1stGear posted:

Look at that loving hat. That's all you need to know about Mac Walters right there. The fucker is wearing a trilby hat (?) indoors. Boom, Mac Walters in a sentence.

LazyDivey posted:

This is pretty much my ridiculous headcannon ending for my Shepard.

davejk posted:

He was a writer on Mass Effect, and the lead writer on Mass Effect 2 after Drew Karpyshyn left. He's not new to the series, he just probably spent more time reviewing the other writers' work and making high-level plot decisions than writing dialogue and so on.

Sombrerotron posted:

What tiny problems are you thinking of, specifically?

LazyDivey posted:

This is pretty much my ridiculous headcannon ending for my Shepard.

Buddy Holly posted:

Mac Walters always wears hats, indoors, outdoors, it matters not to Mac. Premature balding, I'm sure.

Spiritus Nox posted:

...Okay, rage subsiding somewhat. Jesus christ I was scared for a moment there. It doesn't make up for the poo poo ending but it at least makes it less insulting.

It does confuse me though, because I thought the intro was fine - I don't know how you cock it up so badly in the last ten minutes.

-Dethstryk- posted:

The game in general feels rushed and with a narrower scope.

Scandalous Wench posted:

Speaking of headcanon, http://masseffectheadcanons.tumblr.com/ is pretty adorable.

"When Shepard asks for advice on dating Garrus, Kelly and Kasumi decide to give her a girl's night out complete with drinking, dancing, and lots of turian pornography. Unfortunately, Shepard remembers nothing the next day."

quote:

“Jack hates Kelly Chambers. She views Kelly as some kind of Cerberus shrink who just wants to screw with her head. It’s a bit paranoid, but Jack refuses to see her for any sort of counseling. She’d much rather vent about her problems to Shepard.”

quote:

“After Joker was told of the Lazarus project he began to plan the best way to admit his feelings to Shepard once she was revived. Though he came up with 5 suitable methods, he never ended up using any of them. Shepard still doesn’t know he is in love with her.”

Lord Lambeth posted:

something like this?

Tycho posted:

The official line has shifted from “our endings are invincible chocolate platinum” to “okay, let’s talk about the endings later, after more people have finished it.” Personally, I’m still hooked on the Indoctrination theory; I like creeping, gnawing ideas of this kind, ones that call the understood narrative into question. The first Force Unleashed did that especially well.

thetrin posted:

I went bald at 18. People don't see me sitting in my home wearing douchey hats. Hardly an excuse.

Lotish posted:

I prefer Legion and Friends.

davejk posted:

The kid dying in the intro was remarkably hamfisted. Everyone I've talked to about it said they laughed when the kid got blown up by the Reaper, which probably isn't the emotional response they were aiming for.


Funnily enough, this was one of the biggest problems with Dragon Age 2 (which had a 12 month development cycle).

ATP_Power posted:

If I was a writer on this game who didn't have a direct hand in the ending, I'd be pretty happy about this whole outrage simply because it means that thousands of people (at a bare minimum) were incredibly emotionally invested in something *I* made.

I really hope that the whole writing team isn't getting hammered over this and that they get some kudos for writing a pretty awesome game series.

Also in terms of new people involved in the ME3 project, getting Clint Mansell to do the soundtrack was a fantastic decision. I really think the soundtrack in this game was the best of the three and played a big role in the emotional impact of many of the important scenes in the game.

1stGear posted:

And then:

davejk posted:

Funnily enough, this was one of the biggest problems with Dragon Age 2 (which had a 12 month development cycle).

quote:

Ultimately, Mass Effect 3 is the journey that every single fan has been waiting for. The pacing is perfect throughout, the calm before the storm of the last battle giving you a chance to check back in just one last time with everyone who's shared this epic tale with you. But then, just at the last moment, everything gets ripped out from underneath you.

In a game, in a series, where choice and consequence has been paramount, Mass Effect 3's ending is a huge kick in the teeth. Deus Ex: Human Revolution's was bad, but Eidos hadn't spent two previous, enormous games making you care. At least those endings were markedly different, too. Mass Effect 3's triple threat of button choices results in virtually identical final cutscenes, with a little colour palette change. All of the choices, all of the sacrifices, all of the relationships, the friendships, the alliances, all are forgotten in the space of ten minutes of Matrix Revolutions-esque waffle that not only makes absolutely no sense in the context of the series, but actively tries to retcon certain aspects of the previous narrative. Everyone's fate is left uncertain, the lack of closure (when there'd been two perfectly good moments at which to end the story only five minutes prior) is borderline criminal.

Is it wrong to feel this way? Of course not. BioWare asked that we invest in their series, and we did, gladly. But, unfairly, this is an ending that makes you ask the question 'Was it worth it?' For the first time, I have no desire to replay a Mass Effect game, because I know that this is it. This is all I'll get: three colours of the same, inevitable ending. No explanation. No closure. No satisfaction. If I want the combat, I'll play the multiplayer. It means that every single choice I made, from the start of the original game, to the end of this one, none of them matter. My Shepard, as different as he may be from yours, doesn't matter. Paragon or Renegade, it's all for nothing. That's not a comment on futility, lord only knows what this ending might have been if BioWare had been brave enough to explore that, but rather drawing the curtain on the Beautiful Lie that Mass Effect has become in the space of five minutes.

It's not about entitlement, although you'd think Ł120 (not including the series' DLC) might earn us a better ending. It's bad storytelling, and that's the kicker. The fact that BioWare have proven time and time again that they're not a lazy studio, that they care about the little things, that previous games (including from this very same series!) have explored final scenes that reward multiple playthroughs of differing styles and choices, just makes it all the more frustrating. Of all of the memorable moments in Mass Effect 3, and there are many, that this is the most prevalent is a real shame.

http://www.dealspwn.com/mass-effect...aping-sow-96051

1stGear posted:

quote:

“When Wrex found out that Garrus finally ‘got’ with Shepard, he was extremely jealous, but at the same time relieved that the poor turian finally got laid. He believed that Garrus need to get laid to get the drat ‘stick out of his rear end’.”

quote:

Hanar make great DJs

ATP_Power posted:

If I was a writer on this game who didn't have a direct hand in the ending, I'd be pretty happy about this whole outrage simply because it means that thousands of people (at a bare minimum) were incredibly emotionally invested in something *I* made.

Dolphin Fetus posted:

I got up a while ago, have the bioware PR people or Mac Walters said any new stupid poo poo that completely invalidates any possibility of a new ending or have they thrown more straws for damage control?

quote:

The lead writer of Mass Effect 3 is Mac Walters, who previously wrote on other games in the Mass Effect series as well as Jade Empire. One of the goals set by the writing staff at the beginning of production was to treat the game like a movie and make sure that players playing it for the first time would "just be able to jump in". Emphasis was put on making the story user friendly for players inexperienced with the franchise because BioWare felt they "didn't do a really good job of new player orientation" in Mass Effect 2. To begin the writing process, Hudson and Walters sat down and created a story document no longer than three or four pages that contained all the major plot points. Once the document was complete, Walters took the document to the writing staff and began filling out minor details including minor plot points and missions. Once these details were complete and the "backbone of the story" was established, each writer was put in charge of specific levels and missions. Work done by each writer was reviewed in-depth by the rest of the writing staff and others.

quote:

“Despite the fact that Shepard told Tali he only sees her as a friend when her true feelings were known, Tali still loves him. However, every time she sees him now, her heart breaks a little knowing he’ll never return her feelings.”

quote:

“Grunt has dreams of owning a pet shark.”

Dolphin Fetus posted:

I got up a while ago, have the bioware PR people or Mac Walters said any new stupid poo poo that completely invalidates any possibility of a new ending or have they thrown more straws for damage control?

Codependent Poster posted:

They're quieting down.

Codependent Poster posted:

They're quieting down.

DiscipleoftheClaw posted:

Or they finally realized that literally nothing they could ever say would appease people.

CaptainCarrot posted:

What Spectre authorization opens up after you've listened to the woman leaving her soldier husband for an asari on the Commons enough to hear all their conversations? I got the Purgatory swindler, the Docks reservist benefits, and Grissom's students, but none of those fits this.

ATP_Power posted:

Not getting a Krogan squadmate (Wrex ) or Zaeed back sucked, especially since the crew banter was at its best in this game.

At least Garrus was always there to bro out with, but I had really hoped to roll with Wrex again.

quote:

“Kink for turians is absolutely brutal. It only takes a few months of the Spectre evaluation for Saren and Nihlus’ relationship to establish itself as very dom/sub, and whenever Nihlus is a brat he gets his rear end handed to him in the sexiest way possible.”

DiscipleoftheClaw posted:

Or they finally realized that literally nothing they could ever say would appease people.

Malek posted:

"We screwed up, we're sorry, we are releasing a DLC for the ending that won't cost anything. We hope we can earn your trust back."

Yup. Nothing.

TheAgent posted:

As someone who has written a fair amount of fiction that wasn't well received, I can tell you that no, no you don't really get happy because people are telling you that you suck. There's no "Oh well they are upset so I must have touched them on some emotional level" unless you are in some kind of deep denial.

If I was a part of a collaborative effort of short stories and one story sucked so badly that it colored the entire rest of the work, I wouldn't be popping champagne and saying "At least they care!"

I'd pour a bathtub full of store brand, sour mash whiskey and not leave until I was deathly drunk or severely wrinkled

Malek posted:

"We screwed up, we're sorry, we are releasing a DLC for the ending that won't cost anything. We hope we can earn your trust back."

Yup. Nothing.