I’m not keen and encouraging it, per se; am just a realist. They’re a business, and I’m a consumer. If the only way for me to ever see the type of content I suggested is to have DLC packs at $0.99 a pop – when the alternative is to NEVER get it … which is how it’s been pretty much for 2+ decades with AoE1/2/3… then it’s my decision to suggest it as a potential option so that maybe someday they will do it and I can finally see some of that stuff in random maps I play. You don’t have to be on-board, that’s your prerogative.
You suggest my idea is anti-consumer and wholly pro-business, spinning things with entirely negative connotations and, essentially, berating anyone who devises any non-free strategy to try and get what they want… and yet you’ve probably bought all the AoE expansion packs… which are, essentially, DLC with a much higher price-point than I’m suggesting. You sound pretty keen on high-priced DLC. Why does the delineating point of what’s free vs. what’s paid-for have to be “new civ added”?
You’ll get your “new civ expansion packs.” However, my weather packs, lighting packs, tree packs, gaia packs, FX packs, environment packs, water packs, 4 seasons packs, time of day packs, audio packs, etc., will never see the light of day “for free” if the AoE status quo is maintained. It’s never been done before. Nor have they ever been included in expansion packs. (The trickle of neat things like ‘pumpkin patch’ farms and ‘berry bush variants’ are not nearly the caliber and scope of what I’m suggesting. Nor are one-off maps that get added.)
I’m not aware of too many multi-national corporations that are charities. I bought a PC, why don’t they upgrade my RAM a couple times for free within a few years of my purchase? My cell phone slowly goes obsolete over a few years, why can’t they install a new camera and CPU for free within the first year or two of owning? The cereal I bought today will be gone in a week; I really wish they’d add a scoop of new cereal to my box off every other week for a few months. Where’s the Pepsi/Coke machine to get free refills for a month after buying a bottle? Why can’t I transfer my cinema movie ticket to a friend so they can watch the same movie for free sometime or get a free popcorn with it?
For video games, I do expect some level of “free content” for a while after getting a game because we’re used to it. Hopefully, they give all the packs I suggested for free (included in my purchase) someday. If they wouldn’t in a million years do that for free, at least they know I’d be willing to buy little DLC packs to make it happen someday. And they also know you wouldn’t. So, it’s up to them to do the market research to justify any costs associated with making said content, and do the pros/cons studies, to see if they can afford providing us the content for free.
