Working Title 4.08.11: Working Rant - D1DLC and Online Passes

Posted by Jordan Williams on 04.08.2011

Sometimes we all just need to sit back, take a breath and simply...deal with it. Why get so bent out of shape over this?

Welcome to the #1 Column to think that up until the Main Event, this year's Wrestlemania was pretty damn good…up until the main event. But you don't come to this column to read about wrestling…you come to this column because it's WORKING TITLE. The John Cena/Miz match up was so fucking overbooked that it ended up just not making any sense but I think that the show was still pretty enjoyable. But you know what else from the WWE is pretty goddamn enjoyable? Well…let's just find out…

Working Gaming Update

It's going to be a short one this week (along with the short column) so I'll cut out the usual suspects like Halo: Reach and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and instead move onto some newcomers on the list…

WWE All-Stars

Remember a few weeks back when I said I hoped this game ended up being good? Well HOT DAMN am I happy that it actually is good? Sure, it gets a bit button mashy and the roster is small but they actually nailed the basics of the game enough to where it's a wonderful changed from the usual SvR style of game. This is what I have been wanting from the WWE for a good long while now and since the sales and reviews of this seem to actually be doing good it looks like this might end up being a franchise for them which is great!
Maybe next time they could put a better story mode in and we can get some gameplay closer to Def Jam series of games…I can wish, can't I?

Dragon Age II

So…Dragon Age II…

Hm.

Why does the internet hate this game so much again? I played through DA:O five times and although I can already tell this game isn't going to grip me with that same amount of replay value, I still have to wonder why the fuck the internet got in such a tizzy over it? I'm about 15 hours in and the only real thing I've find that I don't like is that the combat is a touch TOO simple but…the inventory system? It's still there. Dialogue trees? Still there. Characters? Still there. So what in the flying hell did BioWare do so wrong? Yes, it is a bit…Mass Effect-y but Mass Effect is also a great game in its own right. Some of the times when the Internet takes a hot toddy on a game I can usually see what they are talking about but in this case it seems like people are bitching and moaning that they…made the game more accessible?
Really? Get the fuck over yourselves.

Hm, that phrase might as well be the catch line of the column this week because this week I am going to rant on two little subjects that just keeps pissing me off. Every time someone mentions either of these people always thinks that they are the cancer killing video games or that it is just the WORST THING EVER.

So it might be a bit of an unpopular opinion…but you know what? Sometimes you have to look at it and go…

Working Title: Day 1 DLC and Online Passes – It's not THAT bad.

I've said it before. Hell, I probably say it almost every week but we gamers are a fickle ass bunch. We always want the best this, the most that, the cheapest this and the easiest that. We will always demand more characters, more levels, more weapons, more cars. The developer and the producer can just NEVER make or do enough to make us happy. We have this air of self entitlement which is sometimes a good thing. It means that gamers rarely ever just settle for something, they always want the best of everything.

But there is also a bad side…it also means that we are utterly fucking incapable of just accepting that once in awhile…a video game company has to actually act like a business do something that's for the benefit of themselves and NOT the gamer.
"But does that mean we are just supposed to roll over and take it?"
Hell no. But it also means that just because a company decides "Hey, we want to actually make money from OUR FUCKING GAME" doesn't mean that gaming is over and the world is coming to an end. But of course no matter what happens the internet is going to through a tizzy when words like "Day one DLC" and "Online Pass" are thrown around.

Let's deal with what most people call the lesser of the two problems here…

D1DLC

So you have a new game that is about to come out. GameStop and whomever else have all of their pre-order bonuses (which I DO have a problem with) going on and everyone is in full tilt hype mode waiting for the game to come out. But during all of this something gets announced that literally throws everyone into a fucking uproar.

The game is going to have Day 1 DLC (D1DLC).

THE HORROR! The game that you are about to buy new is going to have more content out AT LAUNCH that you have to pay for! What kind of horrible person would do this? What kind of horrible person would release this completely optional content on the very first day of the release!?

Yeah, that's right. It's FUCKING OPTIONAL. There is nothing NOWHERE that says you HAVE to purchase D1DLC, shit, half of the time the D1DLC is shit ANYWAY. Whoo! An extra level or map! But for some reason D1DLC is demonized right along with the Pre-Order Bonus because of the false assumption that this stuff is ‘cut content' or something that can be used to nickel and dime you into spending more for the game overall.

First let's examine how dumb that statement is to being with…especially when it pertains to Pre-Order Bonuses. You do know that when you pre-order a game you are spending money TOWARDS the game, right? You do? Then why the hell do people constantly call that nickel and diming when the game is going to be the same cost at the end?

Same reason I don't understand why people say D1DLC is nickel and diming? Has there been a game released this generation that was impossible to beat unless you had DLC? Has there been a game this generation where you got halfway in and the game went "Welp, to finish this you need to buy the [Blah blah blah] pack for 5 dollars!"? No, there hasn't. Therefore it is NOT nickel and diming because NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO FUCKING BUY IT.

"But it's just content the developer purposely left out to sell us later"

No, shut up. You're wrong. Why are you wrong? Because games go into certification before any DLC is ever made the game has to go into certification. Which means they have to divulge any and all game content READY TO BE PRINTED TO DISC so it can be…you know…PRINTED TO DISC. What benefit does it serve them to go "You know what? That level we spent all that budget time on? …Let's just not put it there."

None.

Now I am not going to say there are no shady ass developers out there cutting it PRETTY damn close to what is acceptable in the ways of DLC (Capcom. Lookin' at you) but you have to understand that sometimes the difference between a delay and a DLC is sometimes so small that this HAS to be done. And let's be totally honest…what DLC have you played has really been up to snuff enough to where you went "Man, that should've been in the original game." I can't think of any. So even if it really is ‘cut content', odds are it was cut for a reason.

And let's not forget that it's COMPLETELY OPTIONAL TO BUY.

Are you understanding this? It's OPTIONAL. Not one developer out there has forced you to buy D1DLC (or any DLC) at gunpoint. Not a single developer has told you that the game is incomplete without it, nor is the game is not worth having. The fact is you didn't even think less of the game until you HEARD about it.

Does this mean that you have to unwillingly support D1DLC? No! In fact the majority of DLC is actually quite shit and you probably should be angry at the quality of it more than anything…but does this mean that whenever they release D1DLC you should get all up in arms and proclaim that gaming is dead the developer has sold out because they are daring to offer you optional content? No. Get the fuck over yourselves.
But D1DLC is the small fish here. There is a bigger problem that just irks the ever living FUCK out of me.

Online Passes – GET OVER IT



Oh my fucking Theology Based Deity you people and the raging over Online Passes is fucking CRAZY. For those of you that don't know the Online Pass is something that big guys like EA and THQ have been rolling out for the last year or so when it comes to their games. Basically if you purchase the game new (pay attention to this part, it comes up later) it comes with a one-time use code to use the games online features and functionality. Now if you were to buy the game used or otherwise pre-owned then the game would not come with the code. You would then have to buy the code from the developer via DLC for anywhere from 5-10 dollars. This was a measure put in place to combat piracy of games as well as the developer getting a small amount of money from the used game market.

Sounds fine, right? Nope. Apparently it is the single biggest entity that is killing gaming today. Apparently since this has rolled out the internet community as a whole into a festering ball of hate.

"The companies are charging us TWICE to play the game online!"

"They are holding online gaming hostage!"

"Once again consoles have ruined gaming!"

So let me understand this. The company says that if you buy the game new, you have to put in a code to play it online. This code, however, is a once use code which means that if you buy the game used or acquire it by other means you have to pay for the right to play it online beyond the trial period. So let's say you planed on buying Call of Halo: Modern of Honor Zone at launch, there is no penalty to play it online because you got the code. Say you rented it, now unless you use GameFly most rental places give you about five days to play it from the first activation which is more than enough time to find out if you want to play the game or not.

But that might just be a bit too logical of thinking there. Instead let's all get mad and fly off the fucking handle because the developer wants to take a small amount of the money they lose to used sales back? And don't give me that bullshit that they don't lose money on used sales. They do. Period. And then for those oh-so-poor people who bought the game used? Yeah, it sucks that you have to spend a WHOLE 5-10 dollars on a game you are already getting used, but you are already getting a discount on the game by buying it used…so this is one of those situations where you are just going to have to suck it up and deal with it.

But dealing with it is just not something we can do, huh? We expect everything to be handed to us on a silver platter because we are the gamers, we are the ones who buy the games, we are the ones who are responsible for the Metacritic scores, and we are the ones that play the games.

But you know what? We are also the ones that pirate the games, we are also the ones that steal the games, and we are the ones who use CD Cracks Online and the ones who make it so hard for the developers to just SELL the game they make. So you know what? No. I don't see the problem with the developer requiring a code to validate the game to play online. And you should be, too.

You know why? Because PC GAMES HAVE BEEN DOING THIS SAME EXACT SHIT FOR THE LAST TWENTY FUCKING YEARS. Yeah, that serial number on the back of the disc? That weird ass spinning wheel thing that you had to do with Lucas Arts games? Yeah. It's the same shit as before…now just for consoles.

So what is the big fucking deal? If this comes off as a bit angry, it's because it is. I feel a little sorry for the people who legit can't buy the game the day it comes out or buy it new and have to wait for online play…but then again it's one of those situations where this is something that is going to happen one way or another. Would you rather console games get to the point of where PC games are going to go where you have to be connected online through a third party service in order for the DRM to recognize that you are playing the game or else you simply can't do it.

The ONLY part I disagree with here is the fact that it's a onetime use code and it doesn't have a set amount of usages like a normal CD-Key…but honestly. This is fine. If you planned on buying the game new you got the code anyway, if you didn't plan on buying it new you can use the trial to see if you want to spend the 10 dollars for it.

The point here is that with all of the things we could be bitching and moaning about in the gaming universe like delays, cancellations, locked on disc-content, shitty ports, or the dying of exclusivity. We could be rallying against bullshit like HD Collections and Microtransactions or "Freemium" games. We could even be talking about just how goddamn SHITTY Japanese Companies have been with gaming this generation…

But instead we choose to put our time and energy into….optional content. Well, my time and energy are spent. Everyone else just needs to…

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Working Question
So…after that let's give a happy question to offset the anger and bitching that took place today…
What is the one game you are ashamed to admit you LIKED. For me? I'm ashamed…but fuck it.



There. I said it.

Until next time, I'm Jordan Williams…and Sheamus doing a shoryuken in WWE All-Stars is fucking hilarious.