| [Spoilers] Mass Effect 3: Endings | |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor  |
Hey everyone,
I recently finished playing Mass Effect 3 and its ending has been cause for quite a bit of debate, discussion and controversy. I know there are more people here in the JA besides myself interested in the ME Series, so I thought we could discuss the endings as I'd like to hear your different takes and opinions on them. 
The most criticism I've heard is that the endings are rather similar, contrary to what Bioware has promised us in the past. Furthermore, I read that the ending(s) also didn't seem to make sense, that there were plotholes and that there was a lack of closure. Now, there are different schools of thought here. Some say the endings are fine as they are, as Bioware is entitled to create whatever ending(s) as they see fit. It's their game afterall. Others claim that Bioware should patch things up and release new endings, including a happy one. If this happens, it will probably done in the form of DLC that will be either free for download or needs to be purchased. Next to that, I've also heard an interesting theory that the whole ending was nothing but an indoctrination of the Reapers. The 'kid' we meet at the end claims to be the catalyst, but he's actually the boy who gets killed at the start of the game and haunts Shepard's nightmares. This is a hint that maybe he's 'dreaming' again, now. Killing the Reapers shows Anderson (a 'good' character) and letting them live shows The Illusive Man (an 'evil'character). Yet the first option seems to be a Renegade option (red) and the second a Paragon action (blue). This confusion would only make sense in a dreamstate. Finally, Shepard is seen alive surrounded by rubble, but if you look closely, it appears to be stone - rubble from Earth. So he's still actually lying on the ground and never got onto the Citadel. If you agree with this anyways! So yeah, what I'd like to hear are your thoughts concerning the endings of Mass Effect 3. Did you think they were good / good enough or should Bioware release new ones (for free)? Do you agree with the whole 'Shepard was indoctrinated, the ending(s) werent real' theory? _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. This post was edited by Dash Starlight on Mar 31 2012 07:28pm. |
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Masta - Jedi Council 
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More details on the new DLC on the bioware blog:
http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/05/mass-effect-3-extended-cut/ _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Masta - Jedi Council 
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The plant object in the ending is called dream_plant03.
And yes they've mentioned multiple times that they won't change the ending but rather elaborate on it with the next DLC. PAX will give us more info - it's from the 6th to the 8th or so of April. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor 
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Quote: I'm... not sure if I get it, lol. But this is certainly the place to post ME-related images! 
On another note, has anyone heard any news updates concerning DLC or something similar that will alter/improve the endings? _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. This comment was edited by Dash Starlight on Apr 05 2012 11:03am. |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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I'll just leave this here. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Alex Dkana - Staff 
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My favourite theory is that he is the visual manifestation (the ghostly image) of the Reapers indoctrination attempts yeah. Even if he was real originally (which is debated).
I find it highly suspicious that BioWare went to the trouble of recording Jen Hale and Mark Meer saying the apparitions lines and then overlaying it all together. It ties in with the fresh gunshot wound theory that says Shepard is fighting/talking to her own subconcious/it's how her mind is perceiving the indoctrination. He also refers to himself as 'us' and I've seen people refer to him as a synthetic (he certainly disappears if you destroy 'all synthetic life'). However I do not believe any concrete answer is given either way. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor 
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Well, I found a reference to (the illusion of) 'ghostsly presences' in Mass Effect in the Codex (under "Indoctrination" ). Now, let's consider this boy:
- he appears on Earth (in solid form) but is only seen by Shepard. He suddenly disappears when Shepard tried to help him; - he appears in Shepards nightmares where he also suddenly disappears at the ends. However, these are only nightmares and the dreamstate can account for such a thing happening; - the boy is white & transparent at the Citadel and has the ability to move from his spot, unlike V.I.'s. He also seems to have an aura around him inlike V.I.'s. He surely seems to act like a ghostly presence. If so, it could further support the Indoctrination Theory. But I admit that this argument is very, very weak as its only a one-sided interpretation. There are other explanations possible, like with the dark mist and Shepards injury. So yeah, I think the idea is farfetched, but I find it interesting to consider nonetheless. _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. This comment was edited by Dash Starlight on Apr 04 2012 12:16pm. |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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Wiki says it's a hologram, but it's not referenced. The nature of the catalyst is just left unexplained though, so we cannot be sure. There's no indication of the existence of ghosts or souls throughout Mass Effect though; there are some references to various religions (think Thane, Ashley) and viewpoints that refer to souls (think the Geth), none of which are depicted as either true or false or state that souls/ghosts exists or do not exist. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor
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I'm loving this discussion. Another thought: is it possible that the boy is in fact a ghost? I thought of him as a VI, but he might not be. I've never seen a white VI, although that in itself says nothing. Since VI's can be red or blue, I guess they can easily be white also. However, I've not seen a VI move from its spot and the boy does. This could mean he's some advanced VI or something... but I think it's at least reasonable to interpret him as a ghost, since he's white & transparent.
EDIT: That theory might have some loopholes to be honest, but I gotta run now _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. This comment was edited by Dash Starlight on Apr 03 2012 06:00pm. |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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@Alex: The Normandy crashing on a garden planet is improbable, not unreasonable. It's as improbable as Shepard's chances of survival throughout the entire series, to speak with EDI. Many of the things surrounding that part of the ending are just not explained at all though; they are lacking in details. We just don't know why Joker was in FTL flight to begin with. That, however, does not mean this part makes no sense or it happened for no reason - it's just unexplained. The upcoming DLC will address that.
As for food and static discharge: I've already covered that in my previous post. There's no reason to think they would not have the scanning technology available for detecting objects that could be used for discharge and with that plotting the best possible route. As for the rest, I'm not sure what your point is. I agree that the indoc theory is pretty neat, but I don't think it explains away inconsistencies or anything like that, because quite frankly there are none, or at least no major ones. I do agree that the ending is not a particularly good one due to the mechanics behind it (push a button) and the fact that a lot of things seem very confusing there (anderson's entry) or left unexplained (the normandy, synthesis) or don't quite fit with what the game set out to be (3 choices for everyone, well, almost), but I think it's quite unfair to claim that it is entirely unreasonable. I mean, alright, I'll use another example: Quote: The mind boggling way the Starchild apparently built a way to control or destroy his solution (and himself) on the secret Citadel area, which would only work in conjunction with a giant ship thing that hadn't even been started yet and would taken millenia to complete. The catalyst didn't build anything - he barely can do anything without intervention. He's more of an overseer/observer than a godchild and he's IN the citadel, not the citadel itself. This is why he said he needs you to make a decision for him and to actually activate the crucible yourself; if he's not able to activate the crucible himself, why should he be able to tinker with the citadel's functions at all? As for the structures, surely it's not at all implausible that the crucible just changed whatever initial functions they might have had. How those things exactly work is unfortunately left unexplained, but I think the catalyst might have helped with the repurposing. Maybe they were just placeholders for your decision - just telling the catalyst your choice before jumping into the beam might have done the trick as well, idk; everything blows up regardless. Activating the crucible is probably only possible through self-sacrifice in any case. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. This comment was edited by Masta on Apr 03 2012 05:08pm. |
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Alex Dkana - Staff 
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Yeah that's the sticker with the theory itself, sadly once you see the number of ways the ending as is makes no sense it's hard to go back to accepting it. *shrug*
Yeah I agree about the ending Saz, I don't need everyone to be happy, but I know that's what a lot of people are asking for. I think those that are unhappy with the endings are split into several different groups, those that are annoyed it doesn't make sense, those that wanted to see a proper happy ending, those that just felt it didn't give enough closure in general. Combinations of those etc. I would have liked to have gotten some more closure on a few points, but my main gripe, personally, is the lack of sense. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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SaZ - Student 
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Quote: As for the indoctrination theory: It's quite nice and I think bioware would do well to make room for it in the upcoming dlc. The main issue with the indoc theory is that if it is true, the game is still an atrocity because that would mean bioware shipped it without an actual ending (the indoc theory assumes the fight continues once you wake up at the end).
agreed. i love the indocrination theory, but that flaw kinda breaks it :/ still - the dreams about that kid, headaches etc. it all makes sense, especially since we are given the exact details of indocrination nature in the codex section. still the significant part of indocrination is that... every other ending theory is just as flawed as indocrination one. the ending makes no sense? then why indocrination makes no sense? olol the endings were quite good except: -the series are known for choices and consiequences. nothing that you did really mattered, the whole click the button to choose 1 out of 3 endings just didnt fit in this case. -conclusion about the characters. what happened to the krogans? salarians? geth? earth lol? i also dont see why people get pissed about the bad nature of the endings. mass relays getting destroyed means that in the upcoming mass effect game (if they keep their word it wont have shepard, the game will be in the same universe thats all) it will have a.... mass... effect lol. the story doesnt really have to end 100% well. every companion looking happy, huge celebration etc. it doesnt have to be lame... but it seems many players wanted that lame ending. _______________ playing jk3 since 30th of january (2005), member since 1st of february. [Unofficial Master to Vision and Z�diac ] If you can make a fool of yourself infront of 300 people you can do anything - Jaiko D'kana This comment was edited by SaZ on Apr 03 2012 02:17pm. |
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Alex Dkana - Staff
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The Normandy picking up your crew, and your crew alone, from Earth, then fleeing through the Mass Relay whilst everyone else celebrates back on Earth makes no sense whatsoever. The chances of it landing on a Garden World at all, with it's engines blown off in transit, are so small as to be hilarious, and there is simply no way said world could support the range of different species.
Mass Effect isn't Star Trek, They need actual food sources to survive. Back on Earth (a planet burnt and devastated by war) all those different aliens will face the same problem. It's not insurmountable, but it would come at a cost. FTL is fast enough to get somewhere else, probably taking years in some cases. However what are the chances the ships would find suitable planets to discharge their drive cores in that time? If they didn't they would all die. There is more. Inconsistencies with established lore included. Stuff it's hard to imagine they missed. Ultimately it actually takes more mental gymnastics to make sense of the ending as it is, rather than come up with something more plausible. The voice over the radio, the inconsistency over whether Anderson entered before or after you, and how no-one saw him. The dream-like quality of the place when you wake up, the bodies of Kaidan/Ashley piled up nearby (remember the dreams?) The similarity between the route to the conduit and the starchild area. The star child himself with his inconsistencies with established ME rules, his out of no-where nature, the simple fact that he speaks with THREE voices: A new voice, Male Shepard's and Female Shepard's. The way her refers to the Reapers as 'us, the fact that if he is the Citadel he could have simply overridden the changes in ME1 to allow the Reapers through then. The mind boggling way the Starchild apparently built a way to control or destroy his solution (and himself) on the secret Citadel area, which would only work in conjunction with a giant ship thing that hadn't even been started yet and would taken millenia to complete. The fact that synthesis is never remotely explained, the closest explanation of which actually comes from Saren in ME1. Yes him. The eyes. Shepard gets indoctrinated eyes in two of the endings. Guess which. I could go on. Very few of these involve going looking for something, they are right there in front of you. For added amusement consider that James (Vega) has been hearing a strong hum on the Normandy since the escape. Now that is a stretch, but an intriguing one nonetheless. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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Quote: - if the ending was in fact reality, then what could have been the meaning of the 'dark mist' while talking to The Illusive Man? One possible answer is the following: Remember Sanctuary? Cerberus did a lot of experiments with husks and indoctrination, most of which were based on remote controlling reaper forces with the ultimate goal of controlling all of the reapers themselves. Sanctuary is actually incredibly complex plot-wise because it raises questions about reaper motivation and Cerberus' part in that, but that's irrelevant right now. The Illusive Man got himself a significant amount of reaper-tech based implants with which he tried to take control over reaper forces via the same way that indoctrination works - the 'dark mist' during the final scene is just a visual indication of TIM's influence/power over Shepard via indoctrination. That Shepard is facing indoctrination on the Citadel does not mean that the entire sequence after Harbinger's blast amounts to an illusion.
Quote: - why would Bioware clearly show that Shepard had a fresh wound in his left/lower abdomin - the same place he shot David Anderson only moments earlier? If this is reality, then when and how was Shepard injured, and why could Bioware decide to show this? Shepard was severely wounded by Harbinger, so much so that he's limping the entire time. He might have been bleeding the entire time without noticing it, or maybe a wound opened when he sat down. As to why they would show it - dramatic tension. It looks like Shepard is going to die next to Anderson. It's quite a powerful moment and rather well done. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor
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Alex: I see, I think I misunderstood your earlier posts concerning the destruction of the Mass Relays. I agree with what you said about them.
That scene with Jeff crashing the Normandy on a garden world also seems odd to me indeed. It looks like he ran from the fight, although I initially interpreted it as him saving the Normandy crew from the Mass Relay explosion or something. The indoctrination theory actually appears plausible to me, but it doesn't mean I'm right. At best, most plotholes could have been the result of bad writing / poor reviewing indeed. But what bothers me about that theory are certain details that Bioware seemed to intentionally show: - if the ending was in fact reality, then what could have been the meaning of the 'dark mist' while talking to The Illusive Man? - why would Bioware clearly show that Shepard had a fresh wound in his left/lower abdomin - the same place he shot David Anderson only moments earlier? If this is reality, then when and how was Shepard injured, and why could Bioware decide to show this? Again, I'm not saying the indoctrination theory is true or whatever, but I wonder about these two details as I for one can't answer them. I also don't mean to make a case out of this over and over; if it gets annoying, let me know! At any rate, I hope there'll be DLC coming out with alternate endings. More elaboration would be great at the very least, but I'm hoping for more diverse endings (and at least one happy ending). Maher: OMG BANT 4 LIFETIME GOMGOM!!! _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. This comment was edited by Dash Starlight on Apr 03 2012 11:25am. |
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Sauce - =^.^= 
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i did not like the ending at all. felt like the endings are too similar and my decisions didn't really matter (i didn't even get the synthesis ending cuz my score was too low).
the indoctrination theory is just reading too much into things imo. the ending movie was prolly just not carefully reviewed. liara looked funny naked 
This comment was edited by Sauce on Apr 02 2012 09:13pm. |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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I think the ending as it is makes fair sense for the most part - it's true that the ending sequence is at certain points a bit problematic and the doc link that summarizes every issue is a good attestation to that, but beyond a few problems I think everything can be explained away without all that big of a deal. Half of the time the text relies on hyperbole and inattentive/unimaginative lazy thinking and becomes more of a polemic rather than an analysis.
Even though I'd be thrilled if they were to incorporate the indoc theory into the ending dlc, I'd be fine with a mere elaboration and extension of the ending as well, which was hinted at by many of the official/dev tweets. I mean, consider the starvation hypothesis for example: What should prevent the survivors from synthesising the necessary food? The crucible, after all, presumably has a significant amount of the greatest scientists in the galaxy on board, even if part of the initial construction crew left the place after its completion, someone still had to get that thing running. The quarians brought their entire flotilla, I think, which is their entire livelihood anyways. The turians and krogans can munch whatever synthetic food the rest can create. Nevermind quantum communication which allows for the instantaneous transmission of messages (in the truest sense of the word) without any relays. This allows for collective problem solving amongst all kinds of other imaginative benefits. Then there's the FTL drive: According to wiki, 'a dozen lightyears can be traversed in a few days' - let's say 12 lightyears per 3 days; the milky way has a span of ca. 100.000 lightyears so that would mean you would require 68.5 years to cross the entire galaxy from one side to the other, which is not necessary, so the time required would be much less for the closer systems. The static discharge issue is not really problematic either because of the technology on board (presumably) being able to map significant chunks of the galaxy ahead, and if not, they could manufacture it at the crucible. There's enough material to go around, after all - remember the broken ships everywhere? And indeed, if you choose the destroy ending, you have an entire system filled with floating reaper tech! Control ending? The only funky outcome is maybe synthesis, because I honestly believe that it creates something radically crazy like it was the case with the Helios ending in dx2. But that's maybe just me. EDIT: Quote: Any rumors about ME MMORPG? GET OUT _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. This comment was edited by Masta on Apr 02 2012 09:47am. |
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Maher - Jedi Knight 
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Any rumors about ME MMORPG? _______________ Still here | My Lightsaber |
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Alex Dkana - Staff
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I don't, personally. I can just see why some would see it as a positive in the long term, as the Reapers had created the Relay tech to steer people in a certain direction, destroying them symbolically means every species must find it's own path. Make it's own choices.
But as I said, to me it doesn't feel like the right ending for Mass Effect, certainly not where it's the only ending. As you say it completely ignores the fact that all those different species brought their (huge) fleets to Earth, species who wouldn't be able to survive on Earth even if it wasn't in a terrible state. On a similar note, the scene with the Normandy crew miraculously surviving on a Garden world they just happened to crash on? Yeah, it's almost a certainty that said world wouldn't be able to support every species. Turians and Quarians being completely different for example. All in all, if that IS the final ending, it is full of more holes than swiss cheese lol. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor
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I like the idea of self sacrifice, although I'd prefer Shepard to retire on Earth in a luxurious villa with Ashley. But I can definately understand if Shepard dies by sacrificing himself as this is the last ME game anyways. The ending can be grim, that's up to Bioware.
Could you explain something to me, though, please? I don't see the destruction of the Mass Relays as positive, because now the fleets of numerous species are trapped around Earth and an important technology allowing FTL spacetravel is destroyed. Why do you think it is a good thing? (Just asking out of curiosity/interest. ) _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. This comment was edited by Dash Starlight on Apr 01 2012 07:17pm. |
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Alex Dkana - Staff
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Yeah, despite noticing some of the things they point out when I went through it (and kinda hoping it would turn out to be the case) I presumed any such theory was wishful thinking/rationalisation after I had seen the credits roll. However the article I posted in particular points out just how little the ending we are presented with makes sense, even if you like the broader idea behind it (of moving away from relays, self sacrifice etc).
Things like Kaidan and Ashley's bodies seemingly representing the dead, the way the StarChild's area of the citadel looks almost identical to the hill to the Conduit, the way Hackett suddenly knows where Shepard is... so much of it points towards indoctrination/dream sequence it's such a shame they didn't follow that through afterwards. I love the idea of turning the plot mcguffin and expectations of the player against them, using pre-conceived notions of how these games usually end to essentially indoctrinate the player. And the only alternative is, regardless of whether you agree with their vision for the ending as it has been presented to us, simply bad writing. They have said they may be re-writing the ending I think, whether this takes the form of extra ending DLC, a free patch, or what no-one knows yet. Frankly I find it hard to believe they will give us a decent amount of new content for free, and so I have no idea how they will go about resolving this without just charging extra for people to get the 'proper' ending. It's all a bit of a mess, even if you like it as it is now. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor
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Those are interesting links, Alex, thanks. Heh, the more I read about these endings, the more I start becoming convinced the sequence following Shepard getting hit by the Reaper blast is nothing but a dream/indoctrination. There are a good number of clues, really.
I was going to list most points supporting the Indoctrination theory, but that's a bit pointless as I'd only be copy-pasting what's already written out there. The things that stand out to me the most, though, are:
a) the presence of the boy who only exists in Shepard's nightmares; b) the dark mist; c) how Shepard had a fresh wound after he had shot Anderson; d) how 'the choice of helping the Reapers' is made to seem as the Paragon option, and the opposite the Renegade option; e) Shepard awakening amongst rubble that seems to be debries from Earth. I have another theory! Maybe the entire ME Franchise was meant as an April fools joke! _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. This comment was edited by Dash Starlight on Apr 01 2012 06:54pm. |
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Alex Dkana - Staff
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Some interesting links:
Link 1 -Highlights the myriad of ways the ending simply makes no sense, in universe or out. and: Indoc thread (Indoc theory, popular if still flawed in places.) _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana This comment was edited by Alex Dkana on Apr 01 2012 04:01pm. |
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Alex Dkana - Staff
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Pretty much exactly what Masta said.
Considering how polished the rest of the game is I was surprised that somehow the ending still seemed rushed in places too. The Normandy crew suddenly being all together and travelling at FTL speeds? No closure for the party members you bring with you to the Conduit etc. It's a shame because upto this point the ME games have had BioWare's best endings really. My only other gripe with the game is another common one, as much as you could see they tried it really didn't feel like they made the best use of some of the ME2 characters. As you met them it became a game of guessing just how they were going to write them out of the story really. I would have loved it if they could have fit in just two more party members from that game, optional like Garrus and Tali. But I'm sure that would have carried a heavy cost and development time increase. I do feel we mostly got closure on all the characters stories, don't need an epilogue slide for that, but considering how gamechanging the ending is - regardless of which option you pick - it would have been nice to get some more feedback on who survived it all etc. I suppose the destruction of the relays, whilst a very fitting end, also causes frustration because it renders so many decisions moot. The Krogan won't threaten the Galaxy etc. In hindsight it makes some of the paragon decisions have no drawback. Whilst the popular Destroy the Reapers ending seemingly also causes the destruction of the Geth, out of nothing. Which was kinda gutting for me as uniting the Geth and the Quarians was one of my favourite moments in the entire game. Edit: Not really sure what to put on the poll. I think the Indoc theory would represent one of the best endings I have seen, but I think there are holes in it that tell me it wasn't really intended. And as Masta says, even if they go that route the game will be tarnished by being 'released incomplete', that said it seems they wouldn't be the first to make that controversial move. Ultimately I am less concerned about a 'better ending' DLC than I am something that adds some extra closure. One thing to note, it seems incredibly likely that they originally planned the first DLC to involve Aria retaking Omega. Speculation, but it makes a lot of sense. Not sure how this ending thing will affect that. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana This comment was edited by Alex Dkana on Apr 01 2012 01:33pm. |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor
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Personally, I think Bioware is free to choose whatever way(s) they want to end their ME series, although I think they could have generally done a better job. My main point of criticism is that Bioware hasn't lived up to their promise of having multiple different ending(s) based on the player's choices, although it can be debated that endings differing 1% or so are in fact different endings.
Another point of criticism is that I've played through 3 games with all of my decisions having consequences. Only to wind up with three endings that are pretty much the same, making me wonder what 'the point' was of having free will if the conclusion is arbitrary. But this is still merely my opinion, if this is how Bioware wants it, that's up to them. I think the entire trilogy minus the ending(s) are a masterpiece nevertheless. I've played the endings a few more times last night and the whole 'indoctrinatoion theory' seems the only way to logically explain what's going on. But yeah, it'd be bad if this were actually true, because it'd indeed mean they sold ME3 without any endings, possibly only to sell the endings via DLC later on. That'd be bad and I'm not going to accuse Bioware of this, because I still can't read minds and thus I can't know their intentions. Oh well, Bioware has stated they'll make some form of anouncement come this month and I'm looking forward to how they're going to handle this situation. _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. This comment was edited by Dash Starlight on Apr 01 2012 09:47am. |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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I thought the actual end of the game was totally fine as I experienced it during my playthrough. I thought it was a satisfying conclusion that fit well with everything that came before it. I will be first to admit that it wasn't a particularly excellent end (it was way too short for that and the upcoming dlc might ameliorate this problem), but it was definitely fair. I personally was only somewhat disappointed after the fact, i.e. after having learned about what I had experienced rather than after the experience itself. This is, I believe, the major issue a lot of people have - one that I can definitely empathise with because it hurts the replayability of the series, but one that did not trouble me all that much.
The ending as a mechanic, i.e. press either of the three buttons to see the sequence, is an atrocity of course, as it was back in dx3. However, I can look past that because of how awesome the rest of the game was (as I did in dx3 as well). As for the indoctrination theory: It's quite nice and I think bioware would do well to make room for it in the upcoming dlc. The main issue with the indoc theory is that if it is true, the game is still an atrocity because that would mean bioware shipped it without an actual ending (the indoc theory assumes the fight continues once you wake up at the end). And last but not least, I can absolutely understand if people are upset with bioware because of how much they had promised to deliver in pre-release interviews; and if you read many of the statements now, a lot of them are hollow and clear lies, and that is not only disappointing but actually irresponsible. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. This comment was edited by Masta on Mar 31 2012 10:42pm. |
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