So no Dominions 4?

[llamabeast]

Many games depreciate because the quality of their graphics and other production values are major selling points. Over time these become less impressive compared to other titles on the market, and the games become worth less.

In Dominions' case the strengths never were the production values, and so there is no sense in depreciation. The game still looks bad, to pretty much the same extent it did two years ago. In all other respects it remains awesome, just as it was two years ago. There have been no other comparable games in its genre to make it look dated, and indeed there are still few real competitors for it. So a constant price makes sense.

Also the game has been patched and added to so much since release that in many ways its value has actually increased.

As for it being so expensive in the first place - that is Shrapnel's decision, and despite many people desperately arguing that they would get more sales if they made it cheaper, they seem quite determined to hold it steady. Maybe they are even right, who knows.

[DonCorazon]

Things priced as cheap are perceived as cheap. I believe they should continue to hold the price high given Dom3 is clearly a low volume sale and thus warrants a high price to generate value for the supply chain. That said, I think they could pick up some sales taking it below $50. The marketer in me says $49.99 or $44.99 would be a good price. Paying $55 for a game you are not sure about is a leap of faith. I didn’t buy Dom3 til I got the Stardock coupon that took it under $50 and I am neither poor nor cheap. I just couldn’t get myself to take a $55 bite after having purchased so much electronic garbage in my life.

[Ballbarian]

All I am going to say is that I bought Bioshock with a shiny new Xbox360 for my kids and I played it all of 2 days. Very pretty game. I am still playing Dom3 after owning it for nearly 2 years.

[triqui]

Ballbarian said:
All I am going to say is that I bought Bioshock with a shiny new Xbox360 for my kids and I played it all of 2 days. Very pretty game. I am still playing Dom3 after owning it for nearly 2 years.

Gotcha!

[JimMorrison]

llamabeast said:
Many games depreciate because the quality of their graphics and other production values are major selling points. Over time these become less impressive compared to other titles on the market, and the games become worth less.

In Dominions' case the strengths never were the production values, and so there is no sense in depreciation. The game still looks bad, to pretty much the same extent it did two years ago. In all other respects it remains awesome, just as it was two years ago. There have been no other comparable games in its genre to make it look dated, and indeed there are still few real competitors for it. So a constant price makes sense.

Also the game has been patched and added to so much since release that in many ways its value has actually increased.

As for it being so expensive in the first place - that is Shrapnel's decision, and despite many people desperately arguing that they would get more sales if they made it cheaper, they seem quite determined to hold it steady. Maybe they are even right, who knows.

Indeed - marketing decision of a price-point aside, the value of the product is only increasing with time. Unless one of those big studios with the flashy 3D engines and massive programming team makes a game as good as Dominions as well as adding to it, then there is no competition at all.

If any move were made to lower the cost of the software, it would likely involve an increase in total user cost. The best you could hope for is to drop Dominions to ~$40, and then see all of the patched content (with a special update added I'm sure, to inspire purchase) all rolled into one consumer friendly "expansion", which would cost, oh, say $30.

Are you happy now? Your *****ing has just increased the price of the game, with the benefit of hurrying a couple more nations to us. Thanks a ton.

<3

[Itchykobu]

I'm slightly confused by this topic. That is, I'm not sure if the topic creator actually likes this game. He seems to want to play it with his roommates, which would indicate he does like it. However, it doesn't seem like he feels that it is worth the price he paid for it....which would indicate that he doesn't like it....

Furthermore, the assertion that a price reduction would "prolly" triple sales indicates foreknowledge of the games current sales rating. Since publishers are inherently interested in maximizing profit, I'm willing to bet that Shrapnel is in possession of more accurate sales figures than "prolly", and sales must be doing quite well to justify the games current price vs. sales curve.

If it was, on the other hand, the original poster's goal to log onto the forums that, at first glance, are used by a majority of people that really enjoy the experience they get out of the game and harass them, then I think that objective has been met. So...kudos?

[Gandalf Parker]

As mentioned, things like eye-catching graphics and realistic sound werent ever part of this game. Deep strategy and long life are. Im not sure if dropping the price would end up bringing in a flood of new players the way it would if it were trying for the ooh-ahh-prettypretty console crowd. Niche games dont tend to be affected much by marketing techniques.

[MaxWilson]

llamabeast said:
Many games depreciate because the quality of their graphics and other production values are major selling points. Over time these become less impressive compared to other titles on the market, and the games become worth less.

In Dominions' case the strengths never were the production values, and so there is no sense in depreciation.

Wow. Mod +1, insightful. Production values are of course not the only selling points which depreciate with time (some games probably depreciate as the market for that genre becomes saturated) but intuitively this makes sense. Flashy games depreciate because of Moore's Law.

-Max

[Kraftwerk]

Strangely even after being out for years it continues to be our top selling game. So what does that tell you?

That its a good game in a sea of sub par titles.

Charging 60 dollars is like people charging 10 dollar bottles of water in the desert.

Its not that the product is worth 60 dollars, its that its the only product around.

Fleecing people you are.

Just because people buy it, doesnt mean its a good deal. People spend their last dollar on crack. Does that make crack good? Or even a good value? Sure doesnt.

People would opt for the better value, if one existed, doesnt make any less morally reprehensible to charge over three times somethings value.

Not to mention if you dropped the price 15 dollars or so, so it was 45 bucks, youd sell alot more. 3x45 is more than 1x60. It really does keep people who would buy it (and more than likely end up modding for it, increasing the community, and therefor selling more copies, i'm a former team member of the Halflife Modification Day of Defeat. Valve software (the most successful on the planet) attributed a considerable number of sales to our mod. They even bought us out to develop the sequel inhouse.

You have to compete. You lose sales when a MP community finds a game (which has happened here before) they want to play, but all the members of that community dont have access to the game due to the price. After a short burst of interest, they move on to a game they can all play together.

Im sure your satisfied with the amount of money youre making, but you can always make more, and you can always increase the size of your fanbase, which can only help with future titles (and other titles), a large fanbase attracts more developers as well, as they want to be a part of whats going on.

But basically, its just too damned expensive for what it is. No average person in their right mind would purchase this game for the price it is. Grognards, enthusiasts, previous fans, and people starving for a quality game will, and if thats your goal, awesome, more power to yah Rockefellar

[MaxWilson]

Did someone just compare Dom3 to crack? Oh, my. That explains SO MUCH about my strange compulsions of late.

Just kidding. (I had pretty much killfiled this thread but I peeked back and couldn't resist the opening.)

-Max