No offence But: Why do people get so angry over DLC?

At the risk of making this a weekly thing, I thought I’d bring up another problem in gaming that’s been eating away slowly but surely on my nerves. I don’t really have an issue with DLC, in fact, I like the idea so much that I get a little bit annoyed every time someone mouths off at the mere thought of additional gaming content. Read on for more thoughts.

For those who didn’t get the (wonderful) opportunity to check out my previous ‘No offence but’ column, you can see it here. Basically this is my space to say what I think about issues and problems in gaming today. Although, when I say that I mainly mean...my issues with gaming and gamers today. Just to highlight that this is my little section of freedom, here’s a hilarious picture, there’s no reason for it, it’s just cool.

Ah man, that works on so many levels. Anyway, down to business; DownLoadable Content (DLC) is an entity that has gained a lot of momentum over the past few years and is now a mainstay in the gaming industry. You don’t have to look very far back to see people arguing over whether DLC will become a normal practise. Arguably the DLC revolution has only come so far but it’s undeniable that the add-on content market is ever growing.

That growth, however, has always been opposed or at least restrained for one reason or another. First off, I’d like to make it clear the kind of DLC that I disagree with and so what I’m not talking about here. Content that is set for release just a week or two after the release of the full game is a perfect example of DLC gone mad and it’s easy to see why people get angry about this, it’s a despicable swindle to gain extra cash. I think it’s time to name and shame, because this kind of thing has to stop. The upcoming WWE ’12 game is a primary example of this scam in practise, even before the release of the main game (months before in fact) THQ had announced that an extra character for the game would be released as add-on content for an additional fee on the same day as the main game! In the words of Carlito Caribbean Cool...”That’s not cool”. What makes it so horrific is that this kind of DLC was clearly ready way before the main game was finished and could have been very easily put in without us having to pay extra for it. The other rather fishy DLC issue that I don’t appreciate is overpricing. Call of Duty. That’s all I’m saying on that.

Its taken far too long, though hopefully you’ve learned something along the way, but now this is where I ask the question: when is comes to standard DLC (that isn’t released a week or two after the main game) why do some people get angry about its very existence? This isn’t a majority thing, or at least I like to think it isn’t, but I’ve seen plenty of people complain about the release of DLC for games like Gears of War, Deus Ex and Call of Duty for a multitude of, frankly illegitimate, reasons. One particular example that springs to mind is horse armour. Any Elder Scrolls fan will know that Oblivion featured the ability to purchase horse armour for your trusty steed, an add-on that surfaced a few months after its release. However, alongside huge additions such as the Shivering isles and Knights of the Nine the Horse Tank DLC paled in comparison and boy did fans let Bethesda know it. This sort of event has become common over the past couple of years with gamers being upset by what they get in a DLC pack. This is one of those things that annoys me simply because it is your choice completely on whether you want to purchase the DLC or not. Don’t like it, don’t buy it. Simples. There’s likely to be plenty of people out there who will buy it and just because it’s not to your liking doesn’t mean it’s not an add-on worth making. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Or put that in your bubble pipe and blow it (if you’re under 18).

I know I can sound very preachy, but I like to think that this is more of an argument than a straight up rant, I mean heck I’ve probably moaned about DLC in the past. I’ll move on to my other point now and this is the one that really gets me and it usually goes like this “Ugh! More DLC!”. It’s when people get angry about a developer releasing numerous game add-ons. Now as a student I can completely understand the financial issues involved with this, but just because you’re low on funds doesn’t mean the developer has made a horrific error. In fact, it’s the complete opposite, I know I’ve complained about the COD DLC already but despite the high price it’s great to see a developer still releasing content for their games almost a year after the initial release. I don’t see why people complain about the ‘4^th map pack add-on’ of any game when they’re getting extra content for a game they enjoy, sure it’ll cost more money, but in a capitalist world that’s the general deal I’m afraid.

So what I’m trying to get at here is:

1. Free DLC=WIN
2. Moaning about a developer releasing lots of DLC is unfair and moronic.
3. If you don’t like a piece of DLC, don’t pay for it
4. Releasing finished parts of the main game as DLC=Stupidity

It’s not complicated and in an ever changing industry I certainly feel as though people are going to become more and more accustomed to the idea of DLC. I say, so long as it’s quality content, embrace it!

The End

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