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A disturbing trend on 360 Game Content |
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So first let me get this out of the way I am an achievement whore. I try not to play "cheap" kids games but when I start a game I want to finish it. Games like Star Wars The Force Unleashed with its 2 play throughs. I will play both times to "finish" the game. Working on Dead space which looks like it will take 3 play throughs for me to get the 1k.
With that said there is a distubing trend that is happening with games on the 360 espically ones that just have come out. They are adding more achievements that are assoicated with DLC, not a big deal if the DLC is worth the price. Games like GTA with the 12-15 hrs (?) additional content that also come with the a few extra points decent deal (thanks amazon). I can deal with that. But it seems that the norm is becoming that a game that might have had a level cut will make it DLC and give you points for it at a premium. So my 1k in SW: TFU is now not completed. I wanted to get that completed and bought the DLC. Additional 250 points done and the game is done until the next wave. I took a quick look around and found more and more games are doing this espically new ones that have been released recently: Mirror's Edge - More time trials oh and 250 points Fable 2 - Short DLC GoW2 - Hey we didn't fix dick when this was released but here's more achievement Tomb Raider Underworld - A removed level plus 125 points Skate 2 - 250 more points plus a new area The MAW - Common really.... So now here is the thing I want to complete my games. I can beat them sure but I want to complete them. What Microsoft has done is make it so complusive people like me will go buy this because they "Haven't finished the game" because there are more points just waiting for you. Also they are overpriced. If it was $5 for a lost level then yea I might jump in. Or $5 for time trials sure I can do that. But at $10 a piece  no.Just look at it now. The Maw a great little cute game just got bite by the trend. It seems that whenever a new game comes out expect more overpriced content and more achievements just to lure you or achievement whores like me in. I can see it now: SFIV: Buy all of our costume packs and unlock 20 points RE5: Buy the 10 gun packs we will make unlock 10 points Troubling for people like me. Thoughts? |
 Comments (Total Comments: 13) |
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Klank
- 02-20-2009, 03:14 PM
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They are not forcing you to buy the stuff. Nor do the points get you anything in the real world. Some people will pay and the company will make more money and it will cost next to nothing to produce. I don't really see any problem with it.
Now when they leave stuff out of the game that should have been in there in the first place, that's when I get upset with it. I don't care so much about the achievement points but I want my whole game for $60. |
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kilm
- 02-20-2009, 03:15 PM
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Having to buy DLC for achievements and trophies does break the wallets of "complete-ist" gamers. It would be really nice if we all got free DLC like Mass Effect's or TF2... but that's a high hope!
Then again, my gamerscore is only 60(Sixty) right now (no joke). |
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willardhaven
- 02-20-2009, 03:54 PM
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DLC like costumes and weapons is clearly meant to rip you off.
DLC like an expansion pack (like Quest for Booty or Lost and the Damned) is acceptable. |
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joshnorm
- 02-20-2009, 04:19 PM
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@Klank - Sure Gamerscore points get you dick in the real world. But thats not the point. There are people like me that wants to complete the full game. So in my mind means getting all of the achievements when they add them I feel as though I should get them also. I know its extra but the game is not completed then IMO.
Its sucks that they try to tempt people into it with achievements. Now if its worth it like GTA then sure. Stuff like Fable 2 not good if they added more to it then maybe but one 2-3 hour mission... |
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hostyl1
- 02-20-2009, 04:19 PM
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Actually, this is *exactly* their hope. They (developers & MS) want to get people to buy the extra content as it is easier for them to create add-ons than it is to create a whole new game. Plus, they already have a nice base of people to market to. (begin rant) Personally, I dont see the big whoop about achievements. Then again, I've never been mistaken for one having OCD. To me, achievements just seem like a way for people to display their digital dick. The funny part being, that the greater part of the world doesnt give two shits. (/end rant) That being said, this practice will continue. In fact, I see it getting more "cheezy", like people just doleing out extra points for doing the simplest things in the DLC. Heck, if I was a developer and was making DLC (or an XBLA title for that matter) I would just give the points away Avatar: The Last Airbender style. That would virtually guarantee all the self-proclaimed 'achievement whores' would be falling over themselves to buy my content! |
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Lonestar9
- 02-20-2009, 05:01 PM
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Sorry, just can't relate. To me, DLC is usually something I may or may not get to enjoy the game more. Not because of achievements, which I usually just try to pick up by playing, I don't normally worry about them. However, to me the game is complete without the DLC. They are just extras, don't pay if you don't want to. good luck!
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surak
- 02-20-2009, 05:05 PM
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Companies only learn when you hit their bottom-line. The only way to stop the practice is the convince everybody, including yourself, that extra achievements have no intrinsic monetary value and to spend your money only on DLC that do not inflate their prices as though achievements did have monetary value.
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joshnorm
- 02-20-2009, 05:28 PM
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@Lonestar - agreed its extra content. Hell I didn't pick up most of the stuff. But now that it gives me something (Achievements) that I want its a pain. When I see the completed score 1000/1100 it annoys me.
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Wolfkin
- 02-20-2009, 06:04 PM
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dude you can't have your cake and eat it too. If companies put out DLC with no points you'd be complaining about how "it's nice and all that L&D is 11-12 hours of games but hey wouldn't it be cool if it game me some extra points while there at it? heck it might even be incentive for people to buy it?"
you can't consider DLC points part of the game. you'll drive yourself crazy. If you get all the achievement points on the disc you're done. |
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KingHippp0
- 02-20-2009, 06:54 PM
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@joshnorm - There is an easy answer, don't buy DLC that doesn't look appealing. Nobody knows that you have 1000/1100 in Fable 2 except for you... and me.
Skip the Tomb Raider DLC. Seriously, why would you support the decision to cut a level from the game by buying it once it's for sale? Just because it has Gamerscore attached to it? That's what they WANT you to do, you're basically buying 250 gamerpoints and getting a side level of Tomb Raider. You're also encouraging other devleopers to leave their games unfinished, and release DLC endings. Sounds like a bunk deal to me. Achievement boosting feels so much like the collector mentality. Be it Comic Books, Sports Memorabilia, or Video Game Points we humans love owning everything of something. Gotta catch them all! |
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Chronis
- 02-20-2009, 08:30 PM
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Maybe it's just me but I don't understand the obsession with achievements. Maybe it's because I have a PS3. But at the same time, I only have 11 trophies and don't feel the need to get more. Basically, I play my games to enjoy them. If they are easy enough, I probably go through the hoops of 100%ing them. But if they are mindnumbingly hard, I won't bother doing eveyrthing if I'm just not having fun anymore. And it seems like Gamer points are just ruining the whole games should be enjoyable thing.
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dv8mad
- 02-22-2009, 12:03 AM
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I rarely buy any DLC. Even if I see 1000/1250, it doesn't bother me. I mean, I completed the game. I think looking at the extra 250 as the same game is a mistake.
It would be like if they began to combine gamerscores for series instead of by individual games. TITLE 1 = 1000 points + TITLE 2 = 1000 points. After you finish TITLE 1 you have 1000/1000 then they add the sequal into the system and it shows 1000/2000. Doesn't mean you didn't complete the entire game. Just means that you have not done something that offers additional content/upgrades etc. This may not make much sense typed out, but it makes sense in my head. You buy the game, you beat the game. You win. The extra stuff is not the game it's extra stuff. |
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DarkZion
- 02-22-2009, 05:36 AM
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I see it more as, you buy DLC if you like the game. Like me, I beat Crackdown. Do I have 1000+ gamerscore for it? No, because the game got pretty dang repetitive and boring once I killed everyone and I wouldn't pay anything for a few more guns and vehicles. But Mass Effect (one of my favorite games), I bought Bring Down the Sky not too long after I got online.
As it goes for the Gamerscore in general, I see 1000/1000 to be more of an accomplishment than anything. Just because you have 950/1000 on Assassin's Creed doesn't mean you didn't complete the game. It just means that you didn't feel like wasting your time finding that one last flag that eludes you everytime. But to me, I use the Gamerscore as a competition with my friends. I love seeing if I can catch up to theirs, or if I can get more achievements in a game than they can. |
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