I thought this was a pretty good summary of my feelings on the endings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H_A7SeawU4

I still don't understand why the Asari would just not grab a fleet of ships and head out into deep space or deep underground. Their lifespan is so long they would lose very little in knowledge, using the timeframe of century  to cleanse the universe given for the protheians.

I don't think that would work.  The Quarians still need to visit planets for supplies/materials (they're arguably the most capable species for surviving deep space).

The Protheans basically tried that with their stasis pods and it didn't work.

The asari have a life span of roughly 1000 yrs if I remember. They could go to a planet and go primative, or under ground, or just sit in space with just basic life support for a couple centuries and then return to normal operations with out skipping a beat. Nothing fancy and their race and tech would go on.

 

Just finished it.
They should of included a fourth ending.
Where Shepard, at the end, inexplicably switches sides and helps the reapers destroy every last shred of life in the entire galaxy, down to the last microbe.
At least then life, human or otherwise, would not have to suffer this pile of shit game.

Mass Effect 3...
IN
A
TRASHCAN

Vega will be the new character if I remember right but this was said about a year ago so who knows.

It's like EA is trying to ruin their own franchises..

Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work anymore.  Not with the relays destroyed.  It would have to be called "Mass Effect: Survival" where you run around with your tribe of people killing everybody else for control of the non-fucked parts of earth.

(spoilers)













There are something like 16 ending combinations you can do. Including ones where Earth survives, the galaxy as a whole survives, Shepard survives and Anderson survives.  However, you MUST do multiplayer until galactic readiness is high enough that you are in the 100% range to get some of these options/combinations. (Even if you do every side quest, and scan/loot every planet in the game)

Fuck this game. Ending sucks.

No sir.





There are 16 very MINOR variations of the 3 endings.





Shep DOES NOT survive in any of them.  You have a minor scene in the renegade ending where someone with N7 tags takes a breath.  That's it.  Some folks think that's shep.  Vega had just joined N7 BTW.  Everyone on the crew had those tags.





There are 3 endings.  





Period (for now).





Many think that they are saving an new ending for DLC since everything that happens after the beam seems to be indoctrination.  





1) The wierd black tendrils on the screen





2) IM magically shows up.





3) Anderson magically gets in front of you.





There are plenty of videos out there outlining the indoctrination theory.  Pretty good stuff.  Reminds me of how much we talked about Silent Hill.





The truth seems to be that they just used terrible writing to support apathetic Deus Ex Machina ending.




 
 

All you guys who finished it, did you play online with a group, or is this game something you can buy and play as a single player campaign?

Thanks

TXL

I played them all single player

 

Thanks.

TXL

I would rather have Anderson and Shepard bleed out together while watching the reapers get fucked instead of the destroy, synthesis, control bullshit.
WTF was the Normandy running away in the first place and WHY were the 2 squad mates i had with me on the ground inside the Normandy?  



ETA: I also kind of wish there would be a mission that took place in a big-ass sunflower field.



 

It's always been a single player game.  Even the third one with it's tacked-on (but surprisingly fun IMO) co-op is still a truly single player experience.

Apparently the destroy option only kills Reapers and not all Reaper tech or synthetic lifeforms because Shepard survives that ending when the EMS is over 5k. Shepard was rebuilt using Reaper tech.

It's a major point of the indoctrinated ending theory. The catalyst AI was trying to confuse Shepard and make him choose an option where he didn't destroy the reapers. So he made the destroy option seem terrible compared to others by saying EDI and the geth would die.

Your EMS was not high enough if you saw your teammates dying on the floor. I got two marines instead and my EMS was over 5k.

Reapers aren't retarded. Going primitive would not spare anyone. The Asari would eventually rebuild anyway so they would get harvested and become one of the smaller Destroyer class Reapers.

Galactic Readiness does not need to be 100% to get the best ending. You need a minimum of 4800 EMS if you save Anderson from being executed, or 5k if you let IM shoot him. Of course, if your war assets barely surpass 5k, then you will need nearly 100% GR. My war assets were in the high 6k so I only needed a GR of 80 something percent.

Shepard does survive the destroy ending if you have over 5k EMS. There's no way it would be someone else. Why would it be someone else?

Vega didn't become a N7 Marine. There was no N Code program during the game. You can convince him to join, if the N program and training facility still exists after the war. And no one else on the Normandy would've had N7 dog tags. That would be like giving the crew of a US Navy ship Trident tags because the CO is SEAL qualified.

I agree that it's Shepard who survives.  The movie file for that breath scene is even named "shepard alive.mov" or somesuch.  Even so though, to have that be the best ending of the bunch is BS.

I don't think that makes sense in the context of the endings. Doesn't that short scene only play if you destroy the reapers? It would make sense that it doesn't show if you choose one of the other two options (no question that Shepard is gone).





 

I did not know that.  Anyplace still sell ME1 and 2?

ETA, finally have a machine that can handle anything.    I just finished COD4 this weekend, because I did not have a machine that could handle it.  

TXL

You can usually find the first two on Steam for pretty cheap. I picked them up over a year ago for about $5 each.





 

Yeah, steam is the way to go.  Origin would work too.

ETA:  Play the first one, then you can import your character to the second game.

I'm fucking bitter.


The Catalyst: "Yo dawg, I heard that you don't want to be killed by synthetics. So I made synthetics that will kill you and turn you into synthetics every 50,000 years so that you wont get killed by synthetics".

Shepard: "I'm sorry, I'm confused".

ME1, 2, and 3 are great games and deserve to be played just know that no matter what choices you make it doesn't matter.  AT ALL

I figured it out. the moral of the story is that all the choices you make in life don't add up to dick except for the color of the explosion which inevitably kills you

That's not entirely true. The choices may not affect the end, but they sure affect the journey overall. Saving Wrex in ME1 is one of the big decisions that changes everything for the survival of the Krogan race. Wreav is an asshole and his leadership would force the ultimate extinction of the Krogan. Destroying Maelon's data will cause the death of Eve when the genophage cure is released. Resolving Tali and Legion's dispute in ME2 while keeping both of them loyal is the only way you can reunite the Geth and Quarians. If either one was not loyal, then one group will be wiped out in the final battle of Rannoch and one squad member will die.

No, you're wrong.

The Mass Effect relays are destroyed so everyone dies a slow painful death.  It doesn't matter who is alive or who had made peace.  The Repears are gone in some form or another but the giant fucking aramada that fought the reapers is fucked in the asshole.

Although your final choice does effect what color explosion occurs....and if EDI and Joker hold hands.  Whoopdy fucking do.

This might have been posted here but this guy says everything best:

So true.



 

It's so bad I sold my gaming TV and Xbox.

That means you'll miss out on the ending fix DLC.  LOL, as if.

I keep hearing more and more about how people are saying that the ending must have been an extended indoctrination-induced hallucination.  I don't believe for a minute that Bioware intended it that way originally when they released it; still, I won't blame them for running with it now like they planned it all along.

A couple of small changes and the ending would have been SO much better.

Don't destroy the relays...just the Reapers.  How hard would that have been?  Just. Destroy. The. Fucking. Reapers.

Nope...no matter what decision you make somebody gets fucked.  Destroy the ability for everyone to travel to other solar systems...so no more space travel.  Destroy all synthetic life...not just the Reapers...or kill yourself.  What a load of cocks and balls.  

As it is the ending is complete shit and pretty much ruined the other games.  If I could go back and NOT pay full price for them I would.  I hear Bioware is talking Mass Effect 4.  I will definitely wait until it is half price or less to pick it up.

I'm definitely not spending any money on DLC, no matter what they do... Overall I did really enjoy the game but the ending was meh.

Today's Penny Arcade:




 
 

I bought ME 3 yesterday at wally world.

Fuck origin.  Fuck them up their fucking asses.

After I bought ME3, i had to sign up for origin.  The game would not let me sign up through them.
Called EA tech support.  Had to go to origin and sign up.  (Did i mention fuck them, don't mind entering an activation code and letting it go online to check, but i have to fucking login to play my fucking game, fuck that, and yes, I do mean even on my own computer)

Then, I had to fucking download the 8 GB game from origin, because for some fucking reason, (and the tech support guy said it was a very common occurrence, as MANY MANY MANY would not load from the DVD)

I did have the tech guy send a customer note to his bosses that explained that I would vote for Romney before I ever bought another EA game or anything that used origin, and I have an 8 year old son who would never get one either.

I built my first computer back in the early 90's.  I built the awesome machine that I am playing on now.  Having to call tech support to fucking install a game, meant they would never fucking receive another nickle from me while I am converting O2 to CO2 on this planet.

I'm sure my pleasant experience will be renewed EVERY FUCKING TIME I HAVE TO LOG ON TO PLAY.  Sorry, before you say, just press remember my login, my cleaning programs remove all that shit daily.

Guess it makes it easier not to become addicted to games again.

Many people are ranting online about the shitty ending.

Can't wait to finish it, working on my rant for that now.  

This game better not suck.

TXL

No he was nominated he did not join

OH SNAP!!  

Has anyone considered that the entire 50,000 year cycle, reapers, citadel, super weapon was all just some grand thought experiment by some god like being?

Just a few things that don't quite add up, but point to a bigger picture.

The crucible was not in fact designed by the Protheans, it was actually started possibly millions of years ago and was added on by each succeeding race in each new cycle.
Meaning..... a prototype was built, possibly completed, and then ultimately destroyed by the reapers. This ended the cycle.
The genius of the whole mass relay system & citadel was that all races would follow a certain technological path, a path chosen by some extra-galactic force.
There is much more to the plot than is being let on.

Also, why are all these races designing a super weapon that know one really knows anything about, and requires a critical component that .. no one knows anything about?

Of course the whole, oh we wipe out all life every cycle so that you dont create synthetics and get yourself killed. By synthetics. Oh wait.

The reapers set up a teleport beam station ON EARTH, that went straight to the center computer console on the citadel? Thats kinda odd since the reapers can directly interface with the citadel.. and have no need at all for a console to exist in the first place. Oh not to mention that no race has ever figured out how to access the secret areas of the citadel, so the reapers were kind enough to create a way for you to get there.
Oh and then guard it with a HUGE ARMY!.... No actually just one reaper.  .. .. that a few missiles could take out.. .. .. But wait! You ask yourself.  The reapers built the teleport thingy for a reason right? So they could teleport a bunch of human corpses into the citadel to make a NEW REAPER.

Lets just consider that for a moment. The reapers already have the knowledge to build a "human" reaper. Just because you blew up (or didn't.) the collector base, does not mean the reapers (who DIRECTLY controlled ) the collectors, would not have simply uploaded the blueprints at some point during the construction process. So why exactly do they need human corpses to make another reaper? They really just needed to extract the genetic information, which they did in ME2.  
Another point to consider is that the teleport beam did not take Shepard to a reaper construction facility, or a slaughterhouse. It took him to a console.

So who exactly put that console there? And why?
The reapers? Why would they create a console that activates a superweapon that would wipe them out. Or for that matter, why would they create a teleport beam station that leads RIGHT TO THE CONSOLE.

Why was the illusive man with you in the room? The prothean VI never told anyone what the catalyst was, or what it did. So the illusive man made a lucky guess that the reapers could be controlled... by the super weapon (which was not in his possession) and by using the catalyst (which he did not know was some little kid VI). That is an awful lot of intuitive leaps and coincidences. Especially for a man as planned and calculated as the illusive man.
Lets not forget that he made it to the teleport thingy unharmed....
But wait! He was indoctrinated! The reapers let him in, so that he could stop you!
If the reapers were really all that concerned that you would succeed, they would have had more than 1 reaper guarding the place, and would have sent up a huge force to guard the room. Not one dude that was half-assed indoctrinated. (And unarmed)


Just ask yourself a few questions.
The reapers would have destroyed the Crucible many times over the millions of years, at some point they would have had to ask themselves. Hey how come in each new cycle they figure out how to build the EXACT SAME MACHINE TO KILL US WITH.
Reaper 1: "Man thats totally odd. Should we look into that?"
Reaper 2: " Nah. Lets just let it go back to dark space and take a nap."
Reaper 1: "Yea for totally, last one there is a rotten synthetic egg!"

Lets also not forget that the Geth in the end made friends with the Quarians, and EDI wants to grind all over Joker. So you're telling me that in all the millions of years that organic life has created synthetic life.. NOT ONCE did they get along? (Keep in mind, the implicit reason the reapers exist in the first place is because organic life will ALWAYS create synthetic life.) So based on that logic, it is safe to assume that in every cycle, synthetic life was created.

I have more to my theory, including what I think is really going on....  I'll return when i'm less sleepy and post more information.

I have zero experience with any previous Mass Effect games.  I downloaded the demo and like it but it's 3 minutes of cinematic for every minute of gameplay, practically.



I really don't give a flying fuck about a deep, detailed story or getting my character to knock boots with another one.   I just want to shoot the living shit out of things and

blow stuff up in the most spectacular fashion possible.





Yeah, it looks great...but it's mostly a movie.  





My experience with FPS shooters runs like this:



Quake (still the most fun FPS ever!)

Quake II

Quake III

Hexen

Heretic

Doom

Doom II

Doom III

(See an ID games theme here?)



Descent

Descent II

Descent III



Unreal

Unreal Tournament

Duke Nukem

Redneck Rampage

Duke Nukem Forever



Mass Effect 3 demo

And that brings me to the present day.    Obviously I've missed a lot.





So, not caring about story lines to any significant degree, is it worth the trouble and expense of buying and installing

and dealing with having to log in just to play Mass Effect III?   Or is there some other game out there that's better suited

to my simpler tastes?





CJ

No offense intended to you or anyone else, but frankly, I think that all the conspiracy theories are simply reading waaay too much into the implications or "meaning" of the endings.  Indoctrinations, hallucinations, virtual reality, so on.  I think that what the ending means is simply that bioware just made a shitty, rushed ending, hoping that no one would care, or at least not until the money was on the table.  People are giving them too much credit for being deep and mysterious on this.  Bioware was rushed, they needed a way to wrap it up quick, they dumped a pile of bullshit on us.

Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.  JMHO

Based on what you said?  I don't think this is the game for you.  It's a story-driven game, ultimately.  It's third-person shooter mechanics aren't smooth or polished enough to be purchased for that reason alone, IMO.  It's graphics aren't top-notch, the animations can be a bit odd or off, and it can get tedious at times with the planet scanning and war asset gathering.  This stuff doesn't really matter if you are playing primarily for the story, but if it's a straight TPS you want, I'd look somewhere else.  IMO it's easily one of the best video game series of this game generation, but if you take out the story element, the Mass Effect series doesn't really stand out from the horde of other cover based third person games out there.

ME3 does have an action-oriented setting for folks like yourself that (I think) ramps down the dialogue.  But I don't know for sure since I haven't played that way at all.

Sounds like Mass Effect 3 is not for you.  Granted it's not as much RPG as 1, there's still a ton of story and RPG elements.  I find the combat to be terribly repetitive (though it's better than 2).

I'm not really up on FPS games anymore, so I can't direct you to a better game, sorry.

ETA:



The action setting only removes your input in the story sequences.  You still watch (or skip) all the cut scenes.

I hadn't thought of this but you are correct.  It is very "The Matrix"

That ending was sorry.  It didn't correspond with the rest of the 3 games at all.   The endings weren't much different whichever way you went.  I'm thinking that ME4, or a new DLC will be released b/c there are so many ill ME players out there.  No closure at all.