Dragon Age 2 - Project $10, Better DLC

Dhruin

SasqWatch
Joined
August 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
BioWare's Mark Darrah has told Joystiq that Dragon Age 2 will have some version of EA's Project Ten Dollar (surprise!) with a free DLC redemption code of some sort in the box. He's also promised better quality DLC for this next game:
Unsurprisingly, Dragon Age 2 will feature some manifestation of "Project Ten Dollar" (an incentive to buy EA's games new) akin to Mass Effect 2's bonus content delivery system, the Cerberus Network. "We will be doing that," executive producer Mark Darrah confirmed to Joystiq during a recent press preview of the game. "We haven't announced what's in it, but it'll definitely be something kind of in that Cerberus vein where there will be additional content."
Speaking of Dragon Age 2 DLC in general (and not necessarily just the freebie content), Darrah said we could expect to see a boost in quality over the Dragon Age: Origins DLC, which prompted complaints about a limited scope and areas being recycled from the main game. He assured us that the sequel's add-ons would be more unique: "What we're doing with the DLC in Dragon Age 2 is making it larger; so it'll be bigger teams, more unique environments, more unique creatures -- so that it gets the attention it deserves to get."
More information.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
Sigh more dlc getting tired of the word.The only dlc worth mentioning was the shadow broker dlc the rest boioware made is mediocre at best.Well im a oldtimer who loved expansion packs not 5-15 minute dlc that is overpriced.Oh and spare me the comments of you don't have to buy it.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Well im a oldtimer who loved expansion packs not 5-15 minute dlc that is overpriced.
I would suspect you're exaggerating for controversial effect there. Most DLC released by BioWare for DA:O and ME2 (We're talking missions, not the smaller packs) have taken at least 30mins to get through, and their games are designed to be run multiple times so you can hardly claim you don't get your money's worth. $5 for 4 x 30min runs = $1.25 per run. Sorry, but there's not really much in the way of cheaper entertainment that doesn't involve one hand, a box of tissues and the internet. Might want to troll a bit harder ;)

But really, not a surprise. Dragon Age: Origins was a huge let down in terms of DLC (Partially because they axed a year of support due to DA2), but what happened was BioWare offered no real support for what was out. Warden's Keep & Stone Prisoner were fine, Return to Ostagar had one of the most pathetic launches I've seen from an AAA developer (Delayed almost literally at the last minute) and from then on it went downhill. Feastday served to completely negate the approval feature, Darkspawn Chronicles came out to utterly abysmal reviews and so forth.

If they want to keep their name as a premier RPG developer, then they really need to improve their DLC but also their support. Return to Ostagar came close to taking the yellow liquid with the content it gave, let's hope they don't pull it again.
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2010
Messages
655
Location
England, UK
I would suspect you're exaggerating for controversial effect there. Most DLC released by BioWare for DA:O and ME2 (We're talking missions, not the smaller packs) have taken at least 30mins to get through, and their games are designed to be run multiple times so you can hardly claim you don't get your money's worth. $5 for 4 x 30min runs = $1.25 per run. Sorry, but there's not really much in the way of cheaper entertainment that doesn't involve one hand, a box of tissues and the internet. Might want to troll a bit harder ;)

But really, not a surprise. Dragon Age: Origins was a huge let down in terms of DLC (Partially because they axed a year of support due to DA2), but what happened was BioWare offered no real support for what was out. Warden's Keep & Stone Prisoner were fine, Return to Ostagar had one of the most pathetic launches I've seen from an AAA developer (Delayed almost literally at the last minute) and from then on it went downhill. Feastday served to completely negate the approval feature, Darkspawn Chronicles came out to utterly abysmal reviews and so forth.

If they want to keep their name as a premier RPG developer, then they really need to improve their DLC but also their support. Return to Ostagar came close to taking the yellow liquid with the content it gave, let's hope they don't pull it again.

Ouch you wound me but I'm afraid so dragon dlc was completed under 20 mins for me.As for massefect 2 only the hammerhead and shadow broker dlc lasted longer.As for cost your probably to young to remember expansion packs that cost $35 and were just as long as the original not little dlc segments.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Too young? Shivering Islands came out less than 5 years ago!

As I've said many times, I liked those much better than these disjointed, $10 cheepies.
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
8,238
Location
Kansas City
I would suspect you're exaggerating for controversial effect there. Most DLC released by BioWare for DA:O and ME2 (We're talking missions, not the smaller packs) have taken at least 30mins to get through, and their games are designed to be run multiple times so you can hardly claim you don't get your money's worth. $5 for 4 x 30min runs = $1.25 per run.

Huh? I'm sorry, but the vast majority of Bioware DLC has not been entertaining enough to play more than once or twice, much less 4 times.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,129
Location
Florida, US
I will never give my money for Bioware DLC its a total rip off , I dont see how they can justify selling it when good game companies often give extra content to there customers . If the make somthing that contains 10-15 hours of gaming i can see them charging what they do . Its a bad direction for gaming iTS A JOKE AND NOBODY DOES IT BETTER than EA and Bio.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2010
Messages
576
I will never give my money for Bioware DLC its a total rip off , I dont see how they can justify selling it when good game companies often give extra content to there customers . If the make somthing that contains 10-15 hours of gaming i can see them charging what they do . Its a bad direction for gaming iTS A JOKE AND NOBODY DOES IT BETTER than EA and Bio.

Sad thing is if we try to share our opinion we are slammed by dlc supporters who are more vocal.Go ahead people be sheep or as they say sheeple for getting less for your money.I loved how the dlc was implemented in dragonage. Oh can you help me but im sorry to say you must buy this dlc to finish my quest.Bioware being bought by EA was not a good thing.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Ouch you wound me but I'm afraid so dragon dlc was completed under 20 mins for me.As for massefect 2 only the hammerhead and shadow broker dlc lasted longer.As for cost your probably to young to remember expansion packs that cost $35 and were just as long as the original not little dlc segments.
Please. I remember expansions as much as the next person. I have *never* said I prefer DLC to expansions, because like yourself I would rather they chucked out a good 10-20hr expansion instead of DLC releases, but I still feel DLC has its place in the market. Not to mention you're talking as if expansion packs are no more, which I'm sure you know is not the case. Plenty of games bring out expansions!

I find it hard to believe that you did Overlord and Kasumi (ME2) in under 20mins. Overlord is at least an hour long, with Kasumi being shorter. I was thinking over Return to Ostagar last night and again, there's absolutely no way you did that in under 20mins, nor Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep. And anyway, Shale, Zaeed and Kasumi are party members, so they can last from about 30mins (Picking them up & doing their mission/quest) to almost the full length of the game.

Yes, it's not the best DLC out there (I'd honestly say Bethesda have put out some of the best DLC to date out), but it's not what you're making it out to be.

@JDR; For you, maybe. I would wager that there's a lot of people who've played through the DLC multiple times. I think I've gone through RtO 3-4 times, picked Shale up perhaps a few more times and done Warden's Keep a handful of times too. Even though they're not great, the items they give in-game are worth running through them for.
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2010
Messages
655
Location
England, UK
I'm sure there are indeed people who have played them that many times, but it's a safe bet that it isn't the majority.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,129
Location
Florida, US
Project 10 Dollars ?

Can I have that when I [once might] publish a book with my short stories, too ?


Next, "the industry" makes this definition :

used games buyers = pirates


Good night. This is the End.


And keep this proposed definition in mind when talking about DRM … They aren't using DRM anymore to prevent pirates,
no, they are using it to prevent used games buyers.

Which is nothing but criminalizing used games buyers.

They put both on the same level.

Like people put virii and DRM on the same level.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
Bethesda's Oblivion DLC is an example where I didn't feel ripped off by the content-to-price-point ratio.

I absolutely did feel ripped off by DA:O's DLC. Stone Prisoner was included in my base game copy. While Shale was an enjoyable character, I think I would've felt ripped off had I paid for it. I did buy Warden's Keep, which was lame as hell. A boring short dungeon to provide to me what should've been, considering how basic and simple and almost required, it was for the developer to include in the base game: a vault for loot. And I didn't even get a house out of it, like I thought I would. They just dropped the vault outside and closed off the building after you cleared it out. Ultra lame. I felt the need for a shower afterward. I felt ashamed that I had been conned.

DLC doesn't have to be a bad thing for the consumer, but Bioware and EA are leading the charge to turn DLC into the transparent greedy money grab it seems to have already become.

DA:O was a shallow, disappointing RPG. Bioware is dead as an RPG developer. I won't be touching the Dragon Effect sequel with a 10-foot pike.
 
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
4,813
Bethesda's Oblivion DLC is an example where I didn't feel ripped off by the content-to-price-point ratio.
Oblivion had DLC??? Dam I didn't knew that at all. But well that game bored me so much that I never take care of any release around it.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
Messages
3,258
I liked Oblivion quite a bit, although I understand people's complaints with it, especially the level scaling, although that could be adjusted to your taste in the options, as I recall.
I never even did the main quest line. I got my free horse at the abbey or whatever early on and rode off into the sunset. The only guild quest line I did until completion was the assassin's guild, which I found enjoyable.
My main complaint was it seemed bearly impossible not to have your character become too powerful late in the game. But give me a large open sandbox where I can stalk people in the cities and steal their houses -- and varied, interesting character development -- and I'm a happy monkey. =P
 
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
4,813
Bearly=barely

Seeing that up there was getting on my nerves. Sorry for the 2nd post, but I'm on my phone, and the trackball button is broken, so I can't edit my posts. =P
 
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
4,813
Please. I remember expansions as much as the next person. I have *never* said I prefer DLC to expansions, because like yourself I would rather they chucked out a good 10-20hr expansion instead of DLC releases, but I still feel DLC has its place in the market. Not to mention you're talking as if expansion packs are no more, which I'm sure you know is not the case. Plenty of games bring out expansions!

I find it hard to believe that you did Overlord and Kasumi (ME2) in under 20mins. Overlord is at least an hour long, with Kasumi being shorter. I was thinking over Return to Ostagar last night and again, there's absolutely no way you did that in under 20mins, nor Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep. And anyway, Shale, Zaeed and Kasumi are party members, so they can last from about 30mins (Picking them up & doing their mission/quest) to almost the full length of the game.

Yes, it's not the best DLC out there (I'd honestly say Bethesda have put out some of the best DLC to date out), but it's not what you're making it out to be.

@JDR; For you, maybe. I would wager that there's a lot of people who've played through the DLC multiple times. I think I've gone through RtO 3-4 times, picked Shale up perhaps a few more times and done Warden's Keep a handful of times too. Even though they're not great, the items they give in-game are worth running through them for.

Expansion packs are dead people have shown they will pay for dlc that is shorter and quicker to make.Also the company makes more money from dlc so yes expansions are dead.You might see one or two but most companies will continue to release useless dlc such as weapons and costumes for 5 or 10 dollars.Oh do you want a map pack that will be 15 dollars please.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Expansion packs are dead people have shown they will pay for dlc that is shorter and quicker to make.Also the company makes more money from dlc so yes expansions are dead.You might see one or two but most companies will continue to release useless dlc such as weapons and costumes for 5 or 10 dollars.Oh do you want a map pack that will be 15 dollars please.
Sigh, not this argument. I'm going to list a number of expansions from the past two years, and these are just the ones that come to mind (And it includes some still to come).

Divinity 2: Flames of Vengeance
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Vietnam
Drakensang: Am Fluss der Zeit - Phileasson's Secret
Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising (Standalone)
King's Bounty: Crossworlds
Elven Legacy - Magic & Others
Starcraft 2's upcoming expansions
Sacred 2: Ice & Blood
Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment & Diplomacy
Majesty 2: Kingmaker
Tropico 3: Absolute Power

That's likely just scratching the surface. Expansions are not dead. They may be few in number but they are far from dead. And that said, where do you draw the line between DLC and expansions? The content released for GTA IV is well into expansion territory, yet it's DLC.

You are a customer. You have the ability to vote with your money. Don't like DLC? Don't buy it. Like expansions? Buy them. Don't tell other people they're the cause of the industry's problems (or that they're contributing) because they buy DLC. If there was no demand for low-cost additions to gameplay then there'd be no DLC! Expansions themselves aren't immune to being not worth the price, either. KB: Crossworlds is fairly light on content if you're not going to replay it multiple times, if you look at a lot of feedback to Drakensang:AFdZ's expansion, that was hardly great either.

P.S. $15 dollar map-pack? Only if it's a CoD game by Activision. Find me another game (or game series) that's that bad, because you won't. It's an anomaly, but by the gods do those map packs sell like hot cakes.

As I said before, I don't agree with some DLC practices. But, as a whole, I think DLC can be a positive movement, and so far Bethesda and Rockstar have shown us that it can be done well and be of excellent quality, and BioWare have partially done so with some of the Mass Effect 2 DLC.
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2010
Messages
655
Location
England, UK
Starcraft 2's upcoming expansions

SC2 doesn't have any upcoming expansions that I'm aware of. I'm guessing you're referring to the 2nd and 3rd campaigns, which are going to be full priced standalone games, not expansions.

I agree though, expansions are far from dead. Although I fear we may start seeing less of them in the future.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,129
Location
Florida, US
Bethesda's Oblivion DLC is an example where I didn't feel ripped off by the content-to-price-point ratio.

*sigh* people forget so quickly.

Horse Armor

You may not of felt ripped off by that, but I thought it was a rip off.

Dragon Age DLC on average sucked big time. A 30 minute adventure??? Bleh….The only one that I thought was any good was The Stone Prisoner because of Shale (didn't like her at first, but she grew on me). Warden's Keep wasn't too bad mostly because I learned more about the history of the Wardens and that stupid chest. Finally a place I could put my stuff :) I would have liked a much longer adventure though. These 30 minute things a just not worth it.
 
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
5,347
Location
Taiwan
Heh, I didn't mind the horse armor. If I recall correctly, it was like a dollar, maybe two. And that was easy to pass on, if you wanted. Purely an aesthetic. What infuriated me about the Warden's Keep was I felt obligated to get it, because a vault for loot is almost required equipment, at least the way I play an RPG. (I hate just leaving stuff of value behind. I'm currently carrying around way too much junk in New Vegas. I have real trouble leaving a carton of smokes behind. :p)

The Warden's Keep was just a shameless way to coerce the customer into paying extra for such a simple game mechanic that really should have been included in the base game. They were intentionally making your Dragon Age gaming life difficult if you didn't fork over the extra cash.
 
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
4,813
Back
Top Bottom