A couple weeks ago, participants in the Xbox Live Dashboard preview were mistakenly treated to a beta version of Mass Effect 3 that featured a buggy mission from the single player and revealed three different ways to experience the game.

It was big news, these three modes, but some clever hackers took the leak a bit further and actually accessed plot details for Mass Effect 3, including how Shepard’s story will come to an end.

Since then, BioWare has issued a response saying that the leak was Microsoft’s fault, and those three gameplay modes are in the early testing phases. But they’ve now also to come out and talk about the plot details that were revealed.

According to Ray Muzyka, the story beats that players were able to access are actually from a much earlier script for the game, and have changed somewhat since then. That isn’t to say that the plot will be that far off from what leaked — so if you’re looking for those plot details be warned — but there have been some changes made here and there.

On top of that Muzyka added that the team at BioWare are taking into account fan feedback over these story points, and may alter their direction based on suggestions from fans. BioWare is essentially trying to find positives in a bad situation, and are also trying to keep the experience fresh and exciting for even those who think they have it all figured out.

"We listen to our fans all of the time. We listen to them on the forums, their feedback from stories. We're reading it all. If we can get ideas out of it that will make the game better, sure. We're not averse to taking feedback. That's part of our core values, is humility. Any time we get a good idea from fans... they're our audience. They keep us in business.”

So perhaps not all bad things will come from this Mass Effect 3 leak — perhaps BioWare will use gamers’ criticism to craft a tighter or more coherent experience. Even if they don’t, Mass Effect 3 ranks pretty high on our list of most anticipated games for 2012, and we are going to avoid the spoilers as best we can.

Do you think that BioWare should stick to their guns and keep the Mass Effect 3 story how it was? Or should they take the advice of the fans that have read the script and make some changes?

Mass Effect 3 releases March 6, 2012 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Source: Eurogamer