ME3 End: Do you agree with the Reapers?

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Acton Hank

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Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Kopikatsu said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Casual Shinji said:
What the game actually presented us as the Reapers' motivation was so lackluster and flat, that I don't even deem it worthy of discussing whether or not I agreed with it. It was fucking stupid, and it never should've been there in the first place.
If the explanation had been as simple as "we are the top of the food chain and we harvest organic civilizations to reproduce" that would have made sense, so why they decided to go in that direction is beyond my ability to comprehend.
They spent the first two games saying that the Reaper's goals are incomprehensible.

Most people can't comprehend the Reaper's goals. Bioware went meta.
No, I comprehend that the reaper's goals don't make a lick of sense.
They may not make sense to you, but they do to me. If you factor in that the Reapers as a whole are flawed.
Synthetics kill organics so some god child invented other synthetics to kill organics before organics invent synthetics that kill organics.
Very sensical and well thought out.
You already know it's not as simple as that. This thread has some good discussion about the Reapers motivation. It's more nuanced than that simple sentence. It just seems like you've already made up your mind.
No, that's exactly what the catalyst said.
Undeniable fact.
 

BloatedGuppy

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Nimcha said:
Well, judging by this reaction you don't want to see it. That's fine, you know. It just means I won't have to bother trying to explain.
Well, that's one way of approaching things I suppose. Instead of Burden of Proof, we can just have "Burden of Suspension of Disbelief". Something doesn't make sense? It's your fault, for not being open minded enough.
 

Nimcha

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BloatedGuppy said:
Nimcha said:
Well, judging by this reaction you don't want to see it. That's fine, you know. It just means I won't have to bother trying to explain.
Well, that's one way of approaching things I suppose. Instead of Burden of Proof, we can just have "Burden of Suspension of Disbelief". Something doesn't make sense? It's your fault, for not being open minded enough.
I could answer the rest of your original questions if you want. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot.
 

lapan

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Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Kopikatsu said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Casual Shinji said:
What the game actually presented us as the Reapers' motivation was so lackluster and flat, that I don't even deem it worthy of discussing whether or not I agreed with it. It was fucking stupid, and it never should've been there in the first place.
If the explanation had been as simple as "we are the top of the food chain and we harvest organic civilizations to reproduce" that would have made sense, so why they decided to go in that direction is beyond my ability to comprehend.
They spent the first two games saying that the Reaper's goals are incomprehensible.

Most people can't comprehend the Reaper's goals. Bioware went meta.
No, I comprehend that the reaper's goals don't make a lick of sense.
They may not make sense to you, but they do to me. If you factor in that the Reapers as a whole are flawed.
Synthetics kill organics so some god child invented other synthetics to kill organics before organics invent synthetics that kill organics.
Very sensical and well thought out.
You already know it's not as simple as that. This thread has some good discussion about the Reapers motivation. It's more nuanced than that simple sentence. It just seems like you've already made up your mind.
Why should we believe the starchild? What makes it better than the other AIs? If all AI are bound to betray organics as he says, who says he doesn't betray us? Why are we forced to accept a short explanation at the very end of the game without having any option to question his goals?
 

BloatedGuppy

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Nimcha said:
I could answer the rest of your original questions if you want. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot.
You can if you want. I actually appreciate the degree of rationalization that goes into trying to make sense of some of this. I do want it made clear, though, that I think what you and Sajuuk are doing here is a form of fan fiction. And that's not me trying to denigrate it, it's me saying that all of this is speculation and hypotheses, because the game's writers didn't feel it was necessary to include sufficient information/motivation for any of it to make sense without the player/viewer/reader filling in a lot of blanks with their imagination. I ADMIRE your imagination. But I don't think it excuses poor/rushed/sloppy storytelling.
 

For.I.Am.Mad

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The 'everything will be bad no matter what' argument is a cowards argument. So no I don't agree.

Welp, it's gonna be bad no matter what we do(cuz we said so) so let's murder everything to save them. That. Doesn't. Make. Sense.
 

Nimcha

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lapan said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Kopikatsu said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Casual Shinji said:
What the game actually presented us as the Reapers' motivation was so lackluster and flat, that I don't even deem it worthy of discussing whether or not I agreed with it. It was fucking stupid, and it never should've been there in the first place.
If the explanation had been as simple as "we are the top of the food chain and we harvest organic civilizations to reproduce" that would have made sense, so why they decided to go in that direction is beyond my ability to comprehend.
They spent the first two games saying that the Reaper's goals are incomprehensible.

Most people can't comprehend the Reaper's goals. Bioware went meta.
No, I comprehend that the reaper's goals don't make a lick of sense.
They may not make sense to you, but they do to me. If you factor in that the Reapers as a whole are flawed.
Synthetics kill organics so some god child invented other synthetics to kill organics before organics invent synthetics that kill organics.
Very sensical and well thought out.
You already know it's not as simple as that. This thread has some good discussion about the Reapers motivation. It's more nuanced than that simple sentence. It just seems like you've already made up your mind.
Why should we believe the starchild? What makes it better than the other AIs? If all AI are bound to betray organics as he says, who says he doesn't betray us? Why are we forced to accept a short explanation at the very end of the game without having any option to question his goals?
Alright, so you don't believe the Catalyst. The Reapers destroy galactic civilization and the cycle continues. Do you think that would be a better ending?
 

Acton Hank

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Nimcha said:
lapan said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Kopikatsu said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Casual Shinji said:
What the game actually presented us as the Reapers' motivation was so lackluster and flat, that I don't even deem it worthy of discussing whether or not I agreed with it. It was fucking stupid, and it never should've been there in the first place.
If the explanation had been as simple as "we are the top of the food chain and we harvest organic civilizations to reproduce" that would have made sense, so why they decided to go in that direction is beyond my ability to comprehend.
They spent the first two games saying that the Reaper's goals are incomprehensible.

Most people can't comprehend the Reaper's goals. Bioware went meta.
No, I comprehend that the reaper's goals don't make a lick of sense.
They may not make sense to you, but they do to me. If you factor in that the Reapers as a whole are flawed.
Synthetics kill organics so some god child invented other synthetics to kill organics before organics invent synthetics that kill organics.
Very sensical and well thought out.
You already know it's not as simple as that. This thread has some good discussion about the Reapers motivation. It's more nuanced than that simple sentence. It just seems like you've already made up your mind.
Why should we believe the starchild? What makes it better than the other AIs? If all AI are bound to betray organics as he says, who says he doesn't betray us? Why are we forced to accept a short explanation at the very end of the game without having any option to question his goals?
Alright, so you don't believe the Catalyst. The Reapers destroy galactic civilization and the cycle continues. Do you think that would be a better ending?
I think it would be more poignant and make more sense to just let everybody die and let the next cycle take their chances.
 

Nimcha

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BloatedGuppy said:
Nimcha said:
I could answer the rest of your original questions if you want. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot.
You can if you want. I actually appreciate the degree of rationalization that goes into trying to make sense of some of this. I do want it made clear, though, that I think what you and Sajuuk are doing here is a form of fan fiction. And that's not me trying to denigrate it, it's me saying that all of this is speculation and hypotheses, because the game's writers didn't feel it was necessary to include sufficient information/motivation for any of it to make sense without the player/viewer/reader filling in a lot of blanks with their imagination. I ADMIRE your imagination. But I don't think it excuses poor/rushed/sloppy storytelling.
Well, I'd like to think this is what the writers intended when they said they wanted to ending to create discussion. I try to fill in as many gaps as possible with knowledge from the actual game universe, and for me most of it then makes sense.

I've dealt with open endings before, and I don't think it's necessarily poor, rushed or sloppy. Though in this instance there are still some things not readily explainable (the Normandy sequence mostly).

Other than that, the biggest reason I don't have a big problem with this ending is that it allows people to continue thinking about the universe they themselves more or less shaped with their Shepard. The universe and story set it in that I created by playing my Shepard is most likely vastly different from yours, even though the biggest difference boils down to one big choice between three options.
 

lapan

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Nimcha said:
lapan said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Kopikatsu said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Casual Shinji said:
What the game actually presented us as the Reapers' motivation was so lackluster and flat, that I don't even deem it worthy of discussing whether or not I agreed with it. It was fucking stupid, and it never should've been there in the first place.
If the explanation had been as simple as "we are the top of the food chain and we harvest organic civilizations to reproduce" that would have made sense, so why they decided to go in that direction is beyond my ability to comprehend.
They spent the first two games saying that the Reaper's goals are incomprehensible.

Most people can't comprehend the Reaper's goals. Bioware went meta.
No, I comprehend that the reaper's goals don't make a lick of sense.
They may not make sense to you, but they do to me. If you factor in that the Reapers as a whole are flawed.
Synthetics kill organics so some god child invented other synthetics to kill organics before organics invent synthetics that kill organics.
Very sensical and well thought out.
You already know it's not as simple as that. This thread has some good discussion about the Reapers motivation. It's more nuanced than that simple sentence. It just seems like you've already made up your mind.
Why should we believe the starchild? What makes it better than the other AIs? If all AI are bound to betray organics as he says, who says he doesn't betray us? Why are we forced to accept a short explanation at the very end of the game without having any option to question his goals?
Alright, so you don't believe the Catalyst. The Reapers destroy galactic civilization and the cycle continues. Do you think that would be a better ending?
I'm saying that the whole explanation of the starchild is flawed. To many informations are withheld and we are forced to suddenly believe an entirely new character. We don't know what consequences our choices have and for all we know we might just have doomed everything we fought for anyways. It's an incomplete ending, based on a flawed character with a paradoxical motive.
 

Nimcha

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ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
lapan said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Kopikatsu said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Casual Shinji said:
What the game actually presented us as the Reapers' motivation was so lackluster and flat, that I don't even deem it worthy of discussing whether or not I agreed with it. It was fucking stupid, and it never should've been there in the first place.
If the explanation had been as simple as "we are the top of the food chain and we harvest organic civilizations to reproduce" that would have made sense, so why they decided to go in that direction is beyond my ability to comprehend.
They spent the first two games saying that the Reaper's goals are incomprehensible.

Most people can't comprehend the Reaper's goals. Bioware went meta.
No, I comprehend that the reaper's goals don't make a lick of sense.
They may not make sense to you, but they do to me. If you factor in that the Reapers as a whole are flawed.
Synthetics kill organics so some god child invented other synthetics to kill organics before organics invent synthetics that kill organics.
Very sensical and well thought out.
You already know it's not as simple as that. This thread has some good discussion about the Reapers motivation. It's more nuanced than that simple sentence. It just seems like you've already made up your mind.
Why should we believe the starchild? What makes it better than the other AIs? If all AI are bound to betray organics as he says, who says he doesn't betray us? Why are we forced to accept a short explanation at the very end of the game without having any option to question his goals?
Alright, so you don't believe the Catalyst. The Reapers destroy galactic civilization and the cycle continues. Do you think that would be a better ending?
I think it would be more poignant and make more sense to just let everybody die and let the next cycle take their chances.
Then there would be even less consquence to your actions. And people already feel that's the case. Looking at the reactions, that ending would've gotten just as bad a reception.
 

Nimcha

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lapan said:
Nimcha said:
lapan said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Kopikatsu said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Casual Shinji said:
What the game actually presented us as the Reapers' motivation was so lackluster and flat, that I don't even deem it worthy of discussing whether or not I agreed with it. It was fucking stupid, and it never should've been there in the first place.
If the explanation had been as simple as "we are the top of the food chain and we harvest organic civilizations to reproduce" that would have made sense, so why they decided to go in that direction is beyond my ability to comprehend.
They spent the first two games saying that the Reaper's goals are incomprehensible.

Most people can't comprehend the Reaper's goals. Bioware went meta.
No, I comprehend that the reaper's goals don't make a lick of sense.
They may not make sense to you, but they do to me. If you factor in that the Reapers as a whole are flawed.
Synthetics kill organics so some god child invented other synthetics to kill organics before organics invent synthetics that kill organics.
Very sensical and well thought out.
You already know it's not as simple as that. This thread has some good discussion about the Reapers motivation. It's more nuanced than that simple sentence. It just seems like you've already made up your mind.
Why should we believe the starchild? What makes it better than the other AIs? If all AI are bound to betray organics as he says, who says he doesn't betray us? Why are we forced to accept a short explanation at the very end of the game without having any option to question his goals?
Alright, so you don't believe the Catalyst. The Reapers destroy galactic civilization and the cycle continues. Do you think that would be a better ending?
I'm saying that the whole explanation of the starchild is flawed. To many informations are withheld and we are forced to suddenly believe an entirely new character. We don't know what consequences our choices have and for all we know we might just have doomed everything we fought for anyways.
That's... pretty much the point of all the games in the series. If you already knew what consequences your choices would have, what's the point in providing a choice at all? Take the rachni queen. Saving her could possibly doom the entire galaxy to a new rachni invasion. You don't know. That's what makes a choice relevant.

In fact, I'd go so far as in saying the Catalyst provides you with a lot more information than the aforementioned rachni queen. The Catalyst explains what happens after each choice.
 

For.I.Am.Mad

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God, I'm getting annoyed again. You do all that build up, for what? Some fucking Neon Genesis bullshit.
 

BloatedGuppy

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Nimcha said:
Well, I'd like to think this is what the writers intended when they said they wanted to ending to create discussion. I try to fill in as many gaps as possible with knowledge from the actual game universe, and for me most of it then makes sense.
I hear that, but I don't think this was a particularly positive form of speculation, and the fairly high level of community outrage would seem to support that. There are lots of ways to set up compelling cliff hangers or plot points to power speculation without doing what was done. I especially don't want to have to speculate about why characters are suddenly exhibiting bizarre/inexplicable behavior or why people are coming back from the dead. That's speculation I could do without. And I don't want to have to speculate about whether or not the Space Child was an unreliable narrator. If you're going to have an unreliable narrator or a red herring, you really need a reveal at some point.

Nimcha said:
I've dealt with open endings before, and I don't think it's necessarily poor, rushed or sloppy. Though in this instance there are still some things not readily explainable (the Normandy sequence mostly).
No, I know you don't. We're in disagreement about that, but it's okay. People are free to love what they love, and if you love the ending, it's not my place to tell you you're wrong for doing so. I wish I could love the ending. I've loved a lot of controversial endings. This one really burned me, and the more I've debated it, the more I've tried to rationalize it, the more I've combed over what they've given us, the more irritated I've become.
 

The Heik

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Jfswift said:
**Spoiler** discussion topic for the antagonist of ME3.

So, knowing now what the Reapers and Catalyst's goals were, do you agree with them? That's it's necessary to wipe out all advanced civilization every 50,000 years?

I don't care for the Reapers myself as their existence seems to be based on a fear, although, still I can understand their mission at least. Without them, who's to say another more powerful organic/inorganic race could take over and/or cause greater problems for everyone in the galaxy?
Do I agree with the villain?

Not one single bit. The logic the Reapers had of organics and synthetics duking it out to the death is silly to the utmost, because not only does it completely ignore the fact that A)synthetics and organics can work together for a common goal (A point so clear that it actually exists in the game) but B) that all organics fight each other. It's called life. We're hardwired to drive towards our goals, and outdo our potential competitors, which may sometimes lead to conflict. It's unfortunate, but it happens. However, if you've ever looked at history, I can say with pretty good surety that we as a species have never wiped ours selves out. This is because our desire to live is one of those instincts that drive us more than any other. The only way to succeed is to ensure that we don't get ourselves killed, and mutually-assured destruction serves no one's survival instinct. Even synthetic life, considering the electronic nature of them, will have some sort of aversion to being dead in one form or another, so even they would want to prevent their destruction. If organics and sythetics go to war, both sides would sue for peace if the they felt that the war would end in their extinction, so the Reapers have committed mass genocide for eons because their leader is a twit who can't figure out something that any sentience being knows intrinsically.

Honestly, fuck that ending.
 

Acton Hank

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Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
lapan said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Nimcha said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Kopikatsu said:
ChrisRedfield92 said:
Casual Shinji said:
What the game actually presented us as the Reapers' motivation was so lackluster and flat, that I don't even deem it worthy of discussing whether or not I agreed with it. It was fucking stupid, and it never should've been there in the first place.
If the explanation had been as simple as "we are the top of the food chain and we harvest organic civilizations to reproduce" that would have made sense, so why they decided to go in that direction is beyond my ability to comprehend.
They spent the first two games saying that the Reaper's goals are incomprehensible.

Most people can't comprehend the Reaper's goals. Bioware went meta.
No, I comprehend that the reaper's goals don't make a lick of sense.
They may not make sense to you, but they do to me. If you factor in that the Reapers as a whole are flawed.
Synthetics kill organics so some god child invented other synthetics to kill organics before organics invent synthetics that kill organics.
Very sensical and well thought out.
You already know it's not as simple as that. This thread has some good discussion about the Reapers motivation. It's more nuanced than that simple sentence. It just seems like you've already made up your mind.
Why should we believe the starchild? What makes it better than the other AIs? If all AI are bound to betray organics as he says, who says he doesn't betray us? Why are we forced to accept a short explanation at the very end of the game without having any option to question his goals?
Alright, so you don't believe the Catalyst. The Reapers destroy galactic civilization and the cycle continues. Do you think that would be a better ending?
I think it would be more poignant and make more sense to just let everybody die and let the next cycle take their chances.
Then there would be even less consquence to your actions. And people already feel that's the case. Looking at the reactions, that ending would've gotten just as bad a reception.
Yeah, but if I had to choose between everybody dying and this, I would have killed off everybody. At least it wouldn't have created plot holes and left people with a million questions.

I the writers wanted speculation from the audience, then they left way too many things open ended for anyone to get much satisfaction.

And to me having the audience speculate what happens after the end of the third chapter in the trilogy is just a lazy cop out. And in this case it's not even a well told or well thought out lazy cop out.
 

tendaji

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey1cCgdgOEw (I can't get the youtube linking to work >.<)

Javik says it really well.

But just because there is a peace between Geth and Quarians right now doesn't mean they won't grow and try to wipe out Organics further down the line. As well as Humanity has also been toying with AI systems, so what if that goes rogue and builds a massive amount of creatures that wipes out anything and everything because humanity decided not to follow Council regulations?

To me, the Reaper's Ideas make completely logical sense, if they had wiped out all synthetics and left all organics left, how long would it take for the organics to rebuild the synthetics all over again? And the entire process was pointless to complete.
Now wiping out the organics what know how to create synthetics removes any knowledge that could recreate synthetics for a large number of years, (Say up to 50,000).
 

BloatedGuppy

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tendaji said:
Now wiping out the organics what know how to create synthetics removes any knowledge that could recreate synthetics for a large number of years, (Say up to 50,000).
You're ascribing a bizarre motivation to the Reapers here, though. "How long would it take", and "This way they get a 50,000 year break". Are the Reapers just looking to maximize their vacation time? Who cares how long it takes? Just fly around blowing up new synthetic factories on a daily basis if you need to. It's not like the Reapers would realistically be heading back out into Deep Space before getting a call and thinking "Aw man...more synthetics? This sucks! We gotta find a way to get a longer break".

As for Javik, Javik is not presented to us as an objective observer. How is Javik's view of the universe and his particular brand of fatalism any more compelling or truthful than anyone else's?
 

Acton Hank

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tendaji said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey1cCgdgOEw (I can't get the youtube linking to work >.<)

Javik says it really well.

But just because there is a peace between Geth and Quarians right now doesn't mean they won't grow and try to wipe out Organics further down the line. As well as Humanity has also been toying with AI systems, so what if that goes rogue and builds a massive amount of creatures that wipes out anything and everything because humanity decided not to follow Council regulations?

To me, the Reaper's Ideas make completely logical sense, if they had wiped out all synthetics and left all organics left, how long would it take for the organics to rebuild the synthetics all over again? And the entire process was pointless to complete.
Now wiping out the organics what know how to create synthetics removes any knowledge that could recreate synthetics for a large number of years, (Say up to 50,000).
But they don't know for sure, so basically they are killing trillions and trillions of people on a hunch, doesn't that seem a little silly to you?