397 réponses à ce sujet

[9TailsFox]

[link2twenty]

Isn't that just FTL? Like we had in the other games but this time a view from within the cockpit?

 

 

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Actually, the Arkcon crew arrived in the Andromeda galaxy via an experimental QSD (Quantum Slipstream Dive). The ME:A teaser cinematic clearly shows us how it works. Forget worm holes or the limited warp drive or the old Reaper tech (which required two end points).

 

QSD is the new tech and ME:A has it.

 

[Arcian]

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Actually, the Arkcon crew arrived in the Andromeda galaxy via an experimental QSD (Quantum Slipstream Dive). The ME:A teaser cinematic clearly shows us how it works. Forget worm holes or the limited warp drive or the old Reaper tech (which required two end points).

 

QSD is the new tech and ME:A has it.

QSD is nonsensical technobabble (from the worst Star Trek series, to boot) that doesn't belong in Mass Effect and shouldn't contribute to polluting ME:A with unscientific BS. There was enough of that in the original trilogy, so how about we don't make it worse?

[Sartoz]

QSD is nonsensical technobabble (from the worst Star Trek series, to boot) that doesn't belong in Mass Effect and shouldn't contribute to polluting ME:A with unscientific BS. There was enough of that in the original trilogy, so how about we don't make it worse?

 

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How anyone can watch or play a science fiction video game then bad mouth its tech is beyond my understanding.

 

In case you forgot, this is a sciene fictional universe and "real science"  plays a small part in it. Most is fiction, including the aliens, the Reapers and anything else... yet, it seems what you find objectionable is a fictional engine.... wow.

 

Too bad, because I like sci-fi and its an enjoyable genre to me... including the QSD, the Borg's Trans Warp Conduits and the Subspace Inversion tech from the Cytherians = TNG episode Nth degree.
 

[Arcian]

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How anyone can watch or play a science fiction video game then bad mouth its tech is beyond my understanding.

You seem to labor under the delusion that "science fiction" is shorthand for "make sh!t up as long as it sounds technical".
 

In case you forgot, this is a sciene fictional universe and "real science"  plays a small part in it.

If real science plays a small part in it, it shouldn't be called SCIENCE fiction.
 

Most is fiction, including the aliens, the Reapers and anything else... yet, it seems what you find objectionable is a fictional engine.... wow.

Yeah because the engine is based on pure nonsense. It has the same technological merit as an engine that runs on rainbows and happy thoughts.

Aliens? Pretty much 99.9999999999% certain to exist. Reapers? They're war-oriented spacecraft run by AI's. Even our spacecraft can be operated pretty much independently by computers so it's not a long stretch at all. As for "anything else", that really depends on what we're talking about.
 

Too bad, because I like sci-fi and its an enjoyable genre to me...

How can you like something when you don't even understand what it is?

 

including the QSD, the Borg's Trans Warp Conduits and the Subspace Inversion tech from the Cytherians = TNG episode Nth degree.

Everything you mentioned is based on nonsensical technobabble anyone with even the most minute insight into actual science and tech will recognize as ludicrous. Of course, this is to be expected, Star Trek's writers were writers, not scientists.

Bottom line, science fiction is meant to make hypothetical ideas plausible, not to make impossible ideas possible. The latter is what fantasy is for, and both Star Wars and Star Trek fall squarely in that territory.

[LinksOcarina]

QSD is nonsensical technobabble (from the worst Star Trek series, to boot) that doesn't belong in Mass Effect and shouldn't contribute to polluting ME:A with unscientific BS. There was enough of that in the original trilogy, so how about we don't make it worse?

 

Complaining about something unscientific in a Space Opera game is funny....

 

I mean, its bad enough Element Zero is literally a friggin McGuffin to make a lot of this stuff work, or to give us telekinetic powers. But that came in game one through several codex entries so thats ok...

[Iakus]

Complaining about something unscientific in a Space Opera game is funny....

 

I mean, its bad enough Element Zero is literally a friggin McGuffin to make a lot of this stuff work, or to give us telekinetic powers. But that came in game one through several codex entries so thats ok...

How about complaining about inconsistency in space opera?

 

Eezo maybe magic rocks, but it's a more established part of the ME universe than transwarp corridors.

[LinksOcarina]

How about complaining about inconsistency in space opera?

 

Eezo maybe magic rocks, but it's a more established part of the ME universe than transwarp corridors.

 

Because it came first, right?

 

Let's face it, any technology created that can change the way the games are played will be inconsistent no matter what if people hold that kind of logic. I don't really know or care about Transwarp Corridors, but I do know that, as I have argued many times, things need to change, be it for story or gameplay reasons, and they will then become part of the games canon.

[Iakus]

Because it came first, right?

 

Let's face it, any technology created that can change the way the games are played will be inconsistent no matter what if people hold that kind of logic. I don't really know or care about Transwarp Corridors, but I do know that, as I have argued many times, things need to change, be it for story or gameplay reasons, and they will then become part of the games canon.

"Expand on what you already have before introducing something new."  

[LinksOcarina]

"Expand on what you already have before introducing something new."  

 

Technology doesn't work that way all the time. 

[Iakus]

Technology doesn't work that way all the time. 

Storytelling does.  At least, good storytelling does.

 

Edit, and heck, even this fan-made plot device, space magicky though it is, accomplishes that.  Bioware could certainly do worse, and likely will

[MrFob]

There is a reason why eezo works so well in the ME universe and it's not just because "it was there first" but rather because it used to be the centrepiece - the rosetta stone if you will - of the ME universe (I mean, come on, it's even in the franchise name).

As Mr, BTongue says very correctly in one of his videos, SciFi is ultimately an elaborate form of a Socratic exercise. The assumption here being: "What if we found a material that can change the mass of an object?" This is not just some technology within the ME universe, it's the underlying premise of it and all the tech is built onto that premise. The technology is not eezo, it is FTL drives, mass accelerators, kinetic barriers, biotics, flying cars and the mass relays. Eezo is the means to make that technology possible. Everything in the early ME universe that surpasses our current technology is built on the premise that eezo exists and this Socratic exercise works with this one assumption and almost nothing else (there are a few more, especially concerning aliens and AIs but at least as far as physics is concerned, eezo pretty much covers it). That is why the ME universe (at least in it's early stages) was so coherent, so plausible and so enticing, at least to me.

It's also why I am still a fan of the concept underlying the dark energy ending because it would have used the original premise of the universe to resolve the main plot line. Whatever the exact specifics of that ending would have been, It would have tied the narrative and the universe's lore together in a very tight little bow of storytelling goodness. IMO, you can see that the writers who started out with the ME universe did have a plan but unfortunately they (and/or their successors) abandoned it in ME2.

 

IMO, with every new and (by today's standards) impossible technology, unrelated to eezo that is introduced into the universe, this initial cohesiveness is weakened. No matter if the new tech is QECs, the Lazarus Project, the crucible or some new fancy intergalactic drive. For none of those do I have any inkling how they could possibly work, even if you add the premise of the universe (the mass altering substance) to today's scientific understanding. That's the real problem.

 

That is why I find that you cannot compare a new "quantum slipstream drive" with eezo related FTL in the ME universe. The beauty of the theory from the OP would have been that we are still manipulating a familiar scientific concept (i.e. a black hole) with eezo in some way to get what the writers want/need in the end. To me, that - while of course still not very elegant, coming out of the blue and all - is still better than pulling a completely new tech out of your ... hat that we have absolutely no relation to.

[LinksOcarina]

There is a reason why eezo works so well in the ME universe and it's not just because "it was there first" but rather because it used to be the centrepiece - the rosetta stone if you will - of the ME universe (I mean, come on, it's even in the franchise name).

As Mr, BTongue says very correctly in one of his videos, SciFi is ultimately an elaborate form of a Socratic exercise. The assumption here being: "What if we found a material that can change the mass of an object?" This is not just some technology within the ME universe, it's the underlying premise of it and all the tech is built onto that premise. The technology is not eezo, it is FTL drives, mass accelerators, kinetic barriers, biotics, flying cars and the mass relays. Eezo is the means to make that technology possible. Everything in the early ME universe that surpasses our current technology is built on the premise that eezo exists and this Socratic exercise works with this one assumption and almost nothing else (there are a few more, especially concerning aliens and AIs but at least as far as physics is concerned, eezo pretty much covers it). That is why the ME universe (at least in it's early stages) was so coherent, so plausible and so enticing, at least to me.

It's also why I am still a fan of the concept underlying the dark energy ending because it would have used the original premise of the universe to resolve the main plot line. Whatever the exact specifics of that ending would have been, It would have tied the narrative and the universe's lore together in a very tight little bow of storytelling goodness. IMO, you can see that the writers who started out with the ME universe did have a plan but unfortunately they (and/or their successors) abandoned it in ME2.

 

IMO, with every new and (by today's standards) impossible technology, unrelated to eezo that is introduced into the universe, this initial cohesiveness is weakened. No matter if the new tech is QECs, the Lazarus Project, the crucible or some new fancy intergalactic drive. For none of those do I have any inkling how they could possibly work, even if you add the premise of the universe (the mass altering substance) to today's scientific understanding. That's the real problem.

 

That is why I find that you cannot compare a new "quantum slipstream drive" with eezo related FTL in the ME universe. The beauty of the theory from the OP would have been that we are still manipulating a familiar scientific concept (i.e. a black hole) with eezo in some way to get what the writers want/need in the end. To me, that - while of course still not very elegant - better than pulling a completely new tech out of your ... hat that we have absolutely no relation to.

 

Yeah I dont buy that at all.

 

Element Zero was never a full on centerpiece, it was always window dressing, the magical substance to keep the world going, sometimes literally, with its applications. To say otherwise is being disingenuous to the narrative themes of Mass Effect in general; its part of the world, but its flavor text.

 

I am all for them using Element Zero in explaining how they get there, but let's not pretend it's not an arbitrary plot device either no matter how you slice. It is just accepted because it was the first plot device presented. 

[MrFob]

Yeah I dont buy that at all.

 

Element Zero was never a full on centerpiece, it was always window dressing, the magical substance to keep the world going, sometimes literally, with its applications. To say otherwise is being disingenuous to the narrative themes of Mass Effect in general; its part of the world, but its flavor text.

 

Disingenuous? I don't think so.

I think the entire setup of the franchise indicates otherwise, especially if you look at the early works of ME1 and Revelation.

- The name of the entire thing is "Mass Effect", it's not "Shepard's Space Opera" or whatever. One would assume the writers put at least a little bit of thought into that title.

- Read the opening text of ME1: "In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time. They called it the greatest discovery in human history. The civilizations of the galaxy call it...MASS EFFECT". It is the most important information that needed to be conveyed to the audience for the entire thing to work. That's why it is the opening text. Or are you saying that is "flavor text" as well?

- Same goes for Revelation. The first 10 pages deal exclusively with how humanity found the prothean ruins on Mars and with it eezo, how eezo allowed them to usher into a new era for mankind and how that changed society forever. It's not about the characters, the current events or an action scene. It's world building and clearly, eezo is at the very core of the world of Mass Effect.

- There is no ME publication I am aware of that does not entail eezo in some form. Not every ME publication deals with the reapers, protheans, Shepard, the citadel or whatever you want to substitute. They all however need to include eezo and its applications in order to be a recognizable entry into this franchise.

- Even you yourself say "it's the magical substance to keep the world going". Well, frankly I couldn't have summarized it better myself so thanks for making my point for me.

 

Element Zero is the most important aspect to make this universe work. Sure, the specifics are hidden away in the codex but just the fact that it does work and that it allowed this to be a space opera scifi universe instead of a future setting within the Sol system, without aliens and with just familiar technology is central and more than just window dressing.

There are of course other aspects to the universe but this is the one that the writers chose to tie it all together when they conceptionalized this scifi franchise.

[LinksOcarina]

Disingenuous? I don't think so.

I think the entire setup of the franchise indicates otherwise, especially if you look at the early works of ME1 and Revelation.

- The name of the entire thing is "Mass Effect", it's not "Shepard's Space Opera" or whatever. One would assume the writers put at least a little bit of thought into that title.

- Read the opening text of ME1: "In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time. They called it the greatest discovery in human history. The civilizations of the galaxy call it...MASS EFFECT". It is the most important information that needed to be conveyed to the audience for the entire thing to work. That's why it is the opening text. Or are you saying that is "flavor text" as well?

- Same goes for Revelation. The first 10 pages deal exclusively with how humanity found the prothean ruins on Mars and with it eezo, how eezo allowed them to usher into a new era for mankind and how that changed society forever. It's not about the characters, the current events or an action scene. It's world building and clearly, eezo is at the very core of the world of Mass Effect.

- There is no ME publication I am aware of that does not entail eezo in some form. Not every ME publication deals with the reapers, protheans, Shepard, the citadel or whatever you want to substitute. They all however need to include eezo and its applications in order to be a recognizable entry into this franchise.

- Even you yourself say "it's the magical substance to keep the world going". Well, frankly I couldn't have summarized it better myself so thanks for making my point for me.

 

Element Zero is the most important aspect to make this universe work. Sure, the specifics are hidden away in the codex but just the fact that it does work and that it allowed this to be a space opera scifi universe instead of a future setting within the Sol system, without aliens and with just familiar technology is central and more than just window dressing.

There are of course other aspects to the universe but this is the one that the writers chose to tie it all together when they conceptionalized this scifi franchise.

 

Yes, that is the flavor text.

 

The discovery of Element Zero as being significant already happened by the time we get to the trilogy. And throughout that trilogy the use of Element Zero is minimal to the overall plot of the games. 

 

Note I am talking about the games here; in terms of continuity of the universe sure, you are right, but how many times have Element Zero been the forefront of the plot of a novel, or comic book, or game so far? I would bet the number is low. 

 

You are also missing the point completely, the argument that the introduction of some new technology or technique is lore breaking or will be inferior and convenient in some fashion, because it's frankly bullshit because Eezo already is convenient, as an example. It's importance is not the argument here (and as I said, it's not really that important to the games outside of being window dressing), it's role as a McGuffin that is embraced by the fandom is, despite being a McGuffin, which then subsequently rejects other probably McGuffins for being a said plot device because it's "lore breaking".

 

If something else is introduced that doesn't have Eezo involved, it's part of the lore now regardless of how the people perceive it. You are basically off point.

[MrFob]

I don't think I am missing the point at all.

 

First, of course I am talking about the universe, not the game plot. After all, the plot of the next game is (hopefully) going to be different from the last but the next game is supposed to be part of the ME universe, so our discussion is about that by definition.

Second, I did make the point in my first post on this page that I was disappointed that the lore did not interact with the plot. You are correct, the plot (ancient machines invade the galaxy, etc. etc.) could have taken place in any number of SciFi universes. The entire AI vs. Synthetics thing did happen in a huge number of scifi universes (I can think of 3 just off the top of my head). It's not a specific plot that makes Mass Effect Mass Effect, it's the universe this plot takes place in.

Third, a McGuffin is a motivator for the protagonist to get the plot going. Eezo doesn't fit that at all (you yourself say that it's not relevant to the specific plot). Of course eezo is not "the plot", it's the underlying basis for any plot in the ME universe (see above).

Fourth, the fact that eezo is "magic" is true but it is the one peace of "magic" that the writers chose as the premise of their Socratic exercise. They did very well because with that one piece of "magic" they managed to generate a very wide variety of plausible effects, directly emerging from it that makes the ME universe unique. They managed to base everything from FTL travel to biotics on it in a fairly believable way and thus generated the universe. As I said before, any piece of magic in the universe requires more suspension of disbelief. Since there is no interstellar travel today, you will never get around using some magic in order to tell a space opera story but as I said before, any new impossible technology that comes into it weakens the entire franchise IMO.

Fifth, the fact that the discovery of eezo as the defining event of the universe already happened before the plot of the game starts is irrelevant as eezo defines the universe, not the plot of ME1-3.

 

So still, I think Eezo is not comparable to some random new drive or (to have a more specific example for a new technology that went unexplained) the crucible. One is the fundamental premise of the franchise, the other is strictly needed for the plot at hand. I don't see how this is off point in this context, when we are talking about a way to make the plot of the next game in the ME universe work.

[LinksOcarina]

I don't think I am missing the point at all.

 

First, of course I am talking about the universe, not the game plot. After all, the plot of the next game is (hopefully) going to be different from the last but the next game is supposed to be part of the ME universe, so our discussion is about that by definition.

Second, I did make the point in my first post on this page that I was disappointed that the lore did not interact with the plot. You are correct, the plot (ancient machines invade the galaxy, etc. etc.) could have taken place in any number of SciFi universes. The entire AI vs. Synthetics thing did happen in a huge number of scifi universes (I can think of 3 just off the top of my head). It's not a specific plot that makes Mass Effect Mass Effect, it's the universe this plot takes place in.

Third, a McGuffin is a motivator for the protagonist to get the plot going. Eezo doesn't fit that at all (you yourself say that it's not relevant to the specific plot).

Fourth, the fact that eezo is "magic" is true but it is the one peace of "magic" that the writers chose as the premise of their Socratic exercise. They did very well because with that one piece of "magic" they managed to generate a very wide variety of plausible effects, directly emerging from it that makes the ME universe unique. They managed to base everything from FTL travel to biotics on it in a fairly believable way and thus generated the universe. As I said before, any piece of magic in the universe requires more suspension of disbelief. Since there is no interstellar travel today, you will never get around using some magic in order to tell a space opera story but as I said before, any new impossible technology that comes into it weakens the entire franchise IMO.

 

So still, I think Eezo is not comparable to some random new drive or (to have a more specific example for a new technology that went unexplained) the crucible. One is the fundamental premise of the franchise, the other is strictly needed for the plot at hand. I don't see how this is off point in this context, when we are talking about a way to make the plot of the next game in the ME universe work.

 

Because any solution will make the plot work.

 

Eezo is a McGuffin because it allows the plot to happen; it allows the Galaxy to move and populate.

 

It is not a part of the plot, but it is the impetus of the plot. Those are two different things here. Not to mention, like all plot devices, it is designed to make sense in-universe so it can drive the plot further. The Crucible, for example, did that too. 

 

So I got to ask, if Eezo was involved in the Crucible, it would be ok then? It would then be a fundamental part of the franchise with its inclusion?

[MrFob]

If we are going with "any solution will make the plot work", we might as well send the next protagonist to Andromeda on a giant intergalactic rainbow bridge (sorry to go all reductio ad absurdum on you here but that sentence was already so reduced, I didn't know how else to respond).

 

Also, please look up the definition of a McGuffin. It is not "what makes the plot work" in a general term. It is supposed to be a motivator/goal for the protagonist, which eezo is not in the ME trilogy (I hate these so called "writers terms", so I'd be happy to just not use them but if we are going to use them, let's do it correctly).

 

It is not a part of the plot, but it is the impetus of the plot. Those are two different things here. Not to mention, like all plot devices, it is designed to make sense in-universe so it can drive the plot further.

Agreed. It needs the addition though, that eezo does not make one plot work in the ME universe, it makes every plot work in the ME universe and as such, it is essential for the universe itself. That's the difference to...

The Crucible, for example, did that too.

The Crucible makes one specific plot work (or actually, just part of one).

 

And to answer your question: If someone just said "The crucible works through eezo", no, that would not be enough. It turns the Socratic excessive on it's head. The exercise was (and I am pretty sure this is what Karpyshyn, L'Etoille and the others did in the beginning) to ask "What if we found a material that can change the mass of an object?" What could we do with it? Well, we could make new construction alloys, we could generate fancy new weapons, even defense shields and FTL engines. We could even implant it into the brain and have telekinesis. The point is, you start with one very well defined piece of magic and ask "If I have that and only that, what can I do with it?". That's the basis for the universe.

In the case of the crucible, they asked "what do I need for the plot?" and they came up with this. Now, if you somehow attach eezo to it, that doesn't make it good. I'd say it might improve things a little because at least you would have somewhat tied it to the original premise but without an explanation of how the mass altering substance makes something like synthesis possible, it's pretty worthless.

 

The same goes for what the OP in this thread suggested by the way. This is why I wrote above "To me, that [the idea in the OP] - while of course still not very elegant, coming out of the blue and all - is still better than pulling a completely new tech out of your ... hat that we have absolutely no relation to."

 

Doesn't change the fact that IMO, you cannot compare some fancy new technology to eezo, which - again - is the underlying premise of the universe, not some random fluff to make something work.

[LinksOcarina]

If we are going with "any solution will make the plot work", we might as well send the next protagonist to Andromeda on a giant intergalactic rainbow bridge (sorry to go all reductio ad absurdum on you here but that sentence was already so reduced, I didn't know how else to respond).

 

Also, please look up the definition of a McGuffin. It is not "what makes the plot work" in a general term. It is supposed to be a motivator/goal for the protagonist, which eezo is not in the ME trilogy (I hate these so called "writers terms", so I'd be happy to just not use them but if we are going to use them, let's do it correctly).

 

 

 

Agreed. It needs the addition though, that eezo does not make one plot work in the ME universe, it makes every plot work in the ME universe and as such, it is essential for the universe itself. That's the difference to...

 

 

The Crucible makes one specific plot work (or actually, just part of one).

 

And to answer your question: If someone just said "The crucible works through eezo", no, that would not be enough. It turns the Socratic excessive on it's head. The exercise was (and I am pretty sure this is what Karpyshyn, L'Etoille and the others did in the beginning) to ask "What if we found a material that can change the mass of an object?" What could we do with it? Well, we could make new construction alloys, we could generate fancy new weapons, even defense shields and FTL engines. We could even implant it into the brain and have telekinesis. The point is, you start with one very well defined piece of magic and ask "If I have that and only that, what can I do with it?". That's the basis for the universe.

In the case of the crucible, they asked "what do I need for the plot?" and they came up with this. Now, if you somehow attach eezo to it, that doesn't make it good. I'd say it might improve things a little because at least you would have somewhat tied it to the original premise but without an explanation of how the mass altering substance makes something like synthesis possible, it's pretty worthless.

 

The same goes for what the OP in this thread suggested by the way. This is why I wrote above "To me, that [the idea in the OP] - while of course still not very elegant, coming out of the blue and all - is still better than pulling a completely new tech out of your ... hat that we have absolutely no relation to."

 

Doesn't change the fact that IMO, you cannot compare some fancy new technology to eezo, which - again - is the underlying premise of the universe, not some random fluff to make something work.

 

And when both are one in the same, its still an irrelevant argument. 

 

Regarding McGuffins, I guess I used the wrong word in this context, Element Zero is simply a plot device for the background of the series. So my bad on that at least. 

[MrFob]

And when both are one in the same, its still an irrelevant argument.

Well, IMO in a (by my standards) "good" scifi universe, you only get to do the Socratic exercise once. You don't get to reset the premise of your universe, so they can't be one and the same. If they were to throw eezo out the window and replace it with a "quantum slipstream effect" (whatever that would be), I would have a hard time still calling it Mass Effect.

 

Element Zero is simply a plot device for the background of the series.

Exactly!

[LinksOcarina]

Well, IMO in a (by my standards) "good" scifi universe, you only get to do the Socratic exercise once. You don't get to reset the premise of your universe, so they can't be one and the same. If they were to throw eezo out the window and replace it with a "quantum slipstream effect" (whatever that would be), I would have a hard time still calling it Mass Effect.

 

Exactly!

 

Yeah I know. I never disagreed with that. I am simply saying its a plot device people accept because its in the background and used to make the world work.

 

Regarding a good sci-fi universe...what you believe is not really the point either. What you have trouble calling Mass Effect is not really important; that's up to the writers and creators in the end. 

 

Also, the question of Element Zero is not even part of it, I used it as an example to showcase how folks cherry pick parts of the world and take it for gospel, regardless of how ridiculous their application is. That was the original point. The importance of Element Zero is insignificant to this entire discussion.

[MrFob]

Regarding a good sci-fi universe...what you believe is not really the point either. What you have trouble calling Mass Effect is not really important; that's up to the writers and creators in the end.

Well, I will hardly do anything other than stating my own opinion, can I? And to me, that opinion is important (I can't believe I am explaining this).
 

Also, the question of Element Zero is not even part of it, I used it as an example to showcase how folks cherry pick parts of the world and take it for gospel, regardless of how ridiculous their application is. That was the original point. The importance of Element Zero is insignificant to this entire discussion.

It is because Element Zero (i,e. the Mass effect itself) was a bad example. My point was and is that eezo specifically is not "cherry picked" but that there is a good reason why it is not hated on by the fans as much as things like Lazarus or the crucible or anything else that came out of the blue.

[LinksOcarina]

Well, I will hardly do anything other than stating my own opinion, can I? And to me, that opinion is important (I can't believe I am explaining this).
 

It is because Element Zero (i,e. the Mass effect itself) was a bad example. My point was and is that eezo specifically is not "cherry picked" but that there is a good reason why it is not hated on by the fans as much as things like Lazarus or the crucible or anything else that came out of the blue.

 

Fair point to that. Just don't expect anyone to really take it to heart. 

 

And Eezo is not a bad example, its actually, id argue, the most pervasive example because it serves the same function as the Crucible or the Lazarus Project, and is present in all three games through background, mobility and even game mechanics. I bet it's accepted because it's not the forefront of the plot ever in the games.

 

Either that, or like I said, it happened to come first to set the world up. 

[MrFob]

Fair point to that. Just don't expect anyone to really take it to heart.

Yea well, that goes for everyone (yourself included).
 

And Eezo is not a bad example, its actually, id argue, the most pervasive example because it serves the same function as the Crucible or the Lazarus Project, and is present in all three games through background, mobility and even game mechanics. I bet it's accepted because it's not the forefront of the plot ever in the games.

Either that, or like I said, it happened to come first to set the world up.

Well, I already wrote about the difference between the function of eezo and Lazarus/the crucible within the ME universe and why "coming first" is exactly not the point. So now we have come full circle. Therefore and before you call me anything else between disingenuous, off point and irrelevant, please click here to continue.

[Sartoz]

Isn't that just FTL? Like we had in the other games but this time a view from within the cockpit?

                                                                                                     <<<<<<<<<<()>>>>>>>>>>

 

FTL is like Ford's early Model-T car whose speed was  appx 10 mph. The Quantum Slipstream Drive is a like a modern racing car engine.

 

I bet that the writers for ME:A will give us a whole lot of new tech, including a star drive with a fancy name.