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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?
Comments are Closed
Comments
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bogdog44720
This isn't art. It's business. In business you put out the best possible product for your customers or you lose money. To the person who wrote this thread let me say this. Yes, Bioware earned a lot of accolades from their gamers, and then ripped their hearts out and stomped on them, spitting in the face of 5 years of loyalty. This ending is worse than the Sopranos cut to black ending. To say "It's our party, Shepard dies if we want to, too bad you can't do anything about it because it's our artistic take" is an absolutely arrogant statement sir. Their job is to sell video games and to make their gamers happy so that they buy MORE GAMES from them. If X-Play decided to present the show with crying babies in the background non stop because that is their artistic take how many viewers do you think they'd lose?
Even Forbes magazine, FORBES, a friggen business magazine from Wall Street says that Bioware screwed the pooch on this one. Between what they did to this and Dragon Age folks will be wary to invest time in another RPG series from them due to their propensity to screw their gamers over on characters they have heavily invested in for years.
Secondly, Bioware knew there was going to be a massive backlash. They "revised" their forums code of conduct just days before the games release. They have also dummied up about the whole thing for now. The evidence is damning. I cannot believe their testers said "Yeah, this ending works for me".
I do not think Adam Sessler played this game all the way through before submitting his review. 95% of this game was the most fulling video game experience I've ever had. I'm 40 years old. My dad had the first Space Invaders and Pac Man machines in Ohio. I have been a gamer all my life. This is not how you win hearts and minds. If Sessler did like the ending then I question how much swag he go to say he did.
In the end, sure Bioware will have their artistic integrity to be proud of. I hope it provides them comfort when people stop buying their games, and X-Play jumps on the band wagon and gives them a "Worst ending to a franchise" award posthumously.
CFenix
It's not because it's dark. It's because it makes no sense and there is no closure.
All your decisions throughout the series mean nothing, because all you do is choose between 3 equally crappy endings instead of see the ending play out as a result of all your previous decisions.
MassEFFECT3boo
You havent even finished the game and your saying you hope they dont change it? You dont even know why people are unhappy. Its not that the game ending is dark. I for one enjoy movies or video games where the main character dies for his cause, being dark is not the issue here. The ending was just bad and somehow managed to have huge plot holes in it. *spoilers* harbinger kills everyone while sprinting at the portal but somehow the team thats with me is the only people to survive on the Nomandy which for some reason is going through a mass relay even though they were just fighting in space above earth. You dont fight TIM or Harbinger and everything flys away all happy. Hey that fine dont change the ending, I wont buy DLC and Ill buy Dragon Age 3 used. I know how much EA loves people buying used games. At least beat the game before you write an article about how you think we are wrong.
MeanDarkSmile
I honestly being a very big fan of the game would love to get more clarification about the end. I picked an end that didn't matter what I had done previously before in the game! The end wasn't the issue for me, I would of loved a different happier ending but things were left so vague and abrupt. I didn't know what happened to the crew or how they managed to get in the ship so fast. I didn't know if the crew mates with me on the ground died or not. I am not even sure if the whole ordeal was a hallucination!
Sure Bioware doesn't have to change the end and maybe they shouldn't but we as the people playing their final product. The "art" that they made...we can all say hey this was not a very good ending for what we've been playing. Mass Effect 3 altogether was a let down compared to the first 2 so I am really disappointed. I wanted to see more about the characters after it happened. It was just all lacking. I was expecting a long cut scene! It took like 5 minutes for the game to end. It was like Mass Effect broke 3 up with me without telling me why.
legendaryred
You haven't even finished the game, yet you're bashing this movement? How are you even allow to write on this website? Maybe you should've researched more into the issue before you go head first to write an "article". The problem with the endings are plot-holes, do you NOT understand that? is it too hard to comprehend?
Mwatuangi
Dude, do your research first.. This has nothing to do with simply not liking the ending. The point is, the endings offered to players in Mass Effect 3 are almost exactly the same, with minor differences. Bioware promised players a game where your choices matter, and stressed this fact in numerous interviews. Here's an example of a quote, per Gamble himself:
"There are many different endings. We wouldn t do it any other way. How could you go through all three campaigns playing as your Shepard and then be forced into a bespoke ending that everyone gets? But I can t say any more than that
"Whether you're happy or angry at the ending, know this: it is an ending. BioWare will not do a "Lost" and leave fans with more questions than answers after finishing the game.
"]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."
THIS is why players are on a witch hunt and signing petitions. What they did to resolve ME3 completely contradicts this and literally voids all choice that the player makes in this game. It's rather funny that a business magazine (Forbes) actually gets the movement better than one entirely devoted to gaming.
Another nice fact worth mentioning: only two of the original writers - Walters and Weekes - that worked on ME 1 and 2 worked on the last installment, which perfectly explains the game's sudden shift in theme and relative lack of creativity in the latter half of this game.
Kalatir
When 89% of the people in a poll on the Bioware forums are in agreement that the ending didn't satisfy them, there's something wrong. I completely agree in most cases that something like that just has to be accepted, but there are far too many unhappy people here. I respect the people who enjoyed the ending and are happy with it. I just ask that they also respect that there are people out there that wanted more. I don't really mind whether the ending is light or dark, I just want -more- of an ending than the 3 minutes offered to me for my 100+ hours of gameplay. The first two games had great endings. They had payoffs that left you feeling as if the time you spent playing the game was worth it. Upon finishing this one, I was left feeling blank. I'll never be able to accept any of the endings provided, and I'm left without a sense of closure for the story I became so invested in.
onepiece226
Having not played the Mass Effect Trilogy as a whole (bits and pieces here and there) I can't comment and say that any of you are wrong.
But I will say that i'm sure all of you have a different ending in mind and that changing it to one other thing will just be a waste of time because maybe some will like it and most will, or everyone will just hate it even more. Who knows.
A new ending either way won't really satisfy you because you all will still have they "dis-taste" for this current ending.
I've heard there's a few different endings to this so maybe try doing something different with the game. If 99% of the Trilogy made you happy that's better than most trilogies which are never perfect, even the Star Wars movies. Hope you fans find some sort of closure on this someday, no disrespect fellow gamers.
Lashknife
No, I do not think it should be changed. That said, it would be nice to get some clarification from Bioware about the hallucination/indoctrination theory to the ending.
LegatoSkyheart
The Ending was Dark yes, Dark as in I CAN'T SEE THE PICTURE!
There is too many plot holes in the ending and it's really annoying to see that everything you did goes flying out of a window and into a furnace! This game was AMAZING up until the last 10 mins.
Keefe4
my main problem is the fact the relays are wiped out... it basically kills anymore mass effect games. i don't agree with that at all
sammysoso
So, you haven't finished the game but you think you are justified in writing an article dismissing a movement against said ending....
This is different than telling the author of a book or the director of a movie "your ending sucks, make us a new one." Video Games are a whole new type of art form, one more based on fan input than anything that has come before it. Game developers who disregard their fans tend not to fare too well. Also, whether the fans are justified in asking for a new ending depends on the kind of game. A linear shooter for example, will have (or should have) a very clear narrative direction and a definite ending, an ending to this should be left up to the writing team, it's their story.
Mass Effect, and other similar RPG's have a very different set of rules when it comes to storytelling. The enabling of the player to dictate the way the story flows demands numerous and varied paths for any given situation. For the most part the Mass Effect trilogy accomplishes this (an amazing feat that should not be overlooked.) However, and this is a big one, at the very end the game abruptly changes that dynamic yanking the player into a much more linear and directed experience (to say nothing of the deus ex machina, numerous plot holes and complete lack of closure.) This fundamental shift violates the player/story relationship that has gone on for the entire series. For me, the most jarring was the shift in genre. Up until the ending of the series, Mass Effect has been a Space Opera/Military Drama then abruptly at the last moment it becomes something akin to metaphysical pulp science fiction.
Essentially it would be as if the Star Wars Original Trilogy's ending was replaced with that of 2001:A Space Odyssey. As the credits rolled, you would most definitely want your money back. Be glad we're not asking for a full refund.
BBeetar
Mass Effect was truly the first major game I got into. The choices you made and character relationships were something that I had never seen before. I was prepared for Shepard to die. Personally, for my taste in games, I think they should be a little darker in some aspects. Not everything is going to be "oh we saved the galaxy time to party." However, I must say I was extremely confused for the last 5 minutes of the game. It took until going through each option once for me to understand it more. I love the ending now more that I think about it. Making the ultimate sacrifice to save the galaxy from the reapers. That's how a game should be.
Unfortunately, what made me mad was the fact that there is so many unanswered questions. What happened to jack, Miranda, Jacob, samara, grunt and all the rest of my squad? How did EDI make it from the citadel beam (I had her in my party) to the Normandy? Why would joker leave the battle and go through the mass relay?
I don't think they should change the ending. I think, if anything, they just need to add closure to what happens with your squad and the galaxy. That's what all bioware games are about. Even dragon age has those paragraphs explaining what happened to everyone at the end. I'm not sure how it'll work but I would like to see what happened to the people I've been with for over 5 years instead of leaving it to my imagination.
cmonnowsrsly
As much as I respect your opinion, Stephen, (not to mention your Feedback theme) I think you're in the wrong here. It's not that the ending it too "dark," it's that the ending is just not good. If that's the ending they want and it's the ending we're stuck with, that's fine. I just want my unhappiness with their choices recorded publicly. I plan to vote with my wallet later by staying home when they release the next game.
There's a good argument to be had as to whether or not video games are a static media. They used to be but I don't think that's the case anymore. Between patches and DLC, the game you get out of the box is rarely the final product these days. Movies have director's cuts, why not games? Bethesda set the precedent with the Brotherhood Of Steel DLC for Fallout 3. We're just asking for something similar. So why not tack on an extra ending or a real epilogue, if fans demand it?
*spoilers!*
If a universe without Mass Relays is the set-up they need for the next game in the series, that can always be the "canon" ending. It's only one of the many things about the ending that annoyed me and made little sense. As it stands, they'd probably have to jettison the "synthesis" ending entirely, so even amongst the endings they've provided, they won't be able to continue the series using all of them. A lot of people want a "happily ever after" ending and that's fine too but it doesn't have to be the ending Bioware uses as a springboard for the next game. In a game that's all about choice and the ramifications of choice, what they provided was slim to non-existent in a way that's pretty insulting to those of us who have spent over 200 bucks and more than a hundred hours of our time.
I know people are used to dealing with angry, immature fanboys, so the word "entitled" is usually pretty quick to show up in an argument. Personally, I love the game, the series... hell, pretty much everything Bioware puts out. I applaud them for including the option for a gay relationship and I think they're perfectly within their rights to charge for day one DLC. The series is 99.9% fantastic... it's just that last .1% we have an issue with. If I can do something to change that, why wouldn't I speak up?
Gantros
WTF? It's just the Hitler subtitle meme!
http://youtu.be/b33tJx8iy0A
Gantros
Let Hitler spell it out for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=b33tJx8iy0A&feature=you tu.be
1mattshields
What kind of crap journalism is this. Your supposed to deliver the news not your opinion on something you haven't even completed yet. if I had really wanted someones opinion I would have checked a forum. This isn't videogame news.
coolerdude
Media outlets are definitely taking and putting our frustrations in the wrong light. It isn't that the ending was "too dark". It's that there was absolutely no CLOSURE whatsoever. It leaves with that lingering feeling of "that's it?". Its just 3 similar endings shown in different color lenses that throws more questions in the air.
Seriously, for anyone not getting why so many people are NOT happy: go finish the game.
You will see how the ending does not provide the closure you would expect from a INTERWEAVING TRILOGY.
*SPOILER ALERT*
When I threw my Shepard into that beam to synthesize all organics and synthetics, I watched Shepard die. I wasn't angry that my Shepard had to die for it to happen. I wasn't sad because it was grim. I accepted the fact that personal sacrificed had to come for the good of all. That was fine.
What really frustrated me was the next scenes. Why the hell is the Normandy fleeing from the battle? What happened to the fleet I assembled? What happened to earth? What happened to my squad mates? What happened to my love interest? Why is Ashley and Edi, the same people I put in my squad that got obliterated by Harbinger, coming out of the Normandy unscathed on some remote planet? What happened to the rest of the galaxy: Pallaven, Thessia, Tuchanka, Sur'Kesh, and the other alien homeworlds? What happened to the Geth and Quarians?
*Spoiler End*
The endings left more questions than answers, which is exactly the opposite of what Mike Gamble said in that interview when he said Bioware wouldn't pull a "Lost" on us.
Seriously, people. Getting your facts straight before raging on us fans.
coolerdude
Media outlets are definitely taking and putting our frustrations in the wrong light. It isn't that the ending was "too dark". It's that there was absolutely no CLOSURE whatsoever. It leaves with that lingering feeling of "that's it?". Its just 3 similar endings shown in different color lenses that throws more questions in the air.
Seriously, for anyone not getting why so many people are NOT happy: go finish the game.
You will see how the ending does not provide the closure you would expect from a INTERWEAVING TRILOGY.
*SPOILER ALERT*
When I threw my Shepard into that beam to synthesize all organics and synthetics, I watched Shepard die. I wasn't angry that my Shepard had to die for it to happen. I wasn't sad because it was grim. I accepted the fact that personal sacrificed had to come for the good of all. That was fine.
What really frustrated me was the next scenes. Why the hell is the Normandy fleeing from the battle? What happened to the fleet I assembled? What happened to earth? What happened to my squad mates? What happened to my love interest? Why is Ashley and Edi, the same people I put in my squad that got obliterated by Harbinger, coming out of the Normandy unscathed on some remote planet? What happened to the rest of the galaxy: Pallaven, Thessia, Tuchanka, Sur'Kesh, and the other alien homeworlds? What happened to the Geth and Quarians?
*Spoiler End*
The endings left more questions than answers, which is exactly the opposite of what Mike Gamble said in that interview when he said Bioware wouldn't pull a "Lost" on us.
Seriously, people. Getting your facts straight before raging on us fans.
Samus37
I think the issue a lot of gamers have with the ending isn't the fact that it is dark - it really isn't. I was completely prepared for Shepard to die. I was prepared for my squad to die. I was prepared to sacrifice everything to save the galaxy. The issue I have with the ending is that it wasn't really complete. It was a short cutscene that, while really cool looking, was pretty lacking in actual story. The choices that you have to make at the end of the game are tough. That's fine. But some of them don't really make sense. I personally play a Paragon Shepard, and yet I felt like no matter what option I picked, I had to be a Renegade. No matter what I did, I was screwing over someone somewhen, even though I had always found a compromise before.
Is it good storytelling to make an ending seem harsh? Maybe, I don't really know. If the endings were all fun and happily-ever after, that wouldn't work either, but to me it felt like all the endings here were just a "GAME OVER" screen.
J.K. Rowling didn't end the Harry Potter series with a single sentence. J.R.R Tolkien didn't end Lord of the Rings by saying, "And Frodo destroyed the ring. The End." However, when I finished Mass Effect 3, I felt as if it was Bioware saying, "And so Shepard did ______ and then ______ happened. The End."
... It is just my opinion though theres really no need to go spreading it around.
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