So i've been stalking the forums for 2 days trying understand all the frustration concerning ME endings, including mine. I believe i came to peace now.

And i sort of understand why would developers choose this sort of ending. There can not be a happy ending, and by happy i don't mean rainbow unicorns and stuff but a way galactic fleet can defeat the reapers all by itself BECAUSE that would take the "greyness" out of the last presented choice, Shepard HAS to believe in god-child either way. You can't really bring up the feeling of sacrifice if you don't care about the object being sacrificed and that what writers wanted us to feel. You can argue that it was out of character but dare i say it wasn't, i felt how tired she was, how desperate and futile every attempt to resist turned out, she gave up, Bioware writers made her give up. It could've been delivered better, but it is what it is.

Now, imagine this: some folks don't even see the point of doing the sacrifice. For what they say ? Every character/race i care about during the whole franchise is going to be either dead or affected in a bad way, no matter the choice. Oh boy, that tells something about being invested in a series. Mmkay, Bioware's failure is in that they didn't make us care enough about the future of organics as a race. In order for a choice to feel at-least partly right you should know or see the greatest good out of it.

Let's say you saw it and understand what it is at stake. Who BioWare are to decide what people should care about: family/country/humankind/organic civilization/all organic civilizations ever to exist in future. To deny Shepard of the most simplest of choices: not to do one ? In a game supposed to be with wildly branching choices can she ever not do one ? Well guess what, i care about current organic/synthetic civilizations more then anything, more then myself and more then future and i would rather die hoping my hard work can change things then commit xenocide and stab my friends. I refuse that choice.

Truth is that you may like that ending if you don't care enough or able to overcome the feeling of betrayal to the all current living races of the Milky way , but it's totally wrong to enforce that kind of unexpected decision on gamers who did not, that is just sadistic and cynical to the bones. I'm not even talking about the possibly of success but rather a chance of dying but hoping for success. I don't know if i should thank or shoot Bioware letting me figure this stuff out, they certainly didn't do that on purpose. All i ever wished to see in ME3 ending was expressed by one of the fans:

"...We want to see those War Assets fighting. The Destiny Ascension obliterating a Reaper with it's main gun before being swarmed over by Destroyers, the Geth armada pulling along side to save her. The Salarian STG calling in a biotic artillery strike on cluster of Reaper troops. Wrex and Garrus, on the front sharing a stern moment in cover, before nodding to each other, brothers in arms, before charging over the barricade. Back to back, they face down hordes of husks, Wrex shouting defiantly, "You think you can take our future!? You think YOU CAN TAKE MY CHILDREN?!"

We want to see the Quarian flotilla scrambling, all guns blazing, trying desperately to form a battleline, as one of the admirals quietly turns to their crew, signalling his ship all ahead full. "For the homeworld. Keela..." their words cut off as the live-ship rams a Reaper, exploding spectacularly and damaging two others. We want to see the Normandy frantically weaving through the wreckage, Joker and EDI yelling warnings to one another as the fleets explode around them. We want Tali leading a charge of Geth Primes against a Cannibal gun line. Rachni drones swarming over a Reaper Destroyer by the thousands, pulling it apart from the inside. We want to see Grunt wrestle a brute to the ground and unload his shotgun into his head..."

And if all that is pointless with any amount of EMS than so be it.

Thanks for reading.

I agree.

I completely agree about the fleets you gather, and you don't even see them do anything. All that work and not even a frame of payoff? I went through all that trouble to keep the rachni alive through 3 games and they weren't even present. I could have just stopped doing all the stupid side stuff if that was the case after the bar got full at about 2000 or so points before, what was the point of all that work? And sure they made the gameplay better (vanguard is insanely overpowered fully upgraded you can basically just loop biotic charge and nova and never die, nova drains your shields then charge refills them completely and nova has no cd and you can get charge to like a couple seconds) but there was just too much fucking combat at the end, you spend so much time just killing shit.

I love your suggestions. I am pretending that they happened in my head and enjoying it immensely.

I would have loved it if it had just ended right after Anderson and Sheperd sat down on the bridge of the Citadel, Anderson pulls out a couple of cigars and him and Shepherd light up as they watch the Crucible activate and destroy all the Reapers