Why did Bioware write the pre-Extended Cut ending for Mass Effect 3 the way they did?

[Misterian]

As indifferent as I was toward Mass Effect 3's ending before Extended Cut was released, I have to admit I was curious to why Bioware did it they way it was in the first place.

I know how the ending caused so much uproar among fans and (if i remember right) Bioware for some reason seemed reluctant toward changing the ending or even toward properly explaining themselves about it. And its obvious this uproar likely wouldn't have happened if Bioware did the ending they way it was done in Extended Cut in the first place.

but I think it still begs the question; why didn't they? why did Bioware write the Mass effect 3 ending the way they did before releasing Extended Cut? what was the point or purpose? what made them think a straight happy ending where ONLY the Reapers are wiped out and the galaxy is at peace would hurt the game in any way?

What reasons do you think Bioware did the Mass Effect 3 ending the way they did it before releasing Extended Cut?

 

[Terminate421]

They never said directly why.

People assume many reasons:

Laziness
EA
Casey Hudson
Casey Hudson on drugs
Meth
A massive typo as soon as the final run happened

 

[eimatshya]

I think they wanted to make the ending profound and moving, two things which are often associated tragedies. The problem was, they hadn't built the proper foundation for such an ending, so it just turned out like shit. It's an instance of authors imposing what they want to happen on a story rather than letting the story lead them to the ending it should logically have. Had they figured out the ending early in the development cycle of the series, maybe a tragic ending would have worked since they could have built a story that would demand such an ending. But they didn't. They threw together the ending in the final months of development on the final game. And as such, it was completely incongruous with the story leading up to it.

 

[Shadowstar38]

I'd guess pressure from EA to make deadlines.

then again I blame EA for cancer

 

[DustyDrB]

They realized they were way over their heads in making all the choices we made really matter and instead just said, "Fuck it, this isn't happening. You know what we need? Green beams that make organics into part-machines. That'll get people talking."

Though I still maintain that the remaining 99% of the game is awesome. But still, some of the results of choices we made were soooooo freaking disappointingly tiny (like Mass Effect 2's end-game choice. What the actual fuck?).

 

[Eddie the head]

Didn't it have like only 2 people working on it? Like the lead guy and someone else? And the other major plot points had like every one else? So yeah I am going with it wasn't checked well.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

The ending was so bad because Casey Hudson and Mac Walters decided to go on a massive ego trip with "lots of speculation for everyone". The rest of the plot was at least checked over by the other writers, but the ending wasn't.

 

[dimensional]

I just think they panicked and realised they had bitten off more than they could chew and that to make a proper ending that took into account all your choices would be much to time consuming so they just made a simple few endings then shoehorned it in and explained it away with a convenient plot device they just made up ofc they would never admit this which is why they are so wishy washy in their answers to why the ending was as it is.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

They realized they were way over their heads in making all the choices we made really matter and instead just said, "Fuck it, this isn't happening. You know what we need? Green beams that make organics into part-machines. That'll get people talking."

Though I still maintain that the remaining 99% of the game is awesome. But still, some of the results of choices we made were soooooo freaking disappointingly tiny (like Mass Effect 2's end-game choice. What the actual fuck?).

I know. How about the option to

Spoiler

give it to the Council? "I got proof, guys."

 

[MrFalconfly]

They assumed people were intelligent enough to formulate their own conclusions (in other words they made an "open ending" which I'm an absolute sucker for).

captcha: it's over

Yes it is.

 

[Goofguy]

Casey Hudson and Mac Walters were under the influence of some extremely powerful hallucinogens?

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I always thought they planned the extended cut from the start and originally would have announced it and charged for it, but shit went pear shaped and so they used it to try calm things down.

That's why the original ending was much shorter etc, they did it for money and it backfired.

 

[DioWallachia]

The ending was so bad because Casey Hudson and Mac Walters decided to go on a massive ego trip with "lots of speculation for everyone". The rest of the plot was at least checked over by the other writers, but the ending wasn't.

What is the opinion of the rest of the writers that were left behind? do they truly accept the fact that the ending was made without their input and now they have to take the blame and repair it?

 

[DioWallachia]

Casey Hudson and Mac Walters were under the influence of some extremely powerful hallucinogens?

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude

 

[Quijiboh]

I think what happened is that they got so caught up thinking about the origin and explanation of the Reapers -and how to tie this to the ending- that they forgot that the Reaper plot had largely been a subsidiary to the character and interspecies drama throughout the trilogy. As such, those of us who wanted to know what happened to the people we had grown to love were more than a little short changed.

In other words, what I think happened is that they came up with a world-driven ending for a character-driven story.