How would you continue the Mass Effect universe? Spoilers

[pilouuuu]

OK, nobody liked Mass Effect 3 ending, but I think I get why Bioware made it that way. I think that they destroyed mass relays in all endings because that's the canon from now on. Their mistake was not include more alternative endings with mass relays staying intact.

Why do I say that the canon is that mass relays get all destroyed? Because it would be an interesting beginning for a new series in the universe. Creatures from all the universe stranded in a semi destroyed Earth. It would be great to see how they are all trying to survive and the conflicts and almost surely Krogan would go all crazy trying to rule Earth!

What is your opinion? Or after the awful ending you think Mass Effect is totally finished?

I think that if they include indoctrination theory in the DLC ending and give proper closure to the adventures of The Shepard there's a chance that gamers would receive new games with open arms.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

There's a chance that they could make a game set on the planet the crew crash on

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Pretty much everyone who responds here will refuse the idea of ever making another one.

But ill bite. Its probably too ambitious but I think itd be cool to skip forwards a few thousand years or so. Let us import our game saves again but this time use it to show us what our choices meant for the galaxy in the long run?

For example if you cured the genophage the krogan could be running the galaxy, or maybe they learned to control themselves(and implement some fucking contraception!) and are a highly respected and valued part of the new council.

What about the Geth? Are they part of the new council or did that supposedly inevitable war the reapers talked about happen? Maybe the Geth went off to deep space to just stay away from organics, who they decided were too chaotic to be safe for them?

Is fucking a robot now called doing a Joker?

 

[endtherapture]

Retcon the ending so the Reapers after defeated.

Then let Obsidian make a game about a shadow war between the Council and the Terminus systems with Garrus as a Spectre and Reaper tech arms race.

 

[dimensional]

Its probably best not to as far as I am aware it was designed as a trilogy so it would be best to keep it that way if they expand it beyond its original scope it would probably hurt it.

I suppose they could set another game unrelated to the first set in the mass effect universe but if they are going to do that it would be more interesting and only a small further stretch to make a new IP.

 

[Rawne1980]

I wouldn't.

I'd leave it where it is now and make no more games (also, I think BioWare ruled out the indoctrination theory completely and although it was a theory it wasn't as popular amongst the fans as some believe).

There is nowhere to take the Mass Effect universe now with interesting plot to keep all it's fans happy.

Some want a game to rebuild (oh the joy, Sims Effect), some want Rachni Wars others want first contact wars some want a new story completely.

The problem I have with them....

Rachni Wars, we know how it turns out so there is no sense of urgency. Nothing we do can change the outcome to an already canon past war.

First Contact Warts, same reason as above.

Other folks will disagree but they aren't games I would buy. May as well make a game about the Titanic, it's already set in stone and your actions would be just as pointless.

My point is, they have already thrown the biggest threat they possibly could at us. Beings that wipe out nearly all life is pretty much as high as you get on the "oh fuck, it's a bad guy" scale.

Someone mentioned a theory that Reapers wipe out life to stop something worse from noticing us....

So they wipe out nearly all life, to stop something else from wiping out nearly all life...... yeah it made no sense to me either. Thats like me shooting someone so a bus doesn't hit them. The outcome would still be the same so it's pointless.

Plus the Asari already have the knowledge to build more Mass Relays. They had that beacon for thousands of years and (as mentioned in ME2) they have the knowledge to do it.

Anything following on from the end of the Reapers wouldn't make an interesting game for a few people. You're talking a Sci-Fi politics game which is about as interesting as watching a 3 legged turtle race.

I honestly don't see how they can make another "big seller" under the Mass Effect banner.

Like I say, it's nothing to do with the ending. Even if the ending had been so good it cleaned my house for a month and brought Freddy Mercury back from the dead I just don't see how they can follow it.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

They can't really continue it as that would mean picking one of the 3 endings as the canon one. Thats the most upsetting part of the endings for me, they effectively killed the ME universe.

 

[Zeckt]

I'm going to have to agree with Rawne, they shot their own franchise in the head while it was screaming "I love life!" and instead of a burial threw the body off a cliff. There would be nothing interesting enough to warrant another full game, and now bioware is left with dragon age?

It was a very poor business move in that they not only retired their key franchise they lost the faith of alot of their hardcore fanbase. Bioware needs to pull out a miracle with whatever game they have planned next.

 

[Zhukov]

Well, we all know that they're going to make more ME games. They've dropped extremely heavy hints to that effect and there's no way EA is going to let them abandon a profitable brand in favour of new things.

As for how exactly they should go about it... no idea.

The endings to ME3, such as they are, would make a sequel awfully tricky. As mentioned above, you can't really raise the stakes higher than "save entire galaxy of sentient life". That leaves prequels, which suffer from the problem of predetermined outcomes.

If they must do something, I think it should be a spinoff like, say, an origin story for Aria. Something personal and small in scale.

Although, at the end of the day I'm really sure I care any more. The ME3 ending sapped my enthusiasm for the series. Besides, I was in it for the characters. A ME game without the old crew would feel pointless to me.

 

[endtherapture]

The First Contact War wouldn't work because there were only 600 casualties in the war which isn't very many Turians to kill.

 

[Zhukov]

They can't really continue it as that would mean picking one of the 3 endings as the canon one. Thats the most upsetting part of the endings for me, they effectively killed the ME universe.

Leaving aside the nature of the endings for a sec, wouldn't you prefer something end on a high note rather than be dragged out over and over again until it dies in obscurity?

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

What about a semi-prequel game where you play as Garrus in-between ME1 & 2, during his time as Archangel on Omega? I feel like that could be an entirely new take on the Mass Effect experience all it's own. Perhaps how he assembled his team, and taking out merc squads across Omega? I'm not sure if it would qualify as a full-on retail game, but maybe as a stand-alone title for digital download?

I think that could be a lot of fun!

 

[Fappy]

It sounds like the Extended Cut is going to rationalize some way of rebuilding the relays in a timely manner if dev tweets are anything to go off of. Personally I would retcon the endings and make a more sensible one where the relays don't get destroyed. I understand how destroying the relays COULD be a really cool plot point, but it was poorly executed and without stretches in logic it effectively destroys the setting.

If the relays remained and the reaper threat was ended once and for all I would make the next installments much more about the people and governments than some evil ancient threat. The next game would be about how the galaxy has been rebuilding itself physically and emotionally. We would see how the political structures have adapted and we would see what other conflicts would have spun out of the chaos. A lot of governments have a lot to answer for. What happens to them? Without the Citadel where and how does the galactic community come together? These would all be great places to start and I think they could come up with some great stories in this regard.

 

[Indecipherable]

My understanding is that they have expressed interest in prequels of some kind. There's a lot of that to explore.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

They can't really continue it as that would mean picking one of the 3 endings as the canon one. Thats the most upsetting part of the endings for me, they effectively killed the ME universe.

Leaving aside the nature of the endings for a sec, wouldn't you prefer something end on a high note rather than be dragged out over and over again until it dies in obscurity?

Usually I'd agree, but in a universe this rich and detailed, there was so much more great stuff they could have done with it IMO.

 

[Bertylicious]

I reckon they should retcon the Normandy crash to say it landed on some jungle part of earth. Skip forward, I dunno, 20 years in game time and have The Alliance attempt a new intersteller drive. The game could be set in the exploration of the nearby systems to Sol, the previous characters could do cameos and you'd have the same canon in new & original setting.

 

[Emiscary]

I'd go back in time to before ME3 started production and assassinate whoever pushed the Multiplayer component alongside Mac Walters & Casey Hudson. Then the game would likely never have been released, and I'd get to fill in the blanks myself *WITHOUT* paying 60 bucks for the privilege.

 

[Skoldpadda]

I'd focus on the story of a space janitor. There's lots of potential there, I think.

 

[jehk]

I come into this thread hoping for an interesting conversation about how galactic life would change without the relays. What do I find...

OT: There's tons of potential for interesting stories and characters as the galaxy tries to put back the pieces. I could see them doing something like Firefly. A star ship captain just trying to make ends meet.

While there's still FTL travel the galaxy just got a whole lot bigger. Communication is going to be a big problem. Traveller RPG anyone?

 

[fgdfgdgd]

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned the whole 'stargazer' thing...Or the citadel blowing up or not...I'd think if they did they'd spin it as a 'every hero throughout history has been called 'Shepard' deal and just build from there.