I think VotM is underpriced

[jordot42]

     I just bought this expansion a day or 2 ago.  I saw it for sale on steam for $1.25 or so.  I was thinking to myself "you've got to be kidding!  How will Arcen make any money?"

     Even the base price of $5 on the main site (which is what I paid)  seems ridiculously low.  At an absolute minimum, I think the price should be doubled.  Heck, even the package bundle ($17 I think) is too much of a steal.  That's a dinner at Friday's or one of those IMAX movies.
 
     If I remember, each piece of the game has a demo, so it's not like people have to take a chance on whether they'll like the game.
 
     I've read in past threads about the reasons for pricing decisions, so I know Arcen knows a lot more than me on this issue.  I just think this game (and Bionic Dues) are way underpriced for what we're getting.

[Shrugging Khan]

I agree. That's why I always buy Arcen titles for my brother; he may not even play them much, but at least it's good for the company 

[keith.lamothe]

"you've got to be kidding!  How will Arcen make any money?"

Volume.

We actually tend to make less money if we charge more

[PokerChen]

Well, you're not one of the people who feel entitled to an AAA experience for $5 then! The sheer abundance in the free and sub-$2 gaming market has seriously changed general expectations.  Somebody somewhere will slave away for a penny, and people will gobble it up - thus it's all in the sale volume.

I think $5 is appropriately prices for such an expansion.

[Chthon]

I must agree that this is underpriced.  However at the moment it's all I can afford.  However I hope to repay this perceived debt by encouraging others to buy it by streaming it and having fun with it.

Jordot, if you feel the same way, perhaps some word of mouth or other form of advertisement is in order?  Maybe we could even do it in tandem

*Note* I am not a star player by any means.  I have good strategy, but not the patience to enact it.  I just like to see things go boom.

Edit:  Also HOLY CRAP!  The ENTIRE SET of game + all expansions is out now for $4.24!  Maybe I will be able to get them a few new customers

[Qatu]

 My only complaint is that the sales arent mirrored on this site shop for those who wanna get the rebates but hate steam. Still a good price though.

[Tridus]

     I just bought this expansion a day or 2 ago.  I saw it for sale on steam for $1.25 or so.  I was thinking to myself "you've got to be kidding!  How will Arcen make any money?"

     Even the base price of $5 on the main site (which is what I paid)  seems ridiculously low.  At an absolute minimum, I think the price should be doubled.  Heck, even the package bundle ($17 I think) is too much of a steal.  That's a dinner at Friday's or one of those IMAX movies.
 
     If I remember, each piece of the game has a demo, so it's not like people have to take a chance on whether they'll like the game.
 
     I've read in past threads about the reasons for pricing decisions, so I know Arcen knows a lot more than me on this issue.  I just think this game (and Bionic Dues) are way underpriced for what we're getting.

AI War is now a several year old game. $17 isn't very low for one of those, considering the market. It's priced pretty reasonably. If they tried to charge more for it, it wouldn't sell these days.

[jordot42]

There is a game called "Distant Worlds", a 4X space game that came out in 2010 on Matrix Games' site.  Fantastic game btw.  Base game is $30.  Each of the 3 expansions is ~$25.  Total price:  $100.  And no demos.

People moan and complain about the price, but my impression is the game is moving, because the designer is hard at work on the next expansion (a modding expansion). 

Now I bought each piece as it came out, so each purchase wasn't a big deal (about $25 each time).  I think each purchase was an exceptional bargain for the quality.  And notice: no $5 price point on anything.  $20 minimum.  And again, my impression is that the game is selling pretty well.

Now $100 is quite a bit for the complete package.  I don't have much comment on that.  But except for sale periods, that is the game's price and the designer doesn't seem to mind. 

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, Matrix has a lot of high-price stuff.  I really want to play Distant Worlds but I'm not paying that much

And for harder-core wargaming stuff (like the chits-n-hexes stuff) it can make sense to charge $50 for a base game, etc, because their audience is:
1) Small, and slow-growing (if at all)
2) Willing to pay high per-unit costs for games that really deliver on their specific interests

[Shrugging Khan]

Stop talking about Distant Worlds. I have ranted before, and I may very well rant again.

[doctorfrog]

Same. I have no doubt that Matrix is fiercely committed to their genres, their games, their developers. The developers behind Distant Worlds are probably about as dedicated and true as Arcen. If I understand correctly, their stuff is all DRM-free. Their hearts are probably in the right place and I'm sure they're all good people who are good at math.

But they are dead stupid wrong about their pricing.

I really want to play Distant World, but they don't really want to sell it to people like me. They don't even want to let me try it in demo form. Whether they're staring down their noses at 'casuals' or are simply content to be supported their current set of customers, they're not communicating any interest in selling this game to me.

But hey, Spider Web Software did a complete 180, it could happen to Matrix also.

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, I've kind of gone off demos as part of our own business model (we keep providing them to some extent, but purely from a customer service standpoint), but I think they still definitely have a place in the model of someone like Matrix.  If I tried a demo of Distant Worlds I might well be convinced to take the plunge on a more-significant-than-usual expense, or perhaps put it on a wishlist somewhere and a relative might buy it for me for some occasion, etc.

I guess I could look up some LPs of Distant Worlds, come to think of it, but I've never really made the transition personally to getting info on potential purchases that way.

[Coppermantis]

Arcen's prices are indeed so low (especially compared to, say, EA's $80-100 (what) titles) that even when I buy them at full price rather than on sale I almost feel guilty. Plus, the fact that I got Valley 1 and Tidalis free in a drawing plus a few expansions free from alpha testing (In these cases I feel especially guilty because I'm not good at giving feedback but I somehow have ended up in the alphas anyway.), I feel like I'm almost stealing from the company. 

I buy extra copies for my friends sometimes to give more support.

  There is a game called "Distant Worlds", a 4X space game that came out in 2010 on Matrix Games' site.  Fantastic game btw.  Base game is $30.  Each of the 3 expansions is ~$25.  Total price:  $100.  And no demos.

People moan and complain about the price, but my impression is the game is moving, because the designer is hard at work on the next expansion (a modding expansion). 

Now I bought each piece as it came out, so each purchase wasn't a big deal (about $25 each time).  I think each purchase was an exceptional bargain for the quality.  And notice: no $5 price point on anything.  $20 minimum.  And again, my impression is that the game is selling pretty well.

Now $100 is quite a bit for the complete package.  I don't have much comment on that.  But except for sale periods, that is the game's price and the designer doesn't seem to mind. 

I'm not familiar with this game, but I certainly don't think that the price is an issue. Starcraft runs you $100 for the main game and one expansion (with another one coming at probably $40 as well) so if DW is as good as you say then it's not a problem.

That said, I would never buy it. Not without a demo. I rarely buy games without knowing a lot about them. Starcraft is the most expensive game I own, but it comes with a demo and there are a vast number of tournament and personal match videos published that it was easy to tell that it would be a game I would enjoy. In most cases, though, I'll shy away from anything over $10 unless I have a chance to try it first. Almost everything I own has been bought on sale: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dishonored, Mass Effect (I actually got 1 and 3 as prizes for a contest and drawing, respectively.). So yeah, unless there's a demo I rarely pay full price for anything unless it's really cheap already.

[onyhow]

@Coppermantis: That's if you buy both of them at release...even after years of release the best discount that Distant World and all expansion get is 40%....which is still around $70...

Baiscally, save the money, go buy lots of other space games at 75% off...

[eRe4s3r]

Funny thing is people complained about the Distant World pricing ever since Distant world released and Matrix even acknowledged this to us in a comment on bluesnews.com since any news about Distant Worlds brings up the absurd Matrix store pricing (and the general crappiness of Matrix store itself... just mentioning -> Download Guarantee costs extra) but since then they went and made 3 expansions that they don't sell as a pack (~.~) but that require each other.

Secondly, they force you as a European to pay in € + VAT (If you don't know, the prices they list are without VAT, which is illegal, all declared store prices have to include VAT by definition. But not MAtrix Games.. noooooo, they list prices without VAT least nobody would ever think buying anything from them.

It just befuddles me. Matrix Games has made me realize that just because someone is an Indy, doesn't mean they can't be colossal blowpipes of evil.

Just so you get the problem

Base Game - 23.99€
2 Expansions - 19.99€ * 2
1 Expansion - 15.99€

---------------------------

79.96 €

Except that isn't the real price. +19% VAT

95 €

Talk about horrid pricing. It's much worse for us Europeans.



... So basically.. 5$ is pretty dang cheap. But remember that AI War needs publicity, it needs people playing it for further sales. AI War is a very niche game and that niche ain't going to expand a single inch if it were priced like Distant Worlds.

Though personally, I think for a good DLC 9$ (or 6€) is a good price.  For a good Indy game 20 to 30€ is what I am willing to pay at most.

Also I just wanna throw something else in. EA games do NOT cost 80$ to 100$ ... I pre-ordered BF4 from GMG for 38€ (With coupon and some leftover credits from reviews) which puts the above calculation for Distant Worlds in a drastic and proper relation.