jpub Wrote:3) This one requires a bit more explanation:... But then we'd miss out on a lot of the really fun non-human characters. Like Tali. That'd be kind of a bummer, and you'd be really hard pressed to come up with characters to fill in those kinds of voids.
According to the lore in the game, Humanity had only been part of the Galactic community for a fairly short time before the cycle ended. IIRC, the First Contact War with the Turians was only 25 years ago, and Humanity had only been exploring relays for a few years before that.
This is an awfully tight timeframe considering that the Cycle was due to end right around 2200. So, what if the purge had started well before humans discovered the Mars Archive, and since the Charon relay was still encased in ice, the Reapers had no reason to come purge Earth? What would it had been like if humans were the first race to explore the ruins of these civilizations MERE DECADES after the purge had been completed? Would there still be enough evidence that they'd be warned? Would a civilization that's had the full cycle to mess with the tech have an advantage?
Not that I don't like the idea. Actually, now that I'm thinking of it, it would actually be a whole new cast of characters...
...You know what? I just realized something. The main setting of the story should not be in the scant couple of decades after the purge. It should be the decade of the next purge. And all throughout, you can leave scattered entries from mission logs and journals of people that went out there and found the tragic remains of all those societies... and the mounting evidence of what happened until someone makes that climactic connection. It'd be like a side-plot.
But the plot of the main story line? That discovery was lost somehow, but there are still clues that point at it. Our story would start out much like ME itself does, and with everyone knowing that at some point everyone got wiped out somehow... but the how and why is still out there, locked away on some shipwreck's computer. The data on this computer is credible - it shows no signs of being tampered with and the scientists on the expedition were very credible themselves. Once it is discovered... the shit hits the fan and Humanity and their allies go into DEFCON 1 to prepare for the coming of the Reapers... and this time they're gonna be ready.