Expansion vs. DLC

[JFarrell71]

? What kingdom management in ToB? We were either adventuring or in pocket plane in ToB?

There's Nalia's family castle you can reclaim if you're playing as a fighter class, but there's not much management involved and it's base game content.

 

[purpleblob]

There's Nalia's family castle you can reclaim if you're playing as a fighter class, but there's not much management involved and it's base game content.

That's not ToB, its part of Fighter stronghold quest in the main campaign (SoA) itself - so its not a DLC/expansion content (ToB)

 

[JFarrell71]

That's not ToB, its part of Fighter stronghold quest in the main campaign (SoA) itself - so its not a DLC/expansion content (ToB)

That's what I said. I said it was base game content.

 

[Redglyph]

Perhaps we misunderstand one another or I poorly explained it but how many of the numbers/letters are checked and how has that changed over time?

@JFarrell71 and I were discussing the amount of content over time. J thought add-one/expansions have been a similar size over time and I’m not so sure.

You (@Redglyph ) seem to think #7 (cosmetic/clothing/makeup/models) alone is an “expansion” and I feel most people here disagree and/or cry old man tears.

I don't see any reason why size should matter. An expansion expands the content, however small. It's the definition of the word and so the ultimate criterion for me. As I mentioned, DLC only brings the notion of download, which is now outdated.

I've seen both terms interchangeably for several types of content, so I think the point is moot. It's like trying to argue exactly what an RPG is.

 

[soola]

Throne of Bhaal

Autocomplete grumble grumble

 

[soola]

That's not ToB, its part of Fighter stronghold quest in the main campaign (SoA) itself - so its not a DLC/expansion content (ToB)

My bad. I haven’t played in a while. Doesn’t the stronghold stuff vary by class? Like if it is a bard then it’s a theater or something?

Anyway, main point was my attempt at qualifying what comes in an expansion. Be cool to see some sort of histogram of expansion/add-on/DLC content over the years.

Sometimes main game content would make a great expansion (BG2 stronghold for instance) but I digress.

 

[JFarrell71]

My bad. I haven’t played in a while. Doesn’t the stronghold stuff vary by class? Like if it is a bard then it’s a theater or something?

That's exactly what it is for a bard. I played as a bard in my first complete BG2 playthrough.

There's also particular druid content, wizard and thief content. The thief content also includes some management, of a guild branch. I can't recall if there's specific cleric content off the top of my head, but it seems likely.

 

[purpleblob]

My bad. I haven’t played in a while. Doesn’t the stronghold stuff vary by class? Like if it is a bard then it’s a theater or something?

Yes, stronghold quest varies depending on your class

Sometimes main game content would make a great expansion (BG2 stronghold for instance) but I digress.

Hmm I think class stronghold is cool idea but I need it to somehow tie into a bigger plot to qualify as an expansion.

 

[JDR13]

I don't see any reason why size should matter. An expansion expands the content, however small. It's the definition of the word and so the ultimate criterion for me. As I mentioned, DLC only brings the notion of download, which is now outdated.

I don't think it's hard to understand why so many associate size with it to some degree. When the term was first coined, that's when we started seeing all these tiny DLC (like cosmetics) flood the market. Oblivion's horse armor was the first time I can remember seeing it called "DLC".

Back then, people assumed "DLC" was going to be something smallish. That's obviously no longer the case, but it's stuck with some people.

 

[Stingray]

Yep, "DLC" meant small because if it wasn't small, then it would have been sold at retail in a box, not as a download. The entire implication of the word "download" in the abbreviation "DLC" was that you were going to get something small'ish, much smaller than typical expansions or addons of the past. So small that you could just download it...

The downloadable-ness was never the focus of the abbreviation. The fact it was downloadable was just an indirect result of the fact it was small. But nobody would ever call it "SC" for Small Content, because that's bad marketing.

 

[purpleblob]

That's exactly what it is for a bard. I played as a bard in my first complete BG2 playthrough.

There's also particular druid content, wizard and thief content. The thief content also includes some management, of a guild branch. I can't recall if there's specific cleric content off the top of my head, but it seems likely.

There is one for clerics yes. And paladins & rangers too (if you count getting a place for free rest that is lol)

 

[JFarrell71]

Yep, "DLC" meant small because if it wasn't small, then it would have been sold at retail in a box, not as a download. The entire implication of the word "download" in the abbreviation "DLC" was that you were going to get something small'ish, much smaller than typical expansions or addons of the past. So small that you could just download it...

The downloadable-ness was never the focus of the abbreviation. The fact it was downloadable was just an indirect result of the fact it was small. But nobody would ever call it "SC" for Small Content, because that's bad marketing.

that is some entirely made-up stuff, but nice try

 

[Stingray]

that is some entirely made-up stuff, but nice try

This from the guy who couldn't even remember whether BG1/BG2 expansions would have been sold digitally back when they were released... (Of course they weren't, that kind of thing didn't really start happening until nearly a decade later)

 

[bjon045]

I believe the first time the acronym "DLC" was used by Bethesda with their content for Oblivion. They released 2 that they called Expansions and the rest were labelled "DLC".

Of course the usage of the acronym then became widespread and now it pretty much applies to everything so it has lost any value at all as a term.

Of course there was plenty of games that did it before Oblvion but I am almost certain they didn't use the tag "DLC".

 

[Stingray]

Yeah, I don’t remember anything before Oblivion using the term “DLC” either.

Here’s a quote from those DLC pioneers at Bethesda back in 2006 about what exactly would constitute a DLC:

"We're one of the first developers doing stuff like this, so we'll have to see what types of downloads people prefer," the spokesperson added. "It's hard to tell right now until we have more stuff out, how many people want item plug-ins, versus quests or locations, and so forth. It certainly may be the case that some plug-ins will appeal to some folks and not others, but we hope we'll be able to provide a good variety so that there's something for everyone...and hopefully more than one something for everyone."

 

[JFarrell71]

This from the guy who couldn't even remember whether BG1/BG2 expansions would have been sold digitally back when they were released... (Of course they weren't, that kind of thing didn't really start happening until nearly a decade later)

Not remembering something is on quite a different scale from making stuff up.

 

[JDR13]

that is some entirely made-up stuff, but nice try

Maybe he could have worded it better, but the gist of what he said is completely true. DLC was all about smaller content back then.

 

[bjon045]

I just want to add that the BG2 bonus disk was that came as part of the proper collectors edition was also available as a "DLC" through less legimate sources!!! I don't think you could get it from the Bioware site.

 

[soola]

I just want to add that the BG2 bonus disk was that came as part of the proper collectors edition was also available as a "DLC" through less legimate sources!!! I don't think you could get it from the Bioware site.

You’re saying as a virtual mount right?

 

[bjon045]

You’re saying as a virtual mount right?

Nah. If I recall correctly you just copied the content into the BG2 folder. Even though it came on a CD it was only a couple of MB. There wasn't any copy protection or anything on it - it just had to be in the folder.