Before mods or community managers find reason to close this thread for being demanding, I am NOT requesting that Mac Walters talks with us. All I am doing is allowing for Lots Of Speculation From Everyone in his stead.
This is something I find curious.
The way I see it, either of these things could have been the reason for the ending:
1) A pressing deadline that kept Bioware from giving us something more conclusive.
2) A last minute change to artistic vision (Final Hours seems to hint at this)
3) This was what they literally planned all along and never changed a thing.
If #1 is the case.
If #1 is the case I understand why Bioware's not talking. We know EA is infamous for their killer deadlines and I know that when Bioware became an EA company a lot of people feared exactly this. I still remember Bioware telling us that with EA's funding they could rise to new heights and told us how much good it would do for the quality of the Mass Effect trilogy. Currently this is still inconclusive: the story would arguably have been the same, all we can really thank EA for is the inclusion of movie-grade voice actors (though Lance Henriksen, Keith David and Seth Green were already onboard in ME1) and the addition of multiplayer. From a player's perspective I don't really see the added value of EA's money beyond that, and I think everyone agrees that if ME's gameplay and quality had never changed from ME1 we would still have played this trilogy through to the end.
Either way, if #1 is the case then Bioware is contractually obligated (I would assume) to not badmouth EA. It seems illogical for Walters to just suddenly appear and go "yeah we really had a lot more planned than this but EA sabotaged us by not wanting to extend the deadline". In that case, he would prove right the fears that fans have had all along, and would invalidate Bioware's past claims that EA's support would help them do more justice to the franchise.
If #2 is the case.
In this case I don't see why Walters doesn't talk with us. We've proven more than capable of civil discussions with Stanley, Chris, Jarrett and basically everyone who posts here. There's a lot of anger about the way the end has been handled, but so far this has not really translated towards anger with specific individuals like it did with DA2's fiasco. Maybe Bioware is wary of this for exactly what happened to DA2, but at the same time I feel like communication is the way forward.
If Walters were to come to this forum to tell us why Bio did the ending like they did, perhaps he could even help us understand. Give us the exposition that the ending itself did not. Maybe we won't agree, but by explaining why the current ending seemed like a good idea when they made it really could help clear up the air.
If #3 is the case.
Then why does Mac Walters not tell us what the vision for the ME trilogy overall has been? If this is literally what the plan from the start was, how did the writers envision its execution? What is the underlying philosophy of the game's theme? For five years we thought we were playing a game that was about survival against all odds and finding strength in cooperation. Now it turns out that the message of the game is that "synthetics will inevitably destroy organics". This is one of the main offenses of the ending, because when Spacekid speaks we don't hear a character in the universe talk but we hear the writer's contrived philosophy seep its way into our story, and all suspension of disbelief is shattered.
So talk philosophy with us? Why did the game's writers believe that this was a credible motivation for the Reapers? As it stands, the Reapers look like fools: they are the ones producing the very problem they exist to solve. That seems like contrary to what any writer would intend for his work.
Talk with us, make us understand.
That's advice, not a request. We have to assume that the writers either supported what they wrote, or that EA kept them from making a better game. In the latter case I expect we will find out several years from now, and the longer silence is maintained the more likely it becomes that this is the case. But if points #2 or #3 are what's going on, then I think everyone in Retake would welcome the opportunity for a discussion. If the "its art" defense holds true, then as artists we welcome Bioware's writers to discuss their art with us.
Modifié par Eain, 20 mars 2012 - 02:18 .
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