BioWare Announces Cerberus Network for Mass Effect DLC

[lumenadducere]

This whole business that Bioware is advocating with withholding game content that's finished and ready on release, just to squeeze extra money out of your customers on DLC, needs to stop. This is the kind of schemes that encourages piracy.

Well, considering that a) it's free and available at launch, therefore not being withheld and b) they have a separate team working on DLC, and DLC content generally isn't finished in time to be put onto the disc (for which the deadline is months before the game is released), I don't really see what the problem is. And it if in any way gets them some returns from used game sales, then I'd actually encourage this model - publishers and developers don't get a single penny from the hundreds of millions of dollars that GameStop makes from used game sales, so if those people then spend a few dollars on DLC that goes to BioWare/EA then those companies are at least getting some money for the content that they've created.

 

[thenamelessloser]

The character that comes with the DLC doesn't seem that interesting and its seems that the driving parts are only going to be DLC from this link-


http://fidgit.com/archives/2010/01/mass_effect_2_reserves_space_b.php

Even though with the DLC the driving part would still be optional I think I'm gong to end up renting Mass Effect 2 because I did on my first playthrough at least just about all the sidequests and they were SOO boring. Ugh...

 

[Sentox6]

So forget just charging for the DLC... charge for the delivery method as well

Oh well, I'm buying it, so no skin off my nose. Still seems a little cheeky though.

 

[Altorin]

This really won't do much to counter piracy, at least on the PC - it may hit the 360 piracy scene.

the DLC packages for the PC are just as crackable as the games are themselves.

All of that being said, the first day DLC is going to make January 26th my favorite day of all time.

 

[samsonguy920]

Well, as long as the day 1 content is free, I see no reason to complain.

At least it seems they will take DLC for this game seriously, unlike what they did with ME1...

Hopefully it'll be similar to what they did in Dragon Age where the content will be free if you buy it used, but available for purchase of you don't.

I think you mixed up your words there.

The DA:O content was free to people who bought the game new, but cost money to people who bought it used.

DOH! I will perform the necessary punishment myself. *bangs head on the desk*

*Offers a dollar to see you do it again*
OT: Reading the article, I got deja vu from when Valve was working on Half Life2, and we were hearing about this weird new thing called Steam. Hmmmm...

 

[Byers]

This whole business that Bioware is advocating with withholding game content that's finished and ready on release, just to squeeze extra money out of your customers on DLC, needs to stop. This is the kind of schemes that encourages piracy.

Well, considering that a) it's free and available at launch, therefore not being withheld and b) they have a separate team working on DLC, and DLC content generally isn't finished in time to be put onto the disc (for which the deadline is months before the game is released), I don't really see what the problem is. And it if in any way gets them some returns from used game sales, then I'd actually encourage this model - publishers and developers don't get a single penny from the hundreds of millions of dollars that GameStop makes from used game sales, so if those people then spend a few dollars on DLC that goes to BioWare/EA then those companies are at least getting some money for the content that they've created.

Read the article. Only some of it will be free. As was the case with Dragon Age.

And anything that takes power away from the consumers to sell games they don't enjoy or buy used games to save a few dollars, is disrespectful to gamers in general.

 

[KSarty]

This whole business that Bioware is advocating with withholding game content that's finished and ready on release, just to squeeze extra money out of your customers on DLC, needs to stop. This is the kind of schemes that encourages piracy.

Well, considering that a) it's free and available at launch, therefore not being withheld and b) they have a separate team working on DLC, and DLC content generally isn't finished in time to be put onto the disc (for which the deadline is months before the game is released), I don't really see what the problem is. And it if in any way gets them some returns from used game sales, then I'd actually encourage this model - publishers and developers don't get a single penny from the hundreds of millions of dollars that GameStop makes from used game sales, so if those people then spend a few dollars on DLC that goes to BioWare/EA then those companies are at least getting some money for the content that they've created.

Read the article. Only some of it will be free. As was the case with Dragon Age.

Yeah, but the launch dlc is free. Obviously the stuff released later down the line is the stuff they are working on now and won't be ready for release, so at that point it is like any normal piece of dlc and I would expect to have to pay for it. Your initial gripe was about the launch dlc, but that comes included in the price of the game.

 

[lumenadducere]

This whole business that Bioware is advocating with withholding game content that's finished and ready on release, just to squeeze extra money out of your customers on DLC, needs to stop. This is the kind of schemes that encourages piracy.

Well, considering that a) it's free and available at launch, therefore not being withheld and b) they have a separate team working on DLC, and DLC content generally isn't finished in time to be put onto the disc (for which the deadline is months before the game is released), I don't really see what the problem is. And it if in any way gets them some returns from used game sales, then I'd actually encourage this model - publishers and developers don't get a single penny from the hundreds of millions of dollars that GameStop makes from used game sales, so if those people then spend a few dollars on DLC that goes to BioWare/EA then those companies are at least getting some money for the content that they've created.

Read the article. Only some of it will be free. As was the case with Dragon Age.

And anything that takes power away from the consumers to sell games they don't enjoy or buy used games to save a few dollars, is disrespectful to gamers in general.

As KSarty said, the launch DLC is free, thus your point of content that's already been created being withheld just to charge for it is not entirely accurate.

And I'd argue that buying a used game just to save $5-$10 is disrespectful to the developers and publishers behind the game, considering that the buyer is giving them absolutely nothing for their work or investment. If you go to GameStop and buy a used copy of a relatively new game, it's $54.99 instead of the new price of $59.99. Is that $5 worth completely undercutting the people giving you hours of entertainment? Obviously it's a matter of personal ideology and preference, but for me I absolutely loathe the used games market and the fact that industry workers get none of the hundreds of millions in profit that come from it. If you feel otherwise, then I think we'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Byers]

This whole business that Bioware is advocating with withholding game content that's finished and ready on release, just to squeeze extra money out of your customers on DLC, needs to stop. This is the kind of schemes that encourages piracy.

Well, considering that a) it's free and available at launch, therefore not being withheld and b) they have a separate team working on DLC, and DLC content generally isn't finished in time to be put onto the disc (for which the deadline is months before the game is released), I don't really see what the problem is. And it if in any way gets them some returns from used game sales, then I'd actually encourage this model - publishers and developers don't get a single penny from the hundreds of millions of dollars that GameStop makes from used game sales, so if those people then spend a few dollars on DLC that goes to BioWare/EA then those companies are at least getting some money for the content that they've created.

Read the article. Only some of it will be free. As was the case with Dragon Age.

And anything that takes power away from the consumers to sell games they don't enjoy or buy used games to save a few dollars, is disrespectful to gamers in general.

As KSarty said, the launch DLC is free, thus your point of content that's already been created being withheld just to charge for it is not entirely accurate.

And I'd argue that buying a used game just to save $5-$10 is disrespectful to the developers and publishers behind the game, considering that the buyer is giving them absolutely nothing for their work or investment. If you go to GameStop and buy a used copy of a relatively new game, it's $54.99 instead of the new price of $59.99. Is that $5 worth completely undercutting the people giving you hours of entertainment? Obviously it's a matter of personal ideology and preference, but for me I absolutely loathe the used games market and the fact that industry workers get none of the hundreds of millions in profit that come from it. If you feel otherwise, then I think we'll just have to agree to disagree.

I see nothing wrong with buying used to save a few bucks. It's something people have always done and should be allowed to do without penalty. By your rationale, anyone buying something used, be it a game, a record, a book or a car, are acting immoral since they aren't directly contributing to the original creator's income.

If they're effectively withdrawing essential content (like playable characters) that's ready on release and putting it up as DLC for original purchases only, that's sort of like selling a car with engine parts that vaporize if the car transfers ownership.

 

[lumenadducere]

This whole business that Bioware is advocating with withholding game content that's finished and ready on release, just to squeeze extra money out of your customers on DLC, needs to stop. This is the kind of schemes that encourages piracy.

Well, considering that a) it's free and available at launch, therefore not being withheld and b) they have a separate team working on DLC, and DLC content generally isn't finished in time to be put onto the disc (for which the deadline is months before the game is released), I don't really see what the problem is. And it if in any way gets them some returns from used game sales, then I'd actually encourage this model - publishers and developers don't get a single penny from the hundreds of millions of dollars that GameStop makes from used game sales, so if those people then spend a few dollars on DLC that goes to BioWare/EA then those companies are at least getting some money for the content that they've created.

Read the article. Only some of it will be free. As was the case with Dragon Age.

And anything that takes power away from the consumers to sell games they don't enjoy or buy used games to save a few dollars, is disrespectful to gamers in general.

As KSarty said, the launch DLC is free, thus your point of content that's already been created being withheld just to charge for it is not entirely accurate.

And I'd argue that buying a used game just to save $5-$10 is disrespectful to the developers and publishers behind the game, considering that the buyer is giving them absolutely nothing for their work or investment. If you go to GameStop and buy a used copy of a relatively new game, it's $54.99 instead of the new price of $59.99. Is that $5 worth completely undercutting the people giving you hours of entertainment? Obviously it's a matter of personal ideology and preference, but for me I absolutely loathe the used games market and the fact that industry workers get none of the hundreds of millions in profit that come from it. If you feel otherwise, then I think we'll just have to agree to disagree.

I see nothing wrong with buying used to save a few bucks. It's something people have always done and should be allowed to do without penalty. By your rationale, anyone buying something used, be it a game, a record, a book or a car, are acting immoral since they aren't directly contributing to the original creator's income.

If they're effectively withdrawing essential content (like playable characters) that's ready on release and putting it up as DLC for original purchases only, that's sort of like selling a car with engine parts that vaporize if the car transfers ownership.

My distaste for the resale market mostly applies to the gaming industry, but in general would I rather buy something new? Yes, I'd say I would, because I want the creators to get whatever share of my money it is that they'd be getting, however minute. And it's not a matter of morality - I'm not going to say that someone is bad or even wrong for partaking in the market, but I do think it's unfair that the people behind the product do not see any part of the transaction, especially when it's in such large amounts.

And I'd really argue about what is essential or not. In Dragon Age, for example, Shale the golem was the character that they did this model with. I've played through that game four times now, and I've only bothered to use Shale once. Were any of my other playthroughs lacking because I never bothered to trigger that quest to get Shale? Not really, and frankly the game has plenty of other content for me to see and do without having to worry about what it is I'm missing out on by not taking Shale along. It's nothing like engine parts because I get to enjoy the whole package (which is pretty hefty) whether I have that character or not. The same general principle applies here. To use the car analogy I'd liken it to a mp3 jack. Convenient and fun, yes, but you've still got the CD player and the radio if it's not there. And, y'know, the entire rest of the car which works just fine.

 

[DrWilhelm]

Is it just me or does this Zaeed fellow bear a remarkable resemblance to Canderous Ordo from Kotor?