CloudAtlas said:
Who is "the rest of you" though? Your thoroughly negative view is a minority position even within the group of ending haters. I mean, there would have hardly been such an outcry if everything that came before was just as bad, would it.
The rest of "us" refers to everyone who sees that ME3 is a goddamned pile of nonsense. And have the brain to explain why. Hence, "The rest of us, who have thinking minds, can see the problems of such parts of the narrative."
I'm sure Gerry Pugli..somthing did the same, but that didn't exlucde him from your criticism either.
So, what's your point? He wrote crap, and I called it that.
I am aware that my unwillingness to argue with you on specifics is a bit unfair and looks like a cop out. But I really can't, because you make your points in these videos, and if the first 5 minutes, this endless, pointless rambling about details that don't matter, are any indication of what is to come, I really don't feel like torturing myself and watching them.
Then everything you stated is pointless, meaningless, and pure subjectivity. Either quote me or stop wasting my time by listening to your opinionated nonsense.
I welcome your opinion, but if you can't be bothered to read not only his ideas, or listen to mine, then you have nothing valuable to state.
Judging by that... you might be the kind of guy that'll make Hulk mad: http://badassdigest.com/2012/10/30/film-crit-hulk-smash-hulk-vs.-plot-holes-and-movie-logic/
No, I'm not reading someone who can't turn off the caps lock key.
I asked you for your opinion. Explain yourself or be quiet.
What makes a machina a deus ex machina though?
If a machina is introduced early in the story, and a central story element throughout the story, it is not a deus ex machina. So the Crucible hardly satisfies the definition here.
A deus ex machina is nothing but a plot device. It doesn't matter when it's introduced in a story. The problem (or why a a deus ex machina is bad) is because of how it's usually used: as a contrived form of resolving the plot.
When you can break down a story into it's devices (plot, theme, etc.), there's usually something wrong with the story.
In the classic example of The Bacchae, Dionysus (the god), is not only the Deus Ex Machina device, he's also a character. He's introduced right in the beginning of the play, and is throughout it. (But even if he wasn't, and he came out of nowhere at the end, the Greek audience of the time still had knowledge of the pantheon of gods.) There's even allusions to his "powers" that we're not aware of yet. We don't know what he's going to do. And then he brutalizes his non-followers near the end.
Plot devices by themselves aren't good or bad: it's how they're used. Both The Crucible and the Catalyst are deus ex machinas, and they're used poorly. Unless the author is worth their weight in ink, it's a crap plot device.
Mac Walters is not worth his weight in ink. Casey Hudson...
Guess what? ME3 has the worst ending, ever. And yup, those two plot devices? Contrived nonsense (mysterious super-weapon of unknown function...out of nowhere! Ghost boy...out of nowhere!) If you think other wise, prove it. Might want to start watching the last few episodes of Bookends of Destruction.
A device called Catalyst is first mentioned somewhere halfway in the story, although you don't know yet what it is. The AI controlling the Reapers, and while it doesn't appear totally out of the blue, you can think about whether it would be good to foreshadow it more. There were a couple of instances with the opportunity of doing so that would only require minor changes. These would be the sort of changes I would be considering.
Yes, you can do minor edits, but the problem still persists: it's a contrived piece of nonsense. It's a pile of crap no matter how many clearer details there are. Foreshadowing, or subtle indications, allusions and the sort, are only good if there's some substance to the damn thing you're foreshadowing. You can't just be subtle for the sake of it. There has to be meaning, some solid foundation to base a plot upon, or everything's up in the air and characters are worse than hoping on a prayer -- they're moving forward on an idea of some device that does something. Really. That's not a military strategy. That's not a goal. And the Catalyst wasn't even figured out before the Crucible was being constructed. Everyone just started building the nonsensical monstrosity! What's that? We need a "Catalyst"? A what? Oh well, Earth time!
In any way, introducing devices early enough, foreshadow them enough, have other machinery in your world that kinda sorta works similar in some way, that can turn any deus ex machina to a regular machina... by definition. If you think all that is not done enough for the Catalyst and the Crucible, well, you really don't have to stretch your imagination all to hard in order to come up with changes that help here. The ingredients are already there, and they're plentiful (except for the Synthesis part maybe).
What is "regular machina" in regards to deus ex machina?
Nothing is "done enough" for the Catalyst or Crucible. They're both giant piles of contrived nonsense. They both have no meaning aside from "it'll end the war" and "I'm the Catalyst."
And thus, the destruction of the ME series.
Through and through, you caught me.
Yeah stop that. Or learn to understand things without those stupid rose tinted-glasses on.
Except... I didn't play any Mass Effect game until 2012. I didn't finish ME1, I found the gameplay too awful and sorta kinda knew the outcome of the story. The Mass Effect universe in general has quite a few elements that I don't like that much, that I find silly, cheesy, or weird. I think the whole main plot of ME2 doesn't make much sense in the context of the trilogy and doesn't move the story forward in any meaningful way, and I'd call its combat at best serviceable. It is only ME3 that I thoroughly enjoyed. Oh, and I didn't enjoy any other BioWare game as much since Baldur's Gate II? back in 2000 or something. If any of that is indicative for me being a fanboy to you, well, your call.
ME1 is the only worthy game of the series.
Thanks. She's quite something, isn't she?
A sad, pathetic flat brick.