My Thoughts on DLC

PsychoFish

PsychoFish

New member
With so much DLC coming out for various titles I started really thinking about the value and quality of DLC and what it really adds to the gaming experience.

I'm not going to make sweeping assumptions and wild accusations, however DLC seems to be the flavour of the week currently. Sometimes it feels like the developers simply get the game up to a level, release it and then go "oh, we should have added this" and makes a $1.99+ DLC with a couple of extra missions, expands the story arc of a minor character or (as was the case with Mass Effect 3) change the whole ending of the game. Now I don't mind DLC on a game I deem as being complete which then comes around and adds a couple of extra maps/missions without affecting the main story.

What is concerning though is the amount of DLC which could have been left to the modding community. I'm talking about the "make your guns golden" & "dress your character like another character" type DLC. Things that add zero value to the gameplay experience and only adds some eye candy. It seems like some companies are out to milk gamers for every cent they have by charging for rubbish DLC.

Then there is the awful "on-disk" DLC; you paid for the game, you have the "items" already but you still have to pay the piper to unlock it.

a Couple of examples of the good, the bad and the downright ugly:

Good : Fallout 3; Good DLC expanding on the storyline and adding additional missions and items
Bad : XCOM Enemy Unknown; Elite Soldier Pack which adds some eye candy which was pretty pointless and could have been included in the game in the first place without even bothering to make it DLC
Ugly : Street Fighter X Tekken; On disk DLC and half the fighters locked out until you buy them

What is your thoughts?
 
PsychoFish said:
Then there is the awful "on-disk" DLC; you paid for the game, you have the "items" already but you still have to pay the piper to unlock it.
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What is your thoughts?
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I think that is the thought of most gamers on DLC.

But granted, there are some DLC out there that add value to the game, which I will gladly purchase/have purchased.

One of these will most likely be the up coming Batman Arkham Origins DLC.
 
They should make DLC's free updates, and release major updates to a game in Expansions, like the good 'ole days
 
DLC has just turned into a cash cow by publisher's. Personally I feel DLC should be there to enhance the games storyline and so on, not open cosmetic changes that where previously unlocked through game progress.
 
Crableg said:
They should make DLC's free updates, and release major updates to a game in Expansions, like the good 'ole days
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They won't since the dlc brings in a constant steam of money. The one thing I hate is more like what borderlands 2 did bring out a GOTY and then after that still bring more dlc out. Also wtf is with day one dlc?
 
My view:

Cosmetic DLC is relatively harmless - no one is holding a gun to your head to buy a shiny baseball cap for your character.
On-disc DLC - inexcusable and totally dishonest - and really only still in existence because people actually buy it.
Proper DLC - expanding the game I can deal with, provided the price is right.
Bollocks DLC - a map pack for R200. Again, as long as people buy it, they will have no reason to stop.
Booster DLC - unlocking everything in one shot kind of destroys the sense of the progression.
 
Murph said:
My view:

Cosmetic DLC is relatively harmless - no one is holding a gun to your head to buy a shiny baseball cap for your character.
On-disc DLC - inexcusable and totally dishonest - and really only still in existence because people actually buy it.
Proper DLC - expanding the game I can deal with, provided the price is right.
Bollocks DLC - a map pack for R200. Again, as long as people buy it, they will have no reason to stop.
Booster DLC - unlocking everything in one shot kind of destroys the sense of the progression.
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Agreed, so long as people keep throwing money the publishers will keep opening their nets.
 
Gouko_Tenrou said:
Your referring to Dark Arisen, right?
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Yes! I am. Some how my Xbox thinks I have Dark Arisen already, but I am yet to purchase and download the game.

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Crzwaco said:
They won't since the dlc brings in a constant steam of money. The one thing I hate is more like what borderlands 2 did bring out a GOTY and then after that still bring more dlc out. Also wtf is with day one dlc?
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Wasn't this explained somewhere in an article which I cannot recall that the devs basically complete the game then have a lot of free time before its release, then they already work on DLC.

Correct me if I am wrong?
 
Ike_009 said:
Agreed, so long as people keep throwing money the publishers will keep opening their nets.
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I can easily resist buying map packs - the problem really comes in - and by extension becomes a round about way of forcing purchases upon players - when those who don't have the map packs find it harder and harder to find a game or routinely get kicked from a lobby. That's bullshit.
 
Murph said:
I can easily resist buying map packs - the problem really comes in - and by extension becomes a round about way of forcing purchases upon players - when those who don't have the map packs find it harder and harder to find a game or routinely get kicked from a lobby. That's bullshit.
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That's why I gave up on BF3, left the game and I refuse to return. I hate it when a game cuts you down because you won't waste your cash, it's like punishment for having made a decision that conflicts with their greed.
 
my opinion, all DLC's should be free. I already bought the game, so why do I have to pay more to get the rest of the game :D
 
I dont mind paying for maps pack DLC's, but often they are just really crappy maps and cost too much. I dont know when they actually designed them, but I would think they have all the maps available at launch, and choose what maps they'll release at launch and what they will release in DLC's. That approach really annoys me, because they seem to be second grade, they didn't make the original vanilla cut, but they create all this extra hype and sell them anyway later. Only to find a few weeks later no one is playing them anymore.
 
MalicE said:
my opinion, all DLC's should be free. I already bought the game, so why do I have to pay more to get the rest of the game :D
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Well, not all DLC are 'the rest of the game.' Look at Borderlands 2. There was more than enough content in the base game to justify the price, and the DLC that came later are priced very fairly. $30 for all of it or $10 each is not bad when you consider it raises the content by roughly 50%.

Overall, I'm satisfied with how most DLCs are handled nowadays. They've become more like fairly priced expansions than content ripped out of the game. It's just the few Day 1 DLCs and vendor-exclusive DLCs that still piss me off.

Edit: Or when vitally important content is locked away behind DLC purchases, such as the Prothean DLC for ME3. Or most of the DLC in ME2. You should not be completely lost in the next game if you missed a few of the DLCs in the previous game, and this was definitely the case with ME2/ME3. If you played ME2 without DLC (which is a nightmare to buy through the Bioware store btw), you missed half the game.
 
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Iam3G said:
Wasn't this explained somewhere in an article which I cannot recall that the devs basically complete the game then have a lot of free time before its release, then they already work on DLC.

Correct me if I am wrong?
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It was probably mentioned somewhere, but they should then just keep working on the DLC and not put it on the disc. It really just pisses me off when I buy a DLC and have to download 150kb to unlock it.
 
Clive Woofer said:
Well, not all DLC are 'the rest of the game.' Look at Borderlands 2. There was more than enough content in the base game to justify the price, and the DLC that came later are priced very fairly. $30 for all of it or $10 each is not bad when you consider it raises the content by roughly 50%.

Overall, I'm satisfied with how most DLCs are handled nowadays. They've become more like fairly priced expansions than content ripped out of the game. It's just the few Day 1 DLCs and vendor-exclusive DLCs that still piss me off.

Edit: Or when vitally important content is locked away behind DLC purchases, such as the Prothean DLC for ME3. Or most of the DLC in ME2. You should not be completely lost in the next game if you missed a few of the DLCs in the previous game, and this was definitely the case with ME2/ME3. If you played ME2 without DLC (which is a nightmare to buy through the Bioware store btw), you missed half the game.
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yes fair enough, Borderlands might be the exception here. but there is no excuse for games like Dishonored imo
 
I like dlc that actually expands the game with more story or new things to do.I dislike dlc like map packs for shooters they should be free ,all it ends up doing is splitting the player base.
 
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