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Mass Effect the way you see it

vortex

Fabulous Optimist
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Mar 25, 2016
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Temple of Alvilmelkedic
Let's say you have that awesome button to reset whole Mass Effect universe from the start.

What story keypoints would you change? What world-building elements and core sci-fi ideas would you rewrite ?

What would you keep?

EDIT:
How would you reorganize social aspects of race interactions on the universe level (not just the romance thing)?
 
Last edited:

Somberlain

Arcane
Zionist Agent
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Mar 5, 2012
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Basement
What would you keep?

Only the animations. It would be a perfect trip into the unfathomable depths of prosperous madness lurking beneath your psyche. A truly otherworldly and magnificent experience, unlike the banal shit boring turd that is the Ass Effect series.
 

Gregz

Arcane
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The Desert Wasteland
I wouldn't change ME1 at all.

I would go back in time and shoot whomever thought turning ME2 into a cover shooter was a good idea.

Then I could actually play ME2 now because it wouldn't suck donkey balls.

I haven't played ME3 because ME2 was so horrible, but shooting the cover shooter guy who ruined ME2 might motivate them to make a better ME3, so that's probably the only action I'd need to take.
 

Brother Rat

Novice
Joined
Oct 30, 2016
Messages
27
The biggest issue with the series was that the key creative figures behind it were talentless hacks, but I'm assuming that in this hypothetical scenario there are competent developers behind the wheel.

Just make it a series about space politics instead of TEH END OF THE UNIVARSE!!! Seriously there was some good stuff in the series hidden underneath all the nonsense, like the genophage arc and the tensions between humans and the rest of the aliens. Shepard should have just been a galactic policeman/womyn/otherkin instead of a Savior figure. Her "specialness" should have been attributed to the fact that she was the first human spectre, rather than a connection to the reapers. Reapers weren't necessarily a bad idea, but they should have been kept in the background as some kind of existential threat. As soon as you start pew-pewing the lovecraftian elder-beings they lose all their menace. The main thematic undercurrent of the series should have been humans claiming their place in the galactic hierarchy, whether through diplomacy or force.
 

jaydee2k

Savant
Joined
Nov 3, 2016
Messages
449
I would populate the universe with male humans/aliens only.
Then give every spaceship the form of gigantic butt plugs with the option to customize them.
Biggest achievable ship would be a big ass cock cruiser which shoots cum loads instead of laser or plasma...
 

donkeymong

Scholar
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
210
First game stays as it is. The second would be about ways to actually defeat the reapers instead of fighting mercenary groups 90 percent
of the time, where Shepard, with his\her knowledge of the prothean language would actually important for the plot instead of beeing just
a hired gun out of many. 3 would be about implementing strategies and new tech to defeat the Reapers.
 

anvi

Prophet
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Kelethin
z8gWA.png


Maybe if they made it into a real game I would care about insignificant shit like story and world building.
 

Xbalanque

Educated
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Land of blossoming onion
I wouldn't change the Prothean's design and make it at least partially about exploration of their ruins etc. in search for technology or anything. But the main focus should be space politics as Brother Rat said. And be consequent in the C&C department - if you kill Rachni Queen in ME 1 they never reappear later on.
 
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oldmanpaco

Master of Siestas
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Nov 8, 2008
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13,609
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Winter
ME1:

Change Itemization - They had an interesting idea with the multiple manufactures of equipment but the whole MK I - MK VIII of each version got old. And I doen't really remeber many unique items.
Change Inventory - Was shit but that had to do items as well.
Change Mako Exploration - The autistic in me had to search for all of those fucking insignias. Jesus christ.

ME2:

Change Main Story: What a shitshow. Literally any other story arc would have better tied ME1 and ME3 together.
Bring Back RPG Mechanics: The Devs said that console gamers didn't understand how stats based skills worked so they eliminated 75% of skills. Nothing like pandering to the primates.
Bring Back a Version of Planet Exploration: The fixed exploration by eliminating it because they did not know how to make it good.

ME3:

By this point the series is just shit so the whole game story/mechanics needs to be redone.
 

Psquit

Arcane
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
1,921
Location
Ushuaia
I wouldn't change ME1 at all.

I would go back in time and shoot whomever thought turning ME2 into a cover shooter was a good idea.

Then I could actually play ME2 now because it wouldn't suck donkey balls.

I haven't played ME3 because ME2 was so horrible, but shooting the cover shooter guy who ruined ME2 might motivate them to make a better ME3, so that's probably the only action I'd need to take.

Shocking news at Bioware HQ, a white guy shooted the game designer of Mass effect 2, eyewitnesses claims that the aggressor was shouting "popamole enablers and fags need to die". John Ravioli, EA's CEO, said that in honor of x they would make mass effect 2 into a cover shooter.


GG
 

Doktor Best

Arcane
Joined
Feb 2, 2015
Messages
2,849
I think i do not care enough about the series to put serious efforts into improving it.

So i would simply make it even more trashy. I would make it the first Triple-A galactic porn-rpg. Even dumber, more over the top dialogue. Turn the pathos up to eleven, include full nudity sex scenes. I would make every single quest in the game resolve either into blowing shit up after making a patriotic motivational speech or putting your dick into something slimy (or doing both at the same time). I would transform Commander Shepard into a weird mixture between Captain Kirk and Duke Nukem. Start a planetary civil war between two alien races because you banged both their leaders? Yes sir. Destroy an ancient super-AI because it had a sexy voice so you put your dick into its hard-drive and fried it? Ofcourse madam. Get some serious alien-STD because you fucked a swampmonster and now you have to invade a high security medical base in order to get a cure? Sounds like a plan!

And then in the end, Commander Shepard, the true alpha male, would unite all developed alienraces behind him as the leader of the resistance against the reapers, just like in the original series. They would all follow him into one epic galactic battle against overwhelming odds, just like in the original series, and in the end the reapers win. They would kill the Shepard, kill every companion, kill every sentient being in the galaxis and burn everything and every trace of every civilization to ashes. Not because they wanted "to preserve life", but simply because they couldnt endure the depravity and stupidity of all of it and had to push the reset button. The total extinction would be a cleansing act, justified directly through the actions of the player. Choice and consequence.
 

Psquit

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
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Ushuaia
I would go full Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah on the reapers. Shit will be soo much better with more "you requiere cleansing" and a proper final boss... maybe harbinger.
 

shihonage

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Bubbles In Memoria
Let's say you have that awesome button to reset whole Mass Effect universe from the start.

What story keypoints would you change? What world-building elements and core sci-fi ideas would you rewrite ?

What would you keep?

EDIT:
How would you reorganize social aspects of race interactions on the universe level (not just the romance thing)?

I would start by replacing you and the rest of Bioware staff.
 

Severian Silk

Guest
Mass Effect universe is so generic and boring, there's no way to salvage any of it.
 

undecaf

Arcane
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Messages
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2
Don't think I care enough about the world of Mass Effect that I'd go through the trouble of changing it. It'd be tolerable enough if only the game itself was fun to play.
 

markec

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Codex 2012 Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Dead State Project: Eternity Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
I would keep most things from ME2 and little from other two shitty games.

1. SF setting centered about travelling trough universe.

2. Atmosphere, tone and humor from ME2.

3. Story about secret agent doing impossible missions against over the top villains.

4. Bitches in super tight outfits with great asses and deep cleavage.

5 Epic cheesy soundtrack like this:





In the end it would be a lighthearted game about a James Bond in space who solves impossible missions without breaking a sweat, with bad ass oneliners while banging hot alien chicks.
 

Durian Eater

Learned
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
75
Shep the Spectre as something between space cop and secret agent, with the overarching theme of humanity's role in a multispecies universe and the influence being a spacefaring civilization has on the human race. You know, the reason why science fiction outside of pulp space adventure is supposed to exist: to examine issues of the present through the lens of the future. Endgame could revolve around Shep having to decide between loyalty to humanity and loyalty to the galactic order that he's now a part of. Something that the first game at least touched on in passing, albeit poorly.

Anything but Chosen One / Faceless Omnicidal Enemy / End of Life As We Know it bullshit, at least. Nu-Bioware's obsession with faceless villains without personality or motivation is one of its major flaws. Although given ME3, maybe that's for the best.
 

Frozen

Arcane
Joined
Jan 1, 2014
Messages
8,303
I wouldn't change ME1 or ME2.
They are both good for what they are- ME1 is boring KotOR remake and ME2 is best BioWare game.
ME3 has lots of issues. Only thing it got right is pop a mole combat mechanic its what it should be- Mass Effect was never an RPG if you want some isometric turn based retro game you were at a wrong place from the beginning.
So lets get to it:

- no Kai Leng
- no Cerebrus go full retard
- complete revamp of main story and sidequests. This is the most important thing and I will go back to it at the end.
- no star brat
- more camp atmosphere of ME2-all characters returning for at least some missions.
- mini games in
- some vehicle parts in
- no creaping in on people fetch quests
- resources that matters, not some insignificant numerical value that determens how much of red blue or green.
- more controle over Shepard actions like in previous games-no more hijacking him for more "cinematic" feel
- end boss because YES to video gamy

About the story...I would reuse some elements but in completely different structure. Game should be split in 2 equal sized portions. First you escape with the help of your team (real trial as promised) and then go on resource gathering of armies an allies all over galaxy while trying to figure out how to stop the Reapers....main story should get you to find Leviathans and they tell you about the Catalyst as some bs Reaper collective intelligence overlord etc. and its not the Citadel or star brat but Earth. I would tie it to dark energy story aka mass effect as a reason for harvest. Second portion of the game is all one big showdown where you gather all your chips and go all in to Earth. Cerberus could have a split where parts are indoctrinated (lead by Virmire victim bring back to life by the Reapers) and you could descide to either kill Elusive man (another boss fight not delivered) or side with Cerberus as a post war totalitarian human centric galactic government. You should be able to lose to Reapers if requirements not met or survive and final confrontation with reaper big bady should go in 3 ways-either destroy collective intelligence of the reapers (earth) that would have Harbinger boss fight (you go inside and blow him up from within) and would destroy the reapers (red) option. Second is you convince him that his "logic" is wrong (paragon blue option) and reapers shut down. Its still kind of gloomy because you don't know what the future holds. And third you should have that synthesis option no matter how stupid it is but better explained as some sort of altered version that goes in line with dark matter arc that "fixes" reason for harvesting. Whole galaxy going on higher plane of existence blah, blah etc. as "ideal" surrealistic third ending.
 

Q

Augur
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Oct 18, 2006
Messages
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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Torment: Tides of Numenera Divinity: Original Sin 2
I would cut all RPG-stuff. Because it's not RPG anyways so why bother. Make it a shooter with somewhat branching story. Story is good for B-movie as it is, and Bioware can't do better anyway, so it stays.
 

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