Mass Effect 3

**Okuto** · June 27, 2012, 12:34 AM

Originally Posted by the_mango55

I'm enjoying the delicious tears of everyone who wanted the ending completely changed.

I wanted the ending changed and I didn't cry

Nor did I flame my fellow gamers who were ok with the original endings, I think it's best to put this family feud behind us now

The new endings will suffice, I no longer have that empty feeling and am eager to play again

And eager to consume dlc

**Habelo** · June 27, 2012, 02:09 AM

Wait, the dlc is out?!

**Faramir D'Andunie** · June 27, 2012, 02:52 AM

Originally Posted by the_mango55

I thought the new ending was great. I was fine with the choices from the start and just thought the ending was bad because there was no exposition and they were all pretty much the same.

I'm enjoying the delicious tears of everyone who wanted the ending completely changed.

Likewise for me.

Also I don't see how rejecting the choices is a middle finger tho? Expected to survive or win through it? Throwing an enormours ammount of resources to some alien device noone really knows what it will do once the trigger is pulled pretty much shows what the galaxy thought of its chances in that war. At least thanks to your efforts the next cycle gets the data needed to win. Because unlike the protheans this time a message that made some sense is left behind.

**Basileus of Byzantium** · June 27, 2012, 03:03 AM

Destroy: Not as good as Synthesis or Control but is the only one that doesn't have dark undertones to it
Synthesis: Okay... still it's space magic and kinda dark cause it hints at everyone eventually going to be obsessed with immortality or a "higher level of existence". Plus forces everyone to do this change which the actual Shepard woudn't have liked.
Control: Okay too, best of the 3 but as I've said it contains dark undertones when I heard Reaper Shep talking about how he/she would "lead an army none would oppose" and "destroy those who threaten the future of the many". Scared the crap out of me.
Refusal: Troll ending :/ It'd be fine except for the fact that you can get the ending by shooting the Star Child and the Star Child being all like "SO BE IT! THE TROLLING CONTINUES!". I love how the Star Child gets pissed off that you shoot him even though he's giving you the option to destroy him and the Reapers and we're given no indication that bullets harm him so why would he be ticked off? Also they should've had EMS affect this ending. Like with high EMS it shows the crew and fleet fighting to the death and going out with a bang, inflicting a good amount of Reaper casaulties while low EMS shows them being annihilated fairly quickly without a real fight or not show any sort of cutscene at all, just skip to the part where Liara's hologram talks. It's pretty obvious that no effort was put into this ending.

So the EC is okay but I think the Retake is partially successful and by that I mean a very small percentage like below 10%. Star Child still keeps his stupid logic that there can never be peace between synthetics and organics and that they'll eventually overcome organics, Destroy ending keeps the weird Shepard tease at the end, and Star Child remains vague and pulled out of nowhere still by Bioware's writers or writer.

**The Dude** · June 27, 2012, 03:12 AM

Originally Posted by ivan_the_terrible

Yes, exactly! It's literally 'pick a colour or die!'

Its even worse than that, as afterwards its implied in the new stargazer scene that the next cycle also built the Crucible and did pick a colour.

**Shneckie** · June 27, 2012, 03:26 AM

Question. Does EMS have any more significant impact on the ending? My EMS is back down to 50% for some reason and I cba going through hours of multiplayer to bring it back up to 100%. I have about 3300 points worth of effective assets atm (6000+ total).

**ivan_the_terrible** · June 27, 2012, 04:39 AM

Originally Posted by Basileus of Byzantium

Also they should've had EMS affect this ending. Like with high EMS it shows the crew and fleet fighting to the death and going out with a bang, inflicting a good amount of Reaper casaulties while low EMS shows them being annihilated fairly quickly without a real fight or not show any sort of cutscene at all, just skip to the part where Liara's hologram talks. It's pretty obvious that no effort was put into this ending.

EMS is completely the right idea but implemented in a really nonsensical way.

It's the representation of your overall strength - the sum total of the resources you're gathering to fight the reapers. And the crucible counts for just a part of it. Logically, using the crucible should render your EMS score redundant - it shouldn't matter to the RGB shockwave how prepared your fleet was. It shouldn't matter to your personal survival chances how prepared your fleet was. It shouldn't matter to Big Ben what your EMS score was!

The only time EMS should matter is fighting the reapers conventionally. That is, how many ships are destroyed up to the point when Shepard picks a RGB option. Alternatively, it should affect your chances of success (or how many reapers you destroy before your cycle is wiped out) if Shepard chooses to reject the RGB choices.

This was the perfect opportunity to make EMS actually matter. Perhaps, given a high enough EMS, you could win conventionally at great cost, perhaps costing earth and other species' homeworlds. Or greatly weaken the reapers for the next cycle.

As it stands, EMS is a totally contrived and forced way of making what you did in the rest of the game have an effect on which slides you get to see during the colour-coded endings.

I think the 'reject choices' ending was very well-thought out... to be a big

YOU to people who didn't like the colour-coded endings.

**Faramir D'Andunie** · June 27, 2012, 05:38 AM

Originally Posted by ivan_the_terrible

I think the 'reject choices' ending was very well-thought out... to be a big

YOU to people who didn't like the colour-coded endings.

Now I am curious to ask. What kind of reject ending would not be considered as such by you?

**MathiasOfAthens** · June 27, 2012, 05:49 AM

Instead of the Starchild offering 3 colours to pick they should of eliminated him altogether and just made it go something like Shepherd and Anderson make it to the control tower. Something happens. Other things happen. Maybe TIM is there, idk. SHep maybe fights some drones. Other humans make it up there. It becomes a larger level. Eventually shep makes it to the control room to activate the crucible. On the panel he is given the choices with which to win or whatnot. He can either choose Synthesis or Destroy or whatever else idk. Shep can either die because the place "has to" blow up for some reason or he can survive after inputting the commands into the crucible.

What I dont

ing get is why TIM thought he could control the Reapers from the Panel if Shepherd couldnt. Shep had to go up into the secret room. So in essence TIM would of stood around doing nothing while the Reapers destroyed everyone?

They should of eliminated the Starchild altogether.

**The Edain** · June 27, 2012, 05:52 AM

Originally Posted by Shneckie

Question. Does EMS have any more significant impact on the ending? My EMS is back down to 50% for some reason and I cba going through hours of multiplayer to bring it back up to 100%. I have about 3300 points worth of effective assets atm (6000+ total).

Essentially it does to an extent. Certain scenes play out differently throughout the final mission e.g. the two crew with you during the attack by Harbinger are either killed or picked up depending on your EMS, but aside from the that and a few cut scene differences still, the endings play out basically the same regardless.

As for the drop in percentage, even if you're not playing - as long as you're connected to XBL the percentage drops daily from above 50% back to 50%.

**beckyolt** · June 27, 2012, 06:04 AM

The ending is still confusing, contradicting and bad. Even with EC...

Jesus christ, I honestly don't know how the writers at Bioware got a job.

**ivan_the_terrible** · June 27, 2012, 06:50 AM

Originally Posted by Faramir D'Andunie

Now I am curious to ask. What kind of reject ending would not be considered as such by you?

For a start, one that was implemented to begin with. That is to say before the fan outrage and not after. Ideally your EMS score would have some effect. Indeed this (a non-crucible fight against the reapers) is the only scenario in which your level of military strength has any logical relevance. If they want to make all decisions crucible-related, fine. But in that case, as I already mentioned earlier, it makes zero sense to tie the outcome to your EMS score (the crucible does what it does and how big your fleet is and how many regiments/allies you gathered etc - which is what the score represents - should not have any effect on this. Why would they??).

If you were always going to rely on the crucible, what was the point of even having you accrue EMS to begin with? (aside from a heavy-handed game mechanic to tie your decisions to which variety of slideshow you're treated to, of course). Bioware wants me to lose invariably in a non-crucible scenario? Fine, but in that case take out EMS altogether, as it serves no purpose. [Note: this is almost what the EC does anyway, in substantially lowering EMS requirements for the RGB cutscenes and slideshows it essentially makes it that by completing most of the content you get above the required EMS. It serves little practical purpose anymore.]

Otherwise, you should be able to defeat or at least damage the reapers, even if at great cost.

The fact that this ending's also triggered by shooting the starchild (in addition to the dialogue) only makes it more of a troll inclusion.

I probably put it too harshly in my earlier post though. I do think it's partly a troll and partly a very hasty addition to try to satisfy people who didn't like having being forced to choose RGB. The rejection is, after all, the ending that makes the most thematic sense: Shepard refuses to play by reapers' rules, its central meaning isn't to tamper with the nature of all life in the galaxy, and most importantly it's a rejection of a character (and a host of accompanying illogical nonsense) that were suddenly and unnecessarily introduced at the last possible instant, to the great detriment of the narrative!

**Beregond** · June 27, 2012, 11:55 AM

Well, I played through EC and must say it was...acceptable. The new 4th ending is indeed an enormous trollface from Bioware, but it's an interesting option; and at least they removed BUY MOAR DLCs message at the end

The Child logic is still flawed and lame but I can live with it, it doesn't really have to tell Shep the truth or go into some complicated physics schemes.

What I like is that the endings are now differ...more. And that Destroy is still the best ending out there.
Control is really weird. Who could guarantee that Shep-God won't decide to harvest organics once more? And this stupid pathos...
Synthesis is just disgusting. EDI sounds like a communist propaganda and everyone looks..no, not even like husks, but like creepy zombies.
Destroy is the closest we could get to conventional victory. Pity the Geth won't make it (EDI became lame in ME3 anyway), but there was no other way.

I'm pretty much at acceptance of the endings right now. BW failed hard and didn't really mend things that much in the EC, but I don't care much now.

**Basileus of Byzantium** · June 27, 2012, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by beckyolt

The ending is still confusing, contradicting and bad. Even with EC...

Jesus christ, I honestly don't know how the writers at Bioware got a job.

According to one ME3 writer, Patrick Weekes, the ending was actually written by only 2 people, not Bioware's whole team of writers, and given no input/review by them. Those 2 people were Casey Hudson and Mac Walters, the lead writer, what the hell? Even if it's just two people these two are on a team of people who know how to write. I wonder were Casey and Mac high when they wrote the ending? It's even scarier to know that they're so loving of their stupid Star Child nonsense that they refused to pull it out of the game

**Katsumoto** · June 27, 2012, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by Beregond

Well, I played through EC and must say it was...acceptable. The new 4th ending is indeed an enormous trollface from Bioware, but it's an interesting option; and at least they removed BUY MOAR DLCs message at the end

The Child logic is still flawed and lame but I can live with it, it doesn't really have to tell Shep the truth or go into some complicated physics schemes.

What I like is that the endings are now differ...more. And that Destroy is still the best ending out there.
Control is really weird. Who could guarantee that Shep-God won't decide to harvest organics once more? And this stupid pathos...
Synthesis is just disgusting. EDI sounds like a communist propaganda and everyone looks..no, not even like husks, but like creepy zombies.
Destroy is the closest we could get to conventional victory. Pity the Geth won't make it (EDI became lame in ME3 anyway), but there was no other way.

I'm pretty much at acceptance of the endings right now. BW failed hard and didn't really mend things that much in the EC, but I don't care much now.

Pretty much word-for-word my opinion on the EC, apart from the opinions on Control/Synthesis as I haven't seen those. 'Acceptable' really is the word to describe it.