100 réponses à ce sujet

[ddevil459]

I used to really like super expansion packs like Throne of Bhaal or lord of Destruction, even as recently as Shivering Isles for Oblivion (though i couldnt be bothered to finish that one).  I'll pay 40 bucks for an expansion pack no problem, as long as its well designed and continues the story.  But it seems like all that is produced now are detached episodic DLC like the mass effect asteroid dlc.  

Why not just combine your efforts from making 20 DLC downloads into a mass expansion?  I would gladly pay for digital distribution.

[Twitchmonkey]

Because you can sell an expansion's worth of content in 20 DLCs for $100 versus a $20 expansion.

[Serogon]

Twitchmonkey wrote...

Because you can sell an expansion's worth of content in 20 DLCs for $100 versus a $20 expansion.

****ing depressing, but true. That's just how it works now, and thanks to EA, that's most likely how it's going to be with Bioware now.

[Elanareon]

No its not dead! It has been stated the the dlc was implemented to keep the game alive while waiting for the expansion!!! Jesus!

[delra123]

In DLC they don't improve the actual game and it sucks. DAO will be dead in a few weeks just like Fallout 3 is.

[Elanareon]

Then the problem is the content of he dlc not the implementation of dlc... Would it be better if its compiled yet the content still sucks?

[Georg Zoeller]

If you check into the history of bioware expansion packs, you'll notice that none of them was announced right around launch.

Our expansion packs tend to be large, costly and full of awesome and before undertaking such things, it kinda makes sense to let the game release, watch how it does, see what people like instead of rushing head-first into battle.

I'm not confirming or denying anything, that is not my place, all I'm saying is that there is little reason to jump to any conclusions about expansion packs at this point, especially not when seen judged based on the timelines of previous games.

I don't think downloadable content is at odds with expansion packs. In fact, it probably helps them, because digital delivery makes a product immune to the dangers of getting cleared from vendors shelf space - something that is especially dangerous for products that are not on the same budget as a full scale game release, especially on the PC, which has very little shelf space left out there.

Modifié par Georg Zoeller, 22 novembre 2009 - 08:15 .

[aberdash]

DLC means they get more money for less content. Why would they make an expansion when they could make DLC?

[aberdash]

eisberg77 wrote...

They could have decided to sell us each area on the Dragon Age World map as episodic game, and make more money then selling the whole game for $50.

And earn the ire of the entire gaming communtiy? EA is already on thin ice with most people.

Of the DLC announced thus far shale is $15, wardens keep is $7, and return to ostagar is $5. Thats $27, half the price of an expansion. Do you see half the content of an expansion?

Modifié par aberdash, 22 novembre 2009 - 08:23 .

[Zibon]

Well, back in September this was posted by one of their writers:

Many writers are on different projects now, like Dragon Age 2 or the MMO.

One can conclude from this that they wont have a proper expansion.

Modifié par Zibon, 22 novembre 2009 - 08:23 .

[Maria Caliban]

DLC is a distribution method.

An expansion is just an addition to gameplay that is considered 'large enough' by fans.

Bioware has already said that it’s going to make expansions for the game… and that they’ll be available via DLC.

[Nightfish103]

Personally I despise DLCs. Compared to the full game, you're usually not getting a lot of value for your money. Even if they're good, they always leave me with a stale aftertaste of "Hey, I got ripped off there". I guess to be fair, it's not the DLC itself I have a problem with, but the pricing.

I thought people were exaggerating about Warden's Keep, but they're not. You're done with it in no time. I spent 50 hours on my first DA:O playthrough, If you break that down to dollars per hour of fun we're somewhere close to 1$/hour. Warden's keep didn't even take one hour, so compared to the actual game, I feel cheated big time.

It's not that I can't afford the DLCs or that they're not good. I just feel they're overpriced. I'm not sure if EA is to blame for that, but I don't remember Bioware doing this before. So far I've bought every single game they released since back in the 90ies, so there's some goodwill left here, and I'm going to be the next few DLCs regardless. Brand loyalty and whatnot... I guess I don't feel they're going to try and rip off their customers on a regular basis.

Modifié par Nightfish103, 22 novembre 2009 - 08:36 .

[Sabin Stargem]

I think DLC is great for self-contained stories and for small functional upgrades...but an expansion is necessary if Bioware wants to make a larger story and the threads attached to it, alongside bringing everyone up to speed, in terms of features. Besides, DLC has diminishing rates of returns, since it is relatively inconvenient and disruptive for casual fans to pick up the DLC. As such, an full expansion would make a big splash, affecting hardcore and casual fans of Dragon Age.

[Zibon]

Maria Caliban wrote...

DLC is a distribution method.

An expansion is just an addition to gameplay that is considered 'large enough' by fans.

Bioware has already said that it’s going to make expansions for the game… and that they’ll be available via DLC.

No, digital distribution is a distribution method.

By your definition DAO itself would be DLC.

[Inarai]

eisberg77 wrote...

Zibon wrote...

Well, back in September this was posted by one of their writers:

Many writers are on different projects now, like Dragon Age 2 or the MMO.

One can conclude from this that they wont have a proper expansion.

Not really.  The writers may have already completed the writing for all the content for this game for the next 2 years.  I think I read somewhere that the writing for the lore of the Dragon Age was completed several years ago, even before they started to develop the game.  I believe one can conclude that the writing for all content for the next 2 years have already been completed.

Plus, they said many writers, which means not all the writers.

And if you think about it, wouldn't they want people working on the plot for the sequel BEFORE figuring out how to bridge the two?

[DM Veil]

I've never seen such panic before among consumers. Just because Bioware has been releasing DLC for DA:O does not mean there won't be an expansion, for christ's sake the game has not even been out a month! Is there no patience among this generation of gamers?

[LokiHades]

delra123 wrote...

In DLC they don't improve the actual game and it sucks. DAO will be dead in a few weeks just like Fallout 3 is.

Ignorant statement, considering that the FO3 community is still active, and mods have made the game into a masterpiece that everyone can personalize to their tastes. And soon shall it be with DA:O, when Bioware releases the resources and fixes the toolset up a bit.

Besides that, while I prefer expansion packs [and know devs still love doing them], DLCs are nice too. Now, pricing is the issue most people have with them, and I can see how it causes people to get fussy.

[darkblueglass]

aberdash wrote...

eisberg77 wrote...

They could have decided to sell us each area on the Dragon Age World map as episodic game, and make more money then selling the whole game for $50.

And earn the ire of the entire gaming communtiy? EA is already on thin ice with most people.

Of the DLC announced thus far shale is $15, wardens keep is $7, and return to ostagar is $5. Thats $27, half the price of an expansion. Do you see half the content of an expansion?

I'm not sure why people keep mentioning Shale for $15. Isn't free if you buy the game new? Did you buy it for $15?

[Georg Zoeller]

Shale is FREE with any new copy of the game. I guess the chicken doesn't have the game, yet it complains. It saddens me, I shall alert Shale of this problem. She likes chickens I hear.

I guess we can be faulted for not aggressively marketing that fact.

We've pretty much said everything that can be said on this topic. Now we can of course continue this thread, make up reasons of why there would or would not be expansions, but generally such doomsaying is futile.

Remember the dozens of 'templars will ruin the game for mages' threads
before the game went live? Aye - people worry too much matey.

We know DLC isn't going anywhere. People happily pay for a few minutes of rockband songs or even virtual cloth for their console avatars - they don't have to if they think that's not worth it - but there are customers that demand these things and it would be foolish not to offer it to them. Because shockingly, we like money and we're happy to sell content to people who want it.

On the same level, there are people out there who buy expansion packs, the same logic applies there too.

Modifié par Georg Zoeller, 22 novembre 2009 - 09:14 .

[Pseron Wyrd]

ddevil459 wrote...
...Shivering Isles for Oblivion...

And what did Bethesda release before Shivering Isles? Nine DLCs.

This is not an either/or matter.  Bioware can release both DLCs and expansions, just as Bethesda did.

Modifié par Pseron Wyrd, 22 novembre 2009 - 09:08 .

[Rayne Myria Solo]

Georg Zoeller wrote...
because digital delivery makes a product immune to the dangers of getting cleared from vendors shelf space - something that is especially dangerous for products that are not on the same budget as a full scale game release, especially on the PC, which has very little shelf space left out there.

Georg,

That's it exactly. If it hadn't have been for Direct2Drive, I wouldn't own Dragon Age Collector's right now. Even though I was content to order online and wait. Calling my local Gamestop/Best Buy etc, I was informed that they'd "sold out of the collector's editions 3 months ago". (This was in early to mid October) and that if I'd wanted it I should've "pre-ordered sooner". So I researched the digital distributors I had access to, and purchased that way. It's becoming such that short of downloading something (legally of course) there's not really a way to get it anymore. No one really wants to carry PC games, one or two of our local Gamestops even tell me, with their noses turned up that "we don't carry PC games here, they aren't worth the shelf space, we only get in what people pre-order." With things like that going on, I'm actually rather happy that DLC and digital expansions will exist for this game, it means they can't sell out, or try to screw me out of them. I'm fairly used to MMO pricing models, so DLC doesn't really bother me, especially when my MMO of choice, City of Heroes puts out little tiny micro-packs 1-3 a year that cost $10 and have a bunch of cool costumes, powers, and emotes in them, compared to that, a $5-$7 dollar DLC for Dragon Age is really nothing.