Stagler Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 ^ Yes, finally someone thinking outside the box. Boyo, see that warning up there underneath my name. That's what thinking out the box on this forum gets you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagler Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 If you read the rest of that thread (and ignore the insults that got it locked) you can see that the link between greater exposure on Steam or in this case Amazon and more sales is not proven at all That is completely wrong. Basic economics and advertising elasticity of demand. You get more market by advertising, fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 That is completely wrong. Basic economics and advertising elasticity of demand. You get more market by advertising, fact. perhaps, but that doesn't necessarily translate to profit. Marketing has costs, your increase in sales has to cover not just those costs, but all the resource cost in time from individuals at BF that directly translates to slower game development. Is it possible for BF to increase their return all the way around with another distribution method, maybe. I honestly don't know, but the simplistic equations presented on the forum have not been particularly convincing especially to the folks at BF who actually have all their sales and revenue figures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASL Veteran Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) That is completely wrong. Basic economics and advertising elasticity of demand. You get more market by advertising, fact. Umm, that's a bit of a misinformed statement because it really does depend on the product. I really don't want to dig out my old finance, marketing, and economics textbooks (yeah, I kept them for some reason) but such things as Gasoline for example have a different demand curve than other products because people who must drive must buy it regardless of whether they want to or not. Oil companies mostly advertise in order to improve public image. Heck, British Petroleum was running ads calling themselves 'Beyond Petroleum', an ad campaign that downplayed their primary product. They also try to add special stuff to their gasoline to try and build some sort of brand loyalty, but nobody is going to go out and say 'I think I'll buy some gas today' because they watched a Chevron ad. People go out and get gasoline because their fuel tank is empty. Edited August 18, 2015 by ASL Veteran 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdogg Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Good points all around about marketing, remember 10 years ago they said pc games would be dead, ran out of the market by consoles. Then steam happened and the recession and the fact that you can buy a AAA title for discount a few months after release. Now we are seeing a resurgence of pc gaming to the extent that steam is trying break into consoles and threaten their piece of the pie. With that indie wargame devs like matrix have crossed over to steam and Amazon, it would be interesting to see their sales stats from that. It would seem relevant to a fellow indie dev like BF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Honestly I think a good portion of it isn't even sales. I don't think you could convince Steve even if there was money in it because simply put, BF is beholden to no one and they are surviving pretty well. I am not sure I'd be willing to give up my independence either just for money. When it becomes a job he doesn't really like..... I have a nice gig, I am compensated very well and I can not wait to retire simply cause, it is work. I don't do it because I like it, I do it because I have to go fill ASL Vet's gas tank.. oh wait, no that is my tank. Point is it isn't all just a matter of sales figures. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkEzra Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) The Following statement pertains solely to me. Since 1983 we've had a small business directed at a very tiny market group in an other wise huge group (Healthcare Professionals). We recognize our target group and do some print advertising in specific professional publications. If we widen the net it's a dead cert that more people would become aware of our products. It just won't convert to revenue. We love what we do (service to humanity!) but not nearly as much as our family, friends, and personal lives. Growth is not our overriding concern. Happiness is. As some of you will note I'm a long time player of CM and QB Map Maker for BFC. I don't pretend to know How BFC makes it's business decision's. But I do know they are fun group of guys who seem to enjoy what they do and how they do it. Edited August 18, 2015 by MarkEzra 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codename Duchess Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Thing is with video games, there are niche markets within gaming, but as a whole exposure leads to sales. Cool screenshots and/or a gameplay trailer will definitely draw attention and subsequently sales. The problem is right now if you're not already looking for Combat Mission, I don't think you'll find it. I can't remember how I even came across CMSF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFF Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I think the point here is advertisement. BFC is s*** at advertisement. fact. If you had taken the time to research Steve's prior posts on why they don't advertise much, you wouldn't have made such an ill-informed statement. Fact. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Boyo, see that warning up there underneath my name. That's what thinking out the box on this forum gets you. So here's the funny thing. You say we should "think outside the box" and yet you advocate the status quo, run of the mill, everybody does it approach vs. the way we do it which is to not do things the same way everybody else does.Seems like you're the one that isn't doing a good job thinking outside the box. That is completely wrong. Basic economics and advertising elasticity of demand. You get more market by advertising, fact.You can also spend more in advertising than you make back in increased revenue. Fact. We used to take out full color ads in the largest games magazines. We no longer do. I suppose we might have amnesia about how awesome it was to spend thousands on ads that didn't do much of anything for us, but I prefer to think that we learned something about the limits of marketing to a niche. perhaps, but that doesn't necessarily translate to profit. Marketing has costs,According to some here, no it doesn't. Apparently it's as free as Amazon's services. And how do companies make money off of free services? Volume!http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/first-citywide-change-bank/n9701 Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 And since this is going to go the same route as previous Steam threads (well, already has) I'm going to lock this up. It will never go in a positive direction because it always boils down to someone tell us that we are stupid. That's what it amounts to. Calling a company that has managed to do quite well for 16 years in an industry that regularly sees companies, even massive companies, go under stupid isn't very smart.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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