So I've completed every mission which of course means I've bought all the episodic content but I can't get the bonus missions because I bought each episode one by one rather than by buying the 'upgrade pack' or the complete first season. Anyone know if there's a way around this? or is this a shitty as it seems.

From what I remember, they said at the time that later in the season another bonus episode would come out and at that time they'd bundle all the bonus stuff together and sell that separately.

They'll come to people who bought it piecemeal later on.

The bonus missions were a timed incentive for people to shell out upfront. It's not really shitty seen as you could've done the same.

@ivdamke:

I guess I just don't see the difference between buying it piecemeal or in bulk, I've still got the same stuff. I think much like the elusive targets this could have been done it a better way that doesn't 'punish' fans for not jumping straight on board their Hitman train, especially after Absolution.

Its not so much a punishment for those that didn't buy early as it is a reward for those that did. Not really much different than any preorder bonus.

I missed some of the Elusive targets - I don't really see it as a punishment. Plus, even with getting the episodes one by one there is an insane amount of content in there. Not just the various ways to kill the story targets but the escalation targets as well as user created targets. Missing the extra maps is probably irritating but I believe they will be released. Elusive targets are very much a 'time and place' thing. The pressure of having one shot at it, seeing what other strategies others have taken is great. I've missed the last few as I haven't gotten back into the game in a while but they're planning to continue with exclusive targets so I don't see the huge problem.

Busey as a target is actually what got me to buy the game, so that strategy from them worked.

Honestly, the two summer bonus missions are nothing special. They take place on existing maps that are slightly redesigned/altered, but in the case of the Sapienza mission, very short and confined as well. I wouldn't feel short changed if you missed out on them because you bought the game piecemeal.

@picky_bugger: For you there isn't a difference, for the publisher/developer getting $60 before content is developed is a big difference. The bonus episodes are, make no mistake there as an incentive for that reason. You as a consumer needed to weigh up whether you wanted to risk parting way with $60 upfront for these unknown bonus missions in the future.

@ivdamke: Except that's not really the point, it's not like I've bought the episodes at a cut down price half way through season two. If I'd pressed one other button on the steam page when I bought the Hokkaido episode and instead bought the full package (rebuying episodes I already have) I'd have gotten the bonus missions. I have effectively payed $60 for the game just in the same way as someone buying the full season one and in my scenario I've supported the dev across the development of the game but don't get to play these missions for arbitrary reasons.

@monosukoi: Yeah I get that they aren't supposed to be that good but anything extra has to be better than having to play Colorado again.

@picky_bugger: It is the point, because the full package/upgrade pack was there from the start with the incentive of bonus missions to get people to give them all their money upfront. None of what you do matters to them aside from how they receive their money. You paid $60 over a period of time I paid a lump sum of $60 at the start, businesses prefer getting more money at once (especially when the project has on-going development) that's why they put in those types of incentives, why do you think pre-orders are so sought after? It's the same deal here. They're still giving you the content eventually and like everyone else you had the choices to weigh up. You can call all these reasons arbitrary all you want but in the end you chose to buy it piecemeal and you got what was advertised to you.

@picky_bugger: I agree with you, but there could be a technical issue that keeps them from doing what you want. Darksiders II handled it the same way as Hitman, and there is a long thread on Steam where people complain, but the developer insists that Steam is incapable of doing it. That is, Steam can easily tell if somebody bought the season pass, but it cannot tell that someone bought the complete set of DLC separately. You may or may not believe them. As a developer I know that it should be possible for Steam to do that, but maybe nobody has bothered to implement it. So even if the Hitman devs agreed with you and wanted to give you those bonus eps, maybe they just can't right now.

@memu: Yeah, that could be the reason. I've seen other games give away bits for free but maybe that's free for everyone, not just the people who have bought the game and all of it's bits.

@ivdamke: I mean the pre-order thing is a red herring that has nothing to do with the availability of this bonus content or what I was talking about.

@ivdamke: No that's shitty

Really frustrating -- If you buy all the content piecemeal (which I did from launch) you pay $5 more than someone who bought it bulk now. Also, they plan to charge for the bonus missions, so likely you will end up paying $15 more in total... Seems like a punishment for those that jumped on the wagon early; especially considering there have been multiple sales of the complete package for around $40.

That's how every product works. Buying piecemeal is always more expansive

Not sure if comparing to bulk physical goods (e.g., lumber, food, etc.) is an apt analogy for digital goods... but I see what you are getting at.

Ultimately, any frustration stems from the fact that if you bought the second piece of content (Sapienza) there was no turning back from buying them all individually (i.e., buying the total package) without losing even more money. I didn't even know about the bonus missions and the cost difference until after the 3rd content drop.

It would have been nice if there were additional options to buy everything at various points in the season. I understand the slight difference in pricing from buying them all separately compared to all at once and I'm okay with that... However, in my opinion, IO should have unlocked the bonus missions for anyone that bought everything regardless of format. Given how often it is on sale, I am not even sure that IO realizes that people that bought each piece of content at each release will end up getting burned by $10-15 (depending on how much they charge for the bonus missions).

Absolutely loved Hitman, but I will likely wait until Season 2's total release before buying anything this time around. Just my humble opinion.

I don't really understand the complaints that buying each piece ends up costing more than buying the whole thing upfront - that's the entire point - to incentivize someone to buy the whole thing upfront. I bought the first episode than the upgrade pack - and i think even that cost me $5 more than buying the whole thing right out of the gate. The game is so fucking good i think i would have gladly paid $100.00 for it, i think gamer's sometimes really have a hard time understanding the value proposition on things. A bad game for $20 bucks is still a waste of my time. Paying a few bucks more for a game I knew i was already really enjoying at that point was a no-brainer.

I do see the complaints about the bonus missions as totally valid though. It's a bummer that even people who bought every episode individually still can't access those. I wonder if they just didn't properly lay the groundwork for that sort of thing and didn't really have a good alternative that wouldn't have been releasing them for 100% free - which would have then pissed off people who had bought the episodes. I think people would be annoyed if someone could play the Marrakesh bonus mission without even buying Marrakesh. Hopefully the pack for those is reasonably priced?

They were probably making a lot of this up as they were going along. I'm sure if sales and the reception was terrible that the bonus missions would have never happened (i really don't recall if those were promised upfront), and that escalations/elusive targets would have been less frequent.