UK Ad Bureau Says EA Did Not Falsely Advertise ME3

Mass Effect 3

The Mass Effect 3 ending snafu grabbed some of the biggest headlines of the year.

A great many gamers complained about the blockbuster RPG's ending, and the apparent fact that decisions didn't have a big enough impact on the outcome. Petitions arose, the acid flew, and EA and developer BioWare finally caved and offered to make extra content that would fix the ending issue. That DLC is forthcoming so be patient on that score.

Other organizations outside of gaming have weighed in on the controversy, and that includes a Better Business Bureau representative saying EA falsely advertised the game. However, the UK Advertising Standards Authority would like to dispute that claim, saying in their recent findings that the endings were in fact "thematically quite different." In short, the assessment was "not upheld."

"The ASA acknowledged the complainants' belief that players' choices in the game did not influence the outcome to the extent claimed by EA. However, we considered that the three choices at the end of the game were thematically quite different, and that the availability and effectiveness of those choices would be directly determined by a player's [Effective Military Strength] score, which was calculated with reference to previous performance in the game(s). We also acknowledged that there appeared to be a large number of minor variations in the end stages of ME3, and that those were directly impacted by choices made by players earlier in the game(s). Whilst we acknowledged that the advertiser had placed particular emphasis on the role that player choices would play in determining the outcome of the game, we considered that most consumers would realise there would be a finite number of possible outcomes within the game and, because we considered that the advertiser had shown that players' previous choices and performance would impact on the ending of the game, we concluded that the ad was not misleading."

That's unlikely to satisfy those who so bitterly complained about the climax of the game, but the explanation does make some sense. I understand such complaints but as I've said in the past, the reaction to this whole thing was just a touch out of control.

Related Game(s): Mass Effect 3

Tags: mass effect 3, me3, mass effect 3 ending, uk asa

6/13/2012 12:05:15 PM Ben Dutka

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