Mass Effect 3: The ‘Indoctrination Theory’ and how it insults gamers

There is a growing amount of speculation on the "Indoctrination Theory" regarding Mass Effect 3's ending. If the theory is correct you shouldn't be happy. Here's why.

[moegooner88]

Article doesn't anything new or relevant, and the crucible never fires in reality, Shepard is shown at the end in the rubble of London, not the citadel.

[zgoldenlionz]

Moments before the ending Shepard fought off indoctrination to connect crucible to the citadel remember the black smokey lines coming from the edge of the screen? Well if that black stuff represented his mind being taken over where was it during the ending? He just fought that off moments earlier why would he be indoctrinated now? Think about it people. And everyone stop whining everyone got hundreds of hours of fun regardless if you like the ending or not.

[limewax]

I didn't, I received an overall sub-par experience compared to the previous 2, so speak for yourself. I can make my own opinion.

I would list what I found disappointing but all these things have been pointed out a thousand times

[zgoldenlionz]

@limewax speak for my self? Who else would I be speaking for?

[Nimblest-Assassin]

Article seems like a nerd rant by one of the few people who just want the ending flatout changed... it is not an insult if the indoctrination theory is legitimate, hell most people on the social network want this theory to be true now.

It would actually be a really great twist as all 3 games were leading to that ending as the video entails.

Hell the fans are the most excited for this ending, because it makes us feel that Bioware didn't just drop the ball at the end.

Its actually good writing, because you get excited as you uncover more and more evidence that supports the theory.

We keep adding to this theory, and it excites us as players.

Calling the indoc theory lazy is not true in the slightest because you have to think about this

1)Don't you find it weird that a studio that developed this rich lore and had everything proved to the most finite detail, suddenly drop the ball at the moment where it mattered the most?

2) Fans worked hard to find this evidence, and Bioware must have kept these things hidden in order for the player to get an idea of the bigger picture.

This dude is one of the boycott Bioware guys, whom will never be satisfied.

I only agree with the fact that if we have to pay for the conclusion I will be outright pissed of.

The author sounds like the thing Mega64 parodied on friday:
http://www.gametrailers.com...

[Imalwaysright]

"Bioware didn't just drop the ball at the end." Yes they did. Everything you've done on the 3 games was absolutely for nothing. Every choice youve made in the end was meaningless. Bioware dropped the ball just because of this fact. Besides this indoctrination theory is nothing more than fans trying to give meaning to an ending full of plotholes and that doesnt make any sense. People are just grasping at straws. No one knows for sure. IF in fact the indoctrination theory is right it doesnt give closure to the trilogy at all ,wich means that you will most likely have to pay for the real ending.

[Nimblest-Assassin]

@Imalwaysright

Well don't you find it strange they dropped the ball at the moment it mattered the most?

Thats what confuses me, and thats why I believe in indoc.

No one, could f**k up that bad unless it was intentional

[Wigriff]

Agreed.

[OmegaSlayer]

Many, like the reviewer, didn't understand that Shepard never moved from London and everything happened in his mind while he was unconscious. Bah...

You might like it or not, but it's there.

[TheSleepyGamer]

The writer did understand and mention that if the theory holds true then everything after being hit by Harbinger's beam was an illusion.

Maybe read it all before commenting?

[NewZealander]

the indoctrination theory fails on many levels, if it wasn't real then how come it shows the Normandy crash site with your team getting off, i had the synthesis ending, that cant be in shepards mind, i know the ending was bad but making up fairy tail endings to pretend that ending didn't happen is just sad.

[FrightfulActions]

What would be more insulting is if they didn't alter or change the ending in anyway, effectively giving the middle finger to all fans who have been following the series since the first release. The current ending really is that bad.

[exsturminator01]

Lol, that was my thought seeing the article title. "Really? More of an insult than the current ending?"

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Correction...they don't need to alter or change the ending as you suggest. They need to clarify and explain some of the leaps of faith it requires and plot wholes that were pretty obvious. Just help us connect the dots to a story ending that right now feels like it can't possibly make sense. If they do have all the dots truly connected...just show me. I don't need you to re-write anything.

[ChickeyCantor]

"he current ending really is that bad."

Meh, my only problem is that they have the guts to sell a game with an inconclusive ending.

The insult is more that they take us as a bunch of sheep and think we will all buy the dlc

[pat_11_5]

I haven't finished the game yet. But it really can't be as bad as people are saying.

[RedDead]

Besides bioware's lies and false advertising, the ending makes no sense once you think about it. And it's left open to the type of interpretation that is unnecessary and just screams "we were rushed" or "The ending doesn't make sense, so were not going to try and make any sense of it"

[exsturminator01]

Well, come back and let us know your opinion when you get there. Maybe the 50k fans are wrong or you can appreciate something we didn't. All thoughts on the subject are welcome. =D

[OC_MurphysLaw]

LOL... 50k angry fans... versus the millions who bought it and didn't complain. Kind of a weak argument.

Don't get me wrong...I am not a fan of the ending. I just found your rationale a bit off in a big picture kind of way. :)

[snipes101]

@Dlacy...
Number one, not every single person is going to sign something like that. Even if they think the ending was the worst thing since apartheid, some might not be passionate enough about the game to actually go join a cause for it.

Number two. A quick google search shows that sales of ME3 dropped 80% from week one to week to. From 2.4 million units to 500k or so. People were complaining about the ending as early as a day within the games release and word spread fast. Do you really think the complaints about the ending had NOTHING to do with that? It's possible they don't, but it's hard to argue with numbers...here's the link if you don't believe me. http://www.reddit.com/r/gam...

[exsturminator01]

I don't really want to get in a statistics debate on here, but I'll just go ahead and mention that surveys tend to interview a sample of a population to get a feel for the general consensus. 50k is not a big number in ratio to total units sold. It does appear to be a big number in ratio to those voicing their opinions though. Did some people enjoy the ending? Yes. Are all of them taking to the internet? Of course not. Same goes for the other side though. "Didn't complain," is nowhere near the same thing as "satisfied." I guarantee you the guys at Bioware are not looking at 50k vocal protesters and saying, "oh well." They're looking at the big picture, recognizing the possibility that they are seeing a legitimate sampling of consumers, and assessing how much damage this will do to their plans for DLC and spin-off titles.
As for my above comment, I was just stating the facts. Pam hasn't beaten it but thinks it can't be that bad; 50k vocal fans disagree; I hope he comes back with an insight to win me over to liking it. I'd like to like it if anyone can point out something I missed, so power to him and good luck.

[wedgie]

I kept thinking that myself. But then I just beat it yesterday, and yeah, now I am with everyone else. New ending will be welcome

[SneeringImperialist]

Its not just the game's ending though the game is really buggy to.

[superrey19]

I didn't think it was that bad either. People complain that the ending felt incomplete or didn't explain everything, well, it doesn't have to does it? Many movies(Inception, in recent memory) leave the ending to interpretation which is exactly what this game has managed to do. The fact that it wasn't a happy ending is not a new concept either. The only legitimate complaint I see people having is that their decisions throughout the game didn't have that big of an impact at the end (besides what crew u had end-game and the many different missions you did along the way).

I recommend listening to PC Gamer's podcast on the game, screenwriter Gary Whitta shares his opinion on the ending too. http://www.pcgamer.com/2012...

[moegooner88]

@Pat
After finishing the game make sure to watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

It made sense to me, and if true, then it is kinda brilliant

[pr0digyZA]

Ye I am going along with that theory of the ending as it definitely seems better and was pretty close to what I thought when I finished, and expanded new views that I hadn't thought of. That said, it still means there wasn't proper closure as the game ended in the middle of a battle.

[Megaton]

If it's true in the way fans suggest, then it's a genius move on BioWare's part. Launches it from one of the worst endings of all time to one of the best. Unfortunately, I have a hard time believing it's true. I don't think they're capable of that.

[VanillaBear]

Even if they did use it, as brillaint as it is, theres no way people would actually believe Bioware had it planned from the start....well at least I wouldn't. They probably saw the Indoctrination theory thought it was a better ending then were they were heading and changed the second ending again to fit into that theory.

I would know for a fine fact that they changed the ending in November after the leak, they couldn't get the ending finished in time so they gave us a half finished ending so they could finish it off later to sell as DLC...but you would obviously get those obsessed Bioware fans who would actually think they did have it planned from the start.

[Krugsy]

Even if this was the intended meaning, it's not brilliant. No ending should require this level of interpretation and deciphering. I don't think an ending needs to be clear-cut and obvious, but a much better writer would have made the ending still satisfying to those who don't care about going through everything with a fine comb. Mulholland Dr, as eccentric and surreal as it was, still had an emotional and final closing to the film, but also maintained its ambiguity to all but the most diehard fans.

A good ending is one that provides closure but also leaves things open to interpretation. Mass Effect only left everything open to interpretation without the closure.

Its just a shame that an otherwise amazing game is being overshadowed by the outcry over the ending.

[limewax]

To be honest what comes to mind as a similar method for an ending, yet how to do it properly, would be Final Fantasy 8. The Ultemecia - Rinoa paradox. See that was only hinted at for less then a second in the final scenes yet most people got it fairly easily.

Mass Effect 3 hints at indoctrination a LOT more yet somehow never manages to point you in the right direction enough to let you piece it together easily.

[Krugsy]

Totally agree Limewax, it's just a very severe case of bad scripting.

[portugamer]

I didn't start my me3 ce yet, I feel like I want to restart me2, I've missed a lot of paragon answers, and only talked to 1 or 2 team mates, after each mission. Many times I picked non paragon answers, which gave me a 50/50 Shepard. I lost 3 mates during the final assault, the little Kelly was killed , I arrived too late.

I want to restart, do a 100% paragon, while I read all the codex entries and planets and everything (do you guys know Miranda can't have babies?), I didn't talk to my mates, only the second half I played a bit more after the missions.

I'm at the end ,on infamous 2, after resistance 3, and now infamous 2, I'm ready to play mass effect 3.its like a cerise sur le gateau, I keep my me3 unboxed, because I know I will have a great time.great time. But I'm not sure if I have the courage to restart me2. Maybe I should just load a saved file, 3 or 4 hours before the final mission, and play it again, with the good teammates, so nobody dies.

I choosed to keep the collectors base, and not destroy it. Will this have a great(er) impact on me3?

I don't know if I will like the end or not, but after spending more than 96 hours on me2, and I think I will spend at least 50-60 hours on me3, I'm ready to forgive everything from bioware, including a 'not the best' ending . How could I offend the guys who will have given me more than 150 hours, of pure happiness, that my gamers hearth will never forget?

Do people realize 10 years ago, we were playing half life, unreal , serious Sam, age of empire 2, Diablo 2 games, at low resolutions, with crappy textures, and a game like mass effect 2 or 3 couldn't exist, even in your craziest dreams?

It's like when we have a huge teeth or head ache, and we just pray it finishes soon, and we can feel well, again. But when we are fine, we don't stop 3 seconds and realize how lucky we are, to feel good.

We don't realize how lucky we are, with today's games. How many times we skip a great game, because it is only a 7/10 game, according to a few reviewers, only because that game isn't like X or Y game.

Yes, people, sometimes, we should stop a while, and think. Think about how lucky we are, to be alive, to have some money to buy games, and to have studios like bioware, that gave us more than 150 hours of gameplay, where, for the first time, we really care about people, and we feel(I did feel) we're really inside the game, making choices and influencing people around us. Never I felt this, before playing mass effect 2.

So please, people,let's wait and think, before talking, for nothings.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Just an FYI... I wouldn't worry about doing a 100% Paragon or Renegade play through in ME3. The only reason to try to do that would be for an achievement / Trophy but even that appears to be gone from ME3. Just use your own rationale for your responses and you will enjoy the play through more.

[Perjoss]

But when Bioshock did the indoctrination thing people loved it.

[FlashBack]

That's a big spoiler
and

That's not the point, if the Ind. Th. is true, we are getting the ending from dlc.

[Dark_Legend]

A genius Move? So charging another 10 bucks for a "real" ending is a genius move? Not really

[FlashBack]

There has been a leak, saying that the will be a dlc with a new n7 mission, new classes and races for MP and a clarification, it's called The Truth and it would be free.

[AIndoria]

Interesting. I still don't get the what Bioware was thinking while choosing the ending though.

[FlashBack]

This, the whole thing is just ridiculous, I mean, why? WHY?

[despair]

Space magic FTW!!!!!!

[VDub2174]

At this point it's all speculation but it would make for a good ending!

[Genecalypse]

Bioware is not smart enough to trick players with the Indoc theory. It wasnt planned, just happened to be a great coincidence. With that being said, if they use the theory and weave it into the ending and make it seem intentional then I dont really have a problem with that.

The way the ending comes across, and all of BW PR since then just makes it seem like the ending was in fact the real one, Bioware just sucks at writing endings, simple.

[honkyjesus]

Is that what they call it when they make an underwhelming game, now?

[despair]

the ending is underwhelming, the rest of the game is extraordinary.

[Brad13186]

So here is my take, at least what I hope is true:

1. The indoc theory is true.
2. Bioware intended this all along.
3. They had to be a martyr with all of the backlash against 3s ending because...
4. The "first" dlc begins with shepard regaining conciousness in the london rubble.

[SneeringImperialist]

I think if there is a dlc like that, that it will start with shepard in a hospital or med-bay etc because on the iphone ME3 app you get a message from kaidan/ashley after the ending of the game saying: "Hey commander thought i might come down and see you today --- if they let me"

http://26.media.tumblr.com/...

[sarshelyam]

Whether or not the indoctrination theory is true, it presents an interesting scenario. What it paints is a picture of two games we've played where we thought we were doing the right thing...when in reality, all of it could have been driven by the Reapers and Harbinger (in particular).

We know the effects of Indoctrination, and it's certainly likely that although Shep is resilient, he was killed in ME2's opening...leaving him in a state that the Data Logs on the Illusive Man's base seem to point to susceptibility for indoctrination. I mean, he was dead....whatever willpower he had was spread so thin by the time he was in Cerberus control that it would be impossible to believe he could resist Indoctrination, even then.

Furthermore, at this point in the story it is now made clear that Illusive Man has already moved fully forward with his plan for humanity.

I don't know what BioWare has in store for us, but I'm of the mindset that if everything I've been doing for the last two games was even partly a ruse...well...touche' BioWare, you may have just created one of the most compelling and hopeless storylines I've enjoyed in some time, and I salute you for it.

[Tzuno]

why we are upset? aren't we all indoctrinated anyway. the reaction is the result.

[J86blum]

I didn't mind both endings, though the choose to go LEFT made alot more sense, friends have raged on me for it, and to that I say, its a video game, and did you really think in the end your choices from 2 previous titles would carry over and make some epic ending naw.

Not everyone is special as they think and same goes for their choices in a video game. the biggest choice in the end was how many ME1 and 2 characters would be shown thats really how much your actions matter.

[ziggurcat]

*sigh*

ME fans are still grasping at straws, aren't they...

time to let it go, people. you got the ending you got, so deal with it.