Are we paying more for less?

[Warhammer]

I agree, I have never bought a game just because it has a manual, but I have opted to not buy games because the manual was terrible. Shrapnel made a business decision and opted to print the manual. Also, there are costs that are associated with a digital release as well. Often times there are issues therein, which causes much more damage to the company than charging more for a regular release (I have been there with both SI Games and Stardock, luckily for them in both cases the games rocked after I got everything sorted out).

However, you mentioned something that is very smart. Wait for the demo, and then decide whether or not the game is worth $55. I played the Dom2 Demo recently and have been playing it to death. For me, the $55 is worth it because I do not have Dom 2. However, I can understand the debate if someone does own Dom 2 in waiting before they decide to drop $55 on a game. I love FM2006, but am probably going to skip FM2007 for the same reason.

Regarding the decision of Shrapnel to not reduce price on their games, it is a decision that is up to them. They have decided that their business model is best suited by not cutting price. Cutting price is typically indicative of a poor business model because you bought too much supply and must dump it to recoup some of the expense of making it.