No release before christmas

[fsp]

please!

While some maybe now want to kill me, this is what I was thinking:

While I wouldn´t mind doing a "public beta" on HoI 1, given Paradox´ record with patching games according to the wishes of their customers, I really want this game to be a commercial success. Thus it has to achieve good ratings and be very finished and stable when being reviewed by the game mags. Well, why is a date before christmas so important for a release? Of course, because of the christmas sales, silly.

BUT, I don´t think that HoI is really a game that depends on christmas sales. It´s not like mommy is going to buy her 14yo HoI II instead of FPS # 1023. As for me, I don´t care when it is coming out. I would order it before christmas as much as on February 30th. Unfortunately I couldn´t order on January 31st, since this day doesn´t exist. :rofl: Seriously, I think a very large percentage of potential HoI 2 customers thinks the same, so that it wouldn´t be very important to be done by christmas.

OTOH I, not knowing anything about selling PC games, could be entirely wrong. Please correct me if I am.

 

[unmerged(10750)]

I would buy it whenever it came out, sure that patches would fix any flaws.

OTOH, if waiting makes for a more successful release (and better support and a rosier future for Paradox), I would support waiting.

As far as I'm concerned, what's good for Johan et al. is good for me.

 

[Jace]

i think it can be out my christmas. we have only known about HOI2 for a few months but how long have they been working on it? 2nd they have HOI1 to use as a basic modle for HOI2 so i see no ression why it cant be out in time for christmas.

 

[Gaute65]

Maybe Paradox will do it this way:

1. Before Christmas, sell HO2 only on the E-butik.
2. Get feedback and patch up the game.
3. In March sell HOI2 worldwide.

 

[unmerged(5110)]

Gaute65, that's actually a really good idea...

selling HoI2 online via the website will encourage the people who already really like the games are are willing to devote the time to really participate in the mods on the forums the chance to get the game "ahead of time". IMHO, these people are the ones that would most be able to 'tolerate' the flaws that the first version in the game might have.

They can also give feedback that will allow them to make better mods, and just the fact that they got it over E-butik means that they have the internet access to be able to d/l patches.

Then, when HoI2 is sold worldwide, and everything is patched up great, the people who haven't really heard the Paradox name before and are out to try something new, will spot HoI2 on the shelves, and they'll buy it and be very impressed, increasing the fanbase, and giving us more MP players.



Sounds like a good idea!

 

[unmerged(23255)]

Agreed, very good idea. Im in.

 

[unmerged(26876)]

No!

It will be released when it is ready and thoughly Beta Tested.

These partial and buggy releases damage a company - even if they do subsequently patch.

Why?
First impressions count.
Because many people are still not up on the patch thing.

HoI2 will never be perfect - IMHO the whole concept is just too big for 100% beta testing because players have too many options (That is a good thing BTW )
But what this means is that it is not possible to Beta Test every possible condition. EDIT: In reasonable time frame
Having said that, I think Paradox will take great care to ensure that for all the more 'normal' type games the game runs perfectly out of the box.
Players will be thoughly hooked Paradoxians before they start to notice little glitches and flaws - and no CTD this time.

 

[unmerged(27364)]

Cheers gents! I'll toast to the idea of an on-line only release , as it will give all of us seasoned HOI vets plenty of "non-official" beta testing time. When the 'debugged' version has been tested by those of us who will support paradox regardless :rofl: is released , then newbies will receive a very delightfully well prepaired game.

On the other hand , when I first purchased EU I , I was new and it was full of bugs , however any REAL strategy game buff knows a great company when he comes across one , and quite frankly , Paradox gers the GOLD.

So , again , hats off to Paradox , Johan and crew , you have put the passion back in my love affair with strategy games.

 

[fsp]

While the "pre-release" sounds like a really good idea at first, it wouldn´t stop gaming mags from getting the game and testing it "as is". We all remember some of the reviews Paradox got for HoI 1. This almost prevented me from buying the game. Usually as a grognard I don´t give much about the opinions of gaming mags, regarding the game itself. But when almost every review complains about a bug ridden game it is very likely I am not going to buy it. So think about it. There would be a HoI II pre-release, similar to a state HoI 1 was in 1.02 or 1.03 status. While still great for "us", it would get some nasty reviews and thus scare potential new customers.

 

[Grosshaus]

Christmas sales might not be as important to games such as HoI2 compared to NHL 200X it's still very, very important. But what is even worse January/March are the worst months to release as people have just bought/gotten fancy games for Christmas. After Q1 is propably the best time to release a niche game title, but you have to have a really good game released by a giant of a publisher with a smashing budget to succeed in Q1.

 

[bizkit]

i dont care about chrismas.they should release as fast as they can.

 

[unmerged(26876)]

... but you have to have a really good game released by a giant of a publisher with a smashing budget to succeed in Q1.

I have a marketing idea!

Paradox shoud request that HoI2 is released with a R18+ classification due to explicit content.

That will assure good sales (particularly to 13yr olds)

 

[Wämö]

I have a marketing idea!

Paradox shoud request that HoI2 is released with a R18+ classification due to explicit content.

That will assure good sales (particularly to 13yr olds)

:rofl:

Seriously, I have no doubts that Paradox can decide when they should release their game. If they want it out before christmas, then it's fine with me. They managed to release Victoria without to much bugs, so I have faith in Paradox releasing a relatively debugged game.

 

[LordStark]

I don't care when they release this game. Two months from now or two years from now - its not the specific date that matters to me. What does matter is that when a date is announced they stick to it and make sure the game reaches the NA market in a timely manner. CK was(is) a disgrace.

 

[unmerged(12244)]

If you look at other wargaming forums its almost a witchhunt on paradox games, like a hateclub thats bashing not only HOI but all Paradox games.
Mostly for paradox have a tendency to realease unfinished games in the past.
So it would certainly not benefit Paradox to realease another game thats not stable and wellbalanced with an ok AI.If this then takes 5 months or 8 so be it, better to wait a couple of months longer if needed.

 

[unmerged(12303)]

If you look at other wargaming forums its almost a witchhunt on paradox games, like a hateclub thats bashing not only HOI but all Paradox games.
Mostly for paradox have a tendency to realease unfinished games in the past.
So it would certainly not benefit Paradox to realease another game thats not stable and wellbalanced with an ok AI.If this then takes 5 months or 8 so be it, better to wait a couple of months longer if needed.

the issue is that they need money to survive so I guess it should come before christmas as thats the best selling month in the year - unless they have a lot of money from CK... (which I doubt).

F

 

[unmerged(12244)]

the issue is that they need money to survive so I guess it should come before christmas as thats the best selling month in the year - unless they have a lot of money from CK... (which I doubt).

F

I wouldent bet on it (even if it of course would be wonderful) because i dont think money is everything but the company name means something also.
Even though paradox is small it would probably benefit them more to do it right and maybe some extra time then to rush it out for a christmas sale that probably means bigger cash. Atleast in the long run.

Now it seems that the publisher dont have an "end date" before sometimes in Q1-05, wether this means beginning of jan or end of mars i dont know, but it should mean that they maybe arent so pressured to get the game out for christmas by the publisher.

But what do i know

 

[herm]

They can also give feedback that will allow them to make better mods, and just the fact that they got it over E-butik means that they have the internet access to be able to d/l patches.

Just so you know, to be able to order a game (or something else) using internet is not the same thing as being able to download a 20-30 MB patch (trust me, I know :rofl: )

 

[herm]

They managed to release Victoria without to much bugs, so I have faith in Paradox releasing a relatively debugged game.

Are you serious? Ok Victoria wasnt as bugged as CK, but still there are things in Victoria that havent been fixed. (And I am not, IMHO, talking about estetic things).

 

[Kriegsspieler]

Christmas sales might not be as important to games such as HoI2 compared to NHL 200X it's still very, very important. But what is even worse January/March are the worst months to release as people have just bought/gotten fancy games for Christmas. After Q1 is propably the best time to release a niche game title, but you have to have a really good game released by a giant of a publisher with a smashing budget to succeed in Q1.

Grosshaus is probably right, but I have to wonder about trying to set Christmas as the target for release. Paradox has got to find a way to change its reputation for releasing "flawed-but-improvable" games. I find it worrisome that reviewers like Jim Cobb of The Wargamer, who basically loves Paradox, has begun to mention the problems with new releases in his review of CK (I think it was Jim who wrote that review!). That is not a good sign.