Mass Effect 3 - - - Part 12

[Balthus Dire]

Well, when you think about it, I imagine each little snippet they'll likely show during the final battle (Krogan fighting, Jack's troops, etc.) are no more than a few seconds each, so 10 minutes of new cinematics could be a bigger deal than you think in the scope of things.

Again, not saying it'll be good, just sayin'. I'm reserving judgement until I play the DLC.

 

[The Infernal]

My options are either youtube or renting it (or maybe buying a dirt cheap 2nd hand ME3 later down the road if I feel the need) since I traded it in towards Max Payne 3. I don't see myself needing this game back to be honest, I've seen nothing that's changed my opinion that the extended cut will simply try and plug up the plot holes left by the original R/G/B ending and nothing more. They're not changing anything that actually happens and I just can't picture it being any less of a headache than it already is.

 

[Saint]

I knew that, merely posting the tweet.

My biggest worry is: This long wait, for what, 10 ****ing minutes? Really Bioware?

Well, since the final ending cutscene isn't even ten minutes long, that's actually pretty significant when you think about it. I mean, it's not like they were going to roll out a half hour cutscene. This isn't Metal Gear Solid, haha.

 

[KevanG]

I'm just reserving my opinion until it comes out. I will likely download the dlc and get around to checking it out in a few weeks. After watching the ending it took all the fun out of playing the game. If they can fix it up so that some of it makes sense I'll be happier.

 

[BrollySupersj]

Or perhaps he doesn't have the desire to play through the entire Cerberus mission and assault on earth again just for the extended scenes. I know many people who plan on YouTube'ing the EC.

Heck, I know plenty of people who YouTube entire friggin games lol.

This. I'm going to watch the scenes on youtube first because I want to see of it's worth it or not.

 

[James]

I finally finished Mass Effect 3.

A bigger achievement though, I think, is having managed to go this whole time without spoiling the ending. I've known for weeks (months?) that there's been a lot fan-backlash to the ending, but I've had no idea why. I was preparing myself for a really terrible ending...but I liked it. I really have no issue with the ending at all, it was suitable and worked just fine. I especially enjoyed the part after the credits.

From what I can gather the thing people are upset about is closure? Is that correct, we didn't get to find out what happened to character X, etc? Or is it more than that? I'm not trying to be a smart ass here, I'm genuinely curious.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

I decided to play a few games tonight and got my rating from 50% to 79% already.

 

[Wolfwood]

Oh wow. With the EC finally upon us, I feel like some great storm is on the horizon. Prepare yourself, the EC is coming. The **** storm will rage all across the internet, it'll be fascinating.

 

[The Infernal]

From what I can gather the thing people are upset about is closure? Is that correct, we didn't get to find out what happened to character X, etc? Or is it more than that? I'm not trying to be a smart ass here, I'm genuinely curious.

Yes and no, but mainly no (and also some stuff about lack of real choices or lack of impact of choices made in the game itself etc). While people did think the ending was crap because it's a small cutscene that was filled with holes, it really has more to do with the ending choices and implications being at odds with the rest of the fiction. I honestly don't want to get into all of it myself because there's a lot to cover and I don't want to speak for everyone else, but you should look up Bioware's Social Network and see what others have to say for it.

 

[Soapy]

I finally finished Mass Effect 3.

A bigger achievement though, I think, is having managed to go this whole time without spoiling the ending. I've known for weeks (months?) that there's been a lot fan-backlash to the ending, but I've had no idea why. I was preparing myself for a really terrible ending...but I liked it. I really have no issue with the ending at all, it was suitable and worked just fine. I especially enjoyed the part after the credits.

From what I can gather the thing people are upset about is closure? Is that correct, we didn't get to find out what happened to character X, etc? Or is it more than that? I'm not trying to be a smart ass here, I'm genuinely curious.

The lack of closure was certainly a big part of it, but there was also the deus ex machina in the form of the The Crucible, that your decisions meant jack ****, the RGB "choice", the ridiculous ghost kid, the nonsensical motivation of the Reapers, the horrible scene after the credits, the tasteless DLC ad, and I could keep going.

The cherry on top though, was the fact that Casey Hudson lied about a lot of it right up to the week of release. When I say "lie" I'm not talking about the typical non-answer runaround that game developer PR gives out all the time. I mean Hudson straight up said that "X" wasn't going to happen, and then "X" happened exactly the way he said it wasn't going to. And there are numerous things in ME3 that applies to.

 

[Master Chief]

I finally finished Mass Effect 3.

A bigger achievement though, I think, is having managed to go this whole time without spoiling the ending. I've known for weeks (months?) that there's been a lot fan-backlash to the ending, but I've had no idea why. I was preparing myself for a really terrible ending...but I liked it. I really have no issue with the ending at all, it was suitable and worked just fine. I especially enjoyed the part after the credits.

From what I can gather the thing people are upset about is closure? Is that correct, we didn't get to find out what happened to character X, etc? Or is it more than that? I'm not trying to be a smart ass here, I'm genuinely curious.

They placed the falling action before the climax, and during the climax they introduced brand new story elements in the form of a lecture, then made you pick one of three ridiculous, illogical choices before slamming you with the credits. How can you not have a problem with that lol.

Aside from failing at basic plot structure yeah, people got their jimmies rustled because they didn't get to see that their actions made an impact and they didn't get to see what happened to the characters they've grown so attached to. Throughout the game conversations seemed to be less interactive in general, but to have Shepard meekly soak in all of the Catalyst's bulls**t, and on top of that to give the player no input whatsoever... just a huge f**king failure. And to make it even worse most (or maybe even all) of the stuff in the extended cut is stuff that they felt was implied.

Overall it just reeks of lazy, and this clarification is too little too late after how they treated their fanbase.

 

[jacobed]

Yeah I didn't have a problem with my ending. The world was saved, Shepard sacrificed himself and was a hero. I definitely wont be playing this new dlc because I could careless. I think its stupid that they conformed to fans complaining; that'd be like JK Rowling adding another chapter to Harry Potter because people didn't like the ending. At least its free, wow I don't want to imagine the amount of complaining if they charged

 

[Soapy]

I think its stupid that they conformed to fans complaining

How dare they try and satisfy their paying customers.

(It's too little too late, but whatever, at least it shows they're paying attention.)

that'd be like JK Rowling adding another chapter to Harry Potter because people didn't like the ending.

I see no problem with this. Harry Potter isn't high art, and neither is Mass Effect.

 

[Master Chief]

Yeah I didn't have a problem with my ending. The world was saved, Shepard sacrificed himself and was a hero. I definitely wont be playing this new dlc because I could careless. I think its stupid that they conformed to fans complaining; that'd be like JK Rowling adding another chapter to Harry Potter because people didn't like the ending. At least its free, wow I don't want to imagine the amount of complaining if they charged

Bioware brought this on themselves through being dishonest in interviews and not dealing with the situation, choosing to keep quiet in the hopes that it would just blow over like most internet activism does. Your comparison is weak. JK Rowling didn't have to add another chapter to Harry Potter, and there wasn't any demand for her to do so, because even if people didn't like the end at least it was properly communicated.

 

[Benstamania]

I look at it this way...

I didn't mind my ending.. My liking of my ending won't change no matter how many people say it's dumb, stupid or lazy.

I also don't expect to change anyone's mind that hates the ending. I don't even care to.

I will play this new ending because I want small closure. Apparently that is what I will be getting.

 

[Speedball]

I look at it this way...

I didn't mind my ending.. My liking of my ending won't change no matter how many people say it's dumb, stupid or lazy.

I also don't expect to change anyone's mind that hates the ending. I don't even care to.

I will play this new ending because I want small closure. Apparently that is what I will be getting.

I feel the same way actually.

 

[Matt]

My problem wasn't just with the ending. While I think it was conceptually bad and would have preferred the dark matter ending, my other problem is what we were promised and what we didn't get. We were promised the ultimate ability to shape our own story (and don't tell me it isn't possible, Alpha Protocol did it and Obsidian is greatly inferior to Bioware).

These posts explain my views on that.

I loved that scene. Did you let him win?

I've been watching some of the old trailers on Youtube....

I've never seen this one before....it's very cool:



"Decide how it ends,"....If only....(I know Wolvieboy, I'm taking their exact words out of context ).

The Take Back Earth trailer is so effin awesome....



Honestly, I was cool with the ending at first, but the more I thought on it, the more it irked me. I think that I wanted to like it so badly that I overlooked just much BW wasted the potential of the climax. Where was the scene of Shepard leading that massive army he built into battle like in the Take Back Earth trailer? I want to emerge from the shadows with an army of humans, Krogans, Asari, Geth, Quarians and Turians in tow. As I fight on the battlefield, I want to see in the distance, thousands of Rachni, viciously crawling up a Reaper and tearing it apart piece by piece. I want to watch the Elcor "living tank," that I've heard so much about gun down Brutes. I want to duck from an explosion as Aria's mercenaries kamikaze Reapers. I want to run through the trenches covered by Volus bombers. I want to fight the war with the army that I spent the whole game....nay trilogy....building, not just two squadmates.

Sigh....Everything prior to Earth was so effin great. But Bioware drove the ball for 92 yards....and then settled for a field goal on 4th and inches.

I agree. If Bioware didn't want to punish fans who didn't play the first two games, they should have made digital comics. They should not have made the choices of those who played the first two games irrelevant.

Let the Rachni queen die? Well, you're still going to get attacked by indoctrinated Rachni that the Reapers saved (hell, they still had an army of Protheans)....but you can't get them to join you.

Get Legion killed or turn him over to the Illusive Man? Well, then you're **** out of luck. Good luck helping the Quarians win the war.

Mordin's dead? Well, there goes any hope of truly curing the Genophage. Just hope that the Krogans buy the Salarian lie.

The list goes on....hell....even with the councilor choice....rather than having Anderson step down off-screen, have him on his home planet to help Shepard with his trial. Story progresses as normal...only my decision isn't overruled and in turn, my galactic readiness takes a hit from having a crucial part of the Citadel government trapped on Earth rather than helping prepare the war effort.

I get that Bioware didn't want to make new players feel left out....but come on you also don't want to overrule every decision that the returning player made. By making none of the choices really matter, you've punished the people who helped make Mass Effect 3 possible (no fans/customers and the story would've ended with ME1 after all).

Adding a few cut scenes isn't going to change what should have been a different narrative depending on certain choices. BW got so scared of locking out new players that they backed down on virtually every choice that the player made in the first two games and made them minuet.

As for the ending, I hate the whole idea that it had to be "bitter sweet." I want the option for a happy ending, just as I want the option for an entirely devastating ending where the Reapers win the war and the cycle continues. It is all about giving players the choice. That is what we were promised. Casey Hudson said that we shape our narrative. Not that we shape our narrative until he overrules it and shoehorns in some ridiculous Star Child. There should be an option for a "bitter sweet," ending. But it should be just that...an OPTION for the player.

 

[James]

Thanks fellas!

That makes a whole lot of sense and I can definitely see why people are upset. I still liked my ending, but it's definitely not without it's issues.

My only real complaint is what Matt just touched on there. Shepard did a WHOLE lot of talking without my say so. In the first game I remember being quite surprised near the end where the character suddenly blurted something out without me pushing a button. In ME2 there was a little more of that, but for the most part I was selecting all Shepard's dialogue. Then ME3 starts up and Shepard's a real chatterbox and I haven't even pushed a button yet, but I'm like "Okay this is just to get the ball rolling." And then he didn't shut up for the rest of the game.

I'll get the DLC, I think, just for the sake of knowing what happens with the other business. In the end, I guess, I really enjoyed ME3. I like the combat a lot and it was a fitting end to the character I'd built, that said ME2 was far superior.

 

[Balthus Dire]

Thanks fellas!

That makes a whole lot of sense and I can definitely see why people are upset. I still liked my ending, but it's definitely not without it's issues.

My only real complaint is what Matt just touched on there. Shepard did a WHOLE lot of talking without my say so. In the first game I remember being quite surprised near the end where the character suddenly blurted something out without me pushing a button. In ME2 there was a little more of that, but for the most part I was selecting all Shepard's dialogue. Then ME3 starts up and Shepard's a real chatterbox and I haven't even pushed a button yet, but I'm like "Okay this is just to get the ball rolling." And then he didn't shut up for the rest of the game.

I'll get the DLC, I think, just for the sake of knowing what happens with the other business. In the end, I guess, I really enjoyed ME3. I like the combat a lot and it was a fitting end to the character I'd built, that said ME2 was far superior.

For me, it took a day or two to sink in how bad the ending was. At first I was like "Shep sacrificed himself...what a beautiful sacrifice! I didn't really understand the Normandy part, but okay!"

Then I lay awake that night and was like: "Hmm...what was the Normandy doing there, anyway? And what happens to everyone else? And WTF was that Starkid even talking about? Why did Shepard just accept everything without asking?"

Then I woke up and was like: "It would've been way cooler if you saw your assets in effect like the Suicide Mission rather than just having a bunch of numbers represent your achievements/progress in the story. The ending mission was kinda lame."

And finally: ".....yeah, that ending sucked."

 

[Master Chief]

I look at it this way...

I didn't mind my ending.. My liking of my ending won't change no matter how many people say it's dumb, stupid or lazy.

I also don't expect to change anyone's mind that hates the ending. I don't even care to.

I will play this new ending because I want small closure. Apparently that is what I will be getting.

I'm not out to change minds, I'm just questioning how the hell people can be ok with it when there was an insane amount of potential pissed away.

BW got so scared of locking out new players that they backed down on virtually every choice that the player made in the first two games and made them minuet.

Hahah yeah I got a laugh out of that. They could have branched out into dozens of different conclusions because f**k everything, this is it, the end... instead they approached it with the same safety they did the previous two games, and somehow ended up offering even less variety... it's almost as if they were confident that people wouldn't want to play through more than once!

 

[James]

Kind of makes me want to play the second one again and pretend it ended there

 

[CapedCrusader14]

Got my Galactic Readiness up to 100% tonight. I've got Wednesday off so I've got the day planned:

Download Dawnguard
Play Dawnguard while downloading Extended Cut
Play Extended Cut once it's finished downloading.

 

[Benstamania]

I'm not out to change minds, I'm just questioning how the hell people can be ok with it when there was an insane amount of potential pissed away.

I didn't expect it to be life changing.

 

[Nathan]

It didn't need to be life changing, it just needed to be the suicide mission on steroids. Instead your assets are nothing more than statistics. You just get a very long Mission, where you don't even have the fun anymore of assigning your teammates with specific key roles, in the fight that could decide the fate of all sentient life in the universe and then get to choose between a red, blue and green ending.

 

[Master Chief]

I didn't expect it to be life changing.

Neither did I. Nathan's got the right idea.

I expected to see the army I brought together in battle, and I expected the battle to reflect my decisions. Then I expected some time to breathe and watch what I accomplished at the end of the experience, whether my ending was good or bad. Coz that's what endings are essentially for. Instead they slingshot me to the credits before I can digest what happened, thankfully let me listen to a kickass track before hitting me with an inane, vague post-credits sequence and telling me to buy DLC lol. F**king nuts.

Kind of makes me want to play the second one again and pretend it ended there

Hahah yeah, this leaked extended cut footage puts my mind at ease though.



If this were in the original ending I would have fought anyone who tried to deny Bioware their artistic integrity.