BioWare: Next Mass Effect Isn't Mass Effect 4

[Mister Six]

"What Chris is saying is that thinking of the next Mass Effect game as Mass Effect 4 would imply a certain linearity, a straight evolution of the gameplay and story of the first three games. But because we are switching to a new engine and need to rebuild a bunch of game systems, we have an opportunity to rethink how we want these systems to be going forward instead of just inheriting them from the previous games,"

Hahaaa, oh wow. Calling it now - ME4 will ditch whatever vestigial adventure/RPG elements are left (which isn't all that many at this point, anyway) and go full-on futuristic TPS/FPS with modest weapon customization and a buttload of cutscenes. Now that EA have killed MoH perhaps they'll push Mass Effect as a competitor to Halo... Mass Of Duty anyone?

Fuck you very much EA.

It'll be the Battle of Shanxi, but instead of the rather minor conflict we were told about it's going to be 'an epic tale of human heroism', we'll be locked to a human protagonist, story will only be 6-7 hours and you can buy in-game DLC to refill your ammo if you get low. There will be multi-player with random DLC that outclasses anything that came with the standard game, an online pass, and it will be shut down 6-12 months later despite the revenue from the online pass supposedly be used to keep the servers up.

Though if they do actually come up with something original that doesn't feel like it was made at the demands of EA's analysts I will be a bit more optimistic about it.

 

[redknightalex]

Hasn't this been explained a couple of times over? And who, in their right mind, would actually think that "Mass Effect 4," or previously known as that, would be directly related to the original trilogy? I expected slight nods, as the article said, but a prequel or sequel? I think when Chris asked that poll on BSN a while ago he was being a tad misleading. Typical Chris.

Still, I love the universe and a new story will be interesting to see, no matter how much I love my Shepard.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

This whole statement sounds needlessly defensive.

"OMG guys! Don't call it Mass Effect 4 because it really is nothing like that last game you now all hate. Really, not even connected."

Seriously?

I don't know how I feel about this. I know the Mass Effect universe is huge, but for me ME was purely about Shepard and the reapers. Much like Halo 4, I'm not sure I'm ready to welcome more stories in that world.

 

[Screamarie]

An EA-executive and a Bioware-representative in a meeting.

"So Chris, buddy, what do you plan next? C'mon, you guys are a cash cow, people will buy anything you put out,no matter what you do and daddy needs a new condo."

"Well, actually we have some nifty ideas, considering a new setting, some new gameplay ideas and we finally wrote another script, so we don't have to recycle the Kotor-story for the 20th time."

"Uuuh, Chris, Chris, Chris, what did we say about the n-word? C'mooooon guys, you know how this works: I ask what your next game is and you put a number behind a title I already know. What about.... *scuffles through a little folder* ...this Mass Effect-stuff? I mean that's a safe shot, right? Most controversial response I ever saw about one of your games and the bloody masses still bought it like the little sheep they are supposed to be."

"Well...I guess you're right but...we kinda concluded the story, you know? We made a pretty big deal out of it being the end of the trilogy? And our rep DID suffer some serious blows and I don't think the dust settled on this one yet."

"Hm, I see where you're coming from. How about that: It's Mass Effect....but not the Mass Effect they know?"

"What, you mean like a reboot?"

"Uuuuh no. No. Nonono. Evil word, very unpopular. People HATE that word. No reboot."

"So...you WANT a sequel?"

"No sequel, no. You just said it, you concluded the..erm..what's the word again?" -"Story?" -"Yeh, that's it, story. No, you need to rework the existing story."

"But... if we use the Mass Effect name and set pieces...but cancel out everything we established about it before...that's a reboot, right?"

"....Okay, Chris, love your work so far but...here...we have a seminar, over at our place...come there next friday, 3 a.m., we have an amazing guy, he'll teach you everything about how to describe that rework-thing without using that nasty "Reboot"-word, alright? Alright!"

"Okay, I guess...but what should we name this re...work then?"

"Why, Mass Effect 4 of course. It is the fourth game in the series, isn't it?"

"....I'll see you at the seminar."

Yeah that's kind of the vibe I kept getting as I was reading the article, as in giant neon letters with airhorns, sirens and confetti cannons saying "REBOOT."

I'm not necessarily against change...but I am very much against someone fucking up the game series I love more than anything other game ever, even with the horrible ending thing. But...everyone deserves their chance I guess and maybe they'll do a really good job and I'll be super happy with the developers...That's possible right?....

Right?

*crickets*

RIGHT?

 

[Erttheking]

I want to be excited, but I can't help but ask "so, is this one going to be shit too?"

 

[Frontastic]

I'd actually like to see a different galaxy. The Reapers must have sent a few scouts to other galaxies to see how they're evolving.

 

[Nimcha]

This whole statement sounds needlessly defensive.

No defense is needless when there is this much attack.

 

[weirdee]

what i really want is a break away from the humans for a while

just exploring what the other races were like beyond their stereotypes

 

[AlexLoxate]

In other words: "We ain't touching that (ME 1-3 storyline) with a ten foot pole again." What you get when you're under papa EA's roof.

 

[spartandude]

I think/don't think that Bioware are/are not talking total bullshit to distance/not to distance their new game from the previous games and the shitstorm that did/did not happen over the ending. They blatantly want/don't want to have to spend time and effort dealing/not dealing with the utter omnishambles that the ME3 finale was/wasn't. Trying to further explain/not explain what the fuck the Starchild was going on about/wasn't going on about would/wouldn't drive any writer insane.

...man, this double-speak stuff is hard. Props to the Bioware guy for being so fluent in it.

Thanks i really needed this, ive had such a bad day but you helped me laugh from reading this

 

[Mike Richards]

An EA-executive and a Bioware-representative in a meeting.

"So Chris, buddy, what do you plan next? C'mon, you guys are a cash cow, people will buy anything you put out,no matter what you do and daddy needs a new condo."

"Well, actually we have some nifty ideas, considering a new setting, some new gameplay ideas and we finally wrote another script, so we don't have to recycle the Kotor-story for the 20th time."

"Uuuh, Chris, Chris, Chris, what did we say about the n-word? C'mooooon guys, you know how this works: I ask what your next game is and you put a number behind a title I already know. What about.... *scuffles through a little folder* ...this Mass Effect-stuff? I mean that's a safe shot, right? Most controversial response I ever saw about one of your games and the bloody masses still bought it like the little sheep they are supposed to be."

"Well...I guess you're right but...we kinda concluded the story, you know? We made a pretty big deal out of it being the end of the trilogy? And our rep DID suffer some serious blows and I don't think the dust settled on this one yet."

"Hm, I see where you're coming from. How about that: It's Mass Effect....but not the Mass Effect they know?"

"What, you mean like a reboot?"

"Uuuuh no. No. Nonono. Evil word, very unpopular. People HATE that word. No reboot."

"So...you WANT a sequel?"

"No sequel, no. You just said it, you concluded the..erm..what's the word again?" -"Story?" -"Yeh, that's it, story. No, you need to rework the existing story."

"But... if we use the Mass Effect name and set pieces...but cancel out everything we established about it before...that's a reboot, right?"

"....Okay, Chris, love your work so far but...here...we have a seminar, over at our place...come there next friday, 3 a.m., we have an amazing guy, he'll teach you everything about how to describe that rework-thing without using that nasty "Reboot"-word, alright? Alright!"

"Okay, I guess...but what should we name this re...work then?"

"Why, Mass Effect 4 of course. It is the fourth game in the series, isn't it?"

"....I'll see you at the seminar."

A Mass Effect fan and anti-fan meeting on a forum.

"Hey guys, look, Bioware is talking about taking ME in some new directions. It'll be interesting to see what they're talking about and judge whether or not it looks like a good idea once we actually know anything about it and can form a more informed opinion."

"No, they're just milking a dead franchise because EA told them to! EA! EA! EA! EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"But... the world was clearly created to be larger than just one storyline. There's a lot of room for other things to explore, and it's clearly a universe they have a lot of love for. And take Star Trek as an example, it's gone off in a lot of other directions that reference previous stories but don't-"

"No, they're clearly doing a reboot because it doesn't involve the old story but they can't call it a reboot because they know everyone hates reboots. Bioware is dead! EA! EA! EEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Ok, so, you want them to do something new and different then? New setting, new characters, new gameplay, all that? Even though they've already done that three times in the past ten years, which is something of an impressive achievement for a major company in the current market, and every time it seems like people complain that they were too different from the things they used to make."

"No, no, no. Don't you know how this works yet? They announce anything and everyone says they don't care anymore because reasons. Something about endings and hamburgers and how awesome Balder's Gate used to be. That's just how it works I'm afraid. Either they're not innovating enough or have strayed too far from that one thing that everyone liked. Either they're phoning it in or they're doing what they want instead of giving us exactly what we want without challenging us at all. Either they're a hollowed out shell of evil people intent on draining every last cent from their fanbase or they're a hollowed out shell of sympathetic people being manipulated by evil people into draining every last cent from their fanbase. Take your pick, no one can seem to come to a concise agreement on why we don't like them anymore, except things are different and we don't like different. And EA! EA! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[Proverbial Jon]

This whole statement sounds needlessly defensive.

No defense is needless when there is this much attack.

You make a valid point.

I'll readily admit that I was quite bitter for a time after the whole Mass Effect 3 ending issue. I just couldn't understand how such an infuriatingly broken ending was greenlit, especially from within Bioware of all devs. But I never allowed any of it to ruin the rest of the trilogy for me. In fact I'm playing through the whole trilogy again right now.

I shall watch "Mass Effect 4" with great interest; it will most likely be a game I'll be interested in playing. I just want to see Bioware move on from the ME3 ending stigma. Then again, there's still EA's business practices to provide the haters with negative ammunition.

EA! EA! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I'm going to have to go back to calling them Electronic Arts after reading this. It's honestly quite dizzying!

 

[daibakuha]

A Mass Effect fan and anti-fan meeting on a forum.

"Hey guys, look, Bioware is talking about taking ME in some new directions. It'll be interesting to see what they're talking about and judge whether or not it looks like a good idea once we actually know anything about it and can form a more informed opinion."

"No, they're just milking a dead franchise because EA told them to! EA! EA! EA! EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"But... the world was clearly created to be larger than just one storyline. There's a lot of room for other things to explore, and it's clearly a universe they have a lot of love for. And take Star Trek as an example, it's gone off in a lot of other directions that reference previous stories but don't-"

"No, they're clearly doing a reboot because it doesn't involve the old story but they can't call it a reboot because they know everyone hates reboots. Bioware is dead! EA! EA! EEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Ok, so, you want them to do something new and different then? New setting, new characters, new gameplay, all that? Even though they've already done that three times in the past ten years, which is something of an impressive achievement for a major company in the current market, and every time it seems like people complain that they were too different from the things they used to make."

"No, no, no. Don't you know how this works yet? They announce anything and everyone says they don't care anymore because reasons. Something about endings and hamburgers and how awesome Balder's Gate used to be. That's just how it works I'm afraid. Either they're not innovating enough or have strayed too far from that one thing that everyone liked. Either they're phoning it in or they're doing what they want instead of giving us exactly what we want without challenging us at all. Either they're a hollowed out shell of evil people intent on draining every last cent from their fanbase or they're a hollowed out shell of sympathetic people being manipulated by evil people into draining every last cent from their fanbase. Take your pick, no one can seem to come to a concise agreement on why we don't like them anymore, except things are different and we don't like different. And EA! EA! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

You hit the nail squarely on the head with this one. I see no reason to judge a game harshly when you literally know nothing about it. We haven't even seen a single screenshot or been told what it's going to play like.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

It would have to be set in a different universe entirely, just based on the perspective of story. The stakes pretty much can't be risen anymore than "save the galaxy from being completely wiped out by hyper-advanced synthetic lifeforms who are roughly the size of space ships."

It's kind of hard to take a step back after that. However, put it all in an entirely new universe and you can build up to whatever kind of story you want. If it's clear that this story does not take place in Shepard's universe, you won't be expecting anything, and the new threat can be slowly unveiled until the end of the over arcing plot. If it's set in the same universe, it's kind of hard to pull out a villain that's just as powerful, threatening, and equally built up to as the Reapers, who can also be somehow fit into the existing canon.

Looking forward to getting more information as it arrives!

 

[daibakuha]

It would have to be set in a different universe entirely, just based on the perspective of story. The stakes pretty much can't be risen anymore than "save the galaxy from being completely wiped out by hyper-advanced synthetic lifeforms who are roughly the size of space ships."

It's kind of hard to take a step back after that. However, put it all in an entirely new universe and you can build up to whatever kind of story you want. If it's clear that this story does not take place in Shepard's universe, you won't be expecting anything, and the new threat can be slowly unveiled until the end of the over arcing plot. If it's set in the same universe, it's kind of hard to pull out a villain that's just as powerful, threatening, and equally built up to as the Reapers, who can also be somehow fit into the existing canon.

Looking forward to getting more information as it arrives!

The stakes don't have to rise. The villain doesn't have to be as bad or worse as the previous ones. There is nothing wrong with the story having a smaller scope than the previous games.

 

[DementedSheep]

I?m pretty sure they have been saying ME4 would not be a part of Shepards story since before ME3 even came out.

It would have to be set in a different universe entirely, just based on the perspective of story. The stakes pretty much can't be risen anymore than "save the galaxy from being completely wiped out by hyper-advanced synthetic lifeforms who are roughly the size of space ships."

It's kind of hard to take a step back after that. However, put it all in an entirely new universe and you can build up to whatever kind of story you want. If it's clear that this story does not take place in Shepard's universe, you won't be expecting anything, and the new threat can be slowly unveiled until the end of the over arcing plot. If it's set in the same universe, it's kind of hard to pull out a villain that's just as powerful, threatening, and equally built up to as the Reapers, who can also be somehow fit into the existing canon.

Looking forward to getting more information as it arrives!

That doesn't matter, you don't need to have a bigger threat every single time especially when your not even using the same character. Not everything needs to about saving the whole universe and the Reapers existence dose not invalidate every other problem.

 

[hentropy]

It should be obvious, but you can see how many dumb people can assume "direct sequel" upon hearing "Mass Effect 4". The rest of it is them saying in a roundabout way that they haven't decided what the next game is going to be, which is fine as far as I'm concerned, the longer they think about it, the better. But any tiny thing from Bioware is going to be shredded and pure hatred and vitriol will be spewed towards them. It might be a little bit deserved, but at the same time we can't condemn every future Bioware game because people weren't satisfied with the last 10 minutes of an otherwise pretty good ME3.