Comments on: Too Little, Too Late: The Dark Side of DLC

By: LC

LC — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:36:02 +0000

I see it as price gouging, an under handed market gimmick that makes gamers feel like they have to buy content to get the full experience… but wait, didn't I just pay $60 for your game? how about some customer appreciation?

By: Kosamus

Kosamus — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:34:00 +0000

DLC will be up for much discussion till the internet dies, which is not going to happen unless that Terminator prophecy comes true. Give me more Knights of the Nine DLC and less horse armor. I personally am sick and tired of getting the whole PC patch route fixed upon my console gaming. I am tired of games getting rushed because of the season, movie tie-ins, sudden employment releases, and the dreaded we'll fix it later approach. I know every bug can't be found before release but how to you release games like The Orange Box, The Darkness and Mr. Driller with so many bugs that playing online is almost impossible. Some bugs can be ignored and dealt with till a patch eventually comes around 3-6 months later mark when everyone has picked up the next big hype and forgotten about (ex: Team Fortress II). When I want to play a game the way it was intended; I want to on launch day – not next quarter.

By: Silverthorne

Silverthorne — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:45:05 +0000

It really is quite interesting to hear some inside perspective from one of the developers himself. The size of your development team makes the quality of the game you've created that much more impressive. I have to say, I'm glad to hear some feedback; Aurora Feint is really fun, and ridiculously addictive. Imagine then my dismay when, upon updating, my Enlightened Level 4 suddenly turned into a Journeyman Level 0. I considered briefly quitting for good, but it speaks volumes for your game that I just bit the bullet and started over. This latest update was fantastic for the Aurora Feint; aside from the account problem I've only experienced one in-game issue with this version (frozen blocks.) I've stated before that Aurora Feint IS the best game for iPhone; and its pricetag (free) is a big factor in that. (I have to admit that even if the game were $10, I would happily pay.) Other writers and hosts here at Platform Nation also love the game, and I know of several individuals from much, much bigger enthusiast sites who can't stop talking about it. I only question bug issues with the game because I already hold it in such high regards. I also understand that issues arise among consumers that developers and beta testers may never encounter. For instances like that, I am quite thankful that a means of patching games actually exists. Keep up the good work, and tell Danielle to do the same; the game gets better with each version. As a note to readers, I encourage you to make a PayPal donation to support the Aurora Feint development team so that they can keep working on improving the game experience. You can make a donation to Danielle Cassley's email, which can be found on her profile in the Aurora Feint forums.

By: Jason Citron

Jason Citron — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:59:34 +0000

I'm one of the developers on Aurora Feint. I thought I'd chime in to give an "inside" perspective. I'm not trying to defend our bugs or anything of the sort. When I heard people were having account issues after we released the new update, I lost sleep trying to figure out what went wrong. You can imagine, as a start up with only two developers, we don't have the luxury to spend a year working on our game to make it as polished as you might expect. I'm honored that we were paired in the same sentence as Monkey Ball — but don't confuse us for them. We don't have anything like the capitol resources that Sega does to produce its games. Aurora Feint is indie development to its core. We just hope that people will recognize this and give us a little slack around the corners when we slip up. Thanks for playing our game though! Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you want to chat more.