Mass Effect 3 to get a proper ending via free DLC

[thespyder]

You know, I almost gotta respect them for making that decision. With all of the hoopla from the fanbois and all of the nerd rage going on lately about the ending and how the last 5 minutes of the game it "Ruined" hundreds of game play hours. And everyone demanding (with a huge sense of entitlement) that Bioware ruined "Their" game, I think it is kinda great that Bioware didn't crumble and change out the ending for something else.

Personally, I didn't have to like the ending to appreciate the artistic stance.

But that's just me.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Personally, I think it is pretty lame. If you can't do a decent ending after 3 games and all this hype, I am hardly interested any more.

 

[weeber]

Personally, I think their artistic integrity went out the window when the last words on the screen at the end of the game are: "Buy more DLC!!!!"


But you're right, it's their game and their "artistic" vision. On the other hand, it's my money and my choice. Unless they can pull a rabbit out of the hat and close up all the plot hole that Harbinger could fly through, I will not be paying for any DLC that comes later. I don't see the point continuing or expanding a story that

Spoiler

always ends in a ruined galaxy

.

I will withhold final judgement until after this clarification DLC is released, but I don't have much hope. If anything, it may make things worse. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the writers' room as they try to explain away issues like

Spoiler

why the entire crew you spent years building and fostering would just up and abandon you and the mission

. I'm afraid expanding on a bad ending just gets you an even larger bad ending.

You know, I almost gotta respect them for making that decision. With all of the hoopla from the fanbois and all of the nerd rage going on lately about the ending and how the last 5 minutes of the game it "Ruined" hundreds of game play hours. And everyone demanding (with a huge sense of entitlement) that Bioware ruined "Their" game, I think it is kinda great that Bioware didn't crumble and change out the ending for something else.

Personally, I didn't have to like the ending to appreciate the artistic stance.

But that's just me.

 

[frozentundra123456]

You know, I almost gotta respect them for making that decision. With all of the hoopla from the fanbois and all of the nerd rage going on lately about the ending and how the last 5 minutes of the game it "Ruined" hundreds of game play hours. And everyone demanding (with a huge sense of entitlement) that Bioware ruined "Their" game, I think it is kinda great that Bioware didn't crumble and change out the ending for something else.

Personally, I didn't have to like the ending to appreciate the artistic stance.

But that's just me.

I would agree except that I don't think the ending was "artistic" , just rushed, incomplete, and poorly done.

 

[ramj70]

ugh. Hopes down

Yeah after reading what they have said with this and previous statement the whole indoc theory was just that, a theory. It did make more sense than the intended ending though.

Well we can wait and see what they do, you never know it might be well done. Let's see. Maybe though they will get rid of that message at the end with their sales pitch to get us to buy future DLC. Wow what an artistic stance that was.

Hey if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can bring back Sherlock Holmes after he killed him off because of those self entitled fans maybe Bioware will surprise us

So much for Arthur's artistic integrity.

 

[ramj70]

Personally, I think their artistic integrity went out the window when the last words on the screen at the end of the game are: "Buy more DLC!!!!"


But you're right, it's their game and their "artistic" vision. On the other hand, it's my money and my choice. Unless they can pull a rabbit out of the hat and close up all the plot hole that Harbinger could fly through, I will not be paying for any DLC that comes later. I don't see the point continuing or expanding a story that

Spoiler

always ends in a ruined galaxy

.

I will withhold final judgement until after this clarification DLC is released, but I don't have much hope. If anything, it may make things worse. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the writers' room as they try to explain away issues like

Spoiler

why the entire crew you spent years building and fostering would just up and abandon you and the mission

. I'm afraid expanding on a bad ending just gets you an even larger bad ending.

Not to mention that Bioware repeatedly said this was also the player's story and that we help to make it with our choices which then seemed to go out the window in the last 10 minutes. I can take a dump in a bucket and sprinkle it with gold dust and call it art but it doesn't mean it's good art.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Not to mention that Bioware repeatedly said this was also the player's story and that we help to make it with our choices which then seemed to go out the window in the last 10 minutes. I can take a dump in a bucket and sprinkle it with gold dust and call it art but it doesn't mean it's good art.

My dumps don't need gold dust to qualify as art. Everyone can see they are art by simple inspection.

I must admit that I have put off playing the rest of ME3 until this whole ending crap resolves itself. I like the story, but not enough to want to play through it only to be disappointed.

 

[ramj70]

My dumps don't need gold dust to qualify as art. Everyone can see they are art by simple inspection.

I must admit that I have put off playing the rest of ME3 until this whole ending crap resolves itself. I like the story, but not enough to want to play through it only to be disappointed.

LOL, you are a regular Rembrandt sir :biggrin:

And to those that think people should just be quite about the ending here are some quotes from Casey Hudson

http://venturebeat.com/2012/03/02/c...t-3-with-the-sometimes-cranky-fans-interview/


GB: So are you guys the creators or the stewards of the franchise?
CH: Um… You know, at this point, I think we’re co-creators with the fans. We use a lot of feedback.


GB: What has been interesting to you about all the fan commentary so far?
CH: I think one of the things that’s really fun and surprising for us is the degree to which people responded to character-based storytelling. At this point, people need to know what’s going to happen with these characters, they need to know what’s going to happen in the end.
GB: Like every one of them.
CH: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

GB: Is there something that comes to mind there, examples of that, where fans made a difference in how it turned out?
CH: When we started the Mass Effect series, we had no way to tell how compelling our characters would be in terms of the emotions… Especially with the aliens, we didn’t know if they would be able to portray compelling human emotion. So we didn’t build the love interests into some of the alien characters like Garrus… He has the exoskeleton face and stuff like that. But because a character like Garrus just has great voice acting and animation, and a personality that’s really well-written, a lot of people wanted romances with him and with some of the other alien characters. So we decided to try that with Mass Effect 2 and that was very successful. They’re some of the most popular romances, people love those characters. That was a surprise to us, but we kind of had to finish Mass Effect one and then listen to some feedback before we tried incorporating that.


So yes this is what Bioware created wanted in regards to the fan feedback. Now all of sudden with the last 10 minutes or so throw all that out the window, your feedback and Bioware viewing the fans as co-creators is no longer valid because of our "artistic integrity". Bioware has no on to blame but themselves in this.


They see they messed up the ending and are now trying to repair it and I think that is a good thing. I hope they do pull it off.

 

[thespyder]

I would agree except that I don't think the ending was "artistic" , just rushed, incomplete, and poorly done.

One person's art is another person's garbage. Ever heard of Cat painting?

 

[PowerYoga]

Well, EA happened to bioware so their whole "artistic integrity" goes out the window when it comes to meeting profit margins and 1st quarter sales numbers, along with day 0 DLC.

Bioware is dead and they're not coming back. Pack it up gents.

 

[surfsatwerk]

I do not forgive you.

 

[Fox5]

Bioware blog link:
http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/05/mass-effect-3-extended-cut/

Also includes a FAQ. From the FAQ:
Are there going to be more/different endings or ending DLCs in the future?

• No. BioWare strongly believes in the team’s artistic vision for the end of this arc of the Mass Effect franchise. The extended cut DLC will expand on the existing endings, but no further ending DLC is planned.

I unfortunately got my hopes up; I was really starting to believe in the indoctrination theory.

It's still possible, since if the indoctrination ending is true, everything happens, then Shepherd wakes up and goes "it was all a dream...let's rock team!"

If they do that, it would be the biggest wtf plot twist in a game since Bioshock, and probably be a powerful case for DLC to EA's corporate management. "Look, we made DLC add value to the game!" Of course, then they also somewhat failed by giving enough of a time lapse for the theory about the 'real' ending to spread all over the Internet, ruining the possible surprise.

 

[Hammyton]

Honestly no matter what direction this DLC plans on taking the plot I'm just grateful that they seem to be putting a significant amount of effort into a *free* DLC. If you think about it Bioware is unlikely to sell any additional copies of the game as most people who are fans would have already bought the game before this summer. This is purely being done in an effort to make their fans happy.

kudos! EA may be $hit but I don't know other "less evil" gaming corporations would have done this.

 

[thespyder]

Honestly no matter what direction this DLC plans on taking the plot I'm just grateful that they seem to be putting a significant amount of effort into a *free* DLC. If you think about it Bioware is unlikely to sell any additional copies of the game as most people who are fans would have already bought the game before this summer. This is purely being done in an effort to make their fans happy.

kudos! EA may be $hit but I don't know other "less evil" gaming corporations would have done this.

I am not sure that "Significant Effort" is the term here. Sounds more like a little bit of tack on to answer questions about what happened to people. Might even be like the VO at the end of NWN2-SoZ. Who knows.

And I think that plenty of copies will still get sold. Probably a lot of people held off until the "Ending Crisis" was resolved. And still more are waiting for the discount price. And more are probably holding off due to other priorities.

To see what a "Less Evil" gaming company will do, check out Stardock and what they are doing for the people who bought "Elemental: War of Magic".

 

[frozentundra123456]

One person's art is another person's garbage. Ever heard of Cat painting?

You are entitled to your opinion, and if you think the ending was great art, more power to you. But I think that the fact that this forum exists at all indicates a lot of people agree with me that it left a lot to be desired.

 

[thespyder]

You are entitled to your opinion, and if you think the ending was great art, more power to you. But I think that the fact that this forum exists at all indicates a lot of people agree with me that it left a lot to be desired.

You miss-understand. I never said that i thought the ending was "Great art", merely that the creators had the right to their artistic vision (good or bad).

And the existance of this (or any) thread proves nothing except that people like to discuss topics (sometimes violently). But I do agree that a fair amount of people were disgruntled about the topic.

 

[weeber]

You miss-understand. I never said that i thought the ending was "Great art", merely that the creators had the right to their artistic vision (good or bad).

And the existance of this (or any) thread proves nothing except that people like to discuss topics (sometimes violently). But I do agree that a fair amount of people were disgruntled about the topic.

I don't think anyone wants to take expression away from the artists. However, I don't think you can change your art form at the conclusion of a ~100-hr trilogy and expect people not to tell you it sucks. ME3's ending literally breaks gameplay, lore, and characters that have been built over three games and several books and other media. Imagine da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa, then when it comes time to paint the face he decides to use surrealism style (think Dali's Clocks). It just doesn't make sense and it doesn't work.

To me, the art of ME has never been the story. The story is fairly cliche, derivative, and done many times before in Sci-Fi. ME's real art form was the ability to integrate the player into the choices, which had real, varying consequences (that impacted subsequent games) and deep character development; I honestly cared more about what happened to the NPC characters than I did Shepard.

Up until the last 10-minutes, ME3 continued this art form extremely well. Choices made in the game and previous games mattered greatly and character dialog/development was great. Then came the ending.

The out cry isn't over the fact that we didn't get the exact endings we wanted. Everyone's upset by the fact that ME3 continued the pace previously set, and was on track to be a great game with a fitting conclusion. Then, all of the sudden, it's like a different game. None of the previous choices mattered, the final consequence are really all the same (and they all suck), and we don't even get any dialog in the ending scenes, much less any resolution to the other characters/story-lines.

Unlike other art forms, you have people that are personally invested in their characters, the decisions they made, and their ME universe. People spent a lot of time (and money) over several years in the franchise. And to have it end this way...it just doesn't make sense. That's where the anger is coming from.

Maybe this clarification DLC can fix it...but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Kev]

Well someone on youtube went and fixed the ending:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG4EyfXOTJ4

brilliant

 

[thespyder]

I don't think anyone wants to take expression away from the artists. However, I don't think you can change your art form at the conclusion of a ~100-hr trilogy and expect people not to tell you it sucks. ME3's ending literally breaks gameplay, lore, and characters that have been built over three games and several books and other media. Imagine da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa, then when it comes time to paint the face he decides to use surrealism style (think Dali's Clocks). It just doesn't make sense and it doesn't work.

And I fully support people’s right to say ‘It Sucks!’ Have at it. That is perfectly fine. But people aren’t saying ‘It Sucks!’ People are saying “This is MY Game and YOU RUINED IT! Change it NOW!” Only it isn’t.

I take your example and I say 'Who ever thought that Lucas would go from “A New Hope” and “Empire Strikes Back” to “Phantom Menace”?' People had 20+ YEARS invested in Star Wars only to see that steaming pile come out. And I stand by my right to say that Phantom Menace was crap. But I would never tell Lucas that he “Had to change it” or that it was anything other than his movie.

To me, the art of ME has never been the story. The story is fairly cliche, derivative, and done many times before in Sci-Fi. ME's real art form was the ability to integrate the player into the choices, which had real, varying consequences (that impacted subsequent games) and deep character development; I honestly cared more about what happened to the NPC characters than I did Shepard.

Up until the last 10-minutes, ME3 continued this art form extremely well. Choices made in the game and previous games mattered greatly and character dialog/development was great. Then came the ending.

The out cry isn't over the fact that we didn't get the exact endings we wanted. Everyone's upset by the fact that ME3 continued the pace previously set, and was on track to be a great game with a fitting conclusion. Then, all of the sudden, it's like a different game. None of the previous choices mattered, the final consequence are really all the same (and they all suck), and we don't even get any dialog in the ending scenes, much less any resolution to the other characters/story-lines.

I am currently playing through ME1 now. Even early on in the game there are heavy undertones about the 50,000 year cycle and the Reapers coming back to kill humanity. The foundation for the end was laid in the opening sequence, and again in the council discussion, and again several other times during the first few hours of game play. Even the God-child is hinted at if you are looking for it. So with foreshadowing going on this far back, I am not sure how anyone can say that the ‘Story’ component was a departure. As for the lack of individual choices inside the game play not having impact on the ending, that was clearly a choice made by the developers. I may not like it, but I respect that they are making their game (albeit one with a lot of flexibility of game play) and ending it the way they wanted. And from about the first third, I am still seeing ‘The writing on the wall’ in that it is going to end up badly. One man is not going to change the force of evolution in the Galaxy. The fact that Sheppard and crew had any impact at all on that level amazes me.

And I disagree. Most of the posts I have seen have been about "I think the ending should be XXXX." Or "What a stupid ending. Change it to YYYYY." There are definitely shades of "the decisions I made have no impact" but usually these are followed up by what people would do differently. And we will see when the DLC comes out. I bet there is yet more whining and gnashing of teeth that it didn't end the way 'They' wanted it to end.

Unlike other art forms, you have people that are personally invested in their characters, the decisions they made, and their ME universe. People spent a lot of time (and money) over several years in the franchise. And to have it end this way...it just doesn't make sense. That's where the anger is coming from.

Maybe this clarification DLC can fix it...but I'm not holding my breath.

Oh, contraire. People get heavily invested in characters on TV shows and in Movies. People get invested in characters in Books. Or when a musician puts out a bad album, or when artists have dry spells and put out stuff that is not up to the standards of their previous work. And just as invested as they do with video games. I see no difference what so ever. Personally I was extremely disappointed with the ending of ‘Lost’ after watching for 4 years and to end that way? Or the whole final season of Babylon 5? And again, I point out Star Wars. Darth Vader was iconic for my generation. To then see him as a whinny brat was a HUGE let down. I think you don’t give people enough credit, or are downplaying things merely to make your point? Either way, video games are no different than many other forms of art and entertainment. Investment happens. People get disappointed, or elated or any of the other range of human emotions. I still don’t see how that gives someone the right to demand that an art delivery be changed to the satisfaction of someone other than the creator.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Well someone on youtube went and fixed the ending:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG4EyfXOTJ4

brilliant

ROFL! Right out the gate the best one is Garrus's.

 

[spaceman]

hopefully they put a proper foot in gimpy shepards ass so he walks faster <.<

 

[Bateluer]

ROFL! Right out the gate the best one is Garrus's.

Really? I thought Vega's was the best.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Screw the ending...the free MP DLC is where the fun is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BasebmHiqIo

 

[Gunslinger08]

You know, I finally just watched the "Shepard's Indoctrination" video and I think this is actually what they intended. It just fits too well and I think it actually makes the ending much better with that insight. I think they definitely needed to spell this out more though, because it seems that 99% of people never got this without the video.

If this is their intended ending, I do agree that we still need some scenes about what happened in "the real world" outside of Shepard's mind. Did the fleet win?

 

[Balt]

Bioware blog link:
http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/05/mass-effect-3-extended-cut/

Also includes a FAQ. From the FAQ:
Are there going to be more/different endings or ending DLCs in the future?

• No. BioWare strongly believes in the team’s artistic vision for the end of this arc of the Mass Effect franchise. The extended cut DLC will expand on the existing endings, but no further ending DLC is planned.

I unfortunately got my hopes up; I was really starting to believe in the indoctrination theory.

ugh. Hopes down

Yep.