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This Week in Games - There Is No Joke, Just Treat Game Developers Better


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Hal14



Joined: 01 Apr 2018
Posts: 728
Location: Heart of africa
PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2023 10:14 am Reply with quote
Why does DLC have to be viewed as a sign that the game is incomplete? It comes down to execution. Yes, sometimes dlc is used to pad a bad game. But it's also like ordering extra toppings (or a side dish) on an already good pizza.
Anyway, an answer to the absence of Kass and a Master mode where the only additional stuff I wanted.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4633
Location: New York
PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2023 11:16 am Reply with quote
The last time I thought about Quest for Camelot was randomly seeing the Nostalgia Critic review it. This was a film so unremarkable the commercials apparently had no positive critical reactions to post. So as far as obscure titles go, that’s definitely up there.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2436
PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2023 12:45 pm Reply with quote
Hal14 wrote:
Why does DLC have to be viewed as a sign that the game is incomplete? It comes down to execution. Yes, sometimes dlc is used to pad a bad game. But it's also like ordering extra toppings (or a side dish) on an already good pizza.
Anyway, an answer to the absence of Kass and a Master mode where the only additional stuff I wanted.


This. The criticisms were never "I don't want more content I have to pay for". It was always "I don't want developers to cut things practically required for the game and then sell them back later as add-ons". Even before companies started doing this, people were predicting it would happen. And then it happened and those defending the practice were stuck pikachu-facing the companies they defended.

Anyway, best of luck to everyone willing to strike! It sucks to be in a time where expoitation has not only become the norm, but also become necessary to please investors, lest we forget it's not just CEO over-paying that has led us here. It's the whole system.
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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2317
Location: Online Terminal
PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2023 1:51 pm Reply with quote
Is the convention hosting the Classic Tetris World Championships again? I'd go just for that.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5525
PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2023 3:17 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
and people didn't go around acting like games along the lines of Wind Waker or Ocarina of Time were "incomplete" because there weren't any new costumes added after the fact.
Wind Waker was incomplete, though for different reasons.
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Themaster20000



Joined: 05 Aug 2014
Posts: 872
PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2023 5:06 pm Reply with quote
Dlc gets that bad rep since it became a thing during the 360 days. I do think it works well with indie titles, since most of them put effort into it.Where Triple A games it's mostly comes off half-assed. I just think of the dlc Ubisoft and Activision puts out on all of their titles. Stuff like Minerva's Den dlc from Bioshock 2 is how you do it right.
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2359
PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2023 5:09 pm Reply with quote
The thing that gets me about justification for bad working conditions and layoffs is that they claim "But there's no way to keep in the black!" when there's no evidence that good working conditions are detrimental to profit. If anything, there's plenty of evidence that teams who have stable employment, working conditions, and aren't subject to crunch actually improve a company's short term and long term success. Ultimately, it's clear it's not about money with these executives, it's about control. Same thing with the strikes going on is that the studios would likely be more profitable, but it would come at the cost of control. It's such a sociopathic way of thinking that benefits no one but the shallow, petty, and incompetent.

-Retro Game Challenge: Time to make some noise.

-TOTK: Considering the game started as DLC that so dense it became its own title, I'm not surprised they're like "I'm good." On to new things.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 6364
PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2023 10:51 pm Reply with quote
Themaster20000 wrote:
Dlc gets that bad rep since it became a thing during the 360 days. I do think it works well with indie titles, since most of them put effort into it.Where Triple A games it's mostly comes off half-assed. I just think of the dlc Ubisoft and Activision puts out on all of their titles. Stuff like Minerva's Den dlc from Bioshock 2 is how you do it right.


DLC has been a thing since PC games started getting expansions.
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djl33



Joined: 04 Aug 2010
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2023 6:03 am Reply with quote
No mention of Starfield?
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4830
PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2023 12:59 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, no offense to Jean-Karlo, but that whole DLC segment felt like it was attacking a straw man. I can't speak for anyone else, but I would never accuse Tears of the Kingdom of being "incomplete" or otherwise fundamentally flawed without having something added to it...I just want more of it. The world Nintendo has created in these two titles is the greatest I've ever experienced in a video game, and feel like I probably ever will experience. Is it any wonder that I'd want to keep playing around in this universe, getting to experience more new content even for a little while longer? That's especially true given that Breath of the Wild's DLC added far more than a handful of cosmetics. The Trial of the Sword was a fun challenge run (albeit nigh-broken in Master Mode) that gave the awesome bonus of a seriously-buffed Master Sword. The Champions' Ballad was a whole proper expansion, with a bunch of new flashback story content, a brand-new dungeon and boss fight, and a hilarious final reward. I just replayed both of those in an old Master Mode save and had a blast, so I was very much looking forward to getting something comparable in TotK.

Beyond that, the reason this feels so disappointing is that TotK seemed to include deliberate story hooks where DLC could have naturally plugged in. For instance, why is best birb Kass pretty much the only alive major character from BotW who doesn't make a reappearance? His own family doesn't even mention him, and he only gets a vague shout-out from an NPC after completing a quest. Given how central he was to the Champions' Ballad, I was sure his return would be the focal point for some sort of DLC. And more broadly, there's the massive elephant in the room (or lack thereof) of spoiler[every single bit of Sheikah tech from BotW disappearing without a single trace or acknowledgement, even the gargantuan Divine Beasts]. If there's one substantial criticism I have for TotK, it's that it frequently felt strangely disconnected from its direct prequel despite taking place in the exact same world just a few years later. I was hoping that some additional story content might help bridge that gap more smoothly.

Also, uh, you can get both Majora's Mask and Ravio's Hood in TotK. In fact, you can get pretty much every DLC costume from the first game, including a bunch of content that was limited to Amiibo unlocks in BotW. And I think the big chungus black horse is in there as well, even if spoiler[you don't get all of your horses imported from a BotW save]. I'm not really sure where that part of the argument was coming from.

I also had to laugh at the thought of "forgetting" about TotK's release, given that I spent pretty much this entire summer playing it and nothing but it. I finally took the plunge and defeated Ganondorf a couple of weeks ago after well over 200 hours of gameplay on my savefile. For me, this was the only game that mattered or will matter this year.
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Themaster20000



Joined: 05 Aug 2014
Posts: 872
PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2023 2:31 pm Reply with quote
BadNewsBlues wrote:
Themaster20000 wrote:
Dlc gets that bad rep since it became a thing during the 360 days. I do think it works well with indie titles, since most of them put effort into it.Where Triple A games it's mostly comes off half-assed. I just think of the dlc Ubisoft and Activision puts out on all of their titles. Stuff like Minerva's Den dlc from Bioshock 2 is how you do it right.


DLC has been a thing since PC games started getting expansions.


I'm quite aware of that lol. I was talking about it in the context when it blew up for console games on the 360.
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flamemasterelan



Joined: 17 Apr 2022
Posts: 497
PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:45 pm Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:
Also, uh, you can get both Majora's Mask and Ravio's Hood in TotK. In fact, you can get pretty much every DLC costume from the first game, including a bunch of content that was limited to Amiibo unlocks in BotW. And I think the big chungus black horse is in there as well, even if spoiler[you don't get all of your horses imported from a BotW save]. I'm not really sure where that part of the argument was coming from.

I was going to post about this, yeah. All the costume DLC is there in the base game. Most of the DLC from BotW is there in the base game, aside from Master Mode and the story expansions (and I guess the Switch shirt?).

And, like you, I'm more disappointed because I saw potential for what could be expanded on in the future. I was really hoping with all the reconstruction equipment in Castle Town, that we could eventually get an expansion to work on that. There are a lot of little nooks that I'd like to see expanded upon more. Because I want more excuses to spend even more time in TotK's world.
Quote:
And more broadly, there's the massive elephant in the room (or lack thereof) of spoiler[every single bit of Sheikah tech from BotW disappearing without a single trace or acknowledgement, even the gargantuan Divine Beasts].

Personally, this loose end doesn't bother me so much as...spoiler[I figured they just repurposed what they could into the current towers and any other tech they're working on in the future, and what remains of the Divine Beasts and Guardians were likely scrapped to assuage the people's fears after the Calamity].
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Nigel Planter



Joined: 09 Jan 2023
Posts: 113
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:01 pm Reply with quote
It's always interesting when new DLC drops years after a game releases, like Mario Kart 8 and Pirate Warriors 4. Those seem justifiable and definitely don't feel like cut content held over to nickel and dime players.

But stuff like day 1 costume DLC that would be unlockable in older games? Yeah, pretty lame. Even worse if there's an actual in-game DLC shop or object you click on. Luckily most of the games I play only do costume DLC.
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Cecilthedarkknight_234



Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 3820
Location: Louisville, KY
PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2023 10:37 pm Reply with quote
Juno016 wrote:
Hal14 wrote:
Why does DLC have to be viewed as a sign that the game is incomplete? It comes down to execution. Yes, sometimes dlc is used to pad a bad game. But it's also like ordering extra toppings (or a side dish) on an already good pizza.
Anyway, an answer to the absence of Kass and a Master mode where the only additional stuff I wanted.


This. The criticisms were never "I don't want more content I have to pay for". It was always "I don't want developers to cut things practically required for the game and then sell them back later as add-ons". Even before companies started doing this, people were predicting it would happen. And then it happened and those defending the practice were stuck pikachu-facing the companies they defended.

Anyway, best of luck to everyone willing to strike! It sucks to be in a time where expoitation has not only become the norm, but also become necessary to please investors, lest we forget it's not just CEO over-paying that has led us here. It's the whole system.


Most of it stems of on disc dlc during the ps3/360 era with on disc dlc. Capcom and Square-Enix was notorious for this for having issue with games like resident evil 5, asura's wrath, Final Fantasy 13-2 "you had to pay to unlock the TRUE ENDINGS in both games" etc. A lot of people that game backed then hated this practice so much and it stems to this day.
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oilers2007



Joined: 23 Sep 2022
Posts: 130
PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2023 11:33 pm Reply with quote
Cecilthedarkknight_234 wrote:
Most of it stems of on disc dlc during the ps3/360 era with on disc dlc. Capcom and Square-Enix was notorious for this for having issue with games like resident evil 5, asura's wrath, Final Fantasy 13-2 "you had to pay to unlock the TRUE ENDINGS in both games" etc. A lot of people that game backed then hated this practice so much and it stems to this day.


Was always weird to me Persona 5's in-game swimsuits was DLC. Free, at the very least, but still DLC you needed to claim in the store. Made zero sense. The others they charged for which was lame, but I don't get why that one was classified as DLC unless they charged for it later. These days I suppose it's moot since they're all included in the Royal release.
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