The Ending Was Not ME3's Only Problem

[Vault101]

[snip.

yeah, thats a good point....why ask to save earth?

I think the Idea was before other planets got hit...once the crucible came along then I think everyone actually had a plan..and the reapers were focusing on earth (why london anyway?)

[quote/]everybody is holding their own, and even winning in some key locations![/quote]

yeah that did confuse me, I guess the organics could still hold out...plus the protheians were probably better prepared and alot more willing to strategically play with their settlments (as Javik said)

are you talking about the dallatrass? god that pissed me off...thats the problem, she thinks it all be over ina few months

I mean would you rather fight krogan or reapers?...

hmmm,,,if the reapers can controll minds theres got to be some way of detecting life..

 

[Vault101]

As long as you've imported a character from the previous games, or even just from ME2, you can get MORE than enough War Assets without multiplayer. I have over 6500 before I got too antsy and just went to the finale.

while this is mostly true,

Spoiler

if you want the couple second end shot of shepherd taking in a breath

after choosing red, green or blue, you need an EMS > 5000 (4000?). either way that number cannot be reached without participating in the MP game.

fuck that bullshit. MP participation should never impact the SP campaign in any way. period.

is *that thing you mentiond in the spoiler* possible to get with all 3 endings? or just the red one

I thourght it was only possible with red

 

[YuheJi]

Yeah, I thought that Mass Effect 3 had a lot more problems than just the ending. The main quest lines were amazing, and exactly what I expected from the game. But those side quests... Ugh... Outside of a few decent ones (like the Rachni, Victus' son) the side quests were awful.

The N7 missions were just the multiplayer maps, except now you have AI squad mates. The fetch quests were annoying, and untrackable. The "run away from the Reapers" mini game in the map was pretty dumb. And the planet scanning system was just a stripped down version of the planet scanning in Mass Effect 2. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to do the mineral scanning again, but this new planet scanning system just didn't feel complete. It was like they had more planned out, and then cut it. It just feels incomplete!

 

[Goofguy]

...Kasumi had no valid reasons not to join you...

You didn't have the priiiiiiiiiiiize.

Whining about not wanting to go on an other suicide mission does not constitute a valid reason.

 

[Jynthor]

while this is mostly true,

Spoiler

if you want the couple second end shot of shepherd taking in a breath

after choosing red, green or blue, you need an EMS > 5000 (4000?). either way that number cannot be reached without participating in the MP game.

fuck that bullshit. MP participation should never impact the SP campaign in any way. period.

Like I said, I had 6500 war assets and finished the game before I ever touched the multiplayer, so I know for a fact it's 100% possible to beat the game with the required amount of EMS without playing the multiplayer once.

yes it is possible to get the "special" GREEN ending. you cannot get the other part i mentioned without participating in the MP game. and that is bullshit. esp if it impacts future DLCs in some fashion ... which remains to be seen.

And the person you responded to said they got 6500 without touching the multiplayer. Which means it is very possible.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Let's end this once and for all.

You have War Assets and EMS.
On the end of my run(And I did pretty much everything), I had 7500+- WAR ASSETS.
However if you don't play Multiplayer your EMS setting is 50%, which means only HALF of your War Assets count. To get the "perfect" ending you need around 5000 EMS.

Thus is is NOT possible to get the "best" ending WITHOUT Multiplayer.
Yes, I'm done now.

 

[Stalydan]

NO. STOP. SHUT UP.

weve had this exact thread before

ME3 is not perfect...people know this

I'm surprised that people are still saying that it's not perfect two months after its release.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Lots of valid points here.

I have no problem with the multiplayer on its own, I think it's pretty fun. However, forcing players to play it in order to achieve the 'best possible ending' is BS. Did anyone here manage to get 4000+ EMS with a default Galactic Readiness of 50%? Because that would blow my mind.

I managed 3400 with 54% GR,and I had a lot of quests left. It would probably take a while, and you'd need both the Geth and Quarians on your side, but \i think you could do it.

 

[370999]

while this is mostly true,

Spoiler

if you want the couple second end shot of shepherd taking in a breath

after choosing red, green or blue, you need an EMS > 5000 (4000?). either way that number cannot be reached without participating in the MP game.

fuck that bullshit. MP participation should never impact the SP campaign in any way. period.

Like I said, I had 6500 war assets and finished the game before I ever touched the multiplayer, so I know for a fact it's 100% possible to beat the game with the required amount of EMS without playing the multiplayer once. You just have to import a game from at least ME2 to have enough.

6500 is not enough. You need at least 8000 to get the easter egg scene of the gasp. Why? Because Galactic readiness. If you don't play multiplayer it is permanency at 50% meaning your EMS is halved. You need at least 4000.

It can't be done.

Did you use a Gibbed save editior by the way? That does allow you to see the breath without mutliplayer otherwise it is impossible despite what Bioware was saying.

 

[Legion]

I agree with all the points made, there are other problems as well which I would like to add:

Assumptions made on Bioware's part based upon our character. These are things my Shepard feels/believes without Bioware asking for my own input:

Chess is boring.
James Vega is a great soldier.
Liara is my best friend and confidant.
Garrus is my 'bro'.
My Shepard has post-traumatic stress from seeing a nameless child die, while suffering no ill effects for all the other billions of deaths, some of which they experiences far more intimately.
Tactics and strategy do not matter when fighting an advanced alien race bent on your destruction.
My Shepard is a poor dancer, despite never having danced. Ever. Apparently they have, and everybody knows that they are not good at it.

In Mass Effect 1 Bioware made you create your character, they gave very little input into who they were and what made them tick, in Mass Effect 2 they followed this for the most part, but screwed it up by making you unable to openly criticise Cerberus, and forcing you to be friends with Liara regardless of whether you liked her or not (I actually do, but it should be a choice in-game). In Mass Effect 3 they decided to have about 30% of the dialogue decided for you, and the rest of it was a choice of two, normally poor options.

 

[LiquidGrape]

Shepard was never your character, though. It was always BioWare's character over whose psyche you had a tenuous influence.

As for ME3, my biggest problem is how it dolled up such a large portion of its female cast. Ashley, EDI, FemShep...it became excrutiatingly obvious that the leads of the ME team are a bunch of dudebros.
- I'm looking at you, Derek Watts and Casey Hudson.

To the game's credit, it has a largely non-problematic relationship with human *and* alien issues pertaining ethnicity, so I guess that's something.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I wondered aloud, several times, while I was playing ME3 "Hey, guys? What if the crucible doesn't work?". I wondered several variations of that same thought. Nobody seemed to explain where the desperation to rely on such an obvious writing trap was coming from.

"So we've got this crucible... It's powerful enough to knock out the reapers."

"Is that what it does?"

"No one knows for sure what it does."

"Come back when you have an actual idea."

in my game in legit didn't work. it killed everyone in the universe in a total genocide.

I was content with this. Finally peace brought to the galaxy.

 

[wintercoat]

while this is mostly true,

Spoiler

if you want the couple second end shot of shepherd taking in a breath

after choosing red, green or blue, you need an EMS > 5000 (4000?). either way that number cannot be reached without participating in the MP game.

fuck that bullshit. MP participation should never impact the SP campaign in any way. period.

Like I said, I had 6500 war assets and finished the game before I ever touched the multiplayer, so I know for a fact it's 100% possible to beat the game with the required amount of EMS without playing the multiplayer once. You just have to import a game from at least ME2 to have enough.

6500 is not enough. You need at least 8000 to get the easter egg scene of the gasp. Why? Because Galactic readiness. If you don't play multiplayer it is permanency at 50% meaning your EMS is halved. You need at least 4000.

It can't be done.

Did you use a Gibbed save editior by the way? That does allow you to see the breath without mutliplayer otherwise it is impossible despite what Bioware was saying.

Actually, it is possible to get 8000 War Assets without multiplayer. Only problem is, you have to play in a very specific way throughout all three games, including completing all of the DLC for 1+2. So yeah, it's completely possible...unless, y'know, you want to actually play the game the way you want. Then fuck you, buy our DLC!

 

[johnnnny guitar]

yeah the game had alot of problems easily the worst in the series still good but the worst they took it in the gears of war route I mean look at the stuff the've removed it's just rushed or down right lazy I can't believe more people aren't bringing this up I can think of plenty off the top of my head.
> Why is dialog now 2 trees 50% of the time and is choosen for you 75% of the time
> Why are there less squad mates
> Why is the film grain and gun holster gone (don't try to tell me "there wasn't enough RAM")
> Why does the game cut major "gameplay" and "story" sections apart instead of the 1st and 2nds game model of several hub worlds with shooty missions and talky storys working together
> Why are the side missions basicly gone okay there's about what 10 side missions in ME3 but what happend with the first and second games and side missions structure granted ME1's were cookie-cutter but ME2 was a step in the right direction in terms of side quest structure with dozens of them and some having a different gameplay or objective feature thrown in.
> Of course manditory ending sucks plotholes everywhere why oh why didn't you stick to the element zero script that was great and explained the fucking stupid "skeletor" reaper at the end of ME2

So yeah couple of thing I though of in about 5 minutes I'm sure I could think of more but some people are saying we shouldn't say what we didn't like in the "product" that we bought.

 

[JamesStone]

It's still a Brilliant game.

1. It's just 4 bloody seconds of cut-scene you miss out on.
2-5. Didn't notice.
6. You were dead for 2 years, then jumped into bed with Cerberus (with a bit of force), there's been no need to mention this.
7. Didn't notice, still got lots of dialog and development from all characters.
8. You've defeated the collectors, so I assume the swarms go with them. The Reapers cut though to the home-world of nearly every major race, they're hardly less powerful than Bioware lead us to believe.

Seriously, find something else to do, get a hobby, this level of nit-picking is quite pathetic.

´

NO. STOP. SHUT UP.

I don't care if you liked the ending.

I don't care if you didn't like it.

And I ESPECIALLY don't care that *you* don't care about the above two opinions. (You know who you are, meta-complainers of the world.)

Now then, here are the main reasons that ME3 (while still being a good game all things considered) does not deserve to be rated as objectively perfect:

1. "Galactic Readiness"

This whole concept is basically the gaming equivalent of a ham-fisted segue.

"And now, MULTIPLAYER!"

I *think* the reasoning behind putting this gobshite into the game was to try and incentivise people who were only interested in player single player into giving the multi player a shot. Now, I consider it a social faux-pas for a layperson to tell a professional how to do his job, but this clearly needs to be said:

EA, when your player base has no interest in a mechanic you're planning on adding to a game you're in the process of developing, the solution is not to coerce them into playing it. The solution is *to not fucking add the mechanic to the game*. If that's not an option? Keep it segregated from the rest of the experience. If the MP can stand up on it's own two legs? Wonderful. If not, then at least you didn't give anyone the impression of having their arm twisted to do shit they didn't wanna do.

2. The Quest Tracking

Anyone who's actually played the game can tell you what a nightmarish clusterfuck the quest menu in ME3 is. See the Angryjoe review on youtube if you want more explanation/some pretty visuals.

3. Invisible Characters

This is a pretty common graphics glitch. I'd need the use of both hands and feet to count the number of times I was catapulted from any sense of immersion by a quick chat with The Hollow Man.

4. Fuglyface Imports

If you've spent some time on the BSN, you can probably name about 12 different threads in which 1000s of people with custom Shepard faces complain that upon import into ME3 their character appears to have suffered botched plastic surgery. And if the screenshots are any indication, the problem is far from solved.

5. The Rachni

Again, putting aside the ending, the consequences of choosing to save/kill the Queen in ME1 where nowhere near as profound as advertised. Basically the choice amounts to 1 model being reskinned, and a different modulator being used to voice it.

6. "The Crucible"

Hey, a secret Prothean weapons plan archived on Mars! Why it wasn't mentioned until now? Liara? Garrus? Dr. Chakwas? Huh, I guess we'll never know...

7. Writers Playing Favorites With Squadmates

Mass Effect 1 had a relatively small party that wanted for diversity. Mass Effect 2 had a huge cast of wildly different squadmates. What's more, you had the option of gaining their loyalty by spending time with/on them- or just ignoring them completely! It seemed like we were gonna have even more control over our squad's composition in the final installment... and then it came out. Here's the rundown: Garrus & Liara are your best friends and confidants, the Virmire survivor is back, Tali shows up eventually, EDI is your tech expert... and some white guy who got run over by a tequila bootlegger is your muscle. Everyone else is sidelined, regardless of prior choice. Including your potential love interests.

Oh, and I can still call bullshit on Javik/day 1 DLC because it's got fuck all to do with the games conclusion. Javik is the ONLY interesting new addition to the crew, and he costs 10 bucks.

8. So... if The Collectors had technology that could instantly seek out an immobilize entire populations...

Why the hell did it take *THE REAPERS* -y'know, the hyper-advanced biotechnological monstrosities that built a system of interstellar FTL relays- an entire game to round up and crush the human resistance?

Seriously, I want this explained. The Illusive Man himself bangs on about how powerful/advanced The Reapers are...

"LOOK WHAT THEY CAN DO!"

So someone explain to me how guerilla tactics designed to baffle squads of human soldiers with guns held them in check for *WEEKS*. (And remember, Earth had no outside support. They were 1 planet completely cut off and overrun by the bulk of The Reaper fleet for the entire duration of the game.)

8. - Actually, they use the Collector Swarms. If you read the Codex, in the "Fall of X" (Don't remember which) after you complete a certain mission, you'll read they are using collector swarms. But there are very few remaining, so they don't use them much. And the counter-attack in Palaven (I think it's after the Genophage cure mission) destroyed them (it's also in the codex)

Although the OP has many points were he is right, mainly the Multiplayer. I mean, if you gained Gallactic Readiness at a slow rate by completing non-priority missions, then it would be justified to have the MP to serve as a suplementary tool to help you get GRP faster. As it is it's just a way to keep people in their servers.

But the ending was by far the worse part in an otherwise brilliant, even if flawed game, because it lacked depth, it was shallow, and completely, and totally, contrary to the whole Mass Effect theme.
Thank God I have my special strategy. I'm replacing bit by bit, day by day, the memories of the ending and replacing them with a modified Indocrination theory created by some guy. Now my Shepard can have the ending he worked for, not some rushed out POS.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

Can someone tell me what the ending is exactly? Since I'm never going to play ME 3 I figure I might as well find out what the ending is

 

[JamesStone]

while this is mostly true,

Spoiler

if you want the couple second end shot of shepherd taking in a breath

after choosing red, green or blue, you need an EMS > 5000 (4000?). either way that number cannot be reached without participating in the MP game.

fuck that bullshit. MP participation should never impact the SP campaign in any way. period.

Like I said, I had 6500 war assets and finished the game before I ever touched the multiplayer, so I know for a fact it's 100% possible to beat the game with the required amount of EMS without playing the multiplayer once.

yes it is possible to get the "special" GREEN ending. you cannot get the other part i mentioned without participating in the MP game. and that is bullshit. esp if it impacts future DLCs in some fashion ... which remains to be seen.

And the person you responded to said they got 6500 without touching the multiplayer. Which means it is very possible.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Let's end this once and for all.

You have War Assets and EMS.
On the end of my run(And I did pretty much everything), I had 7500+- WAR ASSETS.
However if you don't play Multiplayer your EMS setting is 50%, which means only HALF of your War Assets count. To get the "perfect" ending you need around 5000 EMS.

Thus is is NOT possible to get the "best" ending WITHOUT Multiplayer.
Yes, I'm done now.

It is. The total is 10000 EMS spread by the 3 games. To get the "cliffhanger still a Piece of shit" ending without touching the MP, you need to do every quest, do every decision to benefit the Final battle, and not play on the PS3, because then Kirrahe, Ranna Greenface, Conrad Venrer and other side quest characters are gone, because ME2 doesn't recognize them as existant, and they give GRP. It's impossibly hard, but it is somewhat possible, even if completely unfunny and rage-worty.

 

[AD-Stu]

Then Jacob, I can not believe they did that. Despite all the flack that guy got, there were a minority of fans that loved that character and passed up all the other romances for him only to find out near the end of the game he couldn't wait and had moved on. The nice guy, the down to earth, none angsty romancable guy gets turned into an cheating ass reminiscent of his own father that he spoke out so strongly against.

I actually really like what they did with Jacob - for once, just for once, something gets to happen in the universe without Shepard's say-so. His story makes sense, he had no idea if he was even going to see Shepard again. I can see how the two people who actually liked the character probably feel short changed, but the truth is that most of the romance options from ME2 got short changed...

 

[370999]

while this is mostly true,

Spoiler

if you want the couple second end shot of shepherd taking in a breath

after choosing red, green or blue, you need an EMS > 5000 (4000?). either way that number cannot be reached without participating in the MP game.

fuck that bullshit. MP participation should never impact the SP campaign in any way. period.

Like I said, I had 6500 war assets and finished the game before I ever touched the multiplayer, so I know for a fact it's 100% possible to beat the game with the required amount of EMS without playing the multiplayer once. You just have to import a game from at least ME2 to have enough.

6500 is not enough. You need at least 8000 to get the easter egg scene of the gasp. Why? Because Galactic readiness. If you don't play multiplayer it is permanency at 50% meaning your EMS is halved. You need at least 4000.

It can't be done.

Did you use a Gibbed save editior by the way? That does allow you to see the breath without mutliplayer otherwise it is impossible despite what Bioware was saying.

Actually, it is possible to get 8000 War Assets without multiplayer. Only problem is, you have to play in a very specific way throughout all three games, including completing all of the DLC for 1+2. So yeah, it's completely possible...unless, y'know, you want to actually play the game the way you want. Then fuck you, buy our DLC!

Can your prove it. Because from everything I've seen you can't. There is much then 8k War Assets in the game but and this is a crucial one, they aren't all mutually inclusive. So again it's impossible. I will be glad if I'm wrong but sadly I don't think I am.