Wednesday. Time to complain. Gnaaaa!
You know, I have a really divided opinion on DLCs. I see the positive sides, but also the negatives. And do you know which side is the worst of all? Pre-order DLCs. The latest candidates, like “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel”, are literally driving me up the wall again. Why? I don’t want to keep that from you…
DLC: My Definition
Over the years, the definition of “DLC” has changed significantly. In the past, I naively assumed that DLCs would always remain free, like new maps in shooters or new areas in MMOs.
At some point, someone came up with the idea (and my feeling tells me it must have been EA) to charge money for these expansions. That was quite a harsh step, as I had always seen DLCs as nice extras, as concessions to the fans, as bait to encourage them to buy later versions of the product (like the 40th Call of Duty installment). Well, unfortunately, in our world, most things still revolve around money, so it’s only logical to eventually say: If you want more, you have to pay more. The cow has to be milked until only the skeleton lies in the grass.
Once again, please don’t misunderstand me completely. I fundamentally consider DLCs to be nothing bad, as they are merely “smaller addons” for me. There are some titles I like to think of when it comes to these bonus contents and found that they were worth the money. “Shadowbroker” from Mass Effect 2 is one of those cases, just like “Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon’s Keep” in Borderlands 2, where I was truly happy and satisfied in the end and didn’t regret investing a few more euros.
Once paid, double scammed
In recent years, a new evil has crystallized: “Pre-order DLCs”. Not only do pre-order customers actually pay a “trust advance” to the developers since they haven’t seen any final reviews of the game, they are also lured with content that others either don’t get or only receive for an additional charge. Particularly absurd are such titles where different “bonuses” are advertised depending on where you buy the game.
But what does that actually mean? Simply put: You cut the finished game, call the cut part “DLC”, and sell it as a super great additional content. Another brilliant example was Mass Effect 3, which had a “Day 1 DLC”. The justification for this was that a “different development team” was responsible for the DLC and “just happened” to be finished in time. Sure. Or in German: I can fool myself, but thanks for wanting to help. Just give me a complete game.
I look back sadly into the past when games came with many side quests. Some games still do that today, but increasingly, more and more are moving towards packing everything that doesn’t relate directly to the main plot into DLCs and asking players to pay again. A few particularly brazen developers even deliberately exclude certain target groups, such as the game series “Heileen”. A core point of the series has always been the different romances in which the game could end – in the latest installment of the series, this is again the case, but you can only flirt with the male characters. If you want to smile at a lovely woman, you need to buy a DLC that unlocks that.
What is your opinion on DLCs? Where does the scamming start, and where might it still be justified?
