The following article is a guest contribution that was written by gamer Jenna Villegas:
BioWare recently announced that if you pre-order Dragon Age II before January 11th,
2011 your pre-order will be upgraded to the Signature Edition which includes:
* A download code for a bonus playable character and missions
* Downloadable game soundtrack
* Exclusive in-game digital armory featuring multiple weapons
* Additional downloadable items
Let me get this straight, there will already be $20 worth of DLC ready for DA2 when
it is released? Why charge the $20 for it at all? I mean, it is my understanding
that DLC is content that you want to fit into the game before it is released but
eventually run out of time. Instead of rushing it, you work on it, perfect it and
then release it at a later date at a cost for those who are still interested.
Instead, they are releasing an “incomplete” game, and then charging $20 for DLC…?
…and most people see this as a GOOD thing? Whaaaaaaaaaaat?
BioWare, I love you guys, but for the love of my wallet stop milking it.
As mentioned above I know I can pre-order it and get all of this DLC for “free” but
they are just giving me what I should already have. Before DLC this content would
have been included in the game at no extra charge. Now developers are able to leave
items, characters, missions, etc out of the game and charge more for it. That is not
cool. I understand the incentives system and the importance of launch numbers. What
I do not like is when the incentives are something you should already be getting.
“Buy this house and we will throw in that bathroom as well!”
…right.
I am in no way against DLC. I just do not understand why, if it is ready at launch
it is not included in the game. A whole character AND missions that SHOULD be in the
game from the get go, but no, they decided to milk it for more cash. An “armory” as
well. Is this going to be the only way to store items? I played DAO, you run out of
inventory space fast, a place to store items should ALREADY be in the game. Period.
There is no excuse for sideways tactics like that from developers.
This is also a ploy to discourage people from waiting to buy the game used. You get
all this DLC free if you preorder, if you wait and buy it used you do not. I believe
they tried this with the first DA. I got around this by going to Game Stop and
taking pictures with my cell phone of the codes in the manual of one of the cases
they had on display and then buying a used copy. Should I have done that? Probably
not. I bet the person who bought that was pissed we he got home and his codes did
not work…
So what are your thoughts? Will this free DLC push you to pre-order the game? Will
you buy the game used then spend the extra $20 on DLC? Do you think developers
should be able to use tactics like this to boost their sales? Do you want me to just
shut up and not buy the game at all if I do not like what BioWare is doing?
Let me know in the comments below!