Fans were naturally displeased to learn that the £7.99 premium content was just ‘held back’ as a separate release. EA has insisted the DLC data was there as a ‘necessary framework’.
A single line of code apparently switched the DLC content on for Mass Effect 3, claims a fan video. The entire data for DLC wasn’t on disc, claims EA, just the bare bones of it.
”During that certification time, we had a small team of developers begin to craft the ‘From Ashes’ content, with the intent to finish production on it long after ME3 was out of our hands as a dev team,” blogged EA’s Michael Gamble.
”However, because the plot of ME3 is so richly interwoven with the character interactions and moments, you simply cannot use a DLC module to ‘insert’ a new character. As we’ve mentioned before, that character has to be planned and the framework has to be established ahead of time for us to build off of with the DLC module.”
”You may have seen a similar framework developed in ME2 for the Zaeed and Kasumi characters. We wanted Javik to be a fully featured squad member, with deep dialogue throughout the game – and we needed him to be accessible via the character selection GUI (which you cannot simply ‘overwrite’ with DLC),” continued the associate producer.
”Thus, certain elements of the Javik appearance and some of the VO needed to be included on the disc. That is a fact. But that doesn’t mean the content was created, and then removed. It is a necessity of adding a rich character presence in our game.” Fans bemoaned the practice of day-one DLC accusing EA of ‘milking’ fans.
”As mentioned above, the DLC is over 600 mb. The DLC data holds the mission itself, the cinematic flashback moments, the cinematic dialogue interactions with Javik, his weapon, the appearances for squad members… everything that makes the adventure a cohesive experience.”
”‘From Ashes’ is not Javik’s character model. It is the story of finding the last remaining Prothean, and how his tale interweaves with Commander Shepard’s as he struggles to destroy the Reaper threat.”
Speaking of destroying the Reaper threat - many more fans seem practically livid with the way BioWare ended Mass Effect 3. Petitions are already springing up calling for a re-write or an alternative ending to be provided via downloadable content, granting fans who’ve invested 8 years with the series a ‘worthwhile conclusion’ to Shephard.
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