How do people feel about dlc in general. (downloadable content/a paid expansion)

[RegentRelic]

If you answer anything besides two or three I ask you, why? Personally I put two and three since they are great way to get more of games we love and are a source of alternative revenue that doesn't really on cpt's.

 

alternative revenue - source of revenue beyond or in replace of game sells.

cpt - cheap psychological tricks as defined by Richard Bartle.

Two best - dlcs in my opinion Shivering Isles and Brood War.

[RegentRelic]

18 hours ago, Dum_Gen said:

'm not sure about terminology, but aren't Shivering Isles and Brood War expansions?

If want to be technical shivering isles is dlc since it is unplayable without oblivion, but brood war is an expansion since doesn't add on any thing or download anything to starcraft. They are usually functional the same so, I am including booth.

Edited March 6, 2021 by RegentRelic

[odizzido]

DLC is almost always a cash grab and rarely even okay. Often times they make the game worse whether you buy it or not. I am looking at you paradox. Paradox is so bad for that.

 

The worst part is that steam force patches your stuff and most games are steam exclusives. If they wanted to mess a game up after you buy it okay, but don't force patch me to that trash version. That's why I don't pay more than about six dollars for games on Steam anymore which means I haven't purchased a game on there in years. I don't know how people stand it.

[Stoutlander]

The truth about most dlc's and expansions is that they are shameless ways to extort money from game fans. A more accurate way to describe most dlc's is that they are part of the original game that has been held back for ransom. Bethesda is a master of this. They try to make the perception that the dlc's were planned and made after the game came out but it's all smoke and mirrors. Gaming extortion with a cute little name.

[starlin]

On 3/6/2021 at 7:13 AM, RegentRelic said:

If you answer anything besides two or three I ask you, why? Personally I put two and three since they are great way to get more of games we love and are a source of alternative revenue that doesn't really on cpt's.

 

alternative revenue - source of revenue beyond or in replace of game sells.

cpt - cheap psychological tricks as defined by Richard Bartle.

Two best - dlcs in my opinion Shivering Isles and Brood War.

Broodwar wasn't DLC though, it was a full on expansion. 

[starlin]

9 hours ago, Stoutlander said:

The truth about most dlc's and expansions is that they are shameless ways to extort money from game fans. A more accurate way to describe most dlc's is that they are part of the original game that has been held back for ransom. Bethesda is a master of this. They try to make the perception that the dlc's were planned and made after the game came out but it's all smoke and mirrors. Gaming extortion with a cute little name.

Before or after 2007? Expansions prior to the big MMO/Live service boom were smart ideas for platforms that could support it.  Rather then have to buy and install a whole new game (which is how it used to work), you can just install an update to the existing game and have access to both content blocks within the same program.  Expansions were often cheaper then full games, and anywhere from maybe half to a full campaign unto itself. 

 

DLC on the other hand was born from the Modding scene.  Being able to add to the game via official channels, and pay for the dev time invested to create it. Usually things too small to be in a proper expansion, and could realistically slot into the base game, or be off shoot of it. 

 

Just because it sucks now doesn't give cause to forget its roots.  Because at some point we're gonna wanna go back to that older model, since its apparent newer models are getting progressively worse.  But you also need to keep in mind, people don't play games they way they used to either.  A start to finish game is never enough now.  People always keep demanding more stuff be added after the fact; some with willful blindness to the fact it still costs money to keep production going.  Single game sales is not enough to keep a studio going in the long run, as theres a finite amount of players in the market for a type of game. You can lure in the stragglers over time.... but unlike wildlife in this game, they are not effectively infinite. 

An expansion or DLC is a low cost way of bolting on extra content and play time without having to the go the route of a whole new game.  Wintermute would had been a prime candidate for this; and fans of both story and survival mode benefit from the fact that HL is financially stable enough to do that for free.  Nor should anyone take for granted that HL's staff are running as lean as they do, considering the entirety of the kickstarter wouldn't even cover their salaries if they were working their old jobs.  Not to mention indie games, much less the more niche ones, don't sell well. 

 

The success of TLD is a major outlier, no where near the norm.  So it irks me that "Gamers TM" probably aren't learn going to the lesson they should have.... because if we want this to start happening more, both sides of the system need to start recognizing and understanding the synergy that makes this work the way it does.  And more importantly, being able to raise a new generation of Dev talent... because theres only so many vets left who aren't just pissed off at the whole industry, and left it by now.  Alumni are good for helping to start a new studio. But at some point they're gonna retire, and we need capable people to take their place.  Why do you think so many studios get swallowed by big publishers, and eventually die in shame or suffering? 

[RegentRelic]

 

8 hours ago, starlin said:

Broodwar wasn't DLC though, it was a full on expansion. 

 

On 3/6/2021 at 10:37 AM, RegentRelic said:

brood war is an expansion since doesn't add on any thing or download anything to starcraft. They are usually functional the same so, I am including booth.

 

[Stoutlander]

9 hours ago, starlin said:

Before or after 2007? Expansions prior to the big MMO/Live service boom were smart ideas for platforms that could support it.  Rather then have to buy and install a whole new game (which is how it used to work), you can just install an update to the existing game and have access to both content blocks within the same program.  Expansions were often cheaper then full games, and anywhere from maybe half to a full campaign unto itself. 

 

DLC on the other hand was born from the Modding scene.  Being able to add to the game via official channels, and pay for the dev time invested to create it. Usually things too small to be in a proper expansion, and could realistically slot into the base game, or be off shoot of it. 

 

Just because it sucks now doesn't give cause to forget its roots. ...

Blah, blah, blah.

I've played video games since I was a teenager when Pong came out. Spare me your revisionist history. DLC was not "born from the modding scene" as you like to think. I remember well when Bethesda's released their first DLC for Oblivion. It was FREE on a disc included in PC / Xbox 360 Gamer magazine. People passed around the disc with their friends, it was sought out, ( I still have mine). Then Bethesda began charging for content released (and re-released) others - including their first that was utterly pathetic, the infamous "horse armour". Fast forward to Fallout 76 and in between. Shameless cash grabs. They had very enjoyable games, - Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, N.V., & 4, but it doesn't require one to not acknowledge truth.

So no, I haven't forgotten "its roots".

[Old Hermit]

An example of ridiculous DLC use is selling character (and even special moves!) on fighting games.

It means that the content was already made on product launch, and is not fully released only for shamelessly profit.

[starlin]

12 hours ago, Stoutlander said:

Blah, blah, blah.

I've played video games since I was a teenager when Pong came out. Spare me your revisionist history. DLC was not "born from the modding scene" as you like to think. I remember well when Bethesda's released their first DLC for Oblivion. It was FREE on a disc included in PC / Xbox 360 Gamer magazine. People passed around the disc with their friends, it was sought out, ( I still have mine). Then Bethesda began charging for content released (and re-released) others - including their first that was utterly pathetic, the infamous "horse armour". Fast forward to Fallout 76 and in between. Shameless cash grabs. They had very enjoyable games, - Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, N.V., & 4, but it doesn't require one to not acknowledge truth.

So no, I haven't forgotten "its roots".

So disks count as downloads for this argument?  I guess that explains your whole thing. 

[odizzido]

On 3/8/2021 at 11:20 PM, starlin said:

and fans of both story and survival mode benefit from the fact that HL is financially stable enough to do that for free

I have issue when people say hintlerland is releasing free content. No. Hinterland released an unfinished game which you could pay for early to gamble on them both finishing it and that it would be good. I took that gamble myself. It's not free content, I pre-paid for it.

[Stoutlander]

13 hours ago, starlin said:

So disks count as downloads for this argument?  I guess that explains your whole thing. 

Why wouldn't they? Ever see one of the many "game of the year" editions on disc from Bethesda which have the games and all the dlc??? Is it the delivery method that makes the added content??? Even the gaming companies that release dlc on discs still refer to it as dlc on the packaging, the disc itself, and their advertising for it. I'm sure you can wrap your head around it. If not, take it up with the gaming companies if you have a problem with it.

OP asked for opinions. I gave mine and explained why. Stop hijacking the thread.

[Luca Loquax]

TLD is my fav game of all time and I would very much like to have the opportunity to support Hinterland in more development. 

[Thelek]

*(warning)* I intend to mention other developers in this post. This is not to sway people's opinions or get them to play other games. It is simply a comparison of what have been good DLC's and bad ones.

 

I typically don't care for DLC. As stated in the poll, most are just desparite attempts at a cash grab and are usually pretty much garbage. I have been gaming since the mid 80's and have found very few DLC that were worth the money. Ibelieve Bathesda, Fun Com, and Hello Games have done the best, with Hello Games far in the lead. H.G. Has released DLC sized updates with no extra cost to the player. In fact since started playing their title about 2 years ago, all i have ever spent on the game Is the $20 to buy it. There has never aDLC to buy and there are no in game micro transactions. The only way to get ahead in the game is to work your @$$ off and earn it. Much like TLD.

 

Bathesda and FunCom have released paid DLC's that cost the gamer about $29/ea. These DLC were well thought out and, imho, made the games much better rather than just being a blatent cash grab in the style of E.A. PWI, and many others. In fact, usually when a developer pulls a stunt like E.A., i tend to stop playing ANY titles produced by them and only get their other games if they are 100% free such as with the Xbox games weth gold. ( i know that games aquired in this manner are not technacally fre since i pay $12/mo for  game pass, but i would be paying for it with or w/out the bonus games, so i count them as free.) ^[insert Turbo Tax commercial here]^

 

So, i just took a long winded approach to answer this question. I am not againstDLC as long as it isn't an obvious cash grab and reasonably priced. But i believe Hinterland has done right in releaseng what others would be selling as DLC as free content. I think by doing it this way, they will find that when they release their next project, that the customer satisfaction and loyalty will pay off for them.