7052 réponses à ce sujet

[N7 Vey]

I just want a happy ending that offers closure (and the closure should still be a cliffhanger, allowing us players to imagine the end to be whatever we want, thought total closure wouldn't be a bad thing), but leaves the possiblity for a Mass Effect 4, should you ever revisit Shepard.  It could work too, a cheap or DLC game that would have Shepard run a few Spectre missions, with some added weekly or so like the news on the Cerberus Network.

BWchief117 wrote...

1 piece of criticism... don't post word for word. Post the important parts, and explain the rest as needed. No way I'm going to read all that, sorry.

Details matter.  Even though us users may not deem something as important, it may be a big help to the development team.

[superwampa]

I posted this last night but got no feedback in another topic until I found there's a thread already here. So here you go guys:

Big fan here since ME1 who's hoping for more from ME3 endings. After much thinking, writing and re-writing, I came up with some ending ideas. The following are not only ending choices, but criteria for each ending and sequence of events and rationale behind each choice. I left out details about cutscenes, as they'll be in another write-up.

If Bioware is reading this, I hope they take into consideration of some of the stuff here.

Summary of the Endings:
I have come up with distinct five endings with unique variations, summarized below:
1. Reverse Beacon: The Crucible and the Citadel become a Reverse Beacon, signaling the Reapers to return to dark space. This ending is the best in which all are saved.
2. Understanding: The Reapers understand how this cycle is unique, and therefore breaks the cycle. They retreat back to dark space. Like the first ending, all are saved.
3. EMP: The Crucible and the Citadel give out an EMP that destroys the Reapers. This ending has two variations, in which synthetics such as the Geth and EDI can be destroyed.
4. Control: To save themselves, the Reapers offer omnipotence to Shepherd, who fuses with them, becoming a god-like creature that controls the Reapers at his will.
5. Bleak: The Reapers destroy the fleets and damage the Crucible, and humanity and other races basically lose the war. This ending has two distinct variations, in which the relays are either inactivated or destroyed, with unique outcomes.
*I'll refer the endings as Reverse Beacon, Understanding, EMP, Control, and Bleak in the following sections.

Some characteristics of the endings:
In all five endings the Reaper threat is eliminated (except in a variation of Bleak ending). However, only in EMP and a variant Bleak endings are the Reapers actually destroyed. In all other endings the Reapers retreat to dark space or are under control by Shepherd. In addition, only in the Bleak endings are the relays destroyed or inactivated. As a result these all make the continuation of the Mass Effect universe possible.

Depending on Shepherd’s choice, a final boss of the Illusive Man in Reaper form is possible. To save themselves from destruction (EMP), banishment (Reverse Beacon), and control (Control), the Reapers reanimate the Illusive Man to fight Shepherd.

How are the endings fit to a particular player?
A dutiful player, both paragon/renegade, may choose EMP to destroy the Reapers to fulfill his mission and end the Reapers’ reign. A more lenient, paragon player, may end the Reaper threat by forever banning them to dark space by using the Reverse Beacon. A renegade and ambitious player may choose the Control ending to end the war, but use the Reapers for his own bidding now. A hardcore paragon player may choose to forgive rather than vanquish his enemies by selecting the Understanding ending. And lastly, a player who fails to gather enough forces to defeat the Reaper is bound for defeat in the Bleak endings.

Summary of Ending Criteria:
Mass Effect is a game of multitude of choices, and it would be difficult to factor in every decision into the endings. Please see the logic choice for these decisions in a later section. But here are the main criteria for ending choices:
1. War asset determines whether the Crucible is safe or heavily damaged. Having high effective military strength means that the fleets are able to protect the Crucible, and therefore the Reverse Beacon, Understanding, EMP, and Control endings are all possible. Having low effective military strength means that the fleets and the Crucible are heavily damaged. Therefore the only possible endings are the Bleak ones.
2. Reputation and paragon/renegade scales determine which ending or variation of the endings is chosen. For example, a player with low war asset has only bad endings to choose from. With default or renegade points, Shepherd destroys the relays and all lives within the supernova range. But with enough paragon points, Shepherd inactivates the relays.
3. Rannoch mission determines whether in the EMP ending the Geth and EDI are destroyed.
4. Other decisions in the series determine epilogue, cutscenes, and extra dialogues. For example, if Shepherd has romanced someone, extra dialogues and cutscenes appear.

Premises before the endings, about the Crucible and the Reaper
What is the Crucible? How does it factor into these hypothetical endings?
As the Prothean VI described, the Crucible is a mega-structure designed by aliens in countless cycles, with each cycle improving upon the last. Its purpose is to end the Reaper threat and break the cycles once and for all. In the hypothetical endings, the Crucible functions as a Reverse Beacon or EMP generator. However, the Beacon and EMP only travel at light speed because they are electromagnetic waves. In order for them to propagate further at FTL speeds across the entire galaxy, they need the Catalyst, which is the Citadel. Therefore for the Crucible to function, it attaches itself to the Citadel, and consequently the Citadel then propagates either the Reverse Beacon or EMP to distant relays. The Crucible is designed to attach only to the Citadel because the Citadel is the hub of all mass relays.

When the Crucible is damaged in the Bleak endings, it is unable to function properly to generate the Reverse Beacon or EMP. However, it can still produce enough power to overload the mass relays like a runaway, uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction. This can cause either inactivation (paragon Bleak ending), or destruction (renegade Bleak ending) of the relays. 

Is the Crucible a control device allowing Shepherds to control the Reapers?
In my hypothetical endings the Crucible is not a control/synthesis mechanism in the Control ending. As the Prothean VI states in Thessia, the Crucible was not completed in the last cycle because a splinter Prothean group who wanted to control the Reapers foiled its construction. Because of this reason, it would be illogical for the Crucible to be a control mechanism.

In the Control ending, the Crucible is merely a bargaining chip for Shepherd. Once the Reapers know that they have lost the war and are facing extinction by either the Reverse Beacon or EMP, they try to make a deal with Shepherd, making him omnipotent by giving him direct control over all Reapers. But Shepherd has to be fused with them in order for control to work.

How does the player (Shepherd) know what the Crucible does?
When Shepherd activates the Crucible, a Prothean VI onboard the Crucible gives a history of the Crucible’s construction. The VI states how the Crucible functions as a Reverse Beacon or EMP (which are technologically possible given Protheans’ ability to construct their own Conduit in Mass Effect 1). The VI also gives rationale why the Citadel is the Catalyst needed to propagate the signal throughout the relay network. The VI also explains the function of the Crucible to Shepherd during dialogue.

What is the purpose of the Reapers?
The Reapers destroy advanced organic races every 50,000 years to allow development of lesser life forms. But the Reapers’ ulterior motive is to prevent the organics from advancing enough to surpass themselves and from developing synthetics that would topple the Reapers. Therefore the Crucible signals their destruction, and in the Control ending they will try to make a deal with Shepherd to ensure their own survival. The Reapers represent the ultimate order, while the organics are the chaos of life and evolution. However, their origin, true intentions, and other characteristics remain obscure, and are beyond the understanding of the organics.

Who is the All-Reaper that Shepherd encounters in the end sequence/play?
In these hypothetical endings Shepherd invariably reaches the final control center where he makes decides the fate of the galaxy. In here he meets the All-Reaper, which is equivalent to the Child AI in the released game. The All-Reaper is a virtual representation of the Reapers, and acts as their final voice. However, it is more of a hologram than an actual physical entity. Therefore it has no attack capabilities. Once the Crucible docks on the Citadel, the All-Reaper is powerless to overcome the Crucible. However, the All-Reaper retains certain power, and is able to “reanimate” the Illusive Man for the final confrontation in Reverse Beacon, EMP, and Control endings.

Details of the five endings:
Reverse Beacon ending (high war asset, high paragon)
1. The Citadel and the Crucible become a reverse beacon, signaling all Reapers to retreat back to deep space. Since the Reapers are not destroyed, now it is up to humanity and all other races in the galaxy to make sure that the beacon does not fall into the wrong hands. This is the “best” ending, a happy ever after ending in which Shepherd and everybody else survive.
Variations:
1.1: War asset and number of factions united decide how long the peace will last, and the epilogue states something about the peace.
1.2: Saving the Council and war asset determine who is in control of the beacon now. If the Council is not saved, humans now control the beacon. If the Council is saved, the Salarian, the Asari, and the Turians, along with humans, control the beacon. In addition, war asset determines which race suffers the most in the battle against the Reapers, and their resulting contribution in keeping the beacons are determined. All these can be done in text format in the epilogue.

Understanding ending (high war asset, very high paragon)
2. Shepherd and the Reapers reach an understanding. The Reapers realize that this cycle is unique, in that instead of chaos of wars between synthetics and their creators, and among themselves, something grander emerges. And that is unity and peace. In this cycle, no single species reign and dominate over others, unlike the previous cycle in which the Protheans are the slave drivers of vast intergalactic empires. In addition, the risk of synthetics rebelling and destroying their creators is averted by the newly brokered peace between the Geth and Quarians, which has never happened before in the previous cycles. The Reapers therefore conclude that humanity and other races in this galaxy maybe deserve a chance to decide their fate for themselves. Now the Reapers retreat to dark space, but because they are not destroyed, they might come back if we resume walking on the path of evolution the Reapers imagined for us (i.e. self-destruction through wars or destruction by the synthetics).

EMP ending (medium to high war asset, neutral or renegade)
3. The Citadel and the Crucible becomes an EMP shock generator, killing or inactivating all Reapers in the galaxy. This solves the Reaper problems once and for all, but with dire consequences for other synthetics (sees variation below):
Variations:
3.1. Depending on Priority: Rannoch mission, the EMP can either spare synthetics, or destroy all synthetics including the Geth and EDI. If the Geth is destroyed in Rannoch, the EMP will also kill EDI. If the Quarians are destroyed, the EMP will kill the Geth and EDI too. However, if peace is brokered between the Geth and the Quarians, the EMP only kills the Reapers. The explanation for such EMP discrimination lies in the fact that if the organics and synthetics do not show their ability to escape from cycles of destroying each other (by making peace with each other), the EMP will to destroy all synthetics to save the organics. This ending is bittersweet in that all synthetics will die if the Geth and Quarians do not reach peace. These choices reward the players who completed the hardest yet the best outcome, in Priority: Rannoch.

Control ending (high war asset, renegade)
4. The Reapers face extinction from activation of the Crucible, and makes a deal with Shepherd, offering total control. There is always a potential for Shepherd to go rogue (he is going renegade now) and activate the Reapers for his own bidding. In this ending, Shepherd is fused with the Reapers, and becomes a god-like creature (like Paul Atreides from Dune) who can live for thousands of years. This is a renegade decision and the only ending with synthesis between organics and machines, and only to Shepherd. In the end Shepherd talks in a Sovereign-like voice and has blue robotic eyes. Shepherd orders all Reapers to stand down, and galactic peace is preserved at the moment. But who know what Shepherd will do in the future. This will be a mystery ending with cliffhanger, as Shepherd smiles mysterious in the epilogue.
Notes: This ending requires high war asset, therefore the Crucible is intact. However, the Crucible is not the means to control/synthesis (see premises section above). In summary, the Reapers are bidding to save their own existence, and offers Shepherd omnipotence in return. A renegade Shepherd might make this ending his top choice.

Bleak ending (low war asset, paragon/renegade/neutral)
5. The Reapers are all powerful, and because of low war asset (below minimum), the Reapers are stronger than the all the galactic fleets combined. As a result, the Reapers destroy the fleets and heavily damage Crucible, thereby preventing the Reverse Beacon, Understanding, EMP, and Control endings. The humanity is lost and the galaxy is doomed.
Variations:
5.1. The renegade option would have Shepherd activating a failsafe system on the Citadel, sending a signal to overload and destroy all mass relays in the galaxy. Because of this, all star systems containing mass relays are destroyed (through supernova formation), including Earth. Shepherd and everyone else die, along with all Reapers within the vicinity of the relays. However, the epilogue mentions that because the galaxy is vast and infinite, not all star systems have mass relays and consequently life and civilization can persist and grow in these “uncharted” worlds. In addition, because these civilizations do not have access to mass relays (and will never have the chance with the relays destroyed), they do not walk on the paths designed by the Reapers and therefore are free from them, as the Reapers need the relays to travel from one star to another. The epilogue finally states that the story in the galaxy does not end, but continues in a new path, free from the Reapers.
5.2. The paragon option would have Shepherd telling all remaining ships to engage FTL drive to reach Charon relay and prepare for a jump to their own home worlds in order to regroup and continue the fight. Shepherd is stranded on the Citadel because he is needed onsite to activate a failsafe system to send a signal to overload all mass relays in the galaxy, inactivating but not destroying them. After the ships make a suicidal breakout from Reaper encirclement to reach to Charon relay with heavy casualties, Shepherd activates the fail safe, sealing himself in Earth orbit. In addition, all Reapers are trapped in the star systems they are in, as are all the ships around Earth orbit. The ending has respective fleets coming out from their jump, arriving on their home worlds on fire. For example, we see Turian ships reaching Palaven, and Primarch or Garrus ordering his crew to make the last stand and fire their cannons. Meanwhile on Earth, Shepherd is looking at the Reaper fleets orbiting Earth, and his small contingent of Alliance soldiers cocking their rifles and looking at the distance. Shepherd and his romantic interest hold hands for the last time, and then Shepherd and his soldier charge. Then screen fades to black. This is an “open” ending (although bleak), and there will be no epilogue here.

Sequence of gameplay events leading to the ending:
Summary of events:
1.    London fighting: Shepherd fights the Reapers in the streets of London.
2.    Dash for the beam: Shepherd and company runs to the beam.
3.    Fighting on the Citadel: Shepherd is beamed up to the Citadel, where he continues the fight.
4.    Encounter with the Illusive Man: Shepherd and Anderson confronts the Illusive Man.
5.    Encounter with the All-Reaper and the Illusive Man: Shepherd and the All-Reaper exchange heated words. Depending on the condition of the Crucible, the Illusive Man may be reanimated in Reaper form to fight Shepherd (final boss fight).
6.    Final Decision: Shepherd and the All-Reaper exchange more dialogues, and Shepherd makes his final decision sealing the fate of the galaxy.
7.    Cutscenes and epilogue: Ending- and context-dependent cutscenes and epilogue.

Detail of events:
1. London fighting: Shepherd and his squad mates fight on the streets of London. The Alliance and aliens races on the ground all make dash for the beam. However, they sustain heavy casualties, and only a few people manage to reach the beam and be transported.
a) This part is similar to the one in the released game.

2. Dash for the beam: Shepherd, his two squadmates, and Anderson are the main protagonists that manage to reach the beam under heavy fire. A few other soldiers also reach the beam
a) In here Alliance ships and land vehicles open fire on the Harbinger, distracting it and allowing Shepherd and his team to reach the beam.
Shepherd and company reach the beam with relatively minor damage, certainly not with charred armor and lost helmet. Therefore they can still fight on the Citadel.

3. Fighting on the Citadel: Shepherd and his squad fight against Citadel citizens turned into husks, as well as other Reaper creatures such as Marauders and others. During battle, the following sequence of events/choices open up:
a) One squad member needs to be left behind and hunker down to allow Shepherd and the rest to push forward. Shepherd has to decide whom to leave behind. War asset determines if this squad member survives or not.
After fighting a while, the other squad mate is critically wounded, and tells Shepherd to push on without him. Shepherd complies, and says his good byes. War asset also determine if this squad member survive or not.

Then Anderson and Shepherd both make final confrontation with the Illusive Man.

4. Encounter with the Illusive Man: Shepherd reaches the control room where the Illusive Man is waiting for him. The Illusive Man is indoctrinated and tries to persuade and force Shepherd into controlling the Reapers. Shepherd, Anderson, and the Illusive Man have a heated exchange (dialogue), and the following sequence of events/choices open up:
a) The Illusive Man tries to indoctrinate Shepherd into shooting Anderson:
   i. Paragon interrupt: Shepherd convinces the Illusive Man to shoot himself.
   ii. Renegade interrupt: Shepherd aims at the Illusive Man and shoots him.
   iii. Neutral: Shepherd shoots Anderson, mortally wounding him. Then Shepherd regains his composure and shoots the Illusive Man.
After confrontation against the Illusive Man, Shepherd activates a switch to open the wings of the Citadel. Admiral Hackett radios in that the Crucible is now docking.
c) At this point Admiral Hackett informs Shepherd about the condition of the Crucibledetermined by war asset.
    i. High war asset: The Admiral says the Crucible is intact and is now docking.
    ii. Low war asset: The Admiral says the Crucible is heavily damaged, but will try docking to see what happens.

5. Encounter with the All-Reaper and the Illusive Man (optional): After the Illusive Man is out of the picture, Shepherd encounters the All-Reaper (equivalent to Child AI). Shepherd and the All-Reaper exchange words), and discuss each of the available ending conversation. The following sequence of events/choices open up (see section on decision criteria  for details):
a) Low war asset: The All-Reaper is omnipotent and basically says that Shepherd has failed and humanity and the others have lost the war, time for extinction. In this case the game directly progress to the next stage, final decision.
High war asset: The Crucible is intact and docks with the Citadel. To prevent Shepherd from activating the Crucible, the All-Reaper reanimates the Illusive Man in Reaper form to fight Shepherd.
c) Shepherd needs to defeat the Illusive Man, failure to do so take to game over screen.

6. Final decision: After the battle against the Illusive Man, Shepherd and the All-Reaper exchange more words. He finally makes his final decision, and cutscenes and epilogue ensue. See previous sections on the specifics.

7. Cutscenes and epilogue: Ending- and context-specific cutscenes ensue. Provides closure for all the important decisions in the game (see section on notes).

Decision criteria and logic:
How are decisions made? By both prior decisions and ongoing decisions.
Ending choices in Mass Effect games are decided by prior decisions (before end mission) and ongoing decisions (during end mission). For example, in Mass Effect 1, ending decisions mainly revolve around whether the Council is saved or not. In Mass Effect 2, ending variations revolve how many crew members survive. In Mass Effect 1, whether the Council is saved is determined on the fly as Shepherd fights in the Citadel. In Mass Effect 2, number of surviving crew is decided by prior choices such as loyalty missions, and ongoing choices such as who to go into the vents and who to lead the stranded crew back to Normandy.

Similarly, choices in these hypothetical Mass Effect 3 endings are also dependent on both prior and ongoing decisions. Prior decisions include war asset, paragon/renegade scale, and Priority: Rannoch. Ongoing decisions include dialogue with the All-Reaper and many others, which are essentially player’s own choice. 

The endings and their criteria:
1.    War asset determines whether the Crucible is safe or heavily damaged by Reaper fire. Consequently, having high war asset means Reverse Beacon, Understanding, EMP, and Control endings are possible. Having low war asset defaults the player to only Bleak endings. 
2.    Paragon/Renegade scale determines the outcome of the endings. For example, high war asset allow for four endings (see above), but paragon/renegade scale allows for unique dialogue choices, which lead to one of the four endings. Both type of reputation (paragon/renegade) and scale of reputation (high or low) are taken into account. Neutral here means reputation scale below required for paragon/renegade choices.

Logic tree for endings:
Low war asset → high paragon → unlocks Bleak ending (variation paragon)
Low war asset → neutral or high renegade → unlocks Bleak ending (variation renegade)
*in Bleak endings, no final battle with the Illusive Man takes place.

High war asset → high paragon → unlocks both Reverse Beacon and Understanding endings
High war asset → neutral → unlocks only EMP ending
High war asset → high renegade → unlocks Control endings
*in these endings, final battle with the Illusive Man takes place.

Note this decision tree is additive, not exclusive. For example, a player with low war asset but with high enough paragon and renegade reputation is able to unlock both versions of the Bleak ending. Similarly, for a player with high war asset, a high paragon by definition also unlocks EMP ending in addition to Reverse Beacon and Understanding endings.

Last but not least, war asset determines if squad mates Shepherd brought to the Citadel survive.

Some common questions
1.    Why does the All-Reaper offer Shepherd control in the Control ending?
If the Crucible is intact because of protection from high war asset, then by default the EMP ending is possible. Now, because the All-Reaper cannot stop the Crucible from firing, it needs to bargain with Shepherd for the Reapers’ survival. In turn, the Reapers offer Shepherd omnipotence, longevity, and control over the most powerful entities in the universe- themselves. Theoretically by controlling the Reapers, a renegade Shepherd can end the war. 

2.    Why does the All-Reaper reanimate the Illusive Man? Doesn’t he also want control?
In EMP and Reverse Beacon endings, the All-Reaper reanimates the Illusive Man to fight Shepherd, trying to prevent him from activating the EMP or Reverse Beacon to destroy the Reapers. Although the Illusive Man wants and is capable of controlling the Reapers to a certain degree, he is essentially indoctrinated, and therefore only a puppet to the All-Reaper. Therefore if the Reaper had to choose by whom to be controlled, the Illusive Man is an obvious choice, much better than the strong-willed Shepherd. As a result, even in the Control ending, the Reapers will reanimate the Illusive Man to defeat Shepherd.

3.    Does Shepherd know the EMP will destroy synthetics other than the Reapers as well?
It is possible to unlock both EMP and Reverse Beacon if the player has both high war asset and paragon reputation. The Prothean VI onboard the Crucible will tell Shepherd what are the functions and their advantages and disadvantages. The VI would state that the Reverse Beacon will end the war now and send all Reapers back to dark space. But they may find a way to come back, however slim their chances are. The EMP, on the other hand, will destroy all Reapers and necessarily prevent their return. However, the VI mentions that the effect of the EMP on the Geth is unknown, because the Geth is a synthetic race and even more so, it now has the Reaper code (from Priority: Rannoch). Therefore it will be a gamble for Shepherd to activate the EMP. However, the EMP ending is designed to reward players who have gone their way to broker the peace between the Geth and the Quarians, thus:
a.    If peace if brokered in Priority: Rannoch, the EMP spares all synthetics.
b.    Otherwise, the EMP will wipe out all synthetics, including the Geth and EDI.

4.    What happens to the Crucible if Shepherd chooses the Understanding ending?
Understanding ending is unlocked for a player with high war asset and very high paragon reputation. This ending is for the hardcore paragon player who is able to forgive rather than vanquish his enemy. In this ending, the Reapers realize that this generation is the one that breaks all cycles, and they acknowledge such feat and agree to return to dark space on their own. The Crucible is safe for humanity and other species’ keeping, and acts as a safeguard in the future if the Reapers do invade again.

:happy:

[Scottsdale1984]

i'm sure this has been said many time but having multiplayer play such a big role in single player is a huge kick in the quad to those of us who dont have the internet to play multiplayer or dont want to

[GetDaved]

It's all about the ending for me.  The game mechanics and character progression system were the best implementation yet in the series so good on all of you for nailing it out of the park.  I don't mind getting EXP every time I kill an enemy and all of that but I understand why you didn't do it for ME3.

But yeah: The Ending.
I made a video about this myself which you can find here:
youtu.be/1Rci3wTOLcU (The Title is "Why The Mass Effect 3 Ending Was Bad", but I promise it is not a rant and  the content is not as scathing as the title)

Since text is probably easier for your spreadsheets I'll type out some of what I thought (in the order they happened in the game).

[GAMEPLAY]
1.) War assets didn't impact the final battle as I hoped they would.  In ME2 we got to know the strengths and weaknesses of the squad members and then assign them to tasks on the Omega 4 mission.  I was hoping I could do that with entire fleets in this game.  Just like in ME2 how missing a few assets could be quite the problem I thought we'd be faced with problems like that.  Who draws fire from the Reapers, the Turians or the Quarrians?  As it turns out they were just a pooled resource and their uniqueness didn't matter: Rachni or Geth or Alliance fleet - there is nothing unique about them they are just points for a gauge. This compounds the feeling that choice didn't matter but more on that later.

[GAMEPLAY]
2.) When there is one Reaper in our way we used missiles and air support.  When Harbinger was in our way we just effing rushed him.  This was stupid.  Even bringing in some air support just to give Harbinger something else to shoot at would have made more tactical sense then the WW1-esque death march we went on with Hammer.  The inability to have better tactics for a better result was lame, especially because having an entire platoon of Krogan's available (or not) didn't make a difference.  You'd think they'd come in handy though.

[STORYTELLING]
3.) Seeing Shepard limp forward after he's injured was brilliant, but I expected my squad mates to be dead and lying nearby.  They were no where to be found.  I was glad they weren't obviously dead, but this is still a bit of a plot hole since they were *right there*.  Maybe it's all about the Indoctrination Theory.

[STORYTELLING]
4.) The conversation with The Illusive Man was very circular.  After the decent talk I had with Saren at the end of ME1 I was hoping for different/better not similar/worse.  Better yet just have another chat with Harbinger.  If he is half as enigmatic and menacing as Sovereign from ME1 ("Each of us is a nation.") it will be a treat.

[STORYTELLING]
5.) The catalyst-child was a big mistake.  This is the most important thing, so I am bolding like crazy:
We have been fighting the Reapers because of our value system.  The galaxy values its existence and wants to fight the Reapers - even to the death.  This is fine.  The catalyst child is a character introduced at the last minute who forces us to abandon our value system in favor of its own.  This is where the big annoyance is.  We don't care about what the catalyst-child wants but are forced to accommodate it entirely.  I really don't agree with the catalyst-child's flawed logic, and considering that it uses the term "us" and "we" when referring the Reapers, I really just wanted to put a bullet through it's head as it seemed to only be above a husk in its ability to talk (certainly not in its ability to reason).

[STORYTELLING / CHOICE MECHANICS]
6.) If I made peace between the Geth and the Quarrians I should be able to contradict the assertion that creation rebels against creator.  If not, fine.  If I didn't let the Geth get Reaper code they shouldn't get wiped out by the destroy option.  If the catalyst child is willing to let me decide what to do when I control the Reapers then it should just listen to me when I tell it to fly all of them into the sun (which, by the way, if it just listened to me it wouldn't require using the Crucible and destroying the entire mass-relay network).  The fact is that the arbitrary limitations nad consequences didn't seem any more plausible than Kai Leng's plot armor.

[THEME]
7.) After re-enforcing the message that there is strength and beauty in diversity (heck, we can even make love with an alien!) the thesis behind the Synthesis ending that homogeneity is the "highest form of evolution" is both contradictory and extremely offensive.  If you think about what that ending does to the theme of the game it is very distasteful. Is the moral of the story really that peace is only possible if we are all the same?  Perfection attained through genetic purity?  The thesis is vile.

[STORYTELLING / CHOICE MECHANICS]
8.) Does ME3 need to end with a big choice?  I thought the consequences of all of my choices would be enough.  Honestly you could've ended the game with the catalyst firing properly while Anderson and Shepard watched it from the best seats in the house and it would've been fine.  ME1 and ME2 both had big decisions at the end that were carrying forward to affect this game - but if the trilogy is ending do we really need to alter the galaxy in the final ten minutes with a choice that is completely isolated from all other choices made thus far?  Having a big decision at the end also disrupted the flow of the story, because it really should have been resolving the plot and wrapping up loose ends and then providing closure with the characters rather than opening another can of worms, altering the conditions of all of the characters, and then just... showing the credits.

[STORYTELLING]
9.) The Normandy.  There is no good reason for it to be in the mass relay network during the crucible discharge, and for crying out loud wasn't anyone worried it would screw with how the crucible was supposed to work?  Also how did the crew get on board?  Also why did they abandon Shepard? Also, even if they abandoned Shepard why did they abandon the fight to save earth/the entire galaxy?  No explanation was given within the story, and a good story can stand on its own and doesn't require supplementary narrative to act as its apologist.

[STORYTELLING]
10.) Look, it was a nice touch to have Buzz Aldrin voicing at the end and letting us know about the infinite possibility of space, and I can only imagine how cool it was the day he came into the studio, but after screwing over the crew of the Normandy in a scenario reminiscent of the *beginning* of Lord of the Flies it wasn't what the audience cared about.

[THEME]
11.) This series has been about fighting robotic death machines called "Reapers" who turn people into robotic zombies, and overcoming said Reapers, along with a host of other challenges, by cooperation, determination, and self sacrifice.  Even if you play Renegade.  So why is the ending a high-concept philosophy debate with a character we don't give a crap about?  I really don't care what resolves the problem of "chaos", I want to stop *genocide*, and this is not an invalid desire.  And seriously: regular, eternal genocide is "order"?  Not to me.

[Grand Champion]

Man, there are some good things here. Bioware, LOOK AT ZEM!

Modifié par Wertom Three, 27 mars 2012 - 12:44 .

[ebby0110]

First let me say that I LUV the Mass Effect series. I was an uber fan I bought books, basically every comic, the hoodie, and collector’s edition for Mass Effect 3. I was invested in my character and crew. You created something that made people care and support you a million and one percent! Bioware cared & listened to the fans even if at the end of the day they are a business, well you have proven that is not the case. We never asked for what you gave us. Now I feel cheated and I am not the only one. You left people confused, with absolutely no closure to what happened to the crew that they cared about. But I’m glad and I appreciate the attempt to at least listen to what we have to say. We are still consumers after all.

That ending is a complete and huge disaster! Honestly I suggest scrapping the whole thing because it’s just that bad. Start with new multiple endings. The current ones make no sense to the story and left too many plot holes. But let’s start with the lack of options. In Mass Effect 1 and 2, you had the option of good and bad endings. Shepard can live or he/she can die, what happened to that option? It was one of the things that made the game great! I can understand shepard dying for the greater good I get that, but where was the “OPTION” for Shepard to be a BOSS and say “No you, we win, I live and we are keeping your technology for all the pain and suffering you caused cause you had to keep others from evolving due to your own fear”. No chance whatsoever for that? I honestly don’t believe it was that hard to give us the chance to have that little happy ending, it makes people feel accomplished. Even if Shepard was to die you could still spin it into a happy occasion. Like my femshep dies but she romance with Liara, you could have turned that scene with the random old guy and kid to Liara (or any other female romance where it’s possible to do this) with Shepard’s daughter wearing yellow (as an omage to when Liara said her mom liked to wear yellow) telling her about Shepard. That could have been one of the endings that would have brought an immense about of closure to fans who’s romance was important to them like me. Shepard deserves a chance at that type of ending. Was it really too much to have Shepard be able to retire or settling down with his/her love interest, return to work as a Council SPECTRE, or traveling the galaxy as an inter-species diplomat? Or Shepard dies, but actually SEE that the galaxy is safe and will be at peace?

The godchild (as it’s being called) made no sense to the story and it feels like you threw it in there. Why could we not argue with it? Tell it it’s wrong like every other boss we have come across in the series? Now would have been the perfect time for the scenario I stated above. Also the ending options probably would have been fine if it were the bad endings you get when you don’t have enough military force or war assets. Three endings that are basically the same where Shepard dies no matter what and you have no idea what happens to your crew is not an ending. It’s a poor cliffhanger created by laziness. You should have gone back and taken queues from what you did in the past and made it greater. You left a lot of questions. Why is Joker running from the fight? My team that was on the ground with me is now magically on the Normandy? How is that? That’s not in their character at all, NONE of them would leave Shepard to die, it makes no sense. How is everybody supposed to get home when the relays are gone? Did some of them crash on Earth? For example, Quarians and Turians can’t eat human food, so are they supposed to turn into cannibals?!?! Why is no one concerned when they walk off the Normandy? No one is happy when they crash on some random unknown planet with no communication whatsoever. There is no closure anywhere, which for a loyal fan is a HUGE slap in the face. I suggest making it so that not all tech is gone and space flight is still available. I mean humans did make space ships before the relay :/ and I’m pretty sure other races did too. Did the reapers fry their brains too? Make a mission to find Shepard and figure out what happened and what’s going on. Listen to what the other fans are saying, they are suggesting some good stuff.

I have to say this. I've lost a lot of faith in you Bioware as many of the fans have. So much that I cannot bring myself to play the game again, Not just this but the entire Mass Effect series. However I will hold out that last bit of trust that you have heard us and are working to “fix” this so to speak. I really want to believe that you do care about it.

I realize that at the end of the day you are a business and as it stands I cannot tell someone to spend money on this. You are no longer day one buy material. This needs to be fixed if not for the fans then at least to save yourselves from losing future sales. From the way it looks, you stand to lose more money. There is no reason to buy DLC with the ending as it is now; the replay value is way too low. My copy is sitting in my little book closet with other games I’m not playing. That is a sad scene, especially since the game was good but you killed it with the ending. Shepard DOES NOT DESERVE THAT!

Again thank you for listening and taking in what the fans are saying. I greatly appreciate it and I know others do. Come on Bioware you can turn this around.


Sincerely,

A Loyal Fan wanting the faith back

[MaskofSkin]

Does anyone thing Bioware is actually reading these ideas. A lot of great stuff is being put out here and all we keep hearing is about keeping artistic integrity BS.

The ending sucks. They need to get over themselves and accept it.

[N7 Vey]

 I completely forgot the lack of CONRAD VERNER this game had.

[fumonchu]

I want to start by saying that unlike many people on these forums I actually enjoyed the synthesis ending.  A galaxy free of the shackles of reaper technology and able to advance in along whatever path they desire, left me with a hopeful feeling that really touched me.  There may be unanswered questions(fleet around Earth, Joker's flight) but there always will be after the end of a long complex story.  The only thing that bothers me is that no matter what choices you make in the game you always arrive at that cross roads at the end.  A vending machine ending generator instead of a conclusion based on your actions throughout the series.  Mass Effect so far has always embraced that player input and I would love to see an ending that reflects that.  This reminds me all too much of the Deus Ex: Human Revolution ending where you push one of four buttons and out comes an ending completely independant of your actions in the game.  While I personally enjoyed ME3's ending I can't help feeling there was potential for so much more and that leaves me with a lingering sense of disappointment.  All that being said, I understand the costs associated with making changes on a large scale must be prohibitive, and if it so happens that the ending cannot be altered to a significant degree, then I can accept  what you have given us and be well pleased.  Thank you to the Mass Effect team for delivering such a fantastic game series, and will always be looking forward to future Bioware titles.

[Chrislo1990]

After having beaten Mass Effect 3 two days ago, I must say that I am very disappointed in Bioware. Don't get me wrong . The game is incredible, but it fails to live up to Mass Effect 1 and 2's level of quality. It fails to live up to the Bioware standard. I hope that my feedback here is indeed heard as Jessica claims as I am a huge fan of the franchise. In fact after beating ME3 I've been feeling depressed, as if I had lost a loved one. Mass Effect means a lot to me. I cannot just stay quiet. Ok here we go:
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is the ending of ME3. I know this has been mentioned alot by my fellow Mass Effect fans, but  they are right in complaining and I support them to the fullest. When you meet The Catalyst, you are told to choose between three options, destroy the Reapers, control the Reapers, or synthesize. Being a paragon male Shepard , I felt that controlling the Reapers was the most selfless decision I could make. I spent perhaps a half hour weighing my options.

Shepard disintegrated and sacrificed his life to preserve all life in the galaxy, both organic and synthetic. I was REALLY HURT to seem him die. It really really shook me. In fact my younger sister cried for days! It really felt like we had lost a loved one! WE BOTH WANTED MY SHEPARD TO LIVE!!! In my desperation to save him, I experimented with the other two options, only to realize that in both options he DIES AS WELL! I felt as if my  freedom of choice was taken from me. I had hoped that the ending would not revolve around a predictable concept; a hero dying for others, but instead allowing the story to have a 'twist,' that although highly unlikely, Shepard 's incredible will and determination allows him to survive.

Bioware, I beg you, I implore you, PLEASE FIX THE ENDINGS!! They are too bland, brief, illogical, and raise more questions than answers. Let us end this game on a happy note and not in such a depressing one.Give us the option to save Shepard as a paragon, or renegade for that matter. Give us back our freedom to choose Shepards's fate. Give ME the option to allow Shepard to retire and spend time with his love interest in peace, but not necessarily preclude him from undergoing future missions.  Bioware if you truly love this masterful franchise and care deeply about us loyal fans who have supported Mass Effect from the very beginning, then please heed my words, our words.  I hope this critique is not taken personally but constructively in bettering a masterpiece.

[Whapa]

Changes I would make:

I'd bring back whoever wrote the ending for ME2, if they were gone. If not then ask them what they were on at the time. But in all seriousness I would change the following:

-EMS would matter besides just having enough to launch mission
Examples would be having cut-scenes of your allies digging deep and fighting (like the scenes in ME2) Having Captain Kirrahe and his squad fighting. Showing Grunt leading his squad like a horde of rampaging brutes crashing though on Kalikiosaurs (the ones that were cloned from side quest stuff) Showing the full power of some of the fleet dreadnaughts that you recovered, instead of just a few volleys of shots and flying through, but could actually show a taurian/asari/quarian ship crippled yet being commited enough to crash his ship into a reaper thus taking it down with them. (to continue to show sacrifice and not that the allied races are just rolling over things) Having Wrex tear a banshee up, Showing previous crew members fighting, showing current crew fighting, actually feeling like all the prep work you did was for something. Having the gangs from Aria doing something if you recruited them. Having an N7 Ops team of vets from multiplayer if you promoted enough to make a squad covering your squad in a battle (not necessary for anything just cool if you went multiplayer to up your rating)

- No Starchild stuff (unless the IT is correct in which case, thank you for deceiving me into buying an incomplete game <--Sarcasm here )
The choices you are presented with are in no way at all form following for Shepard in ANY of the games. Self sacrifice for the greater good sure, but feeling like you were forced into wiping galactic life out?? Felt like the Arrival DLC - HATED that choice, was a craptastic choice to be forced into. So the batarians were scum -ish but doing that to them was horrid. and based on previous games I was all for destroying the Reapers, but to know that it would wipe out the Geth as well??? Who if I wasn't mistaken were just barely granted consciousness not 5 hours before?? How does that mesh at all?

So yes I would add a "roll call" cinematic for everyone who was an important part of the games. But having endings where (even if Shepard died) you felt like the threat had been ended for something. Having Shepard commit galactic genocide on a scale that boggles the mind feels like a copout ending that was thrown together slapdash. And why would Joker be running?

I think i've passed the mark of rational thinking at this point again so if I have more will post later. The ending we have (red,blue,green) doesn't do ANY justice the characters and the stories that so many of us have come to enjoy and love.

Modifié par Phyrex82, 27 mars 2012 - 01:37 .

[Bored-WIzard]

Please make it easier to spot and talk to Matriarch Aethyta in the Citadel. I didn't see her the first time around.

[SovereignX6]

1. Fix the plot holes
2. A good moment with LI in the last scene or other.
3. Not much of a Tali fan but...at leas show her face. LEGIT this time, like how it was on the picture .
3. Full paragon ending - Full renegade ending and in between.

[V.Havelock]

I thought the resolution to genophage and Quarian/Geth conflicts were great in the game. The outcomes were dictated by multiple accumulated decisions from pass two games. I don't understand why the ending couldn't be like that.

I'm for more variety of endings, and Shepard doesn't need to be alive in all of them. Maybe just one if you are feeling generous, that (s)he won the war and live to tell the tale. We'll need one that actually provide 'real answers' to reapers' existence. And there's gotta be one ending that the Reapers just decimate everything and complete the cycle in record time (and by the spirit, goddess, mother of thresher maw, I actually prepare a gamesave of bad decisions b/c I was hoping to see this), and with something in between like he die as a martyr, or get TIM to give you the tech or the geth helps you to and trap the reapers and inevitably yourself into their consensus. There are so many ways to end this given the materials you guys have created over the years. To go down the path of space god is just down right disheartening.

Modifié par V.Havelock, 27 mars 2012 - 02:05 .

[elguapo64]

V.Havelock wrote...

I thought the resolution to genophage and Quarian/Geth conflicts were great in the game. The outcomes were dictated by multiple accumulated decisions from pass two games. I don't understand why the ending couldn't be like that.

This guy is dead on.  At the end of the day, it was still just a fork in the road.  It was a very binary proposition. Genophage cured or not cured.  Geth and Quarian at peace or at war.  That being said, despite the "on or off" premise, it incorporated a number of your earlier decisions.  Even without impacting the gameplay, per se, referencing the actions of a batarian ship or a geth ship or a squad of Krogan... even if just a token "shout out" that has a minimal actual impact is better than completely ignoring the collection of civilizations whose support you spent the ENTIRE game garnering.  

Then again, you could get creative.  Remember the frenetic defense of the Thanix missile battery used to take down the destroyer guarding the beam?  How about if you saved Wrex and cured the genophage your bacon is pulled out of the fire by a squad of friendly Krogan ten or fifteen seconds faster than the player who failed to do so?  

I don't know... the ship may have sailed for a touch like that.  As much as I'm upset by the ending, and as much as it is still bothering me days after beating the game, you all stuck us with the story.  It's hard to unring that bell.

While I'm all for adding the "shout outs" along the way, I think we're stuck with our ending - one way or another.  That being said, rather than supplant the ending you can at least supplement it.  Explain what we witnessed.  Normandy fleeing, mass military starvation in Sol, etc, etc.  It's trite by now, you already have to know the plot holes of which I'm thinking.

Maybe my Shepard is selfish after all, but forget the Mass Relays.  Is my Shepard, battered and bruised but alive on Earth, forever separated from Ashley?  His only romance through the three games, and the girl he just had the heart to heart with on the Citadel re: taking their relationship to the next level?  The galaxy, given time and the copious amounts of reaper tech left lying around after my "red wave of awesome", will reverse engineer their way back to success.  A fat lot of good that will do my geriatric or long deceased Shepard or the Gilligan's Isle Ashley.  If I have to relatively weight my qualms, that is one of the biggest.

[Rick Lewis]

I'd like to see mini games and diving sections make a return even if it was only for a DLC mission like "Firebase Walker" and "Project Overlord" in ME 2.

[Chrislo1990]

In my earlier post I had briefly mentioned how the ending to Masss Effect 3 provided more questions then answers. Here are my questions:

1.) As had been established in the Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC, destroying a mass effect relay would unleash an incredible amount of energy, akin to that of a supoernova, that would decimate an eniter solar system. If this were true, then I fail to see how my crew, indeed all life in the galaxy, did not instantly vaporize upon the destruction of the mass relays in the ending. Did Bioware completely ignore canon or what? I just don't understand! This makes absolutely no sense. It gives me the impression that Bioware writers did not care enough to adhere to established concepts. 

2.) How in the world was your crew,  of whose members can vary, flying in the Normandy when they were busy fighting a ground war in London only a while ago? One would think would have the courage to stay and fight the Reapers along with the rest of the galactic species, and not run from them. No explanation is offered as to why this is.

3.) What is the origin of the the Catalyst? What created it? Why did it it allow Shepard, a simple organinc, decide the fate of an entoire galaxy? One would think that the catalyst could have simply left Shepard to bleed out at the control panel in the Citadel and continue with the harvsting of organinc life by the Reapers unimpeded. 

4.) it is depicted that Joker and the crew survive the crashlanding of the Normandy on a jungle planet. How in the world will they get back home without the Mass relays? Also why is my love interest who had just prclaimned her love for me  before I left for the final battle not seem worried or distraught about me?  No emotion is depicted as she exits the Normandy. Hell some crying would have done the trick. It's as if what we had was just a  fling and nothing more. This really disturbed me.

5.) How did Anderson manage to make it to the Citadel when he was nowhere to be seen during the push toward the Conduit? He states that he was behind Shepard as he limped toward the beam, but in the background you can hear over the radio that the entire team has been decimated by Harbinger's beam. I fail to see the logic here as well..

6.) Why did Shepard not question the catalyst in depth? Why did he simply accept every word it said? Shepard is o much smarter than that. He knew so much about the Reapers. He's spoken to them directly. The only human to do so.

7.) How did Hackett know Shepard was at the Citadel if, as I said,earlier, it was reported over the radio that the entire team had been decimated. Hackett couldn't have known he had made it.

8.) And of course most important of all why is there so little varitety with the endings? They are 95 percent identical with the exception of the color of the energy unleashed from the crucible being either, red blue, or green and some minor details. It is soooooooo disapponting and lazy in part by Bioware. You can't afford that luxury when yu intend to provide a satisfying conclusion to Shepard's story. Also why am I forced to die in every  option taken. Where is the freedom of choice to survive the consequences of my action? If I wish to be paragon and survive, why can't I? It isn't fair and contradicts with Bioware's promise of varitey in the conclusion of Shepard's story.

As you can see there are so many plot holes and conflicting ideas in this game. I just hope that Bioware will take me and my fellow fans seriously enough to drastically change the ending in accordance with our desires. After all, Casey said that we too were integral  in the shaping of Mass Effect 3's story. I hope he proves this to us this time around.

Modifié par Chrislo1990, 27 mars 2012 - 02:59 .

[Zemore]

 


heres my suggestion 

[SpartanCommander]

Since most people are shouting about being defiant with the choices given then I would have to agree.

Defying the choices would come at a horrible cost of life but maybe open a new option since the Crusiable is connected to all the reapers Shepard may not need to sacrifice himself but find a way to cause all the reapers to loose their barriers and give the Fleet a fighting chance.

Besides a better sweet ending would have a greater effect than any of the ones we were given by showing all the dead after the battle and cut scenes of the massive memorial ceremonies to honor all the dead that sacrificed themselves. That would be more emotion pulling than what were were given and even much more meaningful.

Also it would even be good to show an epilogue where Shepard is in the celebration of the confirmation that All Reapers are dead. Then you would have a massive victory party where entire worlds are celebrating Like you would have VE day in WWII.

Sorry if this sounds like mocking and such but you would have figured out these things if you watched WWII documentary video's on the war and after it. Especially the bitter sweet notes on the endings of the battles and the war. A bitter sweet ending doesn't mean sacrificing what your fighting for to beat an enemy or ruining a galaxy or killing the main character. A bitter sweet ending to it's greatest effect is that you survived and how you have to take in the number of casualties with the operation.

To be honest I didn't feel much bitter sweet about the ending when I was presented with the options I actually felt insulted because I just knew this thing was giving me 3 options that the Reapers wanted. This war was about stopping them not doing what the Reapers deemed nessisary. The fact that they have the option of Destroying them means that the Reapers planned on this. I pretty much wanted to shout no to each one and then look for a forth. When each ending played out...well I couldn't feel any emotional response I was just confused.

I hope this isn't a text wall when I have something to say I get over board.

[Chrislo1990]

SpartanCommander wrote...

Since most people are shouting about being defiant with the choices given then I would have to agree.

Defying the choices would come at a horrible cost of life but maybe open a new option since the Crusiable is connected to all the reapers Shepard may not need to sacrifice himself but find a way to cause all the reapers to loose their barriers and give the Fleet a fighting chance.

Besides a better sweet ending would have a greater effect than any of the ones we were given by showing all the dead after the battle and cut scenes of the massive memorial ceremonies to honor all the dead that sacrificed themselves. That would be more emotion pulling than what were were given and even much more meaningful.

Also it would even be good to show an epilogue where Shepard is in the celebration of the confirmation that All Reapers are dead. Then you would have a massive victory party where entire worlds are celebrating Like you would have VE day in WWII.

Sorry if this sounds like mocking and such but you would have figured out these things if you watched WWII documentary video's on the war and after it. Especially the bitter sweet notes on the endings of the battles and the war. A bitter sweet ending doesn't mean sacrificing what your fighting for to beat an enemy or ruining a galaxy or killing the main character. A bitter sweet ending to it's greatest effect is that you survived and how you have to take in the number of casualties with the operation.

To be honest I didn't feel much bitter sweet about the ending when I was presented with the options I actually felt insulted because I just knew this thing was giving me 3 options that the Reapers wanted. This war was about stopping them not doing what the Reapers deemed nessisary. The fact that they have the option of Destroying them means that the Reapers planned on this. I pretty much wanted to shout no to each one and then look for a forth. When each ending played out...well I couldn't feel any emotional response I was just confused.

I hope this isn't a text wall when I have something to say I get over board.

No man feel free to express yourself. Anyway Like I  said before I don't understand why Bioware forces us to have Shepard die!! What's wrong with having an ending where he does survive and takes part in some sort of victorious celebration. He was under so much stress. The entirre galaxy laid on his shoulders. I mean he is incredible, but he is still only human. He deservres to take a break with his loved one after defeating the Reapers. I don't even consider synthesis as an option. It's ridiculous.  

[logan23tom78]

It would be a twist is for say the Illusive man actually does succeed on some level of controlling the Reapers or breaking their signals- From the Capital ship Reapers to the lower level Destroyers and Husk class. Even if this happens for a time being. Also this would give Shepard the opportunity to get to the beam

[Lucir]

I was instructed to post this link in this forum on how the endings could have been improved. These are Paragon endings for the following three love interests: Liara, Ashley, and Tali.

You'll find the endings here: http://social.biowar...5/index/9792751

[jarms48]

Lucir wrote...

I was instructed to post this link in this forum on how the endings could have been improved. These are Paragon endings for the following three love interests: Liara, Ashley, and Tali.

You'll find the endings here: http://social.biowar...5/index/9792751

Support Bump.

[connor28]

Here are my thoughts on how I would have liked the ending to play out

Working with the idea shepard was indoctrinated or is in the process of indoctination everything should be kept the same right up in till the players meeting with the so called "god child" the player is still given the three options to try control the reapers, combining organics and synthetics or destroying the reapers  howerver this is where things change

should the player choose

Option 1: To try and control the reapers
Shepard is fully indoctrinated and believes the "god child" when told that he can control the reaper the scene plays out the same until shepard takes hold of the energy beams shepard begins to kill as before however nothing happens the reapers continue attacking the scene changes to ground force being overun the scene switches back to shepard where admiral hacket is stating that humanities last hope turned out to be a failure the game end with shepard dying still believing that that he can controll the reaper, scene of earth and the wrecage of destroyed ships and just as the screen begins to turn black a piece of wreckage with Normandy written on Drifts by.


Option 2: Synthesis
Shepard is fully indoctrinated and believes the "god child" when told that this will bring peace the scene plays out with shepard throwing himself into energy beam as before sending out the green pulse which travelles through all the mass relays without destorying them however rather than bringing peace it simply fast tracks the reapers victory as the pulse not only synthesizes organics it also indoctrinates them leaving them under reaper control game ends with reapers returning to dark space as if to wait for new organic life to evolve and begin the cycle again.


Option 3: Destroy the reapers
Shepard is breaks free of the indoctination despite being told by the "god child" that this will not only reapers but will also destroy the geth as well also killing him/her being part sythetic, he/she chooses to destroy them any way choosing to sacrifice himself to save humanity the game then changes scene show shepard being pulled out from under some rubble by the players sqaudmates (being whoever you had from the previous mission)  the player as takes control of shepard and begins to move toward the portal as before. Once shepard reaches the he/she is transported with their sqaud, once aboard shepard will recieve a message from anderson who had already beamed up, the player will then proceed onward fighting off a number husks and various other types of reaper along the way the player finds anderson and both proceed toward the control room where the illusive man is already waiting for them however he has no intrest in trying to convince shepard to his way of thinking but would rather just eliminate shepard squad once and for all a fire fight erupts anderson is shot and illusive man is killed shepard checks on anderson and proceeds to use the console to begin activate the crucible at which point harbinger appears outside off the window and proceeds to tell shepard his/her attempt stop the reapers were all in vain and is about to open fire on crucible when suddenly the normady makes an attack on harbinger distracting long enough for shepard to activate crucible but getting hit in the process and having to crash land on earth the crucible fire pulse that severely weakens all reaper forces and leaving all mass relays intact. Depending on the players war assets effects how the game ends if the players war assets are low then the reapers will still win if the player has medium to high war assets the reapers will be destroyed shepard sits with anderson and watch as the last of reapers are wiped out the screen fades to black to reveal shepard on the normandy several months later the player gets new dialogue options with squad mate and new dialogue options and romance scene with the players love intrest as well as having new side missing to search for survivors, dealing with the remenants of cerberus.

while this may be what everyone else wants but as i said this how would like to play out like or at least something those lines so that is at least some veriety between the endings

[Atomic Waffle]

ThePasserby wrote...

I'll keep it simple.

1. Shepard is an epic hero, not a tragic hero. Epic heroes have epic endings.

There is nothing that sets Shepard up as being fatally flawed or having committed a flawed act. Many of us, especially Paragon Shepards, play him as an epic hero. As such, the expectations that the player brings to the game is one that includes an epic ending, not one in which Shepard perishes in his bid to achieve what is at best a pyrrhic victory.

2. The ME series are games, and as games, players want to win.

Shepard single-handedly destroying the galactic economy and stranding the biggest armada ever assembled in the Sol system is not winning; it is a pyrrhic victory. In other words, he gave his life to secure a doubtful win.

3. Follow conventional story structure. You don't have to break away from it just to be "artistic"

It worked for ME1, didn't it? Keep to the structure:

i. The setting and introduce main characters.

ii. Rising action

iii. Climax

iv. Falling action

v. Resolution (<----- Not the right place to introduce new characters and plot devices)
 
4. Make players' choices matter. Don't negate them with an ending that drastically alters the galaxy and putting them in question

The quarian and geth peace is all for naught when they can't get back home, for example.

Yes. This guy understands. Is it too much to ask that we're allowed to win the game? And by "win" I mean Shepard lives, and overwhelmingly defeats the Reapers. He should get to enjoy the fruits of his labor.