Perhaps the reports of Star Wars: The Old Republic’s subscriber base shrinking were premature; the game went live in 38 additional countries, in Europe and the Middle East, this week.

On the Mass Effect 3 front, it would seem that the controversy about the ending of the game was, for a while at least, supplanted by a new issue: PlayStation 3 players had thus far been excluded from the “Bounty Weekend” bonus events that have characterized the game’s multiplayer mode. The issue was, specifically, with Sony; PC and Xbox 360 players have been able to enjoy these weekend events since they began. However, it appears that as of this week, the issue is no more.

Also, these selected quotes from BioWare office notes taken durng Mass Effect 3’s development are pretty funny. You’ll never look at rock, paper, scissors the same way again. This look at the genesis of Mordin Solus is also pretty interesting.

And okay, I kind of lied about the controversy over the game’s ending having died died down or gone away; it’s present in full force in this “narratological review” of the game from our friends at RPG Codex.

Oh, and Forbes has an article up wondering if Mass Effect 2 might just be one of the best games ever. The writer, evidently, loved its “Dirty Dozen” sendup.

Meanwhile, on the Dragon Age front, Felicia Day recently interviewed BioWare’s David Gaider for Geek and Sundry. The folks at RPG Codex didn’t much care for it, and it would seem that much of the interview focuses on the way BioWare crafts romantic subplots. However, RPGWatch notes that the artistic integrity debate pops up for discussion, as does a discussion of narrative design.