Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - General Kickstart 42 Sound. & DLC

Awesome on the sound update.
Still I really hope you people doing right making it 3D sound other you guys wasted a opportunity of a live time.

Also any plans on DLC? It would be a real shame if all that hard work not getting workout out later with additional content.

AFAIK Swen releases DLC. Which, on the other hand, would NOT stop Larian from making proper Expansion Packs (like Neverwinter Nights had).

Currently the focus is on getting the game finished.

After release, that may be one of the possibilities that will be considered (perhaps dependent on what is decided in terms of other platforms or localizations, etc). Unless there is a specific need or great idea for something to add to the story to justify a proper expansion, more mod / GM mode support or starting on another project may make more sense than DLC.

DLC is quite a loss term it can be anything from More gear to more skills etc. Do not have to be story related so long it adds to the game.
I think it's a waste to the game not to make some DLC for it. I like DOS2 and think it would be very successful and what I think it is good mostly is.

I would not mind an extension to the main story or a side story like Blood and Wine for the Witcher 3.
But depending on how the story ends, if you extend the level cap and add more story line you'll also need have more skills and gear for the character progression, etc.

That is a lot of work. But I won't mind paying to have more content on the game.

I understand what you mean, but I am going to have to disagree. I think DLC is one of the most toxic money grabs by almost every publisher (not always developer push) these days. Think of horse armor for Skyrim. Most of the DLC that is put forth are things that should have just been in the base game, or just a blatant money grab or incentive to buy from certain retailers. It adds nothing to the game.

CD Projekt Red did DLC right, they gave away a lot, 18 I think, pieces of DLC that were small but they were also free. Then the released two massive DLC (expansions) that really broadened the game play and were unbelievable in their story tell depth and scope. That is the exception though. If Larian decides to add DLC I hope it is not to break up aspects of the game that should have been base, but to actually expand and improve upon the game. Look at Creative Assembly and their total war games. That is some atrocious DLC pricing and content gouging.

The notorious Horse Armor was Oblivion: I mention that not out of pedantry (well not too much) but rather that, at the time, they seemed to have learnt from that rather gnarly PR disaster and released a proper add-on in the shape of Shivering Isles, and stopped mucking about with such silliness for a good long while.

But it seems it's come back with a vengeance with the Creation Club, which seems a determined effort to combine the infamy of Horse Armor with that of the paid mods fiasco of a couple of years back. Indeed they actually have something with pretty much the same name and it's at that point where I'm not even sure whether or not it's satire.

Obviously I have no problem with paying for actual content, but the idea of paying a substantial chunk of the original cost of the game for one piece of armour that could probably be knocked together in an afternoon doesn't sit well with me.

You are right it was Oblivion. With the effort Bethesda makes in porting skyrim to everything it was just the default game at the tip of my tongue, however, the sentiment is the same. Yes you are correct, Bethesda did add more expansion like areas afterwards but you can tell from their behavior that they really want to start monetizing micro transactions in the form of their creation club. I hope they realize that releasing quality, game improving/advancing content is the way you maintain a base of support and quick money grabs are a great way to lose that support.

As I stated in my last paragraph CA is worse by adding a 2 hour campaign and a very one dimensional faction and charging $19.99. They did that one or two more times after that. I threw up my arms and am done with purchasing their games after they repeatedly pull that crap.

And the result of this economic alchemy seems a Games-as-a-Service concept with the twist of partially outsourced content production. A nice turn!
The positive image of this profit optimizing instrument (in truth a creative cooperation between Bethesda, external partners and the best and most honourable community modders to just make the players' favourite worlds of Fallout and Skyrim a little bit bigger, just placing some cherries on top of our favourite cream cake!) seems yet a bit blear-eyed looking from the recent past (and most reactions were appropriate, I'd say), despite of their attempt to ironize their horse armor and adding it (or content of this kind) nevertheless (it was a Power Armor, named as 'Horse Armor' in the E3 Trailer). Pretty bold. The bitter taste will hopefully remain.

I must admit, I'm concerned this will grind out in the process, if Bethesda installs some 'practical' barriers for unpaid modders and/or integrates players so deep into their network (which all big companies have been doing for a while) that free mods will stop existing (i. e. become invisible) or will seem so uncomfortable to get compared to official creation club content (searching & finding, compatibility, installation) or will just seem less professional and shiny than promoted creation club content that it will finally become the first address for the mass of players (the nest is well-feathered). And even if this pilot project won't have an effect on the players' behaviour, perception and evaluation and if there were stable, kind of 'natural' distinct groups of players (those who buy new content and those who use free mods) and even if they won't lower the criterias for official partner-shipped content (to get the better version of their previously attempted paid Steam Workshop) and won't affect the altruistic, non-monetary culture of modding by introducing monetary interest, I'd rather prefer them to focus on improving their games (in several departments) instead of trying to generate more money with low-effort goodies (which will probably be the majority of new content) along with a few, more extensive prestige projects to justify the whole system. That's indeed the problem I'd have with bigger DLCs as part of the Creation Club: they would tend to increase the acceptance of strategies that are rather against than for the players (overprized content).

We'll see. I just hope that Bethesda won't try to bait you with shoe-DLCs. Could you resist?

It's good that Larian stays away from this business and is more likely to create an Enhanced Edition or Addon than to serve canned cherries after the cake is half-eaten already.

I'm not familiar with that one, but I am reminded of the likes of Return to Ostagar from Dragon Age: not quite that expensive, but probably not quite that much content either. I remember after the half-hour campaign just thinking "I actually paid for this?" But I guess EA tends to lead the way when it comes to the unacceptable face of monetising. I would be very surprised if Larian went anywhere near that sort of thing! And CDPR set a much better example.


Let's just hope they don't spot my weakness! Fortunately for the time being at least I can do my own, and seem to have spent far too long doing so. I do hope your worst fears don't come to pass, as much as I like doing my own modding, other people's stuff turn Bethsoft's offerings from good games into great ones, but the amount of mods I like to install would get prohibitively expensive; or more likely simply wouldn't exist at all if the free modding community was discouraged in any way. It weathered the late appearance of the CK over the last couple of games but if they start getting heavy-handed with the likes of Nexus that might be a different story. Let's hope they don't.

Easy, it's in your signature; they just have to add a cheese DLC and you'll buy it I bet .

Many ppl bash CA but while I agree the faction were too expensive especially when most of us only wanted the faction, not some linear campaign, they still gave a bunch of things for free.
Like bretonnia etc, free new legendary lords, some units (blood knights) etc. and if you argue they should have given it at release at first, please remember they are not obligated to give you anything else than the base game and their base game was already pretty solid and a lot of fun so they were not forced to give more to balance a bad gaming experience.

So CA is not the worst example of DLC but they aren't the best either.

As for cosmetic DLC I don't really understand the hate. Just don't get it will not change the rest of the game.

DLC are not bad by default it's how it's made that will define whether or not they are worth it.
I think DLC are great in general because it gives me more of the game I like. If I think the DLC is not worth it I don't buy it. None of those are mandatory

More mod and GM support means more skills and gear and stuff for free. Mostly not going to be quite Larian-level, professional quality, but there should be some decent stuff (hopefully even better than my bard mod

I wrote up a whole thing about a Larian-supported paid mod system could possibly work, but ultimately I think it's too controversial and too difficult to pull off correctly. A properly curated paid mod system could lead to some professional level-mods. For example, I could pay people to make me custom spell effects, new models, animations, for my skills. There would have to be a very detailed set of criteria for what could become a paid mod (probably no shoe mods, hehe).

But again, it's all too likely this system would leave a lot of people unhappy. Free mods devalued, modders in competition rather than cooperation, all the woes of capitalism. I think a system of paid user content could be possible, but the game and whole company really would have to be designed entirely for it.

I must admit I'm not sure it could ever really work: I think it would so fundamentally change the nature of the hobbyist mod-sharing community that we see today.

And that's before you get to the gnarly problem of other people's work being used without permission, which is an unfortunate reality in some of the grubbier corners of the modding world (I've noticed even the very few things I've uploaded, no matter how small, often end up being swiped by someone else and used without attribution of even having their "I made this!" mark stamped on it) and I suspect would rapidly get worse if money is factored into it.

To be fair, however, look at XCOM2 War of the Chosen. That is a MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE of what Larian could do for DOS2. It almost feels like a brand new game.