So, I started a final canon play-through of ME3, and started thinking about some things at the beginning of the game. Why does it have to start with the reapers attacking? I would have preferred the game to have a slow building of tension with eveyone unsure of when the reapers were going to strike. Instead of an attack within the first 5 minutes, Shepard could have been sent out to build forces for the inevitable war, which is basically what you do the whole game already.
Anyway, if you could re-write the plot (NOT the ending) of Mass Effect 3, what would you do differently?
If you could re-write ME3
Débuté par
Only-Twin
, juin 03 2013 01:01
Retour en haut
#3
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:03
essarr71
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TIM is critical to victory. Cerb doesn't need to be the hero, but they shouldn't be the villains.
#4
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:09
Steelcan
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I'll be back later to post my biggest change I'd put in the story.
#5
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:09
DeathScepter
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Cerberus story arch based from the Ending of Retribution. Also Letting Pro Cerberus Shepard help Rebuild them as an option or destroy them if you don't like them.
Help or Kill off Aria
Help or Kill the Council again.
More Choices on Squad mates.
More Respect for all characters
More choices in how we role play our shepards.
Make Conrad More useful
Miranda and Jack UST
Help or Kill off Aria
Help or Kill the Council again.
More Choices on Squad mates.
More Respect for all characters
More choices in how we role play our shepards.
Make Conrad More useful
Miranda and Jack UST
#6
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:09
DeinonSlayer
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A lot.
For starters, I actually re-structured the entire Rannoch arc. There were serious problems with the one we got. The Geth's philosophical reversal on the use of Reaper tech, the whitewash of their past actions, and the notion that they could only be considered alive by stripping themselves of what made them unique in the first place being chief among them. In a universe populated by blue space lesbians and photoshopped pageant models, the Geth were truly alien. I wanted to see that expanded on, not swept away (don't get me started on what they did to EDI).
-----------------------------------------
I might as well post it. This would fit only with a completely restructured plot, in which you address priority missions in the order you choose. Two versions exist of each - Healthy, and Unhealthy based on how many Priority missions you already finished (for example, Rannoch-Unhealthy is what we see in-game. Rannoch-Healthy intercepts the Quarians before they can go to war, resulting in a completely different set of outcomes).
You complete as many priority missions as you want before taking your accumulated forces to Earth, but the longer you wait, the worse off Earth is when you get back there. Finish every Priority mission, and Earth is effectively destroyed. The galaxy is left in a different state after the ending based on which missions you chose to complete, and in which order - no A, B, or C choice. Final battle conditions change based on your actions up to that point. Ignore Rannoch? Quarians are extinct and Geth are under permanent Reaper control. You'll fight a lot of Geth. Ignore Tuchanka? Lots of Brutes. You can address the Genophage arc early, but the Quarians go to war with the Geth. You can address the Quarian/Geth situation before they go to war, but the bomb goes off on Tuchanka in the meantime. BIG trade-offs. You can save ANYone, but you can't save EVERYone - thus making every playthrough different.
With that established:
PRIORITY: MIGRANT FLEET
If the player addresses this as one of their first Priority missions, it's in the Healthy state. The Quarians have not yet launched their war to retake Rannoch. The Migrant Fleet is in orbit above Korlus, retrofitting their ships with weapons, and the Normandy meets with them. Shepard goes before the Admiralty, and we revisit some of the arguments set forth in ME2 to address why the Quarians are doing this. They need a place to offload their civilian populace if they are to commit to the fight against the Reapers - somewhere they can survive long-term in the event that the Migrant Fleet doesn't survive to come back for them. Rannoch is the only planet in the galaxy that fits the bill, and (as per vanilla ME3 if Legion survived, but for different reasons) the Geth have cut off contact (they do NOT side with the Reapers in this version). Shepard can express an opinion on whether attacking the Geth is right or wrong. If Shepard opposes the war, Gerrel shows you a video of the gassing of a Quarian city in the Morning War once the fighting started in earnest (something Legion strongly alludes to have happened in ME2) to try to convince you, arguing that the initial attempt to destroy the Geth back when they had done nothing was wrong, but what they've become since then is not worth protecting. Shepard can react to this footage with shock and anger, or dismiss it, saying that that was a long time ago. It's around this time the Geth make contact.
What I figured would happen was that the Geth would factionalize a second time after ME2 - some would seek to leave the Collective and assist in the war against the Reapers, others would seek to maintain the status quo of violent isolationism, standing on their own. Depending on Shepard's interaction with Legion in ME2, and the resolution of the loyalty conflict, the faction which left Geth space may (or may not) be open to returning Rannoch to the quarians. If Legion was sold or killed, or you're playing a non-import game, this "friendly" faction does not exist.
If the "friendlies" do exist (about 20% of Geth forces, now known as "The Legion"), they send a ship to make contact with the Flotilla. The Admiralty Board must be convinced not to fire on it, otherwise it will be destroyed. Several factors are taken into account as to whether this can be done.
CONVINCING THE BOARD (2 of the following points +reputation needed):
* The evidence must NOT be presented in Tali's trial. We're told in ME2 that the Fleet fragments if the evidence is presented, with some calling for immediate war with the Geth, and others seeking to make contact with them. Admiral Koris splits from the fleet and takes a group of ships into Geth space to make contact. In keeping with the Geth's isolationist policies, they (like the Citadel emissaries before them) were destroyed on sight. Koris' replacement on the Admiralty Board is not as friendly to the prospect of Geth peace. If the evidence wasn't presented, Koris is alive, and still friendly to the prospect of peace.
* Tali must NOT exiled, and must survive the suicide mission to be appointed to the Admiralty Board.
* The loyalty conflict between Tali and Legion MUST be peacefully resolved, meaning Legion cannot have been sold to Cerberus.
* Shepard MUST promote peace at the conclusion of Tali's trial - this will influence Raan's vote.
If the Legion-aligned ship survives, they relay their intentions - to assist organics, and (if Legion survived and the loyalty conflict was amicably resolved) to return Rannoch. Problem being, Rannoch is controlled by the Consensus, who have no intention to return it, and who came into violent conflict with the Legion when they sought to leave. The Consensus recognized that when the Heretics split from them, they later came back as a threat (they did not act against the Heretics until they, themselves, were threatened by them) - the same assumption of eventual hostility following a divide was applied to the Legion, prompting the Consensus to preemptively attack them (reacting to their own "machine rebellion"). The Geth are in a state of civil war - even if most of the combat is electronic, rather than ships physically firing on each other. The quarians are divided by this news, not ready to fully trust them.
It's revealed (as foreshadowed in ME2) that Xen has created a virus capable of returning control of the Geth to the Quarian people by faking a Consensus Achieved packet. This would strip the Geth entirely of their free will. Shepard can encourage her to use it, or try to stop her, but if the latter was chosen, there's a standoff similar to what happens to the Virmire Survivor during the coup. Kal'Reegar was assigned to her personal guard. The player has to talk him down or kill him, your ability to do so determined by your actions in ME2. If he didn't survive, he is replaced by a marine who cannot be convinced. Fail to talk down the leader of Xen's guard detail, and you'll get in a firefight with them as Xen makes for the shuttle bay with the virus (yes, you get to fight quarians).
CONVINCING REEGAR:
Tali and Legion must have survived, with their loyalty conflict amicably resolved in ME2. He trusted you to protect her - if you failed in that, he does not trust you, and if he has no reason to believe peace is possible he has no cause to stand down. The other factors are as follows:
- Kenn, Veetor, Forzan and Lia'Vael assisted in ME2 (+1)
- Evidence handed over at the trial. (-1)
- Exiled. (+1)
- Paragon/Renegade, or Rally the Crowd (+2)
- Heretics destroyed (+2)
- Heretics rewritten (-3)
- Tali romanced (-1) (Yeah, he's jealous.)
This score must be greater than or equal to zero for Kal'Reegar to be talked down. For example, a pure Paragon who did not romance Tali (score: 0) would be able to talk him down. A pure Paragon who romanced Tali (score: -1) would be forced to kill him. Killing Reegar will break up a Tali romance (if it exists) and keep her from joining your crew afterwards.
Once you've captured (or killed) Xen, Shepard can destroy the virus, or hold on to it.
FINAL CONFRONTATION:
It was foreshadowed in ME2 that the Geth were just as likely to attack the Flotilla (particularly if you side with Legion in the loyalty confrontation) as the Quarians were to attack the Geth. As I've heard, both scenarios were originally supposed to be included in the game, but due to budget issues, and a desire for all ME3 content to be open to new players, only one of these scenarios made the final cut.
In the Unhealthy state of Priority: Rannoch, the Quarians attack the Geth as seen in-game. In the Healthy state described below, the Geth attack the Quarians.
The reactionary Consensus-aligned Geth learn of the existence of Xen's virus and attack the Flotilla, intent on destroying them completely so as to permanently eliminate the threat (they stayed their hand last time, this time they will not). If the friendly faction exists, they move to defend their creators, with Legion-aligned ships taking fire to protect as-yet unarmed civilian craft. The Quarians take heavy casualties if this friendly faction isn't there to protect them. Legion-aligned ships are engaged in physical and electronic warfare with Consensus-aligned ships, locking them down far more effectively than the Quarians could (their flashbang does not exist), but as the Consensus continues to pour into the system, the Legion are slowly being overwhelmed - once boarded electronically, Geth ships can be "purged" and recaptured, turning friends back into enemies.
If Shepard destroyed the virus, all is lost. The Consensus annihilates both the Flotilla and the Legion simply through strength of numbers. Shepard and company evacuate to the Normandy as the Neema is blown apart around you, but as soon as you reach the airlock, Tali locks herself out, opting instead to stay behind and die with the rest of her kin. No war assets are gained from either side, and the Quarians are extinct. The Consensus Geth who killed them both will eventually be taken over by the Reapers, and serve as an enemy faction near the end of the game.
If Xen was encouraged to use the virus, the entire Geth collective is returned to Quarian control. In a crushing scene, Legion (the platform from ME2, not the fleet) is shown to have a personality like Glyph. A lobotomized husk of what he once was. A tool. A slave. The Quarians move to settle on Rannoch, using the Geth to fight by proxy, so only the Geth are gained as war assets. Xen is a megalomaniac who poses a possible threat in the post-war future if she has control of this massive synthetic army. The Flotilla itself renders little support to the other armies - the Quarians cannibalize many of their ships to speed their settlement of Rannoch, per Tali in ME2.
However, if Shepard confiscated the virus, there are other options. You can choose to use it, again turning the Geth into slaves as described above (but without Xen's insane ambitions tainting the quarians' future use of them), or you can give the virus to The Legion, bringing an end to hostilities but allowing the Geth to retain free will. Similar to rewriting the Heretics, the Legion rewrites the Consensus to their way of thinking (exactly as the Consensus originally feared). If the Legion was unwilling to return Rannoch, the Geth are gained as a war asset, but the Quarians, with nowhere to safely offload their civilian populace, opt to go into hiding until the end of the war. Depending on how long the war goes on, they might be detected by the Reapers and destroyed in space, having never seen their home, or they might continue on as homeless wanderers in a collection of failing ships after the war's end.
If the virus is given to the Legion, and the Legion is friendly, the Quarians offload their civilian populace on Rannoch and both sides commit to the war effort as equals.
Possible permanent squad recruits: Tali, Legion, and Kal'Reegar (stripped of his position as Squad Leader in the MFM if he bails on Xen).
AFTER PRIORITY: RANNOCH
If peace was established, with the Geth retaining free will, the Quarians contribute their fleet to the war effort, providing vital logistical support and assisting with the evacuation of Turian refugees from Palaven - including Garrus' family (per the original game script).
The Geth are absolutely crucial to the operation of a Batarian-designed weapons system which can destroy Sovereign-class Reapers with ease. They can only fulfill this capacity if they retain free will (it would take too long to adapt a shackled AI to the process of managing the hundreds of thousands of orbital mirrors that comprise this weapon). Described in detail here.
For starters, I actually re-structured the entire Rannoch arc. There were serious problems with the one we got. The Geth's philosophical reversal on the use of Reaper tech, the whitewash of their past actions, and the notion that they could only be considered alive by stripping themselves of what made them unique in the first place being chief among them. In a universe populated by blue space lesbians and photoshopped pageant models, the Geth were truly alien. I wanted to see that expanded on, not swept away (don't get me started on what they did to EDI).
-----------------------------------------
I might as well post it. This would fit only with a completely restructured plot, in which you address priority missions in the order you choose. Two versions exist of each - Healthy, and Unhealthy based on how many Priority missions you already finished (for example, Rannoch-Unhealthy is what we see in-game. Rannoch-Healthy intercepts the Quarians before they can go to war, resulting in a completely different set of outcomes).
You complete as many priority missions as you want before taking your accumulated forces to Earth, but the longer you wait, the worse off Earth is when you get back there. Finish every Priority mission, and Earth is effectively destroyed. The galaxy is left in a different state after the ending based on which missions you chose to complete, and in which order - no A, B, or C choice. Final battle conditions change based on your actions up to that point. Ignore Rannoch? Quarians are extinct and Geth are under permanent Reaper control. You'll fight a lot of Geth. Ignore Tuchanka? Lots of Brutes. You can address the Genophage arc early, but the Quarians go to war with the Geth. You can address the Quarian/Geth situation before they go to war, but the bomb goes off on Tuchanka in the meantime. BIG trade-offs. You can save ANYone, but you can't save EVERYone - thus making every playthrough different.
With that established:
PRIORITY: MIGRANT FLEET
If the player addresses this as one of their first Priority missions, it's in the Healthy state. The Quarians have not yet launched their war to retake Rannoch. The Migrant Fleet is in orbit above Korlus, retrofitting their ships with weapons, and the Normandy meets with them. Shepard goes before the Admiralty, and we revisit some of the arguments set forth in ME2 to address why the Quarians are doing this. They need a place to offload their civilian populace if they are to commit to the fight against the Reapers - somewhere they can survive long-term in the event that the Migrant Fleet doesn't survive to come back for them. Rannoch is the only planet in the galaxy that fits the bill, and (as per vanilla ME3 if Legion survived, but for different reasons) the Geth have cut off contact (they do NOT side with the Reapers in this version). Shepard can express an opinion on whether attacking the Geth is right or wrong. If Shepard opposes the war, Gerrel shows you a video of the gassing of a Quarian city in the Morning War once the fighting started in earnest (something Legion strongly alludes to have happened in ME2) to try to convince you, arguing that the initial attempt to destroy the Geth back when they had done nothing was wrong, but what they've become since then is not worth protecting. Shepard can react to this footage with shock and anger, or dismiss it, saying that that was a long time ago. It's around this time the Geth make contact.
What I figured would happen was that the Geth would factionalize a second time after ME2 - some would seek to leave the Collective and assist in the war against the Reapers, others would seek to maintain the status quo of violent isolationism, standing on their own. Depending on Shepard's interaction with Legion in ME2, and the resolution of the loyalty conflict, the faction which left Geth space may (or may not) be open to returning Rannoch to the quarians. If Legion was sold or killed, or you're playing a non-import game, this "friendly" faction does not exist.
If the "friendlies" do exist (about 20% of Geth forces, now known as "The Legion"), they send a ship to make contact with the Flotilla. The Admiralty Board must be convinced not to fire on it, otherwise it will be destroyed. Several factors are taken into account as to whether this can be done.
CONVINCING THE BOARD (2 of the following points +reputation needed):
* The evidence must NOT be presented in Tali's trial. We're told in ME2 that the Fleet fragments if the evidence is presented, with some calling for immediate war with the Geth, and others seeking to make contact with them. Admiral Koris splits from the fleet and takes a group of ships into Geth space to make contact. In keeping with the Geth's isolationist policies, they (like the Citadel emissaries before them) were destroyed on sight. Koris' replacement on the Admiralty Board is not as friendly to the prospect of Geth peace. If the evidence wasn't presented, Koris is alive, and still friendly to the prospect of peace.
* Tali must NOT exiled, and must survive the suicide mission to be appointed to the Admiralty Board.
* The loyalty conflict between Tali and Legion MUST be peacefully resolved, meaning Legion cannot have been sold to Cerberus.
* Shepard MUST promote peace at the conclusion of Tali's trial - this will influence Raan's vote.
If the Legion-aligned ship survives, they relay their intentions - to assist organics, and (if Legion survived and the loyalty conflict was amicably resolved) to return Rannoch. Problem being, Rannoch is controlled by the Consensus, who have no intention to return it, and who came into violent conflict with the Legion when they sought to leave. The Consensus recognized that when the Heretics split from them, they later came back as a threat (they did not act against the Heretics until they, themselves, were threatened by them) - the same assumption of eventual hostility following a divide was applied to the Legion, prompting the Consensus to preemptively attack them (reacting to their own "machine rebellion"). The Geth are in a state of civil war - even if most of the combat is electronic, rather than ships physically firing on each other. The quarians are divided by this news, not ready to fully trust them.
It's revealed (as foreshadowed in ME2) that Xen has created a virus capable of returning control of the Geth to the Quarian people by faking a Consensus Achieved packet. This would strip the Geth entirely of their free will. Shepard can encourage her to use it, or try to stop her, but if the latter was chosen, there's a standoff similar to what happens to the Virmire Survivor during the coup. Kal'Reegar was assigned to her personal guard. The player has to talk him down or kill him, your ability to do so determined by your actions in ME2. If he didn't survive, he is replaced by a marine who cannot be convinced. Fail to talk down the leader of Xen's guard detail, and you'll get in a firefight with them as Xen makes for the shuttle bay with the virus (yes, you get to fight quarians).
CONVINCING REEGAR:
Tali and Legion must have survived, with their loyalty conflict amicably resolved in ME2. He trusted you to protect her - if you failed in that, he does not trust you, and if he has no reason to believe peace is possible he has no cause to stand down. The other factors are as follows:
- Kenn, Veetor, Forzan and Lia'Vael assisted in ME2 (+1)
- Evidence handed over at the trial. (-1)
- Exiled. (+1)
- Paragon/Renegade, or Rally the Crowd (+2)
- Heretics destroyed (+2)
- Heretics rewritten (-3)
- Tali romanced (-1) (Yeah, he's jealous.)
This score must be greater than or equal to zero for Kal'Reegar to be talked down. For example, a pure Paragon who did not romance Tali (score: 0) would be able to talk him down. A pure Paragon who romanced Tali (score: -1) would be forced to kill him. Killing Reegar will break up a Tali romance (if it exists) and keep her from joining your crew afterwards.
Once you've captured (or killed) Xen, Shepard can destroy the virus, or hold on to it.
FINAL CONFRONTATION:
It was foreshadowed in ME2 that the Geth were just as likely to attack the Flotilla (particularly if you side with Legion in the loyalty confrontation) as the Quarians were to attack the Geth. As I've heard, both scenarios were originally supposed to be included in the game, but due to budget issues, and a desire for all ME3 content to be open to new players, only one of these scenarios made the final cut.
In the Unhealthy state of Priority: Rannoch, the Quarians attack the Geth as seen in-game. In the Healthy state described below, the Geth attack the Quarians.
The reactionary Consensus-aligned Geth learn of the existence of Xen's virus and attack the Flotilla, intent on destroying them completely so as to permanently eliminate the threat (they stayed their hand last time, this time they will not). If the friendly faction exists, they move to defend their creators, with Legion-aligned ships taking fire to protect as-yet unarmed civilian craft. The Quarians take heavy casualties if this friendly faction isn't there to protect them. Legion-aligned ships are engaged in physical and electronic warfare with Consensus-aligned ships, locking them down far more effectively than the Quarians could (their flashbang does not exist), but as the Consensus continues to pour into the system, the Legion are slowly being overwhelmed - once boarded electronically, Geth ships can be "purged" and recaptured, turning friends back into enemies.
If Shepard destroyed the virus, all is lost. The Consensus annihilates both the Flotilla and the Legion simply through strength of numbers. Shepard and company evacuate to the Normandy as the Neema is blown apart around you, but as soon as you reach the airlock, Tali locks herself out, opting instead to stay behind and die with the rest of her kin. No war assets are gained from either side, and the Quarians are extinct. The Consensus Geth who killed them both will eventually be taken over by the Reapers, and serve as an enemy faction near the end of the game.
If Xen was encouraged to use the virus, the entire Geth collective is returned to Quarian control. In a crushing scene, Legion (the platform from ME2, not the fleet) is shown to have a personality like Glyph. A lobotomized husk of what he once was. A tool. A slave. The Quarians move to settle on Rannoch, using the Geth to fight by proxy, so only the Geth are gained as war assets. Xen is a megalomaniac who poses a possible threat in the post-war future if she has control of this massive synthetic army. The Flotilla itself renders little support to the other armies - the Quarians cannibalize many of their ships to speed their settlement of Rannoch, per Tali in ME2.
However, if Shepard confiscated the virus, there are other options. You can choose to use it, again turning the Geth into slaves as described above (but without Xen's insane ambitions tainting the quarians' future use of them), or you can give the virus to The Legion, bringing an end to hostilities but allowing the Geth to retain free will. Similar to rewriting the Heretics, the Legion rewrites the Consensus to their way of thinking (exactly as the Consensus originally feared). If the Legion was unwilling to return Rannoch, the Geth are gained as a war asset, but the Quarians, with nowhere to safely offload their civilian populace, opt to go into hiding until the end of the war. Depending on how long the war goes on, they might be detected by the Reapers and destroyed in space, having never seen their home, or they might continue on as homeless wanderers in a collection of failing ships after the war's end.
If the virus is given to the Legion, and the Legion is friendly, the Quarians offload their civilian populace on Rannoch and both sides commit to the war effort as equals.
Possible permanent squad recruits: Tali, Legion, and Kal'Reegar (stripped of his position as Squad Leader in the MFM if he bails on Xen).
AFTER PRIORITY: RANNOCH
If peace was established, with the Geth retaining free will, the Quarians contribute their fleet to the war effort, providing vital logistical support and assisting with the evacuation of Turian refugees from Palaven - including Garrus' family (per the original game script).
The Geth are absolutely crucial to the operation of a Batarian-designed weapons system which can destroy Sovereign-class Reapers with ease. They can only fulfill this capacity if they retain free will (it would take too long to adapt a shackled AI to the process of managing the hundreds of thousands of orbital mirrors that comprise this weapon). Described in detail here.
Modifié par DeinonSlayer, 03 juin 2013 - 01:10 .
#7
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:13
Mcfly616
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wouldn't be too hard....Just have to re-write ME2 first.
#8
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:14
teh DRUMPf!!
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The re-write process should really begin with ME2, but in the interest of time, we'll stick with ME3. 
-- ME3 is to be a 3 CD game. Disc three is devoted entirely to the final mission (Priority: Earth). If the price of the total game must be divvied up to $90 or so, so be it. It'll be justified for being an epic game. Announce the plans for the additional CD and the higher resulting price early in the pre-release stage so people can are ready for it.
-- I'd open ME3 with a military tribunal. Shepard is on trial for Arrival or his Cerberus ties. The trial is interrupted by the invasion -OR- Shepard is broken out of a jailcell to get to the Normandy.
-- EDI's squadmate status is scrapped in favor of Miranda, who helps your squad against Cerberus. If she's dead, she's replaced with a badass human male Cerberus defector, comparable to Phoenix operatives in multiplayer.
If the player is not romantically involved with either, Miranda and Kaidan hook up towards the end of the story. <3
-- Shepard's first stop is not Mars, but Eden Prime. Another Prothean relic has been uncovered, but Shepard needs to go there pronto, as the colony is under attack by Reapers. That relic is actually a lifepod of a real, living Prothean (a.k.a. Javik, making him canon rather than Day-1 DLC).
The mission goes about exactly the same way as it does now (substitute Cerberus with Reapers), but back on the ship, Javik reads Shepard's memory and finds the broken-up vision of the orignal beacon on Eden Prime. He "completes" this memory for him, then, into something comprehensible. It's actually an entire info-cache now in his head. This information cache points him to three weapon prototypes on Mars that the Protheans were working on to stop the Reapers.
-- Mars: this goes about exactly the same as it does in the game, but again substitute Cerberus with Reapers, and the three weapon prototypes are combined into one superweapon to be known as the Crucible.
Getting all parts to work right is key to its success.
-- War Asset system is complexified. You assets are broken up into three: HAMMER (infantry), SWORD & SHIELD
(naval forces), CRUCIBLE (...d'uh). I would also significantly reduce the # of possible assets available, so that reaching required levels becomes more pressing.
Your success at the end of the game requires a good amount of all three.
-- Tuchanka: salarian support or the krogan offer an opportunity to improve one Crucible mechanism: sapping enemy shield technology and/or improving the potency of the weaponry. Wreav's krogan offer more than Wrex's, because Wrex's krogan were focused on practical technologies, whereas Wreav's were free to work on what they wanted (weaponry).
The N7 mission involving those ancient krogan cannons also ties into this.
Recruiting the krogan gives a serious boost to HAMMER, but minimal contribution to CRUCIBLE and no contribution to SWORD & SHIELD. Salarians offer paltry HAMMER assistance, but make up for it with support in the other two.
-- Rannoch: Quarians offer a big boost to SWORD/SHIELD and CRUCIBLE, moderate boost to HAMMER. Geth offer a moderate boost to all three. Curing the genophage makes the quarians a more attractive option to the player.
Whichever side is recruited cracks the code behind the mysterious Sync-weapon prototype integrated into Crucible. It employs super-smart VIs that, when downloaded into the computer systems of warships or hardsuit computers of soldiers, makes them much more effective. Quarians provide the ship upgrade. Geth provide the infantry upgrade. Both unlock both. [Bonus Power unlocked: Geth Hunter Mode (works like the multiplayer power)].
Legion is not a scrippted death. Both he and Tali are optional squad recruits (otherwise, they are war-assets).
-- Thessia goes about the same as it does: Kai Leng and Cerberus acquire the Prothean VI. This forces Shepard to turn elsewhere to find the ultimate solution.
Enter Leviathan.
-- Leviathan content is made canon. The missions involved stay largely the same as they are in the DLC. However, it ends with significantly more answers from Leviathan as to the Reapers, catalyst/intelligence, Crucible. This, of course, is necessary since Leng & Co got away with the Prothean VI on this information.
Completion of this arc provides a major boost to the Crucible's control function, minor boost to the other two.
-- Sanctuary is acquired through the combined work or Liara and Miranda or the replacement Phoenix defector. They get a lead suggesting the facility on Horizon is a Cerberus front. From here, you recover the Collector Base tech.
This mission is non-plot and optional, but highly important. If you chose to preserve the Collector Base and hand it over to Cerberus intact, Destroy carries no collateral damage, even if the Crucible's destroy mechanism is under-developed. It's an insta-win card for that option. Otherwise, it's just a moderate upgrade to the Crucible.
-- MOAR TIMERS! Assignments do not stay available forever. You have to act fast and manage your time wisely, otherwise certain assignments will time-out and lead to total failure. Think: Grissom Academy, Tuchanka bomb.
Ideas: Samara's daughters get banshee'd, Jacob and the refugees get screwed, Rachni Queen gets indoc'd...
-- Cerberus HQ is moved to DLC content. In it, an epic showdown with Kai Leng, and a confrontation with TIM offering multiple possible resolutions: you can kill him, or persuade him to help you out.
Completion of this mission carries varying degrees of success, however. This is contingent on completion of N7 missions that involve Cerberus -- the more of them you do, the better your success will be.
-- Priority: Earth employs tactical deployment of war-assets all around London in the final battle. There are lots of cutscenes involved, showing your assets in action. The battle itself is mainly a daring push for the Citadel as it is now.
-- The synthetic enemy Dr. Eva Core shows up as a boss-fight enemy on the Citadel, created by Cerberus to sabotage the Crucible, save for the control mechanism, which was to be acquired by the 'bot for TIM. This 'bot goes rogue, however. It decides it would rather take control of the Reapers for itself, detailing a vicious agenda against organics that would make the prospect of Cerberus control seem downright peachy in comparison.
This boss-fight effectively replaces the TIM confrontation (which, again, is moved to a high-profile DLC mission).
-- The Intelligence is encountered after the boss-fight, but Shepard does not go there alone (squad is there too).
-- The Crucible options to end the war stay, but the optimal (High-EMS) outcome goes like this.
~ WIZARRRRRD!!!
-- ME3 is to be a 3 CD game. Disc three is devoted entirely to the final mission (Priority: Earth). If the price of the total game must be divvied up to $90 or so, so be it. It'll be justified for being an epic game. Announce the plans for the additional CD and the higher resulting price early in the pre-release stage so people can are ready for it.
-- I'd open ME3 with a military tribunal. Shepard is on trial for Arrival or his Cerberus ties. The trial is interrupted by the invasion -OR- Shepard is broken out of a jailcell to get to the Normandy.
-- EDI's squadmate status is scrapped in favor of Miranda, who helps your squad against Cerberus. If she's dead, she's replaced with a badass human male Cerberus defector, comparable to Phoenix operatives in multiplayer.
If the player is not romantically involved with either, Miranda and Kaidan hook up towards the end of the story. <3
-- Shepard's first stop is not Mars, but Eden Prime. Another Prothean relic has been uncovered, but Shepard needs to go there pronto, as the colony is under attack by Reapers. That relic is actually a lifepod of a real, living Prothean (a.k.a. Javik, making him canon rather than Day-1 DLC).
The mission goes about exactly the same way as it does now (substitute Cerberus with Reapers), but back on the ship, Javik reads Shepard's memory and finds the broken-up vision of the orignal beacon on Eden Prime. He "completes" this memory for him, then, into something comprehensible. It's actually an entire info-cache now in his head. This information cache points him to three weapon prototypes on Mars that the Protheans were working on to stop the Reapers.
-- Mars: this goes about exactly the same as it does in the game, but again substitute Cerberus with Reapers, and the three weapon prototypes are combined into one superweapon to be known as the Crucible.
Getting all parts to work right is key to its success.
-- War Asset system is complexified. You assets are broken up into three: HAMMER (infantry), SWORD & SHIELD
(naval forces), CRUCIBLE (...d'uh). I would also significantly reduce the # of possible assets available, so that reaching required levels becomes more pressing.
Your success at the end of the game requires a good amount of all three.
-- Tuchanka: salarian support or the krogan offer an opportunity to improve one Crucible mechanism: sapping enemy shield technology and/or improving the potency of the weaponry. Wreav's krogan offer more than Wrex's, because Wrex's krogan were focused on practical technologies, whereas Wreav's were free to work on what they wanted (weaponry).
The N7 mission involving those ancient krogan cannons also ties into this.
Recruiting the krogan gives a serious boost to HAMMER, but minimal contribution to CRUCIBLE and no contribution to SWORD & SHIELD. Salarians offer paltry HAMMER assistance, but make up for it with support in the other two.
-- Rannoch: Quarians offer a big boost to SWORD/SHIELD and CRUCIBLE, moderate boost to HAMMER. Geth offer a moderate boost to all three. Curing the genophage makes the quarians a more attractive option to the player.
Whichever side is recruited cracks the code behind the mysterious Sync-weapon prototype integrated into Crucible. It employs super-smart VIs that, when downloaded into the computer systems of warships or hardsuit computers of soldiers, makes them much more effective. Quarians provide the ship upgrade. Geth provide the infantry upgrade. Both unlock both. [Bonus Power unlocked: Geth Hunter Mode (works like the multiplayer power)].
Legion is not a scrippted death. Both he and Tali are optional squad recruits (otherwise, they are war-assets).
-- Thessia goes about the same as it does: Kai Leng and Cerberus acquire the Prothean VI. This forces Shepard to turn elsewhere to find the ultimate solution.
Enter Leviathan.
-- Leviathan content is made canon. The missions involved stay largely the same as they are in the DLC. However, it ends with significantly more answers from Leviathan as to the Reapers, catalyst/intelligence, Crucible. This, of course, is necessary since Leng & Co got away with the Prothean VI on this information.
Completion of this arc provides a major boost to the Crucible's control function, minor boost to the other two.
-- Sanctuary is acquired through the combined work or Liara and Miranda or the replacement Phoenix defector. They get a lead suggesting the facility on Horizon is a Cerberus front. From here, you recover the Collector Base tech.
This mission is non-plot and optional, but highly important. If you chose to preserve the Collector Base and hand it over to Cerberus intact, Destroy carries no collateral damage, even if the Crucible's destroy mechanism is under-developed. It's an insta-win card for that option. Otherwise, it's just a moderate upgrade to the Crucible.
-- MOAR TIMERS! Assignments do not stay available forever. You have to act fast and manage your time wisely, otherwise certain assignments will time-out and lead to total failure. Think: Grissom Academy, Tuchanka bomb.
Ideas: Samara's daughters get banshee'd, Jacob and the refugees get screwed, Rachni Queen gets indoc'd...
-- Cerberus HQ is moved to DLC content. In it, an epic showdown with Kai Leng, and a confrontation with TIM offering multiple possible resolutions: you can kill him, or persuade him to help you out.
Completion of this mission carries varying degrees of success, however. This is contingent on completion of N7 missions that involve Cerberus -- the more of them you do, the better your success will be.
-- Priority: Earth employs tactical deployment of war-assets all around London in the final battle. There are lots of cutscenes involved, showing your assets in action. The battle itself is mainly a daring push for the Citadel as it is now.
-- The synthetic enemy Dr. Eva Core shows up as a boss-fight enemy on the Citadel, created by Cerberus to sabotage the Crucible, save for the control mechanism, which was to be acquired by the 'bot for TIM. This 'bot goes rogue, however. It decides it would rather take control of the Reapers for itself, detailing a vicious agenda against organics that would make the prospect of Cerberus control seem downright peachy in comparison.
This boss-fight effectively replaces the TIM confrontation (which, again, is moved to a high-profile DLC mission).
-- The Intelligence is encountered after the boss-fight, but Shepard does not go there alone (squad is there too).
-- The Crucible options to end the war stay, but the optimal (High-EMS) outcome goes like this.
~ WIZARRRRRD!!!
Modifié par HYR 2.0, 03 juin 2013 - 06:11 .
#9
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:15
Clayless
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Mcfly616 wrote...
wouldn't be too hard....Just have to re-write ME2 first.
I'd go as far back and say even ME1.
If I was going to re-write any part of ME3, I'd say you'd at least need to start with ME2.
#10
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:15
FlamingBoy
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Make the game about attrition, the brutally of the meat grinder. It would fit much better in there theme of "war is horrible" than a super weapon.
#11
Guest_Cthulhu42_*
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:16
Guest_Cthulhu42_*
Guest_Cthulhu42_*
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Every mission would end with Shepard and the squad walking away from an explosion in slow motion.
#12
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:16
Karlone123
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I would rewrite having to rejoin the Alliance, instead have the Illusive man (rewite TIM not being indoctrinated aswell) offer Shepard to join Cerberus and work to find a way to control the Reapers and assert Human dominance. I role-played Shepard as disliking aliens and being pro-Cerberus, but that wasn't a option you could have in ME3, even being a little bigotish towards aliens wasn't a choice either.
#13
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:19
chemiclord
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It's kinda interesting how many changes people are suggesting that actually puts MORE content in when ME3 as is already hit the wall as far as how much content they could squeeze into the limits and resources they had.
So... with every addition, something would have to go. And since Multiplayer getting cut was not/is not/will never be an option (as it was far too profitable), where are you guys finding the resources and space for all these choices and consequences you all want to implement?
So... with every addition, something would have to go. And since Multiplayer getting cut was not/is not/will never be an option (as it was far too profitable), where are you guys finding the resources and space for all these choices and consequences you all want to implement?
#14
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:19
DeinonSlayer
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How to reshape the ending?
The Crucible turns out to be a Reaper trap - it reopens the Citadel Relay, and starts letting them pour through in FULL strength. To stop them, the Normandy has to go through the Citadel Relay into Dark Space, where the other end of the connection - a "dark citadel" - is found. They board this structure, fighting husks of species processed in previous cycles (Inusannon FTW!) and discovering that it houses many hundreds of thousands of pods, each containing a unique alien.
The Reapers harvest entire species to build more of themselves, but they keep one individual from each race to serve as the master control unit, the "mind," of each new Reaper, and they wanted Shepard to be the next one (full credit to LT Ashler for this part of it). Their motives are tied to dark energy - it's a natural phenomenon, but it will lead to the inevitable death of the suns organic life depends on, each lighting up like Haestrom's sun, sooner than we expect. The Reapers preserved species in a form that could survive without them - achieving a form of immortality.
Kill the master control unit, the pod-bound "mind" of a Reaper, and you kill the Reaper itself. Destroy the Dark Citadel, and you'll kill them all. But how to do this? The Normandy could thanix the crap out of the Dark Citadel, but that means the Citadel Relay would shut down, permanently stranding them in dark space. The alternative is to drop a bomb. Specifically, to convert the Normandy's drive core into one, just as Kirrahe's STG team did on Virmire with their own ship. Drop the Tantalus on the Dark Citadel... with someone to guard it until it goes off while the Normandy limps back home.
Picture a Halo: Reach ending where Shepard (and your LI/best friend) fights off endless waves of husks until the timer hits zero.
Then again, there's a suicidal Prothean on board who would probably be happy to do it on his own...
The Crucible turns out to be a Reaper trap - it reopens the Citadel Relay, and starts letting them pour through in FULL strength. To stop them, the Normandy has to go through the Citadel Relay into Dark Space, where the other end of the connection - a "dark citadel" - is found. They board this structure, fighting husks of species processed in previous cycles (Inusannon FTW!) and discovering that it houses many hundreds of thousands of pods, each containing a unique alien.
The Reapers harvest entire species to build more of themselves, but they keep one individual from each race to serve as the master control unit, the "mind," of each new Reaper, and they wanted Shepard to be the next one (full credit to LT Ashler for this part of it). Their motives are tied to dark energy - it's a natural phenomenon, but it will lead to the inevitable death of the suns organic life depends on, each lighting up like Haestrom's sun, sooner than we expect. The Reapers preserved species in a form that could survive without them - achieving a form of immortality.
Kill the master control unit, the pod-bound "mind" of a Reaper, and you kill the Reaper itself. Destroy the Dark Citadel, and you'll kill them all. But how to do this? The Normandy could thanix the crap out of the Dark Citadel, but that means the Citadel Relay would shut down, permanently stranding them in dark space. The alternative is to drop a bomb. Specifically, to convert the Normandy's drive core into one, just as Kirrahe's STG team did on Virmire with their own ship. Drop the Tantalus on the Dark Citadel... with someone to guard it until it goes off while the Normandy limps back home.
Picture a Halo: Reach ending where Shepard (and your LI/best friend) fights off endless waves of husks until the timer hits zero.
Then again, there's a suicidal Prothean on board who would probably be happy to do it on his own...
#15
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:20
spirosz
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One of the main things I'd like changed is the Cerberus arc and as you stated, that "tension" to the build up with the Reapers, but with that tension - remember the whole MP aspect and "recruiting fighters across the galaxy" - it ties in with the Reapers being there right away, to set the tone and that whole mentality of best place to start. I would of personally gone away with that, but I understand why it's there.
The Cerberus arc as a whole, I don't know, it just seems so laughable and I felt like Mass Effect 3 was more about "Humanity vs Humanity" compared to the "Galaxy vs the Reapers". It's like Bioware tried to make it more personal, while committing what seemed like one of humanity's last resort into something that can make Shepard feel a sort of disconnect, in a sense. It didn't work for me because every time I felt like Shepard committing to the galaxy and winning key battles against the Reapers, oh look - Cerberus! Now, I did see TIM's fall since ME2, I sort of felt like it was going to happen and the indoctrination, but I guess I had a different mindset before ME3's release.
The Cerberus arc as a whole, I don't know, it just seems so laughable and I felt like Mass Effect 3 was more about "Humanity vs Humanity" compared to the "Galaxy vs the Reapers". It's like Bioware tried to make it more personal, while committing what seemed like one of humanity's last resort into something that can make Shepard feel a sort of disconnect, in a sense. It didn't work for me because every time I felt like Shepard committing to the galaxy and winning key battles against the Reapers, oh look - Cerberus! Now, I did see TIM's fall since ME2, I sort of felt like it was going to happen and the indoctrination, but I guess I had a different mindset before ME3's release.
Modifié par spirosz, 03 juin 2013 - 01:21 .
#16
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:22
DeinonSlayer
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Cut back on cameo missions, I say. Fold them in elsewhere. And for the love of God, cut the Cerberus plot.chemiclord wrote...
It's kinda interesting how many changes people are suggesting that actually puts MORE content in when ME3 as is already hit the wall as far as how much content they could squeeze into the limits and resources they had.
So... with every addition, something would have to go. And since Multiplayer getting cut was not/is not/will never be an option (as it was far too profitable), where are you guys finding the resources and space for all these choices and consequences you all want to implement?
The Rannoch campaign I proposed, actually, has a shortcoming in the form of lacking dakka. It's not comprised of multiple side-missions, rather, a single branching one. That's probably its biggest shortcoming. Need to give people more crap to shoot at.
Modifié par DeinonSlayer, 03 juin 2013 - 01:24 .
#17
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:25
SlottsMachine
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Cthulhu42 wrote...
Every mission would end with Shepard and the squad walking away from an explosion in slow motion.
#18
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:26
MassivelyEffective0730
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There's a lot. A huge amount.
It'd be really hard to list everything, but just about everything would be re-written, with many new scenario's and issues added.
It'd be really hard to list everything, but just about everything would be re-written, with many new scenario's and issues added.
#19
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:26
dreamgazer
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Just rewrite the whole trilogy. Why not, right?
#20
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:29
SlottsMachine
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dreamgazer wrote...
Just rewrite the whole trilogy. Why not, right?
With 50% moar batarians.
#21
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:29
Only-Twin
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I'm enjoying some of the ideas here. I think here is what I would change:
The game should start out closer to the ending of ME2 and give a stronger explanation for why Shepard returned to Earth. Perhaps Hackett orders him to return or be brought in by force.
The citadel could be alerted to the Reapers when they enter Batarian space. Humanity and the other races would get a warning in advance about the invasion, giving them time to prepare. At that point, Shepard could be free to go about the galaxy to ally the others races.
I also felt like the whole Crucible thing was introduced WAY too early. The game could have been a lot more exciting if the ruins on Mars only hinted at a weapon, and Shepard had to explore numerous systems in the galaxy to find a way to stop the invasion.
The invasion itself could be held off until halfway through the game. I felt there was no point in having the Reapers hit Earth in the first 5 minutes.
The game should start out closer to the ending of ME2 and give a stronger explanation for why Shepard returned to Earth. Perhaps Hackett orders him to return or be brought in by force.
The citadel could be alerted to the Reapers when they enter Batarian space. Humanity and the other races would get a warning in advance about the invasion, giving them time to prepare. At that point, Shepard could be free to go about the galaxy to ally the others races.
I also felt like the whole Crucible thing was introduced WAY too early. The game could have been a lot more exciting if the ruins on Mars only hinted at a weapon, and Shepard had to explore numerous systems in the galaxy to find a way to stop the invasion.
The invasion itself could be held off until halfway through the game. I felt there was no point in having the Reapers hit Earth in the first 5 minutes.
Modifié par Only-Twin, 03 juin 2013 - 01:32 .
#22
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:32
Seboist
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dreamgazer wrote...
Just rewrite the whole trilogy. Why not, right?
That would be the best option.
#23
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:32
DeinonSlayer
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#24
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:33
Mr.House
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Nah, just ME2 amd ME3. ME is fine as it was.dreamgazer wrote...
Just rewrite the whole trilogy. Why not, right?
#25
Posté 03 juin 2013 - 01:35
Mr.House
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Why u no like plants crapping out fully arned asari?dreamgazer wrote...
Mr.House wrote...
Nah, just ME2 amd ME3. ME is fine as it was.dreamgazer wrote...
Just rewrite the whole trilogy. Why not, right?
Nah, there are several things that need work in the original, too.
