DLC: Thoughts on Pricing, Bundles, and the Whole Nine Yards

ZoopSoul

New member
Hey gang,

I mentioned this in the Sub-Zero topic and figured it was worth a study in itself. Here's what I wrote:

"As much as I'm for it, what will it cost to own every piece of DLC if we get unique fatalities for each fighter? Seems very expensive. Got to imagine there will be at least 30 fighters, so 1 extra fatality per character (as certain fighters being left in the cold for a third fatality seems cheap and inconsistent) at, what I'm guessing will be $2/per, is $60. That's the cost of the game. As sweet as it sounds, it could turn bitter in a heartbeat.

I wouldn't mind DLC Fatality Packs at $4/per, with like 10 fatalities per package across three or four packs, depending on the character count, or full DLC packs including new costumes, fatalities and one arena per pack, 4-6 packs at $4/per. Something to consider if the NR guys are reading this. Separate fatalities, though, would likely be way too expensive in the end."

I'm a completist with games I love; as I mentioned in my essay on the folly of Download Content in its current stage of evolution, I will continually buy bad DLC for a game that I love just to maximize my experience with it, even if it continues to taint that experience and paint over the game's Picasso masterpiece with a brush in the shape of a Campbell's soup can. This is bad enough with games such as Mass Effect 2 or Fallout 3, which contain enough DLC that outweighs the game's original value at retail price, forcing OCD completists such as myself to fork over $120. The worst part is, most of this DLC isn't even on the same quality level as the disc's polished product.

So, given my past for being a sucker with DLC, I will likely buy everything on the Mortal Kombat marketplace. But at what point would I balk at the asking price? $2 per fatality is way too extreme for my taste, and I think my idea of DLC packages to be much more likely; after all, how many people would download an unpopular character's fatality or alternate costume?

By pairing said unpopular character--we'll use Nightwolf in this example since he's probably the least popular of the confirmed characters--with an often-played character like Scorpion, along with 4-6 others (for this example, Nightwolf, Scorpion, Mileena, Cyrax, and Kung Lao--I don't suspect we'll see ninjas/cyborg ninjas/sisters in the same packages due to keeping popular characters separate to provoke more purchases, so please hold your Sub-Zero/Scorpion package scenarios), you are selling content not many folks would otherwise purchase, and you can bundle it under a "value" package with one arena, and addition costumes and fatalities for those aforementioned combatants. This is my pseudo-, embarrassing marketing experience talking here.

The maximum I would pay for a package like that is $6, still below what Street Fighter charged for theirs, but hopefully is not the industry standard. I'm hoping WB sees that you can undercut the competition and walk away looking like the good guy who cares about the consumers while still robbing their bank accounts.

Now, what about additional characters? I'll likely find many characters to use happily on the disc, but I'll always look to expand my game, if and only if the price is right. I'm hoping EA's Mass Effect 2 price of $7 is not the norm here--I would go for 400 Microsoft Points, or $5, per new character. The characters are much more work than the arenas, costumes and fatalities, as they require tender balancing and come preset with 2 (maybe 3, if they feel like including a third, otherwise DLC fatality into the package) fatalities.

How about you guys? I'm sure we'll see a few freebies, but this is a business and we should all get our heads out of the clouds and expect to pay for a vast majority of new materials--unfortunately, of course.
 
Nobody else wants to share their max on how much they'd pay? Or thoughts on bundles? What they'd like to see in DLC? What they'd feel ripped off to find in DLC?

I'd like to state I'd love to see some hidden characters unlocked via Krypt too, not just DLC. At least 3 to 4.
 
At the moment, I have no interest in characters outside the MK1-3 line-up, so unless they give the DLC characters some interesting moves, I don't really see myself buying any. I don't really know that I'd buy finishers or stages unless they're REALLY badass.

As far as pricing, I guess something like 100 points for characters and stages and maybe 25 for a finisher?
 
for D.L.C all i am really hoping for is quan chi, shinnok and rieko
these people were in after mortal kombat 3 but they have very interesting stories
and would be good for them to be in. We always need more cool bad guys. As for other
dlc i would love more x ray moves for each character. that will be huge because its gonna get
boring seeing the same ones over and over after playing the game for a while. fatalities, stages
and alternate costumes are also a must. I am sure a lot of people will be with me when i
say i want a human reptile ninja suite, as cool as his new outfit is because i do like it. I
always thought he was one of the original 3 ninjas. For price wise not really sure what they will
do i hope it is cheap but at the same time if they do a good job they deserve more money.
 
I might be interested in additional characters, although 26 characters to start with is quite generous for a game with a new engine. Finishers, arenas, and costumes have little or no functional purposes, so I'm likely to pass unless I like them alot and have extra money to burn.
 
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I'd only pay for extra fatalities for the characters I like. I wouldn't need say, Stryker's new one. But I'd definitely get Sub-Zero or Kung Lao's DLC.
 
If the DLC is good/plentiful, then price isn't an issue. I spent several MSP on both versions of Street Fighter IV, and will likely spend a good amount of MSP on Mortal Kombat DLC, especially if we're getting other characters in the DLC.
 
the cost of DLC isnt a big issue to me, well i guess depending on how much DLC there is then it might matter. but i hope the DLC characters arent pointlessly there just to be there, like they should have an additional part on to the story mode with them in it when you purchase them.

i hope the DLC fatalities are very brutal, and creative!! im not paying for another torso rip.
 
Honestly, I'd probably pay any price for any piece of DLC they threw at us. I'd buy ****ing Mokap and Stryker, I don't care. I need my MK games to be as complete as possible.
 
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