28 réponses à ce sujet

[tehturian]

Firstly I'd like say if Bioware can take anything from Mass Effect 3 it's the handling of squad mates. Characters moved around the ships and hub worlds and interacted with their surroundings. Gone were the days of the chore-like running around the ship to each designated squad mate area that existed as separate islands after each mission

 

However I'd like to see Bioware take this a step further and try and involve the entire squad in primary missions. One thing I never liked in trilogy was Garrus stating 'just like old times' even if he rotted on the Normandy in that particular save. This could be rectified if there was the feeling that each squadmate had a role even if he or she isn't in your ground squad of three. 

 

Each primary mission could have the feel of a suicide mission-lite if you will.

[LightningPoodle]

That sounds like a fine idea indeed.

 

It has always bugged me that only two people can join you on missions. It makes no sense to do that story wise. They should be off doing something else, whether that be out in the field assisting in objectives, or working on something else. But doing nothing?! Crazy.

[Prince Enigmatic]

I liked in ME3 the squadmates had actual agency and moved about the Normandy SR-2. It made it worthwhile doing the rounds after every mission to see which two characters were together and eavesdrop. I loved the banter between Garrus and James, and Garrus and Liara catching up. The Normandy SR-2 felt more like there ship, rathe than just Shepard's ship. Though jerk ass Joker would probably have something to say on that.

Id like to see this brought back. Squadmates being able to do stuff without our intervention or control.

[heinoMK2]

I'll use this thread to add a suggestion i wanted to make but always forgot to.

 

It would be great if we could send off our squadmembers to some missions running parallel to our mission in a given area. For example, we go into the orbit of a planet, choose 2 squadmembers to come down to the surface with the player and send off the rest of the squad to different places on diplomatic, exploration, infiltration/extermination and ressource gathering missions on the same planet.

 

This could provide an interesting squad management mechanic, where we'd have to choose the right people for the right mission, adjust their equipment according to the mission objectives and prioritize upgrades based on what kind of undertakings we'd like our squad to pursue. Team members could develop additional non-combat skills in the fields of diplomacy, science and mechanics increasing their success rates during their missions and maybe even slightly influencing their dialogue options based on what kind of experience they made during their excursions.

 

Additional elements could be squad members being injured if you made wrong decisions on whom to send off(or just randomly), requiring some time to recover, and some independent dialogues/banter between your team members while on board of the ship for the player to listen to.

Maybe there could even be additional missions if your secondary squads discover some important things somewhere or you'd have to start a rescue mission in the case something went terribly wrong or they were attacked by an until then unknown force etc

Another interesting gameplay element could be the use of the squad members as a temporary reinforcement, where you'd call in an armed shuttle from your ship that would be manned by some squad characters and could provide some additional firepower in a designated area.

[Hadeedak]

That's one thing that's always driven me absolutely batty, and the biggest draw of the suicide mission/Citadel DLC. I just wish there were more excuses for why we don't load everyone up in a given mission during a Bioware game.

 

If we could have them doing something to support the main mission, even if we don't see them, that'd just be peachykeen.

[Element Zero]

heinoMK2, there are some great ideas in your post. That kind of squad involvement would make for an amazingly immersive RPG. I see two issues with the idea, though.

First, it sounds like it would take an incredibly long time to make such a game. We might never actually get to play it. Or we'd only see it at the end of the "console cycle", meaning one ME every 8 years, instead of one every 2-3 years (new builds like Andromeda being exceptions).

Second, this sounds like something they'd put into a multiplayer feature, as much as I might prefer your suggestion. I'm generally rolling my eyes as people rant about EA ruining BioWare, but in this case, I could see EA seeing $$$. These side missions scream multiplayer; which means potential for a larger, even more invested fanbase and potential for microtransactions.

I'm typing on a tiny, tiny phone screen. Sorry for any typos and disjointed thoughts. It's impossible to edit before posting.

[Monk]

I'll use this thread to add a suggestion i wanted to make but always forgot to.

 

It would be great if we could send off our squadmembers to some missions running parallel to our mission in a given area. For example, we go into the orbit of a planet, choose 2 squadmembers to come down to the surface with the player and send off the rest of the squad to different places on diplomatic, exploration, infiltration/extermination and ressource gathering missions on the same planet.

 

This could provide an interesting squad management mechanic, where we'd have to choose the right people for the right mission, adjust their equipment according to the mission objectives and prioritize upgrades based on what kind of undertakings we'd like our squad to pursue. Team members could develop additional non-combat skills in the fields of diplomacy, science and mechanics increasing their success rates during their missions and maybe even slightly influencing their dialogue options based on what kind of experience they made during their excursions.

 

Additional elements could be squad members being injured if you made wrong decisions on whom to send off(or just randomly), requiring some time to recover, and some independent dialogues/banter between your team members while on board of the ship for the player to listen to.

Maybe there could even be additional missions if your secondary squads discover some important things somewhere or you'd have to start a rescue mission in the case something went terribly wrong or they were attacked by an until then unknown force etc

Another interesting gameplay element could be the use of the squad members as a temporary reinforcement, where you'd call in an armed shuttle from your ship that would be manned by some squad characters and could provide some additional firepower in a designated area.

 

 

I can imagine the banter from this. The "Garrus" of the group could be like "Hey, commander? I have someone who really would like to speak with you" while they're clearly in the middle of a fire fight. Similar if an important find is found mid-mission.

 

There might be a lot of voice work but it'd be soo cool.

[EpicNewb]

I like this idea.  Aren't they going to include it?

 

It could be like Final Fantasy Tactics.  You send your guys off while you play the game.

[Sanunes]

To me having something like the suicide mission for every mission even if its only every plot mission would eventually make it not feel special at all and become another boring mechanic we have to deal with.  Just like the table missions in Dragon Age: Inquisition eventually you dread doing them.  The other concern is that it would make squad members fixed like Mass Effect 3: Omega and there were a lot of complaints about that functionality.

 

I rather just have the party members we aren't using moving around and doing different things aboard our ship to show they are doing something while we are on a mission even if their tasks aren't combat related.

[ZipZap2000]

It would be nice to hear Drack is leading another 3 man team covering our exit/flank/carrying out a seperate op in another area of the base and occasionally even getting a few updates or even during a hard fight fall back to brain storm (Consequences for tactical decisions anyone?).

[EpicNewb]

It would be nice to hear Drack is leading another 3 man team covering our exit/flank/carrying out a seperate op in another area of the base and occasionally even getting a few updates or even during a hard fight fall back to brain storm (Consequences for tactical decisions anyone?).

Drack Krogan

 

It nice to hear anything Krogan

[ZipZap2000]

Drack Krogan

It nice to hear anything Krogan

Lets not jump to conclusions. He could be a Varren humping nug nugget. We have yet to see the finished product.

[Element Zero]

To me having something like the suicide mission for every mission even if its only every plot mission would eventually make it not feel special at all and become another boring mechanic we have to deal with.  Just like the table missions in Dragon Age: Inquisition eventually you dread doing them.  The other concern is that it would make squad members fixed like Mass Effect 3: Omega and there were a lot of complaints about that functionality.
 
I rather just have the party members we aren't using moving around and doing different things aboard our ship to show they are doing something while we are on a mission even if their tasks aren't combat related.

This was my thought, too.

If you over use something like this, you risk having it become tedious. Worse, it is no longer special when you need it to be (or when we replay ME2), because it has become pedestrian.

[Monk]

To me having something like the suicide mission for every mission even if its only every plot mission would eventually make it not feel special at all and become another boring mechanic we have to deal with.  Just like the table missions in Dragon Age: Inquisition eventually you dread doing them.  The other concern is that it would make squad members fixed like Mass Effect 3: Omega and there were a lot of complaints about that functionality.

 

I rather just have the party members we aren't using moving around and doing different things aboard our ship to show they are doing something while we are on a mission even if their tasks aren't combat related.

 

I'm not overly familiar with the "table missions" in DAI but if it's anything like in AC, i can see where the dread comes in. For this to work more fluidly, i think one of the squad mates would need to be given the title "task master" and the unwanted crew mates are then automatically given tasks, with the option to allow the player to manually select them if desired. This way, you get busy crew mates, new dialog options (like how much a bastard the new task master is) and a lively Tempest atmosphere. And this only happens between missions. When you need to swap someone, the tasks could always be setup to wait for Ryder to start his mission before tasks are formally handed out and the spare crew members are sent out, deftly returning as soon as Ryder returns. 

[PCThug]

That's one thing that's always driven me absolutely batty, and the biggest draw of the suicide mission/Citadel DLC. I just wish there were more excuses for why we don't load everyone up in a given mission during a Bioware game.

 

If we could have them doing something to support the main mission, even if we don't see them, that'd just be peachykeen.

Hey now, what about that completely contrived time everyone got loaded up in a shuttle to get them off the ship to set up for the Collector attack?

[Obliviousmiss]

If MEA borrowed the "War table" idea from DAI, I think it would be interesting if you assigned your advisers a side mission, but also a squad-mate would be assigned to go. And your squad-mate would be unavailable during the time that the "war table" mission was going on. 

 

I also think it would be super interesting if they ran into a tight spot, and we'd have to go save them on said side mission.

[vbibbi]

Hey now, what about that completely contrived time everyone got loaded up in a shuttle to get them off the ship to set up for the Collector attack?

 

Isn't this contrived scene supposed to be evidence that the entire squad actually comes into the field with Shep on missions, it's more game mechanics and combat balance that don't allow us to have more than two squadmates with us as a player? So technically, if Garrus says "just like old times" even though he wasn't one of the main squadmates ever used, it still works because he and the other NPCs actually were accompanying Shep.

 

Also like on Virmire where all of the squadmates are on the ground ready for action, suggesting that's how we always situate the team on planet missions.

 

It's contradicted by the Citadel DLC mission where the least-chosen squadmate complains about never being selected, but that entire mission is a light satire and I don't know how much of its details need to be taken as canon when confronted with contradicting information.

[Pasquale1234]

ME1 did give us a sense of crew members doing other things in the system scanning. Sometimes you'd get a text pop-up describing how your team investigated and recovered some artifact.

I've always viewed the 2 squadmate per mission rule to be sort of an abstraction. In that case, you can headcanon that the whole team is actually there with you, if you so choose.

One possibility that could be interesting would be to have a squadmate who went down on a mission unavailable (in rehab) for the next mission. It could encourage players to make more effort to keep all of the squadmates up and running throughout any given mission.

[RoboticWater]

One possibility that could be interesting would be to have a squadmate who went down on a mission unavailable (in rehab) for the next mission. It could encourage players to make more effort to keep all of the squadmates up and running throughout any given mission.

I've always thought it would be nice to have XCOM style crew management, though completely restricting a member may interfere with missions that require specific squad members. I suppose the mission could just be postponed until the member recovers, but a less intrusive approach might be to impose a debuff on injured squad mates (less damage output, slower speed, access to certain powers restricted, etc.).

[The Elcor Spectre]

While i'm on a mission, i'll let my LI do my laundry.

[Obliviousmiss]

I've always thought it would be nice to have XCOM style crew management, though completely restricting a member may interfere with missions that require specific squad members. I suppose the mission could just be postponed until the member recovers, but a less intrusive approach might be to impose a debuff on injured squad mates (less damage output, slower speed, access to certain powers restricted, etc.).

 

So interesting. If it doesn't make it into MEA, I'd definitely be interested in an immersive RPG with consequences like this! 

[PCThug]

Isn't this contrived scene supposed to be evidence that the entire squad actually comes into the field with Shep on missions, it's more game mechanics and combat balance that don't allow us to have more than two squadmates with us as a player? So technically, if Garrus says "just like old times" even though he wasn't one of the main squadmates ever used, it still works because he and the other NPCs actually were accompanying Shep.

 

Also like on Virmire where all of the squadmates are on the ground ready for action, suggesting that's how we always situate the team on planet missions.

 

It's contradicted by the Citadel DLC mission where the least-chosen squadmate complains about never being selected, but that entire mission is a light satire and I don't know how much of its details need to be taken as canon when confronted with contradicting information.

I would agree but Miranda says over the intercom that everyone's already in the shuttle and "Once we're closer to our destination, you can decide who to take with you."

[vbibbi]

I would agree but Miranda says over the intercom that everyone's already in the shuttle and "Once we're closer to our destination, you can decide who to take with you."

Maybe this just means Shep takes two squadmates, and the rest split up into two or three other units. What's the point of loading a small shuttle with 13 people if only three of them will do anything? (other than the stupid workaround for having no combatants on the ship for the Collector abduction)

 

 

And that helps explain the Citadel DLC line. If all squadmates are in the field, but only two of them are actually by Shep's side, then someone can be sad that they feel left out, even though they're still participating in missions.

 

/headcanon disengage

[TheN7Penguin]

No.

[Angry Chocobo]

That's one thing that's always driven me absolutely batty, and the biggest draw of the suicide mission/Citadel DLC. I just wish there were more excuses for why we don't load everyone up in a given mission during a Bioware game.

 

If we could have them doing something to support the main mission, even if we don't see them, that'd just be peachykeen.

This has always annoyed me too. It's a problem in pretty much every party-based RPG that has more characters than there is space in the squad/party/whatever.