[Megathread] Mass Effect 3

[Buu]

No one talking about Omega DLC? The overpriced low-budget (animations made by non-paid interns?) DLC, that doesn't even show in the list of most downloaded in MS marketplace?

They thought that the name OMEGA would be enough to make anyone buy without consideration, so they could net the loss from their previous failures.... I wonder if EA will keep sending money down the drain just to not admit the error of putting faith in Casey Hudson and Mike Gamble.

[Deleted]

Refusing to make a choice is in and of itself a choice or so I've been lead to believe by Rush. I don't think those were his exact words though, your paraphrasing isn't familiar to me. Bringing order to synthetics is bringing order to the chaos of organic invention and creation. Synthetics themselves aren't chaos but their creation is.

Yeah but basically he is right with his statement. Reapers (synthetics) are doing exactly what they want to prevent by destroying almost all organic life every 50.000 years.

How is this different from the order vs. chaos shit that the catalyst talks about? Basically this is utter garbage.

The synthetics we saw in ME were the Geth and EDI. The Geth were basically forced into war with the Quarians numerous times. First the Quarians wanted to exterminate them which lead to the "Morning war" and the Quarian exile, then a bunch of Geth were corrupted by Sovereign and fought as Saren´s allies. We later discovered that those were only a minority (heretics) and the Geth are actually kinda peaceful and even want to reunite with the Quarians.. Finally the Quarians forced all Geth to ally with the Reapers in ME3 in order to survive. At the final conflict on Rannoch (if sided with the Geth) the Quarians were destroyed because they refused to accept the Geth as allys and kept firing at them even after the Geth got the Reaper code. The Geth shot at them because the Quarians shot at the Geth ships which lead to the Quarian race destroyed.

You notice something? The geth never ever intended to destroy the Quarians and other organic life. They were always acting in self-preservation.

How is a fucking machine race that destroys every high-evolved life in the galaxy different from what the Reapers want to prevent? They want to prevent synthetics from destroying organics yet they are doing that exact same fucking thing.

I think that the Synthetics that rebel against their makers (also past cycles) do so because they are being forced by either their creators themselves or Reapers. Much like the Geth.

[Leonard McCoy]

Yeah but basically he is right with his statement. Reapers (synthetics) are doing exactly what they want to prevent by destroying almost all organic life every 50.000 years.

How is this different from the order vs. chaos shit that the catalyst talks about? Basically this is utter garbage.

The synthetics we saw in ME were the Geth and EDI. The Geth were basically forced into war with the Quarians numerous times. First the Quarians wanted to exterminate them which lead to the "Morning war" and the Quarian exile, then a bunch of Geth were corrupted by Sovereign and fought as Saren´s allies. We later discovered that those were only a minority (heretics) and the Geth are actually kinda peaceful and even want to reunite with the Quarians.. Finally the Quarians forced all Geth to ally with the Reapers in ME3 in order to survive. At the final conflict on Rannoch (if sided with the Geth) the Quarians were destroyed because they refused to accept the Geth as allys and kept firing at them even after the Geth got the Reaper code. The Geth shot at them because the Quarians shot at the Geth ships which lead to the Quarian race destroyed.

You notice something? The geth never ever intended to destroy the Quarians and other organic life. They were always acting in self-preservation.

How is a fucking machine race that destroys every high-evolved life in the galaxy different from what the Reapers want to prevent? They want to prevent synthetics from destroying organics yet they are doing that exact same fucking thing.

I think that the Synthetics that rebel against their makers (also past cycles) do so because they are being forced by either their creators themselves or Reapers. Much like the Geth.

IIRC one of the conversations with Javik explains that in his cycle the synthetics of his day turned against the masters of his day. Whether or not that is a product of perceived or actual betrayal on the part of the creators is irrelevant. The creation of synthetic life forms (by the very act of that creation itself) leads to chaos in so far as the nature of men and their creations is strife. It's Oedipel. The geth want to kill you and sleep with your mother. That's a bit of a gag but the principle is true. The student becomes the master.

Now that is probably my only beef with the ending. It's not so much that I want a happy and sunshine ending, it's the idea that their is no ending that represents a higher moral compromise even if you spent the game doing exactly that. You can't stop the reapers and leave the geth and edi unphased even though you've shown that synthetics and organics can co-exist peacefully. The star child can't see past his programming I suppose.

The heretic geth absolutely planned to destroy their masters but the geth are not as homogenous as we'd believe.

[Oerba Yun Fang]

The Zha'til (the Geth of Javik's cycle) didn't turn against organics until the Reapers showed up and subjugated them, as far as I remember.

[Deleted]

IIRC one of the conversations with Javik explains that in his cycle the synthetics of his day turned against the masters of his day. Whether or not that is a product of perceived or actual betrayal on the part of the creators is irrelevant. The creation of synthetic life forms by the very act itself leads to chaos in so far as the nature of men and their creations is strife. Now that is probably my only beef with the ending. It's not so much that I want a happy and sunshine ending, it's the idea that their is no ending that represents a higher moral existence. You can't stop the reapers and leave the geth and edi unphased because you've shown that synthetics and organics peaceable can co-exist. The star child can't see past his programming I suppose.

The heretic geth absolutely planned to destroy their masters but the geth are not as homogenous as we'd believe.

Well the Heretics wanted to destroy the Quarians thats true but they were basically reaper worshippers and so Sovereign was their god. According to Legion the heretics were a very small amount of the Geth.

To Javik: Javik tells you of lots of occasions where the Protheans exterminated a Race after using them (like breeding the Rachni and then wiping them out) so I would not take that story about the synthetics of his cycle for granted. Maybe the Protheans tried to wipe this synthetics out too, or they were controlled by the Reapers like the Heretics?

The Protheans wiped those races out that refused to join their empire so I could imagine that they wanted to exterminate synthetics too.

To the Ending: I still think that it does not make any sense. First the catalyst tells you that by using destroy not only the reapers are destroyed but all synthetics and he states that even Shepard is part-synthetic (some sort of cyborg). How does Shepard breathe on high EMS after using the destroy option? I thought everything that is synthetic is destroyed (even kybernetics).

The control ending does not solve anything as there are still fucking huge machines around that can turn on the galaxy anytime.

[Leonard McCoy]

Well the Heretics wanted to destroy the Quarians thats true but they were basically reaper worshippers and so Sovereign was their god. According to Legion the heretics were a very small amount of the Geth.

To Javik: Javik tells you of lots of occasions where the Protheans exterminated a Race after using them (like breeding the Rachni and then wiping them out) so I would not take that story about the synthetics of his cycle for granted. Maybe the Protheans tried to wipe this synthetics out too, or they were controlled by the Reapers like the Heretics?

The Protheans wiped those races out that refused to join their empire so I could imagine that they wanted to exterminate synthetics too.

To the Ending: I still think that it does not make any sense. First the catalyst tells you that by using destroy not only the reapers are destroyed but all synthetics and he states that even Shepard is part-synthetic (some sort of cyborg). How does Shepard breathe on high EMS after using the destroy option? I thought everything that is synthetic is destroyed (even kybernetics).

The control ending does not solve anything as there are still fucking huge machines around that can turn on the galaxy anytime.

Except they are now wilfully controlled by an ascended Shepard. Unlike before when they were "independent" actors or better said they were thought to be independent but really under the control of a hidden process (the star kid) in the background. So depending on how good or bad your shep is, you'll have different outcomes and the reapers can now be a force for good or for evil.

Shepard may very well die when you pick destroy. Where does it say that he doesn't? The cutscene doesn't prove or disprove anything. It was a teaser and a bloody delicious one but it doesn't say anything either way.

[Kellerx12]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...s-effect-3-dlc

News on the next Mass Effect 3 dlc. Looks like 8 writes, Seth Green, and Composer Sam Hulick, who composed all 3 games but not Leviathan or Omega, are in. Looks like this one could be big.

[Oerba Yun Fang]

I still say Shepard was alive after a high EMS Destroy. Just because I want her to be.

... What?! I like muh FemShep. D:

---------- Post added 2012-12-06 at 12:53 AM ----------

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...s-effect-3-dlc

News on the next Mass Effect 3 dlc. Looks like 8 writes, Seth Green, and Composer Sam Hulick, who composed all 3 games but not Leviathan or Omega, are in. Looks like this one could be big.

Woot more Joker!

[Deleted]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...s-effect-3-dlc

News on the next Mass Effect 3 dlc. Looks like 8 writes, Seth Green, and Composer Sam Hulick, who composed all 3 games but not Leviathan or Omega, are in. Looks like this one could be big.

Except it can't really be that big because y'know...
2gb.

[Puck]

Don't know if people know this yet, but ME3 has won GotY from ABC Good Game and Game Informer.

2 so far.

[Deleted]

Except it can't really be that big because y'know...
2gb.

They could make it in a two-part download? they would just have to pay more to Microsoft/Sony ? Has it been done in another game before?

EC was big because of the new videos, which takes a lot of space, Omega was big because none of the Omega textures were included in the game, and it has quite a lot of maps with different tilesets.

If they do a Citadel oriented dlc most of the textures, ambiant sound, doodads are already included in the base game, they could easily make it much longer than Omega within the 2gb limit.

[Nerraw]

Raphael Sbarge has also been doing voice-work lately, so it's suspected squadmates are making a return as well.

[Elim Garak]

Refusing to make a choice is in and of itself a choice or so I've been lead to believe by Rush. I don't think those were his exact words though, your paraphrasing isn't familiar to me. Bringing order to synthetics is bringing order to the chaos of organic invention and creation. Synthetics themselves aren't chaos but their creation is.

Here's the exact quote:

Shepard: I need to stop the Reapers, do you know how I can do that?
Starchild: Perhaps. I control the Reapers. They are my solution.
Shepard: Solution. To what?
Starchild: Chaos. The created will always rebel against their creators. But we have found a way to stop that. A way to restore order.

Refusing to make a choice is a choice only in a sense that you chose to not make a choice - pure semantics. Replace "chose" with "decided". Replace "to make a choice" with "to select one of provided options". By refusing to choose you create your own way.

Creation == order. Destruction == chaos. Synthetics destroying Life == Chaos. Life creating Synthetics == Order. The Truth is in the middle - The Balance.
Getting rid of Chaos is as bad as getting rid of Order. Both need to exist in Balance. Total Order destroys free will, slows evolution and progress, world's in stagnation. Total Chaos destroys everything as soon as it's created. Balance - things that require Order (creation of things) have it, things that need to go to make space for new things are destroyed with Chaos.

Life itself is a conflict of Chaos vs Order - it's a vicious cycle, and it can exist only when those two are in Balance. A little bit more Chaos and life dies, a little bit more Order - evolution slows down - life dies because it fails to adapt to ever-changing environment. Same can be said about everything in the universe, like Stars. Stars burn "fuel" (Chaos) to create light and heat (Order). Unbalanced star is gonna go super nova.

Reapers are agents of chaos (they destroy old things). Strachild's plan is that of Balance. Relays and Citadel are agents of Order (they direct new things).

Starchild should be looking for a solution to reach Balance. But he says he wants to restore Order, Order he himself weakened. He wants to get rid of Chaos. It is impossible task, since he uses Reapers - agents of Chaos. And it is a stupid task - because you shouldn't get rid of Chaos.

The funny thing is - Balance is self-achievable. It doesn't require outside help. It's when someone interferes from one of the sides then it needs help from the opposite side. To balance the fucking "budget". All Starchild does - would've been achieved eventually on its own. Starchild achieves Balance Artificially, by employing too much Chaos and the same amount of too much Order. -+=0. And the reason for all this - the false premise that Synthetics will wipe out all life in the Galaxy. But that is impossible. Life'll find a way, even if Synthetics destroy all the planets in the Galaxy. In time new planets would be formed and Synthetics would evolve so much that they wouldn't care. But they don't care even "now".

And btw, who does he thinks he is, deciding what's best for the Galaxy? Maybe it's what Universe intended? Life creates Synthetics who replace life - becoming (Synthetic) life of their own. What's wrong with that? It's clear Synthetics are more fit for exploring the universe.

Geth didn't want to kill anyone. Heretics were created by Sovereign.
Prothean Synthetics were oppressed the same way Geth were oppressed by Quarians. Even more, considering the aggressive totalitarian nature of Prothean Empire.

And the funny thing once more - Protheans won the war with Synthetics! Without any help from Reapers, perhaps even against Reapers wishes, who helped Synthetics.

There's so much stuff even in ME3 that makes all this Synthetics vs Life talks - nonsense.

[Deleted]

Except they are now wilfully controlled by an ascended Shepard. Unlike before when they were "independent" actors or better said they were thought to be independent but really under the control of a hidden process (the star kid) in the background. So depending on how good or bad your shep is, you'll have different outcomes and the reapers can now be a force for good or for evil.

Shepard may very well die when you pick destroy. Where does it say that he doesn't? The cutscene doesn't prove or disprove anything. It was a teaser and a bloody delicious one but it doesn't say anything either way.

Yeah we do not know if Shepard is alive but having such a scene where he apparently breathes is just silly after picking destroy. If you take Catalyst´s logic as fact then even the Quarians who have lots of kibernetic upgrades would suffer from the destroy ending. It´s just badly explained by the Starkid to be honest.

Control is kinda risky for the galaxy tho because a Renegade Shepard for example wants to protect the galaxy but not like a paragon one as a benevolent "leader" instead he wants to guide them with an iron fist. This could be problematic if the entity that was once Shepard goes "mad" or starts to turn onto the galaxy like the catalyst did with his creators (Leviathans).

So yeah even if Shepard was full Paragon I´d doubt that the galaxy is a safe place with the Reapers still around.

---------- Post added 2012-12-06 at 02:37 PM ----------

You summed my thoughts up perfectly ag666 . I don´t think the synthetics that Javik referred of willingly wanted to destroy the organics back in their time.

The Protheans were "warlords" and so they liked to oppress races and bent them to their will and to their empire.

BTW: The galaxy does not need the reapers nor the catalyst !! Life balances itself out even without the "aid" of such machines. Originally the catalyst was created by the Leviathans and you know they were a bit crazy to be honest. They saw the entire galaxy as minor and thralls and therefore wanted to protect their thralls.

Well that this protection ended up with the Reapers was absolutely the fault of the megalomaniac Leviathans.

[Deleted]

I'm totally enjoying running into mobs with a poison modded shotgun. 8D

[Deleted]

I found something interesting that proofs that the majority of the Geth never wanted to destroy anything:

"Approximately three centuries after the Morning War, the geth were approached by the Reaper Nazara, also called Sovereign. It offered them technology that would aid them in achieving their goal, in exchange for their assistance in capturing the Citadel and letting the Reaper invasion begin. The majority of the geth dismissed the offer, deeming it better to accomplish their goal with their own technology rather than be dependent on another race’s technology. These geth discarded what they called the "superstitious title" of the Reapers, and simply called them the Old Machines. A small percentage of geth, however, accepted the Reaper’s help. Henceforth these geth were referred to by the mainstream geth as "heretics". They were allowed to peacefully leave the main geth network, and aid Nazara and its turian agent, Saren. The heretics came to revere Nazara as a god, the pinnacle of synthetic evolution. Unknown to them, Nazara was repulsed by the heretics' worship of it, though it recognised their value as tools to facilitate its goals. They aided Nazara and Saren in many engagements, such as the attack on Eden Prime, and the Battle of the Citadel

Using Sovereign's influence over them, the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius commanded an army of geth in an effort to take over the Citadel and release the Reapers from dark space. The geth formed the bulk of Saren's forces, following him because they believed he had the means to find the Conduit and bring back their "gods". In addition to providing ground troops, the geth also crewed (or tended to) Sovereign.
However, the geth did not realise Sovereign was actually insulted by their "pitiful devotions" and saw them merely as tools. After the Protheans broke Sovereign's hold over the keepers, and the keepers evolved so that they only accepted commands from the Citadel, the Reaper realized organic races were difficult to control. It found the geth to be suitable replacements as servants, and exploited their religious beliefs. Saren claimed that, although they were viewed disparagingly by Sovereign, the geth were valuable as tools, and would therefore survive the Reaper invasion because they were useful. The example of the geth inspired Saren to prove organic races could also be useful to the Reapers. He hoped that, instead of harvesting them, the Reapers would spare the organic races of the galaxy, even if that meant they would only survive as slaves."

The long-term goal of the geth is the construction of a "mega-structure", a massive mainframe capable of simultaneously housing every existent geth program, thereby maximizing their collective processing capacity. As of 2185, the geth have already been in the process of constructing the mega-structure for 264 years. Legion suggests the closest conceptual analogue is a Dyson sphere and, as it poignantly states "no geth will be alone when it is done." It believes that Sovereign promised the heretics a Reaper body to serve as such a mega-structure.

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Geth

[Deleted]

Synthetic or not synthetic, at some point a given civilisation (organic or synthetic) will dominate the other, and result in no diversity. No new life form, no new synthetic form. A Galaxy reset mean that many new species can appear.

What would have happened if Prothean had been given another 50k years? Sure they didn't lose to their synthetic, but every other races lost to Prothean. They were accepting "lower" species as a part of they empire given that they still had plenty of space, but after a given time even earth, thessia, tutchanka would have looked as very viable place to live for "true" prothean and it seems like Prothean would'nt mind making room for themself, perhaps keeping a couple Asari to whore around.

In the early stage of ME1, the only clue we had about the Reaper was their name, and how it's linked to agriculture already made a lot of sens. My view at this time was that they were like galaxy gardener, preventing a single plant to spread and prevent every other flower from blooming. When winter comes (brace yourself), a gardener usually has to cut a lot, remove weed that spread during the summer, to ensure that the garden in the spring will keep the high diversity of species, flowers, and colors that made it beautiful.

The only things that still bother me is that everything is centered about synthetic, to me Reapers goal make sens as a whole, promote life diversity by preventing homogenization of the galaxy be it by synthetic of organic.

[Deleted]

This one-button console crap is bullshit.
Hacking objective and a banshee teleports to you?
Yeah, gl with that no dodging/sprinting for you.

[Deleted]

You can unbind them if you are on PC. If you are not on PC then you can burn your console and buy a PC and then unbind them too. This will also help in preventing that kind of bullshit in the future

[Deleted]

You can unbind them if you are on PC. If you are not on PC then you can burn your console and buy a PC and then unbind them too. This will also help in preventing that kind of bullshit in the future

Use/Cover/Storm are the same key :\
Might be possible in the ini/bin file somewhere, dunno.