Season passes, DLC and their prices

[NRVNQSR86]

While browsing new games my eye fell on a few new released games on the Steam storepage... And I was stumped when I noticed COD:AWs Season Pass mentioned the frigging cost of ?50. Mind, the base game is ?10 more then that. (Mind, that games for the PC got upped from 50 to 60 is mindboggling to start with)
I don't mind personally that there is DLC - if it's any good and worth the price when it comes to work involved, sure. But..... the pattern those days is to release stuff that is relative small and charge stupendous amounts for it. That an good-sized story DLC can cost 10 Euro, if it's well-made, I can get that. An true expansion (those rarely get made anymore - too often it's not an true expansion) can be up to 30, or in some cases 40 Euro (although the latter is already stretching it a bit). But ?50 for what essentially is a bundle of 12-16 maps and a zombie-mode? Uh? Talk about greed.
That made me look at several other stuff - and more and more developers are becoming greedy. When Season Passes got introduced, most used it to guarantee sales for essentially extra story content and some bonus gear etc. Often priced at a reasonable 20 Euro, or if you were lucky ?10. Now ?20 is way too often for an Season Pass with only maps, ?30 for map packs, gear and if you're lucky some story content.

So IMHO it's becoming out of bounds. What are your thoughts on Season Passes&DLC?

Captcha: more better? Uh, no. Just no.

 

[small]

well you can end up with a season pass full of multiplayer crap and challenge maps that might have zero interest for you which has happened to me in the past.

 

[Mezahmay]

Thank goodness for Steam sales and GOTY editions. I haven't had to actually deal with DLC in years and it's been pretty great.

 

[Rayce Archer]

The Borderlands 2 season pass saved you 20 dollars on 4 DLC packs and the Mechromancer. For that you get one more character and about 3/4 as much content as the base game. That's pretty good- I'd drop $30 on a full expansion, which is more or less what you ended up getting. With TPS, it seems like the new character IS one of the 4 DLC packs so it may not be the same good value.

I think the danger of the season pass is you have no real guarantee of what you'll be getting. It also bugs me when season pass stuff happens IMMEDIATELY after release, as in TPS or Battlefield.

 

[Dandark]

I remember back when Call of duty first introduced map pack DLC and how everyone was totally cool with it and 3 maps for £15 was fine and I should be grateful.

In a complete and total shock that surprised everyone DLC began to get even more expensive as companies realized they could get away with more. Now if I get a game of the year edition and start a new game I have to wait 5 minutes as it cycles through a "DLC loaded/Thanks for buying the DLC" message for each individual piece of DLC which can take a while since their is so much of it.

Most people are fine with games having tons of DLC so companies will continue making high amounts of it. Luckily Steam and it's sales exist so I can just wait until games are 75% before buying them.

 

[Talshere]

I remember back when Call of duty first introduced map pack DLC and how everyone was totally cool with it and 3 maps for £15 was fine and I should be grateful.

In a complete and total shock that surprised everyone DLC began to get even more expensive as companies realized they could get away with more. Now if I get a game of the year edition and start a new game I have to wait 5 minutes as it cycles through a "DLC loaded/Thanks for buying the DLC" message for each individual piece of DLC which can take a while since their is so much of it.

Most people are fine with games having tons of DLC so companies will continue making high amounts of it. Luckily Steam and it's sales exist so I can just wait until games are 75% before buying them.

Oh you mean that time when all PC users got the map packs for free because mods were still allowed and ACE Combat Mods, base, came with more than 50 maps. Many of which were equal in quality and with far greater scope than the shitty £15 DLC ones. While also being added to continually. Meaning noone would buy their shitty DLC thus getting it for free.

You mean that time?

They are basically selling the game twice on launch day. This shit is why G2A.com is now a thing. Got Shadows of Mordor for £23.23 including the season pass. Steam wanted £45 just for the base game. Advanced warfare, including a season pass, is £42.49. Fully £32 cheaper!

 

[babinro]

I have nothing against the practice of season passes since they are essentially discounted DLC that would inevitably come out regardless. That said, I've never bought into a season pass even for a game that I'm hyped about and enjoy (Bioshock Infinite for example).

If anything, the existence of season passes turn me away from a purchase decision. If they contain anything remotely interesting then I simply don't buy the game until a Game of the Year edition comes out or until there are significant price drops.

 

[Smooth Operator]

It's became pretty simple for me, greater the number of add on packages and the lesser value I place on the base game. If your Steam page greets me with a wall of DLC then a purchase will be extremely unlikely.

At this point I would say GOTY editions are the ones to go for, but since Gearbox started breaking the mold and actually not making it a complete pack that is no longer true either, I expect this will catch on quick with the rest of publishers.

 

[Reiper]

Personally, I no longer purchase games that have the existence of a season pass, pre-order dlc is also a major turn off. I was going to purchase Alien: Isolation for example, and when I saw it had both of these, I was just like "nope".

I did purchase beyond earth, because
1. the game was set at a reasonable 49.99, and
2. I generally find I get good value from firaxis dlc / expansions, especially when I buy them in big packs.

I will not be hyperbolic and say that season passes and dlc "ruining gaming", but it definitely feels like it has become increasingly commercialized and we now pay for things we once got for free.

It also makes it harder to take games seriously as a true art medium when they want extra shekels for me to see the whole thing

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I barely buy games on launch anymore. The whole DLC mess has gotten out of hand. I now feel like a schmuck if I pay full price for a game. So I wait for GOTY or Steam sale. I think The Witcher 3 will be the only game I'll get in 2015. Maybe GTA V for the PC. We are now at a lowest point where people actually started pre-ordering DLC! Think about that for a second. Let it sink it. Pre-ordering digital content. Paying for something that can never run out in advance, without having the slightest idea if it's worth the asking price. What the fuck is wrong with people?

 

[Prince of Ales]

Speaking of BL2, there was an interesting little conversation with Gearbox at Pax Australia just gone. They suggested that the Tiny Tina DLC was so expensive to create that, as an individual piece of content, they actually lost money over it. But since the season pass as a whole was so successful (i.e. they made so much money on the first three portions), they could justify a much bigger spend for the final expansion.

See here: http://www.twitch.tv/pax/b/584311293 (skip to around 52 minutes in)

Does that justify the season pass approach?

 

[Rayce Archer]

Speaking of BL2, there was an interesting little conversation with Gearbox at Pax Australia just gone. They suggested that the Tiny Tina DLC was so expensive to create that, as an individual piece of content, they actually lost money over it. But since the season pass as a whole was so successful (i.e. they made so much money on the first three portions), they could justify a much bigger spend for the final expansion.

See here: http://www.twitch.tv/pax/b/584311293 (skip to around 52 minutes in)

Does that justify the season pass approach?

Assault on Dragon Keep was pretty goddamn amazing. It was better than some retail stuff I've played, and I think it might actually be slightly longer than the Pre-Sequel. If we got that instead of something lame and re-tready like Zombie Island of Doctor Ned (which was still good enough in its own right) then I'm all for it.

But how many games do that? I mean, when people started buying passes for the already-fully-announced DLC for Battlefield 4, did DICE go back and make the last couple packs better because they could afford to?

I guess in this case its better if the DLC ISN'T all done when the pass is sold, even though that means you don't quite know what you're getting going in. There's layers to this debate like an onion, that's for sure.

 

[Zukabazuka]

BF3 and BF4 season pass or also known as Premium member was different from other games. Since BF4 got the booster pack so you could unlock some items so you wouldn't have to level all weapons in the end. Then it also had double exp event every month and gave some skin too. And you get to jump ahead in the queue. You would also get booster packs believe every week and if even you joined in today you would get every single booster pack that had come out and all the skins too. Only thing you would miss would be double exp event.
In general they wanted the person to feel they where premium member.

But looking at COD season pass all I see is you are going to get that DLC and that's it.

 

[gamertitan]

Well since most of the large video game companies are consolidating aka being bought out. Profit is more an important than ever & we're seeing companies really push the envelope with this by releasing watered down version of their game. All the content which they hype up to gain preorders & then turn around and put it in DLC, which is VERY annoying.

 

[shintakie10]

It really depends on the game/company making it because dlc is wildly different in value. Saints Row 4 season pass? Totally worth the value. Borderlands 2 season pass? Good value. Mario Kart 8/Hyrule Warroirs dlc? Good value.

CoD/BF4 season passes? Not good value.

 

[Little Gray]

For the past five years or so the total cost of all the dlc for a single CoD game has been around ?60. If you buy it with the game its even cheaper so if you are going to buy all the dlc anyway then yea its worth it.