DLC abuse
- Thread starter Theo Rob
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Not too difficult when almost your entire line of games are nothing more than DLC to Half Life or Half Life 2.Lagao said:
Exactly my issue. How is actual content priced the same way as esthetic items?SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
I liked that model. 20? would be comparable in length to a Call of Duty, and 30? would usually be like a full game - many times a standalone pack! A complete bargain if you compare it with 10? for aesthetic content that doesn't change your experience.AC10 said:
I think part of the problem is the degree to which companies tend to value their product. Take Just Cause 2, for instance. The main game is many, many hours of content, of all sorts, for $50. The addons are a couple of weapons or a new vehicle for $1-$2. Marginal value, but they cost as much as 1/50 or 1/25 of the full game. Judged on the same price scale (which any gamer is apt to do), DLC of this sort is incredibly overpriced.
Or take Deus Ex. The full game is a $50, 30-hour adventure. The expansion is 1/4 to 1/3 the price for 1/10 to 1/8 the content. Plus, as with so many of these things, it's clear that the level of dedication that went into the main game didn't find its way into the rote, by the numbers expansion.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure good DLC on the micro-transaction level is commercially viable. There's just too much overhead involved in making quality content, such that 1 hour of new content may cost half as much as 5. And when the DLC is priced according to what the company spent on it, not according to what it's worth to the consumer, we have a problem.
Expansion packs truly were the way to go, I think. Large enough to offset the overheads, and expansive enough to FEEL like value-for-money, even if they weren't quite as big or engaging as the main game.
Still, if your expansion pack is only 20 hours to the main game's 60, please don't price it at $40 to the main game's $60. We can tell when someone's pulling one over on us.
Or take Deus Ex. The full game is a $50, 30-hour adventure. The expansion is 1/4 to 1/3 the price for 1/10 to 1/8 the content. Plus, as with so many of these things, it's clear that the level of dedication that went into the main game didn't find its way into the rote, by the numbers expansion.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure good DLC on the micro-transaction level is commercially viable. There's just too much overhead involved in making quality content, such that 1 hour of new content may cost half as much as 5. And when the DLC is priced according to what the company spent on it, not according to what it's worth to the consumer, we have a problem.
Expansion packs truly were the way to go, I think. Large enough to offset the overheads, and expansive enough to FEEL like value-for-money, even if they weren't quite as big or engaging as the main game.
Still, if your expansion pack is only 20 hours to the main game's 60, please don't price it at $40 to the main game's $60. We can tell when someone's pulling one over on us.
Buy it or not buy it. Not worth moaning about it, your not forced to. Me personally i will only buy huge expansion pack missions, those like in ME2 and Fallout/Elder Scrolls. The extra objects (weapon, cars etc), anything online related or characters i dont give a crap about.
Difficult to link properly thanks to being on my mobile but have a look at the page address on the official Elder Scrolls website; http://www.elderscrolls.com/oblivion/dlc/.
Under the DLC heading, aye? I agree with your sentiment, however.
Under the DLC heading, aye? I agree with your sentiment, however.
Yeah but alot of DLC today is released on Day 1 with the "it wasn't ready when the game went to certification" excuse. DLC feels like a scam now. It may have started as smaller chunks of an expansion pack but now it's just exploitation.Vegosiux said:
Didn't they already do that with ACII? They skipped two memories that were "corrupted" to sell as DLC? If that isn't BS I don't know what isFieldy409 said:
I've said this elsewhere but it bears repeating.
DLC is a fine idea. At it's basic level, it is simply additional content that is downloaded from the internet as opposed to a physical copy. Done right it is a great idea as well. What is that idea? Similar to an expansion pack, aka something that is meant to add on to a completed game to extend it re-playability and encourage more sales.
Sadly, publishers are using it as a crutch to milk more money out. Games being left unfinished either due to time constraints or intentional decisions are much more common now and the idea for it being acceptable to publishers largely boils down to "we'll just charge them extra for the unfinished bits later on". Examples of such an attitude are Bioware with Mass Effect 3 and Capcom with Asura's Wrath.
Put simply, DLC is not bad, there's just too much abuse of it right now.
DLC is a fine idea. At it's basic level, it is simply additional content that is downloaded from the internet as opposed to a physical copy. Done right it is a great idea as well. What is that idea? Similar to an expansion pack, aka something that is meant to add on to a completed game to extend it re-playability and encourage more sales.
Sadly, publishers are using it as a crutch to milk more money out. Games being left unfinished either due to time constraints or intentional decisions are much more common now and the idea for it being acceptable to publishers largely boils down to "we'll just charge them extra for the unfinished bits later on". Examples of such an attitude are Bioware with Mass Effect 3 and Capcom with Asura's Wrath.
Put simply, DLC is not bad, there's just too much abuse of it right now.
Blanket hating on DLC would be stupid IMO
Bethesda, and Obsidian, have shown how DLC should be made. The Fallout 3 and New Vegas DLCs were amazing, the Oblivion DLCs sucked but are at least an example how of what kinda of content, IE OPTIONAL, content should be put in them.
Bioware's hasn't done DLC too bad either, there have been a few iffy moments but they aren't like the deus Ex or AC2 or Capcom DLC.
I would rather pay 30 dollars for 3 Fallout New vegas DLC then 40 dollars for a old timey expansion that has less content then those 3 DLC, and took far longer to make.
Bethesda, and Obsidian, have shown how DLC should be made. The Fallout 3 and New Vegas DLCs were amazing, the Oblivion DLCs sucked but are at least an example how of what kinda of content, IE OPTIONAL, content should be put in them.
Bioware's hasn't done DLC too bad either, there have been a few iffy moments but they aren't like the deus Ex or AC2 or Capcom DLC.
I would rather pay 30 dollars for 3 Fallout New vegas DLC then 40 dollars for a old timey expansion that has less content then those 3 DLC, and took far longer to make.
Never purchased any DLC and I never will.
I have a grand total of 4 games that have DLC with them.
Fallout 3 GOTY.
Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition.
Oblivion GOTY.
Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition.
Because they were cheap ... and because the DLC came with them (by cheap I mean they were £5 each on Amazon).
Never saw the point in paying for DLC for an individual game. If I see a GOTY or Ultimate edition for a game I don't already own then i'll buy that but I won't buy DLC individually.
If I already own the game then I won't be buying it again in GOTY or UE form and I won't buy DLC for it.
I have a grand total of 4 games that have DLC with them.
Fallout 3 GOTY.
Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition.
Oblivion GOTY.
Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition.
Because they were cheap ... and because the DLC came with them (by cheap I mean they were £5 each on Amazon).
Never saw the point in paying for DLC for an individual game. If I see a GOTY or Ultimate edition for a game I don't already own then i'll buy that but I won't buy DLC individually.
If I already own the game then I won't be buying it again in GOTY or UE form and I won't buy DLC for it.