I just remembered that
the mass relay in the Local Cluster is in orbit around Sol. As we know from Arrival, that means Earth is going up in a big ball of ralph. So at least we know that
the fleets of the galaxy couldn’t possibly turn against each other for control of Earth’s already badly taxed resources. So, that’s a load off our collective minds.
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/271288-mass-effect-3-endings-reception
I have been reading on BSN that it’s relatively painless.
There are rumours that Origin will refund digital copies too - some people on the BSN did it. However when I try, the rep only offer to replace the game with some other games…
FWIW, I can verify one ending difference they mention:
I did an ending with not-quite-100% Paragon and destroying the Collector base in ME2; I also got my EMS over 5000. I picked “destroy” and it ends with a closeup of part of Shepard’s chest, among chunks of concrete - and then she draws a breath.
I also found a very spoilery page breaking down the different endings. So, it’s not entirely true that nothing you do in previous games helps at all. You need to have made certain decisions in those games and ME3 to get you to a level where: you can have a chance at saving Earth at all or at least not leaving it entirely devastated.
Yes, that part makes me believe in the indoc theory. Why is it there if everything before it is the end? I’m finding it hard not to believe the indoc theory now. If it’s true, than Bioware will have achieved something no other game company has ever done - indoctrinated their own fan base.
Spoilers in the video of course.
Newsflash - co-founder of Bioware weighs in on the ending
It’s annoying, at least to me, that he’s still using the ‘artist defense’. From my point of view the ending is a cop-out, either a rushed one or something that attempts to be artistic and brilliant but fell flat. It’s just annoying corporate speak. Can’t owe up to a damn mistake any more.
I wonder if the quoted passage means “ending DLC” outright, but this what so annoying - with so many words used I still have no idea what he means. Oh, it’s easy to read “ending DLC” into what’s he saying but he never actually said that.
If Casey Hudson was sincere when he talked about a non-traditional ending. and sincerely believed the current ending does justice to what he talked about, then I am not sure what’s really brewing in the mind of this co-founder too.
Edit: Damn, too slow! BTW, I’ve been seeing their Twitter feed writer(s) reference things like wanting to give others a chance to finish the game before talking more about the ending - a way to push off criticism, or a delaying tactic before planned DLC?
One of Bioware’s cofounders addresses the issue. Summary: We’re talking about it at Bioware, we’re sorry a lot of loyal fans are pissed, use constructive criticism not dickishness, you’ll hear more from us on it next month.
Regarding the ending choices: As Paragon as I played, I hated the “we just harvest the old races to give new ones a chance” justification enough to head for “destroy.” I hated that it’d kill the Geth but I didn’t think I had the right to choose Synthesis for all the sentient races of the galaxy, and Control still sounded sketchy.
I’m not sure how to read the “genuinely surprise” stuff. It feels rather patronising, like “we didn’t expect you to make a mountain out of a molehill” tone. Then again, I may be reading too much into it.
I hate this attempt at defending Bioware. You act like this would be an achievement, but all this would mean is that Bioware released a massively flawed game on purpose, to convince their customers that they’ve released a massively flawed game. Any idiot could do that if they wanted to; the reason they don’t is because they know better.
Especially after you’ve seen the “Lots of speculation from everyone!” developer note. How are they surprised about it when the note suggests that it was planned all along?
And you know, they can’t have it both ways.
ME1: massive praise from fans = majority loves it
ME2: massive praise from fans = majority loves it
ME3: massive outcry from fans = small vocal minority
No. Just no.
The fact that industry journalists have almost universally praised ME3 is a sure sign that industry journalists are either corrupt or incompetent, not that ME3 is praiseworthy.
The indoc theory claims they are showing us what indoctrination feels like. If true, brilliant. It’s still a shitty thing to use your fan base as a social experiment.
I hold out for it because it’s the only thing that makes the ending make any kind of sense. It also gives me a tiny sliver of hope that they are better than this. If the reality is that I’m supposed to swallow this “artistic” bullshit, I will not be buying any Bioware games anymore.
I haven’t gotten a chance to play it myself, but I’ve gotten the impression from others that aside from the Battle Strength/Readiness thing and the ending, the game is top notch. I don’t think it’s fair to use THIS instance against the journalists (there are plenty of other examples you can use).
Well… the ending doesn’t just ruin the game, it ruins the series.
Saying that the whole game is great other than the ending is a bit like saying that the ice cream sundae was awesome except for the dog shit on it. I’m not even aware of any reviewers who’ve mentioned the ending as a factor in their review, but it’s possible I’ve missed some.
I am still deciding whether to try to refund my copy of the game, through Origin…the rep gave me an offer to replace with up to two other games…mmm…
The ending really kills any desire for me to replay the game. I play through all the action sequences for the story. Without the story, the motivation is gone.
It certainly kills my motivation to buy any pre-ending DLC unless the ending is fixed. Why bother saving Omega, let’s say, if it doesn’t matter in the end? They can’t really bunker down behind “artistic integrity” when sales are on the line. Or maybe this is their Waterloo. I don’t know.
The game IS really amazing, but I agree that the ending is like finding a dog turd wedged way down in the last bit of your ice cream cone. You say, “Well, that’s gotta be a little piece of chocolate.” But nope. It’s just a turd.
I don’t know. I really do think this is a piece of chocolate that happens looks like a turd and nobody’s even willing to get close enough to smell it.
You can state that the mere shape of the chocolate is enough to kill your appetite, and that’s fair enough, but I really don’t think it’s a turd.
I keep telling myself to stay out of this thread because I don’t have investment in the series and I know how aggravating outsiders can be when you’re frustrated, but I have to admit the reactions are both fascinating and baffling.
No, the ending has been analyzed in great detail. It’s objectively awful to the point where the best possible interpretation is that Bioware was deliberately maneuvering its audience its an emotional state of revulsion in order to show them what indoctrination was like.
Quite honestly, I don’t see how that’s all that much different from Bioshock’sWould you kindlyexcept that the game just kind of ends. But it isn’t over yet.
Bioware’s been trying to encourage people to hold on to their saves. They’ve got something planned, which sounds like it’s happening in April. Folks are already spinning that as Bioware frantically trying to cover their asses after a fuck-up, but this is software development. If a DLC is coming out in April it sure as shit was begun well before the first player hit the ending.
I’m pretty sure they didn’t anticipate the overwhelming negativity, but I’m also pretty sure they did not take a dump on the series. You just don’t put effort into three giant games like that and just fuck the ending. What I know of Bioware says they don’t do that. I think they’re trying to do something different by putting part of the ending into content to be made available later, and it backfired horribly, but I’m quite certain they weren’t going for ‘you feel revolted and we meant you to feel revolted! That’s art, baby!’
I could be entirely wrong, but I think that best fits the facts of the ending and Bioware’s stance.
Apparently Bioware is working on a modified ending:
Still haven’t beaten the game, BTW, you guys are speed demons!
Another confusing thing is happening to me:
I’m getting emails from people asking me to meet them in the citadel. Except, I’ve already me them, so I go, thinking that there’s a new development with them, only to find that either there is no new dialogue, or they aren’t even there.
So I’m basically getting the emails sent to me way after they were supposed to ve been sent!
Because control and free will was a central part of Bioshock and the twist was a major plot point which was thoroughly explored. It worked and was awesome because it deconstructed the adventure/FPS genre itself.
ME3’s ending does nothing of the sort. Even if it’s the “indoctrination ending”, the best that can be said about it is that the developers abandoned their promises about how personal choice could affect the series, got rid of the thematic content whereby one man/woman could make a difference in a vast universe, and abandoned the core thematic element whereby disparate elements in a chaotic and violent universe all come together and thereby overcome overwhelming odds. It turns the whole damn series, or at least the last bit, into a “it was all a dream!”
It will take a hell of a DLC package to make that into something that isn’t utter shit.
And yes, of course they were developing DLC. Their epilogue-free ending told us two things, that Shepherd was a legend and that they wanted more of our money for new DLC. It does seem much more like frantic CYA bullshit. If it wasn’t, how hard would it be for an executive to say “the ending on the disc isn’t final, we’re going to be building on it.” Instead, all the things I’ve seen either say that they’re only now considering changes to the ending or that it’s an ‘artistic work’ and complete as-is.
I also don’t think that the “you were indoctrinated, and now you feel outraged, aint art grand?” interpretation is correct. My point is that’s the best possible interpretation. The worst, and I think the accurate one, is that Bioware simply ran out of time in their development cycle and rather than push back the launch date substantially, they just shoehorned in a much too brief ending that clashed with everything that’d happened so far in the series, and called it good.