Monday, August 26, 2013

This Is Madness! Madness? This...Is...DLC!!!

A number of years ago I remember standing here in the office at work having a conversation with my Manager about Dragon Age DLC. I remember making a remark about how I didn't like DLC because the cost of purchasing all of it would end up being more than what you paid for the original game with a fraction of the content.

Fast forward to today when said Manager tells me how excited he is for Total War: Rome 2 and reminds me that he took the day off just to soak in it's Roman goodness. I know little about Rome 2 but I do know there is a preorder bonus for some faction on Steam and there will be both paid-for and free DLC after release. I also made some snide comment about how paying for factions is part of why I have been less than interested in Rome 2.

Thing is, I am pretty much calling the kettle black here and I know it. It seems pretty hypocritical of a person who has sunk money buying Riot Points for silly champions and skins in League of Legends to complain about DLC. And yet, I'm still kind of bothered by the Rome 2 DLC.

Part of my issue may stem from the fact that Rome 2 is going to cost $60. $60 freaking dollars!?!?! I'm not here to argue value vs time investment nor the fact that I think games are just too expensive because those are topics for another discussion. But at that cost knowing there are factions being withheld or added later just doesn't jive with me. On the other hand Creative Assembly is going to offer free DLC and I should be happy, right?.

I think this quote I say from a PCGamer article that talked a bit about post-release Rome 2 DLC sums up what I am feeling at this moment:

"In Medieval II:Total War I unlocked the side factions for play by destroying them in the campaign. In Shogun 2 I unlock them by paying $5".

If you were wondering, Shogun 2 was the last entry in the Total War series.

Do I think that DLC is bad? No. Do I think Rome 2 DLC is bad? In the long run no. Do I think there is good and bad DLC? Most definitely yes. Do I think that a DLC Season Pass is a waste of money? Only if not purchased on a holiday sale of some sorts.

In the end I have no leg to stand up on when it comes to complaining about DLC seeing as I've purchased my share of it over the years. I've also used the 'if you don't like it then don't buy it' defense for DLC to random Internet morons.  That statement applies to me with regards to Rome 2. DLC has become the cash shops for retail games and if I don't like it, well there's nothing telling me I have to buy it.

2 comments:

Marty Runyon said...

I usually don't have any problem with DLC if I like the game enough. If I like the base game enough, then I'm happy to buy more.

The main thing for me is that I'm most likely to never buy and play DLC at all.

Jayedub said...

I've done the same thing. There's a few pieces of story bases DLC that I've yet to play for a number of games.

I too buy DLC for games I like quite often.