Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

I buy most of my books digitally too, actually. Although I guess that's only true if you count quantity and not cost, since Baen ebooks are cheap.

-Max

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

I'd think that for every person who shows up here and says that he would like a digital download option, there are 25 others that didn't bother to register on the forums and write about it and just went somewhere else.

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

Sorry, I didn't want to seem like I was angry or dimissive, just disappointed. I know it sounds ambiguous to take the time to post in a forum but not purchase the game, but I feel strongly about the digital business model. Decry the possible downsides of models like Impulse and Steam, but the truth is they work, and they are the future of gaming. For me it's about all the little things when it comes to who I trust for my business. That's why I'm still on the fence with Shrapnel.

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

I dont think anyone is arguing with you on that. Including Shrapnel.
But until a pre-made package is distributed for it then its not as automatically a good thing as those items that have such packages. Forums, blogs, our nice chat, the shopping cart. Shrapnel has all of those installed for us. Since those other sites you mentioned have not distributed their methods then its not available.

And Shrapnel does have DD also. But without an all-encompassing package its not likely that Dom3 will be included in the games they offer that way. Not yet.

As to the numbers of people who post and dont post, thats probably true. It would reflect the same percentages as those who do purchase the game.

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

This is what I don't get. One of the key factors people cite when discussing digital copies is INSTANT GRATIFICATION. But, with the fact you've been on the fence for two weeks in that time you could have purchased the game and been playing it. While we can't do anything about customs in general transit time is really good. We had one customer from the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean get his copy in about two weeks, and since most folks probably live in more civilized regions, transit time is going to be better.

Umm, we care.

How long have you been gaming? I'm assuming for a number of years, right? And for many of those years you probably only had the option of purchasing a physical copy, correct? Is having to buy a physical copy really that much of a burden?

And this is not meant to be argumentative, it just seems odd that in a world in which the majority of products still are physical (and will always be physical, you can't eat or wear bytes after all) that someone is so against the fact that they can't get a game digitally that you would do without rather than just get the game shipped to you.

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

Krol, my point about "not caring" is that a publisher can cite reasons for not having downloads available all they want, but what most customers will see and/or care about is whether or not it says "download now" on the order form.

And yes, in this particular case, it IS a burden. At the game's current price, I'm (quite figurately) on the fence about buying it. As for retail boxes...hey, I've been gaming since I was the coolest kid on the block for having Pacman for the Atari first. And I'll never forget lovingly thumbing through the Pirates! and Darklands manuals. But there are some games that I want to just get and play.

Let me put it to you from a different angle. My gut tells me this game is too expensive, but I was willing to make an impulse purchase of it anyway. That impulse petered out as soon as I got to the order form.

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

Is your impulse strong enough to have downloaded and played the demo? The four nations in the demo were enough to keep me entertained for the few days the manual + CD took to arrive. Although I was very happy to get to play all the new nations once it did arrive.

And if you get the demo and play it for a while and decide it's not your thing, hey, you saved fifty bucks! Everybody wins.

-Max

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

This game is not too expensive. Even if you just played 5 or 6 games and never looked at the game again, you would probably get as much play time out of that as most games you've bought. And if you played the demo and were intrigued enough by it that you considered buying the game, you're almost certain to get that much playing in.

Personally though I hate the idea of direct download. All availability issues aside I much prefer having something concrete and solid that I can hold onto, so if my computer goes to hell or a file gets corrupted I'm not suddenly out $50. You have to keep track of a disc and keep it safe, but with dominions you don't even need the disc in to play, so wear and tear on the disc is extremely minimal.

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

My sentiments exactly. Digital copies are all fine and well, but what happens if your HD conks out? And if your backups get shot too? I've had one external HD suffer mechanical failure and that cost me six months worth of accumulated schoolwork because there was a virtual server environment on it that I couldn't run on my home machine due to lab work requirements. I managed to recover the important documentation files that were on the HD before it gave out all the way and making up for the rest of it in two weeks was a real pain in the ***.

As long as you keep track of a commercially produced CD, it generally doesn't degrade, whereas self-burnt ones can die in anywhere from one to ten years depending on CD quality due to the laws of physics that govern chemical reactions.

And if you lost a digital copy, how do you arrange for a redownload? Verification of purchase etc, but that goes back into the need for a downloads management system and we're right back in square one.

Obviously your mileage may vary on how long and how often you would play Dom3, but considering I've been managing the bug reports for near enough two years now and have had time to do the DB and otherwise put all kinds of extra effort into this, it's certainly been worth it in my opinion.

And that's before considering that the hobby project of the Dom3 DB and the bug list actually helped me secure a second professional IT degree. With just minimal modification, I was able to present a working prototype database and project experience that I could present as fait accompli for some sections that were required to demonstrate prior experience. I'd already invested my time into making them, so I used them to my advantage. As games go, for me Dom3 has been an investment that has paid itself back many times over and will keep on doing as long as stay in the IT profession precisely because of this. I'd be (literally) a poorer man indeed if I'd be that hung up on instant downloads.

Re: Can you buy Dominions 3 online for download?
 

I'm completely with you on this. If your gut tells you it's too expensive and after a couple of weeks consideration you haven't convinced yourself to the extent you can ignore the delivery, I don't think you should buy it. Be aware it's not going to go down in price.

From my limited experience Krol is pretty fond of insulting customers/potential customers when they express opinions he doesn't like, so you may have that coming in a moment. He also completely missed your point - you say you've been on the fence for a couple of weeks, musing the decision to buy,.. and his response? You could have bought it and had it by now. Classic. But he doesn't in any way shape or form represent the dom3 community, to be clear.