A wise idea for IW?

[tinkthank]

Just a thought:

In upcoming patches, don't release additional national themes or modding tools -- release an expansion pack. You know we will buy it. We are addicted. It can't be totally exhorbitant, but it could be $ 19.95 and require the full Version to work. (Although it would probably have to have at least 1 competely new playable nation.)

This means that you would actually get paid for the great work you otherwise do in your free time and that upcoming patches could be less ambituous but more comprehensive bug fixes.

Yes no maybe?

[Teraswaerto]

If you simply can't stop yourself from supporting Illwinter financially, buy a few extra copies of Dom.

[Xom]

Yes no maybe?

Maybe no. Stupid idea. If you have too much money send it all to Illwinter and be happy. You want this game even less popular? Not to mention for this price I expect years of support. Its expensive enough now.

[fahdiz]

I would personally prefer the current business model, where each patch includes bug fixes *and* new content (but mostly bug fixes and balance improvements), and have them work on a full-price Dom III for the next paid Version.

An expansion would have to include a LOT of new stuff to compete with the new content we're given for free with each new patch.

I don't think your idea is stupid, tinkthank - I just think that with an INCREDIBLY small business model, the fact that this is the "labor of love" of only two developers, and the lack of a giant marketing structure like Blizzard or Microsoft have, the current way of doing things is probably the best for the customer...even if you don't feel like the bugs which affect you are getting fixed as quickly as you'd like.

We'd all like to see faster/more frequent bug fixes...but that goes for the expensive, highly-marketed, expansions-cost-$30 games I have played, too.

[von_Schmidt]

Originally posted by Xom:

Not to mention for this price I expect years of support. Its expensive enough now. [/QB][/quote]

The game is $49.95, more or less on par for strategy games.
It has immense depth, lots of possible strategies and very different factions which make for different game experiences and longevity.

If you think the game is too expensive for its content, I guess you haven't bought many other games lately...

Perhaps you could give examples of strategy games with a better value for money ratio?
I can't, with the possible exception of Europa Universalis 2.

[Ragnarok-X]

i actually disagree, i find EACH Nation should get at least 2 themes, i find it very hard to have one nation with 3 themes while others have none at all.


Given each nation had approx 2 themes then i think an expansion would be okay, to add i.e. another theme to each. And the price is VERY high for a game of this sort, no matter what depth or whatever it has, you can get games with the same amount and even GRAPHICS (which require LOTS of time and people to make) for less, usually 40-45 $. I wouldnt by an expansion by now, and to make it even worse i would AVOID getting another illwinter/shrapnel game which is sold incomplete, because to me the game is still incomplete, i expect more maps, 2 themes and most BIG bugs fixed, as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
i actually disagree, i find EACH Nation should get at least 2 themes, i find it very hard to have one nation with 3 themes while others have none at all.


Given each nation had approx 2 themes then i think an expansion would be okay, to add i.e. another theme to each. And the price is VERY high for a game of this sort, no matter what depth or whatever it has, you can get games with the same amount and even GRAPHICS (which require LOTS of time and people to make) for less, usually 40-45 $. I wouldnt by an expansion by now, and to make it even worse i would AVOID getting another illwinter/shrapnel game which is sold incomplete, because to me the game is still incomplete, i expect more maps, 2 themes and most BIG bugs fixed, as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

That's too bad. Every game has bugs - but with only two people working on it, I think Illwinter does a great job of addressing them. New user-created maps are coming out all the time. And graphics are unimportant to me - only gameplay matters...although I must say I actually really, really *like* the graphics in Dom II. But then again I've been gaming for over twenty years now.

I agree, though, if you don't like the game you shouldn't buy it. But you played the demo and hung out on the forums here prior to purchasing it, yes? So you must have known at least a bit about what you were getting into.

[Sly Frog]

"You know we will buy it."

No, I wouldn't. What's more is that I would actively warn other people off of the game. It's a good game, but I agree that the $50.00 price tag is already a bit of a stretch. Yes, I have purchased numerous other games that have given me as much pleasure for less (that does not mean that I do not love this game).

However, part of the grudging agreement for me to go for the $50.00 price point for a game that has its warts (for example, not really being able to tell what is going on in a battle without being a tremendously experienced player; not being able to control the speed of battle playback; not being able to easily tell an Ulm non-blackplate infantry from a blackplate infantry) was the feeling that I was not going to be gouged for even more money in the future, and the belief, based on my understanding of Dominions I, that this game would be supported and updated for a long time for free as a labor of love.

In other words, if you want me to buy into the "It's $50.00 for a game with poor graphics, etc., because it's two guys in a garage" then it has to remain two guys in a garage as a labor of love. Start throwing out $20.00 expansion backs, and they might as well be Microsoft, and this does not have the presentation, UI, etc. of a Microsoft product.

This really isn't a criticism of the game, just premonition that it would be a criticism if I start getting hacked with expansion pack purchase requirements.

[ywl]

Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
i actually disagree, i find EACH Nation should get at least 2 themes, i find it very hard to have one nation with 3 themes while others have none at all.


Given each nation had approx 2 themes then i think an expansion would be okay, to add i.e. another theme to each. And the price is VERY high for a game of this sort, no matter what depth or whatever it has, you can get games with the same amount and even GRAPHICS (which require LOTS of time and people to make) for less, usually 40-45 $. I wouldnt by an expansion by now, and to make it even worse i would AVOID getting another illwinter/shrapnel game which is sold incomplete, because to me the game is still incomplete, i expect more maps, 2 themes and most BIG bugs fixed, as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

Most nations which have no additional theme are new nations like Machaka or Mictlan. I guess they're so new that nobody know how to work with them. More themes will probably introduce more game-balance issuess. R'lyeh is old but with the Void summons, hybrid and automatic hybrids recruitment (everybody has found that out yet?), it's almost like a new nation.

Atlantis is the unluck one which has no additional theme in the original release or the subsquent patches. Even Arco has one .

[Kristoffer O]

Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
... as well as complete modding tools (as promised) until i consider this game "finished" and ready for addon.

It was never promised, or even intended, but there was a huge demand for modding early after the release. We decided that it might be fun and added some modding. Seeing the results of this we decided to go further.