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To me it's obvious that these art assets involve more work than the usual CK2 portraits.

I've haven't read any complaint supported by proven arguments as to why Paradox could price the species pack lower.

But I guess this will have been the last species pack. It's a simple fact that a company won't make something they can only sell at a loss.

I don't know, maybe they will sell enough to justify making another. If a forum thread comes up complaining about something, it doesn't necessarily mean anything.
The vocal minority complains while others are busy buying the cool plants.
 
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But even if we assume that it's thousands of dollars (let's say $10,000 or $20,000), you could have priced it at $5.00 and you would already break even after sale no. 2,000 or 4,000.

The irony is, if the price was set at $5.00 but Paradox offered an alternate price tag for $8.00 where the other three bucks are labelled as donation, I would have gone for the $8.00.

And tell me, what are the typical sales numbers for a graphics DLC from paradox? Do you know? Does anyone? Maybe they priced it like this because they projected they needed to in order to not only break even, but make a profit on it. Don't forget Steam's cut now!

Edit: and why does it matter if they call it a donation? You're giving them money either way.
 
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Like, 5 dollars maximum I expected.

No big deal though, probably get it on sale some time.
I say 5 to 10 because I think of the work put into the cosmetic packs for something like EU4 as:

-Take a base 'human' model and bedazzle it

-Now put that bedazzled human model on a horse

-Now put it on a cannon

-Repeat two to four times

Where as for Stellaris the the production looks more like

-Create fifteen new 2D images capable of small amounts of movement without tearing

-Now make a new corvette model

-Now make a new destroyer model

-Now make a new cruiser model

-Now make a new battleship model

-Now make a new transport model

-Now make a new construction ship model

-Now make a new science ship model

-Now make a new colony ship model

-Now make a new space station model

-Now make a new mining station model

-Now make a new terraforming station model

-Now make a new observation post model

-Now make a new wormhole station model

-Now make a new defense platform model

-Now make a new defense station model

-Now make a new fortress model

-Now make a new city background image

-Now make a new frontier outpost model

And presumable this is all from scratch or taking small shortcuts where they can.

So no, 5 to 10 bucks sounds about right.
 
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To me it's obvious that these art assets involve more work than the usual CK2 portraits.

But what about the EUIV packs, which have more models (and they aren't just reskins)?

I've haven't read any complaint supported by proven arguments as to why Paradox could price the species pack lower.

That's an impossible standard, since none of us are privy to Paradox's finances.

But I guess this will have been the last species pack. It's a simple fact that a company won't make something they can only sell at a loss.

That's provably untrue. It's actually a common strategy to sell a product at a loss and hope that it brings you lots of customers who buy other, profit-making products. For instance, until recently, most video game consoles were sold this way.

In any case, Paradox's business realities aren't my problem. If I feel that $7.99 is too high, then I'm entirely within my rights to not buy it and to express my opinion on this forum. You don't have to agree with me. But if enough players feel the same way, then Paradox will see low sales for this DLC, and then marketing will rethink their pricing strategy. Sometimes, a lower price will bring in more customers and more overall revenue.

To be clear: $8 is ridiculous. $5-6 would be much more acceptable.
 
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I don't know, maybe they will sell enough to justify making another. If a forum thread comes up complaining about something, it doesn't necessarily mean anything.
The vocal minority complains while others are busy buying the cool plants.

IMHO the cost probably fairly represents the work involved. However, IMHO the price is also higher than a what people feel comfortable paying for, no matter the quality of the art, really.

Also, considering the bad reception this game got I very much doubt Stellaris will overall get more than 2 DLC.
 
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I say 5 to 10 because I think of the work put into the cosmetic packs for something like EU4 as:

-Take a base 'human' model and bedazzle it

-Now put that bedazzled human model on a horse

-Now put it on a cannon

-Repeat two to four times

Where as for Stellaris the the production looks more like

-Create fifteen new 2D images capable of small amounts of movement without tearing

-Now make a new corvette model

-Now make a new destroyer model

-Now make a new cruiser model

-Now make a new battleship model

-Now make a new transport model

-Now make a new construction ship model

-Now make a new science ship model

-Now make a new colony ship model

-Now make a new space station model

-Now make a new mining station model

-Now make a new terraforming station model

-Now make a new observation post model

-Now make a new wormhole station model

-Now make a new defense platform model

-Now make a new defense station model

-now make a new fortress model

-Now make a new city background image

And presumable this is all from scratch or taking small shortcuts where they can.

So no, 5 to 10 bucks sounds about right.

Ya I don't get all the hate. Most of the work that goes into the EU, HoI, and CK cosmetic packs are literally just reskins, whereas the portraits in Stellaris have to be animated, and the ship models created and animated as well.
 
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Now make a new corvette model

Now make a new destroyer model

Now make a new cruiser model

Now make a new battleship model

And each of those combat ships needs MULTIPLE sections modeled so they'll fit together in any number of combinations/.
 
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And tell me, what are the typical sales numbers for a graphics DLC from paradox? Do you know? Does anyone? Maybe they priced it like this because they projected they needed to in order to not only break even, but make a profit on it. Don't forget Steam's cut now!

Edit: and why does it matter if they call it a donation? You're giving them money either way.

Oh, we know that Stellaris sold 200,000 copies on the first day. So even if we make an educated guess that only two or three percent of all players buy it, I don't see Paradox having a loss with pricing this cosmetic DLC two or three bucks lower.

But anyway, the market will settle this question.
 
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Perhaps for me part of the issue is that they refused to disclose how much this was going to sell for. They had weeks to do so, yet they only waited till release for people to discover. Why? It's hard to trust decisions when they are not forthcoming with that info. It makes it look like they are trying to seek it in.
 
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Also, considering the bad reception this game got I very much doubt Stellaris will overall get more than 2 DLC.

Bad reception? This game has excellent steam reviews and the highest sales numbers of any Paradox game to date. Where on earth are you getting this 'bad reception' idea from?
 
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Don't buy it if you think it is too expensive. I won't buy it; possibly I will consider it during a sale.
It is as simple at that, no need to be outraged, I don't even see why is it necessary to start a thread over this.

What's wrong with stating our opinions on the forum? Should we only ever make positive topics about stuff?
 
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I say 5 to 10 because I think of the work put into the cosmetic packs for something like EU4 as:

Take a base 'human' model and bedazzle it

Now put that bedazzled human model on a horse

Now put it on a cannon

Repeat two to four times

Where as for Stellaris the the production looks more like

Create fifteen new 2d images capable of small amounts of movement without tearing

Now make a new corvette model

Now make a new destroyer model

Now make a new cruiser model

Now make a new battleship model

Now make a new transport model

Now make a new construction ship model

Now make a new science ship model

Now make a new colony ship model

Now make a new spacestation model

Now make a new mining station model

Now make a new terraforming station model

Now make a new observation post model

Now make a new city background image

And presumable this is all from scratch or taking small shortcuts where they can.

So no, 5 to 10 bucks sounds about right.

While I totally agree with you and the devs about the cost of producing the DLC, I personally think that based on this, the option to buy it in bits and pieces would be preferable to buying the entire thing as a package.

The price is marginally higher than I would personally have liked for purely graphical additions, but while now I'm just going to wait for a sale, if I had the option to buy individual portraits separately I might have picked up 12 of the 15 alongside the new ship/station/city models and then grabbed the remaining 3 when they went on sale.

It would require a rethink of how DLC is sold, but there are a tonne of examples of companies doing just this with reskins and other such things that people don't necessarily want to spend large amounts on in a package, but will happily fork out 50p or so for as one off purchases.
 
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To me it's obvious that these art assets involve more work than the usual CK2 portraits.

I've haven't read any complaint supported by proven arguments as to why Paradox could price the species pack lower.

But I guess this will have been the last species pack. It's a simple fact that a company won't make something they can only sell at a loss.

The proven argument is that if its thought to be more expensive than the item's perceived value (purely cosmetic dlc) than people won't buy it. A lower price could easily provide a net gain because more people would buy it. On the other hand, for a price like this, had there been some gameplay additions (plant-themed events for example) than this price point would likely have been perfectly acceptable. (I balk at 7.99 for cosmetics-only, I drool at 7.99 for cosmetics + events)
 
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Technically all ships have lots and lots of separate parts you build together in the ship designer.

Plantoids alone contains art at about 1/6th of the entire game.

IMHO, plantoids could have been priced at 19.99$ and have bern way worth it.
 
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Perhaps for me part of the issue is that they refused to disclose how much this was going to sell for. They had weeks to do so, yet they only waited till release for people to discover. Why? It's hard to trust decisions when they are not forthcoming with that info. It makes it look like they are trying to seek it in.

refused to disclose? What? Did you even ask them to disclose? Did anyone? You talk as if they are the U.S. government and didn't tell you about Gitmo but spent your tax dollars on it.

They told us the price the second they put it up for sale. This is the accepted and appropriate price releasing procedure for things being sold. Sneak it in? What?
 
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If we just go about "manmonths spent" and compare to pricing we've done previously on other games, then 7.99$ is extremely cheap..

If 7.99$ does not work as a price point for a species pack with new ships, stations etc, then I doubt we'll ever make another..
Are a few reasons for the backlash that you seem to have overlooked or ignored.
  1. Price - this is quite obvious. I would buy without much consideration at $1-3, some deliberation at $5, but $8 is just too much. The argument about man hours is valid from the devs POV, but it ignores how much enjoyment I get from the pack AND what else is available in the market at the same price.
  2. Recent support - perhaps if the devs hadn't released a buggy patch before taking a month of leave the community would be more receptive. As it is you've set yourself up against a mob with pitchforks and came bearing an upsale rather than a peace offering after your hiatus. This shows a very rudimentary understanding of community management.
  3. Style - I like most of the portraits, and the stations are OK, but the ships look awful in my opinion. The leafs of their side looks like such a half-assed way to make a plantoid spaceship.
Your given the community a ultimatum about graphic DLC pricing. It's probably also a good time for your team to consider how it interacts with the community to reduce these kinds of frictions, lest your *investment* sour years before you can reap the full benefit.
 
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You are full of poopoo. The game sold great, and they have confirmed they are going to make alot of content for this game, please asses are not for talking.

They've said in the past they decide whether or not to develop DLC based on well the previous ones sold. Considering the bad wrap the game gets I wouldb't be surprised if the first DLC will sell poorly.
 
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