User blog:SanjayBeast/Mass Effect : where will we go now?

Having thoroughly finished ME3 now, having done it 3 times (only once on Insanity, cos that's too hardcore for me), I was taken aback by the idea that the series is over - or is it? There has been no official confirmation of what Bioware will do next, be it a SWTOR style MMORPG (which is think would be awesome), or another RPG set either well before ME1 or in the aftermath of ME3. Personally, I don't really mind as long as they perform as well as they have done over this trilogy - for all that we bitch and whine about the ending, we all enjoyed playing ME3 and, I daresay, will continues to play it for a very long time, in a similar fashion to how I played ME1 last week, all over again, for nostalgias sake (and to try and resolve some wiki disputes). However, should they do a sequel, I would love to put some ideas out there for the community to review rip to shreds and spit in my face for what they could do.

MMORPG
Now, I know what you're thinking (especially those of you who are fans of the Elder Scrolls Series and have heard of the Elder Scrolls Online) : not another generic copy of WoW or GW2 with just some different skins. And yes, in some parts you would be very correct - there are only so many variations a developer can do on a teamwork based, RPG. But wait: a key concept in the ME series is that of spaceflight - they could do wonders with that. I envision a cross between Sins of a Solar Empire (for the epic space combat and visuals), SWTOR (for the old fashioned RPG yet shoot-em-up style) and Skyrim (for the incredible free roaming and Radiant AI), that would bring back planet exploration (with the mako #winning) and add in several new features - more in depth weapon customisation, race selection, new powers, group missions (not quests, and never mention that word to me in the Sci-Fi context) and loads of cool stuff; to make it new and exciting, they would really have to push the boundaries of gaming. How about space battles in which the ship movements are controlled in top down strategy style by one, particularly eminent player whilst the actual combat is carried out by low level grunts? I mean, the possibilities are endless. However, given its not so stunning track record on innovation, Bioware will probably never see this through....shame, I really like the idea.

RPG (probably with MP, they kinda like that now...)
Now, I'm not going to go into plot details (as I would offend so many people), but simply say that there is a high likelihood of there being a follow on RPG to the series - not that it would be a bad thing. I really enjoyed this trilogy, so I see no reason why I wouldn't enjoy more carefully detailed codex entries, more gripping decisions (though if they made an impact on the ending this time, it would be nice...) and more fun(ny) romances (they really mean a lot to me). However, I would absolutely hate it if they put it in another Galaxy, or set it a million years into the future. Though I could understand if they didn't want to break the lovely plot that they had, I think they could easily do something in the style of Halo Reach/ODST that was accompanying the story/before it, so that we got to see how the First Contact war developed, and so forth. Not my favourite idea (as it's a bit bland), but guaranteed fun nonetheless.

Strategy
Think Halo Wars but on steroids, with more freaky aliens, more unique units and more fun. I really think that out of all of these options, this is the one that could really work as a new project for Bioware. Sure, they haven't done anything like it before - neither had Bungie, and they successfully made the only successful console strategy game. That's quite an achievement. I would love being able to command geth troops into battle, or build a batarian empire controlling the galaxy. Ideally, it would be a cross between (and I'm sorry that this is how I've been describing them, but it works for me) Supreme Commander and Sins of a Solar Empire, to allow both massive space battles for control of a relay, and intense ground wars for dominance of a planet, with both elements effecting each other. I think that they could not only keep it consistent with ME lore in terms of tech, weapons and research etc, but also make it into a revolutionary game.

Overall
Don't get me wrong - I love the ME universe and all the adventures I have had in it. However, I am still unfulfilled with what I have achieved - I stopped the cycle, sure, but i never got to be an Asari Huntress, going through rites of passage etc. That is why I really want Bioware to continue to make great games in the same, highly detailed, style. Comments? Ideas of your own? Think I'm mad/a genius? Leave it all in the responses section below, and I will get back to you. Sanjay