144 réponses à ce sujet

[Shinannigan]

1. Have the Citadel remain in situ, but be overrun by Reapers in a cinematic (not off-screen!)

2. Have Anderson inform Shep that the Reapers have built a small Conduit Mass Relay in London, presumably to send the captured humans to the Citadel for Reaper-building

3. Have Hackett, Anderson and Shep put together a battle plan: One Fleet attacks Earth to land as many Ground troops as possible, enabling Shepard and troops to board the Citadel through the Conduit in order to open the arms, while another fleet attacks the Citadel to bring the Crucible in place once the arms are opened.

4. Have an emergency War Council aboard the Normandy after the Illusive Base Battle is done, with Hackett and holographic projections of all major Fleet leaders present.

4.1 Have Shepard convince the Allies to follow the Human attack plan, in which case Shep gets to determine which fleet attacks where and who is in command of the two fleets. Shepard can choose between several Admirals for the two positions, some good, some bad, some suited for specific races, but unsuitable for others,
including Hackett, Victus, the Matriarch in charge of the Destiny Ascension, Balak, any Quarian Admiral (including Tali, although due to her lack of Naval experience she would be a horrible choice), the Rachni Queen, and so on. Picking the right combination and numbers for the two Fleet battles will determine how big the losses are and whether either Earth or the Citadel are destroyed, or whether both Earth and the Citadel survive - the latter being only possible if you have lots and lots of War Assets.

4.2 Have Shepard be unable to convince the Allies to wait for the human attack plan. If Shep's reputation is too
low and the decisions made during all three games work out that way (letting the Council die, letting Wrex die, but also some paragon choices), many of the Allies, led by the Turians, will not be willing to wait and will instead attack the Citadel immediately, hoping to overwhelm the Reapers there by sheer force. This will mean that Shepard will have fewer ground troops available on Earth, making it more likely that both the Citadel AND Earth will be destroyed.

5. Shepard leads the Ground troops to Earth. After one Fleet engages the Reapers over Earth, Shepard will lead the Ground troops to London. While Anderson commands the Resistance already present, Shepard has to nominate three commanders to lead the assault on London from three different directions. Candidates include Kaidan/Ashley, Javik, Garrus, Wrex, Grunt, Kirrahe, Kal'Reegar (whom I would not have let die in a stupid news item, although I appreciate that Bioware was probably unable to get Adam Baldwin back in), etc. The suitability of the commanders and the set-up of the ground troops can result in anything from the total loss to the breakthrough with high, but not overwhelming casualties of any of the three attack wings. Shepard will also assign each of the two wings that s/he is not a part of with specialists from the war assets. If Shep still has Kasumi or another Techie around to support one of the wings, that wing can later help with taking down the Destroyer.

5.1 Offer support for one of the two assault wings that s/he is not part of. Both Assault Wings will come under heavy fire, at which point Shep can grant one of them Air Support, condemning the other wing (including their commander) to die unless Shep, again, has a huge load of War assets. Air support can only be granted if the Fleet above Earth is still in action and has not already been taken out due to its weakness or ineptitude of Commander. If the Fleet no longer exists, no air support can be granted, condemning both wings to die. In any case, the commander of a dying wing would always make it to the rendezvouz point just to die in Shepard's arms after some last words.

6. Pick specialist to provide support for Shepard's approach. While Shepard advances through the streets of London, meeting up with Anderson who saves his or her life, s/he has to pick one of the squadmates to provide cover fire from inside the buildings. Picking a sniper like Garrus or Ashley will be recommended here, but others work more or less well, too, although they will die on the job.
As all remaining ground forces converge around the Reaper destroyer protecting the Conduit and start their attack, Shep has to nominate a Tech specialist to activate the Thanix missiles. Picking an actual Techie like Tali or EDI is sensible, as others will only be able to get one of the rockets to fire before inevitably dying, meaning that the destroyer will only go down if the other attack wing still has enough fight in it. To protect the missiles and the specialist, Liara (or any DLC-biotic-squadmate) will put up a biotic bubble around them.

6.1 Chose which of the Specialists to save. If the Fire-cover-support provider was not a Sniper, that squadmate will already be dead before the Thanix Missiles are reached. In that case, there will be nobody to provide support from above, meaning the Tech expert and Liara at the missiles will eventually die. Otherwise, both specialists will come under heavy fire, so Shep has to chose which one of them to save. In either case, the Tech-expert will get the missiles armed and ready and fire them at the Destroyer.

7. Oh, by the way, that destroyer is Harbinger. I'm still slightly puzzled that we didn't really get to talk to a Reaper in this game, so this would be the place. While Shep is fighting Banshees, waiting for the missiles to be armed, Harbinger will keep taunting Shepard, until finally they have a short conversation about philophy and the finer things in life just before Shep gives the order to fire ze missiles. Harby will explain a bit more about the Reaper perspective, about their role as "Shepherds" who try to order the chaos and so on. And then, he would die.

8. Conduit Run. Once Harbinger is destroyed all remaining forces will make a run for the Conduit. If the Fleet above Earth is not strong enough, the number of Reapers that descend to protect the Conduit will be much higher, meaning more and more casualties, making it more likely that Earth will be destroyed as the last act of vengeful Reapers, since they are no longer otherwise occupied. Anderson and Shepard will be the first to reach the Conduit, as the other troops are stalled by the Reapers, but just as Shepard and team reach the Relay, after Anderson has gone through, a Reaper fires at it, burning Shepard heavily just as s/he is transported to the Citadel
and damaging the Conduit badly enough to stop working, meaning that no further reinforcements can get to the Citadel and the remaining troops on Earth have to sit there, trying to hold ground against the Reapers still there.

9. Citadel showdown with TIM. Shepard and his two selected squadmates reach the Citadel, badly burned, and with only enough medigel to save one of the two. The other dies in Sheps arms after a meaningful last exchange. Shep and the last Squadmate move on, meet back up with Anderson, and have that nice talk with the Illusive Husk. Shep can use the reputation-based Persuade options to get TIM either enraged enough to move into Shep's line of fire (Renegade) or convince him to commit suicide (Paragon). Before that happens, however, TIM will take a shot at Shep, which will cause a mortal wound, unless the last Squadmate with Shep is the LI, in which case they will jump in front of the shot and take the wound instead (Although the player will get a Paragon interrupt to prevent the LI from taking the shot and instead keeping the wound on Shep).

10. The Catalyst explained. After TIM is dead and the Crucible is attached to the opening Citadel, Shep hears the voices of the humans already processed into a Reaper fetus that was being built inside the Citadel. They will explain the last pieces of the puzzle concerning the Galactic Circle and its purpose, urging Shepard to control rather than destroy the Reapers, i.e. starting with the same indoctrination that had been used on TIM, though Shep would actually be non-indoctrinated enough yet to in fact really control the  Reapers. After that last "talk" Shep gets to press the buttons on the console, either destroying or controlling the Reapers (I don't think the third option needs to be there, since Synthesis is kinda what the Reapers are trying to achieve).

11. The Crucible is attached. If the fleet around the Citadel was not strong enough, the Crucible will only barely be attached to the Citadel, making it not attach properly, causing the entire set-up to explode once the Crucible is activated (although it will still do its job, the Citadel will simply be toast afterwards). Otherwise, the CItadel will survive firing the Crucible. Once the Crucible is attached, the Fleet (if there is any left) will escape the system through the Mass Relay, in order not to be caught up in the destructive power of the giant McGuffin.
The next cinematic would then start with a Reaper flying into the opening Citadel, spreading its tentacles to embrace the little Human Reaper fetus inside. Either Shep destroys the reapers, starting with a devastating beam through the Fetus and the Reaper, or he opts for control, in which case Shep most let his body and mind be processed into the Reaper-Fetus, thus becoming the brains of a new chief-reaper as the Fetus is attached to the older Reaper.

11.1 Control. If Shep opts for Control, s/he will be entirely processed into the Reaper.

11.2 Destruction. Destroying the Reapers will result in the deactivation of the Mass Relays (not in their destruction, leaving room for them to be reactivated at some point in the future. If the Fleet around the Citadel was too week, the Citadel will explode, killing Shep in the process. If the Fleet was strong enough, the Citadel will survive, and with it either Shep or the last remaining Squadmate will survive to wander the halls of the Citadel unto their death - or maybe until someone reaches the Citadel via conventional FTL travel - heck, the last scene after the credits might even be the survivor glimpsing up - visibly aged - through the opened arms of the Citadel to see the Mass Relay starting to blink and pulsate again. Anderson and the third one (so either Shep or their last Squadmate) will succumb to their wounds, however, watching the end of the Circle from the best seats in the house.

12. Fate of the Normandy. The Normandy will crash on Earth as the battle for Sol comes to an end. The remaining Squadmates and persons of interest (like Wrex) will meet back up around the destroyed conduit and look at the destruction around them before "rolling up their sleeves" and sifting through the wounded and dead, starting to take a toll of the "victory".

13. Fate of the Galaxy. Lastly, there would be an epilogue cinematic, giving us some glimpses of what will happen after the war: some weddings, but also the Krogan either finding a peaceful place, dying out or restarting the Krogan rebellion, what happens to the Rachni if the queen survived and so on. Good candidates would be Liara or Wrex, due to their long life-span, but if both of them are dead, it could also be someone entirely different.

Modifié par Shinannigan, 08 mars 2012 - 04:14 .

[Nafzger]

I have to commend some of these endings. They're so much better than what's offered in game. I'm just going to stop playing after the Geth/Quarian resolution (happiest moment in the game for me), and associate certain endings posted here with my various Sheps.

[Almostfaceman]

Benrosan wrote...

The right to self-determination is a huge theme in Mass Effect. The Geth fighting to live in peace and find their own evolutionary path, the Krogan fighting to end the Genophage and determine their own future...

Since ME2, I've put in hours of gameplay promoting inter-racial understanding and goodwill. In ME3 I brokered all the right peace deals to ensure a better future for all races.

Now all of a sudden, this "catalyst" kid comes along and tells I can only pick 1 out of 3 awful choices because he doesn't like the "chaos"?

Well f**k you kid! That's the entire point of the Paragon plotline in ME! Sure, life is messy, chaotic, brutal and unpredictable, but what matters at the end is the right of every sentient being to determine his own future. So take you choices and shove them up your butthole.

The endings should be a result of the choices I made. Not the ones you decide to give me because you watched too much Battlestar Galactica.

How about this instead: I pick my own choice, destroy you and the reapers, get out alive, and get the ending that's consistent with every choice I've made since ME1. Then I go back to Rannoch with Tali and pump her full of my germs for the next 40 years whilst I enjoy the tenuous peace I've brokered over the course of the series.

This.

The whole damn theme of the games has been telling the Reapers they don't have the right to determine the fate of organic life, then a bloody pulped Shepard ultimately bows to the Reapers at the end and lets them dictate our fate through three of THEIR choices. That's what the child is, the Reapers. 

This is, in the end, why a lot of people, including me, are royally pissed off.

I'm not even going to say "MY Shepard" - because Shepard is the same in all games. Even Renegade Shep gives the Reapers the finger the entire series. It's why I save the Rachni. It's why I save the Geth. It's why I cure the genophage. We All Should Get a Chance to Determine Our Own Fate.

And here comes a little boy saying "Nope, your fate is determined by these three paths. You have to give in to my fear of organic vs. synthetic."

Then to add insult to injury, the ending has to become confusing and unclear. A Normandy is running away for no reason (when they were clearly fighting the Reapers) and people who have no way of getting on the Normandy are suddenly on the Normandy.

This was easily the best Mass Effect game I've ever played until this ending.

I want my money back.

[P_sutherland]

first... I would bring the Normandy back into the fight... not have it going into the mass relay for whatever reason.

Then after going into the light to the citidel... meet up with anderson, shoot TIM. instead of the 3 shoddy endings your forced to pick i would have this...

Option 1: Reapers win

Option 2: you do one of the 3 already in the game

Paragon: Cause internal conflicts between the Reaper Boss ( Child Vi thing )and Harbinger, have the reaper fleet who think the cycle should stop battle those whom think the cycle should continue. After a hasty rescue from the crucible by a allied vessel, the allied fleet attacks the reapers while they battle amoung themselves... in the process the Citidel,Crucible and majority of the Reapers are destroyed.

Renegade: assuming Anderson can somehow survive the encounter with TIM... have him do one of the three options.

[mgchild]

I know I am going to be in the minority with this, but I wouldn't change anything.

When I first finished the game, it would have been easy to gripe about the 3 part ending and the epilogue. But now that I have had some time away from it, it works. The only negative about it is that if I have to think about or explain why it works, it wasn't done that well.

Shepard is very traditional mythology with strong messianic overtones. Keeping in that theme, which it was fairly consistent to throughout the series, the three choices represent temptations. I understand that each is structured in a way to accommodate a wide variety of play styles, but maybe they could have a little more definitive. I think the question to ask yourself is did you take the choice that matched the way you played Shepard? Did you go through the same basic thought lines as you did with the Krogan issue and the Geth issue? If so, Shepard resisted temptation. If not, well….

As far the epilogue goes, I can see the Family Guy point of view that says it was kind of a middle finger to everyone. I can see it, but I don’t agree with it. ME was a great story which is all the epilogue says it was and, quite frankly, was foreshadowed. To me it was so much more than a game, it was the absolute pinnacle of interactive story telling we have seen thus far. And with so much disagreement and passion being expressed by the fans of the series demonstrates proof that people were involved. Like it, hate it, it worked.

[SolidisusSnake1]

Nigawatts wrote...

I'll just copy and past what I posted in another thread.

Take out that crap with the little freaking kid coming back as the
almighty hologram of absolution. I would instead have Harbinger come
talk to Shepard about what the Reapers really are. Also, that if he
destroys the Reapers he'll also destroy the Mass Relays. He'll have 2
options.

Take Control: He controls the Reapers and forces them to
stop the cycle. The Mass Relay's are spared and Galactic Civilization
can continue. If this happens Shepard's body dies, and the Reapers are
allowed to survive. Game ends with Shepard being celebrated as a Hero,
and Sol now the center of Galactic Civilization (since they have no idea
how to move the Citadel).

Destroy Reapers: All Reaper technology
is destroyed, Geth and Edi are spared (cuz that part was stupid).
Shepard lives, but the Mass Relays are destroyed. The survivors on Earth
and the Fleet recolonize Earth and begin rebuilding a new society where
all the species live together. Shepard gets to live out his life on
Earth with his love interest. Game ends with the Construction of a new
Mass Relay that will take a lifetime to recreate.

This except I dont mind the kid at all. I liked that whole part and the converstion on top of the Citadel, BUT a couple things. First off we didnt even talk to Harbinger in the game so at some point we should have talked. But back to the kid, when he mentions that synthetics will always destory organics if you united the Geth and Quarian you should have the option to point this out to him. At which point "he" should realize that the cycle can be broken and that synths and organics can indeed get along. Then you should be able to make your choice.

And just like you said, Control means Shepards dies/ascends and Galactic Civilization is spared along with the Relays.

Destory means a destruction of all Reaper tech including the Relays but Shepard survives and lives out the rest of his life on Earth with LI. We would then see shots of the various races all around the Galaxy attempting to build new relays and probably Cmdr Shepards or someone on Earth saying that someday "we will see our friends among the stars again."

Synthesis, I dont mind the Synthesis ending, afterall I love Deus Ex. But if your're going to rip off DX then the Relays shouldnt be destoryed. Shepard wouldnt technically die but become some sort of metaphysical GOD that lives inside all of us as his DNA is what is inside everybody. At which point all species would have reached a new evolutionary step, the galaxy would be a utopia, there would be no wars or any fighting like that, but true lasting Galactic Peace. At which point perhaps "GOD Shepard" realizing what he has accomplished decides to travel to other Galaxies whom seemingly face the same problems as our Galaxy and hopes to "enlighten" them as well.


But in either of these ending there should be a fair amount of ending epilouge explaing how things worked out and what happedn to yuor crew, ESPECIALLY YOUR LOVE INTEREST.

See the reason the Default endings don't work is because they LITERALLY tried to copy Deus Ex. But the choices dont match up with the themes presented in the game. In DX you are constantly questions about who should eb in control, how much control is too much, and whether or not we need a GOD. So the three ending choices reflect these ideals consistently presetned throughout the game. ME3 doesnt really have some concurrent theme that aligns with the choices presented. At no point in the game did Shepard express a want to Control the Reapers, Synthesis is never brought up nor even something I think many would find preferable, and no one really brings up the ramifications of the Relays being destryoed or the fact that society relies on Repaer tech.

Modifié par SolidisusSnake1, 08 mars 2012 - 05:29 .

[Landline]

First I'd completely get rid of that kid.

Then the crucible would be a special Reaper specific energy weapon. The stronger your fleet is changes how much damage it takes.

With the weakest fleet possible the it fails to fire and you get to see the Reapers overwhelm your remaining forces, you're treated to a cut scene in the next cycle of some aliens excavating some ruins on Earth where they find a Mako or a piece of N7 armour or something like that.

With the bare minimum it fires killing the Reapers, but it also destroys the mass relays and the citadel. So like the destruction ending.

With a moderate fleet the crucible will fire, destroying the Reapers and the Citadel. But the mass relays will remain intact. We're treated to Shepards funeral where survivors are mourning, and what's left of the council agreeing to make Earth the new seat of galactic government

With the fleet at maximum the crucible will fire, only destroying the Reapers and leaving the citadel and the relays intact. We're treated the the big god damned hero in a celebration with congratulations going around a chance to hear what all of the squad mates will do now that it's all over and a chance to express what Shepard will do, retire, keep serving, take care of some unfinished business.

[Claym0re]

My endings

These endings are based on mostly the story Bioware wrote, just „different”. Ill refer to Shepard as a „he”.

1. Bad ending (galactic readiness doesn't reach minimum)

Shepard orders his teammates to wait for him and with Anderson starts to run toward the conduit, but Harbinger reaches it first. Harbinger starts shooting,  its beam hits them and Shepard faints.

Shepherd regains his consciousness, looking around he can see the dead body of Anderson. A great shadow starts to cover everything and when Shephad looks up you can see Harbinger above him.

„You fought against the inevitability Shepard. With your failure this cycle is complete.”

(here you see various cutscenes of your comrades dying one by one, all your previous and current squadmates from ME1-2-3, even Admiral Hackett, Joker etc...except for Liara (reason later))

The camera switches back to Shepard eyes, zooming out you see him looking up to Harbinger, and you see he realizes everything is lost. Then you hear the beam of Harbinger is powering up killing Shepherd and everything goes dark.

In the final cutscene you see some sort of underground ruin/maze and three soldier looking character (race unknown) wandering in it. They reach a room flooded with light, and in the middle there is a device on an altar. One of the soldiers touches the device and a hologram appears with a familiar face.

„My name is Liara T’Soni. I am the last survivor of a once proud and space faring civilization. With many other races we fought to end a cycle that has been continued for millions of years...and we failed. But if you are watching this, perhaps there is still hope...”

2. "Neutral" ending

Harbinger reaches the conduit before Shepard. While they are running toward the conduit Harbinger’s beam hits them right before they jump in, Shepard faints.

Shepherd regains his consciousness, he is on the Citadel. From this point its like in the original story. Anderson and the Illusive Man die, and Hackett tries to reach Shepard. Shepard walks to the consol and a hologram of Harbinger appears. Based on the galactic readinss level Harbinger reveals parts of the history of the reapers and reasons why the cycle must continue.

(based on the galactic readiness level here you see various cutscenes of your comrades dying one by one, the lower your galactic readiness level, the more of them die – something similar like in ME2 loyalty system)

Camera switches back to Sphepard, he says his final words to Harbinger or looks up and says „I love you (insert romanced character).” Then he activates the Crucible, the Citadel explodes, the Reapers shut down.

(final cutscenes, showing all the characters that survived, for example Miranda with her sister, Samara with her daughter, Jacob with his wife, jack with her students etc..., and all the civilizations rebuilding. The final scene is showing a statue of Shepard. If your romanced character  survived he/she is standing before it (if the romance option is a female she should be pregnant))

3. Good ending

Its like the neutral ending, except noone dies (well the Illusive Man does, but Anderson doesnt). Before activating the Crucible Harbinger tells the whole story of the reapers to Shepard and tells him its a mistake to break the cycle. „Atleast its our decision” says Shepard and activates the Crucible. The Citadel doesn’t blow up, the Reapers shut down.

(final cutscenes, just like in the neutral ending, now you see everyone for a few seconds, the civilizations rebuilding, and the final cutscene is Shepard watching over the human rebuild process with the romance option assuming he/she survived.

Modifié par Claym0re, 08 mars 2012 - 05:42 .

[Dragoni89]

mgchild wrote...

I know I am going to be in the minority with this, but I wouldn't change anything.

When I first finished the game, it would have been easy to gripe about the 3 part ending and the epilogue. But now that I have had some time away from it, it works. The only negative about it is that if I have to think about or explain why it works, it wasn't done that well.

Shepard is very traditional mythology with strong messianic overtones. Keeping in that theme, which it was fairly consistent to throughout the series, the three choices represent temptations. I understand that each is structured in a way to accommodate a wide variety of play styles, but maybe they could have a little more definitive. I think the question to ask yourself is did you take the choice that matched the way you played Shepard? Did you go through the same basic thought lines as you did with the Krogan issue and the Geth issue? If so, Shepard resisted temptation. If not, well….

As far the epilogue goes, I can see the Family Guy point of view that says it was kind of a middle finger to everyone. I can see it, but I don’t agree with it. ME was a great story which is all the epilogue says it was and, quite frankly, was foreshadowed. To me it was so much more than a game, it was the absolute pinnacle of interactive story telling we have seen thus far. And with so much disagreement and passion being expressed by the fans of the series demonstrates proof that people were involved. Like it, hate it, it worked.

We payed $80 bucks for a game that we aren't going have any replays in cause the ending is so pointlesss, and you  get3 endings  that are nearly the same. I think there is more hate and like atm. 5 years of waiting does not add up to this ME3 ending. We are invovled because of how good ME1 and ME2 played and ended. ME3 existenece destroyed the entire Mass Effect triliogy. 3 chocies that reprsented the Humans destuction --> good choices? Why did you gather all the species, all war forces. What did the sacrifices even mean?  All those deaths meant nothing because the human race is ****ing doomed and nothing is explained at the end. Bioware promised closesures and all it does is make fans exxplode in outrage with lots of unanswered questions? How is all 3 of the endings where  the destruction of the mass effect relays and the human race the correct answer to a game about the all about Mass Effect Relays and saving the human race from annilation by the reapers? Instead you have Sheperd condeming his own speices to their own destruction?The reapers harvesting might have been a better choice than. Never bought ME3 if the design team just told us none of your choices matter in the game. In the end the human sociiety and galatic society is ****ed.

Modifié par Dragoni89, 08 mars 2012 - 05:52 .

[Stormcroft]

If you had 5000+ assets I would have the the ending with you destroying the reapers and you had enough time to save earth before it got seriously ****ed up, hell most of all the other players would be "okay" also the mass relays would not be destroyed and you and your crew would all survive with Shepherd and his team sticking together to help rebuild. Then after the credits a video shows you with your Love interest all settled down.

[Rulycar]

Blindspy wrote...

I would have loved a long cinematic ending based on the choices you made in the games. These are the cinematics I would like to have seen:

If you put the highest amount of effort in to get a perfect ending:
- Shepard lives
- You get to see the choices you made come to fruition. For example, if you allied the quarians and geth, you get to see a snippet in which the geth are helping the quarians rebuild on their home world. If you chose the option in which the quarians destroy the geth, you instead see a snippet of the quarians starting anew by themselves.
- After those pieces of video play, it cuts away to Shepard and his/her love interest settling down together, living happily ever after.


If you do a decent job, but cut some corners:
- Shepard sacrifices himself/herself to end the reaper threat.
- The two squadmates that were with Shepard on the last mission also die.
- Similar cinematic to the perfect ending
- Instead of Shepard settling down with the love interest, the last scene is that of a large plaque/statue (a few years in the future) commemorating Shepard's heroism and ultimate sacrifice to save the galaxy.



If you rush through and barely put any effort in (similar to doing the suicide mission in ME2 where most/all of Shepard's squad dies)
- Shepard fails and the reapers destroy and harvest all sentient life in the galaxy. The cycle continues.
- The cinematic cuts to almost 50,000 years in the future, in which a promising new alien hero finds one of Liara's black boxes warning of the reapers and what it would take to stop them.

I really like this ...
... I'd buy that game!

[mgchild]

Dragoni89 wrote...

mgchild wrote...

I know I am going to be in the minority with this, but I wouldn't change anything.

When I first finished the game, it would have been easy to gripe about the 3 part ending and the epilogue. But now that I have had some time away from it, it works. The only negative about it is that if I have to think about or explain why it works, it wasn't done that well.

Shepard is very traditional mythology with strong messianic overtones. Keeping in that theme, which it was fairly consistent to throughout the series, the three choices represent temptations. I understand that each is structured in a way to accommodate a wide variety of play styles, but maybe they could have a little more definitive. I think the question to ask yourself is did you take the choice that matched the way you played Shepard? Did you go through the same basic thought lines as you did with the Krogan issue and the Geth issue? If so, Shepard resisted temptation. If not, well….

As far the epilogue goes, I can see the Family Guy point of view that says it was kind of a middle finger to everyone. I can see it, but I don’t agree with it. ME was a great story which is all the epilogue says it was and, quite frankly, was foreshadowed. To me it was so much more than a game, it was the absolute pinnacle of interactive story telling we have seen thus far. And with so much disagreement and passion being expressed by the fans of the series demonstrates proof that people were involved. Like it, hate it, it worked.

We payed $80 bucks for a game that we aren't going have any replays in cause the ending is so pointlesss, and you  get3 endings  that are nearly the same. I think there is more hate and like atm. 5 years of waiting does not add up to this ME3 ending. We are invovled because of how good ME1 and ME2 played and ended. ME3 existenece destroyed the entire Mass Effect triliogy. 3 chocies that reprsented the Humans destuction --> good choices? Why did you gather all the species, all war forces. What did the sacrifices even mean?  All those deaths meant nothing because the human race is ****ing doomed and nothing is explained at the end. Bioware promised closesures and all it does is make fans exxplode in outrage with lots of unanswered questions? How is all 3 of the endings where  the destruction of the mass effect relays and the human race the correct answer to a game about the all about Mass Effect Relays and saving the human race from annilation by the reapers? Instead you have Sheperd condeming his own speices to their own destruction?The reapers harvesting might have been a better choice than. Never bought ME3 if the design team just told us none of your choices matter in the game. In the end the human sociiety and galatic society is ****ed.

I don't get it.  At what point did Shepard ever have a choice that was so clear cut and a true happy ending?  Not at the end of ME1.  Not in ME2 (granted you would have had to play the DLC's to figure that out).  Why should ME3 be any different?  If the decisions weren't marginal at best, then it wouldn't take a iconic figure such as Shepard to figure it out.  There had to be significant down side.  

I get that this is a game and it's fantasy.  But the fantasy isn't the locations or the technology or the believability of the world's in which it takes place.  The fantasy is that it takes you, the player, and puts you in situations where everything is on the line and you have to make decisions that may not ultimately be worth while and ceratinly not desirable. 

Lastly, re-read your post.  Look at the emotional connection you are putting in to it.  You're connected.  It's a good thing.  It is what I paid for.  I didn't want a disney ending because deep down I knew it could never happen.  Emotionally it would have been nice, but it would have felt as real.

[future_usmc]

A lot of really good posts, didn't expect so many. I would've liked a more in depth to reaper origin. Something like the reaper was the solution to rebellions of an alien race and harbinger was the first reaper. created from the captured rebels. being made like that messes with his AI and he basically goes crazy. a side effect of his creation, the dead in him allow indoctination and he forces his creators to make more reapers until no more life is in the galaxy. (second reaper built is sovereign) the keepers can be the orinignal race. and thus starts the cycle. when races reach an apex of intelligence harbinger decides the expand the reaper fleet. by just a little every time. for only the races he deems worthy of reaperhood

[Hokochu]

Copy/Paste from another thread since this one is more relevant:

You know what would have fixed this terrible ending? All you have to do is add one dialogue option and change the ending cinematic a bit with some DA:O text boxes.

After god-kid tells Shepard what he has to do having high enough Paragon/Renegade gives you the option to tell the kid to go to hell and Shepard goes on an monologue about all the ways he has proved the kid's theory wrong and that everyone should be able to choose their own path.

The kid tells him that he passed the test and that a fourth option is presented: Shepard can sacrifice him/herself to destroy all the reapers and send a message to every being organic and synthetic in the galaxy telepathically. It would probably have something to do with telling them to remember what happened and never to let them make the same mistakes that god-kid thinks they will.

Shepard dies, change cutscene of Normandy flying away with them all looking around confused as Shepard talks to their brain and we get a few bittersweet smiles of victory and such.

Then text boxes explain what happened to characters/races in the epilogue.

Not a perfect ending by any means but it would be really damn easy to implement as DLC or some ****.

[future_usmc]

I think a lot of people would have enjoyed telling the kid to go to hell

[Neo Hex Omega]

I would have kept it the same up until the elevator takes Shepard to the Catalyst. After that, I would have the Citadel arms open, Harbinger swoops in, and Shepard has the big, climatic discussion with the machine about the nature of the Reapers and the cycle. Harbinger offers Shepard the chance to merge with the Reapers. The Commander can accept, or press one of two buttons on that control panel; destroy, or control to advance humanity. If picking control, Shepard would say, "Assuming Control" as his last line.

Text epilogue fills in what happens to the rest of the galaxy. Roll credits.

It would have been so much better.

[squid25]

Hokochu wrote...

Copy/Paste from another thread since this one is more relevant:

You know what would have fixed this terrible ending? All you have to do is add one dialogue option and change the ending cinematic a bit with some DA:O text boxes.

After god-kid tells Shepard what he has to do having high enough Paragon/Renegade gives you the option to tell the kid to go to hell and Shepard goes on an monologue about all the ways he has proved the kid's theory wrong and that everyone should be able to choose their own path.

The kid tells him that he passed the test and that a fourth option is presented: Shepard can sacrifice him/herself to destroy all the reapers and send a message to every being organic and synthetic in the galaxy telepathically. It would probably have something to do with telling them to remember what happened and never to let them make the same mistakes that god-kid thinks they will.

Shepard dies, change cutscene of Normandy flying away with them all looking around confused as Shepard talks to their brain and we get a few bittersweet smiles of victory and such.

Then text boxes explain what happened to characters/races in the epilogue.

Not a perfect ending by any means but it would be really damn easy to implement as DLC or some ****.

Actually thats the green option. Shepard dies and all that he is, gets shared with everyone/everything else.

[nitefyre410]

squid25 wrote...

Hokochu wrote...

Copy/Paste from another thread since this one is more relevant:

You know what would have fixed this terrible ending? All you have to do is add one dialogue option and change the ending cinematic a bit with some DA:O text boxes.

After god-kid tells Shepard what he has to do having high enough Paragon/Renegade gives you the option to tell the kid to go to hell and Shepard goes on an monologue about all the ways he has proved the kid's theory wrong and that everyone should be able to choose their own path.

The kid tells him that he passed the test and that a fourth option is presented: Shepard can sacrifice him/herself to destroy all the reapers and send a message to every being organic and synthetic in the galaxy telepathically. It would probably have something to do with telling them to remember what happened and never to let them make the same mistakes that god-kid thinks they will.

Shepard dies, change cutscene of Normandy flying away with them all looking around confused as Shepard talks to their brain and we get a few bittersweet smiles of victory and such.

Then text boxes explain what happened to characters/races in the epilogue.

Not a perfect ending by any means but it would be really damn easy to implement as DLC or some ****.

Actually thats the green option. Shepard dies and all that he is, gets shared with everyone/everything else.

 

The Green Option is that but it still lacks the dialogue that it needs to work  well.   Mainly the  discussion with "The Catalyst" 

[tankarmarx]

Landline wrote...

First I'd completely get rid of that kid.

Then the crucible would be a special Reaper specific energy weapon. The stronger your fleet is changes how much damage it takes.

With the weakest fleet possible the it fails to fire and you get to see the Reapers overwhelm your remaining forces, you're treated to a cut scene in the next cycle of some aliens excavating some ruins on Earth where they find a Mako or a piece of N7 armour or something like that.

With the bare minimum it fires killing the Reapers, but it also destroys the mass relays and the citadel. So like the destruction ending.

With a moderate fleet the crucible will fire, destroying the Reapers and the Citadel. But the mass relays will remain intact. We're treated to Shepards funeral where survivors are mourning, and what's left of the council agreeing to make Earth the new seat of galactic government

With the fleet at maximum the crucible will fire, only destroying the Reapers and leaving the citadel and the relays intact. We're treated the the big god damned hero in a celebration with congratulations going around a chance to hear what all of the squad mates will do now that it's all over and a chance to express what Shepard will do, retire, keep serving, take care of some unfinished business.

My gosh that is basically exactly how I thought it was going to go down.  I seriously thought that it'd be like depending on your allies and how well they were able to work together on the crucible and hold back the reapers would somehow judge the effectiveness of the Crucible.  Worst case, everything gets FUBAR and the Crucible backfires.  Best case, and I mean ABSOLUTE no eff-ups best case scourged every planet and gathered every ally and resource possible kind of best case, you win and become a big guddamn (Oh, Zaeed) war hero. 

ETA:  I hated that kid since the demo, I thought it was some kind of stupid faux sympathy gimmick.  

Turns out, no, it's far, far worse than that. <_<

Modifié par tankarmarx, 08 mars 2012 - 08:59 .

[ratzerman]

I would have crashed the damn ship on Earth. It would have iallowed players the chance to imagine a possible (if highly unlikely) future for Shepard and the crew. Separating them feels arbitrarily cruel, and negates any hope the endings might have given me.

[SwiftMustache]

I am a story writter, and seriously I'll edit once I come with an ending wait for it it'll be legendary.

[P_sutherland]

Claym0re wrote...

My endings

These endings are based on mostly the story Bioware wrote, just „different”. Ill refer to Shepard as a „he”.

1. Bad ending (galactic readiness doesn't reach minimum)

Shepard orders his teammates to wait for him and with Anderson starts to run toward the conduit, but Harbinger reaches it first. Harbinger starts shooting,  its beam hits them and Shepard faints.

Shepherd regains his consciousness, looking around he can see the dead body of Anderson. A great shadow starts to cover everything and when Shephad looks up you can see Harbinger above him.

„You fought against the inevitability Shepard. With your failure this cycle is complete.”

(here you see various cutscenes of your comrades dying one by one, all your previous and current squadmates from ME1-2-3, even Admiral Hackett, Joker etc...except for Liara (reason later))

The camera switches back to Shepard eyes, zooming out you see him looking up to Harbinger, and you see he realizes everything is lost. Then you hear the beam of Harbinger is powering up killing Shepherd and everything goes dark.

In the final cutscene you see some sort of underground ruin/maze and three soldier looking character (race unknown) wandering in it. They reach a room flooded with light, and in the middle there is a device on an altar. One of the soldiers touches the device and a hologram appears with a familiar face.

„My name is Liara T’Soni. I am the last survivor of a once proud and space faring civilization. With many other races we fought to end a cycle that has been continued for millions of years...and we failed. But if you are watching this, perhaps there is still hope...”

2. "Neutral" ending

Harbinger reaches the conduit before Shepard. While they are running toward the conduit Harbinger’s beam hits them right before they jump in, Shepard faints.

Shepherd regains his consciousness, he is on the Citadel. From this point its like in the original story. Anderson and the Illusive Man die, and Hackett tries to reach Shepard. Shepard walks to the consol and a hologram of Harbinger appears. Based on the galactic readinss level Harbinger reveals parts of the history of the reapers and reasons why the cycle must continue.

(based on the galactic readiness level here you see various cutscenes of your comrades dying one by one, the lower your galactic readiness level, the more of them die – something similar like in ME2 loyalty system)

Camera switches back to Sphepard, he says his final words to Harbinger or looks up and says „I love you (insert romanced character).” Then he activates the Crucible, the Citadel explodes, the Reapers shut down.

(final cutscenes, showing all the characters that survived, for example Miranda with her sister, Samara with her daughter, Jacob with his wife, jack with her students etc..., and all the civilizations rebuilding. The final scene is showing a statue of Shepard. If your romanced character  survived he/she is standing before it (if the romance option is a female she should be pregnant))

3. Good ending

Its like the neutral ending, except noone dies (well the Illusive Man does, but Anderson doesnt). Before activating the Crucible Harbinger tells the whole story of the reapers to Shepard and tells him its a mistake to break the cycle. „Atleast its our decision” says Shepard and activates the Crucible. The Citadel doesn’t blow up, the Reapers shut down.

(final cutscenes, just like in the neutral ending, now you see everyone for a few seconds, the civilizations rebuilding, and the final cutscene is Shepard watching over the human rebuild process with the romance option assuming he/she survived.

^^^ want!

[TheJediSaint]

The main issue that I have with the endings is that they don't really take into account the kind of person that the player can make Shepard into.  Is he/she the ruthless and pragmatic Renegade who is willing to terrible things in order to save Humanity and the Galaxy?  Or is he/she a peacemaking Paragon who believes in the goodness of other beings and always believes in a better way?

If I were made Emperor of the Universe, and my first act as Emperor was to make changes to the ending of ME3, this is how I would have handled it.

First, my changes would only happen after Shepard takes the elevator up to the Crucible, as everything else just before then is pretty much perfect in my book. 

The first change would be the replace the Guardian with Harbinger, as I feel it makes more narrative sense for him to be the last character for Shepard to talk to before then end. 

Harbinger would explain the Reaper's role much the way the Guardian did, how the Reapers were created to prevent an apocalyptic conflict between organics and sythetics.  Harbinger would also reveal that because Shebard entered the Cruicible, he/she now controls of the Reapers. 

Now here's probably my biggest change.  Once Shepard reaches the Crucible, there would be no player input in regards to choosing the ending.  Instead, the endings would be determined based on the choices the player made during the course of the game.

Specifically, how the player handled the Genorphage and the Quarian-Geth war.  Did he/she cure the Genophage, or did he/she trick the Krogan into beliving he did?  Did he/she broker a peace between the Quarians and the Geth, or did he/she choose to destroy one species in order to ally with another?

These two choices would result in one of two primary endings, "Ascension" or "Salvation".

"Ascension" would be the Renegade ending.  A Shepard who chooses to consinge entire species to exticion has shown him/herself to be willing to "do the terrible things that keep the Galaxy spinning", to steal Donovan Hock line.  Therefore, Shepard chooses to be uploaded into the Cruible and become a kind of God-Emperor of the Reapers.  He/she then calls off the Reaper's war on organics, permamently shuts down the relays, and then takes his fleet to establish a New Order.  This New Order would police civilizations that threaten Galactic stability, rather than engage in a cycle of galactic slaugter.

"Salvation" would be the Paragon ending.  By curing the Genophage and brokering a peace between the Quarians and Geth, Shepard has shown that the Reaper's thesis to be false, that peace between sythetics and organics is not impossible.  Therefore, Shepard decides to free all life from the influcence of the Reapers by ordering all Reapers and Reaper-tech to self-destruct.  This includes the Citadel and all the Mass-Relays.

Your Galactic Readiness rating would come into play determining if the Earth survived, and if Shepard survives the destruction of the Citadel in the "Salvation" ending.  If you GR was high enough, then the Normandy is able to rescue Shepard and Anderssen (if he survived) just before the Citadel dissentergrates around them.

After that, each ending would have it's own unique epilogue that shows state of Earth, and how the Galaxy is affected by Shepard's choice.

But I'm not Emperor of the Universe, just a Mass Effect fan.  Everything I just wrote shouldn't be treated as anything other than fan fiction.  Mass Effect is Bioware's baby and I respect their right to end the game the way the please, even if it does cause me nerd-angst.

Modifié par TheJediSaint, 08 mars 2012 - 09:12 .

[nitefyre410]

tankarmarx wrote...

Landline wrote...

First I'd completely get rid of that kid.

Then the crucible would be a special Reaper specific energy weapon. The stronger your fleet is changes how much damage it takes.

With the weakest fleet possible the it fails to fire and you get to see the Reapers overwhelm your remaining forces, you're treated to a cut scene in the next cycle of some aliens excavating some ruins on Earth where they find a Mako or a piece of N7 armour or something like that.

With the bare minimum it fires killing the Reapers, but it also destroys the mass relays and the citadel. So like the destruction ending.

With a moderate fleet the crucible will fire, destroying the Reapers and the Citadel. But the mass relays will remain intact. We're treated to Shepards funeral where survivors are mourning, and what's left of the council agreeing to make Earth the new seat of galactic government

With the fleet at maximum the crucible will fire, only destroying the Reapers and leaving the citadel and the relays intact. We're treated the the big god damned hero in a celebration with congratulations going around a chance to hear what all of the squad mates will do now that it's all over and a chance to express what Shepard will do, retire, keep serving, take care of some unfinished business.

My gosh that is basically exactly how I thought it was going to go down.  I seriously thought that it'd be like depending on your allies and how well they were able to work together on the crucible and hold back the reapers would somehow judge the effectiveness of the Crucible.  Worst case, everything gets FUBAR and the Crucible backfires.  Best case, and I mean ABSOLUTE no eff-ups best case scourged every planet and gathered every ally and resource possible kind of best case, you win and become a big guddamn (Oh, Zaeed) war hero. 

ETA:  I hated that kid since the demo, I thought it was some kind of stupid faux sympathy gimmick.  

Turns out, no, it's far, far worse than that. <_<

 

My issue with the  Kid and him being the Catalyst is that  they never , once EXPLAIN what he  or it is. Something that big,  that changes the whole fundation of the story as we know it needs to be explain.  The Kid was the start of it all and we don't know what he is... like really.

[Vikali]

Some of these suggestions are pretty lulzy.