ME 3 - To play now or to wait for ending DLC

Hey There,

Although IMHO not real RPGs for me, I enjoyed bothe Mass effect games…. I bought the third one at release however due to the face import issue (which has however in meantime been patched) i didn`t want to start the game initially and then the inferno about the supposedly unfitting ending rose up…

In the meantime Bioware has stated that they want to extend the ending with a dlc which should come out in summer…

So my question to those of you who already played through the game and the ending… (please no spoilers)…

Should I wait or is the hype about the "stupid" ending not justified ?

Cheers in advance,
L.

I'm waiting… simply for the fact that I know there will be "several" DLC when it's all said and done. I don't like going back to a game after I've finished it just to play 1 or 2 DLC.

If the ending is the only thing you're worried about though, I don't see a reason to wait. You can just replay the end-game from your final save after installing the DLC later.

Originally Posted by Lannister

So my question to those of you who already played through the game and the ending… (please no spoilers)…

Should I wait or is the hype about the "stupid" ending not justified ?

Cheers in advance,
L.

Wow. You truly are a patient soul (you too JDR13).

The ME3 ending is a case in which the adage, "where there's smoke, there's fire," holds. There are problems with the current ending.

Whether the extended cut dlc will make things better is another question altogether. Still, I think most of us are hoping for the best, and believe that the dlc ending could significantly improve the overall game impact.

Since you've waited this long, (and apparently have the patience of a saint), I'd recommend you wait, and hope for the best along with the rest of us.

__

Personally, I'm not even going to start playing it. It had a lot of appeal to me when my friends were talking about it. But the shitty ending totally turned me off. There's no point in developing your story and characters when in the end it won't even matter.

If I had to choose, I'll choose red. Happy?

Cheers for your replies…. I can be patient if have to….. However I long to bring ME to a conclusion, however i want it to be satisfying….

I still havs several games on my to-do-list which i could play instead (while waiting for the DLC): The Witcher 2 EE, Skyrim, Deus Ex Human Revoution , Risen 2, the Game of thrones RPF when it comes out in May….

So i believe I`ll wait….

L.

Good choice. I'm waiting as well for a couple of reasons:

1. Importing ME2 character without changing my FemShep face (don't know if it will ever be fixed properly -- I know patch is out, but apparently its still no good)
2. Ending ofcourse
3. Price - not buying it till it hits bargain bin

I think I've figured out why importing faces sometimes fail - it's the lack of scars in ME3. There might be a few other missing options too, but I haven't found any. So far, I've been able to import characters without scars just fine, but characters with them had to be re-created.

Anyway, ME3 is an ace game, but as others have pointed out - the ending really is "meh" at this point.

My FemShep went Paragon path so most of the scars were gone but I'm still worried. I really like my FemShep appearance in ME2 so if they change it in ME3, I'm not importing that character. Here are pics of my favourite (my first ever) FemShep.

The endings are determined by the MU part.

The additional content to the endings will probably create some hype that will help to fill the MU servers so you do not do the missions alone.

But waiting longer and maybe, it will grow too hard to find players online to finish the game with all its endings.

And when the servers are shut down in let's say 10 years ? Then this element will be … moot ? Because then there is only 1 kind of ending left : The offline one.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
My FemShep went Paragon path so most of the scars were gone but I'm still worried. I really like my FemShep appearance in ME2 so if they change it in ME3, I'm not importing that character. Here are pics of my favourite (my first ever) FemShep.

Actually, I was referring to the scars you choose during character creation. There's a "scars" option in ME1 and 2 which, for some reason, is not present in ME3. Anyone with a scar, for example one across the nose or chin, will fail to import.

I assume failed imports simply contain face options that are no longer present in ME3. For now, I've only found the whole scar thing, but there could be other options for all I know.

There is nothing wrong with the ending, in my opinion. Also, it is bullshit that there are "offline" and "online" endings. You can have all endings by playing just offline (it will just be harder).

People on the internet are stupid.

I'm with Thaurin on this one. If you have patience it might be worth waiting for all of the DLC, but I wouldn't worry about waiting just for the ending DLC.

And I'm with Thaurin on this particular one:

Originally Posted by Thaurin
People on the internet are stupid.

Originally Posted by joxer
And I'm with Thaurin on this particular one:

Yes, but which people are we talking about?

I agree with Thaurin there too

Originally Posted by Lannister
Cheers for your replies…. I can be patient if have to….. However I long to bring ME to a conclusion, however i want it to be satisfying….

And that is the problem right there. The clerks made a spelling error in the project plan so instead of Conclusion it said: "Confusion" and that is what the ending is. If you can wait, do it. Seriously.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
And when the servers are shut down in let's say 10 years ? Then this element will be … moot ? Because then there is only 1 kind of ending left : The offline one.

That's okay Alrik. In 10 years only the old schoolers will be playing this any way.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Also, it is bullshit that there are "offline" and "online" endings. You can have all endings by playing just offline (it will just be harder).

No.

There´s simply not enough war assets in the game, imported saves or not, to provide for one particular "destroy" ending variation.
And it´s a pretty significant one, because it´s the only ending where

Having the green bar full grants access to all three main choices, but that one particular ending requires at least 4000 EMS, which means you´d need to gather 8000 war assets (you can´t raise readiness via single player in any way) and that´s impossible since optimal playthrough (through the whole series and with all DLCs) only nets around 7500.

Originally Posted by DeepO
No.

Well, I haven't tested it myself, but there are all kinds of websites claiming that there are more than enough war assets to get that ending with no multi-player, including the Mass Effect wiki. For example (with imported character, apparently),

There is MORE than enough to get the Perfect Ending in the game (I did and so have many of my friends). Doing some multi-player will definitely help you quickly get the 5000 EMS required as well. (Emphasis mine)

http://isocrates.hubpages.com/hub/Ma…ination-Theory

So I don't know what to believe anymore. Besides, what are we talking about here,

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Well, I haven't tested it myself,

It can be tested via Coalesced editor which lists all values.
But I´d say it should be really obvious to anyone who did a completionist run through the series.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
but there are all kinds of websites claiming that there are more than enough war assets to get that ending with no multi-player, including the Mass Effect wiki.

Then they´re all either full of shit or confused in one way or another.
That so many sites got it wrong (and clearly haven´t verified it) is what makes the issue somewhat interesting .

People on the internet are stupid.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
http://isocrates.hubpages.com/hub/Ma…ination-Theory

This article, for example, is rubbish.
First, 5000 is only needed if you don´t "save" Anderson, but if you get that one last dialogue with him, 4000 EMS is enough.
Second, playing ME3 twice or playing on an imported save has no bearing on this.
Third, as I said above, neither 4000 nor 5000 EMS is possible to get just by playing singleplayer.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Besides, what are we talking about here,

Spoiler

It's a short scene where we see Shepard lying on the ground, taking a short, labored breath, not a hero's return with cake and people crying and hugging each other.

Yeah, the scene is sketchy, not really explained and rather nonsensical, just as most of what constitutes the game´s last ten minutes or so, however that´s quite irrelevant.
The implication is what counts and as it is, it´s the only outcome where you can assume the hero survived.
At any rate, currently there are 7 possible ending outcomes, but only 6 of them are achievable just by playing singleplayer, which I´m quite sure goes against some past Bioware´s claims.
Not that I personally care about that one particular outcome, I dislike the ending(s) anyway, but I find it a mildly interesting issue and am quite interested in how Bioware will handle it in the extended cut.