Some of you will probably disagree with my opinion on what I'm about to say.
I'd like to start off by congratulating everyone who held the line. You guys are the only reason we've succeeded. We may not have gotten everything we wanted.. but in the end EA and Bioware customer service have acknowledged our problems and are going to work on a solution that pleases as many people as possible... especially those of us who stood up, made a bunch of noise and caused someone to finally come over to see what the fuss was about.
After having spent most of the day reading opinions of the press (the same press who supports EA) and their support of changing the idea, after having seen various associations that EA is a member of say that they would be changing the ending, after having seen my own Facebook thread in which everyone is convinced that they'll be changing the endings, I'm confident enough that they will at least compromise with us (which in the end is as much as I could really ask for).
There have been sacrifices made along the way. We've donated over $77,719.50 at this point to a charity, over a total over just over a week.. that's incredible, so incredible that even some political campaigns and publications were taking notice this week.
We've made our voice heard, to the point that we overrode the reviews of a gaming press that took notice, and was put on notice that we wouldn't stand for their biased reviews anymore. Along the way we met some amazing journalists as well who shared our story, and some who told their own stories and stories we didn't even think of. We've put the publishers on notice that, even if your reviewers are in your pocket, your clients are the gamers, and without them, you have no business.
We met a few excellent members of the Bioware Staff.. I'd like to thank Jessica Merizan again, as well as Stanley Woo and RaenImrahl of the moderators for engaging with the community. Without you three I guarantee this would have been uglier and far more damaging to Bioware than it was. Your company, the community, and I owe you a debt of gratitude. I want to thank you Bioware for letting us use your forums too. Most companies wouldn't allow this kind of boycotting protest on their own property. Whoever decided to let this happen needs their own parking space... or at least a Tim Horton's Coffee if they already have one.
I think, most telling about this movement, is we were so united that we went from a forum thread, and in less than seven days we were a global story. We've had members here interviewed on BBC, MSNBC, we've had stories on CNN. I've never been an activist, I've never really even stood up for that sort of thing, however I'm proud of my contribution, proud of everyone who came here, and I'm happy to say that, looking back on our actions, I have no regrets about my comments, my criticism, and my actions.
Where do I go from here? Well, I'm not done holding the line. I'll be here still, but you'll notice my stance, unless Bioware manages to come out and say completely opposite of what they've said today, will be more positive to the company, to buying new games, to supporting their business as they're going to be supporting the community. I plan to buy ALL of the Mass Effect DLCs simply because I love the story, and I'm sure that, with the community's input and if they don't cut corners, they'll put out something that will ensure Mass Effect becomes one of the defining games, if not THE defining game of this decade. I hope to see more from the Mass Effect universe in the future.
I'm also looking forward to upcoming Command & Conquer Generals 2. EA's Simcity (5), future releases for the Sims series, upcoming episodes and patches for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and countless other games, of which I can't even remember all of them at this point because EA is such a staple in my gaming life.
Did we win? Yes, I think we did. Much like the war with the reapers it's a bit bittersweet, but with a lot more colour on our ending. I'm disappointed we had to go to these lengths to get Bioware to hear and admit our concerns with their game.
I hope, in the future Bioware AND EA will both realize that the gaming community are customers, clients.. and we deserve to have your most professional product you can release. You wouldn't expect us to give you 9/10ths of our money, we expect you not to give us 9/10ths of your games.. and whatever you do, just be honest with us. If you advertise that a game doesn't have an A,B,C ending and in the end you have a total of three choices to make in the final dialogue, your company culture should be such that someone should be able to go "Uh.. what?" without fearing getting fired, or bad reviews..etc. Company culture will determine how good your games are, EA let them make their games, don't bring your fiscal year end into a narrative.
I'll end off by saying, congratulations, once again to everyone here. I realize not everyone thinks we've won yet, but I guarantee that EA/Bioware will not do anything, at this point, to jeopardize the precarious peace we've forged today. They have far more to lose than we do by not doing right by us.
I'll be around, commenting here and there, providing links and such, and if Bioware does something dumb, I'll probably rage like everyone else
We held the line... and I totally want a T-shirt that says that.
-Tim
Modifié par Computim, 22 mars 2012 - 01:08 .
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) but I actually had to laugh a couple of times, so I thought I'd post the link (sorry if someone else already has, too many pages too fast for me to keep up).
What the ending means.
