Bioware has been under some internet rage recently when news about a day one DLC for Mass Effect 3 broke out. It was like a scene in Waterloo, many lives lost, mayhem, dead horses...ahem okay not really. But internet denizens can be quite vociferous in their 'uprightness'. Do they have a valid point about DLC's thinning the content of the main game? Is it a questionable practise for studios to develop DLC's concurrently with game development.
Realistically though, DLC development isn't exactly concurrent with most game development. Most of the time, they tend to begin near the end of the main game's development. While publishers and studios claim that they have an exclusive team working on the DLC, truthfully though some people from the main game development(mostly the artists) will hop on to the DLC.
I'm fairly certain most people's contention with day one DLC's don't have anything to do with development resources of a game. The biggest issue stems from the fact that a perceived major content of the game is being released as a paid DLC(at least in some ways, exclusive to some and not others) on the release of the game. The argument here is that this content could(and should) have been in the game on release. Looking back at Dragon Age which had the Shale DLC included in the limited edition of the game, which I bought(the limited edition not the DLC), I have to say that was a rather good DLC with one of the most interesting character in that game.
I'm no big fan of DLC's myself and have generally stayed away from most of them. DLC's are way overpriced for the amount of content they provide(really... a 6 hour side quest for USD9.99 or worse, more!). But obviously they sell, which is why publishers continue to churn them out. And with the increasing popularity of free to play games, this phenomenon is not going to go away any time soon(at least in the case of free to play games, you get the base game for free).
What I hate the most is that now, publishers like EA and developers like Bioware have clearly split their game on release with the most complete edition(the collector's edition which used to come with just some cool physical swag and the sort) and a lesser standard edition which doesn't have all the content produced by the studio for the game. Perhaps the only effect this has is to push more people to buy this ultimate, complete edition to have all the content for the game at launch. Very cunning...
Not all DLC's are bad though. DLC after the game release say 4 or 5 months in extend the life of the game. Over at the Malaysian Gamer steam group, I've been playing Men of War Assault Squad regularly, thanks to extra skirmish mode packs released by developer Digital Mindsoft. Also, Ironclad Games strategy of extra content for Sins of A Solar Empire has to be applauded. Free updates in the form of patches that improve the game balance and the game engine to run and look great. They then release what they call 'micro expansions', essentially DLC's in the form of an expansion that adds a game changing new mechanic. They were simply put... brilliant.
In the end though, if you find day one DLC's a repulsive idea, there is a simple solution... STOP BUYING THEM. Don't ever fall for their marketing gimmicks. What do you think? Day one DLC's bad? DLC's in general a bad idea? Sound off in the comments.
I will admit to falling under the sway of DLCs. As a semi-completionist player I don't like being left out of the loop on in-game items and quests. I think the issue here is twain - developers either come up with new content after release, or publishers withhold on things that should have been in there in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI kind of hate myself for buying, but let's look at Mass Effect 2, for example. Their DLC was kind of necessary to round out the experience, especially the Shadow Broker and ME3 prequel missions. On the other hand you have a game like Saints Row 3 which is unashamedly holding things for ransom, and charging a premium for their DLC to boot.
I support the idea of support and expansion, but the fact is if something like a core mission or weapon is left out (even in the disc itself sometimes!) it feels like robbery, and there's no real recourse.