96 réponses à ce sujet

[Fast Jimmy]

I'd like a little of both.
 
Or just beefy DLCs at least. Skyrim did that.

Just don't phrase the DLC as "beefy." You'll have the forums teeming with speculation that its a Cullen romance or something.

[Rosey]

I'm firmly in the camp of "DLC" as opposed to a full blown expansion, et al la Awakening.

 

What I mean by that, as someone else outlined here as well, is that I like being able to take my current companions on a lengthy side mission that doesn't really feel like I'm forced to put the main mission on hold or outright finish the game before I can complete it. Something where I head back to the keep after a main story quest or after setting up a foothold somewhere and there's a letter asking me to help liberate a city or investigate some mysterious situation..

 

Take the Leviathan DLC from ME3 - we get a request from Hacket to go investigate something that might actually be helpful to our current mission. So next time we hit the citadel for a round of quest turn ins and friendly chats from former crew, you feel compelled to stop in and find out whats up. You do what you've got to do there, and finish up doing the things you were doing on the citadel, then head out into space. And while you're liberating places and distroying reapers you also take the time to investigate.

 

It never feels forced, and never feels like you have to do it all at one time. We know it's separate content, but it never feels like it's something you wouldn't have time to do while saving the galaxy either.

 

That's the sort of DLC I really enjoy, even if Leviathan itself wasn't terribly enjoyable from a personal story standpoint in the way Omega or Citadel was.

 

Don't get me wrong, I loved Citadel and Omega. I just tend to more enjoy DLC that feels just as natural played all at once as it does being interwoven into my Main story. DLC content that flows within the bounds of the already established gameplay, that doesn't detract from it (aka a forced Oh hey stop what you're doing and go spend 6 hours doing JUST THIS), while allowing us to bring along our friends at any time after, say, main plot point B has been completed, is what I'd love to see more of.

[Kantr]

I really enjoyed the Leviathon DLC and the Legacy DLC from Dragon Age 2 (The citadel was also good but I was sad about

Spoiler

CloneShep Dying

)

[Fast Jimmy]

I'm firmly in the camp of "DLC" as opposed to a full blown expansion, et al la Awakening.
 
What I mean by that, as someone else outlined here as well, is that I like being able to take my current companions on a lengthy side mission that doesn't really feel like I'm forced to put the main mission on hold or outright finish the game before I can complete it. Something where I head back to the keep after a main story quest or after setting up a foothold somewhere and there's a letter asking me to help liberate a city or investigate some mysterious situation..
 
Take the Leviathan DLC from ME3 - we get a request from Hacket to go investigate something that might actually be helpful to our current mission. So next time we hit the citadel for a round of quest turn ins and friendly chats from former crew, you feel compelled to stop in and find out whats up. You do what you've got to do there, and finish up doing the things you were doing on the citadel, then head out into space. And while you're liberating places and distroying reapers you also take the time to investigate.
 
It never feels forced, and never feels like you have to do it all at one time. We know it's separate content, but it never feels like it's something you wouldn't have time to do while saving the galaxy either.
 
That's the sort of DLC I really enjoy, even if Leviathan itself wasn't terribly enjoyable from a personal story standpoint in the way Omega or Citadel was.
 
Don't get me wrong, I loved Citadel and Omega. I just tend to more enjoy DLC that feels just as natural played all at once as it does being interwoven into my Main story. DLC content that flows within the bounds of the already established gameplay, that doesn't detract from it (aka a forced Oh hey stop what you're doing and go spend 6 hours doing JUST THIS), while allowing us to bring along our friends at any time after, say, main plot point B has been completed, is what I'd love to see more of.

What I'd be interested in Bioware attempting is serialized DLC. Which is to say, a set of DLC that tells an overarching story line. Having missions encapsulated in a 2-5 play time run can feel a little forced or lacking in plot. But if you tell a longer story like you would in an expansion except over the course of 3-4 DLC, you'd be able to have the fullness of an expansion story while also the benefits of a quicker release cycle.

The problem is, of course, that the player might need to buy every episode of a DLC in order to experience the story, depending on how it is set up. Of course, TellTale and their episodic content doesn't force you to buy all prior episodes to play their games, so I guess that wouldn't necessarily be something Bioware (or the player) would be locked into.

[Rosey]

What I'd be interested in Bioware attempting is serialized DLC. Which is to say, a set of DLC that tells an overarching story line. Having missions encapsulated in a 2-5 play time run can feel a little forced or lacking in plot. But if you tell a longer story like you would in an expansion except over the course of 3-4 DLC, you'd be able to have the fullness of an expansion story while also the benefits of a quicker release cycle.

The problem is, of course, that the player might need to buy every episode of a DLC in order to experience the story, depending on how it is set up. Of course, TellTale and their episodic content doesn't force you to buy all prior episodes to play their games, so I guess that wouldn't necessarily be something Bioware (or the player) would be locked into.

 

That would be really neat if it was something they could get permission to do. A say.. 30$ DLC package that includes all (example) three story dlc's that tie into one another and interweave with the world at large. You can chose to buy the whole package up front and get them as they're released (et a la a season pass), or chose to buy them individually for 10$ - that way if you didn't really find it that interesting after the first, you've no obligation to buy the rest at all... or even opt to buy them separately when you've got the time/extra money to drop on it.

 

The trick would be making them inter-tie, but also not enough that you couldn't chose to skip one. Like all three having to do with Red Templars, or Chantry subterfuge (for or against), yet still being insular stories. If you were to purchase all three, the game would reflect it with a simple nod "thank you for coming back to work with us" to be interchangeable with the original "We'd like to give you a job" depending on where you start.

 

Also if something like that was planned, they honestly couldn't get half way through (first two released) and then start work on the third but never finish it because the whole team is being moved to work on another project.

 

So yeah it'd be tricky, but doable.

[PsychoBlonde]

Speaking for myself I'm kind of glad they scrapped the proposed Exalted March expansion/DLC/whatever you want to call it.  Awakening was also buggy and poorly-supported in addition to being very poorly incorporated into the import system.  So, with Awakening as the precedent, I'll be perfectly pleased if they abandon that whole "expansion" model and just give us the next game that much sooner.

[Allan Schumacher]

What I'd be interested in Bioware attempting is serialized DLC. Which is to say, a set of DLC that tells an overarching story line. Having missions encapsulated in a 2-5 play time run can feel a little forced or lacking in plot. But if you tell a longer story like you would in an expansion except over the course of 3-4 DLC, you'd be able to have the fullness of an expansion story while also the benefits of a quicker release cycle.

The problem is, of course, that the player might need to buy every episode of a DLC in order to experience the story, depending on how it is set up. Of course, TellTale and their episodic content doesn't force you to buy all prior episodes to play their games, so I guess that wouldn't necessarily be something Bioware (or the player) would be locked into.

 

There are dependency restrictions put forward by first party that complicate this, so each DLC would still need to be entirely stand alone.  Meaning we'd need to be creative with carrying along choices and whatnot, and couldn't require the player to have any items or anything like that from a previous DLC.

 

Obsidian ran into this with their DLC for FONV, and Josh Sawyer circumvented it in a PC mod that allowed things like item modifications to be applicable to items from other DLCs and so forth.

[Fast Jimmy]

There are dependency restrictions put forward by first party that complicate this, so each DLC would still need to be entirely stand alone. Meaning we'd need to be creative with carrying along choices and whatnot, and couldn't require the player to have any items or anything like that from a previous DLC.

Obsidian ran into this with their DLC for FONV, and Josh Sawyer circumvented it in a PC mod that allowed things like item modifications to be applicable to items from other DLCs and so forth.

I'd need to take a look at the details further, but TellTale in TWD recaps previous episodes decisions in a "Last Time On The Walking Dead," which explains events, setup and prior decisions to what is relevant for the upcoming episode. If you didn't play previous DLC, the game would have a canon set to choices it defaults to and mentions in this said recap.

Of course, it would be a little difficult for things like items and other plot flags, as you said. If, for instance, Bioware done with DA2's DLC and required that you have the Key weapon from Legacy in a future DLC, would the character automatically gain that weapon upon starting the second DLC? Conversely, if you played the second DLC first, then went back and played Legacy, would that Key disappear from your inventory so that you could regain it again? If you made different choices in Legacy than you would have in the default that was set up in the theoretical second DLC, then played the third, would the game assume Legacy's choices were what happened or the default or would it be...


...oh dear, I think I've gone cross-eyed.

[SirGladiator]

I like the idea of 'serial' storylines, like TWD did it.  Certainly the individual DLCs by themselves are plenty fun, whether it was DAO or DA2, they stood alone but they were still awesome.  But if they could link together some way that would obviously be that much more awesome.  Still, the conventional way of doing that is simply to have an Expansion, then you've got your big storyline all at once, no problems or anything.  And we all love Expansions, so if they just keep the regular model of smaller DLC stories and then the big Expansions that add new characters and huge storylines, then I'm down with that.  Assuming the game is awesome and extremely popular, there really is no such thing as 'too much' DLC/Expansions anyway, so just keep 'em coming, in whatever form works best, and all is good .

[In Exile]

What I'd be interested in Bioware attempting is serialized DLC. Which is to say, a set of DLC that tells an overarching story line. Having missions encapsulated in a 2-5 play time run can feel a little forced or lacking in plot. But if you tell a longer story like you would in an expansion except over the course of 3-4 DLC, you'd be able to have the fullness of an expansion story while also the benefits of a quicker release cycle.

The problem is, of course, that the player might need to buy every episode of a DLC in order to experience the story, depending on how it is set up. Of course, TellTale and their episodic content doesn't force you to buy all prior episodes to play their games, so I guess that wouldn't necessarily be something Bioware (or the player) would be locked into.

 

What I'd be interested in Bioware attempting is serialized DLC. Which is to say, a set of DLC that tells an overarching story line. Having missions encapsulated in a 2-5 play time run can feel a little forced or lacking in plot. But if you tell a longer story like you would in an expansion except over the course of 3-4 DLC, you'd be able to have the fullness of an expansion story while also the benefits of a quicker release cycle.

The problem is, of course, that the player might need to buy every episode of a DLC in order to experience the story, depending on how it is set up. Of course, TellTale and their episodic content doesn't force you to buy all prior episodes to play their games, so I guess that wouldn't necessarily be something Bioware (or the player) would be locked into.

 

I believe this is something that Dishonored did with the Daud DLC...?

[Fast Jimmy]

I believe this is something that Dishonored did with the Daud DLC...?

Ah. Did not enjoy Dishonored in the least, so I paid no attention to its DLC strategy. How did it work?

[In Exile]

Ah. Did not enjoy Dishonored in the least, so I paid no attention to its DLC strategy. How did it work?

 

I only played them through once, and in linear order. It is a 2-part story DLC. The Brigmore Witches carries over levels, powers, weapons, and upgrades from The Knife of Dunwall. You can import saves into it, basically like how it works with DA:O into DA2 or ME1/ME2 into ME2/ME3. Otherwise you just get a cannon. 

[colemanshane]

It's weird, Awakening is one my least favorite part of a full playthrough, but I was still really sad when I heard that Exalted March could have been.

It would be an interesting model of a full game, then an expansion that tries to improve on the original for each Dragon Age.

I'm ok with anything really, but i defiantly want DLC of some form.

[Fast Jimmy]

I only played them through once, and in linear order. It is a 2-part story DLC. The Brigmore Witches carries over levels, powers, weapons, and upgrades from The Knife of Dunwall. You can import saves into it, basically like how it works with DA:O into DA2 or ME1/ME2 into ME2/ME3. Otherwise you just get a cannon.

You get a CANNON?! Sweet! That would have made Dishonored a lot cooler

In all seriousness, were there choices in the DLC that would need to be carried over? And how were they addressed?

[Allan Schumacher]

I'd need to take a look at the details further, but TellTale in TWD recaps previous episodes decisions in a "Last Time On The Walking Dead," which explains events, setup and prior decisions to what is relevant for the upcoming episode. If you didn't play previous DLC, the game would have a canon set to choices it defaults to and mentions in this said recap.

Of course, it would be a little difficult for things like items and other plot flags, as you said. If, for instance, Bioware done with DA2's DLC and required that you have the Key weapon from Legacy in a future DLC, would the character automatically gain that weapon upon starting the second DLC? Conversely, if you played the second DLC first, then went back and played Legacy, would that Key disappear from your inventory so that you could regain it again? If you made different choices in Legacy than you would have in the default that was set up in the theoretical second DLC, then played the third, would the game assume Legacy's choices were what happened or the default or would it be...


...oh dear, I think I've gone cross-eyed.

 

Telltale's games are episodic content, not DLC built around a core game.  It's not the same thing.

 

It would depend on whether or not things changed with respect to DLC policy (reading upon the Dishonored DLC) since it's not a technical limitation.  (You explained a technical solution for me when I am well aware of it)

[Fast Jimmy]

Telltale's games are episodic content, not DLC built around a core game.  It's not the same thing.
 
It would depend on whether or not things changed with respect to DLC policy (reading upon the Dishonored DLC) since it's not a technical limitation.  (You explained a technical solution for me when I am well aware of it)

Well, since Bioware has released close to 20 SP DLCs under the DA and ME franchises since 2009 and not done something like this before, I assumed it was pretty much a given that it would be a change in DLC policy.

I was merely agreeing with you that the technical problem you suggested would be a bit thorny.

[addiction21]

Just don't phrase the DLC as "beefy." You'll have the forums teeming with speculation that its a Cullen romance or something.

 

My mind went to running a BBQ joint... then to Waffles and BBQ.

 

I think it was Mr. Schuemaker that mentioned Fallout New Vegas DLC and that is pretty much my standard I judge other DLC by. Best of the bunch is Old World Blues but that's just me.

 

I am also from the age of having to go to a store and have to buy a expansion there and I don't think these things need to be mutally exclusive. I bring up Old World Blues because that to me felt like a expansion with the size and everything to it.

 

My hope with the DAI DLC is that will be the approach. A lot of talk of how big these zones are, how much time they have had to learn this engine, to work and get tweaks from the DICE people for this type of game. That instead of getting a Wardens Keep or the DA2 one (I liked em) we can get a big plot of land to run the adventure in or maybe several small to medium sized places.

[In Exile]

You get a CANNON?! Sweet! That would have made Dishonored a lot cooler

In all seriousness, were there choices in the DLC that would need to be carried over? And how were they addressed?

 

The literal cannon that you get is there to make up for the more depressing story canon that you're forced to endure. 

 

Dishonoured is less about story choices (those do exist, and are ported, though) and more about your method of going through the game in general, which leads to your chaos state, which is imported. 

[Allan Schumacher]

Well, since Bioware has released close to 20 SP DLCs under the DA and ME franchises since 2009 and not done something like this before, I assumed it was pretty much a given that it would be a change in DLC policy.

I was merely agreeing with you that the technical problem you suggested would be a bit thorny.

 

I'm referring to Microsoft and Sony policy for what type of restrictions exist on DLC and how they interact with each other.

 

I cited FONV because they wanted to enable DLCs that had interdependencies among them but it wasn't allowed.  Josh Sawyer mentions this as to why the (exceptionally high quality) mod he released for the PC could not be released as a patch, which would also benefit the consoles.  There's too much interdependency between the DLC with it (the mod requires all the DLC).

[In Exile]

While I would love episodic content as DLC, I do understand why Microsoft and Sony are wary of allowing it, at least from a consumer protection POV. Though I have no idea if that's the real reason for it. 

[Fast Jimmy]

The literal cannon that you get is there to make up for the more depressing story canon that you're forced to endure. 
 
Dishonoured is less about story choices (those do exist, and are ported, though) and more about your method of going through the game in general, which leads to your chaos state, which is imported.

Ah, understood. That makes sense, given how the setup of various areas depended in the respective chaos levels.

[Fast Jimmy]

While I would love episodic content as DLC, I do understand why Microsoft and Sony are wary of allowing it, at least from a consumer protection POV. Though I have no idea if that's the real reason for it.

Hmmm. I guess I can understand episodic content being disconcerting in terms of the SOLE means of telling a story - such as TellTale does - but as a means to tell an ancillary one, I find the caution a little confusing.

Why would it matter to MS and Sony if DLC has related stories? As long as the content itself is relatively but free, stable and of acceptable quality, why would its plot need to be wrapped up in one product?