Mass Effect 3 Reddit Community Q&A

BioWare community manager Jessica Merizan has been on the receiving end of a barrage of questions on Reddit, and while they concern a variety of subjects, what specifically concerns us are those that focus on the upcoming Mass Effect 3 and the Mass Effect franchise. Here’s an excerpt on the Day 1 DLC controversy:

What is your personal opinion on the day 1 DLC situation- do you believe it is acceptable?
If that isn’t really a question you can answer, then what do Bioware think about the reaction in the community to the announcement of the day 1 DLC?

I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there and I wish the guy who made the initial video about it would have had an open mind before jumping to conclusions based on a leak we weren’t ready to address. Since I’m a BioWare employee, I know people won’t automatically trust me, but I hope people will consider that it wasn’t cut content from the larger game. I was in Edmonton when we were finishing the game in November/December and I was in Edmonton again last month when they were working on the Day 1 DLC. It definitely was only possible to do because the main game was in certification (which means we had to wait for people to test it and make sure everything was good etc before we could get the greenlight to sell it). I also played the game WITHOUT the DLC in my first playthrough and honestly, it’s an awesome addition but I was more than happy with what I was given in the game. It’s bigger and more expansive than ever. Of course, I understand the concern but I hope we can all have an intelligent conversation about it and cover what the facts are in this situation.

Hope that helps a little bit. This is an awkward format to answer this question, but I know I could explain it if you were sitting next to me on a couch with some coffee/tea 😉

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I don’t have much insight into the financial or production decisions (nor is that something I’d like to have to be honest!) but I know that we put money into DLC in terms of staffing and creating the product. It’s not free for us to make. Goodness, I’m being paid to interface with you guys and gather your feedback (which is a dream btw)! Again, I wish I could give you a rundown of what costs were incurred to make the DLC and why we feel the cost is justified, but I’m not in the position to do so. Hope you understand 🙂

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I hope you understand that I’m in a position where to reassure you, it would require me to reveal story spoilers, something that I don’t think is acceptable. Personally, I began my career as an archaeologist (for serious!) and the events surrounding this new character speak to me. However, if it wasn’t DLC, it definitely wouldn’t have been in the main game. There’s other things that didn’t fit in the main game that may end up as future DLC. Again, I think this is a cool edition and definitely intended as a reward for serious fans (many of whom have purchased the collector’s edition so this isn’t even an issue for them). However, I have played the game without it and the lore surrounding the DLC is in the game already, this character just gives their own take on it. Was that any less vague or helpful to anyone? 😛