I was browsing through the Bioware forums when I came across a very interesting link.

http://www.newsarama.com/games/10-must-know-facts-mass-effect-novels-comics-mass-effect-3-110707-1.html

This link has important plot points from the greater Mass Effect lore, such as books and comics. I always found these supplemental stories interesting but very daunting to read, and with the Mass Effect 3 coming out so soon these brief but well written plot points will suffice for me.

(Beware the link has spoilers for various Books and Comics if you're currently reading them)

aw I thought you were going to post the spoilers about EDI and joker

I've read the books and the overall info is fine, but:

There is some personal guesswork and assumptions in that article as well as several wrong facts. There is also an unnecessary amount of personal infliction (ie the writer is pushing his own moral views and outlooks)

why aren't any of these things in the games? a lot of this stuff is more interesting than the stuff the games actually do show us lol.

Anyone that wanted to bother reading that would have just read the wiki.

I thought Mass Effect Deception was a train-wreck and is so against what happens in the games it's not even funny.

@Doctorchimp said:

I thought Mass Effect Deception was a train-wreck and is so against what happens in the games it's not even funny.

When you say ''against what happens'', do you mean it contradicts well established fiction (All Krogan's are yellow! Cerberus is actually run by Conrad Verner!)? Or is it putting its foot down and solidifying what is the ''canon'' outcome for some of the ambiguous decisions from the previous games (like, Uldina is the Council rep no matter what)?

@Abyssfull: It contradicts established fiction. A lot of it. The full list of problems can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XBpMF3ONlI308D9IGG8KICBHfWKU0sXh0ntukv-_cmo/edit?hl=en_US

@Abyssfull said:

@Doctorchimp said:

I thought Mass Effect Deception was a train-wreck and is so against what happens in the games it's not even funny.

When you say ''against what happens'', do you mean it contradicts well established fiction (All Krogan's are yellow! Cerberus is actually run by Conrad Verner!)? Or is it putting its foot down and solidifying what is the ''canon'' outcome for some of the ambiguous decisions from the previous games (like, Uldina is the Council rep no matter what)?

Well established fiction.

"Canon Outcome" is also determined in the better books, and I think they roll with the Renegade endings. But I think that has to do with the author having to pick an outcome to keep the story going.

The only Novel I read, on audio book was Retribution which I like a lot, then I tried to get into Revelations but was hard to get into and never finished it.

@Dylabaloo: Interesting stuff, but I wish people would stop throwing around "canon" when describing something like Udina.

When we make decisions in the ME games they are immediate but we are not guaranteed that our decision will stand until we decide otherwise. We might have put Anderson in the council seat but Anderson didn't make a promise to us that he'd serve in that capacity for the rest of his life. Choosing to step down as councilor in the face of conflict with the reapers makes sense but doesn't mean it is a canon choice or that it undoes player decisions in the games. The books and comics are full of information contradictory to the games but that doesn't mean those inconsistencies overwrite the game lore.

Most of the rest of the info is very interesting though, thank you for the link!

@Tennmuerti said:

I've read the books and the overall info is fine, but:

There is some personal guesswork and assumptions in that article as well as several wrong facts. There is also an unnecessary amount of personal infliction (ie the writer is pushing his own moral views and outlooks)

I kind of liked the personal infliction's, gave it a bit more life than a wiki entry. Never read the books, just wondering what facts were wrong; don't want my Mass Effect info to be wrong.

@Teran: You're welcome. I have to agree with your view of the term "Canon". I thought the most interesting part of the link was the Kai Leng backstory, and I have heard rumours of the illussive man having an 'understudy' in ME3; it will be interesting to see them bring the books into the game.

why aren't any of these things in the games? a lot of this stuff is more interesting than the stuff the games actually do show us lol.

I thought this was going to be a troll post about that new book that everybody's complaining about.

@Brodehouse said:

@Toms115 said:

why aren't any of these things in the games? a lot of this stuff is more interesting than the stuff the games actually do show us lol.

They are in the game, though. Anderson basically tells you the entire plot of Revelation when you ask him about his history with Saren (from his point of view, at least). Tali and the quarians tell you a shard of the plot of Ascension when you ask what the quarians' deal with Cerberus is. Lair of the Shadow Broker deals heavily in the events of the comic (Feron was introduced there). Retribution and Deception came out after ME2. Also, it's a lot faster and cheaper to publish novels or comics than it is to develop video games. The games should have their own stories instead of reiterating the books, and the same is true in reverse.

fair enough. i stand corrected.

when i finish reading every other book worth reading then il get to reading video game fiction.

@jetsetwillie said:

when i finish reading every other book worth reading then il get to reading video game fiction.

I agree.

@Yanngc33 said:

@jetsetwillie said:

when i finish reading every other book worth reading then il get to reading video game fiction.

I agree.

So do the Dragon Age books... Ugh...

Fuuuuuuuccccckkkkk that Illusive man bullshit. God, that's stupid. I think they literally just ruined the character for me. DAMN YOU, OP

I'm going to pretend I never read that and hope none of it gets brought up in ME3 :/

I only read the titles... knew most of it...

Give me the story in the game or eff you, developer. I want to play games and not subject myself to some cross-media marketing plans.

I've read all the novels. I'm good.

Go read some good sci-fi fictions like the Dune series.

@mutha3: You had a choice. What about specifically ruined the illusive man for you, it all jived well for me.

Mass Effect: Deception spoilers:

@Enigma777 said:

@Yanngc33 said:

@jetsetwillie said:

when i finish reading every other book worth reading then il get to reading video game fiction.

I agree.

So do the Dragon Age books... Ugh...

I tried reading the first ME book. You're not missing much. Got halfway through and just got way too bored to finish it. Nothing fucking happens. And aside from that, the writing is just really, really stale. It's written way too simply and feels like a Goosebumps novel. Drew Karpyshyn's writing might be alright for the games, but his books (at least the first ME one) are shit.

@Mordukai said:

sci-fi fictions

Department of redundancy department.

@Toms115 said:

why aren't any of these things in the games? a lot of this stuff is more interesting than the stuff the games actually do show us lol.

Because the ME games are dialogue and vocal focused storytelling, with some limited text based information thrown in. With considerable amounts of deviation from a singular storyline path and many sidemissions too.

And the books are solely written based information focused on one story/quest/mission that doesn't really deviate to other missions and so can focus on each aspect of it's story arc with considerably more detail than an ME video game ever could.

It would simply be too boring and entirely the wrong setting to sit down and find all this information out in a ME game rather than a book.