7052 réponses à ce sujet

[ljc1990]

I'm not going to add a long list of what should and shouldn't be done. But my most important point I would like to bring to the table is that I would at least like the option to have my Shepard survive and the relays intact. In other words a happy ending.
Thanks for listening to our feedback everyone at Bioware, it means a great deal to your fans

[RegenNarr]

Before I start I have to say that the Mass Effect series is one of the few examples of story telling which made me think and feel like I was really a part of the whole thing. And I read and watch and play a lot. A lot.
After finishing the game 4 days after realease and mourning nearly 2 weeks, I came to the conclusion to add my voice to all the others. Not that I think that my opinion will do much effect individually but maybe add a little more weight to the rest.
I was honestly prepared to see Shepard die in the end of this trilogy. Like every candle which is burning bright, Shepard was doomed to burn down fast (on my opinion). Although it didn´t protect me to attach myself emotionally in a great deal. It made me cry all the more throughout the game and blabbering about it afterwards to anyone in my family who couldn´t escape fast enough.
The big farewells right before heading towards the Shroud left me teary eyed for the rest of the game. And then it ended. And I felt like the game was breaking up with me.
It was like being forced to do something which was so profound bad for the entire known Mass Effect universe. After working so hard for peace between the geth and quarians since I met Legion in ME2 and being forced to see him sacrifice himself for his entire race in ME3, after being the guru of emotions and human behavior for EDI, seeing her and Joker together, I couldn´t understand that sudden conflict which was pointed out by the Catalyst. I never connected the synthetics to the Reapers, who made it pretty clear that they stand above everything. In conclusion solution red didn't even cross my mind as one of my options. (But I was okay with its existence regarding renegade options for badass Shepard)
What hurts the most in the end of the game is the destruction of the mass relays with every option you get. I felt bad a long time after choosing to control the Reapers (yep, the one and only thing the IM and I will ever agree about, in hindsight) because of establishing a dark age of the galaxy, to quote some of the prevoius comments. It made so much of the efforts Shepard made throughout the entire game worthless. It made most of the friends of Shepard homeless and stranded and therefore doomed. What I learned playing the series was that it is important to learn from the different, adapt and accept so much you feel useful and tolerate the rest (sometimes growling). It showed me and maybe there are others who feel the same how every presented species had to go through this kind of learning process and how the got ripped off the possibilities to learn even more from one another.
Mabe its a childish notion but you can't teach someone how to fly and then cut down the wings.
It´s not that I whished for a happy ending with everyone being happily ever after and being wedded and bedded but a little hope with seeing the species learning maybe just a flinch from Shepard and his crew's example would have been nice.

I can only imagine how hard it is to listen to all this critcisim and being forced to go over an ending again which one thought to be so good that it would add perfectly to such an epic. And I can understand that rewriting the whole end is just impossible for the writers to do (in the end it´s art) but how does it sound to add maybe two options not resulting in making every planet an orphan?

Currently I don't see how I could return to the Mass Effect universe before or after the Reaper incident took place if there is a new game planned somewhere in the mists of future.

Sorry for the lack of eloquence but English is not my native tongue. Keelah se'lai.

[DiegoProgMetal]

Ok, some feedback then.
While most of the people seems to have problem only with the "godchild" or "reaperchild", mine starts when I kill Kai Leng. The Prothean VI tells me that the Citadel has been moved to Sol. But what happened to all the people in the Citadel??? C-Sec, refugees, injured people at Huerta, the inhabitants of the Citadel... Did they just vanish? I think from this moment on, the entire game and the last few bits of logic, has gone through the window...
If the VI kid we see, the "Catalyst", controls the Citadel, so Saren wasn't needed?
What I was expecting to see would be endings that goes from "full failure" (Reapers win, another cycle will have to fight them), and "flawless victory", and all the "gamut" between those 2.
I wanted to spill some drinks on that bar on Rio with Jacob, celebrating his firstborn son. For the romances, the possibility of a "happily ever after", with "blue children" or a house in Rannoch, or "The Vigilante adventures of the Shepard-Vakarian couple", and so on... And I wanted a "martyr" Shepard, that gives his life to save the galaxy too.
I wanted variability. I wanted replayabilty.
The Crucible shouldn't "destroy" the Reapers. It should just "take their shields down", and then the fleets would be able to really fight them. Then EMS would have it's role. The bigger, the better the outcome. I'm in a bit of a hurry here, at work, so will stop now.

Modifié par DiegoProgMetal, 23 mars 2012 - 11:25 .

[DonJuan2000]

Perhaps another explanation is that the last 10 minutes are part of legend and myth of Shepard of which we have little informations, as says the grandfather at the end .... and Liara at a certain point does what it does to try to preserve the memories .... very nice indeed this scene and with interesting implications for the future of the series of ME.

Unfortunately ending was too much confused.

For that and other of my narrative suggestions see also:

https://www.facebook...379886602030228

[LBXZero]

Further looking at how I would change the ending, I would have Shepherd with the option to head back to the elevator and work his way to the primary engine core and devise his own solution. To continue it, the Citadel's intelligence would summon all of the reaper forces to the Citadel to stop Shepherd from fully breaking all its attempts at maintaining its idea of order in the galaxy. Furthermore, allow a conversation between Shepherd and a reaper after he leaves the room to start off by gloating how Shepherd missed his chance. From that conversation, Shepherd can cause a conflict among the reapers by bringing up their organic roots. If Shepherd succeeds, several reapers would assist Shepherd in using the Crucible to single out only the reaper forces, accepting their own demise as means of a final rest.

I personally would tell the reapers, after hearing from the Citadel's AI the intended purpose of the reapers, that each reaper is merely a mass grave for billions of restless souls, a tomb floating in space.

[marat777]

I did not like the ending because:

A) It conflicts with what was established in mass effect 1 and 2.(why would saren and sovereign need the conduit if the creator of the reapers had control of the citadel???)

B)Extremely flawed logic behid  the reapers motivation/creation. Synthetics made to kill organics so they wont be killed by synthetics is ridiculous. This logic goes against what was established achived with the geth/quarian subplots. 

C)Needless sacrifice of shepard. Destroy  ending is genocide against the Geth. Control ending is ridiculous. synthesis ending is the worst in my opinion( if they only needed shepard's DNA why scarifice himself? a few drops of blood has the same DNA code. AND HOW IN GOD'S NAME DID EVERYONE IN THE GALAXY JUST MAGICALLY GET UPGRADED TO BEING SEMI SYNTHETIC?. Also forces down this augmentation on everyone, free will is essentially gone.) 

D)It conflicts with arrival DLC, mass relay explosion would kil billions, shepard essentially did the reapers work for them.  

E)Loyal crew/squad abandons you. 

F) ALL of the choices were completely bypassed or did not really matter.

There are a few more plotholes, however i think the above suffices. The endings were rushed, and un-revised. In my opinion Bioware should create a last mission DLC where you take the fight to the reapers. I would not mind paying for such an add-on. 
Bioware should roll with the indcotrination theory( as it automatically fixes a lot of plotholes), have shepard wake up after the destroy ending( it would be symbolic as it represents his release from the reapers control, no genocide against the geth as it only occurs in shepard's mind) and realise the crucible is not an option( go toe-to-toe with the reapers ). This is optimal because: 

A) Bioware retains its artistic integrity( as original endings are still there ) and it regains fans trust.  
B)Fans have their say, and get their ending. 
C)EA will permit DLC creation as it gets its profits. 
D)Extremely flexible DLC, it will satisfy a lot of people, fill in plotholes, make the war assets and choices really matter(with right choices and assets shepard and crew survive/shepard reunites with LI) 

In the end all 3 parties are satisfied with minimal compromise. 

Modifié par marat777, 23 mars 2012 - 11:40 .

[rosm101]

I want to say the game is a s good as any of the previous other games, so take it as read that pretty much everything is excellent as the other games were, there were only a few minor issues and the ending I didn't like, and these were things that struck me more while I was playing it;

1) Talking to the other characters- there seemed to me to be a significant lack in talking to others of your crew in this game. I often went doen to them to see if they had anything interesting to say but just got brushed off more often thatn not which I was disappointed about. It felt there was a significantly less amount of interaction with the crew compared to the previous games. As well some of the dialogues in the game seemed pre made and I felt I had little drive in their direction- though with this I would expect would be due to the massive dialogue trees there must be because of the previous games and so on.

2) On of the things I loved about the previous ME games was the fear that the Reapers represented and simply how they terrified me. I especially loved the ways in which Sheperd may meet and talk to them, and the less is more worked effectively with them. Then in ME3 with the Reapers everywhere we barely get a conversation with any of them. I would have preferred more interaction with them through Harbringer say, which surprised me in the end. I was somewhat expecting a final boss sort of fight with the Illusive Man/ Harbringer like Saren/ Sovereign in ME1 (I was disappointed it wasn't this though).

3) I had 2 issues with the ending. I for one liked the ida of a bittersweet ending, and had already reconciled myself to the fact that Sheperd wasn't going to make it through. (though it still got me when he died, so kudos on that!) However I thought at the moment with Sheperd and Anderson together you pretty much had your ending there! (however, it would be nice to have at least one 'happy' ending where sheprrd lives, even if it say comes at a high price- lose Garrus or something maybe- and would make it easier for a post-credit sandbox)

But then the 'star child' (as people seem to be referring to it) then pops up. The probelm with the star child was he was only illuded to previously (which I only know after reading here and completely missed in game). If there had possibly been more talk between Sheperd and Reapers would this appearance have been less sudden? However the larger problem I had with him was the fact that the arguments he was using Iimmediately refuted in my head. Organics and synthetis can't co-exist I thought Geth straight away, and then EDI+Joker. The main problem is that despite anything we've done in the game(s) we have chance to argue our case with against the Star Child. This is were you should have given us the options to get different changes on the ending.

The other issue with the ending is the whole 'whatever you do it will result in the destruction of the Mass Relays'. Simply put, why? I respect everything you've done up to this point but I could not get my head around why the Mass Relay systems would be destroyed, since the repercussions on this were terrible. I'd have rather left the Mass Relays and tried to leave a warning for future creatures/lifeforms that the crucible simply wouldn't work, since the mass relays were so imprtant to the structure of society and trade and so on in the galaxy.

What I should say is I don't mind if a line is drawn under the whole franchise- or at least Sheperds story- in this game. I can live with that. However there was a very big lack in resolution in all teh characters story (not to mention why was joker flying away from Earth). And the fact that after sheperd finishes talking to the Star Child there is no more dialogue. And we simply don't know what happens to anyone in teh unvierse as a whole. I always got the impression that the people of the glaxy knew how to use the Mass Relay technology but not reproduce it, and so it just led me to think there're all these races I've helped in the games, ismply to cut them off, as well as the fact there is an armada stuck around Earth which is in ruins with no way to return home. I'm all in for a bittersweet ending for Sheperd, but for everyone else in the galaxy? Because while Sheperds life is a high price to pay there's going to be a lot of dying around the galaxy and if the Reapers had simply done as they planned, yes we'd all be dead and 'preserved', but there would sitll be life in the future everywhere again. So was the price really worth it? Surely that would have been a really renegade decision to not go through with the plan because of the damage galaxy wide it would inflict?

A fnial thing as well is the simply lack of use the rest of your crew are in the final scenes, I've always enjoyed there input into my actions (ie Ash's slightly racist attitude, Garrus's gung-ho attitude, Legions logical input and so on) but they should have been there and help you get there more than they did and maybe a little like ME2 (which it worked really well in).

Thanks for listening. I know many others may have already said some of this, but I only just finished the game. I liked things such as how we can decide what guns we use and then how they affect our cooldowns for thigns and such like. The game play has really built up on the previous games and it shows in how good it is. The music was fantastic and I will probably buy the soundtrack it was that good (and has been throughout).

Modifié par rosm101, 23 mars 2012 - 11:38 .

[Ziroz]

I would definetly like to see more than a small blurred out picture of Tali. I worked hard on that romance damn it! Seeing a back-shot of her on rannoch even though the mask is off makes me a little bit dissappointed.

The journal is also sub-par here, why break it when it was fine in ME2? Never updates and doesn't help one bit in telling you if you need to do something etcetc. As a tool for keeping information it does nothing but tell you the active missions you have so it is unfortunately useless.

I'm not even gonna touch the ending since I think that has been discussed quite alot here.

[DonJuan2000]

marat777 wrote...

I did not like the ending because:

A) It conflicts with what was established in mass effect 1 and 2.(why would saren and sovereign need the conduit if the creator of the reapers had control of the citadel???)

B)Extremely flawed logic behid  the reapers motivation/creation. Synthetics made to kill organics so they wont be killed by synthetics is ridiculous. This logic goes against what was established achived with the geth/quarian subplots. 

C)Needless sacrifice of shepard. Destroy  ending is genocide against the Geth. Control ending is ridiculous. synthesis ending is the worst in my opinion( if they only needed shepard's DNA why scarifice himself? a few drops of blood has the same DNA code. AND HOW IN GOD'S NAME DID EVERYONE IN THE GALAXY JUST MAGICALLY GET UPGRADED TO BEING SEMI SYNTHETIC?. Also forces down this augmentation on everyone, free will is essentially gone.) 

D)It conflicts with arrival DLC, mass relay explosion would kil billions, shepard essentially did the reapers work for them.  

E)Loyal crew/squad abandons you. 

F) ALL of the choices were completely bypassed or did not really matter.

There are a few more plotholes, however i think the above suffices. The endings were rushed, and un-revised. In my opinion Bioware should create a last mission DLC where you take the fight to the reapers. I would not mind paying for such an add-on. 
Bioware should roll with the indcotrination theory( as it automatically fixes a lot of plotholes), have shepard wake up after the destroy ending( it would be symbolic as it represents his release from the reapers control, no genocide against the geth as it only occurs in shepard's mind) and realise the crucible is not an option( go toe-to-toe with the reapers ). This is optimal because: 

A) Bioware retains its artistic integrity( as original endings are still there ) and it regains fans trust.  
B)Fans have their say, and get their ending. 
C)EA will permit DLC creation as it gets its profits. 
D)Extremely flexible DLC, it will satisfy a lot of people, fill in plotholes, make the war assets and choices really matter(with right choices and assets shepard and crew survive/shepard reunites with LI) 

In the end all 3 parties are satisfied with minimal compromise. 

Agreed. We expect a huge final battle also in space on large scale with task assignements to squad members, war assets, space ships and so on with realative consequences. We wanna see that, not just read a number about it.

[JosieFrances]

I wasn't completely over the moon with the ending of Mass Effect 3 but that isn't really my main problem, I was okay with the ending untill the moment the credits came and I had not seen my crew or love interest and they get off the Normandy without me. I really don't want to say goodbye to Shepard at the end of this trilogy by him/her dying and the crew living and never seeing them again. I really feel I need some dialogue with my crew and love interests because they were a massive part of my game and everyone else's games I'd imagine and not being able to see them again and be happy that we all defeated the reapers together and talk and celebrate made me feel that I could not let go of the story of my Commander Shepard because it felt unfinshed and that felt frustrating because It was the last game. So im not asking you to change the ending, just please bring out some DLC that is continued from the ending that gives the closure im looking for so that I can happily say goodbye and let go of this amazing story that the Mass Effect trilogy has given me.

Thanks Bioware for listening!

[Lunarwhirlwind]

I've mentioned other things before but I do LOVE the thought that if you chose incorrectly during the current (I choose to believe indoctrination) ending, that the game could end right there and that's what you get. If you actually get up out of the rubble the game continues,
This would be the first time in a very long time that I have seen a game do something of that sort.
Not since Chrono Trigger and Castlevania: SoTN

[DiegoProgMetal]

Worth reading:
http://www.shamusyou...edtale/?p=15395
Summarizes some of the problems.

[Psythorn]

It's a little more than a week now since I finished my playthrough. So I had time to think about it.
Sadly enough I still do not like the ending and even more sad: I do not feel  the slightest need to replay starting with ME1 - something I planned to do... 
And also I really loved to play ME3 - enjoyed epic, highly emotional moments - something only very few games archievd - the end does still make me feel empty and sad and that's how I will remember ME3 - I can't get over it.

Much has been said about the endings and I think the reasons many people are not liking them are various. I hope Bioware finds a way to collect reliable data on what reasons are most common. So here are mine:
I 'd love to have more choices, I'd like to have a bigger impact of the choices made (or the illusion of it as this was the whole series made this geat), and yes I really loved to have at least ONE brighter ending (blue babies  optional). Also did not like the presented choices made the big moment Shep united Geth and Quarrians  and also the small(?) sidestory of EDI and Joker just worthless.

The "this is art and artistic integrity" argument: Good points on this are posted everywhere and also to me this is a cheap evasion in my opinion. Yes it's ART. But by no means you can convince me that Bioware made it for the pure love of art. You made it to sell it. So here I am:  I'm a consumer  I 'm living in a country with the right of free speech and I have a wallet to vote with. And NO: If Bioware would not only listen  to us but also agreed with us - this wouldn't be a bad precedence - it has been done many times before.End even if it would be a precedence it
would not be a bad one to me.

Finally I'd like to emphasis what has been said many times. Dear people at Bioware - please understand that all the fuzz is in a fact a very very big compliment to your work. ME1-ME3 made people get emotionally involved in your story ! They care about the world and the NPCs and Shep. That is a BIG archivement. But that's also the reason why the forum is rolling... Why people are upset, sad, mad... Emotional response...

Modifié par Psythorn, 23 mars 2012 - 12:14 .

[Capt Sheridan]

Sorry if i'm rambling a bit. I'm not just trying to give a quick numeric rundown, but paint a picture of where things succeeded and where things went wrong from a longtime fans point of view. Maybe your developers can relate.


Graphics - On par with what i have come to expect from bioware
Gameplay - great. I liked the analog bar for health/shields/armor in ME2 than the cut up bar in ME3.

Story
Mass effect 1, the story was exciting. The characters memorable, interesting, and fun. The interaction style and all the choices were an old idea given a new form. Thats what made it a hit in my opinion. This game kept me coming back for more through a total of 5 shepards and 165 hours of gametime. Shepard could be an open minded friend, just and fair. or he could be a ruthless tyrant. Nothing much in between but we were ok with that. There was at least two choices. But either way, in perfect typical heroic fashion, he survives the worst odds refusing to die, and climbs from the ashes after a minute of sad suspense. He is the BADASS we want to be!

Mass effect 2 took all the previous game offered, and built on it. Fans got to relive their love of the first game with old friends. See new ones, and see the game from a whole new perspective; through a necessary "sleeping with the enemy" style story. With a stylish new interface, smoother graphics, and a better system for handling layered defenses, this game took Mass Effect to the next level. We were already hooked from the first game. I teared up when Shepard died...and so relieved when he was resurrected. I teared up when the normandy was rebuilt...the music with the imagery really touched me.

There were so many character choices and dialogues it felt like a sandbox game. I got to import my five shepards and play them in ME2, which is awesome all its own. I still havent finished them all yet but i will get on it soon! Again shepard could hold to his virtue and not compromise, be that rock in a storm. I believe the line was "I'll fight and win this war without compromising the soul of our species." Its exactly what gamers want, a killer ending where the good guys are victorious, and if you play your game right, you can save just about everyone. Very classic hero story and the way it was done was brilliantly. It was EPIC! You even got to play AFTER you won and talk to the characters about beating the collectors. it was great! All they needed to make it better was some scenes of them kicking back reminiscing or some such.

Mass effect 2 made me very nostalgic. It reminded me of Babylon 5. Of Capt. Sheridan. This was a very good thing. People love a strong leader character. In my opinion we play games where we can be the hero because its so much harder in real life. So many can be heros and never seen for it. But in a game we can be that hero.

Mass effect 3, its depressing. completely. No happy ending like in ME1 and 2.

The first big issue i had is it went from an Epic sci fi hero story, to something else completely. It started turning into Deadspace. Hope is fading. Shepard is breaking down. Everyone we love is dying. We are hitting F repeatedly just like Isaac to crush husk heads. I played deadspace, but only intermittently. Why? Because its so depressing, so down in the dumps that i cant stand it for more than an hour or two. If i want to be depressed i can turn on the news or go downtown and look at the homeless kids. I dont want to play a game where my best hope is to die. I want to live, settle down with Liara, and be the hero! I want to see those little blue children running around, playing at my shepards feet! You could even age shepard and show some awesome future scene of him enjoying his family. Thats the kind of stuff that touches hearts.

Please take this as heartfelt constructive criticism. The endings were short, depressing and not fun in the least, where the previous two titles they were an option. Thats great there are people who like dark endings where there is no happiness, but thats not all of us. I dont play games to see my character basically fail at a happy ending. Hell i can have that in real life.

Anyway all three endings were depressing. Its like watching hurt locker, which i hated by the way.

How many years were spent building on the Mass effect franchise? You built this huge fanbase, and people love your work. We still do. We spent maybe 100 - 200 hours of our lives playing each of your games. You have a real chance to create a legendary game series. Think epic endings; movies like lord of the rings, serenity, or star wars. Think games like the touching good ending to bioshock, or final fantasy 1 - 9. But all this game had was the same ending three times, four minutes each; Just with different colored lights. It made the entire game feel like it was rushed to print before it was finished just to reach a deadline. Your ending a trilogy...Make it a big deal and your fans will love you!

I REALLY hope that you do invest in making alternate endings. I was in love with the world you created. It was another babylon 5 or star wars or macross. Mass effect 3 really disenchanted me, and i dont feel like playing it anymore like i did the previous two. Why replay just to see my favorite characters die and fail? Oh and dont worry about reviewers giving you high marks. Did they even buy your game or just get a free copy? Its your fans that pay your bills, and right now many of those fans are alienated.

Anyway thanks for listening. I just spent three hours writing this review, but its the least i can do considering the hundreds of hours i spent in mass effect 1 - 3 and hundreds of dollars i spent on games, add ons and merchandise.

[JosieFrances]

Also a greally good goodbye scene with our Love interests would be great, something that will suggest to our imaginations that maybe they live happily ever after because I have out a lot of tiem and effort in my gaming as im sure others have to my romance with Kaidan it would just be nice to see that we ended up together especially after all the fuss on horizon, which by the way was an excellent story line it was so tense and It made me extra happy to see Kaidan in Mass Effect 3

[Capt Sheridan]

Oh sorry one more thing: PLEASE LET MORDIN LIVE!!! He was the best character and most interesting personality you had! Please let him run tests on seashells!

[Ursus1010]

I'd like to start by admitting I don't post on these forums. I have specifically created a log in and registered the game so that I could communicate my feelings regarding this game. Mass Effect 1 and 2 had, to this point, been my favourite games. I followed the lead up to Mass Effect 3's release with great anticipation and after finishing it, my disappointment is so great I cannot be satisfied without adding my voice to the multitude of other disappointed fans clamouring for change.

This is going to be a long post, as I’m taking the opportunity to vent, so I’ll be more polite than I feel is appropriate and give a short version:

My concerns with ME3 are largely in alignment with the thousands of other disgruntled Mass Effect (ex) fans: the ending was disappointing, nonsensical, and a complete failure to live up to what was advertised.

Now the long version:

I played through ME3 with an ever-growing satisfaction, a feeling that the entire series was building to an epic conclusion, and not only one epic conclusion, but through future play-throughs, the first of many different possible conclusions.
Everything up to the point of meeting Catalyst was an awesome experience … followed by a feeling of complete and utter devastation, a pure WTF moment. I experienced 3 virtually identical, tragic, empty conclusions, and a complete absence of information about what happened to my companions, the fleet, or any of the races after the battle. After experiencing that ending (and for me, stylistic and philosophical differences notwithstanding, it is
only one ending) there is absolutely no replay value whatsoever. I played ME1 and ME2 over and over again, exploring many different variations of story lines and character interaction. I quite happily played through ME2 with the specific motivation of experiencing the tragic endings, the death scenes of each of my companions, the final fatal leap to a shuttle that was too far away with no-one left to catch me. Those tragic experiences were freaking great, an integral aspect of the wonderful experience of ME1 and ME2. I like tragic endings, when appropriate to context. However, the dramatic difference between the variety of possibilities in the 2 earlier chapters only emphasises the lack of options in ME3. In ME3, not only are there very few (and almost identical) endings, but they are all tragic, and nothing I can do in the game itself is relevant to the final conclusion. Honestly, even if Shepherd won and survived, hundred of millions of lives had already been destroyed. How much tragedy to you need? What happened to the vast variety of endings Hudson and Gamble promised? What happened to the ‘different endings that are optimal for different people’ that Walters promised?

I am so utterly disappointed with the conclusion and disgusted with the completely false advertising leading up to the release of ME3 that I cannot even contemplate playing another second of any part of the series unless there is an extensive expansion of the ME3 conclusion. The only time I have run the game since I experienced the ending(s) was to register the damn thing so I could make this post! Further, I feel that, failing a serious effort on the part of Bioware to produce an acceptable expansion, the only satisfying and ethical response is to boycott both Bioware and EA due to my disappointment in the product and my belief that advertising was at best misleading and otherwise completely false.

On the other hand, Mass Effect 1 and 2 were, in my personal opinion, the best games I have ever played. Throw in Knights of the Old Republic, the Baldur’s Gate series, Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age: Origins (not DA2, you really dropped the ball on that one), and Bioware have produced most of the games on my top 10 list. I know that Bioware have the capacity to do this last chapter of Mass Effect justice, which is partly why the current product is so disappointing. So, I live in hope that they can rectify this mess.

That said, here are my suggestions for ways to improve (and by ‘improve’ I mean actually finish in a manner that lives up to rest of the series and the pre-release hype) Mass Effect 3.

Problems with the endings: (and this is by no means comprehensive)

1.     Catalyst’s justification for the reapers harvesting intelligent organic species before annihilating them, to
save them from inevitably being wiped out by synthetic species, simply makes no sense. If for no other reason, it makes no sense as a conclusion to events portrayed in the game. In my one play though (honestly, what would be the point of a second?) mere hours before hearing this nonsense from an irrelevant star-child avatar, Shepherd had just engineered a resolution between the Geth and Quarians, both factions were united in fighting against the reapers, which would have been a handy rebuttal for Shepherd to deliver had he/she been given that
option. In fact, this justification is only logical as a premise for those three endings if one fails to engineer a compromise between those factions, which I would be quite happy to see as one possible
tragic-ending tree, but not as a premise for the only available, utterly tragic and disappointing endings.

2.    
The information provided in the ridiculous cut-scenes of the Normandy’s crashlanding concerns only 4 of the companions. I may be wrong, but the only character whose fate you can be absolutely sure of, in every ending, is Joker. Joker, are you kidding me? I like the character of Joker, I like Seth Green, but come on! How the hell is his fate more important than that of Miranda, Jacob, Samara, Grunt, Jack, Tali, etc; the companions Shepherd fought side by side with in battle after battle? Why should his fate, and that of Edi, be more important than any other character? Or is it simply easier to market post-apocalypse DLC for the other characters? I want to know what happened to all of my companions during and after the battle for earth, not just a few also-rans in some cheap, unsatisfying cut-and-paste scene.

3.     There is no point to uniting the galaxy, no point to amassing a kick-ass armada, no practical purpose for all of the individual units listed in the final fleet, because it has little to no practical effect on the currently available conclusions. And no, I do not consider a change to the colour tint to be a valid variation of what is basically the same ending. Yes, the space battle looks great, but what about the battle for Earth? There is very little content displaying any other race or faction in that final push towards the beams. This would have been a perfect opportunity to show epic battle scenes of the companions leading the forces of their respective factions, in between the waves Shepherd and his/her chosen squad-mates fight on that final suicidal run, reminiscent of the choices made in the final run to the ME2 climax.

 Ways to improve ME3:

1.
Provide a variety of possible endings defined by all of the choices made in ME1, 2, and 3 AS ADVERTISED; endings defined by the readiness rating and ranging in scope from Complete Victory for Shepherd (including survival), Tragic Victory (dies but saves the galaxy), and Epic Failure (dies/ is indoctrinated and the reapers annihilate the galaxy); and provide Paragon, Neutral/Mixed, and Renegade variations of each. I would suggest a
minimum of 9 basic endgames, one tree of which already exists if you include the current endings (obviously the Epic Failure variations), with additional NPC content (explanation to follow). Honestly, that is the bare minimum one should expect from the Mass Effect 3 conclusion, based upon the previous games and all of the advertising.

2.
Provide endings and closure for each of the characters. The heroic sacrifices for Mordin, Thane and Legion were perfect. Why is the fate of every other character neglected? In the build-up to the finale, I looked at the breakdown of the fleet, all of the different factions, and assumed those elements would be used to calculate how each of the companion NPC’s fared in the final battle. For example, I expected that the completeness of the
ex-Cerberus faction, accumulated in side-quests and planet searches, would determine the survival odds of Miranda and Jacob; the Krogan faction would determine the survival of Wrex and Grunt etc. I was ultimately disappointed in this expectation, but I still think it's logical. Just as the completion of loyalty missions determined the companion’s survival, and ultimately Shepherd’s survival, in ME2, side quests should determine their survival in ME3. Either way, I want to know what happened to them. I want to see scenes of their heroics during the final battle (whether or not they survive, with or without voice acting) and I want to see how they fair in the aftermath of the final battle. That includes the fate of the love interest. Whether they both survive and walk off into the sunset, one is left grieving over Shepherd’s coffin, both end up dead on distant battlefields reaching out for each other in their final moments, or both end up turned into husks mindlessly carrying out the reaper’s will, I want to see a logical conclusion to the relationship.

3. I want to be able to play the game and reach perfect levels of preparation without having to play multiplayer or being penalised for not playing multiplayer. I have no interest in multiplayer. The Mass Effect saga is a single player campaign; multiplayer is completely and utterly irrelevant to the story and, for me, the story is the most important aspect of the game. The multiplayer options are a source of great irritation to me because, from my perspective, Bioware has wasted time and money producing irrelevant multiplayer content while completely failing to produce a satisfying single-player experience.

And that's about it, really.
As a post-script, I have just read Muzyka's post of the 21st of March. Contrary to his post, I see no evidence that he or Bioware as a whole have 'accept[ed] the criticism and feedback with humility.' I do not believe that the final conclusion is based upon 'artistic choices'. I believe it is based upon as yet unexplained creative issues leading to a rushed release of an unfinished product. I do not believe that the overwhelming response from fans could have been 'surprising'; comprehensive play-testing must have produced the same responses fans are communicating. I do not believe that any critic with integrity could give this game a perfect score; even without considering the appalling ending, the game still has faults. And there is nothing in his post that leads me to believe that Bioware is considering anything more than the cheapest and most basic 'what happened to the others' DLC, to create the appearance of having addressed the outstanding issues. I hope they prove me wrong.
If they produce a comprehensive expansion to the conclusion, I will be overjoyed. Ideally, free, because it would simply be delivering the product they promised. If not, I will pay for it. I'll resent the hell out of them, but I'll pay for it. And that will be the last coin of mine they'll see
My intention is to wait until they produce their 'fix', then wait until the fan base has expressed approval, before I even consider experiencing it (Simply because, at this point, I no longer have any faith in critics or reviewers. I did not see a single pre-release review that, having finsished the game, I now consider honest or unbiased). And if the fix is not comprehensive, boycott.

Modifié par Ursus1010, 23 mars 2012 - 12:51 .

[atarit3]

Changes?  Like a ME3.2?

Guess I was expecting kind of a "lord of the rings" kind of ending, where everything concluded.  I would have been pretty upset if the volcano exploded as froto was putting the ring in the fire and then the screen went dark and did some weird perpective changes...

It just left me with more questions than answers, I was expecting to know more after 100 hours of playtime:

is everyone dead?
what does Tali look like? really?
Is that N7 torso that took a breath is now in post-apoloptic london?
What (or who) do krogan eat?
Why is the womens bathroom locked on the normandy for my dude?
Why isn't the normandy within radio contact?
Why dosen't anderson have an accent if he's born in london but everyone else from london does?
Where was there a promethan on eden prime on me1?
What's with the kid?
How come shepard didn't tell anyone about the reapers weakspot when firing?
What type of ships do rachni use?  didn't seem them in any scene...
What radio does the normandy have to stay in contact with hackett across relays?
how did blowing up or saving he collector ship hurt or help in ME3?
Why did the reapers hit earth first?
where'd my fish go? where's the rest of my models?
where's the cool tank or hovercraft from me1 & 2?
What does thanes homeworld look like?
Are ther any geth on backups?
is RED the like a really heavy EMP blast?
Why can't I get a mech suit on the normandy?
Where'd my dead teammates from 1 & 2 end up being buried?
What keeps the luggage from moving around on the enginner level during flight?
Where's the movie theatre on the citidel?
What happen to that sexy kinda crazy chick like laura on the citiadel in me1?

let me know, thanks!

Modifié par atarit3, 23 mars 2012 - 12:44 .

[Timberley]

So, this was destined for another thread, but I decided that it would probably get ignored so would put it here, to add my voice to the feedback for Bioware's spreadsheets/metrics.

Firstly, I loved Mass Effect 3, mostly.  The combat was sublime, with the reintroduction of weapon customisation and upgrading from ME1.  Include into that the power evolution at the later upgrade levels, and it creates a virtually perfect combat gameplay experience.

The squad dialogue was wonderful, particularly during gameplay, and with some dialogue specific to planets or situations between two specific squadmates it makes for a more invested experience, and makes them (the squadmates) feel more alive.

However, there were some problems that others have mentioned.  The Jounral and in-game e-mail being the most obvious.  E-mails I had received and read then suddenly disappeared?  What was that about?  And why on earth didn't my Journal tell me certain things (like where a planet was)?

As a denoument to a trilogy it works very well, to begin with, with various characters from the last 2 games all getting their spotlight in the sun and their own closure (though I would argue that for those that romanced Thane or Jacob it was far too short and in many ways runs roughshod over the relationship that they'd built up in ME2).  In many ways you could see them continuing their lives whether you lived or died, and could make peace with that.

And then everything post-London happens; we get the ending to the game, of this Campbellian epic sci-fi RPG trilogy, and immediately any sense of closure is thrown out of the window in a way that seems to render your previous conversations with NPCs moot.

So, the ending could do with a bit of work.  A symbolic ending is all well and good, but some aspects of it could have been better handled, as I'm sure it would've prevented quite a lot of the fan rage that's happening.

The ending (no matter which one you chose) does inspire questions and invite speculation.  In and of itself that's not a bad thing, and can lead to satisfaction if the 'big' questions are answered.  But they're not, which invites more speculation and ultimately leaves quite a few people confused and feeling hoodwinked by Bioware.

I think some assumed, like I did until I got spoiled in another forum (not even the BSN!), that it would play out similarly to the suicide mission from ME2, with elements changed depending upon your EMS value.  Choices would be presented, and we could react accordingly (well in a way that was consistant with 'our' Shepards).  In a way we could earn our satisfactory ending (I don't use happy because many people assume that means I want everything to wonderful at the end - I don't).

However, I couldn't.  Neither could I reject the solutions presented to me by the Starchild or refute his assertions that conflict between synthetics and organics is inevitable with the various tasks I (as Shepard) have done to get the various races on my side to combat the Reapers (the geth-quarian peace being a prime example).

Watching interviews with Casey Hudson (in 'The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3' which in itself is a very interesting read/watch), it seems that the main developer message was more about the co-existance of synthetic and organic life.  However, that's not the message I had gotten.  Until the ending I had gotten the message (for 2.95 games now) that by convincing/coercing dispirate groups to work together any obstacle can be overcome. Then the message switched to; no matter what you do, the galaxy will still be destroyed, self-determination be damned.

So, it strikes me that there's been a developer-player disconnect somewhere along the line.  Everyone was expecting a mainstream computer game that would end in a broadly conventional manner (earn your happy ending!), but we got something else, that no one was expecting.  A similar ending worked for Deus Ex Human Revolution because we all knew what was coming next (the original Deus Ex).  In the same way, the argueably downer ending of 'Revenge of the Sith' works because we know what happens next. 

In Mass Effect we don't.  We have no idea what will happen next, and in many ways that renders any ideas we may have moot.  Sure, Shepard becomes a legend, but you (as Shepard) were already a legend in your own lifetime.  What about the intricately wrought galaxy you created?  What happened to that (and all of the races within it)?  What happened to the squadmates?  How did they end their days?  A vague voiceover from Buzz Aldrin to some child in a truly ambiguous planetary setting doesn't answer these questions.  Even a Fallout-style series of still images and text boxes would have been substantially superior.  We know what they intended to do when the game ended (Vega was going to try for the N7s, Miranda was going to live somewhere quiet, etc), but the ending pretty much throws that out of the window. 

So, something to clarify, or give some context to, what we have done (in our endings) and what happened to galactic civilisation would be good, and would probably quell quite a lot of rage/confusion.  At the moment, it looks like we did a better job of cleansing the galaxy of advanced life in 5 seconds than the reapers managed in the entire of the game.  Not really a good way to end anything, particularly if you're trying to make the player feel like they're a hero/heroine.  At the moment, I just feel like I am the villain of the piece, so why should I replay it or buy any DLC?  I can get the same effect on my next tour of Afghanistan thank you very much.

So, in short: tell me what I've just done, and how society is improved/worsened by this decision.  At the moment it just seems to be that I've just committed galactic genocide (no matter which ending I've chosen - the synthesis option would seem to be a forced rewrite of everyone: again, self-determination be damned!) and not really saved anybody.

Tim

Edit:  Having watched another interview, I do have to add - this is a video game, an end boss is expected.  You had it for the last 2, why not this one?  Where's Harbinger?  He was the antagonist (primarily) for the entire of ME2.  Where is he in ME3?  i was looking forward to taking him down (with my combined races fleet and/or ground teams).

Edit 2:  here's a link to my review on these boards too, with other things I would like to see addressed: Linkie

Modifié par Timberley, 23 mars 2012 - 12:54 .

[ShockedRabbit]

Dammit Bioware! You actualy made me crawl out of the woodwork and start posting in a videogame forum after years of lurking. Most, if not all, of this post have probably been said a thousand times over but I wanted to say this myself as well.

I belive that every sucessful company have to pick their battles carefully or risk ending up in a no-win situation. When push comes to shove, is this really a battle you want to win, Bioware. At best, it will be a phyrric victory where you alienate a large part of your core fanbase. At worst, it will damage the Bioware brand and the Mass Effect franchise.
I'm puzzled when Dr. Muzyka says that the outrage over the ending came as a complete surprise. In my opinion, Bioware have some of the best writing staff in the business as seen in ME 1 & 2, and in ME 3, except for the last hour of the game. I find it hard to belive that this amazingly talented staff had no inkling that the ending would be a massive disapointment to a large portion of the fanbase. I don't know how much playtesting the game went through before release, but I'm surprised if the feedback about the ending was universial praise.

If this is, as some people think, planned as a PR stunt all along, its time to come clean. If it's an honest mistake, I think you should claim responsibility and step out of the bunker.
To cite a fan on this forum (whos nick I can't remember) "If the game was just bad, we wouldn't have cared this much!"

That said, here's my thoughts for a new ending:

• Keep the ending consistent with the lore in the ME universe. Drop the space magic and no space gods. Your best option at this time would probably be to go with the idoctrination theory.

• I want the choices i made up to the ending to actually matter. An anticlimactic and fatalistic A, B or C ending feels utterly disconnected with the rest of the series.

 

• Make the final battle more interactive. Let us actually use the forces we gathered througout the game and choose whether to use the krogans or the STG for firesupport or assault.Do what you did in the ME 2 ending with Shepard's squad. Let us pick fireteams and specialists and use the rest of the squad who isn't with Shepard.

• Make the endings dependant on our choices and EMS. I even think the should be a possibility for a reapers win scenario

• Closure. I want to know what happens to the galaxy and my squadmates after the battle. Let us have the catharsis we need.

Modifié par ShockedRabbit, 23 mars 2012 - 12:50 .

[Mattalix]

 Please Bioware... please just make the ending happy if you have done well (paragon etc) and some kind of bad if you have done renegade....
I cried a little at how bad the ending was, my choices throughout the series became meaningless, and to top it all off the ending didnt even feel like a Victory.

[Skarman]

Many where disappointed in what Tali looked like, its not that it wasn't what people thought she would look like, we are upset that it seems as if no effort  went in to it and that the end of the rannoch mission wasn't used for this reveal, most have seen the original image of the model and the side by side comparison  we are just asking for an actual in game model of her. All the talimancers out there hope that all of you at bioware put the same amount of effort and creativity  that you put into this amazing story into one of the community's favorite squad mates.

[Mattalix]

ShockedRabbit wrote...






[*]Keep the ending consistent with the lore in the ME universe. Drop the space magic and no space gods. Your best option at this time would probably be to go with the idoctrination theory.[/list]

• I want the choices i made up to the ending to actually matter. An anticlimactic and fatalistic A, B or C ending feels utterly disconnected with the rest of the series.

 

• Make the final battle more interactive. Let us actually use the forces we gathered througout the game and choose whether to use the krogans or the STG for firesupport or assault.Do what you did in the ME 2 ending with Shepard's squad. Let us pick fireteams and specialists and use the rest of the squad who isn't with Shepard.

• Make the endings dependant on our choices and EMS. I even think the should be a possibility for a reapers win scenario

• Closure. I want to know what happens to the galaxy and my squadmates after the battle. Let us have the catharsis we need.

^ You have hit the nail on the head with these idea, that would make a great ending. Bioware please take heed

[RobT2012]

OK not sure if this will be read but here is my thought on how the rest of the game should have panned out.

The StarChild scene is correct, as in my mind the "real catalyst" is Shepard. The catalyst is just the will power behind actually making the crucible work and operate. The Star Child is a representation of Harbinger trying to trick Shepard into choosing an option that allows the reapers to live on, looking like the kid from his dreams causes it a powerful memory. The Citadel is reaper tech so would mean shep is vulnerable to indoctrination.

If choosing destroy with a high enough EMS, a short cut scene of shepard making it back down the corridor to the conduit, or being shown as teleporting out.

The destruction option, doesnt "destroy" but seriously damages the reapers, perhaps emmitting a signal that prevents the reapers from drawing on energy from dark space, leaving them unable to power their near invulnerable shields, and 1 hit destroy weapons, as they are having to run off reserves of power (or more conventional power methods) The net effect makes them just as vulnerable and effective as the galactic fleet. The EMS and completion of all side missions for various races effects the races strategy on how well they are able to outsmart the reapers and thus what their final losses will be.

Anyways, Shep gets picked up from the beam site, by his squadmates, who patch him up and escape on a shuttle to the Normandy.

Cue cutscenes about fight, dialogue on reaper strategy etc, ultimately the squad deciding that for the alliance to win they need to take out harbinger, who is protected by reapers and co-ordinating the attacks (like a general).

Normandy uses stealth drive to sneak in to drop off the strike team as they board harby. Also if the player got all the ship upgrades from ME2, maybe show Normandy enaging in a fight with the smaller reaper ships on the way there.

Anyway, strike teams job is to navigate to the core of the reaper and detonate it from the inside out by blowing out the core. Cue some ME2 like scenes from the collector base (really loved that whole squad touch of strategy approach). Shep could engage in a final battle with an Avatar or Harby (we assume that all reapers have some sort of proto reaper inside from the ME2 logic), by destroying that final boss, Shep destroys the whole harby reaper.

The reaper general is dead, the reapers have no leader, and become uncoordinated and are out classed in strategy by the mixed tactics of the galatic fleet.

Squadmates may or may not survive based on EMS/Loyatly from ME2 and bad decisions on the reaper assault. Shep may or may not survive for similar reasons. Would like to see to make it more interesting that perhaps only pure paragon or pure renegade shepards can survive, meaning that during the course of ME3 people cant two the middle line, they have to be focus on one branch or another.

Cue decent FMV sequence or remainder of fleet, surviving squad etc. Or if you really bugger the end up, the total destruction of the fleet, and few famous places (earth illium etc being competely destroyed) with the reapers finally retreating to Dark Space to start the cycle again.

[Shaedlance]

I do not normally post on forums. That said, I just wish to say, up until the running into the beam of white light, the game was excellent. I laughed, cried, mourned, felt triumph, loss, and had hope for the end. Then the ending happened and I was left wondering, WOW how did I get hooked into buying 3 copies of this game so my entire family could play the game at the same time (multiplayer and what not). Yes, we did purchase 3 copies, myself my husband and my eldest child have been rabid fans of Bioware and ME for some time.

Ok that is my complaining done, in a nutshell.

Things I would love to see addressed, changed, fixed, remedied or explained...

1) Love interests. If you can not have a happy ending for Shep, then at least show the LI mourning at Shep's grave side, or mass memorial dedicated for those lost in the war (like the Vietnam War Memorial in DC). OR perhaps your male shep can have his child with his LI mourning, something poignant that gives closure would be great. IF this can not be done, why even bother having a LI in any of the games, if when all is said and done it has no bearing on the end of the game.

2) Space-God-Child. just nix this. It seemed like a rushed, WOW how do we end this in a way no one can argue, type thing. If this is the onset of indoctrination, then I sincerely pray for a DLC that explains this and gives credibility and leads to a real fight for the galaxy and better ending afterwards.

3) Synthetics-VS- Organics. After everything Shep has accomplished, this argument is just wrong. Shep has the opportuninty in the game to PROVE that the 2 can co-exist, again disproving the logic of the Space-God-Child. Hence, again that ending is totally rediculous and does not mesh with the actions that Shep has taken in this game or in ME2.

4) Endings. Our decisions should matter. In ME1 the decisions we made impacted the outcome of plots in ME2. In ME3 I was fully expecting ME1 and ME2 to have a huge impact on the game. Unfortunately, it felt like alot of the choices made had absolutely no bearing what-so-ever on the end of the game. 3 endings, whether you have a full battle ready 100% asset war machine, or have not bothered with the multiplayer and are at 50%, renegade, or paragon, cheated or stayed faithful, the list goes on and on... the ending undid everything that was done in the previous 2 games. A shame really, the writing of all the games (excluding the the end of ME3) was excellent.

5) Mass Relays. When they explode the system they exist in does as well.. Arrival. So we kill the entire galaxy if we choose fusion. Why not do what some have asked for and have them emit a pulse to take down the shields on the Reapers, you can still use that cutscene (minus the mass relays being destoyed). Then our fleets can either decimate them, or get decimated by them, depending on readiness and assets acquired. This makes much more sense than just blowing them up and destroying countless civilizations and trillions of people.

I hope with the statement they are addressing our concerns, and are working on a solution, that they will fix this. I really wanted an epic ending, if Shep must die, then that is understandable, but to leave the galaxy in the state it was left in is just unacceptible.