I Was Ripped OFF!

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Arryn:
As for the Dom 2 demo's L4 magic limit's effects, when you bear in mind that the demo only has two small maps and a 40 turn limit

I'm not arguing about the 40 turn limit, but you'll run smack into an L4 limit in all of 7 turns. When it takes you that long to hit a wall, it's not a very convincing example of the game. This is like trying to start your demo car, only to notice that, well, there aren't any wheels.

Sort of like the food samples you get in supermarkets. A nibble so that you can decide if you like the item, but only enough to whet your appetite/desire.

Food samples happen to be a sample of the actual product. A sample of a pizza, for instance, consists of an actual chunk of the pizza. It doesn't consist of being permitted to nibble only upon a meatball.

I have bought many games (including Dom 2) after playing their demos, that I would not have bought without having tried the demo. And many games have I bought without a demo much to my regret. Demos are a GOOD thing.

And how many times have you decided to buy a game, only to realize that everything was more or less already in the demo, and the actual product had no meat to it? Demos are not necessarily a good thing: The time the developers spent on crippling the demo could have been spent more productively.

[johan osterman]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
And how many times have you decided to buy a game, only to realize that everything was more or less already in the demo, and the actual product had no meat to it? Demos are not necessarily a good thing: The time the developers spent on crippling the demo could have been spent more productively.

Crippling the demo wasn't a mammoth task, and it is not a given that JK would have spent that time in any way you would have considered productive. The most likely effect would have been a slightly earlier release date, or JK watching more TV, it is not like there was a budget that could run out or anything.

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
The time the developers spent on crippling the demo could have been spent more productively.

From the point of view of players who already own the game, yes. From the point of view of those who aren't already fans, not so. And then there's the point of view of the publishers, who need to maximize sales. A demo is a really good marketing tool, and thus a worthwhile investment of resources.

[Boron]

Originally posted by Arryn:

quote:

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Originally posted by Norfleet:
The time the developers spent on crippling the demo could have been spent more productively.

From the point of view of players who already own the game, yes. From the point of view of those who aren't already fans, not so. And then there's the point of view of the publishers, who need to maximize sales. A demo is a really good marketing tool, and thus a worthwhile investment of resources.

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yeah there the approach in dominions 1 demo was better .
it was like a demo should be

the dominions 2 demo there the turn limit is evil it doesn't let you win hehe .
was a bit too much restriction and even a bit counterproductive i think .

so for dominions 3 a mix is best i think :
only like in dominion 2 demo some playable races but they may recruit everything .
but a cap at research .
no turn limit .

so you see about 1/3 - 1/4 of the game and can really evaluate how cool it is .

in the dominions 2 demo unfortunately you couldn't evaluate much because the 40 turn limit there was frustrating . almost impossible to win in 40 turns on karan or desert eye .

this may even lead to defiance in some cases , e.g.:
the game seems really good but because the designers don't let me finish the demo i don't feed them with my money .

i think without 40 turn limit demo dominions 2 would have probably even sold better

[Arryn]

I think we have far less chance of getting the demo's 40-turn limit altered than we do getting the annoying 50-turn auto-rout limit in the regular game "fixed" ...

[Atrocities]

Well I am definately going to buy the game guys. I played it Last night and conqured a few regions around me and found that although there are a lot of things I would like to see added, the over all fun factor was very high.

A few questions though. I know that they have all been answered before, but I am, again, far to lazy to look.

Q 1. How do you build fortresses and temples in other regions?

Q 2. If your Pretender God is killed, how do you get another one?

Q 3. How do you improve production in other regions that have very low production?

I often find my self right clicking on the region trying to gain access to the build que or something. An old habit to be sure.

I have more question, mostly relating to how to research things, and how to get RP's and such.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Boron]

Originally posted by Arryn:
I think we have far less chance of getting the demo's 40-turn limit altered than we do getting the annoying 50-turn auto-rout limit in the regular game "fixed" ...

with the dominion 2 demo it doesn't matter any more most fans already own it

but for dominions 3 it would be a shame if 10-20% less copies would be sold only because of an unfortunate demo restriction by a too short / too frustrating turn limit .

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Atrocities:
Q 1. How do you build fortresses and temples in other regions?

Any commander may build a fort. Any priest(holy or unholy) may build a temple. Any researcher(mage/philosopher) can build a lab. Simply send the commander to said province, and instruct him to "Build X".

Q 2. If your Pretender God is killed, how do you get another one?

Priests may "Call God" when your pretender is dead. After 40 priest-rank-turns, your God respawns in the capitol, minus 1 to all of his magical paths, if any. He may also heal some afflictions.

Q 3. How do you improve production in other regions that have very low production?

Construct a castle. This doubles the resources available in the province, allows you to produce your national troops, and harvests a percentage of resources equal to the (twice)admin-percent of the castle from all neighboring provinces you own that do not have their own castle. I say twice the admin percent, because resources in a province with no castle are halved, but the admin collection works on the unpenalized amount, so you will harvest twice the admin percentage of the listed resources.

I often find my self right clicking on the region trying to gain access to the build que or something. An old habit to be sure.

Snap out of it.

I have more question, mostly relating to how to research things, and how to get RP's and such.

Mages produce research when parked in front of a lab and given the order to Research. The amount of research they produce depends on their magical strength, a special bonus or penalty(sages/philosophers/witchdoctors), and your magic scale. Each magic scale adds +1 RP per researcher. Experienced researchers also gain a small research bonus.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.

In Soviet Russia, you don't play the game. The game plays you!

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by johan osterman:
The most likely effect would have been a slightly earlier release date, or JK watching more TV, it is not like there was a budget that could run out or anything.

He sacrificed TV just for that? Not that I like TV or anything, but it does seem a more worthwhile use of time.

[johan osterman]

Originally posted by Boron:
with the dominion 2 demo it doesn't matter any more most fans already own it

but for dominions 3 it would be a shame if 10-20% less copies would be sold only because of an unfortunate demo restriction by a too short / too frustrating turn limit .

Why do you assume that the turn limit has cost dom 2 sold copies? There is little or no evidence that the game has sold less copies due to the 40 turn demo limit. There was however some evidence that a few players was so well saisfied with playing with the demo of dom 1 that they thought it enough for their dominion needs and therefore never bothered to get the full game.