Bioware CEO addresses ME3 ending backlash

Status
Not open for further replies.

Kaiser-Kun

!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 12, 2009
Messages
6,944
Reaction score
1,915
Age
39
Location
Mexico
thank God for DLCs, otherwise we'd be stuck with a Metal Gear Solid 2 ending again.
 

Zoombie

Dragon of the Multiverse
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 24, 2006
Messages
40,775
Reaction score
5,947
Location
Some personalized demiplane
You know, I'm feeling charitable to BioWare. They tried something new, and I think that they didn't manage to get it to work out right. I can see what they were going for, and it failed.

And, hey, if they can re-write it, it'd be interesting.
 

Opty

Banned
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
4,448
Reaction score
918
Location
Canada
I'd prefer not needing DLC to get complete endings, although if the DLC is worthwhile I'll still buy it.

Hudson should leave the fan addresses to Muzyka, because he sounded like nothing so much as hot air in his own response to ME3 criticism.

That was more than likely written by the PR department and not Hudson. From my time working in the corporate world, I can tell you that 100% of the articles/press releases that ever ran in the local papers that contained quotes from me were entirely written by our PR dept.

I always found them amusing, if only because it was weird to read statements from me that I never actually said.
 

crunchyblanket

the Juggernaut of Imperfection
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
4,870
Reaction score
766
Location
London's grey and pleasant land
You know, I'm feeling charitable to BioWare. They tried something new, and I think that they didn't manage to get it to work out right. I can see what they were going for, and it failed.

And, hey, if they can re-write it, it'd be interesting.

I don't think it failed, exactly, so much as it didn't quite press all the right buttons. I don't think it needs a total rewrite. Just some well-placed tweaking. And a little variation on the ending cutscenes, because, really.

But then, I didn't think the ending was as bad as everyone's saying.
 

Her Dark Star

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Messages
267
Reaction score
13
Location
UK
There were ideas within the ending that I thought might have been good, but all so badly executed that it felt very poor. The gamefront article on it sums up everything I felt about it. Interesting statement though, it kind of betrays the various hints from Bioware that this is exactly what they were trying to do and that there was some big reveal still to come, nope it just didn't work.
I do sympathise with them though, after working hard on the game for years the backlash must have hurt, especially as it overshadow's how good most of the game is. I do wonder if, like DA2, EA pushed it out of the door before the writers really wanted it. Not only does the ending feel very rushed and shallow (apart from the anderson and shep staring at earth scene), but where are the scenes showing what you've actually achieved? Not to mention that during the big battles there's mostly just a faceless fleet, no scene's of Krogans and Taurians working together, no epic battles where the Geth rescue struggling quarians, no Han Solo moment where the Salarians STG pull your rear from the fire at the last moment... etc, etc. Apologies, rant mode off.
Interesting statement and here's hoping that they can pull something off to restore my faith in them.
 

crunchyblanket

the Juggernaut of Imperfection
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
4,870
Reaction score
766
Location
London's grey and pleasant land
You know what my problem was? Not with the actual concepts presented in the ending - they were fine, IMO - but the sheer laziness in not actually offering a different payoff for each ending. And I didn't like the way the same choices were presented regardless of your path.

Also, where were the female Turians....?
 

Shadow Dragon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
4,773
Reaction score
261
Location
In the land of dragons
It really wouldn't surprise me if EA forced the game to come out before it was ready. Hell, the idea of fixing the ending later with a DLC could of also been their idea. It seems like the type of thing EA would do.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there

Fallen Angel

Banned
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
126
Reaction score
22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QLz0CqtMVc

Look, Hepler said in 06 that she dislikes 'playing games'. She dislikes the combat sections, and likes just picking options. There's a name for a game with only talking, a interactive movie. They bombed - back in the seventies and eighties when they were tried. You simply cannot remove parts of the core gameplay and expect people to treat it like a RPG.

A traditional WRPG is part combat (and character building) and part story. If you remove the combat you are making either Interactive fiction or a visual novel, neither of which things put Bioware 'on the map', nor what players wish. (First they cut the mining from ME1, and then they put in a option to skip combat in ME3 with no penalties for choosing this option.) This is why Bioware fans are pissed - because they are not getting what they desire from Bioware's newer games.

Also, if you read a 'review' of ME3, don't bring it up. The gaming press in notoriously corrupt.
 
Last edited:

Zoombie

Dragon of the Multiverse
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 24, 2006
Messages
40,775
Reaction score
5,947
Location
Some personalized demiplane
Eh?

An OPTION to skip combat is just that.

AN OPTION.

It's the same option to play though Doom with God Mode on. It's the same option to play Mount and Blade with cheats.

It's OPTIONAL.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE IT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO USE IT.
 

crunchyblanket

the Juggernaut of Imperfection
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
4,870
Reaction score
766
Location
London's grey and pleasant land
Look, Hepler said in 06 that she dislikes 'playing games'. She dislikes the combat sections, and likes just picking options. There's a name for a game with only talking, a interactive movie. They bombed - back in the seventies and eighties when they were tried. You simply cannot remove parts of the core gameplay and expect people to treat it like a RPG.

Ever heard of Heavy Rain? That did pretty well, and was a superb game to boot.

I for one was quite pleased about the 'skip combat' idea, since I suck hard at shooters (arthritis in fingers = poor reflexes) And as Zoombie says, it's just an option.
 

Maxinquaye

That cheeky buggerer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
Messages
10,361
Reaction score
1,032
Location
In your mind
Website
maxoneverything.wordpress.com
That whole Hepler thing strikes me as misogynist entitlement. One of the things that Hepler's critics raged about was gay characters in games. If you have a female employee that logs in to her 15 minute old twitter account and find hundreds of messages calling her a "fat cunt" I'm not going to take those critics very seriously, and I'll applaud her collegues that call those gamers moronic twats.

I'll sneer in contempt with the rest of BioWare.

Get thee back to the basement. I LOVE her response: "I've got two things they don't have, a vagina and a job in the gaming industry." That was epic.
 

crunchyblanket

the Juggernaut of Imperfection
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
4,870
Reaction score
766
Location
London's grey and pleasant land
If you have a female employee that logs in to her 15 minute old twitter account and find hundreds of messages calling her a "fat cunt" I'm not going to take those critics very seriously, and I'll applaud her collegues that call those gamers moronic twats.

Amen to that.
 

Fallen Angel

Banned
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
126
Reaction score
22
Ever heard of Heavy Rain? That did pretty well, and was a superb game to boot.

Do you like reading the wrong genre in a book? Same difference.

I for one was quite pleased about the 'skip combat' idea, since I suck hard at shooters (arthritis in fingers = poor reflexes) And as Zoombie says, it's just an option.
You are not the core fanbase for Bioware games. Said core fanbase likes combat.

The basic problem is that most gamers had thoughts like: If ME1 was Good, and ME2 was acceptable, then ME3 will be between Good and acceptable. Many pre-ordered the game based on this idea. In addition, those who read the (granted it's biased) gaming press might have assumed that the high marks meant that the game was actually good as well and purchased the game. They feel ripped off.

Let say I sell you a plain looking shortbread and labeled it as cinnamon, but it has small chunks of cranberry in the bottom of the loaf. How are you supposed to feel about it's being cranberry?

It's worse because a great many preordered the game, and thusly felt cheated out of their money with vague promises of a good game, but with the eventual letdowns.
 

crunchyblanket

the Juggernaut of Imperfection
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
4,870
Reaction score
766
Location
London's grey and pleasant land
You are not the core fanbase for Bioware games. Said core fanbase likes combat.
And Mass Effect 3 had combat....

And as someone who bought, devoured and adored ME1 & 2 despite not being a fan of combat, and who put up with the pain because I loved the story, characters and everything else, I call shenanigans on your assertion that I am not part of its 'core fanbase'. 'Core fanbase' does not = 'homogenous mass of people with identical likes and interests'.

The choice to skip combat was just that: a choice. Those who like the combat can choose to play as normal. Really, I don't see the problem in opening up that option to those of us who love the game, but cannot, for whatever reason (in my case, disability) get into the third-person shooter sections. It's being inclusive, and takes nothing whatsoever away from those who choose not to partake.
 
Last edited:

Kaiser-Kun

!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 12, 2009
Messages
6,944
Reaction score
1,915
Age
39
Location
Mexico
"Vague promises"? It's an excellent game. With lots of combat. Anyone who bitches about its 'lack of combat' has obviously never played it, for that's a Reaper-sized lie.

Gamers like that seem like the toughest audience today. They want the same, but different. More characters, but more focus on the past ones. More choices, but only the ones they want. More weapons, but less Call-of-Duty-feeling. Faster development vs. 'This is so rushed'.

Oh, and I preordered the game and loved it. The ending, not so much, but the game was great. So yeah, I think the great wide brush of bitchy pre-order customers missed a few tiny motes of satisfaction.
 

Maxinquaye

That cheeky buggerer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
Messages
10,361
Reaction score
1,032
Location
In your mind
Website
maxoneverything.wordpress.com
And the story-mode is not without combat. You still have to do the combat. It is only that the difficulty level (because that's how it has to be seen) is easy-mode.

But you still have to wade through all the combat level.

And how old is the concept of difficulty levels in gaming? Ancient.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
I've never heard of this Hepler woman before yesterday, and I don't particularly care about the PR issues surrounding her.
I will note however that I do find ME sex scenes (and Bioware sex scenes in general) awkward.
Not bad, perhaps kind of tasteful, but I think it would be better to go without them.
Tali's "sex scene" in ME2 is more like what I wish they were all like: it's obvious they're going to have sex, but there's no need for us to see anything. If they absolutely have to titillate us, then they could just do what Fable did--cut to black with sex noises. :p
 

Shadow Dragon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
4,773
Reaction score
261
Location
In the land of dragons
I've never heard of this Hepler woman before yesterday, and I don't particularly care about the PR issues surrounding her.
I will note however that I do find ME sex scenes (and Bioware sex scenes in general) awkward.
Not bad, perhaps kind of tasteful, but I think it would be better to go without them.
Tali's "sex scene" in ME2 is more like what I wish they were all like: it's obvious they're going to have sex, but there's no need for us to see anything. If they absolutely have to titillate us, then they could just do what Fable did--cut to black with sex noises. :p
I do really like Fable's way of handling it. It works well for that style of game. Though one time when it faded back in, there was a group of villagers in the bedroom cheering.

The only Bioware sex scene that I thought was handled decently, was female Shepard and Liara.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.