Little trouble

So blogger is now freaking out and not putting the gadgets in the sidebar... In fact the best thing I got was putting them down on the footer....

I dont have any more time to look into a solution, so I'll have to leave you guys with this little message here.

EDIT: So I still couldnt find anything that worked, however I tried a new format, hopefully it works while I try to fix what happened. Sorry for any inconvenience!!

NotCras

What I have done as of late

I have always enjoyed writing, and have a lot of stuff that I have lying around.  Back in High School I fancied myself a poet, which produced some good poems (I'd say at least).  Most of them were whiny and depressing, but whatever that's what teens do. In order to practice my writing I have been trying some writing prompts, mostly making my own, and one of them produced a poem that I was surprised with.  You see what happens in it is sorta-kinda true, I definitely changed things around so it would work, but I am very proud of it, especially since I hadn't don't anything like that in a while.

It occurred to me that maybe I should share my writing stuff on the blog because this is about my brainfarts right? So without further ado, I present to you, my poem... I don't have a name for it.  I feel that this one doesn't need a title because you can tell whats happening Its about a guy that cant get his love, and has to leave because he cant bear the sight of her again.

My ship is at dock,

And I am ready to depart.

I prepare myself for the shock,

That we will forever be apart.

I glance back at the bar that bears your name,

The one I frequented always ordering the same.

Many a man would visit you often,

Some for a drink, and some for a night to stay.

I, a prospective businessman, saved to buy you but then,

A millionaire stood in my way.

In the months that followed,

I still came to your bar.

But I sunk into depression, I became hollowed,

And you were the final reason I needed to go afar.

I write this goodbye not for you but for me,

To cleanse you from my heart eternally…

And so once again I may be happy.

Im very happy with how it came out, but I know its not perfect.  Any suggestions for me??
Also on the note of writing things, I recently put up all my recent stuff that I had written so far on fanfiction.net. Anyway, I have been getting such a good response from people about my Liara ending, in fact someone wanted another chapter.... Now I wasn't planning on one because I wanted to leave it open to the reader, however there were several ideas that I had that I couldn't work into the story without extending it, so I will happily oblige with the plea to extend it.  My confirmation story, the one on the yahg has gotten less views and not really a lot of people are saying anything about it.  Now maybe I just need to wait a little longer, we shall see but it was the one that I put WAAAAY more work into, I just want to see some kind of response.... but o well.  I also had the idea for another ending, but I am torn whether or not I should write it because I had wanted to write one ending and stick with it... But the ideas just keep flowing. DARN IT haha.

In addition, I want to talk a little bit about how the blog is coming along.  A lot of people are checking it out, mostly from the links I post on websites.  I am searching for the right topics to talk about, and for the right audience that will listen to what I have to say (and possibly follow me :P) but I'm working on it.  I enjoy the color scheme and I think that it's turning out well, my posts have become more organized (if you're wondering what it was like before, check the neotokyo post...). Furthermore, I have found a sort of schedule to my blogging, usually around Wednesday Ill send out a post, and possibly on the weekends I like the prospect of a sort of post schedule, but hear this I will not adhere to it at all.  This blog is about whatever is on my mind, and well you cant put your mind on a schedule. xD
I have been very active on the forums for Mass Effect 3.  I have forsaken BSN and instead gone on to a small but awesome forum, the Theorycrafting forums. The people on there are awesome, they will listen to you, AND no flame wars.  Its what the admin set out to do, make a BSN type of environment WITH NO FLAMING. I love it, we actually have to use facts and whatnot in our arguments. Here it is, use it well: Theorycrafting!!

How are you going to get down??

My final point of this blog post is one of bittersweet sadness.  I had wanted to hold off watching the early Legend of Korra premiere until I had finished watching the whole Avatar the Last Airbender series. But now the premiere is off the interwebs. And now for an Avatar rant: The series was perfect, and it reminded me why its my favorite television show.  Much like Mass Effect, it made you feel for the characters, but it also made you feel for the world.  Some of the philosophy discussed in the show is true no matter what religion you are, and the show is full of superb writing. The music is also to die for, in the Sozin's comet special, o gosh it was so perfect.  Zuko asking forgiveness to his Uncle Iroh was one of the best scenes in television, I was on the verge of tears (which for me is the equivalent of crying).  Just the whole character of Zuko is perfect, I loved his character development, making him my favorite character.  The others are awesome too, and they only lose to Zuko by a very small margin, but nonetheless he is my favorite character... Man I feel like such a traitor to the others by saying that.  I'M SORRY :(.  The ending scenes, first the coronation and second at the tea shop, are perfect as well, the music spot on and it just made you smile. After it was over, I was silent relishing the moment, not wanting to leave... but it was around 130 in the morning so I needed to sleep.  Later I was actually moved to meditate, which in itself was an experience Ill touch on later.

EDIT: Well I guess I was wrong. I found the two episodes online still! First episode is here, while the second one is here.  For the first episode I ended using one of the mirrors instead of the standard player, the one called Putlocker. I used the 3rd mirror for the second episode.
More on The Legend of Korra on the official website here!

I guess after having seen the episodes I'll give my spiel on them.They really remind me of Avatar the Last Airbender, but its also totally different. They really did a good job finding a way to make each series unique. (Small spoiler alert go to next paragraph if you dont want to see them) I feel that the show will not just be about Korra, instead it will also focus on Tenzin. It seems that they both will learn from each other. Before I get into the spoilers more, I absolutely loved the troll that the creators gave.  In the end of Avatar, it is assumed that Zuko found out where his mother was.  However we don't know what happened. Katara is just about to answer that very question when she is interrupted... and she doesn't go back to it. Bah Humbug!

I can teach you to be bad-ass and awesome Korra.

Anyway, my initial impressions on the series without any more spoilers is that its going to be one heck of a ride.  I dont know if it has the potential to be better than Aang's adventure, but it will be awesome nonetheless.  The cameos serve as nods to the former series, however that is all.  Everything else is new, for better or for worse, and I look forward for more of the series. And I also look forward to seeing Aang as an Avatar spirit. If he's anything like this fan art here, I cant wait. I cant wait to see what bad-ass remarks he'll have too. Anyway, this is the next thing to look forward to, for me at least!

But I have to get some things done right now instead of being distracted here. xD

NotCras

Confirmation

Well so I told you guys, something was on its way!! and I proudly present, Mass Effect: Confirmation!! Its initially about a squad's struggle to confirm that the yahg are evil to the asari in order to get them to act. However there are a few things that might also be confirmed in this story... read and wait for part two in order to find out!! Anyhoo, here is the codex that i promised. It's pretty basic at the moment, so if there's anything else you would like me to add, just comment away and I shall add it! The story is found here, if you've lost the link. xD


Codex

Setting----------
The story takes place in the year 2258. It is about 70 years after the War of Existence.  The story takes place on a planet of unknown name (still figuring out where Parnack itself is exactly...). It features the struggle against the yahg who have discovered advanced technology.


The War of Existence----------
A galactic scale war consisting of all advanced civilized races against the Reapers, synthetic beings intent on harvesting advanced life every 50,000 years.  The war was in favor of the Reapers until legendary hero Commander Shepard of the Human Alliance brought together every race and faced the Reapers at the human homeworld of Earth. In addition to this combined force, the combined galactic races constructed a massive super weapon called the Crucible. Using the citadel as a catalyst, the crucible destroyed the Reapers once activated by Shepard. (Note: I'm leaving this in general form because what if Bioware comes up with something good, I don't want to conflict with that). Having survived the battle and the war, Commander Shepard called for the destruction of all Reaper forms, save for some small pieces that were preserved for study. Scientists have begun decrypting Reaper memory banks, mostly from the Reaper known as Harbinger.  Nothing has been discovered yet due to the complexity of the encryptions.

Yahg----------
The yahg are a sentient race of towering humanoids native to the world of Parnack, known for their violent and aggressive nature. Consummate predators, the yahg possess unrivaled perceptiveness and mental adaptability. Discovered by the Citadel Council in 2125 CE, the yahg were unceremoniously barred from interaction with Citadel space after massacring the Council's delegation. A Quarantine Flotilla was established to make sure that they were kept in check. (taken from the Mass Effect wiki)
During the absence of the Quarantine Flotilla during the War of Existence, the yahg constructed a massive array of defense satellites around Parnack. When the Quarantine Flotilla returned after the war, the satellites attacked them, sending a cruiser and several fighters to the planet surface.
A year later, the yahg demonstrated a mastery of ship building and advanced technology, both taken from the downed ships, by destroying the Quarantine Flotilla with an armada of their own.  They quickly captured the surrounding systems, but were stopped at the relay by Council forces. 

Yahg society is built around a pack mentality. A group of yahg will not cooperate until a single leader has attained dominance through either social maneuvering or brute force. Once the leader is established, the defeated yahg do not hold a grudge and former rivals serve their new superior loyally. (taken from the Mass Effect wiki)


Reactions to the Yahg----------
The Council was divided on what to do with the yahg.  The turian and salarian councilors called for the eradication of the yahg.  The human councilor called to leave the yahg be in their systems, thereby not provoking them to any further aggression. The asari councilor would not decide anything until she knew that the yahg weren't different since their first encounter.  She reasoned that they were lifeforms just like they were and deserved the respect that any advanced civilization would get.  Unless convinced of their savage nature, the yahg are developing just how the humans did.


Militarily, turian and krogan fleets mostly compromise the Council forces defending the relays from the yahg attacks. The krogan especially feel that they need to prove themselves better than the yahg, due to the superiority of the yahg. Krogan also want to show the galaxy that following the War of Existence they have changed and are not the purposeless mercenaries they once were.



 

Small Update

So here's a very small update with whats been going on:

I am currently in the process of writing an awesome story of mine, Mass Effect related, but different than just another ending.  Hopefully it will go over well with everyone. But anyway, I'm in the process of making it. Life itself is pretty hectic as well, but that's a rant for another time. I'm going to go back to writing, expect an update fairly soon with part 1 of my piece.

But before I go, here's a complaint of mine for you all who are reading this: I just finished re-watching Avatar the Last Airbender (EVERYTHING might I add) and i go to watch the premiere episodes for the Legend of Korra, and I have no idea where they went on the site!! Can anyone help? Hopefully I'm just  somehow passing over it, but I dont know...

Anyway, expect an update soon!

NotCras

Double Feature!

So I had some free time on my hands, so I figured I would send out a post that was more about other things than Mass Effect 3. Now ME3 is not the only thing I think about or want to put up on this blog, I have other post drafts not involving ME3 that I want to touch up on and send out later. But if you want to see a Mass Effect 3 related post, check the rest of the blog. xD
As I have stated before, I am studying to be a Robotics Engineer at the only college that offers such a degree, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  Its pretty awesome, I am a tour guide here so if you do end up checking this place out, I could possibly give you a tour O.o.  Also, I sing and am in the Glee Club here, WHICH IS TOTALLY AWESOME.
I am white if any of you were wondering, and no I am not racist. I am religious, but I will never expunge my religion on anyone, unless one would want me to, but then again who would want that? (that is a joke :P)
I also enjoy writing, be it poetry, or just a good old adventure or fan fiction.  I have a deviant art account for that, even though I should have another account being deviant art is well, art, but then I can see totally awesome artwork, AND i made that account first and don't want billions of others out there. I also like to draw comics, but we shall see where that goes. I have a bunch of stuff in the tubes so there will be more writing.
Lets see, one last fact: If you are ever on campus and hear a very loud screeching, yelling, or random sound, there's a 50% chance that its me.  Its my nerd call you see. Anyway that's about it I think... Let me see if there's a draft I can merge with this one to add to it, I feel so weird shooting out a small update.

Well then, it seems that I have found something! Its music related, and its a band that I feel that is under-appreciated by the masses. They are called The Features. This indie band hails from Tennessee, and was started when the guys were merely in middle school.  Now they only did covers then, but they stuck together and kept working at the music. This band quickly became their life, with several of them (dont know if all of them did) dropping out of college to pursue what they love. Of course the band could make enough money to make ends meet, so they had to take side jobs.
Now every song that they make sounds unique and has awesome and heartfelt lyrics that go along with them.  Lets look at the beginning of their song, Temporary Blues:

Traded in my tennis shoes
For steel-toed rubber boots
I've got my own uniform to wear
They've given me a plastic hat,
Ear plugs and a funny net for my head
I'm well prepared.

 

Now that sounds like someone's going to work! And you would be right there. This song is about the terrible working conditions that the song writer, Matthew Pelham, experienced as a Pillsbury factory worker. It also serves as a song of hope. Take a listen, and you'll see, their song sounds genuine, full of life, and totally heartfelt.  I absolutely love their music. Similarly from the same album, their song. Wooden Heart is another perfect song.      

  

Its about a man having his heart broken, only to try to make a new heart.  However his heart is never the same because of this.  This was also my first song that I heard of them, back in the days where I played Tap Tap Revolution like a boss. I would also like to point out how the songs sound so different, and yet they are clearly the same band.  Not that many bands can do that, and I say that its a testament to how awesome the Features are. The features have 3 major albums out right now: Exhibit A, Some Kind of Salvation, and Wilderness. Again, the variety that exists in each album is huge but the difference between each album itself is incredible.  Exhibit A has one of my personal favorite songs,The Idea of Growing Old.  Its a song about the singer wanting to grow old together with his love. (here are two links one has a wedding video in it, so if that feels awkward, this recording is worse but not as awkward xD) Ive already talked about some songs on the Some Kind of Salvation album, so you can look up the rest of the album later. Finally, Wilderness is the newest album.  It has some great songs like How it Starts, Golden Comb, and Rambo.
I also wanted to add another for those that enjoy rap. My opinion on rap is that I enjoy it, but the lyrics really do matter to me.  If they are explicit, I just don't see any point in it, and I feel that we are just above the thought that we need to bang every chick we see. There is one rapper that I thoroughly enjoy. And that rapper is Trace Blam and his DJ Soul Chef. Just like The Features, he has awesome lyrics and songs as well. Now I first came to hear of them through a parkour montage, Double White Power (which is totally awesome and I think you should see it). I would also like to mention that they are from Eastern Europe, so they dont understand racism like we do (probably for the better too).  Anyway, the song that plays during the montage is one of my favorites of his: Success.

Now do you know of a song that talks about trying your hardest and being successful, but also having the swag that he has.  Now there are other songs, like From A Far, and All That I Do that have less lame lyrics if that's what you feel, to me its all awesome.  O and did I mention that his site gives away the album, Bottles, for free? BONUS AWESOMENESS!!
Anyway, those are only two of the bands/artists that I listen to, if you guys like my suggestions here, please tell me it would make my day!! Furthermore, if there are any requests on topics or ideas to make this blog better just tell me, I'm an easy going guy and will certainly take a look at least. Finally, to the people that have already seen my blog and commented, thank you and please keep checking on the blog, as I've said before, I watch my view counter like a hawk xD.
Well guess I have to get to working, expect more posts on the way (ME3 related and others!).

And if anyone subscribes to me, it would make my life. Just my two cents... :P

NotCras

Something done right

So here we have another update here, and this is in lieu of some awesome development along the Mass Effect 3 ending debate.  Someone actually answered our angry calls, and they answered right!! Dr Ray Muzyka, co-founder of Bioware has made a statement himself about the ending and whats going to happen, and I feel like analyzing it for anyone that will read.

EDIT: Here's an interesting read as well: here.

The man himself.

So, lets start!! Dr. Muzyka starts off with a pat on the back to Bioware.  He says:

 "As co-founder and GM of BioWare, I’m very proud of the ME3 team; I personally believe Mass Effect 3 is the best work we’ve yet created. So, it’s incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the game’s endings were not up to their expectations. Our first instinct is to defend our work and point to the high ratings offered by critics – but out of respect to our fans, we need to accept the criticism and feedback with humility."

Just the fact that he acknowledges that they messed up is HUGE.  Think of it this way, there were so many "expert sources" that were telling us just to accept the ending and move on. Bioware shows us that they truly do care about their fanbase, and want to continue to have us.  Rightfully so I say! In addition, just to point out, he is right when he says the Mass Effect 3 was their best work ever created, it was just the fact that the ending sucked... and i think everyone can agree on that. Then Dr. Muzyka describes how they have devoted tons of work to trying to fix this.  They seem devoted to fixing this. Later in the piece, he goes on:

"The reaction to the release of Mass Effect 3 has been unprecedented. On one hand, some of our loyal fans are passionately expressing their displeasure about how their game concluded; we care about this feedback, and we’re planning to directly address it. However, most folks appear to agree that the game as a whole is exceptional, with more than 75 critics giving it a perfect review score and a review average in the mid-90s. Net, I’m proud of the team, but we can and must always strive to do better. "

Its funny how he says that they accept everything with humility, however they are constantly trying to show us that many official reviewers gave it "perfect scores" and "mid 90 averages". I feel that we cant put too much stock into official reviews, because we don't know anything about the political happenings behind the scene that might sway a review.  I'm not saying there are, but we never know. In addition to that, reviewers are mostly of the same mindset: one of an artistic mindset. This mindset would probably be the one that would appreciate the "artistic" current ending that Bioware gave us.  It is not a representation of the masses. It seems to me that he is trying his best to make us seem like they are humbly accepting that they did wrong, however I think its purely the fact that their fanbase is going bananas that's causing any change around here. But just the fact that they are acknowledging their failure is HUGE, so dont discount that.  Dr. Muzyka then finishes off the piece calling out for help.

"If you are a Mass Effect fan and have input for the team – we respect your opinion and want to hear it. We’re committed to address your constructive feedback as best we can. In return, I’d ask that you help us do that by supporting what I truly believe is the best game BioWare has yet crafted. I urge you to do your own research: play the game, finish it and tell us what you think. Tell your friends if you feel it’s a good game as a whole. Trust that we are doing our damndest, as always, to address your feedback.  As artists, we care about our fans deeply and we appreciate your support."

Now after reading this, I think everyone should give their support and send in what they think to Bioware.  This would benefit us two ways: first of all, everyone has at least one great idea, and I think that Bioware would make a totally original story by taking those good ideas we have and combine them. Im certainly going to do that, in fact I shall do so right here!

Dear Bioware, 

<3 Little blue babies

I, in addition to every loving fan of yours was terribly upset with the ending. I dont think you can deny that one bit. In a fit of inspiration and devastation I myself made an ending. You can find it here. Please read it, but its not the exact ending that I want, because I trust that you will have an even greater ending to tell. First of all, keep the current ending in, but add on. My first point is that I think it would be incredibly rewarding for players to go through the real endgame with their romance option, be it Liara in my case.  In that, you could truly make some emotional scenes.  We want the ending to move us, to make us cry, to make us feel accomplished.  For me at least, I want Shepard to live because I want him to have those little blue babies with Liara. But that's because you guys made me really care about all the characters, not just Shepard. But to be honest, I don't care if Shepard dies (ok maybe i lie) as long as it is not in vain. Just think of the awesome story telling you can do with the romance option with Shepard in his last minutes, or to be there when they survive and defeat the reapers. It would be amazing I say!!
I also feel that having some more involvement with the squad in the final endgame is important too.  If they die, I want to hear their last words on the comm.  If they're in the squad, I want original dialogue for the battles on Earth. It would be a lot of work, but it would pay off.
We didnt see the fruits of our labors as well.  I would look into the sky in London, or even on the Crucible, and all I could see were Alliance ships. Where were the Turians, Quarian, and Geth fleets?? There were some glimpses of those working together, but I feel that the point wasnt totally driven home.  How great would it be if Wrex was shouting inspiring words not just to Krogan troops, but all Human, Turian, and even Salarian? There are so many things that could have been done in that respect that I feel was lost.
Bioware you have enchanted me with your games for a while now. The Mass Effect series was incredible but my journey with you guys didnt just start there.  Kotor blew my mind and was my staple rpg for the longest time, I still play it too. Dragon Age: Origins was an amazing confirmation that Bioware is still the Bioware that I knew. Heck, I even went to Good Old Games and bought Baldur's Gates 1 and 2 because I loved your company and its games so much.  Then Mass Effect 3 tore me to pieces, I felt so betrayed.  Its not just the ending that betrayed me, but the fact that it was soooooo good before the end. Please fix this, I believe that you indeed are listening, even if you dont respond to me (it would make my life if you guys did though wink wink). If you really are watching and reading everything we say, I expect an ending that will blow me away with all the different endings that people put together combined into one gigantic amazing ending that really matters... and brings a true end to our labors. It might have been Shepard in the game, but we were the ones that were/are actually saving the galaxy.  And boy do we want to save it.

NotCras

Quantity over Quality...

So here I am yet again, Ive been incredibly busy lately! Its mostly all due to one source as well: my unified robotics class.  Man, they lay on the work! Ive already been pulling crazy hours of working, and its only going to get worse.  But that still cant make me not do another post. (double negative ftw!!) As another heads up, I will also attempt to make my posts more readable, more colorful/linkful/organized.  In fact, I'm just playing around with many different looks for the whole blog, nothing is final as of yet (and a big thanks to the anonymous person who suggested I do that, you anonymous people are awesome).

So, here's a little update to my Mass Effect 3 ending conundrum.  First of all, I've stopped believing that Bioware has some secret plan.  Especially with Casey Hudson's comments, I've ruled that they are total idiots.  However I wont discount the hard work that they did.  Hudson wanted an ending that was totally different.  In fact, I could kind of see where he's coming from. But the execution was absolutely terrible, and that doesn't excuse the fact that they pretty much did this ending for the publicity... Now how can you be that vain?  I mean you have an incredibly loyal and loving fanbase, and they forsook us to get everyone else on board.  But then again, they're idiots so maybe they cant help it.
I also want to mention how just the fact that they are considering fixing their mistake is HUGE.  Not only could they redeem themselves, but they could also gain back a lot of their fans.  People call us a minority, but just because people don't complain doesn't make them like it. Its just that some people want their voices heard... like me! And then there's people that post awesome and hilarious pictures of Bioware's failings. Here are two hilarious pics for those also frustrated with the endings. I want to keep them small so the posts are not impossibly long (although it probably will happen anyway).

Anyway, I also hacked together an ending that I thought was a good idea, Ill admit there are other better ones out there, but I did my part.  In fact it sort of helped me get through this disappointment.  I recently got a deviant art account and I posted it there. You can find it HERE. Its a pretty awesome site, plus the people actually care, and are EXTEREMELY talented. In fact I've already gotten some awesome comments from people and found some pretty awesome stuff that they've done as well. I am very pleased! Hopefully more will follow!!

Well, time to move on to some other stuff that people might find interesting. And that will be a list of whats been on my mind recently (it is brainfart of course...).  Each of these topics will show up on the blog in some capacity soon, I just want to plan ahead for posts and maybe people could say what they want to see more than others, and I might cater to them... If only more people would comment.... lol.
Anyway, here's the list!

• Mass Effect 3 ending.... we've discussed that already but there will always be more to say.
• The upcoming release of The Legend of Korra, a sequel series to Avatar, the Last Airbender. Words cannot describe my excitement for such a well put together series.
• My upcoming story that I will write.  Its moving along, but I don't want to spoil anything just yet! hehehe keep checking on the blog if you're interested!!
• Site/post fixes and updating current ones.
• My progress in parkour. Yes, I do parkour and it is amazing.  More on that later.
• So much awesome music that I've found that I'd love to share with people.
• Deep existential thoughts... or at least I think they are!

Now I need sleep, I have a 2 hour 8 o clock in the morn tomorrow that I need to be ready for... I will probably not be busy tomorrow, so I might have another post for you guys.  Keep checking! I watch my view counter like a hawk! lol

NotCras

More stuff, like Tokyo except New!

Ah so another update! First of all, LOOK AT THE SECOND POST I GOT A COMMENT! This is pretty awesome. Anonymous, whoever you are, you are pretty awesome (especially since you agreed with me). I also have a lot of views which is awesome... I must admit, this blog is a lot of fun even with no one else reading it, I wont jinx myself, but this might be a keeper!

Now on to Mass Effect 3. Im trying to post on the bioware forums and convince people that I think Bioware is up to something, however no one is listening. (its seems they only care when i post links... which i might just do again hehehe) It really is annoying! Its just like High School, I was nerd enough to be generally ignored when it came to things other than school, and that meant my social skills suffered... And then who is awkward? Me and its not even my fault... bah humbug... Anyway, Ive started my New Game +, so I can make everything perfect for my shepard, but I dont think Ill play the ending until things have changed. Multiplayer is a lot of fun, in fact Ive been playing it a lot. Lets face it, Im getting my money's worth with multiplayer since the single player is such a wowing force at the moment (which again, im convinced that things will turn around.) Equally depressing is this the Final Hours of Mass Effect app. Now i dont have an Ipad so i cant see what it really says but Ive heard things, and Im very scared. But then again, this could all be part of some cruel joke on Bioware's part. I at least have to keep up hope so I dont get really depressed. But part of me doubts... It just totally confuses me that such good writing in the beginning becomes a mess in the last minutes of the game... Im way obsessing over this too much, but I feel I have to for the sake of my Shepard and his crew. The musings of a screenwriter thread on the forums was a very interesting read (here) and should be read. I just dont understand how they failed... It cannot be lack of time, because I dont understand why they would only push back Martin Sheen's voiceovers (got this info from Final Hours) instead of everyones. Plus the extreme arrogance from the senior bioware staff just seems fake to me. They either are having a real fun time with this or are total douches... My bets are that its on both. But the most interesting thing from the Musings thread was the discussion of video games as an art form:

But are they art??

You see, video games want to be on the same level as movies, and photography and other forms of art, however I feel that its totally different. The main reason I think is because video games are interactive. Now it doesnt hold them back from being an art form at all, I think they should just not be treated exactly like, for instance, a film should. I say that just like other art forms, video games should try to send a message to people. Of course there will be games just for the sake of being games but generally most should try to send messages. Now back to movies: people watch them, understand their points (or not), and go along their merry ways. Video games are different because we do the actions, and in the case of Mass Effect, we decide the way that the plot goes. The players shape the story, and the game developers merely make it able to happen. Because we play the games and feel for them, the developers should be obligated for what they make, just like any other art form. Its not like a movie or a book, because we have no way to change anything to begin with. Its on a set rail, so we dont feel anything for the story like we do for Mass Effect. Mass Effect 3 failed because we could not shape the end of the story, in fact it wasnt even an ending. Everyone complains about no closure, and bioware blames us for trying to change their "vision". Now that "vision" of theirs is total crap, and when something of another art form (that theyre trying to make video games like) is total crap, people dont like it and dont support it, and speak out against it. No one tells them to change it, because thats not what its like for art, or books, or movies. Then the artist either tries something else or goes bankrupt for their failure. So EA and bioware shouldnt say anything because they are total hipocrits. Plus, they should be grateful that they got all of this money from pre-orders in the first place! But my final point is that a single video game is a changing affair, they send out bug fixes, maybe release some dlc, or something along those lines. Books dont send out typo fixes do they?

Its a totally different world for video games compared to art, and video games are something that CAN be fixed. Thats why we are asking! If Bioware wanted to make art, they should have made a game like Shadow of the Colossus. Now that is art!

... and it even had a bleak ending to it.

EDIT: two more things to consider.

Now heres some other stuff to ponder that has nothing to do with Mass Effect 3:

First of all Casey Hudson's response found here. Just the fact that they locked the thread so no one can "discuss" Mass Effect is a dulling point for me. But the message itself comes off to me as "We messed up and dlc will make it better. We are sorry." At least its what i want to hear: some confirmation that the ending sucked and will be fixed.

Second of all, I read a very touching post on the forums that I would like to share made by bwfex. Im going to paste it into here, so bear with me, its gonna be small:

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I really have been trying to let myself get over this nightmare, but since you guys promise you're listening here, I'll try to just say it all, get it all out.

I have invested more of myself into this series than almost any other video game franchise in my life. I loved this game. I believed in it. For five years, it delivered. I must have played ME1 and ME2 a dozen times each.

I remember the end of Mass Effect 2. Never before, in any video game I had ever played, did I feel like my actions really mattered. Knowing that the decisions I made and the hard work I put into ME2 had a very real, clear, obvious impact on who lived and who died was one of the most astounding feelings in the world to me. I remember when that laser hit the Normandy and Joker made a comment about how he was happy we upgraded the shields. That was amazing. Cause and effect. Work and reward.

The first time I went through, I lost Mordin, and it was gut-wrenching: watching him die because I made a bad decision was damning, heartbreaking. But it wasn't hopeless, because I knew I could go back, do better, and save him. I knew that I was in control, that my actions mattered. So that's exactly what I did. I reviewed my decisions, found my mistakes, and did everything right. I put together a plan, I worked hard to follow that plan, and I got the reward I had worked so hard for. And then, it was all for nothing.

When I started playing Mass Effect 3, I was blown away. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. It was incredible to see all of my decisions playing out in front of me, building up to new and outrageous outcomes. I was so sure that this was it, this was going to be the masterpiece that crowned an already near-perfect trilogy. With every war asset I gathered, and with every multiplayer game I won, I knew that my work would pay off, that I would be truly satisfied with the outcome of my hard work and smart decisions. Every time I acquired a new WA bonus, I couldn't wait to see how it would play out in the final battle. And then, it was all for nothing.

I wasn't expecting a perfect, happy ending with rainbows and butterflies. In fact, I think I may have been insulted if everyone made it through just fine. The Reapers are an enormous threat (although obviously not as invincible as they would like us to believe), and we should be right to anticipate heavy losses. But I never lost hope. I built alliances, I made the impossible happen to rally the galaxy together. I cured the genophage. I saved the Turians. I united the geth and the quarians. And then, it was all for nothing.

When Mordin died, it was heartwrenching, but I knew it was the right thing. His sacrifice was... perfect. It made sense. It was congruent with the dramatic themes that had been present since I very first met Wrex in ME1. It was not a cheap trick, a deus ex machina, an easy out. It was beautiful, meaningful, significant, relevant, and satisfying. It was an amazing way for an amazing character to sacrifice themself for an amazing thing. And then it was all for nothing.

When Thane died, it was tearjerking. I knew from the moment he explained his illness that one day, I'd have to deal with his death. I knew he was never going to survive the trilogy, and I knew it wouldn't be fun to watch him go. But when his son started reading the prayer, I lost it. His death was beautiful. It was significant. It was relevant. It was satisfying. It was meaningful. He died to protect Shepard, to protect the entire Citadel. He took a life he thought was unredeemable and used it to make the world a brighter place. And then it was all for nothing.

When Wrex and Eve thanked me for saving their species, I felt that I had truly accomplished something great. When Tali set foot on her homeworld, I felt that I had truly accomplished something great. When Javik gave his inspiring speech, I felt that I had inspired something truly great. When I activated the Citadel's arms, sat down to reminisce with Anderson one final time, I felt that I had truly accomplished something amazing. I felt that my sacrifice was meaningful. Significant. Relevant. And while still a completely unexplained deus ex machina, at least it was a little bit satisfying.

And then, just like everything else in this trilogy, it was all for nothing.

If we pretend like the indoctrination theory is false, and we're really supposed to take the ending at face value, this entire game is a lost cause. The krogans will never repopulate. The quarians will never rebuild their home world. The geth will never know what it means to be alive and independent. The salarians will never see how people can change for the better.

Instead, the quarians and turians will endure a quick, torturous extinction as they slowly starve to death, trapped in a system with no support for them. Everyone else will squabble over the scraps of Earth that haven't been completely obliterated, until the krogans drive them all to extinction and then die off without any women present. And this is all assuming that the relays didn't cause supernova-scaled extinction events simply by being destroyed, like we saw in Arrival.

And perhaps the worst part is that we don't even know. We don't know what happened to our squadmates. We didn't get any sort of catharsis, conclusion. We got five years of literary foreplay followed by a kick to the groin and a note telling us that in a couple months, we can pay Bioware $15 for them to do it to us all over again.

It's not just the abysmally depressing/sacrificial nature of the ending, either. As I've already made perfectly clear, I came into this game expecting sacrifice. When Mordin did it, it was beautiful. When Thane did it, it was beautiful. Even Verner. Stupid, misguided, idiotic Verner. Even his ridiculous sacrifice had meaning, relevance, coherence, and offered satisfaction.

No, it's not the sacrifice I have a problem with. It's the utter lack of coherence and respect for the five years of literary gold that have already been established in this franchise. We spent three games preparing to fight these reapers. I spent hours upon hours doing every side quest, picking up every war asset, maxing out my galactic readiness so that when the time came, the army I had built could make a stand, and show these Reapers that we won't go down without a fight.

In ME1, we did the impossible when we killed Sovereign. In ME2, we began to see that the Reapers aren't as immortal as they claim to be: that even they have basic needs, exploitable weaknesses. In ME3, we saw the Reapers die. We saw one get taken down by an overgrown worm. We saw one die with a few coordinated orbital bombardments. We saw several ripped apart by standard space combat. In ME1, it took three alliance fleets to kill the "invincible" Sovereign. By the end of ME3, I had assembled a galactic armada fifty times more powerful than that, and a thousand times more prepared. I never expected the fight to be easy, but I proved that we wouldn't go down without a fight, that there is always hope in unity. That's the theme we've been given for the past five years: there is hope and strength through unity. That if we work together, we can achieve the impossible.

And then we're supposed to believe that the fate of the galaxy comes down to some completely unexplained starchild asking Shepard what his favorite color is? That the army we built was all for nothing? That the squad whose loyalty we fought so hard for was all for nothing? That in the end, none of it mattered at all?

It's a poetic notion, but this isn't the place for poetry. It's one thing to rattle prose nihilistic over the course of a movie or ballad, where the audience is a passive observer, learning a lesson from the suffering and futility of a character, but that's not what Mass Effect is. Mass Effect has always been about making the player the true hero. If you really want us to all feel like we spent the past five years dumping time, energy, and emotional investment into this game just to tell us that nothing really matters, you have signed your own death certificate. Nobody pays hundreds of dollars and hours to be reminded how bleak, empty, and depressing the world can be, to be told that nothing we do matters, to be told that all of our greatest accomplishments, all of our faith, all of our work, all of our unity is for nothing.

No. It simply cannot be this bleak. I refuse to believe Bioware is really doing this. The ending of ME1 was perfect. We saw the struggle, we saw the cost, but we knew that we had worked hard, worked together, and won. The ending of ME2 was perfect. We saw the struggle, we saw the cost, but we knew that we had worked hard, worked together, and won.

Taken at face value, the end of ME3 throws every single thing we've done in the past five years into the wind, and makes the player watch from a distance as the entire galaxy is thrown into a technological dark age and a stellar extinction. Why would we care about a universe that no longer exists? We should we invest any more time or money into a world that will never be what we came to know and love?

Even if the ending is retconned, it doesn't make things better. Just knowing that the starchild was our real foe the entire time is so utterly mindless, contrived, and irrelevant to what we experienced in ME1 and ME2 that it cannot be forgiven. If that really is the truth, then Mass Effect simply isn't what we thought it was. And frankly, if this is what Mass Effect was supposed to be all along, I want no part of it. It's a useless, trite, overplayed cliche, so far beneath the praise I once gave this franchise that it hurts to think about.

No. There is no way to save this franchise without giving us the only explanation that makes sense. You know what it is. It was the plan all along. Too much evidence to not be true. Too many people reaching the same conclusions independently.

The indoctrination theory doesn't just save this franchise: it elevates it to one of the most powerful and compelling storytelling experiences I've ever had in my life. The fact that you managed to do more than indoctrinate Shepard - you managed to indoctrinate the players themselves - is astonishing. If that really was the end game, here, then you have won my gaming soul. But if that's true, then I'm still waiting for the rest of this story, the final chapter of Shepard's heroic journey. I paid to finish the fight, and if the indoctrination theory is true, it's not over yet.

And if it's not, then I just don't even care. I have been betrayed, and it's time for me to let go of the denial, the anger, the bargaining, and start working through the depression and emptiness until I can just move on. You can't keep teasing us like this. This must have seemed like a great plan at the time, but it has cost too much. These people believed in you. I believed in you.

Just make it right.

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Anyway, thats all that i wanted to edit in.

Now for other things.

So I was inspired by the failure of Mass Effect 3 to pursue a sci-fi story that Ive started. Ill be honest, I wont say anything just yet, because I want to get my whole act together with it, but I must say it should be pretty awesome... hopefully. I just want some people to read it is all as well. And it will actually have closure that i can say from the start xD. But keep your eyes out!!

So there was this pretty awesome Half Life 2 mod out there called Neotokyo. I cant say much about it, since when I had found out about it the fanbase was mostly gone. In fact there was only one server that had people on it, and it was completely full. Must have been some hell of a community then. O well, the gameplay looked like a lot fun. BUT there was one pretty awesome perk to getting the mod: the Soundtrack. (ah another soundtrack! like you havent heard about that before.... (pun intended) hahaha) Now Ill be honest you dont get the full soundtrack, but it inspired me to get the full one. Its certainly worth it!

The game itself is more or less a team based affair, with three different classes. The plot is eh, but its existent. Courtesy of Wikipedia:

Inspired by such titles as Ghost in the Shell and Akira, NEOTOKYO° is set in a near-future Tokyo, Japan. After the failure of a proposal to alter the Japanese constitution to allow foreign deployment of Japanese soldiers, a military coup d'etat is attempted by extreme nationalist factions in the JSDF.^[1] In response, the Prime Minister of Japan pools former military intelligence operatives and police officers into a sub-group of the Interior Ministry's National Security Force (NSF), called Group Six, to seek out subsequent coup plotters and uphold the law in both domestic and international soil.^[2] Immediately, rumours surface that an unknown faction in the JGSDF's special forces unit "Jinrai" is preparing for another coup attempt against the government. According to the information, the said members of this group are from Special Operations Group 43, fierce ultranationalists determined to succeed with the coup once more.^[1] The ensuing strife between these two factions sets the backdrop for the game.^[1]

So yeah I couldnt have said it better (in fact way, way worse xD). Anyway, its soundtrack is great as Ive stated before, I absolutely love the Japanese music themes that coincide with the digital landscape that the music makes.

Heres a link to the main Neotokyo site: here

Heres a link where you can get the soundtrack and listen to samples: here

Finally, I feel that i need to share this with everyone: real life batman. Im not even trying to make fun of the man, I totally respect him trying to do the right thing for people that he cares about. Just even doing what he did would be terrifying. I think we should all do something like this to be honest... just to separate the man from the boys. (and Im not joking there)

Well might as well go get some sleep! (but after i post this to the bioware forums so people can see the points im trying to make.) Ok so its morning now, and after this comment about making it easier to read by Anonymous, I tried to add pictures and cut up what I want to say.

Anyway, Night everyone!

NotCras

Moving on

Ok so to be honest, Ive hit the dead horse enough with my Mass Effect 3 posts. The immediate jumps in page views was astounding: No sooner had I posted a link to the forums would the count increase incredibly. Thats not to say I merely did it for the views, I really wanted to have my opinion heard. Heck thats the whole reason for this blog! Maybe once I get actual people reading in on my blog it will be different, but remember I have to get posts somehow! haha

Well anyway, unless I think up something, Im going to stop with the Mass Effect 3 posts. My final verdict is that Bioware is not stupid and has something up their sleeve for the March 15th release date. In fact, I've gained enough hope back to go and start a New Game plus with my Shepard on Insanity. Should be loads of fun... but I might just skip the ending for now, we shall see. Its strange how I feel at peace with Mass Effect finally. Hopefully my theory will be true and everything will work out for Shepard, and the series. Only time will tell. EDIT: While we wait, i suggest some hysterical ME3 memes. I guess I can finally agree with Hitler for once!! haha

But now its time to move on to other topics. One such topic is music, and specifically soundtracks. You see I absolutely love soundtracks to things I love already. The songs provoke the emotions that I had with whatever they might be to, and its always nice to bask in such awesomeness. The Mass Effect 3 soundtrack that I got is incredible! But thats not the point I want to make.

Before I go on, I feel like explaining something about myself. I have a kind of personality that likes to constantly suprise, keep people on their toes and interested in what Im doing is a hobby of mine. Plus, I like to explore everything and give my opinions on it. Pretty much Im vocal about myself to give others ideas for themselves. I never want to control others, I just want people to say, hmmm let me look into something more. My family is constantly annoyed with the fact that Im always trying to point out the other side to things. I partially say its because of my desire to have people pay attention to me, but who doesnt like that?

Anyhoo, heres some random stuff I found on the interwebs. Its an old machinima company that made some pretty awesome stuff. To be honest, they set the bar for me in terms of Machinima acting, and music (see theres the soundtrack tie in!). They are Litfuse Films!! (www.litfusefilms.com) Now mind you, they are done doing things, some moved on to do cinematic scenes in Bioware (i hear they did work on ME2, and possibly ME3! (darn more Mass Effect I thought i said i was done with them!)) Anyway, Mass Effect aside, their work in the feature machinima film War of the Servers is incredible. War of the Servers is a play off of War of the Worlds, enough said for now haha. I feel its Machinima at its best. In fact, I keep a copy of it on my tablet to watch every now and then. Furthermore, they made the hysterical Melon 3. Its about the thundermelon, a cursed melon that holds untold destructive power. I shall not go into more details. The dialogue here is not the best, BUT the ending is hilarious, especially with the custom song tie in. The main thing is too, it must have been so much fun to make as it is to watch. So give them a try, they really are pretty awesome (and their soundtrack is free now which is totally awesome! (and its free!)). Also I forgot to mention, that they mostly do work in Gmod, so if you know Gmod, its make the machinima even better!

On a more personal note, everything is going fine with me. I have my first undergrad robotics class to pass at the moment and it seems like it will be soooooooooo much work. But its what I love so I cant complain too much now can I? Also, I have some ideas of what to put up on here so maybe I can get some of it up eventually. Hopefully I can get some people here to stay and follow me possibly? I guess time will only tell.

EDIT: I also forgot to say that once I get some free time on my pc, Im gonna make the site all nice and pretty. Truth is, Im doing this on my tablet and I cant really do site design on this.

NOT PART OF EDIT: O and I shaved and I hate the feeling after a shave... DARN IT.

EDIT: It feels better now xD

NotCras

Heres another ME3 thought.

I dont know about you, but there are many reviewers that are staying silent with Mass Effect. I think they know something and are waiting until Bioware does something. Game Informer doesnt have any review out, (suspicious anyone?), or even other reviews state that the game has a very tell all and awesome ending... This just seems off to me. I google searched Mass Effect 3 review and received many reviews, but they werent from any really big names. Instead they are smaller sites, or very vague reviews from what i feel. In contrast searching Mass Effect 2 review on google yielded many well known review sites, and there arent any kind of vague reviews. It just strikes me as very suspicious that an ending like this is not being covered enough, Bioware giving cryptic twitter messages, AND all the vague reviews.

Plus, it would be revenge for the leaked ending in November or something like that I believe.

EDIT: I also forgot to mention that on the forums someone says that the sizes of the cds and the actual game files dont add up... I dont know if this is true, but its something to look into as well!

First Update: Im still here but Im sad and heres why:

Hey soon to be people reading this (because i just started). I havent posted in a little while, but thats only because of two reasons:
a) spring break is over and im busy now
b) Im debating what to write about and im actually taking this whole blog idea thing seriously haha.
Thing is though, I do have an idea that I feel Im just gonna rant on about and see where it goes.
Namely, the Mass Effect 3 ending.
I had completed Mass Effect 3 late at night on about the second day it was out, and I was absolutely depressed with the ending. I had gotten the digital deluxe edition, and played it nonstop for two days (it was spring break). And all that was in vain since the ending had no closure, was utterly confusing, AND WHATS WITH THE NORMANDY? But instead of ranting like a raving lunatic, let me approach it calmly and discuss all my ideas.
First things first, Mass Effect was probably the best game I had ever played until the ending. The gameplay was so much fun, battles were great, dialogue was perfect as ever, the enviroments and just overlying sense of reaper destruction was perfect. Then came the ending.
First of all, Im going to point out that for a series based totally on player choice, and one that stressed different endings, there was almost none of that. In fact, wasnt everyone extremely excited for ME3, because the endings could be really different from each other since they dont have to worry about a sequel? My shepard survived! Whoop dee doo, and now he's on a planet of rubble, while his love interest and (questionably) fiercely loyal crew ran away from the fight and crash landed on some other planet. Now theres a theory out there that the ending was a hallucination/indoctrination. First of all, it would possibly make sense, the Normandy fleeing because the only hope in the universe was just disintegrated. Plus we dont know how much time it took while he was out for any hallucinations to occur. What doesnt make sense in this theory to me is that if Shepard just got fried, how the heck can he be hallucinating/fighting indoctrination? Even if that were the case, how could the crucible fire when Shepard, presumably on Earth, was fighting indoctrination? How could a mental battle activate the crucible when the citadel still had to be opened? I feel that there are so many holes in that theory that i cant believe it. To go a step further, if everything was a hallucination, that means the Reapers won no matter what Shepard chooses. Why not just show the Reapers winning and have an amazingly heroic death scene for Shepard and his crew? Which brings me to my next point, the lack of any epilogue.
Even the ending that Bioware gave us couldve had closure if they provided an epilogue of what happened afterwards. Im not asking for something large either, some confirmation that either civilization is rebuilding on Earth or something like that, or that enough people survived and its all good, so I know that what I did matters. Or even that the Reapers won and the cycle is starting over again. It could literally be a slideshow for all I care, how long would that have taken to make? Barely any time I feel. I just want to know. Also to add to it, almost none of the questions about the Reapers or anything were answered. To go back to the indoctrination theory, Saren was indoctrinated by the Reapers convincing him to join him. In order to convince anyone subtly, they would have to at least make up some story to make their cause more believeable. But they didnt with Shepard, they gave a terrible reason to him that no one would really believe (especially with the geth around...) This made the game have absolutely no closure and thats why everyone is freaking out. Its not what the bs official reviewers say its because the series was supposed to give us closure, but instead they didnt. Even with the little grandpa ending there, you dont have any knowledge of what happened to anything important, just that humans are alive.
For me, the endings would go something like this:

1) Crucible fails because it wasnt ready in time/you didnt recruit enough people to make it work properly. Reapers win.
2) Crucible destroys the system because the people you recruited were not trustworthy and sabotaged it (due to indoctrination), or a malfunction causes it to destroy itself.
3) Shepard makes it to the crucible and sacrifices himself to save the universe.
4) Shepard makes it to the crucible, and in the ensuing destruction of the Reapers, falls down to Earth on a piece of the Citadel, only to be found later by the crew and L.I.. Happiness at last!
5) The might of the galaxy actually overcomes the Reapers through conventional force.
6) Forsaking the crucible, Shepard sacrifices his humanity to become a Reaper of Reapers using Cerberus technology. The L.I. then tranfers themselves onto the Reaper platform as well so they can be together forever. (this is a huge departure from the established plotline already, but I like it too much to not say it. Plus, i havent thought out everything yet so how he does it is still a mystery)
7) Realizing all is lost with this cycle, Shepard and the crew go into hiding/stasis (much like the Protheans) to prepare the next cycle (meaning there would be more adventures with Shepard)
8) The endings that are in the game right now EXCEPT the normandy crashes on Earth. I feel its incredibly random and a slap to the face of your Shepard to strand them on some unknown planet.
9) Reapers win, and make a Human Reaper as a consolation of the fight that the humans/galaxy put up.
10) Heres another total plot change idea, Shepard forces the Reapers hand by uplifting every species in the known galaxy. This will provide a place to show the motivations of the Reapers. Just think, like a Burn and Run tactic, you get rid of everything so the Reapers will either harvest everything and leave the galaxy totally empty or do nothing. Just the thought of uplifting another civilization should have been an awesome idea for the ME3 people to investigate. Just think, you could uplift the Yagh (the shadow broker's species I cant remember the spelling), which runs the risk of them taking over the galaxy. From the way Ive seen it, the Krogan deserve their uplifting, even though they were a little slow to get to the point of deserving it, the Yagh dont at all, and it would provide some very hard decisions as well as some awesome Squad Member conversations/actions as well.
11) Shepard sacrifices himself, and depending on the love interest, either they get pregnant with Shepards child in the romance scene, or they do something to honor Shepard (like building a house on Rannoch or something like that).
12) Shepard suffers sever wounds from the blast, gets helped by Anderson, or a squadmate, or the L.I., or even the whole squad, and together with everyones help activates the Crucible/saves the galaxy. That ending would have the whole cooperation themes prevalent everywhere else in the story and be a perfect tie in/tear jerker if anyone dies.
13) Same as before except as they activate the Crucible, they all huddle together as they sacrifice themselves for the universe. It'd be so perfect I feel.
14) (this is one added later) The Crucible acts as a giant EMP that disrupts all technology in the system. Since the Reapers are tech they are shut off as well.  Engineers Donnelly and Daniels figure a way to jump-start our tech and so everyone is all good.  Then we find out that the Charon Relay has been shut down because of the EMP.  Its the perfect time to study how they actually work with all those Crucible scientists! This raises us to the level of awesomeness as the Reapers, but at the same time we are using them for good.

Notice how none of my endings involve the Catalyst little boy VI thing. My opinion was that its a good idea, but Bioware just threw it into the mix leaving it an underdeveloped mess. I also want everyone to notice the fact that I just wrote up 12 semi unique endings. This variety could have been Mass Effect 3, but instead we get to choose our own light show and the same confusing/heartbreaking ending for everyone. And thats including the Shepard surviving endings. Which leads me to another rant, they say that there are 16 endings, but thats a lie because they are all the same. I would also like to mention that the Refuse ending that was thought up is another awesome idea, BUT i didnt want to include anything that involved the catalyst little boy VI thing. On a side note, I feel that its perfectly acceptable that the Mass Relays are destroyed, since they are also Reaper tech and technically are the remnants of their influence. On a random note as well for coping with the Normandy crash ending, theres still quantum communication right? So the Normandy crew could still be in contact with the rest of the universe right?
But now back to the main rant about the ending haha. I also feel that many characters dont get that good of a sendoff or even appearance in ME3. Some of these characters you grew to know and love, and now they just appear for a short time and thats it. If the former squadmates that arent squadmates now had better stories, then think of the awesome storytelling they could have done. There were so many people that deserved more, maybe even some deaths, or maybe there could have been more contact after you saw them initially? It just all seems like lost ground to me. Speaking of dieing, the ending is just unnecessarily bleak as well. What about the others you know sacrificing themselves like squadmates? If Bioware wanted to make a sad but awesome ending, have some people die heroically right? None of this meta crap writing. Think of it this way, there is a select group of people with the right mindset to enjoy those kind of endings. There is another group of people that would enjoy those endings if it was all explained to them. But they arent the majority and Bioware should have known that. Thats another reason why everyone is mad, they went in the wrong direction with the ending. As I stated before, some of us need closure. The number of closure seekers is WAY greater than the number of people that like the ME3 ending. Inversely though its the exact opposite reason of why I think ME3 failed.
Which brings me to what I think the fatal flaw of Mass Effect 3 was: EA trying to make the game accessible to everyone. That means that things cant get too dependant on the previous content because then the other people would be missing out. But instead of making a balance, they just shrugged it all off and made it open for everyone. If they hadnt, just think of the revenue they would get, everyone would be freaking out about the game, and convince all of their friends to get it. The thing is, they would have to get the first games, and by the time they play those they are completely sold on the whole Mass Effect series. Then they would have even more loyal fans. Instead what happened was that in order to make Mass Effect more accessible to everyone, they had to make the best endings available to even the people just starting out, AND they had to keep the level of previous game references to a minimum so the people dont get bogged down with unfamiliarity. What resulted was a failure to ride the fine line of that strategy working. In fact, James Vega, the character whose sole purpose was to keep new players in the loop didnt. I feel that despite some off comments, nothing was really explained, in fact except in the beginning, everything involving him can be skipped. So much for that.
I could go on forever, and I will if people want. Im thinking of when I post this onto my newly started blog Im going to post the link into some of the Bioware threads to see what kind of conversation it will cook up. Im just so depressed that such an amazing trilogy was ruined (in my eyes). To be honest, at the moment I cant even play that many video games because Im so disheartened. (for whoever's curious im stopping because of sleep not because I have nothing else to write about).
Anyway, ranting this out makes me feel a little better, and I made up my mind Im definitely posting this on Bioware forums.
In the meantime Im going to sleep and debate what else to put up here haha.
EDIT: did some changes in the morn and now i shall post, haha lets see how it goes!
NotCras

Well hello thar

So hello world!

Im NotCras, youve probably havent heard of me, and to be honest i probably would not have heard of me either, but o well. Now you know I exist. Let me be honest with you guys, Im busy, Im forgetful, and this is around my 3rd blog attempt... lets see how it goes. Im just gonna start immediately and maybe it will catch on.

Just before I start, a little bit on the blog, this will be (hopefully) a depository of just ideas, thoughts, drawings, a little bit of everything.