Mass Effect 3 Ending Controversy

BreakfastMan

Scandinavian Jawbreaker
Jul 22, 2010
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Wow. That fan-fic ending was way better than the actual ending. Like, by a ton. I actually get the feeling that Bioware was going in the direction of that ending, but just did not have enough time to do it for some reason. I really wonder why... EDIT: For clarification, this is not sarcasm. I really do wonder.

Anyway... I have mixed feelings both about the ending [footnote]As the fan-fic ending showed, it could have been a bloody brilliant ending if done well, which it was not. But, I still appreciate what they were going for with it, even if they fell flat on their asses doing so. Good idea, horrendous execution.[/footnote] and the controversy over demanding a new ending. I understand people angry over it and demanding a new ending [footnote]my favorite game of all time is KOTOR 2. You think I was completely satisfied by that ending? Hell no.[/footnote], and they have every right to do so. I don't think Bioware has to change it. Unfortunately, it is currently a lose-lose situation for them, as you say. They really should have delayed the game to work on the ending more. I know I sure as hell would not have minded another 1-3 months so we can get an actual good ending. :/ Guess that is how software development works sometimes...
 

TsunamiWombat

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Sep 6, 2008
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Thanks for the understanding, we're used to catching alot of hate, even at the escapist. I'll be sure to share this with the BSN and TakeBackME3. We're not asking for everyone to agree with us, just to stop trollin'.
 

wintercoat

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Nov 26, 2011
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Shamus Young said:
Mass Effect 3 Ending Controversy

Mass Effect 3's endings have left quite a few people wanting. But for what?

Read Full Article


Well said my good man, well said!
 

Spygon

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May 16, 2009
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Can i call mass effect 4 that will make sence out of most of the "closure issues" and be crowned king yet?
 

WanderingFool

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Apr 9, 2009
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Shamus Young said:
Mass Effect 3 Ending Controversy

Mass Effect 3's endings have left quite a few people wanting. But for what?

Read Full Article
Very good read. Im not really bothered by the endings. I dont like them at all, but my natural pessimist attitude leaves me with a desire for a new ending, but the harsh reality that it probably wont come.

But of everything I heard, I still like the refuse ending idea (I believe thats the same Fanfiction link you had in your article. If Bioware did release a new ending, I would want it like that, or atleast some variation.
 

Blackbird71

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May 22, 2009
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This is basically the reason I stopped watching LOST mid-run. Once I learned that the creators were mostly just making it up as they went along, I realized there was no way it was ever going to have a satisfactory ending, and I decided it was better to just give up then rather than invest more time just to be disappointed later.

I'm glad I never picked up the first ME, and I'll stick to my policy of avoiding EA games altogether, BioWare or not. It just seems to save more headaches that way.
 

Undead Dragon King

Evil Spacefaring Mantis
Apr 25, 2008
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Spoilers ahoy!

You hit the nail right on the head with my fanfiction, Shamus. I wrote a 70-page novelization of the ending that I wanted, and my Shepard living a happy married life with Tali on Rannoch was the epilogue. As I wrote the ending I realized that the central question that BioWare was asking was actually well thought-out and spanned all three games. I wrote a more detailed philosophical debate about that question in my fanfiction, and it struck me about how much that question needed to be addressed.

The question was about inevitable conflict between synthetic and organic as a matter of principle and the insane amounts of chaos it caused was especially poignant with me since I romanced a member of the race that had been on the receiving end of that very question. Everything from the Geth rebellions to the potential chaos of Operation Overlord to EDI being that rogue VI-turned-AI from the Luna base in ME1 to the Battle of Rannoch in Mass Effect 3 to the fact that Geth are the ONLY enemy that you fight in all three games reinforced the propriety of the central question for me.

It just wasn't explained enough, and a little more debate would have gone a long way.

We're clear of spoilers, cap'n!
 

Smeagol150

Emperor of the Moon
Oct 20, 2008
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I'm very happy you wrote this to clear up the endings in a coherent way. I'm also very glad you linked to that fan fiction alternate ending, I'm not much into fan fictions, but I thought that was wonderfully written. Great article Shamus.
 

Abedeus

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Sep 14, 2008
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Zen Toombs said:
Well said. And I don't think Bioware should try to please everyone, I would just like them to give some ammount of what you called Closure, Explanation, and Affirmation. This story doesn't need a sunshine and pie ending, but the ending shouldn't completly conflict with the previous ~90 hour experience.
Exactly. I don't reallllly want a hugs and puppies and sunshine ending. I mean, I still remember Last Exile's ending.

Indoctrinated Dio dies, Luciola dies trying to find him, Alex kills Delphine with his dying breath
But heroes succeed, their mission is a success, they did what they came to do, and we had closure after the story was told, loose ends tied and resolved.
 

Daft Ghosty

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Sep 25, 2010
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Shamus Young said:
Mass Effect 3 Ending Controversy

Mass Effect 3's endings have left quite a few people wanting. But for what?

Read Full Article
Thanks. Happy to see someone on the Escapist other then Critical Miss cover this from the bad ending side.

You cover the issue very well. Bioware is in quite a pickle with this. I really hate to see this happening, because there isn't a game company I love more. But really they should have known better. If they didn't then they have become divorced from their own work, to the point of customer suicide.

Again thanks. We needed more then just Forbes to understand where we are coming from, and not talk down to us.
 

Miral

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Jun 6, 2008
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Nimcha said:
But to me everything that was shown did make sense. Reapers are shown to be redundant, Shepard decides how to end them. 'Everybody dies' is just completely untrue and largely irrelevant since that has nothing to do with the quality of a story. The 'bad guys' are certainly not ridiculous (in fact their motivations are literally explained) and we do find out what happens next. What happens after that, that is what you have to think about for yourself. That is also where a lot of your choices from the game come in.
Alert: minor spoilers in this first paragraph.
I really hope you're joking. The core explanation for the reapers is "synthetics will always kill off organics; to prevent that we created a race of synthetics to kill all the organics every 50k years to stop the synthetics killing them." That doesn't even come close to making any kind of sense. And its core assertion is directly contradicted by Shepard's own experience (the Geth, EDI) that it's simply irresponsible that you cannot even protest that assertion when it's made.

The only way that this ending could make any kind of sense is if the Indoctrination Theory is true and Shepard was being controlled or dreaming, and that the "real" ending has yet to be revealed. Sadly the reaction from BioWare themselves is very mixed, and most evidence thus far suggests that this was not their brilliant plan all along... but we can still hope that they take it and run with it.

Provided of course that they don't try to charge for it, as that in itself would be setting an exceedingly dangerous precedent; if we start tolerating games holding the ending ransom against further payment, it's a very slippery slope to games where you have to fork over money for each new plot point or chapter, and then we're all screwed.
 

Inkidu

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Mar 25, 2011
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I wish I could just say exactly, but mods get mad at such concise answers.

Exactly! :D

Captcha: Face the Music. Fitting.
 

AbstractStream

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Feb 18, 2011
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Shamus! You see what went wrong. Exactly! I applaud you, sir. I'm so glad everyone here agrees with you.
I'm going to share this with all those that were disappointed with the ME3 ending.

Smeagol150 said:
I'm also very glad you linked to that fan fiction alternate ending, I'm not much into fan fictions, but I thought that was wonderfully written.
This too. The fan-fiction ending has now replaced the real one in my mind.

Inkidu said:
Captcha: Face the Music. Fitting.
Captcha keeps telling me that in every ME3 thread...it's scaring me...
 

Ticonderoga117

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Nov 9, 2009
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+500 respect to you good sir.

"But if you're looking for an official ending to Mass Effect 3, then you already have it. It even comes in three different colors."

Couldn't have said it better.
 

WvStolzing

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Mar 23, 2012
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Sir, I respectfully disagree with your comment, that

"If they change it to please us, then it's not their story anymore, it's ours. We can easily find ourselves in a situation where we're playing through our own fanfiction."

That would have been true, if we had been pushing for specific endings that we'd like to see.
No one's trying to convince BW to implement their own vision of the ending.

We just want BW to hold their promise, and actually sit down and write (yeah, they'll do the writing, not us?!) the multiple endings that follow logically from the preceding events.
 

Aureliano

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Mar 5, 2009
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Edit: Simplest answer to the controversy. Give players the option to give starchild the finger, shoot him in his translucent face and move on.

Never listen to the leprechaun that tells you to kill all sentient life. That guy's a dick.
 

Dirk7

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Oct 9, 2008
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It seems like a lot of people want Shepard to survive above all things. And the possibility that s/he doesn't is making them furious. I can see this being a testament to how connected they are to the character they have created that it can inspire this much emotion.

However, I could not disagree more. Why is the concept of self-sacrifice so horrendous? I feel that if you can't think of any thing in your life that you would risk/sacrifice your life to preserve then you might need to cut back on the video games.


The only thing I would add on Biowares part would be to populate a few Journal entries after game completion to give a little more detail on some of the things covered in the last few hours of gameplay. They did a really good job updating you on the progress of the war and key battles up until that point and then just... stopped.


Anyways, where would you start with aftermath? The cycle is broken, after countless years of the galaxy slowly turning on its preset course... there is no set path. The world(s) are saved but isolated from each other. Galactic government is shattered at best. There is a whole bunch of alien races more or less trapped in the Sol system with a devastated (but grateful?) Earth, with the reason for their fragile alliance suddenly defeated. So yeah... there has to be at least a few Shepards out there that are happy they don't have to deal with that mess. (Do they not have diplomats to do all that talking instead of getting their front line guys to do it? like wth)

Shepard completed the mission, we stopped the Reaper cycle, we triumphed over an implacable enemy and saved the galaxy. We learned what it was all about. (could have gotten more detail there but a brief use of imagination/logic can fill in most of the blanks) We saw that (at least) a few characters/friends survived. Finis.


Regardless, we all bought the (choose your own adventure) book. Some of us didn't like the ending(s). They have no obligation to change it, and you are perfectly free to make up/borrow one of your own.

Anyways, this was always YOUR story, why are you letting them finish it for you?
 

Trishbot

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May 10, 2011
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I'll just be blunt:

I hate the ending. I want a better ending with closure and resolution and sense. Yes, I will pay for it.