SE:V Manual Released

[Randallw]

You do get a smaller paper manual with the boxed game, but the PDF is much bigger and contains colour pictures of practically everything. It would be uneconomical to include that as a hard copy.

[Aiken]

I know that community is almighty. But I woudn't mind an official guide, though it will remove half of a joy.

[Elsemeravin]

Atrocities said:
I hate electronic manuals. Give me a paper manual and I will play the game.

You can push the "print" button and it will magically become paper manual without costing a penny to MM

[Atrocities]

Ok let me put it too you this way. I used to pay $40.00 to $50.00 for a game that actually came with a manual. It didn't cost me any thing extra.

Today I still pay between $40.00 and $50.00 dollars for a game but no manual. So now not only do I have to pay full price for the game, I have to pay even more for the paper and the ink to print the game manual???? In todays age publishing a manual is no where near as expensive as it was five or even two years ago. Hell with all the new Xerox and LeXmark copier and printer technology they could mass produce manuals all day and still cost only penies. Whereas the cartrages of ink for my HP printer costs $50.00 dollars each and last only about 250 pages.

No Thanks. That is just greed on the game publishers end pure and simple.

Even more evidence of greed. We used to get nice solid jewel cases for the game disks. Now all we get are paper disk covers. Hum... how much do jewel cases cost? While we pay about $20.00 for 100 of them, they the game publishers pay about $0.6 cents for them.

(Small game publishers like Shrapnel are exempt from this. heir profit margins are so small that these costs do end up saving money and are perfectly valid cost control measures. But larger publishers who sell tens of thousands of games can aford the extra $2.06 that it would cost to include a manual along with a protective jewel case for the game.)

[Annette]

In reply to no particular member but to the thread in general. OMG. We (Shrapnel Games) have tried to stick to our resolve to take the high road on this release. But this is ridiculous, and I cannot refrain from pointing it out.

Has anyone read the Warranty Disclaimer from the SEV manual? Please know, Strategy First, the "publisher", is located in Canada; Malfador Machinations is located in California. Shrapnel Games, when SEIV and SEIV Gold were published, was located in Wake County, North Carolina:

THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA AND SHALL INURE
TO THE BENEFIT OF STRATEGY FIRST INC., MALFADOR MACHINATIONS AND ANY SUCCESSORS,
ADMINISTRATORS, HEIRS, AND ASSIGNS. ANY ACTION OR PROCEEDING BROUGHT BY EITHER PARTY AGAINST
THE OTHER ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE BROUGHT ONLY IN A STATE OR
FEDERAL COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION LOCATED IN WAKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. THE PARTIES
HEREBY CONSENT TO IN PERSONAM JURISDICTION OF SAID COURTS.

I'm sorry. I care very much about Aaron Hall, and I can't believe they couldn't even take the time to do this right.

[StarShadow]

I think Strategy First botched things from beginning to end. Practically no marketing, bad website, worse forum, very bad release (instead of releasing it everywhere at once, it's dribbling out haphazardly). I hope Aaron dumps them.

[Caduceus]

Thanks for the post, Jarena.

[DarkHorse]

At least we can still download a manual; in the console world you have to buy a "strategy guide" for $20 just to get what used to be in the manuals.

[Phoenix-D]

heh.

The demo had it right, so that's just bizzare.

[Elsemeravin]

Maybe we have paper cover for CD instead of plastic to save the earth ecology ?
Maybe we have no printed manuals to save the Amazonian forest ?
Maybe I'm very naive ?