Are we paying more for less?

[Theonlystd]

I think they do price themselfs out of alot of potential customers..


Poeple see the graphics and such as you said then see a 55 price tag. They'll instantly be turned off..

[NTJedi]

Theonlystd said:
I think they do price themselfs out of alot of potential customers..


Poeple see the graphics and such as you said then see a 55 price tag. They'll instantly be turned off..

Very true... it will be the demo which will convince people whether or not it's worth the price. The dominions_2 demo only gave 40_turns hopefully the dominions_3 demo doesn't have the same limitation because many gamers downloading demos will ignore demos with turn limits and time limits.

[Nerfix]

NTJedi said:Very true... it will be the demo which will convince people whether or not it's worth the price. The dominions_2 demo only gave 40_turns hopefully the dominions_3 demo doesn't have the same limitation because many gamers downloading demos will ignore demos with turn limits and time limits.

Dominions 3 demo is actually worse than Dom 2 demo from what I gathered. Only 5 Early Age nations, so compared to the total amount of nations it is far less. Not sure about turn limits or research limits.

[NTJedi]

Nerfix said:
Dominions 3 demo is actually worse than Dom 2 demo from what I gathered. Only 5 Early Age nations, so compared to the total amount of nations it is far less. Not sure about turn limits or research limits.

The nation and research limits are understandable, but the turn/time limit prevents gamers from enjoying even one good game and prevents seeing everything the demo has to offer. Took me three incomplete and unsatisfying demo games of dominions_2 before I decided to purchase the game instead of one satisfying demo game.
I only downloaded the demo based on the reviews of other gamers in a different forum... otherwise I would never have even tried dominions_2.

[Evil Dave]

NTJedi said:

The nation and research limits are understandable, but the turn/time limit prevents gamers from enjoying even one good game and prevents seeing everything the demo has to offer.

I agree. I'd rather have a single nation that I could play all the way thru rather than a number of limited ones. This kind of demo has been done before. The Operational Art of War demo had only one scenario (the Korean War), but it could be played all the way thru as either side.

[BigJMoney]

Talley, I think all your points make sense, especially your statement about supply and demand, but consider this: Dominions is an infinitely replayable game. Why lower the price, ever? Do you see the price of Risk or Axis & Allies being lowered? Using the computer as a medium, strategy games are taken to a level that a board and table-top war game can never achieve. The only loss is the ability to physically hold and touch the property you own, and to sit down with companions to play in person. I think the gains at least equal the losses. My point is, if they feel their product has that kind of value, there is no reason to lower it just because several years of other kinds of video game marketing has done so. Also, not all video games come down in price very much, anyway. I was in Best Buy the other day and was surprised to see how much Rise of Nations was still going for, and that's a game that I don't feel is as satisfying to play multiple times as Dominions.

You talk about "production values", but it's the value to the customer that's important. Graphics are highly, highly overrated in the strategy gaming genre. I think what you're seeing is a kind of rebound. Since its inception, the video game market has seen a steady increase in the quality of graphical presentation, so it's become habit to expect it. However, I think many people are starting to break the habit and find value in other things.

Look at the pen and paper RPG market and how expensive their books are...books! Yet, people do place high value on them. Nobody can say if Shrapnel is at the correct place on the supply and demand curve except maybe their accountants, but I don't think things are as incorrect as you believe. Maybe it's different from the norm, but not incorrect. Buying this game will prevent me from buying some other games that are going to be cheaper and made by more established companies. So be it.

[Edit: More established companies is incorrect! I should have said, more prominent or well-known companies.]

=$= Big J Money =$=

[Gandalf Parker]

In practical marketing terms I think that there are X number of dominions players who will buy the game (come on, its a whole $5 more than Dom2 was years ago). And I have no problem with the idea that we are definetly getting our money worth.

You seem to be saying that it should be priced less to get more sales. But that means a loss of revenue on that X number of dominions people who would have bought it at 55. And the gain in sales would have to make up for that amount PLUS some gain above it.

The game is rather a niche market. The graphics and such are still likely to cause people to not buy it. So witohut putting it on store shelves (a very expensive action) Im not sure that new sales would make up the difference.

Maybe the sales of Dom3 will prove that the game has sales potential beyond its fanatical players, and that will allow a change for Dom4. But I think that until then its still a gamble. I think the sales on Dom3 were too needed for anyone to consider gambling on this release.

Gandalf Parker

[B0rsuk]

Can you still fight other nations, even if you can't play as them ?

Speaking of Dominions3 costs... is it really worth it ?

No banks in Poland allow me to pay for Dominions. So I need a paypal account. But I need a special 'e-card' to be to get paypal account. The ecard costs 25 zl/year, about $7.8 .

So it's $55 + $7.8 + shipment cost...

Something for reference. I work 6 hours/day and earn around $331 netto.

[Arralen]

They're eager to get the demo, because shipping the 300-page manual (with CD included) all over the world does take some time.

Demo could be downloaded and help with waiting for the full game to arrive.

Why there's no download option for the full game has been discussed elsewhere. In short: pirated copies and technical issues.

And concerning the price tag: This has been discussed to death as well. In short: making 5000 or 10000 copies of Dominion3 (or maybe even 25000) is nearly as expensive as making 1.000.000 copies of The Sims. (or was it 15M?). Especially considering the 300 page manual full of content. Thats economics of scale.

And you know what? I have seen (not bought) quite a bunch of "A" titles which come at 45-55€ .. and NONE of them delivers the same playablitiy and re-playablity of the Dominions series. Lots of fancy graphics and gourgeous sounds - but no content.

I prefer content.

[Leif_-]

Speaking of Dominions3 costs... is it really worth it ?

It is for me, but it might not be for you. There's really no other answer than that.