17 réponses à ce sujet

[timeknight]

Dear Bioware the Honorable,

 

It has been many moons since I last communicated with you. Nine moons have come and gone, and I grow weary in awaiting your reply. Will you continue to ignore my plight? I cannot know if these missives ever reach your eyes, but I must attempt nonetheless. Contained in this letter are my heartfelt words, many of which have been said before. I must appeal to you again, as you have ignored my beseechment. 

 

Mass Effect 3 for the PC has graced our presence for 2 years, 8 months and 17 days now (That's 992 days!). Mass Effect 2 has been out for 4 years, 9 months and 28 days (That's 1762 days!).  I have counted each moment, and crossed off each day on my calendar in anticipation for a momentous occasion to arrive. As of yet, my hopes have been dashed to pieces. I was once a hopeful youth, eager to receive the missive detailing the events of a discounted DLC for my PC versions of the game, and yet my hope was in vain. My youth now approaches an inevitable twilight, and my life is fading quickly.

 

Hear me out. I fear that I will be unable to ever pay a decent price for the content in these Mass Effect games that I have long awaited to play. I simply cannot justify paying the price for all the DLC. With that same price, I could instead pay to receive 6 or 7 copies of the base game (without DLC) to keep  and treasure for myself. It is illogical, in my mind, to cause the DLC to become much more than the glorious based game itself. I ask myself, "Why would the noble Bioware choose to keep a youth such as myself from frolicking through the Citadel or Omega with his virtual chums? Have they been indoctrinated so far as to deny me such a pleasure?"

 

Surely you must have sense and mercy, and yet I am left aloof day after day after day. My calendars grow ever more full of markings, and the DLC remains exactly the same price as it was when released. The stars fade, and burn away. The seasons wax to winter's chill. There is no love for the PC gamer. There is no love for the hopeful youth of yesteryear.

 

With faith that my pleas for assistance go heard, I leave you with my blessing, and a poem especially for this occasion (with modifications since my last letter to you):

 

The Shepard

 

The Shepard was born of a human, 

of a mother and father who wed.

They knew not who lay still beside them,

nor that he would raise from the dead.

 

The Shepard grew up as a soldier,

his parents were witness to all.

He saved a grand council from danger

He caused the great serpent to fall.

 

The Shepard would fight off a monster.

A three-headed dog, (nasty beast).

The Shepard would stave off a harvest

of Reapers who wanted a feast. 

 

In all of the Shepard's great travels,

He brought sweeping justice in tow.

The whole galaxy knew of his merits,

His tales of adventures they'd know. 

 

Yet on a lonesome, dark planet,

a planet called Earth some may say,

there remained many people still clueless,

ignorant of Shepard that day.

 

They suffered from chains and oppression,

They had such a desire to be free.

They groaned with the prices seen daily

on the data, one called DLC.

 

For years and for months they petitioned,

for the bright blessed day did they plead.

They cried out with missives a plenty,

but Bioware stood firm in its greed.

 

I am a soul who stays watching,

Waiting for prices set right.

I am but one of still thousands.

Will you not answer our plight? 

 

-Timeknight 

[chris2365]

I think one of the Bioware team made a justification about it in the Dragon Age thread. Something about the DLC regaining it's value the moment the consumer has bought the game at a cheap price.

Still doesn't justify why console players have gotten sales on all DLC and PC players have gotten ... nothing.

Nice speech though

[LisuPL]

You pay for the DLCs? Geez...

 

Kiddin;)

 

I bought all DLCs for ME3 and in overall timescale of playing the game this doesn't feel much, especially if you plan multiple playthroughs.

[Revan Reborn]

That's a really long-winded way of complaining about DLC costs. I'll be honest with you. It's unlikely the DLC for any of the games will ever be discounted. As long as BioWare can continue to sell the trilogy and the DLC, they have no reason to decrease the price. As Aaryn Flynn said on N7 Day, the only way you'll likely be able to get all of the DLC and the games will be the potential remastered edition that BioWare does. That likely won't be coming anytime soon either, if it actually happens. Is it a pain you have to pay for BioWare Social Points in order to spend them on DLC? Yes. Is the DLC worth it? Absolutely.

 

All of the DLC for ME2 and ME3 is high quality, with a special shout out to Lair of the Shadow Broker and the Citadel in particular. Arrival, Overlord, Leviathan, and Omega are also worth checking out. There's also Kasumi and Javik if you haven't picked them up either. You'd be surprised how much content is cut from ME3 if you did not have the DLC in ME2. It really does change the game quite significantly and the dialogue of various characters throughout the story. My advice? Suck it up and pay the money. The Mass Effect Trilogy is more than worth the cost and is one of the best stories ever told in gaming.

 

Otherwise, you are going to be waiting a long time... We'll be lucky if a remastered Mass Effect Trilogy comes after the release of MENext. Either way, it's on you. All I will say is you are missing out.

[von uber]

Would be interesting to have a justification as to why the dlc is discounted for consoles but not pc.

[chris2365]

Would be interesting to have a justification as to why the dlc is discounted for consoles but not pc.

A while back, I had asked a dev on the Dragon Age forum while they were answering lots of questions on Bioware Points. No answer

[GuyIncognito21]

As someone who has every game and every bit of DLC on 360, I wholeheartedly agree with this lamentation.

I'd happily pay ~$50 just to have the same content on my PC, but even with the Trilogy discounted as it often is to ~$15, you're still looking at another $85 or so in DLC costs to complete the game.

 

It's ludicrous.  I don't know what kind of contractual obligations or whatever are driving this, but ah well.  It's my favorite gaming series ever, but I'm not paying another $100 for years-old games I already own on another platform.

 

It's endlessly frustrating every time I see the games on sale but the DLC still at full price.

[chris2365]

As someone who has every game and every bit of DLC on 360, I wholeheartedly agree with this lamentation.
I'd happily pay ~$50 just to have the same content on my PC, but even with the Trilogy discounted as it often is to ~$15, you're still looking at another $85 or so in DLC costs to complete the game.

It's ludicrous. I don't know what kind of contractual obligations or whatever are driving this, but ah well. It's my favorite gaming series ever, but I'm not paying another $100 for years-old games I already own on another platform.

It's endlessly frustrating every time I see the games on sale but the DLC still at full price.

Apparently it's Sony and Microsoft that controls DLC prices and sales for games on their consoles.

On the other hand, Bioware/EA are in charge of their own Bioware Points, so either they have totally forgotten about them, or they just don't want to out them on sale. Because if they want to stick to their reasons for not putting DLC on sale, then they should treat all player bases equally, PC and consoles alike.

[Revan Reborn]

Not that this is remotely connected, but there is a tradeoff for playing on consoles. The game looks worse, the performance isn't as good, and the load screens are longer. Not to say that this is an excuse for keeping the DLC at full price, but it should also be noted that the Mass Effect Trilogy goes on sale often for PC. I do not believe that is the case for consoles. There are significant advantages to playing on PC (I haven't even brought up mod capabilities). Either way, the DLC is more than worth the investment. All of the DLC is relatively high quality and worth experiencing. Plus, the DLC in ME2 actually affects quite a bit of the dialogue in ME3, so you do yourself a disservice by not playing it.

[GuyIncognito21]

I agree that PC is the better platform.  The only reason I didn't buy them all on PC in the first place is because I got ME1 on 360 and wanted to see it through.  And with the mods and things, even ME1 looks stunning on PC.

 

That's the only reason I'd consider rebuying them in the first place.  i want them on PC, I just don't think there's any justification at all for charging $100 for three games, the newest of which is nearly 3 years old.

 

And that's especially true on the PC, where even recent releases often see steep price drops within months of release.

 

So IDK, it's just disappointing, and I don't understand the immovable price point.  That doesn't seem to be company policy, not for EA and not for Bioware, so it just seems to me like this is the one set of products that are caught in some kind of limbo where they'll be at full price forever.

That theory is supported by the fact that these DLC packs aren't even on Origin are they?  You still have to buy them through Bioware unless I just suck at searching Origin.

[Revan Reborn]

I agree that PC is the better platform.  The only reason I didn't buy them all on PC in the first place is because I got ME1 on 360 and wanted to see it through.  And with the mods and things, even ME1 looks stunning on PC.

 

That's the only reason I'd consider rebuying them in the first place.  i want them on PC, I just don't think there's any justification at all for charging $100 for three games, the newest of which is nearly 3 years old.

 

And that's especially true on the PC, where even recent releases often see steep price drops within months of release.

 

So IDK, it's just disappointing, and I don't understand the immovable price point.  That doesn't seem to be company policy, not for EA and not for Bioware, so it just seems to me like this is the one set of products that are caught in some kind of limbo where they'll be at full price forever.

That theory is supported by the fact that these DLC packs aren't even on Origin are they?  You still have to buy them through Bioware unless I just suck at searching Origin.

I originally started Mass Effect on the Xbox 360, as it was originally the only platform the game was on. I would have switched over to PC after Mass Effect 2, but I didn't want to buy all the games separately and not be able to import my Xbox 360 character. Eventually BioWare released the Mass Effect Trilogy and with it always being on sale, I picked it up. I wasn't a fan of having to pay full price for all the DLC, but I knew it was well worth it, playing most of it before.

 

All of the DLC is available on Origin. I just bought all the DLC for ME2 and ME3 not too long ago. If you own the game, you can click the "i" for more details, which will list all the available DLC. You will need to buy BioWare points in order to obtain the DLC though. All of the DLC ranges from $10-20, I believe, individually. If you get the trilogy on sale, which happens a lot, you get all three main games plus the DLC from ME1 and Zaeed in ME2. Overall you are looking to spend around $80 probably for the DLC, if you pick up all the major story content.

[GuyIncognito21]

I originally started Mass Effect on the Xbox 360, as it was originally the only platform the game was on. I would have switched over to PC after Mass Effect 2, but I didn't want to buy all the games separately and not be able to import my Xbox 360 character. Eventually BioWare released the Mass Effect Trilogy and with it always being on sale, I picked it up. I wasn't a fan of having to pay full price for all the DLC, but I knew it was well worth it, playing most of it before.

 

All of the DLC is available on Origin. I just bought all the DLC for ME2 and ME3 not too long ago. If you own the game, you can click the "i" for more details, which will list all the available DLC. You will need to buy BioWare points in order to obtain the DLC though. All of the DLC ranges from $10-20, I believe, individually. If you get the trilogy on sale, which happens a lot, you get all three main games plus the DLC from ME1 and Zaeed in ME2. Overall you are looking to spend around $80 probably for the DLC, if you pick up all the major story content.

 

Ahh, thanks for the info.  It's pretty dumb that you can't find the DLC on Origin unless you already own the game.

But from what I understand (from the OP as well), that DLC is never discounted on Origin either?

[timeknight]

Not that this is remotely connected, but there is a tradeoff for playing on consoles. The game looks worse, the performance isn't as good, and the load screens are longer. Not to say that this is an excuse for keeping the DLC at full price, but it should also be noted that the Mass Effect Trilogy goes on sale often for PC. I do not believe that is the case for consoles. There are significant advantages to playing on PC (I haven't even brought up mod capabilities). Either way, the DLC is more than worth the investment. All of the DLC is relatively high quality and worth experiencing. Plus, the DLC in ME2 actually affects quite a bit of the dialogue in ME3, so you do yourself a disservice by not playing it.

Shouldn't one examine this differently? Rather than implying that I am hurting myself for not purchasing the DLC, shouldn't I inquire "why is it worth more of my hard earned pennies to acquire the DLC? Would I not rather spend such lofty funds on a nice stroll downtown or through some other digital outlet? Can I not instead visit the pirates down by the bay to get their ill-gotten goods?"

I am sure you mean well by saying the DLC is wonderful. I do not doubt your words. However, your posting does not address the true nature of my plight to Bioware. The issue at hand is not the quality of the DLC, but rather Bioware's prejudice against owners of the PC version, and its lack of transparency on the matter of pricing. They are deaf to the outcries of the PC gamer.

The truth remains that the DLC offers the populace less hours of fun and less content per hour than the base game itself. There's no denying the implications of such matters. Even if I were to purchase every digital addition for all games, it doesn't add up to the total masterpiece I enjoy from the base-game. The experience added from DLC is not worth the current price model.

There are many a man or woman appalled by the cost. I fear they instead turn to darker means to play the DLC. In the end, it is Bioware that suffers because the public is not playing the DLC.

They have ignored the people, and the people ignore them.

[Revan Reborn]

Ahh, thanks for the info.  It's pretty dumb that you can't find the DLC on Origin unless you already own the game.

But from what I understand (from the OP as well), that DLC is never discounted on Origin either?

Yeah, the way Origin is set up is somewhat strange. The DLC has never been discounted on Origin to my knowledge.

 

Shouldn't one examine this differently? Rather than implying that I am hurting myself for not purchasing the DLC, shouldn't I inquire "why is it worth more of my hard earned pennies to acquire the DLC? Would I not rather spend such lofty funds on a nice stroll downtown or through some other digital outlet? Can I not instead visit the pirates down by the bay to get their ill-gotten goods?"

I am sure you mean well by saying the DLC is wonderful. I do not doubt your words. However, your posting does not address the true nature of my plight to Bioware. The issue at hand is not the quality of the DLC, but rather Bioware's prejudice against owners of the PC version, and its lack of transparency on the matter of pricing. They are deaf to the outcries of the PC gamer.

The truth remains that the DLC offers the populace less hours of fun and less content per hour than the base game itself. There's no denying the implications of such matters. Even if I were to purchase every digital addition for all games, it doesn't add up to the total masterpiece I enjoy from the base-game. The experience added from DLC is not worth the current price model.

There are many a man or woman appalled by the cost. I fear they instead turn to darker means to play the DLC. In the end, it is Bioware that suffers because the public is not playing the DLC.

They have ignored the people, and the people ignore them.

You determine what has value in your life. If you do not believe the DLC is worth your money, then you vote with your wallet by not purchasing it. All I will say is it's unlikely BioWare's model will change. Especially with these games becoming more ambitious and expensive to make, I wouldn't be surprised if DLC raises in price with DAI and MENext.

[GuyIncognito21]

Yeah since I've played through all the DLC and own it on 360 it's basically part of the game as far as I'm concerned.  I wouldn't bother buying the games without it.

 

So I guess I'm just destined to not get this on PC.  It's such a bummer, but I've already put in what must have been nearly $300 to this series so far, and another $100 for the same content just doesn't do it for me.

 

FWIW, I don't think it's a modeling decision or anything like that.  It's not mirrored in any of their other games.  I think there just must be some legal/logistical issue involved.  There's no reason that the Trilogy should be 14.99 while DLC packs with 1/100th the content are $15 or whatever.

 

Thanks for the info though, it's good to know i haven't been missing a bunch of deals simply by not knowing how Origin works.

[Revan Reborn]

Yeah since I've played through all the DLC and own it on 360 it's basically part of the game as far as I'm concerned.  I wouldn't bother buying the games without it.

 

So I guess I'm just destined to not get this on PC.  It's such a bummer, but I've already put in what must have been nearly $300 to this series so far, and another $100 for the same content just doesn't do it for me.

 

FWIW, I don't think it's a modeling decision or anything like that.  It's not mirrored in any of their other games.  I think there just must be some legal/logistical issue involved.  There's no reason that the Trilogy should be 14.99 while DLC packs with 1/100th the content are $15 or whatever.

 

Thanks for the info though, it's good to know i haven't been missing a bunch of deals simply by not knowing how Origin works.

The only explanation I can find that would somewhat justify BioWare/EA's behavior is the fact you are receiving three award-winning, critically-acclaimed AAA games with well over 150 hours of base content for $14.99. That's an incredible value, and there are not many other collections on the market that would compare with that price. So when you view it that way, overall you are actually coming out cheaper because you paid roughly $5 for each game. If you've already played all the DLC then it may not be worth it, but for those who didn't or just want the entire collection on PC, I wouldn't say it's a terrible deal.

[CosmicGnosis]

Otherwise, you are going to be waiting a long time... We'll be lucky if a remastered Mass Effect Trilogy comes after the release of MENext. Either way, it's on you. All I will say is you are missing out.

Would it really take that long? I just can't feel comfortable about buying all of the DLC if the remaster is going to include all of it. But I also hate the idea of playing the trilogy in an incomplete state. The result is that I might not replay Mass Effect until the possible remaster happens, and by the sound of things, this could be years away. I don't think I can wait that long.

[Revan Reborn]

Would it really take that long? I just can't feel comfortable about buying all of the DLC if the remaster is going to include all of it. But I also hate the idea of playing the trilogy in an incomplete state. The result is that I might not replay Mass Effect until the possible remaster happens, and by the sound of things, this could be years away. I don't think I can wait that long.

Just to be clear, there is no confirmation that the remastered edition is going to happen. Aaryn Flynn merely posed the idea that it could happen during N7 Day. It's certainly not something that is in the works and BioWare is busy developing the next Mass Effect and Casey Hudson's new IP at this point.

 

It's not that you need the DLC, but it does impact the dialogue for the games quite a bit. Zaeed and Kasumi will only be present in ME3 if you have their DLC and there are references to Overlord, Lair of the Shadow Broker, and Arrival littered throughout the game. I've played the game with an imported save that had the DLC and one that did not and there was a significant difference.

 

It's really your call to make. Even if a remastered edition is confirmed and BioWare goes forward with it, I wouldn't expect it for a while (depending on how significant the changes are). The next Mass Effect won't be out until 2016 at the earliest and all of BioWare Montreal and a portion of BioWare Edmonton will be fully dedicated to getting it done. I suspect the rest of BioWare Edmonton will begin pre-production of the new IP and likely another studio would have to do the remastered trilogy.

 

Either way, remastered edition or not, you are going to be waiting for quite some time.