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Mass Effect 3 ending OK'd by UK ad bureau

June 13, 2012 9:41AM PDT

Advertising Standards Authority says claims of individualized finale to sci-fi trilogy were not misleading; EA says ending variation takes place over final 3-5 hours of gameplay.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority has weighed in on complaints about the ending of Mass Effect 3, saying that Electronic Arts' promises of player decisions shaping the conclusion of the sci-fi role-playing trilogy were not misleading.

Where does the end of Mass Effect 3 begin?

After Mass Effect 3's March debut, fans vocally expressed their distaste for the endgame, saying the conclusion (which was capped off by one of three largely similar cutscenes) did not support player choices made over the course of the trilogy. Specifically at issue for the ASA were claims on the game's website that player decisions "completely shape your experience and outcome," and "drive powerful outcomes, including relationships with key characters, the fate of entire civilizations, and even radically different ending scenarios." Before ultimately concluding that the ad was not misleading, the ASA explained its position.

The ASA acknowledged the complainants' belief that players' choices in the game did not influence the outcome to the extent claimed by EA. However, we considered that the three choices at the end of the game were thematically quite different, and that the availability and effectiveness of those choices would be directly determined by a player's [Effective Military Strength] score, which was calculated with reference to previous performance in the game(s). We also acknowledged that there appeared to be a large number of minor variations in the end stages of ME3, and that those were directly impacted by choices made by players earlier in the game(s). Whilst we acknowledged that the advertiser had placed particular emphasis on the role that player choices would play in determining the outcome of the game, we considered that most consumers would realise there would be a finite number of possible outcomes within the game and, because we considered that the advertiser had shown that players' previous choices and performance would impact on the ending of the game, we concluded that the ad was not misleading.

Electronic Arts also offered its own defense of the ad, telling the ASA that it considered the ending of Mass Effect 3 to take place over the final three to five hours of the game, and not just in the very last cutscene. A portion of the publisher's spoiler-filled explanation follows below.

[Electronic Arts] said the effectiveness of the choice made was also dependent on the EMS score, for example whether the main character "Shepard" would survive and whether the Earth was destroyed. They said there were also a large number of other, more minor, variations. In particular, they explained how the outcome of the Geth/Quarian Campaign and the Genophage Campaign would impact on the cinematic experience at the end of the game, and the implied end state of the player's story. They said that characters who had died during previous games in the series, as a result of player actions, would not be present in ME3, and that other actions in previous games could also lead to the death of supporting characters in the game.

A Better Business Bureau representative said in April that Mass Effect 3's ending had been falsely advertised, but the US group differs from the ASA in that it has no legal authority to impose sanctions on companies.

Regardless, BioWare is revisiting the ending of Mass Effect 3 this summer with free "Extended Cut" downloadable content intended to expand on the RPG's endgame through "cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes."

By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Follow Follow @BrendanSinclair

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edmond_villamor 13 pts

People who are saying that they are boycotting EA or Bioware games are clearly childish. So what? when the next Dragon Age game comes out with a review score of 9 or higher you won't buy it? Get real. I hate the ending but its another bad business decision. I had a hell of a time playing the content so I still enjoyed the game. Lets face, people will always whine about something.

Skyrim: "lots of bugs. won't buy another Bethesda game at launch"

Max Payne 3: " DLC for maps? are you kidding me?"

Diablo 3: "Day one launch fail"

Crysis 2: "No Dx11? Is this the year 2011?"

so on and so forth.....extended cut is coming so I hope this will somehow calm the masses already.

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