Oh man...I thought I was the only who didn't give a crap. Seriously, I agree with you. It's like the Israelites in the desert if you'll forgive my Judeo-Christian analogy. Bioware has not led Mass Effect astray yet, they have done wonderful things, made wonderful games, but the people still doubt and complain. As far as merchandise go, that's EA's thing I'm willing to bet, so I don't blame Bioware for that. I have never understood some of the complaints people are making.
1) New characters being questioned, despite the fact Bioware creates some of the best characters in all of gaming
2) Question voice actors, since again, Bioware tend to bring great voice actors (ok maybe not Chobot but still). I guess if they don't get Nolan North, VA's a dud.
3) A multiplayer mode, despite the fact that it's completely optional, can only positively impact your SP game, and uses completely different characters so to only be tangentially related
4) DLC, despite the fact again that it's completely optional, can only positively impact your game (or not at all), and doesn't affect the main story (as long as it stays that way, no complaints from me)
So as I was saying, I am glad someone is like me and is not that worried about this game just stinking it up.
I do have 1 minor disagreement with you though
erttheking said:
I think that people have watched too much Zero Punctuation, and now automatically assume that if there is a number in something's name, it will suck
While Yahtzee is against sequels, he isn't against Bioware. In fact, he views them very favorably for their good story-writing. He is also not a pre-hype crazy man either, in my opinion. He mostly does it to piss off fanboys. My theory on Yahtzee's opinion will be this: good story, won't play multiplayer (duh), an overall good game with some Yahtzee-style nitpicks.