Mass Effect 3 (Spoilers)

[Zinegata]

Well, that's assuming you got the upgrades. But I suspect most of us did go for the Golden Ending in ME2, and took the time playing the irritating scanning mini-game to upgrade the guns.

[PREDATOR490]

You actually see the Cruiser in the cutscene where Joker essentially flys straight past it then buggers off. As for not being able to take on the ship...

This is the same ship that was specifically stated needed a shuttle to ferry people planet side because it was too big and heavy to do so itself. Now watch how many fucking times ME2 alone showed the Normady doing just that.

[tezunegari]

Funny thing I found in the refugee sector on the Citadel:

Conrad Verner... DR. Conrad Verner

His dissertation on Dark Energy is actually a war asset worth of 1! (or even 5 if you have completed the UNC: Asari Writings from ME1)

He also questions the new ammo system.

He might be an insufferable idiot... but he's an insufferable idiot willing to take a bullet for me!
(he lived because I also helped that undercover chick from Chora's Den in ME1 )

[Aaron MkII]

The fighters didn't get there on their own, after all. A cruiser's presence was explicitly mentioned. Of course I really question why the Normandy didn't tear it in half and shit all over its strike wing, but the writers seem to have forgotten that the Normandy is essentially a pocket battleship after ME2's upgrades.

Even with all the upgrades, Joker has to play hide and seek with the fighters at the end of Me2 so She may be able to take the cruiser but can't do both.

[KhorneFlakes]

Those were Oculus drones however. Reaper technology, remember?

Unless Cerberus has wanktech upgrades, I find it hard to believe that the fighters could seriously threaten the Normandy. It's more likely that the cruiser had thanix cannons, meaning that it probably could of one-shotted the Normandy.

[Anacronian]

If we work from the presumption that the "starchild" is an AI can anybody come up with a logical reason to why an AI would want to preserve biological races in the first place?

[PeZook]

If we work from the presumption that the "starchild" is an AI can anybody come up with a logical reason to why an AI would want to preserve biological races in the first place?

Simple: It was given this goal by whoever created it.

[Anacronian]

If we work from the presumption that the "starchild" is an AI can anybody come up with a logical reason to why an AI would want to preserve biological races in the first place?

Simple: It was given this goal by whoever created it.

That would make it more akin to a VI then - AI's (at least in the ME universe) formulate their own purpose like we see in the "birthing" of EDI who only becomes a true AI once her restrictions is removed.

[White Haven]

EDI was still an AI, fully self-aware, just with artificial restrictions placed on her decision-making process.

[Akhlut]

If we work from the presumption that the "starchild" is an AI can anybody come up with a logical reason to why an AI would want to preserve biological races in the first place?

Do people have a logical reason to play video games? If it is truly intelligent, it can simply want to do things for the sake of it, not necessarily for any "logical" reason. After all, "if P, then Q" statements don't really lead one to actual desires to do things, it just tells you how the world works (assuming the world follows logical processes, which may not be correct, due to the problem of induction). So, the AI can be logical in its performance of actions to reach a goal, but the formation of a goal itself doesn't really follow from any logical thinking (at least, not without prior assumptions, such as "life is good" and "war is bad" or something).

[FaxModem1]

http://blog.bioware.com/2012/03/21/4108/

To Mass Effect 3 players, from Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare
Posted on March 21, 2012 by darklarke

To Mass Effect 3 players, from Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare

As co-founder and GM of BioWare, I’m very proud of the ME3 team; I personally believe Mass Effect 3 is the best work we’ve yet created. So, it’s incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the game’s endings were not up to their expectations. Our first instinct is to defend our work and point to the high ratings offered by critics – but out of respect to our fans, we need to accept the criticism and feedback with humility.

I believe passionately that games are an art form, and that the power of our medium flows from our audience, who are deeply involved in how the story unfolds, and who have the uncontested right to provide constructive criticism. At the same time, I also believe in and support the artistic choices made by the development team. The team and I have been thinking hard about how to best address the comments on ME3’s endings from players, while still maintaining the artistic integrity of the game.

Mass Effect 3 concludes a trilogy with so much player control and ownership of the story that it was hard for us to predict the range of emotions players would feel when they finished playing through it. The journey you undertake in Mass Effect provokes an intense range of highly personal emotions in the player; even so, the passionate reaction of some of our most loyal players to the current endings in Mass Effect 3 is something that has genuinely surprised us. This is an issue we care about deeply, and we will respond to it in a fair and timely way. We’re already working hard to do that.

To that end, since the game launched, the team has been poring over everything they can find about reactions to the game – industry press, forums, Facebook, and Twitter, just to name a few. The Mass Effect team, like other teams across the BioWare Label within EA, consists of passionate people who work hard for the love of creating experiences that excite and delight our fans. I’m honored to work with them because they have the courage and strength to respond to constructive feedback.

Building on their research, Exec Producer Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey. You’ll hear more on this in April. We’re working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we’ve received. This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue.

The reaction to the release of Mass Effect 3 has been unprecedented. On one hand, some of our loyal fans are passionately expressing their displeasure about how their game concluded; we care about this feedback, and we’re planning to directly address it. However, most folks appear to agree that the game as a whole is exceptional, with more than 75 critics giving it a perfect review score and a review average in the mid-90s. Net, I’m proud of the team, but we can and must always strive to do better.

Some of the criticism that has been delivered in the heat of passion by our most ardent fans, even if founded on valid principles, such as seeking more clarity to questions or looking for more closure, for example – has unfortunately become destructive rather than constructive. We listen and will respond to constructive criticism, but much as we will not tolerate individual attacks on our team members, we will not support or respond to destructive commentary.

If you are a Mass Effect fan and have input for the team – we respect your opinion and want to hear it. We’re committed to address your constructive feedback as best we can. In return, I’d ask that you help us do that by supporting what I truly believe is the best game BioWare has yet crafted. I urge you to do your own research: play the game, finish it and tell us what you think. Tell your friends if you feel it’s a good game as a whole. Trust that we are doing our damndest, as always, to address your feedback. As artists, we care about our fans deeply and we appreciate your support.

Thank you for your feedback – we are listening.

Ray

So, something is being announced in April.

[Vendetta]

Mass Effect 3 concludes a trilogy with so much player control and ownership of the story that it was hard for us to predict the range of emotions players would feel when they finished playing through it. The journey you undertake in Mass Effect provokes an intense range of highly personal emotions in the player; even so, the passionate reaction of some of our most loyal players to the current endings in Mass Effect 3 is something that has genuinely surprised us.

Maybe if you make a trilogy with a great deal of player ownership of the story and then take that away at the last minute and impose authorial ownership by fiat the principal emotion the audience will feel is annoyance.

[Vendetta]

Those were Oculus drones however. Reaper technology, remember?

Unless Cerberus has wanktech upgrades, I find it hard to believe that the fighters could seriously threaten the Normandy. It's more likely that the cruiser had thanix cannons, meaning that it probably could of one-shotted the Normandy.

The objective was to get the shuttle onto the station, not piss about fighting the Cerberus fighters. Drawing them all away allowing the shuttle to sneak in was a faster way to do that. (Though Cerberus seems to have every other brand of wanktech going, and the codex does mention Thanix cannons on fighters)

[Aaron MkII]

Mass Effect 3 concludes a trilogy with so much player control and ownership of the story that it was hard for us to predict the range of emotions players would feel when they finished playing through it. The journey you undertake in Mass Effect provokes an intense range of highly personal emotions in the player; even so, the passionate reaction of some of our most loyal players to the current endings in Mass Effect 3 is something that has genuinely surprised us.

Maybe if you make a trilogy with a great deal of player ownership of the story and then take that away at the last minute and impose authorial ownership by fiat the principal emotion the audience will feel is annoyance.

Uh huh, they would have to be pretty stupid not to forsee this.

But whatever, just fix the ending. And try not to make it worse.

[Akhlut]

And then charge money for the DLC actual ending! Brilliant! Just what I want to do, spend more money for a game I already spent $80 after pre-ordering it months ago just so I can get a proper ending.

Because, let's be honest, the likelihood of them giving out free DLC is somewhere between "slim" and "absolutely none".

[Anacronian]

If we work from the presumption that the "starchild" is an AI can anybody come up with a logical reason to why an AI would want to preserve biological races in the first place?

Do people have a logical reason to play video games? If it is truly intelligent, it can simply want to do things for the sake of it, not necessarily for any "logical" reason. After all, "if P, then Q" statements don't really lead one to actual desires to do things, it just tells you how the world works (assuming the world follows logical processes, which may not be correct, due to the problem of induction). So, the AI can be logical in its performance of actions to reach a goal, but the formation of a goal itself doesn't really follow from any logical thinking (at least, not without prior assumptions, such as "life is good" and "war is bad" or something).

I did not say the reasoning's has to be logical - i asked if anybody can come up with a reason that is logical.

[Akhlut]

It wanted to preserve biological life, but didn't think that individuals mattered. So, it absorbed them and used their DNA in the process of making Reapers, who would do that every 50k years to stop life from being wiped out by machine life. So, it preserves life in the form of Reapers, allows new life to become sentient, and so on, while preventing all life from being destroyed by the very machines they create. It gives up when Shepard shows up because it feels that there is no way to continue the cycle, now, as biological life has found a way to defeat the Reapers.

[phongn]

Apparently one of the writers for ME has been posting (and then removing after an hour) about the writing process; the text is being mirrored on pastebin:

Editorial review (or lack thereof) on the ending
Things said author worked on

EDIT: It also looks like EDI and the Geth got a new writer for ME3, hence why it feels like they're more, well, organic-ized. I liked it better when they were machines.

[FaxModem1]

That explains the WTF-ness of the ending. One person had way too much control. While everything else in the game had to pass muster by the rest of the writing room.

And supposed there was a difference in how Earth looked, judging by your score, instead of the color of the explosion.

[dragon]

In the save I have the Rachnii were saved, but in the datalog there listed as extinct. So are they destroyed, or just being kept quite about?
Still best part giant worm vs. reaper

[Vendetta]

That explains the WTF-ness of the ending. One person had way too much control. While everything else in the game had to pass muster by the rest of the writing room.

And supposed there was a difference in how Earth looked, judging by your score, instead of the color of the explosion.

There are tiny differences based on your warscore.

Here's a video that shows all six possible variations of the space magic doing its thing running side by side, so you can see just how "different" they aren't.

Also, once again Forbes weighs in on the matter. Also of note is that there is an acknowledgement in there of the fact that games reviews are broken and useless.

[Stark]

The Game Informer tagline was best - 'all roads lead to awesome' 10/10. :v

It's probably a bit silly to take Bioware's letter too seriously because it's clearly written by lawyers and marketing guys as a band-aid.

[Anacronian]

It wanted to preserve biological life, but didn't think that individuals mattered. So, it absorbed them and used their DNA in the process of making Reapers, who would do that every 50k years to stop life from being wiped out by machine life. So, it preserves life in the form of Reapers, allows new life to become sentient, and so on, while preventing all life from being destroyed by the very machines they create. It gives up when Shepard shows up because it feels that there is no way to continue the cycle, now, as biological life has found a way to defeat the Reapers.

Delightful repetition of the entrepreneurial spirit of the catalyst but my question still remains : Can anybody come up with a logical reason to why an AI would want to preserve biological races in the first place?

[Aaron MkII]

It's bored and wants to watch us Fuck around.

[Stark]

It exists solely to allow Shepard to ascend to heaven and throw down the law of God.