UK Ad Agency: Mass Effect 3 Advertising "Not Misleading"

[sumanoskae]

I can't believe that people are still whining about the ending.
Go read the story about the guy writing about how nice america is and how he got shot by a random person while he was hitchhiking. What kind of control did he have over that.

And the ending really wasn't that bad, it wasn't great but come on. Let's compare it to this

That's like saying that someones mother has cancer is inconsequential compared to the holocaust. Simply because things could be worse doesn't mean they're good, and acknowledging that one thing is bad doesn't equate to dismissing everything else.

If you liked the ending, congratulations, I'm curious as to how you achieved such a feat.

I myself have come to expect more than "Meh" and certainly more than what we got from a series that has thus far made storytelling it's prime directive, and I'd also like to know why it chose to ignore basic tenants of story structure.

P.S: I think the reason people are still talking about the Mass Effect 3 ending is because news was recently posted regarding the Mass Effect 3 ending, in this very article, in fact.

I'm aware the ending wasn't great but judging by many peoples reactions I'm stumped to why this ending is worse than others when the others have been far worse.
Maybe because the ending honestly makes sense to me that despite trying as hard as you can, shit doesn't work out in the end regardless. That's not to say it's good, it's got plot holes and wasn't the best but, again I've seen much worse and its not deal breaking to me.

I don't really know, I'm not trying to defend the ending, I am really curious why it's raged on though because other endings yadda yadda.

The reason the ending goes beyond mediocrity is precisely because the rest of the saga was superb.

The ending drastically effects the lives of every character in the series. The experience is changed because now we know where all the characters will end up; damnation.

Nihilistic tragedy could be worked out as a potential ending, but the ending as is doesn't attempt that. The ending is bleak due to lazy writing, design oversights. Bioware have openly stated that they never intended for the circumstance to be so dire. They should have realized that because the ending is so vague and brief, that misinterpretation was likely. There was no reason for the conclusion to a series surrounded by complex history sprawling plots to be so ambiguous. If they wanted the ending to be tragic, then just make it tragic. Don't tip toe around it with sunrises and techno, with half hopes unclear fates. Or just, you know, do what you've been doing and MAKE MORE THAN ONE.

Why did this upset me so, because it came so close. Mass Effect 3 was the first game I've played, and one of the only pieces of fiction, that I've actually shed tears at. 90% of the way, it wasn't just going to be a great game, it wasn't just going to be the best game of the year, it was to be one of the most profound, poignant, and magnificent stories I've ever seen, played or read.

All of that was destroyed, the universe I so invested in is rendered meaningless in the blink of an eye. Every choice you've made amounts to nothing, every character you loved or hated is doomed, and still the game doesn't even acknowledge it.

Mass Effect deserved better than "Could of been worse"

Fair enough, I understand where you're coming from.
Part of the reason may very well be the reason it didn't bother me that all the choices amounted to nothing because I've experienced this in reality.
Depressing shitty story kept in spoilers because, reality sucks.

Spoiler

My mom, never hurt a fly, donated to charities all the time, undercut her prices on her art when she sold it recently became heavily mentally disabled from a rare disease. So what did her choices and karma amount to?

So, kinda lived through that to a degree and maybe I'm just jaded from it. But yes I do see what you mean and understand the upset at that. And flat out it was a lazy ass ending especially when compared to what it was supposed to be from the leaked ending (I heard it was actually really well thought out)

I get it, I almost went through something similar recently.

Really? do you know where I might find a script to the leaked ending?

 

[I.Muir]

What you mean by decisions impacting the end, assuming your not just referring to what color it is id say is debatable>

That said, I'm not saying your wrong

Its in the main article, but you have to also realize that "the ending" is much more than the last 10 minutes of the game just before the credits. Thats a failure of misunderstanding all too many gamers made and is the primary root of why this whole thing got out of hand. The "ending" is the final approach and includes the final battle, and the lead up to it. Basically Casey lived up to exactly what he said because he knew they were changing the entire scope of what "the ending" is and if you read the ill fated interview with that perspective you can see thats exactly what he is implying.

For me the "ending" is what ends the game (eg that last ten minutes) and the rest of the game is fine whatever. Ill never end up playing the multiplayer and why would I want to but whatever.

They did not want the end to be forgettable, sure it's one of the most hated endings to a game that exists today. Also it seems to me that the statements released prior to the games release could have gone either way like, you know every other game out there. I don't care if people think they had actual promises broken by the dev, some think they do and some think they don't. I didn't partake in the hype, I wasn't even aware of what they said before the games release. What I always wondered was whether or not they were out of their damn minds or their greed caused them to hold back a real ending as dlc.

That end, the last ten minutes is a piece of shit tagged on to an otherwise good game. They did it to provoke thought and mystery? The only thinking that occurred after was what if me3 had an ending that couldn't be replicated by shitting out a bowl of alphabet soup making it the script.... and then calling it art. You are not seriously trying to convince me that the last ten minutes that everybody hates for some reason was anything but exactly as stated, are you? It would not even be a big deal if the whole game was crap, it was just people feel that last ten minutes ruins the entire experience. Everything before the weird child thing is fine.

Also by me stating I don't think you are wrong is the same thing as saying that the broken promises people believe were made is nothing but a self deluded misunderstanding. Or did you misunderstand as well?

Also you do realize this is one of those arguments that won't end right? If you want it to end for yourself ignore it. If you believe that the peoples reaction to the end and/or believe that these promises never existed and that people are just being illogical, what makes you think that you can convince them otherwise with logic and being technically correct. As for the ending not being crap. Well I don't think those arguments are logical but are merely a difference of opinion, which if strongly held cannot be changed.

 

[Lugbzurg]

I find it really stupid that this was even an issue to begin with. There have been games before than presented certain promises and did not follow up on them, such as Sonic Next-Gen and Big Rigs: Off-the-Road Racing (their lack-of-quality is irrelevant, at this point). Sonic promised things like "Sonic's first adventure on Earth", "Shadow has Chaos Blast and Chaos Control", and "There will be real-life physics!" Big Rigs claimed that you were out hoarding gold or something, and that you would actually be racing! (The other "racer" doesn't even move.) Yet, no one pulled the "Didn't follow through on their own promises" claim.

This kind of thing has happened several times, before. Why did people suddenly chose Mass Effect 3 as the game to suddenly start pulling this legal stuff?

 

[MrPhyntch]

I believe that the real reason everyone hates the ending is the one reason no one realizes, and therefore no one has stated. Both in terms of pacing, and in literary terms, the ending is horrible. Forget all of the symbolism, all of the open-endedness, and all of the plot holes. Let's pretend that we can all agree that those are well thought out stylistic choices that make the ending better. However, the pacing and literary formula behind the ending are terrible. And to show what I mean, let's compare it to the first two Mass Effect games.

NOTE: For the sake of argument, the ending as I am referring to it is the entire ending sequence. This is the run on the Citadel in ME1, the Suicide Mission in ME2, and retaking Earth in ME3

ME1: Decent level fighting numerous enemies. Section of defending a zone while killing off enemies to continue. Fighting powerful weapons as common enemies. Finding the final boss. Single dialogue choice (Kill off Big Bad or let him off himself?) Final Boss against unique enemy, Big Bad of game. CLIMAX: As Shepard kills Sovereign's projection, Joker kills Sovereign's body. DENOUEMENT: Everyone celebrates, cliffhanger for next game.

ME2: Great level fighting numerous enemies. Episodic, using the Party's main skills to progress, one mistake can be permanently fatal (raising tension). Rescue crew. More level. Final squad selection. Battle against an infant Reaper. CLIMAX: Killing a reaper on foot, epic cutscene of escape. DENOUEMENT: Cutting ties with Cerberus, wrapping up loose ends, tie-in to next game.

ME3: Amazing level fighting wave after wave of the toughest baddies. Getting a chance to have one last conversation with your squadmates, then going out to kill or be killed. Epic hold the line scene, culminating in killing a full size Reaper on foot. Transition to the run on the conduit. Harbinger arrives (Tension spikes). Harbinger hits Shepard with insta-death beam (Tension somehow spikes higher). Dramatic slow-mo scene to make it to the conduit. Illusive Man shows up, illustrates how he's mastered indoctrination and has Shep trapped (Dear God, how can the tension be this high?). Kill TIM, activate the conduit. Wait, it's not working? Shep might not have enough energy to get it to work? (Tension off the charts). Transition to starchild. Exposition. Exposition. Exposition. Dialogue choices. Exposition. Repeat, repeat, repeat. CLIMAX: Shepard sacrifices himself and likely the Galazy to put an end to the injustice that is the Reapers via one of three ways. DENOUEMENT: Crew survived, implied Adam and Eve scenario, Meta ending closing out the series. Possible Shep Lives tease.

In case you didn't catch my point, in ME 1 and 2 the ending scenes feature a buildup of tension leading to the final boss and climax. The only dialog and choices were brief and served only to raise tension. Exposition was put right before the final run, and into the denouement. But in the buildup up to the climax, it was pure action, via either gameplay or cutscenes. In ME3, the final level does nothing but buildup tension over and over again, and it leaves us sitting on the edges of our seats waiting for more. But in the moments before the climax, it took a break from the buildup and intense action to take a nice big exposition dump. It bores us with exposition, slowly deflating the tension with a monotonous conversation loaded with dialogue options that do nothing but lead you to the exact same point as all of the others (in 1 and 2, any choices in this spot led to massive and immediate changes).

Honestly, if you did nothing to the ending, even leaving all of the contrived plot and plotholes in, but the only change made to the ending is to put the Starchild's exposition dump before the leadup to the final run (say, in the final dream before getting to Earth), you have changed nothing about the ending or its artistic value, but have increased the ending's value tenfold. Because you aren't ruing my tension to toss a book at me, forcing me to study War and Peace before finishing my story.

I also believe that some people have no problem with the ending because they see more intellectualism in the ending, and the emotional release isn't as important to them as it is to the rest of us. But I'm convinced that the reason we hate the ending so much (myself included) is because we needed that release, but it was slowly deflated over a long time instead of going out with a bang, like we needed. And yes, this can and does ruin the entire series. Not only was the ruined climax the end of the third game, but also of the entire series. The big climax, the one we were supposed to have the best release on, was the one that was ruined. Yeah, that does leave a sour taste in our mouths about the rest of the experience, no matter how good it was.

 

[Snotnarok]

I can't believe that people are still whining about the ending.
Go read the story about the guy writing about how nice america is and how he got shot by a random person while he was hitchhiking. What kind of control did he have over that.

And the ending really wasn't that bad, it wasn't great but come on. Let's compare it to this

That's like saying that someones mother has cancer is inconsequential compared to the holocaust. Simply because things could be worse doesn't mean they're good, and acknowledging that one thing is bad doesn't equate to dismissing everything else.

If you liked the ending, congratulations, I'm curious as to how you achieved such a feat.

I myself have come to expect more than "Meh" and certainly more than what we got from a series that has thus far made storytelling it's prime directive, and I'd also like to know why it chose to ignore basic tenants of story structure.

P.S: I think the reason people are still talking about the Mass Effect 3 ending is because news was recently posted regarding the Mass Effect 3 ending, in this very article, in fact.

I'm aware the ending wasn't great but judging by many peoples reactions I'm stumped to why this ending is worse than others when the others have been far worse.
Maybe because the ending honestly makes sense to me that despite trying as hard as you can, shit doesn't work out in the end regardless. That's not to say it's good, it's got plot holes and wasn't the best but, again I've seen much worse and its not deal breaking to me.

I don't really know, I'm not trying to defend the ending, I am really curious why it's raged on though because other endings yadda yadda.

The reason the ending goes beyond mediocrity is precisely because the rest of the saga was superb.

The ending drastically effects the lives of every character in the series. The experience is changed because now we know where all the characters will end up; damnation.

Nihilistic tragedy could be worked out as a potential ending, but the ending as is doesn't attempt that. The ending is bleak due to lazy writing, design oversights. Bioware have openly stated that they never intended for the circumstance to be so dire. They should have realized that because the ending is so vague and brief, that misinterpretation was likely. There was no reason for the conclusion to a series surrounded by complex history sprawling plots to be so ambiguous. If they wanted the ending to be tragic, then just make it tragic. Don't tip toe around it with sunrises and techno, with half hopes unclear fates. Or just, you know, do what you've been doing and MAKE MORE THAN ONE.

Why did this upset me so, because it came so close. Mass Effect 3 was the first game I've played, and one of the only pieces of fiction, that I've actually shed tears at. 90% of the way, it wasn't just going to be a great game, it wasn't just going to be the best game of the year, it was to be one of the most profound, poignant, and magnificent stories I've ever seen, played or read.

All of that was destroyed, the universe I so invested in is rendered meaningless in the blink of an eye. Every choice you've made amounts to nothing, every character you loved or hated is doomed, and still the game doesn't even acknowledge it.

Mass Effect deserved better than "Could of been worse"

Fair enough, I understand where you're coming from.
Part of the reason may very well be the reason it didn't bother me that all the choices amounted to nothing because I've experienced this in reality.
Depressing shitty story kept in spoilers because, reality sucks.

Spoiler

My mom, never hurt a fly, donated to charities all the time, undercut her prices on her art when she sold it recently became heavily mentally disabled from a rare disease. So what did her choices and karma amount to?

So, kinda lived through that to a degree and maybe I'm just jaded from it. But yes I do see what you mean and understand the upset at that. And flat out it was a lazy ass ending especially when compared to what it was supposed to be from the leaked ending (I heard it was actually really well thought out)

I get it, I almost went through something similar recently.

Really? do you know where I might find a script to the leaked ending?

Wasn't the leaked ending up here? I swear I read the article here first, whether or not they had a link I don't know. Uhh....if not no I don't know where you can read it.

 

[Knight Templar]

Well I guess that's that, professionally speaking anyway.

Guess who got bought off.

So if people disagree they must have been paid off?
If nothing else that is silly and paranoid.

 

[Something Amyss]

Well, the BBB HAS said it constituted false advertising, so....

1 member said in a BLOG that the claims may have SOME merit. Seriously stop reading what you like into things.

If you go just by the blog post, she said on the count that really mattered that it was "absolute."

Perhaps you should stop reading what you like into things, since that is not "SOME" merit. Nor is there a "may" involved.

 

[Terminal Blue]

This kind of thing has happened several times, before. Why did people suddenly chose Mass Effect 3 as the game to suddenly start pulling this legal stuff?

Unfortunate answer, because it's Bioware.

Seriously, there's enough cognitive distortion on the Bioware forums to fill a good sized psychiatric ward.

I have no idea how so many people manage to get the impression that they like a game developer while constantly whining about how much they hate every game they produce, everyone who works at said game developer, every effort said game developer makes to please them, everything said game developer does which isn't directly designed to please them.. you get the idea.

In real life, these people are a small minority. Few people feel particularly passionate about individual game developers. However, since those people make up a sizeable portion of the official online community, they seem to have had the opportunity to go political.

This may be a somewhat biased explanation, but seriously.. the fact that people tried to take legal action against a company they probably still claim to be "twoo fans" of makes me throw up a little in my mouth.

 

[pandorum]

Just look at my pic to see how I feel.

 

[Atmos Duality]

In deciding its verdict of "claim not upheld," the agency took into account the various potential endings of Mass Effect 3, which it describes as being "thematically quite different,"

I saw the endings played out in the full context they were given (buddy beat the game right in front of me, not just some rant online), and they are fucking IDENTICAL in theme. The outcome has NO ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION.

It boils down to this:

"Synthetics and Biologics cannot coexist (despite numerous contradictions), one must "die" for the other to survive.

That's the only theme that's being portrayed here; and since what happens after either "good ending" is total speculation, that offers no definitive closure either. Really, that's the one thing you should provide at the end of any "saga/trilogy/epic/long story": CLOSURE.

Bioware rushed the ending, failed to provide closure, and it shows.
Walk away disappointed if you must, but walk away a bit wiser.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

This won`t change the opinion of anyone who`s disapointed by the ending and Biowares promises. Buyers beware (next time). Glad that Bioware doesn`t provide games were i feel the urge to play them. The whole ME3 mess up just made me more carefull towards their games. Congratulation on this Bioware.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Atleast this ending didn't ruin the game...

OT: So, Imagination counts towards the ending?
Bioware, IMO, doesn't deserve to be sued over this, but they should open up their eyes and see what they've done wrong, A few free DLC packs is nice, but-
Did you say male quarians in online?
BRB in a few da-
HEY WAIT A MINUTE!
But they should look at the facts- I have spent over 100 hours playing Mass Effect 2, 40 Hours playing Mass Effect, and about 50 Hours of playing Mass Effect 3, All to get the same depressing as crap ending that ensured the series to never continue to a recognizable degree.

 

[Rack]

Not really a surprise, the ASA exists to give adverts legitimacy not take it away, you'd have to claim cigarettes cure cancer to get them to uphold a complaint.

 

[pandorum]

While I wasn't really happy with the ending because it's a pretty sad one no matter what, claiming you couldn't influence it is just untrue. I found the way to which you could shape the outcomes over the course of the three games to be the most impressive feature, first time I've seen such continuity and deep choices in a game for one thing.

At the same time while I felt disappointed mainly because the final sequences of the fast-paced gameplay involve a lot of slow limping over large distances and not much 'saving the world', I felt like, well, what did you expect? It's the arch-enemy of all species that have exterminated whomever they wanted many times over during millions of years. The antagonists in ME 3 were just too big and powerfull to justify an 'and they lived happily ever after' ending.

Just look at my pic to see how I feel.

You feel like you can't make a meaningfull point on the forum because the font size is too small to read?

Almost right, its a picture of Casey Hudson talking about the game and that it wont be three similar endings it then has a super imposed paper square from school saying pick a colour.

But seriously I realized my mistake after I post and hoped no one would notice. LOL