Prices

[chammer39]

What do you guys think the prices for each game should be set at? I am a strong believer in the $20 range or less.

[Danny]

$20 is 4 hours at a movie theatre. I spend a lot more time than that playing these games ;)

[chammer39]

So at $20 you can get the product to more people because they are willing to try the game.

[Tim Plum]

$34.95 sounds about right to me- Hey I've seen that somewhere before? :D

[chammer39]

$20.00 sounds right to me.

[Powerguy]

$20 might sound right but it's worth more than that I think

[New Orleans Thunder]

I am with Powerguy in not wanting to spend money but I want quality and I hardly believe I can get quality for 20 bucks. At the $34.95 price for TPF, I think the cost is somewhere around 1/2 cent per hour so far and going down each day. Think of all the time spent in playing the game. It is not necessary to insert quarters each time you play, $34.95 is reasonable unless you dont play the game. Heck, if you make it better and incorporate some of the arcade type play that FBPro had along with the detailed management aspect, you can charge more and people will still jump on it. I cant recall what I paid for FB Pro but I know it cost me less than 1/4 cent per hour.

[Gary Gorski]

chammer39 - I notice you posted on both this forum and the .400 forum about hoping TDCB is turned into freeware and now about new games being priced $20 or less. I'm sorry if you feel our products are not worthy of $35 but we feel they are. Our games may not have the fancy 3D graphics of a Madden or WWF game but I'm willing to bet that many of our users log just as many and in some case more hours playing our games than the ones they pay $50 for. Sure $35 isn't a drop in the bucket to many people but you're getting complex and dynamic games that took a person hundreds and hundreds of hours to code - I think that we provide great value for the prices we charge (not to mention the opportunity to try the game out before you hand over your $35) so I can't imagine the prices changing for new products.

[Scott McFly]

I think New Orleans Thunder has the right idea, when you look at how much time and enjoyment you get out of these games, the price is very reasonable. I have bought many games for my Xbox and PC, and I've got more enjoyment out of the text-based games (TEW, Championship Manager) that cost very little (around £20 each) than I have out of the games that I've paid £30-£40 for. It really doesn't matter that these games aren't created and marketed by huge forces in the industry like EA or THQ, what matters is gameplay - they are games after all. And in terms of gameplay, I feel you are getting an excellent deal for your money with games like TPB and TEW, and the other quality text-based games out there.

[chammer39]

Quit throwing Madden around like I own the game. I own ESPN and that was $20 and is a damn good simulation.

[Tim Plum]

Well ESPN is hardly a sim, arcade yes, sim no.

[chammer39]

Have you played their college hoops game and the new hockey game. Both good simulations.

[IrishHand]

Both good arcade games. The next "good simulation" that ESPN's software division makes will be the first.

I'd pay $50 without batting an eye for a top-level sim (think CM, OOTP). As any real CM fan can tell you, a top-level sim has instant replayability. I've yet to see the NBALive that I can't dominate within a couple of weeks. Of course, give me a TPB with NBALive-style graphics so I can watch my inept coach run his bumbling offense with my brilliantly-selected, drafted and signed players and I'll be in heaven...but that's a couple years away at least. :)

[Powerguy]

Well even if they're good, that's them. The games here are 35 bucks (and a bargain at that) because they are unique, have good depth and are very enjoyable. Everyone could agree to that.

Like I said before, $20 might sound good but think about it. If you were to put a value on any of these games it would be higher than 35. I haven't done the math like New Orleans Thunder but that sounds about right.

[chammer39]

I don't care about the price except I am just trying to think of ways to push the product to more people.

[Tim Plum]

Great programming, Great company, great product, great marketing (Tara ;) ) will take care of that, trust me these guys and gals want to make money at this.

I believe these people are on the right track the lessons learned of the past will help to guide them all to new heights.

[Holycow98]

Only game I don't buy from this genre...(which doesn't not include an ESPN game :D ) is Diamondmind Baseball. I'm sure it is a great game...but the price of the game on top of no career play and the added expense if I wanted to buy additional season disks is just a bit much.

At best...these types of games get a reduction in price when the next version is in the final stages of development/testing; and even that is not the norm. Since the next release for these games will be in essence the first releases for this company as a new entity...there is nothing to reduce.

[Bryan Swartz]

This idea that the way to get more people in on the games is to lower the price is asinine. Thats the way to push the standards down because the company can't afford to put in the amount of work that is required to turn out a quality product.

Anyone who is successful in business will tell you that the #1 most important thing in getting and then retaining a large, satisfied customer base is to give what they always want -- a great product. From the very limited amount I've thus far seen I'd say that Gary & Co. get this -- the stuff he's revealed so far is where I thought the series should go but did not frankly expect until the third or fourth generation. After you have that great product you then sell it at a price that is as competitive as possible while still allowing you to make enough money to finance future projects. The gaming industry is big enough that any top-notch release will get bought even at higher prices -- the only time that lower prices matter that much are with the marginal fan or those who aren't sure if the game is worth getting; this is hardly the text sim customer base and I'd much prefer a HIGHER price, if by that it is guaranteed that those making the game are going to continue to improve the series, respond to the demands of those of us who buy them, etc.

In any endeavor your goal should be to make a product that's so superior to everything out there, and with such outstanding service & support, that your customers would be crazy to do business with anyone else, regardless of cost.

[sabotai]

The number one goal for a company is to make the most amount of money they can. Pricing games is a pretty inexact science.

If you price the game at $35, you'll probably still sell to most of the sport sim fan base, but most people outside of that fan base might not give it a try.

If you price it at $20, you'll still get the sport sim fan base, but you might get more people outside of that fan base to give it a try.

The tricky part is to make so that enough people will buy it at $20 to make up the the $15 lose per copy (if you would have sold it at $35). Say you'd sell 4,000 copies of the game at $35. If you price it at $20, in order to make more than the $35 priced scenario, you'd have to sell more than 7,000 copies. But the problem is you never really know how many copies you'd sell at either price, so it's a gamble either way. The safe route for .400 was to price it higher (since they already were working off the fan base of OOTP when they were part of .400). They already had a fan base to work off of. If you are just starting out, then it would be wise to price it lower (Arlie's first game, CAD, was around $20 I think).

So since these guys already have a fan base to work off of, it's a gamble for them to price it lower. For every dollar they lower the price, they have to sell more copies to make up the difference.

[Silverbullet]

I am sure everyone would love to pay just $20.00 for a simulation. I know I would. But I do not believe that is a fair price for all the work involved in developing a simulation or game. I would and have paid up to $40.00 for a game with advanced graphics (Madden, etc.) and $35.00 for a simulation (OOTP). In my humble opinion these are fair prices.

[chammer39]

I wouldn't buy Madden when ESPN has better graphics and is $20.00

[btmlltt]

You can't compare GDS to ESPN. They are in completely different worlds. Arlie and company are independent developers just trying to make a living at this. ESPN is a giant that took a huge risk with that price point in a pathetic attempt to unsteat Madden.

[chammer39]

Pathetic attempt you would be surprised by the number of people who have changed to the better game ESPN.

[IrishHand]

Isn't there an EASports or ESPN forum for you people to argue about console games?

[chammer39]

This started as prices, but changed in the middle. My favorite sports sim is Coaching a Dynasty.

[RandyChase]

So at $20 you can get the product to more people because they are willing to try the game.

That's why they give folks the option of trying a demo.

You're certainly a "cheap" or "for free" mission! You didn't answer my question about your "give it away" proposal on the other board, so I'll paraphrase it. If Gary agreed to take half-pay for his game, would you go to your boss and suggest working for half of your normal pay?

[chammer39]

Not the same. You just have to consider factors such as the amount you plan to sell at each price. Depending on the number you could sell that would determine the drop.

[TC Dale]

That is true Randy. I wonder if he would agree to that. I bet his boss would love saving a little money on payroll a few weeks a year.

[Mike D]

Pathetic attempt you would be surprised by the number of people who have changed to the better game ESPN.

And yet Madden still outsells ESPN by more than a 2:1 margin. I have both, and Madden is a better game, but not by much. That said, the 34.95 price point is perfect and I wouldn't expect anything less.

Side note: See Gary, I told you I'd follw your game wherever you went. Now deliver. :)

[mtimmins]

I know I am sounding repetitive but $34.95 is a reasonable price for the sims, hell I'd pay even more if I had a job and didn't rely on my parents to buy it for me. :p Sure pricing it at $20 would increase my chance of being able to get the games right away. But the programmers need to make a living off selling these games. Would you work hours upon hours to program a game or do a job and then charge less money so you in turn make less? $34.95 isn't THAT much money.


EDIT: Sorry for posting here so long after the last post, I wasn't paying attention to the last post date. :(

[Danny]

EDIT: Sorry for posting here so long after the last post, I wasn't paying attention to the last post date. :(
Not a problem :)

[Druez]

I liked CAD better then TDCB. But I liked FBCB better then both of them.

Anyway, Hammer you are annoying.

[chammer39]

Who has 55 posts?

[Mike D]

Who has 55 posts?


How many of them are quality?

[Cardinals]

This is my first post, and it's about some one else's 55th post. How ironic. I see posts where you replied like three times to yourself. There is such a thing as edit. It's just annoying when there's really nothing to read in any of them.

[21C__]

How many of them are quality?
Exactly.

I always love seeing people who proclaim that they have xxx number of posts on a board when the majority of the posts offer any substance.

"Tis better to say nothing and appear a fool, than utter a single word which removes all doubt."

[mdisturbed]

Very well said 21C.....My sediments exactly.....

[Danny]

Well, this discussion is pretty much exhausted and has now turned to post count debates. If you guys want to debate them, that's fine, but the dog pound is the appropriate place.

[chammer39]

It's all about quantity, not quality, in the forums.

[baron]

What have you got to gain having lots of posts? you dont win a prize for the most posting! but if you post quality messages you will probably get respected on the forums

[chammer39]

Who needs respect on the forums when they have the most posts?

[BigDawg]

Baron, I have found the internet flodded with these types of people. Those that pump up post counts to gain respect in their minds are the same people I come across that would CHEAT at online computer games. They tend to have NO LIFE and wouldnt know how to interact with a real human so they create this fantasy reality online. They can be anyone or anything but what they realy are, they can say anything to anyone with no reprocussions.

How sad :(

[chammer39]

It's the truth.

[21C__]

User CP > Miscellaneous > Buddy/Ignore List > [ Fill in name ]

:)

[chammer39]

Yes, that is what I like to see.

[Gary Gorski]

Side note: See Gary, I told you I'd follw your game wherever you went. Now deliver. :)

Glad to see you made it over here Mike - don't worry I'll deliver - it will be the 1st game GDS releases and its got to be a good one :)

[chammer39]

It's always good to be the first. Keep up the good work Gary.

[Mike D]

Glad to see you made it over here Mike - don't worry I'll deliver - it will be the 1st game GDS releases and its got to be a good one :)


I know you will. I'm looking forward to it.