Mass Effect 3 (Spoilers)

[PeZook]

Yeah, the smack talk was terrible, especially when compared with his closing line which was genuinely scary.

I think Sovereign worked because there's just something uncanny about talking to a two kilometer long superdreadnaught. It would have been even better if the hologram was HUGE and staring at you from above.

[Zinegata]

Stofsk->

Yeah, point of order taken. The green Ur Quan did give you a chance to live under submission or the slave shield, although if you didn't behave like a proper submissive race they will genocide you too (Or at least threaten too... the Spathi got several warnings before the Ur Quan basically told them "Fight properly or die"). The black ones were simply flat-out genocidal monsters.

Still, the point is that their characterization was somehow more superior than what ME3 came up with.

[GuppyShark]

Not entirely. Earth is slightly less fucked if you have enough EMS.

Help me out here.

I just watched my shitty no-multiplayer Destruction ending (not even a full bar) and then the 'perfect' Shepard-lives ending and I could not see a single difference.

You still get the huge fireball that destroys Big Ben, the Reapers die, the troopers cheer, the Citadel has secondaries, the Relays blow up.

[Zinegata]

I think Anderson might live with higher EMS.

[PeZook]

By the way, did anybody else find it amusing that Reapers supposedly remove "all evidence of their existence" between cycles, but left a derelict one for anybody to find?

Maybe the game is trying to tell us that Reapers actually suck at what they do?

[Zinegata]

Or that they left the Collectors behind?

[PeZook]

Or that they left the Collectors behind?

The Collectors were at least cleverly hidden, and not tied to Reapers in any way (at least not obviously, without samples of Reaper technology you'd have no idea who stood behind them)

So that was actually pretty smart, having a force capable of deniably doing shit on your behalf in case something went wrong with the original plan. But leaving an actual, mostly functional Reaper behind?

[Stofsk]

Not entirely. Earth is slightly less fucked if you have enough EMS.

Help me out here.

I just watched my shitty no-multiplayer Destruction ending (not even a full bar) and then the 'perfect' Shepard-lives ending and I could not see a single difference.

You still get the huge fireball that destroys Big Ben, the Reapers die, the troopers cheer, the Citadel has secondaries, the Relays blow up.

Welcome to the RAEG lol

Or that they left the Collectors behind?

The Collectors were at least cleverly hidden, and not tied to Reapers in any way (at least not obviously, without samples of Reaper technology you'd have no idea who stood behind them)

So that was actually pretty smart, having a force capable of deniably doing shit on your behalf in case something went wrong with the original plan. But leaving an actual, mostly functional Reaper behind?

The Collectors are also literally a recent thing; they didn't exist prior to the last extinction event. As for the derelict reaper, we literally have no idea behind the context of that event. What killed it may well have been an anomaly. They may not know where it had perished. They may not know it had even died (that's a stretch but maybe he was like the Uncle Steve of the Reapers, you know always turns up to mass extinctions in his underwear and shit). Too many unknowns.

[DaveJB]

There's also the fact that no-one actually knew what Reapers looked like until Sovereign announced itself as one. Until that point everyone probably assumed that the dead Reaper (assuming it was even discovered any length of time prior to the second game) was just a wrecked spaceship.

[fractalsponge1]

Not sure if everyone has seen this already, but: 16 different endings! *snort*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPelM2hw ... EA69FBE460

Why couldn't they have just let us fight harbinger at the end? It is odd that the bog standard bioware rpg ending with lots of EMS threshholds and reputation checks would've phased almost no one, but instead we got a pseudo-philosophical plothole-fest that's burning down the internets.

[Tolya]

Okay, I just finished the game. And I regret it. The introduction (Earth) was deeply flawed, but in the end they could get away with it. The entire game was pretty much awesome. Especially Tuchanka.

The ending... well, it has been stated here thousands of times already, but the writers of this shit are pure and plain retarded.

Putting everything aside, building a plot on the assumption that "organics create synthethics therefore war" is just missing the point entirely. It's like someone jacked off to Terminator too much.

No. Organics are lazy and want to have someone else do their shit for them. In the times past we had slaves. When we got rid of slavery and it was no longer an option to conquer someone as forced labor, we started building ourselves slaves. It's not about some detached notion of organic-synthetic imminent warfare. So according to Bioware, organics killing each other is okay, but organics vs synthetics are a galactic no-no. Which is dumb.

Besides, all three endings are shitty since their only difference is in color of the energy. Fuck that, this is the second game since DEHR that gives you an ending selector. And this is my biggest grief. Not the shitty conclusion (which only shows that they didn't write an ending at all but were too close to release date and had to make shit up to meet the deadline). Mass Effect trilogy was about choices and consequences. The ultimate ending should reflect all your choices from the trilogy, not just the amount of grinded numeric lolpower.

And yes, commander Shepard, hero of the galaxy who takes shit from no one gets talked down by some little transparent boy and forced to make a sucky choice. Is this what I've been building my character through all these games? I've been playing three instalments just to see my character turned into someone's else's bitch? That makes no sense.

I've always treated ME on par with shitty drivel like Avatar and thus I was able to ignore the plotholes for the presentation and some great moments. But this is like... retarded. It's on par with Skywalker jumping after the Emperor and then showing a Stardestroyer crash on a planet. Makes no sense.

The "chosen one sacrifices itself" has been around since Jesus and countless other movies and is no less of a cliche than a generic good ending. But a generic good ending, even if it ends with "lived happily ever after" gives you a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Here there is no reward. And no Bioware, you are not breaking new ground in narrative story telling. You are going straight for the overused cliches you were trying to avoid.

Of course, the sacrifice angle can still be done well. Like the ending in Fallout 1, which beautifully and seamlessly led to Fallout 2. It explained the consequences of your actions on the world and you can't really argue on being casted out of the vault. It was logical.

Im not going to get pissed off about this, since this is just a video game. But I do really hope that once the world starts treating video games as legit entertainment and not only something for the nerds, developers will start hiring serious writers and invest money into the storyline like in the case of movies. They should get Timothy Zahn to write the story and it's conclusion. Not Kevin J. Anderson.

It was probably said earlier, but these are the thoughts off the top of my head fresh after seeing the ending selector machine.

[Stark]

Everytime I read 'Mass Effect is about choices' I can't stop laughing. The consequence is ... I say a slightly different thing! :v.

Would you accept the finale if there was more granularity from the other games? Like, 10 different endstates of which your actions previously gave you a choice of two or three? Or do you think writing the finale that required such a choice regardless of past events is fundamentally bad? What did you expect, given how the other games ended?

[Tasoth]

Alright, I know this falls under 'Lol, expecting intelligence from Bioware writing' and has nothing to do with the ending, but the concept that humanity is super genetically diverse is fucking asinine.

This'll be all based off of ME1 info as I have yet to play the other games. So let's compare Humanity and Turians for this.

Mankind has spread out a crossed the stars 30 years prior to ME1. This would mean that humans in space are come from a comparatively small gene pool compared to other races because all the genes come from the home system. Significant genetic mutations popping up within 30 years is a just strange to believe, especially given the ME1 codex states humanity screens embryos and corrects genomes pre or post birth. That too would narrow a species' gene pool.

The Turians have been in space for 1200 years on many worlds. While the Mass Relays would make gene flows between populations likely, the number of individuals flowing between populations is probably small enough that separate colonies would become their own breeding populations. It would be far more likely for the Turians to actually have a slightly greater diversity in their gene pool than humans.

Let alone the setting includes a species that uses the psyche of their mate to change the genes in their offspring.

[PeZook]

Yeah, the Asari can mate with everyone, even frown upon intra-species relationships, yet have a smaller gene pool than humanity?

[Tolya]

Everytime I read 'Mass Effect is about choices' I can't stop laughing. The consequence is ... I say a slightly different thing! :v.

Would you accept the finale if there was more granularity from the other games? Like, 10 different endstates of which your actions previously gave you a choice of two or three? Or do you think writing the finale that required such a choice regardless of past events is fundamentally bad? What did you expect, given how the other games ended?

Considering that Bioware blew it's whistle about how they will deliver an experience that is ultimately shaped by the player made choices, I say that choosing a color of an explosion is not exactly something I had in mind.

It's not about the number of endstates. It's about logically linking the endstates to what happened in the world. We are promised an individually tailored experience and for most part they try to deliver it (whether there are plotholes or the stories are just plain stupid aside) throughout the game. In the very ending the flushed it down the toilet. It's like you start in a place, you are allowed to tour the world but ultimately all roads all lead to Detroit.

What I expected? I actually expected a "lived merrily ever after" conclusion with enough plotholes to fill a dreadnaught, not the entire fucking galaxy. I expected something like KOTOR ending, or even NWN2 ending, which would probably let me down a bit, but not piss me off and think that devs consider me a retard.

This thing hits the nail:

http://www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3- ... are-right/
Yes, the plot of the trilogy is kinda retarded and couldn't stand on its own without proper presentation, but even I didn't think they would go DEHR with this one.

[Tolya]

For a good plot, we just released Anachronox on GOG. If you want a rebound-fuck after ME3.

[Vendetta]

Yeah, the Asari can mate with everyone, even frown upon intra-species relationships, yet have a smaller gene pool than humanity?

Their generational cycle is much longer though. They can mate with anyone, but if they only have 1-3 children in a 1500 year lifespan, there won't be a high recombination rate.

[Thanas]

So they are essentially blue space elves with tentacles?

[PeZook]

Man...I feel really sorry about Tali and her people, and at the same time really frustrated about how fucking dumb and stubborn they were. But I couldn't in good conscience wipe out the Geth after seeing what really went down on Rannoch at the start of the war.

I mean, the first ever self-aware Geth unit begging to be told what he did wrong (so that he could please its masters) while the two Quarians essentially vivisected it...god.

I guess that means Rannoch was well written, too, since it really provoked an emotional response. Also, contrary to what some people were trying to sell in this thread about the game always portraying the synthetic/organic conflict as one and the same, Rannoch really handled it in a nuanced and complex way. Compared to the rest of the series, anyways.

[OmegaChief]

You know 'Zook, if you play your cards right you can save both the Quarians and the Geth, and better then that, you can get them to rebuild Rannoch and help you fight the Reapers -together-.

It's not easy, and I thought I'd done it horribley wrong the first time, but it works out so wonderfully, and flies so in the face of everything the AI at the end says that... argh the main reason I hated the explination we were given.

[PREDATOR490]

The Geth / Quarian thing is one of the more interesting choices that carries over from ME2 to ME3. Supposedly its based on a point system and you have to reach 4 points for them to join forces. Fail that and you have to pick a side.

Lots of rage has been directed at the 'reveal' of what Tali looks like because its a poorly done photoshop. Effectively the same shit BW have done with the ending. They have been promoting the idea that ME would have a climatic end with your choices played out but completely fucked that up. Likewise Tali and the Quarians have been locked up in their suits from ME1 constantly bitching about it only for the final reveal to be a single picture. Ironic that there is fan art out there that looks so much better.

The Marauder Shields mime thats going around is equally hilarious but so far it seems the prevailing theory is the ending didnt happen. It was all a dream sequence via Reaper indoctrination. On the one hand that would mean a proper ending is logically going to occur. On the other it means Bioware effectively ass pulled a massive cluster fuck by putting out a game with a shit ending and then making people pay for the real ending via DLC. No doubt after they bring out tons of drivel. Taking back Omega seems an automatic gurantee of DLC content.

However, as much as the fans want to delude themselves into thinking Bioware have pulled a grand scheme... I find it more likely they just coped out and SOMEONE thought the ending made sense. Fuck knows why... maybe they ran out of money or someone really is that monumentally stupid.

[phongn]

Yeah, the Asari can mate with everyone, even frown upon intra-species relationships, yet have a smaller gene pool than humanity?

Genes don't transfer, at least for inter-species mating.

The Geth / Quarian thing is one of the more interesting choices that carries over from ME2 to ME3. Supposedly its based on a point system and you have to reach 4 points for them to join forces. Fail that and you have to pick a side.

5 points (7 total possible).

[Zinegata]

So they are essentially blue space elves with tentacles?

Not tentacles, but definitely promiscous ones. The space tentacle race are the Hanar. One of them is even on the cover of the ME universe equivalent of FHM.

The official reason why the Asari want to sleep with everyone is because Asari-on-Asari mating sometimes results in VAMPIRE ASARI, who essentially kill anyone they have sex with.

[PREDATOR490]

then they get turned into Banshees.... which are really fucking annoying, especially if your a vanguard foolish enough to charge attack one.

[Tasoth]

Genes don't transfer, at least for inter-species mating.

Correct, but they use space magic to 'randomize' their offspring's genes. Which means either the Asari have portions of their genome they turn and off based on who they breed with or they create new genes, insert them into their offspring's genome and go about their way. Which is interesting when you get into how genes are inherit, because that would mean that each Asari has diverge significantly from their common ancestor based on what genes they've inherit.