BioWare Announces Post-Ending DLC for Mass Effect 3 [Updated!]

[Irridium]

I wonder what'll it'll be. The ending is a goddamn mess. It'll take a lot to make it actually make sense. And doesn't change the fact that Star Child basically screwed himself. You failed, you were DONE. There was nothing you could do. Then star child BRINGS YOU TO HIM, and says he failed because you're standing before him. Even though he would have not failed if he just left you to die.

Freaking stupid.

The ending has many problems, but this is not one of them. The existence of a "synthesis" option, and the origin of the Crucible being likely the "Star Child" itself indicate that "he" expected or predicted that someone could finish the Crucible and get to choose how the cycle ends. It is important to note that the "Star Child" or whatever is not evil, and the Reaper cycle was created for a reason (a bogus reason, but still).

But... he could have continued what he normally does. If he really believed his way was the only way, he would have just let you die down there. Which could mean he didn't wand to do what he does, in which case, why doesn't he just not kill all organics with synthetics so that organics don't get killed by synthetics?

It just reminds me of that moment in ME2, on the prison where you get Jack. The warden had a trap set up for you, and you would have easily walked right into it. But he stops you right when you walk into it to tell you you are walking into his trap.

 

[WanderingFool]

Casey Hudson decided to cut most of this conversation out, because he thought it would have been TOO LONG, just FYI. Really says a lot about his creative process.

************!

That was beautiful, AND THEY WENT AND CUT IT FROM THE FINAL GAME!?

 

[-Dragmire-]

While many people will probably not be satisfied with this, it's still nice they're trying.

EA/BioWare: We promise it won't be the same crap as original. Pay us and you will see.

But... it's free, what are you referring to?

 

[tautologico]

I wonder what'll it'll be. The ending is a goddamn mess. It'll take a lot to make it actually make sense. And doesn't change the fact that Star Child basically screwed himself. You failed, you were DONE. There was nothing you could do. Then star child BRINGS YOU TO HIM, and says he failed because you're standing before him. Even though he would have not failed if he just left you to die.

Freaking stupid.

The ending has many problems, but this is not one of them. The existence of a "synthesis" option, and the origin of the Crucible being likely the "Star Child" itself indicate that "he" expected or predicted that someone could finish the Crucible and get to choose how the cycle ends. It is important to note that the "Star Child" or whatever is not evil, and the Reaper cycle was created for a reason (a bogus reason, but still).

But... he could have continued what he normally does. If he really believed his way was the only way, he would have just let you die down there. Which could mean he didn't wand to do what he does, in which case, why doesn't he just not kill all organics with synthetics so that organics don't get killed by synthetics?

It just reminds me of that moment in ME2, on the prison where you get Jack. The warden had a trap set up for you, and you would have easily walked right into it. But he stops you right when you walk into it to tell you you are walking into his trap.

The problem is that the explanation is convoluted and confusing, but if the Star Child predicted and created the possibility of someone building the Crucible, it's because he saw that as a better way to solve the problems he was trying to solve. There's no other way. If he really wanted to avoid having any organics getting to where Shepard got, he wouldn't have created the Crucible and kept it as a possibility.

 

[Flight]

From the sounds of it, we're still getting the same horrible endings. No, thank you; I'll wait to hear what it's about before I even bother thinking about downloading it, and if we do still get stuck with red/blue/green, cut-and-paste endings where it doesn't matter what you've done over the series, I won't be playing it. Bioware/EA, you're going to have to do better than that. Mass Effect, and its players, deserve better than that. Make new, decent endings, please.

 

[eventhorizon525]

Moviebob won't be happy with this.

I can't be the only one who thought that.

HAHAHAHA!!!

Bob is so gonna rage... and of course like every other time, most people will ignore him unless what he says is something they agree with (come on, you know its true, you're guilty of it too.*)

Anyways, im curious about how this will pan out, its good to hear they are making it free, thats one controversy im sure they dont want to have to deal with. But I would like to know just how giving the fans the closure they want... no, deserve, and keeping the artistic integrity of the original endings is going to work.

But, I see one major positive about this,

[HEADING=1]THIS MEANS NO MORE FUCKING ME3 THREADS ABOUT THE GOD DAMN ENDING!!!1![/HEADING]

Also, Escapist? Can you go back to the other captcha, im tired of having to type, "the all new chevy sonic" when ever I want to fucking post.

*[sub]This is not aimed solely at the person im qouting, but anyone who may read this post.[/sub]

Actually, it means a return of posts about the ending, since everyone will be talking about how good the DLC was in their opinion. In all honesty, I see this just refreshing what had finally calmed down because everyone got their opinion out and realized no one was going to change their position.

More on topic though, this does look like the best choice Bioware had; they get another chance at satisfying fans while not fully admitting they botched the ending (even if, imo, they did really mess it up). The free thing was also a really good idea, as they would have been thrown under a different bus had they charged for it. I will be curious to see how they try and explain everything.

 

[Something Amyss]

e]

I thought that as well, but at the same time I don't give a rats rotting arse what some guy who hasn't even bothered to attempt to play the games thinks either. Heck, I find his opinions on most anything game-related moot though so... who cares.

It's not so much that I care what he thinks as there's a certain degree of Schadenfreude here. After him explosively attacking distorted arguments with tantrums about art and how wrong people are for being mad about something that he's not mad about, there's a certain element of amusement in it.

Similarly, I HATE Angry Joe, but I love watching the videos where I know he's going to get upset.

Bob is so gonna rage... and of course like every other time, most people will ignore him unless what he says is something they agree with (come on, you know its true, you're guilty of it too.*)

I would, but that would imply I even once agreed with him.

Nah, but seriously, I don't find what he says a problem so much as how he says it. If he talked about Mass Effect in an adult fashion, I wouldn't have a problem. But as it is, he resorts to histrionics and hyperbole.

[HEADING=1]THIS MEANS NO MORE FUCKING ME3 THREADS ABOUT THE GOD DAMN ENDING!!!1![/HEADING]

I wouldn't be so quick to say that. There's still a lot of unknowns about this. Since one of the issues of contention was lack of player choice, it's almost certain this epilogue, as described, would not address at least one major issue.

Which will "prove" to the people who hate the outrage that Retake are a bunch of spoiled, entitled crybabies, even though all it proves is that one of the biggest points of contention is not addressed at all.

I can't be the only one who thinks they planed on releasing this this from the beginning.

You're not alone, but I'm a fan of Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

 

[Dfskelleton]

I get this strange feeling that no matter how they change the ending, people are going to complain about something. I could be wrong, but I've learned to trust gut feelings over the course of my life, and the way the fans have reacted to the current ending (i.e. like a bunch of spoiled children), then this makes me think so even more.
And wait... FREE DLC? FROM EA? THIS- I CAN'T-

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

It's about what could be expected...about the minimum standard, I think. It should address the extremely jarring plotholes I encountered, presumably, and the 'magic cupcake' issue, but this doesn't satisfy me as a solution.

My main issue was that even though I put the time into collecting and even reading about all the War Assets, they never factored into gameplay at all. I gather all these people, all these races, and all these forces, and do my research, then they're never even mentioned when the time comes? That's what annoyed me. ME2 had only a small group of people to worry about, and it had to keep in mind that there was a sequel, and even there you got to see the results of your labour and make choices on how to use your assets.

This 'solution' has no gameplay component to speak of, and when my biggest issue was a lack of things coming into play, that's a letdown.

It's something that can be addressed in DLC later on if they go the 'augment and expand' route instead of adding side-quests, but I can't help but feel disappointed after all the theories about what could be done instead.

For the record, I'm not raging here. Just stating that the solution, as explained, sounds limited to one area of concern, and doesn't apply elsewhere.

 

[Chronologist]

EA simply isn't admitting that they screw up, their phrasing sounds more like "you fans are bitching, so here's your stupid ending. In return, you better buy more of out 60$ games, plus 50$ worth of DLC that adds f*ck all to the experience".

Nothing short of a complete rewrite and overhaul of the last 20 minutes to 3 hours of the game will fix Mass Effect 3, and nothing short of a complete apology from Casey Hudson will get me buying Bioware again.

I'm not a fanboy or a whiner. I just don't feel like spending my money on a company that continues to disappoint me, and so many others.

 

[TheProfessor234]

I believe this is the best thing we could of expected, an explanation. Of course, people hoped and dreamed for something completely different, I was as well just because I'm always a fan of more content if it's good, but with it being free, I can't complain.

Also, this;

no matter how they change the ending, people are going to complain

There is no way they can make everyone happy with a game like Mass Effect. Hell, a simple game like Mario where the ending is always, "Bowser loses," probably gets some people angry. My only hope is that BioWare keeps writing good stories and characters and I don't see why they wouldn't.

P.S. This will be raged about for another three weeks or so. There is no escaping that outside of not using the internet.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe.

It's funny because the team had absolutely nothing to do with the ending. This may be a step in the right direction, but the glowing space fetus is retarded no matter how you explain it. And anyone who still thinks the ending sucks despite it being free will be called entitled and the entire thing will just start all over again.

Update: Fuck. Just... fuck.

 

[Riff Moonraker]

Moviebob won't be happy with this.

I can't be the only one who thought that.

I dont care what MovieBob thinks. Anyway, it would make a HUGE difference if they just explained all the plotholes and the obvious problems with the ending, and gave me the survival ending WITHOUT having to play the multiplayer part, so long as I did everything "right". So I will remain hopeful until I play the DLC.

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

Well hopefully this will explain some things. Hopefully.

 

[Warthur]

They've put up a mini-FAQ on their blog where they specify that they are not going to change the endings or provide alternates, they're just going to expand on the current ones.

This is going to be a very, very hard sell because a lot of complaints around the endings stem from them having some major-league plot holes, as well as more or less forcing the player to accept the final NPC's logic despite there being some fairly obvious holes in it. All expanding on the ending will do is add a whole lot of tenuous retcons to explain how people's squadmates on the final mission teleported to the Normandy (without even bothering to see if Shep was OK!) and why Shepard, a character with a history of sticking her finger in the face of authority and telling them exactly why what they just said is completely boneheaded, would meekly submit to the Starchild's proposed solutions rather than saying "Take your machines, which you just said you control, and get the hell out of our galaxy and let us make our own way."

 

[Callate]

I hope this will provide fans of the series some satisfaction.

But given the "while preserving our artistic integrity" vibe, I doubt it.

I anticipate a small number of people accepting the new material, a large number of people outraged that they botched it a second time, and a new round of sneering "You see, I told you the fanboys would never be satisfied, why did you bother demeaning your artistic integrity, you hacks" from the gatekeepers of the world of "great art".

Hope I'm wrong...

 

[Outcast107]

*sigh* I just wish bioware would just tell us what they are doing instead of being all hush hush about it. Hell I would like them to come out and say "Indoctrination theory is lies" and I would be cool with that.

Since i'm about 60% sure that what is going to happen and 40% sure it isn't. But whatever..hopefully bioware explains EVERYTHING about the damn ending. Though what I found odd is that they choose to say 'Cut scenes and epilogue scenes."

Why would they do this? isn't it..you know the same thing? How can we have a epilogue scene when Shepard dead and all of our crew is on some random planet. *Sigh*..summer can't get here soon enough.

 

[mdqp]

I wonder if this is going to finally kill the "indoctrination" theory.

Edit: Damn, ninjaed.

 

[8bitlove2a03]

Well, there goes the last shred of respect I had for them.

 

[Hitchmeister]

Okay, they can maybe win if they do this right. Provide some clear closure to Shepard's story, and since Jennifer Hale has already said they haven't asked her to come by and do any more lines, Shepard is well and truly permanently dead this time. But, they use this to set up the paid DLC that everyone will buy. After Shepard's event which ends the Reaper invasion, you play as Garrus, who takes over the Normandy and gathers the rest of the crew to fly around the Galaxy (with the free DLC explaining how that's possible) and take care of various loose ends. Like stamping out sore loser Cerberus cells, helping Aria retake Omega, either witness the birth of the next generation of Krogan, or wipe out the last really pissed off survivors... Oops, spoiler, I better stop now.