9972 réponses à ce sujet

[Jamie9]

I'm sorry to say this. I'm very proud of what we've all been doing, been trying to accomplish. But following DA2, SWTOR and now ME3 (Day 1 DLC and end, tali's face etc.), BioWare is dead to me.

I hope you guys continue holding the line and I hope that you eventually win. But I no longer believe BioWare/EA "wants" to change. They want my money. They won't get it.

Goodbye and good luck to all involved.

[musicaleCA]

Wowlock wrote...

I won't be fooled by them again. I will wait until I see what this content will carry.
I will look for an ACTUALY review and not a paid-off one until I decide to buy it.

Maybe a few of us forum members should take the lead and publically pledge to try-out major DLC and review it. Then other members can read them to have a different view. An admittedly somewhat biased view, but biased in favour of the gamers, not in favour of the publishers.

[atghunter]

Good Morning, Afternoon (here) and Evening All,
 
I get a few hours sleep, go to work and you have all this fun without me! As always, I’m jealous. Short lunch break, so I’ll type as fast as my hunt-and-peck can, though not much going on up to this point in the day.
 
I enjoyed reading Mr. Muzyka’s blog. It’s pretty much just PR stuff I suspect. This is probably no real change from Friday’s developments where the current environment seems to have shifted to a mode that is not only cognitive of product dissatisfaction on some level with the fans, but one that provides a message that they are considering actions to redress that dissatisfaction. As mentioned before, real progress or deflection? Too soon to tell. Please be patient.
 
But I said this yesterday and I will re-affirm it today, you don’t have to be a PR person to know that this is not the kind of message you want to have to be communicating as a business. Enough people have used (and will hopefully continue using) their voices no matter what side they support to bring this issue up on the radar. I believe the statements we’ve heard that “we’re still assessing data” is truthful. This will take time. As I’ve said all along, this isn’t about Bioware being “evil” but nor is Bioware your best friend coming over to your house for Sunday dinner. They are a business and the bottom line is the bottom line. Do they want good customer relations? Of course. But that is not because they expect an invite to your next party. They want a healthy relationship that makes happy customers and puts money into their accounts.
 
I’d like to thank Ms. Merizan for stopping by last night, just as I appreciated Mr. Woo stopping by yesterday. Yet I extend my compliments to all of you. You have created a place of where I’d like to think anyone can have a say, even if you don’t agree with them. There are places all over this forum dissecting almost any data available, yet she chose to come to this thread, engage in a lengthy discourse, and take her leave in that same civility.  It speaks well to everyone here. While she may “disagree” with the end goal of Retake it is equally true many of us equally disagree with the choices Bioware/EA made in this product. Those divergent points of view should never preclude the two sides from expressing themselves.
 
No PR perspective, just my opinion, but I’ve always believed, and I’ve shared it with many of you that I think the best outcome now is a compromise. Ultimately that is Bioware’s decision to make, just as it is each individual’s prerogative to respond to that decision as their conscience dictates. I am happy that Ms. Merizan understands that this is about a dissatisfied customer base towards a business offering when she describes the Mass Effect franchise in the same breath as other products such as pizza and television shows. All three involve the complex world of business/customer relationships in which both sides have pieces in the marketplace to move.
 
As to my terminology perhaps being foreign to Bioware’s PR folks, I guess I’ll attribute that to my being old. There was a time when “discarded post-used material receptacles” were referred to as “trash cans.” I am certain that the PR dynamic has changed incredibly from the days of my experience (and I have posted repeatedly how marveled I am about how old and new ideas seem in play here), though some old patterns seem to still remain unchanged in many instances. Many on this forum (including myself), have advocated for people to listen, share opinions and decide for themselves. 
 
Folks here are, however, as you put it “skeptical” though most are constantly extolling everyone to remain involved but to be patient.   
 
And, for the record, the last time I was referred to as “ridiculous” I was on a beach in Spain wearing a parrot outfit.

Alright, no lunch for me and back to work. Again, my compliments to you all for keeping the discussion civil, quite interesting and lively! /salute I promise I’ll get to my inbox later today. Stay strong, stay passionate, stay civil and use your voice no matter what side you choose! As for me, beside you all, I shall hold the line!

[mutio]

First off, I'm happy they responded at all. However I get this feeling, that they'll do some crappy dlc to explain the nonsense they produced with the ending and leave the ending itself as it is (and don't for example add more endings). Maybe I'm a bit pessimistic here like Enichan, but I don't want to be disappointed again.

I guess in the end we all have to wait until April and longer to see their respond and if the fanbase will be fine with it.

[MikeSnipe1692]

joekickass666 wrote...

MikeSnipe1692 wrote...

Check out the Mass Effect twitter feed. Said that Casey and Ray's comments say that they will release content to answer questions, not necessarily alter anything. Sounds like they are still trying to keep their endings. I'm not exactly okay with this. What about you guys?

have to wait and see what they do, until then it's "lot's of speculation"

Ha, I see what you did there.

[Zebra3]

I absolutely love this thread. It's one of the most insightful on the boards. As for the word from Ray Muzyka, I posted this on another board I visit:

The only thing that surprises me about the Dr.'s post is that... they're surprised at the reaction they're getting from their most loyal fans. I'm just ASTONISHED that Bioware, a company that's always seemed to be in touch with its fan base fairly well (they did promise to fix the problems in Deception with a reprint), wouldn't see this coming. I cannot fathom what was going through their minds. They obviously knew they had created a universe and characters that everybody loved.

Did they REALLY think we'd be satisfied with an abstract montage from Shepard's perspective, Mass Relays being destroyed (along with everything that means), and the Normandy crashing on some random planet somewhere likely never to be seen again. And what about that patronizing scene between the grandfather and grandson? Do they consider us to be children they're telling stories to? To say nothing of that crass plug for DLC at the very end. That's just rubbing salt in the wound.

[Morty73]

Hello everyone,
I played ME3 and I loved it... until the end... The last 15 minutes was a shame for game of the quality of Mass effect. this ending doesn't deserve this trilogy.
I'm happy to see a lot of people disappointed (to be respectfull) by the end of this game.
Here in Switzerland, two newspapers talked about the retake masseffect.
We need a better ending!

Sorry for my english, as you could read it's not my native speak... :-)

[Vap0ur_Snake]

BostonVamp wrote...

This looks recent - have y'all seen this?

http://www.gadgetrev...ontroversy.html

I stopped reading it as I thought they were pure bashing ME3, I didn't agree with anything they said (well almost) calling garrus and talli boring for one and they were just ripping the game apart for the sale of it. I kinda got the idea they were jumping on the bandwagon and going a bit too far with it. 

Fair enough if they are the article writters opinions of the game but I couldn't listen to them
Bash my favourite game series any more. 

Oh and good evening, morning, afternoon to all (6:30pm here)

I am trying to get caught up so I can join in the recent conversation.  

HOLD THE LINE. 

[OriginalTibs]

The Bioware team has delivered mastery much more often than not: I for one will not judge until I have experienced their solution. That does not mean I will refrain from offering what I consider constructive guidance, but if we could actually seperate the ending from the balance of the series I could easily go with 95% superb, 1% conceptual discord, and 4% shoehorning.

Problem is that a story is a whole. We distinguish beginning. body, and conclusion as a matter of analysis, in order to talk about specifics, but the story itself is a whole. An end that refutes the rest of the story makes the whole story bad, not just 5% or even 1% of it. 100%.

Still, I cannot deny how impressive the work is that Bioware put out for ME3, and I, for one, am willing to wait-and-see the result. To do otherwise would be to pass judgement sight unseen. That would be prejudice, and unjust.

I know how much money I have forked over to them, and it is probably similar for most of us. I further suspect Bioware has a strong projection of their potential losses should they betray our collective trust.

So here's what I will do: I will continue to play ME3 only as much as I choose, and to spend Bioware points for multiplayer since they are already already purchased, but until I have seen a finished product that satifies me that they at least did their level best to satisfy me they won't get another dime from me here, or through SWTOR.

No one can guarantee that any of us will actually be satisfied, but if they at least demonstrate that effort then I will continue my patronage. If not, I will not forgive the betrayal of the art of storytelling they committed.

The end of a good story, even a surprise ending, must be consistent with that story, and not a contradiction thereof. Nihilism is a contradiction of the highest order, and no appeal to the sanctity of artistry is an adequate defense for betrayal of that same artistry.

[DoctorCrowtgamer]

Kioux wrote...

Maybe I am a bit too negative about this - but my fear is that 'providing additional closure' could end up in half-baked quests and DLCs that will answer question in definite and unpleasant ways, such as "You wonder what happened to your crew? Well they're all dead!" Of course this is an exaggerated way of putting it. However if they did this, we would no longer have the "lack of closure" argument and would still feel utterly destroyed. Then again, this would certainly not help them to restore trust in their already shaken fans.

As for the official statement: I'm not reading too much into it all. We got an official reaction and we received an official and definite time for new: April. What they make out of it is up to them and I can only hope that they finally get off their high horse and stop denouncing us a "some fans" or a "minority". Should it continue - the word will spread, not only over the forums, twitter and facebook but over a massive amount of blogs, reviews and ratings - as well as word-of-mouth advertising (or rather word-of-mouth anti-advertising) that warns possible customers away.

That is what I think this is all just them trying to get us to buy DLC and get the sales of the game up before the end of the month don't fall for it.  We have been fighting for more endings so that the end of the series will reflect our choices not longer versions of the endings that don't work given the choices we made.  Hold out for more choices please.  this proves we are close but we are not their yet.  please do not fall for this PRtrick.  Don't touch any bioware or Ea stuff until we get DLC that give us more choices so that our choices are reflected in the endings.  That is what we are fightimg for and we don't stoip fighting until that is what we get.

Please check out this group and join in.

http://social.bioware.com/group/7102/

Thank you for your time.

[UKillMeLongTime]

well they did do one thing
Without a patch they stopped the roar over importing failing for so many users
People too busy being miffed over DLC and the endings than their original faces

[Takibanazaki]

Just a quick note, check http://investor.ea.com/stockquote.cfm the end should clarify why Mr Muzyka had to adress the situation.

Modifié par Takibanazaki, 21 mars 2012 - 06:36 .

[DrkCntry]

Takibanazaki wrote...

Just a quick note, check http://investor.ea.com/stockquote.cfm the end should clarify why Mr Muzyka had to adress the situation.

That actually says nothing....<_<

[Adam2190]

musicaleCA wrote...

Wildhide wrote...

I would point out to Mr. Muzyka that IGN, the most visited gaming website in the world, received exclusive early access to the game. Their review page was unlike any other review they have ever done, adorned with fancy graphics and links to buy the game over at Gamestop’s online store. Moreover, one of IGN’s employees is featured in the game in likeness and voice, and that same employee presented a prominent preview of the game.

Funny thing is that the when I played through ME3, I didn't know this at all. I thought she was just a bad excuse to not bring back Emily Wong. Now that I know this...if I ever play ME3 again, I'm going to bring her on the ship, and then kick her right off again out of pure spite.

Which is annoying because some of the exchanges between her and Traynor are alright.

^ Agreed, no amount of "justification" can explain the obvious plotholes and continuity errors.

Modifié par Adam2190, 21 mars 2012 - 06:40 .

[LdyBelial]

Danny_K_1 wrote...

Finished this game last night and couldn't believe what was put in front of me, I'd played through three games and made ridiculous amounts of desicions to be told "Here's three choices no matter what you did". To say I'm disillusioned with the company at the moment is a bit of an understatement - all that hype about consequences and to be hit with this is simply unacceptable; as consumers and fans we deserve better. As for this new announcement, I don't know if my interpretation's off but I have percieved this as them wanting to provide 'closure' and not outright change anything. I don't know about you chaps but that isn't on for me.

Consider me a new member of The Line.

Welcome to the LINE!  We are happy to have you with us!

Nisus wrote...

I have been a long time lurker and only recently felt
compelled enough to comment. I’ve been following this thread for a while now
(since page 10 or something like that) and I have found this to be one of the
most well thought out and articulate threads I have ever come across. Granted
my exposure is quite limited, as soon as I see people raging I tend to skip off
and find another niche but this thread has continually held my attention and on
more than one occasion made me think and evaluate where I stand on these issues
and has definitely encouraged me to get involved.

That being said, I apologize for the potential wall o’ text.
Feel free to skip/skim/or completely disregard. It’s all opinion.

I think one of the best things people have been doing is not
having a knee-jerk reaction to posts by BioWare employees. We have all been
hurt, and feel extremely misguided by their previous statements but we only do
ourselves harm by lashing out. I feel this needs to be continually reinforced
as a good thing. I (think) I have read most of the posts put out by BW and I
will admit to being offended, angry and irrational at times. The best thing to
do is take a breath. Remember to be understanding, I firmly believe that the
people working on the ME series consider this their baby. I don’t doubt for a
minute that this was labor of love and our reactions have thrown them for a
loop. (If I wanted to be poetic I would draw on similarities to how I felt as
soon as my Shep was lifted up with the plot device elevator on the Citadel).

We are asking for big changes, and that takes time to craft.
The acknowledgement we’ve gotten from our community manager, Jessica Merizan
and BW co-founder Dr. Muzyka speaks volumes.
They can’t outright say that they messed up – that’s just bad business (for the
moment, that can quickly change). But the fact that they have taken time to
specifically address the movement and recognize its presence (mentions of it
being a minority notwithstanding) is movement in the right direction. There are
definitely things they need to answer for but as of right now I’m not expecting
them to come out with cut and dry answers. Their responses do indicate that
they’re listening.

That being said, everyone is entitled to his or her own
opinion when it comes to the statements made but I’m looking at it this way
(for now); if I’m asking BioWare to alter the endings I need to tentatively
trust them. If I don’t I’ve completely shut down any kind of conversation. This
is my game plan until April. With my meager knowledge of game development and
company practices I think this is more than a sufficient amount of time for
them to articulate a game plan (probably at PAX). But this is an uphill battle
that is far from over. So I plan to Hold The Line. 

-- end personal rant/opinion. This is what I get for not
posting sooner [smilie]../../../images/forum/emoticons/whistling.png[/smilie]

Very well put!  Thank you!!!  I agree.

SweetJeeba wrote...

Jessica Merizan wrote...

Hey guys,
I just wanted to clarify a few things.

1)
The twitter account is my personal one. No one is paying me to tweet on
it and considering how much people are trying to extrapolate from
replies I make that are meant for certain people (Twitter operates in a
way that it's assume that while replies are public, people don't see
them on their feed unless they follow both individuals -- or unless they
camp on someone's profile which is what people are currently doing on
mine). There's not a script I'm following and I'm not being "told"
anything by PR. PR actually has very little to do with this situation,
but I doubt you will believe that.

2) I was speaking to a person
who enjoyed the ending (which is very much a personal opinion that I
respect just as I respect someone else's opinion that they did not like
the endings or even that the endings ruined their ME experience. All
opinions are valid.) and I indicated that people who like things do not
talk about it enough. People took this to mean that I was indicating
that people don't talk about things when they're happy or that word of
mouth isn't discussing things. That was not my intention.

2A)
Twitter is terrible about having forum like conversations but currently
I'm finding that's how people are trying to use it. After sending
thousands of tweets this week (no small feat, try it) yes I get fatigued
and don't always say exactly what I mean. But it's worse when I know
that everyone is camped out on my feed just waiting to pick apart
something I've said and prove me to be a liar or the harbinger of hope.
Neither of which I am. I am a community manager who is a trained
anthropologist and I feel that at times like this having a dialogue is
more important than ever. It would certainly be easier if I didn't say
anything at all, but I don't think that's the right thing to do.

2B)
My intention to that person was to say that more people need to
vocalize their opinion, positive or negative. When we insulate ourselves
in tight-knit communities, it's harder to see that most people aren't
doing that. Not the same most people however, just most people in
different situations. An example I used is the 90-9-1 principle or the
1% rule (which is all over the internet and I studied it during my
master's coursework in media consumption at University College London,
namedrop intentional as people have recently accused me of being unable
to read and interpret statistics or data, something I'm very good at and
pride myself on).

3) The above rule is quite simple. 90% of
consumers will passively engage in the product through consumption (such
as playing a video game). They might lurk on forums or read articles.
9% of these people will take it a step further and actively engage in
discussions and talk. These are the people that you rely on for WOM
sales (word of mouth). They'll "like" a post on Facebook, share it to
their wall, reply to a forum thread, RT or reply to something on
Twitter. Then you have people who take it one step further and create
content based on the original product. These are your fan artists,
cosplayers, and even as simple as someone who starts a forum thread or
makes a youtube video.

3A) An example I gave of this on Twitter
is 3 products that I enjoy: Dominos pizza, the television show The
Venture Brothers, and the Mass Effect Franchise. While I spend an
embarrassing amount of money on Dominos every month, I don't discuss my
purchase online with my friends. I haven't "Liked" their page on
Facebook and I'm not a member of their community. I'm still an important
consumer and I vote with my wallet. However I'm in that 90% that
Dominos is constantly trying to engage with pizza ordering widgets to
share on my Facebook wall etc. But I'm not biting. On the other hand,
I'm a much more vocal consumer of the Venture Brothers. I'm in the 9%
there. I've been a member of several fan sites, tuned into their
livestreams and donated money during their charity drives, I tweet
quotes from the show and am involved in discussions with other fans I
met online. And finally, long before I worked for BioWare, I was in the
1% of this community. Even though I didn't go on the forums much (other
than lurk), I created costumes, spread my love of their games at
conventions, actively participated in their facebook initiatives etc.

3B)
This doesn't just apply to people who like something. This applies to
consumption as a whole. The 9% vocal minority isn't a bunch of
naysayers. It's literally just the vocal bunch out of the entire group.
It includes people who like, dislike, and are neutral. The media has
just latched onto "vocal minority" as if it's a bad thing. It's not.
It's just the way consumption works. Go look at any Facebook page,
specifically their "People Talking About This" (PTAT). We consider 10% a
great number. 20% is off the charts. But it rarely goes above that.
It's just the way things work.

4) Honestly, if you want people
to communicate more, you have to stop ripping apart everything. I'm
speaking in generals here, most people don't do this but we remember
those people who do the most. I have devs who don't want to write blogs
for me because they don't want to lovingly craft a nice post and then
watch it get picked apart and analyzed to death. There have been
countless times this week that I wanted to stop talking because people
were misinterpreting things I said such as my tweet in reply to one
specific person that was taken out of context. One tweet that I made
when I was tired and it was poorly worded. And seeing people rip it
apart in the forums made me want to stop tweeting for good. Make my
account private and just use my public one for generic information and
boring updates. But I didn't because I know that it's awful when a few
people ruin it for everyone.

I respect that even if I personally
disagree with the end goal of RetakeME, their means to be heard are
noble. Even if they have a demand, they aren't coming across as
demanding. They try to be polite and fight stereotypes about fandom. And
as their community manager, I'm advocating for their opinions to be
heard. But this BioWare PR damage control stuff is ridiculous. How can
we expect to have a conversation about this when people are slinging
around jargon that frankly none of our PR professionals have ever even
heard of. You're making yourselves paranoid and rejecting anything we
have to say. It's one thing to be skeptical (as a consumer, it's smart
to be an informed buyer) but it's another thing to lead yourself to
believe that someone is actively trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
We aren't. I'm not. I'm losing sleep over this and regardless of what
you may think I'm not getting paid to sit and type this out. And any PR
person would tell you this entire post is a mistake to write and
publish.

Thanks.

P.S. Since I'm trying to be informative, a
disclaimer about "this is my personal Twitter. Opinions are my own."
don't actually hold up or keep someone out of hot water, so it's a waste
of precious characters to have that in your description.

P.P.S.
Yes, as someone previously mentioned we are actively monitoring how
many people are finishing the game and comparing it to ME2 as a
standard. This is the primary reason that we have held off on discussing
the endings, for better or worse. You can expect fuller details later,
but when I ask you to be patient it's not because I hate you or am
scrambling to find the right words to say. I will tell you that I'm
really encouraged by the feedback I'm getting and what I'm hearing from
the team and I look forward to when that can be shared. Also,
multiplayer numbers are a completely separate metric so you don't need
to worry about us conflating the two.

I don't understand the
point of you even bothering to disagree with the goal of retake ME.  If
the fans get what they want then you still have the ending younliked

I think she has a point.  We do nitpick.  We tear everything into pieces and analyze the heck out of it.  I for one am going to take her advice.  I am not paranoid by nature -- rather I tend towards optimism.  I think a little optimism is not untoward right now, yes?  

We all need to think positively.  BioWare isn't our enemy to be conquered.  They gave us two awesome Mass Effect game and for the most part a third awesome game that needs the ending rewritten.  I don't hate BioWare... I don't want to hate BioWare!  I want to support them.  I want them to give me the same awesomeness I got with ME1 and 2!  And I want them to do it for many, many, many more years.  

I don't want this to be the end of Mass Effect even though it is the end of Shepard.  But neither do I want the end of Shepard to be so dreary, dismal, disappointing, sad and such a pessimistic opposite of what the entire series represented.  But still?  I love BioWare and I want them to succeed!  I want ME3 to be the crowning glory of one of the BEST GAME series EVER!!!  Because that's what it deserves to be!

So...  Maybe we should build up the hope?

Hold the LINE!  There is LIGHT at the end of this long, dark tunnel!

Lan

[chkchkchk]

Lucypo0n wrote...

A little motivation for continuing to hold the line: http://i.imgur.com/3Qq6U.jpg

Tears of laughter.  Shimmering tears of laughter.

[Xernius]

Just dropping in to say this thread is absolutely fantastic! Have learned much and found a lot of comfort here. Hold the line!

[mattynutz]

Atghunter, you're like our Anderson.


<whisper> do the "I'm proud of you" part... please!



last minute edit: am I reading that stock quote right? Does it mean that their stocks are kind of tanking?

Modifié par mattynutz, 21 mars 2012 - 06:43 .

[Enichan]

Off topic, but I'm not sure why the face import bug is still being put forward as such a big point against Bioware when there's been a user implemented fix since day 1.

[Takibanazaki]

DrkCntry wrote...

Takibanazaki wrote...

Just a quick note, check http://investor.ea.com/stockquote.cfm the end should clarify why Mr Muzyka had to adress the situation.

That actually says nothing....<_<

Dropping stocks, wich where in a climb since ME3 launch don't say nothing?

[Drasoini]

Always good to see you still out and about ATG. I'm still holding out for hope (now) that Bioware will release something that fixes the ending. Even if it was indoctrination, as has been stated previously, the ending still wasn't satisfying. And as a critic (everybody's a critic) I have to say the artistic side of it was weak as well. Not only the confusing situation of the Normandy's flight, but also the sheer frustration of watching such a wonderful story (bittersweet indeed! The deaths of Legion and Wyks (Mordin died in my particular save) WERE indeed bittersweet) tumble to the ground in failure so close to the finish.

I rant and ramble, I still -want- to be a loyal customer to Bioware. Just...it's frustrating to be in this position.

Hold the Line.

[Volion]

atghunter wrote...
 
And, for the record, the last time I was referred to as “ridiculous” I was on a beach in Spain wearing a parrot outfit.

Alright, no lunch for me and back to work. Again, my compliments to you all for keeping the discussion civil, quite interesting and lively! /salute I promise I’ll get to my inbox later today. Stay strong, stay passionate, stay civil and use your voice no matter what side you choose! As for me, beside you all, I shall hold the line!

I for one would like photos of that! 

Agreed as always: remain calm, collected and continue on....

[DrkCntry]

Takibanazaki wrote...

DrkCntry wrote...

Takibanazaki wrote...

Just a quick note, check http://investor.ea.com/stockquote.cfm the end should clarify why Mr Muzyka had to adress the situation.

That actually says nothing....<_<

Dropping stocks, wich where in a climb since ME3 launch don't say nothing?

When it reaches near the 52-week low, then it might say something...this is no different than any spike for major release.

[LinkSnake1016]

Regarding the co-founder's response- it's the same stuff they've been saying but now really pointing out ratings. You know what, they can keep their critics! Those critics probably were encouraged by management to give them good reviews. I mean BW needs to advertise somewhere and with the Sony problem before this game came out, they pulled backing due to bad review. I can see sponsored critics being careful. If they continue this way they'll have their critics but will lose a lot of fans.

[LdyBelial]

atghunter wrote...

Good Morning, Afternoon (here) and Evening All,
 
I get a few hours sleep, go to work and you have all this fun without me! As always, I’m jealous. Short lunch break, so I’ll type as fast as my hunt-and-peck can, though not much going on up to this point in the day.
 
I enjoyed reading Mr. Muzyka’s blog. It’s pretty much just PR stuff I suspect. This is probably no real change from Friday’s developments where the current environment seems to have shifted to a mode that is not only cognitive of product dissatisfaction on some level with the fans, but one that provides a message that they are considering actions to redress that dissatisfaction. As mentioned before, real progress or deflection? Too soon to tell. Please be patient.
 
But I said this yesterday and I will re-affirm it today, you don’t have to be a PR person to know that this is not the kind of message you want to have to be communicating as a business. Enough people have used (and will hopefully continue using) their voices no matter what side they support to bring this issue up on the radar. I believe the statements we’ve heard that “we’re still assessing data” is truthful. This will take time. As I’ve said all along, this isn’t about Bioware being “evil” but nor is Bioware your best friend coming over to your house for Sunday dinner. They are a business and the bottom line is the bottom line. Do they want good customer relations? Of course. But that is not because they expect an invite to your next party. They want a healthy relationship that makes happy customers and puts money into their accounts.
 
I’d like to thank Ms. Merizan for stopping by last night, just as I appreciated Mr. Woo stopping by yesterday. Yet I extend my compliments to all of you. You have created a place of where I’d like to think anyone can have a say, even if you don’t agree with them. There are places all over this forum dissecting almost any data available, yet she chose to come to this thread, engage in a lengthy discourse, and take her leave in that same civility.  It speaks well to everyone here. While she may “disagree” with the end goal of Retake it is equally true many of us equally disagree with the choices Bioware/EA made in this product. Those divergent points of view should never preclude the two sides from expressing themselves.
 
No PR perspective, just my opinion, but I’ve always believed, and I’ve shared it with many of you that I think the best outcome now is a compromise. Ultimately that is Bioware’s decision to make, just as it is each individual’s prerogative to respond to that decision as their conscience dictates. I am happy that Ms. Merizan understands that this is about a dissatisfied customer base towards a business offering when she describes the Mass Effect franchise in the same breath as other products such as pizza and television shows. All three involve the complex world of business/customer relationships in which both sides have pieces in the marketplace to move.
 
As to my terminology perhaps being foreign to Bioware’s PR folks, I guess I’ll attribute that to my being old. There was a time when “discarded post-used material receptacles” were referred to as “trash cans.” I am certain that the PR dynamic has changed incredibly from the days of my experience (and I have posted repeatedly how marveled I am about how old and new ideas seem in play here), though some old patterns seem to still remain unchanged in many instances. Many on this forum (including myself), have advocated for people to listen, share opinions and decide for themselves. 
 
Folks here are, however, as you put it “skeptical” though most are constantly extolling everyone to remain involved but to be patient.   
 
And, for the record, the last time I was referred to as “ridiculous” I was on a beach in Spain wearing a parrot outfit.

Alright, no lunch for me and back to work. Again, my compliments to you all for keeping the discussion civil, quite interesting and lively! /salute I promise I’ll get to my inbox later today. Stay strong, stay passionate, stay civil and use your voice no matter what side you choose! As for me, beside you all, I shall hold the line!

Awesome post as always...  What is most intriguing however, is the parrot outfit...  there's a story there, I know it!  Boy would I loved to have seen the pics of that!  ::cheeky grin.::