When SEGA announced that they were going to be charging around £5 for a pack of four multiplayer maps for AvP it wasn’t the first time a developer had done this in a game but as it was the first time it had an impact on me (as I own the game in question) it was the first time I really thought about it. My first thoughts were of how stupid the idea of charging for extra multiplayer maps is and then I happened to come across another article on the same site just moments later. The article in question was an interview with the devs at Futuremark (They made Shattered Horizon, a niche multiplayer game that is still more popular than AvP multiplayer) and in it (among other things) they explained why paid DLC for multiplayer games shouldn’t be made.
Jukka: We are not opposed to selling additions in principle, but there are right and wrong ways to go about it. With multiplayer games for example, you don’t want to split the player community with artificial price fences on additional content. A paid update, if we ever do one, should not leave you feeling left behind if you don’t get it, or leave you feeling isolated if you do, but should instead feel like a natural and unconstrained choice to pay more if you want more.
I have to say I agree with Jukka entirely. I have nothing against paid for single player DLC, as it can’t break the game for those who don’t buy it, but with multiplayer those who don’t have it will be kicked from servers every time it changes to a map they don’t have. In survival mode on AvP that will be a two in three chance should the sever be running all 4 maps in rotation as the out of the three maps you are not currently playing two are not on your computer. That breaks the game for me as someone who doesn’t have the DLC. Do I buy the maps and risk not being able to play them if the DLC does not sell very well? Or do I not buy it and get kicked out of the game every time it switches to one of the new maps?
Epic managed to release the Editors content bonus pack for UT2004 for free and the UT3 Black update, Futuremark managed to release the Moonrise pack for Shattered Horizon and are working on another and don’t get me started on Valve’s additional content. Doing this means that everyone can access every server and results in a surge of sales of the full game with every release.
The fact that this has been released as paid DLC suggests to me that SEGA do not care about the long term sales of the game that they would get by supporting the community but would rather try and make a quick buck now and move on to the next game. There are still a huge number of bugs in the game that need fixing far more than there is a need for a few more maps.
I know Rebellion are not to blame here, I’m sure they just want to make the best game they can. I am however going to think twice before buying a game published by SEGA again. DLC that breaks the game for those who don’t buy it? Well that is f-ing nice isn’t it.
Now before I get loads of comments claiming that I am asking them to do stuff for free and making out I am somehow owed extra free content that is not what I mean at all. What I am saying is that if they can’t do Multiplayer DLC for free or produce something that won’t be detrimental to those who don’t have it, then they should not do the DLC at all.
By jon_hill987
Read the original article on jon_hill987’s Blog.
Gaming and Tech Network 