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[Stripe523]

I appreciate the recent response from the highest levels of BW, namely Dr. Ray Muzyka. I specifically appreciate that he addressed how ineffective and inflammatory some of BW's previous responses have been - purely defending yourself and pointing towards glowing critical reviews (ahem, Casey Hudson) only makes fans feel worse and more angry. One other part of his response really stuck out to me: he acknowledged that players have 'highly personal emotions' involved and that the dev team finds the response 'painful'.

Bottom line: this is personal for everyone - players and developers. And that's a testament to the deep experience BW has created. We all feel so attached to the characters that we feel a personal ownership stake in their outcome. That applies to developers and fans alike. I also think that may explain the manner in which fans' and BW's response has evolved - its like the stages of grief from a personal loss - it starts with denial and anger.

However, Muzyka has really only moved as far as the 'bargaining' stage in his response. While he correctly identifies the game development process as art, he still falls back on the opinions of professional critics. Art is meant for the viewer, not just the critic. Secondly, he pleads for only constructive criticism. I'm all for being constructive, but it's ludicrous to think that any meaningful response would have resulted without some of the hardball tactics used by the whiners in our midst. Muzyka's response is a direct reaction to the destructive criticism, without which the developers would still be hiding behind their glowing critical reviews.

Muzyka's promise to continue working on additional content to improve the game is immensely reassuring, though. Reading between the lines of his response, it seems like the dev team wasn't originally planning to change the ending but they will as long as it's on their own creative/artistic terms. Essentially, it sounds like they'll fix things as long as it doesn't look like fans are forcing them to do it. I can respect that.

To that end, here's some (constructive) advice from a devoted fan who really wants to see the ending improved:

**Don't give any details or promises about what will be in the ending DLC - One of the big reasons so many fans (myself included) were upset with the ending is that it seems like we were promised something different. BW's marketing did a great job of building up expectations in advance of the games release. But that became part of the problem when fans felt disappointed. So I'd advise keeping expectations lower this time around.

**Fix the plot holes - I won't go into spoilers but other fans have done a plenty good job of pointing out some of the problems elsewhere on these forums. You guys are the writers but I can't think of any way of explaining away some of the events, unless they weren't real. There are theories out there in the forums that would solve most of these story issues, with the added benefit of allowing the dev team to keep some artistic integrity by not entirely tossing out the ending as-written.

**Address the controversy with the ending before any other DLC - I have no objection to paying for other content. I understand that the level of product that BW delivers costs money to create. If an ending DLC were offered for free, it would create a huge groundswell of good PR, but I'm not going to pretend that fans have any right to expect something for free. However, if BW released another DLC pack before addressing fan feedback that would send entirely the wrong message.

So there's my own two cents of constructive advice: postpone your other DLC, work on a revised ending instead, don't overpromise this time, and either undo or explain some of the shocking gaps in the plot.

Best wishes,
Hopeful in Boston