You have no idea what was cut out in games years ago to be saved for expansions. I'm sure you will also be aware that they would have had planned expansions while the main game was being developed.
I'm pretty sure they didn't just release a game and then think"ohh what can we do for an expansion now we are bored"
Yes it's got worse no doubt but to claim it's not been there for many many years but just dressed up as something else is completely wrong.
TBH you do hold valid concerns if not repeated consistently. I just don't agree that it was all rosy back then as it wasn't.
Yes no doubt it would have been the same back then but as you said, it just seems worse now and it appears that the more important/good stuff has been removed for dlc purposes as after all, it is more appealing for people to buy those ideas/content over some skins, bonus money or whatever. Back then, it was just the start of "expansions" so the publishers/developers would have been testing the waters.
BC 2 was great, we got free maps added to the base game and the paid for DLC (vietnam) for that was superb, it could have been sold as a separate game and if that was released now, chances are it would have been, much like hardline
What really irked me was battlefront, released with 4 maps for the main game mode... (with 1 map held as a pre-order/DLC bonus) and during the hype/trailers, youtubers (think it was neebs gaming crew) were told that space battles hadn't been left out for dlc purposes, fast forward to death star DLC...
Likewise with batman arkham knight, I only just recently learned that they had cut out boss battles, which were somewhat tied into the main story line for season pass/dlc owners...
Even some basic things that were apart of mafia 2 gameplay have been withheld for mafia 3 DLC purposes.
But that is how things like this get to this point, they start of small where no one bats an eyelid and sees it is an advantage then before you know it, we get to a certain stage where people start to notice and then mouth of about it, however, they have no choice but to cough up if they want to get said content and just accept that is the way of life now.
The fact is those moaning about it on a regular basis will be playing it as it's pretty much the same people who moaned about BF3/BF4 before putting hundreds of hours into it.
Vote with your wallet.
If they have fixed/improved the game mechanics, I'll probably get it, got no problems paying up to £40 as like bc 2, bf 3 and 4, chances are I'll get at least 300 hours from it. However, I won't be buying premium this time round (unless I can get it for dirt cheap) as all it does is split the community + myself and the 5+ others I played bf 3/4 with didn't bother bother with the DLC maps either due to 1+ of us not having them or/and just being of crap quality.
for no apparent rhyme or reason for instance even after the supposed fix I will still frequently blow myself up when I hit a target with the TV missile in BF4 instead of the target it has just hit - while other people can launch them all day and never have it happen.
