Do you think its fair for Activision to charge $15 for map packs?

[karthik potluri]

I would say yes, because I can see that as consumers we see the price as high, but if you think of it form a businessman perspective, think about all of the thousands if not millions of Hardcore, fans that buy all the packs and play for a majority of their free-time, activision will get a lot of money from those people, and yes they will lose some people with the high price, but the higher-price purchases will compensate and exceed the lower priced things (in terms of profits)

 

[jferg20]

I think the only way it wouldnt be fair is if you 100% need the maps to play the game. You can continue to play without the map packs so I think they should be able to charge for map packs since they cost something to make, and they are add on content

 

[Awesomerest]

It's only the more caring and community-based game developers and publishers who give map packs for free. Activision, however, runs on money and nothing else. Which is why the CoD reputation has gone downhill. They release the $15 map packs because they know people will buy it, regardless of what the map pack has in it.

 

[dirty24]

nooooooooooo

 

[ionut ghiorghita]

i was about to troll COD too but I see other people got here ahead of me

 

[Doublez]

The DLC model was a good idea at first. It was a way for single player games to actually make a profit and prevent people from trading them in right after they beat them. Their sales were gutted because of used game sales, so DLC's alleviated that. Then they started smacking bigger and bigger pricetags on them. Then with Activision going "hey guys look we can charge $15, hop on the bandwagon" everyone jacked up their prices. They seriously don't need the money. They've broken records with every one of the recent Call of Duty game sales.

Its a rough reality, but Bobby Kotick is stated numerous times he doesn't care about gamers. He cares about being able to exploit franchises year after year. Make tons of money and people don't really care enough to stop buying.

 

[omarfw]

The only way they sell this at this price anyway is because of peer pressure and a lack of standards among many casual gamers. They don't want to pay 15 bucks for only four maps, but their friends all bought it and they want to play with them so they grin and bear it. It's actually a brilliant business strategy on Activision's part, but it's also anti-consumer.

I grew up playing games that came with 30+ stock maps and you could download 1000+ more custom ones for free online. Screw this 4-5 maps pack.

 

[Sugarhill]

I don't see how it's not fair. They made a product that you want and set it at a price that they want. Why shouldn't they decide that the value of their work is worth $15? Most of the people that buy the DLC also agrees that it is worth $15, that is why they buy it.

This isn't about fair or unfair, it's about like and don't like. You don't like paying $15, but it would be unfair for you to expect them to keep working for free.

 

[omarfw]

I don't see how it's not fair. They made a product that you want and set it at a price that they want. Why shouldn't they decide that the value of their work is worth $15? Most of the people that buy the DLC also agrees that it is worth $15, that is why they buy it.

This isn't about fair or unfair, it's about like and don't like. You don't like paying $15, but it would be unfair for you to expect them to keep working for free.

It's true. They could charge $100 for their DLC if they wanted to. If people still bought it then that's their fault. I'm sad that so many people are actually willing to spend $15 on such a small amount of content that should have been in the game to begin with, but it's their choice and if someone doesn't like it then they should just not buy games from Activision.

 

[Sugarhill]

Why is "it should've been in the game to begin with" always the fall back response when someone has to pay for DLC? Criterion gave a lot of DLC away for Burnout Paradise, but no one was screaming that it should've been in the game. No, they were snatching it up left and right and saying how Criterion really cared about the gamer. Criterion had to give away all of that DLC away to hear next to no complaints when they released Big Surf Island for a charge.

Everything can't get in the game from the beginning if deadlines are to be met. The game is the game and the DLC is the DLC. COD couldn't have originally put zombies in a war game from the beginning. That was something that had to be added on. If it's too small for you to pay for, don't pay and don't make it a big enough issue to worry about what someone else is willing to pay for. Keep it small and keep it moving. It's really that simple.

 

[omarfw]

Why is "it should've been in the game to begin with" always the fall back response when someone has to pay for DLC? Criterion gave a lot of DLC away for Burnout Paradise, but no one was screaming that it should've been in the game. No, they were snatching it up left and right and saying how Criterion really cared about the gamer. Criterion had to give away all of that DLC away to hear next to no complaints when they released Big Surf Island for a charge.

Everything can't get in the game from the beginning if deadlines are to be met. The game is the game and the DLC is the DLC. COD couldn't have originally put zombies in a war game from the beginning. That was something that had to be added on. If it's too small for you to pay for, don't pay and don't make it a big enough issue to worry about what someone else is willing to pay for. Keep it small and keep it moving. It's really that simple.

Simply because of standards. The same amount of content used to be included with a game. Now it isn't. No, they aren't obligated to do it for any reason, but if Acitivision can make more money by including less content in their game initially, then more people will start doing it too.

If I'm going to pay money for additional content, that DLC/expansion better add something substantial to the game because I have already paid more than enough money to receive 100% of the original content. A copy of Black Ops and 4 map packs are in no feasible way worth $120+.

 

[John laurence]

no i dont think so you pay $70 for the game and $15 for the map packs.

 

[Sugarhill]

Simply because of standards. The same amount of content used to be included with a game. Now it isn't. No, they aren't obligated to do it for any reason, but if Acitivision can make more money by including less content in their game initially, then more people will start doing it too.

If I'm going to pay money for additional content, that DLC/expansion better add something substantial to the game because I have already paid more than enough money to receive 100% of the original content. A copy of Black Ops and 4 map packs are in no feasible way worth $120+.

To you.

They will continue to make the map packs for whom it is feasible. If that's not you, step aside. There are no ifs to it, it is or it is not.

You say that there is less content, but have you ever considered that there may be more work involved? All you see is what you want and how it affects you, but I don't think you are really considering how it affects the developer. So, what you may find as a ripoff, may finally be an evening out of the work and the compensation of that work.

They may feel like they were underpricing the DLC from the beginning, but since it was a new facet, they had to go low with the price and now, everything is where it should be.

 

[omarfw]

To you.

They will continue to make the map packs for whom it is feasible. If that's not you, step aside. There are no ifs to it, it is or it is not.

You say that there is less content, but have you ever considered that there may be more work involved? All you see is what you want and how it affects you, but I don't think you are really considering how it affects the developer. So, what you may find as a ripoff, may finally be an evening out of the work and the compensation of that work.

They may feel like they were underpricing the DLC from the beginning, but since it was a new facet, they had to go low with the price and now, everything is where it should be.

Being an ex-mapper, I know exactly how much work goes into map making and I assure you it does not cost millions of dollars to pay a couple guys to throw together some maps (especially for a game engine as old as the one used in CoD games). A legitimate DLC with lots of new content would take some time and effort, but a DLC of just maps is neither difficult nor expensive to make. These map packs are designed to strip content that could easily be included with the game and use that content to make an insane amount of profit.

And what do you mean by underpricing? $15 for four maps is probably the most expensive DLC out there for the amount of content you receive. You're already paying $60 for the game (which is more than enough to cover the development costs considering how many people are buying the game) and any money they make beyond that initial price is pure profit. You are NOT funding the development of the game at that point, you are just lining someones pockets.

You used to receive ALL of the maps in a game for the price of the original game back in the day, and I didn't see any developers going out of business because of it.

 

[Sugarhill]

Oh, of course you were an ex-mapper. Why didn't I realize that? Why did you leave the industry? Or, do you mean you sitting in your room making little maps that someone drooled over and told you it was great, more because it was free, not because it really that great.

I don't think you really know how much work goes into those games, the original content or the DLC, but because you've tinkered with a few things on your computer, I'll let you believe that and move on to the other part that you misunderstood.

The maps were originally $10 and everyone thought that was reasonable, but now they are $15 and they are suddenly unreasonable. The developers may have originally considered $10 underpricing and now the $15 is appropriately priced. But, I know, you've made tons of free maps that everyone on the server loved, so you know that it's really about the love and these jaded developers no longer have that, just lined pockets.