And they won't be, as it looks your commander Shepard will pretty much single handedly deliver the biggest blow the Reapers have ever gotten.
I just don't get this, how could anyone have expected a completely happy ending without some sort of contrived reason?
Exactly.
You beat the freaking Reapers, the ancient machine race that has been near-invincible for millenniums.
How in the world does this mean your choices are invalidated because Shepard and his crew loses out??
The fact that people expected to have some bright sunshine ending just because they acted nice is contrary to what the world is.
Most people seem angry because this effectively destroys the mass Effect Universe. There will never be another game like 1 or 2, they effectively butt-fucked the cannon into an inescapable hole.
Oh and almost all your actions are invalidated, all your choices don't play out at all. Just a crappy way to send out this series.
Cause they couldn't make a game set before Shepard's adventure!
You beat the freaking Reapers, the ancient machine race that has been near-invincible for millenniums.
How in the world does this mean your choices are invalidated because Shepard and his crew loses out??
The fact that people expected to have some bright sunshine ending just because they acted nice is contrary to what the world is.
Most people seem angry because this effectively destroys the mass Effect Universe. There will never be another game like 1 or 2, they effectively butt-fucked the cannon into an inescapable hole.
Oh and almost all your actions are invalidated, all your choices don't play out at all. Just a crappy way to send out this series.
Cause they couldn't make a game set before Shepard's adventure!
Nope.
They could, but would you really enjoy it? Knowing the grim fate looming overhead?
The point is that the player doesn't invest time on perfect playthoughs to see good narrative, but to get a good ending. And in part, he's right; in that sense, it isn't the same as a book, there's a reason for a good and a bad ending; which is to let the story rest on the player's hands.
Heh, I still remember Bioware saying it would be a great wrap up for the series, and that everything in the previous games would matter.
Patrick_and_the_ricks: Most people seem angry because this effectively destroys the mass Effect Universe. There will never be another game like 1 or 2, they effectively butt-fucked the cannon into an inescapable hole.
Oh and almost all your actions are invalidated, all your choices don't play out at all. Just a crappy way to send out this series.
Cause they couldn't make a game set before Shepard's adventure!
Nope.
They could, but would you really enjoy it? Knowing the grim fate looming overhead?
Exactly why so many couldn't get into Halo Reach.
This; and also that as a Halo fan, I couldn't give a damn about the squad. In fact, they were quite annoying at times
isometry: EA Executive: "I'm thinking that if we make all the endings bad and unsatisfying, the players will be forced to buy more DLC and sequels to find out what really happened. We'll just say they have clones, or time travelers, or whatever. They'll buy it."
Or you know...the bad guys that they've been building up for two games can be suitably powerful. For two games it's pretty much been, "This doesn't end happily ever after" and yet people have the gall to be shocked?
I'm even more excited knowing everything can't be sunshine and happiness.
For those who are fine with very vague spoilers, but don't want to know the actual details:
Unspecific spoiler about endingsPHA+QWxsIG9mIHRoZSBwb3NzaWJsZSBlbmRpbmdzIGFyZSBpbmNyZWRpYmx5IGRlcHJlc3NpbmcgYW5kIHRoZSBzZW5zZSBvZiBwdXJwb3NlIGZyb20gdGhlIHR3byBwcmV2aW91cyBnYW1lcyBhcmUgZGVzdHJveWVkLjwvcD4=
Whilst not everyone is outraged at this, this could be enough to really hurt Bioware and force them into some strange DLC fix situation. From the looks of things, people aren't going to live this down.
For discussion:
What are your thoughts on Bioware? Why have they had their foot stuck in knee deep controversy for the last few years? Do you think the reaction to the endings will do serious damage?
I don't want to read the specifics so I've skipped all the other posts and am likely not reading this thread again. But I expected this kind of thing anyways.
If Mass Effect is going out, it's going to be dramatic and I fully expect people to die, for civilisations to be in ruins etc. It happens in real wars, so I'd be a bit disappointed if the series ended in all smiles and rainbows. War tears people apart, it makes people forget about the past and focus on survival.
I don't want this totally ruined I want to experience this next week, but I wanted to just give my two cents on the subject.
TheDarkEricDraven: It's a problem because we actually invested time in this stuff. It's not like a book or a movie, we played these games and expect for our efforts not to be invalidated.
This validates them if nothing else. It means all this buildup was actually for something. Two games worth of "These dudes are going to stomp your face" would be really awful if it was like "lol everyone safe u save entire galaxy they no problem!"
It has nothing to do with right and wrong choices, it has to do with the series heading to the conclusion it's been telling you about for two whole games.
It isn't a question of if the Reapers will mess shit up. It's a question of how much.
And they won't be, as it looks your commander Shepard will pretty much single handedly deliver the biggest blow the Reapers have ever gotten.
I just don't get this, how could anyone have expected a completely happy ending without some sort of contrived reason?
Exactly.
You beat the freaking Reapers, the ancient machine race that has been near-invincible for millenniums.
How in the world does this mean your choices are invalidated because Shepard and his crew loses out??
The fact that people expected to have some bright sunshine ending just because they acted nice is contrary to what the world is.
Most people seem angry because this effectively destroys the Mass Effect Universe. There will never be another game like 1 or 2, they effectively butt-fucked the cannon into an inescapable hole.
Oh and almost all your actions are invalidated, all your choices don't play out at all. Just a crappy way to send out this series.
This!!!
Pardon anyone else, but im tired of spoilering and tip toeing around the issue.
With the Mass Relays fucked over in all leaked endings, the Entire Galactic Civilization comes to a halt, the Mass Effect universe you know right now has to go into hibernation or a time skip to get a sequel, because its unfeasible that you will be able to jump around from system to system like before.
I understand its a clever way to basically reset the player counter to zero and make a new canon start for a sequel, but its a bit hard to swallow specially after they already played the reset card by killing off your character and bringing him back to life in ME2.
Im not happy about the Ending as well because the characters I got involved with, no matter what I do get stuck in what basically boils down to Jacobs Loyalty mission. Stuck on a planet they need to repopulate, Tali and Garrus Die of Starvation, no matter what.
Most of the Choices I made with the game become insignificant, even the final outcome of what to do with the reapers (The Choice you have of Destroying them, Controlling them or merging with them), because the final payout has the whole Galaxy fucked over.
Ugh, I usually avoid spoilers like the plague, but my increasing consternation regarding Mass Effect 3 has left me too curious. So I read them, and I'm glad. They're terrible, but at least now I've got time to prepare myself for disapointment. And hey! If these leaks are wrong or misleading I get to be pleasently surprised. I win either way.
Be warned, spoilers and ranting lurk ahead for those averse to either.
To elaborate, it isn't so much that I consider any individual ending to be bad, but rather the sad lack of variation. I would be fine with a few endings being extremely grim and dark, but why harp on about how important choice is in the game if every choice results in virtually the same miserable conclusion? That's just the illusion of choice. Even the happiest ending appears to be needlessly depressing, particularly how Shepard will always be isolated from his friends. That strikes me as pointlessly cruel. If he survives, and the team survives, what purpose can be served by them becoming eternally seperated? Aside from lazy writing or programming of course. Hopefully context will improve the situation but I can't say that I have my hopes up at the moment.
I'm especially annoyed by what happens to the crew. I imagine the writers concluded that having them survive would be a moment of happiness for the player, but then fridge logic sets in and you realise that in there present situation either Garrus and Tali (plus any other dextro-protein based species who might happen to be aboard), or everyone else will starve to death. It seems that Bioware's writers are just throwing previously established details aside whenever they become inconvenient. That's just shoddy. Add in the high likelyhood of there not being enough genetic diversity amongst the survivors to start a viable colony, plus the necessity of any lesbian or gay crew members being required to breed, and the whole thing becomes decidedly unpleasant. I almost feel that it would be a far kinder fate for them to all die in a sudden conflagration.
This all feels incredibly out of whack with the tone of previous games. In the rest of the series, no matter how badly things turned for the worse, no matter how dark the storm clouds grew, it has always been possible to come out the other side virtually unscathed. For pity's sake, one of the core themes of the second game is the triumph over impossible odds. Put in the effort and the so called suicide mission becomes anything but. To pull what barely falls short of a kill'em all ending is rather jarring for a lot of us.
I'd also appreciate it if people would drop the "Were you expecting sunsine and happiness?" spiel. That's a strawman. I don't think anyone has seriously suggested that the ending should have been nothing but smiles and sunshine. But between black (the current array) and white (the Reapers realise the error of their wicked ways, restore the dead to life and everyone is friends forever and ever) there are innumerable shades of grey. I don't see why just one of the seven endings can't provide a pyrrhic victory that isn't so oppressively bleak.
If you're satisfied by the bleak tone of the endings that's wonderful. I'm honestly happy for you. It doesn't mean we all are, and I'm baffled as to why just one of the endings can't provide for what clearly amounts to a significant portion of the fan base. One of the games key selling points is the emotional attachment that players form for their squadmates. Surely the writers must have realised that damning them to such an unpleasant fate would inevitably leave a lot of people feeling bitter.
I would also argue that a dark ending is not necessarily mature at all. Perhaps in the meaning of mature that the game industry seems overly fond of, i.e. violence and nudity, which is ultimately just a form of childish. No, I would argue that a mature ending is satisfying, and appropriate for the work in question. I don't feel that the current provisions amount to either. It's not like Bioware is breaking free of the mold here. Plenty of games have depressing endings these days. Bioware themselves have already done the grim style with the Dragon Age games. Halo 3 and Halo: Reach did it, and so on and so on. This isn't edgy new ground by any means.
Again, I'm hoping that the spoilers and leaks are either wrong are grossly misleading. I would love for that to be the case, but my anticipation for the conclusion to the Mass Effect series has just about hit rock bottom. I still think it'll be a fun game though. I mean judging from the demo, the combat certainly seems to have taken a step up, and I'm shocked by the high quality of the multiplayer. ME3 is still a day one purchase for me, but I'm just not looking forward to it as much as I was.
DrWilhelm: Ugh, I usually avoid spoilers like the plague, but my increasing consternation regarding Mass Effect 3 has left me too curious. So I read them, and I'm glad. They're terrible, but at least now I've got time to prepare myself for disapointment. And hey! If these leaks are wrong or misleading I get to be pleasently surprised. I win either way.
Be warned, spoilers and ranting lurk ahead for those averse to either.
To elaborate, it isn't so much that I consider any individual ending to be bad, but rather the sad lack of variation. I would be fine with a few endings being extremely grim and dark, but why harp on about how important choice is in the game if every choice results in virtually the same miserable conclusion? That's just the illusion of choice. Even the happiest ending appears to be needlessly depressing, particularly how Shepard will always be isolated from his friends. That strikes me as pointlessly cruel. If he survives, and the team survives, what purpose can be served by them becoming eternally seperated? Aside from lazy writing or programming of course. Hopefully context will improve the situation but I can't say that I have my hopes up at the moment.
I'm especially annoyed by what happens to the crew. I imagine the writers concluded that having them survive would be a moment of happiness for the player, but then fridge logic sets in and you realise that in there present situation either Garrus and Tali (plus any other dextro-protein based species who might happen to be aboard), or everyone else will starve to death. It seems that Bioware's writers are just throwing previously established details aside whenever they become inconvenient. That's just shoddy. Add in the high likelyhood of there not being enough genetic diversity amongst the survivors to start a viable colony, plus the necessity of any lesbian or gay crew members being required to breed, and the whole thing becomes decidedly unpleasant. I almost feel that it would be a far kinder fate for them to all die in a sudden conflagration.
This all feels incredibly out of whack with the tone of previous games. In the rest of the series, no matter how badly things turned for the worse, no matter how dark the storm clouds grew, it has always been possible to come out the other side virtually unscathed. For pity's sake, one of the core themes of the second game is the triumph over impossible odds. Put in the effort and the so called suicide mission becomes anything but. To pull what barely falls short of a kill'em all ending is rather jarring for a lot of us.
I'd also appreciate it if people would drop the "Were you expecting sunsine and happiness?" spiel. That's a strawman. I don't think anyone has seriously suggested that the ending should have been nothing but smiles and sunshine. But between black (the current array) and white (the Reapers realise the error of their wicked ways, restore the dead to life and everyone is friends forever and ever) there are innumerable shades of grey. I don't see why just one of the seven endings can't provide a pyrrhic victory that isn't so oppressively bleak.
If you're satisfied by the bleak tone of the endings that's wonderful. I'm honestly happy for you. It doesn't mean we all are, and I'm baffled as to why just one of the endings can't provide for what clearly amounts to a significant portion of the fan base. One of the games key selling points is the emotional attachment that players form for their squadmates. Surely the writers must have realised that damning them to such an unpleasant fate would inevitably leave a lot of people feeling bitter.
I would also argue that a dark ending is not necessarily mature at all. Perhaps in the meaning of mature that the game industry seems overly fond of, i.e. violence and nudity, which is ultimately just a form of childish. No, I would argue that a mature ending is satisfying, and appropriate for the work in question. I don't feel that the current provisions amount to either. It's not like Bioware is breaking free of the mold here. Plenty of games have depressing endings these days. Bioware themselves have already done the grim style with the Dragon Age games. Halo 3 and Halo: Reach did it, and so on and so on. This isn't edgy new ground by any means.
Again, I'm hoping that the spoilers and leaks are either wrong are grossly misleading. I would love for that to be the case, but my anticipation for the conclusion to the Mass Effect series has just about hit rock bottom. I still think it'll be a fun game though. I mean judging from the demo, the combat certainly seems to have taken a step up, and I'm shocked by the high quality of the multiplayer. ME3 is still a day one purchase for me, but I'm just not looking forward to it as much as I was.
You beat the freaking Reapers, the ancient machine race that has been near-invincible for millenniums.
How in the world does this mean your choices are invalidated because Shepard and his crew loses out??
The fact that people expected to have some bright sunshine ending just because they acted nice is contrary to what the world is.
Most people seem angry because this effectively destroys the Mass Effect Universe. There will never be another game like 1 or 2, they effectively butt-fucked the cannon into an inescapable hole.
Oh and almost all your actions are invalidated, all your choices don't play out at all. Just a crappy way to send out this series.
This!!!
Pardon anyone else, but im tired of spoilering and tip toeing around the issue.
With the Mass Relays fucked over in all leaked endings, the Entire Galactic Civilization comes to a halt, the Mass Effect universe you know right now has to go into hibernation or a time skip to get a sequel, because its unfeasible that you will be able to jump around from system to system like before.
I understand its a clever way to basically reset the player counter to zero and make a new canon start for a sequel, but its a bit hard to swallow specially after they already played the reset card by killing off your character and bringing him back to life in ME2.
Im not happy about the Ending as well because the characters I got involved with, no matter what I do get stuck in what basically boils down to Jacobs Loyalty mission. Stuck on a planet they need to repopulate, Tali and Garrus Die of Starvation, no matter what.
Most of the Choices I made with the game become insignificant, even the final outcome of what to do with the reapers (The Choice you have of Destroying them, Controlling them or merging with them), because the final payout has the whole Galaxy fucked over.
It just feels like closing the book entirely.
thanks for spoiling the game ***hole, maybe next time use a spoiler tag.
Damn, I had to come back INTO the thread to address another silly concern.
Y'know why all the endings seem very conclusive? Because this is the CONCLUDING PART of the Mass Effect trilogy. This story will END with this game. The universe might be used for new games but THIS STORY WILL END, so it will finish with an ending that is actually an ending, not a cliffhanger, not a To Be Continued?, it will END. The fact that it has some closure on the story of Shepard and his team is a good thing, frankly.
It just love how this downer ending is making people talk about "how their actions meant nothing". So, the problem is you don't have the motivation to even play the game now that you know the ending? Well that's why you should NOT SPOIL YOURSELVES WITH THE FUCKING ENDING. And also learn that there is more to a game than the last thirty minutes of it. Plus, you have no idea of the story between the start and the end so the endings might work completely fine with the context of the story.
This is another case of everyone assuming the worst before they have all the information, just like with the DLC, hell, just like with pretty much every "scandal" about a video game ever.
Sometimes, internet, you don't HAVE to pick up the torches and pitchforks.
Also, it's fun that lots of people are being called Sheeples for defending the game when it seems like hating the game is the more popular choice at the moment. Maybe the haters are the real Sheeples? Who knows. I for one know that I used my brain to reason the situation out, like a lot of the people in this thread need to do instead of jerking their knee so hard that their foot flies off.
MiloP: Damn, I had to come back INTO the thread to address another silly concern.
Y'know why all the endings seem very conclusive? Because this is the CONCLUDING PART of the Mass Effect trilogy. This story will END with this game. The universe might be used for new games but THIS STORY WILL END, so it will finish with an ending that is actually an ending, not a cliffhanger, not a To Be Continued?, it will END. The fact that it has some closure on the story of Shepard and his team is a good thing, frankly.
It just love how this downer ending is making people talk about "how their actions meant nothing". So, the problem is you don't have the motivation to even play the game now that you know the ending? Well that's why you should NOT SPOIL YOURSELVES WITH THE FUCKING ENDING. And also learn that there is more to a game than the last thirty minutes of it. Plus, you have no idea of the story between the start and the end so the endings might work completely fine with the context of the story.
This is another case of everyone assuming the worst before they have all the information, just like with the DLC, hell, just like with pretty much every "scandal" about a video game ever.
Sometimes, internet, you don't HAVE to pick up the torches and pitchforks.
Also, it's fun that lots of people are being called Sheeples for defending the game when it seems like hating the game is the more popular choice at the moment. Maybe the haters are the real Sheeples? Who knows. I for one know that I used my brain to reason the situation out, like a lot of the people in this thread need to do instead of jerking their knee so hard that their foot flies off.
some making a reasonable argument about anything Bioware?
MiloP: Damn, I had to come back INTO the thread to address another silly concern.
Y'know why all the endings seem very conclusive? Because this is the CONCLUDING PART of the Mass Effect trilogy. This story will END with this game. The universe might be used for new games but THIS STORY WILL END, so it will finish with an ending that is actually an ending, not a cliffhanger, not a To Be Continued?, it will END. The fact that it has some closure on the story of Shepard and his team is a good thing, frankly.
It just love how this downer ending is making people talk about "how their actions meant nothing". So, the problem is you don't have the motivation to even play the game now that you know the ending? Well that's why you should NOT SPOIL YOURSELVES WITH THE FUCKING ENDING. And also learn that there is more to a game than the last thirty minutes of it. Plus, you have no idea of the story between the start and the end so the endings might work completely fine with the context of the story.
This is another case of everyone assuming the worst before they have all the information, just like with the DLC, hell, just like with pretty much every "scandal" about a video game ever.
Sometimes, internet, you don't HAVE to pick up the torches and pitchforks.
Also, it's fun that lots of people are being called Sheeples for defending the game when it seems like hating the game is the more popular choice at the moment. Maybe the haters are the real Sheeples? Who knows. I for one know that I used my brain to reason the situation out, like a lot of the people in this thread need to do instead of jerking their knee so hard that their foot flies off.
I understand completely that there will more to the game than the ending, I am looking forward to it, I just wish the ending was so definitive, its like Baldurs Gate all over again.
In essence what I dislike about the ending, is exactly what I typed out, and the reason your choices in the end matter very little to the Grand Finale Bioware prepared, there is no escaping it. In a game series that touted "Your choices matter", in the short term they mattered very little, in the long term they dont even come into play, any actions you take to appease or inflame people in the Game are moot.
Its not about the possibility of Destruction is just that this happens no matter what choices I take and there is no way around it, I still hope that the rumor about a day 1 patch with true endings is true, because Frankly im not impressed by what has been leaked.
I just read/watched the endings, unable to contain myself along with the fact that my friend found clips of the endings.
Spoiler: Click to ViewPHA+SSdtIHNvIHNhZC4gSSB3aXNoIHRoZXJlIHdhcyBhdCBsZWFzdCBhbiBlbmRpbmcgd2hlcmUgZXZlcnlvbmUgb24gdGhlIGNyZXcgd2FzIE9LIGFuZCB3aXRoIHlvdS4gQXQgbGVhc3QgaGF2ZSBTaGVwYXJkIGJlIHN0cmFuZGVkIHdpdGggdGhlbSE8L3A+
I understand completely that there will more to the game than the ending, I am looking forward to it, I just wish the ending was so definitive, its like Baldurs Gate all over again.
In essence what I dislike about the ending, is exactly what I typed out, and the reason your choices in the end matter very little to the Grand Finale Bioware prepared, there is no escaping it. In a game series that touted "Your choices matter", in the short term they mattered very little, in the long term they dont even come into play, any actions you take to appease or inflame people in the Game are moot.
Its not about the possibility of Destruction is just that this happens no matter what choices I take and there is no way around it, I still hope that the rumor about a day 1 patch with true endings is true, because Frankly im not impressed by what has been leaked.
Yes because stuff you did in ME1, which is 3 years before Me3, affecting Me3 = your choices not mattering?
Also the patch supposedly fixes the love interest bug in the endings where it only shows ME1 LI or Liara if you had a ME2 or ME3 LI
Well, this does explain why Bioware has locked anyone not a member of Origin for the last month out of posting on their forums. They are getting ready for a LOT of unhappy customers.
I understand completely that there will more to the game than the ending, I am looking forward to it, I just wish the ending was so definitive, its like Baldurs Gate all over again.
In essence what I dislike about the ending, is exactly what I typed out, and the reason your choices in the end matter very little to the Grand Finale Bioware prepared, there is no escaping it. In a game series that touted "Your choices matter", in the short term they mattered very little, in the long term they dont even come into play, any actions you take to appease or inflame people in the Game are moot.
Its not about the possibility of Destruction is just that this happens no matter what choices I take and there is no way around it, I still hope that the rumor about a day 1 patch with true endings is true, because Frankly im not impressed by what has been leaked.
Yes because stuff you did in ME1, which is 3 years before Me3, affecting Me3 = your choices not mattering?
maybe im not explaining myself correctly, I mean the ending so consummately skullfucks the Galaxy, that an Interstellar Civilization is no longer feasible. It doesnt Matter if the Krogan get cured or not because without a Mass Relay to transport them, they are no longer a threat to anyone. It doesnt matter if the Geth and Quarians make war or peace, because they are completely sealed off from the rest of the Galaxy. Am I being clearer now?
Also the patch supposedly fixes the love interest bug in the endings where it only shows ME1 LI or Liara if you had a ME2 or ME3 LI
I will just live with the delusion of the patch adding an additional ending where the relays dont blow themselves up then :D
Bioware could tell you every little detail about the game and it's still going to sell like hotcakes because it's MASS EFFECT. Nothing they do could honestly stunt their sales.
I would say that's more /v/ or reddit. Everyone on the BSN just week ago seemed fairly excited for the game, but after the news of how basic the story is people are going fucking crazy.
I would say that's more /v/ or reddit. Everyone on the BSN just week ago seemed fairly excited for the game, but after the news of how basic the story is people are going fucking crazy.
They go crazy over EVERY announcement.
-Ash let her hair done "OMG BIOWARE IS SELLING OUT" -In-game screens of the skill bars with more skills and ranks per skill "OMG BIOWARE IS LIEING ITS A SCAM THERE'S REALLY LESS SKILLS" -Collectors edition gets robo dog companion "OMG BIOWARE TOOK OUT CRITICAL GAME DATA PREORDER CANCELLED"
I would say that's more /v/ or reddit. Everyone on the BSN just week ago seemed fairly excited for the game, but after the news of how basic the story is people are going fucking crazy.
They go crazy over EVERY announcement.
-Ash let her hair done "OMG BIOWARE IS SELLING OUT" -In-game screens of the skill bars with more skills and ranks per skill "OMG BIOWARE IS LIEING ITS A SCAM THERE'S REALLY LESS SKILLS" -Collectors edition gets robo dog companion "OMG BIOWARE TOOK OUT CRITICAL GAME DATA PREORDER CANCELLED"
etc. etc.
I'd say they didn't go far enough with their polite, well thought out criticism of DA2.
The most impressive mature ending is where they can pull off a happily ever after, without making it contrived or cheesy.
But anything 'the universe is as good as new' ending in a situation like this would be contrived. The Reapers are an immense threat, who are already laying into Earth at the start of the game. The only plausible ending is one that requires sacrifice, just look at the end of ME1, look how much death and destruction was caused by one mere Reaper. In ME3 you face The Reapers' entire army, how is it illogical for the universe to be fucked along the way? I would even argue that it is contrived the universe survives at all.
Cause they couldn't make a game set before Shepard's adventure!
Nope.