Mass Effect 3 Arrival

Bioware/EA PR team sent THIS out. Basically twisting fan contempt into "oh the fans love it" by assosiating the fan outrage with awesome reviews.



This is what should have been in that picture.

I finally got around to finishing the game -- started late as I was doing a new playthrough of the first two games first -- and I've gotta say...I don't agree with the rage.

I see where people wanted their choices have a bigger "impact" on the ending; I can see where people would be dissapointed a bit on that angle.

But the pure rage is just...I can't comprehend it.

I enjoyed it. It didn't put a little pretty bow on the ending the way I might have liked, but hopefully the upcoming additions will do that. But even so...still thought it was decent.

And no ending is going to negate 120 hours of quality gameplay. Not for me, anyhow.

Edit: My bigger complaint is the multiplayer angle. It's not supposed to matter as pertains to the actual game, but pretty much everything I've seen them put out post-release has been Multiplayer-oriented. That pisses me off way more than any ending could have.

You may not like what they've done, but you have to admit two things: 1) they're not lying and 2) if it wasn't a game so many liked -- or a series that everyone liked -- there wouldn't be this huge fan reaction.

They're marketing their product. It's a business. It's what they do.

We may not like that they twist the "art/story/enjoyment" side of it to sell more product, or spin fan reaction to suit their needs, but that's no different from any other form of arm, entertainment or media out there.

Edit: Also, at work, so I can't see your submitted "what it should have been" image. Sorry if that makes me take this out of context. But likely not.

The ending doesnt make any sense whatsoever. You are either willing to ignore the plot holes and inconsistencies or you are HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE. Those are your two options. The advert spinning fan contempt to link it with amazing critic reviews is just insulting to the now disenfranchised fanbase.

Now I'm gonna ask you one question. "What exactly did you enjoy about the ending?"

Most people dont get back to me with this or simply come back with an insult (sadly).

Someone put the ending of Mass Effect 3 in pretty simple terms:


For the ending of this series I was expecting something more than the half-baked and silly ending that we got. A hologram kid shows up, tells me I have to make a decision and that's that? What the hell?

There was no final battle with Harbinger or TIM.
Shepard just accepts what this 'lord of the Reapers' gives him as a choice. A stupid choice to say the least given the events of the game.
The Normandy and your comrades somehow go from Earth to past Pluto inside the relay and crash land on a strange planet completely breaking their attitudes towards Shepard. What exactly was Joker doing? Why weren't they helping in the Reaper offensive on Earth?
The Relays all blow up completely destroying the Mass Effect galaxy no matter what you do.
The endings are basically pallet swaps of each other.
A series that builds itself on relationships strangely doesn't bow tie the fate of your comrades be that good or bad.

Look, I wasn't expecting something epic but I did want some resolution I did not get. Some people were looking for a happy ending (Paragons), some people were looking for a heroic sacrifice (Renegades), others were looking for a Reapers win scenario and still others just wanted to know what happens to Tali, Garrus, EDI, Joker, Traynor, James, Liara among others once the game concluded.

How you make such a great game and botch the ending the way it was is just baffling.

Guess I'm HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE, then. And apparently no one here has ever watched and enjoyed a single anime film or series -- or Star Wars, or Star Trek, pretty much any action or sci fi film ever produced in Hollywood, not to mentiont 90% of the literature out there -- because they're all just as bad with the "plot holes."

What did I like about the ending? Well, at least the ending I got to see Earth saved, the Reaper cycle was broken and it appears a good portion of the people I was trying to save through three games were saved. Ushered in a new era of organic and synthetic co-existance. Went down as a legend.

I thought it was fun.

It wasn't "best ending ever!" But I still haven't come across that in all my years of fiction -- be it movies, games, books, whatever. If I came across it, everything else I ever saw/read/played would be a giant dissapointment, I bet. But it wasn't as god damn terrible as everyone makes it out to be.

Games are an art. Like music, movies, books, whatever. Are you always going to like it? No. And sometmes, your favorite author/studio/group is going to put out a product you just don't like. Sometimes a lot of people will agree with you.

But you take out of it what you take out of it.

But thanks for labeling me as mentally deficient because I enjoyed something you didn't. That's good, solid internet logic there. Keep it up, sport!

I've already conceded I would have liked to have seen a bit more companion/species fallout, but I'm ok with a DA:O type ending attached to what's already there.

I'm not couching it as the ideal ending for the series I'd have liked to have seen, but I think the rage has been disproportionately out of line with what's warranted.

I said "You are either willing to ignore the plot holes and inconsistencies or you are HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE."

The citadel exploded. The devs said that "everyone on it died". They then backtracked after continued pressure from the fan base from "everyone died" to "oh they lived! there are kinetic barriers and stuff like that to keep the atmosphere in! there are survivors"!

The mass relays exploded. According to ARRIVAL DLC. An exploding relay causes damage on scale of that of a supernova. Unless the relay explosions were "different" - then everyone in every system with a relay was wiped out. This would mean that only civilisations who are based in systems without relays would survive.

Everyone starves. Asuming that the explosion did not destroy solar systems - you are looking at the combined fleet of the galaxy parked outside earth orbit. Turians and Quarians might struggle for food. The Earth would probobly not be in any position to look after such a massive population at least for a few years.

AI kid. You walk into a room where this unknown character was just thrown into the mix. He tells you that he created and controls the reapers. He then tells you that they kill organics every 50000 so that organics do not get wiped out COMPLETELY by synthetics, because synthetics will ultimately destroy all organic life... apart from the reapers... who dont wipe out ALL organic life... so his entire premise is contradictory. This is overlooking the fact that you can unify the Quarian and the Geth.

Walk into Hitlers Bunker and Hitler say "The only way to stop the cycle of world wars is to either Control the Nazi's, Merge all life with Nazi's Or destroy the nazis. No matter what you choose though - all aeroplanes and cars are destroyed."

Would you stand and listen to him? Would you reason with him? Would you attack him? In ME3 you are given this scenario but you arnt able to argue against his point of view OR tell him to screw himself.

This is a direct comparison and the crazy thing is that it is ACCURATE.

Where is my option to tell Hitler AI kid to f**k off?

Your choices through the game arnt even relevant at the final moments. All your decisions are made into a "score" that determines whether you get access to ending A,B or C and whether you get ending A1, A2, A3, or B1, B2 or C. Its insulting to have all your decisions through three games count for NOTHING. You cant even argue with the damn kid.

The Normandy flying away. Why would Joker abandon Shepard and leave the fight which supposedly was going to determine the fate of the entire galaxy? This isnt explained whatsoever. You are just given a clip of him flying away from the explosion. Not to mention that the smiling faces that exit the Normandy are more often than not your Love Interest and one of the members who were with you when you ran at the beam. They magically ran away from the beam and got onto the Normandy with no explantion when they were originally right beside you when you get hit by Harbingers beam.

You arnt given ANY closure on what happened to your allies. Apart from those stranded on the Normandy on an alien planet you get no hint as to their fate. Those on the Normandy are going to have a few stores of food yes. But the eco-system of that planet is going to be either Amino or Dextro based. Meaning that when the food on the Normandy runs out - either the dextros or humans and the like are going to starve to death.

The "best" case scenario is that The billions on the citadel survived the Citadel's violent dismemberment as well as (more likely than not) invading hostile Reaper Forces. Should the relays not completely destroy the solar systems of the galaxy - you can look forwards to trips that will take years unless new faster FTL drives are developed or the Mass Relays are rebuilt somehow. The victory fleet around earth and the earth survivors will most likely starve to death or fight amongst themselves for resources unless they figure out a way to provide food for the crews.

There is more but It's depressing thinking about the "good" ending.

Dont get me started on how horrific the synthesis ending is.

I guess I fall into the former, then. I just don't care. I'm not the kind of person who ceases to enjoy something because there are some plot holes.

Like I said. If plot holes infuriate you so much, I don't know how you stand to consume ANY fictitious media, especially in sci fi and fantasy genres.

I dont generally care - but ME is an interactive experience. One that Ive spent the last 5 years and hundreds of hours PERSONALLY crafting my story.

You dont get that with a movie or tv series.

The problem isn't plotholes by itself moreso that these are HUGE plotholes you're talking about here that are incongruent with the rest of the story.

Why is Joker running from the fight? We just went through a long series of scenes (on the Normandy, in London) where Joker and the crew say they're with Shepard to the end, that they want to kick Reaper *** and then suddenly they're leaving the Sol system without him? What?

It also doesn't make sense that Shepard is listening to a Reaper VI unless you bring in indoctrination theory which is at best a band-aid to excuse the poor ending of the series. Shep saw what listening to Reapers did for Saren and TIM yet suddenly he's willing to make one of 3 choices a Reaper has imposed simply because this VI says that organics and synthetics cannot co-exist? I guess EDI and the Geth don't count.

It doesn't make sense and the story seems incomplete.

Ya i enjoyed the game and the ending. only thing i would of liked more is if i could see how everyone was doing a few years after i killed the reapers.

The relays not killing the solar systems i get... its not hard to say that they needed to distribute the energy to "kill" "control" or "Synthesize" everything so they used the relays to do that. and in the process the relays had no energy and were considered "Destroyed". I honestly think that the people who didnt like the ending just didnt play the game enough to learn about everything and just rushed through it. either that or they cant comprehend it.

I thought it was fine.

Indoctrination Theory can explain the lackluster ending - but it will only work if they are making post ME3 content - which they said they arnt going to do.

This means that the end is just terrible writing.

We will know more when the Extended Cut comes out.. but if it doesnt deliver then there will be hell to pay. EA stocks are already low as it is - and they are getting worse and worse as time goes on.

Are you f*****g kidding me?



People out there a LOT smarter than you or I have put their heads together and tore the ME3 ending to shreds.

Here are a few videos. I wont link you the massive 1-10 page articles.











If you are happy with the ending then YOU dont comprehend it.

I understand what you're saying. I really do. It makes sense and being upset is understandable. But I don't know. Maybe I'm too used to having to deal with what my favorite games and movies/series have thrown at me through the years. I used to find endings like these unsatisfying. I've just kinda gotten over it.

The best example I can give is Cowboy Bebop. The series ended with like six thousand little things the characters could have done differently to make it end "happier." But they didn't.

I was mad for a while and then just came to feel that hey. That's the artistic vision, whether I like it or not.

I've learned to take what I like away from things and let them lay otherwise. Plot holes and all.

Xel you got the quotes wrong.

and you fixed it xD.

and no im not kidding... the game is based on ***that isnt real.. if you're going to complain about small plot holes then fine. but at least i can look back at my Mass effect experience and be happy...

That's the ultimate indicator, isn't it?

I guess I'm just easy to please in this regard. I'm ok with it the way it is. But if I get an even better experience...why not?

I just have better things to lose my sh*t over these days.

Ive seen the videos. you didnt need to waste half a page on them. links work just as well.

What's there to know? The relays are gone, the fleet left over Earth will likely starve to death (Turians, Quarians, Krogan), synthetics possibly eradicated (so much for the Geth) and interstellar economy has been decimated or Shep has merely mindraped everyone into cyborgs or whatever the Reapers felt was a synergy of organic and synthetic life.

Your crew on the Normandy are doing their version of Gilligan's Island on a random planet and the galaxy as we know it is screwed up big time thanks to your actions. The 'solution' was merely one step better than being turned into a Husk.

'Hackett out' indeed.

See this is what i mean by you guys didnt play the whole game and learn about the universe.

All those ships "most" have the ability to fly to different solar systems. the Alliance dreadnaught can fly across them in a couple months.

there were most likely heavy losses anyways. who knows how many are alive.

Also the alliance dreadnaught isnt even the fastest ship. quarians and turians have better ships. they will all be fine.

They didnt need the mass relays but it made traveling a lot faster...

This is why film and games tend to stagnate. Inaction, and people not holding developers that have proven they can do better accountable for feeding us ***.

I'm sorry, but when you take a step back, and compare the amazing Tuchanka Sequence, and then the Priority: Earth II Sequence, you have to ask if Bioware even made the latter.

So basically what you're saying is you've become used to shitty endings therefore this is normal and to be expected? Yeah, how about expecting something other than drivel in an ending to a 3 part series that prided itself on storytelling? If this was a mindless popcorn flick then I'd expect something that makes very little sense but that's not what Mass Effect marketed itself as.

Bioware and EA hyped this thing up to all hell and in the end they failed to deliver on the ending and should hear about it. Many things were handled well (like Mordin) or the events on Rannoch but the ending? No, just no.

You realize the reasons Mass Relays were so important was that it'd take months to centuries to cover the distances Shepard does in the Mass Effect series at normal FTL speeds right?

*** EA, they have a debt of blood that needs to be repaid since they killed Command & Conquer.

It seems like everything EA touches goes through the same process.

1.Small, talented individuals create a popular game
2. EA Buys out potential threat. "All of the original talent, plus the backing of a megacorp".
3. Release one good game (in this case C&C Generals) under the banner.
4. Gut the talent of the company and put the franchise in the hands of minimum-paid fresh-out-of-school *** with no love for the source.
5. ???
6. Profit!

Bioware is just the newest etching on an ever expanding memorial.

Ya i get that. so that means that until they make their own crazy awesome way to transport like they did with the relays they have to do it old school. months at a time. it doesnt mean they will all die and starve.

I just wanted to say... that i somehow misread "Megacorp" and Magicarp.... xD

If you actually understand the limitations of Mass Effect FTL, it's actually impossible to travel beyond a cluster without the Relays.

The two most notable restrictions are drive-core saturation, and hydrogen-oxygen fusion torch fuel. You essentially need planetoids or jovian gas giant planets to discharge the core's static, and ice to crack for deuterium.

The Quarians in particular are ***. Their homeworld is on the trailing end of the Perseus Arm, some 24,000 Light Years away from Earth.

Because the Turians, Quarians and Krogan have unlimited food stores? They're all likely dead before they manage to get back to their homeworlds if you look at the distance between the Sol system and the respective systems of those species.

The galaxy is going to be screwed for centuries at the least because even if they manage to rebuild a relay system you'd have to put one door in your system and then travel months to centuries in a direction to plant the other door and establish a link.

Galactic politics is pretty much finished, commerce has been decimated and the Mass Effect universe is severely damaged unless you picked to control the Reapers which goes against everything Shepard has ever stood for.

If you control the reapers you can just have them rebuild the relays. if you destroy them then im sure they will figure out how to make the relays again. but it doesnt matter.

All the quarians and turians and krogans have to do is stop at planets on their way home to replenish their food stores.

krogans dont live far away and neither do the turians.. the asari have alonger travel distance. but they can still make it even if it takes them years to get back to their home planets "Which are still populated btw"

And yes it is possible at least in the ME universe to travel from solar system to solar system because thats how the reapers where able to get to earth....

Again, EA just wanted the "Mass Effect" Name reset, so they could molest it in various ways. The next title in Mass Effect is just going to be a generic fps or gears-of-war clone with Turians instead of Locust.

It's almost like that *** they're doing with Battleship. All they want is the name, they don't care about anything else, because that brand recognition alone is going to generate sales.


You grossly underestimate the scale of the Galaxy. I'd try to explain it to you, but if you can't understand why "Replenishing provisions" isn't really possible, there's no words I could use to quantify the size and vastness of the galaxy.