K1LL STREAK wrote...
Could they not wear a suit that allows them to move faster? The artwork depicts an armoured volus suit, and you can almost make out what could be tank-tracks, or some sort of propulsion system on the bottom. That would be no more ridiculous than the daleks in doctor who are. If Bioware can produce some way for the Volus to overcome their physical limitations in a semi-realistic fashion, provided you discount the unlikliness of them serving on a strike force on another planet(something you have to do with most alien classes,quarians and geth fighting together, krogans and salarians, batarians and anyone else..), would you then be more in favour, or at least less offended by their inclusion? After all Mass Effect is founded on the overcoming of physics and the suspension of disbelief. Is there definately no possible way Bioware cannot find a more feasable explanation to stay your disinclination for their inclusion?
- You can't make out anything of the sort. Those little pictures are waist-up. Not that treads would do much good. Treads provide far less mobility than walking on legs. They can get stuck on things, and they're useless with stairs (let alone vaulting over cover).
- I've never seen Doctor Who. I can't vouch for their ability to keep things believable, but BW has done an excellent job with Mass Effect. Element Zero is pretty much the only major thing that's completely fictional and that's unavoidable. FTL travel is required for spacefaring fiction and any FTL travel is completely fictional. Aside from that, you'd be surprised how much of Mass Effect is based on real science or at least scientific theory. Quantum entanglement? Real. Dark energy and that entire dropped dark energy plot? Real scientific theory (The Big Rip). That freaky description about how the javelin works? Real. The descriptions of planets? Real enough to impress professional astronomers.
I could go on, but... actually,
this has some great observations about the realism. For instance here's a good one: "I originally thought the loading screens in Mass Effect that depict the Normandy traveling between systems - the ones that show it using its built-in FTL drive with the red light heading "toward" the Normandy and the blue light heading "away" from it - were just a pretty cool effect. It wasn't until a few months later and I was rereading the Codex's entry on FTL drives and their appearance that I realized the light approaching the Normandy was being red-shifted by the mass effect field, and the light moving away from it was being blue shifted,
exactly as it was described in the Codex. The sheer level of detail and dedication to internal consistency in the game's
very loading screens blew my mind." Another fun one: "At first, I thought Jack's character design was too over the top. Then I learned that it is common for abuse survivors to get tattoos and piercings as a way to reassert control over their own body, and it all made perfect sense."
It's a crying shame that so many people think Mass Effect's realism and science isn't very good. That's one of the biggest reasons I love this series.
- I'd be fine with it if they gave a satisfactory explanation. I just don't see how it's possible. Did you know that volus have been part of the Citadel for 2,700 years? 2,700 years! They were the third race there this cycle, only a few hundred years behind the asari and salarians. And do you know why they don't hold a Council seat? Because they can't provide adequate military aid in times of need, which is expected of all Council races. Now here's my point... if they've been denied the coveted Council seat that they, that every species, wants so much, don't you think they would have overcome their limitations by now if it was at all possible for them to do so?
I know you really don't want this, and I understand your point - I felt (much milder)similar things about the space ninjas, but they were lots of fun and we for the most part were quite happy to accept them on the grounds that they were varying shades of awesomeness. If they were large, round and out of breath then you would have likely felt the same for them as you do the Volus. If the Slayer had been shaped like a volus, that would not impede him from teleporting all over the map, nor would it have stopped him from using biotic abilities to charge back and forth like a cannon ball - the only real difference is aesthetics, not the lore.
Space ninjas only bothered me until I found out that there's also realism behind their sword nonsense. They use monomolecular blades. Monomolecular blades are something we haven't been able to create in real life (well, ones that don't break if you breathe too hard) but are solid theory. And they're indescribably sharp. This is why they can cut through virtually anything. In fact, if you look back at the krogan codex in ME
1, you'll see mention of them being vulnerable to monomolecular blades.
For me, I don't think they would add a character without first exploring in-depth how they would work - they will most likely have thought long and hard about ways of making it believable as well as fun. Either way, we will only know when we download the DLC tomorrow. We may have differing opinions, but I salute your passion of the franchise - you obviously care a great deal about Mass Effect. I hope that things work out both for you and for everybody tomorrow. I will be happy either way, as I am easily pleased.
And I sincerely thank you for making an intelligent response to the debate.
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