Tag: dragon age

#oneaday Day 71: Want Not

I haven’t bought anything “new” for some time now, be it a book, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray or game. (Actually, that’s a lie, I picked up Deathsmiles recently but only because if I didn’t grab a copy now I doubt I’d ever see it on store shelves ever again, but that’s beside the point. I probably shouldn’t have started on this aside as it is taking away from my original point somewhat. Forget I said anything and let’s start again.)

I haven’t bought anything “new” for some time now, be it a book, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray or game. (Actually… (No! Stop it!) What? (You know what.) Oh all right.) And you know what? I don’t miss it. (I’m going to focus on games here.) I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on Dragon Age II. There are many other things I could list but I won’t because it would be terribly boring.

There are many reasons I haven’t missed buying these things. Firstly and most obviously, it’s saving money, something I’m woefully short of at the minute. Secondly, though, there’s really no need to constantly have the latest and greatest the second it comes out. What does it achieve, really? You pay full price, have to enter six bajillion redemption codes to download all the DLC that should be on the game disc (don’t get me started!) and know that there’s going to be more of it in the future. Wait a few months and you could likely have a better edition for less money and more Stuff. You also get to avoid all the “pre-order bonus” bullshit that big publishers are starting to pull these days, because the content in question is often then included in that newer edition.

The third and probably most important reason, though, is that not rushing out to buy something awesome the second it comes out is the fact that you can then just enjoy what you’ve already got. I’m currently playing through Final Fantasy XIII, a game which I picked up months ago, played approximately 20 hours of, stopped due to something else coming out, and never went back to until recently. Now, those who dislike FFXIII will undoubtedly say that I shouldn’t have bothered, but I’m having a blast, and the fact I’m not feeling “pressured” to beat it as quickly as possible means that I can savour the beautiful world that makes up that game, take my time to explore and enjoy the extra content it has on offer, and move on to beat it when I’m good and ready. When I’ve beaten that, I have Demon’s Souls, Disgaea 3, Darksiders, Resident Evil 4, killer7 and a whole host of other things to play through—a backlog of games that literally covers years. Eventually I’ll get through them all—hopefully in time for a Dragon Age II game of the year edition or even Mass Effect 3.

Of course, this will all go out the window once Catherine comes out in the States and I immediately import it but hey. That’s another one that might end up being hard to find, so it’s an investment, hey?

#oneaday, Day 191: Pay To Play

I wrote a news post relating to this subject earlier tonight, but I thought I’d expand on the thoughts I alluded to in there in a proper blog post. It’s a matter of some debate, and the post itself provoked some discussion. This is good, as it’s an issue in the games industry that needs talking about.

I’m referring to DLC. But not just any DLC. DLC that you get a little voucher for in a sparkly new copy of a game, like it’s some “free bonus” and not at all something that’s there to squeeze a bit of extra cash out of purchasers of a pre-owned copy of the game.

It’s happened a few times recently. The most recognisable examples are probably Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, both of which provided “free bonus” content for those who purchased the game new. Dragon Age included a new character who integrated into the storyline and had a bunch of quests associated. Mass Effect included the “Cerberus Network”, a ticket to a whole bunch of free DLC. They’ve since started charging for new packs, but the first bunch of additional content available for Mass Effect 2 players was gratis. So long as you had access to the “Cerberus Network”.

Most recently, we’ve had Alan Wake. Now, I will hold my hands up here and say I haven’t yet played Alan Wake. I understand it’s rather good. However, one recurring comment that I’ve heard from a number of friends is that the story comes to a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion. Perhaps “unsatisfying” is the wrong word; the game sets itself up for a sequel, apparently. Fair enough; plenty of games have done that. Did anyone play Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance? Worst. Cliffhanger. Ever.

But for purchasers of the game to be teased with the fact that there is some DLC coming “soon” that will continue the story beyond the cliffhanger ending and bridge the gap between this and the semi-inevitable sequel? That sounds awfully like leaving a game unfinished and withholding the true ending to me. Now, granted, Remedy haven’t said they’ve deliberately withheld content. But something stinks about this. Think back to the days of the PS2; if you purchased a narrative-based game, you’d expect it to come to some sort of conclusion, whether that’s a cliffhanger ending designed to set up a sequel, or a definite finale. Very occasionally expansion packs made an appearance, but these were, for the most part, confined to home computers with the ability to install data.

What we have now is effectively a game which says “Here’s the game. Here’s a cliffhanger. BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!”—but only for people who either bought the game new or who are willing to pony up 560 Microsoft Points for the privilege of continuing a story which should have been finished in the main game.

I find this sort of thing more objectionable than EA’s approach with Dragon Age and Mass Effect‘s DLC. At least in those games, all the DLC takes the form of optional sidequests. Sure, some of them impact the main plot. But they don’t strip out what appears to be an important part of the core narrative of the game.

Alan Wake, being a more linear game by nature, doesn’t have the luxury of sidequests to insert into its structure. As such, I know I personally would much rather they had either left this content out altogether and put it into the sequel, or included it in the game in the first place. To do it in this manner seems rather unnecessary, not to mention a sharp poke in the eye to those who typically purchase pre-owned games because they’re cheaper. (cf. me)

Still, this looks like becoming something of a standard business practice for large developers at the moment, so we should probably get used to it. At least the independent and smaller developers haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet.

DLC is all very well and good—it hearkens back to the old days of going to the shops to buy an “expansion pack” for a favourite game—but when the “extra” content feels like it probably should have been in there in the first place? Hmm. I start to think it’s not such a good idea for people with money and power to get their claws into.

What do you think?