I'll pay for full expansions without complaint. I'm cool with CDPR's free DLC approach, so I have no complaints there, either. I DO see how this could be monetized to ridiculousness, but I'll wait to complain until I see CDPR pull an EA/Ubi.
The average DLC adds one or more of the above, but since it adds only one or two hours of gameplay, players want more. The developers know this, so, they'll add another DLC. And another. And another. Eventually, a game ends up with several DLC content packs as a result. All of that DLC content could technically be packed together into one big Expansion Pack to increase the value (and create said Expansion Pack in the process), but they don't. The reason is the Expansion Pack will likely go for $30, but the broken up multi-DLC model allows the developer to sell each content pack for anywhere between $0.99-$19.99 (yes, I've seen $20 DLC before, in case anyone wants to argue with me over it). The most common price point I've seen for DLC is around $8. Not a bad price, but when you consider that a good, proper Expansion would cost $30 and give you 10-20 hours of gameplay, and a game with 8 DLC at $8 a pop giving you the same amount of gameplay for upwards of $60, then you start to realize why Expansion Packs have mostly gone the way of the dinosaur. Ultimately, the DLC method is really a method to do the casual social game monetization in a more hardcore video game.
Seriously. Go look through a few games on Steam that have DLC. Check out how many DLCs exist for some of them, as well as the price point for some of them. In a lot of cases you end up with more than 10 DLCs for a single game, and some of those DLCs are asking Expansion Pack prices for these DLCs. In many cases, they aren't offering anything better than the average DLC pack. By the time the Completionists have bought everything for a game, they've already paid for a game three times over.
Don't get me wrong. I've bought and played DLC myself. I enjoy DLC that's good. But, some of this is clearly a nickel-and-dime sort of thing that would be better repurposed as Expansion Pack material to add value to the Expansion Pack.
Technically, if a DLC takes that long to complete, I'd call that an actual expansion (or near enough to one). The difference is primarily one of content. Most DLC adds a new outfit, a couple of new "special" (read: probably overpowered) weapons, and/or one or two hours of additional gameplay. Maybe a new character or two. Expansion packs have a lot more in them, but aren't really perceived as "cost-effective" for developers. Let me explain:AntiChri5 said:
The average DLC adds one or more of the above, but since it adds only one or two hours of gameplay, players want more. The developers know this, so, they'll add another DLC. And another. And another. Eventually, a game ends up with several DLC content packs as a result. All of that DLC content could technically be packed together into one big Expansion Pack to increase the value (and create said Expansion Pack in the process), but they don't. The reason is the Expansion Pack will likely go for $30, but the broken up multi-DLC model allows the developer to sell each content pack for anywhere between $0.99-$19.99 (yes, I've seen $20 DLC before, in case anyone wants to argue with me over it). The most common price point I've seen for DLC is around $8. Not a bad price, but when you consider that a good, proper Expansion would cost $30 and give you 10-20 hours of gameplay, and a game with 8 DLC at $8 a pop giving you the same amount of gameplay for upwards of $60, then you start to realize why Expansion Packs have mostly gone the way of the dinosaur. Ultimately, the DLC method is really a method to do the casual social game monetization in a more hardcore video game.
Seriously. Go look through a few games on Steam that have DLC. Check out how many DLCs exist for some of them, as well as the price point for some of them. In a lot of cases you end up with more than 10 DLCs for a single game, and some of those DLCs are asking Expansion Pack prices for these DLCs. In many cases, they aren't offering anything better than the average DLC pack. By the time the Completionists have bought everything for a game, they've already paid for a game three times over.
Don't get me wrong. I've bought and played DLC myself. I enjoy DLC that's good. But, some of this is clearly a nickel-and-dime sort of thing that would be better repurposed as Expansion Pack material to add value to the Expansion Pack.
