Why the ME 3 Extended Cut is an insult to fans

Xbigygames' Kamran Draeger: "When first reading the announcement that Mass Effect 3 would receive an "Extended Cut" of the ending, my scepticism first arose. After reading into the content of said DLC, I was simply appalled by the audacity BioWare had to come forth with such a press release. Simply put, I find it to be an insult to the intelligence of the fans."

[NYC_Gamer]

Bioware is just another studio that EA has ruined.

[pangitkqb]

another entitlement article. Yay.

BioWare may have blown the ending of ME3, but they don't owe anybody $#!T. BioWare didn't force anyone to buy the game, and I challenge anyone to show me the contract BioWare signed saying "We swear to please fans."

On the other side of the coin, I am glad the community has been vocal, but the difference between disappointment and entitlement is a fine, fine line.

Bring on the thumbs down.

[sphinct]

Well said.

[--Onilink--]

Maybe they didnt make a contract like you say, but they certainly said many things in interview and press releases that turned out to be misleading statements(which is a nice way to say they blatantly lied to their customers to create more hype)

[VanillaBear]

"but they don't owe anybody $#!T. BioWare didn't force anyone to buy the game,"

But we did want to support a developer who have been respected in the past number of years.

They're a game studio
We are gamers
We buy their games so they have work
If we want to complain about something, we can, unless it's something which has been giving out for free

So if you bought something in a shop and the product had a problem with it and you complained, if they turned around to you and said "Well you didn't HAVE to buy it" would you honestly walk away from that a happy customer.......NOPE

"but the difference between disappointment and entitlement is a fine"

Why do people always bring up the "entitlement" thing to proove a point, we bought the game, Bioware screwed up the ending and now we want a better one, a one which isn't full of plotholes and a big middle finger towards everything you have invested in for the past 5 years. If Biowares past work had been full of plotholes then fine there wouldn't be anything to complain about but how can you write an amazing franchise, then give an ending like that....it dosen't make any sense.

Your either voice your opinion or you don't...which basicaly translates to "You either let developers walk all over you or you stick up for your self"....thats why Capcom are the way they are today

[tigertron]

They owe the fans who have parted with their hard earned cash.

They are a business, and they owe their customers for supporting them throughout their existence.

[StanSmith]

There's that word again!

Why is entitlement suddenly a new buzzword for insulting people?

I don't care about the ending. I don't care about plot holes. Bioware & EA advertised choices. Choices that effect endings. Your choices, however, lead to the same ending with different colours.

That is what annoyed me and that is why i have already sold the game.

"BioWare may have blown the ending of ME3, but they don't owe anybody $#!T. BioWare didn't force anyone to buy the game, and I challenge anyone to show me the contract BioWare signed saying "We swear to please fans." "

They advertised that your choices affect the ending. They don't. Therefore, that is false advertising. False advertising is against the law in the UK. Too many people today just roll over like a puppy to companies. Learn your rights people!

I couldn't care now personally, as i've sold the game and i'm not looking back.

[dedicatedtogamers]

I haven't even bought the game until I can be assured that my choices throughout all three games will "greatly affect the outcome", as Bioware claimed.

The bigger issue is that EA/Bioware likely held back the "true" ending for paid DLC at a later date and now they're saying "screw it. We won't be able to charge people for this. We might as well give it away".

[IDonQuixote]

Then it appears that the response should be to keep caring, and keep raising the issue.

[kamruk]

Remember that EA's issue right now is their stock, that 99% of players responded to the question "will you now buy dlc pre free 'clarity' dlc" with hell no and that most importantly, the PLOTHOLES are still there.

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

Next article needed:

"Why gamers are impossible to please."

[IDonQuixote]

If you point out to your architect that he built you a house with no back wall, and all he does is add a patio, you still wouldn't be happy with him.

[Ethereal]

No it should read "moronic entitled people who think they are gamers are impossible to please." I hate to see what they do when a movie doesnt end the way the want it to...

[wollie]

Um... say it sucked?

Tell people not to go see it?

Not pay for movies from the same director/actor/producer?

Not buy the DVD?

[Godmars290]

Bioware's doing this to cover for the paid DLC they planned to put out in the first place.

[GiggMan]

Since when has free become insulting???

[ziggurcat]

are you really that surprised that ME fans are crying over this? i'm certainly not...

[wollie]

Its insulting because the plot holes still stand. And the ending still makes no sense. We are just getting more of it.

I hope they never change the ending and keep their, "artistic vision" because after this and DA2 bioware has become the new square enix.

[ziggurcat]

i called it in the comment section here:

http://n4g.com/news/974348/...

that ME fans would still whine, and they proved me right.

[kamruk]

The article is not demanding more, it's explaining how it feels like an insult to claim fans still don't get it and that they said they weren't caving in to the pressure by the public, yet a few extended cutscenes will take until the summer to release.

[Mikhail]

You get what many "fans" whine about. Its free and you still whine about it Damn...if I am a developer, I'll be pissed.

[SolidSystem]

Maybe I'm just ignorant, but Free DLC that simply gives the player a little bit more knowledge about what happens post events (which is what I assume this extended cut is based on language), is nothing insulting at all.

even without Bioware making a cut-scene, the 3rd game showed me what sort of universe I left behind. Which races were now allies, who was dead, and at what cost did I do things.

while all 3 endings looked the same, the lore in my head had very very different endings based on those 3 choices. which radically change the mass effect universe forever.

I want to know more and play more of the events and the sad state the universe is left in. seems interesting to me, as a person who loves the Mass Effect universe.

[Godmars290]

It is a further indication of poor story telling. Of probably having to put in more effort to make up for the half one does because of scheduling pressures.

[SolidSystem]

poor story telling? with the exception of a few plot holes and minor events, Mass effects story telling is pretty top notch. Especially in an industry where story takes a back seat in most cases.

Did they make a few boo-boos? sure, everyone does.
but I dont see how expanding on an ending that possibly Bioware expected you to get just from your choices in game, is an insult.

X and Y are friends in my game, I did a whole quest line about it. Do I need to see X and Y hugging at the end to make me feel better? no I already got the satisfaction of X and Y befriending.

I suppose my point is, the end of each quest line is like an ending to a part of the game... and then all I needed from the actual ending was what happens when I finish the fight with the reapers.

[Godmars290]

Sorry, but you're confusing story presentation, an element of story telling, with actual story telling.

While the characters and personalities you meet along the way are interesting and engaging, the overall quest just doesn't deliver. This very argument wouldn't exist otherwise.

[SolidSystem]

thats your opinion Godmars, One thing I like about Mass Effects story telling is not everything has to be major or all feed into each other. that its fine to leave X story where it is, and that is good story telling.

[SeraphimBlade]

Allow me to ask everybody who is still mad about this:

WHAT. THE F**K. DO YOU WANT?

You DEMAND a better ending, they promise that. And you act BETRAYED. They promise it FOR FREE, at the expense of pushing back their other DLC projects they would have made money from. And you're still tossing around conspiracy theories about how greedy they are! If you don't like the core idea of the ending, then that's your own damn problem, and I guess you'll just have to move on with your life like a functioning adult. I respect Bioware for not completely uprooting the ending. Because completely changing the ending, even if it's crap, sets an awful precedent for design-by-committee and listening too much to the vocal minority.

And if you're ticked off because you believed the indoctrination theory, details are still skimpy at best. But I guess that's the trade-off. More clarification means less room for that kind of thing. Oh well, Bioware wrote a crap ending. They made a mistake. And this is the best they can do to make up for it. They can be stupid, but in this case, at least they're not being evil by charging us money for it.

[BabyTownFrolics]

gamers have ruined gaming

[SeraphimBlade]

Guys, you're never going to convince me that I'm wrong by clicking the disagree button.

Maybe I AM just in a good mood because this is what I wanted to happen out of this. But they NEVER made it sound like they were going to completely change the ending, so I don't see why you're all so raving mad that they confirmed they aren't.

People are mentioning that there was something fundamentally wrong with the ending, and I disagree. For one thing I didn't feel "betrayed" in regard to the themes or anything. The game pretty clearly tells you multiple times that no one has any idea what the crucible really does, and it's suggested that there are greater forces at work than the Reapers. To me, Mass Effect was always about choice and consequence. We got a nice big choice at the end, but almost zero idea of the consequences. That's what they're filling in now, and that's all I really wanted.

And yeah, there's the whole "synthetics destroying organics to keep synthetics from destroying organics" thing. Except I'm pretty sure it's said that the Reapers try to capture organics in order for them to "ascend" as new beings. If that's the same as outright destruction to you, then you're actually allowed to say so. Plus, I'm willing to bet that the "extended cut" will have a lot more dialogue at the end to answer questions like that.

I will concede that it still makes no g**damn sense that who ever's in charge doesn't just start the "Synthesis" themselves, since that's their goal. The dlc better at least explain that too.

[VanillaBear]

Is this all people are going to say when talking about how the fans of ME are still complaining...."Oh but it's free"....yeah thats great but you have to think have they fixed the issues which made people complain in the first place.

The main complaint was the plotholes, everyone can agree on that, but please ask yourself, why would you continue the game FROM THAT ending, the ending which is the reason why there has been such an uproar in the first place. It just dosen't make sense.

There has been a thread on the Bioware forum with 1227 pages, named "Was the ending a hallucination? - Indoctrination Theory" which is basicaly what started all this. How can Bioware go through that thread, notice people being disapointed and not notice people would not want them to continue from that ending.

Fans give them a way out with the Indoctrination theory, the only thing which would of made sense and they havent done it. Are you surprized people are still complaining, it's only because the main issue has not been fixed, your still going to be continuing from a horriable ending full of plotholes.

[adamant715]

LOL what?! You guys asked for a new ending and you're getting it, so stop bitching.

[kamruk]

Not sure if you read the press release, but nothing about the ending is new, its just an extended version of what everybody hated.

[dubt72]

I didn't hate it, so I guess it's not "everybody."