Note: I cover all spoilers in spoiler tags, so read on with confidence!
I have now seen the ending and had many of the same thoughts you did, ATARI800XLfan, and you said them better than I could. I will be extremely disappointed if BioWare permanently adopts the stance of "this is our artwork and you have no right telling us how to express ourselves" or "if you don't get it it's because you're not sophisticated enough to understand it," because the first one claims a purpose independent of the audience (which you note is impossible given the interactive nature of video games), and the second one is a knee-jerk cover for poor storytelling. The rest of the game was utterly brilliant, so they've proved what they're capable of. It's their own reputation of excellence that's motivating the mass dismissal of the finale's execution. What a bittersweet situation for them, I'm sure.
I mean, I understand that the people involved in creating this game are wounded by the backlash, and I sympathize with that. It is also undeniable that whiny fanbases full of in-fighting and insatiable demands do indeed exist. So while BioWare's position on the matter is not completely unwarranted as a producer of entertainment, I do think it's unwarranted in their particular circumstance.
Here's what I wrote earlier today in an e-mail after pawing through the internet and reading up on the "possible alternative interpretation" of the ending, which Xeogred had mentioned earlier in this thread:
"Regardless of whether or not they intended [the alternative interpretation], the finale was poorly communicated and thus failed. You don't [intentionally] pull an ending that flies over the heads of your whole audience and then claim that they're too stupid to understand the art of it. This was not a product put forth as an artistic expression crafted solely for the benefit of the creator that you, as an observer, either "got" or "didn't get." It was first and foremost supposed to be a rewarding experience for the players -- not an exclusionary clique ultimately inaccessible and incomprehensible to the average user."
I refuse to believe that the creative team is full of brilliant sinister overlords who deliberately hoodwinked us with a confusing conclusion just so they could chortle to themselves about the unenlightened peasantry. That is a legitimately unfair accusation, IMHO.
SPOILER TALK:
