March 21st, 2012
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BioWare has listened to disgruntled Mass Effect 3 fans upset at the game’s endings. In an announcement today, co-founder of BioWare, Dr. Ray Muzyka, announced they’re working on game content that will hopefully bring closure and clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3.
Muzyka posted the letter today on the BioWare forums. It can be viewed in full below.
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
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I liked the ending regardless, and the whole indoctrination theory makes the ending THAT much better. But I am not disappointed that they are considering making a new ending for DLC. Then ‘Fans’ are not fans at all. They literally pour their lives into the ME franchise. They have MADE IT their life. If you don’t believe me, go on the Bioware forums and see how pathetic some of the people are. Some of them just want that cliche hollywood ending where shepard will be walking along a beach with their romance under a sunset. I don’t, I like the fact that it wasn’t predictable.
Just my two cents.
I’m with you there Asteroc, I actually rushed through the game in fear the ending would be ruined for me by the Internet soon and am surprised to say, it wasn’t that bad! Some things are left unanswered but that’s what BioWare chose to do. It’s their game. It’s cool they’re going to do something for the fans here but I honestly think they shouldn’t have to. Endings disappoint people in everything, I mean, I can’t just go back and demand the end of the X-Files be changed, or erase Darth Vader screaming Noooooooooo!! at the end of Episode III from my mind, no matter how bad I want to. Anyway, I hope this ends up being free.
*SPOILERS MAY BE IN HERE, SO BEWARE* I think you guys are kind of missing the point. It’s not that just the ending was widely considered as terrible, it’s how little the “mass effect” the player had from playing through all three titles. You go through 3 games, solve conflicts, bring peace, vice versa, and stand against the reapers only to gain 3 choices that have no real impact on the ending, instead all three choices are extremely destructive and are nonsensical, I’m guessing they pulled a Deus ex Machina which is never a good thing, especially when you insult the players who have gone in depth with a story. Especially after the game being advertised as having the ending to be drastically different depending on your playthrough only for it to be a complete lie. If you liked the ending, good for you. To me, Bioware doesn’t have to change a damn thing, it’s their work after all, hell I’m not that even into the series. However to lie to the fans is just an insult and feel they should be able to tell Bioware how they feel.
How could you possibly have liked the ending? It was a slap in the face to all the loyal fans that played the first 2 games numerous times because we thought our actions would have a huge impact on how the series ended. Nothing we did in the previous 2 games mattered at the end..NOTHING. Paragon, Renegade…it didn’t matter one bit because it was the same friggin ending regardless of the choices you made. And don’t even get me started on the numerous plot holes in the final 10 minutes. Seems like Bioware just slapped together some half assed conclusion and expected us to swallow it. I don’t know what Bioware has planned for this “new ending” but it’s going to take something really special to rinse the bad taste out of my mouth.
I guess I should have worded that better. I didn’t mean I actually liked the ending but my expectations were so low after hearing so many terrible things about it that I was expecting a RAGE type, game over, what the hell just happened ending. Definitely not the way I wanted the series to end but its what BioWare had planned from the start I guess. I agree fans have the right to be pissed, I just can’t believe BioWare is actually going to do something about it.
IMO, a lot of people are missing the point. I think the indoctrination theory is a pretty solid explanation and, most crucially, I’m 100% convinced we will see another mass effect game.
Mass Effect 3 is supposed to be the final game in the series at least what Bioware had claimed. The indoctrination theory is flawed in it’s own right, only Shepard’s experience should be shown if that was the case.
After reading BioWare’s letter, I kindof feel bad about bashing Mass Effect 3′s ending. Yes, the ending was a bit bizarre and linear, which was definately not what they said it would be like pre-release. But it was BioWare’s artistic choice to make the ending as such. So I really feel bad for BioWare, having to deal with all of the angry fans. Especially since I was one of those angry fans. In any case, I think that this letter goes to show that BioWare really does care about their fans.
Indoctrination or not this nightmare-like ending gives no explanation, no sense of fight, no sense of final showdown and after turning a whole galaxy against a menace you find yourself weaker than a chicken and without a crap of a meaningful choice in a (inner) fight that will lead to pretty much the very same conclusion ?
They need to rewrite the whole game or, at least, to change the whole last chapter..
The ending of ME2 weren’t all that greatness but it buries the one of ME3 deep into shame ‘cuz it was 1000 times better.
***might have Spoilers****
Well I’m what you can call a hardcore mass effect fan, have all limited editions and supported Bioware all the way, the ending is not that bad, after all we don’t want a crappy hollywood ending like some already comment.
BUT….BUT, man, in mass effect 1 and 2 you make great friends learn their stories and all, and in the end…where the hell they are??? CLOSURE is indeed something that make this ending feel like crap, no matter what would happen to Shepard. I just think Bioware took a nice way of making Shepard a Legend…but we play a story of 3 games and not 1!….