Poll: How Important are Endings to You?

[PhunkyPhazon]

It's pretty important. To use an example because I just played it and it's on my mind: Assassins Creed 3. The entire game keeps you guessing. What is behind the temple door? Will Desmond and co. be able to stop the disaster? If so, how? If they do, what comes after that? Will there be a happily ever after? Will the Templars EVER be taken down?

Now imagine I already knew all of that beforehand. All the suspense and speculation and wonderment would just be...gone. It would be so anti-climactic and pointless to even wonder, it would kill all the enthusiasm I had. Sure I would still enjoy the gameplay, but I wouldn't be coming back as often without the scent of mystery.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Not especially. I mean, if the game/whatevs has nothing else going for it but a good twist/ending, I probably won't pick it up. But beyond that, I will still be able to enjoy it, just in a different way. Now that I know that it is coming, I can pick up on all the little subtle hints and queues, which helps me appreciated the craftsmanship that went into the game all the more. I mean, I knew the twist of Bioshock well before I played it, and I still enjoyed it and the twist.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

I wouldn't care in the slightest. But then, I don't take these things seriously, even with things I enjoy. It's a fictitious work; there are more important things to invest myself in. The people who get up in arms about this could stand to have a reality check.

Okay, new rule: You can't insult me on in my thread. Okay? Okay.

If it is a fictitious piece of work you have invested time and money in with the purpose to enjoy and be enthralled by and somebody ruins/lessens your enjoyment it is a big deal...

 

[RedDeadFred]

Having and ending spoiled doesn't do anything too me. If the ending is good, it will still be good when I watch it, and if it is bad it will still be bad.

As for how important are endings to me, well, it all depends on how good everything has been up until the end. Though usually, if the core part of the story doesn't reach my enjoyment level, then I will never get to the end, because I will have stopped because of the bad stuff that came before.

If everything has been awesome and I loved it up until the ending, then the ending doesn't really matter all that much. If there is at least some resolution, then I am fine, doesn't matter if the ending is good or bad.

That is the reason the ending of Mass Effect 3 did nothing to me. The rest of the game was amazing awesome and then I played the bad ending. My reaction was basically:

"*Yawn*... Really, that is what everybody was foaming at the mouth about? Yeah, it was bad, but not end of the world everything ruined stuff. Wow, some people are super crazy when it comes to endings not being perfect."

The people I think are the craziest, are the people that say, "I hate the ME3 ending," *unintelligible ranting*, "Aaargh, because it was so bad, all the awesome and good stuff that came before it is now all bad and not playable."

Really, boo-hoo overreaction much?

I find that knowing the ending in advance takes the impact off what happens during it. This is more for twist endings then anything else but for the most part I agree with you. Just because I didn't like the ending to ME3, doesn't mean I can't enjoy the rest of it. Although it does help that I mostly like the extended cut.

 

[Reece Borgars]

i try as hard as i can to avoid spoilers. i can still enjoy something if i know how it ends, but i tend to spend a lot of my first viewing/playthrough thinking about it if thats the case, which means i very often miss little details in the story. its not too bad, but it does make a difference, especially if i only know the ending, rather than the whole story. A good example would be Amy and Rory's last episode of dr who. i liked it, but them leaving didnt have the same impact as it wouldve had i not known it was their last ep (i wouldve been in tears if i hadnt known)

 

[Rblade]

depends entirely on the type of movie. If someone would spoil something like the usual suspects or fight club that person should be punshed, in some place where it hurts, because that would ruin it.

For most other movies, where you pretty much find out that the good guy does, indeed, win. then I don't really care

 

[Simonoly]

ME3 had a great story throughout much of the game, but the ending was so jarring and ridiculously stupid that I cannot enjoy the game anymore. However, in Dragon's Dogma it's the complete opposite with a terrible and down right boring story for much of the game but with a sudden brilliant ending.

I've not touched ME3 since, but I've completed Dragon's Dogma 3 times now. So I guess endings in video games are pretty important to me.

 

[Terminate421]

I haven't been able to play Mass Effect 3 again.

This is from a guy who replayed the original and the second game several times.

So yes, endings are very important. I thoroughly enjoyed ME3, but the ending killed it for me.

This.

Without some satisfaction or without the aspect of a good ending. What is the point? None.

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

I wouldn't care in the slightest. But then, I don't take these things seriously, even with things I enjoy. It's a fictitious work; there are more important things to invest myself in. The people who get up in arms about this could stand to have a reality check.

Okay, new rule: You can't insult me on in my thread. Okay? Okay.

If it is a fictitious piece of work you have invested time and money in with the purpose to enjoy and be enthralled by and somebody ruins/lessens your enjoyment it is a big deal...

To you, maybe, but some people have other things they feel deserve their investment. If you take that as an insult, you're more deserving of a reality check than I previously stated, honestly.

 

[anthony87]

I haven't been able to play Mass Effect 3 again.

This is from a guy who replayed the original and the second game several times.

So yes, endings are very important. I thoroughly enjoyed ME3, but the ending killed it for me.

Same here but there's a second reason....

If I play through it again then I'll have to do THAT part with Mordin again. I don't think I could take it.....

 

[Alssadar]

If something doesn't have a satisfying conclusion, I think the time spent during the experience was good, but the end was shotty. I'd have enjoyed the meat, but some bits weren't digestible. I'd be filled, nonetheless, but I'd feel kinda sad when attempting to chew those pieces before drowning them down with a beverage.

That being said, I've had some Song of Ice and Fire Spoilers revealed to me, and one from STALKER SoC. I was still intrigued by the exact details of the events, but my knowledge ruined the surprise beforehand.I don't play that many story based games, unfortunately.

Captcha thinks endings are "...super delicious."

 

[alexwbyrd]

Yeah I try not to let the ending being spoiled to me effect my enjoyment of it too much because I believe that a show/game/movie whatever should be evaluated by the sum of it's parts rather than just one part of the game's story.

 

[Ironbat92]

I feel a game is more about the journey than the destination. Games like Prototype 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Assassin's Creed: Revolution had shit endings, but I still enjoyed them despite that. To say a game is bad because of the last few minutes is ludicrous.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

As long as the endings have a satisfying conclusion to the main story within the game, I wouldn't mind it much on how it ends.

Just out of curiosity, did you even read the OP?

I did. I meant to say that whether I know the ending or not, it wouldn't affect the experience and story leading up to the ending. I knew that Halo 2 would end in a cliff hanger (a lame one, at that), but it didn't stop me from enjoying the campaign.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

I wouldn't care in the slightest. But then, I don't take these things seriously, even with things I enjoy. It's a fictitious work; there are more important things to invest myself in. The people who get up in arms about this could stand to have a reality check.

Okay, new rule: You can't insult me on in my thread. Okay? Okay.

If it is a fictitious piece of work you have invested time and money in with the purpose to enjoy and be enthralled by and somebody ruins/lessens your enjoyment it is a big deal...

To you, maybe, but some people have other things they feel deserve their investment. If you take that as an insult, you're more deserving of a reality check than I previously stated, honestly.

I do not appreciate you insinuating I have a weak grip on reality.

And what I'm saying is people buy games/movies/books/TV packages do enjoy whatever story said piece of entertainment tells, having that ruined/spoiled decreases their enjoyment of something they have spent time and money on is reason to be pissed since you're not getting the full experience you paid for. Can you dig it?

 

[llubtoille]

Hmm, no option for 'totally unaffected'?
I rarely care for surprises, so knowing how something ends before I see it is almost a good thing,
when reading HP6 for example, I read the end (funeral bit) first just to get it out of the way.

 

[Jordy Hartog]

Honestly it would depend on what book/movie/game/TV show we're talking about. Sometimes it would completely ruin something for me, but at other times (Who Can Kill a Child leaps to mind) it merely lessens the suspense of watching a scene, wondering if the director is really going to show what they're setting up.

And then there's times when knowing the twist at the end (The Sixth Sense did this for me) actually enhances the experience because you get to look for all the subtle hints that were in the movie prior to it being revealed.

And other times it won't matter at all. I mean, I saw 10 seasons of Smallville knowing full well where the show would end and it didn't matter because this was a show about the journey and not its destination. Also, it REALLY REALLY sucked towards its end, but I felt that I'd stuck with it for the rest of the run so I was going to finish it.

 

[R4ptur3]

A bad ending pretty much ruins everything for me. All the build up, all the things that happen, only to have some crap ending which makes no sense, and yes I am thinking about mass effect 3 in particular.

I don't mind endings which are really different to what I thought they might be as that's the glory of story telling, but It has to make some kind of sense and not just pull a 180 and make the plot go somewhere ridiculous.