7052 réponses à ce sujet

[Agremont2]

Edit. Oops sorry.

Modifié par Agremont2, 17 mars 2012 - 11:09 .

[theIllustriousGamer]

 All I can say is that I'm really disappointed, Bioware. Mass Effect was the best space epic to surface in gaming for a long time, and this last installment just... wrecked it. There were a lot of good scenes in the game and the action was excellent, but those endings were just terrible. The kid/avatar/catalyst being was like something straight out of a Matrix sequel, and those aren't exactly loved, you know? And destroying the mass relays? Why the fetch would you want to do that? It wrecks the entire core mechanic that the series rests upon!

FWIW, my suggestion is that the ending stands up to the point that Admiral Hackett contacts Shepard about the Crucible not activating. At that point Shepard passes out from blood loss and everything that comes after is a fevered hallucination. Then a second squad, perhaps led by Ash/Kaiden shows up, stabilizes Shepard with Medigel, and hits the Big Red Button that activates the Crucible. Happy ending ensues.

[sistersafetypin]

Jago360 wrote...

adidaz wrote...

Virgl wrote...

 Thanks!!!! You have no idea how happy we are that someone is finally asking!!!! I felt that the romance (mostly conversations) were pretty weak. I held a continued love interest with Liara as maleshep and there were only 5 main romance convos, the rest seemed that she forgot you two had been together since me1, Me2, and lotsb. I really cant emphasize enough how much the romance part of the game appeals to us! It would be nice to get an ending where you could settle down, get married, have kids, a house, and instead of scripted hugging and kissing and other forms of embracing, why not simply give the player the choice to do those things whenever??? It has worked in fable 1,2, & 3. With an ending dlc should come that chance to take part in something that is toned down from all of the battle and war, something peaceful, fun, and heart warming.

+1

Yep, well written! 

If you guys have time after fixing the ending... I think my Shep deserves down time with Liara...:innocent:

[Boceephus]

aristaea wrote...


- $30: Post-ending expansion pack. Kind of the platinum version of a post-ending mission DLC. I will be honest: if the ending is rewritten, major content is added, voice actors return, there is some resolution with our LIs, we have more choices at the end, and some real closure -- even if nothing else about the game is patched, such as the journal -- I would buy what amounts to a new game from BioWare. But I would have to be assured that I was getting what we were promised.

Heck yes, I'd happily pick that up as well.

[NormanRawn]

This was in the forums, thought it could be helpful

http://h9.abload.de/img/jhtqyrqxxg.jpg

[Star Martyr]

Step 1. Fix it
Step 2. Do it for free
Step 3. Continue to enjoy my money in the future.

Give me the proper ending I paid $80 for or we're done

[Clyde_Frog_117]

 Indoctrination theory is clearly the best path to take. Pleaes implement this in some DLC for a true ending.

[Rolling Flame]

I want EMS to actually play a role in the final battle. The lower your EMS, the worse the outcome is. So, for example, if EMS is below a certain number, the Crucible is destroyed before it fires, and the Reapers win, with everybody dying.

If EMS is at a moderate limit, the Crucible fires, but is destroyed before activating completely. As a result, a large group of Reapers are destroyed but many more still remain, and it comes down to how powerful your fleet is. If below a certain number on the moderate scale, the Reapers are able to destroy the fleet, resulting in their victory. If above, the fleet is able to prevail, with heavy losses. In this ending, provided it leans to the positive side, Shepard may die, part of the squad might also be killed, and/or the Normandy might be destroyed.

If EMS is high, then the Crucible fires successfully, destroying all the Reapers. Shepard, the squad and the Normandy survive.

There would be no star child and Mass Relays wouldn't blow up in any ending, and the Normandy wouldn't be fleeing under any circumstances.

There would then be an epilogue. If the Reapers won, it would show them harvesting various worlds, and continuing the cycle. However, we would then see one of Liara's data terminals on a untouched garden world, to show that there is hope for the next cycle.

If the fleet won with heavy losses, then we would see the outcome of various decisions, like the Genophage, for example, and the races rebuilding. Then, we would see what happened to our squadmates, from all the games. If Shepard dies, he is given a funeral scene. Any squaddies killed in the final battle get one as well. If Shepard lives, then he attends the funeral of any dead squaddies, and can choose what to do next, whether that be to remain a soldier, lead the rebuilt, or to settle down. If Shepard has a love interest, and they survived the final battle, we see them raise a family together.

If the Crucible fired without being destroyed, Shepard gets a similar choice as a moderate ending where he survived. Things are much more upbeat, however, as the cost wasn't as high. There may be a funeral scene, but because no squaddies die in a high EMS ending, it is more of a memorial service for the millions who did fall. Once again, we see what happened to all previous squadmates, the various races, how our decisions influenced the galaxy, and Shepard starting a family with the LI, where applicable.

[comanche warior]

I'm not a big fan of endings it leaves alot of unresolved issues. I think that the ending for Mass Effect 2 was a good ending the survival of your crew depends on how you prepare. Im not all boo hoo about people dieing its war martyrdom and sacrifice have to happen to complete the mission.

I dont think that the endings should be all sunshine and rainbows it doesnt happen in war. I think that there should be a happy medium with these endings. But the whole issue is that this is supposed to be the end of Shepards story but the story hasnt ended but for that hype to be true it has to have an ending that ends. Not a to be continued.... Shoot I wouldve rather had it say that instead of what was put in place. 

I dont necissarily want everybody to live happily ever after or everybody die but there is some parts left unfinished. What happens to the Quarians and the Geth, what happens to the Krogan, waht happens to your LI Im pretty sure that he/she will continue to live on with or without you. 

Also for the game to continue it would be dumb to destroy the Mass Relays I mean seriously thats like taking the prop off of a boat and expecting the crew to paddle with their hands. The AI is dumb his logic doesnt make sense "to create synthetic life that ends organic life to protect organic life from being ended by synthetic life" ok that just makes a world of sense.
 
For the content on the endings I think you should do what you did with ME2 as far as your preperation. 

Heres the endings that I would like to see.

(Very Low EMS)
Everybody Dies and the Reapers Win

(Low-Medium)
Alot of people die Shepard sacrifices himself to save the galaxy.

(Medium)
 shepard lives some people die but shepard eventually dies due to injuries

(High-Highest)
Shepard survives the final battle, helps rebild the planets, and retires with his/her LI

 I also think that you should add some type of reward for playing all three games.I know that PS3 players cant play the original but you guys can do something.

I hope this helps thanks.

Modifié par comanche warior, 17 mars 2012 - 11:27 .

[AdmiralJacket]

 I'm going to throw in my two cents. Maybe it'll help, but I'm positive 99% of this has already been said:

Major thing that needs to be changed, of course, is the ending.

• Multiple endings would be best. I know 16 were originally promised, and that would be amazing, but I'd be very satisfied with less than that. As long as they are all clearly unique then it would be great.
• I don't exactly want all happy endings, but I would like at least something along those lines. I would like there to be a multitue of endings ranging from the "happy/the galaxy is saved but with sacrifices" to "complete and utter devistation, the Reapers win (in which case, if a new race found Liara's beacon 50,000 years later, that would be amazing.)".
• I beleive the changed endings should be based on your total EMS, war assets, and major choices.
• I would like an ending that provides us with closure on multiple fronts. Mainly in reguards to what happens to Shepard and his/her squadmates.
• I would like to see how my previous choices throught the entire trilogy affect the ending. Not just with the immediate ending, but I'd also like a glimps at how my choices develope after the Reapers are destroyed and all is said and done (ex: seeing the quarians and geth rebuilding Rannoch together, the beginning progression of the newly-cured Krogan civilization, ect.)
• I would like to see my individual war assets in action for the final battle for Earth. Even if only for a second. I'm don't mean every single war asset, but some would be cool.
• I would like there to be as little plot holes as possible. I find few, small plot holes to be pretty forgivable. Sometimes I even find them necessary to better convey the story. The current ending has plot holes too massive to ignore. It leaves me asking more questions than I'd like:

"Why was Joker fleeing in a mass relay?"
"How did my squad mates that I had with me on Earth suddenly get in the Normandy?"
"Why would my squad mates ever leave me for dead? They said no matter what happens, they'd have my back."
"How did the Illusive Man/Anderson get on the Citadel?"
"How did Anderson get to the console on the Citadel before me when there was clearly no other way to get there but the way I was going?"
"Why must the relays be blown up, effectivly crippiling galatic society to continue?"
"What happens to the entire fleet in the Sol system?"
"Does the sun supernova with the destruction of the Charon relay?"
"What happens to my squad/love interest?"
"How did they manage to conviently land on a habitable jungle world?"
"Why does Shepard give in so willingly to the Star Child? Why was he not able to argue/question him further"
"Why does the Star Child/Unltimate Desicion scene feel so out of place in comparison to the rest of the game/universe?"
"Was it all just in Shepard's head?"

I could go on...
(I, personally, am in agreeance with the indocrination theory and a lot of these questions seem to fall into place. Assuming this is all happening in Shepard's mind.)

• If there is a flashback scene (like the one right before you destroy the Reapers/Synthesize/Control), I beleive it should give proper tribute to all your squadmates. I think it would be an awesome idea if your love interest had a particularly special flash with it's own special visual and single line of dialog remeising a particularly romantic line. (Tali or Liara saying "I love you", something along those lines.)If you have a love interest, maybe there could even be a special short cutscene touching on what Shepard and he/she are doing after the war. Assuming Shepard lives. 

That's all I can really think of for the ending, but I'll probably edit in more when I can think of more. 

This amazing chart being posted around the forums is really something you guys should take a look at when it comes to the ending moments: 
http://i.imgur.com/JhtqY.jpg 

As for small changes? Fix the Journal so it clearly shows where to turn in quests/where specific planets are in their respective systmes.


I'd just like to say that right up until those last 15-20 minutes, the game was amazing in almost every aspect. The dialog and story were written beautifully, the music was phenomenal, the graphics and set pieces were stunning with very few glitches, and I really liked the gameplay. It'd honestly be one of my absolute favorite games if not for that ending, and you better beleive it'd be my favorite series. It's hard to overlook the ending, but you guys did fantastic work with Mass Effect 3. If the endings are changed/fixed, you'd have my continued support for the Mass Effect franchise. 

Modifié par AdmiralJacket, 17 mars 2012 - 11:27 .

[AtlasMickey]

Mass Effect is a masterpiece and you should all be proud.

I don't want any changes, except to maybe flesh out some of the details regarding the squad mate retreat, how they got onto the Normandy, and Joker's retreat. It would be nice to see my two squad mates look back on the battlefield or say something as they are running and leaving, leaving Shepard behind.

It's not necessary, because I like the endings. I don't just like the ending, I love it. So, if the above would help me feel better about the ending, think of how much it would help everyone else.

[Black_Diamond]

#RetakeMassEffect; keeping it civil. I enjoyed many of the moments of the final Earth battle leading up to the beam strike. However, I find every moment after the bean strike for the following reasons problematic. Plot holes
PH1As established in the Arrival, when mass effect relays blow up, everything the solar sytem it's in blows up to. Godchild's options all blow up Mass Effect relays. The Sol system should not exist after the choice has been made, but mysteriously it is shown in the ending scene, with the exception of the low score destroy option which wipes it out. This is contrictory to what should have happened and what did. In essence, inflicting the Schrodinger's cat paradox on the ME universe.
PH2Shepard has made a career on making decisions, asking questions, and finding another way. For example, the fight scene in ME2 between Legion and Tali results in several options between send/don't send information to if you did this to humanity, i'd want to upload too. In the ending of ME3, there isn't an option for a better way, just control, synthesis, and destruction. And a color. No chance to reason with the godchild saying that the geth and quarians made it work, edi and joker made it work, we can make it work too. Your premise is wrong. Shepard does not get this option, albeit a simple one. This takes away from the Shepard the player has created and forced a choice on the character. This is not the character the player has worked with.
PH3Shepard manages to make it into the beam to the citadel. Admiral Anderson manages to make it up after Shepard, but oddly arrives before Shepard in getting to the control panel to open the citadel. Anderson should have been as badly wounded as Shepard is as he has been running towards the beam as well. However, Anderson, Shepard seeing him at the control panel, is not hurt in any way. Furthermore, his body has been indoctrinated. Anderson seems to have made it this far without the indoctrinating forces stopping him and he still manages to move faster than a limping Shepard though he can no longer control himself at the Control area. This makes no sense.
PH4The Illusive Man, or TIM, is seen popping out at the control area. Although all we've seen up to this point are dead bodies. The game portrays him as indoctrinated. Reapers have wanted to kill everything or turn it into husks including the dead piles of humans, so there is no reason to keep him alive.
PH5Joker is seen running away from the fight at the end of Shepard's choice. Joker, at the beginning of ME2, refuses to leave the ship even though it is being destroyed by the Collector ship. Shepard is required to carry Joker to safety because Joker won't leave. So why does Joker leave at the end of the game if Joker is so loyal to Shepard? It doesn't make sense.
PH6Joker is seen running away from the oncoming energy of the relays. Somehow right after Shepard makes a decision (see PH5). He manages to crash onto a jungle planet, and he has 2 squadmates that Shepard brought with him. The squadmates that were running into the beam and supposedly bit the dust if you didn't see them. Which means Cortez or someone picked them up from the battlefield in the middle of the ground run (also problematic if Cortez dies). Then managed to make it to the cargo bay of the Normandy, which promptly leaves the fight. There isn't enough time to pull off all of those tactics. Let alone the small survival rate of running from everything.
I enjoyed seeing my choices, such as the numerous ones to keep everyone alive in ME1 and 2, saving Genophage research, etc, be used in getting a cure to the genophage, being able to determine the outcome of the geth/quarian conflict. However, I found the lack of choices in the ending problematic. Essentially, PH1 is the outcome regardless of picking red, green, or blue as the explosion color of choice. This to me is a forced conclusion, a fixed moment. This is not a choice. Regardless of any choice I make, except perhaps being killed on the way up, lead to the same moment. No amount of galatic readiness, or previous choices make a difference. I could have left the quarian to genocide and still not have changed the ending. I could have brought them. Still no change. Up to 3 color choices is all it affects.
I enjoyed seeing all of my companions both in ME2 and ME3. However, I thought the lack of companion information for the future was problematic because I was emotionally invested in what happened to them. This is why I was very sad for the deaths of Mordin, Thane, and Legion. No mention of what happens to them makes me feel empty and on a cliffhanger for their fates. Also, see PH1 and PH6. This furthers my want to know what happens to them because as far as I can reason, I can't figure out how they could survive (at least Joker and his brittle bone disease).

I enjoyed have love interests throughout all 3 installments of Mass Effect. However, I thought the lack of bare skin in the Garrus love interest option problematic because I have never read anything that states turians are against showing skin. This is not a necessary thing to the ending, but it doesn't make sense to me.

[jeweledleah]

RazorrX wrote...

SaintlPatrick wrote...

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

That is not bad really.  There are some things missing (like you can broker peace between quarians and Geth thus having both fleets), but on the whole much closer to what I thought we were going to be getting. 

I also do not much care for the fact that you have made it default that the geth once again fall under reaper control.  That would not necessarily happen as they now have the upgrades that Legion (Who was not under reaper control) had.  Thus the Geth could very well be a part of the fleet and ground combat.

I do hope that what the Crucible does is to actually disable the reaper network and shielding, allowing for a conventional warfare ending.  That would rock.  Once you have made it to the control room on the citadel and opened the door they could show the fleets starting to take out reapers (maybe even have stuff like Miranda and her fighters open a hole for the Destiny Ascention to blast through Harby or something).  Then show the ground forces also taking out reapers (again showing some allies like Wrex, some Geth Primes, etc. taking on a reaper, mowing down the husks, etc. and then Cortez or someone flying in and shooting a thanix missile to take out the reaper).  So much great stuff could happen.  

The 'happy' ending would be pretty much a bittersweet thing if you actually think about it.  The Turian, Asari and Elcor homeworlds are nearly totally lost, earth should be really really messed up if not lost at the end (having had the reapers longer than anyone else).  The galaxy could survive but most governments would possibly collapse, beginning a time of chaos that would take a long time to heal.  The ending could set up for more stuff later where you have warlords in control of some systems, colonies rebuilding, etc.  Earth could claim the Citadel, Pockets of Geth Heretics take some systems, etc.  That would be a cool post Shepard setting.

agreed. and to add - this mockup is too heavily slanted in a "paragon" direction.  there are very obvious "correct" choices and you get no benefits from chosing anything else.  like I said elswhere, Jack's biotics for example.  as it stands - puting them on defence is the only right choice.  it shouldn't be.  you should get a benefit from them being on offensive, like say - they sustain casualties, but they take down some serious reinforcements, making it easier to fight further along. putting them on defensive - preserves their lives and the squads they are protecting, but it ends up with heavy casualties elswhere.

you get the idea.  just my 2 cents

[Greer]

Players are not upset that Shepard’s journey is “over”. Players are not upset because we wish we had more time with our Shepard. We have known since the beginning that Shepard’s journey would end with the end of Mass Effect 3. Players are upset because the ending (and yes, it is singular) is awful. And I think part of what makes Mass Effect 3’s ending so glaringly terrible is that the rest of the series, the rest of the game ,is so wonderful.

But Mass Effect 3’s ending is awful. And it isn’t even awful in a cathartic way, in the way most of Dragon Age: Origins’ endings were awful. It is awful in that it strips the player of all agency; it is thematically inconsistent with both the rest of the series and the individual game itself; there is not enough variety in the ending, and it has gaping plotholes that are so large they can leave only confusion in their wake.

Stripping the Player of Agency

At the end of the game, we encounter the Catalyst (herein referred to as InfallibleGodBaby). The Catalyst is a symbol of everything we’ve been trying to stop for three games. It tells us that it is, at the very least, heavily allied with the Reapers if not somehow one of them itself [“He tried to control us. But we already controlled him.” (emphasis mine) “The Citadel is a part of me and the Citadel is my home.” (we know the Citadel is a Reaper construct)]. Everything it tells you is heavily geared to ensuring that the Reapers somehow continue. Everything it tells you is an attempt to manipulate you away from the Destroy ending (the only ending in which the Reapers are actually defeated).

InfallibleGodBaby lies: he insinuates that you, too, will die in the Destroy ending (“Even you are partly synthetic.”). And yet, with high enough EMS, Destroy is the only ending in which Shepard can live.

InfallibleGodBaby is wrong: he says that synthetics always seek to destroy their organic creators. Even without Shepard successfully reconciling the geth and the quarians, the Morning Waryproves him demonstrably false – the quarians were the ones who started that. The geth let the quarians go and were happily tending Rannoch, waiting for the quarians to return so they could all live together peacefully until Sovereign, a Reaper, someone at the least allied with InfallibleGodBaby if not under its direct command, intervened. And all of that is ignoring EDI: EDI, who has saved the life of Shepard and his/her crew multiple times. EDI, who is in some sort of relationship (whether romantic or platonic) with Joker.

And yet, it is impossible to point any of this out to InfallibleGodBaby. It is impossible to argue with InfallibleGodBaby and refuse to take any of the choices he offers or point out that his “solution” is even more flawed than it is originally presented. Instead, Shepard meekly nods and accepts InfallibleGodBaby’s word as absolute, inarguable truth.

Thematically Inconsistent

One of the most easily glaring issues with theme of the ending is the overall tone: the previous games in the series were pseudo-hard-sci-fi. There was space magic and certain impossibilities, but they were all handwaved with at least a passable rooting in real science.

InfallibleGodBaby doesn’t have that. InfallibleGodBaby simply is. InfallibleGodBaby jerks the reins of the series from pseudo-hard-sci-fi to mysticism so quickly that it’s honestly jarring. It’s like ending Star Wars with the final moments of 2001: A Space Odyssey or ending a romantic comedy with the final act of Hamlet. While there is nothing wrong with any of these works, they are not thematically consistent with each other. Up until the last ten minutes of the game, you had not been selling us 2001: A Space Odyssey. You’d been selling us Star Wars.

Casey Hudson said in his statement released last night that he had always felt the only way Shepard’s story could end was “bittersweet”. Otherwise, it would “do a disservice” to everything that had come before.

This line of thought has several issues.

First, if the aim was a bittersweet ending all along, the producers have done a terrible job of telegraphing that through the previous two games (and even through Mass Effect 3 itself). Perhaps, if all of the games were played with a Renegade Shepard, the ending might thematically fit. Maybe.

But even the game itself recognizes the distinction between Paragon and Renegade in Shep’s final moments: Renegade Shep rants at InfallibleGodBbay about choice. Paragon Shepard, however, lectures him about hope. And I think that’s one of the things that, even apart from the disjointedness, the logical dissonance of the ending as it exists, stings the most and makes me the most frustrated with it: there is no hope for Shepard.

The last two games, whether you were Paragon or Renegade, ended with hope. Hope for Shepard, for his/her crew, for the galaxy and the future. Things were hard, and there were sacrifices made along the way, and nothing was perfect. But it was hopeful.

The ending as they’ve decided leaves no hope for Shepard (even in the event s/he lives), little hope for Earth (overpopulation issues thanks to the blown relays and all the fleets Shep amassed being stuck in the Sol system now), little to no hope for the galaxy at large for a damned good long while (what with its trade being completely obliterated with the destruction of the relay system), little to no hope for the quarians and turians now stranded in the Sol system (what with being unable to eat human food and an inability to procure more dextro-foodstuffs with the relays’ destruction), and while there is some hope for the crew, it’s marginal and logically lacking (more on this when I discuss plotholes).

Even Mass Effect 3 individually allowed for great moments of hope: Shepard can unite the krogans and the turians. Shepard can cure the genophage. Shepard saves the Council (and with it the galactic governmental structure). Shepard saves the geth from the Reapers. Shepard can unite the quarians and the geth – the parents and their children – after centuries of war and hostility.

And yet, the ending allows for none of that.

Secondly, if “bittersweet” was the aim, the “sweet” part was completely forgotten. Yes, the galaxy is saved no matter what, but that is not how we as players connect to the game. We connect through Shepard, through the crew of the Normandy. And for them, there is no “sweet” in the resolution.

Another problem with this line of thought is the belief that (at least) a hopeful ending invalidates all the sacrifice and pain that came before it. How does Shepard (who has earned the right to slow down and relax if s/he so chooses) having hope in his/her future invalidate the fact that rebuilding will need to happen? How does allowing honest hope for the crew of the Normandy invalidate those they have lost along the way?

Lack of Variety

As the ending currently exists, it is one cinematic that has simply been palette swapped. We were promised “wildly divergent” endings. We were told that BioWare wouldn’t have to “hold back” because there was no concern with the issue of importing the outcome into future titles. Instead, it all ends in the same place no matter what the player does or does not do. There is no sense of satisfaction that all of the hours the player poured into the game or the series was worth anything.

Gaping Plotholes

The ending has so many plotholes as to be fundamentally flawed:

Why does Shepard, an independently thinking agent, simply take InfallibleGodBaby at its (demonstrably false) word with not so much as a peep?

Why am I not allowed to refuse InfallibleGodBaby’s forced choice and allow my armies to fight it out with the Reapers, if my EMS is high enough?

Why does the number of armies I’ve gathered or the number of hours I’ve spent in multiplayer effect whether or not Earth is saved or destroyed? Why does it allow Shepard to live in the Destroy ending? The one has nothing to do with the other – a destructive energy wave is a destructive energy wave no matter how many people stand against it.

Why is Joker out near the Charon Relay?

Why does Joker have my (supposedly loyal) crew with him?

Why is my LI (Kaidan, incindentally) with him? Why is Kaidan (who would have now lost my Shepard twice) happy to be stepping out onto random planet 842 without my (three-games faithful) Shepard?

Why are Kaidan and James Vega, two people who would not leave Earth even without a connection to Shepard, with him? And, again, why are they happy about stepping out onto random planet 842?

Why does Joker have my ground team who assaulted the beam at my side with him (squadmates who should be dead at worst and horribly injured at best, mind), and how are they uninjured and cleaned up?

In light of all the plotholes in the last ten minutes of the game alone, the Stargazer scene (as wonderful as it is that it’s voiced by Buzz Aldrin himself), feels like a slap in the face. It feels as if the producers/writing team were saying “It doesn’t have to make sense, because it was all a bedtime story!” Which, when taking the lack of variety present in the ending into account, invalidates the players’ decisions even impossibly further.

This isn’t about a lack of a “happy” ending. As much as I’d love my Shepard, who worked hard to save everyone she could and tried to do everything right to have one, as much as I feel she’s earned one, that isn’t the problem here. The problem is that there isn’t enough variety, that the ending managed to invalidate every choice I’d made across hundreds of hours of playtime with my Shepard, and was flawed both logically and from a story-telling standpoint. The problem is that there really was only one ending.

I don’t think anyone is asking you to necessarily take this ending out. All we’re doing is asking you to deliver on what you promised: give us “wildly divergent” endings where the impacts of our choices can be truly felt.

Stick with the established theme of your story: give us the option to end with hope.

Modifié par Greer, 17 mars 2012 - 11:21 .

[Nephilym83]

Another brilliant ending idea I felt you guys should see (especially the very last part):

I've read a couple posts by now in response to the ending fiasco that counter fan complaints with "well, how would you end it". Yes yes, it seems like a dumb "you couldn't do better, you're not a professional writer, so shut up", and I don't particularly respect that line of argument, but it got me thinking.

So the point of this post is to see people's ideas about how Mass Effect 3 should have ended. I'm going to post a fairly detailed description of what I think, but you're welcome to contribute even if all you have is a little throw-it-in-it-would-be-great kind of thing.

So with no further ado- How ME3 Should Have Ended by Singulaire:

Changes begin with the attack on earth. It's nice, but the war is too short. It should consist of multiple missions like the Tuchanka and Rannoch campaigns. These include a point at which you have to choose between two missions- in each of them a unit led by a tertiary character (possibly Kirrahe and Kal'Reegar) is being pressed hard and requests back-up. You can't help both, by the time you help one of them the other gets overrun.

During the fight, you catch comm chatter about different groups requesting assistance. If you recruited a specific character as a War Asset, they will lead a team to help this group out. Otherwise the group gets crushed. Also, Harbinger will ocassionally assume direct control of a reaper unit and delivers the sort of lines you would expect. Some of your squadmates (past and current) die depending on you War Assets.

In the final push for the beacon, you encounter heavy resistance from ground forces. Everybody on the ground who survived is helping in the push, trying to cover you, your two chosen squadmates and Anderson as you make a run for it. Just like in the current ending, you are informed Harbinger broke away from the space battle to fight you. Harbinger shows up and starts raining death. This is where the endings start to diverge.

1) Worst ending (A.K.A. Indoctrination ending)- What you get for having a terrible War Asset score. This is more or less the current ending, but where the current ending cuts to black, the camera zooms out, and we then see it's zooming out of shepard's eyes, which then turn a glowing yellow as we hear harbinger say: "Assuming direct control". Congrats, Shepard has been indoctrinated and the galaxy is doomed. Now we cut to black.

2) Still Kinda Bad ending- You get this for having a middling War Asset score, but still not enough. you actually need it to be quite high to get the good ending. When Harbinger charges it's beam at you, it gets interrupted at the last second by a THANIX blast from the Normandy- it could afford to break from the main engagement because you had enough War Assets that the fight was going well enough.

Harbinger staggers for a moment, then tries to blast the Normandy as it zips past its face. This buys you enough time to reach the beacon, but a cannibal with a heavy weapon shoots at you. The blast kills your two squadmates and throws you and Anderson into the beacon, heavily wounded. What follows is verys imilar to the current ending, up until the part where Shepard is crawling towards the panel and collapses to the ground. Instead of an "uplifting" platform, we slowly fade to black as we hear Hackett calling out to Shepard, ending with a final "oh god" as Hackett's ship is destroyed.

3) Good ending (for a certain value of good)- Same as before, but because of all the War Assets you have you had enough people covering the final dash for the beacon that you didn't get hit by a heavy weapon. The beacon teleports you all to different parts of the citadel, and you converge in the same room as the control panel. TIM has Anderson at gun point- a high reputation score is needed to distract long enough for a squadmate to sneak behind TIM and kill him before he shoots Anderson. An even highers score is needed to talk TIM into shooting himself, also saving Anderson.

When you open the Citadel, the Crucible isn't responding. Turns out Harbinger is jamming communications between the Crucible and the Citadel. He shows up and tries shooting at the Crucible, but it has a shield strong enough to talk multiple blasts. Harbinger proceeds to try and should up the Citadel in an effort to kill Shepard. EDI informs you that she downloaded the Citadel's defense plans a long time ago, and the installed a bunch of gigantic Mass Effect cannons to prevent the Sovereign incident from being repeated. They're disguised as towers on the Citadel's arms (yes, the cannons are that big).

The final missions consists of running through the citadel, with Harbinger trying to shoot at you from afar and the Normandy doing its best to distract him, using superior maneuvrability to survive. You encounter heavy ground resistance on your way to the giant gun, with Harbinger assuming control of units many time. The final battle is against a Harvester controlled by Harbinger. It actually relocated to flush you out of cover, as opposed to the stand-around-and-wait-to-be-shot-up strategy adopted by harvesters so far. Other reaper units are of course involved in the fight.

Your team activates the mass effect cannon. Joker pulls his best maneuvre to date, dodging a blast then turning a 180 and flying straight past Harbingers side. As Harbinger turns in place to keep up with the Normandy, it's mass effect core has to transfer power from the barriers to reducing Harbinger's mass, making it vulnerable (this weakness is noted in the codex). You fire the giant cannon on the Citadel at this moment, destroying Harbinger.

The Crucible starts working, and the Citadel lights up a bright red. Shepard orders Joker to get away, but Joker argues. Some more rebuking from Shepard makes Joker respond with the line: "Commander, shut up! And get to higher ground!"

You climb to the top of the cannon, the Normandy opens it's hangar doors to pick you up in mid-flight. You get pretty banged-up, but the maneuvre is a success. The hangar doors shut and the Normandy jumps away as the Crucible fires.

What follows is pretty much the destruction ending, except the Mass Relays aren't destroyed and the Normandy doesn't crash.

We fade to black, and then we get a bunch of cutscenes of the different species, sifting through their respective ruins, trying to rebuild. We see Tuchanka, the Krogan leader and Urdnot Bakara are surrounded by a litter of young. As the camera zooms out, we see more adult Krogan around them. If you cured the Genophage, the other Krogan have children too.

Rannoch- we see the Quarians, or the Geth, or the two of them working together. Palaven, Thessia, Earth- we see the Turian, Asari and Human populations start to rebuild. On the Citadel, we see all the species walking around as if they all belong here. This includes Rachni, Geth and Quarians, depending on whether you saved them.

We zoom out of the Citadel, and see it orbiting Earth. The Normandy flies away from it. The whole epilogue has Shepard giving an inspirational speech as a background narration. Something about the sacrifices they've made, and proving that anything can be accomplished if we stand together. At some point, the Mass Effect Theme starts up (as heard here, reprised here and here).

We see Shepard in the hanger next to the coffins of casualties lost in the fight (depending on how many squad members have died due to low War Assets). This includes Cortez, at the very least. Next Shepard walks down CIC. As she passes to the bridge, the surviving squadmates line up behind her, in the same place you see them as you leave the Citadel in the first Mass Effect.

Shepard comes to a halt behind Joker. the Love Interest (if any, and if it survived), walks up next to her, and they share a glance and a tender smile. Shepard looks out the window. We pan around to see her looking at the side of a planet, as we hear two echoes from the past:

Udina's Echo: "Is that the kind of person we want protecting the galaxy?"

Anderson's Echo: "That's the only kind of person who can protect the galaxy."

The musical theme closes as we zoom on the planet's corona, which fades to the Mass Effect logo, echoing the beginning of the series.

It's over.

[Copperwings]

 Now THIS is more like it!

social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/10147370

[Mayple]

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

This is amazing and a great way to handle at least the helpful aspects of your final push. Anything I did in all the previous games would have mattered here.

Modifié par Mayple, 17 mars 2012 - 11:23 .

[Militarized]

Bioware, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at this!

http://h9.abload.de/img/jhtqyrqxxg.jpg This is what people, I think pretty universally, expected!' class='bbc_url' title='Lien externe' rel='nofollow external'>http://h9.abload.de/img/jhtqyrqxxg.jpg

This is what people, I think pretty universally, expected!

Woops put it in the wrong section the first time. This is better  

Modifié par Militarized, 17 mars 2012 - 11:23 .

[SupremeLegate]

Just remembered that I had an issue with the 'Romances' in ME3.

I remember reading that if you romanced someone in ME1 and the another someone in ME2 that there would be consequences, but if you remained faithful you would be rewarded. So I had me FemShep remain faithful to Liara, while my MaleShep romanced Ashely in ME1 and Miranda in ME2.

But it didn't seem to matter. With my FemShep I still seemed to have to re-romance Liara, though there were some nice flirtation going on until the actually committed to each other. But I did not see anything that I would call a 'reward,' unless I missed it.

It's my MaleShep where things really seemed to have fallen short. I was expecting for both of them to have some kind of reaction, but instead I was able to tell both of them that I wanted to be with them.

[Xenite]

I would be happy to pay for a post-end expansion pack. If they do a substantial change and give the game a real proper ending I would be happy to pay for it to help cover the cost they may have making it.

More Mass Effect is never a bad thing.

[Drewzshepard]

heartening to know that Bioware is considering fan input. Only time will tell if they fix my massive feeling of disappointment I attribute to ME3 ( as one of those people who poured countless hours into both the previous games).

But anyways, here is my constructive feedback on what i felt was missing in ME3, which seems like it could be a dlc fix. My general opinion is that the endings’ concepts where satisfactory (though nothing superb), however the way in which they were executed was atrocious. My elaborations on this follow.

Ending Fixes
This is what I believe is truly marring the ME3 experience, and would need to see fixed to be satisfied (not that I’m demanding anything, this is just what is keeping me from being content with the game)

    -A longer ending scene! Honestly, all the ending scenes just showed relays blowing up, the fate of two reapers on Earth (and two soldiers cheering, or being destroyed depending on your war asset count), and then the whole thing with the Normandy. This was extremely short and unjustified, and for a game that did such an amazing job of feeling immersive and alive, these vague endings were downright unacceptable. Instead, all that needs to be done is just adding a few more scenes - reapers lifting of/ dyeing on Palavens moon, Tuchanka, Rannoch, Thessia, Illuim, etc., and then some soldiers cheering on these planets as the music builds. This would make Shepards sacrifice easily bearable and give the sense of accomplishment the endings lacked.
 
   -Harbinger. The fifteen seconds of screen time he gets do NOT do the villain they built up in Mass Effect 2 any justice. If not a full out boss fight (which i would have fully enjoyed), at least show him being taken on by a couple sword ships, or ground forces, or something, and then give him some screen time in the end. This is also the bare minimum - I would be ecstatic to see him more through the course of the game, harassing and taunting shepard, etc. Just no more "assuming direct control" ... I believe everyone had their fill of that in ME2.

    -Investigate option with the Catalyst. If the ending concepts are kept as is, there needs to be this exact point. During my playthrough, I felt the explanation of the choices was a bit vague, and it would be helpfull if these could be (optionally) elaborated. This also presents an opportunity to explore what the Catalyst accually is, other than a child that just keeps showing up everywhere.
 
   - More scenes showing the progression and outcome of the battle between sword and the reapers. The beginning scene to this was so epic, it only multiplied the disappointment of how that beginning scene is all you ever see of the battle.
  
  - Plot holes. Why did the Normandy run from the battle? How did your squad get back on the Normandy, especially those with you when Harbinger decided to start raining lasers everywhere? What was the Normandy doing while you were chatting with the Illusive man and Anderson on the Citadel? How did the repers transport the Citadel to Earth, and what happened to its' inhabitants? What happened to Hacket? (Again) what happened to sword? Why is the Catalyst helping you, or appearing as the child, or talking in the first place? Why are all AIs assumed to be evil when the Geth and EDI are prime examples of them not being? The list goes on and on, so I can only hope that if Bioware ever decides to create an extended/ alternate ending dlc, they consider all these blatant holes they created. Honestly, Mass Effect 3s ending felt like a plane trying to fly when it had holes in its wings.
Ending Ideas
These are just my ideas on things that could make ME3 better.
    -Speech after the ending cut scene. Could be delivered by Hacket, or someone, but basically can sum up the fact that there can be a tomorrow now, and though the universe is separated (relays gone) its’ races are more unified now then ever. This could help in adding the sense of achomplishment the game lacks, and especially if you just watched your Shepard de-materialize, a well delivered speech can give that feeling of hope a bittersweet ending requires, and ME3s ending. (And no, I did not the think the after credits epilouge gave this AT ALL. I need characters I know showing this hope, not two people whom are given no context what so ever.)

    -If shepard surivives... this represents a significant accomplishment. 4000 - 5000 war assets is extremely difficult to aqquire, and should be treated as such. Maybe instead have the Normandy pick up Shepard from the Citadel before it explodes. That may sound a bit far fetched, however is more beleivable then the current situation where Shepard magically survives the citadel exploding, re-entry into Earths atmoshpere after a fall from space, and then crash landing on the surface. A Normandy pick up could also satisfy those wanting Shepard to have a happy ending with their crewmate LI, and is completely optional for those who want the more meaningfull "Shepard Sacrifice" ending. This ideas a longshot and would dissapoint people, but hey its better than the magical shepard space fall ending right?

    -Option to convince the Catalyst that its' logic is wrong. This is my idea for those with a playthrough (of all games) that had all the major choices being one morality (Paragon or Renagade). It would basicly involve convincing the Catalyst that AIs are not evil and deserve to be equals to organics (paragon) or that organics are strong enough to face AIs on their own (renegade). Not sure what would happen next, whether the catalyst would withdraw the reapers itself or what, but in my opinion this represents a perfect way to show the accomplishment of players choice and the stength of a Shepard with an unquestionable morality, and like the above idea is just more for concepts that could be turned into something greater.

Non Ending Related ideas

These are things that I was expecting in the game but didn't find, so I'm just inputting them as ideas for future DLC.
-Help Aria retake Omega (maybe even make her a romance option? )
-Explore the unexplored areas of the citadel (keeper areas) in order to uncover secrets about the reapers and those who created them.
-Side missions on Thessia, like there were for Rannoch and Tuchanka (help the Asari leaders evacuate, etc.)
-LI dlc. Give the Lis some new content, expand upon those who didn't get much screen time (like Jack), accually show Talis face, not just a photo shopped picture of her, fights between a ME1 LI you cheated on and the ME2 LI you did so with, etc.

Anyways, those are my ideas on improvements for the game. Other then the dissapointing showing from the ending, I found the game to be enjoyable and hope Bioware will come out with DLC to fix alot of these fan concerns - because if fixed, the game would easily be perfect.

[Toucans]

I'm not too shook up with the actual outcomes of the ending, at least not the parts I know to be true. It's mainly a problem of not knowing exactly what happened that prevents any closure.

I read some of the Final Hours stuff and was pretty shocked at some of the things that were cut for story economy. Cutting all the Investigate options from the starchild sequence seems to be the worst decision. It's fine if Bioware wants to keep the starchild mysterious, but not being able to ask any questions at all seems pretty strange given the importance of the moment. On top of making the decision of which button to press unclear, there's no resolution to speak of afterwards to clearly define the fate of anyone, sheperd included.

All I'm really looking for, at mininum, is a few epilouge slides like Dragon Age: Origins had. Just a paragraph or so about the fate of the various different races depending on what decisions you made. That's like a paragraph a piece for each of the main races times how many ever endings you have. You could get away with a dozen or so easily. Games are a visual medium but that's better than what we have now.

Also a short ceremony or something for sheperd's death. All your crew is on that jungle planet, just have them stand in front of a pile of rocks while Liara or someone who can't die in the game gives a short speech with some different lines depending on renegade/paragon. With just these two things I think the end contains a lot more closure and still isn't a 'happy' ending, but it's no longer a quite so ambiguous one. Maybe a short conversation after the crash landing where Joker can explain where they are or what he was trying to do. Closure is the key here.

Besides story concerns, it's equally troubling that the actual composition of your army never had any effect on the final mission. I was expecting something like the suicide mission at the end of ME2 except now you're using fleets instead of crew members. I'm assuming this was in the design at one point but was cut. I guess it's out of the question at this point but if they're not going to affect the outcome then you could at least throw some geth primes in there instead of infantry, or if you really didnt' want to do any work it could have been some of the marines who instantly die.

Those three or four things seem pretty reasonable to me. This is pretty much the bare minium I expected from ME3 given the sort of narrative promises Bioware made prior to release.

Modifié par Toucans, 17 mars 2012 - 11:28 .

[sistersafetypin]

aristaea wrote...


- $30: Post-ending expansion pack. Kind of the platinum version of a post-ending mission DLC. I will be honest: if the ending is rewritten, major content is added, voice actors return, there is some resolution with our LIs, we have more choices at the end, and some real closure -- even if nothing else about the game is patched, such as the journal -- I would buy what amounts to a new game from BioWare. But I would have to be assured that I was getting what we were promised.

I bought the N7 edition and though I feel we shouldn't have to pay for an ending that makes sense... I would still gladly shell out up to $30 for a true redux of the ending/expenansion