testgoatpleaseignore@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Lol you’re in denial if you think the C:S2 makers aren’t going to try to cash in on paid DLCs constantly for the next decade
It is a damn shame because it turns me off so many games these days, but I guess it must pay off financially because these companies - mostly sim/strategy games - keep doing it and don’t appear to be going bankrupt…
Cethin@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Of course they will. Don’t they deserve to be paid for their work? They’re making a fairly niche product and constantly making improvements to it. What’s to complain about?
bighi@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Making games is always complicated. If you “release and forget” people complain. If you keep supporting a game for a decade people complain.
testgoatpleaseignore@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Did I say they don’t? Jeez. Paradox ain’t some guy in his basement, currently they employ 650 people and they are valued at around US$160-170 million
I even said obviously their strategy of infinite DLCs is working because they’re very successful.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Paradox is the publisher. The developers are Colossal Order with a total of 30 employees it seems.
testgoatpleaseignore@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Currently on steam, the base game (c:s 1) with all DLC is $404.40
It discourages new players a lot
loobkoob@kbin.social 8 months ago
I always find this discussion interesting. I don't personally tend to play Paradox games at all so I've no real horse in the race, but I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with the model. It's designed around people being able to buy the specific parts they want, and those specific things having a good level of quality / depth to them.
Like, if you're really into early 20th century Japanese architecture, would you rather have a single house thrown into a "kitchen sink" DLC pack that you can copy-paste over and over into your city with no options to customise or expand on that, or would you prefer an entire DLC dedicated to that style so you can build a full district or city in that style?
And conversely, if you're not into early 20th century Japanese architecture, would you rather have a single house in that style thrown into your DLC pack that you don't care about and won't ever use, or would you prefer your DLC pack to contain things you are interested in?
Maybe the average consumer does look and think "wow, I really need to spend $404.40 to be able to play the game" and decide against it, I don't know. But personally, if I see a game has DLCs like "specific niche cosmetic option pack #2" then I see them as not at all necessary, and figure I can play the base game first and just buy any additional packs I want later.
testgoatpleaseignore@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I do play Paradox games and I own most DLCs for Stellaris, I’ve spent way too much on it, and the DLC situation creates a barrier for me to get into the other games. I find it overwhelming and lose interest quickly, when there are plenty of other things I could be doing.
I agree in principle about the cosmetic options but the delivery leaves a lot to be desired
Cethin@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
C:S1 is basically designed around most players not buying every DLC. You only buy the ones you want. Also, wait for a sale. $404 over the entire time the game has been out is also not that bad. Sure, buying it all at once it’s a lot, but the player buying every DLC has probably been playing since launch. Think of it as a subscription for new content. You can not subscribe and still get plenty of content (every DLC added stuff to vanilla for free), or you can pay the fee to get everything. If this is your genre, you want to give then money to keep making improvements. If they don’t make money you don’t get anything new.
testgoatpleaseignore@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I know, and I dont disagree necessarily but it still turns new players off
I’ve been on both sides. I’ve got most DLCs for Stellaris for example and sunk thousands of hours into it. But I missed the boat on CK2 and can’t be bothered dealing with the similar swathe of DLC ($358.76 at time of writing, for a game released 10 years ago)
I know you can pick and choose DLC but it is something I just can’t be arsed with, when I could just play something else instead.
SchizoDenji@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Buy only what you need at first and then go from there. E
Not_Alec_Baldwin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Also wait for sales.