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Mass Effect 3 falsely advertised, says BBB

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Better Business Bureau reports BioWare's promises for meaningful player choices in spacefaring action role-playing game not fulfilled.

The Mass Effect 3 drama continues. Since the game launched last month, fans have vocally expressed their distaste for the endgame, claiming BioWare did not allow players to fully forge a unique destiny. Now, these users have scored a strong ally: the Better Business Bureau.

The BBB thinks Mass Effect 3 represents false advertising.

The BBB thinks Mass Effect 3 represents false advertising.

In a post to the firm's consumer news and opinion blog, BBB director of marketplace services Marjorie Stephens explained that BioWare directed a misleading advertising campaign for Mass Effect 3.

"The issue at stake here is, did BioWare falsely advertise?" she wrote. "Technically, yes, they did."

Stephens made her claim by analyzing two of the game's much-distributed marketing taglines. The first line she examined was a promise that Mass Effect 3 players will be able to "experience the beginning, middle, and end of an emotional story unlike any other, where the decisions you make completely shape your experience and outcome."

Of the line, Stephens says BioWare did not deliver players the ability to fully craft their own unique experience. "There is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute," she said.

The second marketing line Stephens referenced was, "Along the way, your choices drive powerful outcomes, including relationships with key characters, the fate of entire civilizations, and even radically different ending scenarios."

Regarding this statement, Stephens says BioWare's messaging is very subjective. Reading this line, she claims, a player would have a difficult time reaching the conclusion that "the game's outcome is not 'wholly' determined by one's choices."

Stephens ended her blog entry by noting companies have a responsibility to accurately craft their marketing messaging.

"The lesson to be learned here is companies should give careful consideration to how they word their advertisements. Otherwise, there could be detrimental effects, especially in the era of social media and online forums."

Last week, BioWare announced Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut, a free piece of content headed to gamers this summer. The content aims to address fans' concerns regarding the Mass Effect 3 endgame by providing "greater context," but no new endings.

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He lives in Connecticut, works out of the company's New York City office, and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

680 Comments

  • KamikazeCanuck

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 1:30 pm GMT

    @vivekraikkonen
    Yes you should get ME3. Don't let the internet trick you into not buying a great game.

  • KamikazeCanuck

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 1:24 pm GMT

    @calvinsora
    Couldn't agree more.

  • calvinsora Site Greeter

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 1:12 pm GMT

    Why talk so much about this? Honestly, the only thing I've heard about Mass Effect 3 is its ending and how EA are money-grabbing leeches. I'm not disclaiming those allegations, but honestly, this has reached new heights of embarrassment for the outward visage of video-gamers.

  • ApocaLeepse

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 12:28 pm GMT

    @GameNow79 - Games were cheap back then, so it really wasn't much of a loss even if you did buy a rubbish game. Now we have publishers trying to increase the overall prices of games just about every year. To make things worse, with some games you're actually paying more for less when you compare these games to games made about 10 years ago.

    IMO, people are fully entitled to have a go at a company if they falsely advertise a game, especially when they are as expensive as they are these days.

  • rhollingsworth

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 11:46 am GMT

    First of all the Extended Cut is NOT going to change the ending. Just fill in more story aspects to maybe brace you more for the ending.

    Secondly, its a freaking game people. Do you go and sue a movie studio because they pretend their latest movie is better than "some other movie" but then when you go see it, the movie sucks? If you are unhappy, dont buy it or return it. I personally love the game and if the ending is dissappointing so be it, but the ride to get there is amazing and done brilliantly. People are so anal anymroe about everything. Get a life and stop whining over the little things in life that are really meaningless

  • DARKNESSxEAGLE

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 11:06 am GMT

    @Muteki_X Because in the end, all those people would still pay even if they were warned.

  • StammBladecastr

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 9:28 am GMT

    If the tagline for ME3 was "In the end, none of your choices will matter" I still would have bought it. For me, the storytelling was more important that the idea that my decisions will play more than a minor role in the overall story. That doesn't excuse them for claiming that my decisions would play a role... but it was never a selling point for me.

  • Muteki_X

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 5:43 am GMT

    Hey BBB, how about tackling the issue of game companies selling us supposedly full and complete products at full price, only to find out there are chunks cut out to be sold at a premium later?

  • Mar044

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 2:54 am GMT

    bbb would be after gamespot or any company for comparisons alone, this is sad when there is more legit things they should look into gaming for such as i dont know...not allowing you to buy used games in the future....guess you shouldnt buy a used car also......

  • GameNow79

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 2:15 am GMT

    Yeah, sounds like the messaging for the campaign was definitely misleading. However, as a series-based video game, does even the BBB, let alone the sour fans, even have a case? I'm a huge fan of the series, and the third game was great nonetheless. Yeah, a bit disappointing, but a great game.

    I grew up in the era when the NES ruled, follwoing the Atari systems' successes, or lack thereof. Back then, there were a million games you could buy that were complete crap. I still have a bunch of them. Did I or my parents want to sue the publisher because the games sucked? No! Back then you either said it sucked and stopped playing it, returned it, or just sucked it up an moved onto a new game! Like you could really be playing "with power" on the NES, too, right?

    This culture is too sue-happy now. If you don't like the game, just get pissed, complain, and move on. It's not like the company published a non-working product and refused to "fix" it. That would be a different case altogether!

    I'm not old at all, just old enough to realize the above, especially growing up when 8-bit ruled the streets! Did "The Wizard" accurately provide a good movie experience? Or, was it just a Nintendo marketing effort!?

    Damn! Get over this Mass Effect 3 thing. I destroyed that game and loved it. Could it have been better and more aligned with EA's marketing? Yes, it could have been. But who the hell cares!?

  • travo0159

    Posted Apr 13, 2012 1:59 am GMT

    Hey can the BBB do anything about axe deodorants and body sprays? they advertise ladies flocking to me and it doesn't work

  • TryDaBeardON

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 10:05 pm GMT

    Wow, whadda ya know. People actually read those things? I had no idea that was even on there. Good thing we have BBB to keep us safe. Otherwise there would be all these ads out there that don't tell the truth! Oh, wait...

  • anthonycg

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 10:04 pm GMT

    I don't think they can legally do anything about it. They're just blowing smoke.

  • Flip_9

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 7:32 pm GMT

    I absolutely love how this comment list has become all about if the ending sucked or didn't. The "point" of this article is if the ending was falsely advertised or not. So hopefully we can all agree that it was fa;se;y advertised and that in and of it self is justification to feel disrespected by bioware. and well, if you don't agree then you're either too high or dumb for your opinion to matter.

  • X-RS

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 7:14 pm GMT

    Mass Effect 3 falsely advertised, says Marjorie Stephens Blog

    Wanna read mine? =D

  • smurfa1

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 7:01 pm GMT

    @blackwing55: As you I am quite satisfied with the ending too. I put more than 60 hours into my every character in each of the first two games. I do care for my characters. I love the ME-universe and it is the one I am most interested in, in the entire gaming industry. At first I was dissapointed by the end but the more I watch it and start to think about it the more I start to like it.

    It does love much unexplained and open for interpretation, but I still like it and I hope this extra video will answer some parts. But I do not want BioWare to change the ending. This whole thing has blown up way too much in my opinion.

  • benwah_23

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 6:38 pm GMT

    @blackwing, don't act like you're one of the few that nearly completed 100% of all 3 games and think it's only the people who played ME3 that are complaining. Also, I have NO CLUE how you can consider that the ending you wanted. The ending was sub-par at best. Hopefully, this extended cut gives the fans of the series what they deserve.

  • XboxGuy1537

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 6:32 pm GMT

    Who gives a damn.

  • blackwing55

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 6:16 pm GMT

    Why all this talk of the "BAD ending" is really starting to annoy me i beat the first game near %100 and the second 100% if anyone should be pissed it should be me. Im not though i got the ending i wanted. Im pretty happy about it especially with the extended cut which is bescally an epilouge which is what i thought was missing. this thing is getting blown way out of proportion i have other friends who have owned all three which agree with me.

  • SythisTaru

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 6:05 pm GMT

    Sopranos.

  • WCAR18

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 6:05 pm GMT

    This is garbage!!! She probably never even played the game. Everybody wants there 15 minutes I guess...

  • pllariviere

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 5:43 pm GMT

    If Bioware has to re-do its ending... the BBB should also look up to Deus Ex: Human Revolution's ending. S***ed as much as Mass Effect 3's.

  • Shantmaster_K

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 5:31 pm GMT

    Like I really care what the BBB thinks... They have ME3 being release Q4 2011. Like they know anything. Just jumping on the bandwagon. Fail

  • Shantmaster_K

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 5:29 pm GMT

    The decisions you make in 1 and 2 do effect your experience and outcomes in the game... Maybe not the ending, which I am not a fan of, but you can't say that it doesn't.

  • sepir

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 5:23 pm GMT

    vivekraikkonen: I say don't skip it. 40-45 hours of greatness, with only 15 minutes of bad writing at the end. Maybe wait until the Extended Cut comes out if that last 15 minutes is really going to bother you (but hey, you may be one of the people that actually like it).

  • Darbius

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 4:36 pm GMT

    This is one of those cases where the BBB should have just said, "That's stupid, go away." I mean, why don't we sue Microsoft for claiming their OS is the most efficient and user-friendly (of which it is neither). People say things in advertising to hype up their own products and we all know that with 80% of products made, that delivery falls short of advertising. In other words, get over it.

  • ggregd

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 4:32 pm GMT

    @Johnny-n-Roger As I said later on in the comments, I agree the trend toward corporatization has been going on for a long time. Though I would call it years and not a "few decades". It's been happening since about the time Microsoft got involved in gaming.

    As a gamer I don't consider myself a consumer of a product, any more than I consider myself a consumer of books, movies, paintings or any other art form. Games and those other items are not commodities. My idealistic notions are alive and well in the Indie game community and even at some of the larger development houses. It's only dead at the giant companies you listed. Their business practices are first and foremost aimed at profits, while gamers, the hobby and the art form take very distant second place, at best, if they even consider them.

    I have nothing against capitalism. I think companies that put gamers, innovation and artistry first will do well in the market and the corporations that are killing those ideals will be forced out of the industry. People already hate those companies and they're itching for an alternative.

  • Jd1680a

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 4:28 pm GMT

    People need to stop taking advertising seriously from the same people are selling it. Really are they going to say the content in this game can be found like any other game and its not worth paying $60? No, they are going to word in a way to get people to buy it and the ones who excepted their message as gospel would be their loss.

  • supertom221

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 4:11 pm GMT

    FINALLY, someone is adressing this!

    How did they even get away with something like this is beyond me.

  • xeis-net

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 4:10 pm GMT

    @vivekraikkonen get the game it's fine: metacritic is full of people who think if you don't get the moon on a stick the game is worth 0. IMO it is a solid 8.5 the multi player is good (not to PC standard multiplayer mind you) AI fantastic, combat improved, story pretty good, and my bet is you will think the end is ok to (on the first play through). If you watch YouTube critiques of the ending they do make sense, but honestly when I saw the ending I thought it was fine if a tad unemotional for the grand culmination. I played ME1 on PC, ME 2 & 3 on 360 and am not a huge Bioware fan, I refused to play DAIi because of the dumbing down, but this has not happened IMO with ME3. It is a great game with a slightly "meh" ending.

  • RobotPirteGhost

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 4:05 pm GMT

    First off, I have not played ME3 and have no desire to. But even so, I think this is ridiculous. Getting the BBB involved just because you don't like the ending? Keep stuff like this up and no one will want to make games anymore for fear off getting sued.

  • Johnny-n-Roger

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 3:32 pm GMT

    ggregd wrote: "Way to go crybabies. You've just helped move gaming from an art form into the corporate world of design by lawyers and marketers more than any other act in the history of the hobby."

    Please explain this accusation. You would have to have been a bit inattentive for the past few decades to imply that the shift of video games from an "art" to "corporate design" is a recent development. Whatever idealist notion you're implying is no longer relevant.

    I guess you would also suggest that this same group of discontent consumers (crybabies) is responsible for not only creating major corporations like Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Activision, Square Enix, etc. but for drafting these same companies current business practices as well?

    Wherever there is a consumer-base, there will exist corporations and marketing. It's called capitalism.

  • opinions2

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 3:10 pm GMT

    @vivekraikkonen

    Story wise I really enjoyed it up until the last 15 - 20 mins. Its more like ME2 than 1.

    On topic of this, I am no fan of how the game ended but I don't support trying to bring inlawsuits for false advertising.

  • lakers808

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 2:54 pm GMT

    guys please sign and promote this petition http://www.change.org/petitions/2k-rockstar-make-red-dead-redemption-for-pc

  • vali887

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 2:38 pm GMT

    Hold the line !

  • Johnny-n-Roger posted Apr 12, 2012 2:33 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Johnny-n-Roger

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 2:33 pm GMT (hide)

    This just proves how worthless the BBB is.

  • niteryder1 posted Apr 12, 2012 2:28 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    niteryder1

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 2:28 pm GMT (hide)

    who cares get over it GOSH!!!

  • Morphine_OD

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 1:56 pm GMT

    @001011000101101
    He doesn't mention the article or it's message in comments for the article. Isn't that off-topic trolling?

  • vivekraikkonen

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 1:34 pm GMT

    I just finished Mass Effect 2(on PC, if that matters) last night. I wanted to buy ME3 straight away, but I've been put off by all this hate and outcry towards the game, low user reviews on metacritic. So, I need some advice from anyone who has finished it(better if on pc)- is the game worth buying? I mean, i loved the original, and felt ME2 was dumbed down, but fun. Since i didn't like the un-RPG-ish gameplay of ME2 so much, played it just for the story(which wasn't too stellar either); so "its more Mass Effect, so its good" doesn't count. Story and narration will be my main focus from ME3, so all this outcry and rage makes me feel like i should skip it. Should the skip ME3 altogether??????
    And please, for the love of god, NO SPOILERS!!

  • jamyskis

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 1:24 pm GMT

    Good of the BBB to finally notice the complete lack of ethics in the industry. Shame it took them the best part of two decades to notice, and shame that they're about as useful as a chocolate saucepan when it comes to doing anything about it.

  • Bigbudd0045 posted Apr 12, 2012 1:10 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Bigbudd0045

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 1:10 pm GMT (hide)

    I know it is in to "hate" on EA/Bioware right now, but this is just ridiculous.

  • Entropy730

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 1:05 pm GMT

    wow this is stupid... i know a lot of people are mad about the ME3 endgame which is fine... but the BBB might want to have taken a good look at pretty much every Peter Molyneux game this decade and the last. The promises made on Black and White 2, ESPECIALLY on the game case when I bought it, were blatant lies. I remember calling them on it a few months after BW2 came out and the moderators literally deleted every trace of my post, previous posts, and forum account. Just saying; but I probably digress.

  • Dysantic posted Apr 12, 2012 12:35 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Dysantic

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 12:35 pm GMT (hide)

    LOL and the BBB is good for what in the video game industry? As much as I may have disliked the ending, this is just the stupidest article I have ever read... Where does Gamespot get these writers? ahaaha

  • Shaun373

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 11:58 am GMT

    This confirms what a lot of people have been saying but no one in gaming media wants to listen to. It has never been about "artistic integrity" it has been about getting what was promised. If they delivered on 17 distinctly crummy endings that I had a hand in I would be disappointed but not upset/angry. Oh well, it still isn't going to change anything.

  • amin7224 posted Apr 12, 2012 11:40 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    amin7224

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 11:40 am GMT (hide)

    it's all blah blah blah.

  • Brazucass posted Apr 12, 2012 11:36 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Brazucass

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 11:36 am GMT (hide)

    Its just a game! How many time did you watch a perfect movie with a horrible ending?

  • G1Ga-B1T3 posted Apr 12, 2012 11:35 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    G1Ga-B1T3

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 11:35 am GMT (hide)

    @ghstbstr
    And you are not a true Star Wars fan, as the true Star Wars fan knows, there were only 3movies and not 6.........

  • G1Ga-B1T3

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 11:34 am GMT

    @ghstbstr

    One in the same now.

  • lindallison

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 11:31 am GMT

    Oh noes. This whole thing baffles me. I suppose it's just Mass Effect falling victim to its own popularity.

  • ghstbstr posted Apr 12, 2012 11:27 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    ghstbstr

    Posted Apr 12, 2012 11:27 am GMT (hide)

    I am now just waiting for Bioware to tell off their so-called fans like George Lucas did to his so-called fans of Star Wars. If Bioware does this which I am hoping they do, because these so-called fans deserve it just like the so-called fans of Star Wars did.
    I say "so-called" fans, because if you were an actually fan(like me) then you would be happy with the series they way it is. As I like the Star Wars movies(all 6) the way it is, and I like the Mass Effect games(all 3) the way they are.

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