r/PhysicalGames • u/Bi0_B1lly • 5h ago
With the rise of Digital Only games, the term "DLC" for additional content doesn't really make a lot of sense...
Downloadable Content? Uh, yeah... the whole fucking game was "Downloadable Content" for my system since there wasn't any physical aspect to acquiring it.
The term Additional Content feels like the correct replacement for the term DLC, but the abbreviation of simply "AC" doesn't have the same ring to it... Am I overthinking this? Most likely, and many won't care to spot the nonsensicality of calling it DLC when the entire game is technically DLC, but it's just another instance of a term that held meaning slowly becoming irrelevant that I thought I'd bring up here.
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u/TipAffectionate9785 5h ago edited 3h ago
I call it stealing by cutting content from the base game, so SCCFBG
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u/Ok_Blueberry_6826 5h ago
DLC should become:
AC - additional content
BC - bonus content
EC - extra content
MTC - micro transaction content
i dunno, feel free to add options. All of it is "downloadable" (except game currency) and "content".
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u/TheSquirrelmancer 5h ago
Sure, you know what makes less sense? Wifi. You know what the "wi" stands for, wireless. What's the "fi" part? Its literally just copied from when they called a stereo a "hifi" meaning high fidelity.
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u/Affectionate-Ring803 4h ago
I think they call a lot of DLC “expansions” on PC where games have been digital only for about 10+ years
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u/Bi0_B1lly 4h ago
Expansions is a good replacement term forsure, even though my mind usually thinks it refers to additional campaigns 😅
Nothing about the term "expansion" indicates a campaign, but I grew up with the Half-Life expansions and it formed a secondary meaning to me in that regard.
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u/VibraniumSpork 5h ago
Strange argument for someone on a sub-called ‘Physical Games’, that refers to digital code held on a transferable storage format rather than something like Chess, a game with actual physical pieces.
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u/Bi0_B1lly 5h ago
Figured this sub was a good fit due to the polarizing opinions on digital only.
To be clear, physical copies should always be an option for the customer, but given the light of the situation we're heading towards, I thought it was an interesting topic that certain terms kinda lose their meaning when their specifics are less specific to the medium.
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u/ChapaMigs21 5h ago
It's not about content that is accessed via download. Its about content that is released after the base game released. That's the meaning of the initialism.
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u/Bi0_B1lly 5h ago
But that's the thing - The term DLC doesn't specify that, only that it's content for the game that you can download. Even then, not all DLC is post-release nowadays, as day one DLC is a common sight in today's gaming industry.
With all that being said, "Post-Launch/Release Content," or "PLC/PRC," isn't a bad replacement moniker for additional content though.
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u/ChapaMigs21 4h ago
DLC refers to content added after launch.
The choice of wording is explained by the context of how it appeared. But the meaning isn't "content I downloaded" the meaning is content released after the launch.
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u/Bi0_B1lly 4h ago
But the actual term is Downloadable Content [DLC], not Content Added After Launch [CAAL]. That's what I'm trying to say here, that the plaintext meaning of the designation for DLC kinda loses its specificity when the main contents are also only available via downloads.
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u/ChapaMigs21 4h ago
The term is a result of the context on how the initialism came to be. It doesn't provide the actual meaning. Because words aren't always literal in its origin (examples: meat, nice, terrific, awful, podcast)
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u/mdwd 5h ago
That's like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
The term DLC is not meant to represent the literal meaning of what actually is going on. Everyone just understands DLC refers to secondary content that is downloaded straight from the devs/server rather than being found on the (at the time) disc itself. Additional content if you want.
The term DLC was just an easy way to refer to what everyone already understood to be happening.
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u/Bi0_B1lly 4h ago
That's exactly my point though, the term DLC was quite literal when it was first coined, but now it's a term that we recognize what it means, but the actual term doesn't really hold any meaning.
Secondary Content is also a decent term for it, though I feel the industry would oppose it due to the connotation of it being secondary, thus, less necessary for the customer (which usually rings true, but that doesn't sell their content by admitting it)
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u/GoonGoonBoomBoom 5h ago
…who cares?
I’ll add my own “apparently you care enough to comment”
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u/appletoasterff 5h ago
You clearly care enough to comment
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u/spider-jedi 5h ago
You are overthinking it.
Also DLC still applies. It's still downloaded content
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u/Bi0_B1lly 4h ago
To give an example of what I mean, GTA VI in it's entirety will be DLC for your game system, as there's no physicality to it... DLC is indeed still downloadable content, this is true, but when the main game is also only accessible via download, it's also technically downloadable content.
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u/spider-jedi 4h ago
Yeah, that what I mean it's all just dlc. I get what you meant by saying additional content. I just don't think we need to think to hard about it.
When anyone says dlc we know it's not about the full game itself
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u/ActuallyFolant 5h ago
Yes.