You are never actually on the Citadel, which is why you need to play the game and read all the codex's! (I'm 100% behind the whole indocrination(sp) theory)
Yeah, I read up on that theory and it looks interesting, but I'm torn. I hope they're going to change the ending to something that isn't "Shepard dies, Shepard dies, Shepard kills off all artificial intelligence" and give me my corny happy ending, but at the same time, I seriously hope they didn't plan on doing this all along. They've announced that they'll be changing the endings to be more "clear," which supports the theory that you're not actually on the Citadel and Shepard is actually fighting off indoctrination (as indicated by his repeated dream with the kid). This, however, also means they've been planning on adding the real ending as DLC. Likely DLC that costs money. I don't feel especially compelled to pay money for an ending to a game I already paid for...
If we've reached a point where video games are sold half-done at full price so the developer/publisher can sell the other half as DLC for more money then I'm seriously done throwing my money at them.
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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
If you're buying a game solely for the ending, then why would you read it first?
If you're interested in more than just the ending, then buy the game, enjoy the other 99% that makes ME3 the best in the series (imo, if you ignore the ending, that is). If the new ending is paid DLC, then just read about it again and continue to enjoy an otherwise great game.
Even if the ending is a little odd, everything leading up to it is absolutely epic.
If you're buying a game solely for the ending, then why would you read it first?
If you're interested in more than just the ending, then buy the game, enjoy the other 99% that makes ME3 the best in the series (imo, if you ignore the ending, that is). If the new ending is paid DLC, then just read about it again and continue to enjoy an otherwise great game.
Even if the ending is a little odd, everything leading up to it is absolutely epic.
Exactly! Though I think Bioware has an opportunity to restore some faith by releasing "The Truth" DLC for free, I've even heard rumors of such. It would be an epic move for the industry and in the long term gain them more than any short term DLC profit. However I'm not sure if the evil corporate overlords at EA will be convinced as board members generally look to short term quarterly profit above all else.
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An old silent pond... A frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again.
ME3 is a great overall game. Again, I didn't even hate the ending my Shepard got. I DID hate that when I made a different decision, it was only very slightly different than the original one I picked.
The game itself is fantastic, minus any awkward touching done during "romance" scenes. All of your major decisions in the previous games directly effect the story of 3 & the multiplayer adds a good amount of replay value. Like I said previously, I'm on a new playthrough as a renegade (started on ME1) and I've tried really hard to make different decisions than I did my first playthrough. It's not a completely different game, but different enough to be interesting (A lot more people are dying!).
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"The Rich are there to take all of the money & pay none of the taxes, the middle class is there to do all the work and pay all the taxes, and the poor are there to scare the crap out of the middle class." -George Carlin
ME3 is a great overall game. Again, I didn't even hate the ending my Shepard got. I DID hate that when I made a different decision, it was only very slightly different than the original one I picked.
That's a big part of it for me, as well. Somewhat relevant.(very minor ending spoilers) The other issue I have is that the whole ending seems contrived and out of left field. That's why I'm so hopeful that the Indoctrination Theory pans out...it explains exactly why everything would be like that.
Honestly, they could have ended everything right after the Illusive Man confrontation and it would have still been a bit unsatisfying, but at least it wouldn't have been as bad as it is.
If you're buying a game solely for the ending, then why would you read it first?
If you're interested in more than just the ending, then buy the game, enjoy the other 99% that makes ME3 the best in the series (imo, if you ignore the ending, that is). If the new ending is paid DLC, then just read about it again and continue to enjoy an otherwise great game.
Even if the ending is a little odd, everything leading up to it is absolutely epic.
I have no doubt that everything leading up to the ending is amazing (I'm in the process of playing the game right now), but without a proper ending the story loses meaning. I normally don't read up on endings before completing a game, but due to me being online, I learned of the ending before I meant to, or rather, I learned that the ending was going to suck like the vacuum of space and that BioWare was considering remedying it in a DLC. That's when I read up on it. To find out if I should play the game or wait until after they'd "fixed" the ending.
I don't buy games, movies or books just for the ending, obviously, but the ending is what binds the story together. In this case, the ending is either a massive letdown in the sense that you don't have any true impact on it (and the quality is far below the rest of the franchise), or not the true ending at all (if the Indoctrination Theory is correct). If it's the former then it's a massive anticlimax and I hope they'll change it to something that makes more sense and gives better closure to the series, considering the holes present in the end (major epilogue needed). If it's the latter then we're looking at the first single player video game where you bought an incomplete product. Even if they release the DLC as a free "expansion" or "epilogue" we're moving onto slippery slope ground here. It's MMO marketing strategy applied to a single player game.
Imagine if The Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo and Sam standing at Mount Doom, about to toss the ring into the volcano. Sam is yelling at Frodo to do it, but Frodo just looks back at Sam, grins and puts on the ring instead...
End of story. No epilogue, no explanation, no "to be concluded," just an ellipsis and done. Doesn't matter how amazing The Lord of the Rings is (it is), that ending would suck so hard I'd get permanent scarring on my ***. You don't end a trilogy with an ellipsis, but that's exactly what BioWare did here.
Edit: Another alternative is that the ending of the game is meant to show indoctrination at work (we, the players, are being indoctrinated). The Paragon and Neutral endings both suck, in the sense that they seem not final and make little sense, except for Shepard dying. The only ending that gives a flicker of hope is the Renegade ending, which is the ending that a "good" person would hesitate to choose. But Anderson wants you to choose the Renegade ending and he's not a "bad" person. The Illusive Man wanted the Paragon ending, but he's not a "good" person. The Reapers want the Neutral ending themselves. The game is messing with our heads, forcing us to go against our own will (we think Paragon is the "good" ending, but it's actually the "bad" one), indicating that our will is not really our own anymore. Indoctrination.
I recommend this article on GameFront where they analyze the possible meanings. It's pretty interesting and does a better job at providing the points I've been trying to provide here.
Edited, Apr 3rd 2012 3:07pm by Mazra
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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
Imagine if The Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo and Sam standing at Mount Doom, about to toss the ring into the volcano. Sam is yelling at Frodo to do it, but Frodo just looks back at Sam, grins and puts on the ring instead...
That doesn't actually sound awful. I mean, it would suck to find that they (seemed to have) failed in the quest. But the ending itself would be pretty epic...
But I'm guessing this has nothing to do with your point.
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IDrownFish wrote:
Anyways, you all are horrible, @#%^ed up people
lolgaxe wrote:
Never underestimate the healing power of a massive dong.
Imagine if The Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo and Sam standing at Mount Doom, about to toss the ring into the volcano. Sam is yelling at Frodo to do it, but Frodo just looks back at Sam, grins and puts on the ring instead...
That doesn't actually sound awful. I mean, it would suck to find that they (seemed to have) failed in the quest. But the ending itself would be pretty epic...
But I'm guessing this has nothing to do with your point.
I'm not so sure it's the best analogy, either. It'd be more like Frodo and Sam make it to Mt. Doom, and suddenly Tom Bombadil is waiting for them. And he's all, sup? You can't destroy the ring because if you do your people will kill themselves eventually because that's what people do. You need Sauron to control everyone so no one dies, but you can make him a better guy. (And if Indoctrination Theory holds: And it was never Tom, but the ring telling them all these things. Because it's a liar.) And then, their decision doesn't really matter. Spoilers relevant to ME, not LotR.
Imagine if The Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo and Sam standing at Mount Doom, about to toss the ring into the volcano. Sam is yelling at Frodo to do it, but Frodo just looks back at Sam, grins and puts on the ring instead...
That doesn't actually sound awful. I mean, it would suck to find that they (seemed to have) failed in the quest. But the ending itself would be pretty epic...
As long as everything else was resolved by this point, I'd have to agree that it would be an epic ending.
Apparently there are exploits to give millions in currency per match as well. One guy connected into a random game host and came out with 6 million creds after one match. He reported it to Bioware which is what I would have done as well.
A big part of the fun in multi-player is earning better weapons and the RNG present opening joy of popping packs. Opening 100 Spectre packs in a row would take some of the joy out of it I would think.
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An old silent pond... A frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again.
Yeah, I get excited every time I open a pack, even though I have zero faith I'll get something good. XD I still don't have any of the rare characters. :P
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IDrownFish wrote:
Anyways, you all are horrible, @#%^ed up people
lolgaxe wrote:
Never underestimate the healing power of a massive dong.
I started the ending last night. The Cerberus base was a piece of cake, Earth however...
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People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome. ~River Tam
I almost don't want them to explain more because it might F up the (ending spoiler) indoctrination theory. I've already written my own ending in my head based on what was there and I like my ending.
Edited, Apr 5th 2012 12:36pm by Shojindo
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An old silent pond... A frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again.
I almost don't want them to explain more because it might F up the (ending spoiler) indoctrination theory. I've already written my own ending in my head based on what was there and I like my ending.
True enough. I really loved the part where Shepard woke up, climbed inside Harbinger via gaps in its armor and shot its core with a point blank Cain while Garrus opened up the citadel and the crucible destroyed all the other reapers. Warning: Made up ending spoilers with minor actual spoilers.
Lulzy video btw. ^
This is probably why: