21 réponses à ce sujet

[Zviking07]

I know there have been plenty of posts about the default Shepherd for the Mass Effect trilogy. So if I upset anyone or am wrong about something, please correct me in a non-hostile manner. Basically what this is about is if there was a true canon story in the Mass Effect trilogy, I may have found it. This is based on two major factors; the default Shepherd, and the Total War Assets for ME3 where Shepherd lives and all synthetic life is destroyed. 

 

Commander John Shepherd: The default Shepherd is a male Earthborn/Sole Survivor. This starts out his morality at 5 Paragon/15 Renegade. What type of personality does this make to me? I see him as someone that is a good guy that makes very tough calls that aren't always the most popular. My follow up in the War Assets supports this.

 

War Assets: The total amount needed for the top ending where Shepherd is shown breathing among rubble is 5000+. This is the highest your EMS needs to be to accomplish this. The easiest ending is the Reaper control (Blue) with 0-2350+ for best possible ending for that ending. The second is the Synthesis (green) with 0-2800+ for that ending. The hardest is the Reaper destruction with 0-5000+ for that ending. Again 5000+ is where Shepherd is shown alive. The only other way Shepherd lives is if the EMS is 4000-4999+ but Shepherd stopped the Illusive Man from shooting Anderson a second time.

 

Now the ending for 5000+ (SPOILER ALERT) is as follows:Earth is saved. The Normandy crew (with the exception, presumably, of EDI) and Shepherd all survive.

 

So I got curious one day to how to attain all these points. I googled around and found a guide for this showing when and where i can attain EMS points from all three ME games. https://docs.google....70/edit?pli=1# 

 

To sum it up, I found that to attain 5000+ EMS without multiplayer being a factor was for a mostly Paragon Shepherd with hard Renegade choices made. Anything I miss or do not cover is in the link I pasted above. These are the major choices made to shape ME3 ending

 

Mass Effect 1: Don't kill the Rachni Queen. Wrex dies on Virmire. Saved the Council

 

Mass Effect 2: Recruit everyone. Choose Samara over Morinth. Do all loyalty missions before getting Legion. Upgrade everything on Normandy. Do Legion's Loyalty mission right after Normandy crew is captured and before Suicide Mission. Give the the Collector Base to the Illusive Man (Note: If you save the base it lowers the requirement for the Control/Synthesis endings, but it is worth 10 more points over destroying it. If you destroy it, the requirement for the Destroy ending is lowered.) Nobody dies on Suicide Mission and everyone is loyal

 

Mass Effect 3: You convince Morlin to help sabotage the Krogan Cure. This leads to him being alive and getting the full support of the Krogan and Salarians. Broker a peace between Quarians and the Geth. If you do not invite the Virmire Survivor to join the Normandy crew, they will become a 25 point asset. (Other choices are posted in the link above.)

 

In the end of this type of run the only people that should have died in the ME trilogy where it was optional is Wrex, and Morinth. I am a personal fan of Wrex but this direction steers it to be he needs to be killed. Morinth does not help out at all. And if the Destruction ending is to be believed, EDI dies as well even though it is not shown or mentioned. 

 

Injecting a little of my personal views into this version of Shepherd, I feel that Ashley is the one saved on Virmire. Almost all default Male Shepherds have that as the choice. Its the other way around for Jane Shepherd with Kaiden. Shepherd's love interest is I presume is Liara. She is romanceable for either Male or Female Shepherd. And is a constant romance throughout all three games.

 

Your thoughts on this as a possible blueprint for Bioware's own secret canon of events. Hope ME4 is announced at E3 2014 

 

[TheOneTrueBioticGod]

The true storyline? Well. 



An oldie but goodie

[Obadiah]

I think if Bioware picked a cannon ending it would be very similar to this. High EMS Destroy puts the galaxy right back in almost the exact position it was before the Reaper attacks, and this is the galaxy that is easiest to deal with story-wise.

[von uber]

I can see certainly that as a basis for a me4 'canon' start by bioware to allow a continuation of the universe. Actually allows a place where conflict can happen in a recognisably mass effect place.


Apart from the sex of shep, which is irrelevant (as we all know she is female ).

[BigglesFlysAgain]

I can see certainly that as a basis for a me4 'canon' start by bioware to allow a continuation of the universe. Actually allows a place where conflict can happen in a recognisably mass effect place.


Apart from the sex of shep, which is irrelevant (as we all know she is female ).

 

 

I though the sex of shepard was "yes please"

[Mordokai]

I though the sex of shepard was "yes please"

 

Basically.

 

 

I'll contribute something more meaningful later. There's only so much time I can spend skipping work

[Farangbaa]

I think if Bioware picked a cannon ending it would be very similar to this. High EMS Destroy puts the galaxy right back in almost the exact position it was before the Reaper attacks, and this is the galaxy that is easiest to deal with story-wise.

 

If they canonize destroy I only have 1 save that can be carried over

 

I see the options as follows:

 

Refuse canonized: you play as the human version of Javik, except you're not the only one to make it into the next cycle. For your squadmates there's a few options. Either you get 2 human squadmates by default, or you play somekind of origin story in which you get to pick what kind of squadmates make it into the next cycle. You fight the Reapers again.

 

Destroy canonized: the game will be focused on fighting your new synthetic overlords.

 

Control canonized: you fight the Reapers again.

 

Synthesis canonized: probably not gonna happen. If they do, you're probably going to fight Universal Reapers (those that check if the Galactic Reapers do their job well, in other words: super-mega-ultra-space-Cthulhu overlords). As said, probably not going to happen. The plotholes are already screaming in my head.

 

Or you're going to fight the Leviathan in all but the Refuse canon. (Leviathians is a horrible plural people, please stop using it )

[78stonewobble]

I think if Bioware picked a cannon ending it would be very similar to this. High EMS Destroy puts the galaxy right back in almost the exact position it was before the Reaper attacks, and this is the galaxy that is easiest to deal with story-wise.

 

Agreed... 

 

The other endings doesn't seem to allow too much freedom. Brainwashings galore (or atleast everyones suddenly goody two shoes) in synthesis and in control we have the powerfull reapers ready so slap down any problemmakers before it becomes a threat (they might also be around in synthesis available for that purpose). 

 

Destroy seems like an "all bets are off" from now on ending. 

 

...

 

Though personally I'm not completely adverse to ie. a side story during before or during the mass effect series. Ie. C-sec crimstory? IF the crime story is really good, not so good for a trilogy maybe.

[Ryriena]

It would also retacon the whole Geth and EDI thing to fit with the storyline in the process. Saying he lied to you since your Shepard is retired living with their wife - Husband or bond mate on the Citadel. Mine is with Garrus or Kaiden one has Cortez as his husband. My girls are either with Garrus or Kaiden.

He's not about to leave him after he lost his first husband to the collectors damn it.

[AlanC9]

It seems cruel to point out that the OP's math doesn't work.

[Hadeedak]

I generally think if they want to do a future ME installment in the universe, they'll pull the same thing the Cerberus News Network RP group did in the day, and go with high EMS control... And then Shepard-AI, Reapers, and Reaper creatures all leave to go do a thing.

 

Since that breaks pretty much nothing, it's the easiest way to continue.

[Mordokai]

Now then, I promised something more substantial.

 

Before we go any further, I want to clarify the following. I have no idea how the next game in ME series will develop or if the trilogy will indeed have any impact on it. In that aspect, I believe Bioware will stay true to their claim that there is no canon. For the purpose of this post, I'm basing everything in it on the prospect that, at some unspecified time in future, Hollywood will make a movie based on ME franchise. That will be considered as canon by me and with that in mind, this post has been written.

 

I agree with you, the OP, in certain aspects. The default Shepard will be male(because seriously, when have you seen a woman taking a main role when it comes to saving the world... and no, Angelina Jolie doesn't count here), earthborn soldier(come on, casting(like, you know, adept or engineer) is for ******, real man shot big guns). Likely named John, or maybe Jonathan, to make it sound more worldly. I believe his background will be War Hero(which I believe is also the case in game?), since it allows for a great story of a troubled youth, rising above his meager beginnings and becoming a hero that sets an example. But Elysium will also leave scars, visible and those not visible. Which is a fancy way of saying our protagonist will conform to paragade mentality. Basically, a good guy, but hard around the edges and know when to talk and when to fight.

 

That will lead him on his way. Like you said, he will know how to make hard choices, but those choices will serve to make him more likeable, rather than opposite. He will be nice to his friends and crew, but harsh to his enemies. He will kill rachni queen, because it's too much of a risk, but save Wrex, because he came to trust the crabby old mercenary and regards him as friend. He might actually lead Garrus down the renegade path, because he believes that injustices need to be punished. But he will be nice to Tali and Liara, because he views them as little sisters who need to be protected. For that reason, he will politely turn Liara down, because he cherishes her friendship too much. Consequently, Ashley will be his LI, because she gives him strength when things look bleak and he is drawn to her because of her intelligence.

 

How most of the UNC missions revolve is up to interpretation, but there will be healthy mix of paragon and renegade in there, as per idea presented at the beginning of this post. However, when the big choice arrives, he will save the Council. Not because he believes they are needed or because he likes them, but because he is a soldier of the Galaxy, rather than just a soldier of the Alliance and won't sacrifice lives of fellow soldiers for stupid decisions of three politicians. He will also make this very clear when he meets with them afterwards. He will choose Udina as humanity representative on Council, because he won't want Anderson to suffer the indignity of being a politician himself.

 

Mass Effect 2 rolls around and our hero gets killed and resurrected by Cerberus. He won't like it and will make his displeasure known to everybody, from Miranda and TIM to other crewmembers. But, circumstances being what they are, he will begrudgingly accept the offered hand.

 

Freedom Progress offers a chance to reconnect with his first little sister, but also feel the pang of refusal, as Tali tells him she can't join him because [reasons]. The scene ends with Tali walking away towards shuttle and we see a dangerous red light flash in the hero's eyes. Foreshadowing!

 

There are precious few marks to mention during this game. Shepard is becoming increasingly more renegade, because most of his former team turns their back on him. This culminates on Horizon, where Ashley throws everything in his face. When getting back to Normandy, Shepard and Miranda shackle up because [deus ex machina]. This turns Shepard's view around and his scars begin to heal again, which is further reinforced by events of LotsB and finding out what Liara did.

 

At the end of suicide mission, we see Shepard with a single scar on his brow, indicating he has came a long way towards the hero we came to know and love, but the fact the he's been through some rough times remain. Jacob has died, because seriously, nobody likes him anyway and it gives audience another chance to sympathize with the hero. The base is set to be destroyed, but not before TIM sets off the mechanism that allowed him to remotely kill Miranda. She dies in Shepard's arms, professing how she still fed TIM intel and how deeply sorry she is because of it. It is her redemption in death and cements her as driven, but sympathetic character.

 

Third game. I'll only point out the highligts, because that's all that matters, really. We witness a rough start of relationship with VS and the attack of Reapers. On Mars, we see Ashley get badly hurt and Shepard carrying her to safety. Visiting her at Huerta memorial hospital and patching everything up. Almost. Cue Cerberus coup and Udina's betrayal. Shepard is forced to gun down both Ashley and Udina and it marks him deeply.

 

The genophage has been cured, because it's done before the coup. The quarian/geth war could go either way, but ultimately, it ends in peace, because that's what heroes do. The Breeder has been killed, but it allows Shepard to gain some insight on what mistake he has done when killing original queen.

 

FOB London. Touching farewells with friends and brothers in arms, scenes with Liara, Tali and Garrus being given prominence. We see Shepard is fairly scarred by now and his eyes once again bear red marks on the irises. Plan of attack with one final overlook over the mighty allied army.

 

Push to the beam, Hammer decimated, Shepard wounded.

 

Citadel, Catalyst. The infamous conversation. Shepard choosing Synthesis because again, that's what heroes do.

 

A millennia and a century in the future. Camera pans over the galaxy and we see statues of The Shepard on Rannoch, Thessia, Palaven, Tuchanka and Earth. Krogan renaissance is in full swing and geth and quarians are working hand in hand to help asari and turians rebuild their decimated homeworlds. Reapers are benevolent judges of all things political, economical and warlike and also help rebuilding. The scars are healing nicely.

 

Graveyard on Thessia. Camera pans out from tombstone and we see the name of Liara T'Soni slowly spelled out, as metallic arms places a bouquet of Thessian sunflowers on the mound. EDI's face is revealed, a single tear slowly rolling down her cheek, as she realizes that she is the last of the original crew left alive.

 

But then, her frown slowly turns into smile and we know... it was all worth it.

[CptFalconPunch]

You're all obviously wrong. Here is how it went:

 

Shepard after the events of Mass effect 1, decides that in Mass Effect 3, he must gather every single human woman from the galaxy, and put all resources to construct a new planet, where everything would be his creation and up to his proper SPACE GOD status. Every child will be derived from his line in order to create a new super-species of humanity.

 

Ashley williams, Liara etc etc are all part of this plan.

 

As time passed though, Shepard started having nightmares, of him turning gay. He wonders what all this means.

 

BUT THEN SUDDENLY, as  he was relaxing in the Citadel, his evil gay clone wants to thwart his plans, and replace the hot chicks on his planet with manly men.

Shepard says noone will aknowledge gay shepard to be real, and ends up destroying the clone.

 

In the middle of the SPACE CONFUSION, shepard realizes EDI has trashed all of his p0rn, so he recruits legion to help him take it back. After going in the geth consensus to drop the firewalls, he recovers it and hope is rekindled.

 

Suddenly, the TV signal drops off and they have to go to thessia to fix it. That is as far TJ LASER's adventure have gone. The rest has to be seen.

 

SPACE BOOOOOOOOOST.

[Han Shot First]

I think if Bioware picked a cannon ending it would be very similar to this. High EMS Destroy puts the galaxy right back in almost the exact position it was before the Reaper attacks, and this is the galaxy that is easiest to deal with story-wise.

 

They could also side step the Geth being destroyed by having the Quarians recreate them. 

[SwobyJ]

There is no absolute true canon for any choice.

 

I don't even think that Destroy is absolute canon..

 

There is at least 2-3 distinct variables in many of the major cases. I mean sure, things like Morinth and Kal'Reeger were tossed out with only a token gesture about their respective choices, but the major stuff as the series went on (ME2-ME3 stuff) was often reflected in both ways.

 

I think there are different levels that are worked on:

-'Base' Canon (Typically Renegade, but not always), which forms the main story focus

-'Full' Canon (Typically Paragon, but not always), which forms the degree of choice ('another way')

-'Filler' Canon (Other major variables so that the story isn't strictly yes/no binary as other less RPG games can be with choices)

 

Whatever 'True' Canon might be, it'd be a mix of all 3 of these things. It is clear where Bioware puts its effort, and if anything is taken out (like Rachni had a more mixed treatment than we hoped), it isn't just because Bioware wanted to leave them out, but because of timelines and development priorities.

 

 

I would have agreed with you about Wrex maybe maybe... until Citadel DLC. Whatever their plans with him were before, Wrex is now a definite part of the trilogy. This is the big one I have to disagree with you on. I think Wrex lives, becomes leader, and you cure the Genophage with Eve alive and Mordin sacrificing himself.

Reminder that this isn't the True Canon because I don't believe in that. It's what I regard as the extent of their mixed canon and what they work with. It's one thing to kill a character with a betrayal scene. It's another to have to account for him in a lot of future content. It seems that for whatever Bioware does with Wrex death scenes, he's still a major feature of the ending, the Extended Cut, and Citadel DLC.

 

I do generally agree with the gist of a lot of your post though. There's a general track that it seems the developers want to stick to. Like romancing Liara, Saving the Council, Destroying the Collector Base, and imo Destroying the Reapers. I just don't think that matters as much as it might appear, and that alternate story paths are often just as (or at least almost as) valid.

[Farangbaa]

They could also side step the Geth being destroyed by having the Quarians recreate them. 

 

And there goes the other half of my end game states

[Barquiel]

I think smaller plots/conflicts (regionally contained) would work just fine without canonizing anything. I guess synthesis will be downplayed a bit, but that's the only problem I see.

[Zviking07]

I'm not strictly saying that this is or should be canon, what I am noticing is a definitive pattern. And like I said, I am a fan of Wrex but BioWare designed the game to be something where you can have it all. My original playthrough of the entire trilogy was with the end goal of having everyone that could attend the Citadel Party and take the group photo would all be there. Because if anyone isn't you can tell its like looking at a puzzle with missing pieces.

 

BioWare designed a saga where Urdnot Wrex AND Mordin Solus could not exist past ME3. What came out of it is totally what i didn't expect, but then why love a game where you can totally see what's going to happen next. My prediction for the ending was if you were Paragon, you and your squadmates formed a new Council. And if Renegade, The new Cerberus. And if by chance you didn't do what you were suppose to do, you died or sacrificed yourself. The whole decide the fate of the Reapers & synthetics surprised me.

 

My point is that this is a type of hidden storyline. So when ME3 came down to Legion's Geth vs. Tali's Quarians we had a different type of control that always ended in Legion's death. Tali was an optional death regardless. But Wrex and Mardin is one or the other, not both. BioWare established in ME2 that Thane's death would be inevitable. Okay we can accept that. 

 

And NO I do not believe the whole Indoctrination conspiracy theory. Its a nice premise but I don't see BioWare telling us that in a game filled with choices, we were controlled to do that the whole time. If it was, it would have been the main storyline for ME3. 

 

My point for the original post was that there seemed to be a pattern for a definitive storyline that was neither fully Paragon or Renegade. And it was also one that I could accept as an official canon. Not the dismal one that you get if start a new game without importing a save where everyone died and the worst possible choices were made. E3 is next week and hopefully ME 4 will be revealed and then we got speculation and internet forums to argue about to follow that. 

 

And just dropping it in there, my idea for a sequel involved one where you played as the Asari daughter of Shepherd and Liara. Or there is another clone running around out there ala Force Unleashed II. Maybe Shepherd will return if you survived ME3. And its in a distant future where only so few squadmates didn't die from old age, to fight a new threat and see the universe rebuilt after your choices. 

 

Again, please consider a few of my points. I love being fans with you guys and want to hear your input.

 

 

[RZIBARA]

Here's what the true storyline is:

 

[CptFalconPunch]

Here's what the true storyline is:

 

 

At least ME1's storyline is good.

 

Have you heard though, about TJ lasers storyline in mass effect 3?

[RZIBARA]

At least ME1's storyline is good.

 

Have you heard though, about TJ lasers storyline in mass effect 3?

 

TJ Laser plot is better than ME3's plot. I enjoyed those a lot

[themikefest]

 

So I got curious one day to how to attain all these points. I googled around and found a guide for this showing when and where i can attain EMS points from all three ME games. https://docs.google....70/edit?pli=1# 

 

This chart gives all the assets that can be collected if interested. It doesn't have the assets for the Citadel dlc.