… if the company is in the habit of listening to unsolicited advice from fans.


1. Don’t throw our choices in our face.



A typical conversation in Mass Effect 2 with a previously known character went something like this:

Person: Oh, hello . Do you remember when we met and you said and did this and I said and did that?

Shepard: Yes, I do and now because of this you are doing what you are currently doing as a direct result of what I did and/or made you do.

Person: Yes and isn’t it strange that we happen to meet again in a completely different place?

Shepard: Not at all. I would have been very annoyed had what I did or said at a previous time not been followed up at a later date, so I could see the consequences of my own choices.

Person: Good to know. Well I have nothing more to say but I will continue to stand here.

I think subtlety would be much better when dealing with the smaller choices players make. I don’t even think every choice players make has to be present. While it was entertaining to have another shot at the reporter and Conrad Verner, it was unnecessary to have any character we did anything to show up somewhere in Mass Effect 2.

Big decisions should obviously have a bigger impact but smaller ones aren’t so important as people may think and have very little relation to the main story.



2. Don’t suffer from tieupeverythingitis or Jedi Fever.



The Matrix famously caught this in its first sequel. The trend for trilogies in movies is becoming more common in games. This is happening for a number of reasons. One major one is the obvious profit margins studios can expect from sequels to successful franchises which do tend to trend downward by the third release. The other major reason is many in the entertainment business would love to make their own Star Wars.

The better and perhaps original example is Return of the Jedi which while great, tried too hard to fit everything in, including three major events happening simultaneously in the final act. Mass Effect 3 need not try to close up everything that’s happened before. The story need only focus on the battle between Shepard and the Reapers. There are also the romances and more to discover about the Illusive Man but the main story should take precedence and trying to wrap everything up could hurt it overall.



3. Try to take the best from the prequels and favour refinement over removal.



Something that annoyed many about Mass Effect 2 was the way it ripped out entire parts of the original rather than fixing the shortcomings. The main examples being the weapon and inventory system and the open world exploration. While Mass Effect 2 had a more focused story, this was not unreasonably considered overkill by many including myself. I hope BioWare can find an easy compromise in Mass Effect 3 while still being its own game.



4. The number of turret sections in the game should be kept to single digits.



Preferably between one and three. I f you have watched some of the previews for the game; you may have noticed a turret section. I quite often like turret sections but they shouldn’t be a common feature in almost any game. They are at best a way to add a little variety to gameplay. A good way of implementing them would be for space battles (e.g. Normandy is attacked by a Reaper). But I and I am sure many more, do not want their character to spend too much time behind a turret.



5. No multiplayer.



I am not at all against multiplayer and I think it would work great in the Mass Effect universe. However the series thus far has been a single player experience and having multiplayer brought in at the end can only divert resources away from what most people want. I would argue part of Mass Effect’s success is based on its unapologetic focus on a single player experience. Multiplayer would be great but leave it for a dedicated game so it can be done properly.


Of course I will be buying it anyway.