Like it or not, downloadable content has become a major part of the game industry. What are your thoughts on it? Is it just a way to make cash? Should it be included in the retail game itself? Or is it a legitimate way to extend the playtime and experience of a game?
I don't really mind DLC usually. As long as it isn't overpriced, and is fun to play/use, I'm all for it. My only issue is when DLC is released within the first month or so of the game's release. Mass Effect 3 and Gears of War 3 are examples of this, especially the latter. Pre-order exclusive or special edition exclusive DLC I can understand, but otherwise, there's no excuse for it.
Really, the only DLC I've downloaded are songs/albums for The Beatles: Rock Band. I saw that game more like a platform of sorts and thought DLC was well suited to it. Extra costumes? Not needed. Haven't downloaded any unless they were free. Extra levels? Cash-grab, should have been there to begin with. Just artificial game extenders like with Achievements/Trophies. I can see the merit in it if you've really enjoyed a game, but most of the ones I've played where this was an option stood up just fine on their own. Prince of Persia's downloadable ending to the game was just evil XD Pre-order exclusives are okay. Be it in general or unique to select retailers. Just as long as they don't drastically alter the gameplay. I agree with Rhys about major DLC released so soon after release. Just include it from the get go. I don't know how this became an acceptable aspect of gaming subculture. We like getting ripped off now?
Expansion pack DLCs are excellent. Though I got it with the game as a complete edition, I really enjoyed the Oblivion DLC and spent hours and hours with it because there was so much to do. Then I compare it to the crappy DLCs that Assassin's Creed gets where I get... 3 hours of gameplay tops? Yeaaah... no. I am not a fan of DLC. I don't mind DLC when the game itself already felt complete and the extra levels or whatever aren't plot-based (or completely contained adventures, if they must be plot). And I don't mind DLC when it's something cosmetic like character costumes and the like because these kinds of things don't really add or take anything away from the game. (For the record, I am referring to the Orcs Must Die kind of DLC or map packs in the former--just adds some extra levels to play with but has no plot. If it must have plot, do it like Left 4 Dead. In the latter, I just mean the LittleBigPlanet DLCs where you can get costumes for your Sackboy. I never regret my Ezio costume whenever I sign in. But I hate hate hate hate hate the DLC that's been permeating the market recently. Especiallu now that Square-Enix has gotten ahold of the idea and within a week of FF13-2 coming out, there were costumes galore to download as well as $5 minor plot DLCs with more seemingly every week. And that is ridiculous. It would be one thing to start up with those a while after the game had come out or release plot packs every so often that just had a few episodes but having this much content coming out IMMEDIATELY after release is just... ridiculous. It makes it obvious that they had all this stuff completely ready before the game came out and made the choice not to include it in the game we already paid an exorbitant amount for. It just feels insulting, like they know we'll throw money at them for things that SHOULD BE IN THE GAME if they were ready for release as DLC this quickly. Or make it free DLC for the first few plot things and leave the paid stuff purely cosmetic. The whole situation with that game really pisses me off and it's the reason I haven't bought it. (The other reason being that I was unable to preorder any CE copies and they have sold out in my city and the only reason I wanted the game in the first place was for the artbook, lol.) (Wow I can almost see the exactly moment my sleeping pills kicked in over top f my painkillers high hahaha)
I think that DLC that legitimately expands upon the game and adds something new is perfectly fine. Stuff like Lair of the Shadow Broker for Mass Effect 2, Shivering Isles, or various map packs for shooters (as long as they're substantial and reasonably priced) are excellent ways to extend the life of the game. Short crap like the Assassin's Creed series gets, or selling costumes and whatnot, I'm not the biggest fan. It's especially insulting when the DLC is included in the actual game and you're only paying to unlock it. If you're going to release DLC, put time into it and have it be a legitimate extension of the life of the game: release-date DLC is absolutely unacceptable.
Release date DLC is okay when the game has been sent off and finalized but the developers still have time to create additional content that is not on the disc. What happened with Mass Effect 3 is, in my opinion, absolutely unacceptable. Especially since Bioware claimed that the DLC that came out on the release date was indeed never intended to be in the original game when it shipped but people found the content on the disc when mining it. (That sentence is horrible, hopefully you all know the news and know what I'm talking about, haha.) That sort of thing doesn't sit well with me at all and I really hope that's not the direction this sort of thing will take from now on. Also the ridiculous DLC that was announced for Sim City 5 kind of bothers me. You have to pay extra on the release day for simple things like building packs? :( I mean, I understand collector's editions and stuff like that but having so many extra editions just seems like they're milking it way too much. Really, EA should just be taken out back and shot.
I haven't been keeping up with Sim City 5, but if it's anything like The Sims 3, they do need to be shot. The game shipped with the bare minimum in clothes/hairstyles/furniture/etc. and they launched the "Sims Store" or whatever where you had to buy more. Some of the content packs go for ridiculous prices...I've seen some that are like $20 or $30. :|
I really don't like the direction DLC seems to be going in. Watched the end of FF XII-2 and just about died when I heard that the end was going to be DLC and was not included in the game. That is ridiculous and completely a cash grab. I don't really mind small things like costumes being DLC and map pack on shooter games are fine, but DLC that's needed to get the whole plot of the game is annoying.
I thought it was just costumes? I mean, the Tales DLC has worried me for a while since costumes have always been included in the game with titles so having them outside the game... well... it seems like a dangerous slope since they could find that people will buy them anyway (and SO many people I know have bought costumes) and opt to make that the only way to change the look of your character. On the other hand, at least costumes are harmless and just for show? I'm okay with extra stuff being added occasionally, although all the Namco-game tie-ins they do on the JP Tales games are tacky as hell, but I don't want harm to come to the titles in the game. :( (I'd also be okay with them offering up the costumes that are difficult to get in-game so if you want to buy them from the get-go to wear, it's your money, but everyone else can still get them normally.) I rambled. I hope I got my point across.
