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Mass Effect 3 Spoiler Thread |OT2| Taste the Rainbow

I disagree. Shepard is not a tragic hero and does not have a fatal flaw. My Shep wouldn't give a rat's ass for that kid so those dream sequences annoyed me. Really, if they hadn't used the kid and instead used those who have died under your command, it would have worked a lot better.

It's even funnier with renegade Shep who is a sociopathic lunatic.
 
What else can any pre-ending DLC do?

That'll be about the experience of playing it, not the reward.

Personally I'd say it'd be worth at least 300 War Assets, though.

Nah I can't see it being worth 300 war assets. If they do that then it will mean there will be enough war assets in the single player game to reach all the endings and that just will not do. After all they have to keep forcing people to play the multiplayer aspect (thank god for the save game editor).
 
I disagree. Shepard is not a tragic hero and does not have a fatal flaw. My Shep wouldn't give a rat's ass for that kid so those dream sequences annoyed me. Really, if they hadn't used the kid and instead used those who have died under your command, it would have worked a lot better.

A thousand times yes. They got really close with your squadmates whispering during the sequences, but it was the kid all 3 times.
 

Galactic Fork

A little fluff between the ears never did any harm...
Others might have said this, but I thought I'd share my thoughts.

I was thinking about the crucible and all the dumbness regarding it. Because it makes no sense that after countless cycles the reapers had not found out about it, and nobody's (presumably) completed it (it took what? three months for this cycle to finish it), I was thinking it would have been infinitly more interesting if, like the mass relays, the crucible itself had been just another way for the Reapers to control the farmed races. The Reapers planted the seeds of the crucible a while back, and the races spend so much time, effort, and resources on this thing that was never intended to work.

They would have known all along that the Citadel was the final piece, so when we found out, they move it to Earth as bait to bring the whole fleet. They setup the London Conduit to basically herd us into using the fleet the way they wanted us to. Controlling our hope and tactics all along. Every thing was about getting to London, just how they wanted.

But instead we got space magic.
 
I was thinking about the crucible and all the dumbness regarding it. Because it makes no sense that after count less cycles the reapers had not found out about it, and nobody's (presumably) completed it (it took what? three months for this cycle to finish it), I was thinking it would have been infinitly more interesting if, like the mass relays, the crucible itself had been just another way for the Reapers to control the farmed races. The Reapers planted the seeds of the crucible a while back, and the races spend so much time, effort, and resources on this thing that was never intended to work.

They would have known all along that the Citadel was the final piece, so when we found out, they move it to Earth as bait to bring the whole fleet. They setup the London Conduit to basically herd us into using the fleet the way they wanted us to. Controlling our hope and tactics all along. Every thing was about getting to London, just how they wanted.

But instead we got space magic.

I find it odd that no one knows what it does, but they can build upon it
 

Zen

Banned
You guys are seriously arguing that Bioware's titling of assets is proof of indoctrination? If anything, it is proof they are incapable of it. Go look at what the ending movies are titled. Seriously, go look. These guys are lazy. They are too lazy to even pretend there is more depth to the endings than color.

Also, this thread was moving slow. Community will be the death of us. I don't think we will make 40,000 posts. Barring PAX East or ending DLC revival.

We're already at 32k.
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
Here are some interesting snippets for that Omega thing. I wouldn't mind another Asari squadmate, but I bet she'll just be an asset.

Aria is talking.
<data>I'm going to take Omega back, but we can talk about that another time. I asked you here because I have a propostion.</data>

<data>As I said, Cerberus took Omega from me. If you help me take it back, all the resources there are yours. Including me.</data>

<data>I'm lining it up now. Contact me from your ship when you're ready and I'll brief you. </data>
 

Myomoto

Member
I find it odd that no one knows what it does, but they can build upon it

Technically I could hand you a list of all of the parts that are contained in a combustion engine, and then give you a list of how to combine these into a functional engine. If both sets of instructions were thorough enough it should be theoretically possible for you to assemble an engine with no knowledge of how it actually functions.
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
probably just reused assets

Couldn't be anything more than this, as Bioware has already minimalized DLC stuff from ME2 as shown by lack of arrival = mysteriously on trial for "SHIT YOU'VE DONE".

Lmao, that still gets me. At least ME2's intro made a little bit of sense if you hadn't played ME1, especially with the video comic thing for PS3 users.

Anyone ever suggesting ME3 works from a plot point of view as a standalone game is full of it. Still can't believe EA told reviewers to judge the import feature as a bonus when the games were specifically marketed as a trilogy.

Jennifer Hale hasn't been contacted about any additional content. So whatever we get probably won't have any new spoken dialogue (you have to wonder about their silly pre ending DLC though).

Nah, all it means is that she's obviously already done the lines, it's all part of the master plan.

/IT

edit: Meant trial.
 

Galactic Fork

A little fluff between the ears never did any harm...
Technically I could hand you a list of all of the parts that are contained in a combustion engine, and then give you a list of how to combine these into a functional engine. If both sets of instructions were thorough enough it should be theoretically possible for you to assemble an engine with no knowledge of how it actually functions.
But build upon it? Improve it?
 

Myomoto

Member
But build upon it? Improve it?

I'm pretty sure they never improved upon the design in any other capacity than adding some better capacitors or whatever it was that you got from doing that optional engineering quest. And believe you me, a capacitor is no less complex a device than a screw or nail in the grand scheme of things.
 
Couldn't be anything more than this, as Bioware has already minimalized DLC stuff from ME2 as shown by lack of arrival = mysteriously on trail for "SHIT YOU'VE DONE".

Lmao, that still gets me. At least ME2's intro made a little bit of sense if you hadn't played ME1, especially with the video comic thing for PS3 users.

Anyone ever suggesting ME3 works from a plot point of view as a standalone game is full of it. Still can't believe EA told reviewers to judge the import feature as a bonus when the games were specifically marketed as a trilogy.

Having a trial would have been a great way to introduce new users to the series since they were intent on making this accessible for them, but nope, they just thrust them right into the universe with no primer. And the Arrival would have actually meant something besides being used as an argument on whether the relays destroy Earth at the end or not.


No her assassination squad. Its a war asset
So you're going to get the assassination squad wet? And their horniness is becomes a war asset

/enddrawnoutjoke

I'm pretty sure they never improved upon the design in any other capacity than adding some better capacitors or whatever it was that you got from doing that optional engineering quest. And believe you me, a capacitor is no less complex a device than a screw or nail in the grand scheme of things.

It was stated that the various cycles built upon and improved it, but they didn't know what it did.



IPJL2.gif
 

Replicant

Member
Take back Omega DLC.

1800 MS space dollars.

Adds 200 War assets. Minimal dialogue, no choices in dialogue, everything is automated, 95% combat with Cerberus troops. No new enemies, 1 new weapon and 1 new upgrade. 2 different levels.

Eat it up.

I don't know why they think anyone other than very loyal fans will buy it (the same kind who *coughbuythecomicscough*). Did they think Aria is that loveable character? I don't think so. I'd just watch it on YouTube.
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
Well, what's left for 'big plot points' or characters/plot points spanning the trilogy besides Aria and Omega?

Gianna Parasini is one, potentially some Dark energy stuff could make its way back in as an alternative thread...what else is there?
 
I disagree. Shepard is not a tragic hero and does not have a fatal flaw. My Shep wouldn't give a rat's ass for that kid so those dream sequences annoyed me. Really, if they hadn't used the kid and instead used those who have died under your command, it would have worked a lot better.
According to the "The art of Mass Effect" book the child is supposed to be a representation of everyone Shepard wasn't able to save, not just that child from the intro, that's why you hear the whispers of the dead and their shadows surrounding him, just like Mordin said in ME2 is hard anthropomorphizing the Galaxy, his mental image was his nephew, Shepard's is the kid who representing many things, innocence lost, future severed etc....

Plus the Terminator 2 vibe was awesome.
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
I don't know why they think anyone other than very loyal fans will buy it (the same kind who *coughbuythecomicscough*). Did they think Aria is that loveable character? I don't think so. I'd just watch it on YouTube.
A new squad mate wouldn't hurt.
 

DTKT

Member
According to the "The art of Mass Effect" book the child is supposed to be a representation of everyone Shepard wasn't able to save, not just that child from the intro, that's why you hear the whispers of the dead and their shadows surrounding him, just like Mordin said in ME2 is hard anthropomorphizing the Galaxy, his mental image was his nephew, Shepard's is the kid who representing many things, innocence lost, future severed etc....

Plus the Terminator 2 vibe was awesome.

wat.

Terminator 2 vide?


A new squad mate wouldn't hurt.

Heh. If Aria doesn't have dialogue ad doesn't interact with anyone in the party, she's absolutely useless.
 
wat.

Terminator 2 vide?
Yeah, you know Sarah Connor and her dream of the kids on a park on fire after Skynet nukes all humanity?

It seemed strikingly similar to Shepard's dream of a kid on fire in a park after the Reapers destroy Earth.

You can even see Shepard seeing him/herself hugging the kid in the last dream, just like Sarah Connor.
 

Zomba13

Member
According to the "The art of Mass Effect" book the child is supposed to be a representation of everyone Shepard wasn't able to save, not just that child from the intro, that's why you hear the whispers of the dead and their shadows surrounding him, just like Mordin said in ME2 is hard anthropomorphizing the Galaxy, his mental image was his nephew, Shepard's is the kid who representing many things, innocence lost, future severed etc....

Plus the Terminator 2 vibe was awesome.

Well it does make sense. For Mordin it was his favourite nephew. For Shep it should have been one of the lost he cared about most, not a kid who he saw for all of 10 seconds. It's fine having one character symbolise everything he has lost or couldn't save but it's stupid having it be a character with no name who we don't know anything about and feel nothing at all for.

If they really wanted to use a kid for it we should have had more interaction with him, got to know him better, have him fleshed out a bit instead of just hiding in a vent acting all weird.
Though the way he is now does fit a lot better into the Indoc theory rather than the 'kid you are supposed to care about' fact.
 

DTKT

Member
Yeah, you know Sarah Connor and her dream of the kids on a park on fire after Skynet nukes all humanity?

It seemed strikingly similar to Shepard's dream of a kid on fire in a park after the Reapers destroy Earth.

The Terminator dream was creepy. The Mass Effect dream was pretty bad.

I understand the comparison but the execution of the dream sequence is underwhelming at best. I mean, they reuse the same area 3 times. Talk about a lack of ambition.
 
According to the "The art of Mass Effect" book the child is supposed to be a representation of everyone Shepard wasn't able to save, not just that child from the intro, that's why you hear the whispers of the dead and their shadows surrounding him, just like Mordin said in ME2 is hard anthropomorphizing the Galaxy, his mental image was his nephew, Shepard's is the kid who representing many things, innocence lost, future severed etc....

Plus the Terminator 2 vibe was awesome.
I already knew what they were trying to do, but it falls flat since we don't know this kid. Like I said, it would have been better if it were someone who has died while under our command like the Virmire sacrifice. Using a kid that we don't know just doesn't come off right.
 
In the interests of science, I'm going to bring Ashley back from the dead and see how the game handles having both of them alive.

Ah the joys of save game editing.

(At the very least, the squad selection screen seems to handle having both just fine)

The Terminator dream was creepy. The Mass Effect dream was pretty bad.

I understand the comparison but the execution of the dream sequence is underwhelming at best. I mean, they reuse the same area 3 times. Talk about a lack of ambition.

Not to mention that in the T2 dream sequence, the focus is not on the kids. It's representative of humanity and everyday life people take for granted being destroyed by a big fucking explosion. The big explosion that triggers the start of the war.

Sarah Connor is haunted by the upcoming future. Shepard is supposed to be haunted by the past, and using dead squadmates instead of that fucking vent kid would have been a million times better. If it ditched vent kid and the slow motion in favour of a cutscene where Shepard sees his dead friends, it would have been great. As it stands it's just badly executed (though the whispering was done well).

Vent kid is thrust in your face so many times even though both Shepard and the player have no reason whatsoever to care that it feels like the kid itself is the focus.
 
I thought the dream sequences were horrible as well. Really awkward and out of places. Shepard has dealt with lots of death and destruction in the past and has always gotten a good night sleep. Suddenly he is haunted by the death of a kid he doesn't know. So ham-fisted.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
I thought the dream sequences were horrible as well. Really awkward and out of places. Shepard has dealt with lots of death and destruction in the past and has always gotten a good night sleep. Suddenly he is haunted by the death of a kid he doesn't know. So ham-fisted.
Ham-fisted. High-level. Who are we to judge?
 
I thought the dream sequences were horrible as well. Really awkward and out of places. Shepard has dealt with lots of death and destruction in the past and has always gotten a good night sleep. Suddenly he is haunted by the death of a kid he doesn't know. So ham-fisted.

I thought it was supposed to represent Shepard's mind finally breaking dow due the pressure with the war and all, sure, Shepard never seemed to have any charge of conscience in ME1 and ME2 but shrugging off important stuff like the Lazarus project with an "I got better" was a little bit unrealistic to me, at least ME3 tried to portray him/her as a person with regrets and limits and not some kind of action movie robot.
 

DTKT

Member
I thought it was supposed to represent Shepard's mind finally breaking dow due the pressure with the war and all, sure, Shepard never seemed to have any charge of conscience in ME1 and ME2 but shrugging off important stuff like the Lazarus project with an "I got better" was a little bit unrealistic to me, at least ME3 tried to portray him/her as a person with regrets and limits and not some kind of action movie robot.

It's a really weird concept to include in the third game in a trilogy. It's a subject they never touched on before. Shepard has always been an automaton, nothing more than a body for you to inhabit. You build him and are in control of all his reactions. That's why having Shepard feel "emotions" is kind of awkward. For example, a renegade Shepard would have never mourned the death of one kid and I doubt he cared about 300 000 batarians.

I understand the idea behind making Shepard feel more human. I also understand that it's really to hard to do. Especially in our medium. I believe that is an area where Bioware failed. It's also an indication on how they want to make games. They don't want the player to be in control of everything. They want to shape Shepard without any input from the players. Which directly clashes with how they built ME1 and ME2.

Like I said, their model for the next game might as well be Uncharted in space.
 
I thought it was supposed to represent Shepard's mind finally breaking dow due the pressure with the war and all, sure, Shepard never seemed to have any charge of conscience in ME1 and ME2 but shrugging off important stuff like the Lazarus project with an "I got better" was a little bit unrealistic to me, at least ME3 tried to portray him/her as a person with regrets and limits and not some kind of action movie robot.

We understand that, we just felt it would be better if it were someone else besides the kid
 
It's a really weird concept to include in the third game in a trilogy. It's a subject they never touched on before. Shepard has always been an automaton, nothing more than a body for you to inhabit. You build him and are in control of all his reactions. That's why having Shepard feel "emotions" is kind of awkward. For example, a renegade Shepard would have never mourned the death of one kid and I doubt he cared about 300 000 batarians.

I understand the idea behind making Shepard feel more human. I also understand that it's really to hard to do. Especially in our medium. I believe that is an area where Bioware failed. It's also an indication on how they want to make games. They don't want the player to be in control of everything. They want to shape Shepard without any input from the players. Which directly clashes with how they built ME1 and ME2.

Like I said, their model for the next game might as well be Uncharted in space.
Well, in truth this has always been the case, I remember an interview from some time ago in which someone from BioWare said that Shepard isn't a first person character like the Warden or the Dragonborn and that s/he was never intended to be, Shepard is more of a third person character you have a great deal of control over, it's more like you're Shepard's "conscience" than Shepard him/herself.
 

DTKT

Member
Well, in truth this has always been the case, I remember an interview from some time ago in which someone from BioWare said that Shepard isn't a first person character like the Warden or the Dragonborn and that s/he was never intended to be, Shepard is more of a third person character you have a great deal of control over, it's more like you're Shepard's "conscience" than Shepard him/herself.

Would have been great if that conscience didn't just appear out of nowhere at the beginning of ME3.
 
It's a really weird concept to include in the third game in a trilogy. It's a subject they never touched on before. Shepard has always been an automaton, nothing more than a body for you to inhabit. You build him and are in control of all his reactions. That's why having Shepard feel "emotions" is kind of awkward. For example, a renegade Shepard would have never mourned the death of one kid and I doubt he cared about 300 000 batarians.

The problem really comes down to player agency. I have no problem with such options existing - it is actually welcome to see it, even if the execution is very poor in places - but when you go from allowing a player to decide Shepard's reaction to many different things, to then be told "this is how Shepard feels" is really jarring.

Personally I find it really hurts my suspension of disbelief because I can't believe Shepard would care so much about a random kid. And this is coming from someone whose playthrough doesn't add a huge amount of baggage to Shepard, like seeing his squad get wiped out, or his LI shot in the face with a rocket.

In fact in ME3 the game gives you the option to express an opinion so many times, that dreaming about vent kid stands out as one of the few times you can't.
 
I thought it was supposed to represent Shepard's mind finally breaking dow due the pressure with the war and all, sure, Shepard never seemed to have any charge of conscience in ME1 and ME2 but shrugging off important stuff like the Lazarus project with an "I got better" was a little bit unrealistic to me, at least ME3 tried to portray him/her as a person with regrets and limits and not some kind of action movie robot.

I don't disagree that it could have been interesting to actually see Shepard struggle some with the decisions along the way, but having it come in the form that it did never set well with me while playing. Why did this one kid affect him so? Yes, yes, it represents so much more than just one kid, but that was handled very poorly, so the whole thing ended up falling flat.

As other have said, I think the dreams work much better if they are of those that Shepard has lost in the past. Perhaps they visit him in his dreams and actually have conversations with him. Something that you have more of a connection to.

Also, if they wanted to have Shepard finally break down, I think it would have been more interesting to have the game start with him grounded for having some mental break, not the ambiguous "charges" that we got in the start of the story. Maybe he didn't have a full break down, but he's under observation to see if he's fit for command. When the Reapers attack they have no choice but to send him back to the Normandy, but the weight of his choices continue to haunt him throughout the game and call into question his mental state.
 

DTKT

Member
The problem really comes down to player agency. I have no problem with such options existing - it is actually welcome to see it, even if the execution is very poor in places - but when you go from allowing a player to decide Shepard's reaction to many different things, to then be told "this is how Shepard feels" is really jarring.

Personally I find it really hurts my suspension of disbelief because I can't believe Shepard would care so much about a random kid. And this is coming from someone whose playthrough doesn't add a huge amount of baggage to Shepard, like seeing his squad get wiped out, or his LI shot in the face with a rocket.

In fact in ME3 the game gives you the option to express an opinion so many times, that dreaming about vent kid stands out as one of the few times you can't.

Agreed.

There were ways to make the dreams more "reactive" to your Shepard. I mean, they could have changed depending on your past, Colonist, Earthborn or Spacer. Then, they would have been influenced by your Renegade or Paragon status. In the end, the dreams would have been tailored to your own Shepard. Not just some kind of arbitrary reaction that feels alien to you.

The more I think about ME3, the more I think they missed many opportunities to deepen the experience. What a shame.
 
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