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Poll

How much would you pay for this

$5
- 7 (15.6%)
$10
- 21 (46.7%)
$15
- 12 (26.7%)
$20
- 3 (6.7%)
$25
- 0 (0%)
$100
- 2 (4.4%)

Total Members Voted: 45


Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5

Author Topic: ev2  (Read 13921 times)

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Spram

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Re: ev2
« Reply #20 on: March 20, 2009, 05:51:36 PM »

Eversion two? ALREADY?

You whore, it has only been a few months and yet you're just making a sequel? Oh and asking us for our hard earned money you prick. You're worse than EA and it's Madden games or Guitar Hero n shit. I'm disgusted and ashamed that I ever liked a single one of your games.

:fuckyou::fuckyou::fuckyou::fuckyou::fuckyou::fuckyou:
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Zaratustra

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Re: ev2
« Reply #21 on: March 20, 2009, 06:11:15 PM »

who said it's eversion two

Smiler

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Re: ev2
« Reply #22 on: March 20, 2009, 06:25:47 PM »

It's obviously called ev2. Why can't you guys read the title of the thread?
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Spram

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Re: ev2
« Reply #23 on: March 20, 2009, 06:31:59 PM »

I was joking. I'm bad at it.

I just asumed it was Eversion 2.
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JDigital

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Re: ev2
« Reply #24 on: March 20, 2009, 10:16:39 PM »

Eversion was good for many of the same reasons as Portal. It's a short puzzle game with an interesting gimmick, an enjoyable theme, and a dark but simple plot. Neither game felt overpriced. However, I'm curious as to how a sequel will repeat the same success, now that the first game's secrets are out of the bag.

With Ev2, whether this is an Eversion sequel or something unrelated, I'd pay $5, assuming I can expect at least a similar quality of experience as the original Eversion. If the new game is more substantial and of higher quality in at least one aspect, perhaps graphics or greppiness (degree of interactivity), $10. Round that down to $9 and if the game's any good that's a no-brainer.

At $15 I start to compare it to other indy games with a more substantial budget and more up to date graphics: Aquaria ($12.50), World of Goo ($15). I also compare it to cheaper games from the indy/casual type: Multiwinia ($7), Bejeweled 2 ($8.75), Peggle Nights ($7.50).

At $20 or above I'll buy it, but need assurances it's good first. I paid perhaps $30 for Mount&Blade, but only after Thor and Stush both ranted for a few weeks about how good it was.

tl;dr: $5 on Eversion's reputation alone, $10 with some measurable improvement over Eversion, $15 with good reviews, $20+ if the entirety of #finalfight is raving over it. Make it to Steam and it won't matter because you will sell a billionty copies

Unrelatedly what happened to that king game
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JDigital

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Re: ev2
« Reply #25 on: March 24, 2009, 12:01:53 PM »

Counter-argument: Geneforge 4's creator defends his $28 price point.

There are some influencing factors. His series has an established fanbase who won't be very discouraged by price or encouraged by discount. The previous game sold for $25. His gameplay is fun in spite of poor graphics, and he offers a free demo to convince you of that. He offers thirty or more hours of gameplay. He targets additional niches like the Mac market.

In other words, if he charges more because it's more profitable than the extra sales he would make by discounting his product. (You can always do Steam-style weekend sales and have both.)

A comment on that post suggests that people bought shareware Doom to get the plasma gun and BFG. In roleplaying games writing we call it power creep, where each new product offers slightly better character options so that players will buy and use the new material.

Joel on Software also has a good article on software pricing.
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Romosome

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Re: ev2
« Reply #26 on: March 24, 2009, 12:29:42 PM »

Thanks for reminding me that Exile 1-3 lurks on my List Of Games To Beat, JD.
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Kazz

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Re: ev2
« Reply #27 on: March 24, 2009, 02:42:42 PM »

Joel on Software also has a good article on software pricing.

I thought he was being obtuse until I read the whole article, but he does bring up the two things that were bugging me: A, that you can never actually figure out the demand curve without selling anything, and B, that pricing something higher can make your product more attractive.

My brother had a web-design company for a long time.  I asked him about his experiences in price-raising:

Quote
Jesse: my pricing experience went like this:
i was charging too little, getting crappy clients and too much work.
scrounging for projects
i doubled my prices, get fewer, but better clients, and my workload fell by half

Kazz: define worse/better client

Jesse: unreasonable cheapass fucktards

Kazz: okay

Jesse: vs
reasonable people who understand the value of professional work and the limitations of a medium
so i re-doubled my prices and got even better clients (businesses with budgets, etc) and my workload stayed about the same, which meant I was doubling my income
plus my rates put me into a class of developer that was taken seriously
i was no longer seen as "some kid in the basement who knows this shit"
people respected what i had to say about web programming
etc
when in doubt, aim high. it's much easier to drop your prices than raise them
it's lke pricing a vehicle, price it high, see if you get any bites, and then slowly bring the pricing down until you have a nice balance of interested people and manageable workload
i lost my metaphor there, but you understand

Kazz: what compelled you to raise prices in the first place?

Jesse:
Mike told me he did the same thing when he was consulting
he figured he'd double his prices, lose have his clients, and make the same money for half the work
which he did
but then he found new clients at the new price and the workload grew too big, so he re-doubled.
now he's working for Nike at $15,000/weekend
he bought a BMW with a personal check

Kazz: heh

Jesse: yeah
the key to that strategy is believing you're worth the higher rates
we all need to get over the "i'm a fake" syndrome

Kazz: i'd like to think the key to that is doing something you're proud of, and then knowing how to do it again

Jesse: and knowing how to fix it when it breaks
they always break

I recall when Aquaria came out it had a price-point of $30 or maybe $40.  An indie game with sufficiently good art, a compelling concept, or even just a lot of hours of content can make a splash just by pricing itself higher.  You can always lower your price later, but you can't raise it.
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Detonator

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Re: ev2
« Reply #28 on: March 24, 2009, 03:06:46 PM »

I think there's a profound difference between a service and a product.  You're not being forced to work every time someone purchases a copy of your game, so having twice as many customers is a good thing, even at half the price.  I admit that selling too cheap makes your product seem shoddy, but gamers are a stingy lot.  Go onto Steam and see all the A+ titles you can get for $20 and under.  Sure they're not brand new, but they are tested.

A lot of it is looks.  If a game looks professional, you can probably charge $20, equal to a budget commercial title.  If it looks like it was cobbled together in Game Maker, people will not pay that much when faced with the wide array of great titles they can get at a similar price.
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Kazz

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Re: ev2
« Reply #29 on: March 24, 2009, 03:38:42 PM »

I think setting a pricepoint of $30 and then having a weekend where you charge $15 creates a sense of "I better buy it now!" that drives up purchases, even if those customers wouldn't have been interested if the game had started out at $15, just because the higher original price has created a greater sense of value.
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Brentai

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Re: ev2
« Reply #30 on: March 24, 2009, 03:47:57 PM »

a good article on software pricing.

I only read half that article at first and thought it was just covering Business 101, but then I read the other half and realized he covers Business 102 as well.  Zounds!

i doubled my prices, get fewer, but better clients, and my workload fell by half

Kazz: define worse/better client

Jesse: unreasonable cheapass fucktards

Kazz: okay

Jesse: vs
reasonable people who understand the value of professional work and the limitations of a medium

Unfortunately this all breaks down the closer you get to Palo Alto, i.e. Unreasonable Cheapass Fucktards Who Unfortunately Also Know the Exact Value of Professional Work and Exact Limitations of the Medium.

I think setting a pricepoint of $30 and then having a weekend where you charge $15 creates a sense of "I better buy it now!" that drives up purchases, even if those customers wouldn't have been interested if the game had started out at $15, just because the higher original price has created a greater sense of value.

That's pretty much what Zeno Clash seems to be doing.  "HOLY SHIT YOU HAVE ONE FUCKING DAY TO BUY THIS CHEAP EVEN THOUGH NOBODY'S PLAYED THE DAMN GAME YET!  DO YA FEEL LUCKY HUH PUNK?"
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Detonator

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Re: ev2
« Reply #31 on: March 24, 2009, 03:58:17 PM »

You'll need to have a dedicated fanbase that purchased the game at full price, and will spread the word about the game's quality.  Then people will jump at the chance to get the game cheaper instead of not caring one way or another.

In other words, people will have to buy the game to begin with.

That's pretty much what Zeno Clash seems to be doing.  "HOLY SHIT YOU HAVE ONE FUCKING DAY TO BUY THIS CHEAP EVEN THOUGH NOBODY'S PLAYED THE DAMN GAME YET!  DO YA FEEL LUCKY HUH PUNK?"

yeah
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"Imagine punching somebody so hard that they turned into a door. Then you found out that's where ALL doors come from, and you got initiated into a murder club that makes doors. The stronger you punch, the better the door. So there are like super strong murderers who punch people into Venetian doors and shit"

Kazz

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Re: ev2
« Reply #32 on: March 24, 2009, 04:02:23 PM »

What Zara needs, then, is a noise machine.
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Brentai

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Re: ev2
« Reply #33 on: March 24, 2009, 05:05:26 PM »

Incedentally, I didn't end up buying Zeno Clash, at $10, even though I am interested in the game.

BECAUSE NOBODY HAS FUCKING PLAYED IT YET.
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Romosome

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Re: ev2
« Reply #34 on: March 24, 2009, 05:14:02 PM »

The first eversion had some damn good noise spreading through the usual channels (4chan, some webcomics, blags)
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Detonator

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Re: ev2
« Reply #35 on: March 24, 2009, 05:19:28 PM »

Zara needs a devblog.
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"Imagine punching somebody so hard that they turned into a door. Then you found out that's where ALL doors come from, and you got initiated into a murder club that makes doors. The stronger you punch, the better the door. So there are like super strong murderers who punch people into Venetian doors and shit"

McDohl

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Re: ev2
« Reply #36 on: March 24, 2009, 05:20:02 PM »

VG Cats linked him.  And there was a sort of link on slashdot, I think.  Zara's got street cred, of that's no doubt.
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Romosome

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Re: ev2
« Reply #37 on: March 24, 2009, 05:31:24 PM »

The "omg you gotta play this" factor of it helped.  Eversion was almost like a prank to play on your friends since it had a "surprise" to it.  While you'd think that would hamper word of mouth, on a small scale it really encourages people to directly inflict it on their friends instead of just talking about it.
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sei

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Re: ev2
« Reply #38 on: March 25, 2009, 09:07:39 PM »

See also: Within a Deep Forest.
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Rico

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Re: ev2
« Reply #39 on: March 26, 2009, 01:57:32 AM »

I have 0 experience pricing games, but as far as pricing in general goes it's all a bunch of psychological games including, but not limited to:

Don't price based on how much something actually cost you; price on perceived value.  Compare eversion to other indie games.  Are the graphics/sound better or worse?  Is it longer?  Is the gimmick more clever? etc.

Don't price too low.  People will not buy your shit if it is priced too low, even if you are making money on it.  They will think it is bad or there is something wrong with it that they can't immediately see.  For indie games, I would say the too low point is probably anything under $10.

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