Is Victoria selling well?

[unmerged(27727)]

Magazines, with their reviews, have a real power.
But I wonder if a journalist can test Victoria in a few days and then write an objective article on it....this is not the kind of game you handle in two hours.

Btw, give me the names of the bad reviews authors, I'll take care of them...

 

[Quarto]

People have often accused the computer game industry--and especially Paradox--of releasing unfinished games. But I think Paradox, even if it is at fault for this, more than makes up for it through their ever-present support of their games. I mean, what patch is EU up to now anyway?

Does it really make up for it? How many patches does it take for the bad reviews that the imbalances of the original version earned? How many patches does it take to make up for all the copies of the game that customers returned to the retailer because they felt the game was unplayable? No, there is no point praising Paradox for their post-release support of their games. Because by then, the damage has already been done.

 

[Heretic]

Ok,
I though the post with the script of the parent/child in the shop was one of the best posts I had read, but then I got to Memnon's impassioned defense of the use of intelligence in Victoria & the potential for social improvement.
This forum never ceases to amaze.

Heretic

 

[Heretic]

oh,
yeah, and on topic...
It seems that direct ordering is the way to go..
perhaps Paradox could adventrise on the basis of
'only available direct'..
which would then stop people complaining about not being able to find it in the shops.
yeah, I know, they might miss some sales, but frankly, availability of anything apart from 'Sims part XXIV' and 'Butch Guys with Big Guns II' is poor..

Heretic

 

[unmerged(14683)]

oh,
yeah, and on topic...
It seems that direct ordering is the way to go..
perhaps Paradox could adventrise on the basis of
'only available direct'..
which would then stop people complaining about not being able to find it in the shops.
yeah, I know, they might miss some sales, but frankly, availability of anything apart from 'Sims part XXIV' and 'Butch Guys with Big Guns II' is poor..

Heretic

Withdrawing to own on-line shop would be big mistake... Let's face it, people on those forums are usually fans. They wait for new Paradox games, usually buy them very early and so on.

Still, try to visit some other forums and listen what some people think about Paradox and their games. And I'm not talking about PSX 2 players, but regular wargamers (still pissed by the memory of HoI 1.00) or people that expected that Victoria will be another Railroad Tycoon...

Withdrawal would mean limiting the sales to hardcore fans only. Which are not that numerous, I'm affraid. Worse sales - less games, less patches. What's more, without sales on normal market, fan base would stop developing - no new players, just a bunch of old veterans, discussing what was better - EU2 or CK...

I hope annonced HoI 2 will be new bestseller of Paradox... And I wonder, how they fare with CK?

 

[unmerged(27727)]

'Butch Guys with Big Guns II'

Love this one !!! Did you try it ??!? The mega-proto-plasma-super-melta-gun is fun to use.... :rofl:

 

[Darkrenown]

Withdrawal would mean limiting the sales to hardcore fans only. Which are not that numerous, I'm affraid. Worse sales - less games, less patches. What's more, without sales on normal market, fan base would stop developing - no new players, just a bunch of old veterans, discussing what was better - EU2 or CK...

But Paradox see 10 times more money from direct sales so could live on 1/10th of the sales. Still, you're right about it limiting the expansion of the fan base.

 

[Dinsdale]

But Paradox see 10 times more money from direct sales so could live on 1/10th of the sales. Still, you're right about it limiting the expansion of the fan base.

Wouldn't this be akin to a company taking an ever-increasing share of an ever-decreasing market? Pretty much corporate suicide.

There are ~20,000 people registered here, even if every one bought every game is that really enough to sustain a company?

 

[maartos]

Wouldn't this be akin to a company taking an ever-increasing share of an ever-decreasing market? Pretty much corporate suicide.

There are ~20,000 people registered here, even if every one bought every game is that really enough to sustain a company?

The market does not necessarily have to decrease. It would initially, but through internet advertising or some very cool actions/a free internet game/whatever it can still attract attention and thus new customers on the internet.
However, if the current business model is working I would see no reason to take that risk.

Lots of people familiarize themselves with game titles by seeing them in shops, and then investigate what they're worth on the internet before buying them in the shop. At least that's how I got into paradox games

 

[unmerged(3921)]

Look its no surprise that Victoria had an uphill climb as far as business economics goes. It's just a truism that a game on the American Civil War will sell better in the US than a game on the American Revolution. Similarly a game set in WW2 will do better than one set in WW1. The 19th century theme of imperialism/colonialism just didn't strike a chord with gamers. Add to that the hard-core strategy/realism aspects of the game and you are left with a pretty specialized (i.e. small) group of potential customers. People here should be glad that Paradox does a reasonable job of providing after sales support and thus have a decent game covering this period. But let's not ask Paradox to fall on a sword and make Vicky II. I'd much rather have them be financially successful so that they can be providing games of interest for years to come.

 

[Prussian_Nerd]

Dad: "Ok, Johnny, let's see if we can find a game we'll both want to play."

Little Johnny: "Oooo, look Dad, Hearts of Iron. Word War II. You can build planes and tanks and stuff and blow things up and stuff. And you can be Nazi Germany....kewl. And kill Commies....kewl."

Dad: (Glances briefly at HoI box, then discovers the Vicki box) "What's this? Victoria? Great, a game about the Victorian era."

Little Johnny: "The Whoean era?"

Dad: "Well, you can re-fight the Crimean War, for example"

Little Johnny: "The Whatean war?"

Dad: (Growing more excited) "And look at this! One of the ways to win is to industrialize faster and better than anyone else!"

Little Johnny looks at his father for a moment as if certain he has lost his mind and returns to his inspection of the HoI box. "Great, Dad," he mumbles.

Dad: (desperately) And look. You can build a factory to take your cotton and turn it into linen and then build another factory to take the linen and make it into ordinary clothes and then...."

Little Johnny: "Ew.....economics. Micromanagement! Gross me OUT! Ewwwwwwww." (He begins to make choking and vomiting noises.)

Dad grabs the HoI box in disgust, puts Vicky back on the shelf and drags little Johnny (still making rude noises) to the cashier.

:rofl: This might be my POTM, though it's too early to make any nominations just yet. :rofl:

 

[Darkrenown]

Wouldn't this be akin to a company taking an ever-increasing share of an ever-decreasing market? Pretty much corporate suicide.

I didn't say Paradox should do that. Someone said Paradox would get less sales if they did and I replied yes, but they get more money per sale.

 

[unmerged(28537)]

I found out about vicky from a terrible review of it I saw in a newspaper! most people would have been discouraged by this but the reviewer said that the game was far 'too' complex for a real time stategy - is their really such a thing? Because that was the very reason I decided to buy vicky because I found most other strategy games far too simple and shallow. I think the problem is with the sales of vicky is that for a lot of people it's too much for them and they would rather play simpler games like shoot-em-ups.Which athough it means that it's not because it's a bad game it still doesn't help paradox.........

 

[maartos]

I found out about vicky from a terrible review of it I saw in a newspaper! most people would have been discouraged by this but the reviewer said that the game was far 'too' complex for a real time stategy - is their really such a thing? Because that was the very reason I decided to buy vicky because I found most other strategy games far too simple and shallow. I think the problem is with the sales of vicky is that for a lot of people it's too much for them and they would rather play simpler games like shoot-em-ups.Which athough it means that it's not because it's a bad game it still doesn't help paradox.........

same for me I played EU1 and EU2 before, but after that I didn't keep track of paradox' activities. And then after seeing Vic in a shop (I liked the screenshot of the map on the back of the case - in fact, I really like maps in general) I read a very, very bad review of it and decided to buy it. I mean, if the reviewer says he couldn't handle the enormous complexity, I can't accept that a strategy game other human beings made would be too difficult for me, and I've got to prove that I can do it. And it proved not to be such an enormous challenge after all.

EDIT: and, of course, a very fun and rewarding game

 

[unmerged(26691)]

I'm a bit puzzled. Here in Switzerland, picking up Victoria is really easy. They're everywhere, even today. Furthermore, a major German gam magazine gave Victoria a quite good review (GameStar: if you like this type of game, buy it)... Odd that it should be unavailable in Germany....

*The exception to the US birth requirement is from the earliest days of the Constitution, which said that to be eligible for the Presidency, you must have been born in the United States or have been living in the US at the time of the writing of the Constitution. This allowed, for example, an immigrant who had come to the States while they were still colonies to become president. I suppose it was done because many non-American born colonials had fought in the Revolution, and the framers wanted to be just about it.

The fact that no-one 35 years old could have been born in the United States (as opposed to some British colony) may also have played a role . (Half-joking, I know what you MEAN . I think ).

 

[unmerged(14683)]

I didn't say Paradox should do that. Someone said Paradox would get less sales if they did and I replied yes, but they get more money per sale.

Surely sales via Internet got better revenue per unit ratio, but this value is not critical for running business, especially when it comes to software company...

But this is not a thread to discuss financial aspects of running software business, I guess.

 

[Memnon]

Ok,
I though the post with the script of the parent/child in the shop was one of the best posts I had read, but then I got to Memnon's impassioned defense of the use of intelligence in Victoria & the potential for social improvement.
This forum never ceases to amaze.

First, I just think that Victoria just flat out requires more knowledge of history to play that zombie shooters or any other kinds of games.

Second, I never suggested Victoria had the possibility for social improvement. I never recommend we force anyone to play the game, or exile anyone who couldn't master it in a week or something. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like you're putting words in my mouth.

I just meant that most people have enough of serious think in school or at work, and that they come to games for a certain release. Paradox games especially--and strategy games in general--just don't appeal to that kind of crowd as much simply because they require such concentration. I'm home for the summer and I have a few days before I start my job. Some of those days I've spent doing nithing but playing Victoria--like ten hours of it. I go to bed early, mentally exhausted from the experience. That's not what someone just getting of an ten-hour workday wants.

This game appeals to people who love strategy or history or economics or politics because it's in those things--and not in shooting zombies--that we can find release. I'm majoring in double-majoring in International Relations and Political Science with a minor in European History, so you'd think I'd get enough of Victoria in school. Nope. I come back to my dorm and play it anyway, just becasue I like it, because I can find release in it.

 

[O CoRVo]

Do shops/distributors really take into account the reviews?

Of course not!

They take in account the interest of the game, and if its well know (All Tomb Raider games were greatly purchased by some stores here), they dont care if the game sucks... only if you bought it

I dont work at an store but i bet that 90% of the games they order (at least here in Brazil) is because of a contract with the publishers, so if Eidos for instance presented a game (lets say: startopia) to some folks and said "this will be our best seller" and they decide to buy 3 thousand copies most of the stores will get this game

 

[unmerged(29953)]

Anarchy, of course.
But that sounds so negative, let's call it "Self-Government of the people", ok?

Though I love capitalism in computer games like Victoria and usually exploit the Third World and bleed my own population to the bone. Harhar!

Self- goverment eh? nice name

PS. sorry it took me so long to reply

 

[Darkrenown]

This game appeals to people who love strategy or history or economics or politics because it's in those things--and not in shooting zombies--that we can find release.

FPS games aren't all bad either, I'm currently playing Far cry and I've got to say it's a great game. The enemies are smart, the graphics are amazing, the story is intriguing and there's a real sense of tension when you play.