Here's the thing, Chris... you can call it "trivial" or "seemingly minor" or whatever, but things like this are a personal matter. To me I got into Mass Effect originally because it was an experience more than a game and because it was a well thought out, tight, sci-fi universe I could really sink my teeth into. Mass Effect wasn't strictly hard science, but it was at least consistent and believable in its own right. It set rules and adhered to them for the most part.
To me, a lot of the changes such as breathing masks and exposed outfits with no real protection turned the entire thing into a farce just for the sake of being more akin to a Michael Bay action movie than classic sci-fi, or at least that's how it came across. As I said in the original topic, you have one of the most major plot points as the protagonist being spaced and killed and try to make a big deal of it, even on an emotional level sometimes, but the rest of the game constantly trivialises it all by having characters wearing stupid outfits with only a breathing mask to protect them from the dangers of space... the very factors that got Shepard killed in the first place. You have chlorine gas atmosphere worlds, worlds of varying temperatures, pressures and toxins to visit and The Migrant Fleet, a place that in Ascension was clearly illustrated that contamination was a major concern when the book's protagonists visited yet Jack or Samara can go in with exposed skin and just a breathing mask.
It quite frankly turned the whole thing into a farce, and it wasn't even for a gameplay reason. The Thermal Clips annoyed me so much because of the various logic errors, but at least they had a gameplay reason behind them. There was no reason related to gameplay at all with regards to the silly, impractical garb much of the crew were in in ME2. And when I'm playing something and getting into a universe to lose myself in it and when immersion is so key to that, it's pathetic, annoying and very much a major factor to me to see the entire universe being made a complete farce for the sake of aethetics that for the most part seem to only have juvenile reasonings behind them (i.e. to simply sexify and make the series more "teh badassorz!"). It just pulls me out of the game, makes it impossible to take the Mass Effect setting seriously any more and ruins my enjoyment entirely. I was often limited to using the likes of Garrus, Tali and/or Legion simply because using everybody else just annoyed me and made me want to quit the game and stop playing.
To be honest, I just expected better of BioWare from the start. After ME1 I didn't expect them to make such an aethetic choice that is, IMO, juvenile and thoughtless. I didn't expect them to craft such a wonderful, intricate and believable universe one moment, only to throw it down the toilet with such a poor design choice that appears to have no practical thought behind it, doesn't improve gameplay or even impact it at all and only seems to have come about to shift the direction of Mass Effect to a more bombastic, sexified, badass, etc. form that tries to hard to adhere to the "rule of cool" and puts style ahead of substance. And quite frankly your response in the earlier thread just seemed to confirm my fears about BioWare and the Mass Effect team no longer caring about the integrity, consistency and logic of their creation if they can just aim it to appeal to the masses of violence-loving, horny teenagers out there.
The thing is, that is exactly how decisions like the impractical outfits with breathing masks in ME2 and responses like yours put across to me. You and others may be sick of the fact that lately I seem so down on your company, your games, your direction and even the team(s) themselves, but it's coming from the fact that so many of the things you guys do and say lately is giving me this impression. If you don't want me to keep saying that I feel you're betraying me as an old fan, that the direction I feel you're taking Mass Effect in is bad and that you're trying too hard at appealing more to the mainstream and newcomers with pandering and bad design decisions than you are the fans who came in on the ground floor, etc., then stop constantly making comments, decisions and products that make me feel this way. Stop acting like you feel style is more important than substance and stop acting like you're pandering to the mainstream and I'll stop accusing you of it.
To bring it back on-topic, the fact is, you can say that there are practical reasons for the choices all you like, but how am I supposed to really believe that and take that on good faith with nothing to back it up? Everything points to it being a silly aethetic choice. That's all it was in ME2. Despite complaints about it from the fans, it was still an issue when LotSB came out with Liara. It was still an issue after the Miranda armour came based on fan feedback and she still had a silly breathing mask, illustrating that the point was largely missed as to why a proper outfit for her was even called for. And, more recently, you just told me to "deal with it" and that breather masks are coming back for no practical, tangible or logical reason beyond "we like them." Breather masks as an acceptable solution to combat the dangers of space should not only be an option for ME3, they should never have been an issue in the first place with ME2.
So, how am I as a fan dangerously close to being a former fan, supposed to believe that BioWare and the ME team even understand when there's really been no clear evidence that they do?
