joke or not...fat fucker has a point

IFF it's shown that the DLC is integral to the main story! Everyone, even me, is working on assumptions here. I'm just going off history whereas this fat fucker is going off emotion.

For the future, furor like this isn't going to stop DLC or even essential DLC. All it'll do is cause "launch day" DLC to be artificially delayed. We can't win this fight.

Except the CE of ME2 also had day one in-game add-ons and even an exclusive character. So they followed the same pattern with ME3.

Disagree. Paid DLC on launch day (or anywhere near it) is unacceptable, period, as far as I'm concerned. But being integral to the main story would make it significantly more unethical, yes.

That's fine, but as myself and others have pointed out, a breaking point will be reached when the loss of consumer support will outweigh the profits from the ever-increasing milking.

ME2 CE only had exclusive weapons and armor, unless I'm mistaken. The story-based DLC content and Zaeed were also free to those who bought the standard version of the game.

You know what I'm reminded of when you say "paid DLC on launch day"? The free DLC for Gunstringer, The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles. People bitched about that too. You may not mind free DLC because you just consider it a patch, but the fact is there's a huge overlap in people that bitched then and are bitching now.

This boycott is a joke. No one will stick to their guns on it. Least not enough to make a splash.

When would you feel the first DLC package should be released as a general rule? When is the threshold of milking passed?

Yup, I recall that being the case as well (I have the ME2 CE for 360). Zaeed was free for everyone, but if I recall he was available day one as well with the Cerberus Network (those bastards!)

When it's clear that it was developed after the main game to extend its life, rather than being an obvious, blatant cash-in? Of course, there's no way to know for sure in some cases without being an employee of the company, but common sense can and does apply. For great examples, see: every DLC that Bethesda releases (at least until they catch the bug too and introduce the new "pay per spell" system for the next Elder Scrolls title).

So it doesn't matter to you that the main game is "in the can", so to speak, months before release. Storyboarded out, principle cast released, developers, artists, musicians, etc released to work on other projects. These things aren't done by the same 100 people coding around the clock up until it goes gold.

Zaeed was exclusive to the Cerberus Network. There were only two ways to get that. Either you purchased the Collector's Edition of ME2 which included a Limited Edition Cerberus Network card or you paid 1200 Microsoft Points (Xbox 360) or 1200 BioWare Points (PC).

These two links have all the details:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mas...s'_Edition
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Cerberus_Network

Again, this is nothing new from Bioware so I don't understand whining. Either you pay for the DLC in advance (by purchasing the Collector's Edition) or you pay for it after the fact (by purchasing the DLC from Microsoft or Bioware). Nobody is getting the DLC for free.

As for the significance of the character, just because he's no playable without the DLC add-on, doesn't mean he won't necesarrily appear. Liara wasn't playable in ME2 until the release of LOTSB, yet she still appeared in the game proper.

But if you still wanna bitch and moan, the collector's edition of ME3 was advertised as including additional characters. So we haven't seen the only DLC character to be included in the package.

Cerberus Network came free with all new copies of ME2, not just the CE. I know because I got it that way. It's even advertised on the back of the case.

The Cerberus Network pass was the ME2 Project 10 offering. Now it's multiplayer, which is bullshit.

It matters how the dlc is presented, and since we don't know there really is no way to say for sure. Mass Effect 2 handled the dlc just fine in my opinion. If you did not have the characters, it was not really an issue. Like I said, another Bioware game, Dragon Age, actually stopped the story and forced you into a camp with two characters who speak of, and push you to start 2 side missions, one with a new character. It then prompted you to the market place when you clicked on the quests. THIS is wrong. It makes you feel like you are missing part of the main game.

I think there are going to be more Protheans in the game. If this dlc character is just a way that one of them joins you, and if the side quests is just a side mission with no major changes to the ending, I don't care really. If reviews are good I will buy it, because I love the game and think as far as value goes you are getting more than your 60 bucks worth. This is not Kane and Lynch 2 here, these are massive well made games that give you a lot of bang for your buck.

Now if they use the Dragon Age method, or if I hear that there is a new ending or maybe a change to the ending I am going to be pissed and not buy it just because I don't want to support that kind of crap.

Aren't the Collectors just Protheans anyway? These aren't even new animated characters in the universe, let alone some grand discovery. If, in the course of the story, no Collectors are turned against their Reaper masters or no ancient Prothean warrior is discovered then, yes, this is bullshit. However if we discover or turn a group of them to our cause, then it's a moot point since this will just be one of many. Hell, we may even go back to Ilos and figure a way to bring all those that were in stasis before they died back.

I think it would be great if it played out like this.


Joker: If we don't fire the Mass Relays in a perfect synchronized pattern with each Mass firing 100 to the 100th power after the next... all life will be gone

Shepard: EDI can you do it.

EDI: Shepard, the formula has to be rendered as each relay fires off, not ahead of time. If I use all my available resources I will be unable to keep up with the math after the 45th firing. It would take 100 AI's of my power.

Shepard: What can we do?

EDI: The data you collected from Ilos indicates that a Prothean scientist by the name of Cyan would be able to perform this task.

Shepard: Chart a course for Ilos. (POP UP) (Please purchase From Ashes pack for 800 points to continue)

Yeah, RocShemp your second link even says as much.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but I think this is somewhat new in that this is the first time a character available on day one is free only for CE owners.

I think a lot of people are having problems with this because it wasn't advertised very well. I never saw that particular ad you posted (that bizarrely hides the most important information down at the bottom like it's fine print), and as posted earlier in the thread, if you go to either Best Buy, Amazon, or Gamestop, there's nothing mentioning a bonus character or mission. So for many people, this is coming as a pretty big surprise.

Slightly different circumstances, but the Dragon Age II Signature Edition came with Sebastian for free. Unlike Zaheed and Kasumi, Sebastian was actually a pretty substantive character.

True but there was also this video (from the official website of the game):

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JOV44CrnvCs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Can't blame Bioware for retailers dropping the ball.

Cool, I have DA2 but wasn't as big into that series so I never paid attention to the extras.

I finally tried the MP part of the demo today. It's really, really good. It's essentially Horde Mode, but they throw in extra objectives on certain waves to mix things up a bit. The way that you unlock new items, perks and characters via "card packs" is a neat twist that adds an element of randomness, though you still level up abilities through a more traditional XP system. I love ME games for the single player story, but putting in a really good MP mode makes me very happy since I know I'll have a reason to keep playing once the story is done.

Longest week ever...

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XOLxwmmQNjA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So, who here is starting on Insanity from the start?

Not me, can you even? I don't remember. I'm more into enjoying my time with the story and a little challenge the first time. I think I did Veteran last time, which was two down from Insane.

you could with 2...

If the game was the same as 2, I think it would be an easy choice since it was really easy on insanity. They say 3 is harder, so I am on the fence. From the demo the extra difficulty comes from enemies charging more aggressively, which is easy to exploit, and grenade spamming which could be a problem.

I just know that I didn't want to do EVERYTHING under Insane, so I didn't. I may go back one day and go for that achievement like I did in ME1, but I doubt it. There's a point when it just stops being fun, but I do need something in there that's not just easy.