May 2018 Kickstarter Update and Feedback Survey Results!

I'd be totally in favor of this.

Right now, they've only promised and planned for 3 playable characters total in the base-game (NOT counting Boss Revenge Mode).

If they think about it down the line, I would personally love the chance to play as Bloodless in Story if she's ever offered as DLC. Or, heck, even Alfred or an entirely new Demon character.

I've always liked playing as spellcasters, so Alfred wouldn't be a bad idea, especially since it's unlikely that he will be one of the three playable characters. Though Bloodless wouldn't be a bad idea either.

You know who else is a good candidate for this? Gebel. Yes, the demon lord himself!
A DLC episode where you can experience his backstory in full, and perhaps choose a different route from the one he took in the main story, could be something truly amazing.

A) Even as a backer, I'm on Team "I want everyone to be able to eventually experience actual gameplay content". I'd rather leave stuff like figures as "irreplaceable exclusives".

B) I'm also on Team "I'd love to get a DLC expansion with playable Dominique since she probably won't be among the default playable cast".

Super cool to see the survey results! Thx for sharing! Here's hoping we get the top 3 choices as costume DLC (which affects on your stats/moves).

Pure Miriam I wouldn't bet against there being some anti-piracy measures, though.

If someone does pirate Bloodstained, I'd love to see if there's anything stopping the player from progressing.

I kind of made the same point before (well sort of, I was worried people would pirate the whole game over it, not just the specific content) but in hindsight it's not the greatest argument.

1. Only PC players (and perhaps by the end of the year, Vita players) would have this option. PS4 and Xbox One (for the most part) players have no way to do this. Switch players probably eventually on account of it being a Nintendo system (I can't think of a single Nintendo system since the N64 and GBA that didn't get hacked all too easily.) But in the meantime, most platforms do not have this option.

2. "Criminals will break the law" isn't a reason to remove laws.

3. Piracy of backer exclusive content isn't really the worst thing. Since there's no way to buy the content, there's no loss of money for 505 when they do it.

I was more worried about people pirating the game out of spite, or not wanting to buy the game at all, once they find it has locked content. Lot of people pretend they're all self righteous in their pirating if they find a business practice they don't agree with. "They did a business practice I find morally wrong, so it's fine if I do the morally wrong act of piracy in return!" There's no way to prove whether that will have a major impact on the game's sales or not, but tbh, I think Bloodstained might be boned on this decision either way.

You can bet games "journalism" is going to harp on this no matter what they decide to do. Whether the headline reads:

Bloodstained Is The Next Kickstarter Game To Not Live To Its Promises

or

If You Didn't Back Bloodstained, You Will Never Get The Complete Experience

So long as there is something to be complained about, there'll be a few dozen articles to blast it. I just hope either way it doesn't form too many perspectives.

I tend to think the people who pirate the game are generally going to do so regardless, and will make up whatever their justification is after the fact even though it had little impact on the original decision.

Getting DLC through unofficial means like modding it in is piracy and is illegal. I'd suggest not admitting to that here.

If someone is so petty that they would pirate a game because the developers/publishers are keeping a promise to the Kickstarter backers, the people that supposedly enabled the game to exist, then you were never going to get anything from that person in the first place. They will find another reason to justify pirating.

I don't blame people for not liking any of that. It's certainly nice when you can just buy a game, and not have to worry about making any other purchases for the game, even though any extra content is never "necessary". But that just shows how unreliable some people are. People say something is okay, and then don't support it. People say something isn't okay, and then go on to support it. That's why often there's no clear answer, and all you can do is what you think is right.