The BBB says ME3 was falsely advertised.

[ResonanceSD]

http://m.kotaku.com/5900991/the-better-business-bureau-says-yes-mass-effect-3-was-falsely-advertised

Ok,so there were the claims made that your decisions would affect the ending. Which were crap on a stick. However, despite the advertising being false, fans have no creative control over the purchases they make. That's why my new car can't turn into a robot, for a start.

And I find it incredibly hard to believe that "the ending choices" was the sole reason to buy this game, if you bought it at all. And I mean, come on, it's EA. Why were any of the fans surprised? Gone is the bioware of kotor, baldur's gate and the original mass effect. EA showed up, assumed direct control, and people have just gone ahead and continued throwing money at them. Gamers as consumers are insanely immature. I hate the developer and their methods! But i really want to hear the end of the storeee!! Money! Take my money!

And then the ending is terrible, cynics ike me who didn't waste 100 aussie dollars on a game sit back and laugh, and then we get told "it all makes sense if the last section turned out to be a dream! ". Which is the indoctrination theory in a nutshell.

 

[Elamdri]

The issue at stake here is, did Bio Ware falsely advertise? Technically, yes, they did. In the first bullet point, where it states "the decisions you make completely shape your experience", there is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute.

I don't understand how that is false advertising. The decisions you make DO completely shape your experience. Hell you literally pick which ending you want. I don't know how you can have a scenario that gives MORE deference to choice than literally picking the ending you want.

I mean, yeah it's not what people EXPECTED, but having played through the game, I don't get how that statement is technically false.

EDIT: God I hate this new Captcha...

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

shit storm ahoy!

Prepare all shields!


OT: this is...pretty crazy to be honest. but meh...if it hits EA in the ass, maybe it'll give them a clear warning not to pull shit in the future

 

[ResonanceSD]

The issue at stake here is, did Bio Ware falsely advertise? Technically, yes, they did. In the first bullet point, where it states "the decisions you make completely shape your experience", there is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute.

I don't understand how that is false advertising. The decisions you make DO completely shape your experience. Hell you literally pick which ending you want. I don't know how you can have a scenario that gives MORE deference to choice than literally picking the ending you want.

I mean, yeah it's not what people EXPECTED, but having played through the game, I don't get how that statement is technically false.

EDIT: God I hate this new Captcha...

Because all those decisions you made theough me and me2 turn into a revamped endingtron9001, where you push buttons to determine the ending? Which isn't bespoke to you?

 

[Elamdri]

The issue at stake here is, did Bio Ware falsely advertise? Technically, yes, they did. In the first bullet point, where it states "the decisions you make completely shape your experience", there is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute.

I don't understand how that is false advertising. The decisions you make DO completely shape your experience. Hell you literally pick which ending you want. I don't know how you can have a scenario that gives MORE deference to choice than literally picking the ending you want.

I mean, yeah it's not what people EXPECTED, but having played through the game, I don't get how that statement is technically false.

EDIT: God I hate this new Captcha...

Because all those decisions you made theough me and me2 turn into a revamped endingtron9001, where you push buttons to determine the ending? Which isn't bespoke to you?

"The decisions you make completely shape your experience." You make a decision on what ending you want. It completely shapes your ending. Where is the falsehood?

 

[ResonanceSD]

The issue at stake here is, did Bio Ware falsely advertise? Technically, yes, they did. In the first bullet point, where it states "the decisions you make completely shape your experience", there is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute.

I don't understand how that is false advertising. The decisions you make DO completely shape your experience. Hell you literally pick which ending you want. I don't know how you can have a scenario that gives MORE deference to choice than literally picking the ending you want.

I mean, yeah it's not what people EXPECTED, but having played through the game, I don't get how that statement is technically false.

EDIT: God I hate this new Captcha...

Because all those decisions you made theough me and me2 turn into a revamped endingtron9001, where you push buttons to determine the ending? Which isn't bespoke to you?

"The decisions you make completely shape your experience." You make a decision on what ending you want. It completely shapes your ending. Where is the falsehood?

Because all those other decisions you made over the years dont count?

 

[Acier]

The issue at stake here is, did Bio Ware falsely advertise? Technically, yes, they did. In the first bullet point, where it states "the decisions you make completely shape your experience", there is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute.

I don't understand how that is false advertising. The decisions you make DO completely shape your experience. Hell you literally pick which ending you want. I don't know how you can have a scenario that gives MORE deference to choice than literally picking the ending you want.

I mean, yeah it's not what people EXPECTED, but having played through the game, I don't get how that statement is technically false.

EDIT: God I hate this new Captcha...

Because all those decisions you made theough me and me2 turn into a revamped endingtron9001, where you push buttons to determine the ending? Which isn't bespoke to you?

"The decisions you make completely shape your experience." You make a decision on what ending you want. It completely shapes your ending. Where is the falsehood?

Also, I'd like to note it says "experience" not "ending". I'm pretty sure that a lot of choices made over the course of the game(s) do, in fact "shape the experience".
Is it the fact that they both start with the letter "e" that confuses people?

 

[Leodiensian]

Initial publicity stated pretty clearly there would be sixteen, drastically different endings based on what you did over not just this specific game, but the last two games. What there was delivered were three different colour filters played over a handful short and 98% identical ending, depending on the button you push at the behest of a walking deus ex machina.

Now, the product didn't deliver what was initially promised, so I think the charge of false advertising DOES have merit. However, there's a fairly major caveat to all of this: the original ending was leaked, forcing Bioware to rush a new one into construction to meet release deadlines. Circumstances did force them to have to radically and forcibly alter the latter sections of the games. So I do have sympathy for them in that regards.

 

[Elamdri]

The issue at stake here is, did Bio Ware falsely advertise? Technically, yes, they did. In the first bullet point, where it states "the decisions you make completely shape your experience", there is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute.

I don't understand how that is false advertising. The decisions you make DO completely shape your experience. Hell you literally pick which ending you want. I don't know how you can have a scenario that gives MORE deference to choice than literally picking the ending you want.

I mean, yeah it's not what people EXPECTED, but having played through the game, I don't get how that statement is technically false.

EDIT: God I hate this new Captcha...

Because all those decisions you made theough me and me2 turn into a revamped endingtron9001, where you push buttons to determine the ending? Which isn't bespoke to you?

"The decisions you make completely shape your experience." You make a decision on what ending you want. It completely shapes your ending. Where is the falsehood?

Because all those other decisions you made over the years dont count?

Sure they do. They change whether or not Big Ben gets destroyed. They change who gets out of your ship at the end. They change what ships show up in the big panoramic at the end.

(They also DRASTICALLY change the entire game in meaningful ways, but if we're going to be pedantic about the ending, then so be it.)

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Oh come on!
This is getting quite ridiculous.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Oh come on!
This is getting quite ridiculous.

Because? I personally think it's hilarious. Finally I'm not the only one saying that EA are ruining a once-vreat developer. Sorry, 'have ruined'.

 

[Ascarus]

The issue at stake here is, did Bio Ware falsely advertise? Technically, yes, they did. In the first bullet point, where it states "the decisions you make completely shape your experience", there is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute.

I don't understand how that is false advertising. The decisions you make DO completely shape your experience. Hell you literally pick which ending you want. I don't know how you can have a scenario that gives MORE deference to choice than literally picking the ending you want.

I mean, yeah it's not what people EXPECTED, but having played through the game, I don't get how that statement is technically false.

EDIT: God I hate this new Captcha...

pretty much this. i hated the ending as much as anyone, but depending on how you define the phrase "the decisions you make completely shape your experience", you could easily defend the ending as was pointed out here.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Oh come on!
This is getting quite ridiculous.

Because? I personally think it's hilarious. Finally I'm not the only one saying that EA are ruining a once-vreat developer. Sorry, 'have ruined'.

You know that saying, beating a dead horse?

This is finishing beating it for the 100th time and turning it into your shoes and then giving them to the dog.
I am just so tired of this "ME3 ending was bad we demand reparations" stuff

 

[ResonanceSD]

Oh come on!
This is getting quite ridiculous.

Because? I personally think it's hilarious. Finally I'm not the only one saying that EA are ruining a once-vreat developer. Sorry, 'have ruined'.

You know that saying, beating a dead horse?

This is finishing beating it for the 100th time and turning it into your shoes and then giving them to the dog.
I am just so tired of this "ME3 ending was bad we demand reparations" stuff

Oh I don't demand reparations, or even care. I just put this up as a thing people might have missed.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Hell you literally pick which ending you want.

Which is in fact different than the decisions you made across three games having an effect on the ending.
Remember, picking an ending is not the same as previous actions effecting the ending. If People sing a song by Boston, and I sing sing Chicago really loudly and it messes up their cadence to follow that of the Chicago song, they are still singing Boston.

Also, what the hell happened to designers in general writing a damn "ending", and then having the testicular fortitude to stand by their idiocy?

 

[Elamdri]

Hell you literally pick which ending you want.

Which is in fact different than the decisions you made across three games having an effect on the ending.
Remember, picking an ending is not the same as previous actions effecting the ending. If People sing a song by Boston, and I sing sing Chicago really loudly and it messes up their cadence to follow that of the Chicago song, they are still singing Boston.

One, the quoted text doesn't say that the decisions you make effect the ending, it says that the decisions you make completely shape your experience, which is technically correct. Second, the decisions you make do have an effect on the ending. They determine whether Big Ben is destroyed, they determine what ships show up in the end, they determine what squad members get out of the ship at the end. So technically, both sentences are correct.

 

[SargentToughie]

I guess their false advertising had a...
( o_o)¬■-■
(¬■_&#9632
MASS EFFECT on their PR.

OT: As a fellow person who dislikes EA and is mostly just sitting from the sidelines and laughing as this shitstorm unfolds, I'm more interested in seeing how this shapes up then anything else. Between this and the 2nd Dark souls for PC related petition floating around, it's great to see that gamers are starting to throw their weight around as a market force again.

Yeah, we're whiny and entitled for wanting a quality product for our money, how dare we.

 

[SargentToughie]

While I dont mind the Dark Souls petition as it was an attempt to show that there was a market before thought not available. The ME petition on the other hand was an attempt to force the creative rights away from the original owner. I looked no different upon that than I did the guy who spammed emails about how they were angry about a the homosexuality in the game.

There is an even more important matter thou.
There seem to be a general lack of knowledge how the gaming industry works and the general costs of development. The internet working as giant echo chamber seems to just go with "popular opinion" as an argument without any real interest in understanding the subject they want influence on.

I'll give you that there are a lot of idiots on the internet that just tend to follow the herd, however, a lot of the opinions floating around on both sides of the debate are fairly grounded and have a great deal of subject knowledge on the matter at hand. To anybody actually interested in learning both sides of the debate despite their own natural bias (myself included), the internet can be a goldmine of information.

The ME movement wasn't entirely out of malicious force to cause the creative rights away from it's original owner in my opinion, but let's please not go any further into the argument then this. I'm sure you're just as sick of hearing about it as I am. We both have our opinions, we both know why the other side has their opinions, and no amount of arguing back and forth is going to change the way that either of us feel about it.

All I want is for companies to stop thinking that they can just pull whatever BS they want (DRM, online passes, name it) and expect us gamers to simply be happy to go along for the ride.

I just want us to be a reasonable market force again, and I know that's an extremely difficult thing to do with so many screaming voices demanding that everybody in bioware go kill themselves and burn down their building, but I don't entirely think it's impossible.