But much of the hardcore fanbase was not happy, forced to settle for an ending they felt was a slap in the face after hundreds of hours of emotional investment. The fans, however, did not settle. What did they do?
Don’t listen to the haters – those trolls who are probably sucking minimum wage payrolls from EA’s cold teet – the fans did nothing illegal or repulsive. There were no ridiculous threats. No one vandalized Bioware or EA property. No one hacked their websites. In an upset throng of thousands, almost no one capitulated to the misanthropic behaviors often associated with hardcore gamers.
So then… what did fans do?
We complained. We wrote letters and e-mails to Bioware expressing our love of the series (it was precisely this love that drove people to demanding a better ending, after all). We wrote jokes about the ending on YouTube – by the thousands. We expressed our opinions on gaming forums far and wide. Despite the trolls slamming fans with buzzwords like “entitled,” no boundaries were overstepped.
And how did EA respond? How did a multibillion dollar American corporation deal with this spoiled, entitled, antisocial, whining group of unwashed masses that no one in their right mind should take seriously and that, in fact, should be discredited and insulted by other gamers?
First multiplayer expansion pack featuring new characters, weapons, and maps.
FOR FREE.
Second multiplayer expansion pack featuring more characters, weapons, and maps.
FOR FREE.
An extended cut of endings – ones that filled plot holes, brought closure, washed away much of the bitter taste that had lingered for months, and totaled in at almost two gigabytes.
For. F***ing. Free.
The fans did that. The voice of the peeps was loud indeed, and now, after four months, the hardcore fans are happy. And so am I – happy and thankful. I’m thankful to EA, who hasn’t charged us one cent for the three large pieces of post-launch DLC. I’m thankful to Bioware, who cared enough about their fans to do something that is, to my knowledge, unprecedented in our entertainment medium (if not all entertainment mediums). But most of all, I’m thankful to the Mass Effect fanbase for their passion and for bringing a more proper closure to the greatest gaming story I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
Whether you’re a fan of the series or not… whether you hate the damned fanbase or not… please understand that Tuesday was a win for all gamers.
Friends...
we held the line.
Yoblazer:
Watch and you'll see... someday I'll be... part of your world!