Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Would you rather Download a game or buy it in the stores?
Kjarl
Member Posts: 76
In my oppinion I would rather spend a cpl hours downloading a game and patching it from a dedicated download server cluster than having to pay for publication of a game, marketing, retail expenses and so on.
By selling a game online as a download most games could reduce the inital cost of the game by 10-20 dollars. So lets say the game sells for 49.99 in stores or 34.99 online and each comes with a months subscription as part of the cost why would you not save yourself the 15$ and let it down load and patch?
Comments
Of course when you download you sometimes see some really stupid shit. Like lineage 2 for instance, I can buy it off the plaync site for 39.99 (or 49.99) i can buy it at best buy for 9.99. uh.... stupid.
Shadus
Yea I was just talking with a friend about the publishing part of a game and I was under the mistaken impression that all that intailed was the book and other hard copy matrials that came in the box, thats my bad sorry.
As for Marketing expenses I was thinking more along the lines of the Box itself with the art on it and the cost of logistics of moving it from the maker of the CD's and Boxs and such to the stores.
I am sorry about the bad luck with PlayNC, I also do not enjoy dealing with them for other reasons.
I have been lucky enough to always find downloading a game to be cheaper than getting it in the stores. Perhaps its more regional, I live in a smaller community and prices for games from the Local EB and Walmart seem to be much higher than online.
In any event thank you for sharing your thoughts, the purpose of the poll is to get insight into as many peoples as possable and see where the future lies for MMO's.
Thanks again for posting and takeing the poll.
http://world5.monstersgame.co.uk/?ac=vid&vid=59148058
Because most mmorpgs aren't sold in the shops near me.
scientology
There's a poll running at an upcoming MMO website called Dark and Light www.darkandlight.com. There have been more than 11,000 respondants and more than 80% prefer either direct download or peer 2 peer such as bit torrent to get the game.
Distributing games via brick and mortar stores is going the way of the dinosaur. Much in the same way that music distribution is moving toward an online format, games will too. World of Warcraft in South Korea was an download only game. Just the opposite as it is here in the states. The big publishers would be happy to keep you going to the store shelling out $50 for a reatil MMO box BEFORE you ever get to play it. Then again the big 5 record labels have been trying to keep customers paying for over-priced music CDs too. You can see how well that one is going.
www.TheChippedDagger.com My 90-day 2D Java MMORPG project
They that can give up essential liberty for temporary safetey deserve neither. -- Ben Franklin
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. -- Milton Berle
I don't know I'm a let me see the item in my hand and ponder it type of person, I like to goto the stores and browse, except for when I see stores that do not update their prices a lot and still sell it for full price or not reduced price.
Or I see a company like Atari repackage a game like Masters of Orion 3, into a $9.99, simple very small 2 cdrom package and try to sell more copies of it when they aren't supporting it anymore and it still to this day needs offical bug support on it. It made me angry as all heck and want to tell Atari many angry curse words and shake a closed fist at them violently.
ID rather get retail. I just like having the box, the discs which can be installed/uninstalled/reinstalled at any time, and game manuals. I just love reading over game manuals, dont know what it is but I always read through them.
+-+-+-+-+-+
"MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
http://purepwnage.com
-+-+-+-+-+-+
"Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD HAHAHA, its better cause you can always DELETE it if it sucks major ass, and you dont have to blow away hard-earned paycheck money on it ether. I mean come on. THe Internet is a great place, only for about 10-15 years its been around and look at how far it has come, why buy things when you can download them for free, Most of the time. and yes this is a controversial topic.
"I beat 250 billion other sperm for the role of me, I am SUPER SPERM!"
"Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young."
If your choices were pay $50 to get the retail box with the CDs/DVDs and manual OR pay $50 to download the client (each with 30 days play included), then i'd want the box with the discs and manual as well.
What i would much prefer, however, is to download the client for free (or for substantially less dollar wise) and forego the discs and manuals. Most (note i didn't say all) MMO players are on broadband connections. It's a trivial matter to get a client via direct download or a peer 2 peer application. The 500,000+ WoW beta testers all got their client via P2P bit-torrent software. It worked well enough for the beta, it could certainly work for retail. True enough the discs provide nice backup. Then again how hard is it to copy the download to a disc? Pretty easy if you really sleep better knowing you have the client on disc.
Also, with MMOs the manuals are often out of date or just plain wrong because of the nature of rapidly changing online games. The WoW manual talks about battlefields and the honor system and to date neither of them are in the game. It would be much better for the game maker to keep and up-to-date manual in, say, PDF format on their website so users could have a current and accurate manual for the game. As for the box, is the box really worth $50 to put it on the shelf next to all your other $50 boxes? I hope not. Then again i tend to underestimate the power of the american marketing machine.
www.TheChippedDagger.com My 90-day 2D Java MMORPG project
They that can give up essential liberty for temporary safetey deserve neither. -- Ben Franklin
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. -- Milton Berle
Eve online is 20 dollars online and i saw it at best buy for 9.95 .
Most people on this forum, that go to Dark and Light, etc. are not the 'average' consumer. These are people that have broadband access. Not everyone does. 54.85% of the US population still connects to the internet via their phone lines. While DSL is faster than dial up, some 'high speed' connections from DSL in many areas are slow and are crap. Good to surf the web, but still would take a long time to download a huge game.
Limiting a game to only download has more consequences than people realize. First you are cutting out all of those that do not have broadband. Second, you do not get any impulse buying or the 'hey this looks cool' if there is not a box on the shelves. Third you will eventually end up paying higher costs. All downloading does is cut out the middle man. This does not mean you as the consumer will save any money.
The time will come when downloading games only is a viable option. For now it would be better if it were in stores. I know a lot of people that are playing WoW, but have not heard of DnL or most other games. These are people that even have broadband. Having a box in the store is in a way free advertising. Without that advertising then many games would not have made it. Costs of games might go up. They will now need to advertise on websites, in magazines, on TV. All of these costs will be passed along to the consumer.
Not to mention certain problems with downloading. How many times can I download it? Do I need to pay an additional fee to get it again? Now if I want to put a game on another computer I can simply install the disks, now I would need to go buy it again.
Having a game available in stores and online at the same time is the best way to do it now. In the future perhaps we can move to pure downloads.
What about games that allow BOTH downloading it and/or buying it from the store? Ehh?
BTW, downloading is not always doable:
1. Many people in some countries are allowed only a certain amount of bandwidth usage per month.
2. Many people cannot leave their computers on, connected, undisturbed for hours and hours, to download a game.
3. Many people do not have fast enough internet connections and/or a dedicated line that would make downloading a modern MMORPG doable. For example, at one of my jobs there is a Fiber Optic connection. If I come before work starts, I get an almost 100% dedicated line, since no one else is working in the building. I was able to download Anarchy Online in 20 minutes!
At home, on a 56k connection it would take roughly 9 hours! 
During those 9 hours I would not be able to use my computer because of lag from doing such a big download.
4. Many people make enough real life $$$$$$ that spending $50.oo bucks is nothing. Remember, people spend hundreds to thousands of real life money for ingame items. What is $50.oo? They instantly have the game. Plus any cool stuff that comes with the game box.
5. Many people do NOT have a CD burner. So if they DL a game, get burned out from playing it, they cannot erase it and come back and play it say... 6 months later, 1 year later. (Like people have been doing with EQ for example). If they DL a game, they have to burn it to CD to make sure they don't lose it from a computer virus, HD problems, or the tons of other problems that plague computers.
The Internet has been around since the 1950's. It originally was created by the US goverment to allow goverments to stay in contact in case of a Nuclear war. (this is the official public reason. Many say George Orwell was on to the real reason....)
Around the 1970's colleges, were allowed to use the internet. In the 1980's major buisnesses, companies, Fortune 100 companies, were allowed to use the internet. By this time the general public was using an early "form" of a public only made and controlled "internet" called BBSs. In 1994 George Bush Sr. allowed the general public to use the internet. What took so long for them to finally allow the internet to be used by the public? According to George Orwell, Dan Brown (He wrote the book Digital Fortress which involves the internet) the US goverment needed time to perfect Big Brother aka the Internet.
---------------------------------
If I DL something for free, and like it, I will on purpose go out and by it. (Like I did with the game Freelancer). Because I and some friends once owned various buisnesses in the past, I know what it is like to be a consumer, and a buisness person. Buisnesses, game makers, game DEVs, muscians, music groups, need to make their money. Metallica was right to go after Napster. BUT Napster was good for unsigned, non-major music groups and bands.
-Personal Website (A Work still in progress):
http://www.geocities.com/xplororor/index.html
-AC, AC2, AO, EQ, Freelancer, SWG:
http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor
-More SWG:
http://community.webshots.com/user/captain_sica_xol
-More EQ, Dungeon Siege, *UXO*, Diablo II:Lords of Destruction:
http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor_archives01
-EverQuest II, Horizons:
http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor_eq2archives01
-EVE Online !!!
http://community.webshots.com/user/sica_xol_archives01
-Coming sooner or later... CoH, WoW, MXO, UO, GW, As3, RS
The Internet has been around since the 1950's. It originally was created by the US goverment to allow goverments to stay in contact in case of a Nuclear war. (this is the official public reason. Many say George Orwell was on to the real reason....)
Around the 1970's colleges, were allowed to use the internet. In the 1980's major buisnesses, companies, Fortune 100 companies, were allowed to use the internet. By this time the general public was using an early "form" of a public only made and controlled "internet" called BBSs. In 1994 George Bush Sr. allowed the general public to use the internet. What took so long for them to finally allow the internet to be used by the public? According to George Orwell, Dan Brown (He wrote the book Digital Fortress which involves the internet) the US goverment needed time to perfect Big Brother aka the Internet.
---------------------------------
Not exactly true. After the Soviets launched Sputnik the US wants to take the lead in science and technology so they form the Advanced Research Project Agency to help the US become the technology leader. This agency which was part of the Department of Defense funded research that lead to the creation of the internet. The internet's original purpose was to facilitate communiction between researchers and to allow the US government to communicate better in war.
After some work in the 60's on parcket transmission in 1969 that agency commissioned the building of the first 'networks." It involved 4 computers - 3 in California and 1 in Utah. It used 50kbps provided by AT&T.
In 1973 we get TCP/IP and the real begining of the internet because it is now connecting entire networks of computers. In 1980's European countries start to leave the US networks to build their own.
It wasn't until 1986 that we actually get anything that can really be called the internet. The National Science Foundation provides money to build the backbone of the internet.
It wasn't until 1991 that NREN network is established. It is this and the NSF network that really make backbone of the internet at first.
However the real internet - by that I mean what we use to surf the web, buy tickets, look at porn, etc. comes about from two different areas. The first is the use of BBS set up by companies in the late 1980's - Prodigy and Compuserve. AOL got started in 1991.
The actual first webserver that was set up wasn't until 1990. The WWW came about in 1991. So I would maintain that while work on what became the internet started in the late 1960's and the backbone was built in the 70's and 80's, the real internet didn't start until 1990-1991. Prior to that it was either a BBS or simply file transfer via FTP.
Just because I can link two computers in my house together I would not call it the internet, so why would 4 computers hooked up in 1969 be the internet? Or when the first networks came around? The internet in any form close to what we have today did not begin until the 90's.
www.TheChippedDagger.com My 90-day 2D Java MMORPG project
They that can give up essential liberty for temporary safetey deserve neither. -- Ben Franklin
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. -- Milton Berle
Actually it was 1968 when it was called ARPA.
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/net-history.shtml
1957 is the official date given when ARPA came into existance. But as everyone who works for the goverment knows.... all information announced to the public, is always old info to the goverment. That is why I say the internet was created before the 1960's.
"""First Use of term Internet """ this was in 1974 when the word "Internet" was officially used.
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/net-history2.shtml
Someone above posted that linking 2 computers does not make an internet. Sorry, but it DOES. 2 or more computers is indeed a network. Just like 2 or more people is enough to fit the definition of friends. Or a group. It is not a very big network LOL! But it is a network.. info is being exchanged between two different principles, two different computers.
Well if the server for DL is fast i would rather download and save myself some money.
However,it has to be like half price.So essentially a $50 for box against a $25 for DL.
Reason been is i usually do a complete wipe of my system every 6 months and reload .So basically for a $25 saving i would not mind the 1 hour DL.
Also if you live in a part of the world where its hard to get hold of the game without paying stupid international shipping cost or custom tax its a great option.
I think offering DL if the future of mmorpg really.For mmorpg its not as important as to how much you make per copy you sell like HL2 as to getting people to pay the monthly fee.
And DL options will bring in more of a crowd.
My first post here.
About me .... I am a hardcore MM gamer but only play 1 game on a "full time" basis.
WW2online.
I voted for the download because WW2OL has an update (added features, patches) etc every 4-6 weeks. It is a constantly morphing game.
Buy the game in the store and you would spend as much time updating the older version as you would downloading the full "new" version.
Cheers Dbx
Cry Havoc and let loose the Dogbertx's of War
In store is usually cheaper, at least as far as SoE products goes. I feel very insulted to see an expension I buy online was cheaper in store. No box, no CD, no nothing...and cost more online, screw it and long live the retails and competition!
So I will go in store.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Actually it was 1968 when it was called ARPA.
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/net-history.shtml
1957 is the official date given when ARPA came into existance. But as everyone who works for the goverment knows.... all information announced to the public, is always old info to the goverment. That is why I say the internet was created before the 1960's.
"""First Use of term Internet """ this was in 1974 when the word "Internet" was officially used.
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/net-history2.shtml
Someone above posted that linking 2 computers does not make an internet. Sorry, but it DOES. 2 or more computers is indeed a network. Just like 2 or more people is enough to fit the definition of friends. Or a group. It is not a very big network LOL! But it is a network.. info is being exchanged between two different principles, two different computers.
I'm beginning to think you are little more than a forum troll. Here's why. The internet was originally called the ARPANET. That's well documented. I said that the ARPANET was first USED on October 29th, 1969. That is also well documented in the annals of history. I said first USED not first NAMED the ARPANET. You need to work on your reading comprehension. Sure it may have been given the name ARPANET before it was first used, but again that's not what i said.
That's great that you are a conspiracy theorist and think that the ARPANET was created long before any of the official documents talk about it. That may very well be, but that doesn't change the fact that according to all the documentation the ARPANET (which was the basis for today's internet) was first used on October 29th, 1969 not in the 1950s as you claim. If you want us to believe that history is wrong and you are right then might I suggest you give us some proof instead of just asserting your version of events is correct as you usually do.
www.TheChippedDagger.com My 90-day 2D Java MMORPG project
They that can give up essential liberty for temporary safetey deserve neither. -- Ben Franklin
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. -- Milton Berle
Yeah but if this is a game that im going to play for a long time then i want to purchase it at the store. i dont really have a fancy of downloading games off the net because something always goes wrong. Now that may be my stupidity but hey you cant go wrong with buying a game at the store
I prefer downloads... if its retail only ill just download the cd/cd's/dvd/dvd's from some torrent tracker...