4,99$ For Babylon

[Sonereal]

Five bucks for Babylon IS too expensive. The game costs $50 retail and that includes what, 18 civs? Even if you disregard the maps, the techs, the units, the buildings, the wonders, the resources, the policies, the music, the movies (oh wait) and the mechanics and the rest of the game, that's ~$2.75 per civ, which is still too expensive.

I have no intention of paying for Babylon until it gets bundled into a real expansion.

$5 is what? Two cokes or five king-sized candy bars? For something you'll end up using for dozens of hours, $5 is a great deal compared to paying $12 to watch a 90-minute movie in theaters or even the $15 DVD you'll watch far more often.

 

[Surgeon]

For 1 civilization?Really?How greedy are they?Unfinished game+overpriced DLC...
I've got an idea!They should release patches for money.9,99% for 10 fixes in a patch

Wait for a sale on steam or dont buy it. Whining wont help.

 

[PieceOfMind]

You'll all be glad to know the Babylon DLC doesn't cost $4.99 USD!

...

It costs $5.99 - i'll be buying my appropriately priced DLC and kickin' it with Nebuchadnezzar.

No, costs $4.99. Seeing as it's already in the store at that price, quite sure it's staying that way.

He's quoting the Australian price.

It seems once again 2K think Aussies/Kiwis should be paying more for the same stuff, even if it's by 1 dollar.

 

[guspasho]

$5 is what? Two cokes or five king-sized candy bars? For something you'll end up using for dozens of hours, $5 is a great deal compared to paying $12 to watch a 90-minute movie in theaters or even the $15 DVD you'll watch far more often.

Would you pay $500 for Civ5? More? At the rate of the DLC that you are so obsessively defending that's how much Civ5 would cost. But hey, it's less than a month's rent, and you'll be playing it for years! So it's comparable!

 

[guspasho]

Wait for a sale on steam or dont buy it. Whining wont help.

"Whining" will help a lot more than keeping quiet, or worse, keeping quiet and paying for it anyway.

 

[Dementual]

$5 is what? Two cokes or five king-sized candy bars? For something you'll end up using for dozens of hours, $5 is a great deal compared to paying $12 to watch a 90-minute movie in theaters or even the $15 DVD you'll watch far more often.

Are you finished trying to justify a terrible business strategy yet? You've spent 13 pages doing so.

 

[Valkrionn]

Thank you...
If Fall From Heaven 2 didn't have OOS error, I wouldn't even have looked at an article for Civ 5 yet. (Unless, of course, Kael decided to make an FFH3 based on Civ 5. Then I would look)
I enjoyed Fall From Heaven 2 more than Civ 4 BTS. The only problem was the OOS error on multiplayer. That's ultimately was made me stop playing it..
P.S. Have you tried the Mod for FFH2 (I know. Mod of a mod)-Fall Further? It's actually really good. (THEY STILL NEED TO FIX THE OOS)

Of course I've tried it. Follow the link in my sig for Rise from Erebus; It started as a mod of Fall Further (modmodmod). We broke off from Fall Further when it went in Hiatus, so it is now simply a modmod.

Much of the OOS problems are fixed in RifE. One remaining issue which will be fixed in the next patch.

He's quoting the Australian price.

It seems once again 2K think Aussies/Kiwis should be paying more for the same stuff, even if it's by 1 dollar.

Ah. That's pretty crappy.

Are you finished trying to justify a terrible business strategy yet? You've spent 13 pages doing so.

This has to be answered... Terrible how?

It is a successful business strategy. DLC makes money. It tends to make a LOT of money. That's why it is so prevalent. Were it a terrible strategy, it would not be common.

 

[Camikaze]

He's quoting the Australian price.

It seems once again 2K think Aussies/Kiwis should be paying more for the same stuff, even if it's by 1 dollar.

Well you know, what with transport costs with moving the product all the way to the other side of the world...

Oh wait.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Well, 20% markup is not too bad. The 60% markup on the game itself was just an insult. Thankfully there were businesses selling the game for significantly less.

It still amazes me the cheapest option available, and the one I used, was the one that shipped the game from literally the other side of the world. That's real efficient!

 

[cman2010]

Would you pay $500 for Civ5? More? At the rate of the DLC that you are so obsessively defending that's how much Civ5 would cost. But hey, it's less than a month's rent, and you'll be playing it for years! So it's comparable!

this is what some people dont seem to understand its not that 5.00 is that much money to me its the fact that I think its to much for the product, I would not mind 5 bucks for 2 civs, but one is to much.

 

[Valkrionn]

this is what some people dont seem to understand its not that 5.00 is that much money to me its the fact that I think its to much for the product, I would not mind 5 bucks for 2 civs, but one is to much.

I actually agree with that... For Babylon. It just can't be marked down without upsetting all the people who bought the special edition.

 

[MookieNJ]

If you don't like the price don't buy the civ. One song for Guitar Hero or Rock Band costs 2$, one skin in League Of Legends costs between 5$ and 20$ ... 5$ for one civ in Civ 5 fits in pretty much with standard DLC costs of video games these days. It's a new business model, wave of the future, etc. ... you don't have to like it, you don't have to buy it ... and I'd wager if enough Civ fans don't pay 5$ for a civ they'll rethink their business model.

 

[Revoran]

Just wait till Steam reduce the price in 6 months. Usually you have to always check steam every weekend to get weekend specials. I would guess by knowing the history of price reduction in Steam, 5 dollars DLCs usually get chopped down to the price of 2.99 US.

Wow you'll save a whole TWO DOLLARS! Massive savings!

Honestly if people can afford a pc to run Civ V they can afford 2 dollars. That is a CHEESEBURGER at MACDONALD'S guys. Get a grip.

 

[Dementual]

This has to be answered... Terrible how?

It is a successful business strategy. DLC makes money. It tends to make a LOT of money. That's why it is so prevalent. Were it a terrible strategy, it would not be common.

Oh, no, you're right. It's genius and good for draining cash.

Terrible for us as consumers, and for the future of gaming standards.

 

[need my speed]

Indeed.

 

[Mathochism]

Terrible for us consumers, but, ultimately pointless for us to fight against. The fact of the matter is that DLC is here to stay and we're just going to have to put up with it. It's making companies a ton of money and not enough people are willing to completely forgo purchasing games because of DLC presence. As such, there's no indication that staging a protest will be anything but futile.

 

[Valkrionn]

Actually.... I don't think you all are really thinking about the entire concept of DLC. You are reacting with the immediate, gut "I already paid for it, I don't want to pay more" reaction.

Really stop and think about it as a concept, here... DLC allows for companies to put out more content than they could otherwise. It allows them to fund more games, expansions, addons. It can be a very good thing.

The issue is when you run into unscrupulous publishers who are willing to nickel and dime for complete crap... And this is where it becomes entirely subjective. If you feel that is what Firaxis will do, I'm sorry; I, however, do not.

EA, on the other hand... They're a large part of the reason I dislike DLC. They, and companies like them, charge ridiculous amounts for horrible DLC (the example of several dollars for a couch in Sims comes to mind); Others can and will do a good job with it. Sadly, those that do it well tend to be outnumbered by those who do not.

 

[SalmonSoil]

I don't think that you realise just how generous Firaxis is being.
$5 is quite cheap for DLC and we are also seeing that Firaxis is willing to give away free DLC (hopefully they will continue to release free DLC every once in a while.)
DLC is the most profitable sale strategy for games at the moment, sucks for gamers but we kind of have to deal with it because there is no way you will get people to start voting with theirs dollars and stop buying DLC.

 

[guspasho]

Really stop and think about it as a concept, here... DLC allows for companies to put out more content than they could otherwise. It allows them to fund more games, expansions, addons. It can be a very good thing.

It also allows them to charge extra for content that would have been included with the game otherwise. And Babylon is such a blatant example of that. Which is why people are so upset about it.

When you are faced with the prospect of receiving content piecemeal instead of in expansion packs, and when every extra Civ will cost $5, every additional map $4, every scenario $10, every tech $2, etc, it isn't chump change. This is what irritates me most about the apologists' defense; $5 isn't much, but how much will they charge for what would have cost 30-40 in an expansion pack? It's highway robbery.

In fact, rather shutting up and not buying it as the apologists demand, it's in all of our best interests to encourage a boycott of this business model, so we get our content back in the game where it belongs, so we get our expansion packs, and so we actually own again what we buy.

Hey, where the hell are the scenarios????

 

[Valkrionn]

It also allows them to charge extra for content that would have been included with the game otherwise. And Babylon is such a blatant example of that. Which is why people are so upset about it.

Or content that would not have been made otherwise. Did you even read my point?

Babylon is an example of a preorder bonus, more than DLC... A tradition going back FAR longer than DLC, yet still quite strong. And even less of a problem, IMO (though the GameStop extras tend to annoy me; Should be for all preorders, not from one damn store); Preorders allow the company to recoup some of the costs during development. There is a long period of time where you are pouring money into the game and not getting anything out of it; Preorders help with that.

So no, Babylon is not an example of DLC done poorly. It is an example of a preorder bonus used to gain some early profits. The first 'true' DLC for Civ5 would be the Mongols... Which are free.

When you are faced with the prospect of receiving content piecemeal instead of in expansion packs, and when every extra Civ will cost $5, every additional map $4, every scenario $10, every tech $2, etc, it isn't chump change. This is what irritates me most about the apologists' defense; $5 isn't much, but how much will they charge for what would have cost 30-40 in an expansion pack? It's highway robbery.

Yet that is not the prospect. Not for civilization, at least. Were it to turn out that way, I can guarantee you I'd be up in arms right alongside you.

In fact, rather shutting up and not buying it as the apologists demand, it's in all of our best interests to encourage a boycott of this business model, so we get our content back in the game where it belongs, so we get our expansion packs, and so we actually own again what we buy.

Hey, where the hell are the scenarios????

And the boycott would fail before it even began. Leaving you flapping your mouth in amazement as people decide, against your oh so superior judgment, that they really don't mind paying that for the DLC.


As I've said: DLC allows for content development that would not occur otherwise. Do not operate under the blind assumption that refusing to pay for DLC content will simply mean it comes for free... It just won't come.