4048 réponses à ce sujet

[CmdrSkinner]

Quick feedback from me;

Personally, I liked what the EC has added to the endings, my biggest problem with the original was how little was explained, it all felt rushed and like not a lot of care had gone into any of it. I tried all four endings and each now has certain aspects I like about it, but at a cost - the "bittersweet" emotional response BW had in mind? There's enough left to make you "speculate" about repercussions of your actions on the ME universe depending how you interpret each ending, which I also like.

It still isn't exactly how I would have 'chosen' the trilogy to end, and I'd be lying if I said I said I didn't want that "Shepard happy ever after with LI and entire galaxy saved" option (I'd really like to have that), but the EC has really improved the conclusion of a fantastic series, probably my favourite to date!

I'd like to see future SP DLC have an impact on the endings, have your choices in that influence the outcome, perhaps altering available options? I certainly wouldn't mind paying for such a DLC.

Modifié par CmdrSkinner, 07 juillet 2012 - 11:31 .

[Fionn Marr]

Actually I liked this ending the best:



Even if it was from a different game. Maybe the ME writers just played far to much Deus Ex when putting the script through development...

[BlueStorm83]

KiganMatsuei wrote...

ElionD wrote...

The more I play the extended cut DLC the more I love it. Thank you very much Bioware for this. You're back to your roots.

Happy that you like it so much. As to the "back to your roots" comment...

Not really. Not at all. Their roots run much deeper into quality storytelling than this EC offers. This is a half-made bandaid that makes things a little better, but still leaves way too many holes and problems.

Such as: We still don't have the faintest idea WHY the Catalyst looks identical to that dead human kid. Among all the Catalyst's flawed explanations, its appearance is the thing that makes the least amount of sense.

Yet they felt that wasn't worth addressing. Just as they felt we deserved a big "F you" for the reject ending by having it throw away everything we worked for and kill everyone. 

They also made the Catalyst say that no more would be lost than already had been if we chose Destroy, yet the Geth and EDI still die.

And of course, the big one that we STILL don't have the opportunity for a happy ending for Shepard. A breath in some random rubble = uncertainty. But apparently it is too much to ask for the chance to work hard and have Shepard reunite with LI and Normandy crew.

And they throw it all behind those two words we are all sick to death of hearing - artistic integrity.

Which presently translates to both a lack of integrity and a possible hatred for Shepard.

This is NOT Bioware's roots. Not by a long shot.

---  While not BioWare's roots, at the very least we can tell that they tried.  They at the bare minimum understand the concept of "Unhappy Customers = unsold product" and they tried.

I have to admit that just like the ****ty situation we're stuck in at the end of the game, BioWare is stuck in the ****ty situation of not wanting to open themselves up to liability to false advertising claims, not wanting to lose customers, not being able to totally overhaul the ending due to the 2 GB download limit, not wanting to look like they've got no creative control over what's their product, not wanting to admit that they screwed up out of pride, and not wanting to add an ending choice that's actually a good one because it would make that ending be the REAL ending, and all the previous endings would never be picked again because they're ****, predicated on **** logic from a **** machine.

It's ironic and sad that BioWare wanted to give us a difficult choice that could only result in a half-victory, and that's exactly where they are now.  They truly have no way out that will give them a perfect ending.

[BlueStorm83]

freeakura wrote...

ME 3 ending *fresh* perspective
 
I just finished ME 3 for the first time, the DLC ending was loaded so my experience is not clouded by the original finale. I chosen the Rejection ending, for the simple fact that each alternative choice presented horrid compromise.
In Control ending Shepherd loses humanity, loses himself, he sacrifices himself at the cost of his own peril.
The Synthesis sounded superficially nice, until you realized that what is unique and interesting in each species, in each person is their complexity of their individuality.
In Destroy ending you would sacrifice synthetic that are conscience and self aware. Legion’s question was so poignant “Does he have a soul?” or is he worth it? On the par with organics.
 
All of the choices except the rejection ending represent horrid moral compromise for the Sheppard destroying his honorable character or himself.
 
 

I feel exactly the same.  I ran through all the endings, and while they all present some kind of "victory" after the fact, they're all predicated on choices that violate the sanctity not only of the vague terms of "life" and "freedom" but of FRIENDS.  In Synthesis, you force friends to be cybernetically augmented, without asking for their consent.  In Control, you make friends accept Reapers, who have killed their families (Joker's sister, Garrus' father, horrible pointless shill Chobot's colony  Javik's ENTIRE GALAXY SPANNING RACE,) as their new friends.  And in Destroy, you pretty much have to stick a knife into the heart of one of your best friends by murdering the woman he loves, who also sees you as a kind of father figure, and possibly even have to commit genocide against an entire race who your own actions had a direct input into the creation of.

Refusal is the only thing that my Shepard could choose in the first place, but then as soon as it's over my friends and allies are all dead, and for what?  For the freedom of some unknown future race.  Refusal is like giving me 51% of what I wanted, and I have no choice but to sign and say "at least I got the majority of what I wanted."

[BlueStorm83]

*Cut out, because it wasn't important enough*

Modifié par BlueStorm83, 07 juillet 2012 - 01:05 .

[He4vyMet4l]

This is still a terrible terrible end to an otherwise epic story, and I really can't think of something worse.

And one thing really stood out for me out of all the extra scenes. It is the one from Destro,I believe, where the LI hangs the shepard plate on the memorial wall. Seriously now, Commander Shepard? No first name? Admiral Anderson has his name there, why not the full name I chose for my shepard? That one cheapened the game even more for me. Not only do I get toyed with by a god who leaves me no real choice, not only did it made everything I did throughout the games meaningless, and now I don't even get to see my name on the wall?

ME is, for me, the most meaningless experience I have ever experienced.

[Redbelle]

Wait...... You mean Commander wasn't his first name? I thought the name we put in was his middle name........

That's it I'm naming my forst born commander! I don't care how much he get's teased in the playground.

[The Twilight God]

I want to first point out that I installed ME3 the day after the Extended Cut was released. Beenholding on the to my CE for a while as I wanted to start fresh form ME1 and I was playing chapters of SWTOR between games. I have, however, after beating the game went on Youtube and watched the original release endings just to see what all the fuss was about. What I witnessed was pretty messed up and downright nonsensical. The endings are still flawed, but before they were beyond excuses.

How exactly was Bioware not surprised by the backlash?

The mass relays exploded. The Arrival DLC tells us that mass relays blowing up destroys star systems. Ergo, every star system with a mass relay is gone. Earth is destroyed, Thessia is destroyed, Kur'kesh is destroyed, Palaven is destroyed, Tuchanka, Rannoch, Irune, Dekuuna, Kahje and many many other worlds and presumably many many other races (many we've never heard of), all destroyed. Only the destroy ending would show an existing area to refute this, but then you've contradicted your own established lore.

Somehow the Normandy, whose thrusters clearly explode and break off in the middle of FTL travel, somehow survives... only to be marooned on a unknown world. Tali and Garrus presumably starve to death unless the planet is too their curality. In which case everyone else starves to death after some very violent diarrhea. Since there are no mass relays they are stuck on that world, or at the least, that star cluster. The end.

So 5 years, 3 games, 100s of hours and Shepard kills 99.999% of unknown galaxy's denizens. And your crew gets to live a hard life of hunting and gathering until none are left but Liara. Should I speculate that she'll commit suicide at that point vs spending the next 700-800 years alone if no EDI? Assuming EDI's blue box doesn't break down due to lack of maintence materials. In the non-destroy endings I guess Liara would live along enough to be rescued in a hundred years or so. Horrible ending based on what I'd just seen to speculate on. And that would be the "good" ending? How is there even room for a bad one? What exactly did the fans not get? What else exactly were they supposed to take from the original? It boggles my mind that Bioware actually wrote that, everyone in the office agreed it was good and it made it pass testing or whatever.

Now, on to the EC endings. I have a few comments about those endings.

1. Harbinger ignores the Normandy. I've seen people bring this up. This IS odd, but understandable considering. I understand why that part is there and there really is no way to do it within the confines of that scenario. I romanced Tali and brought her to the last mission. I think someone must have been peeling onions cause my eyes got alittle watery. Nice addition.

2. The Catalyst.
Shepard never gets to debate him or question his assertions. He just mindlessly nodes and accepts whatever this thing says. Sure, you added some questions, but the answers are stupid and again shepard doesn't argue against the Catalyst's by bringing up EDI or the geth as flying in the face of his assertion that synthetics will kill organics "just because".

This is the thing that is responsible for perpetrating the carnage going on around him for the past 37+ million years. Why would Shepard risk believing the voice of the Reapers? Look at the new suggestions that the reapers give:

A. Grab hold of some live electrical cables (and die)
B. Jump into a laser beam (and die)

If shepard picks A or B and the Catalyst is lying Shepard dies and the cycle continues. Then the reapers laugh at him for being so stupid as to suicide himself on the word of the freaking reaper overlord. In this respect, A and B make no since. The blind trust is unreasonable. A, especially as why is their even a means to achieve that result built into the Citadel in the first place? And why didn't the Catalyst just play space police, like Space God Shepard does, when he/she takes control? Was killing trillions a better option than just policing them? How so??? The pure space sorecery of synthesis (as wacky as it is) is what it is. It's pretty silly, but whatever. I could understand if Shepard lived in this ending, was "synthesized" himself and it was passed on like a virus to other organics. In this scenario the children of organics would become the hybrids from birth. So the crew and friends would still be normal humans, but unknown faces not in the presense of known ME characters (save maybe small children) in epilogue could be hybrids. And be inferred to be pictures depicting future generations. Still a bit magical in terms of science, but not straight up Narnia magical.

If the head of the reapers is up in the citadel all along what was the point of ME1? Why was the Catalyst unable to start the super relay and bring the Reaper fleets in? You'd have thought Soveriegn would have just gave the Catalyst a call and said, "Yo, keepers be buggin. Can you fire up the Citadel, boss?". And if the Catalyst is not connected in that way (you'd think a 37+ million year old a super intelligent AI would have thought to get that upgrade by now. I know EDI would) how did the reapers even take the Citadel in the first place? If they could simply just up take it at any time why did Soveriegn need Saren to open the arms from the inside? So a reaper fleet rolls in and they council didn't just close the arms like they did with Soveriegn and the geth armada? Again, everything in ME1 makes no sense now.

For Destroy and Synthesis, how does that weapon know exactly who is synthetic and what is simply a machine? Wouldn't it have to take out or "oganicate" every piece of technology in the galaxy indescriminately? A geth, for instsance, is physically a piece of machinery just like the Normandy, a hover car, personal omnitool or a coffee maker. The body is just hardware, right? Don't the reapers have specific markers for a more precise "detonation"? Every ship in the Allied fleet would have to be disabled as well... or turned into living starships.


3. The mass relays damaged to the point of being non-functional. Why is this part necessary? I just don't get why you bothered to put this in anything save a low EMS fail ending.

OK, so let's say they fix the Sol relay. The Arcturus Relay is still broken so it would have nowhere to connect too. And wouldn't it take like... I don't know, a decade or two to get a repair team there to fix it? And that's just one mass relay connection restored. This is especially a problem with the Destroy ending as there are no reapers left to help in repairs (I asusme their FTL is much faster than ours). And considering none of the council races know how to make mass relays this endeavor would first envolve lengthy research. Considering Sol system has no infrastructure or lab facilities I don't see this occuring realistically. Or did I miss the part where they figured out mass relay tech via the conduit from ME1?

The way I see it everyone is still going to be cut off. How did Wrex and Grunt make it back to Tuchanka? Or Samara and Rila to Thessia? Pretty sure grunt would have fully developed plates by the time a route to Tuchanka was established. But I guess the devs just hand waved it. Or maybe it was a hundred years later? Whatever.


4. What is the point of the Normady crew landing on that jungle world? And why are they completely off the beaten path while the rest of the fleet was still together? I means there is only 1 mass relay out of Sol. If the Crucible blast is FTFTL how did they even reach the relay in time to get to another star system and how did they reach a garden world considering the Sol Relay only goes to Arcturus, a red giant system with one dead planet? It had one mercury type planet, right? To say they crashed is alittle erroneous in itself as there is no trail of downed trees behind the Normandy. Looks like it landed normally. I can ignore that. But... what is the point of that even occuring? The memorial board scene could occur in Earth's orbit or on Earth. *shrug*

5. The breath scene for Destroy. OK, the Control and Synthesis have Shepard die. And the galaxy is at peace either enforced thru the galactic reaper patrol or thru utopia where everyone is super smart, immortal(?), reapers teach at universities and pick flowers with children. With all the epilogue stuff the story is wrapped up rather you like the totality of the ending or not. Since Shepard is alive at the end you kind of left the Destroy ending up in the air. The thing about hope and imagination is that it's not concrete. I thought it was the writters job to complete the story. Heck, how about the game just fade to black and roll credits after Anderson dies so we can imagine the rest ourselves? Shepard activates it and reapers die, right? Casey Hudson could say they reunited and then in 3 weeks say, "Nah, we changed our minds." They never meet up again because, well... the mass relays were, in fact, fubar." Because nothing is concrete.

As was mentioned before, the Normandy on that unknown world seems pointless. Not sure what you were going for there. If they were in orbit you could have the LI going to put the name plate up and then have Chakwas grab their arm to stop them. Then she says something (no audio necessary) before holding her omni-tool up playing a holo message from Hackett. Everyone gathers around and the LI (or best bud) smiles. Show the Normandy lifting up and taking off. Then the rubble scene appears and it gets to Shepard's chest, he does his breath and you have a voice saying, "We've found Commander Shepard.. Alive". Cut to credits. No need for a hug and kiss reunion scene with the crew, but at that point it's more than "implied hope" I'd think. People will have to use their imaginations as far as the house on Rannoch, blue babies, human babies, adopted turian war orphans, etc. but they will know shepard was found and a reunion did, in fact, occur. I think there was enough heartache and loss throughout the game to warranty an ending on a definitively good note.

It's been a good ride, alot of emotional investment for alot of fans thru great character writting and I just feel Shepard (now a gaming icon)deserved better treatment in the Destroy ending. I would suggest no jungle planet landing and/or no destroyed relays for high EMS Destroy ending. Because with relays intact it is irrelevant if they are in another system. All you'd really have to add is the Chakwas part at the memorial ceremony and the random search and rescue guy's voice saying Shepard was found alive. Not saying I would mind more pictures popping up while credits are rolling. You know, pictures of an akward biotic b**ch mother changing diapers, blues babies, a house being built on rannoch, spilling drinks at the Citadel, etc., but that isn't necessary.

I fully understand that you wouldn't want to change the endings completely (although I have some ideas on that without cutting the Catalyst to make it more sensical I won't go into them as it would require rewriting/adding some dialog). But these suggestions simply require 3 things: 1.) a change to one quick relay cinematic, 2.) a short scene with ingame graphics and 3.) a small bit of voiced dialog that anyone in your staff could voice (no need to go hiring a voice actor). It could be optional addition and it would probably make alot of fans happy. Just sayin.

[BlueStorm83]

Redbelle wrote...

Wait...... You mean Commander wasn't his first name? I thought the name we put in was his middle name........

That's it I'm naming my forst born commander! I don't care how much he get's teased in the playground.

It always bugged the **** out of me that everyone called me Shepard.  I mean, friends, commanding officers, random people in the street, fine, the news calls me Commander Shepard, my rank is Commander Shepard, and Garrus can call me by mylast name, we're buds.

But even my LI?  I mean, in reality, if I'm gonna **** a girl, she's gonna know my FIRST NAME.

[marcelo_sdk]

I just finished the game, with the EC, with my "main" Shepard. I'm glad that BW gave us the option that i wanted from the beggining: to refuse all the Catalyst's "solutions". But I really didn't like that this option means the defeat of our cycle.

I think that was the opportunity of BW to give a really true meaning to EMS. It would become a true key factor to the succes of the war.

But despite that, I think the EC really improved the ending of the game. If it's not the ideal ending, the ones we imagined, at least they're not bad ones, like the originals.

[BlueStorm83]

--- To The Twilight God, responses to your numbered points.

1: Yeah, an emotional moment, but still nonsensical. Again they seemed to want to go for emotional payoff, rather than something that makes sense in the story.

2: Shepard can debate the Catalyst. Very briefly. And then everyone dies. This still sucks ass. The Catalyst is 100% of what's wrong with Mass Effect 3. Everything that blows stems from him, and if we remove him and the consequences of his being there, everything will be fixed. I'm hoping to God that some fan community mods Mass Effect 3, removes him entirely, and includes some new, actually good endings that make sense given what we know.

3: The only reason they have this in there is because they swore up and down that they gave us the endings they wanted, but we "didn't understand" them. If they removed the COMPLETELY ****ty idea of the broken relays, that would be admitting that their endings were total horse ****.

4: Same as before. We called them on a ****ty, bull**** ending, and they scrambled to try and make it look like we just didn't understand... even though it makes a bit less sense now, even though mechanically it isn't "broken."

5: Mac Walters and Casey Hudson blocked the rest of the writing team out of the end of the game, and made it themselves. There was no fact checking, no quality control, and no peer review. They put their own idea of what THE theme of Mass Effect was out there, they wrote up an ending that looks, sounds, reads, and PLAYS like an unaltered first draft, and then when fans called them on it, they made the rest of the writers scramble to do damage control. Forget that their assumed theme from the game is barely, BARELY 5% of the game's entire message menu. AND that the theme that it was, we already wrapped up on Rannoch, when we proved that it's possible that Machine and Man can co-exist, two different life forms working together and accepting their differences.

[3DandBeyond]

Voodoo2015 wrote...

I say only one thing. Why a child? Ok two thing. And why a child who followed Shepard throughout ME3?

One part of the major flaw of the whole thing.  The child was a thoroughly unnecessary component-inserted at least initially to give Shepard that "face" of who s/he is fighting for.  But, Shepard always had that-and the player always had that.  The player in many ways always fought for Shepard.  Shepard in turn never needed prompting as to who the fight was for-the faces were always there.  Garrus and all the rest.  The attack on Earth even was an attempt to personalize it for Shepard, but that wasn't needed.  Shepard saw the big picture and didn't tend to play favorites.  But, using the kid that Shepard shows far more feeling for than a lot of the rest and then using Earth as some rallying cry is so artificial.

The nightmares would have been so much more powerful for me if the kid hadn't been in them.  The voices of the fallen, sounds of reapers, screams, the shadowy figures, that was enough.  The kid again was there to put a face on it.  Ugh.

Then at the end, the use of the kid's image is one thing that really seems to cause a lot of people to underestimate the value of who he supposedly represents.  It is also partly their way of trying to tie it all together-kid in the beginning and at the end.  But, the star kid is a totally new "individual" with no real ties to the human kid.  He more appropriately should have looked like a reaper or TIM, but apparently the catalyst read Shepard's mind and could pull this image from it to use to "trick" Shepard (and it seems it can only be to trick), but the catalyst can't pull out other thoughts, like the resolution of the geth/quarian conflict.

[3DandBeyond]

The Twilight God wrote...

I want to first point out that I installed ME3 the day after the Extended Cut was released. Beenholding on the to my CE for a while as I wanted to start fresh form ME1 and I was playing chapters of SWTOR between games. I have, however, after beating the game went on Youtube and watched the original release endings just to see what all the fuss was about. What I witnessed was pretty messed up and downright nonsensical. The endings are still flawed, but before they were beyond excuses.

How exactly was Bioware not surprised by the backlash?

The mass relays exploded. The Arrival DLC tells us that mass relays blowing up destroys star systems. Ergo, every star system with a mass relay is gone. Earth is destroyed, Thessia is destroyed, Kur'kesh is destroyed, Palaven is destroyed, Tuchanka, Rannoch, Irune, Dekuuna, Kahje and many many other worlds and presumably many many other races (many we've never heard of), all destroyed. Only the destroy ending would show an existing area to refute this, but then you've contradicted your own established lore.

Somehow the Normandy, whose thrusters clearly explode and break off in the middle of FTL travel, somehow survives... only to be marooned on a unknown world. Tali and Garrus presumably starve to death unless the planet is too their curality. In which case everyone else starves to death after some very violent diarrhea. Since there are no mass relays they are stuck on that world, or at the least, that star cluster. The end.

So 5 years, 3 games, 100s of hours and Shepard kills 99.999% of unknown galaxy's denizens. And your crew gets to live a hard life of hunting and gathering until none are left but Liara. Should I speculate that she'll commit suicide at that point vs spending the next 700-800 years alone if no EDI? Assuming EDI's blue box doesn't break down due to lack of maintence materials. In the non-destroy endings I guess Liara would live along enough to be rescued in a hundred years or so. Horrible ending based on what I'd just seen to speculate on. And that would be the "good" ending? How is there even room for a bad one? What exactly did the fans not get? What else exactly were they supposed to take from the original? It boggles my mind that Bioware actually wrote that, everyone in the office agreed it was good and it made it pass testing or whatever.

Now, on to the EC endings. I have a few comments about those endings.

1. Harbinger ignores the Normandy. I've seen people bring this up. This IS odd, but understandable considering. I understand why that part is there and there really is no way to do it within the confines of that scenario. I romanced Tali and brought her to the last mission. I think someone must have been peeling onions cause my eyes got alittle watery. Nice addition.

2. The Catalyst.
Shepard never gets to debate him or question his assertions. He just mindlessly nodes and accepts whatever this thing says. Sure, you added some questions, but the answers are stupid and again shepard doesn't argue against the Catalyst's by bringing up EDI or the geth as flying in the face of his assertion that synthetics will kill organics "just because".

This is the thing that is responsible for perpetrating the carnage going on around him for the past 37+ million years. Why would Shepard risk believing the voice of the Reapers? Look at the new suggestions that the reapers give:

A. Grab hold of some live electrical cables (and die)
B. Jump into a laser beam (and die)

If shepard picks A or B and the Catalyst is lying Shepard dies and the cycle continues. Then the reapers laugh at him for being so stupid as to suicide himself on the word of the freaking reaper overlord. In this respect, A and B make no since. The blind trust is unreasonable. A, especially as why is their even a means to achieve that result built into the Citadel in the first place? And why didn't the Catalyst just play space police, like Space God Shepard does, when he/she takes control? Was killing trillions a better option than just policing them? How so??? The pure space sorecery of synthesis (as wacky as it is) is what it is. It's pretty silly, but whatever. I could understand if Shepard lived in this ending, was "synthesized" himself and it was passed on like a virus to other organics. In this scenario the children of organics would become the hybrids from birth. So the crew and friends would still be normal humans, but unknown faces not in the presense of known ME characters (save maybe small children) in epilogue could be hybrids. And be inferred to be pictures depicting future generations. Still a bit magical in terms of science, but not straight up Narnia magical.

If the head of the reapers is up in the citadel all along what was the point of ME1? Why was the Catalyst unable to start the super relay and bring the Reaper fleets in? You'd have thought Soveriegn would have just gave the Catalyst a call and said, "Yo, keepers be buggin. Can you fire up the Citadel, boss?". And if the Catalyst is not connected in that way (you'd think a 37+ million year old a super intelligent AI would have thought to get that upgrade by now. I know EDI would) how did the reapers even take the Citadel in the first place? If they could simply just up take it at any time why did Soveriegn need Saren to open the arms from the inside? So a reaper fleet rolls in and they council didn't just close the arms like they did with Soveriegn and the geth armada? Again, everything in ME1 makes no sense now.

For Destroy and Synthesis, how does that weapon know exactly who is synthetic and what is simply a machine? Wouldn't it have to take out or "oganicate" every piece of technology in the galaxy indescriminately? A geth, for instsance, is physically a piece of machinery just like the Normandy, a hover car, personal omnitool or a coffee maker. The body is just hardware, right? Don't the reapers have specific markers for a more precise "detonation"? Every ship in the Allied fleet would have to be disabled as well... or turned into living starships.


3. The mass relays damaged to the point of being non-functional. Why is this part necessary? I just don't get why you bothered to put this in anything save a low EMS fail ending.

OK, so let's say they fix the Sol relay. The Arcturus Relay is still broken so it would have nowhere to connect too. And wouldn't it take like... I don't know, a decade or two to get a repair team there to fix it? And that's just one mass relay connection restored. This is especially a problem with the Destroy ending as there are no reapers left to help in repairs (I asusme their FTL is much faster than ours). And considering none of the council races know how to make mass relays this endeavor would first envolve lengthy research. Considering Sol system has no infrastructure or lab facilities I don't see this occuring realistically. Or did I miss the part where they figured out mass relay tech via the conduit from ME1?

The way I see it everyone is still going to be cut off. How did Wrex and Grunt make it back to Tuchanka? Or Samara and Rila to Thessia? Pretty sure grunt would have fully developed plates by the time a route to Tuchanka was established. But I guess the devs just hand waved it. Or maybe it was a hundred years later? Whatever.


4. What is the point of the Normady crew landing on that jungle world? And why are they completely off the beaten path while the rest of the fleet was still together? I means there is only 1 mass relay out of Sol. If the Crucible blast is FTFTL how did they even reach the relay in time to get to another star system and how did they reach a garden world considering the Sol Relay only goes to Arcturus, a red giant system with one dead planet? It had one mercury type planet, right? To say they crashed is alittle erroneous in itself as there is no trail of downed trees behind the Normandy. Looks like it landed normally. I can ignore that. But... what is the point of that even occuring? The memorial board scene could occur in Earth's orbit or on Earth. *shrug*

5. The breath scene for Destroy. OK, the Control and Synthesis have Shepard die. And the galaxy is at peace either enforced thru the galactic reaper patrol or thru utopia where everyone is super smart, immortal(?), reapers teach at universities and pick flowers with children. With all the epilogue stuff the story is wrapped up rather you like the totality of the ending or not. Since Shepard is alive at the end you kind of left the Destroy ending up in the air. The thing about hope and imagination is that it's not concrete. I thought it was the writters job to complete the story. Heck, how about the game just fade to black and roll credits after Anderson dies so we can imagine the rest ourselves? Shepard activates it and reapers die, right? Casey Hudson could say they reunited and then in 3 weeks say, "Nah, we changed our minds." They never meet up again because, well... the mass relays were, in fact, fubar." Because nothing is concrete.

As was mentioned before, the Normandy on that unknown world seems pointless. Not sure what you were going for there. If they were in orbit you could have the LI going to put the name plate up and then have Chakwas grab their arm to stop them. Then she says something (no audio necessary) before holding her omni-tool up playing a holo message from Hackett. Everyone gathers around and the LI (or best bud) smiles. Show the Normandy lifting up and taking off. Then the rubble scene appears and it gets to Shepard's chest, he does his breath and you have a voice saying, "We've found Commander Shepard.. Alive". Cut to credits. No need for a hug and kiss reunion scene with the crew, but at that point it's more than "implied hope" I'd think. People will have to use their imaginations as far as the house on Rannoch, blue babies, human babies, adopted turian war orphans, etc. but they will know shepard was found and a reunion did, in fact, occur. I think there was enough heartache and loss throughout the game to warranty an ending on a definitively good note.

It's been a good ride, alot of emotional investment for alot of fans thru great character writting and I just feel Shepard (now a gaming icon)deserved better treatment in the Destroy ending. I would suggest no jungle planet landing and/or no destroyed relays for high EMS Destroy ending. Because with relays intact it is irrelevant if they are in another system. All you'd really have to add is the Chakwas part at the memorial ceremony and the random search and rescue guy's voice saying Shepard was found alive. Not saying I would mind more pictures popping up while credits are rolling. You know, pictures of an akward biotic b**ch mother changing diapers, blues babies, a house being built on rannoch, spilling drinks at the Citadel, etc., but that isn't necessary.

I fully understand that you wouldn't want to change the endings completely (although I have some ideas on that without cutting the Catalyst to make it more sensical I won't go into them as it would require rewriting/adding some dialog). But these suggestions simply require 3 things: 1.) a change to one quick relay cinematic, 2.) a short scene with ingame graphics and 3.) a small bit of voiced dialog that anyone in your staff could voice (no need to go hiring a voice actor). It could be optional addition and it would probably make alot of fans happy. Just sayin.

I am quoting this in its entirety because it simply says everything.

I fully understand that the EC was what it was because of what it was based on, but you build a house on quicksand then you better damn well make sure it's worth it on at least some level.  The EC perfects the ending that was by making it perfectly insane now.  Yes, it looks way cooler, but it is still built on a shaky foundation.

What is generally said about the EC echoes what was generally said by those that like the original endings.  For the original, most pro comments were that it was ok and could be better.  Those were ringing endorsements.  For the EC, most people are not looking at it in the same light because the original ending was seen in comparison to the whole ME series.  The EC is a lot more fortunate, because it mostly gets compared to the original ending only and a blank screen would have been better than the original.  The ringing endorsements for the EC are based on that-the most often used phrase speaking for the EC is that it is better than the original but still not what people wanted for an ending for ME.  It's acceptable.  It better explains things (things we'd already head canoned because in the EC the writers used a lot of what we said to a point).  This also indicates that they didn't know what they were going for with the original ending-fans wrote the explanation of it for them. 

To be fair, there are people that think the EC is fantastic, but they really need to look and see if it fits ME1, 2, and even 3's lore, and it doesn't in so many ways.  Don't just compare it to the awful ending that was, compare it to the story-the complete story and it's still broken.  It just looks and sounds cooler and that's ok for a game where the story doesn't matter.  But it's not ok for a game that puts the player so fully into the story.  I have yet to see anyone that likes the EC say how completely it addressed and fit with the ME story with evidence to back that up.  But, this above expose by The Twilight God fairly completely outlines just how it does not fit.

[3DandBeyond]

BlueStorm83 wrote...

--- To The Twilight God, responses to your numbered points.

1: Yeah, an emotional moment, but still nonsensical. Again they seemed to want to go for emotional payoff, rather than something that makes sense in the story.

2: Shepard can debate the Catalyst. Very briefly. And then everyone dies. This still sucks ass. The Catalyst is 100% of what's wrong with Mass Effect 3. Everything that blows stems from him, and if we remove him and the consequences of his being there, everything will be fixed. I'm hoping to God that some fan community mods Mass Effect 3, removes him entirely, and includes some new, actually good endings that make sense given what we know.

3: The only reason they have this in there is because they swore up and down that they gave us the endings they wanted, but we "didn't understand" them. If they removed the COMPLETELY ****ty idea of the broken relays, that would be admitting that their endings were total horse ****.

4: Same as before. We called them on a ****ty, bull**** ending, and they scrambled to try and make it look like we just didn't understand... even though it makes a bit less sense now, even though mechanically it isn't "broken."

5: Mac Walters and Casey Hudson blocked the rest of the writing team out of the end of the game, and made it themselves. There was no fact checking, no quality control, and no peer review. They put their own idea of what THE theme of Mass Effect was out there, they wrote up an ending that looks, sounds, reads, and PLAYS like an unaltered first draft, and then when fans called them on it, they made the rest of the writers scramble to do damage control. Forget that their assumed theme from the game is barely, BARELY 5% of the game's entire message menu. AND that the theme that it was, we already wrapped up on Rannoch, when we proved that it's possible that Machine and Man can co-exist, two different life forms working together and accepting their differences.

Of course, most of the issues with the ending stem from number 2 on the list, the star kid, I think it's really important to understand just how badly he damages the story.

The reapers were these awesome nightmarish huge monsters that seemed unbeatable.  Cool.  They also appeared to be intellgent, conversive, and looked upon people as mere ants.  The geth heretics saw them as gods and Saren says "their god was insulted."  Sovereign dismisses the intelligence of people by saying the reapers are unknowable.  Super cool.  People are to be destroyed with little concern that they might not want to be destroyed.  No explanation, no justification, and certainly no excuses from Sovereign-he will do what he wants to do without permission and with no need to say why.  He simply does not care.  And he doesn't want to form any kind of relationship with people.  Saren misguidedly thinks such a thing is possible, because Saren is indoctrinated, but even before that, because Saren cannot conceive that there are beings that cannot be "bought off" or manipulated.  The reapers are untouchable, unknowable, and disinterested in talking at length with beings they are happy to destroy.  The ball was dropped in that after ME1, Sovereign could not be used (not enough there) in order to find out some clues about the reapers.  It would have been great to see people start to get some idea, even if they still thought it was the geth or Saren, that tech that they were using was similar to Sovereign's tech.

As well it even might have worked if the reapers just had this internal need for advanced organic's intelligent energy and if scientists along with Mordin had begun to understand some of this.  That was reason enough for why they did what they did.  It also would have left open further exploration and even understanding of other events through ME3 DLC to explain other codex entries-the Leviathans, the planet Joab, and others like Klendagon (possibly the earliest known existence of reaper involvement if explored), and Klencory.  Leaving open a lot of major questions about their existence and purpose could have led to some awesome DLC.  That doesn't mean not creating an ending for ME3 as is.

What the current ending does is it neuters the reapers.  They become idiot robots in space.  The kid offers a lot of different reasons for why they do what they do and says they have intelligence which he is the "avatar" for, but then compares them to a brainless cleansing fire.  Pick one please.  Either they are operating on remote control or they have brains (intelligence) of some sort.  Either they are individual nations (as Sovereign said) or they are one hive mind controlled by the star kid.  Either they intend and know they are causing pain and are destroying people (as Sovereign and Harbinger say) or they have no concept of that stuff at all. 

The star kid comes off as not giving explanations for things, but excuses.  He's like a child caught hitting his little brother. 
Mother, "Why did you hit Timmy?" 
Starkid, "I didn't." 
Mother, "But I saw you hit Timmy." 
SK, "Well, I didn't hit him hard." 
Mother, "But Timmy's crying." 
SK, "Well, he asked for it." 
Mother, "Why what did he do?" 
SK, "He was fighting with Andy." 
Mother, "That doesn't give you the right to hit him." 
SK, "But he wouldn't stop it." 
Mother, "Still." 
SK, "It was an accident, anyway.  My hand slipped." 
Mother, "But I saw you get up and walk over and hit him." 
SK, "So, maybe next time he won't fight with Andy."
Mother, "What have I taught you about getting along?  And you're lying.  Your brother Andy gets along just fine with Timmy and they love to play together."
SK, "What do you mean?  I've never heard such a stupid idea before."
Mother, "Yes you have, we talked about that this morning."
SK, fingers in ears, "I can't hear you.  La la la la la."

Modifié par 3DandBeyond, 07 juillet 2012 - 07:17 .

[Murk Loar]

Lucrece wrote...

I've loved Mass Effect. Mass Effect 2 was an amazing experience, and *snip*

This is a great post and says everything that my tired old brain couldn't put into words.

[3DandBeyond]

alleyd wrote...

 My main problem with the EC (Too many to list actually) was the Reject option ensuring a total game failure. 

The 3 RGB options involve dealing with the devil and making huge sacrifice based on his word alone. A being who to all intent and purpose was insane. Regrdless of how many coats of paint or reams of text needed to explain any of these options they fail outright as credible themes for me. 

My solution would be a later high EMS refusal option.

• Shepard does the refusal speech and signals hackett to self detrcut the Crucible (Its illogical to believe that their wouldn't be some sort of kill switch built in as a safety precaution)
• Hackett orders the self destruct and tells the fleet to withdraw. Joker hears this and turns back to resce Shepard
• Crucible explodes taking out the Reaper central control, Cue mad and disorganised reapers. Fleets return and mop up Sol.

Earth is saved and can now be used as starting base for an extended campaign to free each system. Play this out as a string of multiple S/P Campaigns were you take each races home world back and free the galaxy from the Reapers.

I believe this would reconcile the themes (Hope, teamwork and defiant struggle against impossible odds)  that have been lost in the current EC ending.

• Provide an option for a sequel without the need for reconciling completely diverse story ends.
• Provide an additional revenue stream and satisfy demands for effective S/P DLC 

Those fans satisfied with their choice need not purchase the DLC. I believe this would identify those who truly believe the EC choices offer correct endings for the series as a whole.

This is one of the easiest ways to actually totally reconcile what we have got with what could be, keeping everything intact.  The stupidity of the star kid and the choices that exist could remain.  And some way of actually re-introducing the true antagonists of ME is created.  It also gives people something to work for in terms of DLC.  Having DLC that all leads to what already exists is counter-intuitive.  I don't want DLC that adds nothing to an ending.  But, taking a real fight world by world or system by system to the reapers is exactly what people wanted.  That chance to have a chance to fight against them and see them destroyed based upon what the player did. 

I often viewed the simple act of refusal as something that could lead to something like this (not exactly like it).  I could see the idea of refusing to make a choice as something inconceivable to the star kid-since his "logic" is flawed and he can't see that it is, refusing to choose based upon what he thinks is logical would be totally illogical and would or could be like inserting a virus into his AI code.  I could see where then this interruption or error could leave him vulnerable and an attack of some sort might work.  But it could have been that certain things (paragon or renegade for instance) could have opened up dialogue leading to the self-destruct rejection.

This idea of yours is great, Alleyd.

[Iakus]

BlueStorm83 wrote...

freeakura wrote...

ME 3 ending *fresh* perspective
 
I just finished ME 3 for the first time, the DLC ending was loaded so my experience is not clouded by the original finale. I chosen the Rejection ending, for the simple fact that each alternative choice presented horrid compromise.
In Control ending Shepherd loses humanity, loses himself, he sacrifices himself at the cost of his own peril.
The Synthesis sounded superficially nice, until you realized that what is unique and interesting in each species, in each person is their complexity of their individuality.
In Destroy ending you would sacrifice synthetic that are conscience and self aware. Legion’s question was so poignant “Does he have a soul?” or is he worth it? On the par with organics.
 
All of the choices except the rejection ending represent horrid moral compromise for the Sheppard destroying his honorable character or himself.
 
 

I feel exactly the same.  I ran through all the endings, and while they all present some kind of "victory" after the fact, they're all predicated on choices that violate the sanctity not only of the vague terms of "life" and "freedom" but of FRIENDS.  In Synthesis, you force friends to be cybernetically augmented, without asking for their consent.  In Control, you make friends accept Reapers, who have killed their families (Joker's sister, Garrus' father, horrible pointless shill Chobot's colony  Javik's ENTIRE GALAXY SPANNING RACE,) as their new friends.  And in Destroy, you pretty much have to stick a knife into the heart of one of your best friends by murdering the woman he loves, who also sees you as a kind of father figure, and possibly even have to commit genocide against an entire race who your own actions had a direct input into the creation of.

Refusal is the only thing that my Shepard could choose in the first place, but then as soon as it's over my friends and allies are all dead, and for what?  For the freedom of some unknown future race.  Refusal is like giving me 51% of what I wanted, and I have no choice but to sign and say "at least I got the majority of what I wanted."

Nicely put.

They focused so much on making each ending "imperfect" soemhow that none of the endings are really worth it anymore.  There's no sense of victory or accomplishment in any of them.  Only betrayal.  In the end, Destroy is what I feel I "have" to pick, because it offends me least.

[wright1978]

Well before my hols i played through the entire game again and then experienced the EC.
On the good side.
- Refusal ending expanded upon
- Dialogue options added into catalyst convversation so i could quiz the evil little creature.
- Flashback sequence fixed to show LI


Ok
- The changes made to the Normandy flight and crash sequence
- The epilogue slides and voice over narrating. Some interesting slides that change with different choices and some expansion of consequences of different endings. Still think epilogues could have been better but i'll give them some leeway on them with one big exception.

On the bad side
- Where is the expanding of the Shep lives ending. I was very worried playing that it had been removed but bitterly disappointed they had that nonsense with the memorial wall rather than having something like ome medics finding Shep in the rubble etc.

Ugly
- The squad teleportation fix. The Normandy landing and Harbinger calling a timeout on his bombardment so the Normandy could land and pick up the 2 squaddies, leaving Shep to go it alone.
Just comically terrible

[legion 21]

what if the indoctrination theory is real and the story dlc they make affects the real ending and when it's all over they will release the real ending?

[Thore2k10]

legion 21 wrote...

what if the indoctrination theory is real and the story dlc they make affects the real ending and when it's all over they will release the real ending?

hm, not a great fan of the indoc theory after thinking it through...

sure hope that a real ending will be released via dlc though..

[chevyguy87]

legion 21 wrote...

what if the indoctrination theory is real and the story dlc they make affects the real ending and when it's all over they will release the real ending?

In all honesty, I do not think there will be enough fans left to even care.

Anyway I have an idea and I wonder what you guys think of it. 

What if the Destroy ending and the Refusal ending were combined. I will explain....


We listen to Space Hitler plead his case, all the while telling him to go to hell and will not bend to his whim. Before the little glowy bastard pulls a Houdini, Shepard shoots the conduit thing and initiates the Reaper destruction sequence. We would then resume gameplay as we try to find an exit. Joker would radio in telling Shepard to hurry up so he/she can get picked up. After taking the magic elevator down Shepard grabs Anderson (who would be passed out not dead) and begin to make our way to an exit location. After narrowly escaping the beam going out, Shepard and Anderson make it to the Normandy.

Joker then tells EDI to gun it and they engage FTL and catch up with the rest of the fleet. During that, Shepard hands Joker a holodisk and tells him to upload it. EDI begins to short out and power down but Joker uploads the disk in time saving EDI and other synthetics from the beam of death. The beam goes out and kills all Reaper forces, leaving the Relays intact. Shepard drags Anderson to the medbay and collapses on the floor. The L.I would pick him/her up and place him/her on the gurney and Chawkwas or Michele would begin their work.

If EMS was at its maximum the next cutscene would show Anderson waking up in a hospital on Earth, he would reach for a cigar, and begin to light it, failing to do so Shepard would extend his/her hand out and the lighter would work properly. Shepard would then sit up and Anderson would pat his/her shoulder and say his you did good son/child I'm proud of you line. Shepard would smile and the two would look out the window to see a peaceful sunrise free from the Reaper threat. 

Then the cutscenes showing the other races rebuilding (and using materials from the dead reapers to do so) would play. Anderson would narrorate (taking Hackett's place). Scenes showing your squadmates would play as they start families, build homes, retire from military service and visit Shepard in the Hospital. The credits would then roll. Basically the Galaxy would be a much better place. None of this broken relays crap or "hybrid people".

As an added bit a special Epilogue scene would play after the credits a few years after the war ends, showing Shepard with his/her L.I playing with their children in the living room of their home. 

I think this would have been a good option to end the series with, waving it farewell on a happy note instead of a bittersweet/depressing one.

Just an idea I had.

[Muddtoad]

Dear Bioware,

I just watched one of your podcasts about how you read player feedback on this forum, so I'm going to give my thoughts about the Extended Cut DLC. I will set the groundwork by saying I am a HUGE Bioware fan, having loved the Baldur's Gate series, Dragon Age series, and Mass Effect series (my favorite). Unlike some other ridiculous fans out there protesting they will never play one of your games again because of the ME3 ending, I will always be playing your games. They simply are the best.

Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut: I am a writer myself and love to create stories of all kinds. Therefore I respect an artist’s vision. When I played the original ME3....I thought it was outstanding. I thought the ending was more lackluster than I imagined and I felt there was an insane amount of plot-holes, but overall I accepted the ending. I enjoyed the vision and path you set us on. I was not one that was complaining. However I was disappointed. I expected something bigger and better and in all honestly, for the first time ever, I didn't have the desire to play through the game again right away. The ending didn't justify going through the game again right away. Plotholes and confusion were abound and I struggled with it.

I began reading more and more summaries and fan reviews and started thinking all sorts of things. Was I robbed? Did Mass Effect 3 let me down? What was going on? Was this Indoctrination Theory real I kept hearing about? I didn't know.... then thankfully you announced the Extended Cut DLC coming. Thankfully it came fast thereafter.

Now to my comments. I appreciate the speedy time of the content. I also understand the limitations of file size for DLC content. I commend you and releasing more content to clarify some things. You did some great things but also didn't solve everything.

I'll delve right into my issues. I spent hours and hours (multiple playthroughs) building up civilizations and relationships for the final battle. I was disappointed that not a whole lot came of it. I liked the battle assets. That was great, but I wanted a little more than "reading up what people were doing." I wanted some epic cutscenes at the end. My biggest complaint? The Rachni. We had this great side story again with the Rachni and the Krogan in ME3, and if you save them again......they help build the crucible. Is that it? They don't help in the final battle? What about their ships? There is no mention of them in the "final epilogue," as well. We need more Rachni closure. I felt that was such a gigantic decision in the first ME1........and then we get no follow-up or closure at the end. I want to see an additional cutscene or two explaining what happens to them. I was also curious to see how the Vorcha and mercs help out at the end too. All in all, we need to see more closure on the battle assets other than a "percentage and description." That is an easy fix to release a few more cutscenes in a future DLC.

The Extended Cut thankfully explained the nasty plotholes I had the most problems with. No exploding relays, no mass starvation. Your crew evacs at the last second and the Normandy is commanded to fly to safe distance. They also aren't trapped on some random planet. Thank goodness. Great job explaining those plotholes. Also thank you for the "additional" content that the catalyst talks about in explaining things. I wasn't expecting that. It's good to see Shepard a little more "questioning of authority."

Now to the endings themselves. Thank you for expanding on them and making them different. I still feel they are too similar in that they all have a "happy" ending in some regard (besides the refusal ending). But regardless I'm happy they are a lot more different than before. My personal opinion? I feel they could some extra fleshing out to make them even more different. Perhaps the council does different things in each ending depending on whether or not they are all human or not? Maybe something is different if Wrex is leading the Krogan or not? The Rachni factor in somehow. I would just like to see more varying possibilities. You set it all up but didn't capitalize on these possibilities. I get that you are leaving things up to "interpretation," but sometimes explaining things does more. More variation and explanation to make this game truly great.

Lastly, the whole Indoctrination theory. I wasn't a believer. After watching a lot of "theories" and videos on it.....I can see it as a "possibility." It is very intriguing. In all honestly, I would think that ending would be the best. It's so mind-blowing. Unfortunately I don't feel that was intended. I understand you all not embracing this ending as it wasn't what you intended, however I do love the fact you left it as a "possibility" with Shepard surviving at the end. That's the biggest question mark in my mind. Shepard lives? That defies everything. It proves the catalyst lied. It leaves it widely open that the "ID theory" could be true. But if that theory was true.....why the ending epilogues on the other endings? It's all very confusing and I like that. I honestly think that cutting your losses and adopting the ID theory would make this game the best ever. It wouldn't compromise your artistic vision. It was you that "created this possibility," through the game. So of course you can claim any ending that may come from it. But that is up to you. Either way I will accept the ending but it's a matter of an "OK ending," and a "mind blowingly great ending." It's up to you how you want to leave your legacy. I personally don't buy the whole "must develop reapers so we can stop AI." I feel it's extremely weak. Given that, I want to buy into the ID theory. But that's just me. If the original three endings were made to vary even more than that tiny epilogue shows…..perhaps there would be no need to try and believe in the ID theory. We invest so much into three large games, that a minute or two of a montage doesn’t justify to keep playing through all of those games again….and that is a shame. It’s also hard to encourage new people to play when you know the end reward isn’t quite as worth it as you originally think. Expand that ending. Make it a priority.

Overall, great job on the Extended Cut. You'll get positive and harsh criticism either way, but that is to be expected. This release was a success; however it shouldn't be the end. My personal opinion is to keep going. Release additional content. Who says you can't sneak in additional "ending" scenes in those contents? Maybe in the next DLC, you add an ending scene about the Rachni? Maybe you add a few more scenes to the epilogues to make them more varied? There is no shame in that. In fact, it's an honorable thing to do....to keep improving your product. Why else would you release DLC? You proved by making the Extended Cut free, that it wasn't about money. Keep releasing DLC to add upon the things you left out. A few more DLC (and not just some random un-important stories than don't affect the ending) but some tie-in content that expand and improve upon the ending and final moments of the game......would please every fan. You don't need extra filler content at the start of the game. Keep adding it to the end. You'll make money and you'll please more fans, while gaining fans. You can't lose.

I will wait with anticipation for these next DLC releases. I sincerely hope you do not disappoint a long-time fan that has invested so much time and money into your company by not continuing to improve the ending. Thanks again for everything that you do Bioware. I will continue to support you as long as you continue to listen and support your fans. Keep making those great games and don’t stop.

[CycloneKnight]

I will preface this by saying that I normally don't post here on BSN, and I did not wade through the hundred-plus pages of posts on this topic, but I will add my two cents anyway.  First, the Extended Cut was a vast improvement over the original endings, but not truly satisfying.  The addition of the Refusal ending was a nice touch, but what I think is really missing is another ending entirely.  I remember watching a review on Youtube about Mass Effect 3, one that brought up the Mass Effect trilogy's core game mechanic:the dialogue wheel.  The dialogue wheel is the key to the trilogy; it's what makes the Mass Effect gaming experience... and we didn't really get that.

The ending I think we're missing (well, two, actually) is the one where Shepard simply convinces the Catalyst/Reapers to go away and give the galaxy a chance to prove them wrong, either through Charm or Intimidate.  It wouldn't be a complete, happy-go-lucky victory -- the Reapers would still be out there, after all, a looming threat ready to swoop in and start reaping again if we make the mistakes the Catalyst is convinced we will -- but it would give us a greater sense of hope for the future while also still allowing us to defy the Catalyst and Reapers, who we've been fighting for three games.

I think that's the only thing that upsets me about the endings that the Extended Cut didn't do anything to fix.  The Catalyst is the very embodiment of everything we've fought throughout the whole trilogy, and in the end, it can pretty much go "heads I win, tails you lose."

Modifié par CycloneKnight, 07 juillet 2012 - 09:49 .

[3DandBeyond]

iakus wrote...

BlueStorm83 wrote...

freeakura wrote...

ME 3 ending *fresh* perspective
 
I just finished ME 3 for the first time, the DLC ending was loaded so my experience is not clouded by the original finale. I chosen the Rejection ending, for the simple fact that each alternative choice presented horrid compromise.
In Control ending Shepherd loses humanity, loses himself, he sacrifices himself at the cost of his own peril.
The Synthesis sounded superficially nice, until you realized that what is unique and interesting in each species, in each person is their complexity of their individuality.
In Destroy ending you would sacrifice synthetic that are conscience and self aware. Legion’s question was so poignant “Does he have a soul?” or is he worth it? On the par with organics.
 
All of the choices except the rejection ending represent horrid moral compromise for the Sheppard destroying his honorable character or himself.
 
 

I feel exactly the same.  I ran through all the endings, and while they all present some kind of "victory" after the fact, they're all predicated on choices that violate the sanctity not only of the vague terms of "life" and "freedom" but of FRIENDS.  In Synthesis, you force friends to be cybernetically augmented, without asking for their consent.  In Control, you make friends accept Reapers, who have killed their families (Joker's sister, Garrus' father, horrible pointless shill Chobot's colony  Javik's ENTIRE GALAXY SPANNING RACE,) as their new friends.  And in Destroy, you pretty much have to stick a knife into the heart of one of your best friends by murdering the woman he loves, who also sees you as a kind of father figure, and possibly even have to commit genocide against an entire race who your own actions had a direct input into the creation of.

Refusal is the only thing that my Shepard could choose in the first place, but then as soon as it's over my friends and allies are all dead, and for what?  For the freedom of some unknown future race.  Refusal is like giving me 51% of what I wanted, and I have no choice but to sign and say "at least I got the majority of what I wanted."

Nicely put.

They focused so much on making each ending "imperfect" soemhow that none of the endings are really worth it anymore.  There's no sense of victory or accomplishment in any of them.  Only betrayal.  In the end, Destroy is what I feel I "have" to pick, because it offends me least.

Yes, nicely put Bluestorm. 

I totally want to select the shoot the kid reject, but I feel in doing so I add to the enjoyment of some BW dev somewhere who is raising his middle finger high.

Control and Synthesis are total non-options because what they both need Shepard to do and what they both say about the quality of the human soul and spirit is extremely insulting and demeaning.  They are in essence agreeing with the star kid's assessment of people as futile fated beings.  Destroy scars me.  EDI told my Shepard that Joker freed her, but she gave her life.  Legion had me shouting that his soul did exist and by extension so too did the souls of all the geth.  Joker's heart and soul were wrapped up in the Normandy and then in some essence of that brought to life in the person (the person) of EDI.  In killing her, I am killing him when he just found life as well.  But, it's the only choice I think I can make if I consider that any choice is real.  I can even consider that EDI and the geth have consented to it because EDI talks about dying for her teammates and that she is willing to do so.  The geth by fighting in the war have agreed to this as well, everyone fully knowing it's probably suicide.

However, any choice still rests on the kid's word and him telling the truth.  He's crazy, even more so this time.  The consoles where the choices are are on the Citadel, a part of the star kid.  The crucible (he says) is just a big energy beam.  So, nothing about this is able to be trusted.  The kid already did something to "trick" or force his creators into a reaper, so Shepard would wonder what any of these choices would actually do and think it could be a trick.

Shepard would choose refuse.  I as a player cannot pick it, and I know that destroy does destroy the reapers but the cost tears me up inside.  The ending for me as a player has no satisfactory conclusion.  And I think this is the most awful way to end a game, making choices outlined so well by Bluestorm83.