925 replies to this topic

[Squinterific]

It's nice to like something, but hype is never a good thing. I tend to have less hype the older I get. I guess age and past experiences shape my expectations.

[dreamgazer]

I'm neither hyped about it nor hating on it at the moment.
 
More data required.

This. I'm looking forward to more space-opera RPing and third-person shooting with spellcasting, and the move to Andromeda will make that fun while not having to deal with the prior three games' worth of branching choices. But there isn't enough substance revealed by BioWare at this point to get excited about anything.

3 reasons:
 

If color swaps in response to final decisions make folks upset, they should've been upset long before ME3's ending.

[Laughing_Man]

If color swaps in response to final decisions make folks upset, they should've been upset long before ME3's ending.

 
It's easier to mock the colors than to write a ten-page essay on why-the-ending-doesn't-make-sense every time it's mentioned.
 

This. I'm looking forward to more space-opera RPing and third-person shooting with spellcasting, and the move to Andromeda will make that fun while not having to deal with the prior three games' worth of branching choices. But there isn't enough substance revealed by BioWare at this point to get excited about anything.

Yeah... I only wish it was in the Shadowrun universe instead...

[dreamgazer]

It's easier to mock the colors than to write a ten-page essay on why-the-ending-doesn't-make-sense every time it's mentioned.

Eh.

[Iakus]

This is something i've noticed yet I don't necessarily know why.

 

The Mass Effect trilogy has been one of the more consistent trilogies in terms of quality (outside of ME3s hiccups) around in recent years yet for some reason the fanbase seems to have almost zero hope for Andromeda.

 

Franchises like Dark Souls, Final Fantasy, Witcher, Deus Ex still manage to conjure up hype yet they are way less consistent than the Mass Effect trilogy, what gives?

Is it modern Bioware or the game series itself? I would understand fears with Modern Bioware but not the game series itself, Mass Effect 1, 2 and 3 are all legitimately fantastic games.

Because ME3's endings were far far more than "hiccups" It unleashed a backlash that's still being felt today.  That on top of a game that was already pretty weak given it was meant to wrap up an entire trilogy that was supposed to be shaped by player choice.

 

I for one am not surprised that a new Mass Effect game is being received with a certain amount of suspicion.  Doesn't help that we've been given next to nothing in terms of information about the new story, setting, and characters.

[Catastrophy]

Did you know that "faith" pronounced lazily by nen-english is often pronounced like "face"? I wonder how that plays into the whole thing. More body?

 

Thoughts?

[Yermogi]

Because ME3's endings were far far more than "hiccups" It unleashed a backlash that's still being felt today.  That on top of a game that was already pretty weak given it was meant to wrap up an entire trilogy that was supposed to be shaped by player choice.

 

I for one am not surprised that a new Mass Effect game is being received with a certain amount of suspicion.  Doesn't help that we've been given next to nothing in terms of information about the new story, setting, and characters.

Originally the game was supposed to be released in the fall of this year, if I remember correctly, but now it's been pushed back to March of next year. And that's fine, but they've kept us in the dark with pretty much everything that they're doing. What we know so far is this:

 

1) The new setting makes the Shepard trilogy meaningless because it takes place in an entirely new galaxy.

2) We will have to colonize new planets for humans (and presumably other races) in an attempt to create a new home for ourselves.

3) We will have to fight hostile aliens and creatures (like we didn't already assume that since this is a first person shooter).

4) The main character's last name is Ryder (and apparently the 'canon' Ryder is female this time, going by the trailers and articles, but this I actually like).

 

Aaaaaand, that's all we know. We don't know about new companions, or why these colonists are traveling, or pretty much anything at all except that we're basically space explorers. So yeah, pretty much nothing that they've shown us has made me anticipate this new game or assuage my fears over it. All they've done so far is say "This game is going to be great, look how pretty it is!" I don't know how people can be so excited about it given how little we actually know.

[Gileadan]

Did you know that "faith" pronounced lazily by nen-english is often pronounced like "face"? I wonder how that plays into the whole thing. More body?

Thoughts?

My face is my shield?

[AlanC9]

It's easier to mock the colors than to write a ten-page essay on why-the-ending-doesn't-make-sense every time it's mentioned.
 

Easier, but does it actually work? The final world-states are radically different, so talking about the colors is, substantively, nonsense. I guess it doesn't matter once everyone knows that when someone says "the endings are all the same" he doesn't actually mean "the endings are all the same," but is saying "boo endings!" instead, but it's kind of an odd way to make the point.

[NUM13ER]

1) The new setting makes the Shepard trilogy meaningless because it takes place in an entirely new galaxy.

2) We will have to colonize new planets for humans (and presumably other races) in an attempt to create a new home for ourselves.

3) We will have to fight hostile aliens and creatures (like we didn't already assume that since this is a third person shooter).

4) The main character's last name is Ryder (and apparently the 'canon' Ryder is female this time, going by the trailers and articles, but this I actually like).

 

.
Actually creating a default canon renders the old trilogy meaningless.

As much as I'd love a game to be built on the foundation of the Shepard trilogy's choices I doubt Bioware has the money and resources to have this be both a sequel to a trilogy and be it's own branching story. This way people can still have their specific experiences be canon to them.

I wasn't even opposed to making a default canon if they wanted to return to the Milky Way after the defeat of the Reapers but I can see why they didn't go that route. These forums would have imploded for a start.

[Iakus]

Easier, but does it actually work? The final world-states are radically different, so talking about the colors is, substantively, nonsense. I guess it doesn't matter once everyone knows that when someone says "the endings are all the same" he doesn't actually mean "the endings are all the same," but is saying "boo endings!" instead, but it's kind of an odd way to make the point.

Different, but thematically similar:

 

"The Catalyst was right all along"

[Iakus]

Originally the game was supposed to be released in the fall of this year, if I remember correctly, but now it's been pushed back to March of next year. And that's fine, but they've kept us in the dark with pretty much everything that they're doing. What we know so far is this:

 

1) The new setting makes the Shepard trilogy meaningless because it takes place in an entirely new galaxy.

2) We will have to colonize new planets for humans (and presumably other races) in an attempt to create a new home for ourselves.

3) We will have to fight hostile aliens and creatures (like we didn't already assume that since this is a first person shooter).

4) The main character's last name is Ryder (and apparently the 'canon' Ryder is female this time, going by the trailers and articles, but this I actually like).

 

1) The Shepard trilogy was meaningless anyway (thanks endings!).  But I take your point

2) As I've noted before, we may be playing humans in MEA, but really, we're all quarians 

3) So THAT's what these guns are for!  

4) It's sad that the freaking name of the protagonist being revealed was the height of MEA's E3 announcement.

 

 

Aaaaaand, that's all we know. We don't know about new companions, or why these colonists are traveling, or pretty much anything at all except that we're basically space explorers. So yeah, pretty much nothing that they've shown us has made me anticipate this new game or assuage my fears over it. All they've done so far is say "This game is going to be great, look how pretty it is!" I don't know how people can be so excited about it given how little we actually know.

Especially since this is pretty much the same kind of hype they were giving for ME3

[Balsam Beige]

A vocal minority can sometime look like the majority.........

I agree that there is a vocal minority on the bsn currently that are skeptical. I question weather they are a minority of Mass Effect fans. Many long term fans abandoned the bsn in droves after the me3 endings debacle. It doesn't mean that they are no longer ME fans or that they do not care about meA. If they were still here the vocal skepticism would be even greater.

EAware wants to bring in new fans with meA. The current teen generation were too young to remember the trilogy development years here on the bsn, 2007 to 2012.

They can hype it all the want. As a long timer, I recommend caution.

[ArchangelN7]

I disagree from what i've seen people are hyped, its just the vocal minority really thats negative, not that their criticism doesn't matter but overall the community seems happy and hyped enough.

[AlanC9]

Different, but thematically similar:
 
"The Catalyst was right all along"

That one's not too bad, but I'm not sure the game really supports it. Destroy doesn't lead to an AI Stargazer talking about how Shepard cleared the way for synthetics to take their rightful place as masters of the universe. (Imagine the fan reaction to that.)

[AlanC9]

EAware wants to bring in new fans with meA. The current teen generation were too young to remember the trilogy development years here on the bsn, 2007 to 2012.

Well, the tracking data does seem to show a fair amount of turnover in the fanbase. If you prefer a canon trilogy ending, your time may come around ME6, when most players won't have played the trilogy.

[Iakus]

That one's not too bad, but I'm not sure the game really supports it. Destroy doesn't lead to an AI Stargazer talking about how Shepard cleared the way for synthetics to take their rightful place as masters of the universe. (Imagine the fan reaction to that.)

But it's still one of the Catalyst's "choices" based on the premise that organics and synthetics cannot coexist peacefully.

 

You cannot deviate from that theme without SO BE IT!!!

[Xilizhra]

But it's still one of the Catalyst's "choices" based on the premise that organics and synthetics cannot coexist peacefully.

 

You cannot deviate from that theme without SO BE IT!!!

I don't understand why you place so much weight on the Catalyst's words when the point of all this was just to stop the cycle.

[Gothfather]

Easier, but does it actually work? The final world-states are radically different, so talking about the colors is, substantively, nonsense. I guess it doesn't matter once everyone knows that when someone says "the endings are all the same" he doesn't actually mean "the endings are all the same," but is saying "boo endings!" instead, but it's kind of an odd way to make the point.

 

I think the colour ending memes are a short circuit of people being dissatisfied and not understanding why. 

 

1) There is in my opinion the whole narrative told by game play that the Reapers are a joke as you defeat them ALL the time in every encounter and no one dies in your crew if you play even half decent past teh prologue of the second game every other death is a former crew member lol. Vs. the story narrative that the reapers are the most destructive force in the galaxy and we have no conventional means to stand up to them and that our chances of success with our hail Mary strategy is slim and none. These two narratives are so out of synch that there isn't an enging that will resolve both because they are mutually exclusive.

 

2) People wanted some type of different set of choices based on what you did in game yet the maths of this are so huge that it becomes impossible, if there are just 4 divergent choices each game you would have 64 different endings which is impossible to create that many endings for. And 4 divergent endings are just two choices with two options each and the Mass Effect games had a lot more then 2 choices per game, so the maths of just how divergent the games get put things into the tens of thousands and that is just insane. yet we fell in love with this idea that somehow Bioware was going to give us an ending with a special nod of our choices when it was mathematically impossible to rationally expect this. Hell gamers still expect this even after you tell them to think out it.

[AlanC9]

@ Xilizhra: I think this is more of a thematic thing. He's not saying that the Catalyst actually designed the Crucible.

[Iakus]

I don't understand why you place so much weight on the Catalyst's words when the point of all this was just to stop the cycle.

Because the words frame the choices

 

Organics and synthetics cannot coexist peacefully or "conflict" will result

 

Therefore, there are three choices:

 

Destroy:  We have already had synthetics wiping out all advanced organics, so let's try it the other way for a while where organics wipe out all advanced synthetics

Control:  One side totally dominates the other, turning the galaxy into a giant police state.

Synthesis:  forcibly transform everyone into some space-magicky hybrid being that's neither organic nor synthetic.  

 

All options play into the Catalyst's assertion.  An assertion I do not believe in and wish to fight against.  I don't wish to "just" stop this cycle.  I want to stop all cycles.  I want to free the galaxy from the Reapers and their sick philosophy.  I want the galaxy and its inhabitants to choose their own path.   

[Xilizhra]

Because the words frame the choices

 

Organics and synthetics cannot coexist peacefully or "conflict" will result

 

Therefore, there are three choices:

 

Destroy:  We have already had synthetics wiping out all advanced organics, so let's try it the other way for a while where organics wipe out all advanced synthetics

Control:  One side totally dominates the other, turning the galaxy into a giant police state.

Synthesis:  forcibly transform everyone into some space-magicky hybrid being that's neither organic nor synthetic.  

 

All options play into the Catalyst's assertion.  An assertion I do not believe in and wish to fight against.  I don't wish to "just" stop this cycle.  I want to stop all cycles.  I want to free the galaxy from the Reapers and their sick philosophy.  I want the galaxy and its inhabitants to choose their own path.   

The error here is twofold: reading too much weight into the Catalyst's words to begin with, and expecting to "make your own path" absent any outside stimuli. The Reapers' path has already directed the current cycle for thousands of years; mass relays and past technology made everyone what they are. There is no "own path" to the degree that you claim. As for the Reapers' philosophy, that's gone no matter what ending you pick.

[Wulfram]

This game isn't by and large being made by the people who made the previous games.
They're emphasising "exploration".
They're essentially scrapping the setting of the original series.

[Sartoz]

 Snip

1) The new setting makes the Shepard trilogy meaningless because it takes place in an entirely new galaxy.

 Snip

 

                                                                                  <<<<<<<<<<<(0)>>>>>>>>>>

 

 What are you smoking?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gothfather]

1) The Shepard trilogy was meaningless anyway (thanks endings!).  But I take your point

2) As I've noted before, we may be playing humans in MEA, but really, we're all quarians 

3) So THAT's what these guns are for!  

4) It's sad that the freaking name of the protagonist being revealed was the height of MEA's E3 announcement.

 

Especially since this is pretty much the same kind of hype they were giving for ME3

 

1) The trilogy isn't meaningless. What you think all media has to be tied to previous media? What planet are you from? Shepard's story is meaningful in the context of Shepard's story. It doesn't have to have meaning beyond that. And the settings are connected Shepard still is part of the history of Andromeda they just aren't carrying over the 10s of thousands of different possible divergent choices a player could have in that trilogy over which is the only rational choice to make.

 

2) Whatever head canon floats your boat.

 

3) yep.

 

4) Why is that sad what do you honestly think you are entitled to be told information about the game? Do you honestly think you are so super duper awesome special that your want for information translates into a right for information? It is perfectly acceptable for any company to withhold information about any product before launch. There is plenty of president for this in the industry as well Kojima is a master at the teaser trailer that gives you zero actual information, Bethesda does it, it isn't like this hasn't happen before. What? you honestly think that you are entitled to know more at this point? You don't need to know jack sh!t about the game until it is about to release so a week before give or take is when you NEED to know anything so you can make an informed choice are to whether to buy the game or give it a miss. 

 

Boo hoo you don't like ME3 get over it. Wait until ME:A has been out a month and see if the feedback from fans supports you buying the game. That is the rational tactic to take but really this isn't about that you just want to moan and groan and b!tch about the game and you are using flimsy excuses to justify your hissy fits.