[Tim Brooks]

You might have a point if Dominions was using violence, sex and blood sacrifice in a crude and exploitative way to sell copies to idiots.

It isn't /about/ gratuitous violence.

Come on Sombre. The last three Dominions ads before the "I want my Dominions 3 campaign" showed two factions in battle, a lightening bolt burning up a row of warriors, and a spell being cast to burn up a group of warriors.

Here's some interesting numbers (I am showing this to you guys because I know alot of you are interested in how things work in this crazy business):

First a little background - these are industry wide numbers. An average banner ad campaign will recieve between .10 and .20 percent clickthrus. That is 1/10 of one percent to 2/10 of 1 percent. A campaign is considered successful if it receves .30-.40 percent clickthrus and the top campaings come in at around .50 percent clickthrus.

Now, the last four Dominions 3 banners from January thru March 2008 received an average clickthru rate of .15% with the top banner receiving .20%.

The "I want my Dominions 3" campaign started April 1. We have run 4 banners so far. The average clickthru rate for these banners is .65%!!! The top performing banner's clickthru rate is 1.19%!!!

Since the start of the "I want my Dominions 3" campaign Dominions 3 pageviews are up 53% over the last three months combined. That works out to a 354% increase if taken on a monthly (average) basis. Sales of Dominions 3 are up 20% over last month - and last month Dominions 3 was a monthly special at $7.00 off (I think that was the sale amount).

Now, you can be offended by the ads, that is your right. And you can think less of Shrapnel Games, that is also your right. But the bottom line is that Shrapnel Games is in business to sell games There are many reasons why a developer will choose, or not choose, us to publish their game. But the bottom line is sales, period. If we lose a developer because we offend their sensibilities, well that is too bad, but for a publisher it is much worse if we lose a developer becuase we can't meet or exceed their expectations on sales.