EC for ME3 releasing today...

[GMan2]

So I'm in no great rush to download it. I'm just not that interested in it really. I guess I might think differently if ME3 captured my playing over and over interest like ME and ME2 did. But it doesn't. 90% of the game I LOVE...The beginning and ending make me not care for it so much.

 

So for those who do view the EC today, what did you think? I'd ask for no spoilers as I do want to view it myself...but was it what you hoped for? Did it answer all the questions? Or at least some of the more important ones?

[windpl]

Not interested but starting a thread? ;D

 

Short answer.

No

 

They add 4th ending

Re-edited some like those that Starchild spank you in face with stating that he is an Harbingerem. OH SHIT AS I DIDN'T KNOW. lol

 

[gregathit]

Well, I am still out of town until this weekend so I won't be able to DL and play it tell late Sat or Sunday. I don't really think it will be worth much but am willing to give them this one last try at fixing their F'up.

[thesapien]

windpl raises the perplexing question, why the new thread then when there's already one if you're so not interested?

 

Oh, just finished downloading it a few seconds ago... gotta go.

[Vedli]

Spoiler time!

 

New endings have already been posted and they managed to make an ending thats EVEN WORSE!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Casey Hudson giving you the finger for 2 minutes & 57 seconds

 

 

You can also watch the others on this persons account

 

And as for the others, The control ending turns Shepard into the illusive man. So hurray for space Fascism I guess.

 

Synthesis seems to imply that everyone is immortals on the verge of becoming gods… who still reproduce meaning that eventually they’ll consume all the resources of the galaxy meaning the entire Mass effect trilogy has just become the prequel to Total Annihilation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Annihilation

 

As for Destroy, it is at least tolerable, Edi does seem to be dead and the Geth MAY be gone as well but I wasn’t face palming all the way through

It’s still bad but I don’t have as strong an urge to spit as the others cause me too

 

I have spent the last 30 mins just laughing to myself, it’s gone beyond sad and pathetic to downright funny. Also these are just my initial thoughts but yeah.

[Zer0maru]

anyone having trouble downloading it on origin?

it still has not showed up for purchase/download for me (i live in brazil so i am pretty shure it is suposed to release here on the same date as in usa)

can anyone give me some help on the matter?

[Vedli]

Control in a nutshell

[gregathit]

Control in a nutshell

 

Well, control and synthesis could share that same picture!

 

I have now seen all four endings and well....destroy is still the one I am going to stick with. Yes, I don't like having to kill the geth/EDI but it really is the only ending that makes any sort of damn sense.

 

The destroy ending should require a high ems, that would allow you to target only the reapers. This would IMHO be the perfect ending. Shep living or dying is really a non issue for me.

 

 

I just can't wrap my head around the fairy magic of synthesis or control. Of the two fairy magic endings I would have to choose control as it is the least repugnant. Synthesis is just flat out nonsense. I feel like writing "artistic integrity" on the tip end of my steel toed boots and then kicking the shit out of Casey and Mac!!!!!

 

As to the new forth option.....Well, I would just replace "artistic integrity" with "FU" and kick them even harder!!!!! This was just a spit in the face. If it had been in the vanilla game I would have thought it funny but for them to waste time adding this feature and NOT booting the star child just shows they don't give a damn about any but the COD type fans.

 

Long story short....it is still a failure. Had this been the original vanilla endings it would not have caused the shit storm that did happen. It is a weak nod to fans and that is it.

[GMan2]

windpl raises the perplexing question' date=' why the new thread then when there's already one if you're so not interested?

 

Oh, just finished downloading it a few seconds ago... gotta go.

[/quote']

 

 

This will be a new concept for both of you...but quit over analyzing. I mean seriously, what are you two, engineers? Just because I said I'm not all that interested, doesn't mean I'm NOT interested.

 

And was there REALLY any harm in starting a new thread specifically for the EC? Will you lose some sleep over this? Feverishly shaking there on the bed, biting at your fingernails saying, "The AUDACITY of him for starting a new thread!!!"

[thesapien]

Okay, I'm stoked now and BioWare has proven that they are better writers than I'd previously given them credit for. They have demonstrated once and for all in my mind that the Catalyst is a rogue AI that has killed its own creators and now rules over the galaxy. It prevents other AI's from doing the same and anybody or anything is harvested should it come close to challenging the Catalyst.

 

The Catalyst would have Shep believe that its creators were afraid that synthetics might destroy them. So they then created an AI/synthetic to deal with it. If you were afraid of AI's would you create one to solve this problem? No. It tells Shepard that its solution to the problem was to make Reapers so it harvested its creators into Reapers.

 

How do I know BioWare isn't just spitting nonsense? See:

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/12777408

 

This is hidden in the EC DLC_Shared_INT.tlk file as dialogue, likely for an upcoming DLC:

 

"So the Reapers did not fully exterminate their creators. That suggests they are fallible, even on large or long-term scales."

 

Fuck yeah! The writers at BioWare really are fully self aware when it comes to the Catalyst actually being a rogue AI who harvested its own creators!

 

If you read the file you also learn about Leviathan which looks to be part of an upcoming DLC about a rebel Reaper who turns on the Catalyst and its own kind; a Reaper that kills a Reaper.

 

So, now, BioWare has won me back. I'm in. Bring on the DLC's!

 

Vedli and Gregathit, I don't understand why it all has to make sense in a way that matches what you think is possible in your real worlds. If I did that, I'd hate the whole series. Beacons wouldn't work. Asari wouldn't be able to share memories. Everyone would be speaking different languages. There'd be no gravity on Ships. Time would pass at different rates around the galaxy. Small mass singularities wouldn't do anything. And on and on.

 

I really think there are other reasons why many of us got a bad taste towards the end, and Gregathit knows I've gone back on forth on ME3 so I can kind of relate. But, damn, how do I say this? I really feel like you're missing out on something special and am so glad myself to be back into it and feeling good about the series again!

[windpl]

I laughed hard on how they gone form "destroying" to damaging mass reallys and used same animation for it.

[gregathit]

I laughed hard on how they gone form "destroying" to damaging mass reallys and used same animation for it.

 

Actually it looks like they redid the animation to me. They cleaned it up (the red, green or blue wave color is lighter) and only the inner rings blow up now. Perhaps it still is the same one just retouched but it clearly shows the damage is "much" less this time around.

 

@Thesapien - had this been the "original" endings I would still have been irked because it still is a flat out lie from what Hudson and Walters promised. However, I would have only been "irked" and would have quickly gotten over it. I would not have been foot stomping pissed off like the original shit brick ending made me.

 

This EC destroy ending I can "live with" but never like. Unless the starchild is completely removed, I won't ever be happy with the end. I don't give 2 craps whether there is a reunion with your LI or Shep dies. I was never on the rainbows and unicorns band wagon. I just wanted an ending that was in keeping with the rest of the game.

 

As to wining me back. Sorry, no dice. They flat out lied and F'd up the original game. Then called the irate fans a bunch of whiners and ignored us until the rage went viral on the net and started to impact sales. No way a couple of cut scenes and still frames with narrative are going to wash that taste out of my mouth. I may by ME3 dlc but it will only be when it goes on sale for 2-4 dollars around the Christmas\New Years sales.

 

But hey, if you are happy then great At least someone is.

[Ashal]

I for one liked the EC endings, and I hated the original endings with a passion.

 

The original endings felt like they wanted to leave things open for people to speculate, they unfortunately ran with that concept to a terrible extreme and left literally everything to speculation resulting in zero closure.

 

The new endings provide just enough closure on outcomes of your ending choice to satisfy, and still leave enough open for you to speculate. The extra line of questioning with the the catalyst you get beforehand explaining his origin and purpose left me satisfied enough with that side of things as well.

 

And for the record; I went with synthesis, it's the only permanent and forward moving solution in my opinion.

 

The endings could still be better, by taking more of your choices from all 3 games into account, but I'm satisfied enough to move on with my life.

[reivzje]

I laughed hard on how they gone form "destroying" to damaging mass reallys and used same animation for it.

 

Actually it looks like they redid the animation to me. They cleaned it up (the red' date=' green or blue wave color is lighter) and only the inner rings blow up now. Perhaps it still is the same one just retouched but it clearly shows the damage is "much" less this time around.

 

@Thesapien - had this been the "original" endings I would still have been irked because it still is a flat out lie from what Hudson and Walters promised. However, I would have only been "irked" and would have quickly gotten over it. I would not have been foot stomping pissed off like the original shit brick ending made me.

 

This EC destroy ending I can "live with" but never like. Unless the starchild is completely removed, I won't ever be happy with the end. I don't give 2 craps whether there is a reunion with your LI or Shep dies. I was never on the rainbows and unicorns band wagon. I just wanted an ending that was in keeping with the rest of the game.

 

As to wining me back. Sorry, no dice. They flat out lied and F'd up the original game. Then called the irate fans a bunch of whiners and ignored us until the rage went viral on the net and started to impact sales. No way a couple of cut scenes and still frames with narrative are going to wash that taste out of my mouth. I may by ME3 dlc but it will only be when it goes on sale for 2-4 dollars around the Christmas\New Years sales.

 

But hey, if you are happy then great At least someone is.

[/quote']

 

True. I was actually looking forward to the EC to see if my Shep will get a Reunion with the Squad but no..... I still won't complete ME3 and i doubt i ever will, maybe after 2 - 3 years or something like that but not now.

Also how to understand the Shepard breathing scene after the "Destroy" ending?

[gregathit]

The endings could still be better' date=' by taking more of your choices from all 3 games into account, but I'm satisfied enough to move on with my life.

[/quote']

 

 

Yea, I sort of agree. I would not go so far as to say I am "satisfied" but I am placated enough to move on.

 

 

Also how to understand the Shepard breathing scene after the "Destroy" ending?

 

 

There is no understanding to be had there. That scene is ridiculous and completely out of place. Worse it was the whole "proof" that the IT crowd latched on to. Destroy is obviously the cannon ending and the the next game will be based from it so it was simply a "bone" that bioware tossed out for those who played the other platform nonsense plus multi-player and had the required ems. Shepard could not have survived re-entry and falling to earth so unless more space magic was used it just is silly. Best to just forget about it and move on. The closer you look at things the worse they get....

 

After all....ignorance is bliss!

[LifeandEd]

Also how to understand the Shepard breathing scene after the "Destroy" ending?

Rushed/hamstrung. In my ending, I saw

the citadel and earth rebuilt, yet Shep's still sitting in a pile of rubble.

This is probably due to Micro$oft limiting the DLC to 2 GBs in size. Bioware either ran out of time or space, and fixing the plot holes like the Normandy fleeing was more important to them in the end. I chalk up the lack of an LI reunion to the same thing. That's 8 or 9 cutscenes that they would've had to squeeze in under MS's limit. There's no way it could've happened with everything else they did.

 

Overall, I think the EC's an improvement. It contains exactly what they said it would, plus they shot down indoctrination theory with the new ending. The catalyst's idiot logic is explained imo about as much as the writers' gigantic egos allow. The catalyst's creators couldn't control their synthetics, so the catalyst was created to regulate them. He went beserk and turned them into the first reaper (Harby?) when it became clear there was no other way to save them. (I think that's the reason he gave, confirmation?) His belief in an inevitable singularity isn't a fact like the original ending mistakenly implies; it's a product of his experiences. Looking at it like that makes the ending a lot more palatable to me.

 

Before the EC came out, I was contemplating getting a console next generation, just to buy BW titles used and cheat them out of a few bucks, but now I'm not nearly as angry. They've bought themselves another chance.

[thesapien]

I for one liked the EC endings' date=' and I hated the original endings with a passion.

 

The original endings felt like they wanted to leave things open for people to speculate, they unfortunately ran with that concept to a terrible extreme and left literally everything to speculation resulting in zero closure.

 

The new endings provide just enough closure on outcomes of your ending choice to satisfy, and still leave enough open for you to speculate. The extra line of questioning with the the catalyst you get beforehand explaining his origin and purpose left me satisfied enough with that side of things as well.

 

And for the record; I went with synthesis, it's the only permanent and forward moving solution in my opinion.

 

The endings could still be better, by taking more of your choices from all 3 games into account, but I'm satisfied enough to move on with my life.

[/quote']

 

I so agree with most of that except for the part about synthesis. But I also think we're supposed to have fun arguing over our final choices. So it's cool that you added "in my opinion" on that one.

 

Also how to understand the Shepard breathing scene after the "Destroy" ending?

There is no understanding to be had there. That scene is ridiculous and completely out of place. Worse it was the whole "proof" that the IT crowd latched on to. Destroy is obviously the cannon ending and the the next game will be based from it so it was simply a "bone" that bioware tossed out for those who played the other platform nonsense plus multi-player and had the required ems. Shepard could not have survived re-entry and falling to earth so unless more space magic was used it just is silly.

 

They could fix that. Just show part of the Citadel remaining intact as Shep goes down with it. Maybe Shep jumped into a craft and crash glided it down? Or maybe Shep is more synthetic like a Geth who can drop from the sky? That would explain a lot about my Shep surviving a lot of shit. Just look at Shep's scaring and what looks to be just beneath the real skin. I dunno' date=' just guessing.

 

"Obviously the canon ending"? Then why do I disagree that there was even supposed to be a canon ending? It wasn't obvious to me!

 

@Thesapien - had this been the "original" endings I would still have been irked because it still is a flat out lie from what Hudson and Walters promised.

I don't think they were intentionally deceiving anyone. Seems like they just saw their ending differently. I can see how their promise actually is fulfilled in one light and how it isn't in another, but it depends so wouldn't outright call Hudson and Walters liars.

 

This EC destroy ending I can "live with" but never like. Unless the starchild is completely removed' date=' I won't ever be happy with the end. I don't give 2 craps whether there is a reunion with your LI or Shep dies.

[/quote']

I don't usually play with an LI, so agree there.

 

Destroy, uh? I'm more of a control type, post EC.

 

It totally matches my playing of my Shep. She took control mainly to stop the Reapers without destroying so many and without forcing synthesis. Also, she makes for a good leader who may have the ultimate power but will rarely use it to micromanage, so I'm guessing. Who knows, she may simply release any direct control over the Reapers altogether, unless one goes on a killing spree.

 

 

Is it the Catalyst you hate or just the appearance it takes? And why so much hate for it, still, post EC?

 

As to wining me back. Sorry' date=' no dice. They flat out lied and F'd up the original game. Then called the irate fans a bunch of whiners and ignored us until the rage went viral on the net and started to impact sales.

[/quote']

Who at BioWare called anyone whiners? And how do you know they ignored the fans at first? They were mostly silent before and after the viral rage, no? Maybe it seemed like they turtled up but one could also just say they put on professional poker faces while actually having a good hand to show. They continue to do this in BioWare fashion, not revealing anything that is not already playable or at least having a release date. It's like trying to talk to the Men in Black.

 

Also how to understand the Shepard breathing scene after the "Destroy" ending?

Rushed/hamstrung. In my ending' date=' I saw

the citadel and earth rebuilt, yet Shep's still sitting in a pile of rubble.

 

[/quote']

In mine, with control ending, I just got a helmet in rubble. No mystery there.

 

The catalyst's idiot logic is explained imo about as much as the writers' gigantic egos allow. The catalyst's creators couldn't control their synthetics' date=' so the catalyst was created to regulate them. He went beserk and turned them into the first reaper (Harby?) when it became clear there was no other way to save them. (I think that's the reason he gave, confirmation?) His belief in an inevitable singularity isn't a fact like the original ending mistakenly implies; it's a product of his experiences. Looking at it like that makes the ending a lot more palatable to me.

[/quote']

 

It's funny that many people had no problem disagreeing with every antagonist all the way up to TIM but then suddenly saw the Catalyst character as speaking some sort of universal truth intended by the writers, even after Shep's options (destroy, control, and sythesis) all seemed like ways to go against the Catalyst's solution. I'm not making fun, mostly pointing out some sort of fault on both sides. I suspect it has to do with what wasn't said instead of what Shep did say. Gamers weren't thinking much about free will and philosophy but had something else on their minds while playing and wanted Shep to point out the same: Shep never says The Problem isn't a problem because look at the united Geth and Quarians or EDI. This would had been cool because then the Catalyst could had countered that such harmony is only temporary and has never lasted from its experience. In the EC, we do get the Catalyst saying that it was originally designed to find exactly that kind of harmony, thus its name "Catalyst" between organics and synthetics. But it also said that peace was always only temporary. So it's final Solution was to go ahead and play it out, with it being the synthetic at the top and its creators harvested/preserved against their will.

 

So we had the protagonist say that harvesting is still killing and that the solution was wrong in the original ending. We also had the protagonist defeat the Catalyst. Why was this not enough? Aside from Shep not saying what Paragon gamers were thinking, was it also the other sticky part of The Problem; the question of whether or not synthetics would actually destroy all organic life in the galaxy? The Catalyst has no experience to base this on. The Catalyst is also an example itself of an AI not wiping out all life. And Shep never directly challenges this in dialogue either. Yet, our Shep does go on to make a final choice that does dismiss it or at least is willing to really test it. Why was that not enough? Why did so many take an antagonist character's faulty reasoning as being the faulty reasoning of the writers???

[gregathit]

They could fix that. Just show part of the Citadel remaining intact as Shep goes down with it. Maybe Shep jumped into a craft and crash glided it down? Or maybe Shep is more synthetic like a Geth who can drop from the sky? That would explain a lot about my Shep surviving a lot of shit. Just look at Shep's scaring and what looks to be just beneath the real skin. I dunno' date=' just guessing.

[/quote']

 

Except that they don't show the citadel crashing down to the earth nor do they imply it at any time. As to Shep being more synthetic - even a geth unit would burn up on re-entry so I don't think that really makes any sense logically.

 

 

"Obviously the canon ending"? Then why do I disagree that there was even supposed to be a canon ending? It wasn't obvious to me!

 

Again I am just going on logic here since both the synthetic and control options put the universe on a forced peace for quite a while so what possible game world could be generate within those parameters? Destroy leaves things wide open for future conflicts and perhaps even the rise of the dreaded "synthetics" coming to destroy us all......

EDIT: I guess you could go with control breading an eventual rebellion and the reapers going back to reaping but really that would just kinda be boring right.....

 

I don't think they were intentionally deceiving anyone. Seems like they just saw their ending differently. I can see how their promise actually is fulfilled in one light and how it isn't in another' date=' but it depends so wouldn't outright call Hudson and Walters liars.

[/quote']

 

The lies I am referring to are the A,B,C ending stuff and the lack of impact of your actions on the ending. Mac and Casey need to have a muzzle order placed on them in the future to prevent further nonsense (betting EA has already implemented this...). Those two's comments were where much of the fuel that fed the rage came from. Either way it is over and done with now and will be interesting to see how it is handled with DA3 and any future ME game (betting it will be an MMO...and hoping I am wrong!!!)

 

Destroy' date=' uh? I'm more of a control type, post EC.

 

It totally matches my playing of my Shep. She took control mainly to stop the Reapers without destroying so many and without forcing synthesis. Also, she makes for a good leader who may have the ultimate power but will rarely use it to micromanage, so I'm guessing. Who knows, she may simply release any direct control over the Reapers altogether, unless one goes on a killing spree.

 

 

Is it the Catalyst you hate or just the appearance it takes? And why so much hate for it, still, post EC?

[/quote']

 

The starkid is so ewokie that is just makes me sick. That bioware went that nonsensical direction is quite irritating to me. In my mind the whole thing could have been done simply by unlocking the potential of the catalyst once it mated with the citadel. If you needed something to present the options visually then the prothean vi would have fit the role nicely. To introduce a new antagonist just prior to the stroke of midnight was lazy and sloppy IMHO. And using a kid......!

 

 

 

Who at BioWare called anyone whiners? And how do you know they ignored the fans at first? They were mostly silent before and after the viral rage' date=' no? Maybe it seemed like they turtled up but one could also just say they put on professional poker faces while actually having a good hand to show. They continue to do this in BioWare fashion, not revealing anything that is not already playable or at least having a release date. It's like trying to talk to the Men in Black.

[/quote']

 

Bioware did insult their fans on numerous occasions via twitter, the forum, media interviews and at live appearances. Some of these insults were subtle digs and some less so. Also why do you think all the paid advertising sites (referring to game reviewers here) did there best to stomp out the fan rage via knuckleheads like that D-bag Colin. You don't seriously think that Colin was doing that because he actually had an original thought do you? I just don't see that dude as capable of pouring pee out of a boot without watching a video and lots of hand holding.....

 

 

It's funny that many people had no problem disagreeing with every antagonist all the way up to TIM but then suddenly saw the Catalyst character as speaking some sort of universal truth intended by the writers' date=' even after Shep's options (destroy, control, and sythesis) all seemed like ways to go against the Catalyst's solution. I'm not making fun, mostly pointing out some sort of fault on both sides. I suspect it has to do with what wasn't said instead of what Shep did say. Gamers weren't thinking much about free will and philosophy but had something else on their minds while playing and wanted Shep to point out the same: Shep never says The Problem isn't a problem because look at the united Geth and Quarians or EDI. This would had been cool because then the Catalyst could had countered that such harmony is only temporary and has never lasted from its experience. In the EC, we do get the Catalyst saying that it was originally designed to find exactly that kind of harmony, thus its name "Catalyst" between organics and synthetics. But it also said that peace was always only temporary. So it's final Solution was to go ahead and play it out, with it being the synthetic at the top and its creators harvested/preserved against their will.

 

So we had the protagonist say that harvesting is still killing and that the solution was wrong in the original ending. We also had the protagonist defeat the Catalyst. Why was this not enough? Aside from Shep not saying what Paragon gamers were thinking, was it also the other sticky part of The Problem; the question of whether or not synthetics would actually destroy all organic life in the galaxy? The Catalyst has no experience to base this on. The Catalyst is also an example itself of an AI not wiping out all life. And Shep never directly challenges this in dialogue either. Yet, our Shep does go on to make a final choice that does dismiss it or at least is willing to really test it. Why was that not enough? Why did so many take an antagonist character's faulty reasoning as being the faulty reasoning of the writers???

[/quote']

 

Well here you are presenting a large number of issues and questions and it is this large number of issues and questions that cause the ending to fail.

 

The old adage rules here: KISS - "Keep It Simple Stupid". The writers tried to get cutesy and IMHO lost both their way and focus. Stories can be successful with complicated endings but it demands that they be very thorough. Instead bioware just sort of tossed some different colors of paint on the canvas and said "hey, its art and its deep" and wanted us to buy it.

 

The reapers and their motivations were not really important to ever know or understand. Taking a Hitchcock type of approach you just imagine them to be this horror that must destroyed and leave it at that. Defining them as a rouge vi that "ate" its creators is just sort of anti-climatic to me.....

 

As always this is just my take and you can feel free to ignore it

I am less passionate, as I said before partly just cause I am burned out from talking/thinking about it and because the EC, while still not satisfying, is 10,000 times better than the original.

 

Cheers

Greg

[thesapien]

That's cool, Greg. I was really laughing and smiling while reading it all, and not at you but with you. I keep changing my mind on too much anyway, and could easily return to the dark side. I hope I don't tho, because things are more enjoyable over here!

[gregathit]

That's cool' date=' Greg. I was really laughing and smiling while reading it all, and not at you but with you. I keep changing my mind on too much anyway, and could easily return to the dark side. I hope I don't tho, because things are more enjoyable over here!

[/quote']

 

Agreed. Perhaps they (bioware) will actually come up with some kick-ass dlc like LOTB that may make us forget about the whole debacle....? Let's hope so anyway......

 

 

....think happy thoughts.....think happy thoughts......

[nanogenesis]

I just finished extended cut today, and thought that, this was obviously where mass effect was headed when we saw Shepard die in Mass Effect 2.

 

Bioware loves to see Shepard dead!

 

Nevermind, the only way the people get the ending they want is time travel, some sorry arse sent back into time in Shepard's team before he gets doomed by the collectors, etc etc