Yes there was more content in the core game than there is in the “expansion”. I put expansion in quotes, because so many people seem to think of this as a standard expansion. It’s not. It’s added stuff to the game that goes far beyond what a normal expansion adds. Not in more maps, but in a roadmap for the game ahead. It’s almost like Guild Wars 2 2.0 or something. Specializations and elite specializations are a complete rewrite of the trait system. Masteries are a complete rewrite of the post 80 progression system. Guilds now have a form of progress as well, and guild halls are entire maps.
Pretty sure Age of Empires 2 expansions are still counted as expansions… and they add mechanics, civilizations, units, functions, maps, storylines, and tons of other things that in some cases go beyond the original vision for the game. Check out the latest one (released ~two weeks ago?) if you don’t believe me. =P
I’m pretty sure Age of Empires isn’t an MMO and can’t really be compared to an MMORPG. You have to look at what MMORPGs are, not what other games are. I’ve been playing baseball my whole life, but they’ve yet ot release an expansion.
You’re clearly just arguing here to argue.
It’s one thing to say that Age of Empires isn’t an MMO; it’s another thing entirely to make a pointed attack on my intentions. You never mentioned anything about specifically referring to MMO expansions. You simply said “a standard expansion”. You took a stab at the history of expansions (my reference to Age of Empires was a completely random shot in the dark). If you want to argue MMO expansions, I’d delightedly point you at the two Guild Wars 1 titles and their Eye of the North expansion. But the thing is, games on a whole have had both expansions and DLC since (nearly) the dawn of gaming; so far, HoT has provided a few hints at being an expansion, but more at being a living world/seasonal update. Hopefully there’s more content to come that we don’t know about yet.
Baseball? Uh… to the best of my knowledge, baseball never advertised an expansion. Not sure where you’re going with that one.
But I guess if I’m just here to argue… what would I know?
When I’m watching a baseball game and I talk about a champion, it’s obviously I’m not talking about a chess champion. Because the context can be assumed.
Chess is a game with an end game but you couldn’t apply that end game to chess. It’s logical to assume (yes really) that expansions for MMOs are different from other genres and when one is playing an MMO and talking about an expansion, they’re talking about MMO expansions and yes, I think it’s disingenuous to ignore that.
I mean you could be talking about expansions for driving games next. There’s no point in comparing expansions in games for different genres, because they’re different animals completely. No point at all.
Yup, and I did correct my assumption in my reply, too! I presented Guild Wars 1 and its second/third/expansion titles to replace my Age of Empires example (a poor choice on my part). Looks like I forgot to actually expand on that… But seriously, I’m here for discussion, not argument. =/
@ZachAttack and @Vayne – Upon revision, I’m aware that my previous posts were less than charming. My apologies. Not here to antagonize you guys…
No worries
If any of mind came of as less than friendly, I apologize for that as well!