Dragon Age Content Withheld From Vanilla Copy, Sold as DLC

[fastpunk]

Dragon Age is now officially a money-cow.
It's a trilogy, it's going to have DLCs (one even on release day), it will most probably even get larger expansions. Basically, they're going to try to milk that franchise as well as they can. Oh, and don't forget the official novels. Ahh, what a fat milky cow Dragon Age is!

You mean there's not going to be a movie?!?!?!

 

[Armacalypse]

Another problem with DLCs like this is that even if they put extra effort and money into the DLC, it would be profitable to consciously make the main game lack some things that the DLC brings, in order to make people want the DLC more.

It should make people more skeptic about the quality and content of the main product, but it won't.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Dragon Age is now officially a money-cow.
It's a trilogy, it's going to have DLCs (one even on release day), it will most probably even get larger expansions. Basically, they're going to try to milk that franchise as well as they can. Oh, and don't forget the official novels. Ahh, what a fat milky cow Dragon Age is!

You mean there's not going to be a movie?!?!?!

Like the abortion of a movie Eragon, only with tits, exploisions and blood. Starring: Vin Diesel.

 

[someone else]

IF YOU DON"T LIKE IT DON"T BUY IT!!!!

 

[piydek]

Games today are huge business. That's why they're bound to suck no matter what and that's why they're bound to be tied to "business strategies" like this one. It's completely ridiculous, a rip-off, an insult to anyone that thinks etc. But that's what today's big business is, as such. So - this is all a bit like trying to make a turd taste good. It'll be shit no matter what you do.

Codex is in a very special position if it views itself as a possible opposition to shitty games. It is about words here, of course, and when it comes to action, there's little one can do - especially if we're such a minority and public in general just likes shit...or is convinced by someone to like shit. So, codex has a point in nostalgia, replaying old games from when it actually WAS about games, having discussions about those games that are good. But when it comes to new "gaming" environment, it's just hopeless. And there's no way one can sabotage or be in any meaningful relation to new mainstream games.

What i'm basically trying to say is - business strategies like this one perfectly match the dumb game content, dumb mass consumer, business context etc. They are nothing more outrageous than these games themselves and people who play them. It's all at exactly the same level of shit-o-meter.

 

[fractal]

From http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/DLC:

two years worth of downloadable content that will range from small items like desktop wallpapers
[...]
All DLC, including the pre-order and collector’s edition items, can be purchased from your in-game journal.

Forget horse armor, buyable wallpapers are the future.

 

[Micmu]

All DLC, including the pre-order and collector’s edition items, can be purchased from your in-game journal.

Imagine buying a new sword from an NPC vendor and your account gets billed... Any time now.
Pretty distasteful.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

I just love the replies on the Bioware board. LOVE. THEM.

"It's another team working on expanding the game!" - Guess what, dumbfuck, they should be working on expanding the original fucking game before they start milking it.

I fucking wonder if that forum radiates some sort of radiation which kills brain cells.

All DLC, including the pre-order and collector’s edition items, can be purchased from your in-game journal.

Imagine buying a new sword from an NPC vendor and your account gets billed... Any time now.
Pretty distasteful.

Like a bloody korean mmo then. Now we know where they got their inspiration from.

 

[Trithne]

Dragon Age is now officially a money-cow.
It's a trilogy, it's going to have DLCs (one even on release day), it will most probably even get larger expansions. Basically, they're going to try to milk that franchise as well as they can. Oh, and don't forget the official novels. Ahh, what a fat milky cow Dragon Age is!

Yet the game isn't even out. Marketing has simply become so good that they can guarantee great success and glowing praise from consumers who buy both sequels and all the DLC offered at outrageous prices. The heady days of games by communists, freely giving content to their loyal fanbase have come to a close, stymied under the booted heel of men in suits driven by the sight of a great many zeros upon their statements. The making of games transformed into a science of marketing, where even the most hideously bad of games will seem like the Second Coming to those who listen to the calculated testaments of advertising gurus.

 

[Syraxis]

I'll wait until they "release" the DLC through bit torrent.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Yet the game isn't even out. Marketing has simply become so good that they can guarantee great success and glowing praise from consumers who buy both sequels and all the DLC offered at outrageous prices. The heady days of games by communists, freely giving content to their loyal fanbase have come to a close, stymied under the booted heel of men in suits driven by the sight of a great many zeros upon their statements. The making of games transformed into a science of marketing, where even the most hideously bad of games will seem like the Second Coming to those who listen to the calculated testaments of advertising gurus.

This is the point where Oldskoolretardation comes in and says "WOOOO AMERICA FUCK YEAH" and then leaves again.

I'll wait until they "release" the DLC through bittorrnet.

And this. I didn't fucking pay Bethsduh for their horrible DLC's and i won't pay Bioware for theirs.

 

[JarlFrank]

Games today are huge business. That's why they're bound to suck no matter what and that's why they're bound to be tied to "business strategies" like this one. It's completely ridiculous, a rip-off, an insult to anyone that thinks etc. But that's what today's big business is, as such. So - this is all a bit like trying to make a turd taste good. It'll be shit no matter what you do.

Codex is in a very special position if it views itself as a possible opposition to shitty games. It is about words here, of course, and when it comes to action, there's little one can do - especially if we're such a minority and public in general just likes shit...or is convinced by someone to like shit. So, codex has a point in nostalgia, replaying old games from when it actually WAS about games, having discussions about those games that are good. But when it comes to new "gaming" environment, it's just hopeless. And there's no way one can sabotage or be in any meaningful relation to new mainstream games.

What i'm basically trying to say is - business strategies like this one perfectly match the dumb game content, dumb mass consumer, business context etc. They are nothing more outrageous than these games themselves and people who play them. It's all at exactly the same level of shit-o-meter.

What we can do is to create indie games. Yeah I know, not everyone can do it, you need to find team members/get recruited into an indie dev team (like me) and/or have lots of money to finance it, but indie studios like Iron Tower or Double Bear are the future of good gaming.

And don't forget that there are small studios who consiously aim for a niche and have loyal fanbases. This is the alternative to big advertising. Making good quality games, get a loyal fanbase, make money... AND THEN GO DO AGGRESSIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES IN ORDER TO REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR GENRE BY RELEASING HIGH QUALITY BIG BUDGET GAMES FUCK YEAH

 

[Shannow]

Dragon Age is now officially a money-cow.
It's a trilogy, it's going to have DLCs (one even on release day), it will most probably even get larger expansions. Basically, they're going to try to milk that franchise as well as they can. Oh, and don't forget the official novels. Ahh, what a fat milky cow Dragon Age is!

You are not thinking big enough.
The two money-cows went and made a baby:
http://dragonage.bioware.com/gallery/

BioWare is pointing out a new Blood Dragon Armour video, showing off the bonus that can be used in both Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 (with an appropriate look for each game).

 

[piydek]

What we can do is to create indie games. Yeah I know, not everyone can do it, you need to find team members/get recruited into an indie dev team (like me) and/or have lots of money to finance it, but indie studios like Iron Tower or Double Bear are the future of good gaming.

And don't forget that there are small studios who consiously aim for a niche and have loyal fanbases. This is the alternative to big advertising. Making good quality games, get a loyal fanbase, make money... AND THEN GO DO AGGRESSIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES IN ORDER TO REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR GENRE BY RELEASING HIGH QUALITY BIG BUDGET GAMES FUCK YEAH

I agree Jarl. That's pretty much everything one can do. I even take the last thought you wrote in ironic tone completely seriously regarding the "revolution" part. With some principles one believes in, it's not impossible - or at least I'm allowed to dream.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

BioWare is pointing out a new Blood Dragon Armour video, showing off the bonus that can be used in both Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 (with an appropriate look for each game).

 

[JarlFrank]

What we can do is to create indie games. Yeah I know, not everyone can do it, you need to find team members/get recruited into an indie dev team (like me) and/or have lots of money to finance it, but indie studios like Iron Tower or Double Bear are the future of good gaming.

And don't forget that there are small studios who consiously aim for a niche and have loyal fanbases. This is the alternative to big advertising. Making good quality games, get a loyal fanbase, make money... AND THEN GO DO AGGRESSIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES IN ORDER TO REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR GENRE BY RELEASING HIGH QUALITY BIG BUDGET GAMES FUCK YEAH

I agree Jarl. That's pretty much everything one can do. I even take the last thought you wrote in ironic tone completely seriously regarding the "revolution" part. With some principles one believes in, it's not impossible - or at least I'm allowed to dream.

I took that part seriously for myself, too. I honestly believe that quality games with good hype and enough mainstream appeal (think Bloodlines) can sell extremely well. The only prequesite is to have a developer team and publishers who actually *want* to make good games instead of just money.

 

[Trash]

I'll wait for the game of the year edition before I torrent it. Fuck Bioware and EA, I'm not going to spend a single euro to support business practices like this.

At least DLC like that in GTA 4 proofs that it's not necessarily a flawed concept. Only that greedy suits will go to any lenght for a buck.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Dragon Age is now officially a money-cow.
It's a trilogy, it's going to have DLCs (one even on release day), it will most probably even get larger expansions. Basically, they're going to try to milk that franchise as well as they can. Oh, and don't forget the official novels. Ahh, what a fat milky cow Dragon Age is!

You can't milk a cow that hasn't even been made yet.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Do you even know what a cow looks like, Enclave boy?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Dragon Age is now officially a money-cow.
It's a trilogy, it's going to have DLCs (one even on release day), it will most probably even get larger expansions. Basically, they're going to try to milk that franchise as well as they can. Oh, and don't forget the official novels. Ahh, what a fat milky cow Dragon Age is!

You can't milk a cow that hasn't even been made yet.

You CAN, however, promise to give people delicious milk if only they give you some money on advance

They'll do it because the milk is so delicious. Howard the cow won't let me tell it, but it' so delicious. So delicious.

 

[Rhalle]

Imagine buying a new sword from an NPC vendor and your account gets billed... Any time now.

ITZ coming.

 

[yes plz]

How are they not already milking DA? Didn't they already release one crappy novel tie-in and have another one planned for release before the game is out?

 

[Armacalypse]

At least DLC like that in GTA 4 proofs that it's not necessarily a flawed concept. Only that greedy suits will go to any lenght for a buck.

Actually, GTA 4 is a good example of what DLCs might do to a game. What was everyone complaining about when GTA 4 came out? They wanted more San Andreas craziness, and less NIKO MAH CASSIN phone calls. Now, the latest DLC comes with parachutes and an automatic shotgun using explosive ammo, which people praise almost as if they took as much effort and money to make as the extra cutscenes. Don't you think that it's gone too far when relatively effortless additions are big selling points?

The absolutely worst kind of DLC I know about, beating the Dragon Age DLC and Horse Armor combined, is having cheats as a DLC. It's pretty damn obvious that they just disable the cheats in the retail game so that they can sell it later. These are not just some God Mode cheats either to make the game easier for retards, it's unlock cheats that bypass the stupid way you need grind or collect objects in order to unlock things like extra cars. The worst thing is that the consumers defend it.

The DLC thing is good in theory, but it's just too easy for the developers to exploit. Next they'll unbalance games and put in balance changes as major selling points in their "content" DLCs. They will remove half the weapons in shooters, only to sell them later. The extra income from the DLCs will make up for the tiny loss in review score (remember, DLCs are a plus in the minds of most reviewers).

 

[Emotional Vampire]

Actually, GTA 4 is a good example of what DLCs might do to a game. What was everyone complaining about when GTA 4 came out? They wanted more San Andreas craziness, and less NIKO MAH CASSIN phone calls. Now, the latest DLC comes with parachutes and an automatic shotgun using explosive ammo, which people praise almost as if they took as much effort and money to make as the extra cutscenes. Don't you think that it's gone too far when relatively effortless additions are big selling points?

So they paid for a shitty game and then had to pay more just to make it non-shitty?

Terrific!

 

[Trash]

At least DLC like that in GTA 4 proofs that it's not necessarily a flawed concept. Only that greedy suits will go to any lenght for a buck.

Actually, GTA 4 is a good example of what DLCs might do to a game. What was everyone complaining about when GTA 4 came out? They wanted more San Andreas craziness, and less NIKO MAH CASSIN phone calls. Now, the latest DLC comes with parachutes and an automatic shotgun using explosive ammo, which people praise almost as if they took as much effort and money to make as the extra cutscenes.

Both DLC's for GTA 4 are like expansions with new characters, storylines and missions. It's not just a few new weapons.