Chargeable Download Content

Razor Time

Razor Time

Razor Time

Soldato
Joined
1 Apr 2010
Posts
3,035
Chargeable DLC is starting to creep its way onto pc's at an alarming rate.

Companies are releasing partially finished games and are charging us for the rest of the game via DLC. This has been happening on consoles for some time now and it is starting to creep onto the pc where DLC was always traditionally free. One company which seems to be doing this allot lately is 2k.


- Borderlands had 3 chargeable DLC's with in 3 months of the games release.

- Bioshock also had chargeable DLC which was included on the actual disc.

- Mafia 2 would have been out less than 2 weeks and already there is chargeable DLC for was has been described as a short game.


I don't mind paying for DLC if it adds to an already complete game. However when companies release a game which is already short and then offer the rest of the game via chargeable DLC with in a few weeks/months of the games release it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and makes me feel as though I am getting shafted.
 
Spektor said:
So rather than getting a £15 expansion 1-2 years later, which pretty much all games have done always. Now met with the convenience of technology they can deliver multiple £5 smaller expansions every 6-9 months.

Net result in actual terms: No difference other than the player being able to get access newer, smaller amounts of content, quicker.

Net result you're trying convey: OMG! STEALING MY MONIES FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU!
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Not really what I am getting at. Take Mafia 2 for example. The game takes about 10 hours to complete and chargeable DLC is going to be released with in 2 weeks of its UK release. This basically just shows that the full game was not released and that they have held back part of the game for chargeable DLC.

UbiSoft used to do this allot with their console games. Games like GRAW would get released with not a great amount of multiplayer maps. 2-3 months later out would come a map pack with a few new levels and some old levels but instead if it being in the day time it might be set at night. In reality there was no reason why these maps weren't included in the original game and were only held back so Ubisoft could sell us these maps.

I have no problems in paying for genuine extra game content and sometimes welcome it. Games like Fable 2 had chargeable DLC which on an already massive game was fair enough. I was happy to pay for this. I also have no problems with expansion packs like the Command and Conquer series has.
 
Spektor said:
Yes but your original statement in your OP was how alarmed you were at the rate paid DLC was creeping onto the PC and in particular low quality DLC. What I'm saying is poor quality games with poor post-release support has existed before the age of digital distribution; DLC is not what is at fault here and hasn't changed anything other than make it easier for a good developer to get good content to you or easier for a bad developer to get bad content to you.
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This is what is alarming me the most (see quote below). It has nothing to do with how good or bad a game is but how devs are now releasing 70% of the game and charging us full price. Then 2 weeks later are charging us again for the rest of the game.



Evilsod said:
is that things are being left half finished or deliberately left out so they could be sold later.
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Evilsod said:
Razor it looks like you got a perfect example of it just now. Kane n Lynch 2, released 19th August.

Current date, 1st September, not even 2 weeks later, there are 3 DLCs available. 1 of them is purely a weapon set for multiplayer for 3euro and are probably broken to encourage you to buy it, 1 literally has masks in it for multiplayer for 2euro, probably all reskins of each other, and the 3rd is a couple of maps and some more guns for 6euro.

I guess it figures when i've seen nothing but bad reviews for it.
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Thats another good example. I didn't know KnL2 had chargeable DLC.
 
Spektor said:
But what you two apparently are actually posting about is an unsubstantiated conspiracy of developers making a 'complete' game then arbitrarily cropping a chunk of content, then selling it weeks later having pretended to be working on supporting the game,
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Bioshock 2 has the DLC on the actual Disc.

Mafia 2 DLC is being released 2 weeks after the full game has been released and there are posts floating about which are saying some of this DLC can be unlocked from the already installed game ie its already on the disc.

Kane and Lynch 2 has only been out for 3 or so weeks and already there is DLC.

You dont have to be Einstein to work out that these devs have purposely held back part of the game to sell as DLC.
 
Cycrow said:
as i said, some developers/publishers might do this to make a profit, but just coz some do, doesn't mean all devs are like that
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The point some are trying to make is that this behaviour is becoming more and more common in pc gaming. No one is accusing all devs/publishers of doing this. :)
 
kylew said:
I really can't beleive how much difficulty you two are having in understanding what Spektor is saying.
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I cant beleive how much difficulty you are having understanding what we are saying.

No one is slating all devs/publishers. What we are saying is that there seems to be a move towards this practice by certain companies in the gaming industry. If we fast forward 5 years would payable DLC on games be the norm? ie we pay full price for a game and with in 2 weeks payable DLC is released for another £10 which we should have got with the full game. Add to this the DLC is already included on the disc we already paid for. The reasons why Bioshock and Mafia are mentioned are that 2k seems to like this method of DLC.

If you go back 5 years having payable DLC would be virtually unheard of on the pc.

If you are happy to pay for 80% of a game and then a further sum of cash for the rest of the game then great. I for one am not happy with doing this and see this type of DLC as pure greed and a con.
 
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kylew said:
"Payable" DLC wasn't heard of on PC 5 years ago, no, but expansions were, and you don't see them all too often now do you? As I said, DLC is now what expansions were 5 years ago. Map packs and the like don't really count, they really are just excuses to sell stuff.

Think about expansion packs now that have no retail/boxed copies, they're basically "DLC". It is content that you download, it's just the method of delivery. To say imply that it's wrong because there are free "DLCs" going around is looking at the delivery method as a reference.
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I totally understand what you are saying with regards to how the content is delivered. As I have said I have no issues with expansion packs and allot of the DLC. I do have an issue with games which are short and then the devs/publishers release the content I should have had for extra cash 2 weeks later which is already on my disc.
 
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Evilsod said:
Meh, if the MW2 boycott proved anything, people are full of ****. Its quite a leap to believe half the people that said no were not just jumping on the bandwagon and would buy it anyway.
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Very true mate.



kylew said:
The main problem that makes DLC look bad is the devs who are using it as a tool to scam their customers. If people didn't buy it, it wouldn't be a problem, but idiots buy the stupid MW2 map packs for £12, I don't get that.
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I totally agree. If no one bought it they would see there was no money in it and stop trying to rip us off. The only way to stop the crap DLC is by refusing to buy it.

I did think the pc community would be a hard nut to crack for rip off DLC as its allot easier to pirate DLC on the pc and we have large modding communities. I guess the console mentality is spilling over to the pc and people are used to decent DLC so when a rip off DLC arrives on the pc the fuss isn't as big as it should be.
 
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