7052 réponses à ce sujet

[CptFlwrs]

More epic-ness to the ending battle. What happened to all those war assets I collected? Where are the rachni swooping in or all those Krogan I saved (excluding the whole 10 that Wrex is motivating)?

I want to know what happens with my crew, where do we go from here? Do they come and rescue Shep from the rubble, go to his funeral service?

What happens with Sheps LI... do they settle down, do they carry on saving the galaxy together, is she/he at the funeral in the worst case, do they carry on the memory of Shep? Lots of people crying out for blue babies - babies (not just blue) would be interesting and pull back to core emotions again. I've heard Liara seems like an LI throughout the game but Ashley lacks dialogue until towards the end (I know a lot of people aren't fans of Ashley but it's oaly fair that people who have her as an LI get the same feeling - at the moment she kind of just brushes you off the whole game talking about the missions over and over. On another note I've heard the VS don't integrate with the crew as well as the other crew members do. Even if people don't like them now, maybe they could grow to if they're written right.)

More Harbinger! It's unlikely he would have just sat there silently through the whole thing. We've seen him mouth off before.

Does Tali get her house on Rannoch?

What happens to Earth? What happens to the Citadel? If the mass relays are destroyed how does the whole galaxy not get wiped out, and what happens to the other races sat around Earth? Can they go home any time soon? The mass relays breaking seems to overlook lore.

I'd personally like the indoctrination theory with all of these questions being answered after. I feel like this theory is the only feasible way that this could be fixed and one that I could believe. And it's practically been written for BioWare already...

There's the little things too - the journal isn't as good anymore. The missions aren't clearly outlined and the map system isn't great. Find yourself running round a number 4 on the map in the citadel looking for some guy you eavesdropped on to find his object on an obscure planet hours ago (not a massive fan of how that works either - I miss going on the planets). It all felt a little shorter to me as well.

Oh and that end message is a kick in the face.

[PaulMorningstar]

Hello.

1. Ending until the lift to starchild is okay (except taking control of our body)..
2. Tone down Artificial Intelligence vs. organics theme - it had already been discussed in Battlestar Galactica, and the outcome was also nonsense. The reason is good - they want to to keep organics at primitive state. But the ideology about synergies and other stuff is far fetched.
3. Cut off starchild. You can leave the boy presentation but make him change how it looks like. Turian, some of our fallen comrades, child back again. This child was not that important for our character.
4. Make Citadel some kind of a Reaper it self, incomplete without Cruicible. Good Reaper perhaps?
5. If we are to make sacrifice make it not only for Earth and general ideas. Make it about our teammates - old and new ones. Place them before the sacrifice - like we don't have a strength to make a final push/run/fight and then we will hear voice or have a sight of our companions and will do what is right.
6. Let Shepard make contact with Normandy or Hacket or anyone and get him the information about what is happening, where is Normandy, how are the forces holding and stuff like that.
7. Make our choices as to who is in the fight, what are our War Assets have a place during the ending.
8. Correct Tali's portrait - as Patryk Olejniczak to draw you one, do something original instead of photoshoped stock photo.
9. Tone down how beaten up can our Shepard be. Wounded - yes. But if you take control over it's body it is bit like rape. Sorry, this is not a Darren Arnofsky movie just because you have two music scores by Clint Mansell.

That is all.
Hold the Line!

[Arthorius]

Just a humble suggestion, about both the ending and Harbinger. If one DLC gives us the chance to hunt and kill Harbinger early in the story, it could allow us to avoid being indoctrinated and to enter the Citadel at full strengh and avoid our grim fate.

Also, it would give Harby the attention he deserves.

Modifié par Arthorius, 17 mars 2012 - 11:06 .

[DocStone]

If you treat the current ending as it is, but give it a wee boost of some indoctrination theory then you do not have to change a thing, you just need to add on the "real" ending. After you see the Normandy crash landed and your crew emerge, ALL endings should show Shepard taking a breath in the rubble.

The story then continues from there - how you do it is up to you, you can have joker swoop in to the rescue along with the crew members that survived (these would be the ones that you have interacted with enough) , shoot Harbinger in they eye in a big "Eff You" moment or have your crew appear beside you (again numbers dependant on previous interaction), watch as again Joker swoops in and takes out Harbinger and this time you make it to the beam for one final battle in the Citadel.

Using the indoctrination theory the blue and green choices mean you lose control of your mind to the reapers, the red choice means you are still free from their control. By picking B/G you cannot achieve a "Best" ending and in fact you should find it incredibly hard to even manage a good ending unless you somehow manage to break free at the end (possible LI intervention). By picking the Red choice you have the ability to achieve a perfect end and lets you have hundreds of little blue babies if you so wish.

Have it dependant on your colour choice how choices appear in the final part of the game. If indoctrinated then the wrong choices appear as Paragon and the right ones as Renegade. Have Shepard act out of character, make Shepard make the wrong choices, have his actions kill his crew. Make it unless your LI stops you, the Reapers win. If you get stopped, then you all die defeating them, and War Assets dependant the earth and the fleet fall as well. A victory, but at a terrible cost. The epilogue then shows what happens to the surviving races, and a quick note on the future of the galaxy.

If not indoctrinated, then you play it out differently. Shepard is the same Shepard, but with his resolve hardened even further. His choices will save his crew, and if he has made the right choices during the game, interacted with the crew enough and readied the galaxy then he can defeat the reapers and survive. Make it bloody hard to do so, but at least make it possible. Hell, if folk have to play through all three games again just to make it possible then even better, it's what we expect from Mass Effect.

Make the Crucible a weapon, make it so if you win you use it, it destroys the reapers and dependant on the above you live or die, your crew live or die, earth and the massed fleets live or die.

As for where the final battle takes place, well, I would love it to be on the Citadel, but we could have it back on Earth, or even on board one of the Reapers itself - it doesn't really matter, but we do need one, I didn't gather all those resources for a light show you know.

Just make sure you give us true closure - show us the galaxy after the end, show us how the races rebuild their planets.  Show us the Geth and the Quarians rebuilding Rannoch, show Wrex leading his people to a better existance, show Garrus sitting on his beach, show Joker and Edi in love. If our Shep survives then show it, if Shep survives with a LI then show that, but at least show something. It doesn't have to be all "rainbows and unicorns", you can show what happens if certain things go wrong, you can show Tuchunka ripping itself apart in a nuclear war if Wrex dies on Earth, you can show Thessia as a ghost planet at the end, the Asari doomed to live without a homeplanet etc etc. 

Anyway, that's just my thoughts, my basic ideas on how it should end. I will leave the details up to you guys seeing as you got it right for the rest of the game

Modifié par DocStone, 17 mars 2012 - 11:15 .

[Mad-Hamlet]

Ms. Merizan,

Thank you for your time. I adore stories, I've spent my life reading, writing and being a part of them. My alias is somewhat named after one that I still enjoy to this day.

Like so many others here in this thread I am staggered by just how good Mass Effect 3 is. Indeed, in many situations where a product is nearly perfect that rough spots are just those- tiny imperfections that don't really disrupt the enjoyment of the end result.

Here it does because the disparity is colossal.

But I seek to be succinct.

In a nutshell: I want a happy ending. Not one forced, in fact there are many here who are equally afraid of a 'Disney Ending'. Honestly, I have no issue with the idea. As the former writer in Dragon Age: Origins wrote: Players should walk away feeling like a hero.

The endings available, coupled with the lack of actual choices, and the hammering blow that all earlier choices did not matter, is singularly disappointing; more so as where it is to be found: In Mass Effect.

I do not demand a 'Disney Ending'. I want the possibility of one. If things are done right, if effort is put in than the best of all possible worlds is not an unacceptable option. It occurred in ME2, it was critical in ME2 come to think of it.

Shepard, their Love Interest, the reconstruction of the Galaxy, the fading moments lovingly and carefully clarified. What happens to us, our friends and the what happens because of those who died to insure our future.

How your company would go about doing this is, I'm afraid, not my problem. I would help if I could but I am a disappointed customer, not an employee.

The worst kind of writer, in my opinion, are ones who believe themselves bound by 'The Path of The Hero'. For years I feared that is what the writers of Mass Effect would do; that possibility exists in Dragon Age: Origins well enough but, cleverly, another way was also included so the story could continue. And if we wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, well that was alright too.

Ideally, like many others, I want Little Blue Children. I'll settle for choices, and consequences that matter.

Many of the other smaller things, Tali's face, etc do not concern me personally overmuch. Though, yeah, the 'Destruction of the Mass Relays'? That has got to be ret-conned out.

Again, thank you for your time. I hope this answered your question.

[MisanthropePrime]

Here's my deal. I never much cared for romances, seeing them as something I "had" to do to experience full content and immersion in the world, so I'm not one of those people who absolutely needs a happy ending where Shep spends eternity with his lover. I actually don't care that he dies- I fully accept that ME3 is the end of his story.

But the ending is missing what I call the "three Es" to make it satisfying, "excitement, exposition and epilogue".

Let's start this critique with the gameplay. The final encounter of the game has you fighting a gauntlet of admittedly powerful but entirely mundane enemies while incorporating a somewhat novel if not unclear mechanic- dodging reaper laser fire that can actually wipe out your enemies for you. It's cool, it's a nice fun thing to throw into the Earth invasion mix... but as the final true combat experience of the Mass Effect Trilogy, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Now, in the artbook, there's some talk about making a super duper huskified Illusive Man as the final boss and it was dismissed as being "too video-gamey". While I agree that, at the very least, the design for the TIM-husk you had was pretty bad and I'm not necessarily married to the concept of having him as the final boss... I feel we needed SOMETHING. It's a video game. To say that something is "too video-gamey" is absolutely bizarre. A director of a film will not remove the ending because it's "too cinematic". A poet will not remove a stanza because it is "too poetic". To have something be video-gamey, in a video game, is good as it means you're living up to the expectations of the medium.

We have Harbinger (or a reaper that appears to be him) make an appearance at the end to shoot you in the face. Harbinger, the talkative mastermind who taunted us throughout ME2 shows up and not only goes entirely unfought, but doesn't say a word... that's just wrong. Not to mention that, while we take down plenty of the smaller destroyer reapers introduced in ME3, we never fight a Sovereign style "classic" reaper. I really think that was a huge missed opportunity. The player should've been able to fight Harbinger in some boss fight... I don't quite know how, but I'm not a game developer. Or if you don't fight Harbinger, give us SOMETHING to fight other than a few husks during a sequence where your character controls like he's waist deep in molasses. A trilogy this epic deserved an epic boss, and so I've got to say the ending does not supply "excitement".


On to the next problem: we get very very little information at the end from the Catalyst AI. And don't say it "bogs down" the game or "doesn't fit the character of the reapers"... the game is already going slow as hell and if there's one characteristic of the reapers we learned from sovereign and harbinger it's that they never shut their traps. If the "investigate" option was available back on Virmire, it should still apply in the middle of the citadel. This is the last opportunity you guys have with the reaper storyline, so let's get some INFO. Exposition, when done well, when presented at the right time, is NOT a bad thing.

I also find it's somewhat out of character for Shep to just accept everything the Catalyst said. Shep is the eternally defiant crusader, and even when injured it's just so... odd to see him go along with the choices presented by a mass murdering AI. At the very least we should've had ATTEMPTS for shep to argue the AI's incredibly lacking logic. The lack of info regarding the reapers and catalyst means we didn't get much in the way of the second E, "exposition".

And finally, Epilogue. Shep has toured the galaxy for three years touching the lives of so, so many people. What happens to all of them? Of course the big question immediately is "what happens to galactic civilization sans mass relays" or "what the hell is going on with that planet the normandy crashed on", but aside from such macrocosmic, lore quibbles, one must remember Mass Effect is a very character driven setting. We do care about the characters, not just Shep. I'd like to know what happens to them after the events of the game, even if they're not necessarily good. An ending slideshow a la the Fallout Series or even your very own Dragon Age Origins (and if I may beat a dead horse, why didn't we get something like that in DAII?) would've probably assuaged a lot of the problems the fans had. There's no follow-up to much of anything the player has done. Either he destroyed the reapers, controlled them or made everyone cyborgs... well, those are pretty big changes. We'd like to know a bit about how they effect both the galaxy and our favorite characters. Does cyborg joker still have brittle bones? Does EDI survive the anti-AI purge? And even longer ranging questions like "what does Garrus do without Shepard or a galaxial threat?" or "do the Krogan belligerently expand with the Genophage cured"? We need some info on the future, especially parts of the future that may not make it into another game, if there's another game. We need an epilogue.

[BalooTheBear]

Also, I really don't mind if this takes several months to get right. But I don't want you to flood us with other DLC's and not say whats going to happen with the ending.

Tell us now that you will be doing something and we will be happy.

Tell us in 6 months that the ending will be sorted soon we will be less happy.

Just keep us informed.

[emperoralku]

 First I would like to say that I LOVED the music. It literally gives me goosebumps when I listen to it.

What I did not enjoy was

1) How did Anderson and TIM suddenly appear in that control room?
2) Deus ex machina space child, both his sudden appearance and his circular logic, much of which is refuted by events during the game.
3) Not being able to argue with space child about his incredibly flawed reasoning.
4) The endings all feeling like defeat. Destroying the mass relays makes this whole affair a pyrrhic victory at best. Everyone is stranded where they are, even if the mass relay explosions don't wipe everyone out in the first place. Those that survive are doomed to starvation or further warfare as supplies dwindle.
5) The normandy crash sequence made no sense. Even more so because 2 of the crew members stepping off it were supposedly killed when we charged into the reaper beam.
6) No closure. We don't get to find out what happens in the aftermath for any of the characters. 
7) All the ending sequences were largely the same. Didn't get to see many of the things we had worked for in action.
8) Didn't like the mechanic of being presented with 3 "buttons to determine the ending. This rendered almost all choices prior to this point moot as long as EMS was high enough. 
9) No boss fight, no harbringer. It felt a bit anticlimatic that it just suddenly ended.

At this point I think the most clever solution is the indoctrination theory which is floating around.

edit: Also this 
 

Modifié par emperoralku, 17 mars 2012 - 11:30 .

[wagsnout]

Was going to post a long list of stuff I would like to see and then I read this blog:
http://social.biowar...96/blog/211782/

Just make this. Its damn near perfect.

[thePrimarch]

MoSa09 wrote...

Let me summarize the most important points your speaker says: "Mass Effect is a world of vast possibilites and outcomes. You get to shape the course of events in real time, as the game reacts to decisions you make.

MoSa09 really summed up my exact feeling regarding the current ending.

Part of Mass Effect's huge draw for me, aside from the fleshed-out scifi universe, is that it really came off as more of a "Choose your own Adventure" story than most other story-oriented RPGs today. Player choice factored tremendously into most situations in the game, and much of the gameplay in 1 and 2 oriented around the player's decision on who to take with them in their fight, and what resources to use in the battle.

And for the most part, ME3 covered that.

You spend a huge chunk of this game gathering your fleet: you grab resources, decide local politics, end wars with shouting matches, and generally have an obvious, cohesive effect on the galaxy. And you're rewarded for it with interesting gameplay: your companions comment on it, former companions pledge their support (or in some cases, die heroically to help you), your fleet amasses, etc.

But when you get to the very end... the ending sequence makes it seem like none of these choices matter. Sure, theoretically, you save Earth from being destroyed, but Earth is already a nearly-destroyed wasteland with very few people living on it. Thousands of people died for you to get this ending, in the fleets above and on the ground below; if you hadn't decided to save Earth, they'd be saving their own planets and civilians right now. Does Earth really still have the population to make up for all those Turians who died on Pallaven while their fleet came here to save you?

MoSa09 covered my preferences on the ending very well; retyping them would be a little silly at this point.

That said, thank you Jessica Merizan, and thank you Bioware. If you really are listening, I'll be buying from you for decades to come.

[Doctor_Jackstraw]

still want more multiplayer maps and weapons and classes and monsters obviously

Would like a vehicle. the big thing about mako and hammerhead is that they always felt too small for shepard to actually fit in along with wrex and garrus. The atlas mech felt really cool because it felt "large". The Palaven mission made me REALLY miss vehicles (run everywehre)!!

would love DLC that doesnt feature silent squadmates.

Would love new, more realistic ending based on our decisions and doing crazy stuff with that.

would love aria retakes omega dlc

would love some followthrough on the darkmatter plotline brought up on haestrom.

the bits in the cerberus base where we find out about the weird situations that began ME2 were great, would love to see more of that, since there are alot of things about ME2 that aren't carefully explained the way other things are. That realism is the thing that people love the most. It shines through everywhere.

a mission where we get to fly the normandy, but like an old school space sim. (Not like Old Republic) but with FTL travel?

more wrapups to ME1 and ME2 characters that didnt show up in ME3.

more cool stuff.

really hard to think of other things before getting dat ending...



Yes I really loved the ending we got and the nature of the choices.  Yes I love weird scifi stuff that just GOES FOR IT.  Yes I loved MGS2.  But I also loved MGS1 and 3.  We just want to have our cake and eat it too.  The ending had a BIG impact on me emotionally, but it feels like a one time thing, and that I need....more out of the ending.  Some way to just come to a conclusion at the ending that involves so many meticulous choices.  Planning out a playthrough is almost as much fun as just going for it without thinking.  But having a larger ending is part of that.  ME1 had 2 endings with some permutation, ME2 had about 4 with several permutations, ME3 has 3 endings but theres not quite as much diversity of permutations as we'd want.  That initial journey with our first shep is one thing, but having the ability to just PLAY with the choices and make vastly different ones is a whole nother experience.  We want that out of ME3.

Modifié par Doctor_Jackstraw, 17 mars 2012 - 11:18 .

[Tarnation007]

Let's see... what I would like to see in the ending...

I would like the option to refuse the three choices that I am presented, enabling assessts I spent hours achieving to kill the reapers instead. If I have to play MP to get enough EMS then so be it, I'd just like them to count. And I'd like a cut scene that includes all of the little things I worked so hard to achieve - Krogans and those beasts that I found for the Salarian scientist. I'd like to see all the asari's I save (and Samara) using all their biotics together to take down a reaper. I'd like to see the turians struggling when suddenly the krogans appear and are all "we've got your back", same with combined Geth/Quarian forces. All the fleets appear and are all "take back Earth, we're a combined galaxy and we're going to live!!"
I think we need to kill Harbinger (Normandy at the front of the attack - and maybe like the collector base, Shep has to get INSIDE him, while struggling to avoid indoctrination with the help of EDI, and it is through destroying him that shuts down all the other reapers).

Either way, I think a little more closure as to what happens with the universe is in order, particularly all those major decisions (did the peace I worked so hard to achieve remain?)
I personally think Shep deserves a break, especially if I worked for hours to build up a massive force, then I don't think Shep needs to die. I'd like a reunion with my LI, the babies/wedding doesn't need to be seen, but implied would be nice.

[Thrazesul]

First of all, the endings. Everything after Harbinger hits Shepard with the beam is... strange. I think it breaks Shepard's character when she suddenly just accepts the three options given to her without trying to find more information or anything.

I expected different endings, like in ME2, when if you did a good job, you were rewarded with a good ending! In ME3 it hardly matters what you do, the bigger difference between the endings is that either Earth is scorched or it isn't. Maybe an issue if you're Earthborn, but to all Shepards Earth isn't neccesarily the main driving force, home planet or not.

I'd highly support the Indoctrination theory, I'd pay to see it happen. But I'd also be happy with an epilogue of some sort, explaining what happened.

And the Normandy scene? Even that seemed highly out of character for Joker, to just run off like that... and then be all smiles along with your LI, as if Shepard's death/disapperance didn't matter.

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

I've yet to play the Shepard who romanced Thane because I've heard how utterly disappointing it is. From being one of the promoted characters and an alien race basically made to the LI to the female Shepard only to be reduced to nothing.

I'm not complaining about his death (althought I should considering all the teasers we got about a cure, trolling is fine sometimes but that was cruel). The death was fine if you considered Thane a friend. The lack of anyone commenting afterwards however was not fine. At least Garrus must have known Thane, I had them with me all the time in ME2!  Yet none cares! This is an even bigger problem if Thane was your LI. Not even Shepard rightly cares about the fact that Thane died!

As a romance option, his death was really not great. There were hardly no chances of anything romantic before his death, to top it off, Shepard was locked away on Earth while he was living on his extended time, making his death and poor romance in ME3 even more fail. In ME2, he wasn't content with dying in a hospital and that, it's as if he was a whole other character in ME3 sadly.

Thane doesn't even cut it to get the achievement either it seems.

Jacob's romance suffered this problem too, heck, worse even. >.< And you can't even get a renegade interrupt on him or his significant other, especielly after what she says!


These are my two peeves with the game. Whatever else I find troublesome with ME3, it's very small compared to these two issues, basically non existant.

Modifié par Nerana, 17 mars 2012 - 11:14 .

[OmegaSpartan08]

I'm sure everyone on this thread has made their point (probably better than me) that we need out choices from ME1, 2, and 3 to matter in a meaningful way that provides us with closure. An ending that is interactive and detailed enough to matter and one that is unique to the individual based on their Lobe Interest (or lack thereof) the people they saved or not, survived or died, the promises that were kept and broken, male or female. I want and ending that if it leads to Shepard's sacrifice, the denizens of the galaxy can speak of his or her heroic deeds and the unification of the galaxy. An emotionally engaging scene brings the roughest and most hardcore gamer to tears. I senese of satisfaction. I want to finish my Shepard's story and import the other Shepard's I've created and see just how different the ending can be based on other choices. Basically, I want replayability.

I have also written a a scenario in which the indoctrination story is true and Shepard must make a choice based on your being a Paragon or Renegade (or neither). I would very much appreciate it if you were to implement some of what I've written and do not care to be given credit for I want a new ending no matter what. (or not unless you have a better story and ending scenario than my own). In any case, thanks for reading my response as well as the responses of the rest of the Bioware and Mass Effect fan base and I'm glad (as we all are) that you guys are listening to our feedback. Thanks again.
 
Alternate/ Personal
Ending: Mass Effect 3
 
The Child reveals itself to be the
creator of the Reapers. The child states the Reapers solve the solution to
chaos but because you have made it this far in the construction of the Crucible
and attached it to the Citadel, the creator gives you some respect and gives
you a choice to decide. You choose whether to end all synthetic life thus
killing apart of yourself as well as the geth and EDI but ultimately ending the
Reapers, Synching your mind with the Reapers ultimately controlling them and
ending the war on the organics ultimately ending your life, or sacrifice your
being to fuse all organic and synthetic life into one DNA reaching the pinnacle
of evolutionary existence all or which destroy the Mass Relays in the entirety
of the galaxy.
 
 
At this point you can decide to choose one of 4 branching paths: The
first 3 choices are the original Bioware endings and the fourth choice is
Shepard questioning the choices. The new fourth option is easily unlocked and
the only way for the “true” ending(s) to commence.
 
 
Shepard ponders and thinks to
himself (or herself but I’ll use the male equivalent as not to write he/she and
him/her over and over) the consequences of each of the 3 choices but cannot
wrap his mind around the Relay’s destruction and how they will negatively
impact the galaxy. Shepard asks the child, “There has to be another way beside
this” but the child is persistent. “Choose” he says as the child grabs
Shepard’s hand as if to guide him to the choices. Before Shepard decides to
make a choice a familiar voice can be heard but its words are too muffled to
understand. The child reassures Shepard that making a choice must be made now
as not to repeat the cycle but the familiar voice can be heard more clearly.
“Shepard!” is heard by him and it sound like (your LI or someone else on the Normandy who trusts
you). Shepard stops and lets to hand of the child go. “Why do you want me to choose?
You believed that eradicating all advanced life was necessary to preserve order.
That it was absolutely necessary to prevent chaos. Now, you give me a choice
based on me reaching this place and nothing more?” The child is gone.
 
 
Anderson is standing behind Shepard telling
him to hurry before the Reaper finds this place and end them. Anderson
is accompanied by his LI (or other squad mate if you chose to love) and
supports Anderson’s
claim.
 
 
The original 3 choices are represented along with one Paragon and one
Renegade choice.
 
Neutral: If
Shepard choices the child’s paths, his eyes start to glow in a bluish hue
similar to being indoctrinated.
 
Paragon:
Shepard doesn’t budge trying to convince Anderson and LI when a piece of
falling debris falls and mortally wounds the LI. The LI’s last words are for
Shepard to make a choice now before we all share this fate of death. Anderson pulls Shepard
closer to the options given by the child. Shepard tries to concede and make a
choice when Shepard’s LI yells “STOP!” Shepard turns to see his LI is not
there. No corpse and the debris are gone as well as any type of damage.
 
Renegade: Shepard
shouts back in anger telling Anderson and LI that the choices made no sense and
something was afoot. A piece of falling debris falls and instantly kills your
LI to which Anderson
punches Shepard and says “Your hesitation is killing your loved ones! Make a
choice now!” Shepard in anger agrees and decides to choose when his dead LI
yells “STOP!” Shepard turns to see his LI is not there. No corpse and the
debris are gone as well as any type of damage.
 
 
“Where’s [insert LI’s name here]?” Anderson tells Shepard to
forget that for a moment and choose. Shepard resists Anderson. Shepard starts to realize that this
isn’t right and that he refuses to make one of those galaxy changing choices.
Shepard then adds why Anderson didn’t try to
choose but Anderson
only answers, “It has to be you and only you!”
 
 
Neutral: “Okay, Anderson. You’ve made
your point. I will choose a path” says Shepard as the color of his eyes
transform into a glowing blue hue.
 
Paragon: To
which Shepard asks, “Why? Why me?! Why are you so fixated on me making one of
these choices?! If you truly believed that every second counted then why don’t
you just make a choice instead!?” Anderson
only reiterates what he says, “Choose! It can only be you!” “I can’t do this”
Shepard says and tosses his gun on the floor. Anderson says “Enough” and transforms into a
sort of human/Reaper hybrid (not like the husks but more of the physical Reaper
type bodies with the tentacles) and stand just a few feet taller than Shepard.
 
Renegade: To
which Shepard angrily protests, “Why the hell am I making this decision alone?!
Huh?! Why don’t you go and pick one of those damn choices if they matter to the
galaxy so *** much?!” Anderson
reiterates and says, “Only you can choose, so choose **BRAAAHHHH**!” “NO!” Shepard
says and points his gun at Anderson.
“Who the hell are you?!” Anderson’s
body morphs into a hologram similar to how the child first presented himself.
The hologram then morphs into a sort of human/Reaper hybrid and stand just a
few feet taller than Shepard.
 
 
“I’ve had enough of your insubordination! Assuming Direct
Control!” One of Harbinger’s tentacles clamps onto Shepard’s neck and proceeds
to motion Shepard itself. Shepard, while still having control of some motor
functions and voice says, “I… will not let… you…!”
 
 
            Do Nothing: Shepard is helpless as he
moves closer and closer to the clearly similar choices. “This is it Shepard.
Succumb to my indoctrination.” Shepard tries and resists but to no avail and he
hears a voice “WHY? WON’T YOU WAKE UP, SHEPARD?!” Shepard feels a punch to the
gut and wakes up in the control room.
 
            Paragon Prompt
Flashes: Shepard, with all his strength,
lifts his gun to his temple. “My… decisions are… still… my own… Harbinger. You
won’t… ever get… your… way!” The gun fires but misses. Shepard’s gun moved from
his temple to a few inches over and missed. Shepard is in awe for a moment and
hears his LI’s voice much more clearly, “WAKE UP, SHEPARD!” Shepard feels a
punch to the back of his head and he awakes in the control room.
 
            Renegade Prompt
Flashes: Shepard, with all his strength,
lifts his gun underneath his chin. “I’ll be… damned… if you… control my… own…
destiny. This… is… it… Harbinger… you… LOSE!” The gun fires but misses.
Shepard’s gun moved under his chin over to the left and only grazes his left
cheek. Shepard is in awe for a moment and hears his LI’s voice much more clearly,
“WAKE THE HELL UP, SHEPARD!” Shepard feels a punch hit the right side of his
face and he wakes up in the control room.
 
 
The room with the three choices is
gone and Shepard is being held up by his LI. On the control terminal, is a
hologram of Harbinger and the commands on the terminal read, SHUT CITADEL
GATES: YES/NO. It was all in his mind. Harbinger used Shepard’s high emotion to
indoctrinate Shepard and reverse the Crucible’s true purpose by closing the
gates. Shepard regains his stance and Harbinger speaks telling Shepard that he
would have given Shepard a satisfying end. An illusion that would have given
Shepard comfort as the Reapers’ demands are inevitable. Harbinger believes that
a foe as worthy as Shepard deserved that much. Shepard rebuts that statement,
calling it bull and Harbinger would never go through the trouble of stopping
the Crucible if victory for the Reapers was certain.
 
 
Shepard’s earpiece is flooded with
reports that the husks are dying/ deactivating and that the Reapers are retreating.
“The cycle is inevitable. It is essential for our own existence to continue as
well as keep the order. Chaos will flourish, otherwise.” The Reapers are
heading in full force to the Crucible. The scenery is overwhelming as the skies
surrounding the Crucible darken with the Reapers. Other Reapers occupying the
other systems flooded the Sol system with their presence. The Reapers readied
their cannons and lasers. Shepard’s LI searched furiously for an alternate
button to activate the Crucible but to no avail.
 
 
Neutral: Shepard tries to find an activation key along with his LI
but when he looks at the Reapers he stops and says “This is it.” Shepard grabs
his LI and says “My only regret was not trying harder” LI slaps Shepard and
says “You tried your best!”
 
Paragon: Shepard
pulls his LI closer to himself and says “It was an honor serving with you [LI],
and I’m glad in the end of it all, we can be together” Shepard and his LI stare
into each others eyes. LI begins to tear up and Shepard wipes LI’s tears.
 
Renegade:
Shepard yells at his LI to stop searching. “Stop wasting your time looking for
something that cannot be seen. If there was a way to activate the Crucible it’s
too late now!” LI begins to tear up and Shepard says “At least we went down
swinging.”
 
 
They begin to share a kiss when the
control panel opens up revealing a new function. “REAPERS ARE WITHIN PROXIMITY.
INITIATE TEMPARARY DEACTIVATION.” Shepard and LI simultaneously slam on the
initiate button and a shockwave from the Crucible renders the Reapers around
the Crucible lifeless. Then a choice is given. Sacrifice an individual to
permanently rewrite the Reaper’s functions or the Reapers will rewrite the
initial Crucible shockwave thus making it impossible to do this again. Shepard
decides that he will be the catalyst. The panel releases a THING that when held
will initial the Reaper transformation.
 
 
END OF ME3 WITH SHEPARD’S SACRIFICE
 
Without Javik: Shepard says his goodbyes to his LI and says this is
for the greater good. “I will miss you [LI]” says Shepard as his body
disintegrates. Shepard’s LI cries. The Reapers retreat with the Crucible and
begin to rewrite the remaining Reaper forces. The Reapers, over the next few
weeks, fully rewrite the remaining Reapers and they retreat into Dark Space to
remain docile forever.
Several years have passed since the
end of the war. Rebuilding is still taking place throughout the galaxy. The
Citadel once again, returned to its original system. With the galaxy united,
the council seats grew to share its seat with every other intelligent species
in the galaxy. However, mercenaries, drug and weapons dealers, and every other
type of crime still persist but that’s just something that the galaxy can deal
with. Every other surviving squad based character is shown where they are in
the galaxy and all is well with them. Shepard’s legacy will live on forever in
the galaxy for generations to come. Shepard’s LI stares into the distance.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Reaper’s defeat as well as Shepard’s
sacrifice. Your LI cries and a spiritual hand places it self on [LI]’s
shoulder. LI turns around and no one is there. LI wipes their tears. “I will
never forget what you have given us… Hope.” Camera pans out, fades to black,
credits role.
 
 
CONTINUATION OF ME3 ENDING WITH SHEPARD
ALIVE
 
With Javik: Right before Shepard has a chance to sacrifice himself;
Javik shoots in Shepard’s general direction and marches forward and grabs the
THING in Shepard’s place. “I don’t care what you have to say, my people have
fought and died already. The Prothean race is finished and it ends with me
seeking redemption for my people. I have seen the love you share with [LI] as
well as the power to stand together with all the galaxies forces. You and your
people have something I have not seen in my own time: Hope. You have suffered
many a loses and I’ll be damned if you lose one more. This is my choice Goodbye,
Commander Shepard.” “Goodbye, Javik and thank you for everything”. Javik’s body
disintegrates and a different shockwave fills the space occupying the Reapers.
 
 
The Reapers disengage the Crucible
and attach it to themselves. Because the Reapers in close proximity were
rewritten, they needed to convert the rest of the galaxies remaining Reaper
forces. The news of the Reapers retreat sounded throughout Earth and cheering
could be heard throughout the planet. But something was not right. One Reaper
stood behind: Harbinger.
 
 
Harbinger resisted the rewrite but
at a lost for its shields. With Harbinger close enough to Earth, the once
deactivate husks arose again and the fighting commenced. Shepard yells “All of
the Reapers have been rewritten but only Harbinger remains!” “I will not allow
myself to be rewritten. My purpose is absolute and the cycle will continue at
all cost. Assuming Direct Control!” The Illusive Man’s corpse rises up, fully
functional of Harbinger and TIM transforms into a hulking beast (because
Shepard is horribly damaged, the fighting mechanics would have to be altered to
better suit this fight).
 
 
After the fight with TIM, he grabs your LI and makes a demand.
 
Paragon Prompt Flashes: Shepard says, “Trust Me” LI closes eyes and Shepard shoots
past LI’s head and the bullet penetrates his head, killing TIM.
 
Renegade Prompt Flashes: Shepard charges forward, without warning and begins
unloading is clip into TIM’s body being careful not to harm his LI and TIM
dies.
 

ALTERNATE ENDING WITH SHEPARD DYING
 
            Do Nothing: Shepard charges
forward making sure to hit around his LI but it does nothing to TIM. Shepard
has one round left in the chamber. He shoots TIM’s hand releasing your LI and
before TIM can react, Shepard uses all his strength from his burnt body and
charge into TIM, grabbing onto him and taking him close to the edge. Before
Shepard takes him over the edge he yell, “[LI], I love you and I’m sorry!” and
take them over. Shepard sacrificed himself for his LI. She cries and eventually
regains her posture as soon as she sees the Normandy end Harbinger’s destruction of the
Earth. The Reapers, over the next few weeks, fully rewrite the remaining
Reapers and they retreat into Dark Space to remain docile forever.
 
 
Several years have passed since the
end of the war. Rebuilding is still taking place throughout the galaxy. The
Citadel once again, returned to its original system. With the galaxy united,
the council seats grew to share its seat with every other intelligent species
in the galaxy. However, mercenaries, drug and weapons dealers, and every other
type of crime still persist but that’s just something that the galaxy can deal
with. Every other surviving squad based character is shown where they are in
the galaxy and all is well with them. Shepard’s legacy will live on forever in
the galaxy for generations to come. Shepard’s LI stares into the distance.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Reaper’s defeat as well as Shepard’s
sacrifice. Your LI cries and a spiritual hand places it self on [LI]’s
shoulder. LI turns around and no one is there. LI wipes their tears. “I will
never forget what you have given us… Hope.” The camera pans out, fades to
black, and credits role.
 
 
CONTINUATION OF ME3 ENDING WITH SHEPARD
ALIVE
 
Meanwhile, Harbinger
continues his
onslaught of the galaxies forces and they retaliate. Back on Earth
Shepard’s
remaining squad mates fight all out on the remaining husks. Depending on
your EMS dictates whole lives or dies in this particular
conflict. Shepard takes care of TIM and focuses his attention on the
Reaper.
With Harbingers shields down, Harbinger should have been significantly
easier
but it put up a good fight. However, Harbinger could not take any more
punishment so it decided to ram its body into the Citadel in hopes of
taking
out Shepard. As Shepard stood and watched Harbingers desperate,
last-ditch
attempt at destroying him.
 
Renegade Prompt Flashes: Shepard lifts gun and points it was Harbinger and says
“Bang.”
 
A cannon shot ripped
right through
Harbinger and that halted its progress to the Citadel. It was the
Normandy and as Harbinger floated defeated, the Normandy circled around
and made another shot. Harbinger let out a screech capable to scrambling
the
Thanix cannon’s targeting but EDI had already reconfigured her protocols
and
the beam hit its mark. Harbinger is dead.
 
 
Reports from across the galaxy are
stating the Reapers are ceasing and are retreating en masse. For the next few
weeks Shepard, recovering in an Earth hospital, and co begin receiving reports
of the end of the Reaper invasion. Everyone watches in horror as the Reapers
band together in the Omega Cluster near the Omega-4 Relay. A message is sent to
Shepard via encoded transmission from the Reapers. They instruct Shepard that a
choice must be made. Fuse with the mind of the Reapers and gain total control
of their behavior and being or have the Reapers travel back to Dark Space,
docile, forever(?)
 
 
Paragon:
Shepard orders the Reapers back to Dark Space and instructs that that may never
pass through the Milky Way Galaxy for all existence. The Reapers pass through
the Omega-4 Relay and proceed to make their long journey into Dark Space.
 
Renegade:
Shepard decides to have his mind bond with the Reapers in an attempt to use the
Reapers overwhelming power to force peace on those who oppose it. Shepard then
stations the Reaper forces on the edge of many of the systems to ensure the
galaxy doesn’t make anymore foolish wars. Shepard’s eyes glow green as a result
of Reaper control.
 
 
Paragon Ending: Several years have passed since the end of the war.
Rebuilding is still taking place throughout the galaxy. The Citadel once again,
returned to its original system. With the galaxy united, the council seats grew
to share its seat with every other intelligent species in the galaxy. However,
mercenaries, drug and weapons dealers, and every other type of crime still
persist but that’s just something that the galaxy can deal with. Every other surviving
squad based character is shown where they are in the galaxy and all is well
with them. Shepard kept his promise and retired from the Alliance military. He now lives with his LI
on whichever planet the LI is from. Shepard stares into the distance and back
at the calendar. The anniversary of the end of the Reaper invasion is tomorrow.
Shepard remembers those who gave their lives holding the line. Mordin, Legion,
Thane, Kaiden/ Ashley, and Javik are remembered. Shepard looks into the distance and tears begin to flow down his eyes. His LI comes
to his side and knows why immediately. Shepard’s LI wipes the tears from his
face and smiles at him. “They will never be forgotten” his LI says. Shepard
smiles back and says “I know”. The camera pans out, fades to black, and  credits role.
 
Renegade Ending: Several years have passed since the end of the war and the
total control of the Reapers. Rebuilding has happened considerably faster with
the help of the Reapers. However, the galaxy cannot sleep at night knowing the
Reapers live even though Shepard assures them they will not attack. With the
Reapers guarding the systems, criminals are far too afraid to conduct crimes
and as such, crime is almost fully abandoned. Every other surviving squad based
character is shown where they are in the galaxy and all is well with them. Shepard
believes that being part of the Alliance
is still necessary as he holds much responsibility with controlling the
Reapers. Shepard has since been promoted to Admiral and lives alongside his LI.
Shepard notices tomorrow is the anniversary of The War that Ended All Wars. LI
approaches Shepard and says “They will not be forgotten”. Shepard looks back at
[LI], kisses her, and says “I know”. Shepard smiles confidently. The camera
pans out, fades to black, and credits role.

[Majusbeh]

 Up until the fight to take back earth, the game was superb!

1. You don't see enough other races on earth, especially those which you "saved". You can only see 12 Krogans on earth and none in battle. I haven't seen a single Geth, I mean Shepard got like a dozen of those Geth Commandos, were are they? And were are the omega troops? the heavy mercs ?

2. You can't see your companions battle, which means that you can't really let them die, because either we wouldn't know/notice or we would be angry because we didn't know why they died. So if you would show them in battle, you could actually let them die. Better, you could let Shepard decide who of your squadmates fights in which "battalion" and if the live or die depends on that, your previous decisions in the game (me2 loyalty mission etc) , maybe how well you fight in your own battle.

3. Where is the Harbinger? I mean ok, he shoots lasers on our sprint towards the beam, but besides that he's doing nothing and that is a pity, because of the "relationship" you had with him. He could have at least insulted me a little bit like in me2..

4. Up until you the god-child everything is okay, but man...we don't like him. I don't think the reasoning of the godchild is comprehensible, because it feels so wrong. And that is strange, because the reaper aren't stupid or anything, they are so mighty and so powerful, but their reason to kill us all is dumb. That doesn't add up.
So what to do? Cut the whole thing with the godchild. Let it end at the console or better, go with the indoctrination theory it's very good, very reasonable and it would give you the chance for a showoff with Harbinger or at least a second chance for shepard to activate the crucible, maybe with a little help from his friends.

5. I don't even want to talk about the things after your decision at the godchild, cut the whole thing.
Let shepard destroy the reaper through the crucible and then let the war-assets (and maybe some other things like loyalty mission etc) decide how big the damage against your own troops is, like when you have near to none war assents, then the crucible wont work and the reaper destroy you, when you have the minimum, then the reaper will be destroyed, but the mass relays too and xy dies, up to if you have the maximum war assets then it's a "happy ending"

6. Let us know what we did with our decision! It's unfulfilling to see what I did, but not the consequences, like the destruction of the mass relays, hell from all I know about those thing, the universe will most likely be destroyed...well thats a good ending, all I did for nothing?

 And the last thing and really the main thing, let our decisions matter! We don't want to change everything but the ending with our decisions...we want them to have an impact on the ending!

[BalooTheBear]

Tarnation007 wrote...

Let's see... what I would like to see in the ending...

I would like the option to refuse the three choices that I am presented, enabling assessts I spent hours achieving to kill the reapers instead. If I have to play MP to get enough EMS then so be it, I'd just like them to count. And I'd like a cut scene that includes all of the little things I worked so hard to achieve - Krogans and those beasts that I found for the Salarian scientist. I'd like to see all the asari's I save (and Samara) using all their biotics together to take down a reaper. I'd like to see the turians struggling when suddenly the krogans appear and are all "we've got your back", same with combined Geth/Quarian forces. All the fleets appear and are all "take back Earth, we're a combined galaxy and we're going to live!!"
I think we need to kill Harbinger (Normandy at the front of the attack - and maybe like the collector base, Shep has to get INSIDE him, while struggling to avoid indoctrination with the help of EDI, and it is through destroying him that shuts down all the other reapers).

Either way, I think a little more closure as to what happens with the universe is in order, particularly all those major decisions (did the peace I worked so hard to achieve remain?)
I personally think Shep deserves a break, especially if I worked for hours to build up a massive force, then I don't think Shep needs to die. I'd like a reunion with my LI, the babies/wedding doesn't need to be seen, but implied would be nice.

I agree with all this except the bit about MP. Mass effect has always been a SP game and while I'm fine with the addition of MP I do not want to be forced into playing it. Everything should be able to be done on SP.

[guz1123]

The game was great with awesome combat and more important, good storytelling. But ending really is not making it look good and makes i game that's 10/10 to 7.5/10 for me.

My issues with ending:

1) Reapers plan to "save" organics from synthetics is really weird and it's brought out in the ending so it's really hard to relate to. Things aren't really explained, so it's hard to understand what did i do, like what happens when i take control of the reapers. Plus you just spoke to TIM saying he shouldn't play god and then you play god.

2) War-assets aren't really shown in the end and it they are just more like numbers that really didn't matter. We only see mostly alliance fight the reapers and other races are just like "there".

3) Ending didn't give any conclusion, just more questions than before. Nothing is explained and i feel no closure and felt like my choices didn't really make any mark on the galaxy. But i had no problem with Shepard sacrifice or squad-mates dying, but lack of hope that things work out for the best makes it seem pointless.

I hope you get this feedback and are listening this not just saying you are. Thanks.

Sorry about the bad english, not my native.

[Iyerbeth]

So the good, Mass Effect 3 is easily one of my favourite games of all time, even with the endings (more on that in a moment). PC needs a different button for pick stuff up and use cover though, space does way too much stuff.

On to the endings though, the thing I hated most about it was how there was no real choice, no real insight and how it felt like everything up to that point was completely useless. It's true that it felt like I was concluding a lot of thing up to that point, but I want to see and understand what happened to the galaxy in the immediate aftermath. I want to see Krogans and Turians, Geth and Quarian, my squad mates. I want to know what happened to Earth and see what happened happened to Sheppard, or what happened in her absense. I want an ending, where different coloured plot holes just don't suffice.

On tht note, there are far too many plot holes in the final 10 minutes, such as the relays exploding leaving everyone straded, or dead if Arrival is to be believed. There's the problem of the Normandy appearing to have ran from the fight early, all the while managing to somehow pick up crew I had with me and then the "conclusion" to that is 'oh they crashed somewhere'. That's not a conclusion!

I want a real ending, it doesn't have to change to tone but it really should make sense and the decisions I've made in the preceeding, probably 100 hours of gameplay should matter in the final ending more than what choices I get and what colour the explosion is. I love Mass Effect, ME3 especially but it feels like the developers and writers all had understood the ending together and paid no thought to how it'd be percieved by those who were experiencing it, rather than planning it.

[Mikko182]

1. Make our choices matter, I really felt like nothing I've done in other two games didn't matter at all.

2. More ending choices, like there was in da: origins. There was chance to sacrifice my warden, ok he/ she dies, but I still felt like I've won. And I'd like to have happy ending too.

3. Closure, I wan't to know what happened to my me/me2/me3 companions and for people who played big part in me games. How did my choices affect to the future of galaxy.

4. No plot holes, you guys said all my questions will be answered, instead I have now more questions without answer.

[Arkennys]

Hello!
 
First of all, I'd like to say that I love this game. It is the best gaming experience I've had in my fifteen years with a PC. That is the reason I want to tell you what I did not like. That, and the fact that I trust BioWare like no other company, and amusing as that may be, more than some of my "friends", actual humans I know. If I though it was a bad game, or not worth my time I'd just put it on the shelf and never come here.
 
To tell you what I did like: basically every second before the elevator takes you up to RGC. That was about 50 hours of gameplay, so it would take a while to list everything, thus I'll just give some key points: the music, the sound effects - weapons sound better than in most modern FPS's -, every moment with Mordin, every line Prothy has, giving Tali a rock.
 
Next comes where I disagree with some people about the ending. Many have issues with it even before RGC. I don't. Anderson getting ahead of you, not seeing your squad mates anywhere after the beam hits, TIM showing up out of nowhere - these are all things I can accept and understand with minimal or no effort, and did not have a negative impact on my gameplay.
 
This brings me to what I wanted to say in the first place. The entire sequence from RGC showing up and saying "wake up" to the start of the ending cutscene is, for me, intolerable. I will attempt to explain this with as much coherence as I can. I will be working under the assumption that this bit is real, and he is meant to sound honest, or indeed, is canonically considered to be telling the truth, and the entire truth.
 
1. As soon as he shows up, before saying anything, I already don't like or trust him. He is using the image of the child from my nightmares to communicate, which tells me two things: a) he can read my mind to some extent, and he wants to manipulate me.
 
1a) I don't think this needs much explanation. Anyone with access to my mind without my consent, however benevolent makes me wary.
 
1b) Once again, this isn't an evil thing by default, people play games like this with each other all the time, minus the ability to change shape, but because of the way I think, as soon as I catch someone trying to make me thing one way, I instantly, out of reflex, go the other way.
 
2. We never find out what or who he is. He says the Citadel is his home, and is part of him. Is that supposed to be the same thing expressed with different words? To me, those are quite different. If he is an AI, which is my best guess, then why would he call the hardware that runs him part of him? This is very important. The Reapers have been the driving force of three games, and now we learn RGC is their master. Knowing who or what he is is essential. This is not something you can leave up to the players' imagination.        
 
3. RGC's reasoning for the Reapers is nonsensical. Better people than me have already explained why. I trust your writers, so I am sure that they thought this through and know exactly what's going on, but it is NOT in the game. Same as the above. This isn't something you leave to our imagination. In fact, this half explanation is the worst possible way.
 
If we just destroyed the Reaper without ever knowing what was their reason, that would have been bad, but at the same time, it could have made sense. During a total war of utter destruction you do not stop to chat with the enemy. I'd not like it, but I could take it. Giving only part of a reason that makes absolutely no sense is horrible.
 
4. He clearly states "the Reapers are mine". I have spent the last three games working towards their destruction. He admits he is with them. I am now convinced he is my enemy, just as Harbinger is and Sovereign was.I think the idea was that what he says turns us, makes us understand, and we believe him.
 
But because of the previous three points, I have zero trust in RGC, respect for him, or anything. If the canonical point is that he is honest, then whoever wrote him failed completely, as at this point the only thing I'm convinced of is that RGC is a force of evil that has to be destroyed.
 
5. The three choices. A quick detour. I want to say that the similarity of the animations is fine by me. In fact, I think it is smart. No sarcasm. The only thing that matters is whether when you see it, it fits what you did. It does, in every case. (How informative it is, or what I think of the content is another point entirely.) I think that saving time and effort this way was pretty genius. The same goes for Tali's face. If you hired a dedicated model or used someone from the studio as a base that would make no difference to me. Why should it? As long as I like the picture in game I couldn't care less where you got it. And I like it.
 
Back on topic. After I choose one the cutscene shows  that in this, at least, RGC told the truth. We see Reapers destroyed, we see them merged, and we see them affected by control. We can't see the actual control, of course, but that would be pretty hard to show, so I'll accept that the blue thingy on them after the explosion does mean that I now control them. However, there is a big problem here. I, as a player, see this afterwards, and even before, knowing that I am playing a game it is easy to understand that RGC is not lying.
 
But, this is a role-playing game. Think for a moment what Shepard sees and knows. RGC is evil and is lying. My three choices: jump into a huge beam of energy; blow up a power conduit (that is clearly connected to the Crucible, the thing the entire galaxy just spent RGC only knows how long building - shooting a key component with a handgun seems like a good idea how? what the hell kind of a super weapon is it that the trigger is just going all Hulk on it?); and putting my hand on/in something that looks like a smaller version of the beam of energy, but still obviously enough to destroy me.
 
There is no way I'd choose any of those. At best I commit suicide, at worst I damage/destroy the Crucible. At this point the only choice I can make is to stand back, and hope the fleets can win in a straight battle, or that someone, maybe from my squad, manages to come in after me and figure out how to actually fire the Crucible.
 
As a player, I understand that this room is most likely meant to be artistic and symbolic and whatever, but so far, everything in the games was pretty much literal. I either look at it as I just described, in which case the game simply does not have an ending; or I accept the truth as a player, but then this is extremely jarring, ruins immersion, and breaks the game.
 
Finally, two things about the ending animations. First, the bit with the Normandy makes even less sense than RGC. Again, better people than me have already explained why. 
Second, as far as I can tell, the Mass Relays are destroyed in every ending. If you have the Reapers under control you might have some chance of rebuilding, but not much. Otherwise, this is arguably a fate worse than the Reapers. MR's weren't understood by anyone, even the Protheans. There is a very real chance I have just nuked the entire galaxy into a Dark Age they will never really get out of, thus not only ruining every species now living, but those that would come later as well. I'm all for a dark ending. I *want* a dark ending. Death and destruction everywhere. But this is going too far. I did everything right, and ended up hurting us more than the Reapers. Yay, I feel like a hero now.
 
As for a suggestion. If you somehow end up addressing this in game, which I very much doubt, I'd say: invalidate the RGC bit. Dream, indoctrination, being high with Garrus somewhere, whatever the reason, just make it not real. Instead give us a chance to talk to Harby, find out a bit about their reasons and origin, the kill them dead, preferably at the cost of Earth and the entire assembled galactic fleet.
And a more realistic one. Just release some information, even in the form of a forum post for all I care, that explains properly RGC's thought process, what was behind it, who was he. Tell us that Garrus broke every bone in Joker's body after they landed, for being a traitorous coward. Tell us that after a few centuries scientist figured out how to make MR's from the Reaper's corpses. That would be enough for me. 
 
Writing down everything I think would take too much time, so I kept it short.
 
Regards, Arkennys

[Phaedros]

War Assets & Multi-Player

For anyone who choses not to participate it is impossible to get enough assets through the single player campaign.

This is just plain wrong.

Makes it pointless trying to get enough because you know you can't.

Why should anyone who paid full price be denied the chance for the better endings because they choose not to be coerced into doing something they don't want to do?

[Kitten Tactics]

Saying, "I enjoyed X but I found Z _____ because of A,B,C" is what I'm looking for.

I enjoyed my Mass Effect experience as a whole, but I found the entire series to be sullied by the ending because:

1.  Promises about the conclusion were made by the developers leading up to the release of the game.  I gave my money to Bioware Corp. in exchange for delivery of those promises.  Bioware Corp. never delivered on any of those promises and in fact delivered exactly what they said they would not.

2.  The narrative took a massive leap off the deep end following the scene with Anderson and Shepard.  It was a complete shift in tone and plausibility.  I have always loved Mass Effect because even the futuristic sci-fi aspects always felt somewhat plausible.  The ending does not, and it feels incredibly out of place.

3.  The ending results in a complete and utter character assassination of Commander Shepard.  The beauty of the Shepard character is that no matter what someone chooses in terms of gender, race, personality, or sexuality, Shepard is and always has been someone who would never accept a compromise from the enemy.  The Catalyst created the Reapers, and is therefore the enemy.  Commander Shepard does not make deals with, or accept the terms of, the enemy.

4.  The ending also results in a complete and utter character assassination of Jeff "Joker" Moreau.  The beauty of the Joker character is that aside from his disabilities and role of comic relief, he is a stand-up character.  His true personality is one of loyalty, honor, confidence, and fearlessness.  He would never, ever run from a fight, especially the fight that will determine the fate of the galaxy.  He wants to prove that his disability means NOTHING in the grand scheme of things, because his sheer force of will makes up for it in spades.  Fleeing from the battle throws all of that out the window.

5.  By destroying the Mass Relays, you unmake the universe of Mass Effect.  Even if you go against your own established canon and say that the destruction of a relay does not wipe out the connected system, it still unravels the universe.  The armada that you have spent the entire game, and in some cases the entire series, building up, is left to an unknown fate.  The worlds you saved depend on the greater galactic community, especially after a grueling war. 

6.  Even if the endings have never TRULY taken your overall choices in to consideration, the ending of Mass Effect 3 at least makes it feel like everything from all three games was for nothing.  Spending extra time cultivating and maintaining relationships with characters and civilizations doesn't mean anything in the end because nothing changes the overall outcome.  Those characters and civilizations can never be seen in a better or worse situation based on my actions as a Paragon or Renegade.  The entire galaxy is in some sort of bizarre purgatory because I am never given any true closure.  

7.  I do not have the creativity of the writers and designers who have created this universe that I love.  Nothing I create in my head can satisfy my need to see how the story ends.  The best I can come up with a series of maybes.  Maybe Tali got to see Rannoch again, or maybe she didn't.  Maybe Garrus became a spectre, or maybe he didn't.  Maybe Shepard and Liara had all of those little blue children, or maybe they didn't.  Maybe the Krogan ended up overpopulating and killing all of the other races in a massive war, or maybe they didn't.  Maybe The Citadel was rebuilt, or maybe Earth became the new galactic seat of power.

The true problem I have is that I was never given any answers to...anything really. 

I spent the last 14 months being told that all of my questions would be answered. 

I spent the last 14 months being told that I would see true closure at the end of Shepard story. 

And I spent the last 14 months (and in a way, 5 years) anticipating the end of Mass Effect 3 for one reason and one reason only -- to see the results of my effort, as I had been promised. 

I am still waiting to see those results.

[tettenjager]

1) If we are going to have the starchild, than make the dialogue more "vigil like" When i was playing ME1 and spoke to vigil for the first time I was like : ooooh thats why .... and Aaaaah very clever that one.... I still think that is one of the best dialogues from mass effect as a whole, so the starchild needs to have a much more expanded dialogue where at the end so that everything in the game makes sense, no more questions (like for example the dark energy problem)

2) Closure: although I like the ending where Shepard dies (like he is the only one who can stop them if he kills himself for the rest of the universe) I do want to see what my choices from the pass ME's and this ME will impact on the universe. And this doesn't even have to be happy, I mean maybe the rachni turn out to be evil after all and unleash a second attack on the universe, same goes for the krogan. That would be bittersweet, while the organics are saved from the reapers, many years later they now start killing themselfs, or build that AI the star child was talking about.

3) Final boss: I know you didn't want this because it's too videogamie, but i was realy disappointed that i couldn't kill harbinger (him being such a **** in ME2:p ) or the illusive man, there was even some cool concept art of him in reaper form Just because this is the end we need something realy epic to end with, killing harby for exemple, not marauder shields:p

4) Happy ending: although I dont mind a bittersweet ending like the one we got (would like to have no more questions in the end however) I think a lot of people would like commander shepard to live, retire with his buddies, get children, and just get the rest he deserves. I think this is not impossible, i mean he has beaten the odds before (see suicide mission). maybe the old man in the end saying: Shepard continued as a specter to help the races from time to time, small things not like saving the universe, or something cliché like that:p

5) Dark ending: Even darker than the one we got, where you see that you, commander Shepard has failed hard, the reapers arev stronger than ever and will continue the cycle (killing everything you love). This should be ONE of the endings tho;p

So that is about it that I can think of, if I find more ill post here

[Gyroscopic_Trout]

Allow me to explain what my problem is, with reference to Casey Hudson's comments posted yesterday (http://social.biowar.../index/10089946).

"So we designed Mass Effect 3 to be a series of endings to key plots and
storylines, each culminating in scenes that show you the consequences of
your actions.  You then carry the knowledge of these consequences with
you as you complete the final moments of your journey."

His logic is that Mass Effect 3 provides a satisfying conclusion to all the varied plot threads from the series, and he's right, until the final ten minutes.  The starchild unties every plot thread.  Sure I cured the genophage and made nice with the turians and krogan, but now most of the male krogan are stranded on earth and with no mass relays, the bulk of their race will never see eachother again.  Yes I made peace with the geth and the quarians, and proved that organics and synthetics can live in peace, but now the quarians will never see their homeworld, and I killed all the geth.  You unite the galaxy like never before, only to shatter it irrevocably.

"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."

To clarify, most of us don't care whether the ending is sad or not.  But the conclusion has to have some meaning.  The sacrifice has to be worth something to us.  If Shepard sacrifices himself for the cause he's been fighting for for the last three games, that's one thing, but he sacrifices himself for a sudden plot twist in the last five minutes, which has never been hinted at and nor does anyone care about.  Rather than tie up loose ends, you untie everything and then introduce more unresolved plot threads just for good measure.

See the ending to Dragon Age: Origins.  Two possible endings feature a tragic sacrifice for the cause.  The third is a happy "everyone lives ending."  And yet, the happy ending is probably the most complex and fulfilling.  The only way for nobody to die in Origins is to make the proverbial deal with the devil.  You're never quite sure if it won't cause more harm than good, and your motivations for making that deal are entirely selfish.  You get your happy ending, but it's overshadowed by guilt.

The assumption that the series must end in noble self sacrifice actually makes it the dumbed down ending.  In a game that's all about choice, making it the only ending is even worse.


"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."

You've allowed symbolism and imagery to trump storytelling, because the events of the last five minutes are shoehorned in for their sake.  Joker only flies through the relay, taking with him crew that weren't even on the ship, just to cram in your clumsy, unfulfilling moment of reflection. 

The ending is at odds with all the major themes of the Mass Effect series, and even the game mechanics.  Why is the paragon/renegade dichotomy abandoned in the last five minutes?  Why is the theme of uniting the galaxy despite their differences abandoned in favour of an ending where you have to break everyone apart?  I thought one of the morals of the game was that individual differences are a good thing, but the synthesis ending is implying that they're actually the root of the problem.  Why does Shepard, who is distinguished from other video game shooter heroes by how much he talks, suddenly rendered mute?  Why doesn't he protest?  Why doesn't he try to find some other solution?  This of course ties in with how everyone feels they aren't given any choice in the ending.

Penny Arcade quite condescendingly stated that if we don't understand the ending, then we must not read much hard, classic science fiction.  I don't, because there's a lot of things wrong with classic science fiction, but that's not the point.  The Mass Effect series has never been hard science fiction, up until the last five minutes of the game.  The ending just doesn't belong.  I'm sure it would, as PA theorized, set up some big science fiction ideas for a sequel, but at the expense of Shepard's story.  'Big ideas' do not equate to good storytelling.

Modifié par Gyroscopic_Trout, 17 mars 2012 - 11:32 .

[Somath Cegem]

I would like the following questions anwsered.

1. During the Final Battle, where are my Krogan riding
Kakliosaurs, the Geth Ground troops (Including the Geth Primes, hell,
where are the Geth Armatures, those to take downa husk or 500 easy) and
Elcor Artilary? These three assets alone would have made the mission on
earth much easier.

"Oh no, the team taking that final cannon out is down, I'll have to do it"
"Badassfully, Do not worry Commander, The Elcor are here to take care of business"
Thus the cannons are taken out quicker and more of hammer than half makes it to the forward command post.

"Oh no, reaper forces are taking appart our tanks before they can get into possition"
"Krogan Cavalry protect those transports!"
Thus more tanks make it though and can actually make a dent in the destroyer reaper when everybody opens up on it.

"Oh no the targeting systems on these missiles are shot, they'll never hit now!"
"This unit shall unload itself into the system and guild the missile manually"
Destroyer gets hit on the first volley and even more ground troops make it to the final push.

These
are just a few examples of potentually awesome sounding war assets
being nothing else but that, something awesome sounding, I mean come on,
who didn't want to see Wrex on a Rex.

2. Discounting all the above.

Why,
when it's clearly all but blown the guys legs off, does the reaper,
upon seeing that Harbingers favorite topic of conversation getting back up, calmly float off back into the sky and not, I don't know, finish the job!?

3.
Minor one, but when walking up the control room (which we'll get to in a
minute) why is it that every other time there have been holes in a walk
way i've had to walk round them, but this time I don't, and yes i'm
sure they are holes, I shot into them to be sure.

4. harking back
to ME1. Now this may just be missing something, but I was pretty sure
the only place in the citidel where you could open and close the arms
was in the council chambers.

5. Harking Back again to ME1. Why
the hell didn't the reapers lock out everybody from the Relays once they
had control of the citidel, and if they can't for some reason, telling
us what that reason is would have been a big help.

6. Two very
minor ones, but how did anderson get there before me, especially seeing
as he wasn't doing a death run with the rest of us, and where did TIM
come from, they both seem to just get there outta nowhere.

7. Why does the catalyist look like the kid from Sheperds nightmares, if nothing else I should be able to ask him that.

8. Actually why can't I question anything the Catalyst says,
Sheperd has called out mind controlled mad men, Giant robot ships,
Fellow spectres and just baterians with a grudge out on there shallow
thinking alot milder than this, and this he just swallows like a spoon
full of suger, sorry I don't buy it.

9. ME1, Final Battle:- Uber Saren Husk Boss. ME2, Final Battle:- Proto Human Reaper, ME3, Final Boss:- A Maurader. Thats, Not, Goodm ENOUGH! Where is my final Climatic battle!

10.
All the ending cutsceens are ridiculiously similar, I mean, ME1 only
had two ending stills but the stuff with the council rested heavily on
previous choices. ME2 had an ending that changed depending on how many
died, or if none died, or hell if everybody died. In both these endings
you could trace what choices had led to this senario, Sending the fleet
in quick to save the destiny assention, sending Garrus to lead B squad
instead of Zaeed all felt like they mattered in the end. ME3, the ending
gives us none of that, just three different colour fliters that do
slightly differenet things based on an number you can only get up to
satisfactory levels through, lets be honest her, busy work.

11.
The Relays blow up, I'm sorry but what, A relay goes up in Arrival and
it takes out the entire solar system, this is every relay in the entire
galaxy, you've just wiped everybody out, and i mean not a blade of grass
growing on these places ever again, and if this isn't the case (a quick
"wouldn't that destroy everything" "no because blah blah technobabble"
explainaition would do), then at worse you've just stranded one of the
largest fleets in sci-fi history in the sol system, most of the leaders
of the galaxys races are there too, so that's the turians leaderless,
the korgan ripe to slip back into old ways, the assari with most of the
people they could use to rebuild half a galaxy away and the quarians
back to square one stuck on the flotilla.

12. Why is Joker to be
out running the Blue and Green blast waves, Bluw is doing nothing to
anybody but reapers, and green is apprently a good thing, red I can let
slide if he's together with EDI and wants to save her but..

13.
Why does Joker and your entire crew bail on you, and when, and how does
your team mates get from on earth doing the death run to on the ship
again, and why do they leave sheperd on the ground when they run for it,
you've been to hell and back with these people, in some cases more than
once, hell in garrus and tali's case this is round three charging into
hell with you, and you're telling me they just bailed like that and left
you to die? I don't buy it.

14. Even if all the above is true,
where is my epilogue? Dragon Age gave me an Epilogue, sure it was all
text but it showed me what even my most minor choice acomplished in the
long run, Mass Effect had a million and 1 things it could have gone on
to talk about, The rebuildings, what all your surving party memebers
current and former went on to do, did the krogan get the one or two
planets they wanted, did Wrex and Eve finally change them for the
better. Did the Geth and Quarian peace last, how long did it take Earth
back together. How did the LI cope with haveing sheperd die, in the case
of some of them, again. This is all stuff I wanted to know, and didn't
get told, and felt rather gipped about the whole thing.

15. Do you guys actually have a plan or are you just sounding us out and deciding what to do from there?

If you can clear all these up for me, I'd be very grateful.