By John Walker on June 28th, 2012 at 8:00 pm.
You know what – let me apologise and make something clear. The phrasing wasn’t ideal, but my intent was only to call those who stamped around demanding the ending be changed for them, and behaving in really extremely unpleasant ways, farts. Not those who didn’t like the ending, and those who expressed their disappointment with the ending. Not liking things is clearly not worthy of fartdom. So I’m sorry for the offence caused to those whom I wasn’t trying to offend.
I liked the ending of Mass Effect 3. I’ve said so before. I acknowledge there were plot holes, perhaps even mistakes, but not being a self-entitled giant fart of a human, I find that I’m able to accept that the ending of something does not have to meet my preconceived expectations, nor wrap up everything I’ve encountered in a neat bow – heck, I can even hate it – without requiring it be changed. Human stories rarely end that way, and nor should all fiction have to. However, the farting was so loud and so smelly that BioWare felt a need to react. And so it is that new endings are available for the game. I’ve now seen all four. Clearly this involves hefty spoilers for the original game. I only discuss one of the new endings in any detail, however, but still you might want to see them for yourself first.
I won’t repeat myself on why I enjoyed the original endings. And I’m just so damned delighted to see the giant F-YOU that BioWare have given to those demanding they rewrite it. All three endings have been enormously embellished, lots of new detail and fixes have been added, and there’s a fourth brand new ending too. But they’ve stuck to their vision, and kept an ending that sees Shepard sacrifice her life in order to bring about massive change to the galaxy. Change that, sure, makes lots of what came before seem irrelevant. Because that’s what change does.
But importantly, they’ve also addressed some of the very valid issues people raised. I’d say the big two were: how on Earth was the Normandy back at Earth again?, and why didn’t the whole galaxy explode when the mass relays were destroyed?
The former is dealt with really nicely. They took out the mistake, and added in a brand new scene where you see Joker landing near the Reaper they’re trying to take out. Whichever two crewmates you took with you are then rescued before the giant laser beam obscures the screen (which also “fixes” the other bit where people decided they were dead, without having seen them die, and then threw their food at the wall and shat their pants.) And for me, it added a bloody excellent moment, as Garrus, my beaux, looked at me from the boarding platform with loss and pain in his eyes, and found the words to tell me that he loved me. Sniff.
Once with ghost-boy, I’m not sure if it’s my bad memory, or if things make a bit more sense this time. They always mostly did, in fairness. A lot of people seemed to come unstuck here because the Catalyst contradicted himself, and his arguments were flawed. Guess what: the Catalyst contradicted himself, and his arguments were flawed. A creature with near infinite power done fucked up, and it’s Shepard’s appearance on the platform with him that reveals this. It’s why you get to choose. And of course, the notion that this in any way denies the entirety of what’s come before is sheer madness – the Reapers have been there for a reason, trying to wipe out civilisations for a reason – we just found out the reason.
But this time there’s a fourth choice. I discovered it quite by mistake. I left clicked by accident and my gun fired. So I thought, what if… and shot the boy. He didn’t like that. “The cycle continues,” he said. And oooh, an interesting new way for things to play out.
The three previous choices begin in the same way, but are now fleshed out with some superb new CGI sequences in which we see the consequences of the choice meaningfully playing out on a number of planets. Then there’s also some really lame concept-art stills with narration, but heck, this was free. The scenes begin the same in each ending, but end differently, either with the Reapers destroyed, taken over, or of course the best choice of all, synthesis.
That was what I picked first, after my accidentally finding the fourth finish. I wanted to see how things would wrap up with my original choices. And I bloody loved it. I picked synthesis, and while it told me little that I didn’t know, I got to see far more of its happening. I saw Reapers and other species working together to rebuild the galaxy. I saw people with glowy green eyes. I saw Krogans with green-eye-glowing babies.
The other two have similar new content. Often times it’s the same scenes redone, but much more meaningfully than with a different colour filter. And crucially, you also see some significant changes to the way the mass relays are affected. They’re not blown up any more. They’re either unharmed, or damaged. But it seems they can be rebuilt. It’s not quite the brutal, galaxy-exploding/isolating conclusion many refused to suspend their disbelief to ensure.
There’s one more new addition. A lovely scene, that again I won’t spoil, but adding a clever touch of closure without compromising or denying anything. Again, it’s the same for all three of these endings, but importantly there’s a different narrator for each. And talking of different, of course these endings are adapting to what happened as you played all three games, who’s still alive, who died, and who you porked.
I think BioWare have done an absolutely stunning job here. They’ve maintained their integrity and their vision, they’ve stuck to the ending they wanted to tell, but they’ve been contrite enough to fix genuine mistakes. They’ve embellished upon what they already had, and in doing so have made things feel more meaningful without tying stupid bows to every thread. They’ve clearly spent a fortune doing it, and it’s yours for free.
28/06/2012 at 20:13 Xocrates says:
Despite not having a lot of interest in the series, I followed the development of the ending debacle with some interest, and as such it has been interesting to see people reactions to it.
That said, I find that implying those complaining about the ending to be “self-entitled giant fart of a human” to be as self-entitled as those demanding the change. There were a lot of very clever people with very real complaints, and as much as people shout about setting a bad precedent, they constantly ignore that there are loads of precedents in this and other media.
28/06/2012 at 20:21 noodlecake says:
No. I think “self entitled giant fart of a human” is a fairly apt description. I think the people at Bioware tried very hard and lost a lot of sleep over the years they spent making this game and the tantrums people threw as a response, because they weren’t keen on the ending, were pretty childish, especially when the game is so damn good.
28/06/2012 at 20:24 byteCrunch says:
Not really, there were plenty of valid complaints that were delivered sensibly, yes there was alot of noisy people, but labeling anyone who complained as entitled is just arrogant.
28/06/2012 at 20:28 Jay says:
I don’t think anyone’s doing that though. No-one has a problem with people complaining about not liking an ending. Most of the writers on here have done at it some point or another. When people are kicking up a storm and actively demanding that the creators change the ending because they’re entitled to one they like better, that’s the problem.
Surely this behaviour is what John’s referring to in the article above. That’s the way I read it, at least.
28/06/2012 at 20:33 briktal says:
Why does “artistic vision” seem to be most sacred with video games, the most interactive form of media?
28/06/2012 at 20:39 Jay says:
But that leads down a path of focus-tested blandness, where lead characters never die because won’t somebody think of the shippers, and so on. Think of the most memorable, oh-my-god twists in game stories. Then think how many would’ve been retconned if they listened to fan complaints at the time. Think how many would be retconned in the future when fans find out they can get their way if they’re vocal enough.
Maybe it’s just me. I’d rather have a bad ending than a dull one.
28/06/2012 at 20:52 briktal says:
Yeah I can’t imagine what the Mass Effect series would be like if they listened to fans. Imagine if they caved and made Tali a romance option?
28/06/2012 at 20:59 Jay says:
I’m not that fussed about Mass Effect. For me it’s more about fan expectations. As your last point proves, they already hold a hell of a lot of sway in these matters, I’m not sure handing them the reins entirely is the way to go.
Do you think that improved the series? What was the last fan-protest-provided story shift that did?
28/06/2012 at 21:09 Brun says:
If it’s about fan expectations, companies like BioWare should be ready to accept the consequences when they fail to meet those expectations. People were simply dissatisfied with the ending. I don’t think there was this huge drive to change the ending in one specific way – they just wanted something better than what was provided. That leaves plenty of room for BioWare’s “artistic vision.”
28/06/2012 at 21:20 Leaufai says:
The problem with the ending’s artistic integrity is that it’s rumored that it wasn’t a product of the entire team, like the rest of ME3 but a solely product of Casey Hudson and Mac Walters. Unlike the rest of the writing, the ending was open to peer review. If this is true, I’d blame Hudson and Walters for violating the integrity of the game and not the complaining fans. If you’re holding the paint brush with a couple of dozen men and painting beautiful lines, don’t look surprised when the lines turn squiggly when you decide to just hold the brush with two people.
28/06/2012 at 21:24 Cooper says:
“I can even hate it without requiring it be changed”
It’s kinda clear the self-entiteled farty pants are those who didn’t like it AND demanded it be changed.
The ending of The Prisoner was ape-shit insane and made no sense. I’m not sure I liked it. But it’s be self-entitled and farty-panted of me to have demanded they record a new one.
28/06/2012 at 21:26 Stellar Duck says:
They already retconned Dragon Age to hell and back with both the Witch Hunt DLC and Leliana in DA2 so I don’t think the art argument holds any water. Besides, when the final words of your “art work” is ‘Now buy out DLC!’ you can’t really claim that it’s art.
It’s a product. A rather crummy product at that.
28/06/2012 at 21:35 jrpatton says:
“But that leads down a path of focus-tested blandness”
Yeah. Thank god it didn’t turn out as bland as HL2, it’s episodes, Portal 1&2, Left 4 Dead 1&2. Games famous for their extreme focus testing. That would have been horrible. I prefer broken plot-hole filled unsatisfying endings as long as the artists’ “vision” is not disturbed in any way.
/soMuchSarcasm
28/06/2012 at 21:45 Jay says:
“Yeah. Thank god it didn’t turn out as bland as HL2, it’s episodes, Portal 1&2, Left 4 Dead 1&2. Games famous for their extreme focus testing. That would have been horrible. I prefer broken plot-hole filled unsatisfying endings as long as the artists’ “vision” is not disturbed in any way.”
I must’ve missed the part where Valve threw open their games to the gallery and just went with what the fans wanted. Those examples you listed are almost the polar opposite of that.
There’s a huge difference between thoroughly testing and iterating your games to a fine sheen and just going with what the fans want. It’s the difference between Portal 2 being its own thing and it being a series of increasingly tired cake jokes. Remember the outcry over L4D2? I don’t remember them bowing to the fans on that one. You seem to be taking one thing I said out of context to put forward an argument that has no relevance to what’s being discussed.
28/06/2012 at 21:47 Stellar Duck says:
At least Bioware could have gotten some decent writers to do it if they didn’t want to test the story.
And tested it a bit more so I didn’t have to reload every time I got stuck in the floor in the cockpit. Or got stuck on a table I randomly warped up on.
28/06/2012 at 21:56 wicko says:
Seems like everyone forgot this is a story with multiple paths: meaning it could have multiple endings. Nothing is stopping Bioware from writing additional endings (as they clearly demonstrated), they’ve just back-pedalled on the “fans co-create the story with us” mentality. Real reason being time constraints. Game was rushed, and it shows.
28/06/2012 at 22:06 Archonsod says:
“I must’ve missed the part where Valve threw open their games to the gallery and just went with what the fans wanted.”
It’s alright. I missed the part where Valve made a decent game in the first place.
28/06/2012 at 22:50 Toberoth says:
“I missed the part where Valve made a decent game in the first place.”
That’s a shame. The two Portal games are excellent, and I can highly recommend at least the original Half Life as a great example of game design.
28/06/2012 at 20:24 Brun says:
The fact that a developer poured their blood, sweat, and tears into a game doesn’t mean the public is obligated to like it. Games should be judged on their merits, not on how much effort went into producing them, despite what some developers (and all publishers) wish.
28/06/2012 at 20:30 LionsPhil says:
Quite.
28/06/2012 at 20:46 Vesuvius says:
This.
28/06/2012 at 20:46 noodlecake says:
Well luckily it was a fantastic game, as most critics will tell you.
28/06/2012 at 20:58 Nick says:
most critics are full of shit then.
28/06/2012 at 21:08 noodlecake says:
Uh. I really don’t think so. I generally ignore the user scores on metacritic because they usually just prove that people are morons. Games that were very good but didn’t turn out exactly as fans expected getting 3s and 4s. I think critics tend to be a little bit more objective than fans. I’ve never seen a metacritic score that I more than mildly disagree with and it’s not because I just like what I’m told to like.
28/06/2012 at 21:39 Dogger says:
http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/available/pc/metascore?view=condensed
Out of the Park Baseball 2007, Second best PC game of all time?, You be the judge.
28/06/2012 at 21:42 John Walker says:
It’s a damned good management series.
28/06/2012 at 21:45 Toberoth says:
If you’re going to be like that, John, couldn’t you argue that most games are about managing to a greater or lesser extent? I wouldn’t say management is the main focus of the series as a whole, though, certainly not of the first two games (I haven’t played the third so I can’t judge it).
28/06/2012 at 21:59 wicko says:
And can you guess why most critics applaud big budget games? I’ll give you a hint: “ads”
28/06/2012 at 22:00 John Walker says:
Toberoth – I meant Out Of The Park Baseball.
28/06/2012 at 22:07 Toberoth says:
John – My bad! Cocktails + heat = drowsy, inattentive Toberoth.
29/06/2012 at 09:18 InternetBatman says:
The problem is that most of those critics then turned around and fanned the flames of dissatisfaction. PC Gamer was by far the most blatant about this, but a lot of publications did this.
28/06/2012 at 20:35 briktal says:
Don’t forget that this DLC is free so you aren’t allowed to complain about any part of it because it’s free and you didn’t pay money for it.
29/06/2012 at 10:16 Chirez says:
It’s fine to dislike free stuff, it’s fine to criticise free stuff. My bowel movements are free, but I rarely expect them to win awards.
When one starts to feel that one is entitled to better quality free stuff, that’s the point at which a little introspection may be in order.
28/06/2012 at 20:45 Vesuvius says:
Someone can “try very hard” and still fail, or at least let down their audience, and the audience doesn’t have a responsibility to coddle them and pretend they enjoyed something that they didn’t.
There’s nothing wrong with saying that you felt the endings were out of touch with themes of the series as a whole- in fact that’s a very fundamental criticism, and acting like people who pointed that are somehow spoiled and worthy of derision? That’s fanboyism at it’s worst. Criticism happens. People are every bit entitled to have feelings about the art they’re exposed to, and to act otherwise is ridiculous- especially since we’re here on a criticism site.
So you didn’t like the way some folks expressed their displeasure- you felt the most vocal were demanding- say THAT, rather than painting everyone with your closed-minded and insulting statements.
28/06/2012 at 20:22 Ranger6six says:
In all honesty, the people who hated the endings were far more often constructive in their freedback than those who liked it. What really made things confusing is that those opposed to changing the endings, were calling foul on actions like donating money to charity or sending simple cupcakes. If you don’t like something and you want to protest, isn’t this the way that you want people to go about it instead of just grabbing pitchforks?
People like the author of this article who are against consumers having a different opinion, should simply be pitied. Even after all this time has passed, he still needs to hand out jabs at people.
Makes me wish I actually supported some of the “take back ME3″ actions to simply annoy small minded people like the author.
28/06/2012 at 20:43 svge says:
I agree, of all the people I saw complaining, most were giving valid and intellectual reasons why they were dissatisfied. I hate the way this is written as though John Walker is DEFINITELY RIGHT about how the ending was/is satisfactory and everyone who disagrees is an ENTITLED GIANT FART OF A HUMAN.
28/06/2012 at 20:53 noodlecake says:
I don’t think the being obscenely pedantic about plotholes bit was the problem. It’s the demanding that the ending be changed. I’m a painter and there’s no way I would change a painting because some people whined about it, even if they had some logical reasons as to why they thought there was something wrong with it. It’s my painting!
28/06/2012 at 21:01 Jimbot says:
Which is fine. But what if it were a commission? Would you tell your client that? How about if it were commercial? Would you tell your buyers that?
If your answer is yes then you shouldn’t be taking commissions and producing commercial art.
28/06/2012 at 21:02 cckerberos says:
That’s not the greatest comparison. I think a closer one would be a commercial artist showing a piece of artwork to a client and being asked to make changes.
28/06/2012 at 22:12 Archonsod says:
“Which is fine. But what if it were a commission? Would you tell your client that? How about if it were commercial? Would you tell your buyers that?”
Yes. That’s what makes him an artist, and not a designer.
28/06/2012 at 23:57 Commodore says:
I don’t think you understand why people wanted the ending to be changed.
It’s not that the outcome was unenjoyable, or even that it was poorly written.
It entirely comes down to the fact that, a series that has held “game decisions affect outcomes” more sacred and dear to its heart than any other, managed to end the series and throw out EVERY. SINGLE. DECISION. you have made throughout all three games, and just give you a “how do you want to end it all: (g)ood, (e)vil?_” prompt, which really only served to modify the ending in minor ways, and then they had the outright audacity to market it as though these were completely unique endings. I don’t know where you live, but here in the US, that *usually* constitutes false advertising, when it comes down to it.
I would say the cop out of an ending very nearly ruined what was otherwise a fantastic game for me. If I had a bit of a go at it myself, I would probably just chop off everything after the part where Anderson dies and Shepard passes out, leaving the rest to speculation. I think I would have been a lot less dissappointed with that, in the end.
29/06/2012 at 05:37 Jesus H. Christ says:
pretty boring insult too. I like a little humour in my insults, not repressed-anger-at-how-his-life-turned-out or whatever it was that made the writer insult a portion of his readership. Professionalism and class is something I never expect to see on a gaming site.
Although I have been quite surprised with the new head of Kokatu, Too bad he works for gawker.
28/06/2012 at 20:49 briktal says:
The thing about many of the people who liked the ending is that they didn’t actually like the ending. They may have thought it was strange and confusing. However, the liked the rest of the game. Take SEGF’s article defending the ending (please): 90% of the article is about decisions and consequences that all play out before you step into the beam.
28/06/2012 at 20:31 jrodman says:
Thumbs down on non-funny inflammatory language in the article.
28/06/2012 at 21:40 Reefpirate says:
“(which also “fixes” the other bit where people decided they were dead, without having seen them die, and then threw their food at the wall and shat their pants.)”
I thought that part was hilarious. I literally laughed out loud.
29/06/2012 at 11:37 jrodman says:
That part was a bit funny. It was the other part about blah blah farting is self entitlement. That was the part that didn’t belong in an article.
28/06/2012 at 20:31 JarinArenos says:
Nicely placed above the cut too, to drive traffic. Not that I’m one to talk since I’m here commenting and creating more traffic. But me being cynical, or even agreeing or disagreeing with the sentiment doesn’t change the fact that Jon Walker is… a bit of a dick.
28/06/2012 at 21:05 MrWolf says:
Yes, but he’s OUR bit of a dick. And that makes him precious!
28/06/2012 at 20:40 Kestrel says:
I think the real question is, why do you like farts so much?
28/06/2012 at 20:40 mixvio says:
If you didn’t like the ending — and reasonable humans can do that — that’s fine. Tell people you hated the ending. Tell people how much you hated it, and why. Throwing a tantrum demanding that they change it to placate you is entitlement beyond anything I have words for.
The only precedent such capitulation sets is that it’s fine for customers to demand that bad endings to movies and books are one internet whinefest away from being rewritten, artistic integrity be damned.
28/06/2012 at 21:00 JarinArenos says:
Precedent be damned. This is far from the first time it’s happened; merely the loudest. I cite Fallout 3′s Broken Steel, just as a recent example.
28/06/2012 at 22:22 mixvio says:
Fallout 3′s DLC wasn’t changing the ending (at all, really), it was expanding it because the only other way to offer post-launch DLC would be to have you complete it before you complete the main game. They did that with the virtual reality DLC, and said that the Broken Steel DLC would open the game up at the end.
Game developers (or filmmakers or writers and whatever else) can do that if they want. It’s their content, so they have ultimate authority over it. Customers who buy it are not entitled to make such demands.
28/06/2012 at 21:14 Grygus says:
Fine, except that pretending that everyone who did not like the ending made such demands is so ignorant and arrogant that I can’t believe you’re not aware of the fallacy and simply do not care.
This DLC isn’t bad for anyone actually involved; BioWare makes a more complete version of the story they wanted to tell, and people who liked the basic structure of the ending get more of what they liked. However, everyone who hated the original ending is not involved here at all.
Introducing the main antagonist of a 100 hour story 15 minutes from the end is bad storytelling, unless the entire point was that mystery, which was not the case here. Having an ending based on button pushes instead of proceeding logically from past choices like, oh, I don’t know, every other major consequence in the game is out of character. It’s not that the ending wasn’t rainbows and ponies; my favorite two companions were Mordin and Tali. Both of them died during my playthrough, and both times their deaths were awesome and sensible, and I fully expected Shepard to die at the end. But after all this cause-and-effect, killing the main character is done completely arbitrarily? That doesn’t even make sense! The whole ending is out of character with the rest of the series in tone and execution. I don’t see how anyone can fail to see that, though obviously you can like it anyway.
This DLC has not even attempted to address these problems, and is therefore a waste of time for people like me. I am glad some people liked it, but there is no need to insult us, because this didn’t involve us or our complaints at all. It was for the people who liked the ending to begin with; blame yourselves if you are resentful for some reason.
28/06/2012 at 21:26 Cooper says:
He’s not pretending anyone who hated it made such demands.
Read the article, it’s pretty clear those who damnded change are the farty-panted ones.
28/06/2012 at 21:48 Enikuo says:
I also read a lot of well-reasoned and polite complaints about the ending. It bothers me to see those people characterized as “self-entitled” because that label is used to excuse all manner of issues in gaming. If you care about restrictive DRM, you’re entitled. If you care about gender issues, you’re entitled. It’s industry rhetoric. Gamers shouldn’t be using it against one another.
29/06/2012 at 11:40 jrodman says:
And writers on rock paper shotgun shouldn’t be throwing it around thoughtlessly! If it was meant to be funny, the couching was bad. If it was meant to be serious but self directed, it didn’t work. If it was meant as serious, god help John.
29/06/2012 at 15:35 FractalChaos says:
Am I the only one who “gets” what John was getting at?
Complaining about ending of game and making valid constructive criticisms good; doing so in a childish bratty douchey way and, most of all, demanding company remake part of game ,in the same way bad.
He didn’t refer to the complainers as farts or whatnot; he referred to those demanding the ending be rewritten as farts. I happen to agree.
EDIT: It seems John pointed this out himself with his edit/preface to the article. He doesn’t need me to point it out. :)
28/06/2012 at 20:15 Twoflower says:
Which is exactly what needed to be done.
Plug the plot holes, explain the needlessly vague points, and remove the implication that everybody starved to death in galactic isolation. Show that the galaxy was, in fact, saved rather than completely ruined in a different way. (Yes, obviously they didn’t intend to make us think everybody dies horribly, but the canon behind how the Mass Relays work meant it was a very reasonable extrapolation of what they showed us.)
I think there’s plenty of elbow room between “Teh Original Endings Were GENIUS and ART and you whiny fanbabies need to suck it up” and “Teh Original Endings Were HORRIBLE and LAME and my Shepard needs to go off and make blue babies with Liara.” In that middle ground you have the Extended Cut, which doesn’t do anything differently — it fills in the gaps.
I will say though that the 4th ending, the giant middle finger to the fans, should’ve just been left out. That’s needlessly rage-provoking, like a sneering beret-wearing film director flashing his fans the finger or something. Stay classy, Bioware.
28/06/2012 at 21:07 MrWolf says:
I think if you actually WATCH the fourth ending (the “Refusal” ending, so to speak) to the post-credits end, you will see that it is actually, in many ways, the most satisfying and hardly the “middle finger to the fans” that so many people — who, more likely than not, haven’t even seen/played it — seem to think.
28/06/2012 at 22:00 Kandon Arc says:
I think Star Child saying ‘So be it’ was a f*** you straight from Casey Hudson, but the beacon scene and the stargazer made it a rather satisfying ending overall.
01/07/2012 at 13:15 deiseach says:
I loved the new choice. Apart from allowing you to meaningfully shoot the Star Brat, it was a great tribute to the lore of Mass Effect. You got closer than the Protheans and the next generation will get closer thanks to you. Really satisfying
28/06/2012 at 23:32 alexiskennedy says:
>the giant middle finger to the fans
‘The fans’ complained about having to take the Catalyst’s options, so BW put in a fourth ending with the opportunity to tell an omnipotent NPC to get knotted, which is rather rare and precious I think. You say ‘I’d rather burn than serve’, and you get to burn. What did people expect, a big speech and an extra-happy ending? That wasn’t so great in Babylon 5.
28/06/2012 at 20:15 Ross Angus says:
Well I’m still trying to get my galactic readiness up to 100% again, so I can see it all first hand. Seemed it all seeped away, when I wasn’t looking.
28/06/2012 at 20:55 dontnormally says:
I can’t help but assume that this was the plan from the beginning.
A reason to make you start playing the game again.
A reason to worry about your readiness.
A reason to dump real munz into game stufs.
And John Walker: you’re a doody-head.
28/06/2012 at 21:10 Ross Angus says:
I agree, apart from the bit about John.
28/06/2012 at 21:21 El_Spartin says:
If you did enough stuff during the story you can get away with 50% readiness and still see the endings.
By the way, Mr. Walker, I was under the impression that RPS was above nerd baiting. Please, clean up your act.
28/06/2012 at 21:44 Reefpirate says:
How would you write an article like this without ‘nerd baiting’?
28/06/2012 at 22:34 Ross Angus says:
El_Spartin: I read that you didn’t get the third ending with less than 100%. Was I misinformed? If so, I’ve been needlessly playing multiplayer for the first time in my life.
28/06/2012 at 23:01 Kandon Arc says:
I think they changed the threshold with the EC dlc. I had all three options available at 50% having done pretty much all the side missions.
29/06/2012 at 07:12 Ross Angus says:
Thanks, Kandon. I have no idea how I missed this information. This is excellent news!
28/06/2012 at 20:16 Enzo says:
I love the new, better endings as well. I’m happy that Bioware put some effort into this DLC.
28/06/2012 at 20:16 noodlecake says:
Hear, hear!
28/06/2012 at 20:18 top8cat says:
Haven’t played Mass Effect since the first(and I didn’t even finish that), but I’m glad to see the whole”burn E3 ’cause they’re the evilest!” storm tone down and Bioware fixing some apparently glaring issues.
The problem with games like Mass Effect is that when you’re making multiple additions to your series, there is no way you can make the game completely unique to the users decisions(budget wise at least). I guess that what sort of kept me from playing ME any farther when I heard that the way you get the “good ending” in the game is through the most ‘gami’e and insultingly binary means, but as I said, I’m glad that all of that is wrapped up. Now the gaming collective can get back to reporting some actual news ;)
28/06/2012 at 20:47 PopeBob says:
EA is still incredibly evil and run by manic chimps with no regard for sound business practice.
But BioWare saved some face. And that’s a plus.
28/06/2012 at 21:00 top8cat says:
If EA’s run by evil chimps then Activision is run by Dracula and Capcom, the Devil incarnate.
……..(get the reference)
28/06/2012 at 20:21 Juan Carlo says:
I am a bit disappointed that they explained away the deaths of your teammates. That final charge is one of the most memorable video game sequences I’ve ever experienced, just because it was so delightfuly dark. I specifically chose my favorite team mates to come with me on the last mission (thinking that, like in ME2, this was the one way to ensure they survived), so having everything exploded in one moment was the sort of awesomely brutal gut punch that video games rarely allow. I know things were left a bit open as to who was dead and who was alive, but I assumed they all died. And I think the game works much better that way. It gives that really quite excellent sequence where half dead Shepard crawls to the teleport beam a lot more meaning if his teammates are dead.
28/06/2012 at 20:24 cckerberos says:
From your original WIT:
“Despite my vociferous support for it, I can empathise with a number the arguments.”
So much for that, eh?
28/06/2012 at 21:16 Toberoth says:
I don’t think so. John says here that “they’ve also addressed some of the very valid issues people raised,” and he mentions several times that they’ve corrected mistakes and filled plot holes. That by no means refutes the bit of text that you posted there.
28/06/2012 at 21:19 Terragot says:
It’s just John trying to find his voice. Like when he thought he was the funny guy and did some bizarre drawing of a bear in Skyrim. Now he’s going for the hipster angle, disagreeing with popular opinion at every opportunity possible and inevitable contradicting himself.
I hope his next voice is inappropriate gay uncle.
28/06/2012 at 21:44 John Walker says:
Come on. You’re not too big to be bounced on my knee!
28/06/2012 at 20:25 LionsPhil says:
There is no escaping the arse of the Internet.
28/06/2012 at 20:29 JarinArenos says:
Yeah, but he doesn’t write much that I give a crap about anyway.
28/06/2012 at 20:28 Tei says:
I like the new changes, and the new ends. But I still feel betrayed. The game sould have ended telling different stories based on your decisions, not colour changes.
The patching has made the colours less important, and as filled plotholes, but I still feel like somebody as steal from me the ME3…. You only miss something when it’s gone.. Or perhaps this is not the truth, but is how I feel. Happy but betrayed.
28/06/2012 at 20:36 svge says:
I don’t care if you think I’m a giant fart of a human, the ending was a piece of shit writing that didn’t live up to any of the themes that had been strong throughout the series. I find it baffling that you would defend the shoddily written deus ex machina with the 3 “options” that all amounted to basically the same thing. Having said that, I never asked for a new ending because like when I watch a shitty film or read a book with a bad ending I judge them to be bad and that in itself is part of the fun.
28/06/2012 at 20:36 equatorian says:
I didn’t like the original ending but thought the Take Back ME3 campaign was rather absurd, but gigantic farts of a human? Really? Is that what we’re stooping to now, calling people we don’t agree with names? I don’t even recall RPS doing that even when you’re talking about terrible racists/misogynists/homophobes. Maybe it’s in the spirit of irony, but I don’t know, I’m sensing more malice here than usual.
Or are you just trying to get us to complain and demand you to change the wording, thus proving the point? *cough*
That said, people have been demanding these things forever and ever, really. Why else did Han Shot First become the meme that it is?
28/06/2012 at 20:39 dE says:
The news itself: Good for those into ME3.
The article quality: Please step off the Kotaku Pedal. They’re doing enough hefty nerdbaiting for the whole internet in my opinion.
28/06/2012 at 20:43 diamondmx says:
Ouch. Kotaku … harsh, man.
28/06/2012 at 20:49 PopeBob says:
Truth often has the stark side-effect of hurting.
28/06/2012 at 20:58 Bobzer says:
One does not simply tell John Mother-Fucking Walker to get off his high horse!
28/06/2012 at 21:18 Toberoth says:
I’m fine with accepting the fact that John says contentious things that I might not agree with, leading to a lot of interesting comments. But I would never, ever tell him to alter his style or hold in his opinions.
28/06/2012 at 20:40 2helix4u says:
Chiming in to say that the self entitled giant fart line puts me off.
As someone who didn’t mind the ending, I still think there are valid concerns with it that this kind of “self-entitled gamers” rhetoric sells short. A lot of the concerns aren’t about the ending changing the universe or being “dark”. These concerns involve larger issues with videogame narratives, especially in those with big publishers behind them.
Considering the ending was not vetted by the entire writing staff due to time concerns and that 4 months later we have this free DLC which adds the level of closure as we might expect at the end of a Bioware game its not farting to suggest that there were problems here. Writing them off as entitled whining just belies a lack of study into what these people are actually saying.
/joke I mean, we got EA to give us something for FREE, how big an admission of guilt do you need? /joke
It is a common and immature viewpoint and I come to RPS for neither of those things.
28/06/2012 at 20:42 2helix4u says:
Faaaart
28/06/2012 at 21:17 LockjawNightvision says:
Consumers are no more obligated to like the ending than authors are to change it. Either becomes a giant fart of a human when they start demanding that the other likes it unquestioningly/makes pandery changes.
28/06/2012 at 21:19 njolnin says:
I also want to add that John’s immature and provocative tone in this article makes it impossible for me to take what he’s saying seriously. I can go to forums or gaming blogs like Kotaku if I want stuff like that, but writing like this is not why I come to RPS.
28/06/2012 at 20:45 Yosharian says:
Really, John Walker? Really?
28/06/2012 at 20:46 myszon says:
btw, things made more sense in the talk with ghost boy, because they greatly expanded the dialog in that fragment. If asked, he explains exactly why the reapers are doing what they are doing. He also tells you what will happen after choosing each of the original three options.
That is the element which I liked most about the extended ending, the additional tidbits of information that were added here and there.
28/06/2012 at 20:47 Vesuvius says:
This article is crap and not in keeping with my expectations for RPS. Please re-write it immediately, or release an addendum to address my concerns.
28/06/2012 at 20:58 svge says:
You’ll get a new option of either being called a fart or a shit. YOU CHOOSE!
28/06/2012 at 20:49 Jimbo says:
Yes, not meeting preconceived expectations was what was wrong with the Mass Effect 3 ending.
There’s nothing defiant about Bioware’s actions here. Nothing. Their original ending was near-universally panned for being a terrible, nonsensical mess, so they caved completely and took another shot at it. Papering over the Grand Canyon-sized cracks was really the only option they had – dropping the original ending entirely would have just been even more embarassing.
If they could go back and change their ‘vision’ without the public ever having seen it, they surely would, because their vision was fuck awful (obligatory: but not as bad as the end of Dragon Age 2).
28/06/2012 at 22:22 HisMastersVoice says:
Oh no no, it was much worse. DA2 writing is consistently bad, therefore making you care less and less for the all the characters, including yours as the game rolls on. It’s a form of anesthetic for when the turd of an ending comes. ME did manage to avoid being totally awful for most of it’s three game span.
28/06/2012 at 23:27 Jimbo says:
Hmmm, good point, I hadn’t thought of it like that. Also I just realised that they could have used the Dragon Age 2 ending in ME3 and it would have made just as much sense as ME3′s actual ending:
“But Star Child, why are the Reapers here??”
“An evil magic sword made me do it.”
“OK BYE!”
Maybe they’re pulling their endings out of a hat or something. How exciting!
28/06/2012 at 20:50 Phinor says:
I still prefer the indoctrination theory and that would have been a game changer in the genre but it was always a long shot and Bioware chose to stick with their own ending and that’s their right.
These extended endings are a lot (=infinitely) better than the original ones and they still offer some room for speculation. I for one think the synthesis is one of the worst things that could ever happen and they show it in the cut when a husk “wakes up” (and soon realizes what he actually is). Just think of gaining consciousness and realizing that you are in fact a living ship made out of people! Cannibals (husks made out of Batarian) sure have fun days ahead of them what with a human attached to them to serve as their right arm and legs fused with a gun. What a wonderful life they must have from now on. But sure, it’s all fun and games for the organics who suddenly have peace and no worries. It’s just the reaper side who might have some issues with that particular solution.
But I really appreciate that they explained the star child a bit more and everything surrounding him. I still think he ruins the game and the series but at least there’s some backstory now and the whole sequence is not completely out of place, just almost completely.
28/06/2012 at 21:57 Jimbo says:
Indoctrination Theory would have made for an interesting beat in the game for sure (which I’m convinced was the intention at some point, before they took a hatchet to the ending), but it still wouldn’t have worked without a real ending after it. It would have been like ending KOTOR with the Revan reveal.
28/06/2012 at 20:52 Newtie says:
Is it just me or do EU Origin accounts not get the new DLC yet?
28/06/2012 at 20:53 Drake Sigar says:
The Fallout New Vegas endings were worse.
28/06/2012 at 21:02 Nick says:
um.. what?
28/06/2012 at 20:55 Hoaxfish says:
I think I’ll side with the eurogamer point of view on this
28/06/2012 at 21:58 subedii says:
Huh, I wasn’t expecting it, but I basically agreed with that whole Eurogamer article. Most days I think EG are just as “fan baiting” as they can get, but this was actually side-stepped the usual generalisations of “RAAR STUPID FANBOYS” to get at the more valid topics.
Then I saw it was written by Richard Cobbet, and that made a bit more sense.
This point in particular is the one that most detractors seem to deliberately gloss over time and time again:
28/06/2012 at 20:57 Demiath says:
[N]ot being a self-entitled giant fart of a human, I find that I’m able to accept that the ending of something does not have to meet my preconceived expectations, nor wrap up everything I’ve encountered in a neat bow – heck, I can even hate it without requiring it be changed.”
Thank Crag the Hack for this lovely passage! Being “a self-entitled giant fart of a human” has nothing to be with whether one is on the right or wrong side of a particular argument. There’s a very important distinction between substantially disagreeing with the people complaining that Mass Effect 3 didn’t have great endings (which would be a crazy thing to do) on the one hand and being dismayed and downright disgusted by the way in which the “Enders” have framed their campaign on the other.
28/06/2012 at 20:58 Kestrel says:
FART FACE
28/06/2012 at 21:00 Ryz says:
Bloody hell John, this really did descend to Kotaku levels of immaturity.
We get it — you loved ME3 and liked the original endings, warts and all. Good for you!
Personally, I didn’t buy nor play ME3. I had no investment in the series and thought the entire ‘Take Back ME3!’ ridiculousness was little better than over the top grandstanding…but the endings *were* objectively terrible, even from an outsider’s point of view. They were fundamentally flawed thanks to the Star Kid and giant deus ex machina they employed, and riddled with plot holes on top of that. You, yourself, admitted that and claimed to emphasize with many of the arguments.
There were plenty of calm, reasonable critique about the endings and why they disappointed. RPS in particular decided to go the Kotaku “Fan Entitlement!!!11!!” route and ignored all of it in favor of focusing on the highly irrational shrieking instead.
Applauding a genuine “F-U!” from a developer? The crack on those critical to the ending being a “self-entitled giant fart of a human”? I come to RPS because it *isn’t* full of fan-baiting, immature shock articles to pull page hits, John. RPS has changed ever since the Diablo 3 Debacle started, both in the tone of the articles and the now incendiary comment section, and it’s not for the better.
I think we’re done, RPS. I’m sure you won’t miss my measly page hits and advertising revenue, but this entire thing is incredibly disappointing. I really thought you guys were better than this kind of schlock.
28/06/2012 at 21:05 Kestrel says:
What an absurd overreaction to this article. People that demanded the ending be changed are 100% self entitled. Walker is bang on with his criticism. There is a total difference between complaining about a shitty ending and demanding the developers go back to the drawing board to satisfy the consumer. BioWare doesn’t owe anyone anything.
28/06/2012 at 21:09 MrWolf says:
Nor does Rock Paper Shotgun.
Just sayin’.
28/06/2012 at 21:14 Grover says:
Sycophant rating: 10/10.
29/06/2012 at 14:06 Kadayi says:
I think this one goes up to 11 tbh.
28/06/2012 at 21:18 Ryz says:
You’re missing the point.
If I wanted to read fanbait articles, I’d go to Kotaku.
I opted to come to RPS, for years, because they didn’t do that. The fans could be acting absolutely absurd, but RPS never brought themselves down to their level. There might be fun little pokes, but they never stooped down to dishing out the same abuse the fanboys did. Instead they’d use reasoned, well debated articles to show both sides – like the review of Limbo, for instance. I may not agree with everything they said, but I could understand why they said it.
This article isn’t like that. And it’s representative of a tonal shift in the entire site, from several of the more ridiculous articles to the increasingly youtubeish quality of the comment section.
28/06/2012 at 21:29 Kestrel says:
Okay. Despite the fact that I agree 100% with the article, I do think your point is valid and reasonable.
28/06/2012 at 21:21 Grygus says:
Since the customers are the ones who paid, I would say that it is the customers who owe BioWare nothing. So that leaves everyone even, and we can complain and ask for a better product if we feel it could have been done better at that price point. It isn’t entitlement, it is Trade. That’s how the world works.
28/06/2012 at 21:34 Brun says:
RPS has changed ever since the Diablo 3 Debacle started, both in the tone of the articles and the now incendiary comment section, and it’s not for the better.
I’ve noticed it too. The Diablo 3 articles were laden so thickly with it that it almost seems like they were preparing them well in advance, even before they played the game (and my suspicion is that they’re doing the same for their undoubtedly glowing reviews for Torchlight 2). Most people probably gave the Diablo 3 articles a pass since their agenda was aligned pretty well with majority opinion. That certainly doesn’t appear to be the case here, so hopefully the disagreement will snap them out of it.
28/06/2012 at 21:41 Toberoth says:
“…it almost seems like they were preparing them well in advance, even before they played the game (and my suspicion is that they’re doing the same for their undoubtedly glowing reviews for Torchlight 2).”
Come on.
28/06/2012 at 21:47 John Walker says:
Well that’s a hefty pile of bullshit. The Diablo III articles were written in reaction to the debacle.
But if you think they showed a shift in style, then you might have missed the last few years of Ubisoft/EA/Activision/Fox News articles!
28/06/2012 at 21:56 Brun says:
I said it was a suspicion. It’s probably an unfounded one. But it did actually cross my mind, which was a first in my history of reading RPS articles.
28/06/2012 at 22:22 Ryz says:
I definitely do not agree that there was anything suspicious about their D3 articles. I was only pointing out that they were tonality different in their writing than normal, and seemed to attract a certain…”type” to the site.
28/06/2012 at 21:45 John Walker says:
If not liking one article means you want to storm off from a website you enjoy, then, er, bye!
28/06/2012 at 22:16 subedii says:
Not the article, but the basic approach you took with it.
To be honest, I thought his opinion, whether you agree or disagree with it, was well stated. It was reasonably argued and didn’t descend into ad-hominem. And there’s plenty there to debate with if you do fundamentally disagree with it.
If you’re not going to address what he’s saying, it might have been better not to respond at all. Because this? I’ll be honest, it seems just a bit childish as a response.
28/06/2012 at 22:17 Ryz says:
Storm off? One article?
That’s not what I said at all, John. But now I certainly am calmly removing RPS from my RSS feeds, shaking my head at it all. This mocking tone is exactly what I was criticizing and has been appearing in more and more articles — not just one.
It especially bothered me this time because you were my favorite writer on the site. It had nothing to do with ME3 at all.
I’m glad you opted to clarify the article a bit, though I’m going to remember the dismissive snark you responded with far longer than that poorly written article.
29/06/2012 at 00:37 John Walker says:
Dude, you ended your comment saying you were done with the site, and that we wouldn’t miss your hits. That’s saying you’re not going to read any more, because of this one article. I didn’t make that up!
“I think we’re done, RPS. I’m sure you won’t miss my measly page hits and advertising revenue, but this entire thing is incredibly disappointing.”
And I stand by what I said – if your not liking one article is enough to make you refuse to read something you previously enjoyed, then that’s your call – a very weird one, but fine.
29/06/2012 at 02:08 Ryz says:
I think you’re reading quite a bit of anger into what I typed that simply wasn’t there. More than anything I was bummed out because I *do* enjoy the site, or at least I did. I said that it was more than just this article and more of a tonal shift that felt site wide. I’d been a bit irritable towards things for the last month or so, and have been visiting less and less. This just happened to be the trigger for a comment.
And yeah, I did say that. The keyword was “I *think* we’re done. . .”. I was trying to express how disappointed I was, that I was seriously considering dropping one of the only gaming sites I read over how things had been lately.
I stand by what I said as well, though I’m willing to chalk things up to a misunderstanding of both the original article and my comment and agree to disagree if you are. :P
29/06/2012 at 11:52 jrodman says:
If another site member wanted to drop the snarky response, it might fly.
In this context, yours did most definitely not.
Someone dropped a valid criticism, and in two responses you’ve yet to respond.
28/06/2012 at 22:51 irongamer says:
I wondered what that smooching sound was, but totally didn’t expect RPS to be kissing Bioware’s arse… ewwwww.
As for the new ending. It was as close to the way it should have ended, just remove the silly god child. I just couldn’t buy the other races defeating the reapers after 2+ games of building them up. And of course humanity defeats the reapers with a single blow, we need to get over ourselves.
I’ve heard it said quite often that it is easy to come up with the beginning to a story or some general ideas for a good story but pulling off a good ending is really the difficult part. I have enjoyed other Bioware games but I think they dropped the ball on this one.
28/06/2012 at 21:02 eld says:
Technically it’s now the A, B, C and D ending, which means that it truly isn’t just the three endings they promised the game wouldn’t have :P
28/06/2012 at 21:02 Nick says:
Someone’s got too big for his boots.
28/06/2012 at 21:05 Sardonic says:
The original dark energy ending would have been better. For one thing, it retroactively makes Tali’s
Haestrom mission in ME2 pointless to not have anything at all about Dark Energy in ME3.
Anyway I’m reasonably satisfied with the new endings, they salvaged what they could from the garbage that were the original endings. If they wanted to really do it right though they would have had a ‘refuse and win’ option where you have to have a near perfect EMS for it. Maybe hack into the crucible, turn the beam outward, use it like the death star 2′s superlaser and take out all the reapers attacking earth before running out of power, where the rest would only be defeated with a high enough EMS.
Oh well, at least the ending isn’t a complete slap in the face anymore.
28/06/2012 at 21:06 Chandos says:
“Self-entitled fart of a human.” Wow, that was seriously unnecessary. Made me double-check that I was really reading a RPS article.
Sir, you just lost some respect from me.
28/06/2012 at 21:07 diamondmx says:
I have to say I’m kinda disappointed in the article – the arguments against the ME3 ending have merit, the holes in the plot are big enough to drive a truck through, the Deus Ex Machina is extremely heavy handed, and the devs did make some pretty specific promises about the ending that were not fulfilled.
There are people who I’m sure you’ve heard from who elaborate the problems much more succinctly than I will manage, but in short, it seemed like it was a rushed out the door ending because they didn’t have the time to do it right.
As for people demanding a change to what they feel was a significant failure – Bioware did ask the players to love the game, they worked hard to ensure the players loved the game, and that comes with some fairly (but not unreasonably) high expectations, and some harsh reactions when those expectations are not met.
There are a few other series who have encouraged the fans to bask in one story to quite such a degree, and when they do it right, the fans will praise the results for decades to come. When they do it wrong, they will get out the torches.
Myself, I thought the endings were bit ‘meh’, and I was kinda disappointed by the way it was all presented in the end. I threw up a little in my mouth when the “Buy some DLC!” popup appeared, though. Oh, Hi EA. That shit was tacky.
ME3 was great, but it ended with a smile and a nod, when it could have got a standing ovation.
28/06/2012 at 22:27 Archonsod says:
“As for people demanding a change to what they feel was a significant failure – Bioware did ask the players to love the game, they worked hard to ensure the players loved the game, and that comes with some fairly (but not unreasonably) high expectations, and some harsh reactions when those expectations are not met.”
Yes, but at the same time I think it’s reasonable for said people to display those reactions in a manner that would indicate an emotional level greater than a two year old. If you want to rant about how bad the ending is fine, but having a toy throwing temper tantrum and demanding they change it is the kind of behaviour that should be met with the contempt it deserves. And a clip around the ear if at all possible.
28/06/2012 at 21:07 Urthman says:
John Walker thinks Bioware’s writing is generally good (SPOILER: It’s not). I think he must be comparing it with British TV soap operas or something. So factor that into how you read his opinions about the ending.
28/06/2012 at 21:08 Grover says:
Kotaku-level baiting. Throwing insults at the consumers. Throwing sympathy and accolades at poor little Bioware.
This is Bioware Fan forum drivel. Why is Forbes still the best at seeing through this “entitlement” slur that doesn’t even exist in any other form of media?
“But the notion that angry or disappointed fans are displaying a sense of “entitlement” is deeply misguided, and perhaps unique to the gaming industry – a myth perpetuated by the industry and, apparently, by many journalists who cover the industry. Consumers who purchase your goods or services are not acting like they’re “entitled” to something that they have no right to. This implies that they did nothing to deserve their frustration and have no right to complain. It’s a term that in this usage is interchangeable with “spoiled.”
It’s also completely wrong-headed.
Colin says that there’s a “proper” way to complain, but he never really says what that is beyond not buying games or DLC that you don’t like. That’s fine advice, as far as it goes, but I’m not sure why it’s “proper” whereas asking for a new ending is the act of a bunch of selfish children stomping their feet.
What Colin is really saying is that gamers have no investment in the games they play and love (or hate.) It’s the same attitude you hear in politics when someone says “If you don’t love America, why don’t you go somewhere else?”
But gamers really do have investment in their games – often more than in television, a medium where you hear plenty of discontent from fans (yet no television reviewers, to my knowledge, calling the fans “entitled.”) Gamers are often involved in modding games after release, often with the blessing of the developers. New texture packs, characters, or maps are common in games like Skyrim or Valve’s catalogue.
The relationship between gamer and developer, and across the entire community, is a social and participatory relationship. Gamers may not work on the actual development of a title like Mass Effect 3, but they’ve invested their time and money and support into that franchise and there is no one “proper” way to complain about the ending. Nor are angry fans merely “entitled” or “spoiled” simply for angrily voicing their concerns or asking for a new ending.” – http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/13/mass-effect-3-and-the-pernicious-myth-of-gamer-entitlement/
Rock Paper Shotgun, I am disappointed you would endorse a producers over consumers mindset. That’s all any company could ever want, the media covering them to paint concerned consumers as cry babies.
EDIT: At least this ME3 story is over and I won’t have to read the smug industry insider dismissals anymore. If you keep using your soapbox to look down your nose at consumers and spit on them you won’t stay very popular, except with sycophantic idiots.
28/06/2012 at 21:11 MrWolf says:
“The relationship between gamer and developer, and across the entire community, CAN, IN SOME INSTANCES, BE a social and participatory relationship.”
There, I fixed it for you. Your original, blanket and all-encompassing statement was just SO INCREDIBLY WRONG that I am dizzy from the number of facedesks it led to. (Spoiler: MANY.)
28/06/2012 at 21:17 Grover says:
Reading comprehension, you lack it.
28/06/2012 at 21:11 VastGirth says:
I’ve been a fan of walker for years, he was by far my favourite in PC gamer many moons ago. (loved They’re back). But the quality of his articles has been slowly declining for years and he seems to be growing in knobbishness as time goes by. This awful article is pointlessly trollish and one of the worst things i had read on RPS. Sad. At least all the rest of the old guard and the new guys seem to be doing good things…
28/06/2012 at 21:49 John Walker says:
S’weird – I called people way worse things in They’re Back!
28/06/2012 at 21:14 BulletMagnet says:
Not sure what this author was trying to achieve with the article. Why all the unnecessarily offensive comments and slants? It just distracts from any real point he was trying to make and instead makes him look more immature than the people he is deriding.
28/06/2012 at 22:28 rocketman71 says:
That’s because he has no real point.
28/06/2012 at 23:10 MarkN says:
re: ” Why all the unnecessarily offensive comments and slants? It just distracts from any real point he was trying to make and instead makes him look more immature than the people he is deriding.”
No, no – the offensive comments and slants were very much necessary, in my opinion. The people these were aimed at bloody well deserved it. Pathetic mewling idiots the lot of them.
29/06/2012 at 08:50 Grover says:
Keep kissing his ass and maybe one day he’ll let you lick his toilet seat.
28/06/2012 at 23:55 Tritagonist says:
I agree. What’s the point? The objections to the ME3 endings have actually produced some of the most well argued and interesting forum posts and YouTube videos about any game I’ve ever seen. Aiming an article about BioWare’s attempt at patching up their work at those on the all-Caps level of posts isn’t very compelling.
28/06/2012 at 21:24 DrThief says:
Bioware is entitled to keep its artistic integrity, just as i am entitled not to buy their next game.
The problem with the original endings was that they didn’t make much sense as presented, leaving too many plot holes and questions, that they didn’t fit in thematically with the rest of the series, and that they simply ignored what was arguably the selling point of the series: That your actions and decisions matter and affect the story of Commander Shepard. In the end Bioware simply chose to ignore everything you did and went on with their grand design, thinking themselves as writers of the greatest caliber.
The extended endings do address most of the complaints regarding the 1st point; There are now far fewer plot holes and everything is explained if not fully at least adequately. But the other problems remain because Bioware had to retain their ”artistic vision”. At least now the endings are merely disappointing instead of not making any sense at all.
Another disappointing thing is the tone of this article. Yes John, you liked the endings. Good for you. There’s no need to call people who didn’t like Bioware’s grand artistic vision and voiced their concerns about that, ”a self-entitled giant fart of a human”. Maybe you should apply for a job at Bioware. I’m sure they would appreciate your mastery of the english language and deep knowledge of the creative process.
28/06/2012 at 23:50 George says:
Well excuuuse me Princess!
28/06/2012 at 21:25 Hellfire257 says:
Nice inflammatory article. -1 for this one, RPS.
28/06/2012 at 21:28 tomme says:
Did not expect a low quality article like this on RPS. Sure, we can disagree about the ending, I myself thought it was horrible, but the name calling… come on now.
And one more thing. I would respect BioWare more if they just stood by thier ending, instead of releasing this thing… It just feel so unnecessary. The ending for me was shit, and it still is after this explanation. If they felt forced to explain the ending for us that did not “get it”, why not just do it in a blog post. Would have saved alot of man hours.
Ps. Is John Walker on EA payroll now? ;)
28/06/2012 at 21:28 Mehbah says:
The world would be an objectively better place if every moron that thinks the entitlement argument holds any water dropped dead.
Demanding a better product is a good thing. It’s the only reason things improve in the first place. Which the games industry is a perfect example of, since pretty much nothing has improved in the last few years other than graphics and the scope of the marketing. People don’t dare to want improvements. They’re told to be content with whatever trash gets marketed enough, and otherwise they’re self-entitled.
Isn’t it funny? The gaming industry is making more money than ever, yet we customers have to pay more and more for less and less. Shorter games with loads of DLC and pre-order bonuses (wouldn’t want people to hold off on buying games until word of mouth gets around!). Does no one else see it? They expect us to pay more and more for less and inferior content – why the hell WOULDN’T we demand higher quality and more content? And don’t fucking dare to pretend that the money goes back into game development – Bioware cut all the corners they could with ME3. Stock-photo Tali, sprites for background characters, no controller on PC, even less choices and consequences, still reusing those damn conversation animations from ME1, so on and so on. Bioware spends their budget on voice acting and marketing, and half-asses the rest. The Old Republic and ME3 proves that without a doubt.
Let’s not forget that Bioware and EA are complete, utter assholes to their customers. They do everything they can to rile the “entitled trolls” up so they will get angry, and then EA/Bioware can play the part of the innocent victim. Sadly, a lot of these comments prove that this tactic works flawlessly.
And the “critics”? How damn stupid would you have to be to deny that they are, directly or indirectly, paid off? IGN recently ran an article about how EA aren’t the bad guys at all – AND THEY HAVE ONE OF THEIR PEOPLE IN THE FUCKING GAME. IGN’s Jessica Chobot is literally an NPC on the Normandy. And that’s ignoring the whole deal between “critics” and publishers, where the former have every incentive to praise everything about the publishers because it nets them marketing money, early releases, trips, various goodies and whatnot. Remember Kane and Lynch? There you have the state of the videogames industry. Last time RPS defended ME3, they had the whole site covered ME3 marketing (of the 360 version, no less). And now this fucking caveman calls anyone that demands things from Bioware self-entitled. When people demand Bioware to give them what they advertised that the game would have, but didn’t. They outright lied in their marketing, and now the assholes have managed to spin it so that those who complain are the ones at fault. Absolutely disgusting.
If you actually use the “self-entitlement” argument, you are human filth. This is not subjective; this is an objective fact. You have failed to understand that criticism, no matter in what form, is a good thing. You have failed to understand that customers demanding a better product, especially when it was falsely advertised, is a good thing. You have failed to understand that it’s the developers that should listen to the customers, and not the customers that should defend the developers from other customers.
And when I say listen to their customers, I don’t mean appealing to the lowest common denominator, which is what EA/Bioware does. Yes, I’m sure it was their artistic vision that completely nuked any actual role playing and turned the gameplay into yet another Gears of War clone. They certainly didn’t do that because they “want the Call of Duty audience”.
These people sicken me.
28/06/2012 at 21:35 Toberoth says:
“The world would be an objectively better place if every moron that thinks the entitlement argument holds any water dropped dead.”
That’s when I stopped reading.
28/06/2012 at 22:06 Jimbo says:
And started clapping.
28/06/2012 at 22:09 Toberoth says:
I do applaud rhetoric that completely dissolves the validity of the core argument, it’s true!
10/07/2012 at 11:58 checkthisout says:
And standing up, shouting “Bravo!”
28/06/2012 at 22:49 CommanderJ says:
Strong words, but many words of truth. I work in a business selling products to consumers, and no one would ever dream of calling customers ‘entitled’ if they complain about a broken or bad product. It’s their right. They paid money for it.
This entitlement stuff only happens in the games industry, and you can bet your asses the publishers can’t believe their luck. Not only have they managed to make customers accept shoddy products that need patching to even work, (not to mention day one DLC etc) but they’ve even convinced customers to actively repress other customers’ valid critique.
I’ve long since stopped expecting any games journalist to be completely objective when it comes to talking about developers or publishers, but damn, John…this was not a good article at all.
29/06/2012 at 10:37 eVb says:
The tone of your comment is unnecessarily aggressive and thus undermines it’s purpose.
But mostly I agree to the essence of your arguments.
28/06/2012 at 21:30 Gassalasca says:
I love you John.
28/06/2012 at 21:31 dieffenbachj says:
Who let a Kotaku writer in here?
It’s one thing to disagree with people, it’s another to just blatantly insult them. I don’t care if this is an opinion piece; your opinion shouldn’t involve belittling people you disagree with.
I’m disappointed with RPS for allowing someone as unprofessional as that to post anything on their site. That’s a YouTube comment, not an editorial.
28/06/2012 at 21:50 John Walker says:
I will have a word with me about this immediately. I’d better have a good reason to justify my behaviour to me, or I’ll be giving me hell.
28/06/2012 at 21:56 dieffenbachj says:
Holy s***, your response is to be mocking? Are you drunk or something? Had a bout with the wife maybe?
I’m done here. I’ve seen enough: if this is how RPS represents itself, I’m done reading it altogether.
You don’t need ad revenue from me. You don’t deserve it, with that self-entitled attitude.
28/06/2012 at 22:03 Toberoth says:
I’m not sure if “self-entitled” is really the right word, and your reaction seems a little over the top to me, but I must admit I am a bit unsettled by John throwing these comments around. I understand they’re meant to be funny but I also sense a bit of unjustified snark behind them, which isn’t really what I expect from RPS.
28/06/2012 at 22:09 dieffenbachj says:
Usually, by adulthood, most people learn that when someone is angry (perhaps after being insulted), giving ‘funny’ jabs is not at all helpful to their mood. It’s a bully’s way: making jokes at someone who’s upset over something in a public context, so that they’ll get more upset and all of your buddies will say “Good job! You’re hilarious when you’re mocking people who are feeling insulted and belittled!”
It just so happens that in this case, nobody’s chiming in to say how hilarious John Walker is for backing up his insults with mocking.
28/06/2012 at 22:14 Toberoth says:
Ok. Your reaction is definitely over the top. I understand what you’re saying, but I think you need to calm down for a second, re-read your comment, then John’s, and then consider which is the more inflammatory. Note as well that RPS isn’t allowing John to post this, John, Jim, and Alec (I believe?) are RPS. The point of his post, I believe, was that the only person who can slap him on the wrist is himself (or maybe Jim and/or Alec).
28/06/2012 at 22:16 John Walker says:
Oh good heavens, you put a snippy comment telling the site off for giving a wretch like me work. I co-own the site. I was making a joke about that, and how you had rather belittled me.
28/06/2012 at 22:53 MrCrun says:
Oh good, you beat me to it. Better than me unsurprisingly. “HOW dare they let an owner post HERE!!!??!”
29/06/2012 at 00:09 Phantoon says:
Did you not find humor in him calling you entitled, though?
I sure did.
29/06/2012 at 04:28 Runs With Foxes says:
And I would have thought the other co-owners would be a bit concerned by the way Walker’s been representing them lately. But maybe they’re as bad as each other.
28/06/2012 at 21:33 ThTa says:
Good job, John, you made me turn on AdBlock for this site for your Kotaku-level drivel.
As for my take on the ending: I started off with no hope whatsoever, especially after their constant self-congratulatory PR-speak (It was controversial, just like we intended it to be. Guys!) and pathetic excuses (“Artistic integrity” does not make you impervious to criticism, it’s barely a real thing).
But… I was pleasantly surprised. They had to resort to contradicting themselves and actually changing parts of the ending with the Normandy landing in the middle of a warzone; which despite being unbelievably silly, was made up for by terrific dialogue and voice acting, along with the Relays no longer being shown blowing up, but simply falling apart a bit, but they made it acceptable, at least.
The dialogue with the Starchild still felt incredibly contrived, but at least they’ve bothered to offer slight explanations, and the slides afterwards were a welcome touch. Synthesis is still an abomination, but they did the very best they could with the concept, for which I can commend them. The new Refuse ending is brilliant, it lets Shepard say everything I wanted to say to that brat, and it lets people beat the Reapers (albeit a whole new civilization) without resorting to any sort of deus ex machina. (And where the initial three endings were reminiscent of DX1, this one seems clearly inspired by DX:HR’s “Let the facility implode” ending. Just thought I’d mention it.)
Overall, it’s mediocre, it’s a lackluster, thematically challenged ending for a series that deserved far better. But at least it’s no longer insultingly bad. If they’d shipped with this, I think I would’ve maintained faith in BioWare; now, the damage has been done, but they’ve at least made ME3 a worthwile experience as a whole.
28/06/2012 at 22:01 Hug_dealer says:
They have no artistic integrity.
How Bioware can think that its ok to release a game that reuses the same cave dozens of times for different quests, and puts you in the same city for an entire game with no changes over the years, along with the fact that all combat is enemies coming in waves, and still claim artistic integrity at all. Sure one is writing, but the other is gameplay, and visual which are all just as important.
28/06/2012 at 21:40 MistyMike says:
Walker, you are above using such petty insults.
Also: ITAAAAAAALYYYYYYYYYYy!!!!!
29/06/2012 at 03:14 stryker619 says:
Balotelli!!!!!!!
28/06/2012 at 21:40 Cryptoshrimp says:
I.. wow, I don’t know what this is. Am I missing a level of subtle irony or something? Is John drunk? I didn’t mind the original endings that much, but I was dissapointed that we didn’t get to wrap some things up after a trilogy of emotional investment.
The new endings – which I haven’t seen yet – sounds like a valid compromise. Many of the arguments against the old endings held water and were laid out in a more-or-less coherent and non-shouty fashion. Why are you insulting people who don’t agree with you? That’s so unlike the RPS writer I (barely, if at all) know.
28/06/2012 at 22:29 Archonsod says:
“Many of the arguments against the old endings held water and were laid out in a more-or-less coherent and non-shouty fashion”
Which internet do you live on, and can we all join please?
28/06/2012 at 23:18 Cryptoshrimp says:
Hey, I still said ‘mostly.’
28/06/2012 at 21:42 fatconan says:
One point about the Synthesis ending: Why is everyone fine with the idea of being forcefully and fundamentally corrupted by alien technology? Surely someone must object? Or is the entire galaxy now just one homogenised lump of brain-washed acceptance? Either way, it doesn’t really seem to warrant the sweetness and light of the extended scenes…
28/06/2012 at 21:49 ThTa says:
But didn’t you hear? Shepard is ready for it! He can spread his ‘essence’ through the galaxy!
Now Synthetics will get DNA and gain a greater understanding of sentient organics, and plants! And all the Reapers will build a perfect utopia for everyone and there will never be anymore need for evolution or any sort of sensible biology, the green circuitry magic takes care of all of that! And Kasumi’s dead boyfriend’s memory imprint becomes a REAL LIVE GHOST and they’ll live happily ever after!
And- and- Ughhh. Help me out here, guys.
29/06/2012 at 13:47 briktal says:
It does seem like Synthesis is supposed to be the “good” ending. But it’s seriously messed up. Those aren’t choices one person should make for everyone. It also seems like it wouldn’t even be a “victory.” You lose almost everything you were fighting the reapers to protect. Then a minor unclarified point: what happens to the reaper hybrid abominations? You have those enemies that are like a dozen people are stitched together, but what happens to them in synthesis?
28/06/2012 at 21:45 eveningstar2 says:
I would’ve loved to hear your honest thoughts on the topic, John. I’ve been reading RPS for a year and a half now owing to your writers’ nuanced perspectives and gift of gab.
Really disappointed in this article, though. I’ve tried my best to stay distant from the hyper-passionate criticism against or defense of Mass Effect 3 and its ending, and I’m always very interested in writers who dissect the topic with evidence of critical thinking and even-handed reason.
What I see in this article is the sort of passive-aggressive cheap shots I’d expect from /v/, let alone RPS. The quality of writing here is so far below the usual standard that I had to read the article a couple times over to make sure you weren’t being subtly facetious.
It’s hard to find good, professional games journalism, and this is seriously unprofessional. I’m sorry to find myself unsubscribing from your feed.
28/06/2012 at 21:49 Hug_dealer says:
I wont even bother with the extended cut, because the originals were garbage, and shouldnt have required this in the first place.
Its not the ending im unhappy with, its basically the story told in the 3rd one that isnt up to par, and pretty much doesnt add anything to the series other than a conclusion, and with all the plot holes, and the fact that none of your decisions made in me3 or the previous games matter at all.
I love dark endings, i love when important people i like get killed off, what i dont like is poor and sloppy writing, which me3 was and has been explained to death by people better at writing than myself.
28/06/2012 at 21:50 Stellar Duck says:
“They’ve clearly spent a fortune doing it, and it’s yours for free.”
Nah, I paid for my game. Rather more than most games if memory serves. So it’s not free. And the ending is still structurally terrible.
If you want to use a deus ex machina (and what a literal one they went with; they out deus ex’d Deus Ex by far) you really need to be a good writer. None of the guys at Bioware are, it seems.
28/06/2012 at 21:52 HermitUK says:
If nothing else, hopefully BioWare (and other developers) have realised that people care about your endings. It’s not something you slap together about a month before your Gold date; it’s something you need to consider throughout development. This isn’t like a book where you can rewrite chapters on a whim, after all.
That said, I’m looking forward to seeing how BioWare apply whatever lesson’s they’ve learnt from this to their next project. Assuming EA don’t rush it out the door unfinished, again.
28/06/2012 at 21:53 John Walker says:
Bit concerned about some of the reading here. I’m pretty obviously calling those who demanded the ending be changed farts. Not those who simply didn’t like it. That’s the bit where I say “heck, I can even hate it without requiring it be changed.”
But you’re all farts.
28/06/2012 at 21:58 dieffenbachj says:
“I acknowledge there were plot holes, perhaps even mistakes, but not being a self-entitled giant fart of a human, I find that I’m able to accept that the ending of something does not have to meet my preconceived expectations, nor wrap up everything I’ve encountered in a neat bow”
You do NOT under ANY POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION say ‘anyone who wanted the ending changed is an entitled fart’
You DO say, under EVERY interpretation, ‘anyone who does not accept the ending or find it met their expectations or wanted the plot threads wrapped up’ is an entitled fart.
That’s why people are upset. You didn’t insult anyone who wanted the ending changed, or complained about invalid points. You insulted EVERYONE WHO DID NOT ENJOY THE ENDING. Even those who didn’t mind it being left intact. Anyone who disagrees with your opinion that the ending was perfectly acceptable is an entitled fart.
28/06/2012 at 22:11 John Walker says:
Fair enough. I’ve put a correction and an apology at the top.
28/06/2012 at 22:24 Jimbo says:
I think you just won all of the irony points on the internet. That’s it, there are none left now.
28/06/2012 at 22:38 John Walker says:
I didn’t change anything! I just clarified… oh wait.
28/06/2012 at 22:41 ThTa says:
I think the word he was looking for was coincidence.
You’re harping on about people being entitled farts for getting angry and demanding something be changed, and now you’ve decided to “clarify” your initial intent by adding something to your original message. It works on so many levels, and it’s honestly kind of funny, so thanks for that.
edit: Oh, bollocks, that was sneaky.
28/06/2012 at 22:47 HermitUK says:
Is there an alternate version of this article where we reject Walker’s ‘clarifiaction’ and the world explodes?
28/06/2012 at 23:16 Jimbo says:
No, you have to write your *own* article about John clarifying *his* article about Bioware clarifying *their* ending , and then you have to clarify *your* article about John clarifying *his* article about Bioware changing *their* ending… and then the world explodes.
28/06/2012 at 23:47 Nick says:
you need to post in both a blue and yellow background as well.
29/06/2012 at 05:54 Wisq says:
You’re contradicting yourself in your own post.
To “accept” the ending is not necessarily to “enjoy” the ending. You’re conflating the two and using them interchangeably, and that’s the source of your misunderstanding.
It was only the lack of acceptance — of demanding that they change it — that he objected to.
Frankly, while I didn’t play ME2 or ME3 (and am glad I didn’t, now), I tend to agree. The proper stance is to critique the endings, maybe even to refuse to buy future products from Bioware, but not to demand that they go back and change it to your liking. To make such a demand is to ask them to stoop to the same level of artistic corruption that people have been accusing them of in the first place.
28/06/2012 at 21:59 Brun says:
Nothing gets better if no one is willing to demand change.
28/06/2012 at 22:05 Toberoth says:
Well why do they have to change a game that they’ve already shipped? Why can’t they accept that they messed up a bit, leave the ending as-is, and try harder for their next game? That’s still change, because they’re incorporating lessons learned.
28/06/2012 at 22:15 Uthred says:
Because modern games via DLC and patches are almost inherently incomplete initial experiences and if we have the technology in place to fix the issue why not make use of it?
28/06/2012 at 22:18 ThTa says:
Why wouldn’t they change it if they can? Plays get reworked, books get new editions (in fact, I didn’t hear any of this “entitlement” or “artistic integrity” bollocks when BioWare promised to try and fix the abomination that was Mass Effect Deception), even paintings get painted over (including the Mona Lisa) over the responses of the artist’s peers. Games can get patched, they can be reprogrammed, if something should probably be improved, and you have the means (funding, time and audience) to do so, why not?
Why turn games into pure products, out of the developer/publisher’s hands the second it hits the shelves, when it can be an experience? Should there not be expansions and free changes? Is story somehow so completely different from every other aspect of the game? Should every developer just resort to an extreme version of Activision’s “release a new, slightly changed Call of Duty every year”? And can someone please tell me why consumers do not have the right to ask for change?
edit: And to poke fun at myself for that awful sentence structure in the most original way possible, before anyone else does: And what’s the deal with airline food?
28/06/2012 at 22:27 Toberoth says:
“Plays get reworked, books get new editions [...] even paintings get painted over (including the Mona Lisa) over the responses of the artist’s peers.”
Fair enough, but these examples are all fundamentally different from the Mass Effect case, which is much more of a knee-jerk response to fan outcry, rather than changes incorporated as the result of a peer-review process.
28/06/2012 at 22:31 Archonsod says:
People have been complaining about the ending of the Bible for thousands of years. We’re still waiting for the re-write.
28/06/2012 at 22:35 ThTa says:
I was initially writing something to refute your claim of it being “a knee-jerk response to fan outcry”, going on about how a lot of the fans had quite valid and well thought-out criticism, and how BioWare clearly put a lot of effort into making the best of their initial intent while taking the aforementioned into account. But I’ll actually agree with you on it, that last arguement (BioWare’s end) was actually working against me: They didn’t really respond to the criticism, they responded to the anger. They didn’t seek to improve their work, they seeked to appease those who were complaining. And yeah, that’s the wrong way to go about it.
29/06/2012 at 00:11 Phantoon says:
Well, this explains why I don’t come here nearly as often as I used to.
29/06/2012 at 06:43 Wisq says:
Changing the ending of this game, for free, takes away resources that could be enter spent ensuring the ending for the next one isn’t crap. (That includes stuff like focus testing.)
I would rather have a bunch of games that actually get it right from the start, than an endless series of games with crap endings that use the audience as a giant focus group for their inevitable “ending rewrite” DLC.
Granted, if you have the resources to spare, go ahead and see if you can make an ending that people actually like, and reuse those lessons next time. But these things aren’t zero cost.
Besides, if you’ve proven that gamers will buy a decent game despite a crap ending — and buy your next product, and the next one, and so on, despite never ever making a good ending — what incentive is there for putting any effort into endings at all?
28/06/2012 at 23:43 Roman K says:
Please define “change”, John.
I’ve noted your clarification/apology, but I’m still wondering what it is you considered to be demanding changes in the first place.
Because here’s the thing. I, for example, was not satisfied with the endings because they had plot-holes, contradicted some of the game universe’s basic rules, and the “let’s keep it vague, it’s cool” path Bioware chose essentially backfired utterly, leaving the ending options to be seemingly largely the same, with the rest being left to our imagination. Unfortunately, perhaps we’re not quite imaginative. Or too imaginative, as fans. So be it.
Here’s the thing – the Extended Cut is change. Specifically the exact change I wanted. It closes plot holes, adds clarifications for points which are either too vague or make little to no sense, and retcons a few key bits (the mass relays being the key bit), along with adding a much needed epilogue.
These are changes. I asked for these changes. In a neat bow, so to speak. Because I expected more from Bioware, and got less. And here’s the thing… while the Bioware forums had plenty of idiots and even desperate conspiracy theorists (and they got to that state because they were *fans*, who were really, *really* hoping for something better), they too played a part. The part being?
Getting Bioware to restore some of the artistic integrity they *lost*. Bioware listened to the fans, and not by serving the lowest common denominator. They essentially listened to the sensible requests for change, and corrected the endings accordingly.
The endings are better now. *BIoware* is better now, John. Because they’ve showed they’re ready and willing to accept constructive criticism from their fanbase, and to act upon it, and through it they become better at creating what they create.
And all of *that* happened because a lot of people ranted about not getting what they expected to get – not in the sense of a happy ending, but in the sense of an *well-made* ending.
28/06/2012 at 23:48 Roman K says:
Oh, and speaking of endings and farty crowds demanding changes to endings…
Ever read any Sherlock Holmes stories? Had Doyle kept to his take on things, there’d be a lot less of those.
28/06/2012 at 21:55 Buemba says:
Man, the amount of contempt game journalists have for gamers never ceases to amaze me. I understand the comment section of any website can drive a sane man crazy in a matter of days, but still, tone it down with the “entitlement” shtick, will ya?
28/06/2012 at 21:56 Uthred says:
It’s not just that the passive aggressive snark seems needless and childish, whats worse is that you couldnt even commit to it and instead cowardly (and transparently) prevaricated back and forth between “Suck it you entitled gamers!” and “Oh hey you guys totally had valid points!”
While some game fans can be overly entitled, especially on the internet, it has now become a stick to beat dissenters with instead of actually engaging with what can be valid complaints – similar to dismissing people as fanboys or noobs. When someone presents a reasonable argument then it behooves you to respond in kind. Reasonable entitlement is not a dirty thing. It’s unfortunate that this issue seems to have brought out the worst in otherwise reasonable games journalism.
28/06/2012 at 21:58 Vivi says:
I prefer Richard Cobbett’s article on Eurogamer, but maybe that’s just because it’s more in line with how I view the whole ME3 ending stuff.
28/06/2012 at 23:11 subedii says:
No, Cobbet made a deliberate choice. He decided not to do the easy thing and deliberately focus SOLELY on the angsty ragers, but instead on the wider and more relevant points and discussion that was to be had.
It would have been spectacularly easy to score plenty of cheap hits, make lots of “knowing” and snide comments by tarring all detractors with the same brush, and throwing out any chance of real discourse on the topic by simply going on about how… oh I dunno… everyone else who disagrees is entitled and directly insulting them for example.
Instead he focussed on the sensible points and discussion, and continued the conversation from there.
Yeah I agree with Cobbet’s overall stance. And maybe that stance prevents him from doing so otherwise, but I’m still glad he didn’t go that route.
28/06/2012 at 21:59 Tomba says:
RPS is my go-to site for critical, well written gaming news and reviews.
If it has now become acceptable to insult its readers, I think i should reconsider my options.
I have seen plenty of die hard Bioware/EA fans that defend the ME3 endings while refusing to actually read what the complaints are about. For someone to actually acknowledge the problems, but still call the people who complain farts, is probably even worse. If you start out by saying that Bioware did a good job on the ME3 ending, and continuing to say that changing things on that ending was also good, you’re kind of making a fool (or a fanboy) out of yourself. No matter what they did or would have done, you would have liked it. If I wanted to read about that, I’d just read the press release.
The author is probably far to high on his own supply to read comments that might not agree with him, but I’ll try and spell it out again.
The complaints were NOT about:
* The lack of a ‘happy’ ending or just not agreeing with the three provided ones
* The fact that choosing an ending was just pressing button A, B or C
* The fact that all of the ending scenes were 95% identical (that just showed of how lazy or underfunded Bioware was while making this last game in the series.
The complaints were about the fact that everybody got the same three options, no matter how they played the three games, what decisions they made, what character they build up. EA/Bioware actually PROMISED us that our actions would matter. They did not matter in the slightest. If an ending does not make sense, including some allowance for ‘figure it out for yourselves’, it’s a plain bad ending. Ackownleding this and still claiming it was a good ending just doesn’t make any sense.
It is the creators right to finish this story as they please. And if finishing this story was more about doing it quickly & cheaply because it’s the last game of the franchise, so be it. But it should be a critics job to call them out on that instead of defending it.
28/06/2012 at 22:33 SkittleDiddler says:
Plenty of the complaints I’ve seen about the ending were exactly for the reasons you’re claiming they weren’t. Not everyone that bitched about the ending was logical about it.
28/06/2012 at 22:08 munji says:
DLC ending was good. I liked it, it explained a little bit more about the effects my choice had, and that was all I ever wanted…
It was the end of a series i’ve spent more time in than any other I’ve played and I’m still happy i spent so much time in the ME universe.
Mass Effect 3 original ending was a bit ummm wut. But I still enjoyed 99.99% of it.
Mass Effect 1 was complained about, it had strange controls and omg we had to make choices.
Mass Effect 2 was complained about because it was dumbed down and ‘console-fied’
I’m glad i played all 3. The level of vitriol and hatred aimed personally at people in Bioware was just fucked up.
I got a lot more out of Mass Effect 3 than i did out of, for example, Battlefield, COD:MW and Diablo.. all franchises that i enjoyed, but ultimately, by the end, i felt like i’d just been fucked over by a marketing guru.
If you want to complain about how to kill a legacy… those are prime examples.
28/06/2012 at 22:14 HisMastersVoice says:
Meh. The original endings were make-your-own-story thing and what’s worse, they were also make-your-own-moral. That hasn’t changed. The premise hasn’t changed. It’s still fundamentally out of sync with the rest of the trilogy and nothing short of a complete retcon can change that.
I’m glad some people like it, good for them. But Bioware apparently lost the ability to produce coherent storytelling, or at least lost the ability to write fiction that appeals to me personally and that’s not something that can be covered up with free swag.
28/06/2012 at 22:15 SkittleDiddler says:
I could care less about the ending in Mass Effect 3. What gets me about this whole debacle is that there are actually people who care so much about a fucking video game that they start online petitions, harass and physically threaten those who worked on the game, and catapult the publisher into winning a “Worse Company in America” competition that included corporations that steal people’s homes and crash international economies.
What also gets me about this whole debacle is that EA actually caved in and changed it. They should have told the nastier of the mouth-breathers to bugger off and spend money somewhere else.
The behavior of most everyone involved in this fiasco has been childish. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Great article, John.
28/06/2012 at 22:20 rocketman71 says:
Hah!. There were plot holes, there were mistakes, and then there’s Casey Hudson, who for the life of me I can’t understand why he is still working at Bioware after fucking up Mass Effect so royally.
Bioware didn’t maintain their integrity. They lost it with the original ending. The new endings are prettier, yes. They explain more. They fill some of the plot holes. But the BIG holes are still there, the broken promises are still there (and by that, I mean lots of different endings depending on our decisions, not 3 happy endings viewed through the Pyro’s glasses). We may have a new ending, hell, the three original endings now differ more than being red, green and blue, but it’s still NOT what we were promised time and time again.
So, from me, it’s still FUCK YOU, BIOWARE. Nice try, but not good enough. There really wasn’t anything you can do after Casey Hudson decided he was Isaac fucking Asimov.
Oh, and this still comes with Origin, so… FUCK YOU TOO, EA.
28/06/2012 at 22:22 njolnin says:
I hope I’m the first to point out the…hrmm hrmmm… irony in the revision to the article after reader outrage. I’ll just leave it at that for now.
Text is not the best medium to express the subtleties of the spoken word, in the author’s defense.
Anyone got any puns to lighten the mood after the whole fart debacle? I can’t think of any, so I shouldn’t be the one to toot my own horn.
28/06/2012 at 22:25 Xocrates says:
The whole affair kind of stinks to be honest.
28/06/2012 at 22:26 Jimbo says:
It’s fartoo soon for that, asshole. (?)
28/06/2012 at 22:24 The Sombrero Kid says:
The people who vehemently defend the ending are just as bad as the people who demanded they change it, mass effect 3 had crap writing all the way through, at the end they gave up and gave you the choice of tint you’d like on their lazy end cutscene and the dlc added some extra peyote to the fever dream of mashed up themes & ideas.
28/06/2012 at 22:25 Maldomel says:
The original endings were disappointing because yes it was flawed, and plot holes everywhere and the 3rd game was not quite on par (in my opinion) with the two first, despite those epic moments.
I think I would have appreciated it more if the reapers got stuck with the lovecraftian theme: they have a purpose, but you can’t understand it.
Still, I love you John for what you said at the beginning. Yes, the endings were unsatisfying for many, but no such a commotion was not needed. I think it’s just some kind of backfire from issues people are having with the last Bioware games (DLC, Dragon Age 2, …).
28/06/2012 at 22:27 Laurentius says:
It’s still poorly done ending to the series but at least it is an ending. I have nothing against “open” or vague ending or I don’t claim everything should be tied perfectly 100 % but some things has to be said openly to make an end. Like in LoTR one can think of many endings different from Tolkien’s but story of the Ring has to come to a conclusion, not ends with “maybe” or “stand to reason” at the moment of Ring falling into Mt Doom and colorful explosion, no, audience deserve at least this : Ring is destroyed or it is not. So in ME3 I wanted just to know in my Control ending if the Shepard is dead and are Reapers are deafeated beacuse “old” left me with giant “maybe”, it looked this way but Reapers glowing blue could mean bazzilon of things. In this regard Extended cut delivers and that’s good, apart from it, it’s still poor and meh due to Catalyst of course. I can’t see it defendable. Yes Catalyst arguments are flawed, but that’s small part to it, it turns out Catalyst is just incredibly stupid, like have to go with the cycle for millions years before realizing it’s not that good solution and actually synthesis is “teh shit” but couldn’t think about it earlier. It also cheapens The Reapers and all earlier Shepards accomplishments, in the end they are as stupid as their creator, not some god-machines, no, just imbecilistic off-spring of imbecile god-child AI, sure they are powerful but that’s it. So actually it’s no surprise that I’ve beaten Sovereign and defeated Collectors controlled by Harbinger. Actually it would be insulting to loose to them as they are stupid as fuck, it would be like to be outwitted by a locomotive, go figure…
28/06/2012 at 22:30 Kandon Arc says:
I think the extended cut did as well as it could have working within the parameters Bioware set, but it just made clear how strange those parameters were to begin with. While I don’t find the ending intrinsically bad, it baffles me that it is the ending to a series like ME. It’s like pairing the ending of BSG with the original trilogy of Star Wars. If Luke had got to the Death Star only to be told by the Emperor that the Death Star was necessary to stop the Ewoks swarming the galaxy, people would have wondered if the reels had been mixed up.
ME wasn’t a series that needed or fitted a twist ending. You had your evil, unwavering adversary and you fought them for three games. I think it’s odd to suddenly make a twist to say that they were right all along. ME was always a Star Wars rather than a Star Trek, an Avengers rather than an Inception, and I think the main reason people were upset is that the ending just didn’t feel like Mass Effect.
As to the whole entitled thing, given how eager gamers are to defend idiotic and cynical practices by the industry as compared to consumers in pretty much any other field, I’m much happier to see people acting over entitled rather than defending things that they shouldn’t. I also think artistic integrity is an argument increasingly out of date in this day and age. Art is not a gift from the elite to the unwashed masses, it’s a collaborative enterprise of human society.
28/06/2012 at 22:37 Mr.Dreadlock says:
My exact words after reading this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O1hM-k3aUY
29/06/2012 at 02:02 Utgaardsloke says:
Indeed.
28/06/2012 at 22:38 kalidanthepalidan says:
I like John, farts and all. Farts farts farts!!!
28/06/2012 at 22:42 John Walker says:
Farty high five!
28/06/2012 at 22:44 kalidanthepalidan says:
I think we all should count to 3 and make fart noises. That should make us all feel better. We are all obviously having a very rough day if farts can cause such a ruckus.
Ready?!?
1….
28/06/2012 at 22:46 Iliya Moroumetz says:
It’s been said before, but it bears repeating;
The Refusal ending is Casey Hudson and Mac Walters, stomping their feet, and giving you the finger because we had the sheer, unmitigated gall to not like their ‘artistic vision’, which was comprised of them trying to be either Stanley Kubrick or Deus Ex; Human Revolution and instead looking like M. Knight Shamaylan or any pretentious artsy fartsy ‘art game’.
It certainly didn’t help when the gaming media came to BW’s defense and started tossing insults against the people whom bought this game in the first place.
And furthermore; considering how many hoops publishers are forcing upon us with DRM, DLC, and more in order to control us, I think it’s reasonable for us to get some control of our own in return.
28/06/2012 at 22:53 TillEulenspiegel says:
I can see how that might be true (“don’t want to play along with our arbitrary bullshit choices? fine, you lose!”), but at the same time, it would be entirely satisfactory if it were the only ending to the series.
Maybe I’ve read too much bleak science fiction, but I love that kind of ending where it all goes wrong. And unlike the other three, it actually makes sense and fits with everything that has gone before. It’s a satisfying failure, bringing the cycle back to another beginning.
28/06/2012 at 23:14 HisMastersVoice says:
It would also make zero sense in the context of the previous two and a half game. That’s the problem – the endings, all of them, look like something ripped out from another game (or games) and stitched onto something that’s diametrically different in terms of lead themes.
28/06/2012 at 22:48 qutayba7 says:
I think most of the people who were like me and wanted a new ending didn’t descend to the level of trying to sabotage BioWare or its reputation. We simply wanted them to think about changing the ending and offered constructive, albeit passionate, criticism. A handful of hysterical folks made the Retake movement look bad, something much of the gaming press was eager to jump on.
I take the EC as an olive branch that succeeded in what it set out to do. It did not change the ending, but it fixed some of the other flaws in the ending, thus making it easier to swallow. I’m willing to accept the peace offering. I don’t see it as a “F–K YOU” to the fans at all. I see it as a compromise, and I think most disgruntled fans will meet them halfway and allow BioWare to move on.
As for entitlement, we use the term as a putdown when the implication is that people think they have rights and privileges that they do not (such as demanding an A on a paper based on how long you worked on it rather than the quality of the paper itself). In this case, consumers do, in fact, have the right to confront producers when they are unsatisfied with a product. The more entitled consumers we have out there, the better. Maybe fewer companies would try to sell us crap with pretty packaging.
28/06/2012 at 22:52 bladedsmoke says:
I’ve never played ME3, I’ve heard the endings were terrible but I’ll leave that to others to judge. Just wanted to say that I do think the “self-entitled fart” comment was a bit much, even if it’s understood to only refer to those who wanted the ending to be changed.
Why is it self-entitled to ask for a product you paid money for, which turned out not to live up to your expectations, be altered to your satisfaction? As far as I’m aware, there wasn’t a “demand” that the ending be changed from a lot of people – they just *wanted* it changed, raising money for charity and sending cupcakes to Bioware in order to win Bioware over. Bioware were at perfect liberty to ignore them. The people who sued Bioware about the ending – that was over the top, unwarranted, self-entitled, and fart-like, I’ll admit.
Secondly, to pre-empt people saying that “you don’t ask for a bad movie ending to be changed” – I’m sure you’d be the first to argue that games and films are very different beasts. In games there exists a culture where post-release patches are ubiquitous, not only to iron out bugs, but also to add new content. To ask that a game be changed, then, is hardly self-entitled and stupid – it’s a part of games as a medium. And besides, films are shown to test audiences before release, and often altered to accomodate that audience’s feedback. Is this a horrific compromise of true artistic vision?
True artistic vision is a nonsensical concept. It doesn’t defend against criticism if that vision is still, at the end of the day, not very good. And changing it for the better is always a good thing, for the artist and for the audience, who finally get what they paid £45 for. So why is asking for it to be changed such a horrible response?
28/06/2012 at 22:53 koz says:
It takes quite a lot of balls for an internet critic to insult or complain about “normal people with opinions”.
One thing I hated more about people overreacting or being dramatic over the ME3 endings (to be fair everything on the internet is made to be more dramatic by default), was the horde of professional game “critics” that weren’t dramatic at all.
As if, an incredible gaming trilogy that set wonderful precedents ending on a sour note was “not that big of a deal”. Maybe not to a normal person it isn’t, but if your job is “garmes jurnalizm” then one would think more critique is in order, no?
Just my gripe.
28/06/2012 at 23:52 Walter Heisenberg says:
Yeah the attitude from most of these sites has soured me more on games journalism than it has Mass Effect which I’ve been apathetic towards for a good while now.
These videos sum it up pretty well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz8_j-ebfaI
http://youtu.be/BwD2GgWKIrs
28/06/2012 at 23:01 Soup says:
JOHN CONN- uh, WALKER! I don’t agree with your article one jot, but you’re an amusing fellow, you write damn good pieces and your fart-based comments were clearly tongue in cheek (oh god pun not intended).
People need to calm their shit and back down, John is feeling bad enough after Jim’s comments about his mother.
28/06/2012 at 23:09 felisc says:
I’ll just put a smiley to bring a bit of light joy here. >>> :D
anyway it seems like mass effect 3 came out already a year ago. oh, time, you cruel pigeon.
28/06/2012 at 23:12 Rhalle says:
Can hardly understand John with all those Bioweiners in his mouth.
28/06/2012 at 23:19 bladedsmoke says:
Despite my earlier long-winded comment politely disagreeing with his use of terminology, I’d like to go on record to say that John is a writer of consistently high-quality articles and I remain a fan. Unlike some people, I don’t take a single poorly-worded article as proof that RPS is RUINED FOREVAHHH. Nor will I TAKE MY BIZNESSS ELSWHAR. That would be a singularly stupid and overly-dramatic response, and it would mean I missed out on plenty of great writing delivered to my computer-box for free.
28/06/2012 at 23:19 McDan says:
Well said John. Now I’m a huuuuuge mass effect fan, massively-playthrough each game with 7 different shepards-massive fan and I was still slightly dissatisfied with the original ending, just the plot holes that you mentioned and why the reapers were actually for. But they did explain it more SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS with the reapers being the people who created the catalyst, who were then turned into reapers by the catalyst to harvest organic life. Which wasn’t explained originally. Which made me much happier.
Now I didn’t complain to bioware about the original endings because that would have been ridiculous, even though it was my Shepard it was still their game, their story to tell. And this extra goodness for free just shows how far they’re willing to go to give a good story. All this may not have made much sense, but I’m just trying to say that bioware dun a good job, twice, here.
28/06/2012 at 23:35 Haphaz77 says:
Ridiculous to demand changes? Perhaps a little, but they have invested in the story, so they have the right to an opinion. Which can be ignored / acted upon at Bioware’s risk.
Maybe its best to lock this article for a week then come back to the subject? Anyone abusing another over a game deserves insults; those suggesting that improving it might be a good idea (like me), if you’d be so kind do not. Although accusing the later group of ‘entitlement’ is a fair comment.
For what its worth, I thought the original endings were so sub-par they damaged Bioware’s reputation. Their fix it job was very good though, so honour has been satisfied. Will warily look forward to Bioware’s next game now.
28/06/2012 at 23:45 MSJ says:
Face it people, Zuko is not getting Katara ever. She’s with Aang.
28/06/2012 at 23:52 kalidanthepalidan says:
As she should be. Zuko was way to broody.
28/06/2012 at 23:46 Nim says:
I had written an elaborate post about the original scrapped ending, sudden rewrites complete out of the blue and artistic integrity but sod it.
Too little, too late, I will pass on ME3 and goodbye modern Bioware, you are just not the old Bioware any longer.
28/06/2012 at 23:47 Lacero says:
I am grinning quite a lot that John has edited his work after the fact to clear up confusion, in a piece where he reviews someone editing their work after the fact to clear up confusion.
Also I wanted to “opinion away” that games are interactive and interacting with the people who make them is only natural. It’s a shame so many people interact in such offensive ways, but hey some bought cupcakes.
28/06/2012 at 23:50 Nick says:
I have to say, I do quite enjoy Kotaku being a dirty word.
29/06/2012 at 00:10 piratmonkey says:
I think you meant K****u. This is a decent and proper place after all.
29/06/2012 at 00:15 magnus says:
And another thing, have they never heard of the idea of an index?
29/06/2012 at 00:07 Lemming says:
Cards on the table, I’m not going to let this affect the fact that I think John Walker and RPS in general are great, but reading John claiming the ending to ME3 was anything better than primary school ‘and then they all went home for tea’ is a little hard to take seriously.
29/06/2012 at 00:09 piratmonkey says:
Wow, people sure misinterpreted the article. And I think I’ll be eternally surprised over how angry people got over being called “self-entitled giant fart of a human.” I mean, all of RPS’s readers are sexy and smart after all so what happened?
29/06/2012 at 00:09 Stackler says:
Sorry, but I absolutely despise Mass Effect 3. It is a big step back if you compare it to the other two titles. I never finished it, because it was so dull and cheesy in the WORST of hollywood worseness (is this even a word?!).
The endings don’t matter to me and it’s not important for me who lives and who died because Bioware fucked up as soon as they wrote the story for ME3. It’s style all over, but no substance. I really, really hate it.
29/06/2012 at 00:14 Siythe says:
I’m not angry John, I’m disappointed.
I found RPS a little over a year ago, thanks to a link from Kieron Gillen’s twitter feed, and it quickly became my favourite gaming site and the lack of articles that go out of their way to pointlessly bait people were a huge part of that. Beyond the obvious irony of the edit what this article and the ending of ME3 have in common is a basic failure to live up to the standards you set for yourself.
Not that I want you to think you’ve provoked me into boycotting the site due to one crappy fart joke (in fact this comments sections has reminded me to turn adblock off for this site) but at the same time I don’t think it will take many posts as badly judged as this one to erode the respect I have for the work you do here.
Here endeth the sermon.
29/06/2012 at 00:19 Phantoon says:
Weird. Comment got swallowed up by the comment monster.
As to this article, I just can’t care anymore about defense of this garbage. The only people with energy for it are fans, and fans that thought it was going to be better. There’s so many levels of hypocrisy here, on everyone’s parts, that it’s exhausting to even give the brief synopsis of how this all went wrong. It’d be easier to give a brief history of the universe at this point, since Carl Sagan already did it for us.
But remember, the bombastic people started name calling first, but John lumped everyone with any complaints in together with them. It’s unrealistic to think that there can’t be complaints of games people love (Deus Ex Liberty Island level, anyone?) but completely asinine to think that people that played the game played it just to hate it, or that any criticism means they hate it.
But whatever. Both sides that resort to such nonsense are stupid. That’s what extremes are. Stupid.
29/06/2012 at 04:37 Runs With Foxes says:
One of the best game maps ever made.
29/06/2012 at 00:32 Vorphalack says:
Bit worried this article might have broken RPS. All of the avatars are diapering one by one leaving nothing but a blank white square behind. It’s almost as if John is systematically souring the site of all detractors……
On topic, I remain unconvinced by all of your arguments. As far as I can tell, the turd has now been polished.
29/06/2012 at 00:42 Ruffian says:
Synthesis was my first pick as well (i just couldn’t kill off all the machines) I completely agree with you – I was very pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out. They didn’t crazy overdo it, but fixed what desperately needed fixing, and actually explained what your 3 choices would do. It was done much better than what I expected honestly. If the game would’ve been like that from the beginning I think I would’ve been really satisfied.
29/06/2012 at 00:47 E_FD says:
My favorite part is the big fuss over your ship flying away to escape the colored blob and then crashing on the jungle planet and your crew looking around… and then two minutes later, they fly off just fine and everything’s hunky-dory.
Like the relays blowing up and then the narration and stills let us know they’re being put back together ASAP so it’s all cool.
That’s not sarcastic criticism; I didn’t even play the game, just watched some clips on YouTube, but it’s great fun seeing plot hole seams getting awkwardly duct-taped together.
Or the bit of fourth wall breakage where you get to tell the kid “Your endings suck” and he’s all “Go f*** yourself” and then everything’s all “You screwed up and everyone died and it’s ALL YOUR FAULT but the good news is that in a billion years someone else comes by who likes our endings and picks one”.
29/06/2012 at 14:11 Apples says:
The message of “Oh, you like freedom and don’t want to be a dictator? EVERYONE. DIES.” will surely have to go down as one of the stupidest in game history. Ironically I’d still rather let everybody die and the cycle continue than force the galaxy into unwanted, eternal stagnation by making everyone half-robot, or becoming a fascist controlling a league of machines capable of galactic destruction and answerable only to me. It looks like they completely and fundamentally misunderstood the synthesis ending of Deus Ex 1 and assumed that if making one guy half-machine was good, making EVERYONE that way must be… the best!!!
29/06/2012 at 01:00 nootpingu86 says:
The people who demanded changes to the ending are assholes, simply said. I can’t influence what Bioware decides to do, nor do I have any interest in that. I thought the ending was atrocious, but I never thought Mass Effect was even that good on the whole, especially if coherent storytelling is a thing for you. I think the way Bioware wrote specific pieces of dialogue or characters was the high point of the series, or rather it was what it made it compelling to me.
Discussing something critically in a world saturated with PR slapfights, trolling, and people who just insist on not reading what other people write is exceedingly difficult. It’s also part of why this article will be disregarded as click-bait from a contrarian perspective based on its first paragraph, some of whom are the same people intent on trolling and plugging their ears. But keep in mind, the whole “sense of entitlement” thing is a very sensitive issue when it comes to discussing media, because it is almost always used as a dismissal of legitimate discussion.
30/06/2012 at 18:40 hilltop says:
I thought your post was thoughtful enough to reply to and disagree with.
I don’t want to defend the juvenile underbelly of the internet that demanded a redo of the ending, but I don’t think it’s fair to call everyone who would have wanted a different ending assholes. I myself don’t really care about what Bioware chose to cobble onto their ending, but I can imagine reasonable, non-asshole people who do care and who did want a change/addition/whatever to the codswallop that shipped.
I think it’s unfair that the consumers are loaded with criticism (and often so scornfully, as this article shows) when they were lied to repeatedly in the games marketting. I don’t understand why Bioware aren’t taken to task for blatant untruths they used to hype up the series. That’s completely aside from the artistic and really quite nuanced discussions of theme that have surrounded this issue.
I also think the argument of artistic integrity is weak for two reasons. Firstly, because Bioware is hardly the lofty seat of the auteur people seem to be portraying it as. Secondly, because in a time of DLC, retcons (not to mention numerous invitations from Bioware that the fans consider themselves participants in creating the story) an artistic work seems more mutable, even after it has shipped.
I don’t agree with John Walker. But I don’t think he’s an asshole, despite his best efforts in the comments sections here. I do think he has been disappointing.
30/06/2012 at 19:16 nootpingu86 says:
I agree a great deal with what you said, but it’s also important to recognize a bit of a boundary between creator and audience. I am very much an anti-romantic in the sense that I do not believe in the superiority lone auteurs/auteurship in general, or that the relationship is a one way street where the creator puts something out for you to consume, like it or leave it. For most of human history this has not been the case with storytelling. On the contrary, I strongly believe the audience owns what they view as significant to them in the work, even in something that’s a work of pop sci fi like Mass Effect.
The consequence of that ownership, however, does not mean anyone ought to go back and tell the originator of the work to fix it “or else” (in this case, bad PR and fan outrage, a lawsuit, cupcakes, etc.), but rather allows you to take responsibility, perhaps, for changing the story to your liking, offering a viable alternative interpretation, or simply sharing the view that it didn’t end properly, the creators lied, and they could’ve done better, while explaining why.
I know it seems like sort of a quibbling distinction but I feel it is important, since it does seem to have a disproportionate effect on the creator entertaining the demands seriously than the audience making them.
Granted, there’s a practical dimension to it as ME is locked down from modding, so that’s something that creators need to do to facilitate that relationship imo.
01/07/2012 at 10:50 hilltop says:
I agree there should be some line of distinction. I’m not so clear on where it should lie right now in the gaming industry. But thank you for the food for thought.
29/06/2012 at 01:03 TrueZarken says:
To me Mass Effect 3 doesn’t feel like a Mass Effect game. It just feels so disconnected from the previous two when it damn well shouldn’t considering the import feature. To be honest, this extended cut is too little, too late. I applaud Bioware for listening to the fans, but EA’s bad business practices and Bioware’s quality certainly dipping lately I just don’t care about either anymore. I am not looking forward to anything in EA’s catalogue and I want to play interesting games that have a heart and soul, as opposed to the ridiculous amount of action shooter games coming out from EA’s developers at the moment.
29/06/2012 at 01:35 Walter Heisenberg says:
I was immediately disconnected from the game the second Shepard started speaking without a button prompt from me, this was followed by this really forced emotional moment of some random kid dying the player has no choice to how they react to this, in the first game you get to choose to who you react to the vision the prothean beacon gives Shepard in 3 a hardened renegade Shep has no choice but to be traumatized by a random person’s death despite letting countless people die to achieve his goals in previous games.
29/06/2012 at 01:28 Dakia says:
I love this article and I don’t even own ME3, nor have I played it.
29/06/2012 at 01:51 Vernalagnia says:
I’m fine with being a self-entitled fart. The endings, all three and a half of them, are still wrong .
29/06/2012 at 02:08 Utgaardsloke says:
Walker, you pretentious wet fart! The endings are ok, but could have been much more had the BW writers held true to the story laid out by the original writer.
29/06/2012 at 02:12 thisisgreat says:
It is so sad to see an article like this, on rock paper shotgun. The way the article was written is so… ignorant, asking for a flame war for no reason… I believed that RPS was so much better than Kotaku then… this…
29/06/2012 at 10:24 WhatKateDoes says:
Agreed. I understand the story conclusion principles. But the actual telling of those principles was half-assed, and untold.
Now – they’ve stuck to their guns, reinforced their story, but given its branching end direction the detail it deserves, making each of endings an actual viable choice. I would never have selected “control” before, but after seeing it, it gave me the shivers with the portent it has for the future of the Mass Effect universe, much more than the “la la la happy ever after” synthesis ending. My other half berated me for choosing Synthesis on my 2nd run when I was all about “Destroy” the first time… but I hadnt saved the Geth that time!
Those demanding “waaa want happy ever after, garrus and Shep onnabeach” – its fair enough to diss.. but for those of us who were left gobsmacked by an ending to the rich tapestry preceding it with the bloody stump of amputated storyline that was the original ending… this.. is a beautiful correction.
29/06/2012 at 02:15 Consumatopia says:
It’s still a contrived Trolley Problem ending.
Then again, the series as a whole, and perhaps “morality play” space operas in general, are oversaturated with contrived trolley problems. You’re given a fixed set of options, one of which violates some moral principle you believe in (e.g. mind controlling an entire sentient species to serve you), another offering an unacceptable utilitarian cost (all life in the galaxy consumed) that you somehow know is certain to happen (even in the Refusal ending, Shepard still accepts the child’s claims as truth.)
I consider those problems philosophically suspect (I doubt that humans can actually trust their moral intuitions in highly abstract scenarios such as these). But they’re even worse in the context of a game, especially when the choices are “color coded” as in ME–the “utilitarian” synthesis choice is basically labeled as the “correct” one.
Even though the “Indoctrination Theory” has now been ruled out, I propose a much wider “Deconstruction Theory”–this ending is designed (and now re-designed) to be terrible–terrible in a way that undermines not just Mass Effect, but the entire choose-your-own-morality-play concept underlying most Bioware games. No game could truly simulate every choice that a “real” Commander Shepard could make in a “real” galaxy–that set of choices would be not merely unimaginable, but infinite. Bioware selected a number of choices to put into their game, but when all of your choices lead you somewhere unfortunate, pretends that things could be no other way.
Imagine if Bioware made a “24″ game. Torture the terrorist and save the city, or let the city explode? It’s bad enough watching Jack Bauer make this choice, it would be even worse having a player “choose” and holding them accountable for the scripted result (even if that result is unrealistic).
29/06/2012 at 03:55 TillEulenspiegel says:
Heh. It doesn’t really work as a crackpot theory, but it’s a clever observation.
Bad stories commonly rely unintentionally on an idiot plot or a false dilemma of some kind. With games, especially choice’n'consequence games, it’s just more obvious and frustrating.
30/06/2012 at 18:45 hilltop says:
Bravo! Well commented!
As an aside, I actually liked the idea of Indoctrination. I don’t think the evidence that was often produced around the webworks was as robust as some made out, but it would have been a bold play. Bit disappointed they didn’t try something that sophisticated.
29/06/2012 at 02:23 Ohcomeonnow says:
The only things I had a gripe with (but was more than happy to live with) was:
1- What happened to the squad you take at the end?
2- What happened to the fleet?
3- Mass Relays going boom.
4- Some closure on the friends you made along the way and the races.
I got all that so I am happy. Having said that, I was still happy with the ending to the story when the game first came out.
Farts indeed.
PS: I lold hard at the hidden ending :D Thought it was quite good to tell the truth.
29/06/2012 at 02:35 Jason Moyer says:
I like the extended cut, but I think I preferred the original endings more. I didn’t need any more closure to the npc relationships than the “let’s provide closure to the npc relationships” level that was right at the end of the original game and seemed fairly forced to begin with, and I didn’t need Bioware to specifically spell out every detail of what happened during the final battle like I’m a 3 year old child.
29/06/2012 at 02:54 Big Murray says:
To be honest, while the extended conversation with the Starchild was welcome, they ruined some of the things which were good about the original ending by sticking new things in to appease people. The brilliant moment where you JUST make it to the beam, and then wake up in some hellish nightmare room with dark threatening music playing … that’s one of my best Mass Effect memories. And now it’s gone. Nobody else will ever experience it. I find that sad.
In inserting new things for people, they unfortunately did what I feared they’d have to … they ruined the powerful emotional flow of the original ending. Shame.
29/06/2012 at 03:09 yesterdayisawadeer says:
An analogy:
You are a carpenter. You are told to build a boat. You are given all the needed tools and materials to build a boat. You are building a boat. You greatly enjoy the process because it’s the job you know and love, the tools are handy and efficient and the materials are all top-notch. You are confident in your skill, the boat comes along quite nicely and you can’t wait to see it’s completed form.
And then, the same people who gave you tools and materials come in at the last moment, shove a giant jet engine up it’s arse, paint the whole thing pink and congratulate you on building a beautiful airplane!
When you tell them that first of all it’s not an airplane, that it physicly cannot act as one (because of a freaking huge jet engine toppling everything over and general lack of wings) and you would like them to remove that thing and let you just finish your boat – you get called “self-entitled giant fart of a human”.
29/06/2012 at 10:18 Jimbo says:
That was great! So what’s it an analogy of?
29/06/2012 at 12:26 Lemming says:
Playing the Mass Effect series.
29/06/2012 at 03:25 stryker619 says:
I’m Commander Shepard, and John Walker is my favorite writer on the Citadel.
29/06/2012 at 04:39 Runs With Foxes says:
The hilarious thing about this article is that Walker says he loved the extended bits and praises Bioware endlessly — but none of it would have happened if people hadn’t made justified criticisms.
Walker needs to start being a critic first and a fan second.
29/06/2012 at 08:14 Yuri says:
Interesting paradox.
Although that last sentence was actually completely unnecessary.
30/06/2012 at 18:47 hilltop says:
Seemed pretty apt to me.
29/06/2012 at 09:16 FluffDaSheep says:
My thoughts exactly.
29/06/2012 at 05:01 Jerakal says:
In recent news: The Extended Cut of John Walker’s Extended Cut review does little to assuage fans that think he sounded like kind of a prat. Probably due in fact to him sounding like kind of a prat.
However, at least he can admit when he fucks up. Unlike Bioware.
29/06/2012 at 05:16 Tubbins says:
All this fuss and controversy, and it’s all about the story, probably the least important aspect of a video game.
29/06/2012 at 09:10 Sarkhan Lol says:
If you honestly don’t think the story is important in a story-driven game, then I really don’t know what to tell you.
29/06/2012 at 13:16 Runs With Foxes says:
He means ‘story-driven game’ is an oxymoron.
29/06/2012 at 14:15 Apples says:
Which is a blatently false statement in a world where Bioware games, adventure games, and Deadly Premonition exist, so why bother saying it? Unless he’s one of these pedantic “they’re not games, they’re ~interactive stories~” people.
29/06/2012 at 05:29 freduardo says:
I’m not really sure I see the problem, or why the people who asked for something like this DLC are getting insulted at all. Everybody who has an opinion on it seems to agree that this ending is an improvement over the original. It also clears up a few disgustingly glaring plot holes, and helps remind developers that not all gamers are sheep.
To be fair though, I would still firmly place even this improved ending as the worst in the series’ history as compared to the endings of ME1 and ME2. The fact that Bioware put in the time and effort to bring the ending to where it is now does not change the fact that they pretty clearly could have done better if the writers had had creative control in the first place.
29/06/2012 at 05:45 UncleLou says:
I guess whether you think asking for a new ending (or rather, demanding one) was justified because it might eventually improve a “product” or not depends on how you generally approach games. If you seem them, in the widest sense possible and without getting into the “games as art” debate, as an artistic expression, asking for fundamental changes of a non-technical nature is a big no. People don’t usually ask for music, films or books to be changed – or if they do, in the case of films, it’s usually to unearth the original vision which had been watered down to appeal to a bigger public. The term “entitlement” seems pretty apt from that point of view.
If you see games more as a product, it might seem more naturally to demand changes.
I am admittedly in the former camp, and see where John is coming from. Can’t say I found the article so dramatic and took the “fart” line not so seriously as some of you.
30/06/2012 at 19:01 hilltop says:
I disagree with you but you surely see that your own post was better phrased than John’s article. Obviously it’s not the worst thing you can call someone but it’s uncharacteristically childish and inflammatory on a decent site like rockpapershotgun.
29/06/2012 at 06:27 Wisq says:
I find it ironic how this article has followed the exact same path as ME3 itself. John’s edit is his “new ending” DLC that doesn’t so much retract the previous one, so much as it merely clarifies it and makes his original intentions clear.
But seriously, people — he’s right. When someone makes a bad movie, a bad book, a bad song, go ahead and critique it! Express your discontent! Suggest how they might do better next time! Boycott them if you feel it indicates a general lack of talent and/or respect for the audience! Encourage your friends to boycott them! But for god’s sake, don’t tell them they need to go back and change it. You’re buying a product, not hiring them to please you.
And yes, they might do that anyway. Film editions, remixes, DLC, etc. But quit acting like you’re entitled to that sort of effort. You bought the game. You either did so despite the reviews saying the ending was crap, or you did it in ignorance and accepted you were taking a shot in the dark.
IMO, this is the crux of the “entitlement” issue. Gamers need to be treated better. I wholeheartedly agree with that. But we need to start voting with our wallets. If you go and buy these things and then complain bitterly about them, the only thing the publishers learn is that they can abuse you all they want, so long as they get you so invested that you’ll buy whatever crap they put out and then just whine about it, or get you to buy early enough that you don’t check reviews first (pre-order bonuses, anyone?).
The key to better games is to create economic pressure for them, or at least to create a niche where well-written games can thrive. That’s not going to happen if we keep sending them truckloads of money with angry post-it notes on the sides.
29/06/2012 at 07:56 mrmelons says:
I think with a game it feels different to the consumer, because unlike a movie where you are watching events occur, or a book where you are reading about whats happening, in a game you generally ARE the main character and feel like the story evolves around you. That said I think people invest themselves into the experience, which is good as it means they are enjoying it(hopefully), and therefore feel that the story becomes theirs, but the thing is is that it doesn’t. You are still watching a movie, you are still reading the book, but instead of turning the page your are pushing your character to the next scene.
I can understand that people are frustrated about the endings, me being one of them, but I also don’t feel entitled to say that they should change their ending, they made their choice and the effect is that I am going to hesitate now when I see a game put out by them because I am not as rock solid in my devotion towards them. That said, when you attack people who are obviously very passionate about this topic, whether they deserve it or not, you can’t be surprised when you get a very negative back lash. Now I don’t think they was a bad post Jon, you achieved what I can only assume you meant to achieve and that would be to piss those people you targeted off, but I am surprised that you seem some what put off by all the criticism. I would have just sat back and refused to add fuel to the fire, that you started by making this post.
This is not me saying Jon is wrong, i just don’t understand why he is trying to find common ground with the people he called giant farts. Ignore them, move on or if that is not what you wish, then continue making fun of them, but I feel as though there is a mixture of placating them as well as making fun of them.
Sorry this was meant as a reply but it kind of got away, haha.
29/06/2012 at 11:52 eVb says:
“Voting with your wallet” – that’s what should be done. But it isn’t done (enough).
So the second best way to have an impact on the big players in “the industry” actually may be to over-react, aka to enact “entitled” like the retakers have done.
29/06/2012 at 14:07 briktal says:
There are two problems voting with your wallet. First, it’s hard to do. Unless it is some big obvious feature/requirement announced before release (like requiring a constant online connection or the lack of dedicated servers), you probably won’t be able to fully understand and experience the problems without first paying for it. You may be able to get a refund, but that’s somewhat questionable when the issue is something like a terrible ending.
Second, if you just don’t buy the product, you don’t give them any feedback as to why you didn’t buy it. All they’ll know is that you didn’t. Without the discussion of what is wrong, the producers could decide it’s the genre/setting/gameplay elements you like instead of the plot/theme issues you hated.
01/07/2012 at 10:17 hilltop says:
I didn’t want them to change the endings or feel like they should have, but I don’t think the comparison is quite the same as books/film/etc.
For one, I think the line where a product is shipped and finished has blurred with DLC round every corner. I don’t think the changes that widespread DLC brings should be solely to the benefit of the producer. Seems totally reasonable for fans to make clear what they would/would not like in future DLC. (Obviously not with death threats or flagrant use of superlatives in ALLCAPS, but relegating an entire spectrum of discussion to the scum collected at the bottom is unfair).
Secondly, the marketing of this game was plainly deceitful. To return to your film or book comparison, it would be closer to the mark if a film hyped its release for months stating that certain scenes will definitely be included in this third installment in the trilogy. Many people might buy tickets purely based on the expectations this hype generated. To find out it was a complete lie… If fans were worked up enough, I could see a movement to get the film “redone” trying to get off the ground. Probably wouldn’t have as much traction as in the games industry but that’s for other reasons.
Instead of acknowledging things like these, we have a games journalist gleefully refusing to register sophisticated complaints, in the next breath assuring us he understands the legitimate complaints, then haunting the comments to only respond with further sniping instead of engaging with any criticisms made. And all this on the heels of a decision Bioware could have easily chosen not to make. I think it’s absurd to actually send them more money. But whatever, they made the call to put this out. I’m in no rush to kiss their feet over it. Or read about how John Walker things it’s fantastic they sent a big “FUCK YOU” to critics. Brilliant.
29/06/2012 at 07:36 Apples says:
So what they got out of the criticism was ‘not enough slideshows of my alien boyfriend’. Unfortunately no matter how many bits they tack on, the ending will remain a big steaming essentially racist message plopped down at the end of a star trekky, liberal, optimistic future story. Despite all evidence to the contrary, and synthetics never being true aggressors even once ingame, and despite most irl children not, in fact, feeling patricidal, we cannot coexist with synthetics; beat em, join em or tell em to push off, but we can never peacefully understand each other. Apparently. This will probably sound mental but I think we’re nearly in a place where we need to seriously reevaluate our media presentations of synthetic life; if I was portrayed and treated as a dangerous, violent, unknowable, inevitably destructive and rebellious demon I might not respond very well either!
Can we swap the ending to ME and Prometheus? ME gets a hopeful space flight with your favourite characters, a continuation of adventure, and Prometheus gets a 2001 homage where children destroy their parents.
29/06/2012 at 07:50 Apples says:
And I’m on my iPod sp I can’t edit, but also note that If anything the main theme of the game was self-determination and the evils of accepting advanced tech you did not develop or earn – and in the end you solve everything by obeying someone else and using someone elses tech. What a load of shite.
another edit: I just watched the extended Destroy (the one I chose) and it still doesn’t make sense. It will destroy all synthetics, and even you are partly synthetic, says the star child – what happens, do I fucking partly die? Do people with pacemakers die? ARGHHH they put in slideshows but they couldn’t be arsed to rewrite this gibberish
01/07/2012 at 10:18 hilltop says:
I wish the Prometheus / ME3 ending swap would gain more traction.
29/06/2012 at 07:40 mrmelons says:
This post has turned into a awkward situation where I feel like the kid when his parents are having a bout with one another, I am just waiting for them to both stop yelling so we can go out for pizza.
29/06/2012 at 08:21 jamessiddle says:
Relevant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX4cGhQW5Ec
29/06/2012 at 08:27 Styles says:
John,
you’ve written some other great articles, but I just don’t understand what stops you doing that when it comes to ME3. I was not at all a fan of your previous article commentating the anger at the ME3 ending. Yes, I agree there was an over-reaction and childish behaviour, but you portrayed everyone who was unhappy with the ending as whiners and ingrates, and you’ve managed to do it again, intentional or not. I think you need to step back, take a deep breath and refrain for discussing this topic any more. As I said, you’ve written some great stuff elsewhere, but you just can’t seem to help yourself when it comes to ME3.
01/07/2012 at 10:19 hilltop says:
Hear, hear.
29/06/2012 at 08:48 piecewise says:
“I think BioWare have done an absolutely stunning job here.”
Do your knees get sore from sucking so much cock all the time? I would think it would be hell on your neck as well.
The ending of mass effect 3 was horrible. That’s not even coming from a fan. I’ve been pretty ambivalent about this whole series because it, like pretty much everything bioware makes, touts itself as having a great story but is passable at best. But the ending for Mass effect 3 is so lazy, so stupid and so utterly laughable that it I have no idea how anyone, ANYONE, can like if if they’ve read absolutely anything of substance in their lives.
The entire ending sequence, regardless of which ending you pick, is a text book example of Deus ex machina, a solution that comes out of no where, completely unforeshadowed and unexplained, and fixes everything. It’s almost as bad as if they just said that shepard “Had the power to end the war all along” or “that it was all a dream”. And then, oh then, there’s the synthesis ending.
That fucking synthesis ending. God damn it that was lazy. Gee, thanks bioware, you got the voice actress for edi to spout some exposition about how everything is now awesome because we’re all robots or some shit over a slideshow of concept art. Because apparently the only thing, THE ONLY THING, that divided the diverse races of the galaxy was the fact that some were robots and others were not robots. Good to know. Jesus christ, pictures of the crazy warrior race raising babies in a field of flowers? Pictures Quarians and Geth just before they start making out? Fucking reapers helping to rebuild-a task they go about mainly by doing fuck all and just standing around- and spreading the love of a million former races? Was the green explosion the result of detonating a million carebears or something? This is the same as saying that throwing the one ring into mount doom would suddenly make all the forces of evil join hands and sing show tunes!
Even if you’re like me, disinterested in the story and perfectly content to let bioware’s terrible, stupid artistic vision remain unsoiled by revision or effort, this sort of shit just screams “We’re not smart or motivated enough to write a good ending, so have some “happilly ever after bullshit we pulled right out of our asses.” I rage not as a fan of Shepard, the blandest man alive, but as a fan of good writing and video games; as someone who wants to see those two forces actually come together.
29/06/2012 at 12:41 Soup says:
I have been waiting for someone to say this. I could not agree more.
29/06/2012 at 15:22 Laurentius says:
Personal attack on John Walker is really disgusting but actually the rest of the post is spot on.
30/06/2012 at 17:13 Big Murray says:
It isn’t a textbook example of deus ex machina.
It’s a textbook example of what people mistakenly think deus ex machina is when they’re too lazy to actually learn the literary concept and just want to sound smart for using something with a Latin name. Anything unexpected happening =/= deus ex machina. What was going to happen when you got to the end of the game was foreshadowed from the very start.
01/07/2012 at 02:50 piecewise says:
Really? Here, allow me.
“[Deus ex machina] is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.”
What was foreshadowed for the entire game was that this Crucible thing would, some how, defeat the reapers. Ok, fine. Thats not what I’m talking about. The crucible defeating the reapers is just as fine and dandy. But Lets look at everything else that IS Deus Ex Machina.
1. Magical space exposition child who comes out of nowhere without explanation or foreshadowing and then tells Shepard “Oh yeah, You can just fix everything with like, zero effort. Just jump in that thing there and suddenly the entire universe is nothing but rainbows and puppy farts”
2. The magical green explosion. This would fall into the “a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event” section. I’m pretty sure they didn’t foreshadow a giant lime flavored explosion that turns everyone into ipads. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think I might have remembered something like that. So yeah, unexpected, contrived, solves the seemingly unsolvable problem of melding all the culturally diverse species of the world together and stopping the omnicidal killer squid, and comes completely out of left field without explanation or foreshadowing.
So yeah, crucible, not Deus ex machina. Magic plot explosion that fixes everything in the entire galaxy pretty much instantly? Something else entirely.
01/07/2012 at 10:22 hilltop says:
To make a post with that tone, you’ve got to be pretty confident you know what you’re talking about. And I don’t think you do.
It’s clearly an excellent example of a deus ex machina. Would love examples of how it is forshadowed from the start.
29/06/2012 at 09:31 Imbecile says:
Not sure I quite understand the hate for the article. I wasnt that impressed with the original endings of ME3, but I’ve seen worse. Not sure why getting Bioware to change the endings is such a big deal. *shrug*
All seems like a giant overraction to me.
29/06/2012 at 09:34 Sarkhan Lol says:
Shame on you for compromising your Artistic Integrity and Vision by posting that disclaimer about the farts. And shame on you entitled philistines who didn’t like being called farts for making such a fuss over it and forcing this grotesque alteration of the artist’s original work.
29/06/2012 at 09:44 Milky1985 says:
Its odd that you would say origional work when in fact the ending we got was the revised ending that they changed after the script leak :P
Theres even one of the writer dudes saying that it was going to be something about dark energy before
29/06/2012 at 09:55 Sarkhan Lol says:
…Am I really this easy to misinterpret?
29/06/2012 at 09:41 Milky1985 says:
In my own opinion the 4th ending makes even less sense than all the others. The reaper child even admits in the same conversation that you are having that the cycle is not working and should change. Then you say you are not going to make the decision for others and he gets angry and continues the cycle that it admits SHOULD CHANGE. Its like the star child is a member of pariment or something, they say we should change it be only does something when someone shouts loud enough.
Theres also still the massive logical inconsistancy that to stop synthetics from wiping out organics (as it happens every time apparently, even tho you can through your actions broker peace between the geth and the quarians) they kill all the higher level organics every so often , with syntechics no less, to stop them from dying to synthetics!It would be like cutting off your own legs before you go skiing so you can’t break them skiing. Its bat shit bannanas in all the wrong places.
At least the endings show the effects now on the people left behind, no idea why it didn’t to sodding begin with.
29/06/2012 at 09:47 Hmm-Hmm. says:
It seems to me, that if you make number of games which continually advance a story and paint a world for the player to act in, that you will have expectations raised. Expectations how the story will continue after the first game, expectations about gameplay, expectations about the cast considering everything which happened before.
The same, obviously, goes for any ending. And it since the game developers made the games they have the initiative and thus the onus lies on them to make the separate products one and to manage the story, cast and gameplay to fit with the expectations they raised by making the former products.
If many players see a dissonance between the ending to a trilogy of games and the preceding story, then that leaves the question whether that might have been foreseen. Whether the ending is truly fitting to give some sort of closure to the players.
To state outright that any and all complaints given by players and aimed at said ending seems overly uncritical at the party most responsible in this: the game developer. And it also showcases a lack of insight in how players invested in a game (series) care for story and a satisfying ending (or at least sensible ending in terms of the story thus far).
I’m not a game developer. I do not know how easy or difficult it is to deliver such an ending to if not all then the majority of the players of series of games. But I do know it is their responsibility, and there, they failed.
John, I am disappoint.
29/06/2012 at 09:49 Azradesh says:
You sure do seem grumpy these days John.
29/06/2012 at 10:02 jalf says:
I think you’re missing the point. It looks like you were lucky the first time around, and *your* choices wallpapered over the worst plot holes.
In your game (according to your original article), the Quarians were wiped out by the Geth. Great, that means the “starchild”‘s prediction that synthetics will always rise against their creators sounds believable… well, if we pretend that EDI didn’t exist, at least.
What if you’d saved both, like some of us ded? You’ve got Geth and Quarians *both* just outside the window, fighting together against the reapers, and this spoiled brat is still telling you that “it is inevitable that the created rebel against their creators. Therefore, I created something to wipe you out before your creations can do it”. The catalyst was talking nonsense, using obviously false claims to defend his strategy which equally obviously didn’t work, and as a consequence, allowed Shepard to pick between three completely arbitrary “solutions”, while withholding the most obvious ones for no apparent reason. (Why does destroying the reapers imply also wiping out the Geth and EDI? Where’s the option to just ask the catalyst to withdraw the reapers back into dark space and leave everyone else alone?)
That’s half the story. And that would actually have been an interesting aspect of the ending. But Shepard’s appearance on the platform does *not* reveal it. You can’t say anything to the catalyst to point out to him “you’re carrying out galaxy-wide genocide based on false premises”. He spews his nonsense, shows no sign of realizing that “I’m talking nonsense”, and Shepard plays along with it. When he says “Ok, so my solution doesn’t work any more, what would you like me to do”, Shepard doesn’t even *try* to offer a *good* solution. Doesn’t even try to say “have you considered…?”
Doesn’t say “perhaps you’re worrying unduly. Look out the f’ing window. Some of those ships attacking you right now? They’re synthetics. On our side. They’re not going to wipe us out. So just hit the kill-switch on the reapers and we’ll work things out from there”.
I’d have loved it if there was a moment where it was revealed, to me, to Shepard, to the catalyst, that he fucked up. But there isn’t. The game itself pretends that he didn’t fuck up, that his arguments made sense, that his actions made sense, that the only problem is that “that was then; this is now”. That his solution was valid, but now we need to find a different one.
His solution was never valid. It was based on false premises. but Shepard doesn’t notice it. The catalyst doesn’t notice it – the game doesn’t notice this. You get the impression that the writers didn’t notice this.
It’s nonsense. And that’s why the original endings were unpopular. It has nothing to do with farts, nothing to do with closure, nothing to do with being told everything that happens afterwards.
And it certainly has nothing to do with Bioware’s “integrity”, or with “entitlement”.
It’s just that the original ending was an ending for a completely different game.
Artistic integrity is great for justifying a controversial ending to a story.
It doesn’t work as a defense for a lazy, meaningless one which invokes a literal deus ex machina to explain everything, *and* still doesn’t make logical sense and flatly contradicts itself.
And before you call me a self-entitled fart, I’m not demanding that they change it. I never *did* demand that they change it. I played through three excellent games, the fact that the conclusion was a waste of time is no big deal.
But I can still see that the ending made no sense whatsoever, and I refuse to call it “artistic expression” or anything like that. I call it lazy because that’s the only description that fits what I saw.
Besides, I’ve got my own private fallback theory, which explains everything nicely:
Shepard dies.
Really, rewind to the bit after you kill the Illusive man and press the button on the console and pass out.
Shepard never wakes up again. The whole “a lift takes you upstairs to have a chat with the manager” deal is some kind of fever dream/hallucination. Shepard has been shot by a reaper after all, and lost a lot of blood. It doesn’t seem that improbable that she’d have some weird dying dreams/vsions. (Being inside a giant reaper artifact, within firing range of hundreds of reapers might also create a wee bit of an indoctrination field, if you want additional justification for going a bit funny in the head)
But really, Shepard’s story ends there, bleeding out on the floor of the Citadel.
Does the catalyst fire then? If you like. We really see nothing to say it doesn’t. Sure, we the last thing we hear is Hackett telling us it’s not firing, but perhaps it’s just a slower to act. Or perhaps they figure out how to trigger it from the outside. Or perhaps it doesn’t, and the reapers kill everyone.
In any case, it explains everything we see in the original ending, it doesn’t invoke a deus ex machina talking nonsense and expecting Shepard to take it seriously.
We can call it the Occam’s Razor Theory. Why invent absurdly contrived plot devices when a simpler explanation exists?
Oh, and apart from that? Fuck precedent. Why is it so terrible that some people “demanded” that the ending be changed? Is it any worse than the countless other things people “demanding” things that they’re not in a position to demand? Who cares? However they say it, the point they’re making is just that they don’t think the ending is good enough. They *can’t* “demand” that it is changed.
I really don’t get the whole “I am holier than thou because I accept Bioware’s right to make a crappy ending, instead of using the “D-word” to express my dissatisfaction with it” attitude. It is so elitist, and so utterly shallow and pointless. It completely ignores the *interesting* part of the complaint (the ending sucks), in favor of a kind of ad hominem attack to make you feel better about yourself. Yes, they used the wrong verb to express their dissatisfaction, since they *can’t* “demand” anything of Bioware, but does that invalidate their complaint? Is that really the only thing that matters? “I’m better than you because I know you can’t really demand anything of Bioware”?
Honestly, I expected better from RPS.
30/06/2012 at 02:47 Consumatopia says:
That’s the heart of the matter. I can imagine a good game in which a powerful yet insane being forces the player to make a terrible choice for insane reasons. But in that game, Shepard would do a better job pointing out the insanity. Moreover, the endings themselves would be portrayed as negotiated surrender, not victory. Shepard doesn’t triumph over the Reapers, Shepard acquiesces to the lunacy of the Catalyst.
Done properly, it could have been interesting–an RPG ending with someone dominating you, forcing you to choose which unnecessary injustice will be forced on the galaxy. But they would need to focus on the insanity of the choice, and incongruency of a game largely about choice, power, and accomplishment ending by being coerced into cooperating with evil.
29/06/2012 at 10:39 Man Raised by Puffins says:
I actually preferred the original synthesis ending, the new one has a strong undertone of: “This was the good ending. Jeez, do we have to spell it out for you? Really?! *le sigh* Well, okay then…” It’s a wee bit too happy-clappy for my liking now.
That said, I do look forward to savouring the extended control ending as Space Bastard Shepherd and the scorched Earth destroy ending as Intergalactic Fuck-up Shepherd.
29/06/2012 at 11:33 Ohcomeonnow says:
I grew up on books like Dune. Man, you had to READ those books to make head or tails of the story, let alone the ending. Regarding ME, I could not agree more about the extra explanations for each of the them. But hey, I still like the endings.
29/06/2012 at 11:27 Nimic says:
It’s been a while since I read RPS every day, but even so I expect more of them than somewhere like Kotaku. RPS did set different standards. I don’t think it’s necessarily gone down hill, but these ME3 articles are genuinely inflammatory and generally just bad.
This caught my interest, mostly because I had forgotten Walker’s previous ME3 ending article, in all its terribleness. This might be worse. At the very least, it’s an incredibly weird tone to voice your opinion in, considering the vast majority of your readers were unhappy with the endings.
Perhaps I’m being overly dramatic, but I’m just tired of being insulted for… what, exactly? Not liking something that the vast majority of consumers didn’t like? I didn’t like Virtual Boy either.
29/06/2012 at 11:30 Ohcomeonnow says:
You know what…I think it shows how good the series was that it has folks discussing the finer points of the ending to the degree that most of you have. I am glad that they did not change the ending. I am glad that they filled in a vast number of plot holes though. Yea the vanilla ending might have been rushed because of one reason or another. But at least BW stuck to their guns and said “no” we are keeping the ending but we will smooth it over.
But hey, that is just my take on it. No need for anyone to get all cranky at me and say I am easily satisfied or that I am a BW fanboy. I am just happy with the ending and happy with the series. So are a lot of my mates that played since ME1.
I just hope that they continue the franchise in such a way that they keep the standard of the first 3 games intact. I mean, wow, I can not remember the last time you played a game, a new IP for that matter, where I were just blown away at countless points during the play through I can not remember a single one. This series really has put gaming on the map as a very mature story telling platform.
I have been a gamer for 30 years. I loved the old Gold Box games on the C64 (oh Champions of Krynn…how I miss you), the Baldurs Gate games, the Witcher, Heavy Rain and of course Halo (I enjoyed that story a great deal)…oh and do not forget Knights of The Old Republic (oh boy that ending).
All of those games failed on every level to get me emotionally invested in a character. All of em. Mass Effect was the first series of games (or game for that matter) that had me get VERY upset when a certain Gilbert and Sullivan fan died in ME2 (still pissed about that). Imagine my heartbreak when he croaks in ME3! I switched from Xbox ME to PC ME with a save file where he made it through the final mission (I could not stand it ).
The series needs to be remembered for the series. Not for the ending. I hope that in a few years time and when cooler heads prevail, that people will look back on this franchise and say “Man, this new stuff does not hold a candle to the ME!”. Or, “ME really set the benchmark for story telling in video games.”
End of line…
29/06/2012 at 11:57 Doghaus says:
“The series needs to be remembered for the series. Not for the ending.”
I agree with most of what you say, Mass Effects 1 and 2 dragged me in like few other games I’ve played, and I was raving about them to anyone who’d listen. The characters were actually engaging, the world looked and felt brilliantly realised and convincing…
But that’s the problem, when you fumble an ending this badly (and I don’t care how many people know people whose mum said that they quite enjoyed the ending, it is objectively rubbish, poorly conceived and executed to a baffling extent) it is going to cast a shadow over the rest of the series’ achievements.
And I think this is what caused so much anger – the ending(s) threw the events of the rest of the series into a sour light for a lot of people: “why have bothered doing all that in the first place, when a space boy is just going to give you three buttons to press anyway?” And the publicity has ensured, I think, that Mass Effect will largely be associated with disappointment and sour feelings on all sides. My 2p.
29/06/2012 at 13:03 Ohcomeonnow says:
I’m inclined to think that the series will be well remembered. I don’t think folks will say that it was screwed because of the ending. Kind of like Star Wars 4, 5 and 6. Everyone knows they are the best and the the first 2 movies (hey, E3 was ok….oh who am I kidding) were rubbish. But even then, people still say that “Star Wars” was a great series.
“Mass Effect” will be remembered as a great series, just many people will not talk about that the ending of ME3 :D
29/06/2012 at 13:16 Doghaus says:
I hope you’re right ;)
Personally I think ME 3 should have ended with an Ewok party. Everything should end with an Ework party.
29/06/2012 at 11:34 AlexanderGray says:
I love the first paragraph. I’m an “entitled fart” because I expected the endings TO MAKE FUCKING SENSE.
You’re a joke, mate.
29/06/2012 at 11:37 aepervius says:
John, some of us which complained, did not complain about the ending per see, but rather that (even ignoring the detail which did not make sense) you are left without knowing what happens afterward to the character you lived the adventure with, and the races history afterward. Once you dig in, the foam at the mouth complaint were relatively few, a lot more of them were grounded. But rather than recognize that, many industry media acted as if the person complaining about the ending were rabid and “felt entitled”. Way to miss the point and use ad-hom to sink an argument.
A fallout like still JPG display with a few line would have been enough to assuage the complaint. That you miss it and go into ad-hom surprises me. At least BW recognized it and expanded the ending. After all they knew that the backlash would impact future sales and rather than stutbornly say “we are art” they understood who in the end PAY also have a SAY.
29/06/2012 at 11:41 ribobura osserotto says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz8_j-ebfaI
29/06/2012 at 11:52 cowardly says:
Looks like somebody wants free games from EA.
29/06/2012 at 12:01 senorpoco says:
You finish the game and the narrator talks about how the choices you have made throughout the game have influenced the world around you while stills of those areas are displayed, no it’s not mass effect 3 it’s fallout I and it’s 1998. In fact the in game choices had a much larger impact on the ending monologue than in ME3.
29/06/2012 at 12:12 Kolchak says:
So let me get this straight, I am a “self-entitled giant fart of a human” for thinking that I had the right to voice my opinion that an ending to a video game was poorly done.
You’re DEAD to me Rock, Paper, Shotgun, you’ve finally fully ousted yourselves as paid off critics for the EA Machine. If I had the same job as you, which is to belittle consumers in an attempt to woo Banner Ad Revenue from gigantic corporations I would put a gun to my mouth and pull the trigger. Your lack of integrity is outstanding.
Goodbye.
29/06/2012 at 12:37 ghoststalker194 says:
Seems this article caused quite some controverse around the internet and I can see why. Now I do remember your The Longest Journey articles and praised you for them. This one however is a little disappointing. It’s one thing to have an opinion, it’s another to start flaming people who think diffrently.
Perhaps if it wasn’t so condescending, I’d give you the benefit of the doubt and just disagree. However I cannot take this piece serious when you’re holding a shit flinging contest.
01/07/2012 at 10:28 hilltop says:
John’s biting in the comments section just made him look worse. Which is a shame. I like this site.
29/06/2012 at 12:51 Eoghan says:
I think this article has been enough to get me to stop reading this site.
G’luck
29/06/2012 at 12:58 Eddy9000 says:
For me the problem with the ending was the total breakdown of any narrative consistency in the last 10 minutes, being given an ending that had nothing to do with the rest of the story either narratively or thematically. The extended cut just fleshed out the broken endings, giving us longer and more detailed rubbish.
And Jon maybe you should remember how much money was raised for charity through people’s dissatisfaction with the ending; what you call ‘entitlement’ and ‘stamping around’ I’d call ‘passion’ I think.
29/06/2012 at 13:16 celozzip says:
“I liked the ending of Mass Effect 3″ stopped reading there, as should everyone.
29/06/2012 at 13:16 Ohcomeonnow says:
Really sad to see all the hate…Regardless of the reason, it is very sad to see some of the comments here and it is sad to see some of the things said in the article.
Just really, really sad. I think you all need to step back and breath for a bit.
29/06/2012 at 13:34 JackDandy says:
I’m expecting a bit more than Destructoid-level tripe when I come to this site, John.
Please, try to shape up your act.
29/06/2012 at 13:51 Kadayi says:
Bigmouth strikes again it seems: -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CltsEN8DQ
29/06/2012 at 13:55 Aldaron says:
They’re still pretty shitty endings. I can imagine Bioware saying: Problem?
And I don’t really get how on earth did every media outlet LOVED that horrible endings (and of course they loved the new ones too) when the great mayority hated them. Journalists need to be more in touch with their readers.
29/06/2012 at 15:42 Kadayi says:
Agreed on that front. There’s a clear disconnect occurring and no one’s really stepping up their game and taking on that realization. This continued partisan vilifying of disgruntled consumers (because that’s what gamers actually are) by the gaming press is getting pretty tiresome. When everyone shat on Prometheus you didn’t find film critics telling them that they were in the wrong.
30/06/2012 at 18:14 jaheira says:
We don’t know that the majority of gamers disliked the original endings. We just know that some people who were unhinged, sorry I mean “emotionally invested”, demanded that they be changed.
It is not the job of a games journalist to attempt to reflect the views of their readership.
30/06/2012 at 23:09 Kadayi says:
“We don’t know that the majority of gamers disliked the original endings. We just know that some people who were unhinged, sorry I mean “emotionally invested”, demanded that they be changed.”
So your defense is uncertainty? If it were really just a small vocal minority of players then Bioware wouldn’t of done a thing. After all they have the metrics at their disposal.
“It is not the job of a games journalist to attempt to reflect the views of their readership.”
Journalism? LOL.
01/07/2012 at 10:30 hilltop says:
If you put a modicum of effort into reading about the views of the disgruntled customers, you would know they were not all unhinged whatevers. You’re either ignorant or intentionally misrepresenting things to come off awesome on the internet.
29/06/2012 at 15:13 Laurentius says:
Sometimes it’s bit blurry line between wanting and demanding especially when hearing internet opinions. I sense that wasn’t very charitable readings of them on Mr. Walker part here. I mean I don’t see anything wrong in wanting something changed in games, it is happening all the time, I mean for example Diablo III, I am pretty sure RPS don’t like its always on feature, I may be mistaken but I think that RPS editors would want option allowing off-line play to be added, that’s not automatically read as demands towards Blizzard but with uncharitable readings one can present it this way.
29/06/2012 at 16:21 Zyrusticae says:
I just feel like noting that they STILL do absolutely nothing with your war assets score other than letting you choose from one or two more endings.
Why the fourth ending couldn’t have different results based on your war assets is entirely beyond me…
29/06/2012 at 17:32 valiantjared says:
John your a piece of shit, you take anyone who disagrees with you or doesn’t have the same tastes as you and throw immature little quips at them in your blogs.
29/06/2012 at 19:01 buckchoi says:
You are a “self-entitled giant fart of a human” is almost the first thing I read today, lovely.
It seems that since I voted on a bioware poll and made comments where applicable on my dissapointment with the game (+ endings) that this equates to me having “stamped around demanding the ending be changed… and behaving in really extremely unpleasant ways”.
The backtracking of who is a “self-entitled giant fart of a human” doesn’t help at all really. I visit this site almost daily (since stumbling on it a year+ ago) and the articles are generally really quite good. Despite another read through this is just poor content and adds nothing to the discussion. More worrisome is the flame baiting exhibited starts to drag the site down to the muck of gaming journalism. ( it reminds me of IGN Mass Effect 3 – Ending Controversy Opinion Video by Colin Moriarty)
I would like to point out why being called self-entitled let alone a giant fart etc. is both offensive and ridiculous.
“We have a rule in our franchise that there is no canon. You as a player
decide what your story is.”
“We listen to our fans all of the time,” Muzyka said. “We listen to them on the forums, their feedback from stories. We’re reading it all. If we can get ideas out of it that will make the game better, sure. We’re not adverse to taking feedback. That’s part of our core values, is humility. Any time we get a good idea from fans… they’re our audience. They keep us in business.”
“BioWare has confirmed that Mass Effect 3′s storyline may change in response to fan feedback. Following a mistakenly-released beta that led to leaked story files, co-founder Greg Zeschuk says that the development team is actively paying attention to fans’ input.
Interviewer: “So are you guys the creators or the stewards of the franchise?”
Hudson: “Um… You know, at this point, I think we’re co-creators with
the fans. We use a lot of feedback.”
With this precedent (of them taking ideas and changing or incorporating feedback) in mind when I am told the following lies before release I believe I am entitled to some (mature and well reasoned) form of complaint.
“This story arc is coming to an end with this game. That means the endings can be a lot more different. At this point we’re taking into account so many decisions that you’ve made as a player and reflecting a lot of that stuff. It’s not even in any way like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C.” … “The endings have a lot more sophistication and variety in them.”
“I honestly think the player base is going to be really happy with the way we’ve done it. You had a part in it. Every decision you’ve made will impact how things go. The player’s also the architect of what happens.”
“As Mass Effect 3 is the end of the planned trilogy, the developers are not constrained by the necessity of allowing the story to diverge, yet also continue into the next chapter. This will result in a story that diverges into wildly different conclusions based on the player’s actions in the first two chapters.”
Now when I played ME3 I wasn’t the “architect” of “wildly different conclusions based on (my) actions” instead I got and A, B, C ending. This is why when I paid at least $120 and invested at least 90 hours into the 3 games worth of choices, character development and story that I feel it is only right to call out the lies and point out vast plot holes. Given they say the fans are important influences and they incorporate feedback why wouldn’t they listen when many didn’t like the ending. For those who did like the ending they get an even better ending so I don’t see why terms like self-entitled and insults are thrown around.
Personally my issues are more with space child introduced last 10 minutes of the game, and lore being abandoned etc. rather than seeing Shepard happily ever after with babies. I can’t really speak to the bigger issues like themes, how plots and stories should unfold and narrative with authority but I know when something is off. I found All That Matters is the Ending, Part 2: Mass Effect 3 (google) shed some light on what was wrong. Also a pretty good youtube video by MrBtongue Mass Effect 3 Ending: Tasteful, Understated Nerdrage (SPOILERS) I feel has some good thoughts.
Just one giant farts two cents.
29/06/2012 at 23:32 Tritagonist says:
Nice collection of quotes by the BioWare developers. Thanks for posting those here. Their part in hyping up expectations isn’t to be glossed over.
01/07/2012 at 10:34 hilltop says:
Thank you for going through the effort of posting those quotes.
29/06/2012 at 19:43 greenbananas says:
Chalk me down as another one of those that think that Walker’s the better writer on here and is massively (heh) disappointed in this article. It disappoints for generalizing and being dismissive of people who complained about a product they paid for (which seems as weird a position for Walker to take, considering his past posts); it disappoints for trying to stand up for the “artistic integrity” of a company who clearly has none in the first place (selling you the Javik DLC when it came with the game?); it disappoints for the way the author reacted to others’ criticism of it.
Seriously, John, you’re one of the few remaining games writers on the net for whom a significant portion of his audience would put their (virtual) hands on the fire in speaking for his independence, principles and general pro-consumer stand, so I hope you’re heeding the criticism on these here comments.
29/06/2012 at 20:19 piratmonkey says:
Honestly, do people decide that it’s easier to get upset over being called a fairly silly name rather than reading the article/making your point minus the personal attacks?
29/06/2012 at 21:29 Corporate Dog says:
I think I’m decidedly unfartlike on the subject of ME3′s ending, but I’ll just share the MAIN complaint I had (which was originally posted on Bioware’s forums)…
Star Child: Synthetics and Organics cannot coexist peacefully!
Shepard: Ummm…alright, kid. You’re new here, so I’m gonna let you down easy. Look outside that window. What do you see? Because I see Geth ships fighting along side Quarian ships, to take you down.
Star Child: Well, sure, but…
Shepard: And I’d also like to point out that my little three man squad which stormed this here castle, originally contained a sentient AI in a mechanical body.
Star Child: True, I guess, but…
Shepard: I mean, let’s face it. You saying that Synthetic Life and Organic Life are like cats and dogs is a complete red herring. Sentient beings are going to fight, regardless of the synthetic/organic false dichotomy that you’re so hung up on. Even if I step into that synthesis device, the hybrid beings that result from it will fight over who’s got the shiniest subcutaneous circuit patterns, or something.
Star Child: If you put it that way, I suppose…
Shepard: So why don’t you just take your little emo robot space squid crew, and go find someone who gives a shit, okay? I gotta go catch the next shuttle down to Earth, so I can find out if my Hummel figurine collection survived all those lame anime-ripoff death rays you guys shot the place up with. Conversation OVER.
29/06/2012 at 22:15 RosenRosen says:
John, you shouldn’t have apologised. It’s a friggin opinion piece. I’m guessing the people who feel a writer owes them personally satisfying plot points are the same ones who feel they deserve niceties from an editorial.
Incidentally, the ME3 site advertises “adrenaline pumping” action. My adrenaline was near normal levels, and when it did move it was via capillary action more so than any sort of pumping mechanism.
False advertising imo.
30/06/2012 at 10:07 Doghaus says:
Yeah he’s entitled to publish his opinion, just as his readership is entitled to tell him just what they think of his opinion.
Given the contentious nature of the ME3 endings, the way in which it was reported by the mainstream gaming websites and the fact that many, many people thought Bioware should go away and do the endings properly, I’d say the article got exactly the reception it deserved.
Oh and I don’t think anyone asked him to publish a “clarification” and a half-arsed apology, I think he just found himself faced with an overwhelmingly negative reaction from people who pay his mortgage.
30/06/2012 at 08:48 badassjedi says:
Let’s widen our perspective:
I think John’s intent was simply to write a witty article but he ultimately failed to grasp how serious this situation has become. This affair has become a scandal, for not only EA Bioware but the gaming industry/community as a whole. It’s obvious that many people feel they have been cheated and deceived.
This has reached a flash point; the culmination of a long series of wrongs committed by the gaming industry against its community.
(pretentious educational-video narrator voice on)
The fundamental reason so much of the net is a-rage is because the ME series represents the largest player-investment in terms of time/energy than perhaps any other game before it; a persistent, custom identity throughout 3 games, a personal choice-path *owned* by the player, around 90 hours invested, a trilogy spanning almost 5 years, $120+ dollars spent, etc.
Player investment is real, and it consists of more than money, you see. What we’re witnessing here is a new level of involvement in fiction–and as I will argue, ownership and investment; one which utilizes the interactive nature of gaming to provide a truly intimate, player-protagonist-becoming. This transcends the lesser investment we afford say, novels or movies. We *are* Shepard, and we do *own* our own chosen paths through the game. There is a real sense of ownership in that, based on choice, and one doesn’t simply see ‘Shepard’ so much as they see themselves, and the unique path they’ve carved through the game world behind them. The same cannot be said of a novel, or a movie–or most other gaming for that matter. So I think this helps clarify the rage that we’ve been seeing. People feel a real sense of ownership, a real sense of place in the ME story due to personal choice, and they now feel cheated and deceived: hence, outrage.
So, many of us invested heavily into this game like never before, and ultimately the ending (the payoff) did not involve any kind of substantial return (this is arguable of course). But the outcry speaks for itself. If the ending/return had been equal or worthwhile to the investment, the outcome would have been unanimous praise across the nets, wouldn’t you imagine? A handful of truly unique endings based on player choice throughout the series. That’s all anyone wants.
You see, the very player-driven (player-as-protagonist), choice-based nature of ME excludes the deus ex machina ending.
It’s incompatible.
You have 89 hours 45 minutes of player-as-protagonist-driven-choice, then right at the end you are removed as the protagonist and it’s 15 minutes of developer-as-protagonist-driven-choice and game over. This, my friends, is the ultimate source of the nets woe:
The robbing of their role as the hero, right at the critical finale–the role they occupied for 89-something hours of gameplay.
That is why they feel cheated, and deceived, and are full of epic, EA Bioware-consuming rage-fire. How peculiar, that a single financial decision, involving the most critical moment of the game, would determine ultimately whether their lovechild was to go down in the annals of fiction as a true epic, or a mere travesty. How bittersweet then, having saved some money, but damning your art to be forgotten.
It cannot be undone.
(pretentious educational-video narrator voice off)
In light of all of this, I don’t think further attempts at light-hearted humor will amend the situation, or ‘lighten’ the mood, because as John is I’m sure aware, many, many people feel cheated and are in no joking mood right now in light of how invested they were into the series. Let’s not trivialize their emotions regarding this situation, nor should we trivialize the situation itself. People feel cheated and deceived, not only on a monetary level, but a deeper, and I would say more potent, “You lied to me and robbed me of being the hero until the end!” level.
30/06/2012 at 17:20 Big Murray says:
“I think John’s intent was simply to write a witty article but he ultimately failed to grasp how serious this situation has become. This affair has become a scandal, for not only EA Bioware but the gaming industry/community as a whole. It’s obvious that many people feel they have been cheated and deceived.
This has reached a flash point; the culmination of a long series of wrongs committed by the gaming industry against its community. ”
See, this is why people call you entitled. It’s not for not liking the ending. It’s for believing that you not liking the ending constitutes a massive scandal which must be rectified with the heads of developers and the retconning of their story until it fits your belief of how it should end.
Non-entitled people simply don’t buy games anymore from developers who’ve disappointed them. They don’t spout off all this Twiight-fangirl level spiel about how much they’ve emotionally invested and how that makes their entitled attitude so much more legitimate.
30/06/2012 at 18:01 Doghaus says:
Doesn’t that argument cut both ways though? Yes, in the grand scheme of things the ending of a computer game about a man who flies around on a space ship shooting robots and making friends with space aliens isn’t very important.
Why not change the ending if people found it disappointing? It’s just a game, it’s not like they sent the Mona Lisa back asking for a different smile.
If the people who petitioned for a different ending were guilty of using over-emotional language, I think the backlash was equally hysterical. Why all this shrieking about entitlement and “artistic vision.” Artistic vision? Please. Your game let me have sex with a blue girl with tentacles for hair.
It’s interesting. For my own part I was fairly unimpressed at having to spend 35 quid (and the best part of an afternoon tramping round trying to find one of the few shops in London that still sells PC games because I didn’t want to buy it through Origin) on a game that I didn’t really think was that great. Noticeably naffer writing, lazy mission design (how many “defend this area for X mins” bits do you wanna chuck in there, shit) less exploration, boring chest-thumping war bullshit, daft ending etc.
I didn’t care enough to start a petition. If Bioware make another game that looks good, sure I’ll buy it. But I’m glad someone did bother to say “this was crap, I paid good money for this and I would like you to fix it.” Even if they sounded like a Twilight fan when they said it.
30/06/2012 at 19:53 badassjedi says:
You are failing to address this on the right level–your confusing a rule-violation for a stylistic disagreement.
It’s not some superficial disagreement on a stylistic level (with some maybe it is).
Ultimately it’s the acknowledgement that EA Bioware violated the established rule-set of their own game right at the end. Imagine playing through a long card game session, only at the very end to have the judge just change all the rules on you suddenly, and you can no longer touch any of your cards. You can’t change established rules in mid-game. To do so violates any kind of validity of play.
This is what people have felt; what their brains noticed, whether they understand it or not.
So the whole ‘entitlement’ argument doesn’t address the fundamental issue.
30/06/2012 at 13:27 monk says:
As pointed out in other forums, the problem isn’t just plot holes but character inconsistency. That is, the first three endings go against Shepard’s character, who would have not supported control (as his opponents wanted such), synthesis (as he discovered the importance of differences between individuals and races), and destroy (as seen in his friendship with EDI and Legion and his understanding of what happened to the Geth and Quarians). As for refusal, the EMS does not factor in to that. Thus, we have both a broken story and a broken game.
30/06/2012 at 13:40 johnwalkersmother says:
True story: When John was born I thought he was *literally* a giant fart. I thought I shat the bed!
01/07/2012 at 18:30 MachineCode says:
“I liked the ending of Mass Effect 3. I’ve said so before. I acknowledge there were plot holes, perhaps even mistakes, but not being a self-entitled giant fart of a human, I find that I’m able to accept that the ending of something does not have to meet my preconceived expectations, nor wrap up everything I’ve encountered in a neat bow – heck, I can even hate it – without requiring it be changed.”
While I largely agree with your position on the response to the games ending, I cannot fathom how you can say on the game its self: “I acknowledge there were plot holes, perhaps even mistakes”. In my mind that immediately disqualifies you as a critic of story in any medium. If you cannot see flaws which are so enormous, so egregious you have no business being in the business of criticism. If I were your editor you would have a performance review coming up in the very near future.
02/07/2012 at 22:22 F33bs says:
I’m absolutely astounded that anybody finds the ending Bioware wrote for this series to be remotely decent. Too much of this issue has revolved around the word “satisfying,” as if an ending to game should satisfy someone’s primal need for full-circle narrative completion. Obviously it doesn’t and shouldn’t. But the ending was just pure shit from a dramatic perspective. In the first game, reapers were terrifying dark beasts from the edge of space. It was almost Lovecraftian with supernatural terror, and coming into contact with a reaper always preceded a terrifying philosophical discussion about existence that left the player with a sense of actual fear. But in ME3, they are all controlled by a god-child and it turns out they aren’t actually evil but just a product of some bad decision-making by committee. While it may not be appropriate to demand a new ending, saying that Bioware did an awful job in preserving the mystique and the high-stakes flavor of the series is a massive understatement. The entire ending is one massive deus ex machina, and I’m sorry but, stupid controversy or no, that’s bad writing.
03/07/2012 at 22:55 WladTapas says:
I didn’t have that much of a problem with my ending as it originally stood. Sure, it was abrupt, a big shift in tone and could have explained better what happened to other characters, but that is life. All things are not as I wish them to be, and the game was anyway brilliant up to the last scene. It might have helped a little that I finished the game at 4 AM after a true marathon session and was about as tired and confused as Shepard. :) Mind, I was not thrilled by the end, but I could live with it.
Tonight I tried the Extended Cut and this time picked a different ending, now that I was capable of thinking about it and not just staggering towards the light (I was so tired the first time that I thought you walk to the beam and then choose). I destroyed the Reapers and was happy with that ending as it stands now. I might actually play the game again with my other character from ME1.
Mass Effect remained my favorite game series before the Extended Cut, and now it is more so.
04/07/2012 at 10:34 jrodman says:
. scanning fail.
05/07/2012 at 02:00 amisylili says:
Pasta making machine
Pasta making machine series includes dough roller machine, dough kneader machine, multi-fuction pasta machine, fried instant noodle production line, as well as dumpling/samosa machine.
10/07/2012 at 10:20 checkthisout says:
“I think BioWare have done an ABSOLUTELY STUNNING (sic!) job here. They’ve maintained their INTEGRITY (sic!) and their VISION (sic!), they’ve stuck to the ending they wanted to tell, but they’ve been contrite enough to fix genuine mistakes.”
Wow. that’s an almost word-for-word rehash from Bioware’s press/marketing statements.
How’s the pay for embedded (non-)journalism?
From now on, I will disregard anything this guy writes.
I don’t need another yes-man, who praises as ordered by his corporate masters.
You are the reason why “games” + “journalism” is an oxymoron.
As a journalist, it’s your duty NOT to bend over backwards to the powers-that-be! To look, where they don’t want you to look. To point out, what they don’t want pointed out and to rake in the muck and call out all the shit you discover, when you discover it.
You have to be the pain in big corporate’s ass, not another cog on their payroll…
*sigh*
And if you want to see what’s wrong with the ending, I recommend Tasteful Understated Nerdrage (TUN):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MlatxLP-xs&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT_x64921ls&feature=plcp