Respect Your Gamer

[JohanAnderssonPDX]

Respect Your Gamer

Game developer Johan Andersson has simple advice for other studios: Respect your gamer.

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[Realitycrash]

Don't spend money trying to track down the pirates. Instead, spend the money on making it easier for people who want to pay for your stuff and reward the ones that do buy your games with free updates and free gameplay features. I repeat: Stop chasing the pirates, focus on rewarding the buyers.

I really dislike how some companies, especially in other entertainment industries, are going after pirates and try to sue them for downloading a few files. Yes, it sucks that you have put your heart and soul into a game that people play without paying for. But hunting the gamers is not going to increase your sales or recoup the money; it's just going to alienate your customers in your attempts to scare people into buying your game. And that's a pretty stupid move.

Bold statement. Might work for a smaller company, but how do you expect to sell that to your shareholders? Most which have very little idea how gaming and the gaming community works and will most likely see it as "letting the terrorists win".

 

[Rufus Shinra]

Amen, Mr. Andersson, amen. I am one of these people who started out by pirating Europa Universalis III, and I now proudly own it and IV legally. This policy of yours or of developpers like Egosoft is one of the reasons I love your games. That and their great depth and overall quality.

 

[Hazzard]

Yes! Demos sell games, especially Grand Strategies. I would never have bought EU3 and CK2 if it weren't for the demos. Most people have never bought Grand Strategies and never will if they have no way of finding out before buying it.

 

[OrenjiJusu]

-snip- but how do you expect to sell that to your shareholders? Most which have very little idea how gaming and the gaming community works and will most likely see it as "letting the terrorists win".

You could pitch it with an allegorical, and partially exaggerated, hypothetical. Something like:

"So let's say you want to buy a new car. A brand spanking new shiny one that's advertised to be the best thing ever. You're not the most well off, but you have enough money spare that you can afford it, so you search around a bit and find two people offering you the car.

One guy offers the car for a somewhat expensive price, but that's okay right? It's new! But there are a few conditions to using it: You have to get his permission to use the key for the ignition, you can only buy petrol from his company, and you have to let him know every time you drive it and who's in the car with you. But lets say you want a radio. Oh, sorry, that'll be another overly expensive extra. CD player? Extra. Floor mats? Extra. A boot/trunk? Eeeeextra!

The other guy offers you the whole package. The same car, all the bells and whistles, everything. For free. Sounds too good to be true, right? Sure he looks a little sketchy, and he said straight up that it's stolen, but it's free. He and his friends have also assured you that there is next to no chance of getting caught, afterall thousands of others are driving cars he's given them and their still on the road. Perfectly fine, with all the optional extras and the freedom to use the car as they see fit. And if you really like the car you can just treat it as a test drive! Buy the car from the other guy later to support the manufacturer.

Which offer is more tempting?"

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Don't nickel & dime the gamers

Gamers are loyal to us at Paradox Development Studio because we constantly update our games and give them loads of stuff for free for the games they have bought, after release, even if they don't buy a single DLC.

That sentiment sort of rings hollow when it's coming from the company that made this [http://store.steampowered.com/sub/26482/] happen.

 

[tofulove]

As a fairly active member in the forums for paradox, i will say they have a great community and the developers and community managers and mods are all very active in the community. Developers regularly answer questions and discuss game mechanics in there forums for both current and works in progress.

Paradox is a great company, not all there games are great, but there all interesting. They do have some fantastic gems worth pointing out, Europa universals 4, crusader kings 2, mount and blade warband, and magicka.


yes i am a paradox fan boy.

 

[Xeorm]

Don't nickel & dime the gamers

Gamers are loyal to us at Paradox Development Studio because we constantly update our games and give them loads of stuff for free for the games they have bought, after release, even if they don't buy a single DLC.

That sentiment sort of rings hollow when it's coming from the company that made this [http://store.steampowered.com/sub/26482/] happen.

What's wrong with that picture? They split up their DLC such that you can pay for what you want, and each purchase is meaningful. Don't want that extra soundtrack but want the expansion gameplay? Don't worry, it's not included in the expansion itself. It's not like they're overcharging either, the prices seem to be about the same that you would get for a song from itunes.

 

[tofulove]

You don't need to buy any of there dlc, any important feature is added regardless if you buy it or not, most of it is just adding sprites or extra music.

 

[MarsProbe]

Don't nickel & dime the gamers

Gamers are loyal to us at Paradox Development Studio because we constantly update our games and give them loads of stuff for free for the games they have bought, after release, even if they don't buy a single DLC.

That sentiment sort of rings hollow when it's coming from the company that made this [http://store.steampowered.com/sub/26482/] happen.

What's wrong with that picture? They split up their DLC such that you can pay for what you want, and each purchase is meaningful. Don't want that extra soundtrack but want the expansion gameplay? Don't worry, it's not included in the expansion itself. It's not like they're overcharging either, the prices seem to be about the same that you would get for a song from itunes.

Seconded, I don't really know what is meant to have "happened" here. There's a lot of content available for you to buy seperately if you don't like all that is on offer, or if you do you can buy it all in a bundle at a slightly reduced cost (that is, pretty much what happens with any bundled product). What's the crime here?

 

[Eabus]

Paradox definitely has allot of dlc in its grand strategy games, but given that the vast content and playtime of the base game and the fact that the larger dlcs can be worth dozens of hours of gameplay, I am ok with that.

 

[tzimize]

Don't spend money trying to track down the pirates. Instead, spend the money on making it easier for people who want to pay for your stuff and reward the ones that do buy your games with free updates and free gameplay features. I repeat: Stop chasing the pirates, focus on rewarding the buyers.

I really dislike how some companies, especially in other entertainment industries, are going after pirates and try to sue them for downloading a few files. Yes, it sucks that you have put your heart and soul into a game that people play without paying for. But hunting the gamers is not going to increase your sales or recoup the money; it's just going to alienate your customers in your attempts to scare people into buying your game. And that's a pretty stupid move.

Bold statement. Might work for a smaller company, but how do you expect to sell that to your shareholders? Most which have very little idea how gaming and the gaming community works and will most likely see it as "letting the terrorists win".

Well....you could try to explain the business end.

Lets say you go to a hardware store, and buy a hammer. When you leave, the clerk comes running out and hits you over the head with a brick because you didnt also buy a saw. Is this exactly like pirating? No. But when someone pirate something, nothing is lost, but something is gained.

Awareness of a game, and potentially a developer. This can turn into profit for the developer who had to make zero effort to provide the pirated game. This in turn can turn into a loyal fan, which is a really nice investment for a company planning to stick around.

The problem is that lawyers have been so busy convincing everyone that a pirated game = 5 000 0000 lost sales that people actually believe it. This is a bit strange to me considering the people really profiting from all these lawsuits are the lawyers. I mean...its not like they arent biased. What would one suppose them to say? No, this is not an issue you should pay me money to spend time on....

Aaaaand I'm ranting. Long story short, alienating customers is a bad ting in ANY business. This shouldnt be hard to understand for ANY investor. Unless you're business is making customers into aliens.

 

[Zipa]

This is why Paradox are awesome, now if only more companies would follow their system.

 

[Qvar]

preaching to the choir but saying and doing are two different things.

...also we do not forgive and we do not forget -.-

just kidding

nah really once you lose us for some of the stuff that being tried now...it's gone man...you'd have to cast Half-Life out of solid Latinum to get some of us back...personally there are some companies wares i wouldn't even take off their hands for free now...

"gaming" is actually far bigger than "the now" it's marketing departments like to project into the zeitgeist (like collecting movies) especially if you are given pause to take stock and actually look around...

i got "8 generations" of multiple boxes and at least 2 global regions if not occasionally 3 to choose from and if someone wants near 100 bucks for the entirety of a single game nowadays they better be near grovelling for it tbh because for one thing i could buy three or four consoles or quarter fill a shelf with near mint "classics" for that...

I didn't understood a thing of what you said.

 

[faefrost]

"As a game developer, you really need to know your gamer - by which I mean, the person that you want playing your game. What does he or she want?"

1. Cheap Beer
2. Cheap Sex
3. Cheeto's

The wants of a gamer really are a simple thing.

 

[revjor]

Don't nickel & dime the gamers

Gamers are loyal to us at Paradox Development Studio because we constantly update our games and give them loads of stuff for free for the games they have bought, after release, even if they don't buy a single DLC.

That sentiment sort of rings hollow when it's coming from the company that made this [http://store.steampowered.com/sub/26482/] happen.

What's wrong with that picture? They split up their DLC such that you can pay for what you want, and each purchase is meaningful. Don't want that extra soundtrack but want the expansion gameplay? Don't worry, it's not included in the expansion itself. It's not like they're overcharging either, the prices seem to be about the same that you would get for a song from itunes.

Seconded, I don't really know what is meant to have "happened" here. There's a lot of content available for you to buy seperately if you don't like all that is on offer, or if you do you can buy it all in a bundle at a slightly reduced cost (that is, pretty much what happens with any bundled product). What's the crime here?

Thirded? Most of those dlc came out in chunks months after and apart so it's not like day one they just released a bunch of stuff cut from the game to sell.(I believe that is known as Capcoming)

Not a single one of those DLC has felt like a ripoff to me because:
1. The game was polished and packed with content from day 1. It was easily the most day one ready game I've played in years.
2. They update the game with free content constantly. Most major game changing mechanics in a new expansion given to all players for free.
3. I watched those DLC getting made through dev diaries and know they were made well after the game was finished.
4. If you don't want to pay for their portrait/music DLC but still want new portraits and music? They provide directories to portrait/music mods on their own forums.
5. $1.99 is nothing for a 3-5 song pack or a Portrait pack. TWO DOLLARS is fair payment for a single person spending weeks writing new music/illustrating.
6. Almost every time a modder asks for a certain part of the engine to be able to be modded they provide. Which has given the world the best Game of Thrones game on the market. (and REALLY AWESOME new Elder Scrolls game)

 

[JarinArenos]

Thirded? Most of those dlc came out in chunks months after and apart so it's not like day one they just released a bunch of stuff cut from the game to sell.(I believe that is known as Capcoming)

Not a single one of those DLC has felt like a ripoff to me because:
1. The game was polished and packed with content from day 1. It was easily the most day one ready game I've played in years.
2. They update the game with free content constantly. Most major game changing mechanics in a new expansion given to all players for free.
3. I watched those DLC getting made through dev diaries and know they were made well after the game was finished.
4. If you don't want to pay for their portrait/music DLC but still want new portraits and music? They provide directories to portrait/music mods on their own forums.
5. $1.99 is nothing for a 3-5 song pack or a Portrait pack. TWO DOLLARS is fair payment for a single person spending weeks writing new music/illustrating.
6. Almost every time a modder asks for a certain part of the engine to be able to be modded they provide. Which has given the world the best Game of Thrones game on the market. (and REALLY AWESOME new Elder Scrolls game)

This is good info. Without the context, I gotta say, that link really looked like a company trying to nickel-and-dime their customers to death. That's a LOT of DLC there, and even at only $2 a pop, if you want the complete experience, it really adds up. Good to hear that the big picture is much less damning.

 

[Abomination]

I've always loved Paradox games. They have got some real ambitious titles and the synergy between Crusader Kings II and Europa Universalis IV resulted in a game that blows Civilization out of the park.

I have recommended Crusader Kings II to about 20 of my friends and 18 of them picked the game up. Now we get to share stories about our various kingdoms and characters and the absurd scenarios they found themselves in.