Unhealthy interest in sales figures

[MediantSamuel]

I bought DR on GoG as a gift for a friend and I had to pay an extra £2 due to global pricing or some bullshit.

I hope you guys see that rather than GoG, Vault Dweller

 

[Eyestabber]

It never ceases to amaze me how regional pricing fucks Eurocucks, even when compared to the US. According to http://www.steamregionalprices.com/search.php DR costs 8.99 Euro and 8.99 USD. LOL @ 18 Hb (HUEbucks, Brazil's currency). That's a 69% discount compared to the US and a 80% discount compared to Eurocuckia.

 

[Fenix]

Do you have any sale goal for DR, like famous 45K copies for AoD?

25k copies in the first year would be nice. Mainly though, DR's purpose was to ease people into the combat mechanics and then push them toward AoD.

It is actually happens. I stuck in AoD because I did wrong build, but to know that you need to spend some time. And then you start over again.
Clever plan. ))

I always noticed that much of the butthurt around AoD came from the fact that people failed to understand the system, despite the fact that ITS system is actually pretty straightforward. I did my best to change that, with the videos, guides, build tips and whatnot (tho I doubt I had much influence). However it's pretty clear to me that NOW, a year after AoD release, people are starting to "get it".

It's pretty baffling that it took people this long to realize you're supposed to put a lot of points on your favorite weapon and favorite defense and you're not supposed to change your mind after choosing a particular build. I blame consoles. And Kim Kardashian.

Thats because there is a lot of what to do in nonlinear fashion, quests, NPC, and combat system, skill and stat checks!
I failed to tied all in one knot, because it was somehow hard to practice in combat with so many distractor factors, and when you success in other fields, then suddenly you could fail in combat. That was the problem for me.
For the record - I blame consoles and Kardashian too.

 

[ComradeReptiloid]

You overestimate people's softness this days. It inevitable for bunch of kids or filthy casuals to pick up decently marketed game and then complain about punishing difficulty in their outrageous reviews. Game mechanics is complex enough and unforgiving, which is good. But I wish more could be done, and DR adress some of this vital issues.
Modern gamers used to forgiving games with saves in combat feature + lower enemies number with worst gear and stats. But majority of AoD buyers know what they going for. This game is not hardcore, it just punishing!
RANDOM CONCLUSION: kill all console manufacturers!!!

 

[Goral]

25k copies in the first year would be nice. Mainly though, DR's purpose was to ease people into the combat mechanics and then push them toward AoD.

I'm afraid it won't reach that. I was sceptical about DR success from the start and so far it doesn't look too good. Main problem is lack of coverage, AoD had at least some reviews and some buzz but DR is a niche within a niche like you said. The other problem is that there aren't many reviews and many people look at some game, see that there are few reviews and they think "it must be short/simple/shitty since so little people play it and review it" and move on. Even on Codex many people who enjoyed AoD/DR are too lazy to write a review (even on one of the main game aggregators like GOG, Steam and metacritic, not talking about all of them obviously although that would be optimal).

BTW, that Qantari game you're talking about, I assume it would be a dungeon crawler? If yes and it would delay CSG for at least a year then it's definitely not worth it, you will get even less sales and you might even start losing some customers just like it was with King's Bounty series (I don't know another game as exploited as this series). Another dungeon crawler would make sense if you could do it in UE4 engine but next Torque game probably won't be even mentioned anywhere.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ore-age-of-decadence-reviews-on-steam.109619/

 

[ComradeReptiloid]

Wish I could write review on DR, but my english level dont allow me to do so.

Spoiler

I have very good comprehension skills, and understand gibberish that peoples tell me IRL, spewing from TV screen, or filling my brain with after I read another pretentious fanfic book on the Internet.

You know, watching MST3k and Rifftrax to learn basic English is not a hardest thing to do in your life, but comes with certain drawbacks.

As you noticed already, I have issues with grammar and spelling most of the times, but I'm trying to improve that aspect.

Why I wrote all this shit? It is intended to be a disclaimer and excuse for future accusations of dumbassery and ignorance. CHEEEERS EVERYONE!!!!

 

[Goral]

ComradeReptiloid
You don't need to know English to review it, you can review it in Russian or you can write "good game" and that's it, they don't delete even such short opinions.

 

[Fenix]

ComradeReptiloid
You don't need to know English to review it, you can review it in Russian or you can write "good game" and that's it, they don't delete even such short opinions.

Hm, then I'll defifnitely write at least something.

 

[Jaedar]

I would like to see a sequel to AoD focused on the Qantari. That sort of aztecish settings is not common at all. The Qantari are also the only real questionmark left by AoD in terms of the world.

 

[Tigranes]

AOD is probably one of the best RPGs I've played, and the Colony Ship doesn't particularly excite me as a setting, but I'm actually still happy for VD to move on.

As VD says, sales attrition with sequels and spinoffs is very heavy, and given that AOD, while selling well, wasn't exactly a household name, there's not a particular practical benefit to pumping it out.

In terms of the games I want to see, it's more VD's design philosophy and how everything fits together that makes AOD special; i.e. it's about how the harsh combat and narrative C&C combine to really make you regret your choices etc., rather than there being anything particularly amazing about the dialogue, characters, the world, etc. Antidas would be an entirely boring and forgettable Bioware NPC if it weren't for the fact that every character's motivations and calculations are realistically plugged into player choices and outcomes - which is something that isn't setting-specific at all.

Really the only irreversible loss is the loss of Miltiades

 

[Lurker King]

I was sceptical about DR success from the start and so far it doesn't look too good. Main problem is lack of coverage, AoD had at least some reviews and some buzz but DR is a niche within a niche like you said. The other problem is that there aren't many reviews and many people look at some game, see that there are few reviews and they think "it must be short/simple/shitty since so little people play it and review it" and move on. Even on Codex many people who enjoyed AoD/DR are too lazy to write a review (even on one of the main game aggregators like GOG, Steam and metacritic, not talking about all of them obviously although that would be optimal).

There are reasons for that. First, AoD was an ambitious game in the pre-kickstarter era. It received a kind of attention that it wouldn’t receive it weren’t for the scarcity of cRPGs. The interviews increased the awareness about the game, etc. After kickstarter, this changed. You have a flood of shitty cRPGs, many them made by known developers. Second, AoD could be played by both storyfags and combatfags, while DR can only be played by combatfags.

Now, regarding the passive mood of everybody, I think we become a little bit conformed and confident after the surprisingly good reception AoD received. I know I will make my three reviews (steam, GOG and metacritic) and I didn’t made because I think that there is no rush. Moreover, there are potential players here that are playing Tyranny right now, etc. It all adds up. Even you used to make “Guys, let’s post reviews about this game” threads.

 

[Fenix]

Translation will add buyers.

 

[ComradeReptiloid]

I dont think so. Modding games is my hobby. I modded Alekhine's Gun (Death to Spies 2) AI and scripts for levels. I fixed all known bugs, added unimplemented features, fixed sound, fixed subtitles and forum users helped me with translation on all languages. How it helped AG? No addictional buyers or even downloads on my mod except forum ones.

 

[ComradeReptiloid]

Maybe I will try to do something with Dungeon Rats after I finish Age of Wonders 3 and Jagged Alliance 2.

 

[laclongquan]

One have to wonder how the hell does the Japanese doing with the Romance of Three Kingdoms.
Their ROTK series got many similiarities across the tittles, both gameplay and arts.
They do have some changes in engines and arts.
They release on two, three languages, japanese, chinese, and korean.
+ Chinese is no brainer because the setting is dear to that customer's base. But Korean?
They release on PC first, then port it to consoles later.

 

[Tigranes]

Koreans love ROTK, both the game series and the original literature. Koreans bought ROTK in droves back when people still bought games - and then when half the nation started pirating everything after 2000, ROTK development scaled down, and Korean translations were usually abandoned and only done years later, meaning fans would simply continue to pirate and then issue fan translations.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

This has probably been discussed before, but how much money, if any, do you make off of steam trading cards, Vault Dweller ? Is it something that developers make any money off of, or is it more just a sales gimmick that they add in the hope of moving more copies?

 

[Fenix]

I dont think so.

There are people (poeple) who refuse to buy without translation, maybe not much but still.

 

[Vault Dweller]

This has probably been discussed before, but how much money, if any, do you make off of steam trading cards, Vault Dweller ? Is it something that developers make any money off of, or is it more just a sales gimmick that they add in the hope of moving more copies?

It's more of a players community thing. Developers don't earn much unless the volume is truly massive (Skyrim or Witcher 3) and even then it's a drop in a bucket.

 

[Eyestabber]

ComradeReptiloid
You don't need to know English to review it, you can review it in Russian or you can write "good game" and that's it, they don't delete even such short opinions.

Considering how my YT analytics look like, I would say a Russian review of the game is actually more useful than an English one.

 

[StaticSpine]

ComradeReptiloid
You don't need to know English to review it, you can review it in Russian or you can write "good game" and that's it, they don't delete even such short opinions.

Considering how my YT analytics look like, I would say a Russian review of the game is actually more useful than an English one.

:russiastronk:

 

[Elhoim]

It looks like we are in the middle of a cold war.

 

[stony3k]

It looks like we are in the middle of a cold war.

We are, and Russia is winning

 

[Hoodoo]

cold war is over men
psychic wars, begun they have

 

[Goral]

We don't have any DR numbers from GOG yet.

Has it changed a month after release? Or is it something you can't/don't want to share?