction. Or maybe have a significant number of Reapers remain in dark space, hence not affected by the ending of ME3. They could regroup and be a threat again. Bioware has always written excellent stories and I'm sure they will be able to come up with something great again.

I would confine prequel/historical chapters to the multiplayer idea i had above. The history of this universe has merit and can still be covered without tying the single player storyline to it. You could add legacy rewards that transfer to your singleplayer in the form of xp bonus, special weapons, armor, maybe even have an unlockable squadmate that appears after you have completed all the historical multiplayer chapters. A reward for putting the hours into the multiplayer rather than the battle readiness thing that didnt contribute that much.

ydwang83 wrote...

Choices that MATTER
Regarding choices in the next ME game; I do not detest the ME3 ending as some of the fans do, but I do feel like the core issue they are complaining about should be addressed.  ie. choices made seemed to not matter at all. Bioware chose to consolidate all the choices into numbers (War Assets), and I think that is the lazy way out. Choosing to form an alliance with the Geth for example should not mean a 810.  Bioware needs to ensure that choices made throughout the game matter in important ways, not arbitrarily assign a number to a particular decision and then add all the numbes up giving you ending a, b, c, d, which frankly have nothing to do with previous choices. Bioware should avoid AT ALL COSTS doing this again.

I understand that it does seem like our choices did not matter but too a point i disagree. Our choices did have a impact on the story. Sparing Wrex changed how the krogan would be lead, quelling the argument between Tali and the geth did help persuade the admiral to stop his attack and broker peace between the two races. Keeping Maelons data in ME2 does keep Eve alive to guide the krogan. Things like this were affected by your actions throughout the entire series.
The gripe was more about the ending than ME3 as a whole. Ahh yes "The Ending", it wasnt the ending that dissapointed me (Loved the idea of the indoctrination theory, this would have blown our minds if they had gone with it) it was the way it was done. They sold it to us that the ending would have many possibilities resulting from our actions and the collected War Assets. I now believe they were refering to ME3 as a whole in which to a certain extent does that.
The ending on its own as you said didnt make proper use of those assets. They could have shown us that rachni force mind manipulating reaper infantry giving you a clear route through part of the final mission or have your krogan buddies plows into brutes and ravagers, seeing quarian and geth ships firing a volley of cannon fire into reapers, see the fruits of your actions taking form in the final battle.
But i digress to be honest i believe that they have learnt about hyping up their capabilities beyond thier scope. We the fans made our point. Now i want to see how this new game will respond.
I'll say it again i really hope the developers are keeping an eye on this thread as there is a lot of love and support for the franchise and want to see this new game work well. We wouldnt have so many varied and wonderful ideas and debates on how to make it amazing. Keep sharing your ideas and thoughts buddy.

[geroni24]

i want it set on the first contact war, fighting turians and such

[drakenashura]

I honestly cant see how a prequel would work from a human point of view.

We only have the first contact war...and since we know exactly how that turns out I dont see how they can craft a really good story if we know how it ends. We make peace, we get a seat on the council etc.

If it were a prequel then we would have to go back much further and have it as an Asari/Turian main character. And in all honesty I cant see that from Bioware either. Not that they cant do it...more like they would keep the main character human so we as players can identify more with the character we play and shape. Maybe thats just me though.

I would have to go with a game set in the future. Either the immediate future (20-100 years after ME3) or go even further. The issue that this will bring tho is that from a story/universe point of view that would mean Bioware would have to canonize an ending...and thats going to really tick people off even more than the current ending issues already do.

I guess it depends on how Bioware leave ME3. If the new DLC is an epilogue based DLC then Bioware have a chance to fix some of the issues with the current ending. If its not then expect a lot of frustration from fans on this.

Dont want to turn this into another ending thing, so Ill finish by saying I think they have to go forwards to craft another human based story for ME4.

[ydwang83]

@SpeshMeh

You make a lot of excellent points, I agree with everything you mentioned.

True, having a choice of different species as lead in Single Player would probably be too time consuming with all the different permutations and stuff. It would probably be better to focus on the human protagonist in Single player.

Regarding multiplayer aspects, having more complex maps would be wonderful for sure, though mostly I think mostly people just want different modes. Playing against hordes after hordes of AI sometimes gets repetitive.  I suspect the reason they made it this way is because of the whole set of other issues they would have to deal with otherwise. Servers, its maintainance, constant monitoring/balancing. etc.  I mean CoD, Battlefield are dedicated MP games and asking ME multiplayer to be that way is just unfair, it would stretch them too thin. If they want to truly make ME multiplayer on par/comparable with the aforementioned games, it would simply have to be a seperate title in itself. However, I believe most ME fans love the series because of the rich story and its world and would much prefer Bioware keep their efforts on giving us the best possible single player gameplay experience.

SpeshMeh wrote...
I would confine prequel/historical chapters to the multiplayer idea i had above. The history of this universe has merit and can still be covered without tying the single player storyline to it. You could add legacy rewards that transfer to your singleplayer in the form of xp bonus, special weapons, armor, maybe even have an unlockable squadmate that appears after you have completed all the historical multiplayer chapters. A reward for putting the hours into the multiplayer rather than the battle readiness thing that didnt contribute that much.

If they decide to make a Shooter title seprate from the RPG, the above would also work, it would be a wonderful way of rewarding the player in the Single Player game.

SpeshMeh wrote...
I understand that it does seem like our choices did not matter but too a point i disagree. Our choices did have a impact on the story. Sparing Wrex changed how the krogan would be lead, quelling the argument between Tali and the geth did help persuade the admiral to stop his attack and broker peace between the two races. Keeping Maelons data in ME2 does keep Eve alive to guide the krogan. Things like this were affected by your actions throughout the entire series. 
The gripe was more about the ending than ME3 as a whole. Ahh yes "The Ending", it wasnt the ending that dissapointed me (Loved the idea of the indoctrination theory, this would have blown our minds if they had gone with it) it was the way it was done. They sold it to us that the ending would have many possibilities resulting from our actions and the collected War Assets. I now believe they were refering to ME3 as a whole in which to a certain extent does that. 
The ending on its own as you said didnt make proper use of those assets. They could have shown us that rachni force mind manipulating reaper infantry giving you a clear route through part of the final mission or have your krogan buddies plows into brutes and ravagers, seeing quarian and geth ships firing a volley of cannon fire into reapers, see the fruits of your actions taking form in the final battle.

Exactly, if you could see cutscenes/during missions/ending narration/epilogue slides/etc. of how your  war assets assisted against the Reapers it would have been wonderful.  So many fans pointed this out, its a pity it wasn't done this way.  Hopefully they learn from this and incorporate it into their next ME games.

Also, just wanted to add that increasing banter all throught the game would be awesome.  I think they did an excellent job with that when your aboard the Normandy in ME3 (I had countless laughs down at the engineering deck listening to Donnelly and Daniels for example).  If they could expand that to having banter all throught the game, during missions, etc. it would be fantastic. Again, I think they did an excellent job of that in the DA series, ME could use more of that. I realize I am referencing to the DA series quite often. Truth is, they did a lot of things right in DAO, I hope they can use the positives from that game more in the ME games going forward.

[maurice tali zorah]

i hope it is about a qaurian because now they have there homeworld back and they can do more like becoming a council spicies and exploring the galaxy and maybe you can even customize him/her face because they dont need the suits anymore.

and i think qaurians really desurve a game because there is so much for them now like they have new city's where you then maybe could go in to buy stuff like armor and weapons and like mass effect 2 have more places where you can alwys go.

[SpeshMeh]

ydwang83 wrote...
Regarding multiplayer aspects, having more complex maps would be wonderful for sure, though mostly I think mostly people just want different modes. Playing against hordes after hordes of AI sometimes gets repetitive.  I suspect the reason they made it this way is because of the whole set of other issues they would have to deal with otherwise. Servers, its maintainance, constant monitoring/balancing. etc.  I mean CoD, Battlefield are dedicated MP games and asking ME multiplayer to be that way is just unfair, it would stretch them too thin. If they want to truly make ME multiplayer on par/comparable with the aforementioned games, it would simply have to be a seperate title in itself. However, I believe most ME fans love the series because of the rich story and its world and would much prefer Bioware keep their efforts on giving us the best possible single player gameplay experience.

In regards to the map scaling and development i was hoping would be put into the single player campaigns and missions as well as the multiplayer. Different modes was exactly what i had in mind for the multiplayer. You could have the horde mode and pvp maps for the starter then include spaceship battles along with special pvp scenario games, both of which i have covered in previous posts on this thread.
I believe with the size and reputation of Bioware and the support of EA that they can build a decent multiplayer without it taking away from the singleplayer campaign. I use Farcry 3 of an example of this. It has a multiplayer mode complete with create-a-map features, a fleshed out co-op campaign that has its own chracters and storyline. It has all of this on top of a great singleplayer campaign thats huge, open world, packed full of loot and rpg elements whilst containing a unique and gripping story full of well written and voice acted characters. If ubisoft can pack that into one game i believe bioware can match that, even go one better.

ydwang83 wrote...
If they decide to make a Shooter title seprate from the RPG, the above would also work, it would be a wonderful way of rewarding the player in the Single Player game.

I have always been wary of spin off titles, they have a tendancy to be
underwhelming and lacking the development the main franchise games.
Whilst a seperate shooter game would please the fps fans amongst us,
could work for a story like Garrus' Archangel days,
but i fear it would not be popular by the majority who yearn for RPG to
come back to the foreground of Mass Effect's playing philosophy.

ydwang83 wrote...
Exactly, if you could see cutscenes/during missions/ending narration/epilogue slides/etc. of how your  war assets assisted against the Reapers it would have been wonderful.  So many fans pointed this out, its a pity it wasn't done this way.  Hopefully they learn from this and incorporate it into their next ME games.

Yeah i know, could have set so squadmates not selected for the mission would be in charge of those assets, like in ME2's suicide mission briefing, so that all your team were in the fight in one form or another.

ydwang83 wrote...
Also, just wanted to add that increasing banter all throught the game would be awesome.  I think they did an excellent job with that when your aboard the Normandy in ME3 (I had countless laughs down at the engineering deck listening to Donnelly and Daniels for example).  If they could expand that to having banter all throught the game, during missions, etc. it would be fantastic. Again, I think they did an excellent job of that in the DA series, ME could use more of that. I realize I am referencing to the DA series quite often. Truth is, they did a lot of things right in DAO, I hope they can use the positives from that game more in the ME games going forward.

Definately the best elements of ME3 were walking along the citadel or on the Normandy and have these little yet deeply personal conversations play out without your input, then being able to side with a person for a conclusion to that debate. On a side note felt absolutely gutted Charr didnt make it, loved him as a character. Would now need to see a greater range of character model and animations not just for main and supporting characters but for NPCs and crowds as well. I want to see older people, children, fat, thin, curvy, slim, different outfits, different colours, pack it all in people.
Never played DA but hear a lot of good things from the first instalment.

Thanks for the response to.

[jdecker]

Choices that really do matter would be good ...

[DarthLaxian]

karushna5 wrote...

I still don't see how your choices matter any less than in any other game. As far as I can see they mean more, since they had an effect at all.

As for the other races... That can happen, but then taking into account those races would be a nightmare with the plot. Salarians are only with other salarians or Asari, so no romances for them. Quarians have suits that you cannot go through unless they die...and you have to make 4 body molds for them, one male and female of taking Rannoch or being nearly wiped out.. That isn't saying all the different plot lines that have to mesh with that race. Quarians, Turians have a different food.

And voice actors! You may not like them but they are here to stay, and finding them would be tough. All that money and more importantly time to make it happen

this again?

sorry, but voice acting (if you don't hire the uber mega-star) is peanuts compared to the other costs of game making, so no way this would be a game breaker (yes, it is still not cheap though, but it would be worth it!)

greetings LAX

[Rasofe]

I think this may have been suggested already, but I reckon I can toss in my vote for a free-roam RPG without an actual specified antagonist and a wide scope of conflicts instead.
ME3 had to be convergently linear, so I would suggest it to be more ME2 style, where the Collector threat gets relatively little game time and you could sometimes even just forgett about it and enjoy the Milky Way on your own terms. More of that please.

[billywaffles]

Ok here comes two more suggestions, not story related:


1. Soundtrack. First, while I really like the soundtrack of the trilogy, I think it is too mainstream. I think it could be a great idea to give it some more "alien" feeling. I would love if one or both of these composers would help composing the soundtrack for the next ME games.

a)The first one would be Jean Michel Jarre. Yes, I know it may sound too psychodelic for many people, but I think it is an awesome composers who has innovated with different sounds since the 70's. In other words, it is considered by fans as a "Synth God". This guy would definitely be able to introduce new and interesting sounds that would give ME a great and different feeling.

Some of its best work: Oxygene 2; Oxygene 4

b)The second would be Elliot Goldenthal. I would call this one to be maybe more "mainstream", but I consider alongside many fans its work in Alien3 soundtrack a true masterpiece. It has a true "alien" feeling that adds a good value to the movie.

Here is some of his work: Agnus Dei

I bring this idea because nobody is actually talking about the soundtrack, which for me is always a very important thing in any game. I think the ME trilogy has a good soundtrack, but I feel it is a bit embarrasing that some of the best tracks weren't included in it. In any case, I think that for the new game a different style, more "alien" and "cyberpunk" would be welcomed, something fresh and new for the next generation, not something mainstream.


2. "Time pass feature". And I am not sure if that is the correct way of saying that because I am not English native. But well this is the feature that games like Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Elder's Scrolls and other games have in which time passes as you play. This adds not only a calendar with events programmed in-game, but also day-night transitions. I think this adds a new dimension to gameplay and definitely rises immersion. Why is this so important?

a) Related to days passing: This actually becomes relevant whenever the PC gets different missions and need to think for an strategy as to whether a mission should be done first, second, etc., depending on the urgency. Things like "Meet me in Omega's Purgatory in a few days" or "The assault will take place in two weeks and we will meet at Victus Bar (or whatever) in Palaven in the morning, make sure to be there in time!". This shouldn't need to be painful to the player. I think it was handled very good in Baldur's Gate and Fallout.

In order for this to work, a proper journal/codec system would need to be implemented with a calendar, and maybe a diary feature should be added, to help the player tracking his progress.

a.1)Days passing while on the main ship, locations, missions, etc. (or just whenever you control your PC): Time would pass as with day-night transitions (see next section). There should be a "Rest" feature whenever you are on your ship to skip days in which you have nothing relevant to do.

a.2)Days passing while navigating the galaxy: Whenever the main ship is "static", time stops. Time only runs when you actually "move" the ship through the systems and through relays. Yes, scanning planets is time consuming and should take game time. Navigating from one system to another in the same cluster could take 2 days for example, but with ship upgrades this time could be reduced to 1 day. Just examples.

 Day-night transitions: Those could happen for example in a 2 hours cycle (I don't know how many hours would be best). For the sake of avoiding complexity, the cycle would be just the same in every planet/location/main ship.

Some interesting things about this: For some missions or events to happen it would be required to be day or night, and for some other, it wouldn't really matter.

Another interesting point: For assault missions in which there is no "day/night" requirement, you would gain an initial advantage over enemies if it is night. Being day would give you no advantage, but you would see better your opponent (they would see you better too). This could add a new dimension to gameplay, maybe improving the melee combat or implementing a "stealth" mechanic. NO, I don't want ME to become a stealth game, ME should continue being a TPS; however, adding new mechanics (that work) that would give the player a slight advantage over opponents in crutial moments (stealth+night+night vision goggles for example) would not only be a nice and fun feature but a logical evolution to gameplay.

Well, that's it, i said it all!

[Quackjack]

ydwang83 wrote...

Character Customization
I think most fans would love it if the next installments of Mass Effect will go back to being more RPG but keeping the combat system from ME2 & ME3, which in my opinion is great.

Mass Effect 2 onward, there was no longer character customization in terms of what skills to take etc. Once your character is developed, basically 5 of the 6 skills available can be maxed. It would be much better if there are many more skills so people can create many variations/builds with the same class. Allowing dual/tri class would also make even more variations and builds possible, greatly strengthening the RPG aspect of the game, allowing for higher replayability.

Playable Character of Different Races
It would also be great if the protagonist can be of a different background (Dragon Age Origins is an excellent example of how it can work), an Asari, a Turian, Quarian or any of the races already introduced in the ME universe. Even thought I mostly play as a human in RPGs, having more variety would, again, allow for higher replayability.

Galaxy Exploration
Exploration should also be introduced again in some form.  In ME1 we were able to land on terrestral planets and discover missions, resources, enemies, etc.  In ME2 we were only able to launch probes to the planets and there are the occasional N7 mission.  In ME3 it was basically taken out altogether.  The series has become more and more linear.  I personally thought driving the Mako around the planet enjoying the different terrains, the different skylines, was awesome. It made the galaxy seemed large.

Random Events & Time Sensitive Events
The addition of random events/battles as well as time sensitive events would also be a cool idea.  Also, the gamer could be forced to choose between different events with different consequences.  If Bioware introduces ultra rare, rare, uncommon, common events, with loot rewards, etc, it could keep games hooked on multiple playthroughs/New games+ just to see/find all the content.  Further events could also be introduced via DLCs.  I think that would give the game a somewhat unpredictable and tense feel.

Deeper & More Developed Romance
Bioware is the only company that consistently make games that include romance, and honestly I think it is a great idea. It makes you more invested in the characters, care about what happens to them. That said, I feel the romance part of the game is almost always rushed, with too little development. For example, after "doing the deed" there are no more conversations. In ME2 you could call your LI up to Shepard's cabin after the big battle, but unfortunately after that no more dialogues were written and they could only sit/lie there like dolls, you would think after such a battle there would be a lot of things the two could talk about. If the romance can be deeper and more complex, it would make the story even more engaging and absorbing. Again this is something that can be stregthened through additional DLCs after the game is released.

More/Better Love Scenes
Regarding the intimate scenes, I think most gamers are old enough to handle mature content.  So Bioware could make it like the Witcher 2, which might be a little erotic, but tasteful.

Set AFTER events of ME3
In terms of the story setting of the next installments, I personally would much prefer that it be after the current ME trilogy. A prequel is not optimal as we will not be able to import the decisions made in the first ME games into the next. Also, since we have all experienced the grand battle with the ultimate badasses of the universe, the Reapers, it would be hard to get excited to prequel events such as the First Contact War, etc. I am positive the epicness of a prequel would be underwhelming. Bioware introduced the ancient race that created the Reapers, maybe go in that direction. Or maybe have a significant number of Reapers remain in dark space, hence not affected by the ending of ME3. They could regroup and be a threat again. Bioware has always written excellent stories and I'm sure they will be able to come up with something great again.

Choices that MATTER
Regarding choices in the next ME game; I do not detest the ME3 ending as some of the fans do, but I do feel like the core issue they are complaining about should be addressed.  ie. choices made seemed to not matter at all. Bioware chose to consolidate all the choices into numbers (War Assets), and I think that is the lazy way out. Choosing to form an alliance with the Geth for example should not mean a 810.  Bioware needs to ensure that choices made throughout the game matter in important ways, not arbitrarily assign a number to a particular decision and then add all the numbes up giving you ending a, b, c, d, which frankly have nothing to do with previous choices. Bioware should avoid AT ALL COSTS doing this again.

Hopefully the next ME game(s) will awesome, as they should be.

THIS! I will love Bioware forever for this.

[SpeshMeh]

billywaffles wrote...

1. Soundtrack. First, while I really like the soundtrack of the trilogy, I think it is too mainstream. I think it could be a great idea to give it some more "alien" feeling. I would love if one or both of these composers would help composing the soundtrack for the next ME games.

a)The first one would be Jean Michel Jarre. Yes, I know it may sound too psychodelic for many people, but I think it is an awesome composers who has innovated with different sounds since the 70's. In other words, it is considered by fans as a "Synth God". This guy would definitely be able to introduce new and interesting sounds that would give ME a great and different feeling.

Some of its best work: Oxygene 2; Oxygene 4

b)The second would be Elliot Goldenthal. I would call this one to be maybe more "mainstream", but I consider alongside many fans its work in Alien3 soundtrack a true masterpiece. It has a true "alien" feeling that adds a good value to the movie.

Here is some of his work: Agnus Dei

I bring this idea because nobody is actually talking about the soundtrack, which for me is always a very important thing in any game. I think the ME trilogy has a good soundtrack, but I feel it is a bit embarrasing that some of the best tracks weren't included in it. In any case, I think that for the new game a different style, more "alien" and "cyberpunk" would be welcomed, something fresh and new for the next generation, not something mainstream.

Love your input for soundtrack to the next game and is something that should be addressed.


Cant think you would need to change too much from the original team, i really liked the soundtrack to ME3 and would like to see them return.I would love to see Faunts come back and do something again as the music for the end credits was awesome.

On the other hand if they can get Jeremy Soule on board that would be amazing. His sountrack for Guild Wars 2 was beautiful and nothing short of genius.

This last ones just for fun. I was a fan of any snes game that had its soundtrack done by Tim Follin. I found his music quirky, lively and beautiful all at the same time. Here's a few examples:
Plok - Beach , Plok - Creepy Crag , Plok - Intro
... yes there all for the same game but i played this for hours as a child just because of the soundtrack. Look the guy up and you'll find a heap of nostalgic musical gold.

[FTR GROG]

Magiseth wrote...

Casey, I want you to not make another Mass Effect.

You have already done enough damage to my favorite game series.

And if you ignore this, and make one, I promise you, I will not buy it. Do not waste your time. Make another game. Any other game. Mass Effect has told it's story. Leave it alone.

Please, Casey, do not make another Mass Effect.

casey directed all three....
sooo why the hate

[Anthony_94]

People are entitled to their opinions. I personally feel that the franchise should move forward. What to do now that the reapers are gone...? Well i don't fully believe they are all gone. Space extends past the milky way galaxy; that being said, then so does the possibilities of the mass effect universe having more to it.

[Lord of Mu]

karushna5 wrote...

Lord of Mu wrote...


The main things for making any future
Mass Effect games is to take the good from each of the previous games
and try to fit them into a single game.

For example

- Pulling the RPG and story elements from Mass Effect with the combined combat improvements and changes from Mass Effect 2 and 3.

- Opening up the galaxy and or galaxies and allowing the player to help shape the  devolipment of the galaxy through his or her decisions.

- Making choices matter.

- Providing an outcome to the story that isn't almost entirely on rails and doesn't come down to a colour
choice.

- If we're continuing the story, allow decisions made in the three games prior have an impact on the 4th game.

My suggestion for the overall plot line. Based on the Control or Destroy decisions. Synthises could be used by would negate a large portion of this idea so I'm not going with it. Sorry green people!

Assuming the Control decision is used as canon and the story is set 1 to 3 years after Commander Shepard becomes, "Guardian".

The galaxy danced upon a knifes edge with the fate of all resting on the shoulders of one man, that man, Commander Shepard sacrificed himself and became the overlord of the very monsters he sought to destroy.
With partsof the Mass Relay network repaired and many of the key and worst hit star systems slowly being rebuild, the galaxy has found itself in uncharted territory.

For the first time our galaxy was at peace, every race both organic and synthetic had fought and lost someone. The shared loss of life and existence across all species united them in a way never thought possible. While it would take hundreds of years to rebuild the damage across the many worlds wrought by the reaper invasion, some believed the peace would not last.

It is for this very reason that Admiral Hackett, as acting councillor spearheaded a motion to include
representatives from all of the space faring civilisations, including the Geth and Rachni into a new Galactic Council.

The move was controversial and met fierce resistance from the several of the existing council species,
mainly the Salarians. Old grudges and fear could not be easily  dismissed but after mediation, the motion was put to a vote and won, 3 to 1.

Though the Rachni choose to maintain  their position on the council by proxy and use an Asari diplomat to
speak for the leading Rachni queen, the rest of the new council  species elected representatives to speak for their species.

The Reaper fleet led by, “Guardian” greatly aided in the reconstruction efforts of both the Mass Relay
network and the infrastructure of many of the worlds previously damage, in some cases the rebuilding effort produced improvements over the original network.

The on going reconstruction efforts were greatly improved due to the re-purposed Reaper forces however,
the same forces still posed a threat to the newly founded galactic council. Exposure Reaper technology was still detrimental to organic lifeforms. All of the representatives agreed that the reaper fleet should be dismantled to prevent any future exposure. There was also a negative reaction to the notion that the new great galactic
civilisation was being build on the backs of long dead slaves.

The Shepard Reaper, “Guardian” agreed with the council and directed the Reaper fleet into Earth's
sun, Sol. The entire fleet save one ship, Shepard himself was obliterated. Shepard transferred the sum of all knowledge carried by  the Reapers, acquired through conquest and extermination to the
Citiadel. The transfer included Shepard himself, Shepard was the new Catalyst and the Citadel his form. Commander Shepard was now the  ghost in the machine.

The transfer had some unexpected side effects, as a result the Citadel VI was replaced by Commander
Shepard. The Shepard AI was now the central library of all knowledge possessed by the reapers in addition to being the conciousness of  Commander Shepard. Unable to directly change the future by still able
to guide those who would listen.

The final Reaper starship was incinerated and the galaxy breathed a sigh of relief, until an
unusual transmission was received by the Shepard AI. Informing the Catalyst, now Commander Shepard of the progress of the harvest taking place in several satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, in addition to progress of galaxies far away.

An acknowledgement was sent including the details of the new solution. Shepard could not hide this fact
from the Reapers, the risk of a second Reaper invasion was too great. The Reapers scrapped the Milky Way from the harvest list and proceeded with the scheduled.

The progress report was alarming but equally intriguing. The Reapers had lost contact with forces sent to
several galaxies. Some of which were older and previously unexplored, while many of these galaxies remained too remote and far away for any living being from the Milky Way to visit, with out the use of a
Citadel Relay. One galaxy with a Citadel relay stood out. Could there be something out there that is worse than the Reapers?


I don't really feel like writing the destruction base plot line. Lets just say it would follow the same
path with a few changes, mostly no Shepard AI and fewer species on the council unless the Geth are rebuilt.

First of all, I have yet to understand, at least with the free DLC that it is just a color thing. The same logic could imply, that 1 and 2 had no choice whatsoever if you use the same logic. No matter what nothing changes no matter your choices all through one...it ends the same way, fighting Cyber-Saren and escaping from the crash. 2 you could make a choice and the only difference is something blows up or doesn't it doesn't change the plot at all. In 3 All races meld with machines, OR all AIs are temperarily destroyed, OR your character turns the bad guys into servants for the galaxy. Most choice in all the games.

While I love your idea, you can't discount synthesis it was a choice, you may or may not agree with, but it was a choice by the player to make. You can't simultaneously say choices should matter while discounting one of the biggest choices in the game. You either have to account for synthesis, or the devs make a preordained 'canon' universe which is probably Destroy since they have the biggest following and no choices from the previous game matter and have all been predecided.

I like that he added them as races, but that is under the fact you sided with the Rachni in 2 and didn't kill the Geth, which is another player choice, and can't feature too heavily in the plot. Often why our choices in video games can't matter as much is that Devs have to account for them ALL. And it is hard to do that in sequels, so the more games you make with choices the less impact they will make so the story may continue.

Although the Reapers made great antagonists, I personally would like a new one, but that is just me.

I mainly discounted synthesis because it wouldn't fit with my example and I'd have to spend the rest of the afternoon writing an additional basic plotline for both synthesis and destruction. It's not that I want to discount that choice but rather I couldn't justify spending too much time working on something that isn't related to my thrilling topic of cash budgets.

[CynicalShep]

billywaffles wrote...

Ok here comes two more suggestions, not story related:


1. Soundtrack. First, while I really like the soundtrack of the trilogy, I think it is too mainstream. I think it could be a great idea to give it some more "alien" feeling. I would love if one or both of these composers would help composing the soundtrack for the next ME games.

They do not need a new composer, Clint Mansell is one of the best in the business hands down. Do not lose him! He will write what they ask him to, though. If they chose to go with the "more alien" route he could easily accomplish that. Out of the two you mentioned I'd rather have Goldenthal, though. 

[Invisible Man]

Personally, I didn’t think the ending was all that bad in mass effect 3, it simply left too many questions unanswered; though, the remade endings fixed most of that for me.

What I would like to get out of ME4… well off the top of my head (if it’s a continuation of the current storyline):
I’d like multi-race character choices; like some had stated earlier. human, asari, turian, etc. not just human characters.

When importing ME3 save data to ME4 I’d like the option of selecting shepard’s son/daughter as possible background to the character creation section, maybe if shep was lvl 50 by the end of me3 his/her son or daughter would start at level 25 or something similar.
So if you pick asari as your character’s race, and shep & liara were an item in me3 you can pick offspring of shepard & liara as character background. I do realize that a female shep & a male party member might not work with this configuration, seeing as shepard might have been killed before having a kid.
(I’d just like to get something out of playing me1-3 from me4, seeing as there will be no more shepards)

Oh, and the whole spacebar doing everything was a tad bit annoying, and the interface was a tad glitchy as well (to me at least); mainly mouse button & keyboard keys not registering clicks or button pressing, or powers not working right at exactly the wrong time.

[SpeshMeh]

Congrats on getting to page 100 of this thread! Keep the ideas flowing guys and girls.