Mass effect 3 has been released, and it has been gaining good reviews, and I plan on playing in the next couple of hours, and most likely will do well in terms of sales, because most stores seem to be busy. (The Good)

However when I was purchasing the game, I quickly learned that a important vital part of the game is actually missing from the finished product, at first I didn't believe the employee that told me this news, because I am a knowledgable user, and didn't hear anything about this till now. This part I been told has a huge impact on the overall story, from what some have described me (a verified this information a bit later). I have been really disappointed, to the point where I think I might actually start not purchasing Bioware games until the eventual "Complete" edition comes out or the product is dirt cheap, hell I might even consider piracy of a company that very much enjoy. (The bad) So I decided to buy the Day 1 DLC and really judge for myself, if it is vital, I have fully decided no longer to support Bioware Corporation outside of Mass Effect 3, and stick to optional methods I listed, and really piracy seems like the best option.

Given I was curious why individuals were reviewing the game heavily (professional reviewers), so now we come to the ugly part. I went to metacritic, and the first thing I noticed is the user review, remember this isn't the console war bombing metacritic, this is fans who just had enough. I don't blame them, but why is that reviewers don't show such concerns, isn't "Value" a huge part of game, or did they get "complete" edition gifted to them as review copies, so they don't deal with such concerns. Personally if I have one thing to say to anyone on the fence, don't get the game, please don't support the game like I have, it is the only thing to do, and hopefully corporation will learn a lesson. 

Sorry for grammatical errors and problems, I will now start editing my post for gramatical errors.

Also within a couple of days I will post my impression of the requirements of the DLC on the overall tone of the story. I have not described the DLC because it is spoilers. 

while I would compelely agree that the dlc, if vital to the story, is ridiculous, you can voice your concern by not buying the product, not by pirating it... If the game is so "must have to you" that you need to play it no matter what, then obviously bioware has developed such an amazing product that its worth it even with the stupid decision they made, and they deserve to get your sale. 

They already got my sale for Mass Effect 3, but I am putting an option of piracy for myself for future games, since I can play the complete edition today. I most likely will buy the product down the line, but I honestly for the first time in my life, view piracy as a solution, not a problem. 

Maybe I'm just going crazy, but I'm almost certain Zaeed was day 1 dlc with Kasumi following a month later. Both had 0 impact on the story at all. Though to be fair, ME2 had a story? Lair of the Shadow Broker and the Collector Ship was about as exciting as the campaign got in ME2, I still to this day question its glowing reviews after 3 playthroughs.

This ME3 issue is just fans being whiny as always. They act self-entitled as though this is as bad as Capcom having all 12 DLC characters on the disc for SFxTekken. I bought the digital deluxe edition for 55dollars on the PC through legitimate means, I imagine a lot of individuals slamming the game on metacritic probably purchased the game at a similar price but for the standard edition.

Should Bioware be excused? Not really, I'm not advocate for day 1 DLC, but when that DLC is offered at launch with a specific edition just learn to shop around. Don't mean to play devil's advocate here but I also heard ME3s launch price was reduced by $10 at certain retailers, the day 1 dlc is $10. Put the two together.

This is the first time I've felt the need to ever defend a Bioware game, for I'm not fan of SWTOR or DA2 as they were beyond disappointing, but ME3 so far is a massive step up gameplay wise from ME2 and I believe they should be praised for listening to the few people that critiqued ME2's overall shallow package such as myself and not purely be vilified for day 1 dlc. Day 1 DLC which nearly every game has today but consequently said other game's do not get slammed on metacritic's user score.

Also every Bioware game post ME2 just gets slammed on metacritic user score regardless of its quality. Bioware is practically a meme now on certain image boards due to 'lovely' individuals such as Hepler. So I wouldn't take those scores too seriously.

I'm not trying to say piracy is some horrid deed that makes people awful, but it just really irks me when people try and justify it. Please don't try and justify it because of dlc... It's just ridiculous. If you want to pirate because you just don't care or just don't want to pay for games, thats fine, I have plenty of friends who do that too. But trying to make piracy sound like some type of righteous protest is ridiculous. Its just a copout for those who aren't willing to actually avoid a product.

I got the collectors edition....so......


OP: But it's bull I thought the way they executed it with ME2 was the best way

Normally I wouldn't support a game that does dirty tactics like that (although most of the blame lies with EA) but with a game that is so amazingly good like ME3 I'll put up with it because it is so damn worth it.

By the day 1 DLC for Zaeed was free with new purchases of the NORMAL game, if I remember correctly. Also I looked around a bit, all places around me seem to be selling it for 59.99, I might have missed one or two retailers and everyone is sold out of the collector edition. I would have picked up the CE edition had I known this fact. Day 1 DLC isn't typically a problem if it is free, or isn't absolutely vital in my opinion. Also no one I know is a fan of DA2. 

I think the next option you have presented to me is always get the PC edition, pity I didn't invest in a good enough card for that at this time, and didn't start Mass Effect 1 on the PC.

Don't let save files deter you. I reformat my computer enough times to forget to backup my saves. There are websites and ME1 and 2 save editors that allow you to edit a ME2 save anyway you want. From every single plot, up to who you romanced. Just imported a ME2 save into ME3 and edited it the way I had my ME2 character before I reformatted.

As for the graphics card, the game isn't very taxing, I imagine you have a very old computer?