7052 réponses à ce sujet

[I can Hackett]

- I was thinking one option could be to hit the reapers with a sort of virus kinda like the sabotage power kinda incapacitate because just a sorta kill switch is too easy I want to see the reapers get blown to pieces by my fleet after their shields go down and their lasers overheat

- Give me very personalized endings custom by means of which war assets I obtained (if I got the blue suns to work with me show them tearing **** up)

- I want past decisions to play a part if I saved the rachni then anderson lives for example

- at least a text ending showing what happened to my living squaddies

- for a good ending give us a celebration show the Turian counsilor finally admitting he was wrong

-no sunshine and bunnies we def took a beating a lot was lost but must have a shep lives ending lives happy with LI

-citadel shouldnt be destroyed if we collected citadel defenses and other war assets should determine whether mass relays stay intact but in short assets should play bigger part than just readiness level

-we should have a Virmire like decision we need to decide between 2 squaddies or platoon of troops or something

Modifié par I can Hackett, 17 mars 2012 - 03:55 .

[Leeloo Multipass]

Of course, the first 99% of the game was extraordinary! I enjoyed seeing how all my decisions played out. Right until the end I was committed to going back and replaying ME1 and 2 to try for different outcomes.

But I didn't have the same "on the edge of my seat" feeling I had from the end of ME2. Even when I knew I did everything right in ME2, I still felt nervous when I haerd EDI warn Joker that the shields were at 30% and listened to Tali complain that the vents were getting too hot. Even when I knew we would all be safe, I STILL felt fearful.

The only part of ME3's ending that can compare to this was when I was running towards the conduit. I felt it. I felt that excitement, anxiety and worry. And then I was hit by the beam and I felt...well...very disappointed. It seemed....anticlimactic. I don't mean to insult the amazing job Bioware did here, but everything from this point on felt wrong. Maybe that was their intention...I dont know.

Basically...I want that feeling I had at the end of ME1 and 2. I want to feel like I'm fighting, even when I know the outcome will be bleak. I don't want to be forced to surrender. I want to fight until Shepard's last breath. I want my failure to be a result of my own shortcomings and not because of art.

My personal opinion anyways.

Like a lot of people here, I think you should just go along with the indoctrination theory. It works very well. Accidental genius or intended?

Major issues:

- Normandy flying away with squadmates who should not be on the ship. I have chosen to believe this is Shepard's last wish and what she "hopes" for: her crew alive and happy in some kind of Utopia. But it doesn't make sense the way it's presented. I dont like speculating this "ending."

- Very little of Harbinger. I was really expecting to deal with him at some point...I kinda wanted to blow him up...or fail on my OWN account and BE blown up.

- Character closure. There was plenty throughout the game with Thane, and Mordin as examples. But everyone "alive" at the end kinda missed that opportunity. I would appreciate more closure here.

Modifié par LeeluMultipass, 17 mars 2012 - 03:53 .

[Tiercel24]

Clearer and more definitive ending options. Most of all an option where Shep lives and reunites with his/her LI and crew.

I spent over 100 hours spanning 3 games just to feel completely devastated and depressed at the end? Forcing us into this "bittersweet" ending when this trilogy was all about choice is gut wrenching and has essentially ruined an otherwise amazing, awesome experience.

Modifié par Tiercel24, 17 mars 2012 - 04:00 .

[anexanhume]

required reading:

http://social.biowar...5/index/9994083 (1st post)
http://social.biowar...ndex/10022779/1 (1st post)

and finally

DEUS EX MACHINA:

You're getting your literary devices mixed up. The Crucible is not deus ex machina, it is a MacGuffin. It's largely irrelevant except as a plot device. It is the exhaust port on the Death Star.

The narrative of ME3 is not about finding the Crucible, it is about building the greatest alliance ever seen in the galaxy (which the Crucible, as a plot device, allows to happen).

Why the Catalyst AI and his Monty Hall spiel of the Adjust Hue/Saturation is a deus ex machina is that it is the resolution to the narrative. The fact that he is also literally a "god from the machine" is irrelevant, albeit ironic. He is a deus ex machina in the literary sense, i.e. a handwaved contrivance that shows up out of the blue to quickly whisk away all the dangling story threads, and to abruptly end the story.

This is abysmal writing. This is abysmal game design; a Pick Your Own Adventure book where all choices take you to the same final chapter. It is counter to everything this game is. And what is this game?

In a recent Extra Credits, Portnow discussed core elements of a game. The Mass Effect series is really not a third person shooter. It is also really not a roll-the-dice-and-level-up CRPG. Mass Effect is, at its core, interactive fiction. All the memorable moments in these games take place in cutscenes that play out in myriad ways based on prior choices. You are role-playing in the most literal sense of crafting a character's personality based on your choices. The climax of Mass Effect 2 was not shooting the Human Reaper in the eye, the climax of Mass Effect 2 were the cutscenes that played and showed the results of your actions. Did you defy TIM? Did your crewmates survive? If your choices were poor enough, you could defeat the final boss, only to make a desperate leap towards the Normandy with no one to catch you.

The desperate leap in Mass Effect 3 is your dash towards the Beam. The only input that matters at all past this point is the encounter with TIM. That encounter is true to Mass Effect, and honors your previous choices, and provides closure for the secondary antagonist.

But for the main antagonist (Reapers), nothing you did matters. You are given three arbitrary choices to solve a problem that, depending on your actions, may be proven to be a false dilemma in the first place. If you saved both the Quarians and the Geth, witnessed Legion's messianic sacrifice, and humanized EDI - the Catalyst's claim of organic/synthetic conflict being unavoidable is patently false.

The Catalyst AI is completely incongruous with the narrative and the themes of the game. It shows up, provides a complete strawman of a conflict, and then offers three vapid, plot-hole ridden resolutions to this conflict, which abruptly end the narrative in a blinding flash of Space Magic (pick your color!).

CHOICES DON'T MATTER

Again, you're missing the point. No one is complaining about the preceding 30 hours of gameplay. Choices did seem to matter. Your treatment of the Rachni queen from two games ago ended up gaining you a seemingly valuable ally. Saving Wrex can gain a hopeful future for the Krogan. Your choices regarding Legion and the Migrant Fleet in ME2 have incredibly strong consequences in the seeming conclusion of the Geth/Quarian storyline. This is why we loved the game up to the ending.

And the ending completely demolished all of it, and made it completely illusory. Who gives a **** if you saved the Rachni? They just end up giving you Space Points and don't affect your ending at all. Who gives a **** if the Quarians or Geth or both survived? They're all dead anyway. Who cares if you cured the genophage and saved the one leader who could lead the Krogan into a less brutish, more hopeful future? He's either trapped on earth or dead, and the radioactive husk that is Tuchanka cannot sustain their race without supplies anyway.

And even more egregiously, the choices you made in the development of YOUR Shepard don't matter. She acts EXACTLY the same when facing the ultimate antagonist regardless of whether she's a Space Racist Renegade or Never Surrender Paragon or whatever your Shepard actually is, and what (insert pronoun) stands for.

You accept Space Hitler's premise without argument, and dejectedly pick one of the three Slightly Less Turning Everyone Into Paste final solutions he has to offer.

How does it matter in the slightest that I've done the frickin' impossible and united the Geth and the Quarians into a hopeful future, shown that we need not fear synthetic life, seen a nascent artificial sentience freely decide to set "Love and compassion" as their main motivation, and fought for the reactionary, bleak idea of "AI will always rebel" to be proven wrong? Space Hitler shows up, says "AI will always rebel, here are drastic fixes to this undeniable problem". And I go "yessuh"?

WHY IS EVERYTHING SO SAD

It's not sad. You are being incredibly myopic and dismissive of our experiences by reducing it to "y every1 has 2 diezorz?". The ending of the story is not actually sad, it's just anticlimactic, contrived, incongruous, and ridden with plot holes.

The part that's sad and what's tearing me apart is that this is not a case of people writing themselves into a corner. This is not a case of glorified hacks like Ronald D. Moore or Cuse/Lindelof making **** up as they go along, to find themselves at the end with no way to tie all the crap together in a cathartic way.

This is a beautifully written game, for the majority of the experience. Bioware has bona fide talent within their ranks. And the story, up to the very end, is redeemable in dozens of ways. Even the contrived, out-of-the-blue Star Child could be made into an interesting character by presenting it as a shackled AI who was given a specific, limited goal born of fear (stop AI from wiping out organic life forever), and it arrived at the grotesque solution of Reapers not because AI is evil, but the constraints never allow it to look past the false dilemma it's attempting to solve.

Most importantly, this is not a TV show or a movie. This narrative is, by design, told in a unique medium which is NOT doomed to give us a singular ending. Our Shepards can be varied, yes, but there is a finite amount of paradigms that lead you to the end, and they could all have a cathartic, poignant, and persistent ending. Let the Renegades ascend to rule the galaxy. Let the Paragons defeat primitive fear and xenophobia.

I do not care if the Relays have to go down, but don't do it in such a thoughtless way as to destroy everything meaningful I accomplished. I do not care if my Shepard dies. In fact, I expected her to go down in a blaze of glory, in the greatest battle that shall ever be fought, for the most meaningful (to her) victory a soldier could ever earn. She did not get this. I did not get this.

TENS OF THOUSANDS of people didn't get this. We are not asking for a Disney ending. We are not asking for a dance party with Ewoks. We are just asking for our Big Damn Heroes to go out on their own terms, win or lose.

These all accurately portray my opinion.

[eclipso621]

I believe this game was epic up until you enter the citadel for the final time. Right after that you just get hit with a bunch of random stuff. Like why has no one seen that area why did Anderson get there first while not being hurt, ect. (saying ect cause I'm sure you have seen what everyone wants s)

Anyway I definitely feel you guys should work with the indoctrination type thing, if you choose destroy and live your squad should wake you up and the final mission begins maybe one that ends with a long talk and an fu to harbinger for talking all that trash lol.

If you chose synthesis a video showing the galaxy as all husks, if you choose control the Reapers win and wipe out all life. Also about the final mission maybe yes like people said if your assets are high enough have like a citadel defense force lead by baily or Conrad help fight or help people escape while you go after the final weapon or whatever.

Really I just want to know why didn't anything big happen with harbinger, why does all technology have to get blown to he'll, why was joker running, if all technology is gone what happens to all the fleets, why do the geth get wiped out if we fought are asses off brokering piece, why developed relationships with edi/geth if they die anyway, do the krogan krogan take over do they become extcint are garrus and shep Bros for life? Did wrex die on earth, who died out of your crew ex crew who lived.?

And about the assest ending thing if you don't have enough to live, maybe have like a memorial for shep with everyone present.

All in all sorry of this is bad typing or placement doing it from my phone, and also I think we mostly need those answers questioned and indoctrination / dream sounds best. Also I'm on my third playthrough

[cjmarsh725]

 My only major issue is with the endings. I actually found the different choices (Destroy, Singularity, and Control) very interesting from a philosophical standpoint, but what I didn't like was the lack of context they were presented in. The introduction of the Catalyst at the very end made it hard to accept these three choices on faith alone, especially with no ability to question him/it for more details. Also, the lack of resolution after the choice was very frustrating. With no way to see the consequences of your actions on the galaxy that you had just saved, it felt as though your decision mattered less. Another thing I would have liked to see was the effect of my major decisions throughout the series, or just ME3, playing out in the aftermath (such as the cured Krogan rebuilding, the unified Quarian and Geth taking back their world, and other effects of uniting the galaxy beyond the end of Shepard's life). In addition, the scene with Joker fleeing Earth at FTL speeds and later the crew of the Normandy emerging onto the jungle planet made little sense. The question of how the squadmate who was with you on Earth, and supposedly killed along with everyone else in the final assault, ended up on the Normandy going unanswered was confusing and ruined the immersion for me. Finally, the scene where Shepard (presumably) takes a breath and then cuts to black only served to add more questions to an already confusing finale.

Don't get me wrong, I vastly enjoyed the Mass Effect series as a whole and the storytelling throughout was so excellent that I now find I have a vested interest in seeing it through to the end. Hopefully some sort of alternate or post ending DLC is being discussed at BioWare, but regardless, I thank them for their hard work on an excellent series and an unprecedented ride.

[bleetman]

Incidentally, if you do go and make something new? Have it be reasonably possible to achieve without the multiplayer.

I know, it's not really a story problem. And I know you're supposed to have more than enough war assets on offer in just the singleplayer to unlock them all. But really, I'm just not buying that line anymore. Unless I accidentally flew past a scrapyard containing several dozen artifacts and stranded alliance marine teams, there aren't eight-ten thousand war assets to go around.

Better yet, just don't tie it into your war assets at all. Or at the very least, do it in a way that makes sense. Right now, Shepard seemingly lives or dies based on what your choice, and what your effective military strength is, and uh, that's about it. Fair enough on the first part, how-does-that-even-work on the second. Having Shepard survive because, I don't know, you gathered a more effective and numerous fighting force which consequently meant more of them made it alive to the Beam Teleporter Thing, defeating an opponent/group of opponents that would otherwise have mortally wounded him/her would make a degree of sense. Right now, it's just an arbitrary number check to determine if we get offered a third ending option, and whether we see a five second teaser or not.

Modifié par bleetman, 17 mars 2012 - 03:47 .

[AlcyoneNoth]

Read up on the indoctrination theory and make it true.

Incorporate the endings you have now into the 'true' ending. Have the choices represent differing levels of indoctrination (starting with control as maximum indoctrination, and destroy as least indoctrination) and change the resulting scenes/dialogue depending on which one you chose. Then give us proper endings based on previous actions, war assets, etc, and actually SHOW us the outcome of our actions in the galaxy.

I'd also like it if Shepard is able to live, provided the player has met a lot of parameters and have 'earned' it. Like a 'perfect' ending similar to ME2 where everyone lives (including synthetics) and the relays aren't destroyed, but you have to put more effort into achieving it.

If Shep does live, it would also be sweet if we could actually continue playing after defeating the reapers, or at the very least give us an ending area (like the end of Dragon Age: Origins) where we can speak to the important characters throughout the series one last time.

Oh, and I WANT MY LITTLE BLUE CHILDREN.

Modifié par AlcyoneNoth, 17 mars 2012 - 03:44 .

[Jade5233]

This is a good summary of my concerns from another thread by BwFex:

I really have been trying to let myself get over this nightmare, but since you guys promise you're listening here, I'll try to just say it all, get it all out.

I have invested more of myself into this series than almost any other video game franchise in my life. I loved this game. I believed in it. For five years, it delivered. I must have played ME1 and ME2 a dozen times each.

I remember the end of Mass Effect 2. Never before, in any video game I had ever played, did I feel like my actions really mattered. Knowing that the decisions I made and the hard work I put into ME2 had a very real, clear, obvious impact on who lived and who died was one of the most astounding feelings in the world to me. I remember when that laser hit the Normandy and Joker made a comment about how he was happy we upgraded the shields. That was amazing. Cause and effect. Work and reward.

The first time I went through, I lost Mordin, and it was gut-wrenching: watching him die because I made a bad decision was damning, heartbreaking. But it wasn't hopeless, because I knew I could go back, do better, and save him. I knew that I was in control, that my actions mattered. So that's exactly what I did. I reviewed my decisions, found my mistakes, and did everything right. I put together a plan, I worked hard to follow that plan, and I got the reward I had worked so hard for. And then, it was all for nothing.

When I started playing Mass Effect 3, I was blown away. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. It was incredible to see all of my decisions playing out in front of me, building up to new and outrageous outcomes. I was so sure that this was it, this was going to be the masterpiece that crowned an already near-perfect trilogy. With every war asset I gathered, and with every multiplayer game I won, I knew that my work would pay off, that I would be truly satisfied with the outcome of my hard work and smart decisions. Every time I acquired a new WA bonus, I couldn't wait to see how it would play out in the final battle. And then, it was all for nothing.

I wasn't expecting a perfect, happy ending with rainbows and butterflies. In fact, I think I may have been insulted if everyone made it through just fine. The Reapers are an enormous threat (although obviously not as invincible as they would like us to believe), and we should be right to anticipate heavy losses. But I never lost hope. I built alliances, I made the impossible happen to rally the galaxy together. I cured the genophage. I saved the Turians. I united the geth and the quarians. And then, it was all for nothing.

When Mordin died, it was heartwrenching, but I knew it was the right thing. His sacrifice was... perfect. It made sense. It was congruent with the dramatic themes that had been present since I very first met Wrex in ME1. It was not a cheap trick, a deus ex machina, an easy out. It was beautiful, meaningful, significant, relevant, and satisfying. It was an amazing way for an amazing character to sacrifice themself for an amazing thing. And then it was all for nothing.

When Thane died, it was tearjerking. I knew from the moment he explained his illness that one day, I'd have to deal with his death. I knew he was never going to survive the trilogy, and I knew it wouldn't be fun to watch him go. But when his son started reading the prayer, I lost it. His death was beautiful. It was significant. It was relevant. It was satisfying. It was meaningful. He died to protect Shepard, to protect the entire Citadel. He took a life he thought was unredeemable and used it to make the world a brighter place. And then it was all for nothing.

When Wrex and Eve thanked me for saving their species, I felt that I had truly accomplished something great. When Tali set foot on her homeworld, I felt that I had truly accomplished something great. When Javik gave his inspiring speech, I felt that I had inspired something truly great. When I activated the Citadel's arms, sat down to reminisce with Anderson one final time, I felt that I had truly accomplished something amazing. I felt that my sacrifice was meaningful. Significant. Relevant. And while still a completely unexplained deus ex machina, at least it was a little bit satisfying.

And then, just like everything else in this trilogy, it was all for nothing.

If we pretend like the indoctrination theory is false, and we're really supposed to take the ending at face value, this entire game is a lost cause. The krogans will never repopulate. The quarians will never rebuild their home world. The geth will never know what it means to be alive and independent. The salarians will never see how people can change for the better.

Instead, the quarians and turians will endure a quick, torturous extinction as they slowly starve to death, trapped in a system with no support for them. Everyone else will squabble over the scraps of Earth that haven't been completely obliterated, until the krogans drive them all to extinction and then die off without any women present. And this is all assuming that the relays didn't cause supernova-scaled extinction events simply by being destroyed, like we saw in Arrival.

And perhaps the worst part is that we don't even know. We don't know what happened to our squadmates. We didn't get any sort of catharsis, conclusion. We got five years of literary foreplay followed by a kick to the groin and a note telling us that in a couple months, we can pay Bioware $15 for them to do it to us all over again.

It's not just the abysmally depressing/sacrificial nature of the ending, either. As I've already made perfectly clear, I came into this game expecting sacrifice. When Mordin did it, it was beautiful. When Thane did it, it was beautiful. Even Verner. Stupid, misguided, idiotic Verner. Even his ridiculous sacrifice had meaning, relevance, coherence, and offered satisfaction.

No, it's not the sacrifice I have a problem with. It's the utter lack of coherence and respect for the five years of literary gold that have already been established in this franchise. We spent three games preparing to fight these reapers. I spent hours upon hours doing every side quest, picking up every war asset, maxing out my galactic readiness so that when the time came, the army I had built could make a stand, and show these Reapers that we won't go down without a fight.

In ME1, we did the impossible when we killed Sovereign. In ME2, we began to see that the Reapers aren't as immortal as they claim to be: that even they have basic needs, exploitable weaknesses. In ME3, we saw the Reapers die. We saw one get taken down by an overgrown worm. We saw one die with a few coordinated orbital bombardments. We saw several ripped apart by standard space combat. In ME1, it took three alliance fleets to kill the "invincible" Sovereign. By the end of ME3, I had assembled a galactic armada fifty times more powerful than that, and a thousand times more prepared. I never expected the fight to be easy, but I proved that we wouldn't go down without a fight, that there is always hope in unity. That's the theme we've been given for the past five years: there is hope and strength through unity. That if we work together, we can achieve the impossible.

And then we're supposed to believe that the fate of the galaxy comes down to some completely unexplained starchild asking Shepard what his favorite color is? That the army we built was all for nothing? That the squad whose loyalty we fought so hard for was all for nothing? That in the end, none of it mattered at all?

It's a poetic notion, but this isn't the place for poetry. It's one thing to rattle prose nihilistic over the course of a movie or ballad, where the audience is a passive observer, learning a lesson from the suffering and futility of a character, but that's not what Mass Effect is. Mass Effect has always been about making the player the true hero. If you really want us to all feel like we spent the past five years dumping time, energy, and emotional investment into this game just to tell us that nothing really matters, you have signed your own death certificate. Nobody pays hundreds of dollars and hours to be reminded how bleak, empty, and depressing the world can be, to be told that nothing we do matters, to be told that all of our greatest accomplishments, all of our faith, all of our work, all of our unity is for nothing.

No. It simply cannot be this bleak. I refuse to believe Bioware is really doing this. The ending of ME1 was perfect. We saw the struggle, we saw the cost, but we knew that we had worked hard, worked together, and won. The ending of ME2 was perfect. We saw the struggle, we saw the cost, but we knew that we had worked hard, worked together, and won.

Taken at face value, the end of ME3 throws every single thing we've done in the past five years into the wind, and makes the player watch from a distance as the entire galaxy is thrown into a technological dark age and a stellar extinction. Why would we care about a universe that no longer exists? We should we invest any more time or money into a world that will never be what we came to know and love?

Even if the ending is retconned, it doesn't make things better. Just knowing that the starchild was our real foe the entire time is so utterly mindless, contrived, and irrelevant to what we experienced in ME1 and ME2 that it cannot be forgiven. If that really is the truth, then Mass Effect simply isn't what we thought it was. And frankly, if this is what Mass Effect was supposed to be all along, I want no part of it. It's a useless, trite, overplayed cliche, so far beneath the praise I once gave this franchise that it hurts to think about.

No. There is no way to save this franchise without giving us the only explanation that makes sense. You know what it is. It was the plan all along. Too much evidence to not be true. Too many people reaching the same conclusions independently.

The indoctrination theory doesn't just save this franchise: it elevates it to one of the most powerful and compelling storytelling experiences I've ever had in my life. The fact that you managed to do more than indoctrinate Shepard - you managed to indoctrinate the players themselves - is astonishing. If that really was the end game, here, then you have won my gaming soul. But if that's true, then I'm still waiting for the rest of this story, the final chapter of Shepard's heroic journey. I paid to finish the fight, and if the indoctrination theory is true, it's not over yet.

And if it's not, then I just don't even care. I have been betrayed, and it's time for me to let go of the denial, the anger, the bargaining, and start working through the depression and emptiness until I can just move on. You can't keep teasing us like this. This must have seemed like a great plan at the time, but it has cost too much. These people believed in you. I believed in you.

Just make it right.
////

As for what I want, I WANT a happy ending as an option. One where my Shepard can survive and be with her LI. life is depressing and real enough.

I want an ending that makes sense. Kaidan was with me on the ground assault. Then he magically appears on the Normandy at the end. And the Normandy making a break for it in FTL doesn't make sense either.

And I want honesty from BioWare. Cryptic messages and double talk is only making me more angry. We are trying to be open and honest with you--even in our anger and frustration. I have supported and defended this company and this game--until this ending. You HAD a loyal following on these boards and these face-saving maneuvers are alienating you from your fans. Just please be honest with us for once.

[Phattee Buttz]

Did you hire Michael Bay to do the ending? Because the more it we find out about it, the more it comes across as a cynical ploy designed to maximize revenue while minimizing cost:

-Tali's stock photo portrait
-Devian art background on stargazer ending
-"Lots of speculation from everyone"
-and this: which could be a coincidence but which definitely makes it seem like someone involved in the production was influenced by it.

This is a universe so rich in lore and history. Use it!

Modifié par Phattee Buttz, 17 mars 2012 - 03:38 .

[petipas4141]

My number one request is that the ending should be addressed sooner, rather than later. This is not me being a fanatic, this is me being real. Would I LOVE to kick the ****** out of TIMmys thugs on Omega with Aria? Hell yea I would. But first, a little bit of closure would go a long way.

That being said:

-I play games to come home and unwind... I don't want to be depressed at the end! I want to see my Shepard enjoy his victory with his squaddies, buddies, and LI on the Normandy. If there are little blue babies I want to see it in a text epilogue or somethign!!! >.<

-I want the galaxy to reflect the devastation of the reapers, but not flail around helplessly without the mass relays. If you have enough EMS you should be able to get some resolution that does not toast the relays and the citadel! I don't care if it's a total deus ex at this point. The galaxy is screwed without the relays. There are a lot of fleets on earth, they deserve to be able to go back home no? With the relays busted it makes taking back Rannoch feel wasted.

-Get rid of the catalyst if possible, do the indoc theory, do whatever. I just hate this kid.

[DoctorCrowtgamer]

Okay I am game I want endings that reflect the choices I made in all three games.  Mass Effect has always been about hope I want a hopefull ending that I don't need to play multiplayer to get.  I want Shepard's bringing the galaxy together to mean something.  There should be an ending where bringing all the races together leads to a new golden age not a new dark age.  I want an option for Shepard to die saving the galaxy with out destroying everything he built over three games.  Also think there should be a reward for staying faithful to his LI for three games in that one of the endings should involve him walking off to raise a family and help rebuild the galaxy. You don't need to get rid of the endings you have but you told me I would have options and I want those.  if I worked hard in all three games to keep people alive and bring them together there should be a way to save the galaxy and have a happy ending that is what I have been working for since 2007 and I should be able to get it with out having to play mulitplayer.  This may be hard for you to believe but about 10% of the country doesn't can't get highspeed and can't get multiplayer so i think it is really unfair to require it to get all the endings in teh single player game. Please listen all we want is more options Mass Effect has always to me been about how if people come together they can find hope even when it seems hopeless,i think there should be at least one happy ending and one bitter sweet ending.  It's late and that is all i have for now please listen.

[wickeT_42]

 I feel this article sums up my feelings on the ending well, and I have not seen it posted in this thread yet (apologies if I simply missed it).

http://pixelatedgeek...aws-of-victory/ 

I would also like to stress that the rest of your game was sublime, a true triumph of story telling in games.

The ending just doesn't gel with the rest of the story!

Thanks for your time.

[forthary]

Well, let's see here, you've got all your ending suggestions in another fourm, so ill focus on the non-ending stuff.

I think the one thing that gives me the gripes is the sacred nature of Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya Vas Normandy. In 5+ years, you still have not come up with a idea of what her face should look like? Well, if your looking for suggestions, it should be something like this:

- It should be simple. Nothing too overly complicated. Some complex patterns may be ok, but overdo it and nobody will be able to focus on Tali.
- It shouldn't be too alien. It is often stated that quarians and humans are similar. They do have their differences, which should definately be taken into consideration, but they still share a few traits.
- Perhaps the best place to start designing her face is to go back 50,000 years into the past. Javik commented that quarians were 'beautiful' in nature at that time...how could they have looked back then? When you have a base, you could look at human evolution changes to see how humans have progressed, and perhaps do something for Tali to shape what her face looks like.

Oh, and if I might add, I would resort to using original, non-web origin art for Tali's picture. The one we have right now...*Shudder*, not only looks bad, but is also inaccurate, as a quarian's hand is generally spread apart, and not together. Plus, the sunlight in that picture kinda blocks Tali's face.

When it comes to combat changes...to tell you the truth, some revolutionary changes to the shooting system would have been nice alongside with melee, such as dual-wielding weapons, or modding weapons to use the 'old' style of firing (Mass Effect 1), but obviously that's too big to work with. The one thing I would like to see implemented in this game weaponwise though is either removing weapon weight for sheperd or reducing the penalty of weapon weight to zero percent. While Shepard is a mortal, this would make him stand out as 'more durable' and 'heroic' than other solders in the battlefield. Also, I think that all NPC characters should carry two weapons of their choice, not just two pre-determined weapon slots. If Shepard and our Multiplayer characters can use whatever weapons they want, why shouldn't our NPC's? There is little to worry about for balance anyways, as there are strengths and weaknesses to each NPC loadout plan.

And lastly, there are a few other changes I'd like to throw out, such as:

- The ability to import customizable music in Shepard's cabin. The music in Shepard's cabin in ME2 was WAY better than in ME3, so importing will more than make up for it.

- More interactive dialog scenes.

- More interactive button scenes, both inside and outside of combat.

- A 'holodeck', where we can combat other holographic characters with various weapons for practice. This could be conviently placed in the spectre office, and has a large variety of options so you can fight a single, strong enemy, or a horde of weaker, numerous enemies in a variety of backgrounds.

- A new type of store for multiplayer. The store gives access to common equipment in the beginning, but you must purchase licenses at huge costs to access the more rare equipment. The license investment can pay off because you can buy more consumable supplies at a better discount. Prices of purchasing these items are 40% higher than getting them based on average odds in a pack, making the packs a viable option to still use.

- 'Action music' during gameplay of multiplayer.  The best inspiration to put this kind of music in Mass Effect 3 is to play Unreal Tournament: GOTY edition and you'll know what I mean.  Oh, and if I might add, make the objectives 'optional' to complete, but if failed, gives you no payment and reduces the potental of your galatic readiness.  And a bit random as to when it'll happen.

- Still having stuff to shoot and more RP options for relationships after the reaper war and over and providing shepard lives. In Mass Effect 2, I found that I 'ran out' of real enemies to shoot after I did all the side and main quests. Here, that is true in a sense as well, as the game loops itself at a certain point. Plus, I feel if its the last game in the series, I should have some decent closure about any relationships I may have.

Thanks for reading the suggestions developers! I hope it takes Mass Effect beyond its final frontier!

Modifié par forthary, 17 mars 2012 - 04:09 .

[Cro730]

Sargerus wrote...

Matt_gekko88 wrote...

Valk72 wrote...

goose2989 wrote...

I'd pay any ammount of money at this point to see Shepard and Tali building their house on Rannoch

This.

This².

This +100000

[eddieoctane]

1: I would like to see my decisions come to fruition, more than just affect the EMS score. Not all things that helped in the war need to turn out well, or vice-versa, but the major decisions should be given the respect of at least a few second cinematic.
2: A fight to liberate Omega from Cerberus control. I blew up the Collector base for a reason, and I'll be damned before I let them use Omega as a staging point to play around there.
3: Make the EMS rating less dependent on multiplayer or include more assets in game. I completed every side quest, and did a fair bit of exploring, and still only came up with about 6800 total military strength. I can't see where i've scanned, and 80% of what isn't on a planet is fuel. If i don't play multiplayer I can't get half the endings.
4: Write out the freaky child space-god. Even if Shepard has to die right then and there, that thing is so jarringly out of place in the game world that it broke the suspension of disbelief. Everything right up until the final elevator sequence and everything after seem to be from two different worlds.
5: Competitive multiplayer. I'd gladly pay for an add-on DLC that lets me fight it out with another player. The Urban Combat Championship would have been this, essentially. If the galaxy survived, people are really going to need to let off steam. Sports are always big around times of great public stress, so it would fit more in lore after the events of the game than ever. If not possible for this game, please consider it in any additions to the Mass effect universe.
Yeah, that about covers it.

[petipas4141]

Phattee Buttz wrote...

Did you hire Michael Bay to do the ending? Because the more it we find out about it, the more it seems like a cynical ploy aimed at maximizing revenue with minimal investment:

-Tali's stock photo portrait
-Devian art background on stargazer ending
-"Lots of speculation from everyone"
-and this: which could be a coincidence but which definitely makes it seem like someone involved in the production was influenced by it.

This is a universe so rich in lore and history. Use it!

Yes! So much untapped potential 

[Deemz]

Everything before Harbinger fires the beam is brilliant to acceptable. Everything after Harbinger fires the beam is complete rubbish.

Throw out everything after Harbinger fires the beam because none of it is any good. Here are some suggestion for things I would find enjoyable.

1. If you want my LI to die for story effect then please don't force me to step over her dead body without even a pause.

2. If you want Shepard to die for story reason. Let me die as a hero. Guns a blazing fighting impossible odds.

3. Settle things with Harbinger. This has been brewing since ME2 and I think I am not the only one who wants that settled.

4. TIM - some sort of non-scripted fight or the option to finally side with him.

5. Crew - If I die or not. I would like to see what happens to them. DA:O did this fine without any VO work.

6. Ability to get the best possible outcome without doing anything outside the game or playing MP. I play and like RPGs.

7. Shepard - If not a needed story hook that I die then I would love a chance to live. Even if this is impossibly hard. To know there was a chance, no matter how remote, I could be the hero again. The people of earth and the citadel still think I am a bad guy and a renegade.

8. LI - Joins you in the final battle if possible. If not, a cutscene that shows your LI digging you out of the rubble. Zero VO needed for this.

9. Joker - Plese don't make him flee like a coward. The guy was ready to die on the Normandy in the opening to ME2. He is no coward. If he has to die for the story. Let him go out with honor and pride.

10. Memorial - I would like to see a memorial to those that died during the trilogy. Like on the Normandy but includes whoever you had to kill in the final battle.

11. You don't have to look far on how to do a story that depends on your choices goes. Look at ME2. Depending on your choices it could be dark to successful depending on what you did. I think only three people lived on my first play through of ME2.

[Shalewind]

I'd listen to Mr. Knowles, he pretty much has it down: link

Beyond that, I think the sum it up threads about plot holes and choice nail it.

[Gotthammer666]

When I got home from work to fire up Mass Effect 3 and I stayed up until
6am playing, then jumped right back on after I came back from work, I
was ecstatic.
I was seeing Garrus, Tali and Kaiden back in action,
and was going to kick the Reaper's backsides out of the galaxy before
retiring with Liara... but none of it happened.

I mean I'm ok
with the ending on an intellectual level, but it is absolutely nothing
like I was expecting on an emotional one. Well, I was expeting the
endings that happened to be available, but also to have one where you can
save the relays and be re-united with your crew/LI, and have some sort
of epilogue where:

Garrus and Tali build a house on Rannoch (with the Geth's help), and Garrus' family are visiting
Wrex is being climbed all over by tiny krogans
Kelly continuing to help the refugees
Kirahee salutes a monument to Mordin
Miranda and her sister sit down and have a laugh
Aria smiles mysteriously as she ponders her next move
Conrad and Jenna meet up with Kolyat and Kelly to set up a new refugee centre
Jacob holds his kid
Samara and her daughter are re-united
Traynor leading a science team to rebuild
Cortez at the viewing platform, smiling as the ships slowly and silently glide by
Grunt training the next generation of Krogan
The council honouring Anderson
Jack (lovingly) chewing out her kids
Zaeed sitting back somewhere peaceful, Jessie by his side
Kasumi smiles and cloaks, as Jonum Bau races into the room
Dr Chackwas toasts the Normandy
Kenneth finally kissing Gabby
Shiala and the other colonists setting up a new home
Vega graduates as N7, saluting Hackett
Javik finds peace
Kaiden sits down by the lake to have a steak sandwich as Vancouver is rebuilt in the background
Ash reads a poem at her father's grave with her sisters
Joker and EDI are at the helm, playfully bickering as usual
and Shep and Liara sit together to watch their little blue children playing

yes,
it's rather silly and perfect happily ever after, but I got everyone
through the Omega4 relay and back again (and it was literally a suicide mission!) so there was precedent for the
games to have an achievable 'perfect' ending.

The biggest issue,
for me personally, is that Mass Effect was at it's core really fun. I
don't mean in a 'I have fun playing' way (which I did), but that it had humour and
adventure and excitement. There were moments of darkness, but Shepard
always came through them with her friends and crew intact (if you played
your cards right).

Not being able to do that in ME3, despite
being told there would be a multitude of endings for years, has honestly
really, really upset me. My Shep was a hero who always saved the day,
dammit! ;p


I think it's plainly obvious how much I care about the
ME universe and love the characters who are in it - having to surmise
and make guesses of their fates is all well and good, but it's not the
same really.

I was looking forward to a 'reward' if you will for
sticking by Liara of getting to see her and Shep happy together, of
seeing the galaxy bloodied and bruised but rebuilding, of seeing all
Shepard's friends happy if they survived, remembered if they didn't.
Instead
after hundreds of hours of devotion I got basically nothing. Hell, I
don't even know if anyone on the Citadel is even alive let alone whether
they can be rescued or not. Which is a terrible shame as up until the ending (or lack of) ME3 was really the pinnacle of what a computer RPG could be.

So what do I want? I want to save the day and know I saved the day, seeing how everyone was effected and what they did next (assuming I did enough in the single player game - I don't do multi), and if I didn't see the consequences.
From a mechanical point of view? An option D to tell the catylist to get stuffed that doesn't blow up the relays or the citadel or the Geth/EDI? The final scene of the 'destroy' ending continues with Liara pulling Shep out of the rubble? Something heroic and awesome where I win (and don't need to play MP to do so)!

Modifié par Gotthammer666, 17 mars 2012 - 03:51 .

[thoreauscabin]

Things done well:

* Combat. Combat is actually very enjoyable. It's one of the things I think you guys did perfectly. The powers, the weapons and customizations, the sounds and physics. A+ job here.

* Dialogue. There are some people who complained of auto-dialogue and lack of choices, but honestly I think you guys did well. It feels just like ME2 which also did it well. I mean, more options would always be nice, but I didn't feel like Shepard was acting too much on his own.

* Music. The music is pretty good. Shout Out Out Out Out in Shepard's cabin was a good choice. It's catchy. And the main song that plays in the beginning, and towards the end hits you in a good way. Those little piano notes have a big effect, very emotional.

* Multiplayer. Multiplayer is actually pretty fun. I don't like how it's tied into the single player, to be honest. But apart from that it's enjoyable.

--------------------

Things done NOT so well:

* Not enough squad members. Not really sure the reason behind this. I read that it was because you wanted to be able to focus more on individual stories. But you still could've achieved this with more squad mates. Maybe it's just because there were so many in ME2, but it sort of feels....empty in the Normandy. You're probably going to add more with DLC but it would've been nice to have them in the base game. Oh well.

* Not enough satisfying closure. This is separate from the ending. Some missions feel rushed. The side quests are kinda boring. Just a lot of scanning planets and returning to someone, usually at the Citadel. 

It doesn't really feel like decisions we made in the past games and this one have much of an impact. It would be nice to see even more ramifications.

The romance may fall here, too. I've only played through once and I had a romance with Jack. I felt let down by the story here. It was very unsatisfying. I wasn't looking for a hardcore porn scene or anything, but really. A fade out dance scene and a short phone call right before the final mission? We built relationships and grew attached to these virtual people and it feel like it doesn't amount to much.

--------------------

Two ideas for endings:

1) The Reapers are harvesting the races of the galaxy to bolster their army. Why? Because they're at war with an even bigger enemy. Some sort of other alien race, also from outside of the Milky Way. To the Reapers, our galaxy is nothing more than a place to gather more recruits for the intergalactic war they are engaged in.

It could even be more than just one enemy the Reapers are facing. Perhaps there are a lot of other races involved. Whether they are synthetic, organic or hybrids doesn't really matter much.

It's mentioned in ME3 that the Crucible is a project that has been worked on for more than one cycle, being contributed to by various advanced races. Perhaps one (or more) of these races discovered these enemies of the Reapers. Maybe the Crucible is designed to slow down the Reapers and/or signal to the other race the Reapers' location. It's a risk though, because maybe this other race will wipe out the Reapers but then also start harvesting Milky Way races. Or maybe they're friendly. Who knows? But that knowledge had been lost somewhere along the way.

2) The galaxy implodes. Either by design or accident, the Crucible somehow accelarates the black hole at the center of the galaxy. It expands rapidly and swallows everything. Not a very happy ending but it's satisfying and would make an awesome cinematic.

It could also be a slow process, too. Maybe it takes a few years for it to happen. So the Reapers get the hell out of there to avoid getting sucked in. The galaxie's races have a few  years to enjoy life before they're all sucked into the void. Maybe some scientists try to create another giant project to reverse what happened. Or maybe they start rapidly trying to find a way to travel to other galaxies. Or both.

--------------------

Last point:

I think the Indoctrination Theory people are suggesting is terrible. It's boring, typical and uncreative. It's like the "it was all just a dream" ending but with Mass Effect flavoring. Yawn.

Thanks for listening

Modifié par thoreauscabin, 17 mars 2012 - 08:38 .

[Faded-Myth]

Hi Jessica,

First and foremost I appreciate that Bioware is taking the time to listen to us.  I have invested so much love and energy into this series, that I just want to see it done right.

In regard to the ending, I'm going to be honest and say that I don't like any of it. What I don't like is the lack of ontrol over our outcome.  All throughout the series, we have come to expect that this game was about Commander Shepard becoming an extension of ourselves and our own morality.  We were forced to make decisions that had consequences, and in the end it was almost as if that didn't matter.  Commander Shepard did not argue, and did not fight for what he/she had stood for this entire time. The choices we had made throughout the series (and maybe more importantly ME3 for the newcomers) should weigh into the "good" or "bad" of our ending, balanced with the assets and military strength we acquired. To quote Mass Effect 1 "Many decisions lie ahead; none of them easy."  In the final hours of Mass Effect 3, this seems to not even matter, as we are essentially robbed of the real ability to choose having no real difference to the outcomes.

I don't need a happy, fluffy bunnies ending with parades and confetti.  What I want is a sense of hope and accomplishment; like what I did mattered.  I want the opportunity to survive, and to have a future with my LI if I worked hard enough because Shepard has already lost and sacrificed so much.  The galaxy is in shambles, and that in of itself is bittersweet, but there needs to be a glimmer of hope for the civilizations we've come to love to rebuild and eventually feel a sense of accomplishment. There needs to be closure.  Make the hopeful survival ending just one of the possibilities, and make it something we have to work hard to achieve. What we have now is a "survival" ending that lacks any sense of hope, accomplishment, or achievement because we're left with a galaxy that is crippled, billions stranded, and with a sense of unknowing as to what's become of the people we care about. That's not bittersweet; it's just frustrating and depressing.

Get rid of the space child.  That takes away the fear and ruthlessness of the Reapers that made them so powerful to begin with.  Making them puppets makes them weak, and I'm also left wondering what in the world Mass Effect 2 accomplished, aside from introducing a crew that I really, really cared about in Mass Effect 3. If you want to leave something ambiguous, keep the Reapers a mystery.  I for one don't need a real explanation as to what their true motives are or what their origin is.  That in of itself is terrifying. This is just personal opinion, but if you absolutely have to have the space child, then give us the chance to argue with the ultimatums we are presented with, using our choices from the previous 2.9 games as ammo.

Also, as it stands, the relay explosions seem to directly contradict the Arrival DLC from Mass Effect 2, as it sets up the expectation that a relay explosion destroys the entire system it's in.  We are given no evidence to believe that this is not the case in the ending we have now, so this seems to present some major plot holes. Without closure, we are simply left to assume that A) all these systems were destroyed with everyone in them, or Everyone is now stranded, and thus in a lot of trouble.  This seems as if we are worse off then where we started, so again I ask myself what was the point of all my hard work and sacrifice? If we have to lose the relays, again, give us closure.  What is the galactic community doing to rebuild?

Thank you so much for taking the time to deal with this. We're not trying to sound entitled or demanding. We just all feel a little bit short changed, and more than a little bit hurt.

Thank you for listening.

From two very passionate Mass Effect fans.

[AJ2324]

I would love to see the indoctrination theory DLC ending. I think that would be awesome. It would be an ending that everyone would talk about for years. Plus there is so much you could do with it, not to mention that it already looks like that is the way it could go anyway.

Let's have Shepard wake up from yet another attempt from Harbinger's indoctrination and finish the fight with in an epic fashion!

Great youtube vid about this theory if somehow you don't know about it:

[SamFlagg]

*Breathe*

A few more lines of feedback both good and bad.

1.) We do dearly miss harbinger, perhaps a boss fight would be incredibly difficult to do, but we could feel him as an antagonistic presenece before.  Currently he feels like an afterthought.

2.)  I think we needed maybe one or two areas more like the citadel, and when I say that I mean like in ME3 where you could go to Ilum or Tuchanka, there were stores there, there were people there.  Only having the citadel felt somewhat limiting.  (That said, the citadel itself was fun.  Though 25,000 credits for a fish tank?  10 fish tanks could buy me a sniper rifle from the Spectre Store!

3.) While this isn't something you could necessarily fix except by DLC designed to be after the attack on the citadel, Ashley spends a little too much time out of the party, and Tali comes pretty late.  I know the goal was to have a tighter squad, and I respect that, heck I even agree with it, but I think some of us felt James fell a little flat as a squadmate, and we would've preferred someone from ME2, and so if you take out James, and Ashley and Tali are deeper into the game till you have them totally (and if you didn't get Javik) it starts to feel like a squad that's a bit too empty.

4.) Bravo on Cortez and Traynor, I was happy to have those new faces on my crew.

5.) Anti-Bravo on giving away what was rightfully Emily Wong's slot on the ship to Diana Allers.   Emily died for that mistake.

6.)  Liara, absolutely wonderful.  Everything about how she was played, slowly losing hope all the way to "This is the end....isn't it."  And Garrus was the galaxy's greatest War buddy.

7.) ME2 squadmates could've gotten a little more love, or perhaps had a group of them band together for a mission after you did their individual quests.  (Jack and Miranda were done very well.  Samara and Zaheed, 12 second cameo.)  Part of this could've been rectified by a few more emails from those squad mates throughout the game.

8.) I'll mention the journal again, because while the ending has the most rage, the journal is the most annoying, because it used to work so well back in ME2.  In it's current state its just not that helpful in telling you if its time to fly back to the citadel with your item, or if you got the quest already did you pick it up yet.

9.) Kai Leng, I'm not nearly as offput by him as some, but I believe he's introduced as an antagonist going up against you far too late in the game.  I think that by appearing that late in the game he's really only playing to those who are aware of his entire backstory.  I'm not saying he should be Dr. Robotnik at the end of every cerberus level, but one maybe two more encounters (neither would've needed to involve a  fight) would've helped flesh him out more.

10.) MORE BLASTO!

11.) A line from Hackett indicating how severe the losses on the citadel were would be nice.  I mean I think a lot of us presumed a whole lot of people were killed before the reapers moved the citadel, but acknowledgement that 4 million were killed and a couple hundred thousand got away would be good to flesh that out.

12.) In any future games where you can romance a character and have that relationship carry over, it's probably best not to set all paths as "He's moved on and is having a baby"  I mean for my Male Shep, I heard that and I said "Good for you Jacob"  when I heard that the FemSheps also were told he's moved on and is having a baby and they had been dating him, yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah awkward.

13.) And this is just me being silly, but just once I would've love to go to Crucible Building base to see everyone working on it.  Maybe talk to my ME2 guys who are based out of there.

(I think that might be all thats in my things "that were terrible/things that need improved/things that were good" notebook.....I think.....probably)

[goodventure]

Jessica/BioWare,

Thank you for taking the time to listen to us, really, it is very appreciated.  I loved everything about Mass Effect 3, up until Shepard rises up on a platform to meet with the ... "Star Child God Thing" or Catalyst.  Everything after that just makes no sense.  Basically, this is how I feel:

I simply want closure! I want an ending that makes sense, not an ending that brings up more questions! I want to know the fate of my crew after my major decision at the end. I want to know the fate of the galaxy and know how my choices throughout the series are going to affect everyone.  I want more endings that reflect my choices!

Here are some specifics I would like to be addressed:

1. I am fine with the idea of the choices themselves (Destroy, Merge, or Control), but I am just upset with the fact that Shepard, at this moment, suddenly decides to break character and simply goes along with these choices without questioning them.  I do not believe that my Shepard would so willingly agree to these choices without a fight, or at least some curiosity.  I would like it if Shepard had an option to say "no" to all three of the choices presented in front of him.

2. Where is Harbinger and why doesn't he have more of a presence in the end-game? Isn't he the "main" bad guy we were fighting? Isn't he the face of the Reapers? We barely see him at all in Mass Effect 3. I would like it if Harbinger was included more, because I was fully expecting to have some kind of confrontation or conversation with him again after I saw him at the end of the Arrival DLC in Mass Effect 2.  Having him absent just raises more questions from me.

3. I would like the option of a happier ending because I want all of my choices throughout all three games to come down to something more than this bleak and unfulfilling ending that we currently have.  Even the "best" ending is not exactly the kind of reward I was expecting when I spent hours collecting war assets and making decisions throughout the games.  Like Jeremy Jahns said in this video (link: youtu.be/4H_A7SeawU4), if we've been Paragon throughout the entire series, we deserve a fulfilling, and happy, hero's ending.  Preferably, an ending that involves you and your love interest being together.  I can't imagine life-after-the-Reapers without Kaidan. 

4. The Normandy flying away from the red, blue, or green beam at the end, and then crash landing on some garden world, needs to be addressed because of major plot holes!  Two major problems exist with it: one: Joker and the Normandy crew break character and simply abandon Shepard on Earth... why?!  two: them crash landing on that new world does not provide any closure whatsoever on my squadmates besides some bleak optimism that they will repopulate or something!  The whole "fate" of the Normandy crew needs to be reworked into something more fulfilling because we spent hundreds of hours with these characters.  This ending does not do them any justice.

5. Please read the entirety of this article: www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right

That is all I can think of at the moment.  Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us and take notes.  I hope what we all say here influences some changes to the endings.

Modifié par goodventure, 17 mars 2012 - 03:46 .