Mass Effect 3 Gets An Ending

[Super Fooby]

Well shit son. That's actually a fairly reasonable argument, but I still don't think the ending is very good. The problem I have with it is that it drops so much new stuff on you (like that star-child thing and the fact that the mass relays all explode) that it just doesn't give you enough time to absorb it all in. If they had paced this stuff out over the game then it would have been better and people might not have complained. But the fact that they drop it all at the end without any foreshadowing is what makes the ending awful.

 

[Diana Kingston-Gabai]

Now, Bioware is certainly at fault for falling flat here, but the precedent is still set. Games can be changed at the behest of the gamers. Then if the developer refuses, does that make them worse than Bioware then because they're not catering to their customers every demands?

I think it would be more accurate to say that the precedent being set is: "Games can be changed at the behest of the gamers, provided there is a massive, substantial and easily quantified backlash which exceeds the volume of objections typically raised by habitual complainers."

Because, really, the sheer scale and scope of negative reactions to ME3's ending - and it's the ending specifically, not ME3 itself - exceed any other game I can think of. Discussion of Fallout 3's questionable ending wasn't nearly so virulent when Bethesda put out "Broken Steel"...

 

[Falcon123]

So far, every time someone has argued against the "Retake Mass Effect" movement, the overwhelming response is that the person "doesn't get it", most without actually saying what there is to get.
Just for future reference, if you really want to tell someone that they "don't get it", tell them what it is exactly they don't get. By not providing this, it just looks like you're saying it because it's the only way you can think of to defend yourself, even if it's not. (Also, ironically, some of the "he doesn't get it" posts actually missed the point of the article...)

Also, I stand by my opinion that it's not your game, so it's not your ending. You have o right to change it. Sue for false advertising all you want, that doesn't mean Bioware is obligated to change the ending. Sorry.

Alright then, here's what people don't seem to be getting:

[link]http://jmstevenson.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/all-that-matters-is-the-ending-part-2-mass-effect-3/[/link]

To be honest I hate putting down a link and calling it "proof" or whatever but the guy who wrote that said it all a million times better than I could.

Except people do get that the ending objectively fails. But why is it different than when so many other works fail to live up to the hype? Why is it that people feel as if they have a right to change this game any more than any others? You don't have the rights to Mass Effect 3. You don't have the right to decide how it ends. You have the right to hate the ending, but not the right to "Retake" a game that was never yours to begin with

I really think you're taking the "Retake" in "Retake Mass Effect" way too seriously. It's meant as a play on the "Retake Earth" or "Take back Earth" thing that was floating around prior to the games release.

What people are looking for is basically what Bethesda done with Fallout 3. Why is this such a bad thing?

If you're not not taking the phrase "retake" seriously, you're not the people that others are calling entitled. There are people who genuinely believe it's their right to retake the game, and those are the people that Yahtzee and others are writing against

 

[Candidus]

Alright then, here's what people don't seem to be getting:

[link]http://jmstevenson.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/all-that-matters-is-the-ending-part-2-mass-effect-3/[/link]

To be honest I hate putting down a link and calling it "proof" or whatever but the guy who wrote that said it all a million times better than I could.

Man, that was a great read.

It's a shame the Retake detractors can't be bothered to take articles like these in, and it's a bigger shame that the overwhelming trend among the gaming press has been to take the piss out of the upset ME3 fans among its audience, usually while missing the point completely- Yahtzee included. I'd excuse him for not really knowing jack or caring about ME3 to begin with, but if you're going to comment on a debate, you need to count the assumptions you're making about either side before you start, and get the numbers as close to zero as you can. He didn't do that.

Thanks for the link anyway. I'll add it to the arsenal.

Yahtzee, read that link for f's sake. To take your own statement, the author of that blog doesn't have a cock for a head, and he knows better than and can help people who do.

 

[chadachada123]

Now, Bioware is certainly at fault for falling flat here, but the precedent is still set. Games can be changed at the behest of the gamers. Then if the developer refuses, does that make them worse than Bioware then because they're not catering to their customers every demands?

The issue isn't that Bioware made a shitty ending. It's that they (the head guys) KNEW they were making a shitty ending for whatever reason but went ahead anyway.

It has nothing to do with changing at the behest of gamers, and more to do with the developers purposely slacking on the content and giving a bullshit ending rather than their own planned, decent endings.

 

[Sandytimeman]

Yeah, I feel like most journalists / critcs are on a completely different wave length then us gamers.

That being said I don't think bioware should have to remake the ending I just don't want to buy anything they sell ever again. Almost 300+ hours of game play to give me some depressing ass story where everyone fucking dies. Could have saved myself 80 bucks and 35 hours if I had just let shepard die in ME2...

TL;DR fuck bioware and don't buy from them anymore.

So... what? You'll only lay down The Dolla for happy endings?

I don't mind bittersweet endings but what was the point of the game if everyone, and by everyone I mean all of galactic fleet of every combined race, and pretty much anything near a mass relay.

 

[Kanatatsu]

Yahtzee clearly missed the point, moving on.

 

[psijac]

If you want to know yathzees real feelings look at his Deus Ex:HR review

 

[weirdee]

so, you wanted a bittersweet ending, but one where nothing of actual value is lost, except for a token gesture of symbolic emotion that doesn't actually mean anything

still the disney ending, but with a tweest so that you think that it's sophisticated, even though all they did was tack it on

satisfying but not ground breaking

btw, the ending doesn't actually have everybody dying if you didn't mess up with the assets and the readiness

 

[mschweiz]

all i want is to see each major character in the last moments of battle, really

 

[anthony87]

Alright then, here's what people don't seem to be getting:

[link]http://jmstevenson.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/all-that-matters-is-the-ending-part-2-mass-effect-3/[/link]

To be honest I hate putting down a link and calling it "proof" or whatever but the guy who wrote that said it all a million times better than I could.

Man, that was a great read.

It's a shame the Retake detractors can't be bothered to take articles like these in, and it's a bigger shame that the overwhelming trend among the gaming press has been to take the piss out of the upset ME3 fans among its audience, usually while missing the point completely- Yahtzee included. I'd excuse him for not really knowing jack or caring about ME3 to begin with, but if you're going to comment on a debate, you need to count the assumptions you're making about either side before you start, and get the numbers as close to zero as you can. He didn't do that.

Thanks for the link anyway. I'll add it to the arsenal.

You're....welcome?

Not sure why it's saying that Falcon was the one who wrote it but anyway it is a pretty damn good read. That little paragraph near the end about the "artistic integrity" nonsense is probably what stuck out the most for me.

 

[Candidus]

You're....welcome?

Not sure why it's saying that Falcon was the one who wrote it but anyway it is a pretty damn good read. That little paragraph near the end about the "artistic integrity" nonsense is probably what stuck out the most for me.

Whoops, that's probably my fault. I quoted it in a response that had already accumulated several quote boxes and must have deleted incorrectly. Pardons.

The bit you mention is exactly the bit that made me think "Why the hell didn't I just say that?"

 

[Woodsey]

Yeah, I feel like most journalists / critcs are on a completely different wave length then us gamers.

That being said I don't think bioware should have to remake the ending I just don't want to buy anything they sell ever again. Almost 300+ hours of game play to give me some depressing ass story where everyone fucking dies. Could have saved myself 80 bucks and 35 hours if I had just let shepard die in ME2...

TL;DR fuck bioware and don't buy from them anymore.

So... what? You'll only lay down The Dolla for happy endings?

I don't mind bittersweet endings but what was the point of the game if everyone, and by everyone I mean all of galactic fleet of every combined race, and pretty much anything near a mass relay.

So the entire series is rendered pointless by the ending being too depressing or destructive?

Well shit son. That's actually a fairly reasonable argument, but I still don't think the ending is very good. The problem I have with it is that it drops so much new stuff on you (like that star-child thing and the fact that the mass relays all explode) that it just doesn't give you enough time to absorb it all in. If they had paced this stuff out over the game then it would have been better and people might not have complained. But the fact that they drop it all at the end without any foreshadowing is what makes the ending awful.

There is foreshadowing for the 'kid', but yes, it could have been threaded through the game better, and the ending paced more appropriately.

 

[BuddhaMike]

So Yahtzee is totally on board with Bioware f**king up their story George Lucas style? He does know both JarJar and "Star Killer" also fall under that impenetrable umbrella of 'Well it's the story the creator wanted', right?

Yeah, they do. And of course you have every right not to like Jar Jar Binks and wish fervently that the prequels had been better, but that doesn't change the fact that it's Lucas' story.

The same Lucas who hates The Empire Strikes Back, coincidentally the one film almost universally considered the best in the series?

 

[TheOneBearded]

I won't be playing ME3. The Mass Effect series has always felt bland to me. And now, knowing how ti all ends, I have no reason to continue.

I think what is most disappointing though is that the ending isn't even original. Maybe some of you have heard of FreeSpace? In the last mission you and a squad of bombers go on a suicide mission and fight through hyperspace to stop the massive death-ship from reaching Earth and culminating in the destruction of said death-ship AND the jump nodes that link back to Earth. It ends and you're more of less certain the explosion kills everyone and the epilogue states how Earth is now unreachable - which strands both humans and Vasudans (and probably a few Shivans too) there with no way to return back home.

So, yeah. Too bad about that 'epic' ending.

Hold on a moment, don't reject the game for the last ten minutes of it! From the beginning to the point before the end, the game is perfect - everything feels right. Try to pretend that the ending isn't real. That's what I did and that helped me swallow the crapfest.

 

[Woodsey]

So Yahtzee is totally on board with Bioware f**king up their story George Lucas style? He does know both JarJar and "Star Killer" also fall under that impenetrable umbrella of 'Well it's the story the creator wanted', right?

Yeah, they do. And of course you have every right not to like Jar Jar Binks and wish fervently that the prequels had been better, but that doesn't change the fact that it's Lucas' story.

The same Lucas who hates The Empire Strikes Back, coincidentally the one film almost universally considered the best in the series?

Yep. Still his story.

 

[Candidus]

So the entire series is rendered pointless by the ending being too depressing or destructive?

No, the entire series is rendered pointless by the many plot holes created by the ending, and is made even worse by the lack of closure and sick invitation to buy DLC PLOX OKAY?! Plenty of great links have been posted in this thread with comprehensive articles describing the problems and their enormous scale, for anyone who honestly wants to know.

A lot of people don't honestly want to know, unfortunately. Loads of people just want to pick a side and spit from it.

 

[Woodsey]

So the entire series is rendered pointless by the ending being too depressing or destructive?

No, the entire series is rendered pointless by the many plot holes created by the ending, and is made even worse by the lack of closure and sick invitation to buy DLC PLOX OKAY?! Plenty of great links have been posted in this thread with comprehensive articles describing the problems and their enormous scale, for anyone who honestly wants to know.

A lot of people don't honestly want to know, unfortunately. Loads of people just want to pick a side and spit from it.

That's not the point I picked up on from the guy I quoted, so that's not the point I'm arguing. Snark is all well and good, but at least use it when it makes sense.

 

[anthony87]

So far, every time someone has argued against the "Retake Mass Effect" movement, the overwhelming response is that the person "doesn't get it", most without actually saying what there is to get.
Just for future reference, if you really want to tell someone that they "don't get it", tell them what it is exactly they don't get. By not providing this, it just looks like you're saying it because it's the only way you can think of to defend yourself, even if it's not. (Also, ironically, some of the "he doesn't get it" posts actually missed the point of the article...)

Also, I stand by my opinion that it's not your game, so it's not your ending. You have o right to change it. Sue for false advertising all you want, that doesn't mean Bioware is obligated to change the ending. Sorry.

Alright then, here's what people don't seem to be getting:

[link]http://jmstevenson.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/all-that-matters-is-the-ending-part-2-mass-effect-3/[/link]

To be honest I hate putting down a link and calling it "proof" or whatever but the guy who wrote that said it all a million times better than I could.

Except people do get that the ending objectively fails. But why is it different than when so many other works fail to live up to the hype? Why is it that people feel as if they have a right to change this game any more than any others? You don't have the rights to Mass Effect 3. You don't have the right to decide how it ends. You have the right to hate the ending, but not the right to "Retake" a game that was never yours to begin with

I really think you're taking the "Retake" in "Retake Mass Effect" way too seriously. It's meant as a play on the "Retake Earth" or "Take back Earth" thing that was floating around prior to the games release.

What people are looking for is basically what Bethesda done with Fallout 3. Why is this such a bad thing?

If you're not not taking the phrase "retake" seriously, you're not the people that others are calling entitled. There are people who genuinely believe it's their right to retake the game, and those are the people that Yahtzee and others are writing against

In a sense I kind of am. People aren't really differentiating between the ones you describe and the ones I describe. Rather it's EVERYONE who wants a new ending that are being lamblasted by seemingly every gaming publication on the internet so you can at least see where the frustration is coming from with regards to the people who want rather than the people who are demanding.

(Ugh...I hate this "us and them" shite)