The worst scene is walking through the scanner going to the war room or leaving the war room. It's very annoying.
What do you think is the most poorly written scene in the ME series?
Débuté par
congokong
, févr. 04 2014 05:14
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#952
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Posté 06 avril 2014 - 04:36
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That clusterf%ck of a meeting with the Council in ME2. The absolute worst moment for me in the entire trilogy. Everything about it gets on my nerves, especially the Council NOT knowing about the Reapers and Shepard being a tongue-tied idiot. I swear, BioWare just loves using the Idiot Ball. Warning: this is gonna be really long folks.
Okay, Anderson and the Council prepared the meeting so that Shepard can explain why he joined up with Cerberus and what was he doing for the past two years.
First off, why did Shepard willingly join Cerberus in the first place? Just… why? Why? WHY?!
Cerberus is branded as a terrorist organization by both the Alliance and the Council. Shepard fought against Cerberus in ME1, killed at least dozens of their operatives and shut down their multiple operations. He knows Cerberus betrayed the Alliance, killed Admiral Kahoku, killed Kahoku's men with a thresher maw, tortured Toombs, unleashed the rachni which caused havoc and slaughtered most of Durand’s 90 men, possibly turned an entire colony into husks as a test experiment, etc.
Shepard can be a sole survivor who witnessed his whole unit of 50 men getting butchered on Akuze, which deeply scarred him both emotionally and psychologically. He knows Cerberus is responsible for all of this and… he immediately joins Cerberus?!
Shepard is a Spectre and an Alliance officer. He could have joined back with either the Alliance or the Council in order to investigate the missing colonies. However, Shepard doesn't even try checking in with these two most painfully obvious and valid options and… decides to join a terrorist organization instead?! What f&%$ing meaning of logic is this?
Shepard is a moron whenever he talks to the Illusive Man in ME2. He never brings up anything about their atrocities in both ME1 and ME2. Akuze is never mentioned either! WTF? Sure, Shepard can throw cheap protests and lame questions against TIM here and there… but at the end of every single conversation he goes "Derp. Yes, master!" and follows his orders to the letter. Nice one, BioWare.
Okay, maybe I’m getting a little side-tracked. Back to the meeting.
Later, Shepard acquires the meeting with the Council. There, Anderson and the Council expect Shepard to explain himself… but Shepard doesn't even bother?! Shepard doesn't mention anything at all as to what he did in the last two years nor why he joined up with Cerberus, despite this being the sole purpose of the meeting in the first place. When it comes to saying anything about Cerberus, the one and only option that the player is given… is to defend Cerberus?! WTF?
There's no option to convince the Council that Shepard's on their side. For example, you can’t simply hand over the SR2, share classified Cerberus files aboard the Normandy and you can't work undercover as a double agent. Shepard’s nasty history with Cerbuers alone proves that he’s no Cerberus lapdog, but there’s zero mention of it. There’s absolutely no mention of the recent "N7: Lost Operative" assignment either. This mission can be done before the meeting, where Shepard can hand over highly classified information about Cerberus to the Alliance. Anderson called it a “huge win” for the Alliance and that “it could do serious damage against Cerberus if it went public.”
Then… during the meeting we find out that the Council really doesn’t believe in the Reapers?! "Ah yes, "Reapers". We’ve dismissed that claim." 
Anderson says: "Vigil shut down on Ilos and only you and your crew ever spoke to Sovereign. I believe you, but without evidence from another source the others think Saren was behind the geth attacks."
We’re told that Vigil shut down because the facility ran out of power. And? So what? I mean, why is this a problem? All advanced galactic species have based their technology on the Protheans. Many Prothean ruins were discovered, explored, studied and their technology was reverse-engineered. This is how humanity and all other alien species mastered space travel in the first place. They also based their technologies on the mass relays and the Citadel, just like the Protheans and all other species before them. Even omni-tools are compatible and can interface with Prothean technology.
The Council should have simply been able to restore power or just collect data from hardware. But no, this never crossed their minds.
They say only Shepard spoke to Vigil and Sovereign, and there's no other evidence from another source. All they got are his words and visions.
Uhm, yes… yes, there are more evidences than that. In ME1, Ashley confirmed that they had suit recordings. This means EVERYTHING was recorded throughout ME1. I read over a dozen posts where people argue that this still doesn't matter and it makes no difference. For example, the talk with Sovereign and Vigil could be easily dismissed as Saren trolling Shepard with a "Reaper" and "Prothean" VI. Saren had spies at the Citadel and he read Shepard's reports from Eden Prime. It makes perfect sense, right?
Sooo… Saren prepares a hologram "Reaper" VI in his very own personal quarters in a super top secret base. He does this so he could further mess around with Shepard… just in case, huh? Despite the highly improbable chance that Shepard would be capable of finding the base and if he would personally manage to come all the way to Saren’s personal quarters?
Saren was also apparently an expert in ancient Prothean computer programming, despite that no such profession exists in the entire galaxy. He was totally able to use the facility on Ilos to program Vigil in order to mess with Shepard. Why Saren didn't simply set up a bomb or some other kind of trap is never dwelled upon.
In the same room on Virmire, Shepard found another Prothean beacon… just like the one on Eden Prime for which Saren and the geth were willing to start a war. Why was Saren dumb enough to leave that behind if he was expecting Shepard to come is also never questioned. Same thing can be said for Vigil, except that this time Saren also programmed Vigil to give Shepard a data file which will sabotage Saren’s entire plan and operation to take over the Citadel.
Yup, it all makes perfect sense. /s
In other words, what I'm trying to say is NO! Saying that Saren was simply trolling Shepard doesn't make any goddamn sense. Here, watch this if for some reason you need any more proof.
Another big thing is that if you bring Liara with you on Ilos, you get a chance to download files about the Reapers from Vigil. Never mentioned at all in ME2. Was this completely forgotten by the writers?
During the meeting Shepard is an absolute dumb@ss in so many ways. He never mentions nor does he bring any evidence about the Reapers. He also defends Cerberus and then complains that the Council doesn't trust him for some reason. Sigh.
I'll give a list of what Shepard could have mentioned and/or brought to the meeting.
- Suit recordings. Nuff said.
- Everyone knows that the Protheans went extinct but don't know how or why. An entire advanced species, even more advanced that the current cycle, which had its empire stretched across the whole galaxy just simply disappeared! Doesn't this seriously raise any red flags?
Check out the following planets:
http://masseffect.wi...com/wiki/Helyme
http://masseffect.wi...om/wiki/Eingana
http://masseffect.wi...com/wiki/Armeni
http://masseffect.wi...com/wiki/Etamis
http://masseffect.wi...com/wiki/Atahil
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Joab
http://masseffect.wi...com/wiki/Aphras
http://masseffect.wi...om/wiki/Bothros
http://masseffect.wi.../wiki/Tosal_Nym
http://masseffect.wi...com/wiki/Gaelon
http://masseffect.wi.../wiki/Klendagon
http://masseffect.wi...om/wiki/Vecchio
http://masseffect.wi...om/wiki/Gamayun
http://masseffect.wi...om/wiki/Junthor
There's more I could add but I won't bother finding them.
The Protheans aren't the only spacefaring species known to have existed. There were other mass extinctions around the galaxy which span for millions and millions of years.
I agree the existence of pre-Prothean species isn't really great evidence about the Reapers. The galaxy is… well, it's frickin HUGE! Mind-bogglingly huge. A few dozens or even hundreds of planets with signs of mass extinctions means almost nothing on a galactic scale. Maybe the Reapers didn't cause these extinctions but some other alien species in their time. Some pre-Prothean species were known to fight each other. Maybe these extinctions were due to terrorism, or an engineered virus like the genophage, or a nuclear self-destruction, etc.
However, one thing that should be kept in mind is that according to the Codex less than 1% of the galaxy has been surveyed. So little has been explored, and they already found so many traces of ancient wars and extinctions. Even the Protheans connected the dots in their cycle and found it odd.
This is something that obviously supports Shepard’s claims. It mustn't be ignored at all.
- Cerberus News Network about the mass relays not being built by Protheans and being much older than originally thought:
"Historians and astronomers alike are abuzz tonight over a new paper published by Dr. Amanda Kenson of the University of Arcturus. Her team claims that by testing the dust trapped in the gravity wells around a mass relay, and comparing its composition to that of dust clouds in the same system, scientists can create a timeline of when the relay passed through the dust. Her conclusion? "Only a small fraction of the mass effect relays date back 50,000 years," she writes, "The majority are far older, indicating they were created by a species predating even the Protheans." Dr. Aurana T'Meles of the University of Serrice met the information with skepticism: "While Dr. Kenson's methods appear sound, the asari tried a similar procedure centuries ago and discounted it. What civilization could have spanned the galaxy for not thousands, but millions of years? If this were the case, we should have found mountains of evidence of their passing. Where is this species now?"
"Reactions to the discovery that mass relays were not created by the Prothean civilization continue to pour in. On Kahje, the response is largely denial and shock. Religious leader All-Bright Olos the 10th, the Sounaril of the Manas tradition, reacted by uploading a 13-minute speech to the newsnets that urged calm and peace. "It is no heresy to say the Enkindlers themselves may have been Enkindled," the hanar said. "It is their example of selflessness, courtesy, and willingness to share their gifts that teaches these ones how to live. To say there was something before them, an even more noble being, gives these penitents an even swifter current to ride, a greater model to which we can all aspire.""
"Evidence continues to mount that the system of mass relays attributed to the Protheans predate their civilization. Dr. Aurana T'Meles of the University of Serrice, a one-time skeptic of the claim, now says she's a convert. "This team has been meticulous in dating relays from many locations," she says in her findings. "It is not their responsibility to hypothesize who created the relays, only to isolate the eras of their construction." Such hypotheses abound and usually feature disappeared species like the arthenn or zeioph. Nearly all have been ruled out since they did not coexist with the oldest of the relays. Dr. Amanda Kenson, team lead for the initial discovery, could not be reached for comment at broadcast time."
- Say, wouldn't it have been great if Shepard and Cerberus bothered to intercept Collector transmissions and communications, and perhaps locate where they're being sent from? Wouldn't this be good evidence? Oh wait… this is exactly what happened in ME2.
Codex: "While monitoring outgoing transmissions sent by the mysterious leader of the Collectors to his minions on the battlefield, Cerberus intelligence experts also intercepted incoming transmissions. The signals were encrypted commands sent to the Collector General from a source outside the galaxy."
- Shepard fought many Collectors. To the Council he could have brought at least a dozen dead Collectors and let their bodies be examined. They would be able to connect them to the Protheans. Collectors were deeply indoctrinated, they were very altered and upgraded with Reaper tech (which can be linked to Dragon’s Teeth, husks, Sovereign and other Reaper tech).
- Here’s Chorban’s e-mail that you can get in ME2 if you scanned all 21 keepers in ME1:
From: Chorban
I hope this address still works. I promised to send you intel on the keepers if I found anything, and this is important. See, those scans you took? It turns out the keepers are bio-engineered...and based on my comparisons to some of that material from Saren's flagship Sovereign, they were engineered millions of years ago...by the same people who made Sovereign!
You may not understand how important this is, but it suggests that the Citadel wasn't really made by the Protheans! It may have been made by something far older, with the keepers as organic guardians. And what's more, based on my genetic readings, they're supposed to react to...something, some signal or something...about every 50 thousand years. You can measure genetic variances; it's a bit like comparing rings on a tree to see the drought years.
Whoever did this...well, around the last time this signal went off would be around the time the Protheans disappeared. And it's scheduled to go off sometime around now. If any old tech still works, they could have some nasty surprises waiting for us.
Just thought you'd want to know. Nobody here on the Citadel will listen to me.
-Chorban
- If I remember correctly, it was confirmed in ME1 that Dragon’s Teeth, the devices used to create husks, were NOT geth technology because they have very little similarities.
- Shepard could have binded his mind with the asari Councilor and share all his visions to her, just like he did with Liara and Shiala. Shepard got his visions from the beacon on Eden Prime, the beacon on Virmire, he got the Cipher from Shiala, another vision from the Prothean artifact on Joab, and the Reaper artifact in the “Arrival” DLC.But… nobody thinks about this either in ME1 and ME2.
- During the "N7: Archaeological Dig Site" assignment, Shepard finds a Prothean artifact that gives him visions like the beacons. Excellent, all he needs to do now is bring this artifact to the Council and let them study it. He could also bring Shiala and let her share the Cipher so they could experience the visions themselves.
- The Thanix cannon weapon is a very powerful but scaled-down version of the weapon Sovereign used during the Battle of the Citadel, which the Council races have adapted less than a year after the battle… but it’s something the geth were NOT using at all. If they did then they could have actually taken over the Citadel or the battle would have at least played much more in their favour. So what does the Council really think about this? That the geth suck at military strategy?
- If there were suit recordings in ME1 then there were suit recording in ME2. This means every encounter with the Collectors, with Harbinger, every conversation with TIM, the events of Arrival, etc. have all been recorded... or at least could have been recorded and brought to the Council.
- During the "N7: Abandoned Mine" assignment, Shepard finds a Reaper artifact which turned everyone into husks. Wouldn't this be an amazing evidence to report to the Council as well? Nope, apparently tis not worth it. Shepard decides to blow it up and bury it under rubble for whatever reason. Codex states the Reaper artifact from Object Rho has "unnatural resilience to alteration or damage and even prevents state-of-the-art laser drilling from extracting the smallest piece for analysis." So maybe the artifact is still undamaged and functional. But anyways, Shepard doesn't bother reporting it to the Council.
- There’s some evidence about the Reapers in Keiji's greybox.
- TIM gives Shepard the location of the derelict Reaper. A real……..actual…..…Reaper………… and Shepard doesn't immediately reveal this to the Council and the Alliance so they could investigate. Another Reaper like Sovereign, which is a perfect key to prove the Reaper existence and to win the upcoming Reaper war…….. but Shepard decides to keep his mouth shut. If he quickly told this to the Council then destroying the derelict Reaper wouldn't have been necessary at all. During this mission, Shepard gathers plenty of evidence and research from the Cerberus team. He and his crew could have also used their omni-tools to make hundreds of scans, all which could have been shared with the Council. Or they could have just ordered EDI to scan the ship and collect whatever she can, just like she did later on with the Collector base.
- Both Legion and Samara can be brought to the Council meeting if you recruited them. Legion is an actual geth, nobody knows what happens inside geth space and they know little about his people. Imagine all the wonders that Legion could reveal and all the evidence it could present from its people! Imagine all the evidence the geth could provide! But all we get from him is… one sentence... and that's it. Nobody cares about more.
Samara is a Justicar, and a word from a Justicar goes unquestioned in asari society. Does Shepard have the option to tell Samara to have a chat with Councilor Tevos? Nope.
- There's a motherload of evidence about indoctrination and a lot of it can be seen from Shepard's and his squad's suit recordings. Benezia was indoctrinated and we see her break out of indoctrination for a short time in order to help Shepard. Saren, the Council's former top Spectre was indoctrinated as well. Shiala, Benezia's very close associate, was indoctrinated but cured thanks to the Thorian.
Rana Thanoptis was Saren’s main scientist and researcher about indoctrination. Shepard encounters her on Virmire, talks to her about it and he even collects her research.
During Mordin’s loyalty mission Maelon mentioned Reaper indoctrination, which shows that the STG did know something about the Reapers. Or at least, they suspected. Mordin's classified files at the Shadow Broker's base show that he researched indoctrination during his time in STG.
Kirrahe lost half his men investigating Saren's secret facility on Virmire. Few days later, Shepard ends up fighting these men inside the facility, and notices that the facility is clearly being used to study indoctrination. He finds cells and can interact with prisoners who are being used as test subjects.
There are classified Cerberus files about indoctrination aboard the Normandy, the Cerberus scientists from the derelict Reaper which Shepard can record and collect. Then there's the people from the Arrival DLC.
- Arrival DLC can be played right after Horizon. In it, Shepard can find lots of scans, records and research from Kenson and her team. Again, nothing is presented to the Council.
- The huge amount of data stolen from the Collector ship by EDI when Shepard went inside. She made scans and had access to the databanks. She downloaded a ton of data.
- The Normandy SR1's sensor logs from Eden Prime and Virmire. SR2's sensor logs from the derelict Reaper.
- Shepard and Liara took over the Shadow Broker's base in LotSB DLC. The SB had more intel and connections than the Council and Cerberus combined. He tried to stop Saren for working with the Reapers, he made deals with the Collectors and he even knew about the derelict Reaper. Had a drone inside it.
Does Shepard take any evidence about the Reapers from the SB’s base? Again, no.
Shepard could have mentioned ANY of these during the meeting. But no, the writers decided to give him and everyone else a heavy Idiot Ball instead.
Overall, Shepard and his crew members are morons. Sucks, and it actually pisses me off. But the way I see it, the Council and some of the others are even worse. Why?
Well yeah, Shepard may be an idiot… but his job and role are military. It's his job to fight and win, which he does extremely well. To say that it's all Shepard's fault that the Council doesn't know about the Reapers and that the burden of proof lays on him isn't right.
On the other hand, the Council's role is inquisitorial in nature. It was their job and duty to investigate, especially after what happened near the end of ME1 and because of what Sovereign managed to pull off.
It was their task and obligation to find out and accurately determine the events and circumstances that were surrounding and leading up to the Battle of the Citadel, the attack at the heart of all galactic civilization. Which is an obligation they failed miserably; despite having every evidence, clue, trail and connection slammed on their noses to properly guide them.
The same thing can be said for their task to investigate and discover about the Reapers. There are signs and evidences all across the galaxy but it seems no one except for Shepard and Cerberus are truly willing to investigate them.
Alright, the Council states they went to Ilos, they've tried to talk to Vigil and… that's about it? Uhm… okay? Why only Vigil?
What about Eden Prime, Feros, Noveria, Virmire, rest of Ilos and multiple other uncharted worlds that Shepard visited? If they launched such an investigation then they would have at least discovered a ton of evidences that would support Shepard's claims. Why would it? It has to, because Shepard's claims are true.
Why didn't the Council send a lot of spy drones deep inside geth space? Why didn't they arrest Shiala and placed her for questioning? What about following Saren's footsteps, digging into his records and past to get leads? Why not investigate the Collectors and colony abductions? Why didn't they investigate planets such as Klendagon? If they investigated the Great Rift valley, which was caused by an ancient and very powerful mass accelerator weapon, they would have discovered the derelict Reaper like Cerberus did. Both the Shadow Broker and Legion's geth were capable of finding the derelict Reaper but not them? Why couldn't they find other Reaper artifacts like Shepard and Cerberus did throughout ME1 and ME2? Amanda Kenson and her team followed a rumor and thanks to that they too managed to find a Reaper artifact in batarian space.
In ME1, Shepard was their ONLY agent sent to stop Saren and to investigate the matter. He investigated and made forward a version and explanation of events that is matched by every single piece of physical and recorded evidence that is available.
The Council knows very little about the geth, they know nothing about what's going on in geth space, they don't know how Saren recruited the geth, how the hell he got a matriarch like Benezia as an ally, why he decided to attack the Citadel and declare war on every species (including his own), what was his goal, why did the geth choose to follow him, etc. They got very little to nothing for supporting their own claims.
The Council couldn't determine that Sovereign was a Reaper and not a geth ship? BullSh!t! Absolute bullsh!t! Sovereign was alien and much more advanced than the geth. There must be countless differences between them. I have no way of describing how absurd and ridiculous it is that they didn’t find out. I don't understand how the Council can deny Sovereign, a Reaper itself, as evidence. If this didn't convince them then I honestly don't know what else would.
The way I understood the meeting in ME2, it also appears that there was nothing which proves Sovereign was a geth ship either. Councilor Valern said "We found nothing to suggest that Sovereign was not a geth creation."
Doesn’t this imply that nothing suggests Sovereign was a geth creation either? No, really, that’s the impression I got. In ME3 “Citadel” DLC, it was revealed that the Council actually suspected that Sovereign was possibly a Reaper.
About Sovereign, Anderson says "We’ve secured as much of it as we could, but between the keepers and whole lot of unauthorized salvage, there's no way to account for even half of that thing." Not even half? So how much did they get? A third? A quarter of it? That's still way more than enough, mostly because Sovereign was enormous. Look at its size when compared to the geth ships.
Anderson admits they had lots of unauthorized salvage. The Codex confirms that volunteers were allowed to help out. Yes, they actually allowed volunteers to help out. And here's what Bailey says.
After more than two years, they are still clearing Sovereign’s wreckage. So the Council allowed volunteers to help out, they barely made effort in their investigations, they do a very slow job of gathering Sovereign’s wreckage and complain that they didn't have enough evidence to find out if Sovereign was a Reaper. Nice one, Council.
If anything, the Council is ignoring a lot of significant and key evidences. They barely made any damn effort in their investigations and chose to make conclusions which lack support and evidence, simply because those conclusions fit their own preferences. How isn't this anything but foolish?
Sovereign's size, design and capabilities are enough to tell it isn't geth. Even if Sovereign was a geth ship, its existence still represents a great threat to Council space. The Citadel suffered huge losses near the end of ME1. Its fleet and defences were decimated. If the geth built one, then there should be even more of them out there. How anyone without such a basic threat analysis managed to reach adulthood or even managed to get a Council seat is beyond me. Same thing can be said for indoctrination and how they show absolutely no worry about it. Oh yeah, so what if the geth possess technology that can turn a greatest ally into a greatest enemy within just a few days? Think about it. Lt. Ganto Imness even called it a threat greater than the krogan rebellions.
Either way you look at it, the Council is foolish, ignorant and incompetent. Absolutely idiotic. To me, they are much worse than Shepard.
The aliens have ruled the Citadel for 2000 years and they've had no curiosity about what the Citadel station actually is and how it functions. During this whole time they were "it just works, lawl" while sitting on their asses.
Also, remember what it took to prove Saren's guilt to the Council in ME1? Saren was their top Spectre. According to Anderson, he was a living legend. But all it took was one audio recording, which could have been easily faked, to convince the Council that it's irrefutable that their best Spectre was guilty.
Yet in ME2 they have suit recordings, there are marks of mass extinctions and ancient wars all across the galaxy, they have Ilos, Sovereign, evidence showing that the relays pre-date the Protheans… and they give Shepard the air quotes.
*Siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*
Now… let’s take a look at the others.
In ME3 we find out from Balak and the Leviathan DLC that the batarians knew about the Reapers for 20 years. The stories behind the Leviathan of Dis did turn out to be true. They knew what Sovereign was, and I'm guessing this is why they didn't start a war with the Alliance after the events of Arrival. The Hegemony knew what Shepard said was true. Did the batarians bother warning the whole galaxy about the Reaper threat? No. Nice one, batarians.
The asari had a Prothean beacon hidded for thousands of years, and they never bothered sharing it. If they did, everything would have been different. Only after most of the galaxy was burning and when the Reapers finally came to their doorsteps did they decide to change their minds. F&%* them, it's NOT Shepards fault that Thessia fell. Nice one, asari.
Legion reveals in ME2 that the geth knew about the Reapers and the ones who joined Sovereign were just a faction they called Heretics. So, the geth knew the Heretics were commiting genocide on organics…and they did nothing about it. The geth knew about the Reapers… but they also never bothered warning the rest of the galaxy about them. Nice one, geth.
Councilor Tevos alone could have confirmed the Reapers existence. She knew Shepard and his missions since the beginning of ME1. She also read his reports and watched his suit recording. This means that she knew about Shiala and the Cipher. The Cipher helped understand the Prothean beacons, just like the one the asari were hiding on Thessia. She should have taken Shiala into custody and have her share the Cipher among some of the researchers, who would then fully understand the beacon and find Vendetta. Nice one, Tevos. Again, it's NOT Shepard's fault that Thessia fell.
Benezia knew about the Prothean beacon on Thessia. She knew about Shiala and about the Cipher. Yet she mentions nothing about it to Shepard or at least to Liara. Nice one, Benezia. Again, it's NOT Shepard's fault Thessia fell.
Dr. Kenson discovered evidence about the Reapers thanks to Object Rho. She admitted that she knew of the dangers of Reaper indoctrination… but still ended up getting indoctrinated herself. She and her team followed no safety procedures. Really? Didn't she and her team at least notice early symptoms of indoctrination among each other and started panicking to get the hell out? Come on, BioWare. Indoctrination was overdone in "Arrival" DLC, it was overdone inside the derelict Reaper and it was especially overdone with Cerberus in ME3.
Salarians are apparently masters in espionage and intelligence gathering. Some even see themselves as superior because they know everything about everyone. They just love giving the impression that they always know more than they're letting on. But they never uncovered the Reapers despite having some evidence and suspicion. Nice one, salarians.
Leviathans… oh boy, I thought idiocy can't get worse than the present cycle. They were present since the very beginning. They've been present for hundreds of million years, possibly even over a billion years... but never figured out a way to stop the Reapers. Never advanced enough to surpass the Reapers with all that free time? Never bothered building and finishing the Crucible? When the Reapers are in dark space they hibernate to conserve energy. In this state, Vigil confirmed that they're vulnerable. But the Leviathans never figured out to destroy the Reapers like this? Or couldn't they leave out beacons like the Protheans did with full information about the Reapers? Or at least they could have left schematics for building Reaper weapons. Just imagine how easy it would be to fight the Reapers if the allied battleships had the same firepower as them. Or if they could EMP bomb Sovereign class ships like them. Perhaps then they could be beaten conventionally.
Another reason I blame Shepard less is because we find out that he did present Reaper evidence during his trial. What evidence did he present? I'm guessing everything he and his team gathered during the suicide mission. EDI made plenty of scans and analysis of the Collector base and the human Reaper. Perhaps Shepard gave them a copy of the Reaper IFF to look through the Omega 4 Relay. I'm guessing Liara gave Reaper evidence from the Shadow Broker's base too. At least… well, I hope she did. She isn't exactly a good Shadow Broker. 
There also this, which Mac Walters confirmed has a massive amount of data and information about the Reapers.
Anderson said that they're scared and Shepard knows more about this enemy than anyone. Which is one of the reasons why they had Shepard grounded and haven't left him to rot in prison.
Shepard: "You brought me here to confirm what you already know. The Reapers are here."
Alliance Council: "Then…how do we stop them?"
Come on, really? Only now do they believe? How much more silly can this get?
Anderson: "We've all reviewed your reports, seen the data you collected, but it's all just theory to us."
… 
Just theory, huh? ARGH…GOD! Why couldn't I tell the Alliance Council to jump out the window and test the theory of gravity?!
TL;DR: Long ago, I remember reading a post from a BioWare dev who explained why he found it laughable that the Council still denied the Reapers in ME2. He even mentioned that he spoke to Mac Walters about it. Unfortunately, I don't know where the post is and I can't find it.
Aaaaaaaaaand, I'm done.
- Obadiah, IoCaster, sH0tgUn jUliA et 8 autres aiment ceci
#953
Posté 06 avril 2014 - 04:38
Bob from Accounting
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Christ Almighty.
- DeathScepter aime ceci
#954
Posté 06 avril 2014 - 07:21
ImaginaryMatter
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That clusterf%ck of a meeting with the Council in ME2. The absolute worst moment for me in the entire trilogy. Everything about it gets on my nerves, especially the Council NOT knowing about the Reapers and Shepard being a tongue-tied idiot. I swear, BioWare just loves using the Idiot Ball. Warning: this is gonna be really long folks.
...
TL;DR: Long ago, I remember reading a post from a BioWare dev who explained why he found it laughable that the Council still denied the Reapers in ME2. He even mentioned that he spoke to Mac Walters about it. Unfortunately, I don't know where the post is and I can't find it.
Aaaaaaaaaand, I'm done.
Holy Catalyst! I think you just set some new kind of record.
- DeathScepter aime ceci
#955
Posté 06 avril 2014 - 09:16
Daemul
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Brilliant post, you've voiced many of my frustrations about this series.
#959
Posté 06 avril 2014 - 06:36
DeathScepter
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personally I do believe a lot of idiocy is due to that there are hidden indoctrination devices hidden within the Citadel. Making People stupid from the First Cycle is a brilliant plan if it is true.
#960
Posté 06 avril 2014 - 08:03
Phoenix_Also_Rises
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Something about that biotic bubble explosion never made sense to me. Since the explosion moved outward with Nyreen dying instantly shouldn't the biotic bubble have faded instantly; resulting in the explosion to proceed outward?
Also I do believe that prior to that - in that very DLC, in fact, she actually PROJECTS a shield around Aria in order to buy her some time as the asari stretches the hole in one of Cerberus barriers.
So yes, no need for her to physically stand inside the bubble.
I was hoping for a squaddie.
Pointless, pointless waste of life.
#961
Guest_Trust_*
Posté 06 avril 2014 - 10:03
Guest_Trust_*
Guest_Trust_*
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Christ Almighty.
Welcome to the Internet.
Holy Catalyst! I think you just set some new kind of record.
Nah, it's just a dozen pages.
Ever heard of Gerry Pugliese? He wrote over 400 pages on how to... "fix" Mass Effect 3.
#962
Posté 06 avril 2014 - 11:13
geth47
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1-The extraction from the extended cut ending for ME3. Too much absurdity in such a small time-frame. The ship appears and lands in one instant, then Harbingers simply ceases to attack. Anything could be less silly, even if it was the officer from ME1 that sold you items in the cargo bay making a surprise appearance in a shuttle, or the hammerhead making a very fast surprise come-back to save the day and allow the extraction. After all, nobody was certain that it was destroyed.
2-Just about anything involving Kai-Leng. What a terrible character. And so contrasting with Sheppard. Even brooks, developed for a comedy side-story is a better villain. Instead of Kai-Leng, Cerberus could have simply cloned whoever died on Virmire. It would have been great, seeing the lost character being brought back to life (in a sense...) and pitted against shep. It would have been even greater if you could try to influence the clone to betray Cerberus and join the Alliance. In the same way you can ingluence Javik, Garrus, jack.
3-The repetitive dialogues in Pinnacle Station in order to enter the missions. An automated system, like the one in Citadel would have been better. The whole thing was uninspired.
4-Every time Shep inquires about subjects one would expect someone in his/her position to know about.
5-The Omega DLC in its entirety was shamefully bad.
#963
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 12:13
ImaginaryMatter
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5-The Omega DLC in its entirety was shamefully bad.
The Omega DLC does have a lot of redeeming factors.
It's combat is refreshing and exciting, and I don't just mean the inclusion of those mech things or the Adjutants. There's the inclusion of objective based fights and constant mix up in the types of combat, ranging from hallways battles to more open areas with chaotic spawn points for enemies. Omega itself and the sky box is well done in terms of art design.
While the dialogue was a little too polarizing, as like the main game it was desperately missing the lack of the neutral options, the reaction of characters towards the Paragon/Renegade actions is a nice touch. There were some interesting morality decisions and an interesting antagonist in Oleg Petrovsky (especially compared to the rest of Cerberus in ME3). Plus it finally introduced a class specific interrupt.
Is it worth the $15.00, ehh, probably not. But Omega does show that BioWare studio whatever can make a polished and good looking product. As a side story Omega very much excels.
- Han Shot First aime ceci
#964
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 12:17
Bob from Accounting
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I read about 200 pages of that before stopping.
Two years of writing, four hundred pages, and the man failed to say a single thing. Wasn't a single 'idea' in what I saw that wasn't stupid, trivial or obvious.
Should stand as a testament as to what makes professionals professionals and what makes amatuers amatuers.
#965
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 12:20
ImaginaryMatter
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I read about 200 pages of that before stopping.
Two years of writing, four hundred pages, and the man failed to say a single thing. Wasn't a single 'idea' in what I saw that wasn't stupid, trivial or obvious.
Should stand as a testament as to what makes professionals professionals and what makes amatuers amatuers.
Well I'm sure if he knew who you were he probably wouldn't care, he might even take it as a compliment.
- SwobyJ aime ceci
#966
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 01:08
wolfhowwl
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A very long post.
Good points, especially regarding some of the disastrous writing in ME2.
People rightfully complain about the portrayal of Cerberus going off the deep end in ME3, but the writers' handling of them in ME2 was still terrible as well.
They wanted Shepard to work with them in ME2 but Cerberus' introduction into the series and how they tried to justify forcing Shepard to work with them (stuff like the rampant Reaper denial on the part of everyone else) was horrible and very destructive.
#967
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 01:15
Bob from Accounting
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Just ridiculous.
The Council certainly could have been done better. But it really should be clear that the galaxy assembling a magic super-duper fleet of dreadnoughts would be crap writing, as is sadly oft requested here.
#969
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 01:18
DeinonSlayer
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Liara has never gone to Noveria ever again. EVER AGAIN.Benezia's death.
Saren's, ah, episode just before you reach the Citadel for the first time.
#970
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 02:24
Ribosome
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There were some interesting morality decisions and an interesting antagonist in Oleg Petrovsky (especially compared to the rest of Cerberus in ME3)
I'm just so glad they didn't pull the "lolindoctrinated" card there.
I appreciate the inclusion of female turians a lot, even if Nyreen was fairly mediocre as the "paragon figure" they were trying to present her as.
#971
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 02:36
Bob from Accounting
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Petrovsky wasn't really interesting.
#972
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 02:49
MassivelyEffective0730
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I read about 200 pages of that before stopping.
Two years of writing, four hundred pages, and the man failed to say a single thing. Wasn't a single 'idea' in what I saw that wasn't stupid, trivial or obvious.
Should stand as a testament as to what makes professionals professionals and what makes amatuers amatuers.
The only thing that separates 'professionals' from amateurs in many cases is a paycheck. Like an athlete, or a writer, or an astronomer, or a racing driver, or a philosopher, or, and especially this, a video game story writer.
If this were something more serious, like a medical doctor, or a pharmacist, or a lawyer, or a firefighter, or a commercial pilot, or a ship captain, or a military officer, or a member of the military period, then yes, there is indeed a difference between professionals and amateurs.
As I said on the first paragraph, there is nothing that separates a professional video game story writer from an amateur video game writer beyond a paycheck. Being a 'professional' video game story writer does not make ones ideas automatically any better or more compelling or more interesting.
And that said, your perspective has been noted before and read, and it's discarded as irrelevant. Nobody cares that you find other people's ideas stupid, trivial, or obvious. You aren't a professional video game story writer. And even if you were, your opinions aren't worth any more because of it.
#973
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 02:50
MassivelyEffective0730
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Just ridiculous.
The Council certainly could have been done better. But it really should be clear that the galaxy assembling a magic super-duper fleet of dreadnoughts would be crap writing, as is sadly oft requested here.
I've never once heard this from anyone other than yourself. And even then, it would still be better than the scenario you made up.
#974
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 02:50
MassivelyEffective0730
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Petrovsky wasn't really interesting.
To you. I wanted to hand him the keys to Omega and tell him to keep up the good work.
#975
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 02:51
KaiserShep
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The only thing that separates 'professionals' from amateurs in many cases is a paycheck. Like an athlete, or a writer, or an astronomer, or a racing driver, or a philosopher, or, and especially this, a video game story writer.
Man, Stephanie Meyer is proof of that.
- CrutchCricket, Anubis722, MassivelyEffective0730 et 1 autre aiment ceci
