DLC: Anyone else hate this?

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah it all comes down to what the DLC offers and for what price. Some DLC is like an expansion pack - you get a significant amount of new content. Other DLC is a blatant money grab or adds stuff that should have been in the game to begin with. A lot of Bioware DLC is just paying $3 or $5 for a few items. But some, like Lair of the Shadow Broker, is actually worth it.

I still think the Fallout DLC is the absolute best I've ever played though. Way more content than any Mass Effect DLC.

 

[RandomSanity]

So Skyrim is coming out soon, and like many people I'm excited to play it and would like to pick it up day one. Except there is 1 major problem; I know there are going to be multiple DLC packs down the road. I hate the idea of playing a game in an incomplete state. So I can buy the game at release, in which case I will miss out on all the extra content (It's unlikely I will go back and play a 100+ hour game again after the DLC is released). Alternatively I can wait till months after release and get the game in a complete state. I had this same issue with FO3, which I didn't play until the GOTY edition was available, and am still waiting on a GOTY-ish edition for FO:NV. Does this annoy anyone else?

I agree with this to an extent, most DLC is useless garbage, particularly those that came with oblivion. Frankly I can live without armor for my horse for a year until the game of the year edition is on cheap during a steam sale.

I'd much rather get the game at launch and ignore all of the dlc until a future play through.

 

[lord_emperor]

I like to think that the majority of people aren't that stupid...and it would reflect with no one buying the stuff so they lower the price.

am i naive?

Well, considering Blizzard sold something like 200,000 virtual horses in four hours, there are enough stupid people to keep this kind of thing going.

In terms of development time, how long did it take to make one horse and gross millions of dollars vs. "real" in-game content.

 

[shortylickens]

I thought I could add some intelligent comments to this thread but its looking pretty hostile already.

For the haters my advice is: Wait a year and buy the Gold edition. You'll spend less and wont be as disappointed.

 

[Fallen Kell]

The DLC I have issue with are ones that are already included on the install media and you need a special key to unlock. There are quite a few games that were already doing that. To me that is a complete rip-off. The made the content, they had it quality controlled and finished, and then someone basically says, well, this section, since it isn't essential to the main storyline or game as a whole, we are going to charge people extra to do this stuff, and all of a sudden, there is their "DLC".....

 

[Dankk]

Man, I hope there's horse armor DLC that I can buy separately for Skyrim after it's released!

 

[JamesV]

The DLC I have issue with are ones that are already included on the install media and you need a special key to unlock. There are quite a few games that were already doing that. To me that is a complete rip-off. The made the content, they had it quality controlled and finished, and then someone basically says, well, this section, since it isn't essential to the main storyline or game as a whole, we are going to charge people extra to do this stuff, and all of a sudden, there is their "DLC".....

I can't stand that either.

The trend now, which is even worse, is getting content on the disc as a preorder bonus, which means you basically do not get the full game unless you preorder.

It is a shady practice for sure. I remember loving Epic for all the UT map packs, but now I won't buy anything they make until it drops to $10.

 

[dpodblood]

The DLC I have issue with are ones that are already included on the install media and you need a special key to unlock. There are quite a few games that were already doing that. To me that is a complete rip-off. The made the content, they had it quality controlled and finished, and then someone basically says, well, this section, since it isn't essential to the main storyline or game as a whole, we are going to charge people extra to do this stuff, and all of a sudden, there is their "DLC".....

This is an extremely dirty practice. I also hate the "season pass" which many games now include. Want catwoman DLC? Better buy new! Want ME3 multiplayer? Better buy new!

 

[Dankk]

I also hate the "season pass" which many games now include.

I had no idea what this was, until I saw Epic doing it with Gears of War 3. Basically for an extra $30, you can "pre-order" all of the upcoming DLC for 33% off the regular price (meaning all of the DLC will have a regular price of $45).

It really is a blatant cash-grab at this point. I hope all the 13-year-old console kids shopping at Gamestop enjoy paying $90 for their new game. (Not really.)

 

[AstroManLuca]

I had no idea what this was, until I saw Epic doing it with Gears of War 3. Basically for an extra $30, you can "pre-order" all of the upcoming DLC for 33% off the regular price (meaning all of the DLC will have a regular price of $30).

It really is a blatant cash-grab at this point. I hope all the 13-year-old console kids shopping at Gamestop enjoy paying $90 for their new game. (Not really.)

Doesn't matter, their parents buy all that stuff for them.

 

[PrayForDeath]

The best DLC is free DLC (the Witcher 2). Sadly, there aren't many awesome developers like CD Project Red.

 

[dpodblood]

The best DLC is free DLC (the Witcher 2). Sadly, there aren't many awesome developers like CD Project Red.

CD Projekt and Valve both did something similar. Released free DLC and then lowered the cost of the game. Gotta love that. That's how you get a dedicated following of fans.

 

[shortylickens]

The best DLC is free DLC (the Witcher 2). Sadly, there aren't many awesome developers like CD Project Red.

Good news is theres already web sites stuffed full of free DLC for Elder Scrolls and Fallout, thanks to the editing tools shipped with the game. I see no reason why Skyrim should be different.

 

[biostud]

Buy the game for what it is. If you don't like DLC don't buy it. If the game is good and you want to play it again DLC will make 2nd or 3rd time interesting too.

 

[Sulaco]

Seriously, do your own research.

Because DLC is released, doesn't mean its worth having, at any price, let alone $10 or more.

Read the description, see what all it includes, and then see what other gamers have to say about it, then make your decision. It's just not all that hard.

We're talking about $3-$10 here, tops. If it all fails, the description lured you in and everyone was totally wrong in praising it and you despised it, at the end of the day, you're out $5.

 

[lowrencese]

Yeah I get that perspective as well. I guess that I am just excited to play the game,

 

[frozentundra123456]

So Skyrim is coming out soon, and like many people I'm excited to play it and would like to pick it up day one. Except there is 1 major problem; I know there are going to be multiple DLC packs down the road. I hate the idea of playing a game in an incomplete state. So I can buy the game at release, in which case I will miss out on all the extra content (It's unlikely I will go back and play a 100+ hour game again after the DLC is released). Alternatively I can wait till months after release and get the game in a complete state. I had this same issue with FO3, which I didn't play until the GOTY edition was available, and am still waiting on a GOTY-ish edition for FO:NV. Does this annoy anyone else?

I totally agree with you about DLC. I like the sense of accomplishment you get from finishing up a game and "beating" it. That is why I dont play MMOs. And it is frustrating to put so many hours into a game then have DLC come out that makes it seem like you havent really finished it after all.

And yes it is not about the money, it is about the lack of feeling of completeness that you have finished the game and the storyline.

 

[Piuc2020]

There's a couple of bad types of DLC, mainly the ones that do not offer enough content for their price tag (Oblivion Horse Armor, Bad Company 2 alternate skins) and most importantly, the worst ones are content that is deliberately cut off the game to be sold Day 1 like Dead Island (some even have the DLC on disc, you just buy a code to unlock).

DLC that offers enough content for the price are similar to mini expansions, this is a quite good practice as developers can churn out incremental upgrades and content without needing to commit to a full development cycle for a full expansion pack. Bethesda has done this quite well with Fallout New Vegas.

I guess there's a third type of DLC and that is content that was previously offered for free in previous generations before DLC became the norm and now it's standard practice to charge for it. I'm not quite sure if this is a case of developers being greedy or developers not being able to afford producing free content anymore but it sure is a disappointment for people who were used to free content.

 

[waggy]

DLC don't bother me . i just don't get it.

with something like skyrm im not worried. unless they do something to keep people from coming out with content nearly everything in DLC will be released.

 

[Dumac]

All of the Oblivion DLC was crap, so I wouldn't be too worried.

 

[dpodblood]

I totally agree with you about DLC. I like the sense of accomplishment you get from finishing up a game and "beating" it. That is why I dont play MMOs. And it is frustrating to put so many hours into a game then have DLC come out that makes it seem like you havent really finished it after all.

And yes it is not about the money, it is about the lack of feeling of completeness that you have finished the game and the storyline.

This is exactly what I mean. You probably worded it better than me.

 

[Lasthitlarry]

Someone's making money (Activision, etc), and everyone else is pissed.

But as we get more and more people (7 Billion) who don't care and just buy everything, the trend continues, unchecked.

Since gaming became bigger than movies it became more and more about profit over anything else.

The question is, what is to be done about it all?

 

[Kristijonas]

IMO, game makers who do not support fan modding, but offer DLCs are hypocritical.

 

[Sulaco]

All of the Oblivion DLC was crap, so I wouldn't be too worried.

Uh, no. Not all anyway. The Knights of the Nine quest was damn good, as were some of the weapons.
Considering you could get the whole pack for $10 (less after a few weeks) made it plenty reasonable.

 

[Rebel_L]

I really prefer the the item DLC's like the horse armor... they are easy to ignore and not waste money on, its the content ones that frequently bother me. They can be fun and would be worth some money, but it seems like content DLC is trending upward in price now, and of course they are using DLC to move the story along before the next game in the series comes out. You can still skip it, but then you also miss out on some of the story of a series. If DLC isnt cheaper or at least not more expensive per hour of play than the original game they are overcharging. DLC should be cheaper to develop than the original game but you somehow always come out on the loosing end of content for money. Expansion packs used to be the equivalent of dlc now, but you knew it was only coming once and would actualy be reasonable value.