Tali's immune system - wait, what?

[Bara_no_Hime]

Okay, so I'm playing a Male Shep in Mass Effect 2 at the moment. I'm romancing Tali. And, recently, she told me something rather odd.

Quarians wear the suits because of extreme allergic reactions.

Okay, so far so good. But then she says that being on the ships has "weakened" quarian immune systems.

Quick medical fact - an allergic reaction is an increased immune response. If you are immune compromised (your immune system is weakened) you have less severe allergic reactions.

Now, maybe she meant that being in clean ships has made their immune systems more sensitive. She's a tech, not a biologist, after all.

BUT... when she comes to Shep's room, she says that she's taken immune Boosters. That would make allergic reactions worse, not better! She'd need to take an immuno-suppressant to reduce allergic reactions. Meaning that if Tali really did take this sort of medication, then a night with Shep is even more likely to kill her.

This bothered me. Which I know is silly, willing suspension of disbelief and all that, but anyone who does a quick google search can figure this much out about immune systems, to say nothing of anyone who has medical training.

So, for discussion, did this bother anyone else?

Also, why do you think they ret-conned the immune system stuff from the first game? I was perfectly happy when quarians had weak immune systems - but in ME2 they muddied the waters. So, why do you think Bioware did that?

Edit: I love the game, and I really enjoyed the Tali relationship, but this just bugged me a bit. So yes, I enjoy the game for what it is, but this left me confused.

 

[Dogstile]

Really, all I thought was that it'd be like when the spanish went to america. She'd catch all sorts of nasty stuff of shep, therefore, immune booster.

I'm assuming the allergy stuff was a mistake.

 

[Worgen]

mainly they wanted you to be able to fuck tali without her dying from a huge bacterial infection so they rewrote the rules a lil bit

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Yeah, I noticed that too. I just took all the stuff about a 'weak' immune system as meaning that it didn't know how to deal with any problems, so it might over react or under react. I suppose then that she takes immuno boosters because if you can't predict what your immune system will do it's better that it goes too far rather than not doing enough. Or maybe immuno booster is just a cover all term for something which stabilises the immune system.

Who knows?

 

[sjrskl]

yeah this is a blatant error on the writers part didn't bother me much though. if you look close enough mass effect 2 is full of plot holes and stuff like that. the timeline got a bit screwed up as well iirc. but then again it's aesy to just look past them and enjoy the game for what it is.

 

[Jordi]

What was changed between ME1 and 2? I didn't notice anything (regarding the Quarians).

Also, being very vulnerable because of a weak immune system makes a lot of sense to me. Do they really say that they are wearing the suits because of allergies? If so, it still wouldn't really have bothered me, because I didn't know that strong immune system = strong allergic reactions.
If they said it though, I can imagine that maybe they meant that their condition was kind of like being allergic to a lot of stuff in the sense that basically everything can kill/harm them because of their weak immune systems.

 

[Actual]

She mis-used the word allergic then. Quarians have very little immune system so the germs and toxins we take for granted would kill them.

This slip on the writers part bothers me not at all

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Except she's got that other biological system - human microbes can't infect her. However, she can have an allergic reaction to them as foreign matter. So bacteria from sex with Shep isn't the issue - anaphylactic shock is.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I don't think it's an allergic reaction how we believe it to be.

Like Tali said, instead of getting chicken pox, she'd have the same reaction as if, say, she was exposed to the flu virus. Depending on exposure, luck etc, the severity would be different.

I won't try and understand the science behind it, but I just understand a Quarian's reaction to bacteria/virus as a cover all reaction, rather then contracting the same illness.

 

[pspman45]

who cares if it makes no sense, it makes a great story. it provides depth to her character

 

[KEM10]

I have more of a problem with a slack jawed terrorist group that attacks and possibly killed your entire platoon if you chose that background (Cerberus) had enough funding to rebuild the Normandy (the most advanced ship in the galaxy that costs about a whole fleet) and that you would agree to help them with anything.

 

[MetaMop]

Why does no one ever try to solve these problems with genetic engineering? Haven't humans conquered most diseases and boosted their constitution considerably?

 

[FaustianBargain]

I'm going to say it's because no one at Bioware is an immunologist. But I feel your pain, all the medical nonsense about Quarians just didn't make any sense to me either. Why do they all wear their suits at all times on every ship where a sterile environment could be maintained? Or why haven't they slowly introduced diseases and such to improve their immune systems?

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

yeah this is a blatant error on the writers part didn't bother me much though. if you look close enough mass effect 2 is full of plot holes and stuff like that. the timeline got a bit screwed up as well iirc. but then again it's aesy to just look past them and enjoy the game for what it is.

If you look at almost anything hard enough you will see faults and errors. I personally just let my suspension of disbelief carry me through the story and enjoy the game for the good stuff. (Not that I'm saying ME2's story isn't good, it's one of the best. I just think that calling them out for one or two factual queries detracts from the bigger picture of what is otherwise an excellent game).

 

[Diligent]

It is sort of ironic, this mistake coming from a company that started out developing medical software.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

who cares if it makes no sense, it makes a great story. it provides depth to her character

I care. It IS a great story, and a great relationship (I enjoyed Tali's relationship more than any other so far, including Garrus/FemShep). That said, it still bothers me.

Also, if it doesn't make sense, then that harms the realism of the story.

And finally, how does the specific biological nature of her issues "provide depth to her character" ? How she reacts to them, sure. The fact that she's willing to risk her life for a night with Shep is awesome. But couldn't the writers have taken five minutes to google allergic reactions and get it right? It actually makes a lot of sense (more sense than a weak immune system) but then she should be taking immuno-suppressants, not immune boosters.

 

[Zeema]

wouldnt it be ironic that she died of a STD and it had nothing to do with her immune system

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Why does no one ever try to solve these problems with genetic engineering? Haven't humans conquered most diseases and boosted their constitution considerably?

Ah! A very good point. That one, though, I'm willing to concede them because "enviro-suited quarians are cool". Also, I'm not sure how many biology labs they have in the immigrant fleet. Maybe some far-thinking quarian needs to bring some of that back for their pilgrimage.

 

[Canid117]

They chose their words poorly. Think of it as Tali being a tech head and so not understanding medicine very well.

It is sort of ironic, this mistake coming from a company that started out developing medical software.

All STD's involve your immune system in some way.

 

[Nimbus]

Why does no one ever try to solve these problems with genetic engineering? Haven't humans conquered most diseases and boosted their constitution considerably?

The flotilla is basically the space-age equivalent of a third world country. Most of their resources goes into getting enough parts, medicine and food to keep everyone alive. Genetically engineering an entire species, especially when they are essentially outcasts, seems beyond what they are capable of.