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DLC = Damn Late Content


On 03/08/2013 at 04:30 AM by jjindie

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Is anybody still playing Mass Effect 3?  I'm finding it hard to get back into.  Not that I consider more Mass Effect 3 content to be a bad thing, and ME3's latest DLC is getting reviewed pretty well.  Some seem to think it's the greatest and most appropriate DLC release for the final entry in the trilogy.  Goofy, but great.  I'm not a purist or an againg gamer that despises all forms of DLC, though I am an older gamer.  Mid 30s by next week!  Some of the latest DLC to be announced really has to be questioned, not for its quality, but because of its timing.  Why so late?

I probably blog about DLC too much: DLC = Don't Like Credit and DLC = DeLayed Content.  It may seem like I have a hate on for DLC and that I'm so puritanical about the changes in gaming that I'll endlessly post themed blogs that hardly anyone reads!  But I like DLC, usually.  I loved the From Ashes day one DLC for ME3.  After recruiting the big, ugly Prothean he became one of my favourite party members.  Javik's personality is probably most like mine of any video game character since Cloud Strife or Squall Leonhart.  You all suck!  And I'm not gonna shake your hand!

I also enjoyed the Leviathan ME3 DLC, and Skyrim's Dawnguard and Dragonborn expansions.  The Hearthfire DLC was kind of pointless, if you ask me.  Since you could find so many areas and houses with smithing anvils, alchemist's tables and acane enchanters, what was the point of spending all that time building your own house with everything?  Not that I'm writing a review for any DLC, just telling you about the ones I've purshased recently.  And I almost forgot about Omega for Mass Effect 3 which was a lot like Hearthfire in many ways, not all that fun and unnecessary.

Mass Effect 3 was released on March 6, 2012, just over a year ago.  Since then we've been through the entire ME3 ending fiasco, one extended cut, three major single player plug-ins, and several free multiplayer updates.  It isn't the amount of time that has passed that makes the next DLC seem superfluous.  PS3 didn't get the Skyrim DLCs until more than a year later, and there's still more to come.  It's just that we've been through so much with ME3, and everything feels complete.  I started a whole new play thru, from the original Mass Effect after its PSN release, all the way thru ME2, and finally to ME3 with Omega.  I don't want to go back again.  Should I?

 

And now it appears that Borderlands 2 will be getting another DLC soon.  A sixth playable character will be added soon along with other content, though details are sparse.  I didn't buy the Mechromancer because I was pretty much already finished with the game before the first DLC came out.  Mechromancer was supposed to be day one DLC but wasn't.  I must be the only who doesn't hate day one DLC, it makes it more likely for me to buy it.  But in some ways I'm not that aging gamer just yet, I have a pretty low attention span and I move onto the next game pretty quickly.  And I do move on, I don't go backwards.  Except for Skyrim.  And Dark Souls, when Artorias of the Abyss came out.  And Mass Effect 3, for Omega.  And...um...hmm.

This is only my opinion.  Perhaps there are enough ME3 users in the multiplayer community to make the final update viable.  And the reviews for ME3: Citadel have been pretty good.  But at this point, do the publishers really care about DLC reviews?  Reviews for the main game certainly have a factor on how well a release performs.  But I don't think it's the same for DLC.  Oddly enough, that's the one stat that publishers don't seem to release as much and such information isn't widely available.  But I'm willing to bet it's a sharp downward slope in purchases for each successive DLC.  I gotta think that in the end more people will have purchased ME3's From Ashes and the Tales of the Plucky Prothean than ME3's Citadel, the mega casino and character reunion party while the rest of the galaxy is at war.

But I could be wrong.  Let me know if you plan to get back into ME3 or Borderlands 2.  And if it's worth it.


 

Comments

Dragon1989

03/08/2013 at 08:07 AM

DLC a word i grow to hate in this Gen of console, at first it meant something, but now DLC mean u pay many to play the ending of a game or to get another gun or look, which in the PS2 was free. Yet now EA said DLC isn't doing it they are adding  microtransactions yay, now we are fucked ( buy a game for 60bucks and to play the game to it full u need another 50bucks of DLC and now  microtransactions). But for MassEffect3 i didn't get yet, i'm waiting for the full game edition.

Jesse Miller Staff Writer

03/08/2013 at 09:02 AM

I miss expansions.  Back in the day, DLC wasn't broken down to the minutia that it is today.  When companies wanted to expand upon the original, they would release a module that offered a substantial enhancement to almost all elements of the game.  There would be a new quest, a totally new feature, etc...

In this fashion, I think Borderlands is a game that does DLC right.  Completely new characters enable me to play through the game again - if I want to - and their DLC releases are usually rather robust; adding completely new maps, missions, characters and story points.  It's good stuff that keeps the game relevant.

The microtransaction stuff is what kills me.  From a business standpoint I get it, but from a creative standpoint it's no good.  Executives push for low hanging fruit - create some horse armor or some hats - perhaps components for crafting, etc....  These take little to no time to develop and can be marked up to make a profit practically right away.

That and DLC comes out too quickly now.  I've been conditioned to wait until later to pick certain games up, because I know a complete edition will be coming.  Skyrim, Borderlands, etc...  These games will have "complete" editions before too long and they'll cost me a lot less.

I'll stop there - but I could go on.  Perhaps in an editorial...

jjindie

03/08/2013 at 09:10 AM

Too quickly?  Skyrim...PS3...eh?

Jesse Miller Staff Writer

03/08/2013 at 10:00 AM

lol touche on that point.  But they'll have it worked out for the inevitable "Game of the Year" edition that will hit sometime this year.

jjindie

03/10/2013 at 07:49 AM

I think they've already got it worked out.  Have you not played Skyrim?

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/08/2013 at 09:43 AM

Happy early birthday, for one, second, I skipped this generation, and while I look forward to being able to download demos and such to play if I adopt something next gen, I'm still not sure I'm on board with the idea as a whole; I will say this: as long as it's not something that I feel should have been in the original physical copy when I paid my $60, I don't mind late DLC. That's just an optional way to add some longevity to the game to me.

I think the reason people are bothered by Day 1 DLC is cause it makes it seem like that DLC should have just been in their game to start with, before DLC costs; obviously it's a case-by-case basis whether that's true or not (and if it's free DLC, I certainly wouldn't care, assuming I had enough Hard Drive space), but that's how I might feel.

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

03/08/2013 at 10:00 PM

Honestly...I never trusted DLC since it was introduced years ago.  I knew it was going to be bad news and an excuse for developers to produce less (or withold) content for the some $60.

rmsk8r05

03/11/2013 at 12:11 PM

DLC, it tends to be bad. That's why I though Vergil's Downfall for DmC: Devil May Cry was pretty good even though it was kind of short.

smartcelt

03/18/2013 at 08:06 PM

I tend to like some DLC. But some companies get a bit greedy. They nickel and dime you....wait,who am I kidding here. It's more like several dollars! If I love the game I'm a total sucker for it,though. My son buys any Mass Effect 3 DLC that comes along. He'll be down with it. And Borderlands 2 for that matter. I hear the new character is creepy as hell. That's all I know of it.

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