Recursing into folders/directories not working

[bevanweiss]

I'm running Windows 8.1 64-bit with either VLC 32/64-bit (tried both) and VLC version 2.1.5 (Rincewind). However, I believe this would apply across other platforms as well.

When I try to run
vlc --recursive=expand "F:\Downloads"
I expect that it would play all the media within Downloads, and all subfolders within Downloads etc etc
However, it just appears to show it's playing (but no change to actual output window / audio) and then go back to the stopped state. It doesn't expand out the "Downloads" folder or play anything within it.

I've also tried
vlc --recursive=collapse "F:\Downloads", vlc "F:\Downloads" --recursive=expand, vlc "F:\Downloads" --recursive=collapse
all without success

I'm sure this used to work, and it used to be possible to just drag and drop a folder into the VLC playlist and it would auto-expand recursively when the folder was first played.

Is this just a bug on my system, or is this a regression / feature change with the code base?