So its just halo? Because i know for a fact there are many games i have bought map packs for. Sure some give a few out for free, but most charge. And they never make them free later on in their life cycle. Bungie has almost always released them for free at a later time and that began at halo 2. Now sure its a bitch that you have to have them to play certain modes, halo 2 didnt do that. if you didnt have them, it just skipped those maps in the hopper, much like CoD4 Does.
Besides that, expecting to just up and get maps for free that people actually had to come to work to build and perfect and test, i wouldnt expect that at all. I certainly wouldnt want to take any of my free time to sit in a room building a map that people are going to complain about no matter what and give it away for free.
Some companies do this because the maps were almost done and just needed some tweaking anyway so they finish it and shuck it out for free since it could have been part of the retail
personally, i have all the halo map packs already. I barely play halo anymore and i still get the map packs and try em out.
I'm not complaining that the map packs exist and that they cost money. I'm complaining that because I choose not to buy them, that means I'm not allowed to play ranked team slayer, making the online nearly worthless to me.
If you want to sell premium content for your game, then you have to make separate playlists that include them while they're premium. Anything else is very unethical, and I don't really want to do business with a company that has demonstrated a willingness to do this. I'm not saying other games don't sell map packs. I just don't think I own any other games that actually limit my ability to play if I choose not to get them.
As for the difficulty of them making these maps. It's really... not... that... hard. Just because it's hard for you, an amateur programmer, does not mean it's a challenge for Bungie, the people who actually built the game. Map making is not really all that complex, it doesn't requiring building an engine rather creating textures and other artwork(sometimes not even if they re-use textures from the campaign or other maps, or previous games), and it requires creating the dimensions which is more a question of skill in terms of making a well balanced map rather than technical know how.
In fact, many games... even on the console, have map making utilities that come free with the game. While the maps are never as complex, either in geometry or in terms of art and environments, it's because they don't give the same tools that the company has away... the tools they already have on file because they used them to make the game in the first place. Sometimes they'll have to add something new, it's not that big a deal.
They rarely add anything that actually requires programming. It's almost always something you've already seen only resized and with different textures on it. Perhaps something with unique geometry is added, this is not programming specific. They don't add guns or vehicles that weren't in the game and require new physics programming. They don't add environment interactions that would require modifying or updating the engine.
For professionals, this is easy stuff and they make a quick buck. That doesn't mean that it won't be worth it for the gamer, who needs a new map in order to enjoy him or herself and is going to get his or her money's worth out of it.
But that's not really the issue. The issue is the gamer who isn't sick of the included maps, wants to play what he considers the main mode of the online multiplayer and is be charged $10 to continue to do it, with a bonus of maps he or she doesn't even want.
