DLC Acceptance

[deanb]

So this has been in my Pocket for a bit:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-07-03-gamer-resistance-to-digital-decreasing-ubisoft

 

Interview with Ubisoft about how DLC is getting more and more mainstream, but we're not talking stuff like Festival of Blood, or map packs, but even stuff like a "time saver" pack for showing the locations of collectibles. I don't tend to get much DLC, so I'm probably quite the anomaly these days. My housemate got me the Watch_Dogs season pass and tbh I'm not sure what it entails.

 

I guess I'm fine with stuff like this as long as it doesn't affect the main game (which I'm now having flashbacks to discussion on ME2 and where the fine line is on if stuff got "taken out" of the main game to become DLC. Not sure I want to re-open that one ). I haven't actually played ACIV, would anyone say the collectibles were done in any way more nefariously than previous AC games? I don't much care for collectibles either I guess.

 

I feel sometimes that maybe I am missing out a bit by not going for the DLC or IAPs and micro-transaction stuff. I know Saint's Row has some pretty shitty DLC in the form of invincibility and bobble heads that were just cheat codes in past games.

 

I guess I can vaguely understand his time vs money elements, and I guess that's how a fair chunk of the world works. Anyone ever gone "ah fuck it I can't be arsed to grind for this, here's a buck"?

[TornadoCreator]

I do not and will not accept or buy Disc Locked Content of any kind. If a developer wants money out of me they can make an actually decent game worth fucking paying for for a change.

 

This should not be acceptable. As far as I'm concerned a game is a finished product. I expect no DLC, no patches, no fucking updates... if it's not finished by the time the release day comes, delay and fucking finish it you lazy bastards; don't release it half finished then charge me another £5.99 to see the bit you cut out. I'd not be happy if someone cut the last 10 mins off a film, or tore the last chapter from a book and tried to charge me for them. What makes the games industry think it's so unique that it gets special treatment.

 

I don't support digital distribution, and I will not accept DLC. If a game has DLC or patches I refuse to buy it until the "Game Of The Year" version comes out with all the patches/DLC on the disc... or as I like to call it, the finished version.

[Mister Jack]

I consider that time saver stuff to be a microtransaction, not DLC.  I know for some people it's the same thing, but I believe that downloadable content should actually have, you know, content.  I can't even remember the last DLC I bought that i thought expanded the game in any meaningful way.  I guess maybe the Civ V expansions, but I don't even really consider those DLC the way most people are defining it these days.  Those are proper expansion packs.

[TheMightyEthan]

I didn't notice the collectibles in ACIV being any more nefarious than previous games, other than the fact that the music sheets would run away from you so you had to chase them down, but that added to collecting them so whatever.  And Freedom Cry was a pretty great DLC: it's on separate campaign, not near the size of the main game but still a decent chunk of content, and not anything that could slot into the main game in any reasonable way so you know it wasn't cut out.  It's basically the equivalent of an expansion pack, but smaller.

 

@TC:  That's quite the ridiculously draconian viewpoint you have on the issue; only a Sith deals in absolutes.  Don't buy games with shitty DLC, I agree, but it's silly to condemn the entire concept.

 

*Edit* - Also, you must not have played any game that released in the last 8 years or so, if you refuse to play any game that's ever patched.  And you must not have played any PC games since like 1996.

Edited July 10, 2014 by TheMightyEthan

[Eleven]

With the complexity of games today, i don't think it's reasonable to not expect patches. Day one DLC, sure... but even that isn't really that bad. If you have a few people free doing nothing, why not make some DLC content that may or may not ship with the final product?

 

Anyhoo, @Deanb I don't think AC IV is any different regarding the collectibles. In fact, I think each AC game made it easier and easier to track down collectibles.

 

I did buy a time saver pack, to unlock the last tier of ship upgrades. You could unlock them in-game without paying, but fuck obligatory underwater levels. Those are just so damn slow and stupid I'd rather pay to get it over with.

 

EDIT: I also buy DLC costumes, if they're not too expensive. 

 

EDIT2: Oh and to add to Ethan's post. Freedom Cry is available stand-alone. They should do more of those. I wonder if AC IV multiplayer is available with the Freedom Cry stand-alone?

Edited July 10, 2014 by eleven

[TornadoCreator]

@TC:  That's quite the ridiculously draconian viewpoint you have on the issue; only a Sith deals in absolutes.  Don't buy games with shitty DLC, I agree, but it's silly to condemn the entire concept.

 

*Edit* - Also, you must not have played any game that released in the last 8 years or so, if you refuse to play any game that's ever patched.  And you must not have played any PC games since like 1996.

 

I'm a collector... patches and DLC make collecting difficult and reinforce the idea that online connectivity is standard; which in turn reinforces the move towards digital distribution which makes collecting outright impossible.

 

The thing people forget is how easily a medium can be forgotten, ironically. Remember that 90% of all film made before 1930 is lost, and 50% of all film made before 1950. Film as a medium started in aprox. 1890; if we presume that video games started in 1970, an equivalent would be the loss of almost every game (90%) made before 2010, and the loss of half the games released between 2010 and 2030. For the most part, it would be as though the medium never existed. I don't want the entirety of interactive art to be lost all because it makes more money for people in the short term.

 

I can still play my Mega Drive now, and my Dreamcast... but what about Fallout: New Vegas on the PS3/Xbox 360. That game is lost forever in a few small years because without the servers it can't be patched and it's pretty much unplayable. Then there's games like Titanfall which, being online only will be lost within the decade once the servers are off. I play my Dreamcast regularly, there's every reason to believe I'd still play my PS3 in 2029, (assuming I live to see it). I want to see games that last.

 

Now, I accept that others won't feel the same way. Hell I can even see the value in digital media; after all I use Netflix, Amazon Video, and Spotify. The thing is music and film aren't at risk, CDs and DVDs still get made. Games however are far too frequently digital distribution only, like Shadowrun Returns for example.

 

Oh, and the Sith don't deal in absolutes, that's merely Jedi propaganda

[TheMightyEthan]

Oh, and the Sith don't deal in absolutes, that's merely Jedi propaganda

 

+1

[Alex Heat]

I'm only accepting of the idea that DLC has potential in the form of expansion packs.

 

I say this even though I bought the Unlimited characters in BlazBlue 2 because fuck Score Attack mode and its nonsense.

[Mal]

The only game where I went all out on DLC is Sleeping Dogs but that is mainly due to how much I love that game. My purchases of the DLC is a mix between Sleeping Dogs being a open world game and "Shut up and take (more of) my money!". Other than that, my DLC purchases is pretty scarce. I only recall Bioshock Infinite season pass which is something I won't be doing again anytime soon.

 

So for me, the DLC got to be substantial (I kind of fucked up on Bioshock Infinite) or that I really got to like the game.

[TheMightyEthan]

I tend to only buy DLC's that are fairly significant chunks of additional singleplayer content for a game I already really loved.  Stuff like Freedom Cry or Burial at Sea.  Though I'll admit that Bioware tends to get me with the DLCs for their games.

[Eleven]

I kind of feel the opposite... I tend to skip bigger DLCs, because I'm thinking "does the price even justify the content on this DLC/is it even worthwile", as compared to "fuck it, it's only 2 bucks".

 

Mass Effect DLC is an exception. I also have multiple copies of each game. You just can't get enough Mass Effect.

[TornadoCreator]

I go for Game Of The Year editions where possible, so often I get DLC packed in. Fallout 3 and GTA IV both have fantastic DLC. Thankfully, I got them as a physical release. DmC: Devil May Cry also had good DLC, though sadly it'll likely never get a GOTY or complete edition.

[TheMightyEthan]

GTA IV had more expansion pack style DLC too, which was nice.

[Strangelove]

I used to be every anti-dlc of any kind when i first got into the PS3/360 generation, but Im already used to it. Ive made some pretty foolish purchases as well as good ones. I just go with what I really want when I really want it.

 

That being said, Japanese dlc is really fucking weird. Specifically when it comes to rpgs and fighting games. I don't know how anyone in good conscience can spend money on voice packs or color packs. Thats all kinds of fucked up. Its ALL release day stuff too.

Whats even worse, the new Blazblue has all that stuff plus 2-3 characters that you have to buy as dlc on day one.

Im ok with day one dlc, only if it makes sense. 3 whole characters for $5 as dlc on day one makes no sense to me. $15 extra on day one doesnt feel good to me, but its the only way I would feel like I own a complete game. So Im holding up til the game and dlc are all on sale.

Overall, its all a bit psychological. I think a lot of companies just dont know how to ease the player into it. I don't consider something like what Capcom does to be any more heinous than Activision does with their $15 CoD map packs. Its all just in how you do it.

 

 

 

 

I will say that Im a sucker for costumes though. I love being able to wear different costumes in most games and I will pay for it, even if I still feel like Im being ripped off. 

[Eleven]

^LOL. Me too. I bought those FFXIII-2 costumes.

 

And some Tales ones too!

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I view any anti-DLC viewpoint as incredibly ignorant. Brood War was the best DLC of all time. It just came on a disk at first. I've never had a game ruined or felt incomplete because something was only in the DLC.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, it's certainly possible for DLC to be done really terribly, but to write off the entire category is just ridiculous and arbitrary.

[Vecha]

Eh, I guess I'm stuck in the middle.

I abhor the idea that one day certain games won't be "complete" without DLC/Expansions to the game. Though there are usually "complete GotY!~~~~collection!~~~~


I mean, this kind of happened with the transition from the Xbox to the 360...the servers to the xbox were eventually terminated and I couldn't download the DLC from Jade Empire or KotR. Those DLC packs were of course smaller and less meaningful than today's. 

Now, with all that said, I still sometimes download/pay for DLC.

Guess I'm a hypcrit lol

[Mr. GOH!]

Digital distribution is the future. Affection for physical artifacts is a sickness of a late capitalism materialist culture. It's doubly troubling when one overvalues the physical manifestation of what is essentially an experience, a non-object. It's environmentally unfriendly and weighs down one's soul.

 

I judge each DLC on its individual merits. I ignore stupid costume DLC and only consider buying expansion type DLC.

[TheMightyEthan]

I prefer physical things just because I have more sense of ownership, it's not going to just evaporate because a server for turned off.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

It won't get deleted from your hard drive if the server gets turned off, either.

 

And good luck doing a backup of a physical object.

[TornadoCreator]

It won't get deleted from your hard drive if the server gets turned off, either.

 

And good luck doing a backup of a physical object.

 

Quite right, physical media is far from perfect and with disc protection damn hard, though not impossible, to back up. That said, once I've found a way to rip my discs, I can... backing up digital products is often harder unless the service, or at least the original server is running.

 

I'm a collector though, as I said. For me keeping the physical media in working order and good condition is part of the hobby.

[Vecha]

It won't get deleted from your hard drive if the server gets turned off, either.

 

And good luck doing a backup of a physical object.

I won't need to back up..so far the internet has done a decent job of that and showing how to do it

 

Emulators and such. I'm more than certain we will have a 360 and ps3 emulators down the line.

[Vecha]

Digital distribution is the future. Affection for physical artifacts is a sickness of a late capitalism materialist culture. It's doubly troubling when one overvalues the physical manifestation of what is essentially an experience, a non-object. It's environmentally unfriendly and weighs down one's soul.

I judge each DLC on its individual merits. I ignore stupid costume DLC and only consider buying expansion type DLC.

Well its a mixed bag. I like owning the object as it gives a semblence of control than relying on a company to keep it on a server.

 

Steam is the exception...and its why I hardly buy physical on PC. And slowly I'm starting to buy a game here and there...

 

It feels more like captilism gone wrong for a company to sell you a product than take it away from you years later.

 

Some people like to go ba k and experience a book, movie, TV show...and video games.

 

I'm all for digital once they iron out the kinks and offer more consumer protection( the EU is doing a better job than US)

 

Did I say I loved how steam does it? Lol

[TornadoCreator]

 

It won't get deleted from your hard drive if the server gets turned off, either.

 

And good luck doing a backup of a physical object.

I won't need to back up..so far the internet has done a decent job of that and showing how to do it

 

Emulators and such. I'm more than certain we will have a 360 and ps3 emulators down the line.

 

 

That's actually a genuine worry of mine. Emulators are flawed, quite considerably. I've still yet to see a decent Sega Saturn or Gameboy Advance emulator that runs without glitches or performance issues on even modern PCs. My phone has more processing power than those consoles by at least an order of magnitude at this point; it should be facile, trivial even... but still people haven't managed it. Hell most 8/16-BIt emulators have one or two games that just refuse to work properly. So, modern games like PS3... I don't think I'll live to see decent emulation of the PS3. The cell processor, much like the processors in the Sega Saturn, is counter-intuitive at best. The Saturn came out almost 20 years ago and we've yet to properly emulate it; I wouldn't be shocked we still don't have any decent emulators for the PS3 by 2030. They'll likely have working PS4 emulators before they have working PS3 emulators as x86 is far easier architecture to emulate.