Day One DLC. Whats the point?

[scotth266]

There are a few reasons. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.154083#3719305]

I really do wonder why everyone has this weird obsession with hating day one DLC, especially since a good portion of it is being offered for free. I mean, don't people have more important things to be getting upset about, like how Ubisoft plans to curtail piracy by forcing you to upload save games to servers?

 

[JEBWrench]

No, that's not a good reason. Not for day-one DLC, anyway. For any other DLC, yes, I understand it's extra content. But if they're charging you for day-one DLC, that's stuff they could have easily included in the original game, or at least given you for free because they failed to fit put it in. Charging for day-one DLC is pure gouging of the consumer; very greedy.

Your first point is rather off; in order the include it in the base game, they'd have to delay getting ready for the release for a few months, which would push the release date back, and so forth.

As for whether or not it should be free is a matter of opinion. I don't see any reason why they should have to give away anything for free, especially considering that it isn't part of the base game.

Sure, it'd be nice if it was free, but just because something would be nicer doesn't mean it's the way it should be.

 

[squid5580]

There isn't one as far as I can tell - The Saboteur one is the most ridiculous I've seen.

Why not just include an option in the menu to turn nipples on/off?

I thought that was brilliant. I mean come'on who can ***** about that. The devs win since they get a bit off of used games. We win because we get the option to see it or not. And Jack Thompson wannabes lose because hey it is not part of the game.

And OP you do know that there is a substantial time difference between it is ready for manufacturing and it is ready to be shipped. Your logic would delay game development indefinitely. They get it all ready to manufacture then someone says "hey we should do this" and then it is no longer ready for manufacturing. So they add the "DLC" and get it to the factory and someone says "hey lets add this" and back to the developer it goes leading to games costing Septillions of dollars to make and they don't see a nickel because they aren't shipping anything..

 

[Altorin]

I don't know. I don't know enough about video game development and production to really say why they would do that or to criticize them for doing it.

that's actually the best thing to do.

If you don't know, don't make an ass out of yourself by loudly proclaiming that what you don't know about is done wrong.

If you want to learn however, there are several good posts in this thread, particularly Amnestic's link to a forum Mod Explaining it, and several posts under that in the linked thread is an actual quote of a game dev explaining it.

While I certainly understand the post and the arguments (being a software developer and all) I don't understand how this person can possibly expect every person who plays games to grasp the complexities of the development cycle. The layman consumer is not going to give a fuck the reasons for any of it, they're simply going to see it as the company trying to gouge them for money.

and they'd be ignorant and wrong.

If it's an industry they have a vested interest in, they should want to learn these things, and not just take everything as a personal attack.

 

[Master_Fubar23]

there is no point to first day DLC's besides to make money. Dragon age origin is a prime example. it had two first day DLC's. one was free the other was not. yes it was fine at first but now its shit. the code only lasts for a certain amount of time so if u buy the game now n it has the code for the stone prisoner u cant use it since its expired. so DLC's in general are just ways to milk more money out of a game

 

[auronvi]

There are a few reasons. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.154083#3719305]

Good link. Very solid response...

/thread IMO

 

[Amnestic]

There are a few reasons. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.154083#3719305]

I really do wonder why everyone has this weird obsession with hating day one DLC, especially since a good portion of it is being offered for free. I mean, don't people have more important things to be getting upset about, like how Ubisoft plans to curtail piracy by forcing you to upload save games to servers?

But that doesn't cost them £3 if they choose to buy the game second hand and save £20 in the first place, whereas Day 1 DLC does...somehow.

there is no point to first day DLC's besides to make money. Dragon age origin is a prime example. it had two first day DLC's. one was free the other was not. yes it was fine at first but now its shit. the code only lasts for a certain amount of time so if u buy the game now n it has the code for the stone prisoner u cant use it since its expired. so DLC's in general are just ways to milk more money out of a game

Uh, every source I've seen has said the DLC codes expire April 30th, 2010, which isn't for another three months.

So either source or GTFO. You don't even need to install your game to activate the code, just log into EA's websitey thing, so you can basically do it on whatever computer has access to the internet.

In other words, no excuse.

 

[Master_Fubar23]

No, that's not a good reason. Not for day-one DLC, anyway. For any other DLC, yes, I understand it's extra content. But if they're charging you for day-one DLC, that's stuff they could have easily included in the original game, or at least given you for free because they failed to fit put it in. Charging for day-one DLC is pure gouging of the consumer; very greedy.

Your first point is rather off; in order the include it in the base game, they'd have to delay getting ready for the release for a few months, which would push the release date back, and so forth.

As for whether or not it should be free is a matter of opinion. I don't see any reason why they should have to give away anything for free, especially considering that it isn't part of the base game.

Sure, it'd be nice if it was free, but just because something would be nicer doesn't mean it's the way it should be.

i disagree. if they were able to make it rdy by the launch date then it should be apart of the core game. DLC's that come months after launch date are different but either way we are gunna see a trend of greedy bastards making a game, launching the game, and have DLC's set to be released every 2 weeks to a month to keep ppl playing the game n to have ppl buy it while the game is still popular so their more likely to buy the damn DLC instead of making a great game and selling DLC's months later like oblivion or mass effect(the first one incase someone thinks im forgetting the 2...yes some1 would have ><)

 

[Master_Fubar23]

There are a few reasons. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.154083#3719305]

I really do wonder why everyone has this weird obsession with hating day one DLC, especially since a good portion of it is being offered for free. I mean, don't people have more important things to be getting upset about, like how Ubisoft plans to curtail piracy by forcing you to upload save games to servers?

But that doesn't cost them £3 if they choose to buy the game second hand and save £20 in the first place, whereas Day 1 DLC does...somehow.

there is no point to first day DLC's besides to make money. Dragon age origin is a prime example. it had two first day DLC's. one was free the other was not. yes it was fine at first but now its shit. the code only lasts for a certain amount of time so if u buy the game now n it has the code for the stone prisoner u cant use it since its expired. so DLC's in general are just ways to milk more money out of a game

Uh, every source I've seen has said the DLC codes expire April 30th, 2010, which isn't for another three months.

So either source or GTFO. You don't even need to install your game to activate the code, just log into EA's websitey thing, so you can basically do it on whatever computer has access to the internet.

In other words, no excuse.

lololololololol well ooooooooooonce the code expires then yes i'll be right but i must go back to the store and see what the date said on the case since either i must have misread the expire date or box i saw is different from the one you did.
oh and no excuse unless someone waits until the game drops in price(like i do) then the DLC's make up for the price. fyi $70 game with DLC's included goes to say $30 without the DLC's but DLC's cost 15-20 or more then its back up to about $50 or more if they released more DLC's. DLC's are just a scam unless its used to make an already COMPELETE game more fun and interesting. like the grey warden keep DLC will give you more history on the grey wardens...hmmm i think any history on the faction you are playing as should already be IN the game and not an addon

 

[delet]

There isn't one as far as I can tell - The Saboteur one is the most ridiculous I've seen.

Why not just include an option in the menu to turn nipples on/off?

That was a way to get around controversy; the DLC can only be downloaded to accounts which say they are for people over 18, so by putting it as DLC, they can reasonably say they aren't selling nudity to minors. Nevermind that most smart minors (myself included) put the wrong birthdate in the account screen, but no plan is perfect.

As always, the answer is money. How do you make more money on something? Release something with the game that should have been ready (and is actually inside the game for some of them.)

The answer is not always money. Sometimes the developers create something that ultimately doesn't make sense or looks out of place in the final game so they cut it out of the finished version and then decided to sell it as DLC rather then just throwing it away completely. I think all of peoples complaints about DLC are largely baseless unless we are talking about EA style DLC where they use games like The Sims to suck as much money from the consumers as possible.

There's no excuse for Day-1 DLC though. If it's readily available on launch, it should be in the game. Hell, you can just add an 'extras' menu and put it there if it doesn't fit. I enjoy DLC to an extent, but on Day one it's unacceptable.

At the risk of stealing Amnestic's thunder, please read this. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.154083#3719305]

Yea, I saw that. I entered my post before seeing that. I feel more or less like an idiot after reading it, but it's all ok. I've learned.

 

[An Gealt]

Maybe they just have so much content they can't fit it on the one disk, and the amount of content in the DLC isn't enough for a whole new disk?

 

[Candrian]

Hasn't anybody considered free Day-one DLCs are used as a big middle finger to the pre-owned market?
The Shale character in Dragon Age was available for free with a retail copy of the game, but of course there was no guarantee a previous owner of a pre-owned copy would not have redeemed the code already.
The Pre-owned games market is as big a bastard to games publishers as piracy - their products are being sold, even prioritised by retailers and the publishers are getting precisely bugger all for it. DLCs as a whole are a way to get money from people who have bought their products pre-owned or otherwise.

I should point out that this is just my theory but all the pieces I am aware of fit into it.

 

[Altorin]

Hasn't anybody considered free Day-one DLCs are used as a big middle finger to the pre-owned market?
The Shale character in Dragon Age was available for free with a retail copy of the game, but of course there was no guarantee a previous owner of a pre-owned copy would not have redeemed the code already.
The Pre-owned games market is as big a bastard to games publishers as piracy - their products are being sold, even prioritised by retailers and the publishers are getting precisely bugger all for it. DLCs as a whole are a way to get money from people who have bought their products pre-owned or otherwise.

I should point out that this is just my theory but all the pieces I am aware of fit into it.

yeah, we pretty much figured that out

bravo though and welcome to the party

The question here though isnt free day one DLC, but pay DLC on day one

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

It provides added incentive to purchase the game on Day One. Placing said content on the disc, in spite of accomplishing the same thing in general, does not create any added interest or generate any additional conversations regarding a game.

 

[LordZ]

Your first point is rather off; in order the include it in the base game, they'd have to delay getting ready for the release for a few months, which would push the release date back, and so forth.

As for whether or not it should be free is a matter of opinion. I don't see any reason why they should have to give away anything for free, especially considering that it isn't part of the base game.

Sure, it'd be nice if it was free, but just because something would be nicer doesn't mean it's the way it should be.

How do you know it wasn't part of the base game? The developers told you so? They say a lot of things, things that can often be outright lies. I'm not interested in ranting about the lies developers have made over the years to sell games. If you don't realize that developers have been telling lies for years, you're just a sad, sad puppet. They shoehorn all kinds of limitations on us in the name of the war against piracy(the lot of good that does) and other such nonsense and suddenly we're supposed to trust that this zero-day DLC wasn't some form of money grab because they said so?

 

[ZombieGenesis]

Step 1: Release a Game
Step 2: Day One DLC <--
Step 3: PROFIT!!!

At last, the answer!

 

[rated pg]

What exactly is the point of having day one DLC in a game? If it is ready to go at launch, then why bother keeping it separate from the rest of the game?

Just curious. No I am not talking about Mass Effect 2. I know that the Zaeed DLC is delayed.

I can understand releasing something maybe a week or two down the line, where you have time to fine tune it, maybe to come along with a bug patch, but releasing something separate even though it is complete alongside the game at launch doesn't seem to make much sense.

Wasn't ready in time to be burned to the disc, and if they had waited they'd have to have delayed the game's release.

/thread

 

[Macgyvercas]

There are a few reasons. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.154083#3719305]

This person has it right. Please, people, read this post. Learn why Day One DLC exists without just firing off "money-hungry" and "nickel-and-dime" catcalls at the developers.

I second (or third, whatever) this. Read the article, it has extrodinarily excellent points.