23455 réponses à ce sujet

[Mastone]

Look at this one:


Maybe we should post all the spoofs in here to make them realise the ending isn't that great?

[Mastone]

[ElMuchu]

Voodoo2015 wrote...

What I want is that my choices should be of significance to the entire ME3.
All choices from the ME1, ME2 and ME3, not three choices that end up the same but different colors

For ME3 ending contradicted the whole idea of the Mass Effect series.

All synthetic life will rebel against their creators and kill all organic life.
So I created synthetic life to kill all technologically advanced organic's. Before the chaos breaks out.

Wait what, what! What did he say? All synthetic life we create will rebel against us and kill us! So the Star Child created synthetic life that will kill us before that happens. WTF!

Isn't it the same damn thing! Doomed whatever you do.

Yep, I had the same reaction: it is a nonsense

[die-yng]

ElMuchu wrote...

Voodoo2015 wrote...

What I want is that my choices should be of significance to the entire ME3.
All choices from the ME1, ME2 and ME3, not three choices that end up the same but different colors

For ME3 ending contradicted the whole idea of the Mass Effect series.

All synthetic life will rebel against their creators and kill all organic life.
So I created synthetic life to kill all technologically advanced organic's. Before the chaos breaks out.

Wait what, what! What did he say? All synthetic life we create will rebel against us and kill us! So the Star Child created synthetic life that will kill us before that happens. WTF!

Isn't it the same damn thing! Doomed whatever you do.

Yep, I had the same reaction: it is a nonsense

It's like that famous quote from the vietnam war, by an american officer.

"In order to save the village, we had to burn the village."

To me this has always shown the madness of war and Starchild's reasoning only reinforced my belief in the reaper's madness.
How can BW seriously think Shep would ever accept bull like that?

[kickassTurian]

this is awesome

[Jakeonator]

The game series is absolutely incredible! The emotional immersion into the game world is like none other. All in all, Mass Effect 3 is undeniably a truly epic sci-fi experience!

My favourite part in the game...gosh, so many,..maybe talking with Liara on the Citadel, and pwning cerberus with their own mech!

[Superbeasto]

Hey, not sure if you Bioware chaps are still reviewing comments on this thread, but I wanted to weigh in with my opinion on the ending.

I thought, in all honesty, it was the most epic and jaw dropping finale I can remember in a videogame. I sat down to the final battle last night and didn't put the pad down until 5:30am and for the bulk of that my jaw was on the floor and my heart was in my mouth. If I have any complaint at all about the final choice it's that my fatigue-addled mind wasn't sure which path represented which option, but I went with my gut and got the one I aimed for anyway.

I'd avoided any spoilers so have only now looked up people's complaints to see what the fuss was all about and most of it seems to be focused on how bleak the ending was and on how it boiled down to a single choice at the end. To that I say, it wouldn't be Mass Effect if you didn't have a huge choice to make at the end (choice has after all been the main theme of the series) and I'm not unreasonable enough to expect that the choice has to incorporate every one of the 7billion unrelated choices I'd made earlier in the series.

As for it being bleak? My friends survived, my Shep (seemingly) survived, Earth was saved and the moment of sacrifice when I shot that conduit and the music swept in really hit me hard. It was incredibly stirring stuff and handled with the kind of flair for operatic space drama that made ME my favorite game series in the first place.

Felt compelled to post this somewhere you might see it because working as I now firsthand how much work and passion goes into a project like this and seeing the ending getting such a kicking worries me that that very vocal group of fans might drown out the people who genuinely loved and engaged with what you did in ME3. Think it's important Bioware know that there are probably plenty of people who feel this way (are the complainants even in the majority, or just an overbearingly vocal minority?) and the last thing I would want to see was any adjustments or backpedaling made to appease the moaners, as that would cheapen the experience for those of us who loved it (not to mention it would set a dangerous precedent for future game production, I'd rather play the vision of a studio than have the not always rational voice of the internet become the focus group for these things).

Anyway, I'm warbling a bit when I only meant to say a few words (hey, I'm passionate about ME)! Basically I loved Mass Effect 3 and wouldn't change it for the world (and don't think you should either). Thanks for the most memorable and epic journey I've had in videogames

Modifié par Superbeasto, 25 mars 2012 - 11:29 .

[Needsnewending]

By Paulo Moreira

Why does everyone call minority to the number of people who disliked the end of the game and yet, in most polls everything points the other way (incredible difference)?

Considering the study which states that only 1 in every 26 discontent costumers actually voice their opinion publicly (accurate but still looking for the sources, presented originally in Bioware Forum), doesn't that mean that just one facebook page alone (Demand a better ending to Mass Effect 3) represents, at the moment more than 1,412,086. And this are just the costumers who had direct access to the internet, researched enough to get to that page and decided to take a stand. That is amazing considering all the misconceptions about this commodity. Because that is what the game is, a commodity.

Is it really a minority? If not, why isn't addressed more seriously? There is such a point where the trust in a company turns it into infamous.

Should there be arguments on both sides? Why? Those that liked already have what they wanted! Those that didn't (considering the number sufficiently high) should also get it, to prevent future rupture between the company and the consumer. They know it, we know it. Why continue this? Free publicity? It is damaging the media more than anything else. This kind of bickering is making the world around look at this media as something that is consumed by petty consumers who get upset because the color of the screen is two shades of. It puts away potential costumers and alienates those who actually care for all the work that is put into this industry. Bioware (forget EA), if you care for the future of your "art", stand by your fans. Consolidate, don't divide by being purposefully illusive.

[die-yng]

Needsnewending wrote...

By Paulo Moreira

Why does everyone call minority to the number of people who disliked the end of the game and yet, in most polls everything points the other way (incredible difference)?

Considering the study which states that only 1 in every 26 discontent costumers actually voice their opinion publicly (accurate but still looking for the sources, presented originally in Bioware Forum), doesn't that mean that just one facebook page alone (Demand a better ending to Mass Effect 3) represents, at the moment more than 1,412,086. And this are just the costumers who had direct access to the internet, researched enough to get to that page and decided to take a stand. That is amazing considering all the misconceptions about this commodity. Because that is what the game is, a commodity.

Is it really a minority? If not, why isn't addressed more seriously? There is such a point where the trust in a company turns it into infamous.

Should there be arguments on both sides? Why? Those that liked already have what they wanted! Those that didn't (considering the number sufficiently high) should also get it, to prevent future rupture between the company and the consumer. They know it, we know it. Why continue this? Free publicity? It is damaging the media more than anything else. This kind of bickering is making the world around look at this media as something that is consumed by petty consumers who get upset because the color of the screen is two shades of. It puts away potential costumers and alienates those who actually care for all the work that is put into this industry. Bioware (forget EA), if you care for the future of your "art", stand by your fans. Consolidate, don't divide by being purposefully illusive.

Hi Paulo,
No, we are not the minority, but calling us a minority is a way for both Bioware and the gaming press to make the negative response seem less important.

I'd say overall about 80% of the people who reach the ending are dissatisfied and here on the boards, where the Bioware fans are, there's only maybe 1-2 out of twenty who like the ending.
Even if they make a ruckuss as if they were the majority.

[cjp31]

DISCLAIMER: What I am going to say below does not mean that I think the endings as they stand are sufficient in terms of providing closure and explaining the myriad questions raised. Nor do I mean to suggest that the HUGE plot holes that exist in the final few minutes can stand up to any reasonable analysis.

The outrage over these endings I think is completely overblown. I am not going to accuse you of childishness or whining if you do not like the ending. What I will do, however, is challenge the notion that you had COMPLETE control of this story and its conclusions. It is this assumption that seems to motivate most people to claim that either the ending of Mass Effect 3 ruined the entire series, or that it made all of your previous choices irrelevant and trivial, or both.

I cannot follow this line of thought because it seems to me quite obvious from the outset that the choices that you make in the game are primarily focused upon how Shepard (YOUR Shepard) is going to react to the characters and the key moments in the plot around you. The choices are about how your relationship unfolds with your team and how your character develops, not about drastically changing the plot of the Mass Effect universe. As I stated before, you were always going to assault the Collector Base, stop Saren and Sovereign, recruit team members, and so on. The difference is how your character develops as a result of these experiences and how you grow to know more about the team and the world around you. At no point in the previous games (or in Mass Effect 3) does a decision you make lead to a radically different plot point in the sense that you face Saren in a different location or the way in which you stop the Collector's differs significantly. This is because to develop your character you have to have something to react TO and as such cannot be in control of each and every detail of the plot.

For this reason I see Mass Effect 3 as whole as the 'end' of Shepard as most of the decisions you make are the culmination of relationships that you have had with the characters over the course of the games. When it comes to the final minutes of the game the choice that you come to make is how YOU as a player have developed YOUR Shepard. I'm not entirely sure what other choices you would want in the final few minutes of the game as there does not seem to be any alternative - Earth is getting obliterated and the Fleets above earth quite clearly could not handle hundreds (if not thousands) of Reaper ships.

The ending may seem disheartening and horrible but I think it's a gross misinterpretation and overstatement to say that it ruins the series for you (or even the 3rd game). The point isn't the end, the inevitable death of Shepard. The point of the series is in the relationships that you build and the character you become. The conversation between Shepard and EDI completely hammers this message home. When viewed from the exterior, inevitability appears to make things pointless - we're all going to die so why be a good person? Why care about anything? The answer is because you make your own meaning regardless of the inevitable. What defines something is the process, not the result. By way of application to the Mass Effect series (should be pretty obvious by now), is that even if your final choices are horrible and there is nothing you can do to alter them, it is the character that you are and the relationships developed over the series that matter - and that is what you fight for.

And here is where the endings do indeed come up a bit short. Their similarity is not a problem for me. Bioware had to close the story arc and also needed to have a stable foundation from which to build future games without Shepard and so limited the endings. The problem is in the lack of resolution with your squadmates. Not knowing what they have been doing on the ground. Not knowing why they are headed off in the Normandy in the closing scenes. It is here that I found the biggest problem with the endings. (That end the fact that destroying relays means destroying entire solar systems, as somebody pointed out earlier!).

With regards to Indoctrination Theory I honestly think it's an interpretation that mildly resembles a paranoid schizophrenic. I mean that in the sense that any bit of evidence is seized upon that may (and may NOT) support the theory and subsequently used as definitive evidence. The theory also appears to be quite closed in the sense that no single fact contained in the gameplay could ever disprove it. In fact I would be willing to be that you could find signs that Shepard is indoctrinated in any of the Mass Effect games and be able to rationalize reasons why/how this could benefit the Reapers. It seems too convenient and too motivated out of hopeful thinking. I also do not see why everyone is so convinced that Shepard HAS to be in London at the end. No concrete on the citadel? Really? Look again as that's a pretty weak argument. (Again, this is ignoring the fact that Shepard is outside without a Helmet during the Crucible sequence). Could it be true? Yep. But I have to feel that without further DEFINITIVE evidence I have to go with Occam's Razor and just put it down to inconsistent writing.

Ultimately I hope to see some clarification and maybe some additions to the endings but I don't hope for a 'happy', shots-and-high-fives ending as I think that would be missing the entire point of the series.

[Ieya]

So, it's the "morning after" for me now, and I do still feel incredibly let down by the ending of what's been a truly fantastic universe and trio of games.

The ending is a weird deus ex machina, which for me at least doesn't really even feel like it belongs there. It offers us three choices which mysteriously Shepard's unable to question despite the painfully obvious questions (between the "yo dawg, we created synthetics to destroy organic life so that you don't create synthetics which destroy organic life" daftness, or the "synthetic life always destroys organic life" after you've very likely gotten exactly the opposite inference from both EDI and the Geth), all of which lead to a tragically unsatisfying cinematic in our choice of three colours.

The Normandy escaping implies they'd already bailed on us, which is, oh, roughly the last thing we'd expect of our crew who (in several cases) had gone on a suicide mission with us in the previous game because they believed in us to save the galaxy.

And as someone else observed, the "best" ending really involves doing absolutely nothing to rally the galaxy together (but instead playing a decent bit of multiplayer to get readiness up) since at least then the peoples of the galaxy are stranded on their own worlds/systems, rather than being orbiting a scorched Earth.

I think many of us expected far, far better, from the Bioware that brought us the Baldur's Gates, the NeverWinter Nights, the Knights of the Old Republic, the Dragon Ages, and indeed the first two Mass Effects. You guys *know* how to do great endings, you've done them so many times before, and that's why it hurts so bitterly to be left with the feeling that you dropped the ball so very thoroughly this time.

[Flyers215]

jeweledleah wrote...

Flyers215 wrote...

Glad to be back at it with you, jeweledleah.  I see you changed your avatar.

Why not use that reason?  This could all have been the work of some mad man who drew up the idea for the Reapers.  Maybe he hated organics and devised a way to destroy them in his twisted little lab.  We really don't know, which is why I like the ending so much.  I feel that it makes me feel more like Shepard making the game more like an RPG.

Is there no deeper meaning?  Who did you ask?  Has BioWare said something that I missed?  When you outright refuse to look for reasons or answers, you cannot find them.  I think the ending was intended to be open-ended to make the ending more of a personal experience.  I also don't think that BioWare was expecting so many people to want everything handed to them.  The endings bring forth thought, which I like a lot.

see the issue with the ending is that its the OPOSITE of personal experience.  none of the individual choices you make, matter.  most of it is auto dialogue.  galaxy is screwed no matter what you chose.  and there are barely any differences in cutscenes, hell you even get homogenized flashbacks if you didn't romance Kaidan or Ashley, you don't see your LI, you see Liara.  its about as impersonal as you can get.

and when you start asking questions about the state of the galaxy after this ending?  it doesn't look pretty.  you saved NO one in this cycle.  and unless you chose destroy, you didn't even insure that this would have been the last cycle of reaping, becasue in 2 out of 3 endings, reapers are still alive and kicking and can easily revert to their programing if their mood strikes them.  what's to stop them from coming back and reaping more people?

and if its some little man who hated organics - why then, does the catalyst give us a reason being... PRESERVATION of organics?  even creation of new reapres is apparently not for procreation.  but rather to preserve reaped civilizations, even though its not much of a preservation, sine you basicaly lose any cultural identity you may have had. hell you all even look the same, once building process is done.  no trace of original civilization left.

I'm not sure how ambiguity is a good thing.  and i would have been perfectly fine not knowing why the hell DID reapers do what they did.  but they actualy tried to explain it.  they tried to give us a reason for the cycles... and that reason?  makes zero sence.  and so do the solutions offered by the catalyst.

which is why I dislike this ending.  it makes no sence.  it doesn't fit within the narative.  it destroys the galaxy instead of saving it, any way you cut it.  and it removes any personal imput you may have had getting to that point.

P.S.  I change avatars with changes in my mood. I may change it again soon.

We're obviously looking at this incredibly differently.  It's really hard to debate when we're on such different wavelengths.

Yes, the galaxy is screwed either way, so what difference does getting all worked make?  I never even expected to come close to winning the war, but I'd say that it was a success as much of a success it could be.  The choices I made mattered throughout the game.  They came to terms with the Reapers at the end of the game during the offensive on Earth.  That's the way I always saw it, and in Mass Effect 3 taking back Earth was the main objective.

The state of the galaxy after the end is bad, but I'm dead.  I don't know what happened after my time.  I don't know what will stop the Reapers from coming back.  That's just another thing to think about.  I also feel like I saved a considerable amount of people during my cycle.

If is was some little man, then he was wrong.  Not all plans are perfect.  That's only one theory.  There are many decisions made that simply patch up a problem rather than totally fix it.  It's a hard thing to do.

Again, I don't mind the reasons given.  I'm somewhat glad that a reason was given, but I could've lived with no explanation at all.

[Intuit]

The end of Mass Effect 3 is completely illogical, and cheap. And hundreds of decisions from Mass Effect 1 on to no avail. I can't accept this from a so great game like Mass Effect. Are we the minority? Yes, we are. We are the spine of Bioware fans... The player for Mass Effect is only one of the many games, will not write to this forum.

[NovaM4]

Hey guys.
I have made a remembrance of mass effect in Video form.
Please watch it. I appreciate that a lot!

www.youtube.com/watch

[Niostang]

Personally, I'm well beyond "clarification" of the ending (deliberate singular) as it currently stands from the elevator to the Starchild and onwards. Whatever excuses and justifications are given for the way the ending was presented and executed, the fact still remains that it plays out with a sense of complete and utter disconnect from the rest of the ME3 and overall trilogy.

I cannot bring myself to believe that Bioware could create a series like ME and then tack on an ending like that without some serious disruption in the creation and development process. It's like Michaelangelo painted the roof of the Sistine Chapel as we know it today, only he painted Adam in The Creation of Adam as a stick figure. Regardless of the art/product argument, if Bioware wants to me take ME seriously as a whole, every part of each game should meet the same high quality and standards I know they are capable of. ME, ME2 and 99% of ME3 do this. The ending of ME3 doesn't. Such a mess smacks of something, and it isn't "artistic integrity."

For me, Bioware/EA has completely dropped the ball for the ending of the most engaging, engrossing and involving trilogy I have played in my life to date. I have played and experienced the kinds of endings in Bioware games that have left me both elated for what I achieved through my choices, but also saddened because my choices were not without consequences. In those instances, I played the games again, and I made the choices that let me ride off into the sunset with a flawless victory, because hey, sometimes it's nice when things just go right.

"RGB, easy as ABC" is not a path I thought the ME team would tread willingly, because quite frankly, that quip is a joke, and this trilogy deserves better.

Ultimately I don't believe that the shape of the ending lies with fans. We can only say what we think, and where we believe it necessary, demand better than what we were given. I can hope that there are enough people who think simliarly to me to voice their concerns (preferably in a reasoned and articulate manner), and that this will be enough to inform the development of a satisfactory resolution to this issue for as many invested people as possible. Probably overly optimistic, but that optimism is better than what I have now - a bitter (yes, bitter) disappointment towards the ending that crops up every time I see something ME related.

So Bioware and EA, the ball is in your court. And it's going to stay there until we are given news in April, and even then possibly until whatever DLC is released. Whatever choices you make, whatever you greenlight for the go ahead, I hope it's worth my time and, grudgingly, worth my money. I'll be turning to fan responses and independent review for my information about what eventuates, because even at their most vitriolic, it seems they still give the most honest account.

There are no "right" endings for this - I'm certain about that. But there are endings that, given due attention and proper time and resources, can be satisfying, done properly, and done well.

[Voodoo2015]

die-yng wrote...

ElMuchu wrote...

Voodoo2015 wrote...

What I want is that my choices should be of significance to the entire ME3.
All choices from the ME1, ME2 and ME3, not three choices that end up the same but different colors

For ME3 ending contradicted the whole idea of the Mass Effect series.

All synthetic life will rebel against their creators and kill all organic life.
So I created synthetic life to kill all technologically advanced organic's. Before the chaos breaks out.

Wait what, what! What did he say? All synthetic life we create will rebel against us and kill us! So the Star Child created synthetic life that will kill us before that happens. WTF!

Isn't it the same damn thing! Doomed whatever you do.

Yep, I had the same reaction: it is a nonsense

It's like that famous quote from the vietnam war, by an american officer.

"In order to save the village, we had to burn the village."

To me this has always shown the madness of war and Starchild's reasoning only reinforced my belief in the reaper's madness.
How can BW seriously think Shep would ever accept bull like that?

Yeah. The entire series can you play Renegade or Paragon.

You play as a tough guy throughout the game makes Paragon where it fits and renegade. Right up to the end where Shep is such a wimp that he accepts all that
Catalyst saying.

My Shepard would never accept it. He would say to The Catalyst to go to hell and forced The Catalyst to leave them in peace.

Or explained to The Catalyst why this need not continue, let us be and see for yourself. I got The Geth and Quarians live in peace and together. Together we can bring peace to the galaxy and throughout the space.

Why not use The Last Prothean Jarvik he want to have revenge. He and Shep may be a course up together to the citadel.

Modifié par Voodoo2015, 25 mars 2012 - 12:03 .

[Mastone]

kickassTurian wrote...



this is awesome

It is, but is also fairly farfetched and seems more like it is an extreme form of wishfull thinking, I picked the destroy ending by the way, but didn't see shepard catching his breath ?
Or has this to do with the stupid rule you need to have played online for a bit ( which is moronic)

Also if it is indoctrination /a dream then they should make it a bit more clear in the endsequence, also the fact that EDI never sensed it and we never saw each others thoughts like the people on the derelict reaper experienced nor us getting blue eyes, the Geth never saw i, we weren't  chased by a fellow specter or any clue in advance we are being indoctrinated makes me believe this IT doesn't make sense.
Saren was on sovereign, other indoctrinated species/people were surrounded by active reaper tech and all had distinct looks throughout the game( they were fused with reaper tech), also I had the prothean with me who could sense everything and he never mentioned reaper pressence( he fought a long war against the reapers and knows all about their ways and means I am sure of it) and that VI on Thessia only reported about indoctrinated presence when the last samurai with the welded on goggles showed up.

I think the scene where you wake up after the blast and you experience as dreamy  had a lot distinct similarities when you get up after a heavy fall, everything seemed to slow down  before and after the accident only like 10 minutes later when you come to your senses everything is moving at normal speed again and logical thinking comes back the unlimited ammo gun enhances that feeling , yes you couldn't shoot the keeper , but when I am in battle I can't shoot my allies was  that indoctrination as well?

I really think people are looking to much into this IT ( because of the wishful thinking) and are getting very creative about it no doubt.
the simple point remains why would they want to control us/me that late in the war, they were already winning , just throw a miljon banshees at me with a couple of brutes and harvesters, make sure the resistance see me getting blown to smithereens and break and give up losing the will to fight altogether
It is also very un-mass effect to end it like this... to much like the matrix meet starwars take the blue pill shepard!!!!!

[The Gman707]

It does seem a bit of a jip that there isnt a happier ending. I would accept the destruction of the mass relays if for two things. first, what happened to sword fleet:? where are all those guys gonna go? second, why didthe normandy leave the sol system? i'm sure DLC will come up with some reason for them leaving but i'd rather they gave another option than it leaving. I dont believe that my loyal crew would leave me for any reason. I know garrus and liara wouldn't for a start

[Mastone]

Mastone wrote...

kickassTurian wrote...



this is awesome

It is, but is also fairly farfetched and seems more like it is an extreme form of wishfull thinking, I picked the destroy ending by the way, but didn't see shepard catching his breath ?
Or has this to do with the stupid rule you need to have played online for a bit ( which is moronic)

Also if it is indoctrination /a dream then they should make it a bit more clear in the endsequence, also the fact that EDI never sensed it and we never saw each others thoughts like the people on the derelict reaper experienced nor us getting blue eyes, the Geth never saw i, we weren't  chased by a fellow specter or any clue in advance we are being indoctrinated makes me believe this IT doesn't make sense.
Saren was on sovereign, other indoctrinated species/people were surrounded by active reaper tech and all had distinct looks throughout the game( they were fused with reaper tech), also I had the prothean with me who could sense everything and he never mentioned reaper pressence( he fought a long war against the reapers and knows all about their ways and means I am sure of it) and that VI on Thessia only reported about indoctrinated presence when the last samurai with the welded on goggles showed up.

I think the scene where you wake up after the blast and you experience as dreamy  had a lot distinct similarities when you get up after a heavy fall, everything seemed to slow down  before and after the accident only like 10 minutes later when you come to your senses everything is moving at normal speed again and logical thinking comes back the unlimited ammo gun enhances that feeling , yes you couldn't shoot the keeper , but when I am in battle I can't shoot my allies was  that indoctrination as well?

I really think people are looking to much into this IT ( because of the wishful thinking) and are getting very creative about it no doubt.
the simple point remains why would they want to control us/me that late in the war, they were already winning , just throw a miljon banshees at me with a couple of brutes and harvesters, make sure the resistance see me getting blown to smithereens and break and give up losing the will to fight altogether
It is also very un-mass effect to end it like this... to much like the matrix meet starwars take the blue pill shepard!!!!!

Also they see us as vermin, I think that indoctrination is just something that happens when you are getting near to sentient/active reaper tech , more like a side effect instead of a mass effect LOL

[helloween7]

NovaM4 wrote...

Hey guys.
I have made a remembrance of mass effect in Video form.
Please watch it. I appreciate that a lot!

www.youtube.com/watch

Interesting how everything Sovereign says in ME1 is in direct contradiction with the Starchild's explanations. 

I preferred the Reapers when they where the unfathomable bad guys.

[Thalos]

cjp31 wrote...
With regards to Indoctrination Theory I honestly think it's an interpretation that mildly resembles a paranoid schizophrenic. I mean that in the sense that any bit of evidence is seized upon that may (and may NOT) support the theory and subsequently used as definitive evidence. The theory also appears to be quite closed in the sense that no single fact contained in the gameplay could ever disprove it. In fact I would be willing to be that you could find signs that Shepard is indoctrinated in any of the Mass Effect games and be able to rationalize reasons why/how this could benefit the Reapers. It seems too convenient and too motivated out of hopeful thinking. I also do not see why everyone is so convinced that Shepard HAS to be in London at the end. No concrete on the citadel? Really? Look again as that's a pretty weak argument. (Again, this is ignoring the fact that Shepard is outside without a Helmet during the Crucible sequence). Could it be true? Yep. But I have to feel that without further DEFINITIVE evidence I have to go with Occam's Razor and just put it down to inconsistent writing.
Ultimately I hope to see some clarification and maybe some additions to the endings but I don't hope for a 'happy', shots-and-high-fives ending as I think that would be missing the entire point of the series.

I agree expecially concerning the indoctrination theory. Lets not forget that said theory was thought of by the players, not suggested in any way by the producers. To me the whole indoctrination theory, plausible and elaborated and well-constructed as it is, looks like a desperate attempt to explain and somehow justify this terrible thing that is mass effect 3 ending. It is almost like the players are trying to convince themselves that this was all intentional and that this was the plan ans that there's more to it, that bioware did not really let us all down.Yea maybe it's true but unfortunately I believe that none of this was intentional, that bioware did let us down, that the ending was rushed and illconsidered, that all of what the indoctrination theory explains could just as easily be explained by saying that bioware maybe ran out of time and had to rush to meet the deadline , or that they simply did not care enough. I'm sorry everyone if I sound so negative, I still sincerely hope that bioware will be able to fix the ending but this remains the biggest disappointment I have ever had in a game.

[Mastone]

Intuit wrote...

The end of Mass Effect 3 is completely illogical, and cheap. And hundreds of decisions from Mass Effect 1 on to no avail. I can't accept this from a so great game like Mass Effect. Are we the minority? Yes, we are. We are the spine of Bioware fans... The player for Mass Effect is only one of the many games, will not write to this forum.

I don't think a minority disliked the ending , the others  just gave it up as a bad job.
The people posting here, on Youtube they are vastly more numerous than only this forum, just look at this link and look at the amount of views this video has:

or this one:

or this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M0Cf864P7E&feature=related

I also think it's a bit sad that no one from Bioware is posting here, this means they have to maintain radiosilence, which is a good thing because this means they take it serious and understand that this bad PR is ruining the entire franchise.
I mean this is not raging from a child wanting ice cream this is just asking for an ending that fits canon which is established by the dev and promises made by that same dev and not some floaty questions or subliminal influences if they wanted that they should have given shepard a plug in his Neck a cool pair of shades and a surfer dude accent  saying I am the one:wizard: +=

[Lochwood]

Superbeasto wrote...

Hey, not sure if you Bioware chaps are still reviewing comments on this thread, but I wanted to weigh in with my opinion on the ending.

I thought, in all honesty, it was the most epic and jaw dropping finale I can remember in a videogame. I sat down to the final battle last night and didn't put the pad down until 5:30am and for the bulk of that my jaw was on the floor and my heart was in my mouth. If I have any complaint at all about the final choice it's that my fatigue-addled mind wasn't sure which path represented which option, but I went with my gut and got the one I aimed for anyway.

I'd avoided any spoilers so have only now looked up people's complaints to see what the fuss was all about and most of it seems to be focused on how bleak the ending was and on how it boiled down to a single choice at the end. To that I say, it wouldn't be Mass Effect if you didn't have a huge choice to make at the end (choice has after all been the main theme of the series) and I'm not unreasonable enough to expect that the choice has to incorporate every one of the 7billion unrelated choices I'd made earlier in the series.

As for it being bleak? My friends survived, my Shep (seemingly) survived, Earth was saved and the moment of sacrifice when I shot that conduit and the music swept in really hit me hard. It was incredibly stirring stuff and handled with the kind of flair for operatic space drama that made ME my favorite game series in the first place.

Felt compelled to post this somewhere you might see it because working as I now firsthand how much work and passion goes into a project like this and seeing the ending getting such a kicking worries me that that very vocal group of fans might drown out the people who genuinely loved and engaged with what you did in ME3. Think it's important Bioware know that there are probably plenty of people who feel this way (are the complainants even in the majority, or just an overbearingly vocal minority?) and the last thing I would want to see was any adjustments or backpedaling made to appease the moaners, as that would cheapen the experience for those of us who loved it (not to mention it would set a dangerous precedent for future game production, I'd rather play the vision of a studio than have the not always rational voice of the internet become the focus group for these things).
 

Hey there Superbeast --

Just thought you might want to read a few of the other posts on this forum. Let me know how many pages you have to sift through in order to find another review that expresses admiration for the ending.

Also -- go back and try some of the other endings, and some of the complaints may start to make more sense to you.

See -- if I make, basically, all the opposite calls as you -- and then choose one of the other final choices, you and I will still see the same exact end sequence. It's not like I'll see extra animations for my squad, and you'll have seen this other stuff.  If I choose to synthesize all DNA in the galaxy (which is a stupid SPACE-MAGIC ending by any measure of taste) -- I see the same rendered cutscene as you, except that mine has a green colour-filter while yours had a red one.

Which is sad.

On second thought -- don't play through it again. Maybe you'll never stop to ask why Joker quit and ran from you and then didn't so much as call on the radio, or how your squadmates made it onto the Normandy and then another planet when they were, literally, right behind you a few minutes before. Hopefully you'll never wonder why the Catalyst felt he needed to send reaper synthetics to kill organics to protect organics from synthetics.  Also, you may not realize that if he had a "red beam" that could kill them without other consequences, he might just have used that intermittantly.

Your Shepard just took what Space Childe said without so much as a question and then flipped a switch.

Shep isn't a ****.  Shep asks questions -- and his crew doesn't abandon him.

But, whatever, I'm glad that after 160,000 posts on this forum SOMEBODY enjoyed the end.

[RobinEJ]

Did you see it?
http://pastebin.com/znYraLnF
http://i39.tinypic.com/1gnlw2.jpg
From 4chan?

[DeloofOuy]

I must agree the ending falls well short of what i have come to expect.

Sheppard giving his life for the end of reaper threat - Understandable

Mass Effect Relay's Destruction - Plauseable

Joker having time to pick everyone up from earth and run away from battle and caught in the relay to crash land on a planet - Umm thats just not possible.

It really doesnt make alot of sense to blowup the relay's you have 6 fleets fighting at earth doesnt this leave them all stranded at earth for the most part or at least they have a long journey home.