Mass Effect: General thread of Awesomeness

[Talderas]

I think it's fair to assume that if a dead Reaper can indoctrinate people there might still be some danger from exploring them...even with Starbrat gone. We don't have enough evidence to prove it either way, but it certainly seems like a reasonable assumption. Keep in mind that for all the Reapers supposed "sapience" they're still ultimately machines built for a specific purpose. A machine doesn't have to be aware of what it's doing to complete a task.

I know that if I were in charge of such an expedition I would be very, very careful of the possibility.

It was a derelict reaper that had power signatures still active within it but not nearly enough signatures for a vessel its size. It was disabled by what Cerberus thought was a mass accelerator cannon. The reaper was far from "dead" when the Cerberus team went on board however it was certainly deprived significant portions of its energy production by the shot that disabled it. Most likely various subsystems were disabled by that shot as well, including propulsion. Whether or not the AI subsystem was still active is a reasonable question but mass effect barriers went up in the derelict reaper to trap Shepard's team. Thus it is not an unreasonable assumption to presume that the reaper was not dead and still in control of some subsystems, like indoctrination, or the reaper was dead but subsystems like indoctrination were still powered and active.

[Kiero]

That seems grasped from the "let's ignore the evidence and interpret everything in the worst kind of way" school of thought, the same that in the face of WOG argued for galaxy wide endor holocausts and whatnot.

No, it's taken from the evidence presented in multiple games that Reaper tech warps the minds of organics. There's no interpretation needed, it's like a form of poisonous radiation that everything made by the Reapers emits. And as the derelict in ME2 proves, it's an entirely passive quality of the Reaper's construction, they turn people into biddable tools, irrespective of whether or not there's someone or something to take advantage of them.

[Psyren]

My personal theory is that the "canon ending" will be a little bit of all three. But we'll see.

And you're right, if part/all of it is concurrent with Shepard then we will see reaper forces and husks from that part at least.

But as far as them writing themselves into a corner - they don't seem to think so.

No, it's taken from the evidence presented in multiple games that Reaper tech warps the minds of organics. There's no interpretation needed, it's like a form of poisonous radiation that everything made by the Reapers emits. And as the derelict in ME2 proves, it's an entirely passive quality of the Reaper's construction, they turn people into biddable tools, irrespective of whether or not there's someone or something to take advantage of them.

As I said above, you can't definitively prove that is how they will still work. The Catalyst was still alive and well while the derelict was doing its thing to Chandana's team.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

No, it's taken from the evidence presented in multiple games that Reaper tech warps the minds of organics. There's no interpretation needed, it's like a form of poisonous radiation that everything made by the Reapers emits. And as the derelict in ME2 proves, it's an entirely passive quality of the Reaper's construction, they turn people into biddable tools, irrespective of whether or not there's someone or something to take advantage of them.

But it ignores the ME3 endings in which Reapers still exist and yet the issue of indoctrination isn't raised, implying that it is no longer an issue.

It also ignores the in-universe descriptions of Indoctrination as a "whisper" and a "signal", both of which actively emitted. When, in your evidence, is there proof that a non-active Reaper (taking into account that the "Dead" Reaper requires quotation marks to show how it is not actually completely inactive), outside of Catalyst control, can indoctrinate people, when the completely dead (without scare quotes) Sovereign parts were safely analyzed?

[Calemyr]

But it ignores the ME3 endings in which Reapers still exist and yet the issue of indoctrination isn't raised, implying that it is no longer an issue.

It also ignores the in-universe descriptions of Indoctrination as a "whisper" and a "signal", both of which actively emitted. When, in your evidence, is there proof that a non-active Reaper (taking into account that the "Dead" Reaper requires quotation marks to show how it is not actually completely inactive), outside of Catalyst control, can indoctrinate people, when the completely dead (without scare quotes) Sovereign parts were safely analyzed?

Implications of omissions is a long, twisty, and overall unpleasant road we've already gone down too many times with this franchise. That said, I imagine a living Reaper would be able to shut the "passive" aspect off if it so wanted. The dead on can't do so - it's not alive enough to turn it off and not dead enough for it to stop.

[Psyren]

The derelict one was never actually dead though, just damaged and in sleep mode. As soon as you board, it detects you, wakes up and activates its ME core, trapping you on board. So that is yet another reason it can't be used as a representative example for what will happen post-Destroy.

Furthermore, it's core was active in some form, because it was maintaining its orbit around the brown dwarf for millions of years. It only fails/falls when you blow it up.

[Kiero]

As I said above, you can't definitively prove that is how they will still work. The Catalyst was still alive and well while the derelict was doing its thing to Chandana's team.

Not only is the notion that the Catalyst broadcasts the Indoctrination signal unsupported by any evidence whatsoever, it's also patently ridiculous. Right up there with the "space magic" of the Synthesis ending.

But it ignores the ME3 endings in which Reapers still exist and yet the issue of indoctrination isn't raised, implying that it is no longer an issue.

That's quite a logical leap from an incoherent mess that doesn't really tell us much of anything. A few cutscenes don't tell us anything at all about the issue of indoctrination.

It also ignores the in-universe descriptions of Indoctrination as a "whisper" and a "signal", both of which actively emitted. When, in your evidence, is there proof that a non-active Reaper (taking into account that the "Dead" Reaper requires quotation marks to show how it is not actually completely inactive), outside of Catalyst control, can indoctrinate people, when the completely dead (without scare quotes) Sovereign parts were safely analyzed?

As above, I refute the notion of Catalyst control. Furthermore, ME1 is filled with examples of people finding random bits of Reaper tech, and being Indoctrinated for their troubles. Every other mission involving "we haven't heard from these guys for weeks" ends with you discovering some miners or researchers or the like who've been turned into mindless drones. In ME2, Object Rho isn't a Reaper, it's Reaper-tech that once again Indoctrinates.

We also have the Leviathan of Dis, which was another long-dead Reaper. Once again, people trying to research the corpse were indoctrinated. In both this instance and the derelict in the brown star, if they weren't actually dead, why didn't the other Reapers recover them? If each one is a precious storehouse of genetic information from one of the cycles of extinction, why wouldn't they go to every effort to find and repair them, rather than leaving at least two that we know of mouldering away untouched?

As to the Sovereign parts, once again there's no evidence that these pieces were "safely analysed", that's an entirely baseless assertion. Just because it was successfully reverse engineered into producing useful stuff, doesn't mean the people doing the reverse engineering weren't affected in the process.

[Calemyr]

The derelict one was never actually dead though, just damaged and in sleep mode. As soon as you board, it detects you, wakes up and activates its ME core, trapping you on board. So that is yet another reason it can't be used as a representative example for what will happen post-Destroy.

Furthermore, it's core was active in some form, because it was maintaining its orbit around the brown dwarf for millions of years. It only fails/falls when you blow it up.

As I said, dead but not dead enough. Crippled and dormant would be better descriptors, I'd agree, but the point is that are layers of indoctrination that don't require active participation (its actions seem more like a autonomic reflex than an intentional trap to my mind by that point it had already been invaded by three different groups - Cerberus, Shepard, and Legion). However, if you include the books and comics and DLCs you have examples of Indoctrination by implants and artifacts - by a Reaper, yes, but remotely through non-intelligent object. Of course, the real issue is that we don't know. Logically, Destroy would be the safest solution, but we still don't know. We simply don't know and guessing wrong with Reaper tech usually ends with everyone in a wide radius being impaled on spikes.

[Psyren]

Not only is the notion that the Catalyst broadcasts the Indoctrination signal unsupported by any evidence whatsoever, it's also patently ridiculous. Right up there with the "space magic" of the Synthesis ending.

Of course it's supported. The epilogues do not depict any drooling husks dying of exposure as happened with the Protheans.

And why is the idea of the signal originating with the Catalyst so hard to believe? He is the only thing we know of that is connected to every Reaper and reaper-related device (e.g. Object Rho, which uses the Harbinger voice.) He is the most likely source, not the least.

As I said, dead but not dead enough. Crippled and dormant would be better descriptors, I'd agree, but the point is that are layers of indoctrination that don't require active participation (its actions seem more like a autonomic reflex than an intentional trap to my mind by that point it had already been invaded by three different groups - Cerberus, Shepard, and Legion). However, if you include the books and comics and DLCs you have examples of Indoctrination by implants and artifacts - by a Reaper, yes, but remotely through non-intelligent object. Of course, the real issue is that we don't know. Logically, Destroy would be the safest solution, but we still don't know. We simply don't know and guessing wrong with Reaper tech usually ends with everyone in a wide radius being impaled on spikes.

No source you can list- not books, not comics, not the game itself - has ever depicted Reaper technology with no active Catalyst. That situation did not ever arise in all of galactic history until ME3's ending. So if they choose now to change how it works, they have a plausible reason.

[Kiero]

Of course it's supported. The epilogues do not depict any drooling husks dying of exposure as happened with the Protheans.

They don't show the krogan deployed to Menae all starving to death, cut off from lev-amino protein worlds and food sources either. There's lots of things the epilogues don't depict, they're entirely silent on indoctrination.

And why is the idea of the signal originating with the Catalyst so hard to believe? He is the only thing we know of that is connected to every Reaper and reaper-related device (e.g. Object Rho, which uses the Harbinger voice.) He is the most likely source, not the least.

No, the most likely source is the individual artifacts themselves, as a passive quality in their construction/composition. Something the Reaper AIs can augment/boost in an active way. This doesn't require us to believe there's a galaxy-spanning signal directing all of these things which is mysteriously invisible to everyone.

[Psyren]

They don't show the krogan deployed to Menae all starving to death, cut off from lev-amino protein worlds and food sources either.

This is precisely the Endor Holocaust mentality Avilan was referring to.

No, the most likely source is the individual artifacts themselves, as a passive quality in their construction/composition. Something the Reaper AIs can augment/boost in an active way. This doesn't require us to believe there's a galaxy-spanning signal directing all of these things which is mysteriously invisible to everyone.

Of course there is such a signal. The Catalyst tells you this itself:

"I control the Reapers; they are my solution."

Furthermore, post-Control you quite clearly appropriate that signal, since they all simultaneously leave every planet from Earth to Thessia to Tuchanka etc. So that signal does in fact exist.

[Kiero]

This is precisely the Endor Holocaust mentality Avilan was referring to.

You mean not treating the setting as fluffy space fantasy bollocks where actions have no consequences, and the internal consistency is so paper thin that we could explain away anything with "magic"?

Of course there is such a signal. The Catalyst tells you this itself:

"I control the Reapers; they are my solution."

Furthermore, post-Control you quite clearly appropriate that signal, since they all simultaneously leave every planet from Earth to Thessia to Tuchanka etc. So that signal does in fact exist.

Which tells us nothing about indoctrination. It's a meaningless, out of context quote from an unreliable source. It doesn't say the Catalyst controls the Reapers with the same signal (or indeed any signal) they emit to cause indoctrination. Or anything even remotely close to that.

Post-Control you don't clearly appropriate anything but whatever unspecified, unmentioned, unverified means the Catalyst uses. It shoes the Reapers have some means of co-ordinating across vast distances. It doesn't tell us how this happens, and it certainly doesn't establish that they do this by means of the signal used to indoctrinate.

You're making stuff up and trying to impose a rationalisation on non-existent evidence after the fact.

[Kiero]

Back to the actual games, for the epitome of how awesome the open-world format of ME1's missions was compared to the tunnel-rails of ME2/3, there's UNC: Geth Incursions. The highlight of these missions are a series of assaults on geth bases on five different worlds, all of which you can snipe at from a convenient perch of your choice. It involves planning and forethought to make best use of the environment, rather than just moving from one bit of cover to the next.

[Divayth Fyr]

"I control the Reapers; they are my solution."

Every bit of reaper-tech isn't a Reaper.

Furthermore, post-Control you quite clearly appropriate that signal, since they all simultaneously leave every planet from Earth to Thessia to Tuchanka etc. So that signal does in fact exist.

Anything that is shown after the Crucible docks may or may not be made possible by it.

[Psyren]

You mean not treating the setting as fluffy space fantasy bollocks where actions have no consequences, and the internal consistency is so paper thin that we could explain away anything with "magic"?

There was space magic all over the setting long before ME3. Mass Effect always had fantasy elements. it's not any lesser for them.

Which tells us nothing about indoctrination. It's a meaningless, out of context quote from an unreliable source. It doesn't say the Catalyst controls the Reapers with the same signal (or indeed any signal) they emit to cause indoctrination. Or anything even remotely close to that.

Post-Control you don't clearly appropriate anything but whatever unspecified, unmentioned, unverified means the Catalyst uses. It shoes the Reapers have some means of co-ordinating across vast distances. It doesn't tell us how this happens, and it certainly doesn't establish that they do this by means of the signal used to indoctrinate.

You're making stuff up and trying to impose a rationalisation on non-existent evidence after the fact.

You're shifting goalposts - first you state there is no signal, I offer proof that there is one, and you say "well, that signal isn't the one they use to indoctrinate." But we only ever hear of one reaper signal any time their tech is analyzed, so concluding they are the same signal is in fact supported.

I can understand your reasons for not wanting the information presented to be what it is; you are in the camp that wants there to be an Endor Holocaust that forces them to scrap the third installment entirely, so you look for as many ways as possible to declare it invalid. Until they do so however or issue some kind of retcon, the revelations made in that game stand, and wanting the Catalyst to be unreliable does not make him so. He has no reason to lie about any of it.

[Kiero]

There was space magic all over the setting long before ME3. Mass Effect always had fantasy elements. it's not any lesser for them.

The only space magic in the game (prior to the Synthesis nonsense) was the titular mass effect itself. From that flowed biotics, FTL travel, barriers and most of the other esoteric tech.

You're shifting goalposts - first you state there is no signal, I offer proof that there is one, and you say "well, that signal isn't the one they use to indoctrinate." But we only ever hear of one reaper signal any time their tech is analyzed, so concluding they are the same signal is in fact supported.

Nope, the only signal I've been talking about is that emanated by Reaper tech, which is the source of indoctrination (did you miss "or indeed any signal"?). As per the wiki:

Indoctrination is the term used for the "brainwashing" effect the Reapers and their technology have on organic beings. A signal or energy field surrounds the Reaper, which subtly influences the minds of any organic individual in range.

...

The precise mechanics of the indoctrination effect are poorly understood. It is believed that the Reapers generate an electromagnetic field, waves of infrasound and ultrasound, or both in order to stimulate areas of a victim's brain and limbic system. The resulting effect varies depending on the intent of the Reaper: the victim may suffer headaches and hallucinations, have feelings of "being watched" or paranoia, or come to view the Reaper itself with superstitious awe. Ultimately, the Reaper gains the ability to use the victim's body to amplify its signal, manifesting as voices within the victim's mind.

You didn't offer proof there was any other signal, because there isn't any proof to offer. All you have is a context-less quote from an unreliable source. The Catalyst does not mention the means by which it controls the Reapers. The idea that it's through a "signal" is your fabrication.

I can understand your reasons for not wanting the information presented to be what it is; you are in the camp that wants there to be an Endor Holocaust that forces them to scrap the third installment entirely, so you look for as many ways as possible to declare it invalid. Until they do so however or issue some kind of retcon, the revelations made in that game stand, and wanting the Catalyst to be unreliable does not make him so. He has no reason to lie about any of it.

Spare me the cod psychology. I'm not the one inventing leaps of logic without any substantiating information to rationalise their position.

[Psyren]

The only space magic in the game (prior to the Synthesis nonsense) was the titular mass effect itself. From that flowed biotics, FTL travel, barriers and most of the other esoteric tech.

This is not true. For starters there is the Arca Monolith, aka the artifact that gave TIM his glowy eyes in Evolution and the ability to sense its location anywhere in the galaxy with mind powers. In ME1 we have the Consort predicting your future with a touch. Then there's, well, anything to do with Grayson, and Javik listening with his heart Pocahntas-style to learn Galactic Common, and mass effect fields that can control minds and heal wounds... there's space magic all over the place long before Synthesis.

It's perhaps more accurate to call all this stuff "sufficiently advanced technology," but in the words of the man himself, there's isn't a difference that matters.

Nope, the only signal I've been talking about is that emanated by Reaper tech, which is the source of indoctrination (did you miss "or indeed any signal"?). As per the wiki:



You didn't offer proof there was any other signal, because there isn't any proof to offer. All you have is a context-less quote from an unreliable source. The Catalyst does not mention the means by which it controls the Reapers. The idea that it's through a "signal" is your fabrication.

Your quote is actually backing me up. As I said, there is just one signal associated with Reaper tech.

Spare me the cod psychology. I'm not the one inventing leaps of logic without any substantiating information to rationalise their position.

I'm actually not against the idea that they might retcon the endings so that indoctrination persists in some form going forward - all I'm saying is that the epilogues give no hint that it is a meaningful threat anymore. And if it wasn't during the rebuilding of galactic society, it certainly would have been by the time we got to the Buzz scene, if we were meant to be once again reduced to an entire galaxy of drooling husks like the last Protheans were.

[Xondoure]

It doesn't have to go that far. Indoctrination continuing to be a thing does not mean we're all going to be reduced to a bunch of husks. And yes, all reaper tech is built to emit the indoctrination signal. The only exception the game seems to give you is the Geth Upgrade. Which continues to piss the crap out of me since it is utterly against the Geth's stated goals and intentions.

[Zevox]

Back to the actual games, for the epitome of how awesome the open-world format of ME1's missions was compared to the tunnel-rails of ME2/3, there's UNC: Geth Incursions. The highlight of these missions are a series of assaults on geth bases on five different worlds, all of which you can snipe at from a convenient perch of your choice. It involves planning and forethought to make best use of the environment, rather than just moving from one bit of cover to the next.

I would say that is the exact opposite myself: a highlight of how awful ME1's sidequests and the Mako in general were and how much better off ME2 and 3 were without any such thing. I distinctly recall that side-quest as the one that took me from disliking the Mako and the design of the game's side-quests to full-blown hating them, because of how repetitive and boring it was, how terrible the terrain you had to deal with was, and because of what a waste of my time it was to have to run away from groups of Geth and spend literally several minutes doing nothing because of how damn slow the Mako's worthless shields recharged. I will never do that damn quest a second time and will take all of the linearity in the world over it. It is exactly the sort of thing that makes me worry about the news that the Mako is going to be back in the next game. I never want to see another quest like that again.

[Rodin]

My personal theory is that the "canon ending" will be a little bit of all three. But we'll see.

So Shepard used Control to mind-control the Catalyst/Reapers into implementing Synthesis, and then once everyone in the galaxy was partially machine Shepard then used the Catalyst to Destroy all sentient life?

The new game will start from one of two points: Either the above happened, and the galaxy is a new set of races in a Reaper free universe...or Refuse was taken, and the galaxy is a new set of races and the Reapers aren't due to show up for another few hundred years. All 4 endings taken into account, so nobody can be dissatisfied!

[Math_Mage]

Wait, you fought in the Mako and had trouble with some encounters? I thought those were mutually exclusive scenarios, since all significant enemy fire is slow enough to dodge easily outside point-blank range.

[Avilan the Grey]

No, it's taken from the evidence presented in multiple games that Reaper tech warps the minds of organics. There's no interpretation needed, it's like a form of poisonous radiation that everything made by the Reapers emits. And as the derelict in ME2 proves, it's an entirely passive quality of the Reaper's construction, they turn people into biddable tools, irrespective of whether or not there's someone or something to take advantage of them.

Let's see:

In the Green Ending it doesn't matter if Indoctrination still exists, since every being in the universe (including plants and fungi) are already the same. The only thing the (theoretical) indoctrination can do is to turn people into... themselves?

In the Paragon Blue Ending it doesn't matter if Indoctrination still exists since all reapers are directly controlled by Shepard and the worst thing that happens is that people become Paragon.

In the Red Ending... No Reapers No Trouble.

The only ending that would be a problem IF Indoctrination still exists is the Renegade Blue Ending.

Of course that ignores the fact that as pointed out above, Indoctrination is no longer a problem, canonically.

Edit: You are simply blinded by something, denying the facts and WOG.

[Anteros]

Why are people arguing about how indoctrination will work post Starbrat? There are several different possibilities. No one has any proof how things will work out, so stop pretending you do, and stop getting upset with each other for proposing different ideas than your own.

Let's see:

In the Green Ending it doesn't matter if Indoctrination still exists, since every being in the universe (including plants and fungi) are already the same. The only thing the (theoretical) indoctrination can do is to turn people into... themselves?

In the Paragon Blue Ending it doesn't matter if Indoctrination still exists since all reapers are directly controlled by Shepard and the worst thing that happens is that people become Paragon.

In the Red Ending... No Reapers No Trouble.

The only ending that would be a problem IF Indoctrination still exists is the Renegade Blue Ending.

Of course that ignores the fact that as pointed out above, Indoctrination is no longer a problem, canonically.

Edit: You are simply blinded by something, denying the facts and WOG.

You could easily have indoctrination in the red ending. All those exploding Reapers are going to leave bits of Reaper tech dotting planets everywhere. Also, even for Parablue...indoctrinating people into being paragon against their will is still terrible and it would still be something I'd want my protagonist to oppose.

[Avilan the Grey]

Why are people arguing about how indoctrination will work post Starbrat? There are several different possibilities. No one has any proof how things will work out, so stop pretending you do, and stop getting upset with each other for proposing different ideas than your own.

I am not upset, I just find it fascinating that some people hate the Endings so much they ignore the canon, the facts presented and WOG and insists their Fanon is Canon. That's all.

[Anteros]

I am not upset, I just find it fascinating that some people hate the Endings so much they ignore the canon, the facts presented and WOG and insists their Fanon is Canon. That's all.

So, are you stating that it's impossible for them to write indoctrination into future Mass Effect stories? Otherwise, there's no need to be so dismissive. I don't find it particularly likely that they will take the plot in that direction (since it's a rehash and would be boring) but it's certainly left open enough that they could do so if they desire.

[Zevox]

Wait, you fought in the Mako and had trouble with some encounters? I thought those were mutually exclusive scenarios, since all significant enemy fire is slow enough to dodge easily outside point-blank range.

Dodge how? The Mako handled horribly, and it's not like it had some built-in dodge mechanic I could use. And trying to shoot at anything smaller than a Thresher Maw while moving at full speed was like rolling dice, plus required dealing with the awful terrain while not watching where you're going, since if you were both shooting at something and watching where you're going it meant you were moving straight at the thing you were shooting at, which was a good way to lose to your shields.

Yeah, dealing with the Mako was just awful.

[Anteros]

Dodge how? The Mako handled horribly, and it's not like it had some built-in dodge mechanic I could use. And trying to shoot at anything smaller than a Thresher Maw while moving at full speed was like rolling dice, plus required dealing with the awful terrain while not watching where you're going, since if you were both shooting at something and watching where you're going it meant you were moving straight at the thing you were shooting at, which was a good way to lose to your shields.

Yeah, dealing with the Mako was just awful.

It's really easy actually. You just sit still and jump over any incoming projectile. I hated the Mako, but combat wasn't a problem with it.

[Kiero]

This is not true. For starters there is the Arca Monolith, aka the artifact that gave TIM his glowy eyes in Evolution and the ability to sense its location anywhere in the galaxy with mind powers. In ME1 we have the Consort predicting your future with a touch. Then there's, well, anything to do with Grayson, and Javik listening with his heart Pocahntas-style to learn Galactic Common, and mass effect fields that can control minds and heal wounds... there's space magic all over the place long before Synthesis.

It's perhaps more accurate to call all this stuff "sufficiently advanced technology," but in the words of the man himself, there's isn't a difference that matters.

There's no proof the Consort was actually reading the future, just because she said she was. Con artists do that sort of thing all the time, and people fall for it, doesn't mean they actually have prescient powers.

Grayson? Was that from the awful novels? The ones that after the first repeatedly contradicted established facts because they were so poorly researched?

Until Synthesis, nothing wildly departed from the established baselines of what was and wasn't possible with the available tech (not even Prothean sensory abilities). It's part of what makes ME a vastly superior setting to the editor-less, inconsistent drek of Star Wars.

Your quote is actually backing me up. As I said, there is just one signal associated with Reaper tech.

Are we reading the same thing here? It backs up my point that the only signal associated with Reaper tech is that which they emanate, which causes indoctrination.

Nothing whatsoever on that signal being used for communication between Reapers, or between the Catalyst and the Reapers, and similarly nothing at all about the source of the signal being the Catalyst.

I'm actually not against the idea that they might retcon the endings so that indoctrination persists in some form going forward - all I'm saying is that the epilogues give no hint that it is a meaningful threat anymore. And if it wasn't during the rebuilding of galactic society, it certainly would have been by the time we got to the Buzz scene, if we were meant to be once again reduced to an entire galaxy of drooling husks like the last Protheans were.

The epilogues give little hint of anything at all. Seriously, we have a montage sequence of images showing some general notions of things happening. Pretty much everything you assume about what they say about indoctrination is entirely fabricated and baseless speculation.

Let's see:

In the Green Ending it doesn't matter if Indoctrination still exists, since every being in the universe (including plants and fungi) are already the same. The only thing the (theoretical) indoctrination can do is to turn people into... themselves?

In the Paragon Blue Ending it doesn't matter if Indoctrination still exists since all reapers are directly controlled by Shepard and the worst thing that happens is that people become Paragon.

In the Red Ending... No Reapers No Trouble.

The only ending that would be a problem IF Indoctrination still exists is the Renegade Blue Ending.

Of course that ignores the fact that as pointed out above, Indoctrination is no longer a problem, canonically.

Edit: You are simply blinded by something, denying the facts and WOG.

For someone talking about "facts" you're demonstrating few. The ending montages don't tell us anything at all about indoctrination, so stop pretending your conjectures and speculations from some vague images are anything but.

"Canon" is completely silent on whether or not indoctrination is still a problem.

You are completely blinded by your own preferred fanon, which you are treating as established fact when it quite simply is not.

I would say that is the exact opposite myself: a highlight of how awful ME1's sidequests and the Mako in general were and how much better off ME2 and 3 were without any such thing. I distinctly recall that side-quest as the one that took me from disliking the Mako and the design of the game's side-quests to full-blown hating them, because of how repetitive and boring it was, how terrible the terrain you had to deal with was, and because of what a waste of my time it was to have to run away from groups of Geth and spend literally several minutes doing nothing because of how damn slow the Mako's worthless shields recharged. I will never do that damn quest a second time and will take all of the linearity in the world over it. It is exactly the sort of thing that makes me worry about the news that the Mako is going to be back in the next game. I never want to see another quest like that again.

Sorry, but the Mako was pretty easy. Sure it took some learned expertise in being able the read the ground (which surfaces can be scaled vertically, which only laterally, how much cover will protect the tank when we dismount, etc), and using the jump-jets to dodge took some practise, but that was it. And if things were really tricky, you could always turn the difficulty down to complete a section, then back up again afterwards.

Even mobile combat was easy, given how slowly enemies tended to track movement. You'd move, swivel the turret for a cannon shot, then move again.

[GloatingSwine]

You could also use the zoom function of the Mako to snipe most things from out of their aggro radius.

But you didn't because you got like 5x the XP for killing things on foot.

I mean in ME2 the Krogans think Shepard and Grunt are the king and/or queen of the badass people for taking down a thresher maw on foot, but in ME1 you did it all the time.

Albeit in ME2 you couldn't walk slowly around it in a circle which thresher maws are notoriously weak to.

[Kiero]

It was double XP for killing things on foot, rather than with the Mako. You could also weaken them with the Mako, then finish on foot (sniper rifle is especially good for this) for the full amount.