It seems that most people who played mass effect 3 through in 3 -4 days after release dont like the endings. lets call these people (hardcore gamers), i dont like the pigeon holed title but it helps to clarify.
Now it seems to me that over the last few days there have been alot more support the ending threads from people who have only just completed the game, (casual gamers). Now i think its obvious that the hardcore gamers / fans will always have a higher level of emotinal investment in the series, and will pay more attention to the lore and every single fine detail of the universe (i know i do). But i also think we are in the minority in terms of the sales figures. and obviously we are the most vocal as casual players are not bothered with forums and discussion on the games, occasionally they will pop on for help if they get stuck etc.
now im firmly in the 99% quality game please re-write (not clarify) the endings camp. i play far too many games for far to much time so i probably qualify as a hardcore gamer. lol but when you look at this from a developers point of view they can't just go back and change the entire ending that X amount of casual gamers (some who have not even finished the game) are ok with, yes they may not care either way but think of it this way.
If you were happy with a games ending and it ended up being your favorite game of all time and then the developer comes out a month later and says here's a new ending (a better one) but your going to have to pay for it. your going to feel just as cheated as someone who thought the ending was crap having to pay for a new one. At the end of the day an ending needs to be right the first time. yes 10 or 20% of players(hardcore fans) are upset, im one of you but what if 10 or 20% of casual players do actually like the ending? Is their opinion worth less than are's because they dont religiously play mass effect?
The largest majority of mass effect players typicly that own xbox's
just play it for a bit of fun and to be honest probably dont give a rats arse if liara is the shadow broker or which krogan lord they have to deal with in 3, or if the rachni queen is the correct rachni queen etc They play games to kill time between TV soaps etc after a hard days work and probably dont remember a convo at the satrt of the game let alone an event from me1. They just want to see a giant worm having a kisisng contest with a mile high robot thermadore lobster and shoot some stuff just for the kicks.I AM NOT SAYING THIS JUSTIFIES A BADLY PLANNED / WRITEN ENDING! thought that should be in bold.lol
im just saying that from a figures point of view we may be the most vocal but we are not the majority of players, but we are the majority or players who care! Its up to the developer if they support their most loyal fans or go for the largest market. Dispite some peoples views on Bethesda they are the only company im realy interested in that manage to strike this balance between fans and casual players in terms of their content and games.
I do fear Bioware are appealing more and more to the casual crowd and from a hardcore fan point of view its sad but if i were Biowares accountant / business advisor i would have to advise they appeal to the largest audience. I do think they are trying to stike a balance which introduced the casual gamer to the idea of rpg choice systems etc but whether that is good or bad remains to be seen. Some of us need to be prepared for more disapointment as bioware move away from the niche market.
It will be interesting to see how many casual players come out in support of these current endings over the new couple of weeks leading up to PAX. The other thing i consider is that if i was a casual mass effect player and i didnt fully take notice of "Take Back mass effect" etc and then i saw im my eyes the developer bowing down to a minority and chainging the conclusion of the game i would loose faith in the developer just as we are losing faith over the endings. Just an example take the controversy of including gay relationships in the game, now obviously this is a minority of players who activly want this in the game, some despise it and most are indifferent, I know to many thats almost a counter argument to what ive been saying because the minority got their way, but thats a larger social issue that occurs in all walks of life not just in gaming. (not a homophobic statement just anti positive discrimination.)
Couple of things to finish..
Broken steel before anyone posts it lol, - yes i would love a proper continuation expantion pack like broken steel. Broken steel is a new ending but its a new ending chapter not a script tweak to what was already their. I would love to see an expantion that did domething like this though.
I hope we do get a "better" ending that will inspire myself and others to replay the trilogy but i honestly think the stance will be, add a little bit of clarity/explanation, mabye a epilogue and then move on a learn from the mistakes.
I fear this could all backfire though and future games will have less and less choices for the player in them and we will end up with a pure linear gears of war shooter set in the mass effect universe as Bioware won't want the headache of creating 20 endings to their games.
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