I’d be all for getting the pitchforks if Diablo IV was just going to sell DLCS for $100 and include nothing else. On the other hand, I'm quite fine with them having different tiers of go waste your money that have no impact on me. Thankfully those at Blizzard’s Diablo are greedy, evil, and did I say greedy?
We as gamers have lucked out for many years. While there has been endless nonsense for the longest time with the gaming industry combating inflation and features crawl in some great and not-so-great ways to try and keep triple-A titles base at $59.99. That was till more modern times where they are now $69.99 and beyond.
When it comes to DLCs for games I've always hated when they either cost just as much for the base game or call the developer crazy even more than that. For me, that sweet spot is somewhere between 40-60% of the base game. That DLC also has to be on a game I want to play now otherwise I'll just wait for 50%+ discounts for it later on.
I’m also just going to come out and say it. Diablo IV needs to make up for the bullshit that went on in Diablo III. The issue with Diablo is it has always been a rather niche game which means they are not going to hit the sales numbers Blizzard drools over.
Diablo III also felt like an abandoned game during its middle years since it did not pull in enough money. That is something not forgotten by us players who might start to question if they should even buy a DLC in the first place.
in Diablo III, their whole scheme was just to sell us new playable classes and call it “DLC.” However, for $100 you would have to be insane to just sell us a single character and some paper-thin new content. You are going to have to offer something else up
At least one thing Diablo IV has attempted to resolve is making it appear some grand adventure from the realm of DLCS will be unfolding over time. This in a way kind of makes me feel as a player that they won’t just rug us with low-effort DLCS. It’s, however, something they have to prove to the gaming community as what they have down in Diablo’s past is not forgiven.
With all that out of the way, it’s time to dive a deeper look into the whole “$100” DLC. For a reference point and to make things easy I'm going to point to this Icy Veins post that quite nicely created a chart based on the Bellular News YouTube video.
I for one did not watch Bellular’s video other than to quickly scroll through it to ensure that yes, the chart shown on Icy Vein website appears to be what all the news around a possible $100 DLC is all about. That is really what I want to give some thoughts about.
I’m all for developers coming up with creative ways to get people who are willing to pay more for more or less the same experience. As long as there is no real extra content for people who are only paying $49.99 over the $99.99. Let them spend!
I kind of wish there was a cheaper no thrills get nothing extra. I, however, think many are not only willing to pay extra if they are still into Diablo IV by the time the first DLC rolls out. They can’t wait to give Blizzard that money.
Now why is that? Well, they are willing to sell you something in that DLC that solves quite the pain point for many ARPG players. I’m talking about extra stash tabs. I think they are being stupid if they have not already included in the microtransaction cosmetic shop in Diablo IV the ability to buy more stash tabs.
As someone who 10000% prefers Path of Exile over Diablo IV and feels it still kicks any Diablo game in the balls. Path of Exile has made a killing selling extra storage solving this rather common pain point of never having enough storage space in ARPGs. Even I have bought many extra storage spaces in Path of Exile.
I would not be shocked if Diablo could just sell a storage “DLC” and people would be lining up to pay for it. Players NEED MORE storage. Even more so if you add more content to the game that is going to require using more space to store stuff you want for you and your alts.
Now naturally I would love to see a no-thrills DLC price. I would not be shocked if you already own the game there ends up being some kind of $29.99 DLC option. In my book that just seems reasonable if you don’t want anything else. This option should however only be if you already own the base game.
It’s not shocking to me Blizzard is trying to ram the base copy of the game into the price of the DLC as well. In which case I have no issue with there being a bundle price of a new player getting the base game and the DLC. I just don’t want to pay what I feel is extra for already owning the base game.
As a former EverQuest player, I can tell you now bundles and the more common way these days of selling DLCs with everything else the game has is a great way to go. No one wants to buy the game base, 10 DLCS, and who knows what else ten years from now in Diablo IV just to get caught up to everyone else.
I also see Diablo IV’s evil plan of trying to jam the battle pass premium for season play down our faces by including it with the DLC. I as a consumer don’t see it as a $10 value if it’s something I don’t care for. Again, sell me at a lower base price that has no extra thrills.
The same also goes for them including platinum to buy cosmetics in the game store. If I don’t care about buying cosmetics, then it matters little to me if I can pay more for $70 DLC and get $X in cosmetics greater in value than the price I paid for the DLC. I’d rather not get the cosmetics and pay less for the game.
I’m also all for them charging people extra to get special cosmetic items only with the DLC. Let some vain person who wants to spend an extra $50 for a horse and some clothing they are not going to be displaying a month later. As long as it has zero real impact on the game I could care less.
The only real thing that is my only concern would be the included companion that provides some kind of utility. Yes, that companion according to the chart by giving you access to your stash and picking up gold. I would have no issue if it just picked things up off the ground for you. I, however, started to see a real in-game issue with giving people access to a stash anywhere if they pay extra while everyone else has to go into town.
While it has never been that big of a deal just to portal down to access your stash and do what you need to do. I’m going to be cornered for that eventual utility creep that games like these just can’t stay away from.
At the very least it looks like everyone is getting a companion in the DLC. It is kind of strange that they are giving people who pay for the higher-tier pack an entire season early. Also, if that companion is anything like Diablo III where it will be doing damage and providing other benefits, I'm not ok with it being given out in an early-access format.
The only other spot I would have an issue with is the whole idea of people getting early access to items/aspects before the expansion is live. Even more so if the higher tier of DLC you pay for the better item you can get. There is just no reason to include that nonsense. They should just give people early access to more storage space instead. That is really why people want more storage.
Overall if they want to get people to pay an extra $50 for some better cosmetic items, platinum for further cosmetic items, and a battle pass for even more cosmetic items. I’m all for it. Even more so if it keeps the base price for DLCs a bit lower for the rest of us.
If, however, there is going to start to be a creep of early access nonsense which seems to be their attempt at a new way of getting early DLC purchases. I’m going to be a bit alarmed about where the next early access creep will be.
I’m also shocked they did not just say screw it and give the people who would pay $99.99 ten extra stash tabs. That would be a steal at this point. People who knock on a $100 DLC might even then be willing to pay for that much more storage. As other games have, however, already proven, players will pay for that much more storage for around those amounts once you factor in the value of the actual DLC.
As far as will I be getting the DLC? I think by not creating much more content on Diablo IV like I was planning to do speaks for itself. If the DLC somehow showed up on my account for free I'd check out the DLC. Outside of that, it’s going to have to be jaw-dropping for me to want to give Blizzard any more money. I’ve been over them for a while.
It also looks like it won’t be any time soon. So, no real reason to get any pitchforks yet. I’m sure there have been some releases I'm not willing to go look at since this is like month-old news at this point.
Content was written by @Enjar about Diablo IV.
Link to the article reference.
