The future is DLC?

If you’ve been around the videogame world these past months, you’ve probably seen those three letters come around a lot. DLC. DownLoadable Content. For good or ill, the videogame industry has entered a new era, that of additional content via Internet.

What DLC means to you?

DLC This isn’t an easy question to answer, as DLC varies a lot. Some DLC are expansions – GTA4 is notable for having a few DLC expansions, like Ballad of Gay Tony (gotta love the name!). Dragon Age Origins also has its share of expansions. Other DLC are of lesser importance: they range from actual cheats (Trinity Universe, for instance, allows you to download items, some for free, some for a few bucks; Dante’s Inferno does the same) to costumes and characters.

Bad DLC: Maps, Cheats
I labeled cheats as bad DLC because they feel like an easy way to make cash out of lazy gamers. Not only that, but in my mind, they water down the game experience. I have nothing against unlockable cheats, but paying to get a few free potions in game in a game you already paid for is loserish. Unless the game has extreme difficulty (in which case, it seems like a scam: make the game so hard people have to pay for extra items in order to survive!), it is absolutely useless. I mentioned Trinity Universe before, which is an RPG, and whose DLC offers rare items. OK, I get the idea, still feels bad.

Wait… what? Extra maps are a bad DLC? Why? The reason is simple, really. Say you’ve got a game like Modern Warfare 2. You play online, snipe some guys and having a generally good time. Next comes the new DLC batch: 5 new maps! Unless it’s free, I think this is one of the worse kind of DLC. Even though it offers good value (more maps means more multiplayer fun!), this DLC becomes almost mandatory. Players who don’t pay for these maps cannot play against players who do. It effectively divides the player base. I’m not saying you should never buy map packs, because when you like a FPS, you don’t wanna frag your friends and foes on the same maps forever. In a game as popular as MW2, a divided player base isn’t much of a problem. When it comes to older games or games whose multiplayer component is less popular, it becomes a true issue. I’ve noticed it on Metal Gear Solid Online (AKA MGS4’s online component). So your choice as a player is either pay up, or be limited to play with other players who didn’t pay.

(Side note: it is still possible to play with players who have the maps, but then it’s the players who have paid for who feel stolen; to take back my MGS example, after paying for a map pack, I realized a lot of other players had stopped playing these maps and were more likely to be found killing each other joyously on the regular maps or on maps from a more recent pack)

Good DLC
Good DLC would be expansions. Of course, “good” is relative, as an expansion can still suck. Even great games can be cursed with bad expansions, and sometimes the price tag will be too heavy.

In between
What about costumes? Extra costumes in a fighting game, for instance. Are new costumes worth a few bucks? How about a few tools for LittleBig Planet? The truth is, most DLC’s quality will depend on what you find fun and useful. I like having multiple costumes in fighting games, but I found that SFIV's costumes, for the price, were not worth it. How about songs for music games? 2$ apiece might be a lot, but it can make you play the game a bit longer (a lot longer if you download a particularly tough one, or if you suck!).

Controversy
Lately, I’ve been lurking around BlazBlue forums, in hope of getting real information on a balance patch (please increase Rachel’s damage! Please!). There has been some controversy about the latest DLC: a new character.

Is a new character in a fighting game good or bad DLC? Some players complained, since Makoto (said DLC fighter) is sold for 8$ and can't be played in all modes. There has been some conspiracy theories about whether or not she was on the disc, about the morality of charging for her since her data was downloaded through a patch anyway, and so on.

On the disc?
SFIV’s extra costumes were on the disk – fact. Capcom admitted to it, explaining otherwise players wouldn’t be able to fight each other, because one who would not have paid for it wouldn’t be able to “see” entirely new costumes, a bit like the maps in FPS (see above). As a rule of thumb, DLC that is on the disc is a RIP OFF! This is a company stealing cash from you.

In BB’s case, however, only some data was available on the disc (as evidenced by gamers who have uncovered the next DLC characters through data mining). However, data was incomplete. The whole data was added to the game through a patch. Is this more morally defensible than data on the disc?

In my opinion, it is. The developers, Arc System Works, wanted to add content to their game without releasing a third game in the series. However, they did not want to force players to buy a character only to be able to play with players who did. So you can choose between buying or not, your call.

In a way, you still pay for data you have (through patch). But it is complementary to the whole game, something that was added later. The whole game is on the disc; they decided to add some more characters after the game was complete.

In my opinion, this system works because, unlike maps, it does not divided the player base; it is not charging for something that is already in the disc in its complete form; it is like a fighting game’s equivalent of expansion.

What does the controversy tells us? That some players are greedy and want everything for free; that some companies are greedy and charge you for something that is on the disc; and that point of views on DLC vary a lot. It is, after all, a relatively new concept in console gaming. However, my feeling is that it is here to stay. I for one love DLC. As long as I get a full game at retail and that DLC's quality match that of the game, I think it is an excellent way to add replay value to a game, and for companies a good way of making honest money.

The golden rule of DLC: Inform yourself about what you’re getting, then ask yourself if it is worth it!

Best DLC:
“Iron Maiden” album pack for Rock Band 2;
“Metal Gear Solid” for LittleBig Planet
Makoto Nanaya for BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

Worst DLC:
Street Fighter IV Costumes
Metal Gear Solid Online map packs (on account that I bought them after they were relevant to the online community…)