OOC Mass Effect 4: The FAQ/OOC/Discussion Thread

Welcome to the discussion thread for both the Mass Effect Red Thread, and the Mass Effect Blue Thread. Feel free to chat, talk, speculate, or even ask questions about the game here...

Making ME4 Characters: A Lite Codex...​

Whether you're new to the whole franchise of Mass Effect or you've played Mass Effect 3, there have been some changes in galaxy in the ten years up to 2196 (which is the year the game begins). Many of these changes are listed below, but if you're entirely new to Mass Effect as a whole, please, ask. The Mass Effect Wikia is very extensive on the subject in any event. For those coming to this game from Mass Effect 3, it incorporates all single-player DLC content (so, obviously, From Ashes, Leviathan, and Omega all took place.)

As you'd probably appreciate, the Blue Thread is a universe where Shepard chose to "Control" the Reapers, and the Red Thread is a universe where Shepard chose to "Destroy" the Reapers. From here on they'll be referred to as the Blue and Red Threads, respectively. Needless to say, you are permitted to build a character for both potential timelines, though obviously your character is very likely to differ between the two futures if only because of the divergence of events.

Speaking of that, here's some useful advice for building your characters' pasts...

The state of the Galaxy in the Blue Thread:​

Spoiler

• Reaper (now “Guardian”) vessels patrol regularly through most civilised systems and are just as powerful and deadly as their previous incarnations.
• All mass relays are repaired and functional.
• Roughly 80% of all colony damage repaired across Council space, and 50% across Terminus space repaired.
• Krogan populations are rebuilding at a significant pace centred on Tuchanka; a charismatic Krogan named Urdnot Wrex leads them. General rumour is that the genophage has been cured.
• Quarians and Geth are rebuilding their civilisation on Rannoch in harmony. Geth mainly hold the Perseus Veil, though there’s apparent harmony between the two.
• No sign of Rachni presence.
• The Citadel has returned to its origin point in the Serpent Nebula.
• Council is expanded and consists of Turians, Salarians, Asari, Humans, and a Guardian representative.
• Terminus Systems are still hostile to Council space, with governmental representatives crystallising around Omega. Guardians are imposing an unsteady peace along the frontier.
• Cerberus is an unknown quantity.
• Technology is more or less at the same state as at the time of the Mass Effect series, mainly because the Guardians have declined serious upgrades to galactic technology on the rationale that the galaxy is not ready for it yet.
• The status of factions and colonies unless as set out above is basically as it was before the events of Mass Effect 3. You’ll still find turians on Palaven, and asari on Illium.

The state of the galaxy in the Red Thread:​

Spoiler

• Reaper corpses can be found across the galaxy, in space and on worlds. Their vast numbers mean not all of them have been stripped of their technology. It is unclear at this point whether Reaper shells can still cause indoctrination.
• Most mass relays functioning at least intermittently; some small probability of malfunction in a mass relay jump remains, which can generally be detected ahead of jump.
• About 50% of damage to colonies repaired in Council space, and about 30% of colonies rebuilt in the Terminus systems.
• Krogan populations are dwindling, both from high sterility rates and from clan warfare. A Krogan named Urdnot Wreav leads them after the murder of his brother, Urdnot Wrex, on the Citadel in 2186, and has sworn vengeance on the Salarians for the “sabotaged cure.”
• Geth have been wiped out, as have all complex AIs in the order of machine intelligences like EDI. Some less complex AIs (like VIs, for example) have survived; synthetic life was consumed.
• Quarians have recovered their homeworld and are now exploring in the Perseus Veil.
• No sign of the Rachni.
• Cerberus is an unknown quantity.
• The Citadel remains in Earth orbit, not fully repaired as yet.
• The Council includes Turian, Salarian, Asari, and Human members.
• Terminus Systems are very hostile to the Council, though the governments are still disparate and even more independent than they once were. Council authority is decreased along the frontier, and the Terminus has taken ground in the interim.
• Technology is more or less at the same state as at the time of the Mass Effect series, mainly because reverse-engineering Reaper technology is see as ill-fated or bad luck – not to mention extremely hard given the destruction the pulse sent through each and every Reaper in the galaxy.
• The status of factions and colonies unless as set out above is basically as it was before the events of Mass Effect 3. You’ll still find turians on Palaven, and asari on Illium.

For people importing characters from previous Mass Effect RPGs on the RPF​

Spoiler

• Ashen is considered canonical, but events on the mining colony were hushed up by the Council and in the midst of fighting the war against the Reapers the details of the incident have been lost.
• In bringing your character back, remember there’s a ten year gap between the events of Ashen and the events of this game.

If you'd like clarification on any of these items (within limits) then by all means post it up here. Some information -- such as specifics of what happened to certain ME2 or ME3 characters -- may not be available here, or some information might not be known to your character at all.

 

Man. I played all three games (the first two many times) and am a big fan of the series, and still feel somewhat lost reading those SotG's. I couldn't tell you the difference between Council space and Terminus space. I played the games because I loved the characters. Always found the overarching plot a little weak so I never invested much into it.

Soooo, as long as my character doesn't have to answer any galactic trivia during the game, I figure I should be okay right?

 

Then play it because you like the characters. You can get as invested in it as you wish.

EDIT: I'm no Mass Effect archivist myself, so don't expect slavish compliance with the trivia or indeed anything outside the three games themselves (and indeed maybe not even then.)

 

Dude wasn't a big fan of control in the actual game, but the opening post is really thought-provoking. I might have to flip a coin, or roll for it...

 

You can do both, y'know!

 

Just read it and I think I have to start thinking about a character. Concerning Ashen: I actually don't think the Galaxy would know a lot about it. Only ONE person seen a Reaper there. And she did not run to Citadel to report in the end of the game ...

 

Once I am back, I´ll make up my mind how Aleena might work in one or both games.

A well kept secret about my former Ashen security officer is actually, that she is a canon character, although one that never appeared in the game.

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Aleena

Don´t know if Draco had plans for that bit, but if so he never played them out.

 

I'm actually interested in this, even though I have no Mass Effect prior knowledge. Saint, you made it interesting.

 

So the question is, can you make an exception for this kind of "canon" char, Saintheart? After all, she did not make any appearances in any games. She just existed in one old story.

 

I could totally see me reprising Cira, although she might be difficult to bringt her into the RED game, as she was infected by reaper technology. But couldn´t she be a wonderful antagonist for Aleena, Claire? Considering what she did to ASHEN?

 

Absofrakinlutely.

 

Now how can I possibly turn down a tagteam like that? Yep -- I've said previous ME RPG characters are welcome, so yes, that can be an exception to the rule. It's not like you're asking to play TIM, anyway.

I corralled these two together because the concern is similar. Two things to say:

(1) If you're not familiar with Mass Effect, I think you can still happily join, because I'm more than happy to hold new people's hands (and I'd hope other players, being aware of your state of knowledge, would be similarly prepared to fill in the background). I'll take all the time needed to make people nice, comfy in their chairs, and with their personal preference of popcorn both as the movie starts and as it plays on. I plan on starting people off at low-ish levels anyway which won't require godlike knowledge of the franchise, similar to the way LSA did in IBOP: you don't start with galaxy-breaking power in your hands, that sort of power and responsibility has to be earned. (Indeed one of ME's storytelling positives is that it, too, makes no assumptions about its audience and introduces people slowly to it.) What I'm saying is: Mass Effect introduced people slowly to its universe, so I'd be following the same course for new people.

(2) If you're looking to play or get into the series, I'd actually recommend playing Mass Effect 2, rather than Mass Effect. Partially that's because the first game is getting on in years (I think it was actually a 2005 release), but partially it's also because the original Mass Effect feels narratively long. ME 2 feels more like a single season of a TV series which can be slowly digested in compact 90-minute blocks or so (which some people credit it with as a major reason for its success as a game) but it's a bright, colourful journey into the franchise -- arguably the best of the three games, just as ESB was the best of the OT.

 

Quick question about the codex lite: Is the planet Kahje still around, and if so, in which thread? I know you're going to say both

 

ME 1 was from '07 actually. And darn it, this is tempting.

 

Kahje does exist in both threads, but with different consequences. In both timelines, it was overrun by the Reapers and therefore has undergone reconstruction in line with all other colony worlds of the galaxy. But in the Blue Thread, its automated defence systems bought enough time for a much larger fraction of both its hanar and drell inhabitants to escape to the Citadel and other locations before it was overwhelmed. In the Red Thread, no such luck: the hanar and drell are much less common in that universe since the Reapers' daisycutting was devastatingly effective against a species that has permanent asthma on its primary world and a species that's a space jellyfish. So in the Red Thread you'll find both hanar and drell much rarer than the Blue Thread (not that this need stop you from making a "rare" drell or hanar at all.)

However, Blasto is canonical, so no, you can't play him.

 

Must...resist...temptation...


















(yes I just set myself up for a Borg or Harbinger joke )

EDIT: In all seriousness though, I love ME 1/2 (not so much numero three) so this is very tempting. Must think on this.

 

One can run and play in a game at the same time, mind-boggling though it may be

 

Which I'm already doing

(Shadow War being the one other than my game)


That being said, I'm leaning more towards joining. I'll decide tomorrow

 

I'm thinking about which color thread a Drell representative of a reclusive Hanar Prothean artifact buyer might fit best into

 

... ah, ****, I have like zero spare time but I'll squeeze in something to play this.

I'm thinking of an human Alliance operative with weird familial ties to the asari government who was sent to hunt down Cerberus remnants. Thoughts, Sainty?

 

Interesting. Yes, I don't have a problem with that - your character will still be low-ish rank, though, in keeping with starting everyone on more or less of an even keel.

And lest anyone be wondering - the Red Thread has as much potential for cloak and dagger, mystery, skullduggery and so forth. It might have the impression it's just going to be an abortive all-out war between the factions or just relates to the Krogan -- it doesn't. It's much bigger than that.

 

Trying to come up with a CS for the Red thread. Would an Asari C-Sec officer fit in there?

 

Eh, it'll probably be Blue for me. I get all twitchy inside when I think of Shepard making suboptimal decisions.

Sending you a PM...