Hear Me Out: Mass Effect 3 & The Curious Case of Day One DLC

Its kinda funny, because Knights of the Old Republic on the Xbox was my first real experience with DLC. I wouldn't call it substantial or anything, but there you go. Upon hearing about it, I busted out the ethernet cable and hooked my Xbox up to the internet for the first time. It was an odd experience. Xbox Live wasn't really a thing at the time; people used it, but mostly for Halo 2. No one I personally knew used it, at least.

So the thing boots up, slowly, and I'm greeted with a little screen that lists the DLC for KotOR. "Yavin Station" it was called, and I was unreasonably excited at the time. Shouldn't have been, since it really only amounted to a brief encounter with an NPC and a little bit of loot - and, I guess, the geek delight of being in orbit somewhere in the Yavin System. All in all, it was a brief distraction.

But you know what? It was free! The price was absolutely right for BioWare's first attempt at console-based DLC. And we've come a long way since then.

Now, I'm certainly not saying that BioWare should've kept releasing free DLC, because I know that's not how the world works. (Except in CDProjekt's magical realm.) My main problem with BioWare has always been what's actually in the DLC. That problem really started emerging during the release of Dragon Age: Origins; for as much as I absolutely love that freaking game... most of the DLC is shit. Why is that?

During the initial release, there was a deluxe edition for DA:O that included "Warden's Keep" for free. It wasn't in the standard or collector's editions, though. Everyone else had to pay $7 for the add-on at launch. Sound familiar? And the primary selling point of the add-on wasn't really the story, it was that it came with the only storage chest in the game. In a loot-heavy game like Dragon Age: Origins, you had to buy, with real money, a means to store it all if you didn't want to manage your inventory over the course of an 80 hour game. Some would say that's a more egregious overstep in "DLC ethics" than "From Ashes".

BioWare's slowly building a history of being that company that makes compelling games, and then sells you the pieces that made them compelling. They've shown that they're not afraid of selling you the ending to a story they've built up. "Lair of the Shadow Broker" is by and large the most celebrated piece of DLC BioWare's put out in a long time - yet, it's the ending to a story that's been built up over the course of two games. The mystery of the Shadow Broker was introduced in Mass Effect and continued well into the sequel. An intriguing story that you cannot finish unless you buy the add-on.

Another couple of examples that I'd call to the forefront would be "Return to Ostagar" and "Normandy Crash Site." In both of these add-ons, you're returning to a place of much relevance to your respective characters. In DA:O, you're returning to the place where you became a Grey Warden, met Alistair, Duncan, and witnessed the Battle of Ostagar. There's a lot of history in that little part of the game. Same with "Normandy Crash Site." Obviously, the Normandy played a big part in the first game, and seeing it destroyed in the opening moments of Mass Effect 2 is what really hooked you back into the story.

Both of these were cut away from the main game and sold as DLC. (Though "Normandy Crash Site" did come with new copies of ME2.) Why these parts specifically? Let's say I'm in charge of writing the stories for DLC, and I literally have thousands of years of history and an entire galaxy to use as my canvas: why, then, would I make an add-on that would make for such a compelling moment for players who truly love the lore of these games? Why do that instead of keeping them in the game, thereby bettering the product as a whole, and focusing on something else?

Well, I might have just answered my own question.

And that's really the sad part for me. BioWare would rather piece out key character moments and sell them separately (or use them as a means to combat piracy/used game sales) rather than just focus on delivering a whole game. They're known for their stories, their narratives, their universes; so what does that say when they're completely a-okay with holding all of these hostage to bring in more sales?

It makes them a business, certainly, that much is true. But for some reason, that's never how I saw BioWare. Ever since Knights of the Old Republic, I saw them as a bunch of storytellers first and a corporation second, sci-fi/fantasy fans, whose main goal was to deliver immersive, story-based RPGs. It took the atrocity that was Dragon Age 2 for me to realize, "Holy crap, they really don't care anymore, do they?" Dragon Age 2: a game where they literally left holes in the narrative so that they might be filled at a later time by DLC. Dragon Age 2: a game that spoiled its own endgame plot twist in its day one add-on, "The Exiled Prince."

So, here comes "From Ashes", an add-on that'll be available the day Mass Effect 3 is released. From what's been confirmed, we not only run into a living Prothean, but we also make a return trip to Eden Prime - both of which are huge developments with regards to the lore, and most fans will take notice of why this is the case. Eden Prime, much like the Normandy Crash Site and Ostagar, represents a key moment in the series. It's the place that kicked off Shepard's trilogy, and includes the member of a race that might as well be the True Sith by comparison. (Pre-SWTOR True Sith, when they were still a mystery.) So, of course, that's all up for sale now. A galaxy's worth of stories to tell, and that's the one they pick.

I'm still baring in mind that we don't know all the details yet. BioWare could turn around and release a small bit of info that would make us all realize we blew this way out of proportion. Regardless, BioWare still managed to spoil the fact that we even have Protheans in the game to begin with by ensuring this DLC was a little more crucial than it needed to be... and on Day One.

BioWare's still going to end up getting my money out of this - for the game, at least, not for the DLC. It just has to happen, though I hate myself for it. They're building on a foundation that means a lot to me, just as The Old Republic did. I want to see how the story ends, though I'm amazed that throwing $60 at this thing won't get me the whole package at launch.