Gamers Throw a fit over Stock Image used for Tali.

Posted By: Rian Quenlin In: Gaming News On: 08 Mar

Even though use of stock images is very common among all forms of media, including stock footage, stock music, creative commons, and public domain works, gamers seem to have thrown quite a bit of anger in BioWare’s direction over the use of a stock image in Mass Effect 3 to portray the face of Tali.

A picture taken from Getty Images was used to depict Tali in an image for Mass Effect 3, who has appeared before with a mask over her face. Even though Shepard has likely seen her face, the player doesn’t. An image shown about on the internet captioned “Are you even trying, Bioware?” shows the image of Tali’s face and the stock photo from Getty Images alongside it. I’ve included it below.

There have been a few insults thrown in BioWare’s direction in recent years, including the writer Jennifer Hepler being harassed during an internet campaign. Quite a degree of nerd rage at BioWare is derived from Electronic Arts “telling them what to do” even though this couldn’t be much further from the truth, since BioWare has outright stated they don’t get interference from the higherups of the company.

Stock images are often used for minor things and are often heavily edited, cropped, or even completely unaltered. I myself have done it a few times in my own art (with credit of course).

A more reasonable theory is that BioWare are simply being trolls as Tali’s hidden face is quite a big deal as the player never gets to see it. It’s like showing the face of Wilson Wilson from Home Improvement in a trailer. That’s what I’m leaning towards, they’re just trolling, as there is no denying that BioWare has done a huge enough slew of original character designs to not have to rely on a lightly-edited stock image that can be very easy to recognize.

What do you all think? Did an artist somewhere get lazy, or is BioWare being snarky? I still have my doubts that something as ambiguous as the face of a masked woman would be shown so unceremoniously. Until I see it in 3D myself I’m going to think they’re trolling.

Tags: bioware, mass effect 3, Stock Image

Leandro

Too bad it’s the effin truth. They are trolls indeed, but LAZY ASS trolls. Lazy because of this stock photo bullsh*t, and because of the SPOILERS shitty unexplained ending(s). They deserve every bit of rage that comes their way.
- Rian Quenlin
  
  You do know that stock media is extremely common, right? Especially sound effects, there’s an entire page on TV Tropes devoted to it.
  
  http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StockSoundEffects
  
  Still, I can understand taking parts of it and doing it for nobodies who will die in the next 20 minutes, but Tali? God!
Ishtar Mohammed

Miranda from ME 2 looks like Micheal Jackson, so what?
- Cissoreal
  
  Nail on the head with that one
  - http://www.facebook.com/Ibyronius Byron Pavlidis
    
    cannot unsee.
- http://twitter.com/Kiljoy616 Alexander Cardosa
  
  Right because a women look like a skinny black guy? Get your eyes checked.
  - Rian Quenlin
    
    Did you look at Micheal Jackson at any point between the early 90s and his recent death?
    - leehwgoC
      
      Yes, and Yvonne Strahovski does not look like a female Skeletor.
  - PimpDaddyWiteBoy
    
    Michael Jackson looked like a nose-less white woman…
    - http://www.facebook.com/ross.pera Ross Pera
      
      Now that’s funny! ) but true.
  - Mezzer
    
    Shame for using that picture, Cardosa. Alucard would never have been so stupid or un-suave.
    - Marc
      
      And yet, he’d be so droll to carry around a name like that, which is just Dracula backwards. My how silly the world is!
- leehwgoC
  
  You do know she’s modeled exactly after the actress Yvonne Strahovski (co-star of “Chuck”), right? That’s also her voice-actress.
Joshua Peachy

I think they went, “Whoa, hot!” (so the fans will love this) and, “That should be good enough,” (lazy). She is definitely hot, but at the very least they could have placed that face into the Tali suit.

Considering the times she takes the mask off in 3, they could have left her face a mystery. Or, had shown it in one of those scenes where she takes it off.
- YggaTV
  
  I don’t care about her “hotness” IF people romanced Tali it wasn’t for her face, but for her personnality….
LV1 photoshop skill

What pisses me off is the terrible photoshop. God.. I could do better with my eyes close and both of my hands tied behind my back! My 1 year old daughter can do a better job than whoever did this garbage.
- Ken
  
  overreact more please..
  - Smokeapound18
    
    fuck off
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Dragos-Munteanu/100000415062258 Dragos Munteanu
  
  I wouldn’t mind the hasty editing much, if it wouldn’t be yet another plot hole, be it as small as it is, compared with the Citadel-wide plot blast at the end. Anyways… so it’s a stock photo, ok. So there was a moment when Tali took of her mask on some planet… but just her mask, I’m sure! Cant remember her stripping there and also, inbetween fights and other life-threatening situations, I can’t possibly find a moment, nor a reason, for her to run of to some sterilized chamber, take off her gloves and paint her nails.
Cissoreal

Is it really that serious, I mean really. I just thought it was cool that they would finally show her face just to see what she would look like, whoe cares where the image came from, its a video game character. People are just never satisfied.
- Thes3535
  
  Actually, you just have low standards.
  
  Some people have been waiting three whole games for this reveal. I could seriously do a better job and make an original image better than this in an hour. I’m sorry, but if you’re willing to stand for this kind of laziness you are spineless.
  - Rian Quenlin
    
    Let’s see you sketch one up then. :V
    - Chaosbreaker
      
      There is one particularly great fanpic of Tali’s face stands out. Easy to find on google, original on Deviant Art. It would have been AWESOME on more than one level if they would have contacted that artist and used that DEDICATED art for her photo. Would have had no problems with that, and it would have been an awesome interaction with a great fan. You know, emphasizing on the part that “fans made Mass Effect”, as BioWare keeps stressing. Thanks, EA.
      - Neogyvr
        
        As much as I agree with you, Rian, I would have preferred to see a fully rendered, animated, full-on reveal of Tali’s face on Rannoch, not just on some photo she gives Shepard. Now, if that face had been used, it would have been flat awesome!
    - http://twitter.com/hellokittylie Barry humphriesads
      
      http://nebezial.deviantart.com/art/my-wife-s-tali-zorah-redesign-in-3d-290554560
  - FercPolo
    
    No, YOU have low standards. See? See how easy it is to cast accusations based on nothing?
    
    And Spineless? So because he enjoyed something and doesn’t feel he knows better than the devs he’s ‘Spineless’? Dude, stop being a little boy/girl and be an adult. People have different perspectives, you are not right about everything. Only Ferc Polo is always correct.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Rob-Garcia/100001061770224 Rob Garcia
      
      Quit blindly sticking up for bioware, there lazy and cant even follow their own story.
      - FercPolo
        
        I loved the game. I stick up for them because that’s how I feel. Blindly sticking up for them would mean I didn’t play the game. Indoctrination Theory is correct dude. Get over it.
      - Matrim
        
        Not according to Bioware it’s not…keep trying to rationalize the crappy ending, dude.
      - Jim
        
        it’s they’re not there
      - Lumzi23
        
        ME3 was the beez neez even with the lousy ending. One of the games this gen EASY!
      - Dabadman
        
        “there” lol
  - Garry
    
    then show it?
  - sheo
    
    6 years i waited to see her face, i feel like i got shot in the dick
- tom
  
  If you f*ck up the punch line don’t bother building up the joke!
http://twitter.com/Kiljoy616 Alexander Cardosa

With the lame ending, sure why not. Nothing really that matters any more, I am sure Bioware will make plenty of lame games moving into the future. As long as I take my time to verify its even a good game I will be fine, can’t be a top game designer for ever. People do get tired or loose interest.
Deondra Kat

Considering what EA has done over the years to screw with everything they’ve published, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did make BioWare do this, and threatened lawsuits if anyone at BioWare complained.
- Rian Quenlin
  
  I constantly rip on and insult publishers but I feel that is further from the truth than is possible.
- Marlon Johnston
  
  I know man. EA has already messed up some of my favorite games and it’s always bothered me that BioWare’s publisher is EA since I wanted ME3 to be the best game it could be. I was willing to wait as long as it would take for ME3 as long as they made it as awesome as possible and I wouldn’t be surprised either if EA has interfered with the making of ME3. F*ck you EA I know you’ve done something.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jordan-Turgeon/1234920305 Jordan Turgeon

Where is this picture found in the game?
Rabid

who cares game breaking bugs are more important your moms calling your pizza pops are ready
- Rian Quenlin
  
  Agreed.
leehwgoC

I like it as a troll. Tali was never even originally envisioned as a romancable NPC, and BioWare only ended up cramming the hastily written sub-plot into ME2 (seriously, it’s one-and-a-half conversations) late into development because they decided to pander to pathetic sex-deprived gamer geeks.

You know, the same sort of fans that helped ruin DA2 by encouraging David Gaider to write an entire roster of party-npcs specifically designed for the player-character to have imaginary sex with.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Leaf-Quar/100000434645163 Leaf Quar

who cares if its stock she looks very beautiful
cwayne

Three words: GET OVER IT.
cwayne

Three words: GET OVER IT.
PaygeV

Bioware is being snarky, the boys would rage if there was even one non-hot female in this game, so they were forced into making Tali a pretty space elf. Might as well make her a stock-pretty-space-elf.
PimpDaddyWiteBoy

they showed Wilsons’ face at the end of the series of Home Improvement tho D:
Kascha K.

Is this stock photo the reason why everyone that goofs on Tali’s face on message boards throws a gratuitous lens flare into the photo? LMAO if that’s true!
Bengolly

Given the sloppiness of the ending I am inclined to believe they were rushed and just got lazy with Tali’s face.
Mizmera

Stop been childish people. Did you write the story? Did you do the graphics? The story is made by the writer. The graphics produced by people who kept you playing all this time long. You cannot change the story/graphics of other games/movies etc.

Respect to Bioware.
Derp

Was this stolen or payed for?

I was under the impression that BioWare borrowed this without asking.
- Derp
  
  Forgot to mention, author is a fucking faggot anyway for stealing people’s art for his own use. Fuck crediting people
  
  You don’t just steal people’s work. There’s a reason the internet reacts to shit like this, Tim Buckley stole a bunch of shit too without asking.
  
  It’s not okay to steal people’s hard work and then just give credit later, you ask them first and pay for it.
Rush Fire

I think this was biowares way of satisfying both the people who wanted Tali to stay masked and those who wanted to see her unmasked. This path would have been easiest, But I still think this was very lazy and we should have at least been able to see her actual face in-game, regaurdless if it was based off a stock photo
http://profile.yahoo.com/WIBYSTTLIRSIIU7J5L3XEOFUK4 chris

Nice lack of POTENTIAL SPOILER WARNING on this article! Well done.

Crappy thing to stumble upon for those of us still yet to finish the game. Someone should have been more careful.
Jason

A lot of companies use stock images and footage. I’d be surprised if there was NO other stock use in Mass Effect.

However, given how huge the build-up for it was- and how unlikely it is that Tali looks like this, AND the fact that there’d be no in-game opportunity for this to be taken- it does suggest that either someone screwed up, or it’s Bioware trolling.
But since the majority of people who will see this romanced Tali- and Bioware romance fans can be a rabid bunch- I’m really on the fence. On the one hand, if they chose the trolling route, they had to know it would get a BIG response, making it a very risky snarky move. On the other hand, for that same reason- knowing it would have a big backlash- makes it a risky genuine move. So I’m really not sure if it was a snide poke, or a really bad call.
FercPolo

That’s pretty much exactly what I pictured Tali to look like…so why does it matter at all?

Do people hate Marvel because Ultimates Nick Fury is Samuel L Jackson? Because that seems lazier to me…not that I mind it…just that it seems it would upset the same people who are mad about this.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1673310152 Julian Andreassen

I actually think that it is a picture of the chick that has Talis voice in the game. I didnt mind how she looked, but what pissed me off was that they showed her face through a photoshoped picture. Cheap bastards.
Clyde Frog

I would have been quite content if Bioware kept her face a secret. I don’t think it’s necessary to the story or her character.

Even if they did some super crazy original idea and had this major reveal, people still would’ve complained about it.
http://www.facebook.com/ross.pera Ross Pera

I think they did a good job, fingers are a little weird looking. but yeah at least they showed her face.
Andy

Trolling, snarky, barky, whatsomever. Honestly the way that most gamers treat Bioware about Mass Effect in general, (like how the ending was somehow, “unsatisfactory,”) reminds me of a webcomic where the writer/artist portrayed rabid fans and the webcom with the fans rendering ridiculous, if comical, violence on the author.
Its Bioware’s right as the creator to do with Mass Effect as they please. They want to put the ending as is, that’s their prerogitive, whether or not the fans find it to their, “satisfaction,” or, “liking.” The same is with Tali or the quarians. If they want to show it, they’ll either show it in their own time or not at all. And it wouldn’t surprise me if they were being trolls about any of the issues. I would.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Rob-Garcia/100001061770224 Rob Garcia

5 minutes in Photoshop= BIOWARE MASTER OF ALIEN DESIGN! yeah i think otherwise
im_an_asshole69

Well, I’m pretty sure that if they had made Tali look like anything less than the perfectly boring sex object all of the self-entitled idiots out their would have thrown an even bigger fit than they already are.
- Spectre
  
  Yes, because a love interest in a game that boasts a dizzying array of love interests(That form a significant portion of why you bond with the characters) should be ugly, just to say: Hey, we believe that objectifying women is wrong? Women are beautiful in gaming because people /like/ beauty. They strive for it, they adore it.
  Self-entitled? So the sixty some odd dollars you pay for a game should pay for a game that you apparently do not actually own(Just look up Disc-Locked Content), and some lazy, half-assed stock images, music, stories, gameplay, and characters? If it’s self-entitled to expect the best from a company that has done the best, then I’m self-entitled.Grow the hell up and actually think before you type or speak.
http://www.facebook.com/RichHutnik Rich Hutnik

Seriously? Don’t people happen to have things far better to whine about than this? These whiners couldn’t pay Bioware enough to placate their every whim. They sit powerless, not finding other things to do with their lives.
- YggaTV
  
  If people didn’t complain, you will be stuck with the original ending of ME3. (The original with just 3 colors and no explanation).
Andrewcos19

I like it and I don’t. On one hand I’m glad that the face they chose was one that was pretty. God knows that me and the rest of the ME fan-base would cringe at the more extreme options: (Ie: something that resembles the predator or alien monster; worst case scenario they choose predator for their model.) You can’t have the hero of the trilogy romancing a “hideous freak”. In a game or movie, its commonplace to reveal a hidden face to be something that reflects the inner beauty of the character. In fiction inner and external beauty are often in synch.
Andrewcos19

Oh I forgot to mention why i don’t like it. I think that unmasking a masked character is a move that takes away a layer of who the character is. Tali is defined by her mask. It is her face as far as the fans of the game are concerned. The mask is integral to her outer beauty and her overall intrigue. Think along the lines of GIJoe’s Snakeyes; the eighties characterization was unmasked to reveal a mutilated gruesome freak the move pretty much ruined that version of the character. I still don’t know Tali’s real face and I’m happy that way.
Regan

I have absolutely no problem with it. ME3′s ending was so disappointing that many people are just throwing nerdrage around anything that moves in that franchise right now.

The alternative was for them to show her face outright in animation, and that wouldn’t have preserved the mystique they’ve built up.
Orionbelt

What a sad part is in this Tali’s face photoshop matter, while we (not me personally) bashing BW for a ‘slack job’ we forget how great the whole Mass Effect series is.
Brek

I consider myself quite the game fanatic…especially with the Mass Effect series…I take my games more seriously than ANY SINGLE LIVING BEING SHOULD, and even I dont care….seriously…its an image. I’ll tell you what…you find me 10 people who are enraged by this, and I’ll find you 10 virgins who lash out at people, places and things only to fill the void in their lives that SHOULD be occupied by sexual activity or even purpose in this world in general…point is, spend less time nerd raging and more time reducing your overall uselessness of your life.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=552206927 Rachel Jackson

Honestly I don’t know why people are getting so angry about it. Sure, they could’ve used the face of the woman who voiced her, which would’ve been more fitting I suppose, but it doesn’t ruin the game for me, nor does it take away from the experience of the game or Tali’s character. It makes me laugh how genuinely angered some of the commenters are getting on this post!
Darkjester0

I could easily see with Tali’s popularity her becoming the next overly nude drawn game character. Poor Tifa Lockheart. But I do think Bioware should of done more for Tali’s face or never done anything at all.
Tommyblazehd

It is lazy on BioWare’s part. Pretty girl but, come on man…. The game was a work of art, why get lazy at these details…
http://twitter.com/Supreme_Hater Supreme_Hater

I liked the way they made Tali look.
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Miller/1132369031 David Miller

Seriously… Who. Gives. A. Fuck? Seriously, who really gives a fuck. OMG STOCK PHOTO! THAT MEANS THEY DON’T CARE ANYMORE BECAUSE THEY ARE BEING EFFICIENT! Shut the fuck up about it, Jesus.
milp

Trolling? What the hell are you going on about? It’s clearly because they’re incompetent. Who cares where else stock images have been used? That’s completely beside the point. The decision was made and it was the horribly wrong one to make. A character that clearly had a lot of popularity was shrugged off almost as if to say “piss off fans.” They did some crappy 3D modeling for it in the extended cut I guess. Too little too late.
- YggaTV
  
  They took time to “improve” Liara, but not take time for Tali. Why? Because most of the people are..after Liara…or Garrus…They really do not care about the minority….((how many times I sighed, each time Liara went into Shepard’s cabin…I was like not again you………)
Grannygreen

Tali turned out to be the down syndrome girl that used to live on my street…..mutated due to nuclear radiation exposure and a pinch of alien. FUCKING RUINED HER BIOWARE!!!
YggaTV

Why are u saying “nerd rage” ? I’m not an talimancer, but that kind of joke is insulting for those who romanced her. If Bioware couldn’t give her a proper face, they shouldn’t have photoshopped so poorly this picture. On youtube, someone took the picture and did what Bioware did in FIVE minutes. That what the problem with game overly commercialized…they’re loosing into creativity, trying to gain more money…sad part. I enjoyed Mass Effect3 (i can’t lie about it), but don’t give this kind of crap to people that be faithful to you since ME1…..(my LI is Kaidan, but I’m pissed for those who really love Tali as a romance).
K

Maybe it’s one of the developers girlfriends, acquintances, or a charactors design inspiration or model, or just the stock photo as-is, who knows, doesn’t really matter, the sun in face isn’t great but rest of photo looks really nice.
Marc

Eh, probably would’ve taken some seriously logical thinking to get pissed about this had I discovered that in the game for myself. How do gamers these days take anything seriously enough to believe in it? Why is it that when I was little, playing stupid games like Pitfall, I could put myself in Harry’s shoes and be afraid of alligators made of enormous pixels and imagine his desire to find treasure in a forest, yet characters in Mass Effect are completely photoreaslitic and acted better than most big budget Hollywood movies, and all people can say is, “that’s it? that’s all they did? that’s all we get? we deserve more!!”

I’m sorry, but I really don’t care that much about this. Now, if there was a big “Getty images” line in the pic IN THE GAME, that would suck. Though I imagine that was removed for usage. I should know, I work in advertising and we use Getty images for ads all the time.
Adam Contreras

I was very disappointed of how Bioware treated ME3. They deserves pay cuts & lay offs.
Guest

I like to interpret it as (under the requirement that Shepherd hasn’t seen her face, so it doesn’t really work) she gave you a photo with her mask off saying it was her, but as a joke it was actually just a stock image.
Could be they put it in as a stand in image, and just forgot.