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Fan Reports Electronic Arts to the FTC Over ME3 Ending
We’ve written a lot about the ending to Mass Effect 3—well, more specifically, we’ve written a lot about how pissed off fans are about the ending. So far, most of the efforts angry gamers have made to have their dissatisfaction made known have been taking to the forums to voice their disdain, and to start a petition/fundraiser, which, as of this writing, has raised $67,174.39, a very laudable and shocking amount of money to be donated to the Child’s Play Charity. That’s a great way to turn lemons into lemonade.
But not all fans have been so constructive. One, in fact, has decided to try and get the legal system on his side. According to a post on GamePur, BioWare forum user “El_Spiko” posted about his recent filing with the Federal Trade Commission, which claims that EA has failed to deliver on their promises for Mass Effect 3, and as such, committed an act of false advertising.
Here’s his explanation on the BioWare forum:
“After reading through the list of promises about the ending of the game they made in their advertising campaign and PR interviews, it was clear that the product we got did not live up to any of those claims. This thread has a great compilation of their claims:
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/10056886Clearly, none fo [sic] these were represented in the ending. If anyone else wishes to file a complaint (the more there are the more likely the FTC will take action) just go to FTC.gov and fill out a complaint form in the Consumer Protection section. Here’s EA HQ’s address and phone number:
209 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065
(650) 628-1500This is not something [sic] I was happy to do, but after the terrible ending that was in no way the product that had been advertised to me and the lack of any kind of response from Bioware/EA to address this, I felt it was one of my only recourses. I’ll be returning my copy of the game before the end of my 30 day return policy if the ending still hasn’t been addressed by then.
UPDATE: Filed a Better Business Bureau complaint as well. They can be found at BBB.org. The BBB will at the very least notify EA of any complaints they receive [sic], so every complaint filed is something that EA will hear about.”
Likely sensing the scorn that would come his way, El_Spiko said, “before you start debating how dumb I am,” he wanted to offer a disclaimer, noting that the filing was not a lawsuit, nor a serious legal action. “This is a complaint about EA/Bioware’s advertising, filed with the organizations that handle false advertising in the U.S…If you don’t think that exercising one of the few, civil, legal ways available to hold a company accountable is stupid or immature, that’s fine. If somehow (space magic?) they actually decided to do something other than send EA an email about it, there would be a miniscule fine, that’s it.”
Fair enough, I guess. At least he took the trouble to acknowledge the implications the action might have. At the same time, it’s tough to claim “false advertising” when it comes to something subjective, like the ending of a game, movie, or book. I mean, the game ended, didn’t it? It was advertised as a game, and that’s what it was. I mean, if you could claim “false advertising” for something you just don’t like, wouldn’t every game-maker, TV producer, or film exec be fined for this? Something tells me this won’t really go anywhere.
What do you think? Is EA guilty of false advertising? Or has El_Spiko gone further than angry fandom would seem to allow?
Via GamePur
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Looks like it’s someones time of the month!
In short, people should see ME3 as an ending, not just the last hour but the entire game as an ending to the trilogy and it was narrated, told and acted out really well for that matter and it even improved. When people come with claims that the game has been “dumbed” down, I just shrug them off. The reason -I- play ME at all or any Bioware game is soleley because of the story. 3rd person shooter are one of my least favourite genre’s and if it wasn’t for an excellentley narrated interactive story I wouldn’t play it at all. People REALLY overreact about the ‘ending’ and it wasn’t that bad, people should respect the author for the works rather than being pissed about things not working out their way.
Not as short as I thought but I hope I managed to get my point across.
Also, forgot to add what the game made me feel at the end.
Sad.
Because it’s over. There’s nothing more and I wanted to see more of Shepard and his crew, but thats just not how it works, that’s not what happens.
It’s kind of what I felt when I was done with Deus Ex. I wanted more.
You can always play the series again — that’s my plan anyway.
I thought the last five minutes of Mass Effect 3 were horribly written and executed, but I don’t really think that’s any sort of false advertising issue. It’s more that after a huge build up to a climax, Bioware kind of wrote themselves into a corner, and took the easy way out.
I think everybody should just stop whining about the ending to ME3, it wasn’t the best but it could have been worse, they could’ve not made the game at all and left you hanging completely, I personally, am glad Garrus survived and I was pretty sad at the end.
If all you people felt at the end was dissapointment and anger then you people OBVIOUSLY weren’t following the story…
^ Wow, you guys? Really?
/*/ Spoilers follow /*/
Have you even played the series? have you even considered how big a mistake Bioware has done by narrowing every single decision taken in the prior three games down to three miniscule, near-identical, plot-hole filled, unsatisfactory, meta-physical, “raises more questions than it answers” type endings?
It’s not because Shepard dies, it’s not because the galaxy is left in a technological darkness, it’s because that after every single decision, every single character interaction, every single conversation, every single bullet fired, every single step taken is ultimately in vain, because not only are we given JUST three endings (no matter what we’ve done prior), they are also very badly executed. The game itself even hints at so many different outcomes (talk to Aria and she’ll tell you what you gain by recruiting the mercenaries, as if it would become useful later in the game), it also builds up so much atmosphere, so much tension that the sub-par ending falls flat on its tail because it’s been done so poorly.
/*/ Spoilers end /*/
A LOT of people are very unsatisfied with the ending of Mass Effect 3, and with very good reason. Entire articles on various sites have even fleshed out some of the major reasons that the ending(s) suck(s). People are angry, and they have every right to be angry. And I can assure you, they’ll continue to be angry until Bioware gets moving and makes a better freakin’ ending. And with many more outcomes, depending on your progress in the game series.
Have you made agreements with the mercenaries? Have them send troops (and mechs) into battle for you.
Saved the Rachni queen? Get some Rachni to fight with you in the final push.
All squad mates survived in Mass Effect 2? Have the survivors of ME3 fight along side you.
Destroyed the collector base? Have weaker Cerberus forces to fight against.
/Spoiler/ Cured the Genophage? Have a ton of Krogan kick some reaper ass! /Spoiler end/
/Spoiler/ United the Geth and the Quarians? Send down some Geth ships and Quarian engineers to fuck some shit up! /Spoiler end/
The list goes on, and I can’t think of all possible scenarios, but you see the potential for some massive diversity, and that potential is LOST the moment you set foot on Earth again. There is no diversity, there is no special outcome, there are THREE endings to choose from regardless of how well you did, and that’s what makes people unhappy.
WARNING! MY POST HERE CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Actually, the ending (or at least, the “Control” ending) isn’t so bad. The Relays actually just take structural damage and don’t completely blow up in this ending. Given that Shepard controls the Reapers in this ending, he could just make them repair all the relays and galactic life could actually resume. Sure, the other endings (especially Synthesis) suck and some things could still be addressed in all three to make them better, but that’s typical of any form of art/entertainment media: something could be improved, because true perfection is impossible.
The idea of the entire game as a conclusion makes a lot of sense. The ending doesn’t have to address the state of the galaxy; you’ve been doing that the whole time through the change Shepard brings as the campaign proceeds. All the ME3 ending had to do was, well, end the fight. And it did.
Because of an ending? I don’t recall EA being reported for their past doings. Like, for instance, the fact that Crysis 2 wasn’t even finished by the time of release.
And what about ID software, don’t recall them having a complaint filed about them. They pretty much dropped support for rage, and left all the gamers experiencing problems to work it out by themselves.
Not to say I agree or disagree with the guy in this article, but just because there’s no precedent doesn’t mean it should never be done. Also, I don’t think you’d know if a game was reported in the past unless there was a story like this making rounds.
i see all these long thought out posts so im keeping it simple, i thought the ending was bullshit, bioware better have a plan to fix it or someting
Man where was all this outcry when dragon age 2 came out? That game fucking destroyed the series, its ending just didn’t suck the whole god damn game did.
I disliked the ending but this is just retarded. The game over all was amazing. The series overall was amazing.
There is no need to go this far.
El_Spiko is a dumb ass and is going to force us all to sign “I will not sue” clauses at the beginning of video games in the future.
I liked the ending to ME3 it was 10 fold better than the second in my opinion. On the topic of reporting bioware to the FTC sounds like someone has no life.
Can you please, for the love of all that is good in this world, tell me what is so appealing by that ending? (because there is only one ending, you only get to pick the color of the explosion)
It’s an appalling, sub-par, plot hole ridden, unsatisfactory and unnecessary ending that raises more questions than it answers.
Why that dumb kid?
Why only those three options?
Why can’t Shepard say “NO!” and kick that kid in his face?
Where is Harbinger, and why is he so important in ME2, but not in ME3?
What happens with the remaining troops in the sol system?
Why is Joker fleeing through the relay network?
How can Garrus and Liara be on board the Normandy when they were at my side fighting reaper troops mere moments ago?
How did the Illusive man gain access to the Citadel?
Why can’t the reapers be defeated without destroying the mass relays?
Where are my allies in the final push toward the bright tower thingy?
Where are Aria’s mercs, the Krogan, the Turians, the Salarian STG, Geth troops, etc. etc. etc.?
Why are the reapers’ theme/purpose a massive ripoff of the anime “Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann”?
How do my actions throughout the game define the outcome of the final battle?
What happens to Admiral Anderson?
Was Shepard indoctrinated or not?
What happens after the Control ending?
What happens after the Destroy ending?
What happens after the Synthesis ending?
Can the mass relays be rebuilt?
Who survived the final battle?
What happens to all the characters that survived the final battle?
What is up with the grandfather and his kid in the last video clip? Who are they?
Does Liara have any of my blue babies? I was promised blue babies!
What happened to the people on the Citadel? Dr. Michel? Kolyat? Commander Bailey? The council? Aria?
All these questions (give or take a few) are all valid and need answering. The ending is not a proper closure, it’s an incomplete mess, and it does not serve the trilogy right. These games are amazing, but the ending takes everything we’ve fought so hard for in the previous two and a half games and takes a big fat dump on its face.
The ending is an insult, and the fact that the rest of the game is of such high quality just adds insult to injury. The expectations for the ending are constantly getting higher and higher the longer you play the game, and when you finally get to the end, it’s such a letdown it has had fans become extremely frustrated. And with good reason.
[...] I have been obsessed with the Mass Effect video games for years, so you should know how excited I was when the third game was released two weeks ago. I was still in the middle of my last play through of ME2, so I am a little behind. I watched Kari and Spike have updates on their Facebook, but I haven’t spoiled myself at all and don’t plan on doing so. All I know is that both Kari and Spike have cried over some parts of the game, which makes me wary since I do not want to cry. (I hate crying. My eyes get all chinky and weird. The one Asian side of me makes my face hurt afterwards). Well, then Spike finished the game and HATED it. He hated it so much… well, just read this article and perhaps this one. [...]