Similarly, director’s cut editions are usually put out at the behest of the director, not a group of moviegoers who felt cheated and launched a campaign. The Fallout 3 example is apt, though.

I agree with you that fans don’t simply want a happy ending. That’s how Penny Arcade misses the point. They do want the feeling that their actions impact the ending(s) in a more quantifiable fashion. That’s something I touch upon in my follow-up article.

Remember the movie Van Helsing? In the film’s climax, Hugh Jackman is transformed back to human and isn’t wearing any clothes, so you had Jackman’s ass distracting the audience in what was supposed to be a serious scene. The digital effects team added pants in the final version of the film and artistic integrity was not lost.

Want a video game example? Okay then. Fallout 3 had a terrible ending. It was brief, rushed, didn’t let you free roam and just made no goddamn sense, a lot like Mass Effect 3. There was also an uproar amongst fans. What did Bethesda do? They changed the ending with the “Broken Steel” DLC.

On the subject on fans, they don’t want a happy ending. They don’t want everyone to. They want resolution and closure for a series they’ve devoted years to, not some piss poor BS about Casper the genocidal ghost and all the great characters like Garrus and Javik or whatever just get sidelined, like they don’t matter.

There’s creative integrity and creative suicide, and Mass Effect 3′s ending falls into the later.

And despite essentially picking at every tiny imperfection and being gloriously offensive I think if the BioWare team were to ever peak in here and read your script they’d leave all flattered and rosy-cheeked because of the obvious love and dedication that went into exploring every bit and bob of their creation.

I’ll be following your work with pleasure!