Former BioWare writer Chris L'Etoile said that turian lifespans are not particularly longer or shorter than human lifespans. Tali was 22 in ME1 and was only just completing her rite of passage into adulthood, though she could have waited longer to go on her Pilgrimage than the average quarian. In-game dialogue also makes it seem as though a good number of generations have come and gone since the geth overthrew the quarians three hundred years earlier. So all of that leads me to believe quarian lifespans are similar to human and turian lifespans.
So, if Turians and Quarians have approximately human lifespans, then buy moving the universe forward, say... 400 years, you're realistically only going to have Grunt and Liara kicking around from Shepards team. We know Wrex is already an old Krogan, so going forward that much, he should be gone (not to mention I imagine Krogan clan leaders" have about the same life expectancies as Klingon chancellors, so it's safe to say he won't be around for too damn long...). Team that with Liara's new job from the DLC... I won't spoil it for the two people who haven't played it yet... she probably won't be playable in future sequels, but obviously could have an effect on the universe. That basically leaves Grunt, and I'm OK with that. I would say Legion, but since even he admits he is not an individual... I'm just going to let that drop. As far as incorporating the data from ME3... as others have said, I imagine that all roads in ME3 lead to the Reapers being defeated. I'm guessing it will just be in the details as to HOW that happens, which could lead to some slight differences in how the universe starts off in an ME4... but ultimately they could just write whatever they want so things more or less start the way they want it to. For example, we all know SOMETHING is going to happen between the Geth and the Quarians in ME3. Say Shepard convinces them to work together, and in the "happy" ending the Quarians get their world back. Now, if ME4's plot requires that the Geth still hold the world, then all they have to do is say something like Quarians died in large numbers, their immune systems just could not re-adjust, and so they willingly chose to go back to the flotilla, or just died off, or whatever they want to say. I think that they are going to want to start relatively fresh in ME4, so that the only changes are going to come in backstory, maybe a few different characters in different places, etc. not multiple drastically different starting galaxies. All that said, I wouldn't mind if they did a prequel side game or two before jumping into a new epic ME4. A Gears of War-esqe shooter set in the Turian War would make a fun little diversion. I also think I would enjoy a RTS set during the Rachni War. Since we know the Krogan and the Rachni both have (well, had...) very high reproduction rates, i think that could very well lend itself to that genre. Just my silly thoughts.
So it seems we all either want a prequel dealing with the Turian "war", a Firefly-esque sequel set shortly after the events of ME3, or a new story set hundreds of years after the events of the original trilogy. I'm still lending my support for the Firefly like story, and not just because I am a fan of the franchise, but because I think it's gives the most potential for interesting stories. Why jump ahead so many years when the universe that we have seen so far as been explored so little? Why not continue to explore what we have right now? But again, that is just my opinion.But come on, who would not want to play as the Han Solo or Mal Reynolds of the Mass Effect Universe? Would it not be fun to turn a busted up old bucket of bolts of a ship into a lean, mean freighter, run by a rag tag bunch of aliens from across the galaxy, all with different stories to tell? And just imagine the Systems Alliance being the cops and your on the run. I'd rather see the other side Mass Effect, the side we have ony seen bits and peices of. I want to feel at home on Omega!
^With that premise I could easily see some you getting upgradeable ship which you have pretty much complete freedom to change yourself, and possibly some minigames or side quests revolved around keeping the ship running.
Yeah! The game pretty much writes itself! I'm just be curious as to the design of the ship we would get, were this idea to come to fruition. Seeing as pretty much the only freighter we have seen in the games so far are those ugly Earth ones. I would certainly hope for something with a little more...character.
After saving the galaxy from the Reapers, any follow up would pretty much inevitably lose some epicness. A Firefly-like perspective would be a decent way around that. The new characters can try saving the world after we've grown attached to them in a story where they only save their own skins/scales/whatever.
After a little bit of searching, i've come across this image of an "unused" design that I think would be perfect for the Firefly-esque story idea. It's looks to be the perfect size and all it needs is a little roughing up around the edges and it would be perfect for a Earth built light cargo ship.
^That's not unused. I think it's one of the models in Shep's quarters and it crops up full sized in Grunt's loyalty mission.
Yeah, I should have said "mostly unused". But yeah, I'm aware it was seen in both Grunt and Kasumi's loyalty missions, but it was still only really seen in the backround. As for the model in Shepard's cabin, it seems to be some kinda mistake as it is supposed to be the shuttle. Still, I think it would work perfect for a small transport of some kind. It is obviously not an Earth heavy cruiser as it was originally designed to be. For one, it's too damn small. The Earth cruiser's we have seen so far dwarf the Normandy, whereas this design seems somewhat smaller then the SR1. I still say, rough it up a bit, give it a different paint job, slap a big ol' cargo door on the front of it, and you got yourself a Serenity for the Mass Effect universe. Figuratively speaking of course.
Not a game, but it looks like another Mass Effect novel is going to be released following on from the story set out in the previous novels.
Can't say I've got around to reading those. Though I have been meaning to pick them up. They any good?
IIRC, this new one is written by a different author than the previous three, so there's no guarantee it'll be of the same quality--for better or for worse.
Is it written by Mac Walters (lead writer of ME2) instead of Drew Karpyshyn (lead writer of ME1)? Crap.
No, it's written by William C. Dietz. A quick google turns up quite a few sci-fi novels I've never heard of--not that I'm much of an educated judge of what's notable outside the 'greats'--plus a handful of books for licensed IPs including Star Wars and Halo. Never read any of them myself so I have no idea if he's any good.
Oh yeah! I forgot Dietz was writing this one. The only writing of his that I've read was the first half of Halo: The Flood, which I got bored of because it was just a novelization of the first Halo game. So I can't really say if he's good or not.
Not sure if this was mentioned, they are going to do an animated Mass Effect film. Announcement here, not much info yet on what it will be about though. They are also doing a Dragon Age anime, which at this point is due later this year.
Not sure how I feel about this......can't really say I'm a fan of anime. I would have hoped, being a "western" rpg, that maybe this could have been done in a more...traditional animation syle. But that's just me. One way or another I'll see it.