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Rhjamiz
Oct 28, 2007

Kibayasu posted:

It could be a bit of a smaller thing in some eyes but ME3 had the best interaction between characters a Bioware game ever had, helped immensely by it being a series with a lot of the same characters (unlike something like DA Inquisition which tried hard but didn't really have the necessary continuity to pull me in entirely). Things like Garrus calling out for some old C-Sec buddies during the Cerberus attack or David apologizing to EDI on Grissom or getting that mail showing that Zaeed is going to fix up Jessie (obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9-dLzzQuVM) really helps emotionally sell the characters.


Not only that but the team actually moved around the Normandy and talked to people other than Shepard!

I'll agree with this. I really enjoyed most of my squadmates, which is probably why the final game annoys me so much. If they were dumb I probably wouldn't give as much of a drat.


Geostomp posted:

Personally, I would have left the Reapers' motives as reproduction. The galaxy was their farm and they harvested it every so often. They might see using sentients as parts as doing them a favor, but don't expect us to see it that way just because some glowing brat spews some nonsense. It bugs me every time I think about it.

This is what I was hoping was going to be the main thrust, and after the fact wished had been. Reproduction would have been a perfectly acceptable motivation. I also liked the concept of the Crucible, in that it was a superweapon that was built piecemeal by getting passed down through galactic generations. As a concept it's neat and interesting.

What makes it worse for me other than that there were good bits, is that Bioware basically refused to admit they had hosed up and acted like the only problem were minor details and not the whole underlying structure of the conclusion to their narrative they were pushing.

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Pattonesque
Jul 15, 2004
johnny jesus and the infield fly rule

Rhjamiz posted:

What makes it worse for me other than that there were good bits, is that Bioware basically refused to admit they had hosed up and acted like the only problem were minor details and not the whole underlying structure of the conclusion to their narrative they were pushing.

BioWare is an interesting company because oftentimes they don't quite get the fundamental issues with the games they put out.

Like, Dragon Age II's problem wasn't necessarily that it was small and set in one city, but they decided to go the exact opposite way in Inquisition with mixed results.

Rhjamiz
Oct 28, 2007

Pattonesque posted:

BioWare is an interesting company because oftentimes they don't quite get the fundamental issues with the games they put out.

Like, Dragon Age II's problem wasn't necessarily that it was small and set in one city, but they decided to go the exact opposite way in Inquisition with mixed results.

I really wonder how companies can miss the mark like this. Surely someone figured it out?

Also, has enough time passed for me to be able to say that DA:I was merely mediocre and not loving AMAZING like everyone claimed at release? I honestly felt it was pretty weak, story-wise. As usual for Bioware, I guess. Good characters, lame story with an ultra-weak ending. Better than Dragon Age 2, but surpassed by Dragon Age: Origins. I honestly gave more of a gently caress about what the Gray Wardens were up to than I did about the Inquisition, who did very little Inquisiting.

Also gently caress the armor system, it was good on paper but in reality they had like 5 models, tops and most of them looked like garbage. Especially if you were anything but Human, or god forbid, Qunari.

Edit: Basically what I am saying is is that I have played Witcher 3 and am now angry that everything else pales in comparison to it. SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL.

Rhjamiz fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Feb 10, 2016

Pattonesque
Jul 15, 2004
johnny jesus and the infield fly rule

Rhjamiz posted:

I really wonder how companies can miss the mark like this. Surely someone figured it out?

Also, has enough time passed for me to be able to say that DA:I was merely mediocre and not loving AMAZING like everyone claimed at release? I honestly felt it was pretty weak, story-wise. As usual for Bioware, I guess. Good characters, lame story with an ultra-weak ending. Better than Dragon Age 2, but surpassed by Dragon Age: Origins. I honestly gave more of a gently caress about what the Gray Wardens were up to than I did about the Inquisition, who did very little Inquisiting.

Also gently caress the armor system, it was good on paper but in reality they had like 5 models, tops and most of them looked like garbage. Especially if you were anything but Human, or god forbid, Qunari.

Edit: Basically what I am saying is is that I have played Witcher 3 and am now angry that everything else pales in comparison to it. SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL.

see, I liked Inquisition (particularly Trespasser) but I did only play through it once. There are a lot of little strange things that end up subtracting from the experience, but I think they're fixable.

Like OK so ... I played Origins when it first came out, and I remember the names and appearances and motivations of a lot of minor NPCS -- mayor Murdock, Bella from Redcliffe, Denek from Tapster's Tavern -- and I think the reason behind this isn't because they were necessarily better-written than NPCs in Inquisition, but because when you went to talk to them, the camera switched to cinematic mode and you got a close-up of their faces. This very rarely happens in Inquisition -- like, take Charter for example. She's actually a pretty important member of the Inquisition, and yet I can't tell you what she looks like, or what race she is, because all conversations with her are non-cinematic and take place with the camera like 30 feet away. I think this weakens the series as a whole, because if you set up a minor NPC well enough, like say Dagna in Origins, you can bring them back in another game and people who played both are more likely to respond positively to the inclusion.

Another trend I hope they reconsider is throwing the player directly into the action when the game starts. Both Origins and the original Mass Effect let the player wander around for a bit after character creation and gave the player a chance to learn about the world and define their character. In Origins' human noble origin, for example, you can define your Warden as a spoiled brat, or an atheist, or a dutiful son/daughter, or a rake, all before the plot actually gets going. More recent games have started with an explosion -- literally in Inquisition's case -- and while it can work (I think it worked in ME2) it tends to be more flash over substance.

9-Volt Assault
Jan 27, 2007

Beter twee tetten in de hand dan tien op de vlucht.
I would say that DA2 is actually better than DA:I overall. Even with the repeating dungeons in DA2, it actually tried something interesting that lacked in DA:I. Or well, maybe better isnt the right word, but i did enjoy it more.

Pattonesque
Jul 15, 2004
johnny jesus and the infield fly rule

Charlie Mopps posted:

I would say that DA2 is actually better than DA:I overall. Even with the repeating dungeons in DA2, it actually tried something interesting that lacked in DA:I. Or well, maybe better isnt the right word, but i did enjoy it more.

DA2's conceit -- surviving in a city over a decade or so while protecting your core group of friends and family -- is actually really interesting and a much better basis for a game than DAI's save-the-world schtick.

Codependent Poster
Oct 20, 2003

Inquisition was really good. It suffered a little bit from being TOO big, but they put a lot of effort into making a good game and it turned out great.

Pattonesque
Jul 15, 2004
johnny jesus and the infield fly rule

Codependent Poster posted:

Inquisition was really good. It suffered a little bit from being TOO big, but they put a lot of effort into making a good game and it turned out great.

see I liked it a lot and it restored a lot of faith in BioWare for me, but there are a few things that hold me back from giving it another go.

Lt. Danger
Dec 22, 2006

jolly good chaps we sure showed the hun

Rhjamiz posted:

I really wonder how companies can miss the mark like this. Surely someone figured it out?

Also, has enough time passed for me to be able to say that DA:I was merely mediocre and not loving AMAZING like everyone claimed at release? I honestly felt it was pretty weak, story-wise. As usual for Bioware, I guess. Good characters, lame story with an ultra-weak ending. Better than Dragon Age 2, but surpassed by Dragon Age: Origins. I honestly gave more of a gently caress about what the Gray Wardens were up to than I did about the Inquisition, who did very little Inquisiting.

Also gently caress the armor system, it was good on paper but in reality they had like 5 models, tops and most of them looked like garbage. Especially if you were anything but Human, or god forbid, Qunari.

Edit: Basically what I am saying is is that I have played Witcher 3 and am now angry that everything else pales in comparison to it. SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL.

I don't think this story quite matches up with DA2/DAI's development history.

As I understand it, DA2 was planned as a minor B-title before being bumped up to full sequel status, which partially explains why it's so underdone. In turn, DAI was originally an MMO before, again, being recast as a main title in the franchise. I think this is why they're so different, more than exaggerated overcorrection on Bioware's part.

Not that Bioware aren't incredibly sensitive to what their fans say - ever since Baldur's Gate, in fact, despite common opinion.

Anyway, you're right that DAI isn't all that amazing, but I reckon most players give it a free pass because, after DA2 and ME3 being difficult to like, DAI is a player-fellating friendship simulator and some people really want that.

Also, I don't think the Reapers ever cast themselves as benevolent. The analogy the Catalyst uses is "fire"; the associations to draw are "controlled burn" and "firebreak". It's more harvest-farmer mythic agricultural cycle life-death-rebirth stuff.

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

Rhjamiz posted:

I'll agree with this. I really enjoyed most of my squadmates, which is probably why the final game annoys me so much. If they were dumb I probably wouldn't give as much of a drat.


This is what I was hoping was going to be the main thrust, and after the fact wished had been. Reproduction would have been a perfectly acceptable motivation. I also liked the concept of the Crucible, in that it was a superweapon that was built piecemeal by getting passed down through galactic generations. As a concept it's neat and interesting.

What makes it worse for me other than that there were good bits, is that Bioware basically refused to admit they had hosed up and acted like the only problem were minor details and not the whole underlying structure of the conclusion to their narrative they were pushing.

The idea of the Crucible might have potential, but the way it was used was beyond lazy. This superweapon was just found in humanity's backyard of Mars right as the Reapers began attacking (them somehow forgetting that they can take the Citadel and immediately cut off any hope of a competent resistance organizing) has everyone convinced it is their only hope despite nobody having any idea what it does. Then when it was used, it gave three different flavors of magic.

Furism
Feb 21, 2006

Live long and headbang

Rhjamiz posted:

I liked it when the Reapers were all "Our motivations are unknowable, you could not comprehend" etc but then no, it turns out that not only is it completely knowable and understandable, but it's also a really dumb reason and turns the Reapers into nothing but stupid robot puppets.

Boooooo. :mad:

If you're going to pull the ol' "Unknowable Evil" bit, don't ever actually tell us why.

I was like you initially. But if Bioware didn't explain the Reapers' motivation, people would have said that having a purely evil, destroy-all, enemy was too manichean. And, if you think about it, having your civilization destroyed for the Greater Good of the galaxy is actually something we can't comprehend. Much like rats can't comprehend why we want to eradicate them to stop spreading diseases (which is also misguided on our part, I might add).

The Revelation Space novels, from which Mass Effect drew a lot of inspiration as I understand, dealt with this much better I feel. By the way Lt. Danger, I wish you had talked more about this book in your LP.

Charlie Mopps posted:

I would say that DA2 is actually better than DA:I overall. Even with the repeating dungeons in DA2, it actually tried something interesting that lacked in DA:I. Or well, maybe better isnt the right word, but i did enjoy it more.

There is no redeeming trait in DA2 whatsoever. The AI is dumb, the art direction is horrible, the characters are dumb (except maybe Varick, but god he's so cliché it hurts), the story is dumb, the Fantasy 9/11 is dumb, and I loving hated that I lost my healer (Anders) for the last stretch of the game meaning I couldn't beat it on Hard. No actually there's one redeeming quality: they improved the skills and talents from DAO, with "side-grades" that opened nice ways to specialize a given character in a specific direction.

They also hosed up DAI, don't get me wrong. The combat UI was atrocious if you tried to play in a tactical view and they tried to make a "cRPG-like" (DAO) into an Action RPG but not really pulled it off (ME2/3's gameplay is leagues better than DAI's). Also, semi-open world was a bad diea, what with the all bear asses fetching quests. I felt it looked good, though, and I liked the Dragons.

When DAO and ME were originally released, they were supposed to be two different type of games. DA was cRPG, ME was Action RPG. When they tried to make DA an Action RPG as well that was a mistake. But I reckon they figured it would sell more. I don't think worked, since as I said DA2 and 3 were poor Action RPGs.

Feels Villeneuve
Oct 7, 2007

Setter is Better.
I didn't know Lt. Danger did a LP, I want to read that now.

Furism
Feb 21, 2006

Live long and headbang

Alain Post posted:

I didn't know Lt. Danger did a LP, I want to read that now.

It's a video LP and it's quite good, although I don't always agree with the points he makes and sometimes I feel he makes them just to be witty and provocative, but that's fine :) There are some fine points too. The only thing I didn't like was he didn't play the One Best Class Ever, a Vanguard, but went Sentinel instead!

Waltzing Along
Jun 14, 2008

There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here

Furism posted:

I loving hated that I lost my healer (Anders) for the last stretch of the game meaning I couldn't beat it on Hard.

Been a while since I played, but aren't there other healers? Or did you just screw up?

Aces High
Mar 26, 2010

Nah! A little chocolate will do




Furism posted:

I was like you initially. But if Bioware didn't explain the Reapers' motivation, people would have said that having a purely evil, destroy-all, enemy was too manichean. And, if you think about it, having your civilization destroyed for the Greater Good of the galaxy is actually something we can't comprehend. Much like rats can't comprehend why we want to eradicate them to stop spreading diseases (which is also misguided on our part, I might add).

so we need more Childhood's End and less...generic sci-fi. I agree, although when I first played through the trilogy I rolled my eyes a bit at Sovereign's whole "we are legion, you cannot comprehend us" shtick because it seemed a little overwrought for a video game. However all the Harbinger poo poo in ME2 is more of the same and that was great, so I dunno, maybe I just felt the delivery in ME1 was schlock but in ME2 they figured out how to actually make it not sound cliche.

Then we got ME3 and the starchild and that led to a nice :what: reaction from me. Also, because I bought all the DLC before beating ME3 the first time, that meant I also got all the Leviathan stuff so opening up that conversation option brought on an even more "are you loving kidding me with this?" reaction.



Out of curiosity, people did not like the ABC ending here and I have heard that apparently Fallout 3 had a similar ending and reaction so I have to ask: did people actually like the ABC ending in Deus Ex?

Lt. Danger
Dec 22, 2006

jolly good chaps we sure showed the hun

Furism posted:

The Revelation Space novels, from which Mass Effect drew a lot of inspiration as I understand, dealt with this much better I feel. By the way Lt. Danger, I wish you had talked more about this book in your LP.

I haven't read them but they're on my list!

Alain Post posted:

I didn't know Lt. Danger did a LP, I want to read that now.

I think it has some good points, but other parts are kinda weak and towards the end I run out of time and will, so the ending's a bit rushed... huh.

MrJacobs
Sep 15, 2008

Aces High posted:

so we need more Childhood's End and less...generic sci-fi. I agree, although when I first played through the trilogy I rolled my eyes a bit at Sovereign's whole "we are legion, you cannot comprehend us" shtick because it seemed a little overwrought for a video game. However all the Harbinger poo poo in ME2 is more of the same and that was great, so I dunno, maybe I just felt the delivery in ME1 was schlock but in ME2 they figured out how to actually make it not sound cliche.

Then we got ME3 and the starchild and that led to a nice :what: reaction from me. Also, because I bought all the DLC before beating ME3 the first time, that meant I also got all the Leviathan stuff so opening up that conversation option brought on an even more "are you loving kidding me with this?" reaction.



Out of curiosity, people did not like the ABC ending here and I have heard that apparently Fallout 3 had a similar ending and reaction so I have to ask: did people actually like the ABC ending in Deus Ex?

Fallout 3 has a total ending in an open world game with a HUGE loving overlooked problem of having a radiation proof mutant who could make the sacrifice for you, so people got pissed at how that worked out. They had to fix it with Broken Steel due to fan backlash.

Deus Ex offered 3 different and interesting endings that weren't just shades of each other, though I guess some people might be upset by the fact that none of those endings are happy, or how you achieve all three at the final room in the game, but those really aren't that bad.

MrJacobs fucked around with this message at 11:12 on Feb 11, 2016

My Q-Face
Jul 8, 2002

A dumb racist who need to kill themselves
Yeah, Fallout 3
:science: you must go into this room and turn on the machine to save the wasteland, but you will be subjected to lethal doses of radiation.
:v: hey, I have two companions who are completely immune to radiation, can they do it instead?
:downs: no, this is your destiny!

Mikedawson
Jun 21, 2013

Aces High posted:

so we need more Childhood's End and less...generic sci-fi. I agree, although when I first played through the trilogy I rolled my eyes a bit at Sovereign's whole "we are legion, you cannot comprehend us" shtick because it seemed a little overwrought for a video game. However all the Harbinger poo poo in ME2 is more of the same and that was great, so I dunno, maybe I just felt the delivery in ME1 was schlock but in ME2 they figured out how to actually make it not sound cliche.

Then we got ME3 and the starchild and that led to a nice :what: reaction from me. Also, because I bought all the DLC before beating ME3 the first time, that meant I also got all the Leviathan stuff so opening up that conversation option brought on an even more "are you loving kidding me with this?" reaction.



Out of curiosity, people did not like the ABC ending here and I have heard that apparently Fallout 3 had a similar ending and reaction so I have to ask: did people actually like the ABC ending in Deus Ex?

Are we talking about the original Deus Ex? The answer is yes, but the process was more complicated than a room with three paths to walk down, and had a bit more reason to weigh their pros and cons, partly by making the player consider their personal political standing.

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Aces High posted:

so we need more Childhood's End and less...generic sci-fi. I agree, although when I first played through the trilogy I rolled my eyes a bit at Sovereign's whole "we are legion, you cannot comprehend us" shtick because it seemed a little overwrought for a video game. However all the Harbinger poo poo in ME2 is more of the same and that was great, so I dunno, maybe I just felt the delivery in ME1 was schlock but in ME2 they figured out how to actually make it not sound cliche.

Then we got ME3 and the starchild and that led to a nice :what: reaction from me. Also, because I bought all the DLC before beating ME3 the first time, that meant I also got all the Leviathan stuff so opening up that conversation option brought on an even more "are you loving kidding me with this?" reaction.

Well, the Reaper motivations have gone from:

ME1: Use the knowledge and technology of the races of the galaxy to improve themselves, and possibly reproduce.
ME2: Use the people of the galaxy to reproduce.

These two don't really conflict and are understandably things that the average person in the galaxy might not want to have anything to do with. Harbinger is great because he views the process as a religious experience and thinks it is a net good for everyone involved, but they have to be worthy of it. Sovereign's talk relates to the cut idea that the Reapers are trying to solve what basically amounts to entropy - so, that kind of fits with it being incomprehensible, too. Imagine a Reaper sitting down and going 'Okay, guys, we're trying to solve the death of the universe. Now, I know this doesn't matter to you because you'll all be dead by then, but it matters to us because we're ageless machines...'

ME3: Save the people of the galaxy from their inevitable deaths at the hands of synthetic life.

But, like Geostomp says, the Reapers go out of their way to be absolutely sadistic in the process of this 'noble' goal. The codex mentions them broadcasting the destruction of cities and deaths of innocents in order to weaken the morale of remaining defenders. It's ridiculous. Of course, the Codex writers seemed to be on one page and the writers of the endgame on another.

Furism
Feb 21, 2006

Live long and headbang

Milky Moor posted:

The codex mentions them broadcasting the destruction of cities and deaths of innocents in order to weaken the morale of remaining defenders. It's ridiculous. Of course, the Codex writers seemed to be on one page and the writers of the endgame on another.

Why is it ridiculous? That sounds like a great tactic, if you have not much morality. In the Middle Ages soldiers would throw heads over castle walls and things like that to accomplish a similar effect.

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Furism posted:

Why is it ridiculous? That sounds like a great tactic, if you have not much morality. In the Middle Ages soldiers would throw heads over castle walls and things like that to accomplish a similar effect.

It's ridiculous when their leader basically goes 'Oh, I'm just a brushfire and they're simple machines that I directly control, also, we're benevolent'.

It's sadistic behavior. And, given the apparent overwhelming power of the Reapers, isn't necessary for strategic victories. That's what I mean by ridiculous - I'm aware of the historical basis for tactics like that.

Lt. Danger
Dec 22, 2006

jolly good chaps we sure showed the hun

Milky Moor posted:

ME3: Save the people of the galaxy from their inevitable deaths at the hands of synthetic life.

But, like Geostomp says, the Reapers go out of their way to be absolutely sadistic in the process of this 'noble' goal. The codex mentions them broadcasting the destruction of cities and deaths of innocents in order to weaken the morale of remaining defenders. It's ridiculous. Of course, the Codex writers seemed to be on one page and the writers of the endgame on another.

This is incorrect, though. The Reapers work to preserve life in general, not the specific lives of a given galactic cycle. The fear is that one cycle will develop synthetic life powerful enough to smother all (organic) life in the galaxy, present and future. Yes, it's ironic.

Again, it's an agricultural allusion. Harvest the wheat and store it safe; raze the fields to burn out pests and weeds. The farm endures.

e: Milky Moor every day you murder innocent plants and animals to sustain yourself. even now you commit genocide against millions of bacteria and viruses. can you truly call yourself a good person??

Lt. Danger fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Feb 11, 2016

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Lt. Danger posted:

This is incorrect, though. The Reapers work to preserve life in general, not the specific lives of a given galactic cycle. The fear is that one cycle will develop synthetic life powerful enough to smother all (organic) life in the galaxy, present and future. Yes, it's ironic.

Again, it's an agricultural allusion. Harvest the wheat and store it safe; raze the fields to burn out pests and weeds. The farm endures.

e: Milky Moor every day you murder innocent plants and animals to sustain yourself. even now you commit genocide against millions of bacteria and viruses. can you truly call yourself a good person??

Honestly, if a plant got up in my grill and was all 'What are you doing?' I'd probably be like 'Yeah, everything I can say is probably a bit beyond you'. Morality is a question of scale.

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'
now, watch this drive

*staples a human to the side of a batarian as a gun arm*

Lt. Danger
Dec 22, 2006

jolly good chaps we sure showed the hun

Milky Moor posted:

Honestly, if a plant got up in my grill and was all 'What are you doing?' I'd probably be like 'Yeah, everything I can say is probably a bit beyond you'. Morality is a question of scale.

"Welcome to the Republican Party," says Harbinger.

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Lt. Danger posted:

"Welcome to the Republican Party," says Harbinger.

"I will build a wall around the Omega Relay and make the lesser species pay for it."

Rhjamiz
Oct 28, 2007

Lt. Danger posted:

This is incorrect, though. The Reapers work to preserve life in general, not the specific lives of a given galactic cycle. The fear is that one cycle will develop synthetic life powerful enough to smother all (organic) life in the galaxy, present and future. Yes, it's ironic.

Again, it's an agricultural allusion. Harvest the wheat and store it safe; raze the fields to burn out pests and weeds. The farm endures.

e: Milky Moor every day you murder innocent plants and animals to sustain yourself. even now you commit genocide against millions of bacteria and viruses. can you truly call yourself a good person??

The problem with this is, as stated, the power of the Reapers is so far beyond the galactic races that the fact that they bother to horrifically mutate and torture folks for the lame excuse of "efficiency" when it's actually less efficient is counter to the idea that "It's for your own good". You wanna be efficient? Just gas them. Even we do our best (and often fail since we aren't perfect) to treat our farms humanely. We strive to avoid undue suffering.

The Reapers act in ways that are sadistic and malicious. "It's for your own good" is post-hoc justification of poo poo they couldn't hand-wave away when they ran out of time.

Rhjamiz fucked around with this message at 12:42 on Feb 11, 2016

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'
I thought the Reapers were pretty interesting in Mass Effect 1 where there was this subtle implication that they were on a strict schedule that the player had disrupted.

For whatever reason, the five thousand years schedule was like the optimum time where the Reapers could gain technological advancement (improvement and innovation of the technology they had seeded the galaxy with) without risking significant losses. It's like how the Dragon's Teeth (the devices that made husks) would extract as much raw materials from the people put on them while still retaining just enough of the person to be a shock trooper and psychological weapon of war. Sovereign was already running late and the player disrupts this schedule further, leading to the destruction of a Reaper and the seeds being sown to stop the rest of them. The Reapers stacked the deck as much as they could for their own purposes and then tried to balance risk and reward.

Even ME2 abandons most of this, unfortunately, focusing solely on distilling down organics.

Rhjamiz
Oct 28, 2007

Milky Moor posted:

I thought the Reapers were pretty interesting in Mass Effect 1 where there was this subtle implication that they were on a strict schedule that the player had disrupted.

For whatever reason, the five thousand years schedule was like the optimum time where the Reapers could gain technological advancement (improvement and innovation of the technology they had seeded the galaxy with) without risking significant losses. It's like how the Dragon's Teeth (the devices that made husks) would extract as much raw materials from the people put on them while still retaining just enough of the person to be a shock trooper and psychological weapon of war. Sovereign was already running late and the player disrupts this schedule further, leading to the destruction of a Reaper and the seeds being sown to stop the rest of them. The Reapers stacked the deck as much as they could for their own purposes and then tried to balance risk and reward.

Even ME2 abandons most of this, unfortunately, focusing solely on distilling down organics.

I forget, was it ever explained why Sovereign went to all that dumb trouble of recruiting Saren and dicking around Novack etc instead of just immediately going to the Citadel while everyone's still got their pants down? Like, all of three people would even know what's up and there wouldn't even be a fleet there.

It has been years since I trudged through ME1's combat so I don't recall.

Lt. Danger
Dec 22, 2006

jolly good chaps we sure showed the hun

Rhjamiz posted:

The problem with this is, as stated, the power of the Reapers is so far beyond the galactic races that the fact that they bother to horrifically mutate and torture folks for the lame excuse of "efficiency" when it's actually less efficient is counter to the idea that "It's for your own good". You wanna be efficient? Just gas them. Even we do our best (and often fail since we aren't perfect) to treat our farms humanely. We strive to avoid undue suffering.

The Reapers act in ways that are sadistic and malicious. "It's for your own good" is post-hoc justification of poo poo they couldn't hand-wave away when they ran out of time.

It isn't for "their own good" (the good of the people of each galactic cycle) though. Who cares if a few billion individuals are tortured into psy-war shock-troopers? They're irrelevant. The 'nation' lives on in the Reapers, and the galaxy is saved from self-destruction. "Suffering" just doesn't register.

You're not supposed to like it, you're not supposed to agree with it, but it's consistent - with itself, with the larger story.

e: protheans severed Reaper control over the Citadel (the keepers). Sovereign needed to know a) what happened b) how to get control back

Lt. Danger fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Feb 11, 2016

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

Rhjamiz posted:

I forget, was it ever explained why Sovereign went to all that dumb trouble of recruiting Saren and dicking around Novack etc instead of just immediately going to the Citadel while everyone's still got their pants down? Like, all of three people would even know what's up and there wouldn't even be a fleet there.

It has been years since I trudged through ME1's combat so I don't recall.

Sovereign needed an army and a fleet to keep the Citadel's defenders busy for long enough to let it open the relay controls. If it didn't, it'd get picked apart by the defenders.


Milky Moor posted:

I thought the Reapers were pretty interesting in Mass Effect 1 where there was this subtle implication that they were on a strict schedule that the player had disrupted.

For whatever reason, the five thousand years schedule was like the optimum time where the Reapers could gain technological advancement (improvement and innovation of the technology they had seeded the galaxy with) without risking significant losses. It's like how the Dragon's Teeth (the devices that made husks) would extract as much raw materials from the people put on them while still retaining just enough of the person to be a shock trooper and psychological weapon of war. Sovereign was already running late and the player disrupts this schedule further, leading to the destruction of a Reaper and the seeds being sown to stop the rest of them. The Reapers stacked the deck as much as they could for their own purposes and then tried to balance risk and reward.

Even ME2 abandons most of this, unfortunately, focusing solely on distilling down organics.

The lead writer left halfway through ME2, partially explaining why they games never seemed to agree on what the Reapers were supposed to be doing. It also explains why all the hints about dark energy were thrown out in ME2, then suddenly dropped: either the remaining writers didn't understand the concept or they thought the audience was too stupid to do so.

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Rhjamiz posted:

I forget, was it ever explained why Sovereign went to all that dumb trouble of recruiting Saren and dicking around Novack etc instead of just immediately going to the Citadel while everyone's still got their pants down? Like, all of three people would even know what's up and there wouldn't even be a fleet there.

It has been years since I trudged through ME1's combat so I don't recall.

I think the timeline of events is this:

At some point, Sovereign attempts to contact the Citadel remotely and bring in the Reapers - which fails, due to the Protheans adjusting the Keepers. This may or may not be during the Rachni Wars.

In any case, two thousand years prior to the series, Sovereign starts the Rachni War, presumably to get them to activate the Citadel for him while keeping his true nature hidden.

The Rachni lose the war thanks to the Krogan. Sovereign goes into 'hibernation' around a planet, probably to consider his next move.

Sovereign is discovered by an archaelogist and then by Saren. Saren is promptly indoctrinated and Sovereign recruits the Geth. By now, Sovereign is either bold enough - or desperate enough - to act openly. At the beginning of ME1, he still has no idea why his recall signal failed to work and needs Saren to do the legwork to find out.

Milkfred E. Moore fucked around with this message at 13:04 on Feb 11, 2016

Rhjamiz
Oct 28, 2007

Lt. Danger posted:

It isn't for "their own good" (the good of the people of each galactic cycle) though. Who cares if a few billion individuals are tortured into psy-war shock-troopers? They're irrelevant. The 'nation' lives on in the Reapers, and the galaxy is saved from self-destruction. "Suffering" just doesn't register.

You're not supposed to like it, you're not supposed to agree with it, but it's consistent - with itself, with the larger story.

e: protheans severed Reaper control over the Citadel (the keepers). Sovereign needed to know a) what happened b) how to get control back

Except the galaxy was never in any danger; AI as galaxy-bleach is never established as a threat until the last 15 minutes. The Geth are just spooky boogeymen that do their own thing, and the Prothean literally already fought their AI war and won. We have no reason to think it's a Major Problem.

The reason why we "care" about a few billion tortured dudes isn't because of any concern for the current galaxy per se, but because it's unnecessary. It's completely gratuitous in a way that implies malicious intent. If you actually didn't give a poo poo about the galaxy because all of Organic Existence hung in the balance, you still wouldn't go out of your way to be a Huge Jerk about it.

It's trying to pass it off as Machine Efficiency when it's actually Mustache-Twirling.

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Rhjamiz posted:

Except the galaxy was never in any danger; AI as galaxy-bleach is never established as a threat until the last 15 minutes. The Geth are just spooky boogeymen that do their own thing, and the Prothean literally already fought their AI war and won. We have no reason to think it's a Major Problem.

The Prothean/AI war was even instigated by the Reapers. :ssh:

Rhjamiz
Oct 28, 2007

Milky Moor posted:

The Prothean/AI war was even instigated by the Reapers. :ssh:

Haha, was it? I missed that. That just makes the whole justification even dumber.

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

Rhjamiz posted:

Except the galaxy was never in any danger; AI as galaxy-bleach is never established as a threat until the last 15 minutes. The Geth are just spooky boogeymen that do their own thing, and the Prothean literally already fought their AI war and won. We have no reason to think it's a Major Problem.

The reason why we "care" about a few billion tortured dudes isn't because of any concern for the current galaxy per se, but because it's unnecessary. It's completely gratuitous in a way that implies malicious intent. If you actually didn't give a poo poo about the galaxy because all of Organic Existence hung in the balance, you still wouldn't go out of your way to be a Huge Jerk about it.

It's trying to pass it off as Machine Efficiency when it's actually Mustache-Twirling.

Exactly. The Geth are the only example of a large enough number of AIs to pose a real threat and the last two games established that they just want to be left alone and are willing to give peace a chance if they have confirmation that they won't get attacked while their guard is down. Any talk of synthetic life becoming galaxy scrubbing threats falls flat because it all had to be retconned in to justify this dumbass ending. It's only "inevitable" because they whole conceit of the idiotic premise they slapped together at the last second requires it to be. We just aren't convinced because it has already been proven false. You can't just ignore this one case to make your premise when it's the only case you actually have.

That's not even touching the Reapers' sadism and blatant contempt for all life besides themselves. Like their deliberate sabotage of organics and instigation of multiple conflicts for their own benefit. Like recruiting the heretic Geth as foot soldiers and brainwashing the Rachni, making already dubious claims blatantly absurd.

Geostomp fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Feb 11, 2016

Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Rhjamiz posted:

Haha, was it? I missed that. That just makes the whole justification even dumber.

"The zha'til were a synthetic race that existed at the time of the Protheans. They originated when a race known as the zha implanted themselves with symbiotic AI technology to enhance their intelligence in order to survive as their homeworld became inhospitable. When the Reapers arrived, they subjugated the AIs, known as zha'til, who then seized control of the bodies of their masters and altered their genetic material at the deepest level, transforming the zha into synthetic monsters and their offspring into slaves. The zha'til proceeded to multiply into "mechanical swarms" that "blotted out the sky". With no other recourse, the Protheans sent the star of the zha's home system into supernova, destroying the zha'til entirely."

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

Milky Moor posted:

"The zha'til were a synthetic race that existed at the time of the Protheans. They originated when a race known as the zha implanted themselves with symbiotic AI technology to enhance their intelligence in order to survive as their homeworld became inhospitable. When the Reapers arrived, they subjugated the AIs, known as zha'til, who then seized control of the bodies of their masters and altered their genetic material at the deepest level, transforming the zha into synthetic monsters and their offspring into slaves. The zha'til proceeded to multiply into "mechanical swarms" that "blotted out the sky". With no other recourse, the Protheans sent the star of the zha's home system into supernova, destroying the zha'til entirely."

Once again, this "inevitable" conflict is directly caused by the Reapers for their own ends. But please Mr. Catalyst, tell use more about how you're "preserving" life.

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Milkfred E. Moore
Aug 27, 2006

'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'
And if the Reapers are dealing with 'after x amount of years it becomes inevitable that synthetic life will render organic life extinct' the core crux of that issue is really no different to 'eventually heat death will occur' but, in that variation of 'Reapers are out to 'save' the galaxy from an inevitable disaster' the audience has much less ammunition to throw back at the Reapers as evidence that they are wrong.

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