Digital Gonzo 148: Mass Effect 3 [The Civil War]
This has been the most requested Gonzo show in history. For a project of this magnitude we needed a Dynamic Analysis, and one that stretched out to cover the real world aspects of the controversy surrounding Mass Effect 3. So what I have assembled for you guys is a document of opinion. I have accrued the strong viewpoints of many many people, some of them Gonzo regulars, some of them newcomers, some of them are representations of the strongest views on this game, BioWare and indeed its fans and detractors that have been circulating on the internet for the last year and a half.
What I’ve found is evidence of something more approaching a civil war. It is my intention to accurately represent the views of both sides with as little bias as possible. The ideal would be to hear everyone out, but that may be a big ask for some. This gets pretty heated as you might imagine. As a result, and considering many of you will hold views of your own I have time-stamped each section so that you can jump to the next if what you hear is too objectionable.
Introduction
Angry Joe: Indoctrination Theory (08.50)
Jeremy Jahns: Mass Effect 3 Ending and Why We Hate It (31.20)
Holly Dotson – My Experience With Mass Effect 3 (39.50)
Bob Chipman: Game Overthinker #69: Game AfterMass (51.02)
FilmCritHulk: A Few Words on the Ending of Mass Effect 3 [Read by Alex Shaw] (1.05.18)
Sharon Shaw: The Third Choice (1.25.45)
J.C. Hutchins: Blood on My Hands: My Failure and Redemption in Mass Effect (1.35.15)
Leelee Scaldaferri – The Center of the Universe (1.57.35)
Following this we have the round-tables part. Three sessions with eight guests.
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September 17, 2013
Listened to the full thing, kinda interested to know more about Sharon Shaw after the ep.
Ep overall seems to side more heavily with the pro-Ending then anti-Ending side though. I am probably imagining it but you have two segments wherein people were arguing that the ending was unsatisfying and then most of the rest ripping into those other people.
FilmCritHulk came off as condescending and while having had some salient points ended up coming off as saying “You just DON’T GET IT YOU PLEBEIANS!” Also he perpetuates this whole “Citizen Kane of gaming” crap that just needs to stop. Gaming is it’s own artform, even comparing it to film is doing both mediums disservice. Furthermore video games as an artform is ever evolving. Change happens in video games. While I get that he feels it is a travesty that the original ending was changed, it happened because enough people didn’t get the ending and in that situation that is a problem inherent in the game’s story, and the way it was told. Personally I think if the Leviathan DLC had been included with the original game the ending as it was would have made WAY more sense and been more readily accepted by most BUT, the Leviathan storyline was cut and packaged as DLC. Ok rambling at this point. I do think the guy/gal has good points, but sometimes let his passion override his stance to his/her own detriment.
Leelee came at all of this more even-kilter, frustrated with those that didn’t get the ending but I guess not being a jerk about it and explaining her point better, least for me.
Overall good ep, didn’t agree with half the people on it but good thought provoking stuff regardless. interested to hear the roundtable upcoming.
Curious what people think about the Mass Relays exploding in ME3 in relation to the ME2 Arrival DLC where the relays being destroyed = mass destruction to a solar system.
September 24, 2013
I asked the community to send me as many articles as possible on both sides of the debate. I published everything I got. The ones that had a problem with Mass Effect 3 all seemed to be saying the same things so once they had had their say I moved on to the ones that were more positive, of which there was more variety.
There was another community member who was supposed to be writing his own anti-Mass Effect 3 piece but he pulled out at the last minute. By all means link us to any articles that continue this debate or illuminate further issues the detractors feel were left unaddressed.
Or you could write your own article about how the destruction of the Mass Relays destroyed a dozen star systems and all the planets on them and link to that.
September 24, 2013
I was literally just about to ask(whine) where this was.
September 24, 2013
The Cinema Hull is kinda pissing me off. Not because hes saying the ending is good and I’m wrong, but the fact hes saying it like “Oh you just wanted a happy ending where EVERYONE is happy and eating cake, and I’m just immature.” and I call ********. My favorite movies (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Empire Strikes Back, Requiem For A Dream, Se7en, Schindler’s List) have VERY dark endings its the fact that the ending is built around something that wasn’t the core part of the story for 90% of the series. It just felt like something that the creators pulled out of their *** in order to end the series.
September 24, 2013
The Cinema Hull did apologize for his tone. He wrote a much longer article about why he got so angry and why he was sorry so many folks got caught in the crossfire. It’s worth a read to get more of an idea of his overall ethos. http://badassdigest.com/2012/08/17/film-crit-hulk-smash-a-few-more-words-on-the-column-about-the-ending-of-mas/
September 26, 2013
Thanks so so much for this episode. If you remember me and my lengthy email a few months ago, this is exactly what I wanted. For anyone who’s wondering what my perspective is, I played and finished the trilogy for the first time this summer, going into it only knowing that for some reason the ending was horrible and that I’d get really emotionally attached. For me, only the latter was true. If I had been a player during this “civil war” as it goes, I think I would have been caught in the crossfire, like Film Crit Hulk mentions in his addendum article. But then again, would I have been? Here in my own perspective I find myself saying, “Oh that makes sense. And that makes sense too! And that one! All of these points seems valid, except the bizarrely angry ones.” But I can’t help but think, if I were a fan just last year, playing the game as it just came out with everyone else, that I would have been forced to take sides….just like the more disappointed fans said that Bioware forced them to make a decision with little room to move. It’s probably why I resonated most with Sharon’s piece. (And wow, being able to hear Sharon and JC wax poetic about their end choices for Synthesis and Control respectively, having chosen Destroy myself, was a beautiful thing. My Shepard’s choice, too, was incredibly easy.)
Anyways, can’t wait to get to the roundtable episode. I’m still very grateful that I can come late to the party and find it still very much in swing.
October 22, 2013
Thank you for this episode. It seems i’m coming late to the party but hey ho.
I dont really find myself siding with anyone in this debate other than holly dotson who i beleive was moderatly disapproving, relatively speaking anyway.
Something that strikes me is that the wide range of opinions you have kindly presented in the podcast may be because of the massive scale of the game. Its inherent in a game built upon decisions and consequences that not everybody played the same game even though it was the same game. J.C. Hutchins’ story of redemption following the of one of the major characters is a very different from my own story of a shepard who was trying to unite the universe together despite what personal tragadies would befall him. The fact that mass effect let us invest so much into some of the characters made a rod for its own back as well as being one of its most powerful acheivments.
From my experience of the game, the indoctrination theory and film crit hulks appraisal of the ending both feel like seeing patterns in chaos. The fact of the matter is that the way those final moments on the citadel were written broke the story for a lot of people. Whether the audience weren’t full prepared by the game or the explanation of an important part of the story wasn’t clear enough, the audience and the story failed to connect to catastrophic effect.
I didnt think mass effect was the citizen kane of gaming but more of a gigantic b-movie, liberally scatted with great moments but undermined by poor design and the sheer weight of being so huge in scope. Thats what mass effect looked like when i got to the end of it but i can fully appreciate that if someone else managed to find a particular path through the narrative that had a more potent effect, then all the better for them.