Jerykk wrote on Jan 22, 2010, 00:47:
18 hours? I'm assuming you skipped most of the side quests and planet exploration?
Nope. I'm 13 hours through with just Horse Head Nebula and Virmire to go (and end game, conduit, etc. obviously.) That's about another 3 hours. All citadel quests and both DLC's done as well. I do press space in dialogues once I've read them and I didn't sleep with the Asari Consort, so that saved a few seconds. I think 18 hours is a pretty fair estimation of what a normal first-run play-through would be, for me at least.
As for the free DLC - Bioware are the ones who've put a value on it. This not-cut-from-the-game-before-release, not-essential-to-gameplay-experience additional content. Would they release a cheaper SKU without access to the Cerberus Network? No fucking way. They know this is an arbitrary dissection of a game to make it seem like you're getting something extra that you're not. Its original game content masquerading as bonus content, just like The Stone Prisoner was.
I'm willing to pay for the game. I have the Collectors Edition pre-ordered and paid for. I just don't like being bullshitted about what I'm buying.