Not necessary, if you got the happy everyone loves you ending, you Shepard under a pile of rubble and (s)he stars moving a little.
Though.. I think I remember reading somewhere that the new game was gonna take place sometime during the original trilogy, only you play someone else cuz Shepard’s story has been told or something like that.
According to things I've read/heard this is supposed to be either hundreds or close to a hundred or so years after the last Mass Effect - hence the jumping to a new galaxy.
Although, for being such a massive change in timeframe, the trailer weapons and armor look really similar to the first trilogy's gear.
When ME3 came out, I took a week off so I could play it. Looking back on that with the wisdom of some time, that was a great call, and I'm going to do it again when ME:A comes out.
Ouze wrote: When ME3 came out, I took a week off so I could play it. Looking back on that with the wisdom of some time, that was a great call, and I'm going to do it again when ME:A comes out.
I'm just sad there won't be Jennifer Hale.
...crap, I didn't realize that. Makes total sense, but I never really realized that this is true. Goddamn.
Frankenberry wrote: According to things I've read/heard this is supposed to be either hundreds or close to a hundred or so years after the last Mass Effect - hence the jumping to a new galaxy.
Although, for being such a massive change in timeframe, the trailer weapons and armor look really similar to the first trilogy's gear.
That's not really a huge deal. A lot of the weapons/armor present in Mass Effect was actually considered old, but kept around because it was still highly effective.
On another note from what I've seen/heard?
The ship we saw is not the Normandy's replacement. It's the Citadel's replacement(in that it will serve as your central "hub" in Andromeda), and has manufacturing and other facilities onboard.
They'll likely just cast her in a different role. So she probably won't be the lead, but I expect she'll voice someone notable in the game.
Um, yeah...
I doubt that. She's currently voicing Sarah Palmer in the "Halo" series, which she specified in an interview awhile back that she only accepted because her involvement with the Mass Effect series was basically at an end.
Mainly because I'm a fanboy and really want it, I wonder if they'll find a way to include a way for your previous ME decisions to make their way into Andromeda - however small they may have been.
But then I think about the choices that involved the death of the Krogan race, the Quarians or the Geth and I begin to find reasons for Bioware to find a way to include them.
On a more wishlist-ish sort of bit, I hope they keep the weapon modifications they included in 3 (maybe flesh them out more), maybe include a weapon or armor forging option (akin to Inquisition). Here's hoping for an option to upgrade your ship with various things both cosmetic and utility.
So how is bioware going to deal with the outcomes of previous games? Will there be geth or quarians? Will the Krogans be cured of the genophage? Is everyone a cyborg or are all the machines dead?
I only played the Mass Effect series because someone said that Jennifer Hale did an excellent performance. They were right about that.
Still need to finish the second games suicide mission, and then get around to starting the third. But I got upset when I realised that I never ran into Shepards biggest fan.
Compel wrote: Conrad Verner is in all 3 Mass Effect games... Unless you get him killed off, that is.
If you don't meet him in the citadel in ME1, he'll never appear in the other two games.
And if you do meet him, he'll show a gun in your face in ME 2 no matter how nice you were to him in ME. Aaah, the Mass Effect series and its fantastic branching storyline...
Compel wrote: Conrad Verner is in all 3 Mass Effect games... Unless you get him killed off, that is.
If you don't meet him in the citadel in ME1, he'll never appear in the other two games.
And if you do meet him, he'll show a gun in your face in ME 2 no matter how nice you were to him in ME. Aaah, the Mass Effect series and its fantastic branching storyline...
To be honest. How many thousands of different conversations and animations would they have to do in order to cover all the possible choices from the first to the second game, let alone keeping it through all three.
Compel wrote: Conrad Verner is in all 3 Mass Effect games... Unless you get him killed off, that is.
If you don't meet him in the citadel in ME1, he'll never appear in the other two games.
And if you do meet him, he'll show a gun in your face in ME 2 no matter how nice you were to him in ME. Aaah, the Mass Effect series and its fantastic branching storyline...
To be honest. How many thousands of different conversations and animations would they have to do in order to cover all the possible choices from the first to the second game, let alone keeping it through all three.
Yeah, I don't blame them. Heck, I'm paragon to the end, and having that situation blow up in my face like that despite me being nice was actually pretty funny.
"Shepard! I mean, you are such a fething jerk! How could you do that to me?!"
"... What? I, eh, I just... What?!"
And if you do meet him, he'll show a gun in your face in ME 2 no matter how nice you were to him in ME. Aaah, the Mass Effect series and its fantastic branching storyline...
Known bug. The data bit in the first game that was supposed to track whether you were mean or nice to that guy didn't function properly, and always indicated that you were a jerk to him.
As for the storyline from the first three games -
Since it takes place in a different galaxy, Bioware can negate the effects of most of your previous choices by having the colony ship leave Earth before the Reapers arrive. Details such as individuals who survived won't matter, and species-altering decisions (Geth, Krogan fertility) won't be made until after the mission has left the Milky Way Galaxy.
No it doesn't. It proves that Shepard's story is told and they want to tell a different one in the same setting. Just like they've been saying all along. Your inchoate (and, in my view, irrational) rage at ME3 not conforming to precisely what you wanted it to be is kind of dragging this thread off topic.
Frankenberry wrote: Although, for being such a massive change in timeframe, the trailer weapons and armor look really similar to the first trilogy's gear.
Curious here, you mean the first game in the trilogy?
I'd find that interesting, if they're maybe going back to the way weapons worked in the first game?
I don't think this will be hundreds of years before or after, given that Shepard is seeing them off. I imagined they sent them off sometime before or during ME3, but well before ME3's ending.
Medium of Death wrote: You can't outrun your crappy storytelling ability forever Bioware!
Just proves that 3 was an extra-Galactic feth up.
It's not bad. Bioware just cannot do proper romances and proper characters anymore. They are mediocre. Mass Effect 3 was oka until the ending which, naturally, was an utter piece of trash. Lazy and incredibly badly written.
Frankenberry wrote: Although, for being such a massive change in timeframe, the trailer weapons and armor look really similar to the first trilogy's gear.
Curious here, you mean the first game in the trilogy?
I'd find that interesting, if they're maybe going back to the way weapons worked in the first game?
I don't think this will be hundreds of years before or after, given that Shepard is seeing them off. I imagined they sent them off sometime before or during ME3, but well before ME3's ending.
I think the "hundred years" is a reference to the travel time. There are no jump points between the Milky Way and Andromeda. So assuming that there's a ship traveling between the two, it's probably either a generation ship, or uses stasis of some sort.
Some of the Earth authorities get worried about Shepard's Reaper information. Between ME1 and ME2, they put together a program that changes the destination of a planned colonization mission to the Andromeda Galaxy, since the Reapers presumably don't affect that galaxy. Shepard, who's famous for being the first human specter, gives a speech about the program. Because there are no known relays between the two galaxies, the colony ship is forced to travel at sub-light speeds. Finally, based on some of the early dev comments, I suspect that the game starts some time after the colonists have already built up their planet with full infrastructure, and possibly established colonies in other star systems. I suspect that the game won't start a year after landfall, or something like that.
The launch can't be between ME2 and ME3, because Shepard's in political hot water at that point, and wouldn't be allowed to give a public speech. And the Reapers attack Earth at the start of ME3.
I'm thinking it'll be like 1,000 years after ME3 and of course be in another galaxy so it'll be like a fresh start for the series. Then a matriarch Liara will make an appearance as an NPC.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: I'm thinking it'll be like 1,000 years after ME3 and of course be in another galaxy so it'll be like a fresh start for the series. Then a matriarch Liara will make an appearance as an NPC.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: I'm thinking it'll be like 1,000 years after ME3 and of course be in another galaxy so it'll be like a fresh start for the series. Then a matriarch Liara will make an appearance as an NPC.
I'd love to see Grunt make an appearance too.
Oh yeah, the Krogan are that long lived as well. Plus he's a Super-Krogan. He could even still be in squadmate fighting shape!
KamikazeCanuck wrote: I'm thinking it'll be like 1,000 years after ME3 and of course be in another galaxy so it'll be like a fresh start for the series. Then a matriarch Liara will make an appearance as an NPC.
I'd love to see Grunt make an appearance too.
Oh yeah, the Krogan are that long lived as well. Plus he's a Super-Krogan. He could even still be in squadmate fighting shape!
His harem would be keeping him busy, I'm sure.
"In addition, killing the thresher maw has produced several breeding requests for Grunt. And one for Shepard."
IRT "stasis sleep", I believe one of the codex entries in ME1 makes some mention of them as a device created before they discovered element zero and the relays.
As far as I'm aware, there aren't any definitive 'facts' about when this is supposed to take place - and given the limited information in the 'trailer' it seems like it's possible for instantaneous, or near to, travel to occur in the game/universe.
What I meant by the gear comment was it seemed like they were using very similar weapons and armor to what Shepard/everyone else had access to in the first three games - despite it being mentioned that Andromeda takes place in X years in the future.
Since it's mentioned that the new 'hub' for the game is that giant ship/station you saw on the N7 Day video, I wonder if it's going to be similar to the fortress you get access to in DA:I? I mean, the two games don't necessarily have any similarities in the past, but it's a thought.
Also, as far as old characters not making an appearance, I can't see them doing that per se. We all know Shepard will be mentioned, Anderson too, that's unavoidable - but there are other characters that, by the end of ME3 and shortly after, would have been in places of leadership and power - their inclusion wouldn't break the story THAT much I don't think.
Then again, it's hard for me to be anything other any excited by the prospect of a new Mass Effect game - so this might just be subconscious wish-listing.
Medium of Death wrote: You can't outrun your crappy storytelling ability forever Bioware!
Just proves that 3 was an extra-Galactic feth up.
It's not bad. Bioware just cannot do proper romances and proper characters anymore. They are mediocre. Mass Effect 3 was oka until the ending which, naturally, was an utter piece of trash. Lazy and incredibly badly written.
That's cause they didn't have Drew Karpyshyn writing the story for ME3...
Instantaneous travel isn't a thing. They can create corridors of zero or even negative mass, which means you can accelerate and decelerate quickly to extremely-faster-than-light speed between mass relays, taking a few hours to get between various parts of the galaxy IIRC. But they can't just teleport. Their "normal" faster-than-light speed isn't as good as the mass relay bit.
Melissia wrote: Instantaneous travel isn't a thing. They can create corridors of zero or even negative mass, which means you can accelerate and decelerate quickly to extremely-faster-than-light speed between mass relays, taking a few hours to get between various parts of the galaxy IIRC. But they can't just teleport. Their "normal" faster-than-light speed isn't as good as the mass relay bit.
Fair enough - but on that point, this is meant to be in the future - perhaps those rules don't apply anymore. Then again, we're talking about a pretty specific plot element that doesn't really factor much into the overall discussion, LoL.
Anyone spent time speculating on what those random buildings are the begin to sprout up from the ground during the first trailer? I know that Protheans aren't going to be a thing anymore, at least I figure they won't be because it was never mentioned that they left the Milky Way, nor were the Reapers Extra-Galactical in their whole 'clean house' bit.
Mr Nobody wrote: So how is bioware going to deal with the outcomes of previous games? Will there be geth or quarians? Will the Krogans be cured of the genophage? Is everyone a cyborg or are all the machines dead?
My guess is they'll probably go, largely, with a strong paragon-completionist version of the events of the original trilogy as it allows for the greatest possible array of material to use, maybe with some hazy "fog of history" stuff to show that maybe some of the more minor Renegade paths were taken and chalk it up to the legendary shepard being a "complex" character or somesuch.
Medium of Death wrote: You can't outrun your crappy storytelling ability forever Bioware!
Just proves that 3 was an extra-Galactic feth up.
It's not bad. Bioware just cannot do proper romances and proper characters anymore. They are mediocre. Mass Effect 3 was oka until the ending which, naturally, was an utter piece of trash. Lazy and incredibly badly written.
What's worse, not only was it lazy and bad, it was copy-pasted, straight from the original DeusEx, same 3 concepts (control AI, destroy AI, merge with AI) and the same 3 color options (blue/red/green)
Some of the Earth authorities get worried about Shepard's Reaper information. Between ME1 and ME2, they put together a program that changes the destination of a planned colonization mission to the Andromeda Galaxy, since the Reapers presumably don't affect that galaxy. Shepard, who's famous for being the first human specter, gives a speech about the program. Because there are no known relays between the two galaxies, the colony ship is forced to travel at sub-light speeds. Finally, based on some of the early dev comments, I suspect that the game starts some time after the colonists have already built up their planet with full infrastructure, and possibly established colonies in other star systems. I suspect that the game won't start a year after landfall, or something like that.
The launch can't be between ME2 and ME3, because Shepard's in political hot water at that point, and wouldn't be allowed to give a public speech. And the Reapers attack Earth at the start of ME3.
One correction - the ship still travels at Plus-C speeds. But it's a *long* way to the Andromeda Galaxy. I looked it up, and the distance between our galaxy and Andromeda is apparently 2.5 million light years. So it's a Plus-C stasis ship, more than likely. Otherwise, the rest of humanity would have ascended by the time the ship reached Andromeda, converted itself to energy form, and gone on ahead to meet the ship when it arrived at its destination.
And state of the Milky Way? Choices that you made in all three games? Who survived?
Irrelevant.
The colonists will have no way of communicating with Earth short of one of the new instantaneous quantum-entanglement communicators that they introduced in ME3. And that's assuming that the thing could work over 2.5 million light years. And that neither end of it broke down in the meantime.
In short, the setting will be completely new. But the technology - both in-game, and game engine - will be familiar.
As far as character stories and romances by Bioware go?
Dunno, I thought the ones in Dragon Age 3 were pretty good. Given that it's a video game, it's not meant to represent the long-term process of building an interpersonal relationship. A lot of the early back-and-forth banter and such is minimized to a few conversations... because it's an adventure game, not a dating sim.
There's assumed to be a lot more interaction going on than is actually shown on screen, as travel time and etc are abstracted. There's video games that represent the long-term process of building an interpersonal relationship, but games like mass effect tend to abstract it for the sake of brevity as that's not their focus. I mean, most of them also don't show you physically taking apart the gun and putting the mods on it then re-assembling it and testing it to make sure the mods are installed properly, either. People didn't complain about not having to swing a sword a thousand time after paying for training in 1h weapons in Skyrim, for example. You just pay for it and bam you get the xp.
Well, most people didn't. Some did, but can't please everyone.
Mr Nobody wrote: So how is bioware going to deal with the outcomes of previous games? Will there be geth or quarians? Will the Krogans be cured of the genophage? Is everyone a cyborg or are all the machines dead?
My guess is they'll probably go, largely, with a strong paragon-completionist version of the events of the original trilogy as it allows for the greatest possible array of material to use, maybe with some hazy "fog of history" stuff to show that maybe some of the more minor Renegade paths were taken and chalk it up to the legendary shepard being a "complex" character or somesuch.
Medium of Death wrote: You can't outrun your crappy storytelling ability forever Bioware!
Just proves that 3 was an extra-Galactic feth up.
It's not bad. Bioware just cannot do proper romances and proper characters anymore. They are mediocre. Mass Effect 3 was oka until the ending which, naturally, was an utter piece of trash. Lazy and incredibly badly written.
What's worse, not only was it lazy and bad, it was copy-pasted, straight from the original DeusEx, same 3 concepts (control AI, destroy AI, merge with AI) and the same 3 color options (blue/red/green)
It'll be interesting to see if the awful ME3 ending even gets acknowledged, or just handwaved away as hastily as possible to get on with the story of Andromeda. "Wreck the mass relays and turn everyone into cyborgs with technobabble green energy at the behest of an evil, mega-genocidal child made out of sparkles? Clearly, that's not how the war ended, since we're here, the mass relays are fine, the Citadel doesn't have a supervillain hiding in the middle of it and nobody got turned into a cyborg. As for how it did end? Uh....moving on!"
I find myself thinking of Devil May Cry 2, and how nobody wanted to follow on from the ending of that one, instead making the third game a prequel and putting the fourth between the first and second.
I have no idea what ending you're talking about, that you call it awful and act like it's the greatest sin in all of gaming. Personally, I'd say that was the ending to Ghosts 'n' Goblins was worse.
Melissia wrote: I have no idea what ending you're talking about, that you call it awful and act like it's the greatest sin in all of gaming. Personally, I'd say that was the ending to Ghosts 'n' Goblins was worse.
Darn you!
I beat that game (after many long hours) and I cannot remember for the life of me how it ended...
Definitely not going back to play that, I could play ME3 again and weather it's "horrible" ending.
I like the universe, I think another story can be told within it, I oddly have little emotional attachment to Shepard.
... at which point it tossed you back to the start of the game. You had to beat the game twice to get this ending, BTW.
I have a great amount of attachment to Shepard. Paragon Shepard was... well, she was just plain awesome That said, I'm fine with the game telling another person's story.
Melissia wrote: I have no idea what ending you're talking about, that you call it awful and act like it's the greatest sin in all of gaming. Personally, I'd say that was the ending to Ghosts 'n' Goblins was worse.
I'm sure all those people who had been waiting 5+ years for the ending of the Ghosts n' Goblins trilogy, and who had put dozens of hours of gameplay into getting to it were really shocked.
Actually, plenty of people who had dozens of hours of gameplay in to it were shocked by how damn bad it was. I certainly was when I first played. It was just terrible and shameful.
As for ME3...
Spoiler:
Mass Effect 3's ending was good. It tied everything together from the first game to the third, putting a capstone on a coherent story; it showed the effects of your actions all throughout the series; it allowed you to choose from three disparate ways that the story would continue after Shepard, and it allowed you to refuse all of these things, in hopeless but inspiring defiance; it gave consequences to each of your most major actions and choices, some of them good, some bad, some both good and bad.
Regardless, I stand firmly by the idea that nothing they could have delivered wouldn't have caused widespread controversy. People had widely disparate, and extremely high, expectations, and Bioware did a great job making people care deeply about the game, its stories, and its characters.
All of that is off topic here, though, because this isn't a thread about ME3's ending. If that's all you came to this thread to discuss, perhaps you should get out, because this is a thread about something that's quite likely completely unrelated to ME3's ending to begin with.
Melissia wrote: Its ending was:
<snip>
... at which point it tossed you back to the start of the game. You had to beat the game twice to get this ending, BTW.
Yeah, I was fully aware of the internet to find things.
It was meant more as a comment on you remembering that off-hand to compare to: well done.
I remember beating Contra but again I seemed not to care what is said at the end so long as I finished (odd way of thinking in hindsight)
I have a great amount of attachment to Shepard. Paragon Shepard was... well, she was just plain awesome
I have played many games where I would try playing female characters.
I had not for Mass Effect, I think I wanted to be sure I fit the whatever they thought would be targeted for my gender or probably more correctly, act more like "me" in the game.
It would be interesting to see if there is any real difference (again I can probably look this up).
I tended to play Paragon, it seemed like the only way to go for me.
From what I heard, the Female Shepard was a more memorable performance.
That said, I'm fine with the game telling another person's story.
I think we can stand to have a character with a little less history.
Being the uber-hero was beginning to conflict with my inner Han-Solo.
Can we not talk about ME3's ending anymore? Everyone on the planet has weighed in. Are we cursed to have to talk about the ending to that game every single time something is said about Mass Effect for all eternity?!?!
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Can we not talk about ME3's ending anymore? Everyone on the planet has weighed in. Are we cursed to have to talk about the ending to that game every single time something is said about Mass Effect for all eternity?!?!
Anything that causes that much impotent butthurtedness is bound to be talked about for years, with articles published on Kotaku at first defending it and then, later, when Kotaku gets butthurted, comparing it unfavorably to the Third Reich.
Gawker (it's Gawker that owns them, right?) still hasn't terminated the website yet. So apparently enough people still drop by to justify the costs of running it.
As for ME: Andromeda - the sheer divisiveness of the ME3 ending suggests to me that Bioware will be ignoring it completely for ME: Andromeda. And the easiest way to do that is to leave the Milky Way Galaxy before the Reapers attack.
I'm fine with it being set after ME1 but before ME2, or even during the same timeline as ME2, much in the same way that DA2 opened during the events of DA1 and then moved to a time shortly after.
Kanluwen wrote: If there was a "Super Relay", then they wouldn't have needed to produce a colony ship that had manufacturing facilities.
Just sayin'.
Maybe there's some kind of limiting factor like it's a one way trip or it takes many decades to recharge. That happened to those Stargate guys a few times....
Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Melissia wrote: Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Still can only go light speed without relays though. At that speed it take over 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
Melissia wrote: Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Still can only go light speed without relays though. At that speed it take over 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
Good thing Andromeda's much closer if you are going fast though.
Actually, they CAN go faster-than-light without the relays, IIRC.
Relays just do it extremely efficiently and far more effectively, as they create a corridor of zero mass between two relays (something that weighs nothing theoretically has no speed limit).
Melissia wrote: Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Still can only go light speed without relays though. At that speed it take over 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
Without going too much into the techy bits:
Even the smallest Reaper ships had FTL capabilities.
The Alliance and Citadel had access to several wrecked/inert Reaper ships from the original attack on the Citadel to reverse-engineer/research. They also had a driving motivation and funding to see how to counter that advantage.
Relays make things easier by a huge amount. They are not however necessarily the only way for ships to get around.
Melissia wrote: Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Still can only go light speed without relays though. At that speed it take over 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
?
Most in-system travel is accomplished via Plus-C travel. A Mass Effect field is created, reducing the ship's mass enough to let the ship's thrusters propel the ship at Plus-C speeds. I suspect that a certain amount of that mysterious element known as Handwavium (HWm) might be involved as well. Terran ships are apparently capable of traveling at 50 times the speed of light. Now admittedly, that's still a ridiculously long travel time. However, the long distance might allow faster speeds due to a longer time for acceleration (before being required to begin deceleration). And even more HWm than usual might be involved.
Melissia wrote: Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Still can only go light speed without relays though. At that speed it take over 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
?
Most in-system travel is accomplished via Plus-C travel. A Mass Effect field is created, reducing the ship's mass enough to let the ship's thrusters propel the ship at Plus-C speeds. I suspect that a certain amount of that mysterious element known as Handwavium (HWm) might be involved as well. Terran ships are apparently capable of traveling at 50 times the speed of light. Now admittedly, that's still a ridiculously long travel time. However, the long distance might allow faster speeds due to a longer time for acceleration (before being required to begin deceleration). And even more HWm than usual might be involved.
Ya but they have to do something about that static build-up. There's nothing in-between galaxies to discharge on. I guess they can hand wave that one away too with some kind of new invention.
Melissia wrote: Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Still can only go light speed without relays though. At that speed it take over 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
?
Most in-system travel is accomplished via Plus-C travel. A Mass Effect field is created, reducing the ship's mass enough to let the ship's thrusters propel the ship at Plus-C speeds. I suspect that a certain amount of that mysterious element known as Handwavium (HWm) might be involved as well. Terran ships are apparently capable of traveling at 50 times the speed of light. Now admittedly, that's still a ridiculously long travel time. However, the long distance might allow faster speeds due to a longer time for acceleration (before being required to begin deceleration). And even more HWm than usual might be involved.
Ya but they have to do something about that static build-up. There's nothing in-between galaxies to discharge on. I guess they can hand wave that one away too with some kind of new invention.
There are plenty of rouge stars that wander between galaxies. They aren't much less common than in the galaxies themselves, you'd have to have forward planning to pick them up along the way however.
While we're at it, if you change the mass of antimatter, wouldn't you in theory be able to get infinite energy? If e=mc^2 and you can change m, you can decide what e is too, no?
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Can we not talk about ME3's ending anymore? Everyone on the planet has weighed in. Are we cursed to have to talk about the ending to that game every single time something is said about Mass Effect for all eternity?!?!
Never Forget Marauder Shields, the true hero of Mass Effect who tried to prevent the ending.
Melissia wrote: Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Still can only go light speed without relays though. At that speed it take over 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
Without going too much into the techy bits:
Even the smallest Reaper ships had FTL capabilities.
The Alliance and Citadel had access to several wrecked/inert Reaper ships from the original attack on the Citadel to reverse-engineer/research. They also had a driving motivation and funding to see how to counter that advantage.
Relays make things easier by a huge amount. They are not however necessarily the only way for ships to get around.
Sovereign was the only Reaper in the Citadel attack, and it was pretty thoroughly destroyed. But there was that lobotomised but intact one that Cerberus were studying.....in the game where you were working with them because the Council was taking no action on Reapers....because there was no proof that Reapers existed....wait a minute....
Compel wrote: No, true, I'd more go with "sad irony."
Can you start a thread called "Jokes about games that came out 4 years ago" so we can have a thread about Mass Effect : Andromeda here? That way everyone is happy.
Melissia wrote: Still kind of reaching though, when the simpler solution is it's a long-ranged voyage-- and if there was such a thing, the Reapers would have used it somehow. Besides, the setting has had long-ranged voyages in the past, this is just magnitudes longer.
Still can only go light speed without relays though. At that speed it take over 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
Without going too much into the techy bits: Even the smallest Reaper ships had FTL capabilities. The Alliance and Citadel had access to several wrecked/inert Reaper ships from the original attack on the Citadel to reverse-engineer/research. They also had a driving motivation and funding to see how to counter that advantage.
Relays make things easier by a huge amount. They are not however necessarily the only way for ships to get around.
Sovereign was the only Reaper in the Citadel attack, and it was pretty thoroughly destroyed. But there was that lobotomised but intact one that Cerberus were studying.....in the game where you were working with them because the Council was taking no action on Reapers....because there was no proof that Reapers existed....wait a minute....
Until ME3 conclusively proved otherwise, they thought it wasn't 'a reaper but rather, an ancient prothian ship.
It's not that hard to figure it out, ME2 beat you over the head iwth it constantly. Ugh. ME2 was definitely the worst of the series, to me.
Though, with the reveals in ME3 about the eventual fate of the Protheans, claiming it was an "ancient Prothean ship" and "not a Reaper" aren't entirely off-base, when one is working from an incomplete dataset.
With Mass Effect™: Andromeda, our team at BioWare™ is exploring how far they can take this beloved franchise. Yes, we’re building the best of what we all love about Mass Effect – amazing stories, characters and fun third-person shooter combat – and bringing them along with us on the expedition to Andromeda. But we’re also excited to be introducing new features and ways you can enjoy a Mass Effect game.
• More Freedom: One of our biggest ambitions is to give players an unprecedented level of freedom for a Mass Effect experience –where you’ll go, how you’ll get there, and how you’ll play.
• New Uncharted Worlds: We’re leaving the Milky Way behind and headed to Andromeda, where we’ll meet new allies, confront new enemies, and explore fascinating new worlds.
• The Next Great Mass Effect Experience: Mass Effect: Andromeda will be the first Mass Effect game for today’s consoles and the first built on the Frostbite engine. We’re pushing the technology to deliver visuals, story, and gameplay that have never been done in franchise history.
As we’ve been playing the game at the studio recently, it’s showing us that we’re taking the game in the right direction. But we also know we need the right amount of time to make sure we deliver everything the game can be and should be – that’s our commitment from all of us to all of you. Because of that, Mass Effect: Andromeda will now ship in early 2017. We can’t wait to show you how far we’re all going to go. We’ll see you at the EA PLAY press conference on June 12, with an update.
Based on the final enemy in the Mass Effect trilogy.
God bless his undead soul.
Man, EA/Bioware is being really tight lipped about this. No details about the plot, the main enemies or anything really besides the fact it takes place in another Galaxy.
Given the overwhelmingly poor reception ME3 received, and their dismissal of every complaint as 'uneducated plebians just don't understand art', I'm not surprised they're being quiet.
I'm still pretty excited though, here's hoping the conference showcases some more information.
A number of fans threw a hissy fit over the ending, but overall, Mass Effect 3 was massively well received, and was a top seller by far, selling over 3 million units and gaining aggregate reviews mostly in the nineties and high eighties depending on the platform.
It was quite well received, overall. Just because a number of rather loud people had an aneurysm over a minor detail doesn't mean everyone did.
Honestly? ME3 was the best shooter-RPG released in decades by a long shot, and if it has competition, it's only from the other ME games.
Minor detail ending...where a 3 game epic trilogy ends with an ending that fails to resolve most of the story threads (or more importantly, be related to them at all) and that was lifted point for point from another game right down to the 3 color choices for each option, necessitating a major rewrite and expansion of said ending (retaining most of the said flaws) and a further "Team Resolution" fanservice DLC
That doesn't happen when just a tiny minority of people are pissy about a vidya gaeme's story
Nevermind the "well received" part where many reviews were published without ever having finished the actual story and where game journalists (such as at IGN) went out of their way to attack the community over not liking it.
Vaktathi wrote: That doesn't happen when just a tiny minority of people are pissy about a vidya gaeme's story
The ending was fine. And I said "a number of people", not "a tiny minority", so stop with your strawman attacks. And you know what? Regardless of size, you're still a minority, stop pretending you talk for everyone who bought the game, or even most people who bought the game. You don't.
Vaktathi wrote: That doesn't happen when just a tiny minority of people are pissy about a vidya gaeme's story
The ending was fine.
Apparently not given how they had to release gobs of supplemental material and change large numbers of details like the gate explosions and the option to entirely refuse the Starchild and more.
And I said "a number of people", not "a tiny minority", so stop with your strawman attacks.
Hrm, methinks we're being coy here, my point was that such a response from the developer doesn't come about when just a tiny minority of people whine.
And you know what? Regardless of size, you're still a minority,
So...wait...you said you didn't say this...but now you are...
stop pretending you talk for everyone who bought the game, or even most people who bought the game. You don't.
Speaking of strawman's...where did I say I spoke for everyone who bought the game? I'm not saying a majority of people hated it or liked it. My point was that if you look at the fan (not media) reaction, unprecedented in size and scope (regardless of whether it was a minority or not), it forced an unprecedented reaction, which would indicate there very much was a problem.
If *you* liked the ending, great, fine, but lets not pretend like there weren't major legitimate narrative flaws with it either that were bound to upset people, as evidenced by the scale of the reaction both by fans an Bioware itself. By the same token, I can say I liked the Matrix sequels, but I can also acknowledge that they had major narrative problems too and despite the fact they made gobs of money and set their own records, probably weren't as good as the original Matrix movie either and I can see where people would be disappointed with them.
A number of fans threw a hissy fit over the ending, but overall, Mass Effect 3 was massively well received, and was a top seller by far, selling over 3 million units and gaining aggregate reviews mostly in the nineties and high eighties depending on the platform.
It was quite well received, overall. Just because a number of rather loud people had an aneurysm over a minor detail doesn't mean everyone did.
Honestly? ME3 was the best shooter-RPG released in decades by a long shot, and if it has competition, it's only from the other ME games.
I don't have any numbers to back up my statement as to how large a portion of the fanbase actually had an issue with the ending, but given your attitude, I imagine it's not worth trying to talk about it.
As for Andromeda has anyone seen that random 'test' video that was leaked a while back (a month or two)that had explosion and atmosphere testing in it? Had a random clip involving a couple krogan, a couple humans, there wasn't any sound and it looked like it had been recorded with a potato - but generally it looked like an 'in progress' tech video of sorts.
Looks amazing, the graphics are stunning even by today's very high standards, and most importantly, the aesthetic remains consistent by the look of things. Not a huge amount to go on, but it's promising!
I'll wait for the inevitable trilogy to finish this time before I think about playing any of them, that way if they change writers halfway through and it turns from high-concept sci-fi to SPEHSS MARINZ SHOOTIN DA BADDEES HURR with random French-surrealist ending again, I can just not bother getting invested.
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Compel wrote: So yay is basically Mass Effect: Atlantis then
If Atlantis were set 600 years later...
I believe the reference to '600 years later' is meant as a '600 years after 1969', or at least that's what I took from the video.
From the various videos and spoilers I've seen it doesn't look like it's THAT far removed from the future of the ME trilogy - but, then again, I've been wrong before.
Compel wrote: So yay is basically Mass Effect: Atlantis then
If Atlantis were set 600 years later...
I believe the reference to '600 years later' is meant as a '600 years after 1969', or at least that's what I took from the video.
From the various videos and spoilers I've seen it doesn't look like it's THAT far removed from the future of the ME trilogy - but, then again, I've been wrong before.
They had a Shepard (specifically, FemShep) providing the voice over for the earlier trailer. So I strongly doubt that the colony ship/fleet/whatever launches after ME3. And the tech looks more or less appropriate for the ME trilogy games, suggesting that the galaxy had access to a similar tech level when the expedition left.
It'd be nice if they gave us some actual info on the game's story besides "Andromeda!", though. It's not like they'd reveal massive plot spoilers by doing so since this would be information that the player should have access to literally the moment that the game starts.
Compel wrote: So yay is basically Mass Effect: Atlantis then
If Atlantis were set 600 years later...
I believe the reference to '600 years later' is meant as a '600 years after 1969', or at least that's what I took from the video.
From the various videos and spoilers I've seen it doesn't look like it's THAT far removed from the future of the ME trilogy - but, then again, I've been wrong before.
The exact quote is at 0:30, but here's a transcript.
This path began a long time ago, a course paved through human history that took us across continents, oceans, and ultimately to the stars. For us this planet is home; it's protected us, challenged us, and provided us the foundation to become galactic citizens. But the time has come to prepare ourselves for a future beyond the Milky Way, a future that begins 600 years from where we stand in a time and a place among unknown stars and unseen dangers.
And so we issue this call to the brave, the inquisitive, the trailblazers of the human race as an invitation to stand on the shoulders of those who came before and challenge yourself to go further. Begin your journey. Join the Andromeda Initiative today.
It'd be nice if they gave us some actual info on the game's story besides "Andromeda!", though. It's not like they'd reveal massive plot spoilers by doing so since this would be information that the player should have access to literally the moment that the game starts.
One thing we do know is that there isn't a femshep/broshep. Instead they've gone for twins or brother/sister as the main characters. Two distinctive characters rather than just the same character as girl or boy.
I reckon the best thing they could do with the twin you don't choose is have them as an active character (maybe even a party member) that acts as a foil to you, make them the game's avatar to comment on your choices and force you to question the decisions you make. Basically, a complement to the Paragon and Renegade system that exists beyond just Good Guy/Bad Guy points.
Even better, it could work both ways; as well as them judging you, there could come a point where you start corrupting or inspiring them depending on which way your character is leaning on the scale. It would add a lot more weight to the choices you make when it's not just affecting the world at large but someone your character has a personal connection to.
Well ME1 takes place in 2183, so I guess my assumption about the 1969/600 years from then is wrong.
But it's odd, with what little information we have...this massive undertaking to 'colonize' another galaxy just seems so...unnecessary. I mean, if the ship left before the events of ME3, then we can't use that as a reason...so, why?
I know there's little in the way of anything approaching solid information about the storyline, but this trailer just seemed to raise more questions, which I guess it was meant to do.
"We ****ed up the plot and universe so badly at the end of Mass Effect 3 that the only way we can continue the franchise is from doing a blank slate and maybe, just maybe, have a reference or two to the original setting during the game to pretend that we answer some questions but don't really."
In other words, the exact same thing done with:
Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic 2
Neverwinter Nights and Shadows of Undrentide.
Not that Bethesda and Obsidian are much better...
At least they seem to have avoided the issue with the Dragon Age franchise, purely by having a situation where: "There's always going to be some jerk doing jerky things somewhere."
Frankenberry wrote: Well ME1 takes place in 2183, so I guess my assumption about the 1969/600 years from then is wrong.
But it's odd, with what little information we have...this massive undertaking to 'colonize' another galaxy just seems so...unnecessary. I mean, if the ship left before the events of ME3, then we can't use that as a reason...so, why?
I know there's little in the way of anything approaching solid information about the storyline, but this trailer just seemed to raise more questions, which I guess it was meant to do.
So, wild speculation here:
The Andromeda Initiative is something undertaken by members of humanity to try to preserve their culture and race. Seeing as how what we've seen so far is basically just humans, it could be something tied to Cerberus or one of Cerberus' side organizations.
Remember that Cerberus wasn't just bad guys. There were good people in there, who genuinely believed that humanity was being undermined or just plain mistreated by the Council races. Think about the Blitz and the fact that Batarians basically got off with a wrist slap despite viciously attacking human colonies, the Turians and their first encounters with humanity, etc.
If that's the case? I'd say the Andromeda Initiative launches somewhere between ME2 and ME3, since post-ME2 Cerberus started using Reaper Indoctrination on its troops.
Frankenberry wrote: Well ME1 takes place in 2183, so I guess my assumption about the 1969/600 years from then is wrong.
But it's odd, with what little information we have...this massive undertaking to 'colonize' another galaxy just seems so...unnecessary. I mean, if the ship left before the events of ME3, then we can't use that as a reason...so, why?
I know there's little in the way of anything approaching solid information about the storyline, but this trailer just seemed to raise more questions, which I guess it was meant to do.
So, wild speculation here:
The Andromeda Initiative is something undertaken by members of humanity to try to preserve their culture and race. Seeing as how what we've seen so far is basically just humans, it could be something tied to Cerberus or one of Cerberus' side organizations.
Remember that Cerberus wasn't just bad guys. There were good people in there, who genuinely believed that humanity was being undermined or just plain mistreated by the Council races. Think about the Blitz and the fact that Batarians basically got off with a wrist slap despite viciously attacking human colonies, the Turians and their first encounters with humanity, etc.
If that's the case? I'd say the Andromeda Initiative launches somewhere between ME2 and ME3, since post-ME2 Cerberus started using Reaper Indoctrination on its troops.
Alternately, a group of people who believe Shepard's warnings about the Reapers decide that the best way to avoid getting massacred is to flee to another galaxy. That also fits with the expedition launching between ME2 and ME3, since after ME3 there wouldn't be any need to leave.
It also avoids having to worry about whether your colonists were affected by one of Shepard's colors picks at the end of ME3.
Frankenberry wrote: Well ME1 takes place in 2183, so I guess my assumption about the 1969/600 years from then is wrong.
But it's odd, with what little information we have...this massive undertaking to 'colonize' another galaxy just seems so...unnecessary. I mean, if the ship left before the events of ME3, then we can't use that as a reason...so, why?
It makes sense the ship left before ME3. The galaxy was going to be destroyed by Reapers. I'm pretty sure this is some sort of Noah's Ark spaceship that took 600 years to reach Andromeda.
I'm not certain, but I'm somewhat sure that Bioware have specifically slammed the door shut on the, "the Andromeda Project was made around the time of ME3" due to them saying 'all effort and material was put towards the crucible / preparing for the Reaper attack' and that "there were simply no resources left for a project this size."
Frankenberry wrote: Well ME1 takes place in 2183, so I guess my assumption about the 1969/600 years from then is wrong.
But it's odd, with what little information we have...this massive undertaking to 'colonize' another galaxy just seems so...unnecessary. I mean, if the ship left before the events of ME3, then we can't use that as a reason...so, why?
I know there's little in the way of anything approaching solid information about the storyline, but this trailer just seemed to raise more questions, which I guess it was meant to do.
So, wild speculation here:
The Andromeda Initiative is something undertaken by members of humanity to try to preserve their culture and race. Seeing as how what we've seen so far is basically just humans, it could be something tied to Cerberus or one of Cerberus' side organizations.
Remember that Cerberus wasn't just bad guys. There were good people in there, who genuinely believed that humanity was being undermined or just plain mistreated by the Council races. Think about the Blitz and the fact that Batarians basically got off with a wrist slap despite viciously attacking human colonies, the Turians and their first encounters with humanity, etc.
If that's the case? I'd say the Andromeda Initiative launches somewhere between ME2 and ME3, since post-ME2 Cerberus started using Reaper Indoctrination on its troops.
While not discounting Cerberus' ability to get gak done, something on a scale this massive doesn't seem like something they'd have a hand in - before ME3 Cerberus is a more clandestine group, operating more in the shadows and behind the scenes - and they're all about human dominance, having showcased different races being apart of this expedition sort of rules Cerberus out as being the driving force.
Melissia wrote:
Frankenberry wrote: Well ME1 takes place in 2183, so I guess my assumption about the 1969/600 years from then is wrong.
But it's odd, with what little information we have...this massive undertaking to 'colonize' another galaxy just seems so...unnecessary. I mean, if the ship left before the events of ME3, then we can't use that as a reason...so, why?
Because it's there.
A fair point. But with Mass Effect, everything has been a reaction, not preventative - which isn't saying that simple exploration isn't enough of a reason.
It feels like, to me at least, that ship is launched AFTER the conclusion of ME3 - perhaps the initiative to leave our galaxy is born during the fight with the Reapers or maybe the destruction brought on by such a massive scale of war depletes our galaxy so much that the only option is to find somewhere else to set up shop. The races of the Mass Effect universe have shown that unless there is some massive driving force behind it, change almost never takes place - hence why I have a hard time accepting simple exploration as a reason for the colony ship/jumping to another galaxy.
Of course, we're probably ALL wrong and BioWare completely rewrote the ME canon so that the Reapers were simply advanced Geth ships. /deadpan
Frankenberry wrote: Well ME1 takes place in 2183, so I guess my assumption about the 1969/600 years from then is wrong.
But it's odd, with what little information we have...this massive undertaking to 'colonize' another galaxy just seems so...unnecessary. I mean, if the ship left before the events of ME3, then we can't use that as a reason...so, why?
I know there's little in the way of anything approaching solid information about the storyline, but this trailer just seemed to raise more questions, which I guess it was meant to do.
So, wild speculation here:
The Andromeda Initiative is something undertaken by members of humanity to try to preserve their culture and race. Seeing as how what we've seen so far is basically just humans, it could be something tied to Cerberus or one of Cerberus' side organizations.
Remember that Cerberus wasn't just bad guys. There were good people in there, who genuinely believed that humanity was being undermined or just plain mistreated by the Council races. Think about the Blitz and the fact that Batarians basically got off with a wrist slap despite viciously attacking human colonies, the Turians and their first encounters with humanity, etc.
If that's the case? I'd say the Andromeda Initiative launches somewhere between ME2 and ME3, since post-ME2 Cerberus started using Reaper Indoctrination on its troops.
While not discounting Cerberus' ability to get gak done, something on a scale this massive doesn't seem like something they'd have a hand in - before ME3 Cerberus is a more clandestine group, operating more in the shadows and behind the scenes - and they're all about human dominance, having showcased different races being apart of this expedition sort of rules Cerberus out as being the driving force.
Truthfully, Cerberus were the Alpha Legion of the Mass Effect universe.
They were huge. They were clandestine certainly, but they also had a public front.
Yes, perhaps a little too huge. Like unrealistically huge. They were a bit too powerful for a secret society of extremists. Where are they getting all this money from?
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Yes, perhaps a little too huge. Like unrealistically huge. They were a bit too powerful for a secret society of extremists. Where are they getting all this money from?
An excellent point - I mean how many trillions did it cost for them to revive Shepard? Or build their fleet that could hold off the Alliance? Or the apparent hundreds of city-spanning secret bases and space stations?
Clandestine initially? Sure. By the end of ME3 these guys were as big a player as any individual races army.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Yes, perhaps a little too huge. Like unrealistically huge. They were a bit too powerful for a secret society of extremists. Where are they getting all this money from?
An excellent point - I mean how many trillions did it cost for them to revive Shepard? Or build their fleet that could hold off the Alliance? Or the apparent hundreds of city-spanning secret bases and space stations?
Clandestine initially? Sure. By the end of ME3 these guys were as big a player as any individual races army.
I believe they built the Normandy 2. Twice as big, fast and stealthy as the SR1. It was more advanced than anything the galactic empires could make.
The Andromeda Initiative is something undertaken by members of humanity to try to preserve their culture and race. Seeing as how what we've seen so far is basically just humans, it could be something tied to Cerberus or one of Cerberus' side organizations.
Remember that Cerberus wasn't just bad guys. There were good people in there, who genuinely believed that humanity was being undermined or just plain mistreated by the Council races. Think about the Blitz and the fact that Batarians basically got off with a wrist slap despite viciously attacking human colonies, the Turians and their first encounters with humanity, etc.
If that's the case? I'd say the Andromeda Initiative launches somewhere between ME2 and ME3, since post-ME2 Cerberus started using Reaper Indoctrination on its troops.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Yes, perhaps a little too huge. Like unrealistically huge. They were a bit too powerful for a secret society of extremists. Where are they getting all this money from?
Their many corporate fronts?
I mean, remember that they weren't just a "secret society of extremists". They were also the Illusive Man's brainchild and had a network of corporations that were fronts for his business interests that equipped Cerberus.
The Andromeda Initiative is something undertaken by members of humanity to try to preserve their culture and race. Seeing as how what we've seen so far is basically just humans, it could be something tied to Cerberus or one of Cerberus' side organizations.
Remember that Cerberus wasn't just bad guys. There were good people in there, who genuinely believed that humanity was being undermined or just plain mistreated by the Council races. Think about the Blitz and the fact that Batarians basically got off with a wrist slap despite viciously attacking human colonies, the Turians and their first encounters with humanity, etc.
If that's the case? I'd say the Andromeda Initiative launches somewhere between ME2 and ME3, since post-ME2 Cerberus started using Reaper Indoctrination on its troops.
Kanluwen wrote: Remember that Cerberus wasn't just bad guys. There were good people in there, who genuinely believed that humanity was being undermined or just plain mistreated by the Council races. Think about the Blitz and the fact that Batarians basically got off with a wrist slap despite viciously attacking human colonies, the Turians and their first encounters with humanity, etc.
I have a vague recollection that the "Cerberus isn't all bad guys" conversation with your crew members in ME2 implies that while not all of the Cerberus members are bad guys, most of the non-bad guy members are on the Normandy SR2.
Don't need to say anything more. Great to see some concepts realized finally.
What concepts?
Also, it looks like it's legitimately hundreds of years in the future (from the ME trilogy) - that's an interesting choice, since it looks like they decided to keep the same tech, weapons, and overall ship design.
Color me excited though, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Ryder siblings do things.
Don't need to say anything more. Great to see some concepts realized finally.
What concepts?
Some unreleased material from the ME3 multiplayer. That Pathfinder armor and the UAV/drone that was getting "thrown" airborne?
That was part of a multiplayer pack that never was finalized or materialized because of the launch of the next-gen consoles. It was going to be 20ish new characters from what I was told at the time. The Pathfinder armor and the UAV were for the N7 "Ranger" Infiltrator. The Drone was going to be something they launched and which could mark enemy units and generate a continuous scan pulse for your team. Could also be piloted by the Ranger themselves and gain offensive tools in the form of a rapid fire cannon ala the Cerberus turret or a 'bomb' loadout where it could rain Cluster Bombs(read: what the N7 Destroyer had) on the field that had varying charges(some had Fire, Cryo, Electric, etc) so they could detonate or prime for powers.
Please don't ask for more details, as I can't discuss that. I don't have the same in with the BioWare studio that I used to, nor do I have access to all of my old information from that timeframe.
Just can leave you with that bit. The remaining information was all technical information, nothing exciting.
Also, it looks like it's legitimately hundreds of years in the future (from the ME trilogy) - that's an interesting choice, since it looks like they decided to keep the same tech, weapons, and overall ship design.
Again, there's a reason for that.
It's a slow colony ship. The Andromeda Initiative launched the ship 600 years prior to the game. That puts us smack dab at the start of the Reaper War it seems.
Additionally, those Cerberus ties are looking more and more likely now. Not many places could create a Normandy like vessel...
Could it be perhaps another galaxy where AI "won" and there's no reapers?
I get the impression that the slow-colony ship was launched before the Reaper War (I still think between ME1 and ME2 myself), perhaps as part of a "hey everyone, lets get all the species to work together" idea (or hey... an initiative) - So they send delegates from all the major races.
Naturally, technology hasn't 'really' advanced for them, because they've spent the past few centuries, well, unconscious.
Maybe the game is set a generation or so after 'seeding' this new galaxy (where the original AI who conquered it are woken up due to shenanigans).
Or even just a few years.
The Hyperion, would be the equivalent of the Citadel and all the races have their own enclaves in different planets of the galaxy.
Mass Effect Andromeda: Deluxe Edition Product Description wrote:
Deluxe includes: Pathfinder Casual Outfit, Scavenger Armor, Pathfinder Elite Weapon Set (4), Pet Pyjak (Monkey), Digital Soundtrack, Multiplayer Deluxe Launch Pack $5 Value
Battle like never before. New additions like destructible environments, boosted jumps for added verticality, and all-new weapons and Biotics make combat more thrilling than ever
With amazing weapons, powers and tech, and much more flexible skill and weapon progression tree-you can replicate your play style to make you unstoppable against new, powerful alien enemies
Compel wrote: Could it be perhaps another galaxy where AI "won" and there's no reapers?
I get the impression that the slow-colony ship was launched before the Reaper War (I still think between ME1 and ME2 myself), perhaps as part of a "hey everyone, lets get all the species to work together" idea (or hey... an initiative) - So they send delegates from all the major races.
Naturally, technology hasn't 'really' advanced for them, because they've spent the past few centuries, well, unconscious.
Maybe the game is set a generation or so after 'seeding' this new galaxy (where the original AI who conquered it are woken up due to shenanigans).
Or even just a few years.
The Hyperion, would be the equivalent of the Citadel and all the races have their own enclaves in different planets of the galaxy.
Yes, exactly even though its 600 years in the future they'd still have the same tech from ME3. I think we might have a run in with some of the locals of Andromeda. There's probably aliens there and they would see the Milky Wayers as invaders.
Additionally, those Cerberus ties are looking more and more likely now. Not many places could create a Normandy like vessel...
I find it highly unlikely that Cerberus is behind this. For something of this size, Cerberus probably would have encouraged a human-only crew. But there are Milky Way non-humans visible in the trailer - at least two Asari, and one salarian. And as for who might create a new Normandy-like vessel... remember that the SR1 was built by Earth. Cerberus isn't the only organization that can build a ship like the Normandy.
Not only that but the Normandy was the first ship made as part of an alliance between humanity and the Turbans as a process of repairing ties after the war.
Which is why I have the theory of "go bigger" - and go for a uniting proves of all the council races as the next big endeavour to further sciences and cooperation.
Compel wrote: Not only that but the Normandy was the first ship made as part of an alliance between humanity and the Turbans as a process of repairing ties after the war.
Which is why I have the theory of "go bigger" - and go for a uniting proves of all the council races as the next big endeavour to further sciences and cooperation.
Again, I'm thinking of Stargate Atlantis
The thing to take into consideration is the website has a timeline. Andromeda Initiative was privately sponsored with no input from Systems Alliance.
Mass Effect Andromeda: Deluxe Edition Product Description wrote:
Deluxe includes: Pathfinder Casual Outfit, Scavenger Armor, Pathfinder Elite Weapon Set (4), Pet Pyjak (Monkey), Digital Soundtrack, Multiplayer Deluxe Launch Pack $5 Value
Battle like never before. New additions like destructible environments, boosted jumps for added verticality, and all-new weapons and Biotics make combat more thrilling than ever
With amazing weapons, powers and tech, and much more flexible skill and weapon progression tree-you can replicate your play style to make you unstoppable against new, powerful alien enemies
YAY! MULTIPLAYER!
Here's hoping it retains it's player base for a bit longer than ME3 did - I LOVED the MP for that game, just could never find any games.
Mass Effect Andromeda: Deluxe Edition Product Description wrote:
Deluxe includes: Pathfinder Casual Outfit, Scavenger Armor, Pathfinder Elite Weapon Set (4), Pet Pyjak (Monkey), Digital Soundtrack, Multiplayer Deluxe Launch Pack $5 Value
Battle like never before. New additions like destructible environments, boosted jumps for added verticality, and all-new weapons and Biotics make combat more thrilling than ever
With amazing weapons, powers and tech, and much more flexible skill and weapon progression tree-you can replicate your play style to make you unstoppable against new, powerful alien enemies
YAY! MULTIPLAYER!
Here's hoping it retains it's player base for a bit longer than ME3 did - I LOVED the MP for that game, just could never find any games.
Really?
Because it was in the top 10 for player activity on XBL for at least a year and a half after its release.
Hell, as of Monday with it becoming a Backwards Compatible title?
Mass Effect Andromeda: Deluxe Edition Product Description wrote:
Deluxe includes: Pathfinder Casual Outfit, Scavenger Armor, Pathfinder Elite Weapon Set (4), Pet Pyjak (Monkey), Digital Soundtrack, Multiplayer Deluxe Launch Pack $5 Value
Battle like never before. New additions like destructible environments, boosted jumps for added verticality, and all-new weapons and Biotics make combat more thrilling than ever
With amazing weapons, powers and tech, and much more flexible skill and weapon progression tree-you can replicate your play style to make you unstoppable against new, powerful alien enemies
YAY! MULTIPLAYER!
Here's hoping it retains it's player base for a bit longer than ME3 did - I LOVED the MP for that game, just could never find any games.
Really?
Because it was in the top 10 for player activity on XBL for at least a year and a half after its release.
Hell, as of Monday with it becoming a Backwards Compatible title?
I was able to find games in under five minutes!
Were you on PC, PS3, or 360?
360.
I realized that at the time I was working 3rd shift and I'm not sure how their matchmaking works (most games have theirs based on locale), so it could have just been bad timing on my part.
But now with the back-compat on the Xbone, I think I'll give it another try - is the installation permanent, i.e. until I remove the files? I only ask because after I installed another back-compat game and removed the disc, the installation disappeared.
The second half of it is the same cinematic trailer that's already been linked. But the first half is some background on the Andromeda Initiative.
A few items -
- The founder of the Initiative is apparently human (though since we never see under her helmet, she might be an Asari).
- There are four "Ark" vessels. Each ark is crewed by a different alien species, and each is supposed to locate a world will make a suitable colony world for the ship's crew.
- There's a fifth vessel, referred to as the "Nexus". Presumably the Nexus is supposed to act as the central coordinating hub for the members of the Initiative.
- The trip from the Milky Way to Andromeda is confirmed to take 600 years.
The other alien races that are crewing the Ark vessels aren't identified in the video. The three Citadel Council races make the most sense. That begs the question of whether Bioware is going to not include any other races - including the Quarrian (who are popular among the playerbase). But nothing rules out the possibility of other races providing small contingents that travel onboard the Nexus.
I can't see them cutting it down to just the humans, Asari, Turians and Salarians. In fact, I think one of the earlier trailers had at least one Krogan in it, and I doubt the Quarians are going anywhere. Geth are almost certainly out, and I don't really expect to see Batarians, Volus, Hanar or any of the other minor races, but the Krogan and Quarians are too iconic to sideline.
Thinking about it, I can see why there wouldn't be Quarian or Krogan arks though; assuming this takes place before ME3, the Krogan aren't in need of a home as they're still dying out, and the Quarians are a spacebound race anyway, they don't need a new homeworld as they still expect to retake Rannoch from the Geth. I imagine some will leave aboard the Nexus (which looks to be this game's Citadel) simply out of curiosity, desperation in the face of Reaper invasion or just because they want to be a part of this.
Interesting that the trailer mentioned establishing colonies and engaging in diplomacy between the vehicle and combat training, almost suggests those are going to factor into the game mechanics. I'd love to see a 'settlement' system where you can establish a colony yourself and have to manage that, and a greater focus on negotiation (as a skill equally weighted with combat rather than just a narrative device) would be cool.
They better have all the races in it. I love all the different species in ME. Seems unlikely there would be any Geth though even Krogans seems pretty unlikely.
I imagine that given the love the playerbase has shown for all of the ME races, most, if not all, will make an appearance. Maybe not in great numbers, like the humans, but certainly in some specialized role.
The more and more I hear/read about this story, the less inclined I believe it to be before ME3. I mean there's still room for it to work (and would explain why the races were so unprepared for the Reapers - outside of their arrogance, given the scope of this undertaking), but I feel it makes more sense post-ME3.
Doesn't matter, the hype train is boarding, and I'm sitting in first class.
Frankenberry wrote: I imagine that given the love the playerbase has shown for all of the ME races, most, if not all, will make an appearance. Maybe not in great numbers, like the humans, but certainly in some specialized role.
The more and more I hear/read about this story, the less inclined I believe it to be before ME3. I mean there's still room for it to work (and would explain why the races were so unprepared for the Reapers - outside of their arrogance, given the scope of this undertaking), but I feel it makes more sense post-ME3.
Doesn't matter, the hype train is boarding, and I'm sitting in first class.
You don't have to believe it or not. There's a timeline on the website that lays everything out.
The Andromeda Initiative launches(as in the Arks and the Nexus begin their journey) in 2185--that is pre-ME3.
It then takes 600 years for the ships to finally arrive, putting you at so far post-ME3 that you're going to be starting fresh with everyone but the longest lived alien races, even if we weren't looking at a whole new galaxy.
Yeah, she was 'only' 50 in Mass Effect 1. At 650 or so, she'll be maybe starting to think about considering a midlife crisis or raising her Shepard asari babies...
I do wonder if there will be any kind of communcation between the Andromeda lot and the original civilisations. The fact they had instantaneous galaxy-wide comms in the original trilogy would suggest distance certainly isn't a problem with their quantum entanglement systems, but I wonder if that'll extend to the next galaxy over or whether they'll keep it entirely separate just for the sake of simplicity and to create the 'frontier' feel.
I wouldn't mind a Liara cameo, it's the most simple and logical way to call back to the originals and wouldn't tread on the toes of any individual playthrough, as so far as I know, she can't die in any ending other than the 'do nothing, and everyone is screwed' one, which I'd assume very few people left as their actual end.
Kanluwen wrote: One of the Mass Effect devs was kind enough to retweet a fan-created graphic of the timeline for Mass Effect.
Well that certainly explains a few things.
I might have missed it somewhere, but do any of the novels or game aides mention this expedition anywhere?
Edit: Maybe I'm stupid (chances are one of you will point this out), but what's with the diverging red/blue/green timeline choices for the end of the Reaper War and the main timeline choice where the galaxy is cleansed? Is this sort of a 'what you chose will be the background for Andromeda' kind of thing or is Bioware saying that regardless of your choice, everyone loses?
Kanluwen wrote: The Andromeda Initiative is never mentioned. Which, IMO, leads a bit more towards supporting my bit about Cerberus involvement.
The red/blue/green timeline is the end of the Reaper War(aka: Shepherd's War)...but the bit in 2386 is a bit interesting to figure it out.
The colors match up to the endings in ME3 that are based on which option Shepherd chooses. There's a fourth option, though - i.e. Shepherd never makes a choice and the Reapers kill everyone. I'm pretty sure that the main timeline branch (i.e. the one that isn't a new color after 2186) is meant to represent that option. Presumably it takes the Reapers 200 years after winning the battle at Earth to finish wiping out the various sentient species in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Well I guess all Civilizations were destroyed in ME3 just through the carnage of The Reaper War regardless of which ending you chose. That does''t mean there's no intelligent life left just Civilization as they all knew it has been destroyed.
Well, it would certainly nuke the chances of encountering any of the main characters from the ME trilogy if BioWare runs with the Reapers win/Fallout from the war destroys the remaining races.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Well I guess all Civilizations were destroyed in ME3 just through the carnage of The Reaper War regardless of which ending you chose. That does''t mean there's no intelligent life left just Civilization as they all knew it has been destroyed.
?
That's only in the "Shepherd didn't stop the Reapers" ending. Note how the dot on the timeline associated with that particular event is only on the base timeline, and not on any of the ones that match up to the infamous three colors. It evidently takes 200 years for the Reapers to finish their sweep of the Milky Way (and the fact that the "reaping" takes a while has been alluded to as far back as the original game).
Edit - Not that the state of the galaxy at the end of the Reaper invasion is likely to make much difference. The only communication system that *might* work between the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies is the quantum entanglement system. And that requires very specific devices on each end that are essentially linked specifically to each other and only to each other. It wouldn't be that big of a leap to guess that even if Shepherd stops the Reapers, any quantum entanglement devices that could communicate with the Andromeda Initiative were destroyed during the chaos of the Reaper attacks.
"We ****ed up the ending of Mass Effect 3, so we're going to ignore it entirely" situation. - Lots of Undrentide flashbacks with this one.
Have you watched the lead dev interview on Youtube yet? He gives a very political answer when ME3's ending becomes the topic, but it's obvious that they were shocked/still concerned about the feedback. I tried to find it, but my search-fu isn't what it used to be.
"We ****ed up the ending of Mass Effect 3, so we're going to ignore it entirely" situation. - Lots of Undrentide flashbacks with this one.
Have you watched the lead dev interview on Youtube yet? He gives a very political answer when ME3's ending becomes the topic, but it's obvious that they were shocked/still concerned about the feedback. I tried to find it, but my search-fu isn't what it used to be.
I logged onto the game forums immediately after finishing the game, and looked through the comments. It seemed pretty clear that the mods on the forum genuinely didn't understand why people didn't love the game ending, and not in a "We're paid by the company that made this game, so we'll act like we like it" sort of way.
The funny thing is, about a month before the game released, an online site spoiled the original ending (basically, that the Normandy crash-lands on an unknown world; there was no mention of Ghost Boy or the decision). And the spoiler got panned because everyone thought Bioware would produce something better than what was described.
Know the easiest way to stay on topic? It's by NOT posting off-topic! --Janthkin
Anyhow, it looks like between the four ships that are launched, each one is meant for a specific race - I wonder if that means that the campaign is going to be centered around each one as the story progresses.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Well I guess all Civilizations were destroyed in ME3 just through the carnage of The Reaper War regardless of which ending you chose. That does''t mean there's no intelligent life left just Civilization as they all knew it has been destroyed.
?
That's only in the "Shepherd didn't stop the Reapers" ending. Note how the dot on the timeline associated with that particular event is only on the base timeline, and not on any of the ones that match up to the infamous three colors. It evidently takes 200 years for the Reapers to finish their sweep of the Milky Way (and the fact that the "reaping" takes a while has been alluded to as far back as the original game).
Edit - Not that the state of the galaxy at the end of the Reaper invasion is likely to make much difference. The only communication system that *might* work between the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies is the quantum entanglement system. And that requires very specific devices on each end that are essentially linked specifically to each other and only to each other. It wouldn't be that big of a leap to guess that even if Shepherd stops the Reapers, any quantum entanglement devices that could communicate with the Andromeda Initiative were destroyed during the chaos of the Reaper attacks.
Oh yeah, I guess it is 200 years after the Reaper War. Well that's dumb. Why would they make the events of ME3 completely pointless?
How, exactly, does that make ME3 useless? ME3 had such a wide-ranging and massively changing series of endings that it wasn't going to get a direct sequel to begin with. It was presented as, both before and after its release, the end of Shepard's story, and that's perfectly fine-- not every story has to pointlessly continue on and on until it stops selling / getting good ratings, like it's the Simpsons or something.
This is the start of a new story in the same universe, and they chose a separate galaxy so it wouldn't interfere with ME3, or need to make any particular ending choice canon.
If they were to make ME4 after the completion of my game, Shep would be stuck wandering around alone on the ruined surface of Earth, shooting whatever desperate-survivor raiders were there while scavenging for supplies...
... it's a lot more like Mad Max than Mass Effect, really.
Melissia wrote: How, exactly, does that make ME3 useless? ME3 had such a wide-ranging and massively changing series of endings that it wasn't going to get a direct sequel to begin with. It was presented as, both before and after its release, the end of Shepard's story, and that's perfectly fine-- not every story has to pointlessly continue on and on until it stops selling / getting good ratings, like it's the Simpsons or something.
This is the start of a new story in the same universe, and they chose a separate galaxy so it wouldn't interfere with ME3, or need to make any particular ending choice canon.
No, I'm glad they moved the new storyline to Andromeda but something happens in the Milky Way that destroys the Galaxy. That mean that 400 hours I put into saving it was pointless. They should have just said nothing and that way every player gets his ending.
Melissia wrote: How, exactly, does that make ME3 useless? ME3 had such a wide-ranging and massively changing series of endings that it wasn't going to get a direct sequel to begin with. It was presented as, both before and after its release, the end of Shepard's story, and that's perfectly fine-- not every story has to pointlessly continue on and on until it stops selling / getting good ratings, like it's the Simpsons or something.
This is the start of a new story in the same universe, and they chose a separate galaxy so it wouldn't interfere with ME3, or need to make any particular ending choice canon.
No, I'm glad they moved the new storyline to Andromeda but something happens in the Milky Way that destroys the Galaxy. That mean that 400 hours I put into saving it was pointless. They should have just said nothing and that way every player gets his ending.
I haven't checked out the site yet, but that timeline seems to suggest that there are deviations depending on what Shepard chooses (or doesn't choose, as it were).
Or is it written somewhere that we lost the Reaper War? (This isn't sarcasm, I genuinely had no idea if that's the case)
Melissia wrote: How, exactly, does that make ME3 useless? ME3 had such a wide-ranging and massively changing series of endings that it wasn't going to get a direct sequel to begin with. It was presented as, both before and after its release, the end of Shepard's story, and that's perfectly fine-- not every story has to pointlessly continue on and on until it stops selling / getting good ratings, like it's the Simpsons or something.
This is the start of a new story in the same universe, and they chose a separate galaxy so it wouldn't interfere with ME3, or need to make any particular ending choice canon.
No, I'm glad they moved the new storyline to Andromeda but something happens in the Milky Way that destroys the Galaxy. That mean that 400 hours I put into saving it was pointless. They should have just said nothing and that way every player gets his ending.
Again, you're misreading the timeline.
If Shepherd does nothing, then yes, everyone dies. Just like in the game. But if Shepherd picks one of the three endings, then the Reapers lose. That's what the timeline indicates. That's why there are four divergent lines on the timeline. The galaxy is not cleansed of life 200 years later if Shepherd picks one of the three colors.
From Bioware's point of view, it's Schrodinger's Ending. And the timeline is doing it's best to show that.
Again - the "everyone dies 200 years later" thing is because that is how long it takes the Reapers to "cleanse" the galaxy. The fact that it takes the Reapers a long time to thoroughly exterminate all sentient life in the galaxy is not a secret. It's not new information. It's something that we were told all the way back in the first Mass Effect game. Remember that the Prothean AI on the final planet in the first game talked about how the Reapers took so long that power at the facility started to run out, and the AI had to shut down power on many of the stasis pods so that a few survivors could live.
Melissia wrote: How, exactly, does that make ME3 useless? ME3 had such a wide-ranging and massively changing series of endings that it wasn't going to get a direct sequel to begin with. It was presented as, both before and after its release, the end of Shepard's story, and that's perfectly fine-- not every story has to pointlessly continue on and on until it stops selling / getting good ratings, like it's the Simpsons or something.
This is the start of a new story in the same universe, and they chose a separate galaxy so it wouldn't interfere with ME3, or need to make any particular ending choice canon.
No, I'm glad they moved the new storyline to Andromeda but something happens in the Milky Way that destroys the Galaxy. That mean that 400 hours I put into saving it was pointless. They should have just said nothing and that way every player gets his ending.
Again, you're misreading the timeline.
If Shepherd does nothing, then yes, everyone dies. Just like in the game. But if Shepherd picks one of the three endings, then the Reapers lose. That's what the timeline indicates. That's why there are four divergent lines on the timeline. The galaxy is not cleansed of life 200 years later if Shepherd picks one of the three colors.
From Bioware's point of view, it's Schrodinger's Ending. And the timeline is doing it's best to show that.
Again - the "everyone dies 200 years later" thing is because that is how long it takes the Reapers to "cleanse" the galaxy. The fact that it takes the Reapers a long time to thoroughly exterminate all sentient life in the galaxy is not a secret. It's not new information. It's something that we were told all the way back in the first Mass Effect game. Remember that the Prothean AI on the final planet in the first game talked about how the Reapers took so long that power at the facility started to run out, and the AI had to shut down power on many of the stasis pods so that a few survivors could live.
Ah, I see what you mean. The "everyone dies" line is one of 4 possibilities. Phew, galaxy saved again!
Right. The colors are just representative of each of the endings. When you choose to do nothing as Shepard, the color of that ending is just normal dialogue choices-- to me that paints it as a false ending, or at most a "bad end" type ending, but others view it differntly. To me, given what happens at the end of the red ending (not saying what for those who still haven't played and care, as few as that number might be), I consider that canon.
Has anyone had a chance to read over the newest Game Informer? Saw it showed up today but I had to run to work without it - looks like Andromeda was their big story for the issue.
Melissia wrote: Right. The colors are just representative of each of the endings. When you choose to do nothing as Shepard, the color of that ending is just normal dialogue choices-- to me that paints it as a false ending, or at most a "bad end" type ending, but others view it differntly. To me, given what happens at the end of the red ending (not saying what for those who still haven't played and care, as few as that number might be), I consider that canon.
I don't see why that makes it anymore canon than the other endings. To me it makes it less canon.
Spoiler:
Shepard dies! No need to move it to another galaxy with a new protagonist if he isn't dead
So if she lived, that's the ONLY possibility for you?
Even though the game was marketed, FROM THE fething START, as "the end of her story"?
And you claim this is logic?
The end of a person's story in a video game doesn't have to be their death. It could simply be that ME3 was the last major antagonistic force they faced. Trying to force a serial to continue on until it runs out of sales and enthusiasm is silly.
The red ending is the only ending where Shepard has a chance of living. All the others force him to give up his consciousness and body in order to either control the Reapers or force evolution on all living species in the Milky Way. Or, everyone dies if you throw up the bird at space kid.
Anyway, it makes a type of sense where Bioware kills Shepard - it makes it so people don't whine and complain about not having a 4th Shepard ME game (even though I'm sure that'll happen anyway) and gives them the room to work on a whole new experience.
Although, given the 600 year time gap between games it doesn't really matter to Andromeda's story unless Bioware is going to include some nod to the older games via their save system. Even then, if it's anything like Inquisition they'll have a website where you can just build whatever 'canon' you want.
We know Krogans are in Andromeda due to leaked footage. Unfortunately, that's Krogans before they get sorted out in ME3, which means we have to deal with even more Krogan storylines that were done with. If I have to hear about the genophage one more time...
I still have all my original saves, but even so, 600 years in the future, and a group of people willing to leave everything behind is probably a group that will want to just not talk about all the crap from before.
They also seem to be planning a different way of handling moving forward in this new set of games based in Andromeda. I suspect they're taking cues from Dragon Age in how each game jumps to a different character in a bigger world, but with throwbacks. If anything, all the talk about an expanded presence for non-party NPCs, indicates influence from that.
Melissia wrote: So if she lived, that's the ONLY possibility for you?
Even though the game was marketed, FROM THE fething START, as "the end of her story"?
And you claim this is logic?
The end of a person's story in a video game doesn't have to be their death. It could simply be that ME3 was the last major antagonistic force they faced. Trying to force a serial to continue on until it runs out of sales and enthusiasm is silly.
You didn't explain how how Shepard living is somehow more canon.
Melissia wrote: Because that's not the part of your post I cared to object to. I find it utterly illogical that you think that her living necessitates a fourth game.
You're the one that said one ending in particular in canon for some unexplained reason. If you have no reasoning that's fine but it was you the started the topic in the first place.
So? You're the one that argued that, essentially, the only way for ME4 to not be all about Shepard is if Shepard dies. Which has zero logic to it. All I offered was an opinion that I felt it was the best ending for the series, the one I considered the most canon. I didn't make any weird, wild claims about WHY this was, only that I liked it the most.
In spite of your bizarro-world argument, whether or not Shepard lives or dies is irrelevant to the fact that ME3 is the end of Shepard's story. It was always going to be the end of her story. The game is about what the ending of her story is going to be, not about whether it will be the end.
Hang on a second guys, we're not allowed to talk about ME3's ending here, it could...DERAIL THE THREAD. /deadpan
On topic: Has there been any word on weapons? I liked how ME2 did things: primary, secondary, heavy weapon - made every character pretty solid in terms of damage and still played to each classes specific weaknesses/strengths.
ME3 and 1 I liked less because of how everything got so...I don't know, bloated? I hate to be the guy who complains about too much content, but it seemed like I didn't use 90% of the weapons after I unlocked the two I liked. Not to mention, with the upgrade system you couldn't upgrade every weapon because of the massive cost in credits it would require - so it wasn't like you could even get everything maxed in one play through.
Frankenberry wrote: so it wasn't like you could even get everything maxed in one play through.
I think that was the point. You weapon rank upgrades carried over between playthroughs, and IIRC (and it's been a long time, so I could be wrong) they were also shared with your multi-player profile.
I think ME2 did weapons since you started with a sufficient variety (pretty sure every class got pistols and SMGs at standard, so you at least had options for different targets) and could get the extra unlock later in the game to tailor your playstyle.
In 3, it was nice to have all the options from the start, I found especially with playthroughs where I was emphasising powers that I'd typically only take 2 weapons at a time anyway for the more efficient power usage. I did enjoy the weapon customisation in 3 a lot, though.
Ultimately, though, so long as I can have something akin to the M6 Carnifex, preferably with Cryo Ammo, I'll be perfectly content! I think an equally interesting question is how the classes are going to break down, and if they're going to keep the old ones or tweak them all slightly.
Frankenberry wrote: so it wasn't like you could even get everything maxed in one play through.
I think that was the point. You weapon rank upgrades carried over between playthroughs, and IIRC (and it's been a long time, so I could be wrong) they were also shared with your multi-player profile.
I completely forgot about that! I guess if you played enough, you could eventually max out every weapon.
Paradigm wrote:I think ME2 did weapons since you started with a sufficient variety (pretty sure every class got pistols and SMGs at standard, so you at least had options for different targets) and could get the extra unlock later in the game to tailor your playstyle.
In 3, it was nice to have all the options from the start, I found especially with playthroughs where I was emphasising powers that I'd typically only take 2 weapons at a time anyway for the more efficient power usage. I did enjoy the weapon customisation in 3 a lot, though.
Ultimately, though, so long as I can have something akin to the M6 Carnifex, preferably with Cryo Ammo, I'll be perfectly content! I think an equally interesting question is how the classes are going to break down, and if they're going to keep the old ones or tweak them all slightly.
I was a fan of the weapon customization in 3 as well, and I liked the 'loadout effects how your powers work' aspect to it too.
As for the classes, I imagine they'll have the soldier, or maybe reclassified as the 'pathfinder'? Have to have a pure biotic one because...space mages are cool as hell. I would't mind an engineer class that actually did something other than summon a ball of angry energy as it's big 'wow' skill though.
I think the combat will go that way, it's been getting steadily more refined and more significant across all 3 games so far.
In 1, you do the shooting to get through the plot, in 2 you have the fantastic narrative coupled with excellent mechanics and that's what makes it so fantastic, by 3 you have an actual mode in the options to turn off conversation options and just play it as a shooter, the combat is that big a part of it (not sure why you ever would, but the option is there!).
With Andromeda adding the jetpack as well, I think mobility and dynamic combat are going to be a big focus.
Looks absolutely stunning. Combat definitely looks a lot more varied, and some of those new abilities look very nice, like the Biotic Shield which always came up in cutscenes in the originals but that you could never really do. Not-Mako looks much more manageable, and I like the idea of the crafting system, it'll be interesting to see how much their is to that. I'd guess not as much as Fallout 4, but something close to that would be nice.
Going back to the race discussion, that's definitely Krogan confirmed, and I'm pretty sure I saw a brief glimpses of a Drell and a Batarian in the walk through the port... Still no sign of Quarians yet, but if the others are there I assume they'd have to be.
Another video giving some info on how they plan to reach a new galaxy and survive.
So we have seen Krogans, Turians, Asari and Salarians, but still no Quarians. Which is strange because they would be a pretty useful species for long voyages, seeing as they live on ships their entire lives.
I'm willing to bet that the Quarians will be like the Krogans are, and be dispersed across all 4 arcs or they'll turn up in a a sequel. As the departure point is pre-ME3 (Hence before the vast expenditure on the crucible), we don't yet know if the Andromeda Initiative had built any other arcs, to follow on in a few years after the initial exploration force had left. Assuming it's a uniform time delay to travel between galaxies (After all, there's no warp trickery in Mass Effect!), if they left a few years after the first wave, they would arrive a few years after the first wave.
Personally, I think it's best to let the original trilogy's story rest, and setting it in a new galaxy is perfect. Similarly, I'm fine with them not shoehorning old characters in or even resurrecting Shepard. However, the trouble is that they are at some point going to have to address the ME3 ending 'problem'.As seen in the 'Andromeda Initiative Orientation Briefing' video, the stated aim is not only to colonise Andromeda, but also to seek a reliable route back to the Milky Way. Hence, regardless as to whether it's the morning after the Reaper War, 600 years later or even 1200 years later (The return journey being 600 years as well), if a route is to be established back to the Milky Way, then an explanation will be necessary as to what happened to the Milky Way.
IMHO, the only problem the ending of ME3 caused was not in the respective choices or their narrative (Ppersonally I always pick the red ending, but all endings are valid), but rather that if you wish to continue Mass Effect as a series and include the Milky Way then you have to either pick an ending and run with it (Thus upsetting a chunk of fans who chose another ending) or you have to acknowledge all endings simultaneously (Which would be very hard to write) or you have to create a whole new ending to ME3 that discounts the original endings as false (I guess this is where the indoctrination theory comes in). Regardless, at some point ME:Andromeda or it's sequels will have to address this if the current plot is to be retained.
Nevertheless, I am looking forward to ME:A immensely.
It doesn't really have to address it at all, or if it does address it, it can just use your end-game save from ME3 to do so in the form of ancient news reports-- and even that's pushing it. Simply put, the game takes place in Andromeda and doesn't need to interact with the Milky Way.
@Melissia - Actually, I was wrong. I had been going by the plot summary of Andromeda on the mass effect wiki, which says the aim of the initiative is to set up a link back to the Milky Way. In fact, none of the currently released info or videos makes any mention of that - its just misinformation. So apologies for that. I suppose if Bioware wish to return ME to the Milky Way at some point in the future, then the above points still stand - but personally I'm more than happy to let sleeping dogs lie and see what Andromeda has to offer.
I'm hoping the customisation is improved - one of the thimgs I liked most from ME3 ability to customise more than just the standard torso and legs combo that most games opt for. Ideally I'd like to see complete customisation of every armour section, with independant left and right options - but I doubt there would be funding or time for that level of depth.
Even if they had intended to set up a return route, that could be hand-waved away by having the expedition receive a garbled warning via their quantum entanglement communicators just before the linked devices that are in the Milky Way are destroyed.
600 years later everyone wakes up, discovers something horrible happened in the Milky Way Galaxy and realize that maybe those rumors about Reapers were true. And then they decide not to return to the Milky Way just on the off-chance that the scouts who return accidentally run into Reaper forces who backtrack the scouts to the Andromeda Galaxy and kill everyone.
The crafting system has me excited - although I'm sure it won't go as in-depth as I'm sure we all want it to (not a bad thing mind you).
So far, it looks beautiful - I think I'll end up spending WAY too long working on a character, as I'm sure we all will.
As far as the Milky Way, I'm sure it'll be mentioned throughout the game, but if they want to have multiple games (as I'm sure they do), they could just evolve THAT story as they progress. No need to have everything hammered out in the first 15 minutes of the first game - besides, how cool would it be to get a haunting message from say...Shepard, towards the end of the game saying something along the lines of: "Don't come back. They're here. The Reapers are here."? If they do it that way, the Andromeda(Andromedan?) based races will just sob into their space coffee and start colonizing - eliminating the need to include the Milky Way at all.
One of the most enjoyable crafting or customisation systems I've come across was for Halo: Reach. For those of you who may not have played it, you could choose different options for Head, Torso, Arms, Legs, Knees, Shoulders and Accessories. Alongside that, some of those options got separate left and right options and other options such as the helmet had further additions to add on. In all, you could easily do 10 play-throughs and provided you had unlocked all the options, you'd never have the same look each time.
If Andromeda was to go down that route and expand upon it to include separate upper and lower arm/leg options and separate left right options - it would be near as damn perfect. I'm kind of hoping that once the main game is out, we get a few DLC packs solely devoted to customisation of armour and weapons, as I appreciate that the bulk of time will be spent on the campaign and game-play.
Frankenberry wrote:So far, it looks beautiful - I think I'll end up spending WAY too long working on a character, as I'm sure we all will.
One of the more interesting things I've heard is that they've dropped the Renegade/Paragon system and the specialisations. From what I gather, there'll be more of a focus on ambiguity and grey areas in decisions, although I think I remember reading that interrupts will still be a thing (Not sure though). Skills will end up being more like Skyrim, with players not being bound into one class or another, but able to allocate points all across the board and able to reallocate them at will. I'm not sure what to make of that as Skyrim's skills were very hit and miss. Some were great, such as the archery tree, whilst others (Such as Speechcraft) were overlooked in favour of more useful areas. Here's to hoping that Andromeda will be able to strike a balance.
There are definitely still interrupts, there's one in the video up the page, but it seems to be less paragon/renegade as locking/unlocking certain dialogue options, eg you can't interrupt to punch someone in the face then choose what would be a Paragon option for your next dialogue choice, and in the example shown, performing the interrupt to disarm the guard appeared to open up a less confrontational dialogue choice.
I do like that they clearly label what an interrupt action does now though, in the original trilogy is it was a 50/50 tossup s to whether you were going to coerce someone with a threat or kick them off the 50th story window. It's like the Sarcastic option in Fallout 4, until you press it you never know if you're going to make a witty joke or be horribly racist about Synths. So yeah, I like the idea of context-based interrupts over the Paragon/Renegade.
I'd be surprised if they dropped classes altogether. I know one of the previous teasers mentioned Pathfinder training included combat, tech and biotic training as part of the process, but I'd imagine there'd still be some built-in restrictions and specialisations as that's such a staple of the series so far. While if the skills are open you can build a specialist if you so choose, I think it was best when playing a certain class meant you got abilities that were otherwise impossible to get even as bonus/squad powers, like the cloaking or the Biotic Charge. That always made every class feel nice and distinct in how it played, I think.
@Paradigm - I'm not sure that it'll be a total scrap of the class system, but I gather it'll be something more fluid. Obviously, there's not yet been a lot of concrete info released, so it's more just bits I glean from here and there whenever I feel like looking up when it's going to be released. Anyway, I don't know how trustworthy IGN are - but here's where I found the quote relating to skills:
Take with whatever saline seasoning you feel necessary.
On something totally different, but still related - I'm interested as to why they would bother adding Krogan. Obviously it's because they're popular with fans, but from an in-universe POV, they're still very much a dying race at this point. Assuming they all survive the 600 year journey, they're going to be dead in the next 600 years anyway with no way of continuing their race - so why bother wasting the resources keeping them alive on the way over?
Ah, hadn't seen that compilation of info, cheers for the link.
As far as the Krogan go, I think it's basically the same reason most Krogan in the originals made successful careers as mercs. Their species might not have a future, but while they are around they're damn good at killing stuff. With no real prospect of family or any legacy to pass on, I imagine they were encouraged to join up with the Andromeda initiative for that reason, to them it's potentially new and exciting stuff to kill and to the rest, it's some very deadly expendable muscle in case things go awry with whatever species the initiative encounters that might need shotgunning in the face.
The cynic in me also thinks that in-universe, bringing the Krogan despite their lack of prospects for colonisation is kind of the point. The Council Raves are still very anti-Krogan at the time the initiative launches, so if they can get rid of a bunch of them from the Milky Way that's a win, and the future colonists of Andromeda won't need to worry about them as they'll all be dead a few centuries after they reach their destination.
I'm kind of hoping the Krogan will get a Genophage cure at some point in Andromeda. The prospect of having to weather another trilogy of sullen reptiles bitching about their impotency leaves me cold - even if I did root for them all the way through the original trilogy. Perhaps Maelon came along for the ride. Apparently, they plan to address the lack of females (Other than Humans/Asari) shown in previous ME games - it would be interesting to see if they include more female Krogan, to 'civilise' the male Krogan on the arks.
Mr Nobody wrote: ... but still no Quarians. Which is strange because they would be a pretty useful species for long voyages, seeing as they live on ships their entire lives.
Yeah, but Quarians are also extremely community-oriented. One of their worst punishments is to be banished from the flotilla. So, any Quarians going along on this journey would have to be the ones who can live with the fact that they will never return home. I'm sure we'll see a few, but expect there to be an emphasis ingame as to why there would be few.
Mr Nobody wrote: ... but still no Quarians. Which is strange because they would be a pretty useful species for long voyages, seeing as they live on ships their entire lives.
Yeah, but Quarians are also extremely community-oriented. One of their worst punishments is to be banished from the flotilla. So, any Quarians going along on this journey would have to be the ones who can live with the fact that they will never return home. I'm sure we'll see a few, but expect there to be an emphasis ingame as to why there would be few.
You have to remember though, that Quarians undertake a pilgrimage in their formative years and these pilgrimages can last several years, really as many years as it takes to find something useful to the Fleet. The trip to Andromeda is like the ultimate pilgrimage - it may take centuries to return to the fleet, but the rewards may totally outweigh the hardship. In any case, the Quarians have adopted a very long-sighted view of life. Their culture and every action is devoted to eventually retaking their planet from the Geth and that's been 300 years in the making. Furthermore, they were pushed into retaking Rannoch only because of the impending threat of galactic destruction - they didn't want to spend their last days dreaming of their planet, they'd rather go out in a blaze of glory.
Warpig1815 wrote: I'm kind of hoping the Krogan will get a Genophage cure at some point in Andromeda. The prospect of having to weather another trilogy of sullen reptiles bitching about their impotency leaves me cold - even if I did root for them all the way through the original trilogy. Perhaps Maelon came along for the ride. Apparently, they plan to address the lack of females (Other than Humans/Asari) shown in previous ME games - it would be interesting to see if they include more female Krogan, to 'civilise' the male Krogan on the arks.
I know I sound like a troll, but I will die a happy man if I can romance a Krogan.
Developers at BioWare have confirmed that not only will romances return, but they will not be limited by predesignated character sexual orientations.
This worries me. Having characters be straight or gay or bisexual (or Asari ) can be something important to who they are as a person and influence their interactions with other characters. In ME3 you had the playful back and forth banter (basically flirting, let's be honest) between Vega and Cortez, Traynor finding EDI's voice sexy and the hilariously awkward pickup lines which a maleshep would try if attempting to romance her. These small aspects of character behaviour and personality go a long way to making the characters feel like real people, in my opinion.
Programming such small personality quirks to work no matter what sexual orientation is going to be very difficult without having to sacrifice them into something more bland.
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Frankenberry wrote: I know I sound like a troll, but I will die a happy man if I can romance a Krogan.
Hey, if Bioware didn't want us to want to get with a Krogan then they shouldn't have made the main Krogan characters so goddamn awesome!
Developers at BioWare have confirmed that not only will romances return, but they will not be limited by predesignated character sexual orientations.
This worries me. Having characters be straight or gay or bisexual (or Asari ) can be something important to who they are as a person and influence their interactions with other characters. In ME3 you had the playful back and forth banter (basically flirting, let's be honest) between Vega and Cortez, Traynor finding EDI's voice sexy and the hilariously awkward pickup lines which a maleshep would try if attempting to romance her. These small aspects of character behaviour and personality go a long way to making the characters feel like real people, in my opinion.
Programming such small personality quirks to work no matter what sexual orientation is going to be very difficult without having to sacrifice them into something more bland.
Personally, I think I'd be happy these days if there was something in the options to just allow you to turn off the romance options. It was a neat little extra in Baldur's Gate 2. And they were decent up through ME1 (and the ME1 continuation romances *only* in ME3). But after ME1, forget it. I could do without them entirely, and I find them annoying. The fact that the romance options in conversations have gotten increasingly clumsy only makes matters worse. Anders in DA2 was the flagrant example of Bioware's botched romance conversations (where you literally had to tell him off during your first conversation with him if you didn't want a romantic relationship with him). But the new romances since then generally haven't felt much better.
At least part of the fanbase appears to disagree, though, given that toward the end of the time when I visited the Bioware forums, over half the posts were from what I tend to refer to as the "romance mafia".
Oh, and Bioware already did the "not limited by predesignated character sexual orientation" thing in DA2. It got panned, iirc.
I dunno what to make of that. On the one hand, Mass Effect is a science fiction universe and therefore, things being more open isn't that big of a deal.
On the other hand, their orientation *IS* a part of a characters, well, character and can be relevant to their story / background. - The perfect example with this is Dorien from Dragon Age: Inquisition.
I'd probably go with a concept of, "characters do have their own sexual orientations, however being bi is very much a possible option, and may, considering the game and players fondness for romances, may even be the expected/default one for a teammember."
I can take or leave the Romance option, so I'm not too fussed either way. That said, by not locking specific characters to specific sexual orientations it does kind of remove the sense of immersion. For them to replace the romance system with a more Skyrim-esque type of romance (Where you can more or less ask anybody for a set pool of candidates, male or female, to marry you and they will unconditionally accept regardless of your gender), seems a massive step backwards. It's possibly the laziest option you can implement in an RPG - there's no challenge, no potential to fail, no.. romance. Rather than invest some time into building up an NPC's backstory, personality, motivations and preferences and then determine orientation from that, just to blanket them all with what amounts to an 'open for business' sign seems... lax.
That said, all the previous ME games have had little changes here and there, but all have still been been excellent - I can't think that they would willingly throw a winning formula clean out the window by making such sweeping changes to everything that people enjoyed in the first 3. I'm willing to bet that the changes to Romance, Paragon/Renegade and the Class system aren't quite as radical as we're all fearing, and where they do change, I reckon they'll still be semi-familiar.
Warpig1815 wrote: I can take or leave the Romance option, so I'm not too fussed either way. That said, by not locking specific characters to specific sexual orientations it does kind of remove the sense of immersion. For them to replace the romance system with a more Skyrim-esque type of romance (Where you can more or less ask anybody for a set pool of candidates, male or female, to marry you and they will unconditionally accept regardless of your gender), seems a massive step backwards. It's possibly the laziest option you can implement in an RPG - there's no challenge, no potential to fail, no.. romance. Rather than invest some time into building up an NPC's backstory, personality, motivations and preferences and then determine orientation from that, just to blanket them all with what amounts to an 'open for business' sign seems... lax.
I suspect it's due at least in part to the "romance mafia" that I mentioned above. Pretty much any character who has had any real presence in a Bioware game probably had at least one post demanding (yes, demanding) that the character be made romanceable with a sexual orientation that matched up to the poster's character, no matter how inappropriate that might be for the character in question. More prominent characters end up with threads that are dozens of pages long demanding the same thing.
Developers at BioWare have confirmed that not only will romances return, but they will not be limited by predesignated character sexual orientations.
This worries me. Having characters be straight or gay or bisexual (or Asari ) can be something important to who they are as a person and influence their interactions with other characters. In ME3 you had the playful back and forth banter (basically flirting, let's be honest) between Vega and Cortez, Traynor finding EDI's voice sexy and the hilariously awkward pickup lines which a maleshep would try if attempting to romance her. These small aspects of character behaviour and personality go a long way to making the characters feel like real people, in my opinion.
Programming such small personality quirks to work no matter what sexual orientation is going to be very difficult without having to sacrifice them into something more bland.
Personally, I think I'd be happy these days if there was something in the options to just allow you to turn off the romance options. It was a neat little extra in Baldur's Gate 2. And they were decent up through ME1 (and the ME1 continuation romances *only* in ME3). But after ME1, forget it. I could do without them entirely, and I find them annoying. The fact that the romance options in conversations have gotten increasingly clumsy only makes matters worse. Anders in DA2 was the flagrant example of Bioware's botched romance conversations (where you literally had to tell him off during your first conversation with him if you didn't want a romantic relationship with him). But the new romances since then generally haven't felt much better.
At least part of the fanbase appears to disagree, though, given that toward the end of the time when I visited the Bioware forums, over half the posts were from what I tend to refer to as the "romance mafia".
Oh, and Bioware already did the "not limited by predesignated character sexual orientation" thing in DA2. It got panned, iirc.
The ones which I thought were best were Garrus/femshep and Tali/maleshep. The fact that the romantic aspect of it didn't start until the second game made it way more believable as an actual love story as the characters had way more history with each other and time to actually get to know each other as people separate to the battlefield before becoming romantically involved. And Garrus certainly wasn't foisted on you as a romance option as his automatic route through the conversations. The line to start pursuing a romance with him rather than friendship was very obvious so people who didn't want to go that route wouldn't accidentally end up on that path.
Garrus and Tali did have an advantage in being crew members in all three games, which gave them more opportunities for character development in the series which paid off, in my opinion.
And yeah, the DA2 romances were pretty bad because it didn't matter what sex you were, they all played out the same way from what I remember. So it didn't really feel personal to your character, at least in my experience.
@Eumerin - No doubt. It's a common trend now to assume your opinion is the only one that matters and to lump everybody under convenient labels like 'Feminist', 'Misogynist', 'Homophobic' or 'Racist'. It seems that people have forgotten that coins have two sides, and both sides are legal tender...
As for romances, I rather think more thought needs to be put into Xeno-relationships. Asari, I understand (Who doesn't! ), but a Human-Turian relationship - they aren't even made of the same basic building blocks of life. I'm not sure what the long term relationship goal is there... One things for certain though, I'm not missing any romance option with Vorcha. Ugh.
I honestly think it's an understandable approach to the whole 'sex in space/future' topic that was eventually going to be a thing. I appreciate the more subtle dialogue bits that you had between say, Vega and Cortez (who didn't love those), and I think it adds something to overall feel of the game.
I don't think that post means that they're going to do away with that sort of dialogue, but I admit I don't actually know what they mean. Maybe that it doesn't matter what sex you choose the options will remain the same? I.e. MRhyder/FRhyder have access to all of the same romance options period instead of some being off-limits? Which seems more intrusive in the overall game.../shrug
Different topic though: I was a massive fan of the ME3 multiplayer when it was still a thing (yeah, I know it's back on PC and current consoles) - does anyone play now (playing on a Xbone for those that are)?
Back to the game, the trailer made it look like it was completely open works rather than mission based. Also didn't see any squadmates. Hopefully, they haven't gotten rid of that.
Melissia wrote: Oh goodie, "mafia" used as a descriptive term for people who have opinions different than yours.
I'm including people who agree with my romance choices, as well.
What my "mafia" descriptor refers to is that the forums became more about posters making romance demands than they did about any non-romance topics. Those non-romance topics still existed, of course. But they were lost amidst the numerous multi-page romance topics that were essentially attempting to browbeat the developers into making their personal favorite character romanceable (even if, as with Varic, the developers had already repeatedly stated that he would not be romanceable).
So yeah, I think the 'mafia' descriptor is appropriate in this instance. It's based on what they were doing.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Back to the game, the trailer made it look like it was completely open works rather than mission based. Also didn't see any squadmates. Hopefully, they haven't gotten rid of that.
Squadmates are still a thing, you see two humans in the first gameplay footage and a female Turian and Krogan in this later one, it seems they're not around when you're in a 'hub location', but that's no different to the Citadel on ME3,, your companions weren't there unless they had a quest for you.
I'm interested to see just how open they can make it... The design certainly looked less linear, but I imagine if the number of planets you can visit is anything like the previous games, those open areas are going to be relatively small, especially by vehicle. But so long as those limits are sensible (ie blocked by impassable terrain or the like, rather than Invisible Walls), it should be fine. These are small colonies at the earliest stages, so straying too far from them probably isn't wise anyway.
@Paradigm - Not sure about the planets being small - the developers do seem to be pushing the concept that it will be quite a huge area you can cover - the more so if vehicular travel is encouraged. However, that said, they do often big up that sort of thing to make more sales. Invariably, the hype train only leaves you disappointed.
As for squad mates, IMHO, ME2 had the best squadmate interaction - where you picked a squad even when off duty and each member had points of interest at each destination (Such as Illium or Omega) that they would comment on when prompted. It would be nice if they implemented an option where you could go off-duty with or without squadmates.
@Melissia and Eumerin - I'm not going to say that I didn't contribute to that particular conversation, but in the interests of this thread being on-topic, shall all just we agree to disagree?
On a differnt note - I'm interested to see how much effort is put into weapons. They've hinted that weapon customisation will be a big part of ME:A - I think I heard that schematics (Of a sense) will be acquired during missions and exploration. I really hope this means that you can truly tailor weapon modding to your own style rather than simply be limited to 5 options. TBH, as long as they bring back the Venom shotgun and Harrier rifle - i'll be good.
Eumerin wrote: [and some other stuff] It's based on what they were doing.
So by being discerning, customers are mafia then? What a load of bollocks. People have different desires for a game, and they express said desires to the devs in hope that these things get included. This is not "mafia" like behavior-- no one is getting killed or shot or stolen from because of it, and you should be fething ashamed of claiming it is like that. Might as well call someone a nazi for having an opinion about a video game-- feth knows that's something people on this forum have said about me.
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Warpig1815 wrote: @Paradigm - Not sure about the planets being small - the developers do seem to be pushing the concept that it will be quite a huge area you can cover - the more so if vehicular travel is encouraged.
Hopefully it'll be better than that one winter world in ME1 at least...
Can't you guys keep this off-topic gak to PMs or something - I'd really like it if this topic didn't get locked.
On-topic:
Has anyone heard anything about schematics for the vehicle you're supposed to be using to drive around planetside? Wondering if they're going to let you upgrade ships/ground/homebase type of stuff like you could for plot reasons in ME2.
Seeing as the release date is now confirmed for the 21st/23rd March (US/UK depending) and pre-orders are now available - does anybody know if the Deluxe Editions are download only? Having a really poor internet service, I'm really hoping that the Deluxe Edition is a hard copy with only the bonuses as downloads. That said, non of the sites selling pre-orders explicitly tell you whether its a hard copy but Amazon says that the Deluxe edition isn't available for 'Xbox One' only 'Xbox One Download' - anybody know anything different?
Silent Puffin? wrote: It looks as though all editions are download only. The physical boxes apparently only have a key inside them.
Does this seem odd to anyone else? I mean, I get that we're in an age where the internet is everywhere, but I admit - I kind of like having a physical copy of some games. /shrug
Anyone catch the CES coverage? Apparently there were some graphics anomalies during the presentation that were called out and the presenter actually thanked the crowd - rather than make excuses for why things looked gakky - practically unheard of when it comes to Bioware.
Silent Puffin? wrote: It looks as though all editions are download only. The physical boxes apparently only have a key inside them.
Does this seem odd to anyone else? I mean, I get that we're in an age where the internet is everywhere, but I admit - I kind of like having a physical copy of some games. /shrug
Anyone catch the CES coverage? Apparently there were some graphics anomalies during the presentation that were called out and the presenter actually thanked the crowd - rather than make excuses for why things looked gakky - practically unheard of when it comes to Bioware.
It's annoying, but it's not particularly surprising. For instance, I've purchased hard copies of games that require a Steam connection to play. Also, I suspect that EA is doing it as part of their regular "war on used games" efforts. If the only thing included in the packaging is a code, then you can't hand it off to someone else if you decide that you're finished with it.
Does make me less inclined to purchase it, though. I don't like dealing with stupidly large downloads just to play a game.
Eumerin wrote: For instance, I've purchased hard copies of games that require a Steam connection to play.
When I was deployed in Iraq Empire:Total War, which I was eagerly awaiting, was released which I bought from Amazon and it was shipped out to me. I installed the game only to discover that it required Steam activation to play, not a happy discovery with effectively no internet access for months.
I don't think it's that odd. Best case scenario nowadays a physical copy of the game will come with about 1/6th of the game on it. At that point, I can easily see a company just saying "why bother?"
Warpig1815 wrote: Seeing as the release date is now confirmed for the 21st/23rd March (US/UK depending) and pre-orders are now available - does anybody know if the Deluxe Editions are download only? Having a really poor internet service, I'm really hoping that the Deluxe Edition is a hard copy with only the bonuses as downloads. That said, non of the sites selling pre-orders explicitly tell you whether its a hard copy but Amazon says that the Deluxe edition isn't available for 'Xbox One' only 'Xbox One Download' - anybody know anything different?
Weird, because Amazon here in the US says that Deluxe Edition is Physical Only.
Warpig1815 wrote: Seeing as the release date is now confirmed for the 21st/23rd March (US/UK depending) and pre-orders are now available - does anybody know if the Deluxe Editions are download only? Having a really poor internet service, I'm really hoping that the Deluxe Edition is a hard copy with only the bonuses as downloads. That said, non of the sites selling pre-orders explicitly tell you whether its a hard copy but Amazon says that the Deluxe edition isn't available for 'Xbox One' only 'Xbox One Download' - anybody know anything different?
Weird, because Amazon here in the US says that Deluxe Edition is Physical Only.
Hmm...
I just took a peek at the US Amazon site. The PS4 and XBox One Deluxe edition were both options, and both were listed as physical only. But I couldn't pull up a Deluxe edition listing for the PC.
Warpig1815 wrote: Seeing as the release date is now confirmed for the 21st/23rd March (US/UK depending) and pre-orders are now available - does anybody know if the Deluxe Editions are download only? Having a really poor internet service, I'm really hoping that the Deluxe Edition is a hard copy with only the bonuses as downloads. That said, non of the sites selling pre-orders explicitly tell you whether its a hard copy but Amazon says that the Deluxe edition isn't available for 'Xbox One' only 'Xbox One Download' - anybody know anything different?
Weird, because Amazon here in the US says that Deluxe Edition is Physical Only.
Hmm...
I just took a peek at the US Amazon site. The PS4 and XBox One Deluxe edition were both options, and both were listed as physical only. But I couldn't pull up a Deluxe edition listing for the PC.
Looking on Amazon UK there is Mass Effect Andromeda (PC DVD), which says it comes on 5(!) discs, for £39.99. Then there's an PC Code - Origin version which sells for £49.99. There's also a Deluxe Edition Origin Code and a Super Deluxe Edition Origin Code listed in the search results but not linked on the page like the other versions are.
It all just seems really confusing. - Plus, I remember with one of the last big releases, the physical editions of some of them weren't even out in the UK, despite being out in the US.
Frankenberry wrote: The Xbox store has them listed - digital only obviously - 100 bucks for the Super Ultimate Mega Day 1 DLC 360 Noscope version.
I'm tempted to pre-order.
Just so we're clear, this is what comes with the Super Deluxe Edition:
Description
Super Deluxe Edition contains: Pathfinder Elite Weapon Set (4)Shoot your way through Andromeda with this unique set of weapons.Pathfinder Casual OutfitLook your best while aboard the Tempest and docking at different friendly locations.Scavenger ArmorA unique look for the Pathfinder while exploring dangerous, new planets.Pet PyjakEveryone’s favorite space monkey is back and can join you aboard the Tempest.Digital SoundtrackListen to the iconic music of Mass Effect anywhere with a file download.Multiplayer Deluxe Launch PackStart Day 1 Co-Op play with the MP Deluxe Launch Pack which includes items to kick start your progress. (redeemed instantly)Multiplayer Super Deluxe Booster PacksOwn Co-op play with the best multiplayer value - a weekly Premium Pack for a 20 week period to deliver an ongoing boost to your progression. (1 pack per week, over 20 weeks).
Compare that to the Deluxe Edition:
Description
Deluxe Edition contains: Pathfinder Elite Weapon Set (4)Shoot your way through Andromeda with this unique set of weapons.Pathfinder Casual OutfitLook your best while aboard the Tempest and docking at different friendly locations.Scavenger ArmorA unique look for the Pathfinder while exploring dangerous, new planets.Pet PyjakEveryone’s favorite space monkey is back and can join you aboard the Tempest.Digital SoundtrackListen to the iconic music of Mass Effect anywhere with a file download.Multiplayer Deluxe Launch PackStart Day 1 Co-Op play with the MP Deluxe Launch Pack which includes items to kick start your progress. (redeemed instantly)
It's the same thing, barring the 20 Booster Packs delivered over 20 weeks.
I love the Mass Effect music so much that I'd want any edition that has that.
Although, the digital edition of Mass Effect 2 didn't even have the 2 main themes in the game (End Run and Suicide Mission), so I had to buy them separately...
I'm cautiously optimistic after the massive let down of ME3...
Tempted to pre order but we'll see. Not having much luck with preorders as you can almost guarantee they've released a bug riddled mess just to get some money in the coffers.
I was secretly hoping that ME would open the "main character" options similar to how dragon age was done. I would LOVE to make a Krogan lead character.... or even a Turian.
naxium wrote: I was secretly hoping that ME would open the "main character" options similar to how dragon age was done. I would LOVE to make a Krogan lead character.... or even a Turian.
They would need to provide different voices for each race if they did that as the Asari are the only race that sound virtually identical to humans.
Which is kinda a funny thing... If I was doing Mass Effect 4 and setting it in the Milky Way, with all the fallout from ME3 that happened, I would most likely make the main character an asari, specifically Liara's daughter.
I'll be disappointed if all editions are download only - it means I'll have to wait for practically three days while I download overnight. Whilst it's definitely a first world problem in the scale of things, it's just a little irritating that it's assumed that everybody has super-fast broadband. Similarly, there are folks out there like me, who like having a physical copy. Hell, I'm still playing 20 year old PC games and 40 year old CD's because I've kept the discs, but in the future when Xbox One games get old or removed from XB Live, then if you don't already have it downloaded it's just tough luck. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of the download culture.
From what I can tell, there are definitely hard copies available for Xbox, Amazon is listing the standard edition as available for download code or regular purchase. Of course, you still have to deal with the horrifically long installation/download process (I miss the days of putting a disk into an Xbox and it just working...) but it does look like you'll be able to get a physical copy.
Paradigm wrote: From what I can tell, there are definitely hard copies available for Xbox, Amazon is listing the standard edition as available for download code or regular purchase.
I suppose I can't complain too much then, as I'll still be able to get it one way or another. It just seems a shame that the Deluxe version (With the weapon and armour packs) seems to only be available if you have decent enough internet to download the whole game.
Paradigm wrote: (I miss the days of putting a disk into an Xbox and it just working...)
Me too. Like I said, I'm still playing CDs that my parents bought 30 or 40 years ago and I never have to worry that my music collection will have to redownloaded because it's all there physically.
Paradigm wrote: (I miss the days of putting a disk into an Xbox and it just working...)
Me too.
Jim Sterling had a whole rant on this a few weeks ago. Basically the main advantage of console games was that they were plug and play, but as they become more nad more complex and bigger and bigger, they're really just becoming (Nintendo's efforts notwithstanding) little more than hobbled personal computers.
I can understand the advantages of download as games become bigger and more complex, but at the same time a multi-CD format used to pretty much be the standard for PC games that over-reached one disc. Indeed Mass Effect 3 on Xbox 360 came with two discs and it worked smoothly enough - you just pop in either disc when it asked to access certain missions which was little bother. I recall recently installing Halo 5 recently onto my Xbox One (Which I had to partially download) and the download came to 7GB. How is it Halo 5 requires a partial download for 7GB, when Empire: Total War gave me the full game of 9GB on one disc?
Warpig1815 wrote: I can understand the advantages of download as games become bigger and more complex, but at the same time a multi-CD format used to pretty much be the standard for PC games that over-reached one disc. Indeed Mass Effect 3 on Xbox 360 came with two discs and it worked smoothly enough - you just pop in either disc when it asked to access certain missions which was little bother. I recall recently installing Halo 5 recently onto my Xbox One (Which I had to partially download) and the download came to 7GB. How is it Halo 5 requires a partial download for 7GB, when Empire: Total War gave me the full game of 9GB on one disc?
How "recently" did you install Halo 5?
Game released in October of 2015. A large chunk of that 7GB is updates for the game. When it launched, there was nothing like a 7GB download.
The install took awhile, but I think the initial update file was something like half a gig?
@Kanluwen - I pre-ordered it, so it would be day one that I installed/partially downloaded. That said, I may be getting it confused with the downloads for Multiplayer and Forge which weren't included on disc and which I only downloaded later on - some of that could have been later updates as you say. I suppose the point I was trying to get at is that regardless of what it is that I'm downloading (Excluding patches/updates if I'm being fair) they are features that could still have been included on a second CD. Certainly Halo 5's multiplayer required me to download it later on. It wasn't included on the game disc. However, I guess that's not really too much of a problem because if your internet has a sufficiently high bandwidth cap and low latency to play multiplayer, then you aren't fussed by a download. However, for offline single-player, I still feel that having download only versions or lack of physical options (Probably unintentionally) discriminates against people with poor internet services.
Warpig1815 wrote: @Kanluwen - I pre-ordered it, so it would be day one that I installed/partially downloaded. That said, I may be getting it confused with the downloads for Multiplayer and Forge which weren't included on disc and which I only downloaded later on - some of that could have been later updates as you say. I suppose the point I was trying to get at is that regardless of what it is that I'm downloading (Excluding patches/updates if I'm being fair) they are features that could still have been included on a second CD. Certainly Halo 5's multiplayer required me to download it later on. It wasn't included on the game disc. However, I guess that's not really too much of a problem because if your internet has a sufficiently high bandwidth cap and low latency to play multiplayer, then you aren't fussed by a download. However, for offline single-player, I still feel that having download only versions or lack of physical options (Probably unintentionally) discriminates against people with poor internet services.
Downloads can still take a while. I have enough bandwidth to play online without any problems. But I can only download about one GB an hour. A seven GB download pretty much means that I'm not going to be playing on launch day.
I assume most of you have seen the new trailer? Adds a bit more to the story, fleshes out a few things (sort of), and as I squealed happily during the initial viewing, A KROGAN SQUADMATE.
Yeah, I think I've watched that trailer about 7 times now. It all just looks so epic.
Seems like the Quarians are definitely out now, we'd have seen some of them by now if they were in, But still, good to see at least the Krogan,, Turians and Asari on the squad and the Salarian on the bridge crew. Still only 5 Squadmates shown, I expect they're keeping one as a surprise (probably an Andromeda species) and there is a trend of DLC companions in 2 and 3.
Also, heads up for anyone we EA Origin/Access, in case you missed it, you can get a 10-hour trial starting on the 16th of March, so a week before the game releases.
Video detailing the combat system. Alleviates my one worry about the game, that cover was gone entirely, and it looks like there's going to be a ridiculous amount of customisation options.
With the new-look biotics that actually seem to match what the original trilogy's cutscenes promised, and the option to take melee weapons, I think I'm going to need a lot of willpower to resist going for a pure biotic/melee 'Jedi' build...
I hate videogames but I love Mass Effect, I played 6 complete careers, always at 100% and without skipping a single dialogue. And I still want to play it again from the beginning.
I don't care about the gameplay, the vehicle or the allied partners, I'm only interested in the story and its dialogues.
I hope they don't mess things up, I'm a bit scared about the new Mass Effect to be honest.
Any chance this would be cross plaform, gears of war where you can play on xbox or a pc? I have a pretty fancy pc and the game will look so much better on it, but for long adventure games and RPGs I usually prefer the sofa. Would be cool if I could switch back and forth.
CNet has a bit of a preview article up now, where they got to play the game for a few hours.
https://www.cnet.com/news/mass-effect-andromeda-hands-on-preview/ Short version: a few hours wasn't enough for them to decide if it's going to be best game ever or not.
A review from the same event I saw on Youtube earlier said it 'felt like an improved Dragon Age Inquisition'. While the reviewer went on to say that that wasn't necessarily what he wanted or expected from a ME game, as someone who absolutely loves just about everything about DAI, that's exactly what I wanted to hear.
3 weeks today until the EA Access free trial starts, I cannot wait!
Have they shown or explicitly said whether you can customize your squadmates appearance either with equipment like in ME1 or variant costumes like in ME2/3? I didn't see an option for that in the video segment above.
I'd be amazed if you couldn't, given that there's now a crafting system and stuff, that'd be a bit wasted if only the player character could make use of whatever it is you're making. If I had to guess, they'd take the DAI formula and just have a shared party inventory of weapons and armour and unless race/class blocks it, anyone can equip anything.
I thought the comment she made about who's voicing the AI was pretty comical, also, I wonder if the doctor will be a romance possibility? Because who doesn't want to romance the Asari version of Natalie Dormer?
Hopefully. Thanks for the pic. The class 19 helmets krogan is likely the vanguard we saw in the 5 sec snippet of video last month who also has biotic charge and nova. It's interesting to see transparent faceplates on the helmets.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I forgot to mention that the multiplayer beta/test they had folks sign up for in November has been cancelled.
I forgot to mention that the multiplayer beta/test they had folks sign up for in November has been cancelled.
They've actually explained that fairly well.
Long story short?
They did a lot of internal/alpha testing. The concern was and always would have been server stresses. They cancelled the MP stress test because they feel they have it under control.
They will be at PAX East showcasing the MP. They're at GDC right now doing so too I think.
Long story short?
They did a lot of internal/alpha testing. The concern was and always would have been server stresses. They cancelled the MP stress test because they feel they have it under control.
They will be at PAX East showcasing the MP. They're at GDC right now doing so too I think.
So says almost every company that experiences day one multiplayer connectivity issues. Eh, it's relatively low risk though as they've unfortunately decided to go with peer to peer again instead of dedicated servers. Hopefully this time they won't automatically assign the server to whoever starts the room but rather test the connections and choose the best for all involved.
I don't think majority matters much.
