23455 réponses à ce sujet

[KILLER SQUIDZ]

Damisis wrote...

HOLY HELL am I the only one who's reading this? Bioware saying they're not gonna change the ending?

http://blog.bioware.com/author/dlarke/

I mean is this the official outcome of all this??? People please look in to this.

Yup, just read through that. Now they really screwed themselves over. Let the fanbase rebellion begin.

[LiarasShield]

I believe they should be charged with fraud for lieing about their product prelaunch and having it not turn out the way they said it would

[HurricaneGinger]

KILLER SQUIDZ wrote...

Damisis wrote...

HOLY HELL am I the only one who's reading this? Bioware saying they're not gonna change the ending?

http://blog.bioware.com/author/dlarke/

I mean is this the official outcome of all this??? People please look in to this.

Yup, just read through that. Now they really screwed themselves over. Let the fanbase rebellion begin.

I am seriously considering camping outside the BioWare building.

[skingfan19]

sth88 wrote...

It's crazy.  It's hard to believe.

When fans said they didn't like the Mako sections in ME1, Bioware kept the Mako out of ME2.

They listened.

When fans said they didn't like the long elevator rides in ME1, Bioware kept the elevator out of ME2.

They listened.

When fans said they didn't like the pop-in textures in ME1, Bioware made it a priority to fix it in ME2.

They listened.

When
fans said that the inventory leveling systems was too clunky and
complex in ME1, Bioware streamlined the process for ME2 and made it much
more user friendly.  And when fans said that they swung a bit too far
in the other direction, Bioware brought back weapon customization and
deepened the leveling system for ME3 while still keeping the
user-friendly interface established in the second game.

They listened.

When
fans said they wished they could have done more with Liara in ME2,
Bioware came out with Lair of the Shadow Broker, a series of missions
featuring Liara, developing her character and expanding her role in the
overall narrative.

They listened.

And now, we the fans are
expressing their frustration over the ending of the trilogy, arguably
the most important moment in the narrative of the franchise.  The
Bioware forums are flooded with fans who are upset, angry, and
depressed, and who feel betrayed or even lied to.  We have organized
into a movement and have been petitioning, begging Bioware to give us a
new ending.  It has become one of the largest fan outcries in the
history of this medium.  We have posted video after video after video,
explaining in detail why the events in the ending make no sense in the
context of the intricately woven space opera we have come to love, and
why it needs to be completely scrapped or somehow retconned and then
replaced with something new.

If any developer would listen to its
fans in this crucial hour, it's Bioware.  The developer who has
faithfully listened to its fans throughout the course of this series. 
They have an amazing track record in this area; there's no way they
would let us down now, with so much on the line.  Right?

Wrong:

"BioWare
will expanding on the ending to Mass Effect 3 by creating additional
cinematics and epilogue scenes to the existing ending sequences. The
goal of these new scenes is to provide additional clarity and closure to
Mass Effect 3."

"Are we going to change the ending of the game? No."

THEY ARE NOT LISTENING.

WHY
BIOWARE?  WHY NOW, at this most important moment, when your fans are
crying out louder than ever before, when their requests are more
desperate than ever before?  You showed you listened to smaller
complaints related to gameplay and user interface; why won't you listen
when the emotions, trust, and loyalty of your most devoted fans is on
the line?  You had so much less to lose when you listened to us before. 
You have so much more to lose here!

We know you know how to listen!  You need to listen now!

That was such a good post. Here is mine from a different board, just don't have it in me to write up any more about this disaster.

Well, they have lost me.


I really had never been so disappointed with an ending ever before and
frankly just adding a bit to the existing ends just won't cut it for me.
It really is a shame, I mean it was one of the best series of games I
have ever played and I so wanted it to end in a way that was appropriate
but that was just not to be.


They turn around and say hey look what we are giving you for free, and I
say that is BS. So they give us a few little cut scenes that should
been in the game in the first damn place. They need to take a look at CD
Projekt RED, they are giving us 4 hours of gameplay for free in the
Witcher 2 2.0. But no all we get is a empty hollow attempt to appease
the fans. But then again what can you expect when the parent company for
Bioware, EA, has been voted as the worst company in America. The Voters Have Spoken: EA Is Your Worst Company In America For 2012! - The Consumerist


I guess it is time to uninstall it and file it away. Needless to say, I
will not be spending my money on Bioware products any more. I'm not
saying that in a happy stick it too them way either, as I would have
much rather have them just fix the ending and restore my faith in them.
But too little too late.

[Menagra]

Dear Bioware,
There have been announcements that you are giving us a free "extended cut" with additional cutscenes to elaborate on the ending, but with this announcement you clarify that you will not change the endings. Your excuse for not doing this is to protect "artistic integrity". This is just insulting and suggests that anyone wishing for a differnet ending has no interest in keeping the "finer" quality of your work (insulting our tastes or intelligence). It also suggests that without your endings the "artistic integrity" of your work will be diminished-- which I disagree with whole heartedly.

You guys have sold yourself short. You don't have to be part of an aristocratic bubble to be artists, and it completely counterdicts who you've been all along.

If you wanted to accept an aristocratic viewpoint on your work you wouldn't have told your massive audience that we are collaborators. You also wouldn't have censured aspects of your games, or made core changes to please the audience (like turning ME2 into an Action RPG).

It's understandable to question the democratic response to your work, and to consider ignoring the masses to keep the "quality" of your work. However there lacks a single critic, supportor or Bioware staff member able to explain why changing your ending will lose the artistic integrity of your work. Also there lacks a single critic, supportor or staff member who has a firm understanding of art and it's relationship to video games, in my opinion. Even Kellee Santiago's argument for video games in the TED talk was so shallow that it was just plain easy for Rober Ebert to counter her. You guys need to hire an art historian if you want to succeed more thouroughly as artists.

The game industry is new to the art world, and therefore the people propelled to have a firm understanding of video games are new to understanding how games are art. Programs to study the art in games aren't even a decade old, so it's clear that there's a lot of progress to be had when discussing art and games. It's not like you can go to Harvard and get a PHD in Video Game Art Theory. So when there is a massive number of critics trying to use your game as the token for their push towards an aristocratic game art culture, please understand that these critics have little to no formal understanding of fine art and video games relationship to it. The fine art world will NOT take you seriously.

These people write at online reviewsites, for magazines, or even for you. Most of them have more of a formal education in literature (due to being writers) and therefore can not help you when you ask " will changing my ending make my game less of an artform". The very fact that the ending was decided mostly by a producer and writer calls in to question who is the artist, and is the game reliant more on litereature than art. Even the people who work for you probably have a more formal understanding of games as literature than games as art due to the process of creating your content being mostly dependant on the writers. In fact many of the examples given as to why you should not change your ending have to do with literature. Even one of your own said the following:

"If computer games are art then I fully endorse the author of the artwork to have a statement about what they believe will happen. Just as J.K. Rowling can end her books and say that's the end of Harry Potter. I don't think she should be forced to make another one." Paul Barnett - Bioware Mythic Senior Creative Director

Please if you want to be propelling video games as LITERATURE then yes keep your ending as is and everything is just fine. However, to be propelling video games as ART you are only hurting the cause.

There has been a recent movement towards attempting for it to be widely accepted that video games are art. Even a small exhibition in the smithsonian (featuring one of your games I might add) has been curated to support this movement. There have been countless forums, dozens of articles and even some saavy fine art critics adding in their two cents. Those of us that want video games to be accepted as art cringe that you're using art as a scapegoat excuse for your bad deicisons. By using "we are artists" as your argument against fans you're only creating a dichotamy in people who would normally support the games as art in a united manner. Please stop before you make many people despise hearing the words "artistic integrity" and "video games" in the same sentence.

To be an artist you have to have an audience, and you can't change your audience mid-performance. We are who you are relevant to. We are who you are artists to. Don't make it out to be you protecting your art from our excessive and lowly demands.

Yours truly,
an "entitled" fan

P.S. In my oppinon the critics have been the entitled ones all along -- suggesting that no oppinion but theirs is accurate and all.

Modifié par infraredman, 06 avril 2012 - 03:41 .

[Andy the Black]

LiarasShield wrote...

I believe they should be charged with fraud for lieing about their product prelaunch and having it not turn out the way they said it would

If we could do that a lot of devs would end up in the big house. Did you not follow the development of any of the Fable games?

[Nidowa]

sth88 wrote...

It's crazy.  It's hard to believe.

When fans said they didn't like the Mako sections in ME1, Bioware kept the Mako out of ME2.

They listened.

When fans said they didn't like the long elevator rides in ME1, Bioware kept the elevator out of ME2.

They listened.

When fans said they didn't like the pop-in textures in ME1, Bioware made it a priority to fix it in ME2.

They listened.

When fans said that the inventory leveling systems was too clunky and complex in ME1, Bioware streamlined the process for ME2 and made it much more user friendly.  And when fans said that they swung a bit too far in the other direction, Bioware brought back weapon customization and deepened the leveling system for ME3 while still keeping the user-friendly interface established in the second game.

They listened.

When fans said they wished they could have done more with Liara in ME2, Bioware came out with Lair of the Shadow Broker, a series of missions featuring Liara, developing her character and expanding her role in the overall narrative.

They listened.

And now, we the fans are expressing their frustration over the ending of the trilogy, arguably the most important moment in the narrative of the franchise.  The Bioware forums are flooded with fans who are upset, angry, and depressed, and who feel betrayed or even lied to.  We have organized into a movement and have been petitioning, begging Bioware to give us a new ending.  It has become one of the largest fan outcries in the history of this medium.  We have posted video after video after video, explaining in detail why the events in the ending make no sense in the context of the intricately woven space opera we have come to love, and why it needs to be completely scrapped or somehow retconned and then replaced with something new.

If any developer would listen to its fans in this crucial hour, it's Bioware.  The developer who has faithfully listened to its fans throughout the course of this series.  They have an amazing track record in this area; there's no way they would let us down now, with so much on the line.  Right?

Wrong:

"BioWare will expanding on the ending to Mass Effect 3 by creating additional cinematics and epilogue scenes to the existing ending sequences. The goal of these new scenes is to provide additional clarity and closure to Mass Effect 3."

"Are we going to change the ending of the game? No."

THEY ARE NOT LISTENING.

WHY BIOWARE?  WHY NOW, at this most important moment, when your fans are crying out louder than ever before, when their requests are more desperate than ever before?  You showed you listened to smaller complaints related to gameplay and user interface; why won't you listen when the emotions, trust, and loyalty of your most devoted fans is on the line?  You had so much less to lose when you listened to us before.  You have so much more to lose here!

We know you know how to listen!  You need to listen now!

i say keep requoting this, they lied to us, OVER AND OVER AGAIN
maybe that guy who wanted to sue them should

[Vader6412]

I hope some of you understand how much time, money, and work it will take to change the ending completely. This is the easiest way to give those that need closure what they want. If you guys feel you can do better than make your own franchise. Ever hear the phrase if you want something right do it yourself.

[RealStyli]

rrtda wrote...

Interesting vid. Though I don't agree with the war assets thing, it is possible to get a full EMS bar without multiplayer I think - I played very little multiplayer (one night, maybe five games) and I still got a full EMS bar long before I reached Ranoch and there were still assets left to collect. I think the people making that complaint weren't doing all the "fetch" missions and were probably not doing a completionist run. I did almost everything in the game and my runthrough took about 34 hours.

Certainly it would seem that BioWare did make grand claims about the ending and failed to deliver on those claims. That video makes a good point in that regard.

[kuruk22]

The whole "artistic integrity" defense works both ways, you know.

BioWare invokes it to protect the "artistic integrity" of the endings - the poorly constructed final .1% of the series.

The fans can just as easily tell them to respect the "artistic integrity" of the other 99.9% of the narrative that was flagrantly contradicted by the Catalyst and its completely illogical red, blue, and green solutions to a new problem that Shepard proved was moot a few hours of gameplay earlier by ensuring peaceful coexistence between the quarians and the geth. That's what we have been doing, in fact.

I'm beginning to doubt that you're listening anymore, but on the slight chance that you are, take into account that the "artistic integrity" of the last .1% of your series is outweighed by the artistic integrity, overall cohesion, coherence, and beauty of the other 99.9% that the endings attacked. No amount of "clarification" can fix that.

Modifié par kuruk22, 06 avril 2012 - 01:35 .

[HurricaneGinger]

kuruk22 wrote...

The whole "artistic integrity" defense works both ways, you know.

BioWare invokes it to protect the "artistic integrity" of the endings - the poorly constructed final .1% of the series.

The fans can just as easily tell them to respect the "artistic integrity" of the other 99.9% of the narrative that was flagrantly contradicted by the Catalyst and its completely illogical red, blue, and green solutions to a new problem that Shepard proved was moot a few hours of gameplay earlier by ensuring peaceful coexistence between the quarians and the geth.

I'm beginning to doubt that you're listening anymore, but on the slight chance that you are, take into account that the "artistic integrity" of the last .1% of your series is outweighed by the artistic integrity, overall cohesion, coherence, and beauty of the other 99.9% that the endings attacked. No amount of "clarification" can fix that.

+1

I love you. XD

Nidowa wrote...

sth88 wrote...

It's crazy.  It's hard to believe.

When fans said they didn't like the Mako sections in ME1, Bioware kept the Mako out of ME2.

They listened.

When fans said they didn't like the long elevator rides in ME1, Bioware kept the elevator out of ME2.

They listened.

When fans said they didn't like the pop-in textures in ME1, Bioware made it a priority to fix it in ME2.

They listened.

When
fans said that the inventory leveling systems was too clunky and
complex in ME1, Bioware streamlined the process for ME2 and made it much
more user friendly.  And when fans said that they swung a bit too far
in the other direction, Bioware brought back weapon customization and
deepened the leveling system for ME3 while still keeping the
user-friendly interface established in the second game.

They listened.

When
fans said they wished they could have done more with Liara in ME2,
Bioware came out with Lair of the Shadow Broker, a series of missions
featuring Liara, developing her character and expanding her role in the
overall narrative.

They listened.

And now, we the fans are
expressing their frustration over the ending of the trilogy, arguably
the most important moment in the narrative of the franchise.  The
Bioware forums are flooded with fans who are upset, angry, and
depressed, and who feel betrayed or even lied to.  We have organized
into a movement and have been petitioning, begging Bioware to give us a
new ending.  It has become one of the largest fan outcries in the
history of this medium.  We have posted video after video after video,
explaining in detail why the events in the ending make no sense in the
context of the intricately woven space opera we have come to love, and
why it needs to be completely scrapped or somehow retconned and then
replaced with something new.

If any developer would listen to its
fans in this crucial hour, it's Bioware.  The developer who has
faithfully listened to its fans throughout the course of this series. 
They have an amazing track record in this area; there's no way they
would let us down now, with so much on the line.  Right?

Wrong:

"BioWare
will expanding on the ending to Mass Effect 3 by creating additional
cinematics and epilogue scenes to the existing ending sequences. The
goal of these new scenes is to provide additional clarity and closure to
Mass Effect 3."

"Are we going to change the ending of the game? No."

THEY ARE NOT LISTENING.

WHY
BIOWARE?  WHY NOW, at this most important moment, when your fans are
crying out louder than ever before, when their requests are more
desperate than ever before?  You showed you listened to smaller
complaints related to gameplay and user interface; why won't you listen
when the emotions, trust, and loyalty of your most devoted fans is on
the line?  You had so much less to lose when you listened to us before. 
You have so much more to lose here!

We know you know how to listen!  You need to listen now!

i say keep requoting this, they lied to us, OVER AND OVER AGAIN
maybe that guy who wanted to sue them should

Requote.

Modifié par PhantomGinger, 06 avril 2012 - 01:37 .

[ilWarden]

rrtda wrote...

lol. Perfect. Love the colorblind tweet.

[Chrislo1990]

Nidowa wrote...

sth88 wrote...

It's crazy.  It's hard to believe.

When fans said they didn't like the Mako sections in ME1, Bioware kept the Mako out of ME2.

They listened.

When fans said they didn't like the long elevator rides in ME1, Bioware kept the elevator out of ME2.

They listened.

When fans said they didn't like the pop-in textures in ME1, Bioware made it a priority to fix it in ME2.

They listened.

When fans said that the inventory leveling systems was too clunky and complex in ME1, Bioware streamlined the process for ME2 and made it much more user friendly.  And when fans said that they swung a bit too far in the other direction, Bioware brought back weapon customization and deepened the leveling system for ME3 while still keeping the user-friendly interface established in the second game.

They listened.

When fans said they wished they could have done more with Liara in ME2, Bioware came out with Lair of the Shadow Broker, a series of missions featuring Liara, developing her character and expanding her role in the overall narrative.

They listened.

And now, we the fans are expressing their frustration over the ending of the trilogy, arguably the most important moment in the narrative of the franchise.  The Bioware forums are flooded with fans who are upset, angry, and depressed, and who feel betrayed or even lied to.  We have organized into a movement and have been petitioning, begging Bioware to give us a new ending.  It has become one of the largest fan outcries in the history of this medium.  We have posted video after video after video, explaining in detail why the events in the ending make no sense in the context of the intricately woven space opera we have come to love, and why it needs to be completely scrapped or somehow retconned and then replaced with something new.

If any developer would listen to its fans in this crucial hour, it's Bioware.  The developer who has faithfully listened to its fans throughout the course of this series.  They have an amazing track record in this area; there's no way they would let us down now, with so much on the line.  Right?

Wrong:

"BioWare will expanding on the ending to Mass Effect 3 by creating additional cinematics and epilogue scenes to the existing ending sequences. The goal of these new scenes is to provide additional clarity and closure to Mass Effect 3."

"Are we going to change the ending of the game? No."

THEY ARE NOT LISTENING.

WHY BIOWARE?  WHY NOW, at this most important moment, when your fans are crying out louder than ever before, when their requests are more desperate than ever before?  You showed you listened to smaller complaints related to gameplay and user interface; why won't you listen when the emotions, trust, and loyalty of your most devoted fans is on the line?  You had so much less to lose when you listened to us before.  You have so much more to lose here!

We know you know how to listen!  You need to listen now!

i say keep requoting this, they lied to us, OVER AND OVER AGAIN
maybe that guy who wanted to sue them should

Hold the line. Don't give in to EA/Bioware's tactics. Stay strong and keep fighting.

[Byrdman]

The Gentle Ben wrote...

I realize that I'm just another sad voice in an outraged horde (which is why I decided not to post earlier), but after today's announcement (and the end of what little hope I had for meaningful change) I feel the need to say something (pointless as my gesture may be).

I've played every game Bioware has made since BG1. I've loved every game Bioware has made since BG1. I've replayed every game Bioware has made since BG1 (multiple times). Mass Effect is an amazing franchise, the universe is incredible, the writing and characters have been superb. I had 4 characters that had been through every single piece of content in ME1&2 ready to go for ME3, and spent considerable time while playing an intensely entertaining game deciding which character I would play next.

And then I came to the end, and all I felt was numb. There was no sense of accomplishment or even the smallest measure of satisfaction. I went into an ending I had been told would be variable based on my preparation, with every conceivable resource painstakingly gathered, and when it was over I felt as if I had lost, that I had done something wrong. Instead of playing through 99% of a great game again, I closed my application 3 weeks ago and haven't felt the slightest inclination to open it again.

Bioware may have had the ability, and yes, the right to design an ending of their choosing -- but I have the right to say that their decisions regarding that ending reek of self-aggrandizing bull****, and represent some of the worst decisions in storytelling I have ever been unfortunate enough to witness. An ending, especially in an enterprise with user input and control should leave a consumer with some measure of satisfaction, or at the very least hope. This was an ending where the end result was worse than the user's expectations, and left no visible path to future rectification. Having your ending "choices" explained and dictated by your ultimate adversary with not even a modicum of exchanged antagonism was depressing enough. I felt like I was listening to Chris Rock detailing my horoscope (It doesn't matter, you're gonna die), but without the Scorpio.

Worse, it didn't even make sense. Characters were in the wrong place (My squad members from the final mission are exiting the normandy?). People were making decisions that were totally out of character (Why is Joker inexplicably hurtling the normandy through space, when he was in a battle). Lore and plot was ignored or forgotten (Really, the head reaper is just hanging out on the citadel, but they needed Saren to open the damn portal? A relay destruction wipes out a star system. etc...). It all felt rushed, disjointed and altogether unsatisfying. It's one thing for an ending to be weak, it's another for it to be both bad and depressing.

Additionally, I found today's announcement obnoxious and condescending. "Oh, you stupid whiner's didn't get our artisic brilliance? I guess we'll 'CLARIFY' it for you." As things stand, I don't see myself buying any additional content for this game. I doubt anyone at Bioware cares, but I could never have imagined saying that a month ago. What's the point of pursuing a conclusion that aside from being unvariable (or variable only to a sufficient enough extent to kill off the universe. So wait... in one case everyone's an orgathetic now? Good luck folding that possibility into down-the-road endeavors), also results in a finale that effectively extinguishes any hope for the (in-game) future as effectively as the reapers were ever purported to desire. Plus, it's just so damned depressing.

This, this, a 1000x this.  I want so badly to jump back into the Mass Effect universe, to play buy and play Lair of the Shadow Broker (never got a chance to) and get the From Ashes DLC (I didn't when the game came out because I was so eager to jump into the final chapter of my favorite game/story that I wasn't about to wait for the download for the first playthrough), but I just can't bring myself to care.  If I care, then I'll just end up getting hurt by the awful ending again.  Clarifying that ending doesn't change anything.  The ending being vague isn't the problem, I don't need help understanding what was happening.  The Star Child is poor writing/story telling.  The A,B,C - Red/Green/Blue endings are poorly written, poorly executed, and go against all the established themes of the game.   I wanted to give you guys the benefit of a doubt after DA2, but now.... I'm done.  I'll continue holding the line by demanding a new ending, not clarification, and if I don't get that, then you'll no longer be getting any of my money.  Simple as that.

[jeweledleah]

RealStyli wrote...

rrtda wrote...

Interesting vid. Though I don't agree with the war assets thing, it is possible to get a full EMS bar without multiplayer I think - I played very little multiplayer (one night, maybe five games) and I still got a full EMS bar long before I reached Ranoch and there were still assets left to collect. I think the people making that complaint weren't doing all the "fetch" missions and were probably not doing a completionist run. I did almost everything in the game and my runthrough took about 34 hours.

Certainly it would seem that BioWare did make grand claims about the ending and failed to deliver on those claims. That video makes a good point in that regard.

full bar =/= assets you need to get "Sehpard breathes" ending.

bar fills up completely at about 3000ish I beleive.  you get all the ending options at 2800

you need a minimum of 4000 assuming you pass persuasion check.  5000 if you do not.

even if you do every single quest, maximize your assets, metagame the hell out of all three games with all asset giving DLC's installed?  you will fall just a bit short of that 4000 mark, becasue of the 50% readiness.  aka.  you need multiplayer to get ALl the ending options.

amusingly enough, with just a bit of multiplayer and IOS app/game.  even if you make horrible decisions, skip quests, and not even import?  it will be easier for you to get all the ending options.

[ilWarden]

PhantomGinger wrote...

kuruk22 wrote...

The whole "artistic integrity" defense works both ways, you know.

BioWare invokes it to protect the "artistic integrity" of the endings - the poorly constructed final .1% of the series.

The fans can just as easily tell them to respect the "artistic integrity" of the other 99.9% of the narrative that was flagrantly contradicted by the Catalyst and its completely illogical red, blue, and green solutions to a new problem that Shepard proved was moot a few hours of gameplay earlier by ensuring peaceful coexistence between the quarians and the geth.

I'm beginning to doubt that you're listening anymore, but on the slight chance that you are, take into account that the "artistic integrity" of the last .1% of your series is outweighed by the artistic integrity, overall cohesion, coherence, and beauty of the other 99.9% that the endings attacked. No amount of "clarification" can fix that.

+1

I love you. XD

Make that a +2. Perfectly stated! Love the series to death. It was all coherent and cohesive, until that final 1%.

[Meruvian]

"On the Mass Effect 3 endings. Yes, we are listening."
What a joke.

[ilWarden]

Byrdman wrote...

The Gentle Ben wrote...

I realize that I'm just another sad voice in an outraged horde (which is why I decided not to post earlier), but after today's announcement (and the end of what little hope I had for meaningful change) I feel the need to say something (pointless as my gesture may be).

I've played every game Bioware has made since BG1. I've loved every game Bioware has made since BG1. I've replayed every game Bioware has made since BG1 (multiple times). Mass Effect is an amazing franchise, the universe is incredible, the writing and characters have been superb. I had 4 characters that had been through every single piece of content in ME1&2 ready to go for ME3, and spent considerable time while playing an intensely entertaining game deciding which character I would play next.

And then I came to the end, and all I felt was numb. There was no sense of accomplishment or even the smallest measure of satisfaction. I went into an ending I had been told would be variable based on my preparation, with every conceivable resource painstakingly gathered, and when it was over I felt as if I had lost, that I had done something wrong. Instead of playing through 99% of a great game again, I closed my application 3 weeks ago and haven't felt the slightest inclination to open it again.

Bioware may have had the ability, and yes, the right to design an ending of their choosing -- but I have the right to say that their decisions regarding that ending reek of self-aggrandizing bull****, and represent some of the worst decisions in storytelling I have ever been unfortunate enough to witness. An ending, especially in an enterprise with user input and control should leave a consumer with some measure of satisfaction, or at the very least hope. This was an ending where the end result was worse than the user's expectations, and left no visible path to future rectification. Having your ending "choices" explained and dictated by your ultimate adversary with not even a modicum of exchanged antagonism was depressing enough. I felt like I was listening to Chris Rock detailing my horoscope (It doesn't matter, you're gonna die), but without the Scorpio.

Worse, it didn't even make sense. Characters were in the wrong place (My squad members from the final mission are exiting the normandy?). People were making decisions that were totally out of character (Why is Joker inexplicably hurtling the normandy through space, when he was in a battle). Lore and plot was ignored or forgotten (Really, the head reaper is just hanging out on the citadel, but they needed Saren to open the damn portal? A relay destruction wipes out a star system. etc...). It all felt rushed, disjointed and altogether unsatisfying. It's one thing for an ending to be weak, it's another for it to be both bad and depressing.

Additionally, I found today's announcement obnoxious and condescending. "Oh, you stupid whiner's didn't get our artisic brilliance? I guess we'll 'CLARIFY' it for you." As things stand, I don't see myself buying any additional content for this game. I doubt anyone at Bioware cares, but I could never have imagined saying that a month ago. What's the point of pursuing a conclusion that aside from being unvariable (or variable only to a sufficient enough extent to kill off the universe. So wait... in one case everyone's an orgathetic now? Good luck folding that possibility into down-the-road endeavors), also results in a finale that effectively extinguishes any hope for the (in-game) future as effectively as the reapers were ever purported to desire. Plus, it's just so damned depressing.

This, this, a 1000x this.  I want so badly to jump back into the Mass Effect universe, to play buy and play Lair of the Shadow Broker (never got a chance to) and get the From Ashes DLC (I didn't when the game came out because I was so eager to jump into the final chapter of my favorite game/story that I wasn't about to wait for the download for the first playthrough), but I just can't bring myself to care.  If I care, then I'll just end up getting hurt by the awful ending again.  Clarifying that ending doesn't change anything.  The ending being vague isn't the problem, I don't need help understanding what was happening.  The Star Child is poor writing/story telling.  The A,B,C - Red/Green/Blue endings are poorly written, poorly executed, and go against all the established themes of the game.   I wanted to give you guys the benefit of a doubt after DA2, but now.... I'm done.  I'll continue holding the line by demanding a new ending, not clarification, and if I don't get that, then you'll no longer be getting any of my money.  Simple as that.

1000000X yes.

[sjsharp2011]

mine's more generaland that is working with a team and enjo8iying the experience of working with people like Farrus and Tali in the game amazing characters

[ilWarden]

kuruk22 wrote...

The whole "artistic integrity" defense works both ways, you know.

BioWare invokes it to protect the "artistic integrity" of the endings - the poorly constructed final .1% of the series.

The fans can just as easily tell them to respect the "artistic integrity" of the other 99.9% of the narrative that was flagrantly contradicted by the Catalyst and its completely illogical red, blue, and green solutions to a new problem that Shepard proved was moot a few hours of gameplay earlier by ensuring peaceful coexistence between the quarians and the geth. That's what we have been doing, in fact.

I'm beginning to doubt that you're listening anymore, but on the slight chance that you are, take into account that the "artistic integrity" of the last .1% of your series is outweighed by the artistic integrity, overall cohesion, coherence, and beauty of the other 99.9% that the endings attacked. No amount of "clarification" can fix that.

You're awesome. This, always.

[Damisis]

I love how Bioware has used the 'Artistic Integrity' card to hide behind. Well, if that's how they play the ending out, with only this 'Extended Cut' then EA and Bioware can count on me never buying any of their 'art' again.

Here's some reasons why,

First, they lied about the game. You don't think so? Just look up interviews with the team about ME3 and how it was supposed to be. As a consumer, I don't like being told the product I'm going to pay out the ass for is going to be one way, then having the expectations set by the provider to be completely untrue. That's bad business in any form.

Second, if a massive, epic, micro detail driven story loses complete narrative coherence right at the end, doesn't make any sense within the boundaries they themselves created, and then wraps it all up with an extension to an already completely flawed story-I'll go read short stories written by 3rd Graders.

Third, I have spent countless time, effort, and money on their products, only to have them tell us all that despite what we the consumer want, the overwhelmng outcry from their customers, they won't do anything about it. To put in to perspective, I bought the novels, all the comics, every gameplay DLC, picture packs, themes, lithographs, special editions, and art books. But this 'artistic' 'ending' has completely ruined the experience, I literally set down the book I was in the middle of and have had no interest in reading it ever again. I won't be buying anymore merch from Mass Effect. I was planning on buying all the figures, and getting an N7 hoodie. Why would I get an N7 hoodie if I know that N7 no longer exists within ME? Earth is going to be the battle ground for all the aliens stranded there and probably end up belonging to the Krogan. Turians and Quarians both can't eat our food, so they all starve. Ugh, endless plot holes and variables obviously not thought out. Why should I care about any upcoming DLC if we still have an ending that renders it moot. Why would I care to continue playing multiplayer knowing that it's all for nothing. In a story driven game where people primarily are attached to the characters and technology within, they opt to destory everything that makes this game what it is. I understand Bioware wanted to be sure this was the ending, that doesn't mean you need to get rid of everything that made your story and game so great in the last 15 minutes, then tell us 'too bad for you' basically. I'm getting off topic here. Anyone want to add anything, be my guest.

Here's the cause for this rant: http://blog.bioware.com/author/dlarke/

And if what's in this link isn't true, then I'll still hold on to some hope for a better ending and admit that I was indeed wrong to react with such frustration.

[Chronor]

So does anyone think it rather ironic that BW listened? [/huge sarcasm] The title of this thread should be "We're Exercising Our Artistic Integrity for Listening" ... *smirk*

Should also feature something about false advertising...

[RealStyli]

Vader6412 wrote...

I hope some of you understand how much time, money, and work it will take to change the ending completely. This is the easiest way to give those that need closure what they want. If you guys feel you can do better than make your own franchise. Ever hear the phrase if you want something right do it yourself.

I agree to an extent. The horse has bolted and we should just accept that they lied about certain parts of the ending (player choices impacting the ending to a great extent or that there wouldn't be a lot of questions). I don't expect them to change that unless they add in extra shots based on your choices - such as the Rachni attacking Reapers, mercenaries (Bue Suns, Eclipse, Blood Pack) fighting or the Geth and Quarians fighting side by side. They can be relatively easily inserted based on player choices.

Most fans I think would also want clarification on why Joker was abandoning the fight or how squad members [in some endings] appeared on the Normandy. Things like that.

I'm looking forward to exactly how they clarify the endings. I say "endings" because I would assume that they would clarify all three main endings and just how different they think they are. It's not that obvious from what is there now, though I wouldn't be as daft as to say it's just the colours because there are big differences in the outcomes if we are to believe the Child/Creator. 

There's a lot of things that I don't think we'll ever know such as why didn't the Child/Creator just let Sovereign into the CItadel in ME1?

[ilWarden]

You know what? Tim Schafer just raised over $4,000,000 for an unreleased, undeveloped, only conceptualized video game project by tweeting to his followers. Because fans love Tim Schafer games, FANS DONATED MONEY. Crazy amounts of money, in record breaking amounts of time. It almost single-handedly funded the project. His budget was something like $400,000. If i knew that Bioware would address these concerns we all seem to have, i'd donate. Hell. If there's 10,000 of us, and we each chipped in $100, that's a million dollars right there. So here's something: IF YOU KNEW YOU'D GET A BETTER ENDING FOR YOUR PERSONAL SHEP: WOULD YOU PAY ANOTHER $100 ON TOP OF THE PURCHASE PRICE?
Something to ponder. Being loyal to the series, i'd say yes. But only with a money back guarantee.

[Lak_Attack]

One sec. I think my palm just got glued to my face.