ThePenguinKnight said:
BiscuitTrouser said:
If you dont want day one DLC or patches because a game feels unfinished this is what you asked for. So no complaining from you people! Even if you havnt posted yet. You know who you are
Better this that an incomplete game. Art takes time. Cant hurry something good.
Day one DLC has nothing to do with a games initial development unless it's disc locked or the company wants to get greedy. Most of the time day one DLC is made during the downtime the development team has while they wait for the okay to finalize their game, and once the game is finalized they don't have the time to insert it on the disc. Since they have to pay the team during downtime they mind as well get something out of it.
OT: I'm not the least bit surprised.
Yes, that is a reason to have a day-one patch, but not PREMIUM DLC!
Continue working on that extra finishing touch, that final bug-fix, but have that as a patch. This is what Valve does, they don't charge another $10-15 for the HDR-rendering that they added for Half Life 2, they just rolled it out in a free update.
If it was SUPPOSED to be in the original full price game but "didn't quite make it" that is NO EXCUSE to charge for it. I mean if you are LATE with your work that doesn't mean I should have to pay extra!!! Free patches that add great content to the game are GREAT marketing, it gets column space on websites like this and boosts sales, keeps it relevant.
Now clearly there are cases were DLC is a true expansion pack, it was never considered for the launch release and is totally tangential to the game they were making, it was made as a result of left over assets and bridging to the next instalment, it only makes sense as a low price expansion pack. Like a whole new adventure clearly taking place AFTER the game has concluded or is of a completely different side story. So it's a case that it wasn't what they really wanted to include in the game because it comes either after the narrative conclusion or happens outside the main narrative; seen respectively with Half Life Opposing Force and Half Life Episodes.
But not for a mid story element, like that premium DLC for DX:HR, that was clearly in-line with the narrative and was supposed to have been part of the game, if you paid for DX:HR you should have gotten that portion with a free-update. And it would have been good press, it would have reminded people how great the game is.
SO whenever there is DLC (which is a very broad term) I ask: is this a Patch or is this an Expansion pack. I am NOT paying for the former, I may pay something for the latter.
Maps are the exception to this. Maps in multiplayer games can clearly be churned out at a steady rate after the fact but it's a bad idea to charge for them as they horribly fracture your online community; You can't have a regular map rotation without losing 50% of the players each time as they didn't happen to buy that particular map. You need to get people IN the game and playing. Also you should open the game up to custom maps that must be free and you can't really be competitive with those. Once you got them in the game, then you can start selling them stuff.
