Rock, Paper, Shotgun - 10 Commandments of DLC

Dhruin

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Inspired by forum debate over Dragon Age: The Awakening, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Alec Meer has posted their 10 Commandments of DLC. A sample:

1. Thou shalt not undermine the host game – that which we’ve achieved should still mean something, not seem lesser in the face of or be undone by what follows.
2. Thou shalt not leave the host game with a cliffhanger that you intend to resolve via later DLC. We’ve paid for a story, not a chapter.
3. Thou shalt not attach a pricetag to small things that a free mini-mod does or could very easily provide. Earn that pricetag rather than fobbing us off with fancily-packed tweaks, or make ‘em free.
More information.
 
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Eh. The thing is, most of the commandments are solvable by the market. If people don't like mini-mods or think the dlc is too expensive, they don't have to buy it. DLC models that don't generate profit will be abandoned.

Asking 'Please Mr Company, I'm going to buy this if you make it, but you shouldn't, because that would be eeeeeeevil of you' is silly.
 
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Sadly there is only one rule - thou shalt give us more money.
 
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Asking 'Please Mr Company, I'm going to buy this if you make it, but you shouldn't, because that would be eeeeeeevil of you' is silly.

Thumbs down so far on DLC. I bought the Oblivion stuff in a retail package because the price was finally right and the value was more like the expansions I was used to getting. Fallout I'm waiting on GOTY to drop below $30. The Dragon Age DLC sales pitch is a complete turnoff (I have yet to be sucked into the game... it may be my last Bioware purchase if it doesn't grab me).

I think the only thing I've legitimately succumbed to is the Sins add-ons. That because a) the game is very good and b) I have a lot of banked up good will with Stardock. Other than that, I'm liking this nickel-and-dime scheme less and less. So there you go. Voting with my feet.
 
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Eh. The thing is, most of the commandments are solvable by the market. If people don't like mini-mods or think the dlc is too expensive, they don't have to buy it. DLC models that don't generate profit will be abandoned.

Asking 'Please Mr Company, I'm going to buy this if you make it, but you shouldn't, because that would be eeeeeeevil of you' is silly.

The market is not you - it's everyone. YOU can do what you think is right, but the result is based on EVERYONE - not just you. That means there's no way to get what you want, which is exactly why capitalism thrives on people - in general - not really caring to the same extent as the enthusiasts.

You might as well call democracy 100% fair. Are you kidding?

Sure, it's the lesser of many evils - but as a politician should not abandon his moral standards just because he was voted in, a company should not abandon their standards just because they have that opportunity.

Because a random casual gamer pays 10$ for 2 hours of content, doesn't mean that player actually thinks it's right. You assume his or her decision to buy was informed. If that player was made aware that the company spent 1% of the time and resources they do on a full game sold at 40$ - then maybe that player would reconsider.

The concept of DLC basically exploits misinformation and indifference towards the unreasonable, because the pricetag is relatively low. Most people don't stop to think what's right until they're faced with something they can feel. It's why we all step on insects without thinking about it, but the vast majority would stop if it was a stray cat - as it looks cute and we don't enjoy inflicting undue pain on harmless animals.
 

Sure, it's the lesser of many evils - but as a politician should not abandon his moral standards just because he was voted in, a company should not abandon their standards just because they have that opportunity.
….

Well the standard is, if that's legal behave like sharks or worse that's fine if that brings more money. That's that sample. You'll find only few isolate cases out of this rule.

There's 4 points that are weird in DLC:
  • As you quoted, it's a system that setup a general misinformation not putting the player in a position to evaluate well the fairness of the price of the DLC.
  • It exploits fans avidity to buy more features for a same game, it's quite close to buy some items for a game, and this is a clear follow up of what's done in MMORPG.
  • It setup up a new in game sells system that I feel rather perverse because you aren't in a mood to be objective when you are captivate by the game. Well there's still some mood interruption with the payment but that's just few clicks away.
  • It forces the player to be more captive by forcing them create an account to be able to get DLC contents.

I haven't feel to have been stolen by Dragon Age DLC but I'm still look at this with a rather dark eye.

EDIT: Well the link quoted lists probably all those points and more, I didn't read it before. Well the humorist approach bore me… I know I'm strange.

EDIT2: Well the link quoted merges pure design stuff and stuff linked to perverse commercial approach, that merge is perverse itself as the DLC are. I'm not sure it's on purpose but feel this a bit naive and already with a step into DLC admittance.
 
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