People. Loyal fans of Bioware. Loyal consumers of Bioware.
This battle is more important than you realize. We've garnered a LOT of attention...more attention, I think, than any other thing remotely similar. I know some people have been gaming longer than me, and on the internet longer than me, but I want to give those of you with less experience some of the experience I benefit from.
I've never been one to hang out on boards. I've never been one to participate beyond the occasional comment. Too many times I've seen flame wars happen, and a very small minority of people on a board disliking something (such as a game) and just shooting their mouths of. These small groups think they're exercising their freedom of speech, when all they're really doing is exercising the freedom from being punched in the mouth.
These people are ignored by just about everyone...eventually, these kinds of people evolved into the trolls we see today. Gaming magazines, well, media of any kind hardly took notice of them because of how they acted, and that their numbers were so small. And when they took notice, it was universally negative.
I have been on the net for 17 years, since I was 13. I've been a gamer for 22 years, since I was 8. I played consoles and computer before then, but I only got my first game system when I was 8. I love games, I love playing them for the adventure they offer that I couldn't get anywhere else. I enjoyed the stories they crafted, and the challenge they posed.
As the years wore on, I've seen games come and go...I've seen ones that were innovative, new, and exciting...and I've seen the ones that have come after using the same formula over and over again, until it was tired and worn. But not once did I comment, not once did I complain...because the people that were were not people I wanted to associate with.
Then along came the Mass Effect series. At first, I didn't pay any attention to it; I had other, more pressing concerns. But then, one day last year, I saw Mass Effect 2 for sale at Gamestop for $19.99, and decided to give it a try...I'd been hearing good things about the series.
After the first playthrough, I immediately purchased the first game. I had never, ever seen anything like this game...the unparalled choice, the way my decisions in conversations and events -mattered-. The believeable, fully developed characters. I had loved Fallout 3, having been a longtime fan of the Fallout series in general...but I adored Mass Effect far, far more.
I've never anticipated a game like I did Mass Effect 3. I told waited patiently, avoiding spoilers, fully intent on sucking every bit of enjoyment out of the game as possible, already planning trilogy-wide playthroughs just to see what I could do.
When it first came out, I like you, was totally amazed by it...the depth, the action, the -story-...until the endings, like you.
I came here, and saw this thread...and for the first time, I felt like joining. Here were people that felt and thought like me, that were displeased, that were NOT being idiots...that were being mature, presenting their stories and their cases in a mature and adult fashion...for the very first time, I saw people being intelligent about something negative...and I haven't turned back.
The number of people involved in this is staggering, the fact that it's organized is amazing. If non-gaming magazines like Forbes are taking notice of us, commenting on how what we are saying -matters-...and we have far more people from the Media saying we're right than ever. No other movement in this industry has even come close to matching our dedication, maturity, and generousity...well over $50,000 dollars donated in a few days speaks for itself.
We are being mature, we are being reasonable, and most of all we are being heard.
THAT is what is making all the difference. THAT is what sets us apart. If we give up now, we're doing the game industry irrevocable harm. We are continuing to allow the greedy though process that we, as consumers, do not matter. That they can shove the same tired things at us, shove incomplete and buggy products at us, and that we have no right to ask, and demand if necessary, change to something they've produced.
This doesn't work in anything else, people. There are plenty of examples where campaigns across just about every modern medium have succeeded. This is the first time in -this- medium that such a large group of people is demanding answers, demanding change...standing up for our rights as consumers with our passion as fans.
We are not acting entitled; that is reserved for those trolls who bash otherwise good products, the minorities in other forums that can do nothing but rage and flame.
We are customers, we are fans, and we don't want to see what we love degraded by greedy business practices. We don't want to see the game series we love ruined by what ammounts to sloppy writing at the end, a product defect that can, and has for most, destroyed the rest of the game.
In my experience, I've never seen anything like this movement, or the cooperation and dignity of you people...we need to do this, we need to set this example...we need to keep our voices heard and to get stronger.
So don't give up.