Mass Effect 3 ending SPOILERS!

[Deathninja19]

I'm not taking sides here but it seems to me the people who have the most issue with the ending is how poorly written in terms of logic it is. Really I don't think anyone would have a problem with a downer ending if it was done right but it seems to me that people have a problem of how it was done not why.

Again don't care about the ending I just thought the strongest argument against is being looked over.

Captcha: Crash and burn, yep that sounds about right

The thing is though, the endings make complete sense if you payed attention to the overall themes of the game.

Meh not to me, I mean if the Reapers where trying to save lives why start an invasion using laserbeams when the Collectors where using mainly non-violent means like those stasis bugs, but again I have nothing against those who think the ending was good.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

They feel like something From a Final Fantasy game.


This is hilarious, notice how it says X event is very important to the game end scenario and when the choices and events are listed every end game scenarios has more in common than anything. And worse yet the Galaxy changing event doesnt even change.

Personally, I didn't see any of the 'player agency', that Bioware has been making part of Mass Effect since the beginning, since all of the endings screw over the Galaxy and the Allies you've gathered throughout the game in one way or another. Synthesis would be forced, destroying the Reapers also destroys the Geth and EDI, and controlling the Reapers? I can't see how that won't bite me in the ass, especially since it not only ends up killing Shep regardless, but whats to guarantee they won't be back, or just keep fighting?

And I know a lot of people are posting that they're glad to have a sad ending, and I can understand that. I even support being able to have a shitty ending. Just not there only BEING shitty endings. Yes, maybe I would like a deus ex machina ending where the Reapers get destroyed and everything slowly goes back to the way things were, sans war against the Geth and Krogan, or at the very least, something bittersweet. I felt nothing at all bittersweet about the endings, they were just depressing. The ending, regardless of choice, didn't feel like something my Shepard would ever do.

 

[synobal]

Meh not to me, I mean if the Reapers where trying to save lives why start an invasion using laserbeams when the Collectors where using mainly non-violent means like those stasis bugs, but again I have nothing against those who think the ending was good.

They used collector swarms as well in Mass Effect 3 it is mentioned at least once, and I think the reason they were not used more widely was because Shepherd had developed a defense against them more or less in ME2, plus the destruction of the Collector base (or it being in Cerberus hands) means that their supplies were limited I think.

 

[Valok]

Well, I don't agree with the end(s), but I'm not gonna comment on it since a lot of ppl have already showed what seems wrong.

So I guess I will just drop this here...

http://filesmelt.com/dl/Big_list_of_copy.jpg

The reason why the "ME3 copied Tengen Toppa" doesn't work is because

1. Tengen Toppa didn't make up that plot, saying ME copied TTGL is like saying RAGE is a copy of Fallout. Just because TTGL is popular doesn't mean it was the first to use that story/ending type.

2. The anti-Spirals in TTGL wanted to kill all spiral life, PERMANENTLY, The Reapers only want to kill advanced life so future life can live. Two entirely different reasons, and methods of execution of those reasons.

It was a small joke ^^

 

[jason27131]

I find it extremely funny that you're the only one in this thread that is defending the ending. No one else is. So, here are my thoughts:

1. You're either the most intelligent person that exists on earth, being able to see the deeper meaning of the ending, and see what everyone else can't, that the "deus ex machina" is actually meaningful and insightful.

or 2. You're a bioware fanboy

or finally, 3. You're an idiot.

synobal seems to agree with me.

also resulting to name calling is something someone with no other possible argument does.

I agree with you too, I thought the ending was fantastic. I might have made some negative posts earlier, but I've time to mull it over and reading your, Nimcha and some other posters' posts, all of it makes sense now and makes for an amazing ending to an amazing game. I wouldn't have the ending any other way.

The problem presented by the Catalyst wasn't the only problem within the series, it was only an explanation for why The Reapers existed.

You're right, it wasn't the only problem within the series, or the most important. So why was it framed as the final, most important decision?

Because solving that problem would lead to a method of solving the other problems.

The galaxy was like a giant clump of strings all tangled together, each string represents a different problem, and while no one string is really more important then the other, there is always inevitable one string in the ball if you pull could cause the others to unravel also.

Being able to stop the reapers allowed for the ability to end galactic civilizations dependance on them and their technology, another one of the problems however is that civilization as it was was so dependent on it that it was impossible to go back.

Civilization had to be destroyed one more time to allow for races to go down thier own path.

I find it extremely funny that you're the only one in this thread that is defending the ending. No one else is. So, here are my thoughts:

1. You're either the most intelligent person that exists on earth, being able to see the deeper meaning of the ending, and see what everyone else can't, that the "deus ex machina" is actually meaningful and insightful.

or 2. You're a bioware fanboy

or finally, 3. You're an idiot.

Not all of us, who actually like the ending, post. I think SajuukKhar is doing a brilliant job of it, no need for me to add something that's already been said to the discussion. Also, insutling people, because the disagree with you and present their side of the argument is not a good way of making people see your side of things.

Meh. Why bother to convince anyone when the majority of people agree judging by bioware's website polls, and the minority that does disagree won't agree in the first place.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Meh not to me, I mean if the Reapers where trying to save lives why start an invasion using laserbeams when the Collectors where using mainly non-violent means like those stasis bugs, but again I have nothing against those who think the ending was good.

Using stasis bugs doesn't remove the advanced civilizations from the galaxy and thus does not prevent them from making synthetics that would eventually destroy all organic life.

 

[feeqmatic]

You keep saying this but i think you completely missed the point

its not about the decisions being negated outright, its taht they are rendered fairly trivial by the end result of the game. Sure I did all of these great things but their impact is severly diminished because the galactic community has been completely severed.

As a player that is infuriating. The main reason i took the gamble on allowing the geth to live is becuase I wanted to see the results of their peace with quarians. I wanted to end the Get plauge on the galaxy in a peacful manner. Now i either have to destroy them, control them completely, or merge with them. And either way the galactic relays are lost.

It would be different if this was an option based off my decisions. Lets say that i use technology to continue subjigating the Krogan, or the Geth/quarian war ends in violence. This would show that our cycle cannot handle itself which in turn would make having to make that decision. But to purposefully play the game all paragon with the hopes of a happy ending and have to choose between 3 flawed versions of the same bittersweet ending is just nuts in my opinion

I think your missing an important part of gaming, something called imagination.

Just because they don't hold your hand and spell out for you what exactly the consequences of what you ate for lunch are does not mean they are trivialized.

You can still with a high certainty imagine that the geth would be peaceful with the Quarrians, that the krogans population would incrase with the curing of the genphoage, and that the rachnai will rebuild and expand again.

Just because you dont get a popup telling you that =/= they were trivialized.

They are completely trivialized in that i have to "use my imagination" in order to consider answers to the questions of their fate.

full disclosure: i teach english and literature for a living. I certainly get the point of an ambiguous ending to a thematic story. However, this stance on story telling does not make sense in an interactive medium where I get to choose a bunch of options on how the story unfolds only to have all of them shoehorned into 3 variations of the same scenario at the very end. THAT is the problem. This is not a book or a movie, this is not simply just the authors individual vision. It is an interactive story that was good mostly because everyone got to tell the story in their own way. That is why many of us play RPGs because the allow us to use our imagination to tell a story in our own way. If the game wanted to ultimately come to the same bittersweet end it shouldnt have gave me the illusion of choice all the way through. Moreover the game shouldnt have promoted how big your choices were so damn much. If it had just been plot holes and a Deus Ex Machina, i would have been dissapointed but fine if it at least had some variety and relevance to how i was playing the game. But to bring a Deus Ex Machina out only have a result that is unsatisfying is mind boggling. IF this had been a JRPG where i just watched cut scenes or hadnt been made by a company who had already did this the right way on several occasions i wouldnt be as disappointed.

 

[Verlidiane2]

I have no words to describe my complete and utter disappointment in Bioware right now. I actually had to find a forum and register, something I have never before done, so that I can try.
In my real life I have lost friends. I have lost family that I dearly loved suddenly and without being able to say goodbye. RPGs like ME3 are about escaping reality to a place where you have control and where if you work hard enough and make the right choices you can make everything turn out all right, where the character that becomes an avatar of your emotional investment in that escapist world gets to be happy, even if you do not.

I've loved Bioware since Knights of the Old Republic and I've played Dragon Age(1and2)and ME 1and2 about five times each. I don't think any other single player RPG's stand up to the Bioware makes.
I played through every ending until 4AM with the hope that one of them, just one of them, wouldn't feel hollow and abbreviated. Bioware should think back to Dragon Age: Origins and the end seqeunce of that game. At least if you die in that game you get the little text boxes that tell you how you're decisions had long term impact. You find out what happened to your companions and the people you infulenced, giving you a bittersweet satisfaction.

The end of ME3 just plain old sucks: you die, the Mass Relays get destroyed trapping people apart and destroying the possibility of interaction between civilizations and species that was so key in the series, and to top off all that crapyness, your crew is stuck on some uncivilized planet somewhere. And that freaky weird synthesis option, holy crap man. I get the feeling that was supposed to be the "best" ending, but it just seems like the ultimate loss to me. Preserving synthetic life is one thing (the Geth, EDI) but fusing all forms of life into one... it feels like a loss, and desperately un-Shepard. The other two options at least follow standard renegade vs. paragon ideals. The synthesis thing just feels like the ultimate win for the Crucible Child AI-Thing.

Beyond that, the end sequence of the game doesn't necessarily make sense. I had Kaiden with me in that final assault to the citadel where you wake up half dead with everyone around you dead or dying, yet in the post crash sequence with joker et al. there he is, alive and completely unscathed by the attack that maimed Shepard. That's a continuity glitch if ever I saw one.

I loved ME1 and ME2, I waited desperately for ME3. In fairness, it was an epically great game, with everything coming together from the previous games and the gameplay was great, character interactions were the best I've ever seen, weapon customization, etc. was awesome. But that ending- and let's face it, they're all basically the same- was so depressing and unsatisfying. It had creepy Sci Fi overtones with the Crucible AI and lacked any kind of strategy that many of us were hoping for. The choices we could make for peace and unity between the peoples of the galaxy are utterly invalidated by the three choices at the end and the destruction of the mass relays! All the work, all the effort that goes into an RPG like this to shape the game into the ending that you want on a monumental (galactic in this case) scale...and then we get this awful, awful ending.

I get that this game is about a war, and war is death and sacrifice and pain. We lose Mordin, and Legion in scenes that break our hearts, and planets like Palaven ans Thesia, but this ending is creepy, emotionally devastating and wrong. I loved this series. It had overtones of hope and perseverance through out, it had important moral ideals that you just don't see outside of Science Fiction and RGPs.

I know that the people at Bioware will likely never read any of the postings that we have put on this forum, but it needs to be said anyway:

"Bioware, you have failed us in a fundamental way. You created a beautiful piece of playable art, one that is more emotionally moving that much literature and many films. But you forgot one of the core values you established in the Mass Effect Universe: genuine control. In the end, the world of decisions you created was an illusion, and the game was as linear as the RPG's of the past. You left us with an ending that presented only the illusion of control. You left us only one hollow fate. BE ASHAMED, THEN MAKE IT RIGHT."

 

[synobal]

Meh. Why bother to convince anyone when the majority of people agree judging by bioware's website polls, and the minority that does disagree won't agree in the first place.

Since everyone agrees that the ending was crap, we should as well? Wow, that I don't even know if I could make myself say something like that. I've perfectly valid and logical reasons as to why I think the ending of Mass Effect 3 was fantastically done. How ever since everyone else seems to think it was crap I should abandon my own thought out and reasoned position and instead adopt the opinion of the masses, instead?

I guess that is a different form of 'Mass' Effect eh?

 

[Erttheking]

Buddy, go into Mass Effect 3 and read the codex. It said that during the battle of the Turian homeworld, Turian dreadnoughts were able to destroy several Reaper capital ships, the class of Reaper that SOVEREIGN WAS! And the Turians did that all by themselves. Also I thought that our Prothean weapon was supposed to wipe out all of the Reapers...why couldn't they have just made it so that was EXACTLY what it did?

The weapon wasn't Prothean and no one really understood what it was intended to do.

Also there were a lot of reapers destroying like 4 or 5 doesn't win a war, and it didn't really mention at what cost. Also redesigning alien tech is hard especially when you don't understand what it does.

The point is, the Reapers can be beaten, the combined forces of the Krogans and Turians were able to drive all of the Reapers at the Turian homeworld back, and the capital ships were the heaviest ships that the Reapers had, the bulk of their fleet was made up of much smaller and less powerful destroyers. The point is, the fleet at the end actually had the sheer numbers and firepower to beat the Reapers. And when I said "why couldn't they make it so that was EXACTLY what it does" I was talking about Bioware. Why didn't they make it so that thing just killed the Reapers? Why did we have to pull some stuff about merging or destroying all Mass Relays out of thin air>

It wasn't thin air, in Mass Effect 1 Sovereign throws down huge fore shadowing about the fact that you're going to have to destroy the Mass Relays to defeat them. and in arrival you destroy one to delay them. Also in Mass Effect 1 you have to keep Sovereign from activating the citadel as a Mass Relay, the relays were always super important to defeating or slowing down the reapers every single time.

The Turians never reclaimed Palivan even with the Krogan they fought them and slowed them down and then they had to recall their forces from Palavin to protect the crucible because Palavin was lost unless they did defeat the Reapers.

Yeah, Just Turians and Krogan could slow them down, imagine what the combined forces of Humans, Asari, Salarian, Turian, Volus, Hanar, Elcor, Quarians, Geth and Krogan can do? Also, there's a difference between "blowing up a mass relay that is strategically important to the Reapers" and "destroy all of them just because"

 

[theonecookie]

The problem presented by the Catalyst wasn't the only problem within the series, it was only an explanation for why The Reapers existed.

You're right, it wasn't the only problem within the series, or the most important. So why was it framed as the final, most important decision?

Because solving that problem would lead to a method of solving the other problems.

The galaxy was like a giant clump of strings all tangled together, each string represents a different problem, and while no one string is really more important then the other, there is always inevitable one string in the ball if you pull could cause the others to unravel also.

Being able to stop the reapers allowed for the ability to end galactic civilizations dependance on them and their technology, another one of the problems however is that civilization as it was was so dependent on it that it was impossible to go back.

Civilization had to be destroyed one more time to allow for races to go down thier own path.

I find it extremely funny that you're the only one in this thread that is defending the ending. No one else is. So, here are my thoughts:

1. You're either the most intelligent person that exists on earth, being able to see the deeper meaning of the ending, and see what everyone else can't, that the "deus ex machina" is actually meaningful and insightful.

or 2. You're a bioware fanboy

or finally, 3. You're an idiot.

Excuse me but I'm in here as well thank you.

You can't call it deus ex machina since you spent the entire game gathering fleets to protect this 'weapon' and gathering resources and people to build it. The entire game no one seems to understand what it is or what it will do. It does seem like a weapon (because it is designed to output a lot of energy) but no one is really sure what it is. Its a Plot twist not a Deus Ex Machina. Also there was foreshadowing with regards to what happens so much so that when I got to the end I was like 'oh no you didn't I knew you would and you did! You bastards'

I can personally say I'm not a Bioware fanboy, I was very unhappy with what happened with dragon age 2, so much I didn't bother finishing it.

3 I don't think he is an idiot, I think he is one of the few people who is sufficiently versed enough in story telling and who are willing to resist the knee jerk reaction to such a surprising end with no obvious 'good ending'.

Good fucking grief how can you still be defending this shit , Ok I'll give you something this could be a good ending one two conditions

1: It makes sense in the story. Which it doesn't at this point it come straight outta left field as a magic magufin to save the day with no explanation as to how it works in straight up fantasy this wouldn't be a problem its just magic but this a sci-fi with pages of explanation in how equipment and tech works

2: Its put some where that's not mass effect. the ending its self just doesn't fit with mass effect it changes gear right at the last second to asking deep questions about peoples interaction with technology and how it will destroy them, its more deus ex than mass effect in in essence its some thing like the expendables suddenly switching to blade runner in the last five minuets it clashes so hard

And don't even get me started on the plot holes there big enough to make the titanic blush

So yeah if we fix the plot holes re-wright the story to match the ending we have a good ending right now we have a mess

and you say you know how to tell a story

 

[synobal]

Yeah, Just Turians and Krogan could slow them down, imagine what the combined forces of Humans, Asari, Salarian, Turian, Volus, Hanar, Elcor, Quarians, Geth and Krogan can do? Also, there's a difference between "blowing up a mass relay that is strategically important to the Reapers" and "destroy all of them just because"

It wasn't just because, the say plainly that you have to use the mass relays to propagate the energy through out the entire galaxy. The side effect of this is that the relays are destroyed, which along with the citadel blowing up effectively 'ends' the reapers influence on the technological development of the galactic races.

 

[Sp3ratus]

Meh. Why bother to convince anyone when the majority of people agree judging by bioware's website polls, and the minority that does disagree won't agree in the first place.

Well, if you won't bother with trying to convince people that their opinion is somehow wrong, why are you posting here? Isn't this a discussion, presenting your view of what the ending is to you?

Also, BSN =/= "majority of people". BSN is the place where the most vocal fans post, but you can't say that they represent the majority of ME3 players. There's what, a couple of thousand votes in the polls there out of the 3.5 million copies that have been sold so far. I'm sure there are many people unhappy with the ending who don't post as I'm sure there are many people who are happy with the ending, who don't post either, but there's no way of knowing for sure. It's called "the silent majority" for reason.

 

[synobal]

The problem presented by the Catalyst wasn't the only problem within the series, it was only an explanation for why The Reapers existed.

You're right, it wasn't the only problem within the series, or the most important. So why was it framed as the final, most important decision?

Because solving that problem would lead to a method of solving the other problems.

The galaxy was like a giant clump of strings all tangled together, each string represents a different problem, and while no one string is really more important then the other, there is always inevitable one string in the ball if you pull could cause the others to unravel also.

Being able to stop the reapers allowed for the ability to end galactic civilizations dependance on them and their technology, another one of the problems however is that civilization as it was was so dependent on it that it was impossible to go back.

Civilization had to be destroyed one more time to allow for races to go down thier own path.

I find it extremely funny that you're the only one in this thread that is defending the ending. No one else is. So, here are my thoughts:

1. You're either the most intelligent person that exists on earth, being able to see the deeper meaning of the ending, and see what everyone else can't, that the "deus ex machina" is actually meaningful and insightful.

or 2. You're a bioware fanboy

or finally, 3. You're an idiot.

Excuse me but I'm in here as well thank you.

You can't call it deus ex machina since you spent the entire game gathering fleets to protect this 'weapon' and gathering resources and people to build it. The entire game no one seems to understand what it is or what it will do. It does seem like a weapon (because it is designed to output a lot of energy) but no one is really sure what it is. Its a Plot twist not a Deus Ex Machina. Also there was foreshadowing with regards to what happens so much so that when I got to the end I was like 'oh no you didn't I knew you would and you did! You bastards'

I can personally say I'm not a Bioware fanboy, I was very unhappy with what happened with dragon age 2, so much I didn't bother finishing it.

3 I don't think he is an idiot, I think he is one of the few people who is sufficiently versed enough in story telling and who are willing to resist the knee jerk reaction to such a surprising end with no obvious 'good ending'.

Good fucking grief how can you still be defending this shit , Ok I'll give you something this could be a good ending one two conditions

1: It makes sense in the story. Which it doesn't at this point it come straight outta left field as a magic magufin to save the day with no explanation as to how it works in straight up fantasy this wouldn't be a problem its just magic but this a sci-fi with pages of explanation in how equipment and tech works

2: Its put some where that's not mass effect. the ending its self just doesn't fit with mass effect it changes gear right at the last second to asking deep questions about peoples interaction with technology and how it will destroy them, its more deus ex than mass effect in in essence its some thing like the expendables suddenly switching to blade runner in the last five minuets it clashes so hard

And don't even get me started on the plot holes there big enough to make the titanic blush

So yeah if we fix the plot holes re-wright the story to match the ending we have a good ending right now we have a mess

and you say you know how to tell a story

All three games dealt with Organics vs Synthetics, it wasn't new I don't know why everyone keeps acting like it is. Also Deus Ex dealt with the moral implications of transhumanism not artificial life. Though there are some areas of overlap between the two. The only real difference between the last game and the first two is that they come out very plainly and say its 'organics vs synthetics.'

 

[wgmovies]

what about the new squadmate javik the protean i mean he could with the help of the survivors rebuild some form of civilisation

 

[Deathninja19]

Meh not to me, I mean if the Reapers where trying to save lives why start an invasion using laserbeams when the Collectors where using mainly non-violent means like those stasis bugs, but again I have nothing against those who think the ending was good.

They used collector swarms as well in Mass Effect 3 it is mentioned at least once, and I think the reason they were not used more widely was because Shepherd had developed a defense against them more or less in ME2, plus the destruction of the Collector base (or it being in Cerberus hands) means that their supplies were limited I think.

But that was one method surely the godly Reapers could come up with a million non-violent methods.

All I'm saying is that for me the Reapers would have made much more sense if they were culturally stunted and so harvested other races technology and culture because they lacked the ability to innovate and just used creatures as biomatter to replenish losses. But instead they seemed like a race that watched a rerun of the new Battlestar Galactica and got it in to their heads that all AI was evil despite them being one step away from being true AI themselves. It all seems like Bioware wrote themselves in to a corner and tried to make everything fit in to a simplistic neat little package when in fact they should have just left the Reapers overall plan in the dark.

 

[eventhorizon525]

A good ending leaves you with a feeling of accomplishment, justifying all the time you spent playing to get there. That doesn't mean it has to be happy, sad, dark, simple, whatever. It just means the people have to feel like it was worth it. A very large number of people (I would hesitate a majority of people on forums at least), did not get this from the game. And it wasn't just the initial reaction; people have been angry about this ending since the leaked script.

Personally, some of the ideas behind the ending sound really good and are thought provoking. But the actual execution is so poor that anytime I try to think about it, I get a bitter taste in my mouth. Furthermore, how all the ending cinematic are nearly the exact same save for the color change, and how some previous decisions were basically just glossed over does not support Bioware's decision for the ending particularly well.

The impression I got from this all, was rather then trying to end the story in a way that would at least feel satisfactory, they setup that any ending prepares the world/IP to be reset. They don't have to worry about continuity as much (since all the races were split up, and the time it would take to reconnect everyone there would be a LOT of changes), and thus set the stage for another set of games that benefits from the IP but doesn't have to give even the smallest nod to how this trilogy resolved, or keep the technology remotely the same.

Business wise, this makes perfect sense, and I can't fault them there. But that doesn't change the fact the ending leaves a bitter taste.

 

[Erttheking]

Yeah, Just Turians and Krogan could slow them down, imagine what the combined forces of Humans, Asari, Salarian, Turian, Volus, Hanar, Elcor, Quarians, Geth and Krogan can do? Also, there's a difference between "blowing up a mass relay that is strategically important to the Reapers" and "destroy all of them just because"

It wasn't just because, the say plainly that you have to use the mass relays to propagate the energy through out the entire galaxy. The side effect of this is that the relays are destroyed, which along with the citadel blowing up effectively 'ends' the reapers influence on the technological development of the galactic races.

Which brings me to the root of my problem. Why did it have to destroy the relays? Why couldn't it be enough to kill the Reapers but not destroy the Relays? Why did we have to shoehorn that in? Galactic civilization is destroyed, countless people are stranded away from the rest of their species, the lack of travel and communication will lead to economic collapse, many people starving because they can't get the levo or dextro food that they need because of their location, wars may break out, the Krogan in the galaxy are stuck on the planets that they're on and the Genophage has been cured, so they're going to run out of space REAL fast, and god knows where all the people in orbit above Earth are supposed to go or what they'll eat. Also, the Geth get killed, EDI is dead, I went to the trouble of getting the Quarian homeworld back and now they'll never get to see it again, and Garrus and Tali will probably starve on that planet that they're on.

This ending is chock full of Fridge Horror, this is why I hate it so much, especially when we were promised a definitive happy ending. This is the best ending the game has to offer and it is not happy.

 

[Deathninja19]

Meh not to me, I mean if the Reapers where trying to save lives why start an invasion using laserbeams when the Collectors where using mainly non-violent means like those stasis bugs, but again I have nothing against those who think the ending was good.

Using stasis bugs doesn't remove the advanced civilizations from the galaxy and thus does not prevent them from making synthetics that would eventually destroy all organic life.

Um yeah it would because all of that civilisation would be in your hands/ships and then they could simply glass the planet clearing all the technology and then reseeding the planet for future life. What I just described is exactly what the Reapers are doing except the Mass Effect Reapers are killing billions needlesly.

I mean isn't that what happened to the Protheans otherwise why are there still Prothean relics and ruins around? If the Reapers destroy and collect there would be no Prothean anything left.

 

[theonecookie]

The problem presented by the Catalyst wasn't the only problem within the series, it was only an explanation for why The Reapers existed.

You're right, it wasn't the only problem within the series, or the most important. So why was it framed as the final, most important decision?

Because solving that problem would lead to a method of solving the other problems.

The galaxy was like a giant clump of strings all tangled together, each string represents a different problem, and while no one string is really more important then the other, there is always inevitable one string in the ball if you pull could cause the others to unravel also.

Being able to stop the reapers allowed for the ability to end galactic civilizations dependance on them and their technology, another one of the problems however is that civilization as it was was so dependent on it that it was impossible to go back.

Civilization had to be destroyed one more time to allow for races to go down thier own path.

I find it extremely funny that you're the only one in this thread that is defending the ending. No one else is. So, here are my thoughts:

1. You're either the most intelligent person that exists on earth, being able to see the deeper meaning of the ending, and see what everyone else can't, that the "deus ex machina" is actually meaningful and insightful.

or 2. You're a bioware fanboy

or finally, 3. You're an idiot.

Excuse me but I'm in here as well thank you.

You can't call it deus ex machina since you spent the entire game gathering fleets to protect this 'weapon' and gathering resources and people to build it. The entire game no one seems to understand what it is or what it will do. It does seem like a weapon (because it is designed to output a lot of energy) but no one is really sure what it is. Its a Plot twist not a Deus Ex Machina. Also there was foreshadowing with regards to what happens so much so that when I got to the end I was like 'oh no you didn't I knew you would and you did! You bastards'

I can personally say I'm not a Bioware fanboy, I was very unhappy with what happened with dragon age 2, so much I didn't bother finishing it.

3 I don't think he is an idiot, I think he is one of the few people who is sufficiently versed enough in story telling and who are willing to resist the knee jerk reaction to such a surprising end with no obvious 'good ending'.

Good fucking grief how can you still be defending this shit , Ok I'll give you something this could be a good ending one two conditions

1: It makes sense in the story. Which it doesn't at this point it come straight outta left field as a magic magufin to save the day with no explanation as to how it works in straight up fantasy this wouldn't be a problem its just magic but this a sci-fi with pages of explanation in how equipment and tech works

2: Its put some where that's not mass effect. the ending its self just doesn't fit with mass effect it changes gear right at the last second to asking deep questions about peoples interaction with technology and how it will destroy them, its more deus ex than mass effect in in essence its some thing like the expendables suddenly switching to blade runner in the last five minuets it clashes so hard

And don't even get me started on the plot holes there big enough to make the titanic blush

So yeah if we fix the plot holes re-wright the story to match the ending we have a good ending right now we have a mess

and you say you know how to tell a story

All three games dealt with Organics vs Synthetics, it wasn't new I don't know why everyone keeps acting like it is. Also Deus Ex dealt with the moral implications of transhumanism not artificial life. Though there are some areas of overlap between the two.

Yeah and what have we learned from the times that the game has dealt with it.We learned that organics and inorganics can get along it just needs a bit of work edi legion and the geth prove it just needs a bit of work

the ending just hammers home the point that they can never coexist which is the complete opposite of what the story so far has told again reinforcing the point that this ending belongs somewhere else