mrcthulahoop-blog

[mrcthulahoop-blog]

Just a few shots of myself (Red/Blue Robot @ Anime Expo) & Random Shots of Cosplayers I’ve come to see during my time at Anime Weekend Atlanta. Shout outs to the Arkham Beauty’s & The Succubi of Capcom Morrigan & their Twin Magic

[mrcthulahoop-blog]

Blind DLC in the Modern Era of Gaming! (Rant)

As per usual in the modern era of gaming, season passes are announced before the street date release of big AAA production titles. In most cases you are told what will be the back bone of it's content, however in fighting games that's not always the case. When it comes to Season Passes with most other genres you could get new modes, stories, missions, cosmetic items, in game items, more customization options, the list is seemingly endless on the realm of possibilities. However when it comes to fighting games that simply is just not the case.

Take on the on the Horizon Dragonball FighterZ  title. Their season pass was just announced, set to come with 8 characters of which 0 have been announced whom they are. The full day 1 roster hasn't even been fully confirmed. However on faith alone they want to draw people in for 8 characters, a few stickers, & a couple of online avatars for a whopping $35. A season pass with little confirmation, costs over half the retail price for the full game! As eye popping & jaw dropping as that may be it's not uncommon as you'll see below.

One of the characters who is a main part of the story was withheld to be DLC at a later date in a pack costing $30.

Exhibit B:

As you can see Warner Bros & Netherrealm Studios' Injustice 2 had a $40 pack with 9 characters & 3 premiere skins.

Exhibit C:

TEKKEN 7's pack didn't even include one of the first DLC characters Eliza. Unspecified amount of characters. Lots of costumes & the Tekken Bowl mode which also was not specified at the time!

Asking for money up front with almost zero information given on its main properties. Usually just a crap shoot with most season passes. Also with last year's release of Capcom's Street Fighter V we saw how they released two season passes. Neither specifying in it's contents specifically on the character front. However all the characters can be purchased with in game currency in SFV. It's very grind intensive but it is doable.

So why does this happen?

Well the answer is two fold.

It occurs because at the end of the day a fighting game breaks down to our competition once the game hits the 6 month of release. Most games have modes, stories, missions, & gimmicky things for single players to have an offline experience. One filled with replayability, varied content, & things to do.

In fighting games no matter how you spin it. It's player 1 Vs player 2 trying to take each other's health pool down to 0. Netherrealm Studios tries to bring people in with the Multiverse mode which has hours of content for Unlockable ranging from gear to shaders to Unlockable moves. They've implimented guild bosses which are super buffed A.I. and if your guild can defeat it you'll all receive various rewards. A full fleged cinematic story mode also comes to play with solid writing and voice acting. However with that said. All the modes are comprised of the basic same gameplay. Something the casual market will be burned out on in 6 months. Netherrealm Studios definitely leads the pack on content with Tekken 7 & Guilty Gear XRD not far behind.

So how does this have any effect on DLC planning?

Now that we know that casuals need new things to keep them hyped for this genre. Having a systematic post release schedule of future can breathe new life into a game. The hope is to rekindle interest in some people's drive to play. Lots of players may put a game down then see the DLC pack has a character they love & they're back to the game in no time flat. DLC can also bring in second wave sales. Don't believe let's take a small gander at Twitter.

Usually companies tease a small portion of the greater whole of a Season Pass & that'll rope people in. Even if they don't care about 75% of the content they'll buy the whole package just to get that last 25% they have deemed vital. Which can go a long way in the grand scheme of things.

You said this was a two fold thing though?

Yes I did. The second wrinkle is the fact that Blind DLC is definitely a way to make people who otherwise wouldn't buy everything, buy it all. For example with injustice 2 there has been tons of complains about the fight pack characters. People alsaw the first pack feature Red Hood & Starfire. People sank their teeth into that ready for more. They thought after those two, they'd all be a smash hit. People expected Static, Raven, Beast boy, & Constantine. However not a single one of those has been announced. Actually so far only 4 out of the 7 confirmed characters are even from DC comics & it's rumored 5 out of the total 9 will be from the DCU. But that initial impulse buy off the blind pass definitely boosted some of the least popular characters downloads. Also helps companies since season passes are non-refundable.

Long gone are the days of a game releasing with oodles of content. It's pretty much normalized with the current generation of Gamers that post release content is a given. They see $20-$50 DLC & multiple season passes for one game as the industry standard! So they just accept it and as long as the season passes continue to sell not only themselves but the games as a whole, they will not stop making them.

Final Thoughts

Personally I'm not a fan of pre-release announcements of season passes. It seems grimey that a company is already planning to sell me more stuff after the game goes out, 6 months before it's even playable. On top of that you could drop money on the blind pass, only to be disappointed in the end. Also with some games like Guilty gear XRD, you could buy all the DLC for one version of the game one night, then wake up to an announcement of XRD Revalator 3 & have to spend another $15 to get that expansion!

None of this is alleviated when DLC characters can be $5 to $9 a pop out of pack. To where buying 4 characters individually is the same price as buying the whole pack. It's especially bad if a DLC character comes out with top tier status. Then you have to deal with the whole pay to win argument. While it's an invalid argument since fighting games are primarily matchup based anyway; the aforementioned casuals will see it that way. And developers know, perception is reality no matter how you slice it. It's a juggling act by developers, a rat race for consumers. A messy situation indeed.