Mass Effect 3

[Kaneco]

Well, the 3rd game's curse seems as of late...past 2 years or less.

Developer: "Hmmm, third game in the trilogy...we seemed to have made it far and people love us, we are bound to make a lot of money on this one (mainstream) no matter what we do. Alright men! Let's get LAZY! and take ideas from other franchises *cough* Uncharted 3's multiplayer perks a la CoD *cough*...Let's make it extra short, glitchy, filled with poor writing. We are bound to make the same amount of money or surpass the numbers of the last entry by now"

I would make a demotivational picture for these type of shit...but I think I caught the lazy plague.

[Vector]

Casey Hudson RESPONDS: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to...index/10089946

There’s been a lot of discussion and debate about the conclusion of Mass Effect 3, so I thought I’d share my erspective with you here. I’ll avoid outright spoilers, but I’d still recommend finishing the game and experiencing it for yourself before reading this.

For the last eight years, Mass Effect has been a labor of love for our team; love for the characters we’ve created, for the medium of video games, and for the fans that have supported us. For us and for you, Mass Effect 3 had to live up to a lot of expectations, not only for a great gaming experience, but for a resolution to the countless storylines and decisions you’ve made as a player since the journey began in 2007. So we designed Mass Effect 3 to be a series of endings to key plots and storylines, each culminating in scenes that show you the consequences of your actions. You then carry the knowledge of these consequences with you as you complete the final moments of your journey.

We always intended that the scale of the conflict and the underlying theme of sacrifice would lead to a bittersweet ending—to do otherwise would betray the agonizing decisions Shepard had to make along the way. Still, we wanted to give players the chance to experience an inspiring and uplifting ending; in a story where you face a hopeless struggle for basic survival, we see the final moments and imagery as offering victory and hope in the context of sacrifice and reflection.

We've had some incredibly positive reactions to Mass Effect 3, from the New York Times declaring it “a gripping, coherent triumph”, to Penny Arcade calling it “an amazing accomplishment”, to emails and tweets from players who have given us the most profound words of appreciation we've ever received.

But we also recognize that some of our most passionate fans needed more closure, more answers, and more time to say goodbye to their stories—and these comments are equally valid. Player feedback such as this has always been an essential ingredient in the development of the series.

I am extremely proud of what this team has accomplished, from the first art concepts for the Mass Effect universe to the final moments of Mass Effect 3. But we didn't do it on our own. Over the course of the series, Mass Effect has been a shared experience between the development team and our fans—not just a shared experience in playing the games, but in designing and developing them. An outpouring of love for Garrus and Tali led to their inclusion as love interests in Mass Effect 2. A request for deeper RPG systems led to key design changes in Mass Effect 3. Your feedback has always mattered. Mass Effect is a collaboration between developers and players, and we continue to listen.

So where do we go from here? Throughout the next year, we will support Mass Effect 3 by working on new content. And we’ll keep listening, because your insights and constructive feedback will help determine what that content should be. This is not the last you’ll hear of Commander Shepard.

We look forward to your continued support and involvement as we work together to shape the remaining experiences in the story of the Mass Effect trilogy.

Thanks for taking this journey with us.

Casey Hudson

Also, reading through the comments on this video is sickening. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utl7WhRmp0w

And I'm sure some of you will agree to a certain extent. But I don't get where these people get off personally insulting a man and wishing death upon him because the ending wasn't what they thought it should be. It's pretty disgusting. I'm not happy with the ending either but trolling and harassing these guys(BioWare) won't accomplish anything. Why are the loudest people in the room always the dumbest?

Present your case. Communicate respectfully. Things might change.



THIS video, however, is exceptional:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbghj...ature=youtu.be

It lends incredible credence to the 'indoctrination theory.'

[Dracarys]

Finally beat the game.

I was really enjoying it bar a few small things I could overlook. Then there was the love interest problems, followed by then the ending...

The small things are stuff like loadng times, made worse with so many decks of the Normandy and me being the type who wants to chat with everyone after every mission. Plus the citadel facing similar problems. The weapon system didn't seem very balanced either, just find the best one, upgrade to level 5 and never use anything else again, as far as assault rifles and shotguns go I found the best to pretty early and used them rest of game.

Ending thoughts:
Spoiler:

show spoiler

When I met the catalyst I personally thought of a bunch of warning signals, even when I first played the demo I did not think the kid was real, three times only Shepard sees him, he just vanishes in the vents and nobody seems concerned about a kid when the shuttles are evacuating, the kid puts himself onto one. Add in the dreams especially the final one and suddenly seeing his image used for the catalyst made me instantly suspicious of anything it claims.

It is kind of stupid what is says anyway, synthetics will kill the creators so they make the Reapers do it instead and harvest organics into Reapers and call it saving them. Stupid right there. You could just, you know...only wipe out 'evil' AI should it occur and appear to be an intergalactic threat to organic life. Nevermind EDI proving not all AI wish to destroy, or in my playthroughs case the Geth being an ally. Nevermind that much of previous cycles 'preserved' organics are getting blown up by the current cycles organics.

Not thought out at all, but it gets worse.

The destroy choice he offers up also does not fix the issue he himself claimed about future generations making more synthetics, so why the hell would he even offer it as a choice. It completely defeats the point of what he is claiming he has been trying to prevent for god knows how many Reaper cycles. Yeah he says his solution will not work anymore, but detroy option sure as hell solves nothing. The catalyst pretty much says nothing good about the destroy option and it made me think it was one big trick (breaking 4th wall kind), especially since I was paragon and that is highlighted like a renegade option. No way are the other two options paragon. Plus he says I will die, but I did not when I picked destroy so he was lying.

If the ending is some dream/indoctrination sequence I think it may have started when the Crucible connected with the Citadel, perhaps the endings we see are some widespread indoctrination fantasy sent across the galaxy, it would maybe explain why all the squadmates I took to the planet with me (and you see them all there regardless of which to you pick for final part) are suddenly on the Normandy, and for some reason why Joker is piloting it in a Mass Effect jump when he should be helping at Earth. Bioware seem better than that at writing if it meant to be real. Plus the kid appearing would perhaps be an extention of Shepard being partly indoctrinated, perhaps due to time near the 'artifact' in arrival.

If they released some DLC contained entirely within a indocrinated dream we had to fight out of it would not surprise me.

I would perhaps believe the indoctrination/dream started on earth when the beam went close by theory, but that makes the entire Illusive Man part false, and I do not believe that since it was such a major point and felt important, unlike the Catalyst section.

[Reston]

Brent Knowles, ex-Bioware employee and lead designer of DA:O comments on ending

http://blog.brentknowles.com/2012/03...#disqus_thread

The following is in the comments thread, not the blog post (the blog post deals specifically with the issue of Day 1 DLC).

I read one recent blog post where the writer basically said "the ending was awesome because it was just like a movie" and I think she was missing the point.

It is a game. Not a movie.

And more specifically, its a role-playing game. The players are *part* of the game. Part of the process of building and experiencing the game, much more so than with most other forms of entertainment.

Entitlement is really a right, for the gamer, because they have participated, actively, in the game itself.

Again, I can't speak to the actual ending myself, because I have not played it but in generally I'd say a Role-Playing Video Game Trilogy Ending should (try to) do the following:

1. Reward the player's choices throughout the series. The big stuff they did should be noted. They should *feel* like they had a unique impact on the world.

2. End on a positive note. This is really important for video games... life in general is full of ***** stuff happening all the time. When I invest a hundred hours into a game I need to walk away feeling like a hero.

When you waste a couple hours of a person's life with an artsy/depressing movie or short story or even a novel, it is more forgivable because the time spent is less. And presumably the consumer knew what they were going into when they started. Certain directors create certain styles of movie. Certain writers write specific types of fiction.

On the other hand somebody playing an epic role-playing video-game trilogy is going to *expect* to be the hero and save the universe. That's why they are playing the game. When expectations don't match reality, disappointment is created.

It might be an artistic/creative move to go with a different style of ending but I feel its the wrong choice, especially for a videogame *trilogy*. Make your middle game bleak if you want to, but end the series on a high note.

[Mr. Spencer]

I'm having a lot of fun with the multiplayer.

[Enetirnel]

Reston and a few others, glad you got a laugh out of the Demento video.

I saw this but I forgot to post it up (clearly SPOILERS) Dev discusses Mass Effect 3 ending including recording sessions being delayed so they could actually get around to finishing the dialog among other crap.

To the point, that they hadn't even finished writing or recording, animating by August and that the delay took them into November.

Funny considering their original plan was to have the game late 2010, early 2011. Then late 2011.... They missed that date and they eventually released it this year.

You'd think that getting the script down would have been one of the first priorities since they had the Mass Effect 3 engine down and working on the PlayStation 3 release of Mass Effect 2, but I've seen that ME3 on the PS3 can be completely unfuckingplayable despite that factor.

So, engine is done. Script STILL NOT DONE A YEAR ON.

Seems like a lot of fucking time and effort was put purely into the marketing.

ALSO, BioWare now attempting to backstep on the statement of "No, we won't change the Mass Effect 3 ending. Someone misspoke on the account."

Ahahaha, not forgetting the EA/BioWare PR Damage Control Topic.

Every link has spoilers. SO.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

Oh, also just saw this I thought the additional scene to the ending looked familiar turns out BioWare stole another one too.

[Mr. Spencer]

A true patriot.

A good number of things about ME3 feel rushed. The side missions (of which there aren't many) essentially consist of single-player variants of multiplayer maps, you do the exact same thing that you do in multiplayer. Would I like to see closure for the game? Definitely. But I feel as though it won't be enough to fix all of ME3's issues.

[Dracarys]

Spoiler:

show spoiler

Oh, also just saw this I thought the additional scene to the ending looked familiar turns out BioWare stole another one too.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/wMgK6.jpg

[Mr. Spencer]

I like what Angry Joe says,

Instead of making a choice, just stand there and watch my war fleet fight against your reapers until one side emerges victorious.

http://www.vgrevolution.com/2012/03/...-starts-today/ - So, who wants to be the fourth person for Spencer, BadWolf X and I?

We had some great matches between us. I enjoyed those desperate final stands where we're on the verge of getting overwhelmed, yet we held the line. We held.

[Darkmoon]

You did, anyway. In three or four different matches the entire team went down bar Spencer's Salarian Infiltrator. Often with a ton of cannibals, a Banshee and a Brute wandering around. So one by one, cloaking, sniping, repeat he takes them all down. It's epic to watch.

[Dracarys]

I can solo Geth and Cerberus on bronze, without using guns. Reapers I can also except for the banshee who ruins my tactic with cheap grabbing instadeath moves.

[Darkmoon]

I can solo Geth and Cerberus on bronze, without using guns. Reapers I can also except for the banshee who ruins my tactic with cheap grabbing instadeath moves.

Wow. I tend to die occasionally even in Bronze. With guns. And friends. You playing a Human Vanguard by any chance? I've seen a lot of them taking out the chunk of a level solo with the Biotic Charge/Nova combo.

[Dracarys]

Yes human vanguard, between Biotic Charge making you invincible and restoring shields fully, then hitting Nova (invincible again) once after charge hits you kill most things, the trick is to get the upgrade that reduces Nova damage but does not deplete shields entirely, use it once and it should kill whatever charge did not, if you got some heat on you hit it again but roll before doing the animation fully, you'll still be invincible and just bought yourself space and time...time for another charge to do it all again, and again, and again. You can just abuse this against brutes or atlus mchs and walk away unharmed, Geth Pyros too, pretty much anything...except a Banshee.

[Darkmoon]

Yeah, a lot of folk are pointing out how potent the combo is. Myself, I play a Drell Vanguard, when I go Vanguard. Pretty much for that reason. I got fed up of finding I had earned about 20 points while the Vanguard, who I only saw killing whatever I was just shooting at, had enough a six digit score. It felt like we were simply there to go pick him up when he charged something that did manage to kill him. Plus, it was annoying as hell getting less points and experience for 20 minutes of play than five in a normal game, where I actually occasionally killed what I shot at rather than having a biotic blur do it for me.

I kid you not, two other players and I ended up just standing in the drop site, only going off when the Vanguard got killed...and no, we didn't bother reviving him. It was the only way we actually got to play on that level.

[Dracarys]

Yeah it has caused me to recieve a few nasty messages on PSN. That is a Vangaurd though, high risk, high reward. They suck for pretty much everything else so if they try and nerf either charge or Nova the class will never be used again.

Also, I sometimes charge outside the map.

[Mr. Spencer]

My Shepard is a Vanguard, though in multiplayer I'm an Infiltrator. Well, STG operative.

[Dracarys]

I unlocked Salarian infiltrator...for 4 Spectre packs in a row.

I dislike how the MP unlocks things. Saving up for a random chance is BS.

[Enetirnel]

Dracarys, haha at that image.

I would do Vanguard in multiplayer, I'm just fed up with charging through the map and then falling into the abyss in the main game and that NONE OF THE PACKS GIVE ME ANYTHING BUT INFILTRATORS.

All I've unlocked is - Turian soldier, Salarian Infiltrator & Quarian Infiltrator. The Turian came from the first freebie pack, I've gotten NOTHING but Infiltrators OR doubles of weapons I already have in multiplayer out of the packs. Talk about a way to piss me off with it's randomization. DX

I can do Bronze Geth/Reaper/Cerberus by myself, it's just the last Banshee screws me over. I usually end up doing what Spencer does at the end, but I'd rather not get a Banshee glitch up behind me when I'm using a sniper rifle so I ditched that and went to pistol and an assault rifle. I keep making minefield sections where each of the enemies would spawn nearby so if I need to cloak and loop around a map to get away from a Banshee, it makes it much easier for me to do.

Though, my favorite map to do is Noveria and Cerberus. Fun, fun.

I've admittedly had a few people votekick me for going on mic and saying "I held the line!"... It wouldn't be so bad if you know, people didn't go "Oh look, a giant monster (Brute). I just have to hug it because it looks so cute and cuddl-SQUADMATE IS DOWN"...

I still find it weird that I keep surviving through to the end, until someone stuffs me over by not helping with the timer, or they lure a Banshee or something and I just happened to decloak at a bad time. I don't really play many multiplayer games so I have to say I do really find it surprising.

[Vector]

Since you guys all take the time out of your day to "retake Mass Effect" and shit all over the endings, have you taken the time out to watch this video?

YouTube video:

Show YouTube video

The most cohesive, well-thought out and well-presented argument to date.

[Enetirnel]

I've seen it, I know Spencer has seen it as well.

And I have to post this, I can't believe how fucking broken the cutscenes are.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

Chakwas having a herp-derp moment on me right before she walks RIGHT THROUGH the wall and then flies back into the room in a t-pose and THEN teleports magically into her seat.

I also had to turn off dynamic shading as the transparency on the hair textures totally fucks up, the shadows/lighting still sucks badly. Might have to get one of the mods going or retweak my gc's settings.