BioWare - Explaining Day One DLC

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BioWare's Fernando Melo has explained the business proposition for Day 1 DLC and other paid DLC in a speech for GDC. In essence? Players buy them. From IGN:

Yet that still didn't address the question of why the DLC wasn't just part of the base game. As the production timeline Melo presented during the talk showed, multiple packs of downloadable content must go into production before the base game is complete. Melo couldn't provide specific sales figures, but showed a high percentage of players, particularly with Dragon Age: Origins, purchased the content made available day one. Even significant percentages of those who purchased titles used from game stores went on to activate online passes and purchased additional DLC.​

The piece also discusses the completion rates for several of their games (Joystiq lists a couple more) - don't expect new games to be as long as Dragon Age: Origins, with only a 36% completion rate; Mass Effect 2 was highest of the games provided at 56%.

 

Don´t expect games to be as long as DA:O? Better don´t expect anything from Bio/EA except F2P trash...

 

DLC works because people are idiots.

 

Most of the game industry (and entertainment industry in general, I suppose) works because people are idiots. Why else do people buy that game on release date even though they know it's pretty much ****?

Statistics can show funny things. Obviously DA2 is a better game because more people have completed it than DA:O. But I suppose if you'd display the number of hours each game was played, I'd think the picture would look very different indeed.

But apparently EA is riding on the thought that free-to-play and micro-transactions are the hot thing nowadays. And apparently that means everything is online all the time and single player content is so yesterday. Refer also to the announcement that the next C&C installment will be f2p and will feature absolutely no single player campaign.

 

Make better games like you used to. Played mass Effect 1 twice to conclusion. Still have to finish ME2, and never bothered for ME3.

Played DAo to conclusion, got some DLC was disappointed, and never bothered DA2.

I see a trend.

 

Mass Effect 2 was pretty good though. The trend I am seeing is EA`s involvement...

 

It is a good game, only the combat is bad, and the RPG elements are gone. I am to much a RPG purist to like the more action orientated streamlining.

When I want to immerse myself a excellent, epic, wondrous, cinematic.... story I read a book. When I want emotions in long sequences of cuteness, I watch a movie.

I want to look at the screen when levelling up and think about it. I want to play with my inventory, I want to shop to see if I can find special items. In ME1 it was possible to some extent.

 

No, this is wrong. It's not a good game if the combat is bad and it's an action game. That means that it's bad at the core. The combat is what you're doing most of the time and if that's not good, then the game fails, especially if there's nothing else it can fall back on (like the RPG elements).

 

I heard about that, and it was crushingly depressing.

The DLC shoveling ******** is a large part of what makes people turn to piracy I think. The "they're trying to extract as much money out of us as they possibly can, obviously if I dont at least try to fight back I may as well just give them my wallet" feeling.

It's really pretty sad, because I'd really LIKE to feel like buying the stuff from xyz company was supporting them, and thus would help them make more and better games in the future - but when you buy DLC it's like saying "Oh, yes, I'm quite prone to buying whatever crap you'll feed me. Dont bother trying quite so hard next time around." Especially with day-one stuff. That's effectively just "This game costs 10 bucks more if you want the whole thing, but it wont say that on the box. Lolololol."

 

Still, the definition of a good Bioware game these days is the story. Put a bit of story in it, 30 minutes of cut-scenes, and a 85%+ game is born.

All the other things are extra since reviews always give Bioware 10/15% extra for being Bioware.