367 réponses à ce sujet

[Zulu_DFA]

TyDurden13 wrote...

Xandurpein wrote...


Just look at Dragon Age. Alistair was integral to the main plot, and consequently you where forced into recruiting him and keeping him in your party. Leliana was entierly optional to the main plot and you where never forced to recruit her. Indeed I know lot's of people who missed her alltogether on their first play.  just because Leliana is optional to the plot, doesn't mean that she isn't any less real as a team member/LI.

This is a good point, and one I've made myself in other threads.  In DA:O, there are exactly TWO party members (out of a potential 10) that were necessary to move the plot ahead.  Many of these other "non-essential" characetrs were entirely possible (and in some cases very easy to) miss out on completely on in a playthrough.  Just about all of them could be killed or abandoned (or abandon you) at various points in the story.  That's certainly somethign to keep in mind before you say there's no way Bioware will "waste" resources on content you misght never see in a playthrough.

They won't "waste" even less resourses if they make ME squadmates cameos in ME3.

In DAO (first game) any such optional character is an invitation to replay the game. In ME3 it's all different. I'll never see Tali, Thane, Mordin, Jack and Kaidan again. Grunt is the single exibit in my Shepard's personal Museum of Krogan. To Wrex he spoke only once never heard of him since.

[Ecael]

MutantSpleen wrote...

Ecael wrote...

Am I one of the few who's of the opinion that they'll keep HALF of the crew as squadmates in ME3? Consider/Enkindle this:

-Several characters in ME2 have developed huge fanbases, which BioWare does take into account
-Certain squadmates have a much better chance of surviving the suicide mission than others
-Certain squadmates have specialized roles that also have them surviving the suicide mission more likely
-It is much more difficult to kill everyone off than to save everyone - and even then, most people try to go for a save with the most people saved
-Certain squadmates have reasons that they could die/leave immediately after the mission
-Just because ME2 had to be a entirely new game does not mean they have to eliminate all previous characters as squadmates (Garrus and Tali returned, and people who haven't played ME1 will still get them)

Thus, BioWare can take the ones who most likely to survive, have a huge fanbase, and have their voice actor available and write them in as squadmates -- AND at the same time make the canon ME3 Shepard have all of those specific squadmates saved while the others are automatically written out/replaced by placeholders. For example:

Returning Squadmates for ME3
-Liara
-Kaidan or Ashley
-Garrus
-Tali
-Legion
-Miranda or Jacob*
-Grunt or Wrex**

*Miranda resigns from Cerberus only if you destroy the base, therefore:
      -Destroyed Collector base - Shepard gets Miranda, Miranda hates Cerberus for wanting to keep it
      -Saved Collector base - Shepard gets Jacob, Jacob hates Cerberus for what they eventually do with it

**It is highly unlikely that Urdnot Grunt and Urdnot Wrex will both be dead in more than a few imports, therefore:
      -Wrex dead, Grunt alive - Grunt goes with you on your mission
      -Grunt dead, Wrex alive - Wrex goes with you on your mission
      -Wrex dead, Grunt dead - No Krogan squadmate for you! (or you get a placeholder/Vorcha squadmate, ha!)

(Side note: Steve Blum is able to voice several other characters for Mass Effect, so I can definitely see him returning to do Grunt at the very least)

This allows new characters to be introduced, but at the same time allows the game to be more story driven instead of character driven. ME1 allowed you to recruit 6 squadmates in a very short period of time. Add 6 brand new ME3 squadmates to that list above and you have 13 squadmates for a baker's dozen, which is not unreasonable. People who have any or all of these dead in their import (highly unlikely, as these people are leaders/tech experts/'hold the line' warriors) can simply play without them and still have at least 7 squadmates for the rest of the game, which is STILL more than ME1. People who start a New Game (or New Game+ and get a menu to choose their squadmates) will simply have the canon Shepard saving these specific squadmates.

Squadmates that leave/die/are replaced by placeholders
-Samara/Morinth (Samara said she'll continue her duties, Morinth is obvious)
-Thane (Terminal illness, may be able to see him one last time before he dies)
-Jack (Neurological illness, may continue to degenerate and leaves)
-Mordin (Too old, easily dies in the suicide mission)
-Zaeed (Bounty hunter, only does what he is paid for)
-Kasumi (Too late to develop a large fanbase, won't have a compelling backstory)

These characters can be relegated to cameos if they survived your import, and will NOT appear for a canon ME3 Shepard.

I would hope they would do this, its the most interesting. I just see fiscal reasons getting in the way.  EA says "No no Bioware your ME3 budget is too big."

A lot of the voice actors for the returning squadmates I listed above (Steve Blum, D.C. Douglas) can easily do more than one voice. Having their character return warrants their voice actor to return. It will save BioWare money not having to hire more voice actors.

[Druss99]

Dinkamus_Littlelog wrote...

Druss99 wrote...

Actually that could add replayability to the franchise as a whole. People see the marketing for ME3 featuring say Miranda heavily and think "Oh she is dead in my playthrough, I wish I had her in the game."   then go back for another play through of ME2 to keep her alive. Works the whole way back to ME1 if they want to see what its like with Kaiden instead of Ashley. No one is permanently dead if you can just go back and get another save.

I had hoped that would be the case, and that come ME3 they could re-release a Mass Effect bundle for people or something like that. Somehow though, I doubt it. Theyve said at certain points that each game is self-contained in a sense, and ME3 will probably follow the ME2 model of being "new player friendly". I.e. "dont worry about all that stuff before, itll be summed up in a short video explaining things". Only the most hardcore would look at a situation and say "I think that warrents a completely new Mass Effect Trilogy playthrough". I think its clear from recent events which fan Bioware favours.

The thing is though they have got the new fans now, ME2 did exactly what it was supposed to do.

Even if they make the canon story in ME3 say have all the survivors except 2 like Garrus and Grunt for example. All they have to do is drop heavey hints to anyone playing ME3 without a save that these characters are there for anyone who has played the previous games. Its almost like free advertising aimed at new players without alienating the people carrying saves. Then offering up the ME1 and ME2 bundle is even more tempting for new players.

[MutantSpleen]

Ecael wrote...

A lot of the voice actors for the returning squadmates I listed above (Steve Blum, D.C. Douglas) can easily do more than one voice. Having their character return warrants their voice actor to return. It will save BioWare money not having to hire more voice actors.

True, I am sure that an actors versatility will be a plus in their character returning.

But what about the big names:

Will they be able to get Miranda again?

I am assuming Joker and EDI will be there, two other big names.
Probably need Sheen for TIM again.
Will Aria be back?
Even if those guys have smaller roles its still a lot more expensive to hire them.

Hopefully they make so much money on ME2 that they will be given a huge ME 3 budget.

[Ecael]

MutantSpleen wrote...

Ecael wrote...

A lot of the voice actors for the returning squadmates I listed above (Steve Blum, D.C. Douglas) can easily do more than one voice. Having their character return warrants their voice actor to return. It will save BioWare money not having to hire more voice actors.

True, I am sure that an actors versatility will be a plus in their character returning.

But what about the big names:

Will they be able to get Miranda again?

I am assuming Joker and EDI will be there, two other big names.
Probably need Sheen for TIM again.
Will Aria be back?
Even if those guys have smaller roles its still a lot more expensive to hire them.

Hopefully they make so much money on ME2 that they will be given a huge ME 3 budget.

If they can't get Miranda again, they can include her in the leave/die pile, or just have Jacob return regardless of what happened to the base.

Seth, Tricia and Martin are somewhat essential, getting them back is BioWare's problem. Carrie Anne-Moss was given the role of Aria T'Loak likely to boost the star power of the voice cast while not making her essential for the next game.

[Piwgh]

ExtremeOne wrote...

smore006 wrote...

Zulu_DFA wrote...
I think we'll get Liara, Ashley/Kaidan, Legion and around 5 new mercenary type characters with little to zero "daddy issues."

There is another option, not unlike your idea:
Bioware could 'force' the player to save everyone - they make the 'default' ME3 with the most of the ME2 crew and those from ME1. If the player saved all those in ME2 - and i'm sure most of us did - (s)he will happily continue with the story, squad convos, personal missions (?) and the like included.
If the player let the squad die, (s)he gets the ME1 crewmembers + some no-name mercenaries/soldiers with next to nothing squad interaction and/or missions (aka Zaeed, even though he had a mission).

That way the voice acting wouldn't cost too much (at least not more than for ME2) and everyone would get what (s)he asked for. Also, massive consequences for letting the ME2 die. 

 


I totally disagree. Mass Effect 2 is about the choices a player makes and if that player hates certain squad mates and gets them killed off in his or her game then that means they are dead in the 3rd one. Bioware better not start forcing a you must get everyone to survive rule on ME 2 or that character will not be in ME 3. players should have a choice in ME 3 of who they want on the squad and who they do not.  

I believe they meant the 'default' crew that of an unimported Shepard, for those starting a new character just for ME3

[Druss99]

Ecael wrote...

MutantSpleen wrote...

Ecael wrote...

A lot of the voice actors for the returning squadmates I listed above (Steve Blum, D.C. Douglas) can easily do more than one voice. Having their character return warrants their voice actor to return. It will save BioWare money not having to hire more voice actors.

True, I am sure that an actors versatility will be a plus in their character returning.

But what about the big names:

Will they be able to get Miranda again?

I am assuming Joker and EDI will be there, two other big names.
Probably need Sheen for TIM again.
Will Aria be back?
Even if those guys have smaller roles its still a lot more expensive to hire them.

Hopefully they make so much money on ME2 that they will be given a huge ME 3 budget.

If they can't get Miranda again, they can include her in the leave/die pile, or just have Jacob return regardless of what happened to the base.

Seth, Tricia and Martin are somewhat essential, getting them back is BioWare's problem. Carrie Anne-Moss was given the role of Aria T'Loak likely to boost the star power of the voice cast while not making her essential for the next game.

I would assume they got people like Martin Sheen and Yvonne Strahovski on multi game deals or atleast the option for another game. Like Ewan McGregor signing up to do the whole star wars prequel trilogy.

Then again they maybe got them to record dialogue for both games at the same time, if the rumours of an early 2011 release are to be believed then its a possibility.

[Sialater]

Ecael wrote...

MutantSpleen wrote...

Ecael wrote...

A lot of the voice actors for the returning squadmates I listed above (Steve Blum, D.C. Douglas) can easily do more than one voice. Having their character return warrants their voice actor to return. It will save BioWare money not having to hire more voice actors.

True, I am sure that an actors versatility will be a plus in their character returning.

But what about the big names:

Will they be able to get Miranda again?

I am assuming Joker and EDI will be there, two other big names.
Probably need Sheen for TIM again.
Will Aria be back?
Even if those guys have smaller roles its still a lot more expensive to hire them.

Hopefully they make so much money on ME2 that they will be given a huge ME 3 budget.

If they can't get Miranda again, they can include her in the leave/die pile, or just have Jacob return regardless of what happened to the base.

Seth, Tricia and Martin are somewhat essential, getting them back is BioWare's problem. Carrie Anne-Moss was given the role of Aria T'Loak likely to boost the star power of the voice cast while not making her essential for the next game.

I doubt very seriously they'd have any problems getting Yvonne Strahovski back.  She seems to be enjoying her geek girl pinup status as much as Tricia Helfer does.   With no disrespect intended to either actress, mind.  I adore both actresses in a hetero-let's-go-get-our-hair-done-and-grab-a-beer-and-check-out-guys manner.

[keginkc]

Pages of pages of people trying not to admit that "I don't have any idea who's coming back".

[Sir Ulrich Von Lichenstien]

Ecael wrote...

MutantSpleen wrote...

Ecael wrote...

A lot of the voice actors for the returning squadmates I listed above (Steve Blum, D.C. Douglas) can easily do more than one voice. Having their character return warrants their voice actor to return. It will save BioWare money not having to hire more voice actors.

True, I am sure that an actors versatility will be a plus in their character returning.

But what about the big names:

Will they be able to get Miranda again?

I am assuming Joker and EDI will be there, two other big names.
Probably need Sheen for TIM again.
Will Aria be back?
Even if those guys have smaller roles its still a lot more expensive to hire them.

Hopefully they make so much money on ME2 that they will be given a huge ME 3 budget.

If they can't get Miranda again, they can include her in the leave/die pile, or just have Jacob return regardless of what happened to the base.

Seth, Tricia and Martin are somewhat essential, getting them back is BioWare's problem. Carrie Anne-Moss was given the role of Aria T'Loak likely to boost the star power of the voice cast while not making her essential for the next game.

You forgot to mention Mark and Jennifer, be a bit odd if Shep's voice suddenly changed to someone else

[Ecael]

keginkc wrote...

Pages of pages of people trying not to admit that "I don't have any idea who's coming back".

The problem is that everyone's making it appear that there are only two solutions:

1. Everyone's coming back somehow
2. Everyone's dying or getting a cameo role somehow

Reasonably and logically speaking, BioWare doesn't plan on discarding 12 characters nor do they plan on keeping all 12. The best solution is:

3. About half the people are coming back as squadmates, half the people aren't, and *that's* what we don't know.

You forgot to mention Mark and Jennifer, be a bit odd if Shep's voice suddenly changed to someone else

Well, we all know they NEED to return in ME3, regardless of people's opinions of their voice acting.

Modifié par Ecael, 24 février 2010 - 05:14 .

[Jzadek72]

Also, the fact that even though I loved Mass Effect 2's character driven story, it should tie into the main plot, and it seems kind of unnecessary to introduce interesting and skilled new characters, for the entire plot to revolve around Shepard's relationship with them, and then to have them as cameos in the next game.

[TyDurden13]

Ecael wrote...
The problem is that everyone's making it appear that there are only two solutions:

1. Everyone's coming back somehow
2. Everyone's dying or getting a cameo role somehow

Reasonably and logically speaking, BioWare doesn't plan on discarding 12 characters nor do they plan on keeping all 12.

I agree.  It's not an all or nothing proposition.  I think it's really unlikely we will see either NONE or ALL of the ME2 bunch as squadmates.  I have my suspicions about who is and isn't likely - some seem like good bets, others like longshots.

[XWAU_Forceflow]

Well, this one's going to be tricky, but I definitively belong to the crowd who thinks that a lot of people will be disappointed when ME3 comes out.
My guesses rely on the story of ME3 not being right after ME2 but maybe a year or two later at least. Else it would be really hard to explain the characters away.

1. Voice Acting:
Well, if Bioware was smart they simply recorded all cameo dialogue for all characters while working on ME2. Saves money, and if they really did plan the whole trilogy they most likely planned who will be in and who will be out anyways.
Oh, and don't give me the 'voice actors are paid by project' line. Trust me, if you say 10 sentences you get paid less than if you are saying 200 sentences. I think you all underestimate the hard and LONG work it is to do voice acting for major characters in the ME universe!

2. Characters that will most likely come back in ME3:
Ashley/Keidan - Benched to survive, Bioware pretty much said so. This will cost them already because of the two voice actors. But I am afraid in terms of dialogue they will be pretty interchangeable.
Miranda - She can't die, or rather if she does they'll simply have her sister join in. (Same DNA = same look, same voice, same skill...)
Legion - All Geth are apparently one collective, so bringing him back would be very easy to explain. (As stated before, backup restore...)
Liara - Only character (besides yourself) one who cannot die, of course she'll be back. Why else go to such trouble keeping her alive.

3. Characters that I think won't come back (except for short cameos):
Thane - why else give him a deadly disease?
Jack - will go berserk, also dead.
Jacob - He simply is too much like Ashley/Keidan from my point of view. No idea how to write him out of the story though. (But then could easily be killed in an intro...)
Zaeed, DLC plus he's a bounty hunter. He did what he was paid for, now somebody with deeper pockets. Easy to explain, especially if we talk about a couple years between ME2 and ME3.
Wrex - If he is alive he is the leader of the Krogan people by now. (And since the 'canon' Shep let him die I think it's safe to assume he will not come back as a main player)
Mordin - Too easy to explain him out of the story, he either will study the collector base or will be doing some other research. If he's dead he can easily be replaced by any other scientist, too.
Samara/Morinth - Well, Morinth is a psychotic killer, so she can be removed from the storyline easily. Samara, well she helped you destroy the collectors. Her oath is complete, she might simply go back to being a Justicar. (Seeing as nothing happened in the last two years...) Plus with Liara coming back we don't need another Asari.
Grunt  - not sure about him at all. No idea what to do with him, but I guess he can be explained away easily. (And he does not appear to have a big fan support)

4. Wildcards
I think Bioware will listen and see who of the remaining characters might be fleshed out more. I guess the obvious two choices here are Garrus and Tali. The fan support for them is pretty big and it would be nice to have characters who stayed with you through all three games.

Final Comment
This would leave us with 4 + (maybe) 2 characters. Add maybe two or three more new characters (and they will most definitively bring in new ones) and you'll end up with a team of eight / nine. Certainly enough to make a great game with. In my opinion there were too many characters in ME2 anyways, I'd rather have them cut down on the total number and in turn flesh the remaining ones out much more. And if both Garrus and Tali are dead, well it'll leave you with six or seven, so still doable without giving you an obvious 'you screwed up in ME2'.

But of course this is all just speculation, we'll see in ME3.
As for the ones who think sales will be hurt when barely anyone returns in ME3...
Come on, if you are a real fan, would you NOT want to see the end of the trilogy? And if you are not a diehard fan, well who cares, it'll be a game worth playing.
I for one do not think for any big consequences to carry over. Most I see are some token lines and a whole bunch of emails...

(But of course there is always hope...)

Modifié par XWAU_Forceflow, 24 février 2010 - 05:28 .

[TyDurden13]

Zulu_DFA wrote...

TyDurden13 wrote...

Xandurpein wrote...


Just look at Dragon Age. Alistair was integral to the main plot, and consequently you where forced into recruiting him and keeping him in your party. Leliana was entierly optional to the main plot and you where never forced to recruit her. Indeed I know lot's of people who missed her alltogether on their first play.  just because Leliana is optional to the plot, doesn't mean that she isn't any less real as a team member/LI.

This is a good point, and one I've made myself in other threads.  In DA:O, there are exactly TWO party members (out of a potential 10) that were necessary to move the plot ahead.  Many of these other "non-essential" characetrs were entirely possible (and in some cases very easy to) miss out on completely on in a playthrough.  Just about all of them could be killed or abandoned (or abandon you) at various points in the story.  That's certainly somethign to keep in mind before you say there's no way Bioware will "waste" resources on content you misght never see in a playthrough.

They won't "waste" even less resourses if they make ME squadmates cameos in ME3.

In DAO (first game) any such optional character is an invitation to replay the game. In ME3 it's all different. I'll never see Tali, Thane, Mordin, Jack and Kaidan again. Grunt is the single exibit in my Shepard's personal Museum of Krogan. To Wrex he spoke only once never heard of him since.

By that logic that just encourages more playthroughs of the previous games (and FWIW it was reported that there was a big spike in ME1 play close to the release of ME2 - which analysts attributed ot the import save game feature).  If you have games where characters that potentially appear in ME3 are dead, than that means you had to have played ME2, and might be encouraged to replay it again to get those characters back.  For new ME3 players this isn't an issue at all since it would mean said characters survived the canon.

[Reptilian Rob]

Hey, as long as Legion, Thane, Garrus and Kaiden are in my squad during ME3, I will be uber happy.

[Zulu_DFA]

Ecael wrote...
Well, we all know they NEED to return in ME3, regardless of people's opinions of their voice acting.

Not if the talimancers suddenly catch an idea, that Mark Meer's voice acting does not conduct the actual depth of their feelings for Tali...

I must concede that your point is reasonable. I can't see any other reason why Garrus won't be there as a squadmate, aside from his death ot the suicide mission, which is one of the less likely. He is also really good as a squadmate on the missions. And there is little reason for him being a cameo, since he's got no particular occupation in life.
So maybe they'll release some ME2 squadmates as a free Day 1 DLCs. So those who got those particular characters killed will have at least do some thinking about it to understand that they got ripped off potential new squadmates.

[Zulu_DFA]

TyDurden13 wrote...


By that logic that just encourages more playthroughs of the previous games (and FWIW it was reported that there was a big spike in ME1 play close to the release of ME2 - which analysts attributed ot the import save game feature).  If you have games where characters that potentially appear in ME3 are dead, than that means you had to have played ME2, and might be encouraged to replay it again to get those characters back.  For new ME3 players this isn't an issue at all since it would mean said characters survived the canon.

By that logic most squadmates from ME2 will be dead by canon, so that the ME newbies are encouraged to buy two more games.

[Ecael]

Final Comment
This would leave us with 4 + (maybe) 2 characters. Add maybe two or three more new characters (and they will most definitively bring in new ones) and you'll end up with a team of eight / nine. Certainly enough to make a great game with. In my opinion there were too many characters in ME2 anyways, I'd rather have them cut down on the total number and in turn flesh the remaining ones out much more. And if both Garrus and Tali are dead, well it'll leave you with six or seven, so still doable without giving you an obvious 'you screwed up in ME2'.

I don't know about that - BioWare made a huge jump from 6 possible squadmates to 12 (13, which includes Kasumi and Morinth). It would be unlikely for them to reduce that number significantly for the final game.

I would keep Grunt (or Wrex) and Jacob as wildcards. Without Grunt or Wrex, BioWare would have make up a third Krogan character. Even though Grunt may not be a fan favorite (he is to me!), I think everyone expects Shepard to have one Krogan squadmate. Plus, Steve Blum voices Grunt. Jacob can easily go the way of Miranda after seeing Cerberus' desire to keep the Collector base.

[iNixiRir]

First of all. Shepard doesn't have time to travel the galaxy searching for the people he already has. The reapers are pretty much on their doorstep.

Imagine this: you're on a planet, dozens of reapers in the sky. Shepard's like: "Hey, you're pretty good, wanna help me stop those things floating in the air trying to kill us all? I already had a squad once, but they didn't value their lives".



Besides, why should I get punished for the mistakes of others? I did the 'impossible', saved everyone without any casualties. Why should I lose my squad(again) because some people can't make the right decisions?

Choosing to kill Wrex, saving the Council, freeing the Rachni, Ashley or Kaiden - those were all decisions that had an explanation on way or the other.

Not upgrading the Normandy or choosing the wrong person for the job is just a stupid mistake with repercussions. You're a commander, your job is to make the right choices. If you can't do that, that **** will come back at you in ME3, not me, because I did everything right.

So if you killed Tali; to bad. Maybe that means you can't resolve the geth/quarian war. Or maybe you can't get the quarians to help you, so that the final battle will be harder.



And new players would probably have everyone alive. Then again, people who are gonna buy Me3 without ever playing me/2 are just stupid in my book.

[TyDurden13]

XWAU_Forceflow wrote...

1. Voice Acting:
Well, if Bioware was smart they simply recorded all cameo dialogue for all characters while working on ME2. Saves money, and if they really did plan the whole trilogy they most likely planned who will be in and who will be out anyways.
Oh, and don't give me the 'voice actors are paid by project' line. Trust me, if you say 10 sentences you get paid less than if you are saying 200 sentences. I think you all underestimate the hard and LONG work it is to do voice acting for major characters in the ME universe!

I just want to address this point, since a lot of people don't seem to get how voice acting works.  Based on what I have read in inustry publications: most voice actors are paid by the session.  The typical session is four hours.  A top name voice actor gets mid-to-high five figures per session.  A really, really big and distinguished Hollywood star might get six figures per session.  They can also have clauses in their contract that can require them to come back for a later session for tweaks and rewrites.

As for how long it takes, that depends.  I remember hearing that Cameron Diaz recorded all her lines for Shrek 2 in 4 sessions (and was paid $10 million for her 16 hours of work!).  I would assume outsifde of Meer and Hale, most characters can be finished in a few sessions.  My guess would be that appearing in a video game is roughly the same time commitment/payout for most stars as appearing in a commercial is.

Modifié par TyDurden13, 24 février 2010 - 05:44 .

[golak]

Ecael wrote...

MutantSpleen wrote...

Ecael wrote...

Am I one of the few who's of the opinion that they'll keep HALF of the crew as squadmates in ME3? Consider/Enkindle this:

-Several characters in ME2 have developed huge fanbases, which BioWare does take into account
-Certain squadmates have a much better chance of surviving the suicide mission than others
-Certain squadmates have specialized roles that also have them surviving the suicide mission more likely
-It is much more difficult to kill everyone off than to save everyone - and even then, most people try to go for a save with the most people saved
-Certain squadmates have reasons that they could die/leave immediately after the mission
-Just because ME2 had to be a entirely new game does not mean they have to eliminate all previous characters as squadmates (Garrus and Tali returned, and people who haven't played ME1 will still get them)

Thus, BioWare can take the ones who most likely to survive, have a huge fanbase, and have their voice actor available and write them in as squadmates -- AND at the same time make the canon ME3 Shepard have all of those specific squadmates saved while the others are automatically written out/replaced by placeholders. For example:

Returning Squadmates for ME3
-Liara
-Kaidan or Ashley
-Garrus
-Tali
-Legion
-Miranda or Jacob*
-Grunt or Wrex**

*Miranda resigns from Cerberus only if you destroy the base, therefore:
      -Destroyed Collector base - Shepard gets Miranda, Miranda hates Cerberus for wanting to keep it
      -Saved Collector base - Shepard gets Jacob, Jacob hates Cerberus for what they eventually do with it

**It is highly unlikely that Urdnot Grunt and Urdnot Wrex will both be dead in more than a few imports, therefore:
      -Wrex dead, Grunt alive - Grunt goes with you on your mission
      -Grunt dead, Wrex alive - Wrex goes with you on your mission
      -Wrex dead, Grunt dead - No Krogan squadmate for you! (or you get a placeholder/Vorcha squadmate, ha!)

(Side note: Steve Blum is able to voice several other characters for Mass Effect, so I can definitely see him returning to do Grunt at the very least)

This allows new characters to be introduced, but at the same time allows the game to be more story driven instead of character driven. ME1 allowed you to recruit 6 squadmates in a very short period of time. Add 6 brand new ME3 squadmates to that list above and you have 13 squadmates for a baker's dozen, which is not unreasonable. People who have any or all of these dead in their import (highly unlikely, as these people are leaders/tech experts/'hold the line' warriors) can simply play without them and still have at least 7 squadmates for the rest of the game, which is STILL more than ME1. People who start a New Game (or New Game+ and get a menu to choose their squadmates) will simply have the canon Shepard saving these specific squadmates.

Squadmates that leave/die/are replaced by placeholders
-Samara/Morinth (Samara said she'll continue her duties, Morinth is obvious)
-Thane (Terminal illness, may be able to see him one last time before he dies)
-Jack (Neurological illness, may continue to degenerate and leaves)
-Mordin (Too old, easily dies in the suicide mission)
-Zaeed (Bounty hunter, only does what he is paid for)
-Kasumi (Too late to develop a large fanbase, won't have a compelling backstory)

These characters can be relegated to cameos if they survived your import, and will NOT appear for a canon ME3 Shepard.

I would hope they would do this, its the most interesting. I just see fiscal reasons getting in the way.  EA says "No no Bioware your ME3 budget is too big."

A lot of the voice actors for the returning squadmates I listed above (Steve Blum, D.C. Douglas) can easily do more than one voice. Having their character return warrants their voice actor to return. It will save BioWare money not having to hire more voice actors.

yeah i agree just keep the old crew and focus more on ohter things like:
more live conversation (when they talk they chould walk around or down a hallway or something) make a more cinematic experience *cross fingers for a MEepicgameofalltime3*

Modifié par golak, 24 février 2010 - 05:58 .

[Zulu_DFA]

iNixiRir wrote...

First of all. Shepard doesn't have time to travel the galaxy searching for the people he already has. The reapers are pretty much on their doorstep.

That's a big assumption. If the Reapers were at the door step, they wouldn't need the Citadel as a dark space teleporter. For one, I wouldn't be dissapointed if Shepard wakes up in an unfamiliar place in the beginning of ME3 and is told: "Hi, you've been in cryosleep for the last 250 years, all of your former squadmates are long, except Liara, who just... er... 20 years ago, that is, entered her matron stage. But now the Reapers are finally invading so get to the armor locker!"

That'd make a hell of an openning, but also a lot of "WTF, BioWare?" threads, so they are not going to pull it.

iNixiRir wrote...
Besides, why should I get punished for the mistakes of others? I did the 'impossible', saved everyone without any casualties. Why should I lose my squad(again) because some people can't make the right decisions?

Why should I get punished and be shoved the same characters again after they gave me a chance to get rid of them and give a perfect ending to the career of others? Or else get a squad of two for the entire ME3?
Oh, scratch that, I have Zaeed and Legion and Samara for biotics, that's about all I need for combat, but, hell, are there only 12 worthy individuals in the entire galaxy?

Modifié par Zulu_DFA, 24 février 2010 - 06:05 .

[ExtremeOne]

iNixiRir wrote...

First of all. Shepard doesn't have time to travel the galaxy searching for the people he already has. The reapers are pretty much on their doorstep.
Imagine this: you're on a planet, dozens of reapers in the sky. Shepard's like: "Hey, you're pretty good, wanna help me stop those things floating in the air trying to kill us all? I already had a squad once, but they didn't value their lives".

Besides, why should I get punished for the mistakes of others? I did the 'impossible', saved everyone without any casualties. Why should I lose my squad(again) because some people can't make the right decisions?
Choosing to kill Wrex, saving the Council, freeing the Rachni, Ashley or Kaiden - those were all decisions that had an explanation on way or the other.
Not upgrading the Normandy or choosing the wrong person for the job is just a stupid mistake with repercussions. You're a commander, your job is to make the right choices. If you can't do that, that **** will come back at you in ME3, not me, because I did everything right.
So if you killed Tali; to bad. Maybe that means you can't resolve the geth/quarian war. Or maybe you can't get the quarians to help you, so that the final battle will be harder.

And new players would probably have everyone alive. Then again, people who are gonna buy Me3 without ever playing me/2 are just stupid in my book.

  


You act as if Tali is the only one that end the Geth and Quarian problem what about Legion. yeah Tali is dead in My game and I am glad she was bratty and stuck up ****** in Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 3 should be based on the choices one made in ME 2 and each player have a different game depending on the choices one made 

[Xandurpein]

If they are going to have time to give the main story - the big war with the Reapers - the kind of focus it needs to be satisfactiry, then there simply won't be enough time to develop a lot of new squad mates. Add to what I stated previously, that BioWare have never done a full blown romance that wasn't a squad mate - and for good reasons, it requires constant interaction to make a romance believeable.

Then you are really only left with two cohices: either they keep squad mates from Me1 and ME2 and explore those relationships further, or they will introduce new squad mates and LI for ME3 that will be less developed than those in ME1 and ME2. My bet is that they realize what disaster the second option would be.