Mass Effect 3Follow

You DIDN'T feel like a space badass?

I don't think my Shepard has ever been more accomplished in badassery. I can't comment on the renegade style, but the Paragon one? Holy hell.

What could possibly be more badass than the ending fights on Tuchanka, Rannoch and Earth?

I concur on the third game being too gloomy. First and second game allowed me to be a total badass, gunslingin', bionic superdude who saved the day, the universe and got the girl in the end. Then by the third game it's like: death, death, nightmare, death, depression, death and hero dies in three different colors (unless you play multiplayer, lols, but then all synthetic life dies).

You're forced to choose between the death of one of your crew members and genocide. The ending forces you to choose between your main character dying and another genocide. If you save a dude in ME1 then he dies in ME3, otherwise a crew member from ME2 dies. You have to choose between letting a commando die and saving a fleet from sabotage. How many forced deaths can you put in one game before it loses emotional value? I was honestly surprised it didn't force me to shoot Ash somewhere in there. Not that it mattered since I went ahead and died in the end regardless of whatever the hell I'd done in the previous games.

Speaking of the ending... a badass ending would've been an ending where all your many hours spent sexing up a love interest in/through the previous games didn't end up being for no reason whatsoever. Seriously? I romanced Ash in ME1, stayed loyal to her in ME2, and BioWare told me that the players who stayed loyal to their love interest from ME1 would be rewarded in ME3. I'm fairly certain I missed that reward. Was it before or after Shepard died to save the galaxy? Midway through ME3 I'm talking house, kids and a white picket fence with Ash and then it wants me to choose between three flavors of sad ending where I don't get the girl and save the day. The whole sacrificial hero thing is a big hit, I know. I just wish they'd made an ending that wasn't... that. Or at least didn't make all three endings different colors of "hero sacrifices himself to save the universe." An ending where Shepard survives and gets to fly off into the sunset (in space? impossibru!) with his love interest and the gang, ready to kick some *** if *** needs kicking.

I seriously cannot fathom why they wouldn't include that ending. What, Shepard surviving the trilogy wasn't acceptable? Writers decided to make a canonical ending all of a sudden? Depressing, man. And no, I never finished the game. After watching the "improved" endings, I decided that I didn't feel like finishing the trilogy. My Shepard - the character I'd built up over the last five years - was set up to win the war, save all his buddies and get the girl. Until BioWare allows me that ending, my Shepard will still be out there fighting Reapers across the galaxy like a total badass.

Edit: I guess it's because I see the Shepard character as being me set in the Mass Effect universe and I dislike an ending where I (Shepard) die. I've got the same problem in SWTOR. I've tried making some full dark side characters in that game and I just can't do it. It feels wrong.

Edited, Oct 12th 2012 2:50am by Mazra

No, the storyline is stuck in limbo. The Reapers only win if you shoot the kid. That is the only way to lose the game, outside of Shepard running off a cliff or whatever during the missions. Regardless of what you did in the two first games and throughout ME3, it all comes down to what you do when you meet Starchild.

Pop a round in child's face = Reapers win

Red pill = organics win, synthetics lose
Blue pill = everyone wins
Green pill = Reapers go: "Wait, that was an option?"

One has to assume that the Reapers are aware of the Crucible's function, including the part where merging human DNA with the giant laser beam would turn all synthetics and organics into hybrids. Why is it the Reapers, upon discovering the existence of the Crucible, don't just go "Oh, hang on, you've got that thingy that could prevent an inevitable war between synthetics and organics? Well, I guess we don't have to kill you to prevent the war then. In fact, we have some indoctrinated humans right here who wouldn't mind being dissolved in that laser beam."

I don't get why the Reapers, even after discovering that hybridization was possible, were so hellbent on wiping out all the organics. And that's ignoring the overall plot which was pretty stupid in itself: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3qhczfCG61r04657o1_1280.png

Edited, Oct 23rd 2012 5:46pm by Mazra

[EDIT]
Double post.

Edited, Oct 23rd 2012 11:53am by idiggory

I'm not sure you were paying attention, tbh.

For one, your assumption that the Reapers knew organics were ready is false, and that's actually decently established in the story. The Catalyst evokes a fairly simple (and relatively logical) determination of whether or not organics are ready--whether or not they can defeat the Reapers. It's the right-to-rule concept. Until Organics can overthrow the Reapers, they aren't ready.

Shepard's generation is the first to actually finish the Crucible. And that shouldn't be surprising... because it's been an established plot point from the first game that they were unique in the cycle due to the effect of the Protheans. Their sacrifice was always what gave Organics a chance. Foe every other species (at least, every other species since the enslavement of the Keepers), the war began with the Citadel under Reaper control. They'd have to complete the Crucible Project (despite total government breakdown) and then retake the Citadel to power it.

The Reapers know that organics have evolved further than ever before, but that's all they know. I see no reason to think otherwise, tbh. Hell, this generation was as much a new precedent for them as for organics.

And the Reapers don't just exist to preserve life, they exist to force the evolution of life. Their goal isn't for everyone to be happy, it's for Organics to reach a point where never-ending war with synthetics will no longer be possible. More importantly, synthesis was never their endgame. For them, the Crucible was going to be their own destruction. And it was going to show that organic life was finally able to dominate synthetic life. Control was only possible because of the Illusive Man's efforts (iirc), which were only possible because organic life had finally progressed far enough on the Crucible.

Synthesis is supposed to be the "special" ending. The Reapers had long since assumed that synthesis would remain impossible until organics had progressed far enough (having originally tried it in place of building new Reapers, and perhaps again along the timeline). They are only willing to try again when 1. Organics have reached the point of victory and 2. they've learned to cooperate with each other, so perhaps can cooperate with synthetics (reinforced if you have actually allied with the Geth).

Finally, the Crucible exists independently of the Reapers. It exists as a combined effort of organic life through the cycles. They didn't begin its construction, and we have no way of knowing if they ever had knowledge that it survived the galactic extinction. I mean, hunting down every single data cache in the galaxy isn't possible even for Reapers, and by its nature it would be a top secret schematic. The Crucible reached the modern cycle because the Prothean ruins on Thessia and Mars went completely silent during the Prothean cycle, because they hoped they wouldn't be hunted down by the Reapers.

Honestly, none of your objections are plot holes at all. There are definitely OTHER plot holes, but those are all pretty well tied up in-game.

The Reapers' goal wasn't to ensure survival of life, it was to ensure that organics had evolved sufficiently to counter the Synthetic problem.

The issue wasn't that the creation of synthetic life leads to the annihilation of all life, it's that it leads to endless war. The Reapers' ultimate goal is to force Organics to evolve far enough that this no longer holds true. That doesn't mean that there has to be no war. It doesn't mean Organics can't slip up. It just means that the liklihood of a galaxy-wide conflict between Organic and Synthetic life is vastly less likely.

You keep focusing on Humanity, and you shouldn't. There's no reason to. Reapers weren't here to judge humanity, they were here to judge all Organic life as a collective. Yeah, maybe Humans are at risk for repeating mistakes. But Asari aren't.

The idea is that organic life as a while has learned enough and evolved far enough (both within their own cultures and as one massive culture) that galactic war with Synthetic life is no longer an imminent risk. Is it impossible? No. But the Reapers were attempting to break the cycle of war (every 50k years, a new Synthetic lifeform had been created to wage war with Organic life).

And I think you're seriously downplaying the ramifications of a Reaper-esque invasion. NO species is going to be looking to play with artificial life anytime soon.

As for why the Reapers didn't just focus all their fire on the Crucible, why would they? They always intended to give Organics a chance. It was a slim chance (only access was from Earth, in the middle of a Reaper fortified territory, completely covered with anti-aircraft weaponry and ground troops. And a Reaper was chilling at the gate. The Reaper fleet ensured no help from Organic fleets).

If Organics could still manage to: Unlock the Citadel, dock the Crucible, reach the Crucible, and activate it. Well, that would be proof they earned it.

If Reapers were interested in giving Organics zero chance, they would just wipe out Organic life earlier in the cycle.

Go to a massage parlor?

I blame this topic for my dream last night; fair warning, it likely belongs more in the Movies/Books/Etc forum than this one... spoilers ahoy if you aren't familiar with the series...

I dreamt last night of a Harry Potter videogame set within Mass Effect-esque parameters. Renegade/Paragon meter, ability to be either "The boy who lived" or "The girl who lived," several love interests, hundreds of choices that have an effect on the end of the game (or series). Some things I dreamt of:
- You could choose your House; though Slytherin gave the most points for Renegade Harry.
- Throughout your time at Hogwarts, you could choose to upgrade the enchantments on the buildings, invest in stronger gargoyles, and upgrade the wands/defensive training/enchanted clothing of your friends/Dumbledore's Army/the Order of the Phoenix. This would allow certain characters to live; without stronger gargoyles to use as protection, for example, Neville will be killed by a giant, and without fortified walls, George will die when one explodes from curses.
- There were also different endings, though in all of them you end up fighting against Voldemort and with the Battle of Hogwarts. A Renegade Harry will take the Elder Wand, kill (or, Paragon option of mercy, disarm in a duel!) Draco Malfoy, and will attack Voldemort during the battle itself like in the movie; the Paragon option results in the book's ending, which ends in a duel at the end surrounded by all the people of Hogwarts cheering you on.
- There would be several love interests; Ginny, Hermione, Luna, Cho, Draco, Ron, Cedric (if he lived), Neville. It's almost certain that a Draco/Harry male pairing would be possible, though thankfully I didn't dream of that! >_<
- Depending on the choices, characters will die or live on major decisions. For example, leaving Felix Felicis for Dumbledore's Army on the night Dumbledore dies allows them all to live; otherwise there's a chance that some may fall, depending on which character and where you tell them to patrol. In my dream, choosing to romance Hermione caused Ron to be extremely jealous, and attack some Death Eaters head on by himself... resulting in his death. Mr. Weasley (in either the next game, or later on), overcome with grief, does almost the same thing when I chose to have him in my group; he picks a fight with Bellatrix, and both of them get vaporized. Still totally worth it.

Yup, anyway, that was my dream. I'd love to see that happen, but in the meantime... I think it's a sign that I FINALLY need to buy ME3

I'd totally play that Locke. I've been playing to much GW2 so I keep having dreams of giant IRL dragon fights. In one I was in this rad ancient roman Colosseum and the dragon kept flying around and landing on the edges of the stands while breathing fire. I love dreams like that.

(yeah ME 3 is totally worth playing if you haven't yet)

Level up, try to avoid spending credits on consumable-only packs. Right now you need a new gun. Also consider using a class/race combo with a somewhat spammable attack ability.

Any tips on single player? I've been playing as Vanguard, which is new to me... but charging at enemies every few seconds is SO much fun! I also tend to die a lot, but the game auto-saves pretty often so it's not usually an issue. Playing on Normal currently.

I've upgraded my shotgun and pistol, and I'm not sure what else to save for... the Spectre Requisitions gear looks good, but it's hella expensive. I've thought about purchasing a new suit for the bonuses, but I'm not sure if it's better to save my credits for later. I'm also worried about proceeding with the Priority missions until I complete every side mission possible (which is taking time, without meta-gaming), as I have a nagging sensation that a lot of places will be drastically changed or unavailable after some of the story passes.

Try playing a Sentinel in MP while you're new. You can really spec for a power-centric build. It doesn't have the same potential as a weapons build, but it'll definitely be superior to the standard weapons.

You'l get Tech Armor for defense and detonation (which is actually great for MP because the maps tend to be constrictive and littered with mobs). Warp for debuffing and setting up combos. And Throw, your main source of damage.

Just pick one gun depending on what you're comfortable with, which hopefully gives you low reload times.


No tips on playing Vanguard. I'm generally a strictly mid-long range fighter.


As for Ashley, you have to remind yourself that you aren't necessarily flirting. You aren't really going to broach the subject of your relationship for a while. And there won't be any penalty for picking all the nicest options and then deciding not to pursue a relationship (no more so than saying no from the start that is). This isn't DA:O, where me being nice to Leliana made her think I was into her, despite carefully choosing the "we're friends" options.

I do recommend getting her the book of poetry from the hospital store though, for the character development.


And yes, you are going to lose old friends and new ones. I cried at more than one part in the game, and I took the path where I saved everyone I possibly could have.