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| The Illusive Man stares in disappointment. |
In my review, I voiced my displeasure for the ending like so many others have, but I never expected BioWare to backpedal on their creative process. The Mass Effect universe certainly deserved a more absolute ending, one where the player plays witness to the ramifications of their actions. One of the most appealing portions of the franchise is seeing the benefits and detriments of those decisions in real-time.
For BioWare to portray an uncertain ending, by some accounts, doesn't do fans "justice". Now the issue of "entitlement" is another whole topic in itself (and will likely get some coverage here), but instead of typing out the various reasons why so much discontent is directed at the ending, I'll just post this video. Courtesy of The Angry Joe Show. It's a little long though.
Fearful of the outcome, some have raised reasonable concern over BioWare's backpedaling, particularly regarding other franchises with unfavourable endings. The Twitter-verse has lit up with comparisons to Borderlands, among other recent franchises, that carried disastrous endings. Yet Gearbox wasn't perceived as criminal for robbing fans of a weak story to begin with. Comparing these games is a rather feeble attempt to belittle the "Retake Mass Effect" movement hilariously popular on Facebook. Read into the idiocy if you dare.
However, ultimately going against their initial stance, BioWare caved. I assume EA feels the PR language bullshit didn't work, and they've concocted a clever way of working it into downloadable content. The image that comes up is a newspaper salesperson: "Here! Get your endings here!"
We'll see where the developer takes this next month. Like every Mass Effect 3 controversy, the response should be a spectacle. Jeff out.
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I was reading that and REALLY torn.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't beaten the game yet, but I'm getting close, which is good. I want to experience the ending right now as-is, and will probably save a duplicate file near the end so I can see it again with the new update when it goes live.
On the one hand, a changed ending is not unprecedented - Portal did that to set up the sequel. But that was for continuity reasons, not due to rapid fan displeasure.
But again, I have mixed thoughts. On the one hand, I think it is great that they are taking community feedback to heart and trying to do the right thing by their loyal customers and fans.
On the other, it sets up an interesting precedent that encourages whining and backlash from people too. It could change expectations customers have over the development of the game. Not so say fan feedback isn't important - it clearly is - but it leaves development teams second-guessing themselves.
We also really don't know just how radical this change to the ending will be. Will it satisfy fans? Or just give them newfound reason to complain further? I for one am rather fascinated to see where this leads.
I don't find this as "controversial" as others might. It's literally just fulfilling a promise in which we would have our ending. What they gave us, was not an ending. If it was a prolific ending saying, "Hey look, we actually will be having a 4th game involving Shepard" it might've gone over better, since we KNOW there'd be another. But how this ends and goes, it doesn't give us that satisfaction. It's just...kind of over with no conclusions, no continuity held up, and you end up just feeling like you wasted time on EVERY Mass Effect game. That's not good business.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they understand just how much of a mistake sending that ending out was, especially after the lashing they've taken. When people go out of their way to warn others about the ending, despite how good the rest of the game is...there's a vastly evident problem. One they know they need to fix. It's no different than a major GAMEBREAKING bug, where you just can't bring yourself to enjoy the game anymore. It's there, and it leads to problems.
Just my 2 cents.
Food for Thought"
ReplyDelete1. When art becomes a consumer product, they may forgo some of their artistic creativity as the purpose is to sell the game.
2. It seems that publishers have been doing this to developers for years, so why then, if the fans request a change it should not be consider?
3. I believe most of these people behind this movement are not "Demanding" nor feel they are "entitled" to anything. They are simply telling Bioware : Hey it would be really great if you guys did.
Mostly I agree here, but there is a lot of demanding going on too. Talk of lawsuits, and I read an article somewhere about someone taking their complaint to some business bureau for false advertising? Now that said, without having seen the ending myself, just based on what I have heard, it is potentially disappointing to see so many of your choices made during the game discarded in the ending.
DeleteIt will be really interesting to see what these changes will be. DLC? An actual changed ending? No one really knows at this point.
Start a worrisome trend? That trend began long before Mass Effect 3 (started with Dragon Age 2). They have lost their touch. They were once the epitome of gamers' dream developer. They literally had no flops. Ever. Unless you count Jade Empire but that game doesn't exist, so let's not ever mention it again. Since DA2 they have released SWTOR which was a huge disappointment for many who waited 4 years for the game. It's done pretty well honestly, but regardless was a let down for most. ME3 is utter garbage from start to finish. DA2 would have been OK if not for the recycled areas and being stuck in one city.
ReplyDeleteSee, and here is where opinions will vary quite a bit I suspect. I liked DA2, though not as much as Origins. I'm really enjoying Mass Effect 3 as well (though I haven't reached the ending yet). Why forget about Jade Empire? It was a critical and commercial success by most accounts - I certainly enjoyed it.
DeleteThere are definitely people who are displeased with some of their titles, and sometimes it is for a specific reason (like the ending, or recycled assets) or just a general one (hated the storyline, premise, characters as a whole) - but there are a lot of people who still thoroughly enjoy the games.
I think Bioware has the both enviable and unenviable position of having had a string of strong successes that have definitely raised expectations from consumers and put them while trying to keep turning out more games so they can continue to be profitable.