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- Dec 14, 1999
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I would have paid $100 or even $200 for a fully functional SotS2. Something to keep in mind.
I think you guys are still reliant enough on casual sales that this model may not be possible yet, but with gamers getting older and your particular niche appealing to more educated types it might be worth it to work on better projects and ask for more money. I realize that is sort of what the EU3 multiple expansion method is, but one way to capture more money from gamers is to have really great products right out of the gate, so they don't want to wait.
For me personally $10 or $100 dollars doesn't make a big difference when you are talking about hundreds of hours of entertainment. What matters is that it actually provide that entertainment.
I would much rather pay $200 and get 300 hours of entertainment than pay $30 and get 20 hours (or in the case of SotS2 $40 for 1 hour of frustration playing and 10 hours of entertainment on the forums).
I think you guys are still reliant enough on casual sales that this model may not be possible yet, but with gamers getting older and your particular niche appealing to more educated types it might be worth it to work on better projects and ask for more money. I realize that is sort of what the EU3 multiple expansion method is, but one way to capture more money from gamers is to have really great products right out of the gate, so they don't want to wait.
For me personally $10 or $100 dollars doesn't make a big difference when you are talking about hundreds of hours of entertainment. What matters is that it actually provide that entertainment.
I would much rather pay $200 and get 300 hours of entertainment than pay $30 and get 20 hours (or in the case of SotS2 $40 for 1 hour of frustration playing and 10 hours of entertainment on the forums).
No, there are quite a lot of young guys here you know!
I could never afford a $100 game.
Overall I think the playerbase for Paradox has actually become younger than it was ten years ago.
Think so too, the move from EU2->EU3 for one, probably attracted quite a few, who wasn't too happy about all the scripted events of EU2 (even though I personally loved them )
(even though I personally loved them )
Tell you what, if investment in the game is the model paradox wants to push, those who want to pay 1-200 dollars can do so, and those who can only afford 10 dollars can do so, and in the end they will all even out. Call it what they call it at church and firehouse fundraiser dinners here in the US... a "free will offering"
I hope everyone gets my humor here, but my point is that yes to some it may be worth more for their entertainment, but personal worth for some does not mean we all can afford to shell out that much money for a veiled beta testing. Some of us have families, full time jobs, people who we need to support, and just want a little hour or two entertainment here and there straight out of the box. We have no time for being hardcore gamers, nor do we want to be, but we love the style of games you provide. Focus on this demographic a little more when making business and development decisions, and you will find a larger audience.
I hope everyone gets my humor here, but my point is that yes to some it may be worth more for their entertainment, but personal worth for some does not mean we all can afford to shell out that much money for a veiled beta testing. Some of us have families, full time jobs, people who we need to support, and just want a little hour or two entertainment here and there straight out of the box. We have no time for being hardcore gamers, nor do we want to be, but we love the style of games you provide. Focus on this demographic a little more when making business and development decisions, and you will find a larger audience.
And what support does Paradox, as publisher, provide to a third party developer in meeting this deadline? This is a question for yourself or anyone else from Paradox
Presumably the deadline is largely under Paradox's control the obvious issues here are budgets and planning. If the game cannot be completed by the due date, and the publisher is unwilling to move that date, then either the budget was inadequate or the resources have been poorly utilised. The former is obviously something that you have input into (how much would it have reduced your margins to give Kerberos an extra month of development?) and I'd hope that you also sit down with developers to plan how this money will be spent. Perhaps you should take a more involved role in planning throughout the project?
And I'd keep in mind that these games are still being released under the Paradox brand. Most people will see them as Paradox games. The lack of quality control, even if not directly under your control, still reflects badly on Paradox. Personally I would not buy a game you published until I had received assurances from the internet that it was of sufficient quality
The way it looks to me is that Paradox are chasing growth at the expense of quality. You're not a small niche developer any more; you're publishing a large stable of games that, while not AAA, are still getting noticed. Often for the wrong reasons
The deadline was pushed back and Kerberos was given extra months of development.
I believe that is the plan, and is why the publishing side has expanded the number of producers and QA.
Absolutely true, and something Paradox are very much aware of.
Is it just me, or is anyone else bothered by disgruntled customers acting like experts in game development simply because they bought some games?
Americans are the worst for it. We think we're experts in everything sometimes =/ If you are disgruntled because you bought a product and it doesn't work well then it's one thing to complain. It's all together something different to start dolling out criticism of Paradox's business model.
Americans are the worst for it. We think we're experts in everything sometimes =/ If you are disgruntled because you bought a product and it doesn't work well then it's one thing to complain. It's all together something different to start dolling out criticism of Paradox's business model.