Reorte wrote...
Whilst Shepard is supposed to be good the idea that (s)he's capable of doing what every single living creature for the past several billion years could not, purely on their own merits, is totally and utterly ridiculous and taking the "Space Jesus" idea that certain writers seem to have fallen for to even more ludicrous extremes.
And yet we do that very thing that no one's been able to do for all this time. Does a deus ex machina with utterly inane circumstances really mitigate that for you?
HYR 2.0 wrote...
Round-1 & -2 of Mirror Match = 3 enemies.
Shepard + 2 squadmates = 3 players.
Players match enemies in numbers for the better part of the game.
Are you sure? It's been a while but I remember a lot more than three enemies, even in the first round. Edit: Checked, it is three but they respawn.
Regardless I disagree that we couldn't match Reaper numbers. The question is what would we match them with. It sure as hell isn't going to be dreadnaughts, even in three years. So even if we accept that it's 3 and 3 in the analogy and 1000 and 1000 in the battle, Reapers still have the upper hand.
But don't try and tell me equipping the squad (and yourself) with Predators and Avengers is the same as equipping them with Acolytes and Reegars (which incidentally, would be a better analog for thanix canons (except its range), at least in function.
The Thanix cannon requires continuous fire on its (Reaper) target to do the required amount of damage to kill it. The PPR is one of the better DPS weapons available and the best in terms of continuous fire. It is especially good against defenses (like the Thanix vs. shields/armor) with mods and an ammo-power. Turns out, though, it's hard to sustain fire on an enemy that can shoot you down more easily than you can shoot them down. Case in point.
No it doesn't. It lacks the ramp up function of the PPR. The thanix does consistent damage throughout its duration and its damage is much higher in its class, than what the PPR does for infantry. The more accurate analog is the Collector Particle Beam or the Reegar though the latter is obviously range-restrained.
I'll also take this opportunity to say the difficulty of mirror match is significantly raised due to the Arena maps being small and largely open. If you could play in the MP maps, it'd be a whole different story, and as far as the analogy goes, we have no such constraints in space.
The Crucible also lets us "outgun" them; it's just not fan-approved as the Thanix Cannon clearly is!
The Crucible is an "I win" button. Its inherent cheapness aside most of its unpopularity stems from the circumstances of its use.
What I'm trying to say there is this: whatever prototype "Reaper" the Catalyst started with was "perfected" over an untold amount of time and upgraded-out, after which point they've been spending centuries upon centuries creating more of these protoypes. Sovereign took on the Citadel fleets and Alliance's. The Rannoch Destroyer required the quarians' entire navy. Creating one Reaper is as good as us creating a fleet. In that, they've been at it a lot longer than us!
Creating the
same prototype, over and over again.
But the more important point is, I don't think it took them very long to perfect their methods at all. I'd actually say one cycle, two tops (and I don't care what Leviathan claims about "countless generations"). Here is a
post I found long ago about the estimated intelligence of a Reaper. Now something that advanced, that powerful, doesn't need "countless ages" to figure out the best way to reap some piddly organics that it already controls in everything but name. Really, I'd be surprised if it needs 10 seconds.
The Reapers unchained by the cycles and the holokid's purpose would advance and upgrate at incalculable rates. There'd be no way for anything to keep up. But as they are bound by the cycles, they've already reached their perfect form and have no need to further evolve.
Stepping back from the thanix and conventions argument for a second, it's almost painful to compare what the Reapers should be from what we know from ME1 and 2 and how they are in 3. If that post about their intelligence was even remotely accurate, there'd be no way anything could defeat them, ever, even with magic plot devices. They'd really be a cosmic force. On the other hand I wouldn't expect them to bother with puny organics either.
Anyway to get back to what we have, it's the worst kind of compromise, one that leaves both sides wanting. On one hand, the Reapers are reduced and cheapened to ridiculous levels, while on the other, we're similarly reduced to the point where we may as well be throwing rocks, all for no good reason.
Modifié par CrutchCricket, 13 juillet 2013 - 04:54 .
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