Yes, they get you on the DLC, but the games are frequently discounted. I'll be glad if and when they get rid of Bioware Points *sigh*

Buy the game, then pirate it (is it even pirating when I actually have a legal key?), fuck copy protection programs/rootkits. I do it to almost all games which are not on GoG.

1) SafeDisc and SecuROM shits don't work on Windows 10 anymore, so you need no-cd cracks anyway if you want to run games you bought.
2) Fuck scratching my valuable CD-s/DVD-s (muh GTA III disc ;()
3) With the exception of GOG just pirate those DLC-s, it's a fucking retarded system, where are my expansion packs. Fuck you gamer, no expansing the game, we'll just cut off pieces of the full game and resell them to you.

EDIT: Oh god, I started ranting again...

The last time I pirated a game was when they were on diskettes, the internet was a novelty, and I was a teenager. I've since bought even the games I copied back then. It was usually still bought, mind you, but my money went to the shady guy in that little shop that had BBS access.

Fact of the thing is, games bring me hours of enjoyment. And people worked for hundreds of hours in order for me to be happy when playing a game. They deserve getting paid.

Now, on to the subject of DLCs on Mass Effect trilogy: Some are completely useless, like skin or weapon DLCs, some story DLCs aren't worth it, but there are story DLCs that are simply A M A Z I N G . Sure, you can say you enjoyed the trilogy without any of the DLCs. But you're missing out on some great content. GREAT content.

Buy the game, then play the pirated version to avoid the features annoying you.

Setting aside legal issues, no there are no cons to pirating the Mass Effect games for you, in fact sadly there are probably only pros. No invasive DRM, no mandatory online activations, all DLC available and some bugfixes.

Yes, that is the sad situation for that franchise and it's all thanks to the publisher itself.

However DLCs are not needed except for the 3rd game, where there are three major DLCs which add and expand the game considerably. That's not exactly the case for the 1st or second game, where DLCs are hit and miss and don't add much.

But in the 3rd game, whether you pirate it or not, get the major DLCs.

I haven't played this yet, waiting for a GOG.com release in order to do so.
And if it never comes here, I have a long backlog consisting of good games waiting to be played.

But I have a feeling I won't like it anyway, kinda like the meh feeling Alan Wake left me, because too much cinematic/interactive movie feeling. I want to play the damned game myself, not see long and interminable movies_story.

The games themself are dirt cheap, they are even regularly on sale, so the chance of getting the trilogy for 10 or 15 € is there.
Plus, most of the DLC isnt needed. I bought all of the DLC and only around 3 are "needed", for example Lair of the Shadow Broker for more Liara interactions.
I´d say no, but it´s your decision to pirate them or not.

Edit: I really dont get why people need to inform others that they plan to pirate something.
If you dont´t want to buy something, but want to pirate it, then do it without letting the world know.

Just do like i did. Buy on sale the games (i fully advise to not get the ME3 Trilogy, but the ME1 - which has included both DLC's, ME2 Deluxe and ME3 Deluxe). Get slowly Bioware Points for the story DLC's and the new characters, ignore reskins and weapon DLC's. Eventually you will have all you need to play them.

^This. I don't agree with piracy at all, however there are games which I have brought and never played, Mass Effect 1 + 2 are a couple of them, purely because of the DRM. Had this with GTA4 also, brought it on release day for £40 ish, installed it, fecked my system to hell, then I had a week of contacting R* to get it working, it died after 15mins. Finally got to play it years later and deleted after a couple of hours as it was rubbish anyways. Moral of the story, don't bother. If GOG get it I will buy it (ME series) from there and play them, otherwise no.