I am really quite shocked by the gradual trend I'm seeing in the gaming community.
Over the last while, there has been a dramatic shift from releasing fully-developed games and ground-breaking expansions to original releases that do not even contain all the content developed and very few, if any, quality expansions.
It would seem that so many of these pieces of DLC, especially the case with series such as the Total War franchise, are simply little pieces of content that should have been included in the original game and that were are getting nickel-and-dimed for. Our $____ game is being bumped up by $___ pieces of DLC. Is it not our right as the purchaser of the game to receive ALL of the game? What happened to the days when patches introduced new content, rather than being forced to buy it?
Expansions nowadays are so often standalone games, charging the gamer the full price of the game which often uses the same mechanics, engine, models, etc. If we are not receiving the wealth of content that would arrive in a full game, why should we have to purchase it like a full game? When a company releases an expansion, it should be a sound addition to the original game, with enough content to justify its price and not just be something to introduce content present in the original game.
*end rant*
Now, what I see with this is that what was once a completely free mod for the community to enjoy has been converted into a piece of priced software with minimal features and content added. You are forcing your dedicated fanbase to start to pay for what in the modding community would be considered a patch.
I feel that we are drifting away from the days of games being fully-fueled by passion for the product. So much has been commercialized and I really wish we could take a step back and remember that the goal of game development is not how to get the most pennies out of the gamer, but how to create a product worthy of someone investing a chunk of their life in.
Praise be to games such as Dwarf Fortress that charge nothing and provide so much.
Over the last while, there has been a dramatic shift from releasing fully-developed games and ground-breaking expansions to original releases that do not even contain all the content developed and very few, if any, quality expansions.
It would seem that so many of these pieces of DLC, especially the case with series such as the Total War franchise, are simply little pieces of content that should have been included in the original game and that were are getting nickel-and-dimed for. Our $____ game is being bumped up by $___ pieces of DLC. Is it not our right as the purchaser of the game to receive ALL of the game? What happened to the days when patches introduced new content, rather than being forced to buy it?
Expansions nowadays are so often standalone games, charging the gamer the full price of the game which often uses the same mechanics, engine, models, etc. If we are not receiving the wealth of content that would arrive in a full game, why should we have to purchase it like a full game? When a company releases an expansion, it should be a sound addition to the original game, with enough content to justify its price and not just be something to introduce content present in the original game.
*end rant*
Now, what I see with this is that what was once a completely free mod for the community to enjoy has been converted into a piece of priced software with minimal features and content added. You are forcing your dedicated fanbase to start to pay for what in the modding community would be considered a patch.
I feel that we are drifting away from the days of games being fully-fueled by passion for the product. So much has been commercialized and I really wish we could take a step back and remember that the goal of game development is not how to get the most pennies out of the gamer, but how to create a product worthy of someone investing a chunk of their life in.
Praise be to games such as Dwarf Fortress that charge nothing and provide so much.