Game News Swords and Sorcery – Underworld Gold Released

[Barghest]

Noooooooooooooo I would have to pay 10$ more for a game, woe is me!!!!!!!


For what it's worth, I bought it when it cost closer to 30$: and I didn't feel cheated all.

I'll end up buying it eventually anyway, but I really feel that $9.99 is the ideal price point.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Ah excellent. Finally, a real CRPG released...it has been too long.

The Matrix Games metaphor is appropriate; this game is quality old school blob gaming.
If you enjoy blobbing, then this game is a no brainer.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Damn, I'm stuck with a netbook here...

The game runs but has some weird graphical glitches like walls not fitting together etc. which makes the game not really playable. Will have to wait till I have a new system.
As far as I can say the optimizations in the code are recognizable. The old version was unplayable regarding to gamespeed.

Oh joy. So the work on optimization solved the processing speed problem but now there's a graphics card issue instead. Woohoo!

Blackadder Thanks you sir Did you get your update? Some alpha customers missed the email.

Barghest You might be right. Or not. But the course is taken now. Changing price at this point would kind of baffle existing customers.

 

[Morkar Left]

Oh joy. So the work on optimization solved the processing speed problem but now there's a graphics card issue instead. Woohoo!

Maybe it's more a problem of the netbooks resolution of 1024x600? Maybe I have the time to check out later.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Oh joy. So the work on optimization solved the processing speed problem but now there's a graphics card issue instead. Woohoo!

Maybe it's more a problem of the netbooks resolution of 1024x600? Maybe I have the time to check out later.

I'd say a combination of the two. downscaling strains graphic cards. The downside of having a fixed UI image as opposed to floatinjg UI elements is there's nothing I can do about it except redraw the UI at 1024x760... And reposition every single image, hotzone and bits of text and... Not gonna do it :D

 

[Charles-cgr]

Morkar actually now that I think of it it has nothing to do with the graphics card. 1024x768 -> 1024x600 is a simple question of proportions, causing misalignments. I might have a solution for this... Maybe.

 

[Morkar Left]

Charles-cgr
I just plugged it at an external monitor; resolution isn't the problem. See the attached picture.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Morkar Oh... Then it is the graphics card. Elwro had the same problem with the very first demo out in the workshop a few months back. Damit. Netbooks are out

 

[quasimodo]

The new graphics are nice. Thanks for the PDF manual.

 

[Charles-cgr]

The new graphics are nice. Thanks for the PDF manual.

No problem

 

[golgepapaz]

Really loved the demo, but I can't justify spending $20 on it (half a day's earning for me..)

 

[Charles-cgr]

golgepapaz I hope you don't mind my asking but wouldn't it be more or less the same problem at $10? (1/4 a day's earning)

 

[golgepapaz]

Are you implying that I should not buy games if I find $20 expensive?
If not ,It's exactly half the problem. I'll have wasteland2 for 15 and eternity for 20 (if they deliver)

I don't know how much sweat you've poured into this, so you and I may value it differently
but $20 is too steep for me based on the short demo.I might have been tempted if the demo was a bit longer and gave
me more goodness.

 

[Gakkone]

Well I bought it. The demo greatly reminded me of a M&M game so it was very easy to get into. I bumped into the dungeon that ends the demo in about ten minutes and at that point it already seemed like a solid enough game for me to show my support.

I'll see if I have time to play it more some time soon and post some impressions.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Are you implying that I should not buy games if I find $20 expensive?

I wasn't implying that. I knew what I wrote could potentially be misinterpreted but I was genuinely wondering if you would have reacted differently if it was at $10. I didn't mean to be offensive at all.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Well I bought it. The demo greatly reminded me of a M&M game so it was very easy to get into. I bumped into the dungeon that ends the demo in about ten minutes and at that point it already seemed like a solid enough game for me to show my support.

I'll see if I have time to play it more some time soon and post some impressions.

Thank you sir

 

[golgepapaz]

I wasn't implying that. I knew what I wrote could potentially be misinterpreted but I was genuinely wondering if you would have reacted differently if it was at $10. I didn't mean to be offensive at all.

I assumed likewise but could not resist guilting you into that. Yes, I'd buy it if it were ten dollars and gave my reasons for not buying it for twenty.

Hell, I can buy it right now if you agree to send one to me for 10 bucks .Paypal, visa does not matter. I need a good dungeon romp.

 

[Charles-cgr]

golgepapaz Agreeing to that could get me lynched, you realize that right?

Not content with guilting me to death, trying to have me publicly lapidated?

 

[Excommunicator]

I understand where you are coming from completely Charles but I'm going to have to agree with the others about the price point. I would have thought $10-15 would be more appropriate, leaning towards $10 based on the reactions here. Although, $12 is a good number. How about $12?

If these other games like Eternity and Wasteland can be bought for similar prices then you need to understand the rationalisations that will occur in the minds of people looking to buy. You also need to stop looking at it in terms of the value you see in the game because that's a bit like putting your house on the market for a higher price because of how much you enjoyed living there, rather than looking at the market. It has to be about servicing the market, and you need to be able to compete.

I'm sure you hate all this stuff, but that's the reality of it in today's (over-)exposed market. If that doesn't suit you, then look at it in terms of the longer term benefit to you as a company/developer. Getting the exposure now will have carry-on effects in the future, so even if you do consider the lowering of the price a sacrifice or loss, then think of it as a longer term investment to market yourself by giving a wider range of people easier access to the game to draw them in and make them more likely to pay for future releases

 

[Humanity has risen!]

No matter how much he "exposes" his game or makes it more "competitive in pricing on the market", 99.8% of people will say "yuck, ugly graphics" and click on something else. 0.01% will says "Legends of Grimrock looks much better", and only the remaining 0.01% will buy.

What he is doing, a classic Might and Magic game with very simple graphics, will always attract a very, very, very limited audience, who will be glad to pay for it. The Matrix Games comparison again.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Really loved the demo, but I can't justify spending $20 on it (half a day's earning for me..)

What poor butthole of a country do you live in - and how can I move there so that I can live like a King?

 

[Charles-cgr]

I understand where you are coming from completely Charles but I'm going to have to agree with the others about the price point. I would have thought $10-15 would be more appropriate, leaning towards $10 based on the reactions here. Although, $12 is a good number. How about $12?

If these other games like Eternity and Wasteland can be bought for similar prices then you need to understand the rationalisations that will occur in the minds of people looking to buy. You also need to stop looking at it in terms of the value you see in the game because that's a bit like putting your house on the market for a higher price because of how much you enjoyed living there, rather than looking at the market. It has to be about servicing the market, and you need to be able to compete.

I understand the rationalizations but Eternity and Wasteland can be pre-bought for similar prices because they're on preorder (or backing or whatever you want to call it) and...

I don't mean to be demeaning but...

http://www.lexaloffle.com/choc.php

^This. $10.

And if anime RPGs can be on Steam at 14€ ... (again, I'm not looking down on them, just rationalizing)

Idraw them in and make them more likely to pay for future releases

Maybe... Personally I think it'll increase sales by 10-20% and those extra people won't care for it much for lack of interest in the genre. They'll just have bought it because it is cheap and when the second one comes around will remember they still have to give the first one a try someday. I find it's more interesting to have a core base of players that are really happy to play it than a bunch of indie bundle customers that leave it collecting dust in their hard drive.

People speak of theory but forget some elements such as perceived value. At $10 I could even get my target market thinking it can't be worth the time to even try the demo.

Humanity has risen! What is the Matrix Games comparison? That's been bugging me for a while

 

[Excommunicator]

I understand the rationalizations but Eternity and Wasteland can be pre-bought for similar prices because they're on preorder (or backing or whatever you want to call it) and...

I think the broad differences between the games make the comparison very difficult either way you look at it.

I don't mean to be demeaning but...

http://www.lexaloffle.com/choc.php

^This. $10. And if anime RPGs can be on Steam at 14€ ... (again, I'm not looking down on them, just rationalizing)

So are you saying their games overpriced or that your game would be underpriced? If their games are overpriced then that would disqualify them as a basis to consider the pricing of your own game. How many good games can you find at this price level?

People speak of theory but forget some elements such as perceived value. At $10 I could even get my target market thinking it can't be worth the time to even try the demo.

Perceived value is theory. So you think your "target market" for old school blobbers will say "The game is $10, it can't possibly be as good as something priced higher!". You probably shouldn't have announced you think so lowly of them in such a public space. I would've thought you would think that kind of reasoning is beneath them, because that's what I would have thought. This is about the core market after all isn't it?


I'm not trying to give you a hard time. I'm also not telling you how you should do it, only giving a balanced outside opinion as to what I think will be closer to the pricing "sweet spot". I know I would be very reluctant to sell my blood sweat and tears for only $10 but the reality is, most people don't think of what blood sweat and tears might be included when they consider the purchase.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Excommunicator I know perceived value is theory. But does that mean it is wrong? I don't think saying that the audience for old school blobbers might have a negative reaction to a low price (I said could, not will) is thinking lowly of them. Quite the contrary. I'm just referring to some textbook theory (perceived value) that weighs in the balance, but to an extent I'm having trouble quantifying. I'm sure you've noticed by now that I'm by no means certain of anything I'm saying.

That $10 example was just an example. I don't know if it is overpriced, if it sells or not. The other example at 14€ by hanakogames I'm fairly sure does, or did pretty well though. It got on Steam at a mch higher price point than the professed ideal $5, for one thing. Probably because it caters to a small audience with a high interest in that kind of product (kind of like me!). And that Steam entry links to a RPS article. (Great for Georgina BTW, I'm not jealous, just spying!)

I get coverage from places though, which is a source of great personal pride

 

[SuicideBunny]

i get a fugly bug with rogues. the stealth and assassinate labels are written on top of magic, which makes the button an unreadable mess.
it's also weird but everyone has a white magic button, including my knight/archer.