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[Oxy Clean]

PKchu wrote...

Why, exactly, do things like this keep happening?

Chris Priestly just retweeted an article fromt he The Globe and Mail.

Here's the link: http://www.theglobea...article2373708/

Key parts of the article:

" It’s so beautiful that I can’t imagine ruining it for those yet to experience it. "

" Despite what you might read from irate fans, it is far from lazy or simple. It is complex and thought provoking."

" I truly hope that BioWare remains uninfluenced by fans’ protests. It’s rare to see an artist’s vision persist through the development of a major game series. Altering that vision based on audience response – which may or may not represent the majority of players (few would argue that the dissatisfied are much more likely to give voice to their grievances than the contented are to yell out their satisfaction) – would be a disservice to a medium still struggling for mainstream acceptance as an art form."


"Cmdr Owen Shepard ‏ @CmdrOwenShepard
· Open
@BioEvilChris Really Chris?"

"Chris Priestly ‏ @BioEvilChris
Close
@CmdrOwenShepard Yeah, really. This surprises you?"

...Cool, good job with that whole PR thing EA!

The only thought going through my mind at the end was: 

What the f**k?!?!?!?!?!

Unless BioWare considers this reaction "thought provoking"....and complex? please, a 8 year old could have successfully written that ending better. Lots of speculation from everyone...yes, speculation on how such a talented team could f**k something up that bad...

[Kanner]

Actually Bioware, it's not you listening to us.

It's us listening to you.

You are the ones who are going to say something that might make the difference here. We are the ones waiting for you to say it.

Not going to keep listening much longer, however.

[AwefulShot]

wsandista wrote...

gadenp wrote...

http://www.psxextrem...news/10858.html

Another reviewer that does not get it. Is BW paying off the Media. Or are the gamer developers just running scared that consumers have more power then ever?

Obviously the "gaming-press" sites all seem to have forgotten about Fallout 3 where the ending actually was retconned. If changing a games ending were a slipperyslope, would't we all have fallen by now?

I sort of see his point.  What if Bioware comes back and says "that was the endings we wanted"?  End of story, we were ultimately on a ride with Bioware firmly at the steering wheel.  The illusion of choice put before us, but make no mistake, it was illusion.  Do we somehow deminish Biowares efforts by saying we want a different ending?  If I go to a movie and disagree with the ending can I ask for my money back or have the director/screen writer(s) explain themselves?

The probelm with the 'backlash' is like a lot of things, the loud minority drown out the silent majority.  This forums members represents only a fraction of the total number of ME3 copies sold.  What if anything can we take from the fact that only a small number seem to be voicing a problem wiht the ending?  Those making the noise would yell loudly, it means they haven't thought to complain (yet), alternatively perhaps more people are happy with the ending than are unhappy?  Food for thought.

The more time that passes the more philosopical I become and see some of the 'backlash' as a little over the top.  I would much rather they tidy up the loose ends than spend time creating a whole new ending.  The endings were the endings (that we know to date) - it's all a dream would for me be the worst possible outcome, that is major BS in any context.

I'm sure Bioware know what people are saying and perhaps we are jumping the gun?  Shoot first and ask questions later isn't a great way of engaing in meaning dialogue.

[tiger_wsquared]

 Just thought I would add my opinion to this already mountain of dislike of the ending. 

Overall Mass Effect 3 campaign is fantastic, the events of Tuchanka, the bromance with Garrus, the sacrifice of your friends it all hit me like an emotional bulldozer. It was everything a Mass Effect fan could want but it all took a turn around the ending that many like myself can not nor ever will enjoy.

The last part of the game is not Mass Effect, it may have similar settings, music, characters, technology but it just isn't Mass Effect. The ending is just too detached and incoherent  from the rest of the series.  The ending plays in a way that says;
"You have spent somewhere up to 3 games worth of decisions to get here but all of don't count anymore and no matter the ending, the universe you have come to love will cease to exist for reasons we will not disclose. Good bye."

I can understand the want for speculation, it gets the wheel of imagination rolling but this leaves it so far open that trying to speculate is soul chrushing.


Coming up to the end I was expecting a loss, even though I had done everything I could think of. The power of the Reapers was to great and the toll of the war was taking its toll on Shepard. But destroying the Mass Effect would never be an option I would accept to defeat the Reapers, an option that we were all forced to do in a mono colour fashion of either red, blue and green.

[StolenTree]

My favorite moments were legion's and Mordin's sacrifices, they almost brought me to tears, something only real people can do.

Aside from that, the game felt a little hollow in some parts but absolutely fleshed out and engaging in others like the genophage mission. Up until the end I was quite satisfied with the experience. i was very happy with the choice itself, the appearance of a third choice mildly blew my mind bu tthen the nding cutscenes came.

I really don't understand why the Normandy ran from the fight or why there is no closure on the fates of significant figures such as the majority of the crew, Admiral Hacket, the Council, and so on. Also, the destruction of the mass realys spells the doom of billions even without the reapers, the resource web that supported such grand populations would no longer exist and massive famines and rioting would certainly ensue. Where is the hope in that? The mass effect relays would ideally only be destroyed by the renegade option. The ending scene for that choice could show some planets of asari, turians, salarians, or whichever can be expected to produce the deepest emotional effect, watching in horror as the relays rip apart. Paragon could show the Reapers traveling from system to system using their slaves and mass effect fields to clear the rubble. Synthesis: a scene like that from Crysis 2 which details the tranformation at a structural level of the genetc code. They went for hexagons, Fallout 3 mentions that the Super Mutants have a quad structure, perhaps Mass Effect can take the cake and jump for the mystical number of seven, Probably, the producers will consider that too reminiscent of Satanism for widespread distribution. Triangles maybe? 3's a number associated with God. People might like that.

The rest of this post is about more of my ideas for a more cohesive ending that embraces the magnitude of the decisions of a galaxy's shepard. Perhaps some sort of dreamlike sequence in which the forest of Shepard's dreams is either blackened or brightened as SHe says farewell to all the various bonds and attachments that cohered Hir life is in order, with significant emphasis on the love interest. For the synthesis choice, this should rather be a vision of assimilation into the timeless knowledge of the galactic cycles that had predated the events of the series. "Live" action shots could include a building of a monument to Legion and Shepard on Rannoch, showing the united geth and quarians building together a tribute to the messiahs that had brought harmony where there had once been discord. If the renegade option had been chosen, this could show a bombed and blackened world with a suitless (or maskless) quarian gazing wistfully at the open sky beyond the window. Now I agree that Shepard must die at the end and that helps uncomplicate things, it would be easy to have a funeral where the major players in Hir life partake in a sort of reunion that highlights hir past accomplishments and could be manipulated to bring closure to the fates of such loved characters as Garrus, Tali, Kaidan, and Ashley. Also, a scene depicting the redevelopment of the rachni civilization would be much appreciated.

If you like some of my ideas, please let me know so that I can focus my energy on more fully fleshing them out instead of gorging myself on the multiplayer and an Insanity replay.

[ElectronicPostingInterface]

As much as I disagree with Chris and find...the odd twitter way this is all handled with confusing and weird, I actually sincerely appreciate he shared his actual opinion with us and gave us his real thoughts. There's a lot of jerking around recently and I'd prefer "no, we disagree and won't do it" to "lol, maybe we will, maybe we won't, who's your favorite squadmate?"

[xFyre1]

PKchu wrote...

Why, exactly, do things like this keep happening?

Chris Priestly just retweeted an article fromt he The Globe and Mail.

Here's the link: http://www.theglobea...article2373708/

Key parts of the article:

" It’s so beautiful that I can’t imagine ruining it for those yet to experience it. "

Yeah it's a beautiful...ly flawed ending.

The game itself IS beautiful, actually, the whole franchise is. That just makes the ending an even harder slap in the face than it would be otherwise.

Modifié par xFyre1, 20 mars 2012 - 03:15 .

[Japkap79]

I have been a fan since the game was first released on xbox and i am still a fan, the journey up to the end of ME3 was awesome, and i noticed all the goodbyes and mails and all of it during the last few missions before THE END!!, i loved that part going around saying goodbye and them saying what a journey it had been.

I have said in other threads the happy ending would not really fit such an epic battle, i mean you get every space fareing race to come and help you out, that is amazing and then you somehow get to walk away from this epic battle at the end that seems a bit weak to me, in the end with your choices, you either die in 2 of them and maybe live in 1 ending, but all in all The legend of Shepard is you win over the reapers in 1 way or another, so we achieved our goal of stopping the reapers from ending all advanced life.

Did the ending in general not make sense yes, why because our choices where limited no real options other then 3 path's to walk up to an option and see a small video of us doing some action and blowing up the relays and the citadel, and our crew flying off to escape a shockwave.....

The ending was a bit hinkey but i can accept it, would i like some dlc content to continue the story yeah ofcourse i want more mass effect, i would love for the indoctrination theory to be the case so we have maybe a few more hours of gametime , but do we really need it.

[AwefulShot]

@StoleTree. A funeral cutscene once the dust (of the exploding Mass Relays) settles with the survivors going over Shep's life from ME to ME3 would be Frak'n AWESOME! That would be my ULTIMATE ending to the er endings. To relive the whole journey from ME to ME3 as told by your nearest and dearest.

That would be pure magic.

[Oxy Clean]

Japkap79 wrote...

 i would love for the indoctrination theory to be the case so we have maybe a few more hours of gametime , but do we really need it.

Yes, yes we do.

[gadenp]

AwefulShot wrote...

wsandista wrote...

gadenp wrote...

http://www.psxextrem...news/10858.html

Another reviewer that does not get it. Is BW paying off the Media. Or are the gamer developers just running scared that consumers have more power then ever?

Obviously the "gaming-press" sites all seem to have forgotten about Fallout 3 where the ending actually was retconned. If changing a games ending were a slipperyslope, would't we all have fallen by now?

I sort of see his point.  What if Bioware comes back and says "that was the endings we wanted"?  End of story, we were ultimately on a ride with Bioware firmly at the steering wheel.  The illusion of choice put before us, but make no mistake, it was illusion.  Do we somehow deminish Biowares efforts by saying we want a different ending?  If I go to a movie and disagree with the ending can I ask for my money back or have the director/screen writer(s) explain themselves?

The probelm with the 'backlash' is like a lot of things, the loud minority drown out the silent majority.  This forums members represents only a fraction of the total number of ME3 copies sold.  What if anything can we take from the fact that only a small number seem to be voicing a problem wiht the ending?  Those making the noise would yell loudly, it means they haven't thought to complain (yet), alternatively perhaps more people are happy with the ending than are unhappy?  Food for thought.

The more time that passes the more philosopical I become and see some of the 'backlash' as a little over the top.  I would much rather they tidy up the loose ends than spend time creating a whole new ending.  The endings were the endings (that we know to date) - it's all a dream would for me be the worst possible outcome, that is major BS in any context.

I'm sure Bioware know what people are saying and perhaps we are jumping the gun?  Shoot first and ask questions later isn't a great way of engaing in meaning dialogue.

I believe most of us here do not need a happy ending. We would like an ending that makes sense. Also the pricing for a movie and game is alot of difference. And with art, what you see is what you get. For games, especially if you pre-order, we are putting hugh faith in the developer.

Also I believe the ones that are making the most noise are not a small minority, based on all the articles and postings across the internet, we are a large minority. Also even if we are, we are also the small minority that are faithful BW followers, and thus the core group of people BW needs to keep. We are the walking advertisements for BW for their games. And now we are the walking angry mob.

If the ending is not changed or flashed out really well, BW will lose alot of loyal fans. Also since the people that play BW games are mostly older, we also have longer memories, aka many will really boycott or pirate future BW release, especially pre-release, to ensure quality before we buy, if we even do.

Modifié par gadenp, 20 mars 2012 - 03:19 .

[Iconoclaste]

We already have a "happy ending" : we "saved" the galaxy!

[vkt62]

I would like to point out that as a story, game, movie, fiction, or any form, you have actually made a master piece rivaling the Star Wars series UNTIL you get back to earth which was okay and UNTIL you met the star child which completely undid the last 3 games worth of entertainment and high ratings. For me the choices were a problem but not as much as the lack of history before the Protheans or the origins of the star child/reapers. I don't care if you kill Shepard, indoctrinate him, make terminaters out of him, kill the galaxy, save the galaxy, create a new one, JUST GIVE US A BACK HISTORY. You could have spent a few minutes similar to when Shepard talks to Sovereign for the first time on Virmire but longer and worth 3 games worth of suspense explaining things.

When people buy the game after seeing some review and don't like it, that fine. But when you get us into a series, make us preorder for 5 years based on faith, you do owe us something. I got into mass effect a year after ME1 came  out and I read the review and the story. ME2 and ME3, I bought on faith. Faith that you would give us a good story. Even Battlestar Galactica had a better ending to the series.

I hope you do realize that the origin of the reapers was one of the reason why the suspense has been so good for the last 3 games and kept your game in demand also. I really can't understand how someone could have screw up in 5 minutes what the last 150 hours worth of writing did. You have plot hole so big you can fit the Titanic through it and then some more. The last 150 hours brought the game to the level of Olympus Mons and dropped you down back to level ground in 5 mins. It will hurt.

Even after 100s of threads in the forum in the last 4 years on how bad things can get from a story point you still manage to end it like this. BRAVO

Modifié par vkt62, 20 mars 2012 - 03:29 .

[Ace6706]

The entire game leading up to the ending made it seem as if the finale would be tenfold of the entire game. The goodbyes and the reminiscing with your crew. The whole bit of Shepard constantly telling everyone that this isn't goodbye, and you give us this for an ending. I'm sure gamers everywhere will be furious if they find out they have to pay for DLC to get the "True" ending. You've never done us wrong on Mass Effect games Bioware, but this is by far the worst I could've expected for an ending. It's as if you purposely left out tons of trilogy closing cinematics just so you could sell it to us for DLC. I've never been so unsatisfied with an ending out of every game out there.

[lalilulelo]

How are you gonna make 3 games with a brilliant story and then comPLETELY botch the last 10 minutes? I mean... I....what? It doesn't even need to be a 'happy' ending but there's plot holes gallore, loose ends untied, what the hell happens to your crew, continuity errors/contradicting stuff.. A stupid ass deus ex machina (emphasis on Deus Ex) character thrown in at the last minute (Star Child wtf) to completely hijack the story and shoehorn in a twist ending (And lets be honest, there really is only one ending) that makes no thematic or narrative sense with the other 99% of the story OR gameplay mechanics?
Hi, I'm god child and I control everything, here are you three un-choices. No matter what option you pick, it's like landing on the zero in yahtzee. Everyone F*ing loses. It doesn't even need to be a happy ending (but dammit, after all the work we're expected to put in getting ready for the final battle, why not?), but the endings aren't in any way satisfying or cathartic. Just a bunch of bullsh*t. I'd have rather you delayed the game another year.

I was playing through the game, honestly excited to replay Mass Effect 2 and then Mass Effect 3 again to see how things would be different. And now I couldn't care less because the endings are so lazy and bad and just... senseless. I just went and traded the games in to GameStop. You just completely sapped any investment I had in this story, now that I know how bad the ending is.

[tiger_wsquared]

The thing I feel that most of us are saying is that the ending seems poorly written and implemented as if it was just thrown together last minute. It was advertised as multiple endings depending on our choices but alas that is not the case.

We as consumers are not happy about that, it makes us question Bioware and their policies. If they did this once, who is to say they won't do it again.
I consider myself a core Bioware fan and customer but now I honestly don't know if I can thrust them again.

[Shadowblade1213]

First of all I would like to mention that the Mass Effect trilogy was probably the greatest trilogy I have ever had the pleasure to witness. The character interactions and bonds formed felt so real that I feel attached to each and every character that I had the pleasure to meet. Shepard was the greatest sci-fi hero I have ever seen (even greater than Halo’s Chief), and definitely the only hero worthy to stand against the reapers. I mourned for each and every character that died in the third game but understood why they were necessary. This story was such a complex weave of love, comradery, and sacrifice, I shared tears of joy and sorrow. Seeing it end was much like watching your baby grow up and leave you (you hate it but know its necessary). I feel honored that I was able to experience it, and I thank you Bioware for everything you have created. I know the ending has sparked controversy and conflict, but I understand why you are waiting to answer and I respect that. I myself am happy to wait and discuss in hopes for a future explanation to the ending to better understand your idea. Again thank you and take your time, let the story sink in so your answers will have more meaning and more of an audience.     

[AwefulShot]

Also the pricing for a movie and game is alot of difference

That is true, the games are cheaper.  In New Zealand I paid $149 for the collectors edition.  I played, not including mulitplayer, for 33 hours - so that's $4.50/hour of entertainment.  For a 3 hour movie I pay $17.50, meaning $5.80/hour of entertainment.  So games are a cheaper form of entertainment - add in the MP part of ME3 and it's significantly better value than going to a movie.

[jeweledleah]

Anhihi wrote...

Doppelgaenger wrote...

* snip *

(I bought a collector's edition for a significantly higher price. I found that product to be lacking in a number of ways. Don't think that I would not have spent more on it! However even what I got for 75 € was lacking.)

2) The promised comic is a preview for a comic not a finished product
3) The artbook is a preview for an artbook not a finished product
4) I really had hoped the soundtrack to be a CD
5) The "dog" is useless
6) Why has the patch velcro hooks? Thoose make it almost useless. Was it not intended to be sewn onto something?

* snip *

I just wanted to quote this again, I also thought I didn't get my money worth. This was the first collectors edition I ever bought, because Mass Effect is so awesome it deserved my money, but if I knew exactly what was in it I would have gone for a normal copy for sure.

Also, the CE-weapons are quite useless and replaced after 2 hours of gaming.

this was a second collector's edition that I bought.  first one being Wrath of the lich king.  there I got a giant beautiful artbook to go onto into my art book case, a soundrack CD, a making of DVD, an in game pet that was actualy interactive, and 2 packs of trading cards.

the only thing worth anything in N7 edition was from Ashes - Litho was tiny, patch is, well.. meh. pocket sized art book?  yeah, its kinda proped up on top of my full size art books... but I would have been fine with that, if the game didn't build up to such a disapointing conclusion.

and the funny thing is - it would have been much easier to accept this ending as bad as it is, if we weren't promised something completely different, and if I didn't pay $80 for it.

P.S.  many of us DO want a happyish ending.  so please, stop denying us this option.  ok?  please?  there's nothing inherently wrong with it, it doesn't diminish your option of heroic sacrifice in any way.

P.P.S.  I never go to the movie theaters anymore.  I find them to be extremely overpriced for the ammount of entertainment they provide.

Modifié par jeweledleah, 20 mars 2012 - 03:31 .

[Archonsg]

Mass Effect 3 in a nutshell.

You were told that you'll have cake.
What kind of cake depends on you.
You choose how fruity, nutty, spongy,soft or moist you want that cake to be.
To get the best cake, you'll need to work at it, get everything right, but it'll be unique, a cake you made.
So you go on and put in what you want in a cake and bake it.
During baking, the smells coming from the oven just get better and better.
Timer rings, you open your oven only to see 3 slices of bread, one buttered, one with jam and one with ham.


"Where the "F" is my cake?!" you say.
Then notice on top of the oven a note ; "We wanted to give you an experience that you'll remember. All that work and anticipation, wonderful isn't it? Does it matter if you didn't get your cake? Surprise!!

The cake was a lie.

"Mass Effect won't have an A,B,C ending ...." - So was this.

Modifié par Archonsg, 20 mars 2012 - 03:33 .

[CingCoCo]

Regarding those pointing out that its just a minority posting here:
If the game was actually percieved to be as huge as most reviewers seem to see it there also would be a lot of appreciation threads. There arent. Further more: Look around you - how many people who played the game do you know in person that thought the ending was great. For me its 0 out of 3.

[Takamori The Templar]

Ending made no sense at all.
Maybe for the destruction one.
The rest I went wtf.
And Joker making a warp jump while fighting the reaper wtf?!

[Word_Bearer]

Archonsg wrote...

Mass Effect 3 in a nutshell.

You were told that you'll have cake.
What kind of cake depends on you.
You choose how fruity, nutty, spongy,soft or moist you want that cake to be.
To get the best cake, you'll need to work at it, get everything right, but it'll be unique, a cake you made.
So you go on and put in what you want in a cake and bake it.
During baking, the smells coming from the oven just get better and better.
Timer rings, you open the only to see 3 slices of bread, one buttered, one with jam and one with ham.
"Where the "F" is my cake?!" you say.
Then notice on top of the oven a note ; "We wanted to give you an experience that you'll remember. All that work and anticipation, wonderful isn't it? Does it matter if you didn't get your cake? Surprise!!

The cake was a lie.

"Mass Effect won't have an A,B,C ending ...." - So was this.

Sadly yes. The cake was a lie. But that would explain alot. Bioware is acting alot like GLaDOS these days 

[Mayjeank]

Mayjeank wrote...

Doppelgaenger wrote...

I am frustrated. I really am frustrated. I spend 75€ on a game and over 100 hours playing all three parts and at the end of the experience all I can feel is an emotional disconnect? You dropped the ball. Big time. However, let me explain why I think this is.
...(cont.)
After writing this part down I really thought about just saving my money in the future and to walk away from your company. However, there is still something that I will see through (till): The End
I finished the Dialogue with the "god child" and immediately felt confusion. I felt nothing more. Afther that I completed the ending and went straight to the forums to find out what was wrong. A lot was wrong and still is.

I will now share something with you concerning interactive storytelling. I have a good amount of experience in roleplaying games (pen and paper/larp) as storyteller and as player. This I think is very much akin to interactive storytelling like you do it in your game. I once had a stunning experience that is pretty much akin to what I experienced with the ME 3 ending. A certain adventure (this was written by an author and we had bought it) of the game "The Dark Eye" ended in flat out "tragic" failure. I as a player was upset as hell, not only because the adventure had been annoying and bad in so many ways, but because I had put effort into this only to see how nothing came out of it. I was like "**** this, I could have stayed out of the Orcland (with my character) and nothing would have been different!" There was simply no payoff. This is a lesson to be learned from true roleplaying: When you are the character you want them to succeed. The player becomes in part the figure he is playing. This goes way deeper than the attachement to a character in a movie or a book. You emphazise stronger.

This goes so far that the Vampire the Masquarade Core Rulebook give advice like this: "Acommodate Player expectations: It's their game too, remember. You have to have some kind of idea what type of game the players want to play.", "Don't forget the payoff: If the players work hard and make smart decisions, their characters' success must be in proportion of the challenges they have faced, or they will feel cheated.", and "Don't abuse your power: You are the final arbiter of events. Your word is law, but you can not use this authority to beat the characters into what you want them to do."

The same thing goes for Mass Effect 3.It is an interactive storytelling experience. The player is Commander Shepard. When you force Shepard into the "god Child" choices you betray everything outlined above. You force them (!) into your (!) conclusion and deny them any payoff (!). This does not mean that you are not crafting the story but this is interactive! Shepards fate can simply not be predetermined (obviously the real of the plausible has to set borders here) because that would mean our choices don't matter. (remember what you advertised by the way?). Forcing one ending - and yes 17 or 16 variations of three differently colored explosions leading to almost the entirely same conclusion count as ONE ending – denies the players the story they want to play. You forgot the payoff to. [at this point i wanted to write something mean about the popup at the end but I cut that out because I try to reason here] You just walk over the players work. You have to show them for what they did all this and why it mattered to make choices in the first place.

This is how I describe what is wrong here: You as storytellers have a responsibility to us as players as much as I have the responsibility towards my players. The deep emotional investment needs to be handled carefully. When you start to mistreat your customers and players this will come back to hurt you. This is over all a business relationship. We pay you to be treated right. However, the ending caused me and others much emotional distress. This is not to be taken lightly! Because when you mistreat someone in a roleplaying game (even if not on purpose!) you need to realize that they themselves are partially invested. Let that sink in.

Your customers actual lives an psyche are invested in your products. (If you don't believe me go to your forums and look or ask! I personally felt almost sick for two days and still focus on this one week after the end. God knows I have better thinks to do... maybe not, preventing one other person from going through this is worth more than my stupid science paper) You have a responsibility in an interactive story. In this game series in particular, because interactivity is the central feature. This is true roleplaying. You might not want the responsibilities coming with this but you have them and you need to address them.

So as a customer in this relation I urge you strongly to put out an alternative ending that addresses the grievances of the people in the Forums. I want to like your games I truly do, I want you to continue making games, and I want to buy them and the merchandise for them. I wan't to get invested in your games because you truly did an awesome job with them and provided not only an enjoyable but a meaningful experience. The ending of ME 3 stand in complete contradiction to everything that has come before. Please allow me to still be part of this.
Do not forget: In this relationship profit is strongly connected to brand loyalty and you can not afford to lose this loyalty by abusing it in form of exploitation (10 points above) or bad (interactive) storytelling.
...

You should make sure everyone of your employees responsible reads the following articles:
Musings of a Screenwriter: The Ending Thread
http://social.biowar...ndex/10022779/1
This is a screenwriter and from the standpoint of his profession he explains in detail, why Shepard is not a tragic hero and what else is wrong with the endings. This is rather conventional but still an important read!

Why you enjoy art and the one problem with Mass Effect 3
http://www.themetaga...oblem-with.html
This is about why your players felt emotional disconnect and distress. The source is frustration and he explains how your ending fails to deliver emotionally.

This video will also go a long way of helping you to accomplish a better ending (this is not me):
Mass Effect 3 Ending: My Thoughts, What Could Have Been, What Should Have Been

I urge you strongly to take his war asset approach for your ending. Ignore the indoctrination theory, because mental battles are not the ones a player fights. This is about a real battle let us fight it.

I absolutely agree. You've just taken most of my concerns and put it into one well thought out explanation of what they need to hear. I've posted this on a couple different websites, but of course, I still feel the same way. Before the game came out, you could see everywhere there were claims to tie all the loose ends, answer all questions and provide legitimate conclusions for all the stories and relationships Shepard had in the game. The game itself was great (gameplay, depth of characters, story build up), all up until the part where Shepard gets hit by Harbinger in the final mission. 
There were 3 poor endings provided as tribute to the many hundreds of hours and dollars the fans put into this game. I have been having the same post-game reaction, being one of the fans that became immersed in the story and emotionally involved. I might play through the game again, but avoid watching any endings to avoid any more emotional distress.

One of the big things in the game that makes me feel very unsettled, particularly the romance part, I'm extremely confused. My FemShep romanced Garrus, had a wonderful story with him up until the end. I put him on the squad for the final mission. Supposedly the squad gets hit by a reaper cannon, Shepard almost gets killed, then gets beamed up to the citadel. I got the "Best" Destroy ending with approx. 5500 EMS and then at the end Garrus and James are on the Normandy when it crash lands. Shepard is breathing, laying in a pile of rubble when it's done.
1. Did Joker swoop down and save the squad while Shepard is beamed to the Citadel?
2. Do they eventually find Shepard laying in the rubble? Is s/he in the rubble on Earth or on the citadel?
3. Does the Citadel come crashing to earth or stay in orbit? (The derelict reaper in ME2 could not stay in orbit after losing its mass effect field, so what would happen to the citadel after the Crucible/ base of the citadel explodes?)
4. Are Shepard & their romancee ever going to see each other again? (In my game, before you enter No-Man's-Land, Garrus mentions Turian-Human children to FemShep if you romanced him. Garrus is on the Normandy when it crash landed, so ultimately that means he lived.) 
5. What was the point of saving Rannoch and curing the Genophage if the Mass Relays are destroyed regardless? The Entire Quarian fleet as well as the Krogan travelled to Earth to fight the reapers. If they can't go back to Rannoch, and the only ending where Shepard lives involves destroying synthetics, what was the point of recruiting the Geth??
6. And they said all synthetic life would cease to exist, but Shepard's children would create synthetics again and start a war. Isn't that a little contradictory? This means that they can still create & use machines, probably restore their ships and of course the possibility of finding Shepard. (<--I think this rules out the non-function of Shepard's Lazarus Project parts..plus the Illusive Man said their brain was intact and they restored major organs, so they'd still have the ability to live..)
7. And what happened to the COUNCIL?? There was nothing to indicate they evacuated the citadel, so after saving them in ME1, they die anyway? (I'm picturing everyone on the citadel smashed like a pancake when the arms close...)

Bottom line, too many questions, possibilities, plotholes, etc. If I had it my way, there would be a 4th game, an extensive DLC or expansion or whatever it takes, to fill all the holes. Preferably still following each players specific story and choices..
A customized EPILOGUE, per se:  showing the remaining crew, creating closure for the relationships and romances each player chose, reactions to the outcome of your decisions, character relations, like in ME2...just a little more detailed.

[theoldludwigvan]

Lots of issues, but if you're listening, Bioware, the biggest issue seems to be the lack of unique endings, and the lack of closure. Yeah some people want a happy ending, or this or that, but the real killer is that the endings don't reflect your Shepard's journey of 3 games, and you don't get to see the fallout of that ending. NOBODY WANTS TO REPLAY THE GAME BECAUSE THE ENDING ISNT UNIQUE. The games are GREAT, but when you know the ending that is coming, and you know your choices in the game dont matter, nobody will replay.