(Shocking) News!!!!!

[Tim Brooks]

Hi Will:

...will be leveraging a bit of SF's resources to get more mainstream advertising and reviews

Again, some misinformation control. Shrapnel Games had SEIV reviewed by every mainstream print and web publication in both the US and Europe, receiving over a dozen industry awards.

As to SF's resources, they are controlled by the bankruptcy courts.

Regardless, I have no idea if SEV will fit into the mainstream. I hope it will.

I believe everyone here feels that way.

Also, kudos to the wonderful Shrapnel people! Keeping the forums goes beyond anything expected from customer service.

We would miss you guys if you left, so we hope you stay here. These forums are yours.

Now you said something about selling off existing stocks of SEIV and SE:Starfury... You all are still the publisher for those games, right? (and Dungeon Odyssey?)

Until current stocks are depleted. Coming from a development, not publishing background, I do not believe in owning rights to our developers games. The rights stay with the developer after the contract period expires. Aaron came to us after we declined an offer to do a catalog exchange with Strategy First and asked us not to print any more Starfury or SEIV. We, of course, agreed. We would have taken Dungeon Odyssey out of print later this year anyway, so doing it a bit earlier just makes the break with Malfador easier.

We will, of course, still support both Space Empires products and Dungeon Odyssey through customer service and here through the forums, even after the inventories are depleted.

me needs to go to the Shrapnel Store and make some purchaces soon...

I wouldn't take too long. Projections are for SEIV to sell out in 2 weeks or so, and Starfury a bit longer.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Thank you very much everyone who posted here. Thank you Aaron for creating such a marvelous game as SEIV. Thank you Shrapnel for publishing it and for this forum. And also thank you Shrapnel for retaining this forum and customer services when Malfador leaves.

And Aaron, good luck with S1st.

[Lisif Deoral]

Tim Brooks said:

All the above quote actually says is that the Space Empires IV crowd is vocal and the game has enjoyed longevity - which, I believe we all knew . We wish we could get the wargamers to be this vocal here, but they have a vast forum network that extends beyond the Intel Forums. The reality though is that SEIV was not our 'best selling game by far'. It however has been in our top 3 sellers since its release over 5 years ago. In 2004 it was beat out by Dominions II, which was our top seller, and, in fact, SEIV came in 4th place for the year.

Er... yes, I think I used the wrong tense (English syntax error in line 2... er, I meant "it isn't my native language, sorry"). What I meant was that I thought that SEIV was the best seller in 2001 or 2002. Anyway, I suppose the overall sales total for 2000-2005 is good if it managed to stay in the top 3 for 4 years.

[Tim Brooks]

Lisif Deoral said:
Anyway, I suppose the overall sales total for 2000-2005 is good if it managed to stay in the top 3 for 4 years.

No doubt. We will miss SEIV.

[Caduceus]

I am still suprised that there is no response from Malfador. Aaron...?

[Iron Giant]

Wow. Thats a kicker. But for all the back and forth "he said, she said" it seems to me the real questions don't have answers:

1. Will SEV be dumbed down for a broader market?
2. What is its current PROJECTED release date?

As much as I happen to think Shrapnel games is cool (A forum for a game they don't sell?? Who DOES that??) and I like the group of fans here, the publisher won't really affect my enjoyment of the game, the cost is irrelevant (charge $100 for all I care, if the game has the draw of SEIV I'll get 1000 hours out of it. How many games are $.10 per hour?) and its clear that Aaron will support it long after it comes out.

If its dumbed down to appeal to twitch gamers I'll stop following it entirely.

If this change means its not coming out till 2006, I'll stop following it (but I'll keep an eye out in 06...).

[David E. Gervais]

Iron Giant said:
Wow. Thats a kicker. But for all the back and forth "he said, she said" it seems to me the real questions don't have answers:

1. Will SEV be dumbed down for a broader market?
2. What is its current PROJECTED release date?

The quick and to the point answers are..

1) No!
2) The Beta starts in April. (release is always pending the speed and success of the Beta)

Cheers!

[tesco samoa]

This is my last post in this tread.

But I am going to say this.

Some people here are starting to sound like the SEIII crowd when seiv was coming out.

F.U.D. is not the way to go about this. Enjoy what was and what will come down the road. If its not your ride then get off and catch on to something else. No reason at all to be bitter here. As Geo would say. Dude Chill.

[geoschmo]

tesco samoa said:
As Geo would say. Dude Chill.

For the record, I didn't coin the phrase, but it is appropriate in this situation.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

geoschmo said:

For the record, I didn't coin the phrase, but it is appropriate in this situation.

Ah, a continues Shrapnel aficionado.....

So Cliche