119 réponses à ce sujet

[chemiclord]

I'd argue that ME1 and ME2 really had all that many different "endings."

If you want to parse it down the way fans are parsing down ME3, the first game really boiled down to, "save the council or let them die". ME2 was "destroy or purge the Collector base."

If you're going to oversimply ME3, then you need to oversimplify the first two to make a fair comparison.

[CARL_DF90]

Hey, OP. To properly answer your question watch these vids and read this thread and they should give you a clearer picture as to why. The vids are both entertaining and informative.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/11435886/1





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT_x64921ls

[Icinix]

chemiclord wrote...

I'd argue that ME1 and ME2 really had all that many different "endings."

If you want to parse it down the way fans are parsing down ME3, the first game really boiled down to, "save the council or let them die". ME2 was "destroy or purge the Collector base."

If you're going to oversimply ME3, then you need to oversimplify the first two to make a fair comparison.

You're only arguing about the number of choices the end game boiled down too, ME1 and ME2 finished with 2 choices, but those two choices could lead to different dialogue with different people that varied depending on choices in the lead up to the ending, in one case Sheaprd may not have even been present.

ME3 ended with 3 choices that all led to a slight variation in a non voiced, non-audioed cinematic template.

[Volc19]

RECON64BIT7 wrote...

Icinix wrote...

RECON64BIT7 wrote...

Icinix wrote...

RECON64BIT7 wrote...

I think the problem is that many of you don't consider Shepard transcendent and beyond anyone in universe. At first hand I thought the ending was mediocre until after the credits where they showed the stargazing scene. The planet they were on probably Earth but not revealed, the scene's place in the ME timeline was uncertain. However, Shepard became a legend and his story is being told to the younger generations, that says to me all we did throughout the series wasn't for nothing. The ME series ended with Shepard as the ultimate hero and that's the important thing.

this is where my biggest issue with the ending is.

That everything we did led to the same point that everyone else did.


I don't care so much about the stupid play out of the ending. Or the stupid choices. Or their stupid implementation.

But the complete disregard for the whole of Earth ignoring everything we had done prior killed it for me.

Where were my Elcor canons? Where were my Krogan Armies? Where were my Geth Squadrons straffing the enemy? Where were my Quarian engineers? Where was my Biotic Artillery?

That is why the ending failed for me.

When I got the same ending as the other 3 million players in spite of 3 million different playthrough's - that killed it.

I agree, there should of been more shown of your ultimate army composition but, you can't honestly expect your ending to be different from millions of other players who can make the same decisions as you. The ME series never did have drastically different endings, and I'm pretty sure ME3 had the most endings of the series.

Me1 ended very differently based on your choices in the final moments. Me2 ended very different based on your choices in the last half an hour (it even had a Shepard died ending complete with dialogue and cutscenes and everything).

ME3 has the least variation in the end game of all the Mass Effect games. Considering how much variation there was in major choices through ME3 as well - the way the ending was handled in regard to choices was a failure. I can handle a dumb ending, I can't handle a disregard for what the previous two games and the rest of ME3 did so well.

ME3 did have more endings but they were not much different from each other and the major reason for this is because it's so short. Hopefully whatever planned DLC will rectify this.

Well, to say that ME3 actually had 'different endings' in it's current state is barely even a correct statement. It's three shades of the same cutscene. The colorblind only get one ending.

[PHub88]

- The star child makes absolutely no sense and is literally the complete opposite of everything I have come to know Bioware for. Every SINGLE thing about this kid makes no sense and is stupid.

-The Starchild created the Reapers? Okay, absolutely zero elaboration on what should be one of the biggest plot points of the entire series...Shepard doesn't even have the ability to question him about it.

- The Reapers are synthetic life which were created to kill organic life so that organic life wouldn't create other synthetic life that would always rebel against them and kill them? WHAT? Could that be a more ridiculous concept? Especially when Shepard HIMSELF not even 5 seconds ago witnessed himself the end of the Geth and Quarian hostility. Thats why its so easy for me t obuy into the IT theory. That whole thing is so STUPID that I simply cannot accept it as real. This isn't some random bigot in a bar on Omega saying some random thing. This is the most important point of the entire series flat out contradicting another MAJOR point of the series. How do I listen to this idiot Starchild when he is so clearly WRONG in his assertions about synthetic life? We hav PROVED hes wrong.

-Every single aspect of the ending sucked and im too lazy to elaborate on stuff everyone already knows about. I feel it was put very well by Angry Joe when he said "its as if an entire different team wrote the ending". It was so awful and foreign that it didn't even feel like Mass Effect and I didn't realize how much I hated it until 30 minutes later when I processed what actually happened and realized the game was over and the ending actually was that god awful. I was totally numb until I started realizing what had happened. I didn't realize Shepard died at first, OR that the relays blew up. I simply couldnt believe it.

-Maybe im alone in this but I almost feel like my discovery of the terrible ending was unique to most peoples and maybe even worse than most. Being a fan of my favorite games I tend to avoid ALL information about their story before beating them...and in this day it seems that if you want to do that you need to just look up NOTHING about the games online because its too eas to stumble upon spoilers. Well considering I took my time beating ME3 it took me about 3 weeks. By that time obviously MANY people had already beaten it. Seeing as how the uproar about the ending was so severe that even being a person who avoids all information. Even I was aware that people seemed to have a major problem with the ending as it was buzzing all over the net. Heres where I feel like I was uniquely screwed. The news didn't bother me at all...I had absolutely NO COMPLAINTS about ME3 like I had with ME2. I loved EVERYTHING about it and felt it was the perfect game. Everything until the end that is. I truly felt I would be an exception and that I would enjoy the endings none the less. My god was in for a suprise when I realized my War Assets meant JACK SHYT...that the ending was really that bad.....It was SO BAD that I didn't even PROCESS what had happened until later...that alone speaks for itself.


I could be here all night going on but I don't want to because everyone already knows this stuff. I have never seen such a wide consensus before on hating the ending of this game.

Im done with Bioware if this isn't fixed. I was annoyed with Dragon Age 2....but this has just outright turned me off. No point investing in these characters and these stories if in the end its all for nothing.

[DanielsMind]

I.....don't know

[Icinix]

DanielsMind wrote...

I.....don't know

Maybe.

[CARL_DF90]

In that case the links I supplied in my previous post will be most useful for more than just to answer the OPs question.

[Mcfly616]

chemiclord wrote...

I'd argue that ME1 and ME2 really had all that many different "endings."

If you want to parse it down the way fans are parsing down ME3, the first game really boiled down to, "save the council or let them die". ME2 was "destroy or purge the Collector base."

If you're going to oversimply ME3, then you need to oversimplify the first two to make a fair comparison.

Except....in ME2 our decisions decided the fate of all 12 squadmates.....oh....and they showed on screen whether they lived or died.....no "speculations"......whereas in ME3 we have to use our imagination and make up an ending in our head.....because the current ending, isnt even an ending......its the most anticlimactic conclusion(or lack there of) I've ever witnessed in videogames

[chemiclord]

Icinix wrote...

chemiclord wrote...

I'd argue that ME1 and ME2 really had all that many different "endings."

If you want to parse it down the way fans are parsing down ME3, the first game really boiled down to, "save the council or let them die". ME2 was "destroy or purge the Collector base."

If you're going to oversimply ME3, then you need to oversimplify the first two to make a fair comparison.

You're only arguing about the number of choices the end game boiled down too, ME1 and ME2 finished with 2 choices, but those two choices could lead to different dialogue with different people that varied depending on choices in the lead up to the ending, in one case Sheaprd may not have even been present.

ME3 ended with 3 choices that all led to a slight variation in a non voiced, non-audioed cinematic template.

Depending on your EMS, you either have scorched earth where no one survives, all the way to (relatively) minor damage to earth.  Those are technically different end results... just because you don't like how they're presented doesn't mean they don't happen.

The point wasn't that ME3's endings were good... it's the stacked deck fans like to use by simplifying ME3's ending to "Red, Blue and Green" yet conveniently not doing the same to the other endings of the series.

Believe me, ME3's ending can stink to high heaven completely on it's own merits straight up.  You don't need to cheat.

Modifié par chemiclord, 04 juin 2012 - 04:33 .

[Icinix]

chemiclord wrote...

Icinix wrote...

chemiclord wrote...

I'd argue that ME1 and ME2 really had all that many different "endings."

If you want to parse it down the way fans are parsing down ME3, the first game really boiled down to, "save the council or let them die". ME2 was "destroy or purge the Collector base."

If you're going to oversimply ME3, then you need to oversimplify the first two to make a fair comparison.

You're only arguing about the number of choices the end game boiled down too, ME1 and ME2 finished with 2 choices, but those two choices could lead to different dialogue with different people that varied depending on choices in the lead up to the ending, in one case Sheaprd may not have even been present.

ME3 ended with 3 choices that all led to a slight variation in a non voiced, non-audioed cinematic template.

Depending on your EMS, you either have scorched earth where no one survives, all the way to (relatively) minor damage to earth.  Those are technically different end results... just because you don't like how their presented doesn't mean they don't happen.

The point wasn't that ME3's endings were good... it's the stacked deck fans like to use by simplifying ME3's ending to "Red, Blue and Green" yet conveniently not doing the same to the other endings of the series.

Because there wasn't 'technical' differences in the endings. The play out of the ending was actually different.

The endings of both ME1 and ME2 were literred with dialogue choices and variations on cinematics based on what you were doing. ME3 did not have those.

A technical difference on a few moments of cutscene is much, much lesser than a collection of dialogue based on your choices. Watching Shepard fall from the Normandy is vastly different to watching Shepard tell TIM to go blow himself. Nothing technical about it.

[PHub88]

Mcfly616 wrote...

chemiclord wrote...

I'd argue that ME1 and ME2 really had all that many different "endings."

If you want to parse it down the way fans are parsing down ME3, the first game really boiled down to, "save the council or let them die". ME2 was "destroy or purge the Collector base."

If you're going to oversimply ME3, then you need to oversimplify the first two to make a fair comparison.

Except....in ME2 our decisions decided the fate of all 12 squadmates.....oh....and they showed on screen whether they lived or died.....no "speculations"......whereas in ME3 we have to use our imagination and make up an ending in our head.....because the current ending, isnt even an ending......its the most anticlimactic conclusion(or lack there of) I've ever witnessed in videogames

Not to mention how they always gave that excuse during ME2s time about how difficult it is to make multiple routes because of peoples choices and I get that to an extent yeah its tough. Then went on to say since ME3 is the final one that they will be able to make a much wider variety of ending paths because they don't have to worry about continuing things. Nice to see they used that freedom to actually makes things MORE linear than ever before and completely suck on top of that.

[CDRSkyShepard]

Because I sat there after the ending cutscene and said, "That blows," and turned off the TV.

After I finished both ME1 and ME2, I jumped out of my chair, pumped my fist, yelled "F*** YEAH!" and proceeded to start another PT.

[chemiclord]

PHub88 wrote...

Not to mention how they always gave that excuse during ME2s time about how difficult it is to make multiple routes because of peoples choices and I get that to an extent yeah its tough. Then went on to say since ME3 is the final one that they will be able to make a much wider variety of ending paths because they don't have to worry about continuing things. Nice to see they used that freedom to actually makes things MORE linear than ever before and completely suck on top of that.

First of all, it's not an excuse, it's a fact.  The more branches you put into a story, the number of potential options increases exponentially.  That CAN get VERY difficult when you only have so much data you can put onto a disc.

As for the last bit; I have a more than sneaking suspicion that when Bioware's developers started talking about the last game of the series, EA's bosses said, "No you aren't either," and pretty much insisted on narrowing the plot enough that continuing within the universe was possible... while of course not allowing Bioware to retract their initial statements because it would reflect badly on EA's brass.

[Greed1914]

PHub88 wrote...

Mcfly616 wrote...

chemiclord wrote...

I'd argue that ME1 and ME2 really had all that many different "endings."

If you want to parse it down the way fans are parsing down ME3, the first game really boiled down to, "save the council or let them die". ME2 was "destroy or purge the Collector base."

If you're going to oversimply ME3, then you need to oversimplify the first two to make a fair comparison.

Except....in ME2 our decisions decided the fate of all 12 squadmates.....oh....and they showed on screen whether they lived or died.....no "speculations"......whereas in ME3 we have to use our imagination and make up an ending in our head.....because the current ending, isnt even an ending......its the most anticlimactic conclusion(or lack there of) I've ever witnessed in videogames

Not to mention how they always gave that excuse during ME2s time about how difficult it is to make multiple routes because of peoples choices and I get that to an extent yeah its tough. Then went on to say since ME3 is the final one that they will be able to make a much wider variety of ending paths because they don't have to worry about continuing things. Nice to see they used that freedom to actually makes things MORE linear than ever before and completely suck on top of that.

Exactly.  This came up time and again whe the subject of a lack of large repurcussions in ME2 came up.  It was always that they had to keep the outcomes manageable for the sake of carrying them over in ME3 without making it impossible, but they also said that since ME3 was the end they didn't have to worry about that and could pull out the stops.  Given that, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to apply the reasoning given then to now.  Why did everything we did result in one video that is slightly tweaked and called different? 

In short, you can't defer forever.  When you buy yourself some leeway with promises of future payoff, don't be surprised when people expect you to follow through when your time is up. 

chemiclord wrote...

PHub88 wrote...

Not to
mention how they always gave that excuse during ME2s time about how
difficult it is to make multiple routes because of peoples choices and I
get that to an extent yeah its tough. Then went on to say since ME3 is
the final one that they will be able to make a much wider variety of
ending paths because they don't have to worry about continuing things.
Nice to see they used that freedom to actually makes things MORE linear
than ever before and completely suck on top of that.

First
of all, it's not an excuse, it's a fact.  The more branches you put
into a story, the number of potential options increases exponentially.
 That CAN get VERY difficult when you only have so much data you can put
onto a disc.

As for the last bit; I have a more than sneaking
suspicion that when Bioware's developers started talking about the last
game of the series, EA's bosses said, "No you aren't either," and pretty
much insisted on narrowing the plot enough that continuing within the
universe was possible... while of course not allowing Bioware to retract
their initial statements because it would reflect badly on EA's brass.

Yes, a fact that was mitigated by the promise of future payoff.  You could get the same "options" for the ending without playing the other games. 

And even if EA decided that it had to be reigned in for future games, that doesn't really excuse what Bioware had said.  Neither Bioware nor EA is innocent in this.

Modifié par Greed1914, 04 juin 2012 - 05:22 .

[Mcfly616]

They took the entire decision tree thats been branching out over 3 whole games.....and chopped it down to one ending with different lights....


People that started with ME3 can get the same exact ending as me and the rest of the people that have been here since ME1......its a crock of ****

Bioware = Sell Outs

[PHub88]

chemiclord wrote...

PHub88 wrote...

Not to mention how they always gave that excuse during ME2s time about how difficult it is to make multiple routes because of peoples choices and I get that to an extent yeah its tough. Then went on to say since ME3 is the final one that they will be able to make a much wider variety of ending paths because they don't have to worry about continuing things. Nice to see they used that freedom to actually makes things MORE linear than ever before and completely suck on top of that.

First of all, it's not an excuse, it's a fact.  The more branches you put into a story, the number of potential options increases exponentially.  That CAN get VERY difficult when you only have so much data you can put onto a disc.

As for the last bit; I have a more than sneaking suspicion that when Bioware's developers started talking about the last game of the series, EA's bosses said, "No you aren't either," and pretty much insisted on narrowing the plot enough that continuing within the universe was possible... while of course not allowing Bioware to retract their initial statements because it would reflect badly on EA's brass.

When a main selling point of a game fails to deliver time and time again they deserve to be called on it. Don't tell us about choices mattering when ultimately they won't. I said I agreed it was tough what didnt yo uget about that?

As for the ending being the way it is to continue the series. I see a lot of that around here and don't buy it because I don't see how the awful linear ending would help continue the franchise especially when this is supposed to be the end of Shepards story and even if they somehow had plans to make a ME4 with Shepard, he dies in most endings so that also makes no sense. How does all the relays being destroyed help the future of ME? Besides if this is the end of Shepards story and he dies in most endings...how is giving good detailed endings going to affect their options for future ME games? There is no reason the endings needed to suck other than DLC or IT or something. It appearing this wont be the case only makes things look worse.

[chemiclord]

PHub88 wrote...

When a main selling point of a game fails to deliver time and time again they deserve to be called on it. Don't tell us about choices mattering when ultimately they won't. I said I agreed it was tough what didnt yo uget about that?

As for the ending being the way it is to continue the series. I see a lot of that around here and don't buy it because I don't see how the awful linear ending would help continue the franchise especially when this is supposed to be the end of Shepards story and even if they somehow had plans to make a ME4 with Shepard, he dies in most endings so that also makes no sense. How does all the relays being destroyed help the future of ME? Besides if this is the end of Shepards story and he dies in most endings...how is giving good detailed endings going to affect their options for future ME games? There is no reason the endings needed to suck other than DLC or IT or something. It appearing this wont be the case only makes things look worse.

And exactly where did it fail "time and time again", exactly?

You want to tell me that ME3 didn't live up to its promises?  Fine.  There's one example.  You'd be right.  But if Bioware has failed to live up to your expectations "time and time again," why the hell do you keep buying their games?  How many promises outside of ME3 have they "broken?"

And you don't HAVE to buy my theory.  It's just a theory.  But it would (to me) explain why the game that had been branching out quite considerably by the end of ME2 really starts to narrow itself down rather harshly once Priority: Earth hits.  The entire thing is a disjointed mess... kinda like they started putting together an entirely different final mission and endgame at the last minute.

I only suspect that it was because EA brass, "Don't you DARE end the series here when we can still milk money out of it."  I couldn't tell you if its true, but it would certainly fit EA's modus operandi.  Never stop what you can squeeze for a few more quarters.

[Reptilian Rob]

Icinix wrote...

DanielsMind wrote...

I.....don't know

Maybe.

So Bioware was right after all?

[Greed1914]

Reptilian Rob wrote...

Icinix wrote...

DanielsMind wrote...

I.....don't know

Maybe.

So Bioware was right after all?

That made me laugh way more than it should have.

[PHub88]

chemiclord wrote...

PHub88 wrote...

When a main selling point of a game fails to deliver time and time again they deserve to be called on it. Don't tell us about choices mattering when ultimately they won't. I said I agreed it was tough what didnt yo uget about that?

As for the ending being the way it is to continue the series. I see a lot of that around here and don't buy it because I don't see how the awful linear ending would help continue the franchise especially when this is supposed to be the end of Shepards story and even if they somehow had plans to make a ME4 with Shepard, he dies in most endings so that also makes no sense. How does all the relays being destroyed help the future of ME? Besides if this is the end of Shepards story and he dies in most endings...how is giving good detailed endings going to affect their options for future ME games? There is no reason the endings needed to suck other than DLC or IT or something. It appearing this wont be the case only makes things look worse.

And exactly where did it fail "time and time again", exactly?

You want to tell me that ME3 didn't live up to its promises?  Fine.  There's one example.  You'd be right.  But if Bioware has failed to live up to your expectations "time and time again," why the hell do you keep buying their games?  How many promises outside of ME3 have they "broken?"

And you don't HAVE to buy my theory.  It's just a theory.  But it would (to me) explain why the game that had been branching out quite considerably by the end of ME2 really starts to narrow itself down rather harshly once Priority: Earth hits.  The entire thing is a disjointed mess... kinda like they started putting together an entirely different final mission and endgame at the last minute.

I only suspect that it was because EA brass, "Don't you DARE end the series here when we can still milk money out of it."  I couldn't tell you if its true, but it would certainly fit EA's modus operandi.  Never stop what you can squeeze for a few more quarters.

They said our choices from ME1 would matter in ME2...they didnt. They said our choices from ME2 would matter in ME3...they didnt. They said we would get many endings and would not get an A B C ending...we didnt get many endings and we got exactly what they claimed they wouldnt do. Why do I keep buying their games? Quit trying so hard to make it sound like im assaulting the games. I am talking about a single aspect of the series that they never delievered on aside from the attrocious ending of ME3.  I am hating on the ending of ME3, not the ME series. Discussing choices in the series is very valid when discussing the ending because obviously the thing we wanted most was to see what our choices do and we didn't get that even when promised that we would by a developer we trust. Read my original post. I LOVED Mass Effect 3. But the ending....was...so...horrible...that it posses the power to suck all the will out of me to enjoy ME3 again or any of the other games. Sadly for me and many others nothing matters when that awful freaking abomination of CRAP of an ending is in this series. Which is heavily tied around choices not mattering. 

[thefallen2far]

Because the game was so pretentious and was so badly written, the greatest enjoyment most people get from it is making fun of it.  The greatest speculation I heard was "Is the reason the endings were so bad more because  EA cut their budget or gave them a horrible time constraint."  It is awesome how bad the endings were.  Prior to the ending, I really couldn't imagine it would be possible for them to completely stain the franchise.... and yet, they did.  There are some people that like the endings.... there are more that acknowledge it and say "that was pretty bad" and leave it at that.  The majority of the fans are either "write a new ending" or "I believe the ending was a dream".  That's how bad the endings were.  I'm sure there's going to be more "explaination" of what their intent was with the ending, but they are still just.... bad.

I know their intent.  I know what they were going for, they just flat out failed at it.  They wanted drama, there was no drama.  They wanted thought provoking, it just wasn't that good.

There are many posts that break down why they failed on a literary level, an artistic level and an intellectual level.  But the biggest problem is that they weren't entertaining.  One of the biggest complaint is "all the endings were the same and they were all bad, we were hoping for more diverse endings."

The reason for the desire for "diverse" endings was because the ones presented were bad.  If they had one good ending, no one would ever play the other 3.  I'm not saying "happy" ending, I'm saying a well written ending.  You take out any good ending and you end up with "well, that was a waste of time."  It's dumbfounding how they didn't see that as a possible reaction to writing 3 completely crappy endings.

The reason for the 3 dumb endings is because someone thought that filtering all the endings through Star Jar would help everyone appreciate the situation better.  What the effect is, kind like cholestral buildup that stops all the momentum and funnels it through a widely hated scene and explaination that underminds all that came before and all endings are just expanded versions of the same "oh my god, that is ridiculous."  All because of that horrible expaination of the Reapers as being nonsensical religious fanatics with infinately flawed logic, these endings are always going to be remembered as "the bad endings".  Whoever came up with that idea, I'm sure, is very proud of that idea, but it literally, undermined everything all the other writers built and makes this game $30 on the rack 3 months after its release.

Modifié par thefallen2far, 04 juin 2012 - 06:47 .

[chemiclord]

PHub88 wrote...

Read my original post. I LOVED Mass Effect 3. But the ending....was...so...horrible...that it posses the power to suck all the will out of me to enjoy ME3 again or any of the other games. Sadly for me and many others nothing matters when that awful freaking abomination of CRAP of an ending is in this series. Which is heavily tied around choices not mattering. 

Ya know what, I actually respect you.  You're are at least honest with yourself about what is really bothering you.  If more people would be willing to admit that the only thing they're REALLY all that pissed about is the ending, there could be a lot more rational discussion about this issue.

I lash out at a lot of the ranting because it's painfully transparent that they're just bitter about the ending and letting a cloud of vinegar fall on everything else.  I wish I understood what drives people to behave that way... but it is what it is.

Let's be honest here, the "choices mattering" is secondary.  The "A, B, and C" bit is secondary.  I doubt even a significant minority of fans would be all that irate about ANY of those "broken promises" if the ending itself made some semblance of sense and wasn't the literary equivalent of a partial birth abortion.  

If the execution of ME3 had been up to par with the first two... how many people would have been all that upset?  If it had played out in a way similar to ME2, how many people would have cared that the choice was "Red, Green, or Blue?"  If it had maintained the illusion of choice (because really, that's all this entire series has been), would people have cared it was an illusion?  Would they have even noticed?

I doubt it.

[CDRSkyShepard]

chemiclord wrote...

PHub88 wrote...

Read my original post. I LOVED Mass Effect 3. But the ending....was...so...horrible...that it posses the power to suck all the will out of me to enjoy ME3 again or any of the other games. Sadly for me and many others nothing matters when that awful freaking abomination of CRAP of an ending is in this series. Which is heavily tied around choices not mattering. 

Ya know what, I actually respect you.  You're are at least honest with yourself about what is really bothering you.  If more people would be willing to admit that the only thing they're REALLY all that pissed about is the ending, there could be a lot more rational discussion about this issue.

I lash out at a lot of the ranting because it's painfully transparent that they're just bitter about the ending and letting a cloud of vinegar fall on everything else.  I wish I understood what drives people to behave that way... but it is what it is.

Let's be honest here, the "choices mattering" is secondary.  The "A, B, and C" bit is secondary.  I doubt even a significant minority of fans would be all that irate about ANY of those "broken promises" if the ending itself made some semblance of sense and wasn't the literary equivalent of a partial birth abortion.  

If the execution of ME3 had been up to par with the first two... how many people would have been all that upset?  If it had played out in a way similar to ME2, how many people would have cared that the choice was "Red, Green, or Blue?"  If it had maintained the illusion of choice (because really, that's all this entire series has been), would people have cared it was an illusion?  Would they have even noticed?

I doubt it.

I still would have been pretty disappointed if they kept the ABC ending stuff. I was expecting more than that from this game. I was expecting it to be my favorite of the trilogy, beating out ME2. It had the potential to be that.

Personally, the game for me was partially ruined at Mars. The Crucible was the DEM, BDO, MacGuffin piece of crap that I honestly expected wouldn't be in the game. I figured this team of writers was more creative and capable than that. (No, I don't care about what other DEMs were used in other sci-fi series, that doesn't make it okay.)

IMO, ME3 was by far the weakest game of the trilogy. It had some of my favorite moments in the trilogy, but the game overall was weak in comparison to its predecessors. For the grand finale, that's pretty lame, you've got to admit. It was a good game, but not a great game. It wasn't the game it could have and should have been. No point in moping about it now, though, what's done is done.

[PHub88]

chemiclord wrote...

PHub88 wrote...

Read my original post. I LOVED Mass Effect 3. But the ending....was...so...horrible...that it posses the power to suck all the will out of me to enjoy ME3 again or any of the other games. Sadly for me and many others nothing matters when that awful freaking abomination of CRAP of an ending is in this series. Which is heavily tied around choices not mattering. 

Ya know what, I actually respect you.  You're are at least honest with yourself about what is really bothering you.  If more people would be willing to admit that the only thing they're REALLY all that pissed about is the ending, there could be a lot more rational discussion about this issue.

I lash out at a lot of the ranting because it's painfully transparent that they're just bitter about the ending and letting a cloud of vinegar fall on everything else.  I wish I understood what drives people to behave that way... but it is what it is.

Let's be honest here, the "choices mattering" is secondary.  The "A, B, and C" bit is secondary.  I doubt even a significant minority of fans would be all that irate about ANY of those "broken promises" if the ending itself made some semblance of sense and wasn't the literary equivalent of a partial birth abortion.  

If the execution of ME3 had been up to par with the first two... how many people would have been all that upset?  If it had played out in a way similar to ME2, how many people would have cared that the choice was "Red, Green, or Blue?"  If it had maintained the illusion of choice (because really, that's all this entire series has been), would people have cared it was an illusion?  Would they have even noticed?

I doubt it.

Your right I could have lived with it if it was somewhat like ME2 where even though there wasnt a whole lot of choice it at least didnt suck beyond all reason and logic to where a persons mind puts up a defense mechanism of believing its a dream. If IT isn't true...Im gonna pretend it is anywa and call it quits. Thats how much I hate that ending. Thinking about that ending as someone who can honestly say they are a flat out Mass Effect fan...is about the same as seeing yoru favorite sports team make it into the finals and lose with one game left. That ending feels like a loss...I dont feel like we won I feel like we lost.

Had what you described happened. There would be a semi outlash but not nearly as big of one as now...complaining about not having the choices they think they should have had. As long as I had a REASONABLE ending in which I don't die,relays don't blow up, and Reapers destroyed while EDI and Geth safe I would have been satisfied with that. But not this....this...OOHHHH lets be risskkaayy and pull a stupid twist no one likes. IDC if %90 of the fleet was destroyed...as long as I could have those things I would have been fine with that.

I also didn't appreciate the giant troll which was war assets. Thats the 2nd thing which basically is still tied to the ending but deserves an honorable mention as total BS. I think everyone(who i have talked to) expected a suicide mission style mini game aspect where you had to make choices with them...as well as cutscenes of things...Jack and her students fighting...Wrex leading a battle...IDK Kasumi stealth sneaking and nutshotting a Marauder Shields...ANYTHING TO SHOW the things I have done, the people I recruited. Things like that which where so obvious that should have been put in the game to make the ending BEYOND epic...not put in...on top of the horrible ending. My god its like they went OUT OF THEIR WAY to make the ending suck. The formula for an all out epic amazing ending was right there in everyones face...and they...chose NOT to do it.

Which is why I still have hope about IT...although know all to well with this modern gaming thing that the ending actually did suc kthat bad and thats all there is to it.