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BioWare Addressing Mass Effect 3 Endings
firefly2003
Member UncommonPosts: 2,527
BioWare says it's working on game content that will hopefully bring closure and clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3.
A new letter posted by Bioware co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka addresses the issues and concerns the team has faced since the game launched earlier this month. Muzyka said the development team is working on a number of game content initiatives that will "help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey."
Muzyka adds that some of the fan outrage has gone a little too far. "We listen and will respond to constructive criticism, but much as we will not tolerate individual attacks on our team members, we will not support or respond to destructive commentary," he said.
He concluded by saying fans will hear more about BioWare's plans for Mass Effect 3 in April.
Below is Muzyka's letter in full:
To Mass Effect 3 players, from Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare
As co-founder and GM of BioWare, I’m very proud of the ME3 team; I personally believe Mass Effect 3 is the best work we’ve yet created. So, it’s incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the game’s endings were not up to their expectations. Our first instinct is to defend our work and point to the high ratings offered by critics – but out of respect to our fans, we need to accept the criticism and feedback with humility.
I believe passionately that games are an art form, and that the power of our medium flows from our audience, who are deeply involved in how the story unfolds, and who have the uncontested right to provide constructive criticism. At the same time, I also believe in and support the artistic choices made by the development team. The team and I have been thinking hard about how to best address the comments on ME3’s endings from players, while still maintaining the artistic integrity of the game.
Mass Effect 3 concludes a trilogy with so much player control and ownership of the story that it was hard for us to predict the range of emotions players would feel when they finished playing through it. The journey you undertake in Mass Effect provokes an intense range of highly personal emotions in the player; even so, the passionate reaction of some of our most loyal players to the current endings in Mass Effect 3 is something that has genuinely surprised us. This is an issue we care about deeply, and we will respond to it in a fair and timely way. We’re already working hard to do that.
To that end, since the game launched, the team has been poring over everything they can find about reactions to the game – industry press, forums, Facebook, and Twitter, just to name a few. The Mass Effect team, like other teams across the BioWare Label within EA, consists of passionate people who work hard for the love of creating experiences that excite and delight our fans. I’m honored to work with them because they have the courage and strength to respond to constructive feedback.
Building on their research, Exec Producer Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey. You’ll hear more on this in April. We’re working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we’ve received. This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue.
The reaction to the release of Mass Effect 3 has been unprecedented. On one hand, some of our loyal fans are passionately expressing their displeasure about how their game concluded; we care about this feedback, and we’re planning to directly address it. However, most folks appear to agree that the game as a whole is exceptional, with more than 75 critics giving it a perfect review score and a review average in the mid-90s. Net, I’m proud of the team, but we can and must always strive to do better.
Some of the criticism that has been delivered in the heat of passion by our most ardent fans, even if founded on valid principles, such as seeking more clarity to questions or looking for more closure, for example – has unfortunately become destructive rather than constructive. We listen and will respond to constructive criticism, but much as we will not tolerate individual attacks on our team members, we will not support or respond to destructive commentary.
If you are a Mass Effect fan and have input for the team – we respect your opinion and want to hear it. We’re committed to address your constructive feedback as best we can. In return, I’d ask that you help us do that by supporting what I truly believe is the best game BioWare has yet crafted. I urge you to do your own research: play the game, finish it and tell us what you think. Tell your friends if you feel it’s a good game as a whole. Trust that we are doing our damndest, as always, to address your feedback. As artists, we care about our fans deeply and we appreciate your support.
Thank you for your feedback – we are listening.
Ray
[Source: Bioware]
Comments
The funny part is : "Our first instinct is to defend our work and point to the high ratings offered by critics –" when probably half of those critics weren't allowed to give score less than 8/10 and the other half didn't play more than 3 hours before reviewing =P
Awesome!! We get to pay for content on an unfinished game.
*SPOILER POTENTIAL WARNING*
My opinion on the statemet is as follows (I copied it from the post I made over at the Bioware Social forums...am lazy)
I can respect that they actually came out and said something, but it really does come down to what was said.
"it’s incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the game’s endings were not up to their expectations"
Once again it's as if it's just a group of people having an issue, rather than a vast majority..which is simply not true
"Mass Effect 3 concludes a trilogy with so much player control and ownership of the story that it was hard for us to predict the range of emotions players would feel when they finished playing through it."
So much player control? if by that you mean the 3 choices we got that made everything else invalid then sure. I can understand not being able to predict what fans would feel, but to an extent you can. I respect Bioware way too much to beleive that no one there brought up that this is probably a bad idea.
"Exec Producer Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey."
To me, and this is of course my personal take on this, it seems as if this is one of (Not the mind you) worst things we could have been given. To "flesh" out the ending that we were given, is "nice" but the fact still remains that it was an awful ending they went with. So say they come out and expalin Joker actually picked the team up when you said X, and was getting shot at so he flew away, and the Mass relays didn't kill everything like in "Arrival" because the energy they shot out was not the same. TIM was already on the Citadel because he figured it out first, and Anderson was in a shorter hallway, so he got there faster. All of your crew lived a life on the jungle planet always trying to escape and getting into some crazy situations, just like Gilligans Island! There is more, and obviously those are the most basic of things, but I mean is that really what you would want?
I'm not trying to start a heated argument for who wants what here, but a "fleshed" out ending seems like the laziest and worst thing we could be given.
I'm completely with you on that, those endings were just so out of place when compared to the theme and overall feel of the rest of the game that to flesh them out would be just the worst thing they could do. The best idea is to go with the general consensus that it was an indoctrination attempt, that Shepard wakes up after the choice, a quick scene shows how everything linked in to it being indoctrination, then the game continues for a while longer until we get a more suitable ending.
I can see that, I can imagine them going off into a 'dream state' for a while as he lays unconscious or semi-conscious in the rubble, though it might be nice if they speeded it up a bit as that whole limp-walk just took way too long. Then maybe he does get 'beamed up' to the Citadel but the area is different than in the 'dream', Shepard kicks more Reaper butt, sets the Crucible to destroy mode and we get an awesome scene of everything coming together at the end.
That would be the way to do it. Not this ghost-child space-magic crap we have now.
Imagine if you were Shepard... you were making that final push... BOOM, you're K.O.... in your mind, you're fighting indoctrination... in the real world, your allies see NO ONE made it to the beam... all hope is lost.
In your mind, you win against the will of the reapers... you WAKE on the battlefield... you STRUGGLE to the crucible for real this time, as a free minded Shepard... and the TRUE ending of the war plays out.
Just my take on the possible 'real ending'
BioWare has basically caused a HUGE stir amongst the fans and caused all this discussion.
Quite brilliant...and dangerous.. if it was actually all according to the master plan... and if it is, I think this is pretty much how it will pan out and Mass Effect will be intact as an extremely epic tale of the power of human will.
Side note - the ending DLC must be FREE. Simply MUST. This was intentional - giving the community time to try and process this mock ending... to stir conversations and theories... like I said, risky. But it could work out quite well.
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
Real ending involve paying extra cash for content, much of it already finished before completion but we will sucker you into paying big bucks for. They should just call it "Mass Effect 1/3" since about 1/3rd of the game you but while the other 2/3rds will be DLC probably costing twice of what the game costs on its own.
I was just saying pretty much the same thing to a friend I am discussing the news with. In my opinion (and let me be clear it's my opinion) the only way to rectify what has happened would be the Indoc theory. The downside to this would be that, I don't feel they should have had to do that. We all knew it was a trilogy from the get go, just have an ending. The indoc theory proving to be true would be nice, since those unhappy with the ending get something different, and those who are happy with it (granted I do not understand how any actual fan and someone engaged in th series could be) don't have to download it. Granted, the existence of it show that the original ending isn't true, but if you are ok with as is, then can just stick by that.
Really what it comes down to, was not only was it an awful way to end the series, but it doesn't even make sense. Trying to make it make sense in the end, still leaves the awfulness. I don't mind a non happy go lucky ending, if it at least wasn't what we got and made sense.
I said the same thing about it being free, if you have to buy it, forget that it took long to come out, you just gave the anti-DLC crowd a whole hell of a lot of fuel.
my mind is full of fuck.
It absolutely should be free - If I'm correct in my theory that it was all on purpose and they wanted to create a stir, start conversations, theories etc, then they were only 'ending' the game like that fully knowing that it takes time for everyone to get to the end, get to talkin'... meanwhile they're getting DLC ready for the full ending that will come for free.
If it's not for free, then they're going to fully piss off a lot of loyal fans. I just don't expect BioWare to do that. Then again, they are owned by EA now...
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.