Mass Effect 3 Discussion Thread

[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']You know, I let the endings settle in for a bit. Now, I have some questions that I want Bioware to answer:

(Warning: lots and lots of text awaits...)

If the Catalyst's entire justification for the Reapers and destroying advanced civilizations was that synthetics will eventually wipe out ALL life, shouldn't have the Geth's actions have proven it wrong, thus giving it ample reason to stop this nonsense? They could have destroyed the Quarians as they retreated centuries ago. Then, depending on how things played out in your game, they could have again wiped them out after Legion sacrificed itself to give them all the Reaper upgrades. In fact, the only time when the Geth seemed completely intent on wiping organic life is when they were controlled by the Reapers!

So, the Catalyst controls the Citadel. If that's the case, then why was whatever the Protheans did to the Keepers to stop them from being able to turn it into a mass relay for the Reapers work? Couldn't have the Catalyst simply have undone it?

The Human Reaper that the Collector's were building in ME2 never really made any sense to me, until we learned the true nature of the Reapers. Creating a Reaper that looks like the destroyed civilization keeps in line with the idea of "preserving" it. But if that's the case, why do the other Reapers all kind of look like squids? Shouldn't there be all different kinds, to represent the different races they have helped "transcend" over the years? Why weren't they also building Reapers based on the other advanced races of this cycle?

What is it about Shepard reaching the Catalyst that makes it think its plan no longer works? I don't really see how one organic being getting there changes anything. Shouldn't it have been like, "Hey, man, sorry, but I gotta wipe you out...so that you don't build other organics that will wipe everything out...or something like that." And if had the ability to somehow combine synthetic and organic life...why the hell didn't it just do that before, instead of terrorizing the galaxy for millions of years?

What dumbass "advanced" race let the Catalyst set this in motion? I mean, I am assuming that Bioware isn't gonna say that the AI just magically appeared or is "God." So, someone invented this AI and asked it to solve the problem of synthetic life. Don't get me started on the stupidity of asking a synthetic life form to solve the problem of synthetic life forms.

This doesn't have to do with the ending, but it's a question that ME3 ends up raising. If the Protheans looks like Javik, then what were those statues on Ilos of? Maybe the Prothean "gods," ie whatever advanced race came before them? If so, at least that would explain why the Reapers look like squids. Well, doesn't explain why they all look squids...
[/QUOTE]

I think the idea is that the peace with the geth will be temporary. What inevitably happens between competing factions is that a war arises out of fear (fear that the other will strike so you pre-empt) or in competition for resources. As all races expand, resources will become finite and wars will ensue. Sythentics are able to replicate themselves more easily, so it is assumed they would wipe out organic life. Thus, by eradicating intelligent organic life and preserving the species thorugh using their DNA, they allow the species to continue without destroying themselves through synthetics. To believe this, you have to subscribe to the idea that organic life as a whole is what is worth preserving, not any one species.

Those who are upset with the ending have created a child's play donation group. Already over 2.7k http://retakemasseffect.chipin.com/retake-mass-effect-childs-play
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']
See now, that's an interesting direction that they could have went in. The Catalyst initially sets in motion some sort of plan to protect and preserve organic life but the Reapers eventually warp its plan.
[/QUOTE]
That's a really cool idea. Catalyst wakes up, Shepard uses his Powers of Persuasion (TM) to either convince the Catalyst to shut everything down (good ending), delay the reaping by 100 years to give life a chance to prove itself (mediocre ending), or spare only humanity and Reap the other alien races (bad ending).

I just came up with that in 5 seconds and it's better than "what color magic beam do you want." :p
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']
That's a really cool idea. Catalyst wakes up, Shepard uses his Powers of Persuasion (TM) to either convince the Catalyst to shut everything down (good ending), delay the reaping by 100 years to give life a chance to prove itself (mediocre ending), or spare only humanity and Reap the other alien races (bad ending).

I just came up with that in 5 seconds and it's better than "what color magic beam do you want." :p
[/QUOTE]

The color magic beams are quickly becoming the Zeist of this generation.
 
[quote name='100xp']5 spectre packs last night...no widow or javelin. I've been rockin the mantis since release. meh. The M-37 (nade launcher) is pretty awesome, I didn't realize that it almost has a stun effect on enemies.[/QUOTE]

Considering the Mantis 2 shots Get Primes & Ravagers, 3 shots Brutes and One shots everything below an armored unit, the Mantis is not bad when used properly. Human Infiltrator FTW.
 
Finished it.

Liked the ending. Don't get why so many are upset with the ending. It's a galactic war, not an episode of The Brady Bunch. Shit happens, people will die, things will get destroyed.
 
[quote name='Mad39er']Considering the Mantis 2 shots Get Primes & Ravagers, 3 shots Brutes and One shots everything below an armored unit, the Mantis is not bad when used properly. Human Infiltrator FTW.[/QUOTE]

the Mantis 2 shots geth primes and ravagers? I actually haven't played Geth or Reaper on bronze yet. I've strictly been playing silver and gold. I'd like the extra punch for silver and gold. The mantis is really the only 1 shot sniper rifle until the window and greater, so I'd like to upgrade asap.
 
[quote name='KingofOldSchool']Finished it.

Liked the ending. Don't get why so many are upset with the ending. It's a galactic war, not an episode of The Brady Bunch. Shit happens, people will die, things will get destroyed.[/QUOTE]

Because even if you like the ending, there are still plot holes. What is the Normandy running from? Are your squadmates just going to die because they have nothing they can eat on the new world? How did your squadmates who stormed the beam/conduit with you get back on the normandy?
 
Just finished. Disappointed at the nonsensical nature of it all. I don't know what else to say.

At some point I'll probably go through and play it again, maybe. The other two games I couldn't wait to do so.
 
[quote name='100xp']the Mantis 2 shots geth primes and ravagers? I actually haven't played Geth or Reaper on bronze yet. I've strictly been playing silver and gold. I'd like the extra punch for silver and gold. The mantis is really the only 1 shot sniper rifle until the window and greater, so I'd like to upgrade asap.[/QUOTE]

It's not a 2 shot on silver/gold lol, but if you invest in damage specs in your powers you can usually take down a prime in ~5 headshots with a mantis x depending on the difficulty. The Widow packs a punch but since it's going to take a while to upgrade I prefer the mantis because the damage is fairly close while there's a big difference in weight.

You should definitely join me for reaper gold, it's insane haha. Brutes come wave 2, banshees wave 3, and ravagers are mixed in from wave 4.
 
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[quote name='Anexanhume']
Because even if you like the ending, there are still plot holes. What is the Normandy running from? Are your squadmates just going to die because they have nothing they can eat on the new world? How did your squadmates who stormed the beam/conduit with you get back on the normandy?
[/QUOTE]
All of that, plus, who wouldn't want to know what became of the characters, races, and societies that we've spent so much time learning about and even influencing over three games? Do the player-engineered fortunes of the krogan, geth, quarians, etc. make any difference to their post-game fates? What becomes of the people we've spent so much time getting to know?

This isn't The Sopranos where an abrupt cut to black with no answers provided was simply an artistic choice. This was an interactive fiction expressly built on the idea of player control and influence. It's inappropriate that it just ends without any indication of the ultimate result of our choices.
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']
Because even if you like the ending, there are still plot holes. What is the Normandy running from? Are your squadmates just going to die because they have nothing they can eat on the new world? How did your squadmates who stormed the beam/conduit with you get back on the normandy?
[/QUOTE]

It's not like plotholes are rare, even good movies have them. Normady was probably running from the blast not knowing if it's a harmful blast. The shot of them in the new world isn't really a plothole, more like leaving you to draw your own conclusions. The others got back on Normady probably because they managed to survive and Joker found them and got them back on board.

I mean, maybe I just don't feel the need over analyze stuff in a video game. I'd rather take a series like Mass Effect where you have options and choices with unique dialogue than linear, nothing new games like CoD and Halo.
 
[quote name='gotdott']It's not a 2 shot on silver/gold lol, but if you invest in damage specs in your powers you can usually take down a prime in 5-8 headshots with a mantis x depending on the difficulty. The Widow packs a punch but since it's going to take a while to upgrade I prefer the mantis because the damage is fairly close while there's a big difference in weight.

You should definitely join me for reaper gold, it's insane haha. Brutes come wave 2, banshees wave 3, and ravagers are mixed in from wave 4.[/QUOTE]

yeah I was being sarcastic in a very friendly and sporting manner. both my salarian and quarian infiltrators are spec'd for sniper damage, the humans more for other things...no sense in specc'ing exactly the same for 2 races that have the same skill set. I played with some decent randoms the other night and sadly while I held my own, everyone had widows or weren't using sniper rifles. I think I got the mantis up to VI or IV, I don't recall.

I've tried reaper gold, so far no luck beating it. the randoms were more outfitted for geth and cerberus. they basically lose it when the banshees start phasing closer...and husks apparently have it out for me.

I'll sent you a request. (it'll be the random, most recent request)
 
Again, just a theory that is big on the Bioware forums, but may be of some interest to you disappointed fans of the ending.

Indoctrination. It's a theory, but it holds some water. That child has been a big part of PR, the demo, even in the artwork. What if that child doesn't exist? A bit of reaching, but please reserve your judgements until the end.

1) No one else ever interacts with the child. Anderson doesn't hear the noise (but he is through the door), no one helps the child onto the troop transport. It looks right at Shepard and haunts him in dreams. Those could represent his mental strain and feeling of helplessness to save everyone. Of course, in the last one they both burn. Is this fear of also dying in the war? Possibly, but Shepard has been willing to die for three games now. Or is it a warning?

EDIT: Also, someone pointed out a growling noise when Shepard gets called away by Anderson from the vent. It's a metallic growl, and could be similar to the one heard by Grayson in the books when the Reapers were still failing to exert control on him.

2) The catalyst takes the form of the child. Why? How did it choose that form? It would have to touch Shepard's mind unless there is some unspoken "I'm taking this image to soothe you" explanation. Lends a little to the hallucination theory. Also, examine the dialogue of the choices given to you. The child says "you want to destroy us". Again, up until this point the child has represented the Reapers as his solution. "They are mine. My solution". There are a few moments where he repeats lines said by Harbinger. Refers to the Reapers as "us", "we", etc. Anderson said Harbinger was on the way to the site and could be the one blasting the troops in that mad dash run.

3) The choices. The only one the child seems to try to talk you out of is destroying the Reapers. Claims all synthetic life including geth and even Shepard will die. And that the cycle will just continue. Shepard wants this to happen, so the child then puts forth other options. Control. Which Shepard says "the Illusive Man was right.". No way. The Illusive Man was indoctrinated into this belief, and Shepard just moments earlier said we can't control them, we aren't advanced enough. It felt to me like there was a slight pause between Shepard asking "but the Reapers will obey me?" and the child saying yes. Synthesis sounds like a great answer, but really...it also feels like giving up. All Shepard has to do is let himself go and die and everyone will be safe. But really...the child says synthesis is combination into a new DNA, a new blend. Isn't that what Reapers are? They harvest genetic DNA by the way of human paste into creating a giant robot spaceship.

4) If Shepard chooses any of the latter two, his face peels away for a moment into something that looks techno-organic. In those choices, he has let the Reapers live and given up on destroying the Reapers, which has been his sole task all game long. The fight goes out of him and he dies. If he chooses to destroy them but doesn't have enough resources the beam wipes out Big Ben and all the soldiers. Shepard dies. He believes Earth is doomed because they don't have the firepower to win. But if you have enough and destroy them, you get a tiny scene of a torso in rubble with the N7 dogtag. It looks to me more like concrete and stone, like a London street as opposed to the metallic shiny Citadel. The torso breathes suddenly. It's the only real difference of all the ending scenes. That (in my opinion......with a large amount of hope and wishes) has to mean something.

5) Turning the tables on the player. I read something on Kotaku this morning in the opinions section. How ME3 had an awful ending, and one of the reasons the writer gave was the Renegade interrupts. If you don't have enough points and haven't been using the special conversation options throughout, the Illusive man points a gun at Anderson. The writer didn't use the interrupt to save Anderson or himself. The "destroy Reapers" option is also bathed in a red light. For three games, we've been told that red is the ruthless, mean, at all costs path. The default imported save is highly renegade and that costs you a lot of war assets in the third game. So it's "bad", for lack of a better word. Or at least that is what the Reapers are trying to project into your mind. It's conditioning. The three game in the making "would you kindly?" moment.

EDIT:
6) The crash landing also makes no sense. Joker was above the Earth, and fine....he's trying to outrun the beam. Where did they land? It looks peaceful and serene. Also, your exact squadmates from the last mission get out of the ship! Unless he swung by Harbinger and picked them up....they are still in London. It's almost like this is something Shepard would want to see....so maybe it's being shown to him. To pacify him.


tl;dr If this theory....and yes, only a "I want to believe" theory holds true, then destroying the Reapers choice breaks the hallucination/hold that Harbinger has on Shepard. He chooses to fight and takes a breath, coming back to the living.

It still might be a PR disaster for Bioware. Either this is a high level "this game is too nuanced with choices to make an end video for, so here is something to interpret" moment. Or they have something planned. Some announcement coming. But how many people will learn about it and not care or already be scorned? If this has all been some ploy from the beginning, I say it's genius.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']
All of that, plus, who wouldn't want to know what became of the characters, races, and societies that we've spent so much time learning about and even influencing over three games? Do the player-engineered fortunes of the krogan, geth, quarians, etc. make any difference to their post-game fates? What becomes of the people we've spent so much time getting to know?

This isn't The Sopranos where an abrupt cut to black with no answers provided was simply an artistic choice. This was an interactive fiction expressly built on the idea of player control and influence. It's inappropriate that it just ends without any indication of the ultimate result of our choices.
[/QUOTE]

And they did give us control and influence. There was a beginning they did and an ending. The ending left it open for more games/DLC based on the ending. Remember this is the story on, Shepard. The story ended with him. That doesn't mean they can't come out with another game that features someone else as the main character and you find out what happens to the others then.

If not, so what? Maybe their intention was to let you make your own conclusions? I don't see it as a bad thing.
 
Mass Effect 3 ending DLC (joke)

hwReI.jpg

[quote name='KingofOldSchool']
It's not like plotholes are rare, even good movies have them. Normady was probably running from the blast not knowing if it's a harmful blast. The shot of them in the new world isn't really a plothole, more like leaving you to draw your own conclusions. The others got back on Normady probably because they managed to survive and Joker found them and got them back on board.

I mean, maybe I just don't feel the need over analyze stuff in a video game. I'd rather take a series like Mass Effect where you have options and choices with unique dialogue than linear, nothing new games like CoD and Halo.
[/QUOTE]

But why was the normandy going anywhere? Nothing the catalyst says means that ships will be destroyed too, just the reapers. Also, why would they leave Shepard behind?.

If Joker got them back, why not show that happening? It would take like an extra 15 seconds in cutscene time?
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']Mass Effect 3 ending DLC (joke)

hwReI.jpg



But why was the normandy going anywhere? Nothing the catalyst says means that ships will be destroyed too, just the reapers. Also, why would they leave Shepard behind?.

If Joker got them back, why not show that happening? It would take like an extra 15 seconds in cutscene time?
[/QUOTE]

Because maybe Joker didn't know what the beam was? It's better to try and get away from it than to just assume it's not going to hurt them if they aren't sure what the blast was.

Maybe they couldn't spot him and were in a different area? They don't need a cutscene for everything. It is obvious they managed to escape the blast and Joker got them. It's not really rocket science that needs a cutscene explanation.
 
[quote name='Lord_Kefka']Again, just a theory that is big on the Bioware forums, but may be of some interest to you disappointed fans of the ending.[/QUOTE]
My honest opinion is that the writers wanted to do something unconventional and unexpected. They wanted to blow our minds. Well, they succeeded in that. Unfortunately it was also stupid, frustrating, and deflating. Those things were probably not intentional. It just backfired.

I do think it's a possibility that we'll see a DLC expansion (or maybe a comic or animated movie or something else) that will retcon the existing ending, and continue the story in a more conventional way. No doubt BioWare would try to play it off as their artistic intention all along. I don't think that would be true though.
 
[quote name='KingofOldSchool']
Because maybe Joker didn't know what the beam was? It's better to try and get away from it than to just assume it's not going to hurt them if they aren't sure what the blast was.

Maybe they couldn't spot him and were in a different area? They don't need a cutscene for everything. It is obvious they managed to escape the blast and Joker got them. It's not really rocket science that needs a cutscene explanation.
[/QUOTE]

When it relates to narrative continuity. Yes, you do need a cutscene.

And again, there's no reason to believe the blast would destroy ships. And the the blasts were coming from the relays, which means joker had to already be headed to a relay before it was exploding to be within the blast range.
 
[quote name='100xp']the Mantis 2 shots geth primes and ravagers? I actually haven't played Geth or Reaper on bronze yet. I've strictly been playing silver and gold. I'd like the extra punch for silver and gold. The mantis is really the only 1 shot sniper rifle until the window and greater, so I'd like to upgrade asap.[/QUOTE]Human Infiltrator with a Mantis, 2 headshots take down a Geth Prime, yep at least on Silver. Quarian does 5% less damage so it's a 3 shot deal.

[quote name='gotdott']It's not a 2 shot on silver/gold lol, but if you invest in damage specs in your powers you can usually take down a prime in ~5 headshots with a mantis x depending on the difficulty. The Widow packs a punch but since it's going to take a while to upgrade I prefer the mantis because the damage is fairly close while there's a big difference in weight.[/QUOTE]It's definitely a 2 shot deal on Silver, I know my Quarian does them in 3 when I run Geth Silver maps with randoms, if you're taking 5 headshots at a Geth Prime you're doing it wrong.
 
Personal thoughts on the game and ending... (I played it on the PC but all the discussion is here :)

The game was fantastic. Every moment I was on the edge of my seat, trying to survive. I liked the fact that alot of people died during the game (at least for my playthrough) War is terrible and has many negative effects and I think that was proved during the game. I cried when Tali fell off the cliff. I didn't do most of the side-quests the first time around but the game still felt nicely paced.

The ending initially didn't anger me because I figured I just got the worst ending (everyone died, including earth), even though I was a paragon. When I figured out that they were all like that for the most part I was pissed off. There was no closure at all. I've grown accustomed to the characters over the past several years and wanted to see how they ended. I'm alright with Shepard dying to save the galaxy from the reapers but apperantly not alot of people were saved in the end. Imagine if Star Wars ended like this
when Darth Vader throws the Emperor to his death a reaction occurs destroying the empire, rebels and surrounding planets.
Would you still love Star Wars if that was the case?

I'm not going to lie, if Bioware came out with alternate ending DLC I will purchase it. Mass Effect is my favorite franchise this generation and deserves a much better outcome.
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']
When it relates to narrative continuity. Yes, you do need a cutscene.
[/QUOTE]
Exactly.
When we last see our squadmates, they're all on Earth, in different locations, in the midst of heavy fighting. Two of them are presumed dead. Joker is in space, also in the midst of heavy fighting.

It's a lot of handwaving to just say that Joker knew exactly where everybody was, and was able to swoop down and get all of them within a matter of a couple of minutes. And it still doesn't explain why Joker decided to abandon the fight in the first place, or why the squadmates who were at the beam with you appear uninjured.

Point A and point B do not connect.
 
[quote name='Mad39er']Human Infiltrator with a Mantis, 2 headshots take down a Geth Prime, yep at least on Silver. Quarian does 5% less damage so it's a 3 shot deal.

It's definitely a 2 shot deal on Silver, I know my Quarian does them in 3 when I run Geth Silver maps with randoms, if you're taking 5 headshots at a Geth Prime you're doing it wrong.[/QUOTE]

I might be wrong about silver since I only play gold now. The most I ever do is 6 bars.
 
[quote name='Mad39er']Human Infiltrator with a Mantis, 2 headshots take down a Geth Prime, yep at least on Silver. Quarian does 5% less damage so it's a 3 shot deal.

It's definitely a 2 shot deal on Silver, I know my Quarian does them in 3 when I run Geth Silver maps with randoms, if you're taking 5 headshots at a Geth Prime you're doing it wrong.[/QUOTE]

i just a bit skeptical because on silver, it takes 2 shots to kill a centurion w/the mantis. full damage spec, and cloaked...so I just find it surprising if not unrealistic to be able to 2 shot a geth prime considering they have more shields and hps than a centurion in silver. Maybe alliance training gives extra damage output or your level of mantis is higher than mine. I only have the extended clip and thermal scope mod...maybe you're using a dmg mod?
 
[quote name='gotdott']I might be wrong about silver since I only play gold now. The most I ever do is 6 bars.[/QUOTE]
I am a little off. I'm going to replay Silver some more. I'm not 100% about my Silver numbers but it's looking like a 3 shot Geth Prime.
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']
When it relates to narrative continuity. Yes, you do need a cutscene.

And again, there's no reason to believe the blast would destroy ships. And the the blasts were coming from the relays, which means joker had to already be headed to a relay before it was exploding to be within the blast range.
[/QUOTE]

A blast also came out of the citadel itself. I consider it far more likely he'd be outrunning that one than a relay's blast. The blast waves seemed to radiate rather slowly, and the Normandy couldn't outrun that. No way he could've outrun the beam shot out by the citadel (which looked much, much faster than the blast wave) and jumped somewhere. Hence my belief that the planet the Normandy crashed on can only be Earth.
 
Article defending the end, with a great rebuttal in the comments:

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/why-the-ending-of-mass-effect-3-was-satifying-and-worthy-of-the-series-mass

DEUS EX MACHINA:

You're getting your literary devices mixed up. The Crucible is not deus ex machina, it is a MacGuffin. It's largely irrelevant except as a plot device. It is the exhaust port on the Death Star.

The narrative of ME3 is not about finding the Crucible, it is about building the greatest alliance ever seen in the galaxy (which the Crucible, as a plot device, allows to happen).

Why the Catalyst AI and his Monty Hall spiel of the Adjust Hue/Saturation is a deus ex machina is that it is the resolution to the narrative. The fact that he is also literally a "god from the machine" is irrelevant, albeit ironic. He is a deus ex machina in the literary sense, i.e. a handwaved contrivance that shows up out of the blue to quickly whisk away all the dangling story threads, and to abruptly end the story.

This is abysmal writing. This is abysmal game design; a Pick Your Own Adventure book where all choices take you to the same final chapter. It is counter to everything this game is. And what is this game?

In a recent Extra Credits, Portnow discussed core elements of a game. The Mass Effect series is really not a third person shooter. It is also really not a roll-the-dice-and-level-up CRPG. Mass Effect is, at its core, interactive fiction. All the memorable moments in these games take place in cutscenes that play out in myriad ways based on prior choices. You are role-playing in the most literal sense of crafting a character's personality based on your choices. The climax of Mass Effect 2 was not shooting the Human Reaper in the eye, the climax of Mass Effect 2 were the cutscenes that played and showed the results of your actions. Did you defy TIM? Did your crewmates survive? If your choices were poor enough, you could defeat the final boss, only to make a desperate leap towards the Normandy with no one to catch you.

The desperate leap in Mass Effect 3 is your dash towards the Beam. The only input that matters at all past this point is the encounter with TIM. That encounter is true to Mass Effect, and honors your previous choices, and provides closure for the secondary antagonist.

But for the main antagonist (Reapers), nothing you did matters. You are given three arbitrary choices to solve a problem that, depending on your actions, may be proven to be a false dilemma in the first place. If you saved both the Quarians and the Geth, witnessed Legion's messianic sacrifice, and humanized EDI - the Catalyst's claim of organic/synthetic conflict being unavoidable is patently false.

The Catalyst AI is completely incongruous with the narrative and the themes of the game. It shows up, provides a complete strawman of a conflict, and then offers three vapid, plot-hole ridden resolutions to this conflict, which abruptly end the narrative in a blinding flash of Space Magic (pick your color!).

CHOICES DON'T MATTER

Again, you're missing the point. No one is complaining about the preceding 30 hours of gameplay. Choices did seem to matter. Your treatment of the Rachni queen from two games ago ended up gaining you a seemingly valuable ally. Saving Wrex can gain a hopeful future for the Krogan. Your choices regarding Legion and the Migrant Fleet in ME2 have incredibly strong consequences in the seeming conclusion of the Geth/Quarian storyline. This is why we loved the game up to the ending.

And the ending completely demolished all of it, and made it completely illusory. Who gives a shit if you saved the Rachni? They just end up giving you Space Points and don't affect your ending at all. Who gives a shit if the Quarians or Geth or both survived? They're all dead anyway. Who cares if you cured the genophage and saved the one leader who could lead the Krogan into a less brutish, more hopeful future? He's either trapped on earth or dead, and the radioactive husk that is Tuchanka cannot sustain their race without supplies anyway.

And even more egregiously, the choices you made in the development of YOUR Shepard don't matter. She acts EXACTLY the same when facing the ultimate antagonist regardless of whether she's a Space Racist Renegade or Never Surrender Paragon or whatever your Shepard actually is, and what (insert pronoun) stands for.

You accept Space Hitler's premise without argument, and dejectedly pick one of the three Slightly Less Turning Everyone Into Paste final solutions he has to offer.

How does it matter in the slightest that I've done the frickin' impossible and united the Geth and the Quarians into a hopeful future, shown that we need not fear synthetic life, seen a nascent artificial sentience freely decide to set "Love and compassion" as their main motivation, and fought for the reactionary, bleak idea of "AI will always rebel" to be proven wrong? Space Hitler shows up, says "AI will always rebel, here are drastic fixes to this undeniable problem". And I go "yessuh"?

WHY IS EVERYTHING SO SAD

It's not sad. You are being incredibly myopic and dismissive of our experiences by reducing it to "y every1 has 2 diezorz?". The ending of the story is not actually sad, it's just anticlimactic, contrived, incongruous, and ridden with plot holes.

The part that's sad and what's tearing me apart is that this is not a case of people writing themselves into a corner. This is not a case of glorified hacks like Ronald D. Moore or Cuse/Lindelof making shit up as they go along, to find themselves at the end with no way to tie all the crap together in a cathartic way.

This is a beautifully written game, for the majority of the experience. Bioware has bona fide talent within their ranks. And the story, up to the very end, is redeemable in dozens of ways. Even the contrived, out-of-the-blue Star Child could be made into an interesting character by presenting it as a shackled AI who was given a specific, limited goal born of fear (stop AI from wiping out organic life forever), and it arrived at the grotesque solution of Reapers not because AI is evil, but the constraints never allow it to look past the false dilemma it's attempting to solve.

Most importantly, this is not a TV show or a movie. This narrative is, by design, told in a unique medium which is NOT doomed to give us a singular ending. Our Shepards can be varied, yes, but there is a finite amount of paradigms that lead you to the end, and they could all have a cathartic, poignant, and persistent ending. Let the Renegades ascend to rule the galaxy. Let the Paragons defeat primitive fear and xenophobia.

I do not care if the Relays have to go down, but don't do it in such a thoughtless way as to destroy everything meaningful I accomplished. I do not care if my Shepard dies. In fact, I expected her to go down in a blaze of glory, in the greatest battle that shall ever be fought, for the most meaningful (to her) victory a soldier could ever earn. She did not get this. I did not get this.

TENS OF THOUSANDS of people didn't get this. We are not asking for a Disney ending. We are not asking for a dance party with Ewoks. We are just asking for our Big Damn Heroes to go out on their own terms, win or lose.
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[quote name='Salamando3000']
A blast also came out of the citadel itself. I consider it far more likely he'd be outrunning that one than a relay's blast. The blast waves seemed to radiate rather slowly, and the Normandy couldn't outrun that. No way he could've outrun the beam shot out by the citadel (which looked much, much faster than the blast wave) and jumped somewhere. Hence my belief that the planet the Normandy crashed on can only be Earth.
[/QUOTE]

That blast was in a straight line, meaning he should have only had to avoid the path of fire. If the blast from the citadel and the relays destroys ships, then weren't fully informed about what the destroy option does.
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']Article defending the end, with a great rebuttal in the comments:

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/why-the-ending-of-mass-effect-3-was-satifying-and-worthy-of-the-series-mass



That blast was in a straight line, meaning he should have only had to avoid the path of fire. If the blast from the citadel and the relays destroys ships, then weren't fully informed about what the destroy option does.
[/QUOTE]

First thing that came out of the citadel was a spherical blast wave that immediately dealt with the Reapers on Earth. Then came the straight-line beam that triggered the relay reactions. If he didn't crash land on Earth, then that just builds on the squadmate issue....why did he start picking people up and leave the galaxy before the citadel started charging up, or how was he able to get everything done so fast?
 
[quote name='Ink.So.Well.']Whoever wrote that rebuttle deserves a motherfucking award. Seriously.[/QUOTE]Maybe Bioware should bring them on-board to "fix" the ending?
 
[quote name='100xp']5 spectre packs last night...no widow or javelin. I've been rockin the mantis since release. meh. The M-37 (nade launcher) is pretty awesome, I didn't realize that it almost has a stun effect on enemies.

Hey there's also increased capacity equipment cards. I noticed one guy in our group fired 3 rockets and I was like...what? he explained. Nowing my luck w/these packs i'll get +1 extra spare clip capacity.[/QUOTE]

Lol, i got 4 rockets, 5 spare clips, 3 healths, 4 medigels. They do help a bunch. I wanna get a Paladin or Talon.
 
[quote name='Freemason']Lol, i got 4 rockets, 5 spare clips, 3 healths, 4 medigels. They do help a bunch. I wanna get a Paladin or Talon.[/QUOTE]

They help way more than a bunch lol, playing against reapers on gold we always end up firing most of our rockets by wave 7. I wonder what the max is..
 
[quote name='Freemason']Lol, i got 4 rockets, 5 spare clips, 3 healths, 4 medigels. They do help a bunch. I wanna get a Paladin or Talon.[/QUOTE]

I swear, for the most part I think randoms are just expect everyone else to carry them through the waves. More often I see randoms never use rockets or medi gel...that said they probably don't even use health packs or even know that have equipment. I'd certainly welcome any of the capacity packs, just spare clips being the least welcome.
 
[quote name='gotdott']They help way more than a bunch lol, playing against reapers on gold we always end up firing most of our rockets by wave 7. I wonder what the max is..[/QUOTE]

any more than 5 seems excessive.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Maybe Bioware should bring them on-board to "fix" the ending?[/QUOTE]

Honestly I'm still surprised they managed to screw them up this badly. Well... assuming it wasn't intentional in the first place because it's a lose-lose situation for us either way. We have to pay for better writing or deal with the game as is. Rather disappointing all around and reinforcing terrible business practices in the process. Again... for us. Marvelous strategy for EA though since they know the average gamer will buy first and rarely ask questions.
 
so I was in a lobby with my nephew and a n7 lvl 222 popped in then about 5 seconds later he bumped up to 232 - wasn't changing chars as far as I could tell - then we played with him being a lvl 15 somethingoranother and when we got back in the lobby he was 235. Is there something I'm missing - what's up with that? Does it have anything to do with single player because I'm lagging a bit behind with my single player. Just don't understand how he jumped up lvls like that.
 
[quote name='bordjon']so I was in a lobby with my nephew and a n7 lvl 222 popped in then about 5 seconds later he bumped up to 232 - wasn't changing chars as far as I could tell - then we played with him being a lvl 15 somethingoranother and when we got back in the lobby he was 235. Is there something I'm missing - what's up with that? Does it have anything to do with single player because I'm lagging a bit behind with my single player. Just don't understand how he jumped up lvls like that.[/QUOTE]

promoting a lvl 20 gives you +10 N7 rating.
 
[quote name='100xp']promoting a lvl 20 gives you +10 N7 rating.[/QUOTE]

Ahhh - ok thanks for the quick reply - I haven't done that yet - I'm sitting on 3 lvl 20s but haven't decided to promote - is promoting anything like readiness where it will go down over time - will I lose anything over time if I promote now (other than all my chars of that class dropping back to lvl 1?)
 
[quote name='bordjon']Ahhh - ok thanks for the quick reply - I haven't done that yet - I'm sitting on 3 lvl 20s but haven't decided to promote - is promoting anything like readiness where it will go down over time - will I lose anything over time if I promote now (other than all my chars of that class dropping back to lvl 1?)[/QUOTE]

It just adds 75(?) to your war assets under N7 Special Ops (I think?). Not sure if it carries over to a second playthrough, haven't checked that.
 
yeah it adds to your readiness, you unlock an achievement this way (or another way if you choose to do it via SP), and you get to start from lvl 1 with that class...and try out different specs if you wanted to.
 
I know a bunch of you played a lot of the MP during beta, so you already know this, but playing as an engineer against the Geth is such a blast lol. I have a level 20 Salarian, and I just carry around an SMG, so I can spam energy drain all game.
 
[quote name='bordjon']so I was in a lobby with my nephew and a n7 lvl 222 popped in then about 5 seconds later he bumped up to 232 - wasn't changing chars as far as I could tell - then we played with him being a lvl 15 somethingoranother and when we got back in the lobby he was 235. Is there something I'm missing - what's up with that? Does it have anything to do with single player because I'm lagging a bit behind with my single player. Just don't understand how he jumped up lvls like that.[/QUOTE]

and each character you level up adds one N7 rating for each class you have unlocked. For example, i have all 4 Sentinels unlocked, i level 1 i get 4 N7 Points. Thats hows people are harvesting N7, promote, play a match, level 3-4 levels on bronze with a level 1 get 12 points. In an hour after promoting, you could get probably 50 or so points easy. Also buying N7 packs you can get 100k xp on a rare character unlock, which if it levels you, see above.

For the indoctrination theory, it actually does hold a lot of weight, until you try to work in where the Stargazer Epilogue fits in then years later. Also, if they crashed back to Earth, wasn't there two moons in the skyline?
 
ALSO OF NOTE: has anyone read through the Collectors Edition guide? In reference to the Indoctrination Theory, the endings spoilers NEVER mention a
"control the reapers" option, it states "If you choose to BECOME a reaper."
I am also eager to see what the DLC has in store.

And, apparantly there is a "Guardin Gnome" Like easter egg if you get a certain fish all the way through the New Game + to the end through some intel at the Shadow Broker station. I'll look it up when i get home, makes me wonder what that is.
 
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