Bioware: Next Mass Effect on "The Right Track"

[Austin Manning]

An example:
The Illusive Man, even if indoctrinated, wouldn't have acted this way... something the new writers neglected, thoroughly. To the old Illusive Man, Shepard was an invaluable asset for humanity that he didn't want to lose at any price, that he wanted to have on his side to work with him rather than against him. Even indoctrinated, he would have tried to hold Shepard as long as possible, and continued his normal behavior of not telling Shepard more details than the ones she needed to know. This was the most "odd" part of TIM's behavior in Mass Effect 3: he spoke to Shepard, and actually explained stuff... reasoned. Something the old Illusive Man wouldn't have done. He would have provided Shepard with just enough data to go on to work for him rather than against his cause.

I agree, I went through almost the same thing with Tali's character. She went on and on about how showing that the admirals were bickering would divide the fleet when the alternative of the Reapers potentially wiping out both her race and the Geth is clearly worse. Not to mention the extreme idiocy of the fact that the two races would be at peace if, during Mass Effect 2, Legion and Qwib Qwib simply negotiated one. I mean, you can get them to talk and Legion will specifically state they don't mean any harm towards the Quarians and yet, with the worst comic timing ever, they try and wipe each other out the moment the one enemy that they need to unite against shows up.

 

[Trollthean]

It's probably too late for this but I'd like to point out that fans took Casey's infamous 'A,B,C endings' statements out of context. Here's what the internet usually quotes:

It?s not even in any way like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C.

Here's what Casey actually said

Yeah, and I?d say much more so, because we have the ability to build the endings out in a way that we don?t have to worry about eventually tying them back together somewhere. This story arc is coming to an end with this game. That means the endings can be a lot more different. At this point we?re taking into account so many decisions that you?ve made as a player and reflecting a lot of that stuff. It?s not even in any way like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C.

It?s more like there are some really obvious things that are different and then lots and lots of smaller things, lots of things about who lives and who dies, civilizations that rose and fell, all the way down to individual characters. That becomes the state of where you left your galaxy. The endings have a lot more sophistication and variety in them. It would be interesting to see if somebody could put together a chart for that. Even with Mass Effect 2?s...

Yeah, from the second paragraph it is clear that he is talking about different world states at the end.

 

[Kingjackl]

An example:
The Illusive Man, even if indoctrinated, wouldn't have acted this way... something the new writers neglected, thoroughly. To the old Illusive Man, Shepard was an invaluable asset for humanity that he didn't want to lose at any price, that he wanted to have on his side to work with him rather than against him. Even indoctrinated, he would have tried to hold Shepard as long as possible, and continued his normal behavior of not telling Shepard more details than the ones she needed to know. This was the most "odd" part of TIM's behavior in Mass Effect 3: he spoke to Shepard, and actually explained stuff... reasoned. Something the old Illusive Man wouldn't have done. He would have provided Shepard with just enough data to go on to work for him rather than against his cause.

I agree, I went through almost the same thing with Tali's character. She went on and on about how showing that the admirals were bickering would divide the fleet when the alternative of the Reapers potentially wiping out both her race and the Geth is clearly worse. Not to mention the extreme idiocy of the fact that the two races would be at peace if, during Mass Effect 2, Legion and Qwib Qwib simply negotiated one. I mean, you can get them to talk and Legion will specifically state they don't mean any harm towards the Quarians and yet, with the worst comic timing ever, they try and wipe each other out the moment the one enemy that they need to unite against shows up.

That wasn't really a negotiation and Qwib Qwib was kind of in the minority as far as the war went. Mass Effect 2 & 3 made it pretty clear that he was against going to war with the geth, but was outnumbered by the other admirals. I don't think Tali supported the war either, and neither did the geth. They were readying for war with the Reapers until the quarians invaded and the Reapers took control of the geth.

 

[Lord_Nemesis]

Not sure anything could overcome the intense disappointment I had over ME3's ending. A prequel? Well I know how it ends. Badly. A sequel? Well, no. I don't think I could go for it. What if they make ANOTHER 3 amazing games only to end it horribly as the original trilogy? I don't think my soul could go through that again.

 

[jklinders]

It tried to legitimize the idea that artists cannot control their own work. the endings were what they were and people still moan about it over a year afterwards.

Bioware already legitimized that artists can't control their own work when they took Drew Karpyshyn(the series lead writer) off of Mass Effect 3 and replaced him with people who ignored all of the plot devices, foreshadowing, and character arcs that he'd set up.

There's my biggest problem with ME3: most of the characters acted what I perceived then as "strange" and not how that character would usually react. The ending was just the tip of the iceberg: it was disappointing and didn't show anything that happened afterwards (well, nothing significant, anyway).

An example:
The Illusive Man, even if indoctrinated, wouldn't have acted this way... something the new writers neglected, thoroughly. To the old Illusive Man, Shepard was an invaluable asset for humanity that he didn't want to lose at any price, that he wanted to have on his side to work with him rather than against him. Even indoctrinated, he would have tried to hold Shepard as long as possible, and continued his normal behavior of not telling Shepard more details than the ones she needed to know. This was the most "odd" part of TIM's behavior in Mass Effect 3: he spoke to Shepard, and actually explained stuff... reasoned. Something the old Illusive Man wouldn't have done. He would have provided Shepard with just enough data to go on to work for him rather than against his cause.

The Illusive Man was a pet creation of Mac Walters who was in the writing team right to the end. Also, indoctrination of any kind, but especially the ME kind doesn't work that way. Your own viewpoints are changed or replaced by the one who indoctrinated you. Hell, I knew he was going to turn full out axe crazy bad even as his apologists on the BSN were trying to whitewash his actions. He was already indoctrinated a little bit in the second game. He was after all working with the collectors to use their tech. That tech was already corrupting him. This was from in game lore. This was actually one of the only things that was utterly consistent in the third game.

 

[Atmos Duality]

"Man says franchise looks so amazing people will lose their shit...but can't actually back that statement up."
Is this what passes for newsworthy now?

 

[DjinnFor]

Hah, after the mess of ME3 (More problems than just the ending, picking up a side quest by running like a retard into people to "eavesdrop" on them to get it? Fucking lame)

So, you just didn't like eavesdropping for some unmentioned reason. Care to add more than a nitpick?

Also hated the direction since ME2 for a CoD/Gears cover shooter

So you prefer the non-gameplay in ME1 then?

and a shitty attempt at "RPG" elements.

So you prefer the non-mechanics in ME1 then?

 

[neppakyo]

snip

Yep, I prefer ME1. Also, getting rid of the mako was a bad idea too, it was pretty fun driving the tank around. Needed improvement, but not taken out. Also, miss the elevator ride.

So, yep. ME went down hill since ME1.

 

[Estelindis]

It's probably too late for this but I'd like to point out that fans took Casey's infamous 'A,B,C endings' statements out of context.

I'm very much aware of the full quote from Casey. The problem is that, no matter how diverse the various world states of the game are, they condense into a single number (galactic readiness), leading to three endings (plus a fourth, if you view the massive "screw you, ungrateful fanbase" that is Refuse as an ending). Whether the quarians are alive or dead, whether you cure the genophage or not, you can only ever choose between a limited number of morally repugnant options whose effects are so wide-ranging that they make all other differences pale into insignificance. In other words, the world-states have almost no impact on the endings, and then the endings go on to profoundly overshadow the world-states. Most people don't talk about which options they chose before the endings in ME3. Most people talk about whether they chose Control, Synthesis, Destroy, or refused to choose. In effect, then, what Casey said wasn't true. Maybe he believed it when he said it, though.