The petition calling for a new ending to Mass Effect 3 currently has 37,714 votes. BioWare should ignore every single one of them.
As any work of art, Mass Effect 3 should be discussed, dissected, and critiqued. It doesn't have to be loved. It doesn't even have to be liked. As paying consumers, gamers have the right to be dissatisfied with a game, its content, or its ending. They are free to comment, rant, or rave. They are even free to start a petition. But none of this requires BioWare to listen.
While this petition only represents the feelings and voices of a very small subset of the gaming community, it is the second time in a month that BioWare has been the subject of large-scale ire.
Imagine we lived in a world where artists regularly changed their art based on audience demands. Imagine Monet repainting Water Lilies in black and white because people objected to color. Imagine Salman Rushdie trashing The Satanic Verses because people objected to its implications. The very idea of allowing any work of art to be changed, edited, reshaped, reworked, deleted, or destroyed because someone, somewhere, didn't like it would render all art meaningless. Art is the creative expression of an artist or a group of artists. It's not a free-for-all exercise in democratic rights.
There are plenty of examples, both in the games industry and outside of it, of fan communities demanding creators change a piece of art for any number of reasons. Making these demands is nothing new. But that does not absolve those that do it. Gamers are consumers, and Mass Effect 3 is a product. Gamers are audiences, and Mass Effect 3 is a piece of art. The two are separated by the process of creation. Mass Effect 3, despite the range of choice it allows players in creating a personal experience, is a preconstructed entity. Every single pixel in the game is owned by BioWare: gamers play the game that was made for them. They can choose to play it how they want, but they do not own those choices.
Some people have argued that in Mass Effect 3, BioWare has delivered something different from what it promised. This is irrelevant. In its role as both an art object and a consumer product, Mass Effect 3 remains the property of its maker. As a final product, it is the expression of those who created it, and its sole objective is to be consumed--not re-created--by its audience. Apart from the times that BioWare asked the community for its thoughts, no one but the development team was involved in creating the game.
Art does not side exclusively with the artist, nor does it side exclusively with the audience. A work of art is brought into being by the creation of a two-way relationship between both entities. A video game like Mass Effect 3 cannot be fully realized until it is played by an audience that must be allowed to react and respond to the work.
But the work of art is done; it is finished. It cannot be altered or deleted. Doing so would fracture the relationship between an artist and the audience, and it would render the original work meaningless. If BioWare does change the end of Mass Effect 3 to mollify a handful of goading voices, the game itself would no longer be the expression of its original creators. It would cease to be art.
While BioWare is under no obligation to listen to the braying hordes the author of that piece would probably have a heart attack and die if someone explained the concept of "retcons" to him
"You mean creators have... altered their creative output?!"
But the work of art is done; it is finished. It cannot be altered or deleted. Doing so would fracture the relationship between an artist and the audience, and it would render the original work meaningless.
Not gonna comment on whether or not it's a good idea to change anything about ME3 in DLC. But I will say that this is a foolishly narrow view of what art is. Did Stephen King render his original Dark Tower series "meaningless" when he released the series with, as the cover of my copy of The Gunslinger says, "revised and expanded" editions?
It also places a completely arbitrary restriction on what art can be in this modern era, where social networking, collaboration and instant communication are ubiquitous.
I thought ME3 had 5 different endings, depending how you played. Why are people petitioning asking for a 6th different ending? I'm almost positive that if you played enough, and differently each time, eventually you'd have the ending you wanted.
But the work of art is done; it is finished. It cannot be altered or deleted. Doing so would fracture the relationship between an artist and the audience, and it would render the original work meaningless.
Not gonna comment on whether or not it's a good idea to change anything about ME3 in DLC. But I will say that this is a foolishly narrow view of what art is. Did Stephen King render his original Dark Tower series "meaningless" when he released the series with, as the cover of my copy of The Gunslinger says, "revised and expanded" editions?
It also places a completely arbitrary restriction on what art can be in this modern era, where social networking, collaboration and instant communication are ubiquitous.
Same thing with The Stand, sticking with Stephen King. The super long version is what he intended, but the first printing was abridged.
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Quoththe RavenMiami, FL FOR REALRegistered Userregular
It makes me think of the Derpy controversy in MLP land, except that was a more, um, sensitive topic?
But if the game is as the creators desired, I don't see why they should have to change it to please some fans
But the work of art is done; it is finished. It cannot be altered or deleted. Doing so would fracture the relationship between an artist and the audience, and it would render the original work meaningless.
Not gonna comment on whether or not it's a good idea to change anything about ME3 in DLC. But I will say that this is a foolishly narrow view of what art is. Did Stephen King render his original Dark Tower series "meaningless" when he released the series with, as the cover of my copy of The Gunslinger says, "revised and expanded" editions?
It also places a completely arbitrary restriction on what art can be in this modern era, where social networking, collaboration and instant communication are ubiquitous.
well I believe it depends on why you're doing it
king updated the first dark tower book because a lot of it didn't fit well with what followed, in his opinion
lucas updated star wars because new technology let him do things he said he wanted to do in the first place
I will say that if they want to go back and change things, that I hope it's on their own terms and not on the terms of the people screaming that bioware fucked up!!!
the worst thing they can do in this situation is give in to the angry hordes, I think
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
I thought ME3 had 5 different endings, depending how you played. Why are people petitioning asking for a 6th different ending? I'm almost positive that if you played enough, and differently each time, eventually you'd have the ending you wanted.
There's basically 3, and they're barely different at all, and they don't give a resolution that people wanted.
It makes me think of the Derpy controversy in MLP land, except that was a more, um, sensitive topic?
But if the game is as the creators desired, I don't see why they should have to change it to please some fans
There are probably lots of small dissimilarities to pick at with the differences in creator/consumer interaction between the two, but I'd mostly just think that one hinges on MLP not being primarily intended for adults who've been given the chance to apply critical reasoning to what they take in.
Although, if I sit down to play ME3, and there's a new party member named Re-Re the Mongolurian who keeps accidentally knocking off your skill upgrade points and saying, "Gawrsh," I'll probably expect to hear a public criticism of that.
As much as I'd love to write an article about ME3 for MD, like Ed said I'm drawing a blank. Luckily we'll be discussing the ending and game in general on the podcast this week
Heroes and villains come together, good and bad, and have mass orgy. Orgy is so powerful the planet explodes while "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong plays in the background and through the credits.
And if you watch through the whole credits without skipping, you are rewarded by a 30 second post-credit scene of Wrex, nude, break dancing while the words "Thank You For Going Along Through The Trip" rapidly flashing in rainbow lettering.
I mean that I don't mind that it doesn't end with beaches and babies
Me too.
But there is such a thing as a middle ground where someone like me can be okay with the concept of a bittersweet ending and still think what we got was not good.
I looked up the endings to ME3, seemed all right to me, and I've played ME2 at least so I know what's going on.
Man, that demo though they put it out, turned me completely off to getting it...pacing and writing was like...ugh...
Well you know those were two completely different missions almost 10 hours apart put together right?
No I mean the first mission felt off to me
something was just really off about the pacing
Oooh yeah. A lot of people agree the beginning of the game isn't like 1 or 2, and I think that has to do with the fact that at the last minute they cut out an entire courtroom scenario where Shepard would be tried for their actions with Cerberus. Basically from what I've seen the first couple of missions as a prologue get you started and after that the game doesn't stop in terms of quality once it hits the main portion.
I looked up the endings to ME3, seemed all right to me, and I've played ME2 at least so I know what's going on.
Man, that demo though they put it out, turned me completely off to getting it...pacing and writing was like...ugh...
Well you know those were two completely different missions almost 10 hours apart put together right?
No I mean the first mission felt off to me
something was just really off about the pacing
Oooh yeah. A lot of people agree the beginning of the game isn't like 1 or 2, and I think that has to do with the fact that at the last minute they cut out an entire courtroom scenario where Shepard would be tried for their actions with Cerberus. Basically from what I've seen the first couple of missions as a prologue get you started and after that the game doesn't stop in terms of quality once it hits the main portion.
Oh look
you just made that entire intro sequence make sense
thank you
cause I was literally wondering right off the bat in that demo; "Why the fuck am I in a holding cell?"
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
I looked up the endings to ME3, seemed all right to me, and I've played ME2 at least so I know what's going on.
Man, that demo though they put it out, turned me completely off to getting it...pacing and writing was like...ugh...
Well you know those were two completely different missions almost 10 hours apart put together right?
No I mean the first mission felt off to me
something was just really off about the pacing
Oooh yeah. A lot of people agree the beginning of the game isn't like 1 or 2, and I think that has to do with the fact that at the last minute they cut out an entire courtroom scenario where Shepard would be tried for their actions with Cerberus. Basically from what I've seen the first couple of missions as a prologue get you started and after that the game doesn't stop in terms of quality once it hits the main portion.
Oh look
you just made that entire intro sequence make sense
thank you
cause I was literally wondering right off the bat in that demo; "Why the fuck am I in a holding cell?"
it's based on the events of ME2 DLC, Arrival
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
A is for Aria
B is for Black Wind
C is for Candarous
I looked up the endings to ME3, seemed all right to me, and I've played ME2 at least so I know what's going on.
Man, that demo though they put it out, turned me completely off to getting it...pacing and writing was like...ugh...
Well you know those were two completely different missions almost 10 hours apart put together right?
No I mean the first mission felt off to me
something was just really off about the pacing
Oooh yeah. A lot of people agree the beginning of the game isn't like 1 or 2, and I think that has to do with the fact that at the last minute they cut out an entire courtroom scenario where Shepard would be tried for their actions with Cerberus. Basically from what I've seen the first couple of missions as a prologue get you started and after that the game doesn't stop in terms of quality once it hits the main portion.
Oh look
you just made that entire intro sequence make sense
thank you
cause I was literally wondering right off the bat in that demo; "Why the fuck am I in a holding cell?"
it's based on the events of ME2 DLC, Arrival
But if you didn't play Arrival, it was an Alliance black ops team instead and you're just in "detention" because you allied with a pro-human terrorist cell.
I looked up the endings to ME3, seemed all right to me, and I've played ME2 at least so I know what's going on.
Man, that demo though they put it out, turned me completely off to getting it...pacing and writing was like...ugh...
Well you know those were two completely different missions almost 10 hours apart put together right?
No I mean the first mission felt off to me
something was just really off about the pacing
Oooh yeah. A lot of people agree the beginning of the game isn't like 1 or 2, and I think that has to do with the fact that at the last minute they cut out an entire courtroom scenario where Shepard would be tried for their actions with Cerberus. Basically from what I've seen the first couple of missions as a prologue get you started and after that the game doesn't stop in terms of quality once it hits the main portion.
Oh look
you just made that entire intro sequence make sense
thank you
cause I was literally wondering right off the bat in that demo; "Why the fuck am I in a holding cell?"
it's based on the events of ME2 DLC, Arrival
But if you didn't play Arrival, it was an Alliance black ops team instead and you're just in "detention" because you allied with a pro-human terrorist cell.
Basing the intro to a series like that on DLC seems like a really stupid decision anyways.
I mean if it's an imported save where you played it sure, but having the default be based on that?
Posts
http://www.gamespot.com/features/dont-like-mass-effect-3s-ending-deal-with-it-6366066/
"You mean creators have... altered their creative output?!"
Not gonna comment on whether or not it's a good idea to change anything about ME3 in DLC. But I will say that this is a foolishly narrow view of what art is. Did Stephen King render his original Dark Tower series "meaningless" when he released the series with, as the cover of my copy of The Gunslinger says, "revised and expanded" editions?
It also places a completely arbitrary restriction on what art can be in this modern era, where social networking, collaboration and instant communication are ubiquitous.
Steam
Same thing with The Stand, sticking with Stephen King. The super long version is what he intended, but the first printing was abridged.
But if the game is as the creators desired, I don't see why they should have to change it to please some fans
well I believe it depends on why you're doing it
king updated the first dark tower book because a lot of it didn't fit well with what followed, in his opinion
lucas updated star wars because new technology let him do things he said he wanted to do in the first place
I will say that if they want to go back and change things, that I hope it's on their own terms and not on the terms of the people screaming that bioware fucked up!!!
the worst thing they can do in this situation is give in to the angry hordes, I think
it might even tie in with something I wanted to write about dragon age 2
There are probably lots of small dissimilarities to pick at with the differences in creator/consumer interaction between the two, but I'd mostly just think that one hinges on MLP not being primarily intended for adults who've been given the chance to apply critical reasoning to what they take in.
Fuck everything's fans
I wish I was making that up, I've seen that comment over the ME3 endings way too many times...
Man I have seen way more complaints that fans didn't get to see "little blue babies" with Liara as an ending.
Man, that demo though they put it out, turned me completely off to getting it...pacing and writing was like...ugh...
y'know how that turned out for me?
end spoilers
and I still liked it
Ah, the Tyler Durden ending
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Heroes and villains come together, good and bad, and have mass orgy. Orgy is so powerful the planet explodes while "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong plays in the background and through the credits.
And if you watch through the whole credits without skipping, you are rewarded by a 30 second post-credit scene of Wrex, nude, break dancing while the words "Thank You For Going Along Through The Trip" rapidly flashing in rainbow lettering.
Steam
Well you know those were two completely different missions almost 10 hours apart put together right?
Ending:
No I mean the first mission felt off to me
something was just really off about the pacing
But there is such a thing as a middle ground where someone like me can be okay with the concept of a bittersweet ending and still think what we got was not good.
Oooh yeah. A lot of people agree the beginning of the game isn't like 1 or 2, and I think that has to do with the fact that at the last minute they cut out an entire courtroom scenario where Shepard would be tried for their actions with Cerberus. Basically from what I've seen the first couple of missions as a prologue get you started and after that the game doesn't stop in terms of quality once it hits the main portion.
yeah I agree it starts weak (whether it ends weak is a matter of debate)
Everything in the middle is delicious, though
"Amoral Bastards from Aria-Zaeed"
but
but aria is terrible and zaeed is amazing
Oh look
you just made that entire intro sequence make sense
thank you
cause I was literally wondering right off the bat in that demo; "Why the fuck am I in a holding cell?"
it's based on the events of ME2 DLC, Arrival
B is for Black Wind
C is for Candarous
But if you didn't play Arrival, it was an Alliance black ops team instead and you're just in "detention" because you allied with a pro-human terrorist cell.
Aria is great for many of the same reasons zaeed is (not AS good though mostly cause she's Asari)
Aria needed to be tossed into an incinerator
Basing the intro to a series like that on DLC seems like a really stupid decision anyways.
I mean if it's an imported save where you played it sure, but having the default be based on that?
Kinda dumb from a writing stand point.