Is the price of Dominions II a deterrent?

[Saber Cherry]

*bump*

[Wendigo]

It's basically a matter of return on investment: I got 2 years of great gameplay out of Dom I (and I still have a game going on with 2 opponents that refuse to die) so I am basically a satisfied customer.

I paid way more for Legion than I did for Dom I (I thought Wow! Centurion, defender or Rome remade), yet I only played that one for a week...which was the better purchase?

I am thus a satisfied customer and a loyal customer because of previous experience: if Dom II delivers only a tenth of the fun I got from Dom I the purchase will be more than worth the cost.

Besides, with the current Euro-$ exchange rates the $ is just toilet paper.

[PhilD]

Originally posted by licker:


If you are willing to spend more the game is too cheap. That is as absolute a statement as you can get, if you don't like the absoluteness of it, don't blame me, blame the question, which I have twice... oooops now its three times

That is your interpretation of the question. Obviously, it's not the same for everyone here.

If Shrapnel's only intent was to make as much money as they could (not saying it is, but that's sometimes one of the goal of commercial companies), they should set the price at the level that will maximize that. Assuming the manufacturing costs are fixed (and yes, they could make it cheaper by offering a "download only" option, though I can understand if they are wary of the possible piracy consequences), the "best" price level is the one that maximizes "profit per unit" times "number of units sold"; increasing the price tag will mean less copies sold, and increasing it too high will undoubtedly mean less profit.

If the answer to "what should the price be" and "how much would you pay for the game" were supposed to be the same, then the question about "is the price right" would be meaningless - the question about how much you'd pay would be enough.

[PDF]

Originally posted by apoger:
The current price is too steep.

My best suggestion (still) is for IW to offer the game as a download and sell for $30. They can email a product key to the buyer. Many companies have done this and it works just fine. This would cut the production costs dramatically, while probably offering the same or better profit per unit. The low price and ability to "impulse buy" would increase sales greatly.

That's it, I've said my piece. I won't mention it again. And apologies to Shrapnel for suggesting that IW dodge the middleman.

I support that, with a downloadable manual though
I got GalCiv this way just 10 minutes after release , it was very cool and avoids waiting for delivery as well as shipping/taxes/customs.
Piracy could be a concern, but frankly I don't think they will be much pirate activity around Dom2, so a simple reg key system would be sufficient protection IMHO.

[Alneyan]

And why a downloadable game would be more likely to be pirated than a "regular" game? If someone does want to pirate a game, transforming the files on a CD into a zip file or some sort of CD image is easy enough. But I don't believe there will be that many people attempting to pirate Dominions 2.

I second the arguments given by PDF about downloable games, no more shipping, no more delays.

[Sammual]

Originally posted by apoger:
The current price is too steep.

My best suggestion (still) is for IW to offer the game as a download and sell for $30. They can email a product key to the buyer. Many companies have done this and it works just fine. This would cut the production costs dramatically, while probably offering the same or better profit per unit. The low price and ability to "impulse buy" would increase sales greatly.

That's it, I've said my piece. I won't mention it again. And apologies to Shrapnel for suggesting that IW dodge the middleman.

I am SO in favor of this. I buy half my games based on the impulse factor and almost all of them are downloaded Online. I already pre-ordered (The Dom I demo is a game in itself and I wanted to support the further development of this series) so it doesn't matter to me FOR this game.

Sammual

[Wendigo]

There are players without broadband or that simply prefer a more solid return for their money (I do, at least).

I haven't bought Galciv nor will I do, in part because Civ did not do for me (so Civ in space...) but also due to the selling scheme.

Btw, Warlords IV review is up at Gamespot and the site suggests Dom II as alternative...good stuff, the current playerbase of series like Heroes, AoW or Warlords is full of potential customers for Dom II.

edit: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/...ia/review.html

[ October 31, 2003, 10:50: Message edited by: Wendigo ]

[Shir Khan]

I would pay 30 bucks, nothing more.

Max Payne 2 is CHEAPER than Dominions II., and there is a huge difference in quality between these games.

[gregebowman]

Originally posted by blackwulf:
Games such as Space Empires IV, Galactic Civilizations, and Dominions offer deep game play, continued support via substantial patches/enhancements and excellent replay value. These factors in my opinion are very important when determining the products value.

In this regard Dominions 2 is worth the price of admission.

Side Note: Malfador Machinations, Stardock, Illwinter Game Design, and other mom and pop operations exist today because the commercial market continues to fail to bring us the kind of gaming that these small companies offer. However do to the niche market that these smaller companies operate in they have to price their products in such a way that will enable them to continue to grow as a business. Without this growth they could not afford to bring us the games that they do and soon we would not have them as an alternative.

Blackwulf

Yeah, that may be true, but there is a point where it may be too expensive for the consumer, no matter how much they want that product. Take for example Bill's Khaki's. I don't know how many of you have heard of this clothing line, but they make Khaki pants in the USA. They don't send the stuff out to a foreign market to be made at a cheaper price. Therefore, they sell $80 pants. now, some of you may think nothing about paying that much for clothes, but it will be a cold day in Hell before I ever spend that much on one piece of clothing. NOt only can't I afford it, that is way too much IMO for a pair of pants. So there is a niche market for computer games, but the publishers have to be aware that people may not spend too much on their products. That's why I may wait several months for a game on the shelf to go down in price before I buy it. But there are certain games that no matter what they are, I have to have them now. Railroad Tycoon 3 is a case in point. I'll pick it over the weekend.

[Mortifer]

Ahahah!
I already have Railroad Tycoon 3.