I seriously doubt that initial post will ever escape me x). Maybe I WAS trying to illicit a blown-out emotional reaction. The fact that it's still being addressed over the two latter posts, on the other hand, is depressing. Sorry, Toko. Care to lay of with the pinching, if just a bit?
Seeing what you layed out made me cringe, and you'd be surprised just how common those kinds of people are. To be honest, I was just as disappointed by ME3's ending as a lot of other people were - but not in the sense that the ending wasn't as varied or didn't offer the same degree of player autonomy as the developers initially promised. I didn't like it because I always saw the games as intellectually engaging, particularly the prospect of the Reapers and their origin, and the whole narrative fiasco going about with character interactions and the like. But it just kind of went "poof." Everything went out. I was expecting some kind of thematic return, something that really would really make the game's narrative poignant and relevant. I'm one who can stand a lack of choice as long as the narrative is great (i.e., The Witcher. No massive closed ties, no jovial return to flowers and sunshine, etc. However, the game ended so amazingly well that it was impossible to dislike). Also, what I have to admit would have been cool is if the entirety of your actions DID matter, yet in another sense. I would have liked a single ending, but with variance in the dynamics by which you reach it - seeing as difficult as it would have been for Bioware to come out with THREE great endings (which they neglected to do). It would have allowed for reasonable amounts of player autonomy whilst maintaining player interest. A single ending that just ENDED the game.
However, I have to say, the game's ending is just BAD. Objectively. You have swayed my thoughts to a degree, but I'm beginning to perceive this less as a matter of narrative minutiae and subjective tastes than gameplay mechanics. No, or, as opposed to that - some people are requesting a DIFFERENT ending as opposed to a specific one. For Bioware to flex their creative muscles - put their vision forward, and come up (themselves) (insulated from critique) one that actually ends the game OBJECTIVELY better than the former. They have all the rights to make the narrative their own, in a personal sense (in this scenario) while remaining honest to their viewerbase - it's just that what I've seen requested is crazy. Give A a boobjob. I want to marry B. It's not their world. It's Bioware's. To be honest, I kind of think that the ending presented wasn't even Bioware's, and that EA might have stepped in as the crazed revisionalist before the fanbase managed to. What's harrowing is the means people are using the achieve it, which have only come off as cringingly fanboyish, obnoxious, and entitled. It's almost as if they think they OWN it, as if their pregen ending deserved precedence because of their emotional investment. That's a painful misconception.
It's my opinion that an artist (being a musician and recreational game developer myself) should make a work for their own person, on their own accord. That's one of the primary reasons art is considered inherently "selfish." A fanbase generally develops applicable to that artist's individual style or methodology, not the other way around - I find it coercive and dishonest to create a work with any "target audience." Cognitive dissonance at the hands of the fanbase generally arises once the artist becomes dissatisfied with the initial material and decides to change creative direction. THIS is when the fanbase, explodes, goes mad, and often makes requests at the detriment of the creator. Unfortunately, this is also the way capitalism works. Sometimes we need to make compromises.
I'm conflicted on this, but I can say one thing with certainty - this controversy is asinine, stupid, and overall, goddamned ludicrous. People need to show Bioware some degree of respect for throwing their entirety of their being into this game, and respect their artistic rights as the creators and owners as Mass Effect, and Bioware, in turn, needs to be transparent and accepting of the suggestions, NOT DEMANDS, of their fanbase, and maintain honesty and artistic integrity expected of them as "artists." No more name-calling or committing to judge Movie Bob's character merely because he fails to validate your personal appeals for JOOSTICE. Everybody needs to calm down, begin behaving as humans and not spiteful, reactionist animals. Bob is a great critic, the Escapist is a great community, Bioware is a great developer, and its fanbase are wholly dedicated and thoughtful. Why can't we make that the case, and take a more sincere approach? It's just the ending to a game.
Come on, guys!
At least we can agree on this - they practically weaponized a charity. By far one of the embarrassing revisionist movements I've seen in a while.Tono Makt said:
Seeing what you layed out made me cringe, and you'd be surprised just how common those kinds of people are. To be honest, I was just as disappointed by ME3's ending as a lot of other people were - but not in the sense that the ending wasn't as varied or didn't offer the same degree of player autonomy as the developers initially promised. I didn't like it because I always saw the games as intellectually engaging, particularly the prospect of the Reapers and their origin, and the whole narrative fiasco going about with character interactions and the like. But it just kind of went "poof." Everything went out. I was expecting some kind of thematic return, something that really would really make the game's narrative poignant and relevant. I'm one who can stand a lack of choice as long as the narrative is great (i.e., The Witcher. No massive closed ties, no jovial return to flowers and sunshine, etc. However, the game ended so amazingly well that it was impossible to dislike). Also, what I have to admit would have been cool is if the entirety of your actions DID matter, yet in another sense. I would have liked a single ending, but with variance in the dynamics by which you reach it - seeing as difficult as it would have been for Bioware to come out with THREE great endings (which they neglected to do). It would have allowed for reasonable amounts of player autonomy whilst maintaining player interest. A single ending that just ENDED the game.
However, I have to say, the game's ending is just BAD. Objectively. You have swayed my thoughts to a degree, but I'm beginning to perceive this less as a matter of narrative minutiae and subjective tastes than gameplay mechanics. No, or, as opposed to that - some people are requesting a DIFFERENT ending as opposed to a specific one. For Bioware to flex their creative muscles - put their vision forward, and come up (themselves) (insulated from critique) one that actually ends the game OBJECTIVELY better than the former. They have all the rights to make the narrative their own, in a personal sense (in this scenario) while remaining honest to their viewerbase - it's just that what I've seen requested is crazy. Give A a boobjob. I want to marry B. It's not their world. It's Bioware's. To be honest, I kind of think that the ending presented wasn't even Bioware's, and that EA might have stepped in as the crazed revisionalist before the fanbase managed to. What's harrowing is the means people are using the achieve it, which have only come off as cringingly fanboyish, obnoxious, and entitled. It's almost as if they think they OWN it, as if their pregen ending deserved precedence because of their emotional investment. That's a painful misconception.
This is where we differ. I have to argue that merely because a behavior is commonplace, that doesn't justify it on a moral basis. This is an inherent problem with the commercial arts. Let me simplify this, although you've already pointed it out - it's sold as a product, yet produced as art. Hence, in most scenarios, the concept of consumer sovereignty is a ruling factor in the means of manufacture and the ultimate product that arises from that system. That is, to a degree, also because there are two kinds of artists - those that produce for personal appeal or for a set audience. I can tell you, from personal experience, which tend to produce the superior works. There's a distinction between asking for personal observance to screw with somebody else's world and vision (which I'd say is flying at around the %60 mark in terms of the fanbase) and people who were just put off by the lack of choice and disrespect for the world that Bioware had created. There are some, I know, that aren't asking for their own ending to be implemented - merely for Bioware to implement the one they INITIALLY had. Y'know, the one they had admitted was scrapped.
It's my opinion that an artist (being a musician and recreational game developer myself) should make a work for their own person, on their own accord. That's one of the primary reasons art is considered inherently "selfish." A fanbase generally develops applicable to that artist's individual style or methodology, not the other way around - I find it coercive and dishonest to create a work with any "target audience." Cognitive dissonance at the hands of the fanbase generally arises once the artist becomes dissatisfied with the initial material and decides to change creative direction. THIS is when the fanbase, explodes, goes mad, and often makes requests at the detriment of the creator. Unfortunately, this is also the way capitalism works. Sometimes we need to make compromises.
I'm conflicted on this, but I can say one thing with certainty - this controversy is asinine, stupid, and overall, goddamned ludicrous. People need to show Bioware some degree of respect for throwing their entirety of their being into this game, and respect their artistic rights as the creators and owners as Mass Effect, and Bioware, in turn, needs to be transparent and accepting of the suggestions, NOT DEMANDS, of their fanbase, and maintain honesty and artistic integrity expected of them as "artists." No more name-calling or committing to judge Movie Bob's character merely because he fails to validate your personal appeals for JOOSTICE. Everybody needs to calm down, begin behaving as humans and not spiteful, reactionist animals. Bob is a great critic, the Escapist is a great community, Bioware is a great developer, and its fanbase are wholly dedicated and thoughtful. Why can't we make that the case, and take a more sincere approach? It's just the ending to a game.
Come on, guys!
![Fr]anc[is](https://eg-forums-escapist-data.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/data/avatars/l/93/93202.jpg?1620797781){kind=avatar}
