CrypticCat
Shared on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 03:42http://F9C9ZL0.https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=Li8o
This is an interesting point in time when it comes to gaming. Gamers don't want to pay for optional software anymore and more and more I see the call for free stuff come up in all the hobby-related forums and yourtube-channels that I frequent or subscribe to. I can certainly understand that people are DLC-tired. On the other hand, I have not yet encountered a game that couldn't stand on it's own without DLC. For instance, Javik the prothean for Mass Effect 3 seemed to be integral to the story of the game, but he wasn't. It was fun to see Liara giving herself a wedgie over it, but that was all of it; for the story and much less the ending of it, Javik was for the whole of it inconsequential. An optional piece of software that would be welcome for those that wanted it and not of import for those that didn't want it. Yet, I've always locked horns with the majority who felt ripped off by Bioware. I still maintain that they weren't, based on the fact that Javik meant absolutely nothing other than that he was masterfully voice-acted.
(As an aside, Valory in Tales of the Borderlands was voice acted by Kate Mulgrew. I get visions of captain Janeway going Flemeth, lol. Such an awesome voice.)
The notion that protheans are important to the story and therefore the last prothean should've been written into the story from the start, instead of being nickled for it always left me puzzled too. There's always one question I ask myself, 'Can I play the game without having that piece of DLC?'. If that's the case, and frankly I have yet to find a game that's unplayable without having a specific piece of DLC, then no. The gamer is not entitled to have anything to make their own personal view on how the world works satisfied. I'll gladly join the riot when there's a game that makes the executable a DLC, or the antagonist/protagonist. I would condemn Inquisition if I had to pay €10 for Corypheus, by way of example.
The video reposted here is important in another way. It is looking at a free game that can be had from Steam. One can download it, play it and nothing is expected in return. At the worst, you waste some time, at the best, you were entertained for a while for less than a song and a dance. So what's the problem? Well, it appears that people expect something that's freely shared to meet their standards.
The NG+ for the Witcher 3 that was released this week as free DLC was likewise welcomed. It was just a new game +, without new armor sets or weapons! It's a free piece of DLC that clearly showed that CDPR doesn't care about their fans and have become complacent and lazy.
I do believe that many of the 'free DLC' isn't free at all in Witcher 3, purely based on the fact that it appears to be cut from the game and then dripfed back as 'free gifts from a studio that does everything right'. Basically, stuff that one has arguably already paid for is being given back to you. A present from one's own giftbox, so to speak. (Unless one actually believes that none of what CDPR put up for free existed at the time of release and that CDPR was working their asses off to develop cute pieces of free content alongside their prolonged bug-squatting sessions.) At least they weren't putting a price on the DLC.
And that's the point of my irritation. One doesn't get to critique free stuff. One says 'thanks' and if one has no use for the free stuff one kindly refuses the offer. But complaining that free stuff doesn't meet your standards, or that it should've offered more free things inside the thing that's already free is entitled douchebaggery.
Enjoy free stuff for what it is. Free.
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Comments
Submitted by Parcells2 on Fri, 08/21/2015 - 12:30
Parcells won't argue your point cause I agree with you but your 5th & 6th paragraphs appear to support the opposite argument. That or Parcells is getting dumber by the minute which I won't totally disregard.
Submitted by CrypticCat on Sat, 08/22/2015 - 04:06
Indeed, they appear to be contradicting to the point. It's the same thing I touched on with the Sims 4 though, or it belongs there. If the cute DLC was dripfed back at a premium, it would cause me to join the riot. The fact that it is withheld content given back later for free in CDPR's many 'we wanna be triple A but still shirk up to the indies' identity crisisses just gives it a cynical connotation for me. There's still the point that the stuff isn't game-essential and it doesn't break the game if you don't have it. Essentially it's a harmless manouver by CDPR to prove that they're still Jenny from the block.
I felt that the paragraphs should be included as an extra point of view, but it doesn't work that well in hindsight. Sadly, my pool of proofreaders is a graveyard. Still, since the stuff is free and you can essentially go like 'FU, got mine', there isn't much room to criticize.
And it seems that I fell in love with essentially, which essentially makes me feel embarrassed. ^^
Submitted by CiaranORian on Fri, 08/28/2015 - 07:45
CC you should only have posted the first 5 paragraphs and made us pay for the privilege of reading the rest. Or else, to prove you're cool, given the rest to us for free.
Submitted by CrypticCat on Wed, 09/02/2015 - 05:17
This reply is a personalized for you alone DLC to my blog. It'll be a collectors' item, I bet!