Why is Day-One DLC Such a Big Deal?

[JambalayaBob]

These days, all DLC is commonly planned for AAA titles before a game even goes into full production. Why does it bother you people so much that, after the vast majority of the game was complete, they start work on DLC that was planned out years ago, and why is it any different from DLC released post-launch? The people that worked on From Ashes were probably first involved in a different project, or on a portion of Mass Effect 3 that was already completed. You might like the neat and tidy narrative that DLC is only created if the product first proves successful, but the reality is that From Ashes is probably not the only piece of DLC that is already completed. Moreover, it takes months to globally manufacture and distribute a game, and it probably takes about as long for a bug fixing period before this to end, which requires far fewer people than the main project. I didn't even mention the amount of time it takes to port a game like this to three separate platforms! I'm no industry insider, but even I can tell that this single piece of DLC (that has no bearing on the main plot by the way) was definitely not made during crunch time. How can I tell all this? Common sense, people, use it! Yeah, a Prothean character is pretty interesting and definitely a good way to get people to buy the DLC or the Collector's Edition, but just because it has lore significance does NOT mean that the content itself is somehow intrinsic to the story that Mass Effect 3 tells, like so many people seem to believe that it is. There's a large difference between a smart business decision and removing a main story element from the $60 game.

 

[StylinBones]

Yea, I agree with you OP. It's planned and it protects their business. It's smart business, which is why the people making these decisions get paid a lot of money to do so. It protects against trade-ins because people want to hang on to their copy of the game to play them and people will pay for it. What's the downside?

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Here's my view.

Day 1 DLC is:

1. perfectly fine if it possesses two of the three following qualities: it is entirely non-essential to the core game, reasonably priced (in the case of Day 1, which means new, "reasonably priced" means "free"), and developed outside of the production of the main game. (Think Mass Effect 2.)

2. acceptable even if a portion of the data is already on the disc to lessen the download size.

3. fucking slimy if the "DLC" is entirely on the disc and the developers are just trying to squeeze more money out of you. (Street Fighter X Tekken)

 

[Tiswas]

If it's on the disc or the code is in the box for the people who buy it new on day 1 then fair game.

If you buy the game and it's already up to buy seperately then no. That's just greedy

 

[42]

well whats stopping them from including it on the game disc in the first place if they can be able to make it available on day one of the games release? AND the asking price for DLC already adds to the price of the game, so even if you buy used and you buy all dlc plus the online pass you probably end up paying the same amount if you bought the game new. and more. basically what I'm saying is online passes suck balls and DLC is way to expensive.

 

[Dandark]

If they want to release day 1 DLC fine, but that raises the price of the "full" game so they need to lower the retail price but will they? No. Will people still buy it and make these damn arguments about how it is totally fair and not them just finding a way to raise the price of games? Yes.

Am I saddened by this. Yes I am.

 

[Realitycrash]

Why? Because they created a full game, then decided to leave some of it out unless you pay up extra. Simple as that. Now is this necessary a bad thing? Well, in our current form of how we think of games, it seems so.

 

[Saulkar]

The problem is because it is often content cut from the final game or it is content already on the disk. Sometimes the content is of significant value and may only be acquired with a fee.

 

[Zelcor]

If they want to release day 1 DLC fine, but that raises the price of the "full" game so they need to lower the retail price but will they? No. Will people still buy it and make these damn arguments about how it is totally fair and not them just finding a way to raise the price of games? Yes.

Am I saddened by this. Yes I am.

See that that right there that attitude like you're somehow "better" than others cause you see the so called "evils" that a company you have no idea what they are like.

Here's how it works.

For people who had no interest in Mass Effect, the mass effect universe, or bioware games in general will HAPPILY jump on the forums and crap all over everybody for the sake of being right and then claim "I'm not going to buy the game because company blah blah blah does dumb shit" when they themselves weren't going to fucking buy the game anyway.

People who want to play the game knew DAY 1 they were going to buy it or not and nothing is and wasn't going to change that.

Did you all get bored of the console wars and just felt like you have to fight over something else?

 

[NiPah]

Personally I don't have an issue with DLC, day one or otherwise. I strictly judge a game by how much I think I'll enjoy it and if said enjoyment is worth the price of admission. If a game needs it's DLC to be fun then I factor that into the assessment, if the DLC is crap and has no impact on the game then I don't.

If a game is fun a game is fun, I would gladly pay more then 50$ for some of my favorite games, and I wish I hadn't for others, if DLC is a way to help certain publishers that I love get some extra cash while I get the added bonus of gaming extras then so be it.

BTW I come from the NIS/Japanese gaming camp, with some of the most horrendous DLC out there (locking out certain story characters w/ DLC). To be honest I don't mind this, sure half the time I can't get the DLC because my apartment doesn't like allowing my PS3 online, but when I can I buy up most of the DLC I can find.

 

[evilneko]

Didn't read big block of text... paragraphs man, paragraphs.

Anyway: production realities aside, Day One DLC just makes people feel like they're getting ripped off. It makes people feel like they're not getting the complete game. Even if the content was always planned as an addon rather than integral to the game, consumers don't know--or won't believe--that.

It just feels bad. I think people would mind it a lot less if it was just delayed a while, a few days, a week, something like that. I bet a lot less people would complain. Heck, if they delayed it and made it bigger thanks to the extra time, even less would complain.

 

[Dandark]

If they want to release day 1 DLC fine, but that raises the price of the "full" game so they need to lower the retail price but will they? No. Will people still buy it and make these damn arguments about how it is totally fair and not them just finding a way to raise the price of games? Yes.

Am I saddened by this. Yes I am.

See that that right there that attitude like you're somehow "better" than others cause you see the so called "evils" that a company you have no idea what they are like.

Here's how it works.

For people who had no interest in Mass Effect, the mass effect universe, or bioware games in general will HAPPILY jump on the forums and crap all over everybody for the sake of being right and then claim "I'm not going to buy the game because company blah blah blah does dumb shit" when they themselves weren't going to fucking buy the game anyway.

People who want to play the game knew DAY 1 they were going to buy it or not and nothing is and wasn't going to change that.

Did you all get bored of the console wars and just felt like you have to fight over something else?

Im sorry if I have an arrogant attitude or seem like I feel "better" than everyone else. I don't mean to come off that way.

There are many people who had an interest in the mass effect universe and are angry. I bought both ME1 and ME2 as well as several pieces of DLC for them. I considered myself a fan of the Mass effect series as I enjoyed both games.
I will not be purchasing the 3rd game for many reasons, this DLC being one of them.

I also don't pretend to be some smart guy who can, as you put it, "see the evils" of a company. I just know that when a company does something that I don't like that will affect me then I am going to complain.

 

[SayHelloToMrBullet]

In my opinion, if DLC is completed and ready by the launch date, then it should be released with the game for free, as if it were a day one update. Doesn't matter if its an extra character (Mass Effect 3) or just co-op hats (Portal 2).

 

[LittleBlondeGoth]

Sorry, but I'm really not getting the huge outcry over the Mass Effect DLC. Why are so many people surprised that a games publisher wants to make money? That's what they do, that's what business is. It's how they keep going and putting out more games.

When the Collector's Edition was announced, part of it was that it would have an extra character and mission in it, as well as the artbook, and you paid a bit more for this. So all they've really done is let people who didn't get the CE have access to the same content, again for a couple of quid more. And while I'm on the subject, I'd rather have this extra character and mission set available from the start, instead of once I've finished the game.

I'm actually quite glad in the end - what with GAME no longer able to provide my pre-order of the Collector's Edition (argh), I'll be buying the standard version and getting the DLC when I get it home. I might not emerge from the house for a few days afterwards, but that's neither here nor there.

When you get down to it, I don't purchase (or not purchase) games based on what developer made them or what publisher puts them on the shelves. That's irrelevant. I bought Dragon Age: Origins not because it was a Bioware game, but because I like playing RPGs and it looked like a game I'd enjoy. That's the only criteria that matters to me - will I have fun playing this?

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

RE: Prothean DLC - I read repeatedly that work on this additional content got started on after finishing the main game, after any crunch was done and all deadlines were met. I like to believe that; it would make perfect sense in my books.

So, an amazingly huge number of arguments against this specific DLC are moot, and I have to side with anyone reasoning that DLC is 'no big deal', and in the best interest of all parties involved - gamers, because they get more content; devs, because they can add some more depth to the story, and maybe even muck around and add some fun bits that didn't make it to the 'final cut' of the title; the publisher, because marketing says it's the way to go to create customer loyalty short of sucking out their souls and binding them in precious gems or bathing in their blood.

Me, I really try to understand the reasons and go through all the pros and cons every now and then, but as a gaming dinosaur, I must say that I prefer to buy a finished product, and while I am looking forward to maybe receive some additional content further down the line, zero-day DLC annoys me, it's also one of the reasons I've basically stopped pre-ordering, looking forward to get the GOTY or 'complete' edition a bit later.

To me, it feels very much like what they did with movies... when did 'uncut' got confused with 'unrated', and when did MA start becoming the censored cut, and when did all this nonsense of releasing a title over and over again in various 'cuts' become fashionable? For decades, that was a George-Lucas-only phenomenon, and now everybody seems to buy into this... product fragmentation ploy.

 

[jklinders]

Really depends on the execution.

despite the flak they get, I have no trouble with the so called online passes like Cerberus Network for ME 2. It gives a little extra value for money for folks who buy the game new while not removing key elements from the game who bought it used. To me this is smart business. Folks like Jim Sterling would disagree...and they would be wrong. They would be wrong because you are adding to, not taking away for paying money to the publisher rather than to Gamestop (or whoever)

Day 1 paid DLC on the other hand is bollocks. It basically says that it is pointless to buy on day one unless you are willing to shell out more to get "the complete game." This is not extra value for money to encourage new copy purchase. It's much closer to an attempt at milking. It may not be the case, but the optics of it makes it look like it is. To the consumer, appearances are the key. You might make money in the short term with this model but you create bad press with your consumer base because it looks like you are trying to scam them. This loses you money big time in the long term.

Frankly it's better to delay launch by a few weeks to put it in (if Bioware is even being truthful about From Ashes which I sincerely doubt) than it is to assign a smaller team to add pieces in after the fact and give the appearance that they can't even be arsed to finish the game before release.

 

[Zelcor]

If they want to release day 1 DLC fine, but that raises the price of the "full" game so they need to lower the retail price but will they? No. Will people still buy it and make these damn arguments about how it is totally fair and not them just finding a way to raise the price of games? Yes.

Am I saddened by this. Yes I am.

See that that right there that attitude like you're somehow "better" than others cause you see the so called "evils" that a company you have no idea what they are like.

Here's how it works.

For people who had no interest in Mass Effect, the mass effect universe, or bioware games in general will HAPPILY jump on the forums and crap all over everybody for the sake of being right and then claim "I'm not going to buy the game because company blah blah blah does dumb shit" when they themselves weren't going to fucking buy the game anyway.

People who want to play the game knew DAY 1 they were going to buy it or not and nothing is and wasn't going to change that.

Did you all get bored of the console wars and just felt like you have to fight over something else?

Im sorry if I have an arrogant attitude or seem like I feel "better" than everyone else. I don't mean to come off that way.

There are many people who had an interest in the mass effect universe and are angry. I bought both ME1 and ME2 as well as several pieces of DLC for them. I considered myself a fan of the Mass effect series as I enjoyed both games.
I will not be purchasing the 3rd game for many reasons, this DLC being one of them.

I also don't pretend to be some smart guy who can, as you put it, "see the evils" of a company. I just know that when a company does something that I don't like that will affect me then I am going to complain.

Sorry you're actually not as bad as some of the people who have taken the same stance as you and everything that they say comes off as "You're stupid for buying the game because you fall for the developers lies hawhee hawhee ha" this shows up a lot and it really makes me as a gamer infuriated

 

[Joccaren]

Here's my view.

Day 1 DLC is:

1. perfectly fine if it possesses two of the three following qualities: it is entirely non-essential to the core game, reasonably priced (in the case of Day 1, which means new, "reasonably priced" means "free"), and developed outside of the production of the main game. (Think Mass Effect 2.)

2. acceptable even if a portion of the data is already on the disc to lessen the download size.

3. fucking slimy if the "DLC" is entirely on the disc and the developers are just trying to squeeze more money out of you. (Street Fighter X Tekken)

Pretty much this. Day 1 DLC as an incentive to buy new? 100% fine.
Day 1 DLC that is taken out of the game (Evidence being that it is entirely on the disk, and that it is somewhat essential to the game)? Utter BS that needs to be killed with fire.

 

[Poomermon]

People should realise that the alternative to paid day 1 dlc is not a free day 1 dlc. It is no day 1 dlc at all. A big company like Bioware is not going to waste its resources on something that does them no good at all. The team who made the dlc would be assigned to some other project instead.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I think the main issue people have with day one DLC (or rather, the most vocal group of people against day one DLC) are the people who remember what games were like in the PSX/N64 eras and before; a time when games were released as complete products and included many additional perks and features (like alternate costumes, bonus levels, etc). You guys remember this, right?

I'm assuming people associate day-one DLC with the image on the right. I know I did when Arkham City came out and it was announced that Cat Woman would be DLC only. I'm sure the Street-Fighter X Tekken people feel that way now as well and I'm sure they felt the same when MvC3 was basically scrapped in favor of UMvC3.

I'm not sure about the Prothean Mission to be honest as it sounds like it would be important but I don't know the details. For all I know the Prothean says everything that needs to be said on disc but on the other hand, if I were to describe Bring Down The Sky, some people could consider that to be important to the ME2 plot.