To the people who say 'How could a bad ending taint your enjoyment of something?' look at The Peak-End rule. People's memories of events are heavily colored by how they end.

@WrenchNinja said:

Game was disappointing, the ending was terrible. I doubt this will solve all the logical inconsistencies. But more than that is the press reaction to fan outcry. Way to be bunch of condescending jerks and not even try to pretend to comprehend what people's issues with the ending were.

They never did. Enthusiast press basically told their collective audience to shove it up their ass and to shut the fuck up. Since then, and various other things recently, I've lost a ton of faith in the enthusiast press as a whole. Only a couple of people actually gathered and bothered to understand why the complaints were being lobbied and what the issues actually were. Instead they say, "complain'n complain go to the BBB herrherrr."

@Efesell said:

Perhaps if they acted like adults they would have been treated as such.

You're doing what the press did. Assuming every one was acting childish and acting like none of them had any arguments worth listening to.

Eh I dunno how much I care anymore. Fully pointed ME3 a couple of weeks ago and not much interest in going back.

@Paul_Is_Drunk said:

If the ending of Game of Thrones (née A Song of Ice and Fire) were changed for the TV show to something that made no internal sense and offered no resolution, people would be upset. They would get over it, but it would ruin the enjoyment of the franchise for many people. I don't see how this is different, or why people should be derided for having this attitude about video games. Mass Effect is a franchise, after all.

It's this dismissive attitude that easily allows people to segregate video games into the "it's just for kids" art ghetto, were we've already stuck animation.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Yes, I know the ASoIaF books aren't finished, so there is no ending to ruin yet, and it's entirely likely that Martin will write a crap ending all by his lonesome that the TV show might well fix. It's just an analogy. Also, shut up.

Did you just compare Mass Effect writing to that of George RR. Martin?

Blasphemy!

This is me giving 0 shits about extended dlc for mass effect, series is dead to me. As far as I am concerned Mass Effect 1 and 2 are the only existing titles and 3 never happened.

@WrenchNinja said:

@Efesell said:

Perhaps if they acted like adults they would have been treated as such.

You're doing what the press did. Assuming every one was acting childish and acting like none of them had any arguments worth listening to.

Of course there were. But they were drowned out by the people who did nothing but complain about how the game wasn't made exactly the way they wanted it. It's unfair that the loudest always ruin things for everyone else but I think it's pretty understandable for the press, and anyone else, to get extremely weary and jaded about the whole thing.

Can there be an option to get the straight news title instead of all the extra snark and commentary? It's fine in the article but I grow tired of having to sift through news story headlines just to see if I want to even read them.

@ahaisthisourchance said:

@Paul_Is_Drunk said:

If the ending of Game of Thrones (née A Song of Ice and Fire) were changed for the TV show to something that made no internal sense and offered no resolution, people would be upset. They would get over it, but it would ruin the enjoyment of the franchise for many people. I don't see how this is different, or why people should be derided for having this attitude about video games. Mass Effect is a franchise, after all.

It's this dismissive attitude that easily allows people to segregate video games into the "it's just for kids" art ghetto, were we've already stuck animation.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Yes, I know the ASoIaF books aren't finished, so there is no ending to ruin yet, and it's entirely likely that Martin will write a crap ending all by his lonesome that the TV show might well fix. It's just an analogy. Also, shut up.

Did you just compare Mass Effect writing to that of George RR. Martin?

Blasphemy!

I mean you probably won't have to worry about closure at least...

I'll be Youtubing it. :)

@SeanFoster said:

I'll be Youtubing it. :)

yep!

@Efesell said:

Of course there were. But they were drowned out by the people who did nothing but complain about how the game wasn't made exactly the way they wanted it. It's unfair that the loudest always ruin things for everyone else but I think it's pretty understandable for the press, and anyone else, to get extremely weary and jaded about the whole thing.

No, that's not an excuse to ignore any sort of dialogue.

@alex: majority of the people who are angry and disappointed about the ending didn't want a new ending but rather some more closure, which was very lacking in the current endings (devices blows up, people end up stranded, fin.)

LOL video game stories.

Eh, I was pretty pissed at the ending when I played it, but I've been over it for a long ass time now. Not even going to bother digging my copy out for this. I'll maybe check it out on youtube, and enjoy the inevitable backlash from the internet.

@Efesell said:

Of course there were. But they were drowned out by the people who did nothing but complain about how the game wasn't made exactly the way they wanted it. It's unfair that the loudest always ruin things for everyone else but I think it's pretty understandable for the press, and anyone else, to get extremely weary and jaded about the whole thing.

You know, the irony is that at the time, I found that absolutely EVERYONE talking about the ending in any capacity, on every thread, in every forum I went to, were drowned out by the people who were complaining loudly about the people who were complaining. It was like a massive internet temper tantrum over people supposedly being childish. I only ever saw a tiny handful of isolated incidents where people were actually saying dumb things like "sue Bioware" etc. On the other hand, there sure were a lot of "what a bunch of whining babies" posts. Pages and pages of them. It got tiresome.

You kind of forget that it quieted down because they announced they were working on this DLC, Alex. No sense continuing to cause a stink when things are going your way, right? Everyone opted to just wait and see.

Edit: Of course, any post by Bioware on facebook is still about 30-50% comments about the ending, and Bioware still has comments on their blog turned off. So that's a thing.

I wouldn't call myself a huge Mass Effect fan, having only truly enjoyed ME2, but I found the concept for the game fascinating and often think of the impact it may have on games as a whole with regards to plot decisions and their affect on the world we inhabit as these characters. Within that context I found the ending to ME3 to be nearly shameful with regards to the fundamental design and premise of the Mass Effect series - without saying anything about it as the finale to the narrative itself. The fundamental undertone of the Mass Effect series was that this was a single story spanning over three games. The series seemed to identify itself as a game with an extremely strong point of pressure on the ultimate climax of saving the galaxy from the Reaper threat, which may have exacerbated this contention people have with it's ultimate conclusion. But more importantly the conclusion seemed irrelevant completely to every action you had made within this world, and to the core concept of the narrative design of the game in doing so, blatantly I might add.

This is only considering the actual design decisions of the game, which is something that would rest in the hands of more then just the writers, so as not lay fault at the feet of (apparently) one man, but an entire team. I have many issues with the conclusion's writing itself, but that is a much more subjective opinion I realize. Having said all this, I find it funny that games "journalists" are so quick to side with Bioware by attempting to vilify and dismiss this valid opinion as "entitled" or "internet whiners" in their contentions. This is an important conversation us as gamers should be allowed to have in improving games as a medium as well as enriching the gamer culture, and I find it worrying how many games "journalists", who, like it or not are the representatives to the less-invested, continuing to devalue the people who play games and their opinions.

something something entitled something you should all shut up and enjoy whatever shitty game we tell you to like

Well actualy the reason all the complaining died was when the extended cut was promised, so it would not have been in Bioware's interest to try and "ride it out"

Definitely a no-win situation for Bioware here. They really should have just let the nerd rage blow over.

You know what I'll never get tired of? Self-righteous journalists talking down to their readers. We get it. You don't think fans have a right to complain about something they don't like.

What? Ending update? What is that about?

Do people still actually care? Are you telling me most people haven't sold their copies already? I find that hard to believe.

I will look it up on YouTube or something and see how little it adds because I don't think it will be very substantial considering the rather quick turnaround. 3 months including testing doesn't seem like much.

The ending was one of the smaller issues I took with Mass Effect 3. That game was just garbage compared to 2.

@aldo_q said:

I am probably one of the few whom honestly did not hate the ending. Not the best ending to a game ever, but I didn't hate it either. I found it okay to be honest...

Hear, hear.

@umdesch4 said:

@Efesell said:

Of course there were. But they were drowned out by the people who did nothing but complain about how the game wasn't made exactly the way they wanted it. It's unfair that the loudest always ruin things for everyone else but I think it's pretty understandable for the press, and anyone else, to get extremely weary and jaded about the whole thing.

You know, the irony is that at the time, I found that absolutely EVERYONE talking about the ending in any capacity, on every thread, in every forum I went to, were drowned out by the people who were complaining loudly about the people who were complaining. It was like a massive internet temper tantrum over people supposedly being childish. I only ever saw a tiny handful of isolated incidents where people were actually saying dumb things like "sue Bioware" etc. On the other hand, there sure were a lot of "what a bunch of whining babies" posts. Pages and pages of them. It got tiresome.

@Seii said:

I wouldn't call myself a huge Mass Effect fan, having only truly enjoyed ME2, but I found the concept for the game fascinating and often think of the impact it may have on games as a whole with regards to plot decisions and their affect on the world we inhabit as these characters. Within that context I found the ending to ME3 to be nearly shameful with regards to the fundamental design and premise of the Mass Effect series - without saying anything about it as the finale to the narrative itself. The fundamental undertone of the Mass Effect series was that this was a single story spanning over three games. The series seemed to identify itself as a game with an extremely strong point of pressure on the ultimate climax of saving the galaxy from the Reaper threat, which may have exacerbated this contention people have with it's ultimate conclusion. But more importantly the conclusion seemed irrelevant completely to every action you had made within this world, and to the core concept of the narrative design of the game in doing so, blatantly I might add.

This is only considering the actual design decisions of the game, which is something that would rest in the hands of more then just the writers, so as not lay fault at the feet of (apparently) one man, but an entire team. I have many issues with the conclusion's writing itself, but that is a much more subjective opinion I realize. Having said all this, I find it funny that games "journalists" are so quick to side with Bioware by attempting to vilify and dismiss this valid opinion as "entitled" or "internet whiners" in their contentions. This is an important conversation us as gamers should be allowed to have in improving games as a medium as well as enriching the gamer culture, and I find it worrying how many games "journalists", who, like it or not are the representatives to the less-invested, continuing to devalue the people who play games and their opinions.

I love you both so very, very much right now. Thank you for saying this so eloquently. Bravo!!

@tangmcgame said:

You know what I'll never get tired of? Self-righteous journalists talking down to their readers. We get it. You don't think fans have a right to complain about something they don't like.

Hear, hear.

@Dad_Is_A_Zombie said:

Definitely a no-win situation for Bioware here. They really should have just let the nerd rage blow over.

I would say that it is a "no-win" because Bioware is making these choices. They could have internally tell themselves whatever and publicly just stopped trying to push Mass Effect 3 anything. Other media flee unpopular creations like this because in the "business calculus" it costs less and is less risky to simply walk away than have a running argument with The World.

There is a chance to redeem Mass Effect enough for more Mass Effect product but there is just as much chance of damaging it to the point Bioware becomes synonymous with this issue. I hope they made the right play here and taking input from many internal sources instead of secretively concocting another crazy episode.

Umm, I don't even give a shit about this anymore. I hated the ending, I won't forget how disappointed I was. There is no reason to do this.

Don't even care about mass effect anymore. Maybe I'll watch it on YouTube if I remember to.

I have a hard time imagining that this will make the ending good, but it might make it suck a bit less. Which is probably for the best, in the long run, even if it does kinda shit on the series. A total retcon would be a troublesome precedent to set.

@Gabriel said:

LOL video game stories.

Pretty much.

You know what I'll never get tired of? Self-righteous journalists talking down to their readers. We get it. You don't think fans have a right to complain about something they don't like.

I came up with a better ending in my head and stopped playing... fuck being canonical.

man I hope the pull a evangelion

I doubt this will ever make a difference to anything, the problem was the direction the ending took, which seemed really out of place, like it was from another game.

One way or another, this will only serve to piss people off more, and make more trouble for Bioware, because to salvage that ending is far out of the reach of the Bioware writers, as they seem not to have been involved in the initial ending anyway.

And as far as I'm concerned, all this will do is widen the rift between journalists and consumers, as the bullshit 'artistic integrity' argument will be pushed, if and more than likely when, this thing is released. I won't be wasting my hard drive space on something like this, it isn't worth my time or effort, I thought the ending was poorly written, and as such, I won't be giving the game another spin.

I think the window for this has passed, yeah. I'm sure BioWare will find a way to mess this up as well, though.

I enjoyed the ending. Put the indicate in an interesting place. Not as bad as feud ex: hr ending

I have to agree, the shear amount of backlash this caused was just ridiculous. I mean I was disappointed with the ending just as much as everyone else, but the general hatred directed towards Bioware of late is just stupid.

I doubt this DLC will do much in the way of fixing the ending, but hopefully it tries to make sense of some of the more ridiculous plot holes.

Can't wait to see how much further BioWare completely fucks up Mass Effect with this. Man, how the mighty have fallen.

Read the title.

Guessed the author of the article.

I was right.

I not a scientist that understands everything about the gaming industry, but couldn't it be that the call to make the ending so cryptic was mostly EA's decision, and not all Bioware's fault? I personally wasn't that upset by it, and I am kind of interested to see the solutions to the clearly unanswered questions.

@Eckoman: I'd say a lot of the hate started with Dragon Age 2. That's certainly when I started hating them.

Is it okay to have actually liked Mass Effect 3? I thought it was better than 2 at least. I'm interested in seeing what they add to the ending, but looking at the comments it seems like I'm bad people for that. Maybe I'm just optimistic.

@Nomin said:

Read the title.

Guessed the author of the article.

I was right.

Yep. One of my favorite games to play here. There are times, though, when I hate that I'm right. Like now. Kind of hoping it was a freelancer or an intern or someone not associated with Giant Bomb. Obvious flame bait.

According the IGN, the download will be 1.9 GB (which seems awfully big).

So I guess IGN got some facts wrong, or Alex was too busy being condescending to readers to actually do his job and inform them. Either option isn't particularly suprising.

@the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG said:

@tangmcgame said:

You know what I'll never get tired of? Self-righteous journalists talking down to their readers. We get it. You don't think fans have a right to complain about something they don't like.

You gotta admit that the amount of backlash from this whole thing was really stupid. And no, I havent played any of the Mass Effect games

Some of it got out of hand, but Alex is also demeaning those of us who spoke up, stated our opinion, and then dropped it. When he goes out of his way to belittle the people who don't continue to raise a fuss despite their very real disappointment...well, what does he want people to do then? If we keep complaining then we're entitled losers who need to get over it. If we offer our distaste and then respectfully bow out then we obviously don't care about it anymore. There's no way to win with his reasoning.

This is just Alex Navarro being abrasive and charmless and taking a shot at a group of people that were very disappointed with a story that was very important to them because, well, that's what Alex finds funny.

Did you ever stop to consider that maybe the conversation has died down while we wait for the new endings, Alex? If there had been no new endings, I personally would have written Mass Effect and Bioware off. Even if I don't agree with whatever they've done with the extended cut, at least they listen to the their fanbase.

I look at the comments hoping to gauge the communities interest in the new ending and the majority of comments have to do with guessing who the article was written by... (face palm) I for one thought the headline was funny and fitting, moving on. I had totally forgot that this was going to happen and agree with Alex that maybe they should of just moved on to something else. I didn't like the ending to ME 2 but I have moved on, and I am not going to re install it just to see the new ending. May check it out on Youtube though.