20761 réponses à ce sujet

[Tup3x]

@draken-heart

Wha... Ei helvetissä! (Hell no!)

Edit:
TopShep

Modifié par Tup3xi, 06 juillet 2012 - 09:16 .

[chevyguy87]

Delerius_Jedi wrote...

So all in all the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut was a mixed experience for me. It made the presentation of certain elements better, but the weaknesses, inconsistencies and plot holes regarding theme and lore were sadly completely untouched. ME3 released with a poor, nonsensical ending. The Extended Cut makes a lot more sense but is still a poorly conceived ending, in dire need of an editor.
/$0.02

After reading what you posted several times, I will raise my glass to you sir, for detailing most of my descrepencies with the EC. I believe that the EC makes me dislike the endings even more now, so I guess Desiree will never get to live happily with Kaidan. Since Bioware chose to end her story by leaving it open to the imagination rather then putting it on screen, I have almost no desire to touch ME3 again.  Which is a shame because ME1 was brilliant ME2 was even more brilliant and up until Priority Earth, ME3 was genius, but they were too wrapped up with Space Hitler, and let the story fall right off the edge of a cliff in less then 15 minutes.

Modifié par chevyguy87, 06 juillet 2012 - 10:39 .

[Obsidian Gryphon]

Flyby ...

[nranola]

raziel1980 wrote...

@nranola: GOOD to see the cute n adorable Jennelynn back in action! 

Thank you! I'm glad to see her back too. It's been far too long~ I've only just recently started to try texmodding though so it's taking that much longer for me to progress her story. I don't think I'll ever go back to a no-texmod game now that I've had a taste. xD

Speaking of which, I love what you've done with Allison! She looks stunning with her hair set down.

[Arkwright99]

@meonlyred: congrats on finishing Zody's ME1 game; fantastic images. What level did Zody finish on? Btw, great silhouette screenshot of Zody and friends.

@yuikidama: Consuela and Samantha will make a lovely couple (not sure how that LI will play out in the new EC ending though, seeing as how Traynor never gets any shore leave ).

@razviolet: great picture of Mercy hijacking the Atlas mech.

@Ashoken: nice picture of young Lida on EP.

@Hadeedak: love the caption for the 'Gun and a sad' picture, Yoshimi's heritage really coming to the fore there.

@Tup3xi : Great TopShep.

draken-heart wrote...

how would all fem!Shepard players react if
she was offered the human Council Seat? How would you want your
Shepard's LI to react?

How would Jennifer react? She'd say, "That's an interesting proposition - oh hang on, I've just got a call coming through, d'you mind if I just take this outside?" [walks away] "T'Soni? Get your ass down to Docking Bay D24 pronto; we've gotta get out here!"


I'm afraid I'm going to break the five pictures per post rule but I hope you'll agree it's worth it:

A captain and her pilot:


Reaper IFF boarding party:


A geth's eye view of Shepard-Commander:


With a gun this big you don't need bullets; you just club the creeps over the head with the pointy end!


That's just like a Renegade, bringing the Cain to a knife fight!


'Move your ass, Zero! Commander coming through!'

Modifié par demos99, 06 juillet 2012 - 03:48 .

[SaturnRing]

Delerius_Jedi wrote...

Tup3xi wrote...

Any PS3 players here? If the retail version works as poorly as the demo, Bioware definitely failed hard with PS3 version. I downloaded thw demo yesterday (since I do not have my PC with me) and I could not believe how badly it run. Cinematic were slide show and the poor performance made shooting hard. It uses bilinear filtering for textures. Unbeliveable. It runs much, much faster on Intel
HD 4000 (!). So, avoid the PS3 version. People are not exaggerating the performance issues at all.

A friend of mine was unfortunate enough to have bought the PS3 version - the demo is indicative of the final code, just as with Dragon Age 2. So yes, the game does run completely terribly in spite of all the visual downgrades BioWare already did on that version.

I've downloaded the ME2 demo for my ps3 and compared with my 360 version and i can confirm that it runs better on 360 and pc; beside lighting...I will do the same comparison for ME3 demo some time today...

[Roamingmachine]

draken-heart wrote...

how would all fem!Shepard players react if she was offered the human Council Seat? How would you want your Shepard's LI to react?

Suprising everyone, Sarah did take the offer (I picked red so Sarah is still very much alive  ).Hardass she may be, but she understands that her duty after the war is to keep the galaxy from tearing itself apart.A task she was eminently suited for after a career of fixing other peoples problems, negotiatin peace treaties between ancient enemies and generally keeping a lid on the galaxys many problems.Also, she is pretty much the only living non-krogan the krogan actually respect.An important attribute now that Wrex and Bakara are leading the krogan on a reneissance.Illustrated here is how her negotiations with the krogan usually look on the outside:
But its all in good fun   Grunt and Sarah are good friends.

As for Liara, i think she would be happy that Sarah is not getting shot at quite so often.Her years of civilizing the street-rat ruthless Shepard finally paid off

[SaturnRing]

Delerius_Jedi wrote...

Lots of great pics and thoughts being shared here, it's a pleasure to see

- machiavellian snip -
The Wall of Logic is basically me being faced with the undeniable fact that we have two games in this series which argues directly against two of the three options. The entire story of the Illusive Man in ME2 and ME3 is designed to show the fallacy of Control as yet another Reaper trap, it’s reinforced countless times throughout those games, starting at the Collector Base in ME2 when he’s all too eager to get his hands on the tech there and again on Thessia where the Prothean VI *specifically* mentions that in their time they had their own version of Cerberus, saying the exact same things, who were indoctrinated. There is nothing in the story that indicates that Control would be a more viable option for Shepard, other than the writers trying to make the player feel “special” by having the Catalyst offer the choice and telling the player how awesome their Shepard is and that naturally *they* can take control. It’s just not convincing within the context of the story.

Likewise, Synthesis makes me run headfirst into the Wall of Logic as well because this whole agenda of melding and combining organics and machine is of course…Saren’s agenda. And just as with TIM, Saren was indoctrinated, making Synthesis decidedly a Reaper agenda, and ME3 makes it clear that this is the Catalyst’s preferred result, and since it’s now established that the Catalyst controls the Reapers, it’s also the Reapers’ preferred result. This again, makes it something to not choose, since it fits the design of a genocidal, insane AI construct. And of course it’s still enforcing this huge change on everyone in the galaxy without any real idea of whether or not it will actually bring peace or if it’s just the Catalyst wanting its science project to succeed.

So for me that leaves Destroy – using the Deus Ex Machina and Space Magic of the Crucible to do what we set out to do ever since Sovereign showed up – Destroy the Reapers. I will be honest, I feel like it was a complete cop-out on the part of BioWare to just attach the death of all other synthetics to Destroy, simply because it seems cheap: “Oh you want to do what you spent the whole series preparing for? HAHA, it will take your friends! *twirls mustache*” is basically what I felt when I saw that little caveat. Destroy all Reaper technology, since the Crucible was allegedly built to destroy the Reapers, sure, but ALL synthetics? Really, BioWare? That being said, I’ve head-canoned my way out of that pickle, since it’s specifically said in Admiral Hackett’s VO that all that was lost can be rebuilt, so I simply extend that to EDI and the Geth. And I would have picked Destroy if it had been the Asari or Turians, because it's a sacrifice worth making to end the Reapers.And destroying them is the only way to absolutely guarantee the Reapers are stopped, due to the aforementioned uncertainties regarding Control and Synthesis.
So ultimately, Lia Shepard picked herself up and prepared to go out along with the Catalyst and the Reapers


But wait, DJ – didn’t you say you’d mention the fourth ending?!?

- machiavellian snip -

I came to the conclusion that destroy was the only choice for my Shepards - for now - time may alter my perception of the endings. i see however Synthesis and control as the pinnacle for selflessness. It basically takes someone bigger and better than my Sheps to understand their true meaning. A serious penchant for pragmatism - and a little dose of selfishness/self preservation too -  makes my Jane (or deirdre if i finally decide to play her) view  destroy as a more familiar and safer choice. 

Modifié par SaturnRing, 06 juillet 2012 - 04:18 .

[SaturnRing]

LadyAly wrote...


I suppose I made far too much screenies from Reynas final run.. so it has to be posted in pieces 

I love her determined, concentrated gaze before  order the attack .... and 
 

the farewell gaze to Joker - her Bro, trusty Companion and friend 
 

Lovely pics.

Jane Shepard wrote...

Watching Jane endure so much pain with so much courage makes my heart bleed.

I read M3 ending - Jane's reflections...I see her (Jane) as the ultimate Paragon and an inspiration.

Modifié par SaturnRing, 06 juillet 2012 - 03:52 .

[razviolet]

SebAusFR wrote...

Do we have a Shepard with a ballet dancer background here?

razviolet wrote...
I made a quick video of sentinel game play on Insanity in London for those interested. It's probably longer than you would want to watch and is played to some corny music. If you  have any questions just let me know. Sentinel Game Play

I watched it. Insanity difficulty looks... insane. I remember struggling enough with the street fight in the veteran difficult (is that it's name? don't remember) the first time... What is your weight setting? Your powers reload quickly so I guess you must be in the positive there? The spike thrower is awesome (my main gun in my vanguard playthrough) but it's quite heavy, as far as I remember?

It is pretty heavy. I have +62 recharge plus any reduction I could find within my power trees. Liara also gives me a +10% recharge speed. Both of my weapons are at lvl 5 which reduces their weight.

Actually I do have a question. In the control ending (both paragon and renegade), if you have cured the Genophage and Wreav is the Krogan leader, it seems that there's a risk that he starts a war (especially if Eve dies). Do you think that  God-Shepard use the Reapers threat to stop that?

That's a tough call and no matter what Shep decides to do she would be criticized for it. Cora would probably weed out the idiots such as Wreav and kill them since without aggressive leadership the Krogan wouldn't be near as much of a threat. She would watch their species closely for further aggressive behavior and stomp them out accordingly. The last thing she wants is the Krogan trying to start another war while the galaxy recovers from the reaper invasion. I would say placing a couple destroyer class reapers on world would be enough to play watch dog. It wouldn't deter them but it would allow her to have a direct eye on them.

Cora originally sabotaged the genophage but I head-cannon that with her immense reaper knowledge she sent the schematics to fix it to Mordin and killed Wreav through contacts in the Krogan female camp to keep her involvement on his death under the radar. She wanted to right the wrong she had done to the Krogan a second time because as a whole species they didn't deserve the genophage.

@raziel1980: I always have to take Liara and Garrus onto Surr Kesh. It's even better if Wrex is alive. I love all the trolling at Liara and the salarian's expense. and thanks!

Awesome pics of Allison as always:wub:

@LadyAly: Great shots in London, very emotional

Modifié par razviolet, 06 juillet 2012 - 03:48 .

[LadyAly]

 

Tup3xi wrote...

@draken-heart

Wha... Ei helvetissä! (Hell no!)

Edit:
TopShep

 

<3 <3<3 Jump in style is the way  

thx for the comments  :happy: 
Reyna fighting her way  to the Beam 

carefully lurking around a corner is da win 
 

Meeep - Banshee's and Marauders   
 

damnit the Missile didn't hit ...
 

What did you say .... Harbinger ? !! 
 

then let it be so - its now or never 

Modifié par LadyAly, 06 juillet 2012 - 04:26 .

[SebAusFR]

raziel1980 wrote...
@SebAusFR : More shots of the lovely Kyla? YES, PLEASE!  

They are coming Liked a lot your last pics with Allison, by the way! Actually, it's enticing me to try do mod at some point in the future to see what Kyla would look like with her hair down.

LadyAly wrote...
@SebAusFR *giggle* no balletdancer - but as I stated above - a stylish jump can be art - true ? 

It can, yes.

Alright. Played a bit tonight, took a lot of pics. Hard to select...

Hosting a meeting with the leaders of 3 major races, she's already trying to figure out how to get the Krogan support without actually curing the Genophage. She does not trust Wreaw...


Here are the colours for Sur'kesh!


A close-up. Overall, this pic looks quite good with those colours!


Contemplating the future of the Krogans... will she change her opinion on them?


Come here!


Looking satisfied after snaping Eve out of Cerberus' hands.


And a sneak-peak at the colours for the Rachni mission

Modifié par SebAusFR, 06 juillet 2012 - 04:54 .

[draken-heart]

draken-heart wrote...

how would all fem!Shepard players react if she was offered the human Council Seat? How would you want your Shepard's LI to react?

for all those that answered, Maybe, but who else in the alliance would be a good choice? and if Shepard is a paragon and chose destroy, it could work

as for my fem!Shepard, Katelynn, she would probably at least consider it for awhile (she is a paragon) and Sam would probably try to convince her to go for it. 

[Jane Shepard]

draken-heart wrote...

how would all fem!Shepard players react if she was offered the human Council Seat? How would you want your Shepard's LI to react?

Well, my Shepard would never agree to become a Councilor. Jane is a Spectre and that's enough for her. She doesn't like politics and doesn't understand it. Also she can't imagine herself without her team and the Normandy. both her LIs (Kaidan and Jacob) would be very surprise. but agree with her in the end.

@raziel1980
Thanks Yep, this time. Control became my second favorite ending
Your Alison amazes me! She is adorable! <3:wub:

@Tup3xi
Cool short of Tiia! Love her

@Ashoken
Lida looks great!

@LadyAly
Yay for more Reyna! All your FemSheps are gorgeous!

@SebAusFR
She is fantastic!

@SaturnRing
Actually my Jane is Paragade She can be rude sometimes with people like TIM or Udina, can say something without thinking. But she tries to be good
And thanks a lot for your comment! Yep, she made her choice... all three "Refuse" would be her worst nightmare, so she will never shoose it. Jane's best is Synthesis because she wanted both Organics and Synthetics to understand each other, she didn't want to kill her friend EDI. Also my Shepard can't kill if her enemy doesn't want to fight. One of the reasons why I don't like Destroy ending.


Here is my FemShep question. I wonder what does your FemShep (or FemSheps) think about Refuse? Did she choose it? Or maybe she thought to turn back, but forced herself to move on?

As for Jane... She was scared... Very scared... But she knew, if she won't do it, no one will. For her it was a choice between dying but saving the rest and dying with Earth and all the others. She couldn't allow this to happen.

Modifié par Jane Shepard, 06 juillet 2012 - 05:59 .

[CrazyRah]

Jane Shepard wrote...

Here is my FemShep question. I wonder what does your FemShep (or FemSheps) think about Refuse? Did she choose it? Or maybe she thought to turn back, but forced herself to move on?

Sarah never actually considered it. She had to do something and her mission was to stop the Reapers. The mission is something she will never abandon. With determination and great anger she went towards Destroy and the rest is history... Reapers dead

[SaturnRing]

Jane Shepard wrote...

Actually my Jane is Paragade She can be rude sometimes with people like TIM or Udina, can say something without thinking. But she tries to be good

I consider being rude to them a Paragon act.
As for your question my Jane thought about it; she always reviews all options even if they seem unlikely. In the end the fate of too many poeple rely on the Reapers threat being resolve one way or the other. So she will probably pick destroy on her second playthrough

Modifié par SaturnRing, 06 juillet 2012 - 06:23 .

[Elanor]

@LadyAlly - "@Elanor1 Oh - Cortez can die ? Maybe I did always help him at the memorial wall - so I was sure always he lives "
I knew I forget about something! Memorial wall - I must missed it. On my first playtrough he lives.

[JamieCOTC]

draken-heart wrote...

how would all fem!Shepard players react if she was offered the human Council Seat? How would you want your Shepard's LI to react?

UJ would accept, but I'm still undecided as to her fate. As to what Liara would actually think about it, I think she would be okay with it. Though w/ Liara as the Shadow Broker and UJ a Councilor, the temptation to start running the galaxy would be great indeed. Hopefully they can keep each other honest.


Though UJ would accept, she would probably keep her arms and armor close by in case there's a need for a little "Cowboy Diplomacy".

Of the ones who are gone, Jaime would step up to the challenge, but Diane would likely decline. Erica and April, the Sheps alive, would not want anything to do w/ politics. April would likely retire somewhere w/ Garrus while Erica would make the Alliance her career, after marrying Kaidan

[Roamingmachine]

Jane Shepard wrote...

Here is my FemShep question. I wonder what does your FemShep (or FemSheps) think about Refuse? Did she choose it? Or maybe she thought to turn back, but forced herself to move on?

"With my last breath, I spit at thee; For hate's sake, I stab at thee!..." - Captain Ahab "Moby Dick"

Sarah considered many choice words to throw at the sad, broken machine spewing nonsense at her, but the thought of Liara kept her on course.That course was the death of the reapers.Only controll tempted her, but once again the blue angel on her shoulder persuaded her otherwise.She knew EXACTLY what kind of 'supreme being' she would be (the ominous music really tells the whole story for my Sarah should she ever choose it).

[Tup3x]

@demos99, LadyAly and Jane Shepard

Thanks fellas! Just wait for my blurry PS3 phone shots... XD

Nice shots everyone!

Modifié par Tup3xi, 06 juillet 2012 - 09:25 .

[Fraevar]

Rikketik wrote...
So this whole "Saren wants Synthesis" theory is based on one line from Sovereign who uses a completely indoctrinated Saren to persuade Shepard into laying down his weapons? Wow, convincing!

No, it's actually based on several exchanges throughout the last act of ME1.

Virmire [Saren Dialogue]: "Sovereign is a machine: It thinks like a machine - if I prove useful, I become a ressource worth maintaining. If organic life is to survive, we must also prove our worth: We must work with the Reapers."

Thus, Saren at the Virmire level is speaking more of appeasement than synthesis, but he's still completely dominated by the "rational need" to bow down before the Reapers and accept whatever their agenda is.

But on the Citadel, Saren changes his tone towards discussing the machine/organic hybridization. The difference? He's been implanted with Reaper tech by Sovereign in the meantime: "The doubts began to eat away at me, Sovereign sensed my hesitation - I was implanted to strengthen my resolve. Now my doubts are gone: I believe in Sovereign completely."

Since the ME3 EC specifically equates the Catalyst with the Reapers there honestly is no logical reason to believe that Synthesis as proposed by the Catalyst is anything other than simply a more advanced version of the programming Sovereign was using on Saren. In spite of the happy slides we have absolutely no way of knowing what's really going on and whether or not we're simply overriding everyone's free will with a "utopian" program as defined by the Catalyst. So no, the lore of the series does not give any particular reasoning for trusting the Catalyst with regards to Synthesis, and it's a fairly logical argument to say that the events of ME1 directly argue against choosing it.

/$0.02

[Rikketik]

So, chapter VI of Berlitz' story: About madness in a monastery and one dangerous dreadnaught.

-----------

"Goddess, that was... wonderful, Shepard."

"I'll say! Hey, want a cigarette?"

"No, I don't smoke... and since when do you?"

"Since I saw them do it in a vid called 'Vaenia'. Ever heard of it?"

"... Never mind. Say, I know this isn't the best timing, but I've got a message of Asari High Command."

"Oh? What did they want?"

"Formally? Nothing. But they've send me information about a distress signal, which several Asari Commando squads were investigating before they seemingly disappeared. They didn't outright say it, but I think they are asking for our help."

"Well, let's get to it then. EDI, did you get the coordinates?"

"I did, Shepard. I will plot a course right away. Oh, and I hope you had pleasant night. It certainly looked like you had."

"Wait, were you spying on us, EDI?"

"Shepard asked me to record everything, Liara."

"WHAT?!"

"...that was a joke."

*

As it they were going to investigate an Asari colony, Shepard figured she might as well bring Liara along with her. Kaidan filled the spot of third and last squadmate because his excellent biotic capabilities mixed well with those of Liara and her own. His Overload ability was also a plus.

Once in the shuttle it quickly became apparent that they weren't going to investigate 'just another colony'. This was a monastery... for Ardat-Yakshi. They also soon found out that they weren't the only ones there. Another shuttle was parked at the landing pad and, according to Kaidan, it was still warm. Wonderful.

More good news in the monastery itself. The lights weren't working and neither was the elevator. And to top it all, there were screams. Horrible screams that pierced skin and bone. Luckily Berlitz was wearing her dark armor, so nobody would see it if she accidentally pissed herself. Aside from that she was still feelin good, though. It was only when they found out what exactly the Asari had planned to do with this monastery and its inhabitants that she started to feel a bit... cranky.



You'd think she would be used to incompetence after years of dealing with dimwits. Maybe she wouldn't have minded as much if the stakes weren't that high. Why was Asari High Command flinging their commandos to this monastery like poo to a wall like they didn't have anything better to do anyway? Because instead of just evacuating the place when the treat of the Reapers became evident, the Asari apparently thought it was a good idea to wait for the Reapers to invade and then blow the place up instead. The consequence: a whole lot of dead commandos and probably even more indoctrinated Ardat-Yakshi. Yay!

Moving on, Berlitz came to regret bringing Liara with her. To be confronted with what the Reapers did to her fellow Asari... Of course, it was something that almost al major races in the galaxy were forced to deal with, humans and the husks, Krogan and Turians with the brutes and marauders, but still... These 'banshees', as they were called, were the most horrible result of what the Reapers could do to you yet. How much worse could this war get?

At least they also found out who was the owner of that shuttle on the landing pad. It was none other than Samara, who came to safe her two remaining daughters. Of course, when things go up they also must come down, so Berlitz was hardly surprised when one of her daughters was already well on her way to becoming a banshee herself. They - Samara, her other daughter Falere and Berlitz and her team - found her in the great hall were the bomb was placed. She wasn't fully indoctrinated yet, though, and she volunteered to stay behind and detonate the bomb. Suffice to say, Falere didn't agree. More surprising was that Samara quietly, almost casually, acknowledged her daughter's decision. Then again, they hadn't seen each other in centuries. She and Falere had a lot to talk about...

Samara had different ideas. The monastery was destroyed and her code dictated she had to kill any Ardat-Yakshi outside a monastery. Of course, she wouldn't kill her last remaining daughter, so instead she intended to kill herself...



... Yeah, didn't think so. Berlitz loved Samara as a friend, but she was sick and tired of that damn code of hers. Luckily Falere was able to talk sense into her mother. She lived in that monastery of her own choice and she didn't need a damn building to keep her on the right path. This was her home, no matter what was left of it. The code was satisfied and Samara would stay for a little while with her daughter before setting out to the front to help fight the Reapers.

*

Another day, another patrol on the Normandy. Diana Allers wanted to know if Doctor T'soni ever let Berlitz into her room.

"You bet she does! As a matter of fact, I just spend the night in her bed."

"Oh. Because she keeps me out."

Ah, Diana Allers... not everyone on the Normandy liked her, but Berlitz didn't really have any problems with her. The thought of her being kept out by Liara was actually kinda cute, in a weird way. Speaking of Liara...

"For the last time, Joker, I'm not going to tell you if my hair tentacles move!"

"You could also have asked me, Joker."

"Oh, because you two are lovebirds again, right? OK, hit me: do they move or not?"

"They don't. She does like it when you stroke them, though."

Liara gave a moan of despair. "Shepard, why do you keep annoying me?"

"Because I know you like it. Have a nice day... doctor T'soni."

The next conversation was less amusing. The situation on Palaven was getting worse and Garrus still hadn't heard anything from his family. Primarch Victus also asked for his opinion on what to do with the fleet: keep hitting the Reapers with it or pulling them back so they could defend the Crucible when it was ready? Or, in other words, should they try to save everyone or should they sacrifice millions to save billions? As much as she'd hate it, Berlitz would choose the latter.

Then, after a short visit to the Citadel to buy equipment, it was time to travel to the far rim and meet up with the Quarians. Of course, she had heard to the rumors about a war with the Geth, but Berlitz wanted to believe they were just that: rumors. But no, they had actually done it. The Reapers were invading and the Quarians thought it was a good idea to attack the Geth. She wondered what it was like to be that stupid?

To make matters worse, the Geth had allied themselves with the Reapers, making them much more formidable in battle and they were tearing the Migrant Fleet apart. The signal that was used to dominate the Geth was originating from a Geth dreadnaught, larger than Berlitz had ever seen. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but that signal needed to be shut down. But goddammit, if she didn't need the fleet, she would be out of there so fast... Damn admirals. The only good ones were her old 'friend' Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib and... Tali'Zorah?



Tali didn't seem to think she was qualified for the job, but Berlitz was glad at least one of the admirals had brains. She did support the war against the Geth, but only because she had no choice when Han'Gerrel, Daro'Xen and Shala'Raan outvoted her and Zaal'Koris three to two. Any internal conflicts between the admirals would only mean more casualties, so Berlitz could understand that.

There wasn't much time, so they departed for the Perseus Veil as fast as they could. There was a dreadnaught that needed disabling and Berlitz wanted to test out her new suit of armor.



The Quarians weren't joking when they said that thing was ripping through their fleet. Approaching it was easy enough for a ship like the Normandy, but actually boarding it... Berlitz was forced to go alone through a heavily damaged docking tube. Stunning view of both the dreadnaught and Rannoch, though.

"Better than a vid?"

"Much better."

After getting on board and opening a undamaged tube for Liara and Tali to walk through, they started their infiltration of the dreadnaught. Not much to tell about the first part. Many computers, many wires to trip over and many Geth to get shot by. Running through the main battery wasn't something she would soon forget, though.

After they disabled the signal, for which the Geth used -- suprise surprise! -- Legion, things quickly went to hell. As a show of good faith, Legion and the Geth had disabled the dreadnaught's drive core, basically crippling the thing. But instead of retreating to the nearest Mass Relay, Han'Gerrel decided to attack the dreadnaught with her and Tali still on board! Zaal'Koris was shot down by a anti-air gun on Rannoch earlier and that damn doormat called Shala'Raan couldn't stop Han'Gerrel. Luckily they had Legion with them, who quickly secured a Geth Fighter Craft and got them to safety.

One of the first things Berlitz did when she was back on the Normandy, was kicking Han'Gerrel of her ship. She didn't want to see that **** ever again. She was glad Daro'Xen left on her own initiative, because she seemed a bit too eager to dissect Legion. Bah. What was wrong with these people? To make matters worse, Legion told them that destroying the dreadnaught wasn't enough: the Reapers had installed a 'short range' backup on Rannoch to ensure the bulk of the Geth would stay under Reaper control. They had to take that installation fast, but not before rescuing Zaal'Koris. Berlitz suspected his survival might well prove crucial if they were to ensure peace between the Quarians and the Geth...

-----

HOLY CHRIST ON A BUCKET THAT TOOK A WHILE. Hope you liked it!

[Ravii]

@Rikketik

it was really entertaining. was fun to read and the best of all...I love your shepard and liara talks.

[Rikketik]

Delerius_Jedi wrote...

Rikketik wrote...
So this whole "Saren wants Synthesis" theory is based on one line from Sovereign who uses a completely indoctrinated Saren to persuade Shepard into laying down his weapons? Wow, convincing!

No, it's actually based on several exchanges throughout the last act of ME1.

Virmire [Saren Dialogue]: "Sovereign is a machine: It thinks like a machine - if I prove useful, I become a ressource worth maintaining. If organic life is to survive, we must also prove our worth: We must work with the Reapers."

Thus, Saren at the Virmire level is speaking more of appeasement than synthesis, but he's still completely dominated by the "rational need" to bow down before the Reapers and accept whatever their agenda is.

But on the Citadel, Saren changes his tone towards discussing the machine/organic hybridization. The difference? He's been implanted with Reaper tech by Sovereign in the meantime: "The doubts began to eat away at me, Sovereign sensed my hesitation - I was implanted to strengthen my resolve. Now my doubts are gone: I believe in Sovereign completely."

Yes. He initially wanted to appease the Reapers but then, after becoming almost completely indoctrinated and implanted with Reaper tech, he began to think he was somehow experiencing symbiosis with Sovereign. He wasn't, but Sovereign wanted him to believe that to keep him under control. Sorry, buy I don't quite see how this all leads to your paragraph below that reasons against synthesis.

Since the ME3 EC specifically equates the Catalyst with the Reapers there honestly is no logical reason to believe that Synthesis as proposed by the Catalyst is anything other than simply a more advanced version of the programming Sovereign was using on Saren.

Synthesis is not a more advanced version of forcible programming done to an organic by a synthetic; it is something completely different. Saren eventually became a mix of organic and synthetic life, but the synthetics were in complete control. In Synthesis, organics and synthetics life are mixed in such a way that there is perfect balance. At least, that is what I make of the ending.

In spite of the happy slides we have absolutely no way of knowing what's really going on and whether or not we're simply overriding everyone's free will with a "utopian" program as defined by the Catalyst.

I believe EDI mentions in her narration that the Reapers eventually began helping the other races of their own accord. And because the synthesis made the Reapers the same as the other races, that indicates that everyone has their free will intact.

So no, the lore of the series does not give any particular reasoning for trusting the Catalyst with regards to Synthesis, and it's a fairly logical argument to say that the events of ME1 directly argue against choosing it.

/$0.02

Yeah... I disagree. Ever heard of Occam's Razor? Basically, the simplest explanation is often the right one. Synthesis shows us happy slides. Therefore: happy ending. That's how I see it. I think it's best if I leave it at that, because otherwise this discussion could go on forever. Which is also part BioWare's mistake, by the way. I think some people are reading way too much into it, but I also think that could have been partly prevented if BioWare had given us more explanation on how synthesis works in regard to free will, et cetera.

[meonlyred]

@demos99 wrote...

@meonlyred: congrats on finishing Zody's ME1 game; fantastic images. What level did Zody finish on? Btw, great silhouette screenshot of Zody and friends.
[/quote]I did a re-import so she was already level 60.

Continued Mass Effect Marathon.