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I haven't read any of the spoiler tagged items. But the vibe seems to be generally positive. That's good, if true.

Work, in fact, DOES suck today! LOL!

Originally Posted by chubbyninja1319 I haven't read any of the spoiler tagged items. But the vibe seems to be generally positive. That's good, if true.

Nah it's really about 50/50 which is probably the best they could hope for:

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By Mike Fahey
Jun 26, 2012 1:00 PM
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The Verdict is In: Fans Love / Hate the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut

The Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut is the result of one of the largest fan outcries in the history of gaming, delivering a series of new endings to appease fans seeking more closure than the game initially provided.
Have the fans been satisfied? Yes. Also, no.
The comments below are taken directly from the dedicated Mass Effect fans that populate BioWare's official forums, a place I don't recommend wandering into today unless you want to spend the day reading the same arguments over and over again.
Browsing this selection of ten positives, ten negatives and one confusing should give you a similar experience. I left the spelling intact, because it's more fun that way.
Oh, and here there be spoilers. Continue at your own risk.
Loved

• "I vastly enjoyed the new ending, to be honest. I felt extremely hollow after witnessing the original, but this left me feeling extremely content. Sure, I'm on of those who wanted little blue babies with Liara, but at least now I know she got closure. And I know that civilization will last to honour my sacrifice to the galaxy " — Deavent
• THIS WAS AMAZING! MY DESTROY WAS WOW....THANK YOU GUYS" - FemaleMageFan
• "Thank you, Bioware. I was personally very pleased with the changes to the Destroy ending. That is the ending I chose and it was made so much better. I feel like it was truly the ending to MY Shepard." – LeeluMultipass
• "I have only done the synthesis ending so far and omg bioware, wrench my heart out and make me happy/sad at the same time some more why don't you. I love you EDI! How am I ever supposed to destroy/control now!" – Fleshdress
• "I hated the original endings.....I can now say that I actually want to play through my favorite series again" – McFly616
• "i was anti-ending...anti-retake.. THIS IS WHAT I WANTED!!! THIS....made me so freaking happy" -Corporal Doody
• "I never disliked the original ending, but felt more fulfilling. Thanks for the hardwork! Let's just hope that more people feel this way now." – Michael177
• "I have to admit from what I seen the ending is now alot better, I still have some problems with it but I'm satisfied now." – Dinosteve
• "Just finished and I actually liked the old ending now (And I hated it it before). The new one just gives more of what many fans were saying the disliked about the ending. At least with the old one there was room for Lots of Speculation. Oh well, Halo 4 here I come!" –MagicalFish
• "For something that was not designed to change an original ending that is rightly infamous for reasons we all know and only add to it, it was quite good. I really enjoyed the extra scenes, they provided a lot more closure and patched up a lot of the plot holes from the original ending, whilst still maintaining legroom for speculation." – chaos_Shadow15

Hated

• "Bioware is NOT a 5 year old child making a crayon drawing. Bioware is a multi million dollar company capable of having made Mass Effect 3.5. Instead, they did the absolute bear minimum to get us to shut up. It worked." — Confused-Shepard
• "im extremely dissapointed the ec sucks balls" - kingalexdarkoo
• "Now I can finally trade in my ME3 copy. Thank you for confirming my fears Bioware" – wicked_being
• "Hated it then, hate it now. C'est la vie." – steeltrainn
• "First LOST, then ME3 and IT, shame on me I guess. The thing I do not like is, that they are still liars. They said that the ending will not be like LOST ending and yet, here we are." – Pangaron
• "I find it depressingly sad that BioWare screwed up Mass Effect so badly, twice. We asked for closure and endings that made sense, had a colorful array of endings (and NOT in the literal sense) and what we got instead was a pile of implied insults, more plot holes, useless scenes and a slideshow." — Trifecta739
• "In three months I expected better from bioware but no, didn't improve anything." — Thaa_solon
• "I'm NOT satisfied, so I have all rights to further complain and I can't see a real effort in this loveless piece of crap." – Prince_Valiant
• "Whilst there were improvements, they really didn't do a good job. Far from it. This is as close as we'll get to something decent. The outcomes still weren't fleshed out; it all felt lifeless." – ZombifiedJake
• "I honestly don't understand why they even bothered. This can't possibly be enough for anyone who hated the original ending." – Lyme Eilserv

And this guy

• "Instead of beaking the ME universe the ending is now completely pointless and has near zero effect on the future and you know whot? I call this 100% positive result" – Sheepie Crusher

I love you, Sheepie Crusher.
These results are pretty much as expected. The only way BioWare could have possibly pleased everyone was by polling each individual player and crafting a version of the ending specifically for them.
Judging by the reactions I've read so far, the Extended Cut has divided the fan base right down the middle, with a few colorful characters riding the line. I'd say that's the best BioWare could have hoped for.

All I've gotta say is

LOLOLOLOL

Shoot the magic star child and get the troll ending. Bravo Bioware.

PS: Holy shit did it scare me when his voice became Harbinger's.

I'm doing the revised Destroy ending next. If anybody else accidentally got the reject ending by shooting the kid, just look in your saves and there should be an option to restart the ending "mission". So you just gotta listen to the Illusive Man drone on again to see a different ending.

Chubby, for what it's worth--without going into details, I'm overall a fan of what they did here. Sure, it would have been nice if it were there to begin with, but I feel that it's overall a stronger piece.


Comparison question for Pre-EC/Post-EC within:

Before the DLC dropped, were you able to see the bodies of your two squadmates in the wake of Harbinger's beam? I thought I remembered that being the case, but it's been a while since I initially beat the game.

I know that they're clearly extracted now, but I was curious if that were a retcon as well.

Originally Posted by IanKazimer Before the DLC dropped, were you able to see the bodies of your two squadmates in the wake of Harbinger's beam? I thought I remembered that being the case, but it's been a while since I initially beat the game.

With extremely low EMS, you could see your squadmates lying on the ground in a pool of blood in front of you.

As for the general reaction, I think people who just wanted some more elaboration on what would come next for galactic society will be happy. The groups that will not be happy:


- People who wanted a change to the whole Catalyst/Crucible/color coded beam scenario
- People who wanted a reunion/happily-ever-after with squadmates and love interest (though this is at least hinted at)
- IT believers who were hoping for a "Shepard wakes up and beats the Reapers for realz" ending

Frankly I think there were a lot more people who just thought the Catalyst and the three choices were tarded and wanted that changed, than people who just wanted more elaboration on the existing ideas. I mostly count myself in the latter group so the EC is a win for me all things considered. But it hardly redeems ME3 or its ending.

Originally Posted by Ryuukishi With extremely low EMS, you could see your squadmates lying on the ground in a pool of blood in front of you.

That explains it. I let my EMS go to shit on my Insanity run. Thanks!

satisfied, that is all.

Originally Posted by gotdott satisfied, that is all.

I sort of felt satisfied too although I think I just had low expectations. It does sort of feel like they did the minimum (outside of doing nothing of course).

Finished it a bit ago, I need some time to process everything. I went with the reject ending. Not sure how much I like everything yet, but I will say this:

• Still not fully sold on the Normandy picking up your squadmates, but at least it makes a little more sense now. Pretty gutwrenching scene with Tali, and I would assume the same with every love interest.

• Being able to question the Catalyst is a major plus. Meer did some great work here, too.

• The reject ending is something that should have been in from the start, maybe a low EMS variant ending. Ryuu made a good point: "Don't want to play by the Catalyst's rules? you, get wiped out." Wishing there were variants with reject, it had major potential.

• The Stargazer scene was much better with the reject ending.

Originally Posted by Arikado Finished it a bit ago, I need some time to process everything. I went with the reject ending. Not sure how much I like everything yet, but I will say this: Still not fully sold on the Normandy picking up your squadmates, but at least it makes a little more sense now. Pretty gutwrenching scene with Tali, and I would assume the same with every love interest. Being able to question the Catalyst is a major plus. Meer did some great work here, too. The reject ending is something that should have been in from the start, maybe a low EMS variant ending. Ryuu made a good point: "Don't want to play by the Catalyst's rules? you, get wiped out." Wishing there were variants with reject, it had major potential. The Stargazer scene was much better with the reject ending.

New stargazer scene lacked Buzz Aldrin, so it by definition cannot be better.

Anyway, watched the other endings

Destroy was pretty meh, even though it seems like the "best" ending, esp for my Shep since I killed the geth, so there isn't a reason not to choose it (Except EDI).

Control is badass. Might be my favorite ending because of the awesome voiceover.

Synthesis is the best option for people who managed peace with the geth (Or if they killed the quarians, I guess.). Nice ending as a whole, but that "synthesis" effect they added to everybody was pretty funny.

I would have been merely satisfied with those endings, but the addition of the rejection ending makes this DLC pretty awesome IMO.

Originally Posted by JasonTerminator New stargazer scene lacked Buzz Aldrin, so it by definition cannot be better.

Hes the man and all but his voice acting? I could live without that my sweet.

Originally Posted by JasonTerminator All I've gotta say is LOLOLOLOL Shoot the magic star child and get the troll ending. Bravo Bioware. PS: Holy shit did it scare me when his voice became Harbinger's. I'm doing the revised Destroy ending next. If anybody else accidentally got the reject ending by shooting the kid, just look in your saves and there should be an option to restart the ending "mission". So you just gotta listen to the Illusive Man drone on again to see a different ending.

How the do you shoot the brat? My gun wouldn't fire at all. If you shoot him do you get the reject ending?

Overall, very disappointed. 2GB of uncompressed cut scenes and power point slides which lasted <5 minutes?

The Normandy pick up of squad mates was beyond stupid. Did Harby not notice a group of Makos and the fricken Normandy? Why couldn't Shep just take the Normandy to the beam in the first place then? What's stopping the Normandy to just drop Shep into the beam?

The reject ending is a slap to the face of the fan base.Fans wanted to rebel against the starbrat's logic ever since we saw the original ending. Oh look BioWare gives it to us! Holy shit was I amazed at the thought of destroy the reapers our way, returning to earth/waking up on Earth to finish the fight. Damn was I wrong. Shep just stands on the Citadel and does absolutely NOTHING as the Crucible explodes? What the hell was the point of Mass Effect 1,2 and 3? Hell if you want to give us a tragic ending SHOW it to us! Show us our fleets being destroyed. Show us our squad mates dying.

Walter and Hudson wanted to make a statement that this is their game and they are the ones in charge. Selling all Mass Effect games and lithos. Franchise is destroyed.

Originally Posted by HornyPony How the do you shoot the brat? My gun wouldn't fire at all. If you shoot him do you get the reject ending?

Yeah, shooting the kid gets you the reject ending. Scared the crap outta me because I didn't know about it. Dicking around and then, "SO BE IT!". Thought he was gonna turn into an actual final boss or something.

Meh. Seems like they just added some mayo & spicy mustard to the shit sandwich. Screw it, I"m okay with refusal. So be it indeed.

Not going to post much here - for now, at least.


I refuse to accept the Refuse ending - at least for my canon Shepard. I'll probably share my full reasons later on, as I want to avoid making knee-jerk reactions to something I've just recently seen.

The Destroy ending is still my favorite by far for my canon Shepard. It's the only thing that falls in line with the decisions I've made up to that point in the game, and it's (realistically) the only thing that makes sense. Sacrificing EDI and the Geth still crush my soul, but now that it's known that space flight and communications still exist in the aftermath I'm not as...distraught...as the original ending left me feeling.

That's all for now. Gonna take some time for all this stuff to make sense in my head.

Oversimplified verdict as of now: Not great, but an improvement over the original. Good enough to make me not want to go jump off the nearest cliff or drink myself into a coma, I guess.


Please be sure to keep discussion regarding the Extended Cut DLC in spoiler tags for now, guys. Thanks.

This is closer to what I was expecting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA5MU7MmGvc

Originally Posted by polly Meh. Seems like they just added some mayo & spicy mustard to the shit sandwich. Screw it, I"m okay with refusal. So be it indeed.

Cheer up Murray, don't let it get you down. Pick yourself up off the ground, it's gonna be all right!

Originally Posted by bigpimpin24 I thought so. Thanks for clearing that up guys. I almost thought I was going crazy for a second there :P I picked Synthesis for mine as that seemed like the best out of all the choices. I agree that this is pretty much how the endings should have been from the beginning. Freaking lol at Refusal though!

Agree!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyDF_9NTvPA

Pay special attention to the music, I couldn't stop laughing. This is now the best ending.

Same stupid ing ending, new cutscenes. Only real thing they added: Refusing any of the stupid colored choices results in a big you from Bioware