BioWare Co-Founder Promises Closure For Mass Effect 3

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Personally I think everyone would be better served if they just refused to pony up any more money for the Mass Effect games. It's hard to effectively send someone a message that you're dissatisfied when all they hear is "What's that? You want to pay us MORE money to fix it?"

 

[Something Amyss]

I find it more interesting that apparently "over 75 critics" gave them a perfect review score, I mean LOL.

Almost sounds like he's trying to prove a point there.

I do like the fact that he hasn't really promised anything, but he's being treated as though he has. At this point, they'd BETTER be changing the ending, because if they don't the fans will react as though it was explicitly stated in a contract written in blood.

Is anybody else beginning to see the words "Artistic Choice" and "The right to suck" as being synonymous?

I see it more as a "And that's why we don't have to live up to our statements regarding the game."

 

[Something Amyss]

Personally I think everyone would be better served if they just refused to pony up any more money for the Mass Effect games. It's hard to effectively send someone a message that you're dissatisfied when all they hear is "What's that? You want to pay us MORE money to fix it?"

I wish that would happen. Experience tells me "not a chance," though.

 

[LongMuckDong]

Personally I think its nice to have some actual acknowledgement from Biowares side and a slight admission of issues with the ending. The thing i'm most dissapointed about is that this announcement fully admits that none of it was planned and that they are genuinely surprised with the fan reaction.

This is horrifying. It means the indoctrination theory is wrong and that the ending is to be taken at face value. Talking about needing more closure and making content to facilitate this seems to imply that DLC will cover what happened around Shepard's trip into the Citadel rather than what happens afterwards. I would rather I was emotionally manipulated into hating the ending only to find out it was all a brilliant ruse.

The fact that Bioware didn't see any of this coming after the slapshod ending cinematics that are painfully unclear about just about any particular detail, abandon well establish lore and even stretch into implying that we should be taking it all as allegory, is a frightening prospect.

Thanks for the acknowledgement but goddamn I wish we didn't need it.

It doesn't mean Indoctrination Theory is wrong at all.

I 100% believe that they deliberately executed IT in the endgame (post beam), I also 100% believe that they PLANNED the endgame DLC to continue from "The Breath", but I don't believe they planned on having to kickstart the production of it this soon. IMO they did this to garner fan feedback for the ending, and DLC ideas/direction to customise the script and such.. but the fans have forced their hand, which is good.. as it needed forcing IMO.

They didn't gauge the sheer passion of the fans, and maybe didn't make the 30+ plot holes/IT evidence clear enough (although, this would have made it too obvious for believers-destroying the cleverness effectively) for most fans to pick up on straight away.

There is no way that last segment adds up to anything but an Indoctrinated vision, unless the writing team thought it a good idea to smoke PCP just before writing/producing the end sequence... if that was the case, then well.. jesus.. who knows. lol.

Ending Indoctrination - Deliberate/Produced
DLC Indoctrination - Deliberate/Planned (but not planned to be required to quell the rage at this early date I imagine)...

 

[Seanfall]

Well, this is most certainly welcome news. Of course, now we'll have to suffer all those tired, irrelevant old men complaining about how this undermines the artistic integrity of the medium, having gone through increasingly elaborate mental gymnastic to explain how the ending was in any way valid, all the while completely missing the point.

I for one, hope this means that a great franchise will get the ending it deserves.

Amen brother. I never have and probably never will get 'artistic integrity' I mean yeah if you make a piece of art it doesn't protect you from scorn or criticism. And if someone paid for said art and wasn't happy they have a RIGHT to complain about it.

 

[Emiscary]

He promised to fix the ending the way a deadbeat dad promises to paint a deck.

"Oh sure thing dear! I'll try and get to it as soon as I can..."

 

[RJ Dalton]

Good God. What was so horrible about the ending that it garners this sort of attention and demands this sort of a response? You'd think the game disc had been designed to explode and fire shards of glass into your head or something the way people bang on about it.
I mean, Hollywood has produced one disappointing pile of lazy shit after another, but nobody gets on Hollywood's case. Wassup wit dat!?!?

I'm all for movie-watchers raging about films, maybe we'd get more "good" ones, some one needs to get on this!

Been barking up that tree for years. I just can't seem to get enough people on my side.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Oh, dear gods, would it kill them to be upfront about their intentions? All I read out of that was "hurr durr artistic integrity, blah blah passionate fans, something something dark side".

He speaks to us as if we can't see through the PR smokescreen.

If anybody is on dark-side in this whole thing it is the people complaining about the ending and going to the FTC about it.

BioWare garnered no hate or dislike from me because of the endings. Because they are kowtowing to this small group of complainers, I have lost a bit of respect for BioWare.

Just as BioWare waved away and ignored the silly whining about the whole From Ashes DLC, they should just wave away and ignore these people on this.

Amazon also lost respect from me for giving these people free rides by giving them full refunds. The game isn't broken in a physical and technical sense and they played through the whole thing experiencing everything I experienced. Just because they were disappointed with the ending doesn't mean they deserve a refund.

It would like if I went to a bookstore, bought a book and took a couple weeks to read the whole thing, and then going back to the bookstore to demand a refund because I didn't like how the author ended the book. If I did that at any bookstore I've been to, they would laugh at me and say, "Ya, no. What are you smoking?"

The same goes for any video or game store I've been to.

 

[Smiley Face]

Personally I think its nice to have some actual acknowledgement from Biowares side and a slight admission of issues with the ending. The thing i'm most dissapointed about is that this announcement fully admits that none of it was planned and that they are genuinely surprised with the fan reaction.

This is horrifying. It means the indoctrination theory is wrong and that the ending is to be taken at face value. Talking about needing more closure and making content to facilitate this seems to imply that DLC will cover what happened around Shepard's trip into the Citadel rather than what happens afterwards. I would rather I was emotionally manipulated into hating the ending only to find out it was all a brilliant ruse.

The fact that Bioware didn't see any of this coming after the slapshod ending cinematics that are painfully unclear about just about any particular detail, abandon well establish lore and even stretch into implying that we should be taking it all as allegory, is a frightening prospect.

Thanks for the acknowledgement but goddamn I wish we didn't need it.

It doesn't necessarily mean that. Even if it was in fact planned, I don't think anyone could have anticipated a reaction on this level - no one goes into something like this and expects weeks of vitriol.

I think this is a good move, and a good sign. Considering the situation they have right now, there's not much more they can do. They can't actually act at the moment, all they can say is they hear peoples' concerns, show they understand those concerns, and say they'll address them. Things are starting to die down, and this'll salve the wounds more.

To be honest, I do feel bad for BioWare - the ending was bad, but I can't help but think all the shouting's drowning out the positive feedback that they do deserve for the rest of the game. Hopefully they'll take some important lessons away from this (aside from 'people will throw all their money at you no matter what you do').

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I liked Mass Effect 3 (Overall) and I loved Dragonage 2. Im not asking for an ending, but I would buy one that gives more Closure.

Same here, but really, I don't even need closure. People get way too uptight and angry about stories that don't tie up and explain every little detail. Seriously, I have never ever watched, read, or played a story that didn't evoke loose end questions. There will always be, well what happened to that guy, or however did that person get to this point, it never said.

Some people really need to take some sanity pills and relax.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

this is so dumb... you have no right to make them change the ending, if they do then you've all just proved that it is not art, and history will remember it forever.

I disagree. I have EVERY right to vocalize my opinion on it. After all, if it wasnt for my money, and all the other gamers money that went into the first game, there wouldnt have BEEN a second game. Ergo, I am a direct contributor to the life of the game.

That doesn't matter. They made a product, you decided to buy it. Once your money left your hand, it is no longer your money anymore; it is now their money and they can do whatever the hell they want with it.

They are well within their right to say "screw you, we aren't going to change the ending. We're going to buy a couple giant pools filled with chocolate pudding for the whole staff to jump in."

They could have made an ending where Shepard rides into battle on a baby elephant that shoots diamonds out of its butt, and they still wouldn't have to answer to anybody or change a thing if they didn't want to.

I really feel sorry for BioWare, because I really thought they were strong writers/artists. Only weak willed artists change their work to appease a rabidly angry rabble.

 

[F'Angus]

I don't think he finds it incredibly painful to hear at all...he's probably thinking "oh boy, more money from dlc"

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

The reaction to the release of Mass Effect 3 has been unprecedented. On one hand, some of our loyal fans are passionately expressing their displeasure about how their game concluded; we care about this feedback, and we're planning to directly address it. However, most folks appear to agree that the game as a whole is exceptional, with more than 75 critics giving it a perfect review score and a review average in the mid-90s. Net, I'm proud of the team, but we can and must always strive to do better.
.......
To that end, since the game launched, the team has been poring over everything they can find about reactions to the game - industry press, forums, Facebook, and Twitter, just to name a few. The Mass Effect team, like other teams across the BioWare Label within EA, consists of passionate people who work hard for the love of creating experiences that excite and delight our fans. I'm honored to work with them because they have the courage and strength to respond to constructive feedback.
.....
Some of the criticism that has been delivered in the heat of passion by our most ardent fans, even if founded on valid principles, such as seeking more clarity to questions or looking for more closure, for example - has unfortunately become destructive rather than constructive. We listen and will respond to constructive criticism, but much as we will not tolerate individual attacks on our team members, we will not support or respond to destructive commentary.

Aw, afraid to get your feelings hurt? I'm not sugarcoating this. I think your endings sucked. Get over it. You know how you improve your craft? Listen to all feedback, don't retreat to all those reviews that heralded your game. If you want to live in a bubble where only nice things are said about your game, fine. Just don't expect to improve at all.

 

[disgruntledgamer]

Great so he's just going to try and explain this cluster %$#& of an ending and why they thought they needed to destroy the Franchise instead of actually manning up admitting they made a mistake and fixing it?

K good to know no ME 3 DLC for me and probably no more Bioware for that matter so say goodbye to my $$$ EA.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

MY GOD! it has nothing to do with Artist Choice! it's that it's contrary to everything that they promised and breaks the lore entirely. i'm posting this link everywhere. READ IT! YOU! ANDY CHALK!

http://www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/

 

[disgruntledgamer]

That doesn't matter. They made a product, you decided to buy it. Once your money left your hand, it is no longer your money anymore; it is now their money and they can do whatever the hell they want with it.

They are well within their right to say "screw you, we aren't going to change the ending. We're going to buy a couple giant pools filled with chocolate pudding for the whole staff to jump in."

They could have made an ending where Shepard rides into battle on a baby elephant that shoots diamonds out of its butt, and they still wouldn't have to answer to anybody or change a thing if they didn't want to.

I really feel sorry for BioWare, because I really thought they were strong writers/artists. Only weak willed artists change their work to appease a rabidly angry rabble.

Under this logic no one would be allowed to return anything ever and they would have to accept they bought a broken or rotten product. Fortunately we don't live in this fanboy idiocy world and have a right to say and get our money back when something sucks!

And we can if you were a smart lad and ordered from Amazon you can return all copies of ME 3 even if they are opened for 30 days after purchase.

 

[FFHAuthor]

"...what I truly believe is the best game BioWare has yet crafted"

Uh oh...how bad is the ongoing content for TOR going to be if he believes THAT?

 

[Varrdy]

The rage over the ending of Mass Effect 3 is unlike anything I've ever seen. Dissatisfied gamers by the thousands have howled on internet forums

I can't help but notice how you concentrate on this aspect and totally ignore / fail to give recognition to the vast amount of people who have taken the time to coherently and rationally to offer up staggering amounts of evidence to back up our so-called "howling".

If you actually bothered to check out the BioWare forums you will find many threads that are all focused on keeping a clear head and engaging with BioWare in a civil and rational manner.

While I am not saying that there are not people shrieking like howler monkeys being fed bollocks-first through a wood-chipper out there because there are but in pointing them out and saying nothing of the growing number of us who are keeping it sane and civil you are skewing peoples opinions about us.

If you disagree with us then fine, no problem, but please don't try and make others see your point of view without at least mentioning that we're not all "howling". Let them make up their own mind, please.

Regards

 

[ServebotFrank]

Our first instinct is to defend our work and point to the high ratings offered by critics

For some reason that just translates to me as "Well look the game got high ratings, so we don't care what you think".

If we do get some sort of change to the ending, or closure, or whatever. They better give it to us for free. I cannot imagine the shit-storm that would kick off if we had to pay for it as DLC.

I have yet to complete the game so I can say nothing on how bad the endings are. But from what I have heard from friends I can imagine why people are angry.

You need to look at that sentence again. Notice how he says that they can't just say that anymore. Bioware is trying to calm people down without confirming anything. They're just hoping you will read between the lines.

Give some credit this is the first PR statement where they actually are giving some sort of an answer.