While I had some patience for early DLC that was essentially a free "upgrade," I have never really liked DLC. The idea that a game is somehow incomplete at the original time of purchase has always felt wrong to me. Although with that said, I will confess that some DLC is fun and worthwhile (ie Dragon's Dogma's Bitterblack Isle, Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare, etc.). But now...

... as I look over my games collection...

... I see a growing number of missing DLC.

And as with book series where I have a terrible time reading a series that isn't complete (or where I am not up-to-date with the latest installment)...

... I find it almost impossible to play a game with missing DLC.

Granted, it's solely in my mind's eye (OCD much?) -- most of these games are probably full experiences prior to DLC being released -- but I see the games as incomplete and almost akin to being "broken." It feels like a novel missing the final pages.

So one would think I would purchase all the DLC...

... but...

... I've found the opposite. Certainly there are times where I have purchased DLC... or purchased complete editions...

... but...

... more often than not I simply "walk away" and stew. I go to a different, complete game and forget the DLC altogether (but it's still there... in the back of my mind).

The last few days I have found myself looking at sale DLC for games I own. I was comparing 3 DLC from 3 different games...

... but...

... it didn't make me excited...

... about playing any of the DLC.

Moreso it made me angry that I had to spend more money (the equivalent of multiple smaller, "whole" games) for a complete experience -- certainly not the energized anticipation I get contemplating a new game.

So now I sit with a whole lot of games missing DLC and wonder if I'll buy into this "game" or just walk away...?

(ah, one of the DLC just went off discount, so I guess that's definitely one purchase I'm not making... at least for now)

"DLC Spam" is off-putting for a lot of us. Doubly so when you play a game that comes with 12x trivial DLC back to back with a game like Oblivion where "old fashioned" expansion packs actually felt like the developers put in an effort to extend the game in a meaningful way vs something that more often than not feels like it was intended for the base game anyway but was split off due to the marketing dept's need for "DLC for the sake of DLC" (and had it not been split off and sold as DLC, you probably wouldn't have noticed the difference at all).

I think I get what you mean. For example, Field of Glory 2 (I don't play it anymore now), when you try to play the campaign or just go for a quick match against the AI, the game would always display all the different options that the game has to offer, with the additional detail that for those options that are unlockable through a DLC will also be shown to you alongside the ones that you can just choose directly. I've uninstalled the game, so I don't really remember, but I think it was somewhat like this: "Campaign C (Name of the DLC)". Meaning, those options will just linger there even if you cannot play them, as if trying to tempt you to purchase the DLCs. But it's just an eyesore tbh.

If there's the option to turn them invisible, I would enable it. I'd rather not be reminded of what I don't have over and over again.

lol. I feel for you kai2. Often I'll find myself staring at the base game in my library and mull over the whole "to DLC or not to DLC". It's a damn pain we're subjected to it. It's even worse when no "complete" version ever surfaces, or when a version does arise for a while, we buy it, only to have yet another DLC turn up which isn't included ... but it is included in the next "platinum" version or something.

It's that bloody carrot dangled in front of us. And we're the jackass to follow it.

I have mixed feelings about DLC. I appreciate it when developers support their games after its release date. However, I hesitate when DLC is cranked to the point where they cost much more than the base game.

At first, I was compelled to buy all DLC for completion sake. However, the quantity and price of DLC started to become overwhelming, I try to pick and choose and not worry about missing out on certain content.

There is DLC and then there is DLC.

For me much of the time, it is about what they add and what the price is.

If you get a full game, and the DLC are just a way to prolong enjoying the game, that's okay at a fair price. Often the price isn't fair though, and we are just being milked.

Then there are DLC that are an expansion or approaching that, that give a lot more content and enjoyment. Once again it is about the price, and sometimes frankly the price equates to buying a game on discount, which if the discount is high is great, but otherwise we are being ripped off.

In many cases though. DLCs are nothing much more than superficial modifications, and frankly should have been included options in the game by default or dirt cheap.

It is all too easy to end up eventually paying far more for a game than you ever would with a single purchase ..... and then they release a Game Of The Year version, Director's Cut or similar, that includes all, but at a huge discount, which just rubs salt in the wound. Dying Light: The Following was like that. Great for those who come late to the party or held out for many years, but crap for those of us that have supported the game all along.

Fans often get a raw deal, and it really shouldn't be that way.

Indeed. It makes me miss old-school expansions. Sadly, they pretty much died around 2009/2010. Yet another thing we can "thank" digital distribution for.

To add on top of all the comments...

I've been witness to many Complete Edition Final Package Ultimate Build Platinum GOTY versions... that just got a few extra DLC beside that "ultimate all-including" package even so. I mean, for crying out loud, just make a sequel at that point and stop milking an age-old game...

There seems to be a few publishers that one must avoid like the plague if never-ending DLCs is something that vexes you. Luckily others are still rather sane and perhaps do one, two, maybe three addons or addon packs, which is IMHO bearable.

P.S.: At least the gaming industry seems to have gotten over the whole "episodic game" trend that caught on for a while, although arguably DLC bonanzas are perhaps on another level of wrongness.

Well, kai2 I learned to deal with the DLC stuff over time since this trend of launch the game then bombard the prospective buyers with all kinds of "here we have DLC1, 2, 3... 10th etc., Season Pass, Cosmetics and whatever other "great ideas" came to their mind to milk people over.

It's called patience. Now I know not all people can wait for the developers/publishers to actually finish with the game and then buy it and I don't judge or blame them (it's their money and their decision after all), because I know that a certain game for someone can be a sequel from a series or studio they loved playing and want to show support or just can't wait to get their hands on it, but for me this is the best course of action I can come up with.

Wait till it's done, get a good deal on the full package, with 60 euros I can play 3-5 full-fledged "Complete", "Ultimate" or whatever fancy name they might add to the actual complete edition of the game, instead of wasting 60 euros on a stump of a game, buggy as hell at launch, then fork another 30-60 euros to get it to be complete.

What DLC is meant to do is expand the game in multiple ways.

A good example I can think of are the Skyrim expansions, which added new gameplay features and Solstheim as a world you can traverse through with new quests and lore. Nowadays you can fool anyone into thinking a piece of particular content was never meant to be part of the game, when in reality it's often just cut content recycled.

Or take Blood and Wine for the Witcher 3. This is what DLC should be at its height, unfortunately this isn't the golden standard today.

I recommend to buy GOTY versions if available. Consolidated DLC's and all such. Avoid microtransactions and all that trash whenever possible.

Surprise DLC-creep when I already bought the game (before all the DLCs popped up) annoys me.

But when I see a game I haven't bought that is like that, I have a strategy now: Consider the game + all DLCs that will ever be released to be actual game you want to buy and analyze the overall price and discount offered (taking into account likelihood that new DLCs will pop up).

I don't care if the base game is 70%+ off if the DLC are not steeply discounted too. I'll hold.

Despite being an X enthusiast, I still haven't bought X4 despite the base game having had a good discount.

And I'm just not touching Talisman. If the whole mess is 80%+ off and they haven't released a DLC for it in over 2 years, I'll think about it. That game is nightmare for would-be customers.

Same thing with "The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos", I held off buying the base game even at 50% discount because of the DLCs (once you pilled up all the DLCs, it wasn't 50% discount).

Wish I knew what I know now when I got "Surviving Mars" and "Stellaris". Anything from Paradox now is a "wait and see". They have too much history with DLCs.

Yeah, agreed to all of this.

I can appreciate DLC that are like expansions if the price is right and they are independent of the main campaign. I hate it when they introduce a DLC later on which affects the playthrough of the main game though, like "here is a new region integrated into the main campaign". As I don't generally like replaying games, things like that put me off playing games before all DLCs are released.

Occasionally I will also buy cosmetic DLC if they are really cheap and good. Pay $1 more for a really awesome outfit that stands out among the rest? Ok, why not. I don't really appreciate making it a DLC but it doesn't really hurt my purse either.

But I totally resent pricing tactics like those of

- 2K: "Here's a bunch of small overpriced DLCs to buy for you, but wait! now you can get them cheaper in a Season Pass. You bought the Season Pass hoping that would be all you ever needed? But now there is a Season Pass 2! And possibly new small DLC that is included in neither! Just keep on spending $100+ dollars so you don't miss out on any of the lacklustre filler content (it might be good, you never know!) and costume color changes! Or wait a few years and get the GOTY version in sales for a tenner (which may or may not include all DLCs available so far - who can be bothered to compare all of these tiny DLCs anyway!), while DLCs will never get this cheap, so buying the whole GOTY despite already owning the game and half of the extra content will always be cheaper than just getting the few possibly worthwhile DLCs that you're still missing individually."

- 2010's EA/Bioware: "Get the main game cheap in sales, but now you got hooked and want more, right? Then buy our overpriced DLCs at full price, no discounts ever. More expensive than the main game itself? So what, you still want them, right? Oh, but if you want to buy them you first have to convert your money to our own currency. You can only convert fixed amounts of money though and they don't quite fit our prices, haha, isn't that clever?"

I think we're all on the same page and I would hazard a guess that most GOGers would also agree, and there's very little we can do about it, but it's nice to commiserate sometimes. I would say that it definitely comes down to intent and nowadays I'm hard pressed to think of a game where the DLC seems like the developers legitimately wanting to get more content to the playerbase rather than parts of what would have been the full being shunted off for more money, especially when that DLC is announced or available before the game even releases or in the launch window.

As to the OPs main point, I wholeheartedly know how they feel as a fellow completionist myself. It will bug me to no end to play a game with DLC or additional content available if I know I don't have that content, even if I know there's a good chance I'll give up the game before even getting to it. There are games that I have right now that I'm not able to play yet because I'm waiting for DLC to be on sale so I can approach the game in it's entirety. The DLC Curse is very real.

It's pretty silly at times. Especially when we have officall announcements for Paradox levels of DLC.

For example, <span class="bold">13 DLCs added for a game I didn't even know was for sale here.</span>

9 of which appear to be glorified paintjobs, 1 audiolog play, and the OST.

Which, if I remember System Shock or games like Ultima Underground, those were all things that came built into the game, safe for the superfluous paint jobs.

Pish and tosh. Imagine if you had to pay for the audiologs in System Shock, you'd lose over 90% of the story!

Well, it's a bit more than that IMO. I'm a patient person by nature, but...

... take Assassin's Creed Odyssey for instance.

I bought the base game on console at about $15. The DLCs released were over-priced individually, so I waited for the Season Pass...

... it released at $39.99.

I waited...

... and it dropped to $19.99 (generally regular price).

I felt the Season Pass was worth no more than I'd paid for the base game, $15. So I waited again...

... 3 years later and the Season Pass went back up to $39.99!

I'm still waiting.

Or here on PC...

... Mordheim.

The base game goes down often to $1.99...

... but...

.... the 2 major DLCs -- which are solely factions -- are...

.... $6.99 each!

And then there's Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous that's going into it's SECOND Season Pass!!!

I know I'm ranting now (sorry)...

... but the state of the industry with DLC (even the indie space) has really sucked the life out of me ATM. I just look at all of these "incomplete" games and feel defeated. While I do agree...

... it all feels predatory when I look at my library, aka the Island of Incomplete & Broken Games Those were the days... *sigh*