Outraged gamers are throwing some serious money at the Retake Mass Effect – Child’s Play donation drive, a way to raise funds for charity while calling for a “better” ending to Mass Effect 3.
Let me be clear right from the get-go that I’ve just started playing Mass Effect 3, so I have no idea how it ends. But the howls of outrage are impossible to miss; for whatever reason, an awful lot of gamers seem mighty unhappy about the way the trilogy wraps up. For the most part it’s just forum noise, but one fan decided to actually do something about it by launching Retake Mass Effect – Child’s Play, a combination petition/donation drive which is equal parts silly and solid.
The silly side of the coin is what first leaps out at you: a “respectful request” for a better ending to Mass Effect 3. The petition acknowledges that “it is the right of the writers and developers of the Mass Effect series to end that series however they see fit,” but then immediately criticizes them for not ending the series as the angry gamers see fit. It calls for a better explanation of events, “especially with regard to the planets, races, and companions detailed throughout the series,” and “a heroic ending which provides a better sense of accomplishment.”
“To this end, we donate to the ‘Retake Mass Effect 3‘ Child’s Play Charity drive in lieu of our signature to this petition, in order to establish our sincerity, our love for these games, and for the Mass Effect universe,” the petition concludes. “We thank you for your consideration.”
And that brings us to the solid. Roughly $33,000 has been raised for Child’s Play so far, which is a hell of a pile of money for a very worthy cause. With the donation drive set to continue until April 11, it seems likely that pile will get a whole lot bigger before all this nonsense is over.
This puts me in a bit of a tricky spot. I want to point and laugh at the petition, but I also want to congratulate everyone involved for doing such a wonderful thing by literally putting their money where their mouths are. What am I supposed to do here? Am I really going to have to throw a thumbs-up at something so patently ridiculous?
I suppose I am. So congratulations and thank you to everyone who contributed [and contributes] to the cause. I think your demand for a Mass Effect 3 rewrite is beyond ludicrous, but your willingness to get behind it with something worthwhile is very admirable. More information about the Retake Mass Effect – Child’s Play donation drive can be found on Facebook and the BioWare Social Network.
