Mass Effect (Bhatia)

Introduction / Background
The concept of literature has been greatly influenced by the “wired world” that we live in. Literature was once thought to only exist in the form of written words in books and manuscripts, but now has come to include things such as video games, comics, and other icons of popular culture. In the past an author would create a piece of work, publish it and it was up to the user to read and make something of it. Now we find that communities are forming around these works to not only discuss but to influence how the works are being created. Literature is getting to the point that it is starting to become more interactive. In many scenarios the fans of a certain piece of work have the influence to change an outcome and even shape the story as its being created. The notion of choice gives the users a sense of creativity that once was only realized by the creators. This is the idea behind a genre of video game known as an RPG, or better put a role playing game.



In role playing games the user is put into a fictionalized world in which they are in charge of their own actions and every decision they make has an effect on how the game is played out. The main attraction to this genre is the customizability. Many users create their own character that best fits the persona they want to portray. This is analogous to the simulation aspects of some of the reading we discussed in class. For example, in Anda’s game the main character makes her character a hero even though she was far from it. The freedom to simulate who a person wants to be rather than who really is makes the interactions mean that much more to the user. Although there are negative aspects to this freedom, for example the people who are so obsessed with a game they have no life, the link between the author and the users have been so distinct. The author merely creates a set of tools for the users to use.



For my final project I chose to write about my favorite role playing game, Mass Effect. Mass effect is a series of three games which are supplement with comics, novels, phone apps, and most importantly the fan communities that formed around it (for better or for worse). The story of Mass Effect takes place in the distant future. Humans have discovered these things called mass relays in space that allow them to travel faster than light and reach distant stars. They also discover alien races that sometimes friendly and other times not. The main plot of the story deals with an ancient threat to all sentient life known as the reapers. Like in all RPGs, Mass Effect allows its players to play as either a good guy (paragon) or as an evil character (renegade). My main focus for this project will be remediation of the game, the online communities that formed in response to the endings of the last game, and the interpretative disputes that explain the endings.

Fan Response (Online Communities)
The Haters and Activism

With the release of the third game developer Bioware ensured fans that everything that had happened in the previous games will be resolved. This meant all of the side stories and backgrounds would be explained. This was the promise but many diehard fans out there would beg to differ. As mentioned earlier one of the main purposes of an RPG is to allow the player choices over key parts of the games. Mass Effect took this to the next level. For example, depending on if you let Ashley or Kaiden die, you got significantly different story in the third game. What Mass Effect was known for best was the ability to import save data from the past games influencing how the next games story would play out. EVERY choice you make in that game mattered, no matter how small or how big. With that considered everyone, including myself, was expecting the ending to be of an epic proportion with multiple possible outcomes. That did not happen. The ending of Mass Effect 3 concluded with you making one of three choices.

The Mass Effect trilogy builds up the entire story on the notion of cause and effect; with only three outcomes that choice was taken away from the fans. You could destroy the reapers, control them, or synthesize with them. The ending was also very short and to many people made little to no sense. Who was the ghost child? Why was he alive and in the Citadel? What did any of that mean?!

This horrible ending caused many fans to be infuriated with Bioware and EA, not to mention all the people already infuriated about the day one downloadable content. This caused many of these people to join online communities and “hate” on the game. If you look up Mass Effect 3 on youtube you will find a plethora of fan video saying why they hated it so much. There was even a petition going around trying to influence Bioware and EA to change the ending. The fans that take part in these discussion are analogous to the “Survivor Sucks” community we discussed in class. They are haters of the series that voice their complaints through the means of online communities, videos, and etc. With one of the biggest fan followings in gaming Bioware and EA soon began to crumble. Bioware announced that they were going to come out with a free DLC (downloadable content) that would explain the ending more. "The passionate reaction of some of our most loyal players to the current endings in Mass Effect 3 is something that has genuinely surprised us," said the Exec Producer Casey Hudson “"This is an issue we care about deeply, and we will respond to it in a fair and timely way.” This issue became so big that EA was even voted as THE worst company in 2012.

Indoctrination Theory (Interperative Disputes)
After all of the outrage felt by the fans about the ending it seemed that the only thing that could fix the ending was changing it through means of protest and activism, but instead of complaining like complaining like most people did some very observant fans took a closer look at some of the plot points of the story. Their result was the Indoctrination Theory.



The Indoctrination Theory states that through the entirety of the third game Commander Shepard has been going through a slow process of indoctrination. According to the Mass Effect 3 Codex “Reaper indoctrination is an insidious means of corrupting organic minds, "reprogramming" the brain through physical and psychological conditioning using electromagnetic fields, infrasonic and ultrasonic noise, and other subliminal methods. The Reaper's resulting control over the limbic system leaves the victim highly susceptible to its suggestions.” This process of indoctrination had been the focal point of the first game and the effects of it led to the major plot. In the first game the antagonist, Saren Arterius, was under the impression that he the Reapers were responsible for extinction of the Protheans (an ancient extinct race that fought the Reapers and left clues around the galaxy about their arrival) and that the only way to stop them was for him to forge an alliance with their leader Harbinger. Little did he know he was under Reaper control the entire times and they were just using him to open up a mass relay to the Citadel, the neutral ground of all intelligent alien races. Players experienced this slow indoctrination of Saren in Mass Effect 1 and were very familiar to it. For that reason when Shepard starts to have nightmares and hallucinations about a boy that we see dying many readers made the connections.



“Organics undergoing indoctrination may complain of headaches and buzzing or ringing in their ears. As time passes, they have feelings of "being watched" and hallucinations of "ghostly" presences. Ultimately, the Reaper gains the ability to use the victim's body to amplify its signals, manifesting as "alien" voices in the mind. Indoctrination can create perfect deep cover agents. A Reaper's "suggestions" can manipulate victims into betraying friends, trusting enemies, or viewing the Reaper itself with superstitious awe. Should a Reaper subvert a well-placed political or military leader, the resulting chaos can bring down nations.”



The basis of Shepard’s indoctrination started in the last DLC for Mass Effect 2, Arrival. In arrival groups of scientist on the edge of the galaxy had discovered a derelict Reaper artifact and believe it is used by the Reapers to quickly access all of the Milky Way. Their original intension is to destroy this artifact and stop the Reapers, but for some reason these scientists don’t want to do that. They start seeing “Reaper itself with superstitious awe.” They were indoctrinated. During this time Shepard is knocked out and starts seeing ghostly images and hearing strange voices. When he regains consciousness he is back to normal but many, including myself, believe that was the official beginning of his indoctrination.



Mass Effect 3 even starts out with Shepard starting off in a distance looking at a boy who is by himself. Moments later we see this boy dying… TWICE and later he starts to come into Shepard’s dreams and haunting him every time he has a setback. In the last part of the ending he is also the one who gives you the choices. Many in the knowledge communities have argued that this is the final step towards indoctrination. The three choices highlighted red, blue, green (Red = renegade, Blue = paragon, Green = neutral) were not only a test to the character of Shepard but also a test for the players. The evil, renegade, decision was to destroy the Reapers which is what we were lead to believe was the best possible outcome. But for some reason it’s the evil decision. Many believe that this was the developers playing a trick on the players. To immerse them completely into the indoctrination of Shepard they were made to see things as Shepard would see them. For that reason only when you pick the renegade choice and destroy the Reapers is there an extra cut scene where Shepard wakes up in the rubble destroyed city…ALIVE. These "Gated" knowledge communities are a lot like the ones we discussed in class from the reading "Spoiling Survivor." The key difference between the two is that while the Survivor groups are conspiracizing about what is going to happen next, Mass Effect's communities are looking for proof that supports this theory and is concerned with interperating the imagery in the game.

(For more on the indoctrination theory please see the link below; I could not include all of the evidence here since it would take up a book’s worth)

Novels, Comics, and Fan Movies (Remediation)
Novels

The significance of the comic book series and the novels is to remediate the story of Mass Effect through the eyes of the minor characters. Mass Effect is usually very heavy on the story aspect of the game. For that reason we are introduced to a countless number of worlds and supporting characters. At many times in the story the player can go up to and talk to these characters and to gain background information about them, but at other times there just enough. That is why the developers created the comic book and novel series to further explain the background stories of the most notable characters.



For example, Lieutenant David Anderson (Mass Effect 1) plays a key role in helping Shepard become the first human spectre, but more most of the series we have no idea where he came from or where he is during crucial events. This is where Mass Effect: Revelations comes in. In Revelations Anderson is the main character and the plots centered on him and the antagonist of the first game Saren. I feel this is very similar to the newer and online versions of Frankenstein that we spoke of in class. The online version of Frankenstein has hyperlinks that we can click to get more insight on the certain topics. They might not as detailed as the novels are for Mass Effect, but their purpose is the same. They extra information where there was no room in the main story to include said information.



Comics 

The comic books in the series are much like the novels; they explain key details that there wasn’t enough time for in the game. The best example is about the space system Omega and it’s mob boss Aria T’Loak. In Mass Effect 2 a lot of the major events that change the course of the story happen on Omega and even though Aria T’Loak isn’t a part of your squad she plays a vital role in helping Shepard complete his task. In Mass Effect 3 we randomly find Aria T’Loak in a club on the Citadel. The Citadel is the governmental headquarters of the galaxy and the last place a mob boss would want to be. When you talk to her you find out that the Illusive Man (one of the major villain who is already indoctrinated) attacked Omega and drive her out. Through conversation you find out the basics of what happened but otherwise you’re left in the dark. In Mass Effect: Invasion there is a detailed account of every event leading up to how she lost control of her home world. Comics, as a source for remediation, provide the readers with different experience than that of the books. While novels rely on heavy on details to convey mood and theme, comics can do the same with their artwork. Based on how the artwork is placed in succession the reader is introduced to different aspects of the environment and story. Also the author can better convey their messages with comics since the look of the character isn’t left up to the reader's perception.

This ability to see and rather than having to interpret them can be seen as a dual edged sword. On one hand we are getting the full experience that the author intended, but on the other hand we are using our imagination and interpretive skills less. This is very similar to Plato’s argument about how writing would make us lose our memories. If comics can be seen as a different technology there are inherent dangers that come with it. This is again reminiscent of our course discussion regarding Rushkoff’s “A Computer Ate My Book.” The only difference is that instead of a computer replacing books it is comics.



Fan Fiction

The Last form of remediation I wanted to mention with Mass Effect is a Fan Film that is currently in the works. Red Sand is a movie that is supposed to serve as a prequel to the original Mass Effect with Emphasis on the discovery of the Prothean artifacts that were discovered on Mars. Although the novels touch on this subject and at the opening of every game there is a synopsis of this event, there hasn’t been anything much less a film that went through the event. Also since this a fan film it will be interesting to see how different people interpreted the texts. Much like how the Lord of the Rings movie was an interpretation of the books by a fan this too will be the same. Since the movie is not out yet we will have to wait and see how it turns out. There are also other fan fictions out there but instead of remediating the story this movie will do those stories go off into a tangent and might have nothing to do with the actual story.

Links and References

 * 1) Petition to Change the Ending - Bioware Social Network
 * 2) The Mass Effect Universe
 * 3) A Logical Breakdown of Why the Mass Effect 3 Ending Makes No Sense
 * 4) The Indoctrination Theory - A Documentary
 * 5) Dark Horse Comics
 * 6) Bioware