Official Mass Effect Website http://masseffect.com/about/story/ “Experience the beginning, middle, and end of an emotional story unlike any other, where the decisions you make completely shape your experience and outcome.” Interview with Mac Walters (Lead Writer) http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/02/28/mass-effect-3-mac-walters/ “[The presence of the Rachni] has huge consequences in Mass Effect 3. Even just in the final battle with the Reapers.” Interview with Mac Walters (Lead Writer) http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/05/qa-mass-effect-3s-mac-walters-on-how-the-game-tries-to-reach-all-audiences/ “I’m always leery of saying there are 'optimal' endings, because I think one of the things we do try to do is make different endings that are optimal for different people “ Interview with Mike Gamble (Associate Producer) http://www.computerandvideogames.com/334598/interviews/mass-effect-3-weve-brought-back-a-lot-of-what-was-missing-in-me2/ “And, to be honest, you [the fans] are crafting your Mass Effect story as much as we are anyway.” Interview with Mike Gamble (Associate Producer) http://www.360magazine.co.uk/interview/mass-effect-3-has-many-different-endings/ “There are many different endings. We wouldn’t do it any other way. How could you go through all three campaigns playing as your Shepard and then be forced into a bespoke ending that everyone gets? But I can’t say any more than that…” Interview with Mike Gamble (Associate Producer) http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-02-bioware-mass-effect-3-ending-will-make-some-people-angry “Every decision you've made will impact how things go. The player's also the architect of what happens." “You'll get answers to everything. That was one of the key things. Regardless of how we did everything, we had to say, yes, we're going to provide some answers to these people.” “Because a lot of these plot threads are concluding and because it's being brought to a finale, since you were a part of architecting how they got to how they were, you will definitely sense how they close was because of the decisions you made and because of the decisions you didn't make” Interview with Casey Hudson (Director) http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/04/28/casey-hudson-interview-mass-effect-3.aspx “For people who are invested in these characters and the back-story of the universe and everything, all of these things come to a resolution in Mass Effect 3. And they are resolved in a way that's very different based on what you would do in those situations.” Interview with Casey Hudson (Director) http://venturebeat.com/2012/03/02/casey-hudson-bioware-co-created-mass-effect-3-with-the-sometimes-cranky-fans-interview/ “Fans want to make sure that they see things resolved, they want to get some closure, a great ending. I think they’re going to get that.” “Mass Effect 3 is all about answering all the biggest questions in the lore, learning about the mysteries and the Protheans and the Reapers, being able to decide for yourself how all of these things come to an end.” Interviewer: “So are you guys the creators or the stewards of the franchise?” Hudson: “Um… You know, at this point, I think we’re co-creators with the fans. We use a lot of feedback.” Interview with Casey Hudson (Director) http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/10/mass1525-effect-3-cas5ey-fdsafdhudson-interviewae.aspx?PostPageIndex=2 Interviewer: [Regarding the numerous possible endings of Mass Effect 2] “Is that same type of complexity built into the ending of Mass Effect 3?” Hudson: “Yeah, and I’d say much more so, because we have the ability to build the endings out in a way that we don’t have to worry about eventually tying them back together somewhere. This story arc is coming to an end with this game. That means the endings can be a lot more different. At this point we’re taking into account so many decisions that you’ve made as a player and reflecting a lot of that stuff. It’s not even in any way like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C.....The endings have a lot more sophistication and variety in them.” “We have a rule in our franchise that there is no canon. You as a player decide what your story is.” http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/12449/mass-effect-3s-ending-more-brutal-if-side-quests-neglected Decisions we've made throughout ME1 and ME2 will alter the stage in Mass Effect 3, says Casey Hudson. Taking your time gives an "amazing, very definitive ending." RESPONSES TO ABOVE POINTS (added this myself for perspective) ENDING SPOILERS Mac Walters on the Star Child/Reapers "Originally, with the catalyst, the star child at the end of the game, I had written that much more in the guise of a investigative style conversation, where there is something he tells you but then, you get to ask a bunch of questions and you get your questions answered. But then me and Casey talked and decided, lets keep the conversation "High level". Give you the details that you need to know, but don't get into the stuff that you don't need to know. Like "How long have they been reaping?" You don't need to know the answers to the mass effect universe. So we intentionally left those out"