Not overly terrifying at all! All your thoughts are really intriguing - here, and your other posts on the games. In some aspects we have very similar feelings (you articulated my own thoughts about Mordin's complex character, and I <3 everything you say about synthetic intelligences) and in other ways our fanning is totally different, and I enjoyed the alternative perspectives. I admit, part of me is jealous of how you understood the original ending, that it worked for you as it did. But I'm so grateful that you were able to convey some of that experience - you genuinely made my own understanding of the ending (and with it the games as a whole) a lot more satisfying. With the bonus that I now understand existentialism better than I did...
(Plus I spent a couple hours debating with a friend in defense of the ending, which she roundly hated - don't worry, we both enjoy such debates, had a lot of fun; and she's replaying ME3 now to see how she feels about the ending with new context.)
I've read all the articles/posts you linked - and quite a bit more, I've gotten slightly obsessed. I admit, there's a part of me that finds the fan reaction to the end as fascinating as the end itself. And I've seen enough that the Film Critic Hulk's reaction (and apology) didn't seem out of place.
My own experience is a bit odd. Most of my prior knowledge of ME came from my brother, a long-time gamer who falls solidly in the stereotpyical dudebro demographic along most axises, but is somewhat idiosyncratic in his tastes. From him and other gamer friends of mine, I'd heard the ending was controversial/frustrating/bad, and that there had been some major blowback. But as a longtime fan I'm used to controversies about endings - I've been on all sides of those arguments, hating certain endings that were widely liked, and liking unpopular endings because I saw something in them that was generally missed.
My brother didn't like the ending, but his issue with it was that he saw it as completely destroying the universe - as far as he was concerned, which choice you made was moot, because the destruction of the mass relays would kill everyone anyway, what with half the galaxy's stars going nova and survivors completely cut off from any support. (My impression is that the mass relay destruction wasn't intended to be quite that catastrophic and that's why they walked it back in the EC, but...) I kind of assumed that was the general reaction, that people equally hated all the endings.
So I was astonished, when I finished playing last month and started looking up alternate scenes and things on youtube, and starting seeing all the comments insisting Destroy was the only 'right' moral choice. It was particularly weird because one of the few spoilers I'd had from both my brother and another friend was that there was one ending choice that Shepard could survive, but it was the worst ending otherwise and not worth it. All three of us chose Synthesis - for my Shepard, it was the only possible decision. With that limited sample I had no idea that Synthesis was an unpopular choice (at least in some places online!) I thought all the endings, like most of the other major choices of the games, had been pretty carefully balanced to not be clearly right or wrong, and I could see how any of them could be the right choice for some versions of Shepard. Considering moral relativism is one of the major themes of the games...I'm a bit boggled by how thoroughly some people missed the point there.
(And I'm really glad I played the games so much later, after all these debates have passed, because I fear I'd have gotten into some epic flamewars. Even now, reading about things like the Indoctrination Theory have me flipping out - the argument that Control represents TIM's indoctrination philosophy and Synthesis is Saren's and therefore Destroy is the right answer is just...guys, committing smaller-scale genocide in the name of preventing a greater genocide is the Reapers' philosophy straight up!)
...So, yeah, considering how fraught it is just reading these old posts, I completely understand how your experience with them real-time would have tainted the EC for you, even putting aside your other qualms. I'm glad you can uninstall and forget it! (I'm tempted to do so myself next time I do a playthrough, to experience the original endings - I've watched some of them on youtube, but playing them is definite different.) (Or else I might keep the EC installed but stop the game before the voiceover/montage - because yeah, I can see what you mean about the uncertainty, and imagining for yourself what could happen next. I also do like - I can't remember if it was you or another post I've read elsewhere, but someone pointed out that it's only right for the games to end before you see what happens next - that your window to the universe closes with Shepard's death, and that it breaks the immersion to be able to see more than a glimpse past it. Though I do like having enough of a glimpse to confirm that the Catalyst wasn't completely lying - my favorite part of the EC is the moment on the battlefield with the random soldiers, and the different reactions of the husks, was really affecting, for me.)
Also, re: your friend's concept of Control - heh, I have another friend who has never and doesn't plan to play the games, who when I laid out the basic concepts of the endings, immediately said that Control was the obvious choice, because it still allowed for the other two options as well, you could either destroy yourself, or initiate synthesis at your leisure...
I can say that the fandom does seem to have calmed down - I've posted a few thoughts on the games and their endings in my lj, and while I've had a few people offering their opinions about the ending, and which they chose and why, no one's been judgmental about it. I'm not sure if the EC helped assuage the upset or if it's just relaxed over time, but I'm enjoying being able to discuss it.
--And while I have you (if you've managed to get through this novel of a comment!) and since I'm not sure I left comments on the proper posts - I really loved both of your ME vids. The one to Bleeding Out in particular captured the experience of the game and its collapsing multiverse feel beautifully!
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Date: 2015-04-29 07:48 pm (UTC)(Plus I spent a couple hours debating with a friend in defense of the ending, which she roundly hated - don't worry, we both enjoy such debates, had a lot of fun; and she's replaying ME3 now to see how she feels about the ending with new context.)
I've read all the articles/posts you linked - and quite a bit more, I've gotten slightly obsessed. I admit, there's a part of me that finds the fan reaction to the end as fascinating as the end itself. And I've seen enough that the Film Critic Hulk's reaction (and apology) didn't seem out of place.
My own experience is a bit odd. Most of my prior knowledge of ME came from my brother, a long-time gamer who falls solidly in the stereotpyical dudebro demographic along most axises, but is somewhat idiosyncratic in his tastes. From him and other gamer friends of mine, I'd heard the ending was controversial/frustrating/bad, and that there had been some major blowback. But as a longtime fan I'm used to controversies about endings - I've been on all sides of those arguments, hating certain endings that were widely liked, and liking unpopular endings because I saw something in them that was generally missed.
My brother didn't like the ending, but his issue with it was that he saw it as completely destroying the universe - as far as he was concerned, which choice you made was moot, because the destruction of the mass relays would kill everyone anyway, what with half the galaxy's stars going nova and survivors completely cut off from any support. (My impression is that the mass relay destruction wasn't intended to be quite that catastrophic and that's why they walked it back in the EC, but...) I kind of assumed that was the general reaction, that people equally hated all the endings.
So I was astonished, when I finished playing last month and started looking up alternate scenes and things on youtube, and starting seeing all the comments insisting Destroy was the only 'right' moral choice. It was particularly weird because one of the few spoilers I'd had from both my brother and another friend was that there was one ending choice that Shepard could survive, but it was the worst ending otherwise and not worth it. All three of us chose Synthesis - for my Shepard, it was the only possible decision. With that limited sample I had no idea that Synthesis was an unpopular choice (at least in some places online!) I thought all the endings, like most of the other major choices of the games, had been pretty carefully balanced to not be clearly right or wrong, and I could see how any of them could be the right choice for some versions of Shepard. Considering moral relativism is one of the major themes of the games...I'm a bit boggled by how thoroughly some people missed the point there.
(And I'm really glad I played the games so much later, after all these debates have passed, because I fear I'd have gotten into some epic flamewars. Even now, reading about things like the Indoctrination Theory have me flipping out - the argument that Control represents TIM's indoctrination philosophy and Synthesis is Saren's and therefore Destroy is the right answer is just...guys, committing smaller-scale genocide in the name of preventing a greater genocide is the Reapers' philosophy straight up!)
...So, yeah, considering how fraught it is just reading these old posts, I completely understand how your experience with them real-time would have tainted the EC for you, even putting aside your other qualms. I'm glad you can uninstall and forget it! (I'm tempted to do so myself next time I do a playthrough, to experience the original endings - I've watched some of them on youtube, but playing them is definite different.) (Or else I might keep the EC installed but stop the game before the voiceover/montage - because yeah, I can see what you mean about the uncertainty, and imagining for yourself what could happen next. I also do like - I can't remember if it was you or another post I've read elsewhere, but someone pointed out that it's only right for the games to end before you see what happens next - that your window to the universe closes with Shepard's death, and that it breaks the immersion to be able to see more than a glimpse past it. Though I do like having enough of a glimpse to confirm that the Catalyst wasn't completely lying - my favorite part of the EC is the moment on the battlefield with the random soldiers, and the different reactions of the husks, was really affecting, for me.)
Also, re: your friend's concept of Control - heh, I have another friend who has never and doesn't plan to play the games, who when I laid out the basic concepts of the endings, immediately said that Control was the obvious choice, because it still allowed for the other two options as well, you could either destroy yourself, or initiate synthesis at your leisure...
I can say that the fandom does seem to have calmed down - I've posted a few thoughts on the games and their endings in my lj, and while I've had a few people offering their opinions about the ending, and which they chose and why, no one's been judgmental about it. I'm not sure if the EC helped assuage the upset or if it's just relaxed over time, but I'm enjoying being able to discuss it.
--And while I have you (if you've managed to get through this novel of a comment!) and since I'm not sure I left comments on the proper posts - I really loved both of your ME vids. The one to Bleeding Out in particular captured the experience of the game and its collapsing multiverse feel beautifully!