Downloadable retail needed?

[Agrajag]

PDF said:
Not making Dom3 available by download is Shrapnel's choice, but it hasn't to do with cost- it'll be less costly than printing the CDs and manuals.

Don't underestimate the cost of bandwidth

[reverend]

Folket said:
But I think the manual to dominions 3 makes the game. At last a manual that tells something about the game.

Exactly. You could include it as a .pdf, but I take any bet that THEN, people would complain that they had to print such a large manual.


Also, like Agrajag said: Bandwidth, server maintenance, the admin that wants to be paid... Online distribution (or online presence in general) is not as cheap as many people would like to think.

[Maltrease]

It doesn't have to be a choice between downloadable and not downloadable. I think the biggest draw is simply "I want more right now!" And if you have to wait several days it is a lot easier to just wait and not buy it.

If you've in a hot demo game, hit turn 40, and continuing the game is only $60 and 15 minutes away (with a fast connection) its very easy to drop the cash.

I'd say you still purchase the game, manual and pay shipping as normal. Then you are able to download the CD immediately. The only real copy protection is your CD-KEY. They could zip up the install CD for download and it would work fine.

I've bought a couple games this way (after being sucked into a demo) that I wouldn't have bought if I had to wait... and some frankly I shouldn't have bought... but immediate gratification is so tempting!

[Action]

Ordering something from the internet and then waiting for it is sort of a pain, it really deters people from making impulse buys.

I never bought dominions 2, entirely because I was too lazy to order it online and wait for it. When I want a game I want it NOW. hehe

Eventually reading the AARs and the forums sucked me in enough where I had no choice but to buy Dom 3, and I'm glad I did, but there were like 5 times where I would have shelled out 50 bucks on the spot for Doms 2 if I could have DL'd it or bought it in a store.

[Gandalf Parker]

Downloadable still has many pros and cons. Finding a downloadable retail would be good but do any exist? So far as I know everyone is still playing with it on their own with various results.

GalCiv which is a great arrangment and working well for them but its only their system and not available to others. As far as I know Brad isnt packaging/selling that system.

And altho I agree that there would be more sales, Im not sure if Dom3 would generate enough sales that otherwise wouldnt happen in order to justify getting into the headaches of direct download.

I think that many of the problems with direct download might be settled by offering it as a BitTorrent file and selling the serials. But thats a whole different can of worms.

[NTJedi]

Dominions_2 should be made available for purchase via download. I would recommend all their games be made available for purchase via download after a new sequel is released.

[PhilD]

I admit I have, on more than one occasion, chosen to buy a downloadable game as an "impulse buy", so maybe the "download it now" thing works with me. OTOH, I don't think I ever decided not to buy a game because there was no option to download it.

Stardock's system for downloads is great - for those who don't know about it, it lets you archive on CD, or reinstall from a new machine, or whatever you'd like to be able to do with a game you bought on a CD. With this kind of facility, the only downside to a download system is the lack of a printed manual, which isn't much with most games these days since they have so crappy manuals - but, in the case of Dom3, makes a huge difference.

Having the manual as a PDF file is fine, but having it as a nicely bound, physical object is very important to me.

Now, as to what Shrapnel "should" or "could" do - it's clearly their choice, but like Pascal (PDF), I don't believe finding a reliable system to setup the downloads is that much of an obstacle to them - even if they offered a downloadable version at some discount, they'd probably recoup that in the cost of printing the manual.

I think one of the reasons they won't offer a downloadable version is that it might encourage piracy - if the manual is available as a PDF file, it becomes that much easier to just copy the whole thing and give it to your friends. As it is right now, copying the game doesn't just make it impossible to play MP games - you also don't get the nice manual.

[Maltrease]

I think just being able to download and play the game immedietely would be a huge benefit. Then they can still ship you the CD and manual. Sure it might be tough without the manual for a few days... but a lot less tough then having to wait WITHOUT the game for those days.

[Gandalf Parker]

I dont think its a choice thing. No one is arguing that they should. They might not even argue that they should. But its not the same as offering a patch or a demo. Its not something that can just be turned on. People will put up with alot for small free files that they wont put up with for a large expensive one. The management system, the security, the servers, the customer support, all goes way up for digital download. Ive been involved in trying to create systems like that and I begged out. It was more than I was willing to accept responsibility for.

When someone offers an installable package like they have for shopping carts, forums, PMs, blogs, etc etc then we might see it.

[CharonJr]

I am all for a merger of Shrapnel, Matrixgames, Battlefront, Stardock and Paradox

With the games they publish and 2 established downloadable retail systems between them this would fix both my gaming and my instant gratification needs

CharonJr