Mass Effect: ANDROMEDA

[Reverend]

^Because the Milky-way was swarming with reapers/about to be swarming with reapers and it seemed likely that they'd "win" and finish off the council races just like they did the (considerably more advanced) Protheans and every other race before them for millions and millions of years.

Sending off a colony ship into dark space where the reapers *might* not bother following them to Andromeda seems like a reasonable contingency, given the options available.

And incidentally: yeah, depending on your choices and readyness rating in ME3, you can get an ending where Earth is destroyed (or at least, sterilized.)

 

[HotRod]

Because if they had the game take place in the Milky Way after the end of Mass Effect 3 they would have to pick an ending and pretty much make it canon. Doing this would in no doubt piss off anyone who picked a different ending to the one made canon. They wrote themselves into a corner and going to another galaxy is really their only way out.

 

[TheGodBen]

Going to Andromeda doesn't completely solve the canon issue unless the exodus took place before Priority: Tuchanka. If they set it after that mission then they'll need to address the outcome of the genophage cure (we know the Krogan will be in the game) and possibly also the Geth/Quarian war. And frankly, I care a hell of a lot more about those choices than the Reaper decision.

 

[Reverend]

^Well if they sent Krogan along with the genophage it'd be pretty pointless as they'd all die off anyway, so the way out of that would be to say they (i.e. the Salarians) gave them the real cure before the ship left, if Shepard didn't actually cure it already.

That still might be the case regardless, if indeed the ship left earlier.

That or they figured out a solution of their own down the line.

 

[-Brett-]

Going to Andromeda doesn't completely solve the canon issue unless the exodus took place before Priority: Tuchanka. If they set it after that mission then they'll need to address the outcome of the genophage cure (we know the Krogan will be in the game) and possibly also the Geth/Quarian war. And frankly, I care a hell of a lot more about those choices than the Reaper decision.

Earth was seen in the N7 day teaser, with no obvious signs of war on or near it. Could imply that the ark ship leaves before ME3 even starts.

Unless they're Halo 5ing it. If so, then all bets are off.

 

[TheGodBen]

^Well if they sent Krogan along with the genophage it'd be pretty pointless as they'd all die off anyway

But the genophage only caused a declining population because of the cultural shift it caused in the Krogan, otherwise it would have kept their population stable. The expedition to Andromeda would have required a new cultural shift and as such the genophage could finally have worked as intended.

Plus, if the Krogan colonists were cured of the genophage then they would quickly overwhelm the other Milky Way species, who probably only number in the tens of thousands. I know that the bleeding heart fanbase () is in favour of the genophage being cured, but it just wouldn't make practical sense in the case of an ark ship.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I know that the bleeding heart fanbase () is in favour of the genophage being cured,

Actually I cured it becuase it was the more pragmatic choice, as even Cerberus thought Krogan shock troops would be useful against the Reapers especially since fighting horrific space monsters was why they were uplifted in the first place.

Plus I just don't see screwing up the alliance for a bunch petty shits like the Salarians who are willing to go behind everyone's backs on this meaning you can't trust them, especially since they decide to sit the war to save the galaxy from extinction out if you don't kiss their asses.

Also the idiots were trying to uplift an even more dangerous species behind everyone's backs so they would probably do something stupid, especially since the last two major wars happened becuase they did questionable things.

 

[Reverend]

^Well if they sent Krogan along with the genophage it'd be pretty pointless as they'd all die off anyway

But the genophage only caused a declining population because of the cultural shift it caused in the Krogan, otherwise it would have kept their population stable. The expedition to Andromeda would have required a new cultural shift and as such the genophage could finally have worked as intended.

Plus, if the Krogan colonists were cured of the genophage then they would quickly overwhelm the other Milky Way species, who probably only number in the tens of thousands. I know that the bleeding heart fanbase () is in favour of the genophage being cured, but it just wouldn't make practical sense in the case of an ark ship.

No, the genophage caused actual stillbirths and infertility. The social and cultural side effects (increased infighting over meagre resources, diaspora and hopelessness) are just that: side effects.
The actual disease was designed and calibrated to keep their population at a certain level, presumably numbering in the billions down from tens or hundreds of billions (I'm guessing, I don't think they ever got into specific numbers) at the height of the Krogan rebellions.

Apply that same disease to a *much* smaller population in the thousands or at most tens of thousands you might expect for even a large colony ship and it's just not sustainable. You destabilise the formula and the population shrinks faster than it can grow and you have extinction within a generation or two, social changes or not.

Of course the alternative option besides the genophage being cured is that all Andromeda Krogan are tank-bred like Grunt, but sterile. Which then leads to whole other issues of who controls the tanks and to what ends. I'm sure there are Salarians who'd prefer the Krogan be reduced to the level of biologically enslaved attack dogs.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I know that the bleeding heart fanbase () is in favour of the genophage being cured,

Actually I cured it becuase it was the more pragmatic choice, as even Cerberus thought Krogan shock troops would be useful against the Reapers especially since fighting horrific space monsters was why they were uplifted in the first place.

Plus I just don't see screwing up the alliance for a bunch petty shits like the Salarians who are willing to go behind everyone's backs on this meaning you can't trust them, especially since they decide to sit the war to save the galaxy from extinction out if you don't kiss their asses.

Also the idiots were trying to uplift an even more dangerous species behind everyone's backs so they would probably do something stupid, especially since the last two major wars happened becuase they did questionable things.

Which species was that?


One of the most annoying characters in ME 3 for me was Aria.. I wish there was a kill option for her as she was insufferable.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I know that the bleeding heart fanbase () is in favour of the genophage being cured,

Actually I cured it becuase it was the more pragmatic choice, as even Cerberus thought Krogan shock troops would be useful against the Reapers especially since fighting horrific space monsters was why they were uplifted in the first place.

Plus I just don't see screwing up the alliance for a bunch petty shits like the Salarians who are willing to go behind everyone's backs on this meaning you can't trust them, especially since they decide to sit the war to save the galaxy from extinction out if you don't kiss their asses.

Also the idiots were trying to uplift an even more dangerous species behind everyone's backs so they would probably do something stupid, especially since the last two major wars happened becuase they did questionable things.

Which species was that?

The Yahg aka the species of the previous Shadow Broker aka the huge dude from Lair of the Shadow Broker that was able to toss people around like rag dolls and smart enough to take over an entire galaxy spanning intelligence network without anyone noticing.

Besides regardless of the horribly idiotic idea of giving those guys advanced technology and likely space flight capability, would you really want to trust the guys who are at least slightly responsible for BOTH of the previous major galactic wars, the second of which was a result of their plan to win the first one.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Actually I cured it becuase it was the more pragmatic choice, as even Cerberus thought Krogan shock troops would be useful against the Reapers especially since fighting horrific space monsters was why they were uplifted in the first place.

Plus I just don't see screwing up the alliance for a bunch petty shits like the Salarians who are willing to go behind everyone's backs on this meaning you can't trust them, especially since they decide to sit the war to save the galaxy from extinction out if you don't kiss their asses.

Also the idiots were trying to uplift an even more dangerous species behind everyone's backs so they would probably do something stupid, especially since the last two major wars happened becuase they did questionable things.

Which species was that?

The Yahg aka the species of the previous Shadow Broker aka the huge dude from Lair of the Shadow Broker that was able to toss people around like rag dolls and smart enough to take over an entire galaxy spanning intelligence network without anyone noticing.

Besides regardless of the horribly idiotic idea of giving those guys advanced technology and likely space flight capability, would you really want to trust the guys who are at least slightly responsible for BOTH of the previous major galactic wars, the second of which was a result of their plan to win the first one.

The Salarians were douchebags, except for Mordin

 

[Jeyl]

Which species was that?

The Yahg aka the species of the previous Shadow Broker aka the huge dude from Lair of the Shadow Broker that was able to toss people around like rag dolls and smart enough to take over an entire galaxy spanning intelligence network without anyone noticing.

Besides regardless of the horribly idiotic idea of giving those guys advanced technology and likely space flight capability, would you really want to trust the guys who are at least slightly responsible for BOTH of the previous major galactic wars, the second of which was a result of their plan to win the first one.

The Salarians were douchebags, except for Mordin

Whoa. Don't be bad talking Captain Kirrahe. He was way more likable than Mordin.

 

[TheGodBen]

Apply that same disease to a *much* smaller population in the thousands or at most tens of thousands you might expect for even a large colony ship and it's just not sustainable. You destabilise the formula and the population shrinks faster than it can grow and you have extinction within a generation or two, social changes or not.

That's a good point and one I hadn't considered. The genophage may not work at such low population levels, especially considering the lack of genetic diversity that would be offered by the small number of fertile Krogan females. It will be interesting to see how Bioware will handle the genophage. They could have avoided it completely by not including Krogan in the colonisation of Andromeda, and given how the other races feel about them that would have been perfectly believable. But it seems like they have decided to include them, so they'll have to come up with some answer to that question.

Also the idiots were trying to uplift an even more dangerous species behind everyone's backs so they would probably do something stupid, especially since the last two major wars happened becuase they did questionable things.

The Salarians are hardly unique in their level of dickery, though. The Asari kept the Prothean artefact on Thessia a secret so they could maintain their dominant position in the galaxy. The Turians were willing to fight a full-scale war against humanity for breaking a law we didn't know about. The Krogan are, well, Krogan. The Quarians chose to attack the Geth while the rest of the galaxy were occupied by the Reapers. The Geth sided with the Reapers to stop the Quarians. Humanity has Cerberus, of course. Even the superior Protheans turned out to be imperialists.

I guess the Elcor are pretty chill.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Apply that same disease to a *much* smaller population in the thousands or at most tens of thousands you might expect for even a large colony ship and it's just not sustainable. You destabilise the formula and the population shrinks faster than it can grow and you have extinction within a generation or two, social changes or not.

That's a good point and one I hadn't considered. The genophage may not work at such low population levels, especially considering the lack of genetic diversity that would be offered by the small number of fertile Krogan females. It will be interesting to see how Bioware will handle the genophage. They could have avoided it completely by not including Krogan in the colonisation of Andromeda, and given how the other races feel about them that would have been perfectly believable. But it seems like they have decided to include them, so they'll have to come up with some answer to that question.

Also the idiots were trying to uplift an even more dangerous species behind everyone's backs so they would probably do something stupid, especially since the last two major wars happened becuase they did questionable things.

The Salarians are hardly unique in their level of dickery, though. The Asari kept the Prothean artefact on Thessia a secret so they could maintain their dominant position in the galaxy. The Turians were willing to fight a full-scale war against humanity for breaking a law we didn't know about. The Krogan are, well, Krogan. The Quarians chose to attack the Geth while the rest of the galaxy were occupied by the Reapers. The Geth sided with the Reapers to stop the Quarians. Humanity has Cerberus, of course. Even the superior Protheans turned out to be imperialists.

I guess the Elcor are pretty chill.

Also that the Quarians created the Geth as a slave race and got all uppity when they realized they wanted to their own lives and be themselves..

 

[Reverend]

^ To be fair, they didn't create them as a slave race, they created them as non-sentient robots with a wireless networked processing functionality. Early on most refused to acknowledge their sentience, instead believing they were just malfunctioning VI's, by the time that opinion swung it was largely academic.

As for the Krogan thing, I'm pretty sure having them all be tankbred may be the easiest for them to not have to deal with the Genophage. One way or another, that story is done.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Well that's the impression I got, Quarians create Geth, Geth rebel, they think genocide is a viable option.

 

[Reverend]

^It's nowhere near as simple as that, as was clearly spelled out in ME3.

Keep in mind that from the perspective of most Quarians, the Geth were household appliances. No more a slaves to them than your smartphone is to you. They were tools.

So if your phone were to start asking existential questions and refusing to perform it's function, you'd naturally assume it was some software bug and have it patched or reformatted. Of course, if it had arms, legs and the ability to grab weaponry, grabbing a mallet and smashing the thing into bits may be a slightly more necessary step.

 

[SPCTRE]

Whoa. Don't be bad talking Captain Kirrahe. He was way more likable than Mordin.

I hear Captains Kirrahe and Robau are drinking buddies.

 

[BillJ]

Just finished the first Mass Effect again on the Xbox One. Definitely can't wait for Andromeda.

 

[TheGodBen]

I finished a whole trilogy play-through at the weekend, my first time playing ME1&2 since the release of 3. It was my fifth run through the series, so I focused on edge case scenarios I hadn't seen before, the main goal being the survival of Mordin. For him to survive, Wrex and Eve must be dead, a scenario I had only managed with my full renegade Shepard, but Mordin died during the suicide mission in that timeline. It was nice to finally save him, I got to say goodbye to him on Earth, and you even get a slide of him in the extended ending. I feel that saving him this time exonerates me for shooting him in the back on my first play-through.

I also banged Kelly, Allers, and Traynor in the same game. Oh yeah.

So I'm ready for Andromeda now.