Mass Effect 3 update

[Qwyjibo]

I'm going into the last missions now I think. Just had my space sex with Ashley. I'm pretty sure I did every single side quest possible. Every system explored to 100% and every single damn fetch quest crossed off the list.

[Qwyjibo]

MAJOR SPOILERS.








I think the theory of Shepard hallucinating after getting hit by Harbinger is actually somewhat reasonable. Everything after that point just seemed so...wrong. I can't really explain it, but the last 10 minutes of the game didn't even fit in with the ME universe, which leads me to believe it might have been a hallucination.

This is a really good theory I read online:

1. The endgame scenario is Indoctrination/Manipulation from the Reapers (Harbinger) trying to force you into choosing to let the Reapers live. Shepard is not awake during the final sceens!

2. Choosing to control the Reapers allows them to live. Reapers win. They will still exist.

3. Choosing to combine organic and synthetic life: Reapers win. They will still exist.

4. Choosing to destroy all synthetic life: Reapers loose. Shepard lives. Reapers die.

5. Choosing to destroy all synthetic life option is more Renegade in appearence. Controlling the Reapers is more Paragon in appearence. The Illusive Man's choice should not be Paragon colors, just as Anderson's choice should not be Renegade.

6. Shepard awakes at the end of destroying Reapers. But Shepard is not awaking from the aftermath. He is awaking from either after he is hit by Harbingers lazer attack on Earth or after the scene with Anderson and the Illusive Man.

7. Stating that all sythetic life will be destroyed will give you pause; destroying the Geth can force you to a different conclusion. This choice exists for the illusion of choice; the other choices are ment to sound better.

8. Shepard does not awake in the other 2 "endings" because you are fully indoctrinated by the choices you made to allow the Reapers to win. "Assuming Control!"

9. Never trust any child construct, be it a ghost or artificial intelligence, or heck even human. They are just creepy.

10. Shepard awakes at the end because he has broken hold of the Reaper's control.

I completely agree with most of that. I found that "child" to be a fail-safe of sorts for the Reapers. One last shot to convince you into sparing them. I'm glad I chose the destruction ending and that's how my Shepard's story will end.

I actually liked the ending overall. It's a bit simple in terms of the "child" summarizing everything and presenting an obvious choice but it still worked in terms of heavy impact to an epic story.

[El Kabong]

Posted by Casey Hudson about the ending.

There’s been a lot of discussion and debate about the conclusion of Mass Effect 3, so I thought I’d share my *perspective with you here. I’ll avoid outright spoilers, but I’d still recommend finishing the game and experiencing it for yourself before reading this.*

For the last eight years, Mass Effect* has been a labor of love for our team; love for the characters we’ve created, for the medium of video games, and for the fans that have supported us.* For us and for you, Mass Effect 3 had to live up to a lot of expectations, not only for a great gaming experience, but for a resolution to the countless storylines and decisions you’ve made as a player since the journey began in 2007. So we designed Mass Effect 3 to be a series of endings to key plots and storylines, each culminating in scenes that show you the consequences of your actions.* You then carry the knowledge of these consequences with you as you complete the final moments of your journey.

We always intended that the scale of the conflict and the underlying theme of sacrifice would lead to a bittersweet ending—to do otherwise would betray the agonizing decisions Shepard had to make along the way.* Still, we wanted to give players the chance to experience an inspiring and uplifting ending; in a story where you face a hopeless struggle for basic survival, we see the final moments and imagery as offering victory and hope in the context of sacrifice and reflection.

We've had some incredibly positive reactions to Mass Effect 3, from the New York Times declaring it “a gripping, coherent triumph”, to Penny Arcade calling it “an amazing accomplishment”, to emails and tweets from players who have given us the most profound words of appreciation we've ever received.**

But we also recognize that some of our most passionate fans needed more closure, more answers, and more time to say goodbye to their stories—and these comments are equally valid. Player feedback such as this has always been an essential ingredient in the development of the series.

I am extremely proud of what this team has accomplished, from the first art concepts for the Mass Effect universe to the final moments of Mass Effect 3.* But we didn't do it on our own.* Over the course of the series, Mass Effect has been a shared experience between the development team and our fans—not just a shared experience in playing the games, but in designing and developing them.* An outpouring of love for Garrus and Tali led to their inclusion as love interests in Mass Effect 2.* A request for deeper RPG systems led to key design changes in Mass Effect 3.* Your feedback has always mattered.* Mass Effect is a collaboration between developers and players, and we continue to listen.

So where do we go from here? Throughout the next year, we will support Mass Effect 3 by working on new* content.* And we’ll keep listening, because your insights and constructive feedback will help determine what that content should be. This is not the last you’ll hear of Commander Shepard.*

We look forward to your continued support and involvement as we work together to shape the remaining experiences in the story of the Mass Effect trilogy.

Thanks for taking this journey with us.
*
Casey Hudson

[Brujesino]

[QUOTE] This weekend marks the first "N7 Challenge Weekend" for Mass Effect 3 players. Galaxy at War players that play between Friday 3/16 and Monday 3/19 will have the opportunity to earn rewards to be used in Shepard's war against the Reaper onslaught.

Here's what you'll earn and the rules for participating in "Operation Goliath":

Any player who is part of a squad that beats the Reaper faction on Silver difficulty or better will unlock one Commendation Pack. This means that at least one member of the squad must be extracted at the end of the mission

[Rose]

I think reapers on silver is the only one that my group can't beat on silver, we get to 8 sometimes 9 and then it goes to shit.

[Brujesino]

I think reapers on silver is the only one that my group can't beat on silver, we get to 8 sometimes 9 and then it goes to shit.

Ive only tried on bronze but ya when i use my BF3 soldier i can get up to level 9 but can never get past that.I started trying to level up a human Sentinel and i cant get past wave 5.

[Heavincent]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv-8241ZK-8



The indoctrination theory is starting to make more and more sense to me.

[El Kabong]

Ive only tried on bronze but ya when i use my BF3 soldier i can get up to level 9 but can never get past that.I started trying to level up a human Sentinel and i cant get past wave 5.

I got to 30 seconds left in the LZ, but we got overrun. Freaking hard.

[Clippersfan86]

I'm going into the last missions now I think. Just had my space sex with Ashley. I'm pretty sure I did every single side quest possible. Every system explored to 100% and every single damn fetch quest crossed off the list.

Play time? Mine was like 33 or 34 hours for full completion minus a couple quests I didn't qualify for due to Tali/Kasumi dying on my ME2 file.

[Qwyjibo]

Play time? Mine was like 33 or 34 hours for full completion minus a couple quests I didn't qualify for due to Tali/Kasumi dying on my ME2 file.

I just checked and yea, almost exactly the same. 33h 58m.

[LJJ]

I'm going to go start a relaxed ME2-3 run through right now to see how the stories play out on Renegade.

[Rose]

Did the silver last night twice. Here's a couple tips:

Choose the map with the satellite dishes in the background, mostly because if you have a sniper or two in your group they can take out ALOT of the troops before they get to you. And there's only three ways in But usually they just come in one of the hallways the whole time rarely both, and never the backdoor.

Second tip use the character (I think it's salarian engineer) the one that makes a clone of itself, to distract a banshee. Place it in the middle of the hallway and the banshee NEVER moves past that point because it tries to kill that thing. So it makes sooooo much easier.

Third: there's a pistol mod(it may be on other guns not sure) that helps penetrate armor, that thing kills brutes fast especially with my favorite gun in the game the Phalanx, but it works well in general. Equip that with incediary ammo and the brutes go down fast.

[The Macho Man]

The indoctrination ending makes sense to me. I think they may have planned on having a dlc ending (knowing people would pay for it) but I don't think they anticipated the negative reaction and thought it would be more of a surprise. Now people seem to be expecting one. I don't have a problem with the ending as is really, it just didn't feel like the actual ending.

I look forward to whatever dlc they have though. Mass Effect 2 had real tight dlc.

[El Kabong]

Did the silver last night twice. Here's a couple tips:

Choose the map with the satellite dishes in the background, mostly because if you have a sniper or two in your group they can take out ALOT of the troops before they get to you. And there's only three ways in But usually they just come in one of the hallways the whole time rarely both, and never the backdoor.

Second tip use the character (I think it's salarian engineer) the one that makes a clone of itself, to distract a banshee. Place it in the middle of the hallway and the banshee NEVER moves past that point because it tries to kill that thing. So it makes sooooo much easier.

Third: there's a pistol mod(it may be on other guns not sure) that helps penetrate armor, that thing kills brutes fast especially with my favorite gun in the game the Phalanx, but it works well in general. Equip that with incediary ammo and the brutes go down fast.

That's my favourite too. I kept getting the Cerberus base, which is probably the worst one as there's very little cover and it's all closed in so you can't really hide and snipe people off like in that base you mentioned.

[nightprowler10]

Am I the only one who didn't hate the ending? I thought it was quite good. Too much stock being put into how a game ends tbh, ME3 on the whole kicked ass anyway.