Is Shepard boring on purpose?

[Semaphia]

I can't really describe Commander Shepard as anything other than a bland, generic, typical lead character in a military game. He looks the part, he sounds the part, and honestly, he just is the part.

But is it intentional? Initially, I was a bit deterred by the games lead, but the more I play, and the more I think about it, the more I think it was a gameplay decision by the developers. I've played open CRPGs before, and I've never really thought of The Nameless One (as an example) to be boring, although you can play him in a variety of ways, just like you can Comm. Shepard, so should he still get a pass?

The aliens are incredibly well designed and interesting, though.

[Nerevars Goat Univeron]

Dont know, but it isn't a universal constent. Fem!shep is less of a generic leader, and displays some actual emotions.

[SwobyJ]

Yes it is.

Shepard is Elcor Hamlet.

Next protagonist will be Pyjak Macbeth.

Take from that what you will.

[Nerevars Goat Univeron]

Originally posted by SwobyJ:

Pyjak Macbeth.
.

Can this be a thing, please? And Hanar Romeo and Juliet

[SwobyJ]

It is a thing.

Play Citadel DLC.

[Unfortunate]

I greatly disliked Mass Effect 1 on my first playthrough (Xbox, thus, no record) but I gave it another shot, and, once you get rolling, it's a fantastically addictive game. The second game, albeit far different mechanically, is absolutely the pinnacle of the game's story telling presentation. The dialogue (Shepard's monotone, most importantly) becomes a lot more invested and detailed. I think the voiceover artists hit their stride for fleshing out the characters and their personalities. While the game loses much of its RPG feel (especially the 'open' part) it gains a tremendous level of cinematic quality and gripping storytelling. Mass Effect 3, however, trails off and becomes very... uh... simplified. (They also lost their lead writer during the production of ME3) The curse of a trilogy whose target audience became much broader, and story telling devices that cater to first-timers. Anyway, before -I- trail off too much farther... play the game at least once through, and import that save to ME2. I doubt you'll regret it if you give the series a solid chance.

[SwobyJ]

Originally posted by stormblastsilenoz:

They also lost their lead writer during the production of ME3.

No they didn't. Drew left part way through ME2 production (fairly early), enough to set things up but not be there to finish it - he left for Bioware Austin's Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Mac Walters was a significant writer for ME1 (he wrote parts like Wrex after all), Lead Writer for (I tend to think) most of ME2, and all of ME3.

Drew Karpyshyn was more for ME1 and general worldbuilding, or so it appears.

[Unfortunate]

Ah my mistake, then. I read his input on ME3's ending controversy and he said it wasn't the direction he envisioned, more or less. I thought he left at the beginning of 3 not 2. Regardless, original point being that the games are worth at least a full play through :P