Has the ending of a story ever been rewritten due to a negative fan reaction?

[DustyDrB]

I'm guessing you know why I'm asking this. If you don't, then go to Gaming Discussion for a second.

Done? So now you know. And for the record, I don't mean for this to be a place to discuss that particular ending. If you want to discuss it further, then you know where to go.

I tried Google for this, but it's a bit too specific a question to get an answer. Has the ending of a story ever been rewritten due to a negative reaction by fans? I'm talking after the work has been formally released, of course.

Has any part of a story been rewritten after its release for the same reason? I'm not talking about posthumous politically correct revisions such as what has happened with some of Mark Twain's works. I mean situations analogous to the Mass Effect 3 situation.

A second question: Do you like the idea of this happening?

It doesn't sit well with me for some reason I can exactly pinpoint. Maybe it's a undermining of the artistic integrity of the work? Or just an issue with fan entitlement (sorry to have that much over-used word here, by the way). I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I want to cringe when I think about this happening, even though I agree that the ending to the game was bad.

Anyway, civil discussion is welcome here. This isn't a "Why Mass Effect 3's ending is bad" thread. You're welcome to migrate such a conversation to one of those already existing threads if they start up here, but it's better to not get derailed on something that's already been done to death. This is really about the writer-fan relationship.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet, but as for your question, Evangelion immediately comes to mind.

Hideaki Anno made End of Evangelion because fans complained about the T.V. Series ending.

That's the only thing I can think of.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Broken steel, the dlc for fallout 3 unkilled your character.

 

[Vault101]

if this is what I think its about then Id rather not see (which Im not)

there was "Broken steel" for fallout 3...I guess thats one good thing about DLC...if the ending is so horrible it can be "fixed"

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Well, Mass Effect: Deception apparently is getting a rewrite by the loremasters after they hired an idiot to write it in the first place.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Spoiler: This

upset so many people they had to retcon it. Closest I can think of.

The only other changes like that would be re-released Star Wars and stuff, in which they changed it solely to provoke negative reactions from fans.

 

[Aurgelmir]

]I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet, but as for your question, Evangelion immediately comes to mind.

Hideaki Anno made End of Evangelion because fans complained about the T.V. Series ending.

That's the only thing I can think of.

But that is not really a rewriting as a re telling of the ending though.

Never played it but didt fallout 3 get a DLC that sort of changed the ending?

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I know many fans have declared Brian Herberts work on Dune to be non canon.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I know many fans have declared Brian Herberts work on Dune to be non canon.

I thought they declared the Kevin J. Anderson books non canon as well.

 

[Slowbear]

Green Lantern Comics
The Big Picture
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/3390-Going-Green-Part-I
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/3536-Going-Green-Part-II
the story of hal going evil his death and the fanboy shit storm that followed.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Fallout 3, maybe?

Didn't they add DLC that changed the ending?

 

[Kyrian007]

Wasn't that the entire purpose of Final Fantasy X-2?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Has any part of a story been rewritten after its release for the same reason?

Gaming, I don't think so.

But I Am Legend? Bladerunner? Dawn of the Dead?

or

[HEADING=2]The Star Wars Trilogy[/HEADING]...

Space Ninja Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets were slightly different.

You could say that Jet Set Willy got it's ending changed to dying on the Banyan Tree...

 

[Monkeyman O'Brien]

upset so many people they had to retcon it. Closest I can think of.

And yet having Frys mother fossilized would probably have been less upsetting for most people.

OT: Evangelion and Fallout 3 come to mind. But plenty of things get retcons, reboots, sequels, spin offs and dlc so yeah, it happens a fair bit.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Also this:

The Beeb thought it too harsh.

 

[Starke]

Well, Mass Effect: Deception apparently is getting a rewrite by the loremasters after they hired an idiot to write it in the first place.

Well, no, they didn't hire an idiot, they hired an actual writer, who proceeded to not give a shit. I mean, we're talking about a franchise involving the giant terminator space baby, finger quotes councilor, and Schrodinger's starchild, so not giving a shit is an entirely reasonable, professional response.

 

[CAMDAWG]

I can't think of any that have been, but when it comes to games, we are in a little bit of unfamiliar territory. Due to the massive boom this generation in the amount of online features, and the increased ease of patching (obviously not including PC gaming in this, but they kind of transcend "generations") and distribution of updated material. Last gen, there is almost no way there would be demands for a rewrite, because it would really hard to mass distribute it.

Within the context of ME3, I would put the chances of an ADDITIONAL ending at about 50-50. Sure, bioware's well within their rights to say "no, we made this, we get to choose how it ends". I, and many others would be disappointed, but at least all the rhetoric about it would stop. On the other hand, it really is a vast majority who are upset, and while those in the majority that fly off the handle and curse the name of bioware aren't going to get anything done, there are plenty who are making controlled, polite requests to bioware which may get some result. Also, there's always the chance that EA smells money from DLC, and forces their hand.

Please make note that I said an additional ending. I am fully aware that some people liked the ending, and some of them have been abundantly vocal about how those of us who would like something more are classless idiots. But I wouldn't want bioware to deny them their ending to give us ours, after we've been denied ours by giving them theirs. I'd also just like to state that anyone who disagrees with adding more options for the ending, while maintaining the current ones, and thus hopefully pleasing almost all of the audience, are filthy cretins.

EDIT: And sorry for making my post primarily about me3, but you can understand that right?

 

[Bvenged]

Portals ending got changed to incorporate Portal 2.

A few Star Trek episodes have been written off by fans and thus the writers for being non-canon because they screwed with entire plots of previous episodes (I'll get back to you on which episodes, though Voyager comes to mind).

Arthur Conan Doyle disliked writing Sherlock Holmes because he wanted to write other things and only continued after popular demand. When he had enough he just killed off Holmes and his main antagonist, Moriarty. People got so aggressive and angry over it, including the press, that after a few years he wrote another few books, the first one took place before Sherlock death, and another afterwards clarifying Sherlock faked his death... even though he fell off of a damn cliff in a struggle.