Mass Effect 3 and "From Ashes" DLC

Mass effect 3 remains to be one of the top games that gamers are drooling over.  It is the epic conclusion of a masterfully told story dealing with many topics ranging from racism, internal struggles, how history repeats itself and the always cool space battles with many different races.  Most of these topics you wouldn't catch onto very easily if you aren't paying attention but they are there and that is why it is so well done.  The story feels almost natural (despite you know...having aliens in the mix)! 

A while back, the collectors edition was announced and it was said to offer a free extra character and mission.  Anyone who was a fan and had the extra money to spare ran out and pre-ordered their copy of it.  This was their chance to finish the franchise with extra swag and to say "I was there when the end of Mass Effect was announced!"  For gamers like me, we aren't always graced with the wonders of having money to purchase such a sweet collection of "stuff."  Just recently it was announced that the "From Ashes" DLC would be available on launch day for everyone, free for the collectors edition and ten dollars for the standard edition.  This created back-lash from gamers all over about them purchasing an incomplete product.

Casey Hudson, the executive producer of the Mass Effect franchise, tweeted this on Feb 22nd:

"On #ME3, content creators completed the game in January & moved onto the "From Ashes" DLC, free w/ the CE or you can buy seperately."

This pretty clearly tells you that the game was completed in January.  It also tells me that they got it shipped off for preparation for release day.  It also clearly states that they moved onto the "From Ashes" DLC, which is free with the collectors edition.  Anyone with a shred of sense should be able to tell that this is THE content that was promised to collectors edition buyers.  So why is this such a big deal; the squad mate is a Prothean, a race of ancient beings that are staple of Mass Effect lore.  Gamers everywhere began fuming upon hearing that in order to get this, it was going to cost them an extra 10 dollars to get this, thinking that they are going to be missing out on substantial story elements!
The gamer's fears are justified however the game was said to be completed right?  Take a look at these tweets from Mr. Hudson:
 
"The Prothean DLC character is really cool, but not at all critical to the main story. #ME3 centers on the Reapers, not the Protheans."

"For the many who asked, plot arcs of the Protheans and other races are resolved in #ME3, not DLC. That is after all the focus of the story."

Look at that!  According the Mr. Hudson, every bit of plot regarding the Protheans plot arcs are resolved in ME3 WITHOUT the DLC!  So are you really missing out on critical information?  This information is pointing to "no."  

So now we move on to the "what's fair" factor.  Gamers arguments are all on how DLC is supposed to be the equivalent of an "expansion pack."   The problem that I have with this statement is that expansion packs are generally always a price comparable of a full game and contain enough content to almost turn the game into a whole new chapter.  Unless labeled as an expansion pack for a game, DLC is generally just extra items, a mission, a map, character or something small that isn't critical for a gamer to have on their console except to just add more to their product and if it includes any story, it is only a standalone story that you could either take or leave it.  Zaeeds story in ME2 is a good example!  You join this mission to gain his favor and nothing more.  If this was released on day one, do you think you would have been ripped off?  More than likely not.  You either loved the guy or you hated him and his mission was intense and fun but it didn't add to the overall story.  We have yet to see this Prothean DLC (largely because the game hasn't come out yet) and yet everyone is over-reacting over it.

DLC is a way for developers to keep supporting your game and add to the life of it and also fairly pay the developers for the time they put in on it.  Generally, DLC that is provided with a collectors edition take a few months to hit the market so you can enjoy what the people who had the money for a premium version get to enjoy.  I use WWE12 as an example as I am a WWE fan by birth, growing up watching Wrestling with my father.  WWE12 offered a "Peoples Edition" that came with The Rock and Gamestop preorders got The Miz's T-shirt and tux outfits to use in matches.  For those who weren't able to preorder a People's Edition copy from Gamestop didn't get to play as The Rock or use The Miz's outfits (and personally I could deal without the Miz's outfits as I'm not too big of a fan of that guy in the first place) for a few months before the content was available on Xbox Live and the PSN for purchase.  This content wasn't an integral part of the game.  It was just awesome extra content to have.  Many games follow this model and never before have I heard this much complaining.  In fact, Bioware/EA are doing us a FAVOR by not making us wait months to release this content for the people who couldn't afford a Collectors Edition and it is in fact cheaper to get the standard copy and buy the "From Ashes" DLC. 

Sure, its nice to have that sweet little artbook and all of that extra stuff from the N7 edition, but it is NOT an incomplete product without all of it.  So, as a final note that I encourage all of you to do is this: give the game time to come out.  Wait and see how much content the standard game has and take a look at what the DLC does come out with (what we do know about the DLC is too little to come up with a reasonable argument for how unfair it is) and then take your argument from there.  Calm down, people.  It is good to be passionate about something but stop crying about fair vs. unfair because it is WAY too early to start with this because all you are basing your arguments on are assumptions and not concrete evidence.