[JimMorrison]

To be honest, I think that in order to "succeed" in the sense that the OP meant, perhaps the best option would be to reduce the price of purchase through Shrapnel.

Here is why I think this, and it's something sad that I've noticed is rampant - I purchased this game new and shrink wrapped from Amazon (not from a private party, but through them, retail) for $50. Here is the problem that I tend to see, by relying on outside retailers such as this, a company is telling me two things. First, I feel bad about having bought through Amazon when I could have purchased through Shrapnel, as I know Amazon made at least $10 on the sale (most likely), and this situation is even worse if you buy from a department store or such where you can be sure the publisher saw no more than half of the sale price. You see, when you talk about value on a 50-60$ game, you are really talking about value on a 25-30$ game, because THAT is at most the revenue generated by it. The second thing that I am being told by this, is that the pricing for direct sale is a bit exorbitant. The thing is, if someone can sell their game to a retail outlet for $30, why can they not cut me a break on their website? It seems that the digital distribution ills and whatnot are totally ameliorated if you stop letting someone else reap the rewards from your efforts, and price competitively only through your own distribution network.

I know things are a "little" more complicated than that, as some of the value lost on selling to retail outlets is made up in the form of greater visibility and whatnot, but it may be important to note that if the game were sold only through Shrapnel at say $40, word of mouth could do wonders at this point. I know I am happy to sing the praises of Dominions - and the fine people who produce it - to anyone who will listen.


Of course, the point is ultimately that it is somewhat a "niche" game. No amount of wishful thinking can change that, the bulk of the gaming community is VERY visually oriented, and without a team of 20 working on the graphics, you get a game that has a quirky charisma to it, but nonetheless looks like it's 10 years old. Compound that with the fact that most gamers can't wrap their heads around this level of strategic complexity (they want something fast, FPS and RTS), and you have a well defined niche - the "not so graphically dependant hardcore turn based strategy game".


Anyways Illwinter, I love you guys, if any of you read this, it is all meant constructively and supportively. <3