Borderlands 2 Writer Says DLC Is Where Devs Should Get Weird

Today at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, former Gearbox writer Anthony Burch (now a writer at RocketJump) discussed the benefits of focusing on characters for DLC instead of plot. He points to his experience writing DLC stories for Borderlands 2 and fans' warm reception for memorable characters as his evidence.

In Burch's talk, called Plot is Dumb, Character is Cool: Writing for DLC, he says that while fans might say they want DLC that expands the story, builds the universe, and answers big questions about the lore, that might not actually be the case.

"Not only do players remember characters more than the plot, they actually like it more than the plot," he says. "And when it comes to focusing on writing a DLC, say for a triple-A game, focusing on a character over plot can make you more money."

Burch goes on to reflect on the reception of Borderland 2's DLC. He says Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty was considered a decent sidestory, but didn't feel like a meaningful addition to the Borderlands 2 story. Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage was slightly better received, which Burch initially believed was due to focusing more on lore-expanding plot points. Gearbox cranked up the lore focus even more for the campaign DLC, Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt, which featured a plot to resurrect the main game's antagonist, Handsome Jack. Despite the focus on story, this DLC was received poorly compared to the preceding campaign DLCs, but players did seem to enjoy the lovably incompetent evil doctor character, Professor Nakayama.

"Character is the only thing that's consistent across all these DLCs, good or bad, up or down," Burch says. "So what if when we did our fourth DLC we doubled down on character and made the plot and all the stakes revolve around character rather than anything big and epic?"

For Borderlands 2's fourth campaign DLC, Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon's Keep, the titular character hosts a D&D-type game where characters fight skeletons and encounter other fantasy tropes in their imaginations. On top of funny exchanges between the cast, Tina learns to cope with the death of a friend and Mordecai grows to appreciate what he initially thought was a silly friend. Some fans even say they shed a tear near the conclusion.

The Tiny Tina DLC became Borderlands 2's most successful DLC, which Burch says is rare for a piece of additional content so late in a release schedule. He attributes its success to not only the creative D&D-inspired setting, but the focus on character development.

"So there was no epic plot, but unlike the other DLCs it had a character arcs, which only now did I realize makes a story a f---ing story and worth [experiencing]," he says.

He also points to other popular character-driven DLC offerings like BioShock 2's Minerva's Den and Mass Effect 3's The Citadel.

"DLC is the kind of space where you should do this kind of stuff," he says. "If you're making the main game, the players are paying $60 for it so you have to put in big, epic, space-fighting stakes and explain why you have to close all the holes that opened in a universe and s--- like that. But this is DLC. People already told you they liked you and are paying more money to hang out with you more. You're on your second date, now you get to do the weird s---, and the weird s--- is really fun."

Burch suggests developers explore more off-the-beaten path character stories in DLC, offering examples like attending a best friend's wedding or a prom dance. He also suggests spicing up clichéd objectives like turning on a shield generator by adding character-driven conflict or goals, like turning on the lights for a badass mercenary who is afraid of the dark.

Swinging for the fences may seem easier for games with a lighter tone, which Burch is aware of.

"I'm speaking from a position of incredible privilege here because Borderlands is a comedy and it's really silly and you get to do whatever the f--- you want, anything goes," Burch says. "I want to remind everybody that Mass Effect is not a laugh-a-minute comedy and BioShock 2 is not like Grownups. These are really serious franchises that still manage to use their DLC to tell small, personal feelings about characters that are interesting, and they're way better for it."