Oh look, another permanent beta, part 2

Yeah, I've got a complaint about Mass Effect 3's ending. You know, where you fight aliens and zombies in a devastated urban environment in order to reach a location called "the Citadel." Once you're there, you're stripped of all but one of your weapons before you can confront the villain, who's allied himself with the invaders in order to improve humanity. After he's dead, there's a conversation with a nigh-omnipotent being and an explosion, followed by a distinct lack of closure. What I'm trying to say here is not that I expected more than a big choice and a quick cutscene, but that I expected more than Half-Life 2 in The Future.

Once upon a time, a video game was released and that was the end of it. Fans could either take it or leave it. But in today's day and age, video game developers have got it in their heads that they actually need to change things in a game that's already been released because the fans said so.

Honestly, StarCraft II is probably still the biggest culprit, what with the montly patches to "fix" the balance. But Mass Effect has a pretty long list itself. Who remembers Blond FemShep? Or the fallout from Deception? When was the last time that a fanbase sucessfully petitioned a video game company to change a frakking tie-in book?

The first thing that comes to my mind is "you're a bunch of spoiled whiners. Yeah, Mass Effect 3 is the original Mass Effect with better graphics and higher stakes (and no vehicle section, which makes the game seem a hell of a lot smaller),* but it's not like it's politics. It's not like it's going to make Paul Ryan shove grannies off a cliff any faster, or..."

Then the sensible part of my head kicks in and reminds me that 1) I am obsessed with politics, and 2) the Paul Ryan thing is hyperbole.

Speaking of politics, I'm splitting off the political stuff in a new blog. Possibly tomorrow. Basically whenever the next time I have a) free time and b) something to say.

Then the other part of my head kicks in and reminds me that Mass Effect 3 has multiplayer, and the DLC is essentially BioWare's cash cow for the next year.

*That's it, I'm going to do a challenge. I'll do nothing but the main story missions in 1, 2, and 3 and get back to you on how long each one takes. (Though I'll have to do 2 loyalty missions on 2 just to have a living Shepard in 3.