Right around the middle of the last console generation(Ps3 and Xbox 360) there was the advent of a NEW process/product DownLoadable Content. At first what it meant was that if there was a bug found in a game since most systems were online not only compatible but connected that the publisher would kick out a small patch to fix whatever was going wrong in the game. Then, as a way of increasing replay value, companies started pushing out new maps and skins FIRST for free and then for a small fee. In the beginning it was a "meh, whatever I'll see what it is and deal with it later" type of experience. Depending on what type of gamer you were once you beat the game you beat the game, or if you are like me once you got used to the games mechanics it was all about the online play so you weren't worried about some new level.
As micro transactions started to take hold there was a NEW "Invention" the season pass. Now what pray tell is a season pass, well for a fee of anywhere from 10.99(I think that's what the first set of season passes I ever saw cost) to then 29.99 and now 39.99 or 49.99 depending on the game you can get constant software updates. Not patches but new areas, maps, weapons, skins, missions, characters, vehicles, and almost a whole new game. Depending on who you ask you are either buying an unfinished game at full price and are then paying them to finish it with a loan of anywhere from half to 3/4's of the games initial price or else you are paying constant new ip added to your favorite game going forward. This is not to say that you can ONLY get these new accessories by buying the season pass, no you can purchase them a la carte later but then it gets a lot more expensive. I remember when I bought Call of Duty: Ghosts and didn't purchase the season pass(didn't know how much I was gonna be playing it going forward) I could buy the maps for like 10 bucks(if I just wanted the maps) and the guns/dogs for like 5 later on. So yes I paid full price for the initial game, then when I saw what maps were out, I decided if I wanted them and if I wanted the accessories that came out with them or just the maps and paid the 10.99 or 14.99.
Is it buying an incomplete game for full price
This is kind of tricky, one of the reasons a lot of people say that has less to do with the DLC and more to do with the fact that almost every game released since 2012 has had almost an IMMEDIATE patch download. I'm serious I don't care what game I pick up, even if it's midnight of the night it comes out(if I pre ordered it or digitally ordered it) night one there is a software patch. Part of this may be because with all the "professional" streamers out there who preview and showcase the game(up to a certain point) new bugs may have been discovered, I mean no matter how many beta testers you have we all play the same games different ways. Some people love to do speed runs, some people like to find their own little hidden grind spots, places where you can run in get a ton of XP and decent level gear to either sell, craft with(if it's available), or trade for newer better equipment with NPC's. Grinding is a part of every game now, as is the joy of speed running and sometimes you are going to find a section someone missed. So I hope as a company has it's various aids/personnel skimming through the streams of games who they gave pre-release codes to if and when they see various glitches come up or complained about they run to their testers, try and give them a detailed description of said glitch and hey what do you know day one there is a patch.
Sort of like with GTA and the infamous "Hot Coffee" glitch, now as far as that was concerned I have no idea what people expected Rockstar to do? Yes it was in the game, BUT to access it you had to have a modded machine(IE an illegally modified gaming system specifically built to circumvent the rules), had to know the specific mod to look for to add on your modded machine, and then what do you know I get to see content that was presumably coded out except for if you were trying to break the rules... Yeah, in my mind that is a "people will sue for anything" moment. It could also be that the game was released and as somebody was dotting their last i one of their beta testers runs in and says "OMG I found this bad/annoying/game breaking/easily exploitable/amazing glitch we need to patch it pronto!" So they burn the midnight oil because the games are probably already on the:ship/truck/plane/loading docks and you can't recall that many games it would be a disaster so you put out the midnight patch and hopefully all is well.
That's the first set, the second set feels that if they can create ALL of the DLC for you to purchase later it should have been put in the game when it first launched not charged for later. I can sympathize with it, but at the same time I also understand that you have an initial vision for a game, and then you have a few niche wants or dreams that you would have like to have gotten in at the beginning, but if the game doesn't sell that well... My main game for this argument would be Fallout 4 I don't think too many people would say they didn't get a full game with Fallout 4, I don't know how many hours I have spent in that game, how many weapons I have found, crafted, or improved. How many buildings I have built, the defenses et al. And each DLC that they put out added new functionality, and sometimes whole new areas(and I think they are still releasing some now). They added the ability to capture monsters and make them fight, to build your own robot companion, then they added the far harbor area, and the last one I heard about was Nuka world(Nuka Cola is their soft drink king so it's kind of like World of Coca Cola in Atlanta). I talked about Call of Duty earlier, then tend to give you either new maps or re-imagined popular maps from previous entries in the series. Sometimes they give you new guns, companions, or skins.
I will say that games like Killer Instinct give way to the other type of thinking, that they should just give it to you all at once for the initial price. I know for a fact that while you get lots of playability out of Killer instinct they charge you for each season. So if you bought the game and the season pas you got 8 fighters for a few months, then 8 more, and they released another 8 over the summer. the first 16 released were mostly classic KI fighters so that does give way to the "give it to us upfront and not charge us extra" crowd, the second 8 though included some guests from other franchises: Rash from Battle Toads, Arbiter from Halo, and General Raam from Gears of War I think fan input was used to decide WHO would be added in season 3. You also got some characters from KI2 like Tusk, Kim Wu, and Eyedoll which one COULD argue should have been included initially as well, but there are a lot of characters who were not as well received so how do they know who people want to play as?
Is a season pass worth it
The value of a season pass all depends om the game you buy it with. With Call of Duty games it tends to be hit and miss, sometimes they give you cool guns, new frames(that was in advanced warfare), awesome old maps(they had one map in Ghosts that let you turn into the Predator), sometimes they even add new capabilities on there. If they charge for it, because I know Halo gives you all of it's DLC for free. There are other games that do this as well, now I also know that some season passes go up in price when Fallout 4 started selling like gangbusters the DLC price went from 29.99 to like 49.99 because so many people wanted it. When people saw how much fun they were having with that first set of DLC along with the game, yeah those 29.99 season passes started disappearing both the digital and the in-retailer new ones started saying 49.99. Thing is people LOVED Fallout 4, and they also LOVED all the DLC that Bathesda put out, so for those folks yes it was worth it.
A game not so well received was Battleborn, it's been out for a while but have you heard a lot about it? Nope, why because while it was a fun game it didn't live up to the hype so if you paid an EXTRA 30 bucks just to have new content for a game that either you aren't playing as much or that you really don't like you feel kind of screwed right now.
Granted you don't HAVE to buy the season pass when you buy the game, a lot of retailers sell little "season pass" codes that you can pick up(usually for the 29.99) so that if after a few weeks you decide, "Hey I am really feeling this game, yes I want the DLC." You can pick it up later on, unless it becomes Fallout 4 and they raise the DLC price 10 or 20 bucks. The benefit of the season pass is that you get it out the way earlier and are guaranteed ALL of the new content released by the developer for the game. The Downside of the Season Pass is that you get ALL of the new content released, what if you only want the maps and not the guns or skins released? I mean yes you paid for them but if you don't care about them they aren't adding value for you so you have to go ahead and choose accordingly. One of the benefits of buying the season pass when I got infinite warfare is that they give me daily bonus drops so I either get keys, a supply drop, or salvage plus more keys, supply drop, or salvage. I like CoD so not having to worry about buying the maps piece meal isn't a problem for me and if there are guns I don't like in there I won't worry about it I don't have to use them.
Is all downloadable content paid for
Most of the DLC if it isn't included by the developer IS paid for but depending on the community some games have seasonal events. Final Fantasy XV is doing a moogle and chocobo festival right now. Overwatch is doing a "Year of the Rooster" celebration right now, I know they also did something for Halloween where everyone was running around in variant costumes. Star Trek Online had a winter wonderland thing going on with Q hosting(yes that Q), so no all of the content that you download isn't paid content some is included with your game purchase. And as mentioned earlier most games allow for "micro transactions" which I don't know why they call them micro transactions most can be anywhere from ,99 to 99.99(I actually think I saw one game with a 149.99 transaction, not the kid) and they are mostly for people who want to either speed up their progress in game, buy something they don't want to wait to get in game normally, or to dress themselves up differently.
Some games live off micro transactions, which ranging from a buck to a hundo a pop ain a bad living, but to be fair some of those games started off free in the first place. Games like Warframe(an extended live beta, supposedly), Star Trek Online, Roblox, Project Spark, and even Pinball FX2 were free to download games and they give you great functionality from the door. If you want something extra though: A Prime Frame in Warframe, or the prime frame and prime weapons, a stronger Heavy Ship in STO, or more slots for storage, new pinball tables, Roblox charges you for new skins and accessories for you avatar. Do you need them, no but if you want them "for a nominal fee" which if you started out at the free.99 do you really care?
I'm gonna break this into a two parter
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