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[necrotek]

I am not a common EA customer. I don't buy sports games. Hell,  I rarely buy games. I target games that have good story, amazing visuals, or a world I can get lost in. I also avoid MMO's these days. The ONLY games I tend to purchase are Scifi games I Have a history with, like Starcraft, Bioshock, Dead space (which sadly, I'll never buy again after this), and Deus Ex. I buy maybe 1 game every 2 months, and I play through them in a week, and I rarely spend much time on multiplayer, because i'm in it for the story. I've played MMO's, and after WoW,  I was (and still am) burnt out on them. I just couldn't bring myself to care. 

Now all of my friends are playing SWOTOR, and I was going to give it a shot. I was going to give it a chance. 

Bioware has just killed that. 

The disrespect i felt at the ending, the slap in the face that was the tacked on, hackneyed Diabolus ex Machina, the inexplicable crash landing and then the old man and child creepshow? No boss battle No actual conflict in the ending? A combat game ending that's railroad straight and has no real combat? No acheivement? Just a "Pick a door, watch the cutsene" ending? That's not a game - that's a craptastic cop-out. This was unacceptable. Then the DLC add?

No. 

I went out of my way, drove around to every big box store in my area to find a place that would let me preorder ME3 collector's edition. that didn't work. I ended up buying from Origin, installing origin against my better judgement, and playing through. 

I wanted to play through as full renegade. I got to tuchanka. I couldn't. I couldn't hurt Wrex any more than I had. I had to save his people from the genophage. I had to. I couldn't kill Mordin. I couldn't. they were too... connected. I could not bring myself to shoot mordin. I restarted my entire playthrough to get enough points, after I got to Legion's suicide, just so I'd have enough points to get both legion and tali to survive. 

That ending? 

No thank you. 

Now you (bioware) tell me that you're going to release "explanations" and "clarifications?" Now you tell me you won't discuss the biggest PR screwup your company has ever had at the PAX panel tomorrow?  You release a tidbit the day before to defuse the fans, but won't say anything more? No trailer, no info, not even a comment? You talk about artistic integrity? 

No. You don't have artistic integrity. You're owned by EA. I work from time to time in the film business. I have actual feature credits (as crew. I'm not a star, I'm not a Name. I'm a grunt under the line and therefor, I get to see a lot of things no NDA covers) . I've seen what artistic integrity looks like. IT looks like Terry pratchett walking away from bad decisions when Disney wants to cut the Death aspect from MORT - a book about Death's apprentice. IT looks like Someone taking the time and effort to HAND MAKE an entire animated film, even if it's terrible. Artistic integrity is looking at the business practices of a production company, trying to change them, and even though there's NO work to be had in the area, walking away when you can't. Pixar producers fought HARD to prevent the Disneyfication of their films, even after "experts" told them that they needed musical numbers and love stories. They fought the big battles, and let disney add a few smaller pieces to their films, soundtracks with big name stars, Names in the voice booth, etc... but they didn't budge where it matttered. That's  artistic integrity.

You're claiming this type of integrity, and I can almost respect that. I can see fighting fan response to your ending, defending what you've made. There's another part to artistic integrity. though - the ability to understand the story you're telling. George Lucas doesn't have this - he claims his fans have ruined his series, and won't make another. Everyone else sighs in releif, because lucas doesn't understand his own story anymore. 
Neither, it seems, does Bioware.  I've seen directors make bad calls, and fight it, until they watch the focus groups. I've seen that expression change, when they see it through the VIEWER's eyes....and suddenly, the story breaks at the weak point they've tried so hard to shore up.  Artistic integrity is Sticking to your story - But it's also about changing the art when the art isn't working. You've become george lucas. You were given the option to be like speilberg, and put the Guns back into Raiders of the lost Ark. You turned it down. You didn't learn the lesson, you didn't see the cracks in your story, and now when it gets hit by the fan rage, you're going to watch it break. 

Let me tell you what's NOT artistic integrity - Changing your ending script after it leaks to the public. Releasing Zero Day DLC unlocks that are on the disk, or could have been. Selling out to EA, then buckling when they demand you make a release date and cutting corners everywhere. Locking out most of your writers and the feedback from internal sources that your ending is confusing. Adding a plotline at the last minute, with no background, no foreshadowing, and throwing a new character into the mix that has no role other than a figurehead from the developer that seems sponsored by crayola. Deliberately releasing an ending that you KNOW will be poorly received, with the cover that its' "thought provoking", "deep", and "has to be viewed as part of a big picture."  

The emperor has new clothes? No. The emperor is naked. The ending is great, when you understand it? No. The ending is terrible, because you have to JUSTIFY it. IF you have to explain a joke, it's not funny. IF you have to explain a story, it's not a good story.  You can explain it, but I'm not listening. You can clarify all you like, but putting a pig in a dress does not create a princess - it ruins the dress. You've decided to stonewall fans, supply your PR department with no information and disinformation, and you've spat on the biggest opportunity you have to make your fans change their minds. 

You've got good PR people, but somewhere above them is someone holding a different line - One that says, "No. This ending is awesome. They just don't get it." or possibly "We can't afford to change the ending. That would change everything we have planned for the NEXT section of the series!"  these people are deluded. They are misguided. They are also costing your company customers. If you want to proceed with the mass effect universe after destroying most of it, just so that you can have a nice setting for a SWOTOR reskin MMO or a halo-lite shooter, then no. 

No. I'm done. 

I will not buy your games, or EA's. I will not pay you a single dime. I'm done. Will I get into SWOTOR now? No way in HELL. Will I buy dragon age 3? No. Will I even pirate it, as some I know do? Probably not. IT's not worth it. Will I buy Mass Shift, or whatever you've got up your sleeve. IF the Mass Effect panel tomorrow actually says something useful, I may listen.  But as of right now, I'm done. I'm also going to remind my friends why I don't play MMO's, and why they were complaining about SWOTOR only a scant few months ago. I'm going to do everything in my power to drive them away from EA product. You're not worth my time, my money, or my anger. 

You are worthy only of being held up as an example of what happens when a game is rushed, when a developer is under too much pressure, and when the PR response machine doesn't listen.  I urge bioware to do its best to either restructure its' agreement with EA, or do its best to leave EA with nothing but the name and the IP. you can do better, you have done better, and you're dissapointing now. 

Goodbye, Bioware.