dlc

Potentially more Binding of Isaac?

by ZombieSkittles on December 8, 2011

No, not on this website necessarily. I did enjoy making a couple of fun posts about my progress in the game but I feel too many of them would get boring, even for me. I’ve finished the game 100%, and as soon as I get the last few achievements for not taking damage I’ll be able to put the game down.

But not for good, it seems.

Edmund McMillan, one of the two creators of the game, posted a tweet asking if there was any interest for more content for the game with a price tag of maybe three dollars. He went on to specify that it wouldn’t just be another chapter, but “Isaacx2”.
I’ve already invested well over seventy hours into the game just to get all the items, and the idea that he wants to make a major game update to double the content excites me. In the pants. According to further tweets made by the man, the update would not extend playtime, which can already end up being close to an hour to finish the game sometimes. So to me that says he’s planning the obvious new items, bosses and enemy additions similar to what he did in the Halloween Update.
However, he’s said that the update would be something we don’t expect, so that will be interesting. Maybe an alternative set of floors we can go down? A group of new characters? There’s quite a few different things he could do to take the game in new directions.

I’m actually really pumped for this idea. While it won’t be until sometime next year, it gives me something to look forward to, and a reason not to uninstall the game.

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TF2–Director’s Vision

by ZombieSkittles on May 9, 2011

250px-DvisionOne of the big things to attract players to use the replay function is the rewards; upon the successful completion of certain achievements, the player is rewarded with an item. If one of your replayed videos hits 1000 views on YouTube you are given an achievement AND rewarded with a hat.
If you spend long enough editing your replays, the Star Of My Own Show achievement gets unlocked, and the Director’s Vision unlocks. This is a funny taunt you can equip to a class, and press the Action Key (Defaults to ‘O’) to activate the taunt, which you can see in action below.

My point, because I do have one.

Now this is neat, but it brings me to the big thought on my mind. One of the only things that separate the Mann  Co. Store from the Robot Enrichment store in Portal 2 is that you can buy taunts for the co-op robots called “Gestures”. Team Fortress 2, up until now, has not had equipable taunts. With the introduction of the Director’s Vision, I can’t help but wonder if there will be more in the future. The most logical step is that Valve will start selling them in the store and maybe have them in the occasional crates.
I can see them being sold for maybe five or ten dollars. I think it’s a great idea, as it adds further optional customization, and if there’s a particularly good taunt in the store for say, the Pyro, I wouldn’t mind shelling out five dollars for it.
While it may be a good idea, the problem will be the community. Half of the Steam Powered User Forums will bitch and complain about how it should be free, forgetting that they don’t even matter. b00bies from KritzKast will adamantly cry “macro transactions”, and people like myself will stubbornly defend Valve’s decision.

However it may all pan out, this is the beginning of something new for Team Fortress 2, and while this is all speculation, it’s fair to say it is pretty likely we’ll see more “unlockable” taunts in the future.

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I’m not sure how I feel about this..

by ZombieSkittles on April 16, 2010

Today the Team Fortress 2 blog has published a post advertising another game available on Steam. Why? Because much like Left 4 Dead 2, when you buy this game you get exclusive items for use in TF2. Now, I do like the idea of cross promotion, and Left 4 Dead 2 proved this works quite well. Who doesn’t want more customizability in TF2?

However, looking at the list of items, I am a little surprised to see that out of the three items, two are weapons. This leaves me a little worried that, unless they’re just new models of the old weapons, that this might change gameplay for a price.

I welcome the idea of being able to buy items in Team Fortress 2 as a way of paying back Valve for the updates, bug fixes and fun that we get, and paying a dollar for a hat doesn’t seem like a bad way of doing that. I see it as being a system where the hats are all special ones you can only get in store, with the normal hats still being available only through random drops and crafting. The idea is that you could support Valve while not cheapening the glory of finally receiving your very own Tyrant’s Helm. However, the idea of selling weapons is something I’m completely against; that means that the people with the money to spend get an advantage. I like the option of purchasing customization on an aesthetic level, but not when it changes gameplay for everyone around me.

max_ears 
Anyway, until I see the new weapons I cannot be sure, but I’m liking the look of the hats. I remember seeing Sam and Max as a kid and loved the show, so the Max hat makes me happy.

Update: Using initiative, I took a look at TF2Wiki, where they reveal that the Lugermorph (Scout’s pistol replacement) and the Big Kill (Spy’s revolver replacement), don’t have any unique abilities from the original weapons. Thank god. Now I am happier about this idea. Also, Max’s severed head apparently has no level.

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Micropayments and DLC (a comment)

by ZombieSkittles on April 8, 2010

I made a comment on the Nation Of Gamers blog’s latest post concerning the idea of micropayments and downloadable content in games, and decided to share it with you, because it’s a big comment compared to what I normally write on other websites.

I think micropayments should be available where it makes the most sense. I myself won’t buy anything for Farmville, because while it’s an okay game I don’t invest enough time in it to make such a purchase worth it.

As a TF2 player, I myself have said I’d welcome the idea of a store being opened in Steam in which a player can buy special hats or misc items for say, 50c an item. Lots of people say that’d be a bad thing in such a good game, but I like the idea that all the normal hats remain in the game as drops/crafts and that contribution items keep getting introduced as such. But then have some new official ones available for sale, so if you wanted one you COULD buy it, but it wouldn’t in anyway cheapen the experience of obtaining a Fancy Fedora, since it’s still only available in a drop. But I digress..

Players of Oblivion welcomed The Knights Of The Nine DLC because it gave them a new variable to work with in the game, and provided a whole heap of new gameplay. In a game like Grand Theft Auto IV, selling the ability to see and drive a single new cartype wouldn’t be enough to warrant payment, but if say, the game made 100 buildings that were previously just there for show open and can be explored fully, or a whole new aspect of gameplay were added that changed the game world, then I’d be interested.

I read that the creators of Mass Effect 2 upon releasing the game, released DLC days later that expanded the world. What this says is that they had this DLC ready before the game was released, but rather than include it in the game, decided to squeeze players for that little extra money. This I find is "blatant profiteering". Imagine if GSC said "Look, I know you want to explore the S.T.A.L.K.E.R wastelands more, but if you want to get out of the first area, but you have to pay to do that." I paid $50 for my game, so I should get the full game, shouldn’t I?
DLC should come secondary to expand upon the original game; it should not be a necessity.

However, then you’ve got that section of people who enjoy supporting the developers. This is a "noble" thing, but again is something that should really only be done if it’s worth it. Like I said, I’d gladly pay 50c or even a dollar for a hat in TF2, or $15 for The Passing DLC that’s coming out for L4D2/L4D1, not only because I play the games but because with all the free stuff Valve gives us, I’d like to give something back. However, I won’t go overboard and buy something I wasn’t going to use just because it benefits someone else; that becomes a waste of money.

It all comes down to what you want. If someone wants to make their farm in Farmville bigger and doesn’t mind spending a little cash, then by all means it’s a good deal. However, companies who are cutting their games in half to force people to buy the DLC, thats just bad, and shows they have no idea how to make the customer happy.

TL;DR DLC is a great way to support the developers after the game is released, but as with all products; some micropayments just aren’t worth it.

So that’s my opinion on it, slightly hindered by my tiredness. What do you think about the idea of DLC in the gaming world?

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Original survivors not forgotten

by ZombieSkittles on February 12, 2010

500x_left_4_dead_2_dlcleft_4_dead_2_survivors

It seems all those Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters can eat their words now; according to various sources, Valve announced at Microsoft’s X10 event that not only are they making The Passing for L4D2, but they are also fulfilling our hopes, and releasing a connected DLC for the original game too. This new campaign will detail how the original survivors make it to the events of The Passing, in which they meet the new survivors.

Valve has announced that the content will be released after The Passing, and an additional tie-in comic to bring the two stories together solidly. No solid information has been revealed for the L4D1 DLC, but just the fact it’s coming out proves that Valve keeps it’s promises…eventually.

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