Examples of DLC done Good/BAD

[VonKlaw]

Good: Any expansion/larger DLC that can justify its price i.e. Fallout:New Vegas, TESIV: Shivering Isles, Borderlands 1 General Knoxx, FC3: Blood Dragon

Bad: Micro transaction stuff that would have been included on disc if the game was made 10 years ago, or stuff deliberately stripped from the game so that it can be sold separately instead. like additional costumes in fighting games. I get that this stuff isn't necessary to enjoy the game, but it always feel like a kick in the teeth when I've paid full retail for a new game.

 

[Mike000]

Horrible - season passes: "Buy this, and you'll get all the DLC we release, except the DLC we want to charge separately for, and there's not actually a guarantee that the total cost of the DLC you do get will even add up to its cost."

 

[JagermanXcell]

Good: Dark Souls' Artorias of the Abyss expansion. It was originally supposed to be in the game but sinced Dks was rushed they had to cut it... that was until Dark Souls got love of course. It more or less broke the other wise broken pvp meta which is a major plus, but this is just one of the good things about it. It intouduced an interesting backstory that otherwise would have never made it into the game. The new bosses were absolutely a blast to fight including the last one being a better final boss then the vanilla final boss. And while I know people detest Dark Magic alot of the new magics, weapons, and armor still added a lot of flavor to compliment different playstyles. Also the pvp arena, it may be dead but with friends setting up duals, TDMs, and FFAs are much easier then via invasions/signs 70% of the time.
All of that absolutely worth $15.

Also Fallout NV Lonesome Road. That DLC is beyond great.

Bad: A majority of today's Capcom DLC. Pretty self explanitory, nothing but microtransaction and on-disk BS.

 

[Flamespeak]

You want an example of bad DLC?

Look at everything Capcom does.

 

[aguspal]

Good:

Borderlands, mainly for Knoxx

Bad:

I guess everything elsse goes here... but I usually dont buy DLC to begin with, so theres that.

 

[Da Orky Man]

All DLC is bad. I have yet to see DLC where the the amount of content you get for the price you pay isn't 1/10th that of the base game or less. It's like walking into a bakery and buying a dozen muffins for $6 and the baker tells you he is selling DLC Muffins at $2 each. What a scam. Why wouldn't you just buy another dozen?(i.e. why wouldn't you buy another game than $50 worth of DLC that doesn't haven 10% of the content of a full game.

How about Shivering Isles for Oblivion? An extra 30-odd hours worth of gameplay in a completely new land with completely new characters, abilities and weapons. Easily its own game, and at a fraction of the price as well.

 

[theultimateend]

All DLC is bad. I have yet to see DLC where the the amount of content you get for the price you pay isn't 1/10th that of the base game or less. It's like walking into a bakery and buying a dozen muffins for $6 and the baker tells you he is selling DLC Muffins at $2 each. What a scam. Why wouldn't you just buy another dozen?(i.e. why wouldn't you buy another game than $50 worth of DLC that doesn't haven 10% of the content of a full game.

How about Shivering Isles for Oblivion? An extra 30-odd hours worth of gameplay in a completely new land with completely new characters, abilities and weapons. Easily its own game, and at a fraction of the price as well.

Also most of the Nintendo DLC Iv'e gotten is free.

I can't complain about free cute stuff in Animal Crossing O.O...

 

[josemlopes]

I'll start off with Good:
Borderlands Series

I actually am not really liking the way DLC is being handled in BL2, in the first one it was good since it was just those 4 DLCs, you already knew how many were coming so picking up seperatly, buying a season pass or waiting for a GOTY edition was an easy decision.

Now with BL2 they are promising even more DLC then the ones that are already out there, the season pass covers the 4 story ones plus the Vault Hunter and the characters are 10$ each, I could wait for a GOTY but I really dont know for how long they will prolong it and even if the characters are included. I could buy the game and the season pass, then the characters (I bought now the game at 9,99$) but the price really goes sky high. Even at discounted prices its quite expensive, most of the DLC is now for a week 50% off on XBL so with the 9,99$ + 10$ for characters + 30$/27,5$ the price of the season pass or the seperate discounted DLCs all sums up to basicly 50$/47,5$, for a game that I paid 10$ having to pay 40$ for the additional content is a bit too much (considering that most of the content is discounted).

Overall I am planning on waiting for the season pass to be at least 50% off bringing down the total price of the DLC to 25$.

Its still more then the double of what I paid for the game but Im sure that it does indeed bring a good amount of content.

OT: The best DLC is without a doubt free DLC, but if we have to go with paid DLC then I guess that any meaty single player DLC is a good example, multiplayer DLCs have the problem of dividing the players so even if it brings a lot of content it ends up fucking everyone in the process.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

Bad and good examples can both be found in the Borderlands series.

Their Xpack DLC is great. New areas to explore, new skills, new stories...etc.

Their other DLC is usually new hats...in an an FPS...lame.

Somewhere in the middle is theur character DLC. New playable characters are fun but rarely really worth the asking price.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Good DLC I've seen is from that of Fall of Cybertron which was mostly cosmetic skins for Autobots and Decepticons and this time HM didn't go with just map packs because those ended up splitting the multiplayer into tiny fragments.

Also loved pretty much all the DLC from Fable II since it gave me cosmetic stuff and more to do.

Bad DLC would be from the likes of COD which primarily would be map packs since I said before and yes selling map packs does indeed fracture some of the community if some don't want to buy it or don't have the money then they don't end up playing with the rest and that pretty much causes a fracture and we all know the way to fix that is to either make them free or include them with the game like the old days.

Also a big massive pain in the ass is DLC that gives op multiplayer equipment/cars like what happened near Burnout Paradise's end.

 

[Lygus]

Good DLC: The Witcher 2 free DLCs for all players.

Bad DLC: Everything else. Especially Mafia 2 DLC drivel.

DLC is a bad concept in itself. I'd prefer an [standalone] expansion pack than crappy DLCs.

 

[Legion]

Good DLC is when it gives you something new, but not essential to get the full picture of the main game. Things such as the Fallout and Skyrim DLC's are excellent examples as they expand on the game, but do not mean you miss out on anything regarding the main story if you choose not to play them.

Bioware do atrocious DLC's because a lot of the time they are directly related to the main story. The Mass Effect 2 DLC's the Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival both have story implications that are relevant to Mass Effect 3. Leviathan in Mass Effect 3 explains more about the origins of the Reapers. As far as I am concerned that is bad DLC because people who do not buy it have an inferior main story than those who do. It's like taking a chapter out of a book.

 

[Aarun]

I rarely buy DLC. However, whenever I have, I've never really been disappointed with what I purchased. I enjoyed my time with the Borderlands DLCs (I'm yet to buy any for Borderlands 2, although I hear Tiny Tina's is sublime) with General Knoxx's Secret Armory being a personal favourite.

Similarly, back when I used to play World of Warcraft I feel I got a good amount of content and enjoyment for my money with their expansion packs.

 

[Hades]

Fire emblem Awakening would be an example of good, if not amazing DLC.

You get some very neat content for an already content heavy game ranging from DLC to give more characterisation to the units, grind experience, Fight with and against past fire emblem characters and three story missions about a future where you failed which also has an alternative ending for alternative versions of the latter half of the cast.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Fire emblem Awakening would be an example of good, if not amazing DLC.

You get some very neat content for an already content heavy game ranging from DLC to give more characterisation to the units, grind experience, Fight with and against past fire emblem characters and three story missions about a future where you failed which also has an alternative ending for alternative versions of the latter half of the cast.

That said, it's very overpriced per hour of gameplay compared to the base game. Which is one of the biggest complaints of DLC. And it utterly destroys any challenge the main story had as soon as you start playing the DLC because the rewards are so good. It should really be unlocked when you get one save file to the endgame IMO. The story/characterization missions are excellent but the grinding missions are pretty bad content to make as DLC if you think about it: you are paying money to remove the requirement to play the actual game for the rewards. From a PVP perspective items like the limit breaker are totally P2W.

Despite all of those flaws, I love the FE:A DLC. So I suppose good DLC is anything that isn't required for full enjoyment of the base game but adds interesting and fun content (Awakening really benefits from the crazy difficult DLC maps it was lacking in it's vanilla form).

My favourite piece of DLC in recent memory is probably Dead Money (FNV). I picked up the ultimate edition of New Vegas on my PC after playing it on xbox at release. It was pretty much a smoother less buggy version of what I remember until I hit dead money. Then it became a dark character-driven survival game with creepy as hell enemies and a compelling story. It was really challenging to do well and had problems. But I absolutely loved it. The several hour campaign with lots of secrets to find and different ways to complete the objectives was around $10 when it first came out. This is DLC done right (also see pretty much every story-based bethesda/obsidian TES/FO DLC except for Zeta IMO)

 

[Souplex]

Fallout: New Vegas was pretty good about DLC.
Each one offered a sizable amount of gametime, new areas, new perks, and all that good stuff.

 

[COMaestro]

DLC is tricky to do right. Anything that is already on this disc I will agree is bad DLC. It should be unlocked to begin with, or at least a free download if they didn't have it fully working before going gold with the disc.

I don't have a problem with costumes and new characters and such because it doesn't change the story of the game at all if I don't have them. If I really want my character to have a cowboy hat, then I can pony up the $1 for the accessory, but if I don't care that much, then I don't have to buy it. They aren't "good" but I don't consider them "bad" either.

Anything that adds a significant amount of gameplay is good DLC, as long as the price is right. Borderlands did a good job with this as everything (except maybe Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, which felt like a pointless grind, only the bank was really useful) was a decent length, but wasn't necessary at all for the main plotline. Same with Oblivion's Knights of the Nine (and I'll assume Shivering Isles, though I haven't played it). Most of the Fallout DLC packs would go here too.

Multiplayer maps and modes are iffy for me. If the price is low enough, it's okay, but I don't want to spend $15 for two new maps when the 6 maps I already have are keeping me entertained. And modes have to be pretty innovative as well if I'm going to spend money on them. And any pay-to-win DLC for multiplayer is pretty crappy. I don't mind too much if it's something that can be unlocked through regular play, just as long as I know I will be on a level playing field eventually. If someone wants a super-cool gun right away and are willing to pay $5 for it, so be it, but I'll just unlock it though normal play, thank you very much.

For me it all comes down to the price. I'm willing to pay $5-10 for DLC that will keep me playing for a similar amount of hours, but if it's just some tiny level that I'll beat in an hour, it better only be a couple of bucks

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Good DLC? Skyrims Dawnguard and Dragonborn.

The former fleshes out a part of TES that was lacking in the vanilla game (Vampirism, Vampire NPCs and Quests, Werewovles etc.) while also retrospectively improving these elements mechanically (Werewolf perk trees made being a Werewolf viable and fun to use). It added new dungeons, locations, quests, characters, weapons and a relatively good plott, which fleshed out some TES lore that is rarely touched on with such focus. 15 quid (actually 6~ quid, as I got it half price when it was finally released on PS3) for another 15-20 hours of gameplay. Not as much value for money as the original game was, but it added quite a bit that retroactively improved the vanilla game, not just as a standalone experience. In other words, subsequent playthroughs have been far more enjoyable then simply loading up a old file to play the DLC.

Dragonborn had an expansive quest that dealt with one of the more intriguing Deities in TES lore. It captured the vibe of Hermaneus Mora exquisitely and rivalled Shivering Isles for the sheer alien-ness of its world in contrast to Skyrims Norse inspired fiction.

It offered a taste of a classic game envisioned within the newest TES engine and gameplay (Morrowind) without feeling like it was rethreading old ground. Again, new Items, Characters, quests and locations all came together to make the DLC feel strong on its own, but also improved the vanilla game with the additions.

Hearthfire is an ultimately forgettable DLC, but it wasn't too costly and it really did add something for the Role Players out there like myself. Adoption was about as well implemented as marriage, but Bethesda and NPCs have a rocky history. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either... completely superfluous and ultimately harmless.

Bad DLC? Map packs (CoD), Skin packs (Anything from Namco), Weapon Packs, Character Add-ons (Like Mortal Kombat). With such minute additions it is hard to gauge their value. 2 quid or less might seem reasonable, but most of these add ons are far less then 1/30th of the full game. Paying 60 quid for a premium game then 15 quid for 4 fucking maps is INSANE... how can ANYONE convince themselves its a good idea?

Absolute DLC sins:

*Content cut pre-release to sell as Day One DLC... so that is ALL day one DLC.
*Content cut that removes something core to the game (Metro Last Light difficulty mode that was "the way its meant to be played" or Mass Effect 3's From Ashes)
*DLC is that unlocks content already on the Disc you paid for.

 

[cthulhuspawn82]

All DLC is bad. I have yet to see DLC where the the amount of content you get for the price you pay isn't 1/10th that of the base game or less. It's like walking into a bakery and buying a dozen muffins for $6 and the baker tells you he is selling DLC Muffins at $2 each. What a scam. Why wouldn't you just buy another dozen?(i.e. why wouldn't you buy another game than $50 worth of DLC that doesn't haven 10% of the content of a full game.

How about Shivering Isles for Oblivion? An extra 30-odd hours worth of gameplay in a completely new land with completely new characters, abilities and weapons. Easily its own game, and at a fraction of the price as well.

Shivering Isles isn't DLC. It was the last of what we used to call "expansion packs". Those actually did have good value most of the time. Shivering Isles was the turning point however. Like I, said the last "expansion pack". Everything past that was DLC.

And even though I maintain that all DLC is a horrible deal, the Bethesda DLCs are at least the best deal of the lot.

 

[tendaji]

Good
Civilization 5 Expansions: Remakes massive parts of the game by adding brand new mechanics and making improvements all across the board.

Bad
Civilization 5 DLC: Really? That much for a 1-2 civs? That much for a map pack? I mean it's not necessary but I mean come on!