Poll: Witcher dev believes all DLC should be free as a thank you for not pirating

[Scrustle]

I don't see the logic there.

Don't get me wrong, free DLC is awesome and CD Projekt are great, but how does not pirating a game mean you are entitled to free DLC? I don't see how "You bought our game legally..." has to be followed with "...aren't you a good boy? So here's some free stuff.". When you buy a game all you're entitled to is the game. You shouldn't expect to be rewarded for not breaking the law. Just expect to receive what is advertised to you. And couldn't people just pirate the DLC too anyway?

This brings up a topic I've been thinking about recently. What's with this attitude that some devs have that it's somehow the respectable thing to do to try and make nice with pirates? I guess CD Projekt doesn't go quite as far as to outright be "nice" to pirates (they're just trying to make it easy for legitimate customers), but it's getting more common these days to see devs and such say it's totally okay for people to pirate their games, and sometimes even encourage it. Do they think that if they present themselves to the pirates as being all friendly and non-confrontational that the pirates will sympathise and buy their games? Somehow I don't think pirates think that way. And why would they even want to gain the favour of pirated anyway? They should be enemies. They have nothing to gain from being friendly to them. It makes no sense.

Side note to the OP: You don't need to add an option in the poll for people who just want to see the results. There's already a thing for that in the bottom right corner of the poll box thing.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well they are taking on the other extreme of this discussion.
No doubt you could make it an incentive for new buyers and a thank you for existing ones, heck the minimum work/disk locked content would server you hell of alot better for free then asking money.

However if good additional content is made there is no shame in asking money for it, but the appropriate amount, which is the part where everyone falls flat on their nose.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I have to agree all proper DLC is not worth it but the real chunks like Shivering Isles should be paid for.

 

[Wado Rhyu]

i pirated the witcher 2 assasins of kings. mostly to check if my machine could run it and if it was worth it. next day i bought the game. why cause i liked it and because cd project offers something to me. it doesnt offer me long codes to enter or drm or any of that bs. just the game and even make it better as we go along. what is not to love

 

[nu1mlock]

Well, then you need to stop thinking that way. Expansion packs are also DLC. Fact.

Sometimes they're not.

Spoiler: Yup

Fact.

Exactly what were you trying to prove? We're obviously not talking about standalone expansion packs here.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

I fucking love these guys. I really wish there was more stuff on GOG that I wanted or didn't already buy on Steam.

Spoiler: I found this and thought it was relevant

 

[WaterDancer]

Tell that to all the people who pirated your games because 'If we don't use DRM, people won't pirate us!', didn't hold water.

That's a nice idea but it also doesn't make financial sense. You have to pay your employees to make that DLC so not charging for it means your losing money. I can understand saying your DLC will be the equivalent of expansion packs and changing for them rather then making any more DLCs, but this seems like a dumb move otherwise. I can understand pandering to gamers to make yourself look good but losing money during the lull between games and delaying your next game due to continued DLC work that won't earn you anything is a dumb idea. It's a nice idea, but companies don't run on good feelings, then run on cash.

Sometimes it's worth the trade off. In this case, it can generate more interest in product, consumer good will to buy games at full price without hesitation. It can allow for experimentation of idea's that could be in your next product or practice for new developers. Not all the time is milking dlc a good idea as that can lead to an opposite effect. Valve has done that with their games at it has benefited them greatly.

 

[Aerosteam]

Exactly what were you trying to prove? We're obviously not talking about standalone expansion packs here.

Galactic Adventures is not a standalone. I only replied the first time because you said:

Well, then you need to stop thinking that way. Expansion packs are also DLC. Fact.

And I wanted to correct you because correcting people makes me feel good.
[sub][sub][sub]Now, leave me alone.[/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[DEAD34345]

OT: I'm one of the few who voted no, because although it's a nice idea, we'd end up missing out on content. If all DLC was free then very few developers would bother making it in the first place, or it would be limited to skin packs and other small inconsequential stuff. I'd rather have the large expansion pack style DLCs personally, even if I have to pay for them.

Games like dungeon defenders, Rail Works 2012, saints row 3, magicka are selling plenty of their DLC as skin packs. Besides the article never said significant DLC shouldn't cost money. just merely small stuff should be free.

The article doesn't say that, but the question on the poll certainly does: "Should all DLC be free to paying customers". That's what I was voting on.

That said, I agree it's kind of scummy to sell such insignificant DLCs, but it's not something I'm really against. I just don't buy DLCs like that, so it doesn't affect me too much.

 

[Ruzinus]

Well...

free post game support makes me like a company, so they gain some value from doing this.

But I don't think that companies are obliged to it. If a game is full and complete, which it should be in the first place, then I think a company has every right to sell further content they create for it. If they opt to give that away they'll score major points, but I don't think we should just expect them to (beyond bug/balance fixes, anyway).

 

[TheSteeleStrap]

I said yes because I like the idea, but I wish there were more options than "yes" or "no". There is kind of a grey area. Maybe the DLC would end up being a little more half-ass than it would be otherwise, because the devs decided to dedicate more man hours to projects they would be making money on; I could not blame them for that.

 

[WaterDancer]

Well, then you need to stop thinking that way. Expansion packs are also DLC. Fact.

Sometimes they're not.

Spoiler: Yup

Fact.

Exactly what were you trying to prove? We're obviously not talking about standalone expansion packs here.

The spore one actually does require spore hence it's not a stand alone expansion. Not sure about Blue Shift though. Fact.
What he trying to say is expansions can feel like they are there own game without being entirely separate. The Medal of Honor: Allied Assault expansions felt like that. They weren't just some DLC but quality made product like what CDprojeck is talking about when it comes to DLC that should be paid.

 

[BlackStar42]

If my computer could run the Witcher 2, I would so support the hell out of these guys. They seem to be one of the few people in the games industry who aren't complete dicks.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

If my computer could run the Witcher 2, I would so support the hell out of these guys.

Then go to GoG.com and buy up big instead (they're all part of the same business group).

 

[Char-Nobyl]

But hey, pirates don't want to pay for anything anyway, so thinking the greedy buggers will pay for a game with free dlc is nothing less than naive. Didn't The Witcher 2 get pirated way more than it was purchased? So yeah, it was a nice theory.

EDIT: Yeah, it was pirated around/over 4.5 million times, according to the escapist.

Except that The Witcher 2 getting pirated a lot was more a product of having minimalist disc security than anything else. It still was purchased legitimately millions of times (two million at bare minimum, if I remember correctly), so it's not like it didn't turn a hefty profit.

The reason it got pirated so much was twofold: 1) it was a great game and 2) it had virtually no security built in. But DRM has consistently failed to prove that it serves as any deterrent to pirates (see Spore for an example) and serves only to punish the actual consumers who have to put up with it because they bought their game legitimately.

I like to think DLC and expansion packs are different things...

They're not.

Yes, I know most of the time the expansion packs are sold as DLC, but sometimes it's released on a separate disc.

That's irrelevant. Fallout 3's GOTY edition came with all of its DLC on a disc. I suppose all of those were expansion packs?

That's why I say expansion packs are big. (Dragon Age: Awakening, Dawnguard, Shivering Isles)

And DLC are small. (Horse armour, every Mass Effect DLC, Every map pack ever)

Oh, so all that free multiplayer content from Mass Effect was cut from the main game? Got some evidence to back that up?

Look, being 'cut from the main game' isn't the same as the blatant bullshit pulled with the 'From Ashes' DLC. All the stuff that they didn't have time for, or just ended up on the cutting room floor? That can come back as DLC.

Funny thing about Dawnguard. You tout it as an expansion pack, but quite a bit of the content was showcased in the keynote speech about their week-long Game Jam [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGIgXeGC6Dg]. Vampire lords? Present. Werewolf skill trees? Present. Crossbows? Present.

 

[WaterDancer]

OT: I'm one of the few who voted no, because although it's a nice idea, we'd end up missing out on content. If all DLC was free then very few developers would bother making it in the first place, or it would be limited to skin packs and other small inconsequential stuff. I'd rather have the large expansion pack style DLCs personally, even if I have to pay for them.

Games like dungeon defenders, Rail Works 2012, saints row 3, magicka are selling plenty of their DLC as skin packs. Besides the article never said significant DLC shouldn't cost money. just merely small stuff should be free.

The article doesn't say that, but the question on the poll certainly does: "Should all DLC be free to paying customers". That's what I was voting on.

That said, I agree it's kind of scummy to sell such insignificant DLCs, but it's not something I'm really against. I just don't buy DLCs like that, so it doesn't affect me too much.

I didn't see the pool above so I didn't realize what you were talking about. Yeah, the poll needs a few more options. I too, don't buy crappy DLC like that. I usually wait for those games to have a gold or GOTY edition or a big sale.

 

[Amaror]

But hey, pirates don't want to pay for anything anyway, so thinking the greedy buggers will pay for a game with free dlc is nothing less than naive. Didn't The Witcher 2 get pirated way more than it was purchased? So yeah, it was a nice theory.

EDIT: Yeah, it was pirated around/over 4.5 million times, according to the escapist.

It's not about getting people to buy the game legaly, it's about thanking people that they did.
I thinks it's the following mentality:
Dlcs are too expensive. When you look at dlcs, all of them are too expensive compared to what they get you. Even the good ones are usually quite a few dollars over the price they are worth.
This almost drove even me into pirating. Not a whole game, god no, but the dlcs themselves, because i just felt ripped of.
By giving the little dlcs away for free, you make sure that your paying customers get to enjoy the dlc, not only the pirates.
I also quite liked what they did at the start of the Witcher 2.
They did the usual thing with different stores offering different ingame items as a bonus to preorder at that specific store.
The very first patch, coming out only a few days after released patched all thos ingame items into the game for everyone.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Except that The Witcher 2 getting pirated a lot was more a product of having minimalist disc security than anything else.

Where do people keep coming up with this?

Almost all the torrents of the game came from DRM'ed (Steamworks or SecuROM) sources not the DRM-free GoG version.

 

[Vkmies]

Every single fucking time these guys open their wonderful, beautiful mouths, nothing but greatness and wisdom come out of them.

Jesus CHRIST, can you make me love you more? No, no you cannot. You are now my favorite video game company of all time.