User blog comment:Koveras Alvane/The Beauty of Mass Effect 2 Ending/@comment-5607736-20130429182345/@comment-256004-20130502105718

If the players can influence the probabilities, it would help but then the question is why not turn the random background resolutions into explicit gameplay content? Instead of just letting the players invest a few resources and passively accept the random outcome (or, as Nord correctly observed, just reload their saved game until they get the outcome they wanted), why not let them actually help the mercs in battle, with them spread across the level in small groups that are wiped out if they face overwhelming enemy and Shepard does not get to them in time? You could then use the random function wonderfully to randomize the enemy attacks, and the rest of the mission will be sufficiently randomized by the mixture of unpredictable enemy attacks and the player's own actions, creating a unique experience. Sure, it has a potential to get extremely frustrating, but even so, it remains transparent to the players what they should do to achieve best results: listen to the radio chatter, determine where the most enemies are, rush there, and clear them out. Repeat, say, five times, and you save the entire mercenary force. Make a false decision and you lose a squad--which is bad but not fatal, as you still get some Assets when you beat the mission.