M is for Massive Mass Effect Controversy

Warning ME3 SPOILERS ahead.

So there I was starting a game of Mass Effect 3 when I read an article about how not playing the multiplayer mode will hurt your chances of getting a good ending. To say I was angry is an understatement. I quickly typed out my reply and called the whole business a terrible idea.

If you don't play online, you need to get enough War Assets so Earth and everything else in the galaxy isn't destroyed. I am not an online gamer. I do play XBL with my son, but not all the time. I prefer single player and since Mass Effect 3 is a single player RPG first (ME 3 is the only one with multiplayer) I was livid.

But I played on, scanning every planet, collecting every little thing, doing every mission. It was during my time in the campaign when I noticed a lot of people complaining online about the ending. Not wanting to get spoiled, I didn't investigate and thought people were still mad about the multiplayer stuff.

Holy crap...... was I wrong.....

At the very end of the game, (if you have enough War Assets and I did)  you have three choices. You can destroy the Reapers, control the Reapers, or combine synthetic  and organic  life. Okay.. well since I thought it would be best to destroy them, I limped towards that one. And I get a cutscene.

I was so damn happy I saved Earth, that a few things didn't even register with me at first. As I walked to my computer filled with that post-game glow, I decided to peek at the other endings, because surely, they were vastly different.

But they're really not and that's the problem.  The choices that you made in the three games didn't seem to matter. It didn't hit me at first because my cutscene showed flashes of Liara and Garrus. And while I wondered how they got back on the Normandy since I took them to Earth, I was glad they weren't hurt when the missiles where launched. Those two characters are the ones I spent the most time with.  I also wondered why the Normandy was even flying, but again, I was just so happy everyone was okay.

Unfortunately, everyone gets the same cutscene with a few "red, green or blue" tweaks. This caused an uproar from fans. Petitions and protests started. BioWare was sent 400 red, green and blue cupcakes with different food coloring (so they all taste the same)

Bioware has come out and said they will give free DLC that explains and expands the ending this summer. I still don't know how I feel about that. Yes, after I saw the other endings, I was upset  that nothing seemed to matter. Yes, there are unanswered questions and terrible plot holes. BUT, should BioWare change it?  I do not want a gaming community where we bully developers into changing things. I don't want endings messed with all the time.

I want the ME3 ending "fix" to be a one time deal. Bioware said they'll give us more content, then fine.  I hope in the future, developers keep this mess in mind when they promise fans that the choices they made years ago in the first game will really matter at the end.  Because they should.