@caseydhudson @gamblemike @masseffect



Dear Mr Hudson, dear Mr Gamble, dear Bioware staff,



I would have written you an e-mail, but unfortunately, there seems to be no public e-mail adress for you; I hope you will read this anyway.



Your recent statement regarding the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy received a lot of outraged feedback from the fan community; I think it is quite clear that that post was not meant for us, but for potential investors and players - it made the percentage of people who disliked the ending seem very small, which, according to most polls, is not true.



But, despite the outrage, I want you and all the guys at Bioware to know one thing: We love you. We love your games, we love the stories you tell us, we love the characters. How else could the ending to a game generate such an emotional response?



I am fairly sure that you are in damage control mode at the moment, trying to contain the outrage and bad press. We know how many perfect scores Mass Effect 3 received and which gaming websites liked the ending, no need to remind us of that - but among your fans, the people who love you and your games the most, there's pretty much only one opinion.



It would be very easy to contain the ending, you should realise that. It's your fans raging against you - people who like you and your games and who are just disappointed, not people who hate you.



We love Mass Effect 3, we really do. You keep asking us for our favourite moments, so here you go: Rannoch, after defeating the Reaper, just sitting there with Tali. The hospital room with Thane and Koljat. Mordin humming his last song. The Illusive Man: "Shepard. You are sitting in my chair." Finding your crewmembers on the Normandy interacting and changing locations - especially drunk Tali.



Most the people who are angry at the moment agree - even if there is room to nitpick about Tali's face or Kai Leng's character design, the game you gave us is absolutely stunning, most of it deserves "Game of the Year".



The thing that makes most people disappointed is the ending, you should be aware of the reasons for the general dislike - it's definitely not that "it's no happy ending", nobody expected that. It's plot holes, it's the fact that everybody gets roughly the same three endings with no regards to previous decisions, all presented by a ghost child that appears out of nowhere in a room with three "buttons", similar to Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It's the simple of question of why Joker would abandon his Commander and his allies to flee from the battle. But that's not what makes us angry.



We are angry because we feel poorly treated by Bioware. We are your fans, the ones who usually buy DLC, the ones who have praised your games wherever they went, propably helping to make Bioware as successful as it is today. We love your games. We spent tons of money for DLC for Mass Effect 1 and 2, for artbooks, for comics and novels. DLC is not primarily sold to whover might have picked up Mass Effect 3 because he or she saw a tv advertisement, it's primarily sold to diehard fans. Not to talk about future Bioware games - in the long run, you can not afford to alienate so many fans. And we are many, you know the polls.



It would be easy to pacify us, just give us a small token of understanding. Not "we also recognize that some of our most passionate fans needed more closure, more answers, and more time to say goodbye to their stories—and these comments are equally valid" - it feels like mockery more than anything. We are the majority, and we are completely dissaatisfied not with the content, but mainly with the quality of the ending to the greatest science fiction saga of the last decade. We know that all you say could endanger your stocks, but in the long run, you can not afford to lave us hanging like that. We are Legion. But seriously, we just want some clear information, some words of truth. We want to regain our trust for Bioware! Have a look at all the theories fans are cooking up about the ending - it would be so easy to regain our trust and loyalty, because we desperately want to give them to you, we just can not any more. A few menaingful words - if you are concerned because the fiscal year is not over yet, just tell us when you will give us information on the subject. Will you fix the ending, or at least add some epilogue? Or is the cliffhanger done on purpose to prepare us for a coming Mass Effect game, like a Mass Effect MMO? Because that wouldn't work, those who are really interested in the Mass Effect IP would be done with it if that were the case.



Please. We want to trust you, we want to believe you, and we want to buy all the DLC you can make. All we need is you to give us some honest responses instead of devaluing our concerns; we might just be the greatest asset you guys have.



Or else, to quote Sovereign, "Your words are as empty as your future".



With best regards



A fan.

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