145 réponses à ce sujet

[Wolfryck]

I can understand the sentiment regarding playing as an alien in the single story mode. But thats by default will undermine "The full" single story depth and size.

 

I mean if you think of the animations, the voiced dialogs and the diffrent story approaches expected for that matter (Along with choices and consequences), I can safely say that I'm glad that we play as an only race and we can explore the other races from that perspective. (Taking under consideration the weak -under progress- story telling of Bioware).

Believe me I can be on board with the aliens fan club if I only saw a glimpse of hope regarding the single player game as it is.

 

Now, I expect a lot of back lash talks and debates but I've read every possible argument that is out there, as you can see this is my first post in this forum or any forum for that matter. I like to think of myself as a listener only kind of guy.

 

I'm a huge Mass Effect fan, because it allowed me to feel what it's like for humen in the future when they try to "mingle" with extraterrestrial form of life after contact, specially the interactions and reactions and how we try to evolve in thier era. To take that from me and people like me to fulfill a sentiment that is backed up wth only pure affection is kind of a bummer.

 

 

 

[N7Jamaican]

I think Mass Effect will always be human focused.  At least the games  I don't mind books, comics, and movies where there is an alien for the main character.  Being able to choose which race you prefer in the multiplayer is a must though.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

I disagree. Having the ability to play as different races would be a benefit to the story rather than detrimental to it. Especially since we've already seen the Mass Effect universe through a human N7's eyes. 

 

Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition have shown that Bioware can have race selection without sacrificing but instead enhancing the story. 

[PCThug]

I'm fine either way. I liked having the options in Dragon Age for my own headcanon but I think they've struggled to have it reflected meaningfully in game.

[Ajensis]

Welcome to the forums

 

I agree with your general sentiment for reasons that have been listed elsewhere in several threads before. In short, I don't think the benefits outweigh the cost.

 

By the way, can you elaborate on what you mean by the bolded parenthesis quoted below? I'm not entirely sure what it's supposed to mean in this context

 

I mean if you think of the animations, the voiced dialogs and the diffrent story approaches expected for that matter (Along with choices and consequences), I can safely say that I'm glad that we play as an only race and we can explore the other races from that perspective. (Taking under consideration the weak -under progress- story telling of Bioware).

[Steppenwolf]

I disagree. Having the ability to play as different races would be a benefit to the story rather than detrimental to it. Especially since we've already seen the Mass Effect universe through a human N7's eyes.

Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition have shown that Bioware can have race selection without sacrificing but instead enhancing the story.

Did race selection enhance the stories of Origins and Inquisition? I don't think so.

[ZoliCs]

Did race selection enhance the stories of Origins and Inquisition? I don't think so.

Yes it did.

[Ajensis]

Did race selection enhance the stories of Origins and Inquisition? I don't think so.

 

I think a lot of people feel differently... If not the main story, then at least their experience and connection to the story.

 

Unfortunately (or maybe not?), playable races in Dragon Age isn't perfectly similar to playable alien races in Mass Effect. Each species evolved on their own planets, making them far more different - and thus more difficult to incorporate as the protagonist.

[Steppenwolf]

Yes it did.

How so? In Origins we had the origin stories, obviously, and one further bit specific to each origins, but most of those things weren't particularly related to your race. In Inquisition there's some throwaway dialogue here and there about your race if you're not human but that's it. It really has no bearing on the story of Inquisition at all and I would argue the impact of your race in Origins is so minimal and unrelated to the story that it's irrelevant. It's great for role-playing purposes and I support race selection in Dragon Age, but I think it's a stretch to say it improves the stories of Origins and Inquisition.

[Torgette]

I'm fine either way. I liked having the options in Dragon Age for my own headcanon but I think they've struggled to have it reflected meaningfully in game.

 

Yeah, there's special dialogue depending on your race but regardless of your background they still expect you to believe in the maker (especially odd if you're an elf or qunari) and nobody refuses to work with you because of your race or etc. I guess it's too bad a lot of the side quests in DAI aren't choice-driven because that would've been the perfect place for meaningfully unique stuff based on your background.

 

DAO did have the unique starting areas for each PC based on your background, that was pretty cool but also the only rpg in recent years I can remember even having multiple intros be a possibility. You also had unique takes to side missions in ME1 based on background, if you're a sole survivor then running into the akuze survivor is more meaningful for example.

 

I do think it's possible to make a reasonable amount of optional content based on your chosen background, but i'm not sure about the voice acting part - in the end DAI's PC had 4 voice actors (2 male 2 female), they've done stuff like this before so they're talented but the direction was lacking being stretched over 4 people. Then you also have the other problem which is the uniqueness of Turian/Salarian/Krogan voices and how they would be very difficult to do, you would have a situation where maybe you have 1 human male, 1 human female and maybe 2 aliens both fixed gender. I think i'd rather just have an entire spinoff where playing as an alien was the intent?

[ZoliCs]

How so? In Origins we had the origin stories, obviously, and one further bit specific to each origins, but most of those things weren't particularly related to your race. In Inquisition there's some throwaway dialogue here and there about your race if you're not human but that's it. It really has no bearing on the story of Inquisition at all and I would argue the impact of your race in Origins is so minimal and unrelated to the story that it's irrelevant. It's great for role-playing purposes and I support race selection in Dragon Age, but I think it's a stretch to say it improves the stories of Origins and Inquisition.

Paragon of her kind was different if you were a dwarf.

Broken circle was different if you were a mage.

Nature of the beast was different if you were an elf.

The landsmeet was different if you were a city elf.

 

Etc

[Steppenwolf]

Paragon of her kind was different if you were a dwarf.
Broken circle was different if you were a mage.
Nature of the beast was different if you were an elf.
The landsmeet was different if you were a city elf.
 
Etc

A few lines of dialogue that don't change how anything plays out. If it doesn't change the story then it's just set dressing, nothing more. Being a mage doesn't give you a third option in Broken Circle. Being a Dalish Elf doesn't alter what happens in Nature of the Beast. Etc.
It's all nice for role-playing purposes but it doesn't bolster the story.

[timebean]

In DA orgins, the difference between playing a male dwarf and a female noble were huge, in my opinion.  The origin story in particular really set up a totally different experience for me for those two playthroughs...my motivations, my beliefs, and even how folks responded to me (could have been more of that, but it was still there).  Plus, the Orzammar story part was pretty drastically different if you were a dwarf compared to a human.  It worked, I think, and was fairly successful and making multiple playthroughs feel different.

 

EDIT - agree with Steppenwolf that is matters from an RPG perspective only...but for me, that is a very important part...

 

DAI failed miserably at having the playable races be meaningful in any way at all.  It was a useless waste of resources, imo.  I felt like the exact same person no matter my race, with the exception of having pointy ears or horns.  But I think that had alot to do witht he choice-consequence system being almost non-existent....

 

In the new Mass Effect...I am fine with whatever.  I  prefer playing as a human interacting with the other races...to me, it feels like what the game is all about. But a new game with new focus?...it might work to have playable races...as long as it is meaningful and not just tacked on...

[MrFob]

A few lines of dialogue that don't change how anything plays out. If it doesn't change the story then it's just set dressing, nothing more. Being a mage doesn't give you a third option in Broken Circle. Being a Dalish Elf doesn't alter what happens in Nature of the Beast. Etc.
It's all nice for role-playing purposes but it doesn't bolster the story.

 

I think it can provide replay value and role-playing opportunities. For example, I did play many different roles in DA:O: A noble human (in spirit, not just title), a rough dwarf, a witty and humorous city elf and an angry and hateful dalish. I think, not having the races there would ahve taken away from that experience (especially the hateful elf got a lot out of his background).

 

That said, I don't want alien races for ME. This is simply because I think in ME, where the approach is very cinematic and the main character usually has a whole lot of voiced dialogue, it is too much of a recourse strain to include all the re-voiced dialogue. I guess you wouldn't want to give up the gender choice either, right, that means, even if we can only play council races, that's 4x2 = 8 voices. With the amount of dialogue that the PC has in ME, that is a serious commitment and it will result in other content being cut. Even if you were to somehow work with audio filters or something like that, I haven't even started yet on all the differences I would expect in the dialogue as well.

 

So therefore, I would prefer for the devs to limit themselves to one playable race and give us more story content instead. In theory, many races to choose from would be great, I just don't think it works for the scale and production values that I hope for in an ME game.

[Arcian]

I can understand the sentiment regarding playing as an alien in the single story mode. But thats by default will undermine "The full" single story depth and size.
 
I mean if you think of the animations

All the playable races use the exact same animation skeleton, so this argument has no merit.

the voiced dialogs

Same voices with voice filters where they are appropriate. BioWare has also proven with Inquisition that they can include more than one player voice.

and the diffrent story approaches expected for that matter (Along with choices and consequences)

You're basing your argument on the structure and expectations of the story without at all knowing the structure and expectations of the story. Contending a popular idea is your right, but do not contend it with arguments that are built on thin air.

I can safely say that I'm glad that we play as an only race and we can explore the other races from that perspective.

We have already explored them from that perspective. Players do not usually enjoy treading the same ground for four games in a row.

but I've read every possible argument that is out there

Looking at what you've posted, you have scarcely begun to cover all possible arguments.

I'm a huge Mass Effect fan, because it allowed me to feel what it's like for humen in the future when they try to "mingle" with extraterrestrial form of life after contact, specially the interactions and reactions and how we try to evolve in thier era.

That was what the original trilogy was for. Come the next game, we're no longer the most recent arrival, as it were. The "evolution" has already happened. The path has already been beaten.

To take that from me and people like me to fulfill a sentiment that is backed up wth only pure affection is kind of a bummer.

In other words, since you lack a disinterest in playing other species, the notion of playing as other species is a frivolous one.

[MrStoob]

If it's done well, then great.  However (you knew one was coming), if I infer from OP correctly, it's down to confidence in whether it would be done well or not.  I'm reserving judgement until I hear/see more from BW.

[PCThug]

Forgot to mention, but if humans are the only option again I'm really curious to see what our background choices will be. I liked trying out the different combinations of pre-service histories and psychological profiles when playing the trilogy, even if they were largely for my own role-playing purposes. Or maybe they'll go the DA2 route and have a singular background.

[Majestic Jazz]

I do not mind playing only as a human. I do not mind a story that is told from a human  perspective. However, what I have problems with is a over-arching story that puts humans as the main focus/item of importance while all of the other races/cultures just serve as "background" decorations.

 

Mass Effect 1 was a game where we played only as a human character, part of a human organization (Alliance), and told from a human perspective. However, the humans weren't Mary Sues as they weren't the biggest most important race in the galaxy. Hell they were fighting just to get a seat on the council. Then ME2 and ME3 comes and changes it to where the humans are the almighty important race while other races takes a backseat. 

[x Raizer x]

Personally, I can get more immersed into the role in the world and story of the game playing as a Human, because after all, I'm a Human.  I would know how I would think, how I would react, what decisions I would make, because i am of that species.

I have no idea how a Turian or Hanar would dwell on a situation.  I could imagine, estimate, but I would obviously never be certain.  It would feel just a bit off to me.  I'm not saying I wouldn't enjoy it, but when it comes to immersion, it wouldn't be at the quality as playing as a Human.

[themikefest]

I'm glad we're playing as a human as well. Humanity #1 

[JeffZero]

I am also glad. This game has enough things potentially working against successfully telling a poignant meaty narrative without having to account for more than just humanity as perspective.

[Majestic Jazz]

couldn't agree more it was already a waste of resources in DA:I

probably one of the reasons the Inquisitor is such a bland and terrible protagonist

 

DA:O did it good but only because we had a silent protag and they had more time

 

Well the thing with DAO is that we had an origin story to serve as a "prequel" to the main events of DAO so to speak. So even though we could  play as a human, dwarf, or elf, I never once felt that the Warden was bland because he/she could be 1 of 3 races. By the time we get to Ostagar, we pretty much have a greater understanding of our Warden, no matter the race, gender, or class. With DAI, we sort of just stumbled onto our protagonist without ever really getting to know where he/she came from and the game fails at giving us opportunities to dive into our past. Example, it would have been great to visit our old clanmates as a Dalish Elf or speak to our parents/siblings as a Human Noble or even speak to our former Circle Mage friends as a Human mage etc. Instead, these interactions were done through war table missions which really disconnected us from the experience.

 

I don't know, it just amazes me how so many people believe that DAI was such a great game. I do not know if they really do believe it is that great, or they are just Dragon Age fanboys/fangirls that will like the game and defend the game no matter what. 

[Vazgen]

I think Dragon Age Origins did a great job with characters of different races. To see the NPCs react to your protagonist's race is quite immersive and has more impact than different backstories, which, by definition, are not really known to general public. But what needs to be considered is that races in DA universe are very much human. Dwarves are the shortest humans, elves are a little taller humans with pointy ears, humans are... humans, qunari are the tallest humans with horns. Whereas in Mass Effect, the only species that come close to humans with their facial features are the Asari. And having only Asari and humans playable is not really fair in a universe with so many diverse races. But to implement other playable races new facial animations have to be made, character animations etc. Basically doubles the work for every playable race. I'd rather have them spend those resources elsewhere. 

Another reason not to implement different playable races is the role of those races in Mass Effect universe. Everyone is nice to each other and they all work together under the joint Council. Not many social issues to explore.

[Kynare]

I don't think people are suggesting Bioware should completely take away a thorough human experience. They just want Bioware to also add a thorough alien protagonist experience. Which I think is possible without taking away from one or the other, but it would take a lot more time and resource than they have. So in that respect, it probably would be best to remain humanocentric.