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The Mass Effect Community Thread

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DevilDog

Member
To be fair, one developer based an entire game around ME-style space ninja and became one of the most successful online co-op.

Multiplayer is allright, they can do whatever they want with it, since it's all about gameplay. Just keep it out of the SP stuff. Or present it better.
 

SliChillax

Member
People on twitter asking the hard questions. (lol)

Zc1zHj3.png

These tweets are getting me more excited than the footage that they've shown.
 

Ridesh

Banned
I believe in shinobi, but the ME twitter has teased every new trailer with anticipation and they've said nothing these days, and trailers rarely are released on fridays.

I think it's gonna be out next week marking the beginning of the full marketing blowout.
 

Ridesh

Banned
sorry for the dp, but a bit of info

Michael Gamble @gamblemike
Gotta love Wikipedia. Apparently two people I've never met are producing mea.

Ian S. Frazier ‏@tibermoon
Looks like it's also wrong about the progression system. Bah!

Tyrell Hamilton ‏@tjh8214
which part is incorrect?

Ian S. Frazier @tibermoon
The way it talks about point re-allocation. Stay tuned for details on how this works in the future.
 
Why is that absurd? It's part of their marketing campaign, and they're basically trailers anyway. And even the notion of "The Andromeda Initiative" perfectly conveys to me what the game is about: We're pioneers on a trip to a new galaxy. Like, I don't understand what it is that you think you're missing?
 

prag16

Banned
What are you guys hoping from the next trailer?

I want a 'proper' story trailer. Doesn't bother me if it's slightly spoilery with regard to early-game stuff. Set the tone and atmosphere of the story, and show me some character interaction. I don't need to see a "full" gameplay loop (starting on ship, picking destination, flying to surface, driving mako, enter combat scenario) as some people were suggesting recently.
 
Why is that absurd? It's part of their marketing campaign, and they're basically trailers anyway. And even the notion of "The Andromeda Initiative" perfectly conveys to me what the game is about: We're pioneers on a trip to a new galaxy. Like, I don't understand what it is that you think you're missing?
I don't think I'm missing anything, because I've been following the game and its media stuff fairly closely. But for the majority of gamers who just watch the big trailers that get put up, there's literally no context for anything in there. Bioware and EA have done a terrible job of explaining the premise of the game so far, and they need to fix that sooner, rather than later.
 

Garlador

Member
Why is that absurd? It's part of their marketing campaign, and they're basically trailers anyway. And even the notion of "The Andromeda Initiative" perfectly conveys to me what the game is about: We're pioneers on a trip to a new galaxy. Like, I don't understand what it is that you think you're missing?

That's not what the game is about. That's the pre-game set-up. That's the "Bruce sees his parents killed and decides to fight crime" origin. That's "Luke gets a message about a princess in trouble" initial set-up. That's the "we found a Mass Relay and now we get to talk to aliens and explore planets" from ME1 background codex stuff. That's the origin of the game's initial setting and narrative set-up.

But it's not what the game is truly ABOUT. We don't know the driving action of the game. The purpose that spurs us forward in this game. The motivation factor to accomplish one specific, important end-goal.

So "Bruce becomes Batman" is a start, but "Batman has to stop the Joker and restore order to Arkham Asylum" is the driving motivation of that particular story. "Luke resolves to become a Jedi and redeem his father and stop the empire" is the more meaty, goal-driven aspect of his character. "We team-up with a cast of diverse aliens to hunt down the rogue SPECTRE Saren and stop his plans to unleash the Reapers on the galaxy" is the overarching end-goal of the original game.

We don't have an over-arching end goal in Andromeda yet. We don't know what the motivating, instigating moment is. We don't know what any character ultimately WANTS. And not some nebulous "settle the galaxy" scenario that'll take decades to accomplish. No, we're still waiting on the immediate, short-term motivation that drives our characters and spurs them into action, that lights a fire under them, and what the finish line of this adventure is going to be.

Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 had all told us this, early one. Stop Saren. Stop the Collectors. Stop the Reapers. We know what we're fighting and why we're fighting.

WHY are we fighting? And what, ultimately, is our fighting in Andromeda serving in the long-term? What is it building towards?

We don't know. We don't know the actual goal of the game yet.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll have a better idea of this.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Hopefully it's not as vague as the last "cinematic" trailer back at N7 day. Introduce the first hours of the game so we have a better idea of the plot & the squadmates.
 
I don't think I'm missing anything, because I've been following the game and its media stuff fairly closely. But for the majority of gamers who just watch the big trailers that get put up, there's literally no context for anything in there. Bioware and EA have done a terrible job of explaining the premise of the game so far, and they need to fix that sooner, rather than later.

Yeah, I can definitely see how someone who's only watching the big splashes in regards to media released would be somewhat in the dark at this point. I'm just saying that between the 4K playstation trailer, the 5 minute gameplay thing, the nvidia thing, the andromeda initiative website, the game informer month, and some other bits and pieces ... There's actually quite a bit out there.

Well, shieeeeeeeeeeeet.

Tomorrow's bitching:
-where's the long gameplay?!

At this point, no one's allowed to bitch about that shit anymore, imo. We already know that 5 days before release, actual consumers will get a look at a meaty chunk of the game, so those people already know when they'll get their answer. And that's not even talking about the marketing campaign that's still seemingly gearing up.
 
That's not what the game is about. That's the pre-game set-up. That's the "Bruce sees his parents killed and decides to fight crime" origin. That's "Luke gets a message about a princess in trouble" initial set-up. That's the "we found a Mass Relay and now we get to talk to aliens and explore planets" from ME1 background codex stuff. That's the origin of the game's initial setting and narrative set-up.

But it's not what the game is truly ABOUT. We don't know the driving action of the game. The purpose that spurs us forward in this game. The motivation factor to accomplish one specific, important end-goal.

So "Bruce becomes Batman" is a start, but "Batman has to stop the Joker and restore order to Arkham Asylum" is the driving motivation of that particular story. "Luke resolves to become a Jedi and redeem his father and stop the empire" is the more meaty, goal-driven aspect of his character. "We team-up with a cast of diverse aliens to hunt down the rogue SPECTRE Saren and stop his plans to unleash the Reapers on the galaxy" is the overarching end-goal of the original game.

We don't have an over-arching end goal in Andromeda yet. We don't know what the motivating, instigating moment is. We don't know what any character ultimately WANTS. And not some nebulous "settle the galaxy" scenario that'll take decades to accomplish. No, we're still waiting on the immediate, short-term motivation that drives our characters and spurs them into action, that lights a fire under them, and what the finish line of this adventure is going to be.

Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 had all told us this, early one. Stop Saren. Stop the Collectors. Stop the Reapers. We know what we're fighting and why we're fighting.

WHY are we fighting? And what, ultimately, is our fighting in Andromeda serving in the long-term? What is it building towards?

We don't know. We don't know the actual goal of the game yet.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll have a better idea of this.

What was the motivating, instigating moment for Shepard to be the one fighting Saren that was shown during the cinematic trailers?

I think you're overthinking things. Even from the 2 minute cinematic reveal, we already know "we're going to a new galaxy, we're evocatively named "pathfinder", some mysterious shit happens". I don't understand why we need anything more, personally. Like, the premise in an of itself is already pretty much unique. They may show more in that regard, I don't know. But personally I've already seen enough, and at some point, isn't all of this what you're supposed to be playing the game for?

And by the way, I do in fact think they've mentioned before that "exploring" is very much the central focus of the game, and that the actual overarching plot an narrative wasn't going to be as over-encompassing as "holy shit the galaxy is gonna end".
 

prag16

Banned
Lol it's already happening


Dunno why i even bother

Honestly, as I said above, I feel like I don't need to really see any more gameplay. They've shown enough to give the basic idea, and we have ME3 as a solid baseline which I doubt they'll depart from TOO radically.

More gameplay is nice, but we know very little about the story and backdrop. I'm glad we're getting something more towards that side as shinobi is teasing.
 

Xando

Member
Honestly, as I said above, I feel like I don't need to really see any more gameplay. They've shown enough to give the basic idea, and we have ME3 as a solid baseline which I doubt they'll depart from TOO radically.

More gameplay is nice, but we know very little about the story and backdrop. I'm glad we're getting something more towards that side as shinobi is teasing.

I agree. The core gameplay will be similiar( if not the same) as ME3, maybe with some DA:I in it.

The only gameplay i'm interested in is how they handle research, space navigation etc.
 

Garlador

Member
What was the motivating, instigating moment for Shepard to be the one fighting Saren that was shown during the cinematic trailers?

Like these?
ME 1 trailer
PC Launch Trailer
"We face extinction. A rogue soldier leads an unstoppable force across the galaxy, and only you stand in his way."

It's pretty clear exactly what the stakes are, who the villain is, and that you're the only one standing between him and the end of all life as we know it. Pretty cut-and-dry, no? Spells it all out for the viewer.

I think you're overthinking things. Even from the 2 minute cinematic reveal, we already know "we're going to a new galaxy, we're evocatively named "pathfinder", some mysterious shit happens".
That's a set-up, not a plot. That's like saying "in the Mad Max trailer, we're in a desert world, Max is the protagonist, and mysterious stuff happens". The actual plot is what Max's ultimate goal in the movies are within the context of this set-up.

I don't understand why we need anything more, personally. Like, the premise in an of itself is already pretty much unique. They may show more in that regard, I don't know. But personally I've already seen enough, and at some point, isn't all of this what you're supposed to be playing the game for?
I played Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 for the characters. The "main plot" was, actually, pretty pedestrian, and in the case of Mass Effect 2 - my favorite game in the series - it was ultimately a glorified side-mission. But it was the characters and squadmates that kept me glued to the screen, to figure out what made them tick, to see reveals of all these wild alien characters and be told bluntly upfront who they are and why I should care ("Killing is an art, and I am a master." "I don't have time for incompetence. I'll follow Shepard into battle, but they have to EARN my trust." "Saving a race is my penance... for destroying one...").

I know squat about Peebee, Cora, Liam, Vetra, Drack... outside of superficial things like "Liam has nice hair" and "Peebee doesn't like social niceties". We don't know a single thing about them that drives them as people. Just superficial things like race and gender. That's not a character; that's a template. I don't doubt they have great character development, but none of it has been shown off in even the most basic, introductory sort of way. They're all blank slates right now.

And by the way, I do in fact think they've mentioned before that "exploring" is very much the central focus of the game, and that the actual overarching plot an narrative wasn't going to be as over-encompassing as "holy shit the galaxy is gonna end".
"Exploring" isn't an end-goal, though. "Exploring" was in Mass Effect 1 too as a huge focus, but there was still a major plot with a clear ending we were marching towards. "Exploring" is a means to an end, and "exploring" has no narrative weight to it whatsoever. I can "explore" in any game to ever be released, but a good game tells you WHY you are exploring. In Resident Evil, it's because you're trying to survive the mansion, you're low on health and ammo, and every corner could hold a life-saving item. In Zelda, exploring helps lead you to items and puzzles that unlock new abilities to complete dungeons and progress the story.

I don't want a pure "exploration" game. That was No Man's Sky, and it got super-old super-fast (outside of its failed promises).

Bioware/EA has not given us a clear goal to work towards to justify why exploring is so important. "To establish a new home for humanity" is not a goal that has a reasonable end-point, as humanity on planet Earth even today is still struggling to establish itself and find a balance.

A "theme" is not the same as a "plot". Exploring is fine and dandy, but it doesn't tell me WHY I should explore, why my squadmates are sticking with me to explore, and what all this exploring will ultimately payoff for if we ourselves don't even know.
 

Garlador

Member
Wow. I can't believe they put the Vermire choice in the trailer.

They're garbage trailers, really. Mass Effect 1 marketing was pretty bad across the board. They got a bit better with ME2 (though I would have loved it if they could have pulled a Kojima and kept Shepard's death a secret...).

I think the best ME1 trailer was the "Distress Call" trailer. It's subtle, shows that you're in a leadership position, making really tough choices, where sacrifices must be made for the greater good, all while having slight but subtle moments of character depth from Garrus and Ashley (Garrus's clearly about to speak his mind, while Ashley stops him and acknowledges this is Shepard's call to make, and it isn't an easy one). Then finish off with them landing on another planet under attack by Geth, the primary enemies of the game. It's the game in a microcosm.
 

Maledict

Member
I think Mass Effect 2s trailer is one of the best I've seen for a computer game, and it had me insanely hyped. Mass Efect 3 had the same effect (heck, I took a week off work for that one!)
 

Mindlog

Member
Ian S. Frazier @tibermoon
The way it talks about point re-allocation. Stay tuned for details on how this works in the future.
Place your bets on the progression system!
I'm firmly in the ME3 MP chracter roster as a single player character camp. You can not re-allocate points. The old 'classes' still exist. However, your character can switch between them easily.

Going from ME3 MP to ME3 SP is jarring partly because of how many powers Shepard had. Many of them of questionable use. Now imagine switching back to your Shepard from ME3 MP and seeing a similar number of active powers, BUT your Shepard can choose to be any one of those characters at any time.

We'll find out soon anyway.
 

SliChillax

Member
They're garbage trailers, really. Mass Effect 1 marketing was pretty bad across the board. They got a bit better with ME2 (though I would have loved it if they could have pulled a Kojima and kept Shepard's death a secret...).

I think the best ME1 trailer was the "Distress Call" trailer. It's subtle, shows that you're in a leadership position, making really tough choices, where sacrifices must be made for the greater good, all while having slight but subtle moments of character depth from Garrus and Ashley (Garrus's clearly about to speak his mind, while Ashley stops him and acknowledges this is Shepard's call to make, and it isn't an easy one). Then finish off with them landing on another planet under attack by Geth, the primary enemies of the game. It's the game in a microcosm.

It's why I enjoyed ME1 so much when it came out, I had no idea what the game was about it was just an impulse buy because the cover looked interesting.
 
Still boggles the mind that people think Mass Effect 2 trailers were good. "Let's show the entirety of the beginning and end of the game because we've got nothing interesting inbetween."

The worst.

EDIT: New trailer up at 9 AM PST tomorrow. according to twitter. That seems to be their go-to time for releasing media.
 

Maledict

Member
Still boggles the mind that people think Mass Effect 2 trailers were good. "Let's show the entirety of the beginning and end of the game because we've got nothing interesting inbetween."

The worst.

EDIT: New trailer up at 9 AM PST tomorrow. according to twitter. That seems to be their go-to time for releasing media.

Nothing in between apart from one of the best writing and content Bioware have put out in years?

Some people's opinions on ME2 truly puzzle me. i can absolutely get frustration with the way me2s plot is separate from what happened in ME1 and the outcome in me3, and the virmire survivor reactions, and the idiocy of the council or the sudden face change of Cerberus. But in terms of actual quality of writing and mission plot line, me2 has some of the best work they done in a *long* time in the recruitment and loyalty missions. Samara's 'romance' alone is unique for Bioware, extremely well written and a a direct counter to the 'everyone sleep with Shepherd God'. ME2 gave us some of the favourite and strongly written characters like Mordin, Thane, Legion, Samara, Jack, and also rebuilt Garrus and Liara from the ground up into something far more interesting and clever than the original game.

The idea that all of that was 'nothing' just utterly perplexes me.
 
Wall of Text.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not really gleaning anything more from those trailers than what we've seen thus far from ME:A. Even setting aside everything but the cinematic reveal, we know that we're going on a trip to another galaxy (which is "just the set-up", if you want to go that route), but we also know that we're the new pathfinder, which infers that something happened to the old pathfinder; and we know that some new race or whatever is interested in us as newcomers.

I don't think I've ever bought a game based on much more than this along with some general gameplay snippets. In fact, I bought Mass Effect 1 on a whim too, without even seeing much beyond the trailer you just linked.

But who knows, I can't tell the future. Maybe we'll get something a little more "back-of-the-box-blurby" tomorrow or some other day. The trailer you linked were both released a couple of days prior to the game's release after all.

Also, that Mass Effect 1 trailer is really something, sheez Louise. Got a canned punch sound and everything.
 
Nothing in between apart from one of the best writing and content Bioware have put out in years?

Some people's opinions on ME2 truly puzzle me. i can absolutely get frustration with the way me2s plot is separate from what happened in ME1 and the outcome in me3, and the virmire survivor reactions, and the idiocy of the council or the sudden face change of Cerberus. But in terms of actual quality of writing and mission plot line, me2 has some of the best work they done in a *long* time in the recruitment and loyalty missions. Samara's 'romance' alone is unique for Bioware, extremely well written and a a direct counter to the 'everyone sleep with Shepherd God'. ME2 gave us some of the favourite and strongly written characters like Mordin, Thane, Legion, Samara, Jack, and also rebuilt Garrus and Liara from the ground up into something far more interesting and clever than the original game.

The idea that all of that was 'nothing' just utterly perplexes me.

I'm not entirely sure how you managed to extrapolate that conclusion from my sarcastic comment about how the marketers for Mass Effect 2 sucked but ok.
 

Garlador

Member
Maybe it's just me, but I'm not really gleaning anything more from those trailers than what we've seen thus far from ME:A. Even setting aside everything but the cinematic reveal, we know that we're going on a trip to another galaxy (which is "just the set-up", if you want to go that route), but we also know that we're the new pathfinder, which infers that something happened to the old pathfinder; and we know that some new race or whatever is interested in us as newcomers.

Again, that's just flavor stuff, background material. In ME1, we're the new Spectre, and we find humanity as the newcomers to the Galactic Civilizations at large.

This is all the starting line material, for both ME1 and Andromeda.

What gives the story focus is knowing what the finish line is.

I'm not entirely sure how you managed to extrapolate that conclusion from my sarcastic comment about how the marketers for Mass Effect 2 sucked but ok.
Mass Effect 2 had plenty of material dedicated to the in-between stuff.
Thane Trailer
Samara Trailer
Miranda Trailer

Repeat for Tali, Mordin, Grunt, and many others in the crew. There was a lot of material like that.

It's amazing to see the "voice cast" trailer and how easily the actors or actresses can sum up their characters in a single, concise sentence or two.
Voices of Mass Effect 2

PLENTY of in-between material that gives glimmers of their loyalty missions, their personalities, their goals and motivations, etc.
 
They're garbage trailers, really. Mass Effect 1 marketing was pretty bad across the board. They got a bit better with ME2 (though I would have loved it if they could have pulled a Kojima and kept Shepard's death a secret...).

I think the best ME1 trailer was the "Distress Call" trailer. It's subtle, shows that you're in a leadership position, making really tough choices, where sacrifices must be made for the greater good, all while having slight but subtle moments of character depth from Garrus and Ashley (Garrus's clearly about to speak his mind, while Ashley stops him and acknowledges this is Shepard's call to make, and it isn't an easy one). Then finish off with them landing on another planet under attack by Geth, the primary enemies of the game. It's the game in a microcosm.
Yeah, the "Distress Call" trailer was the first thing I ever saw for Mass Effect, and that pretty much was why I bought that game. It had a clarity of messaging that none of the other games' managed to match in their advertising, and Andromeda desperately needs.

Hell, I wouldn't mind it if the only TV ad they did for Andromeda was literally a remake of the "Distress Call" trailer, just with the new cast and maybe showing Bro and Sis Ryder splitting up and going on different ships or something. It'd be pretty appropriate, since it's just under 10 years since ME1 came out and they're trying to recapture the ME1 vibes.
 
Mass Effect 2 had plenty of material dedicated to the in-between stuff.
Thane Trailer
Samara Trailer
Miranda Trailer

Repeat for Tali, Mordin, Grunt, and many others in the crew. There was a lot of material like that.

It's amazing to see the "voice cast" trailer and how easily the actors or actresses can sum up their characters in a single, concise sentence or two.
Voices of Mass Effect 2

PLENTY of in-between material that gives glimmers of their loyalty missions, their personalities, their goals and motivations, etc.

I wasn't talking about individual component trailers (although I've already pointed out weeks ago out that the thane trailer is garbage because it uses footage directly unrelated to his character, specifically from the Reaper IFF mission) but rather the launch and cinematic trailers. They were frontloaded with content from the Omega 4 relay mission and intro to the game and nothing substantial of content inbetween.
 
Like I said, the trailers you just linked were both launch trailers. There's no reason not to suspect we might not get something more to your liking.

I'm trying to figure it out, but I'm really just not getting your stance though. Like I asked TC McQueen, what is it that you think you're missing? I don't get how "Saren is a bad guy, go kill him" is an OK motivation for the trailers, but "you're on a trip to a new galaxy, and shit isn't as it seemed/stuff goes bad" somehow isn't. It seems very arbitrary to me.

And besides, why wouldn't it be valid to have "exploration" as your main goal for the game? That's what the main goal for the people on board the ship would be, so why wouldn't it be so for the player? I mean, it's quite evident that this is what they're going for, from everything they've said thus far. I'm sure there will be some main thread that guides us through, but probably not to the extent of "go kill Saren".

And "exploration" doesn't mean that it'd be like NMS. Or do you really think they'll drop the core tenets of Bioware games in general, like character interaction and combat? When I mean exploration, I mean in terms of the narrative, and it can definitely fill the roll of "plot".

What I'm guessing the game will be like is that at some point, you'll take over the mantel of "pathfinder", after some prologue. After you do, you'll maybe get a main quest to find out what happened to your father, but I'm putting my money on that being intertwined with the overarching plot. But point being, I'm guessing your Act 1 missions will be "Hey pathfinder, here are the planets we tagged, go and figure out if they're habitable". From there you'll get some kind of narrative throughline for each planet, along with side quests. But what I'm guessing will happen is that those "remnant vaults" that have been spoken about will form the overarching narrative for Act 2 and beyond, and that those aliens we saw in the reveal trailer will have something to do with that.

Now, it might end up being different, but it would make "exploration" more than just a "theme", and I really don't see how THAT'S less legitimate of an impetus than "Saren is bad. Go kill Saren".
 

DevilDog

Member
I've never seen any Mass Effect 1 trailers lol. I just saw a friend of mine play it on his PC so i got it.

LOL when Saren says: You will all dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

WjIpMN6.jpg


And then you see Saren in the game. Well played BioWare.

Haha I was referring to Warframe.
Rofl
 

Garlador

Member
I wasn't talking about individual component trailers (although I've already pointed out weeks ago out that the thane trailer is garbage because it uses footage directly unrelated to his character, specifically from the Reaper IFF mission) but rather the launch and cinematic trailers. They were frontloaded with content from the Omega 4 relay mission and intro to the game and nothing substantial of content inbetween.
How is it garbage? A good trailer creates a good impression, not an actualized reality of what the experience is like. The trailer's job is to introduce you to Thane, show you what he's all about and what he's capable of, and perk your interest. The trailer does that with flying colors.

I mean, Mass Effect 1's launch trailer was outright super-spoilery for end-level stuff and even the Virmire choice. Even Dragon Age: Inquisition had end-game level clips. That's par for the course for EA and Bioware at this point.

The REASON the ME2 trailer is so front-loaded with intro and Relay 4 clips is because those were the only moments in the game that involved as many squadmates together as possible while the opening moments of the game are where the narrative is front-loaded to fill you in on the main threat and your current status. Everything else was a loyalty mission focusing on one specific squadmate, but rarely all of them working on some giant mission. Those were the most exciting "big scene" moments of the whole game, as the REST of the game was focused on the private, smaller moments, such as James and his father, Samara and her daughter, and Thane and his son... stuff that often didn't even have any combat to speak of during those loyalty missions.

And yet in the ME2 launch trailer we still see scenes of Mordin punching out his apprentice, Thane during his recruitment, Garrus making his stand against the merc triad, Legion and Tali facing off, Samara's first appearance, etc.. The launch trailer opens with the 25% mark of Ashley on Horizon being attacked. That wasn't the intro, and it shows off the Collectors, sets the stage for the main conflict, and elegantly gets the point of the whole game across to you and who is at risk and what is at stake.

Like I said, the trailers you just linked were both launch trailers. There's no reason not to suspect we might not get something more to your liking.
I only used the launch trailers as an example of getting to the point of what we're doing. There were plenty of other pre-launch trailers for all three games that accomplished this as well.

I'm trying to figure it out, but I'm really just not getting your stance though. Like I asked TC McQueen, what is it that you think you're missing? I don't get how "Saren is a bad guy, go kill him" is an OK motivation for the trailers, but "you're on a trip to a new galaxy, and shit isn't as it seemed/stuff goes bad" somehow isn't. It seems very arbitrary to me.
No, it's the total opposite. One has a razor sharp focus. You're hunting Saren. You're tracking him down. You're attempting to stop him because you know his goal is to unleash a race of all-powerful creatures upon the universe. That has a sense of urgency and description to it that clearly conveys what your end-goal is and why you should go after him.

"You're in a new galaxy and something is weird" is... vague. There's no driving narrative hook. Can you tell me what our ultimate goal is? What's the finish line? What's at stake? Why should we care? Can you answer me those questions, because I'm still waiting, and I've never been one to "explore for the sake of exploration". A good story - which is why I'm playing - needs a strong overarching narrative for me to follow, where act 1 clearly spells out what'll be at stake in act 3. The prior games all did this extremely well.

And besides, why wouldn't it be valid to have "exploration" as your main goal for the game? That's what the main goal for the people on board the ship would be, so why wouldn't it be so for the player? I mean, it's quite evident that this is what they're going for, from everything they've said thus far. I'm sure there will be some main thread that guides us through, but probably not to the extent of "go kill Saren".
Because "explore" on its own is aimless and directionless, and that was never what Mass Effect did well. That's No Man's Sky approach to space exploration, and I wasn't a fan.

As I mentioned before, I actually love exploration with PURPOSE. To travel to a new and exciting world with a goal - to find something important or to recover something ancient or to fight for something at risk. WHY I explore is so much more compelling than just exploration for the sake of it, especially in a combat-heavy, character-driven, story-led, player-choice designed game series like Mass Effect.

Purpose. I need purpose to the aimlessness of it all. Hamlet has his vengeance to guide him, Frodo has his Mount Doom to ascend, Luke has his father to fight and redeem, etc. We don't yet know what drives ANYONE in the game, Ryder or any squadmate. Thus, it's all fluff to me.

And "exploration" doesn't mean that it'd be like NMS. Or do you really think they'll drop the core tenets of Bioware games in general, like character interaction and combat? When I mean exploration, I mean in terms of the narrative, and it can definitely fill the roll of "plot".
I'm saying that NMS scratches the "space exploration" itch already, and Mass Effect, as a series, has never excelled at this aspect. Now, I MISSED exploration after ME1, and I'm happy to see it return, but ME1's exploration was in service to a greater story and an impending galactic threat.

But concerning Bioware dropping "tenets" of prior games, well... they already did that, post-ME1. The RPG mechanics, the exploration, the gear and squad customization, the narrative branching, the hacking mini-games, the vehicular combat, side-quests... it all got streamlined or, in many cases, outright removed. The priority shifted. The mechanics were altered. "Mechanics" barely tethered the Mass Effect trilogy together.

What DID tether it was the narrative and characters, but hardly the mechanics. Mass Effect 3's mechanics and gameplay are so far removed from ME1's approach as to quantify it as a totally different franchise altogether if the setting and story had been altered. That's not a complaint, as I quite ENJOY Mass Effect 3's gameplay, but it's readily apparent to me just how radical a shift the trilogy employed from the first game to the third. So "mechanics" aren't what I'm looking forward to in Andromeda for that "Mass Effect feeling", since those keep changing game-to-game.

But narrative? Characters? Story? That stuff is uniquely and consistently "Mass Effect" to me, and I've barely seen any of it.

What I'm guessing the game will be like is that at some point, you'll take over the mantel of "pathfinder", after some prologue.
That's not an assumption. Bioware has outright stated this is going to happen.

After you do, you'll maybe get a main quest to find out what happened to your father, but I'm putting my money on that being intertwined with the overarching plot.
Then, fine, a missing loved one is a great set-up for a game's main narrative. Many, MANY games have employed it.
But EA/Bioware haven't shown anything that states that's the overarching goal. In fact, Dad-Ryder's status and their interaction or relationship to main Ryder has not been shown whatsoever. Just more vague insinuations and coy statements in magazines. It hasn't factored into a single trailer or story moment thus far, and, as I've mentioned before, it's been well over three years now that I've been waiting...

But point being, I'm guessing your Act 1 missions will be "Hey pathfinder, here are the planets we tagged, go and figure out if they're habitable". From there you'll get some kind of narrative throughline for each planet, along with side quests. But what I'm guessing will happen is that those "remnant vaults" that have been spoken about will form the overarching narrative for Act 2 and beyond, and that those aliens we saw in the reveal trailer will have something to do with that.

Now, it might end up being different, but it would make "exploration" more than just a "theme", and I really don't see how THAT'S less legitimate of an impetus than "Saren is bad. Go kill Saren".
Well, for starters, because we know what the hell we were going to fight for and against in the very first mission of ME1. We literally see a giant, death-spewing Reaper about five minutes in the game, in fact.

That's not beating around the bush. That's getting STRAIGHT to the point, and it's the same threat we're facing, not just at the end of this game, but in the very finale of the third game.

That's a far cry from "roam aimlessly and perhaps, maybe, hypothetically, possibly, there's a more substantial narrative than mysterious vaults" (I still get flashbacks to Borderlands 1's infamous vault of empty promises...).

Even if its evidence related to your father, that doesn't clear up why any of your squadmates are tagging along. That was made expertly clear in the original Mass Effect games, because their goals were clearly defined as tied to your own. But I doubt Drack knows your dad, or that PeeBee would care (perhaps they do, thought I doubt it).

The overarching plot is only one part of the equation. How the characters in the game work within this narrative is the second part.

Currently, we know neither.

That's where I'm coming from. I'm not saying that won't change (even by tomorrow), but it's been the "meat" I've been waiting three years for that has still eluded me.
 

Garlador

Member
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That's exactly what a trailer should be doing.

Nope. That's what a DEMO is for. And even then, not always. Lacking the ingredient of "interactivity" will never properly convey the true experience of PLAYING a game as opposed to watching disjointed clips of someone else go through key areas.

A trailer is a montage of clips meshed together out of order to give you a general impression and feeling that what you see in the trailer will give you a similar feeling when you play the game.

It's why ME2's launch trailer uses music like "Two Steps From Hell - Heart of Courage" instead of anything from its actual, outstanding soundtrack, because they're a group that specializes exclusively in making epic-sounding trailer music. It's why they splice in voice clips at key scenes of the trailer that never material in the game (Shepard shouting "Tali!" as she falls, for instance, reinforces the scene more than the in-game clip alone would). It's why specific edits and transitions wipes are used that aren't in the main game.

Trailers are not the game. Or the full movie. Or a full TV show. It's a glimpse, a peek, and often even just an impression. Many of the trailers don't even use in-game footage whatsoever.
These scenes aren't in the game, for instance, but the trailers give you the impressions of what playing the game will be like, in terms of tone, atmosphere, and visual identity, to name a few.

Trailers are not representative of the finished game, and rarely are they ever. Their job is to let you know what type of experience you'll have, get information to you as quickly as possible, and grab your interest and hook you in for the REAL experience later.

That's literally my day job. We're told not to sell people the actual product, but sell them on the IDEA of the product. That's true from the game industry to the movie industry to even the food industry.
 
Nope. That's what a DEMO is for. And even then, not always. Lacking the ingredient of "interactivity" will never properly convey the true experience of PLAYING a game as opposed to watching disjointed clips of someone else go through key areas.

I'm afraid I'm just going to disagree with you here.

The gameplay trailer we were given in december, with actualized footage, and actualized character dialogue, movement, and scenery is exactly what a good trailer is.

Drowning out my senses with call of duty montages, unrelated music, and nonsensical edit cuts is not the way to sell your game. It caters to the lowest common denominator and I won't take part in it.
 
I gotta side with Garlador on this one. No video is going to tell you what the game is actually going to play like. A good trailer will establish the tone, the intention, the feeling of it, without getting bogged down in the details that'll never fully come across anyway.
 

DevilDog

Member
I gotta side with Garlador on this one. No video is going to tell you what the game is actually going to play like. A good trailer will establish the tone, the intention, the feeling of it, without getting bogged down in the details that'll never fully come across anyway.

I think both are needed. It's just that the thigns we've seen so far are... not great.

Otherwise we wouldn't be discussing about it.
 

Maledict

Member
I'm afraid I'm just going to disagree with you here.

The gameplay trailer we were given in december, with actualized footage, and actualized character dialogue, movement, and scenery is exactly what a good trailer is.

Drowning out my senses with call of duty montages, unrelated music, and nonsensical edit cuts is not the way to sell your game. It caters to the lowest common denominator and I won't take part in it.

That's fair enough, but you have to acknowledge that what you see as a good trailer is not what the majority of people are looking for. Even in this thread, and the games supporters, generally weren't happy with that trailer.
 
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