The Nickel & Dime Generation [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

Phaethon360 sends in a piece that looks at how quickly game costs can add up these days, now that DLC, microtransactions and standalone expansions are commonplace, writing, "If you were trying to the think of the most expensive games to play, Rock Band or a monthly-fee MMORPG would come to mind. But Halo 3 is right up there, too." It's reminiscent of a recent post at IncGamers where the author tallied up how much he'd spent on World of Warcraft over the past several years, and was astonished to realize it numbered in the thousands of dollars.
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[chicnstu]

I respect that many people have the money and don't mind paying $200 a year to play these MMOs. But, I don't want to pay $15 a month after I've paid $60 for the game. People say that MMOs have monthly fees because they cost so much to make and set up the servers. Grand Theft Auto IV cost $100,000,000 to make and they aren't charging me monthly to keep playing the game online. Did Final Fantasy XI cost that much to make? If not, why are they charging monthly fees? Does it cost a lot to keep the servers going?

[jcalder8]

I really don't understand how they bring up Halo 3, there is no monthly fee for that game and it's not they they are bringing out weekly maps at $5 each or anything.

[brykasch]

I respect that many people have the money and don't mind paying $200 a year to play these MMOs. But, I don't want to pay $15 a month after I've paid $60 for the game. People say that MMOs have monthly fees because they cost so much to make and set up the servers. Grand Theft Auto IV cost $100,000,000 to make and they aren't charging me monthly to keep playing the game online. Did Final Fantasy XI cost that much to make? If not, why are they charging monthly fees? Does it cost a lot to keep the servers going?

No offense but there's a big difference between wow and gta. ffXI has fees as well so don't know what your talking about there. If you want I could break it down but while the dev costs of gta may have been huge they don't have to do much to maintain online presence.

[kedawa]

Most MMOs are monthly fee only anyway.
DLC and microtransactions are like mobile ringtones. I think it's a retarded way to spend money but there's a market for it anyway.

[Ed Oscuro]

I really don't understand how they bring up Halo 3, there is no monthly fee for that game and it's not they they are bringing out weekly maps at $5 each or anything.

Try reading the article next time?

* Halo 3 (standard retail SKU): $60 USD
* Heroic Map Pack (DLC): $10; 800 Microsoft Points
* Legendary Map Pack (DLC): $10; 800 Microsoft Points
* Mythic Map Pack (DLC): $10; 800 Microsoft Points
* Halo 3 ODST (standard retail SKU): $60 USD
* Two years of Xbox Live: $100 USD
* Total cost: $250

[norkusa]

I don't have any problems with MMO's since you know what you're getting into before you buy the game. It's the games like Halo 3 and Call Of Duty that loose my interest with the constant stream of semi-required DLC.

For instance, I just got World At War a couple months ago. Right away, I go on Live to find a few online games. After waiting in the lobby 3-4 minutes for the match to start up, I get booted as soon as it loads because I don't have the required map. So I try again and it does the same thing. And again & again until I finally find a game that I can join. Same thing happens over and over whenever I want to play online. It feels like I'm being punished for not buying the DLC.

I just paid $50 for the game and they want me to spend another $30 for the maps so I can play online? Fuck that. I ended up selling a few weeks later after. Now I just play Battlefield 1943.

[ScourDX]

DLC promote more corporate greed and less content within the purchased game. Worst part is developer charge DLC for unlocking gaming content. IMO that should be part of the purchased game.

[garagesaleking!!]

ya cod waw makes me mad too, they stick you in a game where you dont have the maps and then take you to the screen to buy them, they are really trying to pish you to buy them. They need to combine all 3 map packs for $10 and ill buy em.

[Darren870]

Try reading the article next time?

You can't really include map packs and ODST. ODST is a separate game. Even if you say its part of Halo 3, well then it comes with all those map packs for free.

[jcalder8]

Try reading the article next time?

Thanks, I read the wrong article, I went back and read the other one.

I like how he starts off complaining that the publishers are charging too much for the games. Anyone else remember spending ~100 for N64 games?

I stopped reading after the second line and I have no real interest to continue.

[duffmanth]

I absolutely hate paying for DLC. The amount of DLC for some games costs more than the initial $60 for the game itself when you add it all up. Little Big Planet and Burnout Paradise come to mind, charging you $2, $5, $10, or whatever for a single costume or car! Fuck that! It's sad, but this will probably become more the norm as time goes on though. ALL DLC should be free for any game after paying $60 for it!

As far as paying monthly or yearly fees for MMO's and other online services, I suppose it depends on how much you use the service and what you're willing to spend? I read sometimes about people complaining about paying $50 for an annual Xbox Live subscription fee and shake my head. That's nothing stretched out over a year, it's like $4/month. i would gladly pay a modest fee like that if it meant the service was going to be that much better.

[norkusa]

ya cod waw makes me mad too, they stick you in a game where you dont have the maps and then take you to the screen to buy them, they are really trying to pish you to buy them. They need to combine all 3 map packs for $10 and ill buy em.

Do you know what the ratio of free maps compared to DLC maps is in WaW? I think I counted 10 maps total for DLC but I only remember playing on 3 or 4 different maps (I was only joining big team battles though).

Regardless, it's a ridiculous amount of DLC for a game that hasn't even been out for a year yet. They probably had most of the maps finished before the game was released and held them back for DLC.

[garagesaleking!!]

Do you know what the ratio of free maps compared to DLC maps is in WaW? I think I counted 10 maps total for DLC but I only remember playing on 3 or 4 different maps (I was only joining big team battles though).

Regardless, it's a ridiculous amount of DLC for a game that hasn't even been out for a year yet. They probably had most of the maps finished before the game was released and held them back for DLC.

exactly, you get 1 nazi zombie map included on the disc, now they have 3 more that all have to be payed for, and as far as local multiplayer you have about 7 or 8 maps, then the map packs about the double the maps if you buy them.

[chicnstu]

No offense but there's a big difference between wow and gta. ffXI has fees as well so don't know what your talking about there. If you want I could break it down but while the dev costs of gta may have been huge they don't have to do much to maintain online presence.

No offense, but go back and read my post again. I said FFXI has fees, that was the point of my post. I was asking a lot of questions trying to learn how MMOs work, I wasn't being rude and critisizing MMO fees. I get this a lot, I intend for my posts and questions to seem nice then someone quotes me and acts like I insulted them.

Also, I remember you, I traded with you once and then you left DP...or something...

[carlcarlson]

Do you know what the ratio of free maps compared to DLC maps is in WaW? I think I counted 10 maps total for DLC but I only remember playing on 3 or 4 different maps (I was only joining big team battles though).

Regardless, it's a ridiculous amount of DLC for a game that hasn't even been out for a year yet. They probably had most of the maps finished before the game was released and held them back for DLC.

There are 13 maps on the disc and one zombie map. The DLC adds 9 regular maps and three more zombie maps. And it's not like you're required to buy them, there are plenty of games for vanilla WaW (in my experience). Are you playing on the PS3? I don't think I've ever waited to join a game on Live.

Having said all of that, they did churn out map pack three pretty soon after two. I don't mind getting a few new maps every couple of months to keep things fresh, but when they start coming out so close together I begin to feel a bit taken.

[Porksta]

The problem with Halo 3 is that you can't really play online without every map pack. Matchmaking just doesn't work unless you have every map.

[chrisbid]

i have a better term for it

the chrisbid will not be buying video games generation

[norkusa]

There are 13 maps on the disc and one zombie map. The DLC adds 9 regular maps and three more zombie maps. And it's not like you're required to buy them, there are plenty of games for vanilla WaW (in my experience). Are you playing on the PS3? I don't think I've ever waited to join a game on Live.

Yeah, I know you're not required to buy the maps but it's at the point where you almost have to if you don't want to wait forever for a non-DLC map to be selected. I don't mind DLC. I bought the map packs for COD4 and played them to death. It's when they make it difficult for non-DLC'ers to play I have a problem with it.

Halo 3 is pretty bad with it too. Back of the game box says "Multiplayer 2-16" but the 16 player Big Team games are closed if you don't have the DLC maps. And Team SWAT games are closed for non-DLC people too. So that's my two favorite game types that I can't access anymore.

My point is DLC should be entirely optional and shouldn't interfere with gameplay, online or off.

[brykasch]

No offense, but go back and read my post again. I said FFXI has fees, that was the point of my post. I was asking a lot of questions trying to learn how MMOs work, I wasn't being rude and critisizing MMO fees. I get this a lot, I intend for my posts and questions to seem nice then someone quotes me and acts like I insulted them.

Also, I remember you, I traded with you once and then you left DP...or something...

( I wasn't acting like you insulted me but the complaints about monthly fees get hashed around ALOT)

After rereading your post I see where your coming from more, at first it seemed like the same 'ol complaint of why am I spending this money for a fee etc that I see a lot of.

From launch till around 2008 it cost about 200 million according to an article on kotaku. Now that's just maintenance, not the original development costs, costs for creation of both expansion packs etc

http://kotaku.com/5050300/how-much-h...ard-since-2004

there's another artical on wow.com that i can't seem to find, but it really breaks everythign down. I am not saying they arent making a tidy profit, they are, but the costs of maintaining a game for multiple regions, multiple versions ( each patch has to be done for each version of the game etc), not to mention the dev costs for future content adds up pretty quickly. they also take a big loss on blizzcon as well ( yes you read that right)

Now if your not playing a mmo but a couple hours a month the cost to benefit ration isn't going to be in your favor, but for those that do its a much cheaper form of entertainment then most things out there.

But as an aside I never left DP, I do have periods where I don't post much mainly because of rl in the way