We've been getting several questions, here and elsewhere about the future of on-disc DLC. We would like to assure you that we have been listening to your comments and as such have begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future. As this process has only just commenced in the past month or so, there will be some titles, where development began some time ago and that are scheduled for release in the coming months, for which we are unable to make changes to the way some of their post release content is delivered.
One such title is Dragon's Dogma, where the decision to include some additional (but not all planned additional) game content for the game on disc was made at the beginning of the game's development cycle as at the time this was determined to be the most efficient way of ensuring certain content was made available. Owners of Dragon's Dogma will be able to further their gameplay experience with the release of additional quests, weapons and other items in the months following the game going on sale.
Dragon's Dogma's post-launch content will extend the lifespan of a title that already offers around 30-40 hours of gameplay by following the main story thread, but if a player was to complete all the side quests Dragon's Dogma ships with, that increases to around 100 hours. Players will also be able to add to the stock of 100s of weapons and 1,000s of customization options to create not only their ideally equipped, but also their most elaborately designed character.
Just wanted people to know in advance the whys, wherefores and where we're going in the future. You are being heard. Thanks.
Where EXACTLY does this say that they're "done" with On-Disc DLC?
No, really, someone point it out to me, because as far as I can tell, it doesn't say this. It says they will "re-evaluate" how content is delivered, but I wish the Escapist news writers would just stop making these bullshit titles that are a twisted version of the truth full of assumptions and ridiculousness.
John Funk: But for many gamers, DLC that's already on the shipped disc is unforgivable. It was completed! It's right there on the disc! So why can't I play it?
Relevant part bolded.
John Funk: Capcom USA senior VP Chris Svensson said that the publisher would be "re-evaluating how [DLC] is delivered in the future."
Relevant part bolded.
Read this VERY carefully; they're not listening to consumers. They're only pretending to. They aren't really addressing the core of the complaints about Street Fighter X Tekken's DLC, namely that it was completed in time to ship with the game and was only DLC for the sake of a quick money grab. Rather, they are addressing the issue of delivery method. So we'll see just as much day-1 DLC from them, even content that was ready in time to be included and could've been part of the main game. People weren't mad that it was on the disc, they were mad that it should've been included and unlocked from the start.
The only impact this'll have is that our discs will be less full, and we'll use more bandwidth to download the DLC. It'll still be planned and made well in advance like it already is.
P.S. Thanks
Its good to see some of you are paying attention! Ya they don't listen to anyone but the accountants in the back room. The only change in delivery we can expect is for them to actually use DLC by its description. Fine we won't put it on the disk, you'll have to download it. But they'll still rip ya off with alot of DLC, and probably within 48 hours of release.
John Funk: But for many gamers, DLC that's already on the shipped disc is unforgivable. It was completed! It's right there on the disc! So why can't I play it?
Relevant part bolded.
John Funk: Capcom USA senior VP Chris Svensson said that the publisher would be "re-evaluating how [DLC] is delivered in the future."
Relevant part bolded.
Read this VERY carefully; they're not listening to consumers. They're only pretending to. They aren't really addressing the core of the complaints about Street Fighter X Tekken's DLC, namely that it was completed in time to ship with the game and was only DLC for the sake of a quick money grab. Rather, they are addressing the issue of delivery method. So we'll see just as much day-1 DLC from them, even content that was ready in time to be included and could've been part of the main game. People weren't mad that it was on the disc, they were mad that it should've been included and unlocked from the start.
The only impact this'll have is that our discs will be less full, and we'll use more bandwidth to download the DLC. It'll still be planned and made well in advance like it already is.
P.S. Thanks
Its good to see some of you are paying attention! Ya they don't listen to anyone but the accountants in the back room. The only change in delivery we can expect is for them to actually use DLC by its description. Fine we won't put it on the disk, you'll have to download it. But they'll still rip ya off with alot of DLC, and probably within 48 hours of release.
Exactly why I think ANY form of day-1 DLC is bullshit.
Read this VERY carefully; they're not listening to consumers. They're only pretending to. They aren't really addressing the core of the complaints about Street Fighter X Tekken's DLC, namely that it was completed in time to ship with the game and was only DLC for the sake of a quick money grab. Rather, they are addressing the issue of delivery method. So we'll see just as much day-1 DLC from them, even content that was ready in time to be included and could've been part of the main game. People weren't mad that it was on the disc, they were mad that it should've been included and unlocked from the start.
The only impact this'll have is that our discs will be less full, and we'll use more bandwidth to download the DLC. It'll still be planned and made well in advance like it already is.
P.S. Thanks
Its good to see some of you are paying attention! Ya they don't listen to anyone but the accountants in the back room. The only change in delivery we can expect is for them to actually use DLC by its description. Fine we won't put it on the disk, you'll have to download it. But they'll still rip ya off with alot of DLC, and probably within 48 hours of release.
Exactly why I think ANY form of day-1 DLC is bullshit.
I take it one step further. ALL DLC is crap. If you couldn't find the budget or effort to put that idea in the game from the onset. Then I don't even want to look at the rest of the game, because I know it'll be a barely playable load of crap thats not even remotely entertaining because half the ideas behind it have been removed.
Its good to see some of you are paying attention! Ya they don't listen to anyone but the accountants in the back room. The only change in delivery we can expect is for them to actually use DLC by its description. Fine we won't put it on the disk, you'll have to download it. But they'll still rip ya off with alot of DLC, and probably within 48 hours of release.
Exactly why I think ANY form of day-1 DLC is bullshit.
I take it one step further. ALL DLC is crap. If you couldn't find the budget or effort to put that idea in the game from the onset. Then I don't even want to look at the rest of the game, because I know it'll be a barely playable load of crap thats not even remotely entertaining because half the ideas behind it have been removed.
I definitely see your point, but I think you're taking it a bit too far. There's nothing wrong in itself with developing more content to a popular game after release, if the original product was complete and finished already. You can't be in development forever, at some point you have to set a deadline and just finish it.
But what I really want to see instead of DLC is the good old fashioned expansions. To me, those are a proper way of expanding and adding to a game that fans clearly want to see more of. DLC is so easy to abuse.
Exactly why I think ANY form of day-1 DLC is bullshit.
I take it one step further. ALL DLC is crap. If you couldn't find the budget or effort to put that idea in the game from the onset. Then I don't even want to look at the rest of the game, because I know it'll be a barely playable load of crap thats not even remotely entertaining because half the ideas behind it have been removed.
I definitely see your point, but I think you're taking it a bit too far. There's nothing wrong in itself with developing more content to a popular game after release, if the original product was complete and finished already. You can't be in development forever, at some point you have to set a deadline and just finish it.
But what I really want to see instead of DLC is the good old fashioned expansions. To me, those are a proper way of expanding and adding to a game that fans clearly want to see more of. DLC is so easy to abuse.
Very true, I too long for the return of expansions as they usually covered material outside of the base story in a game. Most DLC is just follow on greed inspired crap.
Antari: I take it one step further. ALL DLC is crap. If you couldn't find the budget or effort to put that idea in the game from the onset. Then I don't even want to look at the rest of the game, because I know it'll be a barely playable load of crap thats not even remotely entertaining because half the ideas behind it have been removed.
That's harsh. And you're essentially saying that you'll never play another game EVER because there is not a title that hasn't had content cut or removed due to time, financial or technical restraints.
Properly done DLC can be a boon as it's the same as little expansion packs spaced out. The problem is a number of companies just see it as an easy cash in and treat it as such.
The Japanese games market is in for a crash. I think the Japanese developers are going to have to get close to bankruptcy before realizing how out of touch they are with the current market.
Antari: I take it one step further. ALL DLC is crap. If you couldn't find the budget or effort to put that idea in the game from the onset. Then I don't even want to look at the rest of the game, because I know it'll be a barely playable load of crap thats not even remotely entertaining because half the ideas behind it have been removed.
That's harsh. And you're essentially saying that you'll never play another game EVER because there is not a title that hasn't had content cut or removed due to time, financial or technical restraints.
Properly done DLC can be a boon as it's the same as little expansion packs spaced out. The problem is a number of companies just see it as an easy cash in and treat it as such.
Ya its harsh, but it doesn't mean I stop gaming. I just don't pay any attention to anything made these days. There are plenty of old games that are and will be playable until the day I die even without internet. I do not need these useless offerings being pawned off as software today. I would probably support dlc if companies didn't exploit it as an easy cash cow. But they don't. The ruthlessly exploit it. I treat DLC with the same care from my own point of view. I'll never go easy on it.
It is really just day one DLC which is a rip off. Nine times out of ten it is stuff they have cut off from the main game so they can squeeze extra money out of the people who buy games near launch. Naked cash grab.
Look at Skyrim. Was there any day one DLC? Nope. The first DLC is coming out soon, many several months after the game launched. Those guys are making legitimate extra content that was never going to be included with the game at launch.
Fighters have lost their appeal. Especially these fighters geared more towards fan-jerk-off-ness.
I mean aren't cross-overs meant to offer players their favorite characters? If that's the case what happened to the awesome 40+ character rosters of yester-year. Sure some of the fighters were just copy-paste skin edits, but at least there was virtually a character for every fanboi included.
Now I feel like I get a 10 character roster, and sure the characters all feel different, but I've got essentially 10 play throughs to go through, and 10 matches before I'm bored playing local Vs.
Marvel Vs Capcom 3 really sealed the coffin for me, I'm glad this game tanked.
Mygaffer: It is really just day one DLC which is a rip off. Nine times out of ten it is stuff they have cut off from the main game so they can squeeze extra money out of the people who buy games near launch. Naked cash grab.
Look at Skyrim. Was there any day one DLC? Nope. The first DLC is coming out soon, many several months after the game launched. Those guys are making legitimate extra content that was never going to be included with the game at launch.
Or maybe they did and they're just waiting a while to release it so they don't piss people off like Bioware did, (I don't really believe that by the way, I'm just trying to keep an open mind).
That was just one issue. I know I vowed to never buy another of their fighting games. Releasing incompatible updates nine months after the original just kills my interest.
Though this is good news. I had become iffy on buying Capcom games in general (Okamiden was the last one I bought), but this gives me some hope.
DTWolfwood: so they wont be putting it on the disc but its still content they are cutting from the finished game to resell
Spoiler: Click to ViewPHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly9pbnRlcm5hdGlvbmFsaG91c2VvZmdlZWsuZmlsZXMud29yZHByZXNzLmNvbS8yMDEyLzA0L21vbmEtZGxjLmpwZWciIGFsdD0iaW1hZ2UiLz48L3A+
I actually don't have much of a problem with on-disc dlc anymore, but this is probably a good move by Capcom as the whole concept of on-disc dlc does make people slightly uncomfortable.
If Capcom really are being bastards and removing content from their games to resell as dlc, well, this won't stop them from doing that. We'll just receive it as a full download now instead.
Who wants to bet their solution is just going to be take what would have been "on-disc-DLC" - as in it is ready when the disc is going to print - and simply hold it in their download farms. Then when it is needed for online with characters they have bought then they have to download it as a compatibility patch.
It's actually a pretty good excuse that for a multiplayer game every player needs the characters to play with the ones who did buy them, it's not like premium maps where players simply cannot join games in maps they haven't bought.
Maybe they just need to sell it differently not as "downloadable" "content" but as a Virtual Item. It is well established that actual textures and attributes of a virtual item exist in the game code, the "content" is already there but the Rules-Of-The game are that you have to earn their actual use either by challenges... or just paying cold hard cash!
That's the problem with on disk DLC: It lies.
And central to that lie is the dishonestly of this content only being available by forking over cash, that is justified by it pretending to be a mini expansion pack but it isn't, it is not Half Life Opposing Force. See in all the many free-to-play models out there which sell virtual items, it is justified because you do not HAVE to buy them. You can get them by either playing very well or just for a long time and trading smartly.
I think it's inevitably going to go in the direction of Virtual Goods you can earn by play or pay to get them now.
See, they cannot be DLC, as everyone has to have these assets, like virtual goods. And you can't make them ONLY available by purchase as you are gouging them for content they have already downloaded, you have to make it out that they can earn it in their slow due time... or pay to unlock it now.
I'm sick and tired of Capcom, like many I don't believe them and will continue my boycott of their games other than Dead Rising until they've had a good year under their belt.
Brad Shepard: Can bioware follow suit? People seem to forget Javik was already on the disk.
Javik was a LITTLE different. Yes, a lot or most of his resources were present on the disc, but you did actually have to download the rest of it through the DLC. These characters were full and complete on the disc, and all you downloaded was a tiny unlock file.
TizzytheTormentor: Capcom, I freaking love you guys, but fuck you guys, you made terrible decisions, not making an English release of Ace Attorney Investigations 2 and this. Let's hope they get their act together. Don't follow Square Enix...
Don't forget cancelling Mega Man Legends 3 from "lack of fan support" when one of the biggest things they did to build hype for the game was to DIRECTLY involve the fans in its creation.
Didn't Capcom also say that SF4 wouldn't have a bunch of "Super edition" remakes? We know how that turned out. Vanilla 4 got no support, Super 4 came out and they said it was the final version, then Super 4 Arcade Edition came out. AE 2012 was a free balance patch, but you had to be up to AE in the first place.
Mygaffer: It is really just day one DLC which is a rip off. Nine times out of ten it is stuff they have cut off from the main game so they can squeeze extra money out of the people who buy games near launch. Naked cash grab.
Look at Skyrim. Was there any day one DLC? Nope. The first DLC is coming out soon, many several months after the game launched. Those guys are making legitimate extra content that was never going to be included with the game at launch.
Or maybe they did and they're just waiting a while to release it so they don't piss people off like Bioware did, (I don't really believe that by the way, I'm just trying to keep an open mind).
Highly unlikely. Statistics show that DLC sales best the closer to release it hits. That is part of the reason so many of these companies are doing the on disc and day DLC. If they had it ready they wouldn't have sat on it for so long.
I'm sure all this will mean is that they'll just do the same thing as before but just keep the content off the disc to dodge this issue. You can generally count on people to make problems easier to ignore rather than solve them, especially when it's only a problem for other people.
I didn't even know about this scandal until reading the article, but I'm not exactly convinced. As many have pointed out, what they've said still leaves room for day-one downloadable content. Which is missing the point.
yeah yeah I'm sure you are Capcom(sarcasm) I bet all you're going to do is try to cover tracks better and not leave entire characters on disc you're still going to release 4 types of the same game.
Where EXACTLY does this say that they're "done" with On-Disc DLC?
No, really, someone point it out to me, because as far as I can tell, it doesn't say this. It says they will "re-evaluate" how content is delivered, but I wish the Escapist news writers would just stop making these bullshit titles that are a twisted version of the truth full of assumptions and ridiculousness.