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I'm another player that never felt the need to speak before, coming here now and then in stealth mode. Besides, posting on a forum is not a thing I'm doing often, but that thread impressed me and gave me the will to do it, even if what I'm going to say has already been told countless times.
Before going further, I want to warn you that, one, it's going to be long, and two, english isn't my native language. I apologize for the possible mistakes I might make and I hope I will employ the right words.
Well, if I should describe myself, I wouldn't call me a hardcore fan of Mass Effect. Sure, I played the games several times, I really like the characters and I've been amazed by the work putted into the universe, but it never went further than that. Yet, I've been affected by the way the series ended.
I'm torn between deception and frustration, but there's absolutely no anger involved. Some people inside Bioware wanted the game to end like this, and I respect their vision and their choices. My problem, like many of you, is that no explanation I can come up with is making sense to me.
Before playing the game, I heard about the rumors concerning the ending, but I wanted to make my own opinion about it without being influenced, so I ignored them.
While playing through the ending for the first time, I felt that everything happening after the Harbinger's beam wasn't meant to be real. From the moment I heard the radio messages saying that no one made it to the beam while Shepard was dragging himself along, I felt something was wrong. But when Shepard met the "Infans Ex Machina", I started to understand the dissatisfaction toward the ending. It's only when I saw the three endings that I fully understood it. Not only they are quite the same, but I began to notice some plot holes. I watched the coherence of the Mass Effect's universe blow up before my eyes like a one of the mass relay.
Now, let me clear things up. It's not what happens in the last ten minutes that annoys me. Take it like a dream, or indoctrination, pretend the RGB explosions were a metaphor and voilà, problem solved. No, the thing is that a part of the ending seems missing to me. If it's a dream, there has to be something else after Shepard awakes, assuming (s)he awakes (and one of the endings tends to prove it). That doesn't make sense not to see what occurs next. It's like reading a book to find out that the last chapter is missing. Most of the readers would feel frustrated. Well, that's what I felt.
Nevertheless, not willing to believe that this game was shipped without a proper ending, I thought the dream theory might be wrong. Maybe I missed something and the events depicted are real. Why not after all ? But in that case, I need someone to explain why there are much more plot holes in the ending than Reapers' bodies left in the trail of the Normandy (please, forgive me Marauder Shields, I didn't knew what I was doing). By the way, succeeding to fill each plot hole without creating new ones is going to be a hell of a task.
In last resort, I did something I'm usually not doing : not scared by possible spoilers, I went on the internet searching for the complete list of endings, hoping I missed some of them. What I found in the end was this thread.
What I would gladly appreciate from Bioware is at least an answer to my questions. I just want the ending of the series to make sense to me. Nothing more. Except if you have something interesting. I mean, if you want to add free content, that's fine with me !
That being said, the ending of Mass Effect 3 had and still has a side effect on me. The fact is I don't want to play Mass Effect anymore. Believe me it's not a boycott, it's just that I've lost the will to play the games again. Yes, I could still see new things or try different approaches with each character. I have several Shepard waiting to fulfill their destiny and while playing ME3, I even planned to start a new one from the beginning. But that ending broked my momentum. My only wish is that Bioware will fix things up, a way or an other.
There's a last topic I want to talk about. I had several insights of how a video game studio is working, through personal experiences and friends, and one thing I'm sure of is that Bioware is everything but a monolithic entity. There are inevitably employees that are feeling the same way as we do, and some may have warned their superiors about this issue long before we ever had the chance to put our hands on the final product. I'm also certain that the community managers are doing their best to make our voice heard.
My point is they probably don't have the power. What bothers me is that I can't tell if the people who have the power inside Bioware and/or EA are aware that some effects of this movement could be seen much later, when no turning back will be possible. If the fans turn their back to Bioware because the message they get from their beloved company is not satisfying, this will have repercussions.
Some will probably argue that fans are a minority and that it won't change a lot for Bioware. I couldn't disagree more. For every universe, for every franchise (I'm not only talking about Bioware) fans are important. Yes, this small community looked unfavorably from the outside has irritating sides, but they are an invaluable asset for artists and creators. They are keeping an universe (or a series, a franchise, etc…) alive, through multiple means. And in return, it benefits to the artists and creators. On the other hand, without them, any universe is not going to live long.
If they are satisfied, Mass Effect's fans will have a huge effect on Bioware's health. On the short-term, the series' sales will jump with the good publicity fans will make. On the mid-term, DLCs will have a higher chance to be sold. And on the long-term, the company will benefit from a good public image. On the other hand, without them, Bioware and EA will not get that money. Sure, Bioware has other franchises, EA has other studios… And maybe they're not really willing to make more money. Also, fans could make bad press to those companies.
Now, I sincerely hope that there will be a happy ending to this.
That's it. I think I've said everything I wanted for now. If you've read everything, you have my gratitude. Thank you. I hope it wasn't boring. This thread is so long and so many good opinions were posted that it's hard to find something new or useful to say.
I will now go back into my dear stealth mode but be assured that even if I don't post, I'll still be around.
See you later !
Modifié par Lightfox, 22 mars 2012 - 01:11 .
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