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[Endless]

Chris Wynn (Senior Development Director - Mass Effect): "There must be something awesome there" (Andromeda Galaxy)

https://twitter.com/The1Wynn/status/552631957704941568

 

[EatChildren]

There's always the possibility we're wrong and the Pathfinder Initiative won't launch until centuries past the war, though. Either way I'm honestly pretty excited about a new galaxy, but I know opinions on the very idea of it are highly mixed.

Even if it's centuries post war it'll require answers to something as simple as the genophage, given we've now confirmation of a Krogans squadmate. And synthesis. And I think that's the heart of a problem BioWare really wants to avoid: any questions at all about the Shepard trilogy and its ending. Soon as you lay out that the characters of the game would have some knowledge of the Reaper War and its outcome, you're going to have fans desperate to explore this knowledge within the game. But if the Ark leaves prior to the trilogy's conclusion, as you said, they sidestep basically everything.

And while I was sour on the concept, I've come to appreciate it as the best case scenario given the direction, enough to be excited and anticipate. In my head there's only three ways to do a Mass Effect 4 right, in terms of grounded setting and not wasting development resources on pandering to choices:
a) Post-war, Milky Way, canonised ending choices.
or b) Set somewhere far fucking away, running away from problems, and keeping the ending vague.
c) Set during the trilogy arc, or before.

Figured c) wasn't going to happen, and I didn't really want it anyway. I wanted a), but I also figure that's not going to happen. That leaves b).

 

[UberLevi]

This sounds pretty cool for the most part. I'm a huge fan of the original trilogy, so this is easy to get hyped for anyways. Can't wait to see more info and reveals.

 

[Overside]

And the salt of the failed potential of a modern starflight is readied to be poured into the wound again.

 

[dankir]

So is this in the same universe as my Shepard? Does it happen during the reaper storyline or after / before?

 

[Beelzebufo]

How do they travel hundreds of lightyears between areas if there aren't mass relays?

 

[diaspora]

Even if it's centuries post war it'll require answers to something as simple as the genophage, given we've now confirmation of a Krogans squadmate. And synthesis. And I think that's the heart of a problem BioWare really wants to avoid: any questions at all about the Shepard trilogy and its ending. Soon as you lay out that the characters of the game would have some knowledge of the Reaper War and its outcome, you're going to have fans desperate to explore this knowledge within the game. But if the Ark leaves prior to the trilogy's conclusion, as you said, they sidestep basically everything.

And while I was sour on the concept, I've come to appreciate it as the best case scenario given the direction, enough to be excited and anticipate. In my head there's only three ways to do a Mass Effect 4 right, in terms of grounded setting and not wasting development resources on pandering to choices:
a) Post-war, Milky Way, canonised ending choices.
or b) Set somewhere far fucking away, running away from problems, and keeping the ending vague.
c) Set during the trilogy arc, or before.

Figured c) wasn't going to happen, and I didn't really want it anyway. I wanted a), but I also figure that's not going to happen. That leaves b).

TBH, my preferred scenario both a and b. Canonize the Destroy ending (because lets be real, it was the only ending there should have been) as well as the survival of the rachni, korgan, and quarians. At the same time using b where we go to a new galaxy far away much later anyway.

So is this in the same universe as my Shepard? Does it happen during the reaper storyline or after / before?

yes, after

 

[The Shogun]

Going by the fact it's set in another galaxy and apparently set post trilogy, distant from both the story arc and the ending, combined with BioWare's insistence on "choices are important" and likelihood of not wanting to canonise any ending, along with the Pathfinder Initiative ARKCON shirts BioWare Montreal got...

...my plot theory is the one that aligns with, surprisingly enough, what a lot of fans were asking for from a post trilogy game.

Sometime during the events of Mass Effect 3, or any time in the trilogy before it ends, a settlement "Ark" ship is constructed with the aim of prolonging survival for participating species elsewhere in the universe should the Reaper war turn in the latter's favour, or a post-war environment proves unsustainable.

ARKCON Pathfinder crew are packed in a ship built for long term space travel, crew maybe in cryo, and jettisoned off to the Andromeda galaxy. Their mission simply to attempt to colonise it, basically a one way journey into the unknown, also knowing that by the time they arrive the Reaper war will be over one way or the other. And nobody on the mission will know the result.

And so you have a game that's canonically post-Reaper war by a significant amount of time. Post-Shepard Trilogy. Yet due to the timing of the mission (before the war comes to its conclusion) also manages to avoid ramifications of much of what happens during Mass Effect 3. You can have Krogan that technically still have the genophage. You can have synthetics that aren't destroyed. Nobody needs to have glowing green wires. No species needs to be wiped out. And since the game's setting is so far away in literal space, the inability to contact the Milky Way and nobody knowing the war outcome means nobody can ask questions.

This needs to be the exact plot for ME4. It is by far the best possible outcome in my opinion. It can ignore the entire outcome of the trilogy and still give characters for familiar races like Krogan, Salarian, etc.

I hope this entire leak is real, as I can't imagine a scenario that would work better for the franchise

 

[Neferteetee]

I'm excited for more Mass Effect. The only thing that gives me pause is the multiplayer stuff affecting the single player campaign. If things have to have multiplayer let it be its own separate mode.

 

[ROUGE_BLOCK]

I'm excited for more Mass Effect. The only thing that gives me pause is the multiplayer stuff affecting the single player campaign. If things have to have multiplayer let it be its own separate mode.

Wasn't it pretty separate in DA:I? I imagine it would be so here as well.

 

[diaspora]

How do they travel hundreds of lightyears between areas if there aren't mass relays?

They just fly there. It'd take centuries at FTL speeds, but it'd be doable if they roll into cryo sleep.

 

[ironcreed]

You say you want a fresh story, yet everything you post says you want a derivative story.

I want a new story with new characters and I think you know I meant it that way.

Good day.

 

[Mindlog]

...my plot theory is the one that aligns with, surprisingly enough, what a lot of fans were asking for from a post trilogy game.

Sounds about right.
I wonder how they are going to deal with the time scale issue. It sounds like we're going to aggressively colonize which means lots of progress on a short time scale. However, the journey over would leave plenty of time for Mass Effect universe technology to advance. If I were in charge by the time we got to the Helios cluster we'd be armed to the teeth.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Going by the fact it's set in another galaxy and apparently set post trilogy, distant from both the story arc and the ending, combined with BioWare's insistence on "choices are important" and likelihood of not wanting to canonise any ending, along with the Pathfinder Initiative ARKCON shirts BioWare Montreal got...

...my plot theory is the one that aligns with, surprisingly enough, what a lot of fans were asking for from a post trilogy game.

Sometime during the events of Mass Effect 3, or any time in the trilogy before it ends, a settlement "Ark" ship is constructed with the aim of prolonging survival for participating species elsewhere in the universe should the Reaper war turn in the latter's favour, or a post-war environment proves unsustainable.

ARKCON Pathfinder crew are packed in a ship built for long term space travel, crew maybe in cryo, and jettisoned off to the Andromeda galaxy. Their mission simply to attempt to colonise it, basically a one way journey into the unknown, also knowing that by the time they arrive the Reaper war will be over one way or the other. And nobody on the mission will know the result.

And so you have a game that's canonically post-Reaper war by a significant amount of time. Post-Shepard Trilogy. Yet due to the timing of the mission (before the war comes to its conclusion) also manages to avoid ramifications of much of what happens during Mass Effect 3. You can have Krogan that technically still have the genophage. You can have synthetics that aren't destroyed. Nobody needs to have glowing green wires. No species needs to be wiped out. And since the game's setting is so far away in literal space, the inability to contact the Milky Way and nobody knowing the war outcome means nobody can ask questions.

Eeeeyup. Neatly handles the issues presented by the ending, allows you to go nuts with a new setting, but still ties things back to the old one.

 

[Unaha-Closp]

They just fly there. It'd take centuries at FTL speeds, but it'd be doable if they roll into cryo sleep.

if not Cryo then some Element Zero magical space tech method. Galaxies are so far away it's mind bending.

 

[diaspora]

if not Cryo then some Element Zero magical space tech method. Galaxies are so far away it's mind bending.

Javik slept for 50,000 years, I can believe that the Ark's inhabitants can stay frozen for 1200.

 

[EatChildren]

Wasn't it pretty separate in DA:I? I imagine it would be so here as well.

It was, but this seems a mix. But again, it seems less like Inquisition (I understand where the similarities lie) and more like Peace Walker. Inquisition's timed war table missions were static in that you didn't really do much except pick one of three advisors to lead a behind-the-scenes mission. Real time required to pass depends on who you sent, as do often the mission outcomes and the reward. That's all it was.

This is a system cross compatible with the horde multiplayer, and they seem somewhat randomly generated. They pop up on the map and you have two ways to respond:
a) Send AI "Strike Teams" to complete the mission. Similarly to Inquisition they'll take X amount of time to complete, with rewards and results varying on performance. Difference to Inquisition is that your Strike Team is a game system you can upgrade, train, and customise, which is more like Peace Walker. Upgrade your troops, give them better equipment, send them on mission and they'll perform better.
or b) Jump into the mission yourself with one of your multiplayer characters representing your strike team. You manually play it, and your rewards develop your strike team avatar. As they're co-op built, you can bring friends along with their own strike team characters and complete them that way.

To me this sounds pretty good. If you don't like the multiplayer component you can still have a multiplayer "character" and play it solo. And if you don't like that you can stick with your AI strike team that you still have to upgrade and develop.

How do they travel hundreds of lightyears between areas if there aren't mass relays?

If we want to go by the (largely nonsense) canon, ships were perfectly able to travel between solar systems with their mass drives. Traversing all the way across the galaxy was more problematic as it was resource intensive and time consuming. This is where relays came into play, as they gave direct links to various clusters. Within a cluster, via one relay, you still had to manually pilot your way to various systems. You do this in ME2 and ME3 on the map, and ME1 just by selecting stuff.

For Mass Effect 4 you're only actually in one cluster of the Andromeda galaxy: Helius Cluster. Since you'll probably be manually flying everywhere this isn't a big problem, as you were doing it anyway. It's more localised and confined, focusing on the solar systems and planets in a specific region of a galaxy rather than the whole galaxy. Think like early exploration/settling in the Mass Effect universe, where you'd aggressive colonise nearby clusters and systems within before branching out too far.

This also gives them room for Mass Effect 5 and 6, if they exist. Helius Cluster covers Mass Effect 4, and the sequels move on to new clusters.

 

[Kain]

I guess that Shep will be a semi-mythical figure or something, I'm a sucker for that stuff.

But I don't want Mako :/

And I don't want ME2 and 3 planet exploration either, they were both ass.

 

[Unaha-Closp]

Javik slept for 50,000 years, I can believe that the Ark's inhabitants can stay frozen for 1200.

yeah but Javik was a mystical magical Prothean with tech Humans and every other in play Galactic Civ did not have. I am just saying I am looking forward to their explanation as to how they made it to Andromeda

 

[ironcreed]

I also want to share that it was mentioned to me that being able to focus solely on PS4, Xbox One and PC has probably had the biggest impact in terms of design and possibilities of the game. Dragon Age Inquisition was held back considerably to accommodate 10 year old hardware (as noted not too long ago by Mike Laidlaw himself). That is most certainly not the case here, and honestly what has me excited the most.

Exciting indeed and I love Inquisition even with those limitations. Can't wait to see what they do.

 

[Neferteetee]

Wasn't it pretty separate in DA:I? I imagine it would be so here as well.

I haven't played my copy of DA:I yet (in my backlog) but the survey mentioned something about money and xp earned from multiplayer being used in single player so I'm a little weary of that.

 

[Karak]

Eeeeyup. Neatly handles the issues presented by the ending, allows you to go nuts with a new setting, but still ties things back to the old one.

Brother that's not neat that is the definition of insanely clumsy and cumbersome.
But probably what they will do sadly.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Sounds like Star Trek

 

[diaspora]

yeah but Javik was a mystical magical Prothean with tech Humans and every other in play Galactic Civ did not have. I am just saying I am looking forward to their explanation as to how they made it to Andromeda

I don't think galactic civilization having cryo chambers is particularly strange. What was weird about Javik was it still working after 50,000 years, not working at all.

 

[foxtrot3d]

I'm not a fan of opening up a whole new Galaxy but I'll reserve judgement until I see more.

 

[SargerusBR]

Going by the fact it's set in another galaxy and apparently set post trilogy, distant from both the story arc and the ending, combined with BioWare's insistence on "choices are important" and likelihood of not wanting to canonise any ending, along with the Pathfinder Initiative ARKCON shirts BioWare Montreal got...

...my plot theory is the one that aligns with, surprisingly enough, what a lot of fans were asking for from a post trilogy game.

Sometime during the events of Mass Effect 3, or any time in the trilogy before it ends, a settlement "Ark" ship is constructed with the aim of prolonging survival for participating species elsewhere in the universe should the Reaper war turn in the latter's favour, or a post-war environment proves unsustainable.

ARKCON Pathfinder crew are packed in a ship built for long term space travel, crew maybe in cryo, and jettisoned off to the Andromeda galaxy. Their mission simply to attempt to colonise it, basically a one way journey into the unknown, also knowing that by the time they arrive the Reaper war will be over one way or the other. And nobody on the mission will know the result.

And so you have a game that's canonically post-Reaper war by a significant amount of time. Post-Shepard Trilogy. Yet due to the timing of the mission (before the war comes to its conclusion) also manages to avoid ramifications of much of what happens during Mass Effect 3. You can have Krogan that technically still have the genophage. You can have synthetics that aren't destroyed. Nobody needs to have glowing green wires. No species needs to be wiped out. And since the game's setting is so far away in literal space, the inability to contact the Milky Way and nobody knowing the war outcome means nobody can ask questions.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I'm not a fan of opening up a whole new Galaxy but I'll reserve judgement until I see more.

What if it's like a giant galactic milkshake? That's a plus in the world of ME. I think there's a benefit from already having the world established. You don't mind watching a super hero movie about a hero you don't know much about, so I think new lore could benefit the franchise.

 

[Damerman]

The ability to choose whether to kill/save the Krogan, destroy/synth/control, kill/save the quarians and geth is probably the worst thing about the series. It's why the last game was such a damn mess, they let the players make choices they couldn't reconcile unless they left the damn galaxy behind. This is what makes Thedas as well done as it is, you make choices that shape Thedas, but not choices that fuck you over in future installments.

I agree so damn much. This story should be political, with strong themes of imperialism and how it affects its environment. No bullshit about ancient races and with some over reaching didactic motives.
The choices we make should affect things like what planets we colonized, who we put in power and how we subjegated indigeiounous species... And let the game natually react to these choices.

 

[Agremont]

Well I can't help but be hyped.

But there's always some ancient stuff huh. "Remants" lol.

 

[Karak]

I'm not a fan of opening up a whole new Galaxy but I'll reserve judgement until I see more.

Exactly. Right now every idea just sounds odd but hey who knows. There have been far worse ideas that turned out great. Also could have lived without another ancient or whatever.

 

[Unaha-Closp]

I don't think galactic civilization having cryo chambers is particularly strange. What was weird about Javik was it still working after 50,000 years, not working at all.

ah I think you mistake me. I am not saying you are wrong about Cryo - you are 100% right - I was just saying they would gussy it up a bit with some Element Zero or the like to sound cool. They would absolutely have Cryo - again I just think they would sexy it up some lol

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Random thought, in DA:I they had 9 companions, one for each class + subclass combo. The rumor mentions 7 squadmates for ME4, is it safe to assume there will be 7 classes to choose from for the main protagonist?

I am curious if they will stick with the classes from the originals or shake them up a bit.

 

[Ralemont]

yeah but Javik was a mystical magical Prothean with tech Humans and every other in play Galactic Civ did not have. I am just saying I am looking forward to their explanation as to how they made it to Andromeda

Its tech they have as of the reaper war, though

 

[diaspora]

I agree so damn much. This story should be political, with strong themes of imperialism and how it affects its environment. No bullshit about ancient races and with some over reaching didactic motives.
The choices we make should affect things like what planets we colonized, who we put in power and how we subjegated indigeiounous species... And let the game natually react to these choices.

Well, if we use the Krogan as an example, there never should have been a choice between saving the Krogan race vs letting them die out. You should have had a choice to try to sabotage the genophage cure and let that destroy your relationship with the Krogan, but the cure should have worked regardless of what you chose. This way, your choice affects your legacy in the universe while at the same time having tangible effects in game without fucking you over in the future.

Krogan in ME3
> Try to sabotage cure
>> Sabotage fails, cure disseminated
>> Krogan learn of deception
>> Alliance ties severed, no help in Reaper war, continued antagonism to follow
vs
> Help with the cure
>> Shepard remembered as hero among Krogan
>> Aid you in war efforts

In both scenarios here, we have a resurgent Krogan we can work with in future games with your choices affecting how they treat you and think of you versus what they went with which is either Krogan existing at all or not.

ah I think you mistake me. I am not saying you are wrong about Cryo - you are 100% right - I was just saying they would gussy it up a bit with some Element Zero or the like to sound cool. They would absolutely have Cryo - again I just think they would sexy it up some lol

Fair enough.

 

[Unaha-Closp]

Its tech they have as of the reaper war, though

that would depend on when they set off wouldn't it? Javek got revived pretty late on. And if anyone could understand the Prothean Tech as well. I am just looking forward to the explanation is all.

 

[JeffZero]

Figured c) wasn't going to happen, and I didn't really want it anyway. I wanted a), but I also figure that's not going to happen. That leaves b).

I'm glad it wasn't a), as there's something about prequels that inherently makes me less interested. But I respect why some feel otherwise, and if pressed, I couldn't really explain how something later in the timeline is any better if it's set in another galaxy anyway. Somehow it just... is.

 

[Ralemont]

that would depend on when they set off wouldn't it? Javek got revived pretty late on. And if anyone could understand the Prothean Tech as well. I am just looking forward to the explanation is all.

You can recruit Javik right after mars, so its actually quite early. This is all speculation on speculation of course.

 

[Unaha-Closp]

You can recruit Javik right after mars, so its actually quite early. This is all speculation on speculation of course.

that's early in Mass Effect 3. ME1 and 2 and the Reaper Invasion and Fleeing Earth had happened before Javik. That was all I meant.

 

[foxtrot3d]

Exactly. Right now every idea just sounds odd but hey who knows. There have been far worse ideas that turned out great. Also could have lived without another ancient or whatever.

Yup, this too. Also, "the Remnant" sounds like an incredibly boring and generic name taken straight from the Bungie school of naming things.

 

[ShinMaruku]

Remnants = Protheans?

Ugh, please no.

No it's gonna be an interstellar thing where Remnants are us.

 

[Metroidvania]

The only problem I see with the Ark ship theory is that the whole area is described as the wild west.

Unless the game itself takes place 'after' the ark ship has landed, species spread out, and time has passed since that landing, it doesn't really seem reconcilable if you're 'just waking up' as the start of the game's premise.

Either that, or unless you're a human only ark ship, and each species had their own, or whatnot.

 

[Lakitu]

Yup, this too. Also, "the Remnant" sounds like an incredibly boring and generic name taken straight from the Bungie school of naming things.

I keep thinking maybe it's not an official name and rather we'll find out more on the race during the story including an actual name. The Remnant's really does sound ridiculous as an official race name. Maybe they knew they were going extinct?

 

[prag16]

Not necessarily a nobody, but someone who has moderately-sized adventures with more personal stakes and solves more-nuanced disputes between groups, with outcomes that can actually relay over from game to game...

NOT somebody who is some super badass fighter, leader of strike teams across the galaxy, director of human colonization, and eventual savior of humanity against a genocidal threat.

That "stakes escalation" has infected nearly every AAA project these days to desperately pander to the mass market's power fantasies and has gotten beyond comical at this point.

But take a game like GTA5 for example. It's "smaller" and "more personal" by your definition yet manages to be the most egregious masturbatory adolescent male power fantasy of them all.

This is very far down my list of issues with the modern AAA model, personally.

 

[Aikidoka]

Can't they be more creative than "Ancient Alien race"? Some aspects of the original trilogy were pretty creative and interesting, but they still relied a lot of "ancient evil brings impending doom" cliche, which I found droll. Hopefully, they'll at least have an interesting new take on it.

 

[Karak]

Can't they be more creative than "Ancient Alien race"? Some aspects of the original trilogy were pretty creative and interesting, but they still relied a lot of "ancient evil brings impending doom" cliche, which I found droll. Hopefully, they'll at least have an interesting new take on it.

Exactly having no ancient race is actually a wilder feeling where all the other races are going at it. Assuming that only continued race is the humans.

 

[wolfhowwl]

The next Mass Effect’s “Horde” multiplayer pits you and up to three of your friends against waves of enemy troops on various battlefields throughout the galaxy. Players fight together to survive increasingly difficult enemy attacks and accomplish objectives, like disabling a bomb near a colony base or assassinating a target.

Well surprising no one the haters lost and based multiplayer is back.

 

[Apoleptica]

Sounds very... busyworkish. Strike teams, fogs of war towers.. is this ubisoft's mass effect? EDIT: and the outposts from Far Cry. ehhhh


ehhhhhhhh

Agreed, I have a feeling it will have a ton of filler missions similar to DA Inquisition. Quantity =\= quality.

 

[Karak]

Well surprising no one the haters lost and based multiplayer is back.

MP is a money making machine. They would be insane to drop it from a business perspective. If it turns out to be good is another thing entirely and I am hopeful.

Agreed, I have a feeling it will have a ton of filler missions similar to DA Inquisition. Quantity =\= quality.

It really does but maybe they learned their lesson from DAI and will make sure that the busy work is actually busy fun? I mean it is possible.

 

[_woLf]

Exactly having no ancient race is actually a wilder feeling where all the other races are going at it. Assuming that only continued race is the humans.

If the only continued race is the humans I'm so out. I'd like to remember the franchise with turians, salarians, asari etc...not seeing them again in a mass effect game would bother me.

 

[Murder. She Wrote]

It all depends on the execution. As it is, it's a bit too similar to DA:I features: something that can sound good on paper but then end up terrible in game.