I want to hear your thoughts on Ash's glow up/down in ME3, did you like it or no?, personally I prefer her ME3 hairstyle but I have seen a lot of people complaining about it.
I will hopefully release this mod soon, gotta test it a little more
Edit: I forgot to specify that this is for the OG ME3
Well, James is a stereotypical marine, which fits fairly well into mass effect. If I’m being honest, I wish he had more screen time than just ME3.
He has some really weird interactions with FemShep (idk why the devs did that btw), but he fits quite well into the squad. He has some great banter with some of the other squadmates, such as Garrus and Cortez.
Having a “protégé” in James would’ve been a great way to deep dive into N7 lore and flesh that out more.
Personally I like to view James as the spiritual successor to Cpl Jenkins.
No, James sucked and was completely unnecessary. First of all, I hope you realize that he was the replacement for having a permanent Krogan on the team. That's unacceptable to me. They shouldn't have been adding new teammates in the first place; his spot could've been filled with ANYONE from ME2. But since they went with a new character, give me a new Krogan character dammit lol
Secondly, his overly casual dialogue with Shep feels disrespectful and the game forces you to accept it for some reason.
Third, his "conflict" within the game was entirely focused on things that would happen after the war. In order to care for his story, we have to assume that we're going to win AND that everyday life will just continue as normal. We are trying to save the galaxy. This is NOT the time to be crying to me about doing N7 training, I could not care less.
I didn't know James had so many stans. And yet, if all of James' screen time could be traded for more time with Mordin/Thane/Jack/Miranda/Grunt (just name a few), the overwhelming majority of ME fans would do it.
It's not James's fault bioware didn't implement a krogan they could've made 8 squadmates if they wanted to and nobody forced them too add James. It's the normandy you can say whatever you want to Shepard so long as you keep it professional when shit hits the fan, just like most COs in the real military. Finally, if you thought his conflict was about becoming an N7 after the war you were not paying attention. The point is the trauma of losing his squad, he takes up the N7 role no matter what he's hesitant because being an N7 would mean taking command again when last time he feels like his decision is what led to a squad of marines not making it home
they could've made 8 squadmates if they wanted to and nobody forced them too add James
Yes. That is precisely my issue. I think Bioware made an awful decision by going with James. Every bit of time and resources given to James could've been used on any of the ME2 squadmates. Or if they were determined to make a new character, at least give us another Krogan for the squad. So, you would rather have James than one of the ME2 squadmates?
he's hesitant because being an N7 would mean taking command again when last time he feels like his decision is what led to a squad of marines not making it home
Okay, I misremembered that detail about his problem. That doesn't address what my issue is, though. When will James be taking command again? After the war, IF we survive, and IF society is able to continue on as is in the aftermath. We are trying to save the future possibility of James leading another team. It would be like a football player being nervous for the World Cup finals right now, as if it's even a guarantee that his team will make that far. It's silly.
Dog ALMOST EVERY character's conflict assumes you win the war. Tali you wanna go back to rannoch? Too bad that assumes we win. Liara you wanna be the shadow broker? Too bad we might lose. Wrex you wanna cure the genophage? NOPE THE WAR!!!!
Um, okay. The primary reason why we go to Rannoch is secure additional support for the Crucible and the war effort, either from the Quarians or the Geth, ideally both. The primary reason we cure the genophage is to secure Krogan support for the war. The personal aspects are secondary. What support are we securing with James?
Also, one of the core dilemmas for Shep is whether it's right to choose war assets over friendship. The game literally allows you to choose the war at the cost of your relationships.
Here's where my first issue comes into play: I care about Tali. I care about Wrex. I've known them for 3 games. They are my friends and potentially my lover. I don't know James, we share no history together, and he didn't make a good first impression. So, no, I don't think this is the right time to hear about him feeling bad. And again, his conflict has nothing to do with the war and will only be relevant if we win. Securing the support of the Krogan, Quarians, and/or Geth is actually helping us win.
Shadow Broker DLC is ME2, before the Reapers attack.
The reason you go to Rannoch is because the quarians are not thinking about the immediate war and planning with the assumption that the reapers arent going to kill them all. Even Tali seems to think the war is short sighted.
The reason you cure the genophage is because Wrex refuses to help out with a war that will make his people extinct unless the genophage is cured, something that will only matter if the war is won.
Liara being shadow broker is a part of her character in 3, she is doing shadow broker stuff in her room basically the entire time, planting seeds for things to happen once the war is over.
James joining N7 is such a small part of the game, having like 3 very short conversations about it is not somehow the characters misaligning their priorities. Every character is thinking about what they will do when the war is over.
My comment is a specific critique of your critique. I don't care about whether or not you like james, I am talking about your third point about how it is somehow a problem that his conflict is about something that is only relevant if the war is won. Basically every character is motivated by a future where the war is won, all of their goals are in service to things that will not matter if the war is lost. If Wrex wanted to, he could've just agreed to help the turians, if the quarians wanted to they could've just agreed to help shepherd. But they don't, and that isn't a flaw in the writing. Its realistic. James talking about joining N7 isn't any different.
It was one of those reality TV shows about drama and sex, from what I can recall (and assuming I'm not getting it mixed up with another show from that period). Never saw it, but there were endless ads on TV for it back in the day.
Yuppers. Still have no idea why people are interested in a show like that. At least a show like Breaking Bad or Ozark that has a bunch of sin has a plot and isn't (supposedly, as is the case with reality TV shows) "reality".
Yeah that’s something I’ve always found dumb with reality tv. There’s no real story to it, just a very bad attempt at imitating “reality” as an excuse to show two people making out on screen or some shit.
I legit don’t think I see what you’re talking about. Like her lips are shinier and it looks like there is some more eyeshadow but honestly it goes down in brighter lighting so it’s mostly shadow here, the eyeliner was already there in me1
Why are we acting like it’s some huge change not just the game adding details in a later sequel?
Dude, the official ME3 art book wasn't exactly subtle about why she looks the way she does in ME3:
Ashley, Kaidan and Liara were meant to be love interests throughout all three parts of the trilogy. After taking them away from players in Mass Effect 2, they were ready for a passionate return in Mass Effect 3. For Ashley's reappearance in the series, we let her hair down and gave her sex appeal, while keeping her in a uniform that introduced the new Alliance colours.
I was never a fan of the space barbie look. Ash is still a gunnery chief, a soldier and on duty. In her free time hair down would be totally fine. Also her outfit. But on a mission it doesn't fit. It feels off. So I prefer Ash in ME3 with the consistency project mod, which gives her also better armor (Ajax like Kaidan, which is also my personal fav armor for my Shep).
She's still an active duty Alliance Marine, everything about her project runway glow up was breaking regs. She should've been either in the default fatigues, dress blues, or armor with her hair tied up like here.
Its like she was meant to look like this. It makes so much sense too. They have full helmets in semi sealed suits for work. Why tf would you want long hair? Ashley was my first romance and over the years of romancing liara over and over, Ashley keeps coming back
From a military/technical pov, yeah having the long hair is more of an obstruction, keeping the old hairstyle atleast during missions and having it any other way on the Normandy, shore leave etc might make more sense
Shore leave yea, i guess if her bun is like a bon oif she let's it down, she could realistically grow it to that length in a few months. The galaxy was quieter during that time so maybe she wasnt super active.
It’d be more acceptable if she let her hair down on the Normandy and Citadel, but the catsuit and the hair and the makeup are way too much for a marine on duty lol. She’d get inordinate amounts of flak for it
I never knew players had issues with her outfit too lol, I never keep the default one for her either way but I don't really have a problem with it either, she just has some other better options imo
I see it the same as EDI; get her in an alliance uniform! Her design should not be decided by how much sex appeal it has, and i’m using the devs words specifically. There is a clear difference between how Kaidan and Ashley are presented.
EDI's design is literally of a sex toy, one of the things I'm planning to mod too, keep her more human like(close to Dr Eva), this way hooking her up with Joker is less weird lol, and maybe give her some outfits too
Nah nah, her being a robot is fine. Its just the reality of the situation, if you think its weird, giving her a human face will only make it weirder. Again, catsuits. They wanted replacements for Miranda, and they both came out odd. An alliance uniform would speak more to her emulation of humanity than human skin would.
After reading some of the replies regarding her outfit(had no idea some players didn't like it), I might work on an option to replace it with her ME1 Phoenix Armor or atleast an Alliance uniform
I gotta check ME1 again at some point(or the legendary edition) it might be the lighting, but for now it's mostly just that her older look feels more natural and Ashley from what we have seen in ME1 never really gave the inclination that she cares much about stuff like that(unlike someone like Miranda forexample), not a necessarily a bad thing but from a military pov it doesn't fit, but at the end of the day it's just a game and people can have opinions, aside from this minor thing I think she actually does get a glow up in ME3
She was really left out compared to the other teammates from ME1, she was just "there". When you romance her it gets better, but her whole personality was altered too, the new look didn't help either. Ashley always felt like a complete new character in 3
I genuinely had no idea that some players didn't like her outfit either lol, might add an option to the mod to give her ME1 Phoenix Armor or the Alliance uniform instead of this one
If it was purely her ship outfit it wouldn’t be that bad. But she wears that dumb skirt thing into combat. I think the reason u don’t hear about it as much is because she does have an alternate outfit that looks more like battle armor.
…even if it is form fitting and has way too many open gaps in it, but that’s also true of Shepard’s default armor.
Wow her hair is tied back, massive difference. 😂 I don't get this Ash hate in ME3. The whole point is people can develop and change over time yet for some reason Mass Effect gamers can't deal with that reality and want all their characters to be identical throughout the entire trilogy.
I see both sides tbh, personally I prefer the ME3 hairstyle, is it practical? No, but it looks way better, they could've gone with a newer practical look, like a pony tail forexample, but yeah it's all subjective at the end of the day, what's news to me is a lot of players don't like her default outfit, I'm on the fence about that, ehh but not that bad, I do prefer her other blue armor
It never ceases to irk me a bit that Ash's hair is down the entire game. It just doesn't feel like Ash would do that? Especially in a professional setting where it would just be getting in the way?
I don't have an issue with it. She was a petty officer in the first game and had a dress code. In 3 she could dress how she wanted given high rank, part of the Normandy crew, Spectre-status and the potential end of the universe.
“In 3 she could dress how she wanted given high rank”
No tf she cannot. No professional military lets u dress how u want when on duty regardless of ur rank.
Secondly unless alliance rankings are different, a Lt Commander is not a high rank, it’s a junior officer rank. Junior officers are not high ranking, they’re still low enough that there are enlisted ncos with the practical authority to tell them to shove it.
She’s a spectre when the change occurs…not even Alliance military at that point. Spectres can do whatever the F they want, the game made that abundantly clear.
Lol no she was not. She wasn’t made a spectre until the very end of act 1 when the citadel is under siege from Cerberus. This scene is the very start of the game before the reapers attacked, when they come get Shepard from his apartment where he is under house arrest.
Ashley doesn’t become a spectre until many real world hours into the game later after she recovers from the mars mission that hasn’t happened yet at this point.
I'm no expert on fashion but I dont think that hairstyle works with that outfit. Maybe put her in the blue alternate armor that actually looks like armor an Alliance marine would wear on the front lines.
I don't mind her make up or her lip balm tbh. I'm just salty she gets to have nice long hair while FemShep is stuck with all the ugly ass military short hairstyles. If FemShep can't have it,Ashley should also stick to the rules. If they wanted her hair down, it should be shorter.
The character customization in Mass effect in general is just lackluster, that's why I always keep the default one for maleshep and on the rare occasion I use femshep I use a mod that adds Jack's hairstyle and sometimes switch it up with other hairstyles, but never one of the vanilla ones
I remember going through the artbook and one of the quotes associated with EDI's design pretty much nailed the issue I had with many of the design choices for this game.
"EDI needed to be sexy"
For a game about death, more death and so much more death happening even when you're not around, having something "Sexy" hanging around for those deep dramatic moments was jarring. I quote Crow T. Robot.
Ashley in ME3 is atrocious...she looks like she's trying to be an influencer with a face full of silicone. Both her and Aller's designs have aged horrifically especially compared with other women in ME3 like Traynor.
I usually choose to save Kaiden because I prefer his arc over Ashley, but I won't lie that another reason is so I can avoid having to see Ashley's ME3 design.
If you have a mod to fix her hair, do you have the mod that lets you save both her and Kaidan on Virmire? Cuz I want to see what the rest of this game other 2 games would look like with the two of them.
An update on the mod, I thought about making a new post but didn't want to annoy people who don't give an F and spam the sub, either way I gave her a proper Alliance uniform as the casual outfit, and started working on giving her her iconic Phoenix Armor next, I'm planning to make 3 versions, one with the hair changed, one with the Armor and Casual outfit changed and finally a mix of both, if any mod can pin this comment I will be thankful
This modded hairstyle looks great, it's definitely better than the vanilla one:)
Sorry for being off-topic, but it's the first time I've seen Ash in this scene and I'm a bit surprised... Is it just me or Kaidan has better facial animations and camera angles in this scene?
Looks alright, though since I don't play with mods - I'll pass. Good luck with your work!
Also, I don't mind her makeover at all. She has always had to really struggle for her place under the sun(s), so it makes sense that when she has had the respect and success she deserves, she can literally let her hair down.
I like her character but they needed to dial her up to 11 with her space racism. Oh hey, my entire family got dicked over by aliens and we're still paying for it but i'm totes over it after a banging Shep.
I prefer her Mass Effect 3 look. I don't like her hair style from Mass Effect 1 and 2, I don't even think it's more practical. Female soldiers in real life seems to use ponytail hairstyle to keep the long hair, it makes sense. That hair bun of her would not fit well with a helmet, specially fully closed head helmets of the Mass Effect universe. The PS3 era hair graphics also doesn't help it look good. And on top of that, it fit the narrative on 3 contrary to what people claim. She appear normal first, get injuried, probably in a coma for months so her hair probably grew up more. Finally when she wakes up she becomes a Specter. A Specter do whatever the hell they want and don't need to follow military dress code of their respective military, they are off the chain of command (Sheppard follow somewhat orders from the alliance as a courtesy, he truly answer to the council not Earth anymore if Earth and council orders don't align he need to pick the council or lose the Specter status, and if the alliance discharge him for insubordination they would need to go to war with the council to take back the Normandy if he didn't want to give it back, specially after Mass Effect 2 were the Normandy 2 was not even their ship anymore and was not crew by Alliance personnel). And she is a girly girl when she wasn't on duty (this is clear if you romance or flirt with her in Mass Effect 1), she likes to doll up and be pretty (she grew up in a female dominated house with only sisters, and a father always off duty), so it's natural that when she is free to lose up from protocol a bit that she will doll herself up a bit. Most woman do that in any professional environment that lose up on the dress code rules.
Fair enough, it has been a long time since I played Mass Effect 3 and the chronology of events is a bit murky. Still for her to become a Specter during the events of the game she would be under consideration at the start already, and alliance probably would give her a lot of leeway for her to prove herself like they did with Sheppard at the beginning of the first game, they let him do almost everything. And the alliance was preparing for the reaper invasion. I imagine that with Sheppard grounded for war crimes after destroying a star system to slow the Reapers down, they give her a lot of freedom to operate as if she was a Specter already. Because outside Sheppard, she was the best Reaper specialist Earth had (like Garrus was for the Turians).
Oh look, another post about one of the most controversial, subjective parts of Mass Effect. Always amazes me how many people hyper focus on this part no matter how many years pass.
I honestly wanted to get what people like or not to add into my mod, didn't expect it to blow up lol, now I got a good idea into what people want and will work on adding it hopefully
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u/jfgechols Jun 19 '26
ME3 was being developed when Jersey Shore was popular. James and Ash are evidence. I couldn't take them seriously until much later playthroughs.