FemShep's Voice Actress Talks Mass Effect 3 Ending

[Krion_Vark]

Well of course she isn't being called to voice new lines for Shepherd because the voice acting for the actual ending is already recorded and in a week or so they'll have it finalized and released. The indoctrination theory will be confirmed, my faith in BioWare through this whole nonsense will be vindicated and everything will be lovely forever.

*Siren*

Oh, I'm sorry, that sound means that my denial has reached critical levels, excuse me.

Why is everyone so up into the Indoctrination Theory? I read it before I played the game and then while playing the game found a lot of things that do not make it plausible including the two big things that make up a lot of the indoctronation theory. The dream sequence and the TIM speech.

 

[Scars Unseen]

""I was surprised about the level of passion about the ending," added Hale. "But there's something really great about that, too: It says people are invested and they really care and they don't want to let go, which is awesome because I don't, either.""

my god, another person that just DOESN'T GET IT! it's NOT that we don't want to let go, it's NOT that we want an ending that will satisfy everyone. WE JUST want an ending that makes sense, that doesn't break the lore entirely, and that ACTUALLY gives a little closure.

And you 150% missed the point of her quote. You're being applauded and you still complain.

And you "150% missed the point" of his quote. Yeah, Martyrdrebel is trying to be a martyr and is raging moren' a bit too hard at what she said.

However, his point was that Hale, like several others, said that a big part of this is people not wanting to let go of Mass Effect. For many, the issue is that the ending is a huge shift in tone and style, contradicts the lore of the series on several points, and violates several of the basic rules of storytelling for no good reason.

Now that I've talked about that, I want to end on this note: Jennifer Hale is awesome and I want to have her babies.

And yet she has a point. There are plenty of games out there that have terrible endings. Most of them, in fact. So why is it this game that people are up in arms about. If I was to go into a Retake Mass Effect thread and tell people that they should just let it go, I doubt that many people would respond with "oh I already have. Seriously, it's all water under the bridge. I just like to complain on the internet." People are protesting the ending precisely because there is something special about Mass Effect that just won't let them move on. That may not be what people are protesting about, but to nerdrage at someone who has nothing to do with the reason you're upset is, IMO, childish and uncalled for. Especially when she makes a good point.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Well...there go my hopes and dreams of the series getting fixed.

Time to never buy from bioware again.

Avoiding EA entirely works quite well =D

 

[isometry]

That's great, she's one of the only people working on the game with enough clout to speak bluntly, since blacklisting her would put EAware in a difficult position.

 

[Paragon Fury]

From what Hale is hinting at here, somehow I think more than few people at Bioware are going to be put to the sword after PAX.....

 

[lacktheknack]

And I must be the only one that isn't terrified of Miss Hale's picture.

I think it's cute... I don't get the serial murderer vibe that everyone else is getting.

OT: Daw? I still haven't played.

I doubt that she's following non-disclosure policy, though. The appropriate response is "I'm sorry, I can't talk about that."

 

[zinho73]

""I was surprised about the level of passion about the ending," added Hale. "But there's something really great about that, too: It says people are invested and they really care and they don't want to let go, which is awesome because I don't, either.""

my god, another person that just DOESN'T GET IT! it's NOT that we don't want to let go, it's NOT that we want an ending that will satisfy everyone. WE JUST want an ending that makes sense, that doesn't break the lore entirely, and that ACTUALLY gives a little closure.

I guess she was just trying to be diplomatic. In my opinion, she was straightforward enough. She is not in the position to antagonize bioware.

 

[Zen Toombs]

""I was surprised about the level of passion about the ending," added Hale. "But there's something really great about that, too: It says people are invested and they really care and they don't want to let go, which is awesome because I don't, either.""

my god, another person that just DOESN'T GET IT! it's NOT that we don't want to let go, it's NOT that we want an ending that will satisfy everyone. WE JUST want an ending that makes sense, that doesn't break the lore entirely, and that ACTUALLY gives a little closure.

And you 150% missed the point of her quote. You're being applauded and you still complain.

And you "150% missed the point" of his quote. Yeah, Martyrdrebel is trying to be a martyr and is raging moren' a bit too hard at what she said.

However, his point was that Hale, like several others, said that a big part of this is people not wanting to let go of Mass Effect. For many, the issue is that the ending is a huge shift in tone and style, contradicts the lore of the series on several points, and violates several of the basic rules of storytelling for no good reason.

Now that I've talked about that, I want to end on this note: Jennifer Hale is awesome and I want to have her babies.

And yet she has a point. There are plenty of games out there that have terrible endings. Most of them, in fact. So why is it this game that people are up in arms about. If I was to go into a Retake Mass Effect thread and tell people that they should just let it go, I doubt that many people would respond with "oh I already have. Seriously, it's all water under the bridge. I just like to complain on the internet." People are protesting the ending precisely because there is something special about Mass Effect that just won't let them move on. That may not be what people are protesting about, but to nerdrage at someone who has nothing to do with the reason you're upset is, IMO, childish and uncalled for. Especially when she makes a good point.

Okay, first things first. We agree that Martyred Rebel was nerdrageing, and went about a thousand steps too far. He was acting like a huge jerk, and he shouldn't have spoken as he did. Just wanted to make that clear.

I also want to make it clear that there are many people who are in the "Retake Mass Effect" movement who are being jerks and going way too far.

Now that we've gotten that all cleared up....

It has been a regular theme for others to misinterpret why people are upset about Mass Effect's ending. It appears that Jennifer Hale is one of them - the anger is not about "Shepard's story coming to an end. It also appears that you misunderstand why the ending of Mass Effect has had this impact - after years of quality writing by Bioware in this game, after building up all this lore, after telling us that the decisions our almost fully customizable Shepards made would be important, after telling us that "it's not ... like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C" [http://s9.postimage.org/mhn71nknj/abc.png], they spit in our face and turn against all of that at the last minute. They only fulfilled their promises in the most rules-layerish fashion, if they fulfilled their promises at all.

But I'm getting a bit sidetracked - back on target. EDIT: MISREAD POST, DISREGARD

Jennifer Hale is not helping. She isn't a monster, and I greatly appreciate her support. But people misunderstanding "Retake Mass Effect" is a large issue, and her statement isn't helping with that. It is not wrong to point out what she has said, and how she is incorrect in that regard.

Once again though, Martyr was acting like a huge jerk.

 

[Gigatoast]

*snipity-doo-da*

Howzabout you stop bitching about other people bitching and let them complain about what they damn well please. It isn't your problem, you don't stand to lose anything from their success so you're just whining about it for the sake of whining about it.

OT: You know just because she hasn't recorded anything yet doesn't mean they aren't working on a new ending. They're obviously going to drag her back for the other DLCs they have planned anyway, and they're not going to do it until they need her.

Seriously people, overreacting.

 

[Forgetitnow344]

No no no. Not this again. The ending is what it is. Accept it. I also accept and understand why people are bitching and moaning about the ending, i also wasnt that happy about it. But also I dont want changes made for the sake of changes. I dont need bullshit written just because fans are unhappy. You played all three games, do you really need to be spoon fed what happened to Grunt or Garrus? What if what they say happened to Grunt doesnt match what Grunt was to you? What if Grunt opens a flower shop on earth and gives up fighting?

Honestly, I stopped reading here. I know the whole Take Back Mass Effect 3 thing was full of very entitled gamers, but what I want has nothing to do with whether or not my expectations have been met. If Grunt opened a flowershop, Tali became a prostitute, and Garrus became a serial killer, I would be satisfied. Confused, but satisfied. Why? Because at least it's an ending. What I got was nothing, and THAT is what I'm not okay with. I just want to know what happened. It's like instead of shoehorning in a universal ending with minor variations, they gave a pretend-different group of semi-endings that give more questions than they answer. What you describe is series mutilation, which is entirely up to the discretion of the writers. What we got was series butchering, which is the absolute absence of closure.

What if Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo and Sam entering the volcano in the center of Mordor, the whole thing exploding, and Gandalf saying, "It is done." Nothing else. Just that. That's how it feels. Now THAT series managed to give itself some true closure even though I was sad to see that Frodo couldn't be with his friends in the end. I didn't like that resolution, but I accepted it because it WAS a resolution.

If anything, at least don't have them destroy the goddamned Mass Relays. If the Mass Relays were still intact, I could at least rest knowing the galaxy was save and life would go on, even without Shepard...

Damn, that's it! Life DOESN'T go on! THAT'S why it feels so empty and disappointing! Everyone seems absolutely fucked, but instead of us just feeling anticipation for a resolution in, say, a sequel, we're told that is THE END.

"Everyone is trapped in the Local Cluster and all Synthetic life is Shepard/Destroyed/Bonded with Organic life. Use your damn imagination. Idk."

THAT is what is wrong. I don't care about plot holes or retconned lore. That shit happens ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL the time. What I care about is a goddamned ending actually happening.

 

[Sis]

Very interesting bit of news indeed.

 

[TheCaptain]

I... I feel valued. Respected. It's a nice feeling.

Also, as far as the discussion about ME 3 is concerned, it's a new one.

 

[Bat Vader]

It makes sense that she hasn't been called back in to voice FemShep yet. The game has only been out for a month. If Bioware does decide to change or add post ending content that would take time. First the writers would have to brainstorm about would happen and then they would have to work on a script. I doubt they could get all that done within a month.

I have no doubt Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale will voice their Commander Shepard's again. I hope to work with Aria in taking back Omega.

 

[Stalydan]

Yes, well despite the fact I only had one playthrough as femshep I still think that her performance was top notch. But I'm still completely enraged by Casey Hudson's move to remake the ending by himself.

Bioware isn't to blame here, its Casey.

I personally believe that Casey has tied up all the Bioware staff and is currently working on all future content himself.

As mad as it sounds, he's practically done it already. I can't imagine too many of the writing staff where happy about the ending either.

 

[Metalrocks]

all hail Hale

was interesting but also a bit heartbreaking. so this means no fix is coming? whats so hard about it? shepard kills all the reapers, depends what choices you have made throughout the games, or you become friends with the reapers or you lose and die.

its nice to see that she also feels attached to shepard and i think her responds was very neutral.
she is a great VA and i was always happy playing femshep listening to her voice. maybe i try to create her one day in ME.
regarding the photo, i think she looks nice.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

So she doesn't like the ending either. That's good to know.

 

[putowtin]

Well...there go my hopes and dreams of the series getting fixed.

Time to never buy from bioware again.

There's always the chance the recording for the ending was done during her main sessions, if they always planned to expand on the ending post-release. Hale has said she never finished any of the games, so she might be unaware. It's unlikely, but a possibility.

If they do release a new ending or clarification or whatever, I would be pretty disappointed if Shepard didn't have a part in it.

Ninja'd!
That's my thought's on it to, but maybe I'm just clutching staws!

 

[Stalydan]

Escapist staff members, no matter how often I see that picture nor how many candles I put in at the shrine I have of Jennifer Hale, that picture is not going to become any less terrifying. Please stop posting it.

It appears you're not alone in your fear. I actually think it's a nice photo, in its own way. She looks like she's about to voice-act the bejesus out of something in style.

...well, that or I'm just blinded by how gorgeous her haircut is.

I think she looks like Sarah Connor about to attack one of the orderlies from the second Terminator.

 

[Timmibal]

I know I'm going to get jumped on by every female poster and white knight on the escapist, but it has to be said.

Sure, the look's a little intimidating... Doesn't mean I wouldn't still hit it like the fist of an angry god...

 

[jklinders]

I've always like Jennifer Hale. She is a class act. Little late in the game given the promised clean up n the ending being around April 21. Odds are good there isn't any new lines being recorded. I would be happy with a few lines of text explaining WTF was going on.