@Crypt135 said:

@jakonovski said:

If a live Prothean is not an important plot point, what hope is there for ME3's story?

If you think this is ok, you are part of the problem.

I like how people still think that EA is bullying Bioware into being the new evil company. Spoilers folks, money sells. Bioware realizes that and I'm sure that most of Bioware is with EA. It isn't the same anymore. So I'd include EA and Bioware into this mess. They aren't pure anymore.

I think this is getting overblown, It's likely to be in the same vein as Zaeed and Kasumi for ME2 in that its interesting and fun but in no way necessary to enjoy ME3. I'm glad that they are releasing it since I wasn't able to get the CE of the game.

@Entreri10 said:

I think this is getting overblown, It's likely to be in the same vein as Zaeed and Kasumi for ME2 in that its interesting and fun but in no way necessary to enjoy ME3. I'm glad that they are releasing it since I wasn't able to get the CE of the game.

It's exactly what it is. The leaked spoilers have what his story is. And it's nothing important. The DLC is basically just a fanservice side mission, with a codex entry. That has nothing relevant to the main plot of anything.

@Atary77: Maybe but my dumb ass is still going to by all the dlc that doesn't come with my collectors edition.

Aren't Bioware the epitome of shitty DLC services, since DA:O? This only seems like the next logical step for them.

If this character is so important why make it DLC. I think Bioware and EA just messed up in calling it day 1 dlc. I bet if this was released one or two after launch this wouldn't be such a big issue.

Well done to EA for working out a way get an extra £10 for their game on release.

@jakonovski said:

Apparently some voiceovers from the DLC companion got out on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK99_T61alc Now who does that voice remind me of?

Somebody from Africa?

Oh I'm sorry you thought I was gonna say Jar Jar Binks because I can't recognize accents like you apparently? Sad bro sad.

Casey Hudson just tweeted:

It takes about 3 months from "content complete" to bug-fix, certify, manufacture, and ship game discs. In that time we work on DLC.

DLC has fast cert and no mfg., so if a team works very hard, they can get a DLC done in time to enjoy it with your 1st playthrough on day 1.

On ME3, content creators completed the game in January & moved onto the "From Ashes" DLC, free w/ the CE or you can buy seperately.

Apparently some voiceovers from the DLC companion got out on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK99_T61alc Now who does that voice remind me of?

@DefaultProphet said:

Casey Hudson just tweeted:

It takes about 3 months from "content complete" to bug-fix, certify, manufacture, and ship game discs. In that time we work on DLC.

DLC has fast cert and no mfg., so if a team works very hard, they can get a DLC done in time to enjoy it with your 1st playthrough on day 1.

On ME3, content creators completed the game in January & moved onto the "From Ashes" DLC, free w/ the CE or you can buy seperately.

I believe this can shed some much needed light on the subject. Good find!

Wait I don't understand, is it a code or is it on the disk? Whatever it doesn't even matter. I bet the character doesn't even get any lines let alone a mission set. Wait for the reviews before freaking out.

@Marz said:

So what's the big deal? they did it for Zaeed Massani in ME2.

Zaeed was available with every new copy of the game. This new member is only for deluxe edition. People with the regular edition will have to pay an extra $10 for it.

If you happen to be stupid enough to find this particular thing a problem, the download is about 600 megs, so it's not on the disc.

Like I said, that shouldn't change much, but I know it pisses a lot of people off when stuff's already on the disc.

Michael Gamble from bioware posted this not to long ago:

As most of you know, yesterday there was a leak that revealed the upcoming DLC “ME3:From Ashes” on the

Xbox LIVE Marketplace. This leak took place before we were prepared to make an announcement about the details of that pack (slated for this Friday).

There has been a lot of discussion about the DLC offering but we wanted to clarify a few things...

- “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.

We’ll be releasing someimages and video about this pack in the coming days.

As always, we are extremely thankful for all of your support. We pulled out all of the stops to make Mass Effect 3 the best game ever, and we can't wait for you all to experience it.

Mike

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

@Mordukai said:

@Marz said:

So what's the big deal? they did it for Zaeed Massani in ME2.

Zaeed was available with every new copy of the game. This new member is only for deluxe edition. People with the regular edition will have to pay an extra $10 for it.

They don't have to. They can not buy it if they don't want it.

@Dany said:

@Mordukai said:

@Marz said:

So what's the big deal? they did it for Zaeed Massani in ME2.

Zaeed was available with every new copy of the game. This new member is only for deluxe edition. People with the regular edition will have to pay an extra $10 for it.

They don't have to. They can not buy it if they don't want it.

True. However, it is aggravating that you have to pay extra for a party member of this magnitude. If it was any other race then I wouldn't care as much but this one is definitely one you want because you know he adds to the story. The other aggravating issue is that this member was a part of the development cycle and not something that was added late in the development.

I am afraid this is setting a very dangerous precedence. What's next? What is stopping publishers and developers from taking it even further and removing parts of the story for different issues. I understand doing it for used games but this is just getting out of hand and someone needs to put a stop to it. Imho I think the ESRB needs to start moderating how far companies can take DLC and what they can and can't include because if left unchecked this is gonna get out of control really fast. Choosing this particular member is borderline extortion from EA because they know the importance of this particular species. They know that any other race then gamers wouldn't care that much and only the most hardcore (sorry for the use of the word. I know how much you hate it... :P) of players would buy it, but now they ensured that every person with any level of investment in this series will be a sure shoot.

Frankly I find it hard to believe this was even a leak. I had a friend who worked for OR company for years and he told me that most of the times something gets leaked a head of time is nothing more then a carefully placed PR and frankly I tend to believe him because look at all the attention this is getting. I also starting to think this whole issue with the Bioware writer and Reddit is another PR stunt because it just seems suspicious it would blow up like that this close to ME3 launch even though her remarks were made almost a year ago.

@Mordukai: I think your making to much of an assumption of how the character is implemented. We will see when the game comes out.

@Mordukai said:

@Dany said:

@Mordukai said:

@Marz said:

So what's the big deal? they did it for Zaeed Massani in ME2.

Zaeed was available with every new copy of the game. This new member is only for deluxe edition. People with the regular edition will have to pay an extra $10 for it.

They don't have to. They can not buy it if they don't want it.

True. However, it is aggravating that you have to pay extra for a party member of this magnitude. If it was any other race then I wouldn't care as much but this one is definitely one you want because you know he adds to the story. The other aggravating issue is that this member was a part of the development cycle and not something that was added late in the development.

I am afraid this is setting a very dangerous precedence. What's next? What is stopping publishers and developers from taking it even further and removing parts of the story for different issues. I understand doing it for used games but this is just getting out of hand and someone needs to put a stop to it. Imho I think the ESRB needs to start moderating how far companies can take DLC and what they can and can't include because if left unchecked this is gonna get out of control really fast. Choosing this particular member is borderline extortion from EA because they know the importance of this particular species. They know that any other race then gamers wouldn't care that much and only the most hardcore (sorry for the use of the word. I know how much you hate it... :P) of players would buy it, but now they ensured that every person with any level of investment in this series will be a sure shoot.

Frankly I find it hard to believe this was even a leak. I had a friend who worked for OR company for years and he told me that most of the times something gets leaked a head of time is nothing more then a carefully placed PR and frankly I tend to believe him because look at all the attention this is getting. I also starting to think this whole issue with the Bioware writer and Reddit is another PR stunt because it just seems suspicious it would blow up like that this close to ME3 launch even though her remarks were made almost a year ago.

@Raggy said:

Michael Gamble from bioware posted this not to long ago:

Michael Gamble posted this not too long ago on the bioware forum.

As most of you know, yesterday there was a leak that revealed the upcoming DLC “ME3:From Ashes” on the

Xbox LIVE Marketplace. This leak took place before we were prepared to make an announcement about the details of that pack (slated for this Friday).

There has been a lot of discussion about the DLC offering but we wanted to clarify a few things...

- “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.

We’ll be releasing someimages and video about this pack in the coming days.

As always, we are extremely thankful for all of your support. We pulled out all of the stops to make Mass Effect 3 the best game ever, and we can't wait for you all to experience it.

Mike

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

Casey Hudson just tweeted:

It takes about 3 months from "content complete" to bug-fix, certify, manufacture, and ship game discs. In that time we work on DLC.

DLC has fast cert and no mfg., so if a team works very hard, they can get a DLC done in time to enjoy it with your 1st playthrough on day 1.

On ME3, content creators completed the game in January & moved onto the "From Ashes" DLC, free w/ the CE or you can buy seperately.

Michael Gamble from bioware posted this not to long ago:

As most of you know, yesterday there was a leak that revealed the upcoming DLC “ME3:From Ashes” on the

Xbox LIVE Marketplace. This leak took place before we were prepared to make an announcement about the details of that pack (slated for this Friday).

There has been a lot of discussion about the DLC offering but we wanted to clarify a few things...

- “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.

We’ll be releasing someimages and video about this pack in the coming days.

As always, we are extremely thankful for all of your support. We pulled out all of the stops to make Mass Effect 3 the best game ever, and we can't wait for you all to experience it.

Mike

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

I blame us gamers for this issue. We continue to buy into this DLC without raising a single issue and now publishers think that it's all fine and dandy.

Anyway, here's Totalbiscuit's take on the matter...

@Raggy said:

Michael Gamble from bioware posted this not to long ago:

As most of you know, yesterday there was a leak that revealed the upcoming DLC “ME3:From Ashes” on the

Xbox LIVE Marketplace. This leak took place before we were prepared to make an announcement about the details of that pack (slated for this Friday).

There has been a lot of discussion about the DLC offering but we wanted to clarify a few things...

- “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.

We’ll be releasing someimages and video about this pack in the coming days.

As always, we are extremely thankful for all of your support. We pulled out all of the stops to make Mass Effect 3 the best game ever, and we can't wait for you all to experience it.

Mike

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

This will change nothing, the internet already has it's collective panties in a twist over this.

@AndrewB: The Shadow Broker was great DLC. Up there with the rest of the Loyalty missions in the game. This just sounds like Zaeed from 2.

Call me old but I liked it when all the content that a game developer created was on the damn cart. If the game was successful, they created a sequel. The only DLC I'm okay with is cosmetic stuff, like Riot Games skins and TF2. Why didn't Bioware just do what they did with Mass Effect 2 and include it with a new purchase?

I can understand today creating and releasing DLC a month or two months down the road with new content to extend the value of a game like multiplayer maps or Mass Effects additional missions. Fallout and Oblivion showed how to really extend their games while still offering cheap horse armor.

As a fan of Bioware and their DnD series and extremely excited for Mass Effect, this is appalling. It turns the fans into consumer being pushed around.

I cancelled my order out of disgust because this is going too far. It is disappointing that it had to be this game they decided to try and pull this.

Honestly, this is my tipping point. Between this and Dragon Age 2, locking out characters seems to be something Bioware are intent on continuing with. I don't care about day one weapons or skins or whatever but the characters are the meat and potatoes of Bioware. They can throw out all the explanations they want; I'm sure they are completely rational and make sense from their end, but I won't let them lock me out of single player plot content on day one.

Mass Effect 3 went from one of my most anticipated titles to a bargain bin buy for me.

If a live Prothean is not an important plot point, what hope is there for ME3's story?

EA like many other corps like to shit over their customers, what's new. It's content made for the game that is being sold as an extra due to their immense greed and assholeness. People saying it was made during cert or whatever shit, it's still made for launch, the cheek of selling more content the fucking day the game launches is mad, they only do it because they know they can shit down peoples throats and have them coming back asking for seconds.

What if it's just a character named Prothean and not an actual Prothean?

EA knows that Mass Effect has a dedicated, hardcore following and relies on that for more revenue per unit rather than overall number of sales [even with EA marketing and tons of awards, great reviews etc, Mass Effect 2 sold poorly].

@D_W said:

@jakonovski said:

Apparently some voiceovers from the DLC companion got out on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK99_T61alc Now who does that voice remind me of?

Oh man! Haha. I'm not sure if it's awesome or terrible that he's all rasta-like.

Have you ever heard a Jamaican before? It's not "rasta-like" at all.

I don't see the big deal. Kasumi and Zaeed where DLC characters last time I beat the game with and without them. Nothing was ruined and the game was still well worth the money I paid for it. Plus, IT'S ON THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION!!! Extra game content should be the status quo for Collector's Editions imo. When you buy the CE/LE version of a movie, you get more content to watch. When you buy it for a game, you should get more content to play. I've always thought it stupid that when you buy a CE/LE for a game, just get stupid crap like cat helmets rather than a bonus level, bonus skins, characters, etc.

Also, this isn't the first time BioWare has done this. Jade Empire's LE came with a bonus character class and I don't think there was any other way to get it outside of buying the LE. To me it's fair. If you love the game enough to buy a LE, you should get something exclusive and game related in return. If you don't care and just want the standard experience, just buy the standard version.

I don't know if Bioware ripped this out of the game or coded it after cert or if they traveled into the future and downloaded from Origin in late 2012, then brought it back to early 2012 to offer as launch/CE DLC, which would mean if won't be created in the future, causing a paradox that will rip apart the very fabric of time and space unless Doc Brown can go back, steal the DLC from Bioware, and destroy it before it can be announced/released as Day One DLC. I don't know.

I did learn from House that everybody lies, and from Fox Mulder to trust no one, and I always feel robbed by Day One DLC, whether it's a legitimate feeling or not, I dunno, I don't care, it's how I feel. Post as many corporate responses to a potentially damaging situation that you want to, tell me that MS and Apple both did independent investigations into the FoxConn factory problems and found it was just an issue with scheduling, whatever.

It seems shady, and people who are willing to stand up and just blindly defend vague interpretations of situations based on company allegiance, whether it be for MS or Sony or EA or Activision, those people are kind of weird to me. DLC has iterated into online passes and paid cheats codes and Day One content that's just a 180k file that you download off the internet and it unlocks something on the disc and then you're good. Some people evangelize it, like it's saving the industry from collapse, most people just accept it and buy whatever Corporation X wants them to buy. I guess I'm mostly in the 2nd group, although I will openly acknowledge I think it's weird and shady.

But seeing as it's special circumstances and all, he says I can knock a hundred dollars off that Trucoat.

Frankly, I'm seeing this as a great alternative to the Collector's Edition. Whoa, hear me out!

I want as much Mass Effect as possible, in terms of the gameplay experience. This is a cheaper way to get the maximum out of the game without embarrassing myself, as a 34 year old adult with kids, by walking into Gamestop and ordering the CE. Fabric patch? Yeah, that'll go down well at the pub. Artbook? Who would I show it to? Leave it on a coffee table? Not likely. Metal case, whilst looking cool, will look out of place on my shelf. And what does a robotic dog really add to the game?

Full game experience for $10 less than the CE and no unnecessary clutter? Yes please.

@Yodasdarkside said:

Frankly, I'm seeing this as a great alternative to the Collector's Edition. Whoa, hear me out!

I want as much Mass Effect as possible, in terms of the gameplay experience. This is a cheaper way to get the maximum out of the game without embarrassing myself, as a 34 year old adult with kids, by walking into Gamestop and ordering the CE. Fabric patch? Yeah, that'll go down well at the pub. Artbook? Who would I show it to? Leave it on a coffee table? Not likely. Metal case, whilst looking cool, will look out of place on my shelf. And what does a robotic dog really add to the game?

Full game experience for $10 less than the CE and no unnecessary clutter? Yes please.

The back story on that robot dog will blow your mind. Just saying.

@Krakn3Dfx: Unless he turns out to be K9, I can afford to pass on his backstory.

@Yodasdarkside said:

@Krakn3Dfx: Unless he turns out to be K9, I can afford to pass on his backstory.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...spoiler alert.

This is supposedly free in the collectors edition, however, i can't find that edition anywhere for the 360. Not on amazon, or gamestop. Nowhere. So i'm stuck with only getting the standard edition which provides me with jack all. Buying it new gives you free access to the uninspired multiplayer, and that's it. No reason for me to buy it day one or even new. I canceled my pre-order because of this dlc debacle also cuz there was no benefit to buying it day one. I'll wait a week or two were the new copy will be $45, or a used copy for $40.

Frankly, I'm seeing this as a great alternative to the Collector's Edition. Whoa, hear me out!

I want as much Mass Effect as possible, in terms of the gameplay experience. This is a cheaper way to get the maximum out of the game without embarrassing myself, as a 34 year old adult with kids, by walking into Gamestop and ordering the CE. Fabric patch? Yeah, that'll go down well at the pub. Artbook? Who would I show it to? Leave it on a coffee table? Not likely. Metal case, whilst looking cool, will look out of place on my shelf. And what does a robotic dog really add to the game?

Full game experience for $10 more than I should be paying and nothing from the CE? Yes please. 

As someone who has already pre-ordered Collector's Edition, I can kind of see this as a good thing. I'm tired of being locked out of content just because I didn't preorder a game from a specific retailer, or buy some special edition of the game. It really burns my biscuits when I can't get the full fucking content of a game I own. Just give me the option to buy it. What do you know, they're doing exactly that with Mass Effect 3.

It's a day one DLC that's included for free in the Collector's edition. If you didn't buy the Collector's edition, but still want the content you can purchase for an additional fee, that makes the whole product cheaper than the collector's edition. I don't see what the issue is. If it was exclusive to the Collector's people would bitch that the couldn't get it otherwise.

I personally wanted the Collector's edition just because of the extra squad member, but it was sold out on Amazon. So I was going to miss out on content because of my inability to order earlier. Now that I can purchase it separately I'm pretty happy. Plus I'm getting a ten dollar credit for ordering on Amazon, so essentially I'm paying $60 for the game and the DLC, that's a full game for $60.

@Bones8677: What incentive do you need ? Your getting the game day one for the regular price of $60, Don't try and take some moral highroad. Your just being cheap, while it's unfortunate that you cannot find the collectors edition, the full story is there in regular edition. Also Gamestop has pre-order bonuses too...

N7 Valkyrie Rifle: Deliver two rounds per shot with deadly accuracy. Stop the opposition dead in their tracks with superior high caliber rounds.

N7 Defender Armor: Improved shields and health. Survive even the most punishing of battles and withstand sustained enemy fire. Increased ammo capacity. Additional ammunition compartments ensure you are always battle-ready. Amplified weapon damage. Built-in power cells provide an additional punch to weapon fire.

M55 Argus Assault Rifle: Unleash a triple burst of rounds, effective for taking down enemies at close and long range.

@ccampb89: Thanks for that video, I agree with T.B.

@Jaytow said:

I GUESS THEY DON'T CALL THIS THE "COLLECTORS" EDITION FOR NOTHING HAHAHAHAHAH

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

... I'm happy with myself.

I feel bad for laughing at that.

@Alex11968 said:

@Bones8677: What incentive do you need ? Your getting the game day one for the regular price of $60, Don't try and take some moral highroad. Your just being cheap, while it's unfortunate that you cannot find the collectors edition, the full story is there in regular edition. Also Gamestop has pre-order bonuses too...

N7 Valkyrie Rifle: Deliver two rounds per shot with deadly accuracy. Stop the opposition dead in their tracks with superior high caliber rounds.

N7 Defender Armor: Improved shields and health. Survive even the most punishing of battles and withstand sustained enemy fire. Increased ammo capacity. Additional ammunition compartments ensure you are always battle-ready. Amplified weapon damage. Built-in power cells provide an additional punch to weapon fire.

M55 Argus Assault Rifle: Unleash a triple burst of rounds, effective for taking down enemies at close and long range.

So being cheap is paying $60 for a game?

Wow, you're the exact type of customer EA must love.