Game Changer #59 – At the Mercy of the Fans
My name is Jared Whittaker, one of the hosts and Audio Chewbacca of the Super-Fly Podcast and PCW! Welcome to Game Changer, a weekly burning missive about all aspects of video gaming with a little bit of opinion thrown in for fun. Proceed with caution and tread lightly, gentle gamers. It’s going to be good time. Like the first time you saw Super Mario 3 good time.
So, we meet again.
Last week, I vented my frustration about the situation with Bioware and the rabid fan base of Mass Effect 3, Bioware’s eventual caving to the “outrage” of the fans and subsequently planning to changing the ending of the game. And boy, did people come out for it and let me know what they thought about it. The developer caving and amending the ending of the game in the face of fans being up in arms is disappointing. As an artist, the worst thing in the world is to have to compromise your artistic vision. But Bioware revising the ending of the game lead me to ask a few questions to no one in particular about the “new,” possibly community approved ending…..
What happens if the community doesn’t like THIS ending?
This was the first thing I thought when the news broke that Bioware would be rethinking the ending of Mass Effect 3. The amazing outcry about the original ending was like nothing we’d ever seen before. Sure, fans have gotten upset about certain aspects of video games. Fans were upset about Modern Warfare 2′s multiplayer being largely broken at launch. Sony consumers called for heads to roll over the PSN being down for close to two months due to Anonymous hacking and subsequently crashing the whole system. But those two examples couldn’t be helped or seen ahead of time to be fixed ahead of time. This was different.
This fan outrage got the job done. The developer got cold feet in the face of people screaming on the internet and went back to the drawing board to pacify angry fans. While companies have done some things to try and satisfy fans when they are upset about something concerning their game, this is the biggest concession that I’ve seen from a gaming company. So the question now becomes what happens when the new ending becomes available and again, doesn’t satisfy rabid fans? Does the new ending get sent back to Bioware’s if it doesn’t pass the smell test? It becomes possible that Mass Effect 3 could never be finished if it’s fans are satisfied with the end to a certain point. That then begs the question how far is Bioware willing to bend over backward for their “fanbase?”
What will be the next project that will change majorly to fan outrage?
Now that the precedent has been set that fans can actually effect production aspects of a game if they aren’t happy with the direction of it, what could be the next game that will have to be “fixed” by the community? It is a long shot that something like this will happen to another game, but now it has to be in the back of every developer’s mind now. If the story to possibly one of the year’s biggest games, Bioshock Infinite, fails to captivate it’s fan base, is Irrational Games going to have to go back and change major parts of their story to quiet the screams of the angry consumer? Will the next Call of Duty game stay away from any major changes to the game’s tried and true gameplay for fear of fan backlash? It’s a dangerous door that’s been opened and can’t be closed. From this incident on, game makers will be actively second guessing themselves when writing story aspects for the game they’re working on, thinking “Is this going to upset the fan base so much that we’re going to have to change something later.” It’s going to lead games into complete mediocrity, not trying anything that deviates from the “standards” that gamers have set, leaving gaming as a whole to possibly stagnate.
The whole situation isn’t cool, but it’s happened and there’s no going back now. We’re in the shadow of fan outrage being a mitigating factor in studio decisions. It’s scary and weird, but it’s reality now. I wonder about what the future holds for gaming now that this is a real thing that’s happening. Will more games see a backlash if “fans” aren’t satisfied? We’ll see…..
What do you think about this? Am I completely off the mark? Have we turned the corner in gaming? Let us know.
Keep gaming….
Jared Whittaker plays a lot of games. Not as much as he’d like, but as much as time and money will allow. If you want to play some games with Jared, you can find him on Playstation 3; PSN tag: JFX. He is also on Steam and Battle.net as JFX316 and while he doesn’t have an Xbox 360, he has the coolest Gamertag in the world: Obiwan Jaborni. Feel free to add him as a friend or email him at JWhittaker@PanelsonPages.com. and on Twitter as JFX316
Filed Under: Columns • Game Changer
For an internet writer… you seem incredibly short-sighted.
you mentioned you’ve played a lot of games. every games has its own essence and colors.
i dont think you really understand ME’s essence and colors, which is the illusion of freedom of choice. What makes shepard you’re shepard.
What makes gaming community angry wasn’t that they weren’t satisfied WITH the endings, it’s that the last act of the game feels completely out of touch of what ME essence, colors, and fundamentals supposed to be.
They can’t choose shit, they have to obey this astral kid, and only gets to choose 3 designated options, each of which seems out of touch.
The ME 3 ending; It’s not creative integrity, it’s a blunder.
The head writer didn’t even understand what made Mass Effect becomes Mass Effect by doing endings like that. It didnt do justice to the series.
That’s why people are mad.
It’s like… you could end “dexter” with him killing everyone. Made him go crazy or something.
But you shouldn’t end “Friends” with Ross killing the other 5 friends because he couldn’t get Rachel.
It’s not what the color of the story is.
So while yes, it might affect the future of gaming… i think your last week letter telling people to grow the frak up is kind of uncalled for considering you don’t even seem to remotely know the Mass Effect game itself.
This pretty much sums it up
In YOUR opinion, the ending was a “blunder.” Bioware wrote the ending to go toward conclusions that THEY thought the story should go toward. If you don’t agree, you are well within your rights to do so. I, however, have the right to say that people that are upset about it are trampling on their artistic output by demanding a change to the story that THEY don’t agree with.
It’s a difference between an artistic decision and a business decision. This was a business decision that I feel will hurt the creative process in game making, having studios have to worry about making sure they don’t bum ANYONE out with ANYTHING they do. PS: someone is going to ALWAYS be upset with something in gaming. And that’s the overall problem to me.
I couldn’t care less how the game ends. If that’s how Bioware decided to end it, I respect it. That’s my issue with the whole situation. The lack of respect for the developer and the arrogance of the fan base that “they know best.” If you don’t like the ending, write a fan fiction story or stop supporting Bioware in general, don’t protest and hold up the artistic process because you, as the fan, “know best” how the game should end.
With all due respect….
I once read an article in a college paper; a student had visited France and, at a little bistro, ordered a sundae for dessert. It was on the menu: vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, etc. The bistro also offered ice cream a la carte. Strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. The student requested a sundae, but with the strawberry ice cream. The waiter refused. The student was incensed.
Until he thought about it later.
The chef was making a creation. Sure, in this case, it seems a ridiculously simple thing like a hot fudge sundae, but the point is – it was his creation to make and offer and it was the student’s choice to give THAT chef his patronage and order THAT item from the menu.
Our cultural sense of entitlement is disgusting.
First of all… You’re a professional writer (paid) to write. Why do you reply on comments with CAPSLOCK words?
This isn’t webforum internet trolling or youtube comment section. I think everyone would still understand your point without the capslock.
Second, your argument stated that “The ending is where bioware writer’s TEAM thought the story should go toward.” You also mentioned that the ending is the result of artistic output of the writer’s team that has been writing this for many years”.
The “fact” is, the writer teams didn’t write it.
The last 10 minutes, (aka the ending that many protested about) was written by the Exec Producer and 1 other guy. It’s just the 2 top guy. Also, the “fact” stated that the endings didn’t go through any editing or review session with the other writers whatsoever. It went straight to the game.
So, that particular point of your article is not on point. It wasn’t written by the writer’s team per se. ME 3 was all good and fine (written by the writers team), until the last 10 minutes (written by Exec Producer and his right hand only), then the game fell so hard, it flips it’s own fundamentals.
Third, Mass Effect is a “story” game. When you watch a “story”; movie, comics, video game, you need a character to guides you through the story.
This is particularly true for sci-fi, superhero, or fantasy story. Classic example would be Neo, Sarah Connor, Peter Parker, Luke Skywalker, etc.
This character typically called “protagonist”, and the character is usually a “normal” person. This is done so that we can relate to the movie/video game.
Relatibility is what makes Star Wars a classic, and New Star Wars not-so-classic.
Example of relatibility; In Breaking Bad, Walter White the protagonist is diagnosed with lung cancer, he wants to financially set his family up after he dies, he decides to sell crystal meth.
The story shows the decline/downward spiral of Walter White from quiet high school teacher to the most sough after crystal meth cooks. Each season darker than the last.
That is the essence of Breaking Bad. It’s up to the writer how it will ends, but it definitely should not end with say… Walter White becomes a Superman and fly. Or Walter White becomes Neo and meets Deus Ex Machina and reboot the world.
That would be unrelateable. Not to mention betraying the story fundamentals.
Fourth, base on the above argument, there is a difference between complaining about the ending of Lost and Inception, to complaining about ME 3 final act. As a professional writer, you should have understand this, which is why I said on my first comment, you are short-sighted.
Five, there’s nothing wrong with admitting you’re wrong, sometimes. This isn’t politics, it’s business. Business made mistakes. For example the Coca-Cola fiasco of 1985. This is a long post already so I wouldn’t explain about that on this comment.
Six, I’m not a fan of ME. I just follow the news because im an amateur writer too. I just played it last week.
You wrote two articles about ME. Then you said “I couldn’t care less how the game ends.”
I’d like to say that, you should care how the game ends, and what kind of game it is. Because you’re writing about it. How could you write something you don’t understand.
By understanding the game, your writings would be better, and your argument would not be “I say, YOU say, YOU think like this, I have the rights”
It’s astounding how much you’re missing the point of all this. The ending doesn’t matter. I’ve never played the game. I can’t speak to the quality of the ending. If someone doesn’t like it, I hate it for them, but it’s still the ending that was made. It’s not the responsibility of the creator to compromise his vision to placate whiny fans that didn’t like it.
I love Daredevil. I have a huge Daredevil tattoo. I thought Shadowland was terrible. I REALLY didn’t like it. But not once did I even consider that I was owed a rewrite. Because that’s nonsense, just like this backlash is nonsense. I’m beyond disappointed that Bioware caved and I don’t even have a dog in this fight.
Like I mentioned earlier…
There is a difference between complaining about the ending of Lost and Inception, to complaining about ME 3 final act.
It’s like… you could end “dexter” with him killing everyone. Made him go crazy or something.
But you shouldn’t end “Friends” with Ross killing the other 5 friends because he couldn’t get Rachel.
Or make Walter White from Breaking Bad becomes a Superman and fly. Or Walter White becomes Neo and meets Deus Ex Machina and reboot the world.
and no i don’t have a dog either.
Panels on Pages, LLC does not accept outside submissions for content.
So… CMIIW but I think that, as a writer on a popular website with lots of unique visitors, his voice carries some weight. Unlike mine and yours.
So… opinion piece or not, professional writer or not, should he not research more extensively about what he writes?
Are you in the market for a dog? Lee has one that he’s not all that fond of. He can’t ship it to a P.O. Box though, so there’s that obstacle to overcome.
And to add to Lee’s reply, Jared has already said he’s not a professional writer. It’s an opinion piece. Read.
Except this has been how the industry has worked for almost a decade.
Every Mario game past SMB2 was playtested to perfection, and sent back to the devs BEFORE release.
Fallout 3: Broken Steel came out entirely because the fans were displeased with the ending, and not only did they get the content they asked for, they got a lot of NEW content that wasn’t necessary to please them in that expansion, just to show Bethesda put its customers first.
Nothing new is happening here, other than a company with a short-sighted director that self-wrote the ending at the last minute crying foul, because his vision is that of a short-sighted person and his company was called on it. Rather than do as other companies have and apologize, sequel it out, or simply make the requested changes, the company responded by insulting their fans and claiming Artistic Integrity had anything to do with it.
Keep in mind this is a game that required you pay extra to unlock content already on your disc, and a game that had Ms. Chobot from IGN as a useless character they kludged into place as a shallow love interest. Lots of artistic integrity in those two decisions, right?
It’s a smoke screen. They knew they screwed up badly and that it would be expensive to fix. Now they’re backpedaling because they’re losing SWTOR subscriptions and potential DLC customers over it. They didn’t use artistic integrity to get into the situation, nor will it get them out of it.
Sir, please watch this video:
Yea I’m not sure you know the actual plight of the artist. The real problem stifling artist’s creative decisions is not the fanbase of a given franchise or even customers of commercial artists, which can only possibly effect a particular aspect of the story or art. It is the corporations that make money off of commercial art. The publishers and editors get to do the EXACT same thing that the fans are doing now, but not a whisper is heard concerning this real travesty. I would suggest you choose your battles wisely. To condemn a fanbase that reacts out of love and even understanding of a franchise is very different from the corporations like EA and others that make all of our entertainment so bland and lacking any real uniquesness or flavour (aka the Hollywood syndrome).
They already made the money when they sold it. Mission accomplished. Art is commercial. yes. but it’s still art. If I don’t like a piece of art, be it a movie, a comic, a book or a game, that’s my prerogative; but i would never in my wildest dreams think that the creators owed me an apology or that they needed to placate me with a version of that art I did like, no matter how many other didn’t like it right along with me. That is f*cking insane.
I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m trying to say. I didn’t make any comment on whether or not the ending ought to be changed, I only pointed out how many like to look at the “insanity” of the fans who allegedly want to stifle artists’ creativity (when it is EXTREMELY obvious how small the influence the public has in these cases), while there is an actual business model that stifles creativity that everyone turns a blind eye to. I believe the word I’m looking for is hypocrisy.
All of that happens in development, not once the product is released. If i want to write or paint or draw, then I can do that and every right to go forth, but if I’m making a movie or a video game and need someone else to give me millions of dollars to see my vision through, then yes, maybe I might have to take a few notes and make some adjustments before I release it. There’s certainly a dance to be done, but there’s a world of difference between that and this.
Oh God, not the fans! Those horrible, unwashed fans!
What a truly awful state of affairs it’ll be when games developers ever listen to their…ugh, I can barely type the word…FANS.
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the lowest form of journalism seems pretty widespread when it comes to ME3.
Fans don’t get everything they want! They NEVER have!
People REALLY think this was the right thing to do! They’ve won against the dipshit creative types!
I’ve said it elsewhere and I’ll say it here. Archie Comics has bigger balls than Bioware. Those cats stuck to their guns in the face of fake BS outrage.
Archie also tells compelling stories about homosexuals instead of just doling out enough girl on girl to keep the fanboys hard and distracted from the occasional man love.
I absolutely agree with both Jared and Lee. No matter what the reason is that the ending was so reviled, people cried for it to change, ignoring the creative process that went in to it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if you had a hand in complaining about the ending to this game to the point that Bioware changed it to please you and others like you, then you have forfeitted your right to ever argue in favor of freedom of expression in any way, shape, or form ever again. Because you had a hand in spitting in the face of that freedom.
And citing an opinion column as “journalism”? Seriously? Yeah, go grab a dictionary and familiarize yourself with the internet a little more.
Oh, and there’s something else I agree with Jared about…grow the f%$k up. And you can hate me for that statement all you want, but throwing a tantrum and making a game company change the ending to their game because you didn’t like it? Childish. Hence, the statement.
Mr. Whittaker,
In case you are unaware, there is a very popular theory circulating amongst the mass effect fan base known as the indoctrination theory. A mountain of real evidence has been collected that shows beyond any reasonable doubt that mass effect 3, in fact, has not ended. You can (should have already) research this easily via google or youtube. This now points toward EA/Bioware releasing an incomplete game with the intention of providing DLC for a conclusion.
In regards to your coverage of this story, I believe there are two possibilities. 1) you suck at journalism since you have not done your homework or 2) you suck at journalism because you have no interest in sharing the truth and collect readers by attempting to enrage them with nonsense. If I could think of a third reason why you might suck at journalism, you and the mass effect 3 “ending” would have alot in common. 3 choices as to how you suck, creating a story with no foundation when viewed logically, and losing your audience fast cause people don’t want to waste time on your BS!
Sir or madam,
As I stated I feel pretty clearly, I don’t care about the ending of this game one way or the other. My issue is that this situation has the possibility of completely breaking the creative process of entertainment. I’m sure you and millions of other people see this as the ultimate win, triumphing of the idiots at Bioware and their incompetence at writing and forcing them to go against their vision of the story inlue of an ending fit for the community. You win. Let’s hope that every creative project in every form of entertainment is crowd-sourced to make sure no one gets bummed out or have to think about anything deeper than the ending of a Duke Nukem game.
As for your “I suck at journalism” claim. I am NOT a journalist anymore than you are a video game script writer. I give my opinion about things that are happening in the gaming world. You and Mass Effect “fans” have successfully broken artistic licence for all points of entertainment. Congratulations. Again you win.
The best part of this “issue” is that people are coming back to my column a week later, apparently, to see if I pulled a Bioware and rolled over in the face of crybabys on the internet. That hasn’t happened. Perhaps you all should start a petition….
“You and Mass Effect “fans” have successfully broken artistic licence for all points of entertainment.” Hyperbole much? And what is with the scare quotes around ‘fans’? Can someone not be a fan of the franchise if they were upset about the ending?
Personally I had no problem with the ENDING, it was the 20 minutes of scripted nonsense leading up to it that bothered me. It was lazy. Not quite as lazy as the railroading at the end of Fallout 3 (in which you need to go into a highly radioactive chamber to flip a switch, ensuring your death to save millions. The problem arose when you had a member of your team who was IMMUNE TO RADIATION and when you suggested maybe they should do it you were given the line “No, this is your destiny”) but it was still railroading in a story that was supposed to be all about choice. The fact the the ultimate and final choice in the wide open world that is Mass Effect did nothing but alter the color of a special effect is just ridiculous. The lack of any kind of coda for all the characters and entire races we encountered is ridiculous. It seemed pretty clear to me from the first reports I heard that the lack of closure was a bog standard EA open door for DLC, and that too is fucking ridiculous.
If your artistic vision includes leaving a story half finished to charge $15 for the REAL ending a few months later it is not deserving of respect.
Can all you Bioware complainers please do what you did with the gas prices, cause they kind of high and you guys seem to whine loud enough to get things done.
Here’s the fact. It’s Bioware’s story. No one else’s. If they thought this was how it should end, then that’s how it should end.
The only thing that this ordeal has taught anyone is that Bioware now knows they can put out ANYTHING and people will buy it. They don’t give a shit whether you like it or not. They got their ending out. I would not be surprised if they released a worse ending, spurring another public outcry similar to this, and kept releasing bad endings just to get your money.
Why are BOTH sides overreacting so much? I honestly can’t understand this. People have every right to complain for an ending to be changed precisely because of “freedom of expression” and the developers have every right to say no because of that same “freedom of expression”. Anyone who is a fan saying that Bioware is obligated to change the ending is overstepping their bounds in a fundamental way. Anyone who says if the fans get their way they are destroying the foundation of art, freedom, and the fabric of space and time causing a chain reaction that will obliterate the universe is WAY overexaggerating firstly the importance of artists in society in general and secondly, overexaggerating the implications of such a change in this specific case. Such arrogance from both sides! Changes such as this HAVE ocurred historically and guess what? NO PRECEDENT has ever been set unless you live in a society that is foundationally against freedom of expression and human rights. BOTH SIDES GROW UP. Take a trip to North Korea and find some REAL problems.
^I say we let this guy have the last word. That way the ending of the thread can make as little sense as the ending of the game, AMIRIGHT? #UPTOP