To be fair though, some of the anticipation was to be expected on our own parts. We were naturally going to get more hyped as the trilogy reached it's final chapter. ME1 was the foundation, ME2 built on it and expanded it. Of course the stakes were going to be high. Of course we would feel more involved in the characters, locations, species, etc. compared to previous games since we finally had a chance to learn and care about them.
I agree Bioware let the train go into over drive though. All those tweets and teases about ME3. All those articles about anything related to ME3 just drove up the expectations, and let's not forget David Silverman with his awesome button
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So it's part Bioware's fault and part out own fault. The problem is that as it went along, we built up a greater list of assumptions, a vision of what the game will be like. It accumulated over years of playing ME games and imagining the final dramatic act. And even if the end is simply acceptable, that may not have been enough to satisfy most people.
Like Bioware themselves stated, they underestimated how much ownership we'd feel over our story. The problem is that everyone started out with a common base in ME1, but as the series evolved, so did everyone's pros and cons about the series. Some loved the focus on characters, others loathed ME2's story, some loved ME1's inventory system, some people hated the Mako, etc.
And as the series evolved, like you said it builds up your list of assumptions that's influenced and hyped up by what we would like to seem, and not necessarily what Bioware had in mind.
And we have an absolute right to state why what we had in mind was better than what Bioware had delivered. But as I mentioned, with people's tastes and assumptions as varied as the choices that are presented in the trilogy, it might become easy to see why Bioware's position with ME3 was so delicate.
Whatever they did, they had to make sure it fit with as many fans visions as possible. To make sure everyone could see Mass Effect as they had seen it evolve to their taste.
And something tells me, after all this time, that perhaps that is why Bioware went with the ending they did for ME3. I agree the execution with the Catalyst was rather lacking, but I can see what they were going for. Something open ended that would appeal to everyone. They could fill in the blanks with what they wanted, make their assumptions through the trilogy come true.
Wanted Shepard to aid in the rebuild of the galaxy? Done. Wanted the galaxy to start from scratch and avoid the pitfalls of AI? Done. Wanted Shepard to marry Ashley/Liara/Miranda/Kaidan/100000 other LIs? Done as done could be.
Overall, I think Bioware screwed up with the hype train in ME3 (which is why we have radio silence on ME next now) and their vision to appeal to everybody's own vision of Mass Effect with an open ended ending failed. But it was never from a lack of effort or because they were dumb. They tried and made mistakes. The execution of said ideas, especially for the ending, set a lot of people up for disappointment.
But I feel that it was their intention to avoid just that. They had the right idea in having the type of ending they envisioned. One moment when they just couldn't put it together scraped that idea and turned it into a blackhole of suffering for thousands of fans.
But you live and learn, and I'm sure they have
Bioware doesn't seem to learn too much
Honestly, I have a bit of problem with more than just ME3's ending. It started there, and led to plot holes, unfinished plots, and screwed up versions of conflicts, etc.
And the best part about it is that Bioware won't answer any criticism or explain anything, they just say that they're proud of their work, and got good game reviews. Has any one here ever sent an email to Bioware and gotten a reply? I'm honestly curious
As for ME3 being acceptable, I would disagree, they completely screwed up the story. The only plotline I can say I actually really enjoyed was Curing the Genophage. Other then that, there were a few decent missions, but they screwed up Rannoch and priority Earth big time.
As for the ending, I don't think that was why. Their idea of "filling in the blanks" would have worked, had they not made the entire ending that way. The only things you know for sure is is:
"Hey, Shep is dead but....
You mixed organics and synthetics together, because that's totally a good idea!
Now you have a robot god!
You blew everything up! Including your AI who had just started down the road to life, as well as the Geth, you know, that entire race of machines that:
You committed genocide for
Were going to fix the Quarians, one of whom you may have been dating!
But hey! At least you survived an explosion while bleeding out, and landed in a bunch of rubble after the space station you were on exploded and crashed on Earth
Oh you don't like those endings? Well because we care so much and have been listening to your feedback, we're going to add another ending. Having decided to complete the whole "copying Deus Ex" thing, we've added an ending where (you guessed it) everyone dies! You do nothing, none of your choices matter even more, and everyone dies! That's right! Everyone dies, because **** you, that's why!
Honestly, most fans might have hated/liked certain things, but there was a general consensus for pretty much everything that mattered.
The only reason every fan isn't complaining is because they're new and thus aren't that invested enough to care, have decided to give up because EA/Bioware doesn't give a damn, they've convinced themselves that the Destroy ending is the best, they worship Bioware, they read/write fanfiction in attempt to convince themselves that it's the ending, or are happy downloading MEHEM just to slightly fix the ending enough to where they can try to move on from the horrible thing known as ME3. Honestly, you can tell me that I complain, I know I do, but I feel that I have a pretty good justification for it.
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