14 DAY TRIAL // BioWare caused quite an uproar earlier this month when it confirmed that Mass Effect 3 had a day-one DLC pack called From Ashes. Former Mass Effect designer Christina Norman has talked about this issue, saying that fans should have a more lenient attitude towards BioWare's DLC strategy.
Mass Effect 3 finally came out last week and, to the chagrin of lots of fans, alongside it appeared From Ashes, a downloadable add-on that brought a new companion, as well as a few extra things.
Its release was viewed as an act of betrayal, as lots of people believed BioWare could have included it in the final game or release it for free. The studio denied these possibilities, saying that the DLC was made after the final game was completed.
In order to defend BioWare, former Mass Effect designer Christina Norman, who now works at Riot Games, has talked about downloadable content in general, saying that developers need to release it as soon as possible, even right alongside the game.
"There's no point in releasing DLC a year after your game has come out when most people have already sold your game back to GameStop three times," she said at a panel during the Game Developers Conference, via ShackNews. "That means getting it out early; that means even day-one DLC. That is a terrible thing to some players.”
"Players rant—they know nothing about this DLC that's coming out except its name. But then it's 'oh this game must be incomplete, the game must be ruined.' Game developers are not evil. (Some are evil.) But most are not evil.”
She concluded by saying that players shouldn’t judge a studio for releasing DLC as fast as possible, largely because they don’t know what went on at the company and why that decision was taken.
"We just want to release awesome stuff. Players please, give us a chance. Judge our games based on what they are. Judge the DLC based on what it is. Stop thinking you're a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content."
From Ashes is still generating a heated debate on the web, as well as the actual ending of Mass Effect 3, which many people hate.