When is it Okay to Make Something from a Paid DLC Pack Base Game?
I know there have been a number of discussions around this topic generally, but I do not remember at least this question being so direct and instead the discussion focusing more on specific examples. So I do want to ask this question directly, and with a poll to organize the general responses here. When is it okay to cut content from a DLC pack and make it base game?
I tend to be a bit of a fence sitter here. It can be bad and can be good, and I usually do not mind so long as I feel that the value I "lost" was compensated for in the new improvements I received. For a long time becoming a part of the base game was the only way for a feature to really get improvements, so I suppose the existence of pack refreshes now brings a new consideration to this debate. Even in light of it, though, I think I feel fairly similarly. So long as the value is compensated for in improvements and I end up with a better game as a result, I do not think I would mind. Even less so if it was a feature that feels restricted by this DLC status.
For example, there has only ever been one feature I have played with in the Sims 4 that I have really considered to have too much potential to really be DLC locked. That is lifestyles from SE. I enjoy them, and honestly they were the thing that made me excited in the lead up to SE. However, after playing with them, I think it is pretty obvious that they are held back by lack of cross play with both older and newer packs. There are bugs, of course, but they should eventually be fixed and I imagine it would be even more likely if they were to be expanded upon. Which has yet to happen, unfortunately. I will be the first to admit that it is one of the newer packs, so maybe it will get more cross play naturally, but it has already been skipped over by an EP. I do not have high hopes for the current state, and that is more or less why I think it is a feature ripe for the plucking (and I emphasize this is the only feature I have thought this about). I suppose a pack refresh could help, but I would personally want and expect a refresh of SE to do more than just focus on the lifestyle feature. It seems to me that unless it does become a base game feature, it will remain underutilized.
But enough about my opinion, what are yours? When do you think it is okay and are there any specific examples illustrating it? If you think it is never okay, how do you think underutilized features should be dealt with? Do pack refreshes affect your opinion at all?
Edit: I added paid to the title since there was some confusion over whether or not I was talking about existing, paid DLC packs (EPs, GPs, SPs, Kits, etc.).
I tend to be a bit of a fence sitter here. It can be bad and can be good, and I usually do not mind so long as I feel that the value I "lost" was compensated for in the new improvements I received. For a long time becoming a part of the base game was the only way for a feature to really get improvements, so I suppose the existence of pack refreshes now brings a new consideration to this debate. Even in light of it, though, I think I feel fairly similarly. So long as the value is compensated for in improvements and I end up with a better game as a result, I do not think I would mind. Even less so if it was a feature that feels restricted by this DLC status.
For example, there has only ever been one feature I have played with in the Sims 4 that I have really considered to have too much potential to really be DLC locked. That is lifestyles from SE. I enjoy them, and honestly they were the thing that made me excited in the lead up to SE. However, after playing with them, I think it is pretty obvious that they are held back by lack of cross play with both older and newer packs. There are bugs, of course, but they should eventually be fixed and I imagine it would be even more likely if they were to be expanded upon. Which has yet to happen, unfortunately. I will be the first to admit that it is one of the newer packs, so maybe it will get more cross play naturally, but it has already been skipped over by an EP. I do not have high hopes for the current state, and that is more or less why I think it is a feature ripe for the plucking (and I emphasize this is the only feature I have thought this about). I suppose a pack refresh could help, but I would personally want and expect a refresh of SE to do more than just focus on the lifestyle feature. It seems to me that unless it does become a base game feature, it will remain underutilized.
But enough about my opinion, what are yours? When do you think it is okay and are there any specific examples illustrating it? If you think it is never okay, how do you think underutilized features should be dealt with? Do pack refreshes affect your opinion at all?
Edit: I added paid to the title since there was some confusion over whether or not I was talking about existing, paid DLC packs (EPs, GPs, SPs, Kits, etc.).
