10 DLCs That Totally Missed The Point Of The Game
4. Dragon Age: Orgins - Warden's Keep
Those who booted up Dragon Age upon its release in 2009 soon came across an NPC called Levi Dryden. Mr. Dryden could be found loitering around the player's camp, hoping that the hero would help him explore a haunted castle to help clear his family name. Agree to help, and you'd be whisked away...
...to a checkout screen, asking you to pay £5 for the privilege of helping Levi out of his mess. Because nothing says "grimdark medieval fantasy" more than a random NPC joining your camp and demanding you pay actual, real-world money to go on a quest. (It's fun to imagine the conversation the player character had with Levi off-screen: "What the hell is a pound, and why do I need to give you five of them to solve your problem?")
Dragon Age was a real labour of love for Bioware - they spent over a year solely focusing on world-building, to create the most well-developed, believable world they could. (Writer Daniel Erickson said it was a rule that there would be "No in-jokes, no fourth-wall breaking and so on", in order to maintain Dragon Age's unique atmosphere). Given that, you can't imagine the writers were too happy to see corporate-mandated DLC being shoehorned into their baby with all the subtlety of an action figure screaming "BUY ME!" from a Toys 'R' Us aisle...