Binge & Purge: Money! Money! Money!

Noogle · Status: Offline Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 40 $poons: 0.00

Binge & Purge: Money! Money! Money! by James

PALGN Feature: THQ wants your money and it's all good - unless you actually already paid for the game. Think publishers really care? I think some will sell your mother in packaging if they could...

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LeonJ · Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 5:04 pm�� Post subject:

I'm in two minds about this issue. I'm fine with paying $5-10 if its actually decent content that has been fully well designed and tested. The average gamer will pay $50 (on PC) for an expansion pack, which is essentially a giant content package, isn't that much the same? Look at Splinter Cell 2's new levels. Obviously thought went into these new levels and I believe it is worth the $10 price of admission. But its certainly has not impeded on those you did not wish to buy in terms of playing online. The problem which I agree with is when companies start trying to palm off "nothing" extras at a price. If I ever was to pay for a buggy meaningless add-on, I certainly would be dirty. It’s certainly a grey area, and your article does highlight excellent points. Great food for thought.
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ObsoletE · Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 5:54 pm�� Post subject:

how much extra content is in these packs?

i would feel very ripped off if it were only a level or 2 (depending on the size of the levels), but i would probably pay $5 if it were a decent size extra...

it does suck that it was advertised as free and then they turn around and charge you for it though... although this does allow you to take it up with the ACCC as it is false advertising (i don't know the exact details, you'll have to look into this)

expansion packs for PC games seem to becoming a rare thing, i know the COD expansion has come out, but there was a time when every FPS and RTS game would have 1, 2 or even more expansions... but now they seem to be releasing a new game (UT2K4 for example)... i guess the storyline of games nowadays doesn't really lend itself to expansions...

mind you, many PC games now have either Mods, TCs or free downloadable content, so maybe the need for expansion packs are dying off because people are able to get content that is just as good for free...

whatever the reason, food for thought indeed...

and check into whether THQ have the right to charge given it was advertised for free... gamers somewhere will thank you if it is wrong...
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Noogle · Status: Offline Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 40 $poons: 0.00

I don't think there are any legal grounds to fault THQ on - it's more the principle of it. Why charge for content that could have been free? I sincerely feel that if a company can afford to give away a few extra levels as a means to thanks you for buying their game, they should. But now they are just cashing in on the trend.

It makes sense on a business level, but I don't play games because I want to be involved in business. and I don't think we should take it every time the industry tries to milk us for money.

Btw, PC games normally cost around $50. An expanion costs between $20- $30 depending - and you get a lot out of it, including engine upgtrades, more MP maps, extra SP campaigns...

ObsoletE · Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 8:14 pm�� Post subject:

in Australia a full PC game (and console games for that matter) are around $100 and expansions are between $30 and $60 depending on what you get...

i don't really consider engine upgrades a content of expansion packs since the patch for this upgrade is usually downloadable for free... and as i said, we're kinda spoiled for choice for free MP and SP maps, some might not be worth playing, but others certainly are... quite a few games also have this official (or at the very least, officially endorsed) content dl-able for free too...

i actually didn't see you aren't Australian (or rather i forgot) but if they have advertised here that the content was going to be free (or more importantly, someone can prove it happened), and then it has to be paid for, we have avenues to see whether a breach in advertising has occurred... it was just a thought...
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Noogle · Status: Offline Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 40 $poons: 0.00

True. My lashback is really jsut about what's at stake here. For instance, what would have happened if Vavle decided all mods on the HL engine should carry a small fee? Not going to happen.

What would change my mind on the topic is if someone can demonstrate how this isn't a case of THQ milking money out of people when they don't need to.

Alas, I can't despise them completely They have Dawn of War Stalker, Detroy All Humans and now Juiced.

ObsoletE · Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:57 pm�� Post subject:

well, you can buy the mods for halflife separately (well, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress and CounterStrike (not CZ, normal CS) i have seen as separate sale items to the game itself), i've never seen the point since you'd need to connect and update them as soon as you got home anyway...

you're right though, for some reason people stand for it on console where they would never on PC... maybe it's because console online is still in it's infancy and people are still getting the hang of it... it's still in the honeymoon phase and people don't realise they're being hoodwinked...
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