Has DLC stopped you from buying a game?

[0098386]

I must admit, I've never played a Mass Effect game. I've wanted to crash the party for a while, but thought I might as well wait for Mass Effect 3 and get a crash course in the other two from my friends who played it (since I don't have time to play through 2 massive games these days). I was all set to put a preorder down last month but read about DLC. Now I hear that the DLC is actually mega important and released on day 1.

I'm contemplating getting Street Fighter x Tekken, but if I avoid the March launch and wait till Autumn when the Vita version is released - I'll get a load of additional fighters. It's also a Capcom fighting game so I'm even tempted to just wait for the Super edition.

And today we heard that the new Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City game will not only have Day 1 DLC, but that it's also console exclusive to the Xbox 360 version.

I'd like to buy each of these games, I'd even double dip on SFxT to get the PS3 or PC version alongside the Vita one. But the thought of spending £40 on each of these games and to not get the complete game puts me right off.

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DLC can be handled really well. In Steam sales I've picked up content for Just Cause 2 because it was dirt cheap and adds real value to the game - especially to those who have beaten it and would like to mess around with overpowered vehicles.

Motorstorm RC is a cheap game around the £5 mark. It comes with all the content but for £1 you can unlock all that content without working for it. Perfect! A great shortcut for people who just want to have a bit of fun without working at it (and those people exist, any more workload and I'd be one of those people).

In Team Fortress 2 you get a massive game for a fairly low price (until recently when it went free)... I've watched it grow since the pre-order beta. From 7 or so stock maps and no customisable weapons to the most silly and varied FPS on the market. Everything in game can be found, traded, built. Don't have the time? You can buy it in the store.

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Day 1 DLC means a developer or publisher decided early on, to create content, to ship the content with the full price game but withhold it.

Has the thought of DLC ever held you back from buying a game?
Do you think DLC is ruining the experience of buying a full game at launch?

 

[Liquorpuki]

Wondering if you've read Paul Tassi's article on DLC and Mass Effect 3

Last console game I bought was Saints Row 3 and the DLC was just some extra weapons or a car or something like that.

That Mass Effect 3 DLC, I understand why people are pissed. Same with online FPS's where DLC amounts to having a big advantage over other players.

But like Tassi suggests, most consumers don't really care and have money to blow anyway, so these companies end up pimping everybody, ethical or not.

 

[MRU]

Yes....games with excessive DLC that isn't actually DLC it's just locked out portions of game that is usually on the disc, really really pisses me off, as do online passes.

I have nothing against the original idea of DLC to extend a game through additional content, but when games now feel half empty because developers have decided to lock out main content to fleece people on day 1....

It's getting to the stage where I do actively avoid games with large DLC plans and any games that come with day 1 DLC again just make me want o avoid.

I work hard to spend my money on a video game, do not take the piss out of me by charging me €60 for a game, then offering me content that should be in there on day 1 for even more €€€.

It's a total case of biting the hand that feeds you.

Aghhhhhh it winds me up so much and it feels like everything is gong that way & I don't like this direction.

Don't even get me started on Micro Transactions because I'll end up killing someone






Supplemental edit :- because of DLC I now wait for many games to be released a few months layer in their GOTY | complete editions.

 

[JayMysterio]

No. I don't buy a game based on add ons, I buy a game based on what I hope is the initial play through. I do on the other hand often make an early decision whether or not I will buy DLC. DLC has become the evil that some game companies have lovingly embraced. Capcom & EA lead the charge, focusing more on mini or micro transactions, unlike Activision with map packs/large transactions. THQ became the newest villain in the DLC wars with it's half assed WWE DLC ( starting with the incredibly late All Stars DLC ) to the nickel & dimeing with 12. Now with Saints Row 3 THQ offered a season pass, but some content WASN'T covered, just the first 3 DLC releases.

The debate over DLC isn't a new one, it's the recent trend of 'release day' DLC that has players annoyed. It used to be logical that DLC was begun during the course of the game, to be worked on when the main game was done. The idea being it would cut the extensive lead time, so the DLC would be timely. Now with release day DLC it often looks like it's content planned for the main game, then removed to charge extra money. I can see the grumbling about it, but if it does NOT affect the main game, who cares? Until the day comes that DLC becomes dependent on finishing the main game, DLC is OPTIONAL.

Keyword there... Optional.

As I stated in the future purchase thread, I purchased Street Fighter 4, which was when Capcom began it's nickel & diming. I got one DLC pack with the game, and bought another for the hell of it. That ended it. It didn't add to the replay of the game at all, I still got bored, and to this day have nothing to show for it. It was the last DLC got from me until RE5's Lost in Nightmare content. I loved Mercenaries mode, but not the costume packs or the badly conceived Versus mode. Lost in Nightmare did add value to a game I greatly enjoyed.

It's already been announced that StreetFighter X Tekken will have DLC of 12 characters that are already on the disc. It's Capcom, it's practically part of their business plan nowadays. Is it right? I don't think so as a consumer, but try telling that to the board of Capcom. As a consumer I want everything I can get for free, even if I feel entitled to it. As a consumer I also went additions to the game while I am still interested in it. As a business, especially Capcom that was flailing for awhile, it's all about getting the most money it can from every product. Capcom is damned if they, damned if they don't. Will I buy any? Maybe, but it won't affect how much I want to play the game now, while it's popular.

The whole waiting until a game has it's GOTY or Gold edition maybe financially sound and show it to the companies, but the game's heyday has also passed, which is why the game gets that edition. I want to play with the greatest amount of players available, not with the 'who's left'.

From what I've understood, the DLC for ME3 adds a relevant character if you've played the first ME. Otherwise it's another character. Of course Bioware is going to make it hard to resist not getting the DLC, but I don't believe it alters the direction of the game. Also I pre ordered the collector's edition, so I don't care either way.

As far as DLC for FPS games, it's basically around maps, cosmetics, and tweaks. Companies ( EA! ) learned that DLC that alters game balance tend to kill off interest in a game very quickly. Thus no further revenue to be made from that game.

What content that does piss me off, is pre order DLC. The idea that buying a game now becomes a logistic problem, involving me having to decide which content I want more is truly annoying. I just want to buy a game from the most convenient retailer, not one who has the extra freebie I may or may not be able to get as purchasable DLC down the line. It hasn't stopped me from buying a game, but it's getting there.

 

[toxictrix]

Honestly, I didn't buy the newest call of duty game because I knew I would have to spend an extra $45 just on maps. I don't want to always feel like I'm missing out and I really dont want to end up spending over $100 on a video game. Maybe I'm just cheap but it doesn't seem right to me.

 

[rezenclowd3]

Motorstorm RC is a cheap game around the £5 mark. It comes with all the content but for £1 you can unlock all that content without working for it. Perfect! A great shortcut for people who just want to have a bit of fun without working at it (and those people exist, any more workload and I'd be one of those people).

Just give us back cheats. We shouldn't have to pay for something already on the disc, nor should cheats disappear.

Also, having to pay $10 to play a used game online. Utter BS.

 

[Maverick513]

DLC is optional. If I like the original game, I may buy it. But the DLC which only contains some items is really a joke. I do not buy such thing no matter how cheap it is.
I remember the old times when there were no DLCs. And we had old and good expansion pack.

 

[Taustin Powers]

I held off on Mortal Kombat, waiting for the Komplete Edition.

Just like I will never buy another first edition of a Street Fighter game.

A friend of mine refuses to buy Skyrim, until the game of the year edition comes out.

 

[Tsuchiya]

Obvious candidate: Ridge Racer for PS Vita.

Man what a wasted opportunity. Not only is the content structure crappy, even if you wanted to buy DLC to get a "full" game, you won't find it yet. As of yet hardly anything has been added to the game.

 

[MRU]

Obvious candidate: Ridge Racer for PS Vita.

Man what a wasted opportunity. Not only is the content structure crappy, even if you wanted to buy DLC to get a "full" game, you won't find it yet. As of yet hardly anything has been added to the game.

What do you mean!! Namco have given us 1 piss poor track (compared the 3 that ship).... I mean quality!!!!!

But yeah I agree with you. It killed the game. There's no real single player campaign anymore or anything. It just destroys the whole structure and experience of the game to package it as they have done, and what's worse is when you consider the 3DS version shipped with 70+ tracks ??? It's just insane to offer 3 cars and 5 vehicles and it's not good enough.

 

[Tsuchiya]

What do you mean!! Namco have given us 1 piss poor track (compared the 3 that ship).... I mean quality!!!!!

But yeah I agree with you. It killed the game. There's no real single player campaign anymore or anything. It just destroys the whole structure and experience of the game to package it as they have done, and what's worse is when you consider the 3DS version shipped with 70+ tracks ??? It's just insane to offer 3 cars and 5 vehicles and it's not good enough.

Dude, I cannot stress how upset I am over this game. I've not been this disappointed with a game since I got WWF Raw for my original Xbox and realised that instead of an awesome next-gen version of Smackdown 2, THQ decided to screw us over with a crap game with hardly any content

I think there is more content in Ridge Racer accelerated for iOS...

Also 70 tracks?! That's amazing

 

[Wardenski]

I appreciate that its a new way of doing business. I personally don't do DLC but if I did I would probably be interested in extra campaigns if they were good and if the original game had a lot of content originally. I agree with MacRumourUser about the evil type of DLC.

I hope Nintendo does not follow suit. Imagine, like in that article having to pay an extra £10 enter Death Mountain.

Some DLC is plain silly though, like hats and weapon skins and what not so people deserve to be ripped off for buying crap like that. I miss the old days, e.g. Total Annihilation where maps and extra units were provided for free by Cavedog and all the fans.