61 replies to this topic

[Scipio]

I haven't played ME3 and doubt if I ever will, but it appears the ending is globally disappointing.

[Almateria]

I I haven't played ME3 because it's on Origin, but how can an ending be this bad?

Edited by Almateria, 23 April 2012 - 06:56 AM.

[Vicen]

I I haven't played ME3 because it's on Origin, but how can an ending be this bad?

Mainly because the game in and of itself is very good(at least in my opinion) that...having such a horrible ending is quite the surprise...before I completed it I was hoping that the rumors were unfounded...but sadly I was quite wrong...

The only thing I can compare it to is like the ending to KOTOR 2 which was also quite horrible...albeit it for other reasons of course...same principle though...

[Kulyok]

Ha! Red, Green, Blue? Here's what REALLY happened: http://www.fanfictio...to_Annihilation

[Yovaneth]

Well, I finally got there too. Three words:

Deus Ex Machina.

Almost literally, it would seem - and yes, any idea that uses deus ex machina to resolve anything absolutely sucks. Plus (having avoided all ME3 spoilers somehow!) I was severely hacked off to find that I could only save Shepherd if I played the online multiplayer, which I have no bloody interest in whatsoever. Thanks for the lies EA - what was that about MP not affecting the ending at all?

-Y-

[Edit] usual typo. Move along now.

Edited by Yovaneth, 16 May 2012 - 08:26 AM.

[theacefes]

SPOILER ALERT!!

Spoiler

<p><br></p><p><br></p><p>They are in the process of making a DLC that enhances/clarifies the ending in some way. But I kind of feel that the Deus Ex Machina thing is a little unwarranted. After all, we knew from the beginning of the game that we had this superweapon and we spend the entire game building a team of people to go build it and get it in place to use. Isn't a DEM something that appears at the very end when all hope seems lost or whatever? True, there was the massive and obvious foreshadowing about the dark energy crap but that plot didn't get explored either because the lead writer changed or it would have had more plot holes than the existing ending I think. Nothing confirmed of course.</p>

Edited by theacefes, 16 May 2012 - 09:42 AM.

[Yovaneth]

I can accept Shepherd's final death as part of an ending but what really p!ssed me off is the huge number of plot holes in the final scenes starting with the radio transmission that 'nobody made it to the beam' and going downhill from there. So many plotholes that I actually trawled the net to make sure that I hadn't imagined them. Oh - and I don't buy the net-theory that it's all part of Shepherd being indoctrinated but I do buy the Bioware blog that stated that Casey Hudson created the ending himself without any peer review whatsoever. That's always a good way to screw up any part of any multi-team story.

-Y-

Edited by Yovaneth, 17 May 2012 - 03:00 AM.

[theacefes]

From what I understand, most of the plot-hole ridden parts of the game were created by the lead writer and Hudson.

[Yovaneth]

And it was rushed. That is also obvious.

-Y-

[Vicen]

I don't buy the indoctrinated theory either as well...And yes I cannot fathom for the life of me what went through their heads to make the last 5-15 mins of the game so bad it's not even funny...

[Kulyok]

Plus (having avoided all ME3 spoilers somehow!) I was severely hacked off to find that I could only save Shepherd if I played the online multiplayer, which I have no bloody interest in whatsoever. Thanks for the lies EA - what was that about MP not affecting the ending at all?

Not quite so, I think. You need to have 4000EMS to have the "best" red ending and save Shepard(provided you used reputation options), and I had well over 6000EMS without even trying(no multiplayer, so my 13000++ War Assets were halved). That, however, does mean I made certain decisions in ME1 and ME2(saving people and so on).

[Kwiat_W]

This post at BSN says that max number of War Assets you can get is 7530. ME Wiki says it's around 7700. I don't know how you achieved 13k "without even trying", but it wasn't through normal means. You either had a lucky bug or you somehow "cheated" without even knowing it

[Yovaneth]

In additional, I did come across an IGN post that stated that it wasn't possible to exceed 4000 war assets without playing multiplayer. IIRC they also said that the most it was possible to get non-multiplayer is 3750 (ish). I collected every single war asset and previously had saved everyone required to be saved (including NPCs) across ME1 and ME2, except for Kelly Chambers.

-Y-

[Kulyok]

Remember, there are War Assets, and there's EMS(effective military strength). EMS = War Assets* 0.5. Which means that, I had an EMS value well below 7700(over 6000), but my total War Assets value was over 13000.

You're getting showered with War Assets if you saved everyone on ME2, if Tali and Legion are both loyal and on board and non-exiled, if Wrex is alive, Maelon's data is whole, Rachni Queen is alive, Thane/Kirrahe is alive. Hell, you're getting 200 War Assets for the mineral resources alone if you stripped all Rich/Good worlds in ME2. After all that, all you have to do in ME3 is play a good character, do the Paragon decisions, and not miss timed quests(and preferably do the side quests, too).

[Kulyok]

So, I did some digging, and it seems that, yes, for a number of people the EMS thing is working(like for me), no problem, but for the rest it doesn't. It's as if their assets are being cut in half and then, *again*, in half.

(Because my Asari, Geth, Krogan, Turian and Quarian fleets sure didn't just bring me just 300 each. I think Salarians alone after the Priority:Citadel2 gave me twice as much).

There are big threads on the issue:
http://social.biowar...662/73#11653471
http://social.biowar...629/55#11914733
- and the Bioware concensus seems between "We tried all three endings in SP, everything works great" and "We're investigating the issue".
https://twitter.com/...448685594591234
http://social.biowar...-9665384-1.html

For the record, I played on PC with internet off(&all ME-related programs firewalled), full DLC packs for ME1 and ME2, Javik NPC for ME3(but no robodog stuff), latest patches for ME1 and ME2 but no patching for ME3, and no multiplayer whatsoever.

I'll look into it some more, but I'm certain I didn't install any "hey, get more assets!" mods or third-party software.

[Yovaneth]

Nice catch, Kulyok. It's possible that destroying Maelon's data was my problem, but otherwise my game record seems to be the same as yours.

-Y-

[Eleima]

I just finished ME3 for the first time 10 days ago, and... well.. It's hard to put into words. The game was great, the journey was incredible, the gameplay was improved, the missions more varied, the emotional attachment to the characters was there... and I really got the sense of urgency (removing planet scanning certainly did a lot for that). I ended up with roughly 7000 war assets and the same in effective military assets, because I used the ME3 application on my iPhone with the little "Galaxy at War" minigame (if you can call it that) to up my Galaxy Readiness. I'm surprised I didn't have more war assets, everyone survived in my ME2 game, and I tried to max *everything* out. I played the ME3 CE, so I had Javik (whom I found interesting, will definitely bring him along on my next playthrough). My FemShep was a Spacer, War Hero, Paragon, romanced Kaidan all the way (from ME1 to ME3 I mean, no romance in ME2).

The ending was... I don't want to say underwhelming, but... confusing was the right word. And it felt as if whatever I did, I'd be screwed. Pick control and you might lose yourself; pick synthesis, and you destroy the races as we know them, creating entirely new races; pick destruction, and you destroy EDI and the geth as well. No perfect solution. Which makes sense in a way, because there's no way the galaxy could escape such a trial unscathed.
I picked synthesis at first, but went back and picked destroy afterwards. Because synthesis sounds like a good idea at first, but when I saw Joker get off that ship, it wasn't the Joker I had known, not with all those cybernetic implants.

My major complaint, though, is that final scene on the Unknown Planet. Seriously, I took Garrus and Kaidan with me to the end, and now they're stepping off the wrecked Normandy??? Whaaaaat? Just didn't make sense that my FemShep's lover and best buddy would high tail it, not now.

The indoctrination theory... Egad, the indoctrination theory... I don't know what to make of it. I really, really don't. In a way, it has a certain appeal, and would explain Shepard surviving in the destroy ending, but... Wouldn't there have been more clues to this before, if that had really been BioWare's intent all along?

Anyhow, I know I'm late to this party and probably beating a dead horse, but I just wanted to share what I've been mulling over this past week. I'm looking forward to the Ending DLC and what it'll add.

Edited by Eleima, 21 June 2012 - 04:05 AM.

[Yovaneth]

My major complaint, though, is that final scene on the Unknown Planet. Seriously, I took Garrus and Kaidan with me to the end, and now they're stepping off the wrecked Normandy??? Whaaaaat? Just didn't make sense that my FemShep's lover and best buddy would high tail it, not now.

It's actually even worse than that. During the 'you can have A, B or C endings' scenario you are told that whichever one you chose all of the Mass Effect relays will be destroyed. So what do you get? Normandy trying to outrun a Mass Effect explosion that's moving at (or very close) to the speed of light and somehow it makes a Mass-Effect jump to an Eden world?

Yeah.....

-Y-

[Eleima]

Agreed, the destruction of the mass relays is completely bogus. I didn't mention it which is weird, because I was sure I had, but I don't even understand why they included that. It just makes no sense, and they've effectively written themselves in a corner. It pretty much ensures that they can't write games in the post-Shepard era. So we're stuck with prequels and the like. Not that I don't want to know about the First Contact War, for example, but knowing the outcome kinda takes the fun out of it.
And the Normandy's flight makes no sense. If the mass relays are destroyed, why would the Normandy not stay on Earth (since it's an Alliance ship, even though a few of its crew are aliens)? I just don't get it.

[Kulyok]

Same here: picked green ending first, then went and picked the red ending. I judged it this way: I killed that adorable credit-funnelling AI in ME1, even though it broke my heart, because the game gave me no other options. Well, now the situation's the same, only there's a race on the line. Well, I thought, the game isn't giving me a choice again, how familiar! ...And chose the red ending.