191 réponses à ce sujet

[Jenonax]

The way I see it a loyal core fanbase is worth their weight in gold, they are the spine as it were and the casual fans make up the rest. They buy the merchandise, the DLC's, they'll sing your praises to anyone who'll listen. They get your name out there.

But building a core fanbase takes time. For Bioware as a company it took Baldur's Gate, KOTOR, Jade Empire, ME1 and all the fantastic games they put out. It built consumer trust in them.

The thing about trust is its very hard to build and so, so easy to destroy. We've had DA2, which on its own wasn't quite enough to really shake Bioware, but then we add on TOR which isn;t exactly setting the MMO world on fire at the moment. And then of course there's ME3. Trust gone, the spine is broken.

Bioware is in a fortunate position in which they are perfectly able to mend the spine. Ending DLC released, concerns addressed, fans happy we all move on.

If they leave the spine broken, there's not a lot left holding the fanbase up. Bioware would have to start all over again, back at square one.

[AndreasShepard]

I don't think Bioware will do a proper fixon the ending but I'm defnitely going to second guess buying their games in the future. I shouldn't feel physically ill from playing one of their games and feeling this disappointed. Just not worth it.

[Martanek]

KingKhan03 wrote...

Man how could they mess up ME3 wow this was my favorite game series of all time..i cant believe it.

Excuse me, but how exactly did Bioware mess up your favourite series? Would you care to be more specific please?

[Baronesa]

Well, for what is worth...

I was in a position on which I could say to friends "If it is Bioware, just get it..."

A friend took the advice and finally got ME and ME2... loved them... then got ME3... now don't want to touch anything labeled Bioware... not even the old games.


Now I'm not even sure I could buy future games from Bioware...   Maybe after waiting for the discount bin?.

But I'll no longer buy their products on launch day. IF they make something good, I may wait a couple of years till  prices drop. Hopefully back on Steam... really hope Origin fails

Modifié par Baronesa, 31 mars 2012 - 10:57 .

[Randalf84]

A sci-fi franchise needs it's obsessives.

[Grimskull89]

I agree with the OP, good points...

-my two cents-

As a fan of the series, and one of the many disgruntled... I cannot knowingly suggest the series to people now like I used to do all the time with Mass Effect 1 and 2 with such an ending.

Just the other day my girlfriend asked if she would like the series and I really hesitated. Because for the past 3 years Mass Effect has been the series I usually recommend to everyone but now...

[Oranet]

I have only one or two things to mention...first, I know of no business that does not count on brand loyality (or in this case fan loyality) to bring in steady income. It is a basic of business marketing; brand recognition, then brand loyality. I seriously doubt EA would have purchased Bioware because the latter showed disregard for their customer base. My guess is EA stepped in because of Bioware's loyal fan base.

Second, I spoke with a congressman a few years back and he told me that when a voter calls in a complaint it is assumed that 1000 other voters feel the same way...now I am not saying for every ME customer that complained about the endings there are a 1000 others which feel the same way...but I would be willing to bet there are at least 10 others that do and who have not raised their voice as yet.

Additionally, I bought five copies of ME3 (2 CE, 3 standard), and gave four of the them to family members (of course I kept one of the CE!). In all I have spent over $900 on the ME series (EA and Bioware can check that with the games registered and the stuff I purchased from the BW store). And have purchased five copies of the game for all three of the ME releases, not including DLCs. My point here is selling a million copies doesn't mean there are a million purchasers...it means a million copies sold.

Lastly, I have not spoken up regarding the endings as yet, but now I'll add my name to the others that are dissappointed with them as are the family members who received ME3 as a gift. And although I own many EA games (PC and Console), I will put any additional purchases with EA on the label on hold until I see what EA and Bioware are going to do about  ME3.

My apology for the length.

All the best,
Ken

[pharsti]

Im not expecting them to change the ending, dont even want them to, all i want is them to plug the plotholes, and if possible provide me with an epilogue (written in worst case scenario) that is based on my choices.

But yes, BW will move on, with or without the fans that are disappointed, they just dont care. If youre not happy with it, just dont support them anymore, its not hard to do, you can even still play their games, just, dont them money for it, go for the used stuff.

[Jere85]

Shepard (the fans in this metaphor) wasnt really a blip on the reapers (EA) radar, but see what he did

[wicked_being]

I really don't think they care anymore. Maybe they'll fix it...but it's probably to make the bad PR go away not because they care about the fans.

You know in the Reckoning forum, Curt Schilling himself (I hope it's really him lol) posts and talks to the fans. Here we get...

[XqctaX]

since i havent meet any one that played it and liked it, weather hardcore fan or casual player. i fond this entire thread invalid.
liking the ending has nothing to do with beeing a fan or not.

[Antiochus V]

Losing customers is rarely a good sign for a business, fans are customers and now there are fewer of them.

[Motherlander]

I agree with the OP too.

In the end, if they provide something that improves the ending to an acceptable level, then I will continue playing and buy more DLC.

If they don't provide. Well then, I wont play so much and no DLC for me. It is as simple as that.

Otherwise, I will not likely pre-order games like I did this time and will go back tomy previous habit of buying games 6-12 months after release when they are cheaper, after carefully reading reviews from various sources.

Modifié par Motherlander, 31 mars 2012 - 12:11 .

[crappyjazzy]

I believe about 10% of what people say on the internet, especially message boards. That significantly reduces the numbers of people who may actually boycott Bioware in my opinion.

Modifié par crappyjazzy, 31 mars 2012 - 12:12 .

[Banelash]

Westwood was good, they create a new genre. Look what happened to them. If you alienate your fans with rushed games and sloppy story, history will and has repeated itself on multiple now defuncted companies.

[Pelle6666]

No? But you know what? Bioware is important to us and for them to let us down so completely in their greatest production so far is fu**ing disgraceful! They will survive, but we will not stay with them and if they can live with being such dicks to us then fine! They can have it their way!

[TheRisenStar]

Yes, that's it. Ignoring your customers and acting tonedeaf in the face of their concerns is always a winning business strategy. Ask Netflix...

BioWare had a fanbase built over a decade. No healthy company enthusiasticly jettisons that because they think a new audience will more than make up the long term loss. The ones that do are almost always shown later to have had something very wrong in their corporate culture, usually having to do with being acquired by a larger entity that isn't so much interested in the long-term viability of a brand but in short term profits.

Ask Maxis, Mythic, or Westwood if they've seen any of that going around... How did they fare from similar moves?

[Xenite]

Bioware canceled 'Exalted March' why? Because DA2 DLC sold TERRIBLE.

That's what happens when you abandon what made you great in the first place.

[pikey1969]

I know I am making an assumption here that Bioware's 'response in the works' will be no more than a clarification patch/dlc. I am also seeing a very critical assumption here that is saying nothing but a 'new/alternative/additional' endings will do.

"They're ignoring customers, bad for business"

Anyone can definitely see that the 'majority' of the core fans are not content with the ending. And it's also clear sizeable chunk will not be happy with the 'clarification' patch/dlc that has been alluded to so far.

But which customers will Bioware be kissing farewell to? and how many of them are there?

How many of the fans would be willing to completely forsake Bioware even after the 'clarification' patch/dlc is announced (all but certain to happen at PAX)?

How many would hold onto the rage/grievances they're feeling now over not getting alternate/new ME3 endings for the next however many months until their next big release?

Not as many as we'd think/hope, at least not enough for Bioware to completely turn around their statements regarding how THEY feel about their work so far and their commitment to stand by it.

[pikey1969]

At this point, Bioware has definitely been called out on the way they handle their endings. They'll most likely put greater focus/concern on this in the future, or they'll definitely lose customers.

But really the chances of ME3 endings getting retconned the way many want it to, simply isn't a realistic possibility, given the way things have turned out so far.

Modifié par pikey1969, 31 mars 2012 - 12:44 .

[TekFanX]

The funny thing however is, industries adapt to their costumers.
Understanding the costumer is worth a lot of money.
My stepfather is registered at a marketing-research-company.
He isn't an employee, no, he get's 20 Euro to partake in a discussion(with a length of an hour), to give his impressions on products. Or planned changes on products.
They have a huge data-base with people and their interests.
They invite the people, whose interests match the product they want to research.

So basically: Marketing-research and finding the right notch to appeal to people, is worth enough to pay 20 Euro to one person for one hour of his/her time.
And the meetings consist of more than one person.

Now consider this:
"Hardcore fans" do this for free.
They don't just play the game and throw it into a shelve afterwards, no they visit your forums to tell you about the impression they got from your game and what they liked/disliked.
They even tell you how their friends reacted.
They buy your merchandise, with logos from your product on it. N7-hoodies anyone?
And even more: They advertise your product in the most efficient way.
They know the people they talk to.
And if the hardcore-fans like a product, they want to share the experience with their friends and will highlight the aspects of it, their friends will most likely appreciate.
A walking commercial, propagating your product, even wearing shirts from it.
No add-block inbetween.
And this commercial knows exactly how to appeal to possible new consumers.

I really enjoy the interaction with the community-managers and devs on these forums.
But after all, some of these people get payed for interacting with the community and holding up to a frame-work.
To a part, because these forums are a source for marketing and product-research.

Costumers can have a large impact on the way a product is made.
For example, I study engineering. One of the things that I will never forget is the following rule a Professor told us:
Even if smaller screws would carry the load of a larger machine-part, never take something smaller than M6(Metric, 6mm diameter~0.25 inch).
Simply, because the costumer won't believe that the construction will be strong enough and therefore distrusts your work.

[DVZ]

pikey1969 wrote...

TL;DR

I'm sick of all these so-called "fans" lacking the stamina to hold the line.

Major Kirrahe would be ashamed. <_<

[pikey1969]

DVZ wrote...

pikey1969 wrote...

TL;DR

I'm sick of all these so-called "fans" lacking the stamina to hold the line.

Major Kirrahe would be ashamed. <_<

It's far more feasible/realistic/more-likely for Bioware to simply ride this out, and just be sure to nail the endings on the next big project they do, than it would be to try and navigate the s**t storm that htis current situation has morphed into. That's basically the jist of it.

And really? Disqualifying disagreeable opinions simply as being that of a 'none-true fan' is the fastest way to becoming the negative stereotype that much of the media has been trying to paint you as this whole time.

[Madecologist]

Oh look, Bioware doesn't need its loyal fans. It doesn't need to market itself for what it gained a brand name for. Clearly Bioware will thrive in the saturated market of other shooters and action game developers. Clearly the Bioware team will be able to steal the fans from Halo, CoD, and GoW with its superior game design skills. The competition will never stand a chance as it will crush them all. Forgoeing the few angry fans to gain millions of new customers.

By the way, your sarcasm radar should have exploded from that comment. Seriously, it is never good idea to completely burn the bridge with your 'traditional' fan base. Also when it comes to action games and shooters, you might have more players but it is also a saturated market with developers that have lived in that market for a long time. It is not that easy to take a piece of that pie.

There is nothing wrong with branching out, but discarding your roots leads to a very dead tree quick.

[pikey1969]

XqctaX wrote...

since i havent meet any one that played it and liked it, weather hardcore fan or casual player. i fond this entire thread invalid.
liking the ending has nothing to do with beeing a fan or not.

I counter your anecdotal evidence with my own then, I know and have met PLENTY of both long-time and new players of Mass Effect 3 that found the endings to be acceptable, even great (though I think those claiming to have 'loved it' might have been stretching it a bit to be 'hip/reactionary'), and most of those people that didn't find the endings to be as 'repulsive' will most definitely come back to play more Bioware games, especially after the 'clarification' patch/dlc, because regardless of the endings that weren't 'best in the world', the journey leading to that end has been amazing from ME1 - ME3.

Modifié par pikey1969, 31 mars 2012 - 12:53 .