Comments on: Different Business Models

By: was

was — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Don’t let these children get you down Evil Trout.

By: Techokami

Techokami — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

It’s not just a problem of having to pay, it’s a problem of HOW to pay. You only accept PayPal – why not also take money orders like KoL? I don’t have a credit card nor do I have a PayPal account. So I have no way of paying for Episode 2. I will pay for it, but it has to be through some other means.

By: Evil Trout

Evil Trout — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

@Techokami Money orders eh? I didn’t even think of accepting those. I’ll look into it.

By: Nicco

Nicco — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

One of the reasons many KoL players complain about the price is because most of them are still young, hence why you get IP banned if you post several images of pancakes on the KoL forums. (It doesn’t make sense, but it happened to me.)

By: TUBSWEETIE

TUBSWEETIE — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

forumwarz is just like any other shareware game. Shareware is a fine business model.
You get the first episode/chapter free, then pay for the rest.

It’s annoying, granted. But it works.

PS i’m pretty sure the only people complaining are spoiled kids. let’s make "hurr durr i don’t want to pay for internet game when i can pirate everything else for free" posts bannable.

By: markchd

markchd — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

@tubs

Dude, much respect, but I dig the free flow of idea on the forums. Yeah, even the terrible ones.

@ET

I hope it has gone really well for y’all, I have spent as much for far less fun and content many times. Your game is way better than anything on XBLA for a comparable price. In fact, it tops many things that cost far more.

@cheapskates, How long does it take to earn $10? I’m pretty sure I could get it in a week when I was 8. I know the paypal thing can be tricky for people whose parents object to the game, but visa giftcards are a slightly pricier workaround.

@all
I understand that we are accustomed to fun being free lately, but I believe in rewarding content creators. This is particularly true when we can reward those creators directly, without paying for the overhead of publishers and their legal teams. A business model in which creators self-publish GREAT content deserve our dollars and, more importantly, our respect.

-Mark

By: DOPE-HARDCORE-0

DOPE-HARDCORE-0 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Meh, if the KoL folks want to throw money at something optional, you could always write up a BP store that sells complete moar files, or equipment your class can use but not buy, or equipment that unbalances the competitive aspects of the game at the price of putting people in a cheater/donator bracket (though this latter would probably see lots of resistance from all fronts).

Regarding pay-to-play story, well, nothing against KoL but I think the FW story arc is a bit more interactive and interesting (you know, having actual choices in lieu of purely "ok first I click here, then I click here, then I go there" in order to complete the story…)

tl;dr:
There’s good reason to try out this particular model and there is still plenty with which the CZ crew can experiment to monetize things and still make whiny bitches happy.

By: Papa Zito

Papa Zito — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

That’s cool if Forumwarz wants to follow a shareware model. But that means that I didn’t just buy Episode 2, but I bought the rest of the game, right? Because like Tubsweetie stated, the Shareware model is to put out an introductory piece of the software for free, then let the player pay for the rest of the game if he/she likes it. I’ve not finished it yet, but I’m assuming Episode 2 is not the rest of the game.

By: DOPE-HARDCORE-0

DOPE-HARDCORE-0 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

@Papa Zito: If Ep3 is as big as Ep2, then it’d be akin to buying the whole game when you get Ep2, and buying an expansion pack when you get Ep3.

Wow, I not only should be on the design team, I should be on the marketing team.

ET: Honorary CZ membership now?

By: Papa Zito

Papa Zito — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

I have a hard time buying that argument, Dope. There is a precedent for buying expansion packs in a Shareware model, but expansion packs are typically small add-ons that go for a fraction of the main software’s price. If Ep3 is as big as Ep2, then it wouldn’t be an expansion pack.

What I’m getting at is that the Shareware concept basically fails online because the product is far more fluid than in traditional software. I can download a shareware copy of Winzip and get certain core functionality, then buy the rest of the functionality if I choose to. If a major change (e.g. Episode 3) were to happen, they’d just release a new version of the software.

I guess what I’d personally like to see is the business model be put on the site and displayed to users when they sign up and in the FAQ so that there aren’t any misconceptions. Saying the game is free isn’t really true since you have to pay to continue to play. Saying it’s Shareware isn’t really true either because it doesn’t follow that model. Saying "we give you the first episode free, but every episode afterward must be purchased" would be much more clear.

Disclaimer: I’m an old-school KoL player, and I’ve donated there. But I have also paid for episode 2, and I would pay for episode 3. I have absolutely nothing against the business model that CZ has adopted, I just don’t understand why it’s not spelled out.