7052 réponses à ce sujet

[rianna]

First of all, thank you for stickying this thread. It's good to see we're being heard. Many of us have done our best to keep discussions productive and reasonable. We're in it for the long haul. Now here's what I have to say about the game:

Most of Mass Effect 3 is beautiful. My Tumblr dashboard is constantly full of screen shots, videos, and sound clips of all the moments that make players laugh and cry. That's why the game's failure to provide a meaningful ending threw everybody for a loop. It came out of nowhere and ruined not only this game but the entire series for me in ten minutes.

* We were promised that the necessary EMS for the "best" ending would be reachable without using multiplayer. This is currently impossible or so close as to make no difference. That is... really not okay. Please change the EMS requirements so that all outcomes can be achieved through SP gameplay alone. It doesn't have to be easy, just possible through completing all side missions and such.

* On the topic of war assets, I would like to see them matter as more than numbers on a screen. Not a top priority, but it would be nice.

* The Normandy crashing thing just plain has to go. No part of it makes sense, from Joker abandoning the fight to my LI looking happy/calm on a deserted planet while Shepard may be dead. The Stargazer sequence won't get any weirder (and really, what a waste of the amazing Buzz Aldrin for that cliché-laden conversation) without the crash as context. Just throw it out.

* I realize completely scrapping the Crucible scene would be difficult, so I'll just say it must include
more options for Shepard. The Mass Effect series has shown over and over that there's always another option. Shepard should be able to refuse the Catalyst and/or convince the Catalyst that it is wrong about synthetics. Shepard's friendship with EDI and the possibility to bring peace between Quarians and the Geth are excellent counter-examples to the Catalyst's arguments. Let the player use them. There is no reason why Shepard should just accept anything that little brat says. Let us fight. I want to win this war, not just limp along and do whatever some hologram tells me. Shepard needs to yell/punch (Para/Ren) her way to the results she wants, just like she always has. This also means there should be more outcomes where Shepard can survive, and I’m not talking about this “figure in N7 armor takes a breath in the rubble” nonsense. Most of the major species in the game have lost their home planets, so it’s not like Shepard and the crew surviving somehow makes the ending “too happy.” The whole galaxy is in shambles no matter what we do. I just want Shepard and the squad to help rebuild it.

* Not all options should result in the destruction of the mass relays. It’s established lore that FTL flight takes too long to be practical for galactic travel, which means thousands of people are trapped in the vicinity of the Sol system with only devastated planets nearby. The implications are pretty horrifying.

* We need to see the effects of Shepard’s choice on both macro and micro levels. What happens to the galaxy? What happens to the species with whom Shepard has interacted? What happens to the crew and the LI? Additionally, a Shepard who survives should be able to reunite with their LI in a way the player can see. Doesn’t have to be a cinematic or cutscene; even a piece of still art would suffice. Dragon Age Origins did a great job of showing consequences through the epilogue slides and the coronation conversations. Surely Mass Effect could do something similar? Oh, and hey, how about not shafting the players who romanced an ME2 or ME3 character? If I’m dating Steve, I’d rather the game didn’t act like I’m with Liara.

* If anybody is keeping some sort of tally on preferences for the “indoctrination theory,” I don’t care for it at all. But if that’s the only way to make a new/expanded ending workable, then so be it. It’s still better than what’s on the disc right now.

I should also say that I will not purchase any ME3 DLC until there is a DLC or patch to change this disastrous ending sequence. I would be willing to pay for a “fix-it” DLC. I just want to love these games again. I have at least six more Shepards I want to create, but when all roads lead to meaningless pseudo-philosophy and color-swapped identical endings I don’t see the point. If the ending is not corrected, I will not be purchasing any Bioware games or merchandise in the future.

Modifié par rianna, 17 mars 2012 - 07:04 .

[ssyyllaarr]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just make it right.

@RetakeME3 - We will hold the line

[Gaudion]

The underlying problem effecting the entire game's narrative was the ambiguity of the script. We were promised that our decisions would play in matters ranging from the subtle to the severe, but instead, we were delivered a one-size-fits-all script.

For example, the scene where Tali is drinking after Sanctuary: Is Miranda dead? Is Tali upset about that, or about the similarities between herself and Miranda. Is it both? Why would it be harder on a romancing male Shephard? Because Miranda is dead, or because she didn't come with him?

You can probably see what I'm getting at. There is absolutely no way to know by watching the scene. The entire conversation, including the extra line for romance, is delivered in the past tense (which has dire implications) but is vague enough to fit every conceivable possibility, completely removing the players' decisions from the equation. And this problem is present in countless, if not constant, scenes throughout the entire game.

That this also applies to romances, which I believe most people to consider one of the more major defining choices of the game, is at best lazy and at worst a snubbing. While some are closed and out-of-character (Jacob, Thane), others (Miranda, Jack, Tali) seem fairly good... until you see the non-romance versions of the same scenes and realize how very little difference there is.

The lack of impact from decisions not only diminishes the immersion of the player, it completely obliterates replay value. My first play through was with Miranda. Why should I play through again for Tali when I've already seen 95% of the content because of ambiguous did-I-or-didn't-I dialogue? I thoroughly enjoyed the actual gameplay, but after having seen what the narrative has to offer I've got zero desire to play through again or buy DLC.

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

My attempt at advice/help/whatever is as follows:

Bring romanced partners aboard the Normandy. It's not necessary that they be party members; you should be able to find something for them to do. The life support room is still empty; throw Thane in there. He's already mentioned that his disease is slowing him down, so there's no need to make him a party member, and there's no reason why he couldn't survive his stab wound from the Citadel. There is an empty seat to the left of Joker in the cockpit; a good place for Miranda. She's obviously a very intelligent individual with technical skills, and could support from there without becoming a party member. Jack, Samara... This seems like a reasonable quick-fix that could be applied to every potential romance partner in the game with low-budget changes to the narrative. This would allow you to explore further issues and dialogue with them (Miranda's inability to have children, Thane's son, Jack's mother, etc.) as well as set them up for the expected pre-final-mission romance scene. They could even talk to you over the intercom during missions like Joker and EDI do.

Modifié par Gaudion, 17 mars 2012 - 06:22 .

[Billabong2011]

Skyblade012 wrote...

Blackmind1 wrote...

Darknessfalls23 wrote...

I been thinking about, the people that want Shepard to live versus the people that are fine with Shepard dying, I think you could have a paragon option to save prevent from shooting Anderson but it will lead to your own death instead Then getting rid of the Star child and three magical choices ending because that's what bothers most of us.

I liked the star child and the philosophical questions he brought up. It just felt a little out of place.

It was out of place.  He can exist, sure.  Just not in Mass Effect.  They can stick him in some other game or series.  Somewhere he belongs, where he doesn't tear apart the characters and the game's themes and basic principles.  He needs to be wiped from the ME universe though.  He does not belong here.

I have to say, I really, really agree with this, all of it. He was just so out of place it was...nauseatingly apparent. Very disconcerting throughout the entire game. It really jarred me and removed me from the experience whenever he made an appearance. And the last thing a video game company wants is to interrupt the player's immersion.

[Examurai]

[quote]darkshadow136 wrote...


4. Galactic readiness should not be effected in the single player campaign by Multiplayer. There is a reason no other game has done this, since not everyone like Multiplayer. A person should be able to achieve 100% galactic readiness without being forced to play Multiplayer.

[quote]

Examurai1 wrote...

This is one of the main points I want to bring up, we were told that we don't have to play MP to get the perfect ending but I guess that was just a lie.  Some people, like me, aren't able to go online because either our internet is just really crappy or some technical issue regarding the net or area network in general.
Lucky for me though I'm at least able to get DLC but that is it. Afterall Mass Effect was brought out as a main singleplayer Exp where MP was not important. It should be considered a 'bonus' but that is it, shouldn't affect SP at all.
And regarding the ending, well, alot of people already said what they would like, and all of it I agree on so there is no need for me to write anything else.

Modifié par Examurai1, 17 mars 2012 - 06:23 .

[Omega Torsk]

BobbyTheI wrote...

I said it in the last thread, I'll say it again.

http://www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/

Print it out. Put it on a wall in a conference room somewhere. Sit the writers and development team down and ask them, "How can we address each of these issues?"

^ THIS

If y'all truly want concise and organized reasons as to why we're all on the warpath, the majority of them are bundled together and neatly wrapped up in that link.

And, imho, there should be at least one ending where Shepard lives and is promised a future with his/her LI. Yes, it's cliche and extremely Hollywood... but it was an ending I wish I could've at least chosen to have...

[nikola8]

Bioware has already said that they're going to make more games in the Mass Effect universe, just not more games with Shepard, and that our ME3 save file will carry into other games. I'm therefore assuming that there is no epilogue because they're going to make another game (not a sequel, more of a spinoff) where we "write" the epilogue (maybe a Kaiden/Ashley protagonist- they did just become a Spectre). Also, it seems apparent that whatever the future of the ME universe is, they want the relays gone.

That said, I felt that the whole situation with Aria on the Citadel was unresolved, and a "Retake Omega DLC" pack would fill that quite nicely.

[TheOriginalGoochman]

Make our choices matter........let us see the outcome of what we achieved (or destroyed) in our time as Commander Shepard be shown/a part of the ending. Each as a big part....not just as a "oh this happened too....but significant"

I actually believe you guys may be going the indoctrination route (especially with the wee hint you dropped in a specific "Red color" scene.....I should say I take a BREATH in excitement.
But yeah I LOVE the indoctrination idea......kick the starchild out of the picture, keep the mass relays intact, and have Shepard wake up and continue the Final Battle......WITHOUT any unbelievable "StarChild" (that take away from the immersion of a believable/realistic future)

Of course give us closure, show us what happens as a result of a choices.....Show us in different ways to make us say "WOW so that is a result of doing this and this back during this" I wonder how things will play out if I do this, this and this instead" Different outcomes for each of the different big choices we made.

While it would be awesome if somehow Shepard lived.....but he/she doesn't have to. We know the ending doesnt have to be rainbows and unicorns. But it does have to be something that makes us go MY TIME AS COMMANDER SHEPARD was badass........I accomplished this and this is the result.......my choices influenced the galaxy in this way after my victory (and maybe in the worst possible outcome ending...defeat). I (I say I because the player who followed this series since 1 has become Commander Shepard.......The player is connected to his/her crew.......they are the hero of the citadel) made these choices and they influenced the galaxy in this way.

Make the endings different, unique for each big choice (and small tweaks for the smaller choices).......every shepard saved the galaxy in his or her own different way.......and there are A LOT of Commander Shepards out there

(Also if you do let us live.....have our LI be significant in the ending please)

Thank you for this awesome thread.....that is what I would love to see.

Finally.........I again support the indoctrination theory from all the clues left in the *shudder**cough**hopefully fake*ending*cough*.....I take a deep BREATH in anticipation

[ClydeDroid]

So many people in this thread have already said what I want to say so eloquently, so I'll keep it brief:
To the fans that have invested so much of their time, so many emotions, and so much of their spirit into the Mass Effect series, the current ending as it stands is a horrible contradiction of all of the choices we've made, all of the themes you have developed, and all of the relationships we've created. Not only is this incredibly unsatisfying, but it is a downright travesty to the utter masterpiece that was the story of Commander Shepard. THAT is why the ending just doesn't work.

You had an amazing opportunity, Bioware. You had the chance to go down in history as the writers of one of the most brilliant storytelling experiences ever created. Instead, you blew it. I hope there's still time to fix your mistake.

[Haiyato]

My wishlist

I want the war assets to show up. I want to see a battle with everyone essentially. You can still have your herioc death. You can still take control or synthesis. I would like an optional happy endding though. That means Shepard bloody and bruised but alive who saved the galaxy leaving with his LI and his crew. Because quite honestly I want shepard and her LI to be together in the end. yes rainbows and unicorns lol. Then there should be a follow up to see what happened with the choices you made. Do the geth and quarians remain peaceful. Did curing the genophage provide a bigger problem. What happened to so and os and such.



I come to these games to escape reality so yes I would like the optional happy ending.

[jselman]

Jennifer,

This thread has generated like a gazillion responses in a few hours, so I'm sure you're inundated with opinions and requests by now. I'm sure it's not unique, but I'll throw my own perspective into the mix anyway:

While it was not perfect, the first 99% of the game felt *exactly* how I pictured the fight with the Reapers to feel -- stories of small victories amidst greater tragedies, the interspecies conflicts threatening to derail Shepard's attempts to unify the war effort, and the smaller-scale stories of friendship, love, and loss in the midst of a struggle to survive. It felt like Mass Effect 2, but with higher stakes and a more immediate threat. I loved the atmosphere; what really nailed it for me was the overheard conversations on the Citadel, the manner in which the "average citizen" was attempting to cope with circumstances way out of their control. This was a war movie in which I could take a role, and not just of a soldier but also a leader who made tough calls and rallied troops, loved and sacrificed, and walked away with scars both physical and emotional. Shepard became a 3D character for really the first time -- it was great.

The ending quite simply did not fit. The tone and flavor was taken from abstact, cerebral sci-fi. It may have worked for a different franchise, but Mass Effect had until this point been a very straightforward narrative. The 90 degree turn into the metaphysical was just the wrong call for the story. I was prepared for a less-than-happy ending, though to be honest I can't understand why you *wouldn't* let there be a "happy" one -- so much suffering has occurred by that point anyway that even if everyone survived post-Star-Child it would have been bittersweet.

However, the 5 minutes that followed were both unexpected and completely unsatisfying: Joker and Shepard in particular acted way out of character, our impact on the endgame was minimal at best, lore ret-conned in the eleventh hour, and new characters and concepts introduced at the climax (!). Most importantly (to me), the literary themes thrown around were inconsistent with those established in the 2.99 games that came before -- it feels like the endgame writing was handled by a totally different writing team (who was also new to the series!).

Put simply: Imagine if, at 95% of the way through Saving Private Ryan, Morpheus shows up and gives Tom Hanks the Matrix reveal?

Thanks for listening, Jennifer; I know you and your team have worked like crazy to get the best possible product out and the messages you're receiving must be painful. I ask you guys to take a vacation, decompress a little -- and then do right by your fans.

Modifié par jselman, 17 mars 2012 - 06:26 .

[Darthlawsuit]

In ME1 Sovereign said the reapers goals were beyond my understanding.

In ME3 Star Child said "We want to kill organics so synthetics cannot wipe out organics" I understand what they said even though it is a paradox and any basic machine/computer/AI would find that as a logical impossibility. Therefore such reasoning cannot exist.

I want a reasoning so complex and morally confusing that it will be a VERY VERY tough choice. The whole dark energy theory was a really good method. Combine it with an evolution theory and you got yourself an ending:

Organics have tendencies to subjugate and exploit other organics. You can see with the Protheans how they took over the galaxy and forced all organics to follow their laws and rules. In effect they stopped the natural cycle of evolution for their own goals. If they were allowed to continue no organic species would ever be able to evolve or change, they would merely be subjects of the Protheans. In order to allow the natural cycle of evolution to continue we must exterminate the current galactic power so that others may rise and evolve.

There is also another reason. When the mass effect is used it releases dark energy. Dark energy dissipates from the galaxy at a very slow pace. When it reaches critical levels it will radiate all organic life in the galaxy, eventually killing ALL life in the galaxy. In order to prevent such a thing we must harvest all species capable of using the mass effect every 50,000 years and give it time to dissipate before it reaches critical levels in the next cycle. We store the DNA of all of the species in our bodies to show that they existed and still exist. Organics must be harvested in order to allow organics to survive or else they will all be destroyed. 

During the construction of a Reaper massive amounts of dark energy are consumed so we also prevent the galaxy from being destroyed, but it requires the harvesting of organics.

Modifié par Darthlawsuit, 17 mars 2012 - 06:28 .

[Madcat 124]

 Goodness, please change the Ending. Keep the old ones, but add more please.

In the better endings please don't make Technology and the mass relays die. As for my Shepard and the crew, I could care less about them dying, but wwhen you destroy the whole ME universe it kinda ruins the series for me...

[gunslinger_ruiz]

While I wouldn't say I "hated" the endings they were definitely missing closure for a lot of us. Growing so close to my teammates I'd be happy if I got to see where most of my squad/former squad ended up in the galaxy down the road assuming they survived the war. Examples: Tali on Rannoch walking around taking in all the sights of Quarian and Geth working together, Wrex and "Eve" finding a new Krogan homeworld to raise their young, Vega joining/completing the N7 program, Shepard and LI taking some time off from saving the galaxy somewhere sunny near the ocean, or LI and Shepard's children running around at said place if Shepard doesn't make it, The same goes for ME2 squad members that have survived, and even non-squad characters like Cortez and Dr. Chakwas, or Bailey and the Council.

When I started the game I was secretly hoping there would be an ending where all the prominent characters gather together somewhere special and just catch up years down the road from the endings. Maybe toast to the fallen, toast to Shepard, to peace, etc. Although that does seem a little childish to think about a game that laregly takes place around galactic annihilation of all advanced organics.

Modifié par gunslinger_ruiz, 17 mars 2012 - 06:28 .

[Joykilledme]

ssyyllaarr wrote...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just make it right.

@RetakeME3 - We will hold the line

I agree with this man. Please Bioware.

[Billabong2011]

I take back my original post -- this link is my manifesto.
http://www.gamefront...fans-are-right/
((Credit goes to BobbyTheI for reminding me of this brilliant article))

Modifié par Billabong2011, 17 mars 2012 - 06:27 .

[VivaLaWhatsername]

Hydralysk wrote...

I'm sure my opinion has been echoed by many people but here it is anyways.

Up until you get hit by Harbinger's beam ME3 is fine, there some issues with the cover mechanics being too slippery but you nailed the writing right up until that point. You did a fantastic job with the story up till that point and you should be commended on that. That said I'll start my criticism.

First point: There are a number of inconsitencies/plot holes in the ending, many of which are listed in the gamerant article that I'm sure you've all seen by now. First and foremost the mass relays blowing up and not causing a supernova, which is what we were all told up until the end would ineveitably happen. I saw Jessica tweet that the explosion is supposed to be a different kind of explosion, but that's not something that should be told on twitter after the fact. If you are going to change established cannon you need to at least explain why in the game itself, counting on your audience to assume that is not acceptable. I may be sounding harsh here but you must be able to understand how telling us "No, you see this is a different kind of explosion" in the 11th hour sounds like a pretty hollow explanation.

The second big plot hole is the teleporting squadmates. I heard in the Final Hours that the squadmates with you during the final rush were supposed to be killed, and I have to ask, why did you change that? Yes it would be sad, but given the incredibly bleak outcome we get in every ending (more on this later) I don't see how tragic deaths could make things worse. You even said at the beginning of the final mission something along the lines of "Be careful who you choose for your squad", so it's not like squadmember deaths were going to come out of the blue. As we have it now, we are forced to assume Joker apparently teleports them onto the ship off screen which might not be as sad, but also makes much less sense.

The third big plot hole is the god-child. The whole "Reapers (synthetics) kill/harvest organic species to stop them from creating and being killed by synthetics" doesn't really make any sense. You spent an entire earlier plotline showing the Quarian (organic creators) fighting their geth children (synthetics), and through my choices I was able to forge peace and willful cooperation between them proving that this theory doesn't hold up. EDI is another example of a synthetic that goes on to show she not only values organic life, she views them as friends and in Joker's case a lover. Now I've heard an argument that the villains (in this case the reaper commander) regularly believe in flawed logic, as is displayed by Saren in ME and TIM in ME3. This is true but Shepard was able to refute both their claims and tell them to their face "You're wrong that just doesn't make sense", the whole point of villains having flawed logic is so that the protagonist can refute that logic. Shepard however just calmly accepts the god-child's claims despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary and the fact that he is talking to the proverbial king reaper.  Every other exchange with the reapers (Sovereign, Harbinger, destroyer on Rannoch) had Shepard refuting the reapers claims, right up until the one moment where it really mattered.

Second point: In the statement Casey issued he stated "We always intended that the scale of the conflict and the underlying theme of sacrifice would lead to a bittersweet ending—to do otherwise would betray the agonizing decisions Shepard had to make along the way. Still, we wanted to give players the chance to experience an inspiring and uplifting ending; in a story where you face a hopeless struggle for basic survival, we see the final moments and imagery as offering victory and hope in the context of sacrifice and reflection."

Now this is perfectly fine. I would personally like there to be a happier ending as an option, since up until this point the whole Paragon Shepard routine seemed to be that of an idealist whose idealism worked out in the end because this is a game universe where the unlikeliest miracle outcome could, and often is actually more likely, to happen. However I'm not opposed to Shepard having to die in all outcomes, even though in the 'best' ending he can survive for some unexplained reason, but in order for Shepard's sacrifice to work we actually need what you called an "inspiring and uplifting ending" , and unfortunately that's the exact opposite of what we got. Each ending has Shepard make his choice, 'die' in one of 3 ways, and then we get a scene of the relays blowing up with whatever color you picked. Now I won't go into too much detail since it's definitely been mentioned  before, but this implies a horribly depressing future for the universe. You have not only destroyed the supply line for every ship in the armada you brought with you to earth, but also every single colony in the galaxy. The only logical conclusion to this monumental event which no one was coming is that there will soon be mass starvation and civil war on any planet that was not already on or near a planet that was self-sufficient. Far from seeing "the final moments and imagery as offering victory and hope in the context of sacrifice and reflection" we are forced to conclude that through Shepard's actions the galaxy is doomed to a period of incredible strife and suffering, and unless you take the most insanely optimistic view ever reflection on this only makes it seem more likely. This isn't even mentioning the fact that, since Turians/Quarians are not able to eat the same food as the rest of the crew, depending on the type of planet you crashed on either Garrus and Tali or the entire rest of the crew will inevitably starve.

Third point: We have absolutely no closure on any of the characters and races in the game. I don't think anyone could realistically expect fully in-engine scenes for the characters and races detailing exactly what happened to them in the near future. However, we at least expected something along the lines of DA:O endings where we get a short paragraph detailing the gist of how the fates of the MAJOR characters and MAJOR plotlines you influenced along your journey played out. As it stands, once you get hit by the beam all the choices you've made along the 3 games you played to get there cease to exists for all intents and purposes. All we get is a fatalistic and incredibly vague ending that is in no way influenced by or even reflects our previous actions. Frankly, after putting in all that time and agonizing over so many choices it just feels like a kick in the teeth that none of it influences the outcome of this trilogy (except the EMS #). This is the reason I can't even bring myself to play through ME3 again, even when I must've replayed ME-ME2 a half dozen times at least. How am I supposed to feel any weight to any decision I make when I know that in the end any decision I do make will not be referenced or expanded upon at all? The only REAL contribution I can make to influence how it all pans out is through a progress bar.

Now the hard part, how would I go about fixing this.

First: Get rid of the scene of Joker getting marooned on a mystery planet thing. If you absolutely need to have the "trying to outrun the blast" scene for flair have it happen in sub FTL speeds in orbit around Earth. Basically have Joker crash on Earth rather than the Mystery Planet. That way you sidestep the question of why Joker was running from the fight while simultaneously giving the crew of the normandy a potentially brighter fate than having the survivors live out their lives as hermits on an unknown world.

Second: If you must keep the god child we need to option to point out the flaws in his logic and refuse to obey him. Here's a deviantart user who came up with an ending which gives an acceptable outcome to this where if you have an incredibly high EMS score you can win through martial might, preferably only if you have enough reputation to pull off a 'Rally the Troops' speech. If you don't have a high enough EMS score and chose refuse, then you lose the war and you get a voice over saying the reapers won and are exterminating the galaxy, all hope is lost. Or maybe only unlock the refuse option if your EMS is high enough to win it in the first place so you don't need to spend time on the bad ending. Even if he wins you can justify Shepard dying by him succumbing to his wounds like Anderson, and a final scene with him dying with a smile on his face while seeing the Reapers are being routed would nail the tragic-but-beautiful ending much better than him being disintegrated.

Now I realize that this clashes with "We can't defeat them through martial might" theme stated throughout the game, so I'll give you my second option: you can convince the god-child of his logical fallacies if you have a maxed reputation (maybe add EMS into this if you want, i.e. you can only convince the god-child if your forces pose enough of a threat to him or the sight of so many inspires him). Given that the god child never expected an organic to make it there in the first place, it provides a decent enough reason for Shepard to point out that if he got that wrong his logic isn't as perfect as he believes. This gives him room to put doubt in the god-child's mind that this 'solution' of his is undeniably necessary. Once again you could justify Shepard dying from his wounds, but in this case smiling as the reapers stop enaging your allies and depart. Hell this even gives you cause to reuse the ending sequences where the reapers leave earth (blue/green explosion ending).

Both these endings wouldn't require the Mass Relays be destroyed and therefore wouldn't plunge the galaxy into an era of unnavoidable turmoil and death. As such they really would be "an inspiring and uplifting ending" which you seem to desire, and would be a much better reward for maxing EMS than a 2 second clip of Shepard taking a single breath in one of the endings.

Third: Give us closure in the same way DA:O did, a short paragraph detailing the outcome/fate of KEY choices/characters. This would probably be the easiest change to implement, and if you only take one of my suggestions out of these three to implement this one should take precedence. Show us that our choices throughout this trilogy had an impact on the galaxy instead of just telling us "sure you're actions mattered but we're not going to let you see why or how".

And there it is Bioware.

That's the best I can come up with past midnight running mainly on coffee. Now I know you guys are able to put out quality writing, everything up until the last few minutes of ME3 is a testament to that fact. The ending you gave us ended on a sour yellow note () though not just according to me but to a very large amount of people (won't throw around majority/minority in here because I don't have enough data not to be talking out of my ass) very unsatisfied. Give Mass Effect an ending it deserves. I love this series more than any other I can think of, and it kills me to know that as of right now I can't start up any chapter of the trilogy without a part of me thinking "What's the point if it's going to end horribly no matter what?".

I hope this gets read and considered because if ANY company can rectify this situation (which I'm sure is painful for both us and the developers) it would be the company who always says it listens to it's fans.

Keelah Se'lai

I agree with every single thing you say. This is a brillian post and I hope someone at Bioware pays attention to this. I wish I had a good way with words, because I would be able to say something along these lines, but this is good enough for me to just agree.

[Dybia]

 I just wanted many different endings that showed my choices mattered. For something to be different because I resolved this conflict this way. With what I was shown the only direction my imagination can go is nihilism. A dilapitated earth low on resourses with no long range ftl travel and the Citadel destroyed anyway. The Citadel seemed to be moved almost instantly to earth the moment you go to the Cerberus base, and since it gets destroyed we can go ahead with the assumption that pretty much all the characters we've gotten to know there are dead. If they didn't die when the Citadel blows up and they don't have Shepard's magic war asset armor they probably died when the remains of the Citadel fell to earth like the extended Destroy ending shows they did. With the massive size of the Citadel the remains had to have killed a lot of the survivors below.

I'll let the whole "Relays blowing up destroys the system" thing by because they overloaded sending the beams out to the next relay which is different from an asteroid colliding with the moving parts making it tear itself apart. The thing is though, why do our war assets make a difference in whether the signals burn the earth to a crisp? How does having an extra volus bombing fleet and a few imported vanguards from multiplayer stop the wave from destroying earth, but not in the relays getting destroyed? Just because?

Why can't the Catalyst take a few forms based on your personal Shepard? My Shepard was a colonist, sole survivor. Before ME1 he saw some of the worst atrocities and tragedies that could befall a human and he is still traumatized most by that little kid he talked to once? Not to mention in the trauma dreams throughout the game tragic stuff that could be in your past doesn't come up at all. So is Shepard just over Mindoir and Akuze now, but Kaiden's death still stings so bad?

I also hated that we see Javik come so far as a character, even giving you the echo shard to add your memories to, but that goes nowhere. Sorry Javik, looks like your priceless vessel of times gone by was inceinerated in the laser blast. We don't even get a "In his final moments Shepard adds his memories to the shard" kind of thing in the one ending where Shepard kind of lives. On that note Shepard realizes he's about to essentially kill himself to save the galaxy. Why not hail the Normandy, and tell them, or say goodbye to their love interest? Except mine was in the party with me, and I was so sure "She loves my Shepard. She would never ditch him in this most crucial moment!" except she did apparently. Then she somehow teleported to the Normandy for the Giligan's planet scene. So apparently just because the cutscene says so my Shepard's girlfriend not only leaves an injured Shepard behind, but she abandons the mission and turns tail even after Harbinger flies away instead of going for the beam. How does that make sense?

Unlike most people I don't care too much about the whole stock photo Tali thing, even though she was the one I romanced. I definitely resent you for it and feel like it was lazy, but whatever. That isn't a big issue in the game. If that's what you say she looks like that's what she looks like.

I'd really like for it to make sense in the game what was up with Joker running away like a chicken **** apparently, and then he looks all satisfied with himself on Gilligan's planet. All of the other ships in orbit around earth looked fine through the wave, so why run away like that? Especially at FTL speeds. Where the heck was he going? Even at FTL speeds it would take years for the Normandy to crash anywhere remotely habitable. That's why everyone was so convinced he had to be going through a mass relay. That and how the wave only seemed to be going in the straight beam form across the galaxy once it got out of the sol system.

So back to my original overall gripe. Every circumstance the ending gives me when I look closely to imagine from leaves me with no hope...no hope.

And yess that's different from demanding a happy ending. I want many different endings that make me want to replay the games again to get them. The endings can be bleak fine, but a little hope would make me like them a lot more. A little hope shown for the galaxy would go a long way. in some of them.

I do hold the common sentiment about the game though. The first like 95% of it was amazing. When an old character came back some emotion came over me. With Mordin and Thane I was sad they died, but dammit if I didn't feel satisfied wholely as I shed a single manly tear for both of them. I kept thinking to myself, "That is exactly how they would want to go." Then when I got Grunt's squad killed he just had me pumped up for his little rampage through the ravagers. Those little bastard bomb the hell out of me and kill me when I'm not fast enough but he just starts melleeing them to death. When he came out alive it felt awesome. The writers seem to have no issue writing character deaths.

Oh yeah, the quest tracking system sucks some serious ass. I know that doesn't sound constructive, but it really did take a step down in this game. I never really knew where to go for a specific quest, and spent a lot of time flying around for certain ones not even knowing that the system I was looking for was just arbitrarily not open to me yet.

[alkestis]

Billabong2011 wrote...

Skyblade012 wrote...

Blackmind1 wrote...

Darknessfalls23 wrote...

I been thinking about, the people that want Shepard to live versus the people that are fine with Shepard dying, I think you could have a paragon option to save prevent from shooting Anderson but it will lead to your own death instead Then getting rid of the Star child and three magical choices ending because that's what bothers most of us.

I liked the star child and the philosophical questions he brought up. It just felt a little out of place.

It was out of place.  He can exist, sure.  Just not in Mass Effect.  They can stick him in some other game or series.  Somewhere he belongs, where he doesn't tear apart the characters and the game's themes and basic principles.  He needs to be wiped from the ME universe though.  He does not belong here.

I have to say, I really, really agree with this, all of it. He was just so out of place it was...nauseatingly apparent. Very disconcerting throughout the entire game. It really jarred me and removed me from the experience whenever he made an appearance. And the last thing a video game company wants is to interrupt the player's immersion.

Yeah. I knew that the child was Shep's connection to Earth, I got that. It made total sense.

But when the 'Starchild' (who was all 'you'll make synthetics and you'll fight, so I fixed that by making synethics to kill you so another bunch of crazy organics can get killed in 50k years.. hello, was Shepard given LSD somewhere between collapsing and the floating floor to hell?) appeared at the end, I was all "WTF? WHY is there a holokid saying he's in control of the Reapers and WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT I HAVE TO PICK ONE OF THREE COLORS?!?!?!?!"

..after that, I wouldn't have been surprised if Jar-Jar walked out the door of the Normandy after Joker, because it would've made as much sense as everything else.

[XqctaX]

first of all even if nothing is done about the Endings i will consider getting a DLC about "ARIA and taking back Omega"
(IF she becomes a Squadmate And possible LI i will get it without a doubt, since that was something i truly missed in ME3)
but Im done with Bioware and anything with casey hudson or mac walters under any gamestudio if this is really what you consider a good ending, and you accually end with it this way...
again im sorry if this is harsh, but that is how I feel and saying otherwise wouldnt be true to my own feelings.
i will also say that i do Not feel entitled to getting new endings made and released, but it would be the only way for you guys to redeim yourself and
this astronomical blunder called "the endings" and regain my consumer trust, also. i would be more than willing to pay for those new endings, just saying

why am i still upset with bioware/Casey?
i dont think YOU/He/Casey read the post's about why people didnt like the endings or you simply couldnt graps WHY people are upset with what you did,
and this comes after its obvious what you did didnt resonate with the gamers at all in majorety of what I have seen on this and other forums, friends and reviews by fans and Myself.

i've played all games (and did Every sidemission there is in all three games, + getting every single DLC i could afford. (yes that meent eating nuddles more than i wanted, lolz)
read all book and comics. so yes, i am a hardcore fan in the very essens of the meening. And i find it offensive that there is 3 endings that..

1. all endings lack positive clousure:
2. in two endings the hero that we are attached to emotionally dies.. No happy ending even beeing possible?!?!

or we get the ending were after all the cutscenes, we see shepard on the ground in the rubble presumebly waking up after beeing hit with the reaper beam.
shepard surviving the citadel blowing up = not likely, so hes lying in rubble on earth
waking up after beeing hit by the beem = contradicting everything we just seen and war is still in progress = end without an end (of the war)!?!?!

and this is just speculation, becouse you didnt see enough to see were he was and how he got there, thus i get no closure in the war against the reapers!!!
and the speculation that was stated before as intended with this ending, that speculation havent really created the positive speculation/feedback you was aiming for,
accually it seems to compleatly failed in resonating with the fans. it has with me fore sure!


the hole godchild VI kid just seems totally out of place and does not connect with past event of the 3 games at all to me.
accually it compleatly contradicts the lore of ME1 and sovereings actions, and as such you just adding me more plotholes than resolve.
and you accually did only give us an A B C (C,2 lol) choise of endings = you were blatantly LYING to us about getting endings that was compleaty different depending our choises thruout the 3 games.
you also said we would not be getting a "LOST" ending, but heck if that isnt just what you did,huh!!!

You should have provided 3 completely different ending, and here is my suggestion (constructive critisism, well im trying atleast he he).

1 positive happy ending = shepard lives and we se the aftermath of the war and our choises with characters, and OFCOURSE cutscenes of reapers defeated in diff earth/space battles!!!!
with a final and some what cheezy ending with shep and LI while fading out to credits. and all or most Squadmates surviving.. if we got ebough assets with us..
(if you truly want suggestions for new endings I have suberb ideas for uber paragon that you could write the hell out of lol, i do know these are nothing but ideas without writers
accually turning them into something good)

2 sad and happy ending,(triggerd by low assets) shepard dies while saving the galaxy,
plus we still se the aftermath of the war and our characters related choices and ther reaction to shepards death + sacrifice.
and perhaps some or several characters accually dying while the war unfolds in the cutscenes,
depending on assets and even perhaps different orders they get from shepard during final assault, just like in ME2.

3 Reapers win all Ending. (if triggered by critical mission falure during earth assault, for god sake give the ability to jump over it so we can retry mission fast, lol)
were we see how the war unfolds with total failure and death of squadmates/characters in diff earth/space battles in cutscenes and so on,
My thought is that the endings you accually have. could be merged into a awesome mission failed scenario, throw on the "An End Once and For All" song.
and id lose on purpose just to sit there and cry just becouse it would be the most epic mission FAIL scene ever!


the 2main endings should ofcorse be split up in different shades of positive (paragon, middle and renegade)
giving us 2 compleatly different endings that on top of that has 3 shades to each of those endings directly in relation to our paragon/renegade status (arguably our moral)

and since we all would be having different squadmates with us and having made different choices in resolving our squadmates personal conflicts those choises should be played out
during all three endings adding more Depth to our personaly jurney in ME1-ME3 to the accual End of Shepards war against the reapers.
Also our assets that we bring into war should affect how much is left of the allied races fleet/army/forces.. and of those characters that are NON Squadmates.



This is the kind of epicly different endings that I, and presumebly most fans were expecting and would have loved.
and the replay value would have been humongous if you accually delivered this, and trust me people would be talking about and playing these 3 games for ages to come
comparing notes and outcomes and so on..


instead we got what? pictures of mac's weird idea of an ending without closure IF we bought some app or something???, leaving gamers utterly devasted and fealing cheated
which is truly a sad thing becouse it isnt what Casey said we would experience, on the contriary its the exact opposite.

and now i get this answer from Casey that the hole Game was ment to be closure to shepard and his squadmates stories.
fine, i understand what they were trying to do IF that is true, i do see his argument But i find it compleatly INVALID! and the worst gaming FAIL ive ever bought. shame on you Casey and Mac!
Becouse the conflicts the characters had from previous games are resolved in a sence yes. but the conflicts arising in Me3?
No they dont seem resolved to me, becouse how can they be resolved and have closure Before the war is Won or lost?!?

the game ME3 might give closure to things from Me1-Me2, BUT the ending of ME3 does not give sufficient closure to the game ME3!!
Or The war against the Reapers, It gives Nothing in the sort of Closure to the "Aftermath" of the war against the reapers, you know the outcome of shepards acomplishments!
And that I think is the essens of why people are "pissed off" "in dispear" "insert appropiate word for your feelings" ect..


And i truly feel like there is a chance that Casey isnt beeing honest.
and that the endings we got is some halfassed thing put there from lack of Time and or
artistic creativity, and ll that is done now is PR damage control.
also this was suppose to be the final shepard story HOW tha hell could you NOT give it a proper ending FFS. worste writing ever. this is even worst than Deitz deception blunders.

[milodrums]

Everything was perfection till the ending where Shepard wakes up and walk to the conduit/beam. The whole part was so wrong and like what most people mentioned that he was "dreaming" etc. I would like the ending to be that if you picked the destroy reapers, shep's willpower is so strong he could block the indoctrination, thus he wakes up in a pile of rubble and still in London. Perhaps the DLC can take it from there?

and perhaps a /happier/ and /brighter/ ending with the reapers gone and possible a nice epilogue of shep and LI on the beach and seeing the turian/krogan peace scenes (example rebuilding etc) and geth/quarian scenes. It sounds like the most cheesy ending ever but I'm pretty sure most people wanted something happy.

Also, can we have at least 1 bloody female turian.

[Chnchn]

The game is a work of art until (as many have said,) Shepard is hit by the reaper beam at the end.  It then becomes the most atrociously bad ending I've ever seen in a game.  This ending coming from Bioware only makes it worse.

The copy paste ending makes every single decision we have made in ME1, ME2 and ME3 utterly pointless.  During the conversation with the star child, Shepard felt like a docile weak little kitten mewling every scripted response.  Even more frustrating was Joker running away and how my LI who was in my party was suddenly on the Normandy.

I honestly don't see how we could not have had an ending where while everything is a mess, Shepard and his/her LI are still together.  This ending kills the franchise and I guarantee that very few people will buy non-ending DLC as ME3 has no replayability... because the ending completely makes it pointless. 

[Golferguy758]

I posted earlier, but honestly one other thing that I'd like is the ability to get a happy ending for Shepard so long as I worked hard to get it. You can leave in the bittersweet endings for those that like it, I know I'd do a couple with various Shepards, but having the option to reach that happy end would be lovely.

Also, thank you for making this thread. I knew it wasn't wrong for me to keep my faith in you guys.
As for the things you are doing right? Multiplayer is fun, just don't get too caught up in content for that and forget that ME was a SP game first and foremost.
Other good things was how missions played out. no levels felt like clones of each other and they all had a very unique feel. Very impressive. Keeping things unique is very nice.

[petipas4141]

I'd also like to champion this link:

http://www.gamefront...fans-are-right/

Also, I'd like to point out that you guys did a lot right with this game.

Mordin and Thane didn't die for the sake of dying and being dark and depressing. They both went out as heroes. Love it.

The combat was also awesome this time around.

Still want an ending where im with my LI though!

[guybrush threepwad]

My non ending suggested changes,
The journal problems (which are quite obvious and don't need explaining)
The game could use more Jack.

Regarding the ending.

The inclusion of the catalyst child felt like a cheap plot device, and his explanation for the cycles was poor. The idea that synthetics will always wipe out organics seems to be refuted by the experience with the Geth and Edi. You also have no choice but to accept his claims. That such a critical issue is glossed over without any supporting evidence or argument accompanied by a total capitulation of Shepard's indomitable will to the child makes this the worst aspect of the ending.

Next, internal consistency. Why the destruction of the relays doesn't kill everyone in the system should have been explained before hand. Also, during the ending, I spent the whole time wondering whether my squad mates were dead, and then they magically appeared on the Normandy which fled for some reason.

Choice should matter. In mass effect 2, so much of what we did affected the outcome of the final mission. If we didn't upgrade our ship or do loyalty missions, people died. In ME3 there was none of that, what came before was completely irrelevant. I wondered why I bothered gaining war assets, particular since without multiplayer I couldn't get the 'best' ending. The choices at the end seemed 'samey' and thematically irrelevant to the preceding content.

Destruction of the mass relays destroys all that is interesting about the mass effect universe. The galaxy is basically torn apart and I find that I no longer care about anything that happens, and everything I did now feels meaningless. It is a total loss.

Epilogue: Need to be shown the outcomes of our actions. This is an rpg after all.

The Fix: Indoctrination theory. It fits so well, particularly since what happened after being hit by the beam felt like a bad dream. Shepard wakes up in London after getting hit by the beam, a new level and ending could be provided that avoids the many pitfalls of the current ending. Also, this ending would be memorable for all the right reasons, whereas the current ending is memorable for all the wrong reasons.