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[CptData]

Foreword

I had some time to think about the new Enhanced Content stuff and want to share my thoughts with you. I'm going to touch every ending and my impression of it (however, I won't go into details that much to keep it short, besides that, I only saw the "perfect" outcomes for all three endings, not the "less-than-ideal" outcomes with low EMS. I know the results for "Destruction" with low EMS, but that's it.

One more thing:
Guys, I just made it to the third night in a row without real sleep. The first two days I simply was ill and couldn't sleep (caughing all night and a stuffed nose). And the third night - well, the EC got released. 'though I saw the new content around 1 am, I stayed with you guys till 5am - and I had to get up at 7am. Needless to say I overslept and got up 8:30am, but doesn't matter ... *g*

So in case some stuff doesn't make sense - say thanks to lack of sleep.



Overall impression

In general I must say I'm impressed. If Bioware had to do most stuff from scratch, they did a hell of a work to get the EC DLC done within less than three months. If we saw what Bioware had in mind before running out of time (and after ditching the dark energy plot), I'm still impressed since they still had to do a lot of stuff from scratch.

Therefore I need to thank BW first before moving on with my little essay. Mostly, because they thanked us since without our uprising for better endings we wouldn't have gotten anything. We made EA moving (a nearly impossible task) to give BW more money to finish their product. I go that far and say, what we're seeing now is what BW had in their mind before getting forced to do a rush job caused by lack of time. As numerous ppl including myself said before: 8b]ME3 felt like a rush job in more than one field and the endings were just topping it.[/b]
I'm well aware the EC didn't fix all the issues we had and have with the third part of the series. It got released to enhance the old endings to something we can work with. The game still doesn't feel finished and may need additional patches to get fixed. Maybe they're getting realized as free patches or another free DLC. Or we need to pay for those bugfixes since they come as part of new content DLCs. Who knows.


For now, ME3 feels a bit more complete, thanks to the EC DLC. It's not perfect, but the best we may ever get. I doubt EA is going to spend any further money to improve our gaming experience in this field - so the sooner we accept the current state, the easier it gets. I'm looking at you, still-complaining-buddies ...

Next point in my essay is to go through all the endings with few words.



Control Ending


First: I didn't picked that ending (yet), I just saw the vids on Youtube.
In a way, it comes as the BEST ending. All you need is to sacrifice Shepard. But every other one will live. EDI will live. Geth will live. Reapers become allies and protectors of the galaxy. In a way it's a good ending. It -feels- a bit more shifted towards paragon since it allows everyone to continue to exist.

No need to do a full genocide.

No need to play God and render organics and synthetics into hybrids.

However, Shepard's speech gave me an uneasy, creepy vibe. All the talk about unlimited power and no one will dare to oppose him/her? I don't know. Maybe that speech varies with different levels of morality, but I doubt. Someone may confirm it, 'though. A paragon Shepard might never abuse this power, a renegade Shepard might do.


I can ignore Shepard's sacrifice, but can't ignore that uneasy vibe. For me, that ending may lead into another war one day. What if organics continue to fight over little things? Does Shepard pull the Reaper card and suppress that violence? It may work. It may give the species the uneasy feeling no longer being free to decide. And as bad as it sounds: going to war is part of freedom. It's its burden. But it's a risk you're willing to take to retain free will.

Basically, "Control" comes with the "Big Brother" feeling, just on a large scale level. And that might lead to a revolt against Shepard's Reapers, even if s/he has only good intentions.


One more thing: if you want to headcanon a reunion with Shepard and his/her LI, simply allow him/her to rebuild his/her body. The Reapers shouldn't have any issues with that to give their controlling entity an avatar to interact with the mortals. That body doesn't really hold Shepard's soul but acts more like EDI's body for EDI: 'though EDI still remains in the Normandy's blue box, she can interact through the body like someone does with his TV via remote control. EDI's body -is- EDI's avatar and it does not house her "soul". The Normandy does.

Same for Shepard's avatar. The Citadel houses his/her soul, the avatar is just the "remote control" to interact with the mortals.



Synthesis Ending


Again I must say: I didn't pick this ending. I saw the vid and that's it.

Let's put it this way: if you can overlook some ethical issues and logic holes and want a "perfect ending", this one works. No one dies - except Shepard. EDI and Joker can make love without breaking Joker in two. They all learn so much more. And it looks as if the organics retain their individuality. Good future?

I really would love to see it that way. However, I can't.
Synthesis comes with some issues I simply can't ignore. In short: BW tried too hard to make synthesis perfect.

Overcoming mortality?
Well, that's a big issue. If you can't die by natural causes anymore, life starts to bore you. Maybe it won't do for everyone, but for a lot of people. Also you start to value life less since ... well. It's given forever. Unless you kill yourself. Or your neighbor.
Not being able to die also stops evolution - which is the defining quality of organic AND synthetic life (AIs do "evolve" by "upgrading" themselves to better levels of sophistication).

Procreation and (nearly) endless lives?
Another biggie: if you can't die but still can reproduce yourself, what does stop you NOT doing it and running into overpopulation issues?
The resources of this galaxy, despite being abundant now, are limited in the long run. Sooner or later you'll run into overpopulation issues - on smaller scale, it happened to Krogans and Drell before, why should it be any different if ALL species are immortals now? Even one can still die but may live 10.000 of years, the reproduction rate is still to high. Ask the Krogans.

Knowing everything?
Got mentioned by EDI. I know: knowing everything worth knowing is tempting. REALLY tempting. I would die for it. But I know it's the same like being rich. As soon as you're rich, maybe to a level you never have to work again, even if you're buring money like there's no tomorrow, you get bored. You can afford everything. There's nothing making you work for something. You simply pull your Platinum Super XXL Credit Card and can buy a moon. Now you're owner of a planet. And it doesn't give you anything.
In short: you get bored.
If you know everything, there's no need to learn more. There's no progress, no next step. And that gets boring rather quickly. If there's nothing to research left, no next step to take, intellectual evolution stops. You could get your brain removed and replaced by a big chip with all knowledge of the world. Even with all experience. No need to learn anymore. No need to experience anymore. No need to LIVE anymore.

All three facts (alone or combined) may ultimately lead to war. That's even more likely since all species retain their individuality. Even if there's a greater consensus in the generic picture, the details are made by individuals. And some of those details can lead to ultimate destruction.


Sorry I had to deconstruct "Synthesis" this way. You don't have to follow my interpretation, no way. If yours tell you everything is going to be fine, that's okay. I just say - to myself - Synthesis doesn't work. Or BW tried too hard to make it perfect - resulting in a morality and logical mess.


One last thing: how to headcanon Shepard back to the living?
Basically, it's like with the Control ending, 'though more difficult. Shepard got absorbed entirely. His/her soul isn't stored in a new body and it didn't ascend to a higher level. It's gone. Really?

If you want to get him/her back, try to imagine Shepard's soul is now part of every being. It may be the big consensus that keeps all species together. Maybe it's powerful enough to condensate in one avatar being one day, the speaker of the consensus: Shepard.
Well, maybe than speaker needs an avatar?



Destruction Ending


My primary choice. Not the perfect ending, but if you value freedom and free will most, this one does the trick for you. Also I saw the BEST and the WORST Destruction Ending, 'though the later one just on Youtube.

In short: you need to sacrifice a lot. Shepard kinda promised it in "Arrival" in ME2: even if s/he had to sacrifice half of the galaxy, they won't stop fighting the Reapers.
EDI? Will die. Geth? They didn't show up in the epilogue, you can assume they died to.
Shepard? Lives only in the best version of this ending.
The Mass Relays are gone and without Reaper help, like in the other endings, it's going to take a while.

If you got the WORST Destruction Ending, you GOT the WORST of all in the game - well, except you picked the fourth option.
EDI, Geth, Shepard, the majority of mankind, the Mass Relays, all are gone. The united fleet got nearly destroyed. Bodycount is in the Trillions. Some survived, like Hackett, and they know they're going to rebuild the devastated galaxy. But it's now a real dark age.

If you got the BEST Destruction Ending, however, things don't look that dark.
The Mass Relays are damaged and can be repaired. All homeworlds survived the war. Even the Citadel can be rebuild. It may take decades, maybe centuries to repair all damage, but it's possible and a task requiring an united galaxy. There's no dark age awaiting for them anymore.
I'd say, if you dislike the other two endings and want to get rid of the Reapers, the BEST Destruction Ending comes in the most optimistic way you can imagine - quite the opposite to the WORST Destruction Ending.

Things that needs to be discussed:

Fate of the Geth:
I didn't see any trace of them in the epilogue but also didn't see them dying. So there's a chance Starchild was lying and the Geth are still around. Maybe damaged, but still alive. Well, I can interpret in that way, if I want.

Fate of EDI.
She died. Period. Her name appeared on the memorial board. That's the one and only sacrifice we witnessed in game. And even here you can use your imagination to get her back. I won't say you how since that means I would have to give away a central part of my planned fanfiction - but it's possible.

Fate of Shepard & LI
If Shepard survived that ending, s/he and his/her LI will reunite one day. Make up how. BW gave you the opportunity to do it - including marriage, blue / human children and whatever generates your Mass Effect fields.
Feel free to do it. Looking forward to read some fanfictions ...



Refusal Ending aka Trolling Bioware Ending


Well - it's more an easter egg than a full and valid ending. It's kinda "Game Over Deluxe" - and you can pick it. Technically, you have two choices: a peaceful refusal and a violent refusal option. Both lead to the same ending - the Reapers win in this cycle and the species in the next one may find a way to stop them.

In a way it's cruel fun. It's BW's way to tell us denying the given options is the worst option you can pick. Either you do, what Starchild says, or you fail. Easy as that.

However, in a way this "non-valid" ending IS valid too. It's the fourth choice a lot of people, including myself demanded. It's an option where Shepard decide to duke it out on conventional means, it's his/her free decision not presented by the Starchild. And although the united species tried, they ultimately failed.

Any other outcome would have felt like cheating on you. A super powerful race of ancient machines harvesting any advanced organic species every 50.000 years doing their job for more than a BILLION years get destroyed by conventional firepower and fleets?
No.
So that fourth choice MUST lead to destruction of the species of the current cycle. The Crucible IS needed.


I'm glad BW added those choices to show us ultimate defeat.



Community theory: Indoctrination Theory


Okay. I was a big supporter of that theory and may even have added a notch or two to the idea you used to know. As an early adopter of that idea, it was one of the few ways to make those awful original endings halfway bearable. It was fueled by the hope BW might take that train and fix the endings in a way to make IT even more plausible, but they didn't.

Instead of, they shoot it. They pretty much shoot it the way a lot of guys did with the starchild. And they used the same arguments supporters of IT used to give that theory its substance.

The fourth decision is, if you follow the interpretation of the IT, the only free decision Shepard has. And it leads to ultimate destruction. Maybe BW will enhance that ending with further content DLCs, but I doubt it. For now, that decision leads to another cycle and the end of the species we learned to love and respect.
Also shooting the kid leads to the same outcome: destruction by the Reapers and another cycle. BOTH decisions can be seen as "free decisions" Shepard may still be able to pick, even if indoctrinated. And both do no good.

So the question is: is Shepard indoctrinated? Is the entire ending stuff made up by his/her indoctrinated brain?
I'd say no.
That stuff does happen. Shepard -has- five ways to react. However, only the presented choices lead to satisfying endings. The "secret" decisions, however, allow the Reapers to win over organics in this cycle.


Sure, you may find your ways to renew the IT by using the EC endings. But you now have to find some very good reasons why Shepard's only "free decisions" don't free him/her from indoctrination but let the Reapers win. I know you'll do it.

I don't need the IT anymore to get my own headcanon running. IT was a workaround. I found a way how to get the old endings working without the IT - and the EC supports that headcanon in more than one way. Therefore I simply don't need the IT anymore. I didn't need it for more than two months and therefore, I'm not mad it got debunked or damaged in a way it's difficult to repair it and get it working again.



Last words


Well, if you made it that far, you either skipped the entire jazz or I didn't manage it to bore you to hell. Or, and I doubt that's the cause, I wrote something that kept you hooked.

ME3 is done. The EC finalized an incomplete product. It's not perfect, it's not the solution many were waiting for. BW stated before they were not going to change the endings - and they did. They just added new scenes and real epilogues to give us an idea how the galaxy developed after the war. BW gave us enough information to write fanfictions continue the adventures of Shepard (if alive) his or her crew and the Normandy. And even without Shepard there's a universe ready to explore for us.

Kudos BW, here. You gave us a great base for further fanfictions. That alone is a victory, even if a lot of people don't see it now. Those people who demanded more conclusion - blue babies, marriage and / or romantic reunion. In a way I'm sad I didn't see Ashley and Shepard (my primary couple) getting reunited after the war.
But it's not necessary. The Normandy isn't stranded. Shepard lives. And Ashley refused to put his name on the memorial board. Although the reunion isn't shown in game, it's obvious BW wanted YOU and ME to imagine Shepard and his or her LI will get reunited later.

Of course, you need to pick the Destruction Ending for that outcome. But even the other endings allow you to headcanon a way how to bring Shepard back. I wrote you an idea how to do that for every ending, except the fourth one. So you CAN bring your LI and Shepard together, even if Shepard visibly died / ascended to a higher form of existence. Your turn.


Thanks for reading my lengthy essay. Have fun while discussing about it. And sorry for any issues, typos, grammar madness and whatnot - I made it through the third night without proper sleep and English isn't my native tongue. Well, sleep is for sissies, hmm?

[CptData]

Last words (I don't wanna edit the OP since it kills the color-formatting):

The EC definitely adds more distinct endings. They now range from "full victory of the Reapers" to "full victory of the organics" - literally. The Destruction Ending comes in different shades of grey from "pretty much f*cked up dark age" to "optimistic and no dark age".

The Control & Synthesis endings feel different too and feel like valid choices now. If ever wanted to pick them but refused to do since results were unclear, it's now easier to decide AGAINST Destruction and pick one of those.

In a way, BW fulfilled our demands. The fate of the Normandy is solved. The state of the galaxy is explained. All that remained the same is the set of decisions plus one. If you disliked the endings 'cause of Starchild, you'll hate the EC too.
If you were more interested in the events after that decision, you got pleased. I'm one of the later guys - therefore I'm happy with the EC.

Captain Data, signing off.

[THEFRIGGINDOOMGUY!]

Please sticky this!!!Finally, an objective view on the EC.

[Thaa_solon]

This changes nothing...

[Wuartz]

Nice work. I chose Control, and it was a nice ending.

[CptData]

Octavian the Emperor wrote...

Please sticky this!!!Finally, an objective view on the EC.

I doubt it's going to get sticky, but thanks.

Tbh, it's not that objective. I prefer DESTRUCTION over any other endings and explained why - and not everyone likes that interpretation.

[Aurora313]

I like all of the endings now, they all have their own merits, but I always recieved the impression that Shepard was content with his acension to Reaper!godhood. And I don't think he'd be able to return to any kind of mortal form even if he wanted to.

The Dialogue I recieved talked about how he would build a new future for the galaxy, not crush it under his metaphyiscal heel should it get out of line. My guess is you had the renegade version. At any rate - ReaperGod!Shepard even referred to his pre-acension self as an entirely seperate being. Often repeating the phrase 'The (wo)man I used to be...'. That just suggests to me that this new ReaperGod!Shepard doesn't have any real desire to descend back to his mortal form. He appoints himself as the 'Guardian of the Many', content to watch over 'the ones who carry the memory of my former self.'.

Not trying to discourage headcanons, hell, even mine has him returning in some way. It just doesn't scream 'I want to become human, again' to me.

[CptData]

I just saw the Control Ending on YT and it was the renegade one. The paragon one seems to be more positive, Aurora, I can experience it in my own game if I want.

Still, I'm more a fan of destruction and that little essay shows. It's not that objective

[blue water]

Given the constraints, I believe Bioware did a good job. I know a lot of people are still very unhappy, but the EC "worked" for me. As you stated, the EC allows more room to apply headcanon.

[CulturalGeekGirl]

CptData wrote...

Last words (I don't wanna edit the OP since it kills the color-formatting):

The EC definitely adds more distinct endings. They now range from "full victory of the Reapers" to "full victory of the organics" - literally. The Destruction Ending comes in different shades of grey from "pretty much f*cked up dark age" to "optimistic and no dark age".

The Control & Synthesis endings feel different too and feel like valid choices now. If ever wanted to pick them but refused to do since results were unclear, it's now easier to decide AGAINST Destruction and pick one of those.

In a way, BW fulfilled our demands. The fate of the Normandy is solved. The state of the galaxy is explained. All that remained the same is the set of decisions plus one. If you disliked the endings 'cause of Starchild, you'll hate the EC too.
If you were more interested in the events after that decision, you got pleased. I'm one of the later guys - therefore I'm happy with the EC.

Captain Data, signing off.

I'd disagree that any of these endings represent full victory for anyone... other than the Catalyst, maybe. Every ending but refuse means Shepard is dancing on his strings and complicit with his worldview, and refuse is presented as an abject loss.

My demands weren't fulfilled, but the only thing I requested was an ending that didn't involve collaboration with evil, where survival was not linked with genocide. That was my only request, and it was flat out and explicitly denied. The only endings are, and forever will entail, collaborating with the worst criminal in the history of time, a being that is not only evil, bigoted, and insane, but also monumentally, inexorably stupid.

It's even clearer now that Destroy counts as collaboration, seeing as the Starchild lays it out as something compatible with his plan and worldview, as opposed to genuine opposition, to which he reacts... poorly. Destroy also validates the Catalysts idea that it's ok to genocide entire species if it is an incidental sacrifice to achieve your goals. Can't make an omlet without committing a few genocides, after all.

But hey... the flavors of our collaboration taste different now, right? And we have the option to see that we had no choice but to collaborate! Now we know for sure that collaborating with evil was the least harm we could do!

The moral of the story is that you can't be free, you can't make anything better, the best solution to any problem will always be unavailable. Decisions don't come from the minds of the creative, the strong, the hopeful, or the brave. They're handed down by the insane, the evil, and the stupid. Denying that or trying ot make anything better is nothing but foolishness.

Yes they've made the results of your various collaborations with evil more interesting and emotionally resonant, and yes they've given you the ability to refuse, but that refusal is just another opportunity for them to say "no, collaboration with the evil was the right way to go. Thinking that personal morality means anything at all is laughable in this grimdark world of the future." 

That's their moral. That's the story they wanted to tell.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I don't like this kind of story.

Modifié par CulturalGeekGirl, 27 juin 2012 - 01:11 .

[Aurora313]

I could headcanon the original endings, EC just gives me more breathing room.

I saw it, and I was squealling into my pillow with glee for almost an hour.... though synthesized Krogan the creeped the hell out of me. I still found the geniune emotion from EDI, and Kaidan hugging her heartwarming. Shepard's lover, and the entity that owes its existance to Shepard briefly come together in mutual sympathy. It was very moving.

[CptData]

CulturalGeekGirl  well, one lesson I've learned, CulturalGeekGirl is, nothing comes without a sacrifice of some sort.

I'm a guy that values freedom, free will and such over anything else - therefore I couldn't pick anything different that "Destruction". The sacrifice? The Geth and EDI. 'though the Geth are a non-issue if decided against them earlier (I made peace between both!), EDI's death IS a sacrifice you can't avoid. Even if her body gets destroyed in the final push, EDI is still the Normandy - and gets killed by the Destruction Ending. Time for Joker to show some skills - flying the Normandy without EDI's assistance!

I disliked the synthesis ending the most since a lot of morality and logical issues I tried to point out. The control ending can be accepted - if you believe in an unquestionable Shepard that never does mistakes and is uncorruptible by power. Still some issues left ...

Whatever, in the long run it's up to you. Some questions remain open, true. Others got solved. In general, the EC is a big improvement and made bad endings to mediocre endings. Well, Destruction still feels most like victory, despite of the sour taste of genocide of the Geth. Well, headcanon is my friend.

Modifié par CptData, 27 juin 2012 - 01:16 .

[CroGamer002]

Nice to read.

[Elite Midget]

An extension to a steaming pile of crude isn't all that appetizing. So no, getting something free isn't always a good thing. I once got hit in the balls with a baseball bat for free, doesn't change that it sucked regardless.

[CptData]

Elite Midget wrote...

An extension to a steaming pile of crude isn't all that appetizing. So no, getting something free isn't always a good thing. I once got hit in the balls with a baseball bat for free, doesn't change that it sucked regardless.

Well the EC is a jockstrap for free so the next hit in your balls is more bearable - if you want to stay with that interpretation

[BP93]

The Geth are goners in destroy ending. I chose them over the Quarians in my playthrough and then chose the destroy ending. In the epilogue when they're showing the homeworlds (Tuchanka, Thessia..etc.) they show Rannoch as a desert wasteland that might as well be renamed Chernobyl.