The Land of a Thousand Shepards

Imagine the Citadel—a massive superstructure in space—housing the galactic council as well as millions of inhabitants; imagine a horde of armor-clad men and women, charging back and forth throughout the Presidium and the Wards, each individual player sporting a hovering name tag directly above their avatar’s head, harboring all varieties of variations on the name “John Shepard,” the occasional Garrus and Legion, with the inevitable Legolass and several other names that’d make even hardy World of Warcraft veterans blush.

This is the world of the Mass Effect MMO, if ever actualized. Thousands upon thousands of players, scouring the planets and stations for the next kill, the next tidbit of experience, the next security locker filled with ‘uber-leet’ gear.

Bioware, the famed developers of the Mass Effect series and Dragon Age, is no stranger to the MMO market. In fact, their flagship MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, is destined for a Spring 2011 release. Star Wars: The Old Republic is already being hailed as a truly massive MMO, with hundreds of cut scenes, and fully voiced NPC interactions. Bioware pulled out all the stops for their first MMO, and fans of both Bioware and Star Wars are likely salivating.

So would this proposed Mass Effect MMO bleed success? There are valid arguments for and against the notion, with choice problems from Mass Effect cropping up again in its sequel.

The Mass Effect universe is incredibly large, and even if the space proved somehow overly restrictive, it wouldn’t be too difficult to expand. The only limiting factor to an MMO expansion is the amount of writing and voice-over work needed to bring these new planets and areas fully to life. The combat system is already in place in Mass Effect 2, and simple tweaks to the user interface would make for an amazing MMO experience.

Could this become…

As with all Bioware games, the Mass Effect MMO, if released, will be a literary masterpiece, with hundreds of side-quests, story arcs, twists, turns and ‘what the heck?’ moments. This alone would be an incredible draw to an MMO, even from people who don’t necessarily enjoy them. If the Bioware writing team can build on the end of Mass Effect 2 (or 3, which is more likely) and expand the universe into enough for the horde of potential players to enjoy, there’s no reason why it should fail. The Mass Effect setting creates an overall illusion of both grandeur and believability, which is essential for MMOs. Without the grandeur, you lose the sense that actions impact everything around you, which the Mass Effect games mastered. And without the believability— the foundation in science and astronomy, and the interaction of beings with separate motives and needs—a sci-fi MMO will be hard pressed to succeed. Since the Mass Effect setting has both of these, people should flock to this fresh game, as they did in the second installment.

The setting brings other character and story-based possibilities to question. Each species in Mass Effect often has its own ideals and goals (such as the Salarians trying to keep the Krogans in check). This multiplies the number of possible outcomes for a given mission, which will draw the players even further into the game.

And what of joining the Spectres, the pseudo-Jedi defenders of the galaxy? This lofty goal would be an incredible incentive to level up a character. And if the player decides to adopt a less-than-holy protagonist, perhaps they could hook up with Cerberus? The Mass Effect setting is a virtual role-player’s paradise.

While I’ve piled praise upon the laurels of Bioware, I’d be remiss not to consider the negative aspects of the Mass Effect duology. The first game in the series is riddled with problems—long elevator rides, predictable ambushes, painful off-road vehicle trips, and a cringe-worthy inventory system—some of which initially put me off the game entirely. Mass Effect 2 is an improvement on its predecessor, but it still can’t shake its predictability.

An inventory system is vital to an MMO, and doing away with it completely, like Mass Effect 2, is not solving the problem. A working, well thought-out inventory is absolutely required.

…this in the future? Who knows?

The load screens will need to be taken into account as well. Loading screens tend to be the Achilles’ Heel for MMOs that use powerful engines to render their games. If Bioware can figure out a better method to load sections, a Mass Effect MMO will flourish. One can understand the massive amount of data and graphical power needed to run a perpetual Mass Effect server, as well as playing it on a client, but the loading system in Mass Effect 2 fixed this to a certain extent. Glacial lift-rides are already history in the sequel, comically punched home by an instance were Miranda jams a certain lethargic elevator into overdrive.

Predictability, in an MMO, isn’t necessarily a terrible thing. Predicting the outcome of a battle or an ambush is obviously advantageous. But over-predictability can prove troublesome, like in Mass Effect 1 and 2, where several waist-high barricades appear as you turn a corner, and you know something’s up. This makes the game as easy as a World of Warcraft player running around killing Kobolds— too expectable, too easy, and inevitably: too boring.

MMOs thrive on having others to fight against. The Horde fights the Alliance, everyone fights each other in Darkfall, and corporations take over corporations in Eve Online. Will Bioware allow players to play as the Geth? Or the Collectors? Or as the Reapers’ minions?

And if the bad guys from Mass Effect 1 and 2 are relegated to enemy NPC duty, how does Bioware create the sense of competition in the MMO version? Rival gangs of Shepards running through the Presidium shooting up the place? Perhaps the Spectres finally decide to clean up Cerberus once and for all? This is a major factor to consider.

Regardless, I’d love to see a Mass Effect MMO, and would probably spend the first three days playing it until I slip into a sugar-crash coma. However, there are a lot of points for Bioware to consider and overcome if they truly intend to embark on such a journey.

Of course, should this ever become a reality, we’ll probably have to wait until after Mass Effect 3, as well as the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. It’s quite possible that the creation of a Mass Effect MMO relies on how well these other games do in their respective areas. If they flourish and prosper, what’s to say a new mix of the two together wouldn’t also work?