123 odpowiedzi w tym temacie

[AlanC9]

The speed of light seems to be more of an arbitrary number in the MEverse, like if you have enough energy you can easily match or surpass it, it just happens to be the speed at which light travels. I assume a Relay blowing up would provide enough energy, we might have even already seen it. At the end of the Arrival DLC Shepard watches an image on the galaxy map where the Relay blast, in a matter of seconds, consumes all the planets in the system. Of course it could be a rendering of some sort but the tone always made it seem like it was happening in real time.

The visuals contradict the Codex all the time for dramatic effect. I don't think it's sensible to add more space magic to the universe than the games actually require. And in this case, adding more space magic just makes the game less coherent since it makes blowing up the relays look like a plausible weapon. Sure, Bio could just violate their own lore to make Relay explosions expand at FTL, but why would they?

[ImaginaryMatter]

The visuals contradict the Codex all the time fir dramatic effect. I don't think it's sensible to add more space magic to the universe than the games actually require. And in this case, adding the space magic just makes the game less coherent since it makes blowing up the relays look like a plausible weapon.

 

It's not really contradicting the Codex, is it? The way ME physics works it doesn't seem like too big of a stretch to assume a device that has the energy to enable FTL might have an FTL explosion.

 

I'm not trying to spark another CV discussion.

[AlanC9]

Sounds like you're not very familiar with ME physics. Nobody ever actually breaks the speed of light -- the way it works is that mass effect fields raise the speed of light within the field. No field, no FTL.

[78stonewobble]

What is it with people like this? I mean, you have the devs themselves clarifying a point in their story and still it gets handwaved away. "Nah, I'm not satisfied with that, I prefer to think my headcanon is true."

 

You see it with IT. You see it with the whole "Shepard breath scene is on London!" You see it with the reapers. You see it with Shepard breathing oxygen in the catalyst chamber. So many times you see people who reject and refuse the dev's clarification just because it doesn't "sit well" with their own personal headcanon interpretation of how things went down.

 

I will never understand it. They're not looking for answers. They're looking for people to just nod their head and go "oh, you're so right, yes yes." They act like "oh Im confused someone answer why this is so" and when they get answers from the game and from the devs themselves they still go "no, no, that cant be it, I don't like it, it must be this instead!"

 

Just because you're not personally satisfied with the answer doesn't mean that your questions have no answers. Why act like you care at all about the answers, why pretend to want clarification if the moment you get direct confirmation from the community reciting lore or the DEVS THEMSELVES you'll just throw it out the window anyway. You don't want answers, you want people to agree with your headcanon.

 

Wait, maybe that isn't fair. I'm sure the moment a dev says ANYTHING that can even slightly be interpreted to support their desired headcanon then suddenly it gets touted as proof. It seems like the only time these people are willing to accept the devs word rather than just saying "well Twitter doesn't count" or "well it wasnt in the game so it doesn't count!" is when it actually benefits their headcanon. Throw out anything that counters their preferred  headcanon fantasy but happily and eagerly embrace anything that supports it.

 

Will the denial ever end?

 

Yes... Developers and writers are omnipotent and allknowing. They know everything about everything and never ever make mistakes, that are selfcontradictory. 

 

Never question them, never question their works... *prostrates himself* all hail writers... you word is god... allways... 

 

Do ya see the problem? 

 

PS: Not that "fans" are better... 

PPS: Offcourse logical extrapolation from ingame material, story, actions and conversations is ok... Otherwise Shep never had sex! He/She... was just being led on continiously by a bunch of prudes... because "teh sex", was never explicitly shown. 

[fhs33721]

Yes... Developers and writers are omnipotent and allknowing. They know everything about everything and never ever make mistakes, that are selfcontradictory. 

 

Never question them, never question their works... *prostrates himself* all hail writers... you word is god... allways... 

 

Do ya see the problem? 

No, I don't see the problem? The writers are kind of the gods of the ME Universe. So whatever they say happens in the story they have written themselves is what actually happens.

If the creator of a fictional universe says that's how his universe works then that is exactly how this fictional universe works wether you like it or not. 

You can still criticize it as bad/unenjoyable story but you can't just try to sell your own headcanon as "more true"  than what the writers say.

If someone of the people who wrote the ME Universe says that the Reapers never faced many losses before (and no other writer directly contradicts it) then the Reapers never faced many losses before. Period.

Arguing against it is like arguing against J.K. Rowling  that Dumbledore isn't gay.

[Undead Han]

It's not really contradicting the Codex, is it? The way ME physics works it doesn't seem like too big of a stretch to assume a device that has the energy to enable FTL might have an FTL explosion.

 

I'm not trying to spark another CV discussion.

 

Way back when we had a thread here where people tried their hand at writing an alternative ending to Mass Effect. I decided to use a supernova as the means of destroying the Reapers, partly because it would explain how the Reapers were annihilated in a single stroke, and party because portraying a supernova in the game would have been awesome. If you're going to blow things up real good, it's hard to trump a massive star imploding. Also Javik mentions the Protheans causing a supernova to defeat either the Metacons or the Zhatil (forget which), so there was a precedent in the lore.

 

The issue I had though is that like a relay going up in smoke, the Reapers should in theory be able to outrun it. The particles and debris would be travelling at or slower than the speed of light. So to get around that I decided that the galaxy would need to weaponize mass effect technology in the interim between ME2 and ME3, and design ships that had the capability of generating mass effect fields around enemy vessels which would increase their mass and drop them out of FTL. I'd have those ships staying behind as a sacrificial rear guard in the final battle and tying the Reaper fleet down and preventing it from reaching the relay in time.

 

If Bioware had gone with the destruction of a mass effect relay during the final battle as a means of defeating the Reaper fleet, I would probably also prefer the Council fleets use the same means (or something else that manages to tie the Reapers down) rather than just having the blast overtake the Reapers. They could always say that the effect of eezo within the relays causes the blast wave to travel at FTL speeds, but that would raise the issue of why the Normandy or the bulk of the Council fleets escape while the Reapers don't.

[ImaginaryMatter]

Sounds like you're not very familiar with ME physics. Nobody ever actually breaks the speed of light -- the way it works is that mass effect fields raise the speed of light within the field. No field, no FTL.

 

Well that's probably true. I've never been entirely comfortable with that 'effectively increases' the speed of light bit.

[ImaginaryMatter]

No, I don't see the problem? The writers are kind of the gods of the ME Universe. So whatever they say happens in the story they have written themselves is what actually happens.

If the creator of a fictional universe says that's how his universe works then that is exactly how this fictional universe works wether you like it or not. 

You can still criticize it as bad/unenjoyable story but you can't just try to sell your own headcanon as "more true"  than what the writers say.

If someone of the people who wrote the ME Universe says that the Reapers never faced many losses before (and no other writer directly contradicts it) then the Reapers never faced many losses before. Period.

Arguing against it is like arguing against J.K. Rowling  that Dumbledore isn't gay.

 

Once a story is released though, isn't god dead? After that point the story and the writer(s) are two independent things. I find it troubling that two different people can gather different factual information based on whether or not they follow Twitter or subscribe to internet forums.

 

Does it even matter in a game like Mass Effect with multiple people involved who may not even be closely collaborating or agreeing with each other?

 

Way back when we had a thread here where people tried their hand at writing an alternative ending to Mass Effect. I decided to use a supernova as the means of destroying the Reapers, partly because it would explain how the Reapers were annihilated in a single stroke, and party because portraying a supernova in the game would have been awesome. If you're going to blow things up real good, it's hard to trump a massive star imploding. Also Javik mentions the Protheans causing a supernova to defeat either the Metacons or the Zhatil (forget which), so there was a precedent in the lore.

 

The issue I had though is that like a relay going up in smoke, the Reapers should in theory be able to outrun it. The particles and debris would be travelling at or slower than the speed of light. So to get around that I decided that the galaxy would need to weaponize mass effect technology in the interim between ME2 and ME3, and design ships that had the capability of generating mass effect fields around enemy vessels which would increase their mass and drop them out of FTL. I'd have those ships staying behind as a sacrificial rear guard in the final battle and tying the Reaper fleet down and preventing it from reaching the relay in time.

 

If Bioware had gone with the destruction of a mass effect relay during the final battle as a means of defeating the Reaper fleet, I would probably also prefer the Council fleets use the same means (or something else that manages to tie the Reapers down) rather than just having the blast overtake the Reapers. They could always say that the effect of eezo within the relays causes the blast wave to travel at FTL speeds, but that would raise the issue of why the Normandy or the bulk of the Council fleets escape while the Reapers don't.

 

I guess you could always 'hide' the impact. Like how they say if the Sun just goes out or explodes one day it would take us a while to notice it and by then it would be too late. My ME lore knowledge diminishes everyday but aren't the sensors in ME still dependent on light? If whoever you're trying to hit with a Relay explosion never sees the preparation and descent, won't the moment when they know about the explosion be the moment it hits them?

 

Not that I'm advocating that.

[78stonewobble]

No, I don't see the problem? The writers are kind of the gods of the ME Universe. So whatever they say happens in the story they have written themselves is what actually happens.

If the creator of a fictional universe says that's how his universe works then that is exactly how this fictional universe works wether you like it or not. 

You can still criticize it as bad/unenjoyable story but you can't just try to sell your own headcanon as "more true"  than what the writers say.

If someone of the people who wrote the ME Universe says that the Reapers never faced many losses before (and no other writer directly contradicts it) then the Reapers never faced many losses before. Period.

Arguing against it is like arguing against J.K. Rowling  that Dumbledore isn't gay.

 

Because dumbledore is an entirely fictional character, with a realistic foundation. There are gay people out there. I've met them... 

 

The map literally says... The milkyway, which is a real thing and around this real thing, is another thing, called the universe. Which is pretty darn big, but the writers go on to ignore it anyway. 

 

It's like a fictional semiplausible story of the US getting invaded, which is allready a stretch, given other nations lack of naval power, but then by ie. denmark, with a population of 5 million and not giving any reasonably explanation as to why we danes did that (considering), how we did it or why the hell the british and other allies, did nothing...

 

It's detrimental to the story and people's suspension of disbelief to come up sooooo hard against very real, very physical, common knowledge restraints that exist in our real world and you will come up against them as a writer, when you choose to set your story in a realistic or semi realistic setting, so you will have to be very carefull and have good valid answers on hand on why so and so is so. 

 

And if you, as a writer either provide bad answers or no answers at all. People are either gonna reject the story outright or invent their own explanations. 

 

Sometimes writers do that on purpose to make us think, which is fine, but sometimes it's just lazyness, lack of attention to detail, being wrong and/or ignorance on a subject. 

 

Don't want people repairing your faults? Don't write... Or write better stories. 

[fhs33721]

Because dumbledore is an entirely fictional character, with a realistic foundation. There are gay people out there. I've met them... 

 

The map literally says... The milkyway, which is a real thing and around this real thing, is another thing, called the universe. Which is pretty darn big, but the writers go on to ignore it anyway. 

 

It's like a fictional semiplausible story of the US getting invaded, which is allready a stretch, given other nations lack of naval power, but then by ie. denmark, with a population of 5 million and not giving any reasonably explanation as to why we danes did that (considering), how we did it or why the hell the british and other allies, did nothing...

 

It's detrimental to the story and people's suspension of disbelief to come up sooooo hard against very real, very physical, common knowledge restraints that exist in our real world and you will come up against them as a writer, when you choose to set your story in a realistic or semi realistic setting, so you will have to be very carefull and have good valid answers on hand on why so and so is so. 

 

And if you, as a writer either provide bad answers or no answers at all. People are either gonna reject the story outright or invent their own explanations. 

 

Sometimes writers do that on purpose to make us think, which is fine, but sometimes it's just lazyness, lack of attention to detail, being wrong and/or ignorance on a subject. 

 

Don't want people repairing your faults? Don't write... Or write better stories. 

Way to miss the point.

I never said the writers can't write total crap that destroys your suspension of disbelief(I don't think they wrote total crap in ME3 but that is besides the point) .

What I'm saying is you can call them out on their story being crap, but no matter how much you protest, what the writer of the story says is the ultimate truth in the story itself (even if it's entirely crap).

Even if your headcanon fanfiction is 100 times more sensible and realistic (and for the record it most likely isn't, because 99% of the stuff fans, me included, come up with is even worse than the actual ME3 writing) it still just that. Headcanon and fanfiction. Just because you don't like the story you can't supplement it with you own and call that "what truly happened".

Me, I cringe everytime Shepard survives stupid sh*t like avoiding Reapers lasers by ducking behind a piece of rock.Yet this is exactly what happens even though it makes no sense. So I just say "Well that's stupid" and go on instead of claiming that Sheapard died right there and that the Reapers won right afterwards and that this is what truly happened in the story.

So again if a writer says that the Reapers never faced many losses before, they canonically never faced many losses before even if you think it's stupid (And I'm baffled why anyone would think that this claim would be stupid since even with just ingame evidence from cutscnes, NPCs and codexes it is safe to assume that the Reapers are capable enough of destroying single cut-off systems without having casualties.")

[78stonewobble]

Way to miss the point.

I never said the writers can't write total crap that destroys your suspension of disbelief(I don't think they wrote total crap in ME3 but that is besides the point) .

What I'm saying is you can call them out on their story being crap, but no matter how much you protest, what the writer of the story says is the ultimate truth in the story itself (even if it's entirely crap).

Even if your headcanon fanfiction is 100 times more sensible and realistic (and for the record it most likely isn't, because 99% of the stuff fans, me included, come up with is even worse than the actual ME3 writing) it still just that. Headcanon and fanfiction. Just because you don't like the story you can't supplement it with you own and call that "what truly happened".

Me, I cringe everytime Shepard survives stupid sh*t like avoiding Reapers lasers by ducking behind a piece of rock.Yet this is exactly what happens even though it makes no sense. So I just say "Well that's stupid" and go on instead of claiming that Sheapard died right there and that the Reapers won right afterwards and that this is what truly happened in the story.

So again if a writer says that the Reapers never faced many losses before, they canonically never faced many losses before even if you think it's stupid (And I'm baffled why anyone would think that this claim would be stupid since even with just ingame evidence from cutscnes, NPCs and codexes it is safe to assume that the Reapers are capable enough of destroying single cut-off systems without having casualties.")

 

Sure, it's "canon", but canon is overrated, when it's crap. 

 

Imagine a song. Do you buy it, does it change your oppinions, your thoughts? 

 

Possibly, if it's a good one... Not so much if it's a crap one. 

 

Now with songs, we have the possibility via ie. the radio, to determine whether it's crap or not, before we buy it. Don't legally have that opportunity with ie. books, games and movies (except maybe let's plays, but that would take multiple letsplays to explore every variable in me3).

 

Now as long as we can't get our money back, for what we genuinely believe is crap, then I find that we are most certainly allowed to make whatever interpretation we want, to make a product work for us and enjoyable. 

 

Not that I think the op's points have much evidence, but atleast he put some thinking into it, whereas the writers seemed to just want something OP and epic. Epic sure... but they're just seemingly op, until you open any astronomy book after 1924, when hubble discovered that the milkyway isn't the entire universe. 

[Vazgen]

You can watch gameplay on YouTube, read user reviews, critic reviews etc. It's only a gamble if you buy it close to release. If you take your time and see people's opinions you'll easily determine whether the game is crap or not. The risk comes from you personally enjoying the game, which is entirely subjective. But that's why you can return the game and get your money back. 

[78stonewobble]

You can watch gameplay on YouTube, read user reviews, critic reviews etc. It's only a gamble if you buy it close to release. If you take your time and see people's opinions you'll easily determine whether the game is crap or not. The risk comes from you personally enjoying the game, which is entirely subjective. But that's why you can return the game and get your money back. 

 

I can watch some of the product at work on youtube. User and professional critic reviews are subjective, as you say, if not deliberately misleading sometimes. You can mitigate the risk. But no you can't return the game many online places and often only if the product is objectively faulty. 

[Vazgen]

I can watch some of the product at work on youtube. User and professional critic reviews are subjective, as you say, if not deliberately misleading sometimes. You can mitigate the risk. But no you can't return the game many online places and often only if the product is objectively faulty. 

I know that Origin has a money back option that is basically "don't like it, have your money back". Not sure of other retailers. If you wait for 1-2 months after release you'll get a lot of objective user reviews and you can then compare them to figure out if there are common problems mentioned and whether those problems will damage your gaming experience. There is also an option of playing the demo (at least it is the case for ME3).

[fhs33721]

Sure, it's "canon", but canon is overrated, when it's crap. 

 

Imagine a song. Do you buy it, does it change your oppinions, your thoughts? 

 

Possibly, if it's a good one... Not so much if it's a crap one. 

 

Now with songs, we have the possibility via ie. the radio, to determine whether it's crap or not, before we buy it. Don't legally have that opportunity with ie. books, games and movies (except maybe let's plays, but that would take multiple letsplays to explore every variable in me3).

 

Now as long as we can't get our money back, for what we genuinely believe is crap, then I find that we are most certainly allowed to make whatever interpretation we want, to make a product work for us and enjoyable. 

 

Not that I think the op's points have much evidence, but atleast he put some thinking into it, whereas the writers seemed to just want something OP and epic. Epic sure... but they're just seemingly op, until you open any astronomy book after 1924, when hubble discovered that the milkyway isn't the entire universe. 

So canon is only relevant when it isn't crap? Yeah, that is unfortunately not how it works.

 

Also, I don't buy songs, since I have almost no interest in music whatsoever and I would rather burn my money than buy a song. In the very rare instances I want to hear a song I just do so on youtube.

 

And you can test some books before buying them. In places called a library, look it up.

 

And you are allowed to make whatever interpretation of the game you want, but you can't claim  that your interpretation is more valid than the one of actual writers because it just isn't. So basically all I'm saying is that you can make whatever headcanon you like but don't go around all over the internet and insist that it's the only true interpretation even more so than the one of the writers.

 

Also what does the milky way not being the only galaxy in the universe have to do with anything at all? How does it in any way affect the over-poweredness of the Reapers?

[78stonewobble]

So canon is only relevant when it isn't crap? Yeah, that is unfortunately not how it works.

 

Also, I don't buy songs, since I have almost no interest in music whatsoever and I would rather burn my money than buy a song. In the very rare instances I want to hear a song I just do so on youtube.

 

And you can test some books before buying them. In places called a library, look it up.

 

And you are allowed to make whatever interpretation of the game you want, but you can't claim  that your interpretation is more valid than the one of actual writers because it just isn't. So basically all I'm saying is that you can make whatever headcanon you like but don't go around all over the internet and insist that it's the only true interpretation even more so than the one of the writers.

 

Also what does the milky way not being the only galaxy in the universe have to do with anything at all? How does it in any way affect the over-poweredness of the Reapers?

 

The point was that music, as an example, lets you more or less fully explore the product, before you can make the decision to buy. You can know, whether you like something or not, before you buy. Games are too complex for this. 

 

In the case of another type of product. A car... If you dislike only parts of if, you are free to completely replace those with something you like, because you own it. 

 

That, in my humble oppinion, sets the precedent for me to reject any part of anything I buy and replace it, mentally or physically, with something to my liking, so I can get my full use of my product. 

 

I have never claimed to have the only true interpretation of anything and that it should be exactly like my interpretation for everybody else, but I'll definately give my oppinion on why something works or doesn't work and how it would work better and im perfectly free to keep that, subjectively to me, much better explanation. That includes situations where ie. writers make, imho, silly decisions. 

 

The simple obvious facts that space is big and the known universe has 99.999.999.999 additional galaxies, makes the reapers a small local insignificant problem and certainly not a solution to anything. It more or less invalidates anything the catalyst has to say, the reapers reason for existing and opens up for a buttload of other problematic considerations. And it would have been avoided by opening an astronomy book and making the reapers reason for reapings either procreation or just that they find intelligent organics as tasty as bacon, instead of trying to overcompliment to make some kind of point (actually, what is the point of them?).

[Valmar]

Yes... Developers and writers are omnipotent and allknowing. They know everything about everything and never ever make mistakes, that are selfcontradictory.

 

You need to relax. When did I ever say they were perfect? Where did I ever say not to criticize their work? There is a big difference between criticizing their work and proclaiming fanfiction headcanon is real and the actual story isn't.

 

If the writers and director of the story say such and such is true in THEIR story then it is. It does not mean it makes perfect sense, that it has no flaw, that its a perfect work of literature that can contest against the Gods. It means that it is the story they meant to tell, it is their intent. Saying "I don't like it so it isn't true!" is wrong. Another poster worded this better and made an excellent comparison to Dumbledore. Arguing that "he isn't really gay!" to the author who says he was meant to be gay is foolish. It is their story. This is their intent. How you feel about it doesn't change that.

 

Acting like it does is childish and frankly that mindsetis part of the reason why a lot of REAL criticism of ME3 was handwaved away as being the whining of "entitled" children. You can disagree with the direction they took, you can complain about it. No one should ever dismiss it as NOT REAL and proclaim their fanfiction headcanon is the true story, however.

 

 

Once a story is released though, isn't god dead? After that point the story and the writer(s) are two independent things. I find it troubling that two different people can gather different factual information based on whether or not they follow Twitter or subscribe to internet forums.

 

Does it even matter in a game like Mass Effect with multiple people involved who may not even be closely collaborating or agreeing with each other?

 

 

When the director of the trilogy says that the reapers never faced loses before our cycle I'd say it warrants consideration. There may be some gray area cases to make for other claims from others who had lesser roles in the story but the director is kinda a big deal.

 

 

Because dumbledore is an entirely fictional character, with a realistic foundation. There are gay people out there. I've met them... 

 

 

        Point.

Head.

 

 

And if you, as a writer either provide bad answers or no answers at all. People are either gonna reject the story outright or invent their own explanations.

 

Don't want people repairing your faults? Don't write... Or write better stories. 

 

There is a big difference between headcanoning alternative answers and proclaiming your fanfiction is the REAL intent of the writers.

 

Despite your whining that suggests otherwise, no one has argued that people shouldn't come up with headcanon or other such fanfiction solutions. The whole argument was saying that people should not act like their fanfiction is REAL and the TRUE intent of the REAL story. The moment people forget that their headcanon is just their personal fanfiction and not REAL is the moment the line is crossed.

[themikefest]

Shepard personally helps kill 4 Reapers (Soveign, the one on Tuchanka, the one on Rannoch, and the one in Leviathan).

Sovereign in ME1
capital ship in Leviathan dlc
capital ship before landing in London
destroyer on Tuchanka
destroyer on Rannoch
destroyer in London
intel from a destroyed destroyer in Exodus Cluster

 

On top of that, its established that the Turians killed at least a few (6 I think?), and since 4 dreadnaughts can kill a Reaper its reasonable to think that others were killed as well.

They destroyed several capital ships during the Battle of Palaven

Spoiler

Knowing that the Reapers' weapons had a longer effective range than any of his own, Coronati made a short, daring FTL jump--landing his dreadnoughts in the middle of the Reaper fleet. The dreadnoughts then turned to line up their main guns on the Reapers, which also needed to turn to fire on the turians. This ploy used the Reapers' size against them--because they could turn faster, the turian dreadnoughts locked targets first, and their concentrated firepower downed several Reaper capital ships.

Later during the Miracle of Palaven, a number of processing ships, troop transport ships, destroyers and capital ships were destroyed all over the planet. No idea how many of each

Spoiler

In simultaneous strikes across the globe, Reaper ships began to explode. Turian resistance members had managed to smuggle the bombs inside when the Reaper processing ships, troop transports, and even destroyers and capital ships had opened their structures to indoctrinated turian leaders.

With the asari there is no known number of how many reapers they destroyed

Spoiler

The assault on Thessia did not go as smoothly as the Reapers' strikes against other races. While other species met the Reapers head-on, the asari resorted to dangerous hit-and-run tactics to harass their attackers. By engaging in guerilla strategies--blasting a Reaper ship, then jumping to FTL where they could not be tracked--the asari forced the Reapers to remain on the defensive.

On Illium instead of targeting the capital ships, they targeted the troop transport ships

Spoiler

Reaper forces met a surprising amount of resistance at Illium. Its leaders were paranoid about keeping their fortunes, and were influential in both Terminus and Citadel space. They acquired a large defense fleet and a high number of fission weapons, and in the brief space battle, used them on the Reaper fleet's troop transports rather than their near-impervious capital ships. As a result, the inevitable ground invasion has been slowed to a crawl as the Reapers manufacture more troops.

 

On Earth 3 Hades Cannons were destroyed

 

So yes in this cycle the reapers have taken a number of losses, just don't know the exact number.  More  losses have occurred in this cycle verus any other cycle

[themikefest]

 

What therefore confuses me is how do the Reapers have such great numbers, if each Harvest has them loosing more ships than they started with?  Do they re-build the destroyed Reapers after they're done?

 

Yes they have a lot. I would also include processing ships and troop transport ships. The scene showing the reapers approaching the Milky Way, after the suicide mission, shows what looks to be processing ships and troop transport ships along with other reaper ships

 

A post on the first page mentions that Casey Hudson says that only a few destroyers are lost each cycle while one  capital ship is lost every few cycles.

 

I will use the number 3 to represent few.

 

That means that 6 667 capitals ships have been destroyed if I use the 50 000 year cycle over 1 billion years and 60 000 destroyers are destroyed in the last 1 billion years. 

 

So when the reapers arrive at the beginning of our cycle they have about 13 333 capital ships plus destroyers, processing ships and troop transport ships

 

Of course I have no idea how long the 50 000 year cycle has been happening. Leviathan mentions that the intelligence directed the reapers to build the relays so the number from above most likely would be lower. If the reapers have been around longer than 1 billion years, then the number above most likely would be higher. At the moment its just guessing until Bioware says how long the 50 000 year cycle has been happening

 

With that many destroyed over that period of time I would say more of them would've been discovered in space. As far as I know the only two that are discovered  is the one the Batarians found and the one Shepard boards to get the IFF.

 

Here's some possibilities. The reapers destroy whatever is left of the dead reaper so no one will find it and  study it. The reapers reuse them to replenish whatever losses they encountered during the harvest. Or they could just rebuild the dead reaper

 

Lets say Shepard picks refuse letting the reapers harvest us. It would take them a fair amount of time to replenish their losses. 

 

If using the 13 333 number from above, there is no way we have a chance to defeat them without the crucible. Had the reapers not been stupid in ME3, the crucible wouldn't of been built. With that number the reapers have, the only way to defeat them is to find the plans for the crucible, build it and then use it before the reapers enter the galaxy

[Arcian]

Word of God contradicts this entirely.

CHud! is Casey Hudson. He directly stated that this was the first cycle where the Reapers really took losses.

[citation needed]

Assuming this is true, Hudson shouldn't have made the Protheans 100 times stronger than our cycle. He should also have written the Reapers to attack the Citadel first, not last, since that would have saved them numerous casualties.

The whole "Because I said so"-type storytelling is acceptable when the storyteller is 8 years old and making things up on the fly, but not in an expansive universe developed by hundreds of people where internal logic and consistency is paramount.

I've always given Super MAC crap for ruining the franchise, but I'm starting to think his only real offense was Cerberus and his part in the ending. It seems the rest is entirely Casey's fault.

[Arcian]

No, I don't see the problem? The writers are kind of the gods of the ME Universe. So whatever they say happens in the story they have written themselves is what actually happens.
If the creator of a fictional universe says that's how his universe works then that is exactly how this fictional universe works wether you like it or not.
You can still criticize it as bad/unenjoyable story but you can't just try to sell your own headcanon as "more true" than what the writers say.
If someone of the people who wrote the ME Universe says that the Reapers never faced many losses before (and no other writer directly contradicts it) then the Reapers never faced many losses before. Period.

Arguing against it is like arguing against J.K. Rowling that Dumbledore isn't gay.

The difference is that Dumbledore being gay isn't contradicted by the events in the books. What CHudmaster says about the Reapers directly contradicts what we've seen in-game. Our cycle is weaksauce compared to our predecessors, yet we kill Reapers left and right in a matter of months and at the same time we're led to believe the Reapers did not suffer a single dreadnought casualty in the 300ish years it took them to wipe out the Protheans - a race which, I must remind you, was so hyper-militarized and obiquitous that they ruled the entire galaxy, having curbstomped every single foe up until facing the Reapers?

I mean, seriously, the only reason we're having this discussion is because the CHuddernaut was so in love with the 1 Species=1 Reaper idea that he couldn't or wouldn't see how illogical and ill-fitting it actually was.

[Vazgen]

Our cycle has an advantage of not being roflstomped right when the Reapers arrive and having access to mass relays.