Mass Effect series discussion

[ballin4life]

If the IT theory was real this is what would happen:

Spoiler

The game would end without a resolution. Or, there would a whole section afterwards that you would only get if you had a high EMS and picked destroy, which would make that element of choice pointless as the other 2 endings aren't real. Upon getting it everything would play out near identical, Shepard would still be injured, TIM would have to be resolved and so would the Crucible. Now what to do with TIM? Make the 2nd biggest antagonist in the series get a quick anti-climactic end, or give him yet another 10 minute long scene.

Whatever the case you would basically be playing out everything you already did a few minutes ago, and then you'd end up at the Crucible. What does it do this time? Well most people seem to stumble when asked this, but the general wants are it to be a massive laser, which I assume means every Reaper would have to get in single file directly infront of it, or some sort of pulse that disables the Reapers weapons, shields and indoctrination tech. In otherwords a slow version of the destroy ending.

So if it were real you'd either have to leave everything unresolved or get a high EMS and pick destroy, replay everything again with slight differences, then pick destroy again. That's not a better ending, if people complained about their choices not mattering then they'll complain even louder once they realise they're getting railroaded into choosing one ending.

presumably the brilliant writers at bioware who wrote things like the Rannoch plotline and the Tuchanka plotline (which have tons of resolutions that vary greatly depending on your choices, both prior to and during the mission) could come up with something.

see, in those, there is in some sense only one ending - somehow the conflict is resolved and shepard gains the allegiance of a group. what gives the sense of multiple endings is HOW that conflict gets resolved. you could have the ending be "destroy the reapers" but have it play out many different ways depending on your choices throughout the game. you shouldn't get your multiple endings by shoehorning in random choices at the end and having that choice be the only thing that matters.

regardless, if you wanted to do an "indoctrination theory" ending you could have shepard wake up from being indoctrinated (with some bonus if you resisted the Reapers by picking destroy in the hallucination), fight a boss fight against the Illusive Man who is being controlled by Harbinger (similar to the Saren/Sovereign boss fight) and then have a final confrontation with Harbinger that answers all the questions about where the Reapers came from and what all. Then have Shepard activate the Crucible, but make it so that it takes like 2 hours to charge up or something, so then all your fleets have to defend it for a bit and then based on EMS it can fail/work partially/work totally/whatever. hell, you could even have one more mission on the crucible/citadel itself (say the Reapers have to board it to blow it up from the inside maybe). either way, montage of your war assets fighting, then the crucible finally fires and GG Reapers.

that's a really basic template off the top of my head. it's obviously possible to write a coherent indoctrination theory ending.


anyway the main point really should be that the "assume that all really happened" ending is worse than the "no resolution bro it was all just a dream" ending and that's saying something

 

[Pluvia]

fight a boss fight against the Illusive Man who is being controlled by Harbinger (similar to the Saren/Sovereign boss fight)

Speaking of which they were gonna do that but thankfully they took it out, here's a pic I snapped on my phone:

Spoiler

The writing says,

Spoiler

One of the plans on the drawing board was to have the Illusive Man turn into a Reaper creature for the final battle. Eventually, this plan was scrapped, since we wanted to give players the satisfaction of fighting a character they know rather than a random creature. The design implies that the Illusive Man's weapon is his intelligence, not his physical strength.

Below are concepts for the Illusive Man and his observation room. Some vary the colour of the dying sun in the background, and one version shows the sun eclipsed.

Numerous facial concepts were made to establish what level of indoctrination the Illusive Man had undergone. A few variations went so far as to reference Saren from the first Mass Effect.

Boy my phone camera suuucks.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Speaking of which they were gonna do that but thankfully they took it out, here's a pic I snapped on my phone:

Spoiler

The writing says,

Spoiler

One of the plans on the drawing board was to have the Illusive Man turn into a Reaper creature for the final battle. Eventually, this plan was scrapped, since we wanted to give players the satisfaction of fighting a character they know rather than a random creature. The design implies that the Illusive Man's weapon is his intelligence, not his physical strength.

Below are concepts for the Illusive Man and his observation room. Some vary the colour of the dying sun in the background, and one version shows the sun eclipsed.

Numerous facial concepts were made to establish what level of indoctrination the Illusive Man had undergone. A few variations went so far as to reference Saren from the first Mass Effect.

Boy my phone camera suuucks.

Thankfully? A boss battle would have been awesome and would have made the end of the game more epic.

 

[Pluvia]

Yeah but they have a point, his strength lies in his intelligence, it is good that they never turned him into a random monster.

If there was a boss battle it shouldn't be against him.

 

[BirthNote]

Spoiler

TIM wasn't fully indoctrinated, hence him fighting against it and shooting himself in the head, but if a VI that can sense indoctrinated individuals isn't enough to convince people then nothing is.

Dammit I'm trying to leave this subject alone.

Spoiler

Vendetta could sense that Leng and TIM were indoctrinated, but you're saying TIM wasn't fully indoctrinated because he can commit suicide. However, Vendetta says that TIM's indoctrinated. Saren must not have been either since he can shoot himself too, even though Vigil said he was indoctrinated. Let's look at how Saren, TIM and Shepard wanted to solve the reaper threat:

-Saren wants to combine organics and synthetics.
-TIM wants to control the reapers.
-Shep wants to destroy the reapers (originally). This can change at the end.

An interesting similarity is that 2/3 of them, who are confirmed to be indoctrinated don't want the reapers destroyed. If only Shepard could speak to Vendetta once more after that final choice. Saren, TIM and Kai Leng believe destroying the reapers is wrong, whereas Shepard intended to do it throughout the series. That final choice has the potential to drastically change Shepard's stance on how to deal with the reapers.

TBH, you'd have to believe that Shep is some amazing force of nature who is simply immune to indoctrination and its subtle effects, despite showing signs of wear and tear in ME3. Even with all the reaper stuff he's been near, the thought is conspicuously avoided in Shep's case. Its like standing in the middle of a rain storm and expecting not to get wet.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Yeah but they have a point, his strength lies in his intelligence, it is good that they never turned him into a random monster.

If there was a boss battle it shouldn't be against him.

Yeah that is a good point. I still wish there was a final boss battle against somebody though.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Dammit I'm trying to leave this subject alone.

Spoiler

Vendetta could sense that Leng and TIM were indoctrinated, but you're saying TIM wasn't fully indoctrinated because he can commit suicide. However, Vendetta says that TIM's indoctrinated. Saren must not have been either since he can shoot himself too, even though Vigil said he was indoctrinated. Let's look at how Saren, TIM and Shepard wanted to solve the reaper threat:

-Saren wants to combine organics and synthetics.
-TIM wants to control the reapers.
-Shep wants to destroy the reapers (originally). This can change at the end.

An interesting similarity is that 2/3 of them, who are confirmed to be indoctrinated don't want the reapers destroyed. If only Shepard could speak to Vendetta once more after that final choice. Saren, TIM and Kai Leng believe destroying the reapers is wrong, whereas Shepard intended to do it throughout the series. That final choice has the potential to drastically change Shepard's stance on how to deal with the reapers.

TBH, you'd have to believe that Shep is some amazing force of nature who is simply immune to indoctrination and its subtle effects, despite showing signs of wear and tear in ME3. Even with all the reaper stuff he's been near, the thought is conspicuously avoided in Shep's case. Its like standing in the middle of a rain storm and expecting not to get wet.

Spoiler

The thing is you need to be around Reaper tech for a LONG time. Shepherd is only around reaper tech a little while during each mission.

Edit: crap, I forgot no one posted after my post.

 

[BirthNote]

Do you know how TIM got his eyes?

Spoiler

He had contact with a reaper artifact during the First Contact War, which is decades before the series begins. It didn't completely change him, unlike his friend, Saren's brother and a few Turians, but it did change his eyes and he was able to hear things and understand the artifact, like the others who were affected. By ME3, TIM was mostly indoctrinated.

I think the amount spent around each adds up after a while tbh.

Dammit I'm trying to leave this subject alone.

..And I'm doing a horrible job so far.

 

[Pluvia]

http://www.reddit.com/r/MECoOp/comments/si8v2/murdertraining_201advanced_tactics_or_how_to/

Murdertrain guide 2.0 is up.

^__^

Combine it with an Asari Justicar and it destroys. I just got her and my friend got him, wow.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Do you know how TIM got his eyes?

Spoiler

He had contact with a reaper artifact during the First Contact War, which is decades before the series begins. It didn't completely change him, unlike his friend, Saren's brother and a few Turians, but it did change his eyes and he was able to hear things and understand the artifact, like the others who were affected. By ME3, TIM was mostly indoctrinated.

I think the amount spent around each adds up after a while tbh.

..And I'm doing a horrible job so far.

Spoiler

Do any of the books say that time builds up?

 

[O D I N]

Combine it with an Asari Justicar and it destroys. I just got her and my friend got him, wow.

Yes yes yes yes yes YES.

I did this the other night on a Gold run. Some guy was a GGAJ and kept Bubbles up for me.

SO helpful.

 

[Pluvia]

I leveled the bubble in the damage way, rather than the protection way, so he takes 20% less damage in it and they take 15% more, and they're all warped as soon as they enter. Plus with Reave it helps him out even more.

 

[O D I N]

Either way is still great. That Warp bonus is too good. Combine it with Biotic Charge.

Biotic Explosions.

Biotic Explosions EVERYWHERE...

 

[Pluvia]

While the Krogan/Justicar combo is great, it seems to land you with crappy teammates. Is it so hard to find a decent Salarian Engineer or (any) Infiltrator?

Heck even someone with a Widow would do.

 

[Master Xanthan]

While the Krogan/Justicar combo is great, it seems to land you with crappy teammates. Is it so hard to find a decent Salarian Engineer or (any) Infiltrator?

Heck even someone with a Widow would do.

Never play with randoms, it just doesn't work, no matter what game you play.

Edit:

Spoiler

Does anyone know the quickest way to recruit Legion in ME2?

 

[BirthNote]

I don't think there is a quick way.

Spoiler

And about TIM's eyes, I don't recall them saying that time builds up, but I'm assuming so because the artifact that changed him was destroyed not long after discovering it. And by ME3, he's changed quite a bit.

 

[Pluvia]

Never play with randoms, it just doesn't work, no matter what game you play.

Edit:

Spoiler

Does anyone know the quickest way to recruit Legion in ME2?

You could just use the gibbed save editor and get him from the start. Originally you could recruit anyone in any order, so Samara, Tali, Legion and Thane all have dialogue for the earlier missions like Garrus' and Mordin's.

Just youtube like everyones opinion on the plague zone ME2, you'll see what they all say when you're off to recruit Mordin etc.

And no I'm not spoiler tagging ME2 info.

 

[Master Xanthan]

You could just use the gibbed save editor and get him from the start. Originally you could recruit anyone in any order, so Samara, Tali, Legion and Thane all have dialogue for the earlier missions like Garrus' and Mordin's.

Just youtube like everyones opinion on the plague zone ME2, you'll see what they all say when you're off to recruit Mordin etc.

And no I'm not spoiler tagging ME2 info.

Gibbed save editor? I guess I'll look that up. As for the not spoiler tagging ME2 info, it doesn't matter to me, I just spoiler tag it just in case there's a lurker in the thread who hasn't played the games yet.

 

[BirthNote]

Apparently EDI

Spoiler

can be seen in the Destroy ending.

http://twitter.com/#!/JessicaMerizan/status/190192018549514240

 

[sakuraZaKi]

I linked to the Gibbed Save Editor way back when I was complaining about the import glitch, lol.

Come on guys xD

Geth Infiltrator is so fun. I saw a video of a pure melee that pretty much owned everything. Geth Heavy Melee is glorious.

 

[O D I N]

I linked to the Gibbed Save Editor way back when I was complaining about the import glitch, lol.

Come on guys xD

Geth Infiltrator is so fun. I saw a video of a pure melee that pretty much owned everything. Geth Heavy Melee is glorious.

http://www.reddit.com/r/MECoOp/comments/s7jir/the_glass_cannon_aka_pure_melee_geth_infiltrator/

TA-DAH.

Now you can read up on where it all started.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

How much credits do you get from a Gold run, anyway?

 

[LivewiresXe]

How much credits do you get from a Gold run, anyway?

About 70,000 I think.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Apparently EDI

Spoiler

can be seen in the Destroy ending.

http://twitter.com/#!/JessicaMerizan/status/190192018549514240

Spoiler

But I thought Edi was made with reaper tech........

 

[theeboredone]

You guys make it sound like these new set of characters own everything. Is there even a challenge in this game anymore? lol

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Just kidding. But Melee GI can get pretty stupid; worse than a charge spam Vanguard, imo. The only way to get around it being annoying is if you have a team that works together well. I'm assuming you have that benefit. I don't :/

Not everyone has friends to play with, sadly. Mine rarely get on...

 

[Pluvia]

Apparently EDI

Spoiler

can be seen in the Destroy ending.

http://twitter.com/#!/JessicaMerizan/status/190192018549514240

Spoiler

She can't.

Merizan confirmed that what she says is just her speculation, not actual facts, she's only the Bioware community manager not an actual developer. Some of the stuff she says is contradictory to the actual game (like that one) and you'd be hard pressed to say she's even played the games with the nonsense she spouts.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Spoiler

She can't.

Merizan confirmed that what she says is just her speculation, not actual facts, she's only the Bioware community manager not an actual developer. Some of the stuff she says is contradictory to the actual game (like that one) and you'd be hard pressed to say she's even played the games with the nonsense she spouts.

So she's basically like Robert Bowling? Except that she hasn't even played the game that she's the community manager for? Man, thats pathetic.

 

[Pluvia]

So she's basically like Robert Bowling? Except that she hasn't even played the game that she's the community manager for? Man, thats pathetic.

Yeah if you check her twitter a day later:

Spoiler

That's her confirming all the nonsense she's been spouting is just her speculation. I'm sure there's a better one too but anyway this is the reason why no one uses her as a source, she's just speculation, plus she never seems to know what she's talking about.

Edit:

On a completely different note,

[collapse= Spoilers]

[/collapse]

 

[BirthNote]

Spoiler

She can't.

Merizan confirmed that what she says is just her speculation, not actual facts, she's only the Bioware community manager not an actual developer. Some of the stuff she says is contradictory to the actual game (like that one) and you'd be hard pressed to say she's even played the games with the nonsense she spouts.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Worst community manager ever, it just amazes me that she doesn't know anything about a game that her company makes. Did they only hire her because she looks good or something? Kinda like how IGN hires Jessica Chobot and Naomi Kyle because they look good.

Anyway, so apparently there was no operation this weekend. I think its going to be every other weekend now.

 

[LivewiresXe]

Worst community manager ever, it just amazes me that she doesn't know anything about a game that her company makes. Did they only hire her because she looks good or something? Kinda like how IGN hires Jessica Chobot and Naomi Kyle because they look good.

Anyway, so apparently there was no operation this weekend. I think its going to be every other weekend now.

Fingers crossed they delayed it to make sure PS3's in on next week's?

 

[O D I N]

On a completely different note,

[collapse= Spoilers]

[/collapse]

Dead. I lost too much at that.

 

[LivewiresXe]

So I've got a question for you guys, or request for advice or whatever. After experimenting with a lot of the classes in Multiplayer, I've come to realize I can't go back to Human Soldier for anything, especially Single Player. I'm currently doing my 2nd playthrough now (this time with Kaidan around instead of Ashley) as a Vanguard, and it's fun as hell, but I'm looking for something for when I go through another Ashley run (since when I first went through it, I thought you only got the Import bonus for squadmates and ability points if you kept the same class from 2 which, happened to be Soldier).

I'm not going back to Soldier, I'll have already done Vanguard, I don't really like the ME3 version of Sentinel (from playing it through the Single player demo a bit back), and while I like Engineer in multiplayer, I don't really think it would suit me for Single player. So my choice is either Adept, or Infiltrator for me and I'm kind of unsure on which one to pick. On one hand, using Vanguard and having some experience with the Multiplayer has made me think biotics is pretty cool and all that, but Cloak is fun too, and I like being able to use weapons and/or snipers too.

So I guess...can anybody who's either been Adept, or Infiltrator, or hell, both in Single Player maybe give me some pros and cons of them to help me get an idea?

 

[Master Xanthan]

So I've got a question for you guys, or request for advice or whatever. After experimenting with a lot of the classes in Multiplayer, I've come to realize I can't go back to Human Soldier for anything, especially Single Player. I'm currently doing my 2nd playthrough now (this time with Kaidan around instead of Ashley) as a Vanguard, and it's fun as hell, but I'm looking for something for when I go through another Ashley run (since when I first went through it, I thought you only got the Import bonus for squadmates and ability points if you kept the same class from 2 which, happened to be Soldier).

I'm not going back to Soldier, I'll have already done Vanguard, I don't really like the ME3 version of Sentinel (from playing it through the Single player demo a bit back), and while I like Engineer in multiplayer, I don't really think it would suit me for Single player. So my choice is either Adept, or Infiltrator for me and I'm kind of unsure on which one to pick. On one hand, using Vanguard and having some experience with the Multiplayer has made me think biotics is pretty cool and all that, but Cloak is fun too, and I like being able to use weapons and/or snipers too.

So I guess...can anybody who's either been Adept, or Infiltrator, or hell, both in Single Player maybe give me some pros and cons of them to help me get an idea?

I've been an infiltrator in single play (haven't tried adept yet though). Infiltrator is pretty great, the cloak is always nice, and in ME3 you have incinerate (I can't remember the abilities in ME1). Though in ME1 the infiltrator has an ability that makes the next shot do a TON of extra damage and is pretty much a 1 hit kill on most enemies. In ME1 I wouldn't say there's many downsides to the infiltrator since you can use pistol at close range (the pistol is beast) and snipers at long range. In ME2 I don't see much of a downside either if you have the kasumi dlc (allows you to get the Locust SMG).

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Bought two Resurgence Packs and still no MURDERTRAIN!

*sad*

 

[O D I N]

Bought two Resurgence Packs and still no MURDERTRAIN!

*sad*

One does not purchase their ticket to ride the MURDERTRAIN...

...The ticket will find you...


























































































...

Or something. ._.

Keep trying!

 

[Master Xanthan]

Bought two Resurgence Packs and still no MURDERTRAIN!

*sad*

Yeah the unlock system in this game is horrible. Supposedly based on luck and yet you will get more repeat character cards than characters/weapons that you don't have. I have still gotten Drell Vanguards and Adepts even after I unlocked skin tone for both of them a long time ago. I got 4 Batarian Sentinels before I got a Batarian Soldier.

 

[O D I N]

Yeah the unlock system in this game is horrible. Supposedly based on luck and yet you will get more repeat character cards than characters/weapons that you don't have. I have still gotten Drell Vanguards and Adepts even after I unlocked skin tone for both of them a long time ago. I got 4 Batarian Sentinels before I got a Batarian Soldier.

I still haven't gotten the Batarian Soldier.

 

[Master Xanthan]

I still haven't gotten the Batarian Soldier.

I don't have either of the Geth, sadly. Which are the characters I'd rather have. Batarian Soldier is pretty cool though.