Buy Level Ups for Vesperia as DLC? Scamco Strikes Again

Destructoid writes: There's a reason why people call the company Scamco Bandai, and that's because Namco's approach to DLC borders on the insulting. Not content to sell incomplete games at retail and charge people for stuff that's already hidden on the disc, the dhampirs have now hit upon an even more outrageous scheme -- charging you cash to download level ups in Tales of Vesperia.

LV Up +10 (1) 300 Microsoft Points
LV Up +5 (1) 200 Microsoft Points
300,000 Gald (1) 300 Microsoft Points
Skill sets 80 Microsoft Points
HP Recovery Cuisine Recipe Set 100 Microsoft Points

[Relcom]

Oh Namco, when are you gonna "get it"?

[Prismo_Fillusion]

As soon as the """gamers" "" stop buying their awful DLC, which won't happen.

[Winter47th]

Simply don't buy it, and tell anyone you know not to, they'll get the message, only downside of digital distribution is if everyone doesn't then Namco ain't losing a dime, but if only one guy does, say hello to profits without breaking a sweat.

That's why some sort of Contents Control Policy needs to be in effect.

[Relcom]

I couldn't agree more, and whats sad is i can see tons of people buying this. Its too bad

[ruibing]

What ever happened to cheat codes?

[BLuKhaos]

Namco this is disgusting,atleast make the DLC something worthwhile and not something you can get withing 15 minutes of gameplay.

[Alexander Roy]

WTF? Seriously, WTF? Okay, *if* you ever came to a point where you are in a deathlock - can't level up and can't play further (which I don't think is possible) - this *might* be useful, but otherwise... WTF? Unless you only are interested in the story and the story alone and have absolutely no ambitions to actually PLAY the game, that is completely stupid.
The sad thing is, I bet people will buy the lvl. ups. It was only a matter of time I guess, after leveling services in MMOs becoming pretty popular.
Damn, I want the Konami Code back. You know, real cheats, that you actually had to enter somewhere. Sh't, I feel old.
Again, WTF?

[Julie]

No thx i will lvl up myself, i hope this "buy me a lvl" is a joke, it is like "i have this game, can you please play it for me" no thx i'll pass , crazy stuff these days :s

Is this true? i mean is this serious? i hope not :O

[Relcom]

also the rankings page will include the people who buys their levels and gold. Scamco living up to the name.

[Julie]

Thx for the reply :) , i still can't believe this, sure i will play the game (i love Tales), but that "buy yourself a lvl" is just not right :( they should put:

Finish the Game and lose all the fun: 1800 Microsoft Points

Meh :3

[Relcom]

I agree, it sucks for people like you who are actually gonna play through the game correctly. Talk about contradicting your players ya know?

[Sony Rep]

This is low, and guess what?

Microsoft probably approved this crap. They do get a portion of the revenue from all Marketplace items, after all.

What's next-- "100% completion" -1600 Microsoft Points

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

Correct Sony Rep.We at Sony however assure all our hardcore gaming customers that our 1st party titles will have a large amount of free and affordable downloadable content.It is of greatest importance to make sure you are not being fooled with "Sony money" unlike our competitors.

[Relcom]

You guys are tools

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

If by tools you mean freakin' hilarious...then yes, I agree.

Some could say Stephen Colbert is a tool...but the man is funny. He's obviously not as right as he is on the show. Just like him, these guys are just playing with us. I believe everything they say...but that's only because it's all true.

Sony gives free content. They know gamers love free stuff. Those of us that didn't have our rich parents wait out in the cold for our precious Xbox 360 actually work for a living.

[hay]

Level caps in jRPGs :D Limited to 30. If you want to achieve more pay for each 10lvl cap increase. Of course level 30 is about 3/4 for average jRPG, sometimes less)
Equip, addition chars, music, costumes, eye/hair colors additional dialogue options, battlecries. There are possibilities... I just hope no one from Namco reads this comment.

[PirateThom]

It's not just Sony who gives away free stuff, although there is quite a lot of free content for Sony games a lot of it is charged, to float PSN I'm guessing, but even third party developers like Criterion (who have yet to charge for a single piece of Burnout Paradise DLC and it's a lot bigger than this) or Konami (who have given away a load of DLC for MGS4 through the game at no charge). It's the same on Marketplace, there's a lot of free contant like cars for Forza for example.

I just cannot for the life of me figure out who would buy DLC to level up...

[jojo319]

I was wondering how long it would take before someone placed the blame on MS.

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

Come on guys I'm just having a little fun.Lighten up

[Bnet343]

You can't blame Microsoft for DLC Namco is charging for. That is their decision, not Microsoft's.

[rhood022]

Actually you can blame MS because THEY have to agree to the content as well as the pricing before it can be uploaded to the Marketplace.

Or don't you remember the fiasco of those Gears of War multiplayer maps that Epic wanted to be free but MS wanted to charge?

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

@Kigmal

He is right.Remember Jonathan Blow wanted you all to buy Braid for 10 bucks but Microsoft said its available for 15.Microsoft has also not put a stop to the Ace Combat 6 thing.

[InMyOpinion]

So you blame MS for Namcos DLC, but don't blame Sony for poor trophy support? That's up to the developers, right?

[BLuKhaos]

No I still blame Sony for that.

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

Namco and Microsoft are at it again.

[Sony Rep]

N/A

[InMyOpinion]

This is so typical of japanese developers. The greedy bastards. j/k ;)

[PirateThom]

DLC really has gotten out of hand. The fact someone can charge for Day 1 DLC as well as leveling up.

Seriously, why even play the game if you are just going to buy levels?

This is really, really pathetic.

[name]

Namco really likes abusing DLC. -_-

[sajj316]

This is nonsense! Again, some people pay top dollar on EBay for higher gamerscores so ....

[LossTheEarthbreaker]

I didn't know there was a market for that.

[Nodoze]

The fact that Scamco is selling this crap, or the fact that some hapless fools will buy into it.

This era of gaming has ushered in nickel and dime tactics from the devs. I understand that games are much more expensive to produce, but please don't insult us with 'horse armor' and 'level up' purchases.

Simple economics 101:
If nobody buys this crap, they wont try to sell it. They wouldnt do it, if they werent making money off it.

[Splenda14]

what is the point of playing the game if you could buy levels Microsoft dont allow this

[Sitdown]

getting people to buy the game is the point....playing it does not necessarily matter..........especially since they will already have your money.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Those with dignity:
Insomniac
Naughty Dog
Sucker Punch
Sony Santa Monica
Ubisoft Montreal
Rockstar North
EPIC
2K Boston

[Relcom]

i would like to add Criterion the burnout paradise people

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

Also add in Level 5

[kingme71]

The good part of this is it isn't necessary to succeed in the game, the bad part is if it sells it only gives publishers more confidence to use it.

Too many companies are toying with these micro transactions now. It's easier to convince someone to spend $2 5 times then it is to spend $10 once.

I'm waiting for the days when games are crippled without buying the extra content. Then we have a real problem.

[PirateThom]

It's going to happen, you know.

All you need to do is make something near impossible, say, in an RPG a boss that can only be easily defeated with a specific weapon, that specific weapon requires a specific quest that is also virtually impossible but also offer that weapon for sale on the store.

If people are frustrated enough, they will buy "The Sword of Mycrótransaxtion" just to get on with the main quest.

[kingme71]

Lol. That's good. You should copyright that name before EA does.

[mirroredderorrim]

This is ridiculous. I would not want to buy level ups for games.. maybe, well, NO, NOT MAYBE. Damn it.

I mean.. it could be possible after I have achieved all I can on the game, without resorting to lazy tactics such as buying my own level ups. They should have something more practical, such as new character skins, costumes, hair color, weapons, bosses, new areas. What is this crap?

They could even have texture mods as downloads to improve texture quality, etc. Something!
Gald and exp can be done with savestate manipulation, anyhow.

[hay]

Making little which will increase levels is easier for devs than modeling new chars, models, or textures.

Buying levels is like giving them money for no work from them.

[Dann59]

Not surprised,given the developer and platform holders track record

[ud]

Look at it this way : Somewhere along the game you're stuck at a boss that totally kicks your ass and you're not used to RPGs. You could just level up the usual way or you can save 2-3 hours and pay to go up 5 levels.

Personally i would never pay for such a thing, but i guess it's an "ok" option. It's not like there's a level cap and you have to pay to go over it.

Edit @13.1 : Absolutely, but some people tend to stop playing a game that they find too hard. It could be a way to keep SOME players going on perhaps, but I agree with you 100%.

@13.2 : They replaced cheats for this? then it's a complete rip-off.
Cheats just aren't very common in jrpgs usually it seems.

[Common Sense]

fighting larger than life battles with infinitely powerful bosses. It's that sense of challenge that you can find no where else that truly motivates you to down 6 bottles of mountain dew, utter a valiant battle cry, gather up your party, upgrade your weapons and armor, obtain powerful spells and get ready for an epic battle reminiscent of that of David and Goliath.....That's what its about and the feeling you when you win,as mastercard says it, priceless.

[Baka-akaB]

Hum no , the ok solution was always there before ... simply cheating . No even less sightly shameful , more efficient and cheaper .

[Baka-akaB]

what baffles me is , alongside of course my usual and utter disdain for DLC from the very beginning , is that the game most likely features achievements based on lvls , amount of gold etc . Does this mean they lose the right to the xp and gold related achievement , or do they really get a free , or rather paid pass at those ?

[Sitdown]

why people are so thrown of by this. All Namco is doing is providing options....whether games choose to use it or not is on them. I think that sometimes you guys get to caught up in looking at it from the perspective of a gamer/consumer....and not from a company and business standpoint. It has been said for years...."People vote with their wallets".

[Baka-akaB]

Well because like most of those things it will probably get twisted at some point . Just like acceptance of the oblivion horse paint dlc was like a "ok scamco and co , you can do your worst and even sells us stuff from the disc" .

How long will it really take for EA , activision or another company to purposely design hard as hell fights with a tempting little xp dlc on the side ? But of course it will be your choice right ?

[Sitdown]

gaming is not a necessity to my life........it is a hobby. Therefore, I always have a choice on whether or not I decide to give a video game company my money. Your whole post is nothing but assumptions of what could happen...and just like you make negative assumptions, there could be positive....like a backlash from supporters...which causes other companies to stay far away from the decision of Namco. So let me repeat this again......yes, it is my choice.....because my life does not depend on video games.

[magicfrog]

LV Up +10 .... 300 Microsoft Points
LV Up +5 .... 200 Microsoft Points
300,000 Gald 300 Microsoft Points

Level up by your own little brother.....Priceless
There's always something money can't buy

[mirroredderorrim]

I apologize if I came off as irrational, but I think DLC like this really devalues the game. The stuff I mentioned in my last comment;

"They should have something more practical, such as new character skins, costumes, hair color, weapons, bosses, new areas"

Is what I think would add value to the game. Personalization of things tends to make things more appealing to us. If I am wrong on a general level, have at me. But this is what I strongly believe.
Hell, I like it myself. Personalization that is.

Edit: they can patch in some kind of pseudo expansion as well(?)

[Syronicus]

I mean... wow. Pretty sad but the worst part is that there are idiots that buy this stuff.

Maybe in the future we can buy a retail game for 60 bucks then download the ending for about 1200 MS points... That way we can buy the game and have Scamco beat it for us! YAY - /sarcasm

[Baka-akaB]

how about selling achievement/trophies instead ? that will be a funny day .

[LeShin]

I can't believe this. I used to have Namco (before they became Namco-Bandai)as one of my favorite developers. Ridge Racers, Tekkens, Ace Combat, This is why I loved Namco. But this recent bs about DLC is disgusting!!! Having downloadable music tracks for Ridge Racer is one thing but the $hit they pulled with Soul Calibur 4 (selling you a code which unlocks content ALREADY on the bloody disk) is reprehensible!!! Screw Scamco-Bandit, I won't buy the dlc of Soul Calibur 4 when it comes to the UK as I'm not stupid and I will NEVER pay for levels!!!!

Criterion and Incognito have my utmost respect.

[Ashta]

I can't believe Microsoft allowed this...and I really can't believe that Namco came up with this idea.

This really REALLY defeats the purpose of playing an RPG in my opinion.

[InMyOpinion]

What a bunch of money grubbing wh0res.

[GUNS N SWORDS]

i played the demo, very fun game getting it on day 1, but if any of you had ever played the demo leveling up was actually easy, but i don't know if it is much when your a level 60.

every fvcking game i've played "from pokemon to FF8 and lost odyssey" leveling up has always and still always goes to a sudden crawl when your at 50+.

the numbers it takes to level up start to double and triple when you hit high levels,

this kind of DLC is see only 2 thing that might be helpful,

1. if you want to be a level 40 at the beginning of the game you can do so by getting this DLC.

and

2. if your tired of spending lots of time in battle (mostly in your higher levels) and your tiered of putting hrs of your time trying to get to the next level.

NOW, if your a hard core gamer and you like and always liked the idea of leveling you will have the option of NOT getting the DLC.

[ud]

If that's your best Namco, then bring on your worst!

[andron]

Why don't they just sell you a completed game code, so you don't have to play at all. LOL

I never buy crap DLC, and so shouldn't anyone else or it will get even worse...

[Kurokikaze01]

Wow thats humiliating... I've been looking forward to this game since I'm a big fan of the series and other JRPGs, but this is just... asinine. They honestly couldnt come up with something better like different costumes not currently available in the game or somethin? I'm still getting the game but the DLC... DO NOT WANT. lol

[GUNS N SWORDS]

this kind of DLC, does indeed take the fun and purpose out of what RPGs are made of, i really do hope that they add more to the list of dlc,

as it stands, to some this kind of dlc might be of some use to them, and to others will end up saying that this dlc is a total waist.

[Mao]

*facepalm* *sigh* *frustrated groan* *sigh*

Namco...what are you doing? This alone just killed all of my anticipation for this game. It really, truly did. Back to Lost Odyssey and now it's ALL about Infinite Undiscovery in a few short days. Screw Tales now if THIS is what Scamco is going to do.

[LossTheEarthbreaker]

I love Tales games.

[Baka-akaB]

No offense but what kind of idiocy is it ? I'm all for boycott of dlc (at least most of those scamco crap) however the game ? That's going to far .

[cliffbo]

please someone take MS out of the console business, they ruin every single genre they get their greedy hands on! and don't think this idea was only the developers either.

[rosebowl23]

absolutely pathetic. namco is starting to creep into my hated developers list along with EA

[Raoh]

this is disgusting to anyone who enjoys playing games where earning lvls and items are key to playing/beating a game.

i truly hope this trend doesn't spread much further..

[JEDI WOLVERINE]

Still cant get my head around such a stupid idea - greedy f*ckers...........

[Weed]

This is fcking stupid lol.

[rob6021]

to put an end to this sht

[Cynjo]

They were free..that's not how scamco rolls anymore.

[Droid]

I sure am glad I'm getting into this industry. Tons of money from all you n00bs! HAhahaHAHahahaHHAahahAHaha.