At some point I'll have to get around to picking up the Omega dlc to see what it's like....

Forgettable.

 

I mean, I literally forgot about it. Leviathan wasn't too bad, though.

Has BioWare actually confirmed Shepard will not feature in the new game?  Or is it just a rumor that's been picked up by every news source and now stated as fact?

"There is one thing we are absolutely sure of--there will be no more Shepard, and the trilogy is over... So first, we don’t want to make 'Shepard 2,' or Mass Effect 4 with like, 'oh there’s no more Shepard but you’re a soldier in the universe.' So this will be a very, very different context for sure, and nothing has been decided on the rest."

- Fabrice Condominas, BioWare Montreal producer

 

So the setting will remain the same, but it sounds like they're going to do their best to set it apart from the trilogy so you don't get overshadowed by the Shep. Other than that, looks like nothing concrete atm.

 

I almost think they purposefully left at least one loose end hanging for a new series: Why is Haestrom's sun aging so fast? With the Reaper invasion it took a backseat to other matters, but what if it starts happening elsewhere?

Edited January 29, 201313 yr by TSBasilisk

It was confirmed a few times although lots of people have asked for Shep to come back so perhaps they'll reconsider.

Edited January 29, 201313 yr by Serrano

I just figure it's going to be a Master Chief situation.  Original plan is to not bring back the protagonist from the original trilogy, but then realize it's a cash cow and go against that.

 

Also, that quote suggesting the player won't just be a Shepard clone, I'm not sure how they'll manage that.  It's going to be an action shooter.  What other archetype can they possibly come up with as a protagonist for that type of game other than "Space marine" ala Shepard version 2?

You know what would be awesome?  An open-galaxy space trading/piracy game in the ME universe.  Search uncharted worlds for artifacts and resources.  Smuggle red sand from Ilium to Thessia.  Hire mercenaries and hope they don't betray you.  Evade the Turian authorities.  Buy and sell tidbits to information brokers.  Get a letter of marque from the Alliance to disrupt Batarian slave traders.  Help out Spectre or STG agents in return for access to cutting edge tech.  It doesn't really play into Bioware's strengths as a studio, but I can't help but imagine the possibilities. 

 

 

I'm at the point in the game where the window to do a DLC mission is rapidly closing (I have no sidequests open, and the next main quest is the Cerberus base), and I'm probably going to pass.  I played a few of the ME2 DLCs (Shadowbroker and whatever the Kasumi one was called), as well as the Javik one for ME3, and found them generally worthwhile.  But add-on content at this point feels extra-tangential, given that nearly everything else I've been doing has been wrapping up old plot threads, rather than exploring new ones.  (Also, the inconvenience of dealing with their silly "bioware points" system is no small part of this decision.  You'd think that they would have dropped that nonsense when they started requiring Origin.)

A privateer/ ME hybrid game would potentially be pretty cool. I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd have opted for something similar as an MMO if TOR had done better.

 

I'm not too keen on a straight TPS 'ME4' in the same vein as ME3. It'd need a more unique hook than just more pew pew and alien sexoring.

They may want to move away from the military overtones that surrounded the first three games as a Spectre and soldier, as well as the constant presence of superiors expecting results. Wing Commander: Privateer made a fairly convincing departure from the mainline series, for example, while maintaining the space combat aspect.

 

One aspect might be allowing you more control over your ship in the new iteration. The first three games were strictly military so you had the one ship, but a more free-lance game would allow you to choose different ships for different advantages.

Edited January 30, 201312 yr by TSBasilisk

"There is one thing we are absolutely sure of--there will be no more Shepard, and the trilogy is over... So first, we don’t want to make 'Shepard 2,' or Mass Effect 4 with like, 'oh there’s no more Shepard but you’re a soldier in the universe.' So this will be a very, very different context for sure, and nothing has been decided on the rest."

- Fabrice Condominas, BioWare Montreal producer

 

So the setting will remain the same, but it sounds like they're going to do their best to set it apart from the trilogy so you don't get overshadowed by the Shep. Other than that, looks like nothing concrete atm.

 

I almost think they purposefully left at least one loose end hanging for a new series: Why is Haestrom's sun aging so fast? With the Reaper invasion it took a backseat to other matters, but what if it starts happening elsewhere?

Eh, the Haestrom Sun/Dark Energy angle was related to the original Reaper Motivation, before it was scrapped.

Yeah, when they were aping Starflight's big Reveal. Since it was left hanging, it's open for use in the new games as the driving question; enough to link the two iterations without one overshadowing the other.

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/12385/article/ea-is-joining-forces-with-the-human-rights-campaign-to-help-repeal-the-defense-of-marriage-act/ so this happened, I don't hate them now as much. I still do a bit though. 

Apparently Microsoft and EA both topped the charts for best places for LGBT employees last year. Take from that what you will.

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/12385/article/ea-is-joining-forces-with-the-human-rights-campaign-to-help-repeal-the-defense-of-marriage-act/ so this happened, I don't hate them now as much. I still do a bit though. 

 

Shouldn't have any bearing with respect to their games and decisions on them, though.

 

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/12385/article/ea-is-joining-forces-with-the-human-rights-campaign-to-help-repeal-the-defense-of-marriage-act/ so this happened, I don't hate them now as much. I still do a bit though. 

 

Shouldn't have any bearing with respect to their games and decisions on them, though.

Oh of course not, they still do horrible business practices and butcher games. 

A major company coming out against discrimination is pretty much all positive, regardless of what their games are like.

Apparently Microsoft and EA both topped the charts for best places for LGBT employees last year. Take from that what you will.

 

Low-income, Gluten intolerant Business graduates and Theologians?

What about hipsters?

Apparently Microsoft and EA both topped the charts for best places for LGBT employees last year. Take from that what you will.

 

It usually means their health care and benefits programs are designed to allow gay couples to get the same benefits as married couples. 

We don't have to forfeit our worst company award because of this, though.  Right!?

Nope you're still all vile people barely worthy of life let alone respect.

Woo! \o/

Maybe make your next SP game subscription based, just to be sure.

I'll be sure to pass that on!

That could work, break the game up into episodes that you have to pay a fee to unlock. So for ME3 it would have been each mission for $5 or something.

That could work, break the game up into episodes that you have to pay a fee to unlock. So for ME3 it would have been each mission for $5 or something.

Your way of thinking is outdated

 

What the next Mass Effect really needs is "Deluxe dialog options DLC"!