2,000 Now, Plus Fifteen When We Reach Alderaan (The Slippery Slope of DLC)

I don't rightly recall my first experience DLC. It was, most likely, with Halo 2 or some such. Then there was Guitar Hero, and then Gears of War. Then it was everywhere. In fact, it's hard NOT to buy a game these days that doesn't have a little something extra for sale online or on your console marketplace. At first, it was kinda neat, because long after the game you owned had run its course, you could still buy cheap little additions to keep the fun alive just a bit longer.

Gears of War made it a habit of releasing their new maps completely free in the beginning. Their justification: "We always take care of our customers." That's what it all boiled down to, huh? And I agree! I'm the head of a company that just made one of the best selling games of all time and have created a rabid fanbase that will follow me anywhere (even into the bathroom). Why shouldn't I give my fans something extra for their patronage and support? Right? That's how it was in the beginning, until something went awry:

Someone discovered they could make tons of internet money.

It started as extra maps, extra levels, extra weapons, goddamn horse armor...But then, this trend sorta climaxed with the Resident Evil 5 incident, where people were paying out the ass for a multiplayer mode that was already on the disc! I believe this is where the question of developer ethics first came around. I mean, are they within their right to charge you, the consumer, who've already paid full-price for the product, for extra content that is already included on the disc you're holding? In the end, people were paying for a simple "unlock patch" that clocked in at a devastatingly huge file size of...1.8 MB.

Seemed as though Capcom was selling you a car, and then charging you to drive it.

Fast forward to the present, so that I can comment on EA's recently implemented "Project Ten Dollar," which basically says, if you buy our game brand fucking new, we will provide you with ten dollars American worth of DLC that was intended for that game. This was supposed to provide incentive for buying games new instead of used, or torrented. Sounds like a marvelous idea, right?

Bioware, owned by EA, was the first to use this with Dragon Age: Origins. Those who bought the game new were given an awesome set of Blood Dragon Armor, which was just fantastic to have sucking up space in my inventory whilst my rogue continued on leather-bound. (Coulda given it to Alistair, I guess, but...I didn't. Why the hell would I pay for armor for Alistair to use?) Additionally, we were given access to The Stone Prisoner DLC, which was also a fantastic 20 minute adventure to get a party member who did nothing but sigh at me for the entire game.

And that was about it. Wouldn't say that's ten dollars' worth of content, but what do I know? I'm just the consumer who doesn't know how much time and effort was poured into that DLC. It could easily be worth a billion dollars, and I wouldn't know.

Mass Effect 2 fared better in some respects. We were given new armor, new weapons, a place to mourn the old Normandy, a hovercraft mini-game, and a new party member, Zaeed: The Crocodile Dundee in Space. Were any of these things worth downloading to my already-limited hard drive? Well, I think that's where EA/Bioware would make the argument that, you know, since it's free you have no right to complain. It's not like somebody twisted your arm to download stuff that cost you absolutely nothing and provided you the opportunity to hang out with a space Australian, like you didn't have one already. Edit: I've just been made aware that Zaeed is not Australian. That is all.

To that, I would say, "No." This was not ten dollars' worth of content. If my game wasn't screaming at me to keep this shit on my hard drive, I probably would have deleted all of it already. Spoiler Alert: I already tried that with the Zaeed DLC, and it ended with me downloading it all over again so I could keep playing. Not that I was already peeved having a character in the game that some people have to pay for to gain access to.

The Firewalker DLC was our last bit of free stuff from Bioware, as there is now ANOTHER party member DLC and a meh set of new costumes for Jack, Thane, and Garrus that will force members of the Cerberus Network to pay cash money for. So what does this mean to those of us who don't really feel up to paying for this DLC, specifically this new character? Does this mean our experience in future games will be hindered? Am I now paying for the content of a game that doesn't exist yet? Is shelling out $60 in this economy just not enough proof of support? But now we have to pay for what have been the most interesting facets of this series?

I don't know, actually. Knowing what I know now, I can almost imagine Bioware paring off characters like Mission Vao and Zaalbar to be sold as extra DLC for those willing to pay full price (plus). It's a scary thing to think about, because of how far we've come, and how far we have to go. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening did not bode good things on the horizon. We're coming to a dark time in the gaming industry where developers are deciding the value of their product, regardless of production cost and time. Where Bioware can create a 10 hour game, call it an "expansion," and charge 20 bucks shy of full price for it.

I might just be tired, because this is verging on a rant. I just see an industry that sought to wow us in past years. To provide a genuine, entertaining experience. Sure, gaming is an expensive habit. I think companies like EA saw it, too, when they came to the realization that if we're willing to pay THAT much for games, perhaps we're willing to pay just a bit more.

I fear that this might be a very slippery slope that will lead game developers to section off their products, adhering to the methods that many grave robbers and treasure hunters of old came to realize: You make more money if you sell it in pieces.

And to anyone who bought the $15 recycled map pack for Modern Warfare 2, you are not helping! >=O