Users who Dugg This
Shawn Trachen
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silentspyderJan 30, 2012
This is nice and I have yet to buy dlc (perhaps because I'm old school and find it wrong) but I don't see this happening. Dlc is a bringing in the money and 12 year olds will have their parents pay it.
xcwarriorJan 31, 2012
Once again, you have pointed out correctly that it's parents which are the problem.
andysasylumJan 30, 2012
I vote with my wallet everytime I vote.. it's the American way.
specimen7Jan 31, 2012
I won't buy any game that has DLC planned. They announce DLC before the game even comes out FFS.
You morons are paying $60 for a game with half of it's content removed, and paying $15, $20 and sometimes $40 to buy the rest of the game. f**king morons.
evildeadashJan 31, 2012
So you don't buy games anymore, right?
BTW i'm in total agreement with you. I usually don't buy new unless it on sale and it's a version of the game that has all the DLC included, like GOTY editions and such. These people that pay full price or even worse, pay for the extended/super-duper editions, THEN on top of it all pay for the DLC's... that really make no sense to me. People just love throwing their money away to an industry that is continuously trying to put a stranglehold on the consumer and that wants to nickel-and-dime them at EVERY turn. And they wonder why people pirate...
xcwarriorJan 31, 2012
Clearly you don't own any Nintendo systems, which don't have DLC. Though it's coming soon. I might buy a few games with DLC, but I don't buy the DLC. Specimen is dead on. You are paying extra $ for content that would have been in the game a generation ago.
evildeadashJan 31, 2012
You're right about the Nintendo thing, sorta. I've only recently purchased one and haven't really used it at all. So, i'll give you that one. But as you said, DLC is coming to the Nintendo too and Nintendo users will be in the same boat as everyone else.
encognitoJan 31, 2012
Over 70% of the games I have played, I borrowed from the library, for free. Of the rest, I usually waited up to a year for the game to drop to $20 bucks with DLC included. f**k DLC and high prices.
trdrstvFeb 1, 2012
DLC does have it's place, Rock Band is a wonderful example on how to do things right, rather than having to buy each iteration just for new songs (like in the PS2 days).
What I don't understand are the people who buy DLC from Bethesta. I'm sure it's high quality stuff, but buying additional content for a game that ships with more content than I will ever see is very counter intuitive to me.
vlatroJan 31, 2012
While I agree some DLC is outright stupid ($10 for a virtual hat for instance), I can still appreciate it's value on some level.
Most companies are responsible enough to ensure that owning DLC does not put one player at a competitive advantage over others in multiplayer (there are of course some exceptions, but in general this usually isn't the case).
Much of what game companies offer is based on market research studies, which in part estimate that most people in the US, EU and AU value their entertainment at $8.00/hour. That metric is used in many other industries (theater ticket prices, drink prices at the bar etc). When viewed in that light, most games wildly out-perform other entertainment media. A $60 game often delivers hundreds of hours of entertainment. Gamers must amortize the cost of the PCs and Consoles, subscriptions, etc into that, but it's still quite an amazing value.
Back to DLC, If I can get 2-3 hours of enjoyment for a $5.00 download, I'll probably buy it. In regard to "Stupid DLC" (Fable 3 dog potion anyone?), other people buying that crap doesn't hurt me for not owning it, but those who do buy it are free to do whatever they want with their money. They clearly think it's worth the expense, and they're subsidizing not just the cost of it's production, but the cost of other, more relevant content. In the "dog potion" example, I'm sure that product was turned out by an intern in a couple of hours. If that can add $50,000 of revenue to the company over the next couple of years, that just paid the salary of one more developer who's contributions to the next game will benefit me, at no cost to my self.
Then you have game-breaking DLC. This is content that radically changes the multiplayer aspect of the game, essentially forcing you to buy it, or be left behind competitively. I do take issue with that, as the company is fundamentally changing the product I paid for, after purchase. Plenty of "Expansion Packs" in the past have done this as well, it's not just DLC, but it is a problem now more than ever. I tend to not buy the DLC at that point and find another game to play (there's no shortage of other games).
The issue isn't the game industry. They are responding to market demand for such content. The issue is the insufferable children who have no concept of value and drive demand for inequitable content changes in the games. The good news is, the industry is maturing. Children are not the driving demographic anymore. In many games they are an extreme minority (though they are a very loud, whining minority).
If your goal is the abolition of DLC in all forms, you're living in a fantasy world. For the developer, it's free money with almost no distribution costs, it's not going away. But it can be made better, worthy of your purchase.
When they say "vote with your dollar", you can't do that effectively by boycotting all DLC on principal. The kids will still buy it with their parents money, and as the primary DLC customers they will have more sway over the type of content released. You have to be willing to show the game developers and publishers that there is a DLC market for adults. The profit margin on DLC is too high for you to threaten it's profitability by refusing to buy it. If even 1 in 30 customers buy it, generally it's still worth producing. However if you can show them there is more money to be made by producing quality DLC products and addons that you do consider worth the expense, they will be more likely to accommodate you.
jeworldJan 31, 2012
As the author mentions, if its stupid costumes and cute kiddy s**t, let the dumb parents pay it, but not including missions and other valuable stuff is not cool.
There needs to be some giant uprising in the gaming industry in order for this DLC stuff to stop. Occupy Activision/EA?
danni88Feb 2, 2012
I like to buy online games gold, items, CD key and other stuff , http://tinyurl.com/7hx2qwx what should i do ?
dralezeroFeb 1, 2012
Aren't different CPU and video card variants just dumb down versions so they sell it cheaper? Same argument could be made. But it sells more units right? To those that are only willing to spend the cheaper price.