9972 réponses à ce sujet

[Lord Costantino]

Keep pushing!

Hold the Line!

[Yuoaman]

This thread is fantastic, it's great to see these events from another point of view.

Hold the line.

[Ffelan]

Thank you again, atghunter! (and everyone else!) After reading Jarrett Lee’s words, I had a strange, wary “what…?” feeling. You put that vague impression into words and explained its provenance. I am looking forward to seeing what the next move will be. Too bad it’s impossible to see the other side of the chessboard.

Until then, Holding the Line!

[thrashmental]

I can't bring myself to play any ME game right now, I'm just hurt.
I'm holding the line, hoping... And if nothing changes well I'm actually gonna have to find something else to do in my free time for a while.

I don't really have a fullfilling life, crappy job, single, getting older.
ME was a great refuge, an uplifting part of my life.

Now I guess all I've got is drinking and casual sex with women I don't really like to keep me occupied. Yay...

[atghunter]

JustinS1985 wrote...

So I'm curious, from a PR perspective would it be helpful to our cause to try to "encourage" google to show the Forbes articles on page 1 when searching for mass effect?

Front page media never hurts.  I speculate that Mr. Hudson's references last night were designed to steer people towards those particular articles and keep them on page 1.

That said, I think it is great for people to be reading the articles on both sides and expressing opinions! 

 

[Lord Costantino]

atghunter wrote...

JustinS1985 wrote...

So I'm curious, from a PR perspective would it be helpful to our cause to try to "encourage" google to show the Forbes articles on page 1 when searching for mass effect?

Front page media never hurts.  I speculate that Mr. Hudson's references last night were designed to steer people towards those particular articles and keep them on page 1.

That said, I think it is great for people to be reading the articles on both sides and expressing opinions! 

 

I personaly would like to thank you for all your posts 

Hold the Line!

[EvilMind]

This PR strategy only alienates costumers and fans. As KeldorKatarn said 

if you play things right you'll have all of them behind you, whenever you need them, in the next war. "

words of wisdom

[Veginator]

vigna wrote...

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.

No problem, we've all got our stories, and that's the true tragedy of how this ending controversy has unfolded.  The ripples of damage done by it are far beyond what we see here.

[rickelmo]

Fascinating read. Hold the line guys and make sure to keep putting on the pressure until we get what we want.

[arg0s5]

Darkeus wrote...

Lugaidster wrote...

Darkeus wrote...

Rulycar wrote...

Darkeus wrote...

Rulycar wrote...

"Mass Effect 3 Fans Have Spent 1800 Years of Time Playing Multiplayer Mode"
LOL -
... recent headline to support the love of this game.
... but, they shipped 3.5 million copies.
... that works out to ~5 hours play per copy
... not exactly stellar

It only gets a little better if you realize that 3.5 million copies shipped is only about 1.5 million sold.

That only works out to about 10 hours per copy.  Still not anything special.  Compare that with the numbers that the newest Call of Duty game gets....

More stats:
... 618000 multiplayers
... 1800yrs/618000 = ~25 hrs/player
... and thats across 2 weeks

It is definately smoke and mirrors, that much is certain.  Twenty-five hours or so between two weeks is not very much our of the 336 or so hours in a that two week span.

To be fair, it's not like the fans bought the game for the multiplayer. Give credit where credit is due. Most of us thought that the MP was going to suck balls. I find it enjoyable, however painful it is to open ME3 and watch the intro...

I will give credit where credit is due.  It is pretty fun and much better than I imagined.  It is also tied directly into the Single player (I am sure it is impossible to get 5000 TMS without Multiplayer) as I predicted it would be.

Yeah, it may be fun.  But it is also a liability....

My galactic score is 5434, given you do everything through the trilogy. Multiplayer has no major factor in your Single-player aside from adding to that and I haven't "Promote"d any character, which is the function where you make your multiplayer experience store into singleplayer.

[Arcani117]

 So, like many of you, I despise the endings. Thats been discussed enough so I won't go into detail.

My concern now is that it is clear that Bioware and EA are just about money. I know they are a business, but I don't think Bioware used to be like this. They had vision and creativity that they employed how they saw fit. Now they have corporate executives calling the shots, and any writer or developer may not be able to put something into a game that they think will be good because EA thinks its risky.

I used to be a small time actor (local, nothing major), and my teacher/director always said that the best perfromances were when the actor took a risk. Playing it safe can only get you so far, and that appears to be what Bioware/EA is doing now. They're going about this PR mess by the book, no risks. 

My question for Bioware now is, what do you think your fans are going to think of you after this scandal, regardless of the outcome. I don't see a company with artistic vision that wants to tell a good story. I see a company following the direction of its corporate masters in the pursuit of as much cash as posible without regards to the consumer.

Sorry Bioware, but my faith is gone. Even if you fix the endings, I'm not coming back. You've lost what made you special. All Bioware is to me now is a brand name owned by EA so they can make a quick buck off your reputation.

Good Luck.

-Arcani117

[Harbinger of Fun]

Bump

[KovaksCA]

Perhaps what is now needed is a goal, now that they are listening and at least willing to engage on a PR/Damage Control level we can now push this to the next step and politely but firmly ask for a timetable or date when the 'listening' stops and the action or resolution begins. I have not yet heard any commitment whatsoever to provide a resolution, just that they are listening to feedback and while in our minds this implies that something will be done since this is never explicitly stated we need to know that unless more pressure is applied this will never go beyond the 'empathetic PR deflection' stage.

Would an answer on whether or not they plan on 'fixing' the ending by Friday March 30th be a reasonable request? That would provide them with two more weeks of feedback to decide whether or not they will act on this and would provide the fan base that is now holding the line with a solid date.

Based on what I know they will never voluntarily offer such a date (definitely a very bad move in PR since it pins you down to a single course) but perhaps this is now what we need to push them to do, listening is great but our end goal is action so let our expectation on this be heard!

[MeldarthX]

wesr wrote...

They're probably laughing at us and counting what money is coming in while planning how bad they'll make ME4. Their PR damage control seems to be doing as much damage as the original issue. I'm actually surprised they didn't say to shut down the forum so this didn't turn into such a big story.

No I'm quoting this from other forum -

/quote hgrant202 wrote...

I've been lurking for awhile and wanted to throw in my thoughts.

Over
the years I've been involved in software releases that have gone south
in a big way. I've been on the inside while people rage, deservedly so,
against us. Most of us on the inside agreed with the customers but just
couldn't admit it publicly. We'd have daily meetings on the status of
the response, when we can say something, and how we can say it. To this
day when I hear the word "blue" (our internal code word) I think of the
phrase "development is aware of the issue". We said that a lot.

I've
also worked for EA and have my name buried in the credits on some
games. The folks I worked with really cared about the games, and took
the quality of them very seriously, more seriously than a lot of places
I've worked that were much larger companies. So I'm sure there are
people at Bioware/EA right now that are just as sick as we are about all
this. The folks I worked with at EA were gamers, and some of the most
rabid ones I've ever known. Those folks are probably frothing at the
mouth over this.

I can also say, that at no point did we ever
think "we have their money, they can just shut up and go away". A one
time sale is great, but repeat business keeps you alive. There is a lot
of product out there, a lot of competition, losing any customers is a
bad thing. It takes a lot of effort to win the disgruntled ones back, if
you even can. Once it went bad, it turned into damage control, but
damage control only to stop the bleeding while we had endless meetings
on how to fix it. Endless meetings.
The big execs just wanted it
fixed, the guys responsible for the software had to overcome their egos.
No dev likes to be told they screwed up. Once the power play battles
ended things would be sorted out and the customers made happy, or at
least content.

These days I work as a producer in LA. So this
article caught my eye,
http://www.ibtimes.c...-review-dlc.htm
This
is from the International Business Times discussing how the Mass Effect
movie might quell the outrage. It also refrences the Forbes articles.

From
my perspective, if I was the guy at Legendary who was developing the
movie I would be concerned right now. Video game based movies are fickle
sells. Look at Doom, who didn't love that game? It had a massive built
in fanbase from the game who wanted a good movie. But the movie was bad,
and it bombed.

Now jump to Mass Effect, does Legendary really
want to drop $100-$200mill on a film where the fanbase is mad and you
have to fight that while trying to make a good film? I can't imagine
having to fight that battle, and dealing with the endless questions from
people about how is the film going to make it up to the fans. Even
providing for the built in delays, it will be years before it would be
released (my bet is it would be tied to ME4 or another ME release). How
many people will be at Comic-Con 2016 and ask "does the movie end as
badly as ME3?", even if they fix ME3 today, they are still going to get
that question. They are still going to get people dressed up as Maruader
Shields, or people dressed in red/green/blue as "the ending".

I
guess I'm just saying that this ending debacle has some definite
unintended consequences. From the film production side of the universe,
if I was Legendary, I'd be supportive of EA, not say a damn thing to
anyone about it, but also be quietly asking EA to address it before it
becomes more of a problem for me.

Hold the Line.

/quote

This is great insight; right now PR is trying to hold us; give them time to sort this.  Our numbers aren't dropping; they are growing each moment as time goes on and people beat the game.  

I have posted my theory many times; either or not its fact or not - BW did this ending on purpose to get us debating and polize - the mistake they made is they didn't count on 80%+ of us of hating the ending.  I do think they have more stuff post ending for us; its just not completely finished.   That's why I first thought when I beat ME3 - well that blew; we're left with a cliffhanger - and it was all a dream; indoctrinate.   I think BW also attempting to indoctrinate its audience too........

I don't think they were prepared for how quickly we came together; how quickly our war assets have amassed.  We will not fall back; nor be bribed by shinies or trinkets.....


WE WILL HOLD THE LINE

[Amanthor]

I love the fact there is actual military strategy in our protest, did not see this coming when I joined the forums the Friday after release.

[redknight38]

I sigh at myself. I really did promise to stay out of this, but that's clearly me lying to myself since last night. I've been involved...

So I am about to get a PhD in military history, with a specialty on insurgencies and conflict management. I'm not active military but what the hell. The gentleman in active duty was right-- this movement needs to get organized. Bioware has been getting better at playing by the PR handbook because they're getting a handle on things. Therefore they are in for the long haul and therefore people here have to be as well. That means getting organized and having consistent, coherent, simple and clear tactics and messaging. The Tea Party and the Occuppy movements both had to do that, hence their staying power after initial passionate outbursts.

How do insurgencies or even COIN ops operate?

1) Get a message out. So this Retake movement has to get a message out. Some suggestions have been offered: google bombing and review bombing. I have a lot of qualms about the latter because it has the potential to irreparably drive down the reviews to the point of not being able to repair it. Later, when this movement has become more articulated, you might be able to promise to attempt to drive that review rating up, however.

Either way, find a way to spread this on the Internet and build awareness for it. Have simple talking points and try to agree on them.

I suggest remaining polite and even being a little positive. You like ME, you don't hate Bioware. You just want changes. That'll build a sympathetic message because a key point in COIN and insurgencies is winning over neutrals.

2) Repeat the message as often as you can. Self-explanatory. However, it can't just be "I hate the ending" or "hold the line." You'll have to keep repeating your simple, bullet-pointed list of complaints. Groups like the IRA don't repeat long treatises (as I've been seeing on the boards) on their complaints. Nobody will read that. Keep it simple and keep it consistent.

That clearly means people on this forum will have to come to an agreement of the basic points they all agree with. The majority of resistance movements have internal problems and divisions that are often more important than external ones. The IRA, the VC, Mao, they all killed as many or more of their own members as their enemies. Failed insurgencies like the Philippine NPA did so to the detriment of their mission.

Incidentally, that means that instead of saying "bump" or "hold the line" or "I support this thread" you might want to say "don't play SP or MP" in trying to bump it. Something  constructive. The message.

3) Disrupt the enemy's internal cohesion. Attacking Bioware people is highly counter-productive so no ambushing or isolating. These people are just doing their jobs and I sincerely doubt they're maliciously laughing at your discontent. Neither are they having money fights at your expense. Come on people, this is the gaming industry, not Goldman Sachs. These people are not rolling in it.

They try to humanize themselves to win your sympathy. DO THE SAME. Stop attacking Casey Hudson and the like but instead tell them you love the game, you always liked his writing and you always had faith in him. This will be easier because it's essentially true. Tell them you don't hate them, that you'll go back to the fold if they meet your demands.

What you are trying to do is build sympathy and win defectors. The biggest prize for an insurgency movement are defectors, especially high profile ones. In the case of this Retake thing, you want to do it so that during their meetings there will be someone advocating for you. Hopefully more than one someone. Incidentally, this might involve having to accept paid ending DLC. Much earlier in this thread I opined why it would have to be paid: remember, they claim the game is done. The story is finished to their satisfaction. Any ending DLC they release they can legitimately (i.e. in court) claim as bonus. You don't need to get it.

Be careful of them trying to do the same. They'll try to win you over so someone here will suddenly be advocating for them. Hence the skepticism regarding Mr. Lee. He came here and suddenly everybody was telling others to back off, the Bioware guys had a long week. This is true, and don't be rude to him. However, nobody was, but people were losing their skepticism and resolve.

4) Disrupt the enemy logistics which means disrupting sales. Since you can't meet them head-on, this is one thing you can do. However, threatening to boycott products not yet made is absolutely meaningless. Newsflash, if you threaten not to buy something a company has not yet made, what will they do? Not make them. Bioware hasn't lost money on products not yet made because they haven't sunk resources into making them and marketing them. If you threaten not to buy it, they will find another product, one which does not cater to you. The next Bioware game could therefore very well be a multiplayer game or a shooter. That being said, threatening to boycott Bioware in the future is not a bad idea since AGTHunter noted that it turned you into cautious consumers. You just have to do more.

However, they have ME3 now. I can guarantee you the sales of ME3 and its future content are part of their current budget plan and profit projection. It's part of their logistics. Disrupt that and you are actually making a message regarding their money.

You don't need to do anything dramatic but it might be hard. Too hard. Playing SP offline and not playing MP is honestly the best way to do it-- they track your playtime so by not playing you are telling them you are unhappy with the current product and will therefore not buy future DLC or anything of the sort. Since they alread have money sunk into your product, one likely response from Bioware is to attempt to find ways of luring you back since that would be easier than making an entirely new game. If you keep emphasizing you would love to be lured back if they meet your demands, even better. Remember that video games are actually cheaper than you think and a lot of their profitability comes from DLC so you do hold some leverage here.

Discouraging others from buying it works as well.

Not playing MP seems a no go since too many people want to. So be it-- it's their right and they're being smart consumers still. They paid for it, why not enjoy it? Don't criticize them for it. Someone suggested continuing the protest on MP and if it is possible change your name to reflect Retake or Hold the Line. Add it to your online avatar's name. I don't know if that's possible.

Basically-- if you kids are serious about this, remember a) this won't be easy and it'll take a while, there will be no clear win, insurgencies or COIN ops don't end cleanly, c) there is risk. There is always risk and you'll have to accept that. The biggest risk is that Bioware might simply abandon you and ME3. Another is that you might damage Bioware to the point that it can't make its games. I don't like that, you don't like that and it's why a lot of "haters" are mad at you. They have good cause, but that's beside your point.

One last cynical thing you can offer Bioware: if they meet your demands and you are happy... well you can essentially offer this online advocacy network to them. Most companies would give their right arms to have a passionate, far-reaching and dedicated group of people pushing their products for free.

So good luck to you kids.

Modifié par redknight38, 17 mars 2012 - 06:51 .

[Sylvara]

I agree, though amusingly enough I was thinking you could write a book on this whole fiasco.

Retake Mass Effect: to hold the line in the war of attrition

[Divitiacus]

Arcani117 wrote...

 So, like many of you, I despise the endings. Thats been discussed enough so I won't go into detail.

My concern now is that it is clear that Bioware and EA are just about money. I know they are a business, but I don't think Bioware used to be like this. They had vision and creativity that they employed how they saw fit. Now they have corporate executives calling the shots, and any writer or developer may not be able to put something into a game that they think will be good because EA thinks its risky.

I used to be a small time actor (local, nothing major), and my teacher/director always said that the best perfromances were when the actor took a risk. Playing it safe can only get you so far, and that appears to be what Bioware/EA is doing now. They're going about this PR mess by the book, no risks. 

My question for Bioware now is, what do you think your fans are going to think of you after this scandal, regardless of the outcome. I don't see a company with artistic vision that wants to tell a good story. I see a company following the direction of its corporate masters in the pursuit of as much cash as posible without regards to the consumer.

Sorry Bioware, but my faith is gone. Even if you fix the endings, I'm not coming back. You've lost what made you special. All Bioware is to me now is a brand name owned by EA so they can make a quick buck off your reputation.

Good Luck.

-Arcani117

Companies that are all about money still need to make a quality product. Look at Sierra. Oh they don't exist. What about Midway? Somewhere along the way, cost-cutting measures come back to hit harder. Of course, the real problem is executives usually have incentive systems based on short term gains so the CEO for example won't care about the company's long term future, and the chances of someone piercing the corporate veil and suing him is so minimal due to the business judgment rule and added complexities of derivative suits. It's a joke. This is really just one more sign of consumers getting injured by a corrupt system. Sure this isn't as serious as banks, not even close, but it's all symptomatic of the same disease.

[Amanthor]

Sylvara wrote...

I agree, though amusingly enough I was thinking you could write a book on this whole fiasco.

Retake Mass Effect: to hold the line in the war of attrition

Brilliant, could even have a prequel, Dragon Age 2: The first sighns of Bioware in trouble.

[Starshadow2010]

Thanks for the assesment of the situation. Please keep us updated.
Special thanks for constant reminder about being polite, while remaining persistant. Because it is possible, that we might see provokers amongst us, not just random trolls.

[Lord Costantino]

redknight38 wrote...

I sigh at myself. I really did promise to stay out of this, but that's clearly me lying to myself since last night. I've been involved...

So I am about to get a PhD in military history, with a specialty on insurgencies and conflict management. I'm not active military but what the hell. The gentleman in active duty was right-- this movement needs to get organized. Bioware has been getting better at playing by the PR handbook because they're getting a handle on things. Therefore they are in for the long haul and therefore people here have to be as well. That means getting organized and having consistent, coherent, simple and clear tactics and messaging. The Tea Party and the Occuppy movements both had to do that, hence their staying power after initial passionate outbursts.

How do insurgencies or even COIN ops operate?

1) Get a message out. So this Retake movement has to get a message out. Some suggestions have been offered: google bombing and review bombing. I have a lot of qualms about the latter because it has the potential to irreparably drive down the reviews to the point of not being able to repair it. Later, when this movement has become more articulated, you might be able to promise to attempt to drive that review rating up, however.

Either way, find a way to spread this on the Internet and build awareness for it. Have simple talking points and try to agree on them.

I suggest remaining polite and even being a little positive. You like ME, you don't hate Bioware. You just want changes. That'll build a sympathetic message because a key point in COIN and insurgencies is winning over neutrals.

2) Repeat the message as often as you can. Self-explanatory. However, it can't just be "I hate the ending" or "hold the line." You'll have to keep repeating your simple, bullet-pointed list of complaints. Groups like the IRA don't repeat long treatises (as I've been seeing on the boards) on their complaints. Nobody will read that. Keep it simple and keep it consistent.

That clearly means people on this forum will have to come to an agreement of the basic points they all agree with. The majority of resistance movements have internal problems and divisions that are often more important than external ones. The IRA, the VC, Mao, they all killed as many or more of their own members as their enemies. Failed insurgencies like the Philippine NPA did so to the detriment of their mission.

Incidentally, that means that instead of saying "bump" or "hold the line" or "I support this thread" you might want to say "don't play SP or MP" in trying to bump it. Something  constructive. The message.

3) Disrupt the enemy's internal cohesion. Attacking Bioware people is highly counter-productive so no ambushing or isolating. These people are just doing their jobs and I sincerely doubt they're maliciously laughing at your discontent. Neither are they having money fights at your expense. Come on people, this is the gaming industry, not Goldman Sachs. These people are not rolling in it.

They try to humanize themselves to win your sympathy. DO THE SAME. Stop attacking Casey Hudson and the like but instead tell them you love the game, you always liked his writing and you always had faith in him. This will be easier because it's essentially true. Tell them you don't hate them, that you'll go back to the fold if they meet your demands.

What you are trying to do is build sympathy and win defectors. The biggest prize for an insurgency movement are defectors, especially high profile ones. In the case of this Retake thing, you want to do it so that during their meetings there will be someone advocating for you. Hopefully more than one someone. Incidentally, this might involve having to accept paid ending DLC. Much earlier in this thread I opined why it would have to be paid: remember, they claim the game is done. The story is finished to their satisfaction. Any ending DLC they release they can legitimately (i.e. in court) claim as bonus. You don't need to get it.

Be careful of them trying to do the same. They'll try to win you over so someone here will suddenly be advocating for them. Hence the skepticism regarding Mr. Lee. He came here and suddenly everybody was telling others to back off, the Bioware guys had a long week. This is true, and don't be rude to him. However, nobody was, but people were losing their skepticism and resolve.

4) Disrupt the enemy logistics which means disrupting sales. Since you can't meet them head-on, this is one thing you can do. However, threatening to boycott products not yet made is absolutely meaningless. Newsflash, if you threaten not to buy something a company has not yet made, what will they do? Not make them. Bioware hasn't lost money on products not yet made because they haven't sunk resources into making them and marketing them. If you threaten not to buy it, they will find another product, one which does not cater to you. The next Bioware game could therefore very well be a multiplayer game or a shooter. That being said, threatening to boycott Bioware in the future is not a bad idea since AGTHunter noted that it turned you into cautious consumers. You just have to do more.

However, they have ME3 now. I can guarantee you the sales of ME3 and its future content are part of their current budget plan and profit projection. It's part of their logistics. Disrupt that and you are actually making a message regarding their money.

You don't need to do anything dramatic but it might be hard. Too hard. Not playing SP and MP is honestly the best way to do it-- they track your playtime so by not playing you are telling them you are unhappy with the current product and will therefore not buy future DLC or anything of the sort. Since they alread have money sunk into your product, one likely response from Bioware is to attempt to find ways of luring you back since that would be easier than making an entirely new game. If you keep emphasizing you would love to be lured back if they meet your demands, even better. Remember that video games are actually cheaper than you think and a lot of their profitability comes from DLC so you do hold some leverage here.

Discouraging others from buying it works as well.

Not playing MP seems a no go since too many people want to. So be it-- it's their right and they're being smart consumers still. They paid for it, why not enjoy it? Don't criticize them for it. Someone suggested continuing the protest on MP and if it is possible change your name to reflect Retake or Hold the Line. Add it to your online avatar's name. I don't know if that's possible.

Basically-- if you kids are serious about this, remember a) this won't be easy and it'll take a while, there will be no clear win, insurgencies or COIN ops don't end cleanly, c) there is risk. There is always risk and you'll have to accept that. The biggest risk is that Bioware might simply abandon you and ME3. Another is that you might damage Bioware to the point that it can't make its games. I don't like that, you don't like that and it's why a lot of "haters" are mad at you. They have good cause, but that's beside your point.

One last cynical thing you can offer Bioware: if they meet your demands and you are happy... well you can essentially offer this online advocacy network to them. Most companies would give their right arms to have a passionate, far-reaching and dedicated group of people pushing their products for free.

So good luck to you kids.

Worth a read 

[tfKR3W]

Hold the line!

[tfKR3W]

http://knowyourmeme....dings-reception

hurray lol the ending for mass effect is now trending as a meme!! (hope your happy bioware)!

[Kirjath]

Lost all desire to replay the ME games. Something simply needs to be done about this horrid ending.

[Divitiacus]

Lord Costantino wrote...

redknight38 wrote...

I sigh at myself. I really did promise to stay out of this, but that's clearly me lying to myself since last night. I've been involved...

So I am about to get a PhD in military history, with a specialty on insurgencies and conflict management. I'm not active military but what the hell. The gentleman in active duty was right-- this movement needs to get organized. Bioware has been getting better at playing by the PR handbook because they're getting a handle on things. Therefore they are in for the long haul and therefore people here have to be as well. That means getting organized and having consistent, coherent, simple and clear tactics and messaging. The Tea Party and the Occuppy movements both had to do that, hence their staying power after initial passionate outbursts.

How do insurgencies or even COIN ops operate?

1) Get a message out. So this Retake movement has to get a message out. Some suggestions have been offered: google bombing and review bombing. I have a lot of qualms about the latter because it has the potential to irreparably drive down the reviews to the point of not being able to repair it. Later, when this movement has become more articulated, you might be able to promise to attempt to drive that review rating up, however.

Either way, find a way to spread this on the Internet and build awareness for it. Have simple talking points and try to agree on them.

I suggest remaining polite and even being a little positive. You like ME, you don't hate Bioware. You just want changes. That'll build a sympathetic message because a key point in COIN and insurgencies is winning over neutrals.

2) Repeat the message as often as you can. Self-explanatory. However, it can't just be "I hate the ending" or "hold the line." You'll have to keep repeating your simple, bullet-pointed list of complaints. Groups like the IRA don't repeat long treatises (as I've been seeing on the boards) on their complaints. Nobody will read that. Keep it simple and keep it consistent.

That clearly means people on this forum will have to come to an agreement of the basic points they all agree with. The majority of resistance movements have internal problems and divisions that are often more important than external ones. The IRA, the VC, Mao, they all killed as many or more of their own members as their enemies. Failed insurgencies like the Philippine NPA did so to the detriment of their mission.

Incidentally, that means that instead of saying "bump" or "hold the line" or "I support this thread" you might want to say "don't play SP or MP" in trying to bump it. Something  constructive. The message.

3) Disrupt the enemy's internal cohesion. Attacking Bioware people is highly counter-productive so no ambushing or isolating. These people are just doing their jobs and I sincerely doubt they're maliciously laughing at your discontent. Neither are they having money fights at your expense. Come on people, this is the gaming industry, not Goldman Sachs. These people are not rolling in it.

They try to humanize themselves to win your sympathy. DO THE SAME. Stop attacking Casey Hudson and the like but instead tell them you love the game, you always liked his writing and you always had faith in him. This will be easier because it's essentially true. Tell them you don't hate them, that you'll go back to the fold if they meet your demands.

What you are trying to do is build sympathy and win defectors. The biggest prize for an insurgency movement are defectors, especially high profile ones. In the case of this Retake thing, you want to do it so that during their meetings there will be someone advocating for you. Hopefully more than one someone. Incidentally, this might involve having to accept paid ending DLC. Much earlier in this thread I opined why it would have to be paid: remember, they claim the game is done. The story is finished to their satisfaction. Any ending DLC they release they can legitimately (i.e. in court) claim as bonus. You don't need to get it.

Be careful of them trying to do the same. They'll try to win you over so someone here will suddenly be advocating for them. Hence the skepticism regarding Mr. Lee. He came here and suddenly everybody was telling others to back off, the Bioware guys had a long week. This is true, and don't be rude to him. However, nobody was, but people were losing their skepticism and resolve.

4) Disrupt the enemy logistics which means disrupting sales. Since you can't meet them head-on, this is one thing you can do. However, threatening to boycott products not yet made is absolutely meaningless. Newsflash, if you threaten not to buy something a company has not yet made, what will they do? Not make them. Bioware hasn't lost money on products not yet made because they haven't sunk resources into making them and marketing them. If you threaten not to buy it, they will find another product, one which does not cater to you. The next Bioware game could therefore very well be a multiplayer game or a shooter. That being said, threatening to boycott Bioware in the future is not a bad idea since AGTHunter noted that it turned you into cautious consumers. You just have to do more.

However, they have ME3 now. I can guarantee you the sales of ME3 and its future content are part of their current budget plan and profit projection. It's part of their logistics. Disrupt that and you are actually making a message regarding their money.

You don't need to do anything dramatic but it might be hard. Too hard. Not playing SP and MP is honestly the best way to do it-- they track your playtime so by not playing you are telling them you are unhappy with the current product and will therefore not buy future DLC or anything of the sort. Since they alread have money sunk into your product, one likely response from Bioware is to attempt to find ways of luring you back since that would be easier than making an entirely new game. If you keep emphasizing you would love to be lured back if they meet your demands, even better. Remember that video games are actually cheaper than you think and a lot of their profitability comes from DLC so you do hold some leverage here.

Discouraging others from buying it works as well.

Not playing MP seems a no go since too many people want to. So be it-- it's their right and they're being smart consumers still. They paid for it, why not enjoy it? Don't criticize them for it. Someone suggested continuing the protest on MP and if it is possible change your name to reflect Retake or Hold the Line. Add it to your online avatar's name. I don't know if that's possible.

Basically-- if you kids are serious about this, remember a) this won't be easy and it'll take a while, there will be no clear win, insurgencies or COIN ops don't end cleanly, c) there is risk. There is always risk and you'll have to accept that. The biggest risk is that Bioware might simply abandon you and ME3. Another is that you might damage Bioware to the point that it can't make its games. I don't like that, you don't like that and it's why a lot of "haters" are mad at you. They have good cause, but that's beside your point.

One last cynical thing you can offer Bioware: if they meet your demands and you are happy... well you can essentially offer this online advocacy network to them. Most companies would give their right arms to have a passionate, far-reaching and dedicated group of people pushing their products for free.

So good luck to you kids.

Worth a read 

It's really not. Bioware doesn't exist. It's made of people. If the people are talented, if Bioware dies they'll work again in the industry. It's a fictionional nexus of contracts. In fact, it might be a good way to shake things up and the untalented people don't work, the talented people do, it trims the fat and tightens things up. It's called competition, don't be afraid of it, it's how markets are efficient. I'm not saying Bioware should be dissolved, but I'm saying if it were don't be upset about it, nobody's died and you haven't even been deprived of your favorite artists.