Bhruic I disagree on user made levels and content. Warcraft 3, and Starcraft have a ton of user made maps that probably not even concieved of when Blizzard started making Warcraft 3. Well I take that back, and change Warcraft 3 with Starcraft.
The fanbase for games like NWN, Morrowind, Oblivion, Starcraft, Quake etc, IS A HUGE REFLECTION of the company. Many a game would be bargin bin trash if it wasn't for the fan base and fan created content. From Doom to Oblivion in the end, the developers, publishers and gamers look for long term goals. Warcraft 3 for example is limited by the engine true, but at the same time there is only so many times you can zerg rush someone before you get bored of the game, no matter how many free maps you release. So the community got very creative. And the same can be said of the Doom/Quake/Half Life/Battlefield/Unreal community. From CTF, to Counter-Strike anything inbetween.
As for playing time vs additional game content. If you don't get it then I shall explain it too you. No matter what game (with the exception of Windows Solitare) you will get bored with a game, it's only a matter of time. With the cost's of games, and hardware upgrades to play the latest and greatest game, gamers are looking at their wallets to see how much gameplay they will get out of the box. User Created Content is a HUGE factor to me for the games I decide to purchase and is for others on this board.
Example: I bought NWN when it first came out, I think for the retail price of either 49.99 or 59.99. I believe the average playthrough was estimated roughly 30 to 40 hours, taking into account the entire game (side quests). Now I consider that a pretty good investment compaired to what else I could spend the money on for entertainment purposes. Now factor in the community. The community is the largest of any game to date on user created content. Now I got to a couple of the fan sites that host these files and I go looking through them. Now there is a god aweful amount of stuff out there, alot of extremly professional and well done. Not to mention the Persistant World Servers. Now my 30 to 40 hours of enjoyment has now become something I can't measure, due to the vast amount of stuff out there. And all of it for free, with maybe the exception of the power for the computer, net connection, and cd's/dvd's to store it on.
Now along comes Bethesda, who has given us free content for Morrowind, now charging 2 dollars for 2 pieces of horse armor.
Why are people angry? Cause after all is said and done, the community with it's custom created content will keep selling copies of Oblivion long after it's hit the bargin bin. And if it does really well it won't even hit the bargin bin, they will do like Morrowind, release a few expansions then sell it in Bundle, kinda like Blizzard is doing with Warcraft and Starcraft.
What would I pay 2 dollars for? Item shadows like shown in the first video, when you start the game in the jail cell. Hell I'd pay 10 bucks for that.
Why are we made to pay for it? Because there is a console version of this game, and god forbid that the console users pay for and we don't have to.
I really like Bethesda, and I was introduced to their universe with Morrowind, but the content that was released to purchase compaired to what was given for free with Morrowind really has me scratching my head.
And here is a list of the items that were released for FREE for Morrowind by Bethesda.
http://www.morrowind.com/downloads/updates_plugins.htm