ME:A - Original Games Choices Don't Matter

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PCGamesN reported on a chat the Bioware bosses had with Eurogamer which confirmed that the original series choices won't effect events in Mass Effect: Andromeda.

It doesn't matter which colour-coded ending you picked when you were chatting to the ghost kid at the end of Mass Effect 3, as your ending choice won't carry across to Mass Effect: Andromeda. It is in an entirely new galaxy, after all.

Eurogamer had a chat to BioWare studio boss Aaryon Flynn and Mass Effect creative Mac Walters, both of whom confirmed that they wanted Andromeda to stand apart from the original trilogy.

"We acknowledged [your final decision] in the endings of Mass Effect 3 and I think that's where we want to leave it for now," Flynn said. "We want this to be a new story and it would be very hard to say it's a new story but also that you need to understand how [the past trilogy] ended."

Since Andromeda's setting removed from the Milky-Way by considerable distance - and presumably time, with the woman protagonist shown in the E3 trailer awaking from cryo-sleep - it frees the writers up to leave Shepard's story behind.
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[...]

"We've done it in such a way that allows all of those decisions you made to remain intact in the canon of the universe, but also allows a new story to begin," Flynn added.

It does sound like there will be some nods to the original trilogy, however. I just hope BioWare keeps them subtle, instead of veering into fan service that makes little sense.

"It's important for us to have elements from the Trilogy for fans to have in the background," Walters explained. "Ultimately this is intended to be a fresh story, but we want to have things for people to find and go 'oh, I remember that character'.
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More information.
 
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Which was a shame because they set up major decision in 1 and 2 that could have significantly impacted 3 and then totally ignored the earlier decisions. Wimps.
 
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Now this is getting me angry.

How can they even claim that after the horrible mess of an ending ME3 had that anything mattered. It basically invalidated everything you did throughout the entire series - which is why so many people hated it, not because
Shepard (most likely) dies
.
 
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That spoiler won't happen if you pay with realworld $.
Which bring us to what JDR said. All that mattered was $.

About ME4, all we know is that Mako returns, modified Frostbite, new protagonist last name, no Normandy but Tempest, a few different species from our galaxy went Andromeda... And nothing else.
The game is supposed to be released in less than a year but apart from cheap and cat-lap E3 trailer there is absolutely nothing.

Why would they make a short story about protagonist with ingame scenes or launch teaser sites that enrich game lore (DX:MD)? Why would they make a separate not-in-game trailer sidestory (TW3)? If it's all too expensive for the poor company, why would they go visit Angry Joe and play the upcoming game for a while with him (D:OS2)?

Why am I even asking all that. It's EA.
 
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TheSHEEEP said:
Now this is getting me angry.

How can they even claim that after the horrible mess of an ending ME3 had that anything mattered. It basically invalidated everything you did throughout the entire series - which is why so many people hated it, not because
Shepard (most likely) dies
.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter because ME:A isn't happening during the ME trilogy. The ships bringing colonist to Andromeda leave before ME3 (going by the gears and equipment shown so far, between ME1 and ME2 or even pre-ME1 is a good guess) and arrive in Andromeda centuries later (devs said 400 and 600 years aren't bad guesses).
 
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Indeed, it could be a clever way to get away from just about anything in the Milky Way. It's quite an interesting concept, as the amount of people from the known races has to be limited, and can't actually increase. So do we meet other, sentient races? In which case, won't they dominate the setting completely?

Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.
 
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azarhal said:
It doesn't matter because ME:A isn't happening during the ME trilogy. The ships bringing colonist to Andromeda leave before ME3 (going by the gears and equipment shown so far, between ME1 and ME2 or even pre-ME1 is a good guess) and arrive in Andromeda centuries later (devs said 400 and 600 years aren't bad guesses).
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I probably worded that poorly.

I was talking about their claim that choices in the Mass Effect series so far mattered in the end.

Their claim about ME4 not being connected seems legit (and is a good idea, really).
 
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The discussion about how the ME3 endings will have no impact whatsoever on ME4 just goes to emphasize the idiotic nature of the ME3 endings. Those endings created an incredible uproar with the loyal ME fan base who felt misled and betrayed. Sales of ME3 plummeted as a result. The previously thriving and growing Mass Effect fan base was essentially wiped out.

BioWare claimed to have good reasons for their endings, even though the endings seemed to have been pulled out of thin air; had no support in the ME3 story; and indeed, actually seemed to contradict expectations established in the ME3 story and in the ME series as a whole.

And now we find out that there actually was no reason for the endings. Bioware just needed an ending, any ending. No one cared what ending or how the ending impacted the loyal fan base. Maybe the developers intentionally wanted to anger the loyal fan base for some reason. Who knows?

Mission accomplished. Trilogy ended. Fan base dissolved.

Brilliant.

__
 
Eh, so do we get to colonize another universe in ME VII? :p
But reboot may not be such a bad thing... ME was slipping away from what made it special the further it went and larger than life story/hero ended up putting way too little emphasis on world/lore...combined parts from different sci fi sources that somehow worked and resulted in something unique and interesting on it's own.
This and senseless changing of writing team is what also ruined the main plot, ironically.
 
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BoboTheMighty said:
Eh, so do we get to colonize another universe in ME VII? :p
But reboot may not be such a bad thing… ME was slipping away from what made it special the further it went and larger than life story/hero ended up putting way too little emphasis on world/lore…combined parts from different sci fi sources that somehow worked and resulted in something unique and interesting on it's own.
This and senseless changing of writing team is what also ruined the main plot, ironically.
Click to expand...

Well, there are lots of galaxies in the universe. So maybe you've uncovered the backup plan. BioWare tries to establish a to-be written story, and to-be written characters with the next few ME chapters. Make sure to have lots of fighting and exploration. In the event of no good story and/or great characters emerging over the next several releases; then…

Another ship was sent to another galaxy at the same time the MEA ship was sent out from the Milky Way galaxy. Another chance for humanity, and for Bioware…

In case of non-stellar success in that galaxy… repeat.

__
 
My guess is their 'good reason' had to do with either $$ or release schedule.

RPGFool said:
BioWare claimed to have good reasons for their endings, even though the endings seemed to have been pulled out of thin air; had no support in the ME3 story; and indeed, actually seemed to contradict expectations established in the ME3 story and in the ME series as a whole.



__
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Ahh… The "wake up in a jail cell c̶r̶y̶o̶s̶l̶e̶e̶p̶ with amnesia f̶a̶r̶ ̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶u̶n̶i̶v̶e̶r̶s̶e̶" story.

Truly original.

Naw, I spose it works, just upset that they can't write their way out of the disaster they created with the ending of the trilogy. It sure would have been nice see some of the old characters in cameos…
 
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I am here to end the debate once and for all: ME3's ending didn't happen. Just like Jar Jar Binks never happened. And Matrix 2 & 3 didn't happen. Some things are so atrocious that the only solution is complete expunging from history.
 
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Brumbek said:
I am here to end the debate once and for all: ME3's ending didn't happen. Just like Jar Jar Binks never happened. And Matrix 2 & 3 didn't happen. Some things are so atrocious that the only solution is complete expunging from history.
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Hey, The Matrix 2 wasn't that bad. :)
 
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Well, a lot of alchohol helps to erase memory of it. But then it all comes back the next morning. So it's time to get drunk again! :p
 
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ChaosTheory said:
Naw, I spose it works, just upset that they can't write their way out of the disaster they created with the ending of the trilogy. It sure would have been nice see some of the old characters in cameos…
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Unless they retconned ME3 all the way, there isn't much they can do with it. Just to avoid talking about the Reapers and planets reconstruction they would have to set it far into the futures removing cameos unless your name is Liara and that doesn't deal with the Synthetic ending.

I expect cameos from lesser characters in ME1 though. Some people started a thread on the BSN about who is a good candidate for that and turns out the majority of Noveria NPCs can't die and aren't mentioned in the sequels outside of Gianna Parasini.

Who wants to go to Andromeda for Binary Helix, Elanus Risk Control Services and Synthetic Insight?
 
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Is it a prequel, a sequel or a sidequel?

That is a hotted question.
 
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