Mass Effect 3 Ending, opinions and feelings?

[JediCarl]

Oh, I know that. That's what I got in my first run. The point is, everything after the Shepard being hit by Harbinger was all an illusion by Shepard's indoc process. There's really no other way to explain why Shepard is still amongst concrete rubble in a breathable environment when the Citadel exploded after the destruction choice.

It does kind of make sense that the other two options, merging with synthetics (THEY DON'T HAVE DNA!) and controlling the Reapers all mean you've accepted machines in some way and wiped out your own existence, hence being fully indoctrinated by the Reapers. And since the god child tries to tell you that choosing destruction will kill you and destroy the mass relays, it's not that hard to believe that this is not what the kid wants you to pick. It's been shown in previous Mass Effect games that anyone can fight indoctrination if they're strong enough.

Also, the Crucible should have been a trap... Maybe it still is.

All good points.

One thing you have to give them credit for (including the ending)... It definitely leaves a lot of room for analysis, speculation and debate. Much of it quite dark and unsettling. That's what good Sci-Fi does. Maybe that's what they were shooting for... the mindf^* k ending that leaves you in an emotional and philosophical conundrum. I know that's not what many expected... or want... but if that's what BioWare set out to do then they definitely did it, probably more effectively than they hoped. lol

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

C. We did everything from the human race. There are the Turians, Asari, Geth, Quarians, Batarrians, Protheans, so on and so forth, out there. Play as one of them in a different game.

That's why I suggested a game where you could be a Spectre doing normal Spectre stuff. It would allow you to pick any race you wanted to play.



I don't know much about the "Indoctrination Theory" other than what was said here. I never got that impression when I played the game. When I got to the scene where I was blasted (which I assume was Harbinger because of the glowing eyes) I had heard people didn't like the ending and I thought that was it. I was like "Really? I did all that and I just get killed?!?!" :lol That would have p*ssed people off too, but it would have been interesting, like the Reapers were so powerful nothing you could do would stop the cycle from ending.

 

[Wes R]

Another complaint i had was all the other ME games they made that were only for smart phones and apple products. They seem to think we can all afford stuff like that.

 

[JediCarl]

Another complaint i had was all the other ME games they made that were only for smart phones and apple products. They seem to think we can all afford stuff like that.

Yeah, I can definitely understand the frustration there. I gave an iPad and iPhone and the ME3 apps definitely made my actual game experience a lot better. I was able to use the in-app Galaxy At War map and the Infiltrator game to reach 100% Readiness in all 5 sectors. Also, the iPhone app has an email function where characters from the game email your Shepard as you go through the campaign. I'd play for a night, go to work the next morning and check the app and there'd by an email thanking me for this or that. Also one from Tali when she was drunk. It was pretty cool, but definitely unfair that many other gamers couldn't share that experience.

 

[Wes R]

Tali's getting drunk a lot lately lol. All these companies take for granted not everyone can afford these. there's a 80s transformers RPG that's ipad only too.

 

[MasterDurangus]

TIM's story (The Illusive Man) could have been done so much better as well. His weird eye implants from ME:2 always made me wonder who he is... I like to think that he is Harbinger, fully indoctrinated on the highest level, Harbinger has direct control over him and he's been slowly manipulating the galaxy through Cerberus (hence why Cerberus is against you in ME:3 and TIM comes at the end of the game for the Reapers).

It'd show some brilliant story-crafting and answer a lot of questions, the only conflict would be the attack on the Collectors base, but there you reveal that the Collectors were trying to study original Prothean DNA to try and reverse themselves, so again, perhaps the Reapers had seen that they had completed their purpose and wanted them destroyed (their cycle forever over) but the human Reaper they were building saved (hence TIM's desire to save it).

If only...

 

[Jeyl]

In the words of Palmer the brave,

You gotta be fu**ing kidding.....

Controversy Erupts Over Mass Effect 3 Writer's Forum Post

Wow. I think we've found the problem boys and girls.

 

[JediCarl]

In the words of Palmer the brave,

You gotta be fu**ing kidding.....

Controversy Erupts Over Mass Effect 3 Writer's Forum Post

Wow. I think we've found the problem boys and girls.

I saw that somewhere last week. I'm skeptical. It could easily have been faked and unfortunately we'll never know.

 

[Jeyl]

I saw that somewhere last week. I'm skeptical. It could easily have been faked and unfortunately we'll never know.

If it was a fake, why would the faker request that his posts be deleted?

 

[Wes R]

TIM's story (The Illusive Man) could have been done so much better as well. His weird eye implants from ME:2 always made me wonder who he is... I like to think that he is Harbinger, fully indoctrinated on the highest level, Harbinger has direct control over him and he's been slowly manipulating the galaxy through Cerberus (hence why Cerberus is against you in ME:3 and TIM comes at the end of the game for the Reapers).

It'd show some brilliant story-crafting and answer a lot of questions, the only conflict would be the attack on the Collectors base, but there you reveal that the Collectors were trying to study original Prothean DNA to try and reverse themselves, so again, perhaps the Reapers had seen that they had completed their purpose and wanted them destroyed (their cycle forever over) but the human Reaper they were building saved (hence TIM's desire to save it).

If only...

His eyes are explained in one of the comic series they did. I don't trust anything on the bioware forum anymore, they've to fake accounts set up and everything.

 

[Nwerke]

but if that's what BioWare set out to do then they definitely did it, probably more effectively than they hoped. lol

I wish I had this kind of faith in BioWare, but I lost it after watching my wife's hopes being slowly crushed as she played through DA2. She's a monster DA:O fan and even writes fanfic, but much as she wanted to like DA2 it basically sucked. I mean, okay, partly our own fault; it's not that game companies OWE their customers a fully satisfying game experience, what we get out of them is what we...oh wait, no, what am I saying? That's daft - they TOTALLY DO owe us that; we pay a hundred dollars a game and we plonk our cash down in hopes of being entertained and enthralled...it's their damn business.

I think they've done a hack's job on this one, pure and simple. Tonight I contented myself with a browse of cutscenes on Youtube. A lot cheaper than buying a $100 game that betrays our hopes this badly. Absolutely tons of great writing, great characters, some hilarious comic relief, great action, great gameplay - this is 90% of a superb game, from what I can see. But the endgame for a trilogy this big is make or break and in this case it's as clear a case of 'break' as can be. I mean, try to imagine the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey grafted into the final episodes of Babylon 5. That's what we've got here. It's hopelessly inappropriate; "not what we expected" is one thing, "crapping all over the existing continuity" is another thing entirely.

Just those three alternate cutscenes the dissident writer wrote of would have done a lot to placate people, though the illogic of having the fleet stranded at Earth (and likely facing starvation - and of Joker fleeing the battle - ???!??!) - would still rankle. Why were they omitted? Just...WTF?!?!?

If it was a fake, why would the faker request that his posts be deleted?

I'm sold. If that's not genuine insider testimony then it's one hell of a bloody good fake. It has EXACTLY the right mix of disappointment, bafflement, discouraged residual support for colleagues who have let him down, etc.

Won't be buying this game; may not even finish my perfect paragon playthrough of ME2. Geeze.

BioWare have some problems. DA2 made that clear, this confirms it.

 

[Jeyl]

His eyes are explained in one of the comic series they did. I don't trust anything on the bioware forum anymore, they've to fake accounts set up and everything.

You do realize that their "Expanded Universe" has a tendency to not match what the games have properly established, right? The Redemption comic had a little side story created to fix a plot hole involving Aria, and the Deception Novel is already being called back and reworked to fix numerous mistakes involving how the darn franchise works.

I think the mind set for the game's writers is just to focus on the game since that's where all the continuity really needs to take place. They probably didn't want to incorporate too many elements from the expanded universe unless it added something to the story.

 

[Wes R]

I agree the expanded universe doesn't fit very well. The only expanded universe i trust was written by Drew because he was the writer of the first few novels and they matched the game perfectly cause he was writing those too so he knew what was going on. As soon as they dumped him the series went to hell.

 

[MasterDurangus]

I'd still rather see it explained in-game. I'm not going to pick up a comic book to have an in-game detail explained for me... the EU of any story isn't to explain something that happened in game, it's to create something in the world the game created that wasn't already there.

 

[Jeyl]

I'd still rather see it explained in-game. I'm not going to pick up a comic book to have an in-game detail explained for me... the EU of any story isn't to explain something that happened in game, it's to create something in the world the game created that wasn't already there.

Yeah. One of the big disappointments that would have given Kai Leng a much bigger presence in the game was how Aria was in no way involved with dealing with Kai Leng. If you've ever read any of the books, Leng was the person who murdered her daughter before the events of Mass Effect 2. She was knocked out by a tranquilizer dart and he slit her throat while still under the effects.

This is why I was excited to see Kai in the game, even though none of that is touched upon in the game itself.

 

[DuneMuadDib]

In the words of Palmer the brave,

You gotta be fu**ing kidding.....

Controversy Erupts Over Mass Effect 3 Writer's Forum Post

Wow. I think we've found the problem boys and girls.

I've lost track or what the official story is on that one. Chris P. apparently asked the alleged author of that post, who denied it, and such as relayed to the Bioware forums. But then I see people claiming that the denial is BS and someone else has verified it so I have no clue.

I want to believe it, but having read the denial and not seen anything personally that supports it I'm disinclined to accept it as truth presently. Though the only one or two writers at the end thing does seem to be making the rounds enough to lead me to think that much is true.

 

[Wes R]

Don't trust the employes running the bioware forum, they've been lying and spinning the entire time with a smile on their faces. I think it's true and they made the mistake of posting his name and now it's all damage control.

 

[Jeyl]

Though the only one or two writers at the end thing does seem to be making the rounds enough to lead me to think that much is true.

I can't help but see a little irony here. With so many writers working together to make this game work, the two leads decide to do whatever the heck they want with the ending, print it, record it, program it, and release it without any input from anyone else. It's like they said "Hey, this is my baby. I get to decide how I want to end it and that will be that!".

I love some of his points about the ending, especially in regards to how human focused the last battle was. Outside of your squad mates and that one scene with Wrex and the Krogan, there is next to zero alien involvement in the last charge on Earth. I also loved that turret comment as well in how out of place it was. More pointless padding.

Still surprised no one talks about the lack of Harbinger scenes.

 

[DuneMuadDib]

Oh there are threads devoted to it on the Bioware forums. After how much freaking time he spends talking to you in ME2 and he makes a brief cameo in ME3 without a word? There's a lot of discussion about it on BSN. Also plenty of how everything Starchild tells you contradicts what Sovereign told you, but what does the Reaper advance scout know?

Would love to see the dark matter ending put back in with the DLC. Probably won't happen, but be nice. Makes a lot more sense than the drivel we got.

 

[Wes R]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall in the meetings at EA/Bioware.