The Mass Effect 3 Breakdown (spoilers)

[Andy Shandy]

So today, during the Mass Effect retrospective panel, Bioware released some interesting stats about how people have played Mass Effect 3.

First of all...

[HEADING=1] How could 3.8% of you shoot Mordin!? [/HEADING]

Anyway one stat that interested me was that Vega, of all people, was the third most popular squad member. Whilst didn't surprise me at all that Liara and Garrus were one and two respectively, I never thought someone I'd always thought that he was one of the least popular people would beat out someone seen as a fan favourite, like Tali.

A couple that didn't surprise me at all were the soldier coming out on top as the most used class and about two-thirds of people playing Paragon Shep.

So how do you stack up against these stats? Are you, like me, one of the 4% that completed it on Insanity? Were you Male or Fem Shep? And are you one of the heartless bastards that killed Mordin?!

 

[ReadyAmyFire]

64% of people never meeting Wrex is surprising. A lot of people must have just jumped into the series late.

I haven't completed it on insanity, female Shepherd, naturally. And of course I didn't kill Mordin. I miss him so.

 

[shrekfan246]

As of right now, I stack up like so:
- Cured the Genophage
- Met Wrex
- Have not completed on Insanity yet
- Have earned "Long Service" Medal
- Have not achieved 100% Readiness
- Male Shepard once, Female Shepard once
- Saved both
- I'm not sure what the "survival rate" is supposed to mean?
- Most popular squad mates were Garrus, Liara, and Tali
- Let Garrus win the first time, didn't the second
- How could I shoot Mordin? That's just evil. D:
- Soldier and Adept, Paragon both times.

I'm not sure if I could do a Renegade run, really. I still haven't even managed to finish Mass Effect 2 with a Renegade Shepard, it just feels wrong.

 

[Tom_green_day]

The video they released alongside it is actually really touching, or I'm going soft. They've wrapped up the trilogy, then polished it, put a bow on it, set it in cement and dropped it into the ocean. No way they are milking that trilogy any more.

 

[Raikas]

Only 35.5% Renegade? What fun is that?

So how do you stack up against these stats? Are you, like me, one of the 4% that completed it on Insanity? Were you Male or Fem Shep? And are you one of the heartless bastards that killed Mordin?!

Yup, I'm one of the 3.8% who shot Mordin! *insert evil laugh here* Only in 2 out of 7 games though.

It always kills me that Engineer and Adept are the least popular classes - those are my favourites! And the low popularity for Tali and Kaidan - if they hadn't been unavailable for the first third of the game I would have used them for everything(aside from my original game where I'd saved Ashley, of course). Unpopular choices=me, apparently (alhtough 6/7 of my games are maleShep, so I'm with the marjority on that one at least).

64% of people never meeting Wrex is surprising. A lot of people must have just jumped into the series late.

Prior to the Genesis comic, everyone who started ME2 without an import had a dead-Wrex scenario, and when they released numbers after ME2, I think fewer than half had played the first one, so that makes sense to me.

 

[Hades]

Those poor 64%, they really missed something in Wrex.

Can't believe Vega of all people is that popular. Meh.

 

[GiantRaven]

At what point can Liara/Vega die? I don't remember any situation like that.

 

[hazabaza1]

How the ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuck did nearly half these people play as soldier? It's so dull!

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Man, people really don't like Kaidan.

At what point can Liara/Vega die? I don't remember any situation like that.

Don't know either? Maybe they get killed by Harbingers shots during the final charge if your EMS is really low?

 

[soren7550]

The survival rate one has me a bit confused. I mean, what do they mean about that? How often they get shot down in battle? Killed by Harbinger during the run for the beam if your EMS is too low? If it's the first, then how the hell is Kaidan ranked so low? He's the second tank! And why isn't he more popular?

Anyway, for me the stats are:

- 40 hours or so for the single player for my playthrough (I think)
- Cured the genophage
- Wrex was my bro
- I think I achieved 100% galactic readiness
- Did not beat ME3 (or ME2 for that matter) on insanity
- Got the Long Service medal (if you didn't in your first playthrough then you're playing wrong)
- Again, don't get what they mean by survival rate
- Of the squaddies, Kaidan is my fave.
- FemShep
- Saved both
- Didn't shoot Mordin
- Let Garrus win
- Soldier
- Killed less than 5,000 enemies total (single and multiplayer both)
- Paragon

 

[NewYork_Comedian]

Keep in mind that the reason Kaiden is so unpopular is because the vast majority of players are male, and chances are if you are male that means you let Ashley live (or if you're ps3 you didn't even have a choice in the matter).

Speaking of, I'm shocked at the percentages for the maleshep:femshep ratio. I mean, I knew that male Shepard was going to be more popular, but only 18% for female Shepard? Really???

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Vega seems to only be unpopular on this site. I've talked to a lot of people who loved him. I'm surprised Tali is so low--oh, wait, no I'm not. You get her when you're over half way done with the game! I hate it when developers do this. They did the same thing with Legion. Grrr. Give me all my squadmates within the first few hours please! I want to use them.

As for everything else:

Insanity yes
No one dies, EVER! I refuse to let that happen, unless it's scripted.
Liara is my favorite, and whoever I feel like at the time.
Met Wrex
Saved both races
Cured Genophage
Max readiness
Garrus always wins
Paragon all the way, all playthroughs
First Infiltrator, then Engineer
Always play as Female Shepard (can't stand the male voice)
Always pick Ashley because she has a family that will miss her, so Kaiden always dies.

 

[CityofTreez]

I hated how they made me half the game to get Tali and Legion.

You would think for a series that relied so heavily on player relations, they would make the majority of squad mates available pretty quickly.

 

[Raikas]

Always pick Ashley because she has a family that will miss her, so Kaiden always dies.

Heh, I've heard a lot of the standard reasons for picking the same VS (Kaidan is boring/whines, Ashley is racist/bitchy) but this is the first time I've heard this one! I don't really get it, since they both talk about their families, but interesting reason!

Man, people really don't like Kaidan.

At what point can Liara/Vega die? I don't remember any situation like that.

Don't know either? Maybe they get killed by Harbingers shots during the final charge if your EMS is really low?

That's true, they do. Still surprising to see the difference between Vega and Liara - although I guess that's down to the difference in their popularity (which I assume means how often people use them).

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

This just proves that the target audience for ME3 weren't ME fans and RPG fans, but rather CoD fans. Why else would SO MANY players not meet Wrex and play with soldier class? There's nothing wrong with soldier class, don't get me wrong. But look at the statistics. If it didn't include casual shooter crowd you can bet the statistical difference between soldier and other classes wouldn't be that great.

 

[Raikas]

This just proves that the target audience for ME3 weren't ME fans and RPG fans, but rather CoD fans. Why else would so many people play not meet Wrex and play with soldier class?

Eh, I think that's actually lower than it was for ME and ME2 - wasn't it a full 50% soldier the last time they released the numbers? I think that's squarely on the shoulders of people being lazy and just going with the default rather than sitting there and thinking "This will make the game closer to CoD".

And again: you don't meet Wrex if you play the "numerous" dead option for a new game in 3, or if you played a pre-Genesis non-import in 2.

 

[norashepard]

I just wish they would tell us who the most popular romance was once and for all. I know it's probably Tali judging by the sheer amount of people who have said so but I can still hope that Traynor and her toothbrush will shine through.

Stats because people are doing that.

- Like a billion hours across a great many playthroughs (around 300 for my me3 playthroughs)
- Cured the genophage every time
- Met Wrex, and used him in every mission in Citadel.
- Got 100% readiness before I ever started the main story because I just didn't want it to end.
- Beat all three on Insanity as Inflitrator and Engineer.
- Long service? Try FOREVER. I think I have like, at least a month of playtime across all 3.
- I think survival rate means how much they die in combat? Insanity makes sure they do.
- My favorite squadmate in 3 was probably Javik the Sass Master or EDI.
- Female Shepard on all finished playthroughs. Tried a dudeshep once in 2, quit before even getting Mordin.
- Saved both. I don't know how you can't unless you try.
- Didn't shoot Mordin, but did cry twelve rivers.
- Let Garrus win every time, but one where I felt bad and reloaded.
- My killcount currently is like 27000
- Saved Ashley because I didn't want Kirrahe (spelling?) to die and she was with him. Kaiden reminded me too much of Carth anyway.
- Paragon, and I have a renegade shepard too, but I just can't bring myself to finish it.
- AND BECAUSE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STAT: I romanced Traynor and I don't even care what you think she is the best one. Thane is 2nd. Garrus 3rd. And if Wrex, Grunt, or Zaeed had been options, well, panties on the floor.

Edit: Everyone seems completely confused at Vega's popularity, and I would like to say that, other than is combat effectiveness, I did like him a lot. He added quite a bit of stupid humor, and is just a silly guy to look at anyway. Plus I like his voice, and his conversations with other party members are hilarious. So it is possible to think he's cool!

 

[excalipoor]

Holy crap, only 4% completed the game on Insanity? That makes me feel all kinds of special.

Played as a male paragon infiltrator, and saved pretty much everyone ever. Except Ashley. She died on Virmire. That aside, I'm a veritable space Jesus.

 

[AD-Stu]

LOL - that puts me in a few minorities then. I finished the game on Insanity with an Engineer (though I've also had Soldier and Infiltrator playthroughs). FWIW my first playthrough on all three games has been with a Soldier, and I'm definitely not one of the CoD fanboy crowd.

Tali's relative unpopularity doesn't necessarily surprise me with the changes they made to the gameplay. They made tech/biotic combos a huge part of the gameplay in ME3, and Tali's really not much help with them. Also her previous strengths (fighting synthetics) are negated by the fact that you only do a few missions against synthetic enemies. So I'd read that as an indictment against her usefulness in combat rather than how well 'liked' the character is.

Only problem with that theory is it does nothing to explain Vega's popularity...