7052 réponses à ce sujet

[Chuloos]

SamFlagg wrote...

(Posted in this thread because I totally was taking to long and ended up after the lock in the other one)

Jessica,

First apologies for what I'm sure is the wall of text
flying back and forth which is contributing to the discussion being so
unhelpful right this second.  I would say people have to adjust to
actually having someone here.  Many of the articles laid out by some of
the posters do include the generalities of what we currently think was
wrong, but I can offer some concrete suggestions that reflect my
thoughts, and hopefully reflect the thoughts of others.

While the endings our our primary concern I'd like to address Earth and then a couple quality of life issues as well.

1.) War
assets - Many of us feel rightly or wrongly that we logically expected
war assets to appear either in game or in cutscenes during the take back
of Earth.  And the war assets I'm referring to aren't the space ships
above (Though those are awesome) they are the ones on the ground.  We
really really did want to see Elcor Living Tanks and bands of Krogans
charging reapers.  We wanted to see scenes of our ME2 squad mates
holding there own somewhere on the battlefield.  We expected the battle
on Earth itself to be so much grander

2.) I think a lot of us
expected Earth to be far more similar in tone to the ME2 suicide mission
where we could task crewmates and have their survival depend on our
choices previously in the game.  With the number of times Commander
Shepard is told that he was going to lose people, it was surprising that
no one on his current squad met that fate, and the ones who typically
would (Thane and Mordin) had already been heavily foreshadowed to
finding redeption through death (For the record, Thane Mordin and
Legions deaths were so pitch perfect that we find how perfect those were
out of balance with how much of a problem we had with the ending)

3.)
The section where you sprint towards the beam of light and harbinger
attacks all the way through having Anderson die next to you is
beautiful.  It's all emotional, and most of all it's personal.

4.)
Our main issues lie with the God-Child, we find his arguement
uncompelling because we don't see his logic, and we are angry most of
all because Shepard has been a character of definance against the odds
for 2.99 games.  And in the darkest hour, he does not have the option
really to simply reject the assertion that synthetics and organics will
always be at war (And the entire Geth Quarian plot line seems to make it
far more likely that Organics will try to wipe out synthetics than the
other way around.  We find fault with his reasoning and are for the
first time in the series unable to challenge it.)

5.) The ending
consequences for Shepard come down to three shades of death (discounting
the breathing), and the mass relays destroyed in all of them.  While
there may be an underlying philisophical discussion about destroying the
reapers controlling the reapers or merging all synthetic life, this is
far overshadowed by the very immediate practical problem of destroying
all relay travel and stranding fleets in the Sol system.

6.) I
believe this could have been handled better by having some options where
Shepard lives, but relays are destroyed, or shepard dies, but the
relays go on, or even Shepard picks the control option and the reapers
leave earth and the relays alone but go and reap the rest of the
galaxy.  The practical consequences of the three options are so similar
that their philisophical difference becomes irrelevant.  (To that end I
think many would've been happy for an option to be defiant, sacrifice
yourself, have the crucible simply bring down the reaper barriers and
make them easily destroyed by the assembled fleet, and hey if you have
enough EMS you can even save shepard.)

7.) Closure.  In this it
could've been done with a heroes funeral, or if he survived a simple pan
and scan of the area with his surviving squad mates and a "Let's go
home" moment.   We feel that many of the plotlines that were apparently
solved are undone because all the people necessary to good outcomes
(Like having Wrex on Tuchanka) are stranded in the sol system.  We're
not all asking for a Star Wars Medal Ceremony, we'd be perfectly fine if
it could be a bittersweet view of all we lost, but also at what we
still had.  (And if there are enough varient endings someone can get the
star wars medal ceremony, but that's the point we wanted the endings to
be divergent)

8.) The cut scenes were 80% the same.  There really isn't a way to not be unhappy about that.

The
other quality of life issues are: The Journal, The Face Import,
Multiplayer having too much of an impact on readyness, and the Shepard
Shame Talk  (when the models actively look away from each other while
talking)

Now I will point out that this depth of feeling is
because of a real sense of attachment to all of the characters in the
universe.  The deaths for the characters who had them were all pitch
perfect, which is why the lack of sacrifice in the last part of the game
of anyone on the most dangerous battlefield followed by destroying the
entire relay system is so jarring.

There is lots of good stuff here.. and in several other posts.  I will try to expand on this one.

Battle for Earth and War Assets:

As pointed out. the battle on Earth is really dissappointing.  We basically have 5 segments. 

1) Blow the cannon ( 2 squadmates w/ Shepard and Steve gets shot down.  
2) Shepard says goodbye via vid to the majority of his friends (blah) 
3) Shepard and 2 squadmates make for the citadel.. and kill a reaper. 
4) Shepard and 2 squadmates rush the light and Harbinger blasts them
5) the citadel Anderson dies/passes out and a mysterious god-child gives shepard 3 options .  3 options that we know our Shepard would never agree to.

All in all.. the Battle for Earth is way too short.. and non-inclusive of most.. if not all of the assets Shepard has brought.

Where is the battle scenes of Jack and her kids blasting the reaper forces?  Where are the battle scenes of Geth Primes advancing on Reaper positions?  Where are the battle scenes of Aria's Mercs engaging reaper forces?  Where are the battle scenes of Alcor Cannon Soldiers?  Where are the battle scenes Krogan warriors charging Reaper forces?  Where are the battle scenes of Rachni taking revenge?  Well. you get the picture.

The battle on Earth should have been the longest segments in this whole edition with the widest variety of engagement possible.

As far as the choices at the end.  With all of the reaper artifacts, data, and software recovered throughtout the 3 games, including the Geth upgrade.. it is clear that a directed approach to destroy or disable the reapers themselves.. without sacrificing the entire galaxy is possible.  That makes the existing 3 endings totally non-believable and disjointed.

Wow.. there is just too much that can be said about how to augment and enhance the battle for earth and achieve closure and satisfaction for the fans.

All in all, discounting the last hour or so of ME3,  it has been one hell of a ride.  Thank you for that. 

We could use a fix pretty soon.  I have been experiencing mental, emotional and physical distress resulting from the existing state of the game conclusion.  Please fix this.

[Lady Catastrophe]

Since everyone and their grandma (that goes for me, too) wants better endings, I won't bother writing a wall of text about how the end of ME3 sucked big time. I shall instead say that I'd like an ending that actually acknowledges my decisions over the series.

And I want happy endings with LI's. Because I'm a hopeless romantic and dammit, Shakarian is my favourite. Fix it, Bioware.

[Gammazero79]

My suggestion make the fix asap I haven't touched the game since I finished the single player campaign because of the terrible end. I had intended to be midway through my Renegade shep by now.

[rabidm0ng0ose]

I wish to be able to achieve my golden/ perfect ending where my crew and I survive and a semblance of the Galactic community survives to be able to rebuild. I want an ending that answers questions and provides hope and closure. I want to be able to know that in the end my choices matter and the Galaxy is a better place for it.

This ending should be the hardest to obtain, but it should still be in there. Shepard's story and character are not tragic based on the way you took the first and second game. It is unfair to just change that in the last hour of the game.

[xektar]

All of the game was almost perfect, but the thing that bothers me the most is the ending scene of the normandy flying away, I really dont think that Shepard's crewmates would abandon him/her right at the end. Garrus said he would meet me at the bar . I want an exlpanation as to why they were
running from battle, how could they know about shepards decision on the crucible or if they tougth shepard was killed, why didint they stayed to finish the battle.

Another thing that bugs me is that I want to know what happens with each race after the reapers are gone/dead.

And last one last thing, If in all 3 final decisions, the mass realeys are destroyed/shut down, all my descions are worthless, because it doesnt matter if I cure the genopahe or not etc.

P.S. I support the indoctrination theory,

Thanks guys, and I hope you realese some ending DLC because I am not interested in any other kind until I know what happens to the mass effect universe.

[The_Crazy_Hand]

 For the endings:

-First and foremost, I absolutely want EDI to survive the destroy ending.  The reapers deserve to die, but EDI does not.  Maybe just make it so the reapers are destroyed, but no technology goes with them.
-Speaking of destroy, I want to see the reapers die in agony, not just fall over dead.  They done a lot of monterous things, and to make the ending truly satisfying, they should be shown dying in pain and disbelief.  Show them being slowly disintegrated while screaming "SHEPERD!" or something.
-Do NOT destroy the relays for any endings except maybe those where your EMS is low.
-Normandy reunites with Sheperd in all endings, except, again, maybe those where your EMS is low.
-For Merge, Sheperd should survive.  
-For control, show the reapers working in harmony with the races and keeping order in the universe.  Nothing too elaborate, but it should be shown that Sheperd becomming their Hive Mind is having an effect, not simply them just leaving and calling off their attack.
-Flesh out the endings in general, show what happens on Thessia and Palaven when it's all over, as well as homeworlds of any race you got to join with you.  Cameos by some of the characters would also work, but the main thing is just show a bit more than the relays broadcasting Sheperd's decision.

For content which may come with DLC endings:

-I'd just like to see it be post-game really, no particular preference.

And for god's sake, never again cut something from a video game for being "too videogamey", that is inexcusable.  I will admit that I didn't feel at a loss for not having a final boss, but it still would have been an added bonus.  To have it removed because some guy thinks that video games shouldn't be video games is not something which should EVER happen.

[Versus Omnibus]

I have only two things I would like to be added.

1. Expand on the endings please! Simply telling us to daydream an ending is not enough, especially when we played a game where all of the effects of our choices played out in front of us. I want to see if the Krogen were able to expand peacefully or started another Krogen Rebellion. I want to see if the Rachni were able to enter galactic society peacefully or were hunted down again. I want to know if Galactic society was able to survive the destruction of the Mass Relays or is doomed forever without them. Do this by using pictures like in Dragon Age: Origins, where each image is used to describe the long term consequences of my actions. I don't need a happy ending to be satisfied; I just need closure.

2. Add the Raloi, Virtual Aliens, or the other species introduced back in ME2's Cerberus Network! Add missions that involve Shepard seeking their help to fight the Reapers; like the Raloi could give Shepard foot soldiers to fight on Earth's surface and the VA could add engineers to work on the Crucible. It doesn't need to be much but enough to have them included. And to top it all off, add them as character models for multiplayer! These would help keep interest high and could add fresh air once the Geth and Batarians are finished!

Please Bioware, let these two requests happen!!

[Barrendall]

Honestly the only thing I would like to see addressed is the mission summary. There are absolutely no updates on your missions as they go along. It would be nice to be able to click on your missions and see exactly what stage you are at. We were given that option in ME2, I would like to see it return if possible in a patch.

[WazTheMagnificent]

I just realized there is one way you could actually make the ending worse.

A bunch of people in this thread are asking for a "happy ending" and nothing else. They're entitled to. But the WORST possible thing you could do would be leave the ending largely the same, except now there's a 4th option where everybody lives happily ever after. HELL NO. This would turn the series into a joke. If you want to fix this, the ending needs to be COMPLETELY overhauled. No more starchild, no more space magic. This is crucial. If you are going to add a "happy" ending, it has to be one of many possible endings. NONE of which involve that 2001: A Space Odyssey reject. But the important thing is not a happy ending. It's an ending that doesn't retroactively ruin the entire series, which is precisely what this pseudo-mystical pile of crap does.

[HK-90210]

Thank you in advance for offering this thread for the fans that love your work, and I hope that my contribution helps you in making future content and brigning along any changes you decide to implement.

Now the endings don't bother me as much as they have other people. I have enough imagination to overcome any shortcomings they have. And I'm sure any complaints I make, others have already said, and I'm confident that you guys will resolve the issues through whatever means you think is best.

But the one thing that bothers me above all else is the treatment of Jacob's romance in ME3. To me, it was a very meaningful, enjoyable romance in ME2, and it deserved better than what it got in the sequel. Between Jacob's lack of drama as a character(a positive thing, from several Shepards POVs),  the fact that he offers Shepard a chance to vent her frustrations, and the fact that he tells Shepard that he lovs her(something none of the other LIs do) were all things that made his romance unique and satisfying. And to end it by having him leave Shepard, cheat on her with Dr. Cole, tell her that "The Normandy is her first love", that he doesn't think she'll ever want to settle down, etc. is, IMO, an insult to Jacob as a character, and the people who romanced him. Given the way the romance is treated, it feels better to just kill him in ME2, and that's a huge waste of a character and a romance.

And as much as I don't want to play this card, I feel like Jacob's popularity(or lack thereof) is a serious factor in this. We Jacob fans know he's not a popular character, much less a LI. But that's no reason to treat the people that DO like him in this fashion. To us, it felt like a slap in the face, and only because we grew to like a character and a romance that you gave us. And we were the only ones who'd end up seeing this(the cheating and lack of continuation). The people who didn't like Jacob have remained relatively unaffected, other than saying "I never liked Jacob, but you guys got treated like ****." or "You know, my favorite LIs wasn't treated as well as I'd like, but at least he/she wasn't treated like Jacob." So the only people that come out of this situation hurt are thoese that alreadly liked somethign you did. This sets a serious precedent for all of us Jacob fans. Why should we like future characters you make if we end up being shown this kind of treatment?

Here are the things that don't make sense to me, or just plain pissed me off, as far as how Jacob was treated as a romanced character(I have no problems whatsoever with his character direction if he wasn't romanced. He's spot on as a 'bro' for most of my Sheps):

1. There have been many hints that he offers Shepard stability. This is a term used when Liara mentions his romance in the LotSB DLC. "He's stable. You may need that mrre than you think in the times ahead." This is perfect for Shepard, and exactly fitting for Jacob as a character. If he is truly the stable man we saw in ME2, he wouldn't just ditch Shepard like he does. He would wait for her. He might be a bit impatient, certainly, but he would wait for her, because he'd know she was worth it. And the idea that Jacob would be there for her, through everything else that heppens, would be a great comfort. He doesn't have to be a part of her squad to be there for her. A few emails now and then, maybe him asking if she wants a family, like he does. Jacob cheating on Shepard throws this whole wonderful character direction on its face. He offers no stability for Shepard, just bitterness and resentment.

2. Dr. Cole is spoiled as a character to me after how she talks to a romanced Shepard. She says that Jacob still loves Shepard, and that she knew they were together when she went after him, but that 'he's better off with me'. This makes her come off as man-stealing ****. Even when I play my Shepards that don't get this dialogue, I don't like her, and that is a shame, since I'd love to enjoy the "Ex-Cerberus Scientists" mission, as I thought it had a lot to offer. But Dr. Cole's dialogue towards Jacobmancing Shepard is just plain mean.

3. One of the key things with romance in the Mass Effect series in general is that it is something under the player's control. I don't like to sound like a control freak, and I know that the real world romance is hardly something under anyone's control, but it is the mechanic that we as players have come to expect with our romances. And Jacob cheating on Shepard and leaving her for Dr. Cole is not something that is under Shepard's control at all, and that does ****** me off. The only other LI who is treated similarily to this is Thane, who's death lies outside of player control, but it doesn't feel nearly as bad as this. Also, none of ManShep's LIs get treated this way, and FemShep loses out on two? One of Bioware's messages in their marketing is that they want to cater to their female fans, and this seems to fly in the face of that. Just something to consider here.

Now, for the way to make this right, dialogue included(this is just the best theory I've got. you could simply chnage a few dialogues for him during his mission, but that might cause some timelyine problems with his relationship with Dr. Cole):

Have Shepard meet up or have a holocall with Jacob on the Citadel prior to the end of the Genophage Arc, like she does with Miranda. This would allow Shepard to end/continue the romance, keeping it within player control. Jacob could mention Dr. Cole(including her making advances), and the work he's doing saving Ex-Cerberus personnel. And they could make-up or break-up amicably here if the players wants that. Like so:

Shep: You seem to be happy there, Jacob. You like Dr. Cole?
Jacob: Yeah, we've got a lot in common, Shepard. Still, she isn't you.  Couldn't reach you when you were with the Alliance, but I'm thinkin' about you. Are we still good, Shepard?
Break-up:
Shepard:Jacob....I don't think this will work. With everything that's going on, the chances of us both living through this war....
Jacob: *pained, dejected look* Yeah...I get you. Doing what we do, it's hard to hope for anything real. For what it's worth, Shepard, I love y- loved you. Even if you don't feel the same, I want you to know that. We still friends?
Shepard: Yeah, still friends, Jacob. Take up that doctor's offer for drinks. She sounds nice.
Jacob: Yeah, I might do that. See you around, Shepard.
Make-up:
Shepard: Oh, we're still good Jacob. I've missed you. Saving the galaxy won't be the same without you watching my back.
Jacob: *smirk* Yeah, but we both have things to do, Shepard. These people are counting on me to protect them. They need me.
Shepard: Wanna trade?
Jacob: *chuckle* Thanks Shepard, but I'll pass. I don't envy you, saving the galaxy by playing politics. But I'll keep in touch, if I can.
Shepard: *sultry smile* Calling your girlfriend from a secret location, Jacob? Kind of like sneaking into the captain's quarters....
Jacob: *playful smile* Yeah, it's a heavy risk....
Shepard: But the priiize......
Jacob: I'll see you soon, Shepard. Goodbye. I love you.

That's how I think Jacob's romance could be continued before you meet him on the mission. and if you don't take this chance to talk with him, he does end up cheating on you. That would keep the situation in the player's control, but still have the opprotunity to have Jacob decide to leave Shepard. I think it would be another case of Jacob being a unique LI in that he will do that if you don't talk to him.

Going through with this meeting would change quite some dialogue in the 'Ex-Cerberus' mission, since Shepard would already know what Jacob is doing there, and who Dr. Cole is. And when she talks wih Jacob, he'll still be loyal to her, and Dr. Cole could even say something congradualatory to Shepard, like 'I asked him out, but he wouldn't take my offer. I thought he'd be better off here, with me. But that man loves you. Take care fo him, will you? We owe our lives to him.'

And when Shepard and Jacob meet back up on the Citadel afterward, they could talk about the future, and what they want. Jacob can mention starting a family, and they can have a chance for a fade-to-black.

I know this is a lot of content to ask for, post-release. but this is how I could see you guys doing justice to Jacob's romance. It's not any more than what was given to the Miranda/Jak romances, and it would undo the one major flaw i've seen in the entire game. Even if you don't do any of this, at least try to recover Jacob's romance for his fanst. We're feeling pretty bitter about this, and it would be nice not to hold those kind of feelings towards a develper who's games we all enjoy.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Modifié par CastonFolarus, 17 mars 2012 - 04:20 .

[Tychondrus5]

If you guys would implement the Indoctrination theory with pretty much every point the fanbase has made, I will fall to my knees and praise this as the best game ever, seriously.

Keep in mind though, that we need solid endings afterwords. IF you break the indoctrination, an actual final battle versus Harbinger, War assets is key here etc. etc. many people here have said pretty much the same as I have so. PLEASE make this happen!

[Veovim]

I won't bother going over the endings, as they seem to be the most popular topic in this thread.  I do have a few different suggestions for ways the game could be improved:

1) When importing a character from ME2 and keeping the same class, the game shouldn't automatically copy the ME2 build.  Some skills have changed enough that I would want to take a different rank 4 evolution (e.g. ME2 favored heavy warp over unstable warp, but explosions work differently now).  In some cases, the dynamic of entire builds has changed--particularly the vanguard.  With a limited number of points, I would want charge at rank 6 (full shields), and a large investment in fitness, but the imported build can't do either.  You can eventually respec, but Mars on insanity with a suboptimal build is pretty harsh--much harder than the rest of the game.

2) Multiplayer and the best ending:  We've been told, repeatedly, that it is possible to get the best ending (4000 EMS) with galactic readiness at 50%.  So far, it seems to be a theoretical possibility, rather than a concrete one, as completing the game (with every sidequest done) typically seems to result in ~7000 war assets, not the required 8000.  I've heard that there may be more war assets available in NG+, but even if that is true (I'll admit I haven't tried it), I can't think of a reason that you should have to beat the game twice just to get the ending you want.  I would suggest raising the default galactic readiness so that 4000 EMS is possible with 6500-7000 total strength instead of 8000.  You would still have to complete a majority of the game, but it would at least be possible.

3) I like the weapon mod system in general (it gives a good variety of possible options for each weapon class), but I really wish accuracy mods didn't also cause zoom-in.  The SMG is the biggest offender, as that mod is also the one that reduces recoil--it would be hugely useful without the zoom, but is very awkward with it.

4) Remove the NG+ restriction on upgrading weapons to lvl 10.  The encumbrance system is fairly punishing to soldiers when you're limited to lvl 5, but is a lot more reasonable when you remove that restriction.

[WangGozinya]

I really enjoyed the game and some of my favorite moments were based around the decisions you made. Mordin's sacrifice/curing the genophage, legion's sacrifice/Geth becoming fully sentient, the truces waged between all the races, etc. All of these moments were all very emotional and with the gameplay, were extremely satisfying. That is up until the ending. Which destroyed the entire series for me.

I'd like to see outcomes that spark the same emotion for the ending of the game. I'd like to see liara and shep be able to tell stories to their "little blue children". I'd like to see the wrex's little krogan, mordin, running around like the boy who was in the beginning of the game, playing with the toy ship. I want to see the Geth helping Tali and the other quarians rebuilding Rannoch. I want to see where the joker and edi relationship goes. I'd like to see what happens to Garrus and Palaven, Miranda and her sister, kasumi, javik, Jacob and his new family, etc...

I poured my heart into making every decision the way I would want it. I don't think that asking for a happy ending is childish or that having a sad ending is more mature. I don't see why it is too much to ask that we have all of these endings, based on the decisions we've made throughout the game and what our galactic readiness level is. One where everything is destroyed, One where everyone survives, and variations and combinations of all the variables. Perhaps even one where only synthetics survive. I'd play the whole series over again to get the extreme polar opposite endings.

Modifié par WangGozinya, 17 mars 2012 - 04:38 .

[TomPFloyd]

I think some of the endings posted here are very well written.I would be happy if a proper epilogue was added, detailing the fates of my crew and unique to each ending. Additionally, as unlikely as it is, I would like the scene with Glowboy to be reworked in a way that closes plotholes. Furthermore, it would be a good idea to have endings that are impacted by my decisions earlier in the game/series. The arbitrary R/G/B color wheel is not a favorite of mine, by any stretch. I don't really expect a happy ending at all, just one that doesn't end a three games series with a poorly written cliffhanger.

Additional changes that would go down well would be a fix for the freezes that lock up the 360, and an expanded quest log that updates when objectives are completed.

Modifié par TomPFloyd, 17 mars 2012 - 04:20 .

[Kendiara]

You tell us officially that the reason some of the changes in two were made was because of our input.  You say through the games that choice matters, and then don't allow any choice at all.  I wanted, but didn't expect, ice cream and rainbows.  I wanted a nice litte farm on Rannoch with Kaiden, and watching Tali and Garrus make wierd looking children.  I did not want a Dr Suess crossover (1 fish 2 fish Red Fish Blue Fish/Green Eggs and Ham) where nothing had anything to do with choices. 

I sat for 3 hours crying in inchoherant RAGE at the ending, (I picked green mostly because my Shepard is tired of fighting and just wanted the one that had peace).  So if your hope was to make people talk and feel more invested in the characters they had spent hundreds of hours with, well you succeeded. 

However if this is it, and there is no other thing coming to "fix" the ending, then you have commited the greatest travesty in gaming.  And I can hope with all my being you go bankrupt from it.

[Virmire Vermin]

You know what I loved about Knights of the Old Republic? Well, a lot of things, but the brutality of the dark side ending was sweet. If you're going to do an ending DLC, don't just do one. Give us a non-canonical renegade ending of being fully indoctrinated by the Reapers, betraying and destroying our allies, including the surviving party members.

Yours sincerely,

Harbinger

P.S. You know you want to, this hurts you BioWare. ASSUMING CONTROL of the writing team.

[Flamewielder]

I'm a 47 year-old RPG player, father of 2 children and 4 stepchildren, some of whom share my passion for RPG's (both pen & paper as well as computer ones). I own an extensive library of sci-fi and fantasy literature, as well as scientific literature in the form of books and scientific articles (I'm a professional geologist). I have the utmost respect for artists and the creative process and greatly enjoy listening to a wide range of music, films, etc... I've even collaborated to the creation of fan-made Neverwinter Nights modules, as a conversation/script writer. I've been impressed by Bioware's CRPG productions from the early Black Isle Studios/Obsidian collaborations (Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series, Neverwinter Nights series, Knights of the Old Republic series, Dragon Age series and of course Mass Effect).

While I have played (and enjoyed) multiplayer shooters with friends, it's not what attracted me to Mass Effect. Contrary to some, I agree that adding multiplayer experience to Mass Effect was an interesting idea, even if I've never played the MP part myself. I just don't feel attracted to that MP component. I've played but never finished the Gears of War single-player campaign, because it lacked the rich environment of Mass Effect and I just didn't bond with any of the characters. Mass Effect is a wonderful collage of classic sci-fi themes, combined with wonderfully written characters which the player used to create his own story for Shepard. It's an unprecedented form of interactive creation between the game designers and the player, each playthrough being a unique work of art in itself.

I did however complete several playthroughs of KotOR, KotOR 2, NWN, NWN2, DA, DA2, ME & ME2; the steady supply of new DLC for both the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series has greatly enhanced their re-playability, especially for DA2 and ME2. I have therefore eagerly purchased most DLC offerings and they have all enhanced my gaming experience to some degree, sometimes facilitating the achievement of a specific desired outcome. Different players have different tastes, enjoy different books, music, art forms; and so their aspirations for Shepard differ considerably.

Sadly, the current endings offered in ME3 have betrayed the implicit covenant established between the ME creative team and the players about making each playthrough unique; as players expected as wide a range of possible endings as possible, ranging from utter defeat to heroic success (as in ME2 with the "No One Left Behind" achievement). None of the endings allow Shep to survive, the galaxy has been so extensively changed that future ME offerings will be limited to "prequels". I am shocked that Bioware would curtail their most successful IP to date in such a catastrophic manner.

Mass Effect has been compared to Star Wars in terms of scope, and it is true that most of the audio-visual Star Wars productions following Return of the Jedi are essentially prequels. But a significant body of novels was also written about events in the post-Return of the Jedi era. Return of the Jedi concluded the story arc but left things open-ended for future sequel development.

People who argue about preserving artistic freedom tend to forget that the player is just as much the artist of Shepard's story as the designer team. An artist is free to alter or re-iterate his/her opus as many times as he/she wants to achieve a masterpiece. The Mona Lisa has several dozens of sketches buried under the final coat of paint. The Sistine Chapel frescoes were as much the work of Michelangelo as Pope Julius II, who commissioned the piece and made it possible, most likely contributing input beyond simple funding. As much as elitists may argue against providing additional endings to ME3 on that basis, they are ultimately wrong and show a limited understanding of what interactive media creation is about. Like it or not, the player's stake in the final opus is 50%.

The ME3 creative team has delivered a solid, near-perfect finale to an unforgettable series of games. The current choices of endings essentially feel like one and the same (i.e. film noir, dystopian) and clash with the story's genre (heroic space opera, utopian) so much they feel out of place. This wouldn't be an issue if they were one possibility among several other possible ones that felt more like the rest of the series.

I purchased the Firepower Pack DLC (Kestrel armor and guns) because it made additional playthroughs easier to achieve, encouraging experimentation. Why would I bother buying it if the ultimate outcome never changes? I don't care for any of the green, blue or red endings as they are; why would a spend any of my discretionary funds on DLC that doesn't improve this? The creative team has torpedoed my incentive to buy any ME3 DLC; not as a childish "I hate you Bioware!" reaction, but as an adult reaction to a creative team decision that result in less appeal for future ME3 DLC.

The good news is: 1) you're listening and taking notes, 2) the game is otherwise near-perfect, 3) re-writing 9-10 minutes of game play involving limited discussions/conversation paths should NOT be difficult and certainly represent less work than Overlord or Arrival. Free Alternate Endings DLC will correct a creative misstep that will reconcile the fans with the best gaming franchise out there and revive the community's interest in future ME3 DLC offerings. Heck, I might even give MP a spin or two, if it allows my Shepard to step off the Normandy with his/her LI in the end sequence... AND you keep the door open to sequels, as well as prequels.

So what if I enjoy sunshine and unicorns? Fans of Deus Ex are free to keep choosing their own depressing endings and are certainly free to ignore Door#4 beyond which laughter can be heard and a Serrice brandy bottle is being shared…

[shnellegaming]

Please plug the plot hole of IF the citadel gets captured why isn't that game over?  Cause if it got captured then shouldn't the Reapers be in total control of the Mass Relay network?  Meaning that if they move it to Sol then no one can follow them there.  I accepted they can move it to Sol.  If a mass relay can move a fleet of Reapers around the galaxy moving the Citadel probably is the same amount of mass.

[lodgik]

Dear BioWare

1. Go for the indoc/hallu theory, because the ending right now is filled with evident plot hole and are discussed here for more info http://social.biowar.../index/9727423. Make it so sherpard wake up and must do something commando style to go to the citadel/win.

2.Doe sherpard has to die ? I mean in ME2 suicide mission he suivive, even in ME1 after being almost crushed by rubble he survive. Like anderson said there's always another way

3.Make very distinct ending, paragon or renage affect it, EMS really does something and are not just useless number at the end, make your decision from all the games matter, amke your friends matter.

3. Don't kill off main character for the sake of drama, Mordin death was awe-inspiring and really well made, Thane death was awesome and tearjerking, anderon death was awesome and inspirational. If you have to kill main character give a good reason and don't kill them all unless bad ending.

4. Tell us what happen to everyone after the end. what happen to the races ? do they reconstruct, do council reconstruct what they built, are there galactic alliance formed after, what happen to main characters, does your sherpard retire with his LI somewhere ( could even remplace stargazer ending by your LI and your kid telling him how you saved the galaxie). Jut anwer fans question about after.

5. If you really have to kill sherpard don't make forgettable to the other character and the player. Tell us if the races and his friends honor is sacrfice for the end of time.

6.Make EMS do something just like In ME2 with the ship upgrade and the loyaltie mission.

7. make a clear distinction between the bad endings and the really good endings

Want any clue on how to finish an awesome series, check MGS4. You knew snake was going to die at the end and he lost some friends along the way but you knew the guy had won damnit, you knew the guy had earned is rest. The even made a 30 min cutscene of meryl and that guy who i can't remember is name get married. How awesome is that. That kind of ending told me that the dev caired about what they were doing and told me i could buy anything from them good or bad because i knew they would make it right eventually.

[Arlionis]

Bigdoser wrote...

I want my 16 endings, not endings with slight variances.

Exactly, I find it ridiculous the claim that there are 16 endings when it's basically the same ending with some pointless small changes. 

[wolfeye7]

Taphia wrote...

First and foremost, I love a great deal of ME3 however, there are a number of issues involved with the game, primarily the ending. I'm very happy with the character dialogue aboard the Normandy which I found amusing, thought provoking, and etc. I was also very happy with modin/thane/legion coming to their various ends. I was also extraordinarily happy with the fem shep/garrus romance story. 

bugs glitches graphical anomalies and technical issues: 
There were a number of these throughout the game, particularly in the Citadel with npc's, a graphical failure when escaping the cerberus base with Jacob, and I had one system crash at some point but I don't remember exactly where. These issues were minor and only mildly annoying. I expect these will be fixed at some point and that's fine. 

Inventory system:
I've had issues with the inventory system in all three games so it's a personal issue and I don't expect a large majority agreeing with me, even my step son rolled his eyes at me. I just felt it was cumbersome and slightly annoying. 

Diana Allers:
I really didn't see the point of this character other than she was sucking up my time on the Normandy and looking pretty trashy. Yes I know in the real world the media plays a major part in wars (see Vietnam as a leading example) but I just didn't see her or her presence aboard the Normandy as worthwhile. I also had a lot of issues with the "interviews" where she would ask a question and then the scene cuts away with out an answer. This was ignorable but also confusing. The main problem with this was that it just added more confusion to the ending as if BW intentionally left out answers to screw with us. I could be wrong though. 

Coretez:
I like this character and I'm all for the equality message he represents. I felt like too much time was spent on helping him get over his problems given the breivity of the rest of the game. This might just be me. It fits with the theme of the games and this isn't the first time we have guided a character to a better place in life so it's only that there were other issues at hand with game length vs subplots. Again, it might just be me that sees this was a time waster but I enjoyed it as a time waster. 

EMS rating:
I like to think I understand it's point but honestly, I really don't. I felt like there was too much stress on the physical number to even get a remotely viable ending. I plowed through the game and I had a lower readiness rating than most so I ended up with the crappiest ending of the crappy endings the first run. In previous games it came down to doing the appropriate missions/quests/whatever or loyalty missions combined with picking the right people to get the job done. In ME3, there was some of this but it all comes down to the EMS score and for some reason this just bothered me. I'm a casual gamer for the most part and this seemed to hinder rather than help. 

The endings:
I've been extra super excited about ME3 since it was announced. It was on my Christmas list immediately and then it was pushed to spring which is no biggie because I understand how long games/code/rendering/writing/etc take to put together. I went out of my way to avoid spoilers and I put my horse blinders on until I had the game. I had faith in the quality of game based on previous ME games and the trailer during the Walking Dead got me all excited. I bought the collector's edition, I spent my weekend playing it to death, and it was great. Right up until the end. 

From the time we start the ending, which seemed closer to the getting up on the Cerberus HQ things begin to unravel. How did the Illusive Man get the human reaper if we blew up the collector base in ME2? that really bothered me because as a paragon shep i blew that crap to pieces because it really was an abomination. The pc terminals throughout the HQ were also sort of confusing to me, partly because I didn't have any idea who Grayson was but that's just me so it's only a personal issue but i found it tedious. Maybe a cutscene or some extra explanation was needed here because I had to spend some time looking this up. It's not a huge issue but again, I felt out of the loop. This was a good nod to players who played/read/whatever outside of the ME games themeselves. 

In ME2 there was an end scene that showed the star behind the Illusive Man as being blue and then in ME3 it was back to normal... continuity issue. Otherwise the fight with Kai Leng was not bad. I even liked the final moment you kick his butt. 

The Catalyst seemed to be an after thought at this point in the writing. The VI basically tells you that the Citadel is the Catalyst and you have to scramble to get moving on it. How exactly do the reapers move the Citadel to Earth? If they could do that all this time, why didn't they do it sooner? What about all the refugees there? It's awfully bleak to think about. There's a lot of flaws in the Citadel is the Catalyst but that's part of the bigger problem with the endings. 

Somewhere along the line you have Anderson tell you he's from London in the holographic chats with him. Then you show up there and he repeats this. Unnecessary unless of course this is some point for the Indoc theory. The goodbyes to the characters you've collected along the way were great, no complaints. The battle to get to the beam was instense, and i can't complain. There seemed to be a lot of people dying and the reaper guarding the beam just lays waste so i'll leave that alone too. The blowing up of said reaper was intense and since the Normandy is floating around in the battle above Earth and EDI is awesome, you win that fight. 

You run for the beam, get blasted, get up all busted up, kill some bad guys, and port into a hall of dead people. That hall of dead people was grusome and I felt it unnecessary but that might just be me. I wasn't really happy with the zombie crawl of shep at this point either but I'm impaitent. The events following that seem out of sync with the rest of the game. Why is shep trashed so bad and Anderson doesn't have a scratch? The Illusive Man is all reapered out but when you talked to him before the Kai Leng fight he wasn't, why? The talk with TIM wasn't really an issue but I was frustrated by not being able to skip any of that chat when I played it through again. After talking him into shooting himself, things seem to be looking up. Crucible is in place, shep is watching the view, and then Hackett says its not working. Shep gets up, rides the elevator, things become unbelievably confusing, and the god child makes no sense until you are given three options that make no sense. I let shep stand there until i got a "critical mission failure" screen because I was trying to grasp what was going on via google with no answers so I went back through all of that again and picked an option. 

The options didn't make any sense to me. Control the reapers like TIM, make a reaper so the reapers win, or destroy all syntethic crap so we're all in the bronze age again. This was pretty lame to me and I didn't see Shep being ok with the options but never the less, we have to choose between three crappy options and watch different colored 'splosions based on those options. 

At the end of my blue colored 'splosions my exact words were "WTF is this anticlimactic crap? That didn't even make any sense." I yelled that quite loudly actually. My husband suggested I try a different option so I went back through all of that again and got pretty much the same thing and said something similar but not as loudly. I did not expect a rainbows and sunshine ending. I figured my shep would sacrifice her self in some way to win. The keyword here being win. No one won and none of that cut scene made any sense to me. The Normandy escaping the 'splosions doesn't fit since i know Joker was floating up in space above Earth. Was the jungle planet supposed to be heaven? Why can't I go to the jungle planet with my allegedly dead crew and get my coconut drink complete with emergency injection port while Mordin is researching seashells? If all the mass relays are obliterated, what happened to the super armada I put together? Are the turians and quarians going to starve to death? Are we all destined to be asari in the end? If god is an AI why couldn't i reason with it? Didn't i just prove galactic peace can be accomplished? 

After thinking about this i realized something important. ME1 paragon shep ending: drive the car to the mass relay to port to the citadel to talk saren into shooting himself and then destroy the reaper. ME3 ending for me was, run for the beam, port to the citadel, talk TIM into shooting himself, and then destroy the reapers. That didn't make me feel good. Not at all. 

Conclusion:
Strange things are afoot at the mass relay. I don't know who came up with the ending or why. I don't know who thought this was a good idea. I don't know what corporate guy let this get by. I don't care. I just want it to make sense. There are a number of issues at hand with this entire ending controversy but the heart of it is the ending simply didn't live up to what we felt we were promised. As a writer of fiction myself, I understand how the idea of the god child AI came about but it was poorly executed and there were a lot of continuity issues within that idea. I understand how the business end of this is going down, lawyers and ceo's make the brain hurt but i really felt like the lack of communication spoke volumes on the issue. I also felt an extreme disappointment when I got to the end of hundreds of hours of play for something that doesn't make sense. There's a youtube video that has all the end cut scenes of multi colored 'spolsions that are all pretty much the same and it felt cheap, but my husband got on board with me after seeing that and he's holding the line with me which makes us a family of four to hold the line together. Team unity... a common theme in ME. 

I just want the end to make sense, however that is accomplished doesn't really matter as long as it makes sense and there is closure. Rainbows and sunshine would be fantastic but it won't kill me if there isn't a happy ending. I will even pay for a DLC that accomplishes making sense and bringing closure. There are a number of ways to do this. A) Release an ending dlc that actually takes into account what we've been doing in the rest of the games, like we were expecting. The indoc theorists probably have the right idea and I'm sure bioware's writers could make it epic. I would like to see a happy ending for paragon players such as all the crew/friends you lost sitting on the beach researching seashells, chatting, using emergency injection ports, whatever. See me2's ending scene where your crew that has survived the suicide mission is hanging out if we must recycle ideas again. Make the saving of the collector base matter to those that saved it because in its current form, it doesn't matter. Renegade players probably have better suggestions as to what they would like to see so I'll leave that for them. DLC that makes sense of the god child ai and fixes the tons of continuity flaws. I'd like to see SOMETHING that makes sense of this because in my mind it entirely negates whatever shep has tried to accomplish in previous play. Three crappy choices that don't make sense should be explained and we'd all like to understand is going on in the galaxy after we've put everyone in the bronze age. C) Do nothing and see how that works out. It won't be good that's for sure but that's apparently the right of BW and EA. If option C comes to fruition then I think I might have to stop putting money in EA's pocket. I dont' want to sue or file complaints or whatever. I just won't waste money. 

See what I did there? Three options that all suck. A is doing a lot of hard work to make fans happy. B is doing less work and making some disgruntled fans happy. C is exactly where we are. I explained my three choices though. Ok so maybe it's not as funny as it could be but I'm trying. ME matters to me and I am emotionally invested in the story. I'm holding the line, we are holding the line, and we want to see something good come out of this. We're all standing on the brink of a major change in the gaming industry. We all have the power to put this right and I'd like to see that. 

tl;dr: the ending bothered me and fix it please, don't care how just make it make sense and bring closure. 

I'd say this sums up my problems rather well.

I would add, if a game has loveinterests, make the relationships deeper. Show us more stuff happening between Shep and the chosen LI. Even Garrus and Tali got it on rather well.

[Bookworm360]

I would like an ending were Shepherd lives and I mean really live and is not stranded somewhere. Also with the crew mate relationships I was overjoyed to see EDI and Joker be together, but would like to see more of that. Same with Garrus and Tali.

[MassStorm]

Really i would pay for an ending DLC only if:

- Provide the opportunity to get a good ending(defeating the Reapers) with Shepard surviving the war and reuniting with his/her LI

- This DLC should also provide necessary war assets to get the best ending (if related to EMS) WITHOUT playing the Multiplayer section of the game.

- Scrap the Normandy escape from battle (and landing into an uncharted planet) part..it does not make any sense at all

- Scap the Starchild and Stargazer parts....sorry they are garbage..no offence.

[species.zero]

First of all, I really enjoyed a vast majority of the game and series. I think it's really a testament to how good the storytelling is in Mass Effect that we're upset about the endings.

With the endings, I actually liked the confrontation with the Illusive Man. It was intriguing to se him actually get emotional about something. Martin Sheen did a fantastic job on the VO there. I also found the last moment you get with Anderson to be touching. I personally like the extended dialogue better, but the existing dialogue was good too.

It's after that moment that everything fell apart for me. I really want to see what happens to the galaxy after the end. I also don't think the Normandy crash scene made sense - where were they going and why? And why was my squad, who was just on Earth, on board?

I would really be in favor of more options for the ending that bring more closure to all the stories of the galaxy and saves the Normandy. Yes, we've been getting closure on the various conflicts of the galaxy throughout the game, but as the endings are now, they throw that all out and change everything.  I also would love to see what happens with Shepard (especially in terms of his/her future with his/her love interest) if he/she survives.

Destroying the mass relays was an interesting twist, but I feel that this element is lacking too. In the very least, I'd like some epilogue on what the galaxy is going to do in lieu of their destruction. What'd be even better is if there were a way to save the relays - but I could see how that could remove an important ending twist.

I know there are those that would like to throw out the entire ending scene, but I'll reiterate that I thought the parts with the Illusive Man and Anderson were good. And I also suspect that it may be difficult to book Martin Sheen again to expand or change the stuff with the Illusive Man. So, to me, the parts that were really lacking were with the child and onward. What happened to Harbinger? Why are we suddenly introduced to this new antagonist right at the end? How come everything has just amounted to an A/B/C choice with little respect to our choices throughout the games?

In summary, I'd really like to see how my decisions affect the galaxy in the end, an explanation as to why the Normandy was off somewhere with my crew and crashed, a way to save the Normandy from being stranded, and what happens to Shepard if he or she survives.

Oh, and one last thing. I have a friend who likes to just play on story mode, and it was frustrating for him to have to play multiplayer to get the best ending. I'm also worried that I might come back in a few years to replay the game, only to find my readiness rating degraded to 50% and nobody playing multiplayer anymore.

Modifié par species.zero, 17 mars 2012 - 04:25 .

[Andur4]

While I can't come up with specifics, I can broadly explain what I would like for the endings.

1. Choices impact the outcome of the game. And depending on those choices the ending could involve Shepard sacrificing his/her self to stop the Reapers, could involve the destruction of the Mass Relays, could have Shepard survive, or could have Reapers win. Basically, a 'golden" ending where Shepard lives and the galaxy isn't too badly damaged, an ending where you completely fail to stop the Reapers and all life is wiped out again, and all the shades of grey in between that.

2. An epilogue detail how our Shepard's actions impacted the galaxy after the endgame. How the various races rebuild after the Reapers are dealt with. What new conflicts arise. What becomes of your squadmates after the endgame. What perhaps even Shepard goes on to do, such as settle down with LI, or continues to explore the galaxy, provided he/she survived the ending. Again what happens in the epilogue would be influenced by your actions from the trilogy.

This is just what I'd like to see for the ending in the broadest terms, others I'm sure have more detailed ways of revising the endings. But there's my thoughts of the subject.