What the hell is up with Dominions 3???

[Annette]

Gandalf Parker said:
More screenshots! More screenshots! less battle shots and more of the managment screens.
I take it that these are special gifts for PDF's magazine? I cant use them on www.Dom3Minions.com?
Can I link to the article at least? Or maybe this thread?

Posting the screenshots is perfectly fine with us; they were not exclusive to Cyberstratege . The same screenshots were provided to Computer Games Magazine for their "Most Anticipated Games of 2006" article. Theophile may prefer, however, that we provide them directly to you rather than your reproducing them from the article?

The interview and the article itself ARE exclusive to Cyberstratege and may only be reprinted with their full permission.

We appreciate the good word when you link to any thread on our forums, or any part of our website for that matter. As you know, that's what helps us get the word out to the right audience. And we'd also appreciate any plugs you give the fine folks at Cyberstratege.

Are we getting a Dom3 shirt to replace the Dom2 one?
http://www.cafepress.com/shrapnelgames?pid=2837642

In case you guys don't already know, Gandalf loves tshirts!!!!

[ioticus]

How many people are beta testing Dominions 3? Just curious.

[Gandalf Parker]

That usually depends on what level of testing its in. Crash-tests, play tests, balance tests, then nitpicking over things like the intro screen and spell checking. And usually the NDA (non-dislosure agreement) makes it a no-no to say. But thats up to them I guess.

I dont want to start a flood but I figure that if its still early that its a good time to bring up the favorite wishlist stuff in case its a "oh yeah we were going to do that" kindof item.
But on the other hand, I dont want to move back the relase date any

[NTJedi]

Tim Brooks said:
Word of mouth. A number of you in this thread mentioned word of mouth as an important marketing tool. It is THE MOST IMPORTANT marketing tool. Every game we have had that has had a huge following, has gotten there not by advertising, reviews, interviews, etc, but by fans word of mouth. It is the most effective form of promotion. So talk up Dominions 3 and Dominions II!

I agree, but besides the recent foreign interview us fans have received very very little information. As a result when friends and relatives gather then someone tosses the question: "Hey any new games coming out?"....... the gamers haven't heard or seen anything new about DOMINIONS_3 and thus no word of mouth.

Tim Brooks said:
You must remember we are still selling Dominions II and although there has been a slow down in recent months, it is still usually one of our top 3 or 4 sellers. Selling Dominions II is the best way of promoting Dominions 3. No?

Well it shouldn't be your only way of promoting... within the last 10 months there has been very little promotion for Dominions_3. Since Dominions is one of your top selling games it should definitely have an advertising strategy which grows upon getting closer to the release date.

If you want WORD OF MOUTH to work... give those future customers "continously new info" to use for spreading the word. The ohhh lets do advertising only the last 3 months is definitely not the best method.

[PDF]

Pocus said:
are you sure PDF you had the right to disclose these screenies? I thought Theo had it from IW, but just for the mag.

I asked KO and Théo permissions before, don't worry Pocus !

[Gandalf Parker]

NT Jedi said
Since Dominions is one of your top selling games it should definitely have an advertising strategy which grows upon getting closer to the release date.

Dont go wishing advertising on them. The developers might not want that.
Unless you mean more PR releases

Annette said
In case you guys don't already know, Gandalf loves tshirts!!!!

Ok then, how about a mug with the keypress chart on it. Im thinking that when this game is released Im going to NEED a mug for all of those long late nights.
Please.... just.. one.. more.. turn...

Gandalf Parker

[Annette]

Gandalf Parker said:
Ok then, how about a mug with the keypress chart on it. Im thinking that when this game is released Im going to NEED a mug for all of those long late nights.
Please.... just.. one.. more.. turn...

You know I love you, Gandalf!

As to the question of when to begin the "hype"...too soon, is no good...too late, no good...I feel like Goldilocks. We don't hold Illwinter, or any of our developers, to a schedule. When it's ready, it's ready. Illwinter does not need the pressure of delivering on some arbitrary timeline, nor are we inclined to request it. We want to minimize the chances of the developement and testing process to be pressured by the "is it ready yet?" mindset. So we begin the "hype" when we feel the time is right. I hope that explains our point of view; we've learned through experience

[NTJedi]

Annette said:
As to the question of when to begin the "hype"...too soon, is no good...too late, no good...I feel like Goldilocks. We don't hold Illwinter, or any of our developers, to a schedule. When it's ready, it's ready. Illwinter does not need the pressure of delivering on some arbitrary timeline, nor are we inclined to request it. We want to minimize the chances of the developement and testing process to be pressured by the "is it ready yet?" mindset. So we begin the "hype" when we feel the time is right. I hope that explains our point of view; we've learned through experience

No need to set any specific timeline, we care more about the game being good than being done fast. Gamers are more curious about the content, improvements of artificial intelligence of computer opponents, and new game features. Dropping small pieces of information or screenshots is enough to get word of mouth working. Giving almost zero information for the last 10 months WILL NOT work as well as giving small pieces of information/screenshots for the last 10 months. In fact too much silence is bad because fans become worried or upset as seen with Triumph Studios.

Gal_Civ_2 was(is?) the #1 selling software at Walmart... not just games but all software. It's not enough to only examine what's worked in the past for you, but to examine what's working for others.
That last sentence is true for almost any type of business.

[Kristoffer O]

The 10 month silence is more of a IW silence than a shrapnel silence (and 10 months is a bit of an exaggeration). Unless we give them screens and info they can't give you any info. I've been quite bad at writing dev diaries as I said I would. Probably because I mostly write when I'm in a good mood and have little work at school (this fall was a tough one and dev diaries were not my top priority, but now everything is brighter).

But there has been some info leaking. The most anticipated game at the start of this year for example.

I hope you haven't lost faith young prophet

[Nerfix]

But do we get new battle formations or were those neat columns of C'tisian chariots just an illusion?