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The following post is very long at 1665 words. You have been warned.
Hello everyone.
I will begin this gigantic rant at our overlords by beginning with this: I am a Mass Effect fanboy.
I got the first game the day before it was released over here in the UK, as with the second game. I’ve read both of the novels, bought both of the soundtrack albums, and read all possible codex entries.
Why am I telling you this? I simply want to say something to you all and hopefully any Bioware employees or moderators taking a look.
DLC for every BioWare game so far has been completely awful.
That fact isn’t going to kill my love of BioWare, nor will it destroy Mass Effect 2 for me. However, the 2 years 2 months and 2 days (by my count) between both Mass Effect games was torture, and it was ironically only made interesting by the fact that the game ended at the end of the main story arc.
That is very odd coming from me as I loathed the fact that I had to make a save before the endgame to do anything else. I hated the fact that I could know nothing what happened after the credits; only rampant speculation could be my only source of knowledge. But that rampant speculation kept me going, I could imagine thousands of scenarios Shepherd and his crew would get into. I was consoled by my imagination, in short.
With Mass Effect 2, we can see what Shepherd does between now and the next game, and right now it’s not very much. BioWare have DLC planned, and hopefully it will be good; however we must remind ourselves that the reason BioWare’s Downloadable Content is usually shot down with criticism is because of the style
and quality of the games. No matter how much BioWare change it, all of the Mass Effect (Actually, every BioWare game) games shall always be story-driven. And BioWare’s success at story-driven titles shall be boiled down to these ingredients:
-Interesting, human (In terms of personality and depth) characters.
-Powerful (Not necessarily romantic) relationships with said characters.
-Thrilling situations.
-A highly customisable experience.
These can be elaborated upon:
-Unlike games like Halo which reverts to action shots and cliché; you bond with the characters in a Bioware game. Possessing, and letting the player learn their backstory, motives, and wishes is crucial to liking them.
-I put “Not necessarily romantic” in there because you can become attached to characters without having to love them, although pursuing them romantically does add some power to the experience, and generally does increase empathy towards the character. A good example of a non-romantic character is Wrex, you think him at first as a mere mercenary, but as you learn from him his experiences and hopes, you see him as a good person who has been insulted by the trials of life. We must not forget the relationship with our Player Character,however. We must bond with them, their tragedies and victories giving us empathy with them, making us forget them as an output to our button presses.
-Thrilling situations does not have to be a saving a planet, nor the universe. It can be something more personal, like pursuing lost family, or coming to terms with the past. And this sort of thing has more potential than many would say. It would subtly immerse the player, instead of giving them a large task and lots of action-based cutscenes . The “I Remember Me” assignment in the first Mass Effect was one of my favourite missions; it gave
us an insight into Shepherd’s motivations and pain of the past, and a mirror image of a not-so strong soul as Shepherd. It was ruined by the artificial feel to it, but the premise and potential made me love it.
-To customise an experience is to give players choice, and choices in BioWare games are based upon a lot of things. There are missions where you may have rewards on offer in exchange for morally questionable activities. But many people would not do such a thing, even though they would gain nothing from the ‘right’ option. This
shows immersion into the game, possessing a moral code even in pixels is surely a rewardless endeavour physically; but doing such a thing shows that the game can communicate with us in ways books or film can’t. By giving us the choice, the outcome seems more understandable, personal, and just.
So far BioWare DLC for Mass Effect gives us missions which possess none of these. Although Bring Down the Sky made the effort, it advanced none of the characters or universe. The Normandy Crash Site DLC would have been great if there was DIALOGUE, but all we got was some Dog Tags, a glimpse at Pressly’s last thoughts, and a nice grave. If we could have some cutscenes, squad members accompanying you (With dialogue), it would have been great! But we just got a silent mission. And don’t get me started on Zaeed, having almost no
dialogue, fitting into a huge cliché, and having a loyalty mission fit for a tapeworm.
So, after this rant, what can I do?
I’ll tell you. I’m going to propose a piece of DLC, which would be both profitable and of staggering quality, abiding to the all important requirements above. This may serve as an example on how to make what I see as a good piece of Mass Effect 2 content, or BioWare can just copy it outright! I don’t mind, and neither does my insane half who is bashing this out.
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[/align]Number of Packs: 6, One for each romance option that can join Shepherd’s squad, they are sold individually for a variety of reasons; mainly so people can only bother with the ones which they are interested in, and also so BioWare can develop them uniquely and separately, not resorting to simply making one pack with interchangeable characters in the same scenarios. I consider Shepherd’s assistant a possible pack, if there is
enough support for such.
Cost: 800-1000 Microsoft Points per pack (I’m not even going to try to figure that out in terms of real money).
Main components of content: The first goal of this is to add a significant amount of dialogue to the game, between the specific romance partner and Shepherd, replacing the lack of post-romance dialogue
between the two.
It also includes a fair amount of combat and exploring spread over 3-4 1-hour missions, to visit areas of the galaxy that hold significance to the two, the experience is highly customisable, using the selected origins of the player character in the story.
Reason for Content: After I romanced my particular companion I realised the lack of dialogue that exists post-romance period. I would rectify this with this package, adding interesting scenarios deeply related to both
character’s past and present. There will be combat within the DLC, serving as a crucial part of the story; but always heavily relying on dialogue for the experience.
Synopsis of Content: After completing the main storyline and sleeping with each other Shepherd and his companion learn more of each other. Gaining even more respect towards each other they begin to reveal
secrets and pains of the past known by no-one else, culminating in visiting key moments of their past, from moons to cruisers, from slums to the stars. The content draws heavily from the origins of Shepherd, visiting moments exclusive to each origin.
Structure of Content: The DLC opens with Sheperd and their love interest talking in the Captain’s quarters. After extensive dialogue discussing the romantic interest’s past, the companion makes a personal request to Shepherd. Asking the Commander to settle some problems from the past, it may be the helping with the funeral of a loved one, or visiting their old home. Shepherd agrees and assists the companion encountering some sort of enemy or problem, but eventually solving it to complete the task. This gives the companion more motivation to like
Shepherd.
After that mission, another conversation is available, where the love interest remarks on the study of the Commander’s past, bringing up their pre-Spectre military record. After more dialogue on this, the companion
asks if Shepherd would like to visit Akuze, Torfan, or Elysium, depending on what the character’s service record is. The two visit the planet, where they encounter a problem; it may be crazy mechs, or rampant pirates. No matter the
problem, they amend it, the main reason for such being an inability to return to the Normandy if they do not. After the problem is solved, Shepherd is consoled by their love interest on what happened on the planet, gaining some peace and clarity on the issue, and then returning then to the Normandy.
The third mission is similar to the first; the two lovers console each other on what they have faced so far and after another barrage of dialogue, the love interest then expose another issue of theirs. They then travel to another location important to the love interest, and complete another task to be able to help the companion.
The final mission is uncovered after another round of dialogue. At the behest of the companion the two travel either to Mindoir, the slums of Earth, or an old Alliance Cruiser; decided by whether the Commander was a Colonist, Earthborn, or Spacer respectively. These again mirror the structure of the other missions, after travelling there; the squad must fight enemies or solve a predicament. This culminates in the long-hidden demons of Shepherd’s past being quelled, and the love interest helping them grasp their past.
The pack then ends with this, and the companion admitting that they feel true love for Shepherd, and the Commander having the option to return the gesture.
Additionally: I've noted that many people replaying to the thread have felt that Kaiden/Ashley/Liara should have this sort of content, I see no problem with that, but the three will just have to be temporary squad mates for their respective missions if content is to be made for them.
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Now that this is over feel free to criticise or praise my ideas! And if you’ve just skimmed from top to bottom of this post, feel free to remark on my sexuality, gender, mental health state, or age.
Thanks for reading!
Modifié par Cosmicinator, 01 mai 2010 - 12:39 .
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