For every positive action the gaming community carries out to improve its collective reptuation, there seems to be about four or five or six or twelve negative ones which completely offset the good deeds with a smorgasbord of poorly-channeled anger, ill-thought reasoning and general stupidity. For some reason, Bioware has been taking a lot of flak lately, whether it’s regarding out-of-context remarks made by one of their writers five years ago (who just happens to be of the Fairer Sex) or by bringing out some game called Mass Effect 3 and having it end in a manner not everybody feels is fitting. Everything they seem to do is massively controversial, no matter how much they try to please everyone – it’s a bit of a tricky situation.
There’s only one workable solution for the Canadian gaming superpower to adopt – they have to start sucking. Or just do what they’re already doing, and ignore the very vocal minority too busy rubbing up their Shepard cardboard cutouts to listen to reason and understand that remaking a rather crucial aspect of a multi-million-dollar videogame is kind of unreasonable.
Bioware’s latest controversy involves the ending of Mass Effect 3, which is apparently So Goddamn Terrible that people are complaining to America’s FTC – yes, that FTC – about the game, demanding their money back because publisher Electronic Arts released a game which “did not live up to any of [their] claims”. There’s a huge, extremely well-researched and ultimately rather depressing list (potentially full of spoilers) on Bioware’s forums of the “claims” which EA have not delivered on, each one a little more laughably worrying than the next. All this over a game they’ve spent money on as an entertainment product – not as a controlling share of Bioware, which seems to be what many think they have purchased.
The people that assemble these lists are the kind of wimpy cry-baby self-entitled asshole freaks who spend their time hopelessly masturbating to Miranda cosplay, build their N7 suits out of cardboard and lick their collectors editions in a way Jessica Chobot could only dream of. They’re in the same kind of league as people who buy a ticket to a bad movie and then demand it back from the box office afterwards.
Not that, it should be stressed, I’m implying Mass Effect 3 has a bad ending. Far from it. I have no doubt the conclusion is excellent. If Bioware can create such a huge and loyal fanbase with an award-winning arrangement of gameplay, visuals, sound and story in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, that same team should really be able to retain those fans by the time the credits of Game Number Three start to roll. But by the time Game Number Three hits the shelves, the community makes the game their own, ultimately claiming it as their pet without asking Bioware if they can keep it first. So if the dog craps on the carpet and doesn’t do all the tricks it’s being asked to do, it’s hardly Bioware’s fault. They just got you the pup they thought was best.
Ultimately, the development studio isn’t going to calm the mass of teeming freaks down. Fanboys are fanboys, and if Mass Effect 3 doesn’t end exactly as they want it to then haters are gonna hate. The reason this debacle is so ridiculously pathetic is down to those haters being unable to back up any endlessly bitchy and snide complaints with something actually useful to Bioware: constructive criticism. But this criticism, constructive or not, won’t change things because some one-percenters said so.
Mass Effect 3 is not a product made by fans for fans – like its forebears, the game is created by Bioware for the audience exactly as they see fit, and they will not submit to the groundless complaints of tedious, boring weirdos at a cost of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars just to try and make a minority happy – at least not right away. If they don’t get it right second time around, the fans will demand retakes, and retakes, and retakes. It’s an unworkable system.
By all means, complain about weapon balancing or difficulty or anything that can be fixed easily with a patch. Asking Bioware to change something as big as ME3‘s ending and expecting them to just listen because Somebody Said So is the biggest heap of shit I’ve heard in this industry. They’ll get nowhere harassing federal institutions because they didn’t like the ending of a game. Without a doubt, I encourage them to tell people about how important games are, but there’s nothing actually offensive about the ending of the game itself – these rather vocal owners of a game they play religiously are turning the gaming community into a laughing stock in the eyes of people who have more important things to worry about. The folks at the FTC can’t and won’t give a damn about Shepard’s story wrapping up differently from how a minority expected or wanted it to. These jokers, whiners, cry-babies and losers need to grow a backbone, quit whining, and just concentrate on actually having some fun with Mass Effect 3, a title made with care by people who just want you to love it like they did a game or two ago.
Source: Destructoid Source: SPONG.com
Simon
Agreed. Sickens me how pathetic the gaming community is.
Lukas Heinzel
There are certain crtics, which are understandable, in general they are of course false. But isnt it true that you havent even finished mass effect 3? If you did, its ok, but if not its a little arrogant to write posts in a tone like this.
Well, i liked the tone of the ending, i always feel bad at the end. Its the same with metal gear solid 4 or any other game which concludes a saga.
People dont want their experience to end and thats really what happened here. They stayed with mass effect for 5 years and now its all over?
This just cant be.
Jon
So what you’re asking for is that Bioware never stop making Mass Effect instead of wrapping up the series and moving onto pastures new?
You need to remember that, while game developers have an objective to please whoever they are releasing the game for, they aren’t employed by them. They can’t bend to the will of some grouchy Mass Effect fans just because they say so. A 60 dollar copy of Mass Effect 3 is an entertainment product consumed by choice; it’s not a stake in the company itself – so why feel entitled to act like it is?
McNally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz8_j-ebfaI&feature=g-all-u&context=G2a36abfFAAAAAAAAAAA
Chubbaluphigous
I would like to point out that it isn’t a vocal minority that doesn’t like the ending. That the majority of the people who don’t like the ending are acting far more civil than you are giving them credit for. The FTC thing is crazy but they don’t represent the majority of the “movement”. It feels weird to call it a movement because well… video games.
The word entitled is being over used to insult people who would have liked a better ending. It really only applies to those who say they are “owed” or “deserve”. Everyone got what they paid for, a game titled Mass Effect 3. Being unhappy with what they got and wanting it to be better does not mean they are acting entitled. It is unprecedented to want a piece of entertainment changed, for what most would see as the better. However with games being what they are and the use of the internet, this is an achievable goal and not at all unrealistic. You can’t patch a movie that is in the theaters or a book on a shelf, but you can change game code.
What is with calling everyone “cry-babies”? There are some other people who are doing this and it reads to me like, “Just like the thing I like, and if you can’t like the thing I like then shut up.” It is like putting down a group of people you disagree with places you up on some sort of internet high ground. It doesn’t. If you think the ending was fine, then cool. Voice your opinion but insulting those who are vocal with a conflicting opinion only hurts you.
If you would like a more informed perspective on what the opposition to the Mass Effect 3 ending is doing and how Bioware/EA are responding, then please read this post on the Bioware Social Network. You only need to read the first post but it is a long one. Very informative.
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/10084349/1
(Reference point: If you don’t know who Marauder Shields is, then he is the last enemy you kill before going through the beam to the end game.)
Brent Knowles, lead designer on DA:O and worked on Baulder’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights, has some interesting thoughts on the issues at hand. Here is link that compiles his statements that he made on his blog.
http://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/comments/r0z6p/brent_knowles_lead_designer_on_dragon_age_origins/
Diarmuid
I actually liked the ending., but I can also see why people are complaining.
As for asking for a new ending, unlike other types of media, this is not unheard of in games. Fallout 3 did it not too long ago.Also, for those who have finished the game, there is a piece of text at the end which seems to me, to imply that Bioware were already thinking of adding such content.
technicallyfunny
Surely you need to have finished the actual game to write this article? How can you understand what all the hoo-haa is about if you havent finished it?
The FTC reports are ridiculous. Some aspects of the argument however, are not.
Also, its not just deranged, crazy fanboys at work here. Civil and pleasant criticism about the ending is in the majority, in fact over $60,000 has been donated to charity by gamers who feel the ending wasn’t good enough. I dont think these people who donated are the kind of people you describe in your article.
It doesn’t seem like you’ve actually investigated anything. You heard about the FTC complaints and went on a tirade about how this is making the gaming community look bad when in fact, your very own article (on a gaming website) is making the gaming community look bad.
I’ve finished the game. The ending is pretty much as expected. But any Mass Effect fan can see why the controversy is there whether they liked the ending or not.
As for people who haven’t finished the game, their opinions regarding the endings are pretty much invalid, as is this rant
Tad
Will this series just end already. seriously, it must be one of the most overrated games ever created. Its full of long winded converstations that poor me to tears, the enitre universe seems to have the same look and feel instead of planet to plant, the characters just aren’t that interesting and the story just doest grip me at all. It’s just feels like they milked it because they could.
Dan
GOOD NEWS! The trilogy ended with Mass Effect 3. So you can now get back to shooting people in the face with giddy abandon without having to worry about such pesky things as story arcs. 🙂
Tad
Well, for one I rarely play shooters and story is the main reason I play games. ME series has had a pretty rubbish story arc in my opinion. It’s been drawn out and down right tedious. Doesn’t it bother you the WHOLE universe has the same vibe and feel to it? Least in KOTOR things felt different on each planet etc… I suggest you look at games like Broken Sword, The Whispered World and so on a better story arc. Least the character development felt natural in those games and not forced down your throat with the usually quests and so on that you need to do just to open another dialogue path.
Diarmuid
“Once you finish a film, it doesn’t belong to you anymore — it belongs to the audience to interpret it the way they feel like interpreting.”
– Clint Eastwood, 2005
Unlike films however, with the advent of DLC in games, elements [like endings] can be changed.
[BTW I do not want it changed, just mentioning this to try to explain why some gamers may feel their sense of entitlement is acceptable in this case]
Jon
Why can’t they interpret a game’s ending too, in their own way?
PacManPolarBear
The FTC stuff is a bit much, and the fan demands being made are a bit much too. However, I’m sorry, but 99% of the gaming peers I know who have finished Mass Effect 3 did not like it. Why? Because it’s terrible. The people who did not like the ending may not be the majority, maybe, but they are far, far from a tiny minority. As evidenced by just how big a deal this has become. Because while some fans are acting entitled and foolish, Bioware is very very aware just how unpopular their ending actually is.
I just don’t see how anyone can spin Mass Effect 3’s color coded, variations on three outcomes ending as a good way to end the series. Even if you don’t hate the ending, I find it hard to believe it’s the ending any fan would have asked for or wanted.
Zombellic
BTW do you guys realise that the spoiler boxes aren’t working on the article page.
Chuck-Lee-Campbell
Sounds like a butthurt ME fanboy wrote this article.
BTW nice way to generalize everybody, idiot.
Mike
ANYONE WHO LIKES MASS EFFECT IS A FANBOY. JON, YOU FUCKING IDIOT.
Jon
So everybody who doesn’t mind the ending is a butthurt ME fanboy?
BTW nice way to generalize everybody, idiot.
Benton
The biggest beef from me is not being able to tell the Reaper Kid “fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” and make him leave it up to us to solve our own problems. The theme of pretty much the whole trilogy is self-determination and freedom, and in the last 2 minutes of the game, we are denied that completely.
Sikander
As much as I completely disagree with Jons generalisation of gamers who didn’t like the ending, what is the point of changing it? Regardless of what DLC comes out, the ORGINAL game and experience will always have that ending. That’s the ending Bioware envisioned and thats the ending you will always get regardless of DLC. You must be in complete and utter denial if you think that by changing the ending a couple of months after the game is released, you’re going to forget about the ORGINAL one like it never existed. The first 2 games were about the ability of choice. The ending of Mass Effect 3 represents the end of that ability. Hence, why it’s the end of the trilogy. It’s just completely tainted a fantastic saga.
Total Biscuit
Wow, way to write about something you clearly don’t know anything about.
If you’d done the slightest bit of research into why the vast, VAST majority of people who have actually finished the game are extremely dissapointed by this shoddy, plot hole ridden let downs of an ending (singular) that’s only significant variation is the colour of space magic used, then you shouldn’t have voiced this incredibly aggressive, spiteful and idiotic whining rant.
Sure, the FTC thing is going a bit far, but the fact that EA is now offering full refunds to cover there arses, and the fact every bit of advertising and dev promise about the ending turned out to be flat out lies shows they have a case for the false advertising claim.
Do your job and actually look up why the overwhelming majority are upset, and unsatisfied.
M
Are you being serious right now with this article? I honestly thought this kind of garbage journalism and click-baiting would go away with the move to BRB. Everyone always blamed Lono for these kind of articles, but I guess it wasn’t his fault after all. Well, I guess if this is the kind of crap I can expect from BRB, consider me gone.
tiita
while i agree with the article in some respect i must add i didn’t really like the ending at all for a number of reasons and loads of people seems to feel the same way. i’m really hoping you were trolling there.. if you were not well..
i agree.. if this was a book, we wouldn’t ask a writer to re-write the end. but this a video game. and it works on a different level. it’s a lot more personal.. isn’t it what choices are all about? it’s just natural people react this way
i loved mass effect. one of the better games i played. and while i still love the game i felt very disappointed with this third instalment. not because the game was better, worst or samey, but just because of the what the developer gave us. mass effect fanboys had high expectations for this last episode.. EA gaves SW episode 1 with – jar jar binks
so while like in episode 1 i try to forget everything up to the pod race, in mass effect i would do the same up to the last 2 hours
personnally i would have waited quite happily another year for it.. paid quite easily £100 for it.
but it had to be done properly.. the game had to give what players want or expect from a game of this type. in the end.. unfortunately it just felt short
so, why do i think the end was bad? the end was terrible because
_there was no closure. bear in mind. i’m not against not closing it properly or you know, showing that “things may kick off again” type of thing.. but that was absolutely a shite way of doing it. it made very little sense and it was completely unrealistic.. on top of that we were promised the end. that’ wasn’t it.. it was left very open with no.. – what happens next bit.. can’t say much more without going into spoilers
_the end was totally random.. in true nature of (bad) gaming development: the boss at the end of the level has nothing to do with the level and the mechanics you just practiced. and this was no different. the end had very little bearings on anything that happened in the story. i completed it less than 10 hours ago and i still have no idea wtf happened in the last few minutes, what it was said or how any of it happened.
_there was one ending. we have been working and chosing and playing in making whatever choices we wanted. i guess we all expected something more from bioware which really tried really hard to get us to hate them: character transfer bug, anyone? or day one almost necessary DLC?
if you like the ending good for you.. it is a personal thing. to me mass effect 3 was just like having great sex for an entire night and get the most miserable orgasm..
bah
D
FTC is ridiculous but i understand how the fans feel about the ending.
angrybirds
i just watched titanic 3d and the freakin ship sank!!! MF i’m getting my money back.
pulpvelvet
For me, I hated the ending of ME3. And by hated, I mean HATED. There was no closure, no logic and no explanation for anything. The way it’s paced, it seems that Joker was in mid-transit, running AWAY from the battle (which I don’t think Joker would ever do. Where is he going? What’s he doing it for? F’ed if I know. And what about all those other races of beings that came to the aid of Earth when the gates blew? Are they stranded? That’s kind of a long trip home, if you ask me. There’s just nothing there to explain, well, ANYTHING. I appreciated everything else right until the final cut-scene.
That being said, am I mad at Bioware for the ending we got? No. Am I going to sign on with some pathetic class action lawsuit to demand a better ending? HELL NO! I have better things to do with my time than quibble with corporate America over the ending of a freaking video game. I enjoyed my time with it. The world was compelling and I loved the different characters and didn’t think the story was so bad. So does the ending suck? Yeah, it does. Does that fact diminish my enjoyment of the series as a whole? Absolutely not.
While I feel the article is a little harshly worded, I think the points made are valid. So you got a crappy ending, deal with it. Suck it up, pansies. There are more important things in the world to get all up in arms about.
Providence
DLC can go fuck itself. You payed you played. The story doesn’t count as a broken purchase, the game works, they decided the story, all of you need to shut the fuck up.
If you hated this game’s story ending, GO MAKE YOUR OWN ART HOW YOU WANT TO MAKE IT.
Or just keep bitching, demand that artists change their paintings, directors remake their films, and developers remake their games. Asking that they change it AT ALL is too much. What makes you all better than the people who actually create things?
If I was Bioware, I’d have given the 99% that hate the ending a giant middle finger to stick up your tight asses. You are consumers not creators, gtfo.
csm
I think a lot of people failed to realize that the entire game is the end of the trilogy, and you did see your previous choices pay off along the way. It’s just that people who played the game wanted that to happen in the last 5 minutes. As well as some were expecting, not just a simple slide show, but a 3D rendered cutscene of every choice.
This game has always been about many paths to the same end. Not a couple paths to thousands of different endings, based off of every single choice that ever happened in the game.
Dangerous Brian
Is this argument still going? It’s been over a year!
Yeah, the ending was a little flat and yeah, not every question is answered. So what? I kinda like the fact that not everything is answered, it adds mystery to the story and although I thought the ending was a little flat, I still enjoyed it.
I don’t like the fact John Marsden dies at the end of Red Dead Redemption. It needed to happen and they made it the best death in Gaming ever but I would have just liked to have seen him live out the rest of his days in peace. I don’t like the Space part of Spore (without the DLC). I don’t like having to fight Cazadors in Fallout: New Vegas. I don’t like the idiots that insist on insulting people and swearing in most multiplayer lobbies/games. These are my problems, others may disagree with them.
The point is this, there are many things I don’t like in gaming and I have a method for coping with these situations. To quote an internet idiot, I #dealwithit. Bioware told the story the way they wanted to tell it. Lest we forget, they created the whole universe of Mass Effect and cared for it through ME2 and 3. They are the ones who decide what is canon, not the vocal minority.
People are gonna complain no matter what. Despite been a year after the fact I expect at least one negative remark aimed at this post. Whatever, it’s my post and nobody can make me change it (except Moderators and Admin, of course). Now I’m going to watch Back to the Future 2 (because Flix) and complain about almost every minute of it, then I’m probably going to get on with the rest of my life.
P.S. Here’s a wild theory for you
http://kotaku.com/5991791/one-last-crazy-theory-about-mass-effect-3s-ending
csm
Brian,
Sadly, yes. People are still going on about Star Wars, 30+ years later, and haven’t given up on the whole “we want the original unedited series on Blu-ray” part.
I don’t have any issues with the ending myself. Thought it was pretty brilliant. Bioware managed to not only indoctrinate Shepard but the players as well. Confirmation of this is all the clues and such put throughout the ending sequence, including Shepard suffering from every single symptom of indoctrination (according to the codex), and not just one of them. Every single symptom.
When asked about this theory at PAX 2012, they subtly said it was meant to be obvious (“we want the content to speak for itself”. Things that speak for themselves don’t need to be explained)
Although many people were upset that the Reapers are still there and Shepard didn’t defeat them, they did mention that Mass Effect 3 is the end of “Shepard’s story” not the Reaper story arc, during the pre-launch statements, which is what happened.
Future games will take place before or during Mass Effect 3, but not after.
The next game is rumored to take place during a war with a different group of soldiers that we’ve never seen before. Sounds to me like it’ll take place during Mass Effect 3 just like they said.