Mass Effect Mass Effect Series

[Captain X]

So I'm not going to be serious about this anytime soon, but for giggles and grins I feel like discussing it.

If I were to adapt Mass Effect to screen, I'd probably do a series. Being an anime fan, I'd of course love to make it animated, but that wouldn't be a definite - it would depend mostly on production costs, given the diversity in set locations, aliens, and special effects requirements.

In any case, the overarching plot would be more or less the same for the first game, with all the little side missions being like sub-plots or stand-alone episodes. But for the rest of the series, I'd take a real divergence from the games because I wouldn't do any of the stuff with the collectors, and I'd come up with a different ending that would be based more on the success Shepard has with getting all the aliens in the galaxy to work together.

I have to admit, though, that at least at this point, I have no real idea what my alternative overarching plot would be for either the second or third chapters, beyond that there'd have to be some investigation of the Reapers still being a threat, with Shepard perhaps meeting official resistance because they're satisfied that the threat has been averted. Maybe Earth could be on her side (I'd totally do a femshep as the MC), but the others would be against her? I might even have the SR-1 destroyed, but I wouldn't kill Shepard only to resurrect her later - that was all going toward an in-universe reboot I wouldn't have. I also might keep at least similar versions of characters and sub-plots, but that would be about it.

So I guess the up-shot is I'm curious what other people would do or like to see in lieu of the Collector and Catalyst plots.

 

[UltimatePaladin]

So, generally adapting the first game faithfully, doing something different in place of the two other games? Just trying to make sure I understand you.

 

[Captain X]

Yes, that's right.

 

[Mimas]

There was that 2 year period between ME and ME2.

I know that Shepherd was dead for most of it, but there was a month right after the events of ME where Shepherd hadn't been killed by the collectors yet.

You could have them starting out intent on stopping the reapers, but the series could quickly come to the question of how does one prepare for extra-galactic mecha-cthulu invasion? Especially when the council is keeping a wrap on it? So then Shepherd could have 2-3 hilariously full weeks of handling pirates, tracking down Cerberus, and other SPECTRE duties.

And then they die.

And you could start the next season with ME2.

 

[Captain X]

I would never do the Shepard dying thing - that was a reset button.

 

[UltimatePaladin]

Okay.

So the Reapers should still be the overarching plotline. The issue is trying to find interesting things for Shepard and Co. to do in the meanwhile.

The first "chapter" is pretty easy. Faithful recreation of the first game, with a few adjustments made to account for the medium transfer. Narratively, it's purpose is to introduce the space opera setting, some of the issues that the various civilizations and species face, and the overarching threat in the form of the Reapers, coming to destroy everything.

The second chapter, then, should focus on Shepard's efforts to prepare the galaxy for the Reaper's attack. Whereas the first chapter was more about the Reapers (with the inter-species politics on the side,) here, it's going to be about the inter-species politics. Persuading the Council that the Reapers aren't done yet, amassing support from other minor, but powerful players, attempting to get the Geth and the Quarians on the team, and so on.

If you want the Reapers to be more than just a looming threat on the horizon, use Indoctrination. Maybe Saren had some other people indoctrinated on the side that managed to avoid being killed or captured - and have since gone underground. As a result, while Shepard is trying to prepare the galaxy against the Reapers, they're trying to prepare the galaxy for the Reapers - including indoctrinating others.

The third chapter is the culmination. The Reapers, once again, are the main enemy, leading to a final showdown between them and Shepard.

 

[Battlegrinder]

I think the issue with the overall ME narrative is that a lot of what needs to happen are things that Shepard can't do. At the end of the day, Shepard is basically an international space FBI agent. He investigates, tracks, and deals with threats that span throughout council space, which was fine for the first game, but going forward, not so much, because so much of what's going on is above even his paygrade.

For example, imagine if Interpol did what people think it does (act as international super-cops) rather than what it really does (paperwork), and Interpol Special Agent Shepard foiled a terrorist plot being sponsored by the lizard people beneath the earth, as a prelude to their invasion of the surface. Yes, he'd be a hero and everyone would think he's cool, but they would not put him as the tip of the spear in the coming war in the fight against the lizard people, they'd have him keep doing what he already was doing and have NATO lead the charge. And neither shepard nor NATO would be allowed to meddle in affairs above their station, if Shepard thinks that an important part of the war effort should be diverting resources solve longstanding international disputes the way Shepard thinks is just, he would be told to shut up and go back to his real job.

Translated back over to ME, the followup to ME 1 should therefore not revolve around Shepard, but someone else instead, and that story will not really touch on issues like the geophage or synthetic life and so on, it would be very focused on the military threats.

 

[Captain X]

What would people think of a hypothetical series go back to the original dark energy idea?

 

[Battlegrinder]

What would people think of a hypothetical series go back to the original dark energy idea?

As far as I know, the Dark Energy Idea boils down to "Inscrutable ancient race seeking to fight entropy via morally dubious means", which is an extremely tiresome sci-fi cliche at this point, since it's one of the go to plots for creatively bankrupt "smart hard sci fi" works.

Mass effect 3s ending should have been built on what ME1 established. The reapers won in the past by shutting down relays and crushing their targets with overwhelming force, one system at time. It's entirely valid to conclude that they did so out of necessity, because a conventional engagement against an enemy that was free to maneuver and concentrate it's forces could have defeated them, or at least inflicted grievous losses. That's what you should have been doing in 3, rally the galaxy's forces together for one big showdown against the reapers.

 

[Husky_Khan]

@mods

Delete all of the previous posts in this thread with their inferior and wrong opinions. Look what Amazon is NEARING a deal towards...

Amazon reportedly making a deal to develop Mass Effect series

Amazon is reportedly nearing a deal to make an adaptation of the Mass Effect video game series.

www.joblo.com

Yeah that's right... they could make a Mass Effect series!

Get rekt true fans!

Should've never bothered activating that Crucible after all.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Hollywood buys the movie rights to a lot of things, but usually winds up never actually doing anything with those rights. Time will tell if the show will actually go into production. I doubt it, as Mass Effect is over a decade old.

 

[King Krávoka]

As for Asari themselves when they mate with each other they have recessive traits that can make them give birth to basically vampires. Thus they see it as bad and incest. So they prefer other species. And Asari unions like incest are only really acceptable if there is no other choice for propagation of the species. After all a chance of creating Joffrey should not be taken if there are other safer better alternatives.

Homospecieal relations between Asari are abnormal to the point of threatening genetic disease. There are also no other sapient species known to be native to their planet. We have no confirmation that their mating process discriminates by sapience.
YOU
JUST
KNOW

 

[King Arts]

Homospecieal relations between Asari are abnormal to the point of threatening genetic disease. There are also no other sapient species known to be native to their planet. We have no confirmation that their mating process discriminates by sapience.
YOU
JUST
KNOW

lol it’s a thing people don’t talk about.