100LBSofDogmeat said:
cndblank said:
A steady stream of DLC revenue makes a world of difference in both support of the game and the game content.
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Thanks, but I'm well aware what DLC is and how is supposedly works. What is it with people lately explaining what we already know? Anyways...
My issue with DLC is that it milks the customers. Back in the day, we had this thing called Expansions which cost a bit less than the main game and gave a ton of new content/story/etc. Any updates and small things were generally given away for free. Then there were mods. What is sold as DLC today is not really worth paying for (ie. weapon packs, one extra mission, or any "Fallout" 3 DLC).
And if your game cannot stand without mods or DLC, it's pretty much pointless from the get-go. I mean, I don't keep playing Fallout 1 and 2 because of mods or DLC... I play because the game fucking rules. That's what keeps a good game alive, not shabby add-ons.
I had felt the same way for the last few years regarding the current state of gaming, but it's actually better this way. When you think about it, the gaming market has become very cut-throat and focused predominantly on making games that are easy to understand, play and be rewarded by. This is why achievements and trophies exist now. It used to be that you would get to Navarro at level one and THAT was your achievement. You'd say to your friends, "Look, I only have 840 experience points and I'm wearing the second best armor in the game."
Expansions were great and I have a lot of fond memories of Throne of Bhaal and Pirate's Coast, but in the twenty-first century when a game is finished, companies move their teams to other projects and continue to release shabby content after the title has succeeded or failed, sometimes regardless of which. This is why you get things like horse armor and Operation: Anchorage (Yeah, someone with RPG experience headed that project up, right? Tell me another one. I mean, did Pete just hire a guy from the Halo team or what?). Also, this is why DLC always goes off on some tangent, because you can't ever get the original voice actors back to record lines of dialogue you hadn't planned for when they signed their contract.
BUT - the way things are going, DLC will soon be the best thing that's ever happened to gaming. Having the team of the game stay on (Obsidian just working their normal schedule on Bethesda's dime) and continue to create new content that might potentially have some substance will increase the longevity of the games. Fallout 3 DLC was mostly horrific, but it did show some improvement over the Elder's Scroll crap. I never played the game, but I've heard enough about it to assume it's true. On the same side of the coin, the Mass Effect 2 DLCs have been pretty cool, and are bridging the gap to the third game. With Beth announcing Skyrimjob or whatever, it's likely we won't see another Fallout game until late 2013 or early 2014, so if they keep the guys from Obsidian pumping out DLC, I would be very happy to have at least some Fallout around. It's not going to be perfect, but it's better than nothing, and I'd stake my reputation that these DLCs will be better than the F3 ones.
I know it doesn't seem cool now, but I bet in ten years, all games will be continuously updated into their futures, potentially to the point where sequels are no longer necessary because the story of the game continues on as long as people are still interested and graphics updates can be made on the fly.
I don't have super high hopes for Dead Money, but I bet it will be leagues ahead of Mothership Zeta. I mean, I don't think I've ever heard someone say that F3 was better than F:NV, and I doubt I'll ever hear someone say this new add-on is worse than what we got on the last go-around.
