Why do gamers hate games because of one "small" problem?

[Lovely Mixture]

I believe little things can ruin a game for some people.

The best example for me is Assassin's Creed 1. Beginning a questionable but intriguing story but very solid gameplay even though the sandbox was lacking structure. Why does it fail to be on my list of favorite games? Because every time I started up the game, no matter what chapter, I was forced to listen to literally 5-13 minutes of unskippable conversation before I was able to show the ACTUAL game to my friends. The fact that this was overlooked is really disturbing to me, and it shocks me how I never see it brought up. But the reason for it never being brought up is simple, other people didn't think it was a big deal and graded the game on other aspects.

When we talk Mass Effect 3, we are talking conclusions. There exist people that want satisfaction to the end of a series spanning five years.
If we were to analyze the differences for these people.
1. You enjoy the experience, for you the bad in the work vastly outweighs the good. You say to yourself "I had fun, what more is there to say?"
2. You enjoy the experience, but for you the the work is a clock with broken cogs. You ask "why did the creators of this clock even bother selling it if it wasn't perfect?"

Of course it's not THAT simple, but it's not like either is more right than the other.

Conclusions are a big deal to these people, and it's silly to me that others can't grasp this fact.
So instead of:

"I hated the Mass Effect 3 because of the ending."
"Ok, that's your opinion. Let me tell you why I disagree."


"I liked Mass Effect 3 despite the ending."
"Ok, that's your opinion. Let me tell you why I disagree."

We get

"I hated the Mass Effect 3 because of the ending"
"That's stupid, the ending is merely 1% of an otherwise perfect game."


"I liked Mass Effect 3 despite the ending."
"Then you have no respect for the writing of this series."

Because, at least in the case of Mass Effect 3, people were just looking for something to hate Bioware for after Dragon Age 2 and TOR. Bioware did not disappoint.

Well for me, I didn't care about DA2 (but the controversy surrounding DA2 seemed to be the first shoe to drop) and I definitely didn't care about TOR (I hate MMOs with a passion).

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

This extended cut may fix some of the problems, but I will guarantee it won't fix them all. Whether this will make it playable again remains to be seen. Seeing as its just cutscenes though, and maybe a bit of dialogue, I doubt it.

Wasn't the end just cutscenes as well? But seriously, I get where you guys are coming from, I just don't agree with you.

I play ME for the story and the choices. Both are invalidated and destroyed by the ending.

The choices changed things in the middle, just because things ended shitly doesn't mean you didn't have a good time going through it. And to suddenly start hating a series because of one flaw despite all the fun it's given you is ridiculous.

 

[dessertmonkeyjk]

The fact is that for the Mass Effect series, choices matter and the core feature of the games is to greatly impact the story from beginning to end. Given the scale that has never been seen in this fashion before, this is a VERY BIG DEAL. Unfortunately, the ending of ME3 as it stands destroyed this core feature and as such can be seen as utterly broken. Broken!

 

[ralfy]

It is a small problem. Using the "I had a very strong emotional investment into the characters" isn't a valid point. So the fuck what? It's the end of the trilogy, you won't be playing as them again. What does it matter how it ends? Either way you will cease playing as them.

Not to mention the lengths people have cried about this shit. Wanting refunds, boycotting Bioware, even threatening to sue. It's all pathetic. You didn't like the ending? That sucks, now move the fuck on with your life.

It's not a small problem but a major one. ME3 is a space adventure opera with RPG elements. That means the C&Cs throughout the game are supposed to lead to a particular ending. Similar was seen in ME1 and 2.

The fact that it's the last in a trilogy is a very poor excuse. The argument that one will not play the game again is even more absurd because one of the selling points of games, esp. given their prices, is the ability to do exactly that.

That makes the rest of your post nonsense. In fact, if we were to follow your advice, there'd be no reason to complain about any game!

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

The internet lets all people ***** regardless if the reason isnt that important. People pick minor issues of games. Even with ME3, why worry about the ending, most of that game sucked apart from the major stories of the Krogan and the Quarian/Geth - an only because they have been mentioned since ME1. Also as your choices from ME1 and ME2 were cosmetic only. Still enjoyed it though.

People like to ***** and moan. The internet makes it easier to be heard. Me? Im a huge fan of ME, love the history and the background. Ending was disappointing. Want a big deal. I moved on and i have my own ideas of what happened. Dont need Bioware to spoon feed me what happened.

But then we are all free to vocalise our disappointments.

 

[Scow2]

The ending of Mass Effect 3 isn't a "Small" thing - it's a big one, because Mass Effect 3 is all about building up to the ending... from the "Take Earth Back" advertising, to every mission in the game allegedly contributing to how the final battle will go down, to even the Multiplayer being about making a difference in the end.

And then the game threw out everything.

Heck, it could be argued that everything from Mass Effect 1 onward was working toward that ending. I guess it means the best part of the ME series are the side missions I didn't do because I thought the reapers were going to be a serious threat that needed me to act now.

 

[deathzero021]

the ending to me is always the most important. it's the last thought you'll have of a movie as your walking out of the theater. it dictates what you're going to tell people. "meh it was an ok movie but the ending sucked, just a waste of time" is what you'll hear from media with a bad ending. the conclusion to a journey needs to be fulfilling otherwise you feel like you wasted time doing the journey at all. there is a reason endings exist and it's usually quite easy to make up at least a standard ending that most people would enjoy even if it is generic. ME3's ending was just, unusual in this sense, they went out of their way to make a bad ending.
bad ending = bad feelings about the game.

i think this is a lot different than saying the "multiplayer of a game sucks". picking out one thing of a game that sucks and hating it is a bit different than picking out the ending to a narrative.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

The fact is that for the Mass Effect series, choices matter !

They didnt. All the major choices in ME1 gave you emails in ME2. The Rachini is alive regardless in ME3. Any characters that die are replaced with another from that race. None of your choices matter in ME1 and 2, and they are only cosmetic when it comes to ME3. Yes you deal with the Quarians and Krogan an solve them big issues in ME3 but nothing in ME1 and ME2 effects anything in ME3 apart from seeing familiar faces.

I love the games immensely and want to see more from that universe but your in denial if you think choice matters in any meaningful way. I played through ME1, ME2 and ME3 using 5 characters making all the different choices and they didn't matter overall.

 

[endtherapture]

Mass effect 3's ending does nothing, alot of us have no idea what its trying to say, thats not even touching the plot holes

Mass Effect 3 ending pretty much says, however hard you try and however hard you fight and however you overcome adversity through diversity, it is all pointless.

 

[kickyourass]

Because a depressingly large number of gamers (or they're just the most vocal minority ever) are entitled little shit-for-brains, who have somehow got it in their heads that because they like something a whole, whole lot, they in some way 'deserve' every single aspect of their chosen game to be platinum plated perfection.

But since is a Bioware game you're talking about this sort of thing has virtually become muscle memory for some people. They release news about their next game, Bioware 'fans' everywhere declare it the worst thing the Earth has ever experienced (Because they're psychic and can predict every second of a game from a 40 second trailer and a couple screen grabs). Game comes out, everyone loves it for a week or so, then the 'fans' go back to declaring it the worst thing the Earth has ever experienced due to a small part (sometimes not even that) of an otherwise great game.

Granted this time it's actually something WORTH making a fuss over, but they once again failed to grasp the meaning of the term "proportional response."

 

[dessertmonkeyjk]

The fact is that for the Mass Effect series, choices matter !

They didnt. All the major choices in ME1 gave you emails in ME2. The Rachini is alive regardless in ME3. Any characters that die are replaced with another from that race. None of your choices matter in ME1 and 2, and they are only cosmetic when it comes to ME3. Yes you deal with the Quarians and Krogan an solve them big issues in ME3 but nothing in ME1 and ME2 effects anything in ME3 apart from seeing familiar faces.

I love the games immensely and want to see more from that universe but your in denial if you think choice matters in any meaningful way. I played through ME1, ME2 and ME3 using 5 characters making all the different choices and they didn't matter overall.

Oh, I'm not in denial about those shrivel cop-outs. (hologram Legion, rachni reanimated corpses, replacement concil, undina always replaces anderson and gets shot, etc.) What I'm implying is that the very ending should of had some major impact from all the choices you made. We are denied that.

"in limbo" captcha says. Indeed.

 

[DioWallachia]

Lately I've noticed that there is a lot of controversy because of the game "mass effect 3"'s ending. And I see how everywhere I go, I hear of this and I get tired of seeing all this anger and frustration because of a good games ending or another small thing in a game like it's multiplayer.
I also take note of how the people say that because of the problem they blame the whole game or company because of it.
I wonder why people can't just accept that a game is good and leave it as it is without the need for a huge uproar for change.
So what do you guys thing of people critiquing a game based off a "small problem"?

EDIT: I can relate to how some of you feel about ME3. Though I've not played the entire franchise, I know how gamers can become disappointed because of a games ending. For me it was the ending to rage which was just as bad as its story.

The ending just happens to have the EA trademark of "rushed and to be milked in a MMO" therefore the writing is quite shitty.

Also, ME3 has been streamlined to have even less RPG elements to what was a game that started as an (mostly) well done RPG experience.

That is it, nothing of the other world except a product that got overhyped and promised more than it could give. The chain reaction got amplified by the power of mass comunication and here we are now.

 

[DioWallachia]

Mass effect 3's ending does nothing, alot of us have no idea what its trying to say, thats not even touching the plot holes

Mass Effect 3 ending pretty much says, however hard you try and however hard you fight and however you overcome adversity through diversity, it is all pointless.

Sort of like a Comic Horror Story, right? You only won because the Eldrich Abomination feels like it

 

[somonels]

Why do people still question the validity of a topic they failed to understand in the first place?

Move on, you.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

The discussion is where we're trying to convince each other with our views. Because that's kinda what a discussion is.

In the broadest sense of the term where almost any conversation becomes a discussion, sure. Whatever. I don't really care.

Funny you should say that [http://thesaurus.com/browse/ruin]. Since, well, that's what a synonym is. (Oh look, ruin and undoes!)

You do realize that the words may or may not be synonyms depending on context? The way you were putting it made it sound like you thought the ending literally undid [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/undo] any fun I might have had beforehand. Which it didn't, I still had been having fun before the ending. Don't see how that's relevant after the fact.

Well, it is relevant. If you hate the game because of the ending, you're disregarding the good parts, which can only be described as insane. It's basically just the reverse of someone saying random game "x" was the best game of all time because there was one 5 minute sequence that they liked, but the rest of the game was absolute tripe.

Crass analogy time. You're fucking the prettiest woman on the planet. Having the best sex you've ever had. Twist time! Right when you're close to the climax, the chick slaps your nuts, shits on the bed and fucks off. Now you can apply the same kind of nonsense arguments you did in this thread, but it doesn't matter one god damn bit. In the end, all you got was shit all over your bed and the worst case of blue-balls in recorded history.

Inaccurate. There is no shit left on the bed in this example.

I'll decide how much of an issue it is to me, thanks. And to answer your question, because you keep quoting me and misrepresenting my position, how thick is your bloody skull?

Ah. Resorting to the previously mentioned name calling, are we? May I direct you to the forum rules [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/codeofconduct]?

It isn't previously mentioned.

It was:

The part where you think that one small part of the game ruins playing the rest of it forever.

I'm this short of calling you names.

Furthermore, you're refusing to address what I actually said in opposition to your brilliant point of "stop yelling at me". You keep quoting me, and don't seem to bloody understand it. An inquiry regarding the thickness of your skull is a relatively tame way to go about it, and the answer to that question depended on your reply.

I'm not forcing you to reply to me. You can ignore this quite easily, really. I've done it before, I'm sure you can manage.

No I don't. But I do get to express my opinion. Which is: I feel that that's the entirely wrong way to think about it.

You don't get to have your opinion respected simply on the grounds of it being an opinion.

Didn't ask you to respect it, I'm just expressing it.

 

[gyroscopeboy]

It's not a small problem. It's like the ending to the Sopranos, but worse in that people had a very strong emotional investment in the characters they were interacting with. This, after dumping hours and hours into the series.

People who cannot see this are fucking blind.

I've gotta say, i loved the ending to the Sopranos!

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I think it probably has something to do with if you always leave stuff alone and just say "Well its not a big deal". It is a slippery slope as they get away with more and more. This is partly why we are in the shitty situation we are now with DRM, DLC, and all that other bullshit. Gamers being complacent and not caring.
I am not saying the ME3 ending deserved all the uproar it got, but sometimes a lot of small things can add into a big thing over time.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Well, it is relevant. If you hate the game because of the ending, you're disregarding the good parts, which can only be described as insane. It's basically just the reverse of someone saying random game "x" was the best game of all time because there was one 5 minute sequence that they liked, but the rest of the game was absolute tripe.

*sigh*

If you really think this is insane and you think that your example of the opposite is true, you don't know jack shit about storytelling and some of the most basic aspects of human psychology.

I care about the story. It's as simple as that. As a byproduct of this "caring" thing, there is always the whale-sized disappointment lingering in my head whenever the topic of Mass Effect comes up. I know how the story ends if I'm ever to even think about replaying the games. I know that it's going to be 100% shit, 100% of the time, no matter what I do. A story that ends this way, to me, is a story not worth having.

Some people don't tend to think in terms of lost potential and things like that, others don't, and that's fine. I'm not pushing it on you. But I find the fact that this is so fucking hard to for you to comprehend seriously disheartening. It's as if you're not even trying, and if that's the case, I don't know what you're doing here.

Alright, this is getting weird. Do you hate Mass Effect or not (Since that's the OT)? If not, this discussion started with both of us not understanding each other's position. I'm saying it's insane to hate the series, not simply be disappointed. All I find hard to comprehend is hating a game that did so many things right.

Crass analogy time. You're fucking the prettiest woman on the planet. Having the best sex you've ever had. Twist time! Right when you're close to the climax, the chick slaps your nuts, shits on the bed and fucks off. Now you can apply the same kind of nonsense arguments you did in this thread, but it doesn't matter one god damn bit. In the end, all you got was shit all over your bed and the worst case of blue-balls in recorded history.

Inaccurate. There is no shit left on the bed in this example.

There is shit, plenty of it. Unless you're implying that the ending has no bearing on the universe (in this analogy, the bed). And even barring that, let's say it's inaccurate. You're sidestepping again. The point was that you wouldn't remember the event with any sort of fondness other than the "What the fuck was that all about?" factor, and the hotness of the chick would only serve to exponentially increase the disappointment of the event.

Like here, I wouldn't hate the girl. I'd be disappointed, sure. But I'd still have enjoyed the fun part and wouldn't be able to begrudge the whole experience, just that one bit. I don't see what's so difficult about taking apart an experience and disassociating the different pieces of it?

Snipped the rest out because it's a complete waste of time.

So's this discussion by the looks of things, yet you keep replying.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Those people seem to think Mass Effect should be different than everyone other game and actually have a good ending. Video games generally have ending from bad to ok. Very few games have actually had good endings (took me a week or two to think of two, those being Crisis Core and Call of Duty: World at War [Russian Campaign]).

As for hating a game for a small problem, two with the same problem come to mind: Grand Theft Auto IV and Zombie Driver. Games are decent, but the driving mechanics suck (which is a small problem). As you can tell from even looking at the name of the games, driving is the main part, and with bad driving mechanics, the whole game sucks.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Alright, this is getting weird. Do you hate Mass Effect or not (Since that's the OT)? If not, this discussion started with both of us not understanding each other's position. I'm saying it's insane to hate the series, not simply be disappointed. All I find hard to comprehend is hating a game that did so many things right.

I don't hate the whole franchise, I'm just completely indifferent now as far as interest in playing it goes. Mass Effect 3, on the other hand, I'm pretty close to hating, for a whole slew of reasons, which the ending is only the biggest of. I don't hate the entire series the same way I don't hate Diablo 2 for what I see Blizzard doing with Diablo 3. The only negative feeling regarding the subject of previous iterations in the franchise is related to squandered potential, stuff like that. And by the way, this is completely irrelevant. I came here to point out that the ending is not a "small" thing.

Well that's fair, I just think it strange to actually hate Mass Effect for those reasons.

Like here, I wouldn't hate the girl. I'd be disappointed, sure. But I'd still have enjoyed the fun part and wouldn't be able to begrudge the whole experience, just that one bit. I don't see what's so difficult about taking apart an experience and disassociating the different pieces of it?

No, stop lying, you'd be angry and hate her for at least a while. Nobody would be just disappointed with getting slapped in the nuts and getting shit all over their bed.

Hate as in the colloquial sense? Perhaps. But to actually hate her? No. And as I said, I could split apart the ending and the middle in my mind into two different experiences. Who are you to tell me that I'm lying?