Blog #8 - Mass Effect 2 DLC: The Cost

by alistercat

So... I've been thinking about getting back in to Mass Effect 2.

I haven't bought any of the DLC so far, so I looked it up and I was quite shocked at what had been released, for both good and bad reasons. I figured I would wait until the next batch in the form of 'Lair of the Shadow Broker' before buying it all up, so I have some time and decided to do the math. Maybe this will help people out, but it certainly helped me and brings me to my main point of discussion. This is based on the PC version (using the Bioware site prices), assuming you bought it new with the Cerberus network code to get the other DLC for free.

Missions:

560 Points - Kasumi
560 Points - Overlord
800 Points - Lair of the Shadow Broker

Total: 560 x 2 + 800 = 1920 Points

Misc:

160 Points - Aegis Pack (weapons)
160 Points - Firepower Pack (weapons)
160 Points - Equalizer pack (weapons)
160 Points - Clothes

Total: 160 x 4 = 640 Points

Grand Total: 2720 Points

So, the most efficient method of buying the points would be: 1600 Points + 560 Points + 560 Points = 2720 Points or £12.38 + £4.33 + £4.33 = £21.04
Since you can only buy points in 1600, 800 and 560 this seems to be the best method to get exactly the number of points you need to buy all of the DLC packs.

Now, for my thoughts on this. It is way too much. A total of £21 for DLC. I paid £27.99 for the game new, day 1, and for 75% of the price of the full game this DLC doesn't seem to offer anywhere near as much content as it should. Now you could say I don't need all the little packs, which I don't at all, but they only account for about £5 whereas the rest is £16. I'm just not sure how I can justify to myself buying small amounts of content for almost as much as the 20+ hour game itself. I can see how Bioware can justify it to themselves, and I don't hold it against them. They're a business. But I would like to see DLC priced differently, or reduced/bundled over time.

At this point it almost seems like I should wait for a Game of the year edition of the game and buy a second copy but that seems so redundant. I shouldn't have to buy a game a second time later down the line to get additional content. Now imagine if they release a few more mission packs after this, the price could actually exceed the original game and I'll pretty much have to buy it again if I want to save money. It's perfectly fine for them to do this, but there's got to be a better way to sell this content to your customers.

Now I know the argument for price to quantity is a very sensitive area, and I'm not sure if I'm even getting involved in that argument here. It's just tough to justify, examining it as a whole. If you have any thoughts post them in the comments below.