As everyone who are even remotely interested in the gaming industry knows, the Mass Effect 3 ending didn't really get the warmest welcome form the fans. And while I'm not as disappointed/angry as the more vocal groups, i.e. the #RetakeMassEffect movement, I am certainly left with more questions than answers.

I did not expect a happy ending, and I had come to terms with the fact that my Shepard probably wouldn't make it out alive, but what really gets to me is that we get no closure what-so-ever. After being heavily invested in the series for nearly five years I have an emotional attachment to several of the characters, and not being able to know what happened to them is really infuriating. I want to see the result of the choices I made throughout the series, because as it stands now, it doesn't seem like a majority of them has any effect at all. I really want to go into details, but to keep this spoiler-free I won't

Today Dr. Ray Muzyka released the first official response to the controversy since the release (you can read it here) and I cannot agree more with what he says. The developers have gathered responses like crazy and are now working on addressing the bigger, serious issues that fans are complaining about. He says that he is very proud of the developer team, and he has good reason to be. Mass Effect 3 is a great game, and it is a game I will revisit several times.

Now, he does not go into detail on whether they will change the ending or not, and while I would have liked to see some things done differently, I don't want them to change it. You should stick to your choices and not back down just because people didn't react as you had initially thought, but you shouldn't leave major questions unanswered.

What prompted me to write this post was seeing the press react to Bioware's response, Or rather how several of the GB crew reacted.

alex_navarro
But seriously, @Bioware, way to weather the storm and stand by your creative vision, or what the fuck ever.

jeffgerstmann
Mass Effect 3's problems are larger than its ending. Slapping a happier-colored bow on the package doesn't fix any of that.

The problem is that I don't think the gaming press really understand what the more "serious" fans are complaining about. They haven't spent several hundred hours playing through the games four, fives times each, and I understand that. I know that they don't have time for it, but they can't make those statements not having the same relationship to the universe as others do. It is almost like they didn't even read what Dr. Ray said. He never stated that they would change the ending, instead he promised to give fans the closure we deserve.

I'll leave it with that, and cross my fingers in hope that when all this blows over I will enjoy ME3 for the fantastic game it really is.

I guess we'll have to wait until April to see.

"Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions," he said, "providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey. You'll hear more on this in April." Muzyka stressed that BioWare is actively working to maintain the story's artistic integrity, and that these new "content initiatives" are separate from the company's pre-existing plans to continue the Mass Effect universe's expansion. "Rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue." 
 
Joystiq

i REALLY wanna beat the game and know what the fuss is about but it's gonna take me a while because it's a small-doze kinda game. How the hell did you people beat it so quick? I can't imagine taking cover behind blocks and shooting lunging hordes of aliens for more than 2 hours a day, how some people finished the entire game in days is mind-boggling.  
 
Don't get me wrong, the story and cutscenes and events are all extremely engaging, if this was a series of dialogue screens and cutscenes I would finish it in one sitting it's so good, but between the story segments there's the same old block-cover and shooting, no diversity or innovation in the shootouts whatsoever, how the hell did you people manage to keep playing that cover game for hours on end? Didn't it fry your brain somehow? Bore you to death?

Now I have to go buy it and beat it so I can complain.

I'm more annoyed with what BioWare may to do "fix" the ending, than I was with the actual ending.

Side note, but I love Gary's response on Twitter.

Oh, and to those people contributing to the growing meme that the ending sucks because it's not sufficient reward for all the "work" they put in getting there? Shut the fuck up. Games aren't work, if they were you wouldn't play them.

Congrats to the whiners, BioWare will either ignore you completely or make even more money off you.

I don't even care if they change it. It's Bioware's shitty ending and they can live with whatever the consequences will be when it comes to peoples' trust in them. Would be interesting for them to acknowledge that it makes no fucking sense, but I don't care. It's not like they're my favorite company and can do no wrong or anything.

At the end of the day Bioware/EA wins, people still talk about the ending, good or bad. What about Battle Star Galactica or StarWars should they change as well.