BioWare Defends Mass Effect 3 Launch-Day DLC
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Jesus Christ 27 pages and you still don't get this at all do you. THEY DID NOT HOLD OFF THE RELEASE for day one DLC, the game was completed and was on the final stages of production, like bug testing certification, and burning to physical copies. that takes months to do. what do the developers do in that time? sit around doing nothing? move to a new project? or start making DLC? in this case they started making DLC, they worked their asses off to have it ready by release. this is not "fuck you" to anybody, and you know what? I LIKE this news because guess what, I GET MORE BANG FOR MY BUCK, that's right i preordered the CE and i did it back in AUGUST, i didn't have the money and only put down the minimum I could to reserve copy, and I paid it off a bit at a time when I had spare money. I just got news my CE is gonna be EVEN BETTER then i thought it would be back in august. this is a reward for being dedicated.LastGreatBlasphemer said:
To be honest, we all knew the answer beforehand. The reason for this is quite simply that with all the stuff being cut out of games and being sold for Day #1 DLC and extra money, there was no reason for Bioware NOT to do this since people buy it. For the cost of hiring some PR guy to put out a positive spin and take the brunt of the fanboy backlash, they can make an extra $10 a pop off of a huge number of people who will complain but will still hand over their money.
This is the price we pay when we support policies and trends we disagree with by giving over our money. What motivation does a company have to stop certain practices when it ultimatly makes them cash with no practical downside, the only thing they really have to worry about is just ignoring messages they were liable to ignore anyway.
It should also come as no surprise that a corperation is not going to come out and say "well, your all a bunch of idiots and will buy it" when that's the bottom line. Of course at this stage in the game, I'd imagine they COULD do that and people would still buy it. I've seen a couple of FTP MMOs, Fallen Earth being a notable example, where their item shop pretty much says this (read what some of the item descriptions say in the FE cash shop) and apparently people still buy them.
That said I do find it kind of funny that they are defending themselves by saying they didn't know about the DLC which was "developed seperatly" being ready on time, but did apparently know ahead of time for the CE.
All of that aside, my personal theory is that this DLC was originally intended to be an equivilent to "Project $10" like with Shale for Dragon Age Origins, but rather than using it for an incentive to buy new, knowing that ME3 is going to sell a ton of copies just from people wanting to see the end of the story (even if they hate the gameplay desicians), they decided to use it to pad the collector's edition instead of spending more money to develop something special for that, and otherwise charge for it as a DLC pack. Basically getting $10 a pop from those buying the game in general, rather than just from those buying it new.
I suspect we're probably going to see a trend where the $10 "first time buyer" content is only going to be for new properties, and established franchises that move a lot of copies in general are going to increasingly see everything possible pushed into the general DLC marketplace.
The big question to ask yourself here in complaining is, "is this revelation going to prevent me from buying this product?" if the answer is no, then by definition your approving of the desician no matter what you say, and are encouraging it for further releases. In the end this is a pass/fail equasion where Bioware/EA either gets your money or not, anything you say to justify it, or bellyaching, doesn't matter to them, all they care about is they have your cash in hand and havibng done it once, are liable to be able to do it again.
Such are my thoughts.
This is the price we pay when we support policies and trends we disagree with by giving over our money. What motivation does a company have to stop certain practices when it ultimatly makes them cash with no practical downside, the only thing they really have to worry about is just ignoring messages they were liable to ignore anyway.
It should also come as no surprise that a corperation is not going to come out and say "well, your all a bunch of idiots and will buy it" when that's the bottom line. Of course at this stage in the game, I'd imagine they COULD do that and people would still buy it. I've seen a couple of FTP MMOs, Fallen Earth being a notable example, where their item shop pretty much says this (read what some of the item descriptions say in the FE cash shop) and apparently people still buy them.
That said I do find it kind of funny that they are defending themselves by saying they didn't know about the DLC which was "developed seperatly" being ready on time, but did apparently know ahead of time for the CE.
All of that aside, my personal theory is that this DLC was originally intended to be an equivilent to "Project $10" like with Shale for Dragon Age Origins, but rather than using it for an incentive to buy new, knowing that ME3 is going to sell a ton of copies just from people wanting to see the end of the story (even if they hate the gameplay desicians), they decided to use it to pad the collector's edition instead of spending more money to develop something special for that, and otherwise charge for it as a DLC pack. Basically getting $10 a pop from those buying the game in general, rather than just from those buying it new.
I suspect we're probably going to see a trend where the $10 "first time buyer" content is only going to be for new properties, and established franchises that move a lot of copies in general are going to increasingly see everything possible pushed into the general DLC marketplace.
The big question to ask yourself here in complaining is, "is this revelation going to prevent me from buying this product?" if the answer is no, then by definition your approving of the desician no matter what you say, and are encouraging it for further releases. In the end this is a pass/fail equasion where Bioware/EA either gets your money or not, anything you say to justify it, or bellyaching, doesn't matter to them, all they care about is they have your cash in hand and havibng done it once, are liable to be able to do it again.
Such are my thoughts.
I couldn't care less about this. If this is a way a company wants to conduct their business then they should be allowed. Unless a business is hurting someone, they should be allowed to make decisions how they see fit.
If you don't like it, shut up and don't buy it. The more people who do this, the less likely they are to do it again.
But of course so many of you just can't do that. You'll ***** and moan and buy it anyway and completely confirm their decision to do this in the first place.
The only thing I care about is the ridiculous voice the Prothean has.
If you don't like it, shut up and don't buy it. The more people who do this, the less likely they are to do it again.
But of course so many of you just can't do that. You'll ***** and moan and buy it anyway and completely confirm their decision to do this in the first place.
The only thing I care about is the ridiculous voice the Prothean has.
The fact that in Mass Effect 3 she is a pre established character that is already within the story. We have been with her through 1 and 2, and she should therefore return in 3 as well, or an explanation be given as to why she did not.Mycroft Holmes said:
In the first game, there was nothing that made her essential to the story that some other character couldn't have fulfilled. The story was, however, written with her as a major part to play in it as your squad member.
To the contrary, the Prothean does not have a major role written in for him, and he has not existed before now. He is non-essential.
The point: X
You: -------------------------------------------------->
Ahh, so that Overlord DLC and such for ME2 is 1/12 of the game 'cause I paid $5 for it is it? In reality, its more like 1/120 going by how long I spent on it compared to the rest of the game.Joccaren said:
Pricing doesn't work in a way where higher price means more content. This is old news.
On the side of it not being a big deal, we have Bioware's word, leaked scripts and the word of someone here on the Escapist who has read the leaked scripts, and his reasonings behind why the Prothean will be non-essential. If you want to read his post: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.351966.13938942
CorkyJester said:
Well the reason the game doesn't come out before the dlc is finished is because it takes a while for the game to get tested and fixed, then they have a certain time period set out so they can do a marketing campaign for the game to get more people interested and during this time the developers can work on any dlc they have planned for the game, now dlc doesn't take very long to make because most of the time spent in game development is spent creating the engine and the environments and since this is already made it shouldn't take very long for the dlc to be made.
And the origin thing is just downright childish, people just ***** about it because they can't use their precious Steam, we'll guess what Mass Effect 3 is published by EA so I'm pretty sure EA is going to want to have their products sold through their service. Notice how you can only play Counter strike or Left 4 dead 2 (which is published by EA by the way) on Steam, that's because they're made by Valve and they only want their games on their service. Think about this; would you be able to buy a hollister shirt at an abercrombie store, no, you know why, because why should they let abercrombie get a part of their profit from their product when they can sell it through their own store and make full profit. That's just basic business practice, you should know that if your studying economics
I said cosmetic, but I am not sure it covers the load of the point I was conveying. Let's go with 'unnecessary luxury' and an apology from me for not using the right term.zinho73 said:
The Prothean has been confirmed to NOT be a part of the story, and by downloading the DLC you get him as a team-member, plus a special mission in which I am sure his whole reason for being on the team will (probably) be explained. It's not part of the original story, so by not having the DLC, you won't miss out on anything.
If you do choose to use this DLC, you will get some extra luxury with your game. Unnecessary, but nice nonetheless, since it's added padding.
Although I agree with you as far as day 1 DLC, in this case I think EA is in the right (relatively).
This Prothean DLC is already included (as in, free to download) with the collector's edition of Mass Effect 3. Imagine how pissed off the people who purchased the normal edition are going to be when they find out that they can't play with such an iconic character, they would go absolutely nuts.
So EA is giving them the option of buying it, for 10 bucks extra, instead of shelving out a lot more money for a collector's edition (what a lot of people don't even care about) and probably will be sold out.
Should it have been included on the game's disc from the get-go? I don't know, it's not vital to the story and a secondary team has been responsible for it's development, so yeah, what would you have lost if they never even made it at all. Nothing really.
I figured that with Zeel going strong, some of us had to stop this train of internet-rage before it derails, destroys a small railroad station, ruins a boy's film project and releases a bloodthirsty alien (10 internetz if you get the reference).INF1NIT3 D00M said:
A friend of mine runs a toystore and he always has collector's editions laying around of everything (heck, I am sure I could score you a CE of WoW: the Burning Crusade), so I will probably go to him for the Mass Effect 3 CE.
It's funny, I wasn't that hyped for Mass Effect 3, but ever since this whole Prothean DLC thingy, I just want the game MORE. Are you getting it for console or PC? I am not sure which one would give the better experience.
Well Im getting the N7 edition and this still pisses me off if the content wasn't ready for launch why did the N7 edition trailer(Which was released in November) show that there was going to be a exclusive mission and character boxed with the game.
I really hope that all this bullshit going around is a result of EA's meddling and whatnot, and not because Bioware just feel like being jerks.
Woooah, this thread is big D:
I'd prefer they did what they did with ME2 and give NEW copies of the game the character for free. Not everyone in the world wakes up to a bathtub full of money to throw at collectors editions whenever they feel like it.
I've got a small gaming budget and it was going to be used for ME3, now I have to convince the Mrs to let me spend more money just to get this character because I love the series so much.
But then, I'm a typical example of the kind of people EA are hoping for anyway.
More fan idiots like me = More money!
I'd prefer they did what they did with ME2 and give NEW copies of the game the character for free. Not everyone in the world wakes up to a bathtub full of money to throw at collectors editions whenever they feel like it.
I've got a small gaming budget and it was going to be used for ME3, now I have to convince the Mrs to let me spend more money just to get this character because I love the series so much.
But then, I'm a typical example of the kind of people EA are hoping for anyway.
More fan idiots like me = More money!
I caught that Super 8 referenceThe Human Torch said:
(Oh yeah, if you're just tuning in, he made a Super 8 reference)I actually forgot to go to gamestop to check for the Collector's Edition today. Who cares, if they don't want 20 more dollars from me, they don't want 20 more dollars from me. It's kind of hard to believe EA would refuse to take my money to bump me up to Collector's Edition. It's also kind of hard to believe that Gamestop wouldn't stock up on at least 3 times the number of Collector's Editions as they have listed for preorders. Bottom line is, I'll do it tomorrow for sure.
I plan on playing the 360 version, since waaaaaay back when I played original Mass Effect, I did not have the magical space computer I own now. I'd make the switch and buy the games through Steam, but here are some reasons not to:
-I'm pretty sure ME3 isn't coming to Steam
-the games aren't on sale any more on Steam (never have been, for Origin)
-EA hates gamers, but reserves their own hellish nightmare hatred for PC gamers
-Even if I had the games, not to mention the DLC I would have to re-buy, I really don't want to play through ~40 hours of the games leading up to ME3.
I've only done one playthrough, roleplaying as me, taking whatever the game throws at me. If I tried to do it over again, I'd just end up "fixing" every mistake I made on my first playthrough. I think that would diminish the experience somewhat.
Anyhow, I think I'm done here.
-Expressed my rage
-Made my first pony post
-Found a new community friend
-Took a chill pill and resolved to buy the Collector's Edition and be done with EA.
Pro-tip: Avoid the major game store chains and retailwebsites like Amazon. Go for the smaller toy stores/CD and DVD stores that have a small gaming customer base. They are always left with collector's editions of anything. Simply because barely anyone bothers to pay them a visit.INF1NIT3 D00M said:I caught that Super 8 reference
I actually forgot to go to gamestop to check for the Collector's Edition today. Who cares, if they don't want 20 more dollars from me, they don't want 20 more dollars from me. It's kind of hard to believe EA would refuse to take my money to bump me up to Collector's Edition. It's also kind of hard to believe that Gamestop wouldn't stock up on at least 3 times the number of Collector's Editions as they have listed for preorders. Bottom line is, I'll do it tomorrow for sure.
I plan on playing the 360 version, since waaaaaay back when I played original Mass Effect, I did not have the magical space computer I own now. I'd make the switch and buy the games through Steam, but here are some reasons not to:
-I'm pretty sure ME3 isn't coming to Steam
-the games aren't on sale any more on Steam (never have been, for Origin)
-EA hates gamers, but reserves their own hellish nightmare hatred for PC gamers
-Even if I had the games, not to mention the DLC I would have to re-buy, I really don't want to play through ~40 hours of the games leading up to ME3.
I've only done one playthrough, roleplaying as me, taking whatever the game throws at me. If I tried to do it over again, I'd just end up "fixing" every mistake I made on my first playthrough. I think that would diminish the experience somewhat.
Anyhow, I think I'm done here.
-Expressed my rage
-Made my first pony post
-Found a new community friend
-Took a chill pill and resolved to buy the Collector's Edition and be done with EA.
And I forgot about the whole Origin thing on PC. Looks like my decision has been made, I will get it for X-Box 360.
We should start another thread on how bad Origin is for the gaming industry. Maybe Zeel will grace us with another visit. See ya around Brony.
It's because the dlc gets green lighted for pre-production during the production of the actual game. This means that they put together a bunch of ideas (which they couldn't feasibly implement in game in time for launch for some reason or other) and decided on which ones they should work on first as launch dlc. This was why "an extra squadmate and mission" was advertised in the collectors edition. They already knew what it was but were unwilling to part with the information till launch day. I doubt it's all that difficult to set aside a little room for extra content considering the multi threaded narratives bioware usually craft.malakaira said:
The new copies of ME3 get the online pass for multiplayer. I think this was why they made the multiplayer completely optional? as it is nothing more than an incentive to get people to buy a new game. You don't need an online pass to play the actual game by the way in case someone is still confused on this matter.Appleshampoo said:
You make a good point but at the end of the day there ain't shit any of us can do about it. I'm still going to pick up my copy launch day and play the absolute shit out of it, with or without the DLC. It's like a cheeseburger, delicious on it's own but even better with added bacon. You don't have to have bacon with your burger to enjoy if you don't want to.Zeel said:
All we can really do is shut up and eat our delicious burger. Whether it has bacon or not in the end.
So wait two weeks before releasing DLC when it's ready now?PatrickXD said:
How on Earth does that make any kind of sense at all?
This way they can couple it with the Collector's Edition and make it a single purchase event, and they don't sit on something that's at the ready.
I'm against Day-1 DLC period. Doesn't matter which company. Maybe this is better or worse than some cases, but I'm still against it regardless.
Kewl, so you would have no problems if they charged you 10$ for her in ME1 because it had no preexisting expectations built up. That's good to know, be sure to let bioware know your opinions for when they make their next new IP they can charge you for every character you unlock.Joccaren said: