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Think about it, what merits do they have? For a starting point, they are ridiculously overpriced. There was a time when expansion packs cost no more than £10-15 (which is expensive in itself), but these days the pricing seems to more like £25 for most games. And what does the expansion pack give you? A few more levels, and maybe a few new features. The new features are nearly always things that ought to have been available in the original anyway (e.g. multiplayer modes) and there are normally new levels available around the Internet for any game that does includes a level editor. Many of these are as good as any level or mission that might be contained in an expansion pack, or the original game. I am not denying that there are packs around which are excellent, but the pricing of these is crazy when you consider that you have already paid £20-30 for the game. Some games manufacturers seem to deliberately leave out things in the original so they can be put into an expansion; for example Bluebyte, when asked about a Settlers 4 level editor (the game hasn’t been released yet), stated that it would be included in an expansion pack! This is clearly exploitation of fans of the series; the company knows that they will buy the expansion pack.
I never buy an expansion pack for more than £10, and if it seems inevitable that there will be one, then I will usually wait for a “Gold” edition (or something similar which contains both the game and the expansion for a reasonable price). Otherwise, you are paying the cost of two games for one game with a few extra levels.
As far as I can see, in general (this isn’t meant to criticize any game in particular), expansion packs really are simply a way of making loads of money for a developer without actually doing any work to create anything new! I think that most people would agree that it would be better for the gaming industry if developers concentrated on creating new ideas for games, rather than the ever-growing numbers of expansion packs and sequels (which are sometimes little more than expansion packs) which seem to around at the moment.
I never buy an expansion pack for more than £10, and if it seems inevitable that there will be one, then I will usually wait for a “Gold” edition (or something similar which contains both the game and the expansion for a reasonable price). Otherwise, you are paying the cost of two games for one game with a few extra levels.
As far as I can see, in general (this isn’t meant to criticize any game in particular), expansion packs really are simply a way of making loads of money for a developer without actually doing any work to create anything new! I think that most people would agree that it would be better for the gaming industry if developers concentrated on creating new ideas for games, rather than the ever-growing numbers of expansion packs and sequels (which are sometimes little more than expansion packs) which seem to around at the moment.
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Nope, add-ons are things you download and so forth, expansion packs are the ones you buy. They tend to be new stories and things, which isn't a bad thing, it seems you hate ones that don't have any new story elements or features just maps which could have been given away free on the site right?
nintendo is simon wrote:
> Do don't know what your talking about, expansion paks upgrade you
> N64, letting you play bigger games, better graphics and sound. Also,
> £25 is expensive! I'm not very rich but that isn't expensive!
When I saw you had replied I knew it was gonna be something about the N64 Expansion pack!
However I see why it may be confusing! The common term for what this subject is about is Add-ons..(That's what everyone seems to call 'em in my school anyway)
> Do don't know what your talking about, expansion paks upgrade you
> N64, letting you play bigger games, better graphics and sound. Also,
> £25 is expensive! I'm not very rich but that isn't expensive!
When I saw you had replied I knew it was gonna be something about the N64 Expansion pack!
However I see why it may be confusing! The common term for what this subject is about is Add-ons..(That's what everyone seems to call 'em in my school anyway)
Obviously you havent read the whole of the thread young man! We are talking about upgrades to games.
Oh yeah, go and read the peoples names Poll, Liam.
Oh yeah, go and read the peoples names Poll, Liam.
shouldn't be messed up hopefully.
Obi-Wan *is* going to be released on a console instead Groni...
Which one, is still unknown.
Which one, is still unknown.
The most obvious rip-off i can think off is Quake 3 Team Arena! It's costing nearly as much as the original game and all its adding is one more mode of play, look at UT it was released with 4 or 5 modes of play start off with!
By the way, dont buy Q3TA, i downloaded the demo and its rubbish!
By the way, dont buy Q3TA, i downloaded the demo and its rubbish!
It's nice when developers give you freebies (ie. extra maps and modifiers for UT - though admittedly there's no shortage of those anyway). But expansion packs are generally a rip off as far as I can see. They don't tend to come in at less than £20. I don't expect software houses to do stuff for us out of the goodness of their hearts, but why not sell expansions two ways? First way, sell expansion pack in shops/on the Net with the original game (slightly higher price). Second way, send email/mail to those people who registered the original game, offering the expansion for a tenner say (maybe even just in a jewel case)?
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