Pre-order, but no demo?

[Athelus]

But if you pre-order I guess it's more of a gamble :/

That's some pretty refreshing honesty, I love it!

 

[Hiiri]

sorry, i am not asking the last time a paradox game had a demo, i am asking the last time annnnnnnnnnny triple A game, or major game release had a demo? and again open beta does not count. I apologize if i wasnt clear enough in my first post

I don't know? Go ask people who play those games. I'm a bit confused what your point is. Do you want Paradox Interactive to be more like EA and Ubisoft? I don't.

 

[13Foxtrot]

Somewhat different, yes, but it still gives a taste of what the game's like and whether or not it runs well on one's rig. Besides, you'll always have access to pre-dlc versions of the game as well if you don't like what the game's become since release. At least you do on EU4.

actually patching by pdx really can change the game.....I remember that there was a game they did not release a demo for because they said the game was going to change so drastically that it was not worth it.

 

[TehJumpingJawa]

I'm not fond of this anti-competitive marketplace that's evolving; 1st class citizens pay a premium & buy it direct through Steam.
2nd class citizens buy it elsewhere, have fewer consumer rights, but pay less.

The current model also isn't encouraging constructive consumer practices.

At the moment, you:

Buy it on Steam -> £35, and a 2 hour refund window.
Buy it on CD Keys -> £19, no refund window.

Therefore, the savvy consumer will:

Buy it on Steam, play for less than 2 hours, then always refund.
If you liked it, re-buy it from CD Keys.
Thereby using Steam's refund policy as a time-limited demo facility.

I don't know if Steam refunds hurt the publisher in any way, but they're sure to screw with any stats drawn from the numbers.

Also, what happened to living in a free market economy?

 

[Xerberus]

I'm always amused by the pack mentality of Internet forums.

Paradox can do whatever they want, it might work, it might not, other people get to have opinions over whether their strategy makes sense. Making Paradox into infallible gods doesn't do them any favors.

gods...really? what are you...12? like c'mon, the amount of stupidity starts to hurt!

if you don't like their pre-order system then do NOT buy the game! meanwhile the rest of us are enjoying their pre-order and bonuses on release!

i pre-ordered 3 games in my entire life, i am by no means someone who is trigger happy buying a game and needs x bonuses or collectors stuff. the way i see their pre-order is showing support for their game, you don't have to calculate how worthy the pre-order is or if the extra 10 or 20 € will give you enough out of it.....it's partially exclusive content or cheaping in this bundle than bought later. i bought the nova edition because i wanted the exclusive race picture and i can't remember the last time i was so hyped for game...i see it of showing paradox that i am greatly enjoying their take on the space 4x genre and want to increase the likelyness of them putting out more and better content of stellaris in the feature.

if you think that i am idolizing them then you are a lunatic!!! you seem to have some mental issues and i will leave you alone now!

 

[13Foxtrot]

I'm not fond of this anti-competitive marketplace that's evolving; 1st class citizens pay a premium & buy it direct through Steam.
2nd class citizens buy it elsewhere, have fewer consumer rights, but pay less.

The current model also isn't encouraging constructive consumer practices.

At the moment, you:

Buy it on Steam -> £35, and a 2 hour refund window.
Buy it on CD Keys -> £19, no refund window.

Therefore, the savvy consumer will:

Buy it on Steam, play for less than 2 hours, then always refund.
If you liked it, re-buy it from CD Keys.
Thereby using Steam's refund policy as a time-limited demo facility.

I don't know if Steam refunds hurt the publisher in any way, but they're sure to screw with any stats drawn from the numbers.

Also, what happened to living in a free market economy?

That probably doesn't happen that often compared to the actual sales. There are always ways to job the system, but is it really worth it? If this was rampant and hurting a company they would change their refund policies.

 

[Alexander Seil]

sorry, i am not asking the last time a paradox game had a demo, i am asking the last time annnnnnnnnnny triple A game, or major game release had a demo? and again open beta does not count. I apologize if i wasnt clear enough in my first post

Paradox games aren't Call of Duty, people tend to be wary if they don't know what they're getting into. Also, really, Paradox is nowhere near the sales numbers of triple A games, that's why they shouldn't adopt their marketing practices. I've already had that argument in another thread, with numbers.

you have a 2 week period of returning the jeans but if you wear them out by playing football with them or other stuff which wears them out then they won't take them back.

Am I going to wear out Stellaris by trying a demo? What kind of an argument is that?

gods...really? what are you...12? like c'mon, the amount of stupidity starts to hurt!

if you don't like their pre-order system then do NOT buy the game! meanwhile the rest of us are enjoying their pre-order and bonuses on release!

i pre-ordered 3 games in my entire life, i am by no means someone who is trigger happy buying a game and needs x bonuses or collectors stuff. the way i see their pre-order is showing support for their game, you don't have to calculate how worthy the pre-order is or if the extra 10 or 20 € will give you enough out of it.....it's partially exclusive content or cheaping in this bundle than bought later. i bought the nova edition because i wanted the exclusive race picture and i can't remember the last time i was so hyped for game...i see it of showing paradox that i am greatly enjoying their take on the space 4x genre and want to increase the likelyness of them putting out more and better content of stellaris in the feature.

if you think that i am idolizing them then you are a lunatic!!! you seem to have some mental issues and i will leave you alone now!

I'm actually a very precocious 3 year old.

 

[safe-keeper]

We've decided against a demo. They don't really work well with our games and our expansion policy. We'll have free to play weekends on Steam in the future most likely. But if you pre-order I guess it's more of a gamble :/

Oh. That's a disappointment, you've always been good with releasing demos and I really expected one for each of Stellaris and HOI4 .

I do see your reasoning and it's great that you're doing free play weekends on Steam (that's a great system), but that won't really help me given I've pre-ordered the game . I was looking forward to getting to sample Stellaris before it came out. Oh well.

 

[Xerberus]

Paradox games aren't Call of Duty, people tend to be wary if they don't know what they're getting into. Also, really, Paradox is nowhere near the sales numbers of triple A games, that's why they shouldn't adopt their marketing practices. I've already had that argument in another thread, with numbers.



Am I going to wear out Stellaris by trying a demo? What kind of an argument is that?



I'm actually a very precocious 3 year old.

geez, you can play an under 2 hours "demo" of stellaris after they release it...its part of the refund system you know! that's what i meant with wearing out jeans...or rather no clothing shop will let you wear their jeans for couple weeks and then taking them back.

paradox is a game developement studio....if they are mean or nice people...it doesn't really matter regarding the product...either you buy the game or not. if you don't buy the game because you can't build an opinion out of the dozen of hours gameplay video, all the dev diaries etc. ...then i don't know! if you can't imagine liking the game it is your problem, searching for ways to convince you and blaming the dev is just childish!

but hey, i am basically talking to a wall...some people are beyond saving.

 

[Alexander Seil]

geez, you can play an under 2 hours "demo" of stellaris after they release it...its part of the refund system you know! that's what i meant with wearing out jeans...or rather no clothing shop will let you wear their jeans for couple weeks and then taking them back.

http://bananarepublic.gap.com/customerService/info.do?cid=80735

"You have up to 45 days to return items purchased at Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic, items purchased from Athleta may be returned at any time."

Where do I collect the Internet I just won?

paradox is a game developement studio....if they are mean or nice people...it doesn't really matter regarding the product...either you buy the game or not. if you don't buy the game because you can't build an opinion out of the dozen of hours gameplay video, all the dev diaries etc. ...then i don't know! if you can't imagine liking the game it is your problem, searching for ways to convince you and blaming the dev is just childish!

There is a qualitative difference between seeing and doing.

but hey, i am basically talking to a wall...some people are beyond saving.

The religious undertone of this sentence is confusing me, given your earlier disavowal of the divinity of Paradox.

 

[Maizel]

For some insights behind the general decline in demos:

 

[Jorgen_CAB]

To me the time for Demos was past a long time ago...

It is far better to look at reviews and let's play on YouTube. These give me a better insight into how the game works and also function as a basic tutorial at the same time.

If you then buy the game and you find you have trouble due to hardware you can always refund the game on Steam.

I don't see demos as needed for the modern consumer, especially if there also will be free weekends to the game in addition to the above.

I think that if you still feel entitled to demos you simply need to adapt how you get about to inform yourself if demos are not available. A demo is not a right and I see no reason that the absence of them would lower a games sales today.

 

[Maizel]

To me the time for Demos was past a long time ago...

It is far better to look at reviews and let's play on YouTube. These give me a better insight into how the game works and also function as a basic tutorial at the same time.

If you then buy the game and you find you have trouble due to hardware you can always refund the game on Steam.

I don't see demos as needed for the modern consumer, especially if there also will be free weekends to the game in addition to the above.

I think that if you still feel entitled to demos you simply need to adapt how you get about to inform yourself if demos are not available. A demo is not a right and I see no reason that the absence of them would lower a games sales today.

Demos are nice. But I've never played any demos that convinced me not to buy games I was so hyped for I was going to buy them anyway. I've been put off from buing some games because of the demo, though.

 

[StarGrazer]

For the people asking for a per-release demo of the game, you're dreaming. The devs seem really conscious about not releasing games with bugs in them, so why would they go and release a demo of a still buggy game, they just wouldn't. Now instead of spending their time fixing bugs they have to develop a fully working, bug free demo otherwise the forum will be full of people screaming that their space slugs missed out on an outpost because someone else colonized a nearby system. This false image of the final game could put people off the game and cause them not to buy it, something Paradox probably doesn't want. Even if they were to wait to release they would still be spending time on a demo which most people buying the game probably even play, at the jeopardy of their game having more bugs and balance issues.

Say, for example they were to release one after the game is out, as they would have the time then, apart from more bug fixes. What happens when they release the next patch? If they leave the demo as it is then it isn't a proper representation of the game and whats the point. If they also update the demo, then you have the same problem; time not being spent on actually improving the game.

If you really want to try out the game why not just use steam and use a refund. In some cases it's even easier because instead of having to go uninstall the demo, buy the game and install it again you don't even have to do anything if you want to buy the game.

 

[Teije]

Bjorn @ Paradox said in the 3rd post in this thread there's not going to be a demo. Time to move on...

 

[Mennayr]

Paradox doesn't owe you a demo or beta access. They've provided a stream where you can see the game in action + lots of developer interaction here. If you aren't sure if it's for you, wait for a free weekend, or buy it and refund it if you won't play it.

As for the person advocating refunding and then using a grey market site - hope you don't get your info stolen or key revoked because you don't want to just pay a fair price for a game you enjoy.

 

[Hiiri]

The level of stupid in this thread makes it hard to resist replying.

 

[Vonboe]

We've decided against a demo. They don't really work well with our games and our expansion policy. We'll have free to play weekends on Steam in the future most likely. But if you pre-order I guess it's more of a gamble :/

Huge disappointment, I`ve always pointed out Paradox as a prime example of a company which offer demos of their games, thus giving new players to Paradox games a proper chance to try out the game before buying it.
You have had demos all the way back from Victoria 2 ( probably even further back )until EU4, why the sudden change??

 

[Alexander Seil]

Huge disappointment, I`ve always pointed out Paradox as a prime example of a company which offer demos of their games, thus giving new players to Paradox games a proper chance to try out the game before buying it.
You have had demos all the way back from Victoria 2 ( probably even further back )until EU4, why the sudden change??

Paradox always had demos for their games, as far back as I can remember. Maybe not EU1, though, but I'm fuzzy on that.

I get why it would be very hard for Stellaris, given the difficulty of cutting out the content. Normally, in Paradox games you can just set a year cut off and restrict it to one nation. I question their judgment for HoI4, however.

 

[6076]

So how do you try on those jeans you bought from Amazon or another internet based store?

They bring them to you, wait some time and then ask if they should come and get them back, eastern-european internet customer services are superb.