The Mass Effect Thread

[Lost Drifter]

I know I’m not the only Mass Effect fan on here, it’s a phenomenal series of games set within a beautifully deep and enticing universe and with all the controversy of the Mass Effect 3 ending I think now would be an interesting time to share our thoughts. As a kid I grew up reading Amazing Stories and Starblazer comics and for me Mass Effect was those stories brought to life, Commander Shepard and his rag-tag crew of alien allies blazing through the mysterious depths of space to save us from the dark and deadly Reapers. I liked the first game and loved the second but the part that got me obsessed was the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC. The battle with the traitorous Spectre, the car chase, confronting the mysterious Broker on his hidden ship and later rekindling your romance (if you chose) with Liara was absolutely perfect science-fiction at its best.

So how about some Mass Effect 3 SPOILERS? I was very touched by the death of Thane despite knowing that he would die, I always saw him as a lonely man more than an assassin but hearing him read you a prayer as he died choked me up, as did Mordin’s sacrifice (the path I chose) to cure the Krogan genophage. I didn’t like Legion so much in the second game and but when one of your crewmates pointed out that he referred to himself as I instead of we before he died (meaning that he had become an individual) this too had me in tears. However I think the biggest tear jerker was left for last as Shepard sits alongside a dying Anderson, two tired, wounded old war dogs watching the earth breathe its final breath as the Reapers move in for the kill. It was absolutely perfect.

For the record I went with the synthesis ending as it seemed the least destructive but have since read some amazing fan theories on Shepard’s indoctrination as the virus finally consumed him and hope this becomes official. It would essentially mean that everything from the final dash onwards was all happening within his mind, with Anderson representing the part of his mind still resisting the indoctrination and the Illusive Man being the part already consumed. I hate dream endings but this would be incredibly brave if true and easily leave the game open for a more in-depth ending later on as Shepard "wakes up" from his mind’s struggle to finish the fight.

It’s interesting that Bioware are releasing some free DLC to re-write the bland endings, while I disliked the whole star child concept I would rather them focus on some solid single-player missions that will allow us to see other alien home worlds. With this being the supposed final game I was hoping to learn more of the Volus, the Hannar and the Elcor and at least see them in combat. As for that indoctrination theory:

[video=youtube]

What did you make of it?

 

[Fitz]

I know I’m not the only Mass Effect fan on here, it’s a phenomenal series of games set within a beautifully deep and enticing universe and with all the controversy of the Mass Effect 3 ending I think now would be an interesting time to share our thoughts.

So. Much. To. Talk. About. Head. Going. To. Explode. With. Giddiness.

So how about some Mass Effect 3 SPOILERS? I was very touched by the death of Thane despite knowing that he would die, I always saw him as a lonely man more than an assassin but hearing him read you a prayer as he died choked me up

Thane was a very lonely soul indeed. Him being terminally ill made me really protective toward him. Being an assassin too made him so mysterious, adding multiple layers to an already complex character. His whole demeanour kind of suggested he was cold, he rarely showed emotion, but.. Gee I could go on all night about Thane, he was a hero.

as did Mordin’s sacrifice (the path I chose) to cure the Krogan genophage.

Ah Mordin. Brilliant dude. Loved the way he talked. When he started ascending up the elevator, I wanted to scream "Noooo! Come back!" And when he started humming to himself as he went about dispersing the cure, **** I just wanted to turn away.

I think the biggest tear jerker was left for last as Shepard sits alongside a dying Anderson, two old war dogs watching the earth breathe its final breath. It was absolutely perfect.

Agreed. That whole scene was pitch perfect. He was looking out for Shepard the whole way, every step of it. He became my dad in that moment, as we looked past the battle being waged in front of us, to the beautiful planet we were fighting for. Weary, spent bodies forced to sit. And when he said he was proud of me...

For the record I went with the synthesis ending as it seemed the least destructive but have since read some amazing fan theories on Shepard’s indoctrination as the virus finally consumed him and hope this becomes official. It’s interesting that Bioware are releasing some free DLC to re-write the bland endings, while I disliked the whole star child concept I would rather them focus on some solid single-player missions that will allow us to see other alien home worlds. With this being the supposed final game I was hoping to learn more of the Volus, the Hannar and the Elcor and at least see them in combat.

What did you make of it?

Ah yes, the indoctrination theory. Now I also read alot into this, and I have to say it was very very convincing in the immediate aftermath of me beating it. I was left somewhat in a state of flux as the credits rolled. Every mass relay detroyed? So all the species I fought to save won't be able to get in contact again? How did my squadmates on the ground end up on the marooned Normandy? The indoctrination theory explained everything in detail, and I was nodding in glee as I was convinced more and more of this idea. But I kept second guessing myself. Bioware broke the fourth wall, indroctrinating us, the player? Come on! That's too clever, it can't be!

As for the announced extended ending dlc, I really don't know what to make of it. It's free.. was it intended all along? Or just made on the spot to please the many many angry fans?[video=youtube] Tweets from the makers saying things like "Just wait till you see what we have in store for you.." Will it tidy up the many plot holes? Will it even contain gameplay? Will it simply just be an extended cutscene giving a little closure to those who want to know what happened to our friends? Will it bridge the gap between this finished trilogy and a new story to come? Alot of questions.
I for one hope the indoctrination theory is true, but I have a feeling it's not...

Thoughts on the dlc? What would you like to see? This universe is bubbling with limitless potential in my opinion, and I cannot wait to see what they do with it.

 

[Lost Drifter]

Yes I also considered Anderson like my father at that point; he’s been the backbone for Shepard through all the games and that sequence just felt like the perfect heart to heart before the end. I cried a lot, I haven’t long finished the books which go into a lot of detail about Anderson so seeing a hero like that die a quiet death was a bitter experience. Out of curiosity who was your love interest? Because when Anderson died I thought that sub-plot was irrelevant and felt the whole series has been about their adoptive father-son relationship instead. It wasn’t about saving the universe; it was about making your father proud to call you his son. I’m surprised Hackett lived though, I was expecting him to go down in a blaze of glory.

The idea of the mass relays being destroyed is saddening but at the same time I can see how it would fit into the clean slate reboot of the universe after the Reapers have gone. It’s very bitter sweet, on one hand you get rid of the evil but on the other you’re forced to surrender technological advancement as well. What did you make of Star Child? Do you think he was put into the plot as a last second attempt to wrap up the plot? I suppose we needed a god-like character to give us the exposition but why on earth couldn’t they just make it a Prothean or even better, one of the Keepers from the Citadel, they’ve been around for ages and no one knows who they really are.

I’m curious as to what goes into this extended ending DLC, while it sounds like just a few extra ending scenes (and since it’s free I doubt it will be much else) I hope it’s a little more than just random snippets that didn’t make the final cut. It does sound like EA/Bioware are clutching at straws here and are desperate to appease their fan base before the real (paid for) DLC comes out. I don’t mind that Shepard dies, heck I was hoping for it (he deserves some peace) but I too would like to have seen all of those war assists used in the final battle. Imagine a sequence where Zaeed leads a mixed group of Blue Sun and Blood Pack mercenaries into battle or where an Elcor combat squad lay down covering fire for an Asari commando unit? What about the Rachni fighting alongside the Krogan or a Geth fighting squadron coming to the aid of a besieged Quarin flotilla? Small sequences like that would make it seem more epic than just a Human/Reaper war. Heck we still never got to take on Harbinger.

I’ve read some fan ideas about DLC involving the taking back of Omega, Aria T'Loak is one of the sexiest characters in the franchise so more of her would be awesome. A few more home worlds would be welcome too, we never saw the Turian world but we know that Garrus has a father and sister there so that could lead somewhere. Talking of sisters, did you hear the Asari in the hospital talking to her therapist about having to kill a human girl called Hilary when the Reapers hit the colony of Tiptree? I never noticed it at first but it turns out that Joker has a teenage sister called Hilary living on Tiptree. As one fan pointed out, Hilary could have told the Asari about how her older brother is the pilot for Commander Shepard (who by this point is quite well known around the universe) and as the guilt-ridden Asari is talking to her therapist there in the background stands that same Commander Shepard. Does he know what happened? Has Joker found out about his sister’s death and told the Commander? Why is he in the background during all her conversations? Does he want revenge? Then one day the Spectre authorises the use of Citadel personal to carry firearms (which can be done via the Spectre terminal) and that same guilt-ridden Asari receives a package with a gun, authorised by Commander Shepard. Is he trying to tell her something? Is he giving her an easy escape from her guilt? Weird when you think about it.

It’s small details like that which make the games so engrossing.

 

[Fitz]

Out of curiosity who was your love interest? Because when Anderson died I thought that sub-plot was irrelevant and felt the whole series has been about their adoptive father-son relationship instead. It wasn’t about saving the universe; it was about making your father proud to call you his son. I’m surprised Hackett lived though, I was expecting him to go down in a blaze of glory.

Ashley was my love interest. Though Jack was in ME2. Stupidly on my part, I missed the mission with Jack, because I didn't realise the mission would disappear as soon as I got to the citadel to do a priority mission. Big mistake. Jack ended up in a cameo as a brainwashed phantom while you attack the cerberus base, which was a bit underwhelming in my opinion. She deserved a bit better in terms of showtime in that part. When you talk with Liara about her plan for recording the history of their cycle, the music is amazing, that scene is brilliant.
[video=youtube]
Also the part toward the end where she connects with you doing that telepathic thing, I wished I had been with her. She was better in 3 overall compared to Ashley I think. Who was yours? You're right there though, it was pretty much thrown to the wayside toward the end in favour of the Anderson sub-plot, it's a pity, there was room for both. As for Hackett, I was kind of expecting him to do something similar to your prediction.

The idea of the mass relays being destroyed is saddening but at the same time I can see how it would fit into the clean slate reboot of the universe after the Reapers have gone. It’s very bitter sweet, on one hand you get rid of the evil but on the other you’re forced to surrender technological advancement as well. What did you make of Star Child? Do you think he was put into the plot as a last second attempt to wrap up the plot? I suppose we needed a god-like character to give us the exposition but why on earth couldn’t they just make it a Prothean or even better, one of the Keepers from the Citadel, they’ve been around for ages and no one knows who they really are.

I agree. There was no need really to extablish a completely new character to be included in the crucial minutes at the end. I don't get why Harbinger didn't make an appearance. His presence sort of lurks over your shoulder, as the big bad, but he never shows. I was expecting him to be there at the end.

I’m curious as to what goes into this extended ending DLC, while it sounds like just a few extra ending scenes (and since it’s free I doubt it will be much else) I hope it’s a little more than just random snippets that didn’t make the final cut. It does sound like EA/Bioware are clutching at straws here and are desperate to appease their fan base before the real (paid for) DLC comes out.

We can't do much but speculate about this free "extended ending" dlc. I'm a bit sceptical myself. It reaks of PR damage control from EA. Their immediate concern is a bit of breathing space after all the backlash, is how I see it. They want the fans off their back for the time being. I just hope it doesn't turn out terribly. I'm a little worried about it though.

I would've liked to have seen all of those war assists used in the final battle. Imagine a sequence where Zaeed leads a mixed group of Blue Sun and Blood Pack mercenaries into battle or where an Elcor combat squad lay down covering fire for an Asari commando unit? What about the Rachni fighting alongside the Krogan or a Geth fighting squadron coming to the aid of a besieged Quarin flotilla? Small sequences like that would make it seem more epic than just a Human/Reaper war. Heck we still never got to take on Harbinger.

Yes, exactly. One of my major qualms about the ending sequences on earth, was that we didn't see any evidence of our war assists being put to use after we put so much effort into bringing them all together. Shepard should have made his way toward the citadel like an ant, that could be easily squashed in the blink of an eye, relying solely on luck and his friends to pave his way.. Like you said there, why couldn't we have moments where we saw a hoard of banshees blocking off our way, and having a few asari gunships swooping in to buy Shepard time. A Krogen squadron charging into battle against brutes and ravagers, no matter how hopeless it seems, just to get Shepard that little bit closer. And Harbinger, where was he? He should've been the final boss, not Marauder shields and the 3 huskateers

I’ve read some fan ideas about DLC involving the taking back of Omega, Aria T'Loak is one of the sexiest characters in the franchise so more of her would be awesome. A few more home worlds would be welcome too, we never saw the Turian world but we know that Garrus has a father and sister there so that could lead somewhere. Talking of sisters, did you hear the Asari in the hospital talking to her therapist about having to kill a human girl called Hilary when the Reapers hit the colony of Tiptree? I never noticed it at first but it turns out that Joker has a teenage sister called Hilary living on Tiptree. As one fan pointed out, Hilary could have told the Asari about how her older brother is the pilot for Commander Shepard (who by this point is quite well known around the universe) and as the guilt-ridden Asari is talking to her therapist there in the background stands that same Commander Shepard. Does he know what happened? Has Joker found out about his sister’s death and told the Commander? Why is he in the background during all her conversations? Does he want revenge? Then one day the Spectre authorises the use of Citadel personal to carry firearms (which can be done via the Spectre terminal) and that same guilt-ridden Asari receives a package with a gun, authorised by Commander Shepard. Is he trying to tell her something? Is he giving her an easy escape from her guilt? Weird when you think about it.

Yeah anything involving Aria would be great. Even just to hear Carrie-Anne Moss's sexy voice. Oh yeah.. As for the Asari in the hospital, very interesting. Amazing, how gripping even the little side stories are.

 

[Fitz]

SPOILER ALERT






---Secret ending---
If you choose the destroy ending, there's a scene at the end showing shepard(?) strewn on a pile of rubble taking a breath. It only happens if you choose this ending though. So, what are we supposed to take from this?

[video=youtube]

So he's alive? How? He clearly blows up as he shoots at the glass on the Citadel activating the destroy sequence, the flames engulf him.
Is he on earth? Is he amongst the ruins in London? Does this prove the indoctrination theory? He gets hit by the laser, and the whole thing happens in his head perhaps? He fights the indoctrination, proceeds to destroy the reapers (when in fact he's breaking their hold on his mind), and wakes up..

I could be just clutching at straws like so many other people, but it doesn't make sense otherwise. The Citadel explodes, how the hell does he survive that? And if it's on earth, how did he get there?

Theories? It's such a tease..

 

[Lost Drifter]

Is he amongst the ruins in London? Does this prove the indoctrination theory?

That’s the impression I had or at least this is just a lazy way to leave the door open for a sequel game or future DLC. I can see it now “The Real Final Battle” for £10.99.

Other thoughts: I understand that James Vega is the tank of the group but why couldn’t we have had Wrex or Grunt in the same role? The rest of your squad mates like Garrus, Tali, Liara feel like they’re reuniting for one last mission, even EDI follows on from the second game but Vega just feels a generic stereotype rushed in to fill a position. He’s even getting his own comic series in a bid to flesh him out but I’d much rather one based on Garrus during his Archangel period.

I was curious how different the final Anderson dialogue would be with a female Shepard since I doubt he would call her son too. A quick search online and I found this, not sure what parts of it are cut from in-game but for a series that has worked hard to remove gender stereotypes it’s a tad irritating that a female Shepard’s future would still revolve around parenthood and children. Perhaps that’s why it was cut? Have a listen:

[video=youtube]

And I laughed at this Marauder Shields video:

[video=youtube]

 

[Fitz]

I agree about Vega, didn't care too much for him to be honest. I definitely would have preferred to have Grunt or Wrex in the squad.

As for that extended dialogue sequence with Anderson, it is a bit strange to have it exclusively for the female Shepard. I didn't know it wasn't the case for the male Shepard too. Before I would've guessed they cut it because it was overly long, and would have softened the emotional impact somewhat. What makes it resonate with me so much, is how every word he says to you is so precious, because you know it could be his last. You cling to every word, willing him to stay with you. I love that scene, really do. It's the ideal mentor moment. We all crave someone to look up to, I know I do, and for your hero to say he's proud of you just... he's also telling you that you ought to be proud of yourself, which is what we are all striding for. Those four words would make it all worthwhile. Knowing that you did something fundamentally right, for something more than yourself. That's a hero to me. Someone who does the right thing, no matter what the cost to himself.

 

[edgecrusher]

personally i dont believe the indoctrination theory. i think its based on a lot of loose assumptions. there is an incredible lack of information regarding a lot of things in the game. i am beginning to think bioware left it intentionally vague so that people could draw their own conclusions. whether thats a good thing or not is a matter of opinion. i think it could be good to a certain extent, but not quite as much as they did. i welcome the extended cut DLC. other than a lack of closure regarding the characters and some unanswered questions i dont have any real problems with the ending. what people think is the "right" ending seems to be up for debate as many people think that destroy is right, while many also think synthesis is right. and from the opionions of bioware they seem to think that synthesis is the right ending, yet they put that "breath scene" at the end of the destroy ending. that gives mixed signals and makes things very confusing.

since i dont believe the indoctrination theory, i personally like synthesis because i feel like choosing destroy or control shows that we didnt learn anything from this event. to me both destroy and control are parts of the cycle. the entire series became about stopping the cycle, and all choices do that. the catalyst is using the reapers to save organic life from potentially being wiped out, and to do that it wipes out all organic life. interesting logic. so to me choosing destroy is like saving the galaxy from genocide, by committing genocide. its hypocritical to me. so i feel like choosing destroy and committing genocide on the geth is no different than the reapers committing genocide on different organic species every cycle. its not as much as what the reapers do, but how does that make us any different? and the reapers are being controlled to do so, so i cant pick control either. also, i think that leaves the best opportunity for the cycle to return. something like that is WAY to much power for anyone to have. i think someone like the illusive man will try to gain that power again. whether or not the catalysts logic makes sense to people or not, the fact is obviously something happened for it to make the decision it did and put the cycle in place. we cant change that. for all we know the catalyst is just another flawed being like the rest of us. all 3 choices are forcibly doing something to the galaxy without its consent, but to me synthesis is the lesser of 3 evils. and by a long shot at that. and from what i saw its just a change in DNA and not in individuality. because we are individuals not because of our genetic make up, but because of our minds. we are all unique in that aspect. and from the final cutscene with synthesis, joker still looked human, liara still looked asari, and so on. bioware has already said that this is the end of shepards story. i dont get why people cling so hard to sequels. i think history proves that once something gets this far in the series it tends to go downhill. id hate to see mass effect become one of those franchises with forced sequels.

honestly i found the lack of impact of many of the choices to be the most disappointing. several things ended up mattering very little or not at all. and i dont count the war asset number to be something that counts as enough impact to be worth mentioning. and this goes for the whole series, not just mass effect 3. i speak of:

- the council that you end up with pretty much hates you no matter what regardless of if you save them in ME1
- udina is councilor even if you pick anderson in ME1
- there is a rachni queen in ME3 even if you kill the one in ME1
- turning legion over to cerberus results in a geth assassin enemy once in the game, it does not affect the story at all
- rewriting the heretics in ME2 affects nothing but a war asset number
- the illusive man and cerberus get reaper tech from the collector base or its weckage so destroying or keeping it doesnt matter
- choosing morinth over samara just makes one of the banshee enemies in ME3 named morinth, nothing else
- tali is still a quarian admiral in ME3 even if she is exiled from the fleet in ME2

there are more, but there is a lot of missed opportunities there. i think the story became more linear though. the goal is to stop the reapers, to stop the cycle. if someone doesnt want to do that then i dont know why they are playing the game. an invasion scenario doesnt really allow for much exploring and running around. with that being said, the enemy types would have had to vary in ME3 in certain situations. for example, if the rachni queen was killed in ME 1, there could not have been any ravager enemy types in ME3. i willing to bet that played a part in why there was a queen anyway. i think that cerberus enemies should have had different weapons and tech if legion was turned over to cerberus and/or the collector based was not destroyed. i also think that romance choices could have affected squadmates. for example, if you romanced someone like jack from ME2, she should have been able to be a squadmate in ME3. a situation like mirandas where her story is tied into the main story may not allow for that to have happened with her. these are just some of the things i have personally thought of.

the other thing that was disappointing to me was the lack of closure regarding the characters. bioware made characters that people actually care about, yet you get nothing after the final choice is made. i found that to be very weird. things like this lead me to believe that the game was rushed. and i wouldnt put it past EA to have been responsible for this. i would have been willing to wait longer if that meant they got to make the game they wanted. id rather wait for an amazing game, then get to play a rushed version earlier.

with all that being said, it is still my favorite series. i have 3 characters that i am putting through all 3 games. all have varied choices and will each have one of the different endings. and i will replay those endings with the extended cut DLC and i look forward to every moment of it. at this point i dont want a sequel. the choice at the end leaves vastly different universes so i think a sequel would be extremely difficult to make. i would however, like to see more games in this universe. a few examples would be, a game where we play as garrus during the 2 years shepard is dead. we could play as garrus cleaning up omega and eventually earning the nickname archangel. many things are already in place for that. aria, the merc squads, mordin and his clinic. all of these things could be tied into a game like that. another example would be to play as a quarian on his/her pilgrimage during ME1 and ME2 leading up to when all pilgrimages are recalled in ME3. both of these scenarios would also allow for an import of a gamesave from ME and/or ME2 so they can reference things that each players shepard did in those games. they have established an amazing sci-fi universe in my opinion and it has come to be one of my favorites, if not THE favorite. i look forward to whatever else they have in store.

---

also, this is hilarious.

[youtube]CpeRk1YFn8s[/youtube]

[youtube]crgEIhI3y_o[/youtube]

 

[ajdass1]

Massive spoilers oh god avert your eyes.

The best part of ME3 for me was on Rannoch. I let Legion upload the reaper data to the geth fleet. The Quarians wouldn't call off their attack.. the entire flotilla was destroyed, and Tali flung herself off the cliff as burning wreckage fell through the sky.

I sat there staring at the screen, thinking "Oh my god... what have I done?" I had naively thought that the Quarians would stop their attack, but instead I ended up causing the genocide of all that remains of their species. I was dazed. When I went to bed that night I was still thinking about it. And it hung over me for the entire game and beyond.

I think that's the first time I've experienced something so powerful and nuanced in a videogame. I was horrified by the consequences of my actions. Tali and I have been knocking around the galaxy for about over a hundred hours by this point, counting multiple play-throughs. I desperately wanted the Quarians to retake their homeworld and be happy. And instead I killed them all.

What did you make of Star Child?

Not only was the Star Child baloney, but every section with the kid in it throughout the game has been rolling my eyes. It just struck me as a cynical attempt to tug my heart-strings. The fact that the Star Child is that kid set things off to a bad start. But suddenly it's spewing all this stuff about how this whole conflict is based around the idea that synthetic life will always exterminate organic life. For the love of god I literally just proved that's not true a few hours ago! What the hell, game?! And besides, then you might as well go down the path of "All the organic species will all end up exterminating each other anyway, so we might as well get it over with and do it for them."

It's introducing this entirely new concept in the final minutes of the game and saying that this is what all the games were all about. I preferred the Reapers as an inscrutable chthonic menace. They didn't need some grand overarching scheme, they didn't need to be explained. I would've been happy with everything if the starchild hadn't been there. The ending is suitably apocalyptic for the size of threat the Reapers represent.

their adoptive father-son relationship

I played as femShep, and so for me it was a father-daughter relationship. It still struck me as being really well done, a really beautiful moment. And now Anderson is dead. I couldn't believe it. The fact that he's ever present over the three games, and he was always a figure to look up to, really laid the groundwork for that scene. And poor old Shepard... they've finally acknowledged their adoptive bond and then he just goes and dies right in front of her. It was a perfectly tragic scene, not contrived at all.

Asari in the hospital talking to her therapist about having to kill a human girl called Hilary when the Reapers hit the colony of Tiptree... turns out that Joker has a teenage sister called Hilary living on Tiptree.

Wow... now that you mention it, I remember Joker talking about this. My mind has just been blown.

Of all those random conversations, the one that most sticks in my mind is the one in the Docks Holding Area, with the girl talking to that Turian guard about how she's waiting for her parents... you can hear in the Turian's voice that he knows what's happened to them. That one really hit me.

I'm currently replaying Mass Effect 1, and I think it's a real testament to the strength of the series that it still holds up exceptionally well, even having played all of the games. (I'm intending to play through all three games again >.<)

 

[Fitz]

George Carlin hits the nail on the head
Steve Carell part is so funny, I rofl'd.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!
[video=youtube]

 

[edgecrusher]

i understand being upset at the abruptness of the ending and at the lack of closure regarding the characters they clearly took the time and effort making us care about in the previous games. i dont get the majority of this outrage over the ending regarding the actual story. i can even understand being upset that our choices didnt really matter int he long run, even though we have basically been under the illusion of choice since the beginning of mass effect 2. but thats it.

what i dont understand is why people say that the catalysts logic makes no sense. applying logic to it is why it does make sense. it saw a problem, came up with a solution, and based on the info we have it appears to have worked so far. its goal was to make sure that organic life doesnt get wiped completely out to extinction by their synthetic creations. so one could say that organic life still existing shows us that it has worked... so far. ill say it like this: if A and B are both possible but A happens 99 times out of 100, which is the logical choice when attempting to predict what will happen next? or what will happen the most? logically you choose A. sure its not a guarantee that it will happen, but it doesnt have to be a guarantee to be logical. was it a guarantee that shepard would stop the reapers? no. so using that reasoning, does that mean that shepard shouldnt have tried to stop them anyway? was it a guarantee that the crucible would work? nope. so does that mean it shouldnt have been built? regardless, we do have evidence that the organic vs synthetic conflict does happen. javik talks about the war with synthetics in his cycle that affected most of the galaxy. and for some players, the quarian/geth conflict doesnt get resolved peacefully. one could argue that proves that the organic vs synthetic conflict will eventually happen and get out of control. if you want to bet on the opposing odds that it wont happen that has nothing to do with logic, thats called being hopeful. no one should be surprised that a machine based life form chose logic over being hopeful. the actual solution itself is a moral question that has nothing to do with logic. is it a really messed up way of solving the problem? yes. but has it worked so far? yes.

i guess this all depends on if you believe the catalyst or not. that brings me to the other thing i dont get... which is why people seem to assume that the catalyst did all this based on an assumption. why would it do that? that makes no sense. like i said, i dont think its crazy to assume that a machine based life form would choose logic over being hopeful. so to me clearly it would have had to seen this synthetic vs organic conflict happen in the past. and many times at that. otherwise, people are suggesting that the catalyst did this based on an assumption, which i havent seen anything that suggests that. it even admits that the cycle wont work anymore. personally i got a cold and calculated, but logic driven vibe from it. not a sinister vibe from it. i think that this is the story about the cycle that fought hard enough to reach the catalyst to show it that the cycle needs to stop. i dont see whats so bad about that.

either way, there are SO MANY "why's" that anything could be considered speculation. for instance, the catalyst is only accessible once the crucible is attached to the citadel and activated. based on that one could argue that they are related somehow. the alliance basically built this thing using an incredible amount of resources and man power and they didnt even really know what it was going to do, or if it was going to work. isnt it odd that the information on how to build it got passed down from earlier cycles, but nothing about how it works or what it really does? for all we know it could have been a fail safe. the catalyst could have left the information on the crucible into the galaxy a long time ago as a fail safe. just waiting for a cycle to finally build it and reach the catalyst. thats something that i like about the way it ended. it got people talking. it made people think. and the final choice doesnt seem to be set up in a way where everyone thinks the same choice is the best one. people have differing opinions on what is the best choice and why. it got people to question morality. to me, that makes it much more personal. people always referred to it as THEIR shepard. i chose what i did and i know why i chose it. to me that makes the experience more personal, which goes along with the theme of the series. i dont see whats so bad about that either.

 

[Steak]

I enjoy this series quite a bit

haven't touched any of the games since i finished Mass Effect 3 though(for obvious reasons if you've finished it)

still have like 4-5 shepards i want to port from ME1 to 2/3

finally made a good looking femshep lol

 

[edgecrusher]

the mass effect extended cut DLC is coming out tuesday jun 26th. should be interesting. i have 3 different characters to replay the ending with. supposedly there are quite a few variances depending on choices made throughout the series. we shall see.

 

[ajdass1]

All the furor about the ending has already died down... I wonder if this DLC will just stir it all up again.

 

[LoneKiller]

[YOUTUBE]c8PVds-9H9s[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Lost Drifter]

According to a post on the BioWare blog, North American players can download the Extended Cut DLC on June 26th – yes, that’s next Tuesday. European gamers will have to wait a bit longer though, till July 4th specifically, to get their fix.

 

[edgecrusher]

i couldnt get the genophage mission the way i wanted to with my femshep, so its the same as my first character. i think if eve is alive it isnt possible to talk mordin out of the cure. i wanted to talk him out of it so that i could get the scene where wrex finds out i lied and confronts shep on the citadel. the only other way i could have done that would have been to kill mordin when he tries to go up to fix the sabotage... and i couldnt bring myself to do that. i want either wrex or mordin alive, not both of them dead.

 

[Fitz]

Just wait till that DLC drops... I fear the rage will descend apon Bioware's head once more. Of course I'm hoping for the best, but I'm fearing the worst. ajdass1, I'm afraid I have to agree with you here. If it turns out badly, it's only going to relight the fire under the stove.

 

[Lost Drifter]

Just think though...once the ending DLC is done we can get some real solo content...Omega here I come!

Actually I was thinking what with the hate between Batarians and Humans a mission with just you and a Batarian teammate could be rather interesting, one where you overcome your differences and learn to forgive and respect each other like Hell in the Pacific.

 

[Lost Drifter]

So what about the Leviathan?

http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mas...s-DLC---Leaked-in-EC-SPOILERS-12777408-1.html