Rock Band 3 DLC - Old Songs Recycled for Pro Mode

[ChainsawPhoenix]

this sucks because i've already bought about 80% DLC upto now, exported lego: rb & rb1. Cost me about £900 or about $1400 i probably still pick up a rb 6 string & rb keyboard so i hope they fix something for us loyal spending customers.

[ramrod314]

this sucks because i've already bought about 80% DLC upto now, exported lego: rb & rb1. Cost me about £900 or about $1400 i probably still pick up a rb 6 string & rb keyboard so i hope they fix something for us loyal spending customers.

With the release of RB3 the bundle with the keyboard is gonna be $130 then $150 for the mad catz stringed guitar. I'll probably end up getting the squier version so there's probably $250 - $300 right there. I also am gonna be getting the new RB3 drums with the cymbal expansion. Cymbal expansion is $40...I'm guessing the drums will be $90. So...all in all that's pushing around $500+ (ballpark) for this damn game. Give me some updated tracks on the house.

[ThatAuthoringGroup]

The sense of entitlement in this thread is stifling.

You hear that world!?!

"I paid for stuff, used it a lot, and now that newer stuff is coming out, I want my old stuff to get updated to behave like the new stuff...and I want it for free."

Sheesh guys, I've spent probably close to 2 or 3 THOUSAND dollars on this game. Do you hear me complaining?

[ramrod314]

"I paid for stuff, used it a lot, and now that newer stuff is coming out, I want my old stuff to get updated to behave like the new stuff...and I want it for free."

Sheesh guys, I've spent probably close to 2 or 3 THOUSAND dollars on this game. Do you hear me complaining?

There's nothing wrong with being a competitive consumer. All kinds of games out there offer free DLC. With the decline of the music game industry EA/Harmonix really need to ask themselves if they really want to make a comeback. Creating a brand new kick ass way to play the game is step #1. But there is more to it than that. So yes...being loyal consumers to a brand/product carries certain rewards or at least it should. I honestly would never spend $3000 on a video game. That is completely ludicrous in my opinion. You must have been one of the few to download all three country music packs plus Miley Cyrus. Not my style.

Anyways, back on point. You spend $60 on plenty of games of different sorts. Dice, developers of Battlefield Bad Company 2, vowed to keep map packs free of charge as long as they could, meanwhile, competitors were charging 1200 microsoft points for the same type/quantity of content. BF:BC2 has been a huge success. Obviously, paying the cost of pleasing consumers has its benefits. EA/Harmonix can't assume that all consumers will invest so blindly. And I intend on not becoming one of the blind.

I'm just trying to make sure they make the right moves which would keep fans of the series, like myself, excited for the future and coming back for more.

[DragoonXD]

Anyways, back on point. You spend $60 on plenty of games of different sorts. Dice, developers of Battlefield Bad Company 2, vowed to keep map packs free of charge as long as they could, meanwhile, competitors were charging 1200 microsoft points for the same type/quantity of content. BF:BC2 has been a huge success. Obviously, paying the cost of pleasing consumers has its benefits. EA/Harmonix can't assume that all consumers will invest so blindly. And I intend on not becoming one of the blind.

As an avid Battlefield Bad Company player, I wanted to comment on this, even though it's off-topic. The free map packs for BF:BC2 are simply maps already on the disc being unlocked for use in other game modes (essentially). And what does the comparison of map pack prices have to do with HMX updating previous DLC?

Investing blindly, what? All of our purchases will continue to work with Rock Band 3 and presumably all future (non-spin off) Rock Band games.

[ThatAuthoringGroup]

There's nothing wrong with being a competitive consumer. All kinds of games out there offer free DLC. With the decline of the music game industry EA/Harmonix really need to ask themselves if they really want to make a comeback. Creating a brand new kick ass way to play the game is step #1. But there is more to it than that. So yes...being loyal consumers to a brand/product carries certain rewards or at least it should. I honestly would never spend $3000 on a video game. That is completely ludicrous in my opinion. You must have been one of the few to download all three country music packs plus Miley Cyrus. Not my style.

Anyways, back on point. You spend $60 on plenty of games of different sorts. Dice, developers of Battlefield Bad Company 2, vowed to keep map packs free of charge as long as they could, meanwhile, competitors were charging 1200 microsoft points for the same type/quantity of content. BF:BC2 has been a huge success. Obviously, paying the cost of pleasing consumers has its benefits. EA/Harmonix can't assume that all consumers will invest so blindly. And I intend on not becoming one of the blind.

I'm just trying to make sure they make the right moves which would keep fans of the series, like myself, excited for the future and coming back for more.

No I just don't buy everything.

I've got the cymbal expansion, the double bass pedal, I picked up the year subscription to XNA to test songs for RBN, I've picked up about half of the RBN songs (so about 200 give or take), I've purchased about four guitars over the years, three drumsets, the double bass pedal splitter, all the games when they were brand new, the fog/light machine, about 1000 DLC tracks...it adds up. I like music in all it's various incarnations. I don't limit myself to a few genres that I enjoy. So it makes sense that I'd spend a lot of money on a game that lets you interact with music

I plan on picking up RB3 in the keyboard bundle when it comes out, and getting two of the Fender Squire's (one for pro guitar, one for bro bass).

I enjoy this game, and it's one of the only game series I still purchase religiously (outside of GH). The rest I just rent. Considering I used to buy three or four games a month(a LOT more during the October/November onslaught), then I'm spending less this way than I did before.

If you think about it, if you buy two games a month on average brand new, thats $1440 a year. That's not counting any DLC you get for said games). So in two years that's $2880 spent on video games. It adds up quicker than you think

Getting back to Rock Band, I play the game every day and I still have fun with it. Does it suck that I won't be able to play pro guitars, keyboards, or vocal harmonies on the older stuff? Sure, but I got more than my money's worth out of those tracks in comparision to money spent verses time spent playing. And hey, guess what, those tracks will still work in Rock Band 3 just like they have in Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 1 before them. Just because they don't have new features, doesn't mean the old features are going to stop working.

[Markleford]

With the decline of the music game industry EA/Harmonix really need to ask themselves if they really want to make a comeback. Creating a brand new kick ass way to play the game is step #1.

Actually, the number of people who will play on Pro will be a vast minority of the playing populace. It is a niche feature that raises eyebrows, provides market differentiation, and perhaps establishes some pedagogical credibility, but traditional RB charting will continue to be the bread and butter of the average player.

What is "kick ass" to your typical RB/SH forumite is mindbendingly complex and unapproachable to social gamers, in both skill and expense. Thus, the old DLC is far from obsolete, and will continue to be fun to these gamers who greatly outnumber us.

- m

[ramrod314]

If you think about it, if you buy two games a month on average brand new, thats $1440 a year. That's not counting any DLC you get for said games). So in two years that's $2880 spent on video games. It adds up quicker than you think

I agree with you. It's alot of money to buy new games every month. I don't. I'll stick with the titles I can't go without and play the living **** out of them. I buy the DLC and all that if its good. Xbox 360 has been out since '05 and I own 12 games total. Not counting XBLA. Not to mention I had to buy 3 copies of RB2 since my Xbox and my roommate's Xbox decided to eat the first 2 copies. Cracked the disc right in the center somehow. Anyways, I don't spend that much money on games if I don't feel they deserve it. Rock Band has been a series I've invested in since the release. I have a job and I'm a full time student and I like to chase around college girls, so I don't have time to play all the games I want. I've never even played gears of war 1 or 2 and they are sitting across the hall next to my roommate's xbox haha.

The point of that is...I'm selective. Rock Band made the cut. Plus it also goes along with all that college drinking/partying that I do. The people that come over that never play the game will obviously stick to the original 5 buttons. But I don't think any of you realize how big this whole pro mode thing is going to be for those who are actually purchasing the game. It's like playing halo but never on legendary because you'll have to improve yourself. As a gamer, if I know there's this whole other difficultly and skills to master...I'm going to do it. I think the main reason people pick up these games in the first place is because they want to feel like a damn rock star. Let's face it...matching colored rectangles with button presses and a little plastic toggle isn't the most engaging activity. Yet, you turn that controller into a plastic guitar and make people feel like they are actually playing their favorite tunes and you've got a hit. It's all about the feeling you get when you've got your volume on max and you're immersed in the music. Then you give these people something that feels MORE like actually rocking out. People are gonna eat this **** up. And once those casual gamers put their hands on those strings for the first time, I really don't think they'll be able to put it down.

So to relate that to the topic...yes, Pro mode will be more than a niche. If guitar is too hard, then I know the drums will back it up. Everyone I know that plays RB drums wishes that the cymbal pack meant new notes and not just a realistic alternative. Now they are getting it. As a casual gamer I speak for alot of us in saying we aren't coming back to Rock Band for the new songs and keyboards...we want more of a challenge. Pro mode is just that. And there are way too many good songs already out there that are gonna need in on some of this pro mode action. That's all I'm saying.

So the question is not if they are going to do it, but when and how. To keep the marketplace simplified I suggest making it one lump sum. And they just update everything. I'd throw out some cash to see this happen. Then the issue would be done...they could sleep at night. No choosing which songs to release first, no worrying about pricing differences. So yeah...it's gonna be alot of work, but it needs to be done to keep the franchise moving forward all at one pace. This thread was created for answers to this specific question. You all make valid points, but I want to hear some opinions besides "the old stuff is fine let's leave it." Let's stay on topic and move it forward so I don't have to post another term paper.

[Markleford]

Well, if you want back on target, here's a summary:

* RBN tracks cannot be updated once published. Or at least that's the official word thus far. If authors want to add Pro stuff to already-released stuff, then they have to release a new version, perhaps adding "(Pro Version)" for distinction. And it's up to them whether to unpublish the original from the store at that point: an original version and Pro version will not be compatible for online play.

* HMX hasn't made a peep on how much regular DLC Pro charts will cost. We can only make unfounded guesses: sure it's going to take them more time and effort to chart all this extra stuff, but I think they've established a good price-point at $2 that people are comfortable with.

* It's still up to RBN authors and bands/management to decide how much something should cost. There will be no official pricing restrictions or forced "discounts" for so-called "obsolete" tracks.

* Authors can as of a month or so ago add charting data for Pro Drums. However, we do not have a compatible version of Audition Mode to be able to playtest it, so we pretty much have to do it "blind", and there may be some mistakes made that get published. Oops.

* There has been absolutely no word on whether RBN authors will be able to make charts with Pro Guitar/Bass, harmony vocals, or keyboards. It's only assumed that this might happen. But don't expect this until we have an updated Audition Mode, meaning after RB3 release, and perhaps even after the first patch update, so maybe early 2011 for all we know! (Hopefully we'll know sooner than that.)

* Even if all of these features are added, there's no guarantee that all authors will be able to provide Pro charting or keyboards. As stands, some authors have trouble tracking pitch for vocals, so guitar would pretty much kill them.

* Old style charting will still remain fun for the majority of players.

I have one friend out of 20 acquaintances or so that I've played RB with that play Expert capably on any instrument, so I *do* think the old stuff is fine!

But the Pro stuff will be fun as well, only to a much smaller group of people. I just don't see that backward compatibility for every song back to day-one RB1 will be necessary or feasible for a long while.

Let's give them some feedback so they make the right decision. Also, if there is another thread dedicated to this, point me in the right direction. It's been bugging me for weeks.

Really, they don't *need* feedback. They have market research and accountants and project managers that have done extensive analysis on this stuff. The right decision is the right decision for their continued business, not for the vocal minority of dedicated forumites.

But I suppose there are threads in the main RB section that you can find to try to sway HMX's opinion. So far as RBN-specific involvement in the discussion, I've outlined all that we know at this point. We're playing the guessing game as much as you.

- m

[ramrod314]

I think this post has generated alot of confusion strictly because it was posted in the RBN section and that was my mistake. My questions have nothing to do with the author uploaded songs. Forgive me for being a little out of the Rock Band loop since I had to rebuy my copy just recently...and missed out on this whole user-created song era. I'm trying to get back up to par. I saw "rock band network" and assumed it was just all of the downloadable content. Probably should have posted this in the general feature discussion.

Really, they don't *need* feedback. They have market research and accountants and project managers that have done extensive analysis on this stuff. The right decision is the right decision for their continued business, not for the vocal minority of dedicated forumites

.

I disagree. Successfully businesses take consumer feedback very seriously. Especially in video games. That's a big reason why they have these forums. Businesses want to know what people want. I'm not saying they will listen to me. I don't think they should. But if you raise enough stink in the forums they DO notice.

Given that information I think this discussion has about come to an end. Thank you though, I definitely have more of an idea on what's going on with the user created content now. I was pretty blind to that stuff before.