Let’s play Mass Effect, baybe!—Griffin McElroy, Monster Factory, creation of Truck Shepard.
“The Alliance Military Vocational Code handbook classifies the career path of all serving personnel. The MVC consists of one letter and one number. A soldier’s MVC indicates proficiency, not rank. The letter notes career path; the number indicates level of experience, as indicated by service record, technical scores, and commendations. All 26 letters are used, and numbers run from 1 to 7. N is the letter code for Special Forces personnel.”—Excerpt from Mass Effect Wiki on N7.
What does that mean? In so many words: N7 is a big thing for the fans of the Mass Effect series. The N7 day, Novemer 7th (duh), is therefore a time when we celebrate the gaming and cultural landmark that is Mass Effect. And on this time, BioWare had a special announcement to make, correlating with the return of Casey Hudson to the studio.
It’s a pretty heartfelt gift, even if it doesn’t say all that much. It seems to very subtly hint at a possibility of a new Mass Effect game coming, somewhere in the distant and uncertain future, at least. Another possibility (unlikely one, at least in my opinion) would be a remaster of the trilogy, something many fans are speculating about and seemingly would want to see. I say unlikely because I feel like it’s still way too early for the remaster, Mass Effect 3 is not really an old game by any metric, I’d even dare to say it still holds its ground, even today (atrocious ending not withstanding). Mass Effect 1 I could see being remastered, but do I really want Mass Effect 1 with better character models and graphics? I would rather have that Quarian DLC, honestly.
Of course, it’s not without a hitch, as the announcement utters the dreaded “d” word, which many unsavory types have taken to associate with the decline in quality of BioWare games, at least as far as storytelling is concerned. And they are sure to remind us, with their comments and dislikes, how much they dislike the idea of diversity. Which is odd to me, because as far as I know, diversity has been one of the major themes of the series since day one. But what can ya do about internet being wrong, eh?
In any case(y), the N7 day is behind us and we don’t know what the future holds. We’re 3 months away from the release of Anthem and I still think it constitutes a make-it-or-break it for BioWare. But you will not hear me complaining about anything Mass Effect related being worked on. And what does N7 mean to you, dear human? Do you agree with BioWare’s outlined traits or maybe it means something different to you?