The Ending that Never Ends: EA Reported to FTC Because of Mass Effect 3’s Finale

[Punster]

Seriously?

I really really really hope we are not heading for a world where this **** is common place.

It's a game! - A great one at that, so what if you hated the ending? You got an emotion or two out of it!

Going this far is a joke...

Just when you think people can't get stupider something like this comes along....

Agreed.

[PURITy Kin]

It's probably just that retarded marketing agency working for EA, the same guys who protested Dante's Inferno and ****.

[Lexxbomb]

Seriously?

I really really really hope we are not heading for a world where this **** is common place.

It's a game! - A great one at that, so what if you hated the ending? You got an emotion or two out of it!

Going this far is a joke...

Just when you think people can't get stupider something like this comes along....

Agreed.

No.
More people need to do this more often...taking a devils advocate view of it... if this happens more often the outcome is that game publishers will stop forcing unfinished and rushed products out the door...
The Game industry needs to relearn that it needs to release finished products - heck the whole idea of a patch goes against federal trade laws...
ask yourself this, if you bought a car today that on your first outing crashed because it had faulty breaks would you have a right to complain and have the compnay fined... im guessing yes... and in this case companies are releaseing products that are incomplete... heck look at the Prince of Persia... they had to release a DLC just to finish the game...

now if you use the example of the perfect ending in which Shepard takes a breath back on Earth that means his story is not over... and we were promised that this game would finish his story particularly as we are told in game that you will die...

the ending is broken and hey people need to stop being apathetic all the time...
but then again it is usually the highly educated and literate who complain because those who don't usually don't know better.

[Dinwiddie]

Is this a case of out spinning out over the spin ? A hyped-up over reaction to mega- hype ?
Playin' them at their own game. Gotta keep the bustards honest. Litigation - an American way of life....

[Punster]

Please remove post.

[phewcha]

*edit* wrong post.

[Seditary]

What the hell is this article?

The FTC complaint isn't because the person simply didn't like the ending, its for false advertising, which is illegal and is one of the things the FTC is for.

The stupid thing in all this is other gamers against a fellow gamer exercising their consumer rights in fully legal and accepted methods.

[Marius]

I can see how some people might be sick of the issue. But advertising is advertising, and standards need to be upheld across the entire advertising industry.

The same people who run EA's marketing cut their chops in other marketing departments and companies. It's not a pure-video game issue.

That said, it's not entirely clear-cut, since they're not falsely advertising the lack of dolphin meat in the ME3 collector's edition or anything. But it's definitely an interesting case, which is why I'm interested to see it resolved by the FTC.

[Tas]

Seriously?

I really really really hope we are not heading for a world where this **** is common place.

It's a game! - A great one at that, so what if you hated the ending? You got an emotion or two out of it!

Going this far is a joke...

Just when you think people can't get stupider something like this comes along....

Agreed.

No.
More people need to do this more often...taking a devils advocate view of it... if this happens more often the outcome is that game publishers will stop forcing unfinished and rushed products out the door...
The Game industry needs to relearn that it needs to release finished products - heck the whole idea of a patch goes against federal trade laws...
ask yourself this, if you bought a car today that on your first outing crashed because it had faulty breaks would you have a right to complain and have the compnay fined... im guessing yes... and in this case companies are releaseing products that are incomplete... heck look at the Prince of Persia... they had to release a DLC just to finish the game...

now if you use the example of the perfect ending in which Shepard takes a breath back on Earth that means his story is not over... and we were promised that this game would finish his story particularly as we are told in game that you will die...

the ending is broken and hey people need to stop being apathetic all the time...
but then again it is usually the highly educated and literate who complain because those who don't usually don't know better.

I love how you set yourself up as our "intellectual better", because you feel you know whats better than the people who made the game. Remember it is JUST A GAME. Nothing here has hurt or effected you in any way shape or form.
It isn't about being apathetic, its being mature enough to know its just a mindless game that has no bearing on our lives in any shape. As such it doesn't rate a single moments thought beyond a bit of silly mindless entertainment to be forgotten 2 seconds after finishing it.

Personally I think this just boils down to today's generation who feel entitled, superior, an seem to consider the world owes them.

[PinothyJ]

I hope he does not get anywhere since he does not appear to understand correct procedure. All governmental complaints require you to contact the company in question and then wait thirty days for a response before the department will even open the complaint. Of course, even if it is proven that it is false advertising (which I cannot see anything that would imply that it is) he is still not entitled to his money back.


I hope he gets some kind of STI from being such dick…

[asmodai]

I doubt theres anyone here that has a clue whats involved in making a AAA title.

I don't need to know how to cook fine cuisine to know something tastes like ****...

(hidden for spoiler content)

Hidden: show

These are the endings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPelM2hwhJA

Now you're right, most of us wouldn't have the first clue about making a triple A game, and I've never been particularly prone to literary expression.

But where is the exposition covering the crew you've become attached to, the results of your sacrifice on your paramour, what happened afterwards to various planets because of your actions etc? Why is Joker suddenly fleeing the scene and how the hell did EDI (who I took on the final mission) manage to get back on board to be part of the synergy ending?? Why is there no ending where you may even survive (Joker swoops in, Garrus jumps out and pulls you onboard, you flee)? How do the sacrifices of those who died (in my case Mordin, Legion and Thane) factor in in any meaningful way?

You essentially get the same cutscene with a filter and a few minor alterations. The catalyst is the worst form of deus ex machina, reminiscent of the Matrix ie. Neo talking with the architect, and wasn't that a critical success? /endsarcasm

There is no option to forgo the ABC choice and reason with it, or fight it, you just accept the word of the galaxy cleansing AI.

3 games of forming relationships and pulling off the miraculous and none of it seems consequential.

As much as I think EA are a joke, an bioware worse.... if you dont like their games dont play them.

That's a load of BS, I enjoyed the game, I dislike the ending. If I didn't like the game that much, the ending wouldn't bother me nearly as much as it does.

Personally I think this just boils down to today's generation who feel entitled, superior, an seem to consider the world owes them.

Yeah, because investing in 3 games + DLC etc doesn't give you the right to expect something better than a trite dismissal from the series?

For the last 1+2+3 playthrough, I've cumulatively spent ~160 hours. Compare this to watching LOTR 1-3, SW 1-6 etc, it's far more time invested. And you get to make the choices to a certain extent, which means you are in control ie. a form of ownership of your characters destiny.

To have that all taken away from you is disappointing.

Oh yeah, I was born in the 70's so being one of the feckless entitled current generation isn't my problem...

I love how you set yourself up as our "intellectual better", because you feel you know whats better than the people who made the game. Remember it is JUST A GAME. Nothing here has hurt or effected you in any way shape or form.
It isn't about being apathetic, its being mature enough to know its just a mindless game that has no bearing on our lives in any shape. As such it doesn't rate a single moments thought beyond a bit of silly mindless entertainment to be forgotten 2 seconds after finishing it.

For you... Because you feel you know whats better than the other people who played the game..? Ironic.

Assuming you played it. Given your opinion on BW, I'd hazard a guess you haven't. And if you did, you experienced no investment in the game whatsoever?

Must be sad to be that emotionally stunted (not that you'd notice I guess)... The best RPG's etc draw you in so you actually experience the highs/lows of the game as if you were there. Same with movies, novels, music etc. The problem with ME3 is that many people got drawn in over the course of the series and to spit them out with such an inconsequential ending does effect us.

But of course none of this matters since you're just trolling... Anyone who claims to care so little about the games or the people who made them who comes to a thread like this throwing down on people isn't doing it to defend BW from lawsuits... = P

[carthas]

People need to write this off as a **** ending to a good game, and move on. Whoever wrote this story owe's us nothing imo. If you don't like the ending they wrote, go and publish your own game, with rich unique storyline, and write your own ending.

And be prepared to have millions of "If you don't like it: complain" types write on forums how your ending to your IP isn't up to their high expectations, and that they're entitled to something more, because after all, they have spent hundreds of hours enjoying your game, and that your thousands of hours of actual work that you put into this so that they could have hundreds of hours worth of enjoyment - not to mention the hundreds of hours of enjoyment themselves - mean squat.

[diamondd]

anyone who's still buying EA games deserves to be disappointed.

[Tas]

I doubt theres anyone here that has a clue whats involved in making a AAA title.

I don't need to know how to cook fine cuisine to know something tastes like ****...

(hidden for spoiler content)

Hidden: show

These are the endings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPelM2hwhJA

Now you're right, most of us wouldn't have the first clue about making a triple A game, and I've never been particularly prone to literary expression.

But where is the exposition covering the crew you've become attached to, the results of your sacrifice on your paramour, what happened afterwards to various planets because of your actions etc? Why is Joker suddenly fleeing the scene and how the hell did EDI (who I took on the final mission) manage to get back on board to be part of the synergy ending?? Why is there no ending where you may even survive (Joker swoops in, Garrus jumps out and pulls you onboard, you flee)? How do the sacrifices of those who died (in my case Mordin, Legion and Thane) factor in in any meaningful way?

You essentially get the same cutscene with a filter and a few minor alterations. The catalyst is the worst form of deus ex machina, reminiscent of the Matrix ie. Neo talking with the architect, and wasn't that a critical success? /endsarcasm

There is no option to forgo the ABC choice and reason with it, or fight it, you just accept the word of the galaxy cleansing AI.

3 games of forming relationships and pulling off the miraculous and none of it seems consequential.

As much as I think EA are a joke, an bioware worse.... if you dont like their games dont play them.

That's a load of BS, I enjoyed the game, I dislike the ending. If I didn't like the game that much, the ending wouldn't bother me nearly as much as it does.

Personally I think this just boils down to today's generation who feel entitled, superior, an seem to consider the world owes them.

Yeah, because investing in 3 games + DLC etc doesn't give you the right to expect something better than a trite dismissal from the series?

For the last 1+2+3 playthrough, I've cumulatively spent ~160 hours. Compare this to watching LOTR 1-3, SW 1-6 etc, it's far more time invested. And you get to make the choices to a certain extent, which means you are in control ie. a form of ownership of your characters destiny.

To have that all taken away from you is disappointing.

Oh yeah, I was born in the 70's so being one of the feckless entitled current generation isn't my problem...

I love how you set yourself up as our "intellectual better", because you feel you know whats better than the people who made the game. Remember it is JUST A GAME. Nothing here has hurt or effected you in any way shape or form.
It isn't about being apathetic, its being mature enough to know its just a mindless game that has no bearing on our lives in any shape. As such it doesn't rate a single moments thought beyond a bit of silly mindless entertainment to be forgotten 2 seconds after finishing it.

For you... Because you feel you know whats better than the other people who played the game..? Ironic.

Assuming you played it. Given your opinion on BW, I'd hazard a guess you haven't. And if you did, you experienced no investment in the game whatsoever?

Must be sad to be that emotionally stunted (not that you'd notice I guess)... The best RPG's etc draw you in so you actually experience the highs/lows of the game as if you were there. Same with movies, novels, music etc. The problem with ME3 is that many people got drawn in over the course of the series and to spit them out with such an inconsequential ending does effect us.

But of course none of this matters since you're just trolling... Anyone who claims to care so little about the games or the people who made them who comes to a thread like this throwing down on people isn't doing it to defend BW from lawsuits... = P

There is no investment, its ONLY A GAME lol man sooner you understand computer games do nothing for your life other than put on weight, the sooner you'll understand. I played it for about 10 hours an realized how boring it was. I went outside an went for a 20k ride instead, much better for me.

The game was made how they chose to make it, what gave you the right to be so arrogant as to think you know how it should end...

Throwing down on people? what are you 12?....so anyone who says you need to grow up a little is a troll huh?....interesting.

Show me where I said I know whats better, cos I am probably to confused to know if its day or night, never mind what "I said"..... Emotionally stunted HAHAHAHA It is Only a computer game son, get over yourself. if you are emotionally invested in some mindless imaginary pixels, you need a life in the worst possible way. I play games put them on shelf an forget about them, because they dont dont rate as anything but a time filler...

Real world is only place I am invested in.

As for coming here an posting while I dislike EA, I do so to air my opinion, dont like it, block me. This whole "waaa I didn't like how the game ended, I'm gonna sue!!"... I'll take my game back if you dont take me seriously, shows exactly what I was talkin about. Arrogant teens who wanna play a game, then take it back an get their money back after.
You bought it, you played it, deal with it.

[Marius]

I hope he does not get anywhere since he does not appear to understand correct procedure. All governmental complaints require you to contact the company in question and then wait thirty days for a response before the department will even open the complaint. Of course, even if it is proven that it is false advertising (which I cannot see anything that would imply that it is) he is still not entitled to his money back.
…

FTC is in America. Australian procedures don't apply.

People need to write this off as a **** ending to a good game, and move on. Whoever wrote this story owe's us nothing imo. If you don't like the ending they wrote, go and publish your own game, with rich unique storyline, and write your own ending.

And be prepared to have millions of "If you don't like it: complain" types write on forums how your ending to your IP isn't up to their high expectations, and that they're entitled to something more, because after all, they have spent hundreds of hours enjoying your game, and that your thousands of hours of actual work that you put into this so that they could have hundreds of hours worth of enjoyment - not to mention the hundreds of hours of enjoyment themselves - mean squat.

Bioware have specifically asked for fan feedback on the ending. Two developers and the community manager have created posts asking for people to tell them what they think.

Responding to requests for feedback is not entitlement.