Weekend Reading: Mass Effect 3’s Stellar Multiplayer DLC Strategy

Mass Effect 3 received its latest multiplayer downloadable content pack, in the form of the Earth add-on, this week and, like always, it was a huge success, largely because of its free nature and because of the online mode’s mechanics, which requires players to buy in-game equipment packs in order to unlock new characters, guns, or gear.

BioWare announced that Mass Effect 3 would have a multiplayer mode at the end of last year and, given the fact that the franchise was famous for its top notch single-player, it didn’t elicit the best response from loyal fans.

I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the idea but, once the demo was released, I fell in love with the multiplayer experience and ended up spending way too much time with the online mode before the game was even out.

My passion quickly spread to colleagues who were also reticent at first but, thanks to the random unlockables, the varied matches, as well as the weekend operations, they immediately started spending a lot of time online.

This love hasn’t wavered, as every time things became a bit stale, BioWare released a new downloadable content pack, which once again brought us back into the online experience, as we were eager to try out the new characters.

While the actual unlocking mechanic may seem annoying at first, as you don’t have any guarantee what items you’ll receive every time you get an equipment pack, this is what makes the multiplayer and its DLC, so enticing, so you keep on playing and hoping that you’ll get all the items.

This can be achieved either by actually playing matches and earning virtual credits or by spending real-life money through microtransactions. This choice is perfect for both those who have time and not a lot of money, as well as those who have money and not a lot of time.

I already unlocked three of the six new classes and I’m eager to get the rest, so I’ll keep on spending time with Mass Effect 3 until every character is unlocked and every weapon is upgraded to the maximum.

Some of my friends, however, want to skip this grinding and have already spent some money on equipment packs, proving the success of this strategy.

Did the new Mass Effect 3 get you back into its multiplayer experience or have you already given up on it? If you're still playing, are you investing time or money in order to unlock the new content?