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Mass Effect 3 Spoiler Thread |OT2| Taste the Rainbow

I kind of agree that it's a dick move to demand an ending be changed, and craven on the part of 'authors' to make those changes, on the basis of a few complaints.

But what I think that PC Gamer article lacks is a sense of context. Forget the precedent, forget the principle at stake, and consider Mass Effect 3's ending alone.

It's really, truly awful. It has upset not just a small minority, but the overwhelming majority of devoted fans (reaching around the 90% mark in the two large polls I've seen), and probably disappointed even casual players. At that point it's no longer a question about "aesthetic integrity" or "authorial intent" or anything highfalutin'. It's a question of basic competence, and a stunning failure to deliver on both expectations and bald promises.
 

mrplaid

Member
I'm curious to know how selecting the "automatic dialog option" choice effects the ending. Do you still get to pick your flavor of explosion, or is that all handled automatically? I'd like to know what ending Bioware considers "canon".
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
bioware social network just shut down hmm

Things were starting to devolve, trolls and extremists both for and against current endings were coming out of the woodwork.

That and the 'official story' section was being used as an info-dump, rather than just talk about the story.
 

Derrick01

Banned
Thats why there is so much story in the Deus Ex series lol...

There is? As many times as I've played both games I couldn't tell you much of either one, other than the endings that inspired Mac Walters. It's all about the gameplay in that series.
 

Rapstah

Member
I'm curious to know how selecting the "automatic dialog option" choice effects the ending. Do you still get to pick your flavor of explosion, or is that all handled automatically? I'd like to know what ending Bioware considers "canon".

I'm sure that played a part in making walking part of the final choice.
 

ShaneB

Member
I'm curious to know how selecting the "automatic dialog option" choice effects the ending. Do you still get to pick your flavor of explosion, or is that all handled automatically? I'd like to know what ending Bioware considers "canon".

I think that's probably you have to move shepard to a choice instead of a dialog option, even Bioware didn't know which one to pick. edit: beaten.

The extra scene only being available with one option makes me assume that's the canon choice, but then that fucks everything up..... more than it already is I guess.
 

Demon Ice

Banned
I'm curious to know how selecting the "automatic dialog option" choice effects the ending. Do you still get to pick your flavor of explosion, or is that all handled automatically? I'd like to know what ending Bioware considers "canon".

I don't know about canon but the Synthesis ending takes the highest EMS to achieve so I'm guessing that's what they consider to be the "best". Which is funny because in my opinion, that is the shittiest of the 3, plotwise.
 

Bowdz

Member
Wow, Susan O'Connor summed it up perfectly IMO:

Susan O'Connor said:
“Whoever said ‘Dying is easy, comedy is hard’ never wrote for video games. I haven’t played Mass Effect 3 yet, so I can’t speak to that game specifically, except to say that my heart goes out to those guys on the team, who I am sure worked incredibly hard on that project. This whole experience has got to be a punch in the gut for them. Speaking more generally, this issue feels like one of player expectation. The takeaway, for me, is that if players are promised player agency, they’re going to want to see that promise delivered all the way to the (bitter) end.

If players know from the get-go that they’re playing an authored game—or if they’re lulled into complacency with the illusion of agency—then they’ll accept an authored ending, as we’ve seen with other successful games. The trick is to know up front which kind of game the team is making, so that they can set player expectation—AND TEAM expectation as well. If the creatives know up front that they’re not the ones telling the story—that their job is to give players the tools to tell their own story, and then get out of the way—then they’ll come at the work from a completely different place. And the end result will be dramatically different. Better? That I don’t know. Only time will tell. (I’m a sucker for a good story, myself, so I’m a little biased.)”

One of the biggest issues with the ending is the disconnection between expectations and delivery. That (in addition to the pain bad writing) is why the ending felt like it was written by an entirely different team. For most of ME3, my expectations were being met and exceed. During the ending, Bioware went in the opposite direction and the result is the extreme dissatisfaction by the fanbase.
 
Thats why there is so much story in the Deus Ex series lol...

tbf the story in the deus ex series really is more of a vehicle for philosophical metaphor than a character driven drama like mass effect. people like or dislike tracer tong because of what he represents, not because of his wily personality.
 

Omega

Banned
I don't know about canon but the Synthesis ending takes the highest EMS to achieve so I'm guessing that's what they consider to be the "best". Which is funny because in my opinion, that is the shittiest of the 3, plotwise.

To this day, I still don't understand how synthesis is the best option.

PS: My brother just played the demo on PS3. He asks me who vent kid is and I tell him that I don't know, no one knows.

He goes on to say he's not real and thinks that's just Shepard seeing himself as a kid. Pretty much from a 5 minute demo my brother is able to see this kid isn't real. I think his theory is stupid but hey, we all have our beliefs.

Which begs the questions, why is this kid in the game? He holds no significance and someone who knows nothing about Mass Effect can tell this kid isn't real from a 5 minute demo.
 

DTKT

Member
To this day, I still don't understand how synthesis is the best option.

PS: My brother just played the demo on PS3. He asks me who vent kid is and I tell him that I don't know, no one knows.

He goes on to say he's not real and thinks that's just Shepard seeing himself as a kid. Pretty much from a 5 minute demo my brother is able to see this kid isn't real. I think his theory is stupid but hey, we all have our beliefs.

Which begs the questions, why is this kid in the game? He holds no significance and someone who knows nothing about Mass Effect can tell this kid isn't real from a 5 minute demo.

Walters wanted you to feel emotions. So, he made a little kid die over and over so you can feel emotions.
 
To this day, I still don't understand how synthesis is the best option.

PS: My brother just played the demo on PS3. He asks me who vent kid is and I tell him that I don't know, no one knows.

He goes on to say he's not real and thinks that's just Shepard seeing himself as a kid. Pretty much from a 5 minute demo my brother is able to see this kid isn't real. I think his theory is stupid but hey, we all have our beliefs.

Which begs the questions, why is this kid in the game? He holds no significance and someone who knows nothing about Mass Effect can tell this kid isn't real from a 5 minute demo.

Because most people have a sense that kids = need to protect, so when we see one get injured or get killed, it tugs at a deeper level for some people. It's a cheap ploy to create emotion that doesn't work when you are showcasing it to Shepard who has had to make decisions where hundreds of thousands of people have died along the way and doesn't seem to bother him as much as a random kid.

Or hes just indoctrinated.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
tbf the story in the deus ex series really is more of a vehicle for philosophical metaphor than a character driven drama like mass effect. people like or dislike tracer tong because of what he represents, not because of his wily personality.

Right but Deus Ex has always been interesting ideas that are poorly written and voice acted. It just gets a pass cause its such a unique entity in how it does gameplay. I dont think Deus Ex has weak writing cause its characters arent as deep as a cavern. Planescape is both. Why not Deus Ex? I just think it needs good writers who want to write about transhumanism and the nature of reality
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
I do not agree with Whitta.
I think the idea that this is setting a bad precedent is idiotic -- this is also not a court case. It's been done before and it's going to happen again. If anything it'll make some developers reconsider their actions. At least, that's what I hope.

Maybe in a few months Mac and Casey will realize how dumb it was to create an end in a single month.
 

Vamphuntr

Member
He rarely has any idea of what he's actually talking about, so no one should

Hahaha.


Well I decided to replay Planescape Torment to cleanse my soul. It was not installed on my new PC so I'm redownloading it from GOG with all the mods. That and RE Revelations should be enough to purge the space kid and the colored explosions from my body. MAYBE I'll finally be able to leave this thread.
 
Anything you sell is a product. It might be art too, but it's still primarily a product.

Anyway I'm over the ending. But I'm also over the ME franchise. Don't even care if they come out with a new ending or other DLC, not going to buy it, not going to play it. Not going to replay ME3 like I did with the other 2 either.

In the end it's just a game and not worth getting upset over. In my mind indoctrination/destroy is the canon ending and I'm moving on.
 
OMG FemShep was a boy when she was little?!

GAME CHANGER

LOTS OF SPECULATION FROM EVERYONE

Actually that explains why femshep walks/runs in such a bizarre fashion (through the looking glass here people). To think I always thought it was down to Bioware's crappy but ARTISTIC animators. All along it was because femshep was a tranny.
 

Gestahl

Member
*Ripping out chunks of a game to sell as DLC* "Smart business! Stop being entitled whiners!"

*Editing or changing a shitty ending no one likes* "A death blow to creative ingenuity! YOU'LL LIVE TO REGRET THIS!!!"
 

Digoman

Member
Chris Avellone <3 <3

I'm little late here but that sums up my feelings when reading the opinions. Actually, even the ones I don't agree appear reasonable, but to think the Avellone of all people is one of the most open to the idea is interesting.

It probably helps that I don't see him writing such fantastic crappy ending, so he has little reason to feel threatened by all of this.
 
I think the idea that this is setting a bad precedent is idiotic -- this is also not a court case. It's been done before and it's going to happen again. If anything it'll make some developers reconsider their actions. At least, that's what I hope.

Maybe in a few months Mac and Casey will realize how dumb it was to create an end in a single month.

Well it's true, it's setting a precedent.

Now every time an epic trilogy comes out, that requires a lot of player input and crafting of the story and it ends really poorly, gamers will want change.

I'm ok with that...
 
*Ripping out chunks of a game to sell as DLC* "Smart business! Stop being entitled whiners!"

*Editing or changing a shitty ending no one likes* "A death blow to creative ingenuity! YOU'LL LIVE TO REGRET THIS!!!"

Did Gary defend Javik too? Sigh... I wonder if anybody has ever forced him to listen to the things he says. He is so damn contradictory all the time.

I decided to play Renegade Ops to make myself feel better and man is that game cathartic you just blow stuff up and your excuse to do so is the most hamfisted GI Joe story ever.
 

Rufus

Member
Anyway I'm over the ending. But I'm also over the ME franchise. Don't even care if they come out with a new ending or other DLC, not going to buy it, not going to play it. Not going to replay ME3 like I did with the other 2 either.
That right here is ultimately the worst thing that could have happened. Regardless of where you stand on the issue and what your problems with the ending are.
If a significant amount of people feel this way, it's the second time Bioware has destroyed a lot of interest in a franchise. They can't lean on all those glowing reviews any more.

Well it's true, it's setting a precedent.

Now every time an epic trilogy comes out, that requires a lot of player input and crafting of the story and it ends really poorly, gamers will want change.

I'm ok with that...
My guess is that doesn't happen any time soon again.
 

CorrisD

badchoiceboobies
So I haven't read the last like 40 pages, has anything interesting happened in the last day or so on the ME3 front?
 

Antiochus

Member
Rather than "change" the ending, would it perhaps be more constructive to attempt and flesh out the main narrative more (the 95% rest of the game), since currently as it stands it is hardly flawless. Suggestions could be giving Javik the Prothean, all the pre-order weapons (perhaps even the N7 weapon packs), and perhaps even veteran mulitplayer packs free to all owners of the game. Those who have already spent money on them will get the appropriate refund. Perhaps they can even eliminate the decay system for galactic readiness and add 5-10% to everyone's score.

All these are relatively easy and cheap to achieve and may even repair a bit more good will than yet another botched ending....
 

Mastperf

Member
It's hard to consider "artistic integrity" when the game was built around selling small chunks of the story at a later date.
Any real artist is open to outside influence and it's often the fuel that keeps them going.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
*Ripping out chunks of a game to sell as DLC* "Smart business! Stop being entitled whiners!"

*Editing or changing a shitty ending no one likes* "A death blow to creative ingenuity! YOU'LL LIVE TO REGRET THIS!!!"

The first one is entirely different from the second, that's a purely business motivated decsion that has actually harms the artistic intent of the game by removing content. Changing the ending is just as bad. I actually like the ending but I do think that the execution could have been better. I just hope Bioware finds a good middle ground and doesn't completely change how the game ends just to appease the whiners. Fill in some blanks, let us know what happens to the crew and everyone else on Earth, and hopefully that'll be enough.
 

Rufus

Member
Rather than "change" the ending, would it perhaps be more constructive to attempt and flesh out the main narrative more (the 95% rest of the game), since currently as it stands it is hardly flawless. Suggestions could be giving Javik the Prothean, all the pre-order weapons (perhaps even the N7 weapon packs), and perhaps even veteran mulitplayer packs free to all owners of the game. Those who have already spent money on them will get the appropriate refund. Perhaps they can even eliminate the decay system for galactic readiness and add 5-10% to everyone's score.

All these are relatively easy and cheap to achieve and may even repair a bit more good will than yet another botched ending....
Thing is, I'm not interested in anything that happens before any more. I bought even the shitties of DLC for ME2. On its own that game was great, as a sequel to ME I didn't care for it but I still liked and and put a lot of time into it. ME3? No interest any more.
Maybe a sequel could bring me back, provided they retcon the shit out of everything. Maybe.
 

Gestahl

Member
Rather than "change" the ending, would it perhaps be more constructive to attempt and flesh out the main narrative more (the 95% rest of the game), since currently as it stands it is hardly flawless. Suggestions could be giving Javik the Prothean, all the pre-order weapons (perhaps even the N7 weapon packs), and perhaps even veteran mulitplayer packs free to all owners of the game. Those who have already spent money on them will get the appropriate refund. Perhaps they can even eliminate the decay system for galactic readiness and add 5-10% to everyone's score.

All these are relatively easy and cheap to achieve and may even repair a bit more good will than yet another botched ending....

What you're going to get is Ghost Dad's son saying the same stupid bullshit, but it takes even longer to go through, and maybe some throw away dialogue about why the Normandy is going cray-cray through the entire sequence up to the crash.

That stupid fucking kid is probably not going to go away, so I really don't give a shit what they do with the franchise after this.
 

Rufus

Member
They could hand wave a lot of shit in an expanded conversation with ghost kid, at least. That kid has got to be available and Meer/Hale are a lock regardless. There's no way they can make EMS matter any more than it does, and the Normandy sequence... I don't know what they can do with that. Maybe have Shep tell them (and the whole fleet) to get the fuck away before he pushes one of the three buttons. Use the relays to go home, evacuate. Then blow them up, if they insist on doing that.

Why does it sound so easy? Oh, right.

It's hard to consider "artistic integrity" when the game was built around selling small chunks of the story at a later date.
Any real artist is open to outside influence and it's often the fuel that keeps them going.
The editor is the bane of artistic integrity, if you think this to its conclusion. One person or a team of people deciding everything, that's the purest form of artistic expression, I suppose. And where do you get that these days?
 

AlStrong

Member
Anyone have tips for Insanity on the last mission? Particularly for taking down banshees...

I'm playing as an Engineer. I have warp ammo as the special power for the moment.
 

Omega

Banned
OMG FemShep was a boy when she was little?!

GAME CHANGER

LOTS OF SPECULATION FROM EVERYONE

Well, I clearly said my brother played the demo. It's default male Shep.

I said his theory was stupid. I'm just pointing out that the kid is pointless and serves no purpose, to fans or even newcomers. Putting him in for a cheap emotional effect is a bigger slap in the face than that shit ending.

Part of me hopes the IT theory is true because it explains this kid. The other part of me knows it's just terrible writing.
 

Demon Ice

Banned
Well, I clearly said my brother played the demo. It's default male Shep.

I said his theory was stupid. I'm just pointing out that the kid is pointless and serves no purpose, to fans or even newcomers. Putting him in for a cheap emotional effect is a bigger slap in the face than that shit ending.

Part of me hopes the IT theory is true because it explains this kid. The other part of me knows it's just terrible writing.

Yeah but if you play as femshep it's the same little boy.

His theory is wrong. This is Bioware we're talking about. The writers don't think that far ahead. The boy is there as a cheap way to wring some emotion out of the game.
 

Omega

Banned
Anyone have tips for Insanity on the last mission? Particularly for taking down banshees...

I'm playing as an Engineer.

Overload the Barriers and Incinerate the Armor while never staying in one spot and if your teammates go down, use medigel to revive them. For some reason the Brutes are occupied on them leaving you to just worry about Banshees.

If you have Liara it helps. Also, deploy combat drones. They're really effective depending on how you leveled them.

There's also a heavy weapon in one of the stores. I forget which one, but it helps.
 

Zen

Banned
Right, you can't fully discredit the theory because no matter what people will find a piece to cling to. For the record I actually back the theory, my only point with that was that asking others to argue against it is pointless, yet I see a lot of people asking for it.

I think that's because there are people that repeatedly call it garbage without context.
 
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