Mass Effect 3 (Spoilers)

[Stark]

Your best feature is your amazingly inappropriate self-promotion.

And Galvatron, should we play 'lets make a list of all the things that only/never happened to Sheppard'? :v Main character of mastubatory game has special attributes and it took years for 'fans' to notice?

Vendetta, is it really telling them they suck by saying 'that other guy who also sucked was SO AMAZING'? I was talking to Hav last night about his attitude and how, by replaying, he actually likes the ending more and considers it even more appropriate and better foreshadowed. But yknow, having the player Jesus overturn the incorrect and failed laws of the old gods is JUST LIKE HITLER.

[Zinegata]

I know I'm totally awesome and it never hurts to self-promote. The detractors are all just jealous because they can't match my awesomeness and have to satisfy themselves with pointless (and uninformed) trolling .

[PeZook]

That's not at all convincing. It's a fan applying wishful thinking and trying to fill in gaping plotholes that are a result of shitty writing.

I like the interpretation of Anderson representing Shep's Paragon side, while TIM is the Renegade aspect.

Of course, "Paragon" in Mass Effect is still a militarist fucker, but that's par the course - the game is full of military wanking and "LOL politicians are useless" bullshit.

[Vendetta]

Vendetta, is it really telling them they suck by saying 'that other guy who also sucked was SO AMAZING'? I was talking to Hav last night about his attitude and how, by replaying, he actually likes the ending more and considers it even more appropriate and better foreshadowed. But yknow, having the player Jesus overturn the incorrect and failed laws of the old gods is JUST LIKE HITLER.

Trouble is Captain Space Jesus doesn't overturn the incorrect and failed laws of the old gods at all. Your non-choice in the ending requires you to agree that a problem exists (synthetics will always rebel and will want to destroy all organics everywhere forever) which the last two games have spent a good deal of time patiently explaining does not exist and never actually did. The only thing you get to change is that periodic mass genocide is no longer the way to resolve that problem. The problem that wasn't there in the first place.

You can't tell the Catalyst "no, actually we figured out that that isn't really a problem at all, please go away now", which is the logical thing that anyone who had been paying attention would want to say, because we have to have Casey Hudson and Mac Walters tell us how ebil the synthetics really are.

[PREDATOR490]

Heh, finally managed to bring myself to complete ONE playthrough - Total time on insanity - 26 hours from start to finish.
Even knowing what was coming from all the reviews the ending still leaves me amusingly dumbfounded how anyone could think that ending was a good idea.

Actually listening to the Starchild giving you a load of horseshit... you get one dialogue option WHICH EVEN LETS YOU EFFECTIVELY tell the child it's full of shit.
Starchild: NO! Fuck you and these are your choices.
Shepard: Wait, your basically telling me a load of horseshit, I called you on it and then your quickly glossing over the discussion. Why should I trust you again ?, Who the fuck are you anyway ?, Why did Soverign need to connect with your ass if you control the Reapers ?
Starchild: You have a difficult decision... choose bitch
Shepard: Oh, okay... If you control the Reapers... why dont we just destroy you ?

I went with the Red / Destroy ending because it seems abundantly obvious this will be the 'canon' choice for any future Mass Effect games.
Blue and Green would be so monumentally funny to try and further the franchise. The former because it supposedly turns Shepard into the new Catalyst.. so Shepard is the new Citadel / StarGod.

That said, I think the blue option is actually the more sensible with hindsight. The Reapers built the Mass Relays and now that ALL of them have magically been destroyed. God Shepard should be able to tell them to start helping everyone rather than killing everybody. Loved the bit with Buzz Aldrin at the end though...

"Some of the details have been lost through time" - Translation: Bioware / EA are cowardly fucks that dont dare commit cue: Oh look DLC / future Content plug.
If they didnt have the balls to commit on actually ending the franchise it seems beyond stupid to pull these fucking endings which have such massive implications for the rest of the universe.

[Zinegata]

You can't tell the Catalyst "no, actually we figured out that that isn't really a problem at all, please go away now", which is the logical thing that anyone who had been paying attention would want to say, because we have to have Casey Hudson and Mac Walters tell us how ebil the synthetics really are.

Unfortunately all statements by those two have so far remained unrepentant about the ending, which is why I said they probably aren't changing it. There's even evidence that indicates the rest of the writing staff was not allowed to peer review the ending; unlike the rest of the storylines.

====

Also, it is kinda sad people the Buzz Aldrin cameo went to total waste.

[Vendetta]

I'm sure they aren't going to change it.

To really get the ending up to the standard required they would have to change everything from the start of the assault on Earth onwards to reflect your individual war assets as something other than a score that mildly changes the ending, and actually have a reasonable variety of outcomes not three that are all but identical in all their most significant features.

[Skywalker_T-65]

You see, what annoys me about the control ending is this...John (or whatever name you picked) 'Destroy Reapers even if no one believes me!' Shepard gets control of the Reapers...and what does he do? He just makes them pack up and leave. I don't know about any one else, but my Shep would sooner destroy the Reapers than make them leave. Like make them drop their shields, run into each other, self-destruct, etc. Anything that would help the Alliance he went though all that trouble to put together. But by this point it really doesn't matter, since Bioware won't change it.

[tezunegari]

I'm sure they aren't going to change it.

To really get the ending up to the standard required they would have to change everything from the start of the assault on Earth onwards to reflect your individual war assets as something other than a score that mildly changes the ending, and actually have a reasonable variety of outcomes not three that are all but identical in all their most significant features.

Actually they don't need to change much.
They only have to add a check for war asset flags in the current game and which ending you choose then show appropriate videos.

The whole point of the criticism of the ending is that there is no impact of player choices and no closure for all the effort put into it.

Personally, I want to know what the consequences were.
What happened to the Krogans? I cured the Genophage and saved Wrex, Bakara and Grunt.
What happend to the Quarians and Geth? I upgraded the Geth and got both of them to live together. (Shame they opted out of showing Tali's face)
What about the rest?
Earth, Palaven and Thessia are burning, billions of people either displaced as refugees, dead or converted to enemies.
The Asaria are revealed to possess an active protheans beacon on their homeworld.
How will the galactic community react to that revelation?

What happened to Garrus family? (Or Jokers: Listen to the story of the Asari commando in Huerta Memorial... about 8 parts... )

If the destruction of the Mass Relays is retconned:
How much research will be put into alternative FTL drives?
What lies beyond the known but dormant relays?
As the Citadel now is in Alliance space, has this any impact on the status quo? A future lead by humans like Udina and TIM envisioned?

[Vendetta]

If they just wanted to slap a bandaid on it, they all they should do is chop off everything after Shepard and Anderson are sitting watching the space battle as they die and replace it with a cutscene where the Crucible fires, futzes with the Reapers to make them vulnerable, and then shows the Big Fight Scene that is modified by the war assets you brought to the fight, showing them each in specific detail, and having their overall level dictate how bloody and costly the victory is, then have your remaining squad come in afterwards and either find Shepard and Anderson dead or recieve some kind of heroic one liner if you managed to bring enough to survive,

See, it's not about choosing A, B, or C at that point it's about taking all the choices you already made to get to that point and showing the consequences of them.

And it doesn't have the stupid catalyst, an explanation of the Reapers that makes them 100% dumber than they were beforehand (protip: The more you explain about that kind of cosmic horror entity the less effective it is), or everyone turning into SHODAN.

[PREDATOR490]

Taking control of the Reapers is actually more useful than Destroying them as it wont cause an intergalactic obiliteration of ALL synthetic life in the galaxy.

Remember when Tali says the Geth have been uploading themselves into Quarians suits to help them survive - Well... guess what that Destroy ending just did to that...

Naturally this option gets painted as being TIM's insanely fucked idea but with Shepard being space jesus... gaining control of the Reapers... turn them into Shepards Angels or some wierd shit helping rebuild the galaxy.

Alternatively the Control ending could be changed so that Shepard assumes direct control of the Reapers and then orders them all to self destruct. Rather fine way of doing the 'noble sacrifice' aspect BW seemed so insane about pushing.

Most were expecting an actual showdown between Shepard / Harbringer to be the final boss fight which would make sense. Instead... Harbringer basically becomes writers fiat incarnate by doing his stunt.

If a new ending is done - The popular belief is the whole situation from Shepard getting slapped with Harbringers beam is a dream / indoctrination from Harbringer. Thus the new ending would pick up with Shepard waking up and then going on to the REAL ending with the actual showdown with Harbringer.

[Zinegata]

If they just wanted to slap a bandaid on it, they all they should do is chop off everything after Shepard and Anderson are sitting watching the space battle as they die and replace it with a cutscene where the Crucible fires, futzes with the Reapers to make them vulnerable, and then shows the Big Fight Scene that is modified by the war assets you brought to the fight, showing them each in specific detail, and having their overall level dictate how bloody and costly the victory is, then have your remaining squad come in afterwards and either find Shepard and Anderson dead or recieve some kind of heroic one liner if you managed to bring enough to survive,

See, it's not about choosing A, B, or C at that point it's about taking all the choices you already made to get to that point and showing the consequences of them.

And it doesn't have the stupid catalyst, an explanation of the Reapers that makes them 100% dumber than they were beforehand (protip: The more you explain about that kind of cosmic horror entity the less effective it is), or everyone turning into SHODAN.

Funnily, I tell everyone who hasn't finished the ending to turn off the monitor and your speakers once Shepard starts going up the elevator to meet the Catalyst and imagine a big explosion that kills all the Reapers. The end.

[SAMAS]

I haven't had a chance to play the series (for lack of opportunity, mind you), but the blowup over the ending intrigued me

After reading Angry Joe's rant about it (calm and pretty well thought out, IMHO), I noticed how so much of the final setup reminded me of the final two episodes of the anime Vandread (The whole series is on YouTube here). Stop me if you've heard this one:

A rampaging fleet of automatons has come to the Hero(es) homeworld(s) to harvest it's population. To stop them, the Hero makes a daring attack, backed up by the fleets of people he has helped and encountered over the course of his journey. Epic Battle ensues, until suddenly, there's a devastating red beam blast, and the Hero(es) find(s) himself/themselves faced with a creepy child leading the automaton force.

[Darksider]

A rampaging fleet of automatons has come to the Hero(es) homeworld(s) to harvest it's population. To stop them, the Hero makes a daring attack, backed up by the fleets of people he has helped and encountered over the course of his journey. Epic Battle ensues, until suddenly, there's a devastating red beam blast, and the Hero(es) find(s) himself/themselves faced with a creepy child leading the automaton force.

You know now that you mention it, that does seem somewhat familiar. I suppose no one ever accused Bioware of excessive originality.

[Zinegata]

Spoiler:

And funnily, in Vandread the hero says "screw you" to the creepy child boss. And the combined fleet (formed out of every race they put together) basically win the conflict.

[Zinegata]

http://www.complex.com/video-games/2012 ... ass-effect

LOL, Pezook, your theory may be right.

We should have nuked that world in ME1 and saved the galaxy from the brain-dead logic of the "Beings of Light".

[FaxModem1]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/122/122 ... _multiline

Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut Free DLC Coming in Summer
Will this be the end of the Mass Effect 3 controversy?
UK, April 5, 2012
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IGN UK
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BioWare has announced that it will be releasing extra ending content for Mass Effect 3 this summer in the form of free DLC.

The Mass Effect Extended Cut DLC will feature new cinematics and epilogue scenes that will expand upon the game's ending, providing extra detail and insight to fans. It will be available for free on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC - as long as you download it before April 2014.

Studio founder Dr Ray Muzyka commented that this was an ideal way to both keep the creative vision of Mass Effect 3 and appease fans unhappy with its ending. "Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding," he says.

"With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe."

Does this mark the end of the long-running Mass Effect 3 controversy, or just the beginning of the end? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Well, there it is. Whether you think the fans won, or EA/Bioware did this on purpose, or they caved in, this is coming out for free this summer.

[FaxModem1]

http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/05/mass ... ended-cut/

Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut
Posted on April 5, 2012 by darklarke

An official press release went out today announcing how we are re-prioritizing the Mass Effect 3 post release content schedule to provide a more fleshed out experience for our fans. For many of you the “Extended Cut” will help answer some questions and give closure to this chapter of the Mass Effect story. Oh and it’s at no cost to you – the fan.

Here is a mini FAQ to help you understand what the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut is and isn’t:
What can fans expect from the Extended Cut DLC?

For fans who want more closure in Mass Effect 3, the DLC will offer extended scenes that provide additional context and deeper insight to the conclusion of Commander Shepard’s journey.

Are there going to be more/different endings or ending DLCs in the future?

No. BioWare strongly believes in the team’s artistic vision for the end of this arc of the Mass Effect franchise. The extended cut DLC will expand on the existing endings, but no further ending DLC is planned.

What is BioWare adding to the ending with the Extended Cut DLC?

BioWare will expanding on the ending to Mass Effect 3 by creating additional cinematics and epilogue scenes to the existing ending sequences. The goal of these new scenes is to provide additional clarity and closure to Mass Effect 3.

When will the Extended Cut DLC be available?

Currently the Extended Cut DLC is planned for this summer, no specific date has been announced at this point.

Why are you releasing the Extended Cut DLC?

Though we remain committed and are proud of the artistic choices we made in the main game, we are aware that there are some fans who would like more closure to Mass Effect 3. The goal of the DLC is not to provide a new ending to the game, rather to offer fans additional context and answers to the end of Commander Shepard’s story.

So there you have it. Are we proud of the game we made and the team that made it? Hell yes. Are we going to change the ending of the game? No. Do we appreciate the passion and listen to the feedback delivered to us by our fans? Very much so and we are responding.

Summer is coming…

The official statement. Plus an inverted Game of Thrones meme?

[Skywalker_T-65]

Okay then...so basically they said 'F you we like the ending and aren't changing it...but here's some free DLC that may or may not make you like it.'

I really REALLY wish I could say I was surprised...but I'm really not. Darn it Bioware...why couldn't you listen to the fans for once (and not just put out extended versions of the current endings).

[DPDarkPrimus]

At this point I just expect that, somehow, the DLC will make the endings even worse.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Wouldn't surprise me. With how much they love the current ending they may decide to do something equally stupid for the DLC.

[HMS Sophia]

Is it possible to get hold of DLC without having a net connection to your xbox? I mean can you download stuff to your computer and then transfer it somehow? Because otherwise fuck this shit.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Is it possible to get hold of DLC without having a net connection to your xbox? I mean can you download stuff to your computer and then transfer it somehow? Because otherwise fuck this shit.

If your computer has access to the Internet, you likely have the capacity to have your Xbox hooked up to the Internet, even if only long enough to download the DLC. Wired connection, just plug it into the Xbox instead of the computer. Wireless, well, theoretically you have to buy a gaming router but plenty of "normal" wireless routers will work - and the newer Slim models have wireless built in.

[Aaron MkII]

Okay then...so basically they said 'F you we like the ending and aren't changing it...but here's some free DLC that may or may not make you like it.'

I really REALLY wish I could say I was surprised...but I'm really not. Darn it Bioware...why couldn't you listen to the fans for once (and not just put out extended versions of the current endings).

Why would they?

That non-apology that came out a while ago made it pretty clear that they aren't interested in the opinions of their fans, just the reviewers.

[bilateralrope]

At this point I just expect that, somehow, the DLC will make the endings even worse.

I don't see how they can make the current endings better. The Mass Relays are still destroyed, meaning starvation among the massive fleet stuck near Earth. Joker still picks up your squadmates and runs, leaving Garrus and Tali to starve on the planet he crashes on.

Also:

as long as you download it before April 2014.

Why the cutoff date ?