This came up in another thread, and I think it's worth it's own topic.
Is the PC of MEA going to be another solider? Or maybe a scientist? Or...something else?
If you had your choice, what would be the broad "job" of your PC? Assuming that your "job" doesn't stand in the way of your class choice? Or would you LIKE your "job" to help determine your class choice? Like maybe you're a part of a larger group, and you can be security, or medical personal, or engineering, or whatever you want.
I think it'd be kind of cool if, like in ME, you got to choose two pre-game things for your character. Except instead of where/how you grew up and why you have a military distinction, you get to choose your type of personality and what job you have.
Assuming the setting and story of the next game were different...
A space pirate.
From an old post on why I think it would be interesting:
A space pirate would be a lot of fun just in how different the protagonist would be from Shepard, and in the atmosphere aboard your ship.
Instead of paragon/renegade the choice would probably be to play either as the charming rogue or the Terror of the Terminus. And instead of commanding a warship representing the bleeding edge of the most highly advanced military technology, operated by a well-trained and disciplined crew of military professionals, you'd be in command of a somewhat beat up and lived in freighter-turned-suped-up-raider, manned by a motley crew of undisciplined, surly, and unprofessional cutthroats, vagabonds, and mercenaries.
And unlike the Shepard trilogy you probably wouldn't have the automatic loyalty of your crew. These people would only be signed on for the promise of profit. That could lead to some interesting interaction with your crew if you had to worry about facing mutiny should you fail to meet expectations.
And some of the aspects common to the genre would be fun if ported to the Mass Effect series. The main plot being linked to a buried treasure? (Prothean artifacts?) Walking the plank (someone getting spaced), marooning (someone dumped on a hostile uncharted world), eye patches in character customization?
Given what we know about the focus of the new game however, the protagonist being part of a military or paramilitary organization would make a lot more sense. A pirate wouldn't fit too well into a story about exploration and colonization.
I hope we're a consultant for the military of some kind.
Whatever it is, I hope there's a political angle again, even if it isn't the same politics that we dealt with in the Milky Way.
I'll just quote my recent post from the other thread:
I hope we're some kind of civilian specialist brought in for reasons, and that with that we'd also get more leeway in how we roleplay the main character's personality than we did with Shepard. Instead of just always being a tough-as-nails career soldier, we could be any number of things like, I dunno... a by the book diplomat? An experienced ex-mercenary captain?
If we're going to be exploring planets completely untouched by the Citadel races and possibly (probably) making first contact with completely new civilizations, having for instance a diplomat in charge would make sense. Have the game start with a tutorial section as we're brought into the Pathfinder project and put through training, both combat and otherwise before we actually go into the field. Like, if our background is that of a diplomat, we'd obviously need at least some basic combat training in the beginning because of the potentially dangerous situations we'd be facing. Or if we're brought in as a super bad-ass merc to lead their team, maybe they should at least teach us to TRY to communicate first, instead of "kill it with fire" being the answer to everything.
Psychologist... in space!
I really like the idea of the tutorial mission being focused on your specialty, but also letting you be skilled in other things. Honestly, I'd really love for there to be some kind of skill system in this game, but that's sort of a different conversation.
Would people like the idea of MEA using something like the DA2 personality system? I'm not saying the exact same thing, but something where you can either choose or develop a personality and have your dialog change to be that flavor? I really liked that about DA2, and I'd love an updated version of that system, preferably with a few more options.,
Botanist! Geologist! Space botanist or geologist!
Ah! You stole my vote!
But for real, space botanist.
I think it would be cool to be part of an academic exploration expedition (I dunno, you could be there as a scientist or as the hired muscle, whichever), and then Things Inevitably Go Wrong.
S/He'll be an Art History teacher.
A cook. She/he will make the best goddamn chicken parmesan in the whole galaxy.
paleontologist!
Xenobiologist?
EDIT: Or is it Exobiology? Astrobiology? I can never remember the difference...
Let's do an exercise. Assume that the same six classes as the Trilogy are in play (nothing new), but that each class has two different jobs that you can choose from to start out the game as. What jobs would you want associated with each class?
They're certainly talking about N7 a lot and what it means to the fans so I think they're most probably "playing it safe" with the PC being N7 soldier again. I'd like some sort of twist to it though: That the PC isn't some well known hero this time but maybe getting sent to Andromeda is some sort of punishment.
Also I wouldn't mind if the PC was some sort of mercenary hired to scout planets with his "Firefly" crew or something like that.
Let's do an exercise. Assume that the same six classes as the Trilogy are in play (nothing new), but that each class has two different jobs that you can choose from to start out the game as. What jobs would you want associated with each class?
Hmm. I think it would be nice if, for each class, one of the options is more academic/intellectual, and one is more combat/physical. So anybody can pick any class and hopefully like their option choice.
Assuming Adept is an option (I like me some space mage), I would like some kind of life science (biology, botany, etc.) and then... hmm. I'm not sure for the other one. Scout? Operative? Some kind of small-unit, infiltration style specialist. Commando, like the Asari?
I've never played any of the other classes, but some other "jobs" could be ship's engineer, geologist, tactician, pilot, maintenance crew, security officer... um, I just realized this is starting to sound very Star Trek, though...
Let's do an exercise. Assume that the same six classes as the Trilogy are in play (nothing new), but that each class has two different jobs that you can choose from to start out the game as. What jobs would you want associated with each class?
That would be awesome. I'd imagine an Engineer having unique abilities that aid one in exploration. In the concept art we see a guy using a beautiful 3D map to guide himself around the planet, and maybe an Engineer has special class bonuses that increases the range of detection that gadget has for, if they're a real thing, Remnant technology. This would allow one to easily find loot for upgrades which means an Engineer gets better loot, to make up for less combat prowess.
Imagine if instead of choosing though, each class had two seperate leveling trees. One for offensive abilities, one for exploration abilities. Vanguard could combine his jetpack with an advanced biotic charge to more easily reach locations higher up or in the distance. Adepts would be able to destroy rock formations to reach better loot or make easier paths to locations. Sentinels get a mix of loot seeking technology while still being able to destroy certain kinds of rock formations. Infiltrators could get a special cloak that decloaks itself whenever you do something other than walking or interacting, separate from combat cloak so you can explore caves or outposts very steathily without attracting attention.
I dunno what could be done for soldiers, maybe they are strictly for combat, or get Mako bonuses. I know Inquisition tried something similar giving each class unique abilities, but it wasn't utilized to their full potential. There's a lot of potential with the next Mass Effect game, but I fear our imaginations go beyond the scope Bioware has in mind. Making two separate power trees could just be a waste a resources that could go into something else. Still, picturing a Vanguard using a jetpack combined with biotic charge to get freakishly high distance or height is awesome to me.
That or just give each class an exploration ability branch, rather than making two unique trees. A special class power for offense and exploration sounds cool though.
I really like the idea of exploration abilities!
At the risk of blatantly stealing from Dragon Age, things like lock picking (or hacking them), breaking through walls (or blowing them up) and levitating/building structures to reach otherwise inaccessible areas are all options that I see working in the Mass Effect universe as well.
Whatever the specialty, the ability to play as an academic would be great.
I wouldn't mind some kind of mercenary hired by a group to help lead the vanguard.
Whatever the specialty, the ability to play as an academic would be great.
Well it's not hard to be smarter than Shepard 
I'd prefer a blank slate protagonist where we can write the background ourselves.
Playing a bit of SP again, I realized whatever the designation of the new protagonist ends up being I still want him to be a Shepard-class badass.
And by Shepard-class I mean ME1 Shepard, not the Space Jesus of ME3.
I wouldn't want him to decide the fate of entire races or "fix the galaxy". I don't even think he should necessarily be an established hero before the start of the game. But as we progress I would want to see the new PC be as elite and as respected as ME1 era Shepard. He's not there to die for your sins, but if there's a fire, you can count on him to pull your ass out of it (or punt your enemies into it, as the situation requires)
Retour en haut
