Jonnyram said:
Good reply.
Personally, I don't think microtransactions will take off unless the public is actually happy to pay for them. I don't hear people complaining about paying $1 per track from iTunes, for example. As a traditionalist, I would much rather have a complete package, rather than choosing what I want from a list, but is that because that's the best thing, or is it because I was brought up that way? If Namco charges $2 per downloadable track, are they going to self-consciously remove tracks from the game? Do you remember how many tracks were in the original Ridge Racer 10 years ago?
I remember Ridge Racer for the Playstation. It was one of the games I bought on launch day.
The amount of content that games ship with has increased considerably since those days, though, and consumer expectations have scaled up accordingly. With development times and costs increasing, I can imagine companies opting to ship their games with less content than we're used to, whether it's to get them out the door faster or to allow them to make more money on the overall package (or both). So rather than
remove tracks or cars from a complete build, they might concept those things out during the design phase, but ship the game before they've been modelled and sell them later as downloads. Unfortunately, the end result for the consumer's the same either way. :/
As far as whether or not your outlook on DLC has to do with your being a traditionalist, I'm inclined to say 'no', though I'm admittedly biased. In
my case, I know that it stems from a desire to want 'the complete package'. The idea that there's additional content available for a game I own, content that's technically intended to be a
part of that game, makes me feel like what I
do have is incomplete until I have it. (That's why I don't feel quite the same way about user-created maps or mods - if they're not 'official', then I don't feel I need all of them in order for my copy of a game to be 'whole', so to speak.) Of course, maybe that's just
my traditional bias talking...
I don't think the iTunes analogy fits all that well, though. I'd say DLC is more similar to your favorite musician announcing that he's recorded 12 tracks for his latest album, but only six of them are going to be included on the CD. In order to have the full album as he's conceived it, you have to buy the CD at the regular price, then download the other six tracks as mp3's for 'a nominal fee'. Of course, you can skip some of the downloads, but then you know you're not going to have the full package as he intended it.
Jonnyram said:
I'm not saying I agree with the concept of microtransactions at all. I'm certainly not interested in buying better cars in a racing game, or buying better weapons in an FPS. Putting money and player "level" together is sick. I don't particularly feel that MS are solely responsible for the idea though. Isn't Sony already doing it with Everquest, or at least planning it?
AFAIK, what Sony's doing with EQ is intended as a 'legitimate alternative' to the gold- and item-farming outfits that have been profiting from selling in-game content they earn in SoE's MMO's. Now while that also bothers me (I feel like someone who's buying gold or items in an MMO with real-world money to avoid the effort of earning them in-game is cheating, to be honest, though that's another discussion in itself), I can accept it because (again, AFAIK) those items and gold are still being
earned through someone's 'work' in-game, and can still be earned under ordinary circumstances by a player who's willing to invest the time and effort.
Jonnyram said:
Finally, we have no evidence that Namco is even planning to do this with Ridge Racer 6. Give them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps. If they charge for DLC, is it MS's fault for giving them the capability to do so or is it Namco's fault for choosing to charge?
I'd say a little of both, really.
Even though my cynicism makes me pessimistic, I'd love nothing better than to be pleasantly surprised by an announcement of free downloads, a la Wipeout Pure for PSP. (I was pretty negative about
that until word hit that those would be free, too.)
Jonnyram said:
(Sorry for all the questions)
Nothing to be sorry about. These are the kinds of conversations I wish I could have more often.
