Gamer torment: Expansion ripp-offs

[Dreamer128]

Has anyone else noted that the prices of expansion packs for games are almost rising as fast as the quality is droping!
In the old days expansion packs were cheap(mostly half, or even a third of the price of the original) extensions of top-games and included new campains, movies, units,spells, weapons(depending on the type of game) etc. (Think of Warcraft2: Beyond the Dark portal, C&C Covert operations and Starcraft: Broodwars)
Now, they only include a few short new levels and almost cost the same price as the original!
Notable examples are Halflife:Blueshift(wich can be finished in less then an hour), Heart of winter and the diablo2 expension wich only includes one new act and the option to play the entire game all over again with one of the new classes!
Too make things even worse, developers have now discovered the stand-alone expension(Such as Half-life:gunman, Commandos:beyond the call of duty, Homeworld.Cataclysm).
Wich is the same thing as a normal expension but doesn´t require the original game to run, result:we get the same stuff at a much higher cost.
I think im really going to enjoy the few good expensions left, such as TOB.
You have been warned.

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Those who watch their backs meet death from the front- Dreamer128 paladin of the order of the holy flame.

[Jerome]

Not about half-life: You can download virtually THOUSANDS of diffrent homemade MOD's for Half-Life....free!. And some of them are pretty good, despite the fact that the engine is starting to show its age

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[Dreamer128]

Sure half-life is great, i bought it myself.
Only Blueshift sucks with no extra weapons, multiplayer maps etc
And its also way too short.
And take gunman, it was suppose to be a free half-life mod but instead it became an less-then-average-and-way-overprized game.

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Those who watch their backs meet death from the front- Dreamer128 paladin of the order of the holy flame.

[Staralfur]

Originally posted by Dreamer128: Sure half-life is great, i bought it myself. Only Blueshift sucks with no extra weapons, multiplayer maps etc And its also way too short. And take gunman, it was suppose to be a free half-life mod but instead it became an less-then-average-and-way-overprized game.

Thanks for the warning guys, I was considering buying Blueshift (until ToB came out). It might only cost £15 here, but for only an hour of play it hardly seems worth it. Opposing force was pretty good though, but could have been a bit longer.
I've just bought ToB, I'm not sure how far through I am yet (so be careful in any replies), but the story line seems a bit weak, and I think I can pretty much guess the end battle (infact I'm sticking with the theory I had when I first entered Saradush - I'll say no more). However, the battles in general are some of the best, which sort of makes up for it. I get the impression, like a lot of expansion packs, it has been rushed out the door.

In general I'd agree, it's like sequals to films; they're normally there to ride on the success of the first, and would have never got anywhere without the original.

[slackerboy]

I played gunman and blueshift (didn't pay for them, lets just say that trough some fluke of the internet they wound up on my system). both were mere hours long (if that) and i'm very glad i didn't pay my hard earned money for them.

but i did enjoy homeworld:cataclysm

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[Bahamut]

Well, I have to admit, I finished the Diablo II exp in round a day... i mean if you add the number of hours i played through it in a span of two days. As for it, I believe what pays off is what you do not really see... which are the items... tremendous amounts of items, new ones, and it has become a whole new different ball game... Diablo II thrives on its replayability, so no matter how you put it, you will feel the expansion is worth it if you are a hardcore Diablo II fan...

I have to agree also about the prices... i mean, We bought the original game, cut us some slack!!! That goes for ToB as well.

Half-Life, Counterstrike is very popular here, and i think its stand alone already... is it? But I know it is as expensive as any other normal game... say like BG2?

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Yukishiro Tomoe

[Dreamer128]

Bump

[Waluin]

Originally posted by Jerome: Not about half-life: You can download virtually THOUSANDS of diffrent homemade MOD's for Half-Life....free!. And some of them are pretty good, despite the fact that the engine is starting to show its age

OH MY GOD. If you haven't experienced it yet: Halflife: Counterstrike. The best HL mod ever made aside from Team Fortress.

I've played it for 2 years running.

[Redblueflare]

I do believe that TOB was a little overpriced. In fact I bought so much I couldn't afford it when I went to the good old USA. I think the story is nice so far, although I'm a little bit further than you Staralfur. I'm definitely planning to buy LOD. Sure it's only one extra act, but the three new character classes, and new items will make it worth it. I don't know a thing about half life. Although I have brood wars. (Which was also worth it.)

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Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just don't have to listen.

[Dreamer128]

Keep in mind that Tob is larger then most games and im perfecly willing to sponsor bioware

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Those who watch their backs meet death from the front- Dreamer128 Demonslayer of the OHF.

[This message has been edited by Dreamer128 (edited 07-25-2001).]