7052 réponses à ce sujet

[Aedera]

So, something just dawned on me, is a new ending actually being considered or are we really just posting here to let out our frustrations? Because, and this is just a general thought, when the first round of single player DLC comes out and there is no mention of an ending, this will just start up again. I REALLY think just saying yes, there is a new ending being prepared or no, this is it, sorry that you don't like it would end this issue for the majority of people posting (which leads me to believe nothing is coming since the perceived level of interest would go down because the forums would drop back down to their normal level of activity). There is no way Bioware will go back in and patch wholesale changes to the story (love interests, plot points etc) but I can see small changes like a new tali picture, changing the death montage to include people you actually care about, adding back in all of Anderson's speech (because seriously, that was really well done and I still can't believe Casey thought it was a good idea to take it out.) and an additional few minutes AFTER star child i.e. indoctrination theory.

Still flabergasted it turned out this way. Everything about this series has been such top quality to suffer such a let down on the home stretch is cruel.

[Grymgris]

The changes that i want are pretty simple, i just want to be able to beat the **** out of the reapers with the fleet that i spent the entire game getting together, i feel that that has been the goal of the Mass Effect games all a long, to be the first galactic civilization that acctually has a fighting chance against the reapers.
I guess removing the crucible completely is not possible, so just make it into something that weakens the reapers.

And i want a bossfight against Harbringer, make him crach on earth or something so he`s week enough that shep can kick his ass

And for the ending i want a lot of small cutscenes that shows the effect of my choices during the game.

[Pani Mauser]

I liked most of the game, but the ending made overall experience highly unsatisfactory (to put it mildly).


1. Thus, the first thing I would propose to change is the ending.

As I like that indoctrination/hallucination theory, I would love to see it implemented in game. Don't think I need to go in details about that, there are many threads on forums about it already. Whatever route you take about this, DAO-style epilogue where consequences of your actions are show is a must.

Will galactic community survive without mass relays? How curing genophage influenced krogan? Will quarians and geth be able to maintain peace? What is the fate of surviving companions and NPCs? And so on. Lack of closure is the worst thing about the ending.

2. Fix the face import! I still cannot believe that you haven’t tested it before the release. Importing is the first thing that happens in the game! Ugh.

3. The next thing that impacted my satisfaction of the game in negative way is unequal treatment of previous romances. It feels like the time and budged were taken from Thane and Jacob romances to be put in Liara/VS ones. So, if you are serious about fixing the game, please fix romances as well. 

Change dialogs with romancedJacob, so he is not cheat anymore and just helps the ex-Cerberus scientists because they need help. Add a bit of dialogue and small extra scene, like it was with Jack. While Jack's romance was also too short, it is still better than what we got with Jacob.

As for Thane, while it would be perfect if there was a way to save/cure him in romance path, I would settle just for romance acknowledgement from the rest of the crew. Because it is really cruel that everyone is worried if Shep misses Kaidan, but no one cares that her beloved just died. Feels like Normandy is full of jerks instead of friends.

So, if you are not going to let Thane live, at least allow Shep to mention that she misses him in dialog with Liara after the second nightmare and in the memorial wall scene. Most of the SR1 crew died, and Kaidan was a part of that crew, nothing more. Why does he get a special treatment over them and especially over dead romance?  

4. Also it would be nice to add couple of dialog lines to explain why Legion had to die even if you settled the conflict with quarians peacefully. Why he couldn't try uploading code again, or ask EDI to help with upload, or something like that? Especially after magical genophage curing machine. 

It felt like you just wanted him dead no matter what, so you did just it. If you want extra drama so badly, please make an effort to explain why he had to sacrifice himself, even when no one was firing at geth anymore (though I'd still prefer him to be sent off to help with Crucible in case of peaceful solution).

5. Remove dependency on multiplayer from single player. People that love multiplayer will still play it even without additional incentive. People that hate MP will find a way to mod save files and won’t be playing MP anyways.


6. Remove Liara from flashback if she was not romanced! My Shep would kick her blue ass out of Normandy back in ME1 as soon as Liara served her purpose (pointed them to Ilos) if she was given a choice. Liara is not the person my Shep would remember in her last moments. Either put LI there or the character of highest friendship rate if there was no romance (like in that final scene with Normandy, you have algorithm already!). 

That’s pretty much, that needs fixing from my point of view.

And next are the things that I would love to see improved, but that were not game-breaking for me.

1. Allow me to choose how Shepard reacts to the defeat on Thessia. Because ‘we cannot win this, we all gonna die’ is not how my Shep would react. Maybe yours is so easily discouraged, but not mine. My Shep would go like ‘sith happens, now let’s look for the way to fix this mess’. And if you really want an emotional reaction, allow her to rage and want to tear Leng's balls off instead of giving up, or something. Amount of auto-dialog is heavy enough, and those OOC moments are really annoying. My Shep is as tough as nails, she wouldn’t be panicking over one defeat. 

2. Make Liara’s plot armor less thick! Yet again she is invincible. Everyone else can die, get injured, removed from the team, but Liara is always there no matter what. The most harmful development she gets is trolling from Javik(Maybe that's why he was cut from the game and made a DLC? So in vanilla game Liara would be safe from his attitude?). It’s like you wanted drama for everyone except of Liara’s fans. 

I want drama opportunities to be equal for everyone. You made deaths of almost all my favourite characters a must (Mordin/Wrex, Thane, Legion. Good thing I can still keep Garrus!), but never added a possibility for your favorite character to get hurt. Not willing to feel the sadness of loosing your favourite character yourself, eh?

Add a possibility for her to die/ get injured to Ash’s degree on Thessia(Kai Leng can do it, I believe in him), or just let me turn her into War Assets, like send her off to work on Crucible as Prothean expert or help asari refugees after attack on Thessia, or something. Please, make an effort and try to hide your favoritism toward this certain character!

3. Add very dark/black eyeshadows to face generator. Why Ash and default femShep have them and custom Shep has to stick to light palette?

4. Return the dress from Kasumi mission! it was elegant and tasteful. The new one is horrible >.< Like she bought it in some sexshop. The worst thing that it has N7 logo on it. Does that mean that in future latex fetish is military norm?

Or just make female version of new mShep's casual ourfit (jeans and jacket).

Modifié par Babe Mause, 17 mars 2012 - 10:18 .

[S H E P A R D]

SaintlPatrick wrote...

http://i.imgur.com/JhtqY.jpg

This looks pretty good.

[Favourite store on the CitadeI]

Kittenpirate wrote...

I want my blue babies.

That is all.

I want Shenko babies >.<

[Walla Walla 06]

Just leave the story as is, don't go and change anything (such as the ending).  Add in some stuff if you want to, just like ME2 had DLC that gave us stories involving the Shadow Broker, the Reaper Invasion, etc. but don't go and be like "Oh it was all a dream/hallucination!", that would just be stupid and a knee-jerk reaction.

[Pedro Costa]

SaintlPatrick wrote...

http://i.imgur.com/JhtqY.jpg

This seems so perfect I'm at a complete loss for words. Simply perfect.
Thank you for that chart!

[mnewell83]

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Little. My own opinions echo what has already been masterfully stated here already.

To BioWare: Fix the end. That's all I want. Give us our blue babies (or for my own taste, my babies with Ashley), dang it. I want to live! Or at least have the option to do so.

And show Wrex teaching little Mordin Jr. how to wield a shotgun properly.

[Maj.Pain007]

Go with Indoctrination theory it fits very well. Give us a proper end to the Shepard arc!

[SamFlagg]

First, thanks to everyone for quoting and expanding on things I said back on page one, and thank God I was pretty much in the middle of writing that entire thing when page one happend so everyone could see it.  (Rules of large threads, read page one and page 999)

I just wanted to flesh out one suggestion I made in regards to the alternative to indoctrination.  (It was in a later post)  First, if you find indoctrination is the way to go, go for it don't look back, make it the greatest indoctrination rewrite ever.

My purpose here is only to suggest the existance of the alternative which is the "4th Choice - Rejection" suggestion.

It would start off right when the elevator to the catalyst starts.

1.) Take all the suggestions from everyone about how illogical the Star Child currently is, and try and have the dialogue rewritten so it's logical.  Not so you can keep the endings you have, but so it makes it all the more powerful when Shepard rejects the Catalysts line of reasoning even though we could "kind of see where he's going with that"

2.) The options of Destroy, Control, and Synthesis can remain along with a 4th option.  Rejection of Premise (we'll just call it rejection here)

3.) Make these endings different from what they are now  Not the general choice you are given, but the consequences explained to you.
A.) Destroy
- destroys the reapers, and the Geth, and the mass relays.  Shepard lives
and that scene gets expanded on a little bit, have Shepard stand up and
watch the reapers fall, crowd montage of remaining alive squad members,
just music overlay and what not.

This allows an ending where we are the ones who choose to sacrifice star travel and the Geth for our lives and the existance of Earth.  It's far from optimal, but it becomes a choice.

And keep the version of destroy where you basically wipe out the universe.  We can call that, the really bad ending.

B.) Synthesis - Does pretty much the same thing as it does now, fuses all life together with space magic, leaves the mass relays in tact.  I'd throw in a line from the catalyst suggesting that people like David Archer would react "poorly" but thats only to make you think about sacrificing him and others like him for merging all life together.


C.) Control - Allows Shepard to save earth, and send the alien fleets back to
their homeworlds, puts the citadel back where it was, and Shepard has to
reap the rest of the alien civilizations.  (SOL relay stays closed till
it does, then opens up again for humans to rule)  This option would've been in line with the Illusive mans line of thinking, and it would finally give the option so many renegades have wanted which is "Sign up with the Reapers and Reap all non-humans)  Paragons would never take this route, but Renegades would certainly think about it.

D.) Rejection -  Shepard rejects the premise, and the crucible acts as the plot device we expected and takes the reapers kinetic barriers out and then the fleet can trash them since they're no longer nigh invincible.  Or Shepard takes the tact that if the citadel is destroyed the reapers will cease to function and he orders hacket and all fleets to destroy the citadel.  Either way the result is, Shepard dies, The Reapers Die, and the mass relays all stay.  And of course wth high enough EMS Shepard gets to live somehow.  (Runs off the citadel before it explodes, gets beamed down, whatever. 

4.) Have proper cutscenes to recognize this.  (Cut joker's normandy crash from all of them)  Honestly you can probably keep synthesis (just don't blow up the relays) and you can keep large parts of destroy. (Just expand on Shepard getting up and being alive and seeing his squad. )  Control and Rejection would need entirely new cut scenes, and Rejection would need the version where Shepard lives.

For the most part unless you do 90% of everything "right" you choose to kill the reapers at the expense of Shepard.  This is the bittersweet ending that many would've hoped for.  (And if you do 100% right you can get your disney ending that another large group were hoping for.)

5.) All of the above would make us have 4-6 choices that for the most part all feel distinct and different, instead of what feels like 1 choice with the same consequences.

6.) I think if you could close all of this off satisfactorally most peoples anger at the Stargazer scene at the end would evaporate.  It's not that the scene is bad per say, but in context it feels like salt on an open wound.  I think fixing the ending would actually flip the Stargazer hate to Stargazer appriciation.

7.) Remove the popup that tells us we've become a legend and go buy DLC (The "A Winner is You" message) It's immersion breaking, and it's like dropping a salt mine with tobasco sauce and fire on an open wound.

8.) I feel compelled to point out at least one good thing that wasn't pointed out in my earlier posts.  I think that would be Admiral Hackett.  Anderson gets lot of love, but Hackett is really a character to appriciate.  You get a sense that he know's he's basically in charge of the mission (It depends on Shepard, but Hackett's in charge) and you can feel that he's distraught over having to sacrifice an entire fleet so there would be something to counter attack with.

[Pani Mauser]

SaintlPatrick wrote...

http://i.imgur.com/JhtqY.jpg

Oh wow, you are my hero! Please, read this, dear BW people!

[Shinwolverine]

We need a happy ending. One were shepherd kicks back and relaxes with his friends.

[jvara]

I pretty much agree with the indoctrination theory, if it was rendered correct I'd accept it, I don't really like it but it would be by far better than what we have now. I'm just asking for options and real closure at the end of ME3, I don't even ask that the endind we have now should be dismissed and replaced with a new one, I just want more options added, that what we have now would be one of a variety of outcomes to this story, because I can understand the implications of just whiping out the current ending and replacing it by a new one, and I think most of the people here also understand it.

So, resuming, I just want something that fixes the current ending, indoctrination theory, it was all a dream, new options added at the starchild's scene, whatever, just something that makes some sense out of this, brings closure and lets us enjoy this otherwise amanzing game and it's predecessors. Not new quests, not multiplayer goodies, not new crap, just FIX THE ENDING PLEASE.

Thanks.

[Feraiin]

First of all, thankyou for opening this whole thread! Many of us have been waiting on the edge of our seats for an official response and I for my part am glad you responded relatively quickly now. (Seemed like an eternity.)


Alright then, pros an cons:

1) Combat:

-I really like the additional moves you have given Shep, he feels much more agile and it is a relief to be able to dodge incoming fire by jumping aside, instead of sprinting to cover in a zig-zag.

-It's great that you allowed the different classes access to all weapons. It's neat to be a soldier that has an SMG available for rapid-fire CQC engagements.

-Great job on balancing the weapons in terms of effectiveness. In the first games, I've always been using the assault-rifles and/or pistol most of the time, while the other guns rarely got used. This time around, I've used every category to what I think is most effective. So that's a big plus.

-A negative balancing aspect I found though, is the damage-output of the weapon categories. Especially the difference in damage between assault-rifles an SMGs. Like I mentioned, I used to play with the assault-rifles quite a bit. I did not get to fully upgrade the N7 weapon-pack, Valkyrie included, but I found that the SMGs are just tearing through baddies like mad, while the assault-rifles have less stopping power despite their lesser rate of fire. Maybe giving them a bit more punch? Of course, that is just my subjective view and my impression might be wrong.

-The lack of big guns, like the grenade-thrower and Cain is something I thought was a pity. After all, we are fighting the toughest fight yet, with the highest stakes and as a player, you really feel that the big guns were spread purposely like gimmicks. I suggest, bringing them back, with a limited ammo-supply, that is restocked whenever Shep is aboard the Normandy. Maybe add a few crates of big heat-sinks throughout levels during the harder missions, or on the higher difficulties.

2.) Customization:
-Big thanks for bringing the customization options back! It's neat to balance out the weaknesses of some weapons against each other, to have the optimal tool at hand for any situation.

-However, the impact the customization options have is somewhat weird, in my opinion. Again, I did not have the fully upgraded mods, so I don't know about the final changes, but adding an extended barrel on the SMGs and the Revenant made very little difference. On the other hand, a level II capacity mod increased the duration of the thermal clip to twice the number of shots.

3.) Vehicles
In future DLCs, I wouldn't mind seeing the return of the vehicle sections. I know you got a lot of criticism over the Hammerhead and Mako, but I personally never minded them and they gave variety to the gameplay. If we get an ME3 dowload in the future with gameplay similar to "Overlord", I would be interested. Especially after you've shown these tank-columns in the animated trailers.

4.) Level-Design
-The Leveldesign has improved quite a bit, inside and outside of combat. I found it sad in ME2 that you could only walk around three small parts of the Citadel, except when on certain missions, so it is nice to have those larger areas back. It's still not the fully explorable Presidium, but that had long walkways that took a lot of time, so this is probably for the best.
In combat, you still know things start to get serious when you see a lot of boxes or chest-high obstacles around you can duck behind. The fighting-levels have increased in scale as well, giving you lots of room to run around and kick ass.


5.) Galaxy Exploring
-No more mining. Yay!

-Unfortunately, there's also no more landing on remote planets anymore. Now, I get why that was done. You really want to put the emphasis on the galactic conflict and landing to raid merc-bases is not really doing that, however, I found these artifact-retrieval missions were a bit too simple at times, just enter orbit, send a probe down and fly back to the citadel. A bit more time spent planetside would be nice. But it's just a minor thing I noticed.

6.) Quest System
-They Journal needs quite a bit of improvement. After about 10 hours into the game, the active quest-list was numbering somewhere in the range of two dozen. And none of them get updated. I was talking to the Elcor-Diplomat, who asked for retrieval of something on the Elcor homeworld, but the journal didn't say where that planet was, not even the cluster or system it was in. With the galactic readiness and war-assets playing such a big role in the outcome of the game (Well, numerically speaking, I'll address this further down.), not knowing if I've made progress is a source of frustration, especially since it doesn't add to the main-storyline as much.


7.) Dialogue-System
-In interviews prior to release, you stated there were tens of thousands of lines of recorded dialogue in the game, more than in ME2 and 1. The thing is, it doesn't feel that way a lot of times.
Talking to squadmates is pretty much like the Dialogue with Zaeed or Kasumi in ME2, which was fine, since they were DLC chars, and I get why it is hard to have Mark Meer come in every two weeks to record additional dialogue that would have to be implemented into the game after it is already out etc. etc.
However, talking to Garrus and others feels very impersonal sometimes. I can stand next to Liara and she might face somewhere else completely, yet the dialogue plays out as if they were looking at each other. I miss the cutting to cinematic dialogue scenes when talking to people. Now I can just stand next to them and hit the button until they've said all their sentences before I leave again.
Considering that this also applies to love-interests, I found it really odd at times.

-The same goes for picking up sidequests. Shepard goes after items and artifacts he's overheard people talking about while just passing by. The worst part about that is, that if you don't toggle his speed to walking, Shep just storms by, I hear a snippet of conversation, I don't hear anything about what the quest is and it still pops up on the HUD. This also makes it very hard to find the quest-givers again, since every NPC is talking to some degree. More sidequests like "Packages for Ish" would be nice.

-Also, a lot of the dialogue plays out automatically. Even in RPG mode, it feels a lot like you can pick one option in the dialogue wheel, either paragon or renegade and the rest plays out for you to watch. I wanted more time with the characters we've grown to like so much over the last 5 years.
On the plus side, the characters now aren't static in their position. You can find Garrus in the Lounge, telling war-stories, or Doctor Chakwas and Adams arguing over lunch.
I know this is probably due to implementing the Kinect mechanics with the game. Having to read out every dialogue option probably would be too much, but it often feels like I'm just watching Shepard. Most importantly in times, when I feel that my Shep would probably say something different. Now, I know this can't be changed in the game as it is. You've recorded all the lines, there would be many paragon and renegade options that would need to be recorded additionally, basically you would have to redo the whole dialogue. I just wanted to point it out, for future DLC and for future games where you plan to use a similar dialogue system.

-However, I like it that you have all the dialogue that can be heard during combat. It really gives the combat-scenes more depth and I really enjoy hearing my Squadmates banter.

8.) Story
-Alright, this is the big one. First of all, let me say I liked the story from the very start up until the last 20-30 minutes of the game. Everything up until Shepard got beamed onto the Citadel was a top-notch narrative.
It made me feel badass, it made me feel real sadness (Thane/Mordin/Cortez), it made me angry, happy and it made me laugh in-between. Your writers did an amazing job on conveying this feeling of everything hanging in the balance. I could really feel that the Galaxy was at war, that the stakes are as high as they're ever going to be.

-And then we get beamed up to the citadel. Now, I was buying the end up until space-kid showed up, but there was also the issue with Anderson and the Illusive man. The way the dialogue plays out, it feels like the walk up to the control-room should be much bigger. I was already at the stairs up to the control-room when I heard Shep tell Anderson "don't get too far ahead." It really made me pause for a second, since Anderson is just 10m away or so. Also that he says the walls are shifting, but we never get to see that. The walk is just straight forward.
Also, if Anderson followed Shepard up, then how come he arrived in a different place from him. Or if he didn't, why did he not notice the commander lying on the floor.

-The fight with the illusive man. I know the battle in London was supposed to be the big fight, the final push, but the Illusive man felt very anticlimactic.
Again, we are faced with several plotholes:
How did TIM get aboard the Citadel? He never mentions how he got there. Did the reapers invite him, did he travel there by himself. On top of that, how did the Citadel get to Earth? We just get told they moved it, but this is something that should be in a cutscene.
Also, if Shepard and Anderson already made their way up there, where did TIM hide? There was no dark corner. It also felt a bit strange to have the final dialogue play out almost like a copy of the fight with Saren...
How did he control Shepard? Did the reapers give him the power to control synthetic implants, is that why he turned his soldiers into semi-husks? Did he become a vessel for the power of indoctrination? An explanation would be nice.
Again, there's only two times where we can choose Shepards answer, despite the critical nature of the moment, especially in concern to the storyline.

-Andersons death/near-death. This was by far one of the most powerful scenes in the whole game and the whole series. We started the game together with Anderson and we ended it together.
So, why did Casey think the longer dialogue that has been uploaded on the net would ad unnecessary length to it? The moment was beautiful, the music was haunting. You should ad that back in there, it just such a powerful dialogue.

9) The Reaper Space Kid. Oh boy...where to start....

-The first thing that comes to mind is that the catalyst chose the form of the little boy. How does it know that this would affect Shepard. Does it sense emotions, did the Illusive Man's control give him access to his memories, like a greybox? We would like an explanation for that, even a simple one.

-The entire motivation behind the reapers: Synthetic life will always kill organic life so we create synthetic life to kill organic life to prevent synthetic life from killing organic life.
My main-gripe with this is not the circular logic, but something else: this explanation for the motivation of the reapers is entirely breaking with the series themes. And here's why:
Everything in the game prior to the last ten minutes was based upon choices. You gave us, the players, choices on how the story would continue, at least in the way it would go from major plotpoint to major plotpoint. We could determine how our Shepard was reacting to circumstances, was he kind-hearted, was he a cold focus-driven badass. All that was based on choice.
And more than that: You gave us an enemy to fight, that literally told us, that we had no choice in the fate of the human race and the galaxy. And in the first game, Shepar told Sovereign that they did and that they would fight. That pretty much sums up what the game is about: Predetermination vs. free will. It's the big underlying theme (IMO) in all the conflicts:
The geth, created as cheap labor by the Quarians, then attack by the quarians before falling under the reapers sway, are they a free people. Do they have the right to build their own future, like Legion said or are they servants, like some of the Quarian admirals believe?
Miranda trying to get out from under her father, controlling every aspect of her life, and that of her twin sister.
Thane, with his separation of soul and body. How he sees his body as a weapon with no free will, unlike his soul.
Garrus. Should he do everything by the book, like C-Sec and his father want or was he right to become archangel.
Can the Salarians sterilize the Krogan, based on nothing more than data-analysis. Shouldn't Wrex be allowed to lead the Krogan into a more peaceful time, free to repopulate?
Samara an Morinth: Can somebody be condemned, just because of a genetic defect, or should they be allowed to live freely?
And finally, the Reapers: They predetermine the fate of the galaxy, every 50000 years. They created the relays so society should develop along a path they wanted.
All this time, Shepard is fighting to destroy the reapers, not just to save all the ones alive, but to give them a future in which they decided where they will go, not some ancient machines.
This is the conflict we were presented with, why some of these choices weigh so heavily.
And in the final minutes, all that is tossed overboard.
The synthetic versus organic conflict would have been more reasonable, if the Geth had always been on the side of the reapers. But even in the first game, they were nothing but pawns, involuntarily fallen under reaper-control. Anytime that we were faced with a rogue AI, it was in sidequests. A malfunctioning VI in a mech-factory or in a remote lunar base. An AI in a computer-core in the Citadel, just hiding. And in Overlord, the AI was a human, strapped into a device that rivaled the traps from SAW. So, everytime that subject was brought up, it was a minor issue and never carried bigger weight. If it had, why not include it more in the main-quests?
And if that wasn't enough, we get EDI in ME2 and Legion. EDI is an unknown at first, but she turns out to be absolutely loyal to Shepard and the Normandy. I never once was under the impression that she could pose a risk, other than that people were afraid of AI due to the Geth.
And the Geth only turned on the Quarians because they attacked first. They never pursued them. And Shepard can even manage to end tis 300 year conflict.

So, when the God-child is talking about this, NOTHING prior to that point indicates his words ring true. Even if it was right and all other cycles before were doomed by the creation of AI, nothing in the previous 3 games indicated such. The only dangerous synthetics were the Reapers themselves.

-Next, the god-kid says it controls the reapers. Every single alarm-bell in Shepards head should go off at that. But he just accepts it. Here he is, faced with the entity that has the power to control the reapers and he does not fight it.
Instead, he accepts everything the kid says. Which leads to:

-Shepard is out of character. No matter wether paragon or renegade, no Shepard would accept these three choices. He/she is indeed hurt and bleeding, but the Shepard that was established over 2 and a 3/4 games never once accepted impossible odds. He went to Ilos, he faced down Sovereign, he told him they wouln't give up and he told Harbinger the same thing.
So why, when the lord of all reapers is offering him 3 choices, does he accept them as the only possible options.
Where are the dialogue options here? Where is the paragon option that convinces the catalyst that the cycle has been broken, that there is peace in the galaxy, like there never was and that the reapers purpose is null and void? Where is the renegade option where he tells the kid that it's a moron before proceeding to argue the kid into the ground.
It does not make sense.

10) The three choices.
There's a 1600+ page thread detailing everything wrong with the final choise and 3 options.
So, quickly summe up:
-If destroy is chosen, how can EDI step out of the Normandy, despite being destroyed?
-If control is choosen, what happens when the galactic community realizes the reapers are not dead?
-How can synergy transform every being in the galaxy into a synthetic/organic hybrid? For a game that has so many explanations in the codex, from starship drives down to storing memories as data, why is this not explained?

-Why does the Normandy flee through relay-transit. Joker would never abandon Shepard, or Earth. Why leave the planet, just as it has been saved? And how come the Normandy happens to crash on just the planet that may support life? How did the Squadmates that were with Shepard during the final assault and apparently got hit by Harbinger as well, how'd they get back aboard?

-Destruction of the relays: This is the part bothering me the most about the ending: I get it, from the point of view that everything with reaper-tech in it is destroyed, but the relays are another central point of the story. Without the relays, the biggest fleet in the galaxy is left stranded around earth. All these fighters Shepard rbough together will never return home. Hundreds of planets will die because no necessary cargo can be delivered to them. It simply destroys the ME-universe as we know it and it leaves very little room for a reasonable explanation for intergalactic jump-travel, without creating more plot-holes. 

There needs to be an alternative narrative for the ending from the point just before Harbinger lands to shoot him.
Also, the outcomes should reflect our choices from the previous games and the should SHOW how these choices play out. We need to see a difference if we made peace between the Quarians and Geth or condemned one of them in the End.
We should be able to see how the Krogan hordes affect the outcome of the battle. Don't let all the hard work and emotional investment be reflected in just a number.

Also, there doesn't always need to be a happy ending, but at least give us the choices for one, like you did in the previous games.
Have the assets we collected affect how our allies fare in the battle and how Shepards choices determine wether he lives or dies. Have a good ending where we get to see Shepard emerge victorious, maybe even have Anderson live and reunite Shep with his /her LI, so that the romances mean something in the end.
Have a bad ending where Shepard dies and his friends sacrifice themselves, but where it simply isn't enough and the cycle of the reapers continues.
Have variations in-between, affected by all those parameters, like the suicide mission in ME2.

And please, have an epilogue that either tells or shows the outcome, show a pair of Krogan with a newborn, Show an Alliance memorial service for Kaidan and all the people who gave their lives to take back earth, even if it is a bit cheesy. Give Shep a chance to finally get loud and spill some drinks on the Citadel, with Garrus and Jacob.

We just want to see the series end in the way it deserves. Because Videogames are the one medium and art-form, where a final product can still be improved.

Thanks again for actually reaching out to the fanbase like this. Pull this off right and you may just make ME the best Sci-Fi franchise in gaming so far.

Modifié par Feraiin, 17 mars 2012 - 09:54 .

[InHarmsWay]

Jenop wrote...

*snip*

Yes. So much this.

[Aensland75]

Loved the story all the way except the last sequence. Like most players. Left me with to many questions. What happened to the rest of the galaxy after the relays were destroyed. The one that you destroyed in arrival wiped out a solar system!? Why did Joker went through a relay, just why!
And don't get me started about the god-kid, the conversation and options felt wrong and out of place.
And why destroy all synthetic life? Why not just reapers. Or just give us a chance to save EDI.
What happened to your LI, if it's Liara, did you get blue kids. and what happened to your other crew members. Option to have offspring even if you're female. It's the future, it can be done.

As for gameplay, some animation glitches that are probably known. The journal interface could use some work, status update for quests in progress.
More conversation options with crewmembers. James as LI, kelly as extra option. Give the option to persuade her to come with you.
Conversation/ meeting  with either your mother, your old gang, your old colony members. Maybe even sidequests incorporating them. As in save them, solve a problem for them.

As a mature-rated game, why the underwear? No need to represent the lower regions, keep it vague as in no textures just the skincolor but atleast lose the bra for females. Makes more sense in a love scene, just my thoughts.
And still more Kelly.
As icing on the cake more interactivity in your cabin.
Example rest in your bed, sit in your couch. Read a book (datapad), options to relax or work in your cabin. Option to take a shower, could be to reflect on a previous mission.
Bring back the things you found like old dog tags, prothean artifact, old helmet, ...
A multiplayer +, use your own shepards and use a tier system as in level 1-10, 11-20, etc

Enough ranting loved everything else.

Modifié par Aensland75, 17 mars 2012 - 10:00 .

[CroGamer002]

SaintlPatrick wrote...

http://i.imgur.com/JhtqY.jpg

Wait, why do you need quarians to not get geth controlled by Reapers again?

Plus, Legion made sure that never happens again.

[krinst]

I'd like to agree with others on the quest journals.. I like the way they're organized, but other than reminding me that a quest exists they're kind of useless. I'd prefer they were updated wth what you need to do / where you need to go next. Usually I can stumble around and figure it out, and at this point it might not be worth the effort to try and re-do them. But a point for the future, at least.

Near the end when Shepard is able to go around and have one last pep talk with everybody, unless I really missed something it doesn't seem possible to make a save. I wish I could, because more than once I didn't get the conversation just the way I wanted it (and I also thought I had skipped somebody) and had to go talk to them all again. Not a big deal, just inconvenient.

I'm not sure what there is to say about the endings as far as complaints that hasn't already been said. I do have this vision of an epic boss fight with Harbinger though. Kinda want to show him what's what.

Oh! And I am squarely in the happy ending camp. Since Shepard comes out on top of just about everything s/he does, is it so wrong to want (or expect) to come out of things alive? Alive and responsive and.. with an actual conclusion to the reaper threat. I think the issue is (and this is not something I came up with, I've seen others say it and I think they're absolutely right) that everything else in the series is presented as-is and is to be taken literally. I LOVE the indoctrination theory if it is expanded upon so it's not that my issue is the thought that Shepard is experiencing things falsely. The problem is that for the game to suddenly end/stop and for the cutscenes to not explain exactly what happened is not in line with what I have come to expect as the norm in presentation. I don't want to have to imagine what went down if up until this point I haven't ever had to.. except for romance scenes, I guess . The fact that the cutscenes are nearly identical, even if the implications of your choices are wildly different, really is equatable to nearly-identical endings as far as I am concerned.

I've seen some mention that it would be somewhat corny to have random mini cutscenes of the various assets you've gathered throughout the game participating in the final battle (Jack and her kids, for example), but you know I don't think it would be. I really expected it, to be honest. The lack of any involvement on their part was disappointing.

Thanks for the thread, appreciate it.

[Echo_V]

Visii wrote...

Everyone has gotten into the habit of saying that ME3 was flawless up until the last ten minutes.

That is not true, at least when it comes to the Mass Effect 2 romance-able characters. This is not to say that the romances are more important than the rest of the story, but I'm pretty sure I'm not alone is saying that it is really a unique and fascinating aspect of the game. It helps make the player feel as though Shepard is really citizen of the universe through interactions and relationships with the other characters in the game. This type of 'relationship' with the other characters is something that I literally can't get in any other game or series outside of Bioware's.

In particular, I wanted to speak about Thane, though ALL the ME2 romances suffered from a distinct lack of content. Their non-squadmate status would not have been half as upsetting if there had been plenty of interaction (which didn't have to be in person) to make up for it. But most simply disappeared from the narrative almost entirely. Seeing as the ME2 characters lacked content in general, lacking a decent amount of romantic dialogue on top of that is what people are upset about and what we all wish was rectified.

I would point to these threads in particular which have far too many amazing posts to go into detail here, but detail more specific desires regarding the other ME2 characters:

Take Back the Love! Better ME2 Romances in ME3:
http://social.biowar.../index/10006936

Protesting the Poor Treatment of Thane Krios' Romance:
http://social.biowar...5/index/9749360

Protesting the Poor Treatment of Jacob Taylor's romance:
http://social.biowar...5/index/9729648

Lack of Love for FemShep, No More Equality for Bioware's female players: http://social.biowar...5/index/9839951

Zero Male Romance Interestes for Femshep: http://social.biowar...5/index/9766428

Wow Femshep really got looked over in this game: http://social.biowar...5/index/9829443

What was Upsetting: It's Mr.Thane Krios, not Mr.Kepr Al Syndrome.

- Thane was a fascinating character with a well-thought-out and developed past and personality. And while the Kepral's Syndrome perhaps adds to the urgency of his character, most of his fans have never defined himself by it. He was a Drell, a child taking part in the Compact, an assassin for the Hanar Illuminated Primacy, a lover of reading, a husband, a father, a reader of philosophy, a widower, and an absentee-by-necessity father, all before he was a man dying of Keprals.

At the end of the romance in ME 2, it was satisfying to see Thane stop defining himself by it. That was his character arch: he no longer believed or could accept that he was the equivalent of a dead man walking because of the disease. He had something to live for; his son and Shepard. For the first time ever since he had met Irikah and lost her, he wanted to live. A mental victory over the Syndrome at the very least.

When found on the Citadel in ME3, his being was entirely defined by his severely advanced Kepral's Syndrome. The majority of his only conversation with Shepard, romanced or otherwise, was about the disease. He didn't die because of Kai Leng (had he gotten that wound without Kepral's he would have been fine after surgery, as the doctor noted) but because of Kepral's Syndrome. Even if Shepard didn't find him at Huerta hospital, and consequently didn't get involved with assassination attempt? He still died of Keprals. He didn't want to die in a hospital bed, as said in his Lair of the Shadow Broker Letter, and yet, that is where and how he died.

When people say, "The whole point of his character was that he was dying," well those people are patently wrong. And having written him that way in ME3 was worse.

What kind of message is, "dying people are what disease they have?" My mother is dying of pancreatic cancer. Is she only the disease? Did she cease to be a person once she was diagnosed with it? Has she lost all facets of her personality because she is now a dying woman? Of course not. Why should it be any different with Thane? I only bring this up because I am, of course, not the only one who is watching a loved one suffer from a terrible, debilitating illness. For those of us who are or have, there was a strong connection with Shepard. That made Thane's death all the more terrible to watch. We did not need the message that, "sometimes, things are out of your control" or "sometimes, people close to you die." Many of us are living that reality, and certainly do not need a second dose of it in the video games we play for recreation. It could have and should have been handled with more care, more respect.

What Was Particularly Depressing: Thane's Death Broke Suspension of Disbelief

- I spoke with someone who had no reason to lie, and they said that there was never any path planned for saving Thane, that his death would be so moving, so powerful, so emotional as to be worth the loss of his character, that offering a way out would cheapen it.

Does the option to save Jack at Grissom Academy negate the effect of her gruesome transformation and manipulation at the hands of Cerberus? Does the option to tip off Miranda about Kai-Leng undercut the scene where she dies in Shepard's arms? Does the sacrifice/Warden death ending of Dragon Age: Origins cancel out the effect of the coronation ceremony? No. It's just an option! In a a game that is purportedly about options! In a game such as this, it is indeed possible to please everyone, just offer more than one option! Why didn't people who wanted to save Thane have that option?

Directly after being recruited in ME2, during the first conversation on the Normandy, Thane mentioned that the Hanar were working on a cure; he just didn't expect that he would live long enough to benefit from it. In Lair of the Shadow Broker, Thane's dossier showed that he was an eligible transplant candidate: it was possible for Thane to receive a transplant that would extend his life. There would not need to be a miracle cure because there was already one in the works by the Hanar. In addition, the CDN mentioned a new medigel for the lungs that would revolutionize internal medicine; I hope I need not explain how this could immediately benefit Thane. This felt like a particular nod to Thane fans, because an article talking about medigel for the lungs would only be of interest to Thane fans and no other portions of the fan base.

Unlike the game endings, there was setup here. The pieces were all in place. It wouldn't be a deus ex machina, people could look back at the game and see the trail that lead from there to a cured, or at least, surviving Thane. An expedient cure wasn't even necessary, if the disease was just stabilized, it would have been enough for us to hope that he would live long enough to receive the Hanar cure.

And yet, all that foreshadowing was dismissed. What was given to us in ME3 was a slap in the face. There was hope; not hope from desperate fans reaching for any half-baked scrap of information to support their claim, but hope born of game-provided evidence. If Thane was always slated to die, why give fans any hope at all? Why have Thane mention that the Hanar were working on a cure? Why put in Thane's Shadow Broker Dossier that he was an eligible transplant candidate? Why release on the CDN information about a medigel for the lungs, when that information would only be of interest to a select group of the fan base? Why recognize the "Cure Thane in ME3" banner, giving more hope to fans?

His unavoidable death was all the more bitter because we believed, in a universe were cancer had been beaten; in a universe where death, however costly had been surmounted; in a universe where the Genophage, a product of years and many individuals' labor could be reversed by one, (despite supposedly being years away from a cure in ME2) that Thane's life could have been extended, and that his death could have been avoided.

What was an Insult: The Aftermath

-Both Thane's death itself and the aftermath was done so poorly (from a romanced Shepard's perspective) that it should not have happened at all. It was not beautiful, it was not touching. Shepard showed no emotion, and wasn't given any option to show any. Because the "romance" that came before it was so threadbare and uninspired, it fails on the very fronts it needed to succeed at to be considered successful and satisfying to those who had no way to avoid losing a favorite character/LI.

The majority of Thane fans had accepted the possibility of Thane's death, despite all the alleged foreshadowing from the previous games and DLC. We had many other reasons than the obvious to pray that it wouldn't come to pass; in previous ME games, character/squadmate death wasn't exactly given the gravitas it deserved. In Mass Effect 2, during the Suicide Mission, Shepard shrugs and moves on no matter who died, even their LI. Afterwards, none of the other squadmates even mentioned that they had lost some of their number. This dismissive treatment was something we all feared more than Thane's death itself; he wouldn't just die, he also wouldn't be remembered. And that was exactly how it went.

Right after that tearjerking (/sarcasm) goodbye, does Shepard get to talk to anyone about losing Thane, romanced or otherwise? Does any other ME2 character mention him? Did any other character even ask how Shepard was coping? No, but he gets his name on that wall!

This was as the more painful to see, especially because in nearly every other instance, when another ME2 character died, everyone on the ship had something to say about it. If the Virmire Survivor died on the Citadel, Garrus had something to say. If Samara died at the monastery, Joker had a comment. Tali remembered Miranda, could remember Legion. It was proved through these characters' deaths, that their loss could resonate. Why didn't it happen with Thane? I inferred from a conversation with someone in the know, that there were resource and time issues that contributed to this.

If the aftermath of a character's death cannot be handled with as much care as the death was, then the character shouldn't die. Period. Why was Thane the only one fighting Kai-Leng? Why was Shepard and the others just standing uselessly with their guns drawn? Why does the nurse at the hospital mention that Thane needs more blood and then states more blood won't do any good?

Why do those who romanced Thane get the exact same Lair of the Shadow Broker goodbye letter, if they already romanced Thane? It was understandable, that it was made available for those who didn't play Lair of the Shadow Broker, who didn't/couldn't go on the internet to look it up, but what did those who had already read it get? Nothing! Nothing new and bitterly inadequate, given Thane fans are the only ones who are forced to see their LI die in game, on camera, with no way to avert it.

If any LI should have given Shepard a trinket, it should have been Thane. A picture of them on their desert vacation, taken when they were together before Shepard turned herself in, or a holo (like the one Thane had made of Mouse). Something. Anything to remember him by. Anything other than absence.


What Changes Should Be Made

- An option to save Thane should be made available. I've now seen how he died: he went unmourned by all, Shepard included. Nothing will take those memories away. While the lack of death/romance recognition/lack of romance dialogue/romance scene issues should be corrected, I want to see him live. We deserve to be able to save Thane and if we choose not to we also deserve his death to be handled better, but the latter is no use to many Thane fans without the option of the former.
- If the above won't be done, have a Shepard that romanced Thane show more emotion during the death scene. Have the option for her to tell him she loves him, and have him do the same. Miranda got a better, more satisfying death scene, and it wasn't mandatory. For the required death of an ME2 LI, Thane should have been given at least that much care.
- Thane was one of the few ME2 characters who didn't get a mission in the game. Please, please, please make it happen. Make a Kahje mission where, if completed, there can be assets for the war and a cure for Thane. Those who didn't romance him or don't want him (and the Drell to be cured) could still get the resources through Kasumi's mission. Thane is a natural connection to the Hanar. He worked for them. He had the procedure done so he could see their bioluminescence. His race is inextricably tied to theirs. The Hanar worship the Protheans, had prevented the "defilement" of some Prothean ruins in ME1; maybe there is a Prothean object that could be of use in building the crucible or just providing important information, that Shepard+CO could help retrieve.
- for all the ME2 characters, more interaction, more dialogue. Couldn't they have sent emails? Or had video-chat conversations? It would have been amazing if, after every major mission or two, we could have a conversation with Shepard's LI, keep them up to date on what's happening with the war, get their reaction on recent developments, give and receive advice. It would help both ways; both Shepard LI would hear how the war was going in other places, how different groups are fairing.
- Jacob's portrayal and treatment in ME3 was abysmal. The best line out of Jacob's ME3 romance was when Shepard said, "If we both die here today, I want to know that we've said all there was to say." … Best because it was so patently terrible. Nothing was accomplished with that conversation. Jacob acted like he had a frontal lobotomy, Shepard acted like a kiss would fix everything (and in the same voice no one liked from Jacob's romance scenes) and it just make no bloody sense that "forever" equated to six months, after Jacob admitted that he loved Shepard in ME2 and that the two of them were together far longer than they were apart. One issue (disregarding the fact that this scenario happened at all) is that it had no build up, no tension. There was no option for Shepard to fix it, just like there was no way to save Thane, no way for way for Shepard to even prevent it from happening, no way to adequately express her anger or hurt. It's just OVER. If the point was to tell a, "well, not everything works out" story, then the relationship breakdown should have been shown throughout that mission, instead of just jumping to the IT'S OVER phase. It also has unfortunate implications given Jacob's race and his.. popularity status on the forums.

Thank you.

I just have to quote you Visii  thanks for the brilliant post! I defenitely feel the same way and i hope someone from bioware reads your critism. Maybe we Thane and Jacob fans can get  the romance we wished for

[trix10101]

first, i think the Indoc theory is the right way to go, almost everything seems to point to it. so any additions to the Ending should be adding to this, not rewriting the entire thing. explain what happens to the other characters and the galaxy, after all the fans have fallen in love with them and the world you have created for us to play in.

[forgottenlord]

I forgot to mention one other thing though it might be another case of "that ship has sailed" - the lack of resolution with Harbinger. If we'd started this game and it was said that Harbinger wasn't possible to distinguish from the other Reapers, it wouldn't be an issue. But instead, Harbinger is explicitly mentioned in the Codex, is explicitly said to be on Earth and in London - characters go out of their way to identify Harbinger's location and actions. Aside from the Reaper on Rannoch, every mention of Harbinger builds it up as important....only for Harbinger's total effect being to blast all of Hammer to pieces (which builds up Harbinger in its own right) before walking off with no real resolution. The flow is fine in not having fought him but there was a story-telling problem here with Harbinger constantly being mentioned but never truly fought.

[wicked117]

 I will start off by saying that I love the majority of the
game. The interactions/moments with Shepard and her crew as well as the people
through out the galaxy were just awesome. The over the top moments were
unforgettable. The scene with Garrus and shooting the bottles is by far my
favorite. The deaths of Mordin and Legion where beautifully done. And
even though I was sad to see them go, their deaths meant something, bitter
sweetness done to perfection. I love the cure the genophage mission on Tuchanka,
the mission on the Geth ship, the Thessia mission and so much more. They were
intense but satisfying… had my blood pumping for the majority of the game.  I was having the time of my life with this game
right up to Shepard getting hit by the beam and then it all went down hill from
there. The only thing that I feel was done right in the last 15 minutes of the
game was when Shepard and Anderson are sitting there - basically Anderson’s death scene.
The rest feels out of place, it doesn’t make sense and feels more like a dream
or hallucination.

Which brings me to the indoctrination theory - I am in full
support of it. The thread already has excellent ideas so I won’t repeat them
here. I’m sure you have already read through them and are well aware of what
the theory is. It would make the point from when Shepard gets hit by the beam
onward make sense.

Have multiple different endings, not 3 different colors with
small variances. I would appreciate different cut scenes for the different
endings; make us a feel like we actually got different endings. I want to be
able to compare notes with my friends and say “Wow! No I didn’t get that I got
this…” Make it feel like we actually achieved something different from each
other.

Actually have it where our choices matter and play a part in
the ending we get. Also have not only the choices influence the ending but show
how the forces we gathered make a difference - what affect it has if we have
the rachni queen or not, what will be different if we have the Geth instead of
the Quarians or what changes if we have both… I want these decisions and others
like them to actually matter; I want to see the difference it makes.

As for Shepard’s fate I’m all for a bittersweet ending, as a
mentioned before that the death sense of squadmates were beautifully done, but
I’m also in support of at least one ending where Shepard lives, even if it is
hard to get. It would be nice to put a whole lot of effort into making sure
that Shepard lives and actually get a pay off for all that hard work. I have a
few Shepards that I want to see with her LI fulfilling all those promises she
made. If Shepard dies in all the endings what’s the risk? It won’t matter to me
if I let the X, Y and Z die and let A, B, and C live if it can’t have an influence
on Shepard herself.  If I know that
Shepard dies no matter what I do I will have no need to play through multiple
times in order to see the different fates that Shepard might possibly have. I
don’t want to spend all that time just to see a bunch of different ways Shepard
can die. I know Shepard is fighting for the whole Galaxy, but me as the player
- I’m not only fighting for the galaxy I’m also fighting for Shepard; to give
her the chance at happiness if I so choose. 
I have Shepards that I want to survive and I’m willing to fight tooth
and nail for that to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I have a few Shepards that I
feel need to make that ultimate sacrifice, but I have a few that I feel deserve
to live.

Other than the ending I really don’t have any complains.
…The mission journal is a little confusing. It would be nice
if it updated but it’s a small thing and not a game breaker for me. The endings
are though.

Thank you for an awesome universe and characters that made
me love them so much. But please don’t leave it the way it is. The ending sucks
all the enjoyment out of the games. I want to continue on in Mass Effect
universe but if this is how it ends I can’t see myself doing that. What’s the
point when it all ends in massive disappointment? Thank you for your time. 

Edit: I Fotgot to mention I would like to see what happens to the crew. And it would be nice to have a show down with Harbinger. 

Modifié par wicked117, 17 mars 2012 - 10:00 .

[RuinsFate]

On top of anything else suggested, please alter the final fight on Thessia. Yes, it needs to happen, yes, Shep needs to lose, but it's done very badly. Either script the entire thing, or let us beat Kai Leng dead and have the gunship do the scripted event afterwards.

Going through a fight feeling like you are winning by an absolute landslide of a margin, only to be cheated out of it by an event using a gunship you destroyed for fun in the second game was extremely unsatisfying.

Please change it.

[SilencedScream]

Jessica Merizan wrote...

Saying "this blows" helps no one. Saying, "I enjoyed X but I found Z _____ because of A,B,C" is what I'm looking for. Channel your frustration into something positive (such as the RetakeME3 movement - constructive, organized thoughts).

X = the first 98% of Mass Effect 3
Z ______ = the ending to be horribly lacking
"I enjoyed X but I found Z ______ because of..."

A.) Plot details that remain highly inconsistent with the rest of the series. For example, if the Catalyst/Citadel controls the reapers, what exactly is Soveriegn's purpose in the first game? Was he really needed to make things happen when the Catalyst was - quite literally - right there?

B.) The inconsistency when reflecting on the statement that "your choices matter." Yes - I did note while playing through the game that people talked about my past decisions; I did note that "war assets" based on those decisions popped up. However, I found it -incredibly- bizarre that I had the exact same choice outcoming in the ending as people who have never previously played the game. I understand that not all variables can be taken into account - I get that, it turns into a silly amount of programming and writing - a lot of which won't be seen by many individual players. Personally, I would've liked to see the MAJOR decisions (genophage, geth/quarians, etc.) showcased in the ending and better elaborated on.

C.) Lack of epilogue. Seriously, when the FINAL SENTENCE shown after game completion ends with "...continue to build that legend through further gameplay and downloadable content," the LAST thing I want to do is give you money for that "further gameplay and downloadable content. What I want to know is what happened to Garrus? How's the Quarian homeworld looking right now? What does a Krogan infant look like? I'm looking for answers that came with the conclusion. When I'm provided with these answers, when I'm satisfied, when I feel like I've done something and made a difference in the game, then I'm more likely to purchase further content and expand on what I've already done. But when the core game that I've already purchased doesn't reflect on these concluding ideals, why should I trust putting further payment into content?

I don't need a "Disney" ending as people put it (though, granted, the OPTION would've been nice). I'm just requesting a well-written, well-thought out ending that reflects on the choices that I, personally, made, and showcases small tidbits of where the world (and the people I developed relationships with) went from there.

[DrDark101]

Reign Tsumiraki wrote...

 Ah, perfect! I already wrote up what I think would solve the problem...

*copypasta*

1.  Only change the ending starting from the last scene with Anderson/Shepard/TIM. Everything about the ending before that stays the same, with a few changes. 

2. Completely ignore the God-child-spirit. It conflicts and contradicts the "Protheans fooled the citadel" basis in ME1. This was important. Cut it out entirely.

3. Make several choices based off of war readiness, and how many assets went into the Crucible. Such as:

Very low: Launch a giant EMP burst that destroys all Reapers, AI, Citadel, Relays, most technology, ect, as well as sacrificing earth. Shepard dies. Normandy crashes, and everyone aboard dies.

Low: Same, but without damage to earth. Shepard dies. Normandy Crashes. Crew dies.

Medium-low: Burst that only destroys all AI. Shepard dies. Normandy Crashes, Crew dies.

Medium: Burst that destroys all AI in the Sol system, and the Reapers. This allows the Geth to live, but EDI dies. Saves the Relays, but not the citadel. Shepard dies. Normandy crashes, crew survives.

High-Medium: Releases a burst that disables the Reaper Shields across the galaxy, allowing the fleet to easily kill the rest(Reapers are weak without their shields, as ME1 shows. A single torpedo from the Normandy killed Sovereign without it's shields) Shepard lives. Normandy damaged, but does not crash, and the player is treated to a small cutscene of the Normandy and the fleet blowing up a few reapers. 

High: Sends out a burst attuned to the Reaper core (The Geth provide the information. They studied reapers, remember. If they are not available, the Quarians provide it, having researched the Reaper corpse on their planet) causing the Reapers' reactors to overload and die. However, the Reaper core just happens to be identical to the Core of the Citadel as well. The Citadel overloads and blows up. Shepard lives. Relays stay intact. Player is treated to a cutscene of the Reapers blowing up, troops on the ground rejoicing, as well as the Normandy picking him and Anderson's body up before Citadel explodes.


Very-high: Sends out a pulse that kills only Reapers. All tech stays intact. Shepard lives. Relays intact. Citadel intact. Player is treated to the cutscene above, minus the citadel explosion. 

In addition, the endings shown in the "original" game would be available. These would be available on the left side of the dialogue wheel, while the ones I have proposed would be on the right. Synthesis would be unlocked at the Very-High level, and Control would be unlocked at the High-Medium level. Destroy would be available no matter what.

To complete the Synthesis, Destroy, or Control ending, the player takes the elevator up to where the Original ending takes place. This way, they do not have to design an entirely new environment. The animations and flashbacks for these endings would stay the same. The only difference in the cutscene after this would be no Normandy crash.

The options of the three highest unlocked options would show up on the right of the wheel on the right side. For instance, someone who had Medium assets would get the option of killing all AI everywhere, all AI in the Sol system, or all technology everywhere without damage to earth.

The dialogue wheel would look like this, if someone had 100% of all assets.
                                Synthesis              Take down Sheilds
                                                __________/ 
                                               (                       )
                 Destroy    --------(                          ) ---Kill reapers, Destroy Citadel
                                               (                       )
                                                -----------------
                                               /                      
                                      Control                Kill all Reapers
4. Include a small, text and scene ending. Small clips of certain occations from the various decisions made will show. This will vary by ending.

EXAMPLE: Geth and Quarians rebuilding, all species rebuilding the invaded home planets, ect.

5. A small scene with Anderson and Shepard before Anderson dies, about what Shepard will do if the Crucible works. Shepard can then respond in a variety of ways depending on what options he is presented with because of the war assets claimed. Anderson then says the whole "I'm proud of you" spiel, wishes you luck, then dies.

EXAMPLE: 

Retiring and living in peace, finally, with LI(or alone, if that is the case).

Saying “This device will probably destroy the citadel and kill us, so it does not matter.”

Continue to pursue peace and justice as a Spectre.

Become a diplomat/politician and guide humanity

Ect.

6. Any teammates that were with you at the time you got shot by the reaper will run towards the teleport-beam and make it to the Citadel ahead of you, thinking that you died, and that they need to finish what you started. Upon arriving there, you meet up with them and get to the console. They also get manipulated by TIM, but only you are able to "break free" by shooting or talking down TIM. 



Anyway, that's my whole view on it. 


THIS WAY:  
Players can get the endings they want, the player can still sacrifice themselves to get the endings they want, the Devs can have the endings they want, and originally intended. The only thing this really cuts is the stupid spectral Ghost-child-God thing, which was ridiculous in the first place. 

How does this sound? I tried to address every concern and viewpoint, and combine them into one good ending that I think would please everyone. 

This.
In all honesty I had a very similar feeling before the game came out that this is what I was to expect in the end, events and options that reflected what I had done and how I had played leading to a various number of potential ending outcomes. Actually the idea that I will be posting later (still typing it up) is extremely close to this which goes to prove that at least two people out there thought along the same lines. In the end the crux of the issue is the lack of meaning for what we did throughout the game. Granted its not a total failure, as many have said the first 99% of Mass Effect 3 is brilliant and the way previous choices in the series played out prior to the ending were expertly handled, meaningful and offered the individual pay offs we all expected. That said the choices and actions I made in Mass 3 proper that I thought would have an impact and help mold this games final moments sadly don't bear any weight. The choices in the end reflect neither Paragon or Renegade leanings, they do not take into account (in any real way) the effort spent gathering forces, or even make a pay off for trudging through Galaxy at War play sessions important. It simply comes down to A,B, or C options that all feel flat. If the intention was to ambiguous and leave the end up to the player it failed because what we are provided is too ambiguous, it doesn't provide enough for players to work with to come up with there own conclusions. In the end what we are provided feels more like a stock ending then one we actually participated in molding, which was until those final moments the way Mass Effects narrative worked.