ME3. Indoctrination Theory, Spoilers abound. You have been warned.

[Werthead]

Ashley actually does have a character arc over the course of the three games, turning from the xenophobic, tub-thumping-for-humans caricature you first met into a badass, aliens-are-cool Spectre over the course of the games and doing so in a fairly believable manner. She also has a fair bit of character background that explains her situation better. I also like the fact that, although religious, she isn't presented as a fundamentalist nutjob, and she raises a lot of logical questions over Shepard's Cerberus situation. If the Indoctrination Theory does turn out to be right, she's the only companion character who suspected it might happen.

She's not necessarily the most 'likable' of the characters, but she is one of the better-fleshed-out ones in the game. Jacob's not in the same league as he's only in one game and his daddy issues are pretty generic.

[Weak With The Dawn]

Technically he's in 3 games. Galaxy, ME2 and ME3 :P I know what you mean though.

In 3 he's potentially causing more daddy issues. Getting someone pregnant when you know the reapers are coming. Who does that?

It's the f-ing future, you'd think contraceptive would be even better.

Kaidan also questions your loyalty. It seems only the Virmire Survivor ever considers that you might be indoctrinated which makes sense, because they've known you as long as the rest of the ME1 squad but had more time removed to compare the new and old Shepard.

[Sivin]

I agree about Jacob. Well, sort of. Making fun of him is fun. His one outstanding quality is that he's basically the most well adjusted person on board*. His biotics are outstripped by pretty much every other character in the game and his armament is badly balanced. If he at least had an SMG or assault rifle he'd be much more useful. He is good enough to be used as a leader during the suicide mission, though.

Ashley on the other hand is considered an extremely competent soldier whose career never got off the ground because of her family history. That changes after Eden Prime: she goes from gunnery chief to lieutenant commander and Spectre candidate over the course of the games. That effectively puts her in the same position Shepard was in at the beginning of ME1.

Gameplaywise she's a middle ground option between Wrex and Garrus in ME1: very tough (anyone with Immunity was virtually invincible in that game) but also able to use sniper rifles effectively.

Haven't played beyond Mars with her in ME3, but her skills seem to emphasise her abilities as a marksman.

*Apparently if he's Shepard's love interest in LotSB, all Liara has to say about him is something like "Jacob...uh, he's dependable..."

Yes. And it's not really a fourth ending.

Everyone gets promoted except Shepard. More on that later.

(Disclaimer: This entire explanation is based on Story, not Game play mechanics)

Eh, not so much on the "best of the best" thing.In ME1 You get Wrex and Garrus just because they happen to be working on the same problems as you. You get Tali not because of her engineering skill, but because she has evidence on Saren and you get Liara solely on the fact that she's Benezias daughter.

The fact that they end up all being competent is just a bonus you, but you didn't go out there to recruit the "best" of anything.

Ashley on the other hand is like a tone downed Akuze victim. Her entire unit was lost to the Geth, which had not been seen in centuries, and yet when you find her, she's still fighting, alone. Instead of running, giving up, or hiding, she fights back to the bitter end. In that she's very much like Shepard. She joins Garrus as the only squad mate who actually proves them self in battle before joining your squad. Technically you can include Tali, but she doesn't actually do anythig in that fight...so "proving" herself is up to interpretation.

In ME2 you wake up in a base that is being over run by Mechs that are slaughtering everyone. Yet, once again, you run into a lone fighter, holding his own against the odds; Jacob.

Jacob may not have the most exciting personality but he saved the citadel in events prior to ME2 along side Miranda. Which proves his competence. He was also a Corsair, fighting for the Alliance in secret (aka pirate) and, like Ashley, also managed to survive the events on Eden Prime from the first game. He's not a disgraced soldier either. He quit the Alliance because they didn't back Shepard and tried to sweep the Reaper threat under the rug. He's got a lot of resolve and refuses to blindly follow any organization he's in. Again, an aspect that Shepard has always exemplified.

Jacob isn't "the best of the best" combat wise. However he can keep his cool under pressure, he's got a long military background, and next to Garrus he's a leader that others feel confident with and trust, not because of his authority or predestined skill (i.e. Miranda) but because of his extensive battlefield knowledge.

Damn you for making perfectly reasonable arugments!

Although, I will point out that Ashley is running when you find her, and had actually just ran away from an ambush where her squad was dying. Normally I wouldn't say "fight to the last man", but you damn well better be the last man when you run. And it sounded like there were survivors when she cut out.

But still, I should be able to kick the usless ones off my ship.

Speaking of sexual harassment, the conversations FemShep has with James Vega are pretty high on that too (fortunately it goes both ways so I don't feel like a pervy boss abusing her authority). I was kind of worried about it at first, didn't want it interfering with my Liara romance, then I found out that Vega isn't a LI for anyone (guess he's all talk) and I decided to just roll with it.

He's a eunich.

[Jon AS]

Ashley actually does have a character arc over the course of the three games, turning from the xenophobic, tub-thumping-for-humans caricature

I'd say that's a pretty strong exaggeration. Even in ME1 she speaks up against the Terra Firma party, for example. She also thinks that young men have the wrong idea about what Asari are like (blaming the extranet...and computer games) and while her views of the way the Council interacts with other species are cynical, she keeps it mostly at a political level and (most important of all) she's pretty much right: the Council does use other species (including humanity) as convenient, disposable tools when it suits them.

[haLobEnder]

With the new system you don't have to be strictly renegade or paragon anymore so I've enjoyed going through multiple times and pairing different dialogue options.

I've done that a bit with the second playthrough I've started, but much like in the past, when you mix-and-match like that your Shep comes off as more than a little manic. One moment he was fine with EDI's decision to take a body, the next he was chastising Joker for being in favour of the idea.

Regarding multiplayer: I don't play a lot of multiplayer games and frankly I'm not very good at them. I've stuck to bronze matches only in ME3, and I've consistently had the lowest score in every match I've played (results vary from mostly keeping up with the rest of the team as a soldier, to complete and utter failure as a vanguard).

Despite all this, I was enjoying myself up until someone sent me a message calling me a 'piece of shit' after a match we failed was over. That sort of reinforced my dislike of multiplayer interaction and I haven't touched multiplayer since. I'd like to play more, but I really don't want the vitriol one encounters for being less than stellar at a game. It's partly the reason I took refuge in RPGs in the first place, and now I can't help but feel that even that genre is ceding ground to the ultra-competitive types.

[Sivin]

Very much appreciated this. Punch Admiral Gerrel e'ry day.

Huh, I rather liked Teryn Loghain...

[David Selig]

I'd say that's a pretty strong exaggeration. Even in ME1 she speaks up against the Terra Firma party, for example. She also thinks that young men have the wrong idea about what Asari are like (blaming the extranet...and computer games) and while her views of the way the Council interacts with other species are cynical, she keeps it mostly at a political level and (most important of all) she's pretty much right: the Council does use other species (including humanity) as convenient, disposable tools when it suits them.

Yeah, Ashley's never been a caricature, her attitude towards aliens has always been reasonable (and way more believable than that of many other humans given that it's only been a few decades since the First Contact War and we are not talking about an attitude towards a foreign country or a human race, but different species). It's not xenophobic to question the wisdom of giving non-Alliance persons free access to the most advanced ship of the Alliance fleet.

[Merentha]

Huh, I rather liked Teryn Loghain...

A) I hated the Quarians. They were fucking idiots many times over and I got really tired of them causing more problems for Shepard and the galaxy. B ) you don't blow up the ship I'm on.

Regarding multiplayer: I don't play a lot of multiplayer games and frankly I'm not very good at them. I've stuck to bronze matches only in ME3, and I've consistently had the lowest score in every match I've played (results vary from mostly keeping up with the rest of the team as a soldier, to complete and utter failure as a vanguard).

Vanguard needs a high skill investment before you stop dying all the time.

I'm guessing you're not on the PC? I can't imagine playing with thumbsticks, since if I'm a second

late on my charge, I'm dead.

If you do want to play Vanguard, ignore every weapon the game gives you and run with the lightest possible gun you can. I used the starting SMG until I got my predator and skills a high enough level to have a 200% cooldown. Max anything that improves your cooldown times, get area charge, and get the 100% shield recharge.

[Kennit]

Ashley actually does have a character arc over the course of the three games, turning from the xenophobic, tub-thumping-for-humans caricature you first met into a badass, aliens-are-cool Spectre over the course of the games and doing so in a fairly believable manner. She also has a fair bit of character background that explains her situation better. I also like the fact that, although religious, she isn't presented as a fundamentalist nutjob, and she raises a lot of logical questions over Shepard's Cerberus situation. If the Indoctrination Theory does turn out to be right, she's the only companion character who suspected it might happen.

Dude what

ME1 Ashley is nothing like ME3 Ashley. It's like they are two different characters.

It's comparable to Awakening Anders and DA2 Anders(though I'll admit that it's far worse in Anders' case).

[Weak With The Dawn]

I've done that a bit with the second playthrough I've started, but much like in the past, when you mix-and-match like that your Shep comes off as more than a little manic. One moment he was fine with EDI's decision to take a body, the next he was chastising Joker for being in favour of the idea.

Regarding multiplayer: I don't play a lot of multiplayer games and frankly I'm not very good at them. I've stuck to bronze matches only in ME3, and I've consistently had the lowest score in every match I've played (results vary from mostly keeping up with the rest of the team as a soldier, to complete and utter failure as a vanguard).

Despite all this, I was enjoying myself up until someone sent me a message calling me a 'piece of shit' after a match we failed was over. That sort of reinforced my dislike of multiplayer interaction and I haven't touched multiplayer since. I'd like to play more, but I really don't want the vitriol one encounters for being less than stellar at a game. It's partly the reason I took refuge in RPGs in the first place, and now I can't help but feel that even that genre is ceding ground to the ultra-competitive types.

If you're playing on Xbox I'd be more than happy to play, I don't rage or get angry when we lose, or someone isn't very good. I can't stand when people take shit to seriously, especially Bronze/Lowest level of anything. I've never had someone react like that to losing a match, specially not on Bronze.

She's not the most likely to unlock, but, if you ever get the Quarian Infiltrator, just max out sabotage, choose Geth as your opponent every time, and keep spamming it. You'll rack up points and be #1 or 2 without even firing your gun.

[Merentha]

Dude what

ME1 Ashley is nothing like ME3 Ashley. It's like they are two different characters.

It's comparable to Awakening Anders and DA2 Anders(though I'll admit that it's far worse in Anders' case).

Uh, yeah, that's what I thought he meant by saying she had a believable arc. In ME3, you spend about half the time convincing her you aren't still with Cerberus (and can fail). This ties in pretty nicely with her Horizon attitude from ME2, and her change from "suspicious of aliens" to "aliens might be okay" makes a lot of sense after all of ME1's...aliens.

edit: ^^^ On PC at least, that's patched. Almost all Geth got buffed and Sabotage got nerfed into the ground. I'd go so far as to say that on Silver, Geth are the hardest faction depending on the map, and are second hardest if you have a Quarian Infiltrator. People generally know how to deal with the Reapers' tricks now, but the Geth, by not really having any overwhelming strengths in one area, also don't have too many weaknesses. Between staggering rockets flying in from everywhere and pyros that now dodge about half of my Warps/Throws and are a lot tougher, they're hard to deal with. Oh, and cloaked Hunters now move as fast as they do uncloaked, so they get up in your face a lot more. And their basic infantry seems to have the most damaging ranged attack too.

[haLobEnder]

If you're playing on Xbox I'd be more than happy to play, I don't rage or get angry when we lose, or someone isn't very good. I can't stand when people take shit to seriously, especially Bronze/Lowest level of anything. I've never had someone react like that to losing a match, specially not on Bronze.

Might take you up on that, though I'll have to buy a new subscription first as I was using the 2 day Gold Pass that came with the game. Given the fact I don't play many multiplayer games I've always been adverse to the idea of paying for services you get on Playstation for free; ME3 is the first thing that's come along that I've actually considered paying the subscription fee for. Have Gold now.

Name on LIVE is hal0b3nd3r.

Are all the unlocks luck of the draw? I've got the Asari vanguard and that's about it so far.

[haLobEnder]

(sry, double post)

[Fez]

For anyone who wants a primer on what exactly the Indoctrination theory is; here's a really well done introductory video. It's pretty convincing on its own, and bear in mind that basically just focuses on the ending and barely even mentions the numerous hints throughout the game.

[Merentha]

Are all the unlocks luck of the draw? I've got the Asari vanguard and that's about it so far.

Yes. They're grouped by rarity (common, uncommon, rare, ultra-rare) and each pack has a guaranteed one if its level and a chance to have one of a higher. So a recruit pack is guaranteed to have a common and a chance at an uncommon, while spectre packs are guaranteed to have a rare and a chance at an ultra-rare. Asari Adepts and both Krogans are rare, every other race is, iirc, uncommon, while the humans are supposedly common. They also tweaked the drop rates to prioritize races over weapons slightly, iirc.

And just to remind everyone about why I don't listen to a thing the devs say on twitter, here is Casey Hudson a week before release:

"It's not so much that there is a fixed set of alternative endings, but all of your choices really determine how things end up in the universe. So, how you approach the end-game, for every player, you're going to have a different set of results in terms of who is alive and who is dead, and which civilisations survived and which ones were wiped out.There is a huge set of consequences that start stacking up as you approach the end-game. And even in terms of the ending itself, it continues to break down to some very large decisions. So it's not like a classic game ending where everything is linear and you make a choice between a few things - it really does layer in many, many different choices, up to the final moments, where it's going to be different for everyone who plays it."

[denstorebog]

Ok, continuing with the ever more likely premise that the theory is correct and there will be a DLC that picks up on things. How is it going to work out in terms of how Bioware will present this DLC and how it will continue the story?

1. For people to want to get this DLC because it gives us DA REAL ENDING, Bioware will have to market it as exactly that. To do that, they'll have to explain, very methodically, what ME3's ending was truly about, so that it seems like it was actually planned and not some tacked-on idea. I suspect there'll have to be some sort of promotional material that retells ME3's ending, sorta like the Indoctrination Theory video that was posted above. Of course, by that time, a lot of players will already 'get it', but I think Bioware needs to get everyone in on the game in a very systematic way.

2. Ok, so how will the story actually continue? I can only assume that ME3's multiple endings will all be able to carry on into the DLC, and that's pretty interesting because Sheperd will either be indoctrinated or dead according to the different endings. Except maybe it's more like indoctrinated or comatose, so that the DLC can be about 'bringing Sheperd back' no matter what happened. As far as I understand it, though, all endings only resolve Sheperd's battle with indoctrination - no matter what happens, the Reaper threat isn't dealt with. As far as I can tell, the last we see of the actual conflict in ME3 is when the Reapers take off while the radio comm tells us that the mission was a failure.

So I assume that the Normandy crew picked up Sheperd, either indoctrinated or comatose based on what you chose. They've now crash landed somewhere with Sheperd in Med Bay. What now? I suppose the DLC will either be a last-ditch attempt at firing the Crucible For Real This Time, or it'll introduce some new path to victory. Both seem strangely unlikely though...

If the Reapers really won the battle for Earth, surely the Crucible is taken out by them somehow. On the other hand, introducing a new path to victory in a DLC package *really* seems like stretching things, unless maybe Sheperd's new condition is somehow related to that. At least that way, ME3's resolution would be a meaningful development.

Any ideas?

[Sivin]

Or we could have Mass Effect 4. In which you're continuing the fight as a new character, and you'll meet Shepard along the way. He/She'll either be indoctrinated or broken (from getting fucked up by a giant laser), and you have to finish the fight.

That one seems the most likely until you consider the ramifications of starting a new character.

[Noroldis]

Now this is amusing... Here is what Casey Hudson's Wikipedia entry currently states under "Career":

Hudson started his career as a Technical Artist, developing art solutions for video games at Bioware, on many games, including Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic. He became game director on Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. His most recent psuedo-finished product, Mass Effect 3, had over 70 perfect 10/10 review scores - while the rest of the reviewers actually completed the game. His crowning achievement at Bioware was the utter destruction of the popular Mass Effect franchise. He is now viewed as a liar and a money-grabber by the rest of the gaming community. Promising not to make the mass effect trilogy end like A,B,C instead he took it upon himself to make it end like R,G,B.

[Talleyrand]

I have to say the 30 or so hours up until meeting the Catalyst were some of the best moments of gaming I've ever had. Rarely have games got me so emotionally invested in characters. I genuinely felt sad at Mordin singing "Modern Major General" along several other of the moments in the game. Kalros vs Reaper was awesome and I ended up liking quite a few of the minor characters especially Tarquin Victus and Charr. While I wasn't exactly chuffed with the endings I didn't find them some sort of game ruining moment as some people on the internet seem to have. Though to be honest I much would have preferred it ending with you and Anderson talking as the battle occurs outside, it was bloody emotional.

As to the multiplayer I find it fun but my connection to the EA Server just randomly goes every once and a while, got really annoying when I was on the last round on gold when my server just died and I lost all my xp and cash. Quarian Engineer is brilliant personally, cyro blast, incinerate and sentry turret can take care of quite a lot of problems though I prefer Vanguard just for raking in the points and money. Though I've been trying for a while to get a krogan or turian but alas to no avail.

[Tyrellius]

I promoted my second level 20 and yeah, it does stack. 75 ems per promoted character.

Loth, I dont think its a server problem as the games are player hosted. Prolly some emo member ragequitting after dying or something.