Mass Effect 3 Fans Will Find Closure June 26th
- Thread starter WMDogma
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Is it nice that it's free? Sure, it's the least they could do. However, I do find it understandable that people would already bemoan the EC, even without having seen it yet. The past six months has seen Bioware more or less tarnish their reputation with the combined shitstorm of the ME3 ending the clusterfuck of the TOR launch. These two things combined with DA2 have killed almost all of the goodwill that Bioware had earned with their fanbase, not to mention that fact that the dark cloud of EA covers this whole thing. Fans are weary, and they don't want to get burned again (though, the fact that Bioware has clearly stated that they are not changing the ending should be a very good indicator that nothing significant is going to happen).I_am_a_Spoon said:
I'm not sure that's the right way of looking at it. If Metzen said there's about 10+ minutes of content, then it's kind of hard to believe that there any gameplay in there. It mostly sounds like if it's just lots and lots of audio files like VO and music, cutscene data...that kind of thing. If they're truly trying to "expand" on the ending, then the size of the EC is indicative of how much non-playable content they're trying to create to make sure they have enough of it to cover as much as they can considering how different people's playthroughs could be. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt it's any new gameplay.I_am_a_Spoon said:The actual game was around 11 gigs I think? So no way is 1.9 gigs of new content only going to last 5-10 minutes. The EC will include content equivalent to over seventeen percent of the main game...
On the other hand, I've lost all motivation to even touch ME3. I found the most recent Wolverine for $10 on the 360. I'll just have a go at that instead.
I already hated the ending, if like me these other people also hated the ending and this is supposedly the same ending just 'clarified' (Someone needs to put themselves in the clear, eh Humpy?) surely the expectation should be 'clarified' hatred for it or something along those lines?I_am_a_Spoon said:
Ah, but then again for me I must consider the schadenfreude I will feel as everyone who believed in the indoctrination theory, as its shattered into a million pieces, have to suffer both the fully realized ending and the death of their safe delusion.
Is it still shameful if I don't feel any shame in it?
Hmm..
Oh I'm certain that this won't fix every problem, but having had time to come to terms with the current ending I really don't need it to. The main story arc was never what held my interest in the ME series. It wasn't bad, probably even above average, but what really made it for me was the characters and their more personal story arcs, set inside this really rich universe. The thing that was really a slap in the face for me at the time was not even getting to see what Shepard had bought with his ultimate sacrifice. Who survived? Who didn't? What do they do now and how does the Galaxy at large even begin to rebuild? Not knowing these things was what pissed me off, because in my eyes, that's what I'd been fighting for. Even if all the extended cut achieves is to fill in that part, that for me will be enough.The Heik said:
The intent of this DLC was never to give the game a better ending, it was to at least give some closure, by showing the consequences of your choices (at least, that's how I interpreted what little we know about it), and explain some of the most obscure things in it.
The closure isn't a bad thing. It should have been in the game since the beginning, though, because the original ending just plainly shows no effort at all into making what you did in 3 games matter, which is bad, especially in an RPG... I can understand, even if I don't like it, the technical difficulties into making most of your choices really matter from one game to the other (most of the times, you get some cosmetic, superficial differences, if you try multiple different playthroughs), but to not show ANYTHING at the end is laughable. For me it was like the game told me that what I liked (and thought that was important... Because the games made them sound important!) in the games weren't even worth a mention.
The explanation part is laughable, because the ending suffers from a severe lack of logic, narrative coherence, and generally bad writing. To explain it, the writers will be forced to put together even more convoluted reasons as to why it has to be that way. Above all, the ending isn't the culmination of the plot/narrative natural evolution, but is a forced, false dilemma, you are pushed in, so that the author can make his point. Since the 3 games weren't planned as a trilogy beforehand, it's normal to experience some sort of disconnect, but here we get it inside ME3 itself. The ending doesn't make justice not even to what happens in the third game, that's why it is unbelievably bad.
The closure isn't a bad thing. It should have been in the game since the beginning, though, because the original ending just plainly shows no effort at all into making what you did in 3 games matter, which is bad, especially in an RPG... I can understand, even if I don't like it, the technical difficulties into making most of your choices really matter from one game to the other (most of the times, you get some cosmetic, superficial differences, if you try multiple different playthroughs), but to not show ANYTHING at the end is laughable. For me it was like the game told me that what I liked (and thought that was important... Because the games made them sound important!) in the games weren't even worth a mention.
The explanation part is laughable, because the ending suffers from a severe lack of logic, narrative coherence, and generally bad writing. To explain it, the writers will be forced to put together even more convoluted reasons as to why it has to be that way. Above all, the ending isn't the culmination of the plot/narrative natural evolution, but is a forced, false dilemma, you are pushed in, so that the author can make his point. Since the 3 games weren't planned as a trilogy beforehand, it's normal to experience some sort of disconnect, but here we get it inside ME3 itself. The ending doesn't make justice not even to what happens in the third game, that's why it is unbelievably bad.
I'm waiting for a fan-made content summary before I even consider touching the DLC.
What I've heard these last few days just seems to confirm my earlier assumption that the Extended Cut will basically be BioWare putting band-aids on the gashes while ignoring the internal bleeding.
What I've heard these last few days just seems to confirm my earlier assumption that the Extended Cut will basically be BioWare putting band-aids on the gashes while ignoring the internal bleeding.
I guess we'll all know about the ending tomorrow. I'm not getting my hopes up. It'll wind up being just ten minutes of Lance Henriksen saying, "All the characters you care about fine. The world's not over. The beginning of the end is mearly the end of the beginning. Artistic integredity, etc." I think the man's voice is groovy and all but I don't think he can pull it off.
It never ceases to amuse me that everyone seems to think the current ending is broken beyond repair.mdqp said:
I won't say I liked the ending as it stands, but with a little imagination one can fill in the blanks and make it awesome.
I won't say they WILL make the ending better through clarity, but there is NOTHING in the current ending that cannot be fixed / made better with some good writing, regardless of whether IT ends up being true or not.
If they show us WHY the Normandy fled, then that's no longer an issue. Maybe the entire fleet lands on the jungle planet, but they originally only showed the Normandy? If not IT, perhaps they will show the starchild is, at least, a reaper, and lying to Shepard. Everyone assumes the relays went supernova and that all the species starved, but Casey & the gang said that wasn't the intent just a few days ago, so I imagine they will flesh out how/why they weren't. That plus an epilogue showing more results of our decisions...
It CAN all be fixed. The question is, WILL IT? I feel sorry for anyone who isn't willing to give this FREE content a fair shake to at least SEE what Bioware's intent was. Worst case, people still hate it can now confidently move on without buying another Bioware game in their lives. Best case? The series is salvaged for you. Crazier things have happened...
ps - the series WAS planned as a trilogy, from the getgo.
Ditto for me. The ending's quality didn't really surprise me that much because most of the high-level narrative started sucking the moment Drew Karpshyn stopped being the lead writer. I tried denying that for a while, but ME1 had great character stories AND great plot. ME2 & 3 just had great character stories and a middling plot, at best. The whole Cerberus arc in ME2 & ME3 is some of the most poorly explained idiocy I've ever seen in a Bioware game... and I forgive them for all of it because the characters and the universe are so frakkin' awesome, like you said. I don't have anything specific against Mac, but I do think the quality of writing at the end of ME3 is no worse than the quality of the writing at the end of ME2, which is a completely backhanded compliment.NinjaDeathSlap said:
So I'm very hopeful that the DLC will give me more closure with my squadmates, flesh out a few of the gaping plotholes, and leave me with a legit desire to run through with my Renegade. If we're really lucky they can completely patch up the main plot thread, too, but it won't kill me if that part's still mediocre; I put more weight on good character endings!
My longterm goal is to record playthroughs of all 3 games and cut them into a character piece where the lesser writing is removed entirely. i.e. - the Reaper threat doesn't exist. Just Spectre Shepard and his team of cutthroat pirates... I shall call it Firefly Effect! XD
I don't think any additions to the ending will cover up the gaping plot holes and poor execution. I suspect a good chunk of it will be MP content.
1. Nothing was stated that it was entirely single player content.Alex Mac said:
2. Just because I said there may be multi-player content does not deny the fact there will be single player content. Also learn to read.
3. Bioware has been releasing mp content often enough to assume there will probably be mp content in this dlc. (There's been leaks or at least rumors of new Earth maps and classes)
4. Please stop trolling.
Sincerely,
Agent Monocle
now is this going to be a playable ending. Or is it just a video cutscene that groups together all of your choices and plays them out?
Where have we heard false promises like that before? *Rolls eyes*WMDogma said:
Its free I will be downloading it. But EAware has ruined the franchise for me with empty promises and failing to deliver on those promises.
I loved ME 3 but the ending was worse than a three year old painting. AT LEAST a three year old painting has more than three colour choice options!
The.Bard said:
It never ceases to amuse me how people feel the need to tell me how I should feel or think about the ending (I guess I wasn't clear, those were just my opinions on the ending and what they said to us about the upcoming DLC).
I can imagine whatever I want, and that's part of the problem: the ending gives basically no view of the consequences AT ALL. You just know that you saved the galaxy, even if the final choices should have incredibly different consequences (at least, that's how they are presented).
Good writing can fix everything? Really? How shocking! Unfortunately, they also said that they won't change the ending, so there is nothing they can do to make it better for me (IT sounds pretty unlikely based on what they said, and frankly, I don't think it was that solid in the first place).
To elaborate more: if IT isn't true (as I think), then the ending has to be taken at face value. That means that the catalyst presents 3 solutions that (in its own views!) don't solve the problem, as all 3 choices still allow for synthetics to be produced in the future and exterminate all organics.
Given how the Reapers have been quite pro-active about this, one has to wonder what has really changed (and don't tell me you buy the idea that Shepard gained the right to make the choice just because he/she got that far: if there was a dog there, would it have gotten the right to make the choice for all organics? If it was just another soldier, would it have been ok? Shepard got there by dumb luck, how is that a good way to pick someone as the one who makes the choice? Do the catalyst compile a list of those who are worthy, and sends the elevator only for them?), to convince them that now it's the time to leave self-determination to organics.
Also, Synthesis isn't even remotely believable to anyone with a modicum of knowledge of biology, and there is nothing that will change that.
Explaining why and how the Normandy leaves is something I don't really care too much (I think it's stupid, the way it's presented, but I can ignore it easily). If they show you that the catalyst is lying, then 2 endings make no sense at all. Also, why would it give you the chance to destroy the Reapers? Why doesn't it kill you? Is it lying about being the citadel, too?
The ending taken at face value is simply too stupid to be fixed for me(again, this is how I feel about them, this isn't an absolute truth).
I won't go in details on what I think about what it does to storytelling and its effect on the "flow" of the story, as many people argued these points before, and honestly I think they would just bore you (and they are even more a matter of taste, I guess).
P.S. You don't know too much about the development of this series. They had just planned to make 3 games, but the story and the ending weren't decided until ME3 development had already started (and not in the early stages of development, either). The original lead writer talked about at least one different ending that was on the table (dark matter theory) before he left to work for SWTOR, just to make an example.
I can plan to make 3 games, but if I don't have an overarching idea for them, what's the point? I can still make 3 good games, mind you, but they are a trilogy in name only, if I shift the focus of the story from one game to another (you probably didn't feel this way about the ME series, this much I can understand, is more of a pet peeve of mine).
P.P.S. No need to feel sorry for me, I am quite happy with my life as it is, this game hasn't ruined it
. I still think it was a waste of my time, though (I have issues with the game itself in other parts, not just the ending, mind you. Just to give you more clarity on this: I would rate ME with an 8; ME2 with a 7 and ME3 with 6, and this without the ending, so I am pretty critical about it).P.P.P.S. Captcha: gift horse. I don my hat to you, captcha.
I've been counting down the seconds to Dawnguard so that's a clear winner here.
I just know that today will be the last day I go the escapist for a while since the forums are just going to be loaded with posts and depending on how the DLC goes it will be either positive or negative posts.
I'll probably just play someones youtube video in the background while im playing skyrim, if it's any good and worth the time I'll download it this weekend.
I just know that today will be the last day I go the escapist for a while since the forums are just going to be loaded with posts and depending on how the DLC goes it will be either positive or negative posts.
I'll probably just play someones youtube video in the background while im playing skyrim, if it's any good and worth the time I'll download it this weekend.
