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Boldy (2) - 5640d ago Cancel
Speed-Racer (4) - 5640d ago Cancel

Get your DLC out of my Game

Well, kinda-sorta. Lets face it, since the PS2 came on to the scene and had games requiring hard drives, DLC or it's equivalents have been on the scene and driving hard into the minds and wallets of gamers. Now you're probably thinking or going to call me on expansion packs, but that's a different ball game together which I will tackle later.

So about this DLC thing and why I'm not liking it too much, basically, because in many ways it's beginning to cheapen gaming. It's beginning to give this impression that games are in the most part incomplete and you're now missing out on the complete experience. Lets take Fallout 3 as an example and we'll compare it to Oblivion.

Now if you don't know, as is Fallout 3 took the WoW stance on leveling and has levels capped at 20 (and it's not very hard to hit that cap). Now when I was playing Fallout and didn't know about this cap, it was a shock and disappointment, I felt that many avenues were suddenly closed to me and further more that decisions I made earlier were mistakes that would hamper my playing now. It's not impossible to max-out some stats when you hit the cap, it's just tedious. Oblivion on the other hand, it took hours and days to max out level skills / player level. Further more the new DLC didn't lift said cap. Knights of the Nine and Shivering isles were a good expansions, but not requirements to enhance the experience of the original Oblivion.

Now Fallout 3 is a complete game (or is it?) having played through it, but with the announcement of this new DLC / the continuation of the game, it seems very much like they didn't want to really include a full experience. It's almost as if they're telling games 'Oh right, didn't feel satisfied with the $70 version, well, give us another $20 and we'll make it complete this time.'

Valve has done this as well with Half-Life 2. To be fair, they're calling it episodic, but it's unfair that every 18ish months we have to pay out $30-40 for 5-7 hours of game time. For episodes they're taking a long time and in reality it could probably take less time and gain a better experience for the gamer if they went to the drawing boards and made a HL3 instead of another flashy side quest of Gordon Freeman.

Now don't get me wrong, there's nice DLC that gets you nifty little add-ons and is as most dlc should be, free as a gift / reward for purchasing the game, but I feel as if gone are the days of Expansions which really were a game on their own with a proper story and had proper development to it.

All and all I don't hate DLC, but I see it becoming problematic when it's used by developers to try and justify their existence / do as minimal work possible for the greatest profit possible, simply because at the end of the day a lot of people are going to catch on and being to wonder why they're paying full price for a game when they're getting only half of one. Lets be honest with ourselves; successful games get squels.

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toughNAME5639d ago

The thing with Fallout 3 is that the content is exclusive, and we don't know the details of this exclusivity. Assuming it involved Microsoft and a lot of money, maybe they paid to have the 'complete' version of the game? I'm sure there is a lot of talk going on behind closed doors and it isn't just: "How much?".

The DLC content I have problems with is the content you know was already made/being made when the game released. It hasn't happened recently, but I know there's been a few games that have shipped and when you purchase DLC you get a "key" and that allows you to have the hidden content already in the game, instead of actual new content.

And Epic releasing new maps for Gears 2 a mere few weeks after release. There's no way I'm falling victim to that trap, and not only that I've become completely turned off by the game because of it. Good job, Epic.

Finish the game. When the game is confirmed to be good, then work on extra content. I'd rather it be free, but of course it would only make sense to end this comment with another jab at M$.

Tempist5639d ago

Lets be 100% honest, anything that's a Microsoft exclusive turns into a PC game eventually, sure it takes more time but it gets there. Very rarely are there games that Microsoft doesn't get put onto Windows as well (it's other XBox).

Over all depending on the release length it can be an expansion (typically six months to a year) or DLC (practically a week to a few months). Also the quality and function make a difference for me. So long as the original experience / game doesn't feel cheapened via lack of the DLC then it's fair to have it out there, as it feels optional not manditory for the full experience (which is what's happening with some games).

Alymon5635d ago

For me it entirely depends on the price, timing and content of the DLC. There's no magic number or answer to those that works for everyone though and no developer is really going to give an honest answer on when they started working on the DLC content. To be fair, the DLC content could be started before the game is released, because there are staff members during the final stages of game production that aren't needed and begin new projects (including DLC for the game that isn't released yet).

My general guideline though is.... at least 1-2 months.... that way I've had a chance to beat the game and it doesn't feel like I just dropped $60 for the game only to have to drop more. As far as price goes, I don't like paying anything more than $10. However, even $10 is a stretch for me for most of the content that I've seen put out to date.

Ultimately the value of DLC comes down to how much I enjoy the game. If I love the game, DLC is generally worth it and a good idea. It extends the life of the game for me. With development cycles taking years to complete, it's nice to not have to wait for the sequel to get additional content.

140°

PS5 Dominates, Sales Drop for All Consoles - Europe Hardware Estimates for May 2024

The PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in Europe

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Community1h ago
GaboonViper3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

PS5 = 300,126
Switch = 158,473
Xbox Series = 68,592

Brilliant sales for PS5 and Switch in her twilight years.
Utterly appalling sales for Xbox, my God.

Xeofate3h ago

Xbox Series X|S sales are down by 49,961 units (-42.1%) YoY.

neutralgamer199257m ago(Edited 56m ago)

It will also be interesting what a potential switch 2 will do to current generation consoles. That's why maybe there is the rumored PS5 Pro. I think MS should have released an updated version themselves especially when they are asking $600 for a 2TB version

Ms should just do their next Xbox as a open platform Pc and charge premium like steam deck. Just do Xbox brand PC's. Xbox as a brand is at its least valuable point. So many of their future games are coming to Playstation too I think once Phil finally decides on halo and gears flood gates will open. Just release a gear of war collection before the next one comes out. Your gamepass users are happy to have the games day one and other platforms pay full price so MS generates more money

mkis00754m ago

That is a rumor going around so maybe. It would make sense with their handheld rumors too.

Einhander197226m ago

"I think MS should have released an updated version themselves especially when they are asking $600 for a 2TB version"

The One X sold 6 million or less and the SX is way underperforming the the One by significant margins at this point. A mid gen xbox console would have absolutely been a money flush. Power is not going to sell consoles for them if a 40% advantage failed so badly. And their most popular console by far is the series s.

I would prefer if xbox stopped making xbox hardware and just became a publisher and stopped doing everything they can to make things worse for PlayStation gamers. I am so tired of the near daily B.S.

They started the console war from day 0 of xbox with the goal of bringing down PlayStation and it can't end until they leave. If there was no xbox people could actually talk about games again and not try to destroy anything that isn't on a platform.

Heck the whole reason we even have these articles about sales numbers is because Microsoft wanted to brag about the 360, no one talked about sales before that and no one wanted too except for Microsoft.

They simply aren't doing anything that is making gaming better for the consumer or the industry.

dveio3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

PS5 only 9% down year-on-year is arguably thanks to their recently released and well-received 2nd and 3rd party line-up.

• NSW down ~57%.
• X|S down ~43%.

Year-to-date, PS5 now has a 5.2:1 sales ratio compared to X|S in Europe.

That's boxslaugther.

S2Killinit58m ago(Edited 57m ago)

300 divided by 68 = 4.41 PS5 consoles are sold per 1 xbox.

O____0

Insane? Is this even possible?

70°

Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Closing the Loop on George R.R. Martin's Contribution to Elden Ring

Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki says Shadow of the Erdtree's lore was made by George R.R. Martin; DLC closes the writer's contribution.

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80°

XDefiant Hardware/IP Bans Against Cheaters "Don't Work" Says Devs

XDefiant hardware/IP bans aren't implemented since they "don't work" according to devs. Ranked Play will eventually feature faction limits, though not in Season 1.

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excaliburps1d 5h ago
BeRich2331d 5h ago

Make a 10-20 hour mandatory playtime before u can play rank, or level 25.