Has DLC gone too far?

The question revolving around DLC for games has been a hot topic issue for quite some time now, and while I am not so arrogant to answer and/or resolve the issues around it, I can certainly weigh in with my opinions as objectively as I can. My opinions may be disagree with (read: WILL be disagreed with) by a lot of people, but that is the nature of opinions. They are not absolute, they are not set in stone. I've been thinking for quite some time on how I could approach this issue with as much objectivity as I possibly can, and, well, I'm not sure there is an objective standpoint on this. At all.

DLC has, in it's most primitive and basic form been around since the 1980's in the form of a service called GameLine. This was a service where owners of an Atari 2600 machine could download games to their machine via telephone lines. The game users would download would last for roughly 5-10 days before they had to pay for another download. It ultimately went under however because the company behind it, CVC, went bust in the video game crash of 83. A similar service was implemented by Sega called “Sega Channel”.

The first form of DLC as we know it today came from, surprise surprise, Microsoft, on its Xbox live service in 2002 for a game called Mech Assault.

This has moved on to packs of extra songs for the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games to skins and map packs for games like Call of Duty.

However, the reason I am bringing DLC up is because of two things:

1. Mass Effect Day 1 DLC “From Ashes”
2. Call of Duty MW3 Elite Premium Map Drops

I would like to just offer my standpoint first before I delve into these topics in greater detail:

DLC, in theory, I am fine with, in part. I have no objection to DLC that's entirely cosmetic : Skins etc. I am totally okay with that. Making people pay absurd prices for cosmetic items I think is a bit shady (I'm looking at you CCP) but generally cosmetic items are fine.

This monocle, costs seventy fucking dollars.

 In Free To Play games, again, cosmetic items are completely fine. If developers want to charge out of the arse for items, then I personally will not make any micro-transactions, but that is their choice.

I however, have a problem with DLC that affects the core gameplay in any way. If buying DLC gets you an advantage in a multiplayer title, you can count me out of that particular game entirely. There is a game called Modern Combat 3 (Yes, it is a rip-off of Modern Warfare 3) where you actually have to pay to get new gun unlocks. Are you fucking kidding me? Really? I hate that. I think that is one step too far when it comes to DLC. I also have a problem DLC that gives you an advantage in the single player part of a game. Why would you want to buy through some of the game? Doesn't that destroy the gameplay experience you, in some cases, paid a full £40/$60 for?

With that in mind, let's talk about Mass Effect 3's Day one DLC, “From Ashes”.

This DLC will mean something to anyone familiar with the Mass Effect canon. It features a character who is a Prothean. To anyone not familiar, the Protheans are an extinct race who vanished from the galaxy fifty thousand years prior to the first Mass Effect. Logically having a Prothean appear in Mass Effect 3 SHOULD be part of the main story right? Apparently EA thinks differently, and require you to fork out a fucking $10 fee to get this part of the story. I repeat, are you fucking kidding me?

Then we have the Call of Duty Elite Premium package. Oh Call of Duty. CoD bashing aside, it has a huge community and has sold millions and millions of copies everywhere. The CoD games have always had DLC in the form of map packs that cost £10-£15 a pack and they generally feature around 4-5 new maps and some even feature new game modes. Whilst this was ridiculous, the Premium Elite package gets even fucking worse.

There's a service called Call of Duty Elite, which was brought in with the release of Modern Warfare 3. Signing up to this service is free, (I myself are signed up to it) and you can see your matches played, custom classes, combat records, heat maps of games etc. Quite a convenient little service. However, there is a the premium package. This costs an extra cunting $50. For basically maps. This is an awful, awful crossing of the line, and, the Premium Elite members get the content before non Premium members. This splits your playerbase immensely, and if it wasn't for the mountains of money Activision are swimming in, not many companies could survive that. Do you know what the minimum age is to sign up? Thirteen. For a M-rated game. For a game that requires you, by law, to be 18 to purchase. That's a discussion for another post, but that is fucking disgraceful.

So yeah. That, in a nutshell is my thoughts on DLC.