Mass Effect 3

[X Knight]

Also, I know nothing of the indoctrination theory other than it exists, but I'm about to go down that rabbit hole. Wish me luck!

good luck!! t:

 

[Master Chief]

Spoiler

I know we've already gone back and forth on this, but there was a segment of this video that I don't think I've commented on yet - the theory that the ending is all happening in Shepard's mind.

All the other issues I have with the indoctrination theory aside... can we really even begin to believe this? That the climax is tall taking place in Shepard's mind? That we don't even get to see the "real" ending to the game, no matter what path we choose?

Bioware wouldn't get that existential, nor would they leave out any kind of actual final battle, in a conclusion of this magnitude.

Further, we have the leaked script from November that has the exact same style of ending... but in that version, Shepard gets by the beam, get into the Citadel in full gear, fights off a totally indoctrinated Illusive Man monster... and is presented with the same three choices is in the final cut. Those were always the ending.

I don't blame fans for wanting it to be some big plan. I don't discredit the very creative ideas. But I do think it's just diehards hoping upon hope that there was some sort of legitimate meaning to this ending and that it wasn't just the crap we got.

It always makes me lol when I think about how the ending is so bad that the fans are hoping it was all a dream.

Spoiler

I don't really care for what they had planned, everyone speculating is talking about what was presented. Have you read the script? lol coz I tried, and it hurt my head coz it jumps all over the place. I even used ctrl+F to see if I could find specific dialogue and didn't come up with much. Anyway, everything they cut adds to the brevity of the final scenes which is what strengthens the speculation. The secret 20 second clip of Shepard waking up doesn't help either.

Casey Hudson said he liked the ending because he wanted it to be memorable and he thought it would create speculation. Well, they sure left enough clues to create speculation. I haven't really seen anyone go too much into what happens afterwards lol but meh. It does fit the bill for a sci-fi ending, but after all the promises they made hyping up the conclusion it fails miserably.

“@DamonLindelof: No folks, I did NOT consult on the ending for MASS EFFECT 3. *#Sheesh”

Lol

lmao, awesome.

 

[Master Chief]

Don't get your hopes up because

Spoiler

you only get to see a picture of her. She's super hot, but there is no huge reveal.

On another note, I just beat the game.

Spoiler

I understand why people are upset from a purely emotional level, but to claim bioware has done some injustice to gamers the world over because Shepard and nearly every one dies is just ridiculous. Do moviegoers burn down the directors home when a film has a sad ending? Is it sad that the characters we've loved for three games died and that the world of mass effect has come to and end? Yes, absolutely, but that is not a slap in the face to fans. It is a testament to how awesome these games have been that we can feel so strongly and how ballsy the writers were. The complaint tat the ending destroys 3 games worth of decisions is bonkers too. Bioware had a story to tell. Within that story, they gave us the ability to enjoy the games how we see fit, but ultimately it was their story to tell. We were just a long for the ride. Like in real life, we can choose how our time is spent, but we cannot escape the inevitable. Even when there's a happy ending, the epilogue is always a tragedy. I applaud bioware for doing what they did, as sad as the ending is.

I hate the ending, but at the same time, I loved it.

Read this to fully understand why people are upset with the ending.

http://www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/

The ending doesn't live up to the caliber of writing this series is known for.

 

[X Knight]

Then maybe I'm missing a reason why people are up in arms...care to clarify?

Spoiler

it's not that we didn't get a happy ending or that the ending was sad/bittersweet.


it's that none of the 3 ending choices gave us a real sense of closure.

We never really find out what happened with the rest of the galaxy. Yeah, the Mass Relays have been destroyed, which may or may not have wiped out their nearby star systems, but at the very least it left civilizations stranded and made travel throughout the galaxy much more difficult. Well, what happened with those civilizations? Did the stranded ones in our Solar system ever make it back home? Did they die out? We never know.

Likewise, what happened with our squadmates? Joker and the Normandy crew suddenly find themselves stranded on some mysterious Jungle planet. Well......then what? What happens to them next? Do they live? Do they die? We never know.

Even in one of the endings where Shep lives, we don't know what exactly happened to Shep.

With the Destroy option, did Edi and the Geth really die? We never know.

With the Control option, what did Shep do with the reapers once he took control? We never know ( other than they retreat from Earth ).

With the Synthesis option, we never really get to see the new hybrid race, the "final evolution" the Catalyst describes. What does the world look like with everything synthesized together. We never know.

IOW.......the endings were vague, ambiguous, and left us with many more questions unanswered than answered.

Doesn't matter if the endings were happy or sad.........

they all lacked closure and finality.......especially for the purported end of a trilogy.

add to that the fact that all 3 endings are pretty much the same, with the biggest difference being the color of the beam/explosion.

and that all of our choices leading up to the end seemed to not matter at all..........

 

[Soapy]

Well, I just watched this video on the indoctrination theory:

[YT]ythY_GkEBck[/YT]

Some of it is reaching, a lot of it is convincing, and some of it is extremely convincing.

I've flirted with the idea that Shepard might be indoctrinated before, during Mass Effect 2. That he might end up unwittingly becoming the next Saren Arterious, but those were just idle thoughts. It's very interesting to see all the evidence laid out like this though.

I hope it's true and that Bioware has more content planned that goes further in that direction.

For the time being, I actually think I'll choose to believe it's true. It certainly makes the ending a lot more interesting than just accepting it at its surface level.

 

[Reek]

i believe it too soapy...but id still like to see more to it

 

[Soapy]

No doubt.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

I completely believe in the Indoctrination Theory. If it isn't? Then it's just bad storytelling. REALLY bad storytelling.

 

[Benstamania]

Well, I just watched this video on the indoctrination theory:

[YT]ythY_GkEBck[/YT]

Some of it is reaching, a lot of it is convincing, and some of it is extremely convincing.

I've flirted with the idea that Shepard might be indoctrinated before, during Mass Effect 2. That he might end up unwittingly becoming the next Saren Arterious, but those were just idle thoughts. It's very interesting to see all the evidence laid out like this though.

I hope it's true and that Bioware has more content planned that goes further in that direction.

For the time being, I actually think I'll choose to believe it's true. It certainly makes the ending a lot more interesting than just accepting it at its surface level.

Yup. Sign me up as a believer in this theory as well.

 

[Soapy]

This has probably already been posted, but I don't care. It's funny, watch it again.

[YT]hzYLTbQQEZQ[/YT]

 

[Soapy]

i believe it too soapy...but id still like to see more to it

I completely believe in the Indoctrination Theory. If it isn't? Then it's just bad storytelling. REALLY bad storytelling.

Yup. Sign me up as a believer in this theory as well.

I might have missed it, but I find it strange the video didn't address one of the weirder occurrences; [BLACKOUT]That black...stuff seeping around the edges of the screen when you're talking to Anderson and the Illusive Man.[/BLACKOUT]

 

[Harriet Tubman]

Spoiler

I understand why people are upset from a purely emotional level, but to claim bioware has done some injustice to gamers the world over because Shepard and nearly every one dies is just ridiculous. Do moviegoers burn down the directors home when a film has a sad ending?

Stopped here. Very few people are upset at the ending due to it being "sad". More people are upset at the fact that some of it just makes no sense whatsoever.

Oh, and the lies after lies after lies from Bioware about the ending. That may upset some fans.

 

[Reek]

Spoiler

i like the indoctrination theory, but add to it an ending where shepard actually gets up after he takes the breath and finishes harbinger or something to finalize the war. the mass relays exploding has to be a hallucination for biowares 'fixed' ending to work.

its just so careless and dumb for bioware to release the final piece of DLC for ME2. the Arrival, and completely contradicting it. a mass relay explosion destroys a galaxy. so every freaking galaxy weve been too in 1-3 is dead. the reapers win.

 

[BrollySupersj]

The Indoctrination Theory has a lot of good points, it would be one hell of a clever move on Bioware's part. But I think that if it were true, they'd come out with it. So many people returning the games, and giving it low reviews is doing some damage. Bioware wouldn't let this go on so long if there was a plan behind it. So, I don't think it's gonna end up that way. Very interesting sure, but fictional.

 

[iamlegend]

I might have missed it, but I find it strange the video didn't address one of the weirder occurrences; [BLACKOUT]That black...stuff seeping around the edges of the screen when you're talking to Anderson and the Illusive Man.[/BLACKOUT]

Spoiler

That's the ILLUSIVE MAN trying to indoctrinate Shepard to fall under HIS WILL. Not the Reapers. With his Reaper-esque power he picked up. Cerberus had been studying Indoctrination all along in an attempt to use it to their advantage.

 

[iamlegend]

I completely believe in the Indoctrination Theory. If it isn't? Then it's just bad storytelling. REALLY bad storytelling.

I'm still confused as to why folks can't accept that this may have happened.

Between the cuts we've heard about and the leaked script, its apparent that the producers were scrambling to get the ending in place. It was a rush job.

Plus, endings are extraordinarily difficult to write, as opposed to legitimately all other parts of a story.

Sometimes you swing and you miss. I think that's what happened with ME3's ending.

 

[Soapy]

If the indoctrination theory holds true, I think Bioware knocked it out of the ****ing park.

 

[Benstamania]

If the indoctrination theory holds true, I think Bioware knocked it out of the ****ing park.

Agreed.

 

[iamlegend]

It always makes me lol when I think about how the ending is so bad that the fans are hoping it was all a dream.

Spoiler

I don't really care for what they had planned, everyone speculating is talking about what was presented. Have you read the script? lol coz I tried, and it hurt my head coz it jumps all over the place. I even used ctrl+F to see if I could find specific dialogue and didn't come up with much. Anyway, everything they cut adds to the brevity of the final scenes which is what strengthens the speculation. The secret 20 second clip of Shepard waking up doesn't help either.

Casey Hudson said he liked the ending because he wanted it to be memorable and he thought it would create speculation. Well, they sure left enough clues to create speculation. I haven't really seen anyone go too much into what happens afterwards lol but meh. It does fit the bill for a sci-fi ending, but after all the promises they made hyping up the conclusion it fails miserably.

lmao, awesome.

Spoiler

I hunted around to find the important bits - only after I'd played the game. Didn't want to spoil anything for myself.

And yes, I used lots of Ctrl+F myself. t:

And it's fine to speculate about what's presented - what I'm noting is that there were never plans in the script to have the entire ending be some sort of Indoctrination dream. It just wasn't there. And all they did to get the ending we got was CUT content. They added nothing, just pulled a few scenes and changed the Illusive Man fight into an Illusive Man... cutscene?

 

[Reek]

also agreeing, but would still like to have a finale mission once

Spoiler

shep wakes up

 

[BrollySupersj]

Ya know, I can't figure out why the endings aren't sending me into a RAGE HATE frenzy. I'm disappointed in them sure, but...I'm not bothered by it. It doesn't ruin the franchise for me at all. I guess it's because the other 98% of the game is a flawless victory. All things leading up to the end are on a scale of awesome not seen before. So I figure, they both cancel each other out. The ending is lame, but all the great gameplay that leads up to it is so great, that I can do it multiple times. I've already finished my 4th NG+.

My primary concern for DLC right now is not a new ending, but rather....when we get more weapons and armor.

Do I fail as a Mass Effect fan?

 

[iamlegend]

Ya know, I can't figure out why the endings aren't sending me into a RAGE HATE frenzy. I'm disappointed in them sure, but...I'm not bothered by it. It doesn't ruin the franchise for me at all. I guess it's because the other 98% of the game is a flawless victory. All things leading up to the end are on a scale of awesome not seen before. So I figure, they both cancel each other out. The ending is lame, but all the great gameplay that leads up to it is so great, that I can do it multiple times. I've already finished my 4th NG+.

My primary concern for DLC right now is not a new ending, but rather....when we get more weapons and armor.

Do I fail as a Mass Effect fan?

Of course not. You're free to enjoy the game as you wish.

That said, you're probably one of maybe 3 people in the world that are worried about armor and weapons. t:

Personally I've never downloaded a DLC just for accessories. For some folks it's a big part of the game. I'm more worried about the story.

 

[smashmode]

I just finished the game. I got over my disappointment at the ending months ago, but still...SMH.

I chose synthesis by the way. What did you guys choose and why?

Edit: Extra head shaking at that "we know the trilogy is over but please buy our DLC!" ad after the credits. Sheesh.

I picked control, I didn't thin it was my place to

Spoiler

alter every single living person and force them to become part synthetic. I also didn't pick Destroy because I could not bring myself to destroy a entire race

What I should have done is what a friend of mine did. They just turned it off before making a choice.

 

[smashmode]

Don't get your hopes up because

Spoiler

you only get to see a picture of her. She's super hot, but there is no huge reveal.

On another note, I just beat the game.

Spoiler

I understand why people are upset from a purely emotional level, but to claim bioware has done some injustice to gamers the world over because Shepard and nearly every one dies is just ridiculous. Do moviegoers burn down the directors home when a film has a sad ending? Is it sad that the characters we've loved for three games died and that the world of mass effect has come to and end? Yes, absolutely, but that is not a slap in the face to fans. It is a testament to how awesome these games have been that we can feel so strongly and how ballsy the writers were. The complaint tat the ending destroys 3 games worth of decisions is bonkers too. Bioware had a story to tell. Within that story, they gave us the ability to enjoy the games how we see fit, but ultimately it was their story to tell. We were just a long for the ride. Like in real life, we can choose how our time is spent, but we cannot escape the inevitable. Even when there's a happy ending, the epilogue is always a tragedy. I applaud bioware for doing what they did, as sad as the ending is.

I hate the ending, but at the same time, I loved it.

If you think that is the issue that most people have (That it's a sad ending), then you are missing much

 

[smashmode]

Also, I know nothing of the indoctrination theory other than it exists, but I'm about to go down that rabbit hole. Wish me luck!

There are really only two ways to go once you review all the evidence.