7052 réponses à ce sujet

[Hawksblud]

Reign Tsumiraki wrote...

 Ah, perfect! I already wrote up what I think would solve the problem...

*copypasta*

1.  Only change the ending starting from the last scene with Anderson/Shepard/TIM. Everything about the ending before that stays the same, with a few changes. 

2. Completely ignore the God-child-spirit. It conflicts and contradicts the "Protheans fooled the citadel" basis in ME1. This was important. Cut it out entirely.

3. Make several choices based off of war readiness, and how many assets went into the Crucible. Such as:

Very low: Launch a giant EMP burst that destroys all Reapers, AI, Citadel, Relays, most technology, ect, as well as sacrificing earth. Shepard dies. Normandy crashes, and everyone aboard dies.

Low: Same, but without damage to earth. Shepard dies. Normandy Crashes. Crew dies.

Medium-low: Burst that only destroys all AI. Shepard dies. Normandy Crashes, Crew dies.

Medium: Burst that destroys all AI in the Sol system, and the Reapers. This allows the Geth to live, but EDI dies. Saves the Relays, but not the citadel. Shepard dies. Normandy crashes, crew survives.

High-Medium: Releases a burst that disables the Reaper Shields across the galaxy, allowing the fleet to easily kill the rest(Reapers are weak without their shields, as ME1 shows. A single torpedo from the Normandy killed Sovereign without it's shields) Shepard lives. Normandy damaged, but does not crash, and the player is treated to a small cutscene of the Normandy and the fleet blowing up a few reapers. 

High: Sends out a burst attuned to the Reaper core (The Geth provide the information. They studied reapers, remember. If they are not available, the Quarians provide it, having researched the Reaper corpse on their planet) causing the Reapers' reactors to overload and die. However, the Reaper core just happens to be identical to the Core of the Citadel as well. The Citadel overloads and blows up. Shepard lives. Relays stay intact. Player is treated to a cutscene of the Reapers blowing up, troops on the ground rejoicing, as well as the Normandy picking him and Anderson's body up before Citadel explodes.


Very-high: Sends out a pulse that kills only Reapers. All tech stays intact. Shepard lives. Relays intact. Citadel intact. Player is treated to the cutscene above, minus the citadel explosion. 

In addition, the endings shown in the "original" game would be available. These would be available on the left side of the dialogue wheel, while the ones I have proposed would be on the right. Synthesis would be unlocked at the Very-High level, and Control would be unlocked at the High-Medium level. Destroy would be available no matter what.

To complete the Synthesis, Destroy, or Control ending, the player takes the elevator up to where the Original ending takes place. This way, they do not have to design an entirely new environment. The animations and flashbacks for these endings would stay the same. The only difference in the cutscene after this would be no Normandy crash.

The options of the three highest unlocked options would show up on the right of the wheel on the right side. For instance, someone who had Medium assets would get the option of killing all AI everywhere, all AI in the Sol system, or all technology everywhere without damage to earth.

The dialogue wheel would look like this, if someone had 100% of all assets.
                                Synthesis              Take down Sheilds
                                                __________/ 
                                               (                       )
                 Destroy    --------(                          ) ---Kill reapers, Destroy Citadel
                                               (                       )
                                                -----------------
                                               /                      
                                      Control                Kill all Reapers
4. Include a small, text and scene ending. Small clips of certain occations from the various decisions made will show. This will vary by ending.

EXAMPLE: Geth and Quarians rebuilding, all species rebuilding the invaded home planets, ect.

5. A small scene with Anderson and Shepard before Anderson dies, about what Shepard will do if the Crucible works. Shepard can then respond in a variety of ways depending on what options he is presented with because of the war assets claimed. Anderson then says the whole "I'm proud of you" spiel, wishes you luck, then dies.

EXAMPLE: 

Retiring and living in peace, finally, with LI(or alone, if that is the case).

Saying “This device will probably destroy the citadel and kill us, so it does not matter.”

Continue to pursue peace and justice as a Spectre.

Become a diplomat/politician and guide humanity

Ect.

6. Any teammates that were with you at the time you got shot by the reaper will run towards the teleport-beam and make it to the Citadel ahead of you, thinking that you died, and that they need to finish what you started. Upon arriving there, you meet up with them and get to the console. They also get manipulated by TIM, but only you are able to "break free" by shooting or talking down TIM. 



Anyway, that's my whole view on it. 


THIS WAY:  
Players can get the endings they want, the player can still sacrifice themselves to get the endings they want, the Devs can have the endings they want, and originally intended. The only thing this really cuts is the stupid spectral Ghost-child-God thing, which was ridiculous in the first place. 

How does this sound? I tried to address every concern and viewpoint, and combine them into one good ending that I think would please everyone. 

This.

[Dridengx]

I like how the consensus of the minority was just a happy ending and with each page they are adding more and more wants, needs, desires. soon they will want a whole new title not just an ending that 'makes sense' oh, but it has to make sense to all 22k of them using all the decisions they made in 5 years.. so they can feel they mattered!

You know what really mattered? If you had fun with the trilogy and real Bioware fans sure did. 5 minutes cannot ruin 5 years of fun.

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

[Gotthammer666]

Or as a shorter version if Shep's paragade score is high enough her force of will means that:

The relays and citadel don't explode (or kill the Geth/EDI)
The Normandy either crashes/lands on earth
We get Tuchunka style montage of various races looking up at the new dawn in victory
If Shep survived Destruction his/her LI pulls her from the rubble and,
we get Shep standing up in front of the entire Normandy crew heroically.

Just and extra five minutes on the end there.

Modifié par Gotthammer666, 17 mars 2012 - 03:52 .

[JulietHotel13]

[Richenda]

OK, you asked for a constructive indication of how I would change the ending.  Here goes.

Note
that this is how I would change the ending, given what we've got - not
how I would have ended the game if I'd been King of the Forest.™

So, here's what I see as our ending as-is.  Hopefully I've got the major details right...

You
charge the beam in London, and (depending on War Asset level?) may/may
not see the two companions you took along, apparently dead.

You
confront the illusive man, resolve that via force or persuasion, open
the Citadel, and may/may not have a moment with Anderson.  The Crucible
docks, and Hackett contacts you saying nothing is happening.

You
struggle to the control panel, and fall, unconcious - glowing elevator
ride ensues, and you have a monologue with the Starchild, who presents
the up-to-three options for the fate of the galaxy, based on War Asset
level.

1) All synthetic life gone - Geth/EDI/Unspecified other tech included
    1a) Shepard's survival hinted at
    1b) Earth may have been destroyed, depending on War Asset level

2) Reapers controlled by the "essence" of Shepard

3) Synthesis - Shepard's "essence" merges with the Crucible boostraping all life to it's ultimate evolution of Synthesis.

In
all three, the Mass Relays appear to be gone.  There's room for debate
as to what level (if any) of devastation they cause as they fail, and if
that level of devastation changes from ending to ending.  The Citadel
seems to be destroyed in all but the Synthesis ending.  This point
should be made clear in the epilogue.

The Normandy is (somehow,
and for inexplicable reasons) fleeing the Crucible wavefront.  It fails
to do so, and crashlands on an alien world, and Joker and some set of
Shepard's companions depart - these may include the squadmates whom you
just (minutes ago?) saw, apparently dead in London.

Credits roll, and we have the stargazer epilogue.

Here's what I'd change;

First,
if practicable (and I realize it may not be at this point), the
"important" war assets should be highlighted via in-engine cutscenes if
you got them.  The Krogan infantry, the Geth/Quarian fleets, Miranda's
fighter squadron, Kaiden/Ash if they're not on the Normandy, etc. 
Depending on War Asset level you may want to show some/all of them being
killed.  I don't know if this can be done at this stage, but I think it
would be deeply satisfying to see the results of your efforts in this
manner, and the results of your failure to deliver more assets if you
didn't get enough.

The Illusive Man confrontation seems
acceptable - it would have been better if we'd had some hint as to how
he got there, but hey, that's nitpicking.  Anderson's dialog before you
meet him on the platform is confusing - it doesn't really seem like he
ended up where you did, or how he got there before you - but again,
nitpicks.

I'd use the longer voiceover for the moment with
Anderson.  It's touching.  Perhaps the "I did some things I'm not proud
of" line should only happen if you hit a certain renegade threshold, but
regardless, I think the longer line is an improvement.

Hackett's
comment is fine - as is the struggle to reach the controls, but I'd
have had Shepard struggle to her feet and hit the control to ride it up,
rather than falling unconcious.

So, we arrive at the Crucible.  I
would remove the Starchild.  I think it's explanation of the nature of
the Reapers is unneeded, unsatisfying, and I find it implausible that
Shepard would take it at face value.  It seems not to fit at all with
the universe as we've been presented it up to this point.  Better to
leave this detail open to interpretation, actually - the motives of the
Reapers have been claimed to be unknowable since ME1 - let's leave them
that way.   If you must, you could have the future-culture gain some
insight and deliver it via the epilogue.

I would replace the
Starchild with a VI - Prothean, or an abstract Glyph-like VI.  It can
explain what activating the Crucible will do.  Another option would be
to have Traynor (or someone from the Crucible team?) contact Shepard,
and explain that - now that everything is in place, they know what will
happen - what the Crucible will do if activated.

I would restrict
the choices based on your actions throughout the game.  You know what
story triggers you've got access to, so you can (hopefully) figure out a
matrix.  But here's what I'd do;

If your war asset level is
below a threshold, the only option is to fire the Crucible or not - and
firing it will destroy the Reapers, Earth, and the assembled armada -
this happens because there wasn't enough time/resources to properly
control the energy release, and the VI can so inform you.  This is the
only scenario in which I would keep the scene of the Normandy attempting
to outrun the wavefront.  Joker could be warned, and would reasonably
attempt to escape.  Not firing would save the Mass Relay system, and
perhaps, with Liara's project, the next cycle could do better.

Above
the War Asset threshold, you have two choices.  One, fire a raw burst
of energy.  This would be the current "destroy" ending.  If "destroy" is
meant to destroy/disable the fleets in orbit as well as the Reapers and
the Mass Relay system, then again, the Normandy attempting to flee
makes sense - otherwise, not.  Since you had the time/resources to
complete the Crucible properly, Earth is not destroyed, and Shepard may
survive (again, depending on War Asset level)

The second choice
is governed by your decisions.  The obvious one for me is the
unification of the Quarians/Geth.  If you've managed to achieve that
symbiotic organic/synthetic relationship, then Synthesis is the second
option.  If not, then Control.  But perhaps other plot elements can
influence this - Paragon/Renegade in particular?  In neither case does
the Normandy flee the wavefront, as there's no reason for her to do so.

You
make your choice (or delay long enough for the Reapers to destroy the
Crucible), and the Crucible fires, using the current RGB cutscene
assets.

If the Normandy fled, you play the cutscene, and Joker
and some set of surviving (note - surviving!) companions exit to the
alien planet.  If the Normandy did not have to flee, Normady in Earth
orbit with the Citadel/Remains of the Citadel shown?

Possible
play of taking breath scene.  If the Normandy didn't flee the
destruction, I'd replace it with a fuzzy PoV view of the medbay, with
Chakwas or the LI's voice over "Shepard?" visuals ala the "wakeup"
sequence from ME2.

Credits roll.

Stargazer epilogue. 
"Tell me another story about the Shepard"  "It's late, my sweet, but
this can tell you more - all you wanted to know."

Cut to a view
of Liara's project, with Glyph-like VI.  You can now explore what the
cultures hundreds of years later knows about the Shepard and his/her
era.  What happened to him/her, what happened to the Galaxy and it's
cultures.  Some of the details are, of course, lost in the mists of
time, but there needs to be enough to know the big picture results of
your major decisions.

Once you "put away" Liara's project, you get booted back to the pre-ending Normandy, as is done now.

I
think something akin to this preserves the artistic intent of your
ending, while removing the largest of the percieved plot holes in the
existing ending, and providing the opportunity to give closure without
detailing every last thing.  (and without requiring vast amounts of new
assets.)

I truly hope you manage to salvage this mess.  It's such
a wonderful game, and an epic series.  It deserves a better ending than
the one you gave it.

Thanks for reading.

[Zu Long]

Look as long as you're asking, here's the straight truth- I wanted a happy ending. I wanted Shepard to climb out of the wreckage one more time and be mobbed by her disbelieving friends. i wanted a scene where everyone meets back up in a bar and had Garrus ribbing Shepard about when the wedding with Liara was going to be. I wanted a bunch of little blue children.

Oh, and while I'm here, what I DON'T want is to have to commit genocide against all synthetics. I didn't spend all of Mass Effect 2 and 3 convincing the Quarians to shut up and give peace a chance just to have to wipe out the Geth in order to do the right thing.

Modifié par Zu Long, 17 mars 2012 - 03:52 .

[Barbarossa2010]

Jessica Merizan wrote...

This is not a constructive response guys. Be specific in your needs and I'll pass that to the team.

I agreee Jessica and thank you very much for the olive branch.  This is a good thing.  I will state up front I that I liked 99% of the game very much, only to have most of that washed away in the final minutes with a poorly envisioned ending that virtually wipes out any desire to replay anything in the franchise, much less purchase any DLC.  Seriously, there's just not alot of motivation there, and I honestly thought a badass ending, on an even a bigger scale than ME2, was in the bag.  I was sorely disappointed.

However, as you requested:

*I want a new ending Jessica plain and simple.  The option for a "good" one.  Hell, make us work really hard for it if you guys feel like we have somehow let you down as consumers, and feel you need to punish us back somehow.  (That was a joke).  Make us earn an EMS of 7000 or something equally difficult.

*I want paragon/rengade interupts to call the star child on his faulty logic and tell him through direct experience that his paradigm is now broken. 

*I want to present new information (if I actually have to) to him that synthetics and organics can co-exist.  Did he not know of the Quarians and Geth making peace after a 300 year struggle.  A real and lasting peace from all accounts.  That synthetics are capabile of "sacrifice," even for us if need be (Legion, EDI). Has he not been paying attention?  Some Star child.  Things have changed my friend.

*I want a fourth option, to reject star child's plan, take control of the situation, and not sit back and accept HIS invalid options as a passive little chump. 

*I want Shepard in battle at the end, not some high minded philisophical discussion that leads to three varying degrees of meh to suck endings.

*I want to know that my EMS and everything we strove for was for something other than an out-of-character encounter (with one slightly divergent choice added) with no real ability to influence anything, forced to accept three ham-fisted options (16? No.).  I reject his authority and his damn choices.  I'm Shepard, and I'm in charge and you're listening.

*I want to see the Rachni and Krogans together unleashing holy hell on Reaper ground forces.

*I want my companions right next to Shepard throughout the entire end sequence.  I want them all there.  They simply have no other purpose and mission than to serve their Commander, with their lives if need be.  They would all see the logic of it.  Shepard is not "Shepard" without them.

*What's wrong with happy love interest endings with kids and sunsets in the background again?  Do they send you to school to be repulsed by that or something?

*I want cutscenes and poignant music of Reapers blowing-up violently in the skys and worlds of multiple species who were barely clinging to a last hope, primarily because Paragons are going to choose 99.9% (and Renegades 94% lol) of the time to blow the living hell out of the Reapers, not cave-in to choose Saren's or the Illusive Man's corrupt solutions of evolution and control).

*I want to see crowds of multiple species who have barely been clinging to life (and hope) for months, cheering wildly as they realize their instantaneous salvation and watch the Reapers crash in slag heaps of junk onto their worlds.

*I want an epilogue with narration from Shepard and the other closest crew members (as the camera pans to different worlds and species) that self-determination, will, cooperation, the willingness to sacrifice for friends and family, and even those you may not know but share a bond of organic like-mindedness with, are the highest virtues of organic life; and that HOPE is always the last flame to to be extinguished.

*I want the surviving Prothean VI to reveal that there are other very small, but secret Stasis colonies of Protheans like Javik's scattered throughout the galaxy across remote worlds, that only he would have known of to prevent their disovery and destruction.

*I don't want the Relays destroyed, there's absolutely no necessity in it.  They can serve merely as the transfer conduits of the destruction signal.  Alright you can blow up a few to make us work for it later to re-establish connection with certain spieces.  I'll work with you on that one.

*I don't want the Geth, EDI, AI or VI constructs of our own making, to die.  But I could work with you on this one as well, since tough choices DO have to be made.  Again, there is no necessity in their destruction.  Agggjh, maybe the Geth do have to be sacrificed, because they've accepted Reaper code, but there's infinte ways to skin that cat.

*I don't want Dark Fantasy for Mass Effect, or speculative transhuman philisophical lectures about the management of chaos and order in my interactive entertainment mediums, or any hint of fatalism for that matter (unless the proponents of "reality" and despair want to choose it), especially when they've barely been referred to, much less developed, at all within this particular franchise.

*I don't want Deus Ex Machina plot mechanisms introduced unless they benefit me, the player.

*I don't want "tons of speculation" from a Mass Effect ending.  I don't want to have to use my imagination for an ending.  I can do that without paying you a dime to be honest.  I want a clear, unambiguous ending for Shepard.  He and we deserve at least a shot at it.  Like I said, make it hard on us if that makes it more palletable for you.

That's a start I suppose, and I know all of it would integrate well within the established narrative framework.

How do we do it?  Honestly I don't know, it's pretty hard to get the toothpaste back in the tube once we've squeezed it out. But I supposed Indoctrination Theory would work as good as any other solution.

Cliche?  Maybe, but I'd argue that it's what "most" players want, even if they don't admit it.  But in purely business terms, it's what sells, retains interest in your franchise, gets strong word of mouth moving on your behalf, and generally makes people satisfied with their experience with your products, hence more likely to come back to you in the future.

Thank you for your entry into this conversation.  This is a good thing Bioware.

Respectful.

Modifié par Barbarossa2010, 17 mars 2012 - 03:54 .

[IronMadness]

This fix will be free? or is a move for fans to give them more money?. Before making your work and give them ideas please, PLEASE say if this will be a free DLC or not.

[FirstBlood XL]

General Distress wrote...

I agree with the general consensus..
And:
It was sad that Shepard did surrender in the end. Accepting the catalysts logic without question feels weak and spineless and is totally out of character. After all it's the Reaper Overlord. Why trust him?

I've been saying this to myself and whoever will listen since I first was seeing it happen in-game.  It's insanity. 

Indoctrination is the only way to fix this (within realistic limits).  Everything after being hit by the Reaper laser is a battle within Shep's mind to fight the final stages of indoctrination.  Choosing "Destroy" defeats the indoctrination attempt and Shep wakes within the rubble (the 15 sec or so 'special' ending) to finish the battle.

At this point, War Assets need to be re-introduced as IMPORTANT.  They're needed to fight a path thru reaper forces to find our baddly beaten Shephard, to patch him up, get him ready for the final push.  There need to be moments where Shep will seem to be overwhelmed, but thank the Goddess that he managed to get XXXX species on his side, cause here comes the calvary TO SAVE SHEPHARD, AS HE HAS SAVED THEM COUNTLESS TIMES IN THE SERIES.

Here's an example.  In the final wave of enemies that attack Shephard and crew, while defending the heavy artillery, it seems as though the powerful enemies just won't stop and Shep will be overwhelmed.  But then, at the last moment, Wrex/Grunt/Both show up with their Krogan forces and form a perimeter around Shephard and crew, and use their brute strength to protect them until the missile is able to be fired.  That would be an emotionally impactful moment... but instead, we got the standard 'fight waves of enemies until the game decides to tell you to run to the computer and hit 'A'.

How about The Salarian STG commander who promises his support, why not have him show up in a powerfully emotional way to help Shephard in a moment of true need?

These are just important as the last few minutes with the Space-kid AI.  I felt gutted when nothing seemed to pay off in the final battles on Earth.  I felt alone.  And I felt like a video game with poorly designed climax... took me out of the story to have no impactful moments there.

The moment with Liara  (my Shep's LI) --- on Earth, where she gives you a 'gift' before the final battles.  It felt emotionally empty to me.  They love each other, have talked about their  future 'many blue children'... shouldn't THAT be what Liara wants to show Shep?!?!?!  That there's 'more' then just the galaxy at stake --- their OWN PERSONAL FUTURE is at stake!  She wants to show him the most important reason he needs to survive.  Not just save the universe, but STAY ALIVE and raise his children.  Since this is incredibly important to Shephard, shouldn't this be flashing before his eyes as the indoctrination takes over?  Maybe it begins to gain a foothold in his mind, but Liara's gift gives him the resolve to finally push the attempts of brainwashing away.

It may be too late to fix THOSE particular moments, but after Shep wakes up from the Reaper blast's rubble... there would be new oppertunties for War Assets and species our Shephards have interacted with to prove usefull. 

For the record, I'm a 30 yr old father of two.  I've played video games since I can remember.  I've NEVER registered with a video game forum and posted my thoughts.  That's how close this trilogy is to perfection in my eyes.  It felt like a punch to the stomach when it failed me within that last mission. 

Positives:

Story-wise, everything before Earth's missions.  Mordin and Legion's sacrifices meant something... and were incredibly sad (but in a 'good' way). 

The score is haunting and beautiful... best I've ever heard in a video game.

You're so close to creating a masterpiece, BW.  Please, please... finish this story the right way.

Modifié par FirstBlood XL, 17 mars 2012 - 03:58 .

[jcmccorm]

I also wanted to congratulate you on performing the biggest Gay Tease in a video game ever. I had one of the cheap floozies ask to come up to my quarters in order to hit on me. Then another cheapy floozy came up to discuss something stupid and do the same thing. Then, right after, James Vega wanted to come up to my cabin to discuss something trivial, too. I was waiting, waiting, we talked about the bed and... oh. Damn. Is he straight or what's going on?

Biggest gay tease ever! Thanks?

PS: I wish there was more signaling on James Vega because I didn't know if I should hold out for him or not. He's quite doable.

[DarthSyphilis59]

Use the indoctrination theory!!!! It's solid. It fits the mass effect universe whether it was done intentionally or not. Have shepard wake up and finish the fight and please have an epic showdown with harbinger!!! He really needs to have a bigger role in the showdown.

[Miekkas]

Dear Bioware,

Casey mentioned that a message of sacrifice and reflection was the ultimate goal of the ending, but I feel this was not what the ending was able to deliver. Rather, a depressing message that you cannot escape fate is seemingly given where Commander Shepard, the living embodiment of defiance, is FORCED to make a choice between three negative options by some supposedly godlike entity he met five minutes prior. This is not the message that has been delivered to us as the fans in the past two games. We have been shown that through fighting with everything we have, we can overcome the seemingly impossible with our team and friends like the Suicide Mission.

You do not need the hero to die in order for a game, movie, or novel to have a deep message. Rather, a hero who lives, albiet with the scars caused by his, the team's, and the Galaxy's sacrifices, can bring an even deeper meaning to the story. A story that shows how much a hero has suffered to achieve a "happy" ending can bring even greater inspiration to people than if a hero simply sacrifices him/herself to save the world. Please see the Lord of the Rings for a stellar example of sacrifice and suffering by the hero to achieve peace and happiness at the end of a long and arduous journey. Could the hero have been hailed as a martyr and a savior if he had died? Yes, but when a story is executed in a particular way, there can be even deeper meaning in that hero having to live with the suffering and sacrifice. Sometimes true strength and sacrifice comes from having to live with your choices and suffering at the end of the day instead of it being washed away with death. Regardless if Shepard and his team dies, they and the Galaxy have already suffered enough for it to be a bittersweet ending. Ask any soldier how they felt fighting in Iraq and Afghan, and their stories will be bitter sweet at best even if they came home to their families. Because a lot of times, they lost buddies, parts of their soul, and maybe even parts of their physical selves, but their sacrifice and suffering still matters.  In the game the potential and possibly gameplay forced death of Shepard and the team does not positively add to the message of sacrifice like I think you intended it would. Shepard does not need to die for it to be the end of his story.

In the current ending, the relays are destroyed and possibly the systems with it, Shepard is dead because he had to commit suicide in order to initiate the process of each of the endings (which makes no sense because it is so crude for what is supposed to be the most advanced piece of technology in existance), Joker and the others are marooned after your squad was magically teleported to the Normandy, and all the fleets are trapped on Earth with no signs means of leaving except via woefully slow FTL drives compared to the Relays. Not to mention in two of the endings, the Reapers may return someday to start all over while the other suggests you just committed genocide against EDI and the geth...yet you can mysteriously live despite it being implied you'd die and managed to survive falling from orbit and an explosion. In an analogy, it makes the player save their body by cutting off their infected leg. Believe me, you are not inclined to see things from a cold and calculating standpoint in that situation.

I may be selfish, but I want to see an end to Shepard where the Reapers are defeated, and the choices, suffering, and sacrifices of the him, his team, and the Galaxy matter. I want to see the "happy" ending and message of hope I have seen in the past two game's endings. Where the quarians and geth are able to live together now as brothers and sisters. Where the turians and Krogan now respect each other not as enemies on the battlefield, but as comrades. Where the sacrifices and suffering of the krogans ushers in a cultural renaissance to prove the salarians wrong, and make Mordin's faith in Bakara and Wrex mean something. Where the pain and loss of Shepard and Liara is finally laid to rest where it is at least implied they can live in peace together with lots of blue babies. Where the newfound affection of Garrus and Tali can be explored instead of being just a fun easter egg, and show that when one down closes, another one opens. But we must also remember the suffering and pain as well that they all must now live with. Show the graves of those we have lost. Show the devastation on each of the major worlds attacked by the Reapers. The games as they are now currently do not offer this closure to us for what is supposed to be the end of Commander Shepard's story.

You have given us a message of hope in the past where even when life seems darkness, light can still shine through. There is nothing wrong with an ending of bittersweet happiness because the world needs those stories. They give us strength to continue holding on even when there seems to be no hope left. Sometimes we need heroes to walk among us, and not simply be remembered as martyrs. I want to see an ending like I described above, and I am sure there are others who would like to see one as well. We dont want to backed into a corner where we are given three depressing ending that make us feel like it was all an empty victory. Every day we hear stories of death, war, and sadness, and we don't hear enough of those with hope. Because without those stories, it empties our lives of meaning where we are taught that matter how hard we fight, we cannot outcome obstacles. People need to be inspired, Bioware.  They need to be shown through games and art that sometimes you can come out a fight with your head held high.

I will quote what I said in the other thread:

"You have given me so much hope through this series over the past five
years. I don't want to lose hope and abandon you because I feel like I
can no longer trust you like Kaiden or Ashley felt towards Shepard...but
we the fans.....I....need you show us that you are still on our side. I
want to be your Liara or Garrus and stand at your stand through thick
and thin. To continue fighting in the trenches against all odds so that
at the end of the day, we can all sit down on a beach with our guns laid
down and say, "We did it. We've won. It's time live in peace like we
have earned."

We need you to be our Commander Shepard. We need
you to show us that hope is still there, that we can place our trust in
you. Show us, the Galaxy, that you're someone worth following."

Thank you.

[Zu Long]

Barbarossa2010 wrote...

Jessica Merizan wrote...

This is not a constructive response guys. Be specific in your needs and I'll pass that to the team.

I agreee Jessica and thank you very much for the olive branch.  This is a good thing.  I will state up front I that I liked 99% of the game very much, only to have most of that washed away in the final minutes with a poorly envisioned ending that virtually wipes out any desire to replay anything in the franchise, much less purchase any DLC.  Seriously, there's just not alot of motivation there, and I honestly thought a badass ending, on an even a bigger scale than ME2, was in the bag.  I was sorely disappointed.

However, as you requested:

*I want a new ending Jessica plain and simple.  The option for a "good" one.  Hell, make us work really hard for it if you guys feel like we have somehow let you down as consumers, and feel you need to punish us back somehow.  (That was a joke).  Make earn an EMS of 7000 or something equally difficult.

*I want paragon/rengade interupts to call the star child on his faulty logic and tell him through direct experience that his paradigm is now broken. 

*I want to present new information (if I actually have to) to him that synthetics and organics can co-exist.  Did he not know of the Quarians and Geth making peace after a 300 year struggle.  A real and lasting peace from all accounts.  That synthetics are capabile of "sacrifice," even for us if need be (Legion, EDI). Has he not been paying attention?  Some Star child.  Things have changed my friend.

*I want a fourth option, to reject star child's plan, take control of the situation, and not sit back and accept HIS invalid options as a passive little chump. 

*I want Shepard in battle at the end, not some high minded philisophical discussion that leads to three varying degrees of meh to suck endings.

*I want to know that my EMS and everything we strove for was for something other than an out-of-character encounter (with one slightly divergent choice added) with no real ability to influence anything, forced to accept three ham-fisted three options (16? No.).  I reject his authority and his damn choices.  I'm Shepard, and I'm in charge and you're listening.

*I want to see the Rachni and Krogans together unleashing holy hell on Reaper ground forces.

*I want my companions right next to Shepard throughout the entire end sequence.  I want them all there.  They simply have no other purpose and mission than to serve their Commander, with their lives if need be.  They would all see the logic of it.  Shepard is not "Shepard" without them.

*What's wrong with happy love interest endings with kids and sunsets in the background again?  Do they send you to school to be repulsed by that or something?

*I want cutscenes and poignant music of Reapers blowing-up violently in the skys and worlds of multiple species who were barely clinging to a last hope, primarily because Paragons are going to choose 99.9% (and Renegades 94% lol) of the time to blow the living hell out of the Reapers, not cave-in to choose Saren's or the Illusive Man's corrupt solutions of evolution and control).

*I want to see crowds of multiple species who have barely been clinging to life (and hope) for months, cheering wildly as they realize their instantaneous salvation and watch the Reapers crash in slag heaps of junk onto their worlds.

*I want an epilogue with narration from Shepard and the other closest crew members (as the camera pans to different worlds and species) that self-determination, will, cooperation, the willingness to sacrifice for friends and family, and even those you may not know but share a bond of organic like-mindedness with, are the highest virtues of organic life; and that HOPE is always the last flame to to be extinguished.

*I want the surviving Prothean VI to reveal that there are other very small, but secret Stasis colonies of Protheans like Javik's scattered throughout the galaxy across remote worlds, that only he would have known of to prevent their disovery and destruction.

*I don't want the Relays destroyed, there's absolutely no necessity in it.  They can serve merely as the transfer conduits of the destruction signal.  Alright you can blow up a few to make us work for it later to re-establish connection with certain spieces.  I'll work with you on that one.

*I don't want the Geth, EDI, AI or VI constructs of our own making, to die.  But I could work with you on this one as well, since tough choices DO have to be made.  Again, there is no necessity in their destruction.  Agggjh, maybe the Geth do have to be sacrificed, because they've accepted Reaper code, but there's infinte ways to skin that cat.

*I don't want Dark Fantasy for Mass Effect, or speculative transhuman philisophical lectures about the management of chaos and order in my interactive entertainment mediums, or any hint of fatalism for that matter (unless the proponents of "reality" and despair want to choose it), especially when they've barely been referred to, much less developed, at all within this particular franchise.

*I don't want Deus Ex Machina plot mechanisms introduced unless they benefit me, the player.

*I don't want "tons of speculation" from a Mass Effect ending.  I don't want to have to use my imagination for an ending.  I can do that without paying you a dime to be honest.  I want a clear, unambiguous ending for Shepard.  He and we deserve at least a shot at it.  Like I said, make it hard on us if that makes it more palletable for you.

That's a start I suppose, and I know all of it would integrate well within the established narrative framework.

How do we do it?  Honestly I don't know, it's pretty hard to get the toothpaste back in the tube once we've squeezed it out. But I supposed Indoctrination Theory would work as good as any other solution.

Cliche?  Maybe, but I'd argue that it's what "most" players want, even if they don't admit it.  But in purely business terms, it's what sells, retains interest in your franchise, gets strong word of mouth moving on your behalf, and generally makes people satisfied with their experience with your products, hence more likely to come back to you in the future.

Thank you for your entry into this conversation.  This is a good thing Bioware.

Respectful.

Wow, now I want to replace my post with a quote of this.

[rishnarr]

If you are going to make any changes to the ending, i would follow the example of Dragon Age: Origins. Take out the whole star-child scene. Just have the crucible blow up the reapers. Basically just edit out the Star-child stuff. Then some sort of Epilogue slide show. I guarantee everyone would love that. Shepard lives or dies depending on EMS.

[mpgeist]

You know Shepard doesn't even have to die for it to be bittersweet. Life would still be hard for him remembering all the friends he'd lost.

[Fuzrum77]

1.) I want the chance for a postive ending. This series has always been about winning against all odds. Failing is not a satisfying ending to this beloved series. And yes every single ending is a failure in my (and most of our) eyes. Many call Mass Effect hard/dark sci-fi. No it's not. It's very much Star Wars-ish and the epic hero tale. It's never been the tragic hero tale. 

2.) I want a detailed epilogue, showing me the ramifications of all my choices and hard work throughout the trilogy. Screenshots with text/voice over would even suffice here (Much like the Fallout series). 

3.) And if I get that positive ending, I want to see my Shepard's epilogue most of all. You say this trilogy is the end of Shepard's tale. I want to see that end. That scene with him breathing is not enough. If he's alive, I want to see what happens next.

Thanks for reading and hopefully considering.

[Ryan546]

this thread says it all  social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/9851623 

And honestly there is nothing wrong with an ending where shepard lives and gets reunited with his LI/crew

For the love of god please do not go with the indoctrination theory bioware, please!  It's a good theory but only that.  I would be devastated for you guys to work on an epilogue just to have it so shepard was dreaming/mind-controlled.  I would much rather have it retconned and just take reaper god kid out, or have a fourth option to disregard him

[hex23]

Indoctrination theory. Outside of a complete ending do-over, that removes everything after Shep goes up into the beam, I don't really know what else you guys can do besides indoctrination theory.

[Faithfinder]

Draw Tali yourselves, she deserves it. A model would be even better, I started a whole new Shepard back some months just so I could see her face, thinking you would show her to me if I romance her. Well, you did, but... Though I think a DLC "Explore Tali" would be just nice. Maybe a massive DLC that will let you explore the characters deeper if you romance them?

Ending is a pretty much summed up topic, you've heard it all: decisions need to have an impact on it. And cover the plot holes. I'm a maniacal Paragon, restarted the series from ME1 a couple of times just because I found out I made a wrong turn, saved EVERYONE that can be mechanically saved in the game - hoping I could do the same in ME3. Stopped ME3 single player just to raise the Galactic Readiness to 100%, so noone would die - got about 7500 war assets. It's OK that Shepard dies, though how about letting him live with his friends? He deserved a retirement. Would love to see his house on Rannoch, with a Geth groundkeeper and first-in-the-galaxy-human-quarian kids. Oh, dreams, dreams, you'll never make an ending like this. Or maybe you can have a choice to not use the Crucible at all - then the super-rare-paragon-ending would only be possible if you made peace EVERYWHERE, and really amassed everyone you could, as only then it will be enough force to blow the Reapers off the face of the Galaxy.

Well, that wraps up things you could possibly change. Yeah, I'm a bit dissappointed in low companions number, you would think after the suicide mission there would be a lot of people willing to join Shepard, but that's alright, the gameplay IS awesome.

[TheSteelArcher]

The most important thing is that our decisions throughout the series determine the final outcome. Fans were promised that time and time again only to find out the endings were A, B and C endings. I think they should add more endings, ranging from a Reaper victory to a reasonably happy ending that instills some sense of hope for the galaxy and for Shepard (LI survives and isn't stranded somewhere else). Knowing that my squadmates could die in ME2 instilled a sense of urgency and purpose to make sure I did everything I could to get the best ending possible because I knew it'd matter, but it was also because I knew I could make sure they survived based upon my actions. I have a numbered list of my main concerns:

1. Fix plot holes created in the last 10 minutes

2. Wider variety of endings with more weight on player decisions, 5 or 6 endings that are very different from each other

3. Go with the dark energy thing for the Reapers

PS: Even if it wasn't Bioware's intent, they should roll with the Indoctrination Theory if they aren't going to scrap the endings entirely. It's the only way they can save it without making entirely new endings.

Modifié par TheSteelArcher, 17 mars 2012 - 03:58 .

[ArchAngel6190]

Heres the thing, there needs to be greater variation in the ending possibilities such as the best being an extended Epilouge where Shep is with their LI, showing the rebuilding process and what ocurs over the following years (I want my blue children). And the worst ending could be...well similar to the one now, Relays destroyed, Galaxy destroyed and Reapers win.  Somewhere in the middle can be a mix by having certain NPC's dying, certain bad things happening.  There still should be a sense of loss in some of the endings.  I love the Indoctrination Theory and fully support it, hell me and my friends are calling it the BioWare conspiracy.  Have boss battle/hold the line scenario and from there transition into the Epilouge.

[hunter5573]

Jessica
let me just say WE all appreciate you and Bioware as a whole in the fact that you are listening to your fans. all of us here on the forums have brilliant ideas and I know it will be hard to narrow them down...but PLEASE, the fans of the creation of one of the greatest trilogies ever imagined are entitled to a "happy" ending. allow us to be able to achieve an ending in which shepard gets to see his/her LI again. Make it extremely hard to achieve if you HAVE too but please put it in.  Because as of right now it seems like everything My shep did in ME 1,2, and 3 was pointless. In a way it killed the series for me. I will not be able to play knowing that my shep will die and the galaxy will essentially be destroyed due to the fact that nobody can travel from system to system anymore.

I would also like to point out that not everybody has the internet capabilities of being able to maintain a continuous connection to the ME3 server (for example: satellite internet). Therefore I would request that change would be made to allow the achievement of a 5000 EMS rating possible, while galactic readiness sits at 50%. dont forget that RPGs are supposed to be SINGLE-PLAYER and should not require that you have online connections in order to get the so called "perfect ending".

I would also like more closure with the universe, races, and characters. As well as being able to see your war assets that one could have collected during ME3, fight in the final battle (specific)...for example Arias mercs or Wrex, Grunt, and the Krogan. Volus providing air support while Qurian and Geth fight side by side. You could do so through cut-scenes and would not have to pay the voice actors to come back just show them doing SOMETHING to help out.

Thanks for listening.

Modifié par hunter5573, 17 mars 2012 - 04:03 .

[MandatoryDenial1]

This is my one must request for the game ending change:

1.  I want my ending to be determined not by star children but by my actions.  We were told many times that this would be our saga and that our choice was our greatest weapon.  This needs to occur again.



These are my preferred changes but they are not absolutely necessary:

1.  The LI (if alive) needs to be not only available but also with you for London.

2.  We should see everyone whom we recruited from 1- 3 fighting in their own epic fighting scene especially if they are a listed asset.

3.  We should see the affects of our assets.  This means our gathered assets should matter.  So if we got the volus bombing squad for instance in Zaheed's mission then we should see them in action.

4.  We need resolution that makes sense and in my opinion since you boxed yourself with the Starchild inconsistancies, the only ending that makes sense builds upon an indoctrination theme.

5.  My advice is this means you need to have the PC's take down reapers with their assets/crucible and above all take down harbringer.  This is the one loose end from Mass 2 that should be settled.  This should feel like a galactic undertaking, Shepard should only be alone if his choices leave him no other choice but to stand alone.



I want to reiterate what I stated earlier.  I want this to be a fitting end to what was an amazing franchise.  People should talk about this ending as being as epic as Torment or Throne of Bhaal.  I don't want a rush job and I am willing to pay for a high quality end DLC even if this ending has to come as an expansion.  However please TELL us if you take this route, don't leave us to speculate, wonder, and fester.

Modifié par MandatoryDenial1, 17 mars 2012 - 03:56 .

[Faded-Myth]

In addition to possibly showing Tali's face on Rannoch, the stock photo next to Shepard's bed really needs to go. People have been swapping ideas and comparing thoughts on what quarians look like, especially Tali. You have this fantastic setup where Tali sends you up into your room for a surprise, only to be greeted with a stock Getty photo.

Please. Take the time to craft something really special. Make it unique. Make it BioWare. Make it Tali.