1. Bitching and whining about bitching and whining accomplishes nothing except cause more bitching and whining. Want to stop the cycle? Ignore it.
2. The FTC complaint was not about the quality of the ending, and more to do with statements made not even a month prior to ME3's release that the ending would be extremely varied and not be a A, B, or C ending (which it was), and that decisions made during the series would have a profound impact on the ending (which it doesn't). Is it enough to actually warrant filing a complaint? Sure. Filing a complaint means nothing. I'm sure the FTC gets more frivolous complaints then this. Is it actually false advertising? Well, that's for the FTC to decide.
3. I am for an ending change (or even clarification on the current one). I haven't really raged about it, but I fully support anyone that does. However, I fully support BioWare's decision on whatever they decide to do. Sorry, but this isn't the work of some guy in garage that puts it out on the net as freeware. While video games can be art, the moment it is put for sale, it is also a product. Since it's art, BioWare has all the right in the world to make the ending however they want. However, since it's a product, the consumer has all the right in the world to ***** about it and ask for it to change. Since it is art, BioWare can be free to completely ignore the consumer, say it is what it is, deal. The consumer then has all the right in the world to take their business elsewhere.
Long story short, in the end, BioWare is a business. This situation will resolve itself, one way or another.
4. Fan bitching does accomplish things. How many movies have been made with alternate endings in the DVD release because fans disliked the ending? I mean, they completely re-edited Highlander 2 to remove any references to (stupid) aliens because of fan bitching. Hell, I shouldn't have to even point out Hal Jordan. Yes, it was the writer's decision to do it, but I'm sure the hell he had the fan's input in mind when he decided to bring him back.
5. What if the ending was rushed? I'm sure Bob can rattle of a shortlist of movies/comics/books ect. that were torpedoed not by bad writing decisions, but because their corporate overlords (in this case, EA) demanded a finished product, and the artists couldn't truly get give the attention they wanted to? Oh sure, they'll swear up and down that's the way it was supposed to be when it happens, but 5, 10, 20 years down the road (when danger of being sued has tapered off to acceptable levels), they come out and say, "Yeah, we were told to finish it or else, so that's the ending that got put in."
Now, there's no proof that this is what happened to Mass Effect 3 (just EA's douchebaggery level making it a distinct possibility), but if it is, the consumer backlash might provide something that I'm sure movie writers would love. The opportunity to actually get the damn ending they wanted made.
If -that's- the case, I think it's absolutely fine that BioWare changes the ending.
2. The FTC complaint was not about the quality of the ending, and more to do with statements made not even a month prior to ME3's release that the ending would be extremely varied and not be a A, B, or C ending (which it was), and that decisions made during the series would have a profound impact on the ending (which it doesn't). Is it enough to actually warrant filing a complaint? Sure. Filing a complaint means nothing. I'm sure the FTC gets more frivolous complaints then this. Is it actually false advertising? Well, that's for the FTC to decide.
3. I am for an ending change (or even clarification on the current one). I haven't really raged about it, but I fully support anyone that does. However, I fully support BioWare's decision on whatever they decide to do. Sorry, but this isn't the work of some guy in garage that puts it out on the net as freeware. While video games can be art, the moment it is put for sale, it is also a product. Since it's art, BioWare has all the right in the world to make the ending however they want. However, since it's a product, the consumer has all the right in the world to ***** about it and ask for it to change. Since it is art, BioWare can be free to completely ignore the consumer, say it is what it is, deal. The consumer then has all the right in the world to take their business elsewhere.
Long story short, in the end, BioWare is a business. This situation will resolve itself, one way or another.
4. Fan bitching does accomplish things. How many movies have been made with alternate endings in the DVD release because fans disliked the ending? I mean, they completely re-edited Highlander 2 to remove any references to (stupid) aliens because of fan bitching. Hell, I shouldn't have to even point out Hal Jordan. Yes, it was the writer's decision to do it, but I'm sure the hell he had the fan's input in mind when he decided to bring him back.
5. What if the ending was rushed? I'm sure Bob can rattle of a shortlist of movies/comics/books ect. that were torpedoed not by bad writing decisions, but because their corporate overlords (in this case, EA) demanded a finished product, and the artists couldn't truly get give the attention they wanted to? Oh sure, they'll swear up and down that's the way it was supposed to be when it happens, but 5, 10, 20 years down the road (when danger of being sued has tapered off to acceptable levels), they come out and say, "Yeah, we were told to finish it or else, so that's the ending that got put in."
Now, there's no proof that this is what happened to Mass Effect 3 (just EA's douchebaggery level making it a distinct possibility), but if it is, the consumer backlash might provide something that I'm sure movie writers would love. The opportunity to actually get the damn ending they wanted made.
If -that's- the case, I think it's absolutely fine that BioWare changes the ending.