User blog comment:The Milkman/The Writing of the Ending/@comment-30764484-20120605044952/@comment-4237253-20120608153712

No, that's just bad writing plain and simple. Not having any ending where the conflict is resolved is terrible storytelling, and the majority of players/readers/audience members will know that right away. If you've irked and alienated more than half of the people listening to your story, than you probably did it wrong.

Of course you are supposed to see the foreshadowing at the end, but it's supposed to be clear and obvious upon reflection. All the "foreshadowing" for the IT is a muddled mess of subjective comparisons and colour allegories.

There certainly is foreshadowing and such, but you're not supposed to see it until you go back and look for it. It's like reading a book or watching a movie for the second time, you pick up on what's going on much faster. I understand that people have had differing opinions on how to destroy the Reapers, and how that's not subjective (I never said it was) but that doesn't really have anything to do with anything, and isn't considered foreshadowing.

I'm sorry, the last part is just ridiculous. I saw the notes, and that's part that saddens me that most. "Lots of speculation for everyone" is not good storytelling. Some speculation is, but they did it wrong, and the IT only makes it worse. I would have been fine if they never revealed the Reaper's true purpose, I wouldn't mind speculating that. The following is a short list of things you should not still be speculating by the end of the plot:
 * Is everything that is happening actually happening? The only story I've seen do this right is Total Recall, but that moment of doubt resounds the theme, which begs the question "What is real?" Mass Effect wasn't about that, so trying to implement this where it doesn't makes the story worse, not better.
 * So what happened? According to IT, I'm left to speculate everything that happens after Shepard is indoctrinated. Hate to say it, but that's laziness, which is bad. Imagine watching your favourite movie cut to black just before the climax, and the words "Make your own ending!" popped up on the screen. That's not "clever" or "innovative", that's just lazy. BioWare has been writing Mass Effect, not me. Like I've said, an answer that can mean anything and everything means absolutely nothing. And that's what the IT gives us. Nothing. It wants me to pretend about what happens next. That's not how you write a good story.
 * Why hasn't the conflict been resolved? You don't leave a story incomplete, only the finish it with DLC.That's just insulting. A plot needs to be self-contained and resolved by itself. Mass Effect by itself was about stopping Saren. We did that, and the conflict was resolved. Mass Effect 2 was about taking down the Collectors. We did that, and the conflict was resolved. The Mass Effect series as a whole is about stopping the Reapers. it's what ties it all together. Mass Effect 3 on the other hand, doesn't resolve it's plot in the Indoctrination Theory. That alone makes the actual ending much better, albeit still poorly written. Why? Because it's an actual ending. It's the only thing the actual ending does right (and I refrain from saying even that). Take it the way it's supposed to be taken, and it's a complete mess. With the IT, it's an incomplete mess. You can't write half a story and say "we'll get the rest later, you can download it". I paid over 70 dollars for this game. I didn't pay 50 dollars, or 40 dollars, I paid full price, and then some. I paid full price for what should be a complete product. I cannot fathom how people would be ok with spending all that hard-earned money, only to find out it was intentionally incomplete, and you are only entitled to a full game if you download the rest, if can you can download the rest.