Halo Wars DLC Under Fire From Fans

[Michael Grimm]

Halo Wars DLC Under Fire From Fans

The recently released Strategic Options DLC for Halo Wars is being blasted by fans on the Halo Wars forums for being light on content and "overpriced."

The Strategic Options DLC has come under scrutiny from fans primarily because of its high cost at 800 MS Points ($10), and relatively small 2MB download size. The small file size fuels arguments from angry gamers who feel developers are not creating new content but instead simply selling them keys to unlock content already on the disc.

The DLC features three new game modes - Tug of War, Reinforcements, and Keepaway - and 100 Gamerscore points' worth ofAchievements. Another complaint stems from the fact that only one of the new game modes is single-player compatible; Tug of War and Reinforcements require multiple players to play, while only Keepaway has single player functionality.

Dave Pottinger, Lead Designer of Halo Wars responded to the small download size complaint on the official forums under his moniker "Godgib":

"None of the DLC was on the disc when it shipped. The game modes are a small download because they are rules. There is some new content, but it's obviously a different type of content compared to a map."

What exactly this "different type of content" entails aside from minor changes to the games rules and AI parameters is hazy. Without new maps or units or something a little more substantial, 800 MS Points seems like a steep price to pay for 2MB.

Source: <a href="http://www.halowars.com/forums/3/593721/ShowThread.aspx"
target="_blank">www.HaloWars.com (via N4G)


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[fix-the-spade]

A lot of DLC just looks like ways for developers/publishers to charge for what would inevitably be a mod or custom server rules on a PC game.
I mean, $10 for a change in the rules?

 

[Brotherofwill]

Wow, developers trying to exploit the Halo franchise to collect money? Never heard of that.

 

[GloatingSwine]

New game modes don't balance test themselves, you know.

Of course, you could just push them out free and woefully unbalabced then patch them to balance them later, but it's better to do some kind of playtesting first, and that takes time (and I speak as someone with experience balance and playtesting board and tabletop games).

It takes time, so you have to pay someone a wage to do it, so if you want to make money doing it, you have to charge for it.

 

[CyberKnight]

"Size doesn't matter."

If a developer can write code that is tight and efficient, and uses assets already on the disc in a new way to create something new and different, then that's worth a price.

And since code can generally be compressed more than A/V assets, an update that is all code is going to be a lot smaller than one that includes new art (e.g. a map pack).

Unfortunately, too much of the debate is focused on the 2MB download size. I wonder if they shouldn't have just wrapped this up with the map pack, if only to help with the perception. Sure, they wouldn't have been able to milk as much money out of it...

I haven't had the inclination to buy the new game modes, though, so I can't really say whether I think they're worth the price or not. (How come you don't get a "trial" option for DLC?) I do think it would've been nice to have them available in single-player, though...

 

[Lukeydoodly]

Who wanted more game modes?

There are THREE 6 player maps. THREE.

 

[Avida]

New game modes don't balance test themselves, you know.

Of course, you could just push them out free and woefully unbalabced then patch them to balance them later, but it's better to do some kind of playtesting first, and that takes time (and I speak as someone with experience balance and playtesting board and tabletop games).

It takes time, so you have to pay someone a wage to do it, so if you want to make money doing it, you have to charge for it.

The playtesting sure as hell didnt last THAT long

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Whine all you want about the prices, dipshits. It isn't gonna get you anywhere! I had to pay for Mythic and Heroic for Halo 3 and I never complained. If you don't want to pay for something, that's your problem. Not the company's.

 

[ExaltedK9]

Damnit! why is it always 800 micrsoft points?!...I always have to buy more cuz I'm usually like 50 off. Why can't they just charge what it's actually worth?

not just applying to Halo Wars.

 

[Zerbye]

It's a simple solution: don't buy it if you don't think it's worth it. They'll drop the price when they notice that only 10 people were willing to pay $10 for rule changes.

 

[Wargamer]

Damnit! why is it always 800 micrsoft points?!...I always have to buy more cuz I'm usually like 50 off. Why can't they just charge what it's actually worth?

not just applying to Halo Wars.

If Microsoft charged for what their product was worth, they'd be broke by the end of the year.

This applies to everything, not just the 360.

 

[crackdealer]

A lot of DLC just looks like ways for developers/publishers to charge for what would inevitably be a mod or custom server rules on a PC game.
I mean, $10 for a change in the rules?

Welcome to home consoles?
The dev is probably just trying to make a quick buck before they shut down probably.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

The greed in the games industry today simply escapes me. It's beyond belief. On the one hand, yes, it's perfectly reasonable to charge consumers a small fee to add content for their sake. On the other hand, if you want to change the rules in something you've released, tough shit, don't make all the people that gave you money to make it a success in the first place give you MORE money.
Microsoft infuriate me sometimes. Well, all the times.

 

[xChevelle24]

Whine all you want about the prices, dipshits. It isn't gonna get you anywhere! I had to pay for Mythic and Heroic for Halo 3 and I never complained. If you don't want to pay for something, that's your problem. Not the company's.

You never complained because you're a hardcore Halo fanboy.

*looks at your name, and then looks at your picture*

Yep, definitely a fanboy.

For people who aren't fanboys and don't worship the over-priced, over-played, over-hyped, over-exposed Halo franchise, the price on the new DLC is ridiculous. But oh well, this is why I don't play these games.

 

[MrPop]

Does seem expensive considering the lack of new content added.

 

[Legion]

Damnit! why is it always 800 micrsoft points?!...I always have to buy more cuz I'm usually like 50 off. Why can't they just charge what it's actually worth?

not just applying to Halo Wars.

So true, every map pack/DLC I get for a game requires me to buy more points because I am between 50-100 off. If I hadn't bought those damn gamer pics a year ago this never would have happened! *shakes fist*.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

The dev is probably just trying to make a quick buck before they shut down probably.

Robot was formed a matter of days after Halo Wars went gold a few months ago.

I'd buy these new modes but they are too expensive, I'm not paying over 600 MS points and I believe 200 would be the ideal price.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Wow. Makes me wonder if there is any DLC in existence that doesn't earn ire from the community.

 

[WolfLordAndy]

Wow. Makes me wonder if there is any DLC in existence that doesn't earn ire from the community.

TF2 stuff?