Someone posted about the majority of dissatisfaction stemming from a perception issue - you are absolutely correct. And I suspect that for those that feel wronged somehow at DLC being available day 1, there is probably nothing we will be able to say or do to change their minds.
But for what its worth, know that it was a real challenge for us in deciding how early to launch these - as explained already, the date change for the game launch meant we were in the odd position of having DLC content actually ready for launch.
And before we go further down the 'it should have been in the disc' direction, David's comments (recently reposted on this thread) were spot on. Despite what you may want to believe, there was no way that this content would ever have made the discs - not without delaying the game itself. It was simply not finished when the main game started going into lockdown.
Think of it this way - if we were developing a web page, we could continue to work on that and virtually finish it the evening before the game went live, and still be there for launch. But there would have been no way that the same web page would have made the disc layout or even digital game lockdowns weeks or months earlier.
The DLC team operates under a shorter dev cycle than the main game, and as such we were able to catch up to the main game with respect to launch dates, but that is very different from making that same content available for the disc or even digital distribution production dates.
Continuing on...
We could also have easily decided to artificially hold DLC back at least 2 weeks so people didn't get this perception.
However - there were a lot of good points to getting this content out there asap.
The sweet spot that all players keep asking for is that you want content available for right when you finish the game. And despite DA:O being a massive title, even at 40-80hrs for a playthrough you are feasibly talking about a week or less if someone takes some time off and really goes for it - not that any of you here are that into DA right *cough cough*.
With the case of Warden's Keep and The Stone Prisoner these not only give you new content but content that persists and therefore benefits you throughout the rest of your game. A Keep in WK, and a party member in TSP. We wanted this to be available for players that may only want to enjoy a single playthrough of the game, and still get the most out of these.
You guys right here on the forums were an influence too. Right around the time we were looking into this in the early spring is when the forums absolutely exploded (wrongly) about the perception that the PC game was done but being delayed solely because of consoles etc.
There were also more practical internal reasons too - like being able to use it to help promote the main game, help test out some of these systems early on, help validate that we are on the right track financially (ie. showing some revenue early) to maintain support for and justify sustaining such a team for the long haul, and getting DLC feedback from fans asap. We have a long plan, but without fan feedback early we could end up spinning our wheels and producing too much of the wrong thing before we know it.
Once we also decided on TSP as an included DLC incentive, and had pre-order items for retailers, and rolled out the digital deluxe edition with WK - the reason to hold back something like WK for everyone else (or the paid version of TSP) became almost moot. At that point the tables were turned and it was more likely we'd get a stronger backlash for why certain players could get DLC that was clearly finished and working, but others could not.
So, long story short, in the end we opted for these first DLC that it was better to just make it available than hold back, even knowing there could be some backlash to the day 1 perception.
We felt that when the DLC actually launched should be less important than the fact that it is available for when players may want it. Even if that meant taking a few lumps for it.
If that is day 1 for you, enjoy and tell us what you think. If that is a year from now, fantastic. If its not your thing, also fine, let us know what you thought of the main game or why it doesn't interest you.
Ultimately - and I've mentioned this many times on the forums - you don't need to buy these. And if you are on the fence then please check out the DLC page. There will also be reviews of this coming at some point, and I fully expect your fellow forumites will be very vocal about their thoughts on DLC they've played as well.
Make an informed decision on your time - but know that it will be there for whenever you are ready.
