G2HGE BONUS : Icky clusters
Since I mentioned the gateway system issues in some clusters earlier that week, I thought I'd do a quick round-up of every single one of these instead of vague-blogging.
Hawking Eta : Century vs Chandrasekhar
In ME1, there is only one system in Hawking Eta, Century ; note that as of ME1, there are no mass relays in the Galaxy Map, but the fact there is only one system would naturally make one assume Century is the gateway system.
By ME2, however, mass relays were added to the Galaxy Map, and four additional systems were added to the cluster, one of which, Chandrasekhar was chosen to be the gateway system.
Problem : some ME2 planet descriptions in Hawking Eta name Chandrasekhar as the gateway system, but others name Century, in keeping with what seemed to be the case back in ME1.
To be more specific : Corang, in the Verr system, was seemingly too far "from the mass relay in the Century system" to be worth exploiting despite its mineral wealth ; whereas Teshub, in the Chandrasekhar system, is described as a planet "in the Hawking Eta gateway system".
In this case, it makes sense if Chandrasekhar remains the gateway system for a few reasons :
it's the more recent, active choice ;
if Century was the gateway system, it makes no sense for HMEC to develop the Chandrasekhar system and especially the He-3 facility in Hebat's orbit ;
on the other hand, Corang and the Verr system are ever further from the Chandrasekhar system than they are from the Century system, so there is no "lore hole".
Therefore, it's best to conclude that back in ME1, the Century system was the only "system of interest", and not the gateway system, which was chosen as the whole cluster was expanded for ME2.
The Ismar Frontier : Aquila vs Faia
The gateway system in the Ismar Frontier is the uninhabited Aquila system… but the Faia system :
has been extensively exploited since "the initial settlement of Illium"…
…which is described as being in the "nearby Tasale system", though it could only be called "nearby" if the Faia system and Illium's Crescent Nebula were connected by a mass relay connection…
…which is pretty much stated outright in Hito's entry, which mentions "Faia's mass relay" and "the Faia gateway system"…
…and Hito is described as "heavily developed by rival helium-3 mining concerns" which slots really nicely with the description of the gas giant Naxell in the Tasale system (Illium's system and the Crescent Nebula's gateway system) that states that "[several] smaller energy corporations shut out of the big market in the Faia gateway system are attempting to develop a local helium-3 fuel mining infrastructure to service Illium. … Their efforts have been hampered by the extralegal pressure the 'H-3 Cartels' [sic] in Faia system [sic] can bring to bear".
Problem : even though the mass relay on the galaxy map is in the Aquila system, every single planet description states the Faia system is the gateway system ; if it wasn't, the descriptions of the development and politics of both the Faia system and Illium's Tasale system do not make sense.
The problem can be readily understood if we step back from the Watsonian perspective and shift back to a Doylist understanding : Faia is the system which contains Zorya, the setting for Zaeed's loyalty mission — which only became available with the ME2 DLC including Zaeed. Zaeed, however, was supposed to be present in the base game, which the development of ME2 as well as the mention of the Faia system in "Naxell" can testify.
Therefore, the original plan was to ship the base ME2 game with Zaeed and the Ismar Frontier containing the Faia system as its gateway system ; however, after Zaeed became DLC material, the Faia system was omitted and the base ME2 game had only two systems left in the Ismar Frontier, one of which, Aquila, was chosen to get the mass relay for the Galaxy Map. The release of the DLC didn't shift the location of the mass relay, even though, by all indications, it should have been.
The Krogan DMZ : Aralakh vs Dranek
The gateway system is in the krogan home system, Aralakh… but the entry in Dor (in the Dranek system) explicitly states that it is in the cluster's gateway system, which is why it was chosen as the headquarters for the Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission's (CDEM) patrol ships.
Problem : it doesn't make sense to place the CDEM's HQ in the Dranek system if it isn't the gateway system, as it makes it very difficult to "[log] all ships passing through the Krogan Demilitarized Zone, and … board and search them for contraband at any time and for any reason." BUT…! If we place the gateway system into Dranek as opposed to Aralakh, we create a new inconsistency : we have to explain why the Reapers, who nearly systematically place mass relays in the home systems of species they intend to harvest next cycle (primary relays : asari, salarians, turians, volus, quarians, batarians ; secondary relays : humans) wouldn't do it with the krogan. That being said, there is a precedent, as the Reapers "snubbed" two other species : the elcor come from the Phontes system but the mass relay is over in the Kypladon system, and the vorcha come from the Kyzil system but the relay is over in the Xe Cha system.
Sigurd's Cradle : Skepsis vs literally anywhere else
The gateway system is the Skepsis system, which contains the garden world Watson, simultaneously settled by three different Earth states in 2165.
Problem : the cluster has been heavily settled, with important turian and asari colonies (added in ME3) all over the cluster, at least one of these (Triginta Petra) predating First Contact with humans in 2157 by nearly forty years, meaning the cluster was accessible by then. The cultural importance of the asari colonies of Chalkhos, Selvos and especially Terapso makes it unlikely those are young colonies. Therefore, if the whole cluster was easily accessible before 2165, why the hell did everyone overlook a garden world in the gateway system in the rush to settle other planets ?
This makes no sense in Watsonian terms (ha). In Doylist terms, of course, the problem is that the cluster first appeared in ME2 with only two systems, both settled by humans (though "Laena" suggest non-human interactions), then was expanded for ME3 in a hurry.
I tend to imagine that Mil (where the three asari colonies are) is much better suited for a logical gateway system choice.
If I took the time I might find more examples, but I'm too lazy to do it.