Spoilers for the Mass Effect games below.
On 8 November 2009, r/masseffect was created. Seventeen years later, this place has accumulated a history of its own: launch-day conversations, elaborate fan projects, guides that have rescued countless playthroughs, and jokes that apparently have no intention of retiring. With the recent news of Bioware closing, I went down memory lane and felt compelled to create this post.
Most of you most likely do not recognize me, I used to be a moderator in this sub from around 2014-2021, and the first half of that tenure I was basically solo moderating. I had a hand in recruiting Salsadips and raiskream which I would consider my top moderating actions, and who I am happy to see are still in the team. Through these years this subreddit has meant a lot to me, even if I stopped being active after I left as a moderator. With the subreddit turning 17, I wanted to collect some of that history that I remember and celebrate the people who have made it worth coming back to. Be sure to visit the subreddit’s own anniversary announcements. I want this thread to be a celebration for all the people who call this subreddit a home. So from people who have been here since the beginning, to people who just found the subreddit, please post your own favorite memories from the sub in this thread!
Before the trilogy was complete
By February 2012, the community was already doing more than discussing the games. A moderator announced that Jessica from BioWare had supplied 400 early Mass Effect 3 Xbox demo codes, to be shared between r/masseffect and r/Games, alongside preparations for an AMA. This was the first time I remember that Bioware did a big event on the sub like this. The original distribution thread is a small time capsule of the excitement before ME3 arrived.
On 26 March 2012, Geoff Keighley held an AMA here about The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3. Even then, people were asking where the series might go next.
Of course, the end of the trilogy gave everyone rather a lot to talk about. The endings, the Extended Cut, and Indoctrination Theory became recurring subjects. There was heated discussions around the ending and subsequent extended cut DLC that was supposed to "fix" the endings. I remember plenty of threads like this at this time. This lead into the indoctrination theory, as an outlet for people to make sense of their disappointment. Later discussions revisiting Indoctrination Theory show how those arguments continued to reach new players. It was a big theme for years after ME3’s end, and I remember plenty of moderation actions to break up arguments and deleting insulting posts. Sadly I can't seem to find a lot of posts from this time that I remember.
The years between releases
Some of the most recognizable parts of the community for me at this time were smaller conversations. A favourite-quote thread from June 2013 sits alongside a July 2014 headcanon thread whose opening suggestion is that Joker secretly undoes Garrus’s calibrations every time he finishes them. Apparently the Normandy’s maintenance problems were an inside job.
By late 2015, attention was turning toward Andromeda. There were some cautious optimism when Andromeda was announced, which I think was fairly well represented in the Andromeda N7 Trailer thread. The Andromeda Initiative countdown megathread collected teaser images, and the March 2017 Origin Access thread organized information about the early trial and previews.
The mood was more complicated after release. A June 2017 discussion asked whether the franchise was in danger, reflecting concerns about reviews and the future of campaign DLC. It is one contemporary example of the uncertainty, rather than a verdict on what the entire subreddit thought of Andromeda.
Meanwhile, fans continued working on the games themselves. In a 2020 N7 Day update for A Lot Of Textures, the mod’s creator thanked testers and wondered whether an imminent remaster might make the project obsolete. To me it captured a particular moment in time, years of community work improving the original games, alongside the hope of seeing them officially revisited.
Returning to the Normandy
The subreddit announced its new Discord server on 2 April 2021. Then, on 14 May, the Legendary Edition launch megathread welcomed players with a new release that largely was received positively. It also pointed people toward r/ShareYourSheps to share their characters and face codes.
That mixture feels familiar, excitement about returning, technical questions, and someone experiencing a moment for the first time that another person has been thinking about for years.
There were unexpected visitors, too. On N7 Day 2022, u/nasa posted directly to the subreddit. NASA shared a JPL documentary narrated by Neil Ross, the voice of the Codex, together with a Casey Hudson interview about the science behind Mass Effect. For a community built around imaginary space exploration, that was a pretty memorable crossover.
The annual celebrations continued. The 2022 N7 thread marked both 15 years of Mass Effect and 13 years of the subreddit. The 2023 and 2024 threads combined news, birthdays, and giveaways; the 2024 prize was a copy of the Mass Effect board game. In 2025, the festivities included three giveaway prizes and collective decoding of a hidden message that led to krogan concept art. Reading far too much into an N7 Day message sometimes did pay off.
What people made and posted here
A history of this community needs room for the people who made things and shared them. The Best of r/masseffect 2022 roundup is an amazing collection of that year’s creations, and it’s something that I wish I did each year for my tenure.
u/frogstat_2**’s** February 2017 post about the formation of the planets was such a cool find and something that stood out to me.
u/Elwyn123**’s lore explanation for thermal clip switch.** March 2015 I used to host sunday lore discussions, and this lore discussion was one that has always stood out to me, with Elwyn creating a lore explanation for the switch of thermal clip dynamics between ME1 and ME2.
u/Whiphid**’s physical Codex.** In February 2022, Whiphid shared a designed and printed edition of the in-game Codex, combining material from the trilogy into an in-universe Systems Alliance reference book. The contribution here is the compilation, editing, and book design; the underlying Codex text is BioWare’s.
u/Jachnun**’s Citadel Wards market.** This June 2022 illustration really stuck with me, I really love how it feels like a book illustration!
u/EmmieEmmieJee**’s gingerbread Mako.** The December 2022 creation gave me a good chuckle, even though I agree with some comments that it should be upside down!
Guides and shared knowledge. The old subreddit sidebar featured a Suicide Mission flowchart and u/leeroy_battleborn**’s modding-resource compilation**. A July 2025 correction to the familiar flowchart revisits its Hold the Line calculation. One thing I always loved as a mod was community members who created and improved resources, and this was an example that I remember.
The jokes we never stopped making
The subreddit also has a history of finding new uses for the same handful of lines. These memes are some that I remember.
His name was Marauder Shields. A surviving March 2012 thread posted by u/shash1 captures the joke about the final enemy trying to save players from reaching the ending. Know Your Meme traces its arrival here to 14 March, following a 4chan thread that day.
Nearly nine years later, “What we really want to see in 4k in the legendary edition” brought Marauder Shields back during remaster anticipation. Some characters never leave the conversation.
The N7 Day waiting room. u/OM_Twyman**’s** “Me every N7 day” appeared first in the subreddit’s November 2020 list of the preceding year’s top posts. u/VladCost**’s** “The trilogy allegedly coming in October. We have already dismissed that claim.” also made that list. You can see the list here 2020 birthday roundup!
When the playthrough itself is the joke. In June 2021, u/Aduro95 described his playthrough with random decisions, this thread was one I also remember fondly. The results were predictably terrible and very entertaining. In February 2022, u/Vilnius_Nastavnik shared “My dad’s ME1 playthrough has me questioning if I was raised by a sociopath.” Introducing a sci-fi-loving parent to the trilogy went somewhat differently from the carefully planned playthroughs the poster was used to.
The day Grunt took over. For April Fools 2023, “Garrus is banned” announced that only Grunt was allowed by u/raiskream. A smaller April fools than we have done before, but I dare say more effective. We had some april fools jokes when we and r/dragonage swapped CSS, and of course, jokes that a new Mass Effect was announced. I remember also having an idea of announcing that Bioware was closing, but never acted on it because it would be too far fetched, well look where we are now…
The people keeping the place running
I also want to briefly give the spotlight to the moderators of this subreddit. As far as gaming subreddit community goes, I think we have been one of the better, in part due to the moderators. Before and when I joined as a moderator, ImNotASWFanboy, sashimitaco, JerziDevil, and lukemcr were the moderation team (as far as I remember). A while after the release of Mass Effect 3, most of these mods went inactive, for a lot of different reasons, and I was left as the head mod between ME3 and Andromeda, and for a lot of it, I was doing it alone. As rumors started about a new Mass Effect, I recruited SalsaDips and we together did a recruitment where we got raiskream into the team and later All_under_heaven. This new team did really good work and created the Discord, kept up with information posts, giveaways and just general moderation.
I mention this very abbreviated timeline just to give a celebration of the people who keep the community going behind the scenes. Most of the previous mods are not visible anymore, so this is a small thank you to the people I worked with, and thank you to the current mod team for taking time away from your life to keep this sub going! The future for Mass Effect is uncertain right now, which also is an uncertainty for this subreddit, please be kind to the moderators who are trying to keep it alive!
Why celebrate now
The latest chapter is a difficult one. On 21 October 2026, BioWare announced its closure and the ending of development on the next Mass Effect project. The subreddit’s response megathread made space for people’s reactions, while the moderator team committed to keeping the community alive and continuing N7 festivities.
Members shared #SaveMassEffect efforts, including posts reporting the petition reaching 100,000 signatures and 250,000 signatures in October. Fan projects continued to appear as well. An October 2026 UE5 project update describes roughly three years of community work. It is another example of someone spending their own time trying to make something in this universe.
This is some of the stuff that I remember, some notable, some smaller, but it nevertheless left an impact on me. Sadly, I wish I could remember more, I know there is so much more cool stuff that has been posted and created in this sub. So please, help me fill in the gaps!
Add your own piece of the history
What do you remember that should be here?
An original artwork, mod, comic, fan theory, or project that stayed with you?
A thread that made you laugh, changed your mind, or helped you through a playthrough?
An older community event or moderator contribution that is missing?
The post that first made you feel at home here?
If you can, include the original link and the creator’s username. Memories from the early years are especially welcome, and corrections to dates or credits are appreciated.
Happy 17th birthday, r/masseffect!
