Canadish said:
Have to say, I'm shocked.
I honestly never thought I would hear the words "EA" and "Free" anywhere in the same sentence.
(I guess that leak was legit, who'd of thought it?)
Now, speaking rationally, it's an obvious marketing stunt on their part.
And it still doesn't undo all the bad they've done over the years and in the last few months with Mass Effect.
But, I'll give credit where it's due, this is a good kind of marketing stunt. I can get behind this.
So...er....good going EA/Bioware..?...Sounds weird saying that...
To me, the whole "Free" thing with the DLC is rather indicative of a much larger problem than what Bioware and EA have been harping as a very small vocal minority. It would seem that a rather substantial portion of their base (I'm not willing to say majority at this point) are rather pissed.
My prediction is that it will be a rather lackluster and half-assed attempt. It won't garner as much hatred as the current ending, as it will be old news. What it will likely do is simply remove a lot of interest in Bioware as fans move away from them. It's a relatively common occurrence in the videogame world, where the Developers simply cannot maintain the support of their fanbase by essentially half-assing their products.
As for the multiplayer being free, it's expected for that part anyway at this point. The multiplayer is pointlessly dull and uninspired, so the only way the can maintain a strong enough player base is by added slightly more pointlessly dull material to it.
So really, interest will wane very quickly. The ending DLC is far to little, far to late (Which I'm absolutely certain they were planning on people paying for in the first place, as they have stated many times that this was a planned DLC from the start and EA absolutely hates the words "Free" and "DLC" in the same sentence). The multiplayer has no real viability as a long-term component. Mass Effect, and Bioware, are likely entities on their last legs.