Why Did the Mass Effect 3 Ending Ruin The Whole Series?

Here's an interesting little piece about the ending of Mass Effect and a potential explanation for the negative responses.

http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2015/06/why-did-the-mass-effect-3-ending-ruin-the-whole-series/

Sorry but I have to disagree.
If something ruined series it was Bioware Points scam. Not ending.

It did not "ruin" anything…it was culmination of main plot being too big for it's own good, plot inconsistencies and narrative themes drastically shifting ( probably result of changing the writing team) and writers sometimes not even using their brain when writing it.
Take a look at ME II Arrival DLC…not a single thing about it makes a lick of sense or is consistent with the narrative. But it was simply needed for more easy ME II->ME III transition.
It's baffling how many have said…"It was fine until the ending".

But players (over)reaction was mostly emotional…placing the player in a passive/observer role while contradicting his/her own experience of the main narrative( across the series) and failing to bring satisfying conclusion for Shepard&co.
You could write a whole book about ME plotholes, but (most) players don't really give a damn…Bioware games are all about drama and emotions.

BoboTheMighty said:

Take a look at ME II Arrival DLC…not a single thing about it makes a lick of sense or is consistent with the narrative. But it was simply needed

Click to expand...

...to sell more Bioware bullshit Points.

I was expecting the article to say why it ruined the series and not have a psychological study article about things happening in the end having bigger emotional impacts on you.

BoboTheMighty said:

Take a look at ME II Arrival DLC…not a single thing about it makes a lick of sense or is consistent with the narrative. But it was simply needed for more easy ME II->ME III transition.
It's baffling how many have said…"It was fine until the ending".

Click to expand...

I personally think ME3 start makes more sense if you haven't played Arrival. You are under house arrest for working with Cerberus (a known terrorist group) and the Alliance is clueless about the Reapers coming (which they so clearly are).

The ME series was ruined far before the end of ME3. It started going downhill when they made ME 2 into mostly a corridor shooter.

Speak for yourself JDR. I'd take ME2 shooter instead of actual shooters 10 hours/50 gigs of hard drive garbage any day.

I always thought the complaints about the ending drama queen-ish. Was it underwhelming and not up to the standard of the games? Sure as hell, but the games were a blast to play until the return to Earth in ME3.

Long unskippable prologues are far more game-ruining for a replayer like me than bad endings.

For me, the biggest "shift" was the one Shamus Young referred to in his long analysis of the ME series, from hard sci-fi to drama first.

That being said, the ending was pretty bad, and it did leave me with a feeling of having something painful up my butt. Or something.