BioWare Announces Post-Ending DLC for Mass Effect 3 [Updated!]

[The Mirror Man]

This is going to be terrible now every decent franchise that is not 100% awesome will have a group of "fans" shouting that the developers should change it.

So this is the end of days with thread after thread of people shouting they should have made a better game and hundreds of "retake" whatever all over the place.

Out of curiosity, have you played ME3? I feel like this was a special case; third game in a trilogy which set itself up so people would get extremely invested, great writing up until the last 10 minutes, etc. Kind of the perfect storm.

It appears that once again the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Hope you fans are happy with yourselves for being the noisiest wheel of the industry. Not like there are any other more important things that need to be addressed.......

...such as?

I will forgo the urge to give you a snarky answer in the interests of letting my rage subside and will instead be candid. The most important thing to take away form the ME series is that; the grand success of what is essencially a "Choose your own adventure" game series means that we can expect to see more games that follow this pattern. Those patterns being a grand scope that incompases a universe of weird and cool aliens, interesting scifi technology that the entire series is built around, Talented voice actors giving great preformances, Lovable and complex characters like Wrex and Garrus, and the ability to maintain this quality over 3 games dispite an ending that not everyone was happy with.

I fear that the public outcry to change the ending might cause some developers to second guess making their own "Choose your own adventure" game series.

 

[Tiamattt]

I think bioware should get some major props for what they're doing here. I mean most companies would've pretended that the complaints didn't exists, or worse try to make the people complaining about them look like morons. But here they not only acknowledge that people are upset they're giving a free dlc to try to make them happy. I don't think I ever seen something like that before from a video game company, and that really does deserve more credit then it's getting here.

 

[Avatar Roku]

This is going to be terrible now every decent franchise that is not 100% awesome will have a group of "fans" shouting that the developers should change it.

So this is the end of days with thread after thread of people shouting they should have made a better game and hundreds of "retake" whatever all over the place.

Out of curiosity, have you played ME3? I feel like this was a special case; third game in a trilogy which set itself up so people would get extremely invested, great writing up until the last 10 minutes, etc. Kind of the perfect storm.

It appears that once again the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Hope you fans are happy with yourselves for being the noisiest wheel of the industry. Not like there are any other more important things that need to be addressed.......

...such as?

I will forgo the urge to give you a snarky answer in the interests of letting my rage subside and will instead be candid. The most important thing to take away form the ME series is that; the grand success of what is essencially a "Choose your own adventure" game series means that we can expect to see more games that follow this pattern. Those patterns being a grand scope that incompases a universe of weird and cool aliens, interesting scifi technology that the entire series is built around, Talented voice actors giving great preformances, Lovable and complex characters like Wrex and Garrus, and the ability to maintain this quality over 3 games dispite an ending that not everyone was happy with.

I fear that the public outcry to change the ending might cause some developers to second guess making their own "Choose your own adventure" game series.

I see your point. My own hope is that other devs will look at all of what was said by the people who did not like the writing and realize that the ending failed specifically because they ditched the "choose your own adventure" part at the end. Not all will, obviously, but I can think of a few devs who would definitely notice that part.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Congratulations to all the people who pissed and moaned like entitled little bitches. You've proven that video games are not an art. You've also shown that if something is not what you want you will complain. You will *****, piss, moan, complain and whine till you get your way.

Congratulations. You're children. Entitled little kids who scream and yell till they get what they want.

A) How did we prove games are not art? Art gets changed all the time (I will provide examples if you want), but even if they did not, judging one art form by the standards of another is stupid. You don't judge a movie by it's description of scenery (as in a novel), you don't judge games by being unchanging.

B)Why do we care what other people say of our art form?

C)If you buy a product for $60 and find something you dislike, is it not your prerogative to complain? Granted, some people went too far, but that doesn't reflect on the whole movement.

 

[tangoprime]

Will it show me how my crew who were just with me minutes prior to the ending are somehow on the Normandy speeding away from the blast in some distant side of the galaxy?

 

[Zeraki]

Congratulations to all the people who pissed and moaned like entitled little bitches. You've proven that video games are not an art. You've also shown that if something is not what you want you will complain. You will *****, piss, moan, complain and whine till you get your way.

Congratulations. You're children. Entitled little kids who scream and yell till they get what they want.

Oh enough with this "art" crap. What does it matter if some pretentious assholes think video games are an art form or not? Considering people can shit in a can and call it "art", I don't think somebody calling something a "work of art" is that big of a deal. Not to mention historically all those artists people learn about in their art schools usually worked for commissions and were forced to change their works all the time if their clients didn't like the product they had payed money for.

The gaming community has gotten so snobbish. I remember when I was a kid, we played games because they were FUN(uphill... both ways... get off my lawn). People now a days just seem so afraid of being called childish for playing video games, that they want them to be treated like the Mona Lisa so they can appear to be more "sophisticated" in the eyes of their peers.

EDIT

Besides, this isn't really gonna change the ending. If anything, we'll get a slideshow saying what happened to the characters and what impact your decisions had in the fallout ala Dragon Age: Origins and that will be it(which I'm fine with, as long as I know what happens after I strand the entire galaxy in the Sol system). I couldn't see them giving it away for free otherwise.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Honestly, this has inspired me to get off the Bioware forums and uninstall all my Bioware games. I hated that ending. I didn't want or need clarification - I am intelligent enough to know bad writing when I see it.

 

[Falcon123]

Perfect. This is exactly for what I was hoping. DLC that is both optional and free, while they stick to the work they've created. You've earned my respect Bioware.

 

[YodaUnleashed]

Sounds like Bioware is making a compromise, not scrapping what was in the game originally or really changing it, but simply adding in a greater sense of 'closure' for those seeking it. Though frankly, even if you were satisfied with the ending (like I was) it's pretty hard to simply ignore more content, free content no less, if it doesn't alter the ending but just add to it, a slippery slope I know.

 

[Reion 13]

Part artistic integrity, part fan feedback? Looks like Bioware is going green then.

joke aside im reserving my judgement until it comes out. Since its apparantly only going to clarify the ending instead of changing it, then it has to be a brilliant masterpiece considering how messed up the ending is. If not then put the fire department on speed dial
and prepare for the flames Bioware.

And please, pardon my english good sir.

 

[Therumancer]

Hmmm, well this strikes me as being bad actually.

Basically Bioware isn't going to "fix" the craptastic ending and come up with one that fits the game, they are just going to expand the endings that are there, and I can already see where thet is going... you can gild a dog turd, but it's still a dog turd. It does not change any of the central issues that exist with the ending to begin with.

Bioware is jumping on the whole "artistic integrity" bandwagon in order to justify itself. But really are sticking with what amounts to be a financially based desician to begin with.

Not to mention the pressure on EA from their own people, and other developers, because if EA/Bioware relents, the precedent it sets for the gaming industry and acknowledging the fans having power could be catastrophic for an industry that prides itself on being above reproach or criticism, and just handing us whatever they want and taking our money. I think pressure from the industry influances this as well.

In short, the way it sounds to me is that we'll get some extra cinematics and probably a voiceover at the end spelling out some things, but the whole stupidity of the star child and the A B or C ending is going to stand, and that means that very little is actually accomplished here.

This strategy means that EA/Bioware can claim that they did something and point to the fanboys as being impossible to please to justify ignoring similar acts in the future (and provide an "example" to the industry for it to use later), keep it's franchise-spawning position in it's ideal state, etc...

I'll be entirely blunt, I don't expect anything they do to make everyone happy, but to me this seems like it's going to be half-arsed from the very beginning, and is likely to not wind up satisfying anyone.

I'll also say I'm not oblivious to the costs involved, to say re-do the last hour or two of the game, getting all the voice actors back, and so on, will probably cost them a lot of money. At the same time I feel no real sympathy for them having to spend that money and reduce their profits in this paticular case. I also think that they should put their other projects on hold until they get this squarded away.

I'll be blunt, believe it or not I was actually considering investing in some of the ME3 merch when it came out, getting a set of the action figures (pricy as they are) to put next to my FF VII ones, and Diablo 2 Barbarian, and probably would have purchused their DLC for this game. The odds of me doing that have just gone down to pretty much zero, and I doubt I'm alone. As much as I loved this franchise, I am not going to support it with this ending, and at this point I recommend other gamers say the same thing and actually follow through. EA invested a lot on merchandising this, so with the central product in this state, let it crash. Want me to change my opinion? The make an actual committment to actually re-doing the ending, and that includes hiring people like Jennifer Hale (who not being under contract for this is a bad sign, I doubt an NDA applies since that never seemed to apply to her before).

 

[XMark]

As long as there's some sort of explanation about why the Normandy is running away, I'll be totally happy.

I've actually come to like most of the ending after thinking about it. The whole Normandy part is the only part that really irks me now, so I'm hoping to get closure on it.

 

[Awexsome]

Congratulations to all the people who pissed and moaned like entitled little bitches. You've proven that video games are not an art. You've also shown that if something is not what you want you will complain. You will *****, piss, moan, complain and whine till you get your way.

Congratulations. You're children. Entitled little kids who scream and yell till they get what they want.

C)If you buy a product for $60 and find something you dislike, is it not your prerogative to complain? Granted, a shit ton people went too far and was the basis of the whole movement.

Edited there for accuracy.

The genuinely disappointed level-headed people who wanted a new ending can complain and defend all they want but truly it was far more than a small vocal minority who were the ones who, "went too far". The whole movement was build off those overreacting and it wasn't the level headed ones who stirred this internet crisis.

 

[zinho73]

I wonder what'll it'll be. The ending is a goddamn mess. It'll take a lot to make it actually make sense. And doesn't change the fact that Star Child basically screwed himself. You failed, you were DONE. There was nothing you could do. Then star child BRINGS YOU TO HIM, and says he failed because you're standing before him. Even though he would have not failed if he just left you to die.

Freaking stupid.

The ending has many problems, but this is not one of them. The existence of a "synthesis" option, and the origin of the Crucible being likely the "Star Child" itself indicate that "he" expected or predicted that someone could finish the Crucible and get to choose how the cycle ends. It is important to note that the "Star Child" or whatever is not evil, and the Reaper cycle was created for a reason (a bogus reason, but still).

But... he could have continued what he normally does. If he really believed his way was the only way, he would have just let you die down there. Which could mean he didn't wand to do what he does, in which case, why doesn't he just not kill all organics with synthetics so that organics don't get killed by synthetics?

It just reminds me of that moment in ME2, on the prison where you get Jack. The warden had a trap set up for you, and you would have easily walked right into it. But he stops you right when you walk into it to tell you you are walking into his trap.

The problem is that the explanation is convoluted and confusing, but if the Star Child predicted and created the possibility of someone building the Crucible, it's because he saw that as a better way to solve the problems he was trying to solve. There's no other way. If he really wanted to avoid having any organics getting to where Shepard got, he wouldn't have created the Crucible and kept it as a possibility.

Man, if he had a better way to solve the problem he should have done it in the first place. The Reaper solution is really convoluted for something with the power to change life in a galactic scale.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Congratulations to all the people who pissed and moaned like entitled little bitches. You've proven that video games are not an art. You've also shown that if something is not what you want you will complain. You will *****, piss, moan, complain and whine till you get your way.

Congratulations. You're children. Entitled little kids who scream and yell till they get what they want.

C)If you buy a product for $60 and find something you dislike, is it not your prerogative to complain? Granted, a shit ton people went too far and was the basis of the whole movement.

Edited there for accuracy.

The genuinely disappointed level-headed people who wanted a new ending can complain and defend all they want but truly it was far more than a small vocal minority who were the ones who, "went too far". The whole movement was build off those overreacting and it wasn't the level headed ones who stirred this internet crisis.

That's disingenuous. Even the vast majority of the Retake movement was coming from a reasonable place. Remember that Child's Play drive they had? The idea behind that was to demonstrate to EA and Bioware that we were willing to pay for a new ending, while donating a good deal of money to a good cause. That was ruined by a few unreasonable people, but it still stands for the majority.

 

[putowtin]

well under the current ending they land on a uninhabited planet and die a slow painful starving death cause they cannot eat anything on it except maybe each other. Cause remember they are dextro-amino acids and cannot eat food based for levo-amino acid-based Species. Such a hopefull ending.

unless you picked the synthesis where everyones DNA is rewriten they'd be able to eat anything... I think

OT free is good, waiting is bad!

 

[SajuukKhar]

That's disingenuous. Even the vast majority of the Retake movement was coming from a reasonable place. Remember that Child's Play drive they had? The idea behind that was to demonstrate to EA and Bioware that we were willing to pay for a new ending, while donating a good deal of money to a good cause. That was ruined by a few unreasonable people, but it still stands for the majority.

Anyone who uses a charity to try to make a point about a video game isn't reasonable.

 

[Avatar Roku]

That's disingenuous. Even the vast majority of the Retake movement was coming from a reasonable place. Remember that Child's Play drive they had? The idea behind that was to demonstrate to EA and Bioware that we were willing to pay for a new ending, while donating a good deal of money to a good cause. That was ruined by a few unreasonable people, but it still stands for the majority.

Anyone who uses a charity to try to make a point about a video game isn't reasonable.

How do you mean?

 

[Awexsome]

Congratulations to all the people who pissed and moaned like entitled little bitches. You've proven that video games are not an art. You've also shown that if something is not what you want you will complain. You will *****, piss, moan, complain and whine till you get your way.

Congratulations. You're children. Entitled little kids who scream and yell till they get what they want.

C)If you buy a product for $60 and find something you dislike, is it not your prerogative to complain? Granted, a shit ton people went too far and was the basis of the whole movement.

Edited there for accuracy.

The genuinely disappointed level-headed people who wanted a new ending can complain and defend all they want but truly it was far more than a small vocal minority who were the ones who, "went too far". The whole movement was build off those overreacting and it wasn't the level headed ones who stirred this internet crisis.

That's disingenuous. Even the vast majority of the Retake movement was coming from a reasonable place. Remember that Child's Play drive they had? The idea behind that was to demonstrate to EA and Bioware that we were willing to pay for a new ending, while donating a good deal of money to a good cause. That was ruined by a few unreasonable people, but it still stands for the majority.

True the child's play thing was most organized by the level-headed ones. But that still doesn't change the fact that the movement was mostly made up of the overreactionary ones. The niceness of the child's play donation was the exception to the rule.