[johnswamps]

Here's a quick summary for anyone who is not familiar with the Mass Effect series. Mass Effect is a 3 part RPG shooter series of blockbuster video games developed by Bioware, which is owned by Electronic Arts. The first 2 games were very popular and loved by fans. The 3rd and final game was recently released. The majority of the story and gameplay were well received by pretty much everyone, but many fans of the series are upset about how the game ended. There's almost universal disappointment on on-line forums (though people who liked it are probably less vocal). A couple of complaints are

1. Despite the series being based on players being able to make different choices that affect the story, almost nothing the player does throughout the series affects the ending.

2. Although players have a choice of 3 different options during the ending affecting the fate of the galaxy, the only thing that changes in the following cutscenes is the color of some explosions (green for one choice, red for another, blue for the last)

3. The ending felt like a deus ex machina and wasn't satisfying

Lots of fans have expressed their criticism on-line, with many hoping that Bioware will "fix" the ending or release a DLC that alters or extends the ending. This is Bioware's first response as far as I know.

[danilocampos]

Compounding the trouble, Casey Hudson, the series' mastermind, did tons of press wherein he describes the game as having several endings that will vary significantly based on the player's decisions. He claimed that it wouldn't be as simple as being able to say "I got ending A, B or C." So that sets expectations pretty high.

The reality was that at the end of the game, you walk to one of three areas, and then get ending A, B, or C.

[Maxious]

Casey Hudson 17.05.2011 http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/bioware-on-how-your-choices-... "More personal or more moral choices about how to deal with things… those things will ultimately affect part of the end game, which is pretty amazing." "If you really build a lot of stuff and bring people to your side and rally the entire galaxy around you, and you come into the end game with that, then you’ll get an amazing, very definitive ending."

Claim unwavering dedication throughout all three games would allow the most hardcore fans to get an "amazing" ending and then not delivering?

[Lazare]

I think this needs to be pointed out and stressed, especially since it's applicable to way more than just computer games:

Nothing makes your customers as upset as the feeling of broken promises. Don't promise what you can't deliver.

[SkyMarshal]

Interesting problem. Everyone knows that intuitively, but people do it anyway.

Instead, how about: Don't promise any specifics until you've already implemented them, and all that remains is debugging and optimizing.

[Joakal]

Spoiler warning: This is the comparison of endings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPelM2hwhJA

Not to mention there was proposal of story DLCs before the release of ME3 that caused further dissonance (nickel and dime perception): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRRpGlmtws8&feature=g-al...

[angersock]

I feel really, really bad for all the coders and artists that contributed to that project over the past several years to have it all thrown away on those supremely lazy ending cutscenes.

[jjcm]

It wasn't so much that. The issue was that Bioware promised something completely different than what was delivered. It was like being given a trailer for Inception, then finding out the movie you were actually seeing was Toy Story. It's still a great movie, but it wasn't what I paid to see. The game itself is a fantastic game - I'd give it a 9/10. But buying one product and being given another is just shady business.