158 réponses à ce sujet

[jklinders]

Vanaer wrote...

jklinders wrote...
Just a few more examples of genuine frustration, like at the locker in ME1. No one is a complete block of granite. but this is what I got from ME2. One other thing, the voice acting is fine from both Shep's, I prefer Meer to Hale but both do a good job. I hope the voice direction gets bit of a kick in the pants though.

I agree to this.

Or just give us some more moments to reflect on things. Like after the Collector base, all your teammates give a comment on what you did, but never ever can you start a conversation about it. It's all personal background, which in some cases isn't that interesting. I want some reflection, say with a fellow officer - inter pares afterall - on the mission and the choices. This could also deepen the character and give more depth to your choices. This doesn't have to be a 'boohoo, I'm so sad now, please hug me' kind of conversation, but more one in which some deeper understanding of your character and choices can blossum.

I mean that scene in the Presidium would have been perfect. After the council leaves, let Shepard go on a tear. Maintain composure until they are gone like a good soldier and then I don't know scatter some crap off Anderson's desk in frustration. Be human. Ah well lost oppurtunity.

[JamieCOTC]

While I would like to see more emotion from Shepard, I'm not sure that's something that can be done easily. The problem is that this isn't a TV show where you can have hundreds of hours of character development. This is a game that is at best 30 hours long w/ half of that shooting at things trying to kill you. But the biggest stumbling block is that this game has to please a very large and diverse group of people and it has to make money. BioWare has to please shooter fans, romance fans and everything in between and that can't be an easy job. Does this mean that Shepard has to be dull? No, but it does mean that Shepard has to stay emotionally neutral. It's unfortunate for RPG fans, but it is the nature of the beast and something computer/console RPGs have suffered from since the beginning.

[Octorox]

 It's because Shepard isn't really a character persay. He's just a role for the player to assume. An empty vessel, if you will

[Kenshen]

I thought it would have been a great add if they made a mission for Shep. Not a loyalty mission cause that shouldn't be an issue with yourself but one where our Shep can show that side of him/her. Maybe a second visit to the consort or maybe vent out at Anderson. Even if our characters don't show it the stress and pressure building up inside would not be healthy

[kregano]

I wish some of the interrupts had allowed you to trigger emotional reactions like sweeping stuff off a desk or punching a wall. That might have allowed the player to control some of the emotional development of Shepard without to deal with irritating players with dialogue processing emotional inflections players might not like.

[WarChicken78]

Wynne wrote...

WarChicken78 wrote...

Would you prefer to play a character that has serious mental scars and compensates in a way that you might not like? Imagine Shepard getting schizophrenic seeing and hearing things and persons, that are not actually there.
Or developing a split personality that makes you unable to decide and just picks paragon or renegade options depending on what personality has the upper hand at that time.

No, I really prefer that mentally unharmed HERO I play at present.

Oh, come on. They never had to make Shepard go crazy. It's not like the choice is "no reaction" vs. "insanity."

What Shepard should have done was show some more emotional vulnerability. Talk it out with someone. Be able to talk about SHEPARD'S issues rather than playing therapist for everybody else (isn't that Kelly's job?) or simply having a booty call. Shepard's issues are bigger and more stressful than anybody else's. Only Jack's and Thane's come close. Shepard NEEDS an outlet, like the one in the first game where Ash or Kaidan comes and talks to you after the Normandy's grounded, or the talk after you get put in the Med Bay, or the moment of wonder you have on the Citadel. There isn't enough of that sort of thing in ME2.

If you don't express your emotions, you tend to explode from the strain, sooner or later. I wouldn't be worried about Shepard's emotional health if (s)he DID have a small identity crisis and talk to somebody about it. If the pressure DID get to Shepard and resulted in a conversation or two with Kelly and/or Joker and/or your ME1 companions. Or maybe with Ash/Kaidan.

Believe me, I've known soldiers. Though it's in character to suppress emotion it's also a sure path to psychological instability. If Shepard is different, it should be because (s)he has an outlet, particularly if you're a Colonist/Sole Survivor. It doesn't make sense otherwise.

Hell, they could've at least given Shepard one or two nightmare scenes where the Collectors' destruction of the original Normandy and his/her own suffocation comes back to haunt his/her mind. That would've made your eventual confrontation with them more dramatic/rewarding anyway.

There are some good points you make here. Bot in your opening text I read it more like "Even after all the **** (s)he went through, shepart is boring like hell.
And of cause I exaggerated.
Maybe I overread your statement 'Isn't reflecting enough'.
The problem here is, that he's awakened and directly confronted with new pressure where he cannot allow himself to even think about it. A nightmare would have fit in just fine, tho.
Maybe that will come in ME3, if so, then most likely in the ending sequence or even the "aftergame".
Maybe they'll even get a sequel out that is less action focussed and more storytelling. I can't say I'd not like that.

[alphax1]

Maybe I play too much TF2 but I kinda look at Shepard a bit like The Soldier... Hell after killing Harbinger for the third time I was thinking how perfect it would be for Shepard to utter something like "You just got DOMINATED Bablo Brabbins!"

[Terraneaux]

People talk about 'imagining' the emotions of Shepard, but the medium of video games is a visual and auditory one. If we can't see or hear what Shepard is feeling, it didn't happen. Being forced to 'imagine' character development is a really lackluster thing to have happen in a game produced by one of the best rpg companies in the business.

[Hellebore5000]

Terraneaux wrote...

People talk about 'imagining' the emotions of Shepard, but the medium of video games is a visual and auditory one. If we can't see or hear what Shepard is feeling, it didn't happen. Being forced to 'imagine' character development is a really lackluster thing to have happen in a game produced by one of the best rpg companies in the business.

Umm.. thats the whole point to "role playing". You are the character, not a script pre-written.

[Beerfish]

This is actually commonplace in some literary works. Charles Dickens for instance. The Hero or heroin were almost always the least interesting people in his books. His villains, sidekicks and ancilliary characters were interesting because he could exaggerate features they possessed. Just like in ME2, the developers can take a squadmate and make the bad ass bad attitude tattooed chick or the weird yet brainy scientist and making them interesting but people would be up in arms if exaggerated qualities were foisted upon them as player characters.

(Which brings up a point developers could increase the interest in the player character if they set out a whole bunch of parameters or questions at the beginning of the game and have those come into play as the game went on.)

Modifié par Beerfish, 08 mars 2010 - 10:11 .

[Doctor_Jackstraw]

Mass Effect 1 had some personal quests based on your pre-service history and origin, as well as abit more alterations to quests based on those. I guess they didn't really think it was that important to STILL carry those forward at this point in the story...

[Terraneaux]

Hellebore5000 wrote...

Terraneaux wrote...

People talk about 'imagining' the emotions of Shepard, but the medium of video games is a visual and auditory one. If we can't see or hear what Shepard is feeling, it didn't happen. Being forced to 'imagine' character development is a really lackluster thing to have happen in a game produced by one of the best rpg companies in the business.

Umm.. thats the whole point to "role playing". You are the character, not a script pre-written.

In any video game you're constrained by the script, moreso if it's voice-acted.  I'm saying they need to expand the range of options so that you can characterize Shep more.  There should still be the 'badass with a heart of stone' option, but it shouldn't be forced.

[Lord Methrid]

Please bare with me as I will touch up on a few points some colleagues including SLPr0 has made. My views come from a fan's perspective as well as a developer's point of view.

SLPr0 wrote...

...This image here shows more depth in its CGI rendering, to the John Shepard character, than the character itself does anywhere in Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2, and given Mark Meer's rather bland, generic male voice acting, the character itself completely falls flat on its face in comparison to the absolute bouquet of varieties of personality that John Shepard's companions bring to the table...

CGIs will always be created to illustrate things that can not be done with limited resources, but you have to admit this was CGI done well. Brief and to the point, concise and exact, it served its purpose. But I will agree, it is a shame the game did not fully deliver on these heavy expectations we have had over the years.

SLPr0 wrote...

Shepard as presented and voiced by Mark Meer, in comparison to his companions and even non-companion characters in Mass Effect/Mass Effect 2, is like....putting Mark Meer next to....Al Pacino, the personalities and depths of Shepards companions are so loud and powerful and compelling, and Shepard is their "leader" but comes off, really, as the wall flower of the entire bunch.

BioWare hopfully has read this thread and taken into account of the importance of the much needed "fine tuning" of their concept and design of interactive gameplay. A hero's journey is only justified by the emotions expressed in his or her actions as many of you have stated. And this is something we know BioWare is aware of and for that I am sure they will properly address the matter in the final conclusion of John and Jane Shepard's life.

CommanderTravis wrote...
You think shepards uninteresting?
Choose different dialogue options

This is definitely the path BioWare is heading towards. Mass Effect has been a learning experience for the company as they have and will complete the experimental dialogue choices into ME3 and beyond with other products. I feel two DVDs was definitely more than enough to expand on these dialogue options even further to better the "molding" experience of your character.

Weskerr wrote...
... This is also why it seems like the supporting characters have more depth. The writers have much more control over their stories, personalities, and reactions to changing circumstances.

This was a production error in my opinion. If the writers had full access to "control" the constant change in Shepard's personality, then there is no excuse to why Shepard has lacked that connection we clearly recieved from the supporting characters and stories around him/her. This was a development / production decision to favor the checks and balances of the many problems BioWare encountered during their vigurous testing, no doubt, hence the significant ammount of testers credited in the end of the game.

JamieCOTC wrote...
While I would like to see more emotion from Shepard, I'm not sure that's something that can be done easily. The problem is that this isn't a TV show where you can have hundreds of hours of character development. This is a game that is at best 30 hours long w/ half of that shooting at things trying to kill you.

I concur. Which is why the series will be remembered as a stepping stone that will lead future immersive role playing games into a new era of entertainment. As technology and developers grow in advancement and knowledge of the subject matter, more products from BioWare will without a doubt slowly blur the line between cinema and interactive cinema. Since very few companies have reached this far in financial success of the genre, it won't be long until we see more Mass Effects and future Baldur's Gate offspring on the horizon, both in the game and film industry alike. Ergo, The Prince of Persia.

JamieCOTC wrote...
...But the biggest stumbling block is that this game has to please a very large and diverse group of people and it has to make money. BioWare has to please shooter fans, romance fans and everything in between and that can't be an easy job. Does this mean that Shepard has to be dull? No, but it does mean that Shepard has to stay emotionally neutral. It's unfortunate for RPG fans, but it is the nature of the beast and something computer/console RPGs have suffered from since the beginning.

I agree with your statement to a certain extent. In today's advancement in "Next Generation" technology, when can we say was the last time we played a cinematic experience that expanded into the length of two DVDs or more? Not many titles come to mind, but with the exception of The Longest Journey, games today have been setting new heights of expectation accross the board given its limitations to hold into one disk. This level of expectation has never fully been accomplished because of the said demands from executives and ceo's to the focus groups who provide consumer research for the production team who has to deliver for all the fans, new comers, and career mongols alike.

Because we advance at such lengths in a slow but steady rate, it is only a matter of time when BioWare produces the next best experience we all have been waiting for. From the humble days spent slaving away in the dungeons of Baldur's Gate to the galactic operas of Mass Effect, BioWare has delivered in dialogue driven entertainment.

However, from my playthrough of Mass Effect 2, I was a little dissatisfied with the quantity of the content that was missing and expected from a second disk. No where did I see an expanded culture set fourth by the first game, no where did I see expanded exploration set fourth by the first game. Instead, I had the chance to see the progression of my actions along with a preview of what is to come.

RPGs have lacked a great deal of depth to a player's character, for that I agree. But I also feel that in today's world, more hollywood talent has reached the doors of the game industry than ever before and as a result, we should expect to see better dialogue and a much worthy expansion to a player's immersive control of his own personality in a game. As we can see, BioWare holds the reign taking a chance and presenting idea and concept to the console generations of the past, present, and future.

We should probably just be thankful that we have been given a glimpse of what the future brings and appreciate the chance to interact with characters you will not find anywhere else.

Sometimes it is best to reflect on what was given to us than it is to dream of what it could have been.

Modifié par Lord Methrid, 09 mars 2010 - 09:16 .

[Phobius9]

I agree with the OP to, this was something I felt that Bioware "dropped the ball" with in ME. I also think that people are failing to see the possibilities here.



No-one is saying they want Bioware to force EVERY Shepard to voice his feelings, merely to have the OPTION to do so, in the same way you could choose Paragon or Renegade choices. Prefer your Shepard as the cold stone-faced type? Don't choose the dialouge option. Want to vent your feelings about Kaiden dieing? Go nuts. I fail to see how that "rail-roads" anyone into playing a character they don't want to.



For a series of games that pride themselves on choice and emotional attachment, I think Bioware missed a trick here.

[Xandurpein]

It is obvious when rereading this thread that there are simply two different views on the whole game experience here.



1. Shepard is a character that I guide and may identify with, but ultimately only observe.

2. Shepard is my avatar in the game. Shepard is an empty vessel into which I put my thoughts.



I am not going to say that one way of looking at things is right and the other is wrong. It's simply two different ways to look at things. Most story driven action games and japanese RPG are clearly meant to be option 1. Character development are presented as cutscenes which the player has no influence over.



The traditional western Bioware PnP RPG is option 2. Even if events and conversation choices are determined in a computer RPG, the goal is to let you choose to be the hero you want and pour your imagination into it.



Mass Effect is maybe a bit muddy. The game owes a lot to the traditional Bioware RPG, but Bioware has also themselves said that Shepard is to some extent a defined character and not just an empty vessel, like when they explained why they didn't want to include homosexual romances.



Personally I favor option 2 and consequently have no problem with what some people consider the lack of character development of Shepard, I do all the character development in my head. But ultimaly it depends on your point of view.

[Breakdown Boy]

I think Shepard is very interesting, he can save the colony of Horizon and then sacrefice thousands of people to save the space port of a colony.



He can help someone with their legal issues and then shoot an idiot in the foot.



Shepard's character is all about how you play. If he has no character then is says more about you then him.



Plus, he is the leader, leaders don't wine about their past pains and crap, they suck it up and put others 1st.

[DuffyMJ]

SLPr0 wrote...

Tinnic wrote...

While post-traumatic stress syndrome is pretty prevalent among military men and women, not everybody suffers from it. Some people simply able to compartmentalise trauma better then others. Shepard may well be on the autism spectrum and as such systemizes emotions more so then others. I also think it is a bit cliche that all heros with trauma in their past has to be tortured. Some people go through a lot of pain in their life but don't necessarily fall apart over it.

In addition, we have only seen Shepard in the midst of emergency. Often, in these situations, the emotional analysis is differed. Perhaps when all this is over and Shepard gets a chance to sit down and think, then, maybe she'll show the emotion she isn't right now.

I don't think it makes Shepard less interesting. I just think its what stands Shepard out of the pack. I mean, Heros are not normal people. Why would they react like normal people?

Your psychological analysis isn't off, I agree, given my own experiences in combat that when you are in the middle of life threatening situations it is nearly second nature for most competent soldiers to defer emotional reactivity in favor of straight logical threat analysis. This is normal. But I've seen guys drop their ****...sorry to use the word but thats what its reffered to as.

Not everyone is made of the kind of stuff that it takes to defer their fears in an emergency. John Shepard is obviously a pinnacle of soldiery, and I'm not asking him to fall apart....I'm just asking him to actually realize the things that have occured to him. He's not just comparmentalizing emotions in emergencies hes got his entire personality locked behind doors in his brain and its all go, no quit, lets save the universe marine!

Hard to visualize a person like this, in reality, I've never met one.

Dude, everything you say is "my experience as a writer has shown me..." "my experience as a combat veteran has shown me..." and you're going off on voice actors being robotic?  Blogga, please...

The simple answer to your problem is that this story is not naturalistic fiction, and that's one of the most appealing things about it.   You're not playing a game to take on the role of an every-man, you're taking on the role of an EXCEPTIONAL person who acts exceptionally.

[ThePasserby]

DuffyMJ wrote...

SLPr0 wrote...

Tinnic wrote...

While post-traumatic stress syndrome is pretty prevalent among military men and women, not everybody suffers from it. Some people simply able to compartmentalise trauma better then others. Shepard may well be on the autism spectrum and as such systemizes emotions more so then others. I also think it is a bit cliche that all heros with trauma in their past has to be tortured. Some people go through a lot of pain in their life but don't necessarily fall apart over it.

In addition, we have only seen Shepard in the midst of emergency. Often, in these situations, the emotional analysis is differed. Perhaps when all this is over and Shepard gets a chance to sit down and think, then, maybe she'll show the emotion she isn't right now.

I don't think it makes Shepard less interesting. I just think its what stands Shepard out of the pack. I mean, Heros are not normal people. Why would they react like normal people?

Your psychological analysis isn't off, I agree, given my own experiences in combat that when you are in the middle of life threatening situations it is nearly second nature for most competent soldiers to defer emotional reactivity in favor of straight logical threat analysis. This is normal. But I've seen guys drop their ****...sorry to use the word but thats what its reffered to as.

Not everyone is made of the kind of stuff that it takes to defer their fears in an emergency. John Shepard is obviously a pinnacle of soldiery, and I'm not asking him to fall apart....I'm just asking him to actually realize the things that have occured to him. He's not just comparmentalizing emotions in emergencies hes got his entire personality locked behind doors in his brain and its all go, no quit, lets save the universe marine!

Hard to visualize a person like this, in reality, I've never met one.

Dude, everything you say is "my experience as a writer has shown me..." "my experience as a combat veteran has shown me..." and you're going off on voice actors being robotic?  Blogga, please...

The simple answer to your problem is that this story is not naturalistic fiction, and that's one of the most appealing things about it.   You're not playing a game to take on the role of an every-man, you're taking on the role of an EXCEPTIONAL person who acts exceptionally.

I agree. Why do we have to insist that Shepard be like a normal person we can relate to with regards to dealing with traumatic events? Shepard is one in a billion. There is no other like him/her. Shepard has to be someone extraordinary to have accomplished the things in ME1 and 2.

[Chamberboozer]

Hellebore5000 wrote...

Terraneaux wrote...

People talk about 'imagining' the emotions of Shepard, but the medium of video games is a visual and auditory one. If we can't see or hear what Shepard is feeling, it didn't happen. Being forced to 'imagine' character development is a really lackluster thing to have happen in a game produced by one of the best rpg companies in the business.

Umm.. thats the whole point to "role playing". You are the character, not a script pre-written.

But the entire point is that it wouldn't be scripted! You would get to choose what Shepard's emotional reactions are. Right now with only a couple exceptions, no matter what choices the player makes Shepard acts stone cold, which isn't good story telling.

[Master Smurf]

Phobius9 wrote...

I agree with the OP to, this was something I felt that Bioware "dropped the ball" with in ME. I also think that people are failing to see the possibilities here.

No-one is saying they want Bioware to force EVERY Shepard to voice his feelings, merely to have the OPTION to do so, in the same way you could choose Paragon or Renegade choices. Prefer your Shepard as the cold stone-faced type? Don't choose the dialouge option. Want to vent your feelings about Kaiden dieing? Go nuts. I fail to see how that "rail-roads" anyone into playing a character they don't want to.


For a series of games that pride themselves on choice and emotional attachment, I think Bioware missed a trick here.

I think this is totally correct - my biggest problem in the game is that they streamlined to cater for the masses instead of providing more choices so the masses could make their own selection.
I say all that is needed is two extra choices in key points of the story - If they want to get really cute - implement a system where if you act a certain way if limits certain additional choices later to "craft" Shep's persona.

I think BW have all the resources and like another poster said - we will see this in future games, which is kinda sad because it could and should have started in ME2.

Modifié par Master Smurf, 09 mars 2010 - 03:44 .

[Doctor_Jackstraw]

As a roleplaying game it's up to you to keep your character consistent. Bioware gives you the ability to develop a complex character, and in order to do that you have to do more than just "pick bottom right every single time". If you play it right you can have a character that's more complex than "good or evil or neutral". Are you greedy, bored easily, selfish, uninterested, friendly, supportive, self-righteous, ect? It's up to you, that's where the "game" part of the dialogue options come into play.

[Blackveldt]

Doctor_Jackstraw wrote...

As a roleplaying game it's up to you to keep your character consistent. Bioware gives you the ability to develop a complex character, and in order to do that you have to do more than just "pick bottom right every single time". If you play it right you can have a character that's more complex than "good or evil or neutral". Are you greedy, bored easily, selfish, uninterested, friendly, supportive, self-righteous, ect? It's up to you, that's where the "game" part of the dialogue options come into play.

Unfortunately, the game rewards you for absolutism, i.e. Paragon/Renegade points.  My first playthrough Shepard was the most complex because I wasn't as familiar with the system.  I consider her to be a strong Paragon, but not disillusioned.  For example, *spoiler* at Tali's trial, when Tali has just discovered that her Aunt had purposely not told her about the trial to up her chances of being able to do something about it, I applauded her.  It was a necessary evil and done out of love; given the circumstances, I understood this.  But when I picked this option, I got Renegade points and then I just felt like crap, reloaded and found whatever gave me Paragon points.  I mean, this is the reason why Paragon Shepard is such a sell-out on the Citadel.  It's not like we all want to be such advertising ****s so much as the collect the Paragon points that come attached to it.

[SweetiePea]

I actually really like Shepard as a character. Of all the RPGs I've ever played, Shepard is probably the PC I like the most, simply because I do feel she's character in the game rather than just some sort of shell. However, I do think that ME2 was lacking in good examples of Shepard manifesting his/her emotions.



One of my favorite scenes in ME1 was post-Virmire, when Shepard was trying to open the locker and then just slumped to the floor. I don't see Shepard as someone who sits around whining about his/her feelings all day long, but I really liked that they game showed us this vulnerable side of Shepard. Where was that moment in ME2? I agree with those who say there should have been someone to talk to post-Horizon, if you Shepard was romancing either Ashley or Kaidan. I was angry by what my Shepard could say to Joker. In my own head, I decided she said it just because she didn't know what else to say, but it just didn't sound right in the game.



What I really would have liked would have been the opportunity to have a heated discussion with Anderson about why he didn't tell Shepard about Kaidan/Ash being on Horizon. I went all the way back to the Citadel to take him to task for it, and all I could really do was ask him about it and then listen to him make an excuse about it being classified. I would have liked my Shepard to have the chance to angrily accuse Anderson of betraying her, because I felt that it was a sort of betrayal, given all that Shepard and Anderson went through in ME1.



So, yeah, please give us the chance to see some emotions from Shepard in ME3. They were there in ME1 but ME2 shortchanged us.

[SLPr0]

DuffyMJ wrote...

SLPr0 wrote...

Tinnic wrote...

While post-traumatic stress syndrome is pretty prevalent among military men and women, not everybody suffers from it. Some people simply able to compartmentalise trauma better then others. Shepard may well be on the autism spectrum and as such systemizes emotions more so then others. I also think it is a bit cliche that all heros with trauma in their past has to be tortured. Some people go through a lot of pain in their life but don't necessarily fall apart over it.

In addition, we have only seen Shepard in the midst of emergency. Often, in these situations, the emotional analysis is differed. Perhaps when all this is over and Shepard gets a chance to sit down and think, then, maybe she'll show the emotion she isn't right now.

I don't think it makes Shepard less interesting. I just think its what stands Shepard out of the pack. I mean, Heros are not normal people. Why would they react like normal people?

Your psychological analysis isn't off, I agree, given my own experiences in combat that when you are in the middle of life threatening situations it is nearly second nature for most competent soldiers to defer emotional reactivity in favor of straight logical threat analysis. This is normal. But I've seen guys drop their ****...sorry to use the word but thats what its reffered to as.

Not everyone is made of the kind of stuff that it takes to defer their fears in an emergency. John Shepard is obviously a pinnacle of soldiery, and I'm not asking him to fall apart....I'm just asking him to actually realize the things that have occured to him. He's not just comparmentalizing emotions in emergencies hes got his entire personality locked behind doors in his brain and its all go, no quit, lets save the universe marine!

Hard to visualize a person like this, in reality, I've never met one.

Dude, everything you say is "my experience as a writer has shown me..." "my experience as a combat veteran has shown me..." and you're going off on voice actors being robotic?  Blogga, please...

The simple answer to your problem is that this story is not naturalistic fiction, and that's one of the most appealing things about it.   You're not playing a game to take on the role of an every-man, you're taking on the role of an EXCEPTIONAL person who acts exceptionally.

I don't actually have a blog, I do a lot of writing, I am a veteran with combat experience, I'm also an independent game developer. These are simply personal points of reference I put into the discussion.

John Shepard isn't exceptional, other than the whole Lazarus routine, hes completely ambivalent to everything he has experienced, thats not exceptional thats delusional.

He's ambivalent to his own death and resurrection, hes ambivalent to the loss of closeness between himself and former love interests, hes ambivalent to everything except for "WE MUST STOP THE REAPERS."

Now, don't get me wrong, if we're ever in a galactic crisis of "Reaper" proportions...sure, I want a guy like John Shepard handling the situation,

But in a interactive gaming media story experience like this when I personally get to BE John, I want to have as much force of personality and character as the people surrounding me. 

You know what makes me awesomer than my teammates in ME2? I can have 8 skills and they only get 4. Oh and I apparently control all the medi-gel, Other than that, their stories are deeper and more self affecting, the impact of a single loyalty mission that takes less than an hour has more emotional weight to it, to our companions, and to me as the player, than the entirity of John Shepard's career does to him or to me, being John Shepard.

When I look at John Shepard and everything hes been through, I would expect a character more like...John McClaine as played by Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series.

What I have is this little robot man that can talk to people and occasionally show moderate grace or mild levels of petty malice and thats about it.

[Newnation]

Its not a big gripe but you would think being killed then brought back to life would leave a little trauma.