BioWare Teases a New Mass Effect in Development

[RedBackDragon]

I miss the days when Bioware tried different things before they sold their souls to the devil and turned into a wandering abomination of what they used to be.

>.>
<.<

*goes back to playing jade empire*

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I don't know about the rest of you, but with Mass Effect 4, I'm choosing the Blue Ending.

 

[L34dP1LL]

It's too soon bioware, I don't want to be heartbroken again hahah.
damn it with that vigil music and liara's gift!

 

[Darren716]

So they are trying to do what the fans want but yet they get the person who penned the magnum opus that was the Mass Effect 3 ending. I don't see how these two things go together.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

So they are trying to do what the fans want but yet they get the person who penned the magnum opus that was the Mass Effect 3 ending. I don't see how these two things go together.

My thoughts exactly, doesn't inspire confidence does it? I will be skeptical on this one.

 

[Chris Tian]

I'm guessing that the new mass effect will take place in a different galaxy. That way they can create new races and ignore the ending. It looks nice so far, but I would have liked to see a bit more, even if it was just a title, but it gives me something to look forward to.

a) Take place prior to Mass Effect (1), which could even span prior to human first contact, so it gives them a lot to work with.

I think there is no way the next Mass Effect will take place in either a new Galaxy or prior to the Human First Contact. In a new Galaxy it would practically be a new IP and have almost nothing in common with the previous games, they would never do that. Bioware most likely wants the fans to instantly recognize alot of things about the game and feel reminded about the previous titles to sell copys to anybody who liked one of the previous games.

I feel the same way about a game where you wouldn't be able to play as a human or in which humans have no big role at all. They couldn't make covers/posters/trailers/whatever with some 30something brown haired white male being the main focus for a game like that.

So they are trying to do what the fans want but yet they get the person who penned the magnum opus that was the Mass Effect 3 ending. I don't see how these two things go together.

All I could think when I saw his face was: "How can it be that you are still allowed work on ME?"

 

[Lee Medcalf]

Just spitballing here, but if you wanted to get around all the possible variations and permutations of the state of the galaxy post ME3 yet set a new story within the same timeline and universe, then I would find a way to isolate the characters in some way and keep them away from the events of ME3 as far as was practical. Now obviously whichever ending you chose (and I'm not going to get into the merits or otherwise of the endings that discussion has been done to death) has to be a starting point but if you isolate your characters by say making them the crew of a ship stuck out on the edge of the galaxy when the Mass Effect relays were blown up / disabled by the Crucible and unable to contact or fast travel back to council space, then you avoid having to create variations beyond three basic starting points...

The control starting point might not change anything as you'd only see Reapers when you reach council space

The destroy starting point takes Geth and Ai / VI out of the story

The Symbiosis starting point is a graphical change and some extra dialogue with the crew trying to work out what's happened to them.

The genophage storyline, the quarian / Geth conflict and other story lines have all happened but the isolated crew, lost and alone on the edge of the galaxy travelling at light speed rather than using relays are unaware of any of this. Hell they might not even be aware of the reapers hitting earth...

It gets around most, if not the majority of, decisions made, it exists alongside ME1-3 and it opens up exploration as a key element to the game as the crew try to get home unaware of what awaits them.

 

[zinho73]

Oh this is going to be funny after the world wide cry fest that was Mass Effect 3.
I wonder how many people will get back on board with bioware and how many will continue to hold up their middle finger.
Another thing to point out that when a franchise makes a complete trilogy, the fourth addition is usually seen as a cash in to try and milk what's left since people hate it when you open up a new chapter in an already completed series.

By the way, I always hate these dev talk video's since they always go on about how they are doing something new and revolutionary as well as how pleased they expect the fans to be. It's pointless hyping and doesn't show much to back up what they say.

Amen.
My Hype metter broke about 20% into the video. For God's sake - talk like normal people, folks.

 

[Kingjackl]

Those cheeky buggers. They know...THEY KNOW...that all it takes is the announcement of a new Mass Effect game to make me run around the house whooping with glee and having a crisis. So they know all they need to do is make some nothing trailer with a few developers talking a big game over 5 seconds of concept art footage and the 'Vigil' theme and that will still get me on board. Bastards...

The fact that we only saw one human in full-covering power armour is a worry. People liked the multiplayer guys, it's safe to put multiple races in now. Let me be a turian in greenish-orange armour again, that's all I ask.

 

[michael87cn]

Sequel Prequel or Spin off? That's all that matters, really. If there's no Shepard, would anyone play it?

 

[Alexei F. Karamazov]

I'm still jaded. I loved the Mass Effect series, and by God, having them even consider making a Mass Effect 4... it's like they didn't even play their own game! As others above have said, there are three (four if you actually considered the refusal ending) choices that have drastically different (albeit awful) endings! You can't move on from that without upsetting just about everyone.

PERSONALLY, I wish they'd either move on to make something that I can actually support, or make a spin-off where you play as Garrus during his Archangel days on Omega. Now THAT I can get behind! Give it some actually decent squad mechanics, flesh out Omega; hell, they could even make it first person if they wanted to. I would pay money for that game, but Mass Effect 4? They're going to have to work REALLY hard to convince me to feel anything more than contempt and nerd-rage.

 

[Vault101]

let it go vault...let it go...

...EEEERRAAAGGGHHHH I WANTED IT TO BE DEAD FOREVER...I DON'T WANT TO FEEL ANYMORE!

no! no!

[i/]let it gooo...let it GOOOOOOOO!!! can't hold it back anymoooooorrrreeeee[/i]

tl;dr I am conflicted about this

 

[Falsename]

Probably the most disappointing part of E3.

Instead of a trailer or signs that the game will be here soon, it was pretty much a declaration of "oh yeah, we're working on it". I knew that.

Not that it's their fault, work on it till it's perfect! Still disappointing at the time.

 

[Idsertian]

I'm hearing you talk lots, BioWare, but I'm not actually hearing you say anything. Come back when you have something concrete to show me.

You're still in the dog house for ME3, anyway, so excuse me if I look on anything with "Mass Effect" in the name with nothing less than extreme pessimism.

 

[Grimh]

Incredibly awful stories are also remembered.

You know forgetting about it being terrible for a second, with sequels in mind they basically shoot themselves in the foot, with a shotgun.
I think they never should have given a final choice that massively diverges the story at the end.
The game's basically over, what's the point?

Not saying they can't do it but they just made it needlessly difficult for themselves. I mean I guess they can just make one of the endings canon and work from that but then the choice was even more pointless.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

NO. No no no no no no no no no no no no no!
What Mass Effect fans told you was to pull your heads out of your *sses and f*ing do a Commander Shepard story right. The last, literal LAST, thing the fans want to see is a whole new set of characters and places with absolutely no connection to the amazing, beautiful characters we fell in love with.
I don't care about any new characters you think can shape up to Shepard, Liara, Tali, Garrus, Kaidan or Ashley.(Those simply being my favorites, not knocking the others) They can't shape up. We've had 3 amazing games to get to know these people, and you think you can recapture the fans love and loyalty(read: money) by stapling on 'Mass Effect' to your phoned-in project? You want to tell a completely original space themed bioware story with nothing to do with Shepard? Fine, great, more power to you. Just don't call it Mass Effect and pretend we don't see the writing on the wall.
We don't want to see some new guy/gal running around doing absolutely f*ck all while we are searching, praying, practically begging for knowledge about what happens to the Normandy, the crew and Shepard at the end of ME3.
Remember Bioware, the whole controversy over Mass Effect 3 happened because you prioritized your developers/writers ambitious egos over the established narrative arc and the enjoyment of the players.
And here you are with a 2min long video saying not only are you doing it again, but open wide, our writers want to wank off again

 

[GARforGunman]

I still miss the days when Bioware truly listened to their fans' feedback. I'm not talking about the sycophantic neckbeards that now make up the vast majority of their forums. I'm talking about fans of good narrative that flows naturally, well-crafted world building that gives the story greater depth, and fleshed out characters.

Ever since their assimilation into EA, Bioware has been pandering more to their dwindling hardcore fanbase and plugging their ears towards other legitimate complaints (numerous plot holes and shady DLC tactics to name a few).

For instance, if Bioware had truly listened to their fans' grievances with ME3's ending, the extended cut version would have played out something like this :

Spoiler

[http://s874.photobucket.com/user/Church0/media/StarbratPunting_zps1da05d55.jpg.html]

Instead, it added more plot holes while trying to put a "happier" face on their original endings. The result is akin to End of Evangelion; closure is provided but the means that it is achieved still create more questions than answers and leaves a bitter taste in the viewer's mind that tends to spoil the entire experience.

 

[Rastrelly]

There is no ME after ME3. It has ruined entire setting for me. Why would I bother if some space magic can hop out any moment? ME is no longer sci-fi, and, even worse, it's no longer a solid setting.

 

[erykweb]

There is no ME after ME3. It has ruined entire setting for me. Why would I bother if some space magic can hop out any moment? ME is no longer sci-fi, and, even worse, it's no longer a solid setting.

The way I see it, the worst mistake they made was not including the Leviathan DLC storyline in the main game. That reconciles pretty much everything you dislike about the ending- what many people don't like about it. Instead it leaves you to try to infer thing you could not possibly know.

I'm guessing that the new mass effect will take place in a different galaxy. That way they can create new races and ignore the ending. It looks nice so far, but I would have liked to see a bit more, even if it was just a title, but it gives me something to look forward to.

a) Take place prior to Mass Effect (1), which could even span prior to human first contact, so it gives them a lot to work with.

I think there is no way the next Mass Effect will take place in either a new Galaxy or prior to the Human First Contact. In a new Galaxy it would practically be a new IP and have almost nothing in common with the previous games, they would never do that. Bioware most likely wants the fans to instantly recognize alot of things about the game and feel reminded about the previous titles to sell copys to anybody who liked one of the previous games.

I feel the same way about a game where you wouldn't be able to play as a human or in which humans have no big role at all. They couldn't make covers/posters/trailers/whatever with some 30something brown haired white male being the main focus for a game like that.

Now that we have seen the renders from that short trailer, we know that it takes place in our galaxy after first contact. The armor was N7, so there are humans. From the look of the tech on the armor, it also seems like it is post first contact war, but also seems to be much more like the N7 from the ME3 multiplayer than the ME1 armors, which suggests that it is at the same time or after the events of ME3.

 

[Smiley Face]

Sequel Prequel or Spin off? That's all that matters, really.

Well put. More than pretty much any other game, my anticipation for ME4 will be decided by the question of how they plan to continue the series. There's a lot of good ideas they could go for, and a lot of bad ones as well. Until that happens, anything more than a short teaser with music+logo+vague date is just going to frustrate me.