Mass Effect 3 Discussion Thread

I think it's time for me to crawl into my bunker as well. This 7-10 month wait to go into the game completely blind is going to be excruciating, and I honestly have no idea how I'm going to do it.
 
I want to stress what Tha X said below:

[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']I want to quickly refer back to the 2nd post of the thread that features my OP Disclaimer, just for repetition's sake. I really hope that people adhere to the very few rules that I put out there for the thread - namely: spoiler tag anything/everything that remotely reveals specific information about the game (whether you think it's a spoiler or not), don't take offense to/start a huge fight over something if someone asks you to spoiler tag a specific part of your post, and just be respectful no matter how crazy someone's ideas/opinions/rants may be.

I'm already in the process of sending a PM to Shrike asking that he tighten his enforcement belt wherever he sees fit (obviously I won't be around to report something, etc.) in here, since he's one of the most active posters in the CAG Mass Effect realm of things. I'm simply doing it out of fairness to the people who've been building their way up to ME3 over the years, who really don't deserve to see "specific information #3" plastered on their screen and ruined for them before having the chance to experience it in-game. I'm not trying to say that one slip up will cost you your CAG account or anything ridiculous like that, but just be smart about the discussions and - trust me - the buildup to ME3 will be a very enjoyable one.[/QUOTE]

Please, please, please spoiler anything that might be a reveal or teaser or the like, and think of other people that may not want things "spoiler" about the surprises along the way for ME3.

I am going to be running point on the thread per Tha X's request, so I'll err on the side of adding spoiler tags where I think they're needed, which like be a bit of over-tagging than under-tagging.

Be respectful of your fellow CAGs and try not to pick fights about items being discussed in here. I will have no qualms about defusing issues that happen in here.

[quote name='Ryuukishi']My thoughts on the article:

Link, for reference: http://gamingeverything.com/?p=3119

No real surprises with the character info. Did anyone not think that Ashley/Kaidan and Garrus would be back? Though, Liara confirmed as playable, rather than a non-squadmate NPC, is interesting.

Hair down, glammed up Ash: not sure if want. I liked her as a buttoned-up, hardass soldier, this new look seems uncomfortably close to Miranda. And that's a lot of speculation about what a character is going to be like based on one blurry scan. :)

Gameplay changes sound solid. I'm glad that the weapons will be set up similar to ME2, and the customizable upgrades/attachments sound like a good compromise for the people who wanted more loot.

I'm surprised that the intro of the game will follow so directly from Arrival. It makes sense and seems like a cool intro for the game, but people who didn't play the DLC are going to be pretty lost as to why Shepard killed a ton of Batarians and is now on trial on Earth.

As a Cerberus fan, I'm ever so slightly miffed that we won't be playing on their team anymore, but I'm sure it will all fit in to the story. If Shepard's not working for Cerberus, and presumably not for the Alliance or the Council either, then who will be his organizational support in ME3?

It sounds like there are going to be plenty of mutually exclusive squadmates that we'll have to choose between. Replay value!

Still waiting with bated breath to hear if we get Jack back. ;)
[/QUOTE]My thoughts on the article leakage as well:

There's way too much involvement with Cerberus to have them take a back seat from things, and I'm sure Cerberus will immediately distance themselves from Shepard's actions with the Batarians, since it's clear that it was a black op that was done without their knowledge. However, since the Normandy SR-2 is their ship that they sank billions of credits into, I can't imagine they would "allow" Shepard to run off with it. Even if it was his "payment" for all of the events in ME2, I can't imagine that all of Shepard's crew would want to follow him if he's leaving Cerberus. Out of the "main players" from Cerberus on the Normandy, I can see these ones following after Shepard:
Dr. Chakwas
Joker
Kelly
Jacob
Miranda - I could see if you romanced her, her loyalty to Cerberus would be a bit tested, as she certainly sees what his leadership skills can do to make the ship work as such a cohesive unit.

Since Cerberus appears to be out to kill Shepard, then I'm guessing he may steal the SR-2 and Cerberus wants their property back, among other items. It may also make the "destroy the Collector base / save the Collector base" a huge game-changer in that scenario, especially if Cerberus starts running around with Collector technology if the base was allowed to survive. They may also be after you if you blew up the base, since we know The Illusive Man really wanted to captured for study.

Not having Cerberus behind Shepard, and with the Alliance likely putting their support behind Shepard in the back seat, especially after the trial, it makes me wonder who will be behind the operations in ME3. It'll be even more curious if you went the "let the council die in ME1, replace it with an all-human Council" path, which alienated the turians, the salarians and the asari quite a bit.

Nice to see Ashley/Kaiden back into the mix, though I will hold judgement about her appearance until we see some good pictures or in-game footage. I guess there will be some possibilities of a reconciliation in ME3 if you romanced them in ME1. Assuming they survived the capture by The Collectors, of course, which was unclear from the situation post-Horizon.

It sounds like they took enough of the weapon upgrade system from ME1 and merged it nicely into ME2, though I'd still like the upgrade system from ME2 to stick around in some way. I hope it'll be a nice compromise between the two systems.

Nice to see Liara back, though I wonder how she'll be able to take time away from her Shadow Broker duties.

Mutually exclusive squadmates seems like a good way to get some replay value, especially if we have some issues with various factions fighting among themselves with the Reapers on the scene.

No surprise on ME3 picking up right after The Arrival, though with the Alpha relay destroyed, Dr. Kenson said it could take months or years before the Reapers make it into colonized space. Not sure how long the trial for Shepard would take, though I can't imagine it would be that long afterwards before he's on trial.

The changes to the weapon access (anyone can wield any weapon) was a surprise, though the changes to the numbers of carried weapons for some classes (Soldier carrying all weapons, Adept, Engineer, Sentinel possibly only carrying two weapons, Vanguard and Infiltrator possibly only carrying three weapons) is a huge game-changer. You'll have to be very picky about your load outs for weapons from mission to mission, if you're only bale to carry 2 + HW or 3 + HW. I hope the heavy weapon slot isn't part of that number, otherwise it's a big step backwards.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']
There's way too much involvement with Cerberus to have them take a back seat from things, and I'm sure Cerberus will immediately distance themselves from Shepard's actions with the Batarians, since it's clear that it was a black op that was done without their knowledge. However, since the Normandy SR-2 is their ship that they sank billions of credits into, I can't imagine they would "allow" Shepard to run off with it. Even if it was his "payment" for all of the events in ME2, I can't imagine that all of Shepard's crew would want to follow him if he's leaving Cerberus. Out of the "main players" from Cerberus on the Normandy, I can see these ones following after Shepard:
Dr. Chakwas
Joker
Kelly
Jacob
Miranda - I could see if you romanced her, her loyalty to Cerberus would be a bit tested, as she certainly sees what his leadership skills can do to make the ship work as such a cohesive unit.

Not having Cerberus behind Shepard, and with the Alliance likely putting their support behind Shepard in the back seat, especially after the trial, it makes me wonder who will be behind the operations in ME3. It'll be even more curious if you went the "let the council die in ME1, replace it with an all-human Council" path, which alienated the turians, the salarians and the asari quite a bit.

Nice to see Ashley/Kaiden back into the mix, though I will hold judgement about her appearance until we see some good pictures or in-game footage. I guess there will be some possibilities of a reconciliation in ME3 if you romanced them in ME1. Assuming they survived the capture by The Collectors, of course, which was unclear from the situation post-Horizon.

It sounds like they took enough of the weapon upgrade system from ME1 and merged it nicely into ME2, though I'd still like the upgrade system from ME2 to stick around in some way. I hope it'll be a nice compromise between the two systems.

Nice to see Liara back, though I wonder how she'll be able to take time away from her Shadow Broker duties.

Mutually exclusive squadmates seems like a good way to get some replay value, especially if we have some issues with various factions fighting among themselves with the Reapers on the scene.

No surprise on ME3 picking up right after The Arrival, though with the Alpha relay destroyed, Dr. Kenson said it could take months or years before the Reapers make it into colonized space. Not sure how long the trial for Shepard would take, though I can't imagine it would be that long afterwards before he's on trial.

The changes to the weapon access (anyone can wield any weapon) was a surprise, though the changes to the numbers of carried weapons for some classes (Soldier carrying all weapons, Adept, Engineer, Sentinel possibly only carrying two weapons, Vanguard and Infiltrator possibly only carrying three weapons) is a huge game-changer. You'll have to be very picky about your load outs for weapons from mission to mission, if you're only bale to carry 2 + HW or 3 + HW. I hope the heavy weapon slot isn't part of that number, otherwise it's a big step backwards.
[/QUOTE]
Hmm, Arrival could really be a turning point for Cerberus-- assuming they know about Hackett's involvement, they can paint the Alliance as the ones running secret anti-alien operations, using Cerberus equipment and personnel that went rogue. An interesting reversal.

One idea I've seen floated is that ME3 will feature more instances of mission-specific squadmates, like Liara in LOTSB, rather than a permanent squad where every member is available for every mission. It would be one way to deal with the fact that Shepard is going to have upwards of 20 potential party members. So, Liara could remain in her role as the Shadow Broker but still accompany Shepard on a handful of missions that are particularly relevant to her.

It's also possible that it will be Liara bankrolling Shepard if he's been abandoned by both Cerberus and the Council.

Another thought-- Garrus is confirmed as returning as a squadmate. I firmly believe that BioWare is not interested in treating the love interests unequally, as evidenced by every LI from ME1 being equally shafted in ME2 (the base game at least). ;) I don't think we will see some ME2 LIs returning as full-fledged squadmates, others as partial squadmates, and others as NPCs. So whatever Garrus' status turns out to be, that will apply to the other five as well.
 
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Is everyone hiding in their bunkers today?! :) When I saw the info dump this morning, I figured this thread would be going a mile a minute all day.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']
There's way too much involvement with Cerberus to have them take a back seat from things, and I'm sure Cerberus will immediately distance themselves from Shepard's actions with the Batarians, since it's clear that it was a black op that was done without their knowledge. However, since the Normandy SR-2 is their ship that they sank billions of credits into, I can't imagine they would "allow" Shepard to run off with it. Even if it was his "payment" for all of the events in ME2, I can't imagine that all of Shepard's crew would want to follow him if he's leaving Cerberus. Out of the "main players" from Cerberus on the Normandy, I can see these ones following after Shepard:
Dr. Chakwas
Joker
Kelly
Jacob
Miranda - I could see if you romanced her, her loyalty to Cerberus would be a bit tested, as she certainly sees what his leadership skills can do to make the ship work as such a cohesive unit.

Since Cerberus appears to be out to kill Shepard, then I'm guessing he may steal the SR-2 and Cerberus wants their property back, among other items. It may also make the "destroy the Collector base / save the Collector base" a huge game-changer in that scenario, especially if Cerberus starts running around with Collector technology if the base was allowed to survive. They may also be after you if you blew up the base, since we know The Illusive Man really wanted to captured for study.

Not having Cerberus behind Shepard, and with the Alliance likely putting their support behind Shepard in the back seat, especially after the trial, it makes me wonder who will be behind the operations in ME3. It'll be even more curious if you went the "let the council die in ME1, replace it with an all-human Council" path, which alienated the turians, the salarians and the asari quite a bit.

Nice to see Ashley/Kaiden back into the mix, though I will hold judgement about her appearance until we see some good pictures or in-game footage. I guess there will be some possibilities of a reconciliation in ME3 if you romanced them in ME1. Assuming they survived the capture by The Collectors, of course, which was unclear from the situation post-Horizon.

It sounds like they took enough of the weapon upgrade system from ME1 and merged it nicely into ME2, though I'd still like the upgrade system from ME2 to stick around in some way. I hope it'll be a nice compromise between the two systems.

Nice to see Liara back, though I wonder how she'll be able to take time away from her Shadow Broker duties.

Mutually exclusive squadmates seems like a good way to get some replay value, especially if we have some issues with various factions fighting among themselves with the Reapers on the scene.

No surprise on ME3 picking up right after The Arrival, though with the Alpha relay destroyed, Dr. Kenson said it could take months or years before the Reapers make it into colonized space. Not sure how long the trial for Shepard would take, though I can't imagine it would be that long afterwards before he's on trial.

The changes to the weapon access (anyone can wield any weapon) was a surprise, though the changes to the numbers of carried weapons for some classes (Soldier carrying all weapons, Adept, Engineer, Sentinel possibly only carrying two weapons, Vanguard and Infiltrator possibly only carrying three weapons) is a huge game-changer. You'll have to be very picky about your load outs for weapons from mission to mission, if you're only bale to carry 2 + HW or 3 + HW. I hope the heavy weapon slot isn't part of that number, otherwise it's a big step backwards.
[/QUOTE]

Regarding Miranda...In my FemShep playthrough, I obviously couldn't have romanced her. In the collector base, after destroying the Reaper baby, you're given the choice to kill all life and give the base to Cerberus, or to blow it up. I chose blow it up, Illusive Man shows up and tells Miranda to stop me, and she tenders her resignation right there. Regardless of romance, she seems to value Shep as a leader more than she values Cerberus.

The weapon thing will be a welcome change...especially if they keep certain weapon types strong against certain shields/barriers/armor.

I'm wondering if the power a destroyed Relay has will come into effect in 3. If they're strong enough to destroy an entire star system, they're assuredly strong enough to destroy waves of reapers. In fact, I was kind of dissappointed in Arrival in this regard. I knew when the reapers were coming, I knew I was operating a bomb capable of destroying the entire star system...why couldn't I set the asteroid to crash into the Relay 5 seconds after the reapers would arrive?
 
Kelly won't be showing up in my ME3 as she is now melted goo everywhere on a collector ship, I did a bunch of quests after the Omega 4 relay opened and I guess that means she died, oops thanks for feeding my fish though
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']
Hmm, Arrival could really be a turning point for Cerberus-- assuming they know about Hackett's involvement, they can paint the Alliance as the ones running secret anti-alien operations, using Cerberus equipment and personnel that went rogue. An interesting reversal.

One idea I've seen floated is that ME3 will feature more instances of mission-specific squadmates, like Liara in LOTSB, rather than a permanent squad where every member is available for every mission. It would be one way to deal with the fact that Shepard is going to have upwards of 20 potential party members. So, Liara could remain in her role as the Shadow Broker but still accompany Shepard on a handful of missions that are particularly relevant to her.

It's also possible that it will be Liara bankrolling Shepard if he's been abandoned by both Cerberus and the Council.

Another thought-- Garrus is confirmed as returning as a squadmate. I firmly believe that BioWare is not interested in treating the love interests unequally, as evidenced by every LI from ME1 being equally shafted in ME2 (the base game at least). ;) I don't think we will see some ME2 LIs returning as full-fledged squadmates, others as partial squadmates, and others as NPCs. So whatever Garrus' status turns out to be, that will apply to the other five as well.
[/QUOTE]
I think that the situation with Arrival can be spun both directions in regards to Shepard getting hung out to dry. The Alliance (minus Admiral Hackett) will probably claim that Shepard's actions were a Cerberus anti-alien operation, as well as an anti-Alliance operation with the destruction of the Alpha relay. Cerberus will spin it the other direction, claiming that Shepard was an Alliance mole, went rogue, and did the relay destruction all on Shepard's own. I'm sure the whole rogue aspect will get spun by both sides.

I like the mission-specific squadmate idea, as we've seen that with LoTSB, and I wouldn't mind it, as long as they're not the past ME2 or ME1 squadmates. I'm sure some of them will be (Wrex, for example), if they have big things of their own to be dealing with.

Also with 20+ party members as a possibility, there's eventually a lack of room on the Normandy SR-2, save the captain's quarters. :lol:

Liara bankrolling Shepard make sense, especially with the wealth the Shadow Broker appears to have. Maybe if Liara is a mission-specific squadmate, we'll see something with Feron as well. Shepard might have the Shadow Broker base be his "main base" if both the Alliance and Cerberus are after him.

I would be very surprised if the six love interest options (plus Kelly as well, who's a half-LI) didn't all make an appearance back in ME3. Assuming they're alive in specific gameplay saves from ME2, of course.

[quote name='Salamando3000']
Regarding Miranda...In my FemShep playthrough, I obviously couldn't have romanced her. In the collector base, after destroying the Reaper baby, you're given the choice to kill all life and give the base to Cerberus, or to blow it up. I chose blow it up, Illusive Man shows up and tells Miranda to stop me, and she tenders her resignation right there. Regardless of romance, she seems to value Shep as a leader more than she values Cerberus.

The weapon thing will be a welcome change...especially if they keep certain weapon types strong against certain shields/barriers/armor.

I'm wondering if the power a destroyed Relay has will come into effect in 3. If they're strong enough to destroy an entire star system, they're assuredly strong enough to destroy waves of reapers. In fact, I was kind of dissappointed in Arrival in this regard. I knew when the reapers were coming, I knew I was operating a bomb capable of destroying the entire star system...why couldn't I set the asteroid to crash into the Relay 5 seconds after the reapers would arrive?
[/QUOTE]
Miranda does value Shepard's leadership above Cerberus, with her speech about Shepard inspiring people to do impossible things in the face of doom. If you blow up the base, she does kick Cerberus to the curb, though if you don't blow up the base, it's unclear what she does, since there's no resignation situation.

The issue with destroying mass relays is that you have the obvious destructive potential of one being destroyed, plus since I'm sure the Reapers know how to deal with exploding mass relays since they were the ones who created them back in the day. I doubt the fact that you can blow one up will escape being played out in ME3, though as they're the only passage way between star systems, as I would only assume that the largest ships in existence would be able to go between systems without the use of the mass relays, as they would likely have their own mass effect drives to do interstellar jumps.

I'm sure we may find some way to block the Reapers from using the mass effect relays through the course of ME3 or some other impediment without blowing them up, en-masse.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']
I'm sure we may find some way to block the Reapers from using the mass effect relays through the course of ME3 or some other impediment without blowing them up, en-masse.
[/QUOTE]
I don't know, I'm starting to think that the "price" for escaping the Reapers will be the destruction of the mass relay system and the races having to adapt to life in the galaxy without them. It sort of makes sense, since the mass relays came from the Reapers in the first place. Probably not through blowing them all up though, since that would cause so much death and destruction it would scarcely be better than the Reaper harvest.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']
I don't know, I'm starting to think that the "price" for escaping the Reapers will be the destruction of the mass relay system and the races having to adapt to life in the galaxy without them. It sort of makes sense, since the mass relays came from the Reapers in the first place. Probably not through blowing them all up though, since that would cause so much death and destruction it would scarcely be better than the Reaper harvest.
[/QUOTE]
Since the mass effect relays are Reaper technology and Sovereign's attempt to get to the Citadel to control it, as it's a mass relay, will probably come into play into the ME3 storyline. We may find out that it's the "master" mass relay or have some other overriding control over the other mass relays, so we may find some way to get around blowing them up to keep the Reapers from taking over.

Since it's along the lines of a supernova when they blow up, you can't just blow them up all over the systems that have them, as remember how most systems have them in-system (Omega, for example), which would nuke the whole system when it explodes. Using the Citadel as a "master" mass relay, you may be able to shut them down without blowing them up, which would still render them useless.

Mass effect relays make it easier for any ship without a mass effect drive capable of inter-system travel, as most ships have mass effect drives, though just not big enough to do quickly inter-system. Otherwise, lots of ships would be able to go between systems without the use of the mass relays and they'd be less strategic assets than they are currently.

I don't doubt we'll see one or more get blown up along the way in ME3, though I can't see them going up in smoke in inhabited systems with any regularity.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']
Since the mass effect relays are Reaper technology and Sovereign's attempt to get to the Citadel to control it, as it's a mass relay, will probably come into play into the ME3 storyline. We may find out that it's the "master" mass relay or have some other overriding control over the other mass relays, so we may find some way to get around blowing them up to keep the Reapers from taking over.

Since it's along the lines of a supernova when they blow up, you can't just blow them up all over the systems that have them, as remember how most systems have them in-system (Omega, for example), which would nuke the whole system when it explodes. Using the Citadel as a "master" mass relay, you may be able to shut them down without blowing them up, which would still render them useless.

Mass effect relays make it easier for any ship without a mass effect drive capable of inter-system travel, as most ships have mass effect drives, though just not big enough to do quickly inter-system. Otherwise, lots of ships would be able to go between systems without the use of the mass relays and they'd be less strategic assets than they are currently.

I don't doubt we'll see one or more get blown up along the way in ME3, though I can't see them going up in smoke in inhabited systems with any regularity.
[/QUOTE]


Yeah, I can't see them destroying the whole system of Mass Effect Relays.

They're just too central to the galaxy and losing them would hamper what they could do in future games as they'd have to come up with other ways for near instant inter-galaxy travel to keep the whole jumping around all over the universe thing going.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']
Yeah, I can't see them destroying the whole system of Mass Effect Relays.

They're just too central to the galaxy and losing them would hamper what they could do in future games as they'd have to come up with other ways for near instant inter-galaxy travel to keep the whole jumping around all over the universe thing going.
[/QUOTE]
I can't see them getting rid of the whole system of relays, though I do see them taking out one or two to slow/stop the Reapers' progress into our galaxy. Since it seems like they're making their way on their own power to get into our galaxy through intergalactic space, maybe they need the mass relays because their resources to go between systems is limited by their resources used to get to our galaxy.

We should just trick them into the Omega 4 relay, drop them into the area by the Collectors' base and let them fall into the black hole's event horizon. I'm sure they're too large to manage to get out of the accretion disk of the black hole once they're caught by the gravity.

I would imagine that if we did have to nuke some mass relays, we could have the batarians offer up theirs. ;)

[quote name='Ryuukishi']
Tali essentially confirmed by BioWare forum mod, to calm the fears of her hysterical fans. ;)

As if there was any doubt.
[/QUOTE]
I can't imagine they'd skip Tali from all of the popularity she has. Out of the ME2 crew that aren't LI's, I could see them skipping Zaeed without much outcry. Rest of them, they're too good of characters to let get passed by for ME3, especially Mordin, Samara and Kasumi.

Makes me wonder if they'll go back to the same sex relationships again with ME3. Probably not, after all the crap they had over ME1 with femShep and Liara, plus all the crap on the other side of that issue they had with the lack of them in ME2.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']
Yeah, I can't see them destroying the whole system of Mass Effect Relays.

They're just too central to the galaxy and losing them would hamper what they could do in future games as they'd have to come up with other ways for near instant inter-galaxy travel to keep the whole jumping around all over the universe thing going.
[/QUOTE]

Wouldn't be the first time I saw it happen in a video game. Xenosaga 3 ended the same way. They had what they called U.M.N. columns that allowed ships to engage in hyperspace travel between them. In the game, you end up destroying the system these columns were using, for reasons I can't quite remember. Granted, there wasn't a sequel, so the issue of "how would people travel without them" never became an issue. I always saw Mass Effect as ending after 3, since it should end things with the Reapers.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']
I can't see them getting rid of the whole system of relays, though I do see them taking out one or two to slow/stop the Reapers' progress into our galaxy. Since it seems like they're making their way on their own power to get into our galaxy through intergalactic space, maybe they need the mass relays because their resources to go between systems is limited by their resources used to get to our galaxy.

We should just trick them into the Omega 4 relay, drop them into the area by the Collectors' base and let them fall into the black hole's event horizon. I'm sure they're too large to manage to get out of the accretion disk of the black hole once they're caught by the gravity.

I would imagine that if we did have to nuke some mass relays, we could have the batarians offer up theirs. ;)

I can't imagine they'd skip Tali from all of the popularity she has. Out of the ME2 crew that aren't LI's, I could see them skipping Zaeed without much outcry. Rest of them, they're too good of characters to let get passed by for ME3, especially Mordin, Samara and Kasumi.

Makes me wonder if they'll go back to the same sex relationships again with ME3. Probably not, after all the crap they had over ME1 with femShep and Liara, plus all the crap on the other side of that issue they had with the lack of them in ME2.
[/QUOTE]


It shouldn't be a surprise that they would consider nuking the entire mass relay network seeing as how that's exactly what happened in the fall of hyperion to the farcaster portals, which I assume you've read given your username.
 
[quote name='Salamando3000']
Wouldn't be the first time I saw it happen in a video game. Xenosaga 3 ended the same way. They had what they called U.M.N. columns that allowed ships to engage in hyperspace travel between them. In the game, you end up destroying the system these columns were using, for reasons I can't quite remember. Granted, there wasn't a sequel, so the issue of "how would people travel without them" never became an issue. I always saw Mass Effect as ending after 3, since it should end things with the Reapers.
[/QUOTE]

It's too successful a franchise. They'll make another series of games with a different plot line after they wrap up this trilogy's store for almost 100% sure.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']It's too successful a franchise. They'll make another series of games with a different plot line after they wrap up this trilogy's store for almost 100% sure.[/QUOTE]

I hope it'll at least be the end of Shep's storyline. Doing a Mass Effect 4 that has story elements based on decisions made in three games would be a total nightmare...both to create/plan for and to create save files for. If/When they decide to do another one, they could always place them during one of the many other conflicts that took place in the ME Universe's past...Rachni Wars...Geth Wars...just about anything to do with Krogans. Or, should they decide to go the
route where we indeed blow up a lot of Relays, they could set the sequel far enough in the future that we've already come up with a viable alternative...we could reverse engineer existing relays, or perhaps find schematics for them from reapers.
I don't want them to let a sequel get in the way of their story for this game.

On a completely different note, I would love this game so much if they threw in an Elcor squadmate. We could mount a heavy weapon on its shoulders and use it as mobile cover. It would be awesome.
 
[quote name='Salamando3000']I hope it'll at least be the end of Shep's storyline. Doing a Mass Effect 4 that has story elements based on decisions made in three games would be a total nightmare...both to create/plan for and to create save files for. If/When they decide to do another one, they could always place them during one of the many other conflicts that took place in the ME Universe's past...Rachni Wars...Geth Wars...just about anything to do with Krogans. Or, should they decide to go the
route where we indeed blow up a lot of Relays, they could set the sequel far enough in the future that we've already come up with a viable alternative...we could reverse engineer existing relays, or perhaps find schematics for them from reapers.
I don't want them to let a sequel get in the way of their story for this game.

On a completely different note, I would love this game so much if they threw in an Elcor squadmate. We could mount a heavy weapon on its shoulders and use it as mobile cover. It would be awesome.[/QUOTE]

One thing they could do is expand the plot line somehow. Make the reapers not the end. Either the reapers were subservient or downright fighting for existent from some other unknown force.

Something set during the first contact war seems highly more likely though.
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']
It shouldn't be a surprise that they would consider nuking the entire mass relay network seeing as how that's exactly what happened in the fall of hyperion to the farcaster portals, which I assume you've read given your username.
[/QUOTE]
Considering it and actually pulling it off are two different things. There are too many races that depend on the mass effect relays for them to do it, though if it was galactic extension at the hands of the Reapers or no more mass relays, I think they'd go for the latter.

And yes, I've read said book in question, though it's been quite a while.

[quote name='dmaul1114']It's too successful a franchise. They'll make another series of games with a different plot line after they wrap up this trilogy's store for almost 100% sure.[/QUOTE]Most likely, they're already in the planning stages for whatever follows, though it just better not be a MMO. Something in the past makes sense rather than future.

[quote name='Salamando3000']I hope it'll at least be the end of Shep's storyline. Doing a Mass Effect 4 that has story elements based on decisions made in three games would be a total nightmare...both to create/plan for and to create save files for. If/When they decide to do another one, they could always place them during one of the many other conflicts that took place in the ME Universe's past...Rachni Wars...Geth Wars...just about anything to do with Krogans. Or, should they decide to go the
route where we indeed blow up a lot of Relays, they could set the sequel far enough in the future that we've already come up with a viable alternative...we could reverse engineer existing relays, or perhaps find schematics for them from reapers.
I don't want them to let a sequel get in the way of their story for this game.

On a completely different note, I would love this game so much if they threw in an Elcor squadmate. We could mount a heavy weapon on its shoulders and use it as mobile cover. It would be awesome.[/QUOTE]Only Tha X would be drooling over a ME4 with plotlines affected from the first three games, though something from the past seems more likely, yes. Rachni wars would seem likely, as does First Contact War. First Contact war seems more likely, as you can drop The Illusive Man in the middle of it, since he was dealing with part of the issues that happened in that timeframe.

Doing something
in the future with the mass relays replaced/re-engineered seems less likely than something in the past, as they've already dropped lots of past in-game that seem like better choices for the next game.
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']One thing they could do is expand the plot line somehow. Make the reapers not the end. Either the reapers were subservient or downright fighting for existent from some other unknown force. [/QUOTE]

I just spent way too much time looking up what Trope this would be...closest I got is the Man behind the Man trope, which was already used in ME,
in ME1 with Sovereign being the real Big Bad, and in ME2 with the collectors really serving under the reapers.

[quote name='shrike4242']Only Tha X would be drooling over a ME4 with plotlines affected from the first three games, though something from the past seems more likely, yes. Rachni wars would seem likely, as does First Contact War. First Contact war seems more likely, as you can drop The Illusive Man in the middle of it, since he was dealing with part of the issues that happened in that timeframe.

Doing something
in the future with the mass relays replaced/re-engineered seems less likely than something in the past, as they've already dropped lots of past in-game that seem like better choices for the next game.
[/QUOTE]

I just imagine how hellish it would be to design...given how many potential branches there are from 1 and 2 already, how would you make the fourth even remotely balanced since there would be such a wide variety of crew alive and decisions made.

PC Players would be able to handle it pretty easily, as we'd just need to edit our existing save files to meet whatever needs we need. This is also the reason I never had to mine more than one planet.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']
Most likely, they're already in the planning stages for whatever follows, though it just better not be a MMO. Something in the past makes sense rather than future. [/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm not into MMO's at all so I hope they don't go that route. Or if they do it doesn't mean there isn't a single player ME series continuing.

Agree with the above that it would be too tough to tie it in. I was underwhelmed by the impact decisions in ME1 had on ME2 personally. And honestly I expect more of the same in ME3.

It's just hard to tell a strong and coherent story if you have too many user affected options that directly impact the main plot. It's easier to have more subtle impacts that affect sub plots, affect which characters are around to fulfill certain roles etc. But hard to have it have major impacts on the main plot and still tell a great story IMO.
 
All right, please bear with me, I've been thinking about this waaaaay too much and I just need to get my thoughts out on paper.

Let's imagine a points system where each potential ME3 squadmate can score a point in the following categories that presumably make them more likely to return. (Ashley and Kaidan will count as one squadmate.)

+ Playable in Mass Effect
+ Playable in Mass Effect 2
+ Cannot die
+ Love interest in Mass Effect
+ Love interest in Mass Effect 2
+ Fan favorite (of course this is subjective, it's just my own judgment)
+ Included in base game, not DLC (ME1 squadmates earn this point by default)

Liara +_++_++ = 5 points
Garrus ++__+++ = 5 points
Tali ++__+++ = 5 points
Ashley/Kaidan +_++__+ = 4 points
Miranda _+__+++ = 4 points
Wrex +____++ = 3 points
Jacob _+__+_+ = 3 points
Jack _+__+_+ = 3 points
Thane _+__+_+ = 3 points
Mordin _+___++ = 3 points
Legion _+___++ = 3 points
Grunt _+____+ = 2 points
Samara _+____+ = 2 points
Kasumi _+___+_ = 2 points
Zaeed _+_____ = 1 point

Of course,
we already have confirmation for Liara, Ash/Kaidan, Garrus, and Tali, which fits right in to the list starting from the most likely.

My personal predictions, which I will be referring back to in the coming months when we know more: :)

- Anyone with 3 or more points will be a playable squadmate in ME3. This includes everyone guaranteed to be alive, all love interests from either game, and fan favorites Mordin and Legion.

- Grunt will join the squad only if Wrex is dead. If Wrex is alive, he will join instead.

- Samara, Kasumi, and Zaeed will not be playable squadmates.

Now. This is already a lot of potential squadmates. Add in new recruits (which there will be a few of) and things are starting to get out of hand. Here is how I think things are going to work: ME3 recruitment will be built around mutually exclusive pairs of squadmates that we will need to choose between, either at the time of recruitment, or at some later point when they come into conflict. Like the Jack/Miranda and Legion/Tali confrontations in ME2, except these will directly result in one member leaving or not joining. Again, my predictions:

- Wrex/Grunt vs. Mordin

- Ash/Kaidan vs. Miranda

- Legion vs. Tali

This leaves a final list of:

- Liara
- Garrus
- Legion or Tali
- Ashley or Kaidan or Miranda
- Wrex or Grunt or Mordin
- Jacob
- Jack
- Thane

Eight returning squadmates (minus anyone who died in ME2 of course), plus maybe two newcomers and two more DLC-exclusive newcomers makes 12. There you have it! Thanks for indulging my long and pointless rant.
 
They changed the game quite a bit between 1 and 2. I hope they work on the gameplay more than anything else. I appreciate a good playing shooter more than I appreciate great graphics. There is a lot of hype for this game though, which will ruin it for some people I'm sure.
 
Ryuukishi, I think you have some great points in what you put out there for squadmate options in ME3.

Going back to the storyline we have in ME2, I could see there being a Grunt vs. Wrex or Grunt vs. Wreav conflict for the leadership of Clan Urdnot, so we might have that happen sometime in the ME3 timeline.

I know we'll be seeing the Mordin vs Wrex/Grunt conflict as well as the Legion vs Tali conflict (again) in the ME3 timeframe, especially with the lead-up they've done in ME2. Jack vs Miranda is another one that is likely to show up again. Ash/Kaiden vs Miranda is likely to be due to Alliance vs. Cerberus, I'd think. Though, with the spin-doctoring that is likely to happen with the incident in Arrival, that may be different than we expect.

I could see why you'd think that Kasumi and Samara won't return in ME3, though I hope they do come back as I think they're both characters with a lot of potential if given the legs in the story to be more fleshed out. The issue with Kasumi and Zaeed being semi-flat characters is that they weren't integrated into the storyline of the entire game since they were DLC-based.
 
According to Jarrett Lee on the BioWare forums,
the same cutesy non-confirmation confirmation that applies to Tali also applies to Jack. I think we can very safely assume at this point that all ME2 love interests will be included in the ME3 squad.
 
I think it'd be relevant to analyze things from the worst-case scenario perspective...exactly how few former squadmates can someone enter ME3 with? Only Kaiden/Ash and Liara are guaranteed to be alive. From ME2, you're going to have at least two, but you can't guarantee which two...as mentioned, seems unlikely that Zaaed and Kasumi would return, but if they were the only two you had, then what?

Could also see this factoring into potential conflicts. If there was a Miranda - KaiAsh conflict, and Miranda was one of your two surviving crewmembers, forcing you to pick one would result in only three returning members on your team.

Seems to me that they'd need more than just two new crew members...that is, if they don't want to gimp players who really screwed up in ME2. Doesn't mean they all need to be available to all people...just to kind of fill in the gaps.


Samara would be an interesting inclusion, purely because of the entire "Samara might be Morinth" angle.
 
[quote name='Salamando3000']I think it'd be relevant to analyze things from the worst-case scenario perspective...exactly how few former squadmates can someone enter ME3 with? Only Kaiden/Ash and Liara are guaranteed to be alive. From ME2, you're going to have at least two, but you can't guarantee which two...as mentioned, seems unlikely that Zaaed and Kasumi would return, but if they were the only two you had, then what?[/QUOTE]
That's a really good point. Maybe BioWare would throw in alternates (like, if Wrex and Grunt are both dead, you get Wreav, but in no other circumstance).

One thing worth remembering is that in ME1, it was technically possible to get to Virmire and have no one else on the team but Tali. If that happened, the game punted and just made a copy of Tali to fill in the third squadmate spot. So it is possible that BioWare would decide that it's not worth catering to the 1% of masochist players who completed ME2 with only Zaeed and Kasumi alive, and just throw in some kludge.

Or maybe they're just going to give us Liara, Ash/Kaidan, everyone from ME2 who was recruited and alive including Zaeed and Kasumi, and 4-5 newcomers too. Standing room only on the Normandy. :lol:
 
As long as there are two surviving crewmembers besides yourself, you can not die at the end of ME2. Any gamesave that has a dead Shepard at the end of ME2 can't be used for ME3, so you have to have two left.

There are a couple crewmembers that survive no matter what unless you specifically try to kill them off in the endgame, with Zaeed and Kasumi not being the ones in question.

I'd like to see Kasumi and Samara carried into ME3 for numerous reasons, mainly because I think they both have good points to move forward into further development, now that their "big thing they've been striving towards" has been fulfilled. Kasumi has Keji's graybox (or doesn't, depending on what you do) and experienced the memories within, so she has her closure with him. Samara has killed Morinth (or been killed by her, again, depending on what you do), so she's fulfilled her life's mission and has her closure. Both of those characters may have some finding of a path to follow after those items have been fulfilled.

Zaeed's gotten his revenge, and from what he's talked about in his loyalty mission, he's tiring of the gun for hire route, so he may be looking for something to end his life with/go out on a high note. He's talked about finding somewhere to pack it up and retire, so in that way, I could see him coming back / not coming back and be fine with either event.

I think Bioware easily made sure in their planning for ME3 that all the ME2 love interests moving forward into ME3, so I know we've covered six of the squadmates. Out of the rest, I can't see them kicking Mordin and Grunt to the curb so quickly, with the effort they put in with their character development in ME2. The rest, I'd like to see Samara and Kasumi come back for obvious reasons, though Zaeed and Jacob, I'd be fine with them coming back or not coming back.

[quote name='Ryuukishi']That's a really good point. Maybe BioWare would throw in alternates (like, if Wrex and Grunt are both dead, you get Wreav, but in no other circumstance).

Or maybe they're just going to give us Liara, Ash/Kaidan, everyone from ME2 who was recruited and alive including Zaeed and Kasumi, and 4-5 newcomers too. Standing room only on the Normandy. :lol:[/QUOTE]You're going to have to work out the Mordin / krogan situation (via Wrex, Grunt or Wreav), though there's much too much left in limbo without resolution to let that go by the wayside.

I'm sure we may see some changes in quarters on the Normandy if we're suddenly up to having more than the ME2 crew onboard.
 
I hope they have TONS of squadmates to choose from. Obviously we're going to get a few new NPCs, but I'd love to see 15-17 options in ME3. They greatly expanded the number between ME1 and ME2, so I'd like to see it again expanded in ME3.

Threads I look forward to being wrapped up in ME3:

Alliance vs. Cerberus (Miranda stays with Shep?)
Batarians vs. everybody else
Geth (and heretics)- what part do they play?
Krogan factions (conflict with Mordin)
Romance battle (I romanced Ashley then Miranda - this should be a great showdown)
The motha-fuck Rachni
Blasto, the first Hanar Spectre - IS HE REAL???
 
To be fair it's much easier to read on a touch screen mobile device as you can zoom in on the pics.

Anyone remember the final mission from Wing Commander 4? You had a 1v1 dogfight with this genetically engineered superhuman, then you went to Earth to defend yourself vs. Admiral Tolwyn on charges of treason.

If you didn't give the correct responses during the trial, you would be found guilty. If you did it properly then Tolwyn would be found guilty.

It would be cool to me if ME 3 did something similar with the trial on the beginning, at least that the events of the trial led to some of the possible endings.
 
I just got my issue of GI. I'm more spoiler-phobic than I've ever been since the opening of ME2 was spoiled months in advance. But, it's hard to not read the article. Some of the new, what I'm assuming are, baddies look a hell of a lot like Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 4. While it's a cool look, I don't know if it gels with the ME universe. Time will tell, I suppose.
 
No vehicles! YES! Worst part of both ME games hands down.

All of the locations sound awesome.

More acrobatic Shepard sounds all right. Not sure about laying turrets as an Engineer though. Even ME2 was fast-paced enough that a stationary turret wouldn't help much. If this game is going to be even faster and more movement oriented, it seems like a useless skill.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']
No vehicles! YES! Worst part of both ME games hands down.

All of the locations sound awesome.

More acrobatic Shepard sounds all right. Not sure about laying turrets as an Engineer though. Even ME2 was fast-paced enough that a stationary turret wouldn't help much. If this game is going to be even faster and more movement oriented, it seems like a useless skill.
[/QUOTE]

No vehicles is a good thing indeed
 
I think I'm the only living being that enjoyed the Mako stuff. That is one of the iconic parts of ME1. I remember driving on the moon for the first time with Earth in the background. Powerful stuff.

Firewalker.....not so much.
 
[quote name='chubbyninja1319']I think I'm the only living being that enjoyed the Mako stuff. That is one of the iconic parts of ME1. I remember driving on the moon for the first time with Earth in the background. Powerful stuff.

Firewalker.....not so much.[/QUOTE]

It's like... I hated the Make at the time, and it was really aggravating, but in retrospect it wasn't that bad.

Honestly, I still prefer mining for minerals over the Mako...
 
I liked the Mako for exploration. I just hated it for combat since the shields took such a stupidly long time to recharge.

Firewalker's main problem was being to weak, and the missions not having check points many times so you'd die toward the end of one and have to do the whole thing over.

But yeah, I'd just prefer not having any vehicle sections and mineral scanning with the faster scanner we got after the patch. Keep it mostly focused on on foot missions as that's the core of the game.
 
[quote name='drktrpr1']It's like... I hated the Make at the time, and it was really aggravating, but in retrospect it wasn't that bad.

Honestly, I still prefer mining for minerals over the Mako...[/QUOTE]

I didn't find the mining to be all that bad. It was a pretty neat concept
 
[quote name='chubbyninja1319']I think I'm the only living being that enjoyed the Mako stuff. That is one of the iconic parts of ME1. I remember driving on the moon for the first time with Earth in the background. Powerful stuff.

Firewalker.....not so much.[/QUOTE]I agree about the driving on the moon and looking up at the Earth being a very impressive in-game piece.

Some of the other planets had some impressive views, though getting to them was a PITA at times. Mainly because the layout to get to the mining areas or other areas you needed to get to redefined the term obtuse.

[quote name='dmaul1114']I liked the Mako for exploration. I just hated it for combat since the shields took such a stupidly long time to recharge.

Firewalker's main problem was being to weak, and the missions not having check points many times so you'd die toward the end of one and have to do the whole thing over.

But yeah, I'd just prefer not having any vehicle sections and mineral scanning with the faster scanner we got after the patch. Keep it mostly focused on on foot missions as that's the core of the game.[/QUOTE]The Mako did take a good pounding over the Hammerhead, though the shield weakness was a real irritant in comparison.

The "no checkpoints" in those Hammerhead missions was ridiculous. No reason for it whatsoever.

Given the choice between the two, I'd have to lean towards mining over vehicles, though between the Mako and the Hammerhead, there's enough good between the two to make one vehicle that works with the best of both.
 
First actual Mass Effect 3 screenshots, posted by Game Informer: one two

They depict
Shepard fighting Cerberus troops on the Salarian homeworld, Sur'Kesh
.

Also, does anyone else really believe the reports of
the new "Heavy Melee" class? I feel like that has to be a mistranslation, or the Spanish magazine was just wrong. I just can't imagine BioWare throwing a whole new class into the mix at this point-- especially one based entirely around melee attacks, which doesn't make much sense in a third person shooter. I think it's got to be referring to new melee abilities either for the Soldier, or that possibly aren't class-specific at all.
 
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:drool:

Makes me wonder why
Cerberus is on the Salarian homeworld besides looking for Shepard.

About the
Heavy Melee class, it makes no sense. The Vanguard is the close-combat class in ME2, and I can't see how this "Heavy Melee" class would be anything different. Unless it's a copycat of the Vanguard, anyone with the need to get to melee distance without doing it in the blink of an eye would get destroyed.
 
PSM3 scan about new squadmates:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr...501982&Signature=Hq311BDCJ1BUZv3YYeKqgoUegzw=

A lot of the info seems more like guesses, but there are some interesting bits:

- Ashley/Kaidan has been promoted to Spectre status
- Jack is definitely back, with a potentially "softer" redesign (hair? :lol:)
- Both Jacob and Thane not returning (seems unlikely to me, I think the mag is wrong-- otherwise, it's a bad day to be a fem Shep)
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']PSM3 scan about new squadmates:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr...501982&Signature=Hq311BDCJ1BUZv3YYeKqgoUegzw=

A lot of the info seems more like guesses, but there are some interesting bits:

- Ashley/Kaidan has been promoted to Spectre status
- Jack is definitely back, with a potentially "softer" redesign (hair? :lol:)
- Both Jacob and Thane not returning (seems unlikely to me, I think the mag is wrong-- otherwise, it's a bad day to be a fem Shep)
[/QUOTE]

Looking that over,
I'm not sure why Ashley would be promoted to Spectre status, Kaiden I could see more than Ashley, though that's another one that I'm not sure why either one would be a Spectre.

Jacob being kicked to the curb isn't that much of a loss, even though his loyalty mission was a good one in the scenes with his father. Rest of his character wasn't that memorable.

Losing Thane from ME3 could be nothing more than him dying from his disease, though his character was interesting enough to keep around.

I guess if you lose Thane and Jacob, the only ME2 love interest that moves into ME3 would be Garrus.

I wonder if Jack's changes would be more different to her ME2 persona if you romanced her, vs. not romancing her. She's changed over the course of ME2, though she does more changing if you romance her.
 
I really don't think that Thane won't be a major character in ME3. He's a love interest for female Shepard, was featured in the promotional CGI movies for ME2-- he's even on the cover art! BioWare didn't go to all that trouble just to drop him unceremoniously in the next game.

With Jacob, it seems clear that BioWare intended for him to be a popular/likable character, but he's failed to resonate with most fans. Still, I don't seem them marginalizing any potential love interests from prior games.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']I really don't think that Thane won't be a major character in ME3. He's a love interest for female Shepard, was featured in the promotional CGI movies for ME2-- he's even on the cover art! BioWare didn't go to all that trouble just to drop him unceremoniously in the next game.

With Jacob, it seems clear that BioWare intended for him to be a popular/likable character, but he's failed to resonate with most fans. Still, I don't seem them marginalizing any potential love interests from prior games.[/QUOTE]You're right about Thane being a number if places in the promotional bits, so that should get him a pass into ME3. I can't see ME3 cutting out any of the ME2 characters that were love interests, just to see where it goes into ME3 from ME2.

I took Jacob to be a drop-in replacement for Kaiden when I first saw him once I made it to the Normandy in ME2. Same type of backstory, same type of personality, at least how I had seen it. Since he's a love interest in ME2, I think he should get a pass into ME3 as well, especially with the times that Bioware has talked about the flow of decisions into ME3 from ME2. Love interests certainly seem like a big one to me for flowthrough into ME3 from ME2.
 
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