Mass Effect 3

[X Knight]

When you say "default female" would you still be able to customize your character as you see fit?

oh, absolutely!! Being able to create/customize your own character is a large part of the appeal of ME ( and other games like Dragon Age ).

however, in some future game, I would like to be able to take the default model and customize that.....I mean.....I just want to take default Fem Shep and make her hair blonde.....or change her eye color......is that so much to ask????

by "default female," I meant the "face," the "cover girl," of the next trilogy would be a female protagonist, just like the face of this trilogy is the default male Shep that you see on the box covers, magazines, trailers, etc.

 

[Reek]

X, i feel like the ending we got with ME3 is the ending a crappy hollywood adaptation would give us. so, i am sure the end of the movie trilogy will be better.

 

[Soapy]

oh, absolutely!! Being able to create/customize your own character is a large part of the appeal of ME ( and other games like Dragon Age ).

however, in some future game, I would like to be able to take the default model and customize that.........

by "default female," I meant the "face," the "cover girl," of the next trilogy would be a female protagonist, just like the face of this trilogy is the default male Shep.

Okay, I see. Yeah, I would be all for that as well.

But I just wanted to clarify because I think Mass Effect's greatest contribution to the video game industry, and certainly its most positive and progressive aspect is the fact that you have this really iconic and recognizable hero that can be any gender, any race, any sexual orientation, etc.

 

[Reek]

I hope not. I am so sick of every franchise feeling the need to go into the MMO territory. I mean if they want too, fine whatever, but keep making single player games. The fact that we probably won't ever get another single player KOTOR game saddens me.

most definitely keep the single player games coming.

prob getting ahead of myself. i just think it would be so cool to have your own ME ship, crew, etc. and being able to design it and visit others. co-op crew missions, maybe even a team vs team to gain equipment.

the concept is awesome to me, but more than likely is wishful thinking

 

[Soapy]

I would love a Mass Effect MMO, but only if they did it right and not just make a WoW clone.

 

[Reek]

Okay, I see. Yeah, I would be all for that as well.

But I just wanted to clarify because I think Mass Effect's greatest contribution to the video game industry, and certainly its most positive and progressive aspect is the fact that you have this really iconic and recognizable hero that can be any gender, any race, any sexual orientation, etc.

if only it could be a different species.......

someone good with photoshop, we need a squirrel in N7 armor

 

[The Squirrel]

I would love a Mass Effect MMO, but only if they did it right and not just make a WoW clone.

It'd be a KOTOR Online clone.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

So I just finished the mission on Thessia and brought Javik with me.[BLACKOUT] And boy, was I glad that I did that. I'm quite surprised on how well integrated Javik is in the game, I was expecting merely a line or two from him but was pleasantly surprised to hear more than that. However, I can't say that I was surprised that Protheans was involve on the development of the asari. In any case, Javik is a delightful addition to the Mass Effect series. I simply love his elitist attitude.[/BLACKOUT]

 

[Soapy]

It'd be a KOTOR Online clone.

So...a WoW clone.

 

[The Squirrel]

So...a WoW clone.

Well yeah... but... dialogue wheels!

 

[Reek]

So I just finished the mission on Thessia and brought Javik with me.[BLACKOUT] And boy, was I glad that I did that. I'm quite surprised on how well integrated Javik is in the game, I was expecting merely a line or two from him but was pleasantly surprised to hear more than that. However, I can't say that I was surprised that Protheans was involve on the development of the asari. In any case, Javik is a delightful addition to the Mass Effect series. I simply love his elitist attitude.[/BLACKOUT]

exactly one of the reasons i was so pissed. i have the CE, and Javik adds so much information. nothing like zaeed or kasumi. hell there is more with javik than there is with garrus or ashley. minus the sex.

 

[X Knight]

Okay, I see. Yeah, I would be all for that as well.

But I just wanted to clarify because I think Mass Effect's greatest contribution to the video game industry, and certainly its most positive and progressive aspect is the fact that you have this really iconic and recognizable hero that can be any gender, any race, any sexual orientation, etc.

if only it could be a different species.......

someone good with photoshop, we need a squirrel in N7 armor

yeah.....it would be great if we could choose different species in future games, ala DAO

but, if the main character is going to be voiced, that would probably limit us to just one species, and it would probably be human.

 

[Reek]

i guess it is because i just did the ending again... but

Spoiler

the 'Child' is definitely still against you. throughout the game, there are scenes with shep and the little boy. the reason the catalyst is a child is because it makes you sympathize with it (the reapers know about the little boy visions because it can obviously get into your head, shep is not indoctrinated, but that doesnt mean his mind cant be read). it is a trick. and a damn good one. TIM is always bad and wants to control...

i think i am mind f***ed right now, so ill get back to it.

 

[X Knight]

and what I had envisioned for the next trilogy, was that they would let you import your Shepard save file from the 1st 3 games into the new game.

So, even though you would be playing as a new character, in a new future timeline, the decisions and actions of your Shep in the 1st trilogy would help shape the world of the next trilogy.

so you'd have this "continuous narrative" that you the player have helped create throughout all the games.........

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

exactly one of the reasons i was so pissed. i have the CE, and Javik adds so much information. nothing like zaeed or kasumi. hell there is more with javik than there is with garrus or ashley. minus the sex.

Yeah, the dlc should have been included on the final product.

 

[X Knight]

i guess it is because i just did the ending again... but

Spoiler

the 'Child' is definitely still against you. throughout the game, there are scenes with shep and the little boy. the reason the catalyst is a child is because it makes you sympathize. it is a trick. and a damn good one. TIM is always bad and wants to control...

i think i am mind f***ed right now, so ill get back to it.

Spoiler

and some people ( namely proponents of the Indoctrination/Hallucination Theory ) have proposed that the Child himself is not even real. They question how it seems that no one else except Shep sees or interacts with the Child.

Like in the beginning, the Child is hiding in the vent. But, there's a sign next to the vent that suggests it is high voltage/electrified. Also, the Child has a defeatist/you can't help me attitude, which is unusual for a kid that age.

Also, at the evac shuttles, the Child just stands there looking at you, and NO ONE bothers to help him and pick him up and put him on the shuttle. And, the Child climbs aboard the shuttle himself, and again, no one ( not even the people standing right there in the shuttle ) bother to lend this kid a hand.

very odd..........

 

[Reek]

Spoiler

and some people ( namely proponents of the Indoctrination/Hallucination Theory ) have proposed that the Child himself is not even real. They question how it seems that no one else except Shep sees or interacts with the Child.

Like in the beginning, the Child is hiding in the vent. But, there's a sign next to the vent that suggests it is high voltage/electrified. Also, the Child has a defeatist/you can't help me attitude, which is unusual for a kid that age.

Also, at the evac shuttles, the Child just stands there looking at you, and NO ONE bothers to help him and pick him up and put him on the shuttle. And, the Child climbs aboard the shuttle himself, and again, no one ( not even the people standing right there in the shuttle ) bother to lend this kid a hand.

very odd..........

you do realize you have made me want to jump in front of traffic right?

Spoiler

i kind of think its freaking brilliant if BW actually tried to influence you to not trust the kid in the end, i was skeptical but chose the blue sides for paragon. damn. thats pretty f****** awesome and clever. however. i still want a better ending. the ideas it seems like they had are great. just put together wrong. ME3 needs a real final boss, and a conclusion thats not like the end of inception...'WTF' moments piss people off most of the time.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

you do realize you have made me want to jump in front of traffic right?

Spoiler

i kind of think its freaking brilliant if BW actually tried to influence you to not trust the kid in the end, i was skeptical but chose the blue sides for paragon. damn. thats pretty f****** awesome and clever. however. i still want a better ending. the ideas it seems like they had are great. just put together wrong. ME3 needs a real final boss, and a conclusion thats not like the end of inception...'WTF' moments piss people off most of the time.

Spoiler

I think that's pretty ridiculous. Things don't have to end with "and they all lived happily ever after" to be effective. You mention Inception, it had a brilliant ending because it got the audience to think. Games also don't need a final boss battle to signal their end. Games are allowed to be more organic.

There are a lot of problems with the end to this game, but not having it end with everything sealed and topped with a red bow, I don't believe, is one of them. If that were the only issue, I doubt the whining would be at the level it's at.

 

[Reek]

by final boss, im just saying

Spoiler

when fighting the 'horde'
and then running to the beam, i did not think that was the last fight. i was really surprised when the ending was coming.

 

[X Knight]

you do realize you have made me want to jump in front of traffic right?

Spoiler

i kind of think its freaking brilliant if BW actually tried to influence you to not trust the kid in the end, i was skeptical but chose the blue sides for paragon. damn. thats pretty f****** awesome and clever. however. i still want a better ending. the ideas it seems like they had are great. just put together wrong. ME3 needs a real final boss, and a conclusion thats not like the end of inception...'WTF' moments piss people off most of the time.

Spoiler

I know.

For example, let's just say that the whole Indoctrination/Hallucination Theory was real and intentional and what Bioware planned all along. They dropped these clues throughout the game, and it was up to the perceptive players to pick them up.

So, you get to the ending with the Catalyst/Child, you choose the only "right" option ( Destroy ). You get the ending scene and the Normandy crashes on the Jungle planet, your crew step off. At this point, you're all confused and like WTF??!!

Then, you get the Rubble scene. You're back in London. You see Shep lying in the rubble. She takes a breath. A hand reaches out to help her up. It's Anderson. Or Garrus. Or Liara. Or one of your squadmates/LI ( who you thought all died in the blast ).

Now, it's starting to come together in your mind. You're starting to realize now that the prior sequence, what you thought was the ending, was just a dream. A hallucination. A battle being played out in Shep's mind as a metaphor for her fighting off Reaper indoctrination.

Now, you realize that the real, "final" battle has just begun, and you resume control of Shep as she has her final showdown with Harbinger and the Reapers. Maybe Shep lives. Maybe she dies. But, you get a proper ending and epilogue. You get closure. You find out what impact Shep had on the galaxy and on her friends.

You feel satisfied and overwhelmed at the brilliant stroke of genuis Bioware pulled off with that ending. You never saw that coming. You want to smile, weep ( with joy ) and stand up and clap.

And, maybe, after the credits, there's a bonus scene. Not with some random grandpa and his grandson. But, with Shep's voice over ( if Shep lived ), or one of your squadmate's/LI's voice over ( if Shep died ), recounting this story to a group of children, a classroom/academy setting, made up of all races, organics and synthetics alike, imparting to the next generation the most precious gift Shep gave to the galaxy........Hope.

The End.

Spoiler

of course, that would be the "happy, Disney" ending. there would be other ending variations based on the player's choices and actions, just as they promised.......

 

[Reek]

word.

 

[Master Chief]

LOL I thought it was weird how their statement about not having plans for a new ending was handled, that BSN thread was an awesome read.

Sooo you finally beat the game Cory? Mull this over. The main points of the theory put forth very briefly:

Spoiler

The whole thing reeks of an indoctrination attempt. Harbinger shows up, the dude who has this huge grudge against Shepard, and he's seen flying off when Shepard comes to? Then everything gets trippy?

1. Nightmare imagery: Piles of bodies, death corridors, shifting walls.
2. Anderson is ahead of Shepard describing everything he sees before he sees it.
3. TIM makes a theatrical entrance when he should have been there to begin with, and we didn't see him on our way up when there is only one way to get on that platform.
4. Oily shadows (like the rachni queen spoke of) intensify around Shepard, he gets a headache everytime TIM speaks.
5. Hackett knows Shepard is there despite the report that nobody made it to the beam.
6. Breathing. In. Space.
7. The catalyst being a ghostly child voiced by femShep, maleShep and a boy. Yes, you can hear all three voices. The boy's voice in both channels, femShep in the left channel, maleShep in the right channel.
8. If you pick control or synthesis, Shepard's body becomes a husk and his eyes turn blue. Exactly like Saren's.
9. The catalyst speaks on behalf of the reapers. "We know you want to destroy us, but..." He sells the option he doesn't want Shepard to pick first, and makes it look the least appealing before moving onto alternatives and glossing over the facts.
10. Sol's relay isn't near Earth. There wouldn't be enough time to get there. So why did Joker crash on a planet not in the Sol system?
11. One or both of your last two squad members step off the Normandy at the end. I'm pretty sure if you had EDI in your squad and you picked destroy, she hops off too.

Whatever though, I'm sad. As soon as I get 1000/1000 I'm not touching the game again for a while. I'll probably write a letter to their Edmonton offices as well.

 

[Master Chief]

Oh, and btw, from what I heard Final Fantasy XIII-2 ends with, "To be continued..." Because they plan to release endings as DLC. Hahah, so no matter what Bioware does that precedent of shipping a game to sell a chunk of it back later already exists. Is it really too much to ask that an epic RPG have a satisfying conclusion nowadays?

 

[Matt]

Spoiler

and some people ( namely proponents of the Indoctrination/Hallucination Theory ) have proposed that the Child himself is not even real. They question how it seems that no one else except Shep sees or interacts with the Child.

Like in the beginning, the Child is hiding in the vent. But, there's a sign next to the vent that suggests it is high voltage/electrified. Also, the Child has a defeatist/you can't help me attitude, which is unusual for a kid that age.

Also, at the evac shuttles, the Child just stands there looking at you, and NO ONE bothers to help him and pick him up and put him on the shuttle. And, the Child climbs aboard the shuttle himself, and again, no one ( not even the people standing right there in the shuttle ) bother to lend this kid a hand.

very odd..........

Regarding the vent, I think people are reaching. Vancouver was under attack. I'm guessing there were at least a few power outages. Beside, since when do children listen to signs (which I'm guessing was just there for decoration anyway)? As for no one else noticing him....he is physically in two scenes. One of which is absolute chaos. I think people who see the kid as fake throughout are reading too far into it.

you do realize you have made me want to jump in front of traffic right?

Spoiler

the 'Child' is definitely still against you. throughout the game, there are scenes with shep and the little boy. the reason the catalyst is a child is because it makes you sympathize with it (the reapers know about the little boy visions because it can obviously get into your head, shep is not indoctrinated, but that doesnt mean his mind cant be read). it is a trick. and a damn good one. TIM is always bad and wants to control...

I kind of like that [blackout]The Illusive Man is right and Anderson is wrong. If the endings are real, control is optimal, IMO. The Illusive Man was never a bad person. He was arrogant and had a very utilitarian, end justifies the means outlook on life....but he wasn't evil. It was war and he was willing to do anything to assure humanity's dominance. Anderson on the other hand had the world view of a naive soldier. It fits that TIM was right in the end, even if he went about it the wrong way and ultimately was not strong enough to see it through and became indoctrinated.[/blackout]

 

[Matt]

also, i have a feeling EA is thinking of shep as a icon for this generation... like mario, link, master chief (who is coming back i believe?). maybe against biowares wishes, EA will milk shepard, and mass effect as a whole, as much as they can.

its almost a guarantee we will see more shep. prequel, sequel, w.e.

I feel the same way. You can tell by the way that EA has designed their marketing campaign for this game. It revolved around Shepard. Didn't Bungie talk about moving the Halo franchise forward without Master Chief? Look how that turned out. Shepard has become too big of a part of the franchise to get rid of, I think.