Has BioWare Permanently Lost Fans Due To ME3 Fiasco?
Mass Effect 3Not being one of the die-hard franchise followers, I'm actually asking straight-up.
If you were an active part of the community that reacted to the Mass Effect 3 ending ordeal earlier this year, do you think hardcore fans of the series have permanently left? In other words, was the event scarring enough to piss people off for good? Is it a long-term rift?
As a follow-up question, did the Extended Cut DLC appease fans (for the most part), or did it do little to mend the injury? I've heard conflicting reports; some have said they understand BioWare's limitations in producing that extra content, and are therefore satisfied with what they got. Others, who wanted more drastic changes, were none too thrilled. Personally, after that mess, I don't have a whole lot of respect for that fan base but then again, I admit to not being part of it. I also know that in the interest of headlines, the negative backlash may have gotten blown out of proportion.
But did it really...? Or has BioWare forever alienated a great many former fans? When they release the next game in the Mass Effect universe, will sales actually reflect that loss? Or will the loss be reflected in whatever project they do next, such as Dragon Age III? In my opinion, I find gamers to be extremely fickle, despite what passions they may have on any given day. My prediction is that none of this has an adverse effect on future BioWare sales...but I'm sure some out there disagree.
Related Game(s): Mass Effect 3
Tags: mass effect 3, me3, mass effect 3 endings, mass effect fans
7/15/2012 9:31:17 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (44 posts)
FM23
Sunday, July 15, 2012 @ 10:12:59 PM
2 up, 1 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Sunday, July 15, 2012 @ 11:27:13 PM
The fact you never left one area, the reused maps, and lack of customization really harmed the experience for me.
5 up, 0 down
Neo_Aeon666
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:04:30 AM
Not playing DAO of course you wouldn't know all you are missing in DA2.
Combat was fun in DA2 but nothing close to DAO. More like they completely changed the style. DAO was way more tactical and less chaotic. I agree that DA2 was fun but being a fan of DAO I also felt really let down by what they gave us compared to the first iteration.
Also, World, I really liked the fact that the main character was silent. That way I could imagine my own voice talking. I also liked that there was so much more dialogue options and I hate that now they simplified it with *positive* *negative* *funny* *love* *hate* ... as if we are too dumb to figure out what we are going to say will or will not hurt the NPC we are talking too XD
Like I remember when talking to Morrigan in DAO lol I was like... mmmm is she going to agree with that... And I really had to study her behavior to finally *size* her and know how to answer to her speech :D was so much fun.
Didn't you enjoy that kind of stuff? :D lol
The first one being such a *Hit* I wonder why they dumbed it down so much for the second entry :(
Last edited by Neo_Aeon666 on 7/16/2012 12:14:59 AM
3 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:11:24 AM
0 up, 0 down
Neo_Aeon666
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:21:43 AM
Like I would rather have them go *mass effect style* in mass effect and have the Dragon Age universe stay a bit more classic. Just like in the good old Ice Wind dale/Baldurs gate time lol. I bet it would still be a hit. DAO was successfull so why change the formula so much T-T
It like Devs are trying to unify their games. Just like D3 is a D2/WoW merge lol.
Last edited by Neo_Aeon666 on 7/16/2012 12:23:30 AM
2 up, 0 down
YashaZz
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:25:47 AM
2 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 3:03:46 AM
I too did enjoy DA2, FM. Very much so. But DA2 were "just a good game", if you know what I mean. DA:O were more than that. Like how you could start up as three different races, and thus start in three different areas of the world map and experience three different beginnings, each their own origins(!), that concept was such an amazing strike of genius. It almost felt like three games in one.
Soon the stories merged of course, and the main story remained regardless of your origin (obviously), but man what an awesome game DA:O were.
DA:O had something refreshingly new and different over it while DA2 were, as I said, "just" an entertaining game.
Last edited by Beamboom on 7/16/2012 3:06:20 AM
2 up, 0 down
FM23
Sunday, July 15, 2012 @ 10:11:14 PM
Reply
Those who wanted a rewrite of the ending are just pathetic, but the indoctrination theory would have been cool. I still like Bioware and I will buy upcoming releases from Dragon Age and Mass Effect.
6 up, 2 down
ZettaiSeigi
Sunday, July 15, 2012 @ 10:13:10 PM
Reply
That said, I still like Bioware but I hope that their next game would have a much-better ending than ME3 did.
6 up, 2 down
Briar
Sunday, July 15, 2012 @ 10:41:53 PM
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I kind of want to take their writers out for a drink though; they went through hell and back to give the fans what they wanted. Good on you!
4 up, 2 down
BTNwarrior
Sunday, July 15, 2012 @ 10:48:06 PM
Reply
4 up, 1 down
bigrailer19
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:02:21 AM
Again that's just my understanding, I finished the game at 50% which is where it will stay if you don't play online so...
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 7/16/2012 12:06:40 AM
0 up, 1 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:12:03 AM
3 up, 0 down
frylock25
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:27:06 AM
my theory has been that if they couldnt bring the first one to ps3 at all and they couldnt get the second one to ps3 for a long time, i will not be in a rush to play their game.
0 up, 1 down
oldmike
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 9:39:08 AM
0 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 9:58:12 AM
World-
I never played online and was satisfied for the most part. I actually caught up with some users here who did play online just to get my galactic readiness up but was so busy with the campaign I didn't even bother.
0 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Sunday, July 15, 2012 @ 11:58:30 PM
Reply
Although I'm fine with the original endings, and I've yet to play the extended cut, the main thing I was frustrated with was the reason behind what the reapers were doing. I mean it was kind of clever don't get me wrong but at the same time I remember thinking under the circumstances, "really"?!
I also loved in ME2 the attention they gave to the ending and explaining and setting up for the next entry, while in ME3 it just kind of hit a wall. Almost as of it was all for nothing. I mean the ending fit the story but there was little reward for the player. So I can see why there's frustration whether it was to extreme or not.
Anyways its sad for Bioware that such an amazing series ended this way, I mean the trilogy as a whole, but I have faith in Bioware and there productions. Bottom line is they make good games and nothing should hinder their success.
2 up, 0 down
YashaZz
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:28:59 AM
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I say they just aren't open for new ideas and are stubborn. No offence to anyone, I believe I'm aloud to express my opinion.
4 up, 3 down
KingRed
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 8:53:28 AM
So YashZz you are totally right on this one. I bet you will like the ending too and feel that it is fine.
Last edited by KingRed on 7/16/2012 8:55:19 AM
2 up, 2 down
oldmike
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 9:43:37 AM
its ripped from Deus Ex
2 up, 0 down
SmokeyPSD
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 9:54:43 PM
1 up, 0 down
SmokeyPSD
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 2:00:21 AM
Reply
I saw a highly detailed bust of Mordin on facebook the other day. Awhile ago I would have been so excited and wanted to have it but I just didn't care. That just says it all in how much Bioware have lost my attention and respect.
5 up, 2 down
Beamboom
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 3:14:41 AM
Reply
And in regards to the rest of the market: I don't think they've *permanently* lost any fans. Some has perhaps become a bit more sceptical, but all it takes is one good release and they are back on board.
But their next title will be a particularly important one. It will be incredibly exciting to see how that turns out.
4 up, 0 down
dmiitrie
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 5:02:59 AM
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2 up, 0 down
___________
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 6:32:26 AM
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do chickens lay eggs?
f*cken oath bioware has lost fans over the ME3 fiasco!
i really cant understand how people can say the reaction was overblown!
the WHOLE point of the mass effect series was to have a big effect on what happens to the universe.
not only in the last game, but you invest hundreds of hours in all of the games to shape the galaxy.
THAT was the promise!
did they deliver?
NOPE!
so how is it overblown?
this is exactly why from now on ANY game that has the BS you can change the story BS its automatically going in my do not buy bin!
im sick to death of every single game playing that card, and NONE of them actually really doing it!
deus ex human revolution was suppose to have drastically different endings depending on what you do.
it doesent!
heavy rain was suppose to have different missions and different experiences depending on what you do.
but it doesent!
all you got was a extra cut scene or something like that, nothing really drastic changed till the end.
even spec ops the line does not have the effect and impact it promised.
im so sick of developers using this BS just to try suck people in, than never delivering on it!
sigh, gone are the days where false advertisement was illegal!
i guess everything does have its price............
or the better saying theres nothing a fat bag with a dollar sign cant solve!
4 up, 1 down
bigrailer19
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 10:03:29 AM
3 up, 3 down
___________
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 10:19:05 AM
i ended up completely wiping out several civilizations and i still got the same ending as my friend who had a much higher galactic readiness rating then me and had everyone helping him.
how the hell does that work?
plus they said there would be many endings with drastic differences and effects.
theres not, theres 3 different endings and there not that different from each other.
and what about the crew?
what about your romance?
i ended up romancing miranda and she called me as soon as the last mission started, after that and the end events happen you dont get to see what happens to her.
thats exactly the problem with the game it evolves the WHOLE GALAXY!
but with the ending you get to see maybe 1% of the effects you have had.
even some of the events that you did in the first 2 games.
what difference does it make if you destroy the reaper tech in ME2 or keep it for the illusive man?
what difference does it make if you agree with him and give in, or fight back?
ME3 is exactly like every other game out there!
it asks you to make a choice than gives you down a different road but ends up in the same place.
1 + 1 - 1 = 1.
1 + 2 - 2 = 1.
2 totally different ways of getting the result, yet the result is the same.
what is the point of being able to choose how to do something if it does not change what happens?
Last edited by ___________ on 7/16/2012 10:26:58 AM
2 up, 1 down
bigrailer19
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 4:50:26 PM
But that's just it the color represents choice and that choice depicts the future of the galaxy. I see where you're coming from but when your given 3 choices that are extremely different, whether we see the outcome or not, the choice was still made.
I do agree though, I would have liked to see more of what happened in regards tothe choice, and how it affected the galaxy and the inhabitants. Sadly that's the issue here.
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 7/16/2012 4:53:31 PM
0 up, 2 down
SmokeyPSD
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 10:03:32 PM
The original vision of a personal journey shaping it all, right to the end of the trilogy and numerous decisions playing a part on the mark on the universe from every instalment is no where to be seen due to some of the main creative minds that left.
1 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 10:30:48 PM
But there was a choice to be made and it drastically changed the galaxy depending on one of three choices you made.
2 up, 0 down
___________
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 8:55:25 AM
christ, how am i suppose to use my imagination to figure out what happened to the crew, or miranda?
a fluffy pink dragon flew in and took her to cotton candy land?
well the game gave me nothing else to base it on!
christ dude, seriously what is the point of even having a ending if everything is left to imagination?
theres a big difference between leaving things up to interpretation and what bioware have done with ME3.
like alan wake, you see his wife come out of the lake but you never see him.
thats it the story is finished, whether he ever comes out or not you can decide yourself.
thats leaving it up to imagination.
the WHOLE point of the mass effect series is to play through the games and have a drastic effect on what happens, how it happens, and how everything ends.
not choose whether i should have chocolate topping on my vanila ice cream, or if i should have strawberry instead!
thats what every game this gen has been, they have all promised drastically different endings, and drastically different missions depending on what you do.
but they dont, they all change ever so slightly.
and im sick of it!
if bioware did not market the game like they did, if they released ME3 as a new IP, just treated this as your typical aliens taking over the world game you really think this would of got the backlash it did?
hell no!
people are pissed because the whole point of the series is you having a drastic effect on the fate of the universe, and you really dont!
not to mention all the loose ties.
i mean you get to see the normandy crash, you get to see the crew walk out.
well i did.
but what about the people who were on the planet with you?
ME is about the GALAXY!
not about ME!
thats why so many people were pissed about the ending, simply because the game forces you to spend the entirety of the game gaining help from all the species, than does not even have the decency to show you what happened to them!
2 up, 0 down
CrusaderForever
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 7:50:20 AM
Reply
No way does this lose Bioware fans. They make good games and gamers know this. The ME3 ending was their interpretation. You have to respect that.
Last edited by CrusaderForever on 7/16/2012 7:53:05 AM
5 up, 4 down
Dancemachine55
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 8:08:43 AM
Reply
If anything, their extended cut DLC has raised my level of appreciation for them, and how hard they work to please their fans.
I liked the DLC. It filled a lot of plotholes. It explained so much more that we needed to know to get full closure.
I will get Dragon Age 3 the moment it is released.
2 up, 2 down
Comic Shaman
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 9:34:51 AM
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But made more wary.
I do appreciate the effort of the Extended Cut, though it really should be named the "Rewritten Cut." Some of the most staggering plot holes were not just explained, they were retconned out of existence. It's nice that these points were changed, but it also highlights just how slapdash the writing job on the original version was. To me, the endings went from an "F" to a "C" in execution.
Points to Bioware for their class in dealing with the backlash, because some of the fan reactions were needlessly hateful. That being said, though, they did call down the fate on themselves with script leaks, broken promises, terrible original endings, and forced multiplayer.
Mass Effect 3 is a superb game, and I'll play it through again. I'll probably get their DLC. It doesn't mean I'll buy Bioware products in the future without hesitation, though, as I would with a studio like Naughty Dog.
3 up, 0 down
oldmike
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 10:00:09 AM
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this is the 2ed game from them that i felt let down by
thankfully i only rented DA2 as i did not like what they changed
but I don't even care about DA3
As for ME this is the game that got me to get a 360 i loved it up to ME3 ending
the EC fixed a lot of the plot holes but it comes down to this you lied you told us you can say you had ending A,B, or C but that is what we got did not help that i just fished a game with the SAME endings
As for the post EC ending
you get a Blue ending that is now a good ending(this is the best for a player)
a Red ending that if you did online can get you a "happy" ending but is shaky at best
and then there is the green mess that craps on ME ideas and lore
i may get there games BUT not till after its been out and i can see if its worth it and i mite just get it used
4 up, 1 down
quikbeam
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 11:19:47 AM
Reply
The EC did very little to address many of the problems with the ending most people were complaining about. To be fair though, they did state from the beginning, it would not change anything, it would simply extend the ending. The problems were still there.
If you look at the response the EC received, while it was fairly positive, it was far smaller of a response than what you received with the original ending controversy. Many of the people that had a problem with the ending, didnt even bother getting the EC, since it wouldnt change anything. If the people who criticized the game no longer cared about the EC, then criticism for the EC would be incredibly small. I would think Bioware should worry about the EC having as much of a small response as it had on online forums, when people complain or praise, it means they care about the product. When they dont even bother to do either right after something as significant as an EC, it means they could care less about the title. Which means they are customers the franchise lost.
The problem Bioware is going to face is that some of their fans will not buy their next game upon release. Also considering how easy it is to pirate games currently, anyone that has significant doubts about the game will either wait a while before getting it, or will simply get a pirated copy.
4 up, 1 down
Geobaldi
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 12:33:56 PM
Reply
4 up, 9 down
Underdog15
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 2:49:10 PM
4 up, 1 down
Gamer46
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 5:09:39 PM
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1 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Reply
Sunday, July 15, 2012 @ 10:00:03 PM
Personally though I lost trust in them with the massive downgrade from Dragon Age to DAII so DAIII has become a wait and see situation.