I don't care since I preordered the N7 edition way back

I downgraded to standard edition and I'm sticking with the decision because an extra $20 for a DLC pack and a bunch of other crap that I find useless still isn't a deal to me.

@Ghostiet said:

@AndrewB said:

Bioware DLC has sometimes been nifty, but none of it has been necessary. I feel like their full retail products are still as complete as they need to be, and I'm not so completionist-oriented that I'll be sucked into tossing more money at them for extra content. If the DLC in question turns out to be a necessity to get the most out of the game, then I'll call it a mistake.

But it already happened with the Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival.

Lair of the Shadow Broker... maybe. You might have me there. Arrival, I have no idea, since I didn't deem it necessary to buy myself. It felt more like promotional material for Mass Effect 3 that could have been given away, at the time. It obviously doesn't feel essential to me.

G.  Wait two weeks and buy the game and the DLC together for a normal price.
 
Added bonus:  By that time you will know if the DLC is worth caring about.

I love it when people who obviously know diddly squat about game development complain about DLC being made after the main game went gold.

The "You just don't understand game development!!!1" argument is ridiculous.  Here's a radical idea: bring your next project forward a month.  If you're gonna turn game development into a production line then fine, but don't then ignore how production lines actually work and use it to guilt trip consumers into believing it's a straight choice between Day 1 DLC or half the team being fired. Because that's bullshit.  It's not like these guys are sat around waiting for Mass Effect 3 sales in order to fund whatever they're gonna do next, so release date is effecively just another arbitrary date in the cycle.
 
The reality of this isnt "We had to put them to work on this or lay people off", it's "We put them to work on this because we think Day 1 DLC has a much higher profit:content ratio than a new game".

I sent Bioware an email saying i wasn't going to buy their game, I know they won't read it, but I really don't need to be spending 60 bucks on a videogame that isn't even complete.

and that's what pisses me off, they're already charging 60 bucks for a videogame, and now they want more money? Just because? You're super cool EA. For fucks sake, I play on PC, games have never even been 60 bucks on PC, and now it's the norm while on top of that, devs and publishers squeeze us for even more money for the crime of enjoying their game.

Not paying $70 for Mass Effect 3.  Ideally I won't pay even $30, but thanks to Origin-exclusive, I'm not expecting a sale price that good for a long time.

@Mikemcn said:

I sent Bioware an email saying i wasn't going to buy their game, I know they won't read it, but I really don't need to be spending 60 bucks on a videogame that isn't even complete.

and that's what pisses me off, they're already charging 60 bucks for a videogame, and now they want more money? Just because? You're super cool EA. For fucks sake, I play on PC, games have never even been 60 bucks on PC, and now it's the norm while on top of that, devs and publishers squeeze us for even more money for the crime of enjoying their game.

The game is complete though. The guy is a bonus character that wouldn't be usable if DLC didn't exist and is in fact not necessary to the story.

IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Jaytow said:

@SethPhotopoulos: How do you know if this character would have been in the game if "DLC didn't exist"?

A separate budget for DLC does point to that but I guess I wouldn't know for sure. Just a strong feeling based on my knowledge of game development flawed or not.

I've bought ME and ME 2 and most of the DLC and I have no regrets. I'll buy the standard edition and the DLC. This EA hate is becoming ridiculous.

@SeriouslyNow said:

@CL60 said:

@Seppli said:

@CL60 said:

I'm laughing at people who think it's a big deal. Since it's not on the disc. Was worked on by a different team after the game went gold. And the party member is in the main game, and the DLC is just a tacked on mission that adds him to your party.

Day and date Premium DLC is disgusting, to say the least. Especially given the loreheavy nature of this specific DLC. It pretty much ups the perceived price of admission for the full launch Mass Effect 3 experiece by 10-30 dollars. I'm okay with it, but I'm also sick to my stomach. I guess being cool ain't too high on EA's and Bioware's priority list anymore.

It's not lore heavy though. It's nothing. He's in the main game, the DLC just tacks him on as a party member.

A Prothean isn't lore heavy? Which game series have you been playing? The whole series fiction is driven by the existence of the Prothean. Saying a Prothean isn't lore heavy to Mass Effect 3 is like saying the genie isn't important in Ali Baba and the Fourty Thieves (or Aladdin for you people who've only seen the Disney movie).

Is nobody fucking listening? HE'S IN THE MAIN GAME. THE DLC JUST TACKS HIM ON AS A PARTY MEMBER.

@laserbolts said:

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Brodehouse said:

Would you complain if they never offered this product to people who didn't buy the CE? Yes.

Would you complain if they had just never made the character, and you saw their half-done ideas in the artbook? Yes.

Would you complain if they made the character for the CEs like they promised, and then made it available to other people if they pay half the price? Yes.

There's no win situation here for the developers. I don't know how they can stand to make things for an audience that has such a problem with everything they do. It's never enough.

A Prothean shouldn't be DLC. It's really that simple. You don't make a key plot beat DLC.

How do you know its a key plot beat? The prothean may be in the game regardless and any lore you want may be provided. This could just be dlc to let the prothean join your group which to me wouldnt be a key plot beat at all.

Based on the hints on a Mass Effect 3 Reddit AMA, this is pretty much what is happening. From what I can tell, you discover the Prothean(s?) and do something involving them. The 'From Ashes' part just adds that dude to your squad and gives you a bonus mission.

"I don't think so. I think if they had released it like they did with the guy from ME2 to encourage buying new copies, the customer would have felt rewarded."

The CE promised a bonus character. So I bought it and I feel rewarded. Then people who didn't buy the CE found out and got all butthurt and want the thing that I paid for for free. If you start playing "should have been in the retail" we can go forever. "The retail should have been 90 hours long" "The retail should have a robust campaign creation tool" "The retail should come with free copies of Battlefield 3." Another case of not judging what is there for 60 dollars, but demanding nothing else exist outside of it.

@Brodehouse said:

@laserbolts said:

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Brodehouse said:

Would you complain if they never offered this product to people who didn't buy the CE? Yes.

Would you complain if they had just never made the character, and you saw their half-done ideas in the artbook? Yes.

Would you complain if they made the character for the CEs like they promised, and then made it available to other people if they pay half the price? Yes.

There's no win situation here for the developers. I don't know how they can stand to make things for an audience that has such a problem with everything they do. It's never enough.

A Prothean shouldn't be DLC. It's really that simple. You don't make a key plot beat DLC.

How do you know its a key plot beat? The prothean may be in the game regardless and any lore you want may be provided. This could just be dlc to let the prothean join your group which to me wouldnt be a key plot beat at all.

Based on the hints on a Mass Effect 3 Reddit AMA, this is pretty much what is happening. From what I can tell, you discover the Prothean(s?) and do something involving them. The 'From Ashes' part just adds that dude to your squad and gives you a bonus mission.

The leaked spoilers also point to this being the case. So all this complaining about the DLC being integral to the plot is stupid.

I don't buy DLC, I buy expansions.

@CL60 said:

It's not lore heavy though. It's nothing. He's in the main game, the DLC just tacks him on as a party member.

The character is Prothean. The Protheans were killed off fifty thousand years ago. None are currently known to have existed.

In short: I'm sorry, but you are wrong.

If it were just another party member, (a human, an asari, etc.) I would be fine with it, but since this character is so heavily tied to the entire existence of this franchise and who's species is such a pivotal role in the entire plot of this series, I find this very weird. I felt like I was going someplace else with my comment, but I guess what I am getting at, is that if this character isn't tied to the story in some extremely important fashion, then Bioware will have missed a huge opportunity for something very special and awesome.

So, it's weird that it's just downloadable content, considering the nature of the character.

EDIT: Read more of this topic. I was wrong. I am sorry.

@Napalm said:

@CL60 said:

It's not lore heavy though. It's nothing. He's in the main game, the DLC just tacks him on as a party member.

The character is Prothean. The Protheans were killed off fifty thousand years ago. None are currently known to have existed.

In short: I'm sorry, but you are wrong.

If it were just another party member, (a human, an asari, etc.) I would be fine with it, but since this character is so heavily tied to the entire existence of this franchise and who's species is such a pivotal role in the entire plot of this series, I find this very weird. I felt like I was going someplace else with my comment, but I guess what I am getting at, is that if this character isn't tied to the story in some extremely important fashion, then Bioware will have missed a huge opportunity for something very special and awesome.

So, it's weird that it's just downloadable content, considering the nature of the character.

Seriously? You people need to actually listen to what I'm saying. I guess I'll copy and paste.

@CL60: Read my edit, you cheesedog.

Don't buy the game if this pisses you off so much, simple as that.

Also, if this character is treated the same way ME2's DLC characters were, it's not worth bitching about anyway. One mission and a soulless shell hanging around my ship, who needs it.

@CL60 said:

Based on the hints on a Mass Effect 3 Reddit AMA, this is pretty much what is happening. From what I can tell, you discover the Prothean(s?) and do something involving them. The 'From Ashes' part just adds that dude to your squad and gives you a bonus mission.

The leaked spoilers also point to this being the case. So all this complaining about the DLC being integral to the plot is stupid.

All this and the achievement list for the main game (without the DLC) has one entitled "The Last Witness: Extract an ancient technology." Seems pretty obvious to me at this point.

I got the N7 Collector's Edition, whatever that is, and wherever it fits into this poll.

@CL60 said:

@Brodehouse said:

@laserbolts said:

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Brodehouse said:

Would you complain if they never offered this product to people who didn't buy the CE? Yes.

Would you complain if they had just never made the character, and you saw their half-done ideas in the artbook? Yes.

Would you complain if they made the character for the CEs like they promised, and then made it available to other people if they pay half the price? Yes.

There's no win situation here for the developers. I don't know how they can stand to make things for an audience that has such a problem with everything they do. It's never enough.

A Prothean shouldn't be DLC. It's really that simple. You don't make a key plot beat DLC.

How do you know its a key plot beat? The prothean may be in the game regardless and any lore you want may be provided. This could just be dlc to let the prothean join your group which to me wouldnt be a key plot beat at all.

Based on the hints on a Mass Effect 3 Reddit AMA, this is pretty much what is happening. From what I can tell, you discover the Prothean(s?) and do something involving them. The 'From Ashes' part just adds that dude to your squad and gives you a bonus mission.

The leaked spoilers also point to this being the case. So all this complaining about the DLC being integral to the plot is stupid.

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

Also, I hate the fact that they did this simply out of principal for robbing a potentially great moment from the game. And by that, I mean spoiling the fact you run into Prothean tech/people. I suppose we should blame EA marketing for this one.

@Mikemcn said:

@CL60 said:

@Brodehouse said:

@laserbolts said:

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Brodehouse said:

Would you complain if they never offered this product to people who didn't buy the CE? Yes.

Would you complain if they had just never made the character, and you saw their half-done ideas in the artbook? Yes.

Would you complain if they made the character for the CEs like they promised, and then made it available to other people if they pay half the price? Yes.

There's no win situation here for the developers. I don't know how they can stand to make things for an audience that has such a problem with everything they do. It's never enough.

A Prothean shouldn't be DLC. It's really that simple. You don't make a key plot beat DLC.

How do you know its a key plot beat? The prothean may be in the game regardless and any lore you want may be provided. This could just be dlc to let the prothean join your group which to me wouldnt be a key plot beat at all.

Based on the hints on a Mass Effect 3 Reddit AMA, this is pretty much what is happening. From what I can tell, you discover the Prothean(s?) and do something involving them. The 'From Ashes' part just adds that dude to your squad and gives you a bonus mission.

The leaked spoilers also point to this being the case. So all this complaining about the DLC being integral to the plot is stupid.

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

Too bad it's NOT on the disc, it's around a 600 mb download.. And was made after the game was sent for certification.

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

@Hailinel said:

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

Because I don't see a problem with day 1 DLC when it's not on the disc and was made after the game went into certification. And this seering hatred for everything Bioware touches ever since Dragon Age 2 came out is just ridiculous.

@CL60 said:

@Hailinel said:

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

Because I don't see a problem with day 1 DLC when it's not on the disc and was made after the game went into certification.

And yet, this DLC has to be certified in time for release, as well.

@Mikemcn: It was a bonus, secret character for people who bought the CE. It was advertised months and months ago. Then they decided to make it available to anyone if they paid half of what the CE is. Obviously they shouldn't have.

Why isn't there an uproar over the CE buyers getting an art book or a robo dog? Is it because you don't want those? Are CE people only allowed to have things you don't want?

@Hailinel said:

@CL60 said:

@Hailinel said:

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

Because I don't see a problem with day 1 DLC when it's not on the disc and was made after the game went into certification.

And yet, this DLC has to be certified in time for release, as well.

DLC certification doesn't take nearly as long as game certification. At all.

@benjaebe said:

@Hailinel said:

@CL60 said:

@Hailinel said:

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

Because I don't see a problem with day 1 DLC when it's not on the disc and was made after the game went into certification.

And yet, this DLC has to be certified in time for release, as well.

DLC certification doesn't take nearly as long as game certification. At all.

But it's a process that still needs to get done, preferably by a target date for release.

EDIT: Also, having worked in game certification in the past, I can tell you that many full retail games go through full a certification pass in the span of a single day at most. If it doesn't pass certification, then it has to come back for a second round after the developer fixes their problems.

@Brodehouse said:

@Mikemcn: It was a bonus, secret character for people who bought the CE. It was advertised months and months ago. Then they decided to make it available to anyone if they paid half of what the CE is. Obviously they shouldn't have.

Why isn't there an uproar over the CE buyers getting an art book or a robo dog? Is it because you don't want those? Are CE people only allowed to have things you don't want?

QFmotherfuckingT

@Brodehouse said:

@Mikemcn: It was a bonus, secret character for people who bought the CE. It was advertised months and months ago. Then they decided to make it available to anyone if they paid half of what the CE is. Obviously they shouldn't have.

Why isn't there an uproar over the CE buyers getting an art book or a robo dog? Is it because you don't want those? Are CE people only allowed to have things you don't want?

They should never have created in-game content only to take it away from people who just want the game by itself at launch, people freaked out about it being exclusive to the CE so to make up for it EA is going to let everyone pay EVEN MORE MONEY to get an important character, how fucking wonderful of them and in doing so spoiled what should have been a great plot reveal. people can have their little toys and art books, when I buy the game I want the whole game, and I refuse to believe that story interactions with a freaking prothean are insignificant, let me be the judge of that when I play it, don't make me pay extra to find out it was just EA's excuse to squeeze the consumer dry.

@CL60 said:

@Hailinel said:

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

Because I don't see a problem with day 1 DLC when it's not on the disc and was made after the game went into certification. And this seering hatred for everything Bioware touches ever since Dragon Age 2 came out is just ridiculous.

I never said anything against Bioware. I like to pretend like this wasn't their idea and that EA is behind it all.

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

@Hailinel said:

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

Because I don't see a problem with day 1 DLC when it's not on the disc and was made after the game went into certification. And this seering hatred for everything Bioware touches ever since Dragon Age 2 came out is just ridiculous.

@Jaytow: Lol, ''half of the original planned game''. Come on man, you're just blowing it out of proportion, this is ONE mission. And NO, it's not something that will gradually get bigger and bigger. We are not stupid, we have our limit, and you know what? One mission is fine.

People need to chill the fuck out. All this hate for Bioware/EA is not entirely but definitely overly unwarranted. Everybody is making a big fuss about things they either don't know everything about or things that simply aren't a big deal at all.

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Hailinel said:

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

Bioware is the devil in that context mate.

@CL60 said:

@Hailinel said:

@Mikemcn said:

Are you seriously defending day one DLC? For fucks sake dude, they created the character and his mission while they were making the rest of the game, it's on the disc, you could play, they've just put a paywall in front of it, it's fucking stupid, of course it doesn't ruin the bloody game because we all like Mass Effect enough that it wouldn't, but EA is taking advantage of that appreciation to make a quick buck, stop acting like no one has an excuse to be upset over this, it's simply not fair.

I know you like being devil's advocate, but don't sit there and act like EA is in the right for doing this.

I wouldn't say he's playing devil's advocate. He's been on the defense of Bioware since well before The Old Republic launched.

Because I don't see a problem with day 1 DLC when it's not on the disc and was made after the game went into certification. And this seering hatred for everything Bioware touches ever since Dragon Age 2 came out is just ridiculous.

You just don't see any problem relating to anything Bioware creates. You wouldn't see a problem in the toilet used by their staff the day after a night of excessive chilli, cheese-steak and cheap beer.

Personal attacks have no place in these forums; if you aren't prepared to make reasoned arguments for your side and keep your temper in check, kindly get out.

Now to the topic at hand: I think the question here is whether or not the existence of this DLC harms your experience with with base game or not. For myself it does, because when I'm playing the game I'll now be looking (intentionally or not) for the seam where this DLC would've fit in, which is distracting. It's happened to me before, and is particularly important because Mass Effect focuses so much on immersion in the game's world, making distractions more damaging. If it does not distract you, then there should be no problem with the DLC, since no content has (to your knowledge) been removed from the base game. You're still getting what you paid your $60 for.

@Strife777 said:

@Jaytow: Lol, ''half of the original planned game''. Come on man, you're just blowing it out of proportion, this is ONE mission. And NO, it's not something that will gradually get bigger and bigger. We are not stupid, we have our limit, and you know what? One mission is fine.

People need to chill the fuck out. All this hate for Bioware/EA is not entirely but definitely overly unwarranted. Everybody is making a big fuss about things they either don't know everything about or things that simply aren't a big deal at all.

Yup, been this way since Dragon Age 2 came out. And usually anybody who actually points out how stupid it is they're a "Biodrone".

The only DLC I've bought this generation has been Halo 3 map packs and its probably going to remain that way. But thanks a lot internet for making this a big deal and spoiling a pretty important part of the game probably...

D.

This isn't something I want to support so I definitely won't purchase it sight unseen. I'll probably end up playing through the game & seeing how much of a missing piece it really is. That way I'm treating it like normal DLC at that point & simply judging the game I got (excluding the DLC) for $60 as a reference for future purchases from Bioware/EA.

The weirdest thing I've seen come out of all of this is noticing how many people don't realize that A) the Collectors are the Protheans, and B) the the Protheans were not the creators of all the technology they were given credit for.

Here is the thing... I don't see why everyone is pissed about this. Say you have the collectors edition...when you go to download the DLC your going to have shit spoiled for you anyways. Even if you didn't read the "spoiler" you'll find out outside of the context of the story itself what the DLC is and what that means for the story.

@Jaytow: No, throwing a fit and then purchasing something anyway is completely childish. Claiming it's 'morally' wrong for someone to charge for something someone wants, especially a luxury consumer product, is ridiculous.

They should feel honored that we like their product? Man, what did they do to deserve such an audience?

Was planning on getting it pre-owned anyway due to school work, (and as much as it saddens and surprises me I'm actually more pumped for SFxT and SSX anyway), and also because apparently buying EA products pre-owned is the worst possible insult to them. I've kinda been pretty disappointed with everything to do with Bioware / EA post Mass Effect 2, so my decision seems pretty reasonable to me.

Maybe this time gamers will actually rise up and boycott this properly, instead of buying it on the quiet because they think 'it won't make a difference'. Maybe they'll actually do something productive and give Bioware / EA good enough reasons to not do this thing, i.e. properly worded arguments against it and a big drop in sales. Chances are though, it will all be hype and bullshit and hot air, people will still buy it anyway, and nothing will happen.

Bigger companies will always have the upper hand on you when it comes to their products, because whether or not its a moral / ethical point its still comes under marketing for the game, i.e. forcing you to part with your money. Games are a business, and you can never think of it as 'these guys like us, will look out for us and never do us wrong'. They don't care; they just want your money at the end of the day.

The consumer will always have the option to simply not buy it. And if enough people don't buy, they'll have to change their moral / ethical standpoints.