751 réponses à ce sujet

[Mathias]

The Citadel Council had been exploring the galaxy for over five centuries before they encountered the rachni.  And that was before they got too scared to open dormant relays.  Who knows how many advanced civilizations are out there just waiting to be found?

 

I'd imagine there's probably intelligent life out there still developing, but I have doubts that there'd be advanced civilizations on the council races level. If there were, the Reapers would be targeting them too. I doesn't really matter at this point anyway.

[Iakus]

I'd imagine there's probably intelligent life out there still developing, but I have doubts that there'd be advanced civilizations on the council races level. If there were, the Reapers would be targeting them too. I doesn't really matter at this point anyway.

The codex does state that Reapers had been seen passing back and forth through unexplored relays.  Stands to reason they were checking for, and perhaps harvesting, other races we haven't met.  The relay network alone hasn't been fully explored by the Council, maybe not even by the Protheans.  And the galaxy is far more than the network.  There's a lot of room for alien life to develop.

 

But yes, Bioware has decided to abandon all this, so it is pointless anyway.

[Killroy]

Eventually?  Maybe.  But we hadn't even explored the entirety of the relay network, let alone more than 1% of the galaxy.  
 
If they hadn't frakked up the setting so badly with their ART the Milky Way could have been an entire franchise of material all by itself.  Several franchises even.

I think we can all agree with that.

[Killroy]

I'd imagine there's probably intelligent life out there still developing, but I have doubts that there'd be advanced civilizations on the council races level. If there were, the Reapers would be targeting them too. I doesn't really matter at this point anyway.

Saying "But the Reapers would have..." is a terrible argument to make. Nothing the Reapers did made any sense whatsoever. And who's to say advanced races couldn't evolve in an area of the galaxy where the relay network is inaccessible? Was the relay we blew up in Arrival the first relay to ever be destroyed? Do relays never malfunction, ever?

[Morty Smith]

Will be kind of an ancient alien threat. Will be kind of the same as before. Will be kind of okay.

 

Don´t care about the location, I want a list of features and details on the CC.

[AnAccountWithNoName]

Even though they are giving us a new galaxy, I still want to see more ME Milky Way pre-ME3 material, even if its just in the form of comics/book.  They can do what the star wars franchise has done.  Create material set in various eras. 

 

Even with the Star Wars Episode 7 coming out, new stories set in the past of that galaxy are still being released.  And before the Star Wars EU was wiped from continuity, the Knights of the Old Republic era was fleshed out a lot, giving us stories set thousands of years before the films.

 

Instead of just sticking to the future and just churning out Andromeda stories, they can jump back to before the recant invasion of Reapers in the Milky Way.  They can create a parallel to giving us stories of humanity exploring Andromeda for the first time, while jumping back with earlier stories set in the early days of humans exploring the Milky Way galaxy. 

 

Besides the possibility of showing us earlier conflicts such as the Krogran Rebellions (with Turians taking the place of humanity, so to speak), or even the Geth War (aka morning war), they could even show us more of the past cycles, specifically the Prothean one.  Sure we know they eventually got wiped out by the Reapers, but there is more to that cycle then that.  The Protheans (and their allies) after all won a galactic war against another machine race.  A story set during that war would be great to see.

[RoboticWater]

Even though they are giving us a new galaxy, I still want to see more ME Milky Way pre-ME3 material, even if its just in the form of comics/book.  They can do what the star wars franchise has done.  Create material set in various eras. 

 

Even with the Star Wars Episode 7 coming out, new stories set in the past of that galaxy are still being released.  And before the Star Wars EU was wiped from continuity, the Knights of the Old Republic era was fleshed out a lot, giving us stories set thousands of years before the films.

 

Instead of just sticking to the future and just churning out Andromeda stories, they can jump back to before the recant invasion of Reapers in the Milky Way.  They can create a parallel to giving us stories of humanity exploring Andromeda for the first time, while jumping back with earlier stories set in the early days of humans exploring the Milky Way galaxy. 

 

Besides the possibility of showing us earlier conflicts such as the Krogran Rebellions (with Turians taking the place of humanity, so to speak), or even the Geth War (aka morning war), they could even show us more of the past cycles, specifically the Prothean one.  Sure we know they eventually got wiped out by the Reapers, but there is more to that cycle then that.  The Protheans (and their allies) after all won a galactic war against another machine race.  A story set during that war would be great to see.

Though your request is certainly reasonable, I think it's best to understand why there is so much pre-original/pre-ep.7 material coming out for Star Wars. Since Disney de-canonized basically everything but the movies, they have a great void in their lore that needs to be patched. Incidentally, they're patching it with a bunch of interstitial stories.

 

Considering Andromeda has a similar void in its lore, I'd expect BioWare to start laying foundation stories there than expanding the lore of the existing galaxy. That doesn't preclude the possibility of more Milky Way content, I think it makes more sense for BioWare to focus their efforts on a single setting.

[AnAccountWithNoName]

Since Disney de-canonized basically everything but the movies, they have a great void in their lore that needs to be patched. Incidentally, they're patching it with a bunch of interstitial stories.

Well they did keep the Clone Wars tv series as canon.

[Chealec]

We got no taste of Thessaia. That could have been any other planet with how little of it we saw. Same with Sur'Kesh. 

 

...

 

The Reapers aren't omnipotent, despite how much they think so.

 

We saw as much of Thessia and Sur'Kesh as we did just about any other planet in the series, including Earth.

 

The Reapers might not be literally omnipotent but several million years worth of successful harvests under their collective belts means they are basically unbeatable; they've destroyed hundreds of galactic civilisations, thousands maybe? That was the central point of the Reapers that they hammered home throughout the whole of ME3... they cannot be beaten conventionally, as Hackett put it, "everything we're doing is a delaying tactic" (or words to that effect).

 

The whole premise of Mass Effect 3 is that only YOU can save the galaxy; that's the thing that's different this time around, this cycle has Commander Shepard - without whom Saren would have taken the Citadel, activated the relay and it would have basically been game over before even ME2... all that would remain would be the final futile battle of a dying civilisation. Shoot the starbrat and that's exactly what happens.

 

So, for all practical intents and purposes, the Reapers are omnipotent.

[RoboticWater]

Well they did keep the Clone Wars tv series as canon.

I did said "basically," but yes, I suppose I should have said "official visual media," to be more accurate.

 

Point is: Disney are focusing on filling in the holes in their new canon setting and not focusing on extraneous ones like The Old Republic era (no matter how interesting they may be). I'd assume BIoWare would want to do the same.

[AnAccountWithNoName]

I did said "basically," but yes, I suppose I should have said "official visual media," to be more accurate.

 

Point is: Disney are focusing on filling in the holes in their new canon setting and not focusing on extraneous ones like The Old Republic era (no matter how interesting they may be). I'd assume BIoWare would want to do the same.

 

I understand.

 

As a fan myself of the old republic era, I hope the concept is not forgotten in the new canon, and that Disney will eventually create new stories in that era

[WillieStyle]

By 2025, Bioware will be as far removed from the Citadel and Omega as they are today from Neverwinter and Athkatla. I'm not saying that going back wouldn't work, but I don't think there will be any interest from the devs.

 

Now imagine that NWN was based on Bioware's IP instead of the Forgotten Realms.  Would they let decisions some other devs made back then restrict the stories they could tell today? 

 

Also, the Milky Way isn't analogous to Athkatla.  It's the Galaxy we currently live in.  The one that contains the Earth.  

 

Imagine this: it's 2025, and a kid who was 3 years old when ME3 came out asks, "Hey Bioware, I love all your Mass Effect games, but how come you haven't set any in the Milky Way? I'd love to see Earth and the Solar System and stuff."  Do you imagine the devs will respond, "Well we made a game 13 years ago with a controversial ending, so we will never make a Mass Effect game in the Milky Way again.  Sorry kid, no Earth for you."  

 

Of course not.  Instead, if the Mass Effect IP survives long enough, Bioware will want to return to the Milky Way.  And when that happens, they will pick the ending that saddles them with the least amount of baggage from 2012: Destroy.

[Chealec]

Now imagine that NWN was based on Bioware's IP instead of the Forgotten Realms.  Would they let decisions some other devs made back then restrict the stories they could tell today? 

 

Also, the Milky Way isn't analogous to Athkatla.  It's the Galaxy we currently live in.  The one that contains the Earth.  

 

Imagine this: it's 2025, and a kid who was 3 years old when ME3 came out asks, "Hey Bioware, I love all your Mass Effect games, but how come you haven't set any in the Milky Way? I'd love to see Earth and the Solar System and stuff."  Do you imagine the devs will respond, "Well we made a game 13 years ago with a controversial ending, so we will never make a Mass Effect game in the Milky Way again.  Sorry kid, no Earth for you."  

 

Of course not.  Instead, if the Mass Effect IP survives long enough, Bioware will want to return to the Milky Way.  And when that happens, they will pick the ending that saddles them with the least amount of baggage from 2012: Destroy.

 

At that point in time I suspect they'd not even have to bother canonising anything; just call it a reboot Doom style and forget the original trilogy even existed - the Butlerian Jihad ending can get stuffed.

[WillieStyle]

At that point in time I suspect they'd not even have to bother canonising anything; just call it a reboot Doom style and forget the original trilogy even existed - the Butlerian Jihad ending can get stuffed.

 

Good point.

[themikefest]

The whole premise of Mass Effect 3 is that only YOU can save the galaxy; that's the thing that's different this time around, this cycle has Commander Shepard - without whom Saren would have taken the Citadel, activated the relay and it would have basically been game over before even ME2... all that would remain would be the final futile battle of a dying civilisation. Shoot the starbrat and that's exactly what happens.

Without the prothean scientsts to alter the signal, this cycle would've been harvested like all previous civilizations

[hemorrhoid]

Hang on, what about spoken language in the new galaxy? If humans are only getting there by ME:Andromeda and English was somehow the dominant language in the Milky Way galaxy - however many light years away from this one, how would English be justified (especially considering the lack of confirmed already-familiar races in the new game)?

 

Other than the "because reasons"-answer and its many equivalents, someone coming up with viable explanation for this would really impress me.

[Dean_the_Young]

Hang on, what about spoken language in the new galaxy? If humans are only getting there by ME:Andromeda and English was somehow the dominant language in the Milky Way galaxy - however many light years away from this one, how would English be justified (especially considering the lack of confirmed already-familiar races in the new game)?

 

Other than the "because reasons"-answer and its many equivalents, someone coming up with viable explanation for this would really impress me.

 

(Almost) no-one in Mass Effect speaks english- it's all translator-interpreted.

 

Bioware synchs the body language/mandible movement/lip synch to English because that's the audience they produce for- but in-lore, English wasn't the dominant language of Humanity, let alone the milky way..

[Dean_the_Young]

Now imagine that NWN was based on Bioware's IP instead of the Forgotten Realms.  Would they let decisions some other devs made back then restrict the stories they could tell today? 

 

Also, the Milky Way isn't analogous to Athkatla.  It's the Galaxy we currently live in.  The one that contains the Earth.  

 

Imagine this: it's 2025, and a kid who was 3 years old when ME3 came out asks, "Hey Bioware, I love all your Mass Effect games, but how come you haven't set any in the Milky Way? I'd love to see Earth and the Solar System and stuff."  Do you imagine the devs will respond, "Well we made a game 13 years ago with a controversial ending, so we will never make a Mass Effect game in the Milky Way again.  Sorry kid, no Earth for you."  

 

Of course not.  Instead, if the Mass Effect IP survives long enough, Bioware will want to return to the Milky Way.  And when that happens, they will pick the ending that saddles them with the least amount of baggage from 2012: Destroy.

 

This presumes that a 13 year old kid is a relevant reason to assume baggage that was already moved past a decade earlier, rather than tell the kid 'Please enjoy the Shepard Trilogy, the start of the franchise which will give you what you want.'

 

Personally, I suspect not- by that time, according to this scenario, Mass Effect will have established itself outside of the Milky Way long enough that it won't have any need to return- it can move on to another if it can't stay in Andromedea.

[Dean_the_Young]

We got no taste of Thessaia. That could have been any other planet with how little of it we saw. Same with Sur'Kesh. 

 

That applies to every place we ever went in the Mass Effect trilogy. If you look at it objectively, the only places we got more than one look at were the four hub-worlds: Citadel, Omega, Illium, and Tuchanka- and two of those were space stations, not planets. The rest was always shooting galleries, and the occasional Mako/Hammerhead empty area exploration, which gave the occasional pretty view but had no cultural/social relevance.

 

Pretty much every planet we ever landed on in Mass Effect could have been any other planet for how little we saw of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Except there are systems that have inhabitable planets yet don't have a Mass Relay in that system. The Reapers aren't omnipotent, despite how much they think so.

 

 

I think the word you're looking for is 'omniscient.'

 

But regardless- the locations of the Mass Relays is irrelevant to any Reaper considerations. They not only leave Reaper artifacts in systems without Mass Relays (such as indoctrination devices), but can easily litter every solar system in the galaxy with spy probes and such to monitor for the rise of life.

[Mathias]

Saying "But the Reapers would have..." is a terrible argument to make. Nothing the Reapers did made any sense whatsoever. And who's to say advanced races couldn't evolve in an area of the galaxy where the relay network is inaccessible? Was the relay we blew up in Arrival the first relay to ever be destroyed? Do relays never malfunction, ever?

 

Nah they've been doing their thing for millions of years, I think it's safe to say they've gotten very good at it over time. The only reason they were stopped is because The Catalyst allowed it. Their entire system is built to draw out advanced civilizations with things such as the Relays and the Citadel. So if there is other intelligent life out there during the events of ME3, they're probably not as advanced as we are. The Reapers have been using the Relay Method since the beginning. So it's safe to assume there aren't other spacefaring civilizations that get overlooked during a Harvest.

[Dean_the_Young]

Nah they've been doing their thing for millions of years, I think it's safe to say they've gotten very good at it over time. The only reason they were stopped is because The Catalyst allowed it. Their entire system is built to draw out advanced civilizations with things such as the Relays and the Citadel. So if there is other intelligent life out there during the events of ME3, they're probably not as advanced as we are. The Reapers have been using the Relay Method since the beginning. So it's safe to assume there aren't other spacefaring civilizations that get overlooked during a Harvest.

 

The system they used is why we know the Reapers weren't very good at it- because if the Reapers were competent at systemic genocide and harvesting, they wouldn't rely on the relay method at all.

 

Call it bad writing, or convoluted AI insanity, but there's no inherent advantage of the Relay strategy that wouldn't have been vastly improved by simply slapping a probe in every solar system in the galaxy and reaping civilizations at, or before, space flight. The reasons not to are ideological, not effectiveness.

[themikefest]

I like to know how long it took civilizations to advance far enough for the reapers to start the harvest before the relay network was built. Those civilizations didn't follow any path

[Il Divo]

I like to know how long it took civilizations to advance far enough for the reapers to start the harvest before the relay network was built. Those civilizations didn't follow any path

 

The Catalyst probably just used his drone army (prior to the Reapers' creation) to keep them under control, then exterminated them once he had the technology in place.

 

But thinking about it a bit more, do we actually know that the Reapers built the relays? I got the impression they were actually the Leviathans' technology.

[themikefest]

The Catalyst probably just used his drone army (prior to the Reapers' creation) to keep them under control, then exterminated them once he had the technology in place.

Still doesn't answer the question of how long it took those civilizations to be advanced enough to be harvested without the relays
 

But thinking about it a bit more, do we actually know that the Reapers built the relays? I got the impression they were actually the Leviathans' technology.

I was under the impression that when Leviathan said that the intelligence directed the reapers to build the relays, that the reapers did build the relays. There's nothing to suggest otherwise

[Il Divo]

Still doesn't answer the question of how long it took those civilizations to be advanced enough to be harvested without the relays
 

I was under the impression that when Leviathan said that the intelligence directed the reapers to build the relays, that the reapers did build the relays. There's nothing to suggest otherwise

 

Sure it does, he probably just didn't let them advance far enough to be harvested. If he could take on the Leviathans full strength using drones, he probably wouldn't have any trouble with archaic sentients. Keep them broken long enough to get your relays/network active (assuming the Reapers were responsible for building those), exterminate every current species available, then put the cycle in place.

 

 Edit: To be clear, unless you're asking how long (in general) sentient species would develop without either the Catalyst or Leviathans influencing them?