Personally I don't approve of rape.
 
I guess some people do though.

@LordXavierBritish said:

Personally I don't approve of rape. I guess some people do though.

Really?

So basically I feel like bioware has kind of dug itself into a hole on this one. Either the dlc is fairly insubstancial, just a character without much interesting content. In that case, everyone got sucessfully swindled out of their $10. Or, the dlc is fairly crucial and interesting, playing a relevant part in the story and features an interesting character. In that case, they are essentially charging $70 for the full game experience.

Honestly, this is just a marketing experiment to see if people actually will pay $70 for a new game. The sad thing is that people will undoubtedly buy it anyways and the global prices will go up for triple games. Its BS and it sucks but it is the reality of the market. They are apparently offering a product people want at a fair price point so you can't really blame them. As for me I am undecided whether I will get this game for full price or not.

@biggiedubs said:

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.

I think it's pretty naive, or at least overly optimistic, to think consumers will actually rise up as one and stop shit like this from happening. Look at what happened with MW2 on the PC, everyone was all up in arms about the lack of dedicated servers, the game came out and the majority bought it regardless. I can guarantee with about 99% certainty, that the majority people will buy this DLC on top of the full game. You'll probably have plenty of people how are against this but by in large, EA will see that can get away with shit like this.

Where the "wait until it's on sale and consider buying the DLC then" option?

I don't get this. I really don't. Do people think this is the first time a game has had day 1 DLC? I'm genuinely confused at what the hell the controversy here is. I can understand if it was only in the CE edition and not available for purchase but everyone can play it so what's the issue? 

@Beforet said:

Where the "wait until it's on sale and consider buying the DLC then" option?

I think suggesting that "people could wait until the game is released, reviewed and actual details about what the From Ashes DLC entails and decide for themselves whether it is worth the price" is downright absurd. You're not a real fan, a real gamer if you don't get the game, all the bonus content, the limited edition paraphernalia, the comics, the art books, the novels, the figurines. Don't you want to know how Jacob and Miranda first met? The origins of the Illusive Man? Joker's childhood?

So, would you like to pre-order this hard-to-find N7 Collector's Edition now? I can throw in this Kinect for a mere $150, because you wouldn't want to miss out on the Kinect features of ME3, right? Would you like the strategy guide? It comes with all kinds of artwork, not included in the N7 edition's artbook.

@Milkman said:

I don't get this. I really don't. Do people think this is the first time a game has had day 1 DLC? I'm genuinely confused at what the hell the controversy here is. I can understand if it was only in the CE edition and not available for purchase but everyone can play it so what's the issue?

It's the significance of the content in the DLC. The identity of the character basically has to be spoiled for you to understand why this is such a big deal.

@Liquidus said:

@Milkman said:

I don't get this. I really don't. Do people think this is the first time a game has had day 1 DLC? I'm genuinely confused at what the hell the controversy here is. I can understand if it was only in the CE edition and not available for purchase but everyone can play it so what's the issue?

It's the significance of the content in the DLC. The identity of the character basically has to be spoiled for you to understand why this is such a big deal.

It's your own fault that it got spoiled by making such a big deal out of it. The character is in the main game, and you learn everything you need to know about them in the MAIN GAME. The DLC is just a side mission involving the guy, and adds him to your party. The DLC tells you nothing of significance that the main game doesn't.

@Milkman said:

I don't get this. I really don't. Do people think this is the first time a game has had day 1 DLC? I'm genuinely confused at what the hell the controversy here is. I can understand if it was only in the CE edition and not available for purchase but everyone can play it so what's the issue?

It's the significance of the content in the DLC. The identity of the character basically has to be spoiled for you to understand why this is such a big deal.

@CL60 said:

@Liquidus said:

@Milkman said:

I don't get this. I really don't. Do people think this is the first time a game has had day 1 DLC? I'm genuinely confused at what the hell the controversy here is. I can understand if it was only in the CE edition and not available for purchase but everyone can play it so what's the issue?

It's the significance of the content in the DLC. The identity of the character basically has to be spoiled for you to understand why this is such a big deal.

It's your own fault that it got spoiled by making such a big deal out of it. The character is in the main game, and you learn everything you need to know about them in the MAIN GAME. The DLC is just a side mission involving the guy, and adds him to your party. The DLC tells you nothing of significance that the main game doesn't.

It's my fault? I wanted to be kept in the dark but someone I know told me the identity of the character. I never sought this information out. Not to mention, knowing you what just said already ruins a major plot point in the story. It's basically like knowing you get a Geth on your squad in ME2. Also, if the DLC isn't significant, why is it $10? That was the price of Lair of the Shadow Broker and that DLC was absolutely necessary.

It's your own fault that it got spoiled by making such a big deal out of it. The character is in the main game, and you learn everything you need to know about them in the MAIN GAME. The DLC is just a side mission involving the guy, and adds him to your party. The DLC tells you nothing of significance that the main game doesn't.

@LordXavierBritish said:

@CL60 said:

The DLC tells you nothing of significance that the main game doesn't.

You do realize you're using an assumption to combat people's arguments based on the assumption that it is significant. What's important is that you're both wrong.

It's not an assumption at all. The leaked spoilers have the story of the DLC in it.

@LordXavierBritish said:

@CL60 said:

The DLC tells you nothing of significance that the main game doesn't.

You do realize you're using an assumption to combat people's arguments based on the assumption that it is significant. What's important is that you're both wrong.

It's not an assumption at all. The leaked spoilers have the story of the DLC in it.

@Milkman said:

@Liquidus said:

@Milkman said:

I don't get this. I really don't. Do people think this is the first time a game has had day 1 DLC? I'm genuinely confused at what the hell the controversy here is. I can understand if it was only in the CE edition and not available for purchase but everyone can play it so what's the issue?

It's the significance of the content in the DLC. The identity of the character basically has to be spoiled for you to understand why this is such a big deal.

I know what the content is. And I really doubt the entire game and your understanding of the Mass Effect universe will change with this DLC. I'm sure if you're REALLY against buying the DLC that you can still enjoy the game just fine without it. As always, people need to learn how to speak with their wallets. If you don't like it, don't buy it. You make as many Reddit posts as you want but at the end of the day, the only way to show your disapproval is to not buy it.

It's kinda important that a living Prothean exists within the Mass Effect universe, that's actually a major deal. And I agree, the only way to combat this is to vote with your wallets which is exactly what I'll be doing but it still irks me regardless that they want to charge $10 for this content on top of paying for the full game day one. Other games have had day one DLC but it hasn't been to this extent. What they should have done is made it like the Cerberus Network for ME2.

Not getting it right off the bat. I'll wait for the GOTY edition that will have pretty much everything thrown in. And the DLC alone is the thing that twisted my arm and basically made me give a big fuck you to EA. I have zero problem with them trying to make more money from meaningful DLC, but something like this I've just had enough of. Being insignificant should not matter, because if it's insignificant then why in the fuck is it 10 dollars? Further to that point if it's insignificant then why the Hell is it not in the final game or a little bonus for buying the product new like the Cerberus Network was? If Hollywood tried to release a film and held back a scene in an attempt to monetize it people would flip the fuck out. Period. But because it's games, because the audience is perceived by these assholes to be spoilt 14 year old children on XBox Live instead of rational adults, and because the medium is still really in it's infancy they think they can get away with it. Funny thing is they are.

When I hear about data mining showing information pertaining to the character being on the disc in fucking July and when I hear about them doing this while the game was apparently gold and in certification but just slapping this together and BioWare's previous track record on shit DLC I put two and two together. They didn't just cross my line, they flat out fucking trampled it. In a tank. Riding a rhinoceros. Also the mere mention of layoffs has my raising my eyebrow and honestly questioning if they're being genuine or exploitative. Not just of the people getting laid-off, but the studio and the public itself. I completely understand and agree that layoffs must happen in business when that business is no longer doing work or making a profit, but to me it just feels that they mentioned layoffs for the sake of mentioning them. It feels to me, personally and professionally, that they're trying to appeal to the morality in people in the middle of economic turmoil to pad their coffers and worse yet blatantly lie.

I'm not going to pirate it like a spoiled child. I'm not going to buy it on day 1 and go against my beliefs like a sheep. I'm just going to say fuck it and continue on with my happy little life. And eventually should the stars align somewhere down the road and I see a deal that doesn't have be clenching my anal sphincter in an attempt to not get sexually assaulted by the long arm and short cock of EA, then yeah I'll buy it. Until then I shall avoid said short cock.

I am boycotting it because if we don't put our foot down, we are letting the Publishers know we are okay with being charged additional amounts day one. The previous attempts with free characters when you purchased a new copy worked fine, but $10 for a character is pushing it. Bioware has really been hit or miss when it came to characters you could purchase but in this case, big fans of the game will want this character. It is Bioware and EA just pushing you towards paying them $10 more dollars.

I will not do it. I might be getting old for video games and remember my memories and sweet childhood but its wrong what game development has turned to. Thankfully, indie development has really pushed making great games that don't require a big publisher.

If I feel the need to play it, I'll rent it from Redbox. It may not be attainable immediately but I am perfectly fine waiting.

Z. Wait for steam sale.

I bought Mass Effect 1 & 2 on a steam sale during last summer. I still haven't even installed them. I bought them because they were on sale. I need help. :/

@GuyIncognito said:

Z. Wait for steam sale.

I bought Mass Effect 1 & 2 on a steam sale during last summer. I still haven't even installed them. I bought them because they were on sale. I need help. :/

It's not coming to steam, so that's not gunna work out to well. Also, you should really play them.

I'm pretty annoyed about the fact some people are going to miss out on what seems like a very important part of ME3 but I was already going to get the CE edition anyway. Doesn't stop it from being incredibly shitty business practice. Unfortunately it probably had nothing to do with Bioware themselves and was in fact EA pushing for them to slice out a significant story chunk of ME3 to force as many people as possible to go with the CE edition, god damn assholes.

Edit: ah ok so hes still in the game proper just not a part member without the dlc, still, shitty business. No one should be happy or ok with this kind of stuff.

just bought the game as cheap as i could get it

will be ignoring everything else

I find it adorable that so many people are believing Bioware. "After the game went gold." "Tacked on mission."

Guys, these things were probably all decided years ago. It's not like they magically came up with idea for this (or any) DLC AFTER they were done with the main game.

@GreatNorthern said:

I find it adorable that so many people are believing Bioware. "After the game went gold." "Tacked on mission."

Guys, these things were probably all decided years ago. It's not like they magically came up with idea for this (or any) DLC AFTER they were done with the main game.

No they did not think about this idea after the main game completed. They started working on it after the main game was done. They were busy finishing hte main game that once that went to testing/Q.A then is when the team started working on DLC. And that wasn't until January. Also, this DLC was planned when they announced the CE edition in June, so...

I was prepared to just buy a 1600 point card on Amazon to buy it, using what's left of a gift card I got on Christmas, but then I saw that season 4 of Breaking Bad is on their instant service. And I have the day off. EA can wait for my money.

If he's integrated at the same level as Zaeed and Kasumi from ME2, the pricetag is too high, but the fact it's at release is not a big deal. If he's fully integrated like any other character, then the price is not too high. I'll buy it regardless, because I buy everything Mass Effect.

EA has so many studios, and such deep pockets, it's a wonder that there isn't more DLC available on day 1 other than this.

Here are my problems with the DLC, which fall in line with what Total Biscuit stated.

This is an important character to the universe, no ifs ands or butts. If it turns out he doesn't matter to the story, then the writing team messed up. This character has been seen before the game went gold, I believe it was either concept art and/or it was leaked along with other things last Fall, so he wasn't just made up after the game was finished. This is only being offered to those who pay $10 or buy an edition that costs $70+. I don't believe it matters if you bought it used or not, you can't get this unless you pay Bioware a premium. This isn't attempting to hinder used sales, it's attempting to get more money out of anyone who owns the game, whether they cared enough to buy new or not.

Compare this to Zaeed from ME2.

-was free to people who bought the standard version ME2 new.

-Zaeed wasn't, and shouldn't have been, integral to the story.

It should be clear as to why this would be of some concern to a fan of the series.

Because of this poll, I went ahead and got the digital deluxe version.

@SuperWristBands said:

Based on their previous track record the DLC will not integrate itself into the story and if you were to bring the character with you outside it's DLC, you would likely miss out on dialog since I doubt the DLC character will have dialog outside of combat in the main game.

All the mass effect 2 DLC characters have Dialog outside of combat for all of the areas just like all the other characters.

I had the collector's edition pre-ordered months ago so this wasn't an issue for me.

I had the CE preordered, so it isn't an issue for me. And even if I didn't, I still don't think it would be. This is just another situation like Kasumi(a character made after the game had finished development), it's just that instead of getting it four months later, we get to have it day 1 for our first playthrough. I can't really complain about that. I'm sure it's not going to be nearly as important as everyone is freaking out about it being. It'll probably be another minor character like Zaeed and Kasumi. I think the issue is that people are confusing setting your game up for DLC, and have DLC tucked away on the disc. For instance, with the Kasumi DLC, that part of the Normandy where she stays is blocked off with a red lock until you get her downloaded. Does that mean she was just being held back so that they could cheat people out of money? No, it just means that they knew they were going to create her, and set up a place for where she could be once she finished. I'm sure the character in ME3 is the same type of deal, just released far sooner because of better time management.

This thread is too long to read everything, but I just thought that I'd put my two peneth out there. So yeah, I probably agree with some posts from the start I haven't read. Anyway...

1. If you're going to make DLC for a Mass Effect game, I want it to be lore heavy, because that's why I play Mass Effect games.
2. If you're going to make an optional character for a game, I want it to be released Day 1, because otherwise I'd end up buying it after I'd finished the game and never using them.
3. Including this in the Collectors Edition is a sensible thing. It's premium extra content, makes sense to put it in the premium edition.

In conclusion, I am pro- this and hope EA/Bioware keep doing it. It's nice to have the option to have extra optional content (that sounds like it will be meaningful) if it I want it.

I didn't see an option that described my purchase so I'll go with the absent G: Didn't know the DLC was included with the Digital Delux Edition. I just pruchased it because it said art book and armor.

Uh, other.

Aha, I just read someone say it was fan service.

"Hey fans of the Mass Effect series, cheers for supporting the trilogy, for being such great fans we have a treat for you, you know the Protheans? Well since you would obviously want to meet one, we're going to sell it to you for extra the day the game comes out! That's right, bend over, little more, little more, perfect."

It cracks me up that devs/pubs screw over their customers like this and then have the cheek to bitch and moan about piracy and used games, hilarious.

Everyone here seems to believe that the race of this DLC character makes it so "Lore Heavy" or whatever and that's what is making people so upset. Not, after listening to the ME3 podcast and using my brain for a brief moment I have a theory (Sorry if this has been said already, haven't read the entire 8 pages...it's all too stupid to read)

What if this race appears in the full on game, is entirely explained in sed game and this character is even in the game for a good long time and this DLC just lets you obtain him/her into your party in a short little side-quest?

A lot of you people are just so entrenched against this game, Bioware, EA whatever that your too dumb too see what is right in front of you! Hell, in the podcast the guy outright said that DLC isn't going to be big major plot points ect.

Day 1 DLC isn't the absolute evil you think it is, it's striking while the iron is hot, it's giving the CE people what they were promised.

So grow the fuck up people. Bioware, EA whatever aren't perfect for sure but you people who seem so butt-hurt about all this need to shave your neck-beards and get out of your basements....for fuck sakes...

@CottonWolf said:

This thread is too long to read everything, but I just thought that I'd put my two peneth out there. So yeah, I probably agree with some posts from the start I haven't read. Anyway...

1. If you're going to make DLC for a Mass Effect game, I want it to be lore heavy, because that's why I play Mass Effect games.
2. If you're going to make an optional character for a game, I want it to be released Day 1, because otherwise I'd end up buying it after I'd finished the game and never using them.
3. Including this in the Collectors Edition is a sensible thing. It's premium extra content, makes sense to put it in the premium edition.

In conclusion, I am pro- this and hope EA/Bioware keep doing it. It's nice to have the option to have extra optional content (that sounds like it will be meaningful) if it I want it.

Also, THIS! If your so mad about being charged for DLC there is a VERY easy way to save the $15 that requires literally no work at all, just don't buy it! If you think it's so pivitol to your ME3 experience then buy it or shut up. It's an option, a choice. your not entitled to anything for your $60 past what is on the disk and Bioware has said again and again that the retail disk is a complete game with a complete story, and CE people get an extra character. Ug...I'm going to go play some fucking video games now...forums piss me off something fierce :P sorry.

I pre-ordered standard, and I would like to upgrade to collectors on the xbox but they seem to be sold out, so if the DLC is worth it I'll buy it, if it's not no big deal.

It would be better if the character was just for Collector's Edition customers and standard customers had no way to get it, ever. That would be fair, right?

Meh, dont care. I rented it from Gamefly (10 day free trial). So I'm gonna finish up ME2 and the play ME3, then, thats it I'll be done with it. All the pre-release coverage has not gotten me excited at all for 3.

The stuff in the Collector's Edition... isn't that bad. I alot of people seem to be harping on this one character, and not the total package, they are charging the extra money for the total package, not one thing.

If this is something they worked on after the main game was finished... no harm, no foul. When devs have to spend extra time to work on extra content, they should get compensated. This doesn't seem like cut content (if this is similar to Zaeed in ME2), seems like some extra goodies. if you want it, you'll get it, if you dont want it, don't get it.

Thanks to a D2D sale I was able to pre-order the game for $43.00 so buying the dlc is no big deal to me. I don't buy dlc often so dropping an extra $10.00 for a series that I'm really invested in doesn't bother me.

I actually haven't read exactly what the DLC comes with. If it's anything like the DLC chars from the last game then I have no interest in it till goes on a decent sale just to go on whatever mission it comes with. If it's a fully fledged character with numerous dialogue options on the ship like the normal characters from the other games then I'd be much more inclined to pick it up (of course I highly doubt it will be anything like that)