GhostofAnakin

Now the question is whether they should charge for it or not, because since the original ending was arguably broken and didn't deliver the experience which was paid for. I'm torn on the issue. On one hand, the ending was a wreck and definitely looked like it was rushed/incomplete. So a part of me thinks Bio should release it for free. On the other hand, if it's detailed enough that I get the kind of ending I was hoping for, I might be tempted to overlook any charges and pay for it anyway. I know, that's selling out to the principle, but I'm a completionist and if an ending is made that improves upon the ending, I can't help but be tempted to buy it. The completionist in me simply can't stand leaving it as it ends right now. This all depends on what the DLC includes, though. I'm going to wait to read some of the responses on the Bio boards after release before getting it myself. If the same complaints by the same people show up, I'll pass.

Got those last two achievements I was aiming for. Pickpocket 50 was easy, and the reach level 50 was just a bunch of smithing and enchanting grinding. Speaking of which, I'm not a fan of that system of leveling up. I got way more XP for doing that kind of stuff than solving actual quests. I killed an elder dragon and my XP bar barely moved, but then I go home to my workshop and do some enchanting and I'm leveled up in no time. Looks like Skyrim's going on my shelf until the expansion/DLC gets released.

But did you get a red, blue, or green explosion?

Finishing off my achievements for Skyrim, then I'm on to KoA: Reckoning. I'm at level 49 (one more to get the level 50 achievement), and I have 42 pockets picked (8 more for the 50/50 lockpick/pickpockets achievement). At this point, it's mainly just grinding the enchantment/smithing system to raise my XP. I'm not even bothering with unfinished quests.

Chris Priestley's twitter says that the rumor on the previous page is false. I really want to believe him because that idea for the "fourth" game is terrible.

That leaker says too much. If he's real...it's a good thing he's gone already...or he'd be canned. Wonder what legal options there are for suing his arse. If he's fake, then it will be known VERY quickly...well at least within a month. However, I'd get the DLC. In a moment. It does clarify somewhat and give closure. It also means BW didn't ship a full game with a true ending. Doubt I'd get the next ME game based simply on that...unless it got STELLAR RAVE FAN reviews. Forget the pro reviews...they do nothing for me. Perhaps that's why they may not call it Mass Effect # More closure for ME3, sure. Though I still think it's ridiculous they have to attempt to be "creative" with Shepard instead of simply either killing him or letting him live. My bigger issue is with the Mass Shift portion. Are they that unoriginal that they have to come up with a very, very lame way to allow the player to play as Shepard ... without playing with "Commander Shepard"? High probability it's just a fake rumor. But on the off chance it's not, yeeesh.

If that Shepard is not really Shepard and "Mass Shift" part takes place, then that's even worse than the mysterious ending they have now. Seriously, who writes this stuff? Did they run out of ideas and just ask one of their children to come up with an idea for a cool story?

I'll give BioWare props for how different things play out depending on whether you sabotage the genophage cure or not. It was a surprise to see what happens if you decide to sabotage the cure for the Salarians.

Well, I finished off all the main achievement questlines. Completed the thieves guild and the war one tonight. Only things I have left to do are stuff like reach level 50, pickpocket 50 times, and learn 20 voices. Not sure if I'm going to bother since those will take a lot of grinding, without much actual questing to do.

Chambers shows up on the refugee deck before the Cerberus attack, she gets killed during the attack as retribution for leaving the group. Conrad shows up there too, later though. *grumbles something about a liara-shepard baby having been entirely possible and having an effect on the game where you pick between your kid and lover, and members of your crew* None of my saves that I can import even have Kelly Chambers alive, so I don't know how accurate it is. But I read on Wiki that there's actually a way for her to survive the Cerberus attack.

I have the XBox360 version.

Trying to earn the achievement for regaining the thieves guild's power is incredibly tedious. These aren't difficult jobs, but the loading screens every time I have to return to Delvin Mallory are killing me. Does the guy really have to stay within a place that needs TWO loading screens every single time I want to enter and exit?

This one statement pretty much sums up what I think went wrong. At some point, the people writing (or if that one forum post allegedly written by a Bio writer is true, two individuals) the story got caught up in their own self perceived storytelling genius and went in a direction that they never stopped to think for a moment if the fans who buy/play these games would actually enjoy. The end product looks like the kind of thing they produced for their own enjoyment, with little regard for the people buying their games. Let's face it, the majority of fans don't like the ending. Even a lot of the fans who are defending BioWare and saying "don't change anything" or "it's their game, they can write what they want" also acknowledge the ending is weak. They simply don't agree that BioWare should be forced to change it. So I'd be curious to see how many people actually LIKED the ending. Not tolerated it, not disliked it but are fine with BioWare sticking to their vision, but actually LIKED it. That that number is very likely low suggests even more that BioWare didn't even think about anyone other than patting their own creative genius on the back when they decided that was the way to go.

BioWare will likely lay low and just keep releasing vague statements that don't really commit to anything one way or another, hoping that in a few weeks' time the more vocal of the fanbase will quiet down, and they can then start churning out DLC without ever having addressed the ending.

I kind of agree with this. While I actually liked DS3, the South Park game doesn't interest me at all. I'll likely get it just because I like to support Obsidian games anytime I can, but in terms of anticipation, I really don't have much interest in the South Park setting. Aliens RPG or a sci-fi game, on the other hand ...

If that's true (and I'm not sure we'll ever know for sure), then it certainly paints Casey Hudson and Mac Walters with massive egos. It would also explain why an entire writing team would actually think that ending was good. I refuse to believe that a full team of individuals whose job it is is to write for a living, would all think that was an awesome ending to the trilogy. However, I could very well see one or two egos who think quite highly of their own work could.

What else is Casey Hudson supposed to do with his day now that ME3 has been release?

So, Skyrim?

Apparently hate mail because folks were associating Child's Play with the Retake Movement, as though they were an actual part of the movement, rather than simply a beneficiary of the Movement's donations.

I don't know what to believe anymore. Though, based on his responses since the ending, I could believe that Hudson has the kind of ego that would see him decide he and Walters alone could write the ending with no "lesser" writers input.

This. Especially the last paragraph. If BioWare was insistent on sticking with a "mystery" ending, I'd even have rather they simply ended the game after the Illusive Man part, with Shepard and Anderson staring out at the galaxy after Shepard pushes the button to activate the Crucible. It might have also been open to interpretation, but atleast it isn't nonsensical like that gibberish from the Star God Child Deity Phantom.

I think it's back to Reckoning or Skryim for me. Mass Effect 3 goes onto my shelf to collect dust after only 1 full play through. Which is a record for me. I've played each of BioWare's games at least twice, before this one.

I actually didn't mind DA2. I didn't like the railroading ending (which seems to be a trend with ME3's ending) they went with, where certain things happened no matter what you did, and you had to fight BOTH "boss fights" regardless of your allegiance. But overall, I had a good time with DA2.

In other words, EA figured the time and money spent on making an expansion is better used churning out the next full installment in record time.

Eh, I'd actually be less shocked if BioWare came out with an entirely new ending than I would of the FTC actually doing anything about the complaint.