BioWare Defends Mass Effect 3 Launch-Day DLC

[The.Bard]

Anyone ever watch the old Looney Tunes cartoons with the sheep dog & coyote, Ralph & Sam? Where they are good friends punching in and out of the clock at the same job, and once they're on the clock they despise each other, and they share shifts with another coyote/sheepdog pairing that clocks in to take the fight up when the other two clock out?

That is what this entire thread is starting to feel like. Two different people checking in to have the same argument two other people had 25 pages ago...



"Day 1 DLC is really bad, Ralph. It undermines me as a consumer."

"Oh, I dunno, Sam. It brings real value to those who buy the CE!"

*BAM POW PUNCH SLAM DOINK*



Personally, I think we are all just suffering from PMS- Pre MassEffect3 Syndrome.

Come March 6th, we will all be HEALED, my good people!

 

[anthony87]

Just got back from a trip to Zeel's blog. I'm guessing by the number of comments on his latest post compared to the dozen or so on all the rest, a few fellow Escapists have been there too?

Anyways, the latest nugget of knowledge from Zeels Empire?

"A game isn't finished developing until release date."

I'd facepalm but I'm worried I'd break my glasses due to the force.

 

[spectrenihlus]

Anyone ever watch the old Looney Tunes cartoons with the sheep dog & coyote, Ralph & Sam? Where they are good friends punching in and out of the clock at the same job, and once they're on the clock they despise each other, and they share shifts with another coyote/sheepdog pairing that clocks in to take the fight up when the other two clock out?

That is what this entire thread is starting to feel like. Two different people checking in to have the same argument two other people had 25 pages ago...



"Day 1 DLC is really bad, Ralph. It undermines me as a consumer."

"Oh, I dunno, Sam. It brings real value to those who buy the CE!"

*BAM POW PUNCH SLAM DOINK*



Personally, I think we are all just suffering from PMS- Pre MassEffect3 Syndrome.

Come March 6th, we will all be HEALED, my good people!

Thank you for forcing me to read that in Ralph and Sam's voices. Got a good chuckle.

 

[Darkmantle]

I would say Origin is less DRM-like than even Steam is. I don't need to launch Origin to play most of the games I own through the service, I can more easily set it to offline mode, and I can access my account on multiple computers much more easily.

That is changing with Me3, which, based on the Demo and Dev comments, shuts the game off if you lose your connection to the Origin servers. ME3 will not boot without Origin and requires Origin to be running the entire time, according to the devs on Origin's site.

I played the PC demo, and it functions like Steam does. But you can go offline with it. I just tried this with the PC demo, I set the game offline and then played the first part of the demo. You're only required to go online for the the multiplayer.

and unlike Steam, Origin has an actually functioning offline mode.

\

The steam offline feature works just fine for me.

it works fine if you set it to offline mode BEFORE you lose your connection. If you do lose it while connected it's a toss up on whether or not it's gonna actually work.

actually, the deal is you set it to offline mode ONCE while connected, it stores your data, and then you can start it offline whenever you want. I've never had it fail on me yet.

 

[Darkmantle]

I would say Origin is less DRM-like than even Steam is. I don't need to launch Origin to play most of the games I own through the service, I can more easily set it to offline mode, and I can access my account on multiple computers much more easily.

That is changing with Me3, which, based on the Demo and Dev comments, shuts the game off if you lose your connection to the Origin servers. ME3 will not boot without Origin and requires Origin to be running the entire time, according to the devs on Origin's site.

I played the PC demo, and it functions like Steam does. But you can go offline with it. I just tried this with the PC demo, I set the game offline and then played the first part of the demo. You're only required to go online for the the multiplayer.

and unlike Steam, Origin has an actually functioning offline mode.

\

The steam offline feature works just fine for me.

it works fine if you set it to offline mode BEFORE you lose your connection. If you do lose it while connected it's a toss up on whether or not it's gonna actually work.

actually, the deal is you set it to offline mode ONCE while connected, it stores your data, and then you can start it offline whenever you want. I've never had it fail on me yet.

I've done it while I was connected and then, for whatever reason, my net goes down and it refuses to go into offline mode.

interesting, it's always worked for me :/ . something's going screwy with someone here either I'm supposed to be a lot more upset, or you a lot less. I go offline all the time though, I play games on the bus pretty much everyday, and it hasn't failed me yet... there's gotta be some bug or something. anyway, we've veered WILDLY off topic now

 

[Tony2077]

Just got back from a trip to Zeel's blog. I'm guessing by the number of comments on his latest post compared to the dozen or so on all the rest, a few fellow Escapists have been there too?

Anyways, the latest nugget of knowledge from Zeels Empire?

"A game isn't finished developing until release date."

I'd facepalm but I'm worried I'd break my glasses due to the force.

i can facepalm since i don't have glasses so i'll do a double facepalm ow my nose

 

[Something Amyss]

Some people in the thread are saying that the DLC story is good, not me. The thread is about Bioware justifying the From Ashes DLC. I don?t know if the content is good or bad as I haven?t seen it.

Except you've still taken my comment out of context. I directly responded to a specific set of circumstances and you ignored that. You can say "I'm not saying that," but it missed the point.

It sure is. It is completely subjective and a matter of opinion. That?s the reason some people are pissed about it and some don?t. But when the content is about gameplay (good or bad), it does not take a master degree in psychology to foresee that some people will be upset about it.

It's neither subjective nor a matter of opinion regardless of whether you (generic plural) infer that content is actually being held. It's fairly objective whether this DLC was "held."

The real problem is, we have few facts to that end, and in the absence of fact, people are making up their own stories and treating them as fact. Barring some sort of in-depth investigation (which isn't going to happen), we won't know the truth, but that doesn't mean the answer is subjective.

The reason you can buy it is for EA to make money.

I'm going to save a lot of text here and just cut most of this chunk and to the point.

1. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive.

2. I never went to EA being beneficent; that goes beyond the scope of what I said in a way point 1 does not.

3. It costs money was never an issue with me. If you're trying to expand beyond the scope of what I'm saying, don't.

4. I'm curious as to your feelings on other "premium content" in other media.

The sex analogy wasn?t judgmental but YOU seem to think that anyone who goes for sex on the first day is a slut, I did not suggest such thing

Nor did I, but you seem to have misunderstood everything else I said, so why stop there?

You offered an analogy. I offered a countering analogy. You infer both accusation and judgment.

in this case they tried to sell it to us earlier than they used to

that's completely untrue.

There is such a thing as a social contract in every economic relationship.

I didn't say there wasn't. I said the social contract you were indicating didn't exist. One of the hits should have been the way I later referenced the term. I'm sorry that wasn't clear enough for you.

That?s the reason why that same content offered in different circumstances wouldn?t start such a ruckus.

that and hypocrisy, conspiracy theories, and a general sense of entitlement that seems to go along with being a gamer.

I never questioned the decision to make it available for the public since the CE is sold out.

But that didn't answer the freaking question. Nor did the rest of your post.

Do you seriously see key words and offer perfunctory responses regardless of context or something?

 

[JamesStone]

Zeel actually wrote about us in his blog!

I'm so happy!

Zeel has a blog? OK, I totally need to check that out! Can you give me a link?

http://xkingxzeel.blogspot.co.nz/?zx=7f911fabaf86c089

Page 22 was the greatest page ever.

God, he wrote about us in his blog, brings tears to my ears. No greater honour.

Thank you, thank you so much! This is going to be fun. Also, "Zeel's Empire". Seriously?

 

[Richardplex]

Zeel actually wrote about us in his blog!

I'm so happy!

Zeel has a blog? OK, I totally need to check that out! Can you give me a link?

http://xkingxzeel.blogspot.co.nz/?zx=7f911fabaf86c089

Page 22 was the greatest page ever.

God, he wrote about us in his blog, brings tears to my ears. No greater honour.

Thank you, thank you so much! This is going to be fun. Also, "Zeel's Empire". Seriously?

You know what's scary? It goes back to 2009. And it's just as bad back there.

 

[zinho73]

Some people in the thread are saying that the DLC story is good, not me. The thread is about Bioware justifying the From Ashes DLC. I don?t know if the content is good or bad as I haven?t seen it.

Except you've still taken my comment out of context. I directly responded to a specific set of circumstances and you ignored that. You can say "I'm not saying that," but it missed the point.

It sure is. It is completely subjective and a matter of opinion. That?s the reason some people are pissed about it and some don?t. But when the content is about gameplay (good or bad), it does not take a master degree in psychology to foresee that some people will be upset about it.

It's neither subjective nor a matter of opinion regardless of whether you (generic plural) infer that content is actually being held. It's fairly objective whether this DLC was "held."

The real problem is, we have few facts to that end, and in the absence of fact, people are making up their own stories and treating them as fact. Barring some sort of in-depth investigation (which isn't going to happen), we won't know the truth, but that doesn't mean the answer is subjective.

The reason you can buy it is for EA to make money.

I'm going to save a lot of text here and just cut most of this chunk and to the point.

1. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive.

2. I never went to EA being beneficent; that goes beyond the scope of what I said in a way point 1 does not.

3. It costs money was never an issue with me. If you're trying to expand beyond the scope of what I'm saying, don't.

4. I'm curious as to your feelings on other "premium content" in other media.

The sex analogy wasn?t judgmental but YOU seem to think that anyone who goes for sex on the first day is a slut, I did not suggest such thing

Nor did I, but you seem to have misunderstood everything else I said, so why stop there?

You offered an analogy. I offered a countering analogy. You infer both accusation and judgment.

in this case they tried to sell it to us earlier than they used to

that's completely untrue.

There is such a thing as a social contract in every economic relationship.

I didn't say there wasn't. I said the social contract you were indicating didn't exist. One of the hits should have been the way I later referenced the term. I'm sorry that wasn't clear enough for you.

That?s the reason why that same content offered in different circumstances wouldn?t start such a ruckus.

that and hypocrisy, conspiracy theories, and a general sense of entitlement that seems to go along with being a gamer.

I never questioned the decision to make it available for the public since the CE is sold out.

But that didn't answer the freaking question. Nor did the rest of your post.

Do you seriously see key words and offer perfunctory responses regardless of context or something?

Ok...

Well, sorry if I misunderstood anything you said (really, this is not sarcasm).

To be honest, I didn't quite understood some of your points above too. You said that "held" was a iffy term, now you say that there's nothing subjective about it. But don't bother tell me which is it, 'cause I will re-read your post and reflect about everything you said, no need to engage in a endless discussion leading to nowhere.

In any case, a few posts later, I kind of gave my opinion about this whole DLC thing. That post might help you to get a better understanding of what I said to you before, if you are interested.

Best.

 

[BaronIveagh]

Well, it's good that here the hate is divided among several threads. Bioware's board has most of it in one thread which is nearing 500 pages. So much hate, I can feel their servers groaning with the power of the Khorne.


I eagerly await launch day, if CE owners find it to be on disk DLC for them. The explosion on BSN might be enough to open a gate and unleash the powers of the Warp.

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

 

[SajuukKhar]

I could easily see someone finding a placeholder voice files, much like the Liara Shadow Broker files, and saying "ITS PROOF THE CONTENT WAS CUT", when it isnt.

 

[MPerce]

I originally had a whole thing typed up about how silly the reaction to this has been. But now that I've thought about it some more, I see where people are coming from with this. It's pretty frustrating, and it feels like EA is seeing how far they can push the boundaries of what DLC we'll buy.

....I still think the sheer amount of frothing rage over this is extremely bizarre. But maybe that's because I have a hard time getting worked up over video games.

 

[Bat Vader]

I think that anyone who buys the game new should get the From Ashes DLC for free. They did it with Zaeed so I don't understand why they wouldn't do it for the Prothean.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I think that anyone who buys the game new should get the From Ashes DLC for free. They did it with Zaeed so I don't understand why they wouldn't do it for the Prothean.

Zaheed was part of "project 10 dollar" which is EA's name for their incentive methods to buy the game new instead of used.

Mass Effect 2 had the Cerberus Network, and with it the free DLC it had, which was that games "project 10 dollar" content.

With the addition of Multiplayer Mass Effect 3 the "project 10 dollar" free content is now the online pass that lets you play the multplayer.





*edit*
So I found this out recentaly, according to pople on the bioware social network the "prothean" mentioned in the OLD OLD leaked script is actually a Prothean VI.

So the DLC Prothean =/= the Prohtean in the script.

 

[Bat Vader]

I think that anyone who buys the game new should get the From Ashes DLC for free. They did it with Zaeed so I don't understand why they wouldn't do it for the Prothean.

Zaheed was part of "project 10 dollar" which is EA's name for their incentive methods to buy the game new instead of used.

Mass Effect 2 had the Cerberus Network, and with it the free DLC it had, which was that games "project 10 dollar" content.

With the addition of Multiplayer Mass Effect 3 the "project 10 dollar" free content is now the online pass that lets you play the multplayer.





*edit*
So I found this out recentaly, according to pople on the bioware social network the "prothean" mentioned in the OLD OLD leaked script is actually a Prothean VI.

So the DLC Prothean =/= the Prohtean in the script.

That makes sense. Also, does anyone know what the Prothean looks like yet? I really want to know if they look like the Collector's or the tall thin statues found on Ilos.

 

[SajuukKhar]

That makes sense. Also, does anyone know what the Prothean looks like yet? I really want to know if they look like the Collector's or the tall thin statues found on Ilos.

They look like collectors

 

[BaronIveagh]

So I found this out recentaly, according to pople on the bioware social network the "prothean" mentioned in the OLD OLD leaked script is actually a Prothean VI.

So the DLC Prothean =/= the Prohtean in the script.

Eh, that's one rumor. Unfortunately, that's all it is so far. According to Chris Priestly, it's the same Prothean but with a cut down role. That and about a dozen others are buzzing about right now.

 

[Scorpid]

Dissecting what people are saying about the DLC:

1. The content is essential to the plot!
Nobody knows for sure, but it is likely not essential to understand the plot or finish the game properly. That said, a Prothean character is something much more close to the central plot of the series than other DLC characters in the past.

2. Day 1 DLC is not new. Why people are surprised?
Because every case is different. Companies are trying to push DLC in several forms, trying to gauge our limits. In the case of Mass Effect series, this is the first time that gameplay content is not ready available to everyone for free at launch.

3. I bought the CE. Why you should have for free what I have paid for?
We shouldn?t. But you also cannot blame people for being upset. This kind of content does not belong to a Collector?s edition simply because it is not a collectible ? it is gameplay content. EA is trying to add value to the CE and at the same time make easy cash at launch. It is a terrible strategy to build good will and some people will undoubtedly be pissed about it.

4. If EA waited a few months nobody would say a thing.
This would be true if the content wasn?t in the CE. Since it is, not making it available would be worse, much worse.

5. Boycotting doesn?t change a thing.
Boycotting is not about change, it is about principles. And, sometimes, it does change and it is awesome.

6. If you do not want the content, just don?t buy it. What´s the big deal?
People WANT the content. They just do not agree with the way it was made available (either because of price or other motives).

7. People should be grateful because Bioware made the content available.
This is just crazy talk. Consumers should never be grateful because a company is trying to sell something to them. EA is not being kind, they are trying to make more money at launch.

8. I have the extra money and/or already bought the CE so I don?t care.
If you do not care, you shouldn?t be reading this post and you shouldn?t post yourself. Discussing things in the forums is for people that care about the issue, one way or the other.

9. EA is evil.
They are not, but they sure are greedy and they are very bad at balancing the whole making money thing with consumer satisfaction. This day1 DLC looks even worse if you compare what other companies like Bethesda and CD project are offering (and they are still making money in the process).

10. The multiplayer thing is the new Zaeed (a device to reduce piracy and used games sales).
It might be, but it is another terrible idea ? a multiplayer component in a single player series. It might be cool and all, but it does not have the same appeal as a story element in a game about story. Again, this is not a reward; this is a tentative to appeal to a broader audience.
Man, if you want to reward consumers, just give them something without any ulterior motives (other than to please your fanbase), otherwise it is a scam.

11. Making the DLC costs money, so it shouldn?t be given for free.
EA does not need the DLC to recoup any money. DLCs (specially day1) will give them more money and are built simply to milk the cow. In any case, if they needed to sell it (or wanted to), they could have removed it from the CE and sold it a few months later.

12. But if it?s ready why wait?
Well, this is marketing 101 and it?s called overflow. Selling things at the right time builds trust and can even give you more money. Put it simply ? people are more willing to pay 60 now and 10 later, than paying 70 now (it is way more complex than that and yes, it is not completely logical, but people rarely are).

13. Call me when companies charge me to get the end of the game.
It is already happening; Final Fantasy XIII-2 is doing exactly that. I guess we are way passed the hour to complain if we think some DLC is abusive - mostly because it almost always is, but also because the line that separates what is reasonable from what is not is subjective and will affect each one differently.

To sum up: I guess the ?Biowhiners? can be dramatic at times (CONTENT HELD AT HANSOM!), but they have the right to be as long it doesn?t evolve to personal attacks. On the ?Biodrones? side I applaud the ones that are trying to discuss things and I?m really sad for the ones that just want people to ?shut up?. Consumers should not shut up ever and we should fight fiercely for our money ? that?s exactly what the companies are doing after all.

I agree with almost all of it except for EA being evil. I've seen many times the effect of EA channeling Satan and his minions into their marketing to serve him, their lord and master.