15 réponses à ce sujet

[Zynnix]

In my vision of the ideal ending, Shepard still dies. But not in a horrible forced way. In a heroic way, a way that allows him to save lives, and allows his choices to actually matter and affect who is left alive at the end of all of this. It goes something like this:

After the confrontation with the Illusive Man, Shepard stumbles over to the controls for the Catalyst and starts the thing up. At the end of Shepard's last conversation with Anderson, we hear Hackett on the comm and instead of saying "Nothing's happening" he says "We're picking up increased energy output from the weapon. Damn it, Shepard you've done it! Shepard? Shepard do you copy?" And then we realize Shepard didn't make it.

The weapon fires, destroying all the Reapers in the proximity of Earth. You see the cheering from the people on the streets, you see shots of each of Shepard's surviving squadmembers celebrating. Some time later a memorial service is held for all those that gave their lives against the Reapers. The memorial plaque from the Normandy's crew deck is there updated with a new name: "[Insert name here] Shepard" Hackett speaks about the continued peace between all races as they work together to rebuild Earth and other worlds like Thessia and Palaven decimated by the Reaper forces. As he talks about this, we're shown brief shots of people settling back into their lives. The Geth and Quarians working together to start anew on Rannoch, the Krogan building things instead of destroying them. Etc.

After all this, the game focuses in on a child, hand in hand with the love interest of your game. They're telling the story of Commander Shepard once again. The child's favourite story. They say something like "Never forget, your father was a hero." the view pans up and far off in the Earth sky we see the wreckage of the Citadel in the middle of being repaired. Music comes to crescendo, roll credits. Acquire gratitude of playerbase.

Not to be rude but that's how you write a "good ending". What's currently in place in the game feels like the worst possible scenario ending no matter how you look at it.

I'm curious to see others thoughts on how your ideal endings would have gone. Let's brainstorm a bit and see if we can come up with something better than pushing three different (practically the same) doomsday buttons. 

[RxP4IN]

You know when I decided to think of a better ending, I came up with this exact ending within a matter of 30 seconds...no joke. Almost identical.

How long did it take you? 15 sec? Seriously Bioware, you had 5 years!!!

Also, this ending would be incredibly easy to implement as well as have it vary drastically.

[sporeian]

Here's my ideal ending (based around Drew's original ending)

You charge alone towards that beam to the citadel. Everyone focuses on harbingers to ensure you get in safely. You do actually get in safely, but alone. You arrive at the station and you see TIM. TIM is being controlled by Harbinger and you two fight a final battle for control of the crucible. You win and then take control. Your faced with 3 different choices.

Take control of the Reapers and continue the cycle for the greater good. Then you would become the new head of the Reaper fleet.

You can destroy the reapers, but it would destroy most of the people on earth and few would be left. Also the Relays would blow up, isolating everyone from each other.

Or you convince Harbinger to let everyone live and the Reapers peacefully shut down the Relays by sacrificing themselves for your survival. In this ending the Reapers would retreat and everyone would rejoice. The citadel blows up and everyone feels that Shepard is dead. Everybody holds a funeral in your honor and several people say things in your honor. Then, you appear over the horizon and then your reunited with everyone. You hug your friends, kiss your LI, and shep sheds 1 tear of epicness.

A voice then goes on to tell about your previous choices and their consequences in the future. They recap what happened to everyone eventually. The game ends with Shepard and their LI on a beach on Earth enjoying the peace they finally earned.

I have an idea for a sequel to this series, but its kinda poopy.

[Zynnix]

RxP4IN wrote...

You know when I decided to think of a better ending, I came up with this exact ending within a matter of 30 seconds...no joke. Almost identical.

How long did it take you? 15 sec? Seriously Bioware, you had 5 years!!!

Also, this ending would be incredibly easy to implement as well as have it vary drastically.

I know right? Because it's the kind of ending people were expecting. I don't mind a bunch of different endings where things go terribly wrong in quite a few of them. But when I do everything perfectly throughout three games... it's silly for him to falter right at the end. It's just not in his character as the way that I've built him. 

[PixelGorilla]

I orginally posted this on reddit but after playing the game and seeing all three endings this is what I would have done. I feel like this gives everyone what they want instead of Bioware's direction. 

I would have ended Mass Effect 3 with Shepard reaching the crucible only to be stopped by Harbinger who would then reiterate that their place and motives are absolute and cannot be changed or else the galaxy will fall into complete chaos and end completely with no new cycle.

Harbinger is then distracted by Anderson (renegade) or Illusive Man (paragon) and they attempt to persuade you. You'll then be presented with three choices.

- Let the Reapers keep on how they are which will keep the order of things. (Neutral)

- Fire the crucible which corrupts the Reapers and makes them completely vulnerable to attacks. (Anderson/Paragon choice)

- Merge with the crucible itself and take control of the Reapers. (Illusive Man/Renegade choice)

Option one: Harbinger will tell you you've made the right decision and departs to continue the Reaper assault on earth. You then watch earth below as the battle intensifies. Cut's to all of your current and past squad members fighting on earth and die one by one wondering what happened to Shepard.Shepard is then hit with fatal blow and reflects on if he made the right decision and everything he's done up to this moment with his allies. As he provides said narrative the view pans out to the universe and a time-lapse of destruction and rebirth.
Then you zoom in on a ship where a Shepard-like is starting his investigation into the Reaper threat giving you a true feeling that the cycle has begun anew.

Option two: Harbinger kills Anderson or Illusive Man and then sets his sights on you as the Normandy shows up and fires upon him, dealing a serious blow. Garrus then chimes in over coms that calibrations really do pay off.You join your squad on the Normandy and return to earth for a final assault on the remaining reapers. After you beat them you start getting reports of the Reapers defeat across the universe.
Then if you're Paragon, Anderson shows up to congratulate you or if you're Renegade, the Illusive Man shows up accuses you of taking his power away and you either kill him or have him taken into custody.
You then get a quick series of shots of the Reapers falling all over the universe with Shepard reflecting on all the friends and alliances you've made and lost over the series, pondering if the galaxy will truly fall into chaos or if they can finally live in peace.
After the credits you get a shot of Shepard and love interest celebrating with the rest of your friends. Where this takes place depends on you love interest. For example, if you've chose Tali you're on Rannoch and even get to see a legion statue in the distance.

Option Three: After the merge you're given control over all the Reapers and you have the following choices.
- You can use the Reapers as a tool to enslave the what's left of the universe. You then see the universe returning to "normal" as the Reapers, under your influence keep those alive under slavery. Statues of Shepard everywhere. Credit roll.

- You can continue the destruction to begin the cycle again and watch as former allies die and curse you with their final breaths. The cycle begins again.

- You can chose to take the reapers and leave hoping the universe will be able to continue working together and avoid self-destruction. Allies are upset but understand. Love interest is then seen alone playing a recording of Shepard saying "I love you" as the credits begin to roll.

- You can cease the attacks and use the Reapers to force peace onto the universe. You allies will be hurt by this choice but will understand that you made this decision for the well-being of all. Your love interest is then seen alone playing a recording of Shepard saying "I love you" as the credits begin to roll.

Modifié par PixelGorilla, 11 mars 2012 - 03:00 .

[its the beast]

Zynnix wrote...

In my vision of the ideal ending, Shepard still dies. But not in a horrible forced way. In a heroic way, a way that allows him to save lives, and allows his choices to actually matter and affect who is left alive at the end of all of this. It goes something like this:

After the confrontation with the Illusive Man, Shepard stumbles over to the controls for the Catalyst and starts the thing up. At the end of Shepard's last conversation with Anderson, we hear Hackett on the comm and instead of saying "Nothing's happening" he says "We're picking up increased energy output from the weapon. Damn it, Shepard you've done it! Shepard? Shepard do you copy?" And then we realize Shepard didn't make it.

The weapon fires, destroying all the Reapers in the proximity of Earth. You see the cheering from the people on the streets, you see shots of each of Shepard's surviving squadmembers celebrating. Some time later a memorial service is held for all those that gave their lives against the Reapers. The memorial plaque from the Normandy's crew deck is there updated with a new name: "[Insert name here] Shepard" Hackett speaks about the continued peace between all races as they work together to rebuild Earth and other worlds like Thessia and Palaven decimated by the Reaper forces. As he talks about this, we're shown brief shots of people settling back into their lives. The Geth and Quarians working together to start anew on Rannoch, the Krogan building things instead of destroying them. Etc.

After all this, the game focuses in on a child, hand in hand with the love interest of your game. They're telling the story of Commander Shepard once again. The child's favourite story. They say something like "Never forget, your father was a hero." the view pans up and far off in the Earth sky we see the wreckage of the Citadel in the middle of being repaired. Music comes to crescendo, roll credits. Acquire gratitude of playerbase.

Not to be rude but that's how you write a "good ending". What's currently in place in the game feels like the worst possible scenario ending no matter how you look at it.

I'm curious to see others thoughts on how your ideal endings would have gone. Let's brainstorm a bit and see if we can come up with something better than pushing three different (practically the same) doomsday buttons. 

Couldn't have said it better myself! that sounds not only like an ideal ending but a perfect one. I really like the way you described how the players LI would playout too. But i also think that bioware should give options for the player were their shep can live, and die an old man or woman with their LI and thus begins the new Mass Effect, so on so forth. 

[Zynnix]

sporeian wrote...

Here's my ideal ending (based around Drew's original ending)

You charge alone towards that beam to the citadel. Everyone focuses on harbingers to ensure you get in safely. You do actually get in safely, but alone. You arrive at the station and you see TIM. TIM is being controlled by Harbinger and you two fight a final battle for control of the crucible. You win and then take control. Your faced with 3 different choices.

Take control of the Reapers and continue the cycle for the greater good. Then you would become the new head of the Reaper fleet.

You can destroy the reapers, but it would destroy most of the people on earth and few would be left. Also the Relays would blow up, isolating everyone from each other.

Or you convince Harbinger to let everyone live and the Reapers peacefully shut down the Relays by sacrificing themselves for your survival. In this ending the Reapers would retreat and everyone would rejoice. The citadel blows up and everyone feels that Shepard is dead. Everybody holds a funeral in your honor and several people say things in your honor. Then, you appear over the horizon and then your reunited with everyone. You hug your friends, kiss your LI, and shep sheds 1 tear of epicness.

A voice then goes on to tell about your previous choices and their consequences in the future. They recap what happened to everyone eventually. The game ends with Shepard and their LI on a beach on Earth enjoying the peace they finally earned.

I have an idea for a sequel to this series, but its kinda poopy.

See even this is an interesting alternative. It keeps that three choice thing open, and you have the clear paragon and renegade options of either trying to convince harbinger to stop, or trying to control the reapers. At least then it would somewhat feel like your choices matter as you would probably need a maxed out Paragon score to sway the mind of a Reaper. 

[Zynnix]

PixelGorilla wrote...

- Fire the crucible which corrupts the Reapers and makes them completely vulnerable to attacks. (Anderson/Paragon choice)

That's another more plausible idea. Instead of a weapon that just magically destroys these god-machines and leaves everything else untouched, making them vulnerable to attack through some kind of virus it probably the msot plausible way to go about it.

[JohnnyBB85]

RxP4IN wrote...

You know when I decided to think of a better ending, I came up with this exact ending within a matter of 30 seconds...no joke. Almost identical.

How long did it take you? 15 sec? Seriously Bioware, you had 5 years!!!

Also, this ending would be incredibly easy to implement as well as have it vary drastically.

I just want to second this.

I do actually like the "choice" scene above the citadel, but aside from that I basically agree. I want an ending where Shep lives and another where the hero dies. I want an epilogue, I want to see everyone move on and be happy - or sad, I just want to see an epilogue!

[PixelGorilla]

Zynnix wrote...

PixelGorilla wrote...

- Fire the crucible which corrupts the Reapers and makes them completely vulnerable to attacks. (Anderson/Paragon choice)

That's another more plausible idea. Instead of a weapon that just magically destroys these god-machines and leaves everything else untouched, making them vulnerable to attack through some kind of virus it probably the msot plausible way to go about it.

I thought this made more sense as well considering the war rediness aspect and how the idea of a virus currupting them would have made the war assests more meaningful than they currently do.

Although I'm sure people would have hated anything I'd come up with,

[AveryChim]

My ideal ending:

*Platform raises up to the catalyst area*
Shepard gets up and walks forward... when suddenly an ethereal space cow manifests in front of him.

Shepard: What are you?!
Space Cow: I am everything.
Shepard: What?
Space Cow: I am existence itself, the essence of the universe, the human concept of 'god'.
Shepard: Ashley is not going to like this...
Cow: There is nothing to like or dislike, I am every emotion. I transcend your concepts of love or hate.
Shepard: And you're a space cow?
Cow: I merely take this form so your primitive mind can comprehend my presence, *can interrupt at this point* My true form is unsee-able, but you can see me everywhere, I can be everything or anything, but I am nothing at the same time. You can never full understand what I am without being me.
*Renegade interrupt* Shepard: Right, forget I asked...
Shepard: I need to know how to stop the reapers.
Cow: By coming here, you may already have...
Shepard: What do you mean?
Cow: The "Crucible", as your people call it, is a concept every sapient being is imprinted with. It is the idea of perfection, some strive to reach it, others fear it.
Shepard: So we built... perfection?
Cow: No, perfection does not exists. I would know.
Shepard: So what DID we build?
Cow: The construct is your stairway to heaven, the next step of your evolution. It is to you, what the Citidal was to the Reapers. It is-

Suddenly the space cow burst into a cloud of flowers
Shepard: Whoa!

All the reapers died and everyone got drunk and had sex. The end!
(I got bored...)

[gmboy902]

 1) You destroy all the Reapers and die in the process. The mass relays remain intact. Gasp.

2) You have a fist-fight with the Star Child that results in the implosion of the entire universe.

3) The dinosaurs come back and swallow all the Reapers whole.

4) The Space Sphere runs into the Citadel at a high enough velocity to tear a hole through the core, the resulting explosion destroys the Sol system

5) You adopt the child/put him in foster care, he later grows up to become Isaac Clarke.

6) Joker and EDI hook up, but she crushes him in the process.

7) Snape kills Dumbledore

I could keep going, but you get the point.

[Zynnix]

AveryChim wrote...

My ideal ending:

*Platform raises up to the catalyst area*
Shepard gets up and walks forward... when suddenly an ethereal space cow manifests in front of him.

Shepard: What are you?!
Space Cow: I am everything.
Shepard: What?
Space Cow: I am existence itself, the essence of the universe, the human concept of 'god'.
Shepard: Ashley is not going to like this...
Cow: There is nothing to like or dislike, I am every emotion. I transcend your concepts of love or hate.
Shepard: And you're a space cow?
Cow: I merely take this form so your primitive mind can comprehend my presence, *can interrupt at this point* My true form is unsee-able, but you can see me everywhere, I can be everything or anything, but I am nothing at the same time. You can never full understand what I am without being me.
*Renegade interrupt* Shepard: Right, forget I asked...
Shepard: I need to know how to stop the reapers.
Cow: By coming here, you may already have...
Shepard: What do you mean?
Cow: The "Crucible", as your people call it, is a concept every sapient being is imprinted with. It is the idea of perfection, some strive to reach it, others fear it.
Shepard: So we built... perfection?
Cow: No, perfection does not exists. I would know.
Shepard: So what DID we build?
Cow: The construct is your stairway to heaven, the next step of your evolution. It is to you, what the Citidal was to the Reapers. It is-

Suddenly the space cow burst into a cloud of flowers
Shepard: Whoa!

All the reapers died and everyone got drunk and had sex. The end!
(I got bored...)

This would be such an amazing ending. 

[Hizuka]

Someone made an excellent video for his version of a paragon ending for ME3 that just utterly smokes the official ending.

www.youtube.com/watch

Modifié par Hizuka, 11 mars 2012 - 04:48 .

[Talcon Warrior]

What would I have wanted? I might have put a little bit of thought in it...

To start off, I would have implemented more cutscenes showing off the true immensity of this battle. Like in Mass Effect 1, where after a few minutes of gameplay, we're treated to some absolutely thrilling scenes ofthe battle above. I want to see the groups I spent time recruiting in the fight, seeing the armadas above in desperate knife fight battles with the Reapers. On the ground as well, seeing characters who I know (Zaeed and Jack, for example) leading fighters through the streets of London. If we didn't take the time to recruit, or certain characters died in our past, we'd be seeing more and more scenes of Alliance soldiers getting hit hard. This is war, on an unimaginably huge scale. Yet after the opening charge and a few scattered shots of ground battles, we only see Shepard's fight. I would have loved to see the Reaper's lines broken long enough for the Catalyst to be brought through, and a force of Rachni and Geth ambushing husks and cannibals. I got the distinct impression that I had done a whole lot of recruiting to build up this awesome force for the epic final battle, and after the opening fusillades very little is seen.

The treatment of the catalyst was a little iffy for me. I would have preferred that this superweapon we've been building was in fact a weapon. Not some goofy 'Turn-off' button for the Reapers, but possibly a giant laser or something (Seriously, Death Star laser). That way, we have the big item we need to turn the tide, but no instant end to the war. After the Earth battle, the catalyst would be taken to every war-front necessary, helping win the fight. As Vigil said, it takes a long time to exterminate a species. I doubt the Reaper horde would go down in a single shot from an uber gun, but it sets it up for the epilogue we've been waiting for. Also, since the war won't be won in a single battle, this allows for DLC and such to happen after Earth, like the retaking of Omega.

Really, a Fallout: New Vegas slideshow would have been perfect. Possibly with the old man narrating, or some main character who would connect to fans (Anderson, possibly), we hear about what happened because of the choices we made. What happened (In the short term, at least) to the Krogan, the Quarian/Geth, to the crew of the Normandy (The ones who survived, anyhow), etc.

As for Shepard, I loved the final scene with Anderson. Seriously, the Catalyst was about to win the game for us, and I got to have one last view with my old pal. If the Commander would have died there, I would have been satisfied. Death doesn't bother me. A TV show or movie once said it right. This isn't some squad battle, no matter how tough. In war, people still die. And if I had died bringing about the happiness of the characters I have grown to love, I would be cool with it. Alternatively, for someone who was absolutely prepared, had done everything right, you should be able to have the opportunity to live the rest of your days the way you want.

And if you want to have the God-child in the ending, do it! But make it happen in a sensicle way, that fits in with the primary themes and motivations of the established games. I enjoyed the Dark-matter choice I saw on the forums a little while ago, even if that doesn't work for everyone. I say the God should have been the final mark of the race who created, and were subsequently destroyed by, the Reapers. He has been waiting for countless millenia for the day that the mortal races finish their final project, the Crucible, and break this cycle of destruction. I mean, honestly, when you talked with Sovereign (and on a lesser extent, Harbinger. The guy just didn't have the menace of the first Reaper, in my opinion), did you say to yourself, "He must be working for someone." NO! The Reapers annhilated organic life like it was nothing for untold millions of years. And not for some cyber diety with delusions of synthetic control. "But why didn't the exterminate all life?" some ask. Because they're working on the map records obtained in their initial assault on the Citadel. The Reapers aren't going to explore every single star system in the galaxy looking for a single planet with apes on it. They're going to exterminate the advanced races, and come back when they know the new races have progressed to Harvest stage. Simple explanation.

I loved the game. I loved the buildup. I even loved every second of the final fight to the moment you transcended in a beam of light. But the ending was not satisfactory, in my opinion. All I have done, is state what I would think would be pretty cool.

Most of all, I wish the developers would come down to BSN and read threads like this, and understand that we love the game that they have worked so hard on, and as such, only want it to be the best ending possible.
It's a lot to ask for, but Bioware has shown a willingness to listen to the fans on several occasions before. I hope the trend continues.

[Zynnix]

Yeah I would've loved to have seen a battle scene with the Rachni or something. It would have made me smile to see that the choice I made back in Mass Effect 1 was actually having an effect on the war in the end.

I'd like to think the developers have been reading threads like this, but I mean man there are a lot of them, and some people are approaching it in the wrong way attacking the devs and throwing insults around, so I mean there's only so much of that they can take. The word is definitely out there though about the general sense of dissatisfaction regarding the endings. Destructoid ran an article about it earlier, it's all over various gaming forums, all my friends are talking about it on Facebook and Twitter. It's not a minority issue, and so I'm sure at some point they'll make a statement regarding the ending. It's just up to us in the community to remain calm and discuss things in an appropriate fashion.