I thought very seriously about putting "humor" as the category for this blog. Yes, I've actually managed to get myself banned from Bioware's forums. The complete details elude me as this was the extent of the ban message: [quote="Bioware forum moderator"] You continue to break the forums rules and fight with other forum visitors. You are banned.

And private message requests for examples, clarification, or the reason why I'd never been told to adjust my behavior prior to my removal were never responded to. To be fair, I did let my "sarcastic dick" side out every once in a while on the Bioware forums, but not to the extent that would have justified a permanent ban by any means. I'm very aware of the difference between debating and flaming after all. Nevertheless, I am a little bit unhappy on the timing because the Extended Cut is coming. There's no middle ground on this. I felt that the original ME3 ending wasn't just bad, but absolutely proof of false advertising, blatant dishonesty, and legendarily bad writing. I've been gaming for a lot of years now and I've never in my entire gaming career seen an ending that far removed from what was promised to customers or so utterly at odds with the writing of the rest of the game. Because of this reason, I've been holding off doing a user review of Mass Effect 3. I've been wanting to do one ever since I finished the game, but honestly kept feeling that I should wait until I no longer was as irritated as I was at Bioware for what they did. I felt that the ending that they actually put out was beyond bad. It actually was criminal in the sense that the public statements stretching back over the last five years on what we'd get, and culminating on what folks like Casey Hudson said AFTER THE GAME WENT GOLD, actually amount to false advertising. That's what makes this Extended Cut so high stakes for Bioware. Believe me when I tell you that getting this pretty much amounts to the whole game with regards to Bioware's continued survival as a developer. Having been on Bioware's forums for months both before ME3 (commenting on DA2) and after ME3, I can tell you that Bioware's fanbase is PISSED. There is a level of nerdrage out there that is almost awe inspiring. Am I predicting that Bioware will immediately go under if the Extended Cut is uninspiring? Not really. If EA is known for anything, it's known for squeezing the last red cent out of any name that they buy up. They'll release at least a couple more games with "Bioware" on the name before giving it the good old fashioned stake through the heart. But Bioware WILL die eventually if this Extended Cut isn't overwhelmingly good. Whether it is Dragon Age 2, Witch Hunt, The Arrival, or the botched ME3 ending where the GAMERS (not the game critics...including the sycophantic Gamespot coverage) are concerned, Bioware has almost no trust remaining due to the fact it has been missing the mark pretty damn consistently for years now. There's nothing inherently wrong with nickle and diming your customers if you are still making them happy. If your customers are happy, then they don't look at it as nickle and diming at all. They look at it as getting as much of your games as they can as fast as they can and money is no object. On the other hand, when they think your quality level has been below par, then things like the DLC "From Ashes" that forces them to pay for stuff that really SHOULD be in the game's normal purchase price makes them feel used and abused. EA/Bioware has been using and abusing their customers with everything they've done since the merger. This is the ballgame. Get it right, or be prepared for the long, agonizing death of the label that is certain to follow.