529 réponses à ce sujet

[Sigzy05]

I will say that if the ARK is actually confirmed to be built by humans over Earth, then this setting has officially taken humanity beyond Matt Ward Ultramarine (of WH40K fame) levels of pretentious.

 

 

Also if the ARK is launched post-ME 3, then why go all the way to Andromeda? What, is the other 99.99% unexplored percent of the Milky Way not good enough?

 

 

I totally see and somewhat agree with the OP's comment.

 

Also very well understand your point.

 

At this stage I'm very confused with the story because from what I've seen they have cornered themselves in a pretty horrible way in the plot. They either make one ending canon, though why Andromeda and who's ships were those we don't know, or they make it before ME3 and that image is not on Earth though doesn't explain the alliance ships, or they completely ignore the triology and start fresh which would be the worse imo, but I still wouldn't see a reason to leave the Milky Way.  I'm afraid they are going to have to shoehorn some plot device in the begining of the game to give a "plausable" reason.

[Gonder]

As much as I prefer the early escape theory, and want it to become a reality, it is barely feasible on a technological level. In order to create something as huge, impressive and futuristic as the Ark, you need one of two things: you need Reaper technology, or, most obviously of all, you need to be further into the future, both of these meaning that this game is set beyond Mass Effect 3. My main point is that: prior to the third game, the technology of the Council races was not advanced enough to travel between galaxies, so the Ark hypothetically couldn't have even existed.

 

Another thing that I would like to point out is how the Ark is notably inspired by the Citadel, a Reaper creation (that's only a footnote, though; it might not really mean anything). I have no doubt that a lot of discoveries made observing the Reapers following their defeat would have been key in making this project a reality, and that concept immediately brings fourth a plethora of frightening questions: will our choices matter? Has an ending become canonised? Were the endings retconned? Will I be able to transfer my saves over? 

 

By all means, if Bioware manages to pull off a miracle and allow our endings to spill through into Mass Effect: Andromeda, then I will be heavily impressed; I would much prefer that over an early escape. The thing is, what are the honest chances of Bioware pulling that off? The chances are low, I would suspect. If they don't have the will, resources or time to make our choice of ending in Mass Effect 3 matter in Andromeda, then they are pulling a trigger on themselves, if they do not go with the early exit concept, despite the lack of realism that would come with that. 

 

Oh, and, if they decide to retcon those endings, I will kill an innocent volus. They stuck by them when they released Mass Effect 3, and they even created the free Extended Cut DLC just to remedy them; please do not tell us that it was all for nothing.

 

I could talk on and on about this subject, but I've already said enough for this one reply. I'll leave this here, for now.

[shepskisaac]

If the Ark leaves after the ending it begs the question what was the freaking point of changing the galaxies.

[Ieldra]

I don't get people expecting Bioware to come up with some clever, lore-consistent explanation for the Ark. It was always going to be some half-cooked explanation pulled straight out of their collective ass. They have always been painstakingly bad at plotting and continuity. Just not their thing.

Very true, for the ME team at least. The DA team appears to do better. However, in this case it actually is a problem that's hard to solve regardless of your competence at worldbuilding and plotting. The only way this makes sense, story-wise, is if the emigration takes place before ME3's ending, maybe even before ME3. That leaves the question "How can the technology that enables people to travel that far exist if its non-existence can be inferred with near-certainty from the Codex?"

There are a number of possible scenarios here, but all involve some level of secrecy, which means they compounded the problem by showing this emigration event as one that's impossible to ignore by the public. But then, always since the start of ME2, careful plotting took second place to basically everything else, which is the main reason why I don't have confidence in ME:A. After all, the man who fubared ME3 is now in charge.
 

EDIT: Also, I still maintain that the Ark leaves before the ME3 ending. Otherwise, there's absolutely no point in going to Andromeda.

That's the reason why I think the same.

Edit:
I think they'd be well-advised to avoid any connection to the trilogy's controversial aspects, which means anything connected to the Reapers will not appear in MEA. That would mean primarily no Reaper tech as the source of improved drive technology. I'll go so far as to say it won't happen, since it would make reaching Andromeda yet another second-hand achievement made possible only through the Reapers. Nobody wants that. I think some cost in consistency is acceptable, though they shouldn't compound the problem with their presentation.

Edit2:
Considering who's in charge, I fully expect "Cerberus did it" to come into it somewhere. Which would be almost as bad as Reaper tech... Unfortunately, I'm not nearly as confident it won't happen.

[Sigzy05]

If the Ark leaves after the ending it begs the question what was the freaking point of changing the galaxies.

 

My thoughts exactly. There is no point unless they shoehorn that point. Which would be there for the sake of being there but I guess we'd have to buy it fo the rest of the story to make sense. However if it's after they simply have to make an ending canon. 

[Arcian]

how can people not tell that the planet was Earth?

People are idiots.

[Ahriman]

There are a number of possible scenarios here, but all involve some level of secrecy, which means they compounded the problem by showing this emigration event as one that's impossible to ignore by the public. But then, always since the start of ME2, careful plotting took second place to basically everything else, which is the main reason why I don't have confidence in ME:A. After all, the man who fubared ME3 is now in charge.

That's what grinds my gears at the moment. Contingency plan is supposed to be secret, but freaking Ark fleet above Earth is the opposite of that, it would get into all news instantly.

While post-ME3 departure, as already said above, nulifies the whole point of getting to Andromeda.

Something is clearly wrong with both theories and at this point I'm not sure there isn't something wrond with actual plot.

[SNascimento]

My feeling is that they will bring the dark energy plot back to explain why we have to leave the Milk Way.

[SofaJockey]

Regardless of any public recognition of the 'Reapers', the council (or what's left of it) knew the Reapers were coming.

Building ark ships away from Earth is perfectly possible in the intervening time, all it takes is to swing by and pick people up either ahead of, or under the distraction of the Crucible's arrival.

After that, who knows what happened in the Milky Way, as the ark fleet's settler's are tucked up in suspension and are on their way...

[pkypereira]

This is the shot of North America confirming that the planet is Earth.

 

EDIT: for some reason the image wont show...if you pause the video just right at 1:28 you see North America, the big city that is emphasized near the middle is Chicago, the city emphasized closer to the top of the vid is Montreal and the faint light signatures under the Montreal area is New York City; judging by how at this time New York City is one of the biggest cities in the east coast and usually lights up the brightest I am thinking that this is taking place after the Reaper War, where cities like Chicago and Montreal would have been attacked, but not as much as main cities such as NYC or Washington DC, which also shows less bright than normal.

[Urizen]

If the Ark leaves after the ending it begs the question what was the freaking point of changing the galaxies.

 

This pretty much. The only reason for us to go to Andromeda is to avoid the endings of ME3 altogether and that is simply not possible if we leave after the events of ME3. But building the arks in secrecy is indeed possible and wouldn´t require that much of a retcon. During ME3 pretty much everyone knew about the project the alliance had going on, namely the crucible. Who is to say that this information wasn´t leaked by the alliance themselves to hide the construction of the arks?

 

Now you gonna ask, but how did they get the materials for the arks? Simple, materials were delivered to the crucible, we know that much. But do we know exactly how many were delivered? We don´t! That´s where one more retcon comes in. Materials intended for the crucible were rerouted to the arks, using alliance ships and personnel only. It´s quite easy to do so aswell. You simply calculate how much is needed for the crucible and the arks, and book them under crucible only. And with alliance ships fighting reapers everywhere, ships are constantly stocking up on supplies. So ships coming and going would be a common sight near the crucible.

 

Personnel? Same thing applies to personnel as with materials.

 

So why does Liara not know about it? She only shows us information that is imperative to our mission, namely defeating the reapers. But we also know that she has access to far more information than she let´s us see. Her hiding the information from us may just be a case of her not believing in the project in the first place.

 

But that leaves one problem unadressed. The drives needed to get to andromeda, for which I have to admit, I have no explanation. Granted, you could use the schematics of the crucible and incorporate them into the engine design, but that still leaves the issue of having to discharge them.

[Vortex13]

Some of the folks on Reddit think the Arks are being powered by Crucibles. Considering how Citadel-esque the Arks are, the structures being pointed out are in a similar position to how the Crucible docked.

 

 

If so, that would mean quite a bit post-ME3 is when they leave.

 

 

Wow I didn't even notice the other ARKs in the background when I saw the trailer.

 

 

So not only is humanity the only ones apparently capable to putting something like this together, but we can also construct multiple vessels based around technology that was impossible as of the ending of ME 3 and have them scattered in Earth orbit like a used car lot.

 

 

I could see a single ark, built by all the major species, as a desperate act and sent off into the unknown while the Milky Way faced its seeming extinction at the hands of the Reapers, but this is ridiculous. 

 

 

 

EDIT: Now that I think about it, if this is the way that BioWare wants to go then fine, but there had better be every single milky way species present in Andromeda now. If the construction of an intergalactic vessel is easy enough to churn out of an assembly line, then there is no reason why we should not be seeing Elcor, Rachni, Hanar, Volus, Vorcha, Batarians, Drell, Yarhg, Quarians, Geth, etc. in the new game.

[Urizen]

My feeling is that they will bring the dark energy plot back to explain why we have to leave the Milk Way.

 

But how does that avoid to deal with the endings of ME3? I really do like the concept though. It would explain why we have to leave the galaxy and where the tech comes from. Not to mention that the Krogans could have been cured of the genophage in the meantime irregardless of player choices.

[Vortex13]

My feeling is that they will bring the dark energy plot back to explain why we have to leave the Milk Way.

 

 

That to me would make even less sense than simply fleeing the Reaper invasion, since we would be bringing the very technology that is causing the dark energy build up with us to Andromeda.

[Urizen]

True, but it takes time for the dark energy to build up. You are doing nothing else than playing on time with such a step, to find a way to counter it. Something which very well could be impossible. Just sayin´.

[Gramorla]

I assume that bioware reduced the impact of all endings in the aftermath to one big.. lump of alternative dialogues and scenes. ME is still a space-fantasy. If i have learned anything from Perry Rhodan or the Cultur Novels (Banks), then that nothing can be too twisted to not be used as an explanation for intricate plotpoints. 

 

I will wait and see how Bioware do that.

 

 

I also think construction on the Arc to have bvegun after the end of ME3.

[Blooddrunk1004]

True, but it takes time for the dark energy to build up. You are doing nothing else than playing on time with such a step, to find a way to counter it. Something which very well could be impossible. Just sayin´.

I doubt it has anything to do with Andromeda. Dark Energy was the original plot for Reapers existence and their purpose, before they decided to scrap it.

 

I don't see how Ark leaving post ME3 ending making any sense, i thought entire ARK expedition group was to find a new galaxy in case if Reapers would wipe out Milky. Another reason why i also think it won't happen is because if this takes place after the ending and let's assume they would allow us to pick what we choose. If you would have picked Synthesis then our entire crew including the protagonist would all be Synths with green eyes and skin.

[Vortex13]

I doubt it has anything to do with Andromeda. Dark Energy was the original plot for Reapers existence and their purpose, before they decided to scrap it.

 

I don't see how Ark leaving post ME3 ending making any sense, i thought entire ARK expedition group was to find a new galaxy in case if Reapers would wipe out Milky. Another reason why i also think it won't happen is because if this takes place after the ending and let's assume they would allow us to pick what we choose. If you would have picked Synthesis then our entire crew including the protagonist would all be Synths with green eyes and skin.

 

 

More than that, we'd all be magically mind controlled into be nice to each other. Just pick Synthesis with Wreve as the leader of the Krogan with Eve dead, somehow, despite all of his brutalistic ways, the Krogan are being shown acting in harmony with the rest of the galaxy, not conquering or waging war. 

 

Synthesis, is more than a green circuit overlay on everything, its a fundamental brainwashing of the entire galaxy into living in a forced utopia.

[Ieldra]

True, but it takes time for the dark energy to build up. You are doing nothing else than playing on time with such a step, to find a way to counter it. Something which very well could be impossible. Just sayin´.

That plot was a bad idea. I'm very glad they'd ditched it for the triloy and it would be even worse to make it come back. That was a plot about resource mining endangering all life, which works in a spatially limited setting, but in a setting as big as several galaxies, makes very little sense if you're not a Kardashev III civilization. There are a lot of bad things you can say about ME3 and how it handled its themes, but at least the main theme they chose fit the setting, if not the stories they told in it.

Again, I'm willing to overlook some lore inconsistencies if they make a plot that makes sense. "Emigrate to another galaxy because the Reapers may just win", that makes sense. Of course, if that's where they're going, they've already begun with the bad writing in the promotional material.

[goofyomnivore]

If the game is good and interesting once we get to Andromeda I'm willing to deal with the bad writing and mental gymnastics on how we got there.

[Gonder]

Huh, neat, I just noticed that strange Crucible design lodged into the core of the Ark vessel. 

 

So much speculation, so little time!

[Urizen]

I doubt it has anything to do with Andromeda. Dark Energy was the original plot for Reapers existence and their purpose, before they decided to scrap it.

 

I don't see how Ark leaving post ME3 ending making any sense, i thought entire ARK expedition group was to find a new galaxy in case if Reapers would wipe out Milky. Another reason why i also think it won't happen is because if this takes place after the ending and let's assume they would allow us to pick what we choose. If you would have picked Synthesis then our entire crew including the protagonist would all be Synths with green eyes and skin.

 

The issue here is, that by the time of ME3 the tech is simply not advanced enough to allow for intergalactic travel. And the only reason we travel to Andromeda in the first place, is to avoid the clusterfeck that were the endings of ME3. So let´s assume MEA takes place after ME3. It would for one explain the techlevel used in constructing the arks. Second, it would make the endings moot ( with the exception of refuse, which obviously was a bad idea in the first place ) if enough time has passed. After all, starbrat clearly states that Synthesis was tried before and failed, because the universe wasn´t ready, yet here we are, doing exactly the same thing, forcing Synthesis on everyone. So it is possible that the effects receded, and everyone reverted to before the events of ME3. But what about the reapers? Control and destroy are obvious, they are not a threat anymore, that leaves us with the synthesis ending. For the time Synthesis lasted, all knowledge that the Reaper had was shared, making a conventional defeat possible. Again Reapers are out of the picture. But then, why do we leave the Milky Way? There must be an external threat and it must be something that can´t be easily defeated. Dark Energy could be that threat. Yes, it´s not the brightest idea, but if you have a better one, I´m all ears.

[Ahriman]

The issue here is, that by the time of ME3 the tech is simply not advanced enough to allow for intergalactic travel. 

That's the smallest of issues for me. We didn't have ressurection technology until ME2, we didn't have technology to beat Reapers until ME3. Last minute Deus Ex Machina is more than typical for ME.

[Armass81]

No matter which way this goes there is trouble.

 

If its post endings, they have to somehow count our ME3 endings, which in the past they have said they want to leave alone. And then, if they do overlook them, why even go to andromeda in the firts place, when 99% of milky way remains unexplored.

 

In pre endings, theres the tech problem, time problem etc. I see retcons coming.

 

Youre damned if you do and youre damned if you dont.

[The Elder King]

No matter which way this goes there is trouble.

 

If its post endings, they have to somehow count our ME3 endings, which in the past they have said they want to leave alone. And then, if they do overlook them, why even go to andromeda in the firts place, when 99% of milky way remains unexplored.

 

In pre endings, theres the tech problem, time problem etc. I see retcons coming.

 

Youre damned if you do and youre damned if you dont.

Yep. The same goes if they'd have picked a canon, or rebooting the series.