Can we get choices that really matter and have a effect?

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Well sure, when you shoot Mordin in the back and then you murder Wrex to cover up your crimes, they all stay dead. There's no going back from that.

Murdering Mordin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVuMXjpANmw
Murdering Wrex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbF76Sswj-Q

I'm not saying all choices didn't make a difference, but in the end, not one did. Do you like red, green, or blue?

[Edax]

I'm not saying all choices didn't make a difference, but in the end, not one did. Do you like red, green, or blue?

Not all meaningful choices need be reflecting in some alternate ending. FFXIV has next to none. Imagine having to choose whether to save Alphinaud or Alisaie and leave the other to die like on Virmire and what a personal impact that would have to the Warrior of Light. A journey of meaningful decisions is still impactful.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Not all meaningful choices need be reflecting in some alternate ending. FFXIV has next to none. Imagine having to choose whether to save Alphinaud or Alisaie and leave the other to die like on Virmire and what a personal impact that would have to the Warrior of Light. A journey of meaningful decisions is still impactful.

Its a lot of work to make those storyline make sense later. You are basically writing 3 or 4 stories at once. This is fine in a single player game that may get 1 or 2 dlc. It would be rather difficult to do in a game going in 6 expansions.

[SturmChurro]

I'm not saying all choices didn't make a difference, but in the end, not one did. Do you like red, green, or blue?

Funnily enough there are replacement characters that actually fill both the role of Wrex, and Mordin.

[Edax]

Funnily enough there are replacement characters that actually fill both the role of Wrex, and Mordin.

Not in Mass Effect 3.

[SturmChurro]

Not in Mass Effect 3.

These two are their replacements that fill the exact same role in the story.

https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Padok_Wiks

https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Urdnot_Wreav

[Edax]

These two are their replacements that fill the exact same role in the story.

https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Padok_Wiks

https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Urdnot_Wreav

No, if you shoot Mordin or Wrex in Mass Effect 3, their replacements will not appear in the game. Their characters and their respective roles are dead by the point.

[SturmChurro]

No, if you shoot Mordin or Wrex in Mass Effect 3, their replacements will not appear in the game. Their characters and their respective roles are dead by the point.

What exactly are you debating? Mass Effect 3 is a continuation of Mass Effect 1/2. Wrex can be killed in one and Mordin in 2. When either of these occur, wrex gets replaced by a character who fulfills the exact same literal role in the story, and in mass effect 3 wrex's replacement appears again, that fulfills wrex's role again to the exact detail. You can literally end mordin's replacement just like you can end mordin. The end state you are stating is changed in name of that character only, the results are all the same, meaning the choices ultimately do not matter in the overarching story. In any of the games. As stated earlier, "illusion of choice". If you keep Mordin and Wrex alive to fulfill their roles in 3 the only differences are voice lines, not the story. Now, if we are talking about 'The Citadel' DLC, wrex and other classic character appearances can change the feeling of it there, since that whole DLC is just fan service.

[Edax]

What exactly are you debating? Mass Effect 3 is a continuation of Mass Effect 1/2. Wrex can be killed in one and Mordin in 2. When either of these occur, wrex gets replaced by a character who fulfills the exact same literal role in the story, and in mass effect 3 wrex's replacement appears again, that fulfills wrex's role again to the exact detail. You can literally end mordin's replacement just like you can end mordin. The end state you are stating is changed in name of that character only, the results are all the same, meaning the choices ultimately do not matter in the overarching story. In any of the games. As stated earlier, "illusion of choice". If you keep Mordin and Wrex alive to fulfill their roles in 3 the only differences are voice lines, not the story. Now, if we are talking about 'The Citadel' DLC, wrex and other classic character appearances can change the feeling of it there, since that whole DLC is just fan service.

I wasn't talking about Mass Effect 1 and 2. I was talking about the decisions you make in Mass Effect 3. The sequence of events I referred to, and the cutscenes I linked are purely from Mass Effect 3.

Well sure, when you shoot Mordin in the back and then you murder Wrex to cover up your crimes, they all stay dead. There's no going back from that.

Murdering Mordin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVuMXjpANmw
Murdering Wrex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbF76Sswj-Q

[Packetdancer]

Funnily enough there are replacement characters that actually fill both the role of Wrex, and Mordin.

Mass Effect is actually a masterclass in the illusion of consequence. There can be side-content which appears (or doesn't appear) based on the choices you make, but the broad arcs of the series remain the same no matter what choices you make. But the details within those arcs can different wildly. As noted, if Wrex and Mordin are gone, their roles are filled by others... but it still feels like your choice had a consequence, because these characters are gone.

That's hard to do well, and it's what SquareEnix would need to do in order to make it manageable. Otherwise, a few expansions in, compounded choice after choice could lead to storylines that were fairly divergent. They'd need the consequence to feel weighty but be illusory. Now, one of the most effective ways to do that is to close off—or open up—side quests based on those choices; if entire quests are based around the outcome of your choice, it feels like that choice has weight.

But I imagine that making entire quest chains only available to people based on dialogue options (or other choices) would not be a popular choice in an MMO...