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Am I mistaken or is there what amounts to an extortion racket going here if you want to get the "better" endings?  You can't get a high enough "Galactic Readiness" rating without completing DLC, which you have to pay extra for?

--Dave

Wrong.

MP is part of the base game, which is what raises your readiness. Also other's have said if you do enough side missions you don't need to do any MP.

That's incorrect BTW. There is at least one addition to the endings that you need 5000 effective military readiness for, which you can only get via multiplayer or months of playing the iPad app.

You only need >=5000 though if you don't do one part. If you do that part you only need >=4000 though I'm not sure if that's possible to get at 50% readiness (no MP) either now that I've checked my final War total. I ended with like 6850 points with 96% readiness and the only side mission I think I didn't finish was the Eden Prime one.

I'm now at 7115 galactic readiness and I've done ME 3 with a paragon Femshep that I've played from 1 through 3. With all of the DLC missions (bring down the sky, overlord, shadowbroker and even from ashes) and everybody from ME2 surviving the suicide mission.

So that would be ~3500 at 50% readiness. I can't imagine how the score could reach 8000. maybe if keeping the collector base adds points but I've made that playthrough with only Paragon choices. You're supposed to get ~8000 points max but I don't see how. For all I know it should be more than enough to get the best end.

I don't really get the galactic readiness and reputation system in ME 3. I've played that Shepard by the Paragon book, scanned every system collected and finished every sidequest, saved the geth and the rachni queen, saved wrex, made everybody in ME 2 loyal and played that Shepard 100% paragon in ME 3.

Yet I'm still nearly 800 points from the supposed max score of ~8000 and even though I have a maxed out reputation bar at 100% Paragon I could'nt even select the final paragon response option in the game.

I suppose the readiness score is coupled to the same trigger as the "Master and Commander" achivement, which would mean that you'd need the score at Priority: Cerberus (second to last story mission).

In terms of maximum readiness I believe it is theoretically possible to get 8000 points but only with one precise set of choices - some renegade, some paragon.

Re. That final conversation, it is not tied to your paragon / renegade score. To unlock those options you need to have used the paragon / renegade conversation options at every relevant point in the game.

They changed the fundamentals of the system.  As Maledict says, "Pure" choices don't matter anymore as every choice advances your social meter thing for conversation branches.  I get why they did it, but after 2 games it's a dumb system to have altered for the 3rd and final the way they did.

That's, apparently, key mistake.

Yeah regarding paragon / renegade - I'm not sure why they even bother mentioning it in the final game. It has no impact on choices in the game at all - all that matters is your overall reputation. If it is high enough, you'll be able to chose the renegade or paragon option. Your reputation comes from the combined total of your paragon + renegade, rather than them cancelling each other out, so there is never a 'wrong' way to do something roleplaying wise.

I never had a point in the game where I couldn't chose the renegade option, even though my reputation bar was completely paragon and maxed out. It's a change for the better to be honest as everyone should be able to punch a quarian in the stomach, but it is confusing coming off the other two games.

It also doesn't make a lot of sense from a roleplaying angle. As much as I want to go around punching people sometimes, it doesn't mean I do it. Not a fan of the new system.

Hell, it was a 'renegade' option to do some military chant thing in the bar with Dudebro? Wow. I saw the prompt come up and thought Shep was going to do something like throw a bottle or whatever...and by not pressing it I sit there like a dick while everyone does the military bro thing. Whatever.

She's an officer.  It's not appropriate to fraternize with NCOs.  That's why it's a renegade option.

I'm fine with the system, since it lets me choose the option I want, and doing it or not is what affects my reputation.

I assumed it was renegade because the nature of the war chant is dark and violent.  Not too many paragons going around saying stuff like "Kill them all, let God sort them out".

Fair enough. He just sits in the shuttle bay and sulks because he's not on Team Awesome.

You only need 4000, which means playing like 3 MP matches.

Depends on whether you blew up the collector base in ME2.  Can't remember which way round it is, but one choice means you need 5000 EMS.

I thought it was based on whether you


or not.

Which ending you get only depends on the effective military strength

Dude, this is NOT the spoiler thread. Fix that.

That's correct. Collector Base decision changes what happens at some of the lower point totals but it doesn't affect the higher points.

It is now :awesome_for_real:

Sorry about that. With all the switching between both threads I dropped the ball there for a moment. Terribly sorry about that.

One thought that I somehow missed in my last post

You can get the 'best' end without multiplayer if you go with 'synthesis is the best ending' as your assumption, which I think is probably what they meant. The Shepard living thing does require a higher score than you can get through single player alone, but it also requires you to assume that Destroy is the 'best' ending, which is probably not their intention since it wipes out the Geth and kills EDI.

EDIT: We're in a spoiler notated thread now.  :grin:

Also looking at your list of default things, I didn't realize how 'bad' the default ending of ME2 is assumed to be, that's pretty rough.

John Shephard was willing to sacrifice Centauri Prime to end the Shadows and Vorlons. As harsh and horrible as it is, destroy is the only option that *ends* this. It's certainly better than Shepherd deciding to rewrite the basic genetic code of every life form in the galaxy on the say so of a genocidal insane reaper. (a solution that makes absolutely no sense at all in any way ).

Endings
No imported ME2 save or collector's base destroyed.  The word 'saved' used loosely below.

RR <1750 Earth destroyed regardless
RR @1900 Earth devasted by lives if you kill Reapers
RR @2350 If you choose to become a Reaper Earth is saved
RR @2650 If you choose to destroy the Reapers Earth is saved (My ending)
RR @2800 You can create synergy, saving Earth and the galaxy (Saren was right!)
RR @4000 If you choose to destroy the Reapers and save Anderson, Shepard lives
RR @5000 If you choose to destroy the Reapers and Anderson dies, Shepard lives

Collectors base saved
RR <1750 Earth destroyed regardless
RR @2050 Earth saved if you become a Reaper
RR @2350 Destroy Reapers, Earth devastated but alive
RR @2650 If you choose to destroy the Reapers Earth is saved
RR @2800 You can create synergy, saving Earth and the galaxy (Saren was right!)
RR @4000 If you choose to destroy the Reapers and save Anderson, Shepard lives
RR @5000 If you choose to destroy the Reapers and Anderson dies, Shepard lives

Source:  Strat Guide

That's why I went with Destroy (which is pretty clearly the "Renegade" choice) even with my nearly-all-Paragon Shepard.

So with the assumption that Bioware meant "Shepard lives" as best ending then, no, you cannot get the best endings without multiplayer/facebook/ios game.

They almost certainly didn't intend that, the synergy one is pretty clearly presented by the game as the 'best' one - it is the only one where all your allies live, etc.

"Shepard Lives" isn't an ending, it is just a little bonus scene.

You can't get the merge ending without ME2 data, so the game as sold on its own without multiplayer only gets you the control/destroy.

It looks like you can from Tannhauser's post?

The 2800 number is right but you can't get to it, so you need to run multiplayer.

Edit: As mentioned merging was what the bad guys wanted to do initially so it's not really a good ending imo.

It's implied all your allies survive if you become a Reaper too since you see EDI in the Normandy post-crash scene, though Joker and EDI don't hold each other like they do in the synergy version.

Are you sure? How many military points can you not get if you didn't start with a "good" ME2 save?

At the rate this forum is generating Mass Effect threads, maybe we should just create a sub-forum so all the bullshit and whining hypothetical discussions about the fate(s) of the galaxy can be deposited there.  :oh_i_see:

That's what me and others without an import have found, I got to a little over 2700 but that was with extra points from the "Ashes" mission/companion in my CE.  I had done all missions and gotten all systems to 100% discovered.  Only thing I can think of is that maybe if I had faked curing the genophage I could have gotten both the krogan and the salarians.

I only had to run one multiplayer mission so it wasn't a big deal, just annoying.  And in the end I decided I didn't like the merge option and just stuck with destroy(good) anyways.

Without an import, you CAN get both krogan and salarian fleets.  You have to convince or force Mordin into lying to the krogan AND if you convince him, you get Mordin alive as a war asset to work on the Crucible.

So the 'best' decision is to allow the genophage to continue for the greater good of the war.

I think there must be a bit more to it since I can't get that scene to trigger with 5234 EMS rating

This thread has done even more than the "bad ending" thread in making me kind of happy this game didn't sell on steam... I might have bought it.

That's pretty much explicitly stated by the ghost reaper baby when you're asked to make choice -- the destruction option is said to eliminate "reapers, mass relays, and most technology" (along with you since you're mostly machine at this point) while the control option is said to only destroy the mass relays.

Dunno what the synnergy option says because i let the reaper rachni trick me and that costed me just enough points to lock the next tier by the looks of it  :why_so_serious:

The synergy option is just "blah blah space magic blah," you didn't miss anything. Except Joker and EDI having green eyes when they hope out of the Normandy. I think the leaves might look a little different too, it was hard for me to see since my eyes were blurry from eyeroll-strain.

I think the thing I find most odd about the ending is that it effectively ends the ME franchise.  When I first heard rumors of discontent about the ending, I thought the most likely reason was that Shepard probably dies.  I figured that part of the reason might be to make it easier to create future products in the franchise without Shepard constantly 'looming' as it were.  But as it stands, all the endings effectively destroy the setting.  All mass relays are destroyed, therefore the entire setting is pretty much done for.

Yeah, just meant i didn't know the exact wording used when that one was offered. Having read what variation (well, lack thereof) the endings have to offer i'm quite fine with the destruction one, feels most fitting.

(fresh ending impression: when i saw the sequence with Normandy trying to outrace the shockwave with the sadmusic in background, went all "ohgod i'm so sorry" because thought Joker was trying to save EDI from death in some fit of prescience, and they're about to die there together --what with EDI being Normandy and likely qualitfying for the 'most technology'-- so what actually followed... i dunno, kinda relieved to see Garrus and the Douchebag Prothean make it, but on the other hand think i'd prefer it that bleaker way)

Not sure if it's been linked yet (why are there now three ME3 threads?), but this (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QT4IUepvrU1pfv_B95oQj0H84DlCTUmzQ_uQh1voTUs/preview?pli=1&sle=true) is pretty fuckin' :psyduck:

All of these "it must have been indoctrination" things suffer from the same problem that they point out a bunch of things that make no sense but don't advance any plausible alternative.

It's kind of like watching "Hall Pass" then saying "this movie was terribly unfunny and stupid, it must be a commentary on shitty comedies!" Or, just a bad movie.

I think if you analyze the theory that this is some sort of indoctrination thing it makes just as little sense, including lacking in basics like motive. So Shep is indoctrinated and this child and device is a plot blah blah...to what end? if they trick Shep into doing something that benefits the reapers you still have to explain the existence of this fucking device, if synthesis actually aids the reapers you still have to believe that this device and it's space magic exists, was built for some reason (by who and why?), that Shep is somehow the key to it, etc...

The sad part is Bioware will probably put out some DLC that points to it being indoctrination and everyone will say "see, it was their plan all along! Bravo!"

I'd like to see one of these "it must be indoctrination!" things that has a bit more logic that "the ending was fucking dumb - therefore indoctrination!"

As I think I've said before, I almost wish that little coda didn't exist just because Kaidan hopped out of the ship. Kaidan who had been in my group. I actually would've prefered the thought he died, because at least that would've made sense. And he's going to do it AGAIN in my Manshep playthrough, because he and Manshep are going to finally admit WHAT I KNEW ALL ALONG, BITCHES.

Come to think of it, both Garrus and the Douchebag Prothean hopped out of the ship for me and they both were in my group. All three of us ate that reaper beam.

New theory that i'm sticking with: that sequence in the paradise planet actually does take place in paradise. Shepard will just catch up with them both (and Joker, and the rest) in short while. They'll be waiting in the bar, like she and Garrus arranged before their last mission

:heart:

Yeah if I just imagine "They're deeeeeeead," that last scene is still derp but makes a tiny bit of sense. Sadly, it's pretty clear in the synth ending that they're supposed to be ALIVE and now they're ... whatever the fuck they are now. GO TEAM!


EDIT: Also if Bioware is going to be making fanservice DLCs now, they need to add one where I can make out with Douche Prothean. Don't judge me.

Keep in mind that if Garrus/Tali and Joker/everyone else crashed on the same planet, one of those two categories is going to starve to death.  Just putting that out there.   :awesome_for_real:

Wasn't there a throwaway line that they stocked the ship with ridiculous amounts of food Tali can eat?

But does it come with emergency induction ports?

Emergency... induction port.

Her drunk dialing the Douche Prothean after that conversation was soooooo greeeeeat.  :heart: :heart: :heart:

Aww i missed the phone call followup.

The induction straw was great. Port. You know.

Oh man, definitely run down to Douche Prothean's room after that conversation if you ever play through again. It's adorable.  :heart:

I talked with drunk tali but didn't know about the drunk dial to javik afterwards, had to look it up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQd5qjOxGnI&feature=related

Oh, lol. I think i went to Javik first and then the call is slightly different, with Tali not yet drunk and she just thanks him for cheering Liara up, or something to that effect.

But yes, he does mention quite a few times how quarians were considered very attractive :grin:

I was just pleased that Shepard could probably get Tali on board the Javik/Liara ship.  :awesome_for_real:

He certainly has enough eyes for both of them, if nothing else. :drill:

That reminds me, I liked when he was all "how do you even see with only two eyes? Fuck, is this cycle LAME."

Or that bit when we talked about Mordin and he's like, "... they used to lick their eyeballs."

Heck, liked pretty much all from him. Guy is pure gold. :heart:

edit: ohh or when he gives Liara pep talk at some point and then you can ask him after she leaves, "Did you mean any of that?" and the rest... mhm, so good.

The gist of the whole essay is
I don't know what the policy for spoilers in this particular thread is, but I'm doing it to be safe.

It all makes decent enough sense until you ride the elevator up to stupid kid land, it is really only at that point that everything goes to shit.

Updated version of the Indoctrination Theory video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck
All twenty-one minutes thirty seconds of it.

The indoctrination people are insane and grabbing wildly at straws in desperation.  They really want to believe something and will eat up any hare brained bullshit that fits their hopes.  It's people like this that start and join the craziest of conspiracy theories, cults and religions.

Yeah, they so desperately need the shitty ending to not be true, they will believe anything at this point, except the simplest answer: that yes, the ending blew it right out the ass.

Yeah I don't really see this being some complex 'trick' ending with Shepard being indoctrinated (they would have had the real ending afterward then).  Although the thing is, the entire time the first time I saw the ending I was confused, thinking this was some weird dream sequence.  So it's not as though that's a conclusion that's only come to after the disappointment, either.  After the flash of light with Harbinger's beam, my first thought was 'did I do something wrong?' and very shortly afterward they turned to 'is this a hallucination or another dream sequence?' (cause those guys tear me up normally since I play on Insanity, so being able to defeat him with no dodging, no biotics, and with a pistol instantly struck me as weird) and then during the conversation with the Illusive Man I wondered whether this was supposed to be Shepard being indoctrinated, what with all the black stuff clouding my screen.

It would actually fit well though.  If they did indeed decide to fix the ending, the current ending works really goddamn well as some indoctrination-induced hallucination 'bad ending' if you failed to get enough support in the war.

Grr.  Doublepost instead of edit.