THE BUZZ: A few Mass Effect 3 players out there have hated the game’s ending so much, they’ve asked Amazon for a refund on their purchase. Shockingly, the online retailer had been reported as doing just that.
EGM’s TAKE: Alright, I know I’m going to get some nasty comments from some of you out there for what I’m going to say, but that’s fine.
A few days ago, BioWare forum member Lycius posted that Amazon would be granting him (her?) a refund for his opened copy of the Mass Effect 3 Collector’s Edition.
“Maybe I can find another game that doesn’t crush my soul to spend that $80 on,” Lycius said to end his post.
Gaming website Video Game Writers then decided to see what kind of response they’d get to asking for a refund due to the game’s ending. They contacted Amazon, “told the Amazon rep we were completely unsatisfied with the game, and made clear that it was not Amazon’s fault; instead, we conveyed that it was the developer’s fault.”
Amazon’s response? That they would “issue a full or partial refund if you are not satisfied with the quality of Mass Effect 3, and it is the developer’s fault.” The Amazon rep said that the game would need to be returned within 30 days of purchase, and that upon receipt, Amazon’s returns department would evaluate the copy for the potential refund (which Video Game Writers stresses was not promised to be a full refund).
This type of refund isn’t new for Amazon the site points out: They did it before for another controversial BioWare game, Dragon Age 2, and with Apple’s Final Cut Pro X (which was a huge change feature-wise from its previous iteration).
So, okay, look—I can understand not being happy with the way a game ends. I’ve been there, many, many times. Hell, I grew up in the era of the NES, when nearly every game had an utterly terrible ending. And you know what? I didn’t care—because playing games were about the “playing” part, the adventure I’d had between the beginning and ending. A great ending can make you feel even more satisfied about the experience—but a bad ending doesn’t suddenly go back and retroactively make the entire game terrible where once you found it fun.
And that’s why I find all of this so ridiculous. Do I support people’s right to say they weren’t happy with how Mass Effect 3 ended? Absolutely. And to be clear, I haven’t played ME3 yet, so I haven’t seen this controversial ending for myself. As huge of a Mass Effect fan as I am, however, nothing the ending can or will do will erase all of the enjoyment I’ve gotten from the series up to this point.
Nor, I am certain, will it erase the fun I’ll have with Mass Effect 3. The ending is what, 5~10 minutes, out of a 40+ hour game? I’m supposed to suddenly be up in arms about a small portion of an experience being bad if most of the rest of it I enjoyed? That’s like going to a pizza shop, eating 7 1/2 slices of pizza, thinking it’s good enough to eat that much, and then finding that last 1/2 of a slice to taste bad. Did I want to end my pizza-eating experience on such a down note? Of course not—but it doesn’t change the fact that, up until then, I was finding that pizza perfectly delicious and edible.
For those of you who have played and beaten Mass Effect 3, and are disappointed, angry, or upset over how the game ended, I fully stand behind you and your wanting to express those opinions. However, if you’ve enjoyed a game enough to play it only to the end, hate the ending, and then suddenly believe you deserve a refund, you really need to re-think your outlook on life.
***NGIGA GUD***
source:
Amazon Offers Some Customers Refunds If They Hated Mass Effect 3′s Ending | EGMNOW
Amazon Offers Some Customers Refunds If They Hated Mass Effect 3′s Ending
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