This. Once upon a time games were designed, created, and released. Now, instead of paying 20 bucks for a game at release, you end up paying 50 bucks for a game that's released very slowly over a long gestation period. DLC is marketing for marketing's sake, nothing more. And yet somehow, the industry has convinced millions of gamers that DLC is the way things have always been. And we've also always been at war with East Asia.

Nah.

Expansion content has always existed. The only difference is now it's digital and usually smaller (with a smaller price). The pre-order armor type stuff is retarded, but the real DLC out there is good or bad the same as expansions were good or bad back in the day.

Sure, expansion content has always existed. Difference being is that we didn't always pay for it.

Example... AGEOD released their Civil War game several years ago. Game came with 2 early war scenarios and 2 late game scenarios. The new game (Civil War II) that came out last year featured two early game scenarios, that was all. Then they released a DLC featuring the 2 late game scenarios as pay DLC. Same game with same scenarios with a few tweaks and they DLC'd the hell out of it. That's just one of hundreds of examples of how studios have changed the content-pay model. You pay more for equal or less. That's the scale of production-to-profit ratio.

For a DLC to exist outside of the play for profit system it needs a long creation period followed by a sequel model with content worthy of the pricing model. Anything outside of that is just profit milking based on content IPs. The Total War game series is a perfect example. CA releases a micro-sequel every few months based on the already existing game engine. After half a dozen or so DLCs, they finally start from scratch with a new engine and repeat the process over again. It's not necessarily good or bad, that's subjective based on the consumer's opinion. But it IS a marketing concept to maximize profit with minimal production cost.

Uh... I always paid for it. I honestly have no idea what you're talking about.

Yes some games released small additions for free, but paid expansions have existed for decades on PC. Tales of the Sword Coast, Tribunal, all those level packs for Duke Nukem or Quake. DLC is just the same thing, usually smaller but still worthwhile when we're talking about "real" DLC, not stupid pre-order items.

I don't play Total War so I can't comment on that, but you're speaking in all-encompassing terms about all DLC. The ones I buy, dozens now, aren't any different from buying any of the expansion packs I listed above.

Pretty much this. The games that provide major expansions for free are few and far between and I appreciate them immensely but they really are a minority. You could argue all day that "all DLC sucks" but the fact of the matter is that there is plenty of DLC that is just legitimate expansion content moved to a digital format.

Plus, there is a reason that expansions used to be "of higher quality." Digital sales weren't exactly prominent until the last decade. If you had to release a game to physical marketplaces, and it had to be of X price, wouldn't you pack it with as much content as possible? The $5 to $10-type DLC packs can also be great, only with less content because they don't have that crutch. It exists because it's feasible for it to exist, whereas it wasn't previously, and I really don't think condemning all DLC because of that is the answer.

Ok, let me explain a little more clearly. Content used to be created and passed on through the brand by the developer... without cost. This was before the conquest by the known franchises that dominate the market now, like the Total War series, Assassins' Creed, Far Cry, Crysis, etc. Games used to be more open source in nature, in that if new content was created for an existing franchise, the content was filtered to consumers either free or via entirely new games in a series... we call them sequels. Now this idea of content infusion is done by the DLC/micro pay model, where you HAVE TO PAY for each new item/level/character/ending. That's the difference. Devs creating new content for an existing brand used to be on the level of mods or user based content. Now it's a totally separate and corporate model with its own payment structure/QA/time tables and everything else an entire game might have.

DLC went from bad idea to test run to industry standard in less than 10 years. I'm not sure how long you've been playing games, so when you say that you've always paid for DLC, it could be because you weren't playing games before you had to. I'm not making an accusation, I'm just trying to let you know that there was a time... long ago in a galaxy far, far away, where devs would release content for their games and no one had to pay for it. And if we did have to pay for it, it was because there was so much new content that they would repackage the whole thing and call it a sequel. Just tossing in some new armor for Batman to wear in the Arkham series is not a sequel, it's DLC.

Okay look, I don't know what games you've played through the years. As a PC RPG and shooter player since 1992 or so however I can tell you there was never a time I remember where I got free expansion style content for nothing. Maybe a new mission or two in a patch a few times, but nothing approaching a large content expansion.

What I did do was pay $20-30 or so for expansions. Not sequels, expansions, which added on to the main game and expanded its content. New mission strings, new areas, new FPS maps, etc. That was super, super common in PC gaming. Today's DLC is often these same expansions in digital form. A lot of them are smaller, but they're also cheaper, so it works out about right. I see no real difference.

Does stupid "Batman outfit" DLC exist? Yes. Should you buy it? No. That doesn't mean all DLC is bad, nor does it make any sense of your comments that it all used to be free.

So we've concluded through a lot of words that you like DLC and I don't. Great. Glad we could reach a consensus there. I'm off to play some more DLC-less games.

To continue this conversation, please pre-order the 12 page thread bonus pack. Order now or you'll miss the really cool sarcastic ending.

Now how is it possible to be angry when you're dancing and rocking to some tunes? Because that's what I'm doing right now.

This.... is the most delusional thing I have read this month...

Normally I'd consider that a compliment, but it is way too easy to get to the top of your shit list around here.

Besides, there's still 4 days left to the month and I'll be drinking soon, so just stick around. I'm sure I'll have more to add.

yeah, that's the delusional thing again... you are not even scratching the bottom of my shit list so far.

And it is all fine, just as long as you do not expect to be taken serious. So, please, full steam ahead.

Dang it!

Not even mid-way? Somewhere close to the top? Come on. Give a guy a break. Don't be such a buzz-kill.

It's as if you didn't read the part I left not cut out, don't know what any of the things he's talking about are, and simultaneously don't care to Google them. Come on. Brood War? Lord of Destruction? Corkscrew Follies? Loopy Landscapes? I really could just keep going on...

I don't know what world you're living in but I've always had to pay for expansions.