Does DLC lead to piracy?

arknor

arknor

arknor

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does anyone else feel as though most of the DLC that gets released is just going to push people towards piracy?

the majority seems to be content taken from the game before release rather than stuff added to the game after release.
a lot of games released came already with the DLC files on the disc which causes even more of the dlc to be treated with suspicion.

i know a lot of people refuse to buy DLC and just pirate it anyway (people have openly admited to it on these forums , bablonian race from civ v etc) now a lot of these people will probably just think "im pirating the dlc anyway i might aswell start pirating the full games"
the odds are the places people use to get the DLC also are the same places people go to pirate full games and movies

anyone else has came to the same conclusion? obviously some DLC really is worth it but most just seems to be publishers pushing there luck and pushing people towards the places they wish never existed (yarr bay etc)
 
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DLC is definitely driving me away from some games, I wouldn't say towards piracy tho - more to just ignoring games from certain publishers/developers don't buy them, don't pirate them, don't play them.

Mafia 2 is one example - I felt like the developer was trying to make me feel like a thief if I dared to enjoy the game other than in the strict path they wanted, felt like bits of the game was chopped out to add in again as a DLC or just not put effort into in the first place because they thought they could do it later as a chargeable DLC... great job guys last time I buy a 2K Games game...

In contrast take the Mass Effect 2 DLC lair of the shadow broker - 2-3 hours of extra carefully crafted content that added nicely to the game world rounding out the story (and made it interesting to replay the game again). Adding back in some stuff that would traditionally have gotten the chop for being too ambitious. I don't mind at all paying for stuff like that, tho I wish they'd make the aquisition mechanism a bit easier.


I can quite see why this could have the effect of encouraging piracy from certain types of people however and in the case of things like Mafia 2 I'd have a hard time condeming them for it.
 
Far as im aware Just about all the "dlc" for bad company 2 on the pc is already on disc as well. Not that we've had much dlc for that game, map packs that don't come with any new maps for instance....ooh a new mode utilising the same map everyones played to death, someone catch me before i faint at the vast generosity...:rolleyes:

It seems to be a growing trend as well..
 
It depends how its done. Mafia 2, where they have apparently just taken bits of the game and sold it as DLC a couple of weeks after launch is just a big no. People don't want to pay full price for a game, only to recieve half the game.

On contrast, take something like Borderlands. It was released around this time last year, and the devs have been releasing DLCs every 3 or so months with new areas, enemies, weapons and so on, which have clearly been worked on since the game was released, and the add more to the game, while patches have added some of the less important content from these DLCs into the game as well.
The only bad thing was that the original game had no intrusive copy protection... but the DLCs all have SecuROM with 5 installs allowed, which is just stupid. Why add that onto the DLC, but not on the game itself? And it means I'd have to uninstall each DLC seperately in order to get my installs back, which is worse.
 
In my (very simple) view, some DLC is good and some DLC is carp but I really don't see the link between it and piracy. I always thought that wanting something for nothing is what drives people to pirate games, not the actual content of the games or DLC.
The thing of it is, if they pirate it then they obviously want it (for free) so blaming DLC for that is just wrong.
If I don't like some game's DLC because I feel it's been taken out of the game to sell separately rather than developed separately (looking at you, assassins creed 2!) then I just won't buy the DLC (I did buy the game though and enjoyed it).
I can see how it makes a handy excuse for thieving, but that's all it is, an excuse.
 
arknor said:
bablonian race from civ v etc)
Click to expand...

Was this not a pre-order/deluxe edition/steam exclusive special rather than a DLC? Which leads me on to believe some people forget what DLC is.

I agree however, some DLC is quite blatantly a final product game, then chopped into smaller parts to create more profit, from a business standpoint, awesome. From a consumer viewpoint, screw them.

I and many others have grown up with games that were worth the money, without "special edition" only items to entice us to spend more money on a re-skinned model. I understand there's no game out there that makes any of this unbalanced in a multiplayer scenario, it's usually just cosmetics.

But I fear they'll take the next step and make "special edition" products really have an edge on other people in terms of multiplayer games.
Mass Effect 2 has decent DLC, believable content they spent time working on post release. From what I hear borderlands ain't half bad either.
"Expansions" seem to have disappeared into the ether and DLC is the new thing, smaller products for no difference in price.

In the end, it all depends on the DLC, some are worth it, some are not.
 
I would agree that certain DLC pushes me towards piracy. Where the DLC is well done and worth the money (The Zombie Island of Dr Ned) I am happy to part with my money. Where the DLC comes out about 12 seconds after the game (the Mafia DLC - I forget the name) and feels like it should have been included in the first place I have no intention of puchasing it.

Another thing that without any doubt drives me towards piracy 'points' I have to exchange real world money for microsoft points which I can then in turn use to purchase the game that I want and "Oh what a surprise - I can only purchase points in odd denominations". NO. SOD OFF. Pirate it time.

When I was younger I used to pirate loads of games, I havn't pirated a single game that has been available on steam.
 
I've never even looked into how to pirate software, but I must admit that DLC and blatantly unfinished games like Empire TW have made me think twice about laying my hard-earned cash on the counter.

If DLC is a genuine "the community lve this game, lets give them more content" then it's a great thing. If, like is said above, it's basically taken out of the original game it's ****ing fraud!
 
Babylonian will probably be modded in at some point anyway.

DLC doesn't lead to piracy in itself, only bad DLC which is no different to saying a bad game leads to piracy. Borderlands vs Mafia 2 being some good recent examples. The 4 borderlands DLC could probably be compared to a fairly large expansion while Mafia 2s DLC were ripped from the game to make it cost twice as much.
 
I don't believe so - IMO anyone that chooses to pirate a game based on the DLC factor likely has a high propensity to pirate anyway.

It might discourage gamers from buying a particular game (or games from a given publisher as alluded to by Rroff) but I don't think it is converting huge number of people into pirates.
 
No. I think piracy happens anyway irrespective of DLC or not.

I've bought most of my DLC on the 360 (odd bits for PS3 or PC) and I simply ignore it if I'm not interested.
 
I don't think it leads to piracy but it can produce lost sales, I had long awaited Mafia 2 but have ended up not buying it because of the DLC. If in the future a version that includes all the DLC is released, I'll buy it but I'm not even remotely tempted to pirate it.
 
^Interesting point there regarding waiting for a GOTY edition or similar, I think that is fast becoming the way to go (don't buy games on release, wait 9 months or so and get it with all the DLC, fully patched and at a reduced price - Fallout 3 being a great example).

Obviously, not for everyone as many like to play games ASAP after release, personally I don't even have time to play the games I do own never mind new ones though.
 
Hangtime I agree, am in fact waiting for a ME2 GOTY before I buy it, so i will get all the DLCs for it in one go. I have been waiting and waiting, and my patience now grows thin, but it can't be long now one hopes.

I had FO3, and ended up buying a boxset FO3 GOTY from tescos as it worked out cheaper than attempting to buy DLCs online or thru steam. Still happy with the second purchase, but not what the manufacturers intended no doubt.
 
HangTime said:
^Interesting point there regarding waiting for a GOTY edition or similar, I think that is fast becoming the way to go (don't buy games on release, wait 9 months or so and get it with all the DLC, fully patched and at a reduced price - Fallout 3 being a great example).

Obviously, not for everyone as many like to play games ASAP after release, personally I don't even have time to play the games I do own never mind new ones though.
Click to expand...

This actually leads to another type of piracy. People know the inevitable GOTY with all the DLC is released within a year so they pirate the initial game, play it through, then wait for the complete edition to be released and then buy that. I must say I'm very tempted to do that with Dragon Age 2. That is, if Dragon Age 2 is even a good game which doesn't seem likely at this point...

I'm also waiting for DLC discounts which almost never happen unless the DLC is on Steam. I'd like to try that latest ME2 DLC but I'm not planning to pay half of what I paid for the full game for that 2-3 hour DLC. I might be waiting forever as Bioware just doesn't want to do DLC discounts.
 
I've not bothered buying any DLC for Dragon Age (except the add-on Awakenings, and I got that in a sale) or Mass Effect because I don't consider them good value.

It's getting to the point now where it doesn't seem worth buying a game on release. It's better to wait for the inevitable GOTY version with all the DLC included, which is also much cheaper.

I too bought thr GOTY Fallout 3 just to get the DLC. I bought it for £15, and sold my old copy for a fiver (One of the few PC games you can sell), so it only cost me £10!
 
The following really annoys me a lot.

Dragon Age Ultimate Edition annouced, includes all the DLC and x-pack and costs 19.99 (from play)..

I currently have Dragon age already but would be cheaper to buy the ultimate edition then the DLc seperate by quite a bit.

Basicly Biowares message from that to me was "Don't bother buying any games at release from us, we will just release it later in the year with all the dlc for cheap"

They we probably do the same with Mass Effect 2, just as well I didn't buy that yet... Think I paid for the Online edition of Dragon age too, 30-40 pound odd at release, pretty miffed.


Infact more and more I've already stopped buying games that aren't MP focused and just wait for the GOTY packs (Borderlands, Fallout 3 etc) with all the dlc as its much cheaper.
 
Most DLC is rubbish anyway but I agree when people see developers shipping games with hidden content to be unlocked later on for yet more money it probably fuels resentment.

DLC has simply become a way for developers to milk gamers further, I really do hate this PS3/360 generation because it seems to be all about increasing profits in any way possible even single player mode is neglected to a large extent nowadays.
 
AVP2 has dlc but as I've only played 21hrs - I'm not buying it, especially at ~£10 each. I got L4D2 around the same time and played that 242hrs so far, and the new content is coming out as a patch...

Battlefield heroes, I never payed for battlefunds, just waited for the special offers and got US Dr.Pepper codes from people on teamspeak.

DLC is not a reason to pirate, and the OP sounds to me that he is trying to justify his actions by nitpicking DLC.

I pirated GTA4:LC but I went and bought it after I found it kept me interested and to get the multiplayer.

Just look at TF2, if u want great DLC buy from valve. I know its going into microtransactions but IMO, it will just level the playing field a little better for those who don't have as much spare time as others.
 
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