Create your own Mass Effect 3 ending

[natster43]

Sheppard gets into a fist fight with Harbinger on to of the Citadel. I'd play that. Sure it would make no since, but still it would be awesome.

Not my creation but I totally would play the shit out of mass effect 3 time and time again if this was the ending.

Spoiler: This would be perfect

or this. This would also work.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I was running a table top version of Mass Effect..

Doing it as PnP is different, what system did you use?

Pathfinder RPG.

I rearranged some class features and cut up some spell lists to create Mass Effect-esque combat.

Adepts were Sorcerers with a gravity and CMD focused spell list.
Infiltrators were Rogues (sneak attack) with a Ranger spell list (for invisibility).

Stuff like that.

Husks (and other Reaper minions) were undead, Synthetics were constructs, etc.

Edit: Oh, and I'm not the only person to do a PnP version of Mass Effect. I've seen others that tried to stick closer to the mechanics of the games. Me, I preferred to go with a system already well play-tested.

 

[White_Lama]

My ending:

Same as the one Bioware had. Nothing wrong with it. People are just whiny.

 

[Eddie the head]

Cut the Daniel wannabe out of the one we got and go straight to destroy. Or everyone dies if you have low EMS.

My ending:

Same as the one Bioware had. Nothing wrong with it. People are just whiny.

Well people are just whiny. But there is a lot wrong with it.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

I'm just going to quote a post of mine from a previous thread here:

In that case...

Shepard calls in Applejack (yes, THAT Applejack) and while he beats the everloving shit out of the starchild Applejack goes back to Earth and singlehoofedly kills off the entire Reaper army with nothing but her cowgirl hat, a Cerebral Bore, and a throwing knife. Afterwards, Mehrunes Dagon goes back to Oblivion and everyone lives happily ever after. Also, we get a glimpse of Tali playing Half-Life 3 after the closing credits.

(Btw I don't play Mass Effect, but couldn't resist doing this )

 

[Terminal Blue]

The Magic Mcguffin is a lazy plot device used by third rate writers who don't know how to dig themselves out of a hole they dug into.

And as mentioned, a McGuffin is something which creates motivation on the part of characters without affecting the plot.

Take a story about a group of thieves trying to break into a vault and steal a statue. The statue is likely to be inconsequential to the plot itself, it's not particularly important that it's a statue as opposed to a gold bar or a pile of money. All that is important about it is that the characters all want it and that desire drives the plot. The statue in that scenario is the McGuffin.

The crucible is not just something the characters want. It ends up being integral to deciding the outcome of the plot. It is therefore not a McGuffin, it's a plot device.

Also, Alfred Hitchcock was not a third rate writer.

See where Lord of the Rings differed from this turd is that the Mcguffin in question was the focus of the entire journey.

Right, just like a way to defeat the Reapers was the focus of the entire journey of Commander Shepard. The fact that it was left blank what it actually was does not excuse the fact that you should have seen it coming a mile off.

..and it was always going to be a plot device. Fuck, as I already said it did come down to a plot device at the end of Mass Effect, and I didn't see anyone complaining about how contrived and bullshitty that was despite the fact that it was never once explained or even mentioned at any other point in the game.

And why does it matter how early in the story the one ring is introduced? It's a completely arbitrary plot device, it's never explained to us how it works or why it's so important. It is, in that sense, more contrived than either the crucible or the catalyst, both of which at least have an explanation (incomplete as it is) for what they are and why they do what they do.

Note that I didn't actually find the one ring terribly objectionable either because, like the crucible, it has a symbolic importance which goes beyond the immediate narrative. There's really nothing wrong with plot devices.

 

[DioWallachia]

You could just, you know, play the game?

There is a game in that glichfest that makes all choices both in the game AND from the rest of the series completely pointless without proper context?

Here is my ending: Since The Crusible looks like a microphone, i say that the ending will involve killing The Reapers with the POWER OF ROCK!!!!!!!!


SHEPARD USES "FACEMELTER"!
ITS SUPER EFECTIVE!

 

[DioWallachia]

Cut the Daniel wannabe out of the one we got and go straight to destroy. Or everyone dies if you have low EMS.

My ending:

Same as the one Bioware had. Nothing wrong with it. People are just whiny.

Well people are just whiny. But there is a lot wrong with it.

Why is it that people NEVER see something so obviously bad when they see it? maybe they are in denial saying "naaaaaaah, no one will be stupid enough to make an ending THAT bad. People are THAT whiny"

 

[DioWallachia]

Not my creation but I totally would play the shit out of mass effect 3 time and time again if this was the ending.

Spoiler: This would be perfect

Well, Gurren Laggan also used THE POWER OF ROCK so i guess that it also count as an ending.

 

[FrostyChick]

When the Reaper beam hits Shepard, he wakes up to find out that he's actually a Victorian detective. All of the people he met on his adventure are people of interest in a large scale embezzlement case he's currently working on.

All the content of the 3 games has been a crazy dream brought about by the stresses of his job. After he wakes up he has his breakfast mid way through he realises that his employer (whose dream version was the Illusive Man) is the one who is responsible for stealing thousands from the banks (we're going period values here). The Reapers (real world version being some high level crime organisation) were just a cover all along and nothing more than background noise.

 

[DioWallachia]

Right, just like a way to defeat the Reapers was the focus of the entire journey of Commander Shepard.

This is actually pretty debatable. The plot kinda skips around over the course of the three acts because they had to shove the second game in somewhere.

and it was always going to be a plot device. Fuck, as I already said it did come down to a plot device at the end of Mass Effect, and I didn't see anyone complaining about how contrived and bullshitty that was despite the fact that it was never once explained or even mentioned at any other point in the game.

I complained. That was the very first thing that stuck out to me! In the end I guess my issue was less it being there and the way they implemented it. It felt more like the writers had an "Oh, shi- Uhm, okay this is what we'll do.." moment.

And why does it matter how early in the story the one ring is introduced? It's a completely arbitrary plot device, it's never explained to us how it works or why it's so important.

I reject the notion that Tolkien's work would have been no better or worse off if The One Ring was introduced sometime near the middle or end of the journey. You'll really have to explain how that would work to me. The Crucible is actually far FAR more asinine than the ring.

The entire basis for the crucible even existing is absolute nonsense and is far and by the least obvious but most insane and utterly contrived and stupid thing to come out of ME3.

Lets not forget that one CAN actually win agaisnt the reapers with conventional weapons if it wasnt for the sheer stupidity on the writing in regards with the alliance researchi and manufacture of the following:

1)More weapons like the Thanix Cannon. They already have those on fighter jets and one would think that they at least try to test if it is useful or not.

2)The dead Spider Reaper that we killed with the Quarian fleet that they could just, you know, research its armor to know how to penetrate it or make more of those on our own. Lets not forget the INFAMOUS killing of the Spider Reaper on London with the Cain, who makes the entire previous fight kite silly when we could just use heavy weapons instead.

We are constantly being told that we CANT WIN without the Crusible and yet there is proof that we can.

 

[Vuliev]

Cue THE MEANING OF TRUTH.

Harbinger breaks off from the Reaper surface contingent to attack the Normandy. Shepard orders the Normandy to intercept. Shepard spacedives out of the Normandy toward Harbinger.

Harbinger: WATASHI WA SHINEN! SHINENZUUUUUUU!
Shepard: SHEPARD PAUUUUNNNNCHHHHHHHH (Explosively punches Harbinger right in his massive face)
Joker: Commanderu!
Harbinger: BWEEEEUUUUUUUUUUUGGHHHHHHHHHHH

Shepard, bathed in golden light, smiles in triumph as he/she ascends to a higher plane.
Harbinger explodes, and the blast destroys all the Reapers--the light is seen throughout the universe.


Captcha: upvote this. Yes, Captcha, I agree.


EDIT: Alternatively:

Shepard: SHEPARD PAUUUUNNNNCHHHHHHHH
Harbinger: OH SHIT

Everything explodes, and the light is seen across the universe.

Spoiler: For those that don't know what I'm talking about:

 

[Mr Companion]

A long forgotten race was combat training droids for military spacecraft. Their Ai was adaptive to enhance training realism and difficulty. Eventually the AI achieves singularity, and begins to ask what does it truly mean to improve an organics survival longevity when (either) the universe shall one day collapse in on itself/ an even greater threat attacks/ they develop rebellious synthetics of their own? The conclusion is to become as strong as possible, to kill those not even strong enough to survive the harvest, and wait until "crops" spring anew with the defective strains wiped out.

And at the end when you somehow defeat them, they concede you have proven this cycle worthy of continuation.

See even that is better than what the "professionals" came up with Christing hell guys its not hard so glad I stopped playing after ME2 when it became clear the main story was falling apart.

 

[Terminal Blue]

This is actually pretty debatable. The plot kinda skips around over the course of the three acts because they had to shove the second game in somewhere.

I don't have a problem with this, because the alternative is cliffhanging, which in a game with a development time of a year or more is just plain annoying.

Each game in the series needed to be a definitive ending, the way to do this was to structure the story episodically, with each game representing a phase in an overall narrative leading towards the ultimate goal. The destruction of the reapers.

I complained.

Well, I suspect you're one of very few. Expecting purely naturalistic storytelling in what is ostensibly space opera with very clear larger than life elements strikes me as setting yourself up for disappointment.

How did you deal with the existence of the Asari? How did you get through project Lazarus without puking? How does the ability to alter the mass of an object let me throw someone into the skybox? Mass effect might make the occasional pretence of social realism, but really, it's no better than Star Trek (which I might add made far more routine and offensive use of contrived plot devices) and should probably be enjoyed on much the same level.

I reject the notion that Tolkien's work would have been no better or worse off if The One Ring was introduced sometime near the middle or end of the journey.

So the contrived plot device which mysteriously saves the day without any explanation is less contrived because the entire story revolves around it from the very beginning?

If Frodo rather than Bilbo had encountered Gollum and found the ring during the course of the journey, all other circumstances being the same, would it have made a significant difference beyond allowing people who hadn't read the Hobbit to have some idea what was going on? For that matter, is the phial of Galadriel more contrived than the ring because it crops up well into the journey? Because that's pretty much a perfect example of a device which is just there to defeat one particular bad guy (or girl).

The entire basis for the crucible even existing is absolute nonsense and is far and by the least obvious but most insane and utterly contrived and stupid thing to come out of ME3.

Why?

It makes perfect sense within the rules which the Mass Effect universe has laid down about how the extinction cycle works.

Now, it may not be as down to earth and sensible as reviving people who have been exposed to vacuum for days, transmitting memory through genetic material, the overall physics facepalm which is biotics or giant robot squid armies with mind control radiation, but hey.. I don't think that one bit of silliness in the Mass Effect universe is suddenly going to turn it into some kind of overblown space opera, do you?

 

[prophecy2514]

-Shepard faces off against harbinger and the illusive man mexican standoff style
-Shepard shoots Tim but ultimately loses against harbinger, but is saved by a stamping herd of angry elcor.
-Shepard rides off into the sunset on an elcor's back with his love interest.

The End

 

[Athinira]

Pretty simple.

1) During the raid on the Illusive Mans station, it would turn out when Shephard confronted him that he ultimately wasn't indoctrinated and under Reaper control, and that he truly believed he could control the reapers. While Shephard and him are arguing, the Reapers suddenly bust in from FTL, catching the attacking fleet between the station and themself. The Illusive Man at this points try to exercise his control plan over the reapers while Shephard battles Kai Leng. The Illusive Mans plans fail, and he breaks down as the Reapers bombard both the station and the human fleet. At this point Shephard has the option to either enlist his help or kill him and take over Cerberus.

Why?
Because i feel that Indoctrination has become a bad cliche of the series. It would be refreshing for once to have the game fool us into believing someone has been indoctrinated (because until that point, everyone and their dog has been), only to reveal that for once it was simple uncontrolled ambition that was the reason.

2) The Crucible is simply a weapon that can kill reapers off relatively easily. Reapers are never explained and the idiotic crucible child doesn't exist. Cleansing the galaxy of reapers would still be a slow task that will take years to finish, but with the Crucible it's ultimately going to happen, and Earth is still saved.

Why?

"This isn't rocket science. Mysteries lose all the appeal the instant you explain them."
- Yahtzee, Condomed 2 review

Like Sovereign said in Mass Effect 1 "We... simply are." Point being that i feel that the Reapers was an enemy that would have been better off staying (mostly) unexplained. The devs should have picked up on this little cue rather than explain the reapers with some kind of godly entity.

3) Shephard needs an actual Battle with Harbinger.

Not giving us any Harbinger in ME3 (with the exception of running towards a portal while he is throwing pot-shots at you) is the worst tease I've ever experienced in my life. He has been set up as such a massive influence and villain in ME2 and is pretty much non-essential in ME3. Terrible storytelling right there.

4) More epilogue containing Shephard (alive).

Why? Well if anyone here has played Baldur's Gate 2 and romanced someone, you should know then that when you finish Throne of Bhaal, you get an epilogue containing the continued life of you and your love interest.

This is one of the things Mass Effect is sorely lacking. Why go around romancing your crew members, when you aren't gonna see an outcome or a future together anyway? Many fans have expressed disappointment with the fact that they were really hoping to see how Shephard and their love interests would continue their life (for example, watching a cutscene of male Shephard and Tali building a home on Talis retaken homeworld).

Also, this goes hand in hand with us needing more endings with Shephard alive (and kicking). Now, normally I'm not the guy to claim that every game should have happy endings. The Galaxy at War system, however, changes that.
Since it's a way to quite clearly measure your progress against the reapers (War Effort), it sets up the expectation that if you work off your ass hard enough, do all sidequests, and get as much readiness rating as possible, you can see a (semi)good ending. But after you've worked your ass off to maximize all of this, the game kicks you in the nuts anyway and gives you a shit ending. Not acceptable. Period.

Oh yeah, and the Indoctrination theory that so many people used to fantasize about can take a ferry out of this world. It was a terrible theory before Extended Cut was released, and I'm happy that Extended Cut put a bullet to it.

 

[Athinira]

Since the problem begins at the beginning of the game, "Hey look we found a MacGuffin we know nothing about, but we're not allowing you any alternatives", that entire arc would have to be rewritten, really. The "rejection" ending added by EC would have been tolerable if it involved a few scenes of actually showing the final stand of the galactix fleets, but for it to be decent, we'd have to have had the option to not waste resources on the Crucible in the first place.

Not really. There is nothing wrong with a MacGuffin if it is implemented properly, given reasonable weight and added in a convincing fashion.

Amongst MacGuffins, the Crucible was a very well-made, well-introduced, well-explained and - above all else - believable MacGuffin. That is, right up until the ending of course where they totally blew it.

Captcha: pitter patter <-- Might not seem interesting, but "Patter" means "Boobies" in Danish. So... BOOBIIIES!