Mass Effect 3 Outrage Causes Unrelated Game to Change its Ending

[Damien Granz]

Just change the ending. Game development is a collaborative effort, why not take input from the people that matter, your fans. People need to stop defending Bioware, they fucked up and need to fix it. That ending is not art, Mordin's death was art, Grunts last stand was art. These things evoked emotions, the ending evoked nothing and then because of that nothingness people became angry.

Because under no circumstance are you actually part of the creative process. The choices you made throughout those games were designed BY BIOWARE. There is only one type of art where the consumers/fanbase gets a part in creating it: bad art.

Anyway, this is some mighty trolling. Heck, I'd even say it's a proper critique of Bioware's spineless reaction. If they're going to sell their integrity so readily it sets a bad standard for games as narrative media.

They sold their integrity the minute they became a business. That's part of being a business; making what your customers want. The more money the customer is expected to shell out on this gamble (and it's always a gamble when you buy a game or movie because you can't ever 'know' if it's bad or not), the more they want to know they'll have recourse if it turns sour. And this did.

If EA wanted their customers to ***** less about bad gambles, maybe EA can stop punishing used game sales. But nope, they want to take away customer's avenues to combat bad gambles on purchases AND the ability to make shitty games and call it art AND to still have money. You really can't have that all.

They could choose to keep that integrity, but they'll have to pay the price all other starving artists do.

Again, if you want total 100% integrity in an artistic en devour, the only way to do that is to not expect people to finance your en devour. If you want to write 'what you want' and fuck everybody else, don't expect to make any money and expect to give out a lot of refunds when what you want isn't what anybody else wants.

It's that plain and simple. It's not all about BioWare's wants as artists; if it was then they can give the game out for free. The minute they involve your wallet, you have say in the product, whether or not they like it. And if they don't like it, cool. Don't sell the product. I'd be entirely fine with whatever shitty ending they had if it was free; I don't give a flying damn about all the shitty stories on Fan Fiction sites, after all, because I'm not expected to put up 80 dollars to witness it.

You can say it's their business or art and they can make it however they want, and that's fine, but if you sat down at a blackjack card table, and the house rules here were that the house wins when you're ahead of it, if you're behind it, if you hit 21, or if you bust, or if the house busts.. you're not obligated to ante up every time.

They CAN run that business. They CAN call Hopeless Blackjack an artistic expression. But if they want money, they have to sell what the customer wants, and the customer isn't likely to want Hopeless Blackjack. Sorry. You're not obligated to be EA's piggy bank to finance whatever stupid shit they want.

The fact they advertised the game in a way that wasn't fair to the ending they did deliver, that's even more dishonest, so cries of 'their integrity' fall hollow on my ears anyways. If they wanted 'integrity' maybe they could had decided not to be dishonest in their ads.

But I think that you don't understand that I don't understand why it has to be changed.

When a classical concert ends with a rap off and you don't like it, you boo/get up and leave, and don't spend your money at the artist's shows anymore.

With that romantic novel, you don't tell the author to rewrite it, you just throw it into a corner and again, vote with your wallet.

And so on and so on.

Like it or not, this is what Bioware decided to do, whether there were financial or artistic reasons behind the decisions. You don't tell people to re-write it or remake it until it suits your tastes.

Maybe if EA and BioWare weren't punishing people for reselling their game, you'd have a point.

This would be more like a classical concert, divided up into 3 parts that you had to pay 120% of the price for (due to DLC), ended in a rap off after you'd invested all that money. After the ads for it promised it was genuine. You wouldn't boo and leave and not spend money there. You'd demand a refund.

And even if you didn't demand a refund, you can leave, sure. But does BioWare WANT you to leave? Nope. If they did, they wouldn't give a flying shit about your complaints. They'd leave the ending the same. But they're changing it, because THEY want you to stay.

 

[antipunt]

I'm a dinosaur and I find this ending offensive

 

[Kingsnake661]

Experiment, he says? Nice. It worked ...
I was gonna check out this game, he gave me a very nice reason to stay the fuck away.

Oh and My. Synapse (lol) let me say it again: Ending-O-Tron cannot be considered art.

How unnecessarily smug. And missing the point, I might add, since "Happy End" or not has never been the issue.

Yeah, very much so ... Really nice customer relations move, eh?

Indeed. This game company ISN'T bioware with legions of fans to piss off and barely notice. This could well backfire on him. (Maybe, maybe not.) If anything it's given me, like you, a reason to avoid the product altogher. Not sure if that's what he intended... *shrug*

And the "happy ending" crowed need to take thier blinders off and come have an accually discussion about what piss us off. Of course, that would require, putting forth some mental effort, so i'll not be holding my breath.

And frankly, I'm fully in consperisay mode now. Bioware, they planed this... to drum up drama (Drama is always good for druming up some curesity sales.) and DLC... We'er being played, i can just feel it...

 

[zinho73]

I really dislike the ending. It was poorly conceptualized, poorly planned, poorly explained, and lazy. It was a weird tonal shift from the rest of the series on many levels. It was a clusterfuck of bad marketing. War assets are a boondoggle on a massive scale.

The best thing that could theoretically be said about it, is that it was supposed to be a statement deconstructing video games and action heroes, but if that was the case, why aren't they defending that more forcefully?





Bioware should not change a thing about the ending.

People must start to understand that saying that they should and saying that they shouldn't is exactly the same thing.

Somebody worried about artistic integrity must say that Bioware should access the criticism and do whatever they want to.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Am I the only one who thinks that sounded like they were defending Bioware?

 

[CoL0sS]

Hell of a way to make a statement. Personally, I think it was smug and unnecessary move that only adds more oil to the fire while completely missing the fucking point (something so many people seem to do).
On other hand I'd respect Bioware a lot more if they decided to do something like this as their new "ending".

 

[JeanLuc761]

But I think that you don't understand that I don't understand why it has to be changed.

When a classical concert ends with a rap off and you don't like it, you boo/get up and leave, and don't spend your money at the artist's shows anymore.

With that romantic novel, you don't tell the author to rewrite it, you just throw it into a corner and again, vote with your wallet.

And so on and so on.

Like it or not, this is what Bioware decided to do, whether there were financial or artistic reasons behind the decisions. You don't tell people to re-write it or remake it until it suits your tastes.

The difference is that now, with technology being what it is, game developers have a new option available to them: To fix it. Remember, none of this controversy would exist if Bioware hadn't done such a phenomenally good job with the series up until that point. We love Bioware and we want them to succeed. Basically, instead of going "Dammit Bioware, I'm done with you!" we're giving them the opportunity to go "Okay, in the eyes of many of our fans, we didn't succeed with the ending. We have the chance to fix this and make it right."

Basically, Bioware's getting a second chance on this, rather than just being dismissed outright. Beyond that, I know I'm speaking for many Mass Effect fans when I say that we want the series to be remembered for what it is, not what it could have been. As it stands, it's brilliant...but it stumbles in the last 10 minutes, and it stumbles so badly that it retroactively hurts the rest of the trilogy.

 

[Kingsnake661]

I'm not sure how we can make this more obvious of what the problem is:

A sports game that changes types in the final minutes of the play offs, and the team that performed poorly for the season is suddenly the champions.

A classical concert that suddenly ends with a Rap-Off.

A long romantic novel that ends with a psycho killing everybody on the last 2 pages.

A 5 course dinner that ends with the chief serving rotting raw liver for desert.

A long Caribbean cruise that ends with the ship sinking 10 miles from shore, causing you to lose everything you brought on board.

But I think that you don't understand that I don't understand why it has to be changed.

When a classical concert ends with a rap off and you don't like it, you boo/get up and leave, and don't spend your money at the artist's shows anymore.

With that romantic novel, you don't tell the author to rewrite it, you just throw it into a corner and again, vote with your wallet.

And so on and so on.

Like it or not, this is what Bioware decided to do, whether there were financial or artistic reasons behind the decisions. You don't tell people to re-write it or remake it until it suits your tastes.

Sure you do. And sometimes it works. IT's what fans DO. Did you know Sherlock Holmes DIED in a noval, and was reconned in by popular demand? (More or less) The Harry Potter lady wanted to kill him off, for giggles and didn't because of fearing fan backlash.

It happens in comic books too. Fans demand ALOT. Good god, watch Movie Bob's GL history video and see what some of them went through to get Hal back. Have you seen crap the Hylander 2 people did to try and recut the movie to make any since at all? Or when, in Mass Effect news, they let a totally new and clueless guy write a book so bad they are currently fixing it?

This kind of stuff happens all the time. It's just rarely acted on. It is, really, the creaters call if he wants too listen or not. (or the parent company who owns the IP rights, in the case of alot of comic book related stuff) And, IIRC, didn't Fallout get an updated or changed ending? This isn't new, nor uncalled for, not amoral in anyway. It's just RARE when accually change might happen.

 

[FFHAuthor]

Hey look, yet another group that's chosen willful ignorance of the heart of an issue over actually addressing it. Classy.

 

[Damien Granz]

The difference is that now, with technology being what it is, game developers have a new option available to them: To fix it. Remember, none of this controversy would exist if Bioware hadn't done such a phenomenally good job with the series up until that point. We love Bioware and we want them to succeed. Basically, instead of going "Dammit Bioware, I'm done with you!" we're giving them the opportunity to go "Okay, in the eyes of many of our fans, we didn't succeed with the ending. We have the chance to fix this and make it right."

Basically, Bioware's getting a second chance on this, rather than just being dismissed outright. Beyond that, I know I'm speaking for many Mass Effect fans when I say that we want the series to be remembered for what it is, not what it could have been. As it stands, it's brilliant...but it stumbles in the last 10 minutes, and it stumbles so badly that it retroactively hurts the rest of the trilogy.

The thing is that, it does help BioWare to fix it too. Yes, you could boo and never come back to the stage. And BioWare loses a customer forever. Of they can fix it, and keep the business.

Is booing and never coming back, how people 'want' us to react somehow better for artists? Would it be better BioWare, a company that COULD be great, being culled from the industry entirely and early, somehow better for the medium, or for us?

Because that's what 'Booing and Leaving forever' means, if enough people do it. It means BioWare's done; or at least that branch of the company is. It'd live on as the "Star Wars MMO Arm of EA" and that's it. Is THAT better?

No. It's better they rewrite it, or don't fuck up, or stop demanding us to relieve ourselves of our rights as customers to resell or ask for a refund. For them, and us.

When they offered that refund on Amazon, it, in a small way, greatly raised my likelihood to fill another BioWare seat in the future.

 

[OniaPL]

Hmm.... Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned, but I still don't think that you "patch" or "fix" a story. I would encourage you to pursue a refund rather than "change the ending".

 

[applesandoranges]

edit

 

[DeepComet5581]

I think people are missing the point.

I don't care whether ME3 qualifies as art or not. This, for me, has no bearing on the ending and it's content.

What people should be concerned about is that the company provided a product to paying customers. They also promised closure (As i'm sure has been quoted a thousand times), and when many customers felt that they didn't deliver that promise, they desired the product be changed. Bioware also deliver customer service with their products, same as any business, and should at least be expected to listen to their CUSTOMERS' feedback.

I work in a Cafe. If we make a substandard meal and the customer feels it isn't up to scratch, they have 3 options:
-Say nothing
-Request that the meal be redone
-Request a refund

Now, many people are placing themselves in the second boat, as they certainly aren't remaining quiet, but they certainly aren't rushing to get a refund JUST IN CASE Bioware do change the ending. But, as Bioware are a business, they should listen to their customers' feedback, lest they (or rather, retailers) have to start shelling out hundreds of thousands or even millions or dollars in refunds. I don't have to explain the consequences for Bioware.

That's my 2 cents. The question of the game being Art is IRRELEVANT. What matters is customer service.

Well, short of Amazon recently doing the unthinkable, for games. There is no refund (only selling it to a used games store).

We don't feel like watching EA slash and burn good developers for short term stock gains, so saying nothing no longer feels right.

The only thing left to do is request the ending be redone. (there is some demanding.. but there are always the demanders in any customer/business relationship)

But yes, you are right.

Hopefully people will start voting with their wallets, and retailers (save for Origin) will be wary of or even flat out refuse to stock games from certain developers/publishers.

Of course, there are always (Unreasonable) demanders, even in my job. The hope is that a large enough percentage (About 60-65 at the moment) publicly display their dissatisfaction at the product they bought, enough to shock Bioware into action.

Being a neutral party, I can see the stance of the defence, but unfortunately it just isn't worth the hassle, double-dealing and lack of integrity/solidarity. No dice for Bioware or EA this time, and this is from someone who hasn't ever bought a Bioware game.

Even if the next game is akin to the second coming of Jesus, I really want to see people boycott it, just to show publishers that the consumer isn't a Cash Cow to be milked. I actually came up with a rather good analogy earlier on.

 

[irishda]

Just change the ending. Game development is a collaborative effort, why not take input from the people that matter, your fans. People need to stop defending Bioware, they fucked up and need to fix it. That ending is not art, Mordin's death was art, Grunts last stand was art. These things evoked emotions, the ending evoked nothing and then because of that nothingness people became angry.

Because under no circumstance are you actually part of the creative process. The choices you made throughout those games were designed BY BIOWARE. There is only one type of art where the consumers/fanbase gets a part in creating it: bad art.

No we are not, but if the owner of a restoraunt punches you in the face with absolutely no reason whatsover, you will inquire and go "WTF, Man?" and consequently demand at least an explanation or more to the point an apology.

The ending betrays the entire game series, destroys all essence of art that Mass Effect carried, which smells like Bioware rushed it out for no discernable reason, I'm not pointing fingers at the culprits who pressured Bioware(I'm looking at you EA), but people STILL.DESERVE.AN.EXPLANATION.

I always love the metaphors the "pro-change" crowd comes up with lol. The game didn't physically assault you, and the ending of the game doesn't necessarily betray anything the game stood for.

 

[Agente L]

I think game devs are having a REALLY big ego problems.

I think THEY are the "entitled" guys in here.

They think they are entitled to do whatever the freak they want with a game, put in a box, sell to us, and demand us to like it. And if not, deal with it and shut up/don't complain.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I always love the metaphors the "pro-change" crowd comes up with lol. The game didn't physically assault you, and the ending of the game doesn't necessarily betray anything the game stood for.

You're half correct. It didn't cause us physical harm, but it's all but proven fact that it betrayed what the game stood for.

Choices you've made? Irrelevant.
Characters you love? We don't know what happens to them?
Future of the galaxy? Uncertain, but what we know is very bleak
The overriding theme of the series, which is "overcoming the odds"? Completely thrown away.

Beyond that, it destroyed the Mass Relays which is what the entire galactic civilization revolves around and depends on for survival. With those gone, mass deaths and the complete destruction of galactic society as we know it are guaranteed.

 

[lacktheknack]

So they are going with the "happy ending" argument. Well then, no real relevant opinion to see here then.

Though as I have said before, I am quite conflicted on how/if this debacle should be resolved.

To be fair, the troll-T-Rex-PONIES ending ridden with plot holes as well.