Mass Effect 3

[Hartzilla2007]

Note, in this plot the Reapers were actually misunderstood good guys trying to prevent dark energy from destroying everything.

Of course had they gone through with this plot the question of why Soverign was such a creepy villain type going on about the imminent destruction of organic civilization and how not only Shepard was doomed but how impossible it would be to stop them.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

I don't know what everyone's complaining about. Omega kicks ass! Not as interesting as Leviathan, but quite a bit more fun. I thought the adjutants were a bit overrated, "Wow, all that hype for THAT? What a bunch of bullsh--" and then it jumped across the room and killed me. Never thought I'd be so happy to have a Harrier X.

 

[Angel4576]

Leviathan was 5/10. Omega gets a 7/10 IMO. It was alright, but nothing special.

 

[Jeyl]

Humanity being special has always been part of Mass Effect.

Maybe, but is humanity the most interesting part of Mass Effect? I don't think so. Humanity doesn't make Mass Effect unique, it's universe does. There are already so many science fiction stories that are focused on humans and the planet Earth, but how other science fiction franchises have the Asari, Krogen, Turian or other races that Mass Effect has? I would sooner ditch Earth in a heart beat and fight for them than taking back what so many other science fiction stories have done in the past.

 

[Jeyl]

I never took it as "Shepard wins because humans are special", rather I saw it as "the reapers are after humans because one of them offed Sovereign."

Shepard had help from non-human characters to get to that point, and a lot more help in the fight against the collectors. I would hardly call that a priority. But than again, these are Reapers who think that the Citadel isn't a place worth invading.

 

[Skywalker]

Humanity being special has always been part of Mass Effect.

Maybe, but is humanity the most interesting part of Mass Effect? I don't think so. Humanity doesn't make Mass Effect unique, it's universe does. There are already so many science fiction stories that are focused on humans and the planet Earth, but how other science fiction franchises have the Asari, Krogen, Turian or other races that Mass Effect has? I would sooner ditch Earth in a heart beat and fight for them than taking back what so many other science fiction stories have done in the past.

I completely agree. I'm tired of the "humans are special" and "Earth is the most important planet of them all" tropes in sci-fi. While ME1 obviously made a big deal about humanity rising to such prominence in such a short amount of time (unbelievably in less than thirty years, in fact, but that's an entirely different subject), other than that it did a good job of making humans seem like just another species out of many in the galaxy. Earth wasn't important (other than Anderson's "Even Earth is at risk!" line during his tirade about Saren) and the Citadel was the heart of galactic civilization.

But ME3 took the focus on Earth to absurd levels. It got to the point where every Shepard kept blathering on and on about Earth no matter what their own life experiences were. Most of my Shepards were either Colonists or Spacers, they weren't born on Earth and they didn't grow up there. But in ME3 they keep talking about it like it's their home, like it means more to them than the places they actually came from. Sure, it's the cradle of humanity and the vast majority of the human population still lives there, but it's still just one world out of many, and not even the most important one.

 

[Bishop76]

I hate to break it to you all, but people who don't want to see an earth-first storyline are the minority. Most people tend to enjoy stories that have some sort of real-life stakes and moments we can relate to. Sure, you can relate to Thane as he's dying or Mordin as he tries to attone, but ultimately, if you want a HUMAN audience buying and playing your game to really truly relate to your story, the vast majority of people want it to be a human-centric story.

 

[ATimson]

But ME3 took the focus on Earth to absurd levels. It got to the point where every Shepard kept blathering on and on about Earth no matter what their own life experiences were. Most of my Shepards were either Colonists or Spacers, they weren't born on Earth and they didn't grow up there. But in ME3 they keep talking about it like it's their home, like it means more to them than the places they actually came from.

I blame Project Lazarus.

 

[Skywalker]

I hate to break it to you all, but people who don't want to see an earth-first storyline are the minority. Most people tend to enjoy stories that have some sort of real-life stakes and moments we can relate to. Sure, you can relate to Thane as he's dying or Mordin as he tries to attone, but ultimately, if you want a HUMAN audience buying and playing your game to really truly relate to your story, the vast majority of people want it to be a human-centric story.

It's already a human-centric story by virtue of the viewpoint character being a human.

 

[Bishop76]

Right, but if the world that the Reapers were going to destroy was Thessia then the audience has mild concern because some characters they like were from there. But if you make it Earth, EVERYONE playing the game has a common frame of reference and a gut reaction of "not in my backyard". You can use images like Big Ben getting destroyed and it'll have a lot of impact rather than some random building that they just told us was important on Thessia. You can still have those great scenes on other planets of course, but the ultimate McGuffin usually will be earth or the earth fleet or humanity in most sci-fi.

 

[Skywalker]

I get what you're saying. I actually didn't mind ME3 starting off with the Reapers conquering Earth; I thought that was a pretty effective way to open the game, even if the way they got Shepard there was kind of awkward and didn't fit the lore. My complaint was more the way the game treated it afterward. And I know that they had the Reapers take the Citadel to Earth for the same reason, but again they had to ignore both logic and their own universe's lore to accomplish that feat, which just ruins any sense of "not in my backyard" for me.

 

[Bishop76]

ME3 certainly had its problems - particularly the unaltered original ending which ignored more logic and lore of their own universe than any other aspect of the game - but overall it was a very good experience and an emotionally satisfying story in almost every way (except again for the original ending). I guess to me the main story plot fell off the rails when they changed the direction of the story after losing several writers but what they lost in their main story focus was still executed nearly perfectly in their character focus.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

and the vast majority of the human population still lives there,

That right there would be enough reason for a non Earth born Shepard to care, not to mention any family that would be living there as well.

even if the way they got Shepard there was kind of awkward and didn't fit the lore.

I take it you didn't play the Arrival then.

but again they had to ignore both logic and their own universe's lore to accomplish that feat, which just ruins any sense of "not in my backyard" for me.

What in the universe specifically states they couldn't drag the Citadel with them?

 

[bullethead]

I guess to me the main story plot fell off the rails when they changed the direction of the story after losing several writers but what they lost in their main story focus was still executed nearly perfectly in their character focus.

That's the problem - I don't think they HAD main story focus. They apparently hadn't nailed down the motivations and backstory for the Reapers by the time ME3's script was started, because they toyed around with Drew Karpshyn's nonsensical dark energy plot, then cobbled together the basics of the "machines kill organics to keep them from being killed by machines" ends we got. Hell, Mass Effect 2 and 3 are at their most coherent when the Reapers aren't really the main focus of the story.

 

[Bishop76]

That's the problem - I don't think they HAD main story focus. They apparently hadn't nailed down the motivations and backstory for the Reapers by the time ME3's script was started, because they toyed around with Drew Karpshyn's nonsensical dark energy plot, then cobbled together the basics of the "machines kill organics to keep them from being killed by machines" ends we got. Hell, Mass Effect 2 and 3 are at their most coherent when the Reapers aren't really the main focus of the story.

I think they had enough with Karpyshyn's basic outline to at least have made that a sensical plot. I don't disagree that the ultimate reason for the Reapers existing was badly flawed and it's the reason there was so much irritation at the ending of the game. That said, it was still a phenomenal game on a lot of different levels. The Quarian/Geth wrap-up was satisfying, the Tuchanka plot was satisfying, almost every character arc wrapped up satisfactorily... it was just the complete bed shitting finale that tainted the rest of the game. I always say that ME3 was a 10/10 until the ending.

 

[-Brett-]

I've been replaying the whole trilogy, slowly but surely, from start to finish. Just got back up to ME3, and I'm disgusted but not surprised to find that they still haven't fixed the face import bug. Sloppy, even for EA.

At this point they've pretty much guaranteed that the next Mass Effect game, if I get it, will be after it's in the bargain bin.

 

[Skywalker]

and the vast majority of the human population still lives there,

That right there would be enough reason for a non Earth born Shepard to care, not to mention any family that would be living there as well.

I never said that Shepard shouldn't care, just that the way the game was written made Shepard act like he/she cared more about it than his/her own homeworld.

even if the way they got Shepard there was kind of awkward and didn't fit the lore.

I take it you didn't play the Arrival then.

I did. They ignored their own lore by having Shepard go back to Earth to face a hearing over his part in the destruction of the Bahak system. The Alliance isn't based on Earth; it's based on Arcturus Station. That's where Shepard should have been ordered to go.

but again they had to ignore both logic and their own universe's lore to accomplish that feat, which just ruins any sense of "not in my backyard" for me.

What in the universe specifically states they couldn't drag the Citadel with them?

Nothing, as far as I can recall. That's not what I was referring to. They ignored the fact that the Citadel is the nexus of the galactic relay system and the Reapers could have simply shut down the entire network, thereby crippling the organic resistance. They had no need to bring the Citadel to Earth "for protection" because the organics would have never been able to threaten it had the writers remembered how their own universe worked.

 

[ATimson]

I've been replaying the whole trilogy, slowly but surely, from start to finish. Just got back up to ME3, and I'm disgusted but not surprised to find that they still haven't fixed the face import bug. Sloppy, even for EA.

I thought they had. What platform are you playing on, and if it's PC, have you actually installed the newest patch?

 

[-Brett-]

I've been replaying the whole trilogy, slowly but surely, from start to finish. Just got back up to ME3, and I'm disgusted but not surprised to find that they still haven't fixed the face import bug. Sloppy, even for EA.

I thought they had. What platform are you playing on, and if it's PC, have you actually installed the newest patch?

360, and all three games are up to date.

To be fair, one of my three Shepards is coming through from ME2 okay. Or near enough. So maybe they fixed it, just not very well.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I never said that Shepard shouldn't care, just that the way the game was written made Shepard act like he/she cared more about it than his/her own homeworld.

They probably did it because only one Shepard type has a homeworld other than earth as the space born one lived on ships and stations.

I did. They ignored their own lore by having Shepard go back to Earth to face a hearing over his part in the destruction of the Bahak system. The Alliance isn't based on Earth; it's based on Arcturus Station. That's where Shepard should have been ordered to go.

And why would they have Shepard's hearing on Arcturus Station other than the fact that its the Alliance's capital, seems weird to only do things like that in one place only.

They ignored the fact that the Citadel is the nexus of the galactic relay system and the Reapers could have simply shut down the entire network, thereby crippling the organic resistance. They had no need to bring the Citadel to Earth "for protection" because the organics would have never been able to threaten it had the writers remembered how their own universe worked.

Well except for the whole being reliant on the Keepers to do their bidding seeing as there probably aren't any manual controls that are Reaper sized and seeing as the Protheans made sure the Keepers would ignore signals from the Reapers thats kind of hard to do.