Remember when Mass Effect 3 started to come under fire for the lackluster ending and how many of the fans felt burned by EA\BioWare? Do you also remember when one particularly irate fan filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau? Well the BB is sounding off on the complaints and surprisingly, they agree with the fans.

I’ll direct you a blog posting on the BBB’s site, here, by Marjorie Stephens. Go ahead read it real quick. Okay then, let’s go. Ms. Stephens points out that a major marketing point of ME 3 was “Experience the beginning, middle, and end of an emotional story unlike any other, where the decisions you make completely shape your experience and outcome”. She calls it an “absolute statement” of their product. Something that many, myself included, took at face value – word for word. When we got to the end, what we got was not what was promised and that angered us. Stephens is very pointed in stating that based upon the advertised statements by EA\BioWare, they are technically guilty of false advertisement. One thing she didn’t point out and may not be aware of is the multiplayer element. Fans were promised they would not be forced to play it to get the best ending, which turned out to be pretty much false. I hope the BBB addresses that in their formal response.

What does this mean in the long run? Since this is just a blog post and not an official response to the complaint, not much but give it time. It does show that publishers and developers have to watch how they hype up games and they better live up to it. EA\BioWare have already announced the Extended Cut for later this spring\summer as a free download but it is already killing their image. EA is used to it, I mean they are the worst company in America, but BioWare might not be ready for the continued backlash. More…

When BioWare made their unholy pact with EA, plenty of gamers cried foul. We’re starting to see how that partnership is hurting the players. Many, again myself included, feel that EA’s presence forced BioWare to skip crucial elements that would have fleshed out the story in favor of the lackluster multiplayer. By slapping that on, EA had a lame excuse to justify the Online Pass. When they launched ME 2, the Cerberus Network Pass was a much better option – why didn’t they stick with that? The Alliance Network would have been better and given fans something truer to the series than the Galaxy at War crap!

Too many issues have come up with the third outing of the sci-fi drama, issues that honestly shouldn’t be present in a game of this magnitude. With the confirmation that they have screwed over fans, things are going to get even uglier before they get better – if they ever do get better. I hear they’re even having serious problems over on the Star Wars: The Old Republic side of things. What exactly is happening with a once mighty developer?

What are your thoughts on the BBB’s assessment of Mass Effect 3?

Related articles

• BioWare listened, Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut coming this summer.(donthatethegeek.com)

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• Angry Mass Effect 3 Players Report EA and BioWare to FTC over Game’s Ending(news.softpedia.com)

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