If I were to be interested in another one, I would want it to be a prequel just so I could keep peretending 3 never happened.
BioWare Asks Gamers if They Want a Mass Effect Prequel
- Thread starter MikeWehner
- Start date
Hmm the only decent prequel I can think of for the franchise would be the first contact war and hey that way EA can have their tacked on multiplayer of humans vs turians (was it a good idea writing that?). Anything else prequel wise I feel would be pointless because ME3 ending, I'll leave the reasons at that. Sequel wise I feel would also be pointless because ME3. Not just because of the ending...actually because of the ending, ignoring the badness of it, which 1 is the canon ending and what would the ramifications of that be. This will probably mean you'll hack off those he hated all the endings as well as 2/3rd's of those who liked 1 of the endings.
Personally, I'm not sure how they possibly CAN release another ME game. Well... I have my own theories, I just doubt they'll actually implement any of them.
If they go with a prequel along the lines of the current ME games, I simply can't see how they can possibly persuade players to engage. We all know the history, we all know how it's going to end. It's going to be a damp squib as far as I can see.
That said, there is a lot of potential for prequels if they change the format. Instead of playing a character operating at the "save the galaxy" level, you could be playing on a much smaller scale.
* You could be a Spectre sneaking around Splinter Cell style conducting missions for the council.
* You could be part of Salarian STG conducting espionage operations.
* You could be a Turian soldier leading a team in the suppression of piracy.
* You could be an Asari justicar tearing around wronging rights and generally making a nuisance of yourself, but as long as you stick to the code, you're golden.
I also see massive problems in implementing a sequel. Either they set it so far in the future that nothing we know is the same (in which case we can argue whether it's even Mass Effect any more) or they select a canon ending (which will totally PO 2/3 of the playerbase and is likely to significantly compromise sales).
I'm attached to Mass Effect. My Mass Effect has Turians, Quarians, Geth, Salarians etc. in it. There's far less chance I'm going to be interested in a game that doesn't have those races. But without a canon ending, (and probably a very specific canon ending) it's going to be impossible to retain the races and galaxy that represents the concept of "Mass Effect".
However, if they pick a canon ending that I hated, I can equally see myself not bothering with the game. Synthesis was utter balls as far as I'm concerned. If they set the game in Synthesis-land I'm not going to buy it. EVER. Not even on Steam sale... not that they'll put it on Steam.
One of the few ideas for canon ending that I could live with would be the Control ending... if ME4 is set in some sort of Orwellian, 1982 controlled dictatorship and the game is about taking out SHEPARD. That would be cool. I could MAYBE get behind Destroy, but it would be a shame to lose the Geth. And if the canon ending is refuse, well... it's a whole new galaxy out there with absolutely nothing in common with Mass Effect except the game engine.
Also, I'm going to be extremely wary if it's Origin exclusive/required again. Personally I was skeptical about Origin and, once I finally tried it was extremely disappointed. Even single-player suffered from stability issues (related to Origin, not the game itself) etc. etc. Unless ME4 is absolutely perfect and has everything I want and is going in a direction I like, if it requires Origin, I'm probably going to skip it.
I would be interested to see whether they can expand the IP to different genre's. I think a Mass Effect 4X could be interesting. So could some sort of space sim (although I'd prefer if it wasn't a "sit in the cockpit" kind of sim. Controls like Eve Online or Homeworld would be awesome. A tactical strategy game along the lines of Jagged Alliance could be pretty good as well. So could a Splinter Cell-based stealth game (as noted above).
If they go with a prequel along the lines of the current ME games, I simply can't see how they can possibly persuade players to engage. We all know the history, we all know how it's going to end. It's going to be a damp squib as far as I can see.
That said, there is a lot of potential for prequels if they change the format. Instead of playing a character operating at the "save the galaxy" level, you could be playing on a much smaller scale.
* You could be a Spectre sneaking around Splinter Cell style conducting missions for the council.
* You could be part of Salarian STG conducting espionage operations.
* You could be a Turian soldier leading a team in the suppression of piracy.
* You could be an Asari justicar tearing around wronging rights and generally making a nuisance of yourself, but as long as you stick to the code, you're golden.
I also see massive problems in implementing a sequel. Either they set it so far in the future that nothing we know is the same (in which case we can argue whether it's even Mass Effect any more) or they select a canon ending (which will totally PO 2/3 of the playerbase and is likely to significantly compromise sales).
I'm attached to Mass Effect. My Mass Effect has Turians, Quarians, Geth, Salarians etc. in it. There's far less chance I'm going to be interested in a game that doesn't have those races. But without a canon ending, (and probably a very specific canon ending) it's going to be impossible to retain the races and galaxy that represents the concept of "Mass Effect".
However, if they pick a canon ending that I hated, I can equally see myself not bothering with the game. Synthesis was utter balls as far as I'm concerned. If they set the game in Synthesis-land I'm not going to buy it. EVER. Not even on Steam sale... not that they'll put it on Steam.
One of the few ideas for canon ending that I could live with would be the Control ending... if ME4 is set in some sort of Orwellian, 1982 controlled dictatorship and the game is about taking out SHEPARD. That would be cool. I could MAYBE get behind Destroy, but it would be a shame to lose the Geth. And if the canon ending is refuse, well... it's a whole new galaxy out there with absolutely nothing in common with Mass Effect except the game engine.
Also, I'm going to be extremely wary if it's Origin exclusive/required again. Personally I was skeptical about Origin and, once I finally tried it was extremely disappointed. Even single-player suffered from stability issues (related to Origin, not the game itself) etc. etc. Unless ME4 is absolutely perfect and has everything I want and is going in a direction I like, if it requires Origin, I'm probably going to skip it.
I would be interested to see whether they can expand the IP to different genre's. I think a Mass Effect 4X could be interesting. So could some sort of space sim (although I'd prefer if it wasn't a "sit in the cockpit" kind of sim. Controls like Eve Online or Homeworld would be awesome. A tactical strategy game along the lines of Jagged Alliance could be pretty good as well. So could a Splinter Cell-based stealth game (as noted above).
I don't know, I think I'd be interested in a prequel set during the Rachni Wars or the Krogan Rebellions - the plot wouldn't have to be about those conflicts, since we know how they end, but they could be the backdrop to a more personal kind of adventure, on a smaller scale than "we have to save the universe"...
Neither. I'd rather they just move on and not limit themselves to fucking up one universe over and over.
We haven't seen any new IPs from them for years now. I doubt that is going to change, but I can hope.
We haven't seen any new IPs from them for years now. I doubt that is going to change, but I can hope.
Oooh, forgot about the Krogan rebellion, thanks for that!Radoh said:
I'd be totally happy to play another race, especially if they could swing it in such a way that it's like Skyrim and you can choose. Or perhaps like Dragon Age, in that you have to deal with a race-specific conflict at the beginning and have the opportunity for further insight into your chosen race's problems inbetween the main game. Awesome.
As it has already been pointed out, a sequel would be nearly impossible to pull off due to the multiple endings. And I'm not even sure if I'd want to see a sequel to the synthesis or the control ending, destruction would be the only one with enough ambiguity to make the story interesting (The perfect DNA and the Reaper space police kinda hint towards a sure peaceful future).
That said, if they find a way to do a proper sequel, I'm all for it. I wouldn't even mind if they ignored the ME3 endings.
Still, I think prequel could also work. But it should have to be a different kind of story; a smaller one. The story should not focus on the entire galaxy but rather a small group of characters and their fate. That way there would also be a way to make the player's choices matter and once again create multiple outcomes to the story.
That said, if they find a way to do a proper sequel, I'm all for it. I wouldn't even mind if they ignored the ME3 endings.
Still, I think prequel could also work. But it should have to be a different kind of story; a smaller one. The story should not focus on the entire galaxy but rather a small group of characters and their fate. That way there would also be a way to make the player's choices matter and once again create multiple outcomes to the story.
I would prefer "The morning war", i understand we all know how that war ends. It still would be a nice idea(also can make a game with 2 campaigns then for both the Geth and the Quarian(also since it will be played on Rannoch we can see them without their biosuits)).Screamarie said:
We also have the Rachni Wars that can be explored. In my opinion making games that takes place after mass effect 3 will be many many years later or they just retcon some peoples ending.
For example in my ending there are no Quarians (they more or less mass suicide against the geth) due to the fact i picked destroy in the end(can not have the reapers stay) I also have no Geth anymore. Funny though i set out to try and save them both and end the war I end up destroying them both.
As for buying I would be kidding myself if i said it wouldn't be a pre-order for me >.<
How about getting really science-fictive and exploring an alternate timeline where the galaxy is almost exactly like the one of Mass Effect 1-3, except there's no Shepard, the Reapers (if they exist) are not an immediate threat, and there's no TIM or Cerberus. Most importantly, the universe of this alternate timeline remains consistent from Mass Effect 4 until the end of the story begun there.
After!
A prequel would be awful, I can already see teenage versions of Mordin and Garrus being trotted out with LOL ISN'T THIS AWESOME music and writing for their appearance.
Boring, leave it alone, I want to see a Universe where your spaceship to command is not some Alliance or Turian can, no, after my ending I want to survey the galaxy map from the bridge of Harbinger.
Hell with it, just set the entire game within the confines of a sick and/or dying Reaper, that would be amazing.
A prequel would be awful, I can already see teenage versions of Mordin and Garrus being trotted out with LOL ISN'T THIS AWESOME music and writing for their appearance.
Boring, leave it alone, I want to see a Universe where your spaceship to command is not some Alliance or Turian can, no, after my ending I want to survey the galaxy map from the bridge of Harbinger.
Hell with it, just set the entire game within the confines of a sick and/or dying Reaper, that would be amazing.
Nope. Never had much interest in any prequel. The messy ending of the last ME game makes me want a game -not- related to that even less. Stop ignoring the elephant in the room!
Correction to the main document, EA stirs up interest with a pointless question when they have already decided that their going to produce a game and it's probably a prequel otherwise they will have to say one of the endings from 3 was the 'cannon' ending.
Really are people still interested in this after EA Bioware has made it clear their only interested in milking the last bits of creditability they have before going the way of all EA groups and being dissolved.
Really are people still interested in this after EA Bioware has made it clear their only interested in milking the last bits of creditability they have before going the way of all EA groups and being dissolved.
Where's the 'Rehire Chris E'toile and Drew Karpyshyn and let them remake Mass Effect 2 and 3 without Casey Hudson as project director' option? Cause the flow of the series was pretty poor. Maybe remake Mass Effect 2 and make it more relevant to the actual series plot, cut out the Space Jesus crap, Cerberus (or at least stop writing them as fan fictiony badasses), maybe have the second game be about tracking down the plans for the Crucible so it doesn't seem like a total ass-pull in ME3, etc. The overarching series plot REALLY needed more planning then what they did, so maybe hiring the two major writers of the first game would produce a more...stable narrative?
I just can't get excited about either one. Then entire galactic community was nearly wiped out in the Mass Effect trilogy. After that, everything else will just feel too small for me. If I had to pick one, I'd say a sequel. Problem is, they would have to decide which ending is the official one. One ending even has Shepard surviving, not to mention the other huge differences between them. So I just don't know. If Mass Effect 3 hadn't ended so poorly, maybe I could get more excited, but I just can't now.
Thing is I'm not a hater. I don't hate the series. I'm just not interested in it anymore and I don't think an additional game would add anything beneficial to it. But then again, it's gotten to the point now where I actually fear any additions to franchises that I currently enjoy or have enjoyed in the past. ...esp. prequels or interquels (what I call entries that are inserted into the middle of established canon) because they tend to really fuck up established canon. Eg. Star Trek: Enterprise with that whole temporal cold war thing.Kipiru said:Sorry- i've just had it with haters. Your oppinion on the subject is valid, if you still have vested interest in the franchise, otherwise it would be just trolling. No to the idea of a prequel is actually my thought as well.canadamus_prime said:Thank you for so kindly accepting my opinion.Kipiru said:
/angry sarcasm
