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Mass Effect 3: Selling Javik and his story as a DLC is still one of the shittiest thing a developer has done in video game history

Deleted member 47654

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I don't know what was Bioware thinking, not a single soul in the team opposed to this? This is saturday cartoon villain level of fuckery.
Its a fuck you to the consumer just for the sake of being a fuck you to the consumer, i don't know how the fans of the franchise at the time let this happen.

This is ME3's story without Javik
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This is ME3's story with Javik included (even without Leviathan DLC)

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I got Javik in almost every mission after Menae, he adds A LOT to every main mission, i mean, yeah, he still exists as DLC, its not cut content, and i get that people can understand ME3 to an extent without Leviathan or the other DLC, but From Ashes DLC is different, its information and content that breaks the world, the Galaxy, the whole game, but it doesn't feel like it because its still a DLC, Javik could have made even more for the story but it is still limited by its DLC status.

God, sometimes i really hate Bioware.
 
BDS

BDS

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Oct 25, 2017
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This was back in an era where every big game was doing this bullshit, locking away obviously important story and character content behind paid DLC.

Also, neither of those hot dogs look appetizing.
 
NeoKnight

NeoKnight

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Oct 28, 2017
651
That wasn't as bad as many other things done since honestly. Capcom sold Asura's Wrath ending as DLC basically. Thats probably worse alone.
 
blamite

blamite

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Oct 27, 2017
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the dlc was included with new copies, right? Project $10 and all that?

edit: huh, guess not. That's super fucked up, Javik was great.
 
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bluexy

bluexy

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Oct 25, 2017
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Oh man, suddenly realizing I'm still unhappy about how EA handled all of the Mass Effect DLC. I still can't believe I had to pay extra to find out what Liara was up to in Mass Effect 2.
 
zashga

zashga

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Oct 28, 2017
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This is legit the reason why I never played ME3, despite liking ME2. Carving out what seemed to me the most interesting character in the game as day one DLC turned me right off from caring about the game at all.
 
matrix-cat

matrix-cat

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Oct 27, 2017
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blamite said:
the dlc was included with new copies, right? Project $10 and all that?
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Nope, you had to buy it separately. I think it came 'free' with the Deluxe Edition, but standard copies didn't get it.

Mass Effect 2 had the Cerberus Network, which was their equivalent of the online pass, but Javik was always an extra fee.
 
SuperBanana

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The Leviathan DLC was even shittier imo. It literally told you where the Reapers came from, who created them, what the Star Child is, it was a fucking GIGANTIC piece of story.
 
Crushed

Crushed

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Oct 25, 2017
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blamite said:
the dlc was included with new copies, right? Project $10 and all that?
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Only if you pre-ordered a specific version.


The whole situation was pretty funny because the positions about BioWare and the concept of selling story content flipped before and after launch. Before launch there was a lot of "BioWare is selling out and destroying the integrity of their art by releasingg it piecemeal" vs "they aren't running a charity, they're selling a corporate product" and then it completely reversed once the game actually came out and the debate over updating the ending began.
 
edo_kid

edo_kid

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Oct 27, 2017
11,087
Yep, and i paid it like a chump. Let's not forget the dlc with Reapers backstory, what a shitshow that game was.
 
Kilbane65

Kilbane65

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Oct 27, 2017
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I think it was given away as a pre-order bonus? I had Javik DLC but never bought any DLC, just purchased the game the day before release. The only Mass Effect DLC I ever bought was Shadowbroker.
 
Gray clouds

Gray clouds

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Nov 7, 2017
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We need a Bioware section on Era so we can post everyday about our love/hate relationship. (I miss Mass Effect too)

The good news is they've stopped selling character DLC since Javik.

I think most of Mass Effect trilogies's DLC was junk. Apparently the last ones were the good ones, but by the time I was checked out of the story stuff.
 
Cels

Cels

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matrix-cat said:
Nope, you had to buy it separately. I think it came 'free' with the Deluxe Edition, but standard copies didn't get it.

Mass Effect 2 had the Cerberus Network, which was their equivalent of the online pass, but Javik was always an extra fee.
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yea mass effect 2 had zaeed for all new purchasers
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 47654

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SuperBanana said:
The Leviathan DLC was even shittier imo. It literally told you where the Reapers came from, who created them, what the Star Child is, it was a fucking GIGANTIC piece of story.
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Yeah, Leviathan is a GIGANTIC piece of story, but it's just extra story to know your enemy, Javik in the other hand... he breaks the game, ME3 is a vastly different game with him around, Thessia isn't the same depressing mission when he is in your game, i didn't have the time to be angry at Kai Leng the first time i beat the mission with Javik around, it was mind blowing.
But yeah, both are shitty.
 
Megamind.

Megamind.

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Nov 18, 2019
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Despite getting the entire trilogy for 5$ I didnt get the DLC. It was just a shitty move and I refused to pay DLC for that.
 
Typographenia

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It's truly unfortunate.
I had only played the From Ashes DLC at launch and dropped ME3 after finishing.

Just replayed the trilogy these past months, and ME3 is improved so much through the subsequent DLC releases and Javik. The game still has a lot of problems, but the quality and substance of their post launch material is so strong and integral to the story that it's too bad that they were not conceptualized/developed as part of the game from release.
 
selfnoise

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Oct 25, 2017
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Honestly the Trespasser DLC for DA: Inquisition is just as bad. "Hey, we wrote an interesting ending for this game but you can't have it for a year.".
 
Exist 2 Inspire

Exist 2 Inspire

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Apr 19, 2018
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Yeah both Javik and Leviathan were pretty shitty. I only played them for the first time last year when i replayed the Trilogy and got all DLC on a discount. It's crazy how important both DLCs are to the story. I believe if they (and Leviathan especially) would have been in the base game to begin with the blow back for Space Child would've been much smaller.
 

francium87

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Oct 27, 2017
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newmoneytrash said:
wasn't he included with new copies? or was it a preorder bonus or something?
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collectors edition or Digital Deluxe, both $80, or Day1 DLC for $10

If you were a fan of the last 2, you probably paid up. That's the entire plan by EA/Bioware.

Javik fundamentally changes the game. At one point he points out that the protheans weren't as diverse as the current galaxy, which might give the new generation a better chance. Playing it makes "synthetics vs organics" even less of a "theme" of the trilogy, as some would like to argue. To me it's about coexisting and understanding each other, accepting the differences.

Of course, Leviathon changes the game even more. Trash decisions by EA and Bioware, and the DLC weren't even included in the trilogy collection.
 
Kapryov

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Unlike Mass Effect 2, where the DLC characters had minimal interactivity due to being (mostly) added after the game was completed, Javik interacted with other characters and had a lot to say about missions - as he was clearly carved out of the base game to sell later. It was super scummy.

That same year Capcom released Street Fighter X Tekken which also had a really dodgy DLC system, where all characters were finished and included day 1 - just dummied out unless you paid extra.
 
DrScissorsMD

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Jesus Christ dude. I'm one of those weirdos that loved ME3, including the original ending, but having never replayed Leviathan I just read a synopsis. Wtf man. How was this not in the base game. They could've so easily used this and added something to the end where the Leviathans help Sheppard do something to the intelligence and have an actual boss to finish the game. Fuck man.
 
funky

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Bioware got pretty rotten with DLC hooks. From the giant holes in Andromeda where DLC clearly would have went before it all got canned, to people showing up in your camp in Dragon Age that would pop up the BUY DLC message if you tried to talk to them.

Javik as DLC AND the entire conclusion to the reapers being DLC in Leviathan was pretty shitty.

Bioware games have a shitty tendency of laying the groundwork for a story in game A but selling the conclusion to that story as DLC for game B. For another example see Lair of the Shadow broker.

After how much teasing they did in ME1 and in base ME2, the big fight with the shadow broker should have been part of a core game.
 
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OP
OP

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TheUnsungHero26 said:
I can't imagine doing Thessia without Javik.
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That is an insane thing to do, Javik HAS TO BE in Thessia.
IIRC you had to choose saving Javik or Virmire survivor in the first version of ME3's script, that was his main mission (like Tuchanka was for Wrex/Mordin, Rannoch for Tali/Legion, Horizon for Miranda, Kahje for Thane/Kasumi )
 
RedStep

RedStep

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Okay, listen.

Who puts guacamole on a hot dog, and why do you want me to hate Javik?
 
Rei no Otaku

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Remember in the first Dragon Age there was a character in your camp who told you about an adventure he wanted your help with, and when you agreed it just took you to the store to buy the DLC?

Sadly it was pretty standard Bioware at the time.
 
TheUnsungHero26

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Regis said:
That is an insane thing to do, Javik HAS TO BE in Thessia.
IIRC you had to choose saving Javik or Virmire survivor in the first version of ME3's script, that was his main mission (like Tuchanka was for Wrex/Mordin, Rannoch for Tali/Legion, Horizon for Miranda, Kahje for Thane/Kasumi )
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Oh wow, I almost forgot about the leaked script. I think it may have been between Liara and the Virmire survivor? Maybe I'm remembering wrong though. It could have been Javik
 
Jawmuncher

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This thread is a perfect example of why a Mass Effect Trilogy Remastered with all DLC would be a good thing. A lot of that content would be brand new to a lot of players.
 
newmoneytrash

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francium87 said:
collectors edition or Digital Deluxe, both $80, or Day1 DLC for $10

If you were a fan of the last 2, you probably paid up. That's the entire plan by EA/Bioware.

Javik fundamentally changes the game. At one point he points out that the protheans weren't as diverse as the current galaxy, which might give the new generation a better chance. Playing it makes "synthetics vs organics" even less of a "theme" of the trilogy, as some would like to argue. To me it's about coexisting and understanding each other, accepting the differences.

Of course, Leviathon changes the game even more. Trash decisions by EA and Bioware, and the DLC weren't even included in the trilogy collection.
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oh weird. maybe i had a special edition but i definitely didn't preorder ME3 or buy the DLC and had a Javik code. i just thought it was long a single player online pass
 
OP
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DrScissorsMD said:
They could've so easily used this and added something to the end where the Leviathans help Sheppard do something to the intelligence and have an actual boss to finish the game. Fuck man
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Yup, they should have left the Leviathans out of the game imo, it just makes the game look even worse, because nothing happens once you complete the storyline, just more fucking galaxy points and some extra line of dialog.
 
Garlador

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Friendly reminder that they still never released ANY version of this game with all DLC included.

And, yeah, Javik was pretty damn essential. I can't imagine ME3 without him.

Where the hell is our Trilogy Remaster with all the content, EA?
 
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