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Mass Effect trilogy is single piece of the most progressive media in gaming, period.

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Alright maybe I am beating the dead horse and maybe it's not even allowed on this page, however I firmly believe that Mass Effect trilogy was the most "honest woke" media inside of gaming medium or hell any medium. Even It's masterfully disguised. There is a lot of parallel you can draw to struggle of each race towards each marginalized group of people.. This is the direction people (well maybe internet) should have taken, not the "kill all men" and that kind of bullshit.

I am not going to pretend, that back then I had a sufficient English knowledge, to understand the nuance game tried to convey. However now I believe now I did.

Mass Effect brought me to gaming again, after my high school was done all I remember was my swingers and playing Mass Effect, life really haven't got much better since that time. But yet playing though the Anniversary edition, I again find my piece. Hero oriented story, kicking music, which is not really far from what I am trying compose for long years and well....EA bad. EA very bad, but I am really ready to 180 on this opinion, once they also bring back Dead Space.

Around 2010 it was seriously one of the best years of this planet.

I hope you approve my message.
 
I don't understand your point nor do I see any reasons why you call it progressive. Maybe go into more details? Any game with aliens will undoubtedly bring up racism. It had nothing to do with parallels to the real world. If anything the aliens were more racists than humans especially the batarians but even those were for good reason. I mean Shepard fucking ended the Batarians fucking existence lol. The only other racism thing I can think of is coming from Ash, and that's why I killed her because she's an annoying cunt especially in the first game. She would just not shut up with: "but these aliens sir".
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
removing the Miranda butt-shots was a regressive step.
I am talking of Mass Effect in general, not really the Anniversaries edition in specific.

I don't understand your point nor do I see any reasons why you call it progressive. Maybe go into more details? Any game with aliens will undoubtedly bring up racism. It had nothing to do with parallels to the real world. If anything the aliens were more racists than humans especially the batarians but even those were for good reason. I mean Shepard fucking ended the Batarians fucking existence lol. The only other racism thing I can think of is coming from Ash, and that's why I killed her because she's an annoying cunt especially in the first game. She would just not shut up with: "but these aliens sir".
Everyone has their struggles not mentioned the species/races. You have the job to unite them out or die trying against the thread of your species. I think just this premise, with complexities portrayed in this game it's something to strive for. Maybe it's just simplistic, but I really like this message.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
You're literally given the freedom and choice to perform mass genocide on entire races. Depending on your play style, you may even be rewarded for doing so.
Maybe I am one of the good ones then.

But I believe the peak of progressivism is freedom, so maybe I am doing it wrong.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
On topic, Mass Effect (the original trilogy, I don't know what the fuck Andromeda was trying to say) definitely framed race and class issues in science fiction dressing. I wouldn't say any of it's commentary was necessarily profound about the issues, but it *did* make some of the takes that some characters who would traditionally seem bad or wrong more three dimensional.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
On topic, Mass Effect (the original trilogy, I don't know what the fuck Andromeda was trying to say) definitely framed race and class issues in science fiction dressing. I wouldn't say any of it's commentary was necessarily profound about the issues, but it *did* make some of the takes that some characters who would traditionally seem bad or wrong more three dimensional.
I guess this is what I feel also, in regards to 3D characters rather than a lot of 1D characters which we are getting now.
 

Excess

Member
Alright maybe I am beating the dead horse and maybe it's not even allowed on this page, however I firmly believe that Mass Effect trilogy was the most "honest woke" media inside of gaming medium or hell any medium. Even It's masterfully disguised. There is a lot of parallel you can draw to struggle of each race towards each marginalized group of people.. This is the direction people (well maybe internet) should have taken, not the "kill all men" and that kind of bullshit.

I am not going to pretend, that back then I had a sufficient English knowledge, to understand the nuance game tried to convey. However now I believe now I did.

Mass Effect brought me to gaming again, after my high school was done all I remember was my swingers and playing Mass Effect, life really haven't got much better since that time. But yet playing though the Anniversary edition, I again find my piece. Hero oriented story, kicking music, which is not really far from what I am trying compose for long years and well....EA bad. EA very bad, but I am really ready to 180 on this opinion, once they also bring back Dead Space.

Around 2010 it was seriously one of the best years of this planet.

I hope you approve my message.
Isn't it heavily based on the Star Trek ethos? I think it's well known that Star Trek was heavily based on the influences of the social sciences.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Isn't it heavily based on the Star Trek ethos? I think it's well known that Star Trek was heavily based on the influences of the social sciences.
I have never watched Star Trek so I don't know, but as far as I know, it was recovered gaming adaptation from Star Wars and I have always like ME better than SW.
 
Yea, it's pretty progressive but there is a nice balance of fucked up shit you can do to people and what you can say. It's not preachy about it but it does contain a core theme of strength in diversity with the other alien races.
 
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Dr Bass

Member
Allegories to real life problems and situations is so heavily prevalent in all sci-if, that ME is hardly even close to being some kind of ground breaking series.

I loved the games back in the day but a lot of it is ripped directly from Babylon 5, and again, nothing fresh about making parallels with real societal issues.
 

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
Jim Carrey What GIF
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Star Trek, Battlestar Gallactica, Mass Effect are all space operas with a progressive tint. The thinking is that centuries into the future we would leave our prejudices behind and focus on the bigger picture. It's why in all three games you are basically going around collecting allies and trying to bring people together because they believe we are stronger together.

Star Trek was revolutionary back in the 60s for having a regular Asian cast member and a black woman love interest for the male lead. Battlestar Gallactica dealt with union and abortion rights in some episodes. But like any good sci-fi they didnt shove them down our throat which is basically what Bioware did with Mass Effect. There is A LOT of grey area here. The asaris and solarians essentially committed genocide against an entire race, but some of them also play an integral part reversing it. And IIRC, as a player you can refuse to reverse it altogether.

It's an excellent trilogy and I really hope it comes back with a bang. i loved Andromeda's combat but the game felt like a shadow of what the franchise once was.
 

tsumake

Member
Maybe I am one of the good ones then.

But I believe the peak of progressivism is freedom, so maybe I am doing it wrong.

In a classical liberal sense, it arguably means that. In modern parlance it has ‘evolved’ to mean something else.
 
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Whatchu mean?

Equal rights, equal fights!
I'm saying that the op is reading way too much from today's political climate in the game, in particular the first title.

Where one would see Ashley as racist to drive home some progressive theme, all I see is a flawed character that makes her feel more like a human being with her own thoughts and opinions.
 

tsumake

Member
I'm saying that the op is reading way too much from today's political climate in the game, in particular the first title.

Where one would see Ashley as racist to drive home some progressive theme, all I see is a flawed character that makes her feel more like a human being with her own thoughts and opinions.

I think he had different definition of “progressive” than what is commonly used.
 

Arcadialane

Member
I hate the 'I don't like woke progressives because we're are the real progressives!' stuff, sorry op.

We need to go back
 

Tiamat2san

Member
I was so un-woke playing this, that I killed everyone I could, always choose the obvious evil choices, so if it was woke games, I didn’t get the memo.
 

BabyYoda

Banned
For progressive, I read regressive, it almost always is. People that think otherwise have little to no understanding of history imo and those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. I liked Mass Effect 1&2, no doubt Bioware were becoming increasingly woke though, especially in the third game, really disliked it for that reason and a myriad of others! Go woke go broke definitely holds true for that particular company.
 

Corgi1985

Banned
For progressive, I read regressive, it almost always is. People that think otherwise have little to no understanding of history imo and those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. I liked Mass Effect 1&2, no doubt Bioware were becoming increasingly woke though, especially in the third game, really disliked it for that reason and a myriad of others! Go woke go broke definitely holds true for that particular company.
The fuck was woke about ME3?
 

Topher

Gold Member
I've gotten pretty good at turning off my internal social/political awareness gauge when playing games. Doesn't mean I have any interest in a games themed with "woke" topics like Tell Me Why, but an underlying message that aligns with liberal/leftist/progressive/whatever you want to call it doesn't bother me very much. Sure.....I'll roll my eyes sometimes playing ME Legendary, but the game is fun as hell to play so that trumps everything else for me.

I"m about midway through Mass Effect 3. Already platinum ME1 and ME2. Playing on Insanity difficulty all the way through. Such a great game.
 

Tschumi

Member
I disagree.

Reginald.

Bioshock is a game from the same year (ish?) as the original ME that i regard more highly...
 
In Star Trek The Original Series, Kirk banged every alien chick he could. He was woke prime.

People love taking that scene out of it's proper context and it's really disappointing. If anything, you should have used a cap from the episode in which he marries a Native American woman. I almost did not want him to return to Star Fleet in that episode.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Alright maybe I was dumb yesterday, I sometimes have this situation, when extreme naivity strikes. I am bi-polar and sometimes I get high on my own bullshit and feel like it's the most deep thought of the mankind, please let this thread die. I was scared to come back here, that people are going to laugh at me.

And no for those concerned, I didn't drink anything.
 

BigBooper

Member
People love taking that scene out of it's proper context and it's really disappointing. If anything, you should have used a cap from the episode in which he marries a Native American woman. I almost did not want him to return to Star Fleet in that episode.
You don't know how long I scrolled through the gifs to try to find a better one. I'm sorry, senpai. :pie_pensive:
 
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