Update: Fan "Fixes" Mass Effect 3 Ending With A 539-Page Rewrite

EvilRoy

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Zira said:
EvilRoy said:
Zira said:
I wasn't disappointed with the ending of Mass Effect 3.
I was disappointed with the entire series!

Anyway, I don't like people like that guy. Just because he has so much free time on his hands, he feels the need to indirectly tell industry professionals that he can do their job better? Then how come he DOESN'T have their job, mh?
Because there's a difference between vocation and avocation, basically. Being able to do something you enjoy well doesn't make it a viable career path.
Well, good point.

Then allow me to counterargument with this...

....Fine, if he's so good, then how come he felt the need to change other people's work instead of making his own? I still don't like him.
Adding to existing work to suit ones own vision, while not as creative as a "from-scratch" effort, is an excellent way to learn a system. The base material provides a leaping point, while providing boundaries that can paradoxically result in greater creativity. It also provides very related examples of how one might plan for and avoid the pitfalls involved in the narrative.

You don't have to like him, or respect him. Or care if he lives or dies. This is the internet, its questionable as to whether "Zira" or "EvilRoy" even exist, and the pool of people that care that we can be seen is far greater than those who would care if we disappeared.
 

tippy2k2

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Wow...that seems like an awful lot of work for what amounts to fan-fiction.

I suppose though I really liked the original ending (haven't even played EC) so maybe I just feel that way because of that. If he'd have made this a new ending for Dexter, I might have a different opinion :)

EDIT: I keep hearing this theory that long-time fans hated it and short-time fans didn't; I played each Mass Effect game as they came out. I heard the internet exploding about the ending but I did not look into it at all until AFTER I finished the game.
 

RaikuFA

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So is anyone ready to explain why the ending was bad? Or is "you don't get it" still the only answer anyone will get?
 

otakon17

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RaikuFA said:
So is anyone ready to explain why the ending was bad? Or is "you don't get it" still the only answer anyone will get?

I find this guy explains it best and in the most concise and logical way. Give it a view if you have the time.
CloudAtlas said:
otakon17 said:
Leave things to the imagination? No, that's sugar coating it and you know it. It leaves all the fine details up in the air.
Well, if you know better than myself what I'm thinking then there really isn't much point in me answering now, is it? Fine by me. I've discussed the content too many times before for too many hours, I don't feel the burning desire to do it again.
Fine but you didn't have to cut off the rest of my response.
 

Saulkar

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The Bandit said:
Lack of explanation != plot hole, despite what most Internet critics seem to believe.
If that is you disposition, fine. I had already established in other comments that he not only covers plot holes but the actual logical flow of the story, plot points, literary tools, and general writing etiquette as well. Besides, I never found anything that he said funny so much as droll, simply not your cup of tea I guess.

Also I was reminded of this video as well:
 
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RaikuFA said:
So is anyone ready to explain why the ending was bad? Or is "you don't get it" still the only answer anyone will get?
As a fan of the series who was disappointed in the original ending, and much happier with the EC, I can give some reasons I was disappointed.

The most simple one is that the advertising and marketing lied to us, saying their would be three distinct endings, and saying there was more of an impact, specifically stating that they didn't want an ending where you were just pushing different buttons for A, B, and C. Which is exactly what happened.

Secondly, in a series that is easy to put more than 60 hours into, the buildup to the ending was huge, and it was just a letdown. Having the Catalyst pop up like that was barely foreshadowed. The tone of the ending was, but the specifics came out of nowhere until Thessia.

Finally, as the original ending went, it left me feeling like the ending actually invalidated all that I had worked through. Race quarrels solved, planet wide slow genocides prevented, and what did I get? Some blown up mass relays, ensuring that the races and people I had worked so hard to help would never reap the benefits. That felt like a slap to the face.
 

Saulkar

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CloudAtlas said:
Saulkar said:
No, I simply did not know how to respond, simple as that. I have watched several defending the ending and plot and they did not make as much sense to me as those criticising it. Maybe I am just not as good at mentally juggling two different positions this complex or I simply did not watch the right videos. Can you embed yours?
I'm sorry, but it has been some time already, I don't remember the exact sources anymore.
Now here I am left out in the cold!


CloudAtlas said:
I don't know about you personally, of course, but it's certainly true that many gamers have problems with liking something while being critical of certain aspects at the same time, or vice versa, to loosely quote Anita Sarkeesian. It's either all or nothing. And that's sad, not very mature, and makes all these discussions so infinitely more annoying.
It is very different from person to person. Often times it is dictated by what a person wants in a game and, or story. While you no doubt enjoy ME3 (kudos) I cannot reconcile my own personal gripes. At the same time Fallout: New Vagas was lambasted for its buggy nature but at the same time was beloved by many more because the game itself outweighed said bugs.

While there were still those who were of the all or nothing mentality they were overwhelmingly outweighed by those who loved it. Unfortunately I ME3 is the definition of polarization but even if I am in the minority that do not like the game beyond that it is the popular thing to do, it does not bother me.
 

RaikuFA

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thebobmaster said:
RaikuFA said:
So is anyone ready to explain why the ending was bad? Or is "you don't get it" still the only answer anyone will get?
As a fan of the series who was disappointed in the original ending, and much happier with the EC, I can give some reasons I was disappointed.

The most simple one is that the advertising and marketing lied to us, saying their would be three distinct endings, and saying there was more of an impact, specifically stating that they didn't want an ending where you were just pushing different buttons for A, B, and C. Which is exactly what happened.

Secondly, in a series that is easy to put more than 60 hours into, the buildup to the ending was huge, and it was just a letdown. Having the Catalyst pop up like that was barely foreshadowed. The tone of the ending was, but the specifics came out of nowhere until Thessia.

Finally, as the original ending went, it left me feeling like the ending actually invalidated all that I had worked through. Race quarrels solved, planet wide slow genocides prevented, and what did I get? Some blown up mass relays, ensuring that the races and people I had worked so hard to help would never reap the benefits. That felt like a slap to the face.
Ah, thank you. All I kept on getting was "you don't get it". It was annoying. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't even play the series.
 

Dark Knifer

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Well I haven't found much evidence of them fixing, in my opinion, the biggest problem with the game.

Fucking cerberus. Where in the hell did they get the man-power to invade the goddamn citadel and why was the illusive man such a non character in 3 after all he was in 2.

Also fuck kai leng, that guy has plot holes leaking out of his eyes.
 

Sniper Team 4

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Dude, my ending was only fifty pages or so. I can't even imagine re-writing the entire series to fix so many things. This is truly impressive.
 

Starke

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Zachary Amaranth said:
ZippyDSMlee said:
This might win me over and get me back to buy BW games again.
Because someone wrote an extended fanfic? To an ending so bad, it launched a dozen conspiracy theories?

Starke said:
Don't. Seriously, don't buy games from a company that claims they have fantastic writing and then turn out crap like that.
Where would Bioware be if their fans acknowledged neither their writing nor their characters are good?
...reality?
 

Animyr

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I skimmed it over, didn't look like much. Basically he points out all the obvious things characters didn't talk about and then has them talk about it. Plus more extensive epilogues and all that stuff. And from what I can tell he kept the three ending choices largely the same too.

Eh. Maybe there's bounties of depth in there that I missed, but I think the guy wasted his time.
 

Gennadios

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Cripes, that was years ago...

There's no dishonor is simply swearing to never buy another EAWare game again and moving on with one's life. That kind of loyalty will just cause another meltdown when Dragon Age 3 rolls around.

And OMG, they guy bought Leviathan on top of that. With all that was going on at that point the DLC promised nothing more than another heaping helping of disappointment. I'll never understand fandom.
 

TK421

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Legion said:
I have noticed a strong correlation between those who followed Mass Effect games as they launched and hated the ending, and those who got into it later and didn't mind it.

I strongly suspect that a lot of the dislike comes from the hype and exaggerations/falsehoods that Bioware used in it's marketing. If people didn't have such high expectations, I suspect the ending would have been written off as just another series a developer didn't know how to end.

The fact that Bioware repeatedly stated that choices would significantly impact the ending, that the game wouldn't simply have an A,B or C ending and that it'd answer all questions is what upset a lot of people.

Regardless of whether or not somebody liked the ending, nobody can truthfully say that it fit in with what Bioware promised it would be like.
I agree with you completely. I find it astounding that when I try to explain this to people, they just say "stop complaining, the ending wasn't that bad." It was that bad, but not because of the writing or whatever. It was bad because for years, and over the course of three games, I was promised that my choices would have an effect on the outcome of the game, when in reality, the only choice that matters any at all is the very last choice you make. Sure, your choices have an effect on a few situations throughout the games, but only the one choice has any effect on the long-anticipated ending, and that is why the ending was so bad.
 

Starke

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Gennadios said:
Cripes, that was years ago...

There's no dishonor is simply swearing to never buy another EAWare game again and moving on with one's life. That kind of loyalty will just cause another meltdown when Dragon Age 3 rolls around.

And OMG, they guy bought Leviathan on top of that. With all that was going on at that point the DLC promised nothing more than another heaping helping of disappointment. I'll never understand fandom.
Leviathan was a mess. "We built the reapers!" "Uh... why?" "Jus'cuz." "You wanna help fix that?" "Nah, we're good, but we can brainwash some derps for ya."

*headdesk*
 

Vykrel

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every time the ending is mentioned, there are so many people that defend it. i think that really shows that writing in video games is held to a lower standard. the ending of ME3 (from the moment Shepard falls unconscious) is just terrible. it was rushed, it rendered everything accomplished over the course of the games completely pointless, and the logic of it all was completely ridiculous.

i mean, seriously. "i created synthetics to kill all the organics so that they dont create their own synthetics that kill them instead"

its clear to me that the writers tried to surprise everyone with some deep, awe-inspiring twist, when they really should have not messed with the plot they had already established. the Reapers WERE awe-inspiring. the ending of ME3 turns them into mere pawns, which is really sad. it meant that the whole thing, all of it, was just theatrics. think about when you meet Sovereign for the first time and how awesome that was. well, apparently it wasnt very awesome at all, since it turns out that Sovereign is not even in control. it was all that stupid Star Child.

for real, if an ending similar to ME3's were found in a film, nobody would be defending it.

and it wasnt just bad in terms of writing, but gameplay as well. we were told our choices would matter, but they didnt. not one bit.
 

Something Amyss

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Starke said:
Where would Bioware be if their fans acknowledged neither their writing nor their characters are good?
...reality?[/quote]

Well, that, but I was thinking more "bankruptcy."
 

Something Amyss

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ZippyDSMlee said:
And yet its still better than what the devs made.
You're not making sense. If you think the devs are bad, why would someone else's fanfic make you buy the dev's products again?
 

Starke

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Zachary Amaranth said:
Starke said:
Zachary Amaranth said:
Where would Bioware be if their fans acknowledged neither their writing nor their characters are good?
...reality?
Well, that, but I was thinking more "bankruptcy."
Nah, EA'll keep them around long after all their credibility is spent, and the original staff's been feed into the company woodchipper. Just look at WestWood.