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(Edited, September 2025, to modify prices to more accurately reflect what has become my de facto "personal bite range" for buying or not buying games. All other text is unchanged.)
This is now my official policy for all current/future gen games going forward: 1) Do not buy on initial release. 2) Wait and see if there is any DLC coming. If there is, 3a) wait until a complete edition (aka "Game of the Year" or "Ultimate" or even "Complete" as some have called it) of the game is released, wait until that is <$10-$20 (including all DLC), and (maybe) buy it then. Or 3b) if no complete edition is forthcoming, then wait until the base game is <$5-$10 and then (maybe) buy it then, and then wait until the DLC for the game goes on sale and (maybe) buy it then. If there is no DLC coming (which is more and more rare these days), then 4) wait until the game is <$5-$15 and then (maybe) buy it then. Only if such a game from point 4 comes from a company that has a proven track record of not screwing its customers over, then I might be more lenient on that <$5-$15 price point and willing to buy at a higher price. If said company ever starts doing shitty things (e.g. lots of crappy, pointless DLC or Day 1 DLC or draconian DRM [including always-online-even-for-singleplayer], etc.), then they immediately and forever go on my shit list with all the others. In any case, I am fully willing to do without altogether, if that's what it ends up coming down to.
Essentially, what I'm saying here is that I have decided that $30-$60+ for a video game (even, and especially, before any DLC is taken into consideration) is simply more than I'm willing to pay, these days. If a game has online-only DRM (or some other form of equally idiotic, draconian DRM), then that raises an immediate "do not buy, ever" flag for me (e.g. Command & Conquer 4, Diablo 3, Sim City 5, etc.), until and unless said DRM is removed. Even if it is removed later, however, it's still likely that I won't buy the game, ever. If a game has Day 1 DLC, then that also raises a definite "wait and see, and probably not buy, ever" flag. I've bought games with Day 1 DLC in the past, but no more. At the very most, the policy in that case would be to wait until point 3a above occurs, otherwise I will do without. If it's proven that all or most of the DLC is already on the game's disc at launch, then my willingness to buy said game at any price will be reduced to near zero. Simple as that.
This is now my official policy for all current/future gen games going forward: 1) Do not buy on initial release. 2) Wait and see if there is any DLC coming. If there is, 3a) wait until a complete edition (aka "Game of the Year" or "Ultimate" or even "Complete" as some have called it) of the game is released, wait until that is <$10-$20 (including all DLC), and (maybe) buy it then. Or 3b) if no complete edition is forthcoming, then wait until the base game is <$5-$10 and then (maybe) buy it then, and then wait until the DLC for the game goes on sale and (maybe) buy it then. If there is no DLC coming (which is more and more rare these days), then 4) wait until the game is <$5-$15 and then (maybe) buy it then. Only if such a game from point 4 comes from a company that has a proven track record of not screwing its customers over, then I might be more lenient on that <$5-$15 price point and willing to buy at a higher price. If said company ever starts doing shitty things (e.g. lots of crappy, pointless DLC or Day 1 DLC or draconian DRM [including always-online-even-for-singleplayer], etc.), then they immediately and forever go on my shit list with all the others. In any case, I am fully willing to do without altogether, if that's what it ends up coming down to.
Essentially, what I'm saying here is that I have decided that $30-$60+ for a video game (even, and especially, before any DLC is taken into consideration) is simply more than I'm willing to pay, these days. If a game has online-only DRM (or some other form of equally idiotic, draconian DRM), then that raises an immediate "do not buy, ever" flag for me (e.g. Command & Conquer 4, Diablo 3, Sim City 5, etc.), until and unless said DRM is removed. Even if it is removed later, however, it's still likely that I won't buy the game, ever. If a game has Day 1 DLC, then that also raises a definite "wait and see, and probably not buy, ever" flag. I've bought games with Day 1 DLC in the past, but no more. At the very most, the policy in that case would be to wait until point 3a above occurs, otherwise I will do without. If it's proven that all or most of the DLC is already on the game's disc at launch, then my willingness to buy said game at any price will be reduced to near zero. Simple as that.
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Date: 2012-08-28 12:40 am (UTC)From:...and good call on C&C4. Boo.
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Date: 2012-08-28 04:00 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-08-30 05:10 pm (UTC)From:Right now, I'm playing Fallout 3 GotY. I bought the original Fallout 3 back when it first released in 2008, for the full $50 or whatever. Never finished it. Never bought any of the DLC separately for it either (since I figured that I'd never even finished the main game so why bother with the DLC). Recently, there were a couple of Steam sales for both Fallout 3 GotY and Fallout New Vegas Ultimate. I got both of those together for a total of around $20. That is, I bought Fallout 3 + all of its DLC and Fallout New Vegas + all of its DLC for less than half what I paid just for Fallout 3 by itself originally.