Mass Effect

[Hot Heart]

It's so satisfying when you totally own a match of multiplayer. Had double the points of my nearest teammate. No one could stop my Asari vanguard with Disciple and Predator! I think the Turian soldier with the sniper rifle was grateful for the stasis assists. Of course, it was only Cerberus...

[jimmuhpage]

One day, I will get over 100K pts in a match. Got to 97K once with a "charge nova nova" vanguard on Silver. I'm sure it's feasible on Gold, but if I play with my buddies, they're too efficient, and if I play with randoms, I usually can't get to extraction.

[CorgiShinobi]

You guys remind me of the match I was in a few days ago with two high leveled Vanguards and another Sentinel. Dudes were takin' all the kills and running up to mobs of Cerberus soldiers leaving only slim pickings.

 

Yeah it's nice to gracefully make it to Wave 11, just I didn't really have to do anything and so I got probably the smallest amount of points from any of my matches.

 

EDIT: As for changing or not changing the ending, I would keep the ending, but the inevitable (it was coming either way) DLC better be great. It more than likely will be some sort of epilogue DLC, whether it's with our familiar cast or perhaps a future generation swapping stories and facts about Shepard and the Normandy's crew. Sort of like a, "Whatever happened to that Garrus fellow? I heard he retired and does calibrations for the fun of it."

Edited March 21, 2012 by Atomsk88

[jimmuhpage]

As nice as it is to destroy people with score, I love competing with people who use the same class. One of my best matches was with two other infiltrators against Reapers on Benning. One had a Mantis VI and the other a Widow IV. As always, it took a couple waves for me to get my groove on. Third place when I checked the score early on. Around wave 7, I killed the last Marauder for ~500 pts and got into second place by 300 pts. I only checked the score again after extraction: first place with 52K pts, 3K ahead of second place. Couldn't help but

[TheMightyEthan]

At this point they said they want to give CLOSURE not to give us a better ending. Giving an alternate ending would be generally fucking over any chance a future game could come back and mention this one without choosing a canon ending. they need to extend this one. people want to know that we didn't fuck over the entire galaxy and unfortunately, they will need to probably give more plotholes.

 

I hope the don't retcon away the apparent consequences of the endings that are there right now, I just want some kind of epilogue or something to let me know wtf happened after.

 

Also I want to fucking know

why the energy field destroyed the Normandy when it didn't appear to damage any other ships.

 

[Waldorf and Statler]

Space Magic Ethan.

 

 

Space Magic

[CorgiShinobi]

I would say it's because

 

the Normandy was using the mass relay, which the Crucible had to use to transfer energy all across the galaxy. Now, if you played Arrival back in ME2, the amount of energy contained in a mass relay is like unto a super nova. While the energy field outside a mass relay was more of a wave gradually affecting any one system, the energy being transferred from one relay to the other is concentrated and has to be powerful enough to destroy a mass relay to emit the energy field.

 

EDIT: Simply put, think of it as a splash of water and a jet of water. The splash is going to cover more area and not hurt, though you'll still be wet. A jet of water, if pressurized enough, can kill you.

 

 

Essentially eye of the storm, or what have you. I mean, it did appear that way.

Edited March 21, 2012 by Atomsk88

[jimmuhpage]

 

If they go with indoctrination/hallucination, then I feel like it's not really retcon. There are too many clues indicating indoctrination theory is correct. It could still be a coincidence, but if BW goes on to state that it is what they meant, I will be inclined to believe them given all the clues.

 

 

Also, Vargras, you're totally correct, the N7 Crusader is the snipiest shotgun I've ever handled (except maybe the Mass Effect 1 Spectre shotgun). I'll stick to the Mantis for now, but it has been an eye-opening experience.

 

@Ethan

 

The #RetakeOmega moveme-err DLC is very likely, but given the leaked script from last year, it seems it will be a pre-ending DLC. It could be nice to see Eclipse/Blue Suns/Blood Pack as allies, for a change.

 

[Waldorf and Statler]

At this point I'm jumping through hoops to see how I can keep ME3 from gamefly until the ending announcement is made. my only option so far is to return Kingdoms of Amalur which I honestly have played all the current enjoyment I'm gonna get from that game already. Bad side is if I return that I have nothing to play till this supposed DLC ending comes out.

[deanb]

http://squallsdead.com/

(This isn't the first time fans have made up an alternate story theory in their minds to sort out in their minds a messed up story)

 

However, most folks appear to agree that the game as a whole is exceptional, with more than 75 critics giving it a perfect review score and a review average in the mid-90s

You know how we were discussing how big a niche is earlier? 75 definitely is a niche.

http://www.metacriti...0/mass-effect-3

 

As for the end, they probably won't change it. But bullcrap to "oh noes, the artistic integrity!". Though I will point out:

Its not up to you or anyone else to change it.

This isn't happening. While fans can request a change, well it's an unmoddable game so the only folks that can change it are Bioware. (But more on all this later )

 

Thing is even adding an an epilogue doesn't really solve the issues of the ending (namely it being out of place, simplistic, ignorant of the rest of the series and full of plotholes)

 

 

Oh there's this if anyone wants a read:

http://www.reddit.co...de_forums_that/

[Waldorf and Statler]

It won't solve the simplistic nature, the lying over our choices having an impact, and the plotholes. But if we can at least get some conclusion, I'll live with it.

 

Will my opinion of Bioware be the same pre-mass effect 3 ending? No. But at least they'll have tried to redeem themselves in the eyes of the fans.

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

Fuck everything about today. That's all I have to say about it for now. If they do end up changing the ending, I will say much, much more, and will possibly go on a 24 hour rampage of fierce anger and absolute hatred.

 

Oh yeah, I will say one thing; I've never felt so ashamed to share the same label as the troglodytes that were involved with this.

Edited March 22, 2012 by DukeOfPwn

[TheMightyEthan]

Why do you care? I mean, if you don't want a new ending then don't download the new ending DLC when it comes out. It doesn't affect your experience at all.

 

*Edit* - Also, I think it's funny to call people troglodytes for saying a shitty, cobbled-together-at-the-last-minute ending is shitty, and ask for something better. Someone on twitter pointed out that directors change the endings to their movies all the time, it's why they have test audiences.

 

I would say it's because

 

the Normandy was using the mass relay, which the Crucible had to use to transfer energy all across the galaxy. Now, if you played Arrival back in ME2, the amount of energy contained in a mass relay is like unto a super nova. While the energy field outside a mass relay was more of a wave gradually affecting any one system, the energy being transferred from one relay to the other is concentrated and has to be powerful enough to destroy a mass relay to emit the energy field.

 

EDIT: Simply put, think of it as a splash of water and a jet of water. The splash is going to cover more area and not hurt, though you'll still be wet. A jet of water, if pressurized enough, can kill you.

 

 

Why does everyone assume the Normandy was using a relay? There is absolutely nothing to indicate they were using a relay. In fact, the depiction of what's happening looks more like they were using conventional FTL.

 

Edited March 22, 2012 by TheMightyEthan

[deanb]

It still raises the question of:

 

Why were they seemingly fleeing the battle

Why were crew members you had with you in London (which afaik at that point were vaporised) now on the Normandy?

 

regardless of which form of travel the were using.

 

[TheMightyEthan]

It still raises the question of:

 

Why were they seemingly fleeing the battle

Why were crew members you had with you in London (which afaik at that point were vaporised) now on the Normandy?

 

regardless of which form of travel the were using.

 

 

As for the first question

 

 

Maybe they were already involved in the space battle, saw the big glowy explosion coming and Joker had the presence of mind to GTFO.

 

 

As for the second question, yeah that bugs the shit out of me too.

[CorgiShinobi]

The reason everyone "assumes" the

 

Normandy is using a relay is because they're outrunning a beam of energy traveling through the mass relay. At least, from the perspective we're given it doesn't look like a wave of energy.

 

 

But as Dean as said, even if we explain that part, there are still plot holes.

[TheMightyEthan]

Oh I agree there are plot holes, I was just wondering about

 

 

the mass relay thing specifically. I just went back and watched in on Youtube and you're right that it doesn't look like a wall of energy like it should, but the Normandy does look like it's travelling in conventional FTL, and according to their lore you don't even really "travel" in any perceptible way when you go through a relay, it's so fast that it's effectively instantaneous. So either they fucked up in rendering the energy, or they fucked up in how they show the Normandy and how they represent their lore. Honestly either one is possible.

 

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

All right, maybe troglodytes is too strong. But I feel that the test audience comparison is bad, because that never happened to an absolutely finished product. Also, changing the ending could potentially make the industry take a turn for the worse.

[TheMightyEthan]

Well and I personally don't want them to change the ending (except, as I keep saying, to possibly fix that one really terrible plot hole), I just want something to expand on the events subsequent to the ending. I know there are others who want them to actually change it, but I hope that doesn't happen.

 

Interesting (and tangential) question: what does the concept of a "absolutely finished product" mean when they were already planning to expand it with DLC? I mean, obviously there's more that they already intended to add on. Not criticizing your point, it just got me thinking on this.

[CorgiShinobi]

Oh I agree there are plot holes, I was just wondering about

 

 

the mass relay thing specifically. I just went back and watched in on Youtube and you're right that it doesn't look like a wall of energy like it should, but the Normandy does look like it's travelling in conventional FTL, and according to their lore you don't even really "travel" in any perceptible way when you go through a relay, it's so fast that it's effectively instantaneous. So either they fucked up in rendering the energy, or they fucked up in how they show the Normandy and how they represent their lore. Honestly either one is possible.

 

To be honest Ethan, I think it came down to, "Hey, lets be dramatic and show this happening to X because of Y" with no more thought.

 

I mean,

 

It would look like one could temporarily outrun the energy field, but where is Joker fleeing to other than to get away? With them traveling in a mass relay, it gives Joker a destination/goal at least to quickly flee. We know what he's fleeing from, but why would he even be using a relay? It would make sense that they used FTL to initially flee from something, but what?

 

Now, may this is because of the laziness of the endings again because only the Vaporized Earth would make this make any sense. I mean, Earth and everything on it (in this ending) was destroyed and Joker would want to bring the remaining crew to safety by fleeing the Sol system. They could have outran the energy field at first, but through the relay the accelerated beam caught up with them.

 

 

Still, trying to make a mule into a horse if you ask me.

[Waldorf and Statler]

Duke no offense, but this doesn't affect you. You are again imagining the people of the Retake ME3 movement as ignorant fucks. You keep calling us derogatory names as freaking saliva foams from your theoretical mouth.

 

How the hell does this affect you? Bioware has always had a close relationship with its fans. Changes from ME1 to ME2 and from ME2 to ME3 were a grand part due to fans. The inclusion of Blasto the Hanar Spectre into the universe was also largely due to fan reaction. The continuing jokes of Garrus doing calibrations was due to fan reaction. Why can't they tweak the ending (one way or the other) due to fan reaction?

 

Not everybody liked the game. You're deluding yourself thinking that because people aren't speaking that they liked it. A grand majority aren't just that passionate. A big market that bought ME3 are just consumers. They moved to something else the second they got the chance. Others are literally ok with the ending or don't care enough to do anything about it. That's it. The rest either, the outspoken fans, the ones that Bioware comes for decision making and feedback, are largely in a state where we want a better resolution for something we invested so much time into.

 

Video games are an art form, but just like you say we can't use movies as an example, even though it's the closest medium to video games, people like you can't use paintings as an example. Art and paintings are not a business, at least not the ones that truly matter. The man/woman was good at it and people BOUGHT it from him. These games are created as a business. Art can be adapted. Sherlock Holmes got tweaked once fans got angry with the creator killing him off. Other books got a separate edition with different endings [not an actual example but Dark Tower is kinda like that]. Those are considered art. You can't expect EVERY piece of media in a setting to be considered art. If so freaking Transformers would be paired with the Artist.

 

This is a blockbuster. You want to think that once this happens that there'll be no end. For being such an outspoken liberal, that's a very conservative thing to say. [We can't allow gay marriage, because once we allow that there's no end. We can't legalize marijuana because once we do that, there's no end].

 

Bioware is doing this out of respect for fans. Let them. Video games get patched all the time, and stories get patched too in books and movies. It DOES happen.

[Cyber Rat]

This isn't the death of creative integrity in video games. Fallout 3 had a shitty ending, people called Bethesda out on it, it was subsequently changed. Left 4 Dead 1 had all maps be stand alone because the playtesters said it was better that way, but people complained about it post-release. What did we get? L4D2 didn't have that issue and DLC was released to offer some sort of unified story to L4D1.

 

Heck, Portal 1s ending was changed in preparation for Portal 2. These things happen more often than people may think.

[TheMightyEthan]

Still, trying to make a mule into a horse if you ask me.

 

Oh yeah, I wasn't really looking for some kind of explanation consistent with the universe of what was actually happening, I was just wondering what caused people to think that in the first place.

 

Also, re: stuff getting changed later, this just occurred to me: Han shot first.

[Vargras]

Still, trying to make a mule into a horse if you ask me.

Also, re: stuff getting changed later, this just occurred to me: Han shot first.

 

DAMN YOU, LUCAS. DAMN YOOOOOOOU.

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

Duke no offense, but this doesn't affect you. You are again imagining the people of the Retake ME3 movement as ignorant fucks. You keep calling us derogatory names as freaking saliva foams from your theoretical mouth.

 

How the hell does this affect you? Bioware has always had a close relationship with its fans. Changes from ME1 to ME2 and from ME2 to ME3 were a grand part due to fans. The inclusion of Blasto the Hanar Spectre into the universe was also largely due to fan reaction. The continuing jokes of Garrus doing calibrations was due to fan reaction. Why can't they tweak the ending (one way or the other) due to fan reaction?

 

Not everybody liked the game. You're deluding yourself thinking that because people aren't speaking that they liked it. A grand majority aren't just that passionate. A big market that bought ME3 are just consumers. They moved to something else the second they got the chance. Others are literally ok with the ending or don't care enough to do anything about it. That's it. The rest either, the outspoken fans, the ones that Bioware comes for decision making and feedback, are largely in a state where we want a better resolution for something we invested so much time into.

 

Video games are an art form, but just like you say we can't use movies as an example, even though it's the closest medium to video games, people like you can't use paintings as an example. Art and paintings are not a business, at least not the ones that truly matter. The man/woman was good at it and people BOUGHT it from him. These games are created as a business. Art can be adapted. Sherlock Holmes got tweaked once fans got angry with the creator killing him off. Other books got a separate edition with different endings [not an actual example but Dark Tower is kinda like that]. Those are considered art. You can't expect EVERY piece of media in a setting to be considered art. If so freaking Transformers would be paired with the Artist.

 

This is a blockbuster. You want to think that once this happens that there'll be no end. For being such an outspoken liberal, that's a very conservative thing to say. [We can't allow gay marriage, because once we allow that there's no end. We can't legalize marijuana because once we do that, there's no end].

 

Bioware is doing this out of respect for fans. Let them. Video games get patched all the time, and stories get patched too in books and movies. It DOES happen.

Yeah, after talking a bit with Ethan on Steam, I realized that I need to calm down. Sorry. I kind of get bull-headed when I get angry.