DLC has changed my gaming habits

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tcleary

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I'm not a big fan of DLC. I tend to stay behind the curve anyway but with DLC it just reinforces I should just wait to play games. What happens though is by the time a complete package gets down to a reasonable price I have lost interest in playing the game at all so end up skipping it. In the end I buy fewer games and play more old stuff.

I guess I'm in the minority here but for me at least DLC has reduced the amount of cash I spend on games. So have online passes. In the past I might buy a used game but now I think about the stupid online pass and it irks me enough to not support companies that have them as to not encourage that crap.

Maybe I'm just old school but I like all the content being on the media. we didn't have this crap in the cartridge and early disc eras. I don't like buying something incomplete and re-buying something.

Some things have changed for the worse in the industry. Then again now we have cheap downloadable/indie games so thumbs up for that. Maybe I'm just becoming disillusioned with the mainstream and current tactics to draw out the most cash from consumers.
 
I like DLC when done right. All it's done to change my gaming is to make me more likely to hold onto some games after beating them when I'd sold/traded them before. So it works great for developers/publishers to get more of my money, and I get to play more of a game I loved without having to wait until the sequel.

But again, that's only for DLC done right--i.e. solid expansions. Not nickel and dime BS, stuff that's on the disc and just locked until you buy DLC etc.
 
The DLC has just made me wait longer so that I get GOTY edition of games I'm interested in with the DLC included on the disc, and wait for those to drop in price instead of jumping on the first edition when it gets cheap.
 
[quote name='soonersfan60']The DLC has just made me wait longer so that I get GOTY edition of games I'm interested in with the DLC included on the disc, and wait for those to drop in price instead of jumping on the first edition when it gets cheap.[/QUOTE]

I do the same here.
 
DLC and "complete/game of the year" editions are a part of why I almost never buy new games anymore but the absolute ridiculous speed at which they drop in price these days is another part of it.
 
Yeah when it comes to popular games I usually always wait for a GOTY/Complete edition, that's how I finally played DA:O, Borderlands and GTA4. Some games are instant DLC buys though, like Oblivion and Skyrim, most every other game I can wait on. Especially with some DLC's being $16 or $20, to me that's highway robbery, so I wait till the GOTY hits a low price. Still waiting on Arkham City GOTY to hit $20 to pick that one up.
 
[quote name='RedvsBlue']DLC and "complete/game of the year" editions are a part of why I almost never buy new games anymore but the absolute ridiculous speed at which they drop in price these days is another part of it.[/QUOTE]

I agree, and I would imagine a lot of CAGs agree. The only time I've bought a title ahead of its GOTY is through Steam summer sales. Otherwise I wait, staying on the leading edge of releases isn't worth it.
 
[quote name='tcleary']I'm not a big fan of DLC.[/QUOTE]
Do what I do: ignore it. Buy a game viewing it as a complete package and don't give a dime to these fucks who hold back content as a moneygrab. If everyone stopped buying DLC, they'd have to go back to proper expansions. I can honestly say that I have never spent a single penny on DLC nor 'GOTY' editions with all the DLC. If you feel like a game is coming out incomplete, then boycott it.

At the very least, vote with your wallet like you're doing by not buying the game at all.
 
I love the DLCs that went out this year. They really though it up and they made a great job. My favorite DLCs are No Mercy and Wolfpack because they are both from overkill plus they are a crossover of Payday and Left4Dead which are two of my favorite games.
 
I don't bother with mainly single player games that I know are going to get dlc soon. I'll just wait until there is a sale on the dlc to pick it up or a GOTY comes out or buy it off gamefly for when I can get it and the dlc for cheaper than the game was released at. Other than Arkham City which I really wanted then I have waited for most others.
I still get multiplayer games though and if I get bored of it before the dlc then I'll pass on it but otherwise it will add more play time to games I all ready like.
 
I'll respectfully disagree. Take Borderlands 2. I'm 60 hours into the main game and still not finished. That is an amazing value even if you drop $60 on day one(which of course you'd be a moron if you did given deals at BB, Amazon & the like). $10 (or less given a sale/season pass) to drop another 10-20 hours into that world? fuck yeah. That's a steal. $10 for a new class? That's debatable, but very avoidable.

Bioshock 2 & Minerva's Den are another great example. MD was fantastic, possibly better than the core game but without DLC that wouldn't have happened. If people don't buy the game on release, DLC doesn't get made. If DLC doesn't get made then there are no GOTY editions a year later for the cheap asses.

What about multiplayer games? Would anyone be satisfied playing the same 8-10 maps for months on end? Hell no, people would move on. Map packs are a boon for multiplayer gaming. Now pricing of said maps, that is completely debatable.

As with anything there are positives and negatives and you have to research to see what's worth it. Giving a blanket "all dlc is bad" statement is naive.
 
I agree 100% with all of that Corvin.

Just not going to get widespread support for those views on a site full of people obsessed with spending as little money on games as possible. DLC just will never be popular among cheapasses. Full on expansions that are reasonably priced and go on sale, and cheap deals on GOTY editions as some noted above seem to be all that get much support here.

I was a cheapass when I first joined CAG. But between making real money now and gaming a lot less, I have no problems buying something like Borderlands 2 at launch and buying a season pass for DLC etc. to play a game when all my friends are playing it and support the developers who made the game I love with my wallet.
 
I did not say all dlc is bad. I said it has changed my buying habits and I think it has caused me to spend less on games and avoid new releases. So for people like me it is detrimental to the industry. Overall obviously it is financially beneficial for the industry right now but I wonder if that will change over time, if more people would change their buying habits like myself.
 
Borderlands GOTY cheap got me to buy into Borderlands 2, otherwise I always wait on games until they are super cheap with exceptions like Skyrim. And no, I'd never buy the Skyrim DLC. Paying $10-15 for DLC seems silly to me when I see full games priced at $5-15 at Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, etc.

[quote name='tcleary']I did not say all dlc is bad. I said it has changed my buying habits and I think it has caused me to spend less on games and avoid new releases. So for people like me it is detrimental to the industry. Overall obviously it is financially beneficial for the industry right now but I wonder if that will change over time, if more people would change their buying habits like myself.[/QUOTE]

There are still people who buy new games, beat, and resell to make most of their loss back quick as possible. I think DLC is more geared towards them, trying to get people to hold their games as long as possible spending more money. Once that's out the door, DLC sales and GOTY for more chance at money.

I'd like to add another side effect of buying habits that could also be a factor: This console gen is so old, that the game library is so big. There are so many old and cheap choices instead of buying that $50-60 game that will drop in a few months. My backlog personally is huge and I have a lot to draw from to keep me busy.

I wonder how this will effect NextBox and PS4? Why pay 300-500 for new hardware plus $60 per 1 or 2 games that may be slightly interesting when there is so much quality gaming to be had with games we missed or haven't had time to put in.
 
All I have to say is this

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[quote name='Corvin']I'll respectfully disagree. Take Borderlands 2. I'm 60 hours into the main game and still not finished. That is an amazing value even if you drop $60 on day one(which of course you'd be a moron if you did given deals at BB, Amazon & the like). $10 (or less given a sale/season pass) to drop another 10-20 hours into that world? fuck yeah. That's a steal. $10 for a new class? That's debatable, but very avoidable.

Bioshock 2 & Minerva's Den are another great example. MD was fantastic, possibly better than the core game but without DLC that wouldn't have happened. If people don't buy the game on release, DLC doesn't get made. If DLC doesn't get made then there are no GOTY editions a year later for the cheap asses.

What about multiplayer games? Would anyone be satisfied playing the same 8-10 maps for months on end? Hell no, people would move on. Map packs are a boon for multiplayer gaming. Now pricing of said maps, that is completely debatable.

As with anything there are positives and negatives and you have to research to see what's worth it. Giving a blanket "all dlc is bad" statement is naive.[/QUOTE]

I understand where you're coming from but the games you're talking about are one's where it seemed an effort was made for the game to feel complete and brimming with content by itself in the case of "Borderlands 2".
The problem is to some if not most on this site is that it feels as if developers aren't giving them their money's worth with the original game, holding back so they can nickel and dime them. For some games they have a legitimate claim to this, not with any Elder Scrolls series or Fallout obviously, but others.
Oh and along those lines, for people arguing value on price cost for downloadable games ask yourself if it feels like you got a complete game along with some real extras for that price, not just that it's cheaper. I think we're allowing developers to get away with that shit even more in terms of games that are exclusively downloads. Take "Wipeout HD" for example. $20 sounds like a great price but consider the amount of racers and the course selection then compare it to previous offerings on disc, especially with the track number and see if you don't feel like you got ripped off. You can easily use a contemporary comparison with "Wipeout 2048".
 
[quote name='viiral']All I have to say is this

pZlvl.jpg
[/QUOTE]

On the other side of the coin, 1999: $60, with rare price drops

2005: Semi-common price drops & used games, rarely below $30

2012: Ultra common price drops & used games, often below $15

Sure, we're not getting as much game anymore but with such resources as Cheapassgamer and the bad economy, you can get a hell of a lot more to play for a lot less money than you could 15 years ago. Not to mention how games age much slower these days - an AAA game from 6 years ago looks and plays like like one of today's A games, whereas in '99 a 6 year old game would have been, like, a mid 16-bit era game. Put Half-Life next to Wolfenstein 3D, then put Motorstorm next to Need for Speed Most Wanted (the 2012 version).

Also, I bought Motorstorm for $2 today. :lol:
 
Price drops are not ultra common on new console games.. older game sure.. steam games now thats a whole other can of worms.. steam has sales every day.

2012: Project 10 dollar is screwing with used console game buyers.. heck in some rare cases its 15$, while this is only for online play it still annoying.

I don't agree with you about game aging.. Its irrelevant how old or new a game is as long as its good.. Graphics means nothing to me.

also comparing half life to wolfenstein 3d is silly. first of all Wolfenstein 3d is much better and 2nd its a 2d game with 3d movment.

all car games looks the same to me.. but maybe casue i dont like cars :p

I got Motorstorm for free *wink* but I will prob never play it.. PS+
 
As long as developers stick to the significant $10 chunks of content then I'm fine with it. It's when they start bombarding you will silly shit that I just shutdown and generally not purchase the game in the first place. (or pick it up super cheap in a GOTY format)

It's a per-developer kinda thing for me as well so I'll ignore everything say BioWare while gladly tossing money at say Gearbox.
 
I agree with you op. Cant tell you how many games I've stopped playing because of dlc. I had a problem a few years ago where I paid for graw dlc (1200 ms points I think?)

twice which is kind of a long story. Ever since then I've really hated it. Didn't buy gears 2 or mw2 even though I LOVED the first of both because I knew they were going to milk them with dlc map packs.

Also hate paying for xbox live because it seems like every time a new game that I want comes out, my live sub is also out lol. To contradict everything I've just said, I rolled the dice on the halo 4 limited

edition which is mostly just halo 4 steelbook edition with some avatar props and DLC!! Enjoying it so far though.
 
Hasn't changed mine for the most part.

Most DLC that comes out is absolute garbage, and the DLC that does come out and isn't garbage comes out way after a games release. Like Minerva's Den, the Red Dead DLC, the GTA DLC, Dark Souls DLC, etc. Far enough off that I feel the premium I paid by buying early and playing it first wasn't a waste and I should of waited.

Some companies you just gotta know they're going to nickle and dime you for DLC. Capcom, Gearbox and their shit load of DLC, Bethesda(if they're the developer), any multiplayer game, etc.
 
DLC has been ruined. It's been abused and destroyed.

DLC should strictly encompass content created AFTER the primary development cycle for a game. Companies have been locking chunks of their games' content and selling them as "DLC", regardless of the fact that you don't even DOWNLOAD anything.

I hate when companies charge ridiculous prices for costumes and shit too.

I always like having complete games, but just to afford all the extra aesthetics in games like SFxT, it costs another $100. That's fucking absurd. And that's ignoring the 12 characters that they locked away and decided to charge more for later. Then there's the gems that you can pay for to make your characters stronger, which completely defeats the main standard of fighting games, in that everyone is on the absolute same playing field.

DLC can be used positively, but most companies are abusing it to the point of ruining their games. SFxT is the worst offender, building their game around ways to make more money for the least effort possible. Game had potential, but that was buried under the 10-ton shit Capcom took on it.
 
i used to buy all the CoD map packs, but this year i just got sour.
I bought the 2nd mappack for mw3 and then 3 days later they had a 50% off dlc sale.
then with 1 month til blops 2 they release 2 more map packs for $30. why would i pay 66% of what i could use on blops 2 and with most people only playing for a few more weeks.
idk
im playing re4 and i love this seperate ways dlc, but capcom would charge an extra $20 for that if it was released today.
 
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