I don’t have much faith in this for a LOT of reasons, but that aspect isn’t necessarily bad.
Bloodlines 1 was… interesting. The problem is that the coolest clan to play as was Malk but Malk also only really “worked” as a second or even third playthrough when you can understand all the fourth wall breakages. In a world where the budget of the game would line it up with (let’s say) a 60 USD price point but it was actually 50+DLC=60?
That actually seems perfect to me. The people with a lot of faith/hype pay full price. The rest of us get the game at a discount and then buy the DLC on sale in a few months.
That said? I am not familiar with Lasombra but Toreador are basically the charisma clan and… most CRPGs are best played as a charisma/diplomacy build anyway. So… yeah. Feels kind of bad?
Like, I will always think locking NG+ behind DLC (hi Sega/RGG) is a ridiculously shit feeling thing to do. But also? It sort of makes sense that the people who would even care about NG+ are the ones who are really into the game.
But I think a better example is how a lot of ARPGs will wait for the DLC to add the advanced classes that either require a lot more piano playing or who are just a radically different design philosophy (often minion masters) that the game just wasn’t actually built around.
Which I think gets back to Day One DLC always feeling bad but actually making a lot of sense if you understand the game dev lifecycle. Like, I’ll never like it but I also acknowledge there isn’t a lot of value in “We finished up the DLC during QA but aren’t going to sell it for a month so that people don’t get pisssy”
In a world where the budget of the game would line it up with (let’s say) a 60 USD price point but it was actually 50+DLC=60?
Unfortunately, in Australia the base game is $85, and the version that includes Lasombra and Toreador is $130. That makes the DLC almost as much as an entire new game, not merely a DLC.
But yeah, I agree that if the DLC was added to a game that was receiving otherwise good press, and if it didn’t feel like they had just lopped off something that most players are going to want, I could maybe look past it. But this really feels like pouring salt into the already gaping wound.
Well, the good news is that batshit insane pricing is coming to the entire world… Although there is “hope” that basically everyone will decide that physical distribution isn’t worth the hassle and everything becomes digital and all of the “We are going to price this to not piss off the people bringing discs into the country” goes away.
And I am not going to at all pretend I am immune to this. But it is important to think of the actual practice independent of the game and company. Because… what you described is effectively “I am okay with this if it is a game I like but not if it is a game I don’t”. Which is 100% true but it also is what has fueled so much of the shittiest behavior in the industry.
I don’t have much faith in this for a LOT of reasons, but that aspect isn’t necessarily bad.
Bloodlines 1 was… interesting. The problem is that the coolest clan to play as was Malk but Malk also only really “worked” as a second or even third playthrough when you can understand all the fourth wall breakages. In a world where the budget of the game would line it up with (let’s say) a 60 USD price point but it was actually 50+DLC=60?
That actually seems perfect to me. The people with a lot of faith/hype pay full price. The rest of us get the game at a discount and then buy the DLC on sale in a few months.
That said? I am not familiar with Lasombra but Toreador are basically the charisma clan and… most CRPGs are best played as a charisma/diplomacy build anyway. So… yeah. Feels kind of bad?
Like, I will always think locking NG+ behind DLC (hi Sega/RGG) is a ridiculously shit feeling thing to do. But also? It sort of makes sense that the people who would even care about NG+ are the ones who are really into the game.
But I think a better example is how a lot of ARPGs will wait for the DLC to add the advanced classes that either require a lot more piano playing or who are just a radically different design philosophy (often minion masters) that the game just wasn’t actually built around.
Which I think gets back to Day One DLC always feeling bad but actually making a lot of sense if you understand the game dev lifecycle. Like, I’ll never like it but I also acknowledge there isn’t a lot of value in “We finished up the DLC during QA but aren’t going to sell it for a month so that people don’t get pisssy”
Unfortunately, in Australia the base game is $85, and the version that includes Lasombra and Toreador is $130. That makes the DLC almost as much as an entire new game, not merely a DLC.
But yeah, I agree that if the DLC was added to a game that was receiving otherwise good press, and if it didn’t feel like they had just lopped off something that most players are going to want, I could maybe look past it. But this really feels like pouring salt into the already gaping wound.
Well, the good news is that batshit insane pricing is coming to the entire world… Although there is “hope” that basically everyone will decide that physical distribution isn’t worth the hassle and everything becomes digital and all of the “We are going to price this to not piss off the people bringing discs into the country” goes away.
And I am not going to at all pretend I am immune to this. But it is important to think of the actual practice independent of the game and company. Because… what you described is effectively “I am okay with this if it is a game I like but not if it is a game I don’t”. Which is 100% true but it also is what has fueled so much of the shittiest behavior in the industry.