Poll: Which Deus Ex: Human Revolution Ending did you choose? *SPOILERS*

[Volothos]

I really enjoyed the endings but I still admit they were cheap-ish. Nonetheless I'm split between Sarif and Self Destruct but I usually lead towards Sarif but I do keep the other choices in mind, yes that includes Taggarts >.>

With Sarif... well... I was fond of him. While he did lie, usually it was for the better but I wasn't a tool and wouldn't take his lies for face. Given the chance i would always call him out on it but I supported keeping Jensens past a secret for that time it was. Not to mention how friendly he was not only with me but practically everyone. I don't think I've ever heard the man yell, or hell, raise his voice. This man I proudly endorse.

The self destruct option, the initial description that the world would be left with questions and the such just didn't make it a viable option. Only when I watched the ending did I see the logic. I understand what Jensen said about human decency and agreed. What i disagreed with though was to the extent and with the haste that decency would take. Jensen also talked about how he has never abused his power and that choosing a path for man would be an abuse. There's also the fact that the augmented population that upgraded their bio chip still went on an insane rampage. Sure you can spin it all you want but that doesnt leave out that they still went batshit insane. Also you die, and that alone had me go NO! There's also the fact that everyone on the station dies, this point erm.. pointing at taggart. With all the purity first and humanity front bull going on, I dare not think how this catastrophe would put augmented people in peoples eyes. And with Taggart dead and the head position of such a dangerous organization vacant, I dare not think of who would succeed him.

Darrow was OK. His aim was admirable but flawed. You're serious about going in front of the world and saying "The illuminati did it". I'm very sure he had documents prooving so but its still quite a claim: an organization from ancient times has been manipulating everything and such. At the same time at the top of the station when jensen was arguing about his morals, he sort of lost all credibility to me. Given the right stance and such yes, he could be seen as a mass murderer.

And then there's Taggart. First off, fuck this guy. I hated him so much and his reckless disregard for the good augmentations have done, mainly when he said that he would rather have me unaugmented AND DEAD, rather than augmented perfectly alive and healthy and wanting to punch him in the face. I probably mutilated that or missed the point of that but its basically the conversation you have with him outsides Sarifs office. I cannot express my hate for the guy and i thoroughly enjoyed telling him that with all the anti augmentation stuff, be it peaceful or violent, going on that he is desecrating the memory of his wife (Taggart: How... DARE you!) and such that this man would be the last person i'd choose to lead man down his path. Simply put, fuck this man. Argh!

 

[C117]

Bill Taggart. Because I didn't want to completely ban augs (being 90% constructed from them and all) but David Sarif seemed like such an ass to me. And it would suck to be blown up together with the station.

But in the end I chose every one of the endings, in order to get an acheivement...

 

[Dotheearth]

I chose Darrow's ending specifically because I uncovered his true nature in our argument scene -- spoilers and that -- when I confronted him about his leg brace he admitted to feelings of insufficiency and envy (it was a far better sequence than the ending) He implored me not only to tell the truth but to reveal his petty reasons. Surely that's the better ending, with Sarif and Taggart putting a spin one way or the other and the destruction of the base being the mother of all cop outs.

That said, the ending I unleashed was unaware of the discussion I had had with Darrow. It was just a multi-purpose, one-size-fits-all do away with augmentation ending. After the game had done so well up until now in giving my actions consequences, to fall at the last fence was a major let down. And to lay the various endings out as simple button pushes in a room--even invisible war wasn't that gauche. Great game. Poor ending(s).

 

[Saerain]

With respect, I disagree with your assessment of the likely outcomes of each choice. First off, it has to be said that the choices are somewhat illusory, as this is a prequel and hence an "all roads lead to Rome" type of situation. We know what the future of this game universe is because it has already been written.

I hope not. I'd rather this be something of a reboot and EM not strive to funnel everything down to the original Deus Ex.

 

[Michelle Myers]

I chose Sarif's ending.

The self-destruct ending, while heroic, wouldn't at all leave humanity free to decide for itself what to do, because it's not like the Illuminati were going to blow up with it. And, really? You're going to kill all those civilians just so you can sit on the fence?

Taggart's ending would have played into the Illuminati's plans, and while I agree that regulations and order are needed, I don't agree that they should conveniently be controlled by an organization that can condone the testing done at Omega Ranch or Rifleman Bank Station. On one hand, they want to limit augmentations, and on the other hand, they want dibs on the technology? Gee, I wonder why...

Darrow's ending was based on an exaggeration. Sure, this technology could be exploited, but look who exploited it. The most brilliant scientists were manipulated by the Illuminati and Darrow. The absolute most. It's not like they chose to cause all the insanity. And besides, the technology is out there (Dollhouse, anyone?), and nobody will believe him when he says the Illuminati are involved. Someone crazy enough to drive thousands of people crazy should tooootally be trusted.

Sarif, although wanting to broadcast a lie, made a good point about buying them enough time to counter the Illuminati, and I feel I can trust him not to do inhumane experiments. Yeah, he did tests on Adam Jensen's blood, but that's it. He wasn't tortured. Give Adam Jensen to TYM or Versalife and they'd do a hell of a lot worse. Sarif can responsibly do R&D, and he genuinely believes in helping people. And with Zhao gone, their company isn't at risk from them, and the odds of the Illuminati quickly procuring a way to topple Sarif Industries before it gains an edge in the industry are slim.

All in all, yeah, you'd be lying, but I don't think Jensen can afford the luxury of honesty. That kind of does sound like the Illuminati's justification of genocide and whatnot, but hopefully, Sarif Industries draws the line where the Illuminati cannot.

 

[DementedSheep]

I eventually just went with Sarifs.
I don?t quite get why self destruct is the heroic ?no spins or lies? one. It just means everyone has no information, people are still going to manipulate and spin it so I don?t really see how blowing up the place and telling people nothing is suppose to help. You?re just going to get more confusion and more chaos. It?s like the ultimate cop out to me. ?ARHHH I can?t decide what to do so fuck it, I?m just going to burry everything and take everyone on this ship with down me!?
I would have thought if you wanted to not spin it or trust everyone to get thru this and make their own decisions you would have told the truth (Darrow). Tho of course if pick that option Jenson goes on an anti augment rant.

 

[Bastiaan Bogers]

I chose for Darrow.

It seemed the right decision to me. In any case, I wouldn't have picked Taggart's side, because that would spread lies and help the iluminati get control over humanity, and freedom would be a thing of the past. I don't believe a group of men that powerful would monitor human enhancements a right way, and reign without corruption.

Sarif's way didn't seem right to me either, because it would have been a lie too, and would have entirely opened te path for augmentation development, granting companies too much power. In this case, the people wouldn't have really realised the danger of augmentation, and also corruption would probably be as big as a problem as in Taggart's option.

So there were only two options left: Broadcasting Darrow's story or blowing up the facility. If I would have blown up the facility, hundreds of innocent people would have died, including Jensen, and the world would have had to find out the truth by itself. Besides that blowing up a facility that would stop global warming, and dying, didn't sound attractive to me, there were some other reasons why I didn't go for this option. Nobody would have know what had caused the disaster, and people would have made something up theirselves, dividing humanity into different parties, spreading chaos and waging war against eachother.

One person can't decide for humanity. Humanity must decide for itself. By telling Darrow's story, we provide the world with the information it needs. The world will know that HE did this, and why. It will be able to see things from the point of view of "the man who did this", and no information will be kept secret. This way, the world will decide what is best for it. I don't know the future of augmentation, but at least, it is the future humanity chooses, and not a future chosen by one man.

 

[Comma-Kazie]

I stopped playing when I realized the whole morality system and exposition all boiled down to "press button to win game."

Man I was pissed as SqueEnix.

 

[philosophicalbastard]

And let's not forget that Megan Reed is still out there and know about the Chip. I have a feeling they would be able to reverse the effects and, due to Megan's team's guilty conscience, work towards sage augmentation research and development.

Spoiler

You obviously didn't see that scene after the credits where Megan went directly to the Illuminate to start working for them.

I don't like any lying or spinning of the truth, so I couldn't chose Sarif's or Taggart's messages. I would have loved to reveal the Illuminate with Darrow's message, but people becoming technophobic seems like to great a cost. In the end, I decide to sacrifice Pangea and the four people left on it (I was forced to slaughter all the crazy aug people) in order to free the world of those people's agendas, so that they may chose their own future.

 

[kingcom]

I went with Sarif's ending. It was a tough choice for me, particularly because I didn't really want to lie to people, but I personally want a future where technological advancement is free and available.

See I was in the same position, but with Taggart's ending and telling the truth. I didn't feel that Sarif's ending would've done the world any good, while Sarif himself isn't the type to do things to hurt people, others are and I personally feel (I play rpgs as me not as a character) that

Spoiler: big spoiler about Jensen's childhood

Jensen being experimented on as a child and many other children also being experimented on and killed

is wrong and therefore the entire thing need regulation. Taggart's ending gives regulation which means that augmentation and the continuation of the technological evolution that Sarif wants will still progress, just not as rapidly or as dangerously which is what is needed in the world.

That and Taggart was mostly straight with me, Sarif sits there and blatantly lies to your face even though he's meant to trust you and Darrow just messes you around. Taggart is the only person in the game (aside from Malik the cool person that she is) that actually tells you like it is and even though he does hide things from you, he does at least tell you in the end.

The only real thing I regret about my ending is the amount of innocent people at Neuralife (I think it's called) that will lose their jobs over something that never happened, this could really hurt a lot of people, both workers at Neuralife and also customers of their health service, which is harsh.

You mean Versalife? The guys who experimented on Jensen right? The group owned by Page Industries, who is owned by Bob Page who is a member of the Illuminati at the time so by siding with Taggart your actually supporting the experimentation on Jensen. Huh.

 

[McNinja]

I chose them all. Save before you choose.

Also, that game was a waste of time, and the endings (all of them) are pointless, provide no satisfaction, and only serve to show you how pointless everything you just did was. It's bad. The only good thing about that game is the art design. That's it.

 

[Voulan]

I chose Taggart's heavy regulations. Going completely Pro-aug would strengthen all the problems the world already faced - humans being forced to get augs to get anywhere in careers and life, neuropozyne addictions, weaponized augmentations.

I also figured the truth would be terrible for anyone that already had augs. Effectively, they would become segregated out of fear, and no real resolution would be found with the whole issue.

No answer at all would lead to even more chaos and misunderstanding, and it gives any power-hungry group the right to twist it however they please.

In my opinion, augmentation should have been regulated in the first place - as a necessity, not just for recreation or betterment.

 

[Darth_Dude]

I did all 4!

I'm an indecisive bastard..

I actually thought Taggart's ending was the best, until I saw the footage of the important looking guys (probably politicians) walking into the meeting room, and the Illuminati symbol being in the room. Made me realize that the Illuminati would win anyway in that ending.

 

[Leodiensian]

The first time I played it through, I went with the Regulation ending. The consequences of rampant laissez-faire capitalism can be seen through almost every section of the game - Heng-sha especially. Zeke Sander's backstory and the pro-aug criminal organisations shows us that augmentation technology is extremely dangerous and really shouldn't be handed out willy-nilly without some kind of regulation, the same way you wouldn't trust someone without a driver's license to get behind the wheel of a car, or how someone should have a permit to buy and use a firearm.

I didn't necessarily agree with the Illuminati agenda of total social and population control, however. It was definitely a case of their goals being the ones I disagreed with LEAST - and I'd already fucked the Illuminati's plans, infrastructure and membership majorly by that point.

 

[Moth_Monk]

My favourite ending is if you side with Sarif. That's because I am personally extremely pro-progress. If (and when) 'augmentations' or any similar technology become really available, I'll be modding myself no end.

 

[Aircross]

Self-Destruction seeing as no one (important) from HR ever makes it to Deus Ex.

 

[Leodiensian]

Oh yes, one fairly important footnote: while I took Taggart's ending, I killed him first.

 

[Reza Baharmast]

It's been a while, but I imagine you'd like this:

I guess most of you agree that all 4 choices are BAD; since you can not fix a society which has been emptied of morality and God for so long with a mere benefit seeking human mind ( that benefit could be money, fame, or even satisfying one's monsterous ego, like Darrow's )

However, assuming Eliza would actually send YOUR choice and not those whose interest she exists to protect,

I chose Sarif's.
I like power and money; so in a situation where I can neutralize ALL my competition with a single blow ... I'd send sarif's message twice plus dave has suggested a partnership here and also ... look at me, I AM an aug AND the key to these developments.
In a hollow world with no ethics but money, power, fame, personal ego ... is there any reason not to choose Sarif's choice?

However,

the wiser choice would be: Send Taggart's message on the condition of JOINING the iluminati. Continue working with Sarif Industries. With UN's pesky regulation set, not many have access to hightech info, but you do. You aslo have Cassan and the media to shape the mentality of the population.

You simply become the PUPPETIER not another puppet

 

[kebebasan]

This thread looks like it's been dead for a year, but fuck it, it's a brilliant discussion.

Personally, I chose Sarif after reading through these and thinking to myself about it. Though I went through all of them.

In order of choice:

1) Though I despised Sarif, due to his treatment of Adam and abuse of trust, blah blah blah, his choice seemed like the best. Augments were going to be regulated soon enough, as we've seen with many technologies, and they weren't going to die anytime soon anyway.

This choice allowed for Adam's genes to be used to level the playing field, so to speak, and diminish the disparity between the haves and have-nots. Though I hope augments wouldn't become the future. But I also rarely upgraded and had 8 praxis points at the end of the game. Augments felt more like an accessory than a need after taking out so many enemies single handedly while mostly using stealth. I focused my augs on inventory, hacking, and stealth, with a few mobility ones. (I gave up on making my first run a pacifist after I discovered the tutorial level still counted against the achievement. And saving Malik with tranqs didn't go very well. But I still used the stun gun, peps, etc. for the most part. One shots!)

But on the negative side, I hate the idea of more Rifleman Bank Stations popping up, which would probably occur frequently, though there might be less risk involved, and yeah. RBS was scary.

2) Self destruct. I hated the idea of killing Adam, but I saw the other options as steps backward. Taggart, Darrow, and to some extent, Sarif, didn't deserve to live after the hell they put so many people through. But that also meant becoming one of them. It was a stupid choice, and I can't remember my justification for it (if any) besides the fact that the other two are much worse.

And Panchea was supposed to stop global warming. Though I'm not sure how effective it would be after all that.

Though this was the only choice Eliza had a custom response to. Something like, "It's been a pleasure working with you Adam" which made it stand out to me.

3) Darrow. I really hated this one. It was the first choice I jumped to, but I realized quickly that it would essentially plummet us back into a dark age where religious fanaticism and feudalism could take root. Sure, the Illuminati could be exposed and pushed to the brink, but they've survived for centuries, so I don't see a freshly genocidal billionaire swaying public opinion that easily.

But in the long run, all this choice would do would strengthen the divide between classes, create a mini zombie apocalypse, and create an environment more hospitable to militias and Illuminati type organizations. Knowledge may be power, but very rarely when in the hands of the powerless. (If leaders arose however, like Adam, this choice could've been a bit more viable.)

4) Taggart was an asshole. An Illuminati tool. I should've killed him when I had the chance(s).

I liked the idea of regulation, but I just saw that exaggerating the current situation. The Illuminati (and it's subsidiaries) would continue to develop augs to be used by the rich and powerful, and limit their use by the common person, already seen by their biochip plot. And the closing of the door reminded me of all the shit I hate about modern government. A really stupid choice in my opinion.

But no matter what the choice, I wish we had more say in what Adam did afterward. Especially after JC Denton became a god essentially in DX1, Adam has/had (?) so much potential to say what he's seen and shape the future. And like many others have said, he probably would've found some way to escape Panchea if that became canon. Hopefully.

And now I have no opportunity to get revenge on Megan. She used my genes without my knowledge, went to work with the Illuminati after I had risked my life a billion times to save her, and was likely sleeping with Darrow (the computer in her bunker is registered under his name. There's one bed. Maybe I'm just being stupid, butcomeon.) Maybe that should've been a choice. Getting revenge on Megan somehow. Put her in as a character in Saints Row The Third, perhaps?

Or maybe, though this is very Bastion of me, using Panchea to accelerate global warming and wipe the slate clean, so to speak. It would essentially be the same as Tong's choice in DX1, but more people would die and there'd be no promise of humanity's survival. But it would be an interesting choice.

 

[00slash00]

i went with no augmentation. i was immediately prejudice against sarif's choice because throughout the entire game i always thought he was a dick. i wanted to do regulated augments but since that helped the illuminati, i ruled that out. i was torn between no augments and death but ultimately ruled out the death option because it would bury the truth