Is downloadable content becoming excessive?

[Propane]

Most DLC is garbage, and it's especially annoying when it's already being sold at launch.

I refuse to buy anything that has DLC available at launch.

[Mechazod]

Most DLC is garbage, and it's especially annoying when it's already being sold at launch.

I refuse to buy anything that has DLC available at launch.

I got a really sick feeling in my stomach today at a local game store chain I was at. Now most people don't have problems with pre-order bonus DLC cause mostly its just weapons or skins or some crap. However what I saw really pissed me off. For Sonic Generations the store pre-order bonus is an entire level of the game. An entire level they have taken out of the finished product just to make a pre-order bonus for a game retail chain. This really made me upset especially considering I was really looking forward to this game but if they are gonna taint it with DLC crap I am going to be severely disappointed. Now what I am desperately hoping for is that this turns out to be the same pre-order bonus like Two Worlds 2 had. One retail chain gave out codes for exclusive armor/quests/weapons in the game for pre-ordering it but the codes were actually just cheat codes to unlock stuff in the game that was hidden, it wasn't actual DLC. However I have a feeling for Sonic this will very well unfortunately be a pre-order exclusive level that will be forgotten about some way down the line.(which is the main reason I despise DLC in all its forms)

And in case anyone cares the pre-order level is Casino Night.

And you know what I generally don't support pirating games at all but hell I got to ask, where are the pirated files for all this DLC crap?

[Margret]

Feels to me that DLC is just another way to scam more money out of people nowadays

[Cows For Life]

Do people feel that the amount of downloadable content that is being churned out nowadays has become, in a way to much? I have a Xbox 360 and don't tend to get a great deal of downloadable content (except mass effect 2, loved it) mainly due to the cost, that with 3-4 bit's of content and over a few games starts to add up. In Australia we tend to have to pay between $80-110 for a new release title and when you see new content to purchase showing up within the first couple of weeks for up to $6-10 you kind of feel well I just forked out for the game why wasn't that content in it?

I guess my main questions would be:
- Are game companies releasing additional content that you have to pay for to soon after the games release?
- Do people feel that quickly released content should have been in the release game?

Edit: Meant Mass Effect 2

1. Not only right after, but as part of the game itself it seems
2. In the eyes of the publisher, it is a part of the game

Companies are doing it in an attempt to kill the used games market. The bean counters think people are stealing food from the mouths of their babies by not forking up more cash to them. They don't think you have the right to sell the discs that you bought without paying a toll.

I actually see people defending the position that consumers shouldn't be allowed to sell a game they bought to somebody else (without forking over cash to the publisher)... for misguided reasons such as bowing to our corporate overlords.

I can only guess that people are stupid.

[lolterribads]

I guess my main questions would be:
- Are game companies releasing additional content that you have to pay for to soon after the games release?
- Do people feel that quickly released content should have been in the release game?

I don't know much about the length of time after release, but I only have a few games on my 360 and they are quite old, like Lost Odysee and Forza Motorsports 3.

But I do agree that it should be added into the game. Maybe it's just because I have been playing WoW for years now.. but I think there should be a way of 'patching' the games to increase additional content that wasn't released with the game. If the game isn't complete and can't be patched, don't release it until it is.

I'm in the same boat, live in Australia and don't want to spend extra money after already spending a small fortune on a game, just so I can get the full experience of it. I know Lost Odysee had a DLC for an additional dungeon after the game finished, but I didn't feel the need to buy it just so I could get better gear on my party. Maybe if they added DLCs for things extra language tracks (ff13, looking at you) or extra playable chracters in a game that only the PS3 version had, and at a cheap price i could be convinced to spend a few more dollars..

Oh and pre-order DLCs are another one. It annoyed me to no extend that New Vegas (lol) had different bonus' over here depending which store you bought it at. Or as mentioned above with Sonic Generations. If you pre-order or get a collectors edition, getting an extra skin or a mouse-pad is generally alright, but not getting what feels like the full version of the game while everyone else gets the watered down one with less content.

[Yooya]

I miss expansion packs. They seem all too uncommon now a days. I would rather pay 49.99$ once (and wait a year) then 9.99$ 5 times for less content. Not to mention most downloadable content just seems like stuff that should of already been there.

I strongly disagree with release downloadable content - unless - its available through the collectors/ultimate edition. Then I just disapprove.

[Da Baws]

I hate day one DLC. That to me, means that it was cut from the game. Which means that I'll be renting that game, not buying. I shouldn't have to buy an incomplete game. Or if it's like $15. It to me, has to really be worth $15. Most of the time, it isn't. (Cough Cock A Duty maps cough) If it's released like a month, maybe a month & a half after the game ships, I'm more likely to believe it wasn't cut. And I'll probably be getting around to playing it then so that way I'll have more content if I actually like the game enough. Most of the time though, I'll either wait til a GOTY for the full experience or play the game at release, then wait to do all the DLC when a GOTY comes out. Unless I absolutely love the game & got more than enough time out of it. Prime examples, Borderlands & Fallout.

Honestly, I think DLC is like Communism. Good idea on paper, not so much in practice. They both rely on the basic idea that people are good on the inside & won't try to screw others over. This is why we have Acti selling 2.5 maps for $15. The first Gears sold I believe a 4 map pack for $5. Which no one complained about as far as I remember. It was a good price for the amount of content. But then companies started testing the waters & charging more. Give it time & almost all DLC will be $15. Although I'm seeing a trend with the DLC Passes. I bought the Rockstar Pass for Noire & it was a great idea. $10 gets you a ton of things. I think the industry will end up being one of those two options.

I absolutely refuse to pre-order games. Those bonuses are stupid to me. Especially since most of them are multiplayer skins & shit I won't use. I don't play online multiplayer. I'm fucking terrible at it, I constantly hear prepubs in my ear & I get pissed off far too quickly when I spawn, walk two steps, die. Spawn, think about moving, die. So on & so forth. And don't even get me started on Gamestop & their idea behind pre-ordering DLC. When I first heard that, I vomited alittle in my mouth & died alittle on the inside.

Thank you for letting me vent abit.
/rant