I've had the game since it came out and I just have no motivation to play Mass Effect 3.  I'm only ten hours in and I am lucky if I do a mission or two every other day.  What I've played so far has been very enjoyable both in terms of gameplay and story.  It is just seeing negative thread after negative thread and article after article of people's disappointment and anger with the game has sapped all motivation for me to play.    I haven't stopped playing games all together, in fact I have beaten two games and found every Riddler trophy in Arkham City since Mass Effect 3 has been released.  
 
I was so pumped for Mass Effect 3.  I went so far as to replay 1 and 2 so my decisions would be fresh in my mind.  I beat every fucking side mission in Mass Effect 1 and I hate the Mako with a fucking passion just in case there is a call back in 3.   That first night I stayed up and and played non stop for 6 hours and then web became inundated with Mass Effect 3 hate and it felt soul crushing.  
 
Has anyone else had the experience?  Please no spoilers since I have been lucky enough so far to avoid them.

Hey maybe don't look at negative threads or something.

Just keep trying to block it out. It's an amazing game, and you should play it to form your own opinions. It has some of the best moments of the series, and you should really see them.

I am not reading the threads just the titles and all the headlines to news articles.

Yes, I've had the same experience, except it was ME3's ending that ruined my enjoyment.

Do not let other peoples opinion of a game decide how you feel about it.

I would say decide for yourself. If you really enjoyed the first two, and you enjoy the story/universe. Then just play ME3 and ignore everybody else.

Why let other peoples expectations rule what you do?

Yes, the ending sucks, but there's 28 to 30 hours of amazing game preceding it.

I agree with you.

All these clowns saying don't look at negative threads and that you're an emo baby are idiots. No matter what site you look to it's covered with nonsense about suing Bioware and taking them to the FTC. Apparently you're not supposed to look at your favorite gaming sites for weeks.

It's all just so completely ridiculous.

That's kind of what happened to me. Just reading everywhere without fail, how disappointed people are in this game, made me play it much slower. Although I am getting plenty of enjoyment out of the multiplayer so maybe I just need to suck it up and finish the fight...or something.

Yes, the ending sucks, but there's 28 to 30 hours of amazing game preceding it.

I had the opposite. I loved ME1 and the night before ME2 was released I spent all night completing ME1 and then bought ME2.

Me3 months kept dropping till ME3 was close. I have zero excitement and wasn't sure If I was gonna buy it. After hearing so much about, which mostly have been negative. I need to play it. I have played through ME1 (speed runish) taking my time with ME2 I expect to finish it tomorrow. Saturday buy ME3. I have to reply since my save datas got wiped. Kinda glad since I am different person and making different decisions.

Just sell it, that'll be for the better in the long run. And watch youtube video playthroughs. I don't think the game is really deserving of that much effort. Or just wait until they release their fifth and final DLC and wrap it all up in some trumped up GOTY edition and play that.

I wouldn't say it's amazing, but yeah it's a decent enough Mass Effect game. Still worse than 2 in every way.

Even though the ending is bad there is still a lot of great dialog and fun gameplay to be had.

The ENDING is terrible. The rest of the game is cash so hard.

The game was fantastic. It's literally the last few minutes that made it seem all like garbage, for me.

your a fool then. im loving it

I feel the same way, except when I start playing it, then I get into it. But just thinking about the game makes me sick of it because of all the shit that's be going on over the past couple weeks.

The game is a masterpiece. Haven't played something as good as this for a long time. Its just the ending that feels off. The rest is amazing.

I get that everybody is down on mass effect right now, but if you're going out of your way to visit these forums and websites where everybody is bitching instead of playing the game, then posting on said websites and forums about how much it bums you out, you're doing it wrong.

@rebgav said:

You could try just playing the game and not being a big emo baby.

Or don't play it, no big deal.

I went from hating the demo to loving the game to death. Even the ending, though it was poorly executed, didn't bother me one bit.

didn't look at any ME3 related stuff before I finished it. It was awesome!

So stop hanging around the internet and go play the game goddammit

I ignored all ME3 forums or threads until I finished the game itself. I didn't care for the ending either, but literally EVERYTHING leading up to the last 5 to 10 minutes is fantastic.

Do yourself a favor, and don't let the hate for 5 minutes of the game keep you away from the other 30+ hours.

@CosmicQueso said:

All these clowns saying don't look at negative threads and that you're an emo baby are idiots. No matter what site you look to it's covered with nonsense about suing Bioware and taking them to the FTC. Apparently you're not supposed to look at your favorite gaming sites for weeks.

It's all just so completely ridiculous.

Exactly. And the worst thing is, the backlash reached overwhelming proportions on the day of release… and that's not even taking into account the countless morons (you know who you are) complaining about the "leaked" script from months prior. Simply dreadful.

If you consider all the hate for the ending, to be putting you off, then you're being an idiot. Play the damn game, it's great. Right now, for those that love Mass Effect, it should be an early contender for game of the year, or at least it certainly is for me. The only problem is the ending. The ending is not "bad". Well, OK, it may be bad when you consider what game it's in, but if it were any other franchise, it'd probably be a fantastic one. The reason the ending is bad is because it'll probably have a bit of an effect on your decision to play through it again. I won't say the reason behind that, but that's the way it is. Then there are a few other reasons, which I won't go into. Then the whole side mission thing and fetch quests aren't that fun, and in fact are more intrusive to the overall experience than they should have been. Everything else is fantastic, maybe you can point out minor bugs, but it's not entirely detrimental to the package, and could probably be easily fixed in a patch, which I hope happens. Go play it more.

Yeh same, I was a few hours in and since all this nonsense happened I haven't gone back to it. I'm just gonna wait till all of this blows over and see if BioWare really do end up changing the ending or whatever, and then I'll go back to it. I just hope I don't run into any spoilers until then.

I really dread big game releases these days, cause you have to either go on an internet blackout for a month or you are gonna get put off the game cause of all the fucking hysteria. I think people in the press who get access to games early shouldn't feel the need to talk so damn much about them. Do your review or whatever else and then shut up about it, and stop finding news headline out of every little thing.

@Catarrhal said:

@CosmicQueso said:

All these clowns saying don't look at negative threads and that you're an emo baby are idiots. No matter what site you look to it's covered with nonsense about suing Bioware and taking them to the FTC. Apparently you're not supposed to look at your favorite gaming sites for weeks.

It's all just so completely ridiculous.

Exactly. And the worst thing is, the backlash reached overwhelming proportions on the day of release… and that's not even taking into account the countless morons (you know who you are) complaining about the "leaked" script from months prior. Simply dreadful.

you can at least avoid the forum and news sections

I've had a similar experience but i have finished the game. Im just pissed of with why the majority fan base is complaining. Its saddened me to see all this talk over such a loved series but "talk" in the wrong way. and it must be so hard for the developers to have all this blow up.

My advice for you would be to not listen to the controversy/hype and just play it for yourself to decide. Of course everyone is different so everyone is going to have their own opinions.

but if it helps, I actually seem to be the only fucking person in the world who enjoyed how it ended. keep playing because maybe if someone tells you they enjoyed the end as much as i did, you might be more inclined to play it.

I wouldn't say it's amazing, but yeah it's a decent enough Mass Effect game. Still worse than 2 in every way.

Wait so a game isn't enjoyable unless you know/think everyone else likes it?

Actually, this would explain a lot...

I went into ME3 post-everyone hating on it as well, and brought a lot of that downer-ness into the game with me. But it didn't take long to remember that "Hey! Mass Effect is pretty awesome!" and just enjoyed myself all the way through.

i had the same feeling, just finished it this night, and fuck the hater to be hones. I think the ending is just fine. I don't really see how else they could've solved this. Everybody expecting sheppard to wipe out the reapers and then go sit on a beach and have a cocktail is kinda lame.

And those people are not gonna make me feel guilty for actually finding the ending kinda good.

Just play it, everyone acknowledges it's at worst a decent game before the ending.

Just shut it off when someone comments on the view.

Don't let the end put you off - truly, the game is amazing. It's only like the 10 last minutes that aren't awesome (granted, in a spectacular fashion, but that's besides the point) out of a 30 hour experience.

If you have any attachments to the characters and world at all, you'll be torn between soaring and being devastated.

Hell, the part with the Seashells had me practically weeping. There's a lot of really good writing in the culmination of many parts of the game, and I think that despite the final act issues, Mass Effect 3 is an amazing game, and I hope that you find your way back to being psyched about it!

If anything - consider that the reason why people are so infuriated about the end is that they loved the rest of the game (gratned, there's always a couple of misers who are just out to piss on everyone's parade, but you can safely ignore those).

@Syndrom said:

I think the ending is just fine. I don't really see how else they could've solved this. Everybody expecting sheppard to wipe out the reapers and then go sit on a beach and have a cocktail is kinda lame.

How does this argument still exist? No one wants that. No one is asking for that. That's not why the ending is terrible. How have you managed to be on forums talking about the ending as much as they are, and still incorrectly believe this fallacy is what people are upset about? Go actually read one of the million threads. Or at least stop talking about that which you don't understand.

I'm glad I played it before I read about the complaints in media.

Take a deep breath and try and let all the drama go. I know it's hard, but try to enjoy it on it's and your own merits.

Play it. You may be missing out on a GOTY experience because the last 10 minutes may or may not be all that great.

suck it up, play the game, and get to the part where everyone is so negative about it (ending) so you can join us in negative discussions.  j/k

@Pinworm45 said:

@Syndrom said:

I think the ending is just fine. I don't really see how else they could've solved this. Everybody expecting sheppard to wipe out the reapers and then go sit on a beach and have a cocktail is kinda lame.

How does this argument still exist? No one wants that. No one is asking for that. That's not why the ending is terrible. How have you managed to be on forums talking about the ending as much as they are, and still incorrectly believe this fallacy is what people are upset about? Go actually read one of the million threads. Or at least stop talking about that which you don't understand.

I don't know how anyone can still believe everyone is upset because "the ending is a downer".

Looking at this article on Gamepot that compiled all the writers and editors (including the GB crew) twitter reactions to Bioware's announcement that post game DLC is coming made me realize that anyone that defends the ending has no clue why anyone is really disappointed with it. All the twitter posts were basically something to the effect of "dumb nerds just want a happy ending, Bioware shouldn't sacrifice their artistic integrity"

I mean, it's not like the ending was full of plot holes, a ridiculous deus ex machina, and a complete contrast thematically to the rest of the game and the entire series. Oh, wait...

As for the OPs situation, like many have said, the 30+ hours of content leading up to the end is the best the series has to offer. The game plays better than any game in the series, and has brought back the RPG elements of the first game. Outside of the last 10 minutes, it's the best game in the series, and an early GOTY contender. Don't let the complaining ruin what is an awesome experience.

@DonChipotle said:

Hey maybe don't look at negative threads or something.

I've heard nothing but positive, positive, and more positive about syndicate and I really am not enjoying that game. It looks cool as shit. =(

Just ignore the negativity, and form you own opinion. It is the internet, after all.

It's true that he last 20ish minutes sucks hard, but the proceeding 30 hours is fucking amazing.

@bartok: In the end, the only thing that matters is your own experience with the game. What someone else felt when playing does not hold any value to YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE. You really need to embrace that idea or you'll have plenty of bad gaming experiences in the future simply because someone else did, which is a waste. There will always be someone who didn't enjoy some part of some game, and they like voicing their opinions. Don't let them affect yours.

It's a very good game that ends in the worst way imaginable

Go play that Mars mission again and listen to the awesome music in it. That'll make you feel better. It totally did for me.

Just forget about it. I can already say it's probably going to be my game of the year, for what it's worth.

I couldn't care less what people think about the ending and all that, I fucking love this game.

@briangodsoe said:

Play it. You may be missing out on a GOTY experience because the last 10 minutes may or may not be all that great.

I honestly don't think it's a GOTY experience. Speaking as someone who thought both 1 and 2 were.

Side quests aren't good, scanning is worse, plot holes abound. It's a very good game but it could have been so much more. It falls short when it really counts. The saving grace is that the story missions are mostly really excellent and the voice acting is better than ever.