Thursday 29 March 2012
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Sunday 18 March 2012
What is Bioware up to?
It seems that Bioware now has someone manning their twitter feed for Mass Effect full time. What a job that must be. Some of the answers fans have received about the ending are telling though, almost as if they’re up to something.
User 1: "I still want to believe you guys are sneaky trolls and have something going on you don't tell us yet. Can I get a cryptic reply?"
@masseffect: "The sun, it shines.
User 2: "You are either a massive sadist or a beacon of hope."
@masseffect: "Can't it be both?"
User 3: "I kinda feel lost after that ending...not what I expected and left me feeling everything done was for nothing."
@masseffect: "We know it's a lot to take in! But hang in there. Your decisions matter."
User 4: "Are you holding something back, that could quell the large amount of frustration from the community, a tiny hint would be enough."
@masseffect: "Mike Gamble already said on his twitter, if the fans knew what was in store, the reaction would be different."
User 5: "I loved 98% of ME3..but something has to be up w/ ending..too much talent at BW for that business. Keep my saves?"
@masseffect: "We're keeping our saves, that's for sure."
User 6: "Fans are people too. Playing with their minds isn't that nice as it may look like to people from Bioware."
@masseffect: "We're not playing with anyone's minds, we are answering what questions we can and recording what feedback we receive."
User 7: "Its not that the ending was taken in the wrong direction its that it makes NO SENSE. Ashley was on the Normandy? she [was] with me."
@masseffect: "Probably a good thing to be cautious of."
User 8: "Do y'all have any ETA when more news will be released? Dying for news on a new ending/DLC."
@masseffect: "No ETA yet, but you will be updated via Facebook and Twitter when the news is available :)."
User 1 -Well, i think i'll stop naggin you and trying to get you to talk about the indoctrination theory. :( Good game though!
Merizan - I want people to make up their own minds right now, then when more people have played we'll talk :)
User 2 - then I want to SEE that he was lying. I want to get up and finish the fight with Commander Shepard. Then retire.
Merizan - augh. want. to. discuss! Staying spoiler free for now :P
User 3 - But should've confronted the kid instead. Shep went meekly into the night.
Merizan - are you sure he went meekly into the night?
Saturday 17 March 2012
Unbelievable
The Mass Effect 3 ending controversy must be weighing heavily on Bioware’s mind by now. The visceral reaction to it has been unbelievable. Even if the fans ultimately lose this debate, the protest to it has been something to remember and is largely uncharted territory. The ‘Retake’ movement has however got some skilled people analysing Bioware’s moves.
I think the most important, and intelligent, post I've read on these forums since this controversy started has been this one from a user named atghunter. I shall quote his post:
atghunter wrote...
Posted this yesterday, I'll repost here. Hope it helps to see what's on the other side of the mirror atm.
I don't think Bioware is out of touch with their customers though I agree with an earlier poster that right now they are assessing their options. Nor do I think that everyone speaking up for them at the moment is a "yes man" or shill. That said:
I don't for a moment think there are any other endings, this was a hallucination, etc. Bioware/EA is letting these speculations go on for two reasons. First, they are letting people vent. Secondly, they are weighing options.
Years ago, I worked for a PR damage control team and everything right now is going by the book. First, re-affirm and ignore (also known as doubling down), then try and define the detractors in the mainstream with things like "this is all a big mistunderstand", etc. while remaining civil in the hopes the detractors go rabid. Meanwhile go dark and use countermeasures through third part sources to prop up your position and brand the outcry as driven by hacks, haters or a minority trying to wear out the detractors on these outlets or "shock troops" while protecting the corporate core. Next, offer something distracting (notice SWTOR is free this upcoming weekend) known as the "faux olive branch"/ask the angry people to explain their concerns (without agreeing to commit to a compromise), buy more add time (definitely going on right now), and hope it dies down. If the pressure is still on, determine the economic viability of 1) ignoring the outcry and banking on the fickle nature of consumers to get over it or 2) determining if we can make money off of fixing it.
If it is any consolation, the decision whether or not there is a fix DLC, etc, won't be made by the writers so illusions to things they wanted to convey don't matter much atm (to wit: the leads comments yesterday). I suspect he's been called in and politely told by the PR guys to not do that again. This is now a corporate problem, not an artistic struggle with fans. Somewhere in the EA bunker, attorneys, PR guys, writers and brass are sharing numbers b/c in the end this will come down to hard currency.
As one who despises the endings, I'm hoping the suits tell the visionaries that the customers are loud enough and numerous enough to swollow their pride and get them out of this storm. For those that love them, I readily accept your position and respectfully disagree.
His post was written yesterday (Thursday, March 15) and today (March 16) Bioware announced the N7 weekend "Operation: Goliath" baloney encouraging gamers to play a weekend event that promises "FREE STUFF".
social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/324/index/9993278/1
Sadly, a lot of the same people who were swearing off Bioware were posting in that thread asking how they can be a part of the event. I was persoanlly disgusted, so my question to everyone was - does no one see what's going on here?
Soon after I created this thread, atghunter commented again.
atghunter wrote...
Greetings All,
First, I’m flattered someone would repost this. Many thanks.
A couple follow-up thoughts for those wondering what is likely going on with the other side of the mirror in the last couple days:
First, Operation Goliath, the free Star Wars online weekend, and the recent noncommittal overtures to listen are faux olive branches. Sorry. Customers intrinsically want to believe companies they patronize listen and when they stop believing that, the company has to say they are listening and do anything to get the detractors off-message. There are a dozen names for this, but the most memorable was "The Shell Game."
You will know that there’s a genuine need for dialogue in the corporate bunker when the message turns from “we’re listening” to “we acknowledge we may have a disconnect with our consumers and are willing to discuss a meaningful solution to the problem.” It signals an end to non-committed deflection and opening genuine talks to solve the problem (it’s knows as “Exposing Your Throat” btw). At present, you’ll notice Bioware/EA has only said they will “explain” the endings. That’s not a give, that’s a delay tactic.
But here’s the part that amazes me as an old PR guy and is totally new. The disenfranchised base here is changing the old methodology. It’s akin to comparing old-style bunker PR defenses to new blitzkrieg-style consumers. To date, the “bunker strategy” was always used because it was virtually foolproof. However, social media and the 24 hour news cycle have simply changed everything. Twenty years ago, you could not mass 30,000 protesters into a networked base without some luck, money, a GREAT cause and (most importantly) time. By the time you did get organized, folks were either burned out or lost interest. Groups like Take Back have altered the landscape and suddenly the contest is taken from the old paradigm to a crazy new (and wonderful IMO) place. Preorder sales took away customers biggest weapon in the past (i.e. don’t buy the product). Now customers who feel they have received poor value have been potentially re-empowered by the internet. Bioware/EA is feeling the full brunt of this thing while passion is hottest. They are deploying countermeasures faster than the old strategies ever would have ever suggested. To some degree, they are being outmaneuvered atm. But now it depends on how long the protest/outcry holds up.
Two more quick points and I’ll close. First, the Child’s Play movement was brilliant. Notice over the past few days how some of the most visceral detractors to the outcry have had to shift their vitriol from “you’re spoiled selfish haters” to “sure you gave to charity, but you are spoiled selfish haters.” Nobody is drinking that Kool-Aid. Better yet, some outlets are now saying “maybe the game has problem but its still art” from the precedent message “best game ever.” That won’t fly with the mainstream. If its one thing they know is that when “art” hits the marketplace, it is a commodity, nothing more. You’ve changed the countermeasures from "unbiased" critics of the movement into drum beaters simply trying to get you angry. EA’s PR guys probably envy you (grudgingly) atm.
Second, don’t buy the only X people voted in the poll out of 1 billion customers, so they don’t care. That’s bunk. Are there "drum beaters" on both sides of this issue that just want to see controversy, sure. But if I was sitting in an office looking at that Bioware poll, I’d be reaching for a cigarette.
Finally remember, they have much more data at their disposal. They know how sales are going, how much time people are playing that are synced into Origin, etc. They will watch those numbers this weekend. If sales slow, watch for price cutting within 10 days (just over the two week US release date). It will mean that retailers are getting nervous and will slow new unit orders. As I’ve said before, this will come down to hard currency. If the protests start having an effect on that front, the response will come.
I’m an older gamer and again appreciate the repost. To everyone (on both sides) continue to let your voices be heard. You are consumers and have every right to engage in this discourse. The boards being locked yesterday proves someone is watching and knows this is an issue. I'm in the hated-ending camp to be sure, but I admire everyone one of you who is arguing for what believe on both sides!
Cheers.
Many men may be willing to die heroically for a noble cause, but few men will live humbly for one. Wilhelm Stekel
And tonight Casey Hudson responded precisely as atghunter predicted.
social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/324/index/10089946
And here is atghunters thoughts on Casey's statement:
atghunter wrote...
Greetings All,
Really flattered with the responses. Respectful regards and thanks to all. Been spending a few minutes reading over Mr. Hudson’s response. Here's my PR insider perspective. Hope it helps a bit.
First, let’s simply look at strategy over content. 1) They definitely released this on a Friday evening to bury it in the news cycle (because it does acknowledge in passing there are unhappy customers, but more next paragraph). Btw, kudos to those who pointed that out earlier in the thread-Solid catch. 2) Several of the “anti-ending” articles (most notably Forbes) are now creeping into front page searches for “Mass Effect 3” instead of “Mass Effect 3 endings” and they are hoping this release will knock those stories to page 2. 3) They are hoping to deflect some of the current silence anger by combining this message with this weekend’s faux olive branches (discussed earlier).
All in all, the message release strategy is nothing too interesting at this point.
The content, however, is interesting. Most of the statement is doublespeak meant to let you see whatever you want as to as to the direction this thing is heading. Mr. Hudson then clearly tries to give validity to the greatness of the game by citing a couple news sources in the hopes of getting those stories more hits and onto search page one (nicely played EA PR), but the main thing is a clear acknowledgement that Houston has a problem with “some” fans. Mind you, he uses the term “some” and “most passionate fans” to try and minimalize the level of the outcry, but the disenfranchised fan base has reached the level of acknowledgement. That is important. Does it mean those disenfranchised fans have won? Not by a long shot. But Mr. Hudson’s statement was written (or at least approved by someone running damage control). And ultimately any time you have to acknowledge a problem with your product or customers, you have issues.
Does he continue on holding his own line that they intended “bittersweet” endings? Yes. Is the comment that you’ll see more of Commander Shepard an illusion to an “ending” DLC? Not certain but probably not at the moment. Does he utilize the “we’re listening to feedback but not promising we’ll do anything” line used on the boards yesterday? Sure.
It is clear most of his statement is insubstantial and leaves tons of room for spin either way down the road. Whether it gets used or not, management is trying to find some wiggle room in case they have to change course.
Last bit. A warning. PR guys know that right now many people’s emotions are on edge and often use a tactic called “Sound and Fury” (Shakespearean reference see Macbeth) to see if it gets people raging. It helps that strategy that people are looking at anything coming out of Bioware to detect wind changes. That said, I was reading through the thread burning with Mr. Hudson’s statement (though to be fair it is a Bioware/EA statement) and it seems for the most part folks are being passionate, but civil. EA PR will probably chalk up that aspect of this release as a failedruse de guerre (trick of war).
Stay civil, stay passionate, and stay vocal no matter which side you take. For myself, I’ll shamelessly
Hold the Line
Shortly after Casey's statement, a forum thread was created for Bioware rep Jessica Merizan to gather feedback from unsatisfied fans:
social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/10098213/1#10098213
Here is atghunter analysis of that:
atghunter wrote...
Greetings all,
I promise some individual answers (working my way forward from page 18 atm) and my wife thanks you all for letting me have dinner. But first, a take on the latest Bioware maneuvers from a PR perspective.
First, I’ve never met Ms. Merizan personally, but I’ve read some of her tweets and find her to be an engaging and personable individual online. She is a PR guys dream because I believe she genuinely has empathy for the players and it shows.
That said, please remember that she (like everyone else in this storm at Bioware is saying nothing more than they are being told/authorized to say).
So on to the post. Of course, we’ve covered the whole churning things out on Friday night to avoid the news cycle under Mr. Hudson’s post. Standard Operating Procedure there. However, the tenor of Ms. Merizan's post is much better than what we’ve been seeing in the last 24 hours. Moreover, it is simply less of a CYA publicity statement acknowledging a situation but minimalizing the problem. Notice she drops the pretense of “most people love this but a few people may disagree” and heads straight into a quasi “throat exposure” by saying:
“In order for a collaboration between the devs and the fans to work, I need you guys to CONTINUE being constructive, and organizing your thoughts. I know where to look, but I need you to help me by contributing to the dialogue.”
It is a direct communication to the offended customers. No promise of change to be sure, but probably the first genuine offer to discuss this issue in terms of possible collaboration vs. discussion/explanation. It won’t make the news b/c of Mr. Hudson’s statement issued shortly before as a media "screen" (though honestly, this was probably the intended message the PR guys want us to have all along).
As I mentioned before, once you gain acknowledgement, you have taken the first step in a PR campaign towards a compromise. Lots of road ahead, but to that end, well done.
Also take that Ms. Merizan acknowledges the positive aspect of the RetakeME3 movement. From a PR standpoint, it’s like acknowledging the people you are presently struggling with actually have virtue. You’re not saying they are right, but you aren’t simply acknowledging their presence either. Mind you this can also be a gambit to 1) deflect (as we’ve previously discussed) or 2) to enrage (i.e. hope that the players will refuse to communicate and thus be seen as unreasonable at this overture). Best PR counter response: strength, civility, a touch of wariness and loads of conviction.
The only troubling thing I can see is the collecting feedback data for “weeks” comment when the game went into full release only about 12 days ago, but I’m guessing that was possibly a PR guy’s oversight who assumed (based on the historical curve of these kind of things) that this matter has devolved in a much longer time that has actually elapsed. But it is equally possible she has been keeping track as well. Still doesn’t detract from the tone of the message.
Much less deflection, a bit more acknowledgement. If it hasn’t become clear, these fights (and make no mistake, they are fights be it abet civil ones) are of move and counter-move.
Continue to make your voices heard. Give them the concise arguments I’ve read on this forum a hundred times (regardless of your side). This is a game of choices, and call me an old optimist, but I have to believe there is enough room on my hard drive for some endings for both the producers and we consumers. Continue to post respectfully, but with the passion and conviction that inspires an old gamer like me. If you do, and this ultimately turns out to be a deflection, it is a dangerous one for EA/Bioware.
Here's why. One of the greatest lessons of PR is don’t offer to negotiate, unless you mean it. Doing so and ultimately being outed is called “Brokering Solutions but Delivering Stonewalls”. Not to be melodramatic, when I did this work, we called it something else…
Sudden Death
Friday 16 March 2012
Mass Effect 3 Ending Meme
Captain Picard completes Mass Effect 3
Darth Vader completes Mass Effect 3
The Patriot completes Mass Effect 3
Fellowship of the Ring completes Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 3: The ending
I’ve been watching with interest the ballistic reaction of the fans to the end of this franchise, the scope of it has surprised even me, so I’ve decided to compile some of that reaction into an article that summarises it.
So in just over a week, an extremely well organised movement of quite vocal fans has sprung up surrounding the furore over the ending to this game. You could almost say it has a religious quality to it, hardly surprising given the emotional investment people have in this series of games. So far a facebook group has formed which at the time of writing has around 30,000 members. Cells have also begun to form across the Internet. The main retake site was founded on Tumblr but Youtube videos have also started to go up. A letter writing campaign is being organised. Polls are being written. A charity drive has also so far raised around $40,000 dollars for sick children.
Let’s be clear about this in no uncertain terms – the ending was quite possibly the worst ending of any story in history. It was worse than the Matrix series, worse than Lost, worse than the Sapranos, it was quite simply bafflingly bad. Comments that other fans have made about it below, warning SPOILERS:
Imagine the Original Star Wars trilogy; you just sat through all three films, and you're at the part where Luke is face to face with the Emperor, who's trying to convince him to join the darkside, etc. And instead of how it ends, Luke says "Know what? Screw it. I just WONT BE A JEDI ANYMORE!" Drops his lightsaber and storms out. Fade to black. Roll Credits.
That is the best analogy I can offer about the clusterfuck that was the ME3 ending.
And the death star blows up all the planets in the galaxy, and Han Solo decides to chicken out and fly away from the battle and he crash lands on some random planet while everything else gets destroyed.
And then George Lucas offers you some DLC in a cheesy looking text box.
You have no fucking idea my friend. 3 games, hundreds of hours, hundreds of dollars, 5 years waiting for this game. It was all ruined in 10 minutes. There is no replaying Mass Effect 1, 2, or 3 once you've seen the ending. Honestly, starting a new game would just be sooooo fucking depressing. It's not that the ending is "sad", I don't care about that. It's that it's just so fucking terrible.
Normally I don’t get involved in these sorts of debates, but the endings really were heart wrenching to say the least. Best way to make a video game is to appeal to the fans and they did not at all in my opinion do that in any way with the current endings. I was real disappointed that all my effort led up to such a game changer.
I mean really BioWare, it’s Mass Effect, not an M. Night Shyamalan movie, we don’t need a twist at the end.
Everything about this game was perfect up until the last 10 minutes when it ended. There is no epilogue. Stuff happens, more stuff happens, and then the end. Rather than have some sense of closure, it opens about 20 more questions. It breaks from the story, changes tone and character, ignores current and past facts as well as making leaps of logic.
No wonder GAME wouldn't stock ME3. The collision of two such failed entities would probably cause a massive implosion of the space-time fabric. All we need now is an article about THAT. Someone give Hawking a tweet please!
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Mass Effect 3 (2012)
So I completed Bioware’s latest epic after playing it more or less non-stop for 48 hours. And it’s left me feeling, well, depressed quite frankly. Put simply it’s one of the most amazing gaming experiences ever; that unfortunately seems to fall spectacularly and completely inexplicably at the last hurdle. This may well be deliberate but I’ll get to that. The game allows you to port your character from Mass Effect 2 and continue their journey, choices and all. And the game seems really well written, the dialogue is excellent, the conclusions to problems that have been brewing since the first all seem well resolved or rather give you the chance to resolve them should you wish. Characters from both of the first two instalments are all seamlessly written into the plot somehow or other. For better or worse I might add since not all of them have happy endings but given the dark tone of this third game, and it is desperately bleak, the writing seemed perfect.
The overall atmosphere of the game is one of disquieting desperation. The first two games had been building to it, but then all of a sudden here it is – a massive galactic war against a superior species hell bent on the annihilation of all ‘organics’. The opening scenes show the beginning of the battle for Earth, a battle already hopelessly lost in a matter of minutes; this is where you come in. In order to defeat the Reapers you must unite the squabbling, scattered and scared races of the galaxy against their common foe. To this end ME3 plays in many ways like ME2 except instead of recruiting individuals, you’re recruiting entire civilisations to join the fight. However they’re all reluctant to commit forces unless they can resolve varying issues. In this way, the options are open for you to solve the Qurian / Geth situation which has also ignited into a side-war, the Krogan wont join you unless you cure the genophage, the Salarians wont join you if you do, the Turians wont join you unless you can relieve the military pressure against their own homeworld. And so the number of missions you must complete in order to amass an effective military fleet is substantial. There are also a number of side quests and survey missions that all allow you to increase your effective military strength.
The action is excellent, improving slightly on its predecessors and offering a diverse array of new Reaper and Cerberus enemies, some of which are an absolute nightmare to kill. The combat experience is significantly harder than the previous game, I died aplenty in this instalment. Some of the foes you must face down are seemingly impervious to anything but vast amounts of small arms fire. There are also just finely crafted details in the game that add to the overall sense of despair, conversations you overhear, the humour – the pissing contest between Garrus and Vega is just hilarious. But they’re really minor details that could be easily overlooked – such is the craftsmanship of this game. The cutscenes are epic – saving the Krogan homeworld from a Reaper, the Galactic fleet you’ve spent the entire game amassing finally assaulting Earth for the final battle. In the final Battle of London, the game really hits home how badly the galactic alliance is losing the war and so far so good. But then you get to the end…
And I honestly can’t grasp how you manage to fuck up an ending so badly but Bioware somehow managed it. Angry fans are storming the gates across the Internet with around 98% of fans extremely dissatisfied with the ending. This is I think an example of a developer blowing it big time. The non sequitur is so out of place from what came before that I feel deeply unsatisfied, even betrayed by it. It is such a profound departure that some people are now promoting the idea that it was wrong *on purpose* because it was all a hallucination. But then the more I think about it, the more that idea actually has some pull. If that was actually true and Bioware intends to continue the story afterward via DLC then they have probably created one of the most genius allegorical dream sequences in the history of gaming. But it’s also quite likely that they just straight clusterfucked it.
The gripes I had with this game (texture resolution, clunky combat control) were minor compared to the superior story, graphics, music and it is better than the last 2 and I really did enjoy it but the ending just kills the whole trilogy. I honestly couldn’t recommend this series of games to anyone based on the strength of it. So that would be what you call an epic fail.
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