User blog:Commdor/Would you play the next Mass Effect game if it is not a shooter?

Having recently purchased the Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, I've been reacquainting myself with the Fallout franchise's history. For the unaware, Fallout began as a third-person turn-based isometric RPG game for PC, and its first sequel and spin-offs generally adhered to that specific style and genre. When Bethesda revived the franchise with the successful launch of Fallout 3, that game significantly diverged from the old games by taking on a first-person perspective and altering combat to focus on real-time shooting. Many of the diehard Fallout fans were tremendously upset by this change. To them, Fallout 3 wasn't truly a Fallout game.

Now, the development of the next Mass Effect game has shifted from BioWare Edmonton to BioWare Montreal and the team there, by their own account, has yet to finalize their plans for what the game should be. Given that, I think we should acknowledge the possibility that the next ME game could take on a different form than a third-person shooter with RPG elements. Also recall that according to the devs, the next ME's protagonist will not only not be Commander Shepard, but he/she will also not have a military background like Shepard; a protagonist with a radically different background (and with no proficiency in combat and weapons use) might require a radical alteration of the game's genre to accommodate it.

Thus the question: would you play the next Mass Effect game if it is not a shooter, particularly a third-person shooter? Is the setting and story enough to entice you to buy it even if you knew it was first-person (Fallout 3), or an adventure game (Tomb Raider), or a real-time strategy game (Halo Wars), or a stealth game (Splinter Cell) or anything else?

Would you play the next ME game if it had a different gameplay genre? Yes - I can't get enough ME, no matter how it plays Maybe - I'd need more information to decide (the specific genre, gameplay demos) No - ME games should remain third-person shooters (excluding spin-offs)

Bonus question (2 pts.): What background should the protagonist of the next ME have? Military (even though BioWare said they would avoid it) Police Mercenary Engineer Scientist Smuggler Explorer Trader Other