DLC? More like Deliver Less Crappiness

1 March 2014

Have you noticed the recent trend of releasing loads of ridiculous DLC for games that were perfect in the first place?

For example, Gearbox recently announced they would be launching the last DLC pack for Borderlands 2 – it only took 18 months to get to this point. 18 months of skins, 2 level cap increases, and some really short DLC missions.

Is all this DLC worth the money? Do gamers really desire Borderlands 2 head skins to make characters look like they fit a holiday theme; a wolf skin for the dog in Call of Duty Ghosts? Do we need all this, or is this just a way to keep the funds coming in way after release?

I appreciated the original Borderlands DLC packs; 4 extra campaigns with great story driven content, and that was it. No complicated head hunter packs and skins that really don’t add anything to the game’s experience.

The sad thing about this situation is that it is starting to feel like developers are just putting together half-baked ideas.

Let’s look at the upcoming Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The game boasts its customizable costumes and weapons, and I bet that in the days after release we will hear about “themed” packs that will add “Value” to the game. Square -Enix are smart – they will release classic costume bundles, something nostalgic gamers will buy, and by the looks of the Pre-Order incentive (Cloud Strife costume), this is bound to happen.

We need to stop wasting cash on DLC that has no purpose. It’s becoming a norm now that developers suck the life from a game to make an extra buck, but at the same time they are sucking the gamer’s wallet dry too.

Think about all the DLC you have purchased last year. How many full games could you have bought with the money spent on gun skins, dog skins, and 10 minute long Borderlands 2 missions?

Season Passes aren’t even clear about what you receive now. Before, owning a Season Pass would mean that you would never need to spend money on the game again. Now it’s not uncommon to log in and see content advertised that for some reason isn’t included in the season pass.

I would much rather just wait for the developers to do something constructive with their time and make me a sequel. I would be spending three times as much cash on the DLC anyway.

Maybe I just prefer the days when a disc-based game was all you got, and if there was more story to tell there would be an expansion, or a whole new game.

Gamers were once in charge, but now I’m sorry to say, many are mindlessly following buying in to publisher decisions to sell digital content that has no purpose.

Why cant a game just have the perfect level cap when it is released? Why do we need to pay to progress further?

What are your thoughts on the DLC claims of “value added content”? Do you think that it is a waste or a good buy? Let us know in the comments below.

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  1. Kane
    03.03.2014 at 05:03

    “or is this just a way to keep the funds coming in way after release?”

    I think you may be onto something groundbreaking here….

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