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On Disc DLC - Another Side to the Argument, it's not so bad?

March 28, 2010 in Blog comments 2

A story type that has been covered here on Grep many many many times in the past, now has some defense. The SurplussGamer over at NegativeGamer attempts to give points, not so much 'in favor' of on disc dlc, but a way that it could be handled without people like myself flipping our lids.

As the lumbering beast of the games industry continues its inevitable lurch into the Internet age, the clingers-on continue inventing ways to wrangle it into submission. Some routes, like DRM, end up almost universally despised by the public. Others, like the ever-increasing viability of smaller downloadable games such as those on XBLA, PSN or WiiWare have been largely embraced. Perhaps the approach that evokes the widest, most confused range of responses is that of downloadable content (DLC).

Over the last couple of years I have noticed myself becoming increasingly distant from the growing consensus about DLC and, in particular, the assumed wisdom that making DLC to be included on-disc and unlocked by paying money (which I will refer to as “On-Disc DLC,”) is automatically wrong. For this reason, I offer up this minority report.
PacoDG via negativegamer.com »
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  • 0
    Ultima_Weapon Mar 29, 10
    The whole concept of Dlc is crap in my opinion.
    • 2
      Daweii Mar 29, 10
      Well the concept isn't bad, but there needs to be some kind of ruling in place. Things need to be priced accordingly as right now anything can have a price.

      For example the way I would have it is something like this;

      Costume Packs - Free
      They don't add to gameplay and shouldn't carry a charge

      Map Packs - £3
      They add more gameplay, but the developer isn't really adding considerable depth to the game.

      Story Content £5-£10
      On the low end, if the story content adds a few hours they can price it up to but not over £5. If the story adds a considerable amount of content and gameplay they can charge upwards of £10 which would be the maximum.

      Game Expansions
      Same rules as the story content above, but these expansions are vetted by Sony and Microsoft and priced on how big they are with a maximum pricing of £20.

      With that kind of system it may not please everyone, but part of the hostility towards DLC comes from the shock pricing. People get all hyped up and then the developer comes out and says the map pack is £15 and the gamer is left conflicted, they want the content but aren't happy paying that much. If every gamer knew no matter what every map pack would be £3 maximum DLC would be better accepted.

      As for the DLC on the disc, I believe that there should be a guideline that states the developer must state that the content is already on the disc, even if the admittance is in small print and hard to see without proper reading.

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