D20: Day One

[News Portal]

BioWare are struggling hard to shake controversy in the ramp-up to launch of [app=7843]Mass Effect 3[/app], with the Jennifer Hepler furore causing them to come under fire, and now the revelation that Mass Effect 3 will feature day-one DLC in the form of a Prothean squad member. Daniel Wilks tries to figure it all out.

Read full article by Daniel Wilks

[Gnavin]

Personally, I think it's that... Hmm. finding this hard to put into words. I think it's because it's *day one* DLC. If they waited a couple of weeks, or a month, and said "hey, you know what? All you people who didn't get the extra game content in the Collector's Edition can now get it for a small fee, have fun" I think there would have been a lot less issue with this. I know *I* wouldn't mind as much, especially as I think extra game content in CEs is also a bit... Annoying, I guess. I don't like feeling like I'm missing out.

(Small note: You spelled Hepler's name Helper in there. I *thought* it looked odd at first... Probably an issue *because* of spellchecking/autocorrect for once :p)

[witcher01]

buy the deluxe edition and get it for free ??

If u didnt preorder the deluxe edition from the start than your obviously not a huge fan so stop crying over the day one dlc and move on.. ya cheap ****!

** directed at actual people complaining

[FryzieDelta]

I don't see how this day one DLC is any differant from the Zaeed or Katsumi DLC from ME2, other than the release date. It's a non-story critical bonus character and mission that gives you that tiny bit more variety but really doesn't change much.

[Tim Colwill]

(Small note: You spelled Hepler's name Helper in there. I *thought* it looked odd at first... Probably an issue *because* of spellchecking/autocorrect for once :p)

Cheers, fixed

[vcatkiller]

It seems to be the problem with modern games in general. Once upon a time you got a game, 6 months down the track you got an expansion pack that had substantial amount of content that was worth paying for. Maybe another expansion sometime after that.

Now you get tiny little DLC packs that should've been released with the game in the first place, that are usually way overpriced and released day one.

So maybe it isn't gamers are annoyed at Bioware and more annoyed at how this is yet another sign on how publishers/developers are quite happy to rip off customers. Bioware just happens to be the target of the anguish because they're the latest on the line of companies to do it.

[c0mc0]

I'd wager it's the "we hate EA/Bioware" cry that is going out at the moment. It will swing back to Activision as more information leaks out about the new COD game.

It's strange that people get so upset about day one DLC. It's like they believe that if the dev has completed work before the arbitrary release date of the game, it should be included in the game, regardless. That is a little naive - there's a little bit more to it than that.

If the majority of dev time for a DLC is art assets (say, new skins, for example), then the art was likely finished before the game was released in the majority of cases - as soon as the art for the full game was complete they would have gone to work on the DLC content while the game continued through the beta / bug hunting process. Same goes for new levels/mp maps etc.

At the end of the day, if you don't think DLC is worth it - don't buy it.

I'm with Tim though - if they have stripped core story elements out of the game to sell them as DLC, that's pretty poor. DLC, IMHO, should be for addition scope, variety or new elements to a game. Not as an excuse for a pay-as-you-go storytelling experience that guts the core game.

But if the same people that are arguing that this is the case are the ones who feel Bioware "attacked" their fans over the Hepler debacle, then I'll kindly wait to see what reality actually bears out.

[InAUGral]

On the prothean DLC team member. The line must be drawn here! no further! I will not buy ME3 because of the retarded amount of monetisation (is that a word?) involved in ME3.

[Vencha88]

I'm not worried, I've still never seen this mythical DLC that companies apparently make just by ripping the core game out and trying to sell it again. I really doubt it's taking anything from the main game, and all the previous evidence from Bioware and other companies supports that.

[c0mc0]

On the prothean DLC team member. The line must be drawn here! no further! I will not buy ME3 because of the retarded amount of monetisation (is that a word?) involved in ME3.

You mean exactly what they did in ME2? As stated before - why don't you just buy the game and not the DLC if you don't want it?

[iambeanie]

Why does everyone have such a negative view of this? and with that a sense that they deserve all content produced by the developers to come with the initial purchase? Did you forget that games are made SOLELY for the purpose of making money? They aren't removing story critical elements and you do have the ability to put away the credit card. Same thing as every other hobby, enjoy the first big book in a series and you can walk away satisfied. If you enjoy it enough, buy all the books that add side story and more background to the characters.

[samurai047]

I reckon they should've just bundled the DLC with it as an online pass content. With all the DLC I've seen for ME2, I doubt it will cover as much as people think. Its 1 mission, 1 squad mate, 1 weapon, so i don't think a lot could be covered by this. As much as I don't agree with what they are doing with this, my self control is extremely low. With the amount of awesomeness BioWare manages to make with the Mass Effect series, I really can't see myself doing a boycott. Too hard XD.

[InAUGral]

On the prothean DLC team member. The line must be drawn here! no further! I will not buy ME3 because of the retarded amount of monetisation (is that a word?) involved in ME3.

You mean exactly what they did in ME2? As stated before - why don't you just buy the game and not the DLC if you don't want it?

It seems to important to cut out and try to make more money by selling it. I may reconsider buying the game if they release a package with all the DLCs in it.

[FryzieDelta]

It seems to important to cut out and try to make more money by selling it.

Once more: it is ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERANT from the Zaeed or Katsumi DLC from ME2. ALMOST ZERO EFFECT ON THE STORY, other than one more character you could potentially take on missions, a new once off mission for a bit of added fun, and a new weapon.

[iambeanie]

It seems to important to cut out and try to make more money by selling it.

Once more: it is ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERANT from the Zaeed or Katsumi DLC from ME2. ALMOST ZERO EFFECT ON THE STORY, other than one more character you could potentially take on missions, a new once off mission for a bit of added fun, and a new weapon.

It doesn't really matter how you put it, there is content available for a game that people like and they aren't getting it for free.