So no Dominions 4?

[MaxWilson]

Theonlystd said:
And i also cant get anyone to even look at the game.. They say it sounds interesting i tell them how much it costs and they laff considering the graphics and age..

Can you get them to look at the free demo? You can easily get 50-60 hours of play out of the demo.

-Max

[MaxWilson]

Kraftwerk,

I sent you a PM.

Tifone,

I was the one who mentioned the "high quality of the game." In case you missed it, that was more of a dig at Bioshock than an explanation of Shrapnel's business model. I didn't scream or charge anyone with blasphemy.

-Max

[Theonlystd]

MaxWilson said:

Can you get them to look at the free demo? You can easily get 50-60 hours of play out of the demo.

-Max

The demo is rather limited in my opinion .

But yes i've got a couple to try but the price is still a turn off. With shipping and handling your looking at over 60 dollars for it since theres no digital download option ..

And the others dont even bother with the demo cause of price..

[Tifone]

@ MaxWilson,

The "blasphemy" thing was just making sarcasm ^^ I was not referring to you nor trying to attack your thought. If you took it as an attack, I have no problem deeply apologizing - in fact, as I said in my previous post, I was one of the absolutely supporters of the "You pay for the quality" thesis.

[S.R. Krol]

Kraftwerk said:
Then why the heck are you still charging 60 dollars for a game thats a bargain bin title?

Bargain bin title? Umm, yeah. Ya know, one of the reasons why we don't distribute through retail is BECAUSE of exactly that. Why are we going to publish a game and have a two week window for it to sell before it drops in price?

Ever heard of depreciation? Game might sell a bit better at a lower price. Like say, 30 dollars? Considering it didnt cost 1/100th of what it costs to create A+ titles?

I never realized that games depreciate. Is it like autos, where as soon as you install it the cost drops 20%?

As far as what it costs to develop. Gee, you ever think that the developers deserve to be paid fairly for their work? Again, another reason not to go the retail route. Most developers rarely even see one cent of what a game makes. Here the developers are fairly compensated, and continue to be throughout the entire LIFE of the game.

I cant get anyone to try this game because its too darned expensive. I cant get another copy so i can legitimately play with my roomies, because its too darned expensive.

Skip a couple dinners going out and eat at home and you have the money for the game. It costs me more to fill up my car than Dominions III costs. While more expensive than other games we sell, it ain't *that* expensive.

Why do you fail at marketing.

Bioshock, that cost umpteenth million dollars, dropped to half your price in the first 6 months it was out.

See my comments above.

You people are obviously on crack.

Drop it 15 dollars and youll prolly triple yer sales.

Strangely even after being out for years it continues to be our top selling game. So what does that tell you?

[Gandalf Parker]

Doesnt the cost of manufacture and distribution go up? Seems like everything else does.

I still think the arguments are not realistic. They seem based on "everyone else does it so why dont you". The game is still a #1 seller so why would Shrapnel lower it? I totally understand why other games end up in the bargain bin. Those are games where I spend $50 and get maybe a month of play out of it. This is one that has lasted years and is still getting upgrades. Not just patching, but upgrades. How many full nations have been added since its release? Not to mention equipment, spells, mod commands, etc.

Wish for a price decrease all you want to and I will gladly join you. But after wishing the rest just comes off as whining.

[llamabeast]

Many games depreciate because the quality of their graphics and other production values are major selling points. Over time these become less impressive compared to other titles on the market, and the games become worth less.

In Dominions' case the strengths never were the production values, and so there is no sense in depreciation. The game still looks bad, to pretty much the same extent it did two years ago. In all other respects it remains awesome, just as it was two years ago. There have been no other comparable games in its genre to make it look dated, and indeed there are still few real competitors for it. So a constant price makes sense.

Also the game has been patched and added to so much since release that in many ways its value has actually increased.

As for it being so expensive in the first place - that is Shrapnel's decision, and despite many people desperately arguing that they would get more sales if they made it cheaper, they seem quite determined to hold it steady. Maybe they are even right, who knows.

[DonCorazon]

Things priced as cheap are perceived as cheap. I believe they should continue to hold the price high given Dom3 is clearly a low volume sale and thus warrants a high price to generate value for the supply chain. That said, I think they could pick up some sales taking it below $50. The marketer in me says $49.99 or $44.99 would be a good price. Paying $55 for a game you are not sure about is a leap of faith. I didn’t buy Dom3 til I got the Stardock coupon that took it under $50 and I am neither poor nor cheap. I just couldn’t get myself to take a $55 bite after having purchased so much electronic garbage in my life.

[Ballbarian]

All I am going to say is that I bought Bioshock with a shiny new Xbox360 for my kids and I played it all of 2 days. Very pretty game. I am still playing Dom3 after owning it for nearly 2 years.

[JimMorrison]

llamabeast said:
Many games depreciate because the quality of their graphics and other production values are major selling points. Over time these become less impressive compared to other titles on the market, and the games become worth less.

In Dominions' case the strengths never were the production values, and so there is no sense in depreciation. The game still looks bad, to pretty much the same extent it did two years ago. In all other respects it remains awesome, just as it was two years ago. There have been no other comparable games in its genre to make it look dated, and indeed there are still few real competitors for it. So a constant price makes sense.

Also the game has been patched and added to so much since release that in many ways its value has actually increased.

As for it being so expensive in the first place - that is Shrapnel's decision, and despite many people desperately arguing that they would get more sales if they made it cheaper, they seem quite determined to hold it steady. Maybe they are even right, who knows.

Indeed - marketing decision of a price-point aside, the value of the product is only increasing with time. Unless one of those big studios with the flashy 3D engines and massive programming team makes a game as good as Dominions as well as adding to it, then there is no competition at all.

If any move were made to lower the cost of the software, it would likely involve an increase in total user cost. The best you could hope for is to drop Dominions to ~$40, and then see all of the patched content (with a special update added I'm sure, to inspire purchase) all rolled into one consumer friendly "expansion", which would cost, oh, say $30.

Are you happy now? Your *****ing has just increased the price of the game, with the benefit of hurrying a couple more nations to us. Thanks a ton.

<3