A small note from a guy who didn't vote for this project

[Fredrik II]

Hey all,

I really like that people are excited that Vic2 is in development. This feels like an interesting and exciting project for all of us, however it is no secret I voted for another project from the Paradox dev team.

Johan assured me our fans want this project, and so did you (forum people) in a poll on this forum.

So in brief; I think this project never will see profit (reason is simple Vic1 was a terrible launch). Johan thinks it will. Johan and his team have the responsibility to create a good game and of course we hope that you will buy it since this was the most voted-for title in our poll.

So, what do I bring to the table except for whining? I have promised the dev team (and checked with my family) that I am shaving my head if this project ever sees profit. AND post pictures of it here in the forum.

We will have a budget meeting in the coming two weeks to see how many units we need to sell to reach our break-even; and keep you posted. Progress reports will follow.

And yes, I am serious.

Cheers,
Fred

 

[King]

What project did you vote for? If it isn't a secret that is.

Fredrik Universalis - be the CEO of a small Swedish computer games company and chart its progress to world domination.

 

[Fredrik II]

Fredrik Universalis - be the CEO of a small Swedish computer games company and chart its progress to world domination.

Oh yes, excellent

 

[Fredrik II]

Just curious, how do we know that he doesn't already have his head shaved so that this is just a marketing trick?

And yes, I am that paranoid

This is me

However, my wife tells me I'm better-looking in real life

Edit: yes it's free to say shaving my head would be an improvement.

 

[Fredrik II]

Fair enough. Here's hoping it does make a profit anyway.

Correct. I see it as a win-win situation. Either I keep my hair, or a good profit

 

[Fredrik II]

Why do I have this feeling this thread will disappear and you will suddenly claim to have supported Vicky 2 the whole time and claim at least part of the credit for it's profit if it does turn a profit?

These are not the droids you're looking for... (need to work on the hand wave)

 

[King]

Oh, I'm not saying that Victoria's system was perfect, just saying that they should not dumb it down in order to attract more players.

Dumb it down? Victoria is not that complicated when you compare it to HoI3 or EU3.

 

[King]

Perhaps, HoI3 I found much easier to start playing, EU3 I didn't play so much so I couldn't very well tell. In the end, Victoria was hard for me to pick up but when I eventually did I found it to be the very best Paradox Grand Strategy game.

That said, a lot of the ways POPs are managed is unrealistic, but I would not like to see stuff like the population abstracted in order to make the game easier to handle.

Ok you've lot me in this line of reasoning here. Our POP system is both unrealistic and unwieldy and you feel it would be a mistake to do something about this. So you want an unwieldy unrealistic historical game?

 

[Fredrik II]

Seems like we're getting comments on other forums on this little announcement

Just so it is clear: I have no doubt the game will be great, I personally loved the first Victoria.

 

[King]

I had another thought. Frederik sait that he'll shave his hair off if Victoria 2 EVER becomes profitable.

Perhaps he and Johan could ante up the bet, and say that if the game becomes profitable in 3 months after release, then he'll shave his head and will grow a beard.

Therefore I present you with Frederick the (Victorian) Industrialist.

This message has been approved by Paradox

 

[Fredrik II]

Approved.

I'll take care of it right away. Looks great!

 

[Fredrik II]

I saw this on Bluesnews this morning as well, with 39 (!) comments. Seems like our small bets within the community interest more people than initially expected

Fred

 

[ForzaA]

Link?

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=101464

 

[Fredrik II]

This is beginning to look like quite a shrewd marketing ploy...

but fredrik you may want to clarify that you think the game will be good but wont see profit, lest it sounds like you are saying it wont be a good game

Personally I think the game will be good; and judging from the reactions here and in other places I was maybe a bit quick on joining this bet.

I really like the era and the original game. I was unsure whether other people find it interesting though. But it seems some of you do

 

[Fredrik II]

Oh no, I dont mean clarify it here, do it on the other sites where this has been reported... and I've already seen mention of it on Civfanatics too, rest assured this won't be quietly foprgotten!

Right

I am not too worried about what people on _other_ forums are thinking.

People with comments can always email me, that's why I have my email address in my signature.

 

[Fredrik II]

There be no _other_forums_.
This is the only _forum_.

Btw, I wonder how much this thread has affected the sale rates of V2.

What if you start a new thread where you shall promise to shave the head, but also get big moustaches, an huge beard and start wearing monocle?

That would triple the sale rates.

I still want my kids to recognize me; sales isn't everything you know

 

[Fredrik II]

Jesus, I had no idea it would cost that much.... I would have guess €500k to make a game like V2.

Frderik, I know you won't go into figures here and I know V1 wasn't particularly well selling, but can you confirm that it was a slo-burner? I seem to remember seeing it high on the sales charts of GG as recently as a year ago

Vic1 release was not so good, it picked up speed 2 years after release or so... but then it was out of stores.

 

[Johan]

oh!
i was really not aware. i tried it a couple of times being offline and so i supposed it was working always. thanks for the tip.

About PI, i don't see the point of selling the games on steam when you have gamersgate that is so much better. i cannot think of any person or animal that would use steam instead of gamersgate.

Lots of people like and use steam and lots of people like Gamersgate.

Its kind of like saying. "I don't understand why anyone would live in Spain when they could live in Sweden which is so much better."

Different people have different preferences.

We sell our games everywhere we can get them to be sold, from Walmart to Gamersgate.

 

[Fredrik II]

I'll be honest, I thought Victoria 1 wasn't that great. I liked the period, but didn't buy the XP because of that, and a bad review that called it a patch.

That said, you guys have improved tremendous since those days, so I will get Victoria 2, unless you DLC it up like how Majesty and HoI3 have been.

It would be interesting to hear how Majesty is "DLCd up" since it is not released yet, and it has no DLCs announced. Pls send to my email directly (found in my sig) since I might have missed something.

Thanks,
Fred

 

[Fredrik II]

Two weeks! That must be the true budget meeting from hell.

Been out of the office for a while. We're not disclosing any numbers but you can make sure the team will keep track of how things are going...

Fred