Half-full vs Half-empty: Tell us why the ending failed/succeeded in one sentence

And yet the driving motivation and force behind the Reapers that cause everything that happens is because of the OvS conflict.

Which as I said fills in a lot of blanks that were left in the game about why the Reapers do what they do. Without that motivation the Reapers do not become the antagonists. They don't even exist.

And all those flaws, issues and cracks I showed you become much more important.

So I will ask you again why do the Reapers act in the way that turns them into the main antagonist of the series?

"Lack of meaningful catharsis."

More power to folks who enjoyed it, and were able to mull over the flaws. I was able to gloss over quite a few myself, especially after the EC DLC. However, without fan initiatives (via mods, video/comic projects, and fanfics), I'd never have gained the catharsis and satisfaction I needed after such a long journey and investment of time.

However, the other side of that is that I can see ALL those fan projects, and even the original "endings," as alternate scenarios...so I suppose I ended up getting my "choices and variance," albeit not in the way BW intended (which is just as well really). More importantly, it sent a message to devs about how much work should really go into such stories, and I hope they learned the right (ie: constructive) lessons from that (and the fans too).

Shepard saves the galaxy and the reapers are destroyed.

As I've said before, my headcanon works well for me here.  I either go with "the Starkid was a blood loss-related hallucination" or, if it happened, it was simply saying what it was programmed by the Leviathan to believe.  I kind of like the idea that the "masters of the universe" (whether it be the Leviathan in the distant past or the Reapers) were deeply flawed and that those flaws led to a horrifying outcome.  Too much power + bad ideas = terrible outcome.  Hence, we save the universe (or galaxy) forevermore by removing the Reapers from the equation.  No one has that massive power anymore and the flawed ideas are proven wrong with the geth and EDI (even though they all die in the Reaper-killing Destroy wave).

Honestly, I'd then go ahead and start building new AI, teaching it to work alongside organics, and set them up as sentinels against future "bad" AI.  Their job wouldn't be to protect organics in general, just against future rogue AI that might inevitably arise.  I say this because it's inevitable that more AI will be built so it may as well happen under controlled situations and while the memory of Reapers is still deeply ingrained in our psyches.  To me, that's a happy ending.

Yes, I like to read/write fanfic so coming up with ways for the story to work for me are great.  Coming up with multiple, alternate ideas makes the story more expansive than anything any writers could ever do.

...unless you choose not to accept. People who dislike the endings tend to reject them. Which they can do. What they can't do is twist facts around and claim it was about something else (i.e. the game says it's really about x). And I don't think anyone's done that.

As for precedent events in the previous games, I think the thing you keep missing is, in previous games they were presented as singular events happening on the side, not unbreakable rules of reality. Things like that AI on the Citadel (an entirely missable sidequest) or even the geth conflict, they happened, but the reasons for that conflict were simple and already laid out and we could and did except them as solitary occurrences. Then the ending comes along and tries to tell us all that was an immutable law of the universe. But they really haven't proven that. They haven't sufficiently done the legwork linking these events before the ending so the conclusion comes off more natural as opposed to (seemingly) out of nowhere.

Yeah, it assumes things will go down the same way every time. Which may (in very charitable reading of the matter) work for the synthetic side given that the tech is always similar because it's developed along the paths.. you get the drill. But organics? What immutable law of the universe makes them act the same way every time? Even in creating synthetics, let alone wanting to exterminate them. Notice how the species who would've flat out proved the holokid wrong by their very existence were casually dropped out or made nearly useless- the thorian and the rachni. Neither would ever create AI nor would they be particularly threatened by them or threatening to them either. And the thorian not only would've made a better origin story for the Reaper but is more adept at "solving" this issue than either of the ancient squid monsters. Thorian spores are permanent and much more effective at controlling thralls than Leviathan orbs. No thorian thrall would ever research AI if it really was such a threat.

And the people who reject the endings are twisting facts around and claims it was about something else.  That Catalyst is wrong, it is flawed logic, the VI is malfunctioning, etc, etc. All reasons and logics twisted from what the game explicitly tells you to prove why the ending was bad. This again ties into the Miranda discussion. Because according to you anyways I was twisting the logic from what the game explicitly tells you. Basing Miranda's motivation around her sister and desire to see her safe rather then her full support of Cerberus and it's goals.  And yet your responds tended to have the feeling like you thought I was/am a cretin.  That is the contradiction I am a cretin for that but Linkenski and others who think under similar terms are ok.

Only game 1 can be viewed as singular events. ME 1 is the only true stand alone game who's entire story is self contained. ME 2 obviously call backs to ME 1 and a set up for ME3. ME 3 like wise has call backs to 1 and 2. But on those issues there are plenty to go around but I will try to keep it brief.

ME 1 has Saren making his job unnecessarily difficult for plot reasons that never pan out. The Protheans ON Ilos study the Citadel for years some how in order to figure out how to alter the Reaper signal.  They then leave again some how a program that is capable of matching a Reaper's capability on Ilos before leaving to the Citadel and losing contact. Which is pretty damn magical that they could study the working of the Citadel to discover in decades what hundreds of years of living on it failed to show up from another planet on the other side of the galaxy. That a power surge some how knocks a Reaper out allowing the Alliance to bomb it to hell.

ME 2 the obvious Shepard brought back from the dead. But also Cerberus going from a small rouge black ops group to a group that has the wealth, technology and capabilities to rival  all other races and the Alliance's information network. And yet despite being a wanted terrorist organization by literally every race in the galaxy is some how still able to build multiple space stations and build multiple bases on multiple worlds without being found out.  Collectors are smart enough to set a trap for Shepard but dumb enough that when he destroys one of their ships and Occuli ships and crashes they some how can't fathom the concept of sending out another Occuli or two to scan to make sure the Normandy was destroyed.  That the squad is capable of holding back an entire pissed off Collector base by hiding behind a 3 foot high wall and never bother to attempt to use Swarmers. That the Proto-Reaper they were building is suspended from it's arms above a massive hole in the ground instead of laying on the ground and building it upwards.  That the access to their power core is so lightly protected that a standard military Omni Tool is capable of hacking those systems to access it allowing Shepard to wipe out the base or the collectors.  Which is a lot like the password to launch the US nuclear arsenal being password.

While the side quest can be missed it is still a canon event and can not be ignored simply because you don't like it. As well the Geth conflict isn't that simplistic and is only a solitary occurrence because of the crack down and heavy restriction on AI research and development. Restricting it to only a handful of companies that have to keep them under very strong lock and key in laboratory conditions. Or to put it another way the synthetic equivalent of what Cerberus did with Jack. Taking children and experimenting on them.

The linking is there. It is over shadowed by threat of the Reapers but that doesn't invalidate the linking that exists. Particularly when you take into context all the points that apparently disprove the Catalyst. Peach with Geth is only possible because of the mutual threat Reapers pose. This is the ultimate plot of Watchmen. To force USA and Soviet Russia into peace by creating a mutual threat larger then anything they could individually take on. In the comics it was inter-dimensional beings (or something like that) who killed millions across the planet. In the movie it was an energy pulse that killed millions across the planet made to look like Dr. Manhattan did the deed. A being who is literally god like. All though instead of purposefully doing that it was more of an accident during the Reaper's attempt to harvest the galaxy.

While Tali does mention that some Quarians are willing to let the Geth into their suits. She will also mention how it is far to soon to even vaugly consider the Geth allies. And that the rest of the galaxy purposefully keeps them on opposite ends of the fights to prevent accidental conflict.  And while you can interact with avatars that are the generalized representation of each race (Garrus for Turians, Wrex/Eve/Wreav for Krogans, Liara for Asari, etc) the grand total of interaction with Geth post peace option is a single Prime saying they will honor Legion's promise and that is about it. And this whole thing is actually addressed by the Catalyst. Because it directly mentions how peace was able to be established but it ultimately failed. Which was the reason why it came to the Reaper Solution.  Long term peace was found to be an impossibility.  And players use 3-4 month time frame as if it is a basis for long term peace and prosperity.

And going back to the your previous assertions that you have to take what the game tells you. The game out right tells you that the conflict between S vs O will happen. It never specifies who is the aggressor. Only that S is the winner. And odds are it is fairly 50/50 split. This set up that S is always the winner is supported by events in the game. The leg work is there. The game explicitly tells you this is how things are.  So why am I in error when I am simply using the same logic other players have time and time again?

Before the Extended Cut was released...

Half Full: Bioware was on the right track in in aiming for an emotionally impactful, bittersweet ending to the trilogy.

Half Empty: Bioware fell far short in the execution of that ending by having the sense of loss come from the collapse of the very civilization the player character was trying to save.

I laughed at "merge good and evil". Perfect comparison to what Synthesis really implies.

Half-Full:

Shepard destroyed the reapers thus succeeding in his original goal of the trilogy.

For what it's worth, I agree.  If Udina was Renegade, and Anderson was Mixed, then I would argue that Hackett was Paragon.

More than Half Full for me. I just finished my first totally blind play-through of the ME games (never really knew anything about the ME franchise, other than the main character is called Commander Shepard lol). I imported my Diana Shepard to ME2 and ME3.

By the end, I was really attached to my paragon and war hero. She had forged strong friendships throughout her years with the Alliance, as well as with Cerberus. She had united warring factions, cured the Genophage, lost good friends, but never lost sight of the end goal... destroy the Reapers.

It was a surprise to learn about the catalyst and its true nature. An AI would never truly understand human nature or why the reapers are causing chaos.

The only question that stands out and that was most important to Diana Shepard was "Will this end the war?"

Broken and hurting, without a friend in sight, she took a deep breath and limped over to the red tube on her right. She finally finished what she set out to do over three years ago... destroying the reapers.

Is it wrong to be so attached to a video character that, even now, just writing these few lines, I have tears in my eyes?

A little bit empty: I wish, I so had hoped and wished, for a happier ending for Shepard... The ending is filled with so much sorrow. It was a very emotional ending, one that haunts me still. I hate that Bioware is always asking me to make tough decisions! I love that Bioware is asking me to make tough decisions!

I don't want to believe that my Shepard was indoctrinated at the end. No, no way, not her. Anderson and TIM made it to the Citadel in all the chaos. Or TIM was already there, trying to achieve HIS ending... Yes, yes, that's a good explanation.

I think people just overthink the ending and I also understand that it wasn't very satisfying when the game first came out. At least Bioware listened to the fans and created the extended cut. If a game ending still has people talking about it, so many years later, then it was a good ending...