Mass Effect 3 post-ending DLC teased by BioWare

The ending of Mass Effect 3 has proven unpopular with some who've played it, and even more who haven't, but now those cheeky scamps at BioWare are hinting that maybe, just maybe, that's not the end of it all. Plainly, this story contains spoilers.

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The ending of Mass Effect 3 has proven unpopular with some who've played it, and even more who haven't, but now those cheeky scamps at BioWare are hinting that maybe, just maybe, that's not the end of it all. Plainly, this story features spoilers for the end of ME3.

Now that we've shook off all the people who read the spoiler warning and looked away because they don't want to learn about the ending of Mass Effect 3, let's talk.

You and I both know that Shepard sacrifices herself at the end of the campaign to stop the Reapers. You probably also know that a fair number of players were dissatisfied with how it all wrapped up, starting polls and petitions in protest. They've also been talking to BioWare on Twitter, where Ten Ton Hammer collected a number of responses from BioWare hinting that this isn't all.

Amongst many hints to hold onto saves, was a teasing, perhaps telling, and slightly trolling response to a fan asking if that's how Shepard ends, teasing "We can't saaaaay!"

Then there's Mass Effect producer Michael Gamble, who wrote, "Hardest. Day. Ever. Seriously, if you people knew all the stuff we are planning...you'd, we'll - hold onto your copy of me3 forever."

At the very least, we can expect DLC BioWare thinks is very special. Changing the game's ending via DLC so the hero lives would be a pretty gutsy, and arguably frustrating, move, but it's not unprecedented--Bethesda did just that in Fallout 3 with Broken Steel.

Of course, not all of Mass Effect 3's endings actually end in Shepard's death. If you've met certain conditions, a short scene plays showing Shepard's body amongst debris, her chest expanding as she takes a breath. Only a subset of players will have actually accomplished this, though.

So what's BioWare up to? We won't know for certain until the official, authorised marketing campaign kicks off. Or perhaps until fans scouring the game's data files find some overlooked hints, much as the demo was found to contain files relating to the first DLC's Prothean squadmate.

From The Chatty
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    March 14, 2012 1:30 PM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Mass Effect 3 post-ending DLC teased by BioWare.

    The ending of Mass Effect 3 has proven unpopular with some who've played it, and even more who haven't, but now those cheeky scamps at BioWare are hinting that maybe, just maybe, that's not the end of it all. Plainly, this story contains spoilers.

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      March 14, 2012 1:35 PM

      Nice

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      March 14, 2012 1:35 PM

      Seeing as if you watch the end of the credits and that scene it says very clearly "Tell me another story of the Shepard." and the guy says ok, one more. Would sure seem to be there is more Shepard. Maybe he is a godlike being now.

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        March 14, 2012 1:45 PM

        try this out please. o [ your text ] o without spaces between everything.

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        March 14, 2012 2:18 PM

        I always figured that could relate to his earlier successes though, like against the Collectors, Saren, or the pre-game background option.

        But yes, if this happens I will pay lots. I liked the ending in a way; it was fitting. o [ But it was a ridiculous Deus Ex Machina. I would have preferred the crucible to just destroy or control the reapers and something like an electrical cable comes loose and Shepherd dies reconnecting them.

        But the creepy child citadel ending was okay. ] o

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      March 14, 2012 1:43 PM

      [deleted]

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        March 14, 2012 1:45 PM

        After the Jennifer Hepler shit, I would not want to reach out to the fans, at all, if I worked at Bioware (or any game company).

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      March 14, 2012 1:43 PM

      Ok, I want to rage at "pay more for the ending"...but really, when most players don't ever get to the end, why should they have to pay for it? So, logic would say: charge $10 less for game, sell ending as $10 DLC, right? Oh wait, how about charge $10 more for game, then charge another $10 for the ending. Now that is a smart move.

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        March 14, 2012 1:50 PM

        If it is rated well I will buy the damn DLC. I am too invested in the franchise not to. But I will probably think twice in the future about buying any bioware game at launch based solely on this and how it conflicts with my whiny nerd gamer principles.

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          March 14, 2012 2:09 PM

          I am too invested in the franchise not to. you are exactly what's wrong with this crap. They can get away with it because they know you will buy it.

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            March 14, 2012 2:17 PM

            They win.

            Buzzbat: 0
            EA: 1

            Rematch?

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        March 15, 2012 7:04 AM

        Nope. Won't pay extra on top of full price to get what should have been included with the game in the first place. But then again, after the Dragon Age DLC debacle, I'm not giving EA any DLC money anyway.

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      March 14, 2012 1:51 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 1:56 PM

      So not only do they remove a part of the game to stick into pre-order DLC (read the leaked scripts, he's actually a different part of the game that was obviously changed mid development to be a squadmate rather than plot point). Now they will put the ending of the game out as DLC a few months after the game ships?

      One way to combat second hand sales I guess. I'll just watch them on youtube instead.

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        March 14, 2012 3:00 PM

        I thought I read this too. I remember reading the DLC character was to take the place of the Prothean VI in the temple.

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          March 14, 2012 3:15 PM

          WTF'd this by accident.

          Yeah. In the story treatment you gain a Prothean squad member (potentially at the cost of killing one of your own team. This bit was replaced by the Udina bit) who then takes you to Thessia to access the Prothean artifact to get more data on the catalyst. That is then stolen by Kai Leng. Its probably why he has so many lines relevant to the different artifacts on Thessia. He seems like something extraneous that they could easily cut out.

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      March 14, 2012 1:58 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 2:04 PM

      >:(

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      March 14, 2012 2:05 PM

      Why do so many people care about ME3 when there's a timer on baldursgate.com?

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      March 14, 2012 2:25 PM

      lol at whiney little faggots who bitched about the ending when they havent even seen them all

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      March 14, 2012 2:32 PM

      hahaha

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      March 14, 2012 2:49 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 2:50 PM

      Bioware says "We are pleased you like our product and since you are not satisfied with the endings we had over 5 years to build up to.... get ready.... because for $20-50 more you can extend your experience with our 5-10 hours of DLC to be pissed even more after that. Thanks for your money.. now get to steppin"

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      March 14, 2012 2:57 PM

      BioWare are hinting that maybe, just maybe, that's not the end of it all.

      They did what rage wanted to do.

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        March 14, 2012 3:01 PM

        It's looking like Rage really was the end of it all for Id.

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          March 14, 2012 3:55 PM

          I don't know; QuakeCon 2012 didn't get cancelled (or bumped out by an orthodontist convention) yet.

          Rage felt like a "my first 360 game", in the sense that they had the preorder bonus, the forced tutorial cutscenes, and the ending with a plausible DLC follow-up... and then they laid off staff a month or two after release, and have only released bug fix patches ever since.

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      March 14, 2012 3:29 PM

      Hahahaha. The entire goddamn point of this is to kill the reselling market. "Hold on to the game, kids, because we are going to have the real ending a year later. If you sell it to gamestop, you won't find out what happened!" They figure that, after the couple of months it will take to come out, all the reselling will be done with.

      The whole point of this is to fuck Gamestop.

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        March 14, 2012 3:46 PM

        You don't need to have the disk to keep your save file ..

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          March 14, 2012 4:04 PM

          Yeah, if anything it would encourage them to sell it off now, and buy it back el-cheapo later

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            March 14, 2012 4:16 PM

            Or sell it off sooner because they know the ending is pos

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          March 14, 2012 4:12 PM

          Can't play DLC for a game you no longer have.

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        March 14, 2012 4:20 PM

        I love how they hate GameStop so much but support them by giving them preorder DLC and other bullshit anyway.

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      March 14, 2012 3:45 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 3:49 PM

      Holy fucking spoilers batman.

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        March 14, 2012 3:50 PM

        If only there was a warning in the very first paragraph!

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        March 14, 2012 4:04 PM

        I'm really glad I haven't spoiled it for myself yet, it's the only thing keeping me trudging through the fucking citadel for the billionth time running at the speed of fucking slugs

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      March 14, 2012 4:13 PM

      I really only stopped in to say: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! <steps away from mic to breathe> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

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      March 14, 2012 4:14 PM

      [deleted]

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        March 14, 2012 4:21 PM

        If you are a fan of the series the ending will probably be a bummer; some few people liked it though.

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          March 14, 2012 4:48 PM

          [deleted]

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            March 14, 2012 5:33 PM

            What really bugged me is when something sad happened then Joker told a joke and said "Too soon?" and I couldn't answer with "No"

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            March 14, 2012 8:20 PM

            that intro was WTF, then they kept going with it with those stupid dream sequences

            Yeah they made it seem that hospital shit was a big deal but i dont think anyone likes those characters whereas everyone should love Garrus

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      March 14, 2012 4:28 PM

      Wow, so now we have to pay extra for the "real" ending, eh? Lame bioware...lame. Thats really milking the DLC spectrum, what slimeballs.

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      March 14, 2012 4:33 PM

      The ending doesn't need to be recon'ed just given a type of fallout / Dragon Age: Origins epilogue to give closure to a 3 game series over 100+ hours. Bioware wanted us to keep our saves for 3 games to keep track of our "Shepard" and then choke at the last seconds.

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        March 14, 2012 5:21 PM

        My thinking exactly. They dont need fancy new content or even cutscenes. It could be made quickly, easily and nearly free.

        Some of the best endings for me are those old school RPG endings that are just a Power Point slide show with voice over -- a completely personalized ending that tells you the outcomes of everything you did. Even as recent as the Fallout New Vegas DLC endings, Old World Blues was a satisyfing ending.

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          March 14, 2012 5:39 PM

          Though given the ending I'm not sure there would be much of an epilogue besides "The entire galaxy is sent back to the stone age"

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        March 14, 2012 7:56 PM

        [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 5:42 PM

      The ending was terrible. Normally I'd find the idea of 'ending DLC' to be abhorrent but I have to make an exception here because the choices and events of 3 games cannot end that poorly.

      Hell, even a patch to just fade out and into credits about 5 minutes earlier would be better than what is there now.

      It's a shame because the rest of the game was awesome.

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        March 14, 2012 8:28 PM

        Here's the thing. DON'T make an exception for this. It's still abhorrent.

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          March 14, 2012 11:02 PM

          I'd make an exception in this one case if it game me proper closure. After that I won't touch a new bioware game unless it's 5 bucks on steam.

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      March 14, 2012 7:12 PM

      I'm so glad I don't care enough about this game to be upset.
      Maybe I'll pick it up with all the DLC later on the cheap, maybe not.

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      March 14, 2012 7:33 PM

      Fuck yeah internet bitching! im sure theyll claim they planned this all along

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      March 14, 2012 7:49 PM

      people will still buy it

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      March 14, 2012 11:36 PM

      LOL And all you morons will gobble it up like little children.

      "This is the LAST time I get fooled by them!"

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        March 15, 2012 3:26 AM

        I enjoyed ME3. It was fitting. It tied off the story. No one is ever happy when there is a final conclusion to a series because people want everything. You give them something interesting, they hate it. You give them a generic hero hooray, it's generic. You make it too long and player choices add too much to the budget, too short and they whine.

        Plus ME3 could have been twice as good as it was, and people would bitch.

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          March 15, 2012 4:54 AM

          I honestly would have been happy with any ending if the choices over three games influenced something at the end of the game. It really doesn't matter if Shepard lived or died or certain good/horrible things occurred as long as there was a cause and effect from three games of choices.

          If Bioware would have marketed this game as a action cover shooter like Gears of War I really don't think you would have seen the same amount of people complaining. As it stands Mass Effect series is somewhere between a cover shooter and a RPG that lets you direct parts of the story through your choices.

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            March 15, 2012 7:49 AM

            I just wanted to be able to have more of a payoff with my Tali romance besides the photo.

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          March 25, 2012 10:11 PM

          Dude...... DUDE.... DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

          that was not an ending that was 15 falcon punches in both balls and a falcon kick in the dick.

          Every choice you ever did in mass effect was made obsolete and irrelevant by the ending.
          they might as well have just made the whole series into 1 game and call it

          "Shepard, Explosive Colors"

          Play shepard as he chooses which color to FK everyone and everything in the galaxy with.

          Will it be Renegade RED, Apathetic Green, Or Saint Blue. find out in the next 15 hours how bioware can FK their whole fanbase in 10 minutes.

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        March 15, 2012 4:02 AM

        WTF, and I can't believe the "donations" are past 40K. People are fucking stupid. Classic example of getting rammed up the ass and asking for seconds.

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        March 15, 2012 7:01 AM

        [deleted]

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      March 15, 2012 4:13 AM

      sighhhhhhh

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      March 15, 2012 4:26 AM

      fuck bioware, so glad I canceled my preorder.

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      March 15, 2012 4:56 AM

      Im sorry but have gamers standards dropped so low they are pleased a developer made plans to sell an INCOMPLETE game to them to release the ending at a later date???? And if we have to pay for the ending which should be with the main game (THIS IS NOT AN EPISODIC GAME) your happy with that?????? If someone sold you a car without the brakes didn't tell you, you lived through it only for them to try and sell you the brakes after you find out would you be god damn happy about that too???? Geez people get some goddamn standards........my only concern is the poor SOB's that bought the game and DON'T have a net connection

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        March 16, 2012 10:22 PM

        Hey, at least we live in an age where developers can fix their mistakes - you DO know there existed a time before the internet where if you asked the developers for a different ending they'd have a right good laugh at you.

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        March 25, 2012 10:13 PM

        I hate bioware, I just love mass effect. WHY KILL MASS EFFECT FOR SOME STUPID MONEY ARHRHARGHKARGKJARGRAKALR

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      March 15, 2012 6:48 AM

      This is a more reasonable explanation of why fans are disappointed with the ending.
      http://www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/

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        March 15, 2012 6:58 AM

        As recently as January, Casey Hudson was telling Game Informer that “This story arc is coming to an end with this game. That means the endings can be a lot more different. At this point we’re taking into account so many decisions that you’ve made as a player and reflecting a lot of that stuff.” Even today, the official Mass Effect Site bears this message along the top of the page:

        “EXPERIENCE THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END OF AN EMOTIONAL STORY UNLIKE ANY OTHER, WHERE THE DECISIONS YOU MAKE COMPLETELY SHAPE YOUR EXPERIENCE AND OUTCOME.”

        As good as Mass Effect 3 is — and it really is an exceptional game in many important ways — the product BioWare ultimately delivered literally broke that promise, and that, more than anything else, is why fans are so angry.

        It’s been said more than once that the “multiple” endings of Mass Effect 3 are too similar, but if you have played it, and you’re honest about it, you have to admit that similar doesn’t even begin to describe it. They are all functionally identical.


        It goes on like that. Pretty unbelievable that all the effort BioWare put this epic series is partially voided by such a terrible finish. What the hell were they thinking? I don't think anyone thought the conclusion would live up to their expectations, but this apparently goes beyond the worst scenario anyone could dream up. And the designers and writers and team all signed off on it?

        I really hope someone does an extremely in depth post-morten once all the shit settles. I'd like to know wtf was going on over there.

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        March 16, 2012 10:47 PM

        *Sigh* I don't want to talk about it.

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