Board 8 > So, endings.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Personally, I can't stand the ones that leave too many things hanging. Any ending flavor is fine though.

Happy > To Be Continued > Bad > Tragic > Ambiguous

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

Any ending that makes a second playthrough/viewing better is the best

--
_foolmo_
'To be foolmo'd is to be better opinion'd.' - Blairville

Has a lot to do which characters I like better. If I enjoy the leads, I want a good happy ending for them. If I hate them or like the bad guy, sometimes a bad ending might be nice (though uncommon). Generally 'bad endings' are reserved for things that are just bad overall.

To be continued is cool as "the journey is never over" is fun in all kinds of media.

--
Still smilin'
:>

I'm not sure I've ever seen a bad ending (evil wins) to anything ever.

Oh, but I definitely prefer tragic out of the choices. Happy is always expected, and predictability is generally the worst.

--
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/in-search-of-sunrise-10
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/verr-ckt-nach-liebe

It really, really depends on the story in question.

I would say ambiguous is frequently the worst though, but TBC gets me in more of an uproar.

--
K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8

thundersheep posted...

I'm not sure I've ever seen a bad ending (evil wins) to anything ever.

Oh, but I definitely prefer tragic out of the choices. Happy is always expected, and predictability is generally the worst.

Ever see Se7en?


--
Mitt Romney 2012

TBC almost always sucks. If the writers had more in mind before their story was finished, and the story itself was worth keeping up with, I grieve for the production staff (if it's visual or gaming, etc.) and depending on the situation at hand, I may even get a little proactive about it.

--
K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8

So long as an ending makes sense, I couldn't give a f*** if it is happy, sad, or ambiguous.

--
My Backloggery (Work in progress, still adding games)
http://backloggery.com/sgtsphynx

For some reason I assumed that if I quoted your post that I still wouldn't be able to read the spoiler... but no, I have not seen that movie. Well, technically I have, but I don't remember any of it except for a few deaths.

--
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/in-search-of-sunrise-10
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/verr-ckt-nach-liebe

Bittersweet ending the best, IMO. After that, it's a tie between a good and a tragic ending (provided the tragic ending makes sense and is, you know, actually well done, and not just there for tragedy's sake). Ambiguous is usually annoying, unless the story really calls for it - Inception's the only time I've seen it done right.

I think I've only ever seen one Bad ending - from an anime series called School Days - and it was pretty hilarious.

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

From: RayDyn | #008

So long as an ending makes sense, I couldn't give a f*** if it is happy, sad, or ambiguous.

Totally your opposite here. Well not totally, but... close enough. I'd like my ending to make sense, don't get me wrong, but if it's thematically and emotionally inappropriate to what came before it, that's what's going to get me the most.

--
K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8

thundersheep posted...

For some reason I assumed that if I quoted your post that I still wouldn't be able to read the spoiler... but no, I have not seen that movie. Well, technically I have, but I don't remember any of it except for a few deaths.

Greatest bad guy wins ending I've seen outside of maybe FF6 which is arguable


--
Mitt Romney 2012

the7joker7,

Kefka didn't win. o_o

--
K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8

I dunno man, if Lucy and YHVH just hugged it out at the very last SMT game and everything is hunky dory for no reason, I can see myself going on a nerd rage.

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

Bittersweet.

--
TheRock ~ Slow dramatic zoom-pan. Doesn't phase the hooded man.
"You have issues." - MWC. Pot. Kettle.

Oh, and if we're counting Bittersweet, put it somewhere between TBC and Bad.

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

From: Jeff Zero | #011

From: RayDyn | #008

So long as an ending makes sense, I couldn't give a f*** if it is happy, sad, or ambiguous.

If it's thematically and emotionally inappropriate to what came before it, that's what's going to get me the most.

Agreed. The worst endings are always the "shocking swerves." So you've got a happy story where everything's alright and the good guys are doing really well? BAM, all the main characters die and everyone's sad. Same thing with a tragic story that suddenly ends in a wonderful note out of nowhere.

Though I assume that's what Ray was getting at.

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

I'm good with any as long as it fits the themes and tone of the story but I tend to like bittersweet and happy ones the most. Sad and depressing stories rarely resonate with me.

--
Mr. All Days Off
MILLIONS OF POSTS, MILLIONS OF POSTS The Primetime Posting Hours Players MILLIONS OF POSTS

Oh fine, I'll do a hoshposh sort of thing. But I maintain that it absolutely depends on the story in question. These opinions are as close to overall as I can get, but... yeah. ._.

Bittersweet > Happy > who cares > Bad > Ambiguous > TBC

--
K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8

Jeff Zero posted...

the7joker7,

Kefka didn't win. o_o

It's arguable. Dude ****ed up the whole world and killed damn near everyone. I don't know if you can call what the main cast ended up pulling off victory.

--
Mitt Romney 2012

thundersheep posted...

I'm not sure I've ever seen a bad ending (evil wins) to anything ever.

Final Destination made an entire series out of killing everyone.

--
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person? [HERO'S PLUNGE]
http://img.imgcake.com/finegifdy.gif

Well, Death is a bastard there.

Though didn't the 2nd one end on a happy note, before it was retconned so that they died anyway?

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

Yeah, a lot of horror type movies have bad endings.

Most suck. Hence what I said up there.

--
Still smilin'
:>

From: the7joker7 | #020

It's arguable. Dude ****ed up the whole world and killed damn near everyone. I don't know if you can call what the main cast ended up pulling off victory.

Well...

That's fair, but he wanted to eradicate absolutely everyone, and that didn't happen, so I'd just call it a Pyrrhic victory for the heroes, really. Coincidentally, XENOGEARS SPOILERS!

Have you ever played Xenogears? Game ends quite similarly, let's just say. Except even more, um... blatantly close to the villains accomplishing their goals.

--
K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8

It really, really depends on the story in question.

I would say ambiguous is frequently the worst though, but TBC gets me in more of an uproar.

I'd agree with this. Except I probably dislike ambiguous more than TBC. Depends on the situation though.

--
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
GotD (219/384) Melee v FFX

Blazblue joke endings top tier

--
XBL GT: Demon Ninja X2
"There comes a time in every man's or woman's life where they have to make **** up to cover their ass." - Hazama

Bad ending is when the villain wins. When the villain loses, but the conflict results in dire consequences to the heroes/world, that would be closer to tragic. Haven't played FF6, but from what I know of the story, I'd say it's either tragic or bittersweet (with a lot more emphasis on the bitter, obviously).

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

From: the7joker7 | #020
Jeff Zero posted...

the7joker7,

Kefka didn't win. o_o

It's arguable. Dude ****ed up the whole world and killed damn near everyone. I don't know if you can call what the main cast ended up pulling off victory.

Kefka absolutely failed. Just because he caused buttloads of damage doesn't mean he won. His goals were torn asunder by the party.

--
Thank you, Eddie Guerrero.
http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/photo_large/public/photo/image/2012/04/33_Moscow_04112012jg_02128.jpg

From: vcharon | #023

Yeah, a lot of horror type movies have bad endings.

Most suck. Hence what I said up there.

I guess you're right. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'm sure the ones in which evil wins contain characters so terrible that everyone roots for the villain anyways.

--
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/in-search-of-sunrise-10
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/verr-ckt-nach-liebe

I like ambiguous endings, but not in terms of "who won" (which is a really bad method of grouping endings but whatever). If who won is ambiguous it usually strikes me more as "whoops we forgot to resolve the plot".

Bad and tragic endings are, in my experience, basically never done correctly even if they're fine in theory. To be continued is fine except when it's another case of "whoops we forgot to resolve the plot" or, even worse, "please buy the sequel to learn how the game actually ends".

So I guess I prefer good endings, though those are usually awful too.

tl;dr: the best ending is frequently when you just stop playing 85% of the way through and pretend everything resolved itself in a satisfying way.

--
"The courtroom is the garden of holy judgment. Those with lechery in their hearts should leave this sanctuary at once!" ~Franziska von Karma

I've come up with a list of ten movies and ten games that have 'bad guy wins' endings in five minutes, and most of them are actually pretty good so they're not all bad tbqh.

But this gets into crazy spoiler mode for not much gain so I'm not going to risk spoiling someone. FD is different, because you go into them knowing Death is a dick.

--
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person? [HERO'S PLUNGE]
http://img.imgcake.com/finegifdy.gif

tl;dr: the best ending is frequently when you just stop playing 85% of the way through and pretend everything resolved itself in a satisfying way.
---

90% of the games I own because I never finish anything.

--
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/in-search-of-sunrise-10
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/verr-ckt-nach-liebe

I guess Braid has an ambiguous ending done right, now that I think about it.

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

Also, we should totally have a "Best endings" contest.

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

Also depending on what you mean by bad guy wins, theres quite a few sports movies end with the good guy losing the final game

--
Dr voltchball - best in the world.

Would Blazblue Continuum Shift technically count as a "bad guys win" ending?

--
XBL GT: Demon Ninja X2
"There comes a time in every man's or woman's life where they have to make **** up to cover their ass." - Hazama

Joke endings... well, as long as it;s not the only endings, they're above TBC.

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

From: Jeff Zero | Posted: 7/4/2012 1:56:21 AM | #011

From: RayDyn | #008

So long as an ending makes sense, I couldn't give a f*** if it is happy, sad, or ambiguous.

Totally your opposite here. Well not totally, but... close enough. I'd like my ending to make sense, don't get me wrong, but if it's thematically and emotionally inappropriate to what came before it, that's what's going to get me the most.

I think we actually agree, but in saying that my endings make sense, that includes thematically. Although, a bittersweet ending out of nowhere in a happy story hasn't ever really bothered me.

--
Raka's drawing based on my username...
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/Rakaputra/Ray.png

Well, we probably do agree for the most part then, RayDyn. But bittersweet-out-of-nowhere does kinda get me.

--
K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8

what about an ending that is both tragic AND ambiguous

--
"One of these days, I'm gonna find a loophole my friend." - Man in Black

Tragic and Ambiguous?

**** that ****

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

thundersheep posted...

I'm not sure I've ever seen a bad ending (evil wins) to anything ever.

Primal Fury.

--
"One of these days, I'm gonna find a loophole my friend." - Man in Black

Not the ending to a game, but how would you guys classify the ending to Cloverfield? In the context of the movie, the ending makes sense, but I hate that ending because the pilot of the helicopter is a f***ing idiot.

--
http://img.imgcake.com/SgtSphynx/who21pngjyyp.png
http://img.imgcake.com/SgtSphynx/zoidberg2rery.gif

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=4770&region=US

Wyoming, the tragic state.

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

When the plot gets stupid?

Haaaaaaaaaaaate it.

--
My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!
Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest

"tbc" is the worst, because it's not a legitimate ending. everything else has its place, depending on the work in question.

i generally like darker endings, or weirder endings, but there are plenty of great stories where it ends happily and everything, and it's fitting and good. it's too hard to create an "average" ranking.

--
it's an underwater adventure ride

I liked Mother 3's ending. It's all of these types put together

--
"One of these days, I'm gonna find a loophole my friend." - Man in Black

If you don't know you're watching/playing/reading the first part of something, To Be Continued is by far the worst. It's as unsatisfying as it gets.

Spoilers for a GBA RPG below.

Golden Sun would be a great example - I wasn't particularly enamoured with the game anyway, but there was one boss battle where I thought "finally, the game's starting to get good!" - and naturally that turned out to be the final boss battle, and the game ended with the plot horrifically unresolved. Maybe it was widely known it was part one of a story, I don't know, but I certainly wasn't aware of it when I played it and it soured my whole impression of the game (which wasn't that high anyway).

So yeah, I don't mind as long as it resolves well.

--
James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

Bittersweet always and forever.
Bittersweet> Good> Tragic = Ambiguous >Bad > TBC

Tragic and Ambiguous both are extremely situational. They can both be either really good or really bad. Indie games tend to handle Ambiguous best ( Hell, most every Indie game ends Ambiguously. )

TBCs just straight up suck.

--
Brawl is like ZSS' breasts. Well rounded for casual players
http://ib.skaia.net/image/32143.gif

Bittersweet endings are the best. Ambiguous endings are (with rare exceptions) the worst. When I play a game/read a book/watch a movie, I want clear resolution unless it's known there's going to be a sequel beforehand.

FFVI spoilers

I know this has been touched on already, but Kefka absolutely did not win. He clearly stated (before the final boss fight, in fact) that he wanted to destroy people's dreams and their hope, and he could NEVER do it, no matter how many towns he vaporized with the Light of Judgment. And that's what FFVI is all about. Even when things are awful, don't give up hope.

--
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/7760/222bj.jpg