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[Criz]

... or rather not about mankind exclusively?

It's something that already bothered me with ME3 and and its notion of "Take Eart back" while the entire Milky Way Galaxy was at stake.
Really wished it would have felt more like getting together to fight off the Reapers as opposed to "I'll only help you with Earth, if you help with my problem first". Guess that already started in ME2 when the Reapers went after the humans after the actions of one human (who had help from a team of aliens).

I do hope that this time around it will be more about the Citadel species (at least the ones who travel to Andromeda) and how they have different traits and working together versus working against one another to establish themselves in this new area and that phrases about "saving mankind" are just for marketing reasons: "Save mankind (and become a hero)" works for people who played ME before and those who haven't. And it works better than a lengthy explanation about Citadel species and how working together can benefit everyone etc. 


That aside, considering that some species can live for a couple hundred years and it would be risky to let the Arks fly blindly to Andromeda, I wonder why there isn't a skeleton crew of long-lived species who take care of the sleepers? Basically sacrificing their live(time)s to ensure the others can make it and you might meet a young Asari before the journey starts and when you wake up she is several hundred years older ... also maybe a little weird because of the loneliness they experienced. And while those guardians might be glad that the others are finally awake and the Arks populated again, I guess they'd also be very alienated by having to share the space with others again after being able to do as they please for so long.


Oh, well, let's wait and see how ME:A plays out in the end. There are a few things I hope won't happen like forcing us to conquer Andromeda, or BW pushing certain characters a bit too strongly (including but not limited to being mind-raped to further the plot  ) ... but for the most part I'm looking forward to ME:A and hope BW won't overdo the hype again or reveal too much beyond what we'll get to know in the first 1-2 hours into the game anyway. As curious as I am, I'd rather experience things for myself ...

[dreamgazer]

Most people care about humans, since it's easy to identify with your own species.

But yes, there are a handful of people who don't care that much about humanity, or care for other species more above them.

[Jedi Comedian]

... or rather not about mankind exclusively?

It's something that already bothered me with ME3 and and its notion of "Take Eart back" while the entire Milky Way Galaxy was at stake.
Really wished it would have felt more like getting together to fight off the Reapers as opposed to "I'll only help you with Earth, if you help with my problem first". Guess that already started in ME2 when the Reapers went after the humans after the actions of one human (who had help from a team of aliens).

I do hope that this time around it will be more about the Citadel species (at least the ones who travel to Andromeda) and how they have different traits and working together versus working against one another to establish themselves in this new area and that phrases about "saving mankind" are just for marketing reasons: "Save mankind (and become a hero)" works for people who played ME before and those who haven't. And it works better than a lengthy explanation about Citadel species and how working together can benefit everyone etc.


That aside, considering that some species can live for a couple hundred years and it would be risky to let the Arks fly blindly to Andromeda, I wonder why there isn't a skeleton crew of long-lived species who take care of the sleepers? Basically sacrificing their live(time)s to ensure the others can make it and you might meet a young Asari before the journey starts and when you wake up she is several hundred years older ... also maybe a little weird because of the loneliness they experienced. And while those guardians might be glad that the others are finally awake and the Arks populated again, I guess they'd also be very alienated by having to share the space with others again after being able to do as they please for so long.


Oh, well, let's wait and see how ME:A plays out in the end. There are a few things I hope won't happen like forcing us to conquer Andromeda, or BW pushing certain characters a bit too strongly (including but not limited to being mind-raped to further the plot ) ... but for the most part I'm looking forward to ME:A and hope BW won't overdo the hype again or reveal too much beyond what we'll get to know in the first 1-2 hours into the game anyway. As curious as I am, I'd rather experience things for myself ...

My MC for one doesn't give a sorry **** for mankind as a whole, so no.

[Element Zero]

I agree that ME3 erred in letting its "Take Back Earth" marketing actually shape the plot (or maybe the stupid plot already existed). It felt designed for the casuals, those unfamiliar with the galactic society we knew, and with Reaper tactics.

The game should've been about rallying the species of the galaxy to stand together and defeat the Reapers. If necessary, we could've fought to protect or retake the Citadel, the heart of galactic civilization and the hub of the relay network, not Earth. Earth would benefit as all worlds would with the fall of the Reapers. I really fooled myself into believing it was going to happen this way, right up until "the Citadel has been moved to the system you call Sol". Ugh.

Other than that, I didn't mind the human focus all that much. It was too heavy-handed at times. We were a bit too special, maybe. I do like that the IP remains a story about humanity, told from a human viewpoint. I prefer it remains that way, even if I think they will include alien protags next time.

Edit: typos. My iPad believes "galaxy" must always be capitalized.

[Scarlett]

I think all the species should be treated on the same level. To me, humanity is not special.

 

But MEA will mostly be a human story, I just hope it won't be too much like ME3's beginning. I still hate how we "ask" turians for help without any compassion when their planet is burning on our back. Awful, really... Made me care even more for Palaven, not Earth...

Well just hope they will do a good balance between everybody on the ark.

[Ahriman]

Well, in my case Bioware failed to make humans interesting enough for me to empathize them. Not a big deal, since a lot of settings suffer from it. You know, that "a bit good at everything" cliche and yet they always end up the dominant species.  Star Wars, Forgotten Realms, Dragon Age... I take it as inevitable evil.

[SNascimento]

Although I see where this "aliens deserve more love" comes from, having a story centered on humanity is the best thing for Andromeda. 

[Dantriges]

I cared about humanity and Earth in the ME games but the focus the later games put on it, was way too much.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

I'd much rather have a story that actually shows us as just a part of the galactic community than a story that is human-centric, yes. Unfortunately, it seems this story will once again be the latter.

 

That aside, considering that some species can live for a couple hundred years and it would be risky to let the Arks fly blindly to Andromeda, I wonder why there isn't a skeleton crew of long-lived species who take care of the sleepers? Basically sacrificing their live(time)s to ensure the others can make it and you might meet a young Asari before the journey starts and when you wake up she is several hundred years older ... also maybe a little weird because of the loneliness they experienced. And while those guardians might be glad that the others are finally awake and the Arks populated again, I guess they'd also be very alienated by having to share the space with others again after being able to do as they please for so long.

If there are caretakers of the ship as it travels from the Milky Way to Andromeda, I think they will be synthetics, not organics. Organics need resources where synthetics do not, and to synthetics time is of no consequence since they are effectively immortal.

[DarthLaxian]

... or rather not about mankind exclusively?

It's something that already bothered me with ME3 and and its notion of "Take Eart back" while the entire Milky Way Galaxy was at stake.
Really wished it would have felt more like getting together to fight off the Reapers as opposed to "I'll only help you with Earth, if you help with my problem first". Guess that already started in ME2 when the Reapers went after the humans after the actions of one human (who had help from a team of aliens).

I do hope that this time around it will be more about the Citadel species (at least the ones who travel to Andromeda) and how they have different traits and working together versus working against one another to establish themselves in this new area and that phrases about "saving mankind" are just for marketing reasons: "Save mankind (and become a hero)" works for people who played ME before and those who haven't. And it works better than a lengthy explanation about Citadel species and how working together can benefit everyone etc. 


That aside, considering that some species can live for a couple hundred years and it would be risky to let the Arks fly blindly to Andromeda, I wonder why there isn't a skeleton crew of long-lived species who take care of the sleepers? Basically sacrificing their live(time)s to ensure the others can make it and you might meet a young Asari before the journey starts and when you wake up she is several hundred years older ... also maybe a little weird because of the loneliness they experienced. And while those guardians might be glad that the others are finally awake and the Arks populated again, I guess they'd also be very alienated by having to share the space with others again after being able to do as they please for so long.


Oh, well, let's wait and see how ME:A plays out in the end. There are a few things I hope won't happen like forcing us to conquer Andromeda, or BW pushing certain characters a bit too strongly (including but not limited to being mind-raped to further the plot  ) ... but for the most part I'm looking forward to ME:A and hope BW won't overdo the hype again or reveal too much beyond what we'll get to know in the first 1-2 hours into the game anyway. As curious as I am, I'd rather experience things for myself ...

 

Why make that sacrifice?

 

You have beings (AI and Geth (who are AI, too of course!)) that can do so without aging (note: I think we'll have all the races possible along, because firstly the writers will not want to sacrifice more core substance of Mass Effect than truly necessary and secondly I don't want any to be left behind (sure the Hanar and the Elcor might not be missed much, but they are still part of Mass Effect - all others have real fans who'd be pissed, so I think they don't want that either!))

 

Also you can make stops along the way (wake a small skelleton crew say every 50 years and have them do systems-checks and repairs (and before entering Andromeda: Wake a full ships crew, man the docked smaller ships (like our Tempest!) and only then make the final jump - the colonists etc. stay asleep to conserve ressources (food, water, medicine, life-support etc.), at least till the first good planet is found (good, not "half decent" - meaning the system would have to fit a list of certain criteria!))

 

Indeed, sometimes it's IMHO too human centric (that's why I'd hoped that they will allow us to play as an alien this time (even more so as none of the races has a development bonus this time, all of them are starting from scratch and we will be working together which will establish much closer ties than even the council species back home have!)

[Hanako Ikezawa]

Indeed, sometimes it's IMHO too human centric (that's why I'd hoped that they will allow us to play as an alien this time (even more so as none of the races has a development bonus this time, all of them are starting from scratch and we will be working together which will establish much closer ties than even the council species back home have!)

Yeah. All the races of the Milky Way are in the same boat, both metaphorically and literally, so this would have been the perfect time to include race options. 

[Xilizhra]

Although I see where this "aliens deserve more love" comes from, having a story centered on humanity is the best thing for Andromeda. 

Why?

[Element Zero]

Yeah. All the races of the Milky Way are in the same boat, both metaphorically and literally, so this would have been the perfect time to include race options.

I think they have their hands full getting the game developed, as is, and couldn't have pulled it off well or in a timely manner. I do believe the next game will feature the option to play a non-human protagonist.

[Deebo305]

Don't really see the problem with take back Earth, its situation was very much like Paleven, if not worst since Earth entire orbital defense fleet was utterly wiped out

It'd be very much like if your country was occupied by some foreign army, you'd want to everything in your power to take it back. Shepard is human thus taking back his home planet should have been his top priority same with Turians who only aggreed to send aid after the Krogan Alliance was solidified but that aid came only at the end since everything was basically banking on the Crucible actually working

But if this is more about shoehorning in race selection well...that ship has sailed

[Hammerstorm]

Well, I cared about humanity AND the other races, but I didn't cared for all the OMG SAVE EARTH BECAUSE IT IS HUMANS HOME PLANET OMG! Same with the other races home planets.

 

That was pretty stupid. the target was to defeat the reapers. 

[Hanako Ikezawa]

Don't really see the problem with take back Earth, its situation was very much like Paleven, if not worst since Earth entire orbital defense fleet was utterly wiped out

It'd be very much like if your country was occupied by some foreign army, you'd want to everything in your power to take it back. Shepard is human thus taking back his home planet should have been his top priority same with Turians who only aggreed to send aid after the Krogan Alliance was solidified but that aid came only at the end since everything was basically banking on the Crucible actually working

There was no objective reason for the whole campaign to be about taking Earth back. There is nothing important about it in the Mass Effect setting other than it is humanity's homeworld. 

 

Also for two out of the three backstories, Earth wasn't Shepard's home planet. They could have no emotional connection to it whatsoever. 

[Laughing_Man]

I'm rather neutral bout the issue most of the time, but "Take Back Earth" was probably the greatest offender.

 

There was literally no reason for the Reapers to move the Citadel there, nor for all the Aliens to come fight over Earth.

 

In fact, the best tactical decision would have been to repeat Shepard's asteroid slam against the Alpha relay, and destroy the entire solar system,

hopefully with the Citadel and all the Reapers that congregated there.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

I think they have their hands full getting the game developed, as is, and couldn't have pulled it off well or in a timely manner. I do believe the next game will feature the option to play a non-human protagonist.

Well, next story more likely since Bioware will probably make sequels with Ryder and Co. 

I hope you are right. Though it will still be a missed golden opportunity since I don't see a situation where all are on such equal footing. 

[Element Zero]

Well, next story more likely since Bioware will probably make sequels with Ryder and Co. 
I hope you are right. Though it will still be a missed golden opportunity since I don't see a situation where all are on such equal footing.

Yeah, with our all being the aliens together in this one, this was probably the most obvious opportunity to introduce the option.

[BloodyMares]

Defending your home is a sound idea only when you can fight an opposing force conventionally. When it's Space Machine Gods then the most sensible plan is to retreat and gather forces elsewhere. It's not like Earth is the only planet for humans to lose. There are Eden Prime, Feros, Terra Nova, Mindoir and other notable planets. Why nobody mentions those? It almost felt like ME3 was taking place in 2012 instead of 2186.

[Barquiel]

The "Take back Earth" plot didn't work for me either. I mean...if the writers want to make Earth the focus of the story, ok. But they shouldn't ignore their own lore...and give us some justification why every Shepard is acting like everyone else should care about Earth while their own homeworlds are burning. Because my Shepard has no reason at all to really care besides the fact that innocent people are dying. Which is happening around the galaxy as well. Just because Shepard is human does not automatically make Earth more importeant than everyone else. As I see it, Palaven or Thessia are far more strategically important than Earth is. Anyway, I hope Andromeda makes more sense here..

And yes, if a scifi or fantasy game doesn't do anything interesting with humans, I like to play as non-humans as often as possible (I know that ship has sailed)

[Shechinah]

Part of it for me is that humanity as presented in the Mass Effect series did not seem not that interesting to me: they seem kind of bland? I got a sense of turian culture, I got a sense of asari culture, I got a sense of krogan culture, I got a sense of quarian culture and so on but with humanity I did not feel like I gained a sense of it's culture. I felt like there was a bit of it during the first Mass Effect game but after that, it kind of felt like it disappeared to me. 

 

I could like and sympathise with individual characters but I was kind of indifferent to the Mass Effect version of humanity and it began to feel like I was suppose to care about and be personally invested in it because it was humanity. The problem for me is that it is not humanity: it is a fictional version of humanity and so it has to build an interest in me for me to really care about it. I think I remember liking Ashley's dialogue about her faith.

[TREEG]

Yes. My Shepard was pretty egoistic. "Selfish - devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others." ©

[shodiswe]

I'm rather neutral bout the issue most of the time, but "Take Back Earth" was probably the greatest offender.

 

There was literally no reason for the Reapers to move the Citadel there, nor for all the Aliens to come fight over Earth.

 

In fact, the best tactical decision would have been to repeat Shepard's asteroid slam against the Alpha relay, and destroy the entire solar system,

hopefully with the Citadel and all the Reapers that congregated there.

The claim was that the Citadel was supposed to be the Shipyard for a new Reaper Dreadnaught and was moved there to commence work on the construction. 

 

If noone had done anything about it, then once they were done creating that reaper dreadnaught it might have moved to the Turian's planet to create a Turian Reaper Dreadnaught etz.

 

Humanity counted as the first major species to get hit, and therefor it kind of makes sense that they wouldmove their first. The Batarians didn't count, they might have made a few destroyers out of them and shocktroops.

As a human, you got a responsibility to yourself, your family and if it's your job or you feel it's within your ability to help humanity then that's also your job. Other species will be able to take care of themselves or do you consider them weak and in need of outside assistance? 

If they are allied then it makes sense to lend them a hand when feasible.

 

I'm not sure what the problem is. When hired by the council, then you work for the council. Least til you quit or you get fired etz.

[shodiswe]

The "Take back Earth" plot didn't work for me either. I mean...if the writers want to make Earth the focus of the story, ok. But they shouldn't ignore their own lore...and give us some justification why every Shepard is acting like everyone else should care about Earth while their own homeworlds are burning. Because my Shepard has no reason at all to really care besides the fact that innocent people are dying. Which is happening around the galaxy as well. Just because Shepard is human does not automatically make Earth more importeant than everyone else. As I see it, Palaven or Thessia are far more strategically important than Earth is. Anyway, I hope Andromeda makes more sense here..

And yes, if a scifi or fantasy game doesn't do anything interesting with humans, I like to play as non-humans as often as possible (I know that ship has sailed)

Earth was first to get hit and became an early focus, the Turians had the capacity to fight back for a while and wern't as down in the much as Earth even if it was bad.

The Asari didn't get hit until close to the end of ME3, before that they had next to no issues just a few border probes by the Reapers and a few smaller colony hits. Why would they be a focues when they wern't even attacked yet.

The human alliance built most of the Crusible but eventually recieved much needed help from the others and salvaged components collected by Shepard. Aswell as rescued specialists. Most of the resoruces assigned to the Crusible project where either Earth Systems alliance or Rescued by Shepard who decided to help with the project out of gratitude for being saved.

Plus, the Citadel even moved to Earth to begin a Dreadnaught construction run creating a reaper dreadnaught out of the first major species hit.

So, no, I don't see the problem. You can tell yourselves that the writers did this and that it's wrong because of that, but it's written with Earth getting hit early on and later the others get involved. They all think they are imporant and they all want help from Shepard.