Now we all know about DLC with it's pros and cons, how it could be used to enhance a game or encourage greedy behaviour from companies. However we can all agree that DLC as a feature is something new and was made possible this gen with internet enabled consoles and faster internet connections.
Depending on the DLC it could add value to a game and keep it relevant and interesting for months after that game has been released. We can say that DLC is a feature that adds more content to an already released game (whether said content is good, bad or worth the price is not the focus here) and as such is an enhancement to gaming since the previous generations.
Well then what about ULC? What does ULC even mean? Let me explain, I noticed that in this generation some games seem to be losing value as time goes by. ULC or what I call Unloadable Content is the opposite of DLC. Where DLC adds new content to a game ULC is when content from a game expires or becomes obsolete.
This especially affects games with online multi-player features. At some point a few years after a game is released, the devs or publishers decide to take down the online servers for whatever reason (reduce budget, no one plays it anymore, etc) thus making part of the game no longer playable.
Examples of this are Chromehounds, Metal Gear Solid Online, The Club and it almost affected Demon's Souls as well.
So some players pay full price for a complete game only to have a part of that game taken away after a few years. What if someone bought a game a bit late (granted not at full price) only to have the online features for that game shut down a mere few weeks after his/her purchase? What if this happened to a fully online multi-player game like Warhawk? I know it's very unlikely now but will we be able to still play these games say 10 years from now like we do with "retro" games nowadays?
Now I'm not blaming the companies for doing such thing, running servers is costly and if very few players still come online compared to when their game first released then there's no point in continuing to do so. However this is still a problem and technically these games are losing part of their value over time.
In a manner of speaking, ULC loosely reminds me of on disc DLC. The content is there on the disc and you paid for it but are unable to access it for some reason or another.
What are your thoughts? Are there any other forms of ULC you have encountered in other games?
Depending on the DLC it could add value to a game and keep it relevant and interesting for months after that game has been released. We can say that DLC is a feature that adds more content to an already released game (whether said content is good, bad or worth the price is not the focus here) and as such is an enhancement to gaming since the previous generations.
Well then what about ULC? What does ULC even mean? Let me explain, I noticed that in this generation some games seem to be losing value as time goes by. ULC or what I call Unloadable Content is the opposite of DLC. Where DLC adds new content to a game ULC is when content from a game expires or becomes obsolete.
This especially affects games with online multi-player features. At some point a few years after a game is released, the devs or publishers decide to take down the online servers for whatever reason (reduce budget, no one plays it anymore, etc) thus making part of the game no longer playable.
Examples of this are Chromehounds, Metal Gear Solid Online, The Club and it almost affected Demon's Souls as well.
So some players pay full price for a complete game only to have a part of that game taken away after a few years. What if someone bought a game a bit late (granted not at full price) only to have the online features for that game shut down a mere few weeks after his/her purchase? What if this happened to a fully online multi-player game like Warhawk? I know it's very unlikely now but will we be able to still play these games say 10 years from now like we do with "retro" games nowadays?
Now I'm not blaming the companies for doing such thing, running servers is costly and if very few players still come online compared to when their game first released then there's no point in continuing to do so. However this is still a problem and technically these games are losing part of their value over time.
In a manner of speaking, ULC loosely reminds me of on disc DLC. The content is there on the disc and you paid for it but are unable to access it for some reason or another.
What are your thoughts? Are there any other forms of ULC you have encountered in other games?
