DLC on Disc is NOT Okay. The end.

Binge Gamer writes: Let's put the nail in the coffin over this 'downloadable content on the disc issue' that becomes a topic time and time again.

The issue here isn't if DLC is a good thing or not, take that argument elsewhere. The issue here isn't if charging for DLC is a good thing or not, again, take that elsewhere. This is ONLY about the content of the "DLC" already on the disc of the game you own. So to access the content of the disc you own, you have to pay more money, this is it.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

When DLC takes one second to install... that is suspect.

[Simon_Brezhnev]

Scamcom and Scamco are the main victims. Seriously shouldnt it be against to law to charge you for something already on disc. If this was a blu-ray or dvd movie and the companies charged you extra for a deleted scene they would get sued.

[champ21]

Stop bending over then.

DLC trend came in due to fanbois thinking they are getting a good deal.

Originally the trend started by none other then Microsoft (we all know microsoft is known for its milking attitude toward its base).

Fanbois thought its great since PC or PS3 users arent getting it, hence they supported it.

Now its gotten to a point where dlc (DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT) is present on the disc(how is content present on the disc, called DOWNLOADABLE? its just beyond me).

Bottom line stop supporting it, even if its microsoft having something exclusive released for the 360 or Sony doing something for the PS3. Keep the fanboisim aside for the moment will be better for the entire gaming community.

[Bereaver]

When development costs are not over costly, and understand what I mean is that it took too long to develop. Then, it should have just been released without something, and then continually developed after that for DLC. But making the game ready with current development costs, and applying use of it later, just seems like you're being double dipped. That second dip, always has a little dirt on it, no matter how little of a dip you take.

Anyway, that's why I don't buy a lot of DLC. I just don't like it.

[Baka-akaB]

@champ21

Agreed , all started with apologists and their "if you dont like it , you dont have to buy it " , and even worse apologists : fanboys .

choices , if you dont like it dont buy it ? yeah right ....
By happily accepting the trend to begin with , you slowly forced everyone's hand , as predicted from the very beginning .

If you actually have friends , and you all play a particular fps , and then come along a map pack , what are you going to do ? Be tossed aside with the old map lists while everyone you know switched to new ones ?

If you are a soccer or any other sport fans , and the only ways for you to have updated stats and rosters , are to spend days in horribly (and on purpose so) designed edit mode , or to buy a season stats dlc ? what will you do ?

The dice are now so rigged that you would only skip dlcs for single player games , and then you are cheated out of the full and original game .. for ome BS about developpement cost or time issues .

Basically consoles manufacturers and devs , took the greatest aspect of PC gaming , the ability to patch , and turned it into a business , without even giving us at least modding options , in most cases .
That truly is the one ugly aspect of current console gaming .

[champ21]

@Baka Akab

I been gaming on PC for more then 15years now. Dont own any of the consoles.

I belive devs are using consoles as a way of taking away freedom. Since PC was the only platform to support online gaming things were free and no one controlled it, users made content as a pashion new ideas were evolving all the time.

When online came to consoles, it was new for many people. On the PC it would have been outrageous if we were asked to pay to go online or get charged for additional content(now called DLC). Since all of this was new for the console industry it was taken advantage of.

Now all we have are greedy developers trying to control the market by consolising the market.

Its no secret that consoles can support modding, PS3 proved that with UT, however due to greed devs will not allow such freedom on their games. Its one of the reasons id always be a PC gamer, asides the superior quality on all the games.

[Baka-akaB]

it's no secret consoles makers always want to control their market .
It is just particularly ugly this gen and now splashing everywhere .

I cannot follow you however , on the so called superior quality of PC games .
I see that argument on a now daily basis from rather insecure pc only players ... and they need to move on from it .

People dont buy consoles hoping or thinking they are superior to pc , on a technical level . They follow games that arent available at all on pc (just like some pc games are exclusives) , and additionally can play pc/consoles multiplatform games in a way they feel cheaper or easier to them (at least at first glance) .

Constantly going on about inferior consoles version of a same game , isnt helping the pc cause ... it would be rather silly if it wasnt , and well any kid can log and rightfully say , "who cares ? it's not like you got GoW 3.." :p

But i diverge ... screw dlcs .

I also dont believe it wouldnt made its way on PC as well . it was no secret that PC publishers often tried to take freedom back , way before the current consoles .
Hell that was and still is basically the reason for mmo subscriptions , when clearly many alternative free models existed and exist .

[Dac2u]

@champ21 - The DLC trend can be traced back to the PC. All expansions are a version of what we now call DLC. The only difference is that expansions were sold on a disc. Both offer the same thing though, additional game content for a price. So, this isn't something that's been brought on by console gaming; console gaming just made it more popular. It would have hit the PC market eventually, regardless of what the consoles were doing.

[Baka-akaB]

Yup that's again even why publishers jump into the mmo trend with frenzy .
They are more than happy to limit pc gamer's freedom for greed as well

[champ21]

@Dac2u

Agreed we always had Expansions, however expansions were seperate games. It wasnt like it was present on the same disc.

Also we were always given freedom to mod our games, increase a games life by making custom maps.

My point is console gamers should stand up, ask for dedicated servers, ask for mod capabilities. why not? after all games sell so well on consoles. No point paying devs for every map pack released.

As for the MMOs on the PC, its the cheapest form of entertainment one can get. Take the example of an MMO like WOW, it gets constant updates which are all free new content. Normally when one plays an MMO they dont buy any other game. People get hooked on it for months maybe years. To some it might sound outrages to be playing the same game for so long, however on a cost basis its the cheapest form of entertainment you can get. Its certainly cheaper then getting 1-2 games a month.

[Inside_out]

What a pile of horse do-do...Picked up Bioshock 2 recently, cost a pretty penny ( $80 )...now I find out DLC is on the Disc but we have the pleasure of paying for it...They are only hurting their fan base by doing this...worse...If you like the game, you will have to buy it...Sad but true...greed has no bounds...

Is there a list of developers that have done this in the past...Interested in seeing that...

[rambi80]

The only DLC i ever bought was for Burnout Paradise

i REFUSE to buy map packs
Originally those things were given to encourage ppl to keep playng a game. The game was kept alive and hence encouraged new customers over a longer time period.

[Man In Black]

These a$$holes could learn a thing or two from Rockstar...

[PacoDG]

@cez of rage

There was a list being compiled at one point http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

Unfortunately it was during a time when most did not really grasp what was going on (and I still think that is happening today, people see this as an issue of 'is DLC good or bad' or 'should DLC be free'.. which are both separate discussions that have nothing to do with the DLC being on the disc).

[Pika-pie]

Im fine with DLC additional content.

But... I think we can all agree that charging money to access additional data thats already on the disc you just paid £40 is just plain disgusting and hopefully the law will clamp down on this as wrong.

I wouldnt buy any game that does this.

[The Wood]

the truth.

[WildArmed]

Agreed. I just don't see the logic of 'holding' back content.

If they worked on it after the game was published, i may be inclined to buy it.. but tough luck..
I only bought 1 DLC and I regret doing so.. CoD4 map pack lol

Now I just get my DLC free w/ competition from playstation.com

I just got free K2 map pack from PSblog <3

[Megaton]

The first instance of this I can remember was Scamco Bandai doing it with Beautiful Katamari. It was bullshit then, and it's bullshit now. One of the scummiest ways DLC is abused.

[The Wood]

who's giving them these ideas.

[Redempteur]

Bandai is defintly one of the worst when it comes to dlc

Character's dlc for a fighting game ? way to destroy balance ! ( soul calibur 4 )

Dlc levels points and skills points for an rpg ? ( tales of vesperia ? )

Let's not forget Idolm@ster dlc overdose.. with each character UNABLE to reach some place( status ) without the dlc .. ( this is something that should have been in the game ).

But not so far is ubisoft ... the ending of prince of persia as dlc ? ( why do you put the ending for your game in dlc ?)
Assasin creed 2 dlc missions to actually cut the story WHEN it GET AWESOME just to milk this ... as much as i enjoyed the game that move was so dirty i sweared i'll never buy the dlc ..

Even if i dislike capcom street fight 4 dlc , at least the game is complete without it but then again i'm reminded of resident evil 5 "versus mode " ...At least this is somewhat forgotten since they releaased the recent missions pack that were actual TRUE dlc ...

[Def Warrant]

I agree. What Crapcom did with the Resident Evil 5 DLC was the scummiest move in all of gaming history in my opinion really. That is basically theft. They also had the nerve to charge gamers for the activation key...seriously??? nar i mean SERIOUSLY???

I'm just glad i didn't buy that pos. I couldn't live with myself knowing i'm giving my money to such scum. Glad i skipped on FF13 also. That was just a mediocre mess.

[Simon_Brezhnev]

u got me LMAO.

Look at what they doing with Super Street fighter 4 telling everybody its big an update to make it just DLC. Now the Turtle Fighter 4 fans are going to bítch about how sport games no different.

[Darkfiber]

It's not Capcom making you pay for it, it's Micro$oft.

[drzmvp554]

yeah because Microsoft definitely owns Capcom?

[sukru]

I'd get lots of disagrees, but I believe Capcom is only accused by fault.

The versus mode was a new game mode (as name suggests), requiring minimal amount of art assets, but mainly software code. It was several hundreds of KB, but for a reference Diablo 2 main game DLL is only 1MB (that's an entire game!).

Maybe what they should've done would be including an extra map, which would increase the size to 100MB+, then people would not complain.

[Def Warrant]

In before some loser comes and says "bu bu but it's ok i don't care, i'd buy every dlc. doesn't matter if it's on the disk i'll pay more for gimped content". lol

You know someone will be here saying such nonsense.

[PotatoClock]

But But But! I love paying extra money for DLC! Especially when they had time to make it before the game was even released, means it must be worth the $30 for the 2 'special vip' maps!......Yeah Nah.
DLC is a scam, I remember when there was no such thing, and you could download as many maps as you wanted and pay $0.
At least then you get maps that are actually creative, not this 'manufactured, same maps from a game you released years before' crap *cough IW *cough

[champ21]

That was back when gamers had freedom of speech. Oh wait it still exists on the PC.

I love the modded content on TF2.

[rawrockkillz]

Charging for DLC is not okay.

[BeaArthur]

I agree, personally I think that all DLC that releases within the first month or two and isn't free is not okay.

[dazzalfc]

I don't mind DLC when its done right. Burnout Paradise was probably my favourite game in that aspect. Obviously, if its on the disc to begin with, then that definitely isn't ok.

[Corrwin]

Because I don't mind being "rewarded" for buying a game New, but to have to pay for something I've already bought (yeah, I know technically it's Licensed and I don't own any of it), is just flipping me the bird for being a loyal customer.

[Gun_Senshi]

Good DLC: Burnout Paradise

Bad DLC: asking for money for data already on disc *cough CAPCOM cough*

That said I hate DLC because there is no XBL/PS Store where I Live :(

At least now I can buy PSN Vouchers :D

Bottom Line: For years, DLC on PC was free, which also is way better then current gen DLC

[Corrwin]

Uhhh... DLC on PC was quite rare outside Expansions, and these were almost never free. If anything was offered for free, it was usually part of a patch.

Also, the DLC for Burnout Paradise was free because they were finishing an incomplete game. The DLC added Day/Night, Weather, Bikes, Custom Soundtrack for PS3... stuff most other racers came with.

As soon as they had "finished" the game, they switched to a paid-for model. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm glad they actually completed the game - so many others are incomplete, whilst paid-for DLC seems to be pushed out on release (Assassin's Creed II, Far Cry II e.g.)

[Baka-akaB]

it's simple the word dlc didnt exist .

And no it wasnt rare at all to get freebies via patch . Blizzard alone made it an habit .
Now what do you think will happen with SC2 ? i smell paid maps and units .

And even on console if you look closely , you'll notice in many games extra modes and bonus , like in Zone of the enders 2 , the multiplayer fighting mode .

In this day and age , it would be on the disk , locked with some BS reason , and unlockable via a fee .

[hamoor]

this is bullsh1t!!!
Its like
If you want to see the end of the game pay 5$ please
And there is some serious sh1t
Just look at sonic kart whatever they call it
They dare to realezse a 5$ dlc just for unlocking all the characters from the beginning when you can actually unlock them for free by just completing the game!!!
WHAT IN THE WORLDS THEY WERE THINKING?

[LeonhartX]

well in my opinion it shouldn't be done on the 360 because of the piracy just like resident evil 5 gold edition the dlc was present on the disc on PS3 whereas on 360 you redeem the codes when you purchase the disc which is fair isn't it ?
But i hate the dlc and never care about in the first place....

[jjesso1993]

Well then stop supporting it then the only reason they do this is becuase time and time again people continue to buy even through they know they are getting ripped of i bet 9/10 times people come on here slag it of and then buy the simple way is devs will put more qualtiy in dlc when people show they want it. DLC is good thing and helps expand games and keep them getting bigger, people complain about paying dlc you dont think cost money employ people to make dlc? think of little big planet without it dlc ? or halo without maps if people dont want devs to but things on the disc show them they lose big time and they will make more money with better quality.

[Darkfiber]

I don't think people realize WHY DLC is on the disc. When a game is complete, the developer has about an average of 12 weeks between the time the game is sent for certification and the time the game actually releases. During these 12 weeks, these companies usually start working on DLC since it's so popular now and since it's proven that DLC needs to come out within 8 weeks of a game's release in order for people to continue playing the game and purchasing the DLC.

Now, during those 12 months they are waiting, a lot of times, the company completes a piece of DLC. They figure, since the disc isn't printed yet they might as well just throw it on the disc as a separate file to save bandwidth fees on Xbox Live or PSN for uploading it and for people downloading it. They are unable to "enable" it before the game's release because the game itself is final and certified, and enabling DLC before the game is out would mean that it would then become part of the final game, therefore they would have to restart the entire certification process which would cost them weeks of work and money for a small bit of content that's not worth it.

The reason you have to pay for a 100kb download to unlock it is simple: Microsoft demands that ALL DLC is paid. Because of this, it becomes paid DLC on PSN as well, although not always in the case of games like Brutal Legend and Batman map packs and Final Fantasy 13 DLC.

The only difference between the DLC being on the disc and you downloading DLC from the internet is the fact that the file is on the disc already so you don't have to spend time downloading it. YOU WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR IT EITHER WAY. If anything, having DLC on the disc is better since you don't have to spend the time/bandwidth actually downloading it, when all other things remain equal.

I don't agree with it necessarily, since I don't agree with most DLC in general, but I think people just need to be educated on the matter. I don't know why it's "okay" to buy $5 DLC on day one that's on the internet rather than $5 DLC on day one that's on the disc, it's exactly the same thing. The only difference is in your mind.

[midgard227]

tis true wat u say.

i guess people just want more of their hard drive space to be taken up ;p.

morons prbly wudnt complain if it was on disc but 1 gig of content. people r stupid.

tho i will admit i hate day 1 dlc, thats just stupid. remember dragon age with almost 40 bucks of dlc day 1.....why a character was 20-30$ is beyond me damn golem

[Redempteur]

"They figure, since the disc isn't printed yet they might as well just throw it on the disc as a separate file to save bandwidth fees"

Bulls**t
if the disc isn't printed , then they can enable it for free ..when it's gold ..( by that i mean "the disc is gold" ) ..you sent review discs to magazines .. it means you have already an complete product.
At that time most of the time spent in these week is spent:
- getting ready for any online aspect of the game , ( servers , open betas )
- advertising the game
- finding and correcting the last bugs that were found late.( to be ready to make a patch on release )

and SOMETIMES , the team is also focused on dlc .But it's not on the disc ..it's more like it's a patch that enable the activation key afterwards ...

People saying that they don't have time really need to think a little ..
In some cases , ( assasin creed 2 ) they even cut the game in the middle .. was that a time constraint too ? Don't make me laugh .. dlc on the disc is deliberate ..even if they hide it sometimes well.

It's simple ..really when you have actuall dlc , expansion packs ( wipeout hd fury , burnout paradise island , resident evil lost in nightmares ) , that stuff get released months after the initial release ..because this stuff always need time to be done ...

[midgard227]

but people still bought halo odst.....

[shikwan]

DLC on disc is NOT ok but...

As a game dev or business; if the time schedule for a game project allows for the development of extra content AND allows for this extra content to be (key word--->) DISTRIBUTED with the game (i.e. on disc) saving costs for distribution (servers needed, etc) then great!

As a consumer; if the above is done AND the game dev passes on those savings allowing for cheap or free DLC (which is on disc) then COOL! But if they still charge a 'normal fee' then that's bad.

Generally content all ready on disc is usually BS anyway like; different outfits and weapons (small items) while large items like maps will usually take extra dev time and usually means it won't be on disc to be simply 'unlocked'.

[Spiden80]

is not DLC. You can't download something you already have on the disk to begin with! Nuff Said!

[Excalibur]

Bottom line speak with a closed wallet to things like this and Over priced DLC (MW2 I'm talking to you).

If we continue bending over then this type of treatment will become the norm and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Just say no. ;)

[midgard227]

yah no reason for MW2's dlc to cost that much when there are 2 old maps. its just stupid. but people will still buy it unless theres a good game that releases around then

[ASSASSYN 36o]

I don't know about you kids. But I thoroughly enjoyed Fallout's downloadable content. It was worth it. And given the DLC size it was clearly not on the disc.

[Excalibur]

And so far the Borderlands DLC has been too.

[FragGen]

I think LBP is an excellent example of a modern pay DLC situation where it has really enhanced the game. The user levels are essentuially Free mods and the company sells completely optional stuff like level pack, costumes, and level creation textures/objects for reasonable amounts. You could easily play millions (literally) of user created levels without ever paying for DLC but if it enhances your gameplay like a (Kratos costume or you want to create a pirate themed level) you can buy some reasonably priced DLC.

I'll probably play LBP regularly for at least another two years.

[Dayman]

DLC is made when their making the game. Sometimes they start making when they start making the game, Dlc is meant to extend play time..So if I want to extend my playtime by buying DLC thats already on the disc, thats my choice. If I have fun with what the developers give me to begin with, then I shouldnt mind if I get a little more, even if its already in the disc.

[Baka-akaB]

then is no extension when it's content that was already there , sometimes even entirely done , but ripped straight from the game .

Indeed now it's each person's choices .... but you do know and realise that some choices carry a big weight , affecting everyone else , and in turn leaving them with very little choice , and instead just less content .

It is quite obvious that had some people not bought into the trend so easily , publishers would have had an harder time do it so openly and blatantly as right now .

[nnotdead]

if you dont think its worth it then dont buy it. the developers only promise whats playable when you first buy the game. everything else is your choice to buy or not.

now if they advertised that something was going to be in the game, and after you bought it you found out you had to buy DLC. then i could understand being upset.

[Dark_Overlord]

Is the second I purchase the item, its mine to do as I please with. So if a glitch or hack or whatever comes out that allows me to access content on the disc then I damn well will, and it'll be perfectly legal.

[emk2004]

another no name site great.

anyways whats the problem if its on the disk if you gota pay 10$ to downloaded it or 10$ on the disk your still paying 10$. it save money for publisher also so they dont have to pay sony and ms for download fees. as long as you get a full game when you buy the game, your not entitled to anything extra.