How do you feel about Saints Row DLC?

[SwingSwing]

I voted for:
I hate Volition's DLC practices!

1. Taking the most popular cheats from 2 out of the game for the sake of selling them in 3 and 4 is just flat out 100% absolutely disgusting and dispicable. Had I not switched to PC where equal things are easily obtainable through cheat engine or a "trainer" I wouldn't have bought either game...and I bought SR 2 three times. Lying about it saying you get the same things in SR 3 through upgrades (you could NOT survive an air vehicle crashing into a building without the paid for cheat) and saying it was THQ's doing for SR 3 then doing it again for SR IV anyway also reflects poorly on the whole thing.

2. DLC standing for disc locked content is always crap. Same with all the pre-order and extra stuff. Then selling it is even worse. You expect us to spend $1 for a gun that came with the strategy guide? Nope.

3. All these DLC outfits and weapons seem like a waste. By the time they come out they're useless. I know the alternative is #2 but either way you're spending time and resources on content that most aren't going to bother to see. I mean anyone that would buy this stuff has already beaten the game months ago and has no use for these items now.

4. Missions are wwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy overpriced. $7 for 30-45 minutes is ridiculous. I got the ones from SR 3 for free with pre-order and just got the SR IV season pass for $4 (so $2 each) and still find this appalling. I bought 3 full on games for $2.50 each this week, all of them longer than that. Hell there's free flash games longer. Sure you get new homies, vehicles and weapons but that goes back to the game having been already completed so they're worthless. You can maybe use them for 20 minutes later with the next DLC. When getting 20-40 hours out of the games paying $7 for 40 more minutes doesn't scale well.

 

[DataSnake]

Some are good, some are crap. I buy the ones I like, skip the ones I don't. You know what I'd really love to see in a DLC, though? Stilwater. I'd be happy to shell out $20 or so if it added Stilwater as an alternate simulation I could visit.

 

[Tatsuya1221]

My poll vote i kinda messed up heh.

I like expansions and mission packs, however it tends to depend on the mission pack/expansion/dlc for me, a good example of this is the trouble with clones DLC in SR3 and ETD in SR4, TWC was short, but i enjoyed most of it (bee gun notwithstanding), however ETD imo took it a little too far and felt like an entirely different experience then i'm used to in saints row, and not in a good way(i first got into saints row with SR3, didn't like 2 and never played 1, so me saying it took it far too over the top is either a good or bad example, you decide), basically ETD seemed to not only jump the shark for me (something i love saints row for), but turned into a full on jumping the sharknado, and just like that movie, it's something you want to see, but something you'd never call good or enjoyable.

Clothing and weapon packs i do not have much issues with as long as they are optional and not insanely expensive(and do not feel like you removed content from the game to sell them, which i'll get to with the executive priviledge pack), i personally haven't bought any myself, but to be honest it's because none of them appeal to me, i generally play the game running around in clothes like the stratigem, or the suit from the trailers that i can't remember the name of off the top of my head (the greyish sim-superhero suit), but if i saw something that interested me, i might consider it.
That said i will say that clothing packs are far harder for me to justify when they only contain a couple of items, one of the reasons i am wary of buying a game at launch (saints row 4 was my first pc preorder, but even SR4 was a tough game to get at launch because i knew 20+ dlc were coming) is because of the immense amount of dlc that usually comes out for it, i usually wait for GOTY editions or complete packs for this very reason, an example of dlc done right imo is skyrim's dlc, there is a small amount of meaty dlc that i do not view as a waste, in fact, i consider them well worth my money, because they are packed with alot of additions that make the price tag worth it, excluding SR4's season pass, skyrim is the only game i've paid full price for the dlc of.

My only comment on weapons is that as far as i know, there is still no dual wielding dubstep gun dlc ;_;.

Now the part of dlc i hate, the executive privilege pack, imo cheats should never be dlc, at least paid dlc, the executive privilege pack is in my eyes, a complete and utter cash grab and did hurt my opinion of volition somewhat, it probably didn't help that the damage immunity skills are removed from bullets and explosives, making me feel like this was an attempt to force people to buy the EPP if they wanted to enjoy some overpowered fun(and yes i know you can edit the skills table to reactivate them, but console gamers cannot and that doesn't change the fact that it feels like an outright cashgrab), point is, content that should for all intents and purposes be in the game, should NEVER be sold, and can severely hurt my view of the company (i will admit, due to how things were handled with SR4, i may wait for a complete pack or pass over SR5 due to things like this).
Just my 2 cents, and honestly, what i like and hate about dlc in general, not just with this game.

 

[Altered_Nova]

I disliked almost all of the DLC from Saints Row 3. Most of it was buggy or utterly superficial cosmetic stuff that few people would ever actually use (seriously werewolf costumes?) The gang outfits were the only ones I really wanted, but you couldn't break them apart into individual clothing pieces to mix and match or properly customize their colors, and some of the items like the earrings were horribly bugged. It felt that Volition was putting next to no effort into making them and was just throwing them out in a desperate bid to get some more money. I mean, if you are going to put out clothing pack dlc at least do a decent job of it, and maybe consider putting more of them in each pack or charging less for them.

Also a lot of the dlc items were ridiculously overpowered but were given to you for free the instant you completed the first mission. I had to restrain myself from using the nearly invincible purple tank that didn't give you an instant 5-star wanted level the second you climbed into it like every other tank in the game or the ridiculous full-auto sniper rifle with assault rifle sized clips and ammo capacity just so the game would retain some challenge. Save those things till later in the game or make the player unlock them with a side-mission or buy them for a hefty amount of cash or something, don't completely break any sense of balance or progression the game has by giving them the best stuff in the game right from the get-go.

The missions were alright but they were kind of short and felt rather uninspired and often weren't very fun. The Genki Bowl activities and the short irradiated Saint's Flo super power segment were the only dlc mission bits that I really enjoyed. Also not giving you all the dlc mission specific weapons and vehicles stuff after completing them was a seriously puzzling missed opportunity.

Also I feel that Volition really made a big mistake in the way they handled Saints Row 3 dlc prices and the season pass. The price of that game and all it's dlc dropped so fast that many early adopters probably felt they'd been screwed over buying them all immediately when later adopters got everything for as little as $13. Volition was in a way training their customers to wait for price drops and ultimate/game of the year editions of their games, something that's obviously not a good long term strategy for their profit margins. I think it would have been a lot more fair and enticing if the gave people some real rewards for being early adopters - for example, giving pre-orders free season passes. (Also, actually include all the dlc in the season passes, not just a few of them.) I would have been a lot more tempted to pre-order Saints Row 4 for $60 if I'd known I'd also be getting all future dlc for that price. Instead I waited until it was $25 to get the game for Xbox (and probably won't buy any dlc for that platform) and will likely wait until a Full Package version is on steam for under $20 before buying the PC version.

 

[Gondar]

While I might agree with some of those points (partiuclarly how a lot of the DLC felt kind of useless or overpowered or low-effort) the thing to note is the pricing almost certainly wasn't something Volition had control over, that was likely THQ alone as they're the ones who set pricing on things they sell. Thus, they'd be the ones to complain to (and considering they went under shortly after, they kind of suffered enough). Also, while some of hte DLC did feel half-baked like the gang outfits, part of the problem is for some reason while they DID find the problems in testing and fix it.. the fixes never made it into the patch. Again, THQ.

Although I can't argue with the fact that a lot felt very superficial, but some people LIKE costume selections or tricked-out custom vehicles. I guess it does make for a decent choice of DLC content. Most people go "Ha no" but some people go "Ooo cool more costumes" and buy it. Remember, that's the entire business model of a lot of free-to-payplay MMOs..
Although I don't think there's any real justification for selling cheats (well except for console users and I guess the obvious justification of "people buy it"), and I do agree they should have figured a way to balance the DLC vehicles into the game, but I guess then they'd end up with people whining they just paid for this cool tank why can't they use it immediately?

 

[tonicmole]

ASH! Basically, ignore everything I've ever said. Sure I want huge missions, and new gameplay, but......the cast of What'ch Play'n Ash.....that is epic on so many levels. Basically, Volition get's a free pass from me for quite a while. I was all like "Whaaaaa.....DL'd."

 

[T0MMY3688]

I find the DLCs nicely priced, especially those with new weapons. $3 for a a one or two new costume and a brand new weapon is a nice deal to me, not too expensive and it is pretty worth it. The costumes only DLCs are a bit expensive since it is just cosmetic stuff and dont really bring much replay value. The EtD DLC is bit pricey to me, the cutscenes are amazing but the missions is not really fun and it is the same mission you've played before (pony cart race, Paul's mouth and etc), $7 for a DLC that last less than an hour is too expensive.

 

[Protom-Lad]

For me, another pack of "Hey its these people you know from a thing!"-Homies doesn't change my stance. Especially when homies are like, never useful in the game.

And I had actually completely forgotten about the executive privilege pack. If I had, I seriously would have added 'I hate Volitions DLC practices' to my vote. Selling cheats like that is absolute scumbaggery.

Like others have said, Volition had a chance to save their image in regards to DLC, but pulled the same moneygrubbing crap. Extremely dissapointing.

 

[Corrodias]

You know, i thought that shit was because of THQ. It was right up their alley at the end, with all the penny-pinching DLC they pulled in Darksiders 2 (make yer horse run faster, for only 99.99.99!!). Apparently it was not solely their influence.

 

[linkfire12]

I'm not sure what the bar of quality is for dlc, but whats released in this game is highly unsatisfying, I really want more to do, and I'm not sure how extensive mod support will be once the sdk is out. If after Saints Row 4, how the saints saved christmas was the first dlc to come out, I would be excited due to lack of awareness of what to expect. But after the ETD dlc, which was not what I hoped at all, my expectations have been lowered. If the price was higher than 6 dollars, I may have thought "Oh! Mabye it has a higher budget!" I have the season pass, so I might as well play it, but I'm very hesitant.