Or just BSOD.

Or just a C:\_ "blinking" command iconized to call a menu straight off a key between CTRL & ALT, logo obvious but not Blackened to fail when typed!

Morrowind had free (and awesome) DLC. GalCiv had free updates that might has well have been DLC compared to some others. X3 had an amazing free release with it's 2.0 and Bala Gi update, as well as the Terran Conflict 2.0 Aldrin Missions. There's been a monumental amount of great DLC released for free, anyone who says otherwise is ignorant.

What bothers me is that most DLC isn't worth the price, even if it's fun to play. The Fallout 3 DLC is fun, but $10 for it in comparison to the entire game is a joke. I've got the money, it's not about that, it's about the value of what I'm getting for my money.

Also, the cost is more outrageous because of the post-production costs. It costs a company money to have a game to have boxes made, manuels printed, cd's burned, shipping, and shelf space. DLC (and direct download games) don't have this cost, or have it at a fraction of the amount. That makes the proportions even more skewed. Downloaded games should be cheaper IMO than the tactile product I can go buy at the store. They aren't though. That rant is for a different thread. I understant there are other opinions. Mine won't change. I'll just have to shell out the change for the things that are overpriced until I either stop buying games from companies who nickle and dime me, I invent a time machine, the industry crashes, or someone else invents a time machine.

I understand exactly what you mean.
It's actually cheaper for me to buy the full priced, retail, boxed set of Dawn of War II than it is to download it via Steam. I purchased Demigod digitally, rather than wait for the Australian release, because it was cheaper via Impulse than it was going to be at retail. The best thing about Impulse, with Demigod at least, was that I had the option to purchase the CD, Box and Manual at additional cost if I so chose. I didn't, however the fact that I got the game cheaper for forgoing these items was a big plus in my opinon.

They should be, but then the retailers wouldn't be very happy since you pretty much know given a price difference most would buy digital, even those that prefer boxes and would've gotten a box if it was the same price.

@ZehDon

I don't mean to say that Steam or Impulse are useless, as you can get good deals from them or earlier access to games, but digital distribution has along way to go before I jump onboard. Currently I'll only buy games that are utterly unavailable at retail. Getting the game cheaper is not the norm, but an exception, sadly. The sales and bargain games might be good, but quite a few stores around where I live have games go on clearence too. I picked up the Witcher Enhanced for $20 a few weeks ago at a local Target. They put games on clearence at leat once a month to clear shelf space, and none of it is advertised. The games are also different for different targets. Curiously, they still had the Red Boxes (non-enhanced) on the self selling for $40.

@Annatar11

Personally, I will pay more for a product I can hold. I recognize that I am in the minority though. I'm not saying it's perfect, or that it's even good business, it's just what I believe is fair. But the willingness of the masses to pay more for less (in comparison) is bothersome to me. Currently, there is no incentive for me to buy games online, unless that is the only way to buy them. If online games were cheaper it would just speed the eventual evolution into direct downloads being the only way to buy games, with special collector edition items being mailed to you. Then I would be a 20-something old man remembering the good 'ol days. I understand the economic standpoint as well. It's the same reason a .pdf book costs as much as a regular book. If you could buy games for cheaper online, it "devalues" the product, and when no more games are available at retail, your product is worth less, or you have a massive price hike. I just consider it another way to rip off the customers though. We're paying more, or the same price, for considerably less spending on the other end. I'm happy they're getting rich and all that fun stuff, they deserve to be paid, but passing on some of the savings would be nice too.

Personally, I think a direct download game is worth much less than a retail copy. It bothered me to no end that when I ordered the GalCiv2 expansions, and paid more for the disks to be shipped, that I got exactly that. I wasn't expecting an awesome box, but a jewel case would have been nice.

Lot of replys here. I personally dont like DLC and wish we would go back to free updates and retail expansion. As for EA charging for little in game items, those guys should get a life. They take away SecuROM and instead they give us something even worse.

Er.. ?

I love DLC.  By the time a full expansion comes out for a game, I rarely care enough to play much of it anymore.  With DLC, they keep me interested in playing more.  I don't care if it's free or pay because either way they're spending money to give me something I enjoy.  Should we really be expecting companies to do stuff for little return on investment?  Look how long it took for the UT3 2.0 patch to come out.  I'm sure it was fascinating, but I was long done with the game at that point.  Same with The Witcher's Enhanced Edition.

I won't go into all the DLC I've bought and loved since that's not terribly relevant, but definately enough. 

Anybody remember Total Annihilation?  The units, maps,and such.  Later it was mostly user created content but at first it was all Cave Dog DLC and was free.  I miss those days.

Yep, and i paid for THE Counter Attack expansion for that Cavedog wonder.

This is the exact attitude that makes me sad with the new generation of gaming. By new I don't mean kids, just the new mentality unfolding. I'd much rather wait and have a quality expansion worth my money than some BS after thought being peddled out as a good deal.

I still go back and play old games because they're fun. The only games I'm ever through with are ones that are crap, and I shouldn't have ever bought in the first place. Piecemeal DLC doesn't keep me excited, it makes me not want to buy games from that company.

Also, I paid for the Total Annihilation Expansion too, that was an amazing game with a whole slew of free downloads.

I could probably count the number of expansions I've actually finished on one hand.

C&C Generals: Zero Hour...Red Alert 3: Uprising...umm...FEAR: Extraction Point...I've been gaming for roughly twenty four years now, and that's all I can remember.  (I have plenty more, I just never finish them.)

With DLC, if I wasn't going to play through it I wouldn't buy it in the first place.

But you're not too likely to see many normal expansions anymore.  They existed the way they did because retail was the only way to go...and now it isn't.  Not all DLC is going to be to excellent, but neither were all expansions so nothing new there.

As for 'new mentality' not really in my case.  I've always felt the same way about expansions, just never had any other options until recently.

I can count on one hand the number of DLC's I've bought and not been disappointed, but at least we can agree to disagree. I'm not sure I even bothered to finish C&C Generals, much less Zero Hour, and Red Alert 3 isn't worth the words to degrade it, and we aren't talking about the expansion yet. I don't see why you would waste money on an expansion if you don't plan on enjoying it. You're just buying 10x larger "DLC" for 2 or 3x more the price. You may have always had this mentality, but it is still the new mainstream mentality.

I hope the days of normal expansions aren't dead. I'll buy quality DLC for a reasonable price. I have no problem downloading the expansions either if that's all that's available, but we'll keep getting shoveled shit as long as people keep rolling in it saying how much they love $10, 2 hour quests. I wouldn't pay money for a crap expansion either, but don't like be shilled for every last $1.99 for something that could've been implemented in the game in the first place, but was help back for no other reason than releasing a shiny new DLC.