Poll: What if Bioware picked Shepard's first name for you?

[dreadedcandiru99]

After careful consideration, I have decided that the Mass Effect series are some of my favorite games ever. There's just this one thing that's been bothering me since the first game, though. In fact, now that I think of it, it's bothered me more than the Mako and the texture issues in ME1, or the planet scanning in ME2. Here it is: nobody ever addresses Shepard by his/her first name.

When you're talking to Ashley about her grandfather, Shepard calls her "Ashley," and she calls Shepard "Shepard." When you're comforting Tali after her father's death, Shepard calls Tali "Tali," and she calls Shepard "Shepard." When Shepard has the "little blue babies" talk with Liara at the end of Lair Of The Shadow Broker, Shepard calls Liara "Liara," and she calls Shepard "Shepard." Hell, when you're listening to those news reports on the Citadel, they only ever refer to Shepard as "Shepard," or maybe "Commander Shepard" (in contrast with, say, "Captain Chesley Sullenberger" or "Private Bradley Manning" in the real news).

So I'm wondering, what if Bioware had just gone ahead and gave Shepard an official first name? They could've used the defaults--John for Manshep, Jane for Femshep--and then they wouldn't even have to change the lip movements too much. I think I'd be okay with that; if my Femshep is always going to be "Commander Shepard," then she might as well be "Commander Jane Shepard." I'd be willing to trade my chosen first name (which the other characters never use anyway) for that.

Thoughts?

 

[Smeggs]

Well, Bioware did pick his name. Johnathan Shepard. The name is based off of the first man to be sent to space. And I think the female's default is Jessica or something.

I'd be totally cool with characters referring to him as John every now and again. It'd help some of the emotional scenes. I never think of his first name when playing. He's literally just Shepard. Shepard is his name and the only one he has.

 

[Zantos]

It's never bothered me, probably to do with the fact that it sounds natural for me to be addressed by last name.

I wouldn't object so much to them picking it, but I'd be a little disappointed that he wasn't called Awesome A. Shepard. Even if it doesn't come up, I know it and it makes me smile.

 

[putowtin]

Well, Bioware did pick his name. Johnathan Shepard. The name is based off of the first man to be sent to space. And I think the female's default is Jessica or something.

John and Jane, as in John Doe and Jane Doe, the names given to unidentified bodies. Shepard is taken from Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr, the second person and the first American in space.

OT: no I don't want them to pick my Shep's name, where's the fun if you can't call your Shepherd "German"? (or Dos Santo's in my Shep's experience) Though my fem Shepherd is called Amanda, as some of the characters sound like they're saying "Manda" when they say "Commander"

 

[LookingGlass]

Well what they did was a better option that giving you full control over your name, and then having no one ever address you by your name, like in KOTOR and many other RPGs. I'd have been fine with taking it one step further and naming the character entirely... I'm not good at coming up with names.

 

[Erttheking]

Having my name on the file every time I load isn't exactly what holds Mass Effect together for me.

 

[Twilight_guy]

So what? Nobody uses the last names of other shipmates, they don't use Sheppard's first name. It's even. Some people are just called by there last name.

 

[Vault101]

eh, I wouldnt mind..I guess

I called my femshep Jennifer...well it seems to fit

it would be cool if they somhow said your chosen name (like an AI said it or somthing..yhatzee once wrote somthing about this)

except now that Ive said it it wont happen

 

[DoPo]

Vut that;s what Bioware do, isn't it - they give your character a title or a last name or something, while you are expected to give their actual name...and nobody uses it, aside from maybe appearing in writing or in invoiced dialogues.

OT: I don't think Shepard specifically bothers me. I know a few people who are called by their last names, to the point where if I referred to one by his first name I may get questions "Who?" from close acquaintances of his. However, the DA:O main character was different - constantly being called Warden, or something was more irritating.

 

[octafish]

Have you played Deus Ex? It is a problem with fully voiced games, and why I prefer text dialogue. It wouldn't make much difference overall would it, it is just Bioware pretending like you have some input to make in the story, just like J.C. Denton's "real" name.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I always made my Shepard's first name German, because I know it's irrelevant. I wouldn't care.

 

[Shavon513]

It's an rpg-lite game, it would be weird if they arbitrarily chose the name for the player, but then let the player choose how their Shepard does things for the rest of the game. Those of you who voted yes probably would be interested in ME3's action mode.

 

[DoPo]

It is a problem with fully voiced games, and why I prefer text dialogue.

Yes, me too. I loved Morrowind because the text dialogue was so plenty. Compare to Oblivion where the average dialogue with a character is less than what a couple of topics you can pick with a random stranger in Morrwind.

Also, it means that choices of the player actually matter and they aren't as limited: in ME, you have three origin stories (three, right?) so you get some lines of different dialogue but overall it's not mentioned that much, you may have a couple of solutions to a problem and again, you have to make a script and dialogue for each of the consequences.

 

[AD-Stu]

It's never bothered me. For one thing, I can see exactly why they've done it and for another, it's never broken immersion for me. Some people just go by their last names and some people by nicknames. Joker, as mentioned above, is just one example. Also, very few people in the game use Anderson's first name (David), it's either Anderson, Captain Anderson, the Captain, etc.

When you remember that Shepard is a senior officer to a lot of characters in the game, using last name makes even more sense - it'd probably be considered inappropriate for many of those characters to use Shepard's first name.

 

[spectrenihlus]

Personally I can't wait for the day that technology will have advanced to the point where game characters will use a name you provided in a natural way. Until then I think that you either go just text or they give you a name.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Well, in Bioware's defense, when you get accustomed to calling someone by their last name, it tends to stick. For example, I call many of my intimate friends by their last name despite the fact that I don't have any reason to, thats just what I learned first because they were strict subordinates at one point, and not friends. Hell, I have a friend who calls her boyfriend by his last name; its just what shes always done and she hasn't broke the habit. Though I can definitely see what you are saying. Personally I wouldn't mind to much, but I kind of prefer it as it is now.