Stop Charging for the Blackstone Key

[007Bistromath]

You made it big enough to release actual DLC, so why is it still like this? The workshop feels like a mystery to solve and should've been and you always knew it, but instead it's just an advertisement for the worst value proposition you offer. Irritates me every time I go to the island.

[RCMidas]

Wasn't that part and parcel of the publishing deal? I seem to recall most indie developers get saddled with at least a small pre-order thing attached to their games.

[007Bistromath]

doesn't mean they shouldn't retire it eventually, that's a thing that happens

[ChrisPharmD]

Yeah, I wasn't too thrilled about this one. I mean, if they want to have $5 DLC that's trash, that's whatever, but the fact that it's apparently something inside the game world as a location sucks.

I went ahead and purchased it, but not a great jumping off point for this dev. It would be nice if they made it free for people who don't own it and also made it something worth having. Even a side quest or just a story or something.

But I haven't actually played the game yet. I just bought it. I hope it's good. I'm sure it is.

[007Bistromath]

It's great, I'd just appreciate if it weren't pointlessly defaced with advertising that looks like a wasted plot hook.

[YouMayCallMeMurray]

Originally posted by 007Bistromath:

You made it big enough to release actual DLC, so why is it still like this? The workshop feels like a mystery to solve and should've been and you always knew it, but instead it's just an advertisement for the worst value proposition you offer. Irritates me every time I go to the island.

Which unlocks one engine and one talisman that increases the probability of catching aberrations.. Why you need those or need it for free is something i dont understand so stop being such a baby..

For me the Blackstone key is just something for someone who wants to support the team more. Nothing fancy there.

[A Potato]

stop complaining

[RandomTurtle]

Originally posted by 007Bistromath:

It's great, I'd just appreciate if it weren't pointlessly defaced with advertising that looks like a wasted plot hook.

I mean in a way it is a subtle plot hook. There's a reason why you'd already have the key to the shed on that island. It foreshadows something else in the story.

[007Bistromath]

Originally posted by A Potato:

stop complaining

I will not. Defacing art with embedded advertising is abhorrent. I don't even care about the stuff you get for it. I find the presence of the shed itself objectionable because of what it is. I understand that corporate often mandates doing stuff like this to nickle and dime your players, but it's a fairly common thing for this junk to wear off once the game is established, and we've got one DLC and another on the way so it's pretty established. I think the practice of undoing this kind of capitalist vandalism is a good one, and so I'm complaining about it.

[thelefthorse]

Originally posted by 007Bistromath:

Originally posted by A Potato:

stop complaining

I will not. Defacing art with embedded advertising is abhorrent. I don't even care about the stuff you get for it. I find the presence of the shed itself objectionable because of what it is. I understand that corporate often mandates doing stuff like this to nickle and dime your players, but it's a fairly common thing for this junk to wear off once the game is established, and we've got one DLC and another on the way so it's pretty established. I think the practice of undoing this kind of capitalist vandalism is a good one, and so I'm complaining about it.

So many things to unpack here.

First, the 'art' in question belongs to -- was created by -- the people selling the DLC. Claiming the DLC is 'defacing' the 'art' of the game is akin to telling an author they've defaced their novel by having it published. It's nonsensical.

Accusing people who earn their living by creating, developing, and selling digital content of trying to 'nickle and dime' their customers by . . . selling digital content is, again, nonsensical. It's how they put food on the table, friend. If you don't think the DLC is a good value, don't buy it, but to insist it be given to you for free is a level of entitlement I (luckily) don't encounter frequently.

Think of it this way. You need to buy a car so you can get around. You buy a car for $15k; the car works and gets you where you need to go. The manufacturer of the car you purchased sells the same car with a sunroof; that car costs $16k. Do you question the discrepancy in the pricing or do you understand that the sunroof holds value -- to some -- and, ergo, costs money? Do you need a sunroof for your car to work? No. Have you been cheated by virtue of not being given the sunroof for free? No.

So explain how this exact DLC for Dredge that you are complaining about differs from a sunroof. It is an unnecessary add-on that -- for some -- adds something to the experience of playing a game, in the same way a sunroof -- for some -- adds something to the experience of driving a car. You would never demand a free sunroof, so why demand free DLC?

Is the monetization of sunroofs in cars 'capitalist vandalism'? Lol, no, right? Someone had to make that sunroof. Someone had to modify the car to install the sunroof. Not to mention that the actual components that make up the sunroof have value/cost money. Think for two seconds without your entitlement cap on and you'll see the direct parallel between the value of a sunroof and the value of this DLC you find so 'abhorrent'. Someone had to make that DLC, no? Someone had to add that content to the game, no? Should those people work for free? Do they not deserve to be paid for the work they do? And what do you use to create DLC? Not just brains -- although those are important! -- but you also need equipment, correct? You can't just conjure it out of thin air -- you must have computers, software, hardware, rooms to house those components, electricity to power them, etc., etc., etc.

Now the last part of your justification for deserving things for free that other people have worked hard to create is that, according to you, you've seen other games in which, after some time has passed, DLC that had previously been sold is eventually given away for free. Setting aside for a moment the spuriousness of that claim (I've got hundreds of games in my library and I can't remember a single one that initially had paid DLC only to later release that DLC for free, although I'm sure you've got at least one example, right?), my question to you is this: would you demand a free sunroof for your car because your car is now a few months old? Haha, of course not. That's ridiculous.

Similarly, if you make and sell cars, and another company that makes and sells cars starts giving free sunroofs away, does that mean you are morally obligated to give everyone who buys your car a free sunroof? Are you guilty of some degree of ethical depravity if you elect not to give away a free sunroof to every person who buys one of your cars? Again, of course not.


Tl: dr: Demanding that you are entitled to the fruit of other people's labor might be fun and make you feel like a bada**, but you're actually just telling the world you do not have even a rudimentary grasp of economics.e

[007Bistromath]

Originally posted by thelefthorse:

First, the 'art' in question belongs to -- was created by -- the people selling the DLC. Claiming the DLC is 'defacing' the 'art' of the game is akin to telling an author they've defaced their novel by having it published. It's nonsensical.

They did. The question "art or bread" is an acknowledgement by artists that they must do so in order to be paid. It is ultimately being paid which profanes art. That we need money to live is ultimately due to the decisions of psychotically greedy people. The professional artist participates in a system that threatens to murder them if they don't. We all do this, but it is especially abhorrent that so many artists, the people whose job it is to express emotions, find it necessary to submit themselves to the foulest new business practices, and hope that sufficiently decorating the advertisement would make it less upsetting.

I am willing to tolerate some bag chasing. They deserve to make a living. That's why I bought their game and the DLC and I'll get the next one. In the case of the "buy my starter kit shack", this form of call to action is deeply offensive and they shouldn't have done it.

Dredge is too good to do that sort of thing to it.

[BubbaLovesYa-TTV]

Blackstone key is a straight up scam. Many games have "supporter packs" and that's fine, but this game literally misleads you into thinking the building contains something mysterious just for you to find out it's 2 measley items locked behind a paywall that you can never open by actually just playing. It's really weird seeing indie devs act if they're EA.

[SuaveMonke]

Originally posted by 007Bistromath:

Originally posted by thelefthorse:

First, the 'art' in question belongs to -- was created by -- the people selling the DLC. Claiming the DLC is 'defacing' the 'art' of the game is akin to telling an author they've defaced their novel by having it published. It's nonsensical.

They did. The question "art or bread" is an acknowledgement by artists that they must do so in order to be paid. It is ultimately being paid which profanes art. That we need money to live is ultimately due to the decisions of psychotically greedy people. The professional artist participates in a system that threatens to murder them if they don't. We all do this, but it is especially abhorrent that so many artists, the people whose job it is to express emotions, find it necessary to submit themselves to the foulest new business practices, and hope that sufficiently decorating the advertisement would make it less upsetting.

I am willing to tolerate some bag chasing. They deserve to make a living. That's why I bought their game and the DLC and I'll get the next one. In the case of the "buy my starter kit shack", this form of call to action is deeply offensive and they shouldn't have done it.

Dredge is too good to do that sort of thing to it.

This person, is probably one of the most unhinged weirdos, depicting severe levels of unemployed behaviour. I sincerely don't care about a single thing they say, they have zero value to anyone or anything on this planet.

[SuaveMonke]

Originally posted by BubbaLovesYa-TTV:

Blackstone key is a straight up scam. Many games have "supporter packs" and that's fine, but this game literally misleads you into thinking the building contains something mysterious just for you to find out it's 2 measley items locked behind a paywall that you can never open by actually just playing. It's really weird seeing indie devs act if they're EA.

"The mysterious workshop on Blackstone Isle is locked tight. Inside are otherworldly creations, products of cruel machinations by the previous occupants. Now they lie idle and abandoned.

With this key you can put them to some use.

This grants access to the following items:

Arterial Engine
The bony blades of this grotesque engine are driven by a pulsing heart. It beats in time with your own.

Sign of Ruin
A symbol of the deep is carved into this small talisman. It's sure to draw the attention of those attuned to it."

Is it a scam, or are you just the deadly combo of brain dead and entitled?

[Amphibian Artillery]

I believe the devs stated that in order for Team 17 to publish the game they had to make a game one DLC and they decided it to be the Blackstone Key. The Devs stated that they don't intend for people to buy the DLC as a standalone, but rather get it with the deluxe edition bundle since it's an extra goodie alongside the art book and soundtrack. Sure this sucks and is definitely a predatory practice, but it was the cost for this game to be published.

[Xeno]

Originally posted by thelefthorse:

So many things to unpack here. [...]

Wow, this comparison is so bad it's actually fascinating. And completely misses the point. Sticking to the novel comparison: Imagine you buy a book but there is a blank page which notifies you to order content for this page with some background story for a character or a piece of plot. This is exactly what this DLC does. It reminds you, that you are missing a part of experience every time you stumble upon this "blank page". They could have put an ad icon in the main menu, but integrating locked content in the world is such a bad practice. And someone not knowing that its content hidden behind a paywall will be very frustrated to try to unlock it.