If you’re like me, you like to have your investment repaid in some way, shape or form. In the case of Mass Effect 3, it chose to end in the most 180 degree way possible. I was angry and upset; you know what I did? I went to my friends who had played the game and discussed in a civil manner why the ending to Mass Effect 3 was disappointing. We conversed about how space magic and different colors in an ending leaves the player wanting something more.
What I did not do is jump on the developer’s and publisher’s (Bioware and Electronic Arts respectively) forums and kick and scream that the ending was bad. I did not create Facebook groups or online petitions called “Retake Mass Effect.” I did not do that because that is not how art forms should be discussed. Bioware answered the call of the pissed off Mass Effect fans and gave them an extended look at the ending. But the damage had already been done.
And then it was announced that the co-founders of Bioware left on Sept. 18. Ray Muzyka left on a higher note saying that:
“I now desire to take on a brand new entrepreneurial challenge," he says. "Likely focus on an entirely new industry — the field of social/impact investing.”
While Greg Zeschuk’s statement made the mood feel less so:
“This decision isn’t without significant pain and regret, but it’s also something I know I need to do," Zeschuk says. "I've reached an unexpected point in my life where I no longer have the passion that I once did for the company, for the games and for the challenge of creation.”
But there is another side to this retirement where the responsibility can be placed upon the fans.
According to Now Gamer, “Ex-Bioware co-founder, Trent Osner, believes the negative fan reaction to Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic could have attributed to Ray Muzkya and Greg Zeschuk’s decision to leave Bioware and the games industry.”
Osner says that the last time I met up with Zeschuk, he felt his exhaustion.
To have the fans creating petitions against the work is pretty hard to take, especially when you’ve spent the last few years cruching overtime to try and ship a game," he says. "I’m sure the internal culture at EA had pinned the Old Republic conversion to free to play as a failure and hung that completely on Ray.”
All I have to say to my readers is this: the next time you feel angry about something and you need an outlet, please use Microsoft Word and expel your thoughts to yourself.
Follow me on Twitter @MaroonandGamer or send me an email to shfawcet@asu.edu
