I'm glad they aren't trying to change the ending. Its not "bad" it just doesn't make any sense. I hope the extended cut scenes explain things a bit better and I will be satisfied. I'm glad Bioware didn't give in to all the whiners and completely change the entire ending. What's done is done, people need to get over it.

More Mass effect for free, I ain't complaining. I am still enjoying the multiplayer and find it the most enjoyable Multiplayer I have played in a while.

People that are bitching about the bitching... you don't understand the problems people have with the ending. An "Extended Cut" doesn't fix those. Get off your high horses.

Ridiculous.

@AndrewB said:

I can't wait to hear what happens to Sarevok.

Turns out he was actually Darth Revan.

Final fan reaction is a wait and see scenario. This may be a case of people not knowing how to react when they get what they want. Very interested to do this all over again in the Summer. Why not? Mass Effect deserves the attention.

I agree that this content was probably already in the works and meant to be paid for...an experiment gone horribly wrong in terms of fan reaction. Overall, worth trying tho. I sincerely hope that this was the case and they were willing to go free from the beginning. But is that giving them too much credit? Is Bioware really that smart? As a calcuated business risk you are talking about an all or nothing play from a revenue prospective. Either everyone is clamoring for this DLC and everyone buys it or outrage will ensue and BW will get a lot of press and then just release it for free. I doubt they had this insight. You can see I am talking myself thru this, but my final conclusion is that they actually did NOT intend for this to be free, but reacted to the circumstances.

@ahgunsillyo said:

@Jellybones

If Dark Knight Rises doesn't end with a 20 minute epilogue telling me how everyone lived until they died of old age, by golly, I'm going to start a campaign against the Nolans and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau!

I hate the internet sometimes.

"Commissioner James Gordon retired from the Gotham PD and became a baker, providing the citizens and families left devastated by Bane's attacks on Gotham with a vast variety of delicious breads."

Lol that's a funny one.

But joke aside, the issue in all this is not necessarily the ending itself or what happens after. It's more that It's Bioware's Shepard's ending and not the players Shepard's ending. Meaning all those choices you made in the course of the 3 games doesn't matter. Bioware wants to go hollywood and tell a movie ending rather than a game ending.

@TheHT said:

@dael said:

They heard your bitching and the dlc is free. You really can't complain any more. Can we move on already this is getting old quick.

There are already people complaining about how "the damage is done" or "the ending's too stupid to fix" or "it's not <insert specific ending> so rah-rah".

The damage is done, though, how is it not? Adding additional scenes to an ending that is already stupid doesn't actually do anything, no? Does it fix your original disappointment with the ending? Nope.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here as the ending didn't bother me (don't get me wrong, it was bad), but the story of Mass Effect isn't as big a deal to me as it evidently is to some on the Internet.

If they provide closure for many of the characters that I grew to love over the series then I will be satisfied. 

one of those responses can be 'valid' with a particular train-of-thought

@artgarcrunkle said:

@AndrewB said:

I can't wait to hear what happens to Sarevok.

Turns out he was actually Darth Revan.

the good guy that was actually the bad guy but allowed himself to become the bad guy for the greater good... guy.

Not sure I want more clarity to what is still a terrible ending.

I wonder if brad will end up not playing the game until after this comes out

I'm actually looking forward to this. Though I didn't hate the ending (it wasn't great but it wasn't nearly as bad as many people make it out to be, especially those bitching about the lack of choice when in fact most of the choices you make during the course of the game are really meaningless in the face of an all-out galactic war but that's beside the point) I did feel that Bioware could have at least explained the endings better, especially in light of the 4000 EMS+ ending with Shepard somehow appearing alive in London. It being free isn't surprising given that it probably won't have any additional gameplay (i.e. probably just cinematics/dialogue). That's also probably why they were able to sell this to Microsoft.

@Quarters said:

If it wasn't for the quality of the games, the fanbase of ME would totally ruin the series for me, far more than any game or piece of DLC could do. It's utterly terrible, and makes life miserable for everyone. I know the internet(or at least the more..."passionate" parts) can be a terrible place, but this has just been ridiculous, and it just doesn't let up. Already, people are up in arms about this free bit of extra stuff because it doesn't change enough. Even though they have no idea what's in it.

But, you're reading the comments yourself, so you'd have yourself to blame for the fanbase ruining your enjoyment of the series. For me, I basically had a media blackout until 24 hours after I finished ME3. I couldn't stop thinking about the ending and how incredibly nonsensical it was. With a list in my mind of about 50 major issues I had, I started digging through endings discussion threads online, only to discover that lots of people felt exactly the same way I did.

I'm not crazy enough to feel entitled to something, or demand a rewrite, or whatever...I don't really care what they do. But I'm seeking out these threads because I'm interested in other people's opinions, crazy or otherwise. For me, the ME3 ending ruined (ok, not ruined, but damaged) the ME series.

well if it tells me what happened to all my crew and the team i took on the last mission i will be happy if not i will continue to think FUCK EA ..... in fact i will probably still want to say that so yeah FUCK EA

I am not a professional writer but I suspect that if an author needs to explain and further elaborate on their ending then that would indicate there is a flaw or fault in the story. Like say...a broken ending that comes out of nowhere? I don't think further explanations will change people's feelings on the ending because it is just going into further details on a broken ending.

Well, this is the best situation, I guess. I was almost an indoctrination believer. Without them changing the ending totally, which they said they aren't, that theory is put to rest.

I was fine with every technical fact that happened in the ending, I just wanted an epilogue. A fallout style slideshow would have been fine (I always found those quite satisfying) or better yet an interactive cut scene like the ending to Dragon Age: Origins where you get to talk to the folks you care about and see what they plan on doing next, you know, like Joker walking around the ship saying 'Hey, this certainly happened. What are your plans?' I'm cool with finality, I even see where the big universe changing thing in it (you know, the things that aren't there anymore) could make the universe suddenly very different but still interesting for future games as they seem to have planed (though, I think future games will likely be set BEFORE these events, IMO).

this is only a good thing. anyone acting all high and mighty like they shouldnt have done this. get the fuck out. a developer trying to make its fans happy? THATS INSANE...i mean shit its free. they aren't flat out changing ti. just cleaning it up.

This should be interesting...

@TheHT said:

@artgarcrunkle said:

@AndrewB said:

I can't wait to hear what happens to Sarevok.

Turns out he was actually Darth Revan.

the good guy that was actually the bad guy but allowed himself to become the bad guy for the greater good... guy.

Depending on your actions, that would actually make him either twice bad, twice good, or four times supremely evil.

Man, Mass Effect 3 would have been so much better with Sarevok.

I had a feeling they would do the right thing (past their initial error), and this is it. It's just unfortunate that I share tastes in games with so many people prone to hyperbolic doomsaying.

I'm just happy there's more Mass Effect. It's all I've been doing for almost a month now. Going through Mass Effect 2 now and hope it lasts me until this thing comes out. Which, sadly, isn't going to at the rate I'm going.

Well at least it's free. Problem is that EA caved into a bunch of idiots. Also the fact that this isn't really DLC if it's just a collection of cutscenes and will let them justify a higher price for any real DLC down the road... god I hate this industry and what it's devolved into over this generation :(

Because every ME3 ending thread needs this video linked in it:

But also, because I'd like to say, I think that this DLC will attempt to address (as this video gets into, starting at around 22:50) the problem of narrative coherence. For me, this is one of the biggest issues I had with the ending, so maybe it could help, but I dunno. I still won't like it, but at least it'll go from being a disappointing, incoherent ending, to merely disappointing for me.

Was hoping this would come out sooner. I'm on my second playthrough and am still clamoring for more. Hopefully the next DLC isn't far behind.

@cbarnes86 said:

Hurray for it being free, hurray for more closure, but boo because people are STILL going to bitch about this ending. I can almost guarantee that.

Its never going to be enough for some people... you read how actually pissed off some of them are and you realize this quickly.

@PosableActionFigure said:

Hey remember when they released the director's cut for blade runner which made the movie way better and no-one fucking complained?

Maybe you fucks should actually give this a chance before parroting the "artistic integrity wahhh" line that you don't actually understand but you heard a bunch of games press harp on about it so you figured that you'd go along with them because you wouldn't want to be "entitled" now would you?

In summary, eat many dicks.

Or maybe we just realize how stupid the nerd rage and neckbeard threats are... over a video game ending...

Sounds great. All I wanted from the ending was something like in Fallout where it explains what effect your choices had.

Just so that I can be the first to say it, I can't believe how bad the extended ending was! They didn't even mention the Keepers!!!!

I think I know how this is going to go down: the DLC will be met with lukewarm reactions, it'll extrapolate on the shitty ending, come to some contrived conclusion, and people will be twice as pissed on all fronts for their own reasons.

I couldn't care less about the ending anymore, what's done is done, the series has ended on that shitty note, and will be what people remember.

Much like DA2, I think Bioware need to shelve this game and move on, because nothing they could bring out will be good enough to wipe the smear of failure from the name of the series.

I've already moved on, plenty of other games out there, it's time everyone, including Bioware, does the same.

It's shocking how after a month of the game being out the majority of the gaming media, BioWare, and many users here just don't get it. It would take about ten minutes of research to understand that the complaints about the ending are completely valid and how an extension of it doesn't solve the issues. Whether you look at it from a writing standpoint or from how it fits into the Mass Effect universe, the ending is objectively bad; chopping off the last ten minutes and completely redoing it is the only way to fix it.

Unless, of course, everything with the Catalyst WAS JUST A DREAM OH FUUUUUCK

I'll download this but probably won't play it if it's just cutscenes. I'm about 4 or 5 hours from completing my second and likely final playthrough of the game. The endings I got are the endings I got, for better or for worse. YouTube will be enough for me.

It sounds like they're not fixing anything that's wrong with the ending. So I'm probably never going to see the material they're developing since I have no intention of playing the single player campaign ever again. Maybe I'll feel different by then. Or maybe I'll be knee deep in Diablo 3.

@Sooty said:

@TheHT said:

@dael said:

They heard your bitching and the dlc is free. You really can't complain any more. Can we move on already this is getting old quick.

There are already people complaining about how "the damage is done" or "the ending's too stupid to fix" or "it's not <insert specific ending> so rah-rah".

The damage is done, though, how is it not? Adding additional scenes to an ending that is already stupid doesn't actually do anything, no? Does it fix your original disappointment with the ending? Nope.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here as the ending didn't bother me (don't get me wrong, it was bad), but the story of Mass Effect isn't as big a deal to me as it evidently is to some on the Internet.

You're right. I suppose complaining that the damage is done is a valid complaint.

If you think the ending is too stupid to be fixed without having seen what explanations are coming, then your complaint is just hyperbole.

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

one of those responses can be 'valid' with a particular train-of-thought

Nah. "The damage is done, I don't care anymore" is a totally normal response to fiction, your bullshit "particular train-of-thought" is only one of many, many totally valid trains-of-thought that can lead someone to stop caring about your shitty story. Same thing goes for people not caring because the ending is simply too stupid to be "expanded" upon. I subscribe to this line of thinking. They need to retcon Starchild or they've already lost me.

I guess "it's not <insert specific ending> so rah-rah" is a little silly.

Yes, the 'damage is done' mentality is valid, and my valid-yet-bullshit "particular train-of-thought" is indeed one of many trains-of-thought pertaining to the 'damage being done'.

Thinking the ending is too stupid without seeing the changes is nonsense. Though I would be willing to accept it if after seeing the changes (or before, but having actually thought about the ending) they still think it's stupid. As it stands, many simply write off the ending because there's a glowing little boy that gives you options that some people care not to think about.

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away, and I suspect BioWare will simply just show those explanations. Absolutely something they should have done from the get-go, but a mistake not at all worthy of all of the vitriol and madness thrown their way.

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away

@phrosnite said:

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away

Disagreed. I think the ending is utterly incoherent and nonsensical. No amount of "clarifying" will change. The ending is broken on a fundamental level. Unless they retcon things, I already know this "extended cut" won't do anything for me.

go cry in your room

Classy.

And who said we couldn't have a frank and constructive discussion about the ending?

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away

Disagreed. I think the ending is utterly incoherent and nonsensical. No amount of "clarifying" will change that. The ending is broken on a fundamental level. Unless they retcon things, I already know this "extended cut" won't do anything for me.

What about the ending is incoherent and nonsensical?

I just wanna know my boy Garrus makes it out OK, just give me that!

@TheHT said:

What about the ending is incoherent and nonsensical?

Seriously? That's one of the worst troll attempts I've seen in weeks!

ugh, I hate that a loud, annoying group of internet people won here. this DLC shouldn't have been created.

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away

Disagreed. I think the ending is utterly incoherent and nonsensical. No amount of "clarifying" will change that. The ending is broken on a fundamental level. Unless they retcon things, I already know this "extended cut" won't do anything for me.

What about the ending is incoherent and nonsensical?

Can someone please spell check Alex? This is the third article in a row I have read of his where something is spelled wrong. Today he wrote expound instead of expand. A small thing I know but it's a little irritating.

I'm not being a troll, I love this website!

@atticus_mac said:

Can someone please spell check Alex? This is the third article in a row I have read of his where something is spelled wrong. Today he wrote expound instead of expand. A small thing I know but it's a little irritating. I'm not being a troll, I love this website!

Expound is a word, friend. And he even used it correctly. Just sayin'...

@mutha3 said:

@phrosnite said:

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away

Disagreed. I think the ending is utterly incoherent and nonsensical. No amount of "clarifying" will change. The ending is broken on a fundamental level. Unless they retcon things, I already know this "extended cut" won't do anything for me.

go cry in your room

Hahaha I never noticed that before.

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away

Disagreed. I think the ending is utterly incoherent and nonsensical. No amount of "clarifying" will change that. The ending is broken on a fundamental level. Unless they retcon things, I already know this "extended cut" won't do anything for me.

What about the ending is incoherent and nonsensical?

I don't feel like having that discussion again.

What thread did you have it in before? Because there's nothing about the ending that's nonsensical and the only incoherence is from them not showing what can be reasonably implied, likely what they'll remedy in this DLC, but I'd be interested to see what has you so convinced to the contrary.

@TheHT said:

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away

Disagreed. I think the ending is utterly incoherent and nonsensical. No amount of "clarifying" will change that. The ending is broken on a fundamental level. Unless they retcon things, I already know this "extended cut" won't do anything for me.

What about the ending is incoherent and nonsensical?

These are relatively minor but you did ask for incoherent or nonsensical...

The Normandy leaving in the middle (at least from their viewpoint) of possibly the most important battle EVER in the Milky Way.

And apparently this varies so for some people this didn't happen, but for me, squadmates suddenly being on the Normandy, so now it not only left the fight, but took the time to evac my crew and then they all hightailed it without explanation.

DLC plan working as intended.

@TheHT said:

@mutha3 said:

@TheHT said:

The ending is sensical, and alleged plotholes are easily explained away

Disagreed. I think the ending is utterly incoherent and nonsensical. No amount of "clarifying" will change that. The ending is broken on a fundamental level. Unless they retcon things, I already know this "extended cut" won't do anything for me.

What about the ending is incoherent and nonsensical?

The fact that they use the final minutes of a trilogy to introduce and explain an entirely new concept.