Dom 3 price...

[Agema]

I didn't think the price was bad. But then, at $1.9 = £1, $55 is about the same as a shop-bought game, the exchange rate works in my favour. I'd expect to pay less for an electronic download and .pdf manual (I prefer CD/DVD and paper manual anyway).

[haileris]

As someone pointed out earlier, games such as Dom3 are great value when compared to other forms of entertainment such as films or DVD's.
However, I was somewhat disappointed with Dom3 as I don't think it resolved some of the major issues with Dom2, for instance the micromanagement and unintuitive (to me!) interface and I didn't think it was *that* much of a difference to warrant $55.

Its a good buy but I would consider other options if you are only a moderate fan of the previous version (although to be honest there isn't too many other games in this category that stand out at the moment, at least new ones.)

[Taqwus]

Agema said:
I didn't think the price was bad. But then, at $1.9 = £1, $55 is about the same as a shop-bought game, the exchange rate works in my favour. I'd expect to pay less for an electronic download and .pdf manual (I prefer CD/DVD and paper manual anyway).

You're not only paying for the mere physical products, whose cost is probably unusually high due to limited publishing run, but you're also paying for an unusually high level of quality support.

Dominions 3 was released in May '06, and the developers and reps of the publisher not only can be found still participating in the forum, but also continuing development work that adds more than bug fixes. From a 'normal' publishing house, you'd probably have never seen many of the post-launch fixes and content without paying for multiple 'expansion packs', if ever. You probably also wouldn't have seen quite the support for mods, because -that- much ability to mod makes it harder to sell aforementioned expansions.

[MKDELTA]

Dom 2 and 3 are different, in subtle but significant ways. For example, the more limited random magic, and lesser amount of indie mages. Nations feel different due this. Getting Ice Devils for Caelum and such is much harder. Life draining weapons aren't as awesome as before. National summons are a huge big thing for some nations, adding a whole different angle. Or did Dom 2 have them? I don't think so. Not sure. New nations might feel like "more the same", but for example Dom 3 Mictlan, Bandar Log, Lanka, Agartha and Fomoria are a kind of a thing of their own. Especialy the EA ape nation which is really %¤#! shoot at start but becomes really awesome once you get enough conjuration and evocation. Watching your research levels up has never been more exciting. Oh yeah, Quickness doesn't let your mages cast two spells in row now.

And so on.

Dom 3 feels like the perfect Dominions game in my opinion. Dom 2 was kind of in-between. It didn't have the eldritch misanthropic mysticism of Dom 1 and it's intricate but mind-defying interface, neither it had the (relative) easy and barrels' o features of Dominions 3. In retrospect, Dom 2 was something of a disapointment. Even it's interface was like a spreadsheet or an operating table. Dom 3 interface is prettier. Warmer earth tones and all that. But I digress. Dom 3 3.10 is just awesome. It feels great to play. Some things remain the same as they have ever been. Undead creatures kill everyone dead, blood magic is awesome when you can use, Ulm still gets kicked around and so on. Perversely MA Caelum is now considered a weak nation...heh.

[Meglobob]

Watch out for shrapnel special offers on gamers front, as already mentioned. They had one before xmas, you could get 15% - 20% off if I remember, it takes it to $40'ish dollars. You will never get the price reduced below this however.

The money I spent on Dom3 was the biggest bargain ever, sometimes you after pay top dollar for pure quality.

[LDiCesare]

Comparing Dom 3 to Avernum, I 'd say that the price of Dom 3 is not exaggerated. Spiderweb software requires you to buy hints manuals for instance, without which you may be unable to finish the game, whereas Dom 3 ships with a manual that happens to be useful, and has more replay value than Avernum.

I thought I'd mention ageing among the new things in Dom 3 over Dom 2. Can be quite significant in terms of gameplay.

And I can't understand why an indep game ought to be cheaper than a AAA game. If you enjoy Dom 3, you're likely to spend more hours on it than most games that are cheaper.

[Saulot]

This is pretty much econ 101 or even Junior High Econ. IMHO they seem to operating at the optimal price for maximum profit. X (amount of units sold) at Y (profit per unit) for Z dollars (total profit). Do you really imagine they would more than double their sales if they cut the price in half or do something else with X and Y to create a larger Z? I very much doubt it. If you consider as well the holiday sales to lure the bargain hunters out there, they're doing the correct strategy.

I very much dislike the arguments for indie games being priced arbitrarily less than regular games (ie. because less people worked on them/less money was thrown at the game/less graphics/whatever) or more than regular games (it is niche, so you must pay more because your tastes/preferences are less important than those of the majority). I'm a big fan of they should charge what they can to max profit. If the game is good, people will buy it, and they can make more of them. If the game is bad, well, at least it points out what you shouldn't do in game development, and creates contrast for the good.

[sum1lost]

LDiCesare said:
Comparing Dom 3 to Avernum, I 'd say that the price of Dom 3 is not exaggerated. Spiderweb software requires you to buy hints manuals for instance, without which you may be unable to finish the game, whereas Dom 3 ships with a manual that happens to be useful, and has more replay value than Avernum.

I thought I'd mention ageing among the new things in Dom 3 over Dom 2. Can be quite significant in terms of gameplay.

And I can't understand why an indep game ought to be cheaper than a AAA game. If you enjoy Dom 3, you're likely to spend more hours on it than most games that are cheaper.

The geneforge series, though... I must have a couple hundred hours logged on some of those games.

[PashaDawg]

Hi:

Given the extraordinary number of hours of joy this game continues to give me (between playing the game, chatting about the game, making maps for the game, etc.), I think the price was extremely well justified. Paying $8.50 to see a 2.5 hour movie is exorbitant in comparison.

I also think that the changes to the game in Dom 3 make it well worth while paying for the newer version. But, obviously, this game trips my trigger. Someone with lukewarm interest would probably feel differently.

Pasha