BioWare May (Eventually) Go For A Mass Effect MMO
- Thread starter vansau
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If it keeps ME gameplay relatively intact and isn't just a WoW clone, I'd be very, very interested.
I don't think an MMO would be the best setting for a multiplayer Mass Effect game. I COULD see a small multiplayer based Mass Effect game working quite well, especially now that Shepard's story is about to come to an end.
If I was going to go for a common setting though, I would probably have to wait a few years for most of the ME3 endgame results to be sent back to Bioware for analysis. I would weigh a standard common universe based on all games, and DLC effects would actually have more weight, because not everyone has them.
Is Liara the shadow broker? Are the Rachni still alive? How are the Krogan doing? Are the Quarians on a planet?
If I was going to go for a common setting though, I would probably have to wait a few years for most of the ME3 endgame results to be sent back to Bioware for analysis. I would weigh a standard common universe based on all games, and DLC effects would actually have more weight, because not everyone has them.
Is Liara the shadow broker? Are the Rachni still alive? How are the Krogan doing? Are the Quarians on a planet?
Have you even been reading the posts people have been saying? Most of them don't even mention Bioware at all and just say that an MMO set in the Mass Effect Universe wouldn't work well, gameplay wise. It has nothing to do with Bioware's inability to make a game, more of that Mass Effect being done with anything similar to what an MMO "is" right now would be horrendous, since MMO's take out the immersion in of the game universe, and depend mostly on number crunches, fetch quests, and running around with a bunch of other people to fight a boss, not even a BBEG. All the "plot" that we all grew to know and love, all those conversations you had with all the NPC's, would be condensed into big tl;dr walls of text that it would become another WoW, unless they change what an MMO is with The Old Republic.Saltyk said:
tl;dr, since you prolly won't read any of that: Why don't you read the other posts before posting something that ignorant.
Funny you should say that. My brother and I are working on one right now. He's even got his girlfriend working on the character sheet for it. We've got the 7 races (Human, Turian, Salarian, Krogan, Asari, Drell, and Quarian), the 6 classes from both games, Biotic abilities, and we're almost done with a very brief list of equipment. It's all homebrew, based off of the Star Wars D20 system.plugav said:
As for on-topic. I don't think its possible. There's just too much, too many variables (over 1000 from both Mass Effect 1 and 2) that a standardized universe for an MMO would just be too different from everyone's own personal playthroughs, that it wouldn't feel like playing in "our" Mass Effect, but "someone else's" Mass Effect." Hell, even the comics and books are written to be so vague on all the details (if they're even set after the events of the main game series) for them to warrant it being different from "our personal" Mass Effect universe.
*SPOILERS AHEAD, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ REDEMPTION. USEING IT AS AN EXAMPLE*
A good example would be in Mass Effect Redemption, where the mercenaries that were hired by the Shadow Broker were looking at Shepard's recovered body. One of them was handing it off and the other opened the casket and looked in and said something along the lines of "You sure this is Shepard? You can't even tell if it's male or female." Pointing out that Shepard was male/female depending on your choice of who you played as.
*END SPOILERS*
tl;dr With an MMO, there are just too many variables, that it wouldn't feel like you're playing Mass Effect anymore, just playing a Sci-Fi MMO, with all the things from Mass Effect thrown into it.
Although there has really only been one MMO to really get me to keep playing (Rangnarok...mostly), I am genuinely intrigued by this. Yes, a lot of games are being made into MMOs it seems, but the ME universe could definitely take it. Like the others, though, my only concern is balance issues.
That being said, I think its time for my Krogan healer.
That being said, I think its time for my Krogan healer.
I don't recall anything about videogame characters that said they had to be perfect, and as such, gracious in rejection. Anders is a serious prick of a character, but the fact that he's gay has no bearing on it. Stop making it seem like there's a big issue here when there isn't one.Shru1kan said:
God, just let the ME universe alone after the third game.
Make a fulfilling ending (I know, there will be several different endings) and that's enough.
Btw the current ME games are story driven experiences, any MMO has yet to deliver this single player experience.
Make a fulfilling ending (I know, there will be several different endings) and that's enough.
Btw the current ME games are story driven experiences, any MMO has yet to deliver this single player experience.
Mass Effect really deserves to be an MMO. I can't think of a game world that doesn't more deserve a whole community of players inhabiting it and enacting the various cultures it presents. It's hard to achieve the kind of tone Mass Effect has, and it would suit the medium -perfectly-. So long as you could be all the races 
The thing about characters is that they are only as perfect as they are inked. To wedge in a gay option like that and have it have about as much tact as a sledgehammer is a detriment to what they are hoping to achieve. My gay friend hated that, as it doesn't help any footing gays have on the path to acceptance. As it falls to the writer to tackle a subject carefully and not alienate people, they failed, as both me and my friend hated the implementation. Of course, were I my friend or gay myself, I wouldn't be called out on bullshit like this. Remember, you made it an issue by taking it as a homophobic remark. Of course if you thought before you posted you would see that I never said the option being there was my problem, it was the piss poor implementation of it. This isn't a people will be people scenario, and Anders didn't have to be that whiny about it. He CAN be both tactful and gay, but it falls to the writers to make him that way. Therefore as a design choice, it sucks.Shamanic Rhythm said:
Honestly... no. I don't think an MMORPG would work for the Mass Effect series. The first three ME games are (or should be, in ME3's case) exclusively focused on Shepard's story of his/her fight against Saren, the Collectors, and eventually the Reapers. Any deviation from Shepard while the Commander's story is still taking place would just be moronic.
As people have said, an MMORPG would also be unbalanced. I mean, seriously. If they implemented the hanar as a playable race, they would have to be insanely difficult to play as on principle alone; they're jellyfish who speak through bio-luminescence. Elcor would be too slow to be of any use in a combat situation. Krogan would be too strong, salarians too weak. If an MMO were on the cards, it would take ten metric tons of work on BioWare's end, assuming EA didn't screw things up the way they tend to do.
Now, games in the Mass Effect universe that continue to expand on said universe, while detailing the story of another character, perhaps a descendant of Shepard - if the Commander lives through ME3 - that I could go for.
Or as was once mentioned in another Escapist news-post, a Mako racer. I could be keen. Perhaps with the option of upgrading to the Hammerhead, or using it for certain maps that the Mako wouldn't be capable of.
Oh, and just to satisfy my inner knowledge-bank:
As people have said, an MMORPG would also be unbalanced. I mean, seriously. If they implemented the hanar as a playable race, they would have to be insanely difficult to play as on principle alone; they're jellyfish who speak through bio-luminescence. Elcor would be too slow to be of any use in a combat situation. Krogan would be too strong, salarians too weak. If an MMO were on the cards, it would take ten metric tons of work on BioWare's end, assuming EA didn't screw things up the way they tend to do.
Now, games in the Mass Effect universe that continue to expand on said universe, while detailing the story of another character, perhaps a descendant of Shepard - if the Commander lives through ME3 - that I could go for.
Or as was once mentioned in another Escapist news-post, a Mako racer. I could be keen. Perhaps with the option of upgrading to the Hammerhead, or using it for certain maps that the Mako wouldn't be capable of.
Oh, and just to satisfy my inner knowledge-bank:
The N7 designation is one of the human Systems Alliance rankings. N7 is the highest rank in the Alliance military's Special Forces program. A salarian wouldn't have it unless collected from a dead N7 operative. And even then it'd be kinda disrespectful.Ser Imp said:
Look mate, if you're talking about reasons why the game will probably suck, and then you say, and I quote "Plus it will probably be full of gay sex options", that sounds very clearly like you have a problem with gay sex. Also, we can sit here and debate whether they were poorly implemented, but the most in your face and shallow relationship of the game is quite clearly Isabella. And yet strangely enough no one ever mentions that...Shru1kan said:
Instead of an MMORPG, I'd prefer to see a Mass Effect RPG. Basically, Mass Effect Age: Origins, with you being allowed to choose your race and background. Volus Racial Special Ability: Painful Kneecapping.
Either that or a sandbox game with limited multiplayer options.
The tricky part in the case of the above options, or even the MMORPG, would be making both good ground and space mechanics.
Either that or a sandbox game with limited multiplayer options.
The tricky part in the case of the above options, or even the MMORPG, would be making both good ground and space mechanics.
Actually, I read all of them. Did you read mine? I said that a lot of their reasons seemed shallow. I think there is just as much reason to applaud and even hope for a Mass Effect MMO as to decry it. And if Bioware makes good on their promise to bring story to MMOs with TOR, than a good chunk of that will be out the window. And there's no reason to believe that MMOs have to be just like WoW.LuzGutierrez said:
And against my better judgment, I read your entire comment. Even the part that was directed at someone else. The idea of a pen and paper RPG set in the Mass Effect universe is no better than the idea of an MMO set in the Mass Effect universe. Your complaint about them having to choose a canon is just as valid. Unless you choose to set the story long after the events of the game (like they are doing in TOR), there's no way to account for the choices players would make to avoid playing in "someone else'" story. That being said, the idea is intriguing. And I don't see why it couldn't work out. I'm just curious as to what your intentions are. Trying to get it published by Bioware or just a fun diversion for you and your friends?
If you want to use spoiler tags, like I did here, just type [ spoiler ] and end it with [ /spoiler ] without the spaces. Also, to make it say something other than "Spoiler", like I did, type [ spoiler=your text here ] in the first tag. Once more without the spaces. Makes posting a lot easier.
As for my quote, it was largely hyperbole. I thought that was obvious. Maybe I should doubt the denizens of the interwebz. And for bonus points, here are two posts that sound anfully negative of Bioware (though one was posted after mine).
Shru1kan said:
FelixG said: