[JD bernal]

Grr want game so much....but hate EA's moneygrabbing DLC policy.......so conflicted

It's not money grabbing, but I'm so exhausted of telling people I'll just go with meh.

[Mélida Brunet]

nevermind

[Steven Nicholson]

It's not money grabbing, but I'm so exhausted of telling people I'll just go with meh.

I've already read your exhaustive posts Gamgee, so there's no need to repost them here.

Without turning this topic into a discussion over this issue, my position has always been the one shared by people like TB; If it's finished before release, it should be on the disk.

[Greg Cavaliere]

So, I inadvertantly discovered the leaked ending yesterday and I kind of lost the interest to buy the game. Then, I watched the trailer, and was considering pre-ordering ASAP. Then, somebody in the comments posted the ending. With more detail. Yep. Not sure "what do" now.

Avoiding spoilers is a huge burden. I avoid ALL ME discussion and videos except this thread to cloud myself from any spoilers. Of course, I do many a few slips like sub-consciously opening the first of mr. Oof's serious spoilers, but thankfully I had heard of that one months ago.

[Caroline flitcroft]

Soooo tempted to click those spoilers

[Queen of Spades]

Mass Effect 1 is downloading on my Xbox right now. The 7gb download will probably take most of the night so I'm going to go out tonight and hopefully when I wake up tomorrow it will be done so I can finish off the Suicide Mission in ME2 and get a few good hours into the first game before 3 comes out.

[Emily Graham]

I've already read your exhaustive posts Gamgee, so there's no need to repost them here.

Without turning this topic into a discussion over this issue, my position has always been the one shared by people like TB; If it's finished before release, it should be on the disk.

From what I understand, the DLC was finished before release, but after the game went gold. You can't very well add something to a disk that's already on its way to the retailer.

[Luis Longoria]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPhVhQZUCpM of the second day, 48 hours http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRjRvFietdc

[gemma king]

Must resist urge to look at spoilers. Must stay strong. Can't spoil another game!

[darnell waddington]

From what I understand, the DLC was finished before release, but after the game went gold. You can't very well add something to a disk that's already on its way to the retailer.

Last time I checked though, Cerberus Network had much more content than this and it was free. Why not here too?

Must resist urge to look at spoilers. Must stay strong. Can't spoil another game!

Put it this way. You don't. Trust me. I have and the only thing keeping me from canceling this pre-order is I refuse to leave a trilogy unfinished.....and the multiplayer rocks.

[Kat Lehmann]

From: Alliance News Network Information Partners
September 21, 2186
Flood of batarian traffic brings rumors of war
By Shirin Kazemi
UTOPIA SYSTEM – A massive influx of batarian ships is raising tensions in the Exodus Cluster, putting Alliance forces on high alert. According to Alliance officials, the ships came from the batarian-held Harsa relay with minimal warning, some barreling right through. The Alliance reportedly fired on some of the ships with the intent to disable them.
“It’s a miracle any of them are still alive,” one human frigate captain said. According to the batarians, they are neither invaders nor defectors, but refugees. They claim a hostile species has attacked the Hegemony’s fleet, bombarding Khar’shan and other batarian planets.
With the Harsa comm buoy system crippled, communication is sporadic at best between far-flung batarians and their government on Khar’shan. Some refugees claim the attackers were Council. Others blame the geth or even the rachni. All report that the enemy, in whatever form, is blockading the relay, destroying most spacecraft trying to make it through. The refugees are not solely civilians. Hegemony Commander, Eruz Mathat, who is under guard while his cruiser is inspected, was blunt in his assessment of the situation. “I never thought I would say this to the human navy,” he said, “but we need you.”
-Shirin Kazemi contributes to http://www.twitter.com/alliancenewsnet Eden Prime telecast “The Apple” and the Constant Times.

---

Also there is no Cerberus Network now that Mass Effect has multiplayer. While it would be a good token of good will to give out a free launch day DLC, EA isn't under any form obligated to. They're well within their right to make money on this one. I never said it was good what they were doing, merely neutral. People are just being spoiled brats wanting everything on day one. If EA held off until the game released to make DLC, it would be a large amount of down time for their developers. I sure as hell wouldn't want that to happen. Inevitably people will demand DLC, so they're only obliging them. In a cost and time effective manner. Think of it as allowing them to produce one extra DLC with all of that extra time. Because now where they would be starting DLC 1 if they waited until launch to start designing they are going to be working on DLC 2.

[Harry Hearing]

Last time I checked though, Cerberus Network had much more content than this and it was free. Why not here too?

Before we go any further, I'll just get one thing straight. I don't much like EA. They've given me plenty of reasons to dislike them over the years, but this isn't one of them. Cerberus network was a good gesture, sure, but by no means did it make free DLC mandatory from that point onward. It's EA's right as a business to charge what they want for their product, just as it is the consumer's right to decide whether or not to pay extra for a relatively minor squad member, and Kasumi proved that people are willing to do so for such a character. Would releasing the character for free be a good PR move? Yes, of course. Do they have to do it for free? No, especially not when it's a business model that works. If people are willing to pay a certain amount money for it, there's no reason not to charge said amount. That's just basic economics. If you disagree with the way EA has handled this DLC, then vote with your wallet. Don't buy the thing.

[Harinder Ghag]

Before we go any further, I'll just get one thing straight. I don't much like EA. They've given me plenty of reasons to dislike them over the years, but this isn't one of them. Cerberus network was a good gesture, sure, but by no means did it make free DLC mandatory from that point onward. It's EA's right as a business to charge what they want for their product, just as it is the consumer's right to decide whether or not to pay extra for a relatively minor squad member, and Kasumi proved that people are willing to do so for such a character. Would releasing the character for free be a good PR move? Yes, of course. Do they have to do it for free? No, especially not when it's a business model that works. If people are willing to pay a certain amount money for it, there's no reason not to charge said amount. That's just basic economics. If you disagree with the way EA has handled this DLC, then vote with your wallet. Don't buy the thing.

I'd like to qualify my statement in the regard that I personally by no means object to the DLC being charged. I'm just stating that I don't completely ignore the points that those who oppose the price - bring up. That being said. I personally find it interesting that with a leaked script, space edition users violating their non-disclosures and releasing the endings, that EA hasn't done anything about it. At this point EA is saying zip while the best Bioware has done is implement a zero-tolerance policy on their forums in light of numerous personal attacks (ie. death threats) on the games developers.

While saying nothing, EA may look good, but is essentially throwing Bioware to the wolves on this one. This may have to do with Bioware butchering another major IP.

Spoiler

(Don't look farther unless you want to have Mass Effect 3 ruined for you.)

Spoiler

You have been warned.

Because as far as I'm concerned

Spoiler

Taking you on a giant odyssey spanning 3 games only to rip you from the immersion by dropping you with 3 terrible ending choices that look like they were inspired by a Steven King / Deus Ex hybrid gone wrong which completely render all previous choices you have done moot really makes me wanna slam something through a wall.
You have your choices of:
A: Destroy all synthetic life, including the guardian, Edi, all Geth, as well as all Reapers, becoming separated from your crew, all mass relays being destroyed and galactic civilization crumbles before everyone's eyes, and your crew crashing on a remote alien world, looking like the start of Lost.

B: Replacing the Guardian and thus ceasing to exist within your human body, become master of the reapers, becoming separated from your crew, all mass relays being destroyed and galactic civilization crumbles before everyone's eyes, and your crew crashing on a remote alien world, looking like the start of Lost.

and

C: Jumping in some energy ray causing all organics and synthetics to become hybrid organics / sunthetics - thus causing the reaper attacks to become pointless, becoming separated from your crew, all mass relays being destroyed and galactic civilization crumbles before everyone's eyes, and your crew crashing on a remote alien world, looking like the start of Lost.

Notice what they all have in common?
NOTHING to do with anything you've ever done in the past games....AT ALL.

And that is coming from 100% complete NG+ ppl. I wouldn't have believed it until i saw images complete with an indoctrinated Illusive Man who looks almost husk-like.

[noa zarfati]

I'll give credit where it's due. The live-action trailer is actually decent. Of course, it points out how (strategically/tactically) ridiculous the invasion is, but at least it's not hokey.

P.S. I accidentally ended up in that section of youtube where ME, fandom, and nerd-rage meet. I feel sullied...

[casey macmillan]

P.S. I accidentally ended up in that section of youtube where ME, fandom, and nerd-rage meet. I feel sullied...

The better the game, the dumber the fanbase.

[Music Show]

I'd like to qualify my statement in the regard that I personally by no means object to the DLC being charged. I'm just stating that I don't completely ignore the points that those who oppose the price - bring up. That being said. I personally find it interesting that with a leaked script, space edition users violating their non-disclosures and releasing the endings, that EA hasn't done anything about it. At this point EA is saying zip while the best Bioware has done is implement a zero-tolerance policy on their forums in light of numerous personal attacks (ie. death threats) on the games developers.

While saying nothing, EA may look good, but is essentially throwing Bioware to the wolves on this one. This may have to do with Bioware butchering another major IP.

Spoiler

(Don't look farther unless you want to have Mass Effect 3 ruined for you.)

Spoiler

You have been warned.

Because as far as I'm concerned

Spoiler

Taking you on a giant odyssey spanning 3 games only to rip you from the immersion by dropping you with 3 terrible ending choices that look like they were inspired by a Steven King / Deus Ex hybrid gone wrong which completely render all previous choices you have done moot really makes me wanna slam something through a wall.
You have your choices of:
A: Destroy all synthetic life, including the guardian, Edi, all Geth, as well as all Reapers, becoming separated from your crew, all mass relays being destroyed and galactic civilization crumbles before everyone's eyes, and your crew crashing on a remote alien world, looking like the start of Lost.

B: Replacing the Guardian and thus ceasing to exist within your human body, become master of the reapers, becoming separated from your crew, all mass relays being destroyed and galactic civilization crumbles before everyone's eyes, and your crew crashing on a remote alien world, looking like the start of Lost.

and

C: Jumping in some energy ray causing all organics and synthetics to become hybrid organics / sunthetics - thus causing the reaper attacks to become pointless, becoming separated from your crew, all mass relays being destroyed and galactic civilization crumbles before everyone's eyes, and your crew crashing on a remote alien world, looking like the start of Lost.

Notice what they all have in common?
NOTHING to do with anything you've ever done in the past games....AT ALL.

And that is coming from 100% complete NG+ ppl. I wouldn't have believed it until i saw images complete with an indoctrinated Illusive Man who looks almost husk-like.

I'm kinda disappointed in the ending too, makes Fallout 3's look great in comparasion.

[Sheila Reyes]

Someone is trolling, and trolling hard, on youtube. They posted the entire ending video/audio and named it "Mass Effect 3 -- Official Launch Trailer". Not cool...

[Valerie Marie]

Someone is trolling, and trolling hard, on youtube. They posted the entire ending video/audio and named it "Mass Effect 3 -- Official Launch Trailer". Not cool...

Thankfully my embargo on ME3 material is still in force. I have spoiler only one thing so far for myself and I intend to keep it that way.

[Kevin S]

Thankfully my embargo on ME3 material is still in force. I have spoiler only one thing so far for myself and I intend to keep it that way.

I don't mind spoiling games/movies/books for myself. If I do check the ending, it's to see if the story builds up to anything meaningful. The ending isn't the most important part of a story for me, anyway. I know this isn't the case with some/most people, though.

I hate that ME3's being released at such an inopportune time. I have studies to attend to! June would have been more fitting for my schedule...

[Tamara Primo]

I don't mind spoiling games/movies/books for myself. If I do check the ending, it's to see if the story builds up to anything meaningful. The ending isn't the most important part of a story for me, anyway. I know this isn't the case with some/most people, though.

I hate that ME3's being released at such an inopportune time. I have studies to attend to! June would have been more fitting for my schedule...

I play games for the story. Spoiling the ending is like reading a book starting from the last page.

[Ebony Lawson]

I don't mind spoiling games/movies/books for myself. If I do check the ending, it's to see if the story builds up to anything meaningful. The ending isn't the most important part of a story for me, anyway. I know this isn't the case with some/most people, though.

I hate that ME3's being released at such an inopportune time. I have studies to attend to! June would have been more fitting for my schedule...

It comes out right at the beginning of my college's spring break for me!

[Sakura Haruno]

Thankfully my embargo on ME3 material is still in force. I have spoiler only one thing so far for myself and I intend to keep it that way.

Same here. I've only spoiled myself twice, and both are completely contrary to each other. So I'm left unsure of what to think.

So I still want to buy the game and find out what happens. Especially for the

Spoiler

Little Blue Children

and to prove to

Spoiler

Oof

that the game will

Spoiler

not be spoiled for me.

[Brandi Norton]

You know, you aren't exactly helping, posting all those delicious spoiler tags here

[Miragel Ginza]

Thankfully my embargo on ME3 material is still in force. I have spoiler only one thing so far for myself and I intend to keep it that way.

The only things about ME3 that I've read/seen are the announcement trailer, the launch trailer, some random announcement regarding Kinect, some multiplayer footage and the stuff about the From Ashes DLC. I know nothing else about the game and that's the way I like it. I went into both ME1 and ME2 not knowing anything either.

It always puzzled me how people were all jumping on that leaked script, or try to find as much about the story of the game as possible (this also goes for Skyrim, where some people were very interested in knowing all about how joining the dark brotherhood went just days before release). The last thing I'd want is to spoil the story of the third game in a trilogy for myself by reading through some document.

[Marion Geneste]

So I still want to buy the game and find out what happens. Especially for the

Spoiler

Little Blue Children

...

Heheh. WTH are the

Spoiler

Litte Blue Children?