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On the Mass Effect 3 endings. Yes, we are listening.


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#7226
Dethklokx7

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Dear Bioware, what more can I say that hasn't already been said about the endings. The Tali photo's poor creativity and appearance of an afterthought is another glaring issue. But don't take this the wrong way, you still created one of the most innovated, immersive game series of this generation. Fans of the series only protest because they know you can do better and hate to see this trilogy end on such a low note.
With regards,
A concerned fan

#7227
VigilancePress

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Doppelgaenger wrote...


I will now share something with you concerning interactive storytelling. I have a good amount of experience in roleplaying games (pen and paper/larp) as storyteller and as player. This I think is very much akin to interactive storytelling like you do it in your game. I once had a stunning experience that is pretty much akin to what I experienced with the ME 3 ending. A certain adventure (this was written by an author and we had bought it) of the game "The Dark Eye" ended in flat out "tragic" failure. I as a player was upset as hell, not only because the adventure had been annoying and bad in so many ways, but because I had put effort into this only to see how nothing came out of it. I was like "**** this, I could have stayed out of the Orcland (with my character) and nothing would have been different!" There was simply no payoff. This is a lesson to be learned from true roleplaying: When you are the character you want them to succeed. The player becomes in part the figure he is playing. This goes way deeper than the attachement to a character in a movie or a book. You emphazise stronger.

This goes so far that the Vampire the Masquarade Core Rulebook give advice like this: "Acommodate Player expectations: It's their game too, remember. You have to have some kind of idea what type of game the players want to play.", "Don't forget the payoff: If the players work hard and make smart decisions, their characters' success must be in proportion of the challenges they have faced, or they will feel cheated.", and "Don't abuse your power: You are the final arbiter of events. Your word is law, but you can not use this authority to beat the characters into what you want them to do."


This! This! A THOUSAND TIMES THIS!

Thank you, Doppleganger!

#7228
captainchimp

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 At first I had my doubts about the ending.  But, replaying the game, with the same desicions, I feel choosing Synthesis, was quite possibly what the Shephard I was playing as would have chosen.  Every moment leading up to that, gave the game a bittersweet finality, which I feel ended up making a powerful ending, which leaves you unsure of how you want to go.  My Shephard may have died, but I hope he left the Universe, and more importantly his companions with a happy fate.  While I felt the ending's denouement was rushed, if not nonexistant, I have come to terms with all the endings.  I feel they are appropriate.  Some sense of closure with your party members, and companions you have made throughout the game (Chakwas, Kelly Chambers, Garrus, Wrex, Liara) would have made for an easier sense of closure (I think back to the text character endings in BG2, where we found out what Minsc or Jaheira did after the main character's final choice).  On the whole though, I  feel the fallout over the ending is overblown, and changing the endings, or adding in a new one might not be the appropriate authorial choice.  Fact is, seeing people talk about how they feel about the ending, is proof, at least to me, that it had a powerful effect on them.  Either way, for the first time since the Baldur's Gate duology wrapped up, I think I have found a new RPG series to call my favorite.  The team behind the entire ME trilogy truly outdid themselves, and have made a game that I look forward to replaying in the years to come.  

#7229
NLDraakje

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What the most confusing for me is what decided wich team member survives?
100% readiness over 6k war resources.
But only javik liara and joker walk out?
Javik was with me on the planet how the hell did he get back in the ship, same with liara.
And where is the rest of the crew? still inside it or all dead?

#7230
raisinwarrior

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While some of the Indoctrination Theory seems to be a bit of a stretch, I do have to say that something just did not "feel right" about the ending at the gut level. I am hoping that this was planned, and we will have DLC. But either way it has been a lot of fun keeping up on all of theories and talking about it with friends. I cannot remember a game that caused this much discussion after completion. It has been fun debating and analyzing the game even after "defeating" the reapers. So I do like the ending, but I am also in the camp that would like to see an ending DLC.

#7231
hardermob5

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Doppelgaenger wrote...

Dear Bioware team,


I am frustrated. I really am frustrated. I spend 75€ on a game and over 100 hours playing all three parts and at the end of the experience all I can feel is an emotional disconnect? You dropped the ball. Big time. However, let me explain why I think this is.

First of I have a short list of minor complaints that I was willing to overlook as a loyal customer (My first Bioware game was Baldur's Gate 2). However, in light of the ending of the game there is more that needs changing than the end, specifically the attitude of your company.

1) The Quest log is not working. I do not enjoy it to waste time running around for nothing in a game.

(I bought a collector's edition for a significantly higher price. I found that product to be lacking in a number of ways. Don't think that I would not have spent more on it! However even what I got for 75 € was lacking.)

2) The promised comic is a preview for a comic not a finished product
3) The artbook is a preview for an artbook not a finished product
4) I really had hoped the soundtrack to be a CD
5) The "dog" is useless
6) Why has the patch velcro hooks? Thoose make it almost useless. Was it not intended to be sewn onto something?

7) Tali's face, Jacob and Thane's romance (this I cover from hearesay so excuse me If I am not correct in the Details), and the Strachild/Wintersun metal song affair show lazyness in crafting the product.

(DLC)

8) The day one DLC partially on disc controversy (granted I got that with the CE but regardless), show extremely bad manners toward your fans
9) The Omega DLC can instantly be seen as "missing" content. Sure it might not have been ready (or you might not even have started working on it) but it already sticks out that you will have to buy it. It should have been there in the first place.
10) The first thing after the credits is a message to buy DLC? Is this a bad joke? I will have to think very hard about this in particular.

In short: This behaviour will not fly Bioware. About this alone I am pretty disappointed in you. I think this is exploitation of your customers. You promise but you don't deliver and when you do, you hold parts back on purpose. You would be well advised to change this or it will cost you many customers in the long run. I truly love your products but tell me how should I tell someone that I get basically ripped of by you? I would have loved to show someone the artbook but that preview you got me would make me ashamed if I had to justify to anyone getting the CE for this.

After writing this part down I really thought about just saving my money in the future and to walk away from your company. However, there is still something that I will see through (till): The End

I finished the Dialogue with the "god child" and immediately felt confusion. I felt nothing more. Afther that I completed the ending and went straight to the forums to find out what was wrong. A lot was wrong and still is.

I will now share something with you concerning interactive storytelling. I have a good amount of experience in roleplaying games (pen and paper/larp) as storyteller and as player. This I think is very much akin to interactive storytelling like you do it in your game. I once had a stunning experience that is pretty much akin to what I experienced with the ME 3 ending. A certain adventure (this was written by an author and we had bought it) of the game "The Dark Eye" ended in flat out "tragic" failure. I as a player was upset as hell, not only because the adventure had been annoying and bad in so many ways, but because I had put effort into this only to see how nothing came out of it. I was like "**** this, I could have stayed out of the Orcland (with my character) and nothing would have been different!" There was simply no payoff. This is a lesson to be learned from true roleplaying: When you are the character you want them to succeed. The player becomes in part the figure he is playing. This goes way deeper than the attachement to a character in a movie or a book. You emphazise stronger.

This goes so far that the Vampire the Masquarade Core Rulebook give advice like this: "Acommodate Player expectations: It's their game too, remember. You have to have some kind of idea what type of game the players want to play.", "Don't forget the payoff: If the players work hard and make smart decisions, their characters' success must be in proportion of the challenges they have faced, or they will feel cheated.", and "Don't abuse your power: You are the final arbiter of events. Your word is law, but you can not use this authority to beat the characters into what you want them to do."

The same thing goes for Mass Effect 3.It is an interactive storytelling experience. The player is Commander Shepard. When you force Shepard into the "god Child" choices you betray everything outlined above. You force them (!) into your (!) conclusion and deny them any payoff (!). This does not mean that you are not crafting the story but this is interactive! Shepards fate can simply not be predetermined (obviously the real of the plausible has to set borders here) because that would mean our choices don't matter. (remember what you advertised by the way?). Forcing one ending - and yes 17 or 16 variations of three differently colored explosions leading to almost the entirely same conclusion count as ONE ending – denies the players the story they want to play. You forgot the payoff to. [at this point i wanted to write something mean about the popup at the end but I cut that out because I try to reason here] You just walk over the players work. You have to show them for what they did all this and why it mattered to make choices in the first place.

This is how I describe what is wrong here: You as storytellers have a responsibility to us as players as much as I have the responsibility towards my players. The deep emotional investment needs to be handled carefully. When you start to mistreat your customers and players this will come back to hurt you. This is over all a business relationship. We pay you to be treated right. However, the ending caused me and others much emotional distress. This is not to be taken lightly! Because when you mistreat someone in a roleplaying game (even if not on purpose!) you need to realize that they themselves are partially invested. Let that sink in.

Your customers actual lives an psyche are invested in your products. (If you don't believe me go to your forums and look or ask! I personally felt almost sick for two days and still focus on this one week after the end. God knows I have better thinks to do... maybe not, preventing one other person from going through this is worth more than my stupid science paper) You have a responsibility in an interactive story. In this game series in particular, because interactivity is the central feature. This is true roleplaying. You might not want the responsibilities coming with this but you have them and you need to address them.

So as a customer in this relation I urge you strongly to put out an alternative ending that addresses the grievances of the people in the Forums. I want to like your games I truly do, I want you to continue making games, and I want to buy them and the merchandise for them. I wan't to get invested in your games because you truly did an awesome job with them and provided not only an enjoyable but a meaningful experience. The ending of ME 3 stand in complete contradiction to everything that has come before. Please allow me to still be part of this.
Do not forget: In this relationship profit is strongly connected to brand loyalty and you can not afford to lose this loyalty by abusing it in form of exploitation (10 points above) or bad (interactive) storytelling.

This is my take on this. I apologize for the many errors, especially in punctuation, but this is not my native language.


You should make sure everyone of your employees responsible reads the following articles:


Musings of a Screenwriter: The Ending Thread

http://social.biowar...ndex/10022779/1

This is a screenwriter and from the standpoint of his profession he explains in detail, why Shepard is not a tragic hero and what else is wrong with the endings. This is rather conventional but still an important read!

Why you enjoy art and the one problem with Mass Effect 3

http://www.themetaga...oblem-with.html

This is about why your players felt emotional disconnect and distress. The source is frustration and he explains how your ending fails to deliver emotionally.

This video will also go a long way of helping you to accomplish a better ending (this is not me):

Mass Effect 3 Ending: My Thoughts, What Could Have Been, What Should Have Been



I urge you strongly to take his war asset approach for your ending. Ignore the indoctrination theory, because mental battles are not the ones a player fights. This is about a real battle let us fight it.

Sincerely N.G. W.

By the ending I wish to see some day: Keelah se'lai


It doesn't matter that English isn't your first language...you completely nailed it!  Bravo!! 

Thank you for so clearly articulating my thoughts and feelings on this... I beat the game a little less than 48 hours ago, and I too am still not right with it (nor will I ever be until the endings we were promised are delivered.)  I too have no trust in Bioware, unless they fix this.  The Tali photo being a grab from a royalty-free photo on the Internet really put all of this over the edge for me; when I saw this, I said to myself "they really, really couldn't care less about me or any of their other fans... we're just a debit card to them."

Modifié par hardermob5, 20 mars 2012 - 01:09 .


#7232
Andy the Black

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[/quote]theoldludwigvan wrote...

And First Contact is the best Star Trek movie (bar the Wrath of Khan maybe)

[/quote]

I like the way you think.

#7233
gadenp

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VigilancePress wrote...

Doppelgaenger wrote...


I will now share something with you concerning interactive storytelling. I have a good amount of experience in roleplaying games (pen and paper/larp) as storyteller and as player. This I think is very much akin to interactive storytelling like you do it in your game. I once had a stunning experience that is pretty much akin to what I experienced with the ME 3 ending. A certain adventure (this was written by an author and we had bought it) of the game "The Dark Eye" ended in flat out "tragic" failure. I as a player was upset as hell, not only because the adventure had been annoying and bad in so many ways, but because I had put effort into this only to see how nothing came out of it. I was like "**** this, I could have stayed out of the Orcland (with my character) and nothing would have been different!" There was simply no payoff. This is a lesson to be learned from true roleplaying: When you are the character you want them to succeed. The player becomes in part the figure he is playing. This goes way deeper than the attachement to a character in a movie or a book. You emphazise stronger.

This goes so far that the Vampire the Masquarade Core Rulebook give advice like this: "Acommodate Player expectations: It's their game too, remember. You have to have some kind of idea what type of game the players want to play.", "Don't forget the payoff: If the players work hard and make smart decisions, their characters' success must be in proportion of the challenges they have faced, or they will feel cheated.", and "Don't abuse your power: You are the final arbiter of events. Your word is law, but you can not use this authority to beat the characters into what you want them to do."


This! This! A THOUSAND TIMES THIS!

Thank you, Doppleganger!



Agreed!!!! If a show ending is crap. That is max 3 hours of my life wasted. Also I am not really invested in the character, as I do not see myself in it/him/her.

But after 100++ hours of personal investment, I WANT A PROPER PAYOUT!!!! Not a last minute, 180  degrees abrupt ending.

#7234
Guest_maideltq_*

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VigilancePress wrote...

Doppelgaenger wrote...


I will now share something with you concerning interactive storytelling. I have a good amount of experience in roleplaying games (pen and paper/larp) as storyteller and as player. This I think is very much akin to interactive storytelling like you do it in your game. I once had a stunning experience that is pretty much akin to what I experienced with the ME 3 ending. A certain adventure (this was written by an author and we had bought it) of the game "The Dark Eye" ended in flat out "tragic" failure. I as a player was upset as hell, not only because the adventure had been annoying and bad in so many ways, but because I had put effort into this only to see how nothing came out of it. I was like "**** this, I could have stayed out of the Orcland (with my character) and nothing would have been different!" There was simply no payoff. This is a lesson to be learned from true roleplaying: When you are the character you want them to succeed. The player becomes in part the figure he is playing. This goes way deeper than the attachement to a character in a movie or a book. You emphazise stronger.

This goes so far that the Vampire the Masquarade Core Rulebook give advice like this: "Acommodate Player expectations: It's their game too, remember. You have to have some kind of idea what type of game the players want to play.", "Don't forget the payoff: If the players work hard and make smart decisions, their characters' success must be in proportion of the challenges they have faced, or they will feel cheated.", and "Don't abuse your power: You are the final arbiter of events. Your word is law, but you can not use this authority to beat the characters into what you want them to do."


This! This! A THOUSAND TIMES THIS!

Thank you, Doppleganger!




EXACTLY!!!

#7235
gadenp

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captainchimp wrote...

 At first I had my doubts about the ending.  But, replaying the game, with the same desicions, I feel choosing Synthesis, was quite possibly what the Shephard I was playing as would have chosen.  Every moment leading up to that, gave the game a bittersweet finality, which I feel ended up making a powerful ending, which leaves you unsure of how you want to go.  My Shephard may have died, but I hope he left the Universe, and more importantly his companions with a happy fate.  While I felt the ending's denouement was rushed, if not nonexistant, I have come to terms with all the endings.  I feel they are appropriate.  Some sense of closure with your party members, and companions you have made throughout the game (Chakwas, Kelly Chambers, Garrus, Wrex, Liara) would have made for an easier sense of closure (I think back to the text character endings in BG2, where we found out what Minsc or Jaheira did after the main character's final choice).  On the whole though, I  feel the fallout over the ending is overblown, and changing the endings, or adding in a new one might not be the appropriate authorial choice.  Fact is, seeing people talk about how they feel about the ending, is proof, at least to me, that it had a powerful effect on them.  Either way, for the first time since the Baldur's Gate duology wrapped up, I think I have found a new RPG series to call my favorite.  The team behind the entire ME trilogy truly outdid themselves, and have made a game that I look forward to replaying in the years to come.  


Sure up to the end, ME3 wraps up most of the stuff. BUT the ending blows everything to pieces in 5 minutes. So much so, that now there is no closure. 5 minutes of the ending kills 20 hours of the game. And 100+ hours of the series.

#7236
dpgimenez

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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.”

#7237
Turbotanden

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Bioware, I know you are afraid that people will be angry and unable to accept that they were indoctrinated, but they already are and the longer you wait the harder it will be to tell them. Just come out and say it already.

#7238
QwertyMusicMan

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dpgimenez wrote...

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.”


. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ,.-‘”. . . . . . . . . .``~.,
. . . . . . . .. . . . . .,.-”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .“-.,
. . . . .. . . . . . ..,/. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ”:,
. . . . . . . .. .,?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\\,
. . . . . . . . . /. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,}
. . . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`^`.}
. . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:”. . . ./
. . . . . . .?. . . __. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :`. . . ./
. . . . . . . /__.(. . .“~-,_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`. . . .. ./
. . . . . . /(_. . ”~,_. . . ..“~,_. . . . . . . . . .,:`. . . . _/
. . . .. .{.._$;_. . .”=,_. . . .“-,_. . . ,.-~-,}, .~”; /. .. .}
. . .. . .((. . .*~_. . . .”=-._. . .“;,,./`. . /” . . . ./. .. ../
. . . .. . .\\`~,. . ..“~.,. . . . . . . . . ..`. . .}. . . . . . ../
. . . . . .(. ..`=-,,. . . .`. . . . . . . . . . . ..(. . . ;_,,-”
. . . . . ../.`~,. . ..`-.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..\\. . /\\
. . . . . . \\`~.*-,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..|,./.....\\,__
,,_. . . . . }.>-._\\. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . ..`=~-,
. .. `=~-,_\\_. . . `\\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\\
. . . . . . . . . .`=~-,,.\\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\\
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . `:,, . . . . . . . . . . . . . `\\. . . . . . ..__
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`=-,. . . . . . . . . .,%`>--==``
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _\\. . . . . ._,-%. . . ..` 

Modifié par QwertyMusicMan, 20 mars 2012 - 01:15 .


#7239
Guest_maideltq_*

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Not an "ending" 
Endingss!
EndingS that reflect the different choices each one of the players have made thru their gameplay.....not your choice of ending.
If the game was supposed to be a linear role play game...I will go for something as simple as "Castlevania" or "Darks Sider's 2"......this game was...was...something different.

It promised a different outcome depending in our choices, not the cookie cutter you provided to us.

#7240
Guest_Paulomedi_*

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Doppelgaenger wrote...

Dear Bioware team,


I am frustrated. I really am frustrated. I spend 75€ on a game and over 100 hours playing all three parts and at the end of the experience all I can feel is an emotional disconnect? You dropped the ball. Big time. However, let me explain why I think this is.

First of I have a short list of minor complaints that I was willing to overlook as a loyal customer (My first Bioware game was Baldur's Gate 2). However, in light of the ending of the game there is more that needs changing than the end, specifically the attitude of your company.

1) The Quest log is not working. I do not enjoy it to waste time running around for nothing in a game.

(I bought a collector's edition for a significantly higher price. I found that product to be lacking in a number of ways. Don't think that I would not have spent more on it! However even what I got for 75 € was lacking.)

2) The promised comic is a preview for a comic not a finished product
3) The artbook is a preview for an artbook not a finished product
4) I really had hoped the soundtrack to be a CD
5) The "dog" is useless
6) Why has the patch velcro hooks? Thoose make it almost useless. Was it not intended to be sewn onto something?

7) Tali's face, Jacob and Thane's romance (this I cover from hearesay so excuse me If I am not correct in the Details), and the Strachild/Wintersun metal song affair show lazyness in crafting the product.

(DLC)

8) The day one DLC partially on disc controversy (granted I got that with the CE but regardless), show extremely bad manners toward your fans
9) The Omega DLC can instantly be seen as "missing" content. Sure it might not have been ready (or you might not even have started working on it) but it already sticks out that you will have to buy it. It should have been there in the first place.
10) The first thing after the credits is a message to buy DLC? Is this a bad joke? I will have to think very hard about this in particular.

In short: This behaviour will not fly Bioware. About this alone I am pretty disappointed in you. I think this is exploitation of your customers. You promise but you don't deliver and when you do, you hold parts back on purpose. You would be well advised to change this or it will cost you many customers in the long run. I truly love your products but tell me how should I tell someone that I get basically ripped of by you? I would have loved to show someone the artbook but that preview you got me would make me ashamed if I had to justify to anyone getting the CE for this.

After writing this part down I really thought about just saving my money in the future and to walk away from your company. However, there is still something that I will see through (till): The End

I finished the Dialogue with the "god child" and immediately felt confusion. I felt nothing more. Afther that I completed the ending and went straight to the forums to find out what was wrong. A lot was wrong and still is.

I will now share something with you concerning interactive storytelling. I have a good amount of experience in roleplaying games (pen and paper/larp) as storyteller and as player. This I think is very much akin to interactive storytelling like you do it in your game. I once had a stunning experience that is pretty much akin to what I experienced with the ME 3 ending. A certain adventure (this was written by an author and we had bought it) of the game "The Dark Eye" ended in flat out "tragic" failure. I as a player was upset as hell, not only because the adventure had been annoying and bad in so many ways, but because I had put effort into this only to see how nothing came out of it. I was like "**** this, I could have stayed out of the Orcland (with my character) and nothing would have been different!" There was simply no payoff. This is a lesson to be learned from true roleplaying: When you are the character you want them to succeed. The player becomes in part the figure he is playing. This goes way deeper than the attachement to a character in a movie or a book. You emphazise stronger.

This goes so far that the Vampire the Masquarade Core Rulebook give advice like this: "Acommodate Player expectations: It's their game too, remember. You have to have some kind of idea what type of game the players want to play.", "Don't forget the payoff: If the players work hard and make smart decisions, their characters' success must be in proportion of the challenges they have faced, or they will feel cheated.", and "Don't abuse your power: You are the final arbiter of events. Your word is law, but you can not use this authority to beat the characters into what you want them to do."

The same thing goes for Mass Effect 3.It is an interactive storytelling experience. The player is Commander Shepard. When you force Shepard into the "god Child" choices you betray everything outlined above. You force them (!) into your (!) conclusion and deny them any payoff (!). This does not mean that you are not crafting the story but this is interactive! Shepards fate can simply not be predetermined (obviously the real of the plausible has to set borders here) because that would mean our choices don't matter. (remember what you advertised by the way?). Forcing one ending - and yes 17 or 16 variations of three differently colored explosions leading to almost the entirely same conclusion count as ONE ending – denies the players the story they want to play. You forgot the payoff to. [at this point i wanted to write something mean about the popup at the end but I cut that out because I try to reason here] You just walk over the players work. You have to show them for what they did all this and why it mattered to make choices in the first place.

This is how I describe what is wrong here: You as storytellers have a responsibility to us as players as much as I have the responsibility towards my players. The deep emotional investment needs to be handled carefully. When you start to mistreat your customers and players this will come back to hurt you. This is over all a business relationship. We pay you to be treated right. However, the ending caused me and others much emotional distress. This is not to be taken lightly! Because when you mistreat someone in a roleplaying game (even if not on purpose!) you need to realize that they themselves are partially invested. Let that sink in.

Your customers actual lives an psyche are invested in your products. (If you don't believe me go to your forums and look or ask! I personally felt almost sick for two days and still focus on this one week after the end. God knows I have better thinks to do... maybe not, preventing one other person from going through this is worth more than my stupid science paper) You have a responsibility in an interactive story. In this game series in particular, because interactivity is the central feature. This is true roleplaying. You might not want the responsibilities coming with this but you have them and you need to address them.

So as a customer in this relation I urge you strongly to put out an alternative ending that addresses the grievances of the people in the Forums. I want to like your games I truly do, I want you to continue making games, and I want to buy them and the merchandise for them. I wan't to get invested in your games because you truly did an awesome job with them and provided not only an enjoyable but a meaningful experience. The ending of ME 3 stand in complete contradiction to everything that has come before. Please allow me to still be part of this.
Do not forget: In this relationship profit is strongly connected to brand loyalty and you can not afford to lose this loyalty by abusing it in form of exploitation (10 points above) or bad (interactive) storytelling.

This is my take on this. I apologize for the many errors, especially in punctuation, but this is not my native language.


You should make sure everyone of your employees responsible reads the following articles:


Musings of a Screenwriter: The Ending Thread

http://social.biowar...ndex/10022779/1

This is a screenwriter and from the standpoint of his profession he explains in detail, why Shepard is not a tragic hero and what else is wrong with the endings. This is rather conventional but still an important read!

Why you enjoy art and the one problem with Mass Effect 3

http://www.themetaga...oblem-with.html

This is about why your players felt emotional disconnect and distress. The source is frustration and he explains how your ending fails to deliver emotionally.

This video will also go a long way of helping you to accomplish a better ending (this is not me):

Mass Effect 3 Ending: My Thoughts, What Could Have Been, What Should Have Been



I urge you strongly to take his war asset approach for your ending. Ignore the indoctrination theory, because mental battles are not the ones a player fights. This is about a real battle let us fight it.

Sincerely N.G. W.

By the ending I wish to see some day: Keelah se'lai


This must be sent to Bioware in form of a written letter.

Modifié par Paulomedi, 20 mars 2012 - 01:16 .


#7241
gadenp

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You know how far a game has failed when you want a Fallout 3 cookie cutter ending. Currently do not care if Shepard dies (yea low expectations here). I want closure!!! Like maybe still pictures, showing what happened after ... Also for freak's sake, flash out the reasons and motivations of the God Child. And bring more life into Shepard. In the last moments he was like a Sheep. Not a Shepard.

#7242
vandoug

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Silrian wrote...

vandoug wrote...

alx119 wrote...

vandoug wrote...

I like the ending BW implemented in ME3. The main course of ME trilogy is about how Shepard founds out the Reaper threat, strives along the way, and finally ends the 50000 year civilization extinction cycle. The current ending closes it up nicely in this regard. The only improvement I can think of is to add another option to the end: a conditioned Peace/Coexistence, which is suggested by Shepard rather than the Catalyst. Doing so allows Shepard to challenge the Catalyst's mindset, and prove his theory about chaos is unsound as creators and "createes" do not necessarily have inherent fundamental contradictions. This option perfectly fits Shepard's character - a warrior against the fate. Of course, it has to have something to do with the Crucible as it's the main tool to end the crisis. That's where the condition part can fit in.

I also think the mass relays destruction part is a nice touch to the ending. Think about it: Such an epic feat - ending the 50000 year civilizations extinction cycle demands such price. It's totally reasonable and acceptable. Don't forget, giving some time, civilizations will reconnect themselves by any means for sure.


Except in arrival we were shown how destroying a Mass Relay pretty much destroys the entire system. Which makes the casualties too high to repopulate or survive. Not to mention, pretty much all life lived near Relays :x 


Then I guess younger civilizations away from the relays will have better chances than older ones like human race in solar system. But I still believe that in 50000 years, the new and the old can advance greater and further than the stage at every end of the extinction cycle. 



This was probably stated before but to make a comparison: if you throw a pc out of your window it makes a lot more of a mess than when there's a signal that basically shuts the thing down irrepairably. I got the idea the destruction of the relays wasn't just an explosion similar to colliding a Relay with an astroid....

And I for one do think the Mass Effect trilogy ending with the destruction of the Mass Relays ( as a consequence of destroying the ones who built them) a fitting plotpoint. Though kindof depressing in a way.


I understand the feelings. For me, it''s what a dark sci-fi means to be. It feels like a sort of bittersweet.

#7243
LeesyB

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Another article (this time by the globe and mail) supporting the current ending:
http://www.theglobea...73708/comments/

I just do not understand why there is such a disconnect between how the media views the ending and how the majority of fans view the ending.

Also, the article says that Bioware "categorically ended" the game. How is panning to my Shep taking a breath while trapped in rubble in any way closure?

#7244
Antigone2283

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Doppelgaenger wrote...

The same thing goes for Mass Effect 3.It is an interactive storytelling experience. The player is Commander Shepard. When you force Shepard into the "god Child" choices you betray everything outlined above. You force them (!) into your (!) conclusion and deny them any payoff (!). This does not mean that you are not crafting the story but this is interactive! Shepards fate can simply not be predetermined (obviously the real of the plausible has to set borders here) because that would mean our choices don't matter. (remember what you advertised by the way?). Forcing one ending - and yes 17 or 16 variations of three differently colored explosions leading to almost the entirely same conclusion count as ONE ending – denies the players the story they want to play. You forgot the payoff to. [at this point i wanted to write something mean about the popup at the end but I cut that out because I try to reason here] You just walk over the players work. You have to show them for what they did all this and why it mattered to make choices in the first place.


Emphasis is mine because YES YES YES YES!!! A thousand times YES!

#7245
Highlord Heian

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The conclusions were completely uniform. I decided to take control of the Reapers...and then what? Are they going back to the edge of the galaxy? What?

Three different methods for the exact same ending, delivered by a choice "A, B, or C" buffet - exactly what we were promised wouldn't happen.

There is no divergence. No dialogue options in the end, no variation, and no explanation.

Like why exactly the Reapers were focusing their attention on defending the Citadel as the Catalyst, but they decided to build a bridge directly to it. On Earth.

Or, that player choice goes out the window once you've gotten past the last bit of combat.  You fire missiles, and that's it. You run toward the beam that is conveniently placed as a conduit to the completely unguarded point of vulnerability they moved precisely to protect - and you will be shot. No matter what. Infiltrator? Nope. I thought it would be easy, dodge, roll, evade, change, and lose control and get blasted.

Welcome to the end of the game: you have now lost control.

I managed peace between Geth and Quarians. But for some reason, it was all about synthetic vs organic war? Well, that war was over, so your incredibly, extremely flimsy reasoning that doesn't make sense. Never mind that the Reapers initiated the Geth aggression against most of the galaxy. Never mind that there was no mention of synthetic conflict in the previous cycles. Never mind that it was never an over-arching theme and seemed like it was created by somebody with no notion of the entire game trilogy. The fact that all the variables, all the choices, all the options, and it still comes down to the same conclusion.

And the obvious question that makes me wonder if anyone watched the ending - not endings, because they're so uniform - and nobody wondered "Does anyone else think this makes no sense?"

Why is the Normandy travelling through a Relay? How did my squad mates get on it? Where did they land, and how will anyone ever find them without Relay travel? Was this the most rushed, slipshod ending imaginable? Was the ending written in a sound-proof room by somebody who had never heard of Mass Effect?

And yes. I can already see Omega DLC on the horizon. I was waiting for the opportunity to go to Omega all game, for the map to give the option, but no. I hit the "final stretch" and I knew it was just going to be DLC, and after the ending, I don't really have any real motivation to experience it, because it's all punctuated by such disappointment.

It's like a roller coaster that ends in a long, narrow sewer tunnel that goes on for about 12 minutes.

#7246
m00nsh1ne

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I'm not going to read the 200 plus pages of comments so this is in regards to the OP.

There are some things I understand with the ending. You wanted to end the Shepard story with this installment and u certainly did that. Breaking away from having society rely on the technology of another society is fine as well. Explaining and ending the Reaper threat... even though it was kind of half assed it was accomplished. But those three marks pail in comparison to the overwhelming issues the ending has.

The most obvious flaw is that since no matter what you choose the mass relays are destroyed and even if you can explain away how the explosions didn't destroy EVERY system that had one then your still left with the fact that everyone is stranded at Earth which has been decimated and probably has no way to support that many people. Even if there ships have FTL drives they could only go so far and would take them years (if they had the fuel) to get back home or maybe longer depending on where home is located.

Second biggest concern is the fact that all the decisions we made through all the games had no sway whatsoever in the ending. In the end it didn't matter if you saved the council or the Rachni, it didn't matter if we destroyed or saved the geth (in fact in one ending even if u saved them you still kill them), it didn't matter if we tried to bring the species together peacefully or through force, it didn't matter a damn thing what we did. We never got that moment where we could see the fruits of our labor and gain that sense of gratitude that yeah we did some good or hey we proved that if you knock enough heads around you'll get results. Instead we get Joker looking into the sky and cut to credits... that's cheap no matter what you say.

Finally and my biggest concern personally is the complete lack of closure for the characters. I fell in love with these characters over the course of three games I would like to know what happens to them. I'm fine with Shepard dying if that is the case but we need more for our companions. I want to see Wrex telling stories to his children about me. I want to see Liara post-war doing her shadow broker thing. I want to see my LI have a final moment of remembrance about Shepard. We need some form of closure with these characters not just some cut and paste generic sky staring scene.

i loved these games, Hell I loved the third one, but the ending almost made all my effort mean nothing. It pains me so much to have a 30 hour gaming experience that is top notch and meeting every expectation I had to only have it sullied and nearly ruined by the last ten minutes. So in conclusion, I am not asking for a storybook happy ending I just want one that actually offers closure.

#7247
Hashishim

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I just realized something now, after reading few sites about the ending, Bioware is sharp or genius or just doing a gamble,

Look at Galaxy at War, it all of us who play multi-player take part in the Galaxy at War system, the fact that the ANN news is also available via a website is another thing, The fact they wanting all of us to be united against the reapers in the Multi-Player segment boosts this idea.

Perhaps they want to bring out the whole united stand in the Galaxy into reality, this whole ending kind of in a way created two groups amongst the consumers.

1) People (larger amount) who want a change to the ending and are going nuts, and finding all possible ways to end it, and basically fighting a war that alot have doubt we will never win.(which is similar to the game)

2) People (a minority) who happy with the ending and siding with Bioware/EA

Now if you look at the story line of ME, and equate it to reality terms,

THE PEOPLE(OF 1) = Allied forces wanting to destroy the Reapers

BIOWARE/EA = The Reapers who want change from and we uniting against but some of us feel we wont go far

THE PEOPLE (from 2) = Cerberus, the people who are from the consumers but support and help and are corrupted by the Reapers, in this case EA/BIOWARE

Indoctrination process is trying to win over them, and creating a division.

A sense of CHAOS in reality from a excellent game which revolved around similar concept.

Anyway if the above has any relevance or truth, it simply brilliant as a marketing strategy, and in a way bringing the effect of a game into REALITY, creating a wholesome experience which is awesome!

The MASS EFFECT or title is a great way to term it,

THEY MANIPULATING US :P if they do bring out dlc's that solves it, then I do not mind being manipulated it making me stick on these forums:P

#7248
Highlord Heian

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And before I forget. The "child god" symbolism is so contrived I could hardly believe it. Here's my little child voice deadpanning plot points that don't fit, and directing you to the ending-tron, please choose the flavor your ending will be. I know you made a lot of choices up until now, but they don't matter.

The final standoff with the Illusive Man would have served as a better ending. Because no explanation was better than the one we got. The ME2 assumption that the galactic eradication was part of the Reapers' reproductive cycle was far superior to the "god child has bad logic".

Honestly. "I had to destroy everything to save everything". Is there a more over-used "tragic villain" explanation?

#7249
hydaway1

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 I think that we should decide if commander Shepard lives or dies, let us pick a good or bad ending. Why couldn't we just only shut the reapers off? Push a power button or something.  If we get DLC for different endings please include free-roam like ME2.  The ending made the whole amazing game feel like it was all for nothing.:(

#7250
theoldludwigvan

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Bioware- What can be said that hasn't already been said on this forum. There are lists of what people did like, what they didn't like, and their ideas to fix it. All you need is the motivation now.

Don't do it for me because I need the answers to the convoluted ending, or for so-and-so because he/she can't handle a sad ending...Do it for Mass Effect. Do it for the universe, and the characters, and the stories you so brilliantly created. They deserve a proper ending more than we do.