Maybe if you didnt need a certain percentage for loyalty missions/dialog there would have been more renegade choices made.
It's really awkward how much ME1 tries to justify renegade Shepard's racism and bias against non-humans.
This ending:
This is the origin story of the Galactic Empire from Star Wars.
It is antithetical to the themes of ME, which is why people rarely explored this path. This series is already way too focused on humans as it is.It totally makes sense as the other side of the humanity is special through line of the series. And a result of human tribalism and inferiority complex as the new kid on the block.
I just can't imagine playing Mass Effect 2 and 3 outside of the Vanguard class. No wonder some people don't rate the games highly, they legitimately played the most boring way possible.Suddenly the action(?) mode in ME3 makes a lot more sense. If I'm remembering my stats right, something like 80% of players were all male shepard, soldier-class, and paragon.
Why, god, why are gamers so boring.
Westworld would run out of white hats.
But yeah, not surprising - I figure most people's fantasy is to be the hero who crushes the evildoers and is showered in admiration by the masses, not the villain who murders indiscriminately.
I say that's viewing things quite narrowly, albeit the fact that not all games are good at rewarding players with far reaching favourable/unfavourable consequences.
Whether good or evil, it's not like the player has the absolute agency to determine the outcome. Instead it is about relying on the limited options that the game provides and framing and reframing our expectations of our place in the game world (vicariously) from one decision and the outcome to the next.
For me, it was never about "showered in admiration by the masses" but rather enacting the best possible decision that brokered peace and harmony propelled by nearly unrivaled power, authority and responsibility that only exists in galactic sci-fi universe. The favourable outcomes made possible with Shepard and her/his team were rewards enough in and of themselves.
As much as I love Mass Effect, this is where the series really went wrong. It wasn't SUPPOSED to be "good or evil", "hero or villain". It was supposed to be goody-good boyscout vs Dirty Harry. Morally uncompromised vs ends-justify-the-means, with situations that reflected the pros and cons of each ideology.Westworld would run out of white hats.
But yeah, not surprising - I figure most people's fantasy is to be the hero who crushes the evildoers and is showered in admiration by the masses, not the villain who murders indiscriminately.
One of my favorite arguments for a true "Renegade" mindset was from Javik.
"Their silence is your answer."
And he's... right. In a war where it's not about politics, religion, or morality - but SURVIVAL - the universe does need Renegades to make truly difficult choices that will cost actual lives. Only... the game never does this. Being a Renegade is the fastest way to LOSE support, doom species, and alienate alliances.
What's the point in being a dick when it seems like being goody two-shoes gets everything done anyway and will probably net you more allies along the way? Being evil should be about favoring benefits over morals, not evil for evil's sake. When you can have both the morals AND the benefits, what kind of choice is that?
This.
What about that reporterRenegade usually amounts to kicking puppies for the hell of it, so there's usually no reason to not go Paragon unless you just really hate puppies.
There are exceptions sure, but the game design kind of encourages you to pick a side and one side is mostly just kicked puppies.