Callin' for a DLC boycott.

[Kopikatsu]

Before I get into it, I'm just going to say that I have nothing against DLCs. Actually, I think that the idea behind them is wonderful. Major bug slipped past playtesting? Now it can be fixed with minimum fuss! Reviews say the main issue with your game is not enough of 'x'? Now you can add 'x'!

I'm not even saying that DLCs should be free. Developers work hard on their games, but they do have fairly strict deadlines. Maybe they couldn't find the time to shove something into the gold build of the game? Well, then they can use the DLC system to get it out there.

No, my issue isn't with Downlodable Content. It's with Unlockable Content, or as I shall refer to them from now on, ULC's. If you look in the Playstation Network (Assuming. Don't have a PS3) or Xbox Live Marketplace and you see a DLC that is about 300kb in size, that would be a 'key' to unlock content that is already on the disk that you paid full price for.

Many people just say 'Well if you don't like it, then don't buy it.' That doesn't stop it from being major douchebaggery, and some people will still fork over the $5 or however much it costs to get at the ULC. If noone buys the ULC, maybe some gaming companies *CoughEAcough* will get the hint and actually start letting you have everything on the disk that you've already paid them for.

In otherwords, Believe in your force and head into the Garden of Madness. [sub]Shameless No More Heroes reference. Don't hurt me.[/sub]

It's already on the disc but it's two separate entities and is a measure to save you time! Like you would care if bought a box and it had 3 muffins... those muffins are not yours unless you buy them.

I would care and those muffins are mine. I have a real life example, actually. I went to Sam's Club and bought a box of Pop-Tarts. I opened the box, and there were supposed to be six bags of PT's in there, and there were...but one bag was empty. Totally sealed, but empty. I went back to Sam's and got them to give me a NEW box for free, and I got to keep the old one.

The moral of the story is, you don't screw with my Pop-Tarts.

And you had every right to do so they sold you six pop tarts and you got five that is wrong, it is also unrelated to what we're talking about. The DLC isn't a missing sixth poptart in the box, it's a extra seventh one you can pay/redeem a code for at the check out lanes.

I don't think we're on the same page...Yes, a DLC would be that. I'm talking about ULCs.

Say the entire box of PT's is a game disk and the delicious PT's inside are the content. Also, the box doesn't mention how many bags of PT's are in the box. A ULC means that, lets say there are ten PT packages in this particular box...but you only can find seven. Then, the company that makes PT's offers to tell you where the remaining three PT bags are hidden inside of the box (Again, A Wizard Did It) if you pay them 5-15% of what you paid for the entire box anyway.

I bought the box of PT's, thinking that all of the PT's in the box were mine, since you know, I bought the box. Apparently the company disagrees and thinks I only paid for 70% of the boxes contents.

Edit: Conversely, a DLC would be 'We'll give you an extra three bags of PT's if you pay us just a tad more money, because we could only fit so many into the box. (The box couldn't be made bigger. A Wizard Did It.)

 

[Soxafloppin]

That was actually pretty annoying in NFS: Hot Pursuit, when i kept getting destroyed by the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport which you have to pay to get!

 

[Smagmuck_]

How about you try something that will actually get their attention? Now I'm all for trying to change something for the good of the people, but I do not believe a boycott will fix that. I really hate to burst your balloon but, as a pessimist, this will never work... Never the less, good luck, maybe you'll prove me wrong.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

DLC should never be conspicuous in its absence from the main game.

For example, Dragon Age pulled a real dick move by putting characters in-game who tried to sell you DLCs.

You refering to Shale?

I don't think so, I was thinking of the guy at the camp-site who kept trying to sell you an expansion pack.

 

[SalamanderJoe]

I think DLC's taboo would be solved if all major expansions or a collection of new chapters were to be sold on a retail disc in large bulks like Undead Nightmare and Liberty City Stories. I don't see why they don't do it more often [sub]1[/sub], I mean after all surely they'd target every gamer rather than just the online players, as I indeed saw by how many people bought Undead Nightmare at my workplace.

In terms of extra costumes, on-disc content and early unlock DLC though, that is just an obvious rip-off. Especially seeing as the extra costumes for MvC3 cost a quarter of what I actually paid.

[sub] 1. I know Game of the Year editions have the DLC on disc, but some you still need to download them. I'm looking at you Resident Evil 5 Gold and Borderlands GOTY![/sub]

 

[putowtin]

what annoys me, (and I think this is the crux of the original post) is DLC or ULC as you've put it that is so blatently ripped from the game at the last moment so the gamer is forced to shell out money for something that should have been in the game to begin with (example, Fable III the dye pack and Hair pack that were available before the game was released!)
DLC as a whole is shaky, for every Shivering Isles theres a Knothole Island (gonna stop picking on Lionhead now, they might cry if I don't)

 

[Kopikatsu]

How about you try something that will actually get their attention? Now I'm all for trying to change something for the good of the people, but I do not believe a boycott will fix that. I really hate to burst your balloon but, as a pessimist, this will never work... Never the less, good luck, maybe you'll prove me wrong.

I don't think they would take kindly to having a biplane crashed into their office.

[sub]First thing that came to mind when I read that was the guy who crashed his plane into the IRS building a few years ago, hence my comment.[/sub]

 

[thunderbug]

i dont think DLC is bad, some of it is but some is good, Dragon Age Origins had good DLC it was decent price for what u got, £4 was what i payed for each DLC on average some were more some were less and it added many extra game hours, another game is Fallout 3, this has good well priced DLC which added lots to the game. The kind of DLC i think is bad is crap like the Sims 3 store, $1 for a virtual T shirt i mean my god, u can get DLC like Golems of Amghorak (dragon age) for $8 or 8 shirts for the sims 3. EA need to implode for this twat move especially when the game is so bare to begin with.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

I tend to follow the reviews, but you have to read between the lines. If the reviewer says something along the lines of "it's a bit short", that means it's a fantastic fucking ripoff that no one should ever buy.

 

[DocMcCray]

Though I hate that Ubisoft did that douchey 'we're gonna skip two chapters. Don't worry, just get the DLC to play them.' thing in Assassin's Creed. I think Gearbox and Bioware did good jobs making DLC that was actually worth the price, excluding 'Mad Moxxi' and the weapons packs for ME2. I'd like to see more DLC like that. DLC isn't inherently bad, it's just the bigger companies are being greedy douches about it now except for Valve, I love you Valve.

Totally ninja'd me. Esp with the Mad Moxxi.

I've been looking through the AC:Brotherhood downloadable stuff today and I'm impressed with how they are making minor things free, or using uplay credits which can be earned playing their games.

I believe if it is on the disc, it shouldn't cost anything. If it comes after the release, companies have more than enough right to charge for it.

 

[Shycte]

DLC should never be conspicuous in its absence from the main game.

For example, Dragon Age pulled a real dick move by putting characters in-game who tried to sell you DLCs.

You refering to Shale?

I don't think so, I was thinking of the guy at the camp-site who kept trying to sell you an expansion pack.

Oshit that guy. I hate that guy.

But that's not so terrible. You know what pisses me off? The fact that I can't play Halo: Reach online without buying that stupid map pack. Almost every playlist demands it. Fuck you Bungie, fuck you.

 

[Zhukov]

Nah.

I'll boycott DLC, but only the crap stuff that isn't worth the price.

I don't mind whether or not it's on the disc. And I don't really understand why people get so annoyed about what strikes me as a meaningless distinction. Either way you are still paying a certain amount of money for a certain bit of content.

Actually, scratch that. I would prefer that it be on the disc. That way I don't have to wait for it to download.

 

[Anah'ya]

--

Boycott additional content for games I like?

Sure. Why not?

Wait. No. Come to think of it I like getting more slapped ontop of something I am already enjoying. It's not like it costs an arm and a leg. Usually just costs what I'd otherwise spend on two pizzas. Or one pizza. And that's gone in 5 minutes, DLC lasts me longer and I can do it AGAIN.

Can't really re-eat pizza.

That would be just weird.

 

[SanguineSymphony]

Have fun with your windmills.

Most of the ULC that I am familiar with isn't very promising anyways. I don't buy it based on me not giving a shit.

If MVC3's ULC was Frank West, Chuck Greene or X and they all played as similarly to their original in game counterparts as say Dante I'd buy em.

 

[Mark B]

*Sigh*
If you buy a collectors edition you expect extra, right ?
And you shouldn't have to download those extras, right ?
Now lets say that you didn't or couldn't buy the collectors edition.
So you bought the standard copy and still want those extras ?

*Bang*
DLC on a disc.

If its something which is not available on any version then that's where it takes the piss a bit.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

DLC should never be conspicuous in its absence from the main game.

For example, Dragon Age pulled a real dick move by putting characters in-game who tried to sell you DLCs.

I can forgive the fact that the content was being sold to me after I bought the game. What I can't stand is that there was a man in the game giving the the sales pitch. And this is after I had purchased the collector's edition and had assumed I already had all the content.

 

[Pirakahunter788]

I good example to this would be EA's Bad Company 2.
If you buy the Limited or Ultimate Edition, you get a supposed "VIP" code to unlock maps. Now this is where it gets stupid. They aren't new maps, they aren't even added maps at all. They're just more game modes for maps already on the game. What's worse, is that you have to pay $10 for a supposed VIP code, when it's just a key to unlock more useless game modes for already boring maps. How is this "VIP"?

 

[dagens24]

Before I get into it, I'm just going to say that I have nothing against DLCs. Actually, I think that the idea behind them is wonderful. Major bug slipped past playtesting? Now it can be fixed with minimum fuss! Reviews say the main issue with your game is not enough of 'x'? Now you can add 'x'!

I'm not even saying that DLCs should be free. Developers work hard on their games, but they do have fairly strict deadlines. Maybe they couldn't find the time to shove something into the gold build of the game? Well, then they can use the DLC system to get it out there.

No, my issue isn't with Downlodable Content. It's with Unlockable Content, or as I shall refer to them from now on, ULC's. If you look in the Playstation Network (Assuming. Don't have a PS3) or Xbox Live Marketplace and you see a DLC that is about 300kb in size, that would be a 'key' to unlock content that is already on the disk that you paid full price for.

Many people just say 'Well if you don't like it, then don't buy it.' That doesn't stop it from being major douchebaggery, and some people will still fork over the $5 or however much it costs to get at the ULC. If noone buys the ULC, maybe some gaming companies *CoughEAcough* will get the hint and actually start letting you have everything on the disk that you've already paid them for.

In otherwords, Believe in your force and head into the Garden of Madness. [sub]Shameless No More Heroes reference. Don't hurt me.[/sub]

If you buy a game that has locked content but it wasn't promised to you then you haven't already payed for it. If RE5 contains all the multiplayer content on the disc but the case makes no mention of it including multiplayer and the developers say that the game doesn't include online then why is this content owed to you? You knew what you were and weren't getting when you bought the game.

Now it would be different if on the case it says it includes online multiplayer and all the previews and press releases are claiming it has online multiplayer and that it is included with th base game and then you buy it and find out that you need to pay extra to unlock that content, then yes, that is wrong of them.