There's a lot, and I mean a LOT of evidence that people have wrangled up that suggests that this is a fake out by Bioware. There was an article last night on Kotaku that linked to it. Also check out Reddit's ME page... they have a lot of screenshots of tweets by Bioware people who seem to be hinting.

Luke, you linked to a popular re-written ending, not the conspiracy theory everyone's talking about.

You may not realize this, but Mr. McDuffie had a masters in physics. So he probably had most of this worked out in his head or in the script, but unfortunately we can't ask him. Some of it, I'm sure, is hand waved 'comic book science' or 'plot', but still... he typically worked very hard to not write bad comic book…

That's not a spoiler at all. I think it was referencing the fact that the game, which has been all about choices, was coming to an end.

I just want to say that I've really enjoyed Mass Effect thus far, and I thought From the Ashes was a nice bonus feature, but hardly important to the overall plot. And I think gamers need to get over this 'day one DLC'/Disc Locked Content phobia.

There's a far cry from 'corporate stooge' to 'agree to disagree'.

You have this base assumption that DLC is content that normally would be in the game, but we don't know that is or isn't the case. You have this viewpoint where 'the game' is this pizza, and you just KNOW that slice is missing. Whereas I view the game as a full pizza, and the DLC as sides (wings!).

Your argument makes NO SENSE. "Because this is additional content, I should have the option to return it if I don't like it because I SAY SO."

That's a completely ridiculous analogy.

I am currently playing Mass Effect 3. (Have not finished)

Actually, the customer is not always right.

I sincerely doubt, my friend, that they're making these games half assed intentionally. I have not played Dragon Age 2, but for the sake of argument I'll take your assumptions at face value: the fact that the game was rushed, and of lesser quality than the first as a result.

Welcome to video games, my friend. If you didn't like Mario 3, did you get your money back? If you don't like the Avengers movie, will you get your money back? If you didn't like the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy, could you return it and get your money back?

Yes, the fact that my arguments are based on logic, reasoning, and real world experience has nothing to do with it. I just love companies. :)

Why would that have been "right"? Why is that the 'moral' thing to do? They declared the game finished, and in the time between QA, publishing, marketing, etc, the development teams finished this content. What makes releasing it now *bad*?

No, she's saying don't blindly call their stuff overpriced stripped out DLC. She's asking you to give them a bit of faith, and to judge it in context.

That's a terrible analogy. Cars are nothing like video games is design, implementation, or sale.

"like it should be" Says who? Why?? All optional content should be part of a game now?

Daamian - You make this statement, but you don't back it up. "If it's already on the disc, that means it was part of the development cycle and should have been included with the game."

I have yet to have anyone explain to me why DLC is 'evil' without resorting to childish corporate name calling. It's not unethical to charge for extra content.