The War Begins
Mass Effect 3 released last Tuesday and immediately came under fire as scores of scorned gamers complained about the day-one DLC. From Ashes includes a single player mission and a new character in more than 600MB of DLC for an additional $10. Players who purchased the N7 Collector's Edition get the DLC for free. Fans are angry that BioWare had apparently released an incomplete game for sake of making more money, and that releasing the content on day one proves it. Christina Norman, of Riot Games, defended BioWare at the Game Developers Conference this last week, and understandably so. She is the former programmer and designer for the Mass Effect franchise, and had this to say to the consumers:
"There's no point in releasing DLC a year after your game has come out when most people have already sold your game back to GameStop three times. That means getting it out early; that means even day-one DLC. That is a terrible thing to some players. Players rant--they know nothing about this DLC that's coming out except its name. But then it's 'oh this game must be incomplete, the game must be ruined.' Game developers are not evil. (Some are evil.) But most are not evil. We just want to release awesome stuff. Players please, give us a chance. Judge our games based on what they are. Judge the DLC based on what it is. Stop thinking you're a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content"
"There's no point in releasing DLC a year after your game has come out when most people have already sold your game back to GameStop three times. That means getting it out early; that means even day-one DLC. That is a terrible thing to some players. Players rant--they know nothing about this DLC that's coming out except its name. But then it's 'oh this game must be incomplete, the game must be ruined.' Game developers are not evil. (Some are evil.) But most are not evil. We just want to release awesome stuff. Players please, give us a chance. Judge our games based on what they are. Judge the DLC based on what it is. Stop thinking you're a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content"
In four days, 3.5 million copies of the game shipped to retailers. USA Today has called the game "the first true blockbuster game of the year." There are 16 alternate endings for Mass Effect 3, and players can carry over their saved content from previous installments of the game. More attacks come in the form of controversy over how to achieve the "best" ending, as some have incorrectly stated that multiplayer must be played to gain a high enough "Galactic Readiness" rating. BioWare has again assured players that this is untrue, and it is not required to play multiplayer to earn the "best" ending.
The endings themselves have come under fire, but I'm sure it all boils down to a matter of taste and opinion - it is true that not every blockbuster needs to end with everyone still alive, hero gets the girl, and there's a blue sky on Mars. It may yet still be in Mass Effect's future that further DLC will be released, perhaps more alternate endings? Only time will tell. With so much depth, and even romantic interests for the characters, I'm surprised anyone has blasted their way through it so fast already. Seems like this one is about the journey as much as the destination.
The endings themselves have come under fire, but I'm sure it all boils down to a matter of taste and opinion - it is true that not every blockbuster needs to end with everyone still alive, hero gets the girl, and there's a blue sky on Mars. It may yet still be in Mass Effect's future that further DLC will be released, perhaps more alternate endings? Only time will tell. With so much depth, and even romantic interests for the characters, I'm surprised anyone has blasted their way through it so fast already. Seems like this one is about the journey as much as the destination.
by Aaron Semler, Senior Editor VETERANS-GAMING
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