Hey Bioware, what's up with all the free DLC?

[Zetatrain]

I thought the reason was pretty obvious

Damage Control

Since EA and Bioware pissed off a lot of people like never before with the ME3 ending they are releasing the DLC for free in an attempt to minimize the loss of future potential customers. I'm sure you've noticed the amount of people stating they will never buy an EA or Bioware game again.

You can bet your ass that if there was no controversy over the ME3 ending then EA would be charging money for the multiplayer DLC.

 

[42]

Can't complain, the multiplayers solid, and the games fucking awesome. I only just started playing it, and i have no idea what to expect from the ending as I have avoided all exposure to it. I'm in the middle of my complete Mass Effect trilogy run. and yes, it was hard.

 

[SciMal]

So Mass Effect 3 so far has had a bunch of DLCs so far, the bulk of which have been multiplayer expansions.

Not that I'm complaining, but jut curious, as to why Bioware has realeased all of the Multiplayer DLC, and the Extended Cut, free of charge?

The ending was shit, they fucked up the PR afterwards, they insulted fans with their "artistic vision" bullshit, and are trying to win back some loyalty.

That's pretty much it.

 

[Awexsome]

Because god forbid a developer actually care about their fans and do nice things for them... Gamers are such a cynical crowd to please these days...

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Damage control, I'm guessing.
Just wait until Leviathan comes out, then we'll see if it's all free.

I'm betting it won't be. From the Ashes wasn't.

Despite paying for it, I consider it free DLC, only because when I bought ME3 it was on sale for half price ($45 instead of $90). So I figure I have $45 worth of DLC to get before I will have paid what the game was originally sold for.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Does it say something that, even though the stuff is free I still haven't downloaded it? After I got the trophies for the multiplayer stuff, I just got bored of it. It's the same thing over and over, just with a different coat of paint. Granted, that's what all multiplayer is, but I just feel Mass Effect could have done better. Story-based multiplayer or something.
As for why it's free, I'm going to say it's because they aren't really doing that much work. They're just releasing the same thing again and again with little tweaks and they know people might get upset if they charged for it.
As for the ending, yeah...if they had charged people for that, things would have gone very, very badly for them.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

There is also no problem comparing to LoL, since the random part is part of the product. I can go for a specific hero in LoL with IP or with RP, you can only random in ME no matter if you pay or not. I want to point Diablo 3 as one of the few games where you can go around the random element by paying. That doesn't really make it better imo.

Unless you're just trying to say you don't mind it, this makes no sense. "Being random isn't a problem because its random" isn't a reason, it's the problem.

 

[Fappy]

There is nothing wrong with the multiplayer. It was designed for the type of people who like firefight, nazi zombies, horde mode, etc. Its just not meant to be played for thirty hours a week for four months straight.

In hindsight maybe not, but ME3's multiplayer was designed to be an addictive binge multiplayer mode. Hence the way unlocks work and the gradual content releases. I think the dev team may have wanted to implement it one way and the publisher wanted it another so they ended up compromising. It was fun while it lasted but it lacked direction... if that makes any sense to anyone else.

 

[burningdragoon]

Well the multiplayer was designed to have frequent(ish) free updates to keep people playing while the ever present lure of throwing down real money for a quicker go at the skinner box slowly eats away at the weaker-willed or less patient players. That's... not really a bad thing as long as the game aspect of it is good and for the most part, it is.

The Extended Cut was... well "damage control" has some strong negative tones to it that I don't (fully) agree with, but it was definitely a reaction to the endings backlash.

What it's not, is Bioware "being nice". Not because they don't want to treat the fans well and not because it's not a "nice" thing to do, but because no business in the history of business has had "being nice" as a primary concern.

 

[prophecy2514]

As harbinger would put it

ASSUMING DAMAGE CONTROL

 

[KagatoAMV]

If I remember correctly, ME2 had single player DLC a few months after the initial release. "Kasumi Stolen Memory", that added the 2nd DLC character. Then they released more DLC over the next two(?) years. Some of it was silly, I can't imagine paying $2.99 for some character skins, but the new single player missions were fun enough.

After the way they structured the endings of ME3, I've been wondering what BioWare has planned for single player DLC. The Extended Cut was an improvement over the released product, but didn't modify the game play or change the ending in a significant manner. Given the way it ended, I don't see advantage to DLC unless it really adds more story/gameplay elements. Just adding missions that give you more war resources won't actually impact the game after a certain point.

Maybe they could create a mission where once you complete it, your galactic readiness won't slowly drift back down to 50%?)

I've heard rumors of DLC for retaking Omega, but what could they reward you with that it would make it worth paying money for? BioWare said they weren't adding more characters... At this point, I don't think BioWare is going to do more single player DLC, it feels like they're focused on multi-player as the "post-ending" strategy.

 

[Delsana]

So Mass Effect 3 so far has had a bunch of DLCs so far, the bulk of which have been multiplayer expansions.

Not that I'm complaining, but jut curious, as to why Bioware has realeased all of the Multiplayer DLC, and the Extended Cut, free of charge?

Extended Cut was because of the huge backlash to the game.

And realizing the SP can no longer sustain it self or get people to buy it by majority, the multiplayer is the new focus and the content is to continually get people back into it for the new classes, while they pay money for the more expensive unlockable crates.