Mass Effect 3's Ending Was Intended To Polarize

The Wooster

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Jul 15, 2008
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Mass Effect 3's Ending Was Intended To Polarize


Mass Effect 3's director didn't want the game to be forgettable, particularly the ending.

{Spoiler Warning: This article contains minor spoilers regarding Mass Effect 3's ending.}

Give me a moment while I look up a nice, neutral-sounding, news article-friendly word to describe Mass Effect 3's [http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-3-Pc/dp/B004FYKWZU] selection of endings. Ah, here we are: Divisive. Mass Effect 3's endings are divisive. They're supposed to be, according to the game's director and executive producer, Casey Hudson.

"I didn't want the game to be forgettable, and even right down to the sort of polarizing reaction that the ends have had with people-debating what the endings mean and what's going to happen next, and what situation are the characters left in", he told Digital Trends.

"That to me is part of what's exciting about this story," he continued. "There has always been a little bit of mystery there and a little bit of interpretation, and it's a story that people can talk about after the fact."

Fans are certainly talking, but they're mostly using their outside voices. The impression I get from all the frothing, is that a large proportion of fans are not fond of the way Bioware chose to end Commander Shepard's saga. "Retake Mass Effect," [http://retakemasseffect.chipin.com/retake-mass-effect-childs-play] a movement asking for new, more palatable endings for the game, is using donations to popular nerdling charity Child's Play to make its point. Thus far it has just over 10,000 supporters who've collectively donated more than $27,000. Whether the movement is a positive way of sending a message to developers, or a manipulative attempt to strong-arm the creative process is still up for debate, but it proves fans are willing to spend money to get what they want.

The direction Bioware took with the game's endings appears to contradict some of Hudson's earlier statements. In one pre-release interview [http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/10/mass1525-effect-3-cas5ey-fdsafdhudson-interviewae.aspx?PostPageIndex=2] he claimed that "[Mass Effect 3's ending] is not even in any way like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C."

Pithy fans have been quick to point out that Mass Effect 3 does in fact end with a choice between three options that could, if you were trying to be droll, be labeled A, B and C.

There may be hope for those disappointed by the ending, however. In the more recent interview, Casey mentioned that players will be seeing some "really great single-player content" in the future, lending some credibility to the numerous theories that the game's endings aren't as final as they might first appear.

Source: Digital Trends [http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/exclusive-mass-effect-3s-director-addresses-the-games-controversies/]


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JackJL

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Jun 18, 2011
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Can't blame him for defending it - after all he's still trying to get people to buy the game and DLC. Just wait a year and he'll admit it was derped somehow in the production process. Also cognitive dissonance can mess up the best of us.

Of course the only DLC I'd buy is one that fixed the *DIVISIVE* endings.
 

johnnnny guitar

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Jul 16, 2010
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Well this is typical bioware at the moment people say they don't like something Bioware comes out and says thats what they were always aiming for (most of the time this statement contradicts something they said before) blah blah blah.
Wait 5 months and they will say they messed up
 

Kapol

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May 2, 2010
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So basically it's come down to the third stage from this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/9476-Mass-Effect-3-The-Process] is coming true. Honestly, if they meant to make endings that pissed their fans off so much... well let's just say I will have lost a great deal of respect for Bioware. I could forgive the From Ashes DLC, and the countless tiny DLC packets, and even the whole Origin ordeal to a degree (though it's one of the reason I stayed 360). But basically holding the ending for ransom? Really?

Mind you, I haven't gotten that far yet (just finished dealing with the geth). I might not absolutely hate it. But each time I see a thread of poster talking about how horrible it is, I become slightly more worried...
 

VonKlaw

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Jan 30, 2012
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Why? Why would you deliberatly make an ending this "divisive"...and not even in a good way? Isn't the whole point of media to get people to LIKE your media (all of it, including the ending) so they buy more?
 

Starke

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Mar 6, 2008
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malakaira said:
Well this is typical bioware at the moment people say they don't like something Bioware comes out and says thats what they were always aiming for (most of the time this statement contradicts something they said before) blah blah blah.
Wait 5 months and they will say they messed up
Contradicts what they said earlier, or contradicts the general concept of rational thought? More and more, they seem to be leaning towards the latter.
 

Kroxile

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Oct 14, 2010
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Its just a bunch of people who have a sad that Shepard actually fucking dies at the end of her trilogy.

Sorry not everything is shit rainbows and vomit skittles in magic fairy wonderland, but sometimes shit just doesn't end that way.

That said; they ought to at least put something in to detail the outcome of the player's choices throughout the game. Other than that the endings were good; leave them alone.
 

Starke

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Kapol said:
Mind you, I haven't gotten that far yet (just finished dealing with the geth). I might not absolutely hate it. But each time I see a thread of poster talking about how horrible it is, I become slightly more worried...
Then, without spoiling anything, I can say that flipping the fuck out is an entirely reasonable and rational response to the ending. Given that the entire series' illusion of sanity ended with the giant space terminator baby at the end of 2 for me, I can look at the ending as a sadistic joke, but for people who are actually still invested in the story it's egregiously offensive.
 

razgriz9327

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Aug 10, 2009
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Thank you for the great post! As a member of the BSN group that has been promoting the Child's Play drive, I can certainly say that we are not trying to "strong arm" anyone. Bioware has every right to create the Mass Effect universe however they see fit. We at Retake Mass Effect are trying to communicate to Bioware that the vision they had of Mass Effect was not what we expected based on publicity and past experiences in Mass Effect. While the origin of the drive was certainly based on the endings, the general consensus among the forum is that we are trying to use our disappointment with these "divisive" decisions to fuel a positive movement. Some claim we are entitled, but we are trying to open discussion about the topic in a civil manner. Its easy to rage on a forum, but we are showing our commitment to the issue in the only way investors understand- our wallets. The important thing is that, regardless of Bioware's decision, this will have a positive effect on children who are in desperate need of enjoyment during a dark and terrifying time in there lives. Everyone wins. Thanks to all who have shown your support for this worthy cause.
 

Starke

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VonKlaw said:
Why? Why would you deliberatly make an ending this "divisive"...and not even in a good way? Isn't the whole point of media to get people to LIKE your media (all of it, including the ending) so they buy more?
On top of that, isn't half the point of alternate endings to facilitate players with the option to choose an ending that would actually enjoy, rather than railroading people through a single ending that they may or may not?

From an artistic standpoint, sure, there's reasons to present endings, or even entire entertainment experiences that are unpleasant. But that is with the intent of provoking deeper thought, and honestly, if one values their sanity, the land of the giant space terminator baby is the wrong place to even start thinking at all.
Kroxile said:
Its just a bunch of people who have a sad that Shepard actually fucking dies at the end of her trilogy.

Sorry not everything is shit rainbows and vomit skittles in magic fairy wonderland, but sometimes shit just doesn't end that way.

That said; they ought to at least put something in to detail the outcome of the player's choices throughout the game. Other than that the endings were good; leave them alone.
Honestly, most of the people bitching it out, I've seen don't give a shit that Shepard dies, and I've seen a few actually champion the Pyrrhic flavor of the ending. I'm sure there are a few out there who do fit into your imaginary demographic, but they bulk of the people pissed off at this aren't the straw men you're looking for.
 

megaadair

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Jul 11, 2011
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I was one of the people disappointed with the ending. Not because of the lack of options because after everything the game boils down to 3 very similar choices, Synthesis is the best. I'm disappointed that they had to effectively end any future for the current mass effect universe. It was a good ending, but I still want the mass effect franchise to come back later. A prequel though would be pointless, we already now so much about the universes past already, and a sequel would be so different that there would be few links between what we know and have come to love and what the universe would be.
 

Cody Erdmann

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Mar 14, 2012
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I found my ending to be very vague. Their is no clear answer as to what happens for most of the main characters in the story including Shepard. It just left me confused. They made a few weird decisions since EA took over but they didn't bother me that much. But now I feel cheated. Yeah i won but i want to know what happens to the characters that i basically developed a relationship with over the past 5 years. It was just way too vague.
 

i am not god

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Dec 6, 2007
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To be fair it was always going to be hard tying up these masterpieces of a gaming series, but the endings as they are I still find really dissappointing. I really felt like I'd been sucker lunched and betrayed by Bioware, the game isn't forgettable now yes, but that's because of those damn endings.
 

Flip-Shying

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Jun 22, 2011
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I don't believe that for a second. Hudson is probably saying it just because he doesn't want the game to gain such negative criticism so soon after its release.
 

lapan

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Jan 23, 2009
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I'd be more upset of the Deus Ex Machina setting Mass Effect 3 seems to have, from what i have heard, when they just conviniently find out about a device that could destroy/whatever all reapers at once. Seems like a cop-out to me.