peeps just can't get it hammered in them: YOU ARE NOT FORCED TO BUY EXPANSIONS darnit. peeps get upset about expansions because they have pay for them and call the company evil for it, WELL WHICH COMPANY DOESN'T WANT TO MAKE MONEY. blizzard is a fine company , they compete with Westwood's C&C and that says alot to me. i also remember the countless Age of BLAH BLAH expansions and you don't complain for it or the sims expansions(whats next: the sims, potty training, they should make: the SIMS, pimp war edition)
The only remotely valid time to complain about expansion packs is when they introduce things that retroactively fix existing problems with the original that would be just as appropriate for a patch.
Most of the examples I can think of are relatively minor.
Baldur's Gate 2 expansion added a feature that let you highlight all selectable objects that made playing the game a lot more streamlined.
Diablo 2 expansion was the only way to get the increased stash size. ( debatable if its a problem, justification could be that with all the new stuff in expansion, you needed it, but everybody was complaining about how small the stash was.. so.. to me it was a flaw )
Anytime an expansion addresses significant, simple to correct, flaws, it seems like a patch would be more fair. Its also understandable that people be bitter when they've had their hopes up over an overhyped game, to find out its been decomposed into an underwhelming initial release w/ expansion packs forthcoming. But its not really justifiable anger compared to the patch scenerio. (unless they preordered on some previous claims?)
Blizzard pulled an unfortunately completely legit (if not a bit underhanded) tactic...
See, they released vanilla war3 as a game which they *knew* would be unsatisfactory. Its not fun, its frustrating. Its not strategy, its the same thing over and over.
I personally went and downloaded and played the frozen throne through warforge. THIS is a game. There's actually the ability to counter. There's actually different strategies for the races. The problem? Now I can't go back to vanilla war3. Its a sad excuse for a game.
Hell, if I were a company with a big name seller that I knew would do well, why would I just release it right the first time. Of course I'd charge you $60 for a screwup. The best part? I then get to charge you $40 to fix the screwup. And oh yes, you WILL pay that $40 to fix it. To quote a penny arcade comic, its only illegal to screw children if you're not a multi-million dollar corporation.
<!--QuoteBegin--Nemesis Zero+Apr 16 2003, 03:38 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Nemesis Zero @ Apr 16 2003, 03:38 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> By the way, I'm currently playing through the Brood War campaigns again. Personally, I'll take a Blizzard expansion pack over 90% of the full price games out there. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Exactly. And if you KNOW they're going to release an expansion (note: they always do) then wait till they release a battle chest (note: they always do).
I haven't bought WC3, maybe I will when I get all the goodies. For those of you who can not wait maybe Blizzard deserves the extra $$$ for putting out such good quality.
<!--QuoteBegin--KingKupo+Apr 18 2003, 12:23 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (KingKupo @ Apr 18 2003, 12:23 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> YOU ARE NOT FORCED TO BUY EXPANSIONS <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> More good points <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
As I said, the only people Blizzard "screws" are those with such greedy video game appetites they refuse to wait for the expansion and the game to be released at the same time. The "penalty" is a higher price. As an analogy, paying $13 to see a movie rather then $5 to rent it later.
The only bad expansion packs are the one's EA craps out every month. That company is the worst publisher for games right now, IMHO. I wish they'd stop hiring so much talent because their average business practice stinks. It's too bad the NFS series and BF1942 were ensnared by EA.
As for Blizzard, they are doing an excellent job with only moderate consumer money pinching. Hell, they could have done ALOT worse and gotten away with it easily. The fact that they (and other extremely popular developers) aren't raising the price with demand is admirable. What's even more admirable is Valve and their constant support of HL.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->paying $13 to see a movie<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Where are you watching movies at that price?
Hate to tell ya Psuedo, but paying $60 for a POS game that is only worth $20, <b>is</b> raising prices. Now-a-days, companies HAVE to make the game great with the expansion pack because of release dates. If they took as long as Blizzard did with POS Wc3, you wouldn't <b>need</b> expansion packs.
Comments
Most of the examples I can think of are relatively minor.
Baldur's Gate 2 expansion added a feature that let you highlight all selectable objects that made playing the game a lot more streamlined.
Diablo 2 expansion was the only way to get the increased stash size. ( debatable if its a problem, justification could be that with all the new stuff in expansion, you needed it, but everybody was complaining about how small the stash was.. so.. to me it was a flaw )
Anytime an expansion addresses significant, simple to correct, flaws, it seems like a patch would be more fair. Its also understandable that people be bitter when they've had their hopes up over an overhyped game, to find out its been decomposed into an underwhelming initial release w/ expansion packs forthcoming. But its not really justifiable anger compared to the patch scenerio. (unless they preordered on some previous claims?)
See, they released vanilla war3 as a game which they *knew* would be unsatisfactory. Its not fun, its frustrating. Its not strategy, its the same thing over and over.
I personally went and downloaded and played the frozen throne through warforge. THIS is a game. There's actually the ability to counter. There's actually different strategies for the races. The problem? Now I can't go back to vanilla war3. Its a sad excuse for a game.
Hell, if I were a company with a big name seller that I knew would do well, why would I just release it right the first time. Of course I'd charge you $60 for a screwup. The best part? I then get to charge you $40 to fix the screwup. And oh yes, you WILL pay that $40 to fix it. To quote a penny arcade comic, its only illegal to screw children if you're not a multi-million dollar corporation.
GG Blizzard.
Exactly. And if you KNOW they're going to release an expansion (note: they always do) then wait till they release a battle chest (note: they always do).
I haven't bought WC3, maybe I will when I get all the goodies. For those of you who can not wait maybe Blizzard deserves the extra $$$ for putting out such good quality.
More good points <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
As I said, the only people Blizzard "screws" are those with such greedy video game appetites they refuse to wait for the expansion and the game to be released at the same time. The "penalty" is a higher price.
As an analogy, paying $13 to see a movie rather then $5 to rent it later.
As for Blizzard, they are doing an excellent job with only moderate consumer money pinching. Hell, they could have done ALOT worse and gotten away with it easily. The fact that they (and other extremely popular developers) aren't raising the price with demand is admirable. What's even more admirable is Valve and their constant support of HL.
Where are you watching movies at that price?
Now-a-days, companies HAVE to make the game great with the expansion pack because of release dates. If they took as long as Blizzard did with POS Wc3, you wouldn't <b>need</b> expansion packs.