I mean, look at Skyrim. It was widely successful during it's release and it still sells rather well during sales. The game has a huge community that continues to play and produce their own content. If this was an online game, the content would still be rushing out the door. So why are publishers so eager to stop making content and move on to the next project? At this point, even though highly unlikely, I'm sure that the majority of people that own and play this game would purchase anything released. If the goal, at the end of the day, is to make money, then why abandon a successful title? Even if you had a few people working on content until the next ES game came out, I'm sure you could justify their salary.

I don't know, it just seems odd to me that something that sells well is given up on simply because it's an offline product. As I said, if this was an mmo, content would still be rushing out the door. And I'm not just talking about Bethesda or Skyrim, publishers in general love to abandon titles that are still selling very well. I mean, look at what Paradox has done with Crusader Kings 2. There's so much dlc that the vanilla game is completely different without it. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, there's a fine line between quality and milking the consumer, but 3 packs and done for a game like Skyrim seems odd to me, especially when people are still buying and playing Oblivion and Morrowind.

First post here so hello everyone. Thought I'd just spill some thoughts out as an introduction

Bethesda has always been this way. They've abandoned games with breathtaking speed since the beginning. It is, apparently, part of Bethesda/Zenimax corporate culture to do this. It's almost as though they have a short attention span when it comes to games.

That said, your anology to online games is a poor one, I believe. Most online games get a steady stream of revenue from subscriptions. They use this revenue stream to fund the development of new content, which, in turn, keeps customers subscribed. Single-player games are, for the most part, one-time purchases. It is a different business model.

Yeah I was disappointed with the two dlc for Skyrim. But it's been that way since Morrowind and it's two expansion packs. Here have your customary http://www.uesp.net/w/images/c/c4/Fishystick.jpg

First welcome to the forum, here's your http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:Fishystick.jpg.

The horse might not be dead, buy why beat it? It's just the way it is, they need to move on to the next games. And yes one or two people could stay on and produce more content, the way that modders do. but could it really be justified by sales? I'm not so sure, yes I would probably buy any new content and I am sure alot of the regulars here would also, but how many of us are their really? Compared to the people that will buy the next newest game... from anyone.

Sure while I was playing on 360 I would have loved even the smallest of quest DLC's to have come out, but I also would much rather those self same people were working on the next game. While I am not a Fallout fan, I'm sure those that are wouldn't want one person to be working on Skyrim, while they could be working on the newest Fallout or even the next TES game.

I think it is the same with most game companies... I mean look at Red Dead Redemption, one of the most popular games that Rockstar has come out with, but new content? Not so's you would notice. That happens to be my husbands favorite game, so I keep up with any rumor that fly's by about a new game or content.

I guess I can agree with the subscription model part, but a lot of mmos now are free to play. And while item malls and boosts and such replace the subscription model, it's a purchase made by the creation of content. It just seems like a waste to me to abandon a game that sold so well so early, it feels like they're leaving money on the table. I'm not sure if it's just a policy or they really don't know what has the potential to sell? I can't see how paying 1 or 2 people to work on things for older games would be a bad thing. If anything it could revive those game and cause a spike in sales.

And Red Dead was an amazing game. Sadly it never came to PC. Here's to still hoping!

It's a matter of economics and math... how much do 2 people get paid in a week + operating costs verses how much would a DCL ( made in that week) sell for? and how many would sell. A lot of the people that originally bought Skyrim ( or any game really) are not playing it regularly enough to want to buy a small DLC. I would and i am sure a lot of other people here would, but ask a mod... 2 years ago their would be 100+ people on the forum at this time of day, their are 5.

How long would a good DLC take two people to make? 1 week, 2 weeks? 3...4? ( testing and all).

I guess you could use beta testers, but I'm not sure. The math would be interesting. Shame not many here now, I just joined and I'm replying from bath tub.

That's just the way it is, sometimes their are more people, their were 6 on the Hint's and cheat's side...when I went to post a couple pictures.

Yeah the math would be interesting. I've been a store manager, budget was my curse word....lol

For many different reasons, often not financial, people grow eager to move on to new projects.

They really didn't abandon it as quickly as you claim. They released three DLCs all with good features and mechanics, stuff that modders are using to expand the game in their vision way past anything that Morrowind or Oblivion modding communities have ever done. Crusader kings 2 is an entirely different game that doesn't have any limits to how much data they can use unlike skyrim which had to limit what it could do because of PS3 and 360, hell this has even lead to some fans being unable to play Europa Univeralis 4 or Crusader Kings 2 because their comps can't handle the amount of data the games need to process, myself included.

I've been a big supporter of EU4 and CK2 since both launched, constantly buying the expansion packs and micro-dlc but recent patches in the last year have made it impossible to play on my bad comp as I get barely 5 FPS which makes it incredibly difficult to play. This is because they kept adding in new content and the game requires so much memory that low to mid grade comps have trouble handling them.

You can't compare a grand strategy game with a first-to-third person rpg game.

Online games are also vastly different. They make money from subscriptions and free-to-play make money by selling costumes, pets, mounts, temporary buffs, healing items. Take games like Jade Dynasty or Rusty Hearts, both maintained by the in-game store they set up or ESO which uses both the in-game store and a premium member status.

If skyrim was purely a PC game they probably could do something like this but here is the problem, they wouldn't have a niche audience like Elite: Dangerous and Crusader Kings 2, both appeal to a niche audience who don't have much to choose from so yea, the companies will try their hardest to stay up by delivering new content or minor dlc stuff like new ships or a new music pack whereas with TES there are tons of fantasy RPGs. Sure, many don't meet to the level of the elder scrolls but it's still not a niche audience.