Mass Effect 3's morality decisions (possible SPOILERS)

[DD Commander]

As I have completed Mass Effect 3, hated the ending, etcetera, etcetera, I have found something peculiar. In almost every single morality ACTION, most egregiously in the Geth-Quarian battle, whereas you pick who dies, unless you played Mass Effect 2, and I saw that the decision would be obvious. "Well the geth kind of kicked out the Quarians, so morals state that the Geth must die!

My problem is that the game idiotically baits for a hard decision. It's going to be obvious when...ATTACK THE DREADNOUGHT! That line instantly makes the decision "harder", by making the Quarians dicks. This stuck with me because it felt like a last ditch effort to make an obvious decision harder.

Were all games in the series like this? Does this happen in other games?

 

[Nimcha]

The point is that while it may have been clear cut to you, I reached a different conclusion.

 

[Loop Stricken]

... "Well the geth kind of kicked out the Quarians, so morals state that the Geth must die!

Really?

Sorry, were you not paying attention when the quarians attempted to commit genocide against an emerging sapient species?
The geth only ever acted in self-defence, except for those who went to follow the Reapers, but they were attacking ALL organics, not just quarians.

 

[Goofguy]

Except for the Heretics, the Geth's 'evil actions' were pretty much entirely in self-defense. They were defending themselves when the Quarians attempted to eradicate them; at the end of the Morning War, the Geth did not pursue the fleeing Quarians. Then centuries later, the Quarians attack the Geth again in order to regain their lost home world.

That being said, the Geth aren't perfect. As mentioned, the Heretics were enemies to Shepard throughout the trilogy and in ME3, the Geth as a race turned to the Reapers in their hour of desperation.

On the other side, the Quarians are portrayed in a pretty bad light. Again, they tried to eliminate the Geth when asked "does this unit have a soul?". They have two gung-ho Admirals both vying for war with the Geth for different reasons. They attack the Geth on the eve of the Reaper invasion thus wasting precious resources and time that could be used to address the much bigger threat.

However, you are given plenty of opportunities to see the Quarians' worth. Strong and loyal characters like Tali and Kal'Reegar show that they aren't all dicks. It is also mentioned that the Civilian Fleet never wanted war with the Geth but participated because they support their Admiral and, of course, their people.

So no, it's not as cut and dry as you may think.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

... "Well the geth kind of kicked out the Quarians, so morals state that the Geth must die!

Really?

Sorry, were you not paying attention when the quarians attempted to commit genocide against an emerging sapient species?
The geth only ever acted in self-defence, except for those who went to follow the Reapers, but they were attacking ALL organics, not just quarians.

This. Ever since Legion showed up in ME2, presenting a more peaceful side to the Geth, and offering the truth of what really happened in the Morning War there's been a strong case to side with the Geth (Hell, even in ME1, where all the Geth you met were trying to kill you, you could still argue with Tali in conversations that the Quarians had no right to try and destroy a whole species just to cover up their little 'mistake'). Not forgetting that apart from Tali and a few of the minor ones, the Quarians do not do a great job of being all that sympathetic. Yeah, being forced into exile from your own planet, than being treated like vagrants by the rest of the Galaxy must suck, but damn some of them could really use a smack *coughAdmiralX'encough*. It certainly wasn't just a knee-jerk transition in ME3.

What was more of a knee-kerk transition was the character of Admiral Koris. In ME2 he is, to be blunt, a total arse, and that's coming from someone who agreed completely with his views on the Geth.

Yes, his stance on the Geth was admirable, but that didn't stop him from being a pompous, scheming bastard who did everything he could to prevent Tali from getting a fair trial. Not cool man. However, when ME3 rolls around he's suddenly all selfless and courageous, sacrificing his own ship to save the fleet, then offering to sacrifice his life to save his crew. It didn't stop me from sympathising with him so I won't berate Bioware too much for it, but I couldn't help but notice the sudden role reversal.

 

[DD Commander]

I haven't actually played ME2, so the Geth had no real fleshed-out parts. I plan to get it shortly, so I guess my views would be changed. Funny, I ended up saving the Geth, just because of that dick move.

Thanks for the viewpoints. Sorry for the mix-up.

 

[DoPo]

I find it really funny that you criticised something so harshly when you actually didn't know enough. That would be a perfect summation of the reason for a lot of real world conflicts. And not only real world.

 

[WanderingFool]

What was more of a knee-kerk transition was the character of Admiral Koris. In ME2 he is, to be blunt, a total arse, and that's coming from someone who agreed completely with his views on the Geth.

Yes, his stance on the Geth was admirable, but that didn't stop him from being a pompous, scheming bastard who did everything he could to prevent Tali from getting a fair trial. Not cool man. However, when ME3 rolls around he's suddenly all selfless and courageous, sacrificing his own ship to save the fleet, then offering to sacrifice his life to save his crew. It didn't stop me from sympathising with him so I won't berate Bioware too much for it, but I couldn't help but notice the sudden role reversal.

???

What?

Are we talking about the admiral for the Heavy fleet or the Civilian fleet? Cause I remember Koris being more sympathetic to Tali.

*looks up on ME wiki*

Well... shit... you're right. Wow... I guess I need to finish that one ME2 playthrough...