Uh, thats not the implication I got, I just finished replaying ME1 and Ol' Sovvy clearly states the the only purpose of the mass effect tech is to *direct* your tech progress...so that the reapers will know exactly what they will face when they return and have the perfect counters and understanding of your society.Krion_Vark said:The funny thing is you NEVER had this choice. This was ALWAYS the outcome. IF YOU KILL THE REAPERS.Lovely Mixture said:RedEyesBlackGamer said:I know. I mean, the first game established that you are facing badass genocide machines that never fail. Did anyone really expect there to be a perfect ending? Losing or a victory with very heavy losses seems like the only way to do it that makes sense.Kahunaburger said:Everybody dies.BelmontWolf said:3 games just to get doom and gloom endings =/ i have friends that play their shephard characters to specific morals and they will be mighty pissed when they find their character will probably die.
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...incidentally, this is the thing I don't get about the backlash. The fact that Shep doesn't end up living in the space suburbs with his/her space waifu and their blue children doesn't invalidate the fact that Shep kinda sorta saves the galaxy.It's not about wanting a "perfect" ending, it's not about wanting a "realistic" ending, it's not about "waifuism" (believe me, I'm a Talimancer and would gladly have accepted her death in the game outside of this silliness).SajuukKhar said:Civilization as it is, was screwed the second they started using the Mass Relay network and basing technology off of it.
This ending frees civilization from the reapers chains and allows them to start over along a path that they chose for themselves.
Mass Effect's primary selling point, back when it was very first announced, was that "your actions would have consequences."
It's not that hard to understand ok?
Yes, the reapers are nigh invincible killing machines. Heavy losses would be natural.
But instead of letting the players choices matter, we get three endings with the same outcome.
Look at Mass Effect 1, depending on Paragon or Renegade you either doom or save the council, you recommend either Udina or Anderson for human representative. Mass Effect 2, members of your crew live or die AND you decide whether or not the Collector Base is preserved or not.
tl;dr - It's not about happy endings, it's about CHOICE.
Soverign in the fist game says that the Mass Effect system is set up so that the species of the universe will go the way that they want them to. No reapers = no mass effect. PERIOD. You destroy what is controlling/powering the thing and you don't get to use it anymore.
Yeah its a shit ending but its also 100% in your face from the first game.
IE mass effect tech (ie biotics and railguns*) + mass relays + central citadel all form to make a specific type of galactic civ (highly isolated/dispersed populace/production/military) where all higher govt is located in one area (citadel which is the Reapers primary day zero target, thus crippling the distributed civs ability to fight) and all military applied tech is based on kinetic accelerators and kinetic defences with set upper limits of power output/defence ability and speed/mobility.
Its all there to weight the fight so far in the reapers favour that its not even a contest if they get to pull a total pearl harbor/decapitation strike and no one can rebuild their tech base after that...
Coming in without total surprise, without a devastating first strike against an enemy who still has a fully intact central govt and co-ordinated R&D efforts that have salvaged Reaper tech (Thranix cannon, improved hull armor and cyclonic shields from ME2) and knowledge of how the Reapers operate (unless shepard just never bothered to file reports on any of the intel he got during ME1)...the fight should be in doubt for the Reapers to begin with.
Hell its supposed to be established that humanity hasn't been around long enough to have fallen into the standard military pattern every other race has, for example we were the only race to build wet navy style carriers instead of Dreadnaughts (since Carriers aren't a restricted ship class) .
*as I understand it thats all the weapons from ME really are, advanced rail guns throwing a frangible slug at partial C velocity. All the Reaper and Collector weapons seem to be are highly refined versions of that tech tree.