Mass Effect 3 has day zero DLC (MAJOR SPOILERS)

[ZeroMachine]

Dragon Age: Origins and Shale. It's the same thing.

No
It's
not.

Those
were
free
with
ALL
NEW
COPIES.

I
CAN
TYPE
IN
CAPS
ONE
LINE
AT
A
TIME
TO
!

Boy, that made my point so much better didn't it.

It's the same thing. Physical copies of the game had Shale. Certain download copies did not.

As someone who will be buying ME3 AND the Prothean day 1... no. It's not the same. At all.

The Collector's edition is the ONLY edition that'll come with it "free". The quotes are there because it isn't really free- there's a reason the CE costs more.

EVERY SINGLE OTHER COPY will have to buy it separately.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of people that bought Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Mass Effect 2 (EDIT: new) got Shale, Sebastian, and Zaeed respectively free of charge.

The ME3 Collector's pre-orders ran out insanely early, which means that the majority of people will now be missing out on a lot of content that they'll either never get or have to pay out the ass for.

Not gonna lie, at the moment I do have a little extra money to spare, so it doesn't bother me as much as most people, but it still doesn't sit well with me. If EA was the developer as well as the one making these ridiculous decisions I wouldn't buy the game. I'm buying it to support Bioware, though, as they're one of my favorite developers (if not my favorite).

Also...

TYPING
IN
CAPS
COLUMNS
IS
FUN
LOL
BOLDED
FOR
EMPHASIS

 

[putowtin]

Ok so what does everyone want, I've just read through complaint after complaint so what do you want Bioware to do?
Give everyone the DLC, so what happens to those who have paid for the extra stuff? (Those that grabbed the DLC whilst it was on xbox live and those that are buying the N7 Edition) They then complain that they aren?t getting what they paid for.

Someone, just for once come up with a solution instead of "oh Bioware and EA are idiots/morons (add you favourite swear word here)"

 

[somonels]

Do you know why EA does this?

Because it fucking works, that's why. People buy it.

Stop giving them money for it, and they'll stop doing it.

Yes, they'll stop making the games, not this shit.

 

[PingoBlack]

Anyone surprised at this? Really?

When they decided to sell mayor story line plot part for ME2 as Pay Only DLC you really didn't see this coming?

In case you missed that DLC, you will sure have trouble figuring out why Liara T'Soni went from squad mate to raging office monkey and back again to your squad.

I guess sex was not that good after all in ME1 for her. Puny humans.

 

[PingoBlack]

Yes, they'll stop making the games, not this shit.

Why would they stop making games?

EA/BioDrone do what any company does, go after money. If you don't buy their crap in sufficient number and explain why, they will change their ways because they want money.
If they stop making games they make no money.

It seems highly illogical they would be choosing between customer rape and suicide, yet ignore the actual solution, where they get money by not treating customers like sheep?

 

[boag]

Wait, what?

They either drastically changed the game's story since the script was leaked, or they've ripped out a very, very important plot point.

They didnt rip out anything, the Prothean is still in the game, the DLC just makes him an available team member instead of a plot driving NPC

 

[boag]

Call me crazy but despite the race of the squad mate, walking around with him will be like walking around with Legion in ME2 IE you'll be wondering why no one is looking twice at it and why there's nothing important about him outside of talking to him and a single mission related to him. Yeah, not exactly losing sleep over this. Also I'm pretty sure info about this came out a month ago so you people are really behind the ball

P.S. Why the flying fuck is there a ME3 leak every week?

Marketing, as long as people are talking about it, it remains i peoples minds, the trick is not running head long into topic fatigue.

 

[Kingjackl]

I know there are a lot of reasons to be pissed off about this revelation, be it the retconning of crucial in-game lore, the condescending practice of Day One DLC or the risk of interfering with the tone of the story. But all of that is completely irrelevant because (spoiler alert) this guy has a fucking Jamaican accent! Yup. Sold. Bring on the Prothean Squadmate!

 

[Steampunk Viking]

it's not as if other companies haven't done this as well, yet no-one bats an eyelid towards them.

Dude, people complain about day one dlc all the time, regardless of company, don't try to paint EA/Bioware as unfair victims.

The rest of your post though, eh, fair enough. Though I find the excuse that they're a company trying to make money isn't all that valid. Yes, they are indeed just out to make money, but we shouldn't let them push it too far. Should we not complain about COD's £12 for five maps? Should we not complain about hollywood charging us an extra £3 to rent some plastic 3D glasses? Should we not complain about KFC's battery farmed chickens? These are all just companies trying to make extra money, and while we can't change it, we may as well let off some steam by complaining a bit on the internet.

Of course not, I refuse to buy COD, but Mass Effect DLC has never to my knowledge cost stupid amounts of money. I will grant you that I preferred EA's original idea of giving that DLC free with new copies of the game, but I suppose they want to give people incentive to buy the Collector's Edition and shiney baubles isn't always enough. But I've known alot of companies who have done this way before Bioware and everyone throws a tantrum and buys it anyways. Like it or not, their merketing is working.

Eh, I don't see why people are complaining about this "Day Zero DLC". It's free with the Collector's Edition and it's not as if other companies haven't done this as well, yet no-one bats an eyelid towards them.

Why are people complaining about this? Because it should be in the game! It's extremely valuable DLC toward the story and franchise that was made before the game comes out and instead of putting it in so everyone can use, they charge for it.

How can you NOT have a problem with this?

Fair point, if we can prove it is a crucial part of the story. Which we can't right now. Not without ruining it for people anyways (I don't know this for certain, I don't want to read the leaked spoilers!)

But it doesn't bother me because I've preordered the Collector's Edition anyhoo, so take my opinion as you will.

 

[Zhukov]

Wait, what?

They either drastically changed the game's story since the script was leaked, or they've ripped out a very, very important plot point.

They didnt rip out anything, the Prothean is still in the game, the DLC just makes him an available team member instead of a plot driving NPC

Might I ask where you learned this?

Do you have a link?

 

[Madman123456]

As if i needed another Reason to not buy Mass Effect 3. Not because i think it wont be a great Game, actually i think it might just be the best Game in 2012.
But by buying this Game, you're giving Money to EA. The Guys who set the entire Videogame Medium back with infantile Marketing Campaigns. The People who would force you to install Spyware on your Computer.
By buying Mass Effect 3 you're giving Money to the People who hurt the Videogame Medium.

I wont buy any Product published by EA, "Origin" was the final Straw for me. They bought out smaller Companies and drove their Franchises into the Ground but that's their Business Decision, i don't have a say in that.
I do have a say in what Software ends up on my Computer. And i don't want to have Spyware on it.

And i would suggest that everyone thinks twice before giving Money to those Pricks. Not because they're a bit shady, but because buying from them just isn't a very smart Move in my Opinion. If EA can get away with Stuff like this, there will be more to come.

I wont buy this Product because if i bought it, i'd do damage to the Medium by accepting shady Business Politics.

EA could backpedal on the Origin stuff and Bioware could backpedal on the Plotsensitive and expensive DLC and i still wont buy from them not because i hate their Guts now, but because i fully expect them to come up with another Scheme.

I try to be as Objective as possible as i can when i say that whatever EA cooks up next, it will probably contain something to screw you over.

 

[Akio91]

Because it's wrong and I honestly believe that it's bad for the industry. No one's going to try their hardest to make a complete game, because they know that if anything goes wrong, or if they're in a time crunch, they can release everything else as dlc. This, of course, implies that said DLC isn't already on the disc (and there's no defending that).

I'm having issues with your use of future tense here. It's like you assume this kind of thing wasn't going on for several years now. And what did we do, collectively, as gamers? Nothing. Not one thing, since this model of publishing games is oh so much present.
I might disagree, you might disagree, but as a whole, most of us only cry about it, but don't follow up on it.
This is exactly why I expect the worst, predict the most dick moves on publishers' side and generally believe than we can say fuckall, but nothing will change.

So you're okay with getting nickel and dimed by developers?

 

[Loethlin]

So you're okay with getting nickel and dimed by developers?

What gives you that idea? Did I say anything about agreeing with this model of business? Nope, not even once. I said I get it, I never said I agree. Did I even once said I WILL be paying for this DLC? No, I think I specifically mentioned I won't actually.
Reading with comprehension skills are important, ok?
My general cynicism applies to this whole dramorama with people yelling, assuming and demanding stuff, threatening, and not following through. That will never change, and I have absolutely no reason to believe otherwise.

 

[tendaji]

Ok did everyone already forget all the dlc they wanted to add to the game? Buy the toys for more quests/characters/weapons! Buy the books! Buy this! Buy That! This game will have the most EXPENSIVE dlc for any game out there!

And who's fault? I can guarentee its EA.

Except all of those DLC are actually weapons and character unlocks for the Multiplayer not the single player. As stated multiple times.

In terms of it being optional or not, I'll listen to a guy who actually is a part of Bioware instead of anyone who makes accusations at this point, seeing how quickly they are willing to jump the gun to condemn EA.

- ?From Ashes? includes the Prothean squad mate, an adventure on Eden Prime, a new weapon, and an alternate
appearance for every squad mate. Note that these alternate appearances are in addition to the ones already advertised in the CE.

- The Collectors Edition has been advertised from the beginning as containing a bonus character/mission, but we were not at liberty to provide the details. The Prothean is optional content that is certainly designed to appeal to long-time fans, which is why he is part of the CE offering (the version many fans would be likely to purchase). Mass Effect 3 is a complete ? and a huge game - right out of the box.

- The content in ?From Ashes? was developed by a separate team (after the core game was finished) and not completed until well after the main game went into certification.

- The Collectors Edition has been sold out in most places for some time now, and is becoming very hard to find (many players prefer not to purchase the digital version). As such, we wanted to make this content available so that SE buyers could also incorporate the Prothean into their game.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/9403705

That's good enough for me. I bet if they didn't have the option for people to buy it, the crying over how CE buyers were the only ones getting it would be immense.

 

[Keava]

Ok did everyone already forget all the dlc they wanted to add to the game? Buy the toys for more quests/characters/weapons! Buy the books! Buy this! Buy That! This game will have the most EXPENSIVE dlc for any game out there!

And who's fault? I can guarentee its EA.

Except all of those DLC are actually weapons and character unlocks for the Multiplayer not the single player. As stated multiple times.

In terms of it being optional or not, I'll listen to a guy who actually is a part of Bioware instead of anyone who makes accusations at this point, seeing how quickly they are willing to jump the gun to condemn EA.

- The content in ?From Ashes? was developed by a separate team (after the core game was finished) and not completed until well after the main game went into certification.

And i call BS on the bolded part. ME3 went gold (ready to distribution/finished certification) on 13th Feb, 2012. Casey Hudson (director for ME3) said that content creation for ME3 finished in January before finial bug-fixing/etc, and team responsible for content creation was moved to work on the DLC.
But... The DLC was first leaked 9 months ago ( http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/7551111 ), which means long before the content creation for core of the game was even close to finished, They made decision of making part of the game CE/DLC exclusive.

It doesn't really matter if the new squad member brings lore-relevant revelation and enlightenment. It's part of the game that was deliberately cut from the core in middle of production cycle. I don't mind vanity/cosmetic stuff being exclusives for CE's, soundtracks, comics, HD wallpapers/art-books, even convenience unlocks for MP part of the game, since they can be obtained over time, are all fine as part of digital bonus for CE (physical of course gets actual physical goodies).
But part of game? Cut months before content creation was finished? Bad practice. Bad idea. Bad BioWare.

 

[boag]

Wait, what?

They either drastically changed the game's story since the script was leaked, or they've ripped out a very, very important plot point.

They didnt rip out anything, the Prothean is still in the game, the DLC just makes him an available team member instead of a plot driving NPC

Might I ask where you learned this?

Do you have a link?

one part is supposition the other is going by the leaked scripts.

in the scripts there was always a prothean sending you on your merry way to get the mcguffin for ME3.

Its a lot more believable to think that the Prothean DLC adds the ability to recruit him into your squad, than ripping out an entire plot point and then adding it later a s DLC.

I do however admit I have no hard evidence towards this, I am just sick of having to point this out in every ME3 thread I see, so I just started stating it as fact instead of saying its an assumption. For that i apologize.

 

[somonels]

Yes, they'll stop making the games, not this shit.

Why would they stop making games?

'The games, the specific games that don't bring in as much money as they want to, not games as in group of products.