Comments on: Time is Worthless? http://www.hiwiller.com/2009/01/27/time-is-worthless/ Zack Hiwiller's Blog on Game Design and The Industry Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:48:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Zack http://www.hiwiller.com/2009/01/27/time-is-worthless/comment-page-1/#comment-583 Zack Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:27:53 +0000 http://www.hiwiller.com/?p=321#comment-583 Yes, but if the game is stupidly difficult with the obvious nod to victory-via-DLC, I doubt the game would get very good reviews. And review scores matter way more than the extra couple percent a developer can squeeze out via DLC. And I think the "used to be free" thing is true sometimes, but in this case is a bit of misdirection. It would be a different story if Skate 1 had a cheat code where you smash some buttons and everything became unlocked, but it didn't. If Rock Band 3 offers a DLC that unlocks all the songs, that too would be different. But Black Box deliberately added this to the game to segment the market. So this never was free at all. It just smells like something that is free in other franchises. Yes, but if the game is stupidly difficult with the obvious nod to victory-via-DLC, I doubt the game would get very good reviews. And review scores matter way more than the extra couple percent a developer can squeeze out via DLC.

And I think the “used to be free” thing is true sometimes, but in this case is a bit of misdirection. It would be a different story if Skate 1 had a cheat code where you smash some buttons and everything became unlocked, but it didn’t. If Rock Band 3 offers a DLC that unlocks all the songs, that too would be different. But Black Box deliberately added this to the game to segment the market. So this never was free at all. It just smells like something that is free in other franchises.

]]> By: Bryan http://www.hiwiller.com/2009/01/27/time-is-worthless/comment-page-1/#comment-582 Bryan Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:22:17 +0000 http://www.hiwiller.com/?p=321#comment-582 Nobody would be complaining if it were called "Nintendo Power Magazine Unlock" instead of "Time Is Money". Nobody would be complaining if it were called “Nintendo Power Magazine Unlock” instead of “Time Is Money”.

]]> By: Matthew Gallant http://www.hiwiller.com/2009/01/27/time-is-worthless/comment-page-1/#comment-581 Matthew Gallant Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:39:06 +0000 http://www.hiwiller.com/?p=321#comment-581 I haven't given this issue a lot of thought, but the apparent problem with this practise is that it give developers incentive to hide content behind nearly insurmountable challenges. When bad design becomes good business, it's only a matter of time until this practise becomes a matter of course for the industry. It's also common to complain about paying for something that <a href="http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/09/15/unlock-every-rb2-song/" rel="nofollow">used to come for free</a>. I haven’t given this issue a lot of thought, but the apparent problem with this practise is that it give developers incentive to hide content behind nearly insurmountable challenges. When bad design becomes good business, it’s only a matter of time until this practise becomes a matter of course for the industry.

It’s also common to complain about paying for something that used to come for free.

]]>