All the Pathfinder has to do to win me is to be smarter than Shepard. That's not exactly a high bar to jump. Heck all of the DA protags already met that standard.
All I'm asking is for the PC not to froth at the mouth like a lunatic in front of authority figures for no possible gain.
All the Pathfinder has to do to win me is to be smarter than Shepard.
Maybe Shep's low intelligence shielded him from indoctrination. Can't take over a brain that isn't there.
I think the most realistic ending to ME3 is the "no choice" ending, as it doesn't have any blue/red/green beams of space magic. Yea, all sentient life gets wiped out, but it's better to lose in style than to Starbrat.
The best ending to the original ME trilogy is to play ME1. Play ME2 up until the intro, then turn off your game and walk away.
Maybe Shep's low intelligence shielded him from indoctrination. Can't take over a brain that isn't there.
I think the most realistic ending to ME3 is the "no choice" ending, as it doesn't have any blue/red/green beams of space magic. Yea, all sentient life gets wiped out, but it's better to lose in style than to Starbrat.
The best ending to the original ME trilogy is to play ME1. Play ME2 up until the intro, then turn off your game and walk away.
Nope. Devs confirmed the next cycle wins by RBG'ing it.
Nope. Devs confirmed the next cycle wins by RBG'ing it.
I can just ignore them. Canon/shmanon. I'm allowed to enjoy the games how I like. 
I can just ignore them. Canon/shmanon. I'm allowed to enjoy the games how I like.
What a great sentiment, I wish it was as easy for me.
Warden - out looking for a cure to the taint. Will see Leliana soon
Shepard - mine is currently in Vancouver having drinks with Samantha while reading a book on how to win at chess
Hawke - wasn't left in the fade. Is currently riding the high seas with Isabela
Inquisitor - since I haven't played the trespasser dlc yet, she still has her arm. Excellent.
Pathfinder or whatever - he/she will survive. Near the end he/she will let a squadmate take point leading to their death letting the pathfinder or whatever live. hahaha
Don't forget Revan. Kept alive for 300 years just to be constantly tortured. All friends and loved ones long dead. Goes crazy and gets killed by illiterate 12 year olds.
That describes the first 3 episodes of the Andromeda tv show.
Hmm, lets see... in my games...
Warden: Happily married to Alistair
Shepard: Alive and happily married to either Garrus or Kaidan.
Hawke: Is never left in the fade. Is alive and still in love with Fenris.
Inquisitor: Handicapped - yes - but still happily married to Cullen. Losing an arm is not the end of the world.
Now, the Pathfinder... I don't care if even the whole Andromeda Galaxy blows up but my protag + his/hers LI better stay alive in the end. Some like doomy gloomy endings and that's fine but there better be different ending options for those who don't.
What awaits Pathfinder?
He will colonize a star cluster for the human race and help the other races defeating whatever enemy comes their way.
5 years later a Milky Way contingent will come to Andromeda and:
ME3 Refusal: asking him to them take the Milky Way back from the Reapers
ME3 Destroy/Synthesis: ask for help with fighting synthetics that are taking over (synthesis with AIs has started wearing off)
ME3 Control (Genophage cured): ask to help fight the Krogan in the second Krogan rebellions (Krogan sabotaged Reaper inter-communication and weaponized Thresher Maws)
ME3 Control (Genophage not cured): Fight the Yahg in the Yahg Uprising War (Yahg developed spaceflight technology, Krogan become extinct.)
Hmm, lets see... in my games...
Warden: Happily married to Alistair
Shepard: Alive and happily married to either Garrus or Kaidan.
Hawke: Is never left in the fade. Is alive and still in love with Fenris.
Inquisitor: Handicapped - yes - but still happily married to Cullen. Losing an arm is not the end of the world.
Now, the Pathfinder... I don't care if even the whole Andromeda Galaxy blows up but my protag + his/hers LI better stay alive in the end. Some like doomy gloomy endings and that's fine but there better be different ending options for those who don't.
I consider you officially to be my soulmate! ^^ All true (except for Fenris, my Hawke was the first time I settled with a lesbian char/Merril because the two guys didn't grow on me, but still Merrill is an elf, so close enough...)
Ah, the joy of headcanon - the many healthy babies the Warden had after curing the taint, incredible! Thank the Maker! 
Nope. Devs confirmed the next cycle wins by RBG'ing it.
Because "player choice" is so important 
Shepard survived the high EMS destroy ending. After the EC was out, the iOS App sent you an e-mail from Shepard's love interest stating how badly they wanted to see Shepard in the ICU. The app no longer functions.
BioWare people trolled the players asking about Shepard's fate in the high EMS destroy ending for over a year.
I never received any such message, nor have I seen a screenshot of it. You sure that wasn't an Ash/Kaidan message about them being in the hospital?
And yeah, there are Bioware people on record saying it "could be Shepard's last breath" which they never backtracked from.
I never received any such message, nor have I seen a screenshot of it. You sure that wasn't an Ash/Kaidan message about them being in the hospital?
And yeah, there are Bioware people on record saying it "could be Shepard's last breath" which they never backtracked from.
Ashley version: "Hey, Skipper. They might actually let me see you today. Hang in there."
Ashley version: "Hey, Skipper. They might actually let me see you today. Hang in there."
Is there one from Samantha?
Is there one from Samantha?
I don't think so. Haven't seen one from Garrus, either, or from any others for that matter. I could be wrong, though.
Ashley version: "Hey, Skipper. They might actually let me see you today. Hang in there."
Low energy.
Ashley version: "Hey, Skipper. They might actually let me see you today. Hang in there."
If there's only an Ashley/Kaidan version, are we sure it's not from their time in the hospital?
THE TRUTH LIES ON IOS! SHEP LIVES.
THE TRUTH LIES ON IOS! SHEP LIVES.
Ha! Wouldn't it be something if they actually had a mission where you had to find or find the remains of "The Shepard"?
If there's only an Ashley/Kaidan version, are we sure it's not from their time in the hospital?
I don't think so. The message is clearly from Kaidan to Shepard, not vice versa, and it was sent after the end. Some have theorized that the message is buggy and meant to be sent to Shepard during his/hers confinement in the beginning of the game.
However, I don't believe in that theory because neither Kaidan or Ashley seem to be in that kind of state of mind at that point. When Kaidan answers to Vega's question that he 'used to know' the Commander, he really doesn't look or feel like a man who's been deeply hoping to see her. And Ashley's "Hang in there" doesn't really fit the situation, since Shepard was only grounded at that point, not in critical condition.
But I guess this is just one more thing in ME3 that everyne is free to interpret however they want.
The problem is BioWare protagonists don't win anymore. The Warden doesn't win against his taint. Hawke doesn't win against Nightmare (or, anything, for that matter). The Inquisitor does not win against Solas. Shepard does not win against the Reapers.
When I become Pathfinder, the players are going to Win-Win-Win, and we're going to make Mass Effect great again.
The fate of the protagonist should vary depending on player choices, and surviving the plot in a reasonably intact condition should always be an option.
As for how Bioware's latest games did in this regard:
(1) ME trilogy: the developers are on record saying that Shepard "had to die". They took this seriously, to the point that they refused to confirm Shepard lives in the much-debated breath scene, though I'd have to ask what *else* could it have meant? Anyway, as far as they're concerned Shepard *is* dead, the story sets you up for it early and sticks with it with the exception of two seconds after one specific variant of one ending, and it's pretty clear they don't consider Control!Shep as survival. So technically, survival is an option but the ME team did everything to show you they don't want you have that option.
(2) DAO: My personal favorite set of outcomes. You win the plot and you have several satisfying outcomes for yourself - continue as a Warden and go after Morrigan, become King or Queen, continue to wander the world with your LI - as well as the option for a heroic sacrifice if your Warden thinks avoiding the DR is worth giving their life for. In DAI you're told your Warden looks for a cure for the taint, which worked perfectly for me but not so much for some.
(3) DA2: tells you almost nothing about Hawke's fate, but you always survive. In DAI, you have an option for a heroic sacrifice (gods, does this get boring - can't Bioware do without those for any of their protagonists?) but you can also survive. A simplistic set of outcomes with Hawke always becoming an outcast after DA2, even in games where they were set to became viscount of Kirkwall. I didn't find this inspiring at all, including the options in DAI, but it's a better fate than Shepard's and leaves some room to insert your own headcanon. For now - surviving Hawkes will always go to Weisshaupt, no doubt a new opportunity for the DA team to kill them off.
(4) DAI: For me personally, the most unsatisfying outcome of all DA games, though still *way* better than Shepard's fate. In Trespasser, you lose your arm, your cool magical extra (I *really* resent that) and of four factions set against you, you lose against three. So you don't even win the plot, and any political ambitions you might've had after the ending of the main game are mercilessly crushed in Trespasser. The only choice you have is between obscurity and subservience. I might've considered this much better than Hawke's fate except that the main game set me up for some large-scale independent influence which Trespasser took away.
Now what about this Pathfinder? Rather obviously, I prefer a set of outcomes similar to DAO's, including the bit from DAI where you're told the Warden is looking for a cure for the taint. I want the option to survive or die on my own terms. I have yet to see a video game where a heroic sacrifice appealed to me as the outcome but I'M willing to contemplate it as long as it remains an option. Bioware's dominant thematic tendencies likely mean I'll never consider it worthwhile in one of their games, but who knows. More to the point, I don't want to lose in the end like the Inquisitor, and I don't want to lose traits that I've come to feel define my protagonist. Most specifically, if I get special powers, I really hate (imagine this word being used with the highest possible emotional impact) losing them, and even more I hate the thematic message that losing them is good, especially if it's paired with the message that normal is good. As far as I'm concerned, that circumscribes what options ME:A's protagonist should have at the end.
I thought the anchor's increasing instability made Trespasser more entertaining, especially when it got to the point where focus would regen rapidly and the anchor would discharge uncontrollably if you didn't use it in time.
I thought the anchor's increasing instability made Trespasser more entertaining, especially when it got to the point where focus would regen rapidly and the anchor would discharge uncontrollably if you didn't use it in time.
I considered it very neat especially since it helped show how dangerous the anchor was becoming not just towards the Inquisitor but towards the Inquisitor's surroundings as well.
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