Mass Effect 3 Ending(s) - Spoiler Alert

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/03/21/mass-effect-3-a-dangerous-precedent

This drives me more insane than any gaming video should.

"a vocal minority?"

"what if all developers start changing their endings?"

f*** this stupid s***. I can't believe any site is this dumb, no one has ever defended something this much.

You build up so much through three impressive games and you pull this kind of ****? Sounds planned, to make an excuse for DLC. I don't plan on paying for anything. I'll just view the new endings on Youtube.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/03/21/mass-effect-3-a-dangerous-precedent

This drives me more insane than any gaming video should.

"a vocal minority?"

"what if all developers start changing their endings?"

f*** this stupid s***. I can't believe any site is this dumb, no one has ever defended something this much.

110million

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/mass-effect-3-ending-changed-video-gamer-backlash-bioware-announces-article-1.1048196?localLinksEnabled=false We gets teh new endingkage_53

That's nothing short of pathetic.

Yep.  

This drives me more insane than any gaming video should.

"a vocal minority?"

"what if all developers start changing their endings?"

f*** this stupid s***. I can't believe any site is this dumb, no one has ever defended something this much.

110million

That's nothing short of pathetic.

Foolz3h

[QUOTE="Foolz3h"]

That's nothing short of pathetic.

kage_53

Yes it is. They shouldn't bow to a their fans' giant hissy fit. They should stand by what they did, even if it was crap. The game wasn't developed by Mass Effect fans, nor should it have been.

Yes it is. They shouldn't bow to a their fans' giant hissy fit. They should stand by what they did, even if it was crap. The game wasn't developed by Mass Effect fans, nor should it have been.

Foolz3h

Normally I would agree because listening to DA: O console fans made them ruin DA2 entirely, but you can't possibly make the ME3 ending any worse. Changing the ending was okay in Fallout 3, it will be okay in ME3.  

I'm fine with that. However, the complaints are because it made no sense in the greater context of the game. It was incredibly unfullfilling and confusing. Nobody really knows exactly what the end entails or what it means. When you finish a game, and say "WTF just happened?", that's usually not a good thing.

sonicare

Yes, and for a game that for the past half a decade has made it seem as if your choices are important, squeezing out 3 endings with seemingly little difference other than them being different colors, and endings you pick, not endings that result from your previous actions, seems like the biggest cop out in gaming.

I have felt many endings were crap, but usually I wasn't playing those games for their story or characters, at the very least none of them went to this extent to try to be.. bad. There are plenty of games with almost, non-endings, where you kind of resolve a major conflict, and then credits roll, I'm more okay with this even, like if ME3 ended 5 or so minutes earlier, would have been perfect.   

I agree. That is a huge flaw in their current ending system. The entire series was based on the principle that your actions mattered. They let you import your char and saves from prior games as testament to that. However, the endings for mass effect 3are independent of any choice you make in the prior 2 games or even the third game, itself. Nothing you do in the game will influence the ending other than accumulating war assetts. And the additional 1 second of footage for that ending is poor testament to that.

It's kind of funny how like to get Quarians and Geth on your side you need to have completed a particular set of quests, and it's heavily influenced by how you handled their situations in ME2, that is the kind of thing that should have happened for the ending. 

For example, since the little boy reaper at the end tells you that the advanced races must be wiped out so the young ones can prosper or it leads to chaos, blah blah blah, if you got all the races to work together, and did everything you could for them (to some extent or another, I know you can't quite make everyone super happy), they could have had harbringer or whatever see it as a potential end to the cycle, and base some sort of ending off of that. Or again, even easier, just end it like 10 minutes earlier.  

This ending controversy is way more bigger than it needs to be.

It's kind of funny how like to get Quarians and Geth on your side you need to have completed a particular set of quests, and it's heavily influenced by how you handled their situations in ME2, that is the kind of thing that should have happened for the ending.

For example, since the little boy reaper at the end tells you that the advanced races must be wiped out so the young ones can prosper or it leads to chaos, blah blah blah, if you got all the races to work together, and did everything you could for them (to some extent or another, I know you can't quite make everyone super happy), they could have had harbringer or whatever see it as a potential end to the cycle, and base some sort of ending off of that. Or again, even easier, just end it like 10 minutes earlier.

110million

[QUOTE="kage_53"]

[QUOTE="Foolz3h"]

That's nothing short of pathetic.

Foolz3h

This ending controversy is way more bigger than it needs to be.

Aljosa23

The ending is also way s***tier than it needs to be. :o  

I agree though.  

I know the fanbase for Final Fantasy is far smaller than ME3, but both games have sh***y endings. Long development leads to bad endings, I think.

Kage and 110 million it doesn't matter if their marketing was wrong, or if the ending couldn't be made worse. They could make it into the best ending ever, and they still shouldn't do it if their only motivation is fan backlash.

Courtesy of someone else, Kage? I thought you were the best information gatherer there is! :P

Kage and 110 million it doesn't matter if their marketing was wrong, or if the ending couldn't be made worse. They could make it into the best ending ever, and they still shouldn't do it if their only motivation is fan backlash.

Foolz3h

Dragon Age 2 was ruined by fan backlash, so ME deserves some too.  

Kage and 110 million it doesn't matter if their marketing was wrong, or if the ending couldn't be made worse. They could make it into the best ending ever, and they still shouldn't do it if their only motivation is fan backlash.

Courtesy of someone else, Kage? I thought you were the best information gatherer there is! :P

Foolz3h

[QUOTE="Foolz3h"]

Kage and 110 million it doesn't matter if their marketing was wrong, or if the ending couldn't be made worse. They could make it into the best ending ever, and they still shouldn't do it if their only motivation is fan backlash.

Courtesy of someone else, Kage? I thought you were the best information gatherer there is! :P

kage_53

How does bowing to fan rage because they care about their reputation go beyond fan backlash? That's exactly what bowing to fan backlash is. xD

I'm glad at least one game journalist understands the outcry about the mass effect 3 ending.

Everyone else just thinks OH GAMER ENTITLEMENT LOLOLOL THE ENDING WAS FINE

Finally finished. Went with the best destroy ending. The one where Shepard lives.

After doing some research I definitely support the indoctrination theory. The starchild stuff all takes place in Shepard's head. I just hope the events that occur after the big choice are in his head as well cause that sh!t was straight up awful. Either way, prepare to be trolled hard by the extended cut dlc.

Definitely on board for indoctrination theory.  Too many signs to support it.  The ending is just way too strange to be Shepards reality.  Either way, wheres the fun in a boring old Shepard saves the day ending?  Anyway, I love these kinds of endings.  Makes you think a bit.

 

Definitely on board for indoctrination theory.  Too many signs to support it.  The ending is just way too strange to be Shepards reality.  Either way, wheres the fun in a boring old Shepard saves the day ending?  Anyway, I love these kinds of endings.  Makes you think a bit.

h575309

Makes you think that people need to make up endings in order to make up for Bioware's awful writing. Even if there is plenty of evidence, all the comments from Bioware imply the ending was what it seemed. If the extended ending proves the indoctrination theory, it will only be because Bioware read it on the internet and thought it was a good idea, there is nothing even remotely intelligent anywhere in the plot of any of the three games.  

Makes you think that people need to make up endings in order to make up for Bioware's awful writing. Even if there is plenty of evidence, all the comments from Bioware imply the ending was what it seemed. If the extended ending proves the indoctrination theory, it will only be because Bioware read it on the internet and thought it was a good idea, there is nothing even remotely intelligent anywhere in the plot of any of the three games.

110million

Actually, I find it kind of funny how people don't consider that Bioware had this all planned out. Do you really think EA was gonna be content with no dlc for the game? Everyone is quick to sh1t on Bioware about the ending but very few people actually think about it. Do you really believe the huge plot holes weren't left there on purpose? This is a game which offers dozens of unique versions of many cutscenes and allows you to only see a fraction of the content on your first playthrough. Do you really think they'd just leave gapping holes in this one part of the game?

The Normandy's retreat, for example, makes it obvious there is more to the story. Bioware left things out on purpose to encourage discussion between fans. Think about it. No one talks about a cliche ending, at least not for more than a day or two. The mistake Bioware made was misjudging how people would react. Obviously they didn't think feedback was going to bethis monumentally negative. Depending on how you look at it, they gave gamers to much or too little credit.

Still, the dlc was likely gonna happen all along... long before people starting complaining. In fact, during a panel one of the Bioware writers said something along the lines of "If they only knew what we had planned for dlc all of this wouldn't be happening". Now, this might just be damage control, but I'd like to have a little more faith than that. To me it sounds like they've had a post-release game plan all along. And even if the writers said "nope that's the end" at some point, wouldn't you take that with a grain of salt? If they were going to release dlc endings, would it make any sense to tell everyone before a proper announcement was planned? I mean, what if the indoctrination theory was actually true? You'd really be ruining the ending if a few weeks after release (before a lot of people finished the game) you announced "oh btw, the ending's not real... you'll get another one later... so stop complaining kthnxbai".

I dunno, I just find the mentality behind this debacle to be overwhelmingly cynical. Can't people look at this in a way other than "Bioware sucks, game is ruined, nothing can fix it"? I have faith that there's more to this than we realize. Do I think I'm setting myself up for disappointment? No. Even if the dlc sucks I'll live. In fact, I'll still be more satisfied than the entitled fanboys and haters. Cause, man, if the indoctrination stuff is true Imma have a heyday. Bioware will have pulled one of the greatest trolls of all time and the fans will only have themselves to blame for overreacting. Personally, I'd give them props for using an unorthodox plot device but I'm sure people would still complain about not getting their cliche Animal House ending.

I dunno, I just find the mentality behind this debacle to be overwhelmingly cynical. Can't people look at this in a way other than "Bioware sucks, game is ruined, nothing can fix it"?

PatchMaster

Bioware just had a recent panel on Dragon Age 2 where their major reveals for the sequel was "we'll have more than 1 area, you can change character costumes". I have no faith in the slightest. I mean consider that in terms of story, there hasn't really been anything worth mentioning as a whole in both of the previous games. The first game with saren was pretty cool, but the 2nd was too much of a setup and recruitment, with minor bits of important story here and there. Anything that is remotely interesting is pulled out of some other sci-fi movie or tv show.

They may have build an interesting universe, but that is about all Bioware has managed to do. Dragon Age 1 was fun, but it was still just a LOTR rip off and massive recruitment mission again. Even ME3 was a glorified recruitment mission, the races would need to be pretty full retard to bicker among themselves when the whole universe is going to die

I gurantee they are incapable of completing the story through DLC that concludes the plot in any meaingful way. I enjoyed playing through all 3 games, Bioware is a capable enough developer in making games fun, but story is no where close to their strong point. They put too much into 'options' that are ultimately meaningless instead of focusing on one cohesive story.

I recently watched an older anime, one by the creator of evangelion before he made that, it was only 6 episodes, called Gunbuster, where they had a similar threat. An external menace from outside their galaxy whos forces were infinitly more powerful. The ending made me think "wow, that was a ****ing amazing way to deal with an unstoppable force". I was fine with deus ex machina for ME3 ending, we got something worse. I mean even take the child from the start, plus the dream sequences involving him, force-fed emotional scenes are what ME games are far too full of, considering they spent so much time on such a worthless event is a display of bioware's inadequacy.

Well, it's a video game. So I'm gonna throw out the obligatory "lol vidyagame stories". The story was fine throughout the trilogy and the writing was decent for what it was trying to do. And who didn't see the deus ex machina coming? It was pretty much expected and not because this is a Bioware game but because... well, it's a video game. Bioware definitely aren't the gods some nerds try to paint them as, but they're no where near incompetent either. Games like Dragon Age 2 suck because EA pressured them to casualize and pump out sequels, not because the writers are hacks.

If anything the expectations were way too high for ME3. I think a lot of people got in their heads what they wanted the game to be so that when the final product rolled out and it didn't match their expectations they threw hissy fits. Kind of strange considering the marketing and hype was toned done significantly compared to ME2. Now that some time has passed I'm actually starting to see where the media was coming from with it's whole "gamer entitlement" angle.

. Now that some time has passed I'm actually starting to see where the media was coming from with it's whole "gamer entitlement" angle.

PatchMaster

Me too.

From the Bank.

Well, it's a video game. So I'm gonna throw out the obligatory "lol vidyagame stories". The story was fine throughout the trilogy and the writing was decent for what it was trying to do. And who didn't see the deus ex machina coming? It was pretty much expected and not because this is a Bioware game but because... well, it's a video game. Bioware definitely aren't the gods some nerds try to paint them as, but they're no where near incompetent either. Games like Dragon Age 2 suck because EA pressured them to casualize and pump out sequels, not because the writers are hacks.

 

If anything the expectations were way too high for ME3. I think a lot of people got in their heads what they wanted the game to be so that when the final product rolled out and it didn't match their expectations they threw hissy fits. Kind of strange considering the marketing and hype was toned done significantly compared to ME2. Now that some time has passed I'm actually starting to see where the media was coming from with it's whole "gamer entitlement" angle.

PatchMaster

I wanted and was perfectly fine with a generic deus ex machina ending, if they just launched the weapon, wiped out the reapers, and sat there talking, roll credits, it would have been satisfying. I never said I didn't expect or whatever the deus ex machina, I mentioned it probably a dozen times in threads leading up to its release. The idea is, BECAUSE it's 'lol video game stories' people expecting this bull**** about some deep and crazy plot twist that people figured out is completely unlike bioware and the rest of the series.

My expectations were for an awful ending, it exceeded my expectations by announcing the deus ex machina early on, it went full retard when they had 3 lame color-coded choices.  

The idea is, BECAUSE it's 'lol video game stories' people expecting this bull**** about some deep and crazy plot twist that people figured out is completely unlike bioware and the rest of the series.

110million

Well, from a business perspective, would you really put it past them to try and make addition endings via dlc? I don't think it takes a genius to pull off a dummy ending for retail and a better ending for dlc. Maybe other games haven't done it before but every trend starts somewhere. I mean, whether Bioware have done something like this with a previous series or not is pretty irrelevant. It's still possible that's what they were going for. Too bad they royally f*cked it up already.

[QUOTE="110million"]

The idea is, BECAUSE it's 'lol video game stories' people expecting this bull**** about some deep and crazy plot twist that people figured out is completely unlike bioware and the rest of the series.

PatchMaster

Well, from a business perspective, would you really put it past them to try and make addition endings via dlc? I don't think it takes a genius to pull off a dummy ending for retail and a better ending for dlc. Maybe other games haven't done it before but every trend starts somewhere. I mean, whether Bioware have done something like this with a previous series or not is pretty irrelevant. It's still possible that's what they were going for. Too bad they royally f*cked it up already.

There are games with meh endings that had DLC come afterwards, see ME2, but it just seemed like a cheap conclusion to a story that felt epic even if it wasn't terribly original. It was okay for ME2 to have the dumb terminator cause it wasn't the end yet, but this was extra dissapointing. 

[QUOTE="kage_53"]

[QUOTE="Foolz3h"]

Kage and 110 million it doesn't matter if their marketing was wrong, or if the ending couldn't be made worse. They could make it into the best ending ever, and they still shouldn't do it if their only motivation is fan backlash.

Courtesy of someone else, Kage? I thought you were the best information gatherer there is! :P

Foolz3h

How does bowing to fan rage because they care about their reputation go beyond fan backlash? That's exactly what bowing to fan backlash is. xD

But i guess I was wrong. Starchild is in the dlc. **** you starchild. Starchild ruined this game. I would rather have no ending than Starchild existing in the game. Bioware has failed. Oh well, I guess Obsidian and CD Projekt are all I have left...