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EA/Bioware in Full PR Damage Control Mode *UPDATED 3/22/12, 5:28 PM UTC/GMT -4 hours*


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#1076
Repojam

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N7_Sniper91 wrote...

All of you keep thanking Jarret Lee, but you do realize that he hasn't told us anything we haven't already been told by Casey and a few others, right? Aside from just vaguely acknowledging the problem(Which has already been done by other BW staff), we haven't been given a straight 'yes or no' answer at all.

We're still getting the spin around, people.

I'd suggest you save the 'thanks' for when we actually get a REAL answer from Jarret(Or others), not same PR-spin that's been going on all this week.


You don't think that they are at least considering the point of view that people are dissatisfied with the ending is a good starting point?  

Even the idea that the concerns are being heard and noted is an excellent starting point, and am glad that they are at least listening to the fan base.

#1077
vigna

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Veginator wrote...

Jarrett Lee wrote...

Peete wrote...

Jarrett Lee wrote...


There's no voodoo at work here - I'm just sitting on my couch reading this on my iPad, it has been a difficult week, I'm very tired.

Mr. Lee
You mentioned it's been a difficult week. Out of curiosity, why has it been a difficult week?

Again out of curiosity, and if you don't mind me asking are you a (just) forum moderater or one of the developers?



Im the senior marketing guy....one of them. Have been for the whole franchise really. I can't tell if your question is serious or if yer messing with me :)  the fan reaction is difficult to watch, after all the hard work basically. I'm not a moderator really, just an employee.


I understand it's probably hard to watch how we're reacting to the franchise now, but look at it from our perspective.  We each have our own individual stories and connections with the franchise and it's very painful for us.

A little information about myself.  I'm an adult in his very late 20's.  I suffer from a chronic case of major depression and an anxiety disorder.  I've been clinically diagnosed with these.  One of my major outlets to relieve this condition has been to escape reality through videogames.  This treatment, along with proper medication and therapy, has allowed me to live a relatively normal and fulfilling life.  You cannot imagine the amount of joy that the Mass Effect games have brought to my life.  I've read all the comics and books multiple times, the games I've had playthroughs in the double digits.  I own multiple copies of every version of the game.  Mass Effect is very dear to me.

So imagine the absolute horror for somebody such as myself when confronted with an ending that in my mind ruined the entire series.  The state of despair I felt echoed into my real life and I've been physically sick for the past week.  It has affected my standard of living, my performance at my job, and my social life.  I've sank into the worst depression state I've been in for years.  The last time I was in a state like this I actually turned myself in as a suicide risk (don't worry, I'm not going to do anything, I have educated myself on when to seek emergency help). I am going to have to alter my lifestyle because to be honest I don't feel like playing any videogames anymore, and that is troublesome because previously that had been a very effective form of treatment for me.  I hope this proves to be a temporary issue, but I've never experienced anything quite like this before so I'm really not quite certain how to proceed.  I'll likely have to discuss that with my therapist.  But that's another matter I'll have to deal with myself.

Regardless, I still have hope.  The current situation has permanently soured my impression of Mass Effect 3 because I will always remember my first experience as I would remember being in a brutal car accident on the way home from a joyous occassion or holiday.  Something that will always taint what should be a happy memory.  But it is not too late to fix it.  Unlike a car accident, real lives have not been lost forever.  Mass Effect is still a work of fiction and can be changed at will.  I honestly hope the folks at Bioware do the right thing and give us a new ending.  Anything less will be hollow and still tainted because I'll still know that it ends up at the same destination.  I understand the realities of capitalism and the need to please investors, and I hope that if that is a major factor in the decision making process that it can be turned into a profitable situation for your organization through the creation of a DLC ending to sell us.  I'd happily pay whatever cost of such a pack as the peace of mind afforded to me through it would be well worth the price of admission.

In closing I hope I can bring myself to participate in the event being held this weekend, but I just find it difficult to play the game as I feel physically sick when I look at the game now.  It's a very sad situation as I thought the rest of the game was entirely brilliant, and while I played through the first games at least a dozen times through, I can't foresee myself ever playing through Mass Effect 3 again without some changes to the ending.


Thanks for that. Good to see other perspectives.

#1078
dkear1

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Novouto wrote...

I'm still angry at BioWare, we all should still be.


Until we get what we were promised.......You Bet Ya!!

#1079
crazyeye343

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I think it also should be added that the retake Mass Effect Charity page has raised over 56k for Child's Play in 5 days. Bioware/EA if we are willing to raise that much money to say we want new endings, i think it is safe to assume we will pay you a lot of money make to the new ending dlc

Modifié par crazyeye343, 17 mars 2012 - 08:14 .


#1080
Lugaidster

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Since I couldn't have put it in better words myself, I'm just going to quote it.

atghunter wrote...

Jarrett Lee wrote...

Most of these things you see as olive branches aren't that at all. They are part of the already planned launch period of ME3 (Star Wars I can't speak for). The N7 MP weekend was planned some time ago - before the ending situation came to light. Not everything revolves around this controversy. It's just unfortunate timing. Same goes for the recent strategy videos for example - we filmed those weeks ago. I think Corey and Eric did a great job in them and was dismayed at the vitriol in the YouTube comments.

You're complaints are being heard, and considered and discussed etc, but I wouldn't read so much into some of the marketing stuff we're doing. I know a lot of you won't buy that - i cant "prove it" - but I've actually always been honest with you guys all the way back to ME1. Operation Goliath is an event we planned because the multiplayer is really fun, and we want to engage the players with it (i just completed the challenge tonight myself!). Of course we had events and releases planned for the week after launch-week. There are no nefarious scheming evil meetings on this topic. We take it seriously, and are discussing it internally. Nobody is happy or dismissive about the fan reaction, at BioWare. Quite the opposite really. These are good people who care deeply about the work they do.

I would suggest patience but not sure there's receptiveness to that at this point.

Guess that's all I wanted to say for now. Have a good night/weekend.



Mr. Lee,
 
Thanks for joining the dialogue. I haven’t read ahead, but I hope the discourse over your post remains civil and positive as I think this thread has been.
 
First, I wholeheartedly believe that there are good people at Bioware that care about the work they do. But I hope you can equally agree that sometimes the best people in business, with the best intentions, can misstep when it comes to consumer relations. It does not make them bad or wicked, just human. And when that happens, a tedious (and sometimes strained) relationship occurs requiring ultimately a dialogue between the conflicted parties brokered by PR folks. I don’t think anyone (certainly I haven’t) ascribed Bioware’s response as “evil”, but it is most certainly calculated. It has to be given the stakes.
 
We should also probably agree that atm the PR folks are directing the course of Bioware’s response (with lots of input to be sure).  Were some/all of the events going on this weekend pre-planned? I don’t know but I’ll take your word for it. Could those same events have been planned as firewalls (aka potential faux olive branches) or for just plain fun? I don’t know. However, while I certainly wasn’t the most savvy PR guy, it simply seems illogical that someone wouldn’t build some firewalls into a worldwide pre-sale release just in case. Again, no evil intentions, just solid market share defense. Those same firewalls turn into great media boosters if the game had been acclaimed and unneeded. In short, they get repurposed. 
 
I don’t ascribe Bioware as a malevolent group bent on the destruction of its fan base. At the moment I do ascribe them in one sense as you do:
 
We take it seriously, and are discussing it internally. Nobody is happy or dismissive about the fan reaction, at BioWare      
 
And that is, in my opinion, is because the situation cannot be ignored. As I’ve posted previously, Bioware/EA seems to have acknowledged a problem. Now it is simply a matter of how a business determines the economic viability of its response.
 
Again, I’m glad you chimed in. I always enjoy good discussions. And please don’t believe there isn’t “receptiveness” to your point. It’s fatalism. Honestly, people here have been passionately, but in an overwhelmingly civil tone, chiming in all week hoping for a modicum of acknowledgement with virtually no response from Bioware, and most still seem possessed of great hope for that same receptiveness.
 


BTW, Bioware, not everyone is hateful or resentful, regardless of ending opinion. 

#1081
vigna

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Bachuck wrote...

vigna wrote...

And I also have been saying we need to initiate some sort of thread that creates a consensus of our exact top problems . we have so many.  Honestly, they need to tell us what is  "realistic" as far as programming as you say, but we probably need to realize they won't be calling in every single VA again. etc.  It's a weird precedent if they cave.....


Voice work can actually be done over the internet. If Keith David is in LA, they can put him in a recording studio in LA and transfer the recording via the internet to the Bioware studios in Canada. He doesn't actually have to be flown back in.

Bioware: "Quick fixes. we have dismissed this claim."  hhahah
True enough.

#1082
Khallos

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Here's a question for ya, atg: could this "bunkering" strategy just be the tactic chosen to weather the storm until the Q1 fiscal period ends at the end of March? A post on Reddit brought this up, and the posters explanation that they (being BW) wouldn't want to rock the boat too much before the first quarterly numbers came out.

#1083
Moirai

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moteh wrote...

I have to back Bioware, a lot of this stuff is exactly the type of stuff I expect during the launch window for a new game, the fact some people are spinning it to be some conspiracy is just sad. Keep pushing about the endings, I think our concerns on that must be met. But you can't simply vilify an entire company because of the endings, especially when they are starting discussion on them with us.


I agree that we shouldn't be tarring the whole company with the same brush, agreed. Good sane point.

However, by the same point, we shouldn't supporting the whole company either.

After all, 'someone' is responsible for upsetting Bioware's customers.

#1084
j78

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IThe Final Hours of Mass Effect 3, Geoff Keighley's behind-the-scenes iOS app, has revealed some new details about the game's controversial ending that will likely give irate fans even more reason to be upset. Be warned: there are quite a few spoilers scattered throughout, so don't read on unless you've already completed the game.

While former lead writer Drew Karphysyn had said that the broader strokes of the ending were in place for years, it seems the specifics were hammered out remarkably late in the game's development cycle. The team actually delayed a recording session with Illusive Man voice actor Martin Sheen from August into November, so that the writers would have more time to finish off the dialogue for the ending.

What's more, the ending was initially written to provide a much more robust explanation of the game's surprising — and to some, confusing — last-minute twist. According to writer Mac Walters:

"Originally, with the Catalyst, the Star Child at the end of the game, I had written that much more in the guise of a investigative style conversation, where there is something he tells you but then, you get to ask a bunch of questions and you get your questions answered. But then me and Casey talked and decided, let's keep the conversation high level, give you the details that you need to know, but don't get into the stuff that you don't need to know. Like 'How long have they been reaping?'. You don't need to know the answers to the Mass Effect universe, so we intentionally left those out."

In the end, Watlers decided to end the game in a way that would lead to, in his words, "lots of speculation for everyone."

And as for complaints that the game's three endings don't provide enough variety? As late as November, the developers were considering at least one drastically different ending that was eventually scrapped. The sequence would have seen the player lose control of Commander Shepard, revealing that he or she had actually been indoctrinated by the Reapers. This ending was eventually cut for technical reasons, as the team was having a hard time making the gameplay mechanic work alongside dialogue choices.

Another common complaint centers on the ending's lack of any real boss fight. The closest thing to it, the showdown with Kai Leng at Cerberus HQ, occurs more than an hour before the game finally wraps, leaving many fans upset that Mass Effect 3's gameplay ends on a somewhat anticlimactic note.

Turns out, you were originally supposed to have a showdown with the Illusive Man just before the end of the game, but the team ultimately scrapped the idea because it felt too "video gamey" and predictable.

To add insult to injury, the app apparently also reveals that the much contested day-one DLC pack, From Ashes, was, in fact, originally intended to be a part of the main game before time constraints caused the team to convert it to DLC instead.

Frankly, none of these revelations bode particularly well for BioWare, as many of them only serve to confirm the suspicisions of the game's unruly fanbase. Given the nature of game development, it's wholly unfair to claim that BioWare ruined the ending by rushing it out the door at the last minute, but it certainly won't be easy to convince the detractors of that when these new details play so handily into their arguments.

http://www.gameranx....versial-ending/

this was posted on a another thread

#1085
musicaleCA

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Moirai wrote...

moteh wrote...

I have to back Bioware, a lot of this stuff is exactly the type of stuff I expect during the launch window for a new game, the fact some people are spinning it to be some conspiracy is just sad. Keep pushing about the endings, I think our concerns on that must be met. But you can't simply vilify an entire company because of the endings, especially when they are starting discussion on them with us.


I agree that we shouldn't be tarring the whole company with the same brush, agreed. Good sane point.

However, by the same point, we shouldn't supporting the whole company either.

After all, 'someone' is responsible for upsetting Bioware's customers.


Bah humbug to that. I've already decided on the nuclear option. No DLC, no BW or EA games until it's fixed. They won't be seeing more of my money. (This was just the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I have many past gripes with EA, and I was really worried something like this might happen ever since BW got gobbled by them.)

If they see a lower-than-expected sales of DLC when released, it might give them all pause, and the suits may well make the decision to fix the ending for everyone. (Heck, "making money by fixing the problem" can also mean "recouping lost sales by fixing the problem".) The damage done by nuking brand loyalty is already done, I think. BW/EA can hope only to minimize the damage.

Modifié par musicaleCA, 17 mars 2012 - 08:24 .


#1086
Exeider

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Diabolical...it would be the perfect Cointelpro operation if this was in the political arena.
Æ

#1087
kodiakus

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Casey Hudson's statement on the end of the game is a prime example of talking a lot while saying very little. If this is their PR damage control, they must think we're quite dim.  

atghunter's experience in the industry allows him to put into words what most of us can only feel intuitively. We see through what you're trying to do, bioware. Shepard spends a lot of time laying on the hate towards offensively safe diplomats, perhaps you should follow his (your) example. 

#1088
Xandax

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Khallos wrote...

Here's a question for ya, atg: could this "bunkering" strategy just be the tactic chosen to weather the storm until the Q1 fiscal period ends at the end of March? A post on Reddit brought this up, and the posters explanation that they (being BW) wouldn't want to rock the boat too much before the first quarterly numbers came out.


Their fiscial year doesn't follow calendar year.

#1089
atghunter

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Bachuck wrote...

Miles_E wrote...

redknight38 wrote...

Bachuck wrote...

By the way, did anyone else notice the tremendous shift the thread took? It went from everyone analyzing EA/Bioware's PR tactics and thanking atghunter to thanking Jarrett. All the priase and momentum went from one guy to another in a matter of minutes. Be careful.


I know! It's brilliant! Well played, Bioware, well played. It's kind of gruesomely fun to watch.


Is it bad to think we were too easily swayed?


Yes.

No offense or disrespect is meant to anyone by what I'm about to say, but I think everyone is so desperate for a response, any response, from Bioware that you guys will accept anything they throw at you right now. Consider this, I'm the guy who started this thread so that my fellow ME fans could see atghunter's post and get some enlightenment from it and I was just attacked for being mean when all I did was ask a question.

Think about that for a second. Before Jarrett came in here, atghunter and I were being thanked for our efforts. Jarrett walks in and in a flash, atghunter was forgotten and I was viewed as a bad guy. It happened so effortlessly too.

We must remain civil and polite, but we should also ask questions when we're given the chance. If ever a true dialogue is opened between the fans and Bioware, it won't be with the employees from marketing (no offense meant Jarrett). His divison marketed the game. They'll have ZERO say in how to go about fixing it. Does that mean we can't talk with him? Of course not, that'd be ridiculous, but don't be so eager for crumbs that you cross that line.

Everyone keeps saying "Hold the line" but to truly do that, you must band together and not attack each other when you're given the tiniest shred of attention from the company because if you do, that line won't hold long. Treat others as you want to be treated (with respect and diginity), but remember, a game is being played right now and you all are the players.

Btw, if anyone didn't notice, my question was never answered.


I responded to Mr. Jarrett a couple pages back as well and thanked him for participating in the dialogue though we'll have to agree to disagree on some of the partucilars.  Please take his appearance for what it was, acknowledgement of your discussion and Bioware wanting to have a modecum of influence in it.  Deflection, to be sure and no committments, but they are listening to the dialogue and even venturing out of the corporate bunker to chat.

A cautionary note:  It may not mean you're winning, but it certainly doesn't mean they are ignoring you.

Speak your peace, regardless of where you stand.
  

#1090
People4Peace

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crazyeye343 wrote...

I think it also should be added that the retake Mass Effect Charity page has raised over 56k for Child's Play in 5 days. Bioware/EA if we are willing to raise that much money to say we want new endings, i think it is safe to assume we will pay you a lot of money make to the new ending dlc


This. Can't wait to see what's raised for Child's Play in the next 5 days! :wizard:

I appreciate Mr. Lee's posts but it doesn't change anything. I know he is trying to assure us but many of us can't trust Bioware right now. Nor should we.

Which is why we hold the line.

#1091
AJanitor

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Jarrett Lee wrote...

Most of these things you see as olive branches aren't that at all. They are part of the already planned launch period of ME3 (Star Wars I can't speak for). The N7 MP weekend was planned some time ago - before the ending situation came to light. Not everything revolves around this controversy. It's just unfortunate timing. Same goes for the recent strategy videos for example - we filmed those weeks ago. I think Corey and Eric did a great job in them and was dismayed at the vitriol in the YouTube comments.

You're complaints are being heard, and considered and discussed etc, but I wouldn't read so much into some of the marketing stuff we're doing. I know a lot of you won't buy that - i cant "prove it" - but I've actually always been honest with you guys all the way back to ME1. Operation Goliath is an event we planned because the multiplayer is really fun, and we want to engage the players with it (i just completed the challenge tonight myself!). Of course we had events and releases planned for the week after launch-week. There are no nefarious scheming evil meetings on this topic. We take it seriously, and are discussing it internally. Nobody is happy or dismissive about the fan reaction, at BioWare. Quite the opposite really. These are good people who care deeply about the work they do.

I would suggest patience but not sure there's receptiveness to that at this point.

Guess that's all I wanted to say for now. Have a good night/weekend.


Jarret,

First off, I want to let you know that I only buy about three games a year. I've been playing ME since the beginning and was excited to play this one as well. I had a blast with the vast majority of the campaign and I appreciate you and your teams hard work. Furthermore, I have been having a blast with multiplayer. It's been fantastic and far greater than I expected or could  hope for. My friends and I have been wanting a RPG coop experience and have been having a blast playing it.

I think the more mature people here are aware that some of the things you are launching (like this challenge) are part of pre-planned marketing. I think it's a great idea and I played some tonight. I hope to continue to see this kind of community fun and engagement.

That said, I hope your team realizes that there are many players here who are pained as well when they read responses to you and your team that contain vitrol and hate. Sadly, it's part of the internet. Know that many (most I would guess) of us are nothing like that. We are grateful for your hard work and youv'e given us a lot to enjoy.

Despite all this praise, you also need to recognize that the fans are most likely being harsh and loud because it has essentially being stonewalled. There is a well known gap that exist between coorporations and fans and that is a large gap to cross. Sadly, one of the only ways to get your attention in a significant way is to continue to make our voice heard in any venue possible. This is not out of hate, but frustraiton and passion.

I'll be honest, some of the responses given by Bioware so far have only added to this problem. They mischaracterize the issue, avoid addressing the true problems, and the language contained in many of the responses seems to marginalize the opinions of the fans. When this happens what do you expect except fans to translate these responses into somethinkg akin to, "Bioware still doesn't get it?" What's the solution then? To make the point even more clear.

So while we want you to know your work is appreciated and loved, we also want our voice to be heard. Not only to be told that it's heard, but have what we said repeated back to us in a fair way, just like a real conversaiton where there is a misunderstanding. I believe this will help the vitrol calm and a more mature dialog to be even further fostered.

Until then, get some rest this weekend and start working hard next Monday! :D

Modifié par AJanitor, 17 mars 2012 - 08:24 .


#1092
EsterCloat

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Lugaidster wrote...

Since I couldn't have put it in better words myself, I'm just going to quote it.

atghunter wrote...

Jarrett Lee wrote...

Most of these things you see as olive branches aren't that at all. They are part of the already planned launch period of ME3 (Star Wars I can't speak for). The N7 MP weekend was planned some time ago - before the ending situation came to light. Not everything revolves around this controversy. It's just unfortunate timing. Same goes for the recent strategy videos for example - we filmed those weeks ago. I think Corey and Eric did a great job in them and was dismayed at the vitriol in the YouTube comments.

You're complaints are being heard, and considered and discussed etc, but I wouldn't read so much into some of the marketing stuff we're doing. I know a lot of you won't buy that - i cant "prove it" - but I've actually always been honest with you guys all the way back to ME1. Operation Goliath is an event we planned because the multiplayer is really fun, and we want to engage the players with it (i just completed the challenge tonight myself!). Of course we had events and releases planned for the week after launch-week. There are no nefarious scheming evil meetings on this topic. We take it seriously, and are discussing it internally. Nobody is happy or dismissive about the fan reaction, at BioWare. Quite the opposite really. These are good people who care deeply about the work they do.

I would suggest patience but not sure there's receptiveness to that at this point.

Guess that's all I wanted to say for now. Have a good night/weekend.



Mr. Lee,
 
Thanks for joining the dialogue. I haven’t read ahead, but I hope the discourse over your post remains civil and positive as I think this thread has been.
 
First, I wholeheartedly believe that there are good people at Bioware that care about the work they do. But I hope you can equally agree that sometimes the best people in business, with the best intentions, can misstep when it comes to consumer relations. It does not make them bad or wicked, just human. And when that happens, a tedious (and sometimes strained) relationship occurs requiring ultimately a dialogue between the conflicted parties brokered by PR folks. I don’t think anyone (certainly I haven’t) ascribed Bioware’s response as “evil”, but it is most certainly calculated. It has to be given the stakes.
 
We should also probably agree that atm the PR folks are directing the course of Bioware’s response (with lots of input to be sure).  Were some/all of the events going on this weekend pre-planned? I don’t know but I’ll take your word for it. Could those same events have been planned as firewalls (aka potential faux olive branches) or for just plain fun? I don’t know. However, while I certainly wasn’t the most savvy PR guy, it simply seems illogical that someone wouldn’t build some firewalls into a worldwide pre-sale release just in case. Again, no evil intentions, just solid market share defense. Those same firewalls turn into great media boosters if the game had been acclaimed and unneeded. In short, they get repurposed. 
 
I don’t ascribe Bioware as a malevolent group bent on the destruction of its fan base. At the moment I do ascribe them in one sense as you do:
 
We take it seriously, and are discussing it internally. Nobody is happy or dismissive about the fan reaction, at BioWare      
 
And that is, in my opinion, is because the situation cannot be ignored. As I’ve posted previously, Bioware/EA seems to have acknowledged a problem. Now it is simply a matter of how a business determines the economic viability of its response.
 
Again, I’m glad you chimed in. I always enjoy good discussions. And please don’t believe there isn’t “receptiveness” to your point. It’s fatalism. Honestly, people here have been passionately, but in an overwhelmingly civil tone, chiming in all week hoping for a modicum of acknowledgement with virtually no response from Bioware, and most still seem possessed of great hope for that same receptiveness.
 


BTW, Bioware, not everyone is hateful or resentful, regardless of ending opinion. 

I really do enjoy atghunter's responses. They're very insightful.^_^

#1093
Miles_E

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atghunter wrote...

Bachuck wrote...

Miles_E wrote...

redknight38 wrote...

Bachuck wrote...

By the way, did anyone else notice the tremendous shift the thread took? It went from everyone analyzing EA/Bioware's PR tactics and thanking atghunter to thanking Jarrett. All the priase and momentum went from one guy to another in a matter of minutes. Be careful.


I know! It's brilliant! Well played, Bioware, well played. It's kind of gruesomely fun to watch.


Is it bad to think we were too easily swayed?


Yes.

No offense or disrespect is meant to anyone by what I'm about to say, but I think everyone is so desperate for a response, any response, from Bioware that you guys will accept anything they throw at you right now. Consider this, I'm the guy who started this thread so that my fellow ME fans could see atghunter's post and get some enlightenment from it and I was just attacked for being mean when all I did was ask a question.

Think about that for a second. Before Jarrett came in here, atghunter and I were being thanked for our efforts. Jarrett walks in and in a flash, atghunter was forgotten and I was viewed as a bad guy. It happened so effortlessly too.

We must remain civil and polite, but we should also ask questions when we're given the chance. If ever a true dialogue is opened between the fans and Bioware, it won't be with the employees from marketing (no offense meant Jarrett). His divison marketed the game. They'll have ZERO say in how to go about fixing it. Does that mean we can't talk with him? Of course not, that'd be ridiculous, but don't be so eager for crumbs that you cross that line.

Everyone keeps saying "Hold the line" but to truly do that, you must band together and not attack each other when you're given the tiniest shred of attention from the company because if you do, that line won't hold long. Treat others as you want to be treated (with respect and diginity), but remember, a game is being played right now and you all are the players.

Btw, if anyone didn't notice, my question was never answered.


I responded to Mr. Jarrett a couple pages back as well and thanked him for participating in the dialogue though we'll have to agree to disagree on some of the partucilars.  Please take his appearance for what it was, acknowledgement of your discussion and Bioware wanting to have a modecum of influence in it.  Deflection, to be sure and no committments, but they are listening to the dialogue and even venturing out of the corporate bunker to chat.

A cautionary note:  It may not mean you're winning, but it certainly doesn't mean they are ignoring you.

Speak your peace, regardless of where you stand.
  


Thank you for your words of wisdom, Atg, I need them.

#1094
Soundsystem

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I appreciate Jarrett and some of the other staff who have made an effort to speak to fans beyond just silence or obviously prepared statements.

But their responses are still incredibly vague and offer up little more than variations on the theme of, "Yes, we're listening". Which, I know, is part of their jobs and they risk being fired if they don't stick to it. But it's still incredibly frustrating. Bioware keeps talking about how they're listening and they care about their fans but they have yet to back those words up with anything. It's all just lip service.

Following some of the stuff I've seen on Twitter (several devs had openly mocking tweets before hastily removing them, the vague trolling by @masseffect) coupled with the complete silence from Bioware until very recently... It's all left a very bad taste in my mouth with regards to Bioware. One that won't be removed easily.

#1095
aznsoisauce

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j78 wrote...
Turns out, you were originally supposed to have a showdown with the Illusive Man just before the end of the game, but the team ultimately scrapped the idea because it felt too "video gamey" and predictable.

Oh, man.
Don't you just hate it when your video game is too video gamey?

#1096
SLana

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And now everybody say "I'll pay just do it" Great. Just great. By buying ME3 I bought myself a lot of stress and now it turns out I should wish to pay more money for DLC because I want to be happy instead of depressed? There's a lot of stress situations and misery in the real life, I doubt we play games to get more of it.

#1097
DeadLetterBox

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We need to be polite, especially to anyone with the BioWare tag on their posts. Why?

In addition to that being the right thing to do, it is not like they aren't people. If you are mean, if you make it clear you don't think they can possibly be human any more and they must all be devils out to get you etc, etc, then you can't expect them to be as willing to compromise.

Put another way: if you are an ass, they will be much more committed to holding their own line. They probably want to keep their personal feelings out of their business decisions, but those feelings still influence their attitudes on what needs to happen.

Besides, he's doing his job. Doesn't make him a bad human being. I'm not saying don't call people out, I'm just saying it should be a polite discussion.

#1098
N7_Sniper91

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Repojam wrote...

N7_Sniper91 wrote...

All of you keep thanking Jarret Lee, but you do realize that he hasn't told us anything we haven't already been told by Casey and a few others, right? Aside from just vaguely acknowledging the problem(Which has already been done by other BW staff), we haven't been given a straight 'yes or no' answer at all.

We're still getting the spin around, people.

I'd suggest you save the 'thanks' for when we actually get a REAL answer from Jarret(Or others), not same PR-spin that's been going on all this week.


You don't think that they are at least considering the point of view that people are dissatisfied with the ending is a good starting point?  

Even the idea that the concerns are being heard and noted is an excellent starting point, and am glad that they are at least listening to the fan base.

Yes, I do think it's a good starting point.  Whether they care enough that anything happens because of it, remains to be seen(Or heard).

I still don't see how that pertains to people thanking Jarret for telling us stuff we already knew. I assume it because people are desperate. However, we shouldn't let desperation cloud our judgment or our true mission.

Like I said, save your thanks when something actually happens. Like getting a straight 'yes or no' answer from Bioware, for once.

After this whole debacle, Ive lost too much faith in Bioware to accept anything less than a straight answer.

#1099
Khallos

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Xandax wrote...

Khallos wrote...

Here's a question for ya, atg: could this "bunkering" strategy just be the tactic chosen to weather the storm until the Q1 fiscal period ends at the end of March? A post on Reddit brought this up, and the posters explanation that they (being BW) wouldn't want to rock the boat too much before the first quarterly numbers came out.


Their fiscial year doesn't follow calendar year.


You're right. I realized that about five minutes after I posted (been up far too late), but the root of the question is what I found the more interesting. It makes sense to what little business acumen I have, as they would play their defensive strategy until they had to release their fiscal numbers, then start the compromises and try to patch things up over the next quarter.

I should probably sleep now. =P

#1100
Lord Costantino

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SLana wrote...

And now everybody say "I'll pay just do it" Great. Just great. By buying ME3 I bought myself a lot of stress and now it turns out I should wish to pay more money for DLC because I want to be happy instead of depressed? There's a lot of stress situations and misery in the real life, I doubt we play games to get more of it.


^this. The game also needs to stick with its princple, which it disregards in the last 10min of the game. Why couldn't they make multiple endings like Dragon Age Origins. It gives us so many outcomes BECAUSE it allows our choices to factor the end resault. 

Hold the Line and remember Marauder Shields