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00:09When you develop a videogame
00:10you have ideas about
00:11what is going to be unique
00:13and essential to the experience.
00:15And we knew that the idea of
00:17choices that matter, that
00:19would be something important in Mass Effect.
00:22We wanted it to be realistic science fiction.
00:24Casey was really big on that. He wanted it to be
00:25something where you could imagine
00:27that it could be possible.
00:29The vision that we had was that we would
00:31tell this story over the course of a
00:33trilogy of games. The progress from
00:35the player carried through from one title to
00:37the next, which is something we hadn't really seen
00:39much before.
00:40The heart of Mass Effect is humanity.
00:43Stories that
00:45are science fiction stories
00:47but are human stories
00:49and are relatable
00:51stories and touch people.
00:53I mean, Mass Effect was special because
00:55it was the
00:57big space opera that I always wanted to play in
00:59with spaceships and
01:01aliens and big battles.
01:03It was everything that I loved growing up
01:05in videogame form.
01:07Everywhere I've traveled I can see the N7
01:09hoodie with the stripe and sort of take pride
01:11in all different people from different creeds
01:13and colors are wearing this merchandise
01:15that directly reflects my own
01:17blood, sweat and tears that went into it.
01:19And that is super rewarding.
01:24When the original Mass Effect launched on the
01:26360, I don't think anyone was quite
01:28prepared for what it would mean for the future
01:30of the RPG genre or just
01:32how big the fan base for this game
01:34would be. Edmonton is kind of up in the middle of
01:36nowhere. We're up in Canada and it's hard for us to kind of
01:38feel that energy. It's not until you go down to some
01:40of the conventions or get feedback from people
01:42how important this is. The people who cosplay,
01:44the people who go to conventions, the people
01:46who are really interested in bringing our worlds
01:48to life. If it weren't for Mass Effect
01:50my life would be pretty different.
01:52It gave me a sense of companionship
01:54and friendship and adventure and unity
01:56something I felt like I was lacking
01:58for my real life. I really needed
02:01that distraction
02:02that exploration
02:04and just that
02:07excitement. And these things
02:09we don't think about them
02:10when we're making the games but
02:12these stories really become
02:14ultimately the reason why we want to make games.
02:17It takes you anywhere you want to go.
02:19It's kind of amazing.
02:21And it was brave and adventurous
02:23in some really awesome ways.
02:25Different people and relationships
02:27coming together for a common cause
02:30even if they all don't get along.
02:32Nobody's better than anybody else.
02:33Nobody's worse or less deserving
02:35than anyone else. And that is a direct reflection
02:37to what we hope for humanity.
02:43Shepard means
02:44everybody gets a chance
02:45and everybody gets represented
02:47and everybody gets to fight and play
02:48in the way that they choose.
02:50There is no one Commander Shepard.
02:52You can't say, oh, Commander Shepard is like this,
02:54Commander Shepard is like that.
02:55Everybody's Shepard is going to be different.
02:56We were always sort of trying to
02:58fighting to sort of zero in on.
03:00What is that sort of box within which, you know,
03:02Shepard should exist?
03:03Is it two Renegade or two Paragon?
03:05We really wanted to have an iconic character
03:08with armor and just an overall look
03:10that you would be able to recognize.
03:12We knew Shepard was important
03:13and we knew we were in it for the long haul.
03:15I mean, I think we did something like
03:16400 helmets for Shepard,
03:18play 50 to 60 armor variations.
03:20And there was one that had the N7 type stripe
03:25and some kind of insignia along the side.
03:27I actually just put N7 on there
03:29and we didn't really know how important it was going to be.
03:32But what it really did was it resonated with the players
03:34and took on a life of its own.
03:36The way that we shot Shepard and the Normandy
03:39was very classic hero.
03:42He or she always felt like they were huge
03:43and this massive hero.
03:45When it came to the Normandy,
03:46we used to try to shoot it like a car commercial.
03:49We designed the ship to look like a Concorde,
03:51but when we were actually doing the painting of it,
03:53we based it more on American muscle cars.
03:56So I had SST on there,
03:57and that wasn't going to work.
03:58So I approached writing
03:59and it came back with this SSV.
04:02I go, so the Normandy is coming along,
04:03it's flying through space
04:04and all of a sudden
04:05Ceren's evil ship comes
04:06and you have to evade it.
04:07Well, that's not going to work, is it?
04:09So then we ended up coming up with SR1.
04:11Writing came up with that
04:12and it turned out really well.
04:16I mean, if BioWare has any kind of special juice,
04:19I think that characters are our special juice.
04:21They carry the story,
04:23they let our players immerse themselves in the world.
04:25Without the characters,
04:27people wouldn't have the attachment
04:28that they do with Mass Effect.
04:30One of my favorite stories
04:32was when we released Mass Effect 3,
04:34there was a person who was live streaming
04:36and he got to that moment
04:37where Morden is ascending the tower
04:40and he stopped talking.
04:42He just stopped cold.
04:43I don't think he was ready or prepared
04:46for that character to go away.
04:49You know, we call these characters
04:51your virtual friends.
04:53And for some people,
04:54they are more meaningful as entities
04:57than the mere experiences
04:59that they have with them.
05:03Having a blank slate is one of those things
05:05that is both freeing and terrifying.
05:08With Mass Effect 1,
05:10there were no characters created.
05:11There were no species created.
05:13We didn't have anything.
05:15We had to invent it all.
05:16They took forever due
05:17because just one line in his description
05:20made it very hard to concept.
05:21They said in that line,
05:22he's a romance option
05:23and that just threw us a curveball.
05:26Plus, also,
05:26everybody found out we were basing him off a fish,
05:28which not many people think of a fish
05:30as a romance option.
05:31Romances are some of the most difficult scenes to work on.
05:34and how do you make out with a Turian
05:36without, you know, razorblading your face off?
05:38The approach that we all took with it is
05:40they're people first,
05:41romance is second.
05:42One of the gifts that I think I was given
05:44was being able to write our first gay squadmate
05:48for male Shepard.
05:50I was on a panel
05:51and a guy cosplaying Shepard
05:53pulled me aside and said,
05:54playing Caden was an important part of my journey
05:57in coming out to my parents.
06:00That is a real gift to a writer
06:02to know that you have contributed to their life
06:05and somehow that has made their life better.
06:10I can't think of a lot of careers and jobs
06:12where you get to meet and connect with fans like that.
06:15Mass Effect was something special
06:16when it comes to that.
06:18We started off with a grand vision
06:20and as we went through,
06:22it was amazing to see
06:23all of those dreams actually fulfilled.
06:26It really is an honour
06:27to have worked on something
06:28that has touched so many people's lives.
06:30The future of Mass Effect I think is really bright.
06:33People just want to know more about this place,
06:36these characters.
06:36And I think people keep coming back
06:38because it feels like home.
06:40We just love the idea of creating worlds
06:42and letting people continue to enjoy
06:45the worlds that we create.
06:47Seeing this universe just continue to expand
06:49has just been an amazing experience
06:52and something I'll never forget.
06:53and I hope our fans will never forget it too.
07:02One of my favourite memories
07:03was having Mark Muir create
07:05what the Vortra were going to sound like.
07:07They are essentially space cannon fodder
07:09who take themselves very seriously.
07:12We wanted them to sound, you know,
07:13kind of liquidy.
07:14So Mark just grabbed a water bottle
07:17and started speaking with the water in his throat.
07:22Human!
07:23And that's how the Vortra came to be.
07:26We'll see you next time outside.
07:26Let's see.
07:26Grazie.
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