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

[Malfy]

My initial thought is that this will be a waste of time. Are these scenes that were already made that got cut for some reason (unlikely) or something they are just now tacking on to the experience?

 

[The_Lost_King]

This all-but successfully proves my theory that Bioware had from the ending intended to provide the real ending via DLC. I guess that they could still do that, and the color that they are adding here just wraps up the "non-DLC" ending better.

Or I guess it could mean that BW realized their mistake and are pulling the real ending out of the planned DLC and releasing that, then moving forward with the actual gameplay of the DLC as a separate release. That may explain Hale's interview yesterday where she says that she hasn't been contacted by Bioware yet for more content. If the "real" ending was planned DLC and Hale has already recorded it...

Either way, I'm happy. Gawd the ending drives me nuts weeks later. For clarity - I (like almost everyone else that is upset) don't want a happy-panda ending. I want an ending that makes sense (why is joker fleeing with the people I was just with, why does it look like every planet in the galaxy just got nuked, why did my team watch as a charged down the hill alone).

oh their are lots more.
Like who originally thought of the crucible?
Did they know bout that frigging hologram kid?
How does the crucible even do what it does?
If the red ending kills me does it kill everyone With implants like biotics or just cybernetic?
Why cant I just take control of the reapers and Tell them to turn on each other can I do that?
How does the magic green space light change all life and what does this mean in the practice sense?
Why can I not argue the holograms logic when I just spent the entire game contradicting it? Hell why cant I argue with him at all?
Why does Shepard just go along with it without a fight?
Wait reapers had teleport tech is that what that beam was?
Even with the magic green space light their is still a difference between half organic and synthetic life, and if their isn't how in the name of Zeus crackling buthole did the robots spontaneously gain organic bits?
Why is this giant explosions of the mass relays different?
Seriously how did any civilization build the crucible if they didn't know about the ai in the citadel?
Why did sovereign need to unlock the citadel if this kid was controlling it anyway, couldn't he just unlock it himself?
If every reaper is a different species why do they all look alike? we've seen them try to make a reaper terminator why no others?
Why is my nose now bleeding?
WHO WROTE THIS AND WHY DID THEY THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA?

oh man i feel better now feel free to add unanswered questions to the list

(and no do not try to give an explanation yourself, the game should give me the option to find out, the writers didn't give half an ass to try and explain and they should have, your own explanations does not change the fact that the game itself has none of these answers)

I can answer that it was Casey Hudson's Idea. Now I will add a question. Why the fuck did they not fire Casey Hudson for doing this bullshit and why the hell are they protecting him saying this is ALL or Bioware's art not just ass hole Hudson?!

 

[juraigamer]

Money grubbing. That's all I see. Money grubbing and dickery.

 

[Josh123914]

This all-but successfully proves my theory that Bioware had from the ending intended to provide the real ending via DLC. I guess that they could still do that, and the color that they are adding here just wraps up the "non-DLC" ending better.

Or I guess it could mean that BW realized their mistake and are pulling the real ending out of the planned DLC and releasing that, then moving forward with the actual gameplay of the DLC as a separate release. That may explain Hale's interview yesterday where she says that she hasn't been contacted by Bioware yet for more content. If the "real" ending was planned DLC and Hale has already recorded it...

Either way, I'm happy. Gawd the ending drives me nuts weeks later. For clarity - I (like almost everyone else that is upset) don't want a happy-panda ending. I want an ending that makes sense (why is joker fleeing with the people I was just with, why does it look like every planet in the galaxy just got nuked, why did my team watch as a charged down the hill alone).

oh their are lots more.
Like who originally thought of the crucible?
Did they know bout that frigging hologram kid?
How does the crucible even do what it does?
If the red ending kills me does it kill everyone With implants like biotics or just cybernetic?
Why cant I just take control of the reapers and Tell them to turn on each other can I do that?
How does the magic green space light change all life and what does this mean in the practice sense?
Why can I not argue the holograms logic when I just spent the entire game contradicting it? Hell why cant I argue with him at all?
Why does Shepard just go along with it without a fight?
Wait reapers had teleport tech is that what that beam was?
Even with the magic green space light their is still a difference between half organic and synthetic life, and if their isn't how in the name of Zeus crackling buthole did the robots spontaneously gain organic bits?
Why is this giant explosions of the mass relays different?
Seriously how did any civilization build the crucible if they didn't know about the ai in the citadel?
Why did sovereign need to unlock the citadel if this kid was controlling it anyway, couldn't he just unlock it himself?
If every reaper is a different species why do they all look alike? we've seen them try to make a reaper terminator why no others?
Why is my nose now bleeding?
WHO WROTE THIS AND WHY DID THEY THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA?

oh man i feel better now feel free to add unanswered questions to the list

(and no do not try to give an explanation yourself, the game should give me the option to find out, the writers didn't give half an ass to try and explain and they should have, your own explanations does not change the fact that the game itself has none of these answers)

I can answer that it was Casey Hudson's Idea. Now I will add a question. Why the fuck did they not fire Casey Hudson for doing this bullshit and why the hell are they protecting him saying this is ALL or Bioware's art not just ass hole Hudson?!

Probably because he practically runs the Mass Effect division of Bioware, seriously almost anything ME-related, be it books or anime or games, will need to go through him first, so he's hardly going to fire himself (neither will EA) for making endings that are so broad and vague which allows them to milk the series later on beyond just prequels and spin-offs.

 

[Kakashi on crack]

Will I play it? Most likely yes.

Will I like it? Doubt it.

If they add a little more closure though, than perhaps I can stop buying Bioware games without having hate towards the company.

To clarify: I promised myself I wouldn't buy another EA game. My only exception to this rule was Mass Effect 3 since I loved Bioware after KoTOR and NWN.

 

[Falsename]

Thank god they're just expanding on the endings, not changing them. I thought they where brilliant, even with the minor plot-holes. Rather sad they are offering sort of compromise to the whiners, but at least it is a compromise with no major change.

Well that's your opinion. Despite the fact that many 'actual' writers have picked apart the ME3 ending and all concluded that in fact the ending was incredibly poorly written. It lacked the fundamentals that create an ending, a narrative and everything else needed for the climax of a trilogy.

I'm feeling the urge to tell you that your opinion is stupid but that would be me dipping down to your 'whiners' level of commentary. So I'll leave you with this.

ME3's ending is proven as lazy writing, by many sources. If you liked the ending, well I guess that says a lot about your choices in narratives.

So, if you support the 'actual' writers, does that mean people who liked the ending can support the 'actual' reviewers, who have given the game perfect scores? Whether or not something is poorly written is completely opinionated. Don't you dare insult someone just because they actually enjoyed the ending, and ended their Mass Effect trilogy on a high note.

That's one thing that drives me fucking insane, when people who hated the ending claim that those who liked ending aren't "true" or "hardcore" fans. I've played the first Mass Effect on day 1, and have read every book and comic and have countless playthroughs on the first two games, and I actually really like the ending.

More OT: Nothing is going to satisfy the "retake Mass Effect"-ers. Even if Bioware change the endings, gave them a happy ending like they have been so moronically demanding, the would still *****. They would claim that it should have been there since launch day, or the game would still be ruined for them, etc. And since Bioware has made it clear that they will not change the ending, the rage will just continue. Nothing will stop the rage, except time.

I've found a lot of people from the retake movement have all got rather differentiated opinions on what they should add or change or remove. Some think it's the lack of options, some the rather abruptness of it all and some think it's the plot holes that're the disappointment.

But I think the common factor in it all is that the writing is genuinely bad. It's pretty much all that the opinions have in common, from the retake movement that is.

Now other 'gamers' or just anyone with an opinion can go on and on about how they're all 'whiners' and they're 'entitled' or whatever the hell names have been thrown out there. But the fact of the matter is it's not a bad movement, it's not a bad thing to ask Bioware to change the ending.

Now of course the come-back to that is 'it ruins the artistic integrity' of the game. Counter-argument to that is that the Ending itself was against the artistic integrity. The ending, as a whole, was corrupted.
Now the specifics I don't know exactly. Was it Hudsen making the final judgement or EA breathing down Bioware's throats?

Now we can argue about this till the Sun sets, but it's in God's hands now. I'm pleased that there's a movement like the Retake one. It's a step forward for the community not a step backwards.

Try to remember that.

The "Retake" movement is filled with out of control rage. People were making personal attacks against Bioware and its employees, for christ's sake. The idea itself that gamers are frustrated with a game's ending, and think that it should be changed, may or may not be a bad thing. The fact that people are "demanding" a new ending, and they want to "retake" Mass Effect is just too much. Can you imagine what people who are not Bioware fans, or outside the gaming industry, must be thinking of this ridiculous controversy?

I'm just happy that Bioware is sticking to their guns on the ending. The fact that they are even releasing some additional content to flesh out the ending shows how much they care about the fan base, no matter how immature or unreasonable they are being.

There's a very small amount of people who 'personally attack' Bioware employees. I think it's more 'don't let a rotten egg spoil the dozen' deal than what the general group does.
Most are tasteful and respectful, I'd say all of them but there's got to be at least one or two.

As for what the non-gamers must think... honestly why did that even come up? It this issue doesn't concern you then what does it matter? Whenever I play rugby I'm not wondering what those who play soccer must be thinking about me.

You may think they're entitled because they're 'demanding' a better ending but that's not the case at all. They're asking, not demanding; they're asking. But you don't get anywhere with simple niceties so they use words like 'demand' and 'deserve' because it has a bigger impact. It shows the amount of commitment, that doesn't mean they will just walk into Bioware's office and say 'what the hell we demanded it!'

I honestly don't understand the counter arguements to the retake-me movement. Why are you so upset? Is it ignorance? Does the simple idea of people protesting something so trivia upset you? Does the fact that they might actually win make you angry?
Do you want to just relax and take a step back and realise that no matter how this turns you're barely going to be affected... at all?

Some people love a good argument. Arguing is fun, I'll admit it. But perhaps you were just put on the wrong side of the line? "Patriotism is your conviction that your country is better because you were born in it": I think this applies to more situations than just national pride. Religious children often have had religious parents, but some of them question this logic and decide their faith for themselves. Perhaps you should do the same. Weigh out the pros and cons of the 'retake' movement and decide for yourself if you really think they deserve all the heat they've been getting.

Not trying to get too philosophical here. Just my opinion on the matter.

 

[Something Amyss]

He should be thrilled. It'll give him a chance to rail against something for another easy video.

...Well played, good sir. I doff my hat to you.

 

[Vault101]

This all-but successfully proves my theory that Bioware had from the ending intended to provide the real ending via DLC. I guess that they could still do that, and the color that they are adding here just wraps up the "non-DLC" ending better.

Or I guess it could mean that BW realized their mistake and are pulling the real ending out of the planned DLC and releasing that, then moving forward with the actual gameplay of the DLC as a separate release. That may explain Hale's interview yesterday where she says that she hasn't been contacted by Bioware yet for more content. If the "real" ending was planned DLC and Hale has already recorded it...

Either way, I'm happy. Gawd the ending drives me nuts weeks later. For clarity - I (like almost everyone else that is upset) don't want a happy-panda ending. I want an ending that makes sense (why is joker fleeing with the people I was just with, why does it look like every planet in the galaxy just got nuked, why did my team watch as a charged down the hill alone).

oh their are lots more.
Like who originally thought of the crucible?
Did they know bout that frigging hologram kid?
How does the crucible even do what it does?
If the red ending kills me does it kill everyone With implants like biotics or just cybernetic?
Why cant I just take control of the reapers and Tell them to turn on each other can I do that?
How does the magic green space light change all life and what does this mean in the practice sense?
Why can I not argue the holograms logic when I just spent the entire game contradicting it? Hell why cant I argue with him at all?
Why does Shepard just go along with it without a fight?
Wait reapers had teleport tech is that what that beam was?
Even with the magic green space light their is still a difference between half organic and synthetic life, and if their isn't how in the name of Zeus crackling buthole did the robots spontaneously gain organic bits?
Why is this giant explosions of the mass relays different?
Seriously how did any civilization build the crucible if they didn't know about the ai in the citadel?
Why did sovereign need to unlock the citadel if this kid was controlling it anyway, couldn't he just unlock it himself?
If every reaper is a different species why do they all look alike? we've seen them try to make a reaper terminator why no others?
Why is my nose now bleeding?
WHO WROTE THIS AND WHY DID THEY THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA?

oh man i feel better now feel free to add unanswered questions to the list

(and no do not try to give an explanation yourself, the game should give me the option to find out, the writers didn't give half an ass to try and explain and they should have, your own explanations does not change the fact that the game itself has none of these answers)

Indoctrination theory makes ALOT of things make sense

It might be too much too hope for but they havnt directly refuted it yet

 

[Lupus80]

I just finished up my second playthrough with my FemShep and, honestly, even though I love these games I'm probably not going to play them again for almost a year.

I'm going to wait for all, or at least most, of the DLC of ME3 to come out before playing it again. This was not the case of ME2: I always bought it's DLC rightaway and played it, even though I wasn't playing ME2 at the time. This is what the bad ending did to me: it has killed my enthusiasm.

Way to go Bioware- now the only DLC I'm interested in is a "True Ending" DLC- and you might not even put that out. I could care less about events that happen along the way- like the heavy hinted at "Retake Omega" mission.

I'll just check YouTube videos for what this "Extended Cut" is. If it doesn't involve any gameplay or choice why bother doing otherwise?

 

[WonderWillard]

Thank god they're just expanding on the endings, not changing them. I thought they where brilliant, even with the minor plot-holes. Rather sad they are offering sort of compromise to the whiners, but at least it is a compromise with no major change.

Well that's your opinion. Despite the fact that many 'actual' writers have picked apart the ME3 ending and all concluded that in fact the ending was incredibly poorly written. It lacked the fundamentals that create an ending, a narrative and everything else needed for the climax of a trilogy.

I'm feeling the urge to tell you that your opinion is stupid but that would be me dipping down to your 'whiners' level of commentary. So I'll leave you with this.

ME3's ending is proven as lazy writing, by many sources. If you liked the ending, well I guess that says a lot about your choices in narratives.

So, if you support the 'actual' writers, does that mean people who liked the ending can support the 'actual' reviewers, who have given the game perfect scores? Whether or not something is poorly written is completely opinionated. Don't you dare insult someone just because they actually enjoyed the ending, and ended their Mass Effect trilogy on a high note.

That's one thing that drives me fucking insane, when people who hated the ending claim that those who liked ending aren't "true" or "hardcore" fans. I've played the first Mass Effect on day 1, and have read every book and comic and have countless playthroughs on the first two games, and I actually really like the ending.

More OT: Nothing is going to satisfy the "retake Mass Effect"-ers. Even if Bioware change the endings, gave them a happy ending like they have been so moronically demanding, the would still *****. They would claim that it should have been there since launch day, or the game would still be ruined for them, etc. And since Bioware has made it clear that they will not change the ending, the rage will just continue. Nothing will stop the rage, except time.

I've found a lot of people from the retake movement have all got rather differentiated opinions on what they should add or change or remove. Some think it's the lack of options, some the rather abruptness of it all and some think it's the plot holes that're the disappointment.

But I think the common factor in it all is that the writing is genuinely bad. It's pretty much all that the opinions have in common, from the retake movement that is.

Now other 'gamers' or just anyone with an opinion can go on and on about how they're all 'whiners' and they're 'entitled' or whatever the hell names have been thrown out there. But the fact of the matter is it's not a bad movement, it's not a bad thing to ask Bioware to change the ending.

Now of course the come-back to that is 'it ruins the artistic integrity' of the game. Counter-argument to that is that the Ending itself was against the artistic integrity. The ending, as a whole, was corrupted.
Now the specifics I don't know exactly. Was it Hudsen making the final judgement or EA breathing down Bioware's throats?

Now we can argue about this till the Sun sets, but it's in God's hands now. I'm pleased that there's a movement like the Retake one. It's a step forward for the community not a step backwards.

Try to remember that.

The "Retake" movement is filled with out of control rage. People were making personal attacks against Bioware and its employees, for christ's sake. The idea itself that gamers are frustrated with a game's ending, and think that it should be changed, may or may not be a bad thing. The fact that people are "demanding" a new ending, and they want to "retake" Mass Effect is just too much. Can you imagine what people who are not Bioware fans, or outside the gaming industry, must be thinking of this ridiculous controversy?

I'm just happy that Bioware is sticking to their guns on the ending. The fact that they are even releasing some additional content to flesh out the ending shows how much they care about the fan base, no matter how immature or unreasonable they are being.

There's a very small amount of people who 'personally attack' Bioware employees. I think it's more 'don't let a rotten egg spoil the dozen' deal than what the general group does.
Most are tasteful and respectful, I'd say all of them but there's got to be at least one or two.

As for what the non-gamers must think... honestly why did that even come up? It this issue doesn't concern you then what does it matter? Whenever I play rugby I'm not wondering what those who play soccer must be thinking about me.

You may think they're entitled because they're 'demanding' a better ending but that's not the case at all. They're asking, not demanding; they're asking. But you don't get anywhere with simple niceties so they use words like 'demand' and 'deserve' because it has a bigger impact. It shows the amount of commitment, that doesn't mean they will just walk into Bioware's office and say 'what the hell we demanded it!'

I honestly don't understand the counter arguements to the retake-me movement. Why are you so upset? Is it ignorance? Does the simple idea of people protesting something so trivia upset you? Does the fact that they might actually win make you angry?
Do you want to just relax and take a step back and realise that no matter how this turns you're barely going to be affected... at all?

Some people love a good argument. Arguing is fun, I'll admit it. But perhaps you were just put on the wrong side of the line? "Patriotism is your conviction that your country is better because you were born in it": I think this applies to more situations than just national pride. Religious children often have had religious parents, but some of them question this logic and decide their faith for themselves. Perhaps you should do the same. Weigh out the pros and cons of the 'retake' movement and decide for yourself if you really think they deserve all the heat they've been getting.

Not trying to get too philosophical here. Just my opinion on the matter.

You do raise a good point, that ultimately I personally won't really be affected by it at all. I guess I see that the people who hate the ending are far more vocal than those who didn't, and I get frustrated seeing people ***** about it all over the place. I try to be vocal as someone who did like the ending, to make sure it's not complete negativity. But you're right, I should chill out sometimes. I think the same could be said for a whole lot of people out there.

 

[stabnex]

Ever think that maybe the fanboy rage and millions of fan-fic endings that have been circulating were maybe the whole idea behind the shite endings?

 

[tmande2nd]

I got my main Shep waiting right before the ending.

Until then I will just play some MP and wait for the power point slides DLC.

 

[goliath6711]

Money grubbing. That's all I see. Money grubbing and dickery.

How the hell is it "money grubbing" when it's free?

 

[The Forces of Chaos]

Did anyone feel that the game was kind of half finished ? Not just the endings, but I mean but a few things in ME1 & 2 (Dark Energy, N7:lost operative for example) seem to fall down a hole.

 

[Diana Kingston-Gabai]

Nope, humanity has been getting too much credit. Heres the ending I envisioned:

... Yeah, I know. Its infinetly better than the current ME3 ending AND actually lets the franchise continue legitimately.

Uh... how is it infinitely better? Much like the ending we currently have, the end result is that everything you've done throughout the entire trilogy is completely meaningless. If this were a standalone game, maybe they might've gotten away with a Shaggy Dog Story where the whole thrust of the narrative is its pointlessness - but after three games which stress the ways in which one person can make a real difference, it's a bit much to just throw your hands up and say "Nope, that was a waste of 120 hours, sorry."

 

[Diana Kingston-Gabai]

We're still talking about the DLC, aren't we? I'm not saying it's a good or sound strategy, I actually think it's incredibly shitty, but more people are talking about the release of Mass Effect 3 DLC in general than they would be if there was simply a decent, complete ending that didn't need patching.

Technically, more people would have been talking about Mass Effect 3 as a whole and praising its strengths if the ending hadn't gone splat the way it did.

And I think that's something BioWare understands now: the only way to shift the discourse away from "My God that ending was horrible" is to create an ending that works - if they move quickly enough, they might be able to get people talking about the rest of the game instead.

 

[Kinguendo]

Nope, humanity has been getting too much credit. Heres the ending I envisioned:

... Yeah, I know. Its infinetly better than the current ME3 ending AND actually lets the franchise continue legitimately.

Uh... how is it infinitely better? Much like the ending we currently have, the end result is that everything you've done throughout the entire trilogy is completely meaningless. If this were a standalone game, maybe they might've gotten away with a Shaggy Dog Story where the whole thrust of the narrative is its pointlessness - but after three games which stress the ways in which one person can make a real difference, it's a bit much to just throw your hands up and say "Nope, that was a waste of 120 hours, sorry."

Yes, fighting ultimately for nothing... but that was always the most likely possibility when fighting a vastly superior force. Especially when you consider the things you spent the last 2 games fighting 1 in each and now there are tons of them, its the most likely thing that would happen. Why would they win? Because they want to? It just makes more sense that they would lose. And what do you mean it was for nothing? You play RPGs like this for the immersive story, not to be bullshitted in the last minute.

 

[Diana Kingston-Gabai]

Indoctrination theory makes ALOT of things make sense

It might be too much too hope for but they havnt directly refuted it yet

And then there's this.

Look, with all due respect to the Indoctrination Theory fans - yes, I've read the videos and the articles and the discussions, and I understand where you're coming from - it's not an ending. It's even less of an ending than what we have in that it loops back on itself. How is this a better option?

 

[Diana Kingston-Gabai]

Yes, fighting ultimately for nothing... but that was always the most likely possibility when fighting a vastly superior force.

Especially when you consider the things you spent the last 2 games fighting 1 in each and now there are tons of them, its the most likely thing that would happen. Why would they win? Because they want to? It just makes more sense that they would lose.

That's broadly true, but the previous two games have you facing similar odds and finding a way out. Hell, you could argue that's been a driving component of BioWare games for years: you fight gods, emperors, whole armies, in spite of the fact that your chances of success are low. But if you persevere, you'll succeed. That's a satisfying mechanism both narratively (the Hero's Journey and all) and ludologically (you are rewarded for 40-something hours of gameplay with a conclusion that affirms your own success at beating the game's challenges).

And what do you mean it was for nothing? You play RPGs like this for the immersive story, not to be bullshitted in the last minute.

Absolutely. Which is why I wouldn't accept an ending where every deeply engaging and emotional part of the story is rendered meaningless because the premise was flawed to begin with (ie: you set out to stop the Reapers but the Reapers can't be stopped so you're doomed anyway).