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Victoria 3 is coming out in a few days, and I've been conflicted about getting it. For those who aren't familiar, it's a Paradox Interactive game on the Victorian Era, running between 1836-1936, and similar in style to their many other strategy game offerings. I've always thought Victoria 2 was a fantastic game, especially for focusing so much on people, trade and the economy over warfare and painting the map your color. But in the last decade or so Paradox has changed their business model to a more DLC-focused model; while Hearts of Iron 3 released three expansion packs over the next few years and then was done, HOI4 has six now six years after it was released, and with no sign of stopping. Steam lists a total price for all the content of about $185. Stellaris is at $235 or so, while Europa Universalis 4, released in 2013, has a list longer than my screen can display in one go and is $230 while on a 50% off sale. This is all without the base game.
While I'm sympathetic to the fact that a company has to make money, and they are keeping their base game at about $50 and still updating the games, I'm also reaching the end of my rope with them. Their DLCs tend to be just not that great or interesting, they break mods or split the mod community, they result in this incredible buy-in problem and it oftentimes seems to be an excuse to release badly done content and fix it later. I've tried to stop supporting them, at least somewhat, and so I'm behind on DLCs in some games or have others without any. At this point though, I don't know if I should get Victoria 3 on release at all, as as I try to temper my excitement with the knowledge that it will almost certainly be a buggy and unfinished launch with many more dollars to spend in the coming years. But I'm curious to hear from others too; is anyone else as interested in it? Does it seem worth it?
The total costs that you give are somewhat misleading. For example, EU4's $230 figure includes cosmetic DLCs as well as functional DLCs. By my reckoning, EU4 with only the functional DLCs (labeled "expansions" and "immersion packs" on Steam) is $170 at the moment.
In any event, if you think that the value-for-money proposition is bad for these games, then just don't buy them. Steam lists me as having around 2600 hours in CK2 and 1800 hours in EU4. Maybe those numbers are slightly inflated by occasions where I left the AI running on observe mode (in order to test mods, or just to see how the world evolved), but that's still well over five hours of enjoyment per dollar spent. If you think that isn't enough, then buy another game. For example, I personally have extracted 10 h/$ from Nioh ($50 at launch, without discount) and 20 h/$ from Dark Souls 2 ($10 with discount).
I certainly don't plan to buy it until there's a discount.
The cost rate needs a caveat. Paradox games are podcast/audiobook games. You use them to engage a mechanical part of your brain while leaving the verbal and contemplative parts open. Not while learning to play them, certainly, but after the hundred hour mark.
Outer Wilds is much more expensive by rate (maybe $1.20/hour), but while you're playing it, it is the only thing you're doing and commands your attention. EU4 on the other hand becomes a glorified stress ball.
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