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(This post contains Minor Mass Effect 3 Spoilers)
Mass Effect 3 hasn't even been on shelves for a full week, and there's already a movement growing to change the ending of the game. Disgruntled ME3 players have created a "Change the ending of Mass Effect 3 twitter feed," a facebook page to "Demand a better ending to Mass Effect 3" and flooded polls on Bioware's forums. There's even a petition to change the ending of the Mass Effect 3.
Apparently, the ending of the game is a bit too dark for some gamers, and they'd prefer a more upbeat ending, as well as an ending where Commander Shepard's in-game actions have more bearing on how the game finishes.
Here's how the Facebook page describes the issue:
"Mass Effect 3 is a great game until the last few minutes; they destroy everything fans have been playing for in the past 5 years."
The Facebook page alone now has over 13,000 "likes," and phase two, a letter-writing campaign, is planned.
I haven't finished ME3 yet, so I don't personally know how well the ending works, but I hope that BioWare doesn't decide to change the ending of the game based on the complaints of gamers: That's not how art works. The audience doesn't get to pick the ending. If you like a certain kind of game ending, you can make your own game and end it any way you choose. I have faith that the great writers and producers at BioWare are better at deciding how their franchise will end than the people who play it -- they've earned that kind of loyalty and respect through years of making impressive, story-driven games.
But that's just my opinion. What do you guys think? How do you feel about the ending of Mass Effect 3? Do you think it should be changed?
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Comments
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paypop
Oh, and Steve: Please finish the game before you condemn us for feeling disappointed. It makes you seem less credible.
Ochavez0912
The problem in itself does not lie in whether the endings are bad or no.
The problem lies in the fact that in the final mission and subsequent set pieces, and endings, everything that the game stands for ( your choice and their impact on the universe) are thrown out of the window and have zero significance.
Choice has no impact. The war assets gathered have no impact. Not even the squad set up has any impact (as you will see when you get there). Instead, all is a series of shoehorned moments, and a plot twist that is so pulled out of someone's ass in BioWare, is makes for terrible terrible storytelling. Let's face it, Mass Effect is as much a game as it is a novel. The storytelling and the impact your choices have in it are what makes them the most compelling part of the game, and all that makes not a damn difference in the end.
To top it all, there is no real closure, just an "open to interpretation" ending that resembles more a scene from the Land of the Lost and a thank you note.
abaddon1977
At least with the ending I got it felt as if I was watching the ending of the last matrix movie. (NEO) Shepard plugs himself in and the matrix reboots things for a better future without the hero (been there, hated it). To say that the (majority of) funding fans of the MASS EFFECT SAGA should not get the ending that they want and that a new ending shouldn't be made is just foolish. This form of art is not a painting or a sculpture that is finite in it's presentation (even the multiple endings prove that). So if the fans are calling for a different ending, a better ending, or an ending that wraps things up in a better way then just amalga-Joker and his metal girlfriend exiting a ship and looking at the new matrix, then, I think it would be fine to make that ending a reality for the PAYING fans. It's crazy, but, maybe BIO could make this ending and give the fans what they want. If a new ending was created then given to fans then BIO would be doing something that no other game has ever done before (at least no other game that I know). They would be saying to the fans- we understand your pain- we hear what you are saying and would like to cater to all the fans of ME- I am in favor of a new ending. To say art should not be changed would be fine in the up until the 90's or so would be okay, but, as I said this type of art is different it is digital, virtual and evolved. This new form of art comes with multiple endings DLC and a host of other things. This is not the Mona that we are asking to have a beard drawn on it. This is a universe that can be changed. One last thing, you say you have not finished the game yet so one of your legs is a wooden nub with a round ball and the other one has been cut off- as another has mentioned before you don't really have a leg to stand on. yes, you have an opinion, but without experiencing the ending for yourself but saying you have an opinion on something that is 3/4 of the story tell a lot about your own evolution as a person- put in ALL the time YOURSELF- finish the game/ remember all the hours of play you have put in from ME1 ME2 and ME3/ remember the hard earned money you spend on the games and DLC and reflect on all of it and then form your opinion- It may not change but then again it just could change. Some art is better left unchanged, but then again art as we know it is changing. DLC is added art to an already ended gamed. Does that mean it is lesser than because the art has been altered. No, it doesn't, it means the art is evolving, growing, and transforming into a bigger slice of that art. A new ending can be made, and should be. What can it hurt there are multiple endings already one more won't make others that like those endings say they want another one. Finish the game, then but this article up again changing the I haven't beat it to I have beaten it and then state the same things if they still ring true. Stop dancing in quicksand. Bio, make a new ending we love the ME saga. END THIS SHIZZ THE RIGHT WAY or will we be paying even more to see the real ending in more DLC. Stephen, art is changing, embrace it. Some Art can be changed for the better.
Dessicator
After reading most of the comments (so many!), I still don't know what to make of the ending. However, one thing is certain, I spent the entire running credits (and then some after the "white world" scene) going: "What just happened........"
Pemoel
I'd like to say that I've followed Mass Effect since it's release. I enjoyed the Universe they crafted and that my choices had an effect on the experience of my gaming session.
Mass Effect Two took a step back, majorly, even though the system was tight and streamlined. Not only did it render most of our choices moot but it hit a reset switch and introduced a convoluted story that diminished the scope of the game.
We are left holding the bag with Three. Our choices were somewhat considered , and I can only speak for myself here, but the overall feeling is a let down. My choices felt underscored in the face of a Deus Ex Machina ending. My struggle was not tied up my own actions, choices, and consequences.
( A 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.)
I enjoyed the trilogy but I can't help but understand that gaming companies are going to progressively skirt beneath the bar set here. Any games with import features and carry over are only going to become steadily worse and not better. It has nothing to do with a sense of entitlement.
hammerhead3
I have never been more disappointed about something in my entire life. There hasnt been a movie, book, song or anything that has disappointed me more than the ending of Mass Effect 3. I've been playing ME since the first one and ME 2 is my most favorite game of all time. ME 3 is a great game but the ending makes it a game where i kind of regret paying 60 dollars for it. I trusted bioware because they havent let me down on the first two ME's, but the ending to ME 3 sucks. I recommend playing it to finish the story, but just dont pay 60 dollars for it.
Pemoel
I'd like to say that I've followed Mass Effect since it's release. I enjoyed the Universe they crafted and that my choices had an effect on the experience of my gaming session.
Mass Effect Two took a step back, majorly, even though the system was tight and streamlined. Not only did it render most of our choices moot but it hit a reset switch and introduced a convoluted story that diminished the scope of the game.
We are left holding the bag with Three. Our choices were somewhat considered , and I can only speak for myself here, but the overall feeling is a let down. My choices felt underscored in the face of a Deus Ex Machina ending. My struggle was not tied up my own actions, choices, and consequences.
( A 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.)
I enjoyed the trilogy but I can't help but understand that gaming companies are going to progressively skirt beneath the bar set here. Any games with import features and carry over are only going to become steadily worse and not better. It has nothing to do with a sense of entitlement.
Outlaw20XX
I had wished the ending was a little more idk upbeat i guess but I dont want to change that but hey it was a hell of a ride wasn't it.
cwbys21
"That's not how art works."
No, but that is how business works. Without customers, these guys aren't producing their art. With the way fans felt about Dragon Age 2, and now Mass Effect 3, they are seriously hurting their business.
Seahawks28
Whether you hate the endings because they were too dark, they didn't make sense, or the endings made it so all your decisions amounted to squat it still does not entitle you to re-done or completely new endings.
Everyone took the same risk when they bought the game and that risk was that it would or would not live up to their own individual expectations. It's the same risk you take when you buy any form of entertainment. Either you'll like it or you won't.
If I go see a movie and I do not like the ending I can not go to the front and demand my money back. I could petition the movie studio and demand they remake it, but the studio would not be obligated in anyway to remake it even though I had spent my money on the film. Even if the promotions of said film promised me a movie that was action packed and full of suspense and they failed to deliver it I'm still not entitled to a remake the same holds true with Mass Effect 3 or any other game.
Bioware has delivered Mass Effect 3 and that is all they are required to do for the 60 dollars you chose to spend on the game. The fact that you do not like the game or just do not like the endings is irrelevant.
If BW does decide to release some sort of DLC to add endings to the game I not only hope but I fully support them charging for that DLC. They've released the game and it is complete. Even if 99% of the entire fanbase demanded that the endings be changed Bioware would still not be obligated to do anything for them. The game is done end of story.
paypop
Steve- I'm a person who holds your opinions in high regard, however I completely disagree with your sentiments. As a diehard fan who has spent well over 200 hours playing the Mass Effect trilogy, I feel that I (along with other fans) deserve a more satisfying ending. We have given these games (which are now a major part of our lives) countless hours, and shed blood, sweat, and tears over them; therefore our voices should be heard.
Everything that the petitions and groups have laid forth as to why the ending was abysmal has already been stated, and therefore I need not reiterate them. The fact of the matter is that these games mean more to us than anyone could possibly imagine, and words cannot describe how much the characters and world mean to me; nor can they describe how disappointed I am with the ending to the greatest thing that has happened to me.
In this case the voices of dissent are the voices of the majority, and we need to be heard.
http://www.facebook.com/Dema ndABetterEndingToMassEffect3?r ef=ts
Xeize
Its not about the ending being "dark"....Mass Effect 3 is about trying to stop the total annihilation of every organic species, with your friends dying at every decision you make..so yeah I have no issue with a "dark" ending. I am upset with the fact that nothing is explained or even shown at the end. Ever since Mass Effect we were built up to believe that there was this complex reason to why we were being wiped out and we were told 2 more times that we would never understand why. But when I get to the Catalyst (it is never explained why the Catalyst looks like a little boy) we are basically told that the Reapers are killing us so we don't end up killing ourselves..... that we would create synthetics and that they would ultimately turn against us....which this is completely understandable, but why in the previous games are we built up thinking there was a more interesting explanation? The story of the Reapers while well written in the first two games, falls apart at the ending of the third. Sovereign wanted to kill Shepard and Harbinger actually succeeded in doing so, while later leading the attack on Earth. They both had a personal grudge against Shepard...personal enough to see the humans as the largest threat....The Reapers are suppose to be a true AI intelligence, the pinnacle of evolution, but it turns out that they are just someone's slave. (had a different word, but you know what I mean)
I just want the explanations we deserve and an epilogue showing how my decisions changed the galaxy....also maybe an ending choice where the Mass Relays aren't destroyed. That just doesn't make any sense to why Bioware would even have them destroyed. In no shape or form does that benefit anyone, even people who like the ending should have an issue with this. Mass Effect's storyline is completely dependent on whether the Relays exist or not and in my play through I have every species helping which means they would all be stranded on Earth...
CamperHunter1
This sounds like a pretty reasonable and legitimate complaint as compared to all the petty and frivolous boycotts and petitions that may have jaded so many over the past few years over more mundane things. I haven't played the games myself, though I did educate myself on a bit of the basic knowledge and the endings in question here, and I support the people who feel cheated over what they got. I'm no stranger to being invested in game characters/stories myself, and I can only imagine how the more level headed (i.e. calm and coherent) people actively trying to get this to happen must feel.
Make a new ending to show your fans that you care, they aren't asking for the game to be completely remade. Show them that you value their patronage devs.
TheTinyDangerousOne
Movies are changed frequently after being screened to test audiences and endings themselves are some of the most frequent changes. Characters are expanded or left out entirely based on how well they screen. Games are no different, as we have seen countless times in Beta testing. They are altered, tweaked, and even rewritten completely, at times. The game market is designed to cater to and be sustained by the very fanbase that supports it.�
Your argument might hold water to some extent were this a straight, old fashioned arcade game with cutscenes and dialogue pre-programmed in an unchangeable storyboard format. Those games allowed for plotholes because of their novelty and young fanbase.�
ME does not. When you develop a game around the premise of variety, you cheat consumers if you fail to provide it. There are not seventeen endings here, there is one ending with seventeen ways to get it, none of which matter. We played because we were told it would matter. Finding out it doesn't not only jades fans, but it also seriously eliminates replay value. As you well know, that feature was a key selling point for Bioware and fans appreciated it. Bioware should likewise appreciate they created a story so good that the fans are invested enough to rally in the defense of it. That is loyalty of the most complimentary kind, the dissolution of aesthetic distance.�
It shows an investment in the story on a personal level, which is what every writer hopes for.�
The gripe is not that Bioware provided a bad ending - I would have been perfectly fine with the provided outcome as an optional ending - its that they provided ONLY one.�
The oversight is an underestimation of their fans, and word of mouth is already beginning to impact who is and is not buying the ME3. Gamers have near-indestructible loyalty and long memories, but there is no finality in these complaints yet. Bioware has the opportunity to win back the fanbase sitting cautiously on the fence at this point. They have lost no one. How they handle this will determine whether they lose customers or not, and it's the quality of work that holds the fans on the fence, rather than sending them running for the hills in outrage. ME is better than good, each game was enthralling. Acting on behalf of the customer takes nothing away from the story they have crafted. All it does is add the options/consequences we all were under the impression would be found in the final installment. We simply want Bioware to hold the ending to the same high standard we've come to expect to see from them.
lucidity
If the number of posts are any indication, ME3 is selling like crazy.
It seems like almost everyone on G4 has it.
Mashpotaters
You really should finish the game before giving your opinion on it. The problems aren't in the ending itself, but in how it's executed. It has nothing to do with the ending being too dark. It's full of plot holes. Mass Effect is story driven. How are you going to give the ending plot holes when you are an RPG that claims to put the story first.
I also don't see how asking for them to change it is going against what art is. It's art, but it's art that changes depending on our choices. People just want the ending to match the game.
Mitts
For those of you that don't know what Mass Effect is or what they did to the story, I'll put the ending in LOTR terms.
Imagine if J. R. R. Tolkien had Frodo get to Mount Doom after some long ass journey (which is comparable to ME1 and ME2) and Sauron's ghost was waiting for Frodo. He explains to him why he wants to rule Middle Earth and some more background. Then Frodo convinces him to change his mind after 10 seconds and is given the choice to destroy all of the orcs or control all of the orcs. Both of which will cost his life. After choosing, Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, and Gimli, who were just seen fighting the orcs outside of Mount Doom, crash a boat on some random island and all get off together with a big banana grins on their faces. They have no clue where they are and don't have anyway to get back to see anyone else. Ever. They don't care that Frodo just died. Aragorn doesn't care that he can't become the King, marry Arwen, etc.
That's how EA and BioWare ended the Mass Effect Trilogy. Some long epic ass journey to defeat some hardcore evil ends with you convincing it to change it's ways in 10 seconds. It dies. You die. And everyone that helped you is stranded on Earth and your close friends are some random planet. The most anticlimactic ending they could possibly come up with a resolution that doesn't even make sense.
This is why I'm mad. Not that Shepard dies and you can't marry your love interest, but that the ending is just plain terrible. If LOTR ended like this, it wouldn't be half the trilogy it is today.
kayderek18
The ending was not too dark, It just wasn't an ending. Nothing feels resolved. how can anyone not be upset with that after YEARS of working towards this one single moment.
KTXtheGreat
Didn't anyone notice that Shepard was being indoctrinated and that the control ending and Synthesis ending are actually the wrong endings because the Reapers achieve what they wanted. To control Shepard's mind to think destroying them is wrong and in the process of the two endings killing him or her.
Nebulous
Mass Effect is basically a combination of Blade Runner and Star Wars. Is Harrison Ford a replicant? Is Shepard indoctrinated? I don't know. I really don't care because my ending was free of these concerns.
The post-credits ending brought me back to the original and I loved it. Suddenly, it was all about exploration again.
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