Whon
Tribe of Judah Left 4 Dead Chapter Leader
If anyone has played the first Mafia game and then completed the Mafia 2 game you would be quick to realize that they did in fact purposefully leave out content in the hopes for more money by DLC
I feel sorry for fans of PC shooters
- Thread starter Tek7
- Start date
If anyone has played the first Mafia game and then completed the Mafia 2 game you would be quick to realize that they did in fact purposefully leave out content in the hopes for more money by DLC
Keero
Tribe of Judah Membership Administrator
With a name like Mafia, one would expect some form of extortion, no? xD
Medal of Honor was released in the US on October 12, 2010 at a MSRP of $60 USD.
Paid DLC for Medal of Honor is being released November 2, 2010, less than one month after the game's release, at the cost $10 USD.
Is EA suggesting they plan, create, and package content for digital distribution in 21 days? If not, they knew about this content well in advance and could have included it on the $60 game disc.
There's no way to argue that paid DLC three weeks after a game's release is anything but a blatant cash grab. There are great examples of how to "do" DLC. This is clearly not one of them.
That's exactly what I'm suggesting they did and the timetable supports the claim.
Nor would I--months and years after a game's release. I don't take issue with the premise of DLC. I purchased the Proto Man and Secret Stage Mega Man 9 DLC.
Again, my issue is with the timing. EA isn't even trying to be subtle any more. They know they can sell incomplete products at full retail price, charge fees for "additional content" that should have been included in the main game, and millions of gamers will buy it. They can treat their customers with disrespect and still turn a massive profit. Why would they stop operating any differently?
I'll agree that Valve's prices on virtual items are absurd. I'll agree that selling keys to open crates at $2.49 each and NOT dropping keys randomly or allowing crafting of keys is ridiculous. (I have 6 crates in my TF2 backpack right now. I'm considering recording a video of me destroying each and every crate and uploading it to YouTube.)
But the online store (a recent development) aside, Valve has released free content update after free content update for TF2 for the last 3 years. And as inane as the Mann Co. Store may be, Valve isn't selling maps. The prices for hats may be ridiculous and the set bonus hat requirements even moreso (not to mention hypocritical after stating player concerns of "pay to win" scenarios were unfounded), but weapons and items don't stand to fragment the player community like paid maps do.
Again, I don't take issue with the premise of DLC or reasonable applications of DLC.
What I take issue with is blatant quick cash grabs from players that dropped $60 for a game (and a game with a multiplayer component that's taken a thrashing in user reviews) three weeks earlier.
That's hardly a fair comparison.
When gamers bought Half-Life 2, they weren't just buying a game; they were buying a platform on which they could reasonably assume a large community of modders would build. The package may have said "Half-Life 2," but gamers understood they were buying the Source Engine runtime.
The Orange Box included Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode 1, HL2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal for $50 ($45 if you pre-ordered). It was and remains one of the best values in gaming. If there was anyone that bought HL2: Episode 2 by itself, I haven't met them.
And HL2: Episode 3 is vaporware.
So it doesn't even factor in.People are still playing Source Engine mods today. I sincerely doubt we'll see Medal of Honor in regular rotation in 6 years. EA and its "planned obsolescence" strategy for key franchises will see to that.
On a more serious note, here's a suggestion for all the players frustrated by EA's and Activision's disrespect but still want to play semi-realistic shooters:Heres the plan..... All us PC players should go back and play DOOM and Wolfenstein 3d until the mega corporations realize that we want repetitive, fun key gathering and monster slaying instead of semi-realistic crap
Gather your most talented modders, plan and create a Call of Duty 4 (which had real dedicated server support, not the "rental required" dedicated server "support" of Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops) mod that takes the best ideas from more recent titles and grafts them on to CoD4, and play it until EA and Activision release something $60 better. Maybe even pack in a few custom maps to attract more interest.
I know, it's not feasible. The majority of players will move to the latest game, even if it's not any better (or in some cases, even if it's markedly worse) than its predecessor.
But it's an idea that could provide semi-realistic FPS fans an alternative to dropping $60 on an incomplete game.
Then again, the last semi-realistic FPS game I played for any length of time was Counter-Strike: Source, so what do I know?
Odale
Active Member
I loved the first Mafia game, haven't played the second one though.
The timing thing on whatever EA game this is makes me kinda curious as well.
I don't mind DLC so long as doing it makes sense for the consumer and doesn't cost too much - $10 won't even buy you two McDonalds combos... just sayin'!
IndyOfComo
New Member
This entire post, not just this quoted portion, echos my feelings on DLC.
Keero
Tribe of Judah Membership Administrator
Tek, ya forgot to mention the part how they're also releasing free DLC too for those who didn't buy used on the same day. Clean Sweep mode. Not exactly Activision here. >_>
XionTawa
New Member
"Pay" DLC is the devil...
I didn't forget. I just didn't feel it was relevant to the discussion on releasing a paid DLC pack 3 weeks after a game's release.
I don't take issue with paid DLC--just purposely withholding content from a game's retail release for future paid DLC."Pay" DLC is the devil...
I was happy to pay $2 for the option to play as Proto Man in Mega Man 9 and another $1 for the Special Stage. (I think those prices are accurate. I forget.)
XionTawa
New Member
in MW2...you must pay $15 for 5 maps...maps!? really!? ...they are hardly worth $1 each... I see MOST companies ABUSING the paid DLC options...and trying to take advantage of gamers, since they can't sell you a game for $120 from the start...they will make you pay for that later... >_>
With TF2 I don't have issue with paid DLC as long as it's cosmetic and I'm getting free updates out of it. The exception being the hat stat bonus items which I hate. Every other item is either easily attainable or cosmetic. If the prices are absurdly high that will, hopefully, keep the items I worked for more rare. Basically I am ok with it as long as I am not forced to buy their items, forced to slave for weapon enhancements, restricted from game play or must wear long johns if I don't rent their underwear (I kid not see Vindictus). Charge as much as you want for a virtual item just don't make me have to buy it to keep on an even playing field.
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Odale
Active Member
I thought it seems pretty clear from the quote and quoted article that I was talking about purposely withholding content then charging for paid DLC.
/shrug
silverleaf
New Member
I don't see the point about dedicated servers. Warcraft 3, diablo 2, starcraft 2 don't have dedicated servers (except temporary ladder games which I don't play). Sure, we have worked around that with hosting bots, but we've been playing for years without it. Multiplayer is FAR FROM DEAD. Hop in hop out is perfect. Unless I've completely mistaken what you mean by 'dedicated server'. Sorry, don't do FPS.
My understanding is someone hosts a game, and it shows up on some list for people to join?
My understanding is someone hosts a game, and it shows up on some list for people to join?
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XionTawa
New Member
Without dedicated servers, a random host is found to host the game...this is bad for many many reasons...one of the biggest being the lag from low bandwidth hosts...also, this increases hacking horribly... People are able to find ways to always be the host, and then run hacks to make them and their team always win...and this is only cracking the surface of the issues with non-dedicated server games... However...95% you are talking about these issues...they involve FPS games...so if you don't play them or like them, you would not understand...