Bara_no_Hime said:
A lot of people, even those who didn't like the ending, consider Mass Effect 3 to be the Game of the Year. Yeah, the last ten minutes were ass, but the rest of the game was solid gold.
The only people I've seen make any reference to 3 as a GOTY contender are the fanboys on the BSN. The game dropped out of consideration for that honor long ago - even if the ending wasn't so bad, the massive amount of fail throughout the game, and its subsequent controversy, all but ensured it was shunned by over half the fanbase. Besides, we've still got 2 months before the end of the year, and Hitman Absolution/Halo 4 are already being talked up as big contenders everywhere.
There are several problems with creating a sequel to 3.
1) Circumstances/Decisions. Either the galaxy is comprised of half-green tech-human hybrids, the Reapers are still out there being controlled by Shepard, or that Shepard is possibly alive and the galaxy is fine. You can't integrate those disparate choices into a single continuity without making serious retcons (like the EC did) or having it be based on one set of choices (which would then nullify the whole point of making choices throughout the trilogy). BW sure wouldn't devote the time to making extra content to integrate all of these choices - they're under the thumb of EA now, to the point that their logo in the OP has been rebranded to show that they are well and truly a division now.
2) Threat Level: When you start with antagonists that are nigh-invulnerable machine gods that believe their justification for cleansing the galaxy is beyond comprehension, there are very few places you can go after that. The only thing that could have worked was the "tech singularity", and seeing how they swept that under the rug, that's not likely a potential storyline. Smaller-scale stories won't have the same impact as the first two games, and any new protagonist is going to be undeniably compared with Shepard. This is why it was such a foolish move to kill him off (in most cases) in 3.
3) Future Storylines: The majority of responses in this topic show that any future storyline would be gimped at best. A mercenary? A single commando? Come on! The ME trilogy involved the entire galaxy uniting to stop a common threat - these ideas sound like the franchise would be moving backwards. There is no interest in a new character going on a small-scale mission, especially when the odds and involvement were already hit their peak in the trilogy. The only thing they can really do are prequels, and if it's set during 3, it's going to be pointless.
I don't think BW has any idea what to do with their franchise, and EA is pushing their buttons - look at their upcoming releases. Propping up dead franchises (C&C, Ultima), DA2 set in one city, ME3 with severely limited hub worlds/locations, etc. They know people are still extremely unhappy with 3, and they've been trying to talk it up at every chance they get because they want to build interest again, which is pretty much non-existent outside the hardcore fanbase.
