265 réponses à ce sujet

[K1llm1n1on]

I finally beat ME3 yesterday two days ago. I had carried my
saves over all the way from the first game and I was terrified going into the
final battle to retake Earth. I knew it was going to finally come to an end. I
was thinking about how unnatural the concept of ending is in life. Finite
endeavors and experiences over the course of life are commonly anticipated-
graduations, moving, changing jobs. They most often connote rites of passage,
thresholds, growth and change. They are complicated. Often they are
bittersweet, but they can be joyous and at their best they are an indication of
paradigms shifting for the better. But there are other endings in life that are
much less auspicious, and these are often the unanticipated ones. The end of a
relationship. A catastrophe. The end of life. Sometimes the only way you know
they're coming is a sinking feeling. Often you have no clue.



Approaching the sol system, walking the Normandy and saying my goodbyes, I was
aware that nothing would ever be the same. I knew that any of those small
exchanges of support and appreciation, comfort, could be the echoes of ghosts.
I felt a knotted-up mixture of nearing the threshold of coming to the end of
our endeavors and the terrible foreboding of an all- encompassing cataclysm.



I chain- smoked through the skirmishes in London. I ground my teeth and my
hands were sweating. By our last stand by the Thanix cannon my nerves were
frayed, and I felt like I really did not know if we would survive. I was
waiting for a deus ex machina. I could not see a way to survive the relentless
waves of reaper forces. Relief from the other branch of Hammer crested the
street and I ran for the cannon. I stopped fighting, tac-cloaked and ran
straight through the enemies' lines to fire it. If I had to hang in for another
second I would most likely have been killed.



The run for the beam was surreal, all of us running, getting picked off one by
one. We were all there so that one or two of us would live. We were all there
to die to help the chances of the few who might make it. This was where it all
changed. I knew it was going to be me. By the time I tottered to my feet after
Harbinger's immolating beam I had a cold streak up my spine. I felt as much a
wreck as I looked on the screen. It was quiet and slow. So many dying around
me, myself shambling, life ebbing. Time dilation. Walking towards a column of
light to the heavens.



I arrived into a vision of hell. Piles of unmoving dead. Black and red. A
familiar voice. Anderson is here. I have a gun. Am I in hell? This place is a
machine of death. Anderson and the Illusive Man. It seems pointless to argue,
but I hold to my core. I've tried to do what is right and live for good. I try
again in vain to persuade him, knowing he’s far too far gone. I don't really
know if he ever sees it before he does himself in. Anderson gets to sit down.
I'm falling asleep, letting go. A call from the war keeps me awake. I'm not
done. I don't know what to do. I'm barely alive. Barely conscious.  The
line between thought/dream/soul and life/reality/physicality is gone. The boy
from my dreams is here.



He is the catalyst. The cycle is explained. I don't know if I can trust him/it.
There has to be another way. Is he lying to me? Does he need me to actuate his
plans? Why do I have this choice? Why doesn't he decide if he's so powerful?
I'm tired. But I'm not done yet. I came here to activate the crucible. This is
how I do it. This is what the crucible does- it can alter the fabric of life. He
is not lying. He has no reason to. I have to make the choice because I am life.
I am everyone fighting and dying below, and across the systems. Chaos and
order. The dipole. The extremities of each and the imbalance caused by their
constant, antagonistic push further apart. Organics and synthetics. But I know
that there is potential to end the cycles. The balance has shifted already. EDI
and Joker. Life. Love. A discrepancy.



The Reapers are order and order is nonexistence. They are a function. A
process. They are synthetic, but that is beside the point. That is not at
issue. The Geth are synthetic, but they are alive. Organics are alive, but the
Indoctrinated have become a function like the Reapers, not living.



I represent all that is living. I have to make the choice, to show the Catalyst
the status quo is effete. The equation is broken. The Mass relays will be no
more, as it should be- they are chesspieces in a rigged game. Poisoned pills.
Synthesis breaks the cycles of extremes and eliminates the tools of the
eventual recycling. Balance is achieved. Life has the best chance it ever will.
I jump. I burn. I get to rest finally. If this is a dream it's a beautiful one.
No one is calling me. I did what I had to do. It's going to be ok. Everything
will be different.

 

The green shockwave spreads, the light stopping the fighting
on Earth’s surface. The Mass Relays are encapsulated by this green energy,
safely destroyed. The Normandy tries to outrun this unknown energy burst but is
engulfed. A crash. Hybrid synthetic/organic trees in wilderness. Is this Earth?
Joker and EDI, together, also hybridized. And Tali. In the future a grandfather
tells his grandson about the Shepherd. Do I imagine all this? Am I looking down
from Eternity?

 

Credits. It’s over. I don’t want it to be. I don’t want to
leave this world. I want to know what happened to my teammates and the world.
But I’m still a person. Shepard has become something else. From his vantage
point it seems to matter less. A new epoch has begun, and maybe the first since
the original emergence of life to be free of the vicious cycle of destruction
and rebirth.

 

It’s been two days and I’m still thinking about the game. I
haven’t been affected by a game this deeply since I was a teenager. I didn’t
even think it was possible. I’ve had dreams about it. My wife and I have been
talking about it for hours at a time.

 

It was a hard ending to accept. I was left with so many
questions. The ending challenged me. How could I come to terms with the fact
that this world I had become so invested in had been fundamentally and pervasively
altered? Tali had just gotten acclimated to my presence and now she was alone.
It’s a lot to take.

 

And the whole thing is remarkable. This is a video game and
it has touched a chord in me that only fine art, music or literature can
usually touch. I’m considering moral end existential questions, the way the
greatest science fiction stories invite me to do.

 

I had heard before I beat the game that there was growing
controversy over the ending of ME3. I avoided reading any of the news about it
until after I got to experience it firsthand. I understand why some people are
so upset. I’m upset. But I would not change one detail of the game’s ending. It
is right that I’m upset. It is right that I’m challenged and conflicted,
thinking, brooding, mourning, laughing. A world I knew and loved intimately has
been shaken to its core.

 

A character that I shaped for years is gone, his soulmate
alone and unable even to return to the homeworld I helped her and her people
return to. I spent so much effort uniting all of these disparate, warring
species to now have them separated by seemingly impassable gulfs of space.
They’re all stranded on Earth together, what’s left of these unified
civilizations, and Earth is a ruin.

 

It’s going to take me some time to process and come to terms
with all of this. I had planned on a second playthrough of the series after
beating ME3, but now I’m going to hold off on that for a while. I’m completely
stunned at how I’ve been affected. But what I’m coming to realize is that there
really couldn’t be any better way to end the trilogy. Having a happy ending and
everyone sitting around a bar toasting each other would have been trite and
trivial. After learning over the course of the games the true nature of the
situation galactic civilizations were in, no less total an upheaval could have
been effected that would have actually saved the galaxy.

Any other outcome, one where the status quo is preserved,
minus the Reapers, would have appeared a cop out ending intended to facilitate
the next sequel. The whole mess would just start all over again. It would have
been another cliché of video games.

 

It’s hard for creators of a hugely popular and growing
franchise to write a balls- out story. If they put it all on the line, if the
stakes are too high, the outcome will upend everything they built. That is how
some are feeling now. I think that there is actually vast potential for growth
building off of the arrival of this new cycle in the ME universe. The essential
is still there, in fact it is distilled and strengthened by the events of the
ending.

 

The reason why the story of Mass Effect was so compelling
was because the stakes were so high. Yes, this is the case in many rpgs, but ME
stood out because it was believable, deep and didn’t wade into the typical and
expected tropes of the genre. In most games of this kind you save the world and
everyone goes home to sit on a lawn chair and drink margaritas, until a
thousand years later the great evil force returns where, generations later the
facts have faded to near-forgotten legend and a new generation of heroes, who
may be descendants of the past heroes, and may or may not have amnesia, have to
rise up and prevail, only to repeat the cycle again and again.  The core of the conflict in Mass Effect
was that cycle. The only way to break it is to cause drastic changes to the
world. It is a fair price for peace and hope.

Mass Effect players wanted to be a part of an amazing story
with unprecedented scope. The team gave us that story, complete with realistically
uncomfortable and unresolved repercussions. I have no doubt that they can keep
it going in subsequent games. For us as players we will have a more profound
understanding of and investment in the events to follow, knowing as well as we
do what it took to get here. There is more than enough content to be explored
for any number of subsequent games. I am eager for that, and hope that it won’t
be forced or rushed in efforts to try to cram it all into DLC because of the
outcry of fans asking for closure.

 

There has long been a debate in the video game world about
whether video games can be art. Mass Effect is one of the best examples supporting
the view that they can. I think that question has already been answered to the
effective, and now the question is what kind of art is it? Mass Effect is
ultimately a true science fiction story told with a big budget Hollywood movie
format and a top shelf video game design approach. This seems to me to have
significance when looking at the controversy of the ending’s reception. I don’t
get excited anymore about the announcement of some new big budget movie based
on a book or game. I’ve been disappointed too many times. So much goes into the
visuals, but they are ultimately used to tell one of the same couple of stories
recycled over and over again. I always wonder what would happen if we went to
such lengths to tell a story that isn’t safe and sanitized. What would happen
if someone took a chance and used all of the resources of a big budget movie
that told a story that was just as intense? What happens is that it bombs.

 

I love that Mass Effect has gone as far as it has. It is a
game whose every aspect is going full-tilt. It elevates itself beyond a kitschy
big-budget pop culture event into a full-on work of art. One question is
whether it goes farther than fans are willing to follow. Clearly, the vocal
protests of some gamers seem to point to that. I understand BioWare’s need to
respond. The culture of video games has always been one of reciprocity between
the makers and the players. The players have a sense of ownership and feel
betrayed if the makers go in directions they are uncomfortable with.
Nonetheless, gamers could use a nudge beyond the narrower concerns they often
court. This medium has greater potential to engage us, and we stand to dilute
that potential if we reject the unfamiliar. 

 

I hope that BioWare will preserve the integrity of their
work and keep the ending as it is. I hope they do not give up ground and
backtrack, as going back now to the world that was before would be didactic at
best. I love the fact that their work has challenged me, left me at odds and
made me question some of my own deeply held beliefs. What would I really be
able to say about a game arcing three games with cumulative consequences for my
decisions, ultimately culminating in a war for the very existence of life in
the universe, if all it gave me was a crazy boss fight and happy snapshots of
the victorious heroes? I’d still enjoy it, surely, but beyond that I would be
unaffected. An undertaking as monumental as Shepard’s changes you, affects you
concretely. We have walked in his/her shoes for a few years and it is a
testament to the quality of the team’s work that they were able to actually
affect me personally in a way that gives me just a sliver of a sense of what
Shepard has been through.

[demin8891]

Summary for those who don't want to read this massive wall of text: Artistic integrity.

I'm glad you liked it, OP. I really am. I'm just incapable of accepting mediocrity and plot holes the size of the Collector Base.

Modifié par demin8891, 26 mars 2012 - 11:24 .

[Omilophile]

We don't necessarily want snapshots of the team at a club. We want an ending that make sense.

[Sublime82]

I think it could have had a lot more artistic integrity if it was more grimdark.

[wright1978]

Glad you liked it. I thought it was a pile of railroaded plothole ridden drivel that made the entire experience of playing all 3 ME games seem pointless

[MattFini]

Fundamentally disagree with just about every word you wrote.

I can respect your viewpoint, but man, it's just hard to wrap my head around accepting the StarChild.

[K1llm1n1on]

demin8891 wrote...

Summary for those who don't want to read this massive wall of text: Artistic integrity.

I'm glad you liked it, OP. I really am. I'm just incapable of accepting mediocrity and plot holes the size of the Collector Base.

What specifically are your referring to when you say mediocrity? What plot holes do you see?

[Vromrig]

Unfortunately, ultimately comes down to "integrity of work".

All arguments undermined by this term.

[Greed1914]

demin8891 wrote...

Summary for those who don't want to read this massive wall of text: Artistic integrity.

I'm glad you liked it, OP. I really am. I'm just incapable of accepting mediocrity and plot holes the size of the Collector Base.

Pretty much.  I keep at this partially because I know Bioware can do better.  The first two games and most of the third prove this.  I've come to expect more effort than three recycled endings from them.

[BWGungan]

I don't need to read the whole OP to know you just have bad taste.

Modifié par BWGungan, 26 mars 2012 - 11:29 .

[demin8891]

K1llm1n1on wrote...

demin8891 wrote...

Summary for those who don't want to read this massive wall of text: Artistic integrity.

I'm glad you liked it, OP. I really am. I'm just incapable of accepting mediocrity and plot holes the size of the Collector Base.

What specifically are your referring to when you say mediocrity? What plot holes do you see?

I suggest you look in any given thread in the Story and Campaign Discussion board for your answer. The problems most people have with the ending are many in number and have been said many, many, many times before.

[Sesshomaru47]

Yay for you.

[Zhen-Lin]

Omilophile wrote...

We don't necessarily want snapshots of the team at a club. We want an ending that make sense.

Hi, Omiloohiile, See the icon under the man who started this topic? He only has ME3. And he is telling us that he played through ME from the first game. How can he played through all of them if he doesn't even own ME1 and ME2? Because he is a bioware employee, he is here to making excuse for their poor ending and try to rally some support. Therefore, it is really no need for us to respond his non-sense. Keep this top cold.

[tjc2]

Tell me, honestly, that budget/time had no influence on the ending then I say okay, artistic integrity and next time I buy a game or not, I will cite artistic differences.

[zarnk567]

demin8891 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

demin8891 wrote...

Summary for those who don't want to read this massive wall of text: Artistic integrity.

I'm glad you liked it, OP. I really am. I'm just incapable of accepting mediocrity and plot holes the size of the Collector Base.

What specifically are your referring to when you say mediocrity? What plot holes do you see?

I suggest you look in any given thread in the Story and Campaign Discussion board for your answer. The problems most people have with the ending are many in number and have been said many, many, many times before.

^this^ I'm not gonna type out all the plot holes again for the 60th time....

[Ck213]

At the same time artists will tell you a work of art is never finished, only abandoned.

ME3 feels abadoned to me due to time contraints. I don't think it's actually finished by the way either. Thankfully digital media can be added to after purchase. Works of fiction require a suspension of disbelief from the audience. There were too many things that just tossed me out of the story.

[Chernaya]

I'm happy for you! I'm being honest too, not sarcastic. Just be respectful to those who didn't like the ending but are classy about it, it works both ways ~

[tjc2]

K1llm1n1on wrote...

demin8891 wrote...

Summary for those who don't want to read this massive wall of text: Artistic integrity.

I'm glad you liked it, OP. I really am. I'm just incapable of accepting mediocrity and plot holes the size of the Collector Base.

What specifically are your referring to when you say mediocrity? What plot holes do you see?

Look just because you post a "Wall of Text" doesn't mean people are going to take their time to rewrite the millions of posts showing the problems with the endings. Go through this board and each of the holes will be explained to you in hundreds of ways:mellow:

Modifié par tjc2, 26 mars 2012 - 11:34 .

[The Night Mammoth]

It's all down to preference.

I like looking at paintings by Alberto Morocco, who, whilst having an utterly generic style, chooses interesting subject matter.

Others like looking at a turd in a box.

[K1llm1n1on]

MattFini wrote...

Fundamentally disagree with just about every word you wrote.

I can respect your viewpoint, but man, it's just hard to wrap my head around accepting the StarChild.

Yeah, I had issues with that as well, but it came down to this for me:
I'm at this Crucible to make it do something- I don't really know what, but I know it can end the war.
This is what it does and how it works.
Is the "Star Child" literally there, though? Is this scene a literal representation of what's actually going on, or have things moved into more abstract territory?

I accept the big strokes of the situation, even though the form the Catalyst takes is questionable.

I was also thrown by the boiling down of the situation to synthetic vs organic life and had to stop and think about whether this was a red herring, a dissembling of some kind.

I went in to get rid of the Reapers, because I thought that's what the Crucible did, but ended up realizing that it did something much more and that the Reapers were only a part of a much bigger situation. The appearance of the "starchild" definitely made that whole situation harder to accept and deal with, especially since it was torn from my dreams, something that made me immediately suspicious.

[K1llm1n1on]

tjc2 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

demin8891 wrote...

Summary for those who don't want to read this massive wall of text: Artistic integrity.

I'm glad you liked it, OP. I really am. I'm just incapable of accepting mediocrity and plot holes the size of the Collector Base.

What specifically are your referring to when you say mediocrity? What plot holes do you see?

Look just because you post a "Wall of Text" doesn't mean people are going to take their time to rewrite the millions of posts showing the problems with the endings. Go through this board and each of the holes will be explained to you in hundreds of ways:mellow:

Listen, if people want to take issue with my wall of text they could be real about it and explain what they mean, not just take pot shots because they disagree with me but don't have the patience or clarity of thought to back it up.

If you don't care enough about your viewpoint to defend it, why say anything at all?

[DJBare]

Zhen-Lin wrote...
Hi, Omiloohiile, See the icon under the man who started this topic? He only has ME3. And he is telling us that he played through ME from the first game. How can he played through all of them if he doesn't even own ME1 and ME2? Because he is a bioware employee, he is here to making excuse for their poor ending and try to rally some support. Therefore, it is really no need for us to respond his non-sense. Keep this top cold.

Huh, lets not go with conspiracy theories please, if that were a Bioware employee he'd have been more convincing by having nearly all the reg badges, though reg for ME1 is not required, but the fact he is missing ME2 is a little telling, so I question that he has played the entire series.

[Coachdongwiffle]

You said yourself you have multiple saves...it doesn't bother you knowing that all those saves and decisions don't change that ending?

[K1llm1n1on]

Zhen-Lin wrote...

Omilophile wrote...

We don't necessarily want snapshots of the team at a club. We want an ending that make sense.

Hi, Omiloohiile, See the icon under the man who started this topic? He only has ME3. And he is telling us that he played through ME from the first game. How can he played through all of them if he doesn't even own ME1 and ME2? Because he is a bioware employee, he is here to making excuse for their poor ending and try to rally some support. Therefore, it is really no need for us to respond his non-sense. Keep this top cold.

My Bioware account is fiddly, but I have played all 3. I just registered the 3rd game to my frofile here yesterday, and have mostly posted in the DA/DA2 forums.

I'm not an employee and I'd love to know what I've posted that you think is nonsense.

[demin8891]

K1llm1n1on wrote...

tjc2 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

demin8891 wrote...

Summary for those who don't want to read this massive wall of text: Artistic integrity.

I'm glad you liked it, OP. I really am. I'm just incapable of accepting mediocrity and plot holes the size of the Collector Base.

What specifically are your referring to when you say mediocrity? What plot holes do you see?

Look just because you post a "Wall of Text" doesn't mean people are going to take their time to rewrite the millions of posts showing the problems with the endings. Go through this board and each of the holes will be explained to you in hundreds of ways:mellow:

Listen, if people want to take issue with my wall of text they could be real about it and explain what they mean, not just take pot shots because they disagree with me but don't have the patience or clarity of thought to back it up.

If you don't care enough about your viewpoint to defend it, why say anything at all?

Because if you had taken twenty seconds to use the search feature instead of ask people to give you an answer that's right under your nose, you would understand. I'm not going to explain anything to you when much more eloquent people than I have already done so hundreds of times.