On March 6, Mass Effect 3, a leviathan of current-gen gaming, was released. The game was hyped to the moon and commanded a massive developmental budget and blitzkrieg ad campaign topped by only the CoDs and Skyrims of the world. It quickly sold millions of copies and garnered high praise from many a game reviewer. EA was happy. Bioware was happy. The critics were happy.
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!
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Never underestimate the power of stupidity in numbers. ~War13104 Never stoop to the level of idiots. They will drag you down and beat you with experience.
--
From his looks Magus is Macho Man Randy Savage as an anime zombie. The black wind howls, and one of you will snap into a Slim Jim ooh yeeeah! -sonicblastpunch
One of the #RetakeME3 leaders has been covertly contacting me (covert at my request) off and on for months, asking for campaigning advice on how to present their story, how best to address people and who best to address, etc. due to my Farscape campaign experience from way back in the day. I didn't want people to know I was helping guide her, and I still don't -- this is B8, after all, not somewhere fanbase-centric. But anyway, it was just little things, here and there. It was all her, and she rocked.
Everyone who didn't break down into little pretentious asses rocked. Everyone who held the line.
-- K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K "we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8
I still have a sealed CE of ME3 that I'm waiting to crack open and now seems like the perfect time. I waited because of laziness, not due to the complaints about the ending, but I am definitely glad to know that I will never experience the disappointment that so many others felt with the completion of the game.
Like, I think I remember you saying it wasn't even the best release of its Tuesday night release (OK, someone said that) but naw, it's #1 this gen for me as well.
-- K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K "we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8
ME2 is still the best in the series in my book, but I do dig ME3 despite not feeling the ending(s) completely do the job. And concurred, it is cool that Bioware listened to the fans and went back to add more work, for free. Bioware is cool.
Now bring on Dragon Age 3, yessir.
-- One Piece: Pirates with style! -= Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action =-
On March 6, Mass Effect 3, a leviathan of current-gen gaming, was released. The game was hyped to the moon and commanded a massive developmental budget and blitzkrieg ad campaign topped by only the CoDs and Skyrims of the world. It quickly sold millions of copies and garnered high praise from many a game reviewer. EA was happy. Bioware was happy. The critics were happy.
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!
Why the heck are you using that version of An End Once and For All and not the better EC version (without that meh abrupt ending)
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XBL GT: Demon Ninja X2 "There comes a time in every man's or woman's life where they have to make **** up to cover their ass." - Hazama
I still feel like EA is a terrible company because they made a crappy ending and probably hoped to make a quick buck off a real one, then realized just how pissed people were and decided they would lose all credibility if they charged. I've never even played ME though, so I don't really care. Maybe I'll play sometime in the next year or so.
I disagree. ME3 should have been released as a finished coherent product, and for many fans it wasn't. What we saw was damage control, trying to win back Bioware fans.
Now, something that really is a victory for all gamers would be something like Valve's Pyromania update. New game mode, maps, weapons, etc to a game which has always been great. It was unnecessary, but it was done anyway. My two cents.
Please stop describing the whiners as 'fans'. I love Bioware. I've played and enjoyed all of their games, and felt the ending was a perfectly valid, if odd, way to end the series. I am a fan. Once you declare your undying loathing of a company and swear never to buy their products ever again, but make sure to respond to every single topic that references them in order to reaffirm your hatred, you're a troll to be counted among the company's enemies, not their allies.
--
"My name is Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and like my father before me, I am an accountant" Nothing is true. Everything is tax-deductible
Puh-lease. If those whiners hadn't dissented, there'd be no Extended Cut. You did like your free Extended Cut, didn't you? Thank the whiny self-entitled smelly Bioware enemies who've been insulted by other Bioware fans and just about every other fanbase in gaming. What a truly horrible lot who never did nothing for nobody.
Please stop describing the whiners as 'fans'. I love Bioware. I've played and enjoyed all of their games, and felt the ending was a perfectly valid, if odd, way to end the series. I am a fan. Once you declare your undying loathing of a company and swear never to buy their products ever again, but make sure to respond to every single topic that references them in order to reaffirm your hatred, you're a troll to be counted among the company's enemies, not their allies.
Is this in reference to my post? Cause this is literally the only topic I've ever posted in regarding Bioware. Hell I have like 3 active posts on B8. Just thought I'd add my opinion on the matter, didn't know I wasn't allowed to have a dissenting opinion.
Please stop describing the whiners as 'fans'. I love Bioware. I've played and enjoyed all of their games, and felt the ending was a perfectly valid, if odd, way to end the series. I am a fan. Once you declare your undying loathing of a company and swear never to buy their products ever again, but make sure to respond to every single topic that references them in order to reaffirm your hatred, you're a troll to be counted among the company's enemies, not their allies.
This is a bad post Black Mage Jawa and you should feel ashamed.
A person can be a fan and be incredibly disappointed and let down by poor creative decisions.
--
The batman villians all seem to be one big joke that batman refuses to laugh at - SantaRPG
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).
To be fair, the same BioWare fans decided to donate to Child's Play (a charity run by Penny Arcade), then asked them "How much do we need to donate to get a new ending?" then they had to shut down donations for a while because BioWare fans were demanding their money back when they realized that their money was, indeed, going to a charity.
-- TheRock ~ Slow dramatic zoom-pan. Doesn't phase the hooded man. "You have issues." - MWC. Pot. Kettle.
From: TheRock1525 | #038 To be fair, the same BioWare fans decided to donate to Child's Play (a charity run by Penny Arcade), then asked them "How much do we need to donate to get a new ending?" then they had to shut down donations for a while because BioWare fans were demanding their money back when they realized that their money was, indeed, going to a charity. To be fair, that was only a fraction of the fans who donated. I spoke with several who were basically like, "bleh, well it's nice at least that this got me to do some good in the world."
-- K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K "we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8
There are always gonna be some bad apples, but considering that literally thousands (if not tens of thousands) were disappointed enough with the ending to make their voices heard, I'd say the vast majority went about it in a good way.
The majority of ME fans didn't do anything that the gaming community should be ashamed of, I don't think.
