This is a SPOILER-FREE article.
Yes I said it, I do not want BioWare to change Mass Effect 3‘s ending. Now before I say anything, the reason is not because I actually like the ending; I haven’t even played it yet but shouldn’t we let the developers dictate where the story goes and how the story ends?
The Mass Effect franchise have a great concept, let players continually import their characters and decisions into each sequel; let them tell their own story. This is probably one of the reasons why BioWare have been getting all these backlash from fans everywhere; players have been investing so much of their time into the universe and the characters and every single time, BioWare uses the tagline ‘tell your own story’. What some players don’t realise is, you’re not telling your own story, these are all predetermined situations; all you do is decide which of these come into fruition but a lot of players think that the power is in their hands when in actual circumstances its quite the opposite. BioWare is a little at fault here, giving the players this false notion that they are authoring their own story. They wanted to give the players a sense of control and when reality kicked in and the players realised that they weren’t, the backlash ensued.
The players already have a mindset of how they want the game to end, but they forget that it is the developers that hold the paint brush, we are just visitors in the exhibit appreciating the art. If video games are indeed to be considered as art, then shouldn’t the fans let the artist decide how it will end? Paul Barnett of Mythic Entertainment was at the Smithsonian American Art museum during a Q&A session, he probably summed it up best, “If computer games are art than I fully endorse the author of the artwork to have a statement about what they believe should happen [...] Just as J.K. Rowling can end her books and say that is the end of Harry Potter. I don’t think she should be forced to make another one.”
We all get disappointments from our favourite medium, it can be the death of your favourite character in a TV show or the ending to a movie was not how you expected it to be; there might be fans that wished it to be different but with that being said, I don’t mean to say that us users have nothing to give back to the people in charge of these medium and that our feedback should be just cast aside but we should just let them do their work.
Giving feedback is one thing, signing a petition and filing an official complaint with the FTC is another. The players do not realise that if they did get the ending they wanted, that would leave a void of satisfaction in the end. The people that worked on the game have given a lot of their lives to the franchise, and if they feel the ending is adequate, then its fine by me.
brian
Mar 22. 2012
I stopped reading when you said you have not played the game, because.. well.. you have not played the game. I do not know why someone who has never played the game would feel inclined to publish an article about it, considering you pretty much couldn’t know less about the topic at hand since you did not play the game. If someone promises a 16 layer cake for your wedding, and that is primarily the basis of why you spent money on that cake, and they present you with a 3 layer cake.. well, would you be happy with that? No, you’d say something. But you seem to be on the side defending the cake company. A lot of people seem to be on that side, and I do not know why. (oh wait, I do, it’s because you never played the game)
SuprA
Apr 03. 2012
This.
And there still are people out there who still support EA/Bioware for what they did, even if they repeatedly fail to logically support their position and throw arguments like “the ending is 2deep4u”; it “explains everything” even though they’re strangers to that universe. Disgusting. Faith in humanity severely shaken.
So play the game and form your own opinion, don’t be part of the ‘sheeple’.
Taoam
Mar 22. 2012
First you haven’t played the game so I am not even sure you can speak about the ending. What happens if your talking about a product that literally is missing something promised.
When it is advertised that there will be more then endings A, B, C and there are endings Red3, Green1, Blue2 with a simple palette swap between them you can at least understand why an FTC complaint can be made.
Also that doesn’t even start to deal with all the plotholes and attacks on the game’s lore that were built up over 3 games.
I would recommend that before you write these types of articles you actually play all three games and see what you feel like after seeing the “ending”.
ZZzzZZ
Mar 22. 2012
I would suggest playing threw the game, so you can have a proper perspective. Then watch this video: http://angryjoeshow.com/2012/03/top-10-reasons-we-hate-mass-effect-3s-ending/ and read this document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QT4IUepvrU1pfv_B95oQj0H84DlCTUmzQ_uQh1voTUs/preview?pli=1&sle=true.
Additionally, claiming that a product should not be changed because it is an artistic envisioning is contradictory to how products usually behave when they enter a buy/sell market.
Ispymankey
Mar 22. 2012
It seems no one is arguing art for the sake of art, but when it comes to art for the sake of profit, why should the buyer have no input?
ahkrpl
Mar 22. 2012
Boss like others said first get attached to the game(Not only Play the Game) if u like the first two and the third before the ending u will want a diffrent ending, and if u didnt get attached dont post these kind of stupid posts.
U Have no idea whats it like about dreaming about the game for 5 years and just get dissappointed at the conclusion.
Kamille
Mar 24. 2012
They are not going to change the ending, they are just going to give us a new one through DLC.
Kamille
Mar 24. 2012
I remember people complained about the ending of Evangelion (which was ultra shit IMO) and Hideaki Anno listened to the fans and made an alternate ending through a movie and look how that turned out, it was a masterpiece.
If the creator is listening to us is because even themselves feel unsatisfied with what they done because otherwise they just wouldn’t do it. If Bioware are really willing to create a new ending for the game is simply because deep down inside they didn’t like it either. Maybe because they didn’t have the time to do it properly because of time constraints or something else like the Publisher’s pressure and now through DLC they have the opportunity to make it better (while benefiting the publisher with more money) . Even Hideaki Anno admitted that the original ending of Evangelion was so shit because he really didn’t have the budget to do something else but because the fan support was so strong he could find the budget to make the movie. Now imagine what would have happened if the fans would have never complained about the ending….
Just let things take their course and shut the fuck up. Let the fans bitch and do whatever they want because the one that ultimately makes the decisions are the developers and not the fans anyway. They already sold the game and not many new people will buy it just because they are gonna make a new DLC ending and I’m pretty sure that they all know that already.
J-Money
Mar 24. 2012
“What some players don’t realise is, you’re not telling your own story, these are all predetermined situations; all you do is decide which of these come into fruition but a lot of players think that the power is in their hands when in actual circumstances its quite the opposite. BioWare is a little at fault here, giving the players this false notion that they are authoring their own story.”
Really? Your argument is predicated on the belief that gamers are so foolish that they don’t realize that the game is a predeterminate piece of coding? Do you honestly believe that people are so stupid that they actually mistake having one “Paragon” choice and one “Renegade” choice for having free will? I can’t imagine anyone ever making that mistake, and the fact that you even consider that to be a possibility makes me question whether you have ever played any video game, considering how obvious it is in any game that you are working within a predetermined framework. The very word “game” connotes the existence of a system of rules which govern action.
Now more to the point, you are ignoring the criticism that is at the heart of the complaints. The complaint isn’t simply, “I didn’t like that x happens”, but rather, “We were promised one thing, and given another”, a point articulated by brian’s cake example. Had you done any research about the issue before presuming to write an article on this topic, you would have known this. BioWare promised the fanbase that the choices that the player made in the first two games as well as in ME3 itself would yield vastly different consequences for the ending. That is to say, they promised a product that would collect a wide array of data points, perform some kind of calculation, and based on the result, generate a myriad of distinct endings. What they delivered, however, was a product that took maybe six or seven data points, and depending on the calculation, gave you one of three different colors of virtually the same thing happening.
Beyond that, your argument is basically that the artist is always right, and so, as an audience, we should just f-off, shut up, and deal with it:
“…I don’t mean to say that us users have nothing to give back to the people in charge of these medium and that our feedback should be just cast aside but we should just let them do their work.”
“The people that worked on the game have given a lot of their lives to the franchise, and if they feel the ending is adequate, then its fine by me.”
Your approach toward art appreciation is strange: you are aggressively apathetic. Not only do you just take whatever is given to you, but you apparently feel strongly enough that others should do the same that you felt compelled to write an article preaching your doctrine of passivity.
And come on… Do a LITTLE research before you write an article like this.
thomasthecure
Mar 24. 2012
go fuck yourself. the ending is complete shit and NEEDS to be changed for the sake of bioware’s reputation and to appease all the pissed off fans(nearly every single person who played the game). seriously, shut up.
Brianboytono
Mar 25. 2012
Chill Chill, if we want the ending changing getting angry is not the way to do it.
TheFatMan
Mar 25. 2012
Seriously you are writing an article about why they shouldn’t change the ending without even playing the game and most likely have not watched the endings online because of this. Seriously don’t post an article about something you know nothing about. I was about to ask would you post an article about how wonderful a brand of gum was without trying but then I thought you probably would based on this article.
dana
Mar 25. 2012
if you have not played it then keep your dam mouth shut.you like so many people jump on board complaining without all the facts.
NoIwont
Mar 31. 2012
Only black niggers think the ending should be chnaged
Jennifer
Apr 03. 2012
“…I haven’t even played it yet.”
As to the rest of the article about artistic integrity and all that, I guess you have never purchased a DVD with alternative endings before, been in between a publishing company and an author, or ever been in a movie test audience.
The content of movies, books, and paintings frequently changes because of forces outside the control of the ‘artist.’
And yeah, if I paid an artist for a painting about a year before it was done and he promised me over and over it was going to be a picturesque mountain scape and I got a flower field full of red/blue/green flowers with mountains in the background you better believe I’d be freaking pissed.