If Bioware ever decides to choose a canon ending for Mass Effect 3, which one would you prefer?

Sudden chaos can cause the worst to emerge, look at the aftermath of the hurricane hitting New Orleans, there were gangs looting and murdering, in the stadiums where people found shelter there were rapes, murders and thefts. And that is the chaos of an aftermath to an event that people can understand as they know weather, they know storms and hurricanes. So imagine what its like to suddenly have your entire body corrupted with glowing greenery, that everything around you is changed and you cannot quantify it, you cannot understand it, and the shock will manifest in thousands of different ways. I admit that some cultures might view it as a blessing, others as an abomination. From there, imagine a Cold War scenario like during the Cuban Missile Crisis. If the wave had hit then, both sides would have blamed each other and mutually assured destruction would've been mutually assured, killing billions.

We know from history the terrible events that happen when chaos ensues, even in the safest of regions. We know that people will find an excuse for war and bloodshed if they want it, any excuse. And we know religious intolerance and fanaticism, which some or many aliens are bound to have some experience with. There will be others who respond to the chaos by outreaching gently and trying to make people feel safe, there are people like that in the real world who strive to provide order, but people panic. Even if there wasn't violence, there are bound to be accidents, falling down stairs or off other heights, vehicle crashes, various other accidents too. Lets do a little mathematics.

There are estimates that there could be trillions of civilisations out there, but lets shrink that to make a more manageable number. Wikipedia predicts there are 40 billion planets planets in the goldilocks zone of stars. Obviously not all will have civilised life, so lets take away 95% of those to get an estimate (but probably too high) number of planets with civilisations.

5% of 40,000,000,000 = 2,000,000,000

So lets say there are 2 billion civilisations out there that the galaxy doesn't know of. We know less that 1% of the galaxy has been explored. If only 1 person on each planet died as a consequence of the chaos caused by the synthesis wave, that's 2 billion deaths.

If a thousand died on each civilised world, that's 2 trillion deaths. And that's being conservative with the amount that could die, as some planets could be like ours with billions of inhabitants. And thats only factoring in sapient deaths, who knows how other lifeforms would react.

My point is, that people die when chaos happens for various reasons, generally because survival instincts kick in or people unleash their upset, fear and frustrations in different ways. This would happen with Synthesis changing all life, even life that does not even know of the Relays.


HOWEVER!

I could be wrong. And if I am, if every civilisation in the Milky Way got hit by the beam and no-one felt confused, there was no social chaos, and no-one directly died from it.... don't you find that particularly frightening that a wave of energy has so much power that it can stop that?

I never asked for it.

You know what? I'll take the bait. I'll explain exactly why I don't care about the "consequences" of destroy. First of all, EDI said she was willing to die for Joker, if it meant stopping the Reapers. She was prepared and willing to make that sacrifice, so I don't feel bad about that. 

But now the Geth bit, and why I don't give a flying F about the Geth. Their death is brought upon themselves, because they decided to implant their entire race with Reaper Code, and the Crucible attacks everything with Reaper Code in it. You might say "but it granted them sentience! it was a positive addition!" Oh really, so then why did the Geth refuse Nezara to begin with? They said they didn't want to "cheat" their way to true sentience, and earn it themselves. But then they just end up "cheating" anyway? knowing full well the risks that come with Reaper Code? Nope, sorry. You lost my sympathy. The Geth refused the Heretics for embracing the Reapers and taking their technology, they refused Nezara because they wanted to earn their sentience themselves. Then the Quarians attack, and they cast aside all their moral certitudes and convictions and willingly become slaves to the Reapers. Then once released from this slavery go back on their other belief, about earning it themselves. To me, the Geth are hypocrites, and are unworthy of my sympathy and remorse.  

In an unrelated note I want to express my disappointment I had when I realized ME3 had totally sterilized and white washed the events of the Morning War, removing all the interesting Moral Greyness that was implied prior. 

I wouldn't say for no reason. If the player is so stuck up regarding their bias that they choose to not make a choice, it is what it is. The game stresses a gazillion times that you simply cannot win this war with military might. It is an appropriate ending. But it is one that not many like, because they're too used to being pampered, always winning, always feeling like the hero, and never being wrong. A game allowing you to be wrong is a good thing.


Well, everyone wanted to tell the catalyst to F off. They gave you that option, with consequences. They didn't like the consequences implemented, but that's the player's problem. In fact, the consequences are quite positive, considering the galaxy is ultimately at peace. And, we know the species survived towards Andromeda now, so...


So what? Every other ending also shows a very positive and bright future. Why is it ok the spin those to put a bunch of problems in it, but thinking for problems for destroy is somehow not allowed? Technically, despite all the implications, synthesis seems to be the most happy ending in the way BioWare has presented it.
You have a choice. Either you take all the endings literally as presented, or all endings are allowed to be criticized for their implications that were not shown in it. You can't have it both ways.


Remember that the Geth were an accident. They likely don't even know how they did it. And if they tried there's no guarantee that they would turn out exactly the same. And considering their collective works, they'll likely never get the same information as in the current 'old' galaxy, meaning they would ultimately be different.


Why do you need to prove that when he himself stated that his solution doesn't work anymore? Yes, he still argues that synthetics will always rebel against their creators. He did it himself for one, and the Geth also did it to the Quarians. It was the Quarian's own stubbornness near the end of ME3 that nearly got them wiped out. And what stopped them from killing each other? Right. Shepard. The one that (potentially) solved that conflict can now take over the whole reaper armada. How is control bad again?

You're free to argue that destroy is the best ending. I would argue, that choosing destroy is the same mentality that the Quarians had during the conflict with the Geth near the end of ME3. Take that as you may.

Qui-Gon GlenN7 have you tried the lighter version of the happy ending mod? Shep leans over, hits the button (the one that takes the platform up to the kid) and it sends the destroy signal out instead. The beam keeps all AI but kills the reapers. I've tried other endings but that is now my canon, it's not too heavy or modded and it's a simple way to end it.

www.nexusmods.com/masseffect3/mods/265

I don't check you on this.

Risks of Reaper code? Without Reaper assistance the geth wouldn't have even been in ME3; they'd have been exterminated by the quarians before Shepard even knew what was happening. Your position is tantamount to saying that the geth should have preferred extinction. Which is OK, but be honest about it.

If anything, the quarians are genocidal maniacs who deserve extermination; the geth are innocent victims. (I don't often play this way, but that's my pro-organic prejudice talking.)

Why are those the only two possibilities you see?

Ok, then my point stands. If you destroy the Heretics, the Geth are not upgraded with Reaper tech, which negates revanchist's argument. That is my point.

Where did it imply that? I never saw anything that implied that people were smarter. The whole point of Synthesis was to find a "peaceful" (never mind the billion years of genocide beforehand) solution to the organics vs synthetics problem. Making organics and synthetics essentially the same prevents that from happening because everyone is the same. It in no way postulates that people are smart enough to not engage in war for other reasons. The Reapers stop fighting because the objective was achieved. Meanwhile, a billion years ago, the Reapers could have interceded at any time before any organic or synthetic civilization was destroyed. Instead, they chose genocide on a scale that NO ONE can even imagine. No, fuck Synthesis. Reapers need to die.