Examples of DLC done Good/BAD

[Zeldias]

DLC I like adds interesting characters, works as an expansion pack (new abilities/areas/story and so on), and stuff that's integral to the game in general (movesets and maps in Dynasty Warriors for example). So good DLC for me is stuff like Dragon Age 2's Mark of the Assassin, and bad DLC is crap like "Overpowered Weapon Pack 2" for the same game.

I can't really say what my favorite example of DLC is, because if I like the game, I probably like most of the DLC already (although I'm really excited for Brave New World coming out for Civ 5). The worst example of it is obviously horse armor from Oblivion. To think of something less (or more, depending on your perspective) slimy, SFxTekken's bullshittery with disc-locked content that you bought a key to unlock.

 

[Tilted_Logic]

I'll start off with Good:
Borderlands Series

Took the words out of my mouth! The DLC for the last game has been outstanding, and the pace of release is just superb.
Another that comes to mind would be the co-op Portal 2 DLC. It was a delight, and knowing Valve I'm honestly impressed it didn't get stuck in limbo so long as to simply end up being Portal 3.

And the Bad:
Mass Effect 3 (Day one DLC, with a character that probably was made to be in the game originally)

I find this is the one point about the Mass Effect 3 shenanigans that I never seem to agree with anyone else on. Lets for a second forget what 'From Ashes' contained, and instead take a look at the issue of it being day one dlc. Firstly, understand that From Ashes was an additional item granted with the purchase of the Collectors Edition of the game. Anyone who bought that edition, got the dlc. Now, if you're someone who was only mildly interested in the Mass Effect series and you purchased the standard edition, you're out of luck, right? No. Bioware made a brilliant piece of content, and instead of giving it only to those with the highest level of devotion to the franchise, they made it available to everyone, straight from the beginning.

Day One DLC is a terrible idea; had they released Mass Effect 3, and then had the day one DLC being something like Mass Effect 2s' Lair of the Shadow Broker, then you've got an issue. If they're simply holding out the content in order to make people pay extra for it, that's worth getting miffed at. But From Ashes could very well have been exclusive content. Would it have been better if Bioware instead didn't release Javik to anyone but the CE purchasers? Would it have been better if they had instead allowed people to purchase the DLC a month or two after release? No. They made content for the Collectors' Edition, and then wanted everyone else to have the chance to experience it right from the beginning if they so wanted to.

I do agree that the game as a whole severely lacks without Javik, but then what of DLC that offers a new character in general? Kasumi was DLC, with her own missions and input throughout multiple games. You don't buy her DLC, you don't get her. It's the same with Javik. Bioware just gave people the option of accessing him when the game came out instead of months later, and all of a sudden it's blasphemy.

 

[Tacticity]

The thing about day-one DLC is pretty funny. A week or two ago, I was interested to see what the progress of the DLC for Bioshock Infinite was, since I purchased the season pass and wanted to see where my money had gone and how close I was to actually getting something for it. It's in this [http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/18054/20130604/bioshock-infinite-dlc-release-date-news-ken.htm] article where it talks about how Ken Levine (of Irrational Games) has gotten flak on Twitter from impatient gamers, because they felt the development for the DLC was taking too long. In some of the tweets Levine says that Irrational hadn't started work on the DLC at all until after Infinite was completely done, because we all know that it strikes a negative chord when it's revealed that developers work on additional content before releasing their game in the first place. But on the flip side, it's seems to be striking a negative chord that there's been no new information on the DLC either, causing Ken to lament that it's a no-win situation.

But, I digress. Bad DLC in my opinion is the stuff of microtransactions, or when you're offered the option to buy money or unlock locations for real money (an example of this which I remember is in the game Skate 2). Good DLC is the stuff where new locations are opened to you with appropriate content corresponding to the game, like quests in an RPG, or challenges, like in the Skate games (fresh in my mind). Having said that, some of my favorite pieces of DLC are Old World Blues from Fallout: New Vegas and The Citadel from Mass Effect 3 (God damn I love that DLC).

EDIT: I forgot to mention, another example of bad DLC is when content is locked on disc, notoriously like in fighting games. That practice is fucking deplorable in my eyes.