Better Business Bureau BioWare 'falsely advertised'

Well the BBB has said its possible Bioware falsely advertised ME3. So all of you saying the person who complained is pathetic he was right.

The Better Business Bureau’s Marjorie Stephens has said it’s possible Mass Effect 3 was falsely advertised due to the lack of “radically different ending scenarios” the public was promised.

According to her blog post, the game was advertised as giving players the ability 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,” and going further to say that “along the way, your choices drive powerful outcomes, including relationships with key characters, the fate of entire civilizations, and even radically different ending scenarios.”

Stephens said the issue here, is whether BioWare falsely advertised and according to her, “yes, they did.”

“In the first bullet point, where it states “the decisions you make completely shape your experience”, there is no indecision in that statement – it is an absolute,” she said. “The next statement is not so absolute. It states “your choices drive powerful outcomes”. A consumer would have to very carefully analyze this statement to come to a conclusion that the game’s outcome is not “wholly” determined by one’s choices.

“This statement, really though, is very subject to interpretation. Also this is just a small example of their advertising and does not take into account anything that might have been said, as far as their public relations and other advertising campaigns.”

Stephens concludes stating that the “lesson to be learned” from in this case 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,” she said.

Seriously though nothing will happen and we can all laugh and wonder on how serious some people get over video games.

This is the very first time I hear from this BBB. Never knew it existed.
Its goal reminds me of the German "Verbraucherberatung" : http://en.vzbv.de/

This is the most egregious waste of BBB resources I've ever heard of.

Or is it a PR stunt to raise awareness of the organization?

Errr…

Well here you have if the BBB has concluded….

You get this from:

The Better Business Bureau’s Marjorie Stephens has said it’s possible…

Marjorie Stephens is not the whole of the BBB and "It's possible" does not warrent "concluded". She's certainly right in that some people need to pay attention to what is actually being said!

As I stated in the end nothing will come out of it anyway.

Here is is her title -
Marjorie M. Stephens
Director of Marketplace Services & BBB Charitable & Educational Fund

She is one of the top people in the organization. She basically says BioWare falsely advertised and according to her, “yes, they did.” There you have it. But I'll change it to clarify it more since it bothers you.

People need to sort out their priorities.

Here's the actual ink to the article.

http://www.bbb.org/blog/2012/04/mass…tter-or-worse/

Note that's it a post in an opinion blog and not an official statement by the compay.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
As I stated in the end nothing will come out of it anyway.

Here is is her title -
Marjorie M. Stephens
Director of Marketplace Services & BBB Charitable & Educational Fund

She is one of the top people in the organization. She basically says BioWare falsely advertised and according to her, “yes, they did.” There you have it. But I'll change it to clarify it more since it bothers you.

Originally Posted by fadedc
Note that's it a post in an opinion blog and not an official statement by the compay.

So it's an opinion. But an opinion not from a disgruntled player but from a person with a knowledge on this subject. And I don't think that Couch is getting ready to sue Bioware on the basis of this opinion so what's the fuss?

There's no fuss, we are just making a correction.

Also worth noting is that the phrase “yes, they did.” is taken out of context. Her blog post makes it clear that it's all a matter of interpretation.

Originally Posted by zahratustra
So it's an opinion. But an opinion not from a disgruntled player but from a person with a knowledge on this subject. And I don't think that Couch is getting ready to sue Bioware on the basis of this opinion so what's the fuss?

Originally Posted by zahratustra
So it's an opinion. But an opinion not from a disgruntled player but from a person with a knowledge on this subject. And I don't think that Couch is getting ready to sue Bioware on the basis of this opinion so what's the fuss?

People who make a fuss over details is all. Probably Bioware supporters.

I moved on from the game and while I'm glad for the ending dlc you cant polish a turd as the expression goes. Nothing will fix the ending. As for the news I got it off 4 different sites. There is your yes it did

The issue at stake here is, did Bio Ware falsely advertise? Technically, yes, they did. In the first bullet point, where it states “the decisions you make completely shape your experience”, there is no indecision in that statement. It is an absolute.

I do agree with one thing she says though.

Stephens concludes stating that the “lesson to be learned” from in this case is “companies should give careful consideration to how they word their advertisements.”

The BBB is a waste of time. Too many people think its a gov't agency regulating when in fact its an industry association that agrees (to ignore) its own standards.

I used to work for Circuit City and disgruntled customers used to threaten to take their complaint to the BBB all the time. Our answer was simple: we were a member.

Right that's the full quote. She says "Technically yes it did". That's very different from just saying "yes it did", especially given that she goes on to explain how in reality it's all a matter of interpretation. From a journalism perspective, that's a pretty bad case of quoting out of context.

But yes that quote has been on many sites so it's not your fault that you used it. It's just bad reporting on their part.

And yes the ending sucked, even if it wasn't false advertising.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato

I moved on from the game and while I'm glad for the ending dlc you cant polish a turd as the expression goes. Nothing will fix the ending. As for the news I got it off 4 different sites. There is your yes it did

I actually got a refund from a company that was refusing to even consider giving me one after I complained to the BBB. So sometimes they accomplish good things.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
The BBB is a waste of time. Too many people think its a gov't agency regulating when in fact its an industry association that agrees (to ignore) its own standards.

I used to work for Circuit City and disgruntled customers used to threaten to take their complaint to the BBB all the time. Our answer was simple: we were a member.

Originally Posted by fadedc
Right that's the full quote. She says "Technically yes it did". That's very different from just saying "yes it did", especially given that she goes on to explain how in reality it's all a matter of interpretation. From a journalism perspective, that's a pretty bad case of quoting out of context.

Well every blog and game site does it. Even this site has done it. It's just a matter of perceptive and even the news does it. Don't be naive now.

As for the BBB it does work when companies refuse to give refunds. Especially online.

Originally Posted by fadedc
I actually got a refund from a company that was refusing to even consider giving me one after I complained to the BBB. So sometimes they accomplish good things.

good to hear. I think the BBB and your local Chamber of Commerce are usually buddy buddy if not the same thing outright.

I don't really think anything will come of this. I'm curious though why they aren't focusing on what Hudson said about there not being an A, B, and C ending? That statement and the fact there is 3 endings to choose from at the end seems to be far worse than what's being quoted in the OP.

Yeah it probably helped that I was just complaining about a small online business that had given me really poor service. If they had refused to give me a refund then I doubt there would have been much consequence other then a black mark on a webpage that nobody will ever read.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
good to hear. I think the BBB and your local Chamber of Commerce are usually buddy buddy if not the same thing outright.

Originally Posted by Grimlorn
I don't really think anything will come of this. I'm curious though why they aren't focusing on what Hudson said about there not being an A, B, and C ending? That statement and the fact there is 3 endings to choose from at the end seems to be far worse than what's being quoted in the OP.

I think the reason is that this quote is not from an advertisement, but from an interview. Two different things. I don't think the BBB will deal with interviews.

Gamers are far too lenient on accepting untruthful pre-release hype and advertising. Stuff like this shouldn't be acceptable, but it's an industry standard. I'm glad people are talking about this.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Seriously though nothing will happen and we can all laugh and wonder on how serious some people get over video games.

+1. Also, I think far more people have been suckered by say… "Tom Clancy's" Op-Centre books than Bioware's false ad campaign (was annoyed when I found out that the only Tom Clancy books I've ever read weren't written by Tom Clancy! I swear the only author's name I saw on the damn book was Clancy's. I'm either blind or it's hidden in fine print somewhere )