dgaad Posted October 11, 2002 Share Posted October 11, 2002 The only benefit to getting a game in hand physically is the manual, which in most cases is not worth the wait. Battlefront should make the entire game available for download to bona fide purchasers, so we don't have to wait for the notoriously slow US Mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les the Sarge 9-1b Posted October 11, 2002 Share Posted October 11, 2002 Yes and to make the game vulnerable to all the hassles of online download complaints. Not to mention irritating anyone that can't purchase products directly online (such as me). Or the make it so that people without cd burners have to buy the download everytime they need to install it. And then there are the poor souls that just don't possess a nice download speed (fortunately not me). Man the nasty things I want to say to people that whine about waiting oooooh my god a whole week to get their game, sheeeeesh. Today's computer users are the most spoiled brats I can think of. Please sir make it do things faster, a 1 gig processor is just hopelessly slow. ERRRRRRRR :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgaad Posted October 11, 2002 Author Share Posted October 11, 2002 I did not say that the existing system of purchase should be shut down, only enhanced for those people who have the ability to download large files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeres Posted October 11, 2002 Share Posted October 11, 2002 A little harsh Sarge! ... Then again what are sarge's for!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashblade Posted October 11, 2002 Share Posted October 11, 2002 I will ignore Sarge's post... I also think a download version would be cool for those of us with high speed internet connections. Especially considering that with service like Paypal it's ridiculously easy to setup secure safe online transactions. But I'm not sure if Battlefront would like that... the CD has plenty of advertising on it, if you put this advertising in the downloadable version it would be big, really big. Of course they could still charge the same (low) price. But not have to make any CDs or print any manuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les the Sarge 9-1b Posted October 12, 2002 Share Posted October 12, 2002 Consider this.... You have a fast connection (hey even a nice T1 line even). You decide to download SC online as a payable download. It costs you 25 bucks just like it would if you bought it through mail. You start the download and your power goes out half way. Hmmmmm you didn't get your download, are you sure? Sure "accidents" happen. Scenario two, you download it successfully, but it just won't run somehow on your system, and you want a refund. Just how are you planning on sending it back? I have a copy of a game, the actual retail copy I picked up for free of Panzer Commander. Sure the game is a bit long in the tooth now of course. But the game was "returned". Now you and I both now why that happened. Battlefront has done us wargamers a great service just making this game possible. They have made it further thrilling making it inexpensive. To ask them to incur cost add on to deal with setting up a downloadable option (and monitoring that isn't free eh, it takes bandwidth and time and staff man hours), just so a small percentage can get the game without the horrendous wait of a few days....it's preposterous. Now personally, I intend to get it shipped through the mail if at all, and I could care less if it takes 3 days or 3 weeks. I would not be impressed if I heard they had to increase the price of the next game to cover costs of indulging bad ideas. A good solution might be to just double the price for direct download. That way each download pays for the lost funds spent in indulging something wholely unnecessary. Would you pay 50 bucks just so you could satisfy you lack of patience? I honestly think some people think wargames are made in some sort of magical place, where administrative costs somehow don't exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Wagner Posted October 12, 2002 Share Posted October 12, 2002 Don't know what all the fuss is about here...I downloaded Steel Panthers, Championship Manager, OOTP, PureSim Baseball. It is a viable form of commerce and shouldn't be disregarded so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwenek Posted October 12, 2002 Share Posted October 12, 2002 Sure, it's all fun and games until someone posts the download of a complete SC from Battlefront on Kazaa or some other file-sharing program. Then Hubert et. all go belly up and we wait another 5 years for more decent games. Think, gentlemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Wagner Posted October 12, 2002 Share Posted October 12, 2002 mwenek: I don't believe the games I mentioned above suffer from the type of paranoia that you are advocating...If it was so easy to do as you say, then high profile and extremely popular games, such as Championship Manager, would never consider such an option. With the use of e- license controls, this fear is not a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwenek Posted October 12, 2002 Share Posted October 12, 2002 I suppose you are right. We "wargamers" are probably too honest a lot for that to happen. As to your original question, I suppose Hubert has been asked this so many times in the past (check out all the achived pages in this forum) that he doesn't even answer it any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bond Posted October 13, 2002 Share Posted October 13, 2002 Online distribution makes a lot of sense and has proved very successful for many small companies already, and like the idea or not it is probably the way of the future for smaller developers. The benefits in cost savings for the developer/company involved are enormous, and often those savings in turn can reduce the price of the software. If a company decides to release a game in CD format (mail order) as well as online distribution, then that that is a bonus for customers (more choices). The software I know of that has done this charged an extra $15 USD for the mailed CD version of the same software. Online distribution of software usually is protected from piracy by one of the electronic licensing options (eLicense & Digital River are 2 companies that have done this for years), so the install file is worth nothing without the license. That means the fears about file sharing via Kazaa (etc.) are baseless - those fears apply to a CD version of software as much as they do to a downloadable version of the same software. Not trying to stir argument here, just stating what I know about the issue based on working for a company that switched to online distribution almost 2 years ago. At first there was fierce opposition from a few very angry voices, people without credit cards, people that did not trust the electonic license system, and people that feared not having a physical backup (on the CD) of the product they paid for. For the few people that had the credit card issue we were able to set up work-arounds so they were happy, and the doubters gradually came on board & trusted the eLicense system after some experience with several successful software releases (plus great customer support from the eLicense folks). If online distribution continues to be successful elsewhere then that is probably an option Battlefront will study at some point in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les the Sarge 9-1b Posted October 13, 2002 Share Posted October 13, 2002 Go on Kazaa...type in Battlefield 1942 Get back to me when you understand wargamers can be "assholes" like music grabbers and all the rest. We are not special people. Wargamers hurt wargamers just like all the rest. I don't know about the sports games mentioned, but Steel Panthers is a free game. I can download it a hundred times and not have invested a cent. If you downloaded a Mega Campaign though, you have stolen the software. It is not a free game. Here is my take on a downloadable game normally sold through mail. When your game shows up on Kazaa, if you helped it happen, by making it a downloadable file, don't waste my time crying over how unfair it all is. It is bad enough I can say I know people that can rip SC right off the original disk and make it just so much data. But that takes a lot of computer power and a lot of time. Why make it easier for the pirates? Why not just sit in your home and wait for it like the rest of us and stop complaining. As for Paul directly, hmmm I am sure that many will strive forward with direct online marketed sources. As long as the business can write off lost sales (in the same way convenience stores write off stolen munchies) they will do ok. But this person knows that it is just a way, but not THE way. I don't own a credit card, won't be getting one soon either (not a choice though in my case, fixed disability pension, no credit cards allowed, go figure). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bond Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Originally posted by Les the Sarge 9-1b: [QB]As for Paul directly, hmmm I am sure that many will strive forward with direct online marketed sources. As long as the business can write off lost sales (in the same way convenience stores write off stolen munchies) they will do ok. [QB]Online distro is designed to vastly increase sales, not lose sales. It also greatly reduces distribution costs: no packaging, mailing, and duplication costs whatsoever. With eLicense the downloadable game is worth nothing without the license, so there is no benefit there for software pirates. You would see a warez version of niche game like SC on Kazaa as frequently with online distro as you would with mail-order only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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