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Falus

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,656
It's becoming quite annoying. Getting a season pass with a game promising stuff never delivered or never in time. Right now I'm thinking of kakarot. Bought deluxe for season pass. Promised 3 dlc within the first year. This year is gone and never heard anything about the 3rd dlc which is supposed to be the meaty one (first two were super short ). I know covid, and other stuff. But it's not the first time and surely not the last time. Opinions ?
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,319
Things get delayed in literally every entertainment industry. Don't buy season passes without even knowing what you're being sold, and also COVID has a more than substantial impact on these things.
 

CloseTalker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,658
I'm not sure how many season passes are out there where the promised content is straight up never delivered. Delays happen regularly enough, it's frustrating but that's the industry. Don't pay for a promise.
 

m0therzer0

Mobile Gaming Product Manager
Verified
Nov 19, 2017
1,495
San Francisco bay area
That's shitty. I've never bought a season pass; are they frequently late with the content, or over-promising on what they deliver? If a dev was continually under-performing, I'd expect the it's the platforms responsibility to step in to remedy the situation.
 

Twister

Member
Feb 11, 2019
5,083
No, that's up to the consumer to decide what they will and won't spend on clearly advertised products. Lootboxes/gambling are different though
 

Bundy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
20,931
Right now I'm thinking of kakarot. Bought deluxe for season pass. Promised 3 dlc within the first year. This year is gone and never heard anything about the 3rd dlc which is supposed to be the meaty one (first two were super short ). I know covid...
You answered your own question.

Overall, games take time. If it's not ready or if they find some game breaking bugs (just look at Cyberpunk) they have to delay it. So don't buy season passes if delays annoy you so much. Just buy the stuff on release day, or even later when it's cheaper.
 

Gamer @ Heart

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,603
No. At a certain point consumers have to take responsibility for what they purchase without the government having to step in and baby us. Buying a season pass at launch for anything has repeatedly been shown to be unwise for the past 10 years they have been common, either because the content is lackluster sometimes or the FREQUENTLY go on sale before all the items are released.

Make an informed decision based on the publishers/developers history of delivering.
 

TaySan

SayTan
Member
Dec 10, 2018
31,452
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Nah, just avoid season passes at launch. By the time all the content is out, it will be on discount anyway so it doesn't make sense to buy at launch when you don't know the quality of the content is.
 
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ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,365
You can't really regulate things being delayed/taking a little longer than expected.

If you bought a Season Pass and the promised content never came then I'd expect refunds from the store. But, as always, buyer beware and don't buy something if you don't know what's going to be in it. And if you do and the some of it gets delayed, just wait a little longer. I appriciate it sucks though.
 

XR.

Member
Nov 22, 2018
6,583
I don't think there's anything to regulate. It's practically the same thing as a traditional pre-order; you can only know so much about what you're buying in advance but in the end you're the one making that decision by pre-ordering. You have the option to either give them your money now or by the time it's released, it's entirely up to you.
 

leng jai

Member
Nov 2, 2017
15,119
Buying season passes or deluxe editions is absolutely pointless when you have no idea what the quality of it is going to be and half the time they're half price by the time all the content is out.
 

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,380
You're paying money for a bunch of skins, voice lines, coinz, and whatever else is in that particular game's season pass. So long as that product is sold to you in a way that did not deceive you, it's a fair offering. In no way does purchasing a season pass guarantee a delivery of additional content down the line. You paid for some doo-dads and you got some doo-dads.
 

EggmaniMN

Banned
May 17, 2020
3,465
The only regulation needed is consumers regulating their own buying of season passes without the contents fully specified or dated.
 
Oct 25, 2017
3,240
No. It's 2021, anyone buying a season pass has access to the internet and can do the basic 2 min research to see what's included in the pass and if it has a concrete release date.
 

Lemony1984

Member
Jul 7, 2020
6,720
Buying the season pass at launch is never worth it.

Buying a season pass at any time/price is very rarely worth it.
 

DeoGame

Member
Dec 11, 2018
5,077
For delays? No. Shit happens.

For missing content? Absofuckinglutely. If what is marketed is not delivered, then you should be partially refunded.
 

Chettlar

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,604
That's shitty. I've never bought a season pass; are they frequently late with the content, or over-promising on what they deliver? If a dev was continually under-performing, I'd expect the it's the platforms responsibility to step in to remedy the situation.

I've really not ever noticed this happening on a significant scale.
 

pezzie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,440
Most of the time, I only buy a season pass after the content is complete. Sometimes I'll buy it at halfway, like say 2/4 DLC packs are released and they're getting really good buzz. That way at least I'll get to be getting some immediate value for the money I paid, and I know I'm getting something fun, even if the remaining 2/4 DLC packs are duds.
 

Tatsu91

Banned
Apr 7, 2019
3,147
Nah, just avoid season passes at launch. By the time all the content is out, it will be on discount anyway so it doesn't make sense to buy at launch when you don't know the quality of the content is.
this i only buy passes that are from series with reputations for being meaty and good Ie the Borderlands and AC games.
 

OmegaDL50

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,690
Philadelphia, PA
I've really not ever noticed this happening on a significant scale.

The only one egregious example I can think is Ni no Kuni II.

Game came out promising fairly large updates shortly after launch. Game was released March of 2018 and the first "substantial" add-on came out December 2018, a full 9 months later and the 2nd one was March of 2019 a full year after the games initial release. A lot of folks moved on from the game after that point.

Tecmo Koei is hit or miss. Stuff like Nioh 1 and 2's Season content was excellent, adding entirely new story chapters, new enemies, increasing the challenge adding new difficulty levels and even raising the level caps for each additional new episode.

While the inverse you have Dead or Alive 5 and 6 which is multiple season passes all costing more than the $60 MSRP of the game, most of it comprised of mainly of cosmetic DLC, I think DOA5 alone had over $1000 of DLC, across 7 Season Passes, also there was content not even part of them too. The only thing that is comparable is probably some FP2 mobile gacha game, not from a $60 MSRP console title.

It's a shame not every expansion pass / season pass is like Mario Kart 8. The base game had 32 tracks across 8 cups. The Expansion Pass added 16 more which is equivalent of 50% of the games track count at launch, pumping up the totals to 48 tracks in all, the largest in terms of variety in the series to date. The most notable thing though is 25 of the 48 tracks are all entirely new. So the updates were substantial with the majority of being new content despite the remakes of older tracks such as SNES Rainbow Road for example.
 

Jolkien

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,758
Anchorage/Alaska
The only season pass that was worth it as far as I recall it's Witcher 3. No idea why people pay in advance for future content, often of dubious quality.
 

Chettlar

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,604
The only one egregious example I can think is Ni no Kuni II.

Game came out promising fairly large updates shortly after launch. Game was released March of 2018 and the first "substantial" add-on came out December 2018, a full 9 months later and the 2nd one was March of 2019 a full year after the games initial release. A lot of folks moved on from the game after that point.

Tecmo Koei is hit or miss. Stuff like Nioh 1 and 2's Season content was excellent, adding entirely new story chapters, new enemies, increasing the challenge adding new difficulty levels and even raising the level caps for each additional new episode.

While the inverse you have Dead or Alive 5 and 6 which is multiple season passes all costing more than the $60 MSRP of the game, most of it comprised of mainly of cosmetic DLC, I think DOA5 alone had over $1000 of DLC, across 7 Season Passes, also there was content not even part of them too. The only thing that is comparable is probably some FP2 mobile gacha game, not from a $60 MSRP console title.

It's a shame not every expansion pass / season pass is like Mario Kart 8. The base game had 32 tracks across 8 cups. The Expansion Pass added 16 more which is equivalent of 50% of the games track count at launch, pumping up the totals to 48 tracks in all, the largest in terms of variety in the series to date. The most notable thing though is 25 of the 48 tracks are all entirely new. So the updates were substantial with the majority of being new content despite the remakes of older tracks such as SNES Rainbow Road for example.

Oh man I did remember reading about Ni No Kuni II. I think it didn't come to mind because like...no one seemed to care about that game.
 

Yuntu

Prophet of Regret
Member
Nov 7, 2019
10,691
Germany
No. Just wait til content is out before buying it. We do not need regulation for every inclnvenience.
 

Laser Ramon

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,629
Whining about delayed DLC during covid to the point of suggesting federal regulation is some heinous shit
 

Son of Sparda

The Wise Ones
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,619
I don't know about the specific issue in the OP but it feels like someone should regulate some of those DLC/Season Pass prices. Koei Tecmo stuff in particular are usually egregious. Everyone brings up DoA when it comes to these stuff (for good reasons) but even the other KT games have become really bad in this regard.
Screenshot_2021-02-16_FAIRY_TAIL_Season_Pass.png


$60 season pass for 4 characters in a turn based RPG, most of which have already moves and attacks in the game and feel like they should've been in the base game to begin with considering the story and the arc that they are covering, plus some costumes and one extra dungeon (in a game that all of its dungeons have a very simple, lackluster and repetitive design).

And if that wasn't bad enough, this game already sold a $75 Deluxe Edition that doesn't include any of the season pass stuff either, because they announced season pass much later.
Screenshot_2021-02-16_FAIRY_TAIL_Season_Pass1.png


And the kick in the teeth is the fact that the game neither looks or runs that well either. It looks like early PS3 games and runs even worse, with it constantly dropping to mid to low 20fps.

So, a badly optimized $60 AA title with a $75 deluxe edition and an additional $60 season pass with contents that honestly should've been there in the first place.
 
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Korigama

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,514
i just make a point of not paying for passes/bundles unless I know exactly what I'm getting in them, which typically means waiting out drip-feed marketing (unless there are leaks to disrupt that) and waiting on sales that come after everything promised has been delivered.
 
Oct 25, 2017
19,104
I'd rather the government work on giving dying americans health care and voting rights instead of regulating Dragon Ball Z because I didn't get my beep boop shoot bang part 3 on time.
 

Ringten

Member
Nov 15, 2017
6,195
No offense to anyone, but why pre order the season pass.
You can always get it just before the dlc is about to come, mid dlc, or at the end.

More often than not its cheaper aswell at that point.

Was it Control last year that had a season pass, that went on 50% sale before they had even released a single dlc.
 

Deleted member 1003

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,638
This is why I don't buy the season pass or preorder DLC until the content is there to actually be played. But I'm not sure what you mean but regulate. Like you what the government to hold them responsible to a vague promise?
 

MrCibb

Member
Dec 12, 2018
5,349
UK
I don't think so, no. What you describe is annoying, but stuff can get delayed. If they constantly don't deliver the content at all then that'd be an issue, but a delay isn't enough to be looking for regulation of any form. Seems very hyperbolic.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,980
No offense to anyone, but why pre order the season pass.
You can always get it just before the dlc is about to come, mid dlc, or at the end.

More often than not its cheaper aswell at that point.

Was it Control last year that had a season pass, that went on 50% sale before they had even released a single dlc.
Yup, same as I was thinking. Telltale were bad at this where the season passes for the rest of their episodes would (at one point) routinely go on sale before all the episodes were even released.
 

Valkerion

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,245
Delays happen, but buying season passes without any idea of whats in them other than "please be excited" is bad decision making but also some shady ass tactics by these companies.
 

Chettlar

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,604
I feel like to do this you would also have to legislate ensuring games get released on time too since they offer preorders on those.

And that's just...not a reality that can happen with any kind of legal force.
 

Rimpim

Banned
Feb 7, 2021
100
It's becoming quite annoying. Getting a season pass with a game promising stuff never delivered or never in time. Right now I'm thinking of kakarot. Bought deluxe for season pass. Promised 3 dlc within the first year. This year is gone and never heard anything about the 3rd dlc which is supposed to be the meaty one (first two were super short ). I know covid, and other stuff. But it's not the first time and surely not the last time. Opinions ?
No.

Things get delayed and changed in the process. Buy the DLC once it is out, problem solved.
 

SanTheSly

The San Symphony Project
Member
Sep 2, 2019
6,518
United Kingdom
As much as I love some games like Smash Bros, I still wait to see all of the content of a Season Pass before buying it.

It helps on my end that games are so expensive I can't even consider buying the season pass with the game/as soon as it's announced anyway.

But yeah, having been burned on bad DLC before I just don't buy any of this stuff blind any more.

I don't know if it needs regulating the same way as lootboxes do, because that's literally gambling at super low odds for completely frivolous cosmetics, but I do understand the FOMO element of not playing Season Pass content as soon as it drops.

It's really up to you to decide what you're comfortable with spending before any guarantees of the end product.
 

Croc Man

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,546
Yes, it should be clear what you're getting and when.
Reasonable delays are fine, especially in a pandemic, however in normal circumstances you should be entitled to at least a partial refund after a certain amount of time.