I was wondering since i own all the dlcs of mass effect are they downloaded automatically or do i download them from the website, on pc of course

Good job you titled this as "important", the consequences if you hadn't... I shudder to think.

aww, i wonder why they didn't make a ingame client for it.

i had no problems with the client of dao.

Installing DLC for ME2 is really clunky. I like DA:O's method much better.

Yet a lot of people did, as he said. How is it clunky? Download file, then double click file, then done. And you can back it up, which you can't do with an in-game auto installer.

And repeat alot of times, seeing as there are a dozen dlcs

You're still downloading and installing all of them through the in-game client, it's just automated. It's not some big hassle. Anyway, the point is I will take less automation for more freedom and efficiency any day.

Steam proves I am in the minority though, so whatever.

I have nine pieces of ME2 DLC that I have to download + install individually and the game gives you no obvious way to verify if it is present. It's about as fun as applying 9 patches to an executable. DA:O clearly shows you what's installed and will download + setup any DLC you own if you check the box.

Don't you need Cerberus Network to be up in order to use DLC? If so, is backing up DLC really that useful? If EA disappears won't it still go poof?

Again, I prefer freedom and flexibility over convenience.

I'll tell you a bit about DA:O updater..... game installed, first 2 DLCs bought. Starting game, both DLCs checked and installed. Later that day starting the game again, both DLCs appearing under "available" tab, not under installed - can't continue savegame because of "missing content".....
It took me several hours to finally find a forum posting which pointed to the DA:O updater and it's problem of stopping himself, sometimes even in an active gaming session. It went so far, that I manually checked / restarted that ridiculous piece of software each and every time before starting DA. Needless to say that the game flew of my HD the instant I finished it the first time.

It really learned me to hate EA DLCs. I didn't even bother to log into Cerberus and getting the free DLCs coming with ME2 because of that.

And if EA disappears, guess where your DA:O is getting it's DLC updates from?

Is ME2 DLC DRMed? I know ME2 always wants me to log into Cerberus Network whenever I launch it.

Sounds like you had the misfortune of enabling your DLC during the only weekend the authentication servers were down over a year and a half after the game's release. If so, that's just really bad luck. I was actually in the middle of my second play through of DA:O during that weekend. I had all the DLC enabled and was able to continue playing offline just fine. I'm surprised at the amount fuss that brief outage created. Most user's DLC had already been authenticated long ago.

I take it you're not a completionist? Different strokes I suppose. I really liked the Normandy crash site.

I have put 500+ hours in DA:O. The game owes me nothing. :)
http://steamcommunity.com/id/snickersnacks/games?tab=all

But even if I didn't, that would be no skin off my back. I regard games without source code as disposable. Enjoy them while they last. Ultimately, if you can't maintain a piece of software you're depending upon the good will of others to keep them going be they EA (authentication), Microsoft (OS compatability), Joe game hacker, etc.