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Disgruntled fans who continue to be angry with the creative direction BioWare took at the end of Mass Effect 3 are now being told to bring their complaints to the Federal Trade Commission. The push is being ushered along by BioWare forums user El_Spiko, who directs fellow angry fans to lodge their own complaints at FTC.gov.
El_Spiko writes: "After reading through the list of promises about the ending of the game they made in their advertising campaign and PR interviews, it was clear that the product we got did not live up to any of those claims." The post goes on from there, but that's the core of the argument.
I hesitate to come out and call anyone crazy... but I don't know how to finish that sentence. It is absolutely the right of any human to take issue with the creative direction a work of mass entertainment goes in. We are opinionated creatures by our very natures, and so the back-and-forth discussion so far over the end of Mass Effect 3 is par for the course, even if it's got a bit of that "beaten dead horse" feeling to it.
Lodging that dissatisfaction with a government organization that handles consumer products though... I'm sorry, but that's nuts. We've fought hard as a community -- and continue to fight even now -- to earn a measure of respect for video games as something more than mere entertainment products. And it's working! Increasingly, you see the "games as art" debate dismissed as a non-factor.
Filing complaints with the FTC is a backwards step. Games are once again rendered as products in the hands of the FTC, and all because it's convenient to a presumably small contingent of angry fans. Star Wars fans don't take their issues with George Lucas to a consumer organization; instead, they write impassioned blog posts like this one. And that's totally fine. It adds to the conversation without forgetting the fact that we're talking about a creative work.
So bring on your blogs posts. Rant all you want about how much you hate BioWare for destroying however many hours you put into the trilogy. Point out pre-release interviews that you feel painted a different picture for the trilogy's endgame than the reality of what it was. That's fine. Just remember to treat Mass Effect 3 as it ought to be: a creative work of interactive fiction. This isn't a toy we're talking about, it's an experience.
Read about this FTC news. Respond to it. But if you have any respect for how much ground the medium of video games has gained in the public consciousness, please, for the love of Shepard, don't join in on this asinine complaint campaign. Instead, go ahead and read what ME3 director Casey Hudson had to say to fans over the weekend about the game's ending.
Source: Gamepur
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Comments
Displaying 81–100 of 149
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wolfsbane12
While there were problems with the ending, getting the Federal Trade Commission involved is taking things a bit far. The game hasnt been out a month, if bioware chooses to change certain things about the ending (only had complaints personally with what joker did and the cliffhanger "breath" moment thought i would like to see a good long 45 minute ending that closes the book on shepherd and his/her crew) it will take months to plot, write, create, and incorporate into the game. People are being too rash with this controversey.
And i doubt the FTC will actually do anything, they probably have more important things to do.
xX_USMCiNFANTRY
I'm fine with this. I see in no way shape or form as this as a step backwards. We're complaining about a game that ruins a great video game series, and diminishes it as an art. Because the ending was terrible, but complaining is a step too far? We don't want a piece of trash ending tapped onto an art, and we're taking a step backwards for video games? Makes perfect sense.
Wart131
I for one, actually liked the ending. And you all knew the series had to end at some point. I think the worst part was knowing that your commander shepherd, your team, your story you worked so hard to build had finally come to an end. And the end of the game was just that, an ending to the story. I approve of the ending, but hey, that's just my opinion.
crocodilius
oh man did he just call us all creatures?
i am not a jeff hardy fan!
thank goodness kurt angle owned him last night.
spikegabriel
"Yes you may get what you want, but is it worth it when you have a ton of other people pissed off at you about it?"
Please explain to me what is so wrong with expecting a company to keep the promises it makes. I just don't get it. If my gf takes birth control pills, well I expect them to work. If I purchase a can of corn, I expect that it will not be filled with beans instead. Modern society has evolved to a point that companies are no longer held responsible. What's more is that the weak minded people have developed an attitude of attacking anyone that believes companies should keep to their word. As things are now it's expected that companies lie. Instead of people wanting to go after them for it, they go after citizens that actually expect companies to tell the truth. It's really sad. Oh, and again there is a huge difference in something being "ART" and something being a "product". Trying to say something is art just to get around the fact that a company lied is disingenuous at best.
iTand
I did not like the ending, but filing a complaint with the FTC just goes a little bit to far if you ask me
onepiece226
I 100% agree. What's even more of a shame is anyone with a good comment about how Mass Effect fans should calm down get so many negative comments and thumbs down but it's the truth.
It's one thing to campaign to include an old character or how Epic had that poll to decide weather or not Carmine should die or be saved, it's a whole other story to complain about an ending enough to bring it to the FTC. I'm sorry wether you liked the ending or not that's ridiculous and as a gamer i'm ashamed.
That's why older gaming was superior to now. You had a playstation or nintendo. No online. No DLC. Just a disc or cartridge and you played. If you didn't like the end, tough. That sounds so jerkish but it's true, as a whole we whine way to much about stupid things. If a game dosent come in 1080p these days we automatically denounce it as horrible. If the online part sucks it's a bad game. And now this.
All you see on here is that Bioware sucks. EA sucks. Mass Effect 3 sucks. and if you don't agree with me you suck. Anyone in support of this FTC thing IS taking a step back and truly keeping gaming from ever truly being called an art. As an artist the only person on the face of this earth that you have to please with your art is yourself and wether or not Bioware changes the ending, if they were pleased with THEIR ending then i'm fine with it.
Take it like this guys. And I KNOW i'm gonna get crap for this but I don't care. You guys complaining are somewhat like those girls on My Super Sweet 16. Everything about the party was absolutely PERFECT...........then you get the wrong car..................or the color is wrong..............and now everything sucks.
Take it or leave it.
spikegabriel
[quote]
EA are not a bad company. what they do with THEIR product is entirely up to them. however much they may charge you for it is also entirely up to them. when you buy their product you support that company whether you like it or not. do you get it yet? IT MEANS IF YOU ARE GOING TO COMPLAIN DO NOT BUY THEIR PRODUCT IN THE FIRST PLACE.[/quote]
That would be true, except you are overlooking a few things.
1. They are making an assurance that certain things are contained in the product. When those things are not contained, then they have not held up their end.
2. Even ignoring number one above, you can not get their product and see that it does not contain what they promised and then return it. At least here if you purchase a game it is yours. You can't return it.
3. While sure they can charge whatever the want, my choice not to buy their product should not negatively effect me. It does, because when people do not purchase their products they blame piracy. This leads to insane bills being passed that harm other people. Hollywood makes bad movies that people don't want to see, they blame piracy. Now you might further guess (well, let's be honest you wouldn't guess much based off your flimsy logic) that once these bills are passed and they continue to see low profits they would stop. No, as it's already been shown they would simply require more stringent laws.
So I agree, let the charge whatever they want. That doesn't say that they can promise things that are not included in the game.
I could just see this same argument being applied in other places. I order a hamburger and fries. I get a piece of dried meat, and a raw potato. To which I'm told "the chef took artistic license". Now wait, before someone slightly above the iq of a rock chimes in with "but it's not the same" I will address it. In fact, let's say you purchased a "paint" program. When you get it, you open it to realize it is nothing more than an "Etch A Sketch". Is that what you paid for? Not if they had promised features that are not included. So what are you possible choices? Return the product? Yeah, I could just see EA giving refunds for people not happy with ME3.
luckyone91
Personally I loved MY ending. I hear they're almost identical, and I can understand why that would disapoint people. However, all I've seen is my ending. It's called illogical, which is an untrue generalization; it's actualy very deep and thougfull, with a few parts that do come off as illogical (or unexplained). With some logical thought, they can be explained; a lot of the points ued to support the argument that the ending doesn't '"make sense" are gut reactions. I know a lot of people are actually fine with the idea of the ending, but just wish they'd found out how it ended for more of the characters, which isn't unreasonable. You care about these charactes, and you want to understand their situation after the ending; I can understand that.
AmericanKing01
Do I think the ending should be changed, Yes. Do I think it is the majoraity of the players who also want the ending changed, Yes. Do I think we should take this to the FTC, NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!
They are just gonna screw it up worse than it already is.
lowkevmic
@Sorceress&Camperhunter1- You and other sensitive supporters of this nonsense can thumbs down people's comments all you want. At the end of the day, anyone who will go through these measures in protest of a video game ending is an entitled fan geek who can't move on to something more important, and yes some sort of a social relationship outside of an online comment board is definitely needed for the likes of those who really feel motivated to build a grassroot movement to have a game ending change. Nothing is wrong with having an opinion or even voicing it. I like many voiced my opinion in regards to Adam Sessler's review of KOA and Abbie Heppe's review of Darksiders. But it went no further then the comment portion of this website, during my smoke break or some down time at work. So for someone to actually try to get the federal governemnt involved is pathetic on the part of the loser who suggested it and the people who actually think it's a good idea.
I can even understand if the overall game was crap, but that's not the issue. The issue is with an ending that a small group compared to the millions who will own and play this game, found unsutible for their tastes, given the countless hours they may have poured into the franchise over the course of 8 years....As if BioWare owe you for offering up YOUR money to buy a game using YOUR OWN FREE WILL!! No one over there made anyone purchase and play this game, so sorry ladies and gents, they can end the game however they see fit. Don't like it, make your own fan ending and post it on youtube...That should be good for at least 4 months of people feeeling vindicated over such a tragedy like the ME3 ending.
This still translates into a bunch of butthurt fanboys who actually think that Bioware is going to pay their employees to go back into the studio just so they can write,draw, voice cast and develop a brand new ending, because some of the fans weren't happy with the original ending. Read a book, and get over it people, it is and will always be just a game.
cry_of_paine
I read his post too. He brought up some valid points. As a commercial product, we were promised some things that weren't delivered. So you can make a case for going to them with this complaint. But I think ultimately if more people follow this guy, it'll just harm the cause. Especially this early in the game. Give EA the time to figure out a solution that addresses the concerns. If they refuse to, then you might want to think about other options. But this is too drastic a step too early.
As for the "art is sacred" argument that is the primary thrust of all those on the keep-it-the-same side, I disagree. Art isn't about the artist's creative vision. It's about using that vision to establish a relationship with the audience. Art cannot exist without the audience to experience it. So an artist should always keep in mind want kind of relation they want with their audience. If they aren't getting that, maybe they need to rethink their work.
Second, art has always been a commodity. Most of the masterpieces we think of today as great art were created at the direction of someone else. Michelangelo didn't want to paint the Sistine Chapel. He wasn't even a painter, he was a sculptor. Yet the Pope forced him to do it, and so we have a magnificent masterpiece. Shakespeare, daVinci, Rembrandt, etc. - most of the greatest artists throughout history worked for patrons who comissioned works from them. Does it diminish the creative vision of the art if someone else asked for it? No.
Third, video games in general, and ME in particular, are unique in the history of the world. Especially in a game like ME, we are no longer a passive audience member. Our decisions matter. The story changes itself based on what we decide. In a very real sense, Mass Effect reflects our creative vision just as much as it reflects Bioware's. We are part actor, part author, part editor, and part audience - combining elements of all four roles to take the raw material that is in ME and craft a unique narrative. I think Mass Effect sits at the cusp of redefining what art really is, and what the relationship is between artist and audience. It's always done an amazing job of pushing those boundaries, if not ignoring them completely. But the problems with the ending threaten that. Their response will determine whether they continue to innovate, or if they fall back to the old standby argument of "because I said so".
FuzzofPekinopolis
POSSIBLE SPOILERS, probably doesn't matter since people were telling you how the game ends 2 days after it released anyway.
I'm calling out everyone who said they beat the game in a couple days, did EVERYTHING?, and complained how bad the ending was.
And no, I'm done caring what this group thinks because they are obviously talking out their rear-ends. The ending might suck, but it depends on what you expected in the first place. Either way the game is just fine by me, no matter how it ends.
I have a save file carrying over from ME1,ME2, and entered that file into ME3. I have 40hrs. in the game so far and have just finished the Attack on the Citadel after the Tuchanka main mission. I have allied with every species SO FAR, and by every species I mean every species. Cerberus is the only group I am not allied with and I have acquired some of their operatives.
I have had tons of help from people I met in the first and second game. I have also acquired assets from them as well. I have gotten allot of assets from listening to people that are not highlighted as a quest.
I can understand how the ending of the game might not be as good as some would have liked, and that sucks for you. But what I can't understand is how people beat the game in a couple days and answered to me that they did Everything.
People have skipped allot of the game that is not in the quest log, they either made bad choices in the previous games or didn't play them at all. That is the only possible way that they did EVERYTHING and beat the game in 30-40hrs in a couple days.
Hate me all you want, that is your right to do so. I'm still calling some of you liars or at least overly demanding of a game that we were told was Shepards last.
Have a nice day, seriously I'm not being sarcastic, it's only a game, but I'm done with the b.s. I have seen posted.
Misterdde
I thinks that alot of people are actually missing some of our points.
1 : The guy who take this to the FTC is on his own. we do not appreciate this nor support this kind of action.
2 : We are just asking bioware to give us the ending they told us they would give pre-sale. Nothing more, nothing less.
3 : we do not hate Bioware/EA. If we did, we wouldn't even bear to complain. We would just not buy anymore products from them. Even if we mostly won't buy any DLC without alternative ending. ( And i insist on alternative, i wouldn't mind if the actual end would stay.)
We are just demanding that the ending does not thrown over the windows the lore, the logic and the very spirit of the whole ME series.
Best regards...
(still ) A fan of Bioware belonging to #RetakeME3
Misterdde
I thinks that alot of people are actually missing some of our points.
1 : The guy who take this to the FTC is on his own. we do not appreciate this nor support this kind of action.
2 : We are just asking bioware to give us the ending they told us they would give pre-sale. Nothing more, nothing less.
3 : we do not hate Bioware/EA. If we did, we wouldn't even bear to complain. We would just not buy anymore products from them. Even if we mostly won't buy any DLC without alternative ending. ( And i insist on alternative, i wouldn't mind if the actual end would stay.)
We are just demanding that the ending does not thrown over the windows the lore, the logic and the very spirit of the whole ME series.
Best regards...
(still ) A fan of Bioware belonging to #RetakeME3
mikeyman4202
WORST IDEA EVER!!!!! look let me first explain im a huge BioWare /mass effect fan. But im a huge gamer first b4 im a single game companys fanboy. So with the community of gamers in mind how the @#$% can anyone think that with our standings as gamers in any government around the world and even right here in america, that going to a federally run agency to solve the problem is out of there mind. How many times do we read about some group coming out of left field to try and regulate, stop, or attack in someway, the gaming community. It all comes down to whining little brats who had nothing to do with the creation of this game thinking because they played a game with decision making in it that they can make creative art and business decisions for the company.get over yourselves. So in closing stop whining nobody likes a whiner. EPIC FAILLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron82
From what I've heard about the endings of ME3 and what I've read regarding Bioware's promises, I think El_Spiko's complaint seems legitimate.
twhiting9275
So, if the [insertgamehere] doesn't meet my expectations, I have the right to run like a little girl to the FTC, complaining about the direction people took? Get real, people, just get real.
The same goes for movies, songs, dvds, etc...
The fact is that the manufacturer has creative control over how these things go. We all knew how the game ended within days of it's release, thanks to the fanboys that played and played and played relentlessly. If you have a problem with how it ended, then, you can only blame yourself for purchasing the game, AFTER knowing how it ended
dj10fld
How bad is the ending....really...I just starting playing and Im loving it so far. From what I read it doesn't seem that bad. Not only that, but if the experience to get to that point was amazing then why complain. That just proves there are people out there with absolutely no life what so ever that they will take this ending debacle seriously. U know how many bad endings are in video games. Too many to count. Its actions like this that make us gamers look like sad loosers trolls living up to the negative stereotypes protrayed in the media.
I look at it like this, if the game was amazing up to the ending and there are more game options (i.e. multiple endings, more to explore) then it has been worth the price of purchase. This is as bad as the issue where there was a group trying to ban ME3 because of same sex relationships
pouchlesskangro
Does anybody realize that the end is all a dream? As soon as Harbinger comes to battlefield and fires his beam, Shepard has begun the final step of the indoctrination process. Each dream he has during the story mode is how much closer he has to being fully indoctrinated. Check out this link,
http://www.xbox360achievemen ts.org/forum/showthread.php?t= 361107
if you want to see it for yourself. There are obvious signs like the reversed color for the destroying/controlling the reapers
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