7052 réponses à ce sujet

[JGGiant915]

I've spent several days trying to think about why the endings upset me so much, and the best I've come up with is that it doesn't leave a lot of room for the future of Mass Effect. I look back at all the accomplishments I've made from the first game and realizing that it was all pointless in the end is a tough pill to swallow. Why did I make peace between all these races if all of the endings essentially mean the end of galactic civilization? When the inevitable "Taking Back Omega" DLC is created, why bother helping Aria? It doesn't matter in the end. The ending(s) left me with very little hope for the future of the Mass Effect universe, which is not a feeling you should want your players to have.

I'm not saying that the endings should have been all sunshine and rainbows (See the Penny-Arcade comic from 3/16). However, even the worst ending should have given us hope for a real future.

For example, the EMS should have been the deciding factor in what ending you get. Let's say you go in with a terrible EMS. You should see/hear squadmates dying (In my honest opinion, unless you have the highest EMS possible without playing multiplayer even if it requires a NG+ playthrough, the two squadmates you bring in for the final charge against the Conduit should bite the dust), the fleets in orbit getting decimated, and Shepard dying before he can activate the Crucible. The Reapers win, and our cycle is destroyed. However, the final cutscene is many thousands of years later with a new race finding Liara's "time-capsule" and seeing images of Shepard and the Reapers. This would allow the fans to speculate that maybe the next cycle will triumph where we failed, or maybe they'll make the same mistakes and ignore our warnings. Also, the final "Please buy DLC message" should be changed to something like "Shepard failed to stop the Reaper invasion. Try raising your assets through side-missions, multiplayer, or upcoming DLC".
You can make your sales pitch, but give us a reason why we should. I work in retail, and you don't sell things by simply saying "buy it buy it buy it", you have to give the customer reasons why they should.

Again, something like this should not be the ONLY ending, but the worse possible one. Other endings could range from the Reapers getting pushed back with the possibility of returning, the conduit backfiring and wiping out nearly all life including the Reapers (Next cycle still rises, but no Reapers), and yes, if you have incredibly high EMS with either multiplayer or NG+ being a requirement, Shepard barely survives and you and your squad can see the future that they all worked so hard to save.

I'm not going to get into how the events leading up to the ending could be changed. I've thought up all kinds of ridiculous scenarios, like the Crucible being some sort of device to allow Shepard to enter the Reaper's AI network like s/he did on Rannoch with the Geth. I'm also a fan of Indoctrination Theory. However, in the end it's really the epilogue that I'm concerned with. Bioware could even decide to keep the stupid God-Child as long as the endings are given a little bit of diversity so that we can "speculate" on the future of the galaxy, rather than everyone drawing the same conclusion that it's generally screwed.

In closing, I bought all of the story-DLC for Mass Effect 2, yet I have zero interest in buying any of 3. This is not due to a mentality of trying to "stick it" to Bioware; I simply do not care about altering events any further because it's all going to get destroyed (literally or otherwise) anyway.

Hold the Line.

[SimonM72]

Cigarette Smoking Man wrote...

The Journal/Tracking of Side Quests

This is an issue that makes it rather difficult to turn in my planet scans because you don't know what level of the Citadel you need to go to turn them in. There is no place to check what you have in an inventory to know what you have to turn in. This leads to many unnecessary trips to Citadel which can chip away at a fraught paced and intense experience. I do enjoy the Citadel's lay out and the feeling that it is teeming with life/struggle. It's a fantastic hub world. I just wish I could experience without this naggling issue in my mind every time I go.

Absolutey no idea why this was changed from ME2's.  The ME1/2 journal mission-tracking was extensive and comprehensive allowing you to pinpoint exactly at what stage you were at, what needed to be done and the exact location for its quest-turn-in.

/signed.

Modifié par SimonM72, 18 mars 2012 - 03:58 .

[ToneFish]

MikeVentris wrote...

ToneFish wrote...

tobito113 is right.  For that to work you need to poll 1000 random Mass Effect gamers, not 1000 which hangs in a forum for those who are unhappy with the ending!  

No, not necessarily. How much disappointment with other projects? They do not collect a greater number of the disappointment. And that means disappointment with this project, the percentage is much higher than others. That should be enough.

Yes, the amount of gamers that are unhappy with the Mass Effect ending is clearly much higher than normal. But that was not the point, you still can not make a poll directed to those who are unhappy with the ending and then say that this poll  speaks for all or the majority of the fans.   

Do any of us know how many gamers actually finished Mass Effect 3 by now and how many of those hate the ending so much that they get involved here? 

 Even though there is an overwelming response from unhappy gamers we do not know for sure that we are the majority.   nikola8 just pointed out that polls can be deceiving (which is completely correct in this case since the polls are are more likely to be answered by unhappy games) when he was critizied by glazier1701.

But I think Bioware will be professional enough to take these things into account when deciding the fate of the ending.

[MikeVentris]

solvill wrote...

i would like somthing like this
http://i.imgur.com/JhtqY.jpg
choices

Yea! It would be great! But for this it is necessary to make too many changes.

[Phattee Buttz]

What is it that has people so upset?

-Plotholes
-Decisions made irrelevant
-Homogeneous endings

The first one might be resolved with DLC and some creative writing, but there is no quick easy fix for the last two.

Even though everything completely falls apart at the beam of light, the problem actually starts much earlier than that. As soon as you exit the Charon relay, you are forced into a very narrow, very linear path. There's fierce fighting all over the planet, a massive battle taking place above Earth, and Reapers everywhere. Yet all we see is London and then the Citadel. Most of us want to actually SEE the consequences of our choices. We want to see the Quarians and the Geth fighting side by side. We want to see an army of angry Krogan unleashing a world of hurt on a Reaper. Or if we screwed up along the way, we want to see the consequences of that. And when it's all over, we want actual different endingS. Not just one with different colors.

I know that creating a proper ending to the Mass Effect trilogy will take months if not years, but I think most of us would prefer a long wait to what we have now.

Modifié par Phattee Buttz, 18 mars 2012 - 04:05 .

[Scorpioner]

I think the LEAST Bioware can change, that involves amost no work are to allow one of the following choices in the final moments on Citadel, when you still control your character. Note that I assume the whole Catalyst thing is for realz and you have to make a choice in order to progress-
A) Shepard: "You gave me no reason to trust you." *pause* "I've had enough of your genocidal/against free will solutions!!!" *Shoots the Starchild and goes on to fight reapers on his/her own terms*
(Which would actualy fit into the fatalism) Shepard: "Sometimes the cost of winning is too high.." *calls Anderson* "The Crucible is a Reaper trap, evacuate all forces immidiately and rewrite all time capsules to reflect that" *Shoots him/herself in the head* (Note Saren and Ilusive Man)

[Bulgaroktonos]

So, I've spent the past week or so trying to figure out what exactly it is about the ending I found so frustrating, and how it could be 'fixed,' and since there seems to some genuine interest at Bioware hearing our thoughts, I figured I'd add my two cents.  By no means am I a published writer, or accomplished in the story telling field, but these are just some of my thoughts regarding the game.  Sorry for the length, but I wanted to give the kind of feedback you asked for, thoughout, constructive, and attempting to be helpful.

Commander Shepard to the Star Childe Came

A lot of people have complained about the Star Child.  I don't think it was a terrible choice in and of itself.  However, it was very poorly presented.  While the controlling force behind the Reapers was hinted at previously, it seems rather contrived that there has been some kind of sentient synthetic/hybrid organism hanging out on the Citadel for millennia.

One of the best part of the Reapers was that they had a motivation beyond our comprehension.  They needed no explanation.  They simply were.  They were some kind of eldritch, Lovecraftian horror.  We, as Shepard, and gamers, did not necessarily need to know everything about them.  Their menace came from them being an relentless force with whom there could be no peace.  Their motives and reasons were beyond our ability to understand and the Reapers would never seek to bargain.  Only one of us could come out of this fight alive.

Thus, when we are confronted by the Star Childe, and presented with the idea that the Reapers are simply some kind of tool, it was something of a let down for me.  When you are on Rannoch, and the dying Reaper mentions, only in passing, that Harbinger spoke of Shepard, it conjured images in my brain of Reaper society.  They were individuals, with plans, ideas, thoughts, vastly beyond our level of existence.  It was an off-hand line, but it really built the Reapers up as an individual species.  So, it was disheartening that the Reapers didn't really have a choice.  They were just doing what they do because the code implanted in them by the Star Childe told them to. They had no larger motivation other than what their code told them to do.  To that end, I think it might have been better to simply leave their motivations vague and unknown.  Maybe hint that they cultivate us, like sheep, sheering our flock every 50,000 years for reasons that are somewhat opaque.  Doesn't matter.  In making the Reapers effectively mindless, the menace of the Reapers was seriously damaged.

We Have Seen the Enemy, and He is Us

As I said above, the Reapers presented this poorly understood, but clear and present danger to the existence of the galaxy, which was very effectively conveyed throughout the series.  As Mass Effect 3 draws to a close, we are confronted with the reality that it is win, or die.  Shepard probably isn't going to make it.  Our crew might be decimated.  Who knows?  But we know that the galaxy stands on the brink of annihilation.  And for three games, we've watched the Reapers annihilate our friends, destroy planets, and indoctrinate allies.  We want them  dead as much as they want us dead.  To that end, the way in which the endings are presented, particularly the synthesis ending, feel out of place. 

Regarding synthesis, we've just spent 100+ hours battling to destroy the Reapers, but now we are presented with the option to become like them, and be friends.  We don't want friends, we want vengence.  We want victory.  Apart from the deus ex machina of machine "DNA," this ending doesn't stand up very well.  While I am all for technological singularity, it doesn't jive with the series.  While I grant that the man v. machine dynamic has always been there, and this grows naturally out of that theme, the option to synthesize is not emotionally fulfilling.  As I said, the gamer wants vengeance.  They want to win the war.  Synthesis does not provide this.  Instead, we just let the Reapers go, and we are now friends with them, or something, because they stop fighting us for unclear reasons.  Just because we are both synthetic hybrids shouldn't make us friends instantly, but whatever.   Its rather anti-climactic.  We are now part of the enemy we've been seeking to destroy for 3 games.  Not how I was hoping it would go down.

The Illusion of Control

In contrast, I felt the "Control" option was very much in keeping with the series, if handled somewhat poorly.

It didn't make much sense for me to simply take control of the Reapers and let them go.  There wouldn't be much in the way of consequences.  What, I just die taking control of the Reapers, and banish them to dark space?  Maintining some kind of bizarre vigil over them so they never restart the cycle?  I didn't get the point of taking control.  It seemed like you took control just because well, if you chose destroy, you'd kill EDI and the Geth.  That's not a very satisfying reason to pick control.  To my mind, the allure of the Mass Effect games was that each of the choices had their own allure.  Yeah, you could totally shoot that guy for being an idiot.  Or, you could be patient, and maybe get something out of it.  There was a reason to do both, and a convincing argument for either.  The option to Control has no plusses or minuses that the other options do not already provide.  The option to control needs to be enticing for reasons other than, "Well, it doesn't kill the Geth" because, if I killed the Geth, I have no real impetus to pick "Control."  I already get to end the war with "Destroy" and "Synthesis."  Controlling the Reapers brings no benefit to somebody who killed the Geth, while "Synthesis" will end the cycle, and "Destroy" will bring a "victory" of sorts.

To that end, I was expecting the "Control" mechanism to be a renegade choice of unparalled levels.  Humanity would be able take control of the Reapers and dominate the galaxy, using them as their fleet and shock troops, at the danger that we would at some point lose control and risk undoing all the hard work we put in to the series as the cycle begins again.  There is a clear allure to the idea for the Human supremacists amongst us (at least one of my Shepards included).  But there is also the obvious draw back that we may not be able to perpetually control the Reapers, and that we may one day find ourselves back in this situation.  Or maybe we could choose it for more altruistic reasons, hoping to advance the galaxy through Reaper tech, but run similar risks.  Just throwing ideas out there.

While this is certainly my personal preference, it just seems to fit the thematic issues of Mass Effect 3's story, and how gamers played it.  A key role in the games is the rising star of humanity, and the other species' fear of our rapid rise.  A choice like this presents a justification for that fear.  But not in the way it was presented.

Appetite for Destruction

"Destroy" is the opposite side of that coin.  Of the three endings as they stand, it is the most emotionally fulfilling, because, well, we get to destroy the Reapers.  Of course, we also have to destroy the Geth, and all synthetics.  Whereas "Control" had no plusses to choosing it that were a result of inherent qualities of that choice, "Destroy" seems to have minuses just to have them.  We are told by the Star Childe that synthetics and organics cannot live together in peace.  We are also told hat the Crucible has opened up new possibilities, and are then presented with a choice that is the exact same possibility as if the Crucible hadn't done anything: Organics must destroy synthetics. 

Why the Geth must also be destroyed is handwaved away.  It doesn't really follow.  We know the Reapers have their own code, why not send out a kill virus or something that bricks the Reapers?  Since the warning of the "Destroy" option is that synthetics and organics will go to war again someday, why the Geth need to die is entirely besides the point.  The Geth might one day be the destroyers of organic life.  Who knows, but it doesn't matter at this point in time.  Adding the Geth to the list of things that must be destroyed is pointless, and seems added solely to have a draw back to the "Destroy" ending.   Choosing or not choosing "Destroy" is probably based more on whether or not you spared the Geth than anything else.  The player will avoid, or not avoid this choice not because of the nature of the choice itself, but because of things entirely unrelated to that specific choice, and will go pick "Control" or "Synthesis" simply out of a desire not to kill the Geth rather than due to the quality of the choices themselves.

To me, "Destroy" would represent a paragon option, in which Humanity, which has become increasingly important, rejects the temptation of the Reaper technology that could secure its preeminence in the galaxy, and secures the trust of the alien species.  But it would come at the cost that a great deal of technological information would be lost.  Things that could improve lives everywhere in the galaxy would be destroyed with the Reaper tech.  While much was made of the idea that Reaper tech always ended poorly, you might be readily able to attribute some kind of nullifying power to the Crucible, in which controlling the Reapers might allow for advantageous use of the Reaper's technology.

I'll give some more thoughts on the ending, and what I think could be done to improve it later, as I'm tired after writing all this.

[Enichan]

First off, I have to say I loved the game right up til the last few minutes. It's not often that I'm moved to tears by any story, let alone a videogame, let alone oh, half a dozen times by a single videogame.

Having said that, the ending needs to change:

1. Glaring discontinuities need to either be fixed by a plausible explanation, such as how did my squadmate wind up on the Normandy despite being vaporized, how did the Normandy manage to flee the shockwave, etcetera. This specific oversight was extremely jarring.

2. The starchild needs to go. Its presence is akin to a murder mystery going "it was this totally unrelated guy you've never seen on screen all along!" right near the end. Yes, ME3 isn't a murder mystery, but it feels the same way. A sort of "what the hell is this?".

3. If the starchild doesn't go (which I fully expect won't happen) then that encounter needs to at least take into account the themes of the past three games up to that point. I'm splitting this into 3 broad categories of themes violated by the ending:

3a. The themes of the super-idealist or super-pragmatist Shepard. You have the chance to tell people they're wrong about potential extinction level stuff in every game, but suddenly at the end, this choice is denied and all you can do is slavishly accept what some starchild AI tells you as gospel. You can't even decide to just sit there and watch to see if maybe your fleets can take on the reapers normally, futile as that is.

3b. Peacemaking. ME and particularly ME3 harp a lot on creating peace where there was none, and uniting the races of the galaxy, and breeding more understanding. Krogan and Turian/Salarian, Criminal (Aria T'Loak) and law-enforcement (Bailey), Quarians and Geth, Rachni and... well, everyone. Then starchild comes in and tells you, nah, you've been wrong all along. And you can't even argue with him. That's incredibly disempowering.

3c. And this is a particularly glaring one, starchild's argument is predicated entirely upon the idea that synthetics will always wind up wiping out their creators. This is portrayed after a game that shows quite clearly that AIs are in fact as much a result of their environment and "free will" as they are of their programming. You spend the entire game building this up with EDI, who becomes more human than some humans like Udina, despite her origins on Luna which would have seemingly proved starchild correct.

Similarly the introduction of Legion in ME2 and his evolution in ME3, as well as the images you see inside the Geth server which clearly point out that the Geth were defending themselves from organics, not the other way around, and were self-actualizing. This is further compounded by being able to create peace between Quarrians and Geth, to the point of co-existing on the same planet!

In fact, the reapers under control of the starchild are the same synthetics he's warning everyone about. He's the case study of his own argument, every other synthetic like EDI and the Geth are now on your side and rallied against the reapers. The Geth, as a synthetic society could integrate into the universe and be a guiding light for any later synthetic race, just as the Asari have been to the other races.

So not only are the themes contradicted by the starchild, but the only evidence of his theory is he himself. You've already shown him wrong, but again you can't argue with him whatsoever, only slavishly go along with what he's saying, even though he and his are the only synthetics who are bent on destroying all organics.

4. We need more closure. A lot of people are saying "and now the united military might of the galaxy is stranded in earth orbit". Are they? We see the shockwave damaging the Normandy, or is this because of EDI? If it is, why does EDI survive in the epilogue? If it's not because of EDI, then the shockwave obviously rends apart ships. Doesn't that mean you just blew up all the allies you took to war with you? If not even this much is clear in the epilogue, then how are we supposed to feel like we've gotten closure on anything else?

We also build relationships with many people and these are - almost perfectly I might add - addressed throughout the game. But at the end this is all discarded, and we have no idea what happened to anyone, except for Joker, EDI, and someone who miraculously comes back from being vaporized. And we can't gain any satisfaction from these even, because of glaring plotholes like the vaporization, or Joker outrunning the shockwave somehow despite fighting in earth's orbit.

Nothing's resolved. All we know is that we've destroyed all the mass relays, set back the universe enormously, and now have a bunch of scattered races isolated completely from each other, all with completely ruined planets and ruined economies. The only conclusions we can draw after seeing the ending are all bad.

5. Make our choices count. Our choices count through all three games, and are completely irrelevant near the end, save for tiny tweaks in how things play out. Why?


I could write more, but honestly if all of these are addressed that'd be way more than I'm currently expecting. I love the Mass Effect franchise and loved 95% of ME3, but make no mistake, this has been such a disappointing experience that I'm going to refrain from buying any already existing DLC for the previous games since I have zero desire to play through the games again to experience this ending. And I was planning on doing both, before I saw the ending, buy all the DLC I'd missed, and go through it all over from ME1 onward.

Similarly despite how fun it is I'm not going to be playing multiplayer. Aside from constant disconnection issues and the kit rollbacks, I don't feel like playing multiplayer because it'll just remind me of how disappointed I feel with the story's resolution, and the galactic readiness doesn't interest me because I have no interest in seeing a slightly modified flavour of what is in my eyes a terrible ending.

TL;DR: Fix the glaring continuity errors, get rid of the starchild because it feels like a copout, observe and continue the themes you've fed us for 3 games even during the ending, give us more closure, and make our choices count far more clearly than they do now.

Modifié par Enichan, 18 mars 2012 - 04:22 .

[DarthMuffin]

I feel like I can only add a small drop to an ocean of feedback, but as a fan of the series since the start I feel obligated to do so. Here's my feedback, as succinct as possible.

I found ME3 to be very enjoyable until the ending. Minor flaws are the reduced amount of dialogue choices (I feel less in control of Shepard, more like I'm giving him the big lines and he then acts on his own) and the way multiplayer impacts single player. The rest was great, I liked how all three games came together.

I want to give a special thumbs up to how the "feeling of impending doom" was handled. In Dragon Age: Origins, I never really felt like the darkspawns were a real threat. In ME3, it really shows that the galaxy is in a tight spot and I really liked that feeling.

I see two major flaws with the ending, however. First, the fact that our choices in all 3 games have no real impact on the conclusion. In my opinion, this pretty much breaks the entire premise of Mass Effect, i.e. that of an epic action-RPG where your choices and their consequences carry on in each game. Second, the fact that the ending gives no closure at all.

My opinion overall is that the current ending would not be half bad if ME3 had been just some random standalone game. As the conclusion to a heavily story-based trilogy built on the idea that your choices actually matter, I find the current ending downright insulting. Throughout all 3 games, I spent nearly a hundred hours with that same Shepard. I want this to matter and I want closure. I want my choices to have an impact and I want to know what happens to my companions and to the rest of the galaxy.

Modifié par DarthMuffin, 18 mars 2012 - 04:39 .

[RaenImrahl]

Everyone,

Thanks again to those who continue to provide thoughtful, in-depth thoughts about the game.  A reminder, this particular thread is designed to allow folks to post detailed feedback about what worked, and what did not, in ME3.  Most of the discussion has centered on the ending, but commentary on all parts of the game are welcome.

I've received a few messages from people complaining about "walls of text".  Normally, I would agree, but in this situation, we are letting people post unfettered.  The idea is to satify this request from Bioware's Jessica Merizan:

Jessica Merizan wrote...

I think I need to clarify myself. For the past few weeks, I've been collecting feedback. I have excel sheets, word documents, quotes, graphs, you name it.

In order for a collaboration between the devs and the fans to work, I need you guys to CONTINUE being constructive, and organizing your thoughts. I know where to look, but I need you to help me by contributing to the dialogue.

Saying "this blows" helps no one. Saying, "I enjoyed X but I found Z _____ because of A,B,C" is what I'm looking for. Channel your frustration into something positive (such as the RetakeME3 movement - constructive, organized thoughts).

Chris and I are both collecting your feedback. We're listening. Make yourself heard.

Now, having said that, I would also submit that a succinct and well-formatted message (e.g., bullet points and headings) will get you a lot further.

Finally, please remember this thread is designed for people to present their ideas, no matter how "far out" or impractical... it is not a place to debate the merits of one idea over another. In other words, we're brainstorming, not reaching a consensus, per se.

RI

[Menalaos1971]

Ending Clarifications:

Why did Joker take the Normandy and flee?  In the ending cinematic, the Crucible/Catalyst send out its first pulse of space magic, it then shoots a beam at the Charon Relay, which then explodes, and about 15 seconds later you see Joker piloting the Normandy through FTL trying to "escape".

Had he already taken the Normandy through the Charon Relay BEFORE the space magic beam?  Or, did he simply take the Normandy into FTL flight using its own engines.  If so, why did he do this?  Alpha Relay style explosion, and he HAD to flee?  Cowardice?

If it was an Alpha Relay BAD explosion, those happen in every single possible ending.  So, does that mean that no matter what we did in the entire three game series, that we kill most of the people in the galaxy?  Joker fleeing the explosion is the only reasonable explanation I can think of, and if killing everyone no matter what is the cannon ending... I'm sorry but that just sucks.

Also, for my ending I had +6,000EMS and chose Destruction.  I started the last mission with Liara and Tali, yet when the Normandy crashed on the jungle moon they stepped out with Joker.  They abandoned Shepard on Earth and fled?  Tali was my love interest and would NEVER abandon me.  Also, I have seen a video where a person chose Destruction, which was supposed to kill ALL synthetics, had EDI on his final team, and EDI stepped out of the Normandy wreck, too.  Wasn't she supposed to die?  Basically, how did our final team in London get on the Normandy, and how is EDI still alive in a Destruction ending?

[FearCain]

 First of all, thanks for giving us this opportunity.  I want to start by stating ME3 was a good game, easily an 80~85 on atypical 100 scales.  These things below I thought would greatly increase the score of the game.


I am not going to touch on the endings, I have no interest in beating a dead horse.  Simply put for me, as an ending of a trilogy I feel this is reminiscent of The Matrix.  There is no explanation of what happens in the Universe afterwards putting it in a DLC is plain lame.  Its akin to paying for sex, then being told at climax, I have to pay more to actually orgasm.  WELL OF COURSE YOU ARE GOING TO PAY NOW!  Its just not cool.  I also think that having choices in the game opens up the opportunity for a few different endings based on those choice.  For instance proof that Creators and Created CAN work together was in terms of Quarians / Geth reconciling differences.


I am playing through the first game (ME1) all over again and I am really enjoying it.  I obviously know that ME3 is more like ME2, that goes without saying, and I want to commend you on the fluidity of controls.  One exception being: the Space bar as the smart all use feature isn't as smart as it should be.  For example sprinting too close to the wall slams be against it for cover.  There is a trade off with the simplicity and I think it does work most of the time, but Sprint is as highly used by me as I use cover, and I bet if you asked around, many people would agree that specific function alone should be a separate key.  Playing ME1 though, it is extremely clunky, which I forgot, so kudos for stream lining it so much.  The controls have really evolved on that front.


Return the mini-games please.  I did not like that they were missing, war asset missions are not the same.  Both the ME1 and ME2 games could be brought back, and tied into the plot.  Well the gambling not such much but the encryption for foot lockers, or searching for raw materials seems super important at this time.


The Equipment / Journal system just needs to be scrapped and start over.  While ME1's inventory manager while not perfect, made a lot of sense and it added a lot of depth to character customization.  Upgrades are too easy to obtain, I don't even have to leave the ship, I just have to spend money, which the game doesn't even force me to get the Alliance just credits me money for whatever I just did (I will get to that in a minute.)  The journal system is an orgy of information just spewed onto my eyeballs.  I don't mean to be rude, but I purposely did not go in there because of how useless it was.  You could of pulled the entire thing and I don't think any one would mind at this point, it is that bad.  Not even asking for upgrades, return this to ME1 journal/codex.


Inventory / Credit Management has absolutely no depth.  You have created an action game (not a bad one) but this game is no longer an RPG.  It is so streamlined to the point you have officially left the role playing genre.  I was hoping, I, or another person, could convince you guys to put it back in the RPG world.  This sounds strange but weapon management and armor management is a heavy dynamic in games that play another variable in strategy and difficulty.  This "Cycle Appearance" seems only to appease the fact that characters armor doesn't EVER change.  It is simply a pretty distraction from the truth: you have saved a lot of time and money by not doing it, the thing is, its not one of those things you cut corners on in a stellar AAA title.  Not to sound preachy, but lets face it you guys asked for our criticisms.  I think while the actual interface of ME1 needed work, that the item management was much better, everyone getting to pick the same gun and same upgrades isn't just super simple, its borderline lazy.  Takes virtually no thought into it.  If you die... you simply just try again, where in ME1, you could go back the drawing board and reconfigure your armor and squad to protect from more BIOTIC type damage as post to simple DAMAGE reduction.   The dynamic is gone, and I can beat the game pistol-headshooting my way to the very end, which I actually did.


After playing a solid 5 hours of the multiplayer to get my readiness rating up, I must say, it is fun, and flashy, and very fast paced.  I really do enjoy it I think it works really well.  That being said, I don't think it was very cool to tie single player with multiplayer this way.  I agree with the others, that it is a cheap tie-in to "force" us to play multiplayer.  The other issue stems from various regions of space all increasing at the same time... I simply must ask why don't specific levels in a specific region of the galaxy only improve that one segment only.  While your readiness is based off the entire galaxy.  I am not questioning your design choice, just more of a why have them if they are all linked together?


Bringing Multiplayer Missions INTO Singleplayer for cash, gear, and experience would have been a lot of fun.  There are a few missions like this, but I think this could easily be playable single player, furthermore, this could be an alternative to forcing multiplayer for readiness rating.  You can also, once you have a source for extra cash, bring back the equipment needing to get purchased without too much tweaking.  All members need a Banshee IV, but do a few multiplayer missions.


Old Republic gets Space Battles but not ME3???  Tsk, tsk, easily could have been ME3's actual mini game.  Driving the Normandy through some space combat.



You guys need to tell Electronic Arts that the game is ready when its ready from now on.  I know this isn't the same team as DA2, but you guys suffer from a lot of the production / time development issues.  I understand this is business, but I think this relationship with EA is honestly killing you guys, both in how stretched you guys are at work, and your reputation.


6 Titles have been released in the last 5 years, not including the iOS game.  Countless DLCs have been made too.  Which I will say that I have purchased most of them, but I am not exactly happy about it. 
Dragon Age: Origins - 2010 :happy:
Dragon Age II - 2011:sick:
Mass Effect - 2007 
Mass Effect II - 2010 
Mass Effect III - 2012 

Old Republic - 2012

Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood - 2008




7 Years before 2007 (before EA in 05 really...):
Baldurs Gate II - 2000 
EXP - Baldur's Gate II - Throne of Bhaal - 2001<3

Neverwinter Nights - 2002:D
EXP - Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide - 2003
EXP - Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark - 2003

KOTOR - 2003 
Jade Empire - 2005 


4 Titles and 3 expansions have been released (which are 100% community preferred over DLC by the way), in 7 years.  NOW, while the work load is similar, those early titles have UNANIMOUSLY been accepted as hall of famer titles.  It used to be made by Bioware = phenomenal titles.  Now, it is blatantly not.  In fact, I am not buying Dragon Age III, because you guys are in fact making it, but thats off topic.


You have yourselves spread so thin, you couldn't make a Baldur's Gate III with out being totally destroyed by it.  While I do believe all good things can come to an end Bioware, like your phenomenal reputation two doctors created, you are prematurely shooting yourselves in the foot.  Your games lack depth and quality, and reek of the relationship with EA.  Its like coming home to your wife with a perfume from another woman on your shirt.  Its really bad.  In essence, you are now only Bioware in name, much like being married in words only.  Much like Crytek, you have gone "Maximum Profit."

Modifié par FearCain, 18 mars 2012 - 04:48 .

[Zagle]

I am sorry about the quality of my text and language. I dont usually post or write anything pecause of my bad english and the effort it takes me but my love for mass effect forced me to ingnore my lack of skill as a writer since i truly and whole heartly love this saga it is like the greatest movies u watch over and over again and they still make your feelings and emotions race, make u feel and care for everything in them but now u can affect them u can tell your own story your own ending and make it good or bad, happy or sad... When i made peace between the grogan and turians, the geth and quarians i felt so proud and happy, after thessia i felt angry but in a good way i loved how u played my emotions and couldn't wait to continue the story and finally achieve the ending i had waited since the first ME... Or so i felt but when then end was set in motion i started to feel lost, petrayed, all my choises were taken away, my ability to tell my own story was gone like i was suddenly cut off and forced to watch as the story move toward the end. It started to feel rushed and totally set in stone like all u did before was just a lie with no real consequences. I refuced to believe it and the talk whit the squad members made me feel good, have some hope for better and then off we go again and the feeling returns... Finally at the choice im just lost, too many things happen witch i dont have answers and the choises shoved to me leave me cold and helpless the green choise "sythesis" sounds like the best one, every choise means my death whitch i had expected and some what accepted but at least there is the promise of peace and future for the galaxy... Then i see earth(or so it looked), the allied fleet, the reapers and mass relays get destroyed and normandy survive and i just feel dead inside no joy, confort, feelings of success or clousure not even hate just empty and somewhat sad... There is nothing i can grasp and soon denial hits i revert bact to time pefore the ending sequence and tell my self its a trick and u will release something and make it all better give me back my story and let me tell it the way i allways dreamed... Now i have been reading many forums your posts and have realised that nothing is certain and all i can do is believe that u would not abandon your fans and customers who feel it to be too cruel end to incredible and beautiful story. Nevertheless some good has come from it since it has prought people together to discuss about it with civil tone and has led to donations for charity whitch we all should support, that is the power of the story u have created and we all love so please dont dismiss it.
I tried to start a new game but couldnt bring my self to continue it since there was nothing waiting at the end worth playing. Now i shall return to mass effect 2 where i still can tell my story as i want and achieve satisfaction in wait for better times and endings thank you Bioware/EA for your hard work and commitment but dont abandon us yet.

Modifié par Zagle, 18 mars 2012 - 04:42 .

[Captain Flowers]

I agree with DarthMuffin. There is very little that I can say that would be different, and it is comforting to me that there are many like-minded people out there who came to the same conclusions I did.

The only thing I would change would be for closure with the squadmates after Shepard activates The Crucible. What happens to Hackett? To Earth (yea, Earth!) to Tuchanka, to Palaven, to Sur'Kessh, to Illium and to all the people that Shepard worked so hard to save? Hell, I would be happy to hear about Conrad Verner at this point (tempting fate, I know...) Does Shepard get a hero's funeral or made a Saint? Does that angry customer on the Citadel ever get his refund?

The endings make sense if Shepard was a total jerk renegade and now he/she finally gets to spread their misery throughout the galaxy. What if we wanted to join TIM at the end of ME2 and get patted on the head by evil Martin Sheen? That would have been a very interesting alternative and different perspective. Imagine; Martin Sheen taking over the Galaxy. Now THAT would be an awesome ending to see (Rather than getting shot in the head)!

I have no regrets purchasing the game or spending countless hours as I was enjoying the way I spent my time. Because of how much the game kept me interested is the only reason I am posting here, probably never to be read. In a way, it's a sort of therapy.

Thank you, Bioware for the many hours of fun. I hope someone finds some satisfaction reading my rant.

[Kanon777]

lol guys he just asked to stop the walls of text. Change it to bullet points format or it will be much harder to collect the feedback...

[azerSheppard]

Scorpioner wrote...

I think the LEAST Bioware can change, that involves amost no work are to allow one of the following choices in the final moments on Citadel, when you still control your character. Note that I assume the whole Catalyst thing is for realz and you have to make a choice in order to progress-
A) Shepard: "You gave me no reason to trust you." *pause* "I've had enough of your genocidal/against free will solutions!!!" *Shoots the Starchild and goes on to fight reapers on his/her own terms*
(Which would actualy fit into the fatalism) Shepard: "Sometimes the cost of winning is too high.." *calls Anderson* "The Crucible is a Reaper trap, evacuate all forces immidiately and rewrite all time capsules to reflect that" *Shoots him/herself in the head* (Note Saren and Ilusive Man)

lolwut? r u high?

[Reever]

SamFlagg wrote...

(Posted in this thread because I totally was taking to long and ended up after the lock in the other one)

Jessica,

First apologies for what I'm sure is the wall of text
flying back and forth which is contributing to the discussion being so
unhelpful right this second.  I would say people have to adjust to
actually having someone here.  Many of the articles laid out by some of
the posters do include the generalities of what we currently think was
wrong, but I can offer some concrete suggestions that reflect my
thoughts, and hopefully reflect the thoughts of others.

While the endings our our primary concern I'd like to address Earth and then a couple quality of life issues as well.

1.) War
assets - Many of us feel rightly or wrongly that we logically expected
war assets to appear either in game or in cutscenes during the take back
of Earth.  And the war assets I'm referring to aren't the space ships
above (Though those are awesome) they are the ones on the ground.  We
really really did want to see Elcor Living Tanks and bands of Krogans
charging reapers.  We wanted to see scenes of our ME2 squad mates
holding there own somewhere on the battlefield.  We expected the battle
on Earth itself to be so much grander

2.) I think a lot of us
expected Earth to be far more similar in tone to the ME2 suicide mission
where we could task crewmates and have their survival depend on our
choices previously in the game.  With the number of times Commander
Shepard is told that he was going to lose people, it was surprising that
no one on his current squad met that fate, and the ones who typically
would (Thane and Mordin) had already been heavily foreshadowed to
finding redeption through death (For the record, Thane Mordin and
Legions deaths were so pitch perfect that we find how perfect those were
out of balance with how much of a problem we had with the ending)

3.)
The section where you sprint towards the beam of light and harbinger
attacks all the way through having Anderson die next to you is
beautiful.  It's all emotional, and most of all it's personal.

4.)
Our main issues lie with the God-Child, we find his arguement
uncompelling because we don't see his logic, and we are angry most of
all because Shepard has been a character of definance against the odds
for 2.99 games.  And in the darkest hour, he does not have the option
really to simply reject the assertion that synthetics and organics will
always be at war (And the entire Geth Quarian plot line seems to make it
far more likely that Organics will try to wipe out synthetics than the
other way around.  We find fault with his reasoning and are for the
first time in the series unable to challenge it.)

5.) The ending
consequences for Shepard come down to three shades of death (discounting
the breathing), and the mass relays destroyed in all of them.  While
there may be an underlying philisophical discussion about destroying the
reapers controlling the reapers or merging all synthetic life, this is
far overshadowed by the very immediate practical problem of destroying
all relay travel and stranding fleets in the Sol system.

6.) I
believe this could have been handled better by having some options where
Shepard lives, but relays are destroyed, or shepard dies, but the
relays go on, or even Shepard picks the control option and the reapers
leave earth and the relays alone but go and reap the rest of the
galaxy.  The practical consequences of the three options are so similar
that their philisophical difference becomes irrelevant.  (To that end I
think many would've been happy for an option to be defiant, sacrifice
yourself, have the crucible simply bring down the reaper barriers and
make them easily destroyed by the assembled fleet, and hey if you have
enough EMS you can even save shepard.)

7.) Closure.  In this it
could've been done with a heroes funeral, or if he survived a simple pan
and scan of the area with his surviving squad mates and a "Let's go
home" moment.   We feel that many of the plotlines that were apparently
solved are undone because all the people necessary to good outcomes
(Like having Wrex on Tuchanka) are stranded in the sol system.  We're
not all asking for a Star Wars Medal Ceremony, we'd be perfectly fine if
it could be a bittersweet view of all we lost, but also at what we
still had.  (And if there are enough varient endings someone can get the
star wars medal ceremony, but that's the point we wanted the endings to
be divergent)

8.) The cut scenes were 80% the same.  There really isn't a way to not be unhappy about that.

The
other quality of life issues are: The Journal, The Face Import,
Multiplayer having too much of an impact on readyness, and the Shepard
Shame Talk  (when the models actively look away from each other while
talking)

Now I will point out that this depth of feeling is
because of a real sense of attachment to all of the characters in the
universe.  The deaths for the characters who had them were all pitch
perfect, which is why the lack of sacrifice in the last part of the game
of anyone on the most dangerous battlefield followed by destroying the
entire relay system is so jarring.

Actually, pretty much this....

I only played once and had the Synthesis ending, though I can´t say I didn´t enjoy it. But from what I hear around here, I´d really would have expected something else from the other endings at least! (I mean, the Mass Relays wouldn´t have had to be destroyed or at least some reunion with the survivors on Earth...or something!)

The rest of the issues discussed in the post I quoted I wholeheartedly agree with, although I did find the ending pretty good as is! It could have been better, though

I really enjoyed everything I was able to do in the Galaxy, talking with everyone and so on was really cool!
I have to play some of my other Sheps to see all endings/consequences, but I still think you guys did a good job -
the only thing I absolutely hate is the Galactic Readiness thing. I know you guys said it wouldn´t matter, but I really do hear otherwise around here. That´s really a stab in the back (if true...).

[Iam2ugly]

Ok my turn First of all I wanted to say that the whole trilogy was some sort of light in the darkness of sci-fi gaming world for me To this day I remember the ME1 as a x-box exclusive, and the day that BW announced that ME will hit PC was one of the brightest days for my inner child Today I played ME1 and it is still one of the best game of all time But as I played through Eden Prime, started talking to Williams I knew that she will always be my choice of romance. Well what can I say? I have a thing for brunets But It hit me. As I saw Suveren killing Nihlus. I couldn't play more... But I wanted. Really wanted. But I just was unable to continue, for I had in mind the ending of ME3... The disappoint it was for me. How it left me with nothing more than more questions than answears. Well so this is what I would really love to be changed I'm no story teller, and many of wonderfull people here have awesome ideas. But for me this chart (http://img827.images.../jhtqyrqxxg.jpg) is what I would love to see taking place in the ending and see my shep with his LI
Additional I would like the quest log to be changed, it is not user friendly like the quest logs from ME1 or 2
Thank you for reading, and I hope something will change Have a good day

[JGGiant915]

RaenImrahl wrote...


A reminder, this particular thread is designed to allow folks to post detailed feedback about what worked, and what did not, in ME3.  Most of the discussion has centered on the ending, but commentary on all parts of the game are welcome.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to list our issues with this game, but I think that from what we're seeing here, most people found the ending to be the only major flaw.

95% of the game was amazing, easily one of the best games I've played. It's just that ending, it comes out of nowhere and completely destroys our perceptions of this incredibly universe that you created.

I loved how much improvement was made to the RPG aspects of the game from 2 (not as much RPG as 1, but whether that's good or bad is debatable.

The only other thing I can think of, and this is incredibly minor, is that strange nervous hand-twiddling that some characters do when they're unsure of themselves. This works for some people, but seeing Admiral Hackett and the Illusive Man do it was weird. This is just me grasping at straws for other complaints to give you.

It's all about the ending.

[JamesYHT]

1. i want to see my squad members wear i selected outfit in all time....
2. i want more appearance for my squad members, especially Ashley.

[saintratchet]

What worked
the game was great up to the end. No complaints, moving stroy, great level design and flow, and perfect heart wrenching cinematics.

What didn't
The end: the ending felt like a slap in the face. I know you probably had to change it after the script release and I can only assume this as I never read any of it, but c'mon its terrible and lazy. I know the term 'deus ex machina' is being thrown around a lot and there's a reason, it's lazy and rarely works. Also where was the 16 diffrerent endings as I only saw one ending told 4 different ways and another ending where the Reapers win.
        I hope you go down the route of 'it was all indoctrination and the explosion buried Shepard under rubble before he got to the Conduit'. . This explains a lot and I agree with the points raised.
     All three endings were the same but with different coloured lights and I feel it was out of character for Shepard to pick any other option than destruction of the Reapers. The fact that he blindly listens to the child ( which was a poor concept to run with) is also out of character. Change the ending. Include DLC (for free) whcih shows Shepard waking up under the rubble, still able to fight and the Alliance thinking of a new plan to use the Crucible which IS a weapon and not the Citadel's AI. Show the destruction of the Reapers and hopefully show Shepard survivng and settling down with our Romance option. If he has to die then give him an honourable death like Grunt, not some cheap decision death. If he has to die then at least show the Shepard line continue through our Romance options pregnancy.
   Please Biware fix the end and give us, the loyal fans who care about this story so much we're protesting, the good ending we deserve.

[RinuCZ]

First of all, thank you for opening this discussion. I'll try to make it as concrete as possible in the sense of I expected (would enjoy) X but I found Z which wasn't right because of A,B,C.By the way, Jessica's tweets has made me laugh a couple of times, she sounds like a gamer who enjoyes herself .
So, here we go:
1. Expected: A choice to let Shepard survive AND win over impossible odds.
    Found instead: Shepard dies every time except if she wipes out a race which she managed to "talk into" helping you. And in every end, she basically wipes out 99% of population due to mass relays, anyway.
   Which wasn't satisfying because:

• I understand that sometimes sacrifices have to be made. That sometimes you can't save everyone. It's a truth. This was also a main theme of Renegade which is very, very good and the ending should reflect that. But it wasn't a theme of Paragon. Paragon acts like she values a price of single life and she does EVERYTHING for it. She don't bargain, she doesn't choose something only because it's the most clever thing to do. She does only what she believes in. What's why I saved Rachni's queen or destroy Human Reaper even if I was prepared to face contributions in ME3 or in a distant future (another ME sequel?).
• Normandy's "bug". Your crew will always stab you in the back by running away in the end. Your LI always died alone on a distant planet. Or starts to breed with someone else out of necessity. 
• Seeing Shepard so devastated was heart-breaking in an awesome way. To see that it's the only way, it's beyond my capability to express myself. It was like watching how Shepard encourages a kid to taking care of stray kitten and then she persuades the kid to set the cat on fire. 
• In my opinion, Reapers sort of win in every ending. Control transforms you into Reaper, Synergic made Reapers a part of you all, Destroy made you do almost all the work for them.
• The theme of sacrifice isn't necessary more original than a theme of happy ending as some people have tried to imply.

2. Expected: A choice to see Shepard to die for a cause OR because certain elements weren't gathered in a favor of winning during the game-play.
    Found instead: This wasn't a choice in the first place. It wasn't your choice. It was forced. You couldn't avoid it by beating the game on Insanity. You couldn't do anything; maybe except betraying everything you believed for.
   Which wasn't satisfying because:

• All final choices are trying to manipulate you. Again, you don't pick them up, you are punished by them.
• They don't reflect who you are (at least in the case of Paragon).

3. Expected: To open all important choices by playing all ME parts (even not opened in one run).
   Found instead: As far as I know, it isn't possible to reach all results if you don't play MP.
   Which wasn't satisfying because:

• This basically says that a new-comer who likes to play MP and didn't care for ME before will be rewarded more than a person who invested their time into previous parts and cared to finish everything.
• If your MP support will be cut (everything can happen in 10 years), I won't be able to fully beat the game then.

4. Expected: To see that my in-game choices - which themselves have already represented how my Shepard feels about certain things - matter in the end.
   Found instead: An inability to stand against what I don't agree with. To stop caring what I managed to do in the past.
   Which wasn't satisfying because:

• Shepard doesn't have any option to even refuse GodKid's options which are its own solutions created by its beliefs. Not mine. I'd be fine with Shepard's refusal followed by Reapers destructing everything because your refusal simply withdrew any "good" options. But I need that choice to mess it up by myself.
• By blowing mass relays up/cutting resources from massive amount of individuals/leaving planets already in very desolated state, it doesn't matter what you did or how you reached the end. You could be Renegade all the way along, you didn't have to save Rachni, you didn't have to help Geth, you didn't have to help to build anything. Because everything, what was left, will be built from a scratch anyway.

5. Expected: To see a closure of Shepard's story.
    Found instead: I got closures of many subplots (Geth, crew members, etc.) and I was satisfied with knowing the time will tell results of bigger subplots. That the chance is possible in the future and I helped it to happen. Yet, I didn't get a closure of whole fight with Reapers.
    Which wasn't satisfying because:

• Okay, I get it. Almost everything is destroyed in the end. Why can't I see it? Why can't I see glimps of all that pain which follows? Why did you made it all fluffy by being so poetic?
• If I'd have gotten the Paragon ending, I'd have seen the short-term results. Shepard or someone I knew overlooking a beginning of rebuilding a society (ideally, each of there whose were in the war)?

I'd love to see both. It'd get me a full closure.

6. Expected: To see an end which will follow a logic.
   Found instead: A sudden revelation of unknown, new opponent who presents me its broken thoughts as an one and only final explanation. A time-travel Normandy issue.
   Which wasn't satisfying because:

• I am pretty fine if GodKid explains me its beliefs, however twisted they and their logic are. Creating machines whose sole purpose is to harvest civilisations which are near the same achievement to create intelligent machine schemes. By creating machines, Reapers, which can evolve and evaluate the task as invalid? OOkay, it's an opinion. I undestand that everyone has their own reasons. But why is it presented as the explanation why you have to do what you have to do? As an only reason why you should pick these choices which follow.
• Do I really believe that Creators - who believed so strongly in Reapers - would integrate the third Destroy option? No. As it was explained, they wouldn't consider such an escape solution which would prevent their master plan from happening. And it doesn't seem plausible they would create one right on the spot.
• Whole Normandy issue. They managed to catch the last ride through a relay, survive, and appear on a planet, magically with crew members which were in the battle.
• I don't buy that Shepard'd survive a hit by beam. I mean it's THE Reaper's beam which can take down a huge building in Vancouver!

I don't need a creation of Reapers to be answered in Shepard's story. I do think this story was really more about a survival (as Casey Hudson claimed) than about who created them. It can be a part of background story in the another sequel ME story as far as I am concerned. Do it dark as hell, be all philosophical, whatever. I do believe you can deliver it and I know I will enjoy it but this trilogy wasn't Was-egg-or-chicken-first type of story.

Overall, I would like to see better choices, inconsistencies removed, and given a bigger picture after the battle is over. Your are "dungeon masters", so details are up to you. http://i.imgur.com/JhtqY.jpg sounds as the best idea so far. If the GodKid is a core part of all endings, I would bare with the indoctrination theory, although I am not a big fan of it. In that case, I would also welcome larger chat with that kid (how Crucible works, for example).

Note: I would love to see a still picture after credits where all of my crew would pose for a cam with my Shepard in the centre. Sort of relaxing postures, maybe hugging others over the shouders, grinning or not. It would be a perfect, adorable wallpaper .

Modifié par RinuCZ, 18 mars 2012 - 09:56 .

[balance5050]

Indoctrination theory would make most of the other reasons why people don't like the ending disappear.

INDOCTRINATION! INDOCTRINATION! INDOCTRINATION! INDOCTRINATION! INDOCTRINATION!

[ROMMEL_HSQ2]

Here is some ideas for how to end this game. It starts with the god-child:

Shepards is given the 3 options (remove the part that says "destroy" will result in geth destruction) to end it. If he picks control or Synthesis....bad ending, people die, and the cycle ends with a reaper victory. Shepards is died and we watch the normandy blown up.

If shepards chose the "destroy" option, then Shepards breaks off the indoctirnation and the big fight with the harbinger will start (BOSS FIGHT).


How the fight should happen??
Here the war assests (the side questions, not the Effective galagtic readiness) kicks in. If a player didn't do any of the side quests to pick these war assests...make the fight with Harbinger super hard that it will take 30min to kill him (if shepards survive, which should be close to impossible). When shepards dies, bad ending...(but maybe the alliance is still in fighting shape?)
The more assists there is, the better his chances to defeat Harbinger.



Now how will the boss fight happens?
The more assists you have, the better your chances to defeat harbinger.
The fight will be a mix of avoid his laser. While at the same time trying to survive the hordes of husks, maraduars, etc. Every now and then, some part of the assists you picked comes and helps you in the battle in one of these ways
- marine engineers you pick up will blow a bridge that some repears troops are using to swarm your position.
-a group of special troops aid you in stopping the repears attack on your flank
-Every now and then one of the ships you brought will attack the repear itself, taking down its shields(?) so you can attack it with your supper rocket launcher(i forgot the weapon name). This way you do more damage, as taking down its shield takes very long (remember, 30min min to defeat the Harbinger without assests )
-After Harbinger shields are down, you have a limited time window to attack him with your best weapon (hopefully the rocket). If you miss this chance while defending against ground troops, the Harbinger will fly off to counter attack the ship that just hit him, destroying it.
and so on...



Your 2 squads mates should be in this battle as well. You can resurrct them through the fight only with medi-gel. If you run out of the medi-gel, then they are died when you beat Harbinger. The happy ending will mention their death.

For more varity...pick 1-2 crew members that were left behind to die as well. Make it random every playthrough for better replaybility. (so the game isn't happy ever after)



I really hope that you fix this ending for sure. When I wanted to buy a new game few months ago, I was torn apart between buying ME3 or Deus EX:HR.
I love both games greatly, but I ended up buying this game because I enjoyed ME1&2 and DA:O. And all the promises of many endings to it.

I hope this gets some way or another.

[crimzontearz]

newsflash Shepard does not have to freaking DIE mandatorily. Stop implying this because a lot of us want the option for him to survive