Jimquisition: Downloadable Discontent

[Jennacide]

I'm with Jim on this on, as I love the idea of DLC. It's been used to expand games that I have already gotten a ton of enjoy from, and then lo and behold "Want more? Have at!" Prime examples of it done right are almost everything Bethesda has done as DLC recently, barring the comical Horse Armor. Even Hearthfire was priced approriately, given that a lot of mods on PC had similar content but without as much polish or variance.

What really irks me though isn't even the games that call attention to it's DLC, though that does annoy me, it's games that quarantine off DLC for pre-orders at certain stores, or only in Collector's Editions, or what have you. Trying to force me to purchase a game from a store I don't want to so I can get some bit of content that was clearly ripped out of the core game is downright criminal. I don't want to buy games at Gamestop. I don't want to buy them at Best Buy. If I'm buying a console game, I'm gonig to continue giving my money to the mom and pop store near me, because they aren't a corporate machine driven to weasel money out of me. And if I'm buying a PC game, GOG or Steam it is. Publishers need to stop trying to force our hand.

 

[LosButcher]

Even if there are more companies, this is the standard practice now. Pointing out exceptions and outliers doesn't change the fact that previously, they couldn't even get away with this. If some of the practices from the end of this console cycle had been attempted even at the beginning of this same cycle, there would have been pandemonium on the interwebs.

I mean, more power to you if you only support indies and the handful of other companies along those lines, but that doesn't make it a "weak" argument.

OK, I might have been a bit quick on the trigger there. I have spent a lot of money on games and still do. But recently I realized that I have so many good games that I don't play and I have no idea why I didn't.

Valve are some of the biggest pioneers of anti-consumer policies in gaming. Of course, they have cheap games and Gabe is a dreamboat or something, so they get away with it. But still, hats are the least of our concerns when they made DRM practically a standard in the industry.

I love Valve and their games, but you are right, it is really going in the wrong direction. They are still not charging for DLC though.

 

[Stabby Joe]

In Mass Effect 3 they released additional single player story missions and free multiplayer packs...

...but in Mass Effect 3 they released day one essential character DLC and overcharged smaller incentives.

DLC is very much a fickle practice.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

This. All of this. I like DLC, I like the idea that you can extend the life of your games, but the way it's being handled is just disgusting. That said, I got nothing against Season Passes. If a company has a load of DLC to sell, paying a couple quid less and getting something extra while also getting all the DLC as it comes out is fine by me. I haven't bought a Season Pass other than Saints Row 3 though, and I only bought that on the Steam Sale after every DLC had come out.

Also, using a picture of the Hitcher. BRILLIANT.

 

[Jennacide]

Pretty spot on Jim. Now remember DLC is 't a new thing. Remember SHareware, you'd get the first episode for free and you pay a little for each episode after.. used in such games Like doom, duke 3d, shadow warrior, quake, blood, etc etc.

Of course then it was reasonable.. now it's pretty abusive. Excuse me you want me to pay how much for a bloody hat?. Yeah Valve is one of the biggest offenders with this. hell I saw hats going for more than I paid for the whole damned orange box.

YOu know how you can make them stop this... by not bloody buying it.

Shareware isn't the same thing. It was more like paying for an extended demo you could upgrade. As for Valve and it's TF2 hats, that's not DLC that's microtransactions, and Valve does it right actually. You can find everything or craft it without ever paying money.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

Valve are some of the biggest pioneers of anti-consumer policies in gaming. Of course, they have cheap games and Gabe is a dreamboat or something, so they get away with it. But still, hats are the least of our concerns when they made DRM practically a standard in the industry.

THANK YOU. Don't get me wrong, I use Steam, I love Portal, I love Half Life 2. But after all the sheer crap that Valve has put in the Steam subscriber agreement, reducing TF2 to a shell of it's former self to sell some tie-in headgear, and DOTA 2... urgh. I don't understand why they get so much love.

 

[RandV80]

I have the same feeling with the $5 skin prices. Personally I get the impression that they're using a I got into a 'movie theater popcorn' pricing level.

This concept came to mind when I got into a free-to-play action MMORPG called Dragon's Nest for a little while, which was my first real experience with FTP model. To their credit at every level up you got a 'present' which usually included a goody from the pay store, sometimes including a costume set that would last for 7 days. Maybe it piques your interest so you got to the store page to check it out, and my god it's expensive. Basically you have a head, body, gloves, legs, and boots set, plus a weapon skin if you want, and to buy permanently and not 'rent' it cost $5... for each bloody piece. I mean I'm not paying anything for the game to begin with so it would be easy to justify spending a few bucks here and there, but a few bucks couldn't buy me jack shit. And judging by the server I was on it seemed only the most dedicated ever bought anything.

And here I learned that the big publishers are doing the same thing, with $5 skin packs for Dead Space 3? It totally feels like they're using the same pricing model that movie theaters do with popcorn, where even if only 1/20 buy the profit margins are so astronomically large that they figure they'll make more money than if they sold at a more reasonable margin that 3/4 would purchase.

I really have a hard time seeing that being a better method to make money with games though, and it's really a complete dick way to do it.

 

[Something Amyss]

OK, I might have been a bit quick on the trigger there. I have spent a lot of money on games and still do. But recently I realized that I have so many good games that I don't play and I have no idea why I didn't.

Fair enough.

I'm getting exposed to a lot of good games or devs through Humble Bundles and other specials and spreading the love by buying more of their games when I can.

I love Valve and their games, but you are right, it is really going in the wrong direction. They are still not charging for DLC though.

They don't need to, of course. They're primarily a distribution service these days.

I mean, I suppose they could do that as well, but the point is to use games to monetise the service, so...

 

[DataSnake]

Nary a mention of Podtoid in your list of other projects, Jim?

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I don't buy DLC either. I rarely buy games on launch anymore because of the DLC. I feel cheated when they release a game for $60 with all that cut content. So I wait for the full version and then I pay less. You know why? Because it's a fuckin' game and I don't have to play it as soon as it's released. I have over 200 PC games. I don't need to buy a new one right away. Why is it that so many people don't understand that? Games aren't going anywhere. Do yourself a favor and have some fuckin' patience. Replay some of the old games that you've been meaning to but couldn't find the time. Then buy the full version of the game.

Oh, and I'm so glad that you mentioned SC: Blacklist. I didn't buy it, and I don't plan to, even when it's $5. But I played it at a friend's house. The game has slots and fuckin' stats for DLC weapons that aren't even in the game. I felt like I accomplished something by not buying that game. Think about it. If that's what I feel when I don't buy a game then something is clearly wrong with their product and their business model.

 

[Vegosiux]

Yes, how horrible you were forced to watch an episode that made you feel bad.

What, you wouldn't be upset if someone raved and ranted at you for something you've never done, treating as if you had done it? I know I would be. I know I find the concept of "guilt by association" reprehensible. You're spot-on on Valve tho.

On topic tho; yep, Jim nailed it spot-on here, too.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I agree with pretty much everything said in this video. DLC as a concept isn't bad, after all it's just the natural evolution of the old fashioned expansion pack. However when they are intentionally withholding stuff that used to be standard and selling it separately, that's just a world class dick move.

 

[Irridium]

Not totally against Season Passes. Only bought 2. Borderlands 2 and Saints Row 3's, and even then only after all (or most, in Borderlands 2's case) of the content was out and it looked interesting enough for me to buy. And it was on sale.

Basically, for me I'll get a season pass once all the content is out and it looks good enough to buy. No way in freaking hell will I buy one as soon as its announced, though. No way am I dropping $20-$30, or in Battlefield 4's case 50-fucking-dollars for content I don't know I want or know if it'll even come out.

 

[GonzoGamer]

So we've reached the point where games are getting cheaper than ever - but that's not enough for the average publisher, who considers that a game that sells a few MILLION copies somehow qualifies as a failure. Every sale needs to be optimized. Every purchased copy needs to be considered as more of a hook that's implanted in the customer's skin, than as a complete product.

This is what sucks, honestly. Bethesda does DLC right as of Fallout 3, but we all remember the Horse Armour fiasco, don't we? The sad thing is, for most publishers, not putting in the extra effort and excessively monetizing inconsequential bits of aesthetic content is part of the norm.

I feel like I got my money's worth from the Borderlands 2 season pass, but the idea that the additional skins for each character are all gated behind a few extra bucks is just - sickening. I'd love to turn my Axton into a pus-squirting zombie abomination, but hey-o! Two dollah for this, bucko! More if you want to have access to the other skins!

Come on, Gearbox! It's a freaking skin! You could give this away for free that your profit margin wouldn't be impacted! I already gave you thirty freaking bucks - plus a discounted retail price!

I honestly miss the old days of expansions coming out years after the game's core release. Not DLC - outright disc-based expansions.

Yea, the Fallout 3 expansions were a good value as were the BL2 expansions. A lot of content for $10. And Gearbox did the season pass right. They kept it available well past the 4th and final included dlc pack, so you didn't have to pre-order dlc you're not sure you're going to like for a game that you're not sure you're going to like. And you got a discount with it. When this season pass crap started it was just "pre-order this mystery dlc for the same price it'll cost later" for no reason.

I bought the Axton zombie skin but I only paid $1. At that point I was already playing the game for half a year and I see myself playing more of it even a year later(I've only played through with 2 characters and I think I want to do all 5) so another $1 for a head and skin in a game that already provided plenty (heads and other content) in game didn't bother me personally. It's something for the big fans like me. I bought one of the Mechro heads too.

 

[J.McMillen]

Sometimes DLC is alright. Especially if it extends the length of the game by adding new areas to explore and stuff to do. Since I usually buy games through Steam, DLC eventually goes on sale so I'll usually wait till it's 50% (or more) off.

My big weakness for DLC was City of Heroes. As a subscriber I got tons of stuff included with the subscription, but some new power sets and costume packs were extra. Now you could always try out power sets on the beta server to see if you liked it before buying. And as for DLC costume packs, the costumes came in pieces and could be mixed and matched with parts from any other costume piece you had access to. With 16 servers and 12+ characters per server, each with up to 10 different costumes, you could get a lot of use out of them. Plus some costume packs came with things like emotes and fairly useless but interesting powers.

 

[Vedli]

Nary a mention of Podtoid in your list of other projects, Jim?

Probably for the best in all honesty...

 

[AstaresPanda]

Space Marine is a great example of how a game can get fucked by greedy assholes. An already incomplete game with so much cut out and had even more cut out to sell back to us a fucking DLC over priced DLC i might add.

 

[C.S.Strowbridge]

I won't buy any DLC unless it changes how the game plays. Orcs must die has great DLC, because the new traps and items means you can go back and play the previous levels with a different strategy. A little bit of extra content nearly doubles the replay value. That's worth picking up. A few extra costumes... no thanks.