138 réponses à ce sujet

[DeinonSlayer]

I've read L'Etoile's comments on the matter. I'm actually impressed at how well he was able to write Legion's "obsession" considering what Higher Paid thought was "cool".
 
I honestly don't mind the N7 armour. It gives Legion a rather unique feel, though it really should have been left as simply "a convenient field repair".
 
He's not played ME3 yet, and I don't think he ever plans to. I'd be genuinely curious to hear his thoughts about what they did to all four characters he put so much thought into (Ashley, Thane, Legion, EDI) and how they handled the Reaper scenario.

I'm sure he's thrilled with EDI's sexbot body and Legion's "I wanna be a real boy!" code.

[grey_wind]

I'm sure he's thrilled with EDI's sexbot body and Legion's "I wanna be a real boy!" code.

I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry when I read how much effort he put into ensuring EDI and Legion broke the archetypes of AI characters commonly seen in Science Fiction, and then comparing it to what we got in ME3.

 

It's not just the AI characters. Even Ash and Thane aren't spared from losing everything that made them unique. 

[DeinonSlayer]

I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry when I read how much effort he put into ensuring EDI and Legion broke the archetypes of AI characters commonly seen in Science Fiction, and then comparing it to what we got in ME3.

 

It's not just the AI characters. Even Ash and Thane aren't spared from losing everything that made them unique. 

I liked Chris' ideas on how to approach AI far better than what went into the final product. I actually tried to adhere to them in the alternate Rannoch plot I wrote.

 

I've posted it before a couple times, but it's "somewhat" related to the thread in that many characters are handled differently. I'm debating whether to post it again. David hated it, which is almost reason enough to do it. Almost...

[grey_wind]

I liked Chris' ideas on how to approach AI far better than what went into the final product. I actually tried to adhere to them in the alternate Rannoch plot I wrote.

 

I've posted it before a couple times, but it's "somewhat" related to the thread in that many characters are handled differently. I'm debating whether to post it again. David hated it, which is almost reason enough to do it. Almost...

I'd be interested in reading it.

And we all know Bobvid is going to derail this thread one way or another. No point trying to delay that inevitability.

[NeroonWilliams]

I'd be interested in reading it.

And we all know Bobvid is going to derail this thread one way or another. No point trying to delay that inevitability.

Just take my advice from earlier in this thread.  You can't respond to what you never see.

[DeinonSlayer]

I'd be interested in reading it.

And we all know Bobvid is going to derail this thread one way or another. No point trying to delay that inevitability.

Once more, with feeling. Get a snack first. You might need it.

 

 

As I saw it, there were serious problems with the Rannoch arc in ME3. 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).

-----------------------------------------

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 ME3, with few changes. Rannoch-Healthy is the focus of this post - Shepard 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 (basically, which enemies get spawned on the map). 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 will go to war with the Geth while you're there. 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 there. 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 is not yet online), 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 no personality. 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 (this system has limitations - it can only be built within specific star systems, and is only really effective at targeting Reapers entering through the bottleneck that is the Mass Relay, not stopping them from approaching from any direction via FTL). 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.

[Steelcan]

I would have loved to add in a real twist to ME3, make TIM not indoctrinated.

 

 

I think that this would have made a great end game twist to the game

[CrutchCricket]

I would have loved to add in a real twist to ME3, make TIM not indoctrinated.

 

 

I think that this would have made a great end game twist to the game

 

So the entire game, he was just an ******* all by himself?

 

Not really an improvement.

[Steelcan]

So the entire game, he was just an ******* all by himself?

 

Not really an improvement.

 

It's better than reducing him to a reaper pawn

 

I can clarify later, I'm not in the mood to write a gorram essay right now

[CrutchCricket]

It's better than reducing him to a reaper pawn

 

Not really. With all the derp he does and getting in my way, I already want to put a bullet in his head. Pawn or dick really doesn't make a difference at this point. At least in the former, you might find a measure of pity.

[ImaginaryMatter]

I always like the Marauder Shields approach where the guy had a plan B in case he got Indoctrinated.

[dublin omega 223]

Ah, what would I do? Well, here we go...

 

1.) Each ME2 squadmate that survives gets one mission where they are a temporary squadmate, playable after you meet them in the main game. Romance dialogue for LI's is included. The mission is not available if the LI dies (it is, in fact, a reward for completion). They also can banter with the non-ME2 squadmates to develop their personalities. This includes Mordin, if you save him.

 

2.) Change Ashley and Kaidan's dialogue to reflect less blatant bitching about joining Cerberus and more of a genuine worry about what the Lazarus Project could have done. Did the Illusive man put camera implants inside them to get access to Alliance intel? Was there a control chip, as Miranda suggests? These reasons never go away, but you allay the fears as normal.

 

3.) If Ash/Kaidan sides with Shepard unconditionally, they should say "I'd better not regret this" or something similar. They should say something suitable to trusting Shepard without prompting. Either "I know what to do" or something similar.

 

4.) A mission based on Shepard's background should be included. Spacer Shep can rescue his mother, Colonist Shep can go to Mindoir, and EarthShep can meet his old gang

 

5.) Liara needs to stop coming up to my room and acting like my friend when I never talk to her. If I have a communication, either Traynor or EDI can do it. Or at least use the damn intercom.

 

6.) Kirrahe needs to be a squadmate. He joins after Sur'Kesh and provides much need salarian banter. 

 

7.) Garrus needs an extra if Sidonis was dealt with in ME2. Maybe it's just a news article, but other loyalty missions had results and so should Garrus's.

 

8.) LI's on the ship should react more to being, well, LI's. You should find them in Shepard's cabin after a few missions. Maybe even in bed...

 

9.) Shepard should not spend the whole after-Thessia mission pouting. 

 

10.) Earth needs to be scrapped with something more exciting. I thought it was cool when the Brutes burst from the wall, but that was it. I need more moments like that.

 

11.) I want my War Assets to mean something during the battle for Earth. If I have a lot of asari units, let some huntresses use their biotics in clever fashion. If I have STG, let them set up killzones for sniper teams. Naturally, this would only apply to non-guaranteed assets

 

12.) All squadmates, past and present, should be present on Earth. Shepard gives an inspiring speech (read: Not the one we got) to all of them.

 

13.) No Starchild. Simply use the Crucible to follow either Anderson's suggestion or TIM's. No exposition needed.

 

 

110% agree.

[DuskWanderer]

Here's a few other ideas that I had

 

1.) Combine the things we pick up from scanning planets into missions we can bring the ME2 squaddies (and other folks) with. Give us a mission to an asari world to rescue Dr. Jelize and get the Hesperia period statue both on a place where Samara happens to be. Jacob can be recruiting where a few Alliance resources are. Go with Kasumi on a raid on a Cerberus base and grab some of that Crucible tech. So on and so forth

 

2.) Those upgrades we collect, the ones Glyph manages, should have stronger bonuses, but only one very specific type (like 20% biotic power, another is 20% tech cooldown, and so on). However, what Glyph does is attach these upgrades to one character. You would get these from planet scanning

 

3.) Give us a few side missions on the other races in the galaxy. A mission to Dekunna would have been fantastic in order to see some elcor, a mission to Irune for volus. ME2 characters, if they don't really have anywhere else to be (like Zaeed) could help on those missions

 

4.) Some missions to salarian places. All we saw of the salarians was purely in reaction to the krogan. I want to see more of their science, the way their people are. And more of their assets would help too

 

5.) ME3 squadmates need some kind of loyalty mission, or at least something specific to them. Like before, you don't have to do it, but it gets some assets and delves into their character. Only exception is Tali, since she already gets one with Rannoch, and Liara, who has enough stuff already. 

[teh DRUMPf!!]

Once more, with feeling. Get a snack first. You might need it.

 

And while you're at it, scroll down two posts after following the link! ;]

[Astrogenesis]

Liara

She gets enough face time as it is. I think it would be better if on Mars, she told you she was leaving to go and find the partially built crucible left over by the Protheans. This would explain how they were able to build it so quick. Also, I would change the time capsule scene. If you are perusing a love interest, then they should be the ones to come forth with the idea, Liara can do it if your abstaining.

 

Garrus

If you ask him in ME3, he mentions he has family down on Palaven. It would have been nice to see a side mission take you down to the planet to save them. Perhaps if you kept Sidonis alive in ME2, he could come in to play. For instance, he could sacrifice himself to make sure Garrus' family made it out alive.

 

James Vega

To be honest, I didn't like how Shepard and he knew each other before the game started and didn't elaborate on it. perhaps you could run in to him on the opening mission, and he tags along with you from there. Would still have preferred a Krogan squadmate though. 

 

Tali

If she was exiled in ME2, then she should just appear in ME3 as a friend on Shepard, and have nothing to do with the Quarian Admiralty. If so, maybe she could have met you on the citadel after the coup in order to help you help her people.  

 

Ash/Kaiden

Pretty much unchanged. The whole homosexual thing was ok, but I wish there was an option to say "Hey, lets just be mates", rarther than the "I love you too" and "Get the f**k away from me" options that we got. I also think there should have been a greater reward for staying loyal to them in ME2. 

 

EDI

She was Ok, but it would have been nice if she had returned to her holographic state more, like she was in ME2.

 

Javik

I liked how he had a lot of unique dialogue for several missions. However, I didn't care for the Eden Prime thing, it didn't bring back memories of ME1 like I had hoped and it may as well have been a whole other planet. Instead I would like to have returned to Ilos to collect him, as long as they stuck to the art style and mood of the mission in ME1. 

 

ME2 Squadies

 

Miranda

I always though that Miranda was the Ashley of ME2, and I expected her to have a much more prominent role as a full time squaddie in ME3. You would meet here on your first trip to the Citadel and she would remain a squad mate until Thessia, where she would tell you she needed to take care of some things, leading to Sanctuary.  

 

Jacob

Meh, he found himself a new squeeze, so screw him. I think the end of his mission should have included a choice to either save him, or a shuttle full of civilians. That way, if you were really mad that he moved on without you, you could have some sweet revenge.

 

Jack

I liked her new role as a teacher to her students. I really wanted her as a squaddie, but it would be difficult to do that and keep the student aspect. It would also be nice to run in to her on Priority Earth, where you would get to see first hand the choice you made with her students and possibly watching them die.

 

Grunt

Again, I liked him as is. I think there could have been more differences in his mission regarding the Rackni Queen. For instance, if you killed her in ME1, then you would find some kind of Reaper-fied egg laying machine, which you would destroy. If it was the Queen, then you choice to help or leave her would have ramifications for Grunt.  

 

Mordin

Perfect.

 

Thane

Not sure how I can improve him really. I would say hold off on his death until your return to the Citadel to see the Asari councillor, but then that would mean his was bedridden for quite a while, so maybe not. 

 

Samara

I think someone mentioned it above, but her mission should have been about rounding up the Justicars. Maybe it could be pre-mission to the Thessia mission, and she could play a role in getting you to the Asari temple. 

 

Kasumi

As a DLC character, I would never have expected her to be substantial, but it would be nice to have her pop up more on the Citadel, and maybe during the coup. "Got your back, Shepard".

 

Zaeed

Also a DLC character. However I thought that his mission in ME2, where you could kill or let Vedo get away, sort of, would have had more impact on Zaeed's appearance in ME3. Personally, I would liked to have seen him involved with banding the merc gangs together for Aria, becoming her second in command of her army. 

 

[FlyingSquirrel]

Pre-Priority Earth, the characters whose stories I'd probably rewrite the most would be Miranda and Grunt.
 
Miranda: I'd leave Oriana out of the picture and have her relatively safe with her adoptive family. If Miranda ended ME2 loyal to Shepard, she has already left Cerberus and stole some intel on the way out the door, so she's passing information to Shepard on some of Cerberus's current operations. Traynor, when reporting the Grissom Academy find, would indicate that she didn't just stumble upon it and that someone clearly wanted her to intercept the transmissions, but she's not sure who, how, or why - later we'd find out that Miranda was behind it. If Miranda *wasn't* loyal at the end, she's having doubts about Cerberus and thinking about leaving, but has been kept from learning the whole story by TIM. There'd be a Virmire Survivor-type standoff between her and Shepard, written flexibly enough to be inserted towards the end of whichever post-Mars Cerberus-related mission Shepard does first, with Shepard having to convince her to leave Cerberus once and for all. (This could get especially interesting if it's Grissom and Jack is there too.)
 
Grunt: Instead of having him off on Utukku from the beginning, he's on Tuchanka when Shepard arrives there with Wrex/Wreav and Bakara. While I see Grunt as relatively non-political, Shepard's attitude and choices with him in ME2 would have some influence on his reaction to the situation. If he isn't loyal or if Shepard was just ultra-Renegade, Grunt might need to be talked into backing Wrex's approach over Wreav and the other krogan "hardliners." I'd still have him be in charge of Aralakh Company, and they would just go with Shepard to Utukku instead of being there ahead of time.
 
Past that, I'd change the "run for the beam" scene in Priority: Earth to one where all of Shepard's surviving squadmates converge in a single maneuver to get Shepard past the Reaper forces and into the beam, with more specific tactics required than just a mad dash - maybe Samara and Jack are stopping a bunch of brutes with stasis fields, Kasumi is hacking some Marauders' shields, Miranda is warping some banshees' barriers, and Zaeed, Jacob, and Grunt are mowing down husks. For those of you who are Doctor Who fans, think of the scene in "The Day of the Doctor" when

Spoiler

all thirteen Doctors work together to take Gallifrey out of time and protect it from the Daleks - something with the same "epic teamwork" vibe, but without the whimsy (Shepard wouldn't yell "Geronimo" or "Allons-y" or even "The Galaxy Stands" )

.

 

Oh, and Jacob: Stop hanging around the frickin' hospital and go DO something after the conversation with Shepard.

[Bob from Accounting]

That's your rewrite for Miranda?

 

That's literally nothing but 'Miranda gives Shepard information on Cerberus' if she's loyal.

[MassivelyEffective0730]

That's your rewrite for Miranda?

 

That's literally nothing but 'Miranda gives Shepard information on Cerberus' if she's loyal.

 

This is literally nothing but an appeal to mockery and ridicule post.

[MassivelyEffective0730]

Pre-Priority Earth, the characters whose stories I'd probably rewrite the most would be Miranda and Grunt.
 
Miranda: I'd leave Oriana out of the picture and have her relatively safe with her adoptive family. If Miranda ended ME2 loyal to Shepard, she has already left Cerberus and stole some intel on the way out the door, so she's passing information to Shepard on some of Cerberus's current operations. Traynor, when reporting the Grissom Academy find, would indicate that she didn't just stumble upon it and that someone clearly wanted her to intercept the transmissions, but she's not sure who, how, or why - later we'd find out that Miranda was behind it. If Miranda *wasn't* loyal at the end, she's having doubts about Cerberus and thinking about leaving, but has been kept from learning the whole story by TIM. There'd be a Virmire Survivor-type standoff between her and Shepard, written flexibly enough to be inserted towards the end of whichever post-Mars Cerberus-related mission Shepard does first, with Shepard having to convince her to leave Cerberus once and for all. (This could get especially interesting if it's Grissom and Jack is there too.)
 
Grunt: Instead of having him off on Utukku from the beginning, he's on Tuchanka when Shepard arrives there with Wrex/Wreav and Bakara. While I see Grunt as relatively non-political, Shepard's attitude and choices with him in ME2 would have some influence on his reaction to the situation. If he isn't loyal or if Shepard was just ultra-Renegade, Grunt might need to be talked into backing Wrex's approach over Wreav and the other krogan "hardliners." I'd still have him be in charge of Aralakh Company, and they would just go with Shepard to Utukku instead of being there ahead of time.
 
Past that, I'd change the "run for the beam" scene in Priority: Earth to one where all of Shepard's surviving squadmates converge in a single maneuver to get Shepard past the Reaper forces and into the beam, with more specific tactics required than just a mad dash - maybe Samara and Jack are stopping a bunch of brutes with stasis fields, Kasumi is hacking some Marauders' shields, Miranda is warping some banshees' barriers, and Zaeed, Jacob, and Grunt are mowing down husks. For those of you who are Doctor Who fans, think of the scene in "The Day of the Doctor" when

Spoiler

all thirteen Doctors work together to take Gallifrey out of time and protect it from the Daleks - something with the same "epic teamwork" vibe, but without the whimsy (Shepard wouldn't yell "Geronimo" or "Allons-y" or even "The Galaxy Stands" )

.

 

Oh, and Jacob: Stop hanging around the frickin' hospital and go DO something after the conversation with Shepard.

 

Why would I want her to leave Cerberus when I myself didn't want to leave? I like the ideal of a Virmire-survivor standoff, where I choose between an unloyal Miranda and Ashley. It would be fun to shoot Ashley repeatedly.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Why would I want her to leave Cerberus when I myself didn't want to leave? I like the ideal of a Virmire-survivor standoff, where I choose between an unloyal Miranda and Ashley. It would be fun to shoot Ashley repeatedly.

 

I'm assuming I'm rewriting within the broad confines of ME3, as opposed to a situation where Shepard is allied with Cerberus or the plot otherwise goes in a completely different direction. I was thinking about how the ME2 squadmates could have been given a better role within that story, and it seemed like Miranda and Grunt were probably the most underutilized. The "Oriana is missing" subplot seemed entirely unnecessary for Miranda, and Grunt got to show up once and either die or not die depending on loyalty and what Shepard does about the rachni.

 

The next steps for the rest of the ME2-only squad (i.e. not including Garrus and Tali) were, I thought, pretty reasonable. Jacob always had one foot out Cerberus's door and would be eager to help those of a similar mindset, Jack starts to mellow out after working with people she could actually trust and seeing that perhaps the entire galaxy isn't out to get her, Samara still has her remaining two daughters and her justicar duties, and Thane was not going to be long for the world regardless. Zaeed and Kasumi were DLC characters so it makes sense that they didn't get as much content. While I'd have welcomed having more of them on the Normandy, the extra interactions among the smaller crew were a trade-off I'm willing to accept. (I'm guessing that was part of the reason for the smaller squad, i.e. being able to program in more content for the ones who were full-time squadmates.)

[Karlone123]

1. Scrap Kai Leng

2. Repurpose James Vega into a a newly graduated N7 soldier, has the skill but lacks the experience that Shepard has, model him in the way Shepard was in ME1 when first experiencing the universe. It felt like James was an unnecessary mandatory companion with no solid reason being in Shepard's squad.

3. Keep EDI as a bodiless AI, instead find another synthetic being if one has to be on the team. And drop the trope of machines wanting to be more like organics

4. Shepard was too self-contradictory on how Shepard would do things, such as claiming to do anything to stop the Reapers but claiming there are lines Shepard would not cross, in addition to the option of being opposed to AI's being more expressive but later encouraging EDI to be more expressive. Lessen the character contradictions.

 

[CrutchCricket]

Why would I want her to leave Cerberus when I myself didn't want to leave?

 

Speak for yourself. I wanted her to leave. I wanted us both to burn Cerberus to the ground. Or take it over. Either one will do.

[MassivelyEffective0730]

Speak for yourself. I wanted her to leave. I wanted us both to burn Cerberus to the ground. Or take it over. Either one will do.

 

Not to sound, you know, crass, but I kinda was speaking for myself... That said, my only issue with the existing system is the propensity to go through with the most excessive method of executing an objective. It's just bad economics. Mismanagement of resources. I'm alright with the necessity of such experiments and methods taking place (If it gets me results, they can shoot up an orphanage if they have to). I place most of the blame on TIM's allowance to let his people go with the most egregious route. The problem I see is with his project directors, which indirectly leads back to him. Besides a queue of changes once Shepard and Miranda 'inherit' Cerberus from TIM, anything that needs to resort to more... colorful methods will need to be approved by Shepard. I don't know if Miranda would even support such methods in the long run, so I think Shepard might have to talk with her about it. Plus, they'd need a bit more discretion. Beyond that, they've assimilated the SB system into their organization, and they're responsible for making the big gains on Reaper Tech. They sort of become both the Templar Order and Assassin's Order from Assassin's Creed. Their fronts include the alliance itself, many research and scientific companies, tech companies, military contractors, and large groups of foreign and alien suppliers. Publicly, they present themselves as a 'Empire of the Hand' sort of organization, since they'll be too hard to hide the entire organization (with the size and influence that they'll have, it'll be impossible not to see the writing on the wall). They'll just need a face to present to the galaxy.

[jtav]

I think Miranda as a mole within Cerberus would have been interesting and provided fodder for drama, character development and decent action sequences. As for Cerberus itself, whatever my feelings on them in the past, my feelings on the ME3 incarnation is that they have to be dismantled and utterly repudiated.

[MassivelyEffective0730]

I think Miranda as a mole within Cerberus would have been interesting and provided fodder for drama, character development and decent action sequences. As for Cerberus itself, whatever my feelings on them in the past, my feelings on the ME3 incarnation is that they have to be dismantled and utterly repudiated.

 

Eh, I chalk it up to indoctrination. 

 

If they hadn't been, if TIM had been careful with Reaper tech instead of jumping into it like an over-eager 5 year old at Christmas, I believe they'd have been my most important and useful ally.