(Shocking) News!!!!!

[Baron Munchausen]

Klvino [ORB] said:
Aside from reviews and the banners of Shrapnel-aligned websites, I haven't seen ads for it.

But with this latest revelation about Strategy First.. One word comes to mind:

Enron

It actually reminds me to the dot com bubble burst too. I had a huge number of friends who had a 3rd party handle advertising on their site and paid them for those banner placements and then refused to pay the fees to the web master citing bankruptcy. Nearly all of them are website-less now or struggling.


As for GalCiv2, The reviews I saw of that game and the screenshots provided in those reviews are two seperate things. I felt like I was listening to a bible thumper in the reviews. I would give a game more serious consideration if it had a harsher, more realistic review. Hell, if I could I would give them. I'm yet to see a copy of GalCiv outside a last-chance, dent'n'bend bargin bin I'm also yet to see more than one copy of the game at the same time in the same store.

This is the only time I'm glad bush's new bankruptcy law will prevent a company from escaping its debts.

And God, Satan, and Dick Cheney forbid that SFI Screws MM, and they'll be hell for them to pay from all of us.

Enron is a recent example on a larger scale, but Strategy 1st being a gaming company it reminds me of the shenanigans around TSR when Dungeons & Dragons was the 'Next Big Thing'. He was screwed right & left by people who wanted to live the 'corporate lifestyle' just like those dot-con guys a couple decades later. His wife was actually bargaining with 'her half' of his shares in the company behind his back while their divorce was in progress. Gygax own website seems to be down or inaccessible, but here are some other accounts I've managed to find:

http://www.atlasofadventure.com/Archive/gygaxfaq.asp

http://www.rubycovenant.com.au/viewt...?t=830&start=0

I imagine that something very similar going on at Strategy 1st could produce just those 'impossible' results of non-payment to developers and bankruptcy at the same time. All the money would be going into limousines, 'expense accounts' for free travel around the world, salaried 'jobs' for relatives who never show up to work, and etc. just like happened at TSR. This is not looking good for MM.

[Atrocities]

I have done a lot more looking and David is correct. If Malfador has confidence in SFI, then so do I.

[Greybeard]

I originally found SEIV through one of the game download sites (CNet or ZdNet?). I like strategy games and found the demo on the site. After a game or two, I went to Shrapnel and ordered the game.

In my opinion, free downloads of the demos is the best way to reach those who like this type of game.

[Annette]

Greybeard said:
I originally found SEIV through one of the game download sites (CNet or ZdNet?).

Marketing.

Greybeard said:
...found the demo on the site. After a game or two, I went to Shrapnel and ordered the game.

Marketing.

Renegade 13 said:
I found out about the SE series by doing a search on the internet for "space strategy games".

Marketing.

[Captain Kwok]

If you're keeping score that's 3 for marketing and 0 for dumb luck.

[Annette]

Captain Kwok said:
If you're keeping score that's 3 for marketing and 0 for dumb luck.

[Will]

Captain Kwok said:
If you're keeping score that's 3 for marketing and 0 for dumb luck.

Well, I can't find a user "marketing", and dumbluck hasn't even posted to this thread. I think it's a bit unfair to be keeping score against him when he hasn't even posted!

I think what the Shrapnel folks are trying to get across is that it's better to make it easy for people *looking* for a game to find at Shrapnel. This works infinitely (or at least, a great deal) better than Grand Spamming people who couldn't give a damn. It's better to quietly release playable demos to free download sites, and anywhere that will offer free or subsidized bandwidth for hosting mirrors. It's better for them to create the atmosphere they did in the forums, effectively making an army of salespeople and tech support. And although the games might not get huge recognition (ie, front page) in any of the game review publications, Shrapnel games ARE in those publications. So, invest a lot of time into making contacts within the industry, slowly spreading awareness of a game for "free", instead of investing a lot of money that could be better spent making more games.

And really, in the end, it looks like the strategy is to market the games in a way that makes everyone *think* they stumbled onto a treasure trove by... *drumroll...* Pure Dumb Luck. Very sneaky devious, and I like it

Hope I didn't give away too many secrets!

[Azselendor]

You know, SF needs to clear up this whole matter once and for all.

[Thermodyne]

With all the talk of the old days, and with the eminent beta test drawing a few of the old guys back into the forums, I though I’d give everyone a little trip back to the days of the Ladder. With what I had to do to get past my ISPs firewall, this might be the last time I put it up. But for your viewing pleasure here is the old SE III (SE4) Ladder.

SE Ladder

[dumbluck]

Captain Kwok said:
If you're keeping score that's 3 for marketing and 0 for dumb luck.

How did I get into this?

I found SEIV from a review in CGW! (BIG ad dollars at work) I downloaded the demo, and, ummmm... kinda went crazy until the purchased game arrived....

A Rabid fan? Me? Surely you jest.....