EA: Urges fans that Mass Effect 3 'From Ashes' DLC Is Still Not On Disc

EA has responded to claims that Mass Effect 3's 'From Ashes' DLC, which provides a new character and mission, is included on the game's disc, after yesterdays field day in which PC users were able to get it for free.

From Ashes is provided free for fans who purchase the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition, or available for $10 to everyone else. Previously, the content leaked to Xbox Live and caused controversy among fans unhappy with EA for releasing day one DLC.

[Nimblest-Assassin]

"As stated previously, in order to seamlessly integrate Javik into the core campaign, certain framework elements and character models needed to be put on disc," the statement continues. "We did something similar with Zaeed and Kasumi in Mass Effect 2."

Im sorry Bioware/EA, but Im not sure what to believe. If someone can unlock Kasumi and Zaeed the same way they could unlock the protean, then I would believe.

But the evidence is staked against you

[Ares84HU]

Not the first time they do this either. But they aren't alone. Capcom does this all the time.

Top three worst publishers this gen is EA, Capcom and Activision(the destoryer of video game series')

The evil triumvirate.

[Solid_Snake37]

Whenever hear those 3 names i get this urge to throw up

[crxss]

i believe that the mission isn't on the disc but the fact that the character is just means the entire DLC could have been put on the disc. for shame EA, you've been caught, now fess up

[RockmanII7]

I'm not a fan of JRPG's, but I see a lot of people complain about Square Enix too.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Anyone who believes EA/Bioware NOW that the proof has been stacked against them is a full-blown sucker.

You can bet I won't be buying any future Bioware games until the inevitable "ultimate" edition comes out.

[N311V]

And then I'll buy it used. Cannot support this type of dispicable DLC.

[vega275]

^^^ this.

I refuse to give EA/Biosellouts any of my money. Soon as they release the ultimate edition I will wait til it hits the used shelf. Shit if I could get a pirated PC version with origin taken out I would download it in a heartbeat.

Yes I know pirating is wrong, but so is cheating your customers by trying to charge extra to unlock content you already paid for the first time.

[DavidMacDougall]

Same, i'll just wait for complete edtions that are cheaper.

[360GamerFG]

600mb worth of cutscene, thats it, that is it!

[ninjahunter]

What evidence ive seen, which has been force fed to me by the community leads me to believe otherwise. At the moment what bioware is saying doesnt fit into the puzzle Ive made on the topic, and that aggravates me. Im not saying im a professional on the topic, im not a lie detector, but every time Bioware releases a press release on the topic is strikes me as a lie, and this im afraid is bad business and every time they do this it breaks my heart.

I love mass effect, I want to know what happens to tali(mai waifu) I want to see the geth rise against the reapers, i want to see the Araknid fight corruption, I want to see all these things, but I cant support this crooked behavior from bioware and EA. It really breaks my heart to boycott this.

[Mr-Zex]

Why the hell are EA and their studio's lying right out of their asses lately?

DICE on PS3 Input lag blame your TV, Controller or Setup, yet any other game I play, is fine.

Bioware on on Disk DLC content..

What is this?

[Baka-akaB]

Ea is dodging the issue , we know the mission aint on the disk , only the character .

Still the piece avaiable proves that unlike what they claims , they purposely were cutting in advance the dlc , instead of something they started working upon at the game's gold certification .

You can't prepare so much content in advance , unless you planned months ago what you'd cut

[Raf1k1]

There's a fair bit of dialogue available on disk too. Try doing the Thessia mission with the prothean. I was pleasantly surprised by his conversations with Liara.

[N311V]

I agree that the real issue here is the fact that they blatantly cut out important content so as to make more profit. Fair enough make people that buy the game used pay for the missing content so as to recoup some potentially lost revenue. Charging virtually everyone for cut content is wrong and something I will not support. I don't care if you finished off the DLC after the game went gold, you knew long before then exactly what this DLC was, cut content not extra content.

[PirateThom]

The biggest issue I take with the DLC is the fact that ME2 did a similar thing, where you had to use a code to unlock the additional content... but it didn't REQUIRE you to buy an overpriced collector's edition full of stuff you didn't want, just the regular game. Instead, we get an online pass, which does nothing more than let you play a multiplayer mode I, personally, do not care about. I'd rather have had the mission free.

[fossilfern]

Day one DLC is getting the arse ripped clean out of it! If it was with the game when you bought it new there wouldn't be as big as a problem. But instead they give us MP ? wtf

[OmegaSaiyanX]

Well the character is on the disc there is no disputing that however the 600mb which is a very big file for this dlc doesnt add up, considering how short the mission is and is very poor may i add 600mb seems like sloppy coding or something for it to be that big considering you hardly get anything out of it.

[wnek9]

its not just the mission if you take javik with you on other missions he will compare what is going on now with his past in dialogue cutscenes.

[OwlBytes]

Feel like this kinda sums up their response: http://imgur.com/J25gz

[ironcreed]

They have no problem putting fucking Jessica Chobot in the game, but they can't give people who buy their game new the Prothean? Fuck off with your PR bullshit, EAWare. The more you spew, the more you only further insult our intelligence as consumers. Keep on digging that hole.

[PooEgg]

I think that the bigger question isn't was the content on the disc or not = obviously we know that for whatever reason some of it was. The bigger question is what can EA/BioWare change in their business practices to regain the trust and loyalty that has been lost?

I feel that it is very sad that a series like Mass Effect has been so negatively affected by this Day 1 DLC fiasco. Sure there are other controversies surrounding the game, like the ending and the Tali thing, but I think that the reason a lot of fans are being so hard on ME3 right now has a lot to do with this DLC. Fans went from being massively excited about the game to hating it immediately upon announcement of this DLC. EA should ask themselves: Why this is? ME should have been a legend, ME3 should have had the majority of its fans raving about its awesomeness. Instead EA might have made a profit, but they tarnished an excellent series in the process, and I am certain they lost more than a few fans. Btw, they haven't lost me yet, but I am stupidly loyal to things I love and I love both Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

In addition to this DLC nonsense. The MP addition was a big mistake in my opinion. We were promised that the single player experience would not be effected by adding MP, but I suspect that it really was. The time that was taken away from the ME team to include MP (and also Kinect options) could have been much better spent creating additional, or at least better, endings.

Personally, I enjoyed the game. I bought the DLC although it annoyed me, Day 1 and exclusive DLC always annoys me, but I told myself $70 was worth it for a game I would get over 30 hours of playtime with - or a whole lot more if I replay the game, which I will. However I am disgusted by all the negativity surrounding the game. My beloved series has been tarnished which makes me kinda sad.

Sure some gamers are acting like children, instead of being rational and stating their issues they are screaming, cussing, making death threats, giving fake reviews and being generally annoying... and that is unfortunate, because it makes us look bad and does not earn us respect. Nobody wants to listen to a nutter, so I suppose I can understand EA/BioWare wanting to turn a blind eye to them, but you know what, some of those nutters make very good points, and when you take our money it becomes your responsibility to listen to both our good and bad opinions. That is part of basic customer service.

After thinking about everything, looking at all sides, flipping back and forth on the issue, and finishing the game and experiencing the let down that was the ending to an otherwise stellar experience, I look to you EA and BioWare and I ask you to rethink your business practices. I do understand that you are a business and that you need to make money, and I understand that other companies abuse the DLC model, but how about you hold yourself to a higher standard? I also understand your need to hit deadlines, and that you have lots of pressures aside from the games storyline to worry about. However, when fans devote countless hours to a series, when they buy all of your games at full price and then add on the DLC which gets VERY expensive in our current economy. We deserve better. So I hope in the future you WILL do better.

[Kaos_Vll]

You do know that by buying the game AND the dlc you have sent them the message that this is the way things should be and that you are ok with being ripped off.

We all love the series, that's why there is such uproar, but to support this only hurts YOU in the long run. How can you expect THEM to do the right thing when you yourself can not?

Bottom line, anyone who supports this will only have themselves to blame WHEN, not if, but WHEN things get worse.

[PooEgg]

I agree that if EVERYONE boycotted every game due the fact that the company pissed us off with DLC, buggy games or what have you, it would send the message.

However, not EVERYONE is not going to do that. Gamers tend to have selective memories. Gamers bitch and moan, but the next time the company that they were all bitching about announces a new game they all jump on the hype bandwagon for that game.

If the entire gaming world suddenly decided to ban together and say 'nah I am not going to buy that game, because the company has unacceptable business practices.' and it was a united front I would happily stand beside them in this call for justice. But the reality is that isn't ever going to happen. There will always be gamers who don't agree with the idea that DLC is unfair, and gamers who say 'who gives a shit, I just want to game.' In order to present a united front you have to actually have a united front, and good luck with that.

And although I always feel annoyed about unfair DLC practices, it is only one of the many business practices that game companies follow that pisses me off. I also don't like games that are extremely short but sale for full price. I don't like games that are buggy, and I really don't like games that never get properly patched. I don't like MP getting added to a single player series, and I hate motion control. Sure I could pass on any games by companies that did things that I hated, and I often do, but there are other gamers who feel differently than me, and as long as enough of them are buying the game it really isn't going to matter if I don't buy it.

So we pick and we chose our battles. In the case of ME3 I decided that although the DLC was annoying, I still wanted it. I also went in knowing that ME3 would be 30+ hours of gameplay unlike many of the games released today, and that helped me to make my decision. Sure I am pissed about paying extra, but I still enjoyed the game enough that I can say it was worth its asking price (crap ending and all). I am more annoyed by all the negativity surrounding the game. And I get sick of people deciding I have bad taste for enjoying the game that they didn't even play themselves, because they didn't buy it so it must suck.

It is possible to be annoyed with a company, and still love their games. As gamers we need to find mature open minded ways to voice our displeasure without sounding like lunatics and without being unreasonable ourselves. It is that voice that the game companies will hear.

[Kaos_Vll]

Each of us holds power. I'm going to use mine to do what I know to be right for me and other gamers who can see where this practice is headed, even if the masses are too blind to save themselves.

[OwlBytes]

Does it matter though?
(Obviously it matters to us: we're commenting on the issue, and we want to be treated fairly).

But at the end of the day how many of us are gonna (a) buy any Bioware DLC (b) stop buying any EA game (c) not pre-order the next Bioware game?

[Kaos_Vll]

You'd be surprised at how many people that actually have respect for themselves that will say enough is enough.

[N311V]

If they pull this type DLC stunt I will be buying used.

[BongSmack]

EA: Urges fans that Mass Effect 3 'From Ashes' DLC Is Still Not On Disc.

Grammar fail.

You can't urge someone that something is or isn't true.